The Velvet Hammer

Daniel Pearl World Music Days - October 1st-15th
http://www.danielpearlmusicdays.org/

An international network of concerts using the power of music to reaffirm our commitment to tolerance and humanity.

This event is in support of The Daniel Pearl Foundation whose mission is to promote cross-cultural understanding through journalism, music, and dialogue. The Foundation was created by his family and friends after his beheading in 2002 in Pakistan.

You can promote international friendship by dedicating a musical performance, an original poem or story this October. Participation is free. Danny was a talented musician whose October 10th birthday is being recognized and his hope for One World is affirmed.

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This is the one time that I am glad that there is no child of mine in college. I would really not like to explain this to a young person.

You know, they say that we in the United Snakes of America are getting too fat because of the food and our (basically) sedentary ( read: sitting too much) life. I have fluctuated in weight all over the charts myself. So here, hoping that we all stay fit, whatever our size:

My favorite exercise video:

http://badgerbadgerbadger.com/

I adore Arrietty and her spirit.

She is a fictional character who was first in an English book series about "The Borrowers". She is also in an American move called "The Borrowers".

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118755/

Here is my favorite picture of Arrietty (in the move the actress' name is Flora (Flower) Newbegin) and I would love to be this pretty.

And...

Arrietty in the context of her family (minus younger brother but PLUS boyfriend):

Here is Arrietty with her first contact with a human "bean" (Borrower language):

You see. Arrietty is a small girl - only 3 inches tall. I am only 5 foot 2 (and yes! eyes of blue) so I relate very much to small people. Small people by Randy Newman is one of my favorite songs. I may sing it on podcast for fun...

Arrietty was the best to me...small, loving, loyal, smart, revolutionary and inventive: all things that I'd like to be.

I am already semi-notorious on the Net for my temper. It is bad, I admit. I am continually trying to correct it. Please know it is actually anger for damage to our planet.

Arrietty loves people/beans in the end....

And I love you. Sight unseen. It's a Borrower thing. rofl!!!

My heart is, actually, quite big.

Can we PLEASE count the Lemmings?

Dear Ones,

Could we (I believe that we should) count the lemmings jumping off the cliff of idiocy that is our Presidon't?

It's fun and it's free.

Who has jumped ship so far and what are their names?

Believe me there will be more.

History will need this list eventually.

Your local pot-stirrer

me

A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground.

Then it is finished, no matter how brave its warriors or how strong their weapons.

Tsistsistas, Cheyenne

Many will recall that on July 8, 1947, witnesses claimed that an unidentified object with five aliens aboard crashed onto a sheep and cattle ranch just outside Roswell, New Mexico.

This is a well-known incident that many say has long been covered up by the U.S. Air Force and the federal government.

However, what you may NOT know is that in the month of March 1948, exactly nine months after that historic day, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfield, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Condolezza Rice, and Dan Quayle were all born.

This piece of information may clear up a lot of things.

Happy Birthday Leonard!
(As if you can be happy wrongly imprisoned...)

Leonard is my Elder Brother. I am a little Lakota. I cannot prove it. My family tried to deny it. The Lakota/Nakota/Dakota are NOT Sioux. "Sioux" is a word in a non-Lakota language and it means "enemy." No one in their right mind would call themselves that. Only Pogo, that honest animal!

Sept 12th - tomorrow is Leonard Peltier's birthday. He is an innocent man imprisoned. He shares his birthday with BOTH of my great nieces (I have two), Grace and Emily.

Please send Leonard a birthday card, His address is: Leonard Peltier #89637-132 , USP Lewisburg PA , PO Box 1000 , Lewisburg PA 17837 - Phone (570) 524-0749

You can contact the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee at Email: info@leonardpeltier.net or visit their website: http://www.leonardpeltier.net/
The International Peltier Forum website is: http://users.skynet.be/kola/index.htm
Please sign the online petition for Executive Clemency: http://users.skynet.be/kola/lppet.htm I have signed this petition.

Kindly note how his defense is best from Europe. Ahem!

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A Message from Leonard Peltier

Greetings My Relatives,

You know I was just thinking there should be a degree one could receive for having expertise on doing prison time. I think I would be called Professor Peltier, PhD. with 30 years tenure. A friend of mine said once, PhD where he is from stands for post hole digger. I think I would at this time, embrace being a post hole digger, although I don't relish the thought of fencing anything in after being fenced in myself for 30 + years.

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I know, I know. Michael Douglas wants Hillary and George Clooney wants Barak Obama. I'd actually like to know who Brangelina would vote for because that would seriously sway me since they walk the talk unlike too many others, frankly.

Here is the site where you can "Draft" Gore.

http://www.draftgore.com/

I stayed up pretty late and had a hubby yellin at me; but this book - "An Inconvenient Truth" - well, honeys, it is now on my required reading list.

It is a love story. It is an Earthy story and I am now deeply - and I DO mean deeply - in love with this man. Hillary is ok....just. Barak is promising bur too inexperienced. Al, now Al has peaked. If you can't tell, then I just pity you. If you adore George Bush the current tyrant, well I just pity you to eternity, actually.

Al, Al, he's the man! If he can't do it, nobody can.

You heard it here first.

p.s. Sorry Dennis. I love you lots but no one (nearly) sees what I do so you are not a viable candidate. Wish I could say better.

If you have not already had the delight of watching Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb from 1964, it's time to watch it. I was 12 years old then and my father was a Manager of a Division at NASA. He loved NASA and detested the government. This was his favorite movie and Slim Pickens' glorious moment his absolute favorite movie scene. I recommend that you view it because it almost happened with friendly fire here in the US of A.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/

What happened?

"Nuclear warheads mistakenly flown on B-52"

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2007-09-05-b-52_N.htm

According to Military Times writer Michael Hoffman, we had a B-52 bomber mistakenly loaded with six nuclear warheads (Advanced Cruise Missiles which each carry a W80-1 warhead with a yield of 5 to 150 kilotons) that flew from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. That's quite a number of states.

This happened on August 30th. They were supposed to take those warheads off in North Dakota before that flight. These bombs were located onto the pylons of the bomber's wings. The mistake was not discovered until the B-52 landed at Barskdale after a 3-1/2 hour flight between the two bases. The Command claims that there was never a danger to the American public. No; warheads are not a threat, are they?

The crews were from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot have been temporarily decertified from performing their duties as ell as the munitions squadron commander. Steve Fetter of the Defense Department claims that at no time was there a risk for a nuclear detonation. They say that even if the B-52 crashed, it could ignite the high explosives and possibly cause a leak of the plutonium. Never fear, the warheads' elaborate safeguards would prevent a nuclear detonation from occurring.

"The main risk would have been the way the Air Force responded to any problems with the flight because they would have handled it much differently if they would have known nuclear warheads were on board," he said.

Oh, okay; and I am actually supposed to believe this coming from this government? Hey, at least we found the weapons of mass destruction and it is us. You know, with Defense like this, who needs enemies?