FEBRUARY 2009 - Anne Feeney's Fellow Travelers' Advisory - VOLUME 4, #11

IMMEDIATE DESTINATIONS

Newport, OR
Salem, OR
Tallahassee, FL
Gainesville, FL
Jacksonville, FL
St. Augustine, FL
Orange City, FL
Jacksonville, FL
N Miami, FL
Deerfield Beach, FL
Miami, FL
Ft Myers, FL
Sarasota, FL
Ft Myers, FL
Elkhart, IN
Effingham, IL
get all the details on these gigs at the end of this newsletter, or continuously updating at http://annefeeney.com/calendar.html


Hugs to all of you fellow travelers from lovely Portand, Oregon!

Thanks so much for signing up for my once-a-month email news - The Fellow Travelers' Advisory. It's the best, and really, the only way I have of staying in touch with all the wonderful folks I meet in my travels. It may seem impersonal, but I promise you that a very real person (me) is working hard every month to find items that will interest, inspire and amuse you. If you write back - and I hope you do - I answer.



This tour started in Watsonville, CA with my friend Amy Newell organizing a great concert at the SEIU local hall there, and continued north. The day before the always-wonderful Western Workers' Labor Heritage Festival started, my husband and I went with Karen Newman to Coit Tower, where we were paid a surprise visit by the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill!

The wild parrots of Telegraph Hill - photographed by Karen Newman at Coit Tower


I had a wonderful visit with Joanna Robinson in Nevada City, and she took me to see the Hospitality House that she and Utah Phillips helped to found - I'm SOOOOOOOOOO glad we raised some money for this most worthy organization! I visited high school pal Rita Roxas in Sacramento, and we watched the inauguration together. I stopped to visit FW "Baltimore Red" at his fabulous new railroaders' retreat in Black Butte, OR.









A packed house was waiting for me at the People's Inaugural "Obama Pajama Party" at the Siskyou Pub in Ashland, OR - (Photo courtesy of Wes Brain)



At Kate & Dave's house in Astoria - organized by Carol Newman (photo by Paxton)

Certainly one of the highlights of this tour of the Northwest (and the great Canadian Southwest...) was spending so much time with the fabulous Rebel Voices - my dear friends, Janet Stecher and Susan Lewis. To have such celestial three part harmony at 8 shows was a thrill!






After-the-gig party in Portland with Sisters in the Brotherhood! (Photo from Melina Harris)


Unfortunately, I also got pretty sick on this tour - stomach crud - and I fell at least a week behind on my email and data entry ... and I'm several days late on this newsletter. I head back to Pittsburgh on Sunday, and look forward to a couple weeks rest and recuperation at home before heading to the Sunshine State for March. I'm sure that my hometown is a very happy place after the Steelers' Super Bowl victory.

David Rovics and I are talking about an October tour of the Midwest and possibly FLORIDA, March 2010 - If you're interested in hosting a show on that tour, get in touch.

As always, you can get my CDs at http://cdbaby.com/all/unionmaid - and I hope that you'll do that, if you haven't already.

Here's the news - thanks for reading!

Love and solidarity (and NATIONAL HEALTH CARE NOW!!!)

Anne

IN THIS ISSUE:

COME TO IRELAND WITH ME!
TOM GEOGHEGAN FOR CONGRESS
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE!
FAMILY NEWS
BIRTHDAYS
WHY NOT A MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE!
SOAW SIX SENTENCED!
FLORIDA TOUR! A COUPLE DATES STILL AVAILABLE!
THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT WILL END CIVILIZATION - JOKE OF THE MONTH
OSCARS DINNER
THE TOUR



COME TO IRELAND WITH ME! AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 3RD - GALWAY, DUBLIN, CLARE






Seats are filling fast with wonderful folks for this tour of Ireland. If you'd like to see Ireland someday, why wait? Join me and 18 other like-minded exciting funny activists for an unforgettable tour of the Emerald Isle. This very affordable trip will include beautiful county Galway, historic Dublin, and the amazing music and scenery of County Clare. The fifty folks who went to Ireland with me last year will all testify - it's a great experience. For $1950 we'll provide all accommodations for nine nights, all ground transportation, all breakfasts, three wonderful dinners, many special events and the best Irish music you'll ever hear! The pace is Irish ... no early mornings, some time for yourself, and many opportunities for authentic Irish experiences unavailable on other tours. Check out http://enchantedwaytours.ie and drop me a line if you'd like to join me. You'll be very welcome. Your first deposit must be received by March 1st.


