Special Presenter at the Salon on Wednesday, August 19: Laure Quinlivan, candidate for council. See below
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The Lloyd House Wednesday Night Salon WEEKLY
A Newsletter published every Thursday from the Lloyd House in Cincinnati
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FIVE SECTIONS, including:
- Table Notes of the discussion at this Wednesday night’s Salon, as recorded by Ellen
- Events and Opportunities
- SPECIAL SECTION: Health Care Reform
- Articles of Interest
- Book, Film, Theater, TV, Music, Radio, and Restaurant Reviews
- Tri-State Treasures, compiled by Jim Kesner
Submissions: you must have the email copy to me by Wednesday night midnight. Copy the format you see in this Weekly please. (Times New Roman font, text 14 pt, headlines 20 pt. Maroon for Opportunities and Events, Navy for articles.)
The Wednesday Night Salon has been meeting each week of the year (no break for holidays, weather) since July 2001 in pursuit of good talk. Bring a dish at 5:45 pm and join us. We are usually about 10 people of varied erudition and age. We like to talk politics, environmentalism, social issues, literature, the arts, ad any blamed thing we want. Sometimes we have a special presenter. We emphasize good fellowship and civility always. Way fun! Everyone welcome. 3901 Clifton Avenue 45220.
SECTION ONE: Table Notes
These rough notes have not been approved or edited by the speakers and contain inevitable misunderstandings and misquotes. Also, opinions expressed are NOT necessarily Ellen’s.
At the Table this Wednesday:
(These are the table notes sent to me in Denver by Janice Alvarado. Great job, Janice!)
Ellen,
Sorry to be right under the wire with this--it took longer than expected. Sorry--no photo. It was a great discussion. I think it would be nice to have Bernadine Zennie back to talk about the Mind, Body connection more. 2, possibly 3 volunteered to help out with health reform. I didn't want to put the details on that on the internet right now. Thanks for the opportunity to do this.
Janice
Attendees:
Bernadine Zennie (Welcome Bernadine!)
Debbie Dreyfuss
Dennis Kunsley
Gingerly Frank
Janice Alvarado
John Kelley
Lauren Hanisian
Lisa Haglan (Welcome back Lisa!)
Marilyn Gale
Mira
Mr G
Robert Alvarado
Vlasta Moloch
Announcements:
Vlsta Moloch
Went to speak to Hamilton County Commissioners with an "outside the box" solution to fiscal problems involving creative citizens who are willing to help rather than highly paid consultants. They are to get back with her.
Vlsta Moloch
Working with graphic designers on the gaia website.
Gingerly Frank
EarthSave Cincinnati will present Premier Vegan chefs this Sunday, August 16 at 4 PM at the Clifton United Methodist Church.
Gingerly Frank
Laurie Quinlivan to be at the Salon next Wednesday.
Marilyn Gale
If you order Blizzard at DQ, proceeds will go to Cincinnati Childrens Medical Center.
Mira
If you have the Credo Mobile phone and are willing to participate in a survey, you can get free Ben and Jerry's ice cream.
Gingerly Frank
Credo mobile donates a portion of their charges to charities, and provide easy activism tools for members to speak out for causes they believe in.
John Kelley
Will speak on empowering black men to come together this Sunday, August 16 at 11 AM at the Keys to the Kingdom United Methodist across from Sugar and Spice.
We were very pleased to have Debbie Dreyfus, Nurse Manger with Elm Street Health Center tell us about Cincinnati Health Center services and answered our many questions.
Debbie: How I came to be here: I read the Salon notes about Mira being turned away from a city health center so I called Ellen to ask her about it. One thing led to another, and Ellen invited me to speak to you. I’ve worked for 23 years with the Cincinnati Health Department including as a public school nurse, and at Elm Street Health Center for 7 years. While being a manger can be frustrating at times, I very much enjoy what we do—providing people with good health care.
Health Centers
City health centers include Braxton Cann, Millevale, Elm Street, Northside and Price Hill. All the city health centers offer adult medicine, OB/Gyn, lab pharmacy, dental, social workers, community health board, and nutritional counseling (Weds). They contract with UC doctors and midwives. Patients are referred out to specialists for surgical services not handled at the health centers.
Since 2006, the health centers do charge a minimum fee of $5 per visit but the first visit is forgiven. Patients must live in the city of Cincinnati unless they belong to a medicaid HMO. Patients must provide proof of income and address. Those patients who do not qualify for financial discounts pay the market rate for doctor visits, and cost for medications. If a patient cannot afford medications, they are referred to St Vincent de Paul which distributes donated medications. If a patient needs vision care, they are referred to Roselawn Vision Care where volunteer eye doctors see patients on Saturdays.
At Millevale and Braxton Cann, the wait for new patients is less than other health clinics which may take up to 3 months for a first appointment. Primary needs for the health centers are money for more doctors and nurses. If new doctors commit to working with the health centers for at least 4 years, their student loans are forgiven.
Elm Street Health Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center as are others in the area. You can see on the handouts that the health centers rate very well in the quality indicators. 33% of our pediatric patients are Hispanic. We can provide data showing patient demographics, treatments at health centers, costs, etc.
Federal Health Reform
Debbie Dreyfus: In my opinion, the ideal federal health reform would keep competition. We need to have the public option and more competition with insurance. We need to let the politicians know that we want health care reform.
Bernadine Zennie: The only health care reform we can afford is single payer.
Unknown: The overhead costs for Medicare, a government run system, are only 3% versus over 13% for insurance companies. Physicians in the US are paid per procedure—a business model. Insurance companies make money by denying care.
Lisa Haglan: Here, providers practice defensive medicine. In certain parts of the country, health care is much higher because physicians order many more tests.
Gingerly Frank: Some physicians even own outpatient surgery centers, MRI’s etc and refer their patients to those centers. That’s conflict of interest which we need to correct.
Unknown: We need to remove health care from capitalism. The public defines what sections of culture are capitalistic. The capital system is supposed to increase competition.
Mr G: When we create competition, the winners are so strong that they eliminate competition. In others words, competition eliminates competition. Capitalism would work best if regulated.
Bernadine Zennie: Capitalism is based on expansion.
Robert Alvarado: I think ethics disappeared from business because the government did not adequately regulate it.
Gingerly Frank: We need to shame the republicans by talking about the comparison of quality measures among other countries. Although we may provide the best technology, we rank lower than many other countries on education, infant mortality, life span, etc.
Bernadine Zennie: I did my masters thesis on the mind and body connection and it’s a topic close to my heart. We need to take responsibility of our own health. The placebo effect accounts for a large part of cures. If you believe something will help you, it will. The book Molecules of Emotion explains that the biochemical relationship between the nervous, endocrine and immune systems are so strong that they function as one system. We need to understand our own bodies better and take fewer pills. There are forces beyond traditional western medicine.
Janice Alvarado: Ohio Consumers for Health Coverage met yesterday to discuss what we can do to help support federal health care reform. Of course, letters to the editor are always a wonderful way to get our points across. We need to keep telling our senators and representatives that we need health care reform now.
Lauren Hanisian: I am not particularly comfortable speaking in front of a group but I am very good at writing. I will write a letter to the editor.
Emergency room vs care in health center or doctor’s office
Marilyn Gale: I work in an emergency room. Many patients who come there are not even aware that the emergency room costs much, much more than being treated at the doctor’s office (or health center).
Debbie Dreyfus: Through the Cincinnati Health Department, I was a public school nurse. I found that many people live a crisis life--every day life can be so difficult that they cannot plan even 2 days in advance to schedule an appointment rather than running into the emergency room.
Janice Alvarado: We recently held a press conference to help retain state funding for the health centers. Data shows that treating patients at the health centers is very cost effective with an average cost per patient of less than $600 per year.
Obesity
Debbie Dreyfus: Working with the health department for 23 years, I can really see that obesity particularly, in children, is definitely increasing at an alarming rate. Of course, nutrition plays a primary role and exercise. Sometimes, parents are afraid to send their children out to play.
Lisa Haglan: The culture of poverty is very difficult to break out of. To improve eating habits, quit smoking, value education involves breaking out of that culture with changes in attitude. The book Bridges Out of Poverty explains that the only way is through personal relationships and involves educating the entire neighborhood.
We also discussed generics, Hamilton County funds to the hospitals, and specific actions that we can take to further health reform.
SECTION TWO: Events and Opportunities
E-CASE Adult Summer Chorus
Invites you to join us at our 14th Annual Summer Concert
Sunday August 16th, 3:00 PM At Mount Notre Dame High School
Music: A Little Bit of This and That
Tickets: $5 at the door
Directions: Mount Notre Dame High School is at Benson and Columbia (in Reading, OH)
0.2 miles north from the Ridge Road exit off Ronald Regan Hwy
Laure Quinlivan
To make special presentation at Salon on 8/19. She is former TV investigative reporter; running for City Council. Check out her website:
http://LQReportingToYou.com
She told me she is in favor of the trolley project. Come talk to her about it and all the issues.
JOIN MUSE CHOIR.
Have you dreamed of becoming a MUSE?
Are you yearning for a sisterhood like no other?
Have you always wanted to wear our signature color?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are many reasons to audition for MUSE, Cincinnati's Women's Choir - including the opportunity to create amazing memories with extraordinary and diverse women dedicated to musical excellence and social change.
Here are what two of our newest members had to say about their first season with MUSE:
"I am so very glad to be part of MUSE so my children can see that music can be entertaining, but can also share an important message about unconditional love and support." - Kate Dennis, AI
"During the final few measures, I looked outward at my family. My aunt, with tears in her eyes, was clutching my mother's hand. My uncle's expression had softened. They made eye contact with me...and smiled." - Kathy Zdinak, AII
What will you say after your first season?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Be part of the movement that's been harmonizing for peace and justice for 26 years. Sign up today to audition, and lift up your voice with your new friends at MUSE!
Visit http://www.musechoir.org today for details about our August 29, 2009, auditions on our FAQ page, and fill out the form for our Membership Coordinator to contact you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MUSE, Cincinnati's Women's Choir
PO Box 23292 Cincinnati, OH 45223 (513)-221-1118
What: U.S. Constitution 101 Presentation by Associate Professor of Law
When: Tues, August 18, 2009 6:30 PM
Where:
Grace Chapel
406 4th Avenue
Mason, OH 45040
In an effort to improve one's knowledge of our Constitution in a non-political environment you are encouraged to attend the following session open to the general public.
Many of us may not have ever read nor even ever discussed the U.S. Constitution in or or out of school. If you have children of middle school or high school age you may wish to bring them along.
On Tuesday, August 18 from 6:30 pm to 8:30pm Lee Strang, Associate Professor of Law, University of Toledo will speak on the U. S. Constitution 101 at Grace Chapel, 406 4th Avenue, Mason Ohio 45040.
This is a free talk open to the general public but limited in space available.
He will address questions such as:
Where did the Constitution come from?
What is its purpose?
Why is it important?
How should we interpret the Constitution?
After his talk there will be a question and answer period.
Please RSVP Dave Hare at (513) 234 - 7923
This is a timely event, that I am sure will prove educational to us all.
Charles M. Galbraith
Warren County Development Coordinator
Libertarian Party of Ohio
Learn more here:
http://www.meetup.com/SouthWestOhioLibertarians/calendar/11038648/
Arborist and Landscaper Friend, Scott Beuerlein to give talks at Civic Garden Center
Hi All,
This is an announcement to some and a reminder to others that I'll be giving a talk called "Diversity in the Landscape" at the Civic Garden Center on Tuesday, August 18th, a Tuesday, at 6PM. Cost is $10.00, with proceeds going to the Civic Garden Center, which is a great cause. Reserve your spot by following this link:
http://www.civicgardencenter.org/garden_files/classes.htm
Directions to the Civic Garden Center can be found here:
http://www.civicgardencenter.org/garden_files/directions.htm
I hope to see a great turn out and a lot of old and new friends. I'm still putting together the talk, so I can only say that I will do my best to make it interesting, enlightening, and entertaining. There may or may not be a sing-along at the end. The gist of the talk will be that greater diversity of plants in our gardens promotes healthier gardens, and more people gardening promotes healthier neighborhoods and cities.
