Cheri Honkala is the kind of candidate that the Greater Good Coalition can support.

(Crossposted at the Greater Good Coalition.)

Cheri Honkala would be a perfect candidate to try our tactics on. We need money though.



Here's her longer press conference:



Press release about the press conference:

Cheri Honkala’s run for Sheriff comes as a last resort to help people and families who have nowhere to turn after a corrupt Sheriff’s Office still can’t come up with millions of dollars worth of real-estate auction receipts. It has been reported that the current Office of the Sheriff has kept an unknown amount of money from Philadelphia residents after their foreclosed homes were sold and back taxes and utility bills were paid. Honkala vows to fight for the working class homeowner who has been left to live in the streets after the Wall Street financial class was bailed out.

Speakers endorsing Honkala at the Press Conference include CEO of Liberty Resources Tom Earle, former President of District Council 47 Tom Paine Cronin, and Sister Margaret McKenna from New Jerusalem. Jim Moran Director Emeritus of Philaposh* and 16 year Chair of the Philadelphia Labor Day Parade Committee will be speaking in support of Honkala and will also be announcing his role as her Campaign Manager. Reverend Robert Johnson will be speaking on behalf of Philadelphians who have been made homeless through mismanaged Sheriff sales, and Hugh Giordano will be speaking on behalf of the Green Party.

Honkala is also the mother of writer/director/actor/activist Mark Webber (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Snow Day) who grew up surviving the harsh Philadelphia winters in abandoned houses and buildings while his mother began to organize with other impoverished and homeless families. Webber shot his film that put a spotlight on poverty and the failure of the healthcare system entitled “Explicit Ills” (Rosario Dawson, Francisco Burgos) in Philadelphia. The film was released in 2008, and won several awards at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival.

“Our politicians aren’t doing anything about the foreclosure issue. There isn’t a moratorium, and there needs to be, so I have no other choice than to step forward and to choose to stop throwing families out of their homes by becoming the Philadelphia Sheriff.” Honkala says. “When one in five families is at risk of foreclosure in this country, something is really wrong.”

“I want to encourage people across the country that can’t keep families in homes to run for Sheriff as well and refuse to throw families out on the street.

Disclaimer: Our 527 doesn't endorse candidates but we can support candidates who share our views.

And yet another episode of "Blunt talk about the banking crisis"

Double Sigh: Monroeville and Bethel Park Borders Are Also Toast

I just learned that it's not only the East Liberty Borders that is closing but that the Bethel Park and Monroeville stores are also biting the dust. I remember when I sold white box computers and I was trying to improve my knowledge about computers, being that I was an English major and all. So after work, for about several hours, three or four times a week, I would read every PC magazine I could find at the Monroeville Borders book store. So I could learn. And I did learn. In fact, I led the nation in sales for an entire year. And yeah even though I read a lot of mags for free I also spent hundreds of dollars at that store when I did have a buck to my name.

You couldn't do that at a library as well because the library, to this day, still doesn't carry as many magazines as does your average book superstore.

Now, of course, the Internet is the greatest library ever and I can get a pretty basic grounding on anything I want to learn. You can also buy cheaper books used from Amazon or within minutes by way of Kindle. And I don't even like Amazon. (Thanks for screwing Wikileaks corporate tool...). I mean, I respect them and use their products but I don't like them. Borders was a store that I liked.

I walked through the East Liberty book store today while running an errand and it was busy with people looking for bargains. Even at 20 percent off I could probably still get better bargains on Amazon, biggest used bookstore in the planet.

But we just can't replace that public square...Triple sigh.

Sigh. East Liberty Borders is closing. Very depressing.

I guess that leaves just the one Barnes and Noble left within the city limits. All the other Borders, out near Bethel Park, the North Hills and Monroeville, will survive. But nothing within walking distance. Somewhat depressing. Here's the email I got:

Borders – Pittsburgh (East Side) Store Closing – Everything on Sale – Everything Must Go!

Saturday, February 19, 2011 1:46 AM

 

High Unemployment is the Goal not the Problem.

Why have our government leaders done so little to stem the tide of unemployment? Its because the people that own our politicians (the usual suspect crew of sleazy lobbyists) represents that one percent of the population that likes high unemployment. Who likes unemployment? Owners like high unemployment. Puts the "slave" back into "wage slave". Try and leave your job. Go ahead try. Leave your job if that job provides decent health insurance. Go ahead and try. You're stuck.  That's the point. The at will laws for employees are a bad joke. Who has more power in an at will environment? The employer almost always does.

