Psychodelic "Mop" Roosters

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This is my post in Craigslist.org

Psychodelic "Mop" Roosters - No Cock Fighters! - $10

Reply to: sale-115476933@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-12-03, 8:17AM MST

I have 3 mop roosters for sale. They're all less than a year old. Various and totally beautiful colors! These are not fighting roosters.

Goldie: Golden mop and hood, very bossy.


Pearl: Dark black and rust with white & black mop. Very shy and reserved.


Fink: Asymetrical mop of black & white, dark black and rust.


I may be willing to part with Red, as well. He's a Rhode Island Red. I rescued him from cockfighters. I don't know how old he is.


The mops are all avid ...cough... breeders. Will even mate with plush animals. Kinky.

Bring your own container. I don't have a car and cannot deliver.

this is in or around NW Albuquerque

no -- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

:"Starting Over:" Dangerous

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Posting to the official web forum:

"this show is dangerous"Posted by rriverstone on 11-28-05 at 01:07 PM
Today, we're to believe that shame and guilt are to be eliminated from our lives? Then, why was Jill presented with "charges" of guilt? And WHY was a Black woman mug shot and fingerprinted?!!
Why is her "life coach" calling her, "lazy?" The woman is anemic. She's carrying a forty-pound tumor. She TRIED to climb an enormous tower on the first day. She carried dozens of pounds of "luggage" around with her for -- what? -- a week or more? Her doctors have ordered that she not exercise.
Is her "life coach" the "house" servant, while Jill is the "field" servant? How dare a Black woman dump such judgmental accusations on a sister?!
WHY weren't the contestants on this show required to take a medical, physical examination, as a prerequisite to their participation?! These "life coaches" could have KILLED Jill! The blood vessels, connected to her tumor, could have ruptured and she could easily have died of internal hemmoraging!
HOW is it OK not to have regular, group therapy: a place where people could offer SUPPORTIVE feedback to each other. Why has a situation of gossip and resentment been allowed to fester for months, with no intervention?
The contestants are constantly provoked, shamed, ridiculed, verbally abused and threatened BY THE "LIFE COACHES!" I suppose this makes for more photogenic television, but it is destructive.
This show is EXTREMELY irresponsible. Following the "advice" on this show, as portrayed by these "life coaches," is dangerous.
I could well say that, were anything to happen to Jill's health, she could sue the show off the air. For one thing, they've, in effect, practiced medicine without a license, in their requirements of unreasonable and unsupervised extreme, physical exertion.
This is a VERY anti-woman show!
SHAME!

I looked at my post. The forum had placed the label, "attention whore," beside my name. They also added American Cancer Society, for some reason. I guess that's supposed to be funny??

I replied,


rriverstone 2 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "American Cancer Society Spokesperson"
11-28-05, 01:13 PM (EST)
1. "RE: this show is dangerous"
I am NOT a "whore;" I am concerned for the mental and physical health of not only the contestants, but the viewers. I'm hoping this forum will be viewed by someone involved in the show's production.
The fact that a show about women "starting over" subscribes to a forum which calls its participants "whores" says it all.
Abuse.

more on LaSardo

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I kinda/sorta got a "fan" letter. It's actually for LaSardo. Here's my reply:

At first, I was angry with him for portraying a stereotype of a Latino thug. It's old news on GH; Sonny's one, too, essentially.

I wanted to know what makes a guy like LaSardo tick. I DID find a good interview with him, in which I felt reassured that LaSardo is actually a thoughtful, well-spoken man.

And his role on Ghost Whisperer (a show I'd never watch, otherwise) confirmed for me that he's a multidimensional actor, as well. It was quite touching, actually.

I'd like to seem him in a role for which they never cast Latinos, let alone skeletal guys covered in tattoos. I bet he could play Hamlet. How about a remake of "They Call Me Mister Tibbs?" A story in which he played Jesus or Buddha might be very interesting. Stuff like that.

