Don't Like the Tea? Try some Coffee

Hi everyone,

I'm back, after yet another unexpected hiatus. Look on the bright side, though; when I do blog, this makes it that much better. Usually I don't do posts like this, but this group seems so promising, and I appreciate what they are trying to do, so I thought I'd devote a post to pay it its due. You've probably heard all the rage over the last year about the tea party and its fiery, anti-government rhetoric. Well, what about those of us who don't want no government, but want a more sensible, sane, dare I say, empathetic government? A government that will be an instrument of We The People, not I the multinational corporation? What about those of us who want a working democracy, and insist on it (how high-maintenance of us)?

Well, look no further than this. Don't get tee'd off, get coffee'd up! The group Coffee Party USA offers a similar grassroots venue for those misfits that I just described above. I count myself as a proud member of this group. Anyway, one difference, aside from the tone, is this group's origins. It has recieved no outside funding, aside from word-of-mouth internet organization. The leader didn't even know there was going to be a movement. The unofficial founder, Anabel Park, 41, is a documentary filmmaker from Vienna, Virginia. She was ranting on facebook, back in February, like I was doing just now. Some people who read what she wrote got together and formed groups at coffee shops, hence the name, coffee party.

The group itself has only been around since late February-early March. This past Saturday, March the 13th, was a national day of organizing events in coffee shops around the US. Another such national day of organization is set for Saturday, March the 27th. The group began in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, and spread across the country. According to local news sources, Coffee party chapters have just opened in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in Pocatello, Idaho, and in Downstate Illinois, aomng others. The group's mission is to promte a civil discourse in our politics, rather than the heated tone it has taken on in recent times.

Now, this group is being pegged by some as the left's equivalent of the tea party, but this is not entirely true. While the stance of the coffee party is an overall progressive stance, there have been reports of conservatives and libertarians attending meetings, and feeling somewhat welcome. Predictably, this is being dismissed by some as just "copy-catting," or "suckers for Obama," and on and on. It is true that most of the participants more likely than not voted for Obama, but since Obama seems to be more concerned with his own political gamesmanship than with the goals the people supported him for, these people are picking up the slack in changing the political culture. Once the culture changes, more changes become possible.

There are also accusations that the group is part of some astroturfing front. Aside from the fact that some of the main organizers of this group volunteered for the DNC, there is little evidence to indicate this. According to Politico, the DNC has no formal ties to the party's organization. Some within the DNC express doubt that the movement can grow with the structure it has. Another way the Coffee Party differs from the Tea Party is that its tactics are different. While the Tea Party organizes demonstrations, the Coffee Party gathers groups together for discussions. Discussions don't make the news the way demonstrations do. This is the challenge the coffee party faces.

Well, I encourage you, if you can, to attend one of these gatherings. If you go to the website, you will see a page where you can find an event near you. Or, if there is not an event near you, you can gather one together. This group is working for something really worth endorsing, which is why it has an uphill battle ahead of it. It isn't going to get wall-to-wall coverage, and since it doesn't have an endless supply of corporate funding behind it, it will be handicapped in some ways. It will be dismissed as a failure, as just a pipe dream. But some of the best things in life were pipe dreams at one time. So, with that in mind, let's get brewing!

This is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.

Tribute to a Man with a Dream

Hi Everyone,

Well, I presume you all know what today is. Martin Luther King day!Today we celebrate the birthday, the life, and the continuing legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He proclaimed that he had a dream, and he fought for it through all the abuse, the brutality and legal trouble that the Civil Rights Movement endured from 1954 to 1968. From Birmingham, Alabama and Philadelphia, Mississippi to Selma, Washington, and even Topeka, Kansas, the battle King waged had many setbacks and many triumphs. Although his life ended too soon, King's legacy has never faded from this earth. As I write this, it's raining outside my window. I like to think that's justice raining down like a mighty torrent, to paraphrase a quote from Dr. King.

King's legacy has not faded, but it could use more commemorators. In words, from a lonely blog in the urban wilderness of Southern California, to the President of the United States speaking in a large church in the Ivory halls of Washington, DC, we commemorate that legacy in speeches. But we must also commemorate it in action. Whether large or small, actions are the best way to judge a man. Judge them by the fruit they bear, to paraphrase the Bible. That action may be earthmoving, or it could be small, like working in a soupkitchen for an afternoon, or giving money to Red Cross, for those suffering in Haiti, as we will do. Those count, too. You may think what you do is insignificant, but if enough people do those small actions, they add up, and as King would probably have said, then the powerful will have to listen to that call.