Tom Geoghegan for Congress

My friend Tom Geogheghan is seeking Rahm Emmanuel's Congressional seat in Illinois. Maybe you read his book "Which Side Are You On?" - Tom is brilliant, witty, and just what we need in Congress. Please send him some money. I did. http://www.geogheganforcongress.com/


NATIONAL HEALTH CARE NOW!!

My many Swedish, Canadian, Irish, British and Danish subscribers probably shake their heads that we can't solve this crucial problem simply and efficiently as they have - I welcome all your commments!

Just before I started this tour of the northwest, I was invited to perform at the Labor for Single Payer meeting in St. Louis. One hundred fifty nine labor activists from all over the country converged to discuss how to keep a full fledged single payer health care program on our national agenda.

What does 'single-payer' mean? It means that the government will process payments for medical bills. Currently Medicare remains the most cost-efficient billing program in the country. (This is despite many terible recent initiatives from the private sector that have made Medicare less effective.)

This is not "government-run" health care - You'd be able to see the doctor of your choice, and follow the treatment that doctor recommends - The bills would go to the national health care system and your doctor would be paid.

Everyone is covered. No problems with "pre-existing" conditions. No problem if you change jobs, or move, or get pregnant. All services are covered.

There are so many misconceptions and so much misinformation out there, I'm going to devote part of each 2009 Fellow Travelers' Advisory to dispelling the corporate/insurance-funded mythology. Here are

Reasons Why a Massachusetts-Style Mandates Program Won't Work

1. As long as we include private for-profit insurers in the mix, universal coverage will be unaffordable. These companies refuse to insure sick people and force them off their rolls, spiking the cost of any public programs.

2. Many people who have insurance now can't afford to get sick. Many people are paying more and more premium and out-of-pocket costs forcing them to decide between health care and food or housing.

3. Mandate-style programs do nothing to regulate premiums, or require insurance companies to pay for necessary services.

4. Employers currently providing coverage would continue be under a disadvantage competing with Canadian and other companies whose employees receive health care from the government.

5. We'd still be paying for the costs of advertising, union-busting and other non-health related activities that private insurance and pharmaceutical spend billions of our health care dollars on.

6. We know many people do not carry auto insurance - even in states with mandatory auto insurance laws. What are we going to do to people who do not have health insurance? Fine them? Jail them? Let them get sick? Who decides how much of a premium the uninsured should pay in a mandates system?

7. There will be no accountability in a mandates program. Who will require insurers to pay for mammograms, or immunizations, or preventive care?

8. Administrative costs currently consume nearly one-third of every health care dollar.

9. A public, non-profit system will respond to what doctors and patients need - not what corporate executives and their stockholders want.

10. A public, non-profit health care system covering ALL of us would create millions of sustainable jobs in this troubled economy. Finally providing health care to our 47 million uninsured will improve public health dramatically.

The only plan that addresses these issues successfully is House Resolution 676. It currently has 93 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives.

Here's the list http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR00676:@@@P - If your Congressional Rep isn't on the list, call 202-224-3121 and ask him/her why s/he isn't sponsoring this important legislation.

Here are a couple more links to check out. More next month.

http://www.calnurses.org/research/pdfs/ihsp_sp_economic_study_2009.pdf
http://www.calnurses.org/healthcare3/assets/pdf/singlepayer_top10.pdf


FAMILY NEWS

My son Dan Berlin and his wife Monique Murad are safely ensconced in Quito, Ecuador for the next two years. Dan is posting a blog at http://www.balancingtheegg.blogspot.com/ -- check it out!



