bbq at full blast!

its cold and rainy in cincy today.

Sorry about your weather Dan!!
Hope you will still be able to whip up some tasty vittals on the BBQ.

Enjoy whatever way you all choose to spend the day one and all.

drinks are all on the house!!

N-kitti

Reality. TV. Two more reasons to read.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.
---Ray Bradbury

btw if you don't like FISA then you *really* *really* don't like either Viacom or the judge (US District Court Judge Louis Stanton, of the Southern District in NY) who ordered Google to give up the linked list consisting of your IP, login credentials and all YouTube activities you have ever engaged in.

Just wondering when they get around to doing this on YouPorn..

http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_9785519

Oh, but don't worry:

Viacom said it isn't seeking any user's identity. The company said any data provided "will be used exclusively for the purpose of proving our case against YouTube and Google (and) will be handled subject to a court protective order and in a highly confidential manner."

Happy Independence Day. Bleh.

Declare your independence from traditional media's disinformation campaign.

Turn off Fox News, and don't listen to the lies coming from the Right Wing spin machine. They will infiltrate your email, your mailbox, and your newspaper.

Let Obama play this game by the rules that have been imposed on him by the Greedy Oil Pirates. So much is at stake.

Everything he says, or might say, will be spun to the satisfaction of Bill Krystal, or Karl Rove and their attack trolls.

Obama's a better choice than McCain,
Obama's a better choice than Clinton.
Although he was not my first choice, I will give him my full support.

There are no quick fixes to the mess Chimpy and his turds have wrought in the last 12+ years. Much of the enabling treaties and legislation were done under Clinton's watch. Never forget that. Sweet William is tighter with Poppy Bush than his own sons.

We must aim for a veto proof progressive majority. The corporate Blue Dogs will fight us tooth and nail to retain the status quo and their lobby connections.
Concentrate and support your local progressive candidates.

I see a few trolls have been back around, although not as nasty as some. It is the season to spread disinformation, and create doubt, where there was none before.

Divide and Conquer

Read for yourselves.
Think for yourselves.
Any good teacher will tell you to do the homework, and look it up for yourself.

Work for the good of the planet and it's people. All the people.
No one candidate will ever satisfy everyone.

Go with common sense. Push for ideals.
The Big Show Fireworks fade away fast, and leave a mess to be swept up later.
Chimp turds are hard to sweep up, even the polished ones.

Stay strong.

Diyala

U.S military forces storm the house of Hasen Atiyah al-Iqabi, leader in the Mahdi Army in Mahdi neighbourhood, Muqdadiyah district 38 km to the east of Baquba at 3.30 Friday, and were engaged in an armed fight by his four elder sons. Al-Iqabi's daughter, six years old was killed as was his son of eight years; his four elder sons and wife were injured. The U.S. forces then left the house taking with them the injured people for treatment as their target, al-Iqabi, was not in his home. No comment from the U.S. military was available at time of publication
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/212/story/43185.html

I'm working on a half pound of shrimp I'm going to grill.

when they thaw I'll shell them and soak them in lemon juce then stick them on skewers and grill them.

I've got a bottle of thai sweet chilly sauce for grilling and dipping.

and I've got a lot of iced tea and a bottle or 2 or Mexican coke (in glass 12 0z bottle, cane sugar.

Excuse me, I have to go remove Rufus from the counter -- he's very interested in the shrimp preperations.

I don't understand why everyone is getting so upset about Obama's seeming move to the center. He has always been moderate which is why he talks so much about bipartisanship. Edwards was my first choice because he was the only progressive with a real chance. And he was pretty moderate in the Senate too.

About Obama's statement on abortion. Third trimester abortions are troubling to many people. The problem there, I think, is that they are usually used because of problems with the fetus, not medical problems for the mother. That is why, I believe, they had to add "mental" as well as physical problems that endanger the life of the mother. They could not directly address the reason most late term abortions are performed.Personally, I think it is more moral to abort a fetus with medical problems late term then to let it be born and endure a short and expensive (for the parents) life in a hospital neo-natal unit. I know this is a slippery slope but I'm pretty sure no woman would ever have a late term abortion for "convenience".

previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.

The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.

The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil.

Senior development sources believe the report, completed in April, has not been published to avoid embarrassing President George Bush.

"It would put the World Bank in a political hot-spot with the White House," said one yesterday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/03/biofuels.renewableener...

Glenn Greenwald

Thursday July 3, 2008 10:05 EDT
The Al-Haramain ruling and the current Congress

(Updated below - Update II -

Update III - analysis of Obama's new FISA statement -

Update IV - Update V)

A Bush-41-appointed Federal District Judge yesterday became the third judge -- out of three who have ruled on the issue -- to reject the Bush administration's claim that Article II entitles the President to override or ignore the provisions of FISA. Yesterday's decision by Judge Vaughn Walker of the Northern District of California also guts the central claims for telecom immunity and gives the lie to the excuses coming from Congress as to why the new FISA bill is some sort of important "concession." More than anything else, this decision is but the most recent demonstration that, with this new FISA bill, our political establishment is doing what it now habitually does: namely, ensuring that the political and corporate elite who break our laws on purpose are immune from consequences.

[snip]

The Bush administration argued that the plaintiffs could not prove their case because, to do so, they would have to rely on documents and information that the President deemed to be "state secrets" (i.e., the Government's eavesdropping activities) and which are, therefore, unusable in court. That is the argument the court rejected -- holding instead that Congress, when it enacted FISA, established a procedure that allows even classified information to be considered by a court, and the President's Article II powers cannot override the FISA statute. As the Court pointed out, Congress' core purpose in enacting FISA in 1978 was to bar the President from exercising untrammeled, unchallenged power in the area of eavesdropping. Thus, presidential assertions of secrecy do not override the law.

[snip]

... The next time you hear Steny Hoyer, Obama surrogates and their various apologists tell you how important the new FISA bill is because it contains an "exclusivity" provision and thus ensures that the FISA court is brought back into Government eavesdropping, just go read what Judge Walker said about the current FISA framework to realize how misleading that claim is. They're presenting as a "gift" something you already have, and telling you that you should give up critical protections in exchange for receiving something that you already have -- namely, a requirement that the President comply with eavesdropping laws. What they're doing is tantamount to someone who steals your wallet, takes all the money out, gives the empty wallet back to you, and then tells you that you should be grateful to them because you have your wallet.

(5) Here is the most important point of all. The Court reviewed the basic history of FISA: that the Church Committee in the mid-1970s had uncovered decades of spying abuses by our Government that were made possible -- made inevitable -- because the Government could spy without warrant requirements. The Court quoted the Church Committee's findings:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/03/al_haramain/index.html

Ransom claim in Ingrid Betancourt release

Swiss Radio reported that a ransom was paid of around $20m (£10m).

It said that the US, which had three citizens among those freed, was behind the deal and that "the whole operation afterwards was a set-up".

The station reported that the wife of one of the hostages' guards was the go-between, having been arrested by the Colombian army.

If proved true, the allegations would be hugely embarrassing for the Colombian government which was showered with praise for the efficiency of the operation. Many commentators had predicted that it would even spell the end of Farc as a credible force.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/04/betancourt.france

And I never thought he was really any different, and therefore not better than Clinton. I dislike Clinton for many reasons; all related to her stances on issues and her record.

An awful lot of people, always thought Obama was god's gift, and the "answer" [the number 42]. That's what made it sad. The unbridled devotion and delusion. As long as we think like that, we lose. It's one thing to try to be pragmatic and say I'll hold my nose and vote, but to ever think this guy was even close to progressive at all was delusion. What if all those people had put their energy and money into a more progressive candidate? Maybe the 'establishment' would still have been able to quash it, but in their struggle to quash it, they would risk a lot more, and we might have gained more as a people.

