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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

IF ARMING TEACHERS IS THE ANSWER - WHAT EXACTLY IS THE GOAL?

The gun used at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
This is the advertisement for the Sandy Hook massacre gun.

Do we want educators or good shots?  Do we want to require you have to be a gun carrying, good shot and NRA member to be teachers of our nation's students?  A member of the NRA, but not a member of a teachers union?  Teacher unions are under attack, the misnamed "right to work" raison d'etre (reason to be) is to kill the unions, teacher pensions are under attack,  in many communities, the teachers have not been respected for decades.  And yet, expectations for the education system has soared in more than the areas of subjects that once were the conventional things that we held our schools responsible for teaching our children.

Teachers carry a gun? Where in the classroom would the teacher store her gun? Would she have impunity if a child got access to it?

Have you heard that the solution is that the Principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School should have had a gun in her office?  That all teachers should have guns. If you are or have ever been a teacher in elementary school, middle school or high school, or even on a college campus, you can picture what I am about to explain. 

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Rep. Louie Gohmert argued that if the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School had a gun she could have stopped the shooter from killing 20 children and five other school teachers.  Gohmert has spoken out publicly in favor of increased gun accessibility in the wake of the Friday attack.

I was an elementary school music teacher.  My first year as a teacher, I had 950 students. There are times you are the lone adult in a room or playground with hundreds of children.  Would you carry your gun there?  And if you needed to use it, and accidentally killed one or more of the hundreds of children under your care, because you are not a good enough shot, had an off day as a good shot, got nervous or the chaos of a situation made it impossible to only target an armed intruder or an armed student, would you have legal impunity for killing one or more of your students? Or if you only have the gun in your classroom somewhere, presumably locked away for safety that no child under your care would get access to it, what good would the gun be if you were doing duty in the cafeteria, school assembly, walking down the hall with the class to a music, art or physical education class.  

I am picturing my college years where I was supposedly getting my education in my subject area.  It was a liberal arts school, so though I was loaded with music courses, I also took biology, English literature, French, Philosophy.  If teachers were required to carry guns, we would have to have courses in guns, knowing how to shop for the gun allowed, because surely there would be laws restricting a teacher’s gun, the kind of gun, the kind of bullets, how to handle a gun, keeping them in good repair, insuring them, how to keep them out of the hands of students who might use them as a play thing or the real thing, when it is and isn’t appropriate to use the gun.  Will there be “stand your ground” laws for teachers? Will self-defense mean we must see a gun being used on a student first before we can shoot?  Do we need witnesses to prove we used the gun properly?  Will we be police officers or teachers?  If I would have been mandated to carry a gun as a teacher and not given the same rights as police officers, there would be major problems.  If that doesn’t’ make sense, then the major problem begins with your critical thinking weaknesses.

How many college gun course hours would be required for my teacher certification?  How many hours of target shooting would I have to have to get my teacher certificate?  Would I have to take shooting range practice throughout my teaching career until retirement (now age 67 years in Rhode Island)?  What if I am not able to hold a gun due to illness of any kind, for example I am disabled?  When we hire new teachers, do we have them illustrate their shooting abilities with range shooting with moving targets as a part of the interview?


 

For Sandy Hook Elementary School

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Sunday, November 4, 2012

Peace ~ The Butterfly Effect



Especially made for Blog Blast For Peace 2012 ~


Watch the video on Facebook
Photography and videography ~ Sandra Hammel
Music ~ My Free Spirit
Composed and performed by Sandra Hammel


I blog for peace as a part of #BlogBlast4Peace ~
Annually on November 4

Related websites:

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Thursday, September 13, 2012

GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO "SING YOUR SONG"


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I don't know if I will ever change, probably not, but before I can get myself to get moving toward bed, I want a feeling, I feeling that something moving has touched me, it can be music, mine or others, it can be writing down some of my own heartfelt feelings, thoughts, reading someone else's words that touch me. It is like the day can't end even though it is very late until I feel a connection to something deep, beautiful, soulful....So, on that search, I found myself listening to Tom Waits (on youtube) give a speech, sing a few songs. What I love about Tom Waits, is that there is absolutely nothing polished about his "singing" and he apparently has no hesitation to sing - so many of us, me included, sing and think we are not good enough. But if we want to sing, that is all that is important. Tom gives us permission to sing. 
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Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson
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Join in and blog for peace on one day, November 4, 2012

Facebook: BlogBlastForPeace

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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

REMEMBER, DON'T BE AFRAID TO FAIL

My "to do" thing right now is to organize my room that has my computer desk (a mess), the folders that haven't been filed (due to lack of room to file them), go through the files in the drawer and hopefully find some to thin or throw out and my piano, my keyboard and music.