Glad you found the blog. I haven't been writing enough lately. I've GOT to get back to it!
LaSardo is an interesting guy. He deserves more attention to his career. He could put up his OWN website! Jees...

Email to "Ellen" show

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I have, of course, no idea if this email was even received, as their website has too many bells and whistles and doesn't function properly.

Here's what I wrote.

Gentle People,

I've been doing a little research on Robert LaSardo, whose new job is recurring character Manny Ruiz on General Hospital. He's not even listed in ABC's GH website credits.

He's a fascinating, intelligent and perceptive man. He plays a sadistic "bad guy," which worried me, as he's Latino; I was concerned about stereotypes in mass media.

I believe it would be educational and fascinating for your viewers to hear an interview with him, including clips from his indy films. He's not at all like the characters he has portrayed.

I'd LOVE to sit down and ask him lots of questions: discuss the state of commercial film vs. indy film, have him discuss the motivation for his body art, ask him about his writing and producing career and generally perceive him as a "nice guy."

My visceral response to his physical appearance is instant terror. But I KNOW there's more than meets the eye. I'm busting myself on my own racism, every time I see him!

not writing is dishonest

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Ma and I saw the movie, "Capote" the other day. It was at the fancy multiplex, where I seldom go. The Movies 8 dollar theatre is my speed; they're not new releases, but new enough, for a dollar. And it's across the street from the Goodwill warehouse, for cheap shopping.

I was sitting on the porch this morning, sipping coffee and having a smoke. It's not light out yet: just the vaguest hint that this planet orbits a sun and that it might roll that way soon.

I was thinking about death. I was thinking how people don't REALLY write about death. I was thinking how people make death into a personality, a being, and how dishonest that is. I was thinking how people don't write about the universal experience of death: the breathing, the twitches, the reduction of a loved personality to a series of biological reactions to shut down.

I was thinking people don't acknowledge, discuss, write about this universality in much detail very often. I wondered why. Maybe we're just too in denial of death, so we'll have the gumption to live? After all, if you are constantly conscious of the fact that everything you do makes little difference in the end, why strive?

Or, maybe, especially in this modern, middle class, American life, we just aren't exposed to much death? Maybe we know a handful of relatives and friends who've died. Maybe we didn't experience their deaths firsthand. They probably died in a sterile hospital. Maybe only certain professions -- slaughterhouses, hospitals -- see much death anymore. The rest of us are no longer witnesses, as we'd have been a century ago, or in another, less affluent country.

Ma and I saw James Whale's "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein" recently. We also watched "Gods and Monsters." And PBS had a biography of Mary Shelly for Halloween. Now, THERE's a person who witnessed death first hand. Her very birth killed her mother. 3 of her four children died...or was it 4 of 5? Her lover died; her sister died....friends died. No WONDER she wanted to reanimate the dead! I need to reread that book...

When I moved to Louisville from Los Angeles, I was frequently struck by the cemetaries, usually family plots or old church yards, sprinkled throughout the neighborhoods. One could easily live next door to tombstones. I remember thinking it was healthy. In Los Angeles, the dead are segregated to the outskirts of communities: out by the oil wells, self storage units and industrial parks. We never see their markers, think of their lives, think of our mortality. There's that one, old cemetary we pass as we drive on the 405 freeway. We tell each other stories of who's buried there: Jack Benny, Valentino, Al Jolson. We don't know, for sure, if any of those people are actually buried there, of course. We never pull in and have a look around. It's all just celebrity gossip.

So, between the hospitals, EMS, funeral parlors and segregated cemetaries, we really aren't exposed to death much, or dying. We make up stories about heaven and peace, without understanding how PROFOUNDLY people of past generations NEEDED to believe the dying, the suffering, might have some Great Reward, some Final Justice, at the end of the ordeal.