I'll be giving a second talk at the Civic Garden Center on September 15th on "Woodland Restoration." See the first link for particulars and to register. Almost certainly no sing-alongs during this talk, but maybe a short athletic competition or a seance.
Hope to see everybody at both events!
Scott Beuerlein
Hi there friends,
- Now here’s an opportunity for you. I am now a fully qualified teacher of the Alexander Technique, and eager to give a lot of lessons this summer. All lessons will be free until the end of June, and then really cheap during July ($10), and pretty darn cheap during August ($20?). Starting sometime later I’ll be charging $78 for a 45 minute lesson, but still eager to make it affordable for you. So please call me to schedule a time and by all means tell your friends and family. 513 221 1289.
Don’t know what Alexander Technique is? Check out http://MissyVineyard.com or http://www.alexandertechnique.com for introductory essays and FAQ.
Also, you can read my own Alexander Technique stories at www.lloydhouse.com, follow the Alexander links.
Thanks for your interest in this wonderful work.
Ellen
P.S. Response has been wonderful this summer to this announcement! My calendar is full...a miracle. First lesson is free this summer; then lessons 2 – 4 are only $10, and lessons 5 – 8 only $20 if paid in advance, so take advantage of this rare opportunity. Eventually, when I feel ready, my full fee will be $78. If you call now and I don’t have space in the calendar, you can still have one free meeting, 3 $10 meetings, and 4 $20 meetings whenever it is that I can schedule your lesson. Get ‘em while they’re hot! This deal can’t last.
PPS: 8/13/09 ~ my enthusiasm for the Alexander Technique is growing by leaps and bounds as I give more lessons. I’ve given over 100 lessons to date, and sure enough, people look and feel the way I always feel after a lesson: much more “up”, relaxed, attractive, and encouraged about my life generally. As Richard Brennan says, “This is brain work that looks like body work.” Indeed!
Lloyd House Monthly Drumming Circle
Did you know that on the Final Tuesday of the month we have a super informal drumming circle here? Bring instruments of any variety. We rock! Dancing. No perfectionism tolerated. Ends at 8:45. Bring Snacks if you like, wine...
Roxanne, Michael, Ellen, Don (middle row- Yvonne, Jeanne, Paul, Kevin, Josie, David, (back row – Nancy, Tom, Scott
Hey all,
Keshvar Project Tribal Cafe
Sat. August 22nd 8:00pm-12:00
Rohs Street Cafe in Clifton
245 W. McMillan Street
Cincinnati, OH 45219
$5.00 at the door
Open Dance!
"We provide the music, you provide the shimmies"
special musical guests:
Gregory Morris Group
Marmalade Brigade
*drummers bring your drums for the drum jam at 11:00pm
See you there!
http://www.rohsstreetcafe.com/home/
Rohs Street Cafe directions: google map link <http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=245+W.+McMillan+Street+45219&ie=UTF8&z=15&om=1&iwloc=A>
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=245+W.+McMillan+Street+45219&ie=UTF8&z=15&om=1&iwloc=A
click <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/keshvarproject/join> to join the Keshvar Project Y-group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/keshvarproject/join <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/keshvarproject/join>
http://keshvarproject.com/ <http://keshvarproject.com/>
If you wish to be off this mailing list
just e-mail mark@keshvarproject.com
Fri. August 21st- Sogbety Diomande's West African Celebration <http://www.freewebs.com/sogbetydiomande/scheduleofevents.htm>
Sat. August 22nd- Rohs Street Cafe <http://www.rohsstreetcafe.com/> - Hafla
Sat. Sept. 5th- Old Timer's Festival <http://www.rabbithash.com/about_rabbit_hash_general_store/visiting_the_general_store/how_to_git_here.html> (Rabbit Hash, KY)
Sat. Sept. 12th- Waldorf event
Sat. Oct 10th- TribOrginal <http://www.barakamundi.com/triboriginal/> (Asheville,NC) part of
Sat. night big show, jamming around fires, workshop presenting
Sat. Nov. 21st- Raquy & the Cavemen <http://www.raquyandthecavemen.com/>
Please tell Senator George Voinovich to vote for ENDA (Employment Nondiscrimination Act) in the Senate. It will prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Sen Brown is a co sponsor for ENDA, but Voinovich is unaligned. Important to phone him now. (513) 684-3265
Or email: http://voinovich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm
Dear Senator Voinovich,
Please support the ENDA (Employment Non Discrimination Act) now before the Senate.
Sincerely,
Ellen Bierhorst, Ph.D.
Cincinnati
Physician warns: Health Danger from Plastic Dashboard in Hot Automobile: toxic gas. Roll down windows and Air out.
Good to know....
Please do not turn on A/C immediately as soon as you enter the car. Open the windows after you enter your car and turn ON the air-conditioning after a couple of minutes.
Here's why: According to a research, the car dashboard, sofa, air freshener emit Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin (carcinogen - take time to observe the smell o f heated plastic in your car). In addition to causing cancer, Benzene poisons your bones, causes anemia and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia, increasing the risk of cancer. May also cause miscarriage. Acceptable Benzene level indoors is 50 mg per sq. ft.. A car parked indoors with windows closed will contain 400-800 mg of Benzene. If parked outdoors under the sun at a temperature above 60 degrees F, the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level... People who get into the car, keeping windows closed will inevitably inhale, in quick succession excessive amounts of the toxin. Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidney and liver . What's worse, it is extremely difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff.
So friends, please open the windows and door of your car - give time for interior to air out -dispel the deadly stuff - before you enter.
Thought: 'When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.'
Terri Sanders
University of Michigan
Department of Internal Medicine
Division of Hematology/Oncology
Domino's Farms J 1200
Box 5750
Phone: (734) 615-4639
Fax: (734) 615-3022
email: sandert@med.umich.edu <http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sandert@med.umich.edu>
It also allows the hot air to dissipate, so the A/C doesn’t have to work as hard. So the practical as well as health benefits are great.
Yours,
Shirley Reischman (my esteemed homeopath. Ellen)
Do you like Spaghetti? Dogs? Special needs children?
IJPC Sponsoring Fundraiser for child needing a helper dog, $11,000
FUNDRAISER FOR KRISTEN BARKER'S DAUGHTER, MAYA:
You're Invited to- A Spaghetti Dinner to help Maya get a seizure dog!
Sunday, August 30th
St. Monica St. George Parish Hall
328 W. McMillan St.
Cincinnati, OH 45219
4PM—7PM
Tickets: $15.00 (Adults) ; $5.00 (Kids)
For more info and to RSVP, contact Julie at 304-312-5737
As many of you know, Kristen Barker's daughter, Maya, has a seizure disorder and autism. There is an organization, 4 Paws for Ability located in Xenia, OH, which trains dogs to be seizure alert dogs as well as to act as "social bridges" for children with autism. This dog would be able to alert Maya's caregivers when she is having a seizure, which would provide Maya more independence & Kristen more peace of mind and restful nights. The dog will also provide extra support to Maya in social situations.
Maya qualifies to receive a dog; however these special dogs are very expensive - anywhere from $11,000 to $16,000. Therefore, we are holding this fundraiser to help make it possible for Maya to receive a dog.
If you are unable to attend, but would like to support Kristen & Maya,
please make your tax-deductible donation out to: ‘4 Paws for Ability’ and send to:
Julie Przybysz 707 Froome Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45232 Thanks!!
sign up to get a yard sign supporting the Public Library levy in the Nov Election at: http://www.voteforourlibrary.com/page/yard-sign
SECTION THREE: HEALTH CARE REFORM STUFF
Let’s get on it!
Sitting in the airport yesterday getting ready to fly out here to Denver I saw a TV news program about the right wing disrupters at a Senator’s town hall meeting, ... Yet another instance, and I was disturbed. Tonight, at the pot luck salon at the Lloyd House, Debbie Dreyfus is coming to present about the City Public Health Clinics... A very interesting topic. I’ve been a patient of the city public clinics for about ten years and NEVER have I had such excellent health care! That’s irrelevant to the health care reform bill, but it might interest you, and if you show up for the pot luck, after Debbie’s discussion there could be a fruitful discussion on What We Can Do about the nefarious efforts by the insurance industry to torpedo the health care reform bill and make it seem like a grass roots uprising. Rachel Maddow has an exposé of the big money behind these disrupters. See below.
I have been wakeful last night trying to imagine what could be done to counter this. A small band of very unruly people gets more media attention than a larger group of peaceful supporters. What could get the attention of the media? Some kind of street theater presentation of the hijacking of the health bill? On Fountain Square? We used to have a troop of players, the Fountain Square Fools, who got quite skillfull at street theater. Ed Gutfreund knows how to contact those people... There is still a Sparrow in town, juggling I think...
Judy Leever wrote a hand written letter about health care reform and mailed it to the Senators and congressperson, and subsequently has telephoned each of their offices weekly. A great idea.
- Brown, Sherrod - (D - OH) Class I
713 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
- Voinovich, George V. - (R - OH) Class III
524 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
- Steve Driehaus First Congressional District
441 Vine St. 3003 Carew Twr., Cincinnati, OH 45202
- Jean Schmidt 2nd Congressional District
8044 Montgomery Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45236
I recommend a hand written letter that is faxed (or mailed) to the senator or congress person’s office followed by a voice phone contact. Judy said when she gets the rep’s office and says her piece, she asks them to repeat back to her what they have heard so she knows it is accurate. Another great idea.
And of course, get your friends to call and write demanding passage of a comprehensive health care bill that includes universal coverage for all Americans, reduction of costs, and choice of plans and providers.
Could we have a post card party? A telephone banking party? An email sending party? We’ve got to do something more. We could have it at the Lloyd House. Ellen
This just in from Judy Leever:
I just made my weekly calls. Here is what I say:
“Hi, I am a constituent. My zip code is 45140.
I am very much for healthcare reform.”
Then in my case, I continue to say,
“I would most prefer a single payer plan but I will take a public option. I think it is absolutely crucial that health care reform be passed.”
I then thank “Congressman Brown for his support of health care reform and Voinowich for not always voting party line. I have nothing positive to say about Schimdt so I don’t say anything except “I hope she will support healthcare reform.”
They say thank you very much I will tell him/her and I respond
“What will you say?”
They repeat it back and I thank them and go.
Don’t go into a long explanation-just tell them in a sentence or two that they can repeat back. The staffers have a chart where they check off what you say-so they have single payer on the chart or public option. They write down your zip code. If you make a special comment,it is written in the margin. At the end of the day they compile and send it to the Congressperson.
Good luck to us all, Judy
Maybe we should consider having the entire salon car pool out To Congressman Driehaus’ next town hall meeting on Wed Aug 26 complete with signs and street theater.
Please ATTEND NEXT DRIEHAUS FORUM to support Health Care Reform.)
The next Driehaus Forum is:
From Hamiltoncountydems.org, " on Wednesday, August 26th, the Green Township Democratic Club invites interested citizens to a meeting with Congressman Steve Driehaus at 7:30 PM at the Nathanael Greene Lodge at 6394 Wesselman Road. (enlargeable map at http://cincinnati.citysearch.com/profile/map/33206888/cincinnati_oh/nathanael_green_lodge_veterans.html
It is off the Rybolt Exit from I-74)
Current issues that affect your family will be discussed; for example, Health Care Reform, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, the Stimulus Bill, and the Employee Free Choice Act. Join us and invite a friend. If possible,bring a snack to share.
