Paris Parfait

Sunday morning at Puce de Vanves

An antique dealer entertains shoppers with his guitar skills Sunday morning on Avenue Marc Sangnier at the Puce de Vanves. Susan of Soozphotoz and her daughter Sara and I spent the morning shopping and chatting and shopping and chatting. No, I can't show you my purchases, which are for friends I'll be seeing during my travels in May.

A curious keyboard on wheels on Avenue Georges Lafenestre. The flea market at Vanves is open every Saturday and Sunday morning. Plan on arriving early for the best choice.

A group of cane-bottomed bistro chairs.

Vintage Barbies, complete with original box. Susan and I remember the Barbies in the yellow-and-white lace dress and strapless striped one from childhood.

Barnacle sculptures at Selfridges

In keeping with the shipwreck-themed window displays at Selfridges, the London department store, lighting designer Stuart Haygarth created these unique light sculptures. Black barnacle (above).

White barnacle.

Harpon 321 by Stuart Haygarth.

True romance

An unusual shrub near Cromwell Road, London. Anyone know what kind it is?

On Monday I received this delightful message:

Hi Tara,

My name is xxxxx xxxxx, an xxxxx currently living in xxxxx (another country). I hope you don´t mind using xxxxx to contact you hoping that maybe I could get some advice from a local perspective for a special evening that has been on my mind for the last few weeks.

As it turns out, I will be visiting Paris for xxxxx days at the end of xxxxx in order to meet some potential clients my company wants to develop. My girlfriend xxxxx, who currently works in xxxxx (yet another country) will join me for the weekend and the idea is that we can spend some time together, as well as get to know this charming city.

What she doesn´t know is that I would like to take advantage of the fact that we are in such a romantic town to plan the perfect day that ends up with me asking her to marry me. This will hopefully catch her breath away :-) The problem is that I have never been to Paris so far, so here is where I would need your advice. I would really appreciate if you can recommend me some romantic spots and places that can help me build up a nice atmosphere towards the evening. I am thinking maybe a walk in a beautiful street, some gardens or parks, a nice restaurant or a traditional serenade around the river, but please, you are the expert and that is why I came to you. The keyword as you already notice: Romantic.

As you can surely imagine, I am very excited and cannot wait for this day to finally come. So, if you decide to help me in my quest you will make this romantic xxxxx the happiest man of the world.

Merci et au revoir,

(Name)

Ah, a charming man with a romantic soul... And what a lucky woman to win his heart! Practically every woman I know wishes men would make more of an effort to be thoughtful and sweet. Today I was having lunch with my friend Susan of Soozphotoz and her lovely daughter Sara on Ile Saint Louis. When I told them the story, they simultaneously exlaimed, "Aaaawwwww - how sweet!" Yes, you can bet I sent the writer a list of some of the city's most romantic rendezvous spots. And the Eiffel Tower was not on the list!

Here's another wonderful story, just in case you missed it----or need a tiny glimmer of hope.

Worlds apart, bound together by Bush's folly

For the Writers Island prompt "outrageous:"

One of the most fascinating encounters I had during my last trip to London was talking with an Iraqi mini-cab driver. The minute I saw him, I knew he was an Iraqi refugee. He was wearing the usual three-piece brown suit, white shirt and tie made of cheap fabric; had carefully combed hair and a heavy douse of scent. I say this not to disparage this gentleman, but to explain that I have seen a version of him in nearly every country in the Middle East, in Europe and - more rarely - in the United States: someone who has lost nearly everything. A desperate person trying to make his way in a foreign country, with very little, while working hard to make ends meet. This particular man drives a car seven days a week to support his family.

While moving slowly through London traffic to St. Pancras International, we chatted about war in Iraq and the American presidential election:

"The situation is so bad that most teachers, doctors and anyone who can afford it have left Iraq," the man said. "We knew when the Americans arrived that they would not be leaving anytime soon and no one was happy about that. But we worry that if American troops pull out now, Iran will seize the opening. They are always looking for a way in (and he referenced the eight-year Iran-Iraq war)...We are threatened by Turkey from the North, Iran from the South and Al-Qaida taking advantage of the chaos."