I was thinking, this morning, how death isn't so much a personality as an experience. And then, I realized DEATH isn't an experience; by the time you get there, you're DEAD. DYING is the experience. And we don't write about it, not really. I've seen so many creatures die. And the physical process is so similar, despite the circumstances. One watches a being one loved, with whom one has distinctly individual memories, reduced to a series of rather violent and frightening reactions, as the body struggles to maintain life. It's pretty horrifying, really.

I remembered "In Cold Blood," which we rented, along with "To Kill A Mockingbird," after viewing Capote. I remembered the hanging scene. The jerks, the twitches. In "Capote," at least, they were honest enough to say the hanged person's heart can keep beating of nineteen minutes, more or less. One wonders the experience of the hanged. Interesting, isn't it, that we place a hood over the condemned prisoner's face, so we don't have to WITNESS the facial reactions? They were hooded in "The Green Mile," too.

We don't WANT to experience it. We don't want to witness it.

Capote never wrote another book after "In Cold Blood." He squandered his remaining years on alcoholism and shoring up his porous ego. He couldn't write because, in my opinion, he could no longer be honest. He had nothing more to say that could be considered authentic.

I was angry with him this morning for giving in, being coopted by his witness of the executions of Perry and Hickock. I was angry with him for using that as an excuse not to write.

And then, I reminded myself, "Rogi, YOU're not writing, either." Oh, yeah. I've many excuses, but no reasons, why I stopped writing in these blogs. I'll discuss some, I'm sure.

But I just wanted someone to know that, in the predawn chill of my front porch today, I caught myself in the act, came in and started writing. Gotta let the cat in.

Mental "Health" Industry Exploits Disaster for Profits

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From: CCHR [mailto:news@cchr.org]
Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2005 6:37 PM
To: CCHR Int
Subject: Beware the "Grief Police" Taking Advantage of Katrina Victims



Topic: Beware the "Grief Police" Taking Advantage of Katrina Victims



Mental Health Industry Exploits Disaster for Profits



The mental health industry is descending on the Katrina-ravaged gulf region in massive numbers expecting to reap large government appropriations for psychiatric treatment of hurricane victims and relief workers. Self-interested mental health practitioners and psychiatric front groups, warning of dire mental health consequences for victims, relief workers, and society at large are lining up in droves for their anticipated bonanza. Sept 4 Atlanta-Constitution Journal article.



Insight Magazine, a Washington Times publication, published an expose' in January 2002 on the mental health industry's blueprint for financial gain following such disasters as the Oklahoma City bombing and September 11. Profitable tactics included mandatory mental health screenings, involuntary commitments and forced drugging - beginning with police, firefighters and volunteers working at the disaster site. Click here to access the full text of the Insight Magazine article, "The Grief Police", by Kelly Patricia O'Meara.



Psychiatrists are already promoting the use of mind-altering drugs for victims and relief workers, which carry strong warnings of suicidality, hostility and violence from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its European equivalent, CHMP. September 6 Forbes article.





For interviews with investigative reporter Kelly Patricia O'Meara and other experts, call Ben Williams at 800-869-2247

CCHR.org

Katrina Jobs

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If you are an evacuee who worked in the tourism and travel industries in affected areas, people are looking for you to give you a pay check. In addition, the travel industry is launching a web site, opening September 15, to help you locate employment in your new locations.

Go to Katrina Jobs for further information.

Hurricane survivors

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Hurricane Katrina Survivors a blog. If you're missing someone, check here.

Katrina Housing If you have housing to offer, or if you need housing, check here.

Saturday, Sept. 10: No Gas Day

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September 10th, 2005 - purchase NO GAS!
IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE IN THE UNITED STATES DID NOT PURCHASE A DROP OF GASOLINE FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE OIL COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES.

AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OF OVER 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF THE OIL COMPANIES.

THEREFORE Sept 10TH HAS BEEN FORMALLY DECLARED "STICK IT TO THEM? DAY" AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF GASOLINE THAT DAY.

THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY PEOPLE A S YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORD OUT.

REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY IS THE PRICE OF GASOLINE GOING UP BUT AT THE SAME TIME AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES, TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH EFFECTS PRICES ON EVERYTHING THAT IS SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING MATERIALS, MEDICAL SUPPLIES ETC. WHO PAYS IN THE END? WE DO!

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY, WE WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.

SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD



Remember: September 10th, 2005 - purchase NO GAS!

Laura Bush: Poor benefit from Katrina

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NEW YORK Accompanying her husband, former President George
H.W.Bush, on a tour of hurricane relief centers in
Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the
poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, "This is working very well for them." . . .

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."



http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054719

Refugees---gramatically wrong??

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Subject: Re: [KUNMIDEAS-L] Refugees---gramatically wrong??
To: KUNMIDEAS-L@LIST.UNM.EDU


I think the people who resent the label, "refugee,"
are reacting to the pity factor in popular culture and
mainstream media.

I think they're afraid they'll be lumped in with
refugees from other countries' natural and political
disasters. I think they resent the notion that they're
not tax-paying Americans.

I also think this need to distance oneself from
so-called "third world" peoples is a reaction to right
wing propaganda, such as talk radio.

People don't want to be associated with the
mythology/urban legend/propaganda archetypes of
welfare cheats, bums, mooches...ad nauseum.

It's a dang shame, in my opinion: with Katrina --as
with 911-- we had another, perfect opportunity for US
citizens to begin to identify with the global
community. We had an opportunity to raise our
consciousness, break out of our privileged
isolationism, and begin to identify with the masses of
most of the Human population.

There are communities of millions of people on this
planet who NEVER have electricity, running water,
secure food supplies or sewage. They live in
deprivation daily, for generations.

We had a chance to learn something about deprivation
in this crisis.

And we had a chance to break those myths and urban
legends wide open and reveal them for the manipulative
lies they really are.

I wondered, when Mayor Chavez bragged that the city
has a thousand apartment units in this city which are
currently vacant: why are so MANY children here
HOMELESS then? Why aren't those units already and
always filled to capacity?

I see homeless families all over this city, all the
time. Why don't we raise money and donations for them?
Because we blame the victim? Because we buy into the
lies of the propaganda spin machines?

Why didn't the panel guests for the Homelessness
Marathon get pate, shrimp and roast beef--as the
donors did recently?

So, "refugee" is a not US distinction? Ah. not us

Sounds like internalized class-ism, to me. Just my opinion.

Rogi Riverstone

http://rriverstone.com

Subject: Re: [KUNMIDEAS-L] Subject: Re: [KUNMIDEAS-L] Refugees---gramatically wrong??
To: KUNMIDEAS-L@LIST.UNM.EDU


Vince said, "Just like we can't feed and clothe (and
house) our own downtrodden, but
if we get Katrina Evacuees (and the national media) we
can move the
damn Sandias!"

You've explained a great mystery to me, Vince. For
years, I wondered why the "Peace and Justice" Center
was located in cushy Snob Hill and not in the "War
Zone," where it's desperately needed.

Easier to feel sorry for Guatemalan kids, five
thousand of miles away, rather than risk tuberculosis,
from Guatamalan kids, five miles away.... sigh.
Mustn't dirty the hand that feeds...

Rogi Riverstone

http://rriverstone.com

NM Town Hall on Katrina

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Subject: Re: [KUNMIDEAS-L] NM Town hall on Katrina?
To: KUNMIDEAS-L@LIST.UNM.EDU


May I suggest this town hall provide specific,
practical information and discussion about what we can
do, right here, to circumvent the experiences of New
Orleans?

I was just thinking, this morning: I need to build a
solar generator for electricity; I need to get some
iodine and some charcoal for water filtering and
purification; I need to expand my rotating stock of
preserved foods; I need to think about battery-powered
light, radio and other appliances, etc.

