Calamine: Thoughts

On holiday until Sunday. Won't be checking email/orders until then.

Thanks for visiting the site. There's lots of free downloads on the song page here. Help yourself but hopefully you'll want to support the band and buy a cd or t-shirt too.

Cheers,

Julie

Why does the Whitehouse want telecom immunity so bad? Russ Feingold tells us:

"there is an additional benefit to them if this immunity goes through. It may block our ability to directly challenge in court the violation of the Constitution that the illegal wiretapping program represents."

The White House is hoping to protect THEMSELVES. If the telecoms can't be sued, than documents that will tell us whether Bush broke the law will never come to light.

Check out his interview here .

Senator Feingold rocks.

Call your Senators and find out if they how they are going to vote on the bill. If they say they support it, give em hell.

Look up your senators' direct phone numbers here
or
Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to both of your senators' offices.

I know I've posted this article before, but I think now that we know who will be competing in the upcoming presidential election, we should revisit the topic of "McCain is crazy."

A Candidate's Lucky Charms

"He keeps on his person a lucky compass, a lucky feather, a lucky penny and, at times, a lucky rock. He assigns Weaver to carry his lucky pen--a Zebra Jimnie Gel Rollerball (medium, blue)--at all times. For added luck, he wears his magical L.L. Bean rubber-soled dress shoes." (Dana Milbank, The Washington Post)

Read the article and ponder the possibility of this man being in charge, with access to weapons.

On holiday until Sunday. Won't be checking email, so no orders will be filled until we return.

Stay cool. It's 97 here today.

yuck.

j

You gotta watch this speech. It's so good.



Barack Obama, speaking in St. Paul on June 3rd, after securing the Democatic nomination.

"I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment - this was the time - when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals."

You can read the full text of the speech here .

What a great moment we're living in, and how lucky we are to have him.

I know you came here because of the music, but if I may direct your attention to an awesome speech given by Barack Obama recently...



Be the change you wish to see.

Demand the change you wish to see.

Go Barack!

What if there was a 50% chance that the world would end tomorrow? How would you spend today?

I've been thinking this lately, as I slog through the list I make every morning of chores and errands.

When I remember to ask myself this question, I stop and play a song on the ukulele. As the world ends around me I think I would like to be singing and playing a song.

Holland, 1945? 2 Headed Boy, Part 2?

And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda?

I can't decide.

Never underestimate the love of a tree.

******************************************

I'm volunteering and have given money to Barack Obama's campaign. It wasn't a lot, but I wanted to put my money where my mouth is. Our country would be so fortunate if he were elected. Besides, the Obama campaign has made a big impact in this election by the sheer numbers of their contributions by individuals. Obama doesn't take money from lobbyists. The same is NOT true about Hillary. In fact, Hillary and Bill just gave the campaign $5 MILLION dollars from their own fortune to her campaign.

Both Democratic candidates are qualified. Both would be historic presidencies. But Barack Obama offers us a chance to change the trajectory of this country. He has said his gift is that he can bring people together. I think he's right and I think that is what we need right now.

BarackObama.com

Let Chelsea run for president in 20 years.

As for McCain. That man is crazy! Those superstitions seem kind of funny, but really, that is not the person I want making decisions that will impact the world. If you don't believe me, read this:

A Candidate's Lucky Charms

The "Yes We Can" speech:



and an interesting profile of Obama from the New Yorker Magazine: The Conciliator

The holidays are over, but the holiday sale continues!

What We Forgot to Remember - $8

The EP - $5

Tshirts - $10 (adults) $5 (onsies for the toddler set)

We'll also include a band sticker and and lots of Calamine love.

This year, support independent music.

Kind of interesting....
Forbes Magazine has a poll you can take that will tell you which candidate's views most closely align with yours. It just takes a minute to take, and I found the results interesting. Even though I'm a Barack Obama supporter, Dennis Kucinich and I are more closely aligned on our views.

Check it out.
Presidential Poll

Yes!!!

Impeach Cheney

Those on the Judiciary Committee AND Nancy Pelosi need to support debate on this issue. They are trying to kill it in committee and we shouldn't let them.

