Sunday, January 21, 2007

Wake Up America!!!



This is a picture taken in September, 2005 at a huge anti-Iraq march in Washington, DC.
We made sure we bought the appropriate t-shirts before marching. You will notice that my husband, Sujoy is wearing a t-shirt that says; "Bush Lied, People Died."

I just came across an ad that states that a similar t-shirt is now BANNED in two states:

"Bush Lied They Died T-Shirt
Says "Bush Lied" on the front and "They Died" on the back. With names of all 2,803 U.S. troops killed in Iraq through 0ct. 23, 2006. List of names is preceded by larger text that reads "U.S. Troops Who Died in Iraq from March 20 2003 Through October 23, 2006."

Selling this shirt is illegal in two states and may soon be illegal nationwide. With your support, we will continue to sell this shirt in all 50 states until the troops come home or they throw us in jail, whichever comes first. "


Enough is enough. How the hell can we "export" democracy when we are CENSORING what may be printed on t-shirts? Free speech? Ha!

It's not funny. It is FREAKING ME OUT.

I saw Cindy Sheehan the day we marched. I said hello...I wasn't sure if it was her or not actually, but now looking at pictures of her again, I realized it was her. She was so sad. She was the reason why I marched. I admire a woman with such courage. Being a mother, I understand her pain and heartache. I could NEVER imagine losing my child...for NO GOOD REASON.

I received this bulletin from her MySpace site today. For those of you who are opposed to the war and the loss of many of our Constitutional freedoms, I think it is imperative that you let your voice be heard...while it's still legal!! If you don't want to read the entire message, scroll down to the bottom of it to see how you can help stop this senseless war.

The Price of Freedom
24
Cindy Sheehan



I received this message on my MySpace page. The person’s picture that accompanied the message was of a young man standing next to a bright-shiny red truck. Obviously, he hasn’t taken advantage of his GI education benefits to avail himself of an English Comp class, but that is beside the point.


"Becoming a disabled vet during a time of "peace", I saw things, did things that you average Americans could not fathom. All for the sake of our freedoms.Who cries for my shipmates lost at sea? It was peacetime so no attention was called to it. Who stands out when a pilot goes down on a trianing mission? Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, die every day. EVERY DAY! it's the life we lead. It's a dangerous job, and I did it for the love of my country. The greatest freedom YOU have is not having to worry about weather or not our military will defend you. It is thier(our) duty. It is not a choice.We accepted that when we signed up. No one forced us.And we did not get to pick or chose whom we would defend. I lost friends and loved ones both in peace and in war and thier sacrifice is greater than your lose. But to you, it appears, we should sit on our hands and let madmen destroy the world. So Sorry, I have seen it first hand, this cruelity called terrorism.

Another Jane Fonda.Good Grief.

All that is necessary for the truimph of evil is for good men to do nothing!

Have a Nice day. God bless our troops and America!!"


When I receive a message like this, I have to pay attention to it. This young man has lost friends in what he calls “peace” time. He has served his country unlike the Commander in Chief and the Vice Commander in Chief. He took his oath and service seriously, but I had and have a fundamental question for him---what freedoms did Casey pay the ultimate price for? What freedoms did my family gain from Casey’s death and what price did we have to pay?

I had to carefully explain to the young vet that BushCo can now read our emails, listen to our phone calls, open our mail, look at our phone and bank records and imprison us without our fundamental rights of habeas corpus. The people of Iraq don’t even have the freedom of going to school, mosque or the market without the potentiality of being blown to tiny pieces. They did go out and “vote” in a day that they were finally protected by the US military for candidates that didn’t even get to campaign for fear of assassination.

I would like to tell this young vet and the millions of Americans who disapprove of Bloody George and his war OF terror who don’t do anything but complain what this raping of our freedoms cost my family and 3046 other families to date here in America.

There were 24 of our troops killed in the 3rd bloodiest day for American soldiers since the sinister invasion almost four years ago. Their families don’t even know (but I know the moms suspect) that their loved one has been killed on foreign sands so our land of the free can become the land of the less free. These 24 families are going to discover what the term “hell on earth” really means.

On the 2nd day after Casey was killed, Sgt. Major “I don’t know, but I will find out and get back with you” Mills came over to our house and nervously opened his Casualty Manual. As with the Sheehan family, Casey was the Sgt. Major’s first casualty. As Casey’s first of kin, I had to sign paper work designating a funeral home and about the funeral and other things I signed in a fog of immeasurable pain and shock. I am not sure what I signed and I don’t think the signatures would hold up in a court of law. Before he gratefully got to escape our house of sorrow, he handed me a check for $12,000 (that has since been increased to $100,000) for incidentals and informed me that I was the beneficiary for Casey’s life insurance.

