Lady Warrior: Takin Back the White House

After suspending her campaign - Brooklyn High School - enter Hillary stage left. A promise kept. An event attended {welcome to Brooklyn High and welcome to this event}. With grace our hero fights on. Leading by her heart, word and deeds.

So my heart was warmed today when I read a post by writerchick on HillaryClintonForum.net about Hillary's latest deeds. Hillary's heart belongs to the Wesleyan Church or Wesleyan Methodism as it was earlier called. The Wesleyan believe that "Faith with out works is dead." Interestingly enough the Wesleyan Methodists have been at the front lines of the women's rights battle: "In addition to anti-slavery, the early Wesleyan Methodists championed the rights of women. The Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York hosted the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848, also known as the Seneca Falls Convention. It is commemorated by the Women's Rights National Historical Park in the village today." So walking in her faith - poised, clear headed, and determined to do good things.

WASHINGTON - July 24 - The American Civil Liberties Union applauds Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Representative Michael Honda (D-CA) for introducing a bill that protects the rights of English language learners. “Strengthening Communities Through English and Integration Act of 2008” will increase investment in English literacy programs, business support for adult education and training programs as well as other local strategies for integrating immigrant communities. The following can be attributed to Joanne Lin, ACLU Legislative Counsel: “The ACLU applauds Senator Clinton and Representative Honda for introducing a language rights bill. The ‘Strengthening Communities Through English and Integration Act of 2008’ will accelerate the integration of immigrant communities.

“Over 50 million people speak a language other than English at home. An estimated 11 million to 21 million U.S. citizens and permanent residents with limited English proficiency live in the United States. Nearly 20 percent of our population cannot understand English to a degree that allows them to interact with government, schools, businesses, medical providers and emergency personnel.”

DELAWARE ELECTRIC - July 24 - Senator Hillary Clinton is asking the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to support a renewable energy plan proposed by Delaware County. The proposed plan would take water at the Cannonsville Reservoir along with three others in upstate New York and produce enough clean energy to power about 20,000 homes. Senator Clinton stressed the project is critical to these reservoir communities because their economic development options have been limited in order to protect the watershed.

I used to have this re-occurring image in my head through out the campaign and it was of Hillary in a long flowing robe, her hair long and blond, small strands pulled back to the sides; her hands are folded in front of her and she is moving fast towards a bell that she eventually rings. When that image would flash through my head I took it as a sign that she was going to win. Hillary will win because she will follow her heart, grow as a woman & person, push her boundaries, shake off any more fears - not sure if there are any left at this point and live her life with a boundless sense of purpose. Our girl, our Hillary, our hero will always be a winner and a warrior.

Puma cats roar. Carry the banner - fighting - meowwwwww. Puma daddy cat roars. We're takin back the White House. Puma mama roars meet me in Denver. We're takin back back the White House.

As I See It

By Janet Levy
Activist

One of the headlines in our local newspaper today says “An impressive war chest-but can Obama keep filling it?”

As we are all aware, Obama has broken his campaign promise and became the first candidate in three decades to bypass public funds. His true politician’s side is showing through, not too surprised from this end. I find it appalling how much this Election 2008 is costing, with Obama being the highest spender of all candidates thus far! I understand Obama has raised $340 million to date during his presidential run.

According to political strategists “Obama needs to maintain this pace…to match his best-ever month - every month.” McCain and the Republican Party will have $400 million to spend on the presidential campaign in the months before the November election. Obama and the Democratic Party, in order to surpass that level of spending, will have to raise $100 Million a month” according to these experts.

I guess the Democratic Party is indeed anxious. David Plouffe says “we have developed a strategy- a very aggressive strategy- that will only work if our millions of supporters continue to contribute their time and their money.” So, how much are they relying on Hillary supporters to help Obama? I honestly feel I can’t because I don’t like how Hillary has been treated by his campaign, Obama, his supporters and the overall media.

