Yesterday I emailed our President to express my views regarding Senate bill 1867, and the Levin/McCain "Indefinite Detention" amendment. I urge you to email President Obama and all the Senate and let them know that YOU DO NOT CONSENT to having your birthright ripped away from you. For a full list of links to emailing the Senate and the President (with more discussion on the bill itself), please read my fellow blogger SamuraiKnitter's post of yesterday:
http://samuraiknitter.blogspot.com/2011/11/knitters-mobilize.html
This is what I wrote to the President.
Dear Mr. President,
I urge you to veto the National Defense Authorization Act, Senate bill 1867. While you seem to believe it limits your powers, my concern is that it gives unconstitutional powers to presidents, including the power to imprison people without charge or trial. You should use your Constitutional power to veto this dangerous bill.
On your Inauguration Day, which was a great day for me and others who voted for you, you made the following Covenant with the American People:
"I ...do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, PRESERVE, PROTECT and DEFEND the Constitution of the United States."
Our Constitution is under attack with this legislation, Mr. President. Your hour has come. Without you at the Vanguard, everything that America is, everything that we have ever stood for, everything that every soldier in this country from 1776 to 2011 has fought for will CEASE TO EXIST.
I firmly believe that without you making a stand for Our Inalienable Human and Constitutional Rights, US Citizens will be jailed without charge, due process, without a fair trial, and thrown into concentration camps across our country. It's an open secret on Google that these facilities have already been built, at TAXPAYER expense, to detain US citizens. http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread59023/pg1
If you do not Act, we will be no worse than Egypt, and potentially as bad as China, North Korea and even Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge.
Preserve America and the Freedoms that make us who we are. Vote AGAINST the National Defense Authorization Act as it is currently written. Please do not sign *any* legislation that seeks to strip American citizens of their fundamental Human and Constitutionally held Rights.
Mr. President, I urge you to also speak out publicly in the mainstream media not just about the human rights abuses happening to protesters in Egypt, but against identical abuses happening RIGHT NOW IN OUR OWN COUNTRY.
Your DHS currently works with mayors and police departments across the country to suppress the Free Speech Rights of Occupy protestors. Their interference is illegal and Unconstitutional. Militarized police forces across this country are interfering with our rights to free speech and to peaceably assemble. Peaceful sit-ins of the type used by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi are met with pepper spray on our streets and in our educational institutions. Female protesters are being sexually assaulted by police officers. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP. The people need their duly elected President to speak out against this barbaric and wholly illegal abuse of power.
The Occupy movement is not a band of terrorists that the DHS need to monitor and control; the Occupiers are the brave representatives of a concerned citizenry, who are there to remind Congress that our legislative body does not operate in a vacuum, and that We The People hold them morally and legally culpable for the current economic situation.
I feel compelled to remind you, Mr. President, of the Preamble to the US Constitution:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Congress and the Executive Branch are NOT Providing for the Common Defence when it threatens to detain a free citizenry without charge, without due process, without trial, as S.1867 will allow.
Congress and the Executive Branch are NOT Promoting the General Welfare when they bail out free-enterprise banks, which then register record profits at the same time hardworking people are losing their homes, their jobs, their pensions and their health care.
Congress and the Executive Branch are NOT Insuring Domestic Tranquility by allowing harm to come to those Americans who are actively exercising their right to free speech and their right to assemble.
Those Blessings of Liberty that we are promised from birth, that our nation tries to bring to every corner of the world, are being extinguished by this Congress and through policies currently in place in your Administration.
The American People are not blind. We are not stupid. The mainstream network and cable news is currently sanitized by members of the wealthy 1% of this nation in a deluded attempt to keep us in the dark, but we see clearly.
We know that $16 Trillion was paid out to banks by the Federal Reserve while unemployment and homelessness skyrocketed. We know that the Pentagon is being advised by Wall Street Banksters (that's banking gangsters, if you are not up on the current lingo). We know that unfathomable amounts of corruption are happening between our Representatives and those in power in our nation's major banking institutions.
It has to end now, before this nation is ruined by an economic Civil War. I ask you, as our Elected President, to fulfill your duty to uphold the Constitution and promote the general welfare of this nation.