Obama did an interview with Relevant Magazine, a Christian publication, in which he said that "mental distress" shouldn't qualify as part of the mother's health exception to late-term abortion bans.

--------------------------

Excerpt:

Strang: Based on emails we received, another issue of deep importance to our readers is a candidate’s stance on abortion. We largely know your platform, but there seems to be some real confusion about your position on third-trimester and partial-birth abortions. Can you clarify your stance for us?

Obama: I absolutely can, so please don’t believe the emails. I have repeatedly said that I think it’s entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions as long as there is a strict, well-defined exception for the health of the mother.

Now, I don’t think that “mental distress” qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term. Otherwise, as long as there is such a medical exception in place, I think we can prohibit late-term abortions.

--------------------------

“Mental distress” sounds like “mental health” in this case. Mental illness does qualify as for the health of the mother.

I strongly disagree with Obama.

[Will only pregnant women be exempt from receiving any treatment for mental distress or illness under his health care plan?

I certainly don't think so. I also don't think Obama does either. It would be discriminating against pregnant women and it is illegal.]

I do hope that Obama does not believe that women fake mental illness and/or mental distress in order to get abortions.

Late-term abortions are extremely rare in all cases.

Link:

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life_article.php?id=7591

--------

Earlier, I gave Obama the benefit of the doubt when he appeared to question the “morals” of those who received abortions or supported a woman’s right to choose. I thought that it was a gaffe at the time.

-----------------

Obama said:

Number one, it requires us to acknowledge that there is a moral dimension to abortion, which I think that all too often those of us who are pro-choice have not talked about or tried to tamp down. I think that's a mistake because I think all of us understand that it is a wrenching choice for anybody to think about.


Reference:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/13/se.01.html

----------------------------

Words to repeat to Obama:

"From the first moment a woman dared to speak that hope - dared to believe that the American Dream was meant for her too - ordinary women have taken on extraordinary odds to give their daughters the chance for something else; for a life more equal, more free, and filled with more opportunity than they ever had.

In so many ways we have succeeded, but in so many areas we have much work left to do.”

“Women have always made the difference in every election, and this year, your voice, your hope will be the deciding factors in forging a new future for America.”

[For the record, these are the words of Obama.]

--------------------------

Link:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/womenissues

Obama's "Relevant" Interview

Submitted by Star Vox on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 5:58pm.

***

Thanks for the post Star Vox.

***

So.

What can we do about Obama? This is really ridiculous. He's not even hiding that he essentially lied to us all.

Is there any chance we can all decide to abandon the Democratic Party process and collectively decide to do a write-in candidate? Or vote for Cynthia McKinney or someone like that?

I think I am willing to risk the chance that McCain gets in power. It would be worth it. Even if McCain gets in, if we were able to effectively reject Obama, that would send a huge message.

Besides, it is now on a daily basis that we are hearing from Obama that he is technically not very different than McCain. So what are we risking really?

It's a way to take back the power. And our strength, if shown in large enough numbers [even if not even close to 50%], will bear fruit in future elections. It gives courage to those who are still out there on the edge thinking they have no say.

You know the republicans fear a landslide when they have only 1 meme left.

Obama is no longer too white, no longer too black, no longer too too christian, no longer too muslim, no longer too liberal.

Barack Obama is now... just like us!

You know the republicans know they will lose when they are trying to tell the public that Obama is just like them. That's pretty bad.

They can no longer try to get Hillary elected, and they can no longer claim that McCain is better than Obama. All they can really do is jawbone down the size of the landslide.

I don't like it when Mike Malloy plays right into that with his daily whinge about Barack Obama. Save the criticism for December 2008. Malloy was never on board with Obama and now he is whinging about him, which doesn't help anyone or anything.

I don't care which way Barack Obama votes on FISA (althought the same individuals/phonebank who called in to whine about him during the primaries [1) Poor Hillary, Bad Barack; 2) I don't like his wife/minster/church/realestate broker; etc.] seem to be working overtime to get everyone dissatisfied with the FISA bill vote). Or as Stephanie Miller remarked after the second caller - why is the FISA bill about Barack Obama all of a sudden? And for that matter, why is his support for the bill crucial on whether you will vote Democratic or at all?

Remember, they have no candidate who can win and all they can do is talk down the size of the landslide by trying to make people less enthusiastic about Obama and voting.

If you have any trouble deciding, think: supreme court; war; economy.

Anyway, I heard on the Malloy program last night that Sam Seder would be filling in for him in the coming week. I haven't seen anything about it on this website yet.

Cappuccino

Judge Walker's decision link was issued in the case of Al-Haramain v. Bush. That lawsuit was brought against the Bush administration by an Oregon-based Muslim charity and two of its American lawyers, alleging that the Government violated FISA -- i.e., broke the law -- by eavesdropping on their telephone conversations without the warrants required by law. The warrantless eavesdropping occurred as part of Bush's NSA spying program, which entailed spying on Americans' international communications without warrants (the lawyers were in London when they spoke on the telephone to their client in Oregon). What makes this case unique is that the lawyers and charity know for certain that they were spied on as part of the secret NSA program because the DOJ accidentally produced transcripts of those calls.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/03/al_haramain/index.html

this is a test

Very well said Sandy.

Economics do weigh in to family planning.

I could imagine a time where a GOP run 'Whatever' would pay people to have more kids, (oh wait, they call it a tax deduction) we are a commodity, an energy resource.

Come to think about it, what method did Pickles use, she and George only have the one set of twins.

Google: "Lavender Marriage"

Were the rumors from Yale and Andover more fact than fiction?

Things that make you go, Hmmmm.

Happy 4th of July!

Blog looks fine to me.

Yep. Luckily it does look fine.

For procedural reasons, the court yesterday ruled that plaintiffs -- in order to obtain a ruling as to whether the Bush administration broke the law -- must be able to show that they were subject to warrantless surveillance without using the accidentally produced transcripts, something that will be very difficult to do. Congress has refused to pass legislation to fix this Kafkaesque, Catch-22 trap -- whereby the President illegally spies in total secrecy, with no oversight, thus preventing anyone from being able to prove they were subjected to the illegal spying and thus preventing anyone from having "standing" to challenge the legality of the spying in court.

Thus, we have extremely strong indications from multiple courts that the President deliberately broke the law for years -- a law that provides that violations of its provisions are felonies punishable with 5 years in prison for each offense. And yet our political establishment, with Democrats at the helm, are about to ensure that there are never any consequences for that lawbreaking and no accountability whatsoever in a court of law.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/03/al_haramain/index.html

A typical line in Barack Obama's stump speech throughout the primary season was that "the era of Scooter Libby justice . . . will finally be over." But this new FISA bill -- and the immunity it bequeaths -- is the very essence of "Lewis Libby justice": ensuring that our highest political officials and other well-connected elites can break our laws with total impunity. Courts keep ruling that the President and his allies have no excuses for having broken our laws, while our political establishment acts to ensure that they are protected from the consequences.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/03/al_haramain/index.html

I'm on and off the blog. Getting hungry now. Don't know what to eat for dinner!

It's a bad but common habit in NYC.

"dada, i agree that in most cases they are not effective and a waste of time - no big corporation cares about YOUR money, if you don't buy their stuff someone else will, drop in the bucket for them, most of them monopolies anyway and sell necessities that cannot be boycotted"

Submitted by mire on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 1:27pm.

-----

I think that corporations care very much about your money, but they are very happy with you thinking that boycotts are ineffective. A boycott is only as effective as it is organized, which is where we the people are falling short.

Boycotts have the potential to be one of the strongest weapons in our arsenal. Money talks.

(2) Judge Walker is the same Judge who is presiding over all of the telecom lawsuits. He has ruled against telecoms in the past, most notably refusing to dismiss the lawsuits on this ground: "because the very action in question has previously been held unlawful, [telecoms] cannot seriously contend that a reasonable entity in its position could have believed that the alleged domestic dragnet was legal" [Decision at 68; emphasis added].