Personally I would prefer to help Hillary pay off her ten million dollar debt before I make any other political contributions. What I find amusing now is the fact that Kerry is suggesting that Obama choose Hillary as his running mate in order to get our financial support, and of course our votes. I am still struggling with this election of 2008. I don’t want McCain and I can’t embrace Obama’s candidacy (and no, it has NOTHING to do with his race or gender, despite other folks perception as such!).

My dream is still that at the time of the Convention the DNC will see the light. The Super Delegates who have not as yet supported Obama will support Hillary and finally the Democratic Party will have Senator Clinton as the official Democratic Nominee. I am very doubtful that Obama can beat McCain and the Republican Mean Machine. I know in my heart that Hillary could beat him.

Not the Church, Not the State, Women Must Decide Their Fate

By Marcia Pappas
President NOW-NYS

McCain…Obama…McCain…Obama…McCain…Obama... You're in the voting booth, ready to pull the lever, punch the card, touch the screen, or write in your preference. Your passion is reproductive rights for ALL women, because without that autonomy and self determination, any women's rights gained in the past forty years are for naught.

And make no doubt about it, reproductive rights are under relentless siege in the United States and around the world. Already young women, some of them impregnated by abusive relatives, must jump through the legislative hoops of mandatory parental consent and/or judicial review by anti-choice judges. And in many states, poor women seeking birth control must fight through picket lines while those needing abortions must travel hundreds of miles for far more visits than are necessary, sometimes encountering obstacles that are actually life-threatening.

For women with money, securing an abortion has always been easier. But even these women with means are far more at risk than is generally suspected among this current generation of Americans who have grown up with reproductive rights as a fact of life. Under our next president, all women will find it more difficult to obtain reproductive care, even if the status quo remains on the Supreme Court. And indeed those women who cannot get the services they need will again be dying of botched or back-alley abortions, as did young Becky Bell of Indiana , not so long ago.

Many feminists and women’s rights supporters are convinced we must elect Obama to protect the US Supreme Court and women’s reproductive rights. They know that McCain has persistently promised to appoint anti-choice Supreme Court justices who will overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision recognizing abortion as a privacy right.

But would our reproductive autonomy be any more protected by an Obama presidency than by McCain's? In his recent effort to placate right-wing fundamentalists, the presumptive Democratic nominee has announced he will expand, to the tune of one half billion dollars, Bush’s "faith-based" initiative which distributes federal tax dollars to sectarian religious groups, most of whom lobby extensively against women's reproductive rights and lesbian/gay civil rights. The program itself flies in the face of our Constitution's required Church/State separation. And Obama, the ostensibly pro-choice candidate wants to EXPAND this theocratic machinery?

Many churches have “relief funds” through which they receive money to run programs for immigrants and the poor. If the available funds for helping needy women are funneled to service providers such as Catholic Charities, how will these poor women even know about much less get birth control so they will not be forced to bring into the world children they cannot support. Where is the “relief” for these girls and women? And doesn't this increase, rather than reduce the need for abortions?

Finally, does anyone connect the dots about the "faith-based" expansion and the fact that Catholic leaders in Richmond , VA just fired four Commonwealth Catholic Charities workers because they helped a poor Guatemalan teenager obtain an abortion? This is the same organization that already receives $7.6 million a year in federal funds.

Is it really too late? The Democratic Convention is not until August. Only a tiny percentage of super delegates would have to change their declared preferences, to pick the real, feminist, pro-choice candidate, and to curtail this sea-change shift to the center by yesterday's liberal who is today's new religionist. We of NOW-NYS oppose Obama's "faith-based" politicking. And we want a true supporter of women's rights in the White House. Hint hint, she’s really pro choice.

Our Activism Worked!

