WillyT
WillyT's JournalDamn... A Good Friend Of My Mom's Has Passed... Here's To A Life VERY WELL LIVED... Peace Joe...
Born March 19, 1923, in Patterson, LA, Joe spent his earliest years in Havana, Cuba. His family eventually returned to the U.S. and settled in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. 'Joe' soon became Servando's anglicized name and 'Yuss' his Yiddish one, the first of many monikers he was given and loved. 'Coach,' was another favorite.
Joe was strongly influenced by the practice of 'tikkun olam,' the Jewish term for 'repairing the world,' and throughout his life he was a champion of social justice, human rights and civil liberties. He loved the printed word and his interests were limitless. Confined to bed as a young boy with rheumatic fever, reading became his lifesaver; writing soon became its companion. Over the course of his life, he wrote everything from academic manuals to public policy treatises, essays, short stories, poetry, and beautiful love letters. He had more than 100 letters-to-the-editor published by The Sacramento Bee.
Joe was a gifted speaker with a phenomenal memory, a wonderful sense of humor, and a depth of knowledge about an extensive list of subjects. He left an indelible and positive imprint on most people-even those who knew him only briefly. Students and peers from the distant past would be ecstatic when they 'found' him; many of them said he 'changed their life.'
His own life was changed when Pearl Harbor was bombed. He left Brooklyn College as an 18 year-old to enlist in World War II and served 4 years and flew 60 combat missions in the European Theater as a top turret gunner in a B-25. In 1952, while completing work on his doctoral degree, the U.S. Air Force recalled him to active duty. He served for the next 20 years as an intelligence and special operations officer with tours of duty that included Germany, Lebanon, Venezuela, Vietnam, Cuba, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (or, as Joe called it, the 'jungles of DC') and the Air Force Academy. For his distinguished service, he was awarded the U.S. Legion of Merit, a Special Freedom Foundation Award, and more than 20 other commendations from the Army, Air Force and other countries.
He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1971 and returned to academia as the Dean of Students at Eisenhower College in New York. In 1974, he and Carol married and in 1975, they moved their blended family to CA. Joe spent the next 25 years as an advocate for migrant farm workers, immigrants and other disenfranchised poor, bringing their deplorable living and working conditions to the attention of state legislators and government officials. During this period, he served as Deputy Director of La Cooperativa de Campesina. He was also the Project Director and Editor of 'The Education of Adult Migrant Farmworkers,' a 2-volume publication commissioned by the US Dept of Education that provided resources for use by teachers & administrators throughout the nation; and he proposed and lobbied for a 'National Immigrants Day' to honor those who add to the richness and diversity of our country.
No picture of Joe would be complete without mention of his love affair with fencing. He began fencing at the age of 13 and co-captained his Brooklyn College team before the war and his NYU team after it, winning the Eastern and National Collegiate Three-Weapon Team Championships. From 1949-1952, he coached the U.S. Military Academy and Columbia Univ. fencing teams and individuals to national championships. In 2002, Columbia honored him as the 'Progenitor of the Golden Age of Columbia Fencing,' and in 2009 he was inducted into the U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame.
Very significantly, Joe is credited with ending racial discrimination in fencing as the result of withdrawing his Columbia team from a 1949 competition that barred his black fencer from participating. He was told he was ahead of his time and pushing too hard too fast; his response was that he fought the Nazis to defend our Constitutional principle of equal opportunity and it was others who were behind the times and moving too slow.
Joe lived a good life. He knew what he felt, said what he meant and did what he said. He was a man of integrity, taste and judgment. He shared his knowledge, humor, philosophy and affection with his family and friends until his last day on September 26, 2012. He enriched the lives of those who let him. He loved without condition and was so greatly loved by so many. He was 89 but he was never old. He was a gift.
Survived by his wife, Carol Greenwood Velarde of Elk Grove and their children, Geraldine Collins, Servando J. Velarde III (Luminita), Gayle Palumbo (Maurice), Maria Duke (Pascal), and Leonard Velarde (Stacy); sister, Maria Paul, 14 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren, and an extended family of in-laws, cousins, nephews and nieces. Joe's dear daughter, Dana Rortvedt, predeceased him.