It will be very important to have as many healthcare reform proponents as possible there. Please do what you can to get the word out.
Thanks.
Bonnie
Bonnie Tyler
My dau in law Fran Simon sends this link: MSNBC Commentator Rachel Maddow exposes the Health Care town hall meeting disrupters as pawns of the moneyed right wing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl91YF1d3Kg
From the White House: dispelling myths about Health Care Reform
Dear Friend,
This is probably one of the longest emails I’ve ever sent, but it could be the most important.
Across the country we are seeing vigorous debate about health insurance reform. Unfortunately, some of the old tactics we know so well are back — even the viral emails that fly unchecked and under the radar, spreading all sorts of lies and distortions.
As President Obama said at the town hall in New Hampshire, “where we do disagree, let's disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that's actually been proposed.”
So let’s start a chain email of our own. At the end of my email, you’ll find a lot of information about health insurance reform, distilled into 8 ways reform provides security and stability to those with or without coverage, 8 common myths about reform and 8 reasons we need health insurance reform now.
Right now, someone you know probably has a question about reform that could be answered by what’s below. So what are you waiting for? Forward this email.
Thanks,
David
David Axelrod
Senior Adviser to the President
P.S. We launched www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck <http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck/?e=11&ref=text0> this week to knock down the rumors and lies that are floating around the internet. You can find the information below, and much more, there. For example, we've just added a video of Nancy-Ann DeParle from our Health Reform Office tackling a viral email head on. Check it out:
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/71/?e=11>
8 ways reform provides security and stability to those with or without coverage
- Ends Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions: Insurance companies will be prohibited from refusing you coverage because of your medical history.
- Ends Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays: Insurance companies will have to abide by yearly caps on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses.
- Ends Cost-Sharing for Preventive Care: Insurance companies must fully cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you prevent illness, such as mammograms or eye and foot exams for diabetics.
- Ends Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill: Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping or watering down insurance coverage for those who become seriously ill.
- Ends Gender Discrimination: Insurance companies will be prohibited from charging you more because of your gender.
- Ends Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage: Insurance companies will be prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive.
- Extends Coverage for Young Adults: Children would continue to be eligible for family coverage through the age of 26.
- Guarantees Insurance Renewal: Insurance companies will be required to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full. Insurance companies won't be allowed to refuse renewal because someone became sick.
8 common myths about health insurance reform
- Reform will stop "rationing" - not increase it: It’s a myth that reform will mean a "government takeover" of health care or lead to "rationing." To the contrary, reform will forbid many forms of rationing that are currently being used by insurance companies.
- We can’t afford reform: It's the status quo we can't afford. It’s a myth that reform will bust the budget. To the contrary, the President has identified ways to pay for the vast majority of the up-front costs by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse within existing government health programs; ending big subsidies to insurance companies; and increasing efficiency with such steps as coordinating care and streamlining paperwork. In the long term, reform can help bring down costs that will otherwise lead to a fiscal crisis.
- Reform would encourage "euthanasia": It does not. It’s a malicious myth that reform would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors. For seniors who want to consult with their family and physicians about end-of life decisions, reform will help to cover these voluntary, private consultations for those who want help with these personal and difficult family decisions.
- Vets' health care is safe and sound: It’s a myth that health insurance reform will affect veterans' access to the care they get now. To the contrary, the President's budget significantly expands coverage under the VA, extending care to 500,000 more veterans who were previously excluded. The VA Healthcare system will continue to be available for all eligible veterans.
- Reform will benefit small business - not burden it: It’s a myth that health insurance reform will hurt small businesses. To the contrary, reform will ease the burdens on small businesses, provide tax credits to help them pay for employee coverage and help level the playing field with big firms who pay much less to cover their employees on average.
- Your Medicare is safe, and stronger with reform: It’s myth that Health Insurance Reform would be financed by cutting Medicare benefits. To the contrary, reform will improve the long-term financial health of Medicare, ensure better coordination, eliminate waste and unnecessary subsidies to insurance companies, and help to close the Medicare "doughnut" hole to make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors.
- You can keep your own insurance: It’s myth that reform will force you out of your current insurance plan or force you to change doctors. To the contrary, reform will expand your choices, not eliminate them.
- No, government will not do anything with your bank account: It is an absurd myth that government will be in charge of your bank accounts. Health insurance reform will simplify administration, making it easier and more convenient for you to pay bills in a method that you choose. Just like paying a phone bill or a utility bill, you can pay by traditional check, or by a direct electronic payment. And forms will be standardized so they will be easier to understand. The choice is up to you – and the same rules of privacy will apply as they do for all other electronic payments that people make.
http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck <http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/?e=11&ref=myth1>
http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck/faq <http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq/?e=11&ref=myth1>
8 Reasons We Need Health Insurance Reform Now
- Coverage Denied to Millions: A recent national survey estimated that 12.6 million non-elderly adults – 36 percent of those who tried to purchase health insurance directly from an insurance company in the individual insurance market – were in fact discriminated against because of a pre-existing condition in the previous three years or dropped from coverage when they became seriously ill. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/denied_coverage/index.html
- Less Care for More Costs: With each passing year, Americans are paying more for health care coverage. Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have nearly doubled since 2000, a rate three times faster than wages. In 2008, the average premium for a family plan purchased through an employer was $12,680, nearly the annual earnings of a full-time minimum wage job. Americans pay more than ever for health insurance, but get less coverage. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hiddencosts/index.html
- Roadblocks to Care for Women: Women’s reproductive health requires more regular contact with health care providers, including yearly pap smears, mammograms, and obstetric care. Women are also more likely to report fair or poor health than men (9.5% versus 9.0%). While rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure are similar to men, women are twice as likely to suffer from headaches and are more likely to experience joint, back or neck pain. These chronic conditions often require regular and frequent treatment and follow-up care. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/women/index.html
- Hard Times in the Heartland: Throughout rural America, there are nearly 50 million people who face challenges in accessing health care. The past several decades have consistently shown higher rates of poverty, mortality, uninsurance, and limited access to a primary health care provider in rural areas. With the recent economic downturn, there is potential for an increase in many of the health disparities and access concerns that are already elevated in rural communities. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hardtimes <http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hardtimes/>
- Small Businesses Struggle to Provide Health Coverage: Nearly one-third of the uninsured – 13 million people – are employees of firms with less than 100 workers. From 2000 to 2007, the proportion of non-elderly Americans covered by employer-based health insurance fell from 66% to 61%. Much of this decline stems from small business. The percentage of small businesses offering coverage dropped from 68% to 59%, while large firms held stable at 99%. About a third of such workers in firms with fewer than 50 employees obtain insurance through a spouse. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/helpbottomline <http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/helpbottomline/>
- The Tragedies are Personal: Half of all personal bankruptcies are at least partly the result of medical expenses. The typical elderly couple may have to save nearly $300,000 to pay for health costs not covered by Medicare alone. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/inaction <http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/inaction/>
- Diminishing Access to Care: From 2000 to 2007, the proportion of non-elderly Americans covered by employer-based health insurance fell from 66% to 61%. An estimated 87 million people - one in every three Americans under the age of 65 - were uninsured at some point in 2007 and 2008. More than 80% of the uninsured are in working families. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/inaction/diminishing/index.html
- The Trends are Troubling: Without reform, health care costs will continue to skyrocket unabated, putting unbearable strain on families, businesses, and state and federal government budgets. Perhaps the most visible sign of the need for health care reform is the 46 million Americans currently without health insurance - projections suggest that this number will rise to about 72 million in 2040 in the absence of reform. Learn more: http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/assets/documents/CEA_Health_Care_Report.pdf <http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/CEA_Health_Care_Report.pdf?e=11&ref=report>
REALITY CHECK ON HEALTH CARE BILL: don’t believe scare tactics
http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/?e=10&ref=image
Dear Friend,
Anyone that's watched the news in the past few days knows that health insurance reform is a hot topic — and that rumors and scare tactics have only increased as more people engage with the issue. Given a lot of the outrageous claims floating around, it’s time to make sure everyone knows the facts about the security and stability you get with health insurance reform.
That’s why we’ve launched a new online resource — WhiteHouse.gov/RealityCheck <http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/?e=10&ref=text> — to help you separate fact from fiction and share the truth about health insurance reform. Here's a few of the reality check videos you can find on the site:
- CEA Chair Christina Romer details how health insurance reform will impact small businesses <http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/21/?e=10&ref=text3> .
- Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes tackles a nasty rumor about euthanasia <http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/7/?e=10&ref=text4> and clearly describes how reform helps families.
- Matt Flavin, the White House's Director of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy, clears the air about Veteran's benefits <http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/6/?e=10&ref=text5> .
- Kavita Patel, M.D., a doctor serving in the White House's Office of Public Engagement, explains that health care rationing is happening right now and how reform gives control back to patients and doctors <http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/4/?e=10&ref=text6> .
- Bob Kocher, M.D., a doctor serving on the National Economic Council, debunks the myth that health insurance reform will be financed by cutting Medicare benefits <http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/31/?e=10&ref=text7> .
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/?e=10&ref=image>
We knew going into this effort that accomplishing comprehensive health insurance reform wasn't going to be easy. Achieving real change never is. The entrenched interests that benefit from the status quo always use their influence in Washington to try and keep things just as they are.
But don't be misled. We know the status quo is unsustainable. If we do nothing, millions more Americans will be denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions, or see their coverage suddenly dropped if they become seriously ill. Out-of-pocket expenses will continue to soar, and more and more families and businesses will be forced to deal with health insurance costs they can’t afford.
That's the reality.
Americans deserve better. You deserve a health care system that works as well for you as it does for the status quo; one you can depend on — that won't deny you coverage when you need it most or charge you crippling out-of-pocket co-pays. Health insurance reform means guaranteeing the health care security and stability you deserve.
President Barack Obama promised he'd bring change to Washington and fix our broken, unsustainable health insurance system. You can help deliver that change. Visit WhiteHouse.gov/RealityCheck, get the facts and spread the truth. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/?e=10&ref=text2> The stakes are just too high to do nothing.
Thank you,
David
David Axelrod
Senior Advisor to the President
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/?e=10&ref=whi>
My dau in law Fran Simon sends this link: MSNBC Commentator Rachel Maddow exposes the Health Care town hall meeting disrupters as pawns of the moneyed right wing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl91YF1d3Kg
NY Times Article: Obama Injects Himself Into Health Talks, Despite Risks
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
8/13/09
President Obama has presented himself as aloof from the legislative fray, but behind the scenes, the White House has negotiated deals potentially at odds with his rhetoric.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/health/policy/13health.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
SINGLE PAYER ADVOCATES REFUSE TO GIVE UP: WILL BE VOTED IN HOUSE!
(If the simple folks on the right fear that the bill in congress would be “socialized medicine”, I shudder to think what would come down if we went all the way to Single Payer (Like Medicare for all) system. Obama’s judgment was “Single Payer is better, but the country would never go for it.” So I am going with him on that. Ellen)
Hi Ellen,
I thought you'd like to see this material as I know you and the Lloyd house crew have been working on health care reform. Maybe you already have it, but I haven't received it from any other source.
Scroll down past Karen's message below.
Suellyn Schupe, salonista
--- On Thu, 8/6/09, Karen Arnett <karen.arnett@fuse.net> wrote:
From: Karen Arnett <karen.arnett@fuse.net>
Subject: Fwd: Breaking news: Single payer to be voted on in House of Representatives
To: "karen arnett" <karen.arnett@fuse.net>
Date: Thursday, August 6, 2009, 2:55 PM
Hi friends,
The adoption of single payer health care would bring the US out of the shameful position of being the only industrialized nation without universal health care. This option was taken off the table initially in the discussion of health care reform, but there is some progress in bringing it back onto the table of options. Here is some new information that I just received. I thought you would like to know about the developments that the group Physicians for a National Health Program is working on. My understanding is that this current recess of Congress is a crucial time for us the voting public to show our elected officials what health care reforms we really want. Please consider taking some time to show your support to your elected officials for single payer health care. If you need more persuading, please look at the tools linked below, or go to this link for an excellent discussion on the Diane Rehm Show, May 18, http://wamu.org/programs/dr/09/05/18.php#26151 It doesn't take long to make a phone call to your representative, or to send an e-mail, or both!
thanks,
Karen Arnett, (local environmental activist and terrific person, ellen)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) <info@pnhp.org>
Date: Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 6:33 PM
Subject: Breaking news: Single payer to be voted on in House of Representatives
To: nugent.rehard@gmail.com
In this e-mail:
Single payer to receive a vote on the floor of the U.S. House
Media appearances by Obama's doctor (and PNHPer) Dr. David Scheiner
New Kaiser Comparison of Congressional Health Plans
Invitation to PNHP's Annual Meeting: Saturday, October 24
August 5, 2009
Dear PNHP Members and Friends,
Breaking News!
Last Friday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi committed to bringing single-payer to a vote before the full House of Representatives when the chamber reconvenes to debate national health care reform in September.
The vote will come in the form of an amendment to the House Leadership's incremental health legislation. The amendment, offered by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), would effectively remove the entire existing health plan and replace it with the text of H.R. 676, Rep. John Conyers' single-payer legislation. (click here to see the text of the amendment).
This vote presents a truly historic opportunity - the first time that single-payer will be voted on in the Congress. (See the news release below).
PNHP and allied groups are now marshaling our forces to win maximum support for the Weiner single-payer amendment. We're launching a new national campaign staffed by Ali Thebert and Nicholas Skala to make sure that members of Congress hear from their physician constituents that single payer is the only solution to the U.S. health care crisis.
Here's what you can do:
Use PNHP's online campaign tool: send a letter to your Representative supporting the Weiner single payer amendment (click here to send a letter!).
Arrange a meeting with your Representative: and use Weiner Single Payer Amendment lobbying materials available on the campaign web site (click here for the campaign web site). Try to visit your Representatives during the August recess while members are still in their districts. If you need help or strategy advice, email ali@pnhp.org.
Speak out to local media and / or publish an op-ed: Please forward the included press release on the Weiner Amendment to your local media and offer to speak to the local press on behalf of the Amendment. Editorial board meetings and op-eds are also helpful at this time. (Click here for tips on writing op-eds)
In other news, PNHPer Dr. David Scheiner has been appearing in the media nationwide. Dr. Scheiner was Obama's personal physician for 22 years until Obama became president. He was also the medical partner of PNHP National Coordinator Dr. Quentin Young for 30 years.
Dr. Scheiner has criticized the Obama health plan and called for single payer instead in media outlets ranging from Forbes magazine to Lou Dobbs to FOX News.
Watch Dr. Scheiner's appearance on CNN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb-OVHmhQFM
Dr. Scheiner will appear on "Real Time with Bill Maher" on Friday, August 7 at 10:00 Eastern on HBO. Be sure to tune in!
Other PNHP leaders have taken to the airwaves, including Margaret Flowers, Oliver Fein, Garrett Adams, Claudia Fegan and Andy Coates. Please exert every effort to speak out yourself, including through letters to the editor and op-eds.
For those of you who need help understanding the details of the various reform plans coming out of the House and Senate, the Kaiser Family Foundation has a side-by-side comparison tool for all proposals, including the House (HR 676) and Senate (HR 703) single-payer bills. (Click here for the Kaiser tool).
Finally, registration for the PNHP annual meeting on October 24 in Cambridge, MA is now open at www.pnhp.org/meeting. See our invitation letter reprinted below. We hope to see you there!
Cordially,
Quentin Young, M.D.
National Coordinator Ida Hellander, M.D.
Executive Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Aug. 5, 2009 Quentin Young, M.D., (312) 782-6006, info@pnhp.org
Mark Almberg, PNHP, (312) 782-6006, mark@pnhp.org
David Lerner or Karmen Ross, Riptide Communications,
(212) 260-5000
House vote on single payer will be historic first, doctors' group says
Physicians call on lawmakers to 'do the right thing' on health reform
Hailing last week's pledge by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold a floor debate and vote on single-payer health reform this fall, a group of 16,000 physicians is launching an intensified campaign to educate lawmakers about the urgency of a "Medicare-for-All" solution to the nation's health care crisis.
Leaders of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) say their campaign includes a stepped-up program of visits by doctors to House members in their home districts during the August recess.
Last Friday's commitment by Pelosi (D-Calif.) to Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) to put his single-payer amendment to H.R. 3200, the House leadership's health reform bill, to an up-or-down vote before the full House has set the stage for first-ever floor vote of its kind. The House debate on the amendment could begin as early as September.
"Single payer has gone from being 'off the table' to 'on the floor,'" said Dr. Quentin Young, national coordinator of PNHP. "This dramatic turn of events is a striking indicator of our success. It shows the House leadership recognizes the strong public support - including among doctors - for removing the wasteful insurance company middlemen from our health system and redirecting the resultant savings into care."
Weiner's amendment would delete most of the language of in the House bill and instead substitute language from H.R. 676, the single-payer bill introduced by Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).
The Weiner amendment, unlike the House leadership's bill, assures universal, comprehensive, and high-quality coverage, free choice of doctor and hospital, and no co-pays or deductibles through a publicly financed system similar to Medicare. Young said that because of massive savings on private insurance overhead and paperwork, the amendment would entail no increase in U.S. health spending, in contrast to the House bill's $1 trillion price tag over 10 years.
"By recapturing the administrative waste associated with our present multi-payer, for-profit private insurance system, estimated to be $400 billion annually, a single-payer program would have more than enough resources to cover everyone who lacks insurance now and to upgrade everyone else's," he said.
"A single-payer system would also possess strong cost-control tools like bulk purchasing of drugs, negotiation of fees and global budgeting, controls that are notably absent in the House bill," he said.
Young says many union, civic and faith-based groups will be watching how lawmakers vote with an eye to the 2010 election cycle. "Lawmakers now have a golden opportunity to stand up for the best interests of their constituents, to rebuff the private, for-profit health insurance industry, and assure the health of our nation," he said.
He continued: "Many members of Congress - including Speaker Pelosi - have told constituents that they personally support a single-payer, Medicare-for-all approach, but claim they can't vote for it because it's not politically feasible. Yet polls that show they would have the public's support for such a stand. Now we'll be watching to see whether their votes match their words."
Single-payer bills have been introduced in Congress repeatedly over the past 60 years - starting with the Wagner-Murray-Dingell bill in the 1940s, and including the Kennedy-Griffiths bill of the 1970s and the Wellstone, McDermott and Russo bills of the 1990s - but none has ever reached the floor of the House or Senate.
*****
Physicians for a National Health Program (www.pnhp.org) is an organization of 16,000 doctors who advocate for single-payer national health insurance.
Several leaders of PNHP have testified before congressional committees in the present health reform debate. (See links below). To interview any of these or other spokespersons, please call (312) 782-6006.
Testimony of Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H., on medical bankruptcy and health reform before the Subcommittee on Administrative and Commercial Law
House Judiciary Committee, July 28, 2009:
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/july/testimony_of_steffie.php
Testimony of Dr. Woolhandler before the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, July 24
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/june/testimony_of_steffie.php
Testimony of Quentin Young, M.D., M.A.C.P., before the House Ways and Means Committee, June 24
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/june/testimony_of_quentin.php
Testimony of Margaret Flowers, M.D., before the Senate HELP Committee, June 11
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/june/testimony_of_margare.php
Testimony of David U. Himmelstein, M.D. before the HELP Subcommittee, April 23
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/april/testimony_of_david_u.php
August 5, 2009
Dear Colleagues,
We write to invite you to attend the Annual Meeting of Physicians for a National Health Program on Saturday, October 24, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It will be preceded by our popular Leadership Training course, starting at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, October 23, at the Harvard Faculty Club.
Registration for the Annual Meeting is now on-line at www.pnhp.org/meeting. To register for leadership training (space is limited), please call Matt Petty at 312-782-6006.
The theme of the meeting is "Evidence-based or market-based health reform? Health Policy in the Obama Era" with health economist William Hsiao, Dr. Marcia Angell (former editor, NEJM), PNHP co-founders Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler, PNHP President Dr. Oliver Fein, T.R. Reid ("Sick Around the World"), former Cigna executive Wendell Potter, and more.
The conference hotel is the Royal Sonesta (617-806-4200, $209 single/double reserve by September 23), with leadership training at the nearby Harvard Faculty Club.
PNHP is committed to promoting fundamental health care reform over the long term. Although proposals based on mandating that individuals purchase private insurance (like HR 3200) have the backing of the powerful drug and insurance lobbies (PhRMA alone has already spent $17 million on supportive ads), they certainly won't solve the health care crisis. That's the bad news.
The good news is that we've seen our single-payer proposal go from being "off the table" (Senator Max Baucus) to being "on the floor," with a commitment from Speaker Nancy Pelosi to a full House vote on single payer in the form of the Weiner amendment after the recess (see press release, enclosed).
PNHPers have played a leading role in this historic development, testifying before committees in the House and the Senate on single payer, and before the House Judiciary committee on medical bankruptcy, and making numerous media appearances, including on Bill Moyers, Bill Maher, Fox News, CNN, Colbert, Ed Schultz, Democracy Now, and more.
This surge in media and congressional interest was almost certainly triggered by the courageous and dignified acts of civil disobedience before the Senate Finance Committee by PNHPers, nurses, and citizen activists in May.
As the administration's inadequate proposals are either enacted or rejected, our single-payer proposal takes on even more importance as the only remedy for the health care crisis.
Please join us as we assess the status of health reform and plan PNHP's policy and strategy for the future.
Yours truly,
Quentin Young, M.D.
National Coordinator Ida Hellander, M.D.
Executive Director
P.S. Your membership in PNHP is more important than ever. Please consider renewing your membership or making a special donation at this critical time: www.pnhp.org/renew or www.pnhp.org/donate.
Veterans’ Health Care : myths dispelled about the Health Care Reform Bill
here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/6
Repeated: Info on Health Care Reform:
From: Bob Witanowski <bobwit@earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:56:35 -0400
Some of the best info (on Health Care Reform) is at Physicians for a National Health Plan – http://www.pnhp.org
Also HealthJustice.org <http://HealthJustice.net> and http://healthcare-now.org
Independent polls show between 60% - 75% of the American public and a solid 59% of U.S. physicians support single payer financing of health care. But the health insurance companies are spending $1.4 million dollars a day in DC trying to get health care planning to go their way - the same route that has brought us to this crisis. ...
Repeated: Insurance Corp Insider Executive Wendell Potter Blows Whistle on Health Care Industry
Wow, this is amazing. Watch the short clip linked below (youtube) and then also watch online the whole Moyers show. Please mobilize your networks to pressure congress not to listen to the health care industry’s lobby but to give us viable public option or single payer NOW.
ellen
------ Forwarded Message
From: Michael Moore <maillist@michaelmoore.com>
Reply-To: Michael Moore <maillist@michaelmoore.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:57:56 -0400
To: Ellen Bierhorst <ellenbierhorst@lloydhouse.com>
Subject: Bill Moyers Show Reveals Insurance Lobby's Secret Plan to Sabbotage Reform and Attack 'Sicko' and Michael Moore
Wendell Potter, former Head of Corporate Communications at CIGNA (which provides health insurance to nearly 70 percent of the Fortune 100 companies) admits that, in fact, "Sicko" "hit the nail on the head" and told the real truth about how much better people in other countries have it when it comes to their health care.
The show was broadcast Friday (7/10) at 9:00 PM on PBS.
You can watch it online : their website has the full show soon:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers
Finally, the truth comes out. From one of their own. Amazing.
Yours truly, Webmaster
MichaelMoore.com <http://www.michaelmoore.com/>
Repeated: Blood Drive for Health Care Reform
- The Lloyd House team to support the president’s drive to get health care reform legislation through the congress this summer (before the summer recess that starts July 31) met and decided our service project would be a blood drive through Hoxworth blood bank. The service will be to promote blood donation in our name (Cincinnati Groundswell for Health Care Reform) and the aim is to increase the numbers of folks calling their representatives in Washington asking to control rising health care costs, guarantee choice of doctor, and assure high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans. We also hope to gather more volunteers willing to support this campaign by making phone calls, knocking on doors, writing letters to the media, etc. etc.
We would like to gather 100 blood donors in the next two weeks, and more in the weeks to follow. We’d like this to not only save lives but also to attract public attention for our purpose.
What can YOU do?
Write letters to the editor, e.g. enquirer: http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/EDIT0202/302160003
Go to http://my.barackobama.com and create an account; (2 minutes) then follow suggestions to volunteer, to attend events, to host an event. They walk you through. It’s easy and fun.
Tell everyone you know that it is important to stop the hemorrhage of our society through a broken health care system. Yes we can get meaningful progress this summer if we mount a groundswell effort to defeat the “no change” effort of the powerful health insurance industry lobby.
Give blood! Tell the person at the registration at Hoxworth that you are donating for “cincinnati Groundswell for Health Care Reform”. 513 451 0910 for centers near you and to make an appointment.
Return address
100 Main Street
Anywhere, US 10000
- June 9, 2009
The Honorable Congressperson
(Room #) (Name) House/Senate Office Building
United States Senate/House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510
SEND VIA FAX or email. (snail mail is delayed for security checks.)
Dear Senator/Representative:
As one of your constituents, I urge you to support President Obama’s efforts to reform healthcare. If we don’t enact change, millions of Americans will continue to suffer under a broken system. My story illustrates the urgency of the situation. {INSERT PERSONAL STORY HERE, IF RELEVANT.}
In seeking your support, I understand that no specific bill or legislation is yet under consideration. I realize that this enormous challenge has no easy solution. And I realize that no one has all the answers. I certainly don’t. But there are a few non-negotiable points, I ask you to consider. One, any plan must reduce costs. Many are asked to pay thousands of dollars a month just for basic insurance coverage. Others can’t afford life-saving medication or treatment. Two, any plan must allow patients some reasonable measure of choice in their coverage and their medical provider. Some are satisfied with their present coverage. Why force them to change it? Three, and most importantly, any plan must be available to all Americans. Because of pre-existing conditions, many Americans are uninsurable, yet have incomes that make them ineligible for Medicaid. We must create a plan of public health insurance to operate alongside the private plans.
Healthcare reform is a moral decision. At this moment in history, modern medicine gives us the ability to extend, enrich, and preserve human life like never before. Yet countless of us are denied the fruits of this progress by an inability to pay or a lack of access. At the same time, millions –– perhaps even billions –– of dollars go to waste in our present, inefficient system. We have talked a long time about change. The time for that change is now.
Respectfully,
Your name here
Brown, Sherrod - (D - OH) Class I
713 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
phone (202) 224-2315 Fax (202)228-6321 Web Form: brown.senate.gov/contact/
425 Walnut Street, Suite 2310
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
p (513) 684-1021
f (513) 684-1029
Toll Free 1-888-896-OHIO (6446)
Voinovich, George V. - (R - OH) Class III
524 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
phone (202) 224-3353 Fax: (513) 684-3269
Web Form: voinovich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact....
Senator Jim Bunning, Kentucky Senator
District 4 - Ft. Wright (Main State Office)
1717 Dixie Highway, Suite 220
Ft. Wright, KY 41011
Main: 859-341-2602
Fax: 859.331.7445
Toll free: 1-800-283-8983 Web Form http://bunning.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm
Senator Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Senator
1885 Dixie Highway
Suite 345
Fort Wright, KY 41011
Phone: (859) 578-0188 Fax: (202) 224-2499 Web Form mcconnell.senate.gov/contact_form.cfm -
Jean Schmidt 2nd Congressional District
8044 Montgomery Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45236
Phone (513)791-0381 Fax: (513) 791-1696 www.house.gov/schmidt/contact.shtml
Steve Driehaus First Congressional District
441 Vine St. 3003 Carew Twr., Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone (513)684-2723 Fax: (513) 421-8722 https://forms.house.gov/driehaus/contact-form.shtml
John H. Boehner 8th Congressional District
7969 Cincinnati-Dayton Rd. B, West Chester, OH 45069
Phone (513)779-5400 Fax (513) 779-5315 http://johnboehner.house.gov. <http://johnboehner.house.gov>
Geoff Davis, 4th Congressional District Kentucky
Fort Mitchell District Office
300 Buttermilk Pike, Suite 314
Fort Mitchell, KY 41017
(859) 426-0080 phone
(859) 426-0061 fax http://geoffdavis.house.gov/Contact/
(Our thanks to Joan Friedland for correcting the mistakes in this contact list and for adding the fax numbers!)
SECTION THREE: Articles
- Nader on Obama
- Some say no healthcare reform because “the government can’t do anything right”: humorous rebuttal
- Jennifer Ellingston letter on our member’s castigation of Mayor Mallory
- State Auditor’s hypocrisy; David Pepper blows whistle
- Scary YouTube video (10 min) on immigration policy and US population growth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7WJeqxuOfQ
- Farm related quotes sent in by David Rosenberg
Put this in your peace pipe and smoke it. Blog applauds Nader, chides Obama.
<http://www.truthdig.com/>
Nader Was Right: Liberals Are Going Nowhere With Obama
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090810_nader_was_right_liberals_are_going_nowhere_with_obama/
Posted on Aug 10, 2009
By Chris Hedges
The American empire has not altered under Barack Obama. It kills as brutally and indiscriminately in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as it did under George W. Bush. It steals from the U.S. treasury to enrich the corporate elite as rapaciously. It will not give us universal health care, abolish the Bush secrecy laws, end torture or “extraordinary rendition,” restore habeas corpus or halt the warrantless wiretapping and monitoring of citizens. It will not push through significant environmental reform, regulate Wall Street or end our relationship with private contractors that provide mercenary armies to fight our imperial wars and produce useless and costly weapons systems.
The sad reality is that all the well-meaning groups and individuals who challenge our permanent war economy and the doctrine of pre-emptive war, who care about sustainable energy, fight for civil liberties and want corporate malfeasance to end, were once again suckered by the Democratic Party. They were had. It is not a new story. The Democrats have been doing this to us since Bill Clinton. It is the same old merry-go-round, only with Obama branding. And if we have not learned by now that the system is broken, that as citizens we do not matter to our political elite, that we live in a corporate state where our welfare and our interests are irrelevant, we are in serious trouble. Our last hope is to step outside of the two-party system and build movements that defy the Democrats and the Republicans. If we fail to do this, we will continue to undergo a corporate coup d’etat in slow motion that will end in feudalism.
We owe Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_McKinney> and the Green Party an apology. They were right. If a few million of us had had the temerity to stand behind our ideals rather than our illusions and the empty slogans peddled by the Obama campaign, we would have a platform. We forgot that social reform never comes from accommodating the power structure but from frightening it. The Liberty Party, which fought slavery, the suffragists who battled for women’s rights, the labor movement, and the civil rights movement knew that the question was not how do we get good people to rule—those attracted to power tend to be venal mediocrities—but how do we limit the damage the powerful do to us. These mass movements were the engines for social reform, the correctives to our democracy and the true protectors of the rights of citizens. We have surrendered this power. It is vital to reclaim it. Where is the foreclosure movement? Where is the robust universal health care or anti-war movement? Where is the militant movement for sustainable energy?
“Something is broken,” Nader said when I reached him at his family home in Connecticut. “We are not at the Bangladesh level in terms of passivity, but we are getting there. No one sees anything changing. There is no new political party to give people a choice. The progressive forces have no hammer. When they abandoned our campaign, they told the Democrats we have nowhere to go and will take whatever you give us. The Democrats are under no heat in the electoral arena from the left.
“There comes a point when the public imbibes the ultimatum of the plutocracy,” Nader said when asked about public apathy. “They have bought into the belief that if it protests, it will be brutalized by the police. If they have Muslim names, they will be subjected to Patriot Act treatment. This has scared the hell out of the underclass. They will be called terrorists.
“This is the third television generation,” Nader said. “They have grown up watching screens. They have not gone to rallies. Those are history now. They hear their parents and grandparents talk about marches and rallies. They have little toys and gizmos that they hold in their hands. They have no idea of any public protest or activity. It is a tapestry of passivity.
“They have been broken,” Nader said of the working class. “How many times have their employers threatened them with going abroad? How many times have they threatened the workers with outsourcing? The polls on job insecurity are record-high by those who have employment. And the liberal intelligentsia have failed them. They [the intellectuals] have bought into carping and making lecture fees as the senior fellow at the institute of so-and-so. Look at the top 50 intelligentsia—not one of them supported our campaign, not one of them has urged for street action and marches.”
Our task is to build movements that can act as a counterweight to the corporate rape of America. We must opt out of the mainstream. We must articulate and stand behind a viable and uncompromising socialism, one that is firmly and unequivocally on the side of working men and women. We must give up the self-delusion that we can influence the power elite from the inside. We must become as militant as those who are seeking our enslavement. If we remain passive as we undergo the largest transference of wealth upward in American history, our open society will die. The working class is being plunged into desperation that will soon rival the misery endured by the working class in China and India. And the Democratic Party, including Obama, is a willing accomplice.
“Obama is squandering his positive response around the world,” Nader said. “In terms of foreign and military policy, it is a distinct continuity with Bush. Iraq, Afghanistan, the militarization of foreign policy, the continued expansion of the Pentagon budget and pursuing more globalized trade agreements are the same.”
This is an assessment that neoconservatives now gleefully share. Eliot A. Cohen, writing in The Wall Street Journal, made the same pronouncement.
“Mostly, though, the underlying structure of the policy remains the same,” Cohen wrote <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203946904574300402608475582.html> in an Aug. 2 opinion piece titled “What’s Different About the Obama Foreign Policy.” “Nor should this surprise us: The United States has interests dictated by its physical location, its economy, its alliances, and above all, its values. Naive realists, a large tribe, fail to understand that ideals will inevitably guide American foreign policy, even if they do not always determine it. Moreover, because the Obama foreign and defense policy senior team consists of centrist experts from the Democratic Party, it is unlikely to make radically different judgments about the world, and about American interests in it, than its predecessors.”
Nader said that Obama should gradually steer the country away from imperial and corporate tyranny.
“You don’t just put out policy statements of congeniality, but statements of gradual redirection,” Nader said. “You incorporate in that statement not just demilitarization, not just ascension of smart diplomacy, but the enlargement of the U.S. as a humanitarian superpower, and cut out these Soviet-era weapons systems and start rapid response for disaster like earthquakes and tsunamis. You expand infectious disease programs, which the U.N. Developmental Commission says can be done for $50 billion a year in Third World countries on nutrition, minimal health care and minimal shelter.”