Thanks to all of those across the country that sent letters to their Senators. They heard our voices and the U.S. Senate voted to repleal the ban that prevented HIV positive individuals from entering the U.S. or for those seeking permanent residency. Now hopefully we can join all the other advanced nations of the world who treat HIV+ people with more respect than we do - at least on this account.

Senate votes to repeal HIV travel ban
July 17, 2008Chris Johnson
Yesterday afternoon, the Senate passed a crucial global HIV/AIDS funding bill that included an amendment to repeal the ban preventing HIV positive individuals from entering and seeking permanent residency in the United States under most circumstances: PEPFAR passed the Senate with the Kerry-Smith provision by a vote of 80 to 16 and now moves to conference committee before being sent to the President. The travel and immigration ban prohibits HIV-positive foreign nationals from entering the U.S. unless they obtain a special waiver, which can only allow for short-term travel. Current policy also prevents the vast majority of foreign nationals with HIV from obtaining legal permanent residency in the United States.[...] "We call on the leaders of the House and Senate to retain the Kerry-Smith provision in conference and ensure it is included in the final legislation sent to the President’s desk," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. This is, obviously, a long overdue development and removes n of the last vestiges of Jesse Helm's legacy of fear and discrimination.

Stop the Discrimination Against HIV+ People

This is a letter that I received from the Human Rights Campaign regarding our ridiculous and blatantly immoral policy regarding HIV+ people. Please send a letter to your Senators asking them to support the Kerry-Smith provision in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). You can do that by clicking here.

Dear Tim,

Former Senator Jesse Helms, the notorious author of dozens of measures attacking GLBT and HIV-positive people during his years in the Senate, died on July 4. Unfortunately, the legacy of discrimination against HIV-positive people he helped to create lives on in a law that bars nearly every foreign person with HIV from entering the United States. That's right – with very few exceptions, an HIV-positive individual cannot come to the United States for any reason, be it to visit, work, study or become a legal resident.

It's an embarrassment and an outrage. And at long last, we have a chance to bring it to an end.

Ask your Senator to stand up against bias and ensure that the ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants is repealed.

Earlier this year, Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Smith (R-OR) added language to repeal this discriminatory law that was included in legislation reauthorizing efforts to fight HIV across the globe, commonly known as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). We thought we were close to finally ending the discriminatory ban which prevents HIV positive individuals from entering the country or obtaining legal U.S. citizenship.

But now, just as Congress is preparing to vote on the PEPFAR bill anti-gay Senators are pushing to remove this critical provision keeping the discriminatory ban in place.

Send a message urging your Senator to support the Kerry-Smith provision and to ensure that the repeal of the ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants remains in PEPFAR.

This discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS is inexcusable, and the policy has serious consequences. It separates families, denies American businesses access to talented workers, and bars students and tourists from accessing opportunities and supporting our economy. And it is just downright wrong.

Because of stigma alone, HIV is the only medical condition codified in U.S. law as a basis for inadmissibility for short-term travel and immigration – the admissibility of persons with all other communicable diseases is at the discretion of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Removing the ban would treat HIV/AIDS like all other medical conditions in the eyes of the law. The U.S. is one of only 12 countries – including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Sudan – that maintains such harsh and outdated travel and immigration restrictions on people living with HIV.

No one should be punished by the law because of their HIV status. That's why we need to make sure this critical provision remains in PEPFAR and this discriminatory ban is finally abolished. When your Senator votes this week on whether or not to remove the ban from PEPFAR, make sure they know that this discrimination against HIV-positive individuals must end.

Please ask your Senator to reject discrimination and stigma and support the Kerry-Smith repeal of the ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants in PEPFAR.

With your help, I know we can make real progress towards eliminating this draconian policy. Thank you for taking action today.

