Here it is, Friday morning, the G20 got underway last night a couple of miles from where I sit, and I ain't seen nothing yet except what's on my computer, unless you count the helicopter that hovered over my neighborhood for an unconscionable length of time day before yesterday.

So I went in search of news this morning, partly to prepare myself for this afternoon's march, partly to have something to share with all of you.

First thing that hits me from McClatchy is a cute little paragraph that reminded me of my disgust the other day at hearing the phrase "G20 wives":

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(but if you do, I'll be there waving at ya!)

The Poor People's Economic Campaign has contacted our local single payer activist and invited us to be seen and heard at two G20 events:

1. Sunday, Sept. 20, 2:00 - 3:30 pm: Rally at Monumental Baptist Church (Soho and Wylie Streets, Hill District) with march to Freedom Corner--see here for details and flyer. This event is supported by the USW (steel workers) and UE (electrical workers), as well as other unions. Rev. Bruce Wright says that Cindy Sheehan will be one of the speakers. This is a permitted march. Also, a permitted tent city will be erected on the church grounds to highlight the needs of the homeless and unemployed.

My local group fighting against torture informs me that the Second Court of Appeals has, amazingly, agreed to rehear the case of Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen kidnapped and "rendered" to Syria for torture by our government using our tax dollars.

If there's any hope of turning back to the pre-Bush level of commitment to the rule of law, however imperfect, we have to account for what's been done through the justice system. We have to demand accountability. The truth is in the same "grave-like cell" that held Maher Arar for ten months, and it's up to us to bring it into the light.

BookMooch is now my preferred source and sink for books. With some patience, and the price of postage, I can get or get rid of many things. Shelf space is limited now, and most books come from the library, but sometimes they don't have what I want, or I want to own the book, possibly only for a while.

There is a small number of books on my shelves waiting to be read, and after that I'll put them up for "mooching". BookMooch is an unusual model in that getting the book costs you nothing (in money) but giving it costs you postage. It's all kept in balance by a point system that compares the books you've sent to the books you've gotten.

As dday notes, John Conyers has signed on to HCAN's Statement of Common Purpose, along with 31 other members of Congress.

Conyers's statement:

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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette printed two good letters on HR 676 as follow-up to the excellent column by Clarke Thomas that ran the other day.

Hurray for our side. Keep plugging away, foot soldiers.

Short happy dance as the rest of the news out there looks pretty dire.

Your intrepid reporter spent the morning in downtown Pittsburgh working the Labor Day parade on behalf of HR 676, along with other members of the Western PA Coalition for Single Payer Healthcare. The local letter carriers had kindly allowed us to march with them; as they were at the tail end of the parade, we had plenty of time to leaflet before hand, and we handed out the last of what we had as we marched. It was kind of fun playing carnival barker, calling out "Single payer, single payer, universal health care, everybody in, nobody out!" and shoving leaflets at people.

In the unlikely event that you don't have enough to do, here are some single-payer healthcare events for your amusement:

Labor Day parades turn out to be a big venue for promoting single payer healthcare. You may want to check out your local event. Here in Pittsburgh we'll be handing out leaflets, as well as marching with the letter carriers. If any of you Pittsburghers want to come, look for us at "Freedom Corner" (Center and Crawford) or at the City-County Building before the parade. Most of us will be wearing red or orange shirts.

This was going to be a single-payer post, but there was nothing new of interest on that topic; we already knew Republican Tim Murphy was on the wrong side and we already knew Democrat Jason Altmire had broken his promise to support HR676.

No big ideas here, just stuff for lovers of facts on the ground and anecdotal evidence. These are my notes on a "town hall meeting" in Monroeville, PA, the armpit of Pittsburgh, which in turn is said by some to be the armpit of the universe. Representatives Murphy and Altmire answered questions for about an hour.

I have to apologize. To You, Gentle Reader. To my Blogmates, past and present. To America, lost and wounded. I am so sorry. as a sop, I'll offer some pics of the gardens very soon, honest to Chuy I've been in them 12-15hrs/day for the last month and just too fucking tired to blog.

I love you. I really do. Love is easy for me; it's why I have such a hard time in life, people who love to love are often those who do poorly in "business" or with money or things that "matter" in our society. But I'm not sorry; if I were religious, I'd consider it a 'gift from gawd.' The ability to feel love for people is one that I wish more people could nuture; indeed I believe they can, and so I write this now.

Bottom line: the candidates, all of them, have little more than contempt, derision, and mockery for you, Little Person. If you're not writing a 000000$ check, believe me, they aren't thinking about you, let alone worrying about what you say, for whom you pull a lever, etc. This isn't a "democracy" anymore, you've noticed that I'm sure. "Superdelagates" will decide who is to be our Next Leader; Iraq will slog on; none of us will enjoy universal health care or cheap gas any time soon/ever. No Bush Administration crony will go to jail for a long, deserved time, and the rich are going to get richer, at least until the Revolution comes. I hope you all know how I have used that term ironically and with black humor. Life for the Progressive is always hard, and we always fail to acheive our objectives...until the day we don't.

But that day won't come by fighting each other. Go ahead, mock me for being Missy Kumbaya. I can hack it. I will still love you, fellow progressive. And I will still love you one year from now, when these arguments are forgotten and President Gore/Obama/Hillary/McCentury is in charge, and our economy is still tanking, and the environment is still dying, and global warming is even more pressing...do you understand my point?

I am weeping, true and bitter tears, to learn and understand that the people I love and respect most in this world still succumb to the media game that is designed to keep us all down. Fight for your candidate! Yes! Be Nasty, be dirty, say untrue things, even...this is the age of the Bush Republican. I believe in "The Chicago Way;" if your enemy kicks you in the balls, you knife him in the back, send his to the morgue, etc. But not within the family. Goddess no. No, it's just not worth it. Kerry/Dean/Clarke, anyone? Doesn't anyone remember what that was like, or how little that all matters now? Please, try.

Like it or not, progressives like us, and I mean *you,* we're all Family. If you were all Black or Brown people from poor circumstance, you'd know exactly what I'm trying to say here. Sticks and Stones... Blood is Thicker...A Rolling Stone... Or let me end on a brutal note:

While we all tear each other apart, millions are dying, millions more are going to die, for no good reason. As an American, like it or not, you have an incredible responsibility to do what you can to make sure your power isn't used for evil, oppressive reasons. Turn off the TV, goddammit. Stop reading the Wanker of the Day's latest bullshit. Reach out your hand to those who are on the side of Good. Learn to say, "I'm sorry. Let's get down to business."

Or, not. But don't say I didn't warn you. If you do the work of the Evil for them, you have no one but yourself to blame.