Dan's buddies Mike and Dionna Hatch moved to India with their baby Max, seen here modeling his "Power to the Little People" shirt, available from Northland Poster Collective



My folk music family suffered a terrible loss on January 7, 2008 when our friend and mentor Victor Heyman died. He was a total folk music fan, and put his heart and money into supporting folk music and musicians. Thanks to his generous spirit and selfless genius at database management, Victor provided folk alliance attendees for years with impeccable tables to guide us through the over-scheduled weekends with ease. His wonderful wife, partner and sweetheart - Reba Heyman - continues as a cherished member of our folk family. My heart breaks for her and the Heyman family.

Working class hero Ed Sadlowski is recovering at home following major surgery. I'm sure he'd welcome your cards and warm wishes.

Ed Sadlowski
10709 S Avenue F
Chicago, IL 60617-6709

His son Ed is up to his ass in alligators with UHW in California, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with another working class hero, Sal Roselli.

I'm so sorry I didn't let everyone know about my talented cousin Sean McCahill's fabulous acoustic guitar arrangements of Christmas carols in time for the season... but check them out and talk him into releasing this as a cd! It's excellent!
www.myspace.com/guitarcarols

BIRTHDAYS
Ryan Grefenstette - Feb 7th, Joe McCahill - Feb 15th, Benjamin McCahill's first birthday! Feb 21st, Ross Chapman - Feb 24th, Barney McElhone - Feb 26th, Shirley Shultz Myers, Mar 1st, Mary McCahill Madera - Mar 1st


WHY NOT A MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE?

Ask President-Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts. While many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The United States has never created such a position. We in the arts need this and the country needs the arts--now more than ever. Please take a moment to sign this important petition and then pass it on to your friends and colleagues.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif (from Henry Doktorski)

Here's a link to a speech on the power of music by Karl Paulnack, pianist and director of music division at Boston Conservatory. (It's long, but worth it...)
http://fellow-travelers-advisory.blogspot.com/2009/02/power-of-music.html




SOAW SIX SENTENCED

on January 26, six human rights advocates appeared in a federal courthouse in Georgia. The "SOA 6," ranging in age from 21 to 68, were found "guilty" of carrying the protest against the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) onto the Fort Benning military base. The six were among the thousands who gathered on November 22 and 23, 2008 outside the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia to demand a change in U.S. policy towards Latin America and the closure of the SOA/WHINSEC.

The "SOA 6" spoke out clearly and powerful in court today. They made a compelling case for the closure of the school and creation of a culture of justice and peace, where there is no place for the SOA mindset that promotes military "solutions" to social and economic problems. The six spent the weekend preparing for their trials with a team of lawyers, legal workers and volunteers, and today they stood up for all of us working for a more just world.

The "SOA 6":
Father Luis Barrios, 56, from North Bergen, NJ, was sentenced to 2 months in federal prison and a $250 fine
Theresa Cusimano, 40, Denver, Colorado, found guilty and awaiting sentencing
Kristin Holm, from Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced to 2 months in federal prison and a $250 fine
Sr. Diane Pinchot, OSU, 63, from Cleveland, Ohio, was sentenced to 2 months in federal prison
Al Simmons, 64, from Richmond, Virginia, was sentenced to 2 months in federal prison
Louis Wolf, 68, from Washington, DC, found guilty and awaiting sentencing

From February 15-17 School of the Americas Watch is planning activities in Washington, DC. Read how to support these actions on their website.



FLORIDA!! DATES STILL AVAILABLE!!

Still looking for Saturday, March 14th near Miami, and March 18th and 19th (Wed and Thu) - If you have any ideas, please let me know!



THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT WILL END CIVILIZATION - JOKE OF THE MONTH





At least that's what the creeps running Home Depot and the Bank of America think. DO check out this amazing conference call in which these corporate thugs discuss using taxpayer bailout money to fight this simple legislation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/27/bank-of-america-hosted-an_n_161248.html



OSCARS DINNER

I'm gearing up for the annual Oscars party at my house. I think I've got 16 for dinner this year. We'll be having

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE APPETIZERS - pappadams & mint chutney, somozas, etc
THE READER SALAD - a tableside salad preparation while the recipe is being read aloud
BENJAMIN BUTTON JAMBALAYA - available in vegetarian and carnivorous versions
FROST/NIXON CITRUS SORBET in the shape of Nixon's head (Julie's still pondering this request... I hope to have a photo for next month! and then....)
HARVEY "MILK" CREME CARAMEL

It was a great year for movies. I'm predicting Benjamin Button for Best Film, Mickey Rourke Best Actor (although this category is amazing - great performances one and all!), Meryl Streep Best Actress and Director Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire, Supporting Actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Supporting Actress Amy Adams. I hear FROZEN RIVER is terrific - I'm looking for it. I haven't seen Revolutionary Road yet either.