This history of the telecoms -- faring no better in court than the President has -- gives the lie to Fred Hiatt's deeply (and typically) dishonest Washington Post Editorial today -- by way of praising Obama's FISA stance -- that telecom immunity is a good idea because "The likelihood of prevailing -- or even getting very far -- with such lawsuits is low." The exact opposite is true: it's precisely because the telecoms know they are in severe danger of losing in court -- because they broke multiple laws -- that they and the White House are so desperate for amnesty.

The excuses offered by our political establishment for this rampant lawbreaking have been systematically rejected by the institution the Founders intended to adjudicate these legal issues -- our courts -- and it's for exactly that reason that our establishment is now conspiring to take away from the courts the responsibility they were assigned to hold lawbreakers accountable.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/03/al_haramain/index.html

!!!!!!!!!!!

Sam will fill in for Malloy..

Tues.thru Fri. of Next week..

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

when people walk (away)

btw, you gotta admire the code pink ladies. its cold enough that we're inside and i had to watch msm news. king george was at monticello congratulating some new citizens and code pink was there reminding him that there's a whole bunch of us that think he should be impeached.

(3) The central excuse from leading Democratic advocates of telecom immunity -- that the poor telecoms are unfairly hamstrung in these lawsuits by the President's assertion of the "State Secrets" privilege from using the evidence that shows they're innocent -- was gutted by yesterday's ruling. That excuse was false all along, since FISA explicitly provides that any party can submit even classified evidence to the court. As I noted back in January in response to Jay Rockefeller's misleading claim that immunity was necessary to save the telecoms from the unfair predicament of being barred by the President from submitting exculpatory evidence in these lawsuits:

Rockefeller added: "If people want to be mad, don't be mad at the telecommunications companies, who are restrained from saying anything at all under the State Secrets Act. And they really are. They can't say whether they were involved, they can't go to court, they can't do anything. They're just helpless. And the president was just having his way."

Rockefeller's claim that telecoms can't submit exculpatory evidence to the court is flat-out false, an absolute lie. There is no other accurate way to describe his statement.

Under FISA (50 USC 1806(f)), telecoms are explicitly permitted to present any evidence in support of their defenses in secret (in camera, ex parte) to the judge and let the judge decide the case based on it. That section of long-standing law could not be clearer, and leaves no doubt that Rockefeller is simply lying when he says that telecoms are unable to submit secret evidence to the court to defend themselves.

That's exactly what Judge Walker ruled yesterday:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/03/al_haramain/index.html

!!!

abc's person was a world war two vet. in his interview he talked about how he was proud of the all the soldiers who still protect america.

what i don't understand is why he doesn't understand how bush has betrayed him and all those who serve with his lies and fascist wars.

I wanted to clarify what I was saying about late term abortions. There is a broad spectrum of those who support or oppose abortion rights. Late term abortions are very extreme and we have laws limiting them more than early abortions. Our laws (or are moving that way) say a woman can only have a late term one if the pregnancy endangers her physical or mental health. Right-to-lifers want to take away that allowance for the mother's mental health. I was saying that I think the real reason most women who have them have them is because there is something seriously wrong with the fetus. I think this is unthinkable to most people because it smacks of eugenics. I have some personal history here. I had my son in my mid 30's and some of the prenatal tests indicated a possibility of Down's Syndrome. I went through counseling at the time and learned that one of the options was a late term abortion. I also learned at the time that there is a network of families who want to adopt Downs kids from parents who can't handle it. I also have a niece who had a very premature baby. Even with good health insurace they are hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. So is it better to give birth when you know your child won't live long or will have a severe disability? This is a hard decision, one I always think should be the woman's. I do not think a woman would ever make this difficult choice because she just felt like it.

National Cattlemen's-renewable fuel policy
Washington, D.C. – (June 12, 2008)
Cattlemen urge Senate committee to re-evaluate renewable fuels policy

Ominous crop reports, price surges drive home reality of feedgrain crisis

[...]
While many factors are contributing the tightening supplies and rising costs of feedgrains, Congressional mandates for production of grain-based fuels are adding to the market pressure. Even with last fall’s strong harvest, more than 1/4 of the 2007 corn crop was required to meet ethanol production mandates. This figure will grow much higher in 2008, as the production mandates have increased, corn plantings have been delayed, and corn crop progress has been extremely slow.

“USDA is now projecting a significant decline in per-acre yield for corn, on top of the reduction in corn acreage,” Doud says. “This puts a tremendous squeeze on all users of corn, but especially those who do not receive any tax credits or other subsidies to generate their end product.”

Today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing to examine the relationship between renewable fuels mandates and food prices. In written comments submitted to the committee, NCBA President Andy Groseta makes it clear that while consumers are feeling the pinch from the rising cost of many foods, livestock producers are bearing most of the burden when it comes to meat production.

“Many cattle feeders are currently losing about $150 per animal. With 525,000 head of steers and heifers going to market each week, that amounts to an average weekly industry loss of approximately $79 million,” said Groseta, a rancher from Cottonwood, Ariz. “These losses will be passed on to the foundation of our industry, the cow/calf producer. For every $1 per bushel increase in the price of corn, a cattle feeder must pay $22 per hundred-weight less for a 550 lb. feeder steer.”
[...]

exactly. i have always been bothered by the right wingers notion that people treat abortion like removing a hang nail. i really think that is as much of a myth as the raygun welfare queen is.

From Greenwald in same article:

UPDATE: Regarding the distorted claims about the "center," see this superb post from conservative Daniel Larison:

Wouldn’t Be (And Isn’t) Prudent
Posted on July 3rd, 2008 by Daniel Larison

Sullivan:

I don’t see anything more than prudent post-primary adjustment.

One of the most disturbing things about “mainstream” reaction to Obama’s reversals, particularly the reversal regarding the FISA legislation, is the idea that defending the Fourth Amendment against egregious, systematic violation by the government is some far-out extremist position that must be watered down or abandoned in order to appeal to “the middle.” If I were in the political “middle,” I would be deeply offended by the idea that supporting the gutting of core civil liberties is required to win my vote. If it is true that voters in “the middle” will reward assaulting constitutional protections for the illusion of security, some constitutional liberties won’t have much of a chance of surviving another administration like this one. To be clear, this is not just a question of granting telecom immunity, undesirable as that is, but it is a question of resisting warrantless–and therefore illegal–wiretapping.

http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2008/07/03/wouldnt-be-and-isnt-prudent/

I never got on Obama's bandwagon
Submitted by Catharine on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 5:51pm.

It's one thing to try to be pragmatic and say I'll hold my nose and vote, but to ever think this guy was even close to progressive at all was delusion. What if all those people had put their energy and money into a more progressive candidate? Maybe the 'establishment' would still have been able to quash it, but in their struggle to quash it, they would risk a lot more, and we might have gained more as a people.

---------------

What bullshit.

Submitted by Catharine on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 6:04pm.

So.

What can we do about Obama? This is really ridiculous. He's not even hiding that he essentially lied to us all.

Is there any chance we can all decide to abandon the Democratic Party process and collectively decide to do a write-in candidate? Or vote for Cynthia McKinney or someone like that?

______________________

Catharine,

My suggestion is to support more progressive candidates at the local and state levels. I don't think that it is too late at the state level. We can influence Congress.

Better to have progressive Democrats than Blue Dog Democrats.

Additionally, I am supporting Planned Parenthood.

Some state NARAL groups did not endorse Obama (although some have had to deal with the loss of financial support with the national NARAL Obama endorsement during the primary. I suspect that it may get worse for NARAL.)

If Obama selects any anti-choice VP, it could negatively impact some Congressional races.