There's some good info here and what you can do to influence the debate. So come on kids, go do something good today: After Downing Street

Let's hope the Republican's tactic backfires in their face. Tell your representatives to support impeachment.

November 3rd -- Step It Up National Day of Climate Action.

The Step It Up people have added a cool feature to their website that lets people easily invite their senators, congressmen and the presidential candidates to the climate change rally on November 3rd. It's a no-brainer: the more invites they get, the more seriously they'll take it.

Have your voice heard in a relatively easy but, I think, powerful way.

Step It Up


Here's Bill McKibben on Democracy Now, speaking about climate change, and the Nov 3rd rally.

Democracy Now

Andrew, Henry and I will be at the Lenox MA rally, hosted by the Climate Change Coalition. We are psyched that our congressman, John Olver, will be speaking.

Who of our leaders will Step Up? Thanks what we aim to find out.

Climate Change is real. It's happening. We have to try to stop it. Right now.

That's the message I'm hearing from some very smart people who seem to me to be trying to play down the panic in their voices.

To quote George Monbiot at the end of his 2006 speech in London where he spoke on the crisis and how little time there is before we reach the point at which nothing we can do will make a difference:

"This is the big one...we are the last people who can possibly make a difference. Even [those] five years after us won't be able to do much about this. It really is up to us. It is up to us NOW. There is no other time in which this turnaround can be made because the scale of the changes that I'm talking about and the very short period in which they have to be made and fully enacted means that the majority of the work has to be done at the beginning of that period. In other words, really, in the next three or four years at a maximum. And that means it's us, or nobody. And if it's not us, it really is nobody."

He said this almost a year ago!! You can listen to the full talk here (it's the November 9th link): George Monbiot

I really recommend it. It's about an hour long, but make time for it. You won't regret it.

And here's an interview with Ross Gelbspan (I love this guy -- old school newspaper man who came to the story by investigating the coal, and then the oil, industries, for their corruption. He's now an expert on the topic of climate change, smart about the science, and interesting to listen to). On one of my new favorite radio shows:

Explorations

And a Ross Gelbspan Talk at Middlebury College.

I won't be optimistic, but I will have hope. I'm trying to educate myself and I'm writing my representatives, asking them to support the IPCC and their findings RIGHT NOW.

And what can it hurt? Maybe it'll help push this issue over the tipping point, so that governments (all of them) will DO SOMETHING! Because that is what it's going to take -- a Global Public Works Program -- to rewire the globe. And it's going to take all of us. And it's got to start NOW. We sink or float together. Fortunately, Europe is 50 years ahead of us so we have someplace to look to for ideas and inspirations.

Back from holiday. Recovered from the sight of the kid at the Modest Mouse show wearing a tshirt that read "the world is my ashtray". I had an umbrella with me and I imagined myself an old woman, beating him over the head cartoon-style. It made me laugh, but still.

While we are on the topic of shows, can I complain a little? I'm increasingly offended by all the pictures and videos taken by audiences at shows these days. I had heard about it from friends in New York, but hadn't really experienced it in Western Massachusetts until now. It was really unpleasant...distracting to others in the audience and I'm sure to the performers, not to mention invasive. It makes me not want to perform. Having said this, I've decided to make it official: I'll stop playing and point fingers if i see this happening at a Calamine show. Just so you can't say you weren't warned...

Onto happier things, we did see this bumper sticker a few times up in Maine: "Compassionate Impeachment" which was pretty awesome to see. I was reminded of something I read. "Find a place where there is joy and the joy will burn out the pain." So I'm going to focus on that bumber sticker and try to forget about that tshirt.

September 1, 2007
Out of town, practicing ukulele, reading books, eating well, seeing family. Life is short.
Back in a few,
a.

Missed this when it was aired last week, but thanks to the internet I got to catch Bill Moyers discuss impeachment with Bruce Fein and John Nichols.

Bill Moyers Journal

16th July.
We're back. Great to be away, see all kinds of friends and family, do all kinds of swimming. And it's great to get home.

Hope you're watching White House 'panic' at GOP defections over the war. If the Senate could get on board with the end of the war, we might actually get out of this thing before too many more people get killed. Wouldn't that be a great thing?

You may commence sending orders for t-shirts again...
a.