Asked why Iraqis are listening to Iran, a non-Arab country and longtime enemy, the man replied: "Only a few are listening, but they have influence with others." He said Moqtada al Sadr "gets all his weapons and support" from Iran.

We talked about the dilemma for the US, as 68 percent of Americans believe we never should have gone into Iraq and want our troops home, but have sympathy for the Iraqis' plight. Then we discussed the double-edged sword for the Iraqis, who badly need help, but resent the foreign troops' presence. He said he believes it will take "50 years" to rebuild Iraq. "The situation is so perilous that Iraqis now living outside Iraq talk about it only at dinner and when questioned by people like you," he noted. Otherwise, "we try to forget about it," he said. "It's just too horrible to think about."

He expressed concern about Iraqi deaths that often go unreported by the media. "There have been hundreds of Iraqis killed this week alone and nobody talks about it or does anything about it," he said.

He said Iraqis are watching the American election with a mixture of interest and fear. "We're worried that the next president might pull all the troops out too soon, leaving Iraq to fend for itself," he said. "The Iraqi government isn't strong enough and can't fight powerful influences of people like Moqtada al Sadr, without help from outside."

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band singing Worlds Apart in Barcelona, Spain. I had the privilege of seeing Springsteen on this same "The Rising" tour in Paris. In memoriam: Danny Federici of the E Street Band.

Outrageous battles for those who live to tell

Meanwhile, more than 120 veteran soldiers of Iraq and Afghanistan commit suicide every week, while the Bush administration delays mental health treatment and benefits to which returning troops are entitled, veterans advocates told a federal judge in San Francisco.

The rights of hundreds of thousands of veterans are being violated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), "an agency that is in denial" and by a government health care system and appeals process for patients that is "broken down," Gordon Erspamer, attorney for two advocacy groups, said in his opening statement at trial. Erspamer said veterans are committing suicide at the rate of 18 a day - a number acknowledged by a VA official in a Dec. 15 e-mail. The agency's backlog of disability claims exceeds 650,000.

Wings of desire

These photos from the London department store Selfridges "shipwreck" series remind me of one of my favourite films, Wings of Desire. The Wim Wenders film features Bruno Ganz, the late Solveig Dommartin and Peter Falk. In 1987-88, the film won numerous prizes in festivals in France, Germany and Europe, including Best Director at Cannes. The film's premise involves angels surveying the war-scarred city of Berlin. The angels listen to tortured thoughts of mortals going about their daily lives and try to comfort them. One angel desires nothing more than to become mortal, after falling in love with Marian, a beautiful trapeze artist.

My poem in homage to Wings of Desire:

The heart knows nothing
until that fateful encounter:
a seemingly chance meeting
at the right place and time
and something inside stirs.

From that first moment
the stars and planets align.
Anxiety gives way to certainty,
saying yes to all the questions
too long unasked and unanswered.

No matter that the distance
of time and space is long
and the journey ahead
fraught with challenges and obstacles
that may alter the route.

The picture in your mind's eye steady;
the path to your beloved clear.
No maps needed to find the way
to the one who understands
before a single word is spoken.

A connection forged long ago
in another lifetime
so distant from this modern realm
etched into memory's core;
written indelibly across your heart.

Check back Tuesday for photos of shipwreck-themed sculptures created especially for Selfridges, London by artist Stuart Haygarth, as well as pictures from today's Marches des Puces at Vanves, Paris.

More shipwreck

This is the second of a three-part series of shipwreck-themed window fashion displays at Selfridges on Oxford Street, London. Check back Sunday for photos of angels amidst the rotted hull of a ship, as well as pictures of some amazing sea-themed sculptures created especially for Selfridges by artist Stuart Haygarth. For Part I, go here.

Shipwrecked at Selfridges

The famous London department store Selfridges on Oxford Street has the most imaginative window displays I've ever seen, outside of Paris. Currently, they're displaying fashion in elaborate and imaginative scenes of shipwreck. If anyone knows who designed these fantastic windows at Selfridges, please email me. Check back Saturday and Sunday for more London vitrine photos.

