Eat Local Food web site

http://www.eatlocalfood.org/
A local Hudson valley web site, featured in GET FRESH

KAAUW co-sponsors Observer Corps Meeting with LWV Jan. 27

In order that local government meetings be transparent and their proceedings be known to all voters, KAAUW is co-sponsoring a meeting with LWV's Kingston Observer Corps on Tuesday, Jan 27 at 7PM at the Muddy Cup, Broadway, Kingston (near YMCA and Kingston High School). All are welcome to attend this initial meeting to find out how to be an observer, what is involved and understand that observers are completely non-partisan. Later there will be a training for those interested. Observers will remain members of their own organizations, whether AAUW or LWV or other community groups. For more information contact both AAUW and LWV member Margaret Sellers, MCSELLERS@aol.com or 339-3180.

Rosa Sat

Here's a beautiful song written and performed by Amy Dixon-Kolar, sent to us by Betsy Tuel. Thanks, Betsy!



Find more about Amy and her music on her website.

Another Reason to be Hopeful: This I Believe

From Betsy Tuel:

Hi,

My gardener heard this yesterday morning on NPR and was blown away, so shared it with me.

I am passing it on to you. I don’t know if you’ve heard ‘This I Believe’ segments on NPR before, but this one is unforgettable…

Thirty Things I Believe, written when Tarak McLain was six, last year.

This little guy is so inspiring and gives us yet another reason to be hopeful.

betsy

Here’s the link to the audio, so you can hear the interview.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99478226

A quick video summarizing the Recovery&Reinvestment Plan

Here's a 6:47 minute video from the Transition Team that touches on each of the major elements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.



What do you think?

Garlic from China

Last week, I purchased asparagras, they were delicious. They were 1.99 a bunch, which is a deal! They were grown in Peru.
Today, I purchased a sack of garlic. 5 heads. Shipped from Brooklyn. When I got home, I looked on the other side of the label. Product of China.
Now, the simple math tells us that the garlic retailed for 20 cents a head.
Tonight, I'm wondering what kind of a profit the farmer in China made for his/ her labor.

GET FRESH!

LIbertyview Farms

Check out the local farmer Billiam, who has some creative ideas about how we can
own chickens and fruit trees without the back yard responsibility.http://libertyviewfarm.blogspot.com/

Pay Equity Moves on to the Senate!

Thanks for supporting pay equity in the House. Now, please send a message to our senators. The House passed both the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act on Friday.

The Senate is expected to take up these bills as soon as next week, which means your action is needed now.

As you may remember, the Senate narrowly failed to pass a vote to move forward with Ledbetter bill last year. The good news is that it's a new Congress, and your message urging your senators to support these critical bills could change the outcome this time around. Even if you have written your senators about this legislation before, now is the time to contact your senators and urge them to vote yes on these critical pieces of legislation and oppose any attempts to weaken them. They need to hear from you now!

How big is the pay gap now?
According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2007 the ratio of women's and men's median annual earnings reached almost 78 cents on the dollar for full-time year-round workers, up from just under 77 cents in 2006. This is the narrowest the wage gap has ever been, but it's only an additional one cent on the dollar.

One cent is chump change. It isn't real change.

While women have been hard at work to earn their extra penny, Congress has failed to pass legislation that would give women effective equal pay protections. In light of this, join AAUW in telling Congress that passing the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is an urgent priority. Tell Congress: "Keep the Change until Women Have Real Change."

Take Action Now!

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• House Democrats Prepare Ledbetter Bill to Overturn Supreme Court on Equal Pay for Women

Ada Lovelace Day, March 24th, is an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology.

Women's contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognized. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines. Whatever she does, whether she is a sysadmin or a tech entrepreneur, a programmer or a designer, developing software or hardware, a tech journalist or a tech consultant, we want to celebrate her achievements.

Who was Ada Lovelace?
Ada Lovelace was one of the world's first computer programmers, and one of the first people to see computers as more than just a machine for doing sums. She wrote programmes for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, a general-purpose computing machine, despite the fact that it was never built. She also wrote the very first description of a computer and of software.

