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Ian Wilder: ianwilder7@gmail.com<
You can also find us at:
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Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire: The Ultimate Fan Guide [Kindle] $0.99.
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Georgiana is the subject of the movie "The Duchess" (currently on Netflix) and a relative of the young Prince and Princess of Cambridge. Get the Ultimate Fan Guide -- with plot points, history, and what happened to the historical characters -- for only 99 cents!
Green Party Peace Sign Bumper Sticker
The Green Party has continually opposed entry into war and has consistently called for the immediate return of our troops, in stark contrast to the Democratic and Republican parties.
Today we march, tomorrow we vote Green Party.
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Reflections on Occupy Wall Street, with photos, fun, and good wishes for the future. eBook, Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? (Only $.99 !) In the eBook, the Occupy movement is explored through original reporting, photographs, cartoons, poetry, essays, and reviews.The collection of essays and blog posts records the unfolding of Occupy into the culture from September 2011 to the present. Authors Kimberly Wilder and Ian Wilder were early supporters of Occupy, using their internet platforms to communicate the changes being created by the American Autumn.
The eBook is currently available on Amazon for Kindle; Barnes & Noble Nook ; Smashwords independent eBook seller; and a Kobo for 99 cents and anyone can read it using their Kindle/Nook Reader, smart phone, or computer.
Wild Flours Bake Shop
In a walk through Huntington village today I found a number of interesting new organic and vegan places.
The Wild Flours Bake Shop at 11 New Street, Huntington, NY 11743 has a mixture of organic, vegetarian, vegan, locally-sourced, and gluten-free baked goods. Here is the decsription from their website: Read more »
Filed under: Food, local, long island, new york, Organics, suffolk county | Tagged: huntington, organic, vegan | Leave a Comment »
My buddy Jim, who was the lead singer/songwriter of Nylon & Steel, said to me:
You gotta go see the Vance Gilbert show in December. This guy’s great.
Congregational Church of Huntington
Though I just knew Jim for a year, I trusted his taste in music. So I planned on seeing Gilbert on the first Saturday of December 1997 at the Folk Music Society of Huntington. The Folk Music Society holds their events at the Congregational Church of Huntington. Jim must have had us cancel our usual Saturday night rehearsal so we could all go. And we pretty much all did. Paulie, Troy, Lotek & Cool Breeze were there. After convincing all of us, Jim got sick and couldn’t make it.
Over the past year, I had been spending a lot of time in church, but none of it praying. In 1997, I had taken a hiatus from dating to concetrate on me. Or as a friend quipped at the time, to date myself. I had started going to the PeaceSmiths Coffeehouse regularly. Susan Blake, the longtime organizer of PeaceSmiths, served up a monthly blend of music, poetry, and politics. Peacesmiths met at Amityville’s First United Methodist Church. Besides meeting amazing people, PeaceSmiths met a lot of my personal agenda. I had started writing and publicly reading my poetry that year. I wanted to get re-engaged with politics. At PeaceSmiths, I got an education in pacifism. And as I was doing more poetry, I realized I wanted to do spoken word with music. During Peacesmiths famous open mic, I saw an amazing band called Nylon & Steel. The band introduced me to the hand-drum and acoustic guitar joy of a jam band sound.
At the next month’s coffeehouse I gave them the poem I had written, Common Ground, in response to their music. I soon found myself doing spoken word to their music. Or as my now-wife Kimberly puts it I became their “Poet Mascot.” Common Ground became part of our regular repertoire. Read more »
Filed under: Art, ian wilder, poetry, politics | Tagged: Folk Music Society of Huntington, marriage, PeaceSmiths Coffeehouse, vance gilbert, Wendell Berry | Leave a Comment »
Love and peace for all who mourn
My thoughts on the Michigan father of a soldier who burned the NJ flag in protest of the lowering of the flag for Whitney Houston:
The man from Michigan who burned a NJ flag to show his upset about the honor to Whitney Houston is completely wrong.