In 1954, people felt left out, oppressed, in despair. King urged them to overcome, to not give in. To remain firm in their resolve to resist oppression, without becoming oppressive themselves. He asked the best of us in this country. Though imperfect and flawed, the promise of our country was still there. As it was in 1954, so it is in 2010. People today are feeling left out, oppressed, in despair, which they are. We must not give in to our instincts to give in, to fear others, to scapegoat. That would be the easy thing to do. But to quote Obi Wan Kenobi in The Empire Strikes Back, "If you choose the quick and easy path, that is the easiest path to the dark side." We must look within ourselves, who we are, if we are to change our world.

Though it's difficult, we have to proceed with the faith of Martin Luther King. Perhaps not a belief in the supernatural, but a belief that one day, justice will roll down like a mighty torrent. So, here's my hope. In 2010, the same call that emanated from Washington on August 28, 1963, must be heard and seen again. It must ring, as King said, from the highest mountaintops. From The Blue Ridges of North Carolina, to the Appalachians of West Virginia, to the Rockies of Colorado, to the Canyons of Arizona, to Mt. Whitney in California, let that call ring again. Thank you, and,remember, We Shall Continue to Overcome.

This is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.

Emergency in Haiti

Hi everyone,

Well, something has happened since I last wrote. You've probably heard about Tuesday's giant earthquake in Haiti, off the coast of Port-au-Prince. It would be one thing if an earthquake of that magnitude occurred in a country with no other troubles, but this is Haiti. Haiti was in really bad shape to begin with, and with this earthquake, the country has been devastated. The capitol is all but flattened, and foreign aid vehicles are having a difficult time getting into the country, since there is no infrastructure in Haiti. It's a perfetct storm in Haiti.

So what can you do to help? You can give some money to Red Cross, Oxfam, or whoever else you think will do the best job of helping the Haitians in this time of crisis. Also, pay attention to any text alerts. If you see or hear a message telling you to text a number to some address, it will automatically pull $5 or $10 from your account to fund whatever recovery efforts are in progress. But beyond immediate action, we need a long term effort to help Haiti get out of desperate poverty.

Before this, Haiti was in debt to all sorts of countries. The people had so little that they had to eat dirt to survive. This disaster can be the opportunity for those of us in the rich developed nations to shine a light on this destitute poverty in the third world, which comes as colsse to us as Mexico or Haiti. This can be an opportunity to forgive the unjust debt that the countries have because of dictators, it can be an opportunity to promote a working infrastructure in Haiti, and help the people, help them. I hope you'll do what you can.

This is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.

It's 2010, Now What?

Hi everybody,

Yes, I know I missed the holidays. I hoped yours were merry and happy by the way. And I know that I missed our anniversary of one year on this blog, so happy anniversary. Anyway, it's a new year, and a new decade. So what's ahead for us?

First of all, what are we going to call this decade? What are we going to call last decade even? There was the "seventies" and "eighties" and "nineties." But what about the last one? The "O's" the "O-O's" the "two thousands?" Time will tell, I guess, which name sticks. Anyway, I'm going to call this new decade the "teens." Simply because most of the years in this decade will be "-teen" years.

And then there is the "twenty-" part. Last decade, it was "two thousand-," since you could have said "twenty-o-nine," but it would have sounded odd. So the "two thousand nine" pronounciation stuck for the decade. But at some point this decade, that will become impractical, since nobody is going to want to call a year, say "two thousand twenty four." So, this year could go either way. You could either call it "two thousand ten" or "twenty ten." At some point, though, the latter pronounciation will be phased in.

With that in mind, what are your resolutions for this year? I'll tell you some of mine. Mine are to get out more, to relate better to people, not that I don't now, but I can always do better. Next is to form more relationships. Finally, I will get on this blog more than once every two months. Write in some time and tell me some of yours if you'd like. I'll have another post up for you soon.

For the first time in the year 2010, this is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.

Yes We Can, One Year Later

Hi Everyone,

Well, I know I haven't written in two months now. You know how it is with the Reeder. I try to have a life of my own, which is hard to do if you have a blog. I had tests, papers, job searching to do, and I put it off one day after another, and now that I have a Friday afternoon open, I will write on a subject, which is perhaps dated, but I feel I need to be addressed nonetheless. Anyway, here we go.

Last Wednedsay, the first anniversary of last year's election was marked. Many were assessing Obama's performance and delivery on the promises in this past year. Unfortunately, many of those who supported him and wanted him to get elected had grown tired. Many were saying "I'm not happy," "he sold out," and various other complaints.