Warmly,

Joe Solmonese
President

Back to Normal

Can America finally move away from using the LGBT community enough so that we can have a break-through in the freedom of loving LGBT couples in California to marry? Will we be able to stand up to those politicians, people and institutions that blame and use LGBT for their own political and personal gain? Speaking for myself I am getting tired of being blamed for natural disasters, acts of terrorism, even prison abuse at Abu Ghraib - let alone the sanctity of my neighbor's marriage. Of course the Republican Party and George Bush used gays brilliantly - playing us like a fiddle so they could rally their voters to the polls. Mr. Bush wanted Americans to be afraid of terrorists and he wanted us to be afraid of gay people - particularly the marrying kind.

Now with California moving to the forefront of the gay marriage battle once again with the recent State Supreme Court ruling on the right of gays and lesbians to marry, right wing conservative groups have already started to gather signatures for a ballot initiative to ban same sex marriage in the State of California. But the LGBT community and their supporters are gearing up for the fight. Groups like the Human Rights Campaign and Equality for All are organizing and fundraising to fight back against this divisive amendment. One thing you can do right now if you are a California voter is vow to vote no on Proposition 8 by signing Equality for All's Vow to Vote No pledge. Another part of our campaign for equality is to get as many people as we can married. The idea being somewhat like coming out in that when you put names to all the faces of all these happy gay and lesbian couples and when those couples are your neighbors and your co-workers it will be a lot harder for those that fear us to deny us our rights - in other words visibility is key. Even where I work - UCSF - they are organizing a campaign to get members of the campus community to submit their wedding photos to help raise awareness and funds!

Hi, all,

In an effort to defeat the anti-marriage amendment, a group of faculty, staff, and students are organizing a huge fundraising effort to mobilize our friends and colleagues on campus and in the larger Bay Area health care community.

We are putting together our own website for this effort and feel it would be more effective if it included photos of couples from our campus community who either have married or plan to marry (or who simply feel deeply affected by this issue).

If you are interested in including your photo, please send a copy to me at my personal email: Rob@Daroff.com. Please include your names as you would like them to appear, and the date of your wedding if applicable.

If you are interested in helping with the fundraising campaign, also feel free to contact me or join our group, the UCSF Protect Our Constitution Interest Group.

Thanks!

-Rob

Robert B. Daroff, Jr., MD
Clinical Professor

All of this reminds me of a column I read back in the 90's by Rob Morse in the San Francisco Chronicle. Mr. Morse a happily married heterosexual male got it! He was wise enough, mature enough, and astute enough to know that the happiness and health of his marriage did not depend nor was it diminished by gay and lesbian people being married. To wit "They should do some field work in San Francisco, where the only normal people on the average block are gay couples. I live in a bungalow that was occupied for 45 years by two women, easily the stablest relationship for a radius of three mile. On my old block the two gay men next door were quiet, loving neat and owned a successful small business. The other neighbors included a psychopathic heterosexual redneck couple who kept .357 Magnum stashed in their broken dishwasher, and a zoned-out-heterosexual hippie couple who grew pot in a house with so many grow-lights it glowed like something from "The X-Files." Everybody else was single and lonely." wrote Morse.

Now we have a chance to bring equality to gays and lesbian couples in California; helping create the social support necessary to help foster an environment that alleviates some of that singleness and loneliness that Morse wrote about back in the "Defense of Marriage" days. Come on America just think of all these gays and lesbians as a bunch of crazy teenagers who fell in love and got hitched. If you can't support them then at least leave them alone so they can try and build a stable and loving family for themselves. The world won't end, the sky won't crack open, American civilization won't end as we know it but maybe just maybe some of us will have a little more happiness and companionship in our journey through life.

An Unreasonable Hillary Supporter

Got the PUMA letter below via email and think it is a great and easy action item. During the campaign I always promised myself to at least do one thing for Hillary's campaign each day. Now let me promise myself to do one thing for democracy or to help right one injustice everyday. I used my own media list too and sent the letter below. I recommend you do the same so that even more media outlets are made aware of the activities of the PUMA coalition.

