• Contact Us

    .
    Ian Wilder: ianwilder7@gmail.com< You can also find us at:
    facebook.com/iswilder

    twitter.com/wilderside

  • Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire: Ultimate Fan Guide

    Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire: The Ultimate Fan Guide [Kindle] $0.99.


    Kobo Inc.
    Download_on_the_iTunes_iBooks_Badge_US-UK_146x40_0824
    I
    Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire: Ultimate Fan Guide

    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


    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.

  • Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened?

    Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? ebook cover

    |

    Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? eBook

    Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? eBook on Amazon

    Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? eBook

    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.

Stricter Criminal Background Checks and Ban Assault Weapons

Posted on December 22, 2012 by iwilder

Newtown’s Moral Authority for Action

Ralph Nader, speaking at BYU's Alternate Comme...

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: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

NYCLU Sues NYPD Over Arrest for Filming Stop-and-Frisk

Posted on December 18, 2012 by iwilder
NYCLU Lawsuits Challenges NYPD Arrest of Brooklyn Woman for Filming Stop-and-Frisk

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: , , , , , , , | 18 Comments »

Comfort for the community of Newton, Connecticut

Posted on December 17, 2012 by kwilder

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.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Filed under: Holidays, music, News, personal | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Tuesday, Dec 18th: Chance to support Move To Amend and the “corporations are not people” idea

Posted on December 17, 2012 by kwilder

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: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Occupy Holiday Gifts

Posted on December 12, 2012 by iwilder

Occupy This AlbumIt’s the eternal question for a gift-giving activist:

How do I give a good present and at the same time do good?

There is always fair trade, organic chocolates or non-toxic toys.

This year we added a musical choice.  Occupy This Album: a compilation of music by, for and inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement and the 99%.  Lots of good stuff here.  The album artists include: Ani DiFranco, Aeroplane Pageant, Crosby and Nash, Devo, Immortal Technique, Jackson Browne, Joseph Arthur, Lloyd Cole, Loudon Wainwright III, Lucinda Williams, Patti Smith, Stephan Said, Tao Rodriguez Seeger, The Guthrie Family, Third Eye Blind, Thievery Corporation, Tom Morello, Toots And The Maytals, Warren Haynes, Willie Nelson, Yoko Ono, Yo La Tengo & more.

  Read more »

Filed under: activism, Anti-War, Art, Holidays, music, Occupy Wall Street, original music, Peace, politics, social & economic justice, sustainability, US Politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Tonight Fri 12/7: PeaceSmiths Coffeehouse on Long Island

Posted on December 7, 2012 by kwilder

PeaceSmiths December Coffeehouse

Friday December 7, 2012
8pm to 11pm

Featuring…

The music of Robert Bruey
The music of Rorie Kelly
Open Mic

Held at:
First United Methodist Church, 25 Broadway Amityville, NY, 11701
(Broadway is the southmost section of Rt. 110)

More info… Read more »

Filed under: activism, long island, Long Island Music, long island music scene, Long Island news, Long Island Politics, News, progressive politics | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

Poem dedicated to policeman fired for using Ebonics…

Posted on December 6, 2012 by kwilder

From TribLive News…The headline: “Man claims State Police fired him because he used ‘Ebonics’ in his reports“. The quote: “[William C. Peake of Pennsylvania] claims in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday that the State Police fired him…because of his race and a false claim that he used “Ebonics” in his reports.”

A poem, written by Kimberly Wilder in 1998, revised in 2012, and now dedicated to William Peake…

________________________________________________________

Two Letters About Language
peace
To:
Educators, bureaucrats, and politicians,
who seek to regulate, dismiss, or judge
other people’s speech:
peace
Read more »

Filed under: kimberly wilder, News, poetry, politics, progressive politics, US Politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Frazzitta’s “Midnight Busker” CD release show 12/15/12

Posted on December 2, 2012 by iwilder

The Folk-Groovin’ Café presents

JIM FRAZZITTA’s CD RELEASE SHOW

Help celebrate the release of Jim Frazzitta’s new album, Tales of the Midnight Busker.
Jim will perform the album in its entirety.
 