McCain's double-talk about New Orleans

Oh and he's still refusing to denounce an endorsement from the right-wing Rev. John Hagee, who this week reiterated his 2006 claim that Hurricane Katrina was punishment for the sins of New Orleans residents.

“It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense. I don’t have anything additional to say. It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, I don’t have anything more to say….it’s nonsense. I reject that categorically,” McCain told reporters.

And speaking of nonsense, Rush Limbaugh has called for race riots in Denver! Where is the Federal Communications Commission - allowing a talk show host to incite listeners to riot??!!

Meanwhile Hillary Clinton is telling more tall tales about her knowledge of her husband's pardon of two domestic terrorists. No doubt the Republicans will have a field day with this one!

Shades of 1984

Our Homeland Security Secretary thinks our fingerprints are not "personal data."

Michael Chertoff was in Canada discussing the so-called “Server in the Sky” program to share fingerprint databases among the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Chertoff told Canadian reporters that fingerprints are "hardly personal data, because you leave it on glasses and silverware and articles all over the world, they’re like footprints. They’re not particularly private, " he said. Chertoff's claim contradicts Homeland Security's own definition of "personally identifiable information." In Privacy Impact Assessments used by the government, the department lists "biometric identifiers (e.g., fingerprints)."

Jennifer Stoddart, a Canadian official involved with privacy issues disagreed: “Fingerprints constitute extremely personal information for which there is clearly a high expectation of privacy.” There are compelling reasons to treat fingerprints as “extremely personal information,” Stoddart said. "The strongest reason is that fingerprints, if not used carefully, will become the biggest source of identity theft. Fingerprints shared in databases all over the world won’t stay secret for long and identity thieves will take advantage."

We are well aware of the Bush administration's reckless disregard for our civil liberties, including rights to privacy. Chertoff's claim about fingerprints not being personal is yet another example of the administration's lack of respect for individual rights.

Government scraps plan for "virtual fence"

Meanwhile, Chertoff's judgment was again called into question (remember Hurricane Katrina?), this time by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Two months after Chertoff announced his approval of a $20 million "virtual fence" on the Arizona-Mexico border, the government is scrapping the project. The GAO told Congress the plan "did not fully meet user needs and the project's design will not be used as the basis for future developments."

The fence would have consisted of nine electronic surveillance towers along a 28-mile section of border southwest of Tucson. The glaring problem was the time lag between electronic detection of movement along the border and transmitting a camera image to agents patrolling the area, the GAO said. The project is to be replaced with towers equipped with communications systems, cameras and radar capability.

Travelers beware: Fourth Amendment again under threat

On Monday, a federal appeals court ruled that border agents can search laptops, cameras and mobile phones without cause. The ruling extends the government's power to look through personal belongings like luggage, briefcases and handbags. Further, the ruling allows agents to seize electronic devices and keep them for an indefinite period of time!

The unanimous three-judge decision reverses a lower court finding that digital devices were "an extension of our own memory" and too personal to allow the government to search them without cause. The previous ruling said US Customs agents would need "reasonable and articulable suspicion" a crime had occurred before searching a traveler's laptop.

On appeal, the government argued that was too high a standard, infringing upon its right "to keep the country safe and enforce laws." Civil rights and business traveler groups defended the lower court ruling, to no avail. In Arnold vs. USA, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the so-called border exception to the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches applied not just to suitcases and papers, but also to electronics.

The court's ruling did not indicate whether a traveler must provide login information to help the government search his computer. The ruling also did not address the issue of encrypted data on the hard drive.

P.S. In the New York Daily News, Mike Lupica has a fascinating column about the Democratic presidential race.

Pennsylvania changed...nothing.

But cable news’s need to hype overrides reality, Zachary Roth writes in the Columbia Journalism Review.

"So, where are we after the epic seven-week-long, make-or-break campaign for Pennsylvania? About the same place we were before it. In the end, Clinton’s ten-point win was about in line with, or slightly exceeded, expectations. The delegate math looks little better for her than it did yesterday, but she’ll continue her unlikely effort to wrest the nomination from Obama by convincing the superdelegates that he is unelectable. In other words, last night changed very little.

