Seder V. Maron at 11am and Dodd

;)

{am I Alpha maybe Beta? LOL}...Yea

"We’re finally at a moment when Bush needs the world more than the world needs Bush"
----
One election at a time...

Morning everyone
I love all of the Sederites
Listening to Stephanie MIller - Funny stuff..

I thought I was frist - but Wiccid & pbtrue1 beat me

Here is the email I received from Chris Dodd this morning:
--------------
We have been through a lot in this past year and your friendship and support have meant so much to me. That is why I wanted to let you know of my decision to endorse a Democratic candidate for President - and that I have decided to support Barack Obama.

We all understand how much is at stake in this election and that it is more important than ever that we put a Democrat in the White House.

And while both of our Party's remaining candidates are extremely talented and would make excellent commanders-in-chief, I am throwing my support to the candidate who I believe will open the most eyes to our shared Democratic vision.

I'm deeply proud to be the first 2008 Democratic presidential candidate to endorse Barack Obama. He is ready to be President. And I am ready to support him - to work with him and for him and help elect him our 44th President.

Put simply, I believe Barack Obama is uniquely qualified to help us face this housing crisis, create good jobs, strengthen America's families in this 21st century global economy, unite the world against terrorism and end the war in Iraq - and perhaps most importantly, call the American people to shared service and sacrifice. In this campaign, he has drawn millions of voters into politics for the first time in their lives and shown us that we are united by so much more than that which divides us.

That is why I believe the time has come for Democrats to come together as a Party and focus on winning the general election. The stakes are too high not to.

The last seven years have been as difficult as any I can remember. More than ever, we need a President who will inspire us to take part in the political process and change our country's path.

Today, when we need it most, we are hearing a new call from Barack Obama. And I hope you, like me, will answer it in the affirmative.

Please get involved in Barack Obama's campaign now: http://action.barackobama.com/doddsupporters

Sincerely,

Chris Dodd

thats not funny!

Hey Sandy, It looks like a winter wonderland outside this morning.
There must be at least 8 inches of that nasty four letter word on the ground, and the trees and powerlines are all frosted.
gorgeous..

OMG I hate winter.

Lucille - how are you this A.M.?

sup kitty "im too blessed to be stressed" HA as they say round my way!

I know pbtrue1 - I am NOT liking this, usually I don.t mind it.
But I guess since I have gotten older - I want spring & summer more.
Plus I am SO tired of having to get all dressed up to keep warm.

do i de-claw the pussy when i get it?

Hey I love that... I have to remember that saying - because sometimes I get all into
stupid things that don't matter. Tanks doll :)

it varies based upon personal taste. ... don't FEAR the claws - try it you might like it!

Hillary Clinton and
the Israel Lobby
by Joshua Frank

George W. Bush's position on Iran is "disturbing" and "dangerous," reads a position paper written in late 2005 by American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). One year ago the Bush administration accepted a Russian proposal to allow Iran to continue to develop nuclear energy under Russian supervision. Needless to say, AIPAC wasn't the least bit happy about the compromise.

In a letter to congressional allies, mostly Democrats, the pro-Israel organization admitted it was "concerned that the decision not to go to the Security Council, combined with the U.S. decision to support the 'Russian proposal,' indicates a disturbing shift in the Administration's policy on Iran and poses a danger to the U.S. and our allies."

Israel, however, continues to develop a substantial nuclear arsenal. In 2000, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported that Israel has likely produced enough plutonium to make up to 200 nuclear weapons. So it is safe to say that Israel's bomb-building technologies are light years ahead of Iran's budding nuclear program. Yet Israel still won't admit they have capacity to produce such deadly weapons.

http://www.antiwar.com/frank/?articleid=10372

you know I WILL LOVE that, but i dont think my little one would!

is illegal in California. :)

On eve of debate, Gennifer Flowers says she'll auction tapes of President ClintonRAW STORY

As if Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) didn't have enough to worry about.

Gennifer Flowers, who accused then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton of having a twelve-year relationship with her in 1992, announced Monday she is auctioning tapes of conversations she had with the former president.

“I don’t need to hurt Hillary," a jilted Flowers announced in the Las Vegas Review Journal Tuesday. "She is doing a fine job of that herself, along with her idiot husband. Karma is an interesting thing. If these two don’t get elected, and they are a team, it will be karma coming back to visit them. It's about time."

Clinton admitted having sexual relations with Flowers, once, in his autobiography, My Life.

Major media panned Flowers' timing, and the tapes' suspected content.

Bemoans the Los Angeles Times: "One can only imagine what else is on those tapes about shopping lists, the stock market and the dry cleaners. Those preserved phone conversations all came before Monica and what's-her-name and the other one with the big hair."

Flowers doesn't deny she's looking for money. She told the Journal she's "kept the tapes 'very safe all these years, and when I just recently received more interest, I said, 'Why not?'"

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/On_eve_of_debate_Gennifer_Flowers_0226.htm...

I am thinking that because Chris Dodd was the first presidential candidate to endorse Barack Obama that the prospect of Dodd becoming Majority Leader in the Senate is enhanced, if Obama is elected President. How great would that be to have President Obama and Chris Dodd Senate Majority Leader. Just think what might get done!!

The Problem with Barack Obama's Israel Pose
by Joshua Frank

Sen. Barack Obama isn't quite sure how he feels about the lopsided situation between Israel and Palestine. Less than two weeks after Obama gloated to AIPAC about his love for Israel, he unexpectedly admitted the truth while campaigning in Iowa recently. "[N]obody is suffering more than the Palestinian people..." said Obama, "the Israeli government must make difficult concessions for the peace process to restart..." The truth hurts indeed, and Obama has been feeling the wrath of the pro-Israel activists since his statement last week.

Nonetheless, Obama shouldn't be trusted on the issue. While Rep. Dennis Kucinich hired avid pro-Palestine advocate Noura Erakat to sit on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Obama has been backpedaling – assuring AIPAC and others that he is unwavering in his support for Israel's continued bullying of Iran and occupation of Palestine.

"[Iran] is a genuine threat" to the United States and Israel, expressed Obama at a forum sponsored by AIPAC on March 12 in Washington D.C., only one day after his lucid remarks in Iowa. At the event Obama also reiterated that he would not rule out the use of force in disarming Iran, a position shared by the other leading Democratic presidential contenders, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.

http://www.antiwar.com/frank/?articleid=10683

What is the status - TRMS podcast is not available through iTunes - of AAR online?

Good morning!
Congrats on your new computer, your son sounds like a wonderful kid.
Personally, I would go with the declaw on the front feet anyway.
I have one tiny female that I didn't have the heart to declaw and my entire house has become a scratching post.
NOT cool

"We’re finally at a moment when Bush needs the world more than the world needs Bush"
----
One election at a time...

thank god for New York, but kidding aside though wouldnt they be scratching the crap out of my baby? and whats up with this throwing up thingy...am i going to walk around wiping up cat vomit?

Was that really Chubby that was in here last night or was

it a nic stealer? If it was Chubbs....he must be off his

meds. He really pissed me off.

Pa. man charged in stabbing after spat over Obama vs. Clinton

By Associated Press February 25, 2008

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Montgomery County authorities say a man stabbed his brother-in-law during an argument over who should get the Democratic nomination for president.

What’s more, 28-year-old Jose Ortiz, who’s charged with felony assault, is a registered Republican.

District Attorney Risa Ferman says Ortiz supports Hillary Clinton and Sean Shurelds supports Barack Obama. She says they got into an argument in a Collegeville home and Shurelds tried to choke Ortiz. She says Ortiz then stabbed Shurelds in the abdomen.

Shurelds was listed in critical condition at a hospital.

http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2008/02/25/breaking_news/breaking850....

well look who his mother is?? teehee--
thanks, i am trying to learn as much as i can before her birthday in july, she will love it i just know..(i wont)

I AM CANCELING Stephie due to her & the "& the Mooks'" actions....do to BIAS pro Obama -- father who PAID for her 'SC degree was her way, not on "talent".
WOW "EDIT" I'm Just Say'n', I could. LMAO.

I am keeping Ring of Fire & Rachel & possibly CLOUT, since he had on Rosanne Barr PRO HILLARY. And will be contacting several "other" places.

I Never Voted For Nader Nor bush

the shit gets funnier everyday

It's like amputating part of his paws!

If you are lucky you can train him to use a scratching post. And, keeping his claws clipped will help. I clip my 2 cats claws. It's pretty easy.

There are a lot of helpful tips out there on how to train a cat to use a scratching post.

