Another seizure

I know some of my friends read this blog for my health updates.

I had another seizure yesterday at about noon and the medics came when Alec called and a firetruck arrived and then three medic/firepersons checked me and helped me walk to the car and Alec drove me to the emergency room, nurses helped me into a wheelchair and into the emergency room. I got home about 6pm. Catherine cooked us dinner. Thank you! I do remember that, but not a whole lot else. Now my brain cells are slightly scrambled but not as much as sometimes. They called my neueologist and he increased my seizure med.

TAG Jesse Helms

AIDS activists put a giant condom on the home of Senator Jesse Helms in 1991.

Fascism Anyone? by Laurence W. Britt

Beyond the visual, even a cursory study of these fascist and protofascist regimes reveals the absolutely striking convergence of their modus operandi. This, of course, is not a revelation to the informed political observer, but it is sometimes useful in the interests of perspective to restate obvious facts and in so doing shed needed light on current circumstances.

For the purpose of this perspective, I will consider the following regimes: Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Franco’s Spain, Salazar’s Portugal, Papadopoulos’s Greece, Pinochet’s Chile, and Suharto’s Indonesia.

and ...

Analysis of these seven regimes reveals fourteen common threads that link them in recognizable patterns of national behavior and abuse of power.

and ... Britt's list*

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.

3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.

4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.

5. Rampant sexism.

6. A controlled mass media.

7. Obsession with national security.

8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.

9. Power of corporations protected.

10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.

11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.

12. Obsession with crime and punishment.

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.

14. Fraudulent elections.

Does any of this ring alarm bells? Of course not. After all, this is America, officially a democracy with the rule of law, a constitution, a free press, honest elections, and a well-informed public constantly being put on guard against evils. Historical comparisons like these are just exercises in verbal gymnastics. Maybe, maybe not.

*Britt's list - I edited the descriptions out. They are chillingly - but not surprisingly - familiar. Please go to the article to read them.

Do Please read the whole article: Fascism Anyone?
by Laurence W. Britt
in Council for Secular Humanism's Free Inquiry magazine, Volume 23, Number 2 - Spring, 2003.

Any questions?

'And Daddy Makes Three' is delightful.

On This American Life, Chicago's Public Radio, available online through their free podcast and heard on more than 500 public radio stations around the USA and seen as a television show on Showtime.

And Daddy Makes Three

Six-year-old DJ has two dads, Dan Savage and Terry Miller. DJ is being raised by two gay men, but he has a preschooler's understanding of what gay means. Which is to say, he doesn't understand it at all. Though he does oppose gay marriage. Dan, the author of the syndicated column and book Savage Love, tells the story. His latest book is Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America.

Listen to this American Life Episode 293: A Little Bit of Knowledge which originally aired 07.22.2005.

Click on 'Full Episode' to listen online. Act Two: 'And Daddy Makes Three' is 11 minutes long and starts at 18:02 of this podcast. There are several places where music might make you think it is over. Be sure to listen to the whole.

CodePINK: What's more appalling than $165 billion?

This nation was born out of a longing for freedom from domination by the British empire. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison all warned that the invasion and occupation of other lands would turn America into precisely the sort of occupying force they had rebelled against. "If there be one principle more deeply written than any other in the mind of every American," said Thomas Jefferson in 1791, "it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest."

Our founding fathers who fought against empire and foreign entanglements would be horrified that right before leaving for the July 4 break, Congress passed the largest funding bill ever--$165 billion--for the continued occupation of Iraq. They would also be horrified that instead of applying the diplomatic lessons of North Korea to the case of Iran, Congress and the Administration seem hell-bent on dragging us into another war.

Take a moment to read the appalling language of House Resolution 362.

And check out CODEPINK July 4th- Peace is Patriotic.

Sordid Lives: The Series!

Sordid Lives:The Series is starting on Logo July 23, 2008.
If you get the Logo station, put this one on your calendar!

The movie Sordid Lives is great. It was created by Del Shores who also did the play "Southern Baptist Sissies" which I saw in Los Angeles thanks to our friend Michael.

Southern Baptist Sissies was done at South Puget Sound Community College in November 2005.

Watch Sordid Lives the TV Series Promo:


and watch Olivia Newton-John Singing Her New Song From Sordid Lives The Series:


See more information at Sordid Lives on MySpace.

Short notice - tomorrow night - a secret cafe benefiting local activists Katie and Patsy Hutchison

The Twins Legal Defense Fund Presents: Food for Justice
a secret cafe benefiting local activists Katie and Patsy Hutchison.

Katie and Patsy are being targeted for prosecution, alongside numerous other community members, for their efforts to stop military shipments at the Port of Olympia. Funds raised will help cover legal expenses relating to their case.

Tomorrow night - Saturday, June 28th - 5-10 pm.

816 Rogers St. NW, across from the Westside Co-op
Bring your friends and family!

$15 for three fantastic courses. Drinks sold separately or bring your own.

We plan to be there around 5:30.

Join us!
It's very important that they get the support, and it should be fun - great food and company!

See the three flyers here for more information. - in pdf format:
Food for Justice - flyer one
and
Food for Justice - Flyer two
and
The Twins Legal Defense Fund Presents Food for Justice

More information:

Olympia Port Militarization Resistance

Olympia Port Militarization Resistance Denounces Police Brutality In Current Campaign Against Iraq War
Common Dreams - Press Release - November 14, 2007

66 Arrested in Washington State Blocking War Shipments At Port of Olympia
Democracy Now - Nov. 19, 2007