Obama has expanded the assistance to our class of Wall Street extortionists through subsidies, loan guarantees and backup declarations to banks such as Citigroup. His stimulus package does not address the crisis in our public works infrastructure; instead it doles out funds to Medicaid and unemployment compensation. There will be no huge public works program to remodel the country. The president refuses to acknowledge the obvious—we can no longer afford our empire.
“Obama could raise a call to come home, America, from the military budget abroad,” Nader suggested. “He could create a new constituency that does not exist because everything is so fragmented, scattered, haphazard and slapdash with the stimulus. He could get the local labor unions, the local Chambers of Commerce and the mayors to say the more we cut the military budget, the more you get in terms of public works.”
“They [administration leaders] don’t see the distinction between public power and corporate power,” Nader said. “This is their time in history to reassert public values represented by workers, consumers, taxpayers and communities. They are creating a jobless recovery, the worst of the worst, with the clear specter of inflation on the horizon. We are heading for deep water.”
The massive borrowing acts as an anesthetic. It prevents us from facing the new limitations we must learn to cope with domestically and abroad. It allows us to live in the illusion that we are not in a state of irrevocable crisis, that our decline is not real and that catastrophe has been averted. But running up the national debt can work only so long.
“No one can predict the future,” Nader added hopefully. “No one knows the variables. No one predicted the move on tobacco. No one predicted gay rights. No one predicted the Berkeley student rebellion. The students were supine. You never know what will light the fire. You have to keep the pressure on. I know only one thing for sure: The whole liberal-progressive constituency is going nowhere.”
So you say, “The government can’t do anything right”?
This morning I was awakened by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US Department Of Energy and whose manufacture was declared safe by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I watched this while eating my breakfast of US Department Of Agriculture inspected food and taking the medications which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time as regulated by the US Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.
On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the Public School.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA approved car back home on the DOT built roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
I then log on to the internet, which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and post on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.
(this essay was forwarded to me by my daughter in Denver, Anna Simon.)
Jenefer Ellingston, D.C. Green Party Founder and Weekly lurker, on our discussion on the Mayor:
on 8/6/09 10:02 PM, jenefer ellingston at jellingston@earthlink.net wrote:
Ellen,
I forgot to mention that .... everything reported below (table notes from a couple weeks ago-ellen) about what your mayor does and how the city cuts its social service support ... is exactly
what happens here in DC. Every city in America continues on its down hill spiral.
Jenefer
David Pepper Blows Whistle on Sitting State Auditor
Auditor Self-Promotion Scavenger Hunt
Help Us Track Down Magnets, Mousepads and Posters
Dear Friend,
In case you missed it, an interesting story broke last week in papers across the State. We need your help to get to the bottom of it.
You see, a few months ago, our current State Auditor told a "Tea Party" rally <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102664521034&s=580&e=001PNy5fEYV4qqTLBRIsc3EiO6xtnPHQzj9Mm-aPqLc4pBXN00pZFQqIkWUpQQwS-vCgbMx2RXnokxQQF5uqROFq5RDfpJbd_MO6307EcZ9tyhUL_OwFxNC0t3qa16mrB-Vg0Qtdvy0M7E=> (the Tea Party is this radical right group that disrupts town hall meetings about Health Care Reform~ ellen)
that there was simply "too much spending." She demanded that tax dollars should only be spent on "the things we the People want them spent on."
Well, last Sunday, the Dayton Daily News
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102664521034&s=580&e=001PNy5fEYV4qoFVXNBzNVspBBjaxI9TKSliNsi1-5L3CrdITBZP06wF9uGSiEJCknt_Z58UYkndkenvj5CRIJQbkFCUgb8fgj31daDghrnEYWEL6DOBojXp57QgEfal9MblxZMPq88KLyHs8RhqHYBWZfnPqP2BaZSvdGLcRVOMPAyqQd26yftqLI_FeVKvkQ8ugkYWTTS2TESMd7suDol6FleMYmF7Chl>
took a look at the Auditor's own spending, and found that she was spending more dollars on self-promotional items than any other statewide offical. Since 2007, the state's "fiscal watchdog" has spent $57,816 of taxpayer dollars on magnets, posters, computer mousepads, calendars and CDs plastered with her name and photo. This was more than any other sitting statewide officeholder.
The Auditor's office defended the spending, insisting these were not "trinkets" that "serve no purpose other than self-promotion."
We'd like your help in determining if this is the case, and if this is the type of spending that, in her own words, "we the people" want.
Presumably, throughout government offices in the state are thousands of mousepads, posters and calendars featuring Auditor Taylor's name and photograph ($57k buys a lot of mousepads). We are asking you to ask elected officials in your county to search around for these items, and we'd love to collect as many of these items as possible to see how many there are and what they look like.
Think of it as a Scavenger Hunt--and we will announce the County that turns out the highest number of taxpayer-funded self-promotional items from Auditor Taylor's office. The reward to the winning County will be a calendar and mousepad NOT paid for by taxpayer dollars!
Once you have the items, please email us (just reply to this email, anne@davidpepper.com), and we will arrange getting them from you.
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
Anne Sesler
Communications Director
Citizens for Pepper Committee
Get Involved
Want to learn more about David, follow his campaign, and help his Ohio Auditor race? Click on the links below to learn more.
Donate <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102664521034&s=580&e=001PNy5fEYV4qrkDLpLf-UtMq5z4rbwBRYey_2VIbe3xCFK0BVWeSMS6JARBkuhqBo6NPIb2pMn9WM0W_Ff0_9VjsPiwsYyNyFn01B0yXJD4QCb3XhoHZxS6WnzmH8JsTYyMsptegDlSagliBtq0TS03RUyCRVGbtnI> Email Alerts <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102664521034&s=580&e=001PNy5fEYV4qpmSV4n0-EKWE63XMnurbhMe-JabICp3gqQkLnQYWi82IkHIG7Eo_iPDmBLw-0fy5n4l7iEZnoz1SGTftz4Im0a28VxL2-3NhpUxtLtF9yoa2eRw6DiK5EAsEauIaBVshZvtzoPzrmoug==> Volunteer <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102664521034&s=580&e=001PNy5fEYV4qqKs74wtTooJmlHUoMLh2R1Butg_U1ddCK5NrYDu2oomuXYzpJvCHWZM5dD6hQaAtwNT9PZOXmQbLEeS26xIS7VBRa5Rb1BNwGKo3QdXFturPukDp1fuULeYi-UTsKe4zUI4a155AJM07zQdyl4cJMKslzcTI81JtQ=> Facebook <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102664521034&s=580&e=001PNy5fEYV4qqztkRX7BwtF2_BMb82LVi8T7msntlxwl0GSj57s2LXCWGNjenveA0bbb-jYTr25MCcjP0J0Uvipgq-eeBECYmc_VnttDv95yE9oo2qmJZknw==> Twitter <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102664521034&s=580&e=001PNy5fEYV4qprPwn3bb_w_1o3pQTIFbyBpgN0T3NU8VyiFWVEOlNvaU-yNM8vxxEnvbmEgK19zDySSr3zLEUmaooQxtjvb25FcUxYv2GM5JCqNWvqxZ5vbA==> Blog <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102664521034&s=580&e=001PNy5fEYV4qoUgPfq5TFmeobH9pQtDGhqYPqHdpwIZZ3twxv8LOzzEA84HcclgxRZFk30FUBXX2xaZp8iyX5sxZx4gULbZWDE7YvY3RwWJdAM1mWwd_v_usbgfJ5kH6x->
Paid for by the Citizens for Pepper Committee,
Don Mooney, Treasurer, 600 Vine Street, Ste. 2800, Cincinnati, OH 45202.
David Rosenberg sends: QUOTES FROM THE ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION (OrganicConsumers.org)
ETHANOL...A FOOLISH IDEA!
"Farmers are seeing little of the huge profits ethanol refiners like Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) are banking... ADM will earn an estimated $1.3 billion from ethanol alone in the 2007 fiscal year." From New York Times article: "How ADM makes a killing on ethanol"
"The United States, in a misguided effort to reduce its oil insecurity by converting grain into fuel for cars, is generating global food insecurity on a scale never seen before." Economist Lester Brown speaking to the Des Moines Register 1/25/2008
QUICK AGRO-FUEL FACTS
- Increasing fuel efficiency by just 3% would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil more than all of the agrofuels combined.
- The amount of grain it takes to fill an average gas tank with ethanol would be enough to feed a person for a year (source: Foreign Affairs)
- If the United States stopped growing food and converted its entire grain harvest into ethanol, it would satisfy less than 16 percent of its automotive needs. (source: Earth Policy Institute)
- The majority of U.S. biofuels are produced from pesticide intensive genetically engineered crops (soy, corn).
- Monocultures of soy and sugar cane in Latin America and palm oil in Indonesia and Malaysia have led to massive deforestation and the loss of invaluable biodiversity.
- Current methods of industrial-scale biofuel production worsen global warming by increasing deforestation and degradation of peatlands and soils, while also creating more nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer use.
SECTION FOUR: Book, Film, Theater, TV, Music, Restaurant Reviews
Please send us notes of what you are reading or seeing. It’s entirely up to the readers to make this section interesting. We want to know what is turning you on!
9/13/09 from Ellen: I am enjoying Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein, author of Stranger in a Strange Land, of huge influence in the seventies among young adults, including me. Heinlein is a flaming Libertarian in philosophy, and an indelible character. Apparently he is having a popularity surge among young adults today; my 25 year old son David Judah Sher gave this one to me.
SECTION FIVE: Tri-State Treasures by Jim Kesner
Tri-State Treasures
Tri-State Treasures is a compilation of unique local people, places, and events that may enrich your lives. These treasures have been submitted by you and others who value supporting quality community offerings. Please consider supporting these treasures, and distributing the information for others to enjoy. And please continue forwarding your Tri-State Treasures ideas to jkesner@nuvox.net.
Information about Tri-State Treasures and how to submit them is at the bottom of this email. Please help me by providing all basic information, and formatting your submissions as described below. Thank you.
Sincerely, Jim
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Argentine Tango: Tango del Barrio, Cincinnati's Argentine Tango social club, inhabits a lively corner of eclectic Northside, the city's most vibrant & diverse neighborhood. More than a dance studio, Tango del Barrio is a gathering place; a welcoming community of dancers & friends devoted to sharing the spirit & intrigues of Argentine Tango. Check out their schedule & join them for classes, practices, milongas (social dances) & special events. At Tango del Barrio, 4046 Hamilton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45223. More info @ 513) 591-0019, 513) 591-1948, mwizer@earthlink.net & www.tangodelbarrio.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dairy Queen Blizzard Sales Benefit Cincinnati Children's Hospital [Thursday 13 August]: Enjoy a Blizzard tomorrow, this Thursday, "DQ Miracle Treat Day." Proceeds from each Blizzard ice cream treat sold that day at participating Dairy Queen locations in greater Cincinnati will be donated to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Stop in at Dairy Queen to cool off with a delicious Blizzard and help sick & injured kids in our community. Participating locations include: Saint Bernard, Blue Ash, West Chester, Milford, Montgomery, Beechmont Avenue & Monfort Heights, OH & Covington, Fort Mitchell, Hebron & Wilder, KY. To find more stores & more info @ www.miracletreatday.com.
The Sonny Fortune Quartet [Thursday 13 August @ 7:30 PM]: World-class saxophonist, Sonny Fortune, is joined by George Cables, Chip Jackson & Steve Johns. Cover charge for 2 sets is $25. Jazz Club members, CCM & SCPA Students pay $20. At The Redmoor, 3187 Linwood Avenue, Mt Lookout Square, Cincinnati, OH 45208. More info @ 513.871.6789, waltb31@gmail.com & www.theredmoor.com.