Can our city immediately activate city and APS busses,
to evacuate EVERYBODY? Can we store and rotate
emergency water, food, medical and sanitary supplies
in city facilities, such as the Pit and the Convention
center? Can we supply city facilities with solar or
wind generators, so our buildings are self-powering?
Can we educate our population on how to leave? If we
can't evacuate, can our population be educated on how
to survive here?

Can we supply medicines, such as insulin, to those who
need them?

How can the citizens of Albq. prepare ourselves for
disaster? How do we avoid the violence we see in the
Delta? How will we provide for the rural communities,
who will be cut off far longer than urban areas? What
alternative forms of communication, such as ham radio,
can we utilize to stay in contact with the outside
world (I'm also seriously considering building a ham
radio, myself).

If we DON'T depend on government (which seems to be
helpless in the face of real catastrophe), how do we
provide for ourselves, so we will be survivors, rather
than victims?

I suggest that, if we put the needs of our children
first, we'll have the resources necessary to take care
of ALL of us! What's good for the kids is good for the community.

Rogi Riverstone

http://rriverstone.com

"War Zone?"

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Subject: [KUNMIDEAS-L] "War Zone?"
To: KUNMIDEAS-L@LIST.UNM.EDU


When I first moved to the La Mesa neighborhood, I,
too, resisted the label of "War Zone" to describe my
community.

I soon realized that it was the property owners, north
of Copper Street, for whom this term is the most
problematic. They're VERY worried about their property
values, understandably.

But it is THEY, and the APD, who have declared war on
those of us, south of Copper, who rent.

We can't function, as a result. We're constantly under
the most miniscule scrutiny. Yeah, we're poor. We work
on our own cars, and sometimes, those are on concrete
blocks in our yards. Selective enforcement sees to it
that it is only OUR cars that are cited as
nonoperating vehicles.

Selective enforcement of ordinances, laws and
legislation torments us. Things that are considered
"Quaint," things tourists snap photos of in other
neighborhoods in Albuquerque, are considered
indications of insanity and slovenliness in the War
Zone. I specifically am thinking of the Aztec Hotel,
covered in wine bottles, stuffed animals and plastic
flowers. If you "decorate" like that in the War Zone,
the city will use the "nuisance" abatement ordinances
to get you EVICTED and get your property condemned!

I have called the police, only to have them stand in
my yard, screaming and cursing at ME! If you live in
the War Zone, you MUST be up to something, or must be
crazy.

I was stalked by a mental patient. He was robbing me.
He beat me. He tried to rape me. The police did
NOTHING. In fact, they used the fact that I'd called
the police so many times as an excuse to get ME
evicted by the "nuisance" abatement ordinances!! If
there are too many calls to the police about a
specific address, they can enforce that law!

NOBODY would help me. I was instantly homeless, and my
neighbors broke in and robbed me blind.

Apparantly, stalking laws only apply to middle class,
heterosexual women.

Now, I suspect my stalker was this guy, Hide (Hyde?),
who just killed five people, including two cops!

The neighborhood association, which, poetically, calls
itself the La Mesa CIA (community improvement
association) played a MAJOR ROLE in getting me thrown
out of the neighborhood.

I had marched with them in antidrug rallies. I had
attended their meetings. For years, every child in the
War Zone was welcomed in my home for sanctuary,
instruction, food, clothing, etc.

But the CIA blamed ME for criminal activity of these
kids, when they were NOT at my home. I, of course,
said, "Those kids are at my home from 3pm-9pm (just
before cerfew), weekdays. They're at my house for up
to ten hours a day on weekends. Imagine, then, how
MUCH trouble they could be causing, during those
hours, were they not with ME! And what are YOU doing
to improve their lives, save them from incest, educate
them? Have you ever given any of them one pencil for
homework??"


As a result, I was made homeless, treated as a
criminal, and banished from the neighborhood.

