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June 13th, 2007

SNEAKY CORPORATE JERKS TRYING TO RUIN THE INTERNET!

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I can't say I'm surprised by the greedy, underhanded tactics of the corporate world but I sure am disgusted! Maybe you've already heard about this:

In just 48 hours, the FCC will stop taking public comment on Net Neutrality. Our window of opportunity is about to close - this is your last chance to tell them to Save the Internet!

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Save the Internet!

We only have 48 hours.

Click here to demand Net Neutrality.

So far, 22,453 Common Cause activists have told the FCC to protect Net Neutrality and stop the corporate division of the Internet at our expense. Will you help us make it 25,000 before the June 15th deadline?

Click here to tell the FCC to protect our Internet before comments close on June 15.

When the FCC let Net Neutrality rules expire last summer, telecom companies were thrilled. Without these rules, there's nothing to stop them from creating a divided Internet. Big Telecom will charge other major corporations steep fees to place their websites in a fast lane.  But the rest of us (individuals, nonprofits, and small businesses) will be stuck in the slow lane.

Unfortunately, people like Randall Stephenson -- the new CEO of AT&T, America's largest telecom -- are determined to fight Net Neutrality at all costs.  FCC chairman Kevin Martin seems content to leave this matter in the telecom giants' hands.  We need to show them that we will not stand by as a new generation of robber barons carves up this valuable public resource for their own private profit!

If just 2,547 people send a message in the next 48 hours, we'll meet our goal of 25,000 comments -- and make the FCC take notice.

Click here to demand Net Neutrality before comments close on June 15.

Time is running out, but you can still make a difference. Now's the time to join the 22,453 people who have already spoken up.

Thank you very much,

Lauren Coletta, Dawn Iype and Jon Bartholomew
The Common Cause Media Reform Team

 

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June 11th, 2007

my spirit friends/Hurricane Katrina

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Elixir Girl with the plastic piano
Get yer glasses on cuz this one's a blog & a half....
 
   I'm so tired of losing my New Orleans friends...my loves dying young. If you loved your home & it was nearly destroyed & your government practically abandoned you, how would your heart feel? Can we die of a broken heart? I know every time i think of or visit NOLA, my heart aches. I might be crying while writing this, but I won't admit it.
 
   New Orleans needs help, lots of help. The kind of help only a lot of people and a lot of money can bring. And I can't go there without asking, "Why the fuck are we rebuilding other countries before we rebuild our own?"
 
 
   Has it even been a year since Kufaru left us(www.kufaru.com)? I saw the mural for him on frenchmen street for the 1st time this mardi gras. I took a picute there with Darby. And many times on Darby's crazy-ass gigs, Chris Breuer was on bass.
 
  Yesterday, I found out that Chris Breuer, the bass player, died on Saturday of heart failure.  And I wonder "is the post-Katrina nightmare that is New Orleans killing the people there?" I don't have an answer but I do have glowing memories of Chris and all of my other friends in the crescent city.
 
    I hadn't seen him since Mardi Gras time last year but years ago we played many gigs together. I remember more than a few times at  wacky Bourbon/Frenchmen St. gigs i had in the 90's when Spankar couldn't make it & TR would say "call Brewer." CB had an excellent ear for the on the spot job & was a great guy. So cheerful, fun & outgoing; mad tall with the super-long pale blonde hair & shocking blue eyes, What a sweet heart! A true New Orleans character, larger than life.
 
   Not all songwriters are like this, but for me playing my original music with others is a very intimate experience. I can't really explain the feeling of having lost someone who I used to make music with, I can hardly compose a sentece fragment...dangling participle, the Love & Grappling years. Chris Breuer was a special elixir friend and someone who was a part of my NOLA music community and my peer group. I'm sad that he's gone from this world, he will be missed by many. And now he's a friendly spirit...jamming with Kufaru? I hope so and one day I will play along.
 
Peace, love & music to all my friends, in body & out. xxx, j
 
And once again:
Speak up AMERICA, your government can't hear you...yet.
You can find a list of humane charities & learn about some inhumane ones (such as the March Of Dimes jerks) at www.humaneseal.org
 
 
 
Katrina's Impact
  • Hurricane Katrina's destruction stretched across 90,000 square miles.
  • Government officials estimate that 500,000 people may need mental-health assistance to deal with higher rates of anxiety, depression and hostility.
  • Hurricane Katrina is estimated to be responsible for $75 billion (2005 US dollars) in damages, making it the costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
  • 1.3 million acres of forest lands were destroyed. The total loss to the forestry industry due to Katrina is calculated to rise to about $5 billion.
  • 40 % of New Orleans homes are still without electric service today.
  • Nearly 1,800 deaths have been attributed to Katrina, 1,600 of which occurred in Louisiana.
  • Regions affected by Katrina and on-her-heels Hurricane Rita have seen a population drop of nearly 492,000 residents, according to Census estimates recently released.
  • As of May 1, 2006, less than 33% of public schools have reopened in Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes. Only 66% of public schools have reopened in the New Orleans Metro area.
  • In the New Orleans metro area, more than half of the grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores and other retail food establishments remain closed for business.
  • In the small Hancock County town of Bay St. Louis, nearly every business and home was heavily damaged or destroyed. Today, some salvageable homes are being repaired, but 70 percent of businesses remain closed.
  • A statewide Louisiana plan to evacuate pets during hurricanes is being worked out by state and local officials, who are required to map the procedures under a new law enacted to avoid the problems that erupted after Hurricane Katrina struck.
  • Gulf Coast residents whose homes were destroyed or damaged by flooding from Hurricane Katrina began learning during the last week in July whether they'll get up to $150,000 for rebuilding in a federal program that is sending more than $10 billion to Mississippi and Louisiana homeowners.
  • Last year, $4.25 billion was donated by individuals in response to hurricane Katrina. (An additional $1.54 billion was donated to Tsunami victims,and $0.04 billion to victims of the earthquake in Pakistan.)
  • During 2005, donations to human-services organizations rose by 28 percent, to $25.4-billion. The increase was largely fueled by efforts to aid disaster victims, but even when disaster-relief donations are not counted, contributions still rose by 11.3 percent.
  • 36 percent of all 2005 disaster relief donations went to human service organizations in response to the Gulf Coast hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
  • Less than 1 percent of disaster relief went to Environment (0.39), Education (0.14), and Health (0.12) related charities.
  • Over seventy countries pledged monetary donations or other assistance in response to hurricane Katrina. Kuwait made the largest single pledge, $500 million; other large donations were made by Qatar ($100 million), India, China (both $5 million), Pakistan ($1.5 million), and Bangladesh ($1 million).
  • In the aftermath of the Gulf Coast Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 13 million Americans made donations to relief efforts online and seven million set up their own hurricane relief efforts using the internet.
  • Around $170 million in in-kind donations were given in response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita by individuals, corporations and foundations. The majority of these donations consisted of food, clothing, and medical supplies.
  • The majority of donations received for hurricane relief were spent on feeding and sheltering evacuees, and direct financial assistance, some of which continues to this day

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Elixir Girl with the plastic piano

more hippy stuff from a weirdo! follow this link, take an itty-bitty 3 question survey & the Coleman company plants a tree in your area. Please forward this to all of your tree-loving friends. Hooray for trees! I'm gonna go hug some right now, peace y'all!

http://www.colemannatural.com/ecoproject/

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