We need to continue to pressure Obama.

For the record, I know that we agree about Obama and Clinton being centrists.

Generally, I do not support third-party candidates in the presidential general election -- especially if they are not on the ballot in some states.

I will be voting for Obama. McCain is unacceptable (especially with the Republicans and growing number of Blue Dog Democrats possibly winning).

Obama also may be able to help state/local progressives if new registered voters show up at the polls on Election Day.

p.s. Did you hear that Rahm wishes to be a senator in the near future? I am already learning more about progressive candidates to fill Obama's Senate seat.

The Republican Establishment

It's difficult to know precisely how The Villagers decided the rampant presidential lawbreaking was just peachy and started going about defending it in utterly dishonest ways. My only theory is that the Republicans have held the executive for so much of the post 40 years that the Washington Establishment is almost indistinguishable from the Republican Establishment. They're practically one and the same, and its members protect their own. It isn't entirely new, of course, as the Iran-Contra situation was quite similar.

It's difficult to fathom that warrantless wiretapping with no oversight whatsoever is condoned by the leading members of our elite press, and that it's a dirty fucking hippie position to think otherwise, but that's where we are.

-Atrios 12:25

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_06_29_archive.html#1521276553676446184

I think I am willing to risk the chance that McCain gets in power. It would be worth it. Even if McCain gets in, if we were able to effectively reject Obama, that would send a huge message.
---------

Are you nuts?

This is typical of how the left shoots itself in the foot. Throw the baby out with the bath water to make a point. Maybe you want suffer under under another wave of Republicanism, but some of us sure in the hell will. In my mother's neighborhood there are several homes where the occupants and their belongings have been thrown to the streets. Never mind my own mother is in danger of losing her home. I have a friend who hasn't had health care in 5 years. I have another friend who had no choice but to leave her husband. She is not eligible for welfare or subsidized housing. The only thing she can get is food stamps. She has a 9 year old. There library that I go to is a babysitting service. That's right. Librarians are complaining that mothers are leaving their children at the library. Why? They don't have money for daycare.

Have you been to a hospital lately? Makes no difference how good the insurance is. It's about the profit, you know. Maybe in your neck of the woods conservatism hasn't decimated everything. But in states like Ohio and West Virginia, you will find filthy walls, full trash cans and neglected patients. My Aunt's husband spent 40 years in the coal mines. Of course he became ill. The care that he was subjected to was horrible. Two years ago, in the worst of weather, the hospital put him and several other elderly patients out. They lined them up in the corridor likes ducks in a row. Here comes my Aunt and I- following an ambulance in midst of a blinding snow storm. It is something I'll never forget.

As I have said on this blog before, if Obama can move the country one degree to the left, I'll take it. Hell yeah, he's not the perfect progressive. But it'll be better than what we have now. After all, we on the left are just as complacent as those on the right. We talk big shit, but we aren't really going to inconvenience ourselves. Not even for the good of our friends and family, and certainly, not for this country.

I mean no disrespect Cathrine, but a McCain presidency is just too terrifying.

I am on board for all that you mentioned and more.

But, to do nothing in the face of what is turning out to be even more flagrant disregard for the "progressives" who helped him get there is... not acceptable.

We [progressives of all strains] have consistently bemoaned the fact that in other countries the citizenry has been growing cohones and standing up to the powers that be through protest and even more radical moves. 'We' have said, "Well, that is because we have more to lose than they do, and we have become lazy and contented with our creature comforts." 'We' are presented with opportunity after opportunity and still we say "what's the use?"

It is really outrageous what Obama is doing, only days after getting into the slot of likely Democratic nominee. This is not an exageration. We should be outraged. We were betrayed. Really.

So, keep on supporting all the other good candidates in other races, but also take a risk and dare to not vote for Obama.

Hardly radical at all.

I thought so too, until very recently, Edna.

Not so sure anymore that Obama would really be any better.

And if people are pacified into thinking it is, it may even be worse.

All the suffering and human lives that were lost due to the last 7 [8] years of Bush is a terrible thing.

And yet, we still didn't stop it. I am not so sure that Obama will either.

...or a rock...

I will not ever vote for McCain! He scares me! And he's surrounding himself with the Bush people. Rove's minions.

Sorry, but Id rather take the chance with Obama here.

And I mean no disrespect either but I cannot stomach another repub in office. I also am scared of the medical bills and care.

Like edna said, he's not perfect and we'll have to keep after him. But no more neoconservatives. please!

If I'd had my druthers, I would have preferred Edwards but we don't have him.

Should we chance another coservative Supreme?

-The presence of McCain makes the very moderate Obama an appealing alternative and that assures victory for the status quo. It frightens progressive voters away from supporting real progressives like Dennis Kucinich or Cynthia McKinney. Barach Obama was the real choice of the established orthodoxy all along. The marketing strategists have used John McCain to funnel the votes toward Obama and away from genuine progressives. That is where the real fight was. You can call it voting in the absence of real choice because that is precisely what it is. The same policies that have been in play for decades will continue on and we will keep getting a similar result.-

is just that: a 'false choice'.

When are we going to learn and strategize how to break this cycle. Remember Kerry? Only 4 years ago and we were all disappointed that he didn't win [or rather the election was stolen again].

I felt that it was the right thing to do, but 4 years later, I am not so sure.

As long as we go along with the "false choice" status quo, i.e. only 2 people to choose from, then we will always be in the same dilemma. And now that Obama is reinforcing the idea that he is really in the same 'party' as McCain, then I realize that it is indeed a 'false' choice.

Is it really too much to risk? In the past I would have said 'yes', but now I think that we are fooling ourselves.

Once he's elected, you'll be afraid of how it looks if there are massive protests against his bad policy decisions. You'll already be thinking about what it means for the next election. And the pressure will never come.

boycotts of no value

Submitted by dada on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 6:58pm.

I think that corporations care very much about your money, but they are very happy with you thinking that boycotts are ineffective. A boycott is only as effective as it is organized, which is where we the people are falling short.

Boycotts have the potential to be one of the strongest weapons in our arsenal. Money talks.

______________________

Indeed, money talks. I agree with you about boycotts, dada.

What are we boycotting, dada?

I'm in.

----------------------

Word History:

Charles C. Boycott seems to have become a household word because of his strong sense of duty to his employer. An Englishman and former British soldier, Boycott was the estate agent of the Earl of Erne in County Mayo, Ireland. The earl was one of the absentee landowners who as a group held most of the land in Ireland.

Boycott was chosen in the fall of 1880 to be the test case for a new policy advocated by Charles Parnell, an Irish politician who wanted land reform. Any landlord who would not charge lower rents or any tenant who took over the farm of an evicted tenant would be given the complete cold shoulder by Parnell's supporters.

Boycott refused to charge lower rents and ejected his tenants. At this point members of Parnell's Irish Land League stepped in, and Boycott and his family found themselves isolated—without servants, farmhands, service in stores, or mail delivery.

Boycott's name was quickly adopted as the term for this treatment, not just in English but in other languages such as French, Dutch, German, and Russian.

[sic - of course, Latin should be listed.]
--------------

Reference:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/boycott

To tell the truth, this anti-democratic ruse of lesser evilism has been practiced forever and has never failed to produce disastrous results. In 1908 when a disgruntled “realist” shouted to him that voting socialist was throwing a vote away, Eugene Debs responded hotly: “That’s right. Don’t vote for freedom—you might not get it. Vote for slavery—you have a cinch on that.”

- Michael K. Smith, October 2004

When the majority claims it is always right and the minority does not dare to react, democracy is in danger.

July 2, 2008
http://www.bestcyrano.org/THOMASPAINE/?p=774

Right now, I am not sure what I will do, but it won't be to vote for McCain.

Frankly, McCain may win despite the support for Obama, and then what?

