Hello from Dominick’s Cafe in Kingston,
…where I am going to try to write a couple of weekly horoscopes. Or maybe I better just try one. Anyway, it’s not working…all these people in the cafe want their charts done. They are calling in their favors…they have fed me every day for six months. And Rachel and Genevieve are doing all the work today while I sit here with my laptop and teenagers and their parents crowded around. I got back from voting in New Paltz at 6:45 am, came back, did a little of this and that…and passed the fuck out.
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But here is what I’ve been thinking.
I’ve never, ever seen such interest in an election. And this is the direct result of Mssrs Bush, Rove and Cheney and their shenanigans the past eight years.
It is true, we’ve paid a high cost for this level of participation…and the soldiers and families in Iraq who continue to be the last people to die for a lie — in the immortal words of John Kerry — have really paid that price. We have sacrificed civil liberties, $6 trillion in debt, and a government structure that is basically gutted, pillaged and ravaged; a banking structure that remains on the brink of collapse; we have a lot of ideologue judges injected throughout the federal courts, and John Alito and John Roberts on the Supreme Court for the next decade or so…whose decisions will affect countless millions of lives.
But suddenly we care. Suddenly it matters. When the votes are counted, we will see that there was unprecedented turnout today, and there are many thousands of people going to the polls with cameras, video cameras and with the ability to report their experiences on the Internet when they get home. The denial factor is starting to finally give way to awareness. It has taken a lot.
We have a moment when a presidential candidate will walk up to the poll in his home city, surrounded by reporters as he slides his ballot into the machine, and say, “I hope this works. I’ll be really embarrassed if it doesn’t,” something that everyone has felt today.
We are using the power that’s in our hands…and we cannot stop.
No matter who is elected or installed into office today, we need this measure of vigilance. The First Amendment had and has a purpose, and it has new life with the Internet being so widely used. This is keeping people aware and personally involved, and it’s keeping the media honest because there cannot be too big of a gap between what we hear on CNN and what we read on so many different blogs and alternative news sites.
This is actual progress.
(oops, dont misinterpret Obama aka Christ. Eeekies. Not my intent. Only that right now I think that we are experiencing a global miracle aka awakening unfolding.)
I think the Vgardens should be #One on Obama’s Help Yerself Up planofaction.
$700billion bailout to keep unemployment happening in CA as thousands are laid off by the end of December from various retail unestablishments etc……..won’t last long……we’ve got this GREAT park across the street that I’m eyeing….could provide fresh produce for a chunk-o-Burbank right offa that land…..
solar heat, compost, grey water — in URBAN areas?! — here we come!
Creatif:
weird spin on “advent calendar” ! Ha! I like that. How appropo — Miracles have come and will come again.
Fe – thank you so much! Will be creating these oatie delights tomorrow…have a good rest of the evening, H.
Good to see that there is some interest and excitement around the election over here – there’s a large majority who know what this can mean for them. Even better that the news blogs show great support for Obama – please let these vibes reach through the ether and over the ocean.
Got my map of the ‘states’ that lights up each time a result comes in on the screen – it’s like a weird spin on an advent calendar. I’m waiting and watching, watching and waiting.
aword:
Community owned and operated victory gardens is a real bet for blighted urban communities–where there are vacant lots. All we need is some good soil and to make sure there groundwater underneath isn’t contaminated.
So much to do.
My gut “prediction” holds — Obama will win and McPain will contest thereby “holding up the final result of the election” for some time.
Must try your flourless cookies Fe (Wheat is my Enemy). I’ve been looking for my Great Aunt Marg’s recipe to send along…….
The New American Freedom Symbol: Fe’s Wheatless Oatmeal Cookies.
I also vote for a nationally sponsored resurgence of Victory Gardens; community owned and operated.
“You try so hard not to love something as stupid as a country and then you see some 57 year old white dude who should be at work on the phone in a suit and tie, protecting the election.”
Janes:
This puts us up with other developing world countries fighting for actual democracy. Isn’t that a kick in the head?
America is waking up to its own self-concept.
My favorite thing isn’t the voting, it’s the Citizen Watch for voter fraud. Before the aughts, we probably all believed we were too civilized and democratic to have our elections stolen like we were Nicaragua or something.
You try so hard not to love something as stupid as a country and then you see some 57 year old white dude who should be at work on the phone in a suit and tie, protecting the election.
~j
okay, creatif and aword, the flour-free oatmeal lace cookie recipe goes like this:
8 TBS unsalted butter
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Melt butter anbd combine with the sugar, oats and salt. Beat in the eggs, adding cinnamon if you like (I’m adding unsweetened coconut). Bake at 350 degrees on greased baking sheets for 8-10 minutes, let rest a minute before removing with a thin-bladed spatula. Cool on a rack.
OK, getting the kitchen prepared. Do the dishes, clear off the table, wipe down the stove. Got to make the palette pristine before I begin.
Will be hovering and giving reports on elections, voting and cookies soon.
aword:
Working on a flour-free version of oatmeal cookies from Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything” cookbook. If I see a long line at the local polls today, I’m bringing them over.
Awordedgewise, warmest wishes. Bad backs – well we can only carry so much. So sorry to hear about what you and your son are currently enduring. May it not last much longer. H.
PS I’m still advocating the PW oatmeal cookie receipe exchange……;-)
Amen.
My brillant Scorpio son (the one who was attacked by a terrorist with an Uzi at summercamp the morning of August 11, 1999) asked if he could stay home from school today. His back hurt. I’m not surprised — no doubt he is feeling things deeply today. Last week his father threatened to come to school and do bodily harm to him….
Today my son wore his pink tee-shirt (his choice by intuit). I’ve sent light in the best way I know how. I believe today is a Very Big Day for “standing in the light” as it were.
Tomorrow is a New Day — no matter what events take place today.
Love, Prayers, Amens! and Light,
Linda/Raven
Hey Eric et al – greetings from the frozen North that is the Highlands of Scotland! I am very excited for you all – wishing I was there, wishing I could even vote. But of course I am voting through the universe, sending out my little messages, they will hit their target – I rarely miss. I may not be able to stay up all night and see how it goes – but I am sending the most heartfelt love to you i your bid to bring about this much needed CHANGE. And when I wake up through the night, which I often do when the head is busy – then I shall check on my laptop by the bed to see how it’s all going.
Fe – do you have tasty recipe for oatmeal cookies? Found myself making pineapple upside down cake last night, which is unheard of. Me baking that is – haven’t done that since school. We needed cake in this house for some reason!!! Much love, H.