Link: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sacbee/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=160694353#fbLoggedOut
Peace Joe...
Question: How Much Has Modern Presidential Campaigning Become Like Dating ???
Especially when it comes to undecideds/uncommitteds...
Are we now wooing the electorate ???
There used to be a word for those uncommitted/undecided people we attempted to seduce...
And I wonder if seduction is the current way one wins the Presidency these days.
If true... it's the fault of the MSM.
It's ALL marketing.
May I Humbly Bring Up A Proposal To The Group ???
I almost did not post the post below because of the title, I Kinda Liked Mitt, Until I Lost My Job
DU Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021545316
And the reason why... is because my initial snark reflex went off and I thought something along the lines of, "Well read a newspaper once in awhile, or, So only when your job is lost to you start looking for help", and a thousand other nano-second knee-jerk reactions.
Operative word there is Jerk.
It took me a couple of minutes... and actually WATCHING the video... and I thought to myself...
Hey asshole... this woman just learned/found out in a few months, what many of us have known for decades! And ... this woman might have just decided to vote Democrat and/or BECOME a Democrat for the first time in her life.
What I'm suggesting is that she got a real life crash course in the political reality of our times. She did not necessarily have the opportunity to study for the test.
So...
Remember... that all newbies are not trolls...
And... whether newbie or not... people who are frightened about the possibility that Romney and the Moneyed Interests might be able to pull this thing out... are not necessarily Concern Trolls...
Hell... I'm worried, but I just keep plowing... FORWARD!
Finally... many new people, people that are young, people that have been hurt, abused, neglected, or any manner of reaseons... INCLUDING leaving the band of Looney-Toones that is now the current GOP... may just be looking for some REAL information.
And finally finally... remember that this place was founded for a whole lot of wounded Democrats and fellow travelers after the SCOTUS gave the Presidency to GWBush.
It should be a safe place for us, and those that want to join us.
And P.S.... WE NEED EVERY ONE OF THEM!
I'm Am So Weary Of The LCD Voter...
Remember math ???
The lowest common denominator ???
I do not think I am better than these people... I think that people that think that they are better than other people, are automatically disqualified for the very fact that they think that way. You may be better AT SOME THING than another, but you are NOT holistically a better human being.
And I would fight with all my might (unlike the GOP) to make sure that ALL people who have the basic qualifications to vote (a breathing citizen at the age of 18 years old) TO VOTE!
Hell... I'd change the rules, if I could, and make election day a four day weekend ending on Tuesday.
But...
I am bone-tired, and red-eyed weary, of having to argue and outvote some of the least curious and most uninformed people that are some of my fellow citizens.
I could show you a hundred videos and a thousand quotes to underline what I'm talking about... Just watch an episode of Jay Leno's 'Jay-Walking' and you'll see what I mean.
And the frustration bubbles up because THEY HAVE NOT A CLUE...
And further frustrating... is wondering what can be done.
And I really do not know...
AND... they are being lied to and misled.
But for those of us...
Who tried to get something out of school...
Who actually read and maybe even write on a regular basis...
Who might have ACTUALLY had to try and raise a family... make a budget... care for the kids mental and physical health...
For those of us who've worked hard at our jobs... and those of us that took the risk of putting their money into starting their own businesses...
For those that have had medical issues... physical OR mental..
For those that have lost a child, a parent, a friend or a colleague...
For those who are being bullied, oppressed or marginalized...
For those who are being ignored, threatened, or abused...
And for a thousand other reasons that we could come up with here...
We rely on the GOVERNMENT because WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT !!!
IOW - We REALLY DO rely on one another.
So PLEASE... Please... Vote that way.
When I Think Of Trayvon Martin's Last Moments... I Can't Help But Think Of This By Norman Rockwell
Southern Justice (Murder in Mississippi) by Norman Rockwell
More on Race by Rockwell...
Peace...
Larry Pratt... NOT JUST A Defender Of George Zimmerman And Exc. Director Of Gun Owners Of America...
