Drinking Liberally Waxahachie Chapter Blog

Turns out there’s no conflict for folks who want to watch the debate this coming Friday. The Courtside will have the debate on, and if I give them a number for people who would like to be “in both places at once,” we may be able to hold a section with a good view.

So let me know if this is for you.

The Drinking Liberally will begin earlier than our usual time, at 6:30.

Courtside Bar and Grill
On the Square
Waxahachie

Even if you decide at the last minute, please join us!

Nathalie

This Friday marks the third anniversary of our chapter; in the three years since we started, the national organization has evolved into a multipart organization, under the umbrella of LivingLiberally. Check it out at the new website: livingliberally.org.

I have a fresh supply of buttons and lots of gossip. You don't want to miss this special occasion! Invite your friends, too.

Bring your convention stories; good jokes are always welcome.

Courtside Bar and Grill
On the square in Waxahachie
7:00 p.m.

See you there then!

Nathalie

The Bush Administration and The Pentagon have shown their desire to "support our troops".I plan to outline these travesties to our soldiers in a series of letters.My son is deployed in iraq,and I have a vested interest in these issues.
The congress recently passed a spending bill with an amendment that "reimburses soldiers for the purchase of certain protective equipment".The wording of a bill passed over a year ago was strengthened to require the Pentagon to reimburse these soldiers and their families-prior to this,it was simply a recommendation.The program, which is effective immediately, would allow reimbursement for combat helmets, ballistic eye protection, hydration systems, and tactical vests, including a variety of body armor inserts to protect a soldier's throat, groin, and collar.
Under the guidelines, reimbursement for each item cannot exceed $1,100, and the items become government property and must be turned in to the Defense Department, unless they are destroyed on no longer usable.The problem is,none of the soldiers have seen a check,after a year of this legislation being in place.I have a problem with our soldiers having to do this in the first place.
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?display=rednews/2005/10/06/buil...
I have a challenge for all of you good citizens.Instead of buying a yellow ribbon magnet from China,donate that time and energy to writing your congressman,telling them to put pressure on Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon.Send a letter to the president asking him to expedite the execution of this legislation.It is inexcusable for a nation at war to send their soldiers unprepared.

Recent events in New York City, involving a very well executed and definitely warranted response to by Mayor Bloomberg and Chief Kelly of NYPD to a terrorism threat, reminded me of a great article I read in July (and saved!). Here's an excerpt from an interview with its author, William Finnegan:

Before 9/11, the N.Y.P.D. had fewer than two dozen officers working the terrorism beat full time. Today, there are about a thousand. Crime-fighting is still the N.Y.P.D.’s primary mission, but counterterrorism has really expanded the operational and conceptual boundaries of traditional police work. There are N.Y.P.D. detectives permanently stationed overseas, for instance, in half a dozen different countries. Ray Kelly, the Commissioner, has gone way outside of the traditional police-recruitment channels, looking for people with military, intelligence, and diplomatic backgrounds, people with deep knowledge of international terrorist organizations. What’s more, he has comprehensively persuaded the entire department to think of counterterrorism as a fundamental part of what cops call the Job.

In the July 25, 2005 issue of The New Yorker, William Finnegan wrote a breath-catching report called "The Terrorism Beat," describing how the NYPD has stepped into the huge gap in Homeland Security as applied to New York City -- to the benefit of all of us.

The excerpt above is from an interview with Finnegan about the piece; the interview is still available online and touches on many of the important points. But you've got to read the original article, about 20 pages.

Let me know if you can't find it.

Preservation Hall is raising money for the city's musicians. You can also get a nice t-shirt for a donation.

http://www.preservationhall.com

It appears that the consequences of global warming are well underway. Bigger storms, more droughts – more people displaced. Even though New Orleans will get rebuilt this time what about the next time? There is no public policy in the US that even begins to address the issues we are facing. In fact the Bush Administration continues to ignore the problems and says more study is needed. So as our planet grows warmer and more intense storms ravage us the list of environmental refuges is going to get longer and longer.

I worked in the Salvation Army’s warehouse this week, helping sort out the last of the donations from Hurricane Katrina. As I sorted through the hodgepodge of clothes, toys, food and toiletries the word came in that Rita was now a category five hurricane moving steadily toward the Texas coast.

In the sweltering heat of the warehouse I couldn’t help but wonder if people are going to be more receptive to hearing the message about global warming and its consequences. For sure the Bushbots are going to continue in their comatose drone ways either ignoring it or calling it “junk science” but maybe some folks are finally waking up to the harsh reality of what a messed up environment breeds.

So now Rita is waiting to come ashore and provide us yet again with another wake up call from Mother Nature. You can almost smell the panic in the air or is that just the ozone?

According to this web site she's headed straight for Waxahachie!

(But not in time to rain on our next meeting at the Pub!)

A hearty welcome to Shirley, Dorr and Paul, who will be writing here soon. (Nudge, nudge. . .)

This is the official blog of Drinking Liberally Waxahachie. People who post here are determined to promote democracy (and the Democratic way!) one pint at a time.

Please come back and visit often — and stop by the College Street Pub any Thursday from 6 pm — if you enjoy progressive ideas and great conversation.