In the brief minutes that I have actually started, I have been distracted over and over.  This is the current distraction.  I found words that I had written once and loved what they say.  Here is part of that.

Remember

by Sandra Hammel

Remember, don't be afraid to fail.

                                             look around
               and know eveyone is filled
with fear of unacceptance,
more, rejection.

And don't let anyone
                                     convince you for long that
life isn't feeling. 
                          It is. 

Being happy

isn't a gift of living
but a gift you
can give yourself and others,
by working at it.

Smile always, even when it's difficult.

Joy 

           will

                        dance

the world through, 


                                                                           but it must begin with you and me.


                                 

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Saturday, July 7, 2012

INTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME TOURNAMENT 2012

International Tennis Hall of Fame
July 9 - 15, 2012
Newport, Rhode Island
Grass Tennis Tournament 
Between Wimbledon and Olympics


Pictures I took today at the draw, Saturday, July 7, 2012 ~

All photo credits: Sandra Hammel
 Click images to enlarge the pictures.

Players who attended the drawing.
Go Soeda, Kie Nishikori, Michael Russell, ?, ?, Rajeev Ram, John Isner, David Goffin, ?, Milos Raonic

John Isner
2011 Champion

 Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori


 The drawing went on and on...


? and David Goffin

 Click the image of the drawing to enlarge.

❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧
❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧

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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

RHODE ISLAND LAW ELIMINATING TAXPAYER DEDUCTIONS STARTING 2011 LINKED TO ALEC

Click twice to enlarge the image
that I printed out and then made a tiff from the ALEC_Exposed zip file.

Read above the small red print at the bottom:
In June 2009, the Rhode Island House Finance Committee approved legislation similar to this model.

Yes, they did and now it is what you have as law, Rhode Island taxpayers. I wrote about this before, including Jim Hummel's blog post about it. Mr. Hummel's video report is included. Find the links at ~
Rhode Island Petition for Reinstating Itemized Deductions for Income Tax RI-1040

I will repost part of my previous blog post at the bottom of this post.

I found the above at ALEC_Exposed

by following these steps~

on left I clicked
Taxes and Budgets
and then at
Read the "Model Bills" HERE
I clicked the following and uploaded the sample bills by ALEC

Point.png
Click here for a zip file of Tax and Budget bills

ALEC_Exposed

ALEC sends out SOS Breitbart bloggers

Repost part of my previous blog post at the bottom of this post ~

Jim Hummel states (he also has a video with a report at the link Hummel) -
"Taxpayers filing a return in Rhode Island face huge changes this year. Reforms the General Assembly passed two years ago - but just now taking effect - include the elimination of itemized deductions, meaning there will be some winners and some losers. Jim Hummel finds that the losers include those with huge medical bills - who now can't fully claim them as a deduction."
This Hummel report states that
100,000 Rhode Islanders pay more tax
300,000 Rhode Islanders pay less tax

I wonder about this.
Homeowners? How have you found this to be for you?

My RI tax for 2011 went up 40% over 2010. If you would like the return of the itemized deductions to RI, sign the petition for this action.


Petition for Rhode Island Governor, Treasurer and Legislators - Reinstate federal income tax itemized deductions to Rhode island's RI-1040



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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

RHODE ISLAND PETITION FOR REINSTATING ITEMIZED DEDUCTIONS FOR INCOME TAX RI-1040



Click image to enlarge.


Rhode Islanders who own their homes and are used to itemizing and deducting what they pay from their RI income tax on the annual Income Tax Return RI-1040 for things such as medical expenses, interest you paid on home mortgage, the total deduction on your house town's property tax and the charities that you donate to over the year - found that for the year of 2011 - all itemized deductions were no longer allowed. But there was a decrease in the top marginal income tax rate.

My RI tax for 2011 went up 40% over 2010. If you would like the return of the itemized deductions to RI, sign the petition for this action.


Petition for Rhode Island Governor, Treasurer and Legislators - Reinstate federal income tax itemized deductions to Rhode island's RI-1040


Federal form Schedule A with Itemized Deductions listed.
Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.


Jim Hummel states (he also has a video with a report at the link Hummel) -
"Taxpayers filing a return in Rhode Island face huge changes this year. Reforms the General Assembly passed two years ago - but just now taking effect - include the elimination of itemized deductions, meaning there will be some winners and some losers. Jim Hummel finds that the losers include those with huge medical bills - who now can't fully claim them as a deduction."
This Hummel report states that
100,000 Rhode Islanders pay more tax
300,000 Rhode Islanders pay less tax

I wonder about this.
Homeowners? How have you found this to be for you?

My RI tax for 2011 went up 40% over 2010. If you would like the return of the itemized deductions to RI, sign the petition for this action.


Petition for Rhode Island Governor, Treasurer and Legislators - Reinstate federal income tax itemized deductions to Rhode island's RI-1040


UPDATED April18, 2012, 11:42. p.m. USA/EST

I have found that ALEC is linked to this RI 1040 elimination of itemized deductions. See my post about it:
Rhode Island law eliminating taxpayer deductions starting 2011 linked to ALEC

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Saturday, December 31, 2011

I GAVE MY SON A SONG FOR CHRISTMAS 2011 ~ UNTIL FOREVER ENDS

Christmas Eve
December 24, Saturday, 2011
Photo credit: Sandra Hammel

Christmas Eve
December 24, Saturday, 2011
Photo credit: Sandra Hammel

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This is a public video, however the purpose of this song is for my son, which is a personal matter. He is 24 years old. Some bonds are deep, some never take at all. The bond that I feel with my son is the deep kind, that of hearts, spirits - between two souls. And he came into my life when he was 8 years old.

I am grateful for this special experience, this special bond.

One day, I hope to do this song with better voice. In the meantime, I upload what I did yesterday and include the live version that I sang for my son as one of his Christmas presents on Christmas Eve 2011, which was shot with the cheapest camera sold. I dream of having a decent camera one day. I just can't afford one.

This song was written December 14, 2011 for my son.

Until Forever Ends

Written by Sandra Hammel


Though we are two hearts, many years apart,

Our bond runs deep, deeper than the blue sea,

Now, you, you sail on,

I stand here and watch you take flight……


Every day, keep your passions alive, breathe free,

I will love you always,

Until forever ends,

I will love you until forever ends.


Key: F Major

6/8 feel


Raw title: Until Forever Ends Live.mov

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Monday, November 21, 2011

SIGN PETITION TO END VIOLENCE BY POLICE ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES IN CALIFORNIA



Full statement by the University of California Faculty Association -- sign in solidarity on the right. (Professors sign here. Students sign here.)

This week, we have seen excessive force used against non-violent protesters at UC Berkeley, UCLA, CSU Long Beach, and UC Davis. Student, faculty and staff protesters have been pepper-sprayed directly in the eyes and mouth, beaten and shoved by batons, dragged by the arms while handcuffed, and submitted to other forms of excessive force. Protesters have been hospitalized because of injuries inflicted during these incidents. The violence was unprovoked, disproportional and excessive.

We are outraged by the excessive and unnecessary force used against peaceful protests.

We are outraged that the administrations of UC campuses are using police brutality to suppress dissent, free speech and peaceful assembly.

We demand that the Chancellors of the University of California cease using police violence to repress non-violent political protests. We hold them responsible for the violence and believe it can only result in an escalation of outrage that holds the potential for even more violence.

Police brutality damages the University’s public image, and, more importantly, it damages the climate for free expression at UC. We condemn the assault on the legacy of free speech at the University of California.

We call for greater attention to the substantive issues that motivate the protests regarding the privatization of education. With massive cuts in state funding and rising tuition costs across the community college system, the Cal State network, K-12, and the University of California, public education is undergoing a severe divestment. Student debt has reached unprecedented levels as bank profits swell. We decry the growing privatization and tuition increases that have been the frequent — and only — responses of the UC Board of Regents.

Signed,
The Board of the Council of UC Faculty Associations

Sign the petition

Deja vu


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Friday, November 18, 2011

MIGHT BE UNBELIEVABLE IF IT WASN'T HAPPENING


Do you have one person in your life that the bond would be unbelievable, if it wasn't actually happening to you? I do. I didn't look for this bond where I found it. I always wanted this bond to happen with one other person and expected or hoped it would happen in an intimate relationship. But that is not where it showed up.


The bond is organic, in that it is natural and just is. That doesn't mean that it has only been warm feelings, peaceful and always smooth. None of those things are true. Trying to understand his emotional pain, heartfelt best intentions to always be what I needed to be for this person, times of being on the receiving end of hurtful words are true. Importantly, the hurtful words are not definitive of who he is. He owns his mistakes. And this is a new experience for me. I feel heard when expressing my feelings. I have not witnessed this truthful and complete endeavor in others to be the best that they are in all parts of their life. More specifically, the introspection that he uses to be his best self, I have not seen before. Especially in the men I have known.


