Motley Moose – Archive

Candye Kane I’ve plugged before. She is one heck of a performer. Porn star, punk rocker, alt-country/Jazz/Blues chanteuse, and now cancer survivor.

Her career is getting back on track, and she’s been in the studio working furiously, but in the midst of all the hubbabalaloo with Iran, North Korea, Somali pirates, and health care, I thought it might nice to highlight something maybe a little quieter.  Though, perhaps in the light of the recent events in Iran, matters of the spirit are maybe not out of order.

(Also at OC Progressive)

In case you haven’t been paying attention, there’s an uprising going on. LGBT progressives are sick and tired of being taken for granted. We were promised “change” by candidate Obama, but all we’ve seen so far from President Obama & Congress has been more requests for our change ($). Seriously, this needs to change.

Apparently just two days before the scheduled “LGBT DNC Fundraiser Extravaganza” that’s losing donors so fast the DNC & Obama White House are in full panic mode, Fundraiser Co-chair Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) announces that he will introduce a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) as his colleague Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) will soon introduce a repeal of the “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA). And pay attention to what they have to say.

“I’d like to make it a rule: No yelling at the president until you show me a letter you have written” to your House member and two senators, says gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank.

As lawmakers prepare to head home for their July 4 recess, key congressional allies emphasize that every member of Congress needs to hear from constituents passionate about passing legislation to move gay Americans toward equality. […]

What does gay-friendly Rep. Jerry Nadler, chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee on civil rights, need voters to do to help him pass the anti-DOMA bill he’ll soon introduce?

“Call your representatives. Meet with them. Pressure them,” Nadler told me.

Nadler hopes to quickly get a Senate companion bill. Already, a House bill to repeal [the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) military service ban] has been introduced. A Senate version is likely shortly.

OK, I get it. Frank and Nadler are trying to deflect criticism of President Obama by telling us to contact our members of Congress. Fine, then. Let’s call them on their bluff.

“If the U.S. imperialists start another war, the army and people of Korea will … wipe out the aggressors on the globe once and for all,” says the North Korean Central News Agency on reports that a US destroyer was following the Kang Nam, a N. Korean vessel transporting illicit weapons to Myanmar, against United Nations sanctions. Ironically, the ship following the Kang Nam is the USS John S. McCain.

If my experience is any guide, Iranians outside Iran are living some of the most intense days of their lives. Since the first, disputed results of the presidential election were announced soon after the polls closed on 12 June 2009 and the protests almost immediately started, my waking hours are absorbed- hour-by-hour, even minute-by-minute – in gathering computer-delivered news about what is happening in my homeland

It is compulsive, and also complicated. The intense emotional engagement brings with it far more unease than satisfaction. The process of digesting the news from family and friends in Iran that clogs my inbox, of following multiple links to blogs,of watching sometimes horrific videos, leaves me at once outraged and energised yet also sickened and paralysed into inaction and silence. If there is a pattern to these feelings, it lies in an often wild pendulum-swing between a vague sense of hope and elation, and deep shame and depression.  

Human Events, of all places, has a remarkably sane summation of the Iranian situation written by, of all people, Pat Buchanan.

“Ten Days That Shook Tehran” asks the question:

Where do the ayatollah and Ahmadinejad go from here?

…both Senators and Congressmen and women, that the majority of us favor a public health plan and are opposed to the way insurance companies suck our money out of health care. If they don’t understand this, then they shouldn’t be reelected, neither Republicans nor Democrats.

If you haven’t contacted your representatives, or participated in the many polls and petitions on the web (like Dr.Howard Dean’s which I think is very important to support: http://www.standwithdrdean.com/LastChance), then it is time to get active. Let them know what you think.

I know that my Rep., Shelly Moore Capito (R), is a lost cause… and hopefully it will help get her replaced next election. That’s the one thing we can hold over their heads, the possibility of massive vote attacks.

Under The LobsterScope

(cross-posted at kickin it with cg)

“I think that the manifestation of our culture in terms of our identity is absolutely crucial.” Former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin

Children of Heaven is a 1997 Iranian film by Majid Majidi. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1998.

Thoughts and prayers.

(Also at OC Progressive & My Silver State)

Compared with the period from 1960 through 1979, temperatures in the Southwest are expected to rise 4 to 10 degrees by the end of the century.

The chance for longer-lasting heat waves could force the region’s residents to use more air conditioning, which would increase the risk of blackouts as electricity supplies become depleted.

The report also warned that the region, already suffering an extended drought as evidenced by declines in Colorado River flow and spring snowpack, should be prepared to face large reductions in spring precipitation by the end of the century. With that, combined with temperature increases and rapid population growth, the Southwest can expect increased competition for water.

The rising temperatures will also lead to more wildfires, and the loss of wetlands will cause more flooding along rivers. Also, ski resort areas will have less snow, cutting recreational opportunities.

While all of this sounds like a doomsday movie script, it is being presented to the public in all seriousness by many of the country’s top scientists.

The Sun mentioned this brutal reality today in a hard-hitting editorial on the need for real action on the climate crisis. The whole world is threatened, but we’re especially at risk here in The American Southwest where I and many others live. We already have little water, but climate change may end up taking away the little water we have left.

So what can we do? We need to change. We need to rethink the way we interact with this planet.

I have had the extreme misfortune of lacking internet access over the past few weeks as my former home of Iran has seen the ripples of change, grow into a mighty storm. MSNB has done a fair job reporting events in Iran, at least this past week, but CNN has been dreadful. So I was moderately pleased to see a great deal of coverage this last weekendt on CNN of the revolution in Persia.

I normally dread the weekends, as they are almost completely news free. I rarely dip into cnn, and cannot stomach fox. The last couple of days have been a positive change, as cnn has done almost wall to wall coverage. Kudos to them.

Fresh open thread for the coming day here in the States. We’ve got several folks here on Motley Moose doing a spectacular job keeping track of events overseas. Being less twitter-savvy than some of you, I sometimes find it a struggle to keep up, and perhaps tend to rely on Nico a bit too much. But I wanted to say, I’m proud of The Moose, and I’m proud to know all of you. The passion I’ve seen here for the Iranian people is breathtaking in its own way.