"Not that you’d know that from watching CNN or MSNBC, of course, where the usual election-night suspects discussed every possible angle and implication of the Pennsylvania results, ad nauseam. Would this win give her new momentum to take her fight to the convention? What’s his problem with white working-class voters (now routinely short-handed, by Chris Matthews among others, as white working voters, as if those with college degrees don’t work)? Does this make it more likely they’ll run on the same ticket? Why can’t he close the deal? And on and on.

"In short, no one that we saw—not Matthews, not Russert, not Olbermann, not Williams, not Blitzer, not Cooper, not King, not the other King, not anyone—was willing to unequivocally tell viewers the one simple piece of information they needed about the results: that they had little long-term effect on the race.

"Of course, it’s not shocking that cable-news pundits can keep talking far beyond the point when there’s anything left worth saying. Or to see cable news pump its material as more newsworthy than it actually is. For obvious reasons, the media’s most consistent bias—more pronounced than ever in the age of frantic, nonstop competition—is its tendency to hype even minor developments out of all proportion to their actual significance, in order to keep viewers glued to the screen.

"But in this case, that bias has an unfortunate impact on the real world. By playing the Pennsylvania results as more important than they actually are, the media, without intending to, provide momentum for Clinton, which her campaign will use to raise money and prolong the fight. Nothing that’s said on cable news at this point will make it any more likely that she’ll actually win, but it very well could delay Obama’s victory, with all the drawbacks for the general election that come along with that.

"That’s not CNN or MSNBC’s problem, of course. But it’s worth keeping in mind that the cable networks’ bias toward hype isn’t harmless. It has a real-world impact on our politics—aside from simply leaving viewers without the ability to put events in perspective, which is a major part of what the news is supposed to be for.

"Nor is it unavoidable: it could be mitigated by one person brave enough to go on TV and tell viewers the truth about which developments matter and which don’t. Not that we’re holding our breath."

No matter how she spins it...

Do the math: the Pennsylvania primary changed nothing. Sen. Barack Obama still leads Hillary Clinton by 131 delegates overall and 156 pledged delegates. NBC News has allocated a 75-65 split for Clinton out of Pennsylvania; 18 delegates have not been allocated. So Clinton won only ten delegates more than Obama in Pennsylvania. Since Super Tuesday, Clinton has gained 12 Superdelegates; Obama has gained 83. With just nine contests remaining, Obama has won more delegates, more votes and twice as many contests.

Clinton would have to win 69 to 70 percent of the delegates in every remaining state to catch up to Obama. Even if Obama and Clinton each win a state in the May 6 contests in Indiana and North Carolina, Clinton would need to win 80 percent of the delegates in every remaining state and that's impossible! The race is over, but Clinton refuses to admit it. And the media is having a field day covering the Clinton-orchestrated circus.

In reality, the Clinton campaign is in the red, running negative attack ads while not paying its bills. Mark Penn's firm is owed $4.5 million; other debtors - including small businesses - are owed over $6 million. After an appeal last night, Clinton apparently raised about $2.5 million - but that should go towards paying her debts, not propel the campaign forward.

From the New York Times editorial board:

"The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.

Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.

If nothing else, self interest should push her in that direction. Mrs. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race....

It is getting to be time for the superdelegates to do what the Democrats had in mind when they created superdelegates: settle a bloody race that cannot be won at the ballot box. Mrs. Clinton once had a big lead among the party elders, but has been steadily losing it, in large part because of her negative campaign. If she is ever to have a hope of persuading these most loyal of Democrats to come back to her side, let alone win over the larger body of voters, she has to call off the dogs."

In exit polls in Pennsylvania, voters complained about the negative tone of the race, with 68 percent of voters saying Clinton attacked Obama unfairly. Meanwhile, John McCain still refuses to release his medical records or his wealthy wife's tax records.

Update 6 p.m.: Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry - a superdelegate - announced today he is endorsing Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Henry called Obama "an inspirational leader who can unite the country."

Also, nearly 50 of John Edwards's most prominent backers lined up behind Sen. Obama today, less than two weeks before the North Carolina primary. The group includes Ed Turlington, Edwards’s former national general campaign chairman; three North Carolina members of Congress and 46 local activists, philanthropists and business leaders, among others.

