Billy Bragg - Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key (w/ Wilco & Natalie Merc...

This is a respite from the holiday season, a step back into the past though, and just one of my favorite songs: Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key sung by Billy Bragg and Wilco. Found it thanks to Chris Johnson of BlueRootsRadio.com. His mixes are generally once a week and loop until the next one (with a few live podcasts sometimes in between. I salute him and look forward to hearing Show #100 -- and I see that it is Due up NOW. Listen this week for YOUR respite from the holiday craziness. Gotta get over to the blog and hit that little blue radio to hear what Chris is offering in this momentous show.... Join me in the minor key and at Blue Roots Radio. (We have fun blogging there about blue politics, too.)

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

Singing the praises of BlueRootsRadio.com

So many good things here. Yes there is a lot of challenge but you/we give reason for optimism.

The news has been so damn depressing! ~ Michele

Yep.

they are protesting and fighting because they do not want to be like the United States model which they feel encroaching and want to preserve theirs which they love and feel is obviously better for the people – duh – so – when you see all these riots in the streets, think about it, they are protesting the idea that they might become like us!

might explain a little why we here are not protesting al all ~ Mire

We should be protesting because we don't have it as good as them! Out in the streets, gang -- and/or make those calls to the WH, congress, reps, and letters to the editor. Post the articles Toni and others find on FB, elsewhere!!! It all adds up. (And how DARE they have 1/4 of their panel staff from folks who want a certain outcome!!! This MUST be SHOUTED as the panel results were pretty much a forgone conclusion.

JohnFugelsang John Fugelsang
by joanwalsh
1 way to honor Vets’ Day is going to B&N, finding the display of Bush’s memoir, and patriotically throwing a shoe at it. - toniD

Other places folks are restocking the books in true crime or fantasy/science-fiction -- some good photos on the wall at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=147126765334135

As for Veterans Day, I think it should be reserved for only those who served in battle or were directly supporting those putting their lives on the line. Vets like me, who basically served in peace time, are not in the same league.

What should be highlighted are the so call patriotic Americans who say they support the troops and then elect candidates who promise to dismantle the VA. ~ mb

And toniD mentions the car magnets as some people's proof of patriotism instead of real help. I have a friend who served stateside during Vietnam and he says similarly to what Chris says: It isn't the same. But not all vets are equal because of how violent they were/are. My uncle John is a man of peace but the Mai Lai massacre vets should not be equated with him. I believe in nonviolence but when people are thrown into wars the honorable ones should be honored -- and even the Mai Lai ones seriously need help, so I'm contradicting myself in a way, but no, because I would help them but not honor them. Some military do a dis-service. There is a difference, a big difference.

[The graph] Just shows that people may be giving up. We can’t allow that to happen or we will have real problems. The college kids in the UK protested, Many other European countries protested. We DO need to protest or nothing will change and could get much worse. ~ toniD

They want us to give up. And you can be darn sure that protests will go under-reported unless there is violence that will undermine the message. That is why we need internet neutrality and a google that works fairly so we (especially our great blogmother toniD) can find the truth and post it in a place where it can more easily be found/read.

Dean and DFA tonight at 7:30 pm EST about future of Dem Party ~ toniD

Missed it -- but hope an archive will be posted somewhere. Still, I am happy that discussion happens and information flows. And, as I look toward Thanksgiving, I am oh so grateful for those who make life in these dark times a little more bearable, and that it YOU guys of BlueRootsRadio.com.

Bless you for the good you do. ToniD has to dig through so much, some of it depressing, to present her nuggets. Chris/mb hosts us and brings us music as well as insight. Cent and 60th Street share so much and help with the blog. Michele offers her professional insight. Mire is as colorful as her icon. Crank Bait provides a cranky wit. Dan, Ramses/Sandy, CatChew, Vernon, JMach, GBasin/Steve ... you all contribute/share/sustain. Thank you. Bless you. Carry on. Make a positive difference. Together we can and must change the world, positively, in some way. We have. We do. We will. Thank you all. One big group hug! ....

Peace hugs!
Kate Anne

P.S. And I didn't even mention our Ya Think? Monday night show/podcast....Gratitude! BOTTOM LINE: Click that little blue radio in the right hand margin of BlueRootsRadio.com and enjoy the music and a live show now and then.