What are we left with? We got fooled again. And now I am thinking that to vote for Obama is to get fooled as well.

[As an aside, I have seen no evidence that Obama will make any improvements on healthcare whatsoever.]

it's no choice. We haven't had a good choice in 30 years.

I don't like the direction Obama is going either. But let's face it we don't have a choice. none!! But even if he's center, it's better than McCain.

The only chance we have is turning the congress and keeping up the pressure.

I'm angry and sick about this whole thing, but I WILL NOT vote for a republican. Never, ever, never!

Definitely food for thought.

I think it's time you got Back on your Meds ! ;)

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

and this one from Far Leftist extremist-radical Duncan Black:

Submitted by Catharine on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 7:25pm.

_____________________

Did you see my post on yesterday's thread?

We are now the Far Leftist Extremist-Radicals.

These republicans would love to have democrats 'put pressure on Obama', perhaps complete with demonstrations by longhaired hippies, and if they're really lucky, maybe even riots. (Rush Limbaugh's stated desire.)

Get back off message in December. Until November, we have a Democratic president to elect.

And it isn't as if he will be president for life. He will be up for re-election in 2012, after which he can do as he pleases. So that is when to 'put pressure' if pressure need be on Barack Obama.

Until then, real democrats don't follow the republican playbook and start undermining or criticizing the Democratic candidate.

If we the people are serious about real democratic government, we must work for it outside of the electoral process, as well as from within.

We must organize a revolutionary force so powerful that it cannot be ignored or denied.

We must institute effective and prolonged economic boycotts.

We must organize work slow-downs, work stoppages, and general strikes in order to make corrupt government feel our pain.

We must create labor unions that genuinely fight for worker’s rights while simultaneously transitioning the country away from an exploitive and self-destructive capital economy toward a people-oriented economy based upon need, rather than privatized profit subsidized by public funds.

These are the means to creating a democratic workplace and bringing malignant capitalism to a grinding halt.

The electoral process does not provide the tools for revolution; it subverts the process and only delays the inevitable.

http://www.bestcyrano.org/THOMASPAINE/?p=775

*

YES! WHAT IF?

-What if all those people had put their energy and money into a more progressive candidate? Maybe the 'establishment' would still have been able to quash it, but in their struggle to quash it, they would risk a lot more, and we might have gained more as a people.- -Catharine

Or any other Republican.

But as Duncan Black pointed out [posted above]:

"My only theory is that the Republicans have held the executive for so much of the post 40 years that the Washington Establishment is almost indistinguishable from the Republican Establishment. They're practically one and the same, and its members protect their own. It isn't entirely new, of course, as the Iran-Contra situation was quite similar."

Far Leftist Extremist-Radicals Support Constitution

Submitted by Star Vox on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 8:01pm.

I am sick and tired of Barack Obama being 'the least of two evils' argument.

Barack Obama is a GREAT presidential candidate. Saying otherwise is just trying to erode the enthusiasm people have for his candidature, which might undermine the size of the landslide with which the Democrats will win. The only winner with that argument are the republicans, which is why they are now making it all the time.

The biggest argument that Barack Obama is just like the republicans does not come from 'the left', but from the rightwing pundits (Blankley, Buchanan, etc.).

Think about that one.

Obama 08!

Hi Lucille

I'm not sure what the differences are between this group in the US and
our organisation. I should but I don't. I thought what would be more
useful now is to talk about how differences in general have evolved
amongst the left. That way you will be able to have some tools to
analyse whos's who in the zoo and make up your own mind. A contact of
mine once asked me when she learned of the many left groups in SA, why
the left can't unite?

Its not for want of trying...in fact they do work together in broad
coalitions e.g. Anti-War or Anti-Globalisation etc but the reason why
they are not in one organisation varies. Mostly its political and the
differences stretch far back into history and across international
borders. Although some have split because of personality differences.
But those are not of concern here. Most of the left groups are
affiliated to international bodies and the differences would be
replicated at that level. I'll give just one example but going back
far into history. By the way...if you want to learn politics you have
to start with history...

After the French revolution around 1848, Karl Marx and others formed
the first International Working Mens' Association. But it dissolved
because the revolutions in Europe did not give rise to the victory of
socialism in any of the countries. Those revolutions succeeded in
ridding us of feudalism or the monarchy which still existed in many
countries at that time and was an obstacle to the still developing
capitalist system. Remember the story of Marie Antoinette!

This 2nd International formed in the late 1880s also attempted to
unite all the socialist groups and trade unions around the world. But
when the 1st world war started, real differences emerged between those
who supported the war and those who opposed it. Those who opposed it
argued that it was a war of the bosses of different countries and that
workers should not be used to fight each other to protect the profits
of the bosses from their own countries.

The 2nd International dissolved during the war and afterwards, Lenin
who with the Bolsheviks had successfully implemented the first ever
Worker controlled state in 1917 by ovehtrowing capitalism and the
remnants of feudalism, started the 3rd International also known as the
Comintern or the Communist International. He and his comrades believed
it was a critial step towards supporting socialist revolutions in
other countries thereby consolidating the gains of the Russian
revolution.

Good luck winning hearts and minds with that attitude. Do you guys even want to win? Then you need to try coming up with some coherent arguments as to why anyone should vote for your candidate.

Happy independence day.

They believed that socialism could not exist only in one country and
that it would be isolated and degenerate if it did not prevail as an
economic and political system on a world scale. But the attempt at
revolution in Germany had faild in 1918 with the leaders, Rosa
Luxembourg and Karl Kniebknecht executed. There was a civil war in
the newly formed workers state of Russia with 21 capitalist armies
sent in to crush it.

The capitalst armies were assisted by the local capitalists and
remnants of the Tsarist armies wo had been overthrown but regrouped
with the help of the west. Instead of building the new workers
democracy, Lenin and the Bolsheviks had to fight this lot after the
war which had already taken its toll on the country. Soon the young
workers state got caught in the grip of a famine ...imagine...the
state the country must have been in, when it was hardly possbile to
produce daily necessities. This is where the stories of the emergence
of cannibalism originate...probably exaggerated by capitalist
propaganda but at the same time quite possible given the devastation
wrough on the country.

But because the Bolsheviks appealed to workers internationally, many
soldiers went awol refusing to fight their brothers and sisters in
Russia. In the west there were many actions by workers to support the
gains of the revolution. But when Lenin died in 1923 only five years
afte the revolution, Stalin took over and promoted the unsocialist
policy of 'socialism in one country'. Trotsky, Lenin's right hand man
was forced to flee the Soviet Union and Stalin wiped out almost the
entire Central Commitee of the Bolshevik party. Sending many of them
to concentration camps in Siberia. He also started his school of the
falsification of the history of the Russian Revolution completing
airbrushing Trotsky's role as 2nd to Lening in the revolution.

The left split here between those who supported the Communists under
Stalin and those who supported Trotsky who continued his Left
Opposition after leaving Russia. This is how the Trotskyist of today
come on to the scene of history and under whom the group you are
talking to would fall as would we. The Trotskyist differeniate
themselves from the Communists and the Social Democrats. The latter
are those that formed the basis of the left face of the bosses
parties, but had at first been in one group with the socialist and
today's communists. For example, the formation of the Bolshevik party
came out of the split with the Russian Sociald Democratic Labour Party
before the revolution in 1917.

-Far Leftist Extremist-Radicals-
Don't vote for Obama...
IMHO....

To me..the CHOICE is to shun both of the big parties...You know the ones who started wars in our name and the ones who allow that to continue...local or federal...

