One advantage of living on the island of Manhattan is the proximity to bodies of flowing water. After all, it’s only a mile from the middle to the two rivers traveled by boats, ships, barges, and kayaks. In my case, I live an inconveniently long fifteen-minute walk to the subway, but a breezy five minute jaunt to the East River.

After we were robbed of the first two months of summer by gray skies and rain, the evening temperatures last week were still holding at a warm 68 degrees. By gosh, NYC had an Indian summer for the first time in four years since I’ve lived here. On my evening exercise walk through the lovely Carl Schurz Park last week, I passed by the Mayor’s Mansion and thought I heard his voice. (He doesn’t live there, but rather it is a place for official functions and celebrations.) Having never heard Mayor Bloomberg in person, I stopped to listen and was treated to an inspirational moment.

I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but the mayor had introduced a beautifully clear-voiced coloratura. (My pal, the operatically-gifted MadamaB, later defined the word to me as a younger soprano voice.) She sang two familiar arias, and I stopped my colorful conversation with a friend to hold up my cell phone for her enjoyment as well. I knew the tunes well, but not their names and couldn’t keep them both in my mind long enough to call MB. I recalled and hummed the latter one to her, and she immediately named it: “O Mio Babbino Caro” from Giani Schicchi, by my favorite, Puccini!

The singer and the music transported me and ten days later, it’s still in my head. I couldn’t track down the singer, but Dame Kiri te Kanawa’s magnificent version is the clearest for my taste. Never mind the photo tribute on the video. Just close your eyes and enjoy the simple things afforded to us by, well, some of the most complex of technologies: recording, computer bits and bytes, WordPress, YouTube, wireless networks, oh, years of operatic training, and so much more that I haven’t a clue about. But the feeling—of letting myself be transported and sharing that beauty with others—is universal. In oft troubled and confusing times, sometimes simple things are best.

Hi All!

Thank you for coming around as much as you have and exploring my past posts. As my readers know, I’ve only been writing about one or two posts per month this year, actually since the November elections. I’ve been focusing on work, work, work and doing my part to boost the job rate. I feel like I’ve been treading water. However, I’m now again headed out to sea, having been laid-off from my full-time editing job.

I’m off to pursue more work and doubt I’ll have much time to write here. Actually, I have one in the can, so stay tuned. I’m not shutting LBNYC blog down, because I hold it as part of the history of the PUMA Movement. (This blog is also the most consistent and prolific of my writing body of work, so I don’t want to obliterate it!) Unfortunately, the PUMA movement has become fractured. However, its purpose in its original intent as a protest movement for democracy and against patriarchy still stands as a noble, spontaneous cause and achievement. Pat Johnson wrote a sensible synopsis of the movement and its fracture last week at The Widdershins.

Thank you for being loyal readers and supporting my work with your hearts, minds, and eyes, with a comment or two thrown in for good measure. I hope you’ll continue to keep me in your reader or subscribe, so you’ll know when I do post something.

See you real soon . . . .

“Because I said so” was the threat my parents used when I was growing up. It worked because they had the power. Sadly, Obama is using those same tactics.

Obama is telling us that His healthcare plan is good for us, but won’t relish reading it. Do you remember how many copies (I don’t, but it was a lot) of the Ken Starr report were printed up and snatched off the shelves to read about Bill’s sex life?! They should be promoting it with that kind of fervor.

I can’t imagine Bill Clinton or his surrogates telling citizens of this country that he wouldn’t be actually reading the whole bill. I think he’d be lauding it and encouraging people to read it. Obama is telling the people to swallow a pill that “those in charge” are not expected to swallow, because it will be “good for them.”

Basically, people are living in fear, which Obama fails to acknowledge. So, it’s like: hmm, healthcare or food and rent? To them, to us, to me, it’s not about value-added services (health care–although I would love to have me some), it’s about putting food on the table, paying my rent, and bills, not in general, but right now.