Special Guests

Filed under: Art, long island, Long Island Music, long island music scene, music, News, open mic, original music | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Explaining the reality of Obama’s “kill list” and drones that kill Americans

Posted on December 1, 2012 by kwilder

(excerpt from) Common Dreams
Reining in Obama and His Drones
by Ralph Nader

More than 2,500 people have been killed by Obama’s drones, many of them civilians and bystanders, including American citizens, irrespective of the absence of any “imminent threat” to the United States…

The “kill lists”  are the work of Obama and his advisors, led by John O. Brennan, and come straight from the White House, according to The New York Times.  Apparently, the president spends a good deal of time being prosecutor, judge, jury, executioner and concealer. But he does so quietly; this is no dramatic “thumbs-down” emperor…

 

Please read the full article at Common Dreams, for key facts and interesting arguments about the un-constitutionality of Obama’s drone program: Ralph Nader essay on Obama’s kill lists at Common Dreams: here.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Filed under: Anti-War, Barack Obama, international politics, News, politics, progressive politics, US Politics, war | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Tuesday: If you shop in America, take the time to mourn in empathy with the people of Bangladesh

Posted on November 27, 2012 by kwilder

Full post at our kind shopping website: Peace Couple

In Bangladesh, over 100 factory workers died in an unsafe clothing factory over the weekend.

These factories exist to make the clothes that we purchase here in America. One of the factories made clothes which were ultimately sold to Walmart (through a complicated supply chain)[ADN]. Other factories in Bangladesh make clothing for brands such as Tesco, JC Penney, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Kohl’s and Carrefour [CNN].

Today, Tuesday, 27th, there is a national day of mourning in Bangladesh. Clothing factories will also be closed. Let’s add our concern, thoughts, and prayers for the people of Bangladesh, and the people around the world who make the items we need, crave, and/or purchase.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Filed under: international politics, News, progressive politics, social & economic justice, US Politics | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Happy Thanksgiving! Vegetarian Inspirations!

Posted on November 22, 2012 by kwilder
Vegetarian Turkey-Free Alternative

For Thanksgiving: How about a Field Roast Stuffed Celebration Roast? It’s a turkey-free, plant-based alternative. (And, it’s yummy.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Over at our Peace Couple website, we focus on kind shopping and sustainability, so we have some vegetarian posts and links there. For Thanksgiving, we wanted to share a few turkey alternatives here, too.

Just stumbled upon this interesting site from England with a lot of vegetarian recipes. Thought I would share it as inspiration for anyone who has to cook for a vegetarian today:
The Vegetarian Experience

You do not need a pretend turkey to have a vegetarian Thanksgiving: You can think out of the box. There are plenty of delicious foods with protein, and plenty of side dishes to conjure up old memories and tradition. It’s easy to find vegetarian cranberry sauce (just skip the kind with gelatin.) Here are some websites with vegetarian recipes: VegWeb.com, PETA.org recipe page

Though, if you feel the need for a turkey-like dish, or, if you are cooking, and you know that your friends and family will expect “a turkey”, then there are suggestions, with ratings, in an article at Slate Magazine: here.

Slate used a rating system based on appearance, meatiness, and overall taste. I think it is useful to list the non-turkey options they reviewed. And, their ratings might be especially useful if you are serving to folks who are not vegetarians. Though, I have to say, I disagree a bit on the Slate summary of the “Field Roast Stuffed Celebration Roast” — it is one of my favorite meals. And, it looks pretty good if you rub some oil and spices on it!

List of “alternate turkey” choices from Slate Magazine:

1. Field Roast Stuffed Celebration Roast

2. Quorn Turk’y Roast

3. Tofurky

4. Gardein Protein Stuffed Veggie Turkey Roast

Enhanced by Zemanta

Filed under: Ecology, Environment, Food, health, sustainability, sustainable, vegetarian | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

LIPA Disaster: Blame Cuomo, Not Privatization

Posted on November 18, 2012 by iwilder
LILCO Logo of the 80s and 90s

LILCO Logo of the 80s and 90s (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Andrew Cuomo is the smartest Tea Party Governor in the nation.  Cuomo wins this year’s Scott Walker false narrative award.  Cuomo has done a much better job than Hostess Cakes in getting the media to adopt a false narrative.  Hostess failed to get the public to believe that it was the union that caused the failure  of the company’s investors and financial officers over a decade.  Hostess failed to get the media to adopt its false narrative wholesale.

