Inspiration from a 15 Year Old Citizen
Tuition fees have tripled for students in London recently. Here's what some of the students have to say about it. Students who say they are staging a sit-in at University College London have issued a...
View ArticleLearning to Defend Yourself: Trust
One of the things I do to earn money is teach self defense classes for women. After looking at many different self defense offerings, I ended up putting together my own class. I did that based on my...
View ArticleHow to Start A Movement
Overall, humiliating people who think republicans are smart is only half the battle. It's an important half, because at least with all the Rush followers I know, it's the arrogant belief that they are...
View ArticleWords Hurt. GLBT Taunting has Physiological Impacts.
There's new research from Concordia University that suggests that homophobic bullying has a physiological impact on the victim. This isn't news to anyone who has been bullied. It isn't going to change...
View ArticleWhat's the deal on personal diaries?
Hey everyone, I looked at the FAQ and I'm sure I just missed it, but now that we can do multiple diaries a day, can we just write about anything? Any length requirement? Topic? Thanks for any answers.
View ArticleACTION: Using Twitter to Call Out Badness
Apparently labor unions are having trouble getting on the Sunday political shows. You guys saw that link in the midday thread, right? I think we should start a Twitter firestorm. I'm doing my part,...
View ArticleLearning to Live with Failure
I'm in the middle of a divorce I swore I would never get, from a man I love who was my best friend. It has taken me years to get used to this idea, years of desperate struggle. It's the biggest...
View ArticleMy Local Defend the Dream Rally
In all my years of protesting, this was the closest rally to my house yet. It was less than a mile away from my house, and I'm guessing there were 70 people there. I took pictures, met up with some...
View ArticleA Presbyterian Minister Comes out Against Institutional Bigotry
According to Murray Richmond, a Presbyterian minister, here are two very good reasons that churches choose to keep the culture war against glbt folk alive: 1 If they just gave in and said...
View ArticleWriting to my People about the Fast
Here is the letter I have written about the fast to my people. I'm putting it in a diary to call more attention to the fast, because I respect the people doing it. I'm also hoping to encourage people...
View ArticleConformity + Class War = Working Class Suffering
Americans are a deeply conformist society. We are raised to conform in school, where deviating from the norms gets you ostracized and bullied. Many of us don't even realize the damage that has been...
View ArticleOur Model of Public Education is a Problem
I'm not bashing the teachers. Teachers are some of the most decent people I know. They go in to make a difference, and they very often do. They work for small pay and less respect. I'm bashing the...
View ArticleLearning To Make a Buck
I have a vision of using the tools of capitalism to empower working class people. It's a sly vision which pleases me because really I just want to give working class people access to the rules that...
View ArticleA Gay Girl in Damascus Shows How to Confront Bullies
An Out Syrian Lesbian and her father show the world how to handle small minded authoritarian hate. I found this blog post through meta-filter today. A young woman speaking her mind about the state of...
View ArticleRaised Christian? Harmed by Christianity? Tell Your Story.
I was prompted by something Commonmass said in his most recent diary. I have a suggestion here. It comes from the "coming out" process we do as gay and lesbian and bisexual and transgendered and...
View ArticleMitch McConnell, Incredulous Idiot
Mitch McConnell is simply shocked that our current administration wants to give foreign fighters a fair trial. “It’s astonishing that this Administration is determined to give foreign fighters all the...
View ArticleAction Item: Rally Around Conrad's Budget Proposal
It seems to me that a plan that includes 50% revenue increase is better than a plan that includes 15% revenue increase. If nothing else, it signals the batshit crazy tea party faction that they aren't...
View ArticleDisappointment
Yesterday my new window fan arrived in the mail. Somehow I managed to order one that won't fit my window. Now I could go on a rant of huge proportion on how misleading it is to label a fan 20" when in...
View ArticleBe Smarter
Succeed in school Let the benevolent teachers guide you Follow the rules Make sure you conform to the standard that is set Do your homework It's not that difficult Find a sport to excel in Because you...
View ArticleWhat WOULD it take to get us in the streets?
I'm just asking. But I'm serious. Shit comes down about healthcare reform or about any number of compromises that have disappointed us liberals. We gnash our teeth and bicker at each other. And I know...
View ArticleRussell Brand Isn't Only an Actor
He is also a writer. I'm probably the last person to realize this, and you can just keep your disparaging comments to yourself. But go read his article in The Guardian where he assesses the UK riots...
View ArticlePaternalism and Shouting FIRE
What if the ruling class does pay attention to us? Back in the dubya days (and to be honest lately too) I often thought the trouble was that Washington's elites were so far removed from us that they...
View ArticleTrusting the Children
My daughter is 17. She has been stepping into herself lately and many people in our lives are noticing it with pleasure. I was talking to her about that, trying to explain why we are so pleased....
View ArticleWhat I have learned from BlackKos members
I have learned to stop being afraid of being a racist and to listen to different perspectives. I have learned that when I listen, people welcome my contributions and questions. I have learned that we...
View ArticleWhat to Do About Bullying in California
Do you live in California? Is your kid or a kid you know about being bullied in school? Lots of them are. But in the California state constitution it states that children are entitled to a calm and...