The connection is one that is deep in my soul. I believe it is reciprocal. It is a rich and complex relationship between two deeply-feeling and deeply-experiencing beings. I am so grateful to have this bond and to know the connection in the way that I do as a gift from this other spirit walking the earth at the same time that I am.


It is without pretense. There is genuine communication not only in a mortal way, but in a spiritual way. The sincerity he has is so healing for me to see in another human being.


Truthfulness is a hallmark of how we allow each other to be. It is stunning and beautiful and I am grateful.


Recently, each time I have brought a difficult conversation to him, he has shown himself to not only meet me fairly and with complete integrity, he has exceeded how I might have imagined him to show up and allow himself to be and allow me to see. The openness has been refreshing. As he has entered his young adult life and I have entered the autumn into winter season of my life, he has shown glimpses of the most beautiful human being I have ever known. We are now working through things with our roles changing and I now can ask for things not possible when my role was the grown-up and he the, child.


We are approximately 40 years different in age.


He is my son. I didn't give him birth. But, if I had, we couldn't have been more connected with more of a bond.


December 28, 1997

Since my movie camera stopped working the day that he moved in, we went out and rented a movie camera to capture memories of the first Christmas together.


More of the same day

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

DARFUR The Abandoned Genocide ~ 2003 - 2011


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Click here to see in bigger screen size

This is a submission to the "Compassion Film Festival" in Newport, Rhode Island, screenings at the 494 seat Jane Pickens Theatre, April 8, 2011.

The Jane Pickens Theatre
49 Touro Street
Newport, RI 02840
(401) 846-5252
Bus: Touro Near Side Clark

The Festival rules limited the video submissions to 5 minutes. Prizes will be awarded for the top 3 juried places and also an Audience Choice award chosen directly by the audience.


Unfortunately the lips and audio became out of snyc due to compression of uploading here at Vimeo. Fortunately, the DVD of this video is in sync.

I always put credits at the end and couldn't because of the limit I had to get my message across.


Here are more complete credits:

❧ Special thanks to ❧
Eric Reeves for Open Letter excerpts
Mohamed Suleiman for Darfuri sayings
Photos ~
Mia Farrow
Gabriel Stauring
Sandra Hammel
♫ Music ♫
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Performed by Eva Cassidy
Available at itunes
Krista Powell
Presented by Sandra Hammel

Genocide flourishes when there is no accountability.
It has been flourishing in Darfur since February 2003.

One voice won’t stop a genocide,
but that is no excuse to be silent.

Please, use your voice to call upon our leaders
to do what is right about something
that is very wrong.


Contact President Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden or First Lady Michelle Obama

www.whitehouse.gov/contact


1-800-GENOCIDE for President Obama,
U.S. Senators and Representatives

Updated Darfur news ~
Radio Dabanga

Eric Reeves's Website on Sudan ~
sudanreeves

Mia Farrow
photos of Darfur Refugee Camps

Terry Nickelson ~ OUR HUMANITY IN THE BALANCE

Our Humanity in the Balance

Where there is a will there is always a way,

where there is no will there is never a way.



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Click here to see in bigger screen

Contact me if you would like a DVD of the above video.

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Was Scott Gration Good for the Darfur Peace Process?


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See more videos of Darfuri refugee camp Goz Amer taken March 23 - 31 +, 2011
stopgenocidenow

Learn more about the sister schools program for Darfur refugee camps at Darfur Dream Team

Photo credit Gabriel Stauring
Goz Amer School
Classroom in a refugee camp
Proof that ~ Where there is a will there is a way.


Photo credit Gabriel Stauring of iactivism.org

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Tuesday, March 1, 2011

OBAMA FAILS TO DELIVER ON CAMPAIGN PROMISE REGARDING WALL STREET - INSIDE JOB - OSCAR WINNER 2011


We Are All Wisconsin


Financial Crisis - No One Held Accountable - Lack of Regulation

AND

Wisconsin - Bargaining Rights of USA Workers


What is the connection?


There's a problem and it isn't people who have the right to bargain. Do you know why states really have financial issues? Including pension payments for their retirees? It has to do with the banks who made bad investments and in turn it affected the market...the stock market where states had invested their money for the purpose of growth. But that growth didn't happen and the states are now in financial trouble. And it happened because legal restraints didn't exist to protect the public. The "less government is better" concept decided not to protect the "little people", but the big banks....you know those who were deemed "too big to fail". And none of those banks have been held accountable for the "bad business" practices...it's dominos-like. And here we are....time to wake the sleeping elephant in the "room". Justice doesn't happen, unless we make it happen.


❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧

"IT'S A WALL STREET GOVERNMENT"
quote from the documentary INSIDE JOB

Charles Ferguson's documentary about the origins of the financial crash comes out on top in Oscar race

Inside Job - 6 clips

Facebook of Inside Job

Official website of the movie ~ Inside Job
includes movie promotional clip

Peter Bradshaw reviews Inside Job

Inside Job
  1. Production year: 2010
  2. Country: USA
  3. Cert (UK): 12A
  4. Runtime: 108 mins
  5. Directors: Charles Ferguson
  6. Cast: Matt Damon
  7. More on this film

*Inside Job: How bankers caused the financial crisis
The film Inside Job brilliantly exposes the corruption in US banking that led to the 2008 crash.
This * article asked four bankers for their verdict on this damning indictment of their world in Inside Job
※※※※※※※※※※※

Banks' millionaires could be revealed

Treasury select committee may be given information about top pay at nine biggest banks by end of April

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A Lack of Accountability Sacrifices Justice

USA NEEDS SEPARATION OF CORPORATE RICH AND GOVERNMENT ~ SIMILAR TO SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
CONTACT Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
Facebook ~ http://www.facebook.com/governorscottwalker
Email ~ govgeneral@wisconsin.gov
Twitter ~ @GovWalker
http://twitter.com/#!/govwalker

ilovemylife: USA NEEDS SEPARATION OF CORPORATE RICH AND GOVERNMENT ~ SIMILAR TO SEPARATION OF CHURCH

"
The phone call" of Walker and the fake Koch can be heard in full at my personal blog post (link above) and at youtube


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Sunday, February 27, 2011

RHODE ISLAND RALLY ~ SOLIDARITY WITH WISCONSIN SAT FEB 26, 2011



We are all Wisconsin. We are all Americans. Rhode Island had two rallies to support the right to be in a union, freedom to bargain, Wisconsin Citizens and Wisconsin Democrats who have taken a stand to support "the right to exercise rights" wtihin a democracy. One rally was on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 and the other on Saturday, February 26, 2011. This video includes highlights of the Saturday Rally at the Rhode Island State House. Presented by Sandra Hammel
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Uploaded by me ~
Correction: Spelling on one side of my poster's last line...
Governor Walker. I was very much in a hurry when I did the sign.

I had to drive 45 minutes to get there and I was late in leaving by 10 minutes.

Notable ~ The organizer of the Rhode Island Saturday rally asked the attendees how many were Union members and almost all those attending were not Union members.

Rhode Island rally to support Wisconsin on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 ~ Photostream
More photos



Rights are called rights because they are rights.

Facebook.com/moveon

Twitter #WeAreWI

Comments will be moderated at my discretion. This is a support post for the cause expressed on this post. Those who differ may post their own posts on their own blogs or leave comments where they are accepted by the owner of the blog or website.

50 Photos from the 50 State Rallies to save the American Dream
(Saturday, February 26, 2011)

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Interview with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Sunday, February 27, 2011 with David Gregory on Meet the Press. Video of the interview at Meet the Press transcripts

Found the following at moveon.org

Posted by GabrieleSe

Original by Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out.

Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out.

Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out.

And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Then this posted by HollyandJohn ~

Perhaps the new version goes something like this:

First they came...

First they came for the car unions,
and I didn't speak out because I didn't work in Detroit.

Then they came for the air traffic controllers,
and I didn't speak out because I thought, yeah they are too entitled.

Then they came for the welfare mothers,
and I didn't speak out because I thought, yeah they are lazy, aren't they?

Then they came for the all the industrial workers,
and I didn't speak out because I thought, well, NAFTA could be good for me.

Then they came for the free press,
and I didn't speak out because I believed it was fair and balanced.

Then they came for everyone's savings and retirement money,
and I didn't speak out because I thought bubbles happen and deregulation will make me money.

Then they came for people with houses and predatory loans,
and I didn't speak out because they said greedy low-income people brought down the system.

Then they came for the right to an education,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a student or a teacher.

Then they came for those who organized to fight the rich,
and I didn't speak out because I believe them when they said it was about the budget.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Then this posted by lillymouse ~

Then they came for the mentally ill
and I didn't speak out because I didn't have a problem and didn't know anyone who did.

Then they came for the sick, unable to afford treatment,
and I didn't speak out because I was healthy and had a job with what I thought was good health insurance.

Then they came for the old and disabled
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't either and I believed them when they said social security was broken and there was no way to fix it and we must all settle for less.


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Friday, February 25, 2011

PRETTY MARY ❧ SANDRA HAMMEL



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My advice ❧
Have many pictures of yourself taken when you are young,
because when you are old you will appreciate those pictures.

I uploaded this same video at three places: Facebook, Vimeo and Youtube.

I haven't had a video compress right for months at Youtube.
I uploaded this video twice and then removed it from Youtube. It is one thing to compress a whole minute off the original video, but to cut off the ending of the song is unacceptable outright.

Videos upload corrrectly at Facebook (the place for the best compression). Best screen size to view video by going to Facebook.
Second best is at Vimeo but this time the audio has glitches in the video even at Vimeo.

What I created, actually uploads correctly at Facebook every time. Youtube compresses the videos so much that any attention to the timing gets defeated here. Youtube cut off the ending entirely and overall cut one full minute out by bunching together the single jpegs at a much faster tempo than the original. This is no masterpiece, but still it would have been nice to get what was created. To add to my complaining: Youtube's limited choice of the display picture leaves a lot to be wanted. Facebook and Vimeo give you many choices for the display picture of your video.

Pretty Mary

Yes, there are ONLY 2 chords - F and B flat - in the original song of "Pretty Mary" and mostly only the F chord. I added C in the coda. Anybody can play this song.

Raw title: Sandra Pretty Mary without descant #1 720x480 4,3.mov

Update
I have "tricked" Youtube's compression software into including the song to the end by adding more visual on the end of my previously finished video. Youtube still compressed the original and subtracted two full minutes from the video. If you want to see the altered version...
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Uploaded by

Raw title: Sandra w Beauty Once Known.mov ~ This is just for my sake.

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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

I'LL FLY AWAY ~ TV SERIES ~ WE DESERVE ANOTHER LOOK

The television series I'll Fly Away has remained with me since it aired in 1991. It was set in the late 1950's and early 1960's and aired for two seasons on NBC from 1991 to 1993. Then like many intelligent TV USA shows on the three networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) it was cancelled, short-changing people like me. PBS aired the episodes again, but only once. PBS also apparently sponsored a 2 hour wrap up of the storylines that were left after season 2 had been cancelled by NBC. I am assuming that PBS may still own the rights to this series. If they do, they most definitely should air it again, but maybe forever the series will be kept from us. What a shame that will be. With some of the music used on the series, perhaps that is an issue. I don't know.

It would be so wonderful to have the opportunity to purchase the series on DVDs. There is such junk on TV and it is put on DVDs. How about some quality from past series, such as I'll Fly Away?

I found some old VHS tapes that I have with the show recorded on them. The tape has degraded over time and it has proven difficult to transfer them to DVDS. After searching for the series professionally done on DVD and finding that the series has never been for sale, I have tried to salvage what I have. Some of the recordings unfortunately were mistakenly recorded over.

I believe the clips in the video below are from the very first episode. I am not positive, but it appears to be.

The two main characters are played by Sam Waterston and Regina Taylor. I first had seen Sam Waterston in the 7-part PBS series titled Oppenheimer (which you can buy on dvd at Amazon.com/Oppenheimer-Sam-Waterston). See a clip of Oppenheimer by BBC at imdb.

From the ending monologue at the end of this I'll Fly Away episode:
Lilly ~ "Everybody's got their troubles. That's a fact. Everybody lives in their own world. And everybody lives in the same world. Maybe, if I understood other people better, I'd have a better fix on myself. I feel like I'm trying to be something I'm supposed to be. But, I don't know who that is. Mr. Bedford seems me to be a man who's also trying to be something he thinks he's supposed to be. But there's something inside him that wants to get out."

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I'LL FLY AWAY ~ created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey ~ "Everybody's got their own troubles" [HQ] ~12:38

This video is made from a degraded video tape, generated down: dvd, then Quick Time, compressed in software editing program and here at Facebook again. It includes the opening and ending of the two hour Christmas special.

Who owns the TV Series I'll Fly Away today? I just sent this email text to PBS/WGBH (feedback@wgbh.org) regarding I'll Fly Away:

Dear PBS,

If PBS still owns the rights to the TV series I'll Fly Away, I would like to request PBS consider airing it again. It is an extraordianary show, with wonderful writing and excellent presentation. It is not available on DVD and the many people who loved it do not have the opportunity to see it again. With all the racist undertones at the present time in the USA, it would be healthy for the country's people to see it.

Here is their contact information:
WGBH/Channel 2
Boston, MA 02135
Phone: 617-300-5400
Email: feedback@wgbh.org

UPDATE
February 2, 2011
I received a reply from PBS regarding my email above today. Here is the reply pasted here:


Dear Ms. Hammel,

Thank you for your interest in WGBH. We always appreciate hearing from our viewers, listeners, and Web site visitors.

The program you cited, I'll Fly Away, is not currently scheduled to air on any of WGBH's channels. However, we have relayed your request for WGBH to air an encore of this program to our broadcast manager. In the meantime, you can check for an encore performance from time to time at our website, WGBH.org. On the left navigation bar, choose "TV" then "Programs A-Z" (the first letter of your program - or series, if that applies). If your program is scheduled it will appear in the list with air dates included.

We hope you continue to enjoy the programs on WGBH - produced in Boston, shared with the world.

To support the WGBH programs and services you enjoy every day, we urge you to contact us at 617-300-3300 (M-F, 9-5) - or at 800-492-1111 at other times - or pledging online at http://www.wgbh.org/pledge.

Sincerely,
WGBH Member Services

WGBH enriches people's lives through programs and services that educate, inspire, and entertain, fostering citizenship and culture, the joy of learning, and the power of diverse perspectives.

❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧

From Wikipedia ~
I'll Fly Away is a television series set during the late 1950s and early 1960s,[1][2][3] in an unspecified Southern U.S. state. It aired on NBC from 1991 to 1993 and starred Regina Taylor as Lilly Harper, a black housekeeper for district attorney Forrest Bedford (Sam Waterston) and his family. As the show progressed, Lilly became increasingly involved in the Civil Rights Movement, with events eventually drawing in Forrest as well.

I'll Fly Away won two 1992 Emmy Awards (Eric Laneuville for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing in a Drama Series, and series creators Joshua Brand and John Falsey for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing in a Miniseries or a Special), and 23 nominations in total. It won three Humanitas Prizes, two Golden Globe Awards, two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Drama Series, and a Peabody Award. However, the series was never a ratings blockbuster, and it was cancelled by NBC in 1993, despite widespread protests by critics and viewer organizations.[4]

After the program's cancellation, a two hour movie, I'll Fly Away: Then and Now, was produced, in order to resolve dangling storylines from Season 2, and provide the series with a true finale. The movie aired on October 11, 1993 on PBS. Its major storyline closely paralleled the true story of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. Thereafter, PBS began airing repeats of the original episodes, ceasing after one complete showing of the entire series.

The series takes its name from a Christian hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley.

Trivia ~

  • Series creators Joshua Brand and John Falsey have stated that the inspiration for the series was the classic 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird. While the film centers around attorney Atticus Finch and his family, the pair wondered about the life of Calpurnia, the Finches' African-American maid. Her story goes unexplored in the movie. A serious and seemingly well-educated individual who is respected by her employers, Calpurnia is the inspiration for the character Lilly Harper in I'll Fly Away.
  • The role of Nathaniel "Nathan" Bedford originally went to Jason London. When he had to turn it down because of a scheduling conflict, his identical twin brother Jeremy London auditioned and won the role. When a scheduling conflict prevented Jeremy from appearing in the series finale I'll Fly Away: Then and Now, Jason took Jeremy's place.
  • Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate general during the Civil War, and one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan. His full name is used to provide the surname for the Bedford family, as well as the first names of the Forrest and Nathan characters.
  • Sam Waterston's most famous role (other than Law & Order's Jack McCoy) has been President Abraham Lincoln, whom he has portrayed more than once on stage and screen.
  • Sam Waterston and Regina Taylor were reunited in 1994 when Taylor guest-starred in the fifth-season Law & Order episode "Virtue".
  • Each episode features an opening and closing narration by Lilly, each one an excerpt from an entry in her diary. In the series finale, it is revealed that the diary forms the basis of a book written by Lilly in the early 1990s entitled I'll Fly Away.