The $12,000 went quickly for funeral costs. The surviving men in my family needed suits and the sisters needed appropriate funeral dresses. I had no “mother of a hero” funeral clothes. The Army only pays $4600.00 for funerals and a pittance for headstones if you don’t want to use their rigid style. The dozens of people who filled our tiny home every day needed to be fed and supplied with a seemingly bottomless well of alcohol. Our friends and neighbors in Vacaville were very generous, but all of the money we received went to a Catholic summer camp where Casey worked for a few summers. These are just monetary costs of freedom and don’t even approach the emotional and physical costs of freedom that these 24 new families are going to be forced to experience by this insanely greedy administration over the very weak protestations of a complicit Congress.

The sleepless nights; the gallons of tears; the regrets; the guilt; the physical and mental effects of depression; the different ways that each family member grieves; the anger; the unrelenting and unremitting pain; the trips to a cemetery that becomes too familiar---where new graves or headstones are noticed; the dreams; the nightmares; the abandonment of the military and the country that your son died for; the loss of appetite, the gain of appetite; the loss of hope---etc. etc---forever and ever.

Bloody George is sending more of our children to die and kill innocent Iraqis. My one consolation in Casey’s death is that it was swift---in his first battle after only being in country for 5 days. He said that he couldn’t kill anyone and I, gratefully, don’t think he did. What really chaps my hide is that Congress won’t do anything meaningful to stop Bloody George, for example, cut off the money pipeline where the money flows directly from China to the Pentagon. Except for less than a handful of members, no one in Congress, or this administration has had to get one gray hair from worry. None of them will ever sob over their child’s grave or have to stay at a Fisher House while their family member is recovering from the grievous wounds of an IED blast. Not one of the people who send our children off to war will ever lose their jobs or marriages because of their own crimes.

I told my young veteran correspondent that even if we believed that our troops dying in Iraq was securing our freedoms or making us safer, that the price was still too high. Why are mostly white American’s freedoms often bought and paid for by the blood of brown people? From the almost virtual extinction of our own native population, enslavement of Africans, mass murder of Filipinos, war crimes against Japanese in Nagasaki and Hiroshima , Koreans, Vietnamese, and now Iraqis and Afghanis, these peoples have paid and are paying an exorbitant price for our freedoms. If one person has to die to make me free, then I don’t want that freedom. It is a freedom that is purchased by bondage and carnage which is inherently compromised and soiled.

The one thing that I heartily agree with that my vet friend wrote is:

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing!



In the age of American Idol and Fox News, evidently evil is triumphing. It is time for the ¾’s of our nation who oppose what’s going on to get off of their couches and stop allowing a handful of grieving parents, ballsy women in pink, courageous military families, Raging Grannies, and a bus load of Iraq vets to do the heavy lifting for the peace movement.

We families and vets are already shouldering a heavy burden.

Help us stop Bloody George.

Because of the apathetic inaction of the majority masses, 24 new families will discover the heavy toll of freedom.

Go to United for Peace and Justice and find out how you can join hundreds of thousands---hopefully millions---of Americans around the country the weekend of January 27-29 to say no to the Bush regime and war---yes to impeachement and peace!




Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Spc. Casey Sheehan who was killed in Bush's war of terror on 04/04/04.
She is the co-founder and president of Gold Star Families for Peace and the Camp Casey Peace Institute.
She is the author of three books, the most recent is: Peace Mom: A Mother's Journey Through Heartache
to Activism.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

MODest Mum?




Hey sweeties!
This is me apres my makover by the singer/songwriter/webgoddess/hostess of the fanfuckingtastic webcast musical extravangza In the Attic.

Rachel, bless her generous fashionista heart, flew me to London, took me shopping, stuck one of my fingers in a light socket, then had William Snyder do a photo shoot of moi! (I had him re-create a sticker-laden door to replicate my daughter's at home).
The result? You decide! A little bit MOD, a little bit MAD, perhaps?
Rachel actually begged me to straighten my hair. She said, "mod gals don't have curly hair!" But I said, "Not on your life, sista! If God wants me to have big-ass hair, then it's nothing but big-ass hair for Swho!"
(My mop top is actually keeping my head warm during this dreadful cold snap we are experiencing here in California at the moment!).