So, help me acknowledge the women in technology that we love and admire.

• If you have a blog, take the pledge to join 1,000 other bloggers posting on March 24th. (Over 800 have signed up so far.)
  
• No blog? Help me decide who to write about here. Send me an email or post a comment with the woman you'd like to acknowledge.

Side comment: If you're trying to make something happen and need people to help you , check out PledgeBank.com to set up an "I will if you will...pledge.

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• Ada Lovelace Day needs your support!

GET FRESH- AAUW CONVERSATIONS

Weather providing, as there is ice and snow and what ever else mother nature decides to toss at us in the forcast, we will broadcast live at 8 30 PM the full segment of AAUW conversations.

Visit my blog, www.viewfrommykitchenwindow-janine.blogspot.com for the full

text of my post.

Janine

Congress Votes This Week on Pay Equity!

Image by Leadership Conference on Civil Rights via FlickrAAUW urges the passage of both the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act; we also urge their passage as a package, as part of the first set of bills the new president signs into law.

Passing both bills, in tandem, is critical to the overall goal of achieving pay equity for women: the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act rights the wrongs done by the Supreme Court, regaining ground we've lost and ensuring that people who've been discriminated against can seek vindication. The Paycheck Fairness Act is a comprehensive bill that would create stronger incentives for employers to follow the law as well as strengthen penalties for violations, strengthen federal outreach, education and enforcement efforts, and prohibit retaliation against workers who ask about employers' wage practices.

Together, the bills can help create a climate where pay discrimination is not tolerated, and give the new administration the enforcement tools it needs to make real progress on pay equity.

Take Action! Click this link to send a message to Congress

Urge your representative to support the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act when they come up for a vote this week to ensure the change hard working Americans need to receive equal pay.

Do you know women who are represented by congress people wavering on their vote. Send your friends an e-card asking them to take action. The link to the e-card is in the Keep the Change Badge in the right column. The numbers count!

Mystical and multicultural poetry

Classics in Religion
Wednesdays at 10:30 AM
Kingston Library, 55 Franklin Street

Many cultures have inspired mystical responses in poetry to celebrate the Transcendent and the Divine. This month, on January 7, 14, 21, and 28, the group will read selections from Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, and Taoist texts, and Haiku, exploring the interstices running like a thread throughout major world religious paths. The series will be led by the Rev. Garnette Arledge, an interfaith minister who has served as a Hospice Chaplain. She is the author of several books on spirituality as well as numerous articles, poems, and weekly newspaper columns.

Woodstock Concert postponed; pantry needs food

Hi All,

We are sorry to inform you that the Leslie Ritter/ Scott Petito concert scheduled for Friday, Dec 19th, 8 PM, at the Woodstock Community Center to benefit The Good Neighbor Food Pantry and Woodstock Area Meals on Wheels has been canceled due to the impending winter storm.

The Good Neighbor Food Pantry is still in need of provisions to service the Woodstock Community this coming Holiday Season....the need is great!

Please feel free to drop off non-perishable goods at the Woodstock Area Meals on Wheels Kitchen, located at 16 Tinker Street (the lower level BEHIND the Dutch Reform Church on the Green), Mon thru Friday from 8 to 10:30 AM.

We hope to re-schedule in warmer weather!
Many thanks to all who have supported this event!!

With Warmest Regards for a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Woodstock Area Meals on Wheels
Good Neighbor Food Pantry

How would you fix health care?

President-elect Obama has made it clear that health care reform is one of his top priorities and the Obama-Biden Transition is asking people to contribute their own thoughts and ideas for how to fix the system at Health Care. They've asked people to organize Community Discussions all across the country.

Ruth Wahtera, a member of AAUW, Kingston Branch, signed up with the Transition Team to host a Community Discussion, and we thought you might want to come.

The Transition Team has put together a few questions they'd like us to discuss and then send them feedback. It will be low key - an exploration, not a debate.