First of all, it is wrong and taboo to interfere with the honors given to any person who has just died. If he wanted to make this statement, he should have waited a couple of weeks, and filed it as a reasoned complaint through appropriate channels. He should not have made a rude, public statement, to dishonor someone’s memory, while that person’s family, friends, and fans are still grieving.
More reasons that his flamboyant action to thwart the honoring of Whitney Houston was wrong: Read more »
Filed under: activism, Anti-War, international politics, News, Peace, politics, progressive politics, US Politics, war | Tagged: Activism and Peace Work, Feminism, flag burning, flag lowered for Whitney Houston, military, New Jersey flag, New Jersey politics, Whitney Houston, women's issues, women's work | 6 Comments »
US taxpayers to subsidize the high cost and high liability for the new units, while Southern Co. reaps the profits
Green Party candidates and leaders strongly criticized a Feb. 9 decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to issue the final license for two new reactors located at the currently operating Vogtle nuclear power plant near Augusta, Georgia.
Greens said that the 2011 Fukushima disaster, with radioactive water and waste continuing to spill into the local environment, proves the need to put nuclear power on permanent hold. Green Party leaders noted that residents near Plant Vogtle claim that some cancers increased after 1987, when the Atlanta-based Southern Company opened the first of the two existing reactors.
“The energy companies know that nuclear energy is extremely expensive and a high risk for security, public health, and the environment. They saw what happened in Fukushima, as well as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Rather than gamble with their own money, energy companies have convinced President Obama to pass the cost and liability on to US taxpayers,” said Denice Traina, Coordinating Council member and former co-chair of the Georgia Green Party (http://www.greens.org/georgia). Read more »
Filed under: Action Alert!, Election 2012, Green Party, News | Tagged: Georgia, Nuclear, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Obama | 1 Comment »
For six years, The Wilders have been posting news, celebrating political activism, and supporting poets and musicians here at onthewilderside.
This website is our family project. We have invested a small amount of money in holding the URL names, and recently, in paying for server space. We have invested a lot of time in studying, sorting, formatting, illustrating, posting, and reposting information to serve the community.
Now, we are hoping to make the leap to turn onthewilderside into a more sustainable project.
We have moved the server from a free, blog site to a server we are paying to be hosted on. This move should allow us to use photos and video more easily. And, it will also allow us to gather funds to support the infrastructure, support the work we do, and make sure we can continue this project in the future.
We will be implementing a three part strategy to allow onthewilderside (via Wilderside, Ltd) to evolve into a long-term, well-focused, family business. We are going to: Expand our use of links with partner sites (like Alibris and Powell’s Books); Consider accepting paid ads from companies we respect; And, adding a “Tip Jar” on the front page.
We are committed to keeping these funding strategies low-key. We will not accept pop-up ads or other flashy intrusions. We will do our best to make sure that any advertising we might accept matches the vibe and values of this website.
About The Tip Jar Read more »
Filed under: personal | 6 Comments »
The New York Civil Liberties Union today requested permission to file a brief with New York City Criminal Court arguing that trespassing and other charges against a demonstrator arrested at Zuccotti Park during the eviction of the Occupy Wall Street encampment should be dismissed because Brookfield Properties, the park’s owner, had no legal authority to exclude people from the public space.
The demonstrator, Ronnie Nunez, was arrested in Zuccotti Park on Nov. 15 after allegedly refusing to leave the privately owned public park when the Occupy campsite was evicted at Brookfield Properties’ request. In the criminal court papers filed against Mr. Nunez, the prosecution asserts that Brookfield Properties had the ability to withdraw its permission for the public to be in Zuccotti Park, and that it had done so prior to the eviction.
“Brookfield Properties had no legal authority to unilaterally deny people permission to be in Zuccotti Park,” said NYCLU Senior Staff Attorney Taylor Pendergrass, the brief’s primary author. “The charges against Mr. Nunez are groundless and must be dismissed.” Read more »
Filed under: activism, Corporations, News, Occupy Wall Street | Tagged: Brookfield Properties, Liberty Square, New York Civil Liberties Union, NYCLU, Occupy Wall Street, Zuccotti Park | Leave a Comment »
The eloquent and educated opposition to Governor Cuomo’s plan can be found at this video:
More Than A Number: An Educational Symposium
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The regular media portrays this as Governor Andrew Cuomo vs. The Teachers’ Union. It is actually Govenor Cuomo’s bad ideas for children, battling the Teachers’ Union sell-out and compromise over the children. There are parents, grassroots teachers, and principals fighting these measures to test students more.