It all happened in FRONT of the kids. So, they got the
clear message, "If you TRY to improve conditions in
this slum, THIS is what we'll do to you!"

I had sent copies of my emails about the stalking to:
APD Chief, AFD Chief, Mayor, Abq. Tribune and the
Governor's office. An animal control officer, present
the day of my eviction, HEARD a fire marshall say,
"the mayor wants this house bulldozed to the ground,
and that bitch locked up."

People are DYING of neglect, prejudice and selective
enforcement in that community. There's no rehab.
There's on social outreach. There's no job training.
There are NO JOBS!!! And our CARS get towed, in
selective sting operations -- ostensibly looking for
no seat belts, broken lights, cracked windshields --
when we're pulled over for unannounce road blocks that
fill city coffers and leave us without transportation
to our DISHWASHING jobs in the far, North East
Heights.

SLUMLORDS, in the University area? PLEASE!! WE have to
stockpile water, because our landlords leave for
vacation without paying water bills! Our CEILINGS
collapse in the monsoons! Our electricity and gas go
out more than WE do! It's not safe to walk two blocks
to the grocery, for all the punks vending crack
outside the Philadelphia Ministries "Half Way" house,
which is really just a SCAM for the so-called
"Minister," who holds the residents hostage as forced
labor for his CONTRACTING business!!

We walk through human feces, daily. Our kids have
asthma. We have rats. You can't drink a beverage at
night, without leaving a light on, because the ROACHES
will climb into your glass AS YOU DRINK IT!

NOBODY cares about us. We are FORCED to be criminals,
in order to just survive.

La Mesa means "The Table," yet there's no room at the
table for US!

WE didn't declare war; THEY did.

Rogi Riverstone

http://rriverstone.com

"Vote" Image

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For reasons I can't explain, people have been visiting the composite image I made called, "vote." It's an online jpeg, taken from a real newspaper photo. No, I didn't remember to cite my source, dang it. I also added the caption, "Vote," in red. I created it for the 2004 elections in the USA.

Here's the image, since Google images search seems to have issues: http://rriverstone.com/images/vote.jpg

Hurricane Housing

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Dear MoveOn member,

Hurricane Katrina's toll on communities, homes and lives has devastate= d the nation. Now victims must face the daunting question of where to go next—and= we can help.

Tens of thousands of newly homeless families are being bused to a stadium in Houston, where they may wait for weeks or months. At least 80,= 000 are competing for area shelters, and countless more are in motels, cars, or w= herever they can stay out of the elements. The Federal Emergency Management Agenc= y and the Red Cross are scrambling to find shelter for the displaced.

This morning, we've launched an emergency national housing drive to= connect your empty beds with hurricane victims who desperately need a place to wait ou= t the storm. You can post your offer of housing (a spare room, extra bed, even a decen= t couch) and search for available housing online at:

http://www.hurricanehousing.org

Housing is most urgently needed within reasonable driving distance (ab= out 300 miles) of the affected areas in the Southeast, especially New Orleans.

Please forward this message to anyo= ne you know in the region who might be able to help.

But no matter where you live, your housing could still make a world of= difference to a person or family in need, so please offer what you can.

The process is simple:


You can sign up to become a host by = posting a description of whatever housing you have available, along with contact information. Y= ou can change or remove your offer at any time.


Hurricane victims, local and nationa= l relief organizations, friends and relatives can search the site for housing. We'll do everythin= g we can to get your offers where they are needed most. Many shelters actually al= ready have Internet access,=20 but folks without 'net access can still make use of the site through case= workers and family members.


Hurricane victims or relief agencies= will contact hosts and together decide if it's a good match and make the necessary tra= vel arrangements. The host's address is not released until a particular match is agreed on.=

If hosting doesn't work for you, please consider donating to the Red C= ross to help with the enormous tasks of rescue and recovery. You can give online = at:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3D= 859

As progressives, we share a core belief that we are all in this togeth= er, and today is an important chance to put that idea to work. There are thousand= s of families who have just lost everything and need a place to stay dry. Let's do what= we can to help.

http://www.hurricanehousing.org

Thanks for being there when it matters most.

