Last Thursday I hand delivered to Sen. Bayh over 230 signed petitions DFMC had gathered at the Bloomington Farmer's Market along with over 2800 names of Hoosiers that had signed DFA's online petition supporting a public health insurance option.

Call Baron Hill's office - 202-225-5315

IU College Democrats President Shawn Walter is currently interning at Democracy for America headquarters in Burlington, Vermont. In furtherance of our mission to help train grass roots activists, Democracy for Monroe County gave Shawn a matching grant of $100 to help defray his expenses.

In response, Shawn wrote a very gracious letter of thanks to us. With his permission, I am posting it here, because he talks about a very exciting project that is in the works at DFA.

Dear DFMC,

Dear Republicans,

Do you think that maybe it's finally about time that you STFU about the "sanctity of marriage"?

Yours,

Eric

You may have already received the e-mail, but I'm posting it here just in case you didn't.

For years, candidates for Congress and elected members of Congress told you they needed to be elected and re-elected so they could lower health insurance costs and provide health care for all. Along the way, you kept working for and voting for those candidates and members of Congress until, at long last, after the 2008 elections they formed wide majorities.

Now, as that new majority drafts legislation designed to lower health care costs and provide

coverage for all, wide swaths are on board for real health reform. But you deserve a commitment.

Will your Senators support a meaningful public health insurance option? One that meets President Obama's goals of lowering cost and keeping the insurance industry honest?

It is up to us to find out.

Email your Senators the following four short, specific questions on where they stand on a public option. The link below takes you to a page that allows you to do just that:

http://www.standwithdrdean.com/WhipCount

We were all afraid that with the passing of George Bush from office, we would no longer have such an abundant source for humor. We need not have feared. Rachel Maddow had real fun with this.

For those innocent folks out there who don't know the current definition of teabagging I direct you to the Urban Dictionary for your edification.

I don't usually reprint e-mails I get from other progressive organizations, simply because I get too many of them. But the story that Credo Action had to tell me is so bizarre, I had to post it here. I hope you will sign the petition they are sending around.

The Mid America CropLife Association (MACA) represents chemical companies that produce pesticides, and they are angry that — wait for it — Michelle Obama isn't using chemicals in her organic garden at the White House.

We are not making this up.

At the DFMC Link-up tonight, Keith Johnson (Permaculture Activist Magazine) gave a very interesting slide presntation about permaculture and the dire need for sustainable agriculture. I would have liked to provide a link to the slide show, but that is not possible at this time.

As a very good substitute you can watch this video, A Farm for the Future, about a seventh generation farmer in Devon, England, who explores how to farm without fossil fuel.

The theme of April's Link-up is Sustainable Agriculture with a slide presentation by Keith Johnson on permaculture. As an introduction to that topic, Keith sent us the following.

The word "permaculture" was coined and popularized in the mid 70's by
David Holmgren, a young Australian ecologist, and his associate /
professor, Bill Mollison. It is a contraction of "permanent agriculture"
or "permanent culture." Permaculture is about designing ecological human