Fellow Liberal Coffee Drinkers-

Please join us 12:30 this Sunday (2/28) at Infusion Coffee and Tea, 7133 Germantown Ave. (http://www.infusioncoffeeandtea.com) for the latest meeting of Drinking Coffee Liberally: Mount Airy. Just coffee talk, no big whoop- I'll give you some topics.

* Could this really be the endgame for health care reform? Might the Dems finally find a collective spine and realize that the GOP isn't going to work with them at all, so they'd might as well pass it on their own? Is the current state of reform- either in the House, Senate, or Obama version - even worthy of the name 'reform?'

* As Michelle Cottle put it, 'forget a loyal opposition; I'd settle for a sane one.' The GOP seems unable- or unwilling- to make any policy suggestions beyond tax cuts, less regulation, and saying 'no!' repeatedly. Is this any way to run an opposition party?

Fellow Liberal (Coffee) Drinkers-

Please join us Sunday 5/31, 12:00, at InFusion (7133 Germantown Ave., http://www.infusioncoffeeandtea.com) for the latest installment of Drinking (Coffee) Liberally: Mount Airy. Just coffee talk, no big whoop- I'll give you some topics.

* Judge Sonia Sontamayor. I feel rather smug for having predicted that she'd be Obama's pick a while back, but what do you think? One quibble: she wouldn't be the first Latino Justice of the Supreme Court- that honor belongs to Justice Benjamin Cardozo (1932-38).

* Why do the majority of Republicans still insist, in floridly contradictory fashion, that waterboarding isn't torture (despite 100+ years of US law insisting that it is), and that torture works (despite ample evidence that it does not). And will Sean Hannity ever follow through on his agreement to be waterboarded for charity?

* Why do people call champions of US professional sports leagues when we don't invite the rest of the world?

Fellow Liberal (Coffee) Drinkers-

I propose a challenge: let's get a good bunch of people together this Sun., noon, @ InFusion Coffee & Tea (7133 Germantown Ave., http://www.infusioncoffeeandtea.com). Let's set a record of sorts... most coffee, pastry, + discussion at any DL in Philly. Or something like that.

Just coffee talk, no big whoop. I'll give you some topics:

* Is Obama caving to the right + disappointing the left, or is he merely being as cagey as ever?

* Does Dick Cheney really think that confessing to war crimes in public will help the GOP?

* Speaking of the GOP, is it more likely to recover as a major party or join the Federalists + Whigs on the scrap heap?

See you Sunday!

-Z

Sorry about the lateness of the announcement, but Drinking Liberally: Mount Airy has morphed into Drinking (Coffee) Liberally: Mount Airy, and we're meeting noon today at InFusion Coffee + Tea (7133 Germantown Ave.). So, join us for good coffee, pastries, and conversation- political and otherwise.

-Z

I was a big supporter of Mike Nutter from the time he announced his candidacy for Mayor of Philadelphia. And I'll give him appropriate credit for attempting to take serious fiscal measures to deal w/the serious fical problems facing Philadelphia.

But I question the notion that he can enact temporary hikes in property taxes + the local sales tax. Temporary taxes? Two words for that: Johnstown Flood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_Flood

The Johnstown Flood was an enormous disaster which occurred in 1889. It was so enormous that a special tax was added to liquor sales (in 1936) to assist in paying for relief to the affected areas. This tax remains on the books today, long after even the great grandchildren of the victims of the flood are gone.

Fellow Liberal Drinkers-

You are invited to join Drinking Liberally tomorrow (Thurs. @ 7:00 PM) at the Mermaid Inn (7673 Germantown Ave.) for our Holiday Party! Which holiday, you ask? Festivus, of course! I'll see if Joanne can set up a plain aluminum pole for us...

In between the airing of grievances + the feats of strength, there will be trivia and plenty of free swag! Free liberal swag, no less- can't beat that this time of year, can you?

So, come one, come all, and bring your friends! A good time will be had by all as we...

Drink to Democracy!
-Z

Here's a fairly simple question w/major implications: how many people are currently employed by the City of Philadelphia? What is the ratio of city employees to city residents, and has this ratio changed since the 1950s?