Sorry to inform you that Roseanne has changed her position. Last night she had Rosie O'Donnell on and Rosie very deftly steered Roseanne to the LIGHT! Roseanne now is advocating an Obama/Clinton ticket.

Reagan Democrats played a key role in electing a new present in 1980; now Obama Republicans seem to be emerging as a significant political force - at least in the primaries.

In the Wisconsin primary, almost nine per cent of Obama's vote came from Republicans, according to exit polls. Other states that permitted Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary include Virginia, where almost seven per cent of Obama's support came from Republicans - and the Democrats dream of carrying Republican Virginia in the fall. In Missouri, almost six per cent of Obama's support came from Republicans. Missouri is a key swing state that has voted for the winner in every presidential election since 1904 except one.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=290350

this is why i am fucked up today....do/dont/doesnt
WHICH ONE IS IT!!!...jeez!
alright i will follow my heart thats it! probably chop the whole paw off!

By Robert Davis, USA TODAY
NASSAWADOX, Va. — In the modest building that houses Shore Memorial Hospital in this town of about 600 people between the Chesapeake and Hog Island bays, a health care crisis is brewing.
It's a problem rooted in the 1980s and 1990s, when U.S. medical schools put a cap on enrollments, believing that managed health care, among other factors, would create a glut of doctors.

They were wrong. And now the impact of a national shortage of surgeons and family practice doctors is echoing across the country.

The shortage of surgeons is a particular threat to the health care of 54 million rural Americans, medical specialists say, including the "watermen" who catch crabs, scoop clams and grow oysters here.

Shore Memorial, which on average has 61 patient admissions a day, was built 70 years ago to save lives being lost to simple ills such as appendicitis. Having a surgeon is vital to keeping open the doors of Shore Memorial and thousands of other small hospitals like it.

But as local doctors have moved away from this community or retired during the past 10 years, the ranks have fallen from seven full-time surgeons to two. There also are only two anesthesiologists; one is nearing retirement.

Medical schools were "woefully wrong" in their calculations, says Josef Fischer, who as chairman of surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston trains new surgeons every year. "It's going to be tough in this situation to make it better."

From the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, several national advisory groups, including the Institute of Medicine and the Council on Graduate Medical Education, issued reports forecasting a surplus of physicians. As a result, medical schools voluntarily held enrollment relatively constant at about 16,000 new students a year. From 1980 to 2005, enrollment was flat while the U.S. population grew by more than 70 million, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-26-doctor-shortage_N.htm

Do Not Declaw!
new
Submitted by mo lib on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 10:20am.

-
i know a somebody with s fully de-clawed cat.. the cat seems very happy. i would be happy if i slept 23 hours a day.

and what ever you do, preach 'Abstenance only' to your kitty.

That worked out so well in my house....NOT lol

Puking could be worms, or hairballs. Dose it with a good wormer, and scrub the litter box thoroughly. Only a suggestion.
sorry, but it's a dang animal....

"We’re finally at a moment when Bush needs the world more than the world needs Bush"
----
One election at a time...

Weird.. I was reading your post & one of my kitties was throwing up.
He (Noodles) ate some onion skin.
I have 5 inside kitties Lucille as you probably know. I clean up puke all of the time.
More than I like..
Consistency is the key with any pet that you are trying to train. If it is scratching on something or someone
you remove the kitty & put it by the scratching post. mo lib is correct you can do it !!!!

My neutered and declawed cat still climbs trees, and is an avid hunter. He hasn't suffered a moment of PTSD.

"We’re finally at a moment when Bush needs the world more than the world needs Bush"
----
One election at a time...

ya big tease

WHAT? the muthafuckers are going to be jumping my kids bones too?

that is EVIL. De-Clawing in my opinion is not right. Just my opinion.

Do Not Declaw!
new
Submitted by mo lib on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 10:20am.

If the cat gets out THEY CANNOT DEFEND THEMSELVES! We had 4 plus children and had cats when even we were in MaMa's Tummy.

AND RE Rosie.... I did not mention her because I do not have the time to say all...Rosie wanted ALL to get along (simply put)... I heard it a bit differently than you. I heard & respect ROSIE and her opinions ... But it SOUNDED to me That Rosanne said Yes Lets have the Hill & Obama ... aka the two running. They even said Hillary would NEVER run as VP.

do you have an actual kitty or an adult cat..?

McCain to FEC: Why Can't You Leave Me Alone?
The McCain campaign's lawyer Trevor Potter writes to the campaign to argue that his client has "a constitutional right to withdraw from the program."

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/todays_must_read_284.p...

de-clawing & sleeping are 2 different things..
sleeping is a little less stressful & a little less painful.
de-clawing is painful & stressful!

what the hell is that now? the wall the door what is that? i now wondering now if i can do this!

Inflation soared in January
by Chris in Paris · 2/26/2008 10:01:00 AM ET · Link
Discuss this post here: Comments (11) · reddit · FARK ·· Digg It!

More evidence of stagflation, not to mention incompetence by Bernanke.
The Labor Department said Tuesday that wholesale prices rose 1 percent last month, more than double the 0.4 percent increase that economists had been expecting.

The January surge left wholesale prices rising by 7.5 percent over the past 12 months, the fastest pace in more than 26 years, since prices had risen at a 7.5 percent pace in the 12 months ending in October 1981.
In his desire to help out Wall Street his policies are brutalizing average Americans who can't keep up with rising costs. This troubled economy is still in the beginning phase of unraveling and Washington is doing its best to drag it out.

This isn't like the S&L crisis of John McCain's 1980s where a few billion could patch things up. We are looking at hundreds of billions of dollars of bad business that were allowed because of GOP policies. It's not as easy as writing a few checks and hoping it will work out. Specific policy by Republicans brought us here and it's going to take a few years to get past this. We now need to decide if we are going to throw good money after bad to Wall Street or help minimize inflation for the general population. At the moment, it's all for Wall Street.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080226/ap_on_go_ot/economy;_ylt=Ao_DVQ5I5Eh...

All I'm saying is my friend treats the cat nice and its happy. I wouldnt pay for elective surgery on an animal...not natural.

I have goldfish, to absorb badluck.

toniD - you have a lot of snow by you. We have at least 6 inches.
I want spring - how about you?

With a little effort and commitment to your cat's welfare, you can eliminate the excuse to
declaw your cat and make him or her a better companion as well.

Three-Point Program
To train a kitten or to retrain an adult cat requires the following measures:

See Link for information...

This scratching post has been cat tested and approved by various felines. If you would rather buy this scratching post already made, SmartCat makes a sisal post called the Ultimate Scratching Post that you can purchase.

Here is a list of the supplies needed (These supplies can be purchased at any building supply store).

One cedar post that is about 30" tall and at least 4" in diameter
A bundle of non-oiled sisal rope measuring a 1/2" wide
A piece of 3/4" plywood to make the base sturdy (at least 16 x 16 diameter)
1/2" roofing nails
Four 3/4" 16d coated sinker nails
The requirement for this type of scratching post has come from our "cat testers." The reasoning behind this cat post is simple. A post should be as high as your cat is tall when he is fully stretched out plus a few inches. The post should also be wide enough that your cat can sit on top and survey his surroundings. The base should be sturdy enough that the post will not tip over. Once a post tips over on a cat it is very hard to convince a cat to use the post again. The post should be wrapped with sisal rope
because cats like something to dig their nails into.

http://www.catsinternational.org/articles/scratching_and_declawing/build...

DIRECTIONS: Before beginning you will want to make sure your post is dry so that there will not be any shrinking of the post after the sisal is wrapped on. To make the post you might want to wear a pair of work gloves when you wrap the sisal around the post. To start you will want to nail the beginning of your rope all the way around the top of the post. Then you wind the rope around and around and around the post very tightly so that there is no air space between the pieces of rope. This process will take you all th e way down to the bottom, once again nail the end of your rope all the way around the bottom of the post. Next you will want to nail the base on to the post, use about four nails and pound them through the bottom of the plywood base and into the bottom of the post. You no have a cat approved scratching post!

TRAINING: To introduce the post to your cat you may want to use catnip as a lure for older cats (kittens younger then 5 months of age are not affected by catnip). Rub the catnip right into the rope so that the cat can smell that wonderful smell. Once your cat has smelled the catnip scratch your nails, gently, along the surface of the rope. This will help teach your cat where to scratch. Once your cat begins to scratch, praise your cat, tell them what a good cat they are. You could also reward your cat with a food t reat, cats love treats. This post can help save your furniture, if your cat is using a certain corner of the couch for a scratching post start out your new post right by the corner of the couch. Cover that corner of the couch with double-sided sticky tape that is completely unattractive to your cat (the tape can easily be removed for entertaining company). This will repel your cat away from your couch and right there is a post that they will love. If this does not work for you please contact us and let us help find an effective solution for you and your cat.

Talk at you later.

http://www.angelicalcat.com/c1_scratch_posts.shtml

you kidding me? now its the house that jack built? oh no, i am getting real scared now

this is nothing more than a calculated gambit that in a few weeks those tapes have a chance that they will be worthless...

scratching post smcgee43!

the scratching post
new
Submitted by Lucille on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 10:41am.

This was kinda new......

(I had kittens and cats (and dogs) ... now save strays, & "fix" them and keep most....even ex-dead-rats-walking (to pound)

TO SAVE WOOD... and I am surrounded by wood "moldings" ??? or whatevever ....

"Smarty Kat - Super Scratcher+" WITH CATNIP
My cats love it the most. They have BOTH, but favours The Scratch Box. You can get at even Petco and check smaller animal places (where I go).

I couldn't understand what happened with you and Chubbs that upset you....but I am pretty sure it's really him...not a nic stealer...

But very slow.

The blog went down for me for awhile.

Just got back on.

Wow!

This website finally loaded at 8:03 for me.

By the way, if you have time, my ex-housemate who is a journalist got on a 60-minutes segment this Sunday with Anderson Cooper. It is about a cult group in Oakland which took a lot of people with no other options under their wing, and via their bakery they intimidated and killed a lot of people
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3870543n&cha...

wha? is maron a mac user? teach him to right click already

I know a bunch of elderly just like maron ; always complaining their computers dont have enough " mega-powers"

is that what happened...phew boy i was getting the shakes

haha, if this show started flawlessly I wouldn't know it was maron v seder. Love it!~It's part of the charm. OUCH, stitches on a fingertip~dang.

speaking of paws! marc!

Maron!

10 to 15 stiches only cost about $600 ... even at the emergency room

*here*

A double-dip of Sammer...shades of the MRR Ironman Seder of old doing the occasional 7-hr shift.

does sam know that maron is ranting and that they are talking over each other?

Submitted by MMRules on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 2:36am.
Where did you grow up,Chubbs ?
--------
Editor's note: Replace "Where" with "When." Follow with reply, "Din't." Follow with typo jokes.

Uuuh, hey, Marc, I think that his friend Thelma does most of the editing for him... which is why she has 5 or 6 Oscars to her credit.

Well...for starters...he twisted my words and put them out

of context to try to make some silly point and then had

the balls to ask ME what alternate universe I am living in.

Why did that little bit of nonsense bug me?

Because it's the first time since he's been back that I've

seen the old Chubby emerge. The Chubby that gets off on

starting fights just for the hell of it.

with a heart problem. Per MSNBC

blame liz taylor for that! oops!

Mwah HaHa.....
Oh Fernando. that reminds me of "The Cow & The Parasite......" Mwah HaHa

I noticed the spat yesterday. Glad to see you here!

No country for old men was awful. Just boring gratuitous violence. Such a pathetic ending. And I love Coen brothers films.

Blood Simple, Fargo , big lebowski all were 10 times better.

More on Chris Dodd

Submitted by mo lib on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 10:11am.

I am thinking that because Chris Dodd was the first presidential candidate to endorse Barack Obama that the prospect of Dodd becoming Majority Leader in the Senate is enhanced, if Obama is elected President. How great would that be to have President Obama and Chris Dodd Senate Majority Leader. Just think what might get done!!

buwahaha

"We’re finally at a moment when Bush needs the world more than the world needs Bush"
----
One election at a time...

Hi T. Snowing like hell here, too. It's a beautiful day and

PP an I are going out for a walk in our new neighborhood.

I was surprised to see the "old" Chubby emerge there. If

you reread the thread you will see that it was total

nonsense. I hope he is OK. It is not going to be easy for

him as so many of us have reminded him.

maybe the scones have something more in them!

I heard a very similiar argument for Bush when it was pointed out his lack of experience...

there used to be a blogger named Rusty
Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 2:55am.
A brilliant blogger from Richland PA...I'm not sure what happened to him.
-----
He was struck and killed by a speeding Karmann Ghia.
--------------------------
Submitted by Meg on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 7:55am.
...I was at work til after 6... Painting backdrops for the Black History Program.
-----
(I wonder what colors are included in backdrops of color?)

with his flag lapel

The trees,the roofs the streets, because my village is out of salt, everything.

I'm so sick of snow.

Weatherman blaming it on La Ninia! Hot summer also.

Chubs will get over it. Things seem not to be going his way right now.

No country for old men was
new
Submitted by red on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 11:26am.
No country for old men was awful. Just boring gratuitous violence. Such a pathetic ending.

_____________________

2007 movies that were better than No Country: 3:10 to Yuma remake, There Will Be Blood, American Gangster, etc.

That Oscar is a cultist vote. There is a Cult of Cohen Brothers in Hollywood. I know this firsthand.

By thw way, I agree with you completely about its ending. I actually groaned at the end.

I know...,but I did talk with him about some things he is

going to face and it isn't going to be easy. I'm rooting

for him cause he's a good guy.

rumsfeld, powell, dick, gates, negraponte

Today's Must Read
The clock is still ticking.

Any day now, McCain will pass the spending limit for the primaries under the public financing system. He wants out of the system and claims he has a "constitutional right" to withdraw. The FEC says it must agree to his withdrawal, but it's unable to act because of a lack of commissioners.

Who blinks first?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/todays_must_read_284.p...

http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php

coffee!

this is the perfect snow to build a giant Snowman.

"We’re finally at a moment when Bush needs the world more than the world needs Bush"
----
One election at a time...

OooooK

and now the Sammy cam is locked up completely.

Are they using '80s-era Soviet equipment for this thing? Are the cams powered by kersone?

wtf folks?

*kerosene

Immigration Agency Accused of Illegal Searches

A privately convened commission of labor and immigrant advocates held the first of several planned nationwide hearings yesterday to publicize allegations that U.S. immigration officials routinely violate constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure during workplace raids.

At the gathering at the Hay-Adams hotel in the District, witnesses and members of the 10-person panel accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials of using arrest warrants for a limited number of illegal immigrants who work at a given company as a pretext to detain the entire workforce, including many U.S. citizens, while agents determine whether there are additional illegal immigrants among them.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/25/AR200802...

its worse than that:

Bosnian Serbs try to storm US consulate

Bosnian Serb Protesters Angry Over Kosovo Clash With Police While Trying to Storm US Consulate

IRENA KNEZEVIC
AP News

Feb 26, 2008 10:34 EST

Police fired tear gas at Bosnian Serb rioters Tuesday to prevent them from storming the building of the U.S. consulate after protests against Kosovo's independence.

A group split away from the almost 10,000 peaceful protesters in Banja Luka and headed toward the consulate, breaking shop windows and throwing stones at police who blocked the streets leading to the building with armored vehicles.

A rain of stones poured down on police before officers fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. Several officers were seen limping. Police were also seen detaining several demonstrators as they withdrew to a nearby park.

Hundreds of hooligans attacked the U.S. embassy in downtown Belgrade Thursday, setting part of it on fire and smashing windows. One person died and hundreds were injured and arrested.

Some bystanders returning from the peaceful part of Tuesday's protest yelled "shame on you!" at the rioters and one man, apparently a former Bosnian Serb soldier, shouted, "This is not what I fought for!"

The incident occurred despite repeated calls by organizers to hold a peaceful protest against Kosovo's independence. Police secured diplomatic missions in the city and warned it would use all legal means to prevent violence.

Tuesday's protest begun with participants gathering peacefully at the main square in downtown Banja Luka, carrying Serbian flags, pictures of Russian President Vladimir Putin and banners reading "No America." At least one U.S. flag had a swastika scribbled on it.

Bosnia consists of two mini-states, one run by Bosnian Serbs, the other by Bosnians and Croats. The Bosnian Serb parliament has condemned Kosovo's declaration of independence and said it will consider a referendum to secede from Bosnia if more countries recognize an independent Kosovo.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/02/bosnian_serbs_try_to_storm_us....

Since they're speculating about possible running mates, would Obama pick someone like Kansas Governor Kathleen Sibelius as VP?

Obama/Edwards a while back

>>Was that really Chubby that was in here last night or was

>>it a nic stealer? If it was Chubbs....he must be off his

>>meds. He really pissed me off.

Really?

What is your fucking problem?

I disagreed with you...disagreements happens all the time.

Get over it. You escalated it into namecalling.

take responsibility for your actions.

Go back and re-read the exchange and you will see you totally over-reacted.

Now, you are bring it up again (and again) with your of passive aggressive attack.

get over it.

Mark Green

Are you serious ?

Doyou want to lose

talk about others behind their backs...is there a name for that?

politician?

People who...
new
Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 12:03pm.
talk about others behind their backs...is there a name for that?

Depends on who there talking about..

Read the exchange...decide for yourself.

Superior Maron v Seder today!

Very enlightening discussion of the democratic presidential race and the qualities of leadership.

pretty good show.

sam should do a call in segment.

3PM est for more Sammer

Maron should call Sam during the show, too. ; )

Um, no, I don't want to lose. I wasn't even advocating Obama/Sibelius. The topic was "who might Obama pick," and Sam and Marc were discussing the possibility that he might choose a prominent woman politician such as Janet Napolitano. SO, I merely raised the question about Sibelius, to see if anybody had heard anything about her (plus, doesn't Obama have Kansas connections?).

Again, not advocating it; just trying to discuss it. Didn't realize I was going to get attacked for bringing it up!

i've heard that on more than one ocassion, mostly because Sebelius is the daughter of an ohio governor (gilligan) and has local roots here in cincinnati.

the other one floating around is mccain /portman. portman was our local congressman for a long long time till he took a spot in the bush crime family and mean jean schmidt took his congressional seat.

yeah i had fun too today! marc should eat his scones more often

"We’re finally at a moment when Bush needs the world more than the world needs Bush"
----
One election at a time...

Since we're discussing it, what in particular would make Sibelius such a sure-fire "loser" as Obama's running mate? From what I've read of her, she's been very successful in Kansas, as Napolitano has been in Arizona (though I'm sure in very different ways, since they're very different states).

It's on at 8:00am PST MM not 9:00am !

How was the show ?
Good I'm sure..

Screwed up by Time Zones ! Suck !

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Strong on the blog lately.

Calm down everyone!

Maybe we need more trolls to fight.

Too many years here to be fighting each other now.

Rosa Parks to take a Cab: "Screw this Bus Shit" Says Montgomery, Alabama, Commuter

missed the show.

:)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Can Mortgage Industry Block Help?
By Elizabeth Warren - February 25, 2008, 7:29PM
The pending bankruptcy amendment that would let judges make a downward adjustment on mortgages when the loan exceeds the value of the property goes to a vote in the Senate tomorrow. It will take 60 votes to push the bill forward. The mortgage lenders think they can block it, giving the Republicans a chance to kill the bill through filibuster.

Right now this is the only bill pending in Congress that would have any meaningful impact on the slide in the real estate market. The bill would provide critical benefits: It would put an estimated 500,000 families into long term, permanent mortgages that they could afford, and it would cost investors far less than a foreclosure. Best of all, it would force the write downs to be absorbed by the investors, not the taxpayers.

The mortgage industry is opposed. Perhaps the industry believes it can squeeze out more by talking people into handing over the keys to their homes or in pushing through to foreclosure. Or perhaps the industry believes that if things get bad enough, the government will bail them out. Either way, the industry doesn't want to have to write down the loans.

Larry Summers weighed in via his column in the Economist. He supports the bill as a way to create a mechanism to get the borrowers into deals that are good for the borrowers and cheaper for the lenders. He points out the the current ideas of jawboning the lenders just isn't working. But he seems to be having some trouble with the details of how bankruptcy works.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/25/can_mortgage_industry_bl...

i don't think it would. i do think that vp is going to be a big big part in this race.

its macabre, but if mccain won, i think he's far enough over the hill that he might not serve out his whole term.

if its obama, his selection will be used to diminish all the shit the neocons and far right are going to throw at him for being black and "moooslim". picking a woman for a running mate would give him the strength of an obama clinton ticket without the clinton baggage, if you believe such a thing exists.

I can't find anything definitive on the Googles. Seems 'mums da word'.
Several Governors have been suggested.
An Obama/Edwards would be sweet.

"We’re finally at a moment when Bush needs the world more than the world needs Bush"
----
One election at a time...

Again, not advocating it; just trying to discuss it. Didn't realize I was going to get attacked for bringing it up!
---

-- dont be so dramatic.... you werent "attacked"

i think both names together sound too foreign and comlicated and i think the names would scare and confuse people.

but a woman from a red state is a real good idea.

Rob Portman...

Access denied
Your IP address (75.92.216.120) was recently used to post spam to this website. For this reason, you are currently not allowed to post new content. If you believe this is in error, please contact the site administrator.
You are not authorized to access this page.

Hartmann doesn't have the balls for it.

Frankly, most of the AAR hosts don't have the balls for it... in some cases literally.

"OH, YOU SEXIST!"

I kid, folks.

Just as long as the VP's last name isn't Bush, or Walker, or Pierce.
Did you see where Huckabee's wife's maiden name was McCain?

"We’re finally at a moment when Bush needs the world more than the world needs Bush"
----
One election at a time...

Defense Department to Reinforce Nations Brassieres: Angora Sweaters Nearing Breaking Point

Some days my brain doesn't have enough"Mega-Powers" !

Read up thread. ;)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Two Funds Raise Their Stake in Times Company to 19%
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

Two hedge funds trying to elect a dissident slate to the board of The New York Times Company amassed 19.03 percent of the company’s common stock before last week’s deadline for gaining voting power at the annual meeting, according to a report filed Monday.

That rivals the holdings of the Times Company’s chairman, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., and his family, who have effectively controlled the selection of directors. A two-tiered stock structure gives the family unfettered control of 9 of the 13 board seats; what the hedge funds are fighting for is control of the other four.

The funds, Harbinger Capital Partners and Firebrand Partners, contend that the company is not taking full advantage of its potential value. They take the position that the Times Company should sell assets; focus on the flagship newspaper, The New York Times; and invest more in Internet operations. But the funds have also said that they do not intend to challenge the two-tiered stock structure or the control of the company by the Sulzbergers.

The company’s assets include About.com, The International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, a string of smaller newspapers, majority ownership of a new high-rise headquarters building in Manhattan, and a minority stake in the Boston Red Sox.

The company can try to strike a deal with the hedge funds and split the four seats, or face a full-fledged proxy fight for all four — a fight that it might lose.

Last week, the company nominated a slate of four directors for election by Class A shareholders and sent letters to shareholders urging them not to return proxy cards from Harbinger and Firebrand. But it insisted that the slate was preliminary and that it was still considering the candidates of the hedge funds.

“Members of our nominating and governance committee plan to meet with each of the four Harbinger nominees, either by phone or in person,” said Catherine Mathis, a spokeswoman for the Times Company. She said that the company has not yet contacted those four candidates.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/business/media/26times.html?_r=2&ei=50...

GOP setting up Senate showdown over war funding

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) has introduced two bills he said would re-focus the US military on its most pressing missions against al Qaeda in Afghanistan while bringing the war in Iraq to an end.

Like pretty much every other measure to change course in the war, Feingold's proposals are expected to fail in the Senate, where Democrats hold a razor-thin majority. But Senate Republicans reportedly are planning to use the debate scheduled for Tuesday to engage in some political grandstanding aimed at painting Democrats as weak on national security.

The GOP believes it can hew to claims that President Bush's "troop surge" has been successful in Iraq because of some decreases in violence in and around Baghdad.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/GOP_setting_up_Senate_showdown_over_0226.h...

yes, I saw it this morning. very interesting

GAO Finds Data Protection Lagging

We've made some updates to washingtonpost.com's Groups, MyPost and comment pages. We need you to verify your MyPost ID by logging in before you can post to the new pages. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

Despite a steady stream of embarrassing computer security breaches, many major federal agencies still are doing too little to safeguard the sensitive personal information in their possession, according to congressional investigators.

Only two of 24 agencies studied by the Government Accountability Office in a report released last week had implemented all five security measures recommended by the Office of Management and Budget to protect personal information.

The top performers included the Treasury Department and the Department of Transportation. The worst were the Small Business Administration and the National Science Foundation, neither of which had adopted any of the measures, according to Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), one of two senators who requested the study. But officials at both agencies said yesterday that they had completed most or all of the recommended measures since GAO investigators last visited them in October.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/25/AR200802...

anti-depressants Not working and folks on the Blog start fighting ! ;)

Just kidding Dear.. :)

Mine make me appreciate Cranks jokes more ! ;)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

appear to be out today

I don't have a side on this one Chubbs. And, I'm SORRY it

was ME that stirred you up. I don't want into any pissing

match with you my man. Consider me STFU.

Go Department of Transportation !