To-Do List and Blue Roots Radio and Blog

It is one of those August weekends when I am at home and attempting to focus on my to-do list. One item was finally to write out my dad's recipe at QuickTakes.org: Francis's Crowd Pleasing German Potato Salad that my son has requested again and again -- more recipes to come. There are

photos to download and upload;
music to add to my iPod;
papers galore to sort, file and/or respond, or recycle and
housework to be done.

In the meantime I am listening to some music and Sunday spiritual talks AND intermittently checking out the blog at BlueRootsRadio.com -- great music there, too, by clicking that little blue radio on the right hand corner. (Feel welcome to join us for blogging, music, and friendship.) I'm connecting to friends and to music and to order and to PEACE. Lots to do for peace, personal and political. It is all connected. Peace to us all!

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

Reviving for a Raspberry re FISA

Some personal matters have taken precedence in my life, keeping me away from my blogs and computer but I am beginning to revive and am returning to emphasize personal peace even as I mourn the passage of the Bush-Cheney Cabal Get out of Jail free bill. FISA, after passing the House (one of Joe Crowley's worst votes, together with his yes vote on the Bankruptcy Bill), passed the Senate last week 69 to 28 with 3 not voting [click title link for roll call]. Voting NAY, my Senators Schumer and Clinton voted FOR the rule of law and against telecom immunity. But too many Democrats caved and joined the shameless Republican lemmings. Richard Greene of AAR's Clout says Obama's vote was justified strategy but I am still uncomfortable.

I want my country back. Obama is our only real option. But I've pledged my Obama bucks to Bob Fertik's special escrow account at Democrats.com to make Obama more progressive. After the FISA bill vote, I wasn't about to finally make my donation. My dollars are progressive not regressive. Obama's vote may be strategic but it still sucked. But I am not going to dwell on it. I am going to be optimistic and work on my personal peace. Then I can be most effective. One thing that is making me smile is that my son is blogging again. Huzzah! Check his blog out along with me for his own quick takes on stuff.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

Labor Day Musings

Labor Day -- where did the summer go? Where did my weekend go? Well, it has been a busy time -- personally some trips to PA and Ohio -- and last week Joan Pagan and I went visited with Dorothy Morehead in the Adirondacks. Dorothy has a lovely camp on Lake Hunter in Northville, NY. (I will hopefully post some pictures at my Flickr.com site soon.) Then Kat was up to visit Krista and me the other week. And work has been busy -- never had a summer lull. I guess that is good. But there is much to do in simplifying my life.

I have NOT read the latest Harry Potter yet, but I just finished Mitch Albon's For One More Day and I am almost finished with Nora Roberts' Garden Trilogy, Red Lily. I have most been reserving then renewing stuff at the New York Public Library. And today I read through the latest Consumer Reports.

And I have been doing some blogging -- some of my Laura Flanders blog friends, still upset about her weekend show being truncated to one hour, have been enjoying blogging a bit at Maggies' Boy's Blue Grit Blog and with the terrific Sederistas at the Sam Seder Show site: YBNurmal, PBTrue, Sunshine Jim, William Schubert, Smnoll, Nightbird, (where's Benno?) and WhatNowToons.com's Keith Tucker. Keith's Labor Day toon is extra special and he said that I could link it. Check it out and his whole site:

From WhatNowToons.com

I did manage to meet up with peace activists Sam Oast and Marianne Goldscheider down at Union Square this Saturday, after making some calls Friday to my Congress critters Clinton, Schumer and Crowley about George W. Bush now beating the war drums for Iran. OMG -- will someone impeach the son of a Bush and Cheney before they shed more innocent blood? Much to do for peace and justice -- and for fun, too. And oh that housework.... All in good time. God help us get done the work that we have been given to do. And spread sunshine and blessings -- accentuate that positive! Eliminate the negative (Bush and Cheney). And keep on keeping on.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

Catching up with Peace, Justice, and Nonviolence

Met with some friends this evening and was talking books and I thought of my Books Page on my Kate Anne for Peace Justice and Nonviolence website. Now post-move (as I continue my de-boxing) I must begin to update it and my more pensive blog at that space. Maybe my friends reading that can leave comments here -- if they can crack the code that Blogger requires.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne