New Years Blessings

New Years wishes to all! As I trundle back toward a semblance of routine after the always mind-numbing chaos of the Holiday Season, the weather here in the Northeast is cold and wintery with wind chills near zero F. As much as the celebrations of faith, hope, good will and human kindness buoy us, carrying us through December's winter blasts, I am always glad to see the New Year arrive, and with it, the return to routine, whatever it may be. Though I have never been an ardent fan of New Years Eve, the First day of the New Year always brings a large sigh of relief as I am reminded that, once again, the Holidays are over for another year and with them the requisite overindulgence, late party nights and rooms full of wafting tissue paper, the dregs of gift exchange, escaping their prisons of boxes and bags.

I like the illusion that each January 1st is a clean slate, blank, shining and ready to help us put our best foot forward, get organized and resume productivity. Inevitably, I am always eager to embark on indoor projects geared to simplify and enhance daily living: cleaning out desk, bureau and kitchen drawers, sorting clothes for Good Will, grooming dogs [not just BATHING, but GROOMING!], and the like. I outline projects for the year ahead and make lists of things to do.

However, for me, the most important part of a New Year is that of taking stock, doing an accounting of the year just passed, so I have an inventory with which to navigate the next one, and that involves one of the most important tools of all: gratitude. Regardless of what has befallen me, or my country or the world at large, the ability to have gratitude for those things positive is vital. For instance, as devastating as some of the darkest days of 2008 were, the fact that, out of the same dark events came so many incredible gifts in the form of the many wonderful people whom I never would have met had it not been for our mutual outrage at our Party, our political system, and main stream media. I am so very blessed to have crossed paths with so many talented, passionate, committed, brilliant people. Of all the blessings and gifts that 2008 bestowed upon me, the people continue to be the greatest gift of all. We have supported, rallied, motivated, comforted, stimulated and befriended one another throughout our fight to be heard in our efforts to reform media, political systems and attitudes toward women. There is nothing that can surpass this kind of community and as we move into 2009, I see our coalitions continuing to grow and survive, more strongly than ever. Despite some differences of opinion, most of us continue to be respectful and appreciative of one anothers' efforts in our fight to attain mutual goals. The overriding factor is that most people want to get along and work to accomplish these goals. Amy Siskind and The New Agenda http://thenewagenda.net/ have made great strides in only 5 months, and Heidi Li's nascent 51% http://www.fifty-one-percent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=49 is doing the same--for these are the organizations that represent the interests of ALL women, irrespective of political affiliation, lifestyle choices, socioeconomic strata or marital status.

On the political front, much history continues to be made, despite media's refusal to report any of it. Rather than report that 54% of the American people now believe there is reason to be concerned about Barack Obama's eligibility to occupy the Oval Office, http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=84990 or that Supreme Court of the United States has now scheduled two conferences on Philip Berg's cases, Jan. 9th and 16th; [Mr. Berg has now entered an interpleader naming Barry Soetoro himself as a defendant, thus shifting the burden of proof to Soetoro/Obama, also naming a member of the military as a plaintiff, which satisfies the standing issue]; or that, although Congress is scheduled to count the electoral college votes which were due by December 15, 2008, [December 24th was the deadline for receipt of electoral votes at NARA], Public Law 110-430 changed the date of the electoral vote in Congress in 2009 from January 6 to January 8, [again for the first and only time in history], and that a presidential candidate has only 180 electoral votes, with 26 states not yet reporting despite the fact that the deadline for receiving votes was over two weeks ago. http://larrymwalkerjr.blogspot.com/2008/12/electoral-college-update.html , http://archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2008/ Some of the states have not yet responded and some have refused to vote for Soetoro/Obama. In any event, he is still one hundred votes from the 270 required to get elected. [It has been touch and go from the beginning, so why should it be any different now? Don't blame us, we tried to warn everyone that he was unelectable!] It is surely the first time in history that our country has been faced with a candidate about whom nothing is known except for the fact that he is most certainly not eligible to be president because he is not a natural born American citizen, and yet all we hear about is Barry's fondness for wearing his hat backwards and playing with his Blackberry while complaining about his security detail as Middle East conflicts continue to escalate.

In short, we are facing a number of historical firsts, NONE of which main stream media has seen fit to report. The good news is that more groups are being organized to hold media accountable, and expose the truth about such entities as the Federal Reserve [http://logisticsmonster.com/2008/12/31/americas-economic-collapse-an-intricate-web-of-money-power-and-political-agendas-part-i/#comment-2899] as well as reform our political system, so broken as it has become by corruption, collusion and voter fraud. We The People http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/obama/ , Wake Up America http://www.wam08.org and a score of other coalitions, new and old, are forming, regrouping and getting to roll out ongoing plans, spearheaded by tireless, passionate, committed people with a multitude of skills and talents from which to draw, and it is wonderful to see that the devastating events of 2008 have not discouraged us, but instead motivated us even further.

The Year is young, and awaits our attention! Best of luck and blessings to all as we forge ahead to achieve our goals.

The PUMA Spirit Lives!

steve_in_kc posted a terrific piece on todays NoQuarter http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/11/23/the-year-of-the-puma/.

He posed some provoking questions and shared some salient thoughts with respect to the issues we face:

1. What exactly is PUMA and is it still relevant?
2. Is the PUMA thing a thing of the past with the passing of the election?
3. And am I a closet Republican now?

to which I replied with the post below.

Yours are questions we all entertain from time to time, especially now, as what I like to call our Phase III, or ongoing Movement Forward begins to take form. FWIW, PUMA is indeed a spirit..it is organic and embraces everyone [or should!] and anyone who resists being defrauded, manipulated and compartmentalized, marginalized and ignored by an old party line, regardless of who is perpetrating it; who long for change and are willing to work together with others for it; who embraces true unity from diversity, eschews sexism and partisanship and can be registered or not registered with any party. There is a significant majority of Americans--about 80%--that favors centrism and moderation, and it is this segment of Americans who have been ignored and forgotten by both the Republican and Democratic parties. Each coalition under the PUMA/JSND umbrella is free to address these issues in their own way and my hope is that we can all continue to work together in a loose coalition, toward our shared goals.

There is absolutely NO doubt that the PUMA Spirit lives, alive and well, and continues to grow exponentially. We have just begun to fight--for our country and its people, for its Constitution and Bill of Rights, for all of those things for which our forefathers and mothers fought and risked so much. I am thrilled by the incredible successes we have had in a very short time since we pounced into being in June 2008! The 300 Delegates, the branding and exposure of the PUMA name and spirit--our movement has been covered and recognized all over the world and in all 50 states! I have no doubt that we will continue to be a growing force in American political and media reform.

As for including men in the PUMA spirit, it is imperative! To me, one of the most significant roles of PUMA is to teach ourselves and others to be INclusive--to embrace both men and women of all ages, creeds, races and cultures--to value human rights and accord everyone dignity and respect, irrespective of whether we always agree. I recommend all those interested in promulgating these values to visit and join The New Agenda http://thenewagenda.org and http://Together4US.com, and, beginning the first week of December, http://SpiritofPuma.com. All are non partisan, with The New Agenda's focus primarily on the eradication of sexism and the others tackling political and media reform as well. All welcome BOTH men AND women! Visit and join, and urge your friends to do the same, for this is where I believe our futures lie--with all people, creeds and genders, working together for the common good of our country and its principles of democracy and human rights for all.

Again, my thanks to Steve for his most constructive and compelling post. It is from posts like his that we can all continue to evaluate ourselves and our progress, our participation and our effectiveness, and to remember that basically, we all share mutual concerns and goals, and need to embrace one another in working together for them.

Character and The Courage of Resolve

Veterans' Day 2008. November skies of gunmetal gray opened today over a nation in transition. Noted with special poignance on this hallowed day is the passing of Ed Freeman, who, in the firestorm of the Ia Drang valley in November 1965, flew a Huey into that hot zone some 13 times under heavy fire to rescue 30 wounded after the medevacs had been ordered not to land.

This is the kind of character and courage that makes humankind great, regardless of the sovreignty from which they hail. It is the same kind of courage and compassion that made my father, whose B-17 was shot into the English Channel in 1944, insist that, as an Officer, he be the last man out of the sinking plane and then, treading February waters, held up two men who couldn't swim until they were rescued because the life raft was gone. It is the dedication and love for his country and his fellow Marines that made my stepfather fight his way up the middle of Iwo Jima for 32 days, an inch at a time, and the patriotism of my friend Rod, born in England after the Second World War of an another American patriot and an English beauty, that took him to the jungles of Viet Nam. It is my friend Dean, another whom I greatly admire, on his way back to Iraq for his 4th tour with the Marines, who once said that compassion was for those who can afford it. I disagreed; I reminded him that of all people, as a Marine, his code of honor and dedication was based in the most compassionate of principles: never to leave a comrade behind. The briefest hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his face for an instant before he grudgingly agreed. The humility of the Great never fails to humble me as my admiration for their courage and character grows.

We who are fighting for women's rights and to regain and reform our democracy and a free press can gain strength and take comfort in the reminder that Courage and Character abound, now and always, in all places, despite indications to the contrary during the recent campaign.

And so, while the current president-designee readies himself to "rule"--this particular, peculiarly inappropriate-for-a-democracy word straight from aide Valerie Jarrett--we find ourselves barreling blindly toward a plethora of unknowns as we learn that nowhere in his To Do List do we see anything to indicate any desire to put competent women in government, eradicate sexism, or even utilize the considerable talents of Hillary Rodham Clinton, most certainly our nation's hardest working, most informed authority on health care.

So much for the "Progressive" Left. One would have to question groups like NOW and NARAL, who blindly endorsed this ticket, which at no time gave any indication that women's rights were of any concern. The president-designee--and I say designee because he is not yet the president-elect--[that appellation only applies AFTER the Electors of the College have voted--but then...he has always presumed a great deal too much, too fast] never once spoke out against the barrage of sexism and misogyny that pervaded the campaign; he has never once indicated that he is anything but a patronizing misogynist. What is so difficult to understand is that the early feminists of NOW have designated themselves dinosaurs by virtue of their blind subservience to someone like this, simply because--can it possibly be??--this individual champions abortion rights to the exclusion of all others. Robin Morgan's outrageously out of touch, patronizing piece from October 31 labeled her forever as one whose "liberal feminism" extends solely to those who see things HER way: everyone else--Republican women, women who choose NOT to have abortions, deserves little more than the back of her hand. No one whose opinion or lifestyle differs from hers is worth her time, her respect or her empathy. She apparently forgets that people fought and died to protect EVERYONE'S rights, not just hers.

We are at the beginning of the next phase of our Movement and of the long journey back to regaining the democracy we have long cherished and now lost. While it is a frightening process to watch our rights fall away, it is an exhilarating one to witness the formation of a new army of people who care about everyone's rights, and who clearly see that the simple pandering to a single issue is nothing more than an attempt to mollify, manipulate and subjugate 52% of our population. We join together to support The New Agenda, WomenCountpac, Together4Us, and the Just Say No Deal coalition, all of whom share in the resolve to restore our country to its once-great status as a champion of human and women's rights, democracy and fair elections, and fair and balanced media. WE CAN DO THIS. IT HAS ALREADY STARTED!

Our heartfelt thanks to those who have gone before us.