My Sister works there.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

McConnell/Mukasey: Eavesdropping outside of FISA is "illegal"

(updated below - Update II - Update III)

The White House yesterday escalated its most brazen, Orwellian campaign of the last eight years -- shrilly accusing House Democrats of jeopardizing the nation's security by allowing the Protect America Act to expire even though it's the President and House Republicans who blocked any extensions of that law. As the Associated Press pointed out at the bottom of its story:

McConnell acknowledged last week that the White House's refusal to extend the wiretapping law was meant to pressure Congress to pass the Senate bill.

Ponder what it says about our press corps that the White House knows it can (a) block all attempts to extend the PAA and then (b) spend the next several weeks blaming Democrats for helping the Terrorists by allowing the PAA to expire. I know I've made that point before, but this one is so brazen, so transparent and audacious, that it just hasn't yet ceased to amaze.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=53004

Submitted by dan on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 12:14pm.
...its macabre, but if mccain won, i think he's far enough over the hill that he might not serve out his whole term...
-----------
Even more macabre (in my opinion), and even more frequently occurring in presidential history, is the effort to cover-up a president's fitness to serve.

A president's death is one thing...because the office falls to the vice-president.

A president's fitness to serve is another thing entirely...because the reins of government are secretly seized by a secret cabal which strives to keep secret the president's unfitness to serve.

good one Rules...at last some humor!

"A president's fitness to serve is another thing entirely...because the reins of government are secretly seized by a secret cabal which strives to keep secret the president's unfitness to serve."

Also, if you want to go strictly by your words, Roosevelt. He had polio and it was hidden, but he was a great president.

Can we add "mental" fitness!

Election year is a great time to catch up with Reality.

Even the 3% have to pull their heads out of the sand and think about how they look to the 97%. Ralph Nader reflects the view of this blog very nicely.

The 3% writes emails to Nancy about doing things the 97% way. They call Nancy a chickenshit and traitor. Then comes the 3%'s turn.

You would think everyone would be overjoyed to have Ralph carry thier banner out in public but that is not the case. They call Ralph a fool and troublemaker for doing just what the 3% does every day!

So next time your man in Congress votes with the 97%, you might want to remember you would do the same damn thing if it was you!

gotta look for something to suck on!

It has molasses in the tubes.

Basset Hound Beat Box

Coulter Caught On Camera: "Chop It Up So I Can Snort It"

Another one from Harry Shearer's Found Objects. First, Katie Couric spoofing Dan Rather behind the scenes — then another off-air Couric moment while she prepped for election coverage and slammed her old Today Show colleagues. Today, video of Ann Coulter chewing her Nicorette, but turning down a second piece unless "you can chop it up so I can snort it. That would help."

There's also more footage of Couric in the video below, fidgeting with her scarf, as well as Bill O'Reilly and Chris Matthews behind the scenes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/26/coulter-caught-on-camera_n_8846...

Friday, July 23, 2004
U.S. Army Offers Breast Implants as Incentive

One hardly knows what to say... from Democracy Now:

The U.S. Army is known for its recruiting slogan "Be All You Can Be," But now, according to The New Yorker magazine, the military is offering a new incentive. Soldiers and their families can receive plastic surgery, including breast enlargements, funded by US taxpayers.

In its July 26th edition, the New Yorker reports that members of all four branches of the U.S. military can get face-lifts, breast enlargements, liposuction and nose jobs for free -- something the military says helps surgeons practice their skills. Dr. Bob Lyons, chief of plastic surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio told the magazine "Anyone wearing a uniform is eligible." Between 2000 and 2003, military doctors performed 496 breast enlargements and more than 1,300 liposuction surgeries on soldiers and their dependents, the magazine said. The magazine quoted an Army spokeswoman as saying, "the surgeons have to have someone to practice on."

Red..
Dumb question..Is that true ?

I've never heard that before..
From Japan ?

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Submitted by toniD on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 12:36pm.
--------
Yeah, I include Roosevelt in the "hidden infirmity" group of presidents...twice: Once for becoming confined to the wheelchair and another time for being near his death.

I include any President of the United States who has ever been sick in any way. I believe that the knee-jerk reaction is to hide the infirmity from the public.

If the infirmity improves or is no-big-deal, then the effort to hide it is unimportant.

If the infirmity worsens, the seeds of a cover-up have already been planted...and the membership in the secret cabal has already been established.

Watch out though..There are some Funky military Doctors !

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

The Right to Counsel, in the Right Situations

Zacarias Moussaoui would seem to have little to complain about. He is an admitted member of Al Qaeda. He has pleaded guilty to plotting to commit mass murder. He was tried in a federal court in Virginia before a judge who generally seemed attentive to his constitutional rights. And he was spared the death penalty.

But it turns out that Mr. Moussaoui has two powerful and quite fundamental objections to how his case was handled, both involving the right to counsel guaranteed by the Constitution. He is asking the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va., to let him withdraw his guilty plea and start over from scratch.

According to an appellate brief filed last month but only recently made public, the trial judge, Leonie M. Brinkema, of Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., issued two rulings that interfered with Mr. Moussaoui’s ability to defend himself. One concerned which lawyers could represent him, the other what his lawyers could tell him.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/us/26bar.html?ex=1361768400&en=60befcb...

and I bet they all vote Republican.

"We’re finally at a moment when Bush needs the world more than the world needs Bush"
----
One election at a time...

I have goldfish, to absorb badluck
new
Submitted by MMRules on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 12:46pm.

Its Feng shui .... the theory is any evil spirits, or any bad luck entering your house; the fish absord it and die instead of you.

basically , they just look cool

Rove advising on Bush library

12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, February 26, 2008

ROVE IN ON LIBRARY

Karl Rove left President Bush's side as his chief political adviser in August, but he's still been active tending to his ex-boss's legacy. Mark Langdale, president of the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, said Monday that Mr. Rove has provided advice on the project in an informal capacity.

"Karl's pretty busy doing a lot of things in his private life right now, but he's a critical resource about what happened in the administration, and he has a lot of good ideas about programming and positioning," said Mr. Langdale, a longtime friend and former neighbor of Mr. Bush.

Just recently, Mr. Langdale said, Mr. Rove e-mailed with suggestions about the size of an auditorium for the library complex.

"I would appreciate his continued advice on how we can build a better library institution," Mr. Langdale said.

The library foundation has also received legal advice from former White House counsel Harriet Miers. Paul Meyer

Rove advising on Bush library

12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, February 26, 2008

ROVE IN ON LIBRARY

Karl Rove left President Bush's side as his chief political adviser in August, but he's still been active tending to his ex-boss's legacy. Mark Langdale, president of the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, said Monday that Mr. Rove has provided advice on the project in an informal capacity.

"Karl's pretty busy doing a lot of things in his private life right now, but he's a critical resource about what happened in the administration, and he has a lot of good ideas about programming and positioning," said Mr. Langdale, a longtime friend and former neighbor of Mr. Bush.

Just recently, Mr. Langdale said, Mr. Rove e-mailed with suggestions about the size of an auditorium for the library complex.

"I would appreciate his continued advice on how we can build a better library institution," Mr. Langdale said.

The library foundation has also received legal advice from former White House counsel Harriet Miers. Paul Meyer

on Thom Hartman talking about the Valdez penny pinching. Said lack of radar is an issue and missing markers were the issue. That's a crock.

I worked for NOAA an entire summer and mapped the area (literally he had to be using one of my maps). There is a narrow channel going to and from Valdez for tankers. Large - real large rocks are everywhere out of that area. The ship wrecked outside of the shipping lane and that is why they hit rocks. Giant markers are visible for long distances to keep traffic safe. Who ever was at the helm (a job I also did) was not looking at what was going on.

Those ships also move at incredible speeds. Exxon was careless and a terrible accident happened but I don't think anyone who knows ships could say a radar would have been helpfull. The charts clearly shows the dangers outside of the markers.

The U.S.S. Fairweather bow

If it works, I'm a gettin me a case of them suckers ! ;)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

talk about weapons of mass destruction

think they're still snoozin at the bottom of the pond.

496 breast enlargements
Submitted by Lucille on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 1:04pm.
talk about weapons of mass destruction
--------------
...and nipping the buds.

(I count at least two puns buried therein.)

Ya gotta feel sorry for Hillary! She just didn't have the kind of team that George Bush and Bill Clinton had in thier campaigns. For such a tough gal Hillary sure went soft headed bringing in a bunch of gals who couldn't fight. Karl Rove would have easily beaten Obama and had Hillary resting in the sun waiting for the General Election.

Perhaps it is all for the best!

If Hillary had been elected she might have brought the same boneheads to the White House and then we would have all been in trouble.