DATE: This Saturday morning, December 20th

TIME: 10 - 11:30 am

LOCATION: The Muddy Cup

516 Broadway, Kingston, NY 12443

RSVP NOT REQUIRED but appreciated: wahtera.ruth@gmail.com

And here's a 2 1/2 minute video of Senator Daschle discussing the health care initiative.

P.S. If you can't make it Saturday but would like to host or moderate a discussion before December 31st, you'll find the details and sign-up at the Transition website here.

Friday Concert to Benefit Woodstock Food Pantry & Meals on Wheels

Ellen Osgood reports that the Woodstock Food Pantry and Meals on Wheels really need our support. Their big fundraiser/concert is Friday night, so do turn out, make an contribution of food or money.

Here are the details:

Overturn Proposition 8 with Laughter

Here's a humerous and on-target look at Proposition 8:

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... by Jack Black

Tell the US Chamber of Commerce to Get Out of the Way of Fair Pay

AAUW Dialog recently noted that the Out of the Way of Fair Pay campaign points to a recent study that reports women lose $434,000 over a lifetime of work due to the gender wage gap. Watch their one-minute video featuring Batgirl, Batman, and Robin.




Click here to send a letter to the US Chamber of Commerce protesting their opposition to pay equity reform proposals in Congress -- the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act.

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• Make Real Progress on Pay Equity

Local Author rings bells for bookstores

Aloha, This witty posting came from my writer's union, The Author's Guild. Hope you enjoy it and remember the local bookstores this season.

"I've been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are hard. And local booksellers aren't known for vast reserves of capital, so a serious dip in sales can be devastating. Booksellers don't lose enough money, however, to receive congressional attention. A government bailout isn't in the cards.

We don't want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do neighborhoods. So let's mount a book-buying splurge. Get your friends together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party. Buy the rest of your Christmas presents, but that's just for starters. Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the histories, beam up the science fiction! Round up the westerns, go crazy for self-help, say yes to the university press books! Get a load of those coffee-table books, fatten up on slim volumes of verse, and take a chance on romance!

There will be birthdays in the next twelve months; books keep well; they're easy to wrap: buy those books now. Buy replacements for any books looking raggedy on your shelves. Stockpile children's books as gifts for friends who look like they may eventually give birth. Hold off on the flat-screen TV and the GPS (they'll be cheaper after Christmas) and buy many, many books. Then tell the grateful booksellers, who by this time will be hanging onto your legs begging you to stay and live with their cat in the stockroom: "Got to move on, folks. Got some books to write now. You see...we're the Authors Guild."

Enjoy the holidays.

Roy Blount Jr.
President
Authors Guild

This message was sent to Garnette Arledge as a member of the Authors Guild.

Public Discussion of NYS Voting Machines

Image via WikipediaWhat's Up With Voting Machines in New York?

• How does a mandated switch to op-scan computers in 2009 square with the Constitution?
• Can we save our levers---and millions of dollars, too?
• Can op-scan voting be trusted?

These questions will be covered in a public forum

7 pm, Tuesday, December 9

at the Kingston Library, 55 Franklin Street

The forum will begin with the video "Hacking Democracy", which shows how optical scan computers, even with paper ballots, can be secretly hacked without a trace.

The video will be followed by attorney Andi Novick's explanation of why op scan, or any other computer voting, does not square with the NY State Constitution, which demands an "observable, transparent, and secure" system that computers cannot comply with.

She will also update the public on a pending legal case to ensure that legislators adhere to the Constitution and will detail the enormous costs a switch to computers would entail now and over the years vs keeping our levers.

Sponsored by the American Association of University Women, the program is free, and questions from the audience will be encouraged.

For more information: contact Irene Miller at 518 678-3516

Woodstock Historical Society Holiday Exhibit and Sale

Holiday Exhibit and Sale
Join us at our newly renovated building decorated for the holiday season. There will be an exhibit of Christmas cards from the Historical Society Archives as well as baked treats, ornaments, and books for sale.
Saturday, Dec 6 2008, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Eames House, 20 Comeau Drive.