Speaking from his law office in Raleigh, Turlington said he had not expected to endorse a candidate after Edwards dropped out of the race. “I thought I was going to be on the sidelines,” Turlington said, adding that he made the decision about ten days ago, after speaking to Mr. Obama. “I think his candidacy is doing a lot of important things that are similar to themes that John Edwards ran on.”

Among those things, he said, were Sen. Obama’s pledges to change the culture of Washington and fight for issues important to working people.

Creating a collage

Creating a collage at DKNY Jeans, Knightsbridge, London. Check back Wednesday for photos of some very creative department store window displays.

By the way, the euro vs. the dollar is at $1.60 today - the two currencies once were about level. That means the dollar has lost 60 percent of its value in world currency markets. And the price of oil is nearly $120 a barrel! What next??!!

Why I won't be voting for Hillary - ever.

"Obliterate Iran?" Not the kind of considered judgment we want from a president answering any 3 a.m. phone calls...

"I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran," Hillary Clinton told Chris Cuomo in an interview airing Tuesday on Good Morning America. "In the next ten years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

Clinton reiterated her position in an interview with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. But her staff now says she didn't mean to imply that she would "obliterate Iran." Whatever she intended, it's awfully cavalier - not to mention dangerous - to talk about using nuclear weapons to destroy a country of over 71 million people. This is the latest example of a worrying pattern of "say and do anything to win" philosophy Clinton has adopted in recent months.

London lashes

A vitrine at Selfridges, Oxford Street, London - talk about eyelashes to bat - as opposed to Bat for Lashes!

Just back from a fabulous time in London with some stories and photos to share. Check back later for more. If you live in Pennsylvania, don't forget to vote in Tuesday's Democratic primary. Before you cast your ballot, consider this - it's a very big deal - and certainly not presidential behaviour. I'm happy that Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, two of my favourite musicians and activists, have thrown their support behind Barack Obama.

Take a risk

A form of bungee jumping deemed safe for children at Hippodrome de Longchamp, Paris.

To one
     Who smells the sun,
          Eyes shut and tastes that rain is sweet;
Who hears
     Music, but fears
          Its presence in empty gardens; or, discreet,
Only observes
     The nerves
          And fibers of a painting - shade, technique;
What is
     Beyond analysis
          Is perilous: we must not wish to seek
And cry
     'This is what I
          Love, what I cherish!' Instead, be wary of such
Intensity
     That we
          May never be hurt or happy or anything too
much.

Poem from the novel Beginner's Greek by James Collins. For those who are sitting on the fence, afraid to take a leap forward, I encourage you to be brave. Take a risk. Dare to open your heart. Truly LIVE your life in capital letters!

Children's joy

Bronze sculptures in Singapore, photo by Marie-Claire Holmes.

"I caught the happy virus last night
When I was out singing beneath the stars.
It is remarkably contagious -
so kiss me." - Hafiz, Persia, 14th-century

Rugby match

While I am in London, thought I might surprise you with something unexpected: the local rugby lads in the thick of a fast-paced game on a muddy field. The rugby club is located in the Bois du Boulogne, just a few metres from Hippodrome de Longchamp. I am a big rugby fan; Stade Francais (Paris) is my favourite local team. They play at Stade Jean Bouin next door to Parc des Princes. It is just a ten-minute walk from Roland Garros, home of the French Open. Within easy walking distance of the apartment, one can watch live horse racing, tennis, rugby or water-skiing on the Seine.

I was going to write this, but then...

Last night I listened to the Democratic  presidential debate live via radio.  I was going to write about what a complete travesty it was, with stupid, inane questions pandering to the lowest common denominator of society - a penchant for gossip, mud-slinging and name-calling. Issues of substance such as torture, Iraq, China, Tibet and the economy largely were ignored. I was going to write that the moderators did a terrible job and ask what has happened to ABC News? No doubt the late Peter Jennings wouldn't have asked such lightweight questions - he would have focused on the substantive issues that affect us all.

