.
Ian Wilder: ianwilder7@gmail.com<
You can also find us at:
facebook.com/iswilder
twitter.com/wilderside
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire: The Ultimate Fan Guide [Kindle] $0.99.
I
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.
A student from Vanderbilt University, Michael Pollack, was invited on stage by Billy Joel. Video is very fun. (Rated PG for background language of audience.)
Hat tip to Newsday for the story.
Filed under: local, long island, Long Island news, music, new york, News | Tagged: billy joel, improv, Long Island colleges, Long Island culture, Michael Pollack, music improv, New York State of Mind | Leave a Comment »
Ian and Kimberly Wilder have begun a new adventure. We have moved from our co-op apartment to a new home in Riverhead. If you have missed seeing us around town, that is why. It has taken a long while to find a good home for us, in a community we love.
We look forward to continued sharing on our websites: onthewilderside.com and peacecouple.com
We will be sharing adventures and insights from our several year journey to find a new home. We hope our journey will amuse and spark discussion about what makes a home.
We are also hoping to adjust energies. Ian will be focusing more directly on local activism and his writing. Kimberly will dabble in some projects for peace and community-building. We both hope to do poetry, gardening, and house-keeping. We are also excited about the chance to spend more time with our families in Holbrook and Coram.
We are filled with the good energy of our new directions!
Hope to see you soon. Please let us know about any wonderful events or organizations on eastern Long Island.
Filed under: Anti-War, ian wilder, kimberly wilder, local, long island, Long Island Politics, Peace, personal, progressive politics | Tagged: Long Island peace, Riverhead, riverhead community | Leave a Comment »
Case: Jones v. McGuffage
Location: Everett Dirksen Federal Building, Chicago
Time: 1:30pm, Wednesday, January 30
Jones v. McGuffage is the suit filed by the Illinois Green Party and its candidate for 2nd Congress, LeAlan Jones, charging that Illinois statutes governing ballot access for the April 9th Special Election violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and a long history of federal case law. LeAlan Jones was previously the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senator in 2010. Rich Whitney, two-time Green Party candidate for Governor, is lead counsel for the party and candidate.
The Illinois Green Party has provided a web page with extensive notes about the case. The page is online at: http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=75683890&msgid=318630&act=6GQY&c=1110382&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ilgp.org%2F2013-elections%2Fjones-v-mcguffage%2F
The website for LeAlan Jones for U.S. Congress is online at: http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=75683890&msgid=318630&act=6GQY&c=1110382&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lealanforcongress.org%2F
All media inquiries for LeAlan Jones should be directed to AJ Segneri, aj.segneri AT gmail DOT com or 815-499-2765.
Filed under: 3rd party, Ballot issues, elections, grassroots democracy, green, Green Party, independent politics, News, politics, progressive politics, third party | Tagged: Green Party politics, Illinois Green Party, Illinois Politics, LeAlan Jones | Leave a Comment »
Newsday’s Joye Brown rightfully argues against the re-privatization of LIPA. In addition to the many reasons detailed on this site why turning LIPA back into LILCO will only make matters worse, Brown explains that:
One issue unaddressed by the Moreland Commission is a LIPA study that determined that going to private ownership would significantly increase customer costs.
My only fault with Brown article — if you can read it behind the pay wall –is that she lets NY’s Tea party Governor, Andrew Cuomo, off the hook. As we’ve detailed in prior posts he wanted to privatize LIPA all along. He has neglected LIPA for years. He failed to appoint a permant CEO or fill the many empty board seats. Now he is cashing in on the fruit of his neglect.
Related
Filed under: activism, energy, Global Warming, governor, long island, Long Island news, Long Island Politics, new york, New York State Politics, News, reform, suffolk county, sustainable | Leave a Comment »
“There is no simple formula for the relationship of art to justice. But I do know that art—in my own case the art of poetry—means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage” – Adrienne Rich writing to NEA chair Jane Alexander t to decline President Clinton’s proffer of the National Medal for the Arts.
For New Years Eve, Ki and I watched the movie Impromptu that we had taken out of our local library. Have to give a shout-out to public libraries, we have seen many great movies from their collection. Often these movies are discovered happenstance as this one was.