Pratt was elected to the state legislature of Virginia, as a Republican member of the 1981 session of the Virginia House of Delegates, elected from the 19th District in Fairfax County. He was also a Reagan delegate to the 1980 Republican National Convention.[2]
In October 1992, at Estes Park, Colorado, Pratt addressed a three-day meeting of neo-Nazis and Christian Identity adherents organized by Pete Peters in the wake of the Ruby Ridge incident.[3][4][5] Pratt shared the stage with Richard Butler and Louis Beam. In 1994, Pratt unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Nevada State Assembly as a Libertarian, winning 27% of the vote.[6]
In the 1996 U.S. presidential election, Pratt served as a co-chairman of Pat Buchanan's campaign. In February 1996, the liberal Center for Public Integrity issued a report that claimed Pratt spoke at meetings organized by white supremacist and militia leaders. Pratt denied any tie to racism, calling the report a smear aimed at hurting Buchanan before the New Hampshire primary election. However, Pratt was forced to resign his position with the Buchanan campaign.[7][8][9]
Pratt also addressed delegates at the 1996 national convention of the U.S. Taxpayers Party[10] (renamed the Constitution Party in 1999).
In Northern Ireland in 2004, Pratt accompanied loyalist and paramilitary sympathizer Willie Frazer on a tour of South Armagh whilst calling for the Protestant population to be routinely armed.[11]
[edit]Political organizations
Pratt has founded a variety of organizations, including English First, Gun Owners of America, U.S. Border Control, and Committee to Protect the Family.[12]
Pratt is the president of English First, an organization within the English-only movement.[13] The organization was founded in 1986, and works to pass English Only amendments at both state and federal levels. Pratt also helped found and served as secretary of the Council for Inter-American Security, which was founded in 1976.[2][12] Pratt has served as a board member of the American Legislative Exchange Council, founded by Paul Weyrich.
Larry Pratt has also been listed as a member of the Council for National Policy (CNP).[14][15][16] A January 13, 2001 article in The Guardian explored Pratt's relationship with then-Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft, stating they knew each other from the CNP.[17] The January 11, 2001 edition of TIME Magazine included an article on Pratt and Ashcroft's relationship.[13]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Pratt used his Committee to Protect the Family organization to raise $150,000 for the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue which paid $50,000 in court-imposed fines.[18][19]
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Pratt
Pratt on TYT Friday: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/03/25/451314/gun-owners-defends-zimmerman/
So To Sum Up... The "Friends" Of George Zimmerman Are, A Wife-Beater, A Disgraced Anchor Man...
the "good ole boys" network of Central Florida, and quite possibly the Klan... not positive about the Klan yet...
Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=464806
KPIX Hires CNN's Joe Oliver For Weekend Newscast Slot
JOHN CARMAN - SFGate
Wednesday, January 3, 1996
Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1996/01/03/DD67121.DTL
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And...
AIDS Disclosure Brings Lawsuit
LATimes
December 27, 1989
<snip>
SACRAMENTO A young mother is suing a Sacramento television station because it allegedly disclosed she had AIDS after promising not to air any information about her personal life.
The suit filed recently in Sacramento Superior Court also claims that KCRA-TV reported the woman's son had tested positive for AIDS at birth, which was not true.
The complaint alleges libel, fraud and invasion of privacy, and seeks an unspecified amount in damages. In addition to the station, the suit names reporter Joe Oliver. KCRA-TV is an NBC affiliate owned by Kelly Broadcasting. The station's attorney, Rick Robinson, said, "We're not in a position to comment until such time as we have reviewed the complaint."
<snip>
Link: http://articles.latimes.com/1989-12-27/entertainment/ca-1204_1_big-sisters
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And Again...
Link: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2245&dat=19891228&id=Q5kzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eTIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=3506,8510899
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And...
He seems unable to hold a job for very long... maybe he's just ambitious.
Link: http://annex.wikia.com/wiki/index.php?search=joe+oliver&fulltext=0
Oh Crap... THIS Is Joe Oliver...
I forgot about this guy... going for his second 15 minutes of fame.
Ok.. Hold Onto Your Hats... I'm Going Positive... With Much Love To DU !!!