Middle managers, factory workers, small business owners have lost their livelihoods. More and more small businesses all over town and the boroughs — businesses that had been around for 20, 30, and 40 years — are being replaced by banks. Shiny new banks.

Instead of using the “brain power” of all those people on his team to think up jobs, job programs, encourage small business, innovation, etc., Obama is doing his best to make people have something he says they should want instead of what they do want: a job.

He does not “feel our pain.” (Paris, Broadway date night, Martha’s Vineyard don’t go over well symbolically when people are jobless, underemployed, and losing their livelihoods.)

I agree with with those who say he is a socialist and a fascist, on top of being a narcissist. Mainly, Obama is an idealogue.

2010 Chevy Camaro

Sometimes, it’s the little things that make me have to write. “What, no green? What happened to the green cars?” Fox News’ Bill Hemmer chided GM on Friday, July 10, 2009, for rolling out their 2010 Chevy Camaro, instead of the green cars they had trotted out the previous day. GM is now emerging from bankruptcy, don’t cha know, putting their best foot forward.

I don’t get it? Why can’t the company design a green Camaro? People like the package, the styling. The challenge could be to also design for green performance. Give the people what they like. ABC’s 20/20 excellent special showed that GM is now designing hot cars for future production. As I’ve written previously, we’ve been talking about this as a nation for forty years.

Why haven’t they done it? The new Camaro gets 19-23 mpg. Why? They would ruin the name of the brand without the powerful engine? So make a Camaro G for “green” or sumpin’!

Every major American car company turned down Tesla Motors who manufactures a car that runs on computer batteries. Daimler picked them up. The S roadster sells for $49,000, and there’s a waiting list. I imagine the price will come down over time. The S boasts: “pure electric, up to 300-mile range, 45 minute quick charge, more cargo space than sedans, 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds.” It looks pretty, too.

I became a vegetarian then a vegan in my twenties. My cooking style morphed through various cultures, adding Indian and Asian dishes to my culinary repertoire. However, my friends and I began cooking for our young families in a style that incorporated the dishes we each grew up with. I was testing recipes for a collective cookbook and made gluten cacciatore, tofu lasagna, my tofu version of grandma’s cheese danish, tofu sour cream, delicacies from my year in Puerto Rico. I cooked to the tastes we were used to, but I made them with vegetarian ingredients.

However, until now, the management and/or designers at US car giants decided the model for green cars had to be [fill in the blank---something different, bulkier, unfamiliar, uglier]. Or take ladies’ shoes, for example. I’m a fashionista of sorts, but walking in NYC and at my fabulous age, want comfort, too. Why should even the most stylish company’s comfort line of shoes be bulkier and nerdier looking than their standard line? Why not design, create, and manufacture the products that people know, love, and enjoy, but make them green and/or comfortable? Of course, we always want innovation in design, too . . .

Americans! Please! Can we as a nation begin to imagine again? Can we cook up some really great ideas about how to solve the many problems that ail us? Yes, it’s the economy, estupido. More than that, though, our country’s moral fiber has wilted. Don’t feel beaten down and in a slump. It’s time for us all to put on our thinking caps.

What are your brightest ideas in any domain that will contribute positively to the world? —Of course, without harming others or infringing on their rights.

If you believe in it, you must do it!

Manhattan Island, July 4, 2009 — Photo: Lady Boomer NYC

“It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”     —Macbeth, William Shakespeare

Last week, Obama failed the republic for which he says he stands. At a Tuesday, June 23 press briefing, Obama replied directly to inquiries about his stance on the Iranian uprising. He finally made a tepid statement condemning the government brutality in beating protesters, but only referred to Neda’s death.

“The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, beatings and imprisonments of the last few days,” Obama said Tuesday, adding that he strongly condemns “these unjust actions.”

There have been many more. 450 protesters were arrested last weekend. Homes were invaded. Confessions are being tortured out of the imprisoned protesters. Last Wednesday, June 24, 2009, hundreds of state police in riot gear waited in a mosque for the protesters to arrive. Then they viciously attacked and beat them bloody, resulting in broken bones, cracked heads, saving the most brutal attacks for women who dared to be in public to voice their opposition. By some accounts, they wielded axes and threw people off bridges.