Woodstock OPEN HOUSE

Friday December 5th from 5-9 PM
stroll along the streets and visit the beautifully decorated shops in
Woodstock NY

How to Encourage Your Child's Philanthropy

Image via WikipediaBeth Kanter practices what she preaches. She blogs about how nonprofits can use social media, raising money for causes she cares about using social media, proving to the old-school skeptics that it can be done.

Today, she posted about Kids and Philanthropy: Teaching your child to be charitable. I encourage you to read the whole post and I've reproduced her parenting tips here:

Parenting Tips To Encourage Your Child's Philanthropy

1. Help Them Learn More About Nonprofits: YouthGive is a site that helps young peole and their families easily donate to charities while learning more about the organizations. The organizations listed are profiled by other young people.

2. Let Your Kids Choose: Kayta Andresen from Network for Good has fantastic idea last holiday season, "Give with your kids day" She suggests giving your child or someone else's child $25 to donate to a charity. "You can give them money to spend at Network for Good (which has every charity based in the US) or Global Giving (which has a bunch of international projects). Let them choose how to spend it, either by letting them pick the charity or by designating their donation to a special project. Spend it together online, checking out pictures and project descriptions."

3. Offer a Match: Blogger Marion Conway,whose children are now grown, recommended the book Raising Charitable Children by Carol Wiseman. With her children's fundraising projects, she and her husband offered to match what they raised because they both worked for companies that matching gift programs.

4. Set up a Spend, Give, and Save Allowance Policy: Celeste for the studio 501c3 blog suggests this piggy bank, with separate slots for investing, saving, spending, and donating is a great way to teach kids about devoting a portion of their income to
charity.

5. Encourage Them To Give Their Time: Laura Hecht shared a wonderful story about a class project where students made cards for some elderly residents of a group home. They had to work hard to spare the time for the effort, but when the residents wrote moving letters of thanks, the kids felt great. As Laura notes, "This prompted a sincere discussion about giving the most valuable thing we possess - ourselves."

How do (did) you teach your kids about philanthropy?

Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Celebrate StoryCorps' National Day of Listening Friday

Everyone has a story.

This Friday, yes, Black Friday, you can join thousands of us across the country in the first annual National Day of Listening. Spend an hour recording a conversation with someone you care about.

This holiday season, ask the people around you about their lives — it could be your grandmother, a teacher, or someone from the neighborhood. By listening to their stories, you will be telling them that they matter and they won’t ever be forgotten. It may be the most meaningful time you spend this year.

The Story Corps site offers a Do-It-Yourself Guide, a question generator, teacher and library toolkits, and wonderful excerpts from the thousands of stories they have collected for the Library of Congress over the last four years.

Holiday Sale and Exhibit at Historical Society of Woodstock

I just atteneded a lecture at the Eames House 20 Comeau Drive in Woodstock and I am excited to share with everyone that the Historical Society will have a Holiday Exhibit and Sale on
Saturday Dec. 6th 10 am - 3 pm
their web site www.woodstockhistory.org if need be, their email wdstkhist@yahoo.com

The town historian, Richard Heppner has put together a collection of essays from the archives of the Historical Society, Remembering Woodstock. It is part of AMERICAN CRONICLES, a history press series.
It is a lovely book, one that all Woostockers would love to see under their holiday tree
Janine

A few of Janine's Passions

Janine Fallon- Mower has launched a blog that will support her monthly TV show
View From My Kitchen Window. Watch Wednesday night at 8 30 PM on Woodstock channel 23 or view live via ustream at www.woodstocktv.org
The blog address- viewfrommykitchenwindow-janine.blogspot.com

I look forward to seeing you all at the AAUW meeting Tuesday Nov 18th.
I will be bringing copies of Images of America - Woodstock, Woodstock Revisited, American Tapestry, the Mowers of Maple Lane to sell at the AAUW fundraiser.
I will also bring along an assortment of beautiful Irish Linen tea towels and a selection of
AVON products for purchase. Cash or Checks accepted as payment.
Janine