In other words the social democrats were not socialist but were not
outright crude capitalist parties like the Republicans and the
Democrats in the US and the Conservative parties in Europe. The
Democrats in the US never came even close to the position of the
Social Democrats in Europe in the past although today they are all one
and the same thing after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

So, then there was a split between the Trotskyist and Stalinst or
"Communist" left. There were also further splits within the
Trotskyist and Communists groups but I won't go into the latter's
splits. The Trotskyist left split around the question of the character
of the Soviet Union. Some said it was state capitalist and others
argued that it was a deformed workers state. I'm not talking about
the Anarchist and the Maoist and other variants but this in a nutshell
sums-up where the differences originate.

In other words these groups split as a result of how they
characterised the Soviet Union and their differences widened after the
splits with each current taking a different position on most questions
e.g how to characterise Cuba, what should be our attitude to Chavez or
even Obama! What their position is on the Middle East and in the past
what positon they took to the IRA and so on. These are not simply
intellectual exerxises but can become a matter of life and death in
war and revolution. There are also tactical differences which have
resulted in splits such as with Anrchism and other groups.

But that's more than enough for now. My suggestion is to ask your
friend about their position on the question of Chavez in Venezuela, or
Cuba or even the Middle East. Then we can continue the lessons...but I
can't promise to respond immediately I'm snowed under at the moment.

Tchau for now
Abracos (Hugs)
Sheri

lyric....ever maybe

I kiss you on the brain in the shadow of a train

"kiss you on the brain..." - I just love that... :)

YES! WHAT IF?

-What if all those people had put their energy and money into a more progressive candidate? Maybe the 'establishment' would still have been able to quash it, but in their struggle to quash it, they would risk a lot more, and we might have gained more as a people.- -Catharine

The problem is, to me anyway, that we have a rag tag group of progressives but not enough to make a difference. The brain washing is deep. Even what I consider to be a regular Dem, not progressive will vote against their best interest.

And any ideas from your end will be great as well. Let's start kicking around some possibilities, see what happens.

try it sometime..

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

In your comment earlier you said it might not matter much if McCain wins. That is like Nader's arguement in 2000 that there wasn't much difference between Bush and Gore. I don't think anyone can argue that now. I live in Arizona and believe me, we do NOT want McCain. I have been reading alot about him lately and none of it is pretty. He is a carpetbagger in Arizona. He only got in office here because his rich/powerful father-in-law helped him after he dumped his first wife for a young heiress. It wasn't just that his wife stole drugs from her charity. When she started using employees' name to get scrips, one man worked with the cops to save his reputation and keep himself out of trouble. The McCain's used political clout to get her out of trouble and ruined his career. McCain has missed more votes than any other senator in the past 8 year because he has kept running for pres. But what bothers me most about him is that he is an elitist (Marie Antonette-Let them eat cake)who really doesn't care about the people of Arizona. He brags about never taking earmarks but is known for quietly helping bigwig developers get sweet land deals. Think about that; he brags about never working for what the PEOPLE of Arizona while he quietly keeps helping the rich/powerful land grabbers.

Time to go get some chow.

Ciao.

and I believe that we should be on Obama and let him know what we think.

I believe in anything that allows us to voice our opinion. And it should be in large groups. The more voices the better.

I'm not working against anyone here, I want change very badly.

As my father always said, "it's conditions!"

Once again, I will certainly not support McCain or any Republicans.

However, I believe I understand part of Nader's rationale behind what he did. Democrats and Republicans are one and the same for the most part. There are notable exceptions, but far too few. I support them individually now, and I never give money to the DSCC or the DNC or any general party organization. There is a reason for that.

I am not going to cut my nose off to spite my face; but I want a real alternative. Even at this late hour. I have not completely ruled out voting for Obama, but I want to effect real change, and he sure as hell is no change.

Later.

And yet, we still didn't stop it. I am not so sure that Obama will either.
--------

Indeed Catherine.

Many times I have suggested that we boycott mainstream media. It is Public Enemy #1. It has been complicit in every disaster this country is now experiencing. But no one is willing to give up the cable or the satellite subscriptions. A few months ago, I suggested that we at the least block CNN and FOX from our televisions. They are the worst offenders. Then, we could sign a petition and inform the networks that we refuse to watch their stations. It was merely a start.

Today, I was back on the media soapbox. Media Matters and F.A.I.R. are not powerful enough to stop the misinformation. It requires something more drastic. But there were no takers.

So you're right Catherine, we won't stop it.

And fear-mongers.

I just can't get with it. Things are too serious, between the economy and our loss of rights, among other things, to waste time with this ongoing two party political masturbation fest.

So now ellwort and I have landed in Vermont after a four hour drive, but first we posted the Freeway Blog! It said "Impeach Before Pardons!" I got caught by the police, who had his light flashing and all. I told him it's ok- I'm just putting up a sign for the holiday. He said, no problem I just wanted to make sure you didn't get hit! So I put up the sign and ran back for the getaway car with ellwort keeping the engine running. And we rode into the sunset...
Mission accomplished!

If there is no one complaining how far right will Obama go? He's not free to go willy nilly on promises made.

Catharine - I agree with you mostly but given a choice between one candidate who would have Mukasey as the Attorney General and another who might have John Edwards, I could easy see a reason to go for the latter.

I understand that my opinion doesn't matter at all but I'm trying to say that there is still a clear albeit watered down difference between the two top candidates.

I'm with you on that one, edna.

I think even a little success on that front would rock the media boat, more than they care to admit.

Alice posted about taking to the streets to bring change. That doesn't seem to work in this country any more. People are focused on paying their bills. One way it does seem to be happening is the "intertubes" and Barak seems to be pretty savy with that. Funny, I spent the Summer of 2004 reading John Kerry's blog and have only looked once at Obama's website. Does he have a blog? Kerry's was very interesting that summer. The day after he lost I tried to log on and it was frozen on the last thread. I had such a feeling of loss that day. I felt like I had gotten to know a community of people; just like I feel when reading this blog.

you are my hero for the day. Did you get a picture?

I agree Edna. It is my pet project as well, but there have not been enough takers. I am sure I have not done as much as I could either. Over the last 4 years there have been a few exciting victories but they were somewhat Pyrrhic in the end.

It really is about money and the media. We have to keep reminding ourselves. I have not changed my opinion on this since the beginning.

Given that we both feel that media is the biggest problem and the biggest agent for change, doesn't it really gall you that Obama is willing to go back on his word and vote as he is on FISA and retroactive immunity? That one just puzzles me. It would have been so easy for him to vote against giving them retroactive immunity. It wouldn't have even cost him a single vote on either side to do the politically correct thing. It really is shocking.

I think we can guess where he'll come down on all the other related issues as well - like corporate media ownership - and what types of people he'll appoint to the FCC.

I mean.... wow. What a son-of-a-bitch.

Now that is an excellent and inspiring 4th of July story, treebu!

Thanks for that.

I certainly won't vote for McCain

Submitted by Catharine on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 7:56pm.
Right now, I am not sure what I will do, but it won't be to vote for McCain.

Frankly, McCain may win despite the support for Obama, and then what?

What are we left with? We got fooled again. And now I am thinking that to vote for Obama is to get fooled as well.

[As an aside, I have seen no evidence that Obama will make any improvements on healthcare whatsoever.]

_______________________

McCain could still win with the support of the corporate media and his "maverick" image. I also am concerned about Obama's continuing emphasis on his biography.

What about issues? The economy, the war/occupation, and healthcare.

The Republican Party has money in the bank and they will use it to help McCain.

I am especially interested in the VP selections for Obama and McCain.

For example, I would much rather have John Edwards as VP (rather than Nunn, Hagel, J. Bush, or Lieberman). The recent polls indicate that Edwards could help Obama the most in the general election.

I think Elizabeth Edwards and Clinton's former policy advisor on healthcare "mandates" now working with or on Obama is a good sign (there are now some internal battles of advisors on Obama's team). Will it be enough to influence Obama?