We, of course, interrupted the movie before midnight to toast with Martinelli’s Organic Sparkling Cider and a Moo Cluck Vegan Cupcake. We noted that the organic Martinelli’s does not have the harsh edge that the non-organic does. Moo Cluck is always wonderful. After a couple of curiosity-inspired IMDB and Wikipedia searches, we were back into the movie until about 2am.
We found the movie engaging in many ways. The plot moved quickly while explaining the characters. It was refreshing to not have to suffer through the non-linearity which seems to have become a movie making crutch. Most importantly, the characters hewed to historically accuracy. I admit to being a difficult film-watcher. I like to be both entertained and informed. I ended the film feeling I was better acquainted with the personalities and art of George Sand, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, and Eugène Delacroix.
Filed under: Art, film, music, News, social & economic justice, video | Tagged: Adrienne Rich, Emma Thompson, Eugène Delacroix, Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, George Sand, Hugh Grant, Jane Alexander | Leave a Comment »
Update and FYI:
At Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2013, the band that played John Lennon’s Imagine was “Train“, a band out of San Francisco.
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http://www.nycga.net/events/occupy-new-years-eve-smash-the-baricades/
Want to see LiveStreaming from Occupy in NYC on New Year’s Eve?:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/angrypacifist
or
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/amontillado-tv
On New Years Eve in Times Square they will probably play John Lennon’s Imagine [Yes, they did, right before the ball dropped!]. Lennon’s song has also resonated with folks from the Occupy Wall Street movement. “Imagine” was one of the tunes sung by the small group of stalwarts who gathered at Liberty Square/Zuccotti Park for Christmas. [See story at DNA Info: here]
You, you may say
I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, Calendar, economy, events, independent politics, music, new york, New York State Politics, News, nonviolence, Occupy Wall Street, Peace, politics, US Politics, video | Tagged: John Lennon, new year, New Year's Eve, new york city, Occupy Wall Street, party, Times Square, train, Who sung Imagine on New Year's, Zuccotti Park | Leave a Comment »
For all the tragedy Hurricane Sandy caused in so many people’s lives, it did bring the NY State Parks Department and — even more amazingly — Donald Trump to their senses. Anyone with common sense knew that a giant catering hall with a huge basement should not be built on a barrier beach.
Trump’s hubris is only matched by Robert Moses. He tried to extend the road on the barrier beaches east of the Fire Island lighthouse. Moses found that the engineers were right as the road sunk. Trump similarly found out that a Hurricane would swamp a Jones Beach basement. The only difference between the two is that Trump is more careful about veiling his racism than Moses.
After Trump weaseled his way into this project by wasting all of our tax dollars on numerous lawsuits, including ones to be able to use the Jones Beach basement for catering, New York State should threaten him with breach of contract if he doesn’t pay up for all he cost us. Of course, our Tea Party governor Andrew Cuomo, known to Occupy as Governor 1%, would rather take it out on the middle class rather than a millionaire.
Filed under: activism, Environment, Global Warming, governor, long island, Long Island news, Long Island Politics, nature, new york, New York State Politics, News, Occupy Wall Street, safety, social & economic justice, sustainability, US Politics | Tagged: andrew cuomo, Donald Trump, Jones Beach, Nassau County, new york, Robert Moses, Tea Party | 1 Comment »
Ki recommends this post:
On the first day of Christmas my employer gave to me ONE penny for every $3 the richest 130,000 Americans make. It’s been a national tradition since 1980.
On the second day my doctor showed me TWO Americans needing mental health care, but only one of the two could afford treatment. The doctor informed me that the fifty states have cut $1.8 billion from their mental health budgets during the recession, and that the 2013 Republican budget proposes further cuts. “It’s crazy,” I protested. “Some states are allowing guns in schools and daycare centers and churches and bars and hospitals, but they’re cutting mental health care?” The doctor just nodded in frustration.
Read the remainder on Common Dreams
Filed under: activism, Holidays, music, News, nonviolence, Occupy Wall Street, poetry, politics, US Politics | Tagged: capitalism, christmas, Christmas and holiday season, holiday, mental health, Opinions, Silver Bells, Twelve Days of Christmas, united states | Leave a Comment »
Ralph Nader
By Ralph Nader
Po Murray, a mother of four children in Newtown, Connecticut, the location of the shooting rampage that took the lives of 20 youngsters and six adults, met with about forty of her townspeople in the local public library to take their grieving to a new level of resolve that they call Newtown United.
