Full disclosure: I happened upon this on Facebook. So I don't have a link - but if someone can provide one that would be fabulous. Given our discussion on the subject I thought some might like to have the graphic.

my name is TBF and leftists are welcome here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1024

We support our president given reality and like to discuss how the world could be better.


For all new-comers my advice would be to find a few small groups you like to start out with. It is a great way to meet some folks and a little less intimidating than some of the big forums. That said, you'll find the latest news in the breaking news thread (and likely discussion about it in General Discussion).

I hope you like it here


ETA: Since everyone else is posting pics ... I am married with 4 kids (2 human, 2 furry):

Email I was forwarded by my Precinct Chair (south of Houston - precinct 60 now)

By Chairman Steve Brown

What if I told you that a candidate in the Democratic Primary would like to have President Barack Obama impeached? What if I told you that she’s a thirty-something, photogenic and articulate African American woman? Finally, what if I told you that two years ago she actually won the Democratic nomination for Congressional District 22, and went on to enter the general election by viciously attacking our President? If you are not already aware of this person, then let me introduce you to Kesha Rogers.

Rogers is a member of a political cult led by Lyndon LaRouche. LaRouche’s main goal is to elect Members of Congress who will advocate for the colonization of the moon, the impeachment of President Obama, and the restoration of an obscure 1933 banking standard.

Over the years, this cult has joined forces with a number of unseemly and racially divisive organizations, like the Ku Klux Klan.

In fact, LaRouche himself has been known to spew anti-sematic and racist views throughout the years. In newsletters he wrote in 1973 and 1974, he characterizes Black women as “sadistic,” and young Black men as “zombie killers out of control.” LaRouche’s racism isn’t just limited to African Americans. He refers to Asians as “subhuman” and Hispanics as “miserable.”

However, he saves a great deal of his venom to vilify President Barack Obama. In 2009 he compared Pres. Obama to a trained monkey by stating, “And we have a dictatorship in the United States…under a President who doesn't have much conscience, because he doesn't have any brains. He's trained to talk like a trained monkey or something out of a mechanical zoo."

Rogers has adopted this type of hate speech in her current campaign. In a recent YouTube clip on her website, she suggests that Pres. Obama’s doctor should, “administer some pentothal of sodium” on him. Pentothal is an ingredient commonly used in lethal injections.

I hope and trust that the appropriate federal authorities are keeping a close watch on this cult, as any insinuations about the assassination of our President should be handled with the utmost urgency and seriousness,especially by those who not only wish him harm but hold other dangerous ideas.

As Democrats, we cannot afford for anyone representing LaRouche’s cult to be a nominee on the Democratic ballot. A Rogers’ victory on May 29 is not only a distraction for those of us working hard to re-elect President Obama, but it also hurts our local, qualified candidates who need a surge in straight-ticket voting during the general election. Everyone, from judicial candidates to state representatives, should be concerned about sharing the Democratic slate with Rogers.

Voters in Congressional District 22 have a choice. KP George is running against Rogers on a platform to work with Pres. Obama on improving the economy, keeping our shores safe and providing health care for all. KP is the only Democrat in this race, and he’s ready to serve.

So, why would Rogers choose to align with LaRouche? I can’t say. Perhaps you should ask her if you ever meet her.

But as Texas Democrats, we must develop protocols to ensure that “Democratic” imposters don’t find their way on our ballot. By doing so, we protect the integrity of the Democratic primary while also ensuring that our voters don’t become fooled by candidates that don’t represent their interests.

In the meantime, we can use this election to send a message to any future LaRouche candidate by convincingly defeating Kesha Rogers on May 29, 2012. Our President would appreciate it.

Steve Brown is the Chairman of the Fort Bend County Democratic Party.

Nice article on Socialist Workers tying Marxism to the present, very easy reading (which is where I commonly struggle with Marx) ... and how resistance requires organization to complete the job of transitioning to a new system. Particularly this week with the May Day activities I heard some conversation re why aren't unions working with Occupy? I think Lenin provides us with the answer here: "The outcome of the revolution depends on whether the working class will play the part of a subsidiary to the bourgeoisie, a subsidiary that is powerful in the force of its onslaught against the autocracy, but impotent politically, or whether it will play the part of leader of the people's revolution." So I think we can take that to mean that we shouldn't be asking why the Unions are not backing Occupy, but instead we should query why Occupy is not organizing the Unions? Correct?

Here's the article -

May 4, 2012

ONE OF the most important arguments of Marxism is that workers have the power to change society.

Columnist: Paul D'Amato (Paul D'Amato Paul D'Amato is managing editor of the International Socialist Review and author of The Meaning of Marxism, a lively and accessible introduction to the ideas of Karl Marx and the tradition he founded. Paul can be contacted at pdamato@isreview.org.)

Workers produce all the wealth of society, and because of this, they have the ability to strike at the system. As the 18th century British poet Percy Bysshe Shelley asked of English workers: "Wherefore weave with toil and care / The rich robes your tyrants wear?"

The famous American labor song "Solidarity Forever" makes a similar point: "Without our brain and muscle, not a single wheel would turn." Workers have a power, to quote the same song, "greater than their hoarded gold"--the power to organize collectively and strike.

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels put it this way in the Communist Manifesto: "ith the development of industry, the proletariat not only increases in number; it becomes concentrated in greater masses, its strength grows, and it feels that strength more."

The world working class today--those who work in factories, mines, schools, hospitals, offices and so on--is many, many times larger than the working class of Marx's day. And because of increases in productivity, workers have even greater power. After all, the United Auto Workers strike at a single production complex in Flint, Mich., a few years ago shut down practically all of General Motors' North American operations ...

Much more here: http://socialistworker.org/2012/05/04/why-workers-must-lead

I decided to get pet insurance when we bought our Lab last year and now I am re-thinking it. I bought it through the AKC when I re-registered him, but this is not something we've done in the past. Normally we just deal with the bills as they come. The coverage we bought seems kind of pricey and is designed towards accidents or serious illness - not wellness visits and that sort of thing. I'm thinking of dropping it but I'm posting on a couple of forums to see if there's actually anyone out there who has had good luck with any particular Pet Insurance before I completely give up on it. Any thoughts on this?

Campaign Manager Ms. Cutter says to "share" this so I am - hope you enjoy and it helps when you see inaccuracies on Facebook, etc.

Workers Song by the Dropkick Murphys from the album Blackout

http://www.iww.org/en/history/library/misc/origins_of_mayday

Apologies if this has already been posted ...

http://whatthefuckhasoccupydone.com/

Why Cuba’s Sustainability is Not an Accident

April 23, 2012
2:30 pm

Written by Rachel Cernansky

Cuba gets a lot of attention for sustainable practices it has adopted over the last few decades, but they’re often framed as accidental choices—that embargo restrictions have made it difficult to get things like pesticides and traditional building materials and so has ended up with sustainable architecture and agriculture because it had no other choice.

Although that’s true to some degree, it’s an unfair generalization in many ways.

Cuba is home to the Caribbean’s largest and best-preserved wetland area, the Cienaga de Zapata Biosphere Reserve, and some statistics show that Cuba’s protected lands overall have grown by 43 percent since 1986.

A bicycle culture has taken hold, and whether or not that started accidentally, Havana officials have worked to make the streets safer for cyclists by adding bike lanes and offering a bus to take cyclists to and from the center of downtown so that they don’t have to ride along cars and trucks on busy roads ...

More here: http://houstoncommunistparty.com/why-cubas-sustainability-is-not-an-accident/