You can read a longer discussion by Marx, best analyst of capitalism ever, on this subject here, but this is the nut graph:

Marx concludes that: "Relative surplus-population is therefore the pivot upon which the law of demand and supply of labour works." The availability of labour influences wage rates, and the larger the unemployed workforce grows, the more this forces down wage rates; conversely, if there are plenty jobs available and unemployment is low, this tends to raise the average level of wages - in that case workers are able to change jobs rapidly to get better pay.

IN other words, the people who have bought the president and the congress don't like it when unemployment is low and wages are high. Not good incentives. Same reason that wall street crooks do not go to jail, why fracking continues...We need an unbought Third Party.

"No, I shall wrassle the buff teen age girl!"

Link here. Hmmm...if I wrestled a girl in my early teens that would have been the closest thing to having sex in my teen years...I think she went 0 and 2 but wrestling would be a fantastic core builder for a future female mixed martial artist.I'll be looking forward to seeing her on Showtime Extreme...

"No, I am the Muppet Lobby!" (Support NPR. Support non car crash/non prole crime coverage.)

Link here. Let's riff on the "No, I Am Spartacus!" line...Support NPR, although they get very little federal funding now and would probably survive and be even more independent. Of course, then they would lose their federal licenses or be charged a zillion a minute...It never ends.

Pittsburgh Pro Choice March in Protest of Republican Taliban Anti Choice Measures

It's today downtown at 4:30 pm. I can't attend but I will certainly sign their petition.

Here's what I got over the emails:

Dear Friends,
Please join Raising Women's Voices for a rally today Feb. 17 stand up against the attack on women and health care.
Today, Thursday February 17
4:30 pm
The Old Allegheneny County Morgue
542 4th Avenue
Corner of 4th Avenue and Ross Street
And whether you can join us today or not, please sign our petition against the attack on Womens' Health Care at http://paforwomenshealth.org,
Newly elected lawmakers were sent to Washington and Harrisburg to create jobs. But since taking office, they have instead been appeasing right wing extremists who want to roll back the advances women made in the last forty years.
The attack began, in both Washington and Harrisburg, with legislation that would make it harder for women to use their own money to purchase health insurance that covers abortion. These new attempts to limit abortion rights are, however, just the beginning of the attack on health care for women.
In Harrisburg, with no leadership from the Governor, hopes are dimming that AdultBasic can be saved. AdultBasic provides affordable health insurance for those who earn too much to qualify for medical assistance. A majority of the 42,000 beneficiaries of AdultBasic are women.
And, not to be out done, Congressional leadership in Washington will propose a budget for this fiscal year that would:

• Entirely eliminate all federal funding for family planning and reproductive health. In other words, Republicans who oppose abortion are doing everything they can to encourage more unwanted pregnancies while attacking Planned Parenthood, the most respected provider of women’s health care in the country.
• Chop $1.1 billion cut from Head Start.
• Cut $758 million from the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a program created by the Nixon administration that provides supplemental food to infants as well as health care referrals and nutrition education for low-income pregnant and postpartum women.
• Reduce the Maternal and Child Health Block Grants by $210 million. This program, a descendant of one created during the Harding Administration, supports children with special needs, provides newborn screening and genetic services, and funds lead poisoning and injury prevention.
• Slash $1.3 billion from Community Health Centers that provide affordable health care to low income women, men and their children. Last year, Republicans claimed we didn’t need health care reform because Community Health Centers provide care to people with low incomes. This year, they are ready to slash funding for them.

Lawmakers in both Washington and Harrisburg have also been busy trying to block implementation of the health care legislation passed last year even though support for it is rising as citizens come to understand how the law protects them from insurance company abuses.
Please join us Feb. 17 at 4:30 PM at the Old County Morgue.
And please remember to sign the petition at http://paforwomenshealth.org .  We'll be delivering signatures to lawmakers next week.
Marc
Marc Stier
Executive Director
Penn ACTION
PA State Director
Health Care For America NOW

Justin Bieber nails American Health Care Reform (From out of the mouth of babes dept...)