Many moons ago, three dudes named Skinner, Elad, and EarlG, started this weird website that would eventually become... muscular. Out of a sense of hopelessness over the travesty of the 2000 Presidential Elections, they started a journey. That journey led to millions of views and posts, and is why you are looking at these pixels right now.Now I wasn't there at the very beginning, and I would love to know what the view/post count was after the first week. But after being laid-off after 9/11, and with plenty of time on my hands, I found DU through a website recommendation article through a local newspaper about this new fangled WorldWideWeb. When I found DU, it had been going for several months by then, and I recognized it as my home.
Backing up... you of tender years need to recognize that when a lot of us grew up: A.) TV was Black & White, B.) There were only 3 Channels: ABC, CBS, & NBC. And C.) THAT WAS IT!
And although the argument can and should be made that those entities were far more independent, investigative, and broke/covered stories that the MSM might never cover now... a funny thing happened. At the same time that the "Inventor of the Internet" ( ) was getting screwed out of his rightful election to the presidency... the internet started bypassing the MSM.
Now this took some time to occur, and some think that the Y2K "threat" might have helped to accelerate this... Windows 3.11/95/and just barely 98 being the predominate OS's at the time... But whatever happened... things have progressed.
In the last 10 years or so, we now have Facebook, Twitter, I-Phones, "Social Media", et. al.
We The People are bypassing the MSM on a daily basis... at high-speed.
But I, here tonight, want to thank some of the pioneers of this reality... and snark at some if you must, but remember... while every pioneer wasn't necessarily sucessful, they ALL led the way.
So I'd personally like to thank DU, once I found DU, for BEING DU, and for pointing me towards things/people with names like Randi Rhodes, Mike Malloy, Crooks & Liars, Digby, DailyKos, Air America, Al Franken, Rachel Maddow, Sam Seder, Cenk Uygur, Anna Kasparian, Ed Schultz, FireDogLake, ThinkProgress, Truthout, RawStory, BradBlog, TPM, and I'm gonna feel like a real shit when I post this because I sure I've left people out... NOT my intent.
Point being... whether it's FDR, or Barack Obama... we WILL hold your feet to the fire, and we will plead our case, state our feelings, shed our tears, and hold each other close... even mourn the passing of those who we cannot know... if they got to see the end of the play... although I'm pretty sure NONE of get to see the end of the play... "We Are Merely Players"...
But... on this first Friday of the New Year... I would like to thank ALL of the afore mentioned, those that my aging brain forgot to mention, and all of the DU family here. Like any wonderful family... we may fight some days... but it is with much love... and hope for the future of everyone.
And... P.S... Huffington Post Tries... But with all of OUR eyes... DU is the best information clearinghouse on the Net. By far, So there...
LOL !!! - Internet Circumvents Anti-Piracy Bill Before It Even Passes - RawStory
Internet circumvents anti-piracy bill before it even passes
By Eric W. Dolan - RawStory
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
<snip>
Software developers have already found a way around the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which the House Judiciary Committee will not markup until sometime early next year. Most critics say the bill would create an Internet blacklist that forces ISPs, search engines, financial firms and advertisers to de-list websites accused of copyright infringement, all without any actual court hearing or oversight. The legislation takes aim at the Internets domain naming system (DNS), which translates domain names like www.google.com to numerical Internet protocol (IP) addresses.
But an add-on for the popular Internet browser FireFox, called DeSopa, would circumvent DNS blockades with the click of a button: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/desopa/
I feel that the general public is not aware of the gravity of SOPA and Congress seems like they are about to cater to the special interests involved, to the detriment of Internet, for which I and many others live and breathe, DeSopa developer T Rizk explained to TorrentFreak. It could be that a few members of congress are just not tech savvy and dont understand that it is technically not going to work, at all. So heres some proof that I hope will help them err on the side of reason and vote SOPA down, he added.
In a recent speech, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the bill would essentially criminalize linking and the fundamental structure of the Internet itself, adding that SOPAs goal is reasonable, but that its mechanism is terrible. What theyre essentially doing is whacking away at the DNS system and thats a mistake, Schmidt explained. Its a bad way to go about solving the problem.
<snip>
More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/20/internet-circumvents-anti-piracy-bill-before-it-even-passes/
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Member since: 2002Number of posts: 72,631