The greatest consensus starts with requiring stricter criminal background checks on gun sellers and gun buyers. This receives majority support among NRA (National Rifle Association) members. Next in public support would be the renewal and strengthening of the ban on assault weapons and other military hardware, followed by limits on high-capacity magazines and certain kinds of ammunition.
The PBS NewsHour carried the conversation. “This catastrophe happened in our town,” Murray said, “this is an opportunity for us to do something really good from a very tragic event that happened. This is a watershed for meaningful change. And I think that we could do something big. And I want to be defining our town by that, not by the tragic event that happened.” Read more »
Filed under: activism, congress, grassroots democracy, independent politics, News, politics, president, Ralph Nader, social & economic justice, US Politics | Tagged: assault weapons, ban, Barack Obama, criminal background checks, Joseph A. Califano, Lyndon B. Johnson, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, National Rifle Association, Newton United, Newtown, PBS NewsHour, united states, Wall Street Journal | 1 Comment »
Brooklyn resident Hadiyah Charles sued the NYPD.
The New York Civil Liberties Union today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the NYPD’s unlawful arrest of a Brooklyn woman for recording a stop-and-frisk encounter in her Brooklyn neighborhood.
The plaintiff, Hadiyah Charles, used her smartphone to record two NYPD officers as they questioned and frisked three black youth whom had been innocently fixing a bicycle down the street from her Bedford-Stuyvesant home. The police officers tried to prevent Ms. Charles from filming the encounter by shoving her, handcuffing her, arresting her, and holding her in a jail cell for 90 minutes.
“Those boys could have been my brother or my cousins. If I was a man, it could have been me. I could not in good conscience walk away and allow them to be deprived of their rights without witness,” said Ms. Charles, a health policy advocate for marginalized communities who was recognized as a Champion of Change as part of President Obama’s Winning the Future Across America program. “The police humiliated them for no good reason, and then they humiliated me for taking notice. None of this should happen to any New Yorker. It is a shocking abuse of power.” Read more »
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, media, new york, New York State Politics, News, progressive politics, social & economic justice | Tagged: 1st Amendment, Frisk, New York City Police Department, New York Civil Liberties Union, NYCLU, NYPD, police, Press | 18 Comments »
How are you handling the news about the school shooting in Newton, Connecticut? It is upsetting me a lot, on a variety of levels. I am finding it difficult to blog about it, or to analyze causes, or to offer suggestions, because I still feel immobilized by the tragedy of it all.
Today, I found myself singing the comfort verse of “God Rest You Merry Gentlemen” over and over again. I think whenever I hear this verse over the holiday season, I will think of sharing the “tidings of comfort and joy” with the people of Newton, Connecticut, and especially with the families who lost loved ones in the tragedy.
I also wrote a new verse for the song, which resonates with my feelings about the tragedy, and can be used by people regardless of their religious beliefs:
to the tune of
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
When tragedy reveals itself
It makes our heart feel sad.
Though, we must look beyond
To weave some good out of the bad,
To lift us all from these dark hours
And, make all hearts feel glad.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy.
Filed under: Holidays, music, News, personal | Tagged: Connecticut School Shooting, God rest you merry gentlemen, healing for Newton, Newton School Shooting, Sandy Hook Elementary, songs of hope | 1 Comment »
Letter from Move to Amend Brookhaven:
We are enthusiastic to share a very exciting development for Move to Amend – Brookhaven.
On Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 6:30pm, at the Brookhaven Town Board meeting, the Board members will have the opportunity to vote to support a resolution that calls for a 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution that states “corporations are not people and money is not speech”. The citizens of Brookhaven will know unequivocally where each Board member stands on the issue of “Money in Politic$”.
Various Supreme Court rulings have opened the floodgates of unlimited, secret and unaccountable money in our political campaigns. Currently, corporations, unions, non-profits, foreign companies and/or governments, (anyone or any entity) can spend as much as they want, whenever they want, to either support or disparage American political candidates, anonymously. 80% of Americans, of all political persuasions, feel that these rulings simply put our American government up for sale to the highest bidder. Read more »
Filed under: 3rd party, Action Alert!, activism, local, long island, Long Island Politics, News, politics, progressive politics, third party, US Politics | Tagged: Brookhaven Green Party, Citizens United, corporate accountability, corporations are not people, Green Party of Suffolk, move to amend, Move To Amend Brookhaven, Third Party politics | Leave a Comment »