This has been alluded to elsewhere, but much of the City's infrastructure configured based on a city w/2,000,000 residents, rather than the ~1,500,000 residents currently living in Philadelphia. If we're still employing people to service 500,000 more residents than actually exist, it suggests an obvious place to cut costs.

Of course, when you talk about cutting jobs, that brings union contracts into the discussion. And whose ox gets gored, so to speak.

Thoughts? Does anyone have some hard numbers on this?

-Z

Can a night get any bigger than tonight? Wow.

Please join Drinking Liberally + the Northwest Philadelphia office of the Obama campaign at North by Northwest (7165 Germantown Ave.) at 8:00 PM tonight as we watch the returns come in, and hopefully celebrate the restoration of democracy to the United States. Regime change begins at home!

Drink to Democracy!
-Z

On Election Day, Drinking Liberally: Mount Airy is going to join once again w/the Northwest office of the Obama campaign + watch the returns at North by Northwest, 7165 Germantown Ave., from 8:00 PM - whenever. Please join us and let's raise a mighty noise to the notion that regime change begins at home!

Drink to Democracy!
-Z

Fellow Liberal Drinkers-

As most of you surely know, this coming Thursday is both the next scheduled meeting of DL: Mount Airy + the night when Barack Obama officially accepts the Presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. As such, DL is joining up with Sen. Obama's Philadelphia campaign offices to watch the convention at North by Northwest, 7165 Germantown Ave.

The event officially begins at 5:00 PM, is expected to start picking up at around 7:00 PM (which is, conveniently enough, the usual time when we start imbibing), and Sen. Obama is set to accept the nomination at ~ 10:00 PM. We're hoping for a good turnout, from Liberal Drinkers, Obama volunteers (I suspect that this list will overlap considerably, as it does in my case), and for newcomers as well.

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20080726_VA_getting_heat_over_poli...

In short, VA policy forbids voter registration drives in VA facilities. US Rep. Bob Brady, among others, objects to this, as it can potentially disenfranchise the very people who have given the most to serve our country. Much praise to Brady for taking a stand here.

-Z

Fellow Liberal Drinkers-

Please join us at the Mermaid Inn (7673 Germantown Ave.) as we discuss the news of the day. To wit...

* How much does Obama's mid-east trip help his campaign?
* Does McCain really *want* to make us think that he's an older, somewhat dimmer George W. Bush?
* Will someone actually wake McCain before September?
* What October Surprise does the GOP have in store for us this year?

All this and more, Thursday (7/24) at 7:00. Be there, or be a tesseract.

Drink to Democracy!
-Z

Fellow Liberal Drinkers-

Come one, come all, and come thirsty to the Mermaid Inn (7673 Germantown Ave.) Thurs. at 7:00 and kick off the 4th of July a few hours early with your favorite liberal friends. Provide yourself with reinforcement of your liberal understanding that the Declaration of Independence is one of the best liberal statements of principle in human history. And get ammo to shove in the faces of conservatives who try to tell you that the US is a fundamentally conservative nation, rather than the inherently revolutionary one it was and needs to be again.

Drink to Democracy!
-Z

Fellow Liberal Drinkers-

Join us at the Mermaid Inn (7673 Germantown Ave.) tonight at 7:00 PM as we drink a toast to Dennis Kucinich for bringing articles of impeachment against George W. Bush. Remember: be there, or be a rhombus.

Drink to Democracy!
-Z

Fellow Liberal Drinkers-

Please join us Thurs., 6/5, at 7:00 PM at the Mermaid Inn, 7673 Germantown Ave., for the latest installment of Drinking Liberally, Mount Airy. I intend to distribute for discussion Chalmers Johnson's article "Our 'Managed Democracy,'" on the recommendation of DL member Christiaan Morssink. The implications of this article should, at the very least, deeply trouble any patriotic American, and its warnings should definitely be heeded. I figure we'll also kick around more ideas for a Democratic VP nominee.

So, come one, come all. And, as always...

Drink to Democracy!
-Z