By the way, I watched "An Unreasonable Man" a documentary about Ralph Nader. The documentary exposed the Democratic Party's successful effort to marginalize Ralph Nader by making him the scapegoat for Al Gore's loss of the Presidency - complete with a stunning quote by a former hero of mine Jimmy Carter. He told a very large audience of people that Ralph "should go back to checking the rear ends of cars" (paraphrasing). The documentary also exposed how the Presidential Commission on Debates is controlled by big business. In light of this I feel I need to investigate some more and might consider voting for Nader and Gonzalez in November if I can't vote for Hillary. I am somewhat familiar with Matt Gonzalez as he is a San Francisco politician and I live in the Bay Area. He definitely scores points for being hot! Anyways, he was one of the few San Francisco latte liberals that didn't drink the kool-aid and came out AGAINST Obama early on with a scathing critique of his words and record in "Count Me Out - The Obama Craze."

I need to understand more about John McCain's position on LGBT rights before I would consider voting for him. I like John McCain. I trust John McCain. I know John McCain loves and has served his country honorably. But I will not support anyone who does not support something as fundamental as my civil rights. It's just that plain and simple. So more investigation is to be done on this issue for me as I don't know enough at this time.

PUMA Email -

Dear PUMA

Sharpen your claws and ready your growl. Action for today is to send emails to the following list. Copy and paste this list into the “send to” window. Copy and past the letter below (starting with JULY 9, 2008 and ending with the disclaimer) and paste it into the body of the letter. For the subject put “PUMA POWER”. When you have sent this, get on the blog and brag!

2020@abc.com 48hours@cbsnews.com atc@npr.org ccoppola@evtrib.com Colmes@foxnews.com comments@foxnews.com earlyshow@cbs.com evening@cbsnews.com Foxreport@foxnews.com ftn@cbsnews.com Hannity@foxnews.com hardball@msnbc.com jripley@evtrib.com larryking@cnn.com loudobbs@cnn.com mamapumamass@aol.com morningedition@npr.org moyersonpbs@thirteen.org netaudr@abc.com nightline@abcnews.com nightly@nbc.com onthemedia@wnyc.org Ontherecord@foxnews.com Oreilly@foxnews.com rush@eibnet.com talk@npr.org today@nbc.com yourcomments@foxnews.com newshour@pbs.org

________________________________________________________________________
JULY 9, 2008 Contact: Murphy@pumapac.org

DARRAGH MURPHY AT PUMA PAC ANNOUNCES 5 DAYS OF INTENSE POLITICAL ACTION
Puma PAC, People United Means Action, is the Voice of the Voters in the Democratic Party. We are Protesting the Election of 2008, and WILL NOT SUPPORT the DNC’s selected nominee. We have thousands of members in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C. Our website is visited tens of thousands of times a day, and nearly ¾ million visits have been logged since we began on June 3, 2008.

In the last 5 DAYS alone, 4 of which were a long holiday weekend, Puma PAC has accomplished tens of thousands of political actions.

THOUSANDS OF PUMA PAC MEMBERS FROM ALL ACROSS THE USA HAVE:
• Sent over 20,000 emails and letters to elected and public officials
• Sent over 1,000 faxes and made hundreds of phone calls
• Produced and distributed over 10,000 fliers all across the country in
24 hours
• Raised thousands of dollars from individual contributors around the
country
• Organized and executed several local actions in Miami, Manhattan, and
Minneapolis
• Ordered sky banner ads to fly over beaches all around the nation
• Intensified our planning for Denver
• Begun work on a documentary with a Los Angeles film company about
this primary campaign and our Puma PAC movement.

This week is not yet half over. We have more and bigger plans for the NEXT 5 days. The Puma PAC movement is spreading like wildfire across the Internet and the country. We are the Voice of the Voters in the Democratic Party. We are the ones who win elections for those politicians who represent the interests of ALL Democrats in ALL 50 states, and who uphold the foundational values of Representational Democracy upon which our government of the people, by the people, and for the people is built.

