Open Thread

Talk it Up!

Are You Ready To Rumble?

In 2008, protesters from all over the country made their voices heard in D.C.

The PUMA movement was born spontaneously in the zeitgeist around the May 31, 2008 DNC RBC meeting in Washington, DC. We mobilized to action during the shocking events leading up to and as a result of the Democratic Party’s betrayal of the fair reflection of the voters.

So, PUMAs . . . what are you doing now?

We New York Area PUMAs are still connected! We have formed an unaffiliated grassroots group, and created a new blog: NYPWR: New York Area PUMAs for Women’s Rights. Our mission is articulated by Hillary Rodham Clinton in her statement that “women’s rights are human rights.”

We will have meetings, events and actions of our own, and we will also link to other groups and actions to which we’ve given our PUMA Roars of Approval!

NYPWR’s leadership includes TPT/NY, LadyBoomerNYC, MadamaB and Sheri Tag.

If you’re in the NY Area, including any Eastern states, and want to join us, please visit NYPWR, say hi, subscribe to our blog, and sign up for our email list!

This Week’s Events

New York City

The Sky Below film screening presented by the Foreign Policy Association
Wed, April 8th, 5:30-8 pm, Scandinavia House, NYC

Click here for more info and tickets. Watch the amazing trailer!

Don’t miss this award-winning documentary film about the partition of the Indian subcontinent, with NY PUMA, Director Sarah Singh.

NYC & Nationwide

A New Way Forward, a coalition of progressive organizations, is planning protests all over the country, this Saturday, April 11, 2 pm EDT. Sign the pledge on their website and send a message to the President and Congress to break up the banks, fix them, and resell them to the private sector.

NYC protest is in Union Square. Find a protest in your city and sign up!

Okay, PUMAs—it’s time to emerge from our chilly hibernation! Let’s go! We’re just getting warmed up!

Economic Observations……

Through my travels on the internet over the past week or so I have come across these stories. Thought I would share them with you. All of them can be directly related to the economic crisis/recession/depression.

I would like to start off with the once abolished and unconstitutional practice of debtors prisons via the NYT:

Edwina Nowlin, a poor Michigan resident, was ordered to reimburse a juvenile detention center $104 a month for holding her 16-year-old son. When she explained to the court that she could not afford to pay, Ms. Nowlin was sent to prison. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which helped get her out last week after she spent 28 days behind bars, says it is seeing more people being sent to jail because they cannot make various court-ordered payments. That is both barbaric and unconstitutional.

The Financial Times reports last week that Tent Cities Pose Challenges for US Census:

The quality of the US census may be undermined because of rising numbers of people living in garages, tents, basements and motels as the financial crisis deepens, key organisations working with the Census Bureau have warned.

USA Today informs us that Communities print their own currency to keep cash flowing:

A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money. Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.

Last, but definitely not least, 60 Minutes fill us in on the horror of middle class Americans dying because they lost their job and hence their health insurance and health care:

This just in…….

Official: Man freed amid Obama murder ‘hoax’