Speak out on SOPA & PIPA

The following is censored, in protest of SOPA and PIPA, proposed legislation that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet–bills that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to speak out against internet censorship, visit:http://americancensorship.org/posts/40087/uncensor




█████████ of █████████████, ██████████ and ███████████ are ██████████ ████████ ████ and ████ ███████████ ████ ████ by █████████ █████ "████" on █████████, ███████ 18, by ███████ "████ ██████████" ███████ on █████ ████████ and/or by ██████ to ████ ████████ █████ a █████ of ████ it █████ be ████ if ███████████ was ████████ ████████ by █████ who █████ ████ ████ ████'s ████ for you, ████'s ████, ████'s █████, ████ you ██████ ████ or ████ or do or ███████. The ████████ is ████████ █████████ ██████ to █████████ to ████████ - ██████████ of ████, ████████, █████████ or █████████████ ██████ - ██████ ████████ the ███████ to ██████ for ██████████ ████'s of █████, and ████'s not, and to ████████ ██████████ in ███████ ████ ████ ██████ ██████ ████ the █████ to do.

████ and ████ █████ ████ ████ the █████ on ██████ to █████████, on the ███████ to ██████ and █████ and ███████████. █████████████ and ████████ █████ ██████ be ████ to ████ ████ ██████ ██████ ████, ███████ ████ ████ ████ in ████ ████████. If you don't ████ ██████ to go ███████ a █████ █████ to see ███████████, now █████ be a ██████ ████ ████ to █████ out.

█████ who ███████ the ███████████, who own the █████████ - ███████ and own YOU.


 (Now I'd never compel you to sign anything you didn’t want to sign, so if you just want to know what this says, drop me a line at willinghamster@gmail.com and I’ll tell you – but you get the point – everyone should have access to the knowledge and information they seek…) . 

Still Here! Still Progressive! Still Learning!

I was just informed that this blog had been featured by a group somewhere recently, and I'm ashamed that I've fallen behind on my posting - and on the eve of an election year, no less! Mae Culpe!  My deepest apologies!

It's just that IRL demands have competed for my time this year. Even a Progressive Homeschooler has to meet work deadlines, pay the bills and care for family.  But the fact that PH is still on the radar somewhere has inspired me to freshen things up a bit - so welcome to the new and improved Progressive Autodidact!

It's hard to keep calling myself a Progressive Homeschooler when I'm not doing any homeschooling these days - but I'm certainly still and always learning, so "autodidact" seems to fit the bill quite nicely.  I've also moved most of the civic education and engagement links to their own pages, to clear up the side bar clutter.

And I'd like to invite some guest bloggers to help me keep the progressive home fires burning!  If you've got some social justice or civic engagement news, insights, thoughts or ideas you'd like to share with PA readers, please drop me a line at wilinghamster at gmail.com and pitch your contribution.

In the meantime, all the best to you and yours during this gallimaufry of holidays and peace and good will to all - It never hurts to keep wishing for that!

Photography is not a Crime!

We Are All Florida

“It’s easy to talk about – you know, down at the post office, at the bar – you know, we ought to do this thing,” Florida Senator JD Alexander, R- Lake Wales told his co-legislators in the Senate on Tuesday. “But when you start looking in people’s eyes and understand they are people who live and breathe just like us – I think you all need to think about it very carefully.”

Senator Alexander was talking about Florida’s heatedly debated immigration bill, SB 2040 , that drew immigration groups to Tallahassee by the busload, largely under the leadership of the Florida Immigrant Coalition , with the campaign, “We are Florida.”

Alexander, a citrus grower from Lake Wales originally tasked with leading the bill, came to his change of heart after taking the time to listen to the protesters. “Some members feel some of the lobbying activities are not wonderful, “Alexander told reporters. “Other perhaps are able to understand these are people just like everybody else.”

A watered down version of the bill passed the Senate, and still has to go to the House, but its days may be numbered, thanks to protesters and a Senator who can use his heart as well as his head. Kudos to Senator Alexander for thinking, listening, and taking the time to look in people’s eyes and see that, in fact, We Are All Florida.

Oil'd

Brooklyn-based animator Chris Harmon shows us a numbers-driven infographic animation illustrating the exact scale of the spill by exploring what could’ve been done with the 205,000,000 (that’s million) gallons that poured into the Gulf.

Read more: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/04/27/gulf-oil-spill-animated-infographic/#ixzz1KlPXNVfp  Click on the link to see the video.

http://vimeo.com/22655744

Find Your Way - A Citizen's Guide to Making a Difference

In just under two weeks, the Slotterbacks successfully led a campaign to stop "fracking,"  a type of gas drilling, in a Pennsylvania Park. Their focused methodology can be applied to a variety of environmental justice efforts. Check out Earth Justice's Citizen's Tip Guide to learn more.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill - One Year Later

One year ago today the Deepwater Horizon off shore oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers, injuring scores more and hemorrhaging 5 million barrels of oil that contaminated nearly 700 miles of coastline. (Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill by the Numbers).

Lest we completely forget, and think something like this won't happen again, know that 11 new deepwater and 49 shallow water drilling permits have been issued over the last year. (Offshore drilling: Slow comeback after BP ) . That's less than before the Deepwater Horizon accident, but CNN reports that "Most Americans support increased offshore drilling. According to a recent CNN poll, 69% are in favor of expanding the practice, up from 49% right after the spill. "