If you do not act, the people will abandon you in the next election.
If you lead, the people will stand by you. If you out the corruption, and demand transparency and change by deed as well as word, the people will rally to you.
The first amendment of Our Constitution says:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
If you do not stand with the People of this great nation, and demand of Congress and the Federal Bureaucracy a Great Reckoning, then the American citizenry will have no other recourse - they can and will own and exercise "...the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Stand with us, sir. Stand up with us Mr. President, before it is too late. Don't do it for your legacy, for what people will think of you in 100 years; do it for the children of this nation so that they do not grow up slaves to a Corporate-run Police State.
I urge you to honor the Covenant you made with the free citizens of the United States of America on January 20, 2009. Veto the National Defense Authorization Act. Clear out bureaucratic and Congressional corruption. Uphold the rights of citizens, work to repeal the Patriot Act and return us to a free society.
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Open Letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC
Below is a copy of an email I just sent to Senator Graham. If you want to express your opinions to him on the issues of Torture and Waterboarding, email him here: http://t.co/LyVxpRYb
Sir,
I have just been listening to debate on the Senate floor regarding S.1867 and your arguments for your Amendment, and against the Feinstein Amendment.
Regarding your statement "a lot of Americans believe we should waterboard these people (terrorists), whatever we need to do because they're so vicious":
Let me disabuse you of this notion, Sir. I am an American. I do NOT approve of waterboarding. I do NOT approve of "do whatever you need to". I believe in the rule of law, I believe in the US Constitution. I believe in the Eighth Amendment, which states:
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
I would posit that waterboarding and other forms of torture would fall under the heading of "cruel and unusual punishments", and against the spirit of America. If we allow such behaviors, we become as bad as our enemies. If we compromise our beliefs in Justice and Liberty, we give away the very things that make us American.
I would like to further remind you, Sir, of the Preamble to the US Constitution:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America."
Congress is not "Providing for the Common Defence" when it threatens to detain a free citizenry without charge, without due process, without trial, as S.1867 with your amendment will allow.
Congress and the Executive Branch are not Promoting the General Welfare when they bailing out free-enterprise banks, which then register record profits at the same time hardworking people are losing their homes, their jobs, their pensions and their health care.
Congress and the Executive Branch are not Insuring Domestic Tranquility by allowing harm to come to those Americans who are actively exercising their right to free speech and their right to assemble.
Those Blessings of Liberty that we are promised from birth, that our nation tries to bring to every corner of the world, are being extinguished by this Congress with this bill, this amendment.
You are the Servant of the People. You do NOT have the right to rob me of my birthright, MY FREEDOM, by means of legislation written in secret, passed without so much as a single public hearing.
No sir. Your actions in the Senate this week tell the Free People of the United States loud and clear that you are treasonous, willing to sell our birthright to continue to promote a war that was started with lies and misinformation, that was never voted on properly in Congress per our Constitution.
If James Madison and Thomas Jefferson were alive, they'd probably take you behind the shed.
Sir,
I have just been listening to debate on the Senate floor regarding S.1867 and your arguments for your Amendment, and against the Feinstein Amendment.
Regarding your statement "a lot of Americans believe we should waterboard these people (terrorists), whatever we need to do because they're so vicious":
Let me disabuse you of this notion, Sir. I am an American. I do NOT approve of waterboarding. I do NOT approve of "do whatever you need to". I believe in the rule of law, I believe in the US Constitution. I believe in the Eighth Amendment, which states:
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
I would posit that waterboarding and other forms of torture would fall under the heading of "cruel and unusual punishments", and against the spirit of America. If we allow such behaviors, we become as bad as our enemies. If we compromise our beliefs in Justice and Liberty, we give away the very things that make us American.
I would like to further remind you, Sir, of the Preamble to the US Constitution:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America."
Congress is not "Providing for the Common Defence" when it threatens to detain a free citizenry without charge, without due process, without trial, as S.1867 with your amendment will allow.
Congress and the Executive Branch are not Promoting the General Welfare when they bailing out free-enterprise banks, which then register record profits at the same time hardworking people are losing their homes, their jobs, their pensions and their health care.
Congress and the Executive Branch are not Insuring Domestic Tranquility by allowing harm to come to those Americans who are actively exercising their right to free speech and their right to assemble.
Those Blessings of Liberty that we are promised from birth, that our nation tries to bring to every corner of the world, are being extinguished by this Congress with this bill, this amendment.
You are the Servant of the People. You do NOT have the right to rob me of my birthright, MY FREEDOM, by means of legislation written in secret, passed without so much as a single public hearing.
No sir. Your actions in the Senate this week tell the Free People of the United States loud and clear that you are treasonous, willing to sell our birthright to continue to promote a war that was started with lies and misinformation, that was never voted on properly in Congress per our Constitution.
If James Madison and Thomas Jefferson were alive, they'd probably take you behind the shed.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
My Crafting Year: 2008 in Review
I was thinking about how little I had accomplished on this project this year, and feeling pretty gross about it. Yeah, I made a few beholders... the curly eyestalks were fun. They're in a box, somewhere....
But when it came to filming, not much happened. There have been issues with the camera. I don't have a stable base for it yet from which to line up my shots.
So what did I accomplish this year? Thanks to Ravelry, I have a clue.
3 lace shawls. The first one took me 3 months to make. That's three months, no other projects, roughly 6 hours a day, every day. It was the Rona Lace Shawl from Knitpicks. A second Rona shawl is 50% done. I had to take a break.
The other was a rectangular shawl which took me 5 months, interrupted by other projects. It was knit with Ellyn Cooper's Yarn Sonnets yarn Tingles in colorway Smokey Opal, on #9 Brittanys. Did I swear through the whole making of said shawl? You betcha. Was it worth it to present a shawl of my own design to my wonderfully sweet MIL? Absolutely.
An infant gift set of an Irish cable cardigan, hat, and shoulder cloth from the Gift Knitter book. Have I mentioned how much I dislike children, and also sewing little seams?
Scarves. Two faves - the Wishing Scarf, knit for a friend, and Peaceful - one I made for me as an amulet against those selfish stupid people in the world that I am forced to interract with.
Chemo caps. I made a few for a friend in SC who was diagnosed with breast cancer this year.
Tofuttens. I made a pair for another friend of mine. The colors remind me of Hoodsie cups.
Historic, manly muffatees - Tofutten friend's roomie threatened to steal her other pair of mitts for use, so I made him some nice ones with a hunter green & grey tweed yarn. I believe the pattern was ca. 1830s.
Moon Muffin Menstrual Pads! I designed my own washable/reusable, eco friendly pad. It is crochet. Viva Lion Cotton. I've been tweaking the design to allow for different...ahem...volumes.
I also got most of the way through a splendid winter hat for my MIL before an injury to my hand in early November put me on the crafting DL. The early word is psoriatic arthritis. I'm mending slowly but it really derailed my holiday gifting plans. I've started crocheting again, but have not resumed knitting, as it still hurts to do that.
But considering what I did manage to accomplish, I'm fairly pleased.
But when it came to filming, not much happened. There have been issues with the camera. I don't have a stable base for it yet from which to line up my shots.
So what did I accomplish this year? Thanks to Ravelry, I have a clue.
3 lace shawls. The first one took me 3 months to make. That's three months, no other projects, roughly 6 hours a day, every day. It was the Rona Lace Shawl from Knitpicks. A second Rona shawl is 50% done. I had to take a break.
The other was a rectangular shawl which took me 5 months, interrupted by other projects. It was knit with Ellyn Cooper's Yarn Sonnets yarn Tingles in colorway Smokey Opal, on #9 Brittanys. Did I swear through the whole making of said shawl? You betcha. Was it worth it to present a shawl of my own design to my wonderfully sweet MIL? Absolutely.
An infant gift set of an Irish cable cardigan, hat, and shoulder cloth from the Gift Knitter book. Have I mentioned how much I dislike children, and also sewing little seams?
Scarves. Two faves - the Wishing Scarf, knit for a friend, and Peaceful - one I made for me as an amulet against those selfish stupid people in the world that I am forced to interract with.
Chemo caps. I made a few for a friend in SC who was diagnosed with breast cancer this year.
Tofuttens. I made a pair for another friend of mine. The colors remind me of Hoodsie cups.
Historic, manly muffatees - Tofutten friend's roomie threatened to steal her other pair of mitts for use, so I made him some nice ones with a hunter green & grey tweed yarn. I believe the pattern was ca. 1830s.
Moon Muffin Menstrual Pads! I designed my own washable/reusable, eco friendly pad. It is crochet. Viva Lion Cotton. I've been tweaking the design to allow for different...ahem...volumes.
I also got most of the way through a splendid winter hat for my MIL before an injury to my hand in early November put me on the crafting DL. The early word is psoriatic arthritis. I'm mending slowly but it really derailed my holiday gifting plans. I've started crocheting again, but have not resumed knitting, as it still hurts to do that.
But considering what I did manage to accomplish, I'm fairly pleased.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Ravelry Inspires Me
...to come out of hiding!
I'd nearly forgotten I had this whacky mental cupboard-under-the-stairs. Ghah, the cobwebs in here...
This week I acquired a Ravelry invite. Sweetness. The organizational genius of the site is not to be believed. I am finding artistic inspiration, as well as a strong desire to organize the pit of chaos that is my collection of knitting & crochet implements! They have this cute little chart, that you can print out and take with you when you shop - so you don't end up buying three of the same hook, or two pairs of the same size and length needles, like I did before I discovered this wonder. I also joined about 14 groups with similar interests... we'll see how active they are or how active I remain in them. "Oddballs" seems the most interesting and lively so far.
Anticraft's Imbolc 2008 issue is up, with even more inspiration. A crochet toy Beholder pattern and the Beholder dice bag are in my knitting queue. I'm liking the mini Cthulhu crochet doll as well, but not sure if it's my favorite version of the Elder God. I want one with really cute wings, you see. Preferably ones that I could embellish with leftover Tingles yarn by Ellyn Cooper.
Recently, I've let mini monster knitting take a back seat to lace knitting. I've been knitting mostly shawls and mitts this winter. You'd think I was gearing up to costume some Andrew Davies' Austen adaptation. I'm hoping to catch up on my backlog of photos though and have examples of past work available for your visual critiques soon!
Meanwhile, if anyone sees a pattern for a knitted, 3-dimensional marshmallow peep, drop me a line. My monsters are wanting some for their Ostara baskets.
I'd nearly forgotten I had this whacky mental cupboard-under-the-stairs. Ghah, the cobwebs in here...
This week I acquired a Ravelry invite. Sweetness. The organizational genius of the site is not to be believed. I am finding artistic inspiration, as well as a strong desire to organize the pit of chaos that is my collection of knitting & crochet implements! They have this cute little chart, that you can print out and take with you when you shop - so you don't end up buying three of the same hook, or two pairs of the same size and length needles, like I did before I discovered this wonder. I also joined about 14 groups with similar interests... we'll see how active they are or how active I remain in them. "Oddballs" seems the most interesting and lively so far.
Anticraft's Imbolc 2008 issue is up, with even more inspiration. A crochet toy Beholder pattern and the Beholder dice bag are in my knitting queue. I'm liking the mini Cthulhu crochet doll as well, but not sure if it's my favorite version of the Elder God. I want one with really cute wings, you see. Preferably ones that I could embellish with leftover Tingles yarn by Ellyn Cooper.
Recently, I've let mini monster knitting take a back seat to lace knitting. I've been knitting mostly shawls and mitts this winter. You'd think I was gearing up to costume some Andrew Davies' Austen adaptation. I'm hoping to catch up on my backlog of photos though and have examples of past work available for your visual critiques soon!
Meanwhile, if anyone sees a pattern for a knitted, 3-dimensional marshmallow peep, drop me a line. My monsters are wanting some for their Ostara baskets.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Houston, we have....Eyestalks.
Regina, the beauteous, beneficently evil mastermind behind Monster Crochet, has granted me a boon!
I wrote her to inquire about using her delicious eyeball pattern as a character in my film. She assented, and I received the pattern yesterday evening. Thank you, Regina!
Looking over my stash of thread, I think I should be able to come up with some wonderfully twisted Beholders. What could possibly be wanting now?
Oh, yeah. A pattern for the knitted Ilsensine. Ghah, I really need radioactive green yarn now...
