September 8, 2009

MY NON-FACEBOOK WEEKEND
I was unable to access Facebook for the better part of the last two days due to Facebook maintenance issues. I'm glad to have access once again. I'm back to posting new links and comments. I'd tried every recommendation provided by Facebook's help page, wrote a couple of e-mails and filled out online forms appealing to Facebook w/no response, and even tried calling their customer service number to find that they currently offer no telephone support. It was not at all a positive or satisfactory experience. A big opportunity area exists for anyone who can offer ideas about good customer service to the FB team.



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With his own nice, comprehensive healthcare insurance plan intact, Senator Max Baucus is pushing the idea of "allowing" millions of the uninsured working poor in the U.S. to have coverage that doesn't even match up to your standard Medicaid. It just doesn't sit right with me. It's not the change we envisioned waiting for us on our nation's horizon.
Max Baucus Plan: No Public Option, Non-Profit Insurance
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
►►WASHINGTON (AP) – Time is running out for a two-party compromise on health care as a bipartisan group of six Finance Committee senators considers a new propos...al that might be the last, best hope for an overhaul agreement. The six were to meet Tuesday on Sen. Max Baucus' proposal to create nonprofit insurance plans to compete with those offered by profit-making companies.◄◄

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When I think about the spirit of the individuals who sat down to pen the Declaration of Independence and contrast that spirit to the reality of today's corporate influence on our elected leaders (and our elections), I suddenly feel as if I'm invisible...powerless...my human spirit rejected by the society that accepts the powerlessness of the individual. If the Supreme Court sides with the Corporations here, I think it will be the final nail in the coffin of the spirit of our nation's Founding documents. It won't be an America that I recognize anymore.

Editorial - A Threat to Fair Elections - NYTimes.com
Source: www.nytimes.com
The Supreme Court has upheld the limitations on corporate campaign expenditures in the past. If it opens the floodgates now, corporations would have a huge say in who wins federal elections.
► ►[..] The Supreme Court may be about to radically change politics by striking down the longstanding rule that says corporations cannot spend directly on federal elections. If the floodgates open, money from big business could overwhelm the electora...l process, as well as the making of laws on issues like tax policy and bank regulation.[..] ◄◄


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Lush Land Dries Up, Withering Kenya’s Hopes - NYTimes.com
Source: www.nytimes.com
A devastating drought is sweeping across Kenya, imperiling agriculture and tourism as well as spawning ethnic conflict in the hinterland.
►►[..]"If nobody comes to help us, I will die here, right here," he said, emphatically patting the earth with a cracked, ancient-looking hand. [..]◄◄


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Chris Trapper is not only a great singer/songwriter...he's also a delightful storyteller. In this video he performs his amazing song "This Time." You'll recognize it if you've seen the film "August Rush." *thanks, brother Tom. :)
This Time
Source: www.youtube.com
Live from the Grove Theater In Oak Ridge Tennessee





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Although it’s more difficult than it should be to get the public to care deeply about daily abuses of women, Kristof and WuDunn focus on forced prostitution, honor killing and maternal mortality in their new book, denunciating horrible abuses "with clear-eyed hope and some compelling practical strategies."

Books of The Times - In ‘Half the Sky,’ Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn Call for Women’s Rights
Source: www.nytimes.com
In “Half the Sky,” a passionate yet practical book, Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn argue that the struggle for gender equality is “the paramount moral challenge” of our era.

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I can't wait to see this film: [..] "The Men Who Stare at Goats" is based on a book by Jon Ronson about a secret unit created by the U.S. army in 1979 which, the author said, believed troops could become invisible, walk through walls and kill goats just by staring at them. [..]
Clooney Plays Hippie Soldier In Comedy Set In Iraq - NYTimes.comSource: www.nytimes.com
VENICE (Reuters) - U.S. actor George Clooney plays a New Age hippie soldier trained for psychic, peaceful combat in a comedy set during the war in Iraq.



Creston Journal - From a Porch in Montana, Low-Power Radio's Voice Rises - NYTimes.com