Gore would be a good example of that. Could you imagine what a mess we would be in if Al Gore would have brought the Loony Global Warming Mess to Washington DC?

Hahahahahahahahahahaha.. Then we have have coldest winter in 40 years! Hahahahahahaha. What a Dope!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19354039

Religion Survey Finds Many Americans Swap Faiths
---------------
"I'll give you two of my Assembly of God's for your Sufi Dancer."

It's must be a tiny thing!

I was hungry so I made myself a Zucchini Fritata for lunch. It's an Italian omelette.

I'm still waiting for the Bush Posse to get their come- uppance!

wild looking hobbit home!

http://www.simondale.net/house/build.htm

About 8,000 'surge' troops will remain in Iraq, Pentagon

President Bush ordered nearly 30,000 additional troops to Iraq in January 2007

Surge troops will leave Iraq by July: 140,000 troops will remain

Bush admin. touts drop in American death toll as sign of surge's success

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- About 8,000 of the 30,000 "surge" troops sent to Iraq in 2007 will not go home as planned this summer, the Pentagon said Monday.

President Bush ordered nearly 30,000 additional troops to Iraq in January 2007 as part of a troop surge.

Support troops -- including helicopter crews, supply units, military police and headquarters staff -- will still be needed when the additional combat units return home, said Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, the chief of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In particular, U.S. troops are still needed to guard Iraqi prisons, he said.

"The transfer of responsibility for detention operations has not progressed as rapidly as we would like to the Iraqis, so there's a need to have that force sustained, as well," Ham said.

tiny?

got myself a chicken fajita...shit was the bomb, and i am about to explode from the refried beans

Nothing is really going to change there. Obama can bring a few troops home, but will have to turn right around and send them back. We are in a long term battle to change the Mideast and bring democracy to the area.

What can Obama do? Turn Iraq over to Bin Laden and the Terrorists?

time for brekkers!

sat chew Rules?
Submitted by Lucille on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 12:38pm.
*******
San Diego is run by a bunch of Freepers !

Former Diebold Sales Rep Becomes Registrar of Voters in San Diego
Submitted by MMRules on Fri, 05/25/2007 - 10:24am

http://samsedershow.com/node/291

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Sam's posting the Sunday VOD up for last Sunday.

That madman in Iran will spit right in Obama's eye! It would be worth the price of admission just to watch Obama fly over there and get his ass chewed off!

You know ever once in a while we need a guy like Obama to remind this country just what does not work!

They usually don't get elected because the 97% generally does not hold with that kind of foolishness, but Obama isn't your average dreamer, he has political talent.

Nader's desire to see more than two major presidential candidates would make more sense if the United States had a parliamentary system, in which parties are represented in government roughly according to their percentage of the vote.

But the president and the 535 members of Congress are chosen in winner-take-all races. This process leads almost inexorably to the emergence of two well-organized parties. In such races, third-party candidates are far more likely to play the spoiler - that is, to sink the candidate closest to them ideologically - than to be elected themselves.

*correction* weapons of mass distraction!

Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command (CENTCOM), derided Petraeus as a sycophant during their first meeting in Baghdad last March, according to Pentagon sources familiar with reports of the meeting.

Fallon told Petraeus that he considered him to be "an ass-kissing little chickenshit"

========

and so hopefully the only thing obama will say to betrayus is:

you're fired.

By Press TV

Some senior US military commanders are prepared to resign if President Bush orders a military strike against Iran, a new report says.

“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” The Sunday Times quoted Monday a source with close ties to British intelligence .

“There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible,” the source added.

If proven true a revolt on such a scale would be unprecedented because 'American generals usually stay and fight until they get fired,” said a Pentagon source.

Robert Gates, the defense secretary, has repeatedly warned against striking Iran and is believed to represent the view of his senior commanders.........

Even though Obama is way too far to the right for the 3%, it's easier to pretend to be a Democrat than to try to advance the 3% agenda in public.

You know what happens when you do the 3% talk in public! Who needs that kind of backlash? Better to go along with the Obama talk about change. Everyone knows Obama's change is really more of the same, but doing the 3% talk take a lot of time and energy.

Go Obama!

Members of Washington's military and defense establishment are expressing trepidation about Sen. Barack Obama, as the Illinois senator comes closer to winning the Democratic presidential nomination and leads in national polls to become commander in chief.

But his backers, including a former Air Force chief of staff, say the rookie senator believes in a strong military, and with it, a larger Army and Marine Corps.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080226/NATIO...

Pakistanis arrest militant linked to Bhutto attack

ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces have arrested an al Qaeda-linked militant wanted in connection with an assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto hours after she returned from exile in October.

Two-time prime minister Bhutto survived the suicide bombing on a procession in Karachi after she arrived home on Oct. 18, but nearly other 140 people were killed.

Bhutto was assassinated in a gun and bomb attack blamed on al Qaeda-linked militants in the city of Rawalpindi on Dec. 27.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/02/pakistanis_arrest_militant_lin...

With the Great Success of The Surge it would kinda tough to go against The Generals in Iraq!

You have to think of how Obama would look if Iraq falls to the Terrorists or fell to Iran after Obama pulled our troops out! Obama can't have that!

Obama has already said events will determine his actions in Iraq. That is just what we have been doing since we invaded!

Man fired for requesting a prostitute

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A judge has denied an Iowa man's claim that he shouldn't have been fired for repeatedly requesting help to procure a prostitute.

Neil Jorgensen, 62, of Kalona, worked at Riverside Casino and Golf Resort in Riverside and was given a gift certificate and free night's stay at the casino hotel to mark a year's employment.

After eating and drinking at a casino restaurant, he returned to his hotel room about midnight and later called hotel managers about hiring a prostitute. When managers refused to help him, he made a call to the adjacent resort and made the same request.

"The advertisement is that it's just like Las Vegas, so I thought I was in Las Vegas," Jorgensen testified at a hearing regarding his request for unemployment benefits.

Hotel workers were sent to Jorgensen's room to ask him to stop demanding prostitutes. When they arrived at his room, Jorgensen answered the door in the nude, human resources director Tim Donovan said.

Jorgensen was fired the next day.

At the hearing, Jorgensen said his actions didn't hurt the casino, and he said he'd received strong performance reviews. He also blamed the restaurant for serving him too much alcohol.

"I was absolutely plowed," he said.

Administrative Law Judge Terence Nice turned down Jorgensen's claim for unemployment benefits.

consider the source:

The Washington Times was founded in 1982 by Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church and the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, to be a conservative alternative to the larger Washington Post.

That'll teach him to tinkle outside

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

APPLETON, Wis. -- An apparently drunk man picked the wrong place to tinkle. Appleton police arrested the man Friday afternoon after he reportedly relieved himself in front of the police department.

The 40-year-old was cited for public urination and jailed on a probation violation.

A preliminary breath test indicated a blood-alcohol level four times the legal limit, police said.

..The sunset of the Protect America Act (PAA) does not put America at greater risk. Despite claims that have been made, surveillance currently occurring under the PAA is authorized for up to a year. New surveillance requests can be filed through current FISA law. As you have stated, "Unlike last summer, there is no backlog of cases to slow down getting surveillance approvals from the FISA court. We're caught up to all of it now." As court orders are received, telecom companies are required to comply. Also, existing NSA authority allows surveillance to be conducted abroad on any known or suspected terrorist without a warrant. It is unclear to us that the immunity debate will affect our surveillance capabilities.

You stated on Fox News Sunday February 17 "the entire issue here is liability protection for the carriers" and that with the expiration of the Protect America Act, the telecom companies "are less inclined to help us." As mentioned above, the authorizations of surveillance under the sunset PAA still run for a year and they provide clear legal protection to any cooperating communications carrier. For new targets that are somehow not covered by the existing authorizations, the FISA court can issue an order, which the telecom companies are legally obliged to follow. Telecommunications companies will continue to cooperate with lawful government requests, particularly since FISA orders legally compel cooperation with the government. Again, it is unclear to us that the immunity debate will affect our surveillance capabilities.

The intelligence community currently has the tools it needs to acquire surveillance of new targets and methods of communication. As in the past, applications for new targets that are not already authorized by the broad orders already in place under the PAA can be filed through the FISA courts, including the ability to seek warrants up to 72 hours retroactively. Despite this fact, the President claimed on February 16 that as a result of PAA not being extended by Congress "the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence will be stripped of their power to authorize new surveillance against terrorist threats abroad." It remains unclear-in light of the law-how the President believes surveillance capabilities have changed....