Cuomo, on the other hand, has been trying to privatize LIPA since he came into office while  let the company decline through his negligence in not appointing a new CEO or new board members.  Now when his neglect has created this disaster, he proposes the same solution of privatization.

And the media all believe Cuomo’s false narrative that LIPA alone, not the Governor, is at fault.  Even worse they are going to the Governor for the solution, privatization, which he was proposing years before this crisis.  As the 2008 Green Party presidential candidate said about the failed economy, “The people who got us into this mess are not the ones to get us out of it. ” Read more »

Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, elections, energy, grassroots democracy, local, long island, Long Island news, Long Island Politics, new york, New York State Politics, News | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Our Statement on Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense

Posted on November 17, 2012 by kwilder

The below statement was posted at The Fellowship of Reconciliation. Ian and Kimberly Wilder have borrowed it, to reflect our position on the current wave of violence in the Middle East:

As [people] committed to nonviolence, [we] oppose all armed conflict and especially attacks on civilians.* We mourn the deaths of civilians in Gaza and Israel, and pray for their families and those who have been injured in attacks. We believe that an immediate cessation of hostilities can best be achieved through a negotiated ceasefire that evolves into a sustained commitment to peaceful co-existence. We oppose policies of occupation, torture, targeted assassination, drone warfare, firing of rockets on civilians and ground invasions. Read more »

Filed under: Anti-War, News, Peace, politics, progressive politics, US Politics, war | Leave a Comment »

Black Friday: Buy Nothing! Demand Peace! Support striking Wal-Mart workers!

Posted on November 17, 2012 by kwilder
Occupy Long Island: Buy Nothing Day sign

Occupy Black Friday

See box below for “Occupy Walmart/Occupy Black Friday” on Long Island

Great Live Streaming of a Walmart event in Maryland: here.

Black Friday for some people means lining up for bargains at the doors of big corporations. Though, people who want our country to be more sustainable, and less dependent on war money,  have often asked people to “Buy Nothing” on the day after Thanksgiving.

This year, there are several ways to celebrate the empowerment that is Buy-Nothing-Day:

-Make sure you do not buy anything on Friday, November 23, 2012

-On all the other shopping days leading to Christmas and Chanukah…shop local, union, Fair Trade, organic, natural, and/or sustainably when possible. [See our Peace Couple website for Kind Shopping ideas.]

-Join Occupy Wall Street in your area, as they protest at Walmart, in support of striking Walmart workers.

To follow updates today:

On Twitter, follow: #walmartstrikers @ForRespect @ChangeWalmart

Live Blogging at The Christian Science Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2012/1122/Black-Friday-Liveblog-Walmart-protests-hit-stores-in-at-least-nine-states

Live Video from a great demo in Maryland:
http://www.ustream.tv/rootsmedia

An anti-Black Friday shopping video at Youtube: here and below.

An excellent (archival) speech by Reverend Billy about Black Friday, Consumerism, and Buy Nothing Day: here.

Info for the Occupy Long Island Black Friday Demo at Walmart:

Occupy Black Friday
Centereach Mall Walmart
Suffolk County, Long Island, New York
Fri. November 23rd
12 noon  to 2:00 pm
peace

Suffolk Peace Network and Occupy groups will gather in front of Walmart, which is located 2.7 miles east of the Smithhaven Mall on Middle Country Rd. Occupy will be having a Free Market – 100% Free for the 99%. We will be supporting the nationwide Walmart Workers Strike as well as delivering a message connecting the bad economy and lack of jobs to the wars and defense spending.
peace

Signs to include: Money for Jobs, Not War. Bring Our War $$ Home. (please bring your own.)Meet at 12:00 noon. Carpooling encouraged.Photos (and signs) from last year’s Occupy Black Friday demo at our Flickr: here.

peace

Enhanced by Zemanta

Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, Anti-War, local, long island, Long Island news, Long Island Politics, News, Peace, progressive politics, social & economic justice, suffolk county, thanksgiving, US Politics, war | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »