One way to help New Orleans bounce back is to support its local economy. Perhaps you can plan to visit New Orleans. But, even if you can't, you can shop at many New Orleans businesses using the internet and the telephone.
For some suggested businesses to get you started with your holiday shopping, you can click the button below or visit this link.
If you have some suggestions for businesses to add to the list, here's the contact email.
Cindy Sheehan has written a book, Not One More Mother's Child, and it is now available for ordering.
During her recent stay at Camp Casey for Thanksgiving, Cindy's publisher, Koa Books, donated 100 books to benefit the Crawford Peace House. Cindy appeared at a book signing in Crawford where all the books were bought, and $2000 was raised for the Crawford Peace House.
That is, however, NOT the story that corporate media or the right-wing "Freepers" wanted. Instead, what was widely distributed were pictures taken between the book signings, showing Cindy sitting alone at a table, waiting. These pictures have been posted on media outlets and right-wing websites with the FALSE information that Cindy gave a book signing and nobody came.
It seems that Cindy Sheehan remains quite a threat to those who still support our warmongering president and his failed policies. Because the truth is damaging to them, they are eager to replace it with their lies, with the willing cooperation of corporate media.
You can order Cindy Sheehan's book online from her publisher, Koa Books.
Crossposted at jc's designs
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Laughing stock of Katrina makes disaster his business
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
The Guardian
Michael Brown, the bureaucrat who headed America's response to Hurricane Katrina and himself became a symbol of man-made calamity, is going into the disaster management business. He is setting up as a consultant, marketing his expertise on coping with catastrophe - natural and self-made.
"Look, Hurricane Katrina showed how bad disasters can be, and there's an incredible need for individuals and businesses to understand how important preparedness is," Mr Brown told the Rocky Mountain News. "So if I can help people focus on preparedness, how to be better prepared in their homes and better prepared in their businesses - because that goes straight to the bottom line - then I hope I can help the country in some way."
Rural Water Worries Persist After Chinese Chemical Spill
By JIM YARDLEY
New York Times
Liu Shiying lifted the metal cover off the clay cistern in a corner of the bare kitchen and lowered a tin ladle into what remained of her water supply. Then she raised a scoop to her mouth. "Do you think it smells?" she asked on Saturday, not taking a sip. "We're still drinking this. It is our only choice."
Ms. Liu lives in one of the dingy villages on the outskirts of Harbin, the provincial capital whose municipal water supply had been shut off for four days to prevent contamination from a chemical spill that dumped a huge tide of pollution into the city's main water source, the Songhua River.
But on Saturday, as Harbin's four million residents learned that water would be restored by Sunday night, rural residents like Ms. Liu in the villages beside the Songhua got no such good news. Isolated and reachable only by rugged, dirt roads, these villages depend on underground wells or the river itself for drinking water. And as the pollution passed by, many villages never got the boxes of bottled water delivered to major cities like Harbin.
Cindy Sheehan Back in Crawford, Tx.
By ANGELA K. BROWN
Associated Press
CRAWFORD, Texas - Three months after the mother of a fallen soldier led a 26-day anti-war vigil near President Bush's ranch, peace activists and Bush supporters converged again Saturday for dueling rallies.
Cindy Sheehan, whose 24-year-old Casey died in Iraq, called for anti-war activists to return to Crawford this week as Bush celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday. The war opponents' camp is at the same 1-acre private lot that a landowner let them use in August when Sheehan's original campsite became too crowded.
The first demonstration attracted thousands from around the country and made the woman from Berkeley, Calif., a national figure."
Nobody knew what was going to happen, and we made up Camp Casey as we went along, and it grew and grew and grew," said Sheehan. "But we're here to say that the killing has to stop, that we're not going to justify any more killing on our losses. And we're not going away."
It has been reported widely that Rosa Parks passed away today. She certainly showed that one courageous person can make a difference. I suggest that King County put Rosa's name on a seat at the front of each bus for the next week. We should fly the city and county flags at half staff as well. Rosa Parks was an amazing American. "She accomplished more by sitting down than most Americans do standing up!" Please don't disappoint me by standing by and doing nothing. Take courage for ROSA. Sincerely,
The Metropolitan King County Council has acted on an idear from BFA blogger "Danny" who suggested an inspiring way to honor Rosa Parks.
