"If you are a person that believes in integrity, believes in fairness, believes in justice, believes in truth. Each human being is a unique, unrepeatable, person deserving of respect and dignity, and if you believe that, you're part of the 99%." ~Vincent Gaddis, History Professor at Benedictine University Amen brother Gaddis and cheers Occupy Aurora! xox ~IMPs

 
Creating a representation of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico with umbrellas and clad in black, impromptu protesters gathered at the entrance of the then closed BP Bridge in Millennium Park along with around 2 million Blackhawks fans celebrating their Stanley Cup win. It was a quiet and simple message. Hold BP accountable. And sell their hand-towels.

Unsustainable energy sources are soooo 40 years ago. Not too mention unregulated, hazardous and just plain, well, unsustainable! However, they continue to feed the need and in the process, muck up our lives and our planet. Recently, IMPs met up with one of the leaders of the Chicago Clean Power Coalition Becky Clayborn at the April meeting of Progressive Democrats of America in Chicago. Clayborn, also of the Sierra Club, pointed out the deadly health and environmental risks of coal-fired power ...

Ald. Joe Moore spoke with Chicago Progressive Democrats of America about his Chicago Clean Power Ordinance that would restrict the harmful emissions from the toxic Fisk and Crawford coal fired power plants that currently belch out 2.8 million pounds of soot and nearly 2 tons of carbon dioxide for each of Chicago's 2.9 million residents. At his press conference April 13th, Ald. Moore and nearly 200 supporters of the ordinance gathered to ask all Chicagoans to push their Alderman to sign on to thi...

Blue Dog Jane Harman has been doing everything possible to avoid bumping into Marcy Winograd, much less debating her. But during the recent California Democratic Convention, at the meeting of the Progressive Caucus (which Marcy helped to found!) Jane had little choice but to finally face her progressive challenger. Well, that is until Harman decides time's up! Gotta run! See the "debate" here: (Link) Even though Marcy's campaign is many miles away from my backyard, what she says to me crosses...

 
PDA Chicago Chair Bill Bianchi hosts a fun phone bank party for Progressive Candidate Marcy Winograd running in California's 36th District. Phone banking from home is an easy way to help Progressive Candidates all over the country. Visit (Link)/ for more information and stay updated on great PDA IL events at (Link)

All in one lil' blog fer you. (Link)/ We just had to share. The Fisk and Crawford coal-fired power plants on the South and near South West side of Chicago are a health and environmental menace to their communities and ultimately, the rest of the city. These two plants belch out about 2.8 million pounds of soot and 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year – nearly 2 tons for each of Chicago’s 2.9 million residents. The fight just got ratcheted up a notch by Ald. Joe Moore of the 49th...

 
Candidate for Congress Marcy Winograd (CA-36) joined representatives from numerous unions in support of locked out mine workers from Rio Tinto in Boron CA. Los Angeles, April 16, 2010.

 
And we couldn't agree more. He wrote the single payer bill HB 311 Rep Mary Flowers has put forth in the Illinois General Assembly. He was a good egg and is deeply missed. This is a video we made for his family and friends which we were honored to be among. (Link) Here is also more info on the bill from PNHP. (Link)/ "Flowers plans to reintroduce her state-based single-payer bill, HB 311, next January. She has pledged to rename it the Nicholas Skala Health Care for All Illinois Act." We al...

 
Representatives from dozens of organizations across Illinois gathered at St. Augustana Lutheran Church, in President Obama's old Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago, to talk health care. In a series of break out sessions hosted by Health Care-NOW's Katie Robbins, Dr. Quentin Young, Donna Smith and many others shared strategy in this day long event to plan the fight for health care for all.