THE TOUR

Friday, February 6th, 2009 8:00 PM
Anne Feeney in Concert
South Beach Community Center
Newport, OR
Price: $10
contact Akia at akia(@)peak.org

Saturday, February 7th, 2009 6:00 PM
Anne Feeney in Concert
Salem House Concerts
Salem, OR
503-378-7704
http://home.teleport.com/~blueman/
Price: $12/$20 w dinner
Marc Nassar is the contact - blueman(@)teleport.com


Thursday, March 5th, 2009 8:00 PM
Concert and Pot Luck!
Imaginary Fool's Juggling, Singing and Gourmet Supper Club
Tallahassee, FL
850-878-4149
Price: $10 suggested
call or email wbroderson(@)hotmail.com to make reservations and get directions.... I *love* this venue ... It's soooooooo much fun!


Friday, March 6th, 2009 8:30 PM
Anne Feeney in Concert
The NEW Civic Media Center
433 S Main St
Gainesville, FL
Price: $10
gainesvilleiguana(@)cox.net


Saturday, March 7th, 2009 8:00 PM
Anne Feeney in Concert
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of St Augustine
2487 A1A South and Florida Avenue
St Augustine, FL 32605
Price: $10-20 suggested


Sunday, March 8th, 2009 3:00 PM
Mosaic Unitarian Universalist Church
425 S Volusia Ave (17-92)
Orange City, FL 32774
http://mosaicuu.org/
jsdupree(@)hotmail.com


Thursday, March 12th, 2009 8:00 PM
Anne Feeney in Concert
UNF Campus
Jacksonville, FL
ccarter(@)unf.edu - Candice Carter is the contact


Friday, March 13th, 2009 8:00 PM
Countdown to St Patrick's Day Concert!
Luna Star Cafe
775 NE 125th St
North Miami, FL 33161
http://www.lunastarcafe.com
Price: $15
In addition to my regular repertoire, look for lots of wonderful Irish songs too!


Saturday, March 14th, 2009 10:00 AM
Deerfield Beach Progressive Forum - 10AM - 12 Noon
Century Village, Deerfield Beach Activities Center
Deerfield Beach, FL
bobbende(@)gmail.com is the contact

Saturday, March 14th, 2009 7:30 PM
Bailout the People! Anne Feeney in Concert
Society of Friends (Quakers) Meeting House
823 North A St.
Lake Worth, FL
561-330-9016
Price: $10-20 sliding




Sunday, March 15th, 2009 7:00 PM
Anne Feeney in Concert
Glades Edge House Concerts
Miami area, FL
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=108478112
Price: $15
shadow83blk(@)comcast.net
There is a potluck at 6PM


Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 8:00 PM
St Patrick's Day Celebration
Ft Myers, FL
laura griffin is the contact - swflagirl(@)aol.com


Friday, March 20th, 2009 7:30 PM
Anne Feeney in Concert
Mother's Musical Bakery
6525 Superior Ave
Sarasota, FL
Price: $10-20 suggested
come early! I'll start at 7:30 sharp!


Saturday, March 21st, 2009 8:00 PM
Music for Union Agitators and their Friends!
tba
Ft Myers, FL
Laura Griffin is the contact - swflagirl(@)sol.com


Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 8:00 PM
90th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (tentative)
Cooper Union
New York, NY
(I can't find my contact information on this gig... Is anyone on this list involved with this event???? get in touch with me!)



Sunday, March 29th, 2009 8:00 PM
UU Fellowship of Cleveland Heights
UU Society of Cleveland
2728 Lancashire Road
Cleveland Heights, OH
216.932.1898
http://uusocietyofcleveland.tripod.com/index.html