Danny wrote to Seattle City and County Council members:
According to the County Council's website:
Danny
"The Metropolitan King County Council today unanimously approved a motion honoring Rosa Parks’ life and her role in the struggle for civil rights, and asked the County Executive to place a message in all Metro Transit buses dedicating the front seat in her honor for the month of November. Ms. Parks’ refusal to leave her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus sparked a new era in the civil rights movement. Ms. Parks passed away last week. "
'“Ms. Parks is gone, but her act of defiance on a public bus changed all of our lives –- for bus riders and BMW commuters alike,” said Councilmember Dwight Pelz, the prime sponsor of the motion. “It is appropriate that we honor her on the buses owned & operated by Martin Luther King, Jr. County. A new generation of bus riders will see a reminder of how a simple act can change the world.”
It's a great idear from the grassroots, and one that could be emulated all over the country.
By now, you may have noticed a lot of pictures appearing in the right column next to bloggers' posts. Here's how you can get yours!
Visit http://www.gravatar.com and enter your email address and password. You will receive an email containing a link to verify your account, and then you can upload your image. The final image is 80 pixels x 80 pixels. Your image will be re-sized, so an image that is square will work best.
Once you upload your image, it must be approved. This is usually done the same day, sometimes within the hour, and then your image will appear on any post here where you've entered the same email address with your comment.
Kudos to Renee for getting this set up, and for her perseverance while the gravatar website was down.
P.S. If you're having trouble finding a gravatar, I've created a few here that you're welcome to use.
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Blog for America
BFA... The Blog... The Big Bad Blog...
What purpose does it serve? Was it only for "cheerleading" during the campaign (as it was recently described)? Was it really a community or just a communication tool that has outlived its usefulness to DFA?
Dean for America provided us with a simple tool. We were given the ability to type simple text that instantly appeared in the public arena. Although we couldn't add graphics or color or even bold print, we learned how to SHOUT when necessary, and some clever bloggers even learned to draw pictures in ASCII. It took a while, but we eventually learned how to display hearts ♥ and Hebrew and other simple symbols in this otherwise bland-looking space. And, because DFA gave us the ability to link to email and other sites on the web, it opened us to the wonders of the "internets."
So, what were we able to accomplish with this cacophony of words? I thought a small stroll down memory lane might be in order...
Without the Crushies, would Dean himself have replaced the lost whale tie that he often wears during his TV appearances? And what a flat campaign it might have been without the humor and music and song! Are you part of the community that formed the Blog Family bios? Is your special day in the calendar? How many of you returned to this energetic presentation of Howard Dean's "What I Want To Know" Speech to reinvigorate you when things got tough, or perhaps turned to quieter pursuits like the Dean Crossword Puzzle, whose page still displays a blinkie? Does your collection of Dean gear include anything from the Unofficial DFA Button Collection? Do you remember the advice on how to winterize a Dean sign (PDF file)? Did you spend extra time and money on the blog whenever a bat appeared, perhaps even taking part in contests and challenges to get that money raised? Or did you wait to hit the bat when you just couldn't resist playing with a troll? When Dean's words were distorted by the media, did you print and distribute flyers to try to balance the message? Did you dream of a Dean Blimp or take a special logo with you to Iowa? Perhaps you were a Grassroots Mom or a member of Punx for Dean? Did you imagine Dean as the Lord of the Roots? Did you help new bloggers get oriented, or perhaps tuck bloggers in at night? Did you link other bloggers to political cartoons and news articles? When Dean was attacked by a silly ad in Iowa, did you create your own ad to set the record straight? What resources did you offer to the blog? Did you join in a book club discussion or meet online to talk about one of Dean's appearances? Were you in on the planning of DeanFest (Yes, I know that's not the official name.) Was the blog important to you?
But, what have you done for me lately?
Is "the Blog" still useful for Democracy for America? After all, the Dean campaign is over. I thought this thread might be a good place to discuss what the blog has done and can still do for DFA.
I'll start by remembering that the blog was the place where we coordinated getting the domain names reserved for the various state organizations' websites, after it became evident that HQ wasn't doing so.
Your turn...