I do believe that it is important to support independent progressive groups now. It is one of the ways to put pressure on Obama, McCain, and others.

but, but, but the History channel is running UFO's in the Bible and after that Larry King has his whole show dedicated to UFO sitings. I just got my tin foil hat polished too.

Do I really have to turn it off or can I wait till tomorrow? Seems like a shame to not watch it when it beats the news for believability!

submitted by toniD on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 8:12pm.
You must get the people to vote progressive.
-------

You're right, ToniD. We should do everything we can to help Cindy Sheehan kick Nancy Pelosi's ass. It will send a message to the rest of the Blue Dogs. Stinky Hoyer and Harry "Droopy" Reid need to go too.

"who might have John Edwards" as attorney general...

operative word is "might", and now I am inclined to think "not".

Also, it may not matter one bit who is attorney general, if the we end up giving all power to the Executive branch. Oh wait. We already did.

***
Ok. Now I really gotta go. Good conversation though. Damn.

May you inspire us all.

I know...

But just a little at a time. Maybe boycott the advertisers of the worst offenders first...

Gotta run, back later

Treebu and Ellwort

Kick 4th of July Ass!

...that was a MUST RE-BLOG treebu..I hope you don't mind...You two ROCK & RULE! :)...

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars
July 4, 2008

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the FBI will dispatch “hundreds” of agents during the DNC “to gather intelligence on possible terrorist activity.”

..you should vote for Obama for what he would do for the SCOTUS. The rest right now might as well be considered fluff imo.

___
bluerootsradio
The political pendulum cannot swing in one direction forever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axtr-yL33os

both died on the same day, exactly fifty years after the signing of the Declaration - July 4, 1826.

I seem to be watching more TV. I would rather go back to the days of the old AAR. Now we have to look for the inspiration.

It seems everything good doesn't last long. And the bad goes on for ever!

for L@L where ever he may be...

Brackish, mp3

Paperdoll, mp3

Suck, mp3

we all want the same thing. We are just coming to it from different directions.

I can see these same arguements and debates from my progressive group via email. I wish they'd use a blog! I hate getting all those emails!

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
Submitted by Alice on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 9:15pm.
both died on the same day, exactly fifty years after the signing of the Declaration - July 4, 1826.

I never knew that! Kind of odd too, that they should both of them die the same day.

...

Toni what sort of things do you have to do to be ready for your operation?

A lady came into the lib. the other day and the detector thingie buzzed..She said "It's my new knees!" and showed us her scars...

Thankee, Thankee! It weren't nothing! Cop scared me a bit, but all's well that ends well! It wasn't my finest work, I asked my kids to take a ride and get a pic. I will submit if I get anything legible. It's great free advertising!

I took it fom oculture...I didn't check to see if it's so or not.. :) Funny..P just said "I don't believe that" when I told it to him ... :)

A Patriot Is a Rebel, Not a Bootlicker
by Meteor Blades
Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 01:00:02 PM PDT
Samuel Johnson famously wrote in 1775 that "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." In The Devil’s Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce made the appropriate correction: "With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first."

The past eight years proves Bierce’s thesis once and for all.

More here:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/4/15049/53741/784/546356

Submitted by toniD on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 9:25pm.
Since AAR lost all the inspiring people
-------

You've found something inspiring on the Tee Vee? What dat be ToniD? Inquiring minds want to know?

Your Abbreviated Pundit Round-up
by DemFromCT
Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 05:19:23 AM PDT
Abbreviated July 4 edition. Happy holiday from Daily Kos, the home of American patriotism in the best sense of the word (now get out and do some field work).

Eugene Robinson:

Anyone who took U.S. history in high school ought to know that one of the five men killed in the Boston Massacre, the atrocity that helped ignite the American Revolution, was a runaway slave named Crispus Attucks. The question the history books rarely consider is: Why?

Paul Krugman: Well, we now know what McCain really stands for: Karl Rove's third term. I don't think the press will buy it. And, btw, this may not only be the week that Obama finds his inner self again, it may be the week I do, too.

Charles Krauthammer: Let's see, here are my talking points... where are my glasses? Obama not a patriot, he's a Democrat? Check. Obama and flag pins? Check. Jeez. It's July 4th, Karl, no way I'd have left that one out. Obama a flip-flopper. Check and check. Obama's no liberal? WTF? He's got the most liberal voting record... okay, okay, orders are orders. Check. Get off my lawn! No, that's not in the column, I'm yelling at the kids outside. Man, this is not fun.

E. J. Dionne Jr.: Obama's efforts on faith-based efforts are reasonable, sensible and likely to work both politically and administratively.

Michael Gerson: Obama's efforts on faith-based efforts are reasonable, sensible and likely to work both politically and administratively. I said it first.

Victor Davis Hansen: I'm okay with torture, I'm a neocon. But you've never seen torture like this: watch me mangle every metaphor from sports to the classics as I try to explain why McCain is Liston and Obama is Ali. No, no, Liston lost, so McCain can't be Liston. I got it... McCain is the tortoise and Obama the hare. Stay with me, people, I'm on a roll.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/4/74644/69767/727/546421

If for no other reason...
Submitted by maggiesboy on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 9:03pm.
..you should vote for Obama for what he would do for the SCOTUS. The rest right now might as well be considered fluff imo.
-------------
maggiesboy,

Relax. Give 'em time. The prima donnas will come down off of their high horses when they remember that this is politics, that Obama is a politician, and that they knew the job was irrational when they took it.

You are witnessing a classic case of hyperventilating and bedwetting because they are shocked, SHOCKED to learn that political gamesmanship is exuding from their "anti-establishment" candidate.

If I didn't know better, I would say that they are political virgins. They are not. They are frustrated idealists.

The steady "thump, thump" you hear is the sound of them crashing back to earth.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jcMqBqkrBMw

I have found myself listening to POTOS 08 more on XM with AAR going down hill. I heard John Elliott comment that some of the suits at AAR are worried about losing XM audience to that channel. No wonder since they are offering such fluff. I miss Sam! Humor, research, interesting guests and great interactions with conservative callers. Thomm Hartmann lets his conservative guests roll over him and Randi and Mike just shout them down. Sam is the best!

According to Bill Schneider, CNN senior political analyst , the flip-flopping charge may not resonate as much with voters this year as it did in the past.

"So what if voters think both candidates are flip-floppers?" asked Schneider. "After eight years of George W. Bush, voters may welcome some pragmatism and flexibility in their leaders. Times change."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/03/poll.candidates/

The sound you hear from me is -

whatever this is...it is not working for me...

*

Here's my friend Ruth's Letter to the Editor from last week..

That a-hole Radanovich pretends to have meetings with the people at my lib. - Ruth is 81...She is like the maj. here..she is voting for Obama...even though she admits that he is not who represents her beliefs...

*

Proviso not appreciated

To the Editor:

After many futile attempts to meet with George Radanovich, representing California's 19th District, members of Tuolumne County Citizens for Peace were pleased to hear that the Congressman would hold monthly meetings in Sonora. While disappointed that Radanovich sent a surrogate to the first meeting, the members had an informative exchange on important issues with the substitute.

At the second meeting, a personable young man stood in for our representative and he opened the meeting with the proviso that politics were off-limits and that the discussion would be limited to personal problems. This restriction demonstrates how far removed Radanovich is from many of his constituents. The war in Iraq and its consequences, the sky-high deficit, global warming, and health care are all concerns that many of us consider as personal problems. TCCP and Radanovich disagree on most issues, but resolving these should begin with a dialogue and, if this is prevented, then resolutions cannot be reached.

Understanding each other's views, even if disagreement still exists, is a step toward compromise, and perhaps we could learn from each other.

Ruth, Sonora, CA

...*SIGH*...

night!

Tonid,

Bill Schneider of CNN use to be a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

That was POTUS not Potos. They try to be even handed and have shows from both sides. I find the press call to the campaigns interesting. This station will probably just be on until November but I wish Sam could have a show there.