Live now:
http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/155970/37/LIVE-VIDEO–NYSUT-Says-Deal-Close-on-Teacher-Evaluations-
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For more logical review of this scheme to tie your child’s test score to your teacher’s job rating and job, see the following post:
http://www.onthewilderside.com/2012/02/15/more-than-a-number-concerned-educators-gather-to-examine-standardized-testing-and-teacher-evaluations/
Teachers, parents, and students: Now is the time to boycott standardized tests! They are trying to shove these tests down your throat, so that their contributors in the testing corporations can continue to profit, and donate to their campaigns.
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Live Blogging and thoughts:
Ha! The Governor will give schools “bonus points” if they do what he wants sooner. That kind of arrogance, and holding out carrots for professionals who are committed to their work, is part of the problem.
As someone pointed out at the More Than A Number event last night: One of the major indicators of how a student will perform is their poverty level. Who will give the Governor and politicians a grade for how they are helping the economy? The teachers and teachers’ unions should evaluate Governor Cuomo (aka Governor 1%)
Governor Andrew Cuomo compliments a union leader by saying the person was “extraordinarily reasonable”. Oh! My! If you are a union person, and a conservative, teacher-bashing politician calls you that, I think it means that you sold out faster than most people.
“Encouragement, that’s a good word”, says Governor Cuomo. Where is “encouragement” measured in these teacher evaluations? Answer: Nowhere. At More Than A Number, a lot of people pointed out that the politicians and business leaders they have inserted into the education community focus so much on numbers, that values such as encouragement, leadership, and integrity will be unmeasured, unvalued, and ignored.
In the city, they have made a process that appeals will be handled by a new, independent panel that reviews the evaluations. So, now, they have to invent, staff, and fund a new organization. How about using the money in the classroom, instead of for more bureacracy?
This decision is truly bad for New Yorkers and for educators nationally, who it will affect. I think (and kind of hope) that a lot of teachers will just quit. But, also that parents will wake up to how their children are being used as pawns, and either boycott standardized tests, or leave the public school system. This hyper-testing system is bad and damaging to the psyche of children.
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, Education, local, new york, New York State Politics, News, politics, progressive politics | Tagged: Education reform, Governor Cuomo, national education issues, New York State United Teachers, NY Board of Regents, NY politics, NYSUT, school testing, standardized testing, student test scores, teacher evaluation, teachers union | 1 Comment »
A new national poll conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP) shows Green Party presidential hopeful Roseanne Barr surging with the youth vote. In a three way contest between Barr, Democratic incumbent Barack Obama and Republican hopeful Mitt Romney, Barr pulls in 19% of voters between the ages of 18-29, narrowly trailing Republican hopeful Mitt Romney by 5 points. This is the first poll to include Barr in its survey.
In a three-way national contest, Barr pulls in 6% versus Democratic incumbent Barack Obama (47%) and Republican hopeful Mitt Romney (42%). Barr’s support among Democrats and Republicans is virtually equal, with Barr pulling in 6% of Democrats and 5% of Republicans, in addition to 8% of Independent/Other voters.
This 6% crosses a critical threshold – under current campaign finance laws, winning 5% of the national vote would bring the Green Party and its presidential nominee millions in funding in the following election cycle and access to a number of state ballot lines may be secured as well. Read more »
Filed under: Election 2012, grassroots democracy, Green Party, News, presidential race, Press Release, US Politics | Tagged: ows, Roseanne Barr | 2 Comments »
At LIU Post, educators and community members gathered to discuss the negative impacts of the new scheme in New York to use students’ test scores directly in teacher evaluations. Previously in New York, there was a law forbidding this from happening. Though, political energy from Governor Cuomo and NY State Board of Regents Chancellor Tisch have turned the tables.