Army: Service must cut combat tours

By ANNE FLAHERTY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WASHINGTON -- The Army's top general said Tuesday he hopes to reduce combat tours for soldiers in Iraq from 15 months to 12 months this summer and would not go back to the longer tours even if President Bush decides to suspend troop reductions for the second half of the year.

Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff, told a Senate panel that the Army is under serious strain from years of war-fighting and must reduce the length of combat tours as soon as possible.

"The cumulative effects of the last six-plus years at war have left our Army out of balance, consumed by the current fight and unable to do the things we know we need to do to properly sustain our all-volunteer force and restore our flexibility for an uncertain future," Casey said.

Casey, who was the top U.S. commander in Iraq before taking the chief of staff job last spring, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that cutting the time soldiers spend in combat is an integral part of reducing the stress on the force.

He said he anticipates the service can cut combat tours from 15 months to 12 months this summer, as long as the president reduces the number of active-duty Army brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan to 15 units by July, as planned.

i did read somewhere that that thingy called "prozac"---it does not work (whispering)

It's getting pretty ugly and rough. Politics makes people nutty some times.

The world is afraid Iran would use President Obama just as they did President Jimmy Carter. A weak fearful President can be drawn into endless negotiations while Iran goes about it's business of building Nuclear Weapons.

With a President like Ronald Reagan, Iran would not dare take those kind of risks!

Do you think Iran would try to treat McCain the way they did Carter?

Thanks to your posts, I learned of Barack plans to spray America with Plutonium. I'm against that.

and what does the other camp look like? dam teehee...im sorry but this shit is wild!

...out of fear than Carter ever did.

the other guy was stabbed.

the beligerant stance the US has had w/Iran since the middle of the last century.

As much as I would like to see Obama's nonsense put to a real world test, we really can't afford another Jimmy Carter Debacle with Iran where it is in Building a Weapon!

FEBRUARY 22--A Florida doctor bartered painkiller prescriptions in return for sex from at least five female patients, according to investigators. Benjamin Malalang, 70, was nabbed yesterday in a police sting launched after one of the women approached Jacksonville cops with details of the pills-for-sex deal. According to the below Jacksonville Sheriff's Office arrest report, the woman said that "within the last year" she began performing "a sex act on Dr. Malalang" in return for prescriptions for Oxycontin, the powerful painkiller. She told police that the encounters occurred at the home and office of Malalang, an acupuncture specialist. Following his arrest, police said, Malalang admitted trading prescriptions for sexual favors and said that four other female patients took part in the illicit arrangement. Malalang, pictured in the mug shot at right, is facing a felony charge of trafficking in illegal drugs. He is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail at the Duval County lockup. (2 pages)

Bush is acting more out of fear than Carter ever did//

Jimmy would just sit there and wring his hands and cry!

Jimmy did a great deal to promote the Paper Tiger Image of America.

Now the Terrorist think that all they have to do is wait.

Will Obama prove them correct?

oh shit

"Clinton throws kitchen sink at Obama"

im not getting involved---

Confidence plunges, inflation rate soars--97% are gloomy bastards.

NEW YORK - No good news today on the economic front. Consumer confidence plunged, the wholesale inflation rate soared, the number of homes being foreclosed jumped, home prices fell sharply and a report predicts big increases in health care costs.

Consumer confidence weakened significantly as Americans worry about less-favorable business conditions and job prospects. The New York-based Conference Board says in a report released on Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index plunged in February to 75.0 from a revised 87.3 in January.

The reading — the lowest since the index registered 64.8 in February 2003 — is far below the 83.0 analysts expected.

The index measures how consumers feel now about the economy. It has been weakening since July, suggesting that wary consumers may retrench financially, which could fatigue the economy further.

Inflation at the wholesale level soared in January, pushed higher by rising costs for food, energy and medicine. The monthly increase carried the annual inflation rate to its fastest jump in a quarter century.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that wholesale prices rose 1 percent last month, more than double the 0.4 percent increase that economists had been expecting.

The January surge left wholesale prices rising by 7.5 percent over the past 12 months, the fastest pace in more than 26 years, since prices had risen at a 7.5 percent pace in the 12 months ending in October 1981.

The number of homes facing foreclosure jumped 57 percent in January compared to a year ago, with lenders increasingly forced to take possession of homes they couldn't unload at auctions, a mortgage research firm said Monday.

Nationwide, some 233,001 homes received at least one notice from lenders last month related to overdue payments, compared with 148,425 a year earlier, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. Nearly half of the total involved first-time default notices.

The worsening situation came despite ongoing efforts by lenders to help borrowers manage their payments by modifying loan terms, working out long-term repayment plans and other actions

U.S. home prices lost 8.9 percent in the final quarter of 2007, Standard & Poor's said Tuesday, marking a full year of declining values and the steepest drop in the 20-year history of its housing index.

"We reached a somber year-end for the housing market in 2007," said one of the index's creators Robert Shiller. "Home prices across the nation and in most metro areas are significantly lower than where they were a year ago. Wherever you look things look bleak."

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices, which include a quarterly index, a 20-city index and a 10-city index, reflect year-over-year declines in 17 metropolitan areas with double-digit declines in eight of them.

By 2017, total health care spending will double to more than $4 trillion a year, accounting for one of every $5 the nation spends, the federal government projects.

The 6.7 percent annual increase in spending — nearly three times the rate of inflation_ will be largely driven by higher prices and an increased demand for care, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Monday. Other factors in the mix include a growing and aging population. The first wave of baby boomers become eligible for Medicare beginning in 2011.

With the aging population, the federal government will be picking up the tab for a growing share of the nation's medical expenses. Overall, federal and state governments accounted for about 46 percent of health expenditures in 2006. That percentage will increase to 49 percent over the next decade.

China 'to open records' on US POWs
China has agreed to grant the US access to its military records which might help resolve the fate of thousands of US soldiers who had gone missing during the Korean War and other Cold War-era conflicts, US defence officials say.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C0721E08-2233-42EC-A055-7F7979D73...

he had a passion for it! "puncturing"

Coherent Electron Scattering Captured By an Attosecond Quantum Stroboscope

remember when this kind of stuff always came out of America?

My intelligent sources have told me that the Clintons wanted Obama to run against Hillary because he would be the "left leaning" candidate that she could beat.

Now, the tables have been turned against her by the brilliant maneuvers by King Barack, the Clinton Killer.

Good-bye Bill and Hillary.

It's kinda not funny how everything was rosy for 7 years until they start this Montra of Change. Things started to slip a bit when the New Congress got in, but the real trouble started just as the election processes fired up.

When change involves raising taxes and forcing people to buy insurance, the 97% gets kinda standoffish!

McCain disavows comments about Obama

McCain Disassociates Himself From Radio Talk Show Host's Harsh Comments About Obama

Republican John McCain quickly denounced the comments of a radio talk show host who while warming up a campaign crowd referred repeatedly to Barack Hussein Obama and called the Democrat a "hack, Chicago-style" politician.

Hussein is Obama's middle name, but talk show host Bill Cunningham used it three times as he addressed the crowd before the likely Republican nominee's appearance.

"Now we have a hack, Chicago-style Daley politician who is picturing himself as change. When he gets done with you, all you're going to have in your pocket is change," Cunningham said as the audience roared.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/02/mccain_disavows_comments_about...

you got that right. things were great with bill clinton and then that fucktard get selected by the supreme court. now we've had 8 years of the country going to hell in a hand basket and even a person with obama's skills will be hard pressed to turn the corner.

A good choice to put before the Whole 97%, not just the Primary voter.

I can't wait for the first Real Debate.

Shame about Hillary and all, but this will be much more interesting.

Adopt single payer national health insurance

Cut the huge, bloated, wasteful military budget

No to nuclear power, solar energy first

Aggressive crackdown on corporate crime and corporate welfare

Open up the Presidential debates

Adopt a carbon pollution tax

Reverse U.S. policy in the Middle East

Impeach Bush/Cheney

Repeal the Taft-Hartley anti-union law

Adopt a Wall Street securities speculation tax

Put an end to ballot access obstructionism

Work to end corporate personhood

is an asshat extraordinare, known for meaningless rascist rants.

Our Stupid Discourse

Turned on the teevee and the news of the day is that a talk show host... said something mean about Obama... at a McCain rally!

breaking news from cnn:

Massive power outage hits Central and South Florida.

Starbucks closing today; Dunkin Donuts offering free lattes

Anyone who thought the local rivalry between Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks was a friendly one has not seen the latest salvo in their coffee smackdown.

