Welcome to the Twin Cities…

Now assume the position.

MINNEAPOLIS-ST.PAUL (Star-Tribune) August 31 – Ramsey County authorities conducted raids across Minneapolis and St. Paul Friday and Saturday as a pre-emptive strike against disruptive protests of the Republican National Convention.
Five people were arrested and more than 100 were handcuffed, questioned and released by scores of deputies and police officers, according [...]

Cool Sunday (Labor Day weekend) sounds.

Billy Bragg: “There Is Power In the Union.”

“If they want to hang me, let them. And on the scaffold I will shout ‘Freedom for the working class!’ “ – Mother Jones

Cool Saturday (Labor Day weekend) sounds.

Pete Seeger and the Weavers: “Solidarity Forever.”
For your Labor Day weekend enjoyment. 

“When a man or woman, young, or old, takes a place on the picket line for even a day or two, he will never be the same again. He has confirmed his own humanity. Through non-violence, he has confirmed [...]

Misc. random Friday stuff.

- I thought Barack Obama’s speech last night was terrific.  He did everything he had to do, in terms of being inspirational, laying out his positions on issues, and sticking his metaphorical finger in John McCain’s eye (yes, I know that’s violent language, but that’s what it sounded like).  For one thing, I, too, feel [...]

Remember?

“The Katrina Pain Index” by Bill Quigley
A snapshot of New Orleans three years after Katrina:
0. Number of apartments being rehabbed to replace the 963 public housing apartments demolished at the St. Bernard Housing Development.
0. Amount of data available to evaluate performance of publicly financed privately run charter schools in New Orleans in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 [...]

Friday peace blogging.

Susan Sarandon and…

…Tim Robbins and…

… Iraq Veterans Against the War, at the DNC in Denver.
HEY!  Read this:
Dear friends and visitors:
I’d like to do a Friday Peace Blogging post or two (or more) featuring bloggers and commenters giving us the peace sign (the whole  peace sign, trollfriends). 
Please use the email address found on the “About [...]

Watching with your family while history is being made on television =

Priceless.

Dennis rocks the house.

Dennis Kucinich gets dance fever at the DNC (photos from Tuesday)…

“It’s just a jump to the left
And then a step to the right
With your hands on your hips
You bring your knees in tight
But it’s me you should be pickin’ to beat John McCain-ain-ain,
Let’s do the Den-nis again!”

How to really “bully-proof” your kids.

Over at Shakesville, Shark fu recently posted on the subject of bullying at school, now that many of us are sending our offspring back to the hallowed halls of education sometime soon, if they’re not there already.
I appreciated her candor in this post, as she discussed her experience as a victim of bullying when she [...]

To the City of Denver and the Democratic National Committee:

Hi.  Hope the weather’s nice out there.
First, an assignment.  Yes, I’m practicing up to go back to school next week.
Please read this:
The Constitution of the United States of America
The Bill of Rights
Amendment I:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or [...]

Forward, to 1925.

It’s back to school time, and that means the fundies are out in force again, trying to sneak “creation science” and “intelligent design” into public school classrooms.  Again.
The Christian Right’s Got a New Stealth Tactic to Smuggle Creationism Into Science Class by Sandhya Bathija
(AlterNet) August 27 – In the 21 years Patsye Peebles taught biology [...]

“Wake up, America!”

Dennis Kucinich at the DNC yesterday.
Good stuff.  Should’ve been in prime time.
UPDATE:
From Think Progress:

The Hill reports that the Obama campaign has, at times, been “tightening the reins on campaign speeches and stressing that speakers emphasize a rags-to-riches theme.” Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) had one line redacted from his speech, which suggested [...]

Kewl.

On Monday, I went back to school a week early to start setting up my classroom for the coming term.  I always go in early, because I can’t stand the idea of going in next week and only having two half-days to get things ready.  I like being able to go to our back-to-school orientation [...]

Why they hate us.

Remember Afghanistan?  The war no one seems to want to talk about or remember?
KABUL  (Reuters) August 26 – The United Nations said on Tuesday it had found convincing evidence that 90 Afghan civilians, most of them children, were killed in air strikes by U.S.-led coalition forces in western Afghanistan last week.
The issue of civilian casualties [...]

What’s the matter with Arkansas?

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) August 25 - A proposal aimed at effectively banning gays and lesbians from becoming foster or adoptive parents was cleared Monday to appear on this fall’s ballot in Arkansas.
The measure would prohibit unmarried couples living together from fostering or adoptiing children, and Arkansas doesn’t allow gays to marry or recognize gay [...]

“Katrina’s children still bear the scars.”

Children of Katrina still bear the scars by Leonard Pitts
(Miami Herald) August 24 – You cannot watch Laura Belsey’s movie without ruminating upon the myriad ways we fail our young.
There are many wrenching scenes in Katrina’s Children but arguably the most wrenching is not the girl crying because the hurricane left [...]

Happy (jazz) birthday.

Happy birthday to Branford Marsalis, born August 26, 1960.

Today’s butchery from Darfur, 8/25/08.

The term “outrage” doesn’t begin to cover this one.
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) August 25 - Sudanese government forces attacked one of Darfur’s largest refugee camps at dawn Monday, killing dozens of civilians, according to rebels and a witness in the camp.
Sudan’s military acknowledged the raid but said soldiers were searching for smuggled weapons.
The United Nations said it [...]

Tracking truants.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) August 23 – Court authorities here will be able to track students with a history of skipping school under a new program requiring them to wear ankle bracelets with Global Positioning System monitoring.
But at least one group is worried the ankle bracelets will infringe on students’ privacy.
Linda Penn, a Bexar [...]

Hang up and DRIVE.

“Imagine someone you love is crossing the street in front of this car…”
Did that get your attention?
Interesting article on the “perils of keypad zombies” here.  
What did we do before our cell phones (and related devices became an additional appendage?  How did we survive a routime trip to the supermarket, a drive to the mall, a [...]