And we thought this would be different than Tienamen Square. And we (well not us, but you know who) thought that Obama would be different than George Bush I, who remained silent as unarmed Chinese protesters were slaughtered or jailed.

The president lied outright, and no one called him on it. He answered a question from Fox News’ Major Garrett who followed up on Obama’s regrets by asking a tough question (Shock!): Were Iranian government officials still invited to US Embassies’ Fourth of July celebrations? (Here at 8:19) Given the repressive government crackdown on its unarmed citizens, shouldn’t Obama make a statement about it by uninviting them? Obama replied, quite haughtily I might add, that the US does not have diplomatic relations with Iran, (so they would naturally not be included). However, contrarily CNN reported that Obama contacted “Supreme Leader” Khamenei before the election, and that invitations for the 4th celebrations had been extended. CNN reports that these invitations have not be rescinded.

(CNN) — U.S. President Obama sent a direct message to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei weeks before this month’s disputed election, Iranian sources said Wednesday.

The letter requested dialogue and engagement between the two nations, the sources said.

The sources said that Khamenei has yet to reply to the letter but that nonetheless it “had set the negotiating table in order for both sides to sit around it after the election.”

The White House refused to “get into the specifics of our different ways of communicating,” a senior Obama administration official said.

“We have indicated a willingness to talk for a long time and have sought to communicate with the Iranians in a variety of ways,” the official said.

It’s like Obama is trying to make friends with all the tyrannical countries and leaders who don’t like us, as if he’s trying to win the love of his father who treated him like crap. It’s like now we’re experiencing Bizarro Bush III. But instead of bullying bad agents, he’s rolling over and acting submissive.

Khamenei made an indirect reference to the letter in his sermon on Friday at Tehran University.

“The U.S. president said that we were waiting for a day like this to see people on the street,” the Iranian leader said. “Some people attributed these remarks to Obama, and then they write letters to say we’re ready to have ties, that we respect the Islamic Republic, and on the other hand, they make such comments. Which one should we believe?”

And this is the country our president courts? Well, we can see where they’re at. CNN continues:

One Iranian source said, “We thought President Obama would send congratulations to President Ahmadinejad,” and before the election, his senior advisers prepared a response to the anticipated note, which never came.

The Iranian source said the election dispute is wasting time on the issue of starting U.S.-Iranian negotiations. Watch how the reported letter is part of a new policy of engagement »

Following Amanpour’s coverage of this at the above link, you can hear the sad account of a woman who was part of Wednesday’s protests.

“The longer it is delayed,” [an Iranian official] said, “the less likely [U.S.-Iranian talks] will happen.”

Another Iranian government official said there is still “no trust” between Iran and the United States.

Say what? What invitations? I don’t got no stinking invitations.

But the administration’s tack toward Iran may be changing, as senior officials in Washington said the Obama administration is seriously considering not extending further invitations to Iranian diplomats for July 4 celebrations overseas. Some invitations had been sent and will not be rescinded, senior administration officials said.

The officials said intense discussions on the issue were taking place, but the final decision had not been made.

UPDATE Oh, wait. There were invitations:

6/24/09 WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Obama administration has decided to rescind invitations to Iranian diplomats for July Fourth celebrations overseas because of violent crackdowns against protesters in Iran, the White House said Wednesday.

Look at who really rescinded the invitations. Not this guy.

He didn’t even make the statement. He was the obfuscator. It was this guy:

“July Fourth allows us to celebrate the freedom and the liberty we enjoy: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to assemble peacefully, freedom of the press,” White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. “Given the events of the past many days, those invitations will no longer be extended.”

The administration had decided to invite Iranians to the celebrations at overseas posts as part of the president’s policy of engaging the Iranian regime.

In late May the State Department sent a cable to its embassies and consulates worldwide informing them they “may invite representatives from the government of Iran” to their July Fourth celebrations.