View ArticleDiary for my Mom
"Your father heard about what you are doing on the news today. He says you are trying to overthrow capitalism and make America socialist." This is what my mom said to me when I called her tonight to...
View ArticleWorking Group in Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street
I propose that anyone who has an interest in contributing research to help the OWS group move their vision forward join this working group. If you want to be part of OWS but are too far away to join...
View ArticleOccupy Long Beach: Where I've Been
This is short and sweet, but I feel like I need to check in with a few people on DK. I have been helping with Occupy Long Beach for a few weeks now, and it has gotten busy enough that I'm barely able...
View ArticleThe One Percent vs Occupy Long Beach
Jamie Johnson who is an heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, used his family positions to make a documentary about the very percent we are all struggling to continue to bring back into economic...
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Occupy Long Beach Arrests
Occupy Long Beach has been occupying the sidewalk next to Lincoln Park since Saturday. We have been told that the city will not allow tents or protesters in the park after 10pm. Last night at Lincoln...
View ArticleLong Beach CA Needs Your Stories
As part of Occupy Long Beach's media outreach I am collecting stories about your experiences there with the police or city council members. I spoke to a few members of the homeless population in Long...
View ArticleOpen Letter to the City of Long Beach
Last night I was dropping someone off in front of Occupy Long Beach. There is a bus cutout in the sidewalk there. It is painted red. People who bring food for the homeless population who lives here...
View ArticleDirectly Contacting Sen Akaka on Indian foster care "a Waste of Time"
Because I am completely outraged about the situation in South Dakota that has been diaried by Meteor Blades here, I followed up on the actions suggested by Daniel Sheehan in his excellent action...
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Dark Side of the Law
After seeing a few photoshopped images I did a Google image search on "pepper spray guy". Here are a few of the images my smart assed fellow humans have put together. I found these images mainly from...
View ArticleOccupy Long Beach Needs Ustream Monitors!
The City of Long Beach is going after the Occupy group with a demand that they leave the site by 10PM. It's after that now, and the police have just given them the code they are supposedly violating....
View ArticleUpdated: Hyde Park Library, LA Conflict Unfolding Now
I got a text about 15 minutes ago from an Occupy Long Beach member that said a group called Youth Justice Coalition has "liberated the abandoned Hyde Park Library at 6527 Crenshaw Blvd. The police...
View ArticleYou Know Who You Are ~Thank You!
Yesterday was a rough day. I'm going through a divorce and I've been a stay at home mom for a long time. I'm working to get my massage business going, but I'm prone to moments of paralyzing...
View ArticleStarting a Massage Business
Hey fellow Kossians, I'm (finally) getting through the divorce misery that has been such a large part of the past few years. I have been a stay at home mom all this time, but I need to start earning...
View Article#TruthVigilante
I can't shut up about this one, and with any luck it will be an internet meme by this time tomorrow. Here's a question: Should the NYTimes use in the title of an editorial a phrase which is...
View ArticleUsing Social Contacts to Effect Change
Since the Occupy Movement got underway I have been talking to people. I've been trying to expose people to my point of view. This is new for me. For lots of years I felt pretty hopeless and out of...
View ArticleYour iPhone Address Book Fair Game for Developers
Yesterday Arun Thampi who is a developer in Singapore, discovered that the iPhone app Path had uploaded his address book to it's servers without his permission. You can read about his discovery here....
View ArticleWhy I Open Source the News
For me, this story starts out back during the 2002 coup attempt on Hugo Chavez. I was driving and I turned on the radio. I heard the former US Ambassador to Venezuela who had been appointed by Bush...
View ArticleEmpowering Kids to Defend Themselves
My favorite radKIDS drill is this: Ok kids. School is done for the day and you are waiting for a ride home. When the ride gets there, it is a friend of your parents that feels icky to you. Do you have...
View ArticleEmpowering Kids: How to Get radKIDS into Your Local School District
For those who don't know, radKIDS is a program which empowers kids to trust their instincts in a variety of self defense scenarios, including stranger abduction and childhood sexual abuse. We train...
View ArticleHow to Keep our Children Safe from Sexual Predators
As you might imagine, our prevention strategy for keeping kids safe is pretty complicated by the fact that we don’t want to talk about this topic. First of all, lots of us are survivors of childhood...
View ArticleFinding my Place
I woke up this morning at 8am to write. I did some actual prep work before I got out of bed, and then I set about doing everything in my day that wasn’t writing. What I seem to deny in many of my...
View ArticleHope Can Be an 80,000 Word Novel
I have a new friend I really like. She charmed me with a story of how her family was financially struggling and she thought to herself, "I'm going to lift us out of poverty by writing a novel." I'm...
View ArticleOpen Letter to my President
Dear President Obama, I hope you will forgive a frank and open-hearted letter. I'm writing it to you because I respect you. I believe you care about us, working class Americans. I respect that you...
View ArticleFront Lines
This is a big place. There are lots of different kinds of democrats here. There are folks who work to GOTV. There are folks who financially contribute. There are folks who call and write our...
View ArticleCa Dem Convention Meet Up?
Hello. Thanks to a certain Kossack who shall remain nameless I am going to the convention this weekend as a delegate. Who else is going to be there? This is new for me, so I'm going to the orientation...
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