—Noah Winer and the whole MoveOn.org Civic Action Team
Thursday, September 1st, 2005

the view from Air Force One

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From History News Network.

Save the Big Easy!

Katrina

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My donation was denied. Why?
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View All FAQs
American Red Cross Emergency Vehicles respond to disasters nationwide.
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Dear Rogi,

Thank you for your generous gift to the American Red Cross 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund. This fund makes it possible for the Red Cross to help nationwide Hurricane disaster victims of 2005 with critical needs such as shelter, food, clothing, counseling and other assistance. It's because of the 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund that our response can be immediate regardless of its location or the community’s ability to financially support our efforts.

Your generous support means the most to the families who rely on Red Cross to help them through some of the most difficult times of their lives.

Please continue to visit us at http://www.redcross.org/ to see how we’re using your 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund donation to make a difference, and for the most current disaster updates and stories about the people being helped.

Together, we can save a life.

American Red Cross
*************************************************
To verify that your company participates in a matching gift program, please contact your human resource representative.

Please print or save this message for your personal records.

Donation Information
Donation Form:
Hurricane 2005 Relief and other Related Events
This organization's tax ID is:
53-0196605

This letter serves as the tax receipt for your gift. The American Red Cross is a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization as described in section 501(c) (3) of the IRS Code for 1984, as amended. Our tax identification number is 53-0196605. Adequate records will be maintained and made available to the IRS upon request. In accordance with IRS regulations, no goods or services were provided to the donor by the American Red Cross as part of this contribution.
Your gift may be recognized in future Red Cross publications. If you prefer your gift to remain anonymous, or have questions about your gift’s designation, or would like to learn more about the services that the Red Cross is committed to providing, please call 1-800-797-8022.

The American Red Cross is not a government agency and all Red Cross disaster assistance is free thanks to the generosity of people like you. The value of your donation is increased by the fact that the ratio of volunteer Red Cross workers to paid staff is almost 36 to one.
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They ain't chicks no more

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It's dark again at 5am; Summer Solstice has passed. It's still hottern hell all day, though.

I was just out in the back yard, with my coffee and cigarettes (I'm not allowed to smoke in the house).

The duck, Lucky (who can see in the dark) had come out of the chicken pen. The chicks (who can't see in the dark) were huddled around Lucky, peeping nervously. They follow Lucky because she's the biggest (I'm assuming Lucky is a she; I have no evidence, either way).

Everybody hovered around outside the chicken pen. Finally, the eastern sky muddied with sunlight just enough I could distinguish the grape-and-slate, stepping-stone clouds from the atmosphere. Chickens began moving. They tend to move together in a flock. But each bird has a seperate agenda, so they seperate into a ever-larger organism.

They sat on the long strips of wood I'm using to frame a roof for the back yard compound, to TRY to keep cats in, so they won't go over into The Crank's yard next door.

Some preened. Others scratched the dirt. Some preened others. Most just sank down on their haunches and dozed.

I got them just after Easter, newly hatched. I have several breeds. I guess they're about three or four months old now.

I have five "mops." They're full-sized birds. Based primarily on their appearances, they're named Tina (Turner); Pearl (cuz it looks like he's wearing white earrings); Fink (cuz her mop is lopsided and she reminds me of a friend named Sue Fink, who had punked-out, moused hair, back in the 80s); Goldie, who's primarily black, with a cape/ruff of long, thin, golden feathers, striped in black; and Fido, who's white, whose mop is dotted with black feathers (guess I should have called him "Spot," but I just wanted a chicken named Fido).

Among the bantams: I have a white, Japanese silkie; her name is Suki. I have a long-tailed, brown speckled Asian chicken (can't remember the breed off hand) named Sake. I have two frizzles: white rooster named Harpo and black hen named Oprah.

