Breaking the Sound Barrier: Democracy Now! Re-Hosts NBC Las Vegas Debate to Include Kucinich

If you are as mad as I am about Dennis Kucinich repeatedly being excluded from the recent debates, check out this re-broadcast of last night's debate.

Here's the recap from the Democracy Now! website:

Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich was missing from the stage at last night’s Democratic debate hosted by MSNBC in Las Vegas after he lost a last-minute legal fight with the network over his participation. Last week, NBC told Kucinich that he had met the criteria for the debate. Then, less than two days later, the network changed the criteria and declared that Kucinich was no longer qualified. On Monday, a Nevada judge ordered NBC to include Kucinich, but then NBC appealed the ruling and actively fought to keep him off the stage. On Tuesday night, less than an hour before the debate, the Nevada Supreme Court sided with NBC. Democracy Now! decided to break the sound barrier and give Kucinich a chance to take part. In an exclusive broadcast, we re-broadcast excerpts of the debate and give the Ohio Congressman a chance to answer the questions he might have faced if he hadn’t been silenced.

Please let all of your friends and family know about this important re-broadcast. The only way we can make an informed choice in this election is if we can truly compare all of the qualified candidates, which is something that ABC, NBC, et al obviously don't want to happen.

A diversion...

And now I will attempt to distract myself from my anger about Kucinich again being excluded from the debate by telling you something exciting...

Yesterday I went and got a very big, very colorful, very intricate, very BEAUTIFUL tattoo!!! I was under the needle for six hours straight and yes, it hurt like hell. I was totally wiped out afterwards, but the result was well worth it.

I had an old tattoo of paw prints on my lower back that I'm tired of looking at, so I had the new tattoo done over the top of it. The tattoo artist did an absolutely amazing job; it's fabulous. I wish I could show you a picture but (a) it looks kind of red and yucky right now, and (b) it goes down on my butt a bit and I don't think you all necessarily want to see that... maybe I can take a picture and crop it so you don't see my crack, ha ha.

Since I'm not ready to post a picture, I will try to describe it so you can share my excitement. The tattoo is pretty huge, I'd say about 8" tall by 6" wide, and it is on my lower back and upper butt. It is inspired by this photograph, with the bird framed by some beautiful reddish hibiscus flowers and leaves. The significance is that the bird is native to Guatemala, as are the hibiscus flowers.

Yay!!!

Tune in tonight...

Finally some good news for Dennis Kucinich and his supporters! After being unfairly excluded from the two previous Democratic debates, he was invited, then un-invited, to participate in the MSNBC Nevada debate tonight. After MSNBC rescinded their initial invitation, Dennis filed suit in the Nevada courts and won. Clark County District Court Judge Charles Thompson ruled that Kucinich must have a place on the stage; otherwise, the judge said he would issue an injunction canceling the event.

Kucinich said he has advocated positions his opponents have not on issues like the Iraq war, trade and health care. "So my being there creates a debate," he said.

MSNBC had decided to exclude Kucinich after his poor performances in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. (Hmm, could that have anything to do with the media focusing their attention exclusively on Clinton and Obama? Or the fact that Kucinich was excluded from the last two debates, again thanks to the media and special interest groups???)

Anyhoo... I know it's short notice, but if you read this in time, be sure to tune in tonight and catch Dennis in the debate, assuming MSNBC isn't able to block him somehow at the last minute.

It's starting at 6:00 Pacific time. I'll be cheering him on from my kitchen.

UPDATE:

Well, never mind. The Nevada Superior Court overturned the lower court's decision shortly before the start of the debates. I wonder how many of those Superior Court judges have ties to the rich corporations and special interest groups who are threatened by Kucinich's actual common sense solutions? How frustrating. Another blow to our so-called democratic system...

Technical difficulties...

Will you guys please leave comments letting me know if my new banner looks right on your computer? It's supposed to look like this:

But for some reason the first two links (my logo, and the 'shop jewelry' button) sometimes don't come up on some computers. It's sporadic though; on my own computer, they sometimes work and sometimes don't... any computer gurus out there have suggestions for why I'm having this maddening problem? Thanks!

Front Page Today!

New Designs!

I've been working hard to catch up on some custom orders, plus create some new pieces, and today I finally have some things to share...

Another big round labradorite ring

I've been wanting to experiment more with non-shiny finishes lately; partly because I find them more visually interesting, and partly because it's a pain in the butt to get a perfect mirror finish on everything I make! I like the way this turned out.

I'm not sure about this one. It's a beautiful, large smoky quartz cab, but something is missing... I'm going to try oxidizing it and polishing it to bring out the texture of the band and see if that helps.

Another Caribbean blue moonstone ring (rainbow moonstone over a thin layer of blue resin); this one is spoken for but I made another similar one to list in my shop.

Afghan tourmaline & sterling silver ring

Gem chrysocolla & sterling silver ring

...and another view of the same.

Custom order cushion cut labradorite & sterling silver ring

Dangly chrysoprase & oxidized sterling silver earrings

...and another view of the same.

Chrysoprase & oxidized sterling silver bracelet with chyrsoprase, labradorite, & Thai silver danglies.

...and another view of the same. Bot the earrings and bracelet above were inspired by this necklace; I just love the contrast between the blackened silver and the glowy chrysoprase.

Oldies but Goodies

I don't usually like to make the same style of ring over and over; I think I have a short attention span... the one exception seems to be these large, round labradorite rings. The first ring I ever made was this style, and somehow I haven't gotten sick of it yet. They seem to sell really well too. So - if you've been reading my blog for long, you've seen numerous rings similar to these in the past, but I thought I'd post these latest ones anyways - each labradorite stone has such a unique color and pattern; I don't know about you, but I never get tired of looking at it!

Big round labradorite ring, size 6.5

...and another view of the same.

'Pinky Bling' labradorite ring, size 4

...and another view of the same.