_______________________________________________________________________
Presented by P.U.M.A. PAC, People United Means Action, an unconnected political action committee. Puma PAC is the Voice of the Voters
(http://blog.pumapac.org) and is not affiliated with any candidate or candidate's committee.

Unity circa 1970: We've come a long way baby?

I believe one of the most important National events of the 70's was the National Women's Conference - The National Women's Conference, which was held in Houston, was the largest assembly of women in the United States at the time. The U.S. Congress had requested that a women's conference be set up to find barriers which do not allow women to actively participate equally in our society, and ways to eliminate those barriers. There were 1,442 delegates who had been elected at fifty-six state and territorial meetings that were open to the public; four-hundred more had been appointed at large by a national commission. At the Houston conference the women were of all races, ages, income brackets, occupations and opinions. They were black, white, yellow, Spanish, Indian , Mexican and four of the delegates were Eskimos. There were Democrats, Republicans, radicals, and conservatives that joined in the event. Rosalynn Carter, Betty Ford, and Lady Bird Johnson turned up to endorse the National Women's Conference. Along with all of these women, there was also twelve-thousand observers who packed themselves in the Sam Houston Coliseum.

The conference's charge? Come up with a set of recommendations to be submitted to President Carter. By law, President Carter had to submit the recommendations to Congress within 120 days after receiving the recommendations. The delegates accomplished a 25 point national plan of action: passed the Equal Rights Amendment; a national health insurance plan; a federal campaign to educate women on their right to credit; federally and state funded programs for victims of child abuse, and for rape prevention education; freedom of choice on abortion along with funds for those who can not afford an abortion; elimination of job, housing, and credit discrimination against lesbians; custody rights for lesbians; an expansion of bilingual education; an extension of social security benefits to women who work at home; state supported shelters for women who are physically abused by their husbands; and lastly a federal rural program designed to overcome poverty and unemployment.

The three most controversial issues at the National Women's Conference were the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion, and lesbian rights. Even though support of the ERA, support of the freedom to choose in terms of abortion, and recognition of lesbians and lesbian rights all eventually passed - all three areas were hotly debated. But what was the driving force that eventually helped pass these "controversial" issues at the time? The answer was UNITY.

Even though everybody did not agree on everything, the National Women's Conference can be remembered for its' UNITY and their accomplishment of their twenty-five point plan of action. New Yorker Letty Pogrebin recalled seeing a black delegate wearing and orange armband in support of lesbian rights, a button favoring abortion and a pro ERA button. Originally, the delegate had only worn one insignia, that backing the ERA. Said Pogrebin, "She was the best example of the progress of those three days in Houston."

We've come a long way baby. But unfortunately in the wrong direction and down the wrong road. Now UNITY is used not to garner support for doing the right thing but to gloss over very real difference of opinions on issues; to push a candidate that was selected not elected; and as an excuse to forget about all those pesky things like voter's rights,one person one vote, and a biased and sexist media to name a few. The call to UNITY by the Democratic Party is not a call to our higher natures, it a call for selective amnesia really. Just as Hillary used to rely on the spirit of one of her heroes - Eleneor Roosevelt - during some of her toughest times in the White House for inspiration, hopefully the spirits of all those women that gathered for those few days in Houston and used UNITY to help each other find the courage to fight for what was right will inspire all us that are ashamed of our country for the recent primary election to keep fighting. Often I read or heard women comment during the primary that the country needed a new or re-energized women's movement. They, like me, couldn't understand why more people, in particular more women were not outraged and active. When three times the number of women go to see the opening of the new "Sex in the City" movie than vote for Hillary Clinton, a uniquely qualified woman during the most historic of primaries I think we can say "Houston - we got a problem." Houston with your energy, your show of UNITY, and your legacy - light the rocket boosters of our imaginations once again cause we've gotta long way to go baby.