Friday, October 13, 2006
THE BRAIN SLUG?
Hooh, boy. The first run of this little monster did not turn out as intended. The Brain Slug, of Futurama fame was supposed to look like this little guy here on the left.
However what I ended up with, after knitting the thing on US #5 needles, more closely resembled a Vlassic Willy Warmer than anything from outer space.
I chose the smaller gauge due to my stash-busting choice of lurid green sportweight yarn. The stitches cannot look too open, otherwise the stuffing will be visible through them. On reflection I think the wiser choice would be to up the gauge, and use two strands of yarn. The sample looks like it was knitted in a worsted weight. I never thought I'd ever hear myself say this, but I wish I had some yarn in "radioactive green" right now. Not that the yarn color has anything to do with the shaping of the monster in question; I just think it would show up on video better.
Ah well, back to work...
Off Topic -Viva Piñata
In my daily life I'm not just an artist, I'm a computer nerd.
That's right, I said it.
As I scan the release date lists of upcoming computer games, I notice that on the Xbox Live site, Viva Piñata is cheerfully vague - Holiday 2006?? Does that mean before, or after Thanksgiving?
For me it isn't a question of will-there-be-a-copy panic. It's already been preordered. What I'm currently feeling is more akin to the impatience of a 5 year old waiting for their birthday or the holidays. Viva Piñata promises to waste more of my time and brainpower than even Sid Meier's Pirates did - and you know I disappeared for nearly three straight weeks to terrorize the Carribean when that came out.
It has been a while since a building sim game has captured my imagination like this, the release of Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile being the most memorable. If you like sims, or like anything to do with Ancient Egypt, you will want to play that game. The graphics are gorgeous, the gameplay is rich and interesting. The designers paid careful attention to the history of the culture, and that always wins big points with me. VP may not have all the complexity of CotN, but it has enough robust features that I think one could play it for a good while without being bored by it. I'm hoping, anyway. VP was one game I really wish I'd been on the beta test list for. Sigh.
Anyway, I'll let you folks get back to your regularly scheduled reality while I knit nervously, awaiting the latest delivery of junk food for my brain. After all, we must have monsters.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
IN THE BEGINNING...
About oh... twenty years ago when I was still a rugrat in school, some classmates and I were enthralled with stop-motion animation. Gumby and Pokey, Davey & Goliath, that sort of thing. Ideas were exchanged, stories were scribbled in notebooks, but sadly it went no further. Being all of thirteen, none of us had access to the necessary technology to edit together a short film back then.
Cue the 21st century.
My current project idea burst upon me as a way to find a use for all the "useless monsters" I've been knitting out of end bits of stash yarn. It's logical, right? I mean, if you don't have little kids or pets who eat these things faster than a black hole gorges on a neutron star, or work for a cereal company where you could stuff them into boxes as the "prize inside", what else are you going to do with them?
Past monsters I've made were of my own design. Some of them look like they could work for film; others....not so much. I polled my friends at Knittinghelp.com to find the best monster patterns out there. In came a treasure trove of suggestions! Some were specific to genre (Lovecraftian), others looked like they could be more malleable and used in a variety of stories. So I'm going through the collection - holding auditions, screen tests, and whatnot, trying to find that elusive knitted beastie with enough star quality to play the hero(ine) in this first feature.
Stay tuned for future developments!
Cue the 21st century.
My current project idea burst upon me as a way to find a use for all the "useless monsters" I've been knitting out of end bits of stash yarn. It's logical, right? I mean, if you don't have little kids or pets who eat these things faster than a black hole gorges on a neutron star, or work for a cereal company where you could stuff them into boxes as the "prize inside", what else are you going to do with them?
Past monsters I've made were of my own design. Some of them look like they could work for film; others....not so much. I polled my friends at Knittinghelp.com to find the best monster patterns out there. In came a treasure trove of suggestions! Some were specific to genre (Lovecraftian), others looked like they could be more malleable and used in a variety of stories. So I'm going through the collection - holding auditions, screen tests, and whatnot, trying to find that elusive knitted beastie with enough star quality to play the hero(ine) in this first feature.
Stay tuned for future developments!
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