I was going to write that it's hard to single out the most ridiculous question, as the majority were so idiotic. But the one asking Sen. Barack Obama if he respected the American flag was probably the dumbest and most inflammatory. Sen. Obama patiently responded and - unlike the moderators - kept trying to turn the subject back to real issues, saying Americans didn't want to waste time talking about manufactured ones.

I was going to write that people who think those who don't wrap themselves in the American flag, wear flag lapel pins - just in case you forget you're an American - and believe that wearing such a pin equates being patriotic -  deserve the government they get. And that those people probably should be reading books and blogs and newspapers and learning about the issues, rather than questioning someone else's patriotism.  Because wearing a flag pin has zip nada NOTHING to do with patriotism!

I was going to write that patriotism does not require wearing a silly cheap plastic flag pin bought from Wal-Mart and made in China. I don't care if you drape your front lawn in flags and wear a flag pin every waking moment, if you aren't doing something to establish a dialogue and change the downwards spiral in America, you're part of the problem.

Patriotism is questioning what's happening in our country. Patriotism is being a soldier trying to stay alive amidst terrible conditions in a war fought under false pretenses. Patriotism involves the families who struggle to pay bills while their husband or wife is in Iraq or returning soldiers who have serious injuries, yet must fight to get the proper medical care they need.  Patriotism is those who fight for the underdog and try to protect the Constitution and our civil liberties. Patriotism is shining attention on critical issues affecting us all, such as global warming and human rights. Patriotism is helping insure a better future for our children and their children, by keeping informed and involved with issues that impact our lives. Patriotism is thinking for ourselves. It is not accepting blindly what someone else tells us to do - that's fascism.

I was going to write, please spare us any further presidential debates if they are going to insult the viewers and listeners' intelligence. Why can't the media raise substantive issues that really matter, rather than lazily catering to fabricated nonsense? I was going to ask are we really such an entertainment-lite culture that we have forgotten how to think for ourselves and question our leaders and potential future president?

All this I was going to write... then I saw the Hafiz poem Out of the Mouths of a Thousand Birds, a simple, yet powerful reminder of what's important in the grand scheme of things:

Listen
Listen more carefully to what is around you
Right now.

...There is an astonishing vastness
of movement and Life

Emanating sound and light
from my folded hands

And my even quieter simple being and heart.

My dear
Is it true that your mind
is sometimes like a battering
Ram

Running all through the city,
Shouting so madly inside and out

About the ten thousand things
That do not matter?

...Oh listen
Listen more carefully
to what is inside of you right now.

In my world
All that remains is the wondrous call to
Dance and prayer

Rising up like a thousand suns
out of the mouth of a
Single bird.

Pensive oil and mixed media on panel by Randall LaGro. Photo courtesy of Blue Rain Gallery, Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Brocante basics

I am off to London until Sunday, so here are more photos of the recent brocante at Chatou, France. All being well, timed posts will appear daily in my absence.

A gilt mirror frame and painting from Brittany are among the antiques on offer.

I adore the cherry red wooden chairs!

Vintage drawers and cabinets offer storage space for cuisine or office.

A variety of traditional French pottery on offer at Chatou.

Chairs aged with a paint effect and recovered in a floral brocade.

Two marble Grecian-style panels, a chest of drawers and Flemish chandelier.

A Napoleon I Empire chair and Egyptian-influenced stone urns.

A desk from the British ship HMS Portsmouth.

A small circus ride for children features a horse, bear and elephant.

An alabaster bust, twin vases and a decorative fan-shaped panel adorned with gilt cherubs.

A bow and arrow astride two endtables.

Save the Internet hearing at Stanford

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you have a rare opportunity on Thursday to speak out about the Internet and remind policymakers it should remain free. Please try to attend a public hearing about the future of the Internet tomorrow, April 17 at Stanford University.

At the last Federal Communications Commission hearing, Comcast hired people to fill the room and keep the public from commenting. The hearing Thursday is a second chance to stand up to Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and other telecommunications and cable companies that want to block, filter and discriminate against Internet users.

The hearing begins at 12 noon and continues until 7 p.m. at Dinkelspiel Auditorium at Stanford, 471 Lagunita Drive, Palo Alto. For maps, travel and parking information, go here.

If you are unable to attend the hearing, check out the webcast on the FCC website.