Who is the person that evidently felt the pain of the protesters and actually gets it? . . . Guess who-ooo?

67th US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

But in a fresh cable sent to all embassies and consulates Wednesday evening, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ordered posts “to rescind all invitations that have been extended to Iranian diplomats for July Fourth events.

“Unfortunately the circumstances have changed and participation by Iranian diplomats would not be appropriate in light of the Iranian government’s continued violent and unjust actions against its own people,” said the cable, obtained by CNN.

“For invitations which have been extended, posts should make clear that Iranian participation is no longer appropriate in the current circumstances. For invitations which have not been extended, no further action is needed.”

A senior administration official said Clinton made the decision, and then informed President Obama.

One senior administration official said Wednesday the reconsideration of the July Fourth invitations is consistent with Obama’s comments Tuesday, in which he said he was “shocked and appalled” at the violence against demonstrators.

President Obama on Tuesday toughened his stance on Iran’s crackdown on protesters.

Post script: Here’s a line from CNN’s article that I omitted. I like it better in.

The source said he is waiting for “real change” even though the Iranian government welcomed the change in tone of the Obama administration before the current election turmoil in Iran.

About that “. . . waiting for “real change” thing. Yeah, buddy, get in line.
[cross-posted at The Widdershins]

I was walking home from my workout at the gym, the first in way too long, thinking about wanting to express my support for the Iranian people’s rebellion. I have friends who left Iran in the eighties (when the Jews left) and in the nineties. They were artists, musicians, poets, doctors and other professionals, hippies and free-thinkers. They left to have more freedoms, as they say. They were sick of having so much of their daily life regulated, of being told what they could wear, read, watch, see, and do — and this was before the age of the internet, facebook, and twitter.

So, on the way home, dressed in my workout clothes, taking that simple thing for-granted, I wondered: How could I talk or even think about it? I’ve read reports and blogs that ask whose revolution this is? Does the U.S. have a hand in it? Is Mousavi, with his own tarnished past, really better than Ahmadinejad? (At least Mousavi campaigned with his wife, the first candidate to do so, who brought out large crowds of women to hear about women’s rights.) What stays with me is, how could so many votes be hand-counted in only four hours?

Although there must be many undercurrents, I feel that it’s the heartfelt will of the people, pent up for thirty years, influenced by our robust election here, (no matter what we think about it). It is understandable that many people here might be suspicious because they saw a corrupted national election process in their own country — three times in a row!!! For years, both sides have seen the land of the free betray its finest principles in the name of God and Democracy. I wonder how such gigantic protests would be handled here in the good ole U.S. of A.? Then again, we PUMAs did protest.

The people of Iran are fighting and dying for the basic rights that we take for-granted everyday. Twenty-three journalists and bloggers have been arrested by the Iranian regime in the last several days. Protesters are being dragged out of their homes. In other Central Asian and Middle Eastern Muslim countries, the people are not even near the point of protesting. Look at the people of Iran, all ages, largely unarmed, only a minority of them with rocks, standing up to armed soldiers in riot gear. I asked before and do again: How many times have we voted complaining about the lesser of two evils? This may have started with an election but it is the expression of something way beyond the candidates. The people of Iran deserve the united support of the people of the world for the success of their freedom movement.

Press play.

Posted in Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Politics Tagged: Bob Marley, Iran, Iranian revolution, John Lennon, Mousavi, Power to the People, Redemption Song ]]> http://ladyboomernyc.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/iran-power-to-the-people/feed/ 0 Lady Boomer NYC Uprising cover http://ladyboomernyc.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/iranian-uprising-videos/ http://ladyboomernyc.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/iranian-uprising-videos/#comments Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:34:03 +0000 Lady Boomer NYC http://ladyboomernyc.wordpress.com/?p=3071 ]]>

There is no doubt the people, young, old, women, are uprising in Iran. I don’t fault them for having to select what they may consider the lesser of two evils. How many times have we had to do that in our lifetime? In a “free” society, no less. The protesters are brave, considering they’re living in a repressive regime. I don’t think we know enough about the alternative candidates, also brave, whose lives are likely not safe.