I'm thinking if you posted it, you would check it and it's true.

edna, the home design shows and the cooking shows and the History channel are okay on TV.

I've been preparing for awhile for the operation Alice.

Tests, Drs visits, Dentists, etc. My last preparation will be to mark an X on my left knee.

45 hours a week not including travel time...The US Govt counts on that...no time...

All we know besides what we are told in the media is what we directly experience... Do you check evey claim of every article you post?

I hear you...I can't vote out of fear of what MIGHT be anymore...I changed my strategy...I'm looking directly at what I DO want..and not what I DO NOT want...

"Bill Schneider of CNN use to be a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute."

»

Schneider's a tool. I know that! I'm just surprised how much his rhetoric has changed in 8 years! He delighted in calling Kerry a flip flopper.

I'm working on a half pound of shrimp I'm going to grill.

when they thaw I'll shell them and soak them in lemon juce then stick them on skewers and grill them.

I've got a bottle of thai sweet red chili sauce for grilling and dipping.

and I've got a lot of iced tea and a bottle or 2 or Mexican coke (in glass 12 0z bottle, cane sugar.

Excuse me, I have to go remove Rufus from the counter -- he's very interested in the shrimp preparations.

I was infering that I trusted you!

thank you! WOW

Fighting for a better country is what patriotic dissidents have done from the beginning of the United States. Arrayed against them and their high principles in every case were the pretend patriots, those for whom dissent was anathema, who saw attempts to expand the nation’s democracy as a violation of their rights, who labeled opposition to expansionism and imperialist war outright treason.

Despite the pretenders who engaged in naked aggression against abolitionists, suffragists, trade unionists, civil rights workers and others, these dissidents made America better. They remade America. In our time, they are lauded, but in their own, they were vilified, assaulted and even, sometimes, murdered for their audacity, for their patriotism, for their belief that the ideals in the Declaration were not pretend. We owe them. Not least to imitate their example and remake America once again.

all together... :)
I swear I used to be more light...I'm not so much now...

Lighten up Alice
Submitted by toniD on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 10:12pm.
I was infering that I trusted you!
------
Implying, not inferring. Not that anyone cares but me.
---------------------------------------
Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 5:28pm.
...a bottle of thai sweet chilly sauce...

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 10:10pm.
...a bottle of thai sweet red chili sauce...
------
That was a long wait for a chilly correction.

I don't check Daily Kos as much as I should.

I am not much of an Obama supporter but I know priority one is to get someone in who thinks diplomacy, not pre-emptive war is the most important thing. If you want to make systematic change, you have to look at where you have clout. It doesn't do much good to tell a group of like minded bloggers to start a boycott; too many Americans don't want to give up their creature comforts. I know because that is the kind of response I get when I give people the facts about why they shouldn't shop at Walmart.
What can you do? Write letters to the editor. Find facts to counteract email smears your right wing friends may send you. Host film viewings. Do they do that at your library, Alice? Support low power FM for a local voice or even community TV. The cable companies are supposed to support local access but are trying to wiggle out of it.

Patriotism assumes that our globe is divided into little spots, each one surrounded by an iron gate. Those who have had the fortune of being born on some particular spot, consider themselves better, nobler, grander, more intelligent than the living beings inhabiting any other spot. It is, therefore, the duty of everyone living on that chosen spot to fight, kill, and die in the attempt to impose his superiority upon all the others.

*

http://deletetheborder.org
towards a global network of movements against borders

>>That was a long wait for a chilly correction.

It warmed up after sitting on the counter for nearly 5 1/2 hours.

"more and better dems..."

Plea for Our Modern Day Thomas Paynes by Leonard Clark
by thedamnliberal
Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 06:09:23 PM PDT
How many Thomas Paynes exist amongst us? Are Mike Malloy and Steve Lemmons of the Phoenix New Times our only modern day pains in the multi-national corporate posteriors? We think not. The Thomas Paynes of our state, country and world are those we see, hear, touch and not least of all feel in our hearts almost every day.

Unfortunately though, it seems in many cases these modern day Thomas Paynes whom walk amongst us are seen and heard but not rewarded the attentions and beautiful watering of our love. These Thomas Paynes are like those tough plants we know as the stately saguaro cactus here in our beloved Arizona that survive and even thrive because even only a little water goes along way here. But my brothers and sisters even the very tough Saguaro cactus will perish woutout a little water from Mother Earth. And, so it also goes, with our beloved progressive Thomas Paynes, just the smallest amount of our love will go along way in not only helping them survive but to thrive as well against these traitor fascists and evil royal emissaries of King George W. Bush and all of the right wingers who stand against love and humanity. If we are not careful, they like the very tough Saguaro cactus will cease to exist and halt that cause of their existence, for which we and humanity should be thankful: the struggle for truth, love and the dignity of all mankind.

We all know a modern day Thomas Payne even if we think we don't. To many times the so called mainstream media world thinks that the truth comes through the $500.00 suit of a fundamentalist King Bush loving preacher (whom unknowingly committs blasephmy by encouraging the worship not of GOD but instead, of this traitorous Bush Right wing Crimie Family and their multi-national corporate friends) Many in our progressive community strugle every day with keeping a roof over their heads and enough food to sustain their lives (never mind medical Care) this includes many of us, while there being a fortunate few amongst us who not taking what they have for granted struggle a little less and assisting our progeressive family and community as they can.

But there is even amongst our coummunity of valiant progressive activsts those who know the existence of living in homeless shelters and the rationing of food stams to feed not only themselves but their loved ones as well. They are, but not limited to, the elderly, the physically and cognitely challendged, the disabled veterans and those individuals who have chosen to selep on our couches and forgo the luxuries of a comfortable life to speak and carry our the right and noble cause of truth to power.

I do not preach at you but rather plead to, and ask you to remind me and all those amongst us of these words: That we need to remember the quite essential role our beloved modern day Thomas Paynes play (and against all odds) in continuing to stoke the dying fires of American democracy and world humanity.

This is our church of love and humanity and our Thomas Paynes are those brave souls that go forth in this world into dangerous places of hate and ignorance. Yes, there have been those who have somtimes wrongly taken advantage of our trusting kindness but we cannot let one negative act sour us on everything we can do to love ourselves by loving these suffering brother and sister Thomas Paynes amongst us that go forth and do non-violent battle every day in our struggle against the extremist from both "Left and Right" whom wish to enslave not only ourselves but our progeny as well. Unlike the shelters with limited beds for the homeless and the food banks with dwindling amounts of food, we can offer them and therefore ourselves the water of love which has no limits because true love has no limits and just like our native friend the Arizona Sahuaro cactus we too can not only survive but thrive from the loving rain of Mother Earth even in the smallest drops of rain.

With hope for peace and love,

Happy Fourth of July, 2008

Leonard Clark
Persian Gulf/ Iraq Occupation III vet

Chairman of the Joe Arpaio and John McCain Recalls

in Arizona

If you would like to help or pass along information please contact us at: leonardclark385@hotmail.com , retakearizona.com, arizonarecall.com

623-206-2039

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/4/205819/6683/395/546761

Oh my god ! That was so sweet! I love the innocence!

The DailyKos community is Democratic but there are a lot of smart people there and they do have clout. They support progressive dems and are a big part of progressives getting elected. They raise a lot of money for progressives and they cross post in lots of places. I also love the search function on the blog.

Sam, and PJ from the Morning Seditionists blog, and all other upstaters, I'm talking to you!

******
Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain might not burn up the campaign trail around Western New York this election year, but the University at Buffalo may have scheduled the next best thing.

GOP strategist Karl Rove and former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards will debate the issues of the presidential campaign Sept. 26 as part of the university’s Distinguished Speakers Series, The Buffalo News has learned.

[snip]

The 8 