Personally, I've grown tired of cynical pessimism. I guess it's easier to complain about the state of things than to work toward a solution. It's sad that if everything is not perfectly set up, right away, some people give up and say, "He's a sellout," or "It's all the same," and all the rest. The greatest advancements did not advance because they were set up perfectly in the beginning. They advanced because the people persisted over time, and the solutions were set up through a long, persistent effort.

Presidents going back to 1912. Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Johnson, and Clinton all sought a health insurance system that truly worked for the people. Now, we are beginning to see one emerge. This bill is far from perfect, but it does do several things. Though the public option will not go into effect until 2013, there are some things that will go into effect immediately after the bill is signed.

A catastrophic risk pool will be set up in the interim for those who need it. Insurance companies will no longer be able to infinitely jack up their premiums, and suddenly drop people for "preexisting conditions." Young people, who most often are the ones who don't buy insurance, will be able to stay on their parents' plans until they turn 27, so that they'll be more savvy when it comes time to buy a plan. There are flaws in the plan, but we are closer to a breakthrough on this than we've ever been, and a constant push forward will bear more fruit in the long run than an "all or nothing" mindset.



Now, in all fairness, there are thing that are not being done by the administration that need to be done. Last Friday, new unemployment numbers came out. The national rate now stands at 10.2%. This is to underscore the importance of getting people back to work as crucial to rebuilding the economy. All gain from other spending, tax cuts, and rises in the dow are only temporary. The bad news is that historically, jobs numbers are always at the tail of every recovery.

Ironically, at the time when there are so many people out of work, there is the most work to be done. You may have heard about those electric cars that are coming out soon. I got to thinking last night that we could use a lot more charging stations, since those cars are really going to take off soon. That could give people work putting those things together, running the stations themselves, and running the infrastructure that goes with it. Now, I know I've touted the prospects of clean energy as a pathway to a strong economy, a more secure nation, and a more responsible stewardship of our natural world. I'll spare you that essay now, since you can refer back to an earlier essay I wrote for that.

What I want to emphasize here is that the scope of the task ahead of us cannot be overstated. This administration is moving in the correct direction, but it is moving very incramentally. What it must do is make the structure of the country one that favors the people over the powerful. I know that this is anything but an easy, simple or quick task, which is why I cut this administration some slack. But this is not the '90's anymore. It's almost 2010. The world is changing rapidly, and the Administration better work for this change.

This is no time to give up on them. It's time to aid them in the political battles they will have to face. Powerful and influential as the Administration is, they cannot do this all on their own. Others are needed to advertise the truth over the dogma that's disseminated every day. And we have to show that there are lots of people who want the goverment to act on what this president has talked about, and are not going to give in, and are not going to be silenced. So do whatever it is that you think will help in this effort, get the Will.I.Am album back out, and start saying "Yes We Can" again.

I wanna know now, are you Fired Up? Are you Ready To Go? So am I. Let's go change the World. I'll try to have more material up soon to do my part.

This is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.

Watching the President Through The Eyes of Sarah

Hi Everyone,

Well, now that I'm back at school, and going to work, I'm gonna have to start blogging in spurts, but it'll be no less good. Anyway, tonight, I'd like to share with you a short little video on President Obama's recent speech to the nation's schoolchildren. It features a 9-year-old girl named Sarah, from Oklahoma, sharing with us her thoughts on the President's speech. I thought, at first, she would be spouting some dogma about him, but it turns out she had some good responses.

She stated that her favorite part of the speech was where Obama talked about how years ago, the people who invented Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and all went to school way back when. Then he said "what will you have invented 20, 50, 100 years from now?" Also, notice how she talked about the other kid whose parents wouldn't let him watch the speech. An interesting take on the brouhaha around a fear of indoctrination. Well, enjoy; I'll have more in-depth stuff for you soon.



This is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.

Wondering How to Deal With Anti-Health Care Crowds?

Hi Everyone,

Well, last Wednesday I attended a pro-public option rally not far from my home. The amount of support we got was really heartening. There were some hostile passersby, giving thumbs down, but there were only a few of those. There were people that drove by in all kinds of cars, even someone in a tow truck, that honked to show their support. The next day, the rally did get a mention in our local paper. I wonder why the mainstream media isn't covering many of the pro-health care crowds, huh?

Anyway, are any of you wondering how to deal with anti-health care groups you may be confronted by? You may be an average citizen, or a congressperson or senator looking for ways of fending off hecklers. Well, remember from the FreedomWorks report that hecklers don't necessarily want answers; they want conflict. Nevertheless, if they ask questions, answer them in an intelligent way. In the video below, former comedian and Minnesota's newest Senator, Al Franken, shows us how to address the concerns of the "tea-bag" folks while defusing the conflict some undoubtedly sought.



Nicely handled, Al!

This is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.