Of course this is one giant lie.
I was Christmas shopping at Macy's last month and this very pale mannequin in the petite section screamed (she must have known that I have tinnitus): "BUY THIS VERY COOL MODISH- LOOKING JACKET !!! TAKE IT HOME....PLEASE!!" Wot to do? I couldn't let the little plaster of Paris lady down...

Be sure to tune into In the Attic!. If you enjoy live acoustic music by artists such as Pete Townshend,his partner Ms. Fuller herself, Martha Wainwright, The Raconteurs, and The Flaming Lips and are hip to off-the-wall politically incorrect (as in they swear a whole heck of alot) banter, then this show is for YOU. Tipper Gore- sorry hon, this show ain't for you. Al may enjoy it though (in between bong hits ...hee hee).

I guarantee you, my luvvies, your life will never be the same! Where else can you get gorgeous pearls of wisdom such as "Big is Beautiful!" and gentle reminders to "get yer bangers * out girls...that way, no one will ever notice your 52" waist!!"

Just tune in. What have you got to lose?

* Bangers is Rachel-speak for a woman's chest.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

San Francisco

Hello there.
Hope everyone is doing well -still recovering from the holidays are we?
I am!

I spent 4 days up in Northern Cal last week. My sis moved there last month from NYC. She came down for Christmas and I decided at the last minute to accompany her back up north. We left the day after Christmas and, my goodness - it took 11 freaking hours to get there! It was well worth it though. I love Palo Alto (where she lives). It's about 25 miles from San Francisco.

I took the commuter train into the City one day. It was a very nice, pleasant trip - it took about an hour.
The train took me downtown to God knows where (well it dropped me off at Townsend Street! I took that as a good omen - spelled without the 'h' though). My goal was to get to Haight-Ashbury but I had no clue how to get there! I soon found help though - a very nice cleaning lady near a bus stop gave me info on which busses to take. I was very proud of myself for taking the busses and not a taxi! ( Oh Lord help me if I consider that to be an accomplishment. Spoilt girl I am!). I enjoyed it - checking out the locals - old Asian ladies with their bags stuffed to the brim with vegetables...young skater punk kids...hippy/boho chicks...
I took 2 busses to Haight Ashbury. I had never seen this area before (the last time I was in San Francisco was back in 1981).
Yeah it's a bit touristy - but not as bad as I expected. No wax museum full of Janis Joplins, Jimi Hendrixes or The Grateful Dead! I did see a map of all the houses of famous residents but I didn't go that far! Maybe next time...
Here are some pics for ya'll. I don't know why they came out on top of eachother like that. Oh well!
My favorite is this top one on the left - a mom and son sharing a quiet cafe moment while Inflatable Annie looks on from her windowseat!














How kitschy can ya get?



I LOVED the vintage shops...



and the GORGEOUS architecture, of course!










I bought a cd from this girl - she was giving away her band's cd for a donation. The name of her band is Ghandolff and the Hobbitz. Her cd is called "Circle of Protection." Aw...so sweet. I took her picture because she really looked the part! (I didn't check out her feet though). I know it's dark - click on it to see her better. She was such a sweetie.

I just listened to the cd the other day and, um, well, it DID conjure images of little furry-footed people dancing merrily in an enchanted forest somewhere deep within Middle-earth! It was unique.









My caption for the picture below: "Girlfriend, you WISH you were as pretty as me!" Click on it to see what I mean!!!!




A startling revelation spotted on a t-shirt in a shop window:




When I returned to my sister's apartment later that evening, I found her tangled in a maze of wires. Well, not quite...but she is quite the brainiac - she was hooking up her elaborate entertainment system. I helped as best I could...shoving wires through holes and whatnot. That's as far as I get with electronic equipment!
Here's the lil' geekazoid herself (not the best pic, she was sick at the time poor babe).



Ok so she's not QUITE a genius. She may have landed a job at i-Tunes (as a software engineer) but she couldn't get the audio to work, so we ended up watching her fave Star Trek episode from the original series (an xmas gift) on her laptop. Apparently I took this picture, but I barely remember taking it (uh oh)! I had a very nice, large glass of her expensive scotch...and didn't eat much that day, so I was a bit loopy. I just remember laughing hysterically.
(I love gay men to pieces so I hope I don't offend anyone here!!).

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

New Year's Party at Swho's!!!

Yup.
This was what it looked like!!!!




We rented a helium tank that was supposed to blow up 45 balloons...turns out there was only enough helium for 6 balloons! The kids blew up the rest...good New Year's Eve project!!!