What's next, heads of cabbage?  Eggs?  Stir Fry?

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By Peter Bauer

On Tuesday, August 18th, I had the pleasure of attending a town hall meeting of my local congressman Peter DeFazzio.  For those of you who don't know Peter D, he's a hometown hero, voting against war, the stimulus (too much of a corporate giveaway), and even NAFTA when it was first drafted.  Despite his Democratic standing, DeFazzio usually identifies with libertarians such as Ron Paul.

The meeting was surprisingly smooth, with few uproars from a crowd.  The first was when an audience member quoted Fox News, the second when a gentleman was concerned with Planned Parenthood's influence in the health care debate (yet he wasn't concerned with the Insurance Industry's influence.  Hmmm).  Despite the general civility of the meeting, it was enlightening.

The most surprising fact I learned at the meeting was that the Insurance Industry is the exempt from anti-trust laws!  According to the 1944 McCarran-Ferguson Act, this industry can legally collude to set prices and determine who gets covered and who doesn't.  Insane!  DeFazzio has repeatedly tried to create a bill to repeal this act, but is yet to find a Republican free-market capitalist willing to make the insurance giants plan by the rules every other industry follow.

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By Peter Bauer

One of the saddest parts of the whole health care debate has been the idea of 'death panels'- a backroom bureaucratic system that decides who gets to live and who gets to die.  But don't you understand?  When people are unable to afford health care, a choice for them.  From The Huffington Post:

"When insurance companies deny coverage to critically ill patients
because of what they deem "pre-existing conditions," they sentence
those people to misery and often death…When acutely and chronically ill people are unable to purchase medicine
because of exorbitant prices, pharmaceutical death panels have spoken"

Read More…

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By Peter Bauer

I love this song and it's message.  The images behind the music are powerful, and the video is really only half as long as it says.

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By Peter Bauer

As a school teacher, I was able to capitalize on the inauguration today
by watching it with my first period class.  It was truly an historical
moment that my students will undoubtedly remember.  Despite their age,
I think they are able to grasp the significance of this election, and
appear to be interested in the excitement buzzing around politics.

I appreciated Obama's tone of confidence throughout this inauguration.  When
he said that America would overcome the serious challenges it faces, he
did so in a manner that was smooth and steady- a stark contract from
the aggressive arrogance of the last eight years.  Obama sounded assured when he declared, "Our spirit is strong and
cannot be broken.  You can't outlast us, and we will defeat you."

I was moved when Obama acknowledged  that America has chosen hope over
fear.  After being psychologically terrorized by a barrage of
meaningless "Terror Alerts," I'm ready to move forward.  I'm tired of
being afraid of faceless "evildoers" and I'm ready to have a President who has hope for a future where America can play a central role in "ushering in a new peace."

Finally, I appreciated Obama playing up the positive spirit of America: hope, virtue, faith, and determination.  If we are, as Obama says, truly "judged by what we build, not what we destroy," then I hope that this administration will usher in an era where we unclench our fist and extend our hand.

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By Peter Bauer

I was elated to learn that protesters gathered outside the White House Monday morning (Bush's last full day in office) to throw shoes at the White House.

And although it's never appropriate to laugh at someone in a wheel chair, I must say that Dick Cheney has now come to fully resemble the "other" Jeffery Lebowski.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

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By Peter Bauer-

I came across this five minute video on stumbleupon.

1.  Create a terrifying internal and external enemy. 
2.  Create secret prisons where torture takes place.
3.  Develop and thug caste or paramilitary force not answerable to citizens.
4.  Set up an internal survalience system.
5.  Harass citizen groups.
6.  Engage in arbitrary detention and release.
7.  Target key individuals.
8.  Control the press.
9.  Declare all dissent to be treason.
10.  Suspend the rule of law.

All in all, I found this clip to be thought provoking.  I’ve really had a wide perspective when in comes to conspiratorial government intervention in our daily lives.  Part of me wants to believe that there is some sort of sinister master to plan to control all people everywhere, which would explain when bad things are happening all around the world.  The other part of me recognizes that the government is made up of people, and that people, by in large, are greedy, self centered, and will rat each other out when busted.  The idea that there is some elaborate, malignant, omnipresent spy web almost becomes laughable when you think about it long enough.

Am I concerned about my own personal freedom?  Absolutely!  Am I going to spend my life afraid of how others might interprete my opinions?  No chance. 

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By Peter Bauer

I am a huge music fan and am impressed by the massive impact The Beatles have made on music over the last half century.  However, I've always been intrigued by John Lennon's social activism- the way he harnessed his celebrity to work for the betterment of society.  This interview (which ends with a rather depressing war montage set to music) is an outstanding reminder about what is still possible in our society.

In Lennon's own words:

    Society is run by insane people for insane objectives.
    I think we're being run by maniacs.
    We can get peace now if we want it now.
    Anybody knows that the people have the power.
    Shake your fist at the government, but we are the government.
    The battle is always lost within the castle.
    Try to get people oriented for peace.
    It's like we've all just woken up one morning and thought, "Was it a dream?  Was it a nightmare?"         and we're just trying to make the next day better.
    You have to start on the home ground.
    We think we have the right to have a say in the future, and we think the future is made in your     mind.

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By Peter Bauer

This clip demonstrates the ways in which a Digital Age has erased geographic separateness and allows people to connect and create using available technology.  It exemplifies the exciting potential of human creativity. 

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By Peter Bauer

Are you a passive consumer programmed by hours and hours of government and multinational corporate propaganda? 

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