These protest videos, taken in various Iranian cities, were posted along with commentary from independent Middle East reporter, Michael Totten: http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2009/06/insurrection-da.php. Totten is the 2008 Weblog Awards winner for best Middle East or Africa blog. The video below is from Tehran in the middle of the night:

Now take a look at this video [dated 6/13/09] uploaded from the city of Isfahan. A ferocious-looking unit of armed riot police officers is shown running away in terror from civilian demonstrators.

I found this one from 6/14/09, sounds like Italians with cameras:

Posted in Foreign Policy, Politics Tagged: Iran presidential election, Iran uprising, Iranian revolution ]]> http://ladyboomernyc.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/iranian-uprising-videos/feed/ 0 Lady Boomer NYC Product Details http://ladyboomernyc.wordpress.com/2009/06/13/liberals-slammed-with-reality-fail-to-respond/ http://ladyboomernyc.wordpress.com/2009/06/13/liberals-slammed-with-reality-fail-to-respond/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:56:17 +0000 Lady Boomer NYC http://ladyboomernyc.wordpress.com/?p=3041 ]]>

So what is it about Obama’s failure to have principles that “liberals” don’t understand?

Every assessment that PUMAs called upfront, where we said:

• Obama is without principles and cannot be trusted.
• He contradicts himself and talks with forked tongue.
• He has risen to power with questionable moves.
• He has failed to create a voting record on purpose.
• He is a misogynist and a homophobe.
• He is a conservative, with a dictatorial more than a liberal mentality.
• He is a narcissist and more concerned with being adored than actually governing.
• He favors Arabs and Palestinians over Israel.
• He cannot be trusted to end the wars.
• He is naive about the economy, foreign affairs, history, and 9/11.
• He lacks a sense of real compassion.

Every one of our assessments is proving to be true as he sells out his campaign promises one by one.

Obama promised and has failed to:

• End the war in 16 months (I will start bringing 1 to 2 combat brigades home per month as soon as I’m elected (h/t madamab). Hillary voted for the war.)
• Close Gitmo, release photos of illegal torture. (Bush should be prosecuted for war crimes.)
• Support Israel. (Stop with the emails, I’m not a Muslim. My name means blessed. Some of my best friends are Jews. AIPAC, June 4, 2008.)
• Fix the housing market and the economy that wasn’t his fault. (I’ll create jobs and boost the economy by helping the environment. John McCain will make the country bankrupt and reward the rich. Look how many houses he has.)
• Support gays and women. (“I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA].” h/t taggles and garychapelhill.
• End warrantless wiretapping. (I’ll end Bush’s program.)
• Reverse Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. (That silly ole President Clinton just didn’t know what he was doing way back then—unlike my hero in all things: Ronald [Ketchup is a vegetable; what Iran-Contra? trickle down economics; let the air controllers union and mentally ill people eat cake.] Reagan.)
• Hope/Change how Washington works. (Those lobbyists are dirt. My administration will not hire them. Come on, Congress, can’t we all get along? No more pork barrel projects.)
• Sign the Freedom of Choice Act. (This act would have made it illegal to deny any woman birth control or a procedure that she asked for.)
• Make government more open and transparent. (The public will have 5 days to look at bills and be allowed to comment on them before they are signed into law.)

Here are some resources. A letter from a former supporter from New Hampshire, read any article at The Widdershins.

He has, however:

• Bailed out banks with trillions of our dollars.
• Taken ownership of major US car companies.
• Fired corporate CEOs and hand-picked their replacements.
• Filed a brief to strike down repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
• Decided to fund universal health coverage by cutting medicare and medicaid funding.
• Voted to extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) while still in the Senate. (Well, at least he cast a vote on something. Once again, liberals dismissed his obvious “reversal.”)
• Kissed the ring of an Arab leader and denied it. Lectured Israel to get its act together, laying blame on Israel for continued Palestinian problems, while he was in Cairo.
• Bestowed egotistical, culturally ignorant and insensitive gifts on allied countries’ heads-of-state.
• Signed a President’s note to the teacher for a child whose dad brought her to a speech.
• Continued to rail against hatred, stereotypes, misogyny, homophobia, intolerance, anti-Semitism, and racism, while perpetrating them and demeaning people.

The only promise he has kept is the one to have date nights with his wife. How often did he have fancy date nights before he became President? How are those nights out at taxpayer expense any different than his criticism of auto executives who flew their corporate jets to their congressional bailout hearings?

During the campaign, he mocked Gucci loafer wearers, SUV owners, people who use heat instead of donning sweaters. Yet, look how he behaves in that regard. Doesn’t he get that people are out of work, struggling, losing their homes, their life savings, their livelihoods, suffering for their gender, and dying for their beliefs? In his heart, I really don’t think he gets it—at all. It’s not enough that he lives in the White House? He’s home from work at 6:30? Wow. Pretty good. If you have a job, are you home then?

Poor liberals. Poor working class. Poor any class. Poor women. Poor LGBT community. Poor duped voters. So many of you believed and swooned for an American Idol president. Do you get it yet? When will you wake up to find the honeymoon’s over?

It’s time to stand up for women’s rights and take action to let the MSM and their sponsors know that jokes at women’s and girls’ expense will not be tolerated!

UPDATE: **NOTE DATE CHANGE**

FIRE DAVID LETTERMAN RALLY

When: Tuesday, June 16, 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

Where: Outside the Ed Sullivan Theater, 1697 Broadway @ 53rd and 54th Streets, New York City.

Bring your own signs (be creative but PG rated!)

Contact: michaelpatrickleahy@gmail.com if you can provide some time with organization or outreach.

Keep telling your friends on the internet and in person to sign the letter to CBS asking them to fire David Letterman at http://www.firedavidletterman.com.

Progress is being made:

1. CBS has received so many negative comments about Letterman they have shut down the comments section of their website.

2. A leading New York State Legislator, Brian Kolb, publicly called for CBS to fire Letterman.

We hope you can make it. Some of us will join in after work. Let’s turn it out!

*** BTW, if you missed the flap about this . . .

Letterman makes joke at teenagers’ and women’s expense. . . . and fails to make an apology.

David Letterman takes his jokes to a new low in throwing off his remarks aimed at Governor Sarah Palin’s daughter(s) and, of course, Palin herself. What was he thinking? Apparently that women of this country will continue to take it lying down. (sic) Would these “jokes” be tolerated about the family of a male governor? How about Obama’s daughters? Of course not, they’re off limits. Pardon my grossness, but keep the barf bag handy.

Mu Sochua, 2005 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee for her work in Cambodian human trafficking awareness

From Alegre. Please read, spread the word, add your voice, do whatever you can for Mu Sochua, whose story is below with more info at the links, including the documentary Seven:

Hi Folks:

I got a disturbing email from VITAL VOICES.org (Invest in Women. Improve the World) this evening about a tireless champion of human rights in Cambodia.  Mu Sochua was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for her work to stop human trafficking in Cambodia and Thailand, and has worked with Vital Voices over the years – and they just found out that the ruling party is moving to have her thrown in prison because of the threat she poses to their base of corrupt power.

I met this woman last fall and she’s a remarkable and inspiring leader.  We can’t sit silently by while they shut her away.  I’ve posted an action diary on Alegre’s Corner and I’m hoping you’ll make some calls and spread the word.  I’m not sure if our phone calls or posts on the Vital Voices blog will help, but it’s the least we can do as women’s rights advocates, and (in many cases) supporters of Hillary and her work on behalf of women and girls over the years.

I hope you’ll read my post and help spread the word within your own networks and circle of friends.  It doesn’t sound like we have much time to make a difference – but if we generate some heat around this maybe we might help Mu Sochua remain free to continue her life-saving work in Cambodia.

Thanks a million!
Alegre