Assumption Picnic [Friday 14 August @ 5 PM - dusk]: One of the most spectacular views of the Ohio river, on both sides of the bend, & children's playground. Added allure, the upcoming Alliance soccer teams will meet for their 1st encounter. Bring family & friends of all ages. Bring a dish to share & your favorite beverage. Rain or shine; large shelter. Free & free park admission; mention "Alliance Française Guest" at gate. Organized by Alliance Française de Cincinnati. At Weston Shelter, Parky's Wetland Adventure wet playground at Woodland Mound Park, 8250 Old Kellogg Road off Nordyke Road, off I-275, Cincinnati, OH 45255. More info @ www.greatparks.org/parks/woodlandmound.htm, www.france-cincinnati.com/af/Menus_AF.htm & http://francaisdecincinnati.forumactif.net/.
Nude in Contemporary Art - opening reception [Friday 14 August @ 6-9 PM]: Manifest Gallery presents its 1st Annual N U D E International Competitive Exhibit, exploring the uncovered human form in current art. Manifest invited artists to submit works in any medium, any style or genre, & of any size. Over 600 works were submitted by 265 artists. The resulting juried exhibit consists of 25 diverse works by 20 artists from 13 states & 3 countries. Refreshments will be served. The exhibit runs thru Friday 11 September. At Manifest Creative Research Gallery & Drawing Center, 2727 Woodburn Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45206. More info @ 513.861.3638, jason@manifestgallery.org & www.manifestgallery.org.
The Who’s Tommy [Friday 14-15 August @ 8 PM]: Peter Townshend’s tale of a young boy’s journey from pain to triumph may be the most electrifying evenings of rock & roll ever to play in a theatre. The classic '60s rock opera by The Who was translated to the stage as a high-energy, one-of-a-kind theatrical event. Tickets are $15. At the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts, 4990 Glenway Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45238. More info & tix @ 513.241.6550 & www.cincinnatilandmarkproductions.com.
Stray Dog Concert & Petting Zoo @ St. Bernadette Festival [Friday-Sunday 14-16 August @ 6 PM - Midnight (Fri-Sat) & Noon-11 PM (Sun)]: On Sat 15 Aug @ 8 PM, rock thru the Dog Days of Summer with Dr. Dan & the Stray Dogs Band, featuring Cincinnati's outstanding guitarist, Scotty Anderson. And if that doesn't get your heart beating fast enough, visit All Creatures Animal Hospital's Petting Zoo, open thru the 3-day festival, to benefit Friends of Noah's rescue & adoption program; wiggle thru a surprise assortment of exotic pet reptiles, bugs, baby skunks & more. At St. Bernadette's Church, 1453 Locust Lake Road, Amelia, OH 45102. More info @ 513.797.7387x113, www.straydogsband.com & http://all-creatures.com/.
8th Annual Gala of International Dance Stars [Saturday 15 August @ 8 PM]: Featuring the best dancers from the best companies & the best choreography in the world, this year’s Gala will astonish & amaze the audience with the artistry & athleticism of the dancers, the diversity of the cast, dance styles & music, & will bring them to their feet in rousing standing ovations. Tickets are $42-62. Register to win a pair of free VIP tickets @ www.ballettechcincinnati.org/contestentry.htm. At Aronoff Center P&G Hall, 650 Walnut Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202. More info & tix @ 513.621.2787 & www.ballettechcincinnati.org/2008-2009/2009Gala/gala2009.html.
Healthy Family Eating [Saturday 15 August @ 12:30 PM]: Learn what foods are healthiest for your family, how food affects your body & how to eat healthy on a budget. Free. At Gateways to Healing, Network Chiropractic & Advanced Clinical Nutrition, 3239 Jefferson Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45220. More info @ 513.321.3317 & www.GatewaysToHealing.com.
Inside Out: New Glass Work by Hiroshi Yamano [thru Saturday 15 August]: View stunning works in glass by Japanese master, Hiroshi Yamano. Yamano's signature sculpture incorporate glass blowing, hand cutting, polishing, sculpting, engraving & applications of copper & silver leaf. Free. At Marta Hewett Gallery (2nd floor), 656 East McMillan Street, Cincinnati, OH 45206. More info @ 513.281.2780, marta@martahewett.com & www.martahewett.com.
Saturday Night Movies on Fountain Square: Sharktale (7:30) & The Dark Knight (9:30) [Saturday 15 August]: Bring your blankets, chairs & pillows to the Square every Saturday night thru 12 September for 2 free movies on the giant LED Board. Adult beverages, soft drinks & movie snacks available for purchase. Concessions will include Skyline, Graeter’s & kettle corn. No outside alcohol, glass containers or pets. Sponsored by Procter & Gamble & Toyota. At Fountain Square, 5th & Vine Streets, downtown Cincinnati, OH 45202. Schedule & more info @ www.myfountainsquare.com/movies.
Friends of the Public Library End-of-Summer Book Sale [thru Sunday 16 August]: At Friends Warehouse, 8456 Vine Street, Hartwell, OH. More info @ 513.369.6035 & friendsofplch1@fuse.net.
Cincinnati Metropolitan Orchestra Outdoor Summer Concert Series [Tuesday 18 August @ 7 PM]: This year's concert theme is "On the Streets of New York." A wide variety of music will be performed by The Cincinnati Metropolitan orchestra, joined by the CMO vocal ensemble. Bring a blanket or lawn chairs for a musical evening outdoors. Free. Rain location nearby. At Presidents Park 281 Dudley Road, Edgewood, KY 41017. More info @ 513.941.8956 & www.GOCMO.org.
Introduction to the Chakras In Our Energy System [Thursday August 20 @ 7-9 PM]: Learn about the chakras (major energy centers) in your energy system, the issues & organs related to them & how to connect the chakras together so that they communicate information for health & happiness. No experience needed. Registration required. At Synergy Holistic Health, 7413 Hwy 42, # 3, Florence, KY 41042. More info & register @ 502.777.3865, jutley5122@bellsouth.net & www.joannutley.byregion.net.
OTR: Cincinnati's Overlooked Opportunity [Thursday 20 August @ 5:30-7:00 PM]: A brief look at how OTR compares to similar historic districts that generate millions for their cities; an explanation of the bad policy decisions that have made our downtown historic district an endangered species; & tangible, immediate recommendations for how to fix bad policy & leverage Over-the-Rhine to grow the city's tax-base & change the image of the City of Cincinnati. At Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202. More info @ 513.721.1317 & www.otrfoundation.org/Overlooked_Opportunity.php.
Philadelphia Story - Mt. Adams Cinema-In-The-City Outdoor Summer Movies Series [3rd film is Friday 21 August]: The final film of this series is Philadelphia Story (1940) starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant & James Stewart. Rediscover the charm of Mt. Adams while watching classic movies under a starry summer sky at the Mt. Adams Cinema-In-The-City Outdoor Summer Movie series at the newly renovated Seasongood Pavilion in Eden Park. Gates open at 7:30pm, with live music & a raffle before the show. Movies begin at dusk. Mt. Adams restaurants will offer special dinners-to-go (pre-orders recommended): DaVeed's (721.2655), Mt. Adams Bar & Grill (621.3666), Mt. Adams Pavilion (744.9200) & The Rookwood (421.5555). Concessions available on-site. Parking & the movies are free. At Seasongood Pavilion, Eden Park, 1600 Art Museum Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45202 (across the street from the Cincinnati Art Museum). More info @ 513.744.3333 & www.MtAdamsToday.com.
Healing Emotions: Bridging East & West: Conversation with a Monk & Psychiatrist [Friday 21 August @ 7 PM]: Join this conversation with a monk & western psychiatrist to explore the integration of East & West in emotional healing, to enrich your practice to improve the quality of life & bring healing. Suggested donation is $10. Gaden Samdrupling Monastery, 3046 Pavlova Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45251. Register @ 513.385.7116. More info @ gsl@ganden.org, www.facebook.com & www.gadenusa.org.
Santa Cruz River Band + Lost In Holland [Friday-Sunday 21-23 August]: The Santa Cruz River Band is a world renowned, international touring group who can be seen performing in the U.S., Canada, Holland, Mexico & the U.K. It consists of Ted Ramirez (guitar, vihuela, requinto, voice), Michael J. Ronstadt (guitar, mandolin, mandocello, penny wistle, voice), Petie Ronstadt (bass, voice) & Michael G. Ronstadt (cello). Lost In Holland tours internationally in the U.S. & Canada.
<> Friday 21 August @ 7-9 PM @ Riverbank Cafe, 102 Main Street, Hamilton, OH 45013. Cost is food, drink & tips. More info @ 513.896.1666.
<> Saturday 22 August @ 8 PM @ Big Song Music House, 6267 Buckley Road, Oxford, OH 45056. Tix are $20. More info @ bigsongmusic@yahoo.com.
<> Sunday 23 August @ 3 PM @ Waterman House, 5227 Dee Alva Drive, Fairfield, OH 45041. Tix are $10. More info @ 513.314.4333.
Laurel & Hardy Early Silent Films with Live Music [Saturday 22 August @ ~ 8-10 PM; come early to picnic]:The next gathering of "The Chimp Tent," Cincinnati's own Laurel & Hardy film group, will feature “Summer Sounds of Silents” – 4 silent Laurel & Hardy movies made in 1926 & 1927 before they ‘officially’ became a team. All films are silent presented with live keyboard accompaniment. Come as early as 6:30 PM if you like to enjoy the evening and socialize before the screenings begin; sit on the lawn & bring your picnic dinner, blankets, lawn chairs, etc. Films will start around dusk; probably ~ 8:15 PM. Presented by The Sons of the Desert (Laurel & Hardy Appreciation Society). Tickets are $5 for adults; free for kids under 13. At the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, 3711 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45220. More info @ 513.559.0112 (Gene), chimptent@live.com & www.thechimptent.com.
Earth 2009 [thru Saturday 22 August]: A multi-media art exhibit that uses, celebrates & comments on our home planet is featured in the galleries & on the grounds. Free. At Kennedy Heights Arts Center, 6546 Montgomery Road, Cincinnati, OH 45213. More info @ 513.631.4278, www.kennedyarts.org & www.kennedyarts.com.
Crimes of the Heart [Wednesdays-Sundays thru 23 August @ 8 PM (Wed-Sat) & 2 & 7 PM (Sun*)]: In Hazlehurst, Mississippi, the 3 Magrath sisters have gathered to await news of their dying grandfather. At 30, Lenny is unmarried & facing diminishing prospects, Meg is back after a failed singing career on the West Coast & Babe is out on bail, having shot her husband. Despite their grave yet, somehow hilarious troubles, they escape the past to seize their future. Winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize. *Only 2 PM show Sun 23 Aug. Tickets are $17 for adults, $16 for seniors & students. At the Showboat Majestic, 435 East Mehring Way, Cincinnati, OH 45202. More info & tix @ 513.241.6550 & www.cincinnatilandmarkproductions.com.
Michael Wilson: Photographs From & For... Heads Bowed Eyes Closed, No One Looking Around [thru Sunday 23 August]: An exhibition of never-before exhibited photographs by the celebrated Cincinnati photographer Michael Wilson, made in the early 1980s for his 1st self-published book. These are small, vintage, black & white silver prints, accompanied by excepts of Wilson's poetic writing. The exhibition compliments the artist's mid-career retrospective at the Aronoff Center's Weston Gallery. Curated by William Messer at the inimitable Iris BookCafe in Over-the-Rhine, exhibiting local artists & serving local food, including Myra's soups, Shadeau breads, Coffee Emporium coffee, Essencha teas & Aglamesis ice cream. Plus thousands of books, CDs, vinyl & now films on DVD for rent. At Iris BookCafe, 1331 Main Street, OTR, Cincinnati, OH 45202. More info @ 513.381.BOOKS.