Yes I know his views on abortion are bad (spoken like a true dude on an issue that doesn't affect him), but I think he nails American health care. Notice that he actually notes his experience to justify his position limited though his experiences may be.

Canadian pop star Justin Bieber says he will never become an U.S. citizen because of the America’s health-care system.
“You guys are evil,” he jokingly tells Vanessa Grigoriadis in an upcoming interview with Rolling Stone. “Canada’s the best country in the world. We go to the doctor and we don’t need to worry about paying him, but here, your whole life, you’re broke because of medical bills. My bodyguard’s baby was premature, and now he has to pay for it. In Canada, if your baby’s premature, he stays in the hospital as long as he needs to, and then you go home.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/16/justin-bieber-says-no-to-america-over-health-care-in-rolling-stone-interview-you-guys-are-evil/#ixzz1EEnSm66e

Behold. I have created a non profit that can replace ACORN. Kneel before Mighty Zod...

 Behold. I have incorporated a public 527. This non profit, as I've designed it, can do pretty much anything (within the law of course...)...It can be a canvass. It can start companies. It can replace ACORN. Nuff said. Here are the public interest goals of the non profit.

The primary public interest purpose of The Greater Good Coalition (GGC) is to help the American public better understand and change the policies that affect their lives by using whatever means necessary including, but not limited to, cell phones, internet tools, old fashioned door knocking (canvassing), fliers and petition campaigns that can result in the greatest good for the greatest in number (My definition of "Progressive"). These local, state and federal policies include, but are not limited to (includes all policies that affect the greater good), unemployment and jobs policy (international job killing trade deals like NAFTA and CAFTA), tax policy, environmental policy, election fairness, election integrity, voter access,  net neutrality, college debt forgiveness, consumer protection, affordable health care, big telecom/cable issues, the off-shoring of jobs and affordable and accessible public transit. As a general rule, we also support any policy that gets us closer to living like a citizen of France or Norway (as of 2010)  and working to defeat any policy that gets us closer to the vast unemployment and misery of the majority population of Mexico (as of 2010) or some other Third World plutocracy. This primary purpose will be articulated by an online paper/website presence. (http://greatergoodcoalition.blogspot.com/ initially but this might change! It will certainly be expanded.)

 The second public interest purpose of the Greater Good Coalition is non partisan voter education, registration and get out the voter activities in conjunction with elections.

 The third public interest purpose of the Greater Good Coalition is finding and identifying candidates throughout the United States that are most supportive of our progressive public interest positions. (See primary purpose.)

 The fourth public interest purpose of the Greater Good Coalition will be to seek out and create better non profit models for newspapers, journals of criticism, fiction and original businesses virtual and otherwise that can be started by citizens of limited means (defined as making less than a living wage).

Video break: Thievery Corporation's "Theme from a Dream"

Yet another fine selection that can be found at "The Acid Jazz Channel".

When you think about it we're all Polyatheists....

"Polyatheism" just means there are lots of gods that you don't believe in and rightfully so. Richard Dawkins explains this concept here very well. Just to go over this: most of us don't believe in Neptune or Thor or Wotan (Wotan?) or Heracles or Apollo. And thank god we don't have to. Just take it one God further...

Music video for Traffic's "Sometimes I Feel So Uninspired"

I will be getting some compensation for some of my posts here.

Some of the posts that you see on Mirror Universe are compensated. They're actually not badly done and they do pay some bills around here. I will, however, put the mark of "Payd" in order to show that the post is not purely altruistic in intent.

Micah Wright understands the role of the corporate media all too well....

Speaking of cool internet art as propaganda, there's this incisive piece by Micah Wright concerning corporate media vs. Internet Media. Internet media, or at least some of it, is independent and can freely criticize corporations and the politicians that they own (which includes the President) and therefore better. Compare Al Jazeera Englilsh online to anything on FOX news....

What you objectively support when you don't support either decriminalization or legalization.

And this is the bottom line on the prohibition of drugs. You don't support it unless you support the creation of criminal cartels. I wish President Obama would get this. On the other hand, if you look at his treatment of banking swindlers it is consistent.

Here is the non blocked version of this Larry Coryell tune

The youtube version of this video is blocked in some countries, including the United States. Here's a new embedded version:

All can be seen at the Acid Jazz Channel.