Their voices are changing from shrill peeps to cracked but distinguishable clucks.

Several roosters try to crow. For the most part, it's pretty pathetic. Suddenly, somebody will stand erect, stick his head out, cock it at a right angle (it really looks like they've broken their necks, when they do this), and let out the most anemic, breathy, half-hearted wheeze.

They can hear the other roosters in the neighborhood, so they know WHAT to do; they just don't know yet HOW to do it.

But Goldie. Goldie truly cockadoodles. It's not loud, but it's perfectly sincopated, has the right tonal qualities, and carries a BIT of a distance. Fortunately, with the bamboo fencing and tarps that face The Crank's house, I don't think the crow carries over to her. Besides, with so many roosters crowing in the neighborhood, she'll never figure it out.

I'll try to photograph my flock for this blog. They're something to see.

The other roosters seem to have pretty much given up on crowing. Some did it earlier than Goldie, but none do it as well. He's the official homing device for my flock.

It's only when I realized chickens can't see at night that I began to understand the purpose of crowing. The rooster stands up high on something, so he's visible and his voice carries. He gathers the scattered flock from hunting and gathering as sthe sun sets and visibility decreases. Everybody follows his voice to evening perches or cover to sleep.

In early morning, he crows again so that any chickens who didn't gather with the flock the night before can find everybody else for the day.

It's not so much about declaring "this is MY territory," as it is with other birds' calls. It's more about keeping the family together in blindness.

The sun's up high enough for everything to be well lighted now. When I go back out, everybody will be foraging around the yard. Lucky will probably be negotiating whether or not she wants to bathe in the pond.

They're not babies anymore.

back again

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I'm getting LOTS of complaints, from loyal readers, that I've disappeared off the face of the earth.

While it's not entirely true, I have neglected blogging for off line adventures.

First, the crank next door.

She complained to City Zoning about our yards, front and back. A few months ago, a guy with a clip board showed up in my driveway, saying, "we've received complaints that your yards are full of trash." I was watering the garden at the time. I looked at him with total frustration, threw up my arms, and shrugged my shoulders.

He blinked and said, "I don't see any trash...."

I explained about some construction materials in the back yard; I'm building an animal kennel. Parenthetically, I'm DOING this, primarily, to shut UP the crank next door, who threatened me (with very salty language), saying she'd start throwing rocks at my cats. Well, I've since discovered it's the cat BEHIND our house who comes into her yard and leaves doody bombs in her flower beds. But it, as is one of mine, is a black cat. They, of course, for multiple and, I suspect, racist reasons, are considered Bad Luck. The Crank is always on the look out for threats to her mausoleum/garden, so a Black Cat must really freak her out.

The guy from the city actually apologized to me for troubling me. Guys from the city don't DO that.

Well, about two months later, my sissy, prissy landlord sashayed his narrow behind into my yard without announing himself, in order to snoop. Seems The Crank had called him, whining about the Hillbilly Holler I'm building on the property, complaining about my ducks and chickens, and generally trying to get me thrown out on my ass and homeless -- again.

He told me "the livestock" would have to go. He told me only one dog and one cat would be permitted.

When I explained he'd caught me in the middle of chores (Obviously fresh-swept piles of dog poo, sitting right next to a trash can, dust pan and broom; items moved from under the new, tin porch roof Ma and I just finished building, etc., Prissy gave me NO slack and said the back yard was...this is a quote...."scary."

He gave me TWO WEEKS...that's all...to find homes for critters and make changes in the yard's appearance.

I promptly got to a big box store and bought a few hundred feet of six foot, bamboo fencing. I contained a good portion of our back yard, off the house. The par

Are You A Republican?

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I am: 6% Republican.

"You're a complete liberal, utterly without a trace of Republicanism. Your strength is as the strength of ten because your heart is pure. (You hope.)"

Are You A Republican?