Hawaiian Huna: Tools for Living in Harmony with Yourself & Your World [Wednesday 26 August @ 7-9 PM]: Explore the philosophies & practices of Hawaiian Huna, the way of the adventurer. Over the course of 6 sessions, you’ll discuss the Huna interpretation of the body, mind & spirit & explore ways to understand & interact with each. You’ll investigate the 7 principles of Huna which include awareness, freedom, focus, presence, love, confidence & effectiveness; & you’ll practice techniques for living these principles in everyday life. Sessions will include Hawaiian philosophy, active meditation techniques, working with nature, Hawaiian breathing techniques (piko piko), Polynesian “energy healing” & more. Material for this series is based on the work of the highly acclaimed Huna teacher & author, Serge Kahili King. Learn the gentle, harmonizing ways of Hawaiian Huna. $30 per session. At Moye Spiritual Life Center, 1000 St. Anne Drive, Melbourne, KY 41059. More info @ 859.441.0700 ext 327 & www.practicalwellness.org.
Mimockery - art exhibit [thru Wednesday 26 August]: Artists Jules Itzkoff & Robby Burgess explore the ideas of Mimockery, a system where nature imitates technology. The artists have collaborated on 10 mixed media paintings, each depicting different mimockratic traits & philosophies, from perennial super models to flowering hypertext. At Park+Vine, 1109 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202. More info @ 513.721.7275, cincydan@gmail.com & www.parkandvine.com.
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Ongoing Tri-State Treasures
Artists' Books on Display [thru 31 August]: Two exhibits of books created by artists are on display: Bookworks 10, the annual exhibit of regional artists' books sponsored by the Cincinnati Book Arts Society, & More Than Words: The Book as Art, the Keith Kuhn Memorial Artists' Book Exhibit. Presented by the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County. Free. At the Main Library, 800 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202. More info @ www.cincinnatilibrary.org.
Significant Books - annual sale [thru 31 August @ 10 AM - 6 PM Mon-Sat]: One of our few independent bookstores in Cincinnati is having their once-a-year-sale. Month of August = 50% off all books. At Significant Books, 3053 Madison Road, Cincinnati, OH 45209. More info @ 513.321.7567.
The Artist's Way Intensive [Tuesdays 21 July thru 1 September @ 7-9 PM]: Wish you were more creative? Explore Julia Cameron's award-winning book. Invest 7 weeks to identify & blast thru your blocks to a creative life. Marion Corbin-Mayer has taught this material since 1998 & has witnessed its positive effect on people's lives. No "talent" required, only an open mind & a desire to shift your thinking. $15 per session or $95 for series of 7. Space limited to 10; reservations required. At Creative Catalysts, Studio #231, Essex Studios, 2511 Essex Place, Cincinnati, OH 45206. More info @ 513.368.1994 & www.creativecatalysts.net.
Positively Ninety - Interviews with Lively Nonagenarians - photography [thru Thursday 3 September]: An inspiring exhibit of photographs & writings about the amazing vitality of 28 nonagenarians by Connie Springer, writer & photographer. At Anderson Center, 7850 Five Mile Road, Anderson Township, OH 45230. More info @ 513.688.8400 & larkspur@fuse.net. Enquirer article @ http://rodeo.cincinnati.com/getlocal/gpstory.aspx?id=100134&sid=151892.
Art on the Levee - opening reception [thru Tuesday 8 September]: Chandelier Garden by Susan Mahan & Allison Sanders. Susan creates collages by painting, etching & block printing onto fabric & then cutting it into shapes that are assembled onto stretched canvas. The intricate details of her whimsical glimpses of nature’s beauty intrigue & invite viewers for a closer look. Allison’s work couldn’t be more different, yet is perfectly complementary, with 3-D steel & glass chandeliers that are as graceful & delightful as Susan’s collages. Adorned with stained glass, glass beads & chandelier prisms, the wire sculptures are a surprising combination of media that also invite inspection & discussion. At Art on the Levee, inside the Gallery Building by the AMC ticket booth on Riverwalk Level, 1 Levee Way, Newport, KY 41071. More info @ 859.261.5770, artonthelevee@gmail.com & www.artonthelevee.com/Upcoming%20events.htm.
Can't Win For Losing - art exhibit [thru Sunday 13 September]: NVISION hosts a large mixed media group art exhibition encompassing the shop's 2 floors. Featured artists include Eric Lee Cope, Tony Frisell, CT King, Marty Vincent, Mercedes Roling, Nina Wright & Ryan P. Young, showing a variety of prints, graffiti art, photography, found object art & fashion design. Free. At NVISION, 4577 Hamilton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45223. More info @ 513.542.4577 & http://nvisionshop.com.
Grailville New Veggies Garden Volunteer Day [last Saturday of each month thru October @ 9 AM - Noon]: Learn about gardening for your backyard while volunteering in Grailville’s kitchen garden, where produce is grown to serve guests of the Grailville Retreat Center. This 60-year-old kitchen garden has been organically certified since 1992. No experience needed; help for a day or for the season. Volunteers are welcome to come on other days, too. Bring gloves, water bottle, sunscreen, hat, gardening footwear & mid-morning snack if you wish. They'll provide tools. In case of severe weather, volunteer day will be cancelled. Grailville’s Garden Volunteer Days project is part of Granny's Backyard Family Garden Project (see above). At Grailville, 932 O'Bannonville Road, Loveland, OH 45140. More info, monthly topics & RSVP @ 513.683.2340, ml.grailville@fuse.net & www.grailville.org.
Architrecks Guided Walking Tours of Cincinnati [thru October]: Enjoy award-winning, pedestrian-friendly tours of interesting Cincinnati neighborhoods & their rich history. Venues include Downtown, Mt Adams, Over the Rhine, Findlay Market/Brewery District, Clifton & Northside/Cumminsville. Tours are led by trained guides. All proceeds benefit the Cincinnati Preservation Association. More info & fees @ 513.721.4506, info@cincinnatipreservation.org & www.cincinnatipreservation.org/architreks.
Fun Ecstatic Dance of the Heart [Sundays @ 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM]: You are invited to an experience of Community: Fun freestyle dancing based loosely on Gabrielle Roth's 5 rhythm wave dances. Live & recorded music. Bring your drums, rattles & shakers. Wear comfortable casual clothes & bring your own water for hydration. Be still or dance a jig or sweat your prayers. Enjoy community. Presented by Grace In Motion. Sliding scale of $7-10. At Grailville's Oratory (the beautiful big barn), 932 O'Bannonville Road, Loveland, OH 45140. More info at 513.729.7074 & graceinmotion@hotmail.com.
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Tri-State Treasures is compiled by Jim Kesner
Submit Tri-State Treasures or request addresses to be added or removed from the list by emailing jkesner@nuvox.net; specify "Tri-State Treasures."
Email addresses are posted in BlindCopy to protect your identity. Email addresses are not shared, given or sold without explicit permission.
Tri-State Treasures are typically transmitted on Wednesdays; send submissions as soon as possible for best probability of being included.
Please submit your Tri-State Treasures in the following format. This will greatly help me & enhance the probability your item will be included:
Brief Title of the Treasure [date @ time]: Brief description of the treasure; what is it; why is it wonderful & unique. Cost. Sponsor. Location including address & zip code. More info @ telephone, email, & website.
A Fictitious Example:
Fabulous Film Festival [Friday 3 May @ 8-10 PM]: The first & best film festival in Cincinnati will present live-action, documentary, & short films... Presented by Flicks Я Us. Tickets are $8. At The Movie Theatre, 111 Main Street, Cincinnati, OH 45200. More info @ 513.111.2222, info@filmfestival.com & www.filmfestival.com.
2 comments:
Just spent 15 minutes scrolling through the entire content of the Lloyd House weekly post to find the minute link enabling a blog, only to write said blog but be unable to publish it without sining up as a Google blogger, complying with that requirement and discovering the entire blog I'd written had been erased. Such fun. Here's a second, abbreviated version. In future, I recommend moving the link position up to the end of the Salon notes or even to the beginning of each weekly posting.
As I was sitting in for Ellen facilitatiing the 8/13/09 Salon, and as I was aware that the group had tired of Mr. Lincoln's G-burg address as our foreword, and as I knew we had read somethings from Bill Moyers in the past the begin our conversations, I took a peek at the transcripts from recent BM programs and found that on his most recent broadcast there was a segment that not all viewers received, if their stations were having pledge drives. So I printed out on brought that segment to the Salon.
It was a small collection of emails in response to BM's request to provide their visions of the "American Dream" and I offer it again here, hoping some one will find their way to it and recognize it was part of our collective evening.
... Well, it turns out I'm not offering it here after all, as it exceeds 4,096 permitted characters. Ain't technology grand. I'll try to put it in a second "comment"
Once again (second attempt), here's the Moyer's segment read at the 8/13/09 Salon.
BILL MOYERS: The American Dream is an idea as old as the Declaration of Independence, as varied as our many races and colors, as concrete as a winning hand of poker or a brand new car. We've asked you, our viewers, to share with us your vision of the American Dream.
AVERAGE AIRLINE PILOT: The [...] collective Dream Americans share is Abraham Lincoln's and Martin Luther King's vision of a society where an individual American, regardless of wealth or ethnicity, is only limited in his or her best ambitions by the measure of that person's work ethic and personal talents.
HARVANA MENDENHALL: Growing up in the middle of the Civil Rights changes [...] I dreamed of an America where our differences would be something to embrace rather than fear. Now in the later years of my life, I look around and feel sad. Yes, we have made some changes, but to me they have been tempered by our continued willingness to judge and build walls rather than embrace [...]
BETSY GLECKLER: When I think of the American Dream I think of [...] sharing my house and good luck with other people. The American Dream really isn't a McMansion in a soulless suburban street, it is having communion with your friends, neighbors and family.
MANNY FUENTES: I dream of a nation in which disagreement takes the form of rational discourse, that remembers the spirit of "I do not agree with your words, but will defend to the death your right to speak them."
BYRON GORDON: I hope the American dream dies out entirely and is replaced by some other dream that doesn't have the word, "American" in it. And it's a dream that all of humanity can share and prosper in.
MARY: We need no 'American Dream'. What we desperately need is humility. We need to understand that we are only one small part of existence on this magnificent stage of earth. We need to acknowledge our interdependence with all other humans, with all other species, and with the vast natural gifts of this extraordinary planet.
MARTIN: Before we can take a step forward towards the American Dream again, we need to recognize, collectively, that America has been disassembled and shipped overseas, even as we watched it all happen, believing the promises of "global expansion." Our confidence has been shot through with...betrayals, and, yes, deception...
MARGARET PAGE: Why a "Dream"? Dreams are nothing but passive wishfulness. [...] Have we become a society of dreamers rather than doers? We can dream all we want about a better life and a better world, but dreaming won't make it happen. Personal commitment and action will.
RICHARD BARTER: My idea of the American dream is not to wake up every morning wondering how I am going to make ends meet. Not wondering if I can feed my family this month. Not wondering how I am going to pay for college for my two children. Not wondering how to tell my kids to stay in school when PhDs are flipping burgers for a living [...] And lastly not crying because I will never be able to retire.
SHEILA PARKER: The American Dream has always been right in front of us. We have a beautiful country, great ideals, citizens ready to help and opportunity beyond all imagination. We were too consumed, too busy and too tired to notice the signs along the way. Now we have the opportunity to change perspectives and collective directions as never before.
STEVE ZELLER :If "We the People" want our American Dream we damned well better all learn about what is at stake ... We all need to be involved. Everyone that is able needs get educated and must vote. The future of the American Dream is in our hands and we better all stand up and fight for it. I sure as hell am going to...
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