Regular cast

  • Sam Waterston: Forrest Bedford
  • Regina Taylor: Lilly Harper
  • Jeremy London: Nathaniel "Nathan" Bedford (except I'll Fly Away: Then and Now)
  • Ashlee Levitch: Francie Bedford
  • John Aaron Bennett: John Morgan Bedford
  • Kathryn Harrold: Christina LeKatzis (except I'll Fly Away: Then and Now)
  • Peter Simmons: Paul Slocum (recurring in Season 1, principal cast thereafter)
  • Jason London: Nathaniel "Nathan" Bedford (I'll Fly Away: Then and Now only)
Awards ~
  • 1992: Emmy Award – Director, Drama Series – Eric Laneuville
  • 1992: Emmy Award – Writing, Miniseries or Special – John Falsey & Joshua Brand
  • 1992: Emmy Award – Drama Series (nominated)
  • 1992: Emmy Award – Made for Television Movie (nominated)
  • 1992: Emmy Award – Actor, Drama Series – Sam Waterston (nominated)
  • 1992: Emmy Award – Actress, Drama Series – Regina Taylor (nominated)
  • 1992: Emmy Award – Supporting Actress, Drama Series – Mary Alice (nominated)
  • 1993: Emmy Award – Supporting Actress, Drama Series – Mary Alice
  • 1993: Emmy Award – Drama Series (nominated)
  • 1993: Emmy Award – Director, Drama Series – Eric Laneuville (nominated)
  • 1993: Emmy Award – Actor, Drama Series – Sam Waterston (nominated)
  • 1993: Emmy Award – Guest Actress, Drama Series – Rosanna Carter (nominated)
  • 1992: Golden Globe Award – TV Series, Drama (nominated)
  • 1992: Golden Globe Award – Actor, TV Series, Drama – Sam Waterston (nominated)
  • 1993: Golden Globe Award – Actor, TV Series, Drama – Sam Waterston
  • 1993: Golden Globe Award – Actress, TV Series, Drama – Regina Taylor
  • 1993: Golden Globe Award – TV Series, Drama (nominated)
  • 1994: NAACP Image Award – Drama Series, Miniseries or Television Movie
  • 1994: NAACP Image Award – Actor, Drama Series, Miniseries or Television Movie – Dorian Harewood
  • 1995: NAACP Image Award – Drama Series
  • 1995: NAACP Image Award – Actress, Drama Series – Regina Taylor
References ~

  1. ^ The episode "Some Desperate Glory" (Season 1, Episode 9) depicts the marquee of a local movie theater, listing Auntie Mame as the main feature. This film was first released in the United States in December 1958, implying that the first season of I'll Fly Away takes place in 1958 and 1959. However, in "The Slightest Distance" (Season 1, Episode 22), a U.S. Justice Department official remarks that a "new administration" about to take office. Clearly a reference to President John F. Kennedy, this would place the first season's latter episodes between the November 8, 1960 election and the January 20, 1961 inauguration.
  2. ^ In "Freedom Bus" (Season 2, Episode 6), Robert F. Kennedy is referred to as the United States Attorney General, an office he assumed in 1961. Subsequently, in "State" (Season 2, Episode 16), Joe Clay is seen browsing through a 1962 Chevrolet catalogue.
  3. ^ The bulk of the series finale I'll Fly Away: Then and Now is a flashback to events occurring in the summer of 1962.
  4. ^ John J. O'Connor (October 11, 1993). "Review/Television; PBS Revives a Series On Race and America". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/11/arts/review-television-pbs-revives-a-series-on-race-and-america.html.
  5. ^ The episode "Slow Coming Dark" (Season 1, Episode 17) depicts an automobile with alicense plate registered in "Bryland", as opposed to one of the 50 states. A subsequent episode, "Freedom Bus" (Season 2, Episode 6), depicts a motorcycle with a similar license plate.
  1. ^ The notion that Georgia is the setting for the series finds credence in several episodes. In "The Third Man" (Season 2, Episode 10), Forrest Bedford coerces a Klan infiltrator into maintaining his cover by threatening to have him imprisoned in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. In "State" (Season 2, Episode 16), Lilly Harper – while discussing a freedom school to be opened in Bryland – mentions the possibility of using students from Morehouse College (a historically Black college in Atlanta) as teachers. Moreover, in the final scene of "State", two African-American students (one male, one female) are shown integrating the local state university, with federal troops protecting them from a mob of jeering White students. The scene is reminiscent of the 1961 integration of the University of Georgia by Hamilton E. Holmes and Charlayne Hunter. Finally, in the series finale I'll Fly Away: Then and Now, Lilly reads from a novel she has written, one which is clearly based upon her own life. The protagonist of the novel states that she was born in "a small Southern town located on a parched southwestern plot of Georgian soil."
Source: wikipedia

Same video at Youtube
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Several seconds of the song All I Could Do is Cry is sung by Etta James (the song was in the original episode) is included in this clip.

Raw title for Youtube: Lilly ~ I'll Fly Away ~ Everybody's Got Their Troubles ~ 2 hour special 720X480 4,3.mov
Raw title for Facebook: Lilly ~ I'll Fly Away ~ Everybody's Got Their Troubles ~ 2 hour special 720x480 FB Hi Q.mov

Tags: I'll Fly Away, Sandra Hammel, ilovemylife, Joshua Brand, John Falsey, Sam Waterston, Regina Taylor,Jeremy London, Peter Simmons, Jeremy London, Rae'Ven_L_Kelly, Bill Cobbs, Brad Sullivan, Mary Alice, Kathryn Harrold, PBS

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