A video clip of panel moderator Dr. Arnold Dodge of LIU Post:
Some of the reasons why no one who cares about students or taxpayers should support this new maneuver: Read more »
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, Education, local, long island, Long Island Politics, Long Island schools, new york, New York State Politics, News, politics, progressive politics | Tagged: andrew cuomo, APPR, APPR evaluations, Arnie Dodge, Chancellor Tisch, Dr. Arnold Dodge, Governor Cuomo, Merryl Tisch, Meryl Tisch, More Than A Number, NY Board of Education, NY Board of Regents, NY Governor, NY public education, NYS Board of Regents, public education, public schools, standardized testing, teacher evaluations | 3 Comments »
The NYPD stopped and interrogated people 684,330 times in 2011, by far the highest total since the Police Department began collecting data on its troubling stop-and-frisk program in 2002. This represents a 603 percent increase in stop-and-frisks since that year, the first year of the Bloomberg administration, when there were only 97,296 stops. Of those subjected to NYPD street stops in 2011, nearly nine out of 10 were completely innocent, meaning they were neither arrested nor issued a summons. About 87 percent were black or Latino.
NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said:
Last year alone, the NYPD stopped enough totally innocent New Yorkers to fill Madison Square Garden more than 30 times over. It is not a crime to walk down the street in New York City, yet every day innocent black and brown New Yorkers are turned into suspects for doing just that. It is a stunning abuse of power that undermines trust between police and the community. Read more »
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, new york, News, reform, social & economic justice | Tagged: Bloomberg, Frisk, NYPD | 4 Comments »
Jill Stein
First counts place Jill Stein in the lead; Green presidential questionnaires are now online: responses from Roseanne Barr, Stein on top issues and campaign plans
Green Parties in several states across the US have begun to choose Green presidential candidates and apportion delegates for the Green National Convention in Baltimore, Md., July 12 to 15 (http://www.gpconvention2012.com).
Two candidates, Jill Stein and Roseanne Barr, have fulfilled Green Party requirements to compete for the nomination, although other candidates are on the ballot in some states. Read more »
Filed under: 3rd party, Election 2012, Green Party, News, president, third party, US Politics | Tagged: Illinois, Jill Stein, Maine, Minnesota, ohio, primary, Roseanne Barr | 5 Comments »
Underground Railroad hero Harriet Tubman deserves a song and a poem!
So the Peace Song of the Day for January 9th is “Harriet Tubman” by Walter Robinson. This is a powerful song, bringing the listener into the moment. It starts, “One night I dreamed I was in slavery, ’bout 1850 was the time”. You can find the lyrics and chords to this song in the Rise Up Singing songbook on page 60.
The peace poem for today is “Harriet Tubman” by Eloise Greenfield (from her book, Honey, I Love). This poem is a fun and spirited celebration of history. It could be used as a mantra or anthem or jump rope rhyme for anyone seeking to overcome personal or political obstacles. (Go to our Peace Couple site for more info, and for various, video versions of the poem.)
Filed under: music, nonviolence, Peace, social & economic justice, video | Tagged: Black History Month, Eloise Greenfield, Harriet Tubman, Underground Railroad | 1 Comment »
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein praised former Senator Russ Feingold today for speaking plainly when he says that,
The President is wrong to have embraced the corrupt corporate politics of Citizens United and that’s what you’re doing when you start using and consorting with Super PACs.
Earlier this week, President Obama announced his support for unlimited spending by corporations and the very wealthy on via the formation of a Super PAC on behalf of the Obama campaign.
“Whomever Barack Obama may have once been, that man is not occupying the White House today,” said Dr. Stein, a medical doctor and advocate for health care and political reform. “If elected, I will deliver a Green New Deal that includes an end to corporate domination of our elections.” Read more »
Filed under: 3rd party, campaign finance reform, Corporations, Election 2012, Global Warming, grassroots democracy, Green Party, international politics, News, presidential race, US Politics | Tagged: Barack Obama, Jill Stein, Maldives, Roseanne Barr, Russ Feingold, SuperPac | 2 Comments »
