Michael Moore: Healthcare Bill a "Victory for Capitalism"

President Barack Obama is signing the main healthcare overhaul bill this morning at a White House ceremony. We speak with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore. “The healthcare bill that was passed ultimately will be seen as a victory for capitalism,” Moore says. “It protected the capitalist model of providing healthcare for people—in other words, we are not to help unless there is money to be made from it.” [includes rush transcript]

November 24, 2009, Amy Goodman visited the campus of the Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington. It was a damp and gray day at the start, coming after a series of relatively intense wind events in the region.

The Evergreen State College is a bastion of activism and liberalism in the state; it is the school Rachel Corrie was attending when she was killed by an Israeli Defense Forces bulldozer while defending the home of a Palestinian doctor in Rafah. It is also the center of a vigorous antiwar movement that successfully ended the shipment of military cargo through the Port of Olympia.

Ms. Goodman seemed her usual humble self as she talked with people before the event, and made her transition to spirited and sincere speaker behind the podium. I cannot conceal my authentic appreciation of Amy Goodman; she is a truly remarkable human being.

The ten dollars paid at the door for the event benefited the college radio station KAOS, and Thurston Community Television. Before the age of internet broadcasts, these were among the only types of entities that loyally broadcast Democracy Now!

Amy began by recognizing Rachel’s parents who were in attendance, and reminiscing about the key note address she gave at the graduation the year Rachel would have graduated.

In the most effecting part of the talk, Amy conveyed the story of her recently deceased mother’s stay at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. She told stories about the family’s efforts to protect their mother from the physicians and care givers at the hospital, and relayed the ironic tale of the ongoing catastrophe that is modern medicine.

She extrapolated from this a belief that everyone should have access to a minimum of health care, referring to this as Medicare for all. She discussed palliative care, and the role it plays in the last days of patients like her mother.

Here are about 30 or 40 recent photos from the past week or so. They're roughly chronological, starting with the most recent ones. The exception is the first one, which is featured because I find it very interesting and informative (explanation below.) The rest of the photos include some from Boston Harbor, the Olympia Rafah Solidarity Mural (which looks awesome,) some of water pollution, with some thoughts about water pollution, one about "holding the torturers accountable," and some other miscellaneous but somewhat interesting perspectives on the local scene here in little old Olympia, Washington. There are more photos from the same time frame posted on my flickr account. Have a good day. Cheers -- to happiness and freedom for all, consensus based government, sustainability, and everything else that is right and good (for all people!)

Lake or Estuary

The sign on this motor vessel interests me. It associates the word "estuary" with the word "swamp". It juxtaposes the image of a mosquito with the the word "estuary". It juxtaposes the image of a kayaker with the word "Lake".

Two observations. Mosquitos (to the best of my understanding and knowledge) do not breed in salt water*. So the estuary, being brackish, would likely support far fewer mosquitoes than the lake scenario. (*see correction in comments section below)

Two, people would likely still be able to kayak in the estuary. Actually, the kayaking might be more sporty. Think of the ability to ride the river, and the tide, out to the sound. yippee!

Christopher Pyle reacts to news of government spying on Port Protesters in Olympia, Washington:

Link

Christopher Pyle: "...prosecute the torturers. ...that’s the biggest single message that we could give to the intelligence community, that it is not above the law. ..."

Here's the video with Drew and Brendan, from Tuesday.

Link

Mother's Day for Peace

Susan Galleymore

Amy Goodman appeared in Olympia on Sunday, March 29, 2009 as part of her book tour, Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times, which she co-wrote with her brother, David Goodman. She demonstrated her wonderful wit, and way with words, before a crowd of several hundred. I hope that video of her speech becomes available, because her speech was enjoyable and entertaining, and very informative and inspiring — and because I had to leave early! She told some very powerful stories, including about Rachel Corrie, a Palestinian man whose name starts with B (help me out here,) the Israeli Military refusenik (who is also the nephew of Benjamin Netanyahu,) and Frederick Douglass (re: Mount Misery,) among others. Here are some photos that I made, and a list of some of the sponsoring and affiliated organizations:

Amy Goodman is scheduled to visit to Olympia next Sunday. (TCTV and KAOS present Amy Goodman)

Here are a couple of excerpts from today's show. From the headlines, Senator Bernie Sanders speaking of an Obama nominee:

“We need an independent leader who will help create a new culture in the financial marketplace and move us away from the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior which has caused so much harm to our economy.” (link)

And from the show's description of an interview with Thomas Geoghegan:

Thomas Geoghegan on “Infinite Debt: How Unlimited Interest Rates Destroyed the Economy”

The Obama administration unveils its $1 trillion plan to buy toxic assets from banks and restore the financial system. But should we return to the way it was? We speak with Chicago lawyer Thomas Geoghegan about his new Harper’s Magazine cover story, “Infinite Debt: How Unlimited Interest Rates Destroyed the Economy.” Geoghegan writes, “We dismantled the most ancient of human laws, the law against usury, which had existed in some form in every civilization from the time of the Babylonian Empire to the end of Jimmy Carter’s term.”

TCTV and KAOS present Amy Goodman

Sunday, March 29 5:30 PM Capitol Theater

Tickets on sale March 19th at Traditions, Rainy Day Records, and TCTV, and online at www.buyolympia.com