When Starbucks shuts down all of its nearly 7,100 national stores from 5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. (central time) this evening for employee retraining (some of the contracted Starbucks are on a different training schedule), Dunkin Donuts will hand out free small hot lattes in all of its 450 Chicagoland stores.

The offer will be good from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. today. I haven't tried the Dunkin' latte but I do know that gourmet coffee often tastes better when its free. Remind me not to get into a cat fight with either of these chains. They're brutal. But at least their skirmishing is bringing benefits to coffeelovers.

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/thestew/2008/02/local-dunkin-do.h...

It's been a great run all the way back to the Defeat of Jimmy Carter. That is a long time. Guys like myself rode that wave all the way to shore. We are on high ground looking good.

I would like to see the young ones starting out have such luck. And it could happen if we stick to the rules of Capitalism, low taxes, and open markets.

It just might take a four year mistake with Obama to set that up again, just like it did with Jimmy Carter!

rotflmao

BUCHANAN: You saw that lovely photograph on Drudge yesterday and Drudge said initially that Clintonites gave it to her. If Clinton, the Clintonite did that, would you consider that first a dirty trick and secondly, would you think the individual that did it should be fired if they could find him or her.

JONES: Understand this: The Clinton campaign does not condone people putting out pictures that they seem to believe are inappropriate. But let me say this: I have no shame or no problem with people looking at Barack Obama in his native clothing, in the clothing of his country.

This is a diverse country and people across America recognize that. I would not personally have done it and we can't attribute it to anybody in our campaign, but the Clinton campaign does not condone the conduct and we would hope that America is going to have an opportunity or begin to see if we're supporting a woman or an African-American for President, we ought to be able to support their ability to wear the clothing of their nation.

That is flat-out racist. Tubbs Jones is saying this in order to accomplish several Republican messaging goals:

1. Suggest that Obama is un-American (he's from "over there," and a very black over there to boot).
2. Remind people that Obama is black.
3. Reinforce the hate emails alleging, falsely, that Obama is Mulsim.
4. Remind people that Obama is from a country that viciously killed American troops in the 1990s.

MSNBC host says Mukasey needs to investigate Rove meddling in Siegelman case

A 60 Minutes investigation into the prosecution of Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman has focused new attention on the case. Whistleblowers say the Democratic governor is in jail because of a Republican-led witch-hunt that was at least partially motivated by White House adviser Karl Rove.

Siegelman has called for a Special Prosecutor to investigate, and the Alabama attorney who's alleged Rove's involvement says Congress should investigate. Rove denies reports of his involvement. Speaking to an audience in Los Angeles after the CBS report aired, he attempted to downplay the myth of his political influence and said the allegations against him were lies.

"I want him to swear in front of the United States Congress, and swear what he is saying is true," Dana Jill Simpson told MSNBC's Dan Abrams. Simpson has previously told news outlets, including RAW STORY, Harpers and 60 Minutes that Rove asked her to gather dirt on Siegelman.

Abrams said Attorney General Michael Mukasey should investigate the case.

"This is about politicizing our justice system and it just cannot go unchecked," he said.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Dan_Abrams_calls_on_Mukasey_to_0226.html

Tuesday 26 February 2008

It's easy to forget that the road to Guantanamo began in places like Kandahar and Jalalabad.
They say journalists provide the first draft of history. With the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, that draft led to an almost universal consensus, at least among Americans, that the attack was a justifiable act of self-defense. The Afghanistan action is commonly viewed as a "clean" conflict as well - a war prosecuted with minimal loss of life, and one that didn't bring the kind of international opprobrium onto the United States that the invasion of Iraq would lead to a year later.

Those views are also held by many Americans who are critical of the excesses of the Bush administration's "War on Terror." But there's a disconnect there. Everything that followed - secret detentions, torture, the invasion of Iraq, the assault on domestic dissent - flowed inevitably from the failure to challenge Bush's claim that an act of terror required a military response. The United States has a rich history of abandoning its purported liberal values during times of war, and it was our acceptance of Bush's war narrative that led to the abuses that have shattered America's moral standing before the world.

In his book, The Guantanamo Files, historian and journalist Andy Worthington offers a much-needed corrective to the draft of the Afghanistan conflict that most Americans saw on their nightly newscasts. Worthington is the first to detail the histories of all 774 prisoners who have passed through the Bush administration's "legal black hole" at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But his history starts in Afghanistan, and makes it abundantly clear that the road to Guantanamo - not to mention Abu Ghraib - began in places like Kandahar.

AlterNet recently asked Worthington what that road looked like at its point of origin.

Joshua Holland: I think most Americans believe that we went into Afghanistan to rout anti-American or anti-Western "jihadi," but your book captures the fact that the U.S. entered on one side of a long-standing civil war that had nothing to do with any sort of "clash of civilizations" between East and West. Can you give us some sense of what that conflict was about?

Andy Worthington: Sure, it's a very good question, actually. Briefly, the roots of the conflict lie in the Afghan resistance to the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, when the United States, via Pakistani intermediaries, and the Saudis vied to fund the mujahideen - Afghan warlords and their soldiers, backed up by a rather smaller number of Arab recruits.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022608B.shtml

Free Coffee (Latte) @ Dunkin Donuts
Submitted by smcgee43 on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 2:24pm.
-------
often tastes better when its free
Submitted by dan on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 2:26pm.
rotflmao
---------------------
This directly conflicts with the study which found that the higher priced wines evoke more favorable taste critiques.

...but then, none of the wines were free.

had a hard time!

CNN: Hawkish Israel supporters concerned about Obama

In an effort to shore up his support among Jewish voters, Barack Obama met privately on Sunday with 100 Jewish leaders in Ohio to tamp down concerns about his Middle East views and controversial positions from a few of his supporters.

The Clinton campaign has been actively wooing Jewish voters, in part by questioning Obama's commitment to the defense of Israel, and the meeting was arranged to enable Obama to address the concerns of the Jewish community.

The Illinois Senator has previously faced concerns from Jewish leaders.

Obama began by telling his audience, "We need to change our priorities. ... These changes are founded in a view of the world that I believe is deeply imbedded in the Jewish tradition. ... That repairing the world is a task that each of us is called upon to take up every single day."

Obama then reaffirmed his "unshakable commitment to the security of Israel and the friendship between the United States and Israel." He stated clearly that he is a Christian, not a Muslim, and explained his reluctance to criticize the minister of his church for making favorable comments about Louis Farrakhan, who has been criticized for being anti-Semitic.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/CNN_Hawkish_Israel_supporters_concerned_ab...

The Caribbean’s Next “Terror Island”?

In 1983, while aboard a New York subway, I noticed someone reading that day’s issue of the New York Post. The front page headline screamed, “YANKS INVADE TERROR ISLAND.” It was early on in the Reagan administration and the U.S. had just militarily intervened in the Caribbean nation of Grenada, ending the island’s short-lived socialist experiment. The landing was based on the pretext that the Reagan administration had suspected that the new commercial airport—which Cuban laborers were aiding Grenada to construct on the island—actually would be used to transport Cuban troops to fight alongside African revolutionaries. Today, another Caribbean nation, Dominica, has been forging links with leftist Cuba and Venezuela. Authorities on that small Caribbean island had better watch out, or they may be presiding over this generation’s “Terror Island,” but this time the name of the island is Dominica.

A tiny nation of 133 square miles whose population could barely fill the Rose Bowl, Grenada had posed no strategic threat to the U.S. But Maurice Bishop of the leftist New Jewel Movement, which had ruled Grenada since 1979, had become positively irksome to Washington. Inspired at least as much by Bob Marley as by Karl Marx, Bishop, a young LSE graduate and an island intellectual and visionary, had embarked on an ambitious social and economic program aimed at diversifying agriculture, developing cooperatives, and creating an agro-industrial base that was leading to a reduction in food imports. Bishop also established a free health service and secondary education system, resulting in a markedly higher literacy rate on the island.

The Reagan administration sought to halt the New Jewel Movement in its tracks: economic assistance through the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank was mysteriously blocked, aid from the International Monetary Fund was restricted, and any participation in the Caribbean Basin Initiative was dismissed out of hand. Reagan even refused to meet with Bishop when the Grenadian Prime Minister visited Washington in June, 1983. According to the Washington Post, the CIA had been engaged all along in a campaign to destabilize Grenada both politically and economically.
...

new thread

well, gee whiz, then what about Ronald Reagan?

on his watch 241 Americans were slaughtered in Beirut, Regan's response?

RUN AWAY!!!

Jmach1JP
+

+

Last week and this I cannot get Maron and Seder. I don't know why---no audio and no video. This is my first time posting and I'm sorry it's a shriek for help, but I love this match and I'm frustrated.....