Author: katiebird

It’s been nearly 3 years since I first heard Howard Dean say, “You have the Power” and my life was changed.  At first it was just politics.  After a 15 year break from politics and hope, I threw myself into the Dean campaign.  I was thrilled to find a candidate who so clearly spoke his mind.  And he said so many things that I agreed with! Well, I can’t tell you how happy I was to work for him.

Howard Dean’s campaign for president is over.  But what he said was true, “You have the Power”.  And that power has been exercised in many different ways by former Dean volunteers.  For me, Dean’s voice saying, “You have the Power” echoed through my brain last summer as I was considering how to get control of my health.  

But, how to use it?
Last summer I was obese, diabetic and had constant digestive problems.  In spite of knowing that I “have the Power”, I felt helpless and out of control.  My future felt limited.  And I was all too aware that if I didn’t get the diabetes under control, my future was actually very limited.  This was the bleakest time of my life.

I’d been through so many diets.  I’d succeeded with Weight Watchers, I’d watched my blood sugars, I’ve lost hundreds of pounds — all for what?  If you saw me in the grocery store you’d have thought I was just any old fat lady.

It isn’t a matter of self-control, I quit smoking in a day without ever looking back.  I knew that if a person could quit eating, I could do that without trouble.  But, you can’t do that.  We have to learn to eat, with control.  How does a person with eating issues learn to do that?

And then it came to me — a genius idea.  It is so simple, it can’t fail:  

.  Just Today.  And I’ll try it for a year.

Well, I’ve been doing this for half a year — and it’s changed my life. I’ve lost weight at a constant rate.  My blood sugars are at a normal, healthy level.  My digestive problems are improving every week.  I’ve talked about it with friends, and family and at the BoomanTribune.  And it’s become clear from my conversations that there is a real need for a national conversation about food & eating and associated health issues — much like Howard Dean’s “Great American Conversation” of 2003.

So, I’ve started Eat 4 Today, a place for those conversations.  If issues of health haunt your life, if you are struggling to take control of your future, visit Eat 4 Today.  

It’s been open a week and the response has been tremendous.  We’ve published stories from 5 authors and had hundreds of comments. It’s a lively place filled with smart, supportive people.  Eat 4 Today is not for everyone, but if you’re interested, I invite you to come and visit.

I believe that a healthy population is a powerful population.  As long as we are weakened by our ill-health we cannot effectively fight Bush and his cohorts.  “You have the Power”, come to Eat 4 Today and  exercise it.

[Cross-posted to the Daily Kos]

Kansas City Democrats holding Democracy Bonds can meet with Governor
Dean at a breakfast meeting January 17.  As of yesterday there
were 500 local Bond holders.  Kansas City Democrats have issued a
challenge to raise that number to 1000 by the Tuesday meeting.

Each Democracy Bond Holder may bring one guest.  If you’re a
Democracy Bond member and live near the Kansas City, this is your
chance to meet with the Chairman of the Democratic Party.  You may have the opportunity to talk to him about the issues that most concern you

[text from the Event RSVP page follows]

Governor Dean will be meeting with Democracy Bond holders on January 17, 2006 from 8:00am – 9:30am in Kansas City.

Meeting with Bond Holders in Kansas City

Uptown Theater
3700 Broadway Street
Kansas City, MO 64111

January 17, 2006
8:00am – 9:30am

Buy and RSVP

RSVP if you are already a bond holder here

A DNC Democracy Bond is a monthly financial commitment to the
Democratic National Committee.  The smallest increment for a bond
is $10/month.

The Democracy Bonds community is the flip-side of the 50-state
strategy; in order to put organizers on the ground in every state and
build a permanent party infrastructure where there hasn’t been one for
decades, it takes sound financial planning and a sustained commitment
of resources. We can’t afford to have a boom-and-bust operation that
pops
up every two or four years in a few key states. We have to build a
permanent presence everywhere, and Democracy Bonds make that possible.

What’s more, by funding this unprecedented organizing strategy with
small monthly donations from ordinary Americans, the Democracy Bonds
community provides a sharp contrast to the the insidious Republican
culture of corruption that has recently begun to unravel. We saw in
court filings this week how Republican leaders raise money: in exchange
for putting statements in the Congressional Record, or granting federal
contracts, or expensive golf trips to Scotland.

Update [2006-1-13 8:35:33 by katiebird]: I posted a request at the DNC Website that they update the Democracy Bond page to announce these meetings. And that they post a schedule of them as they are known. I think it would be great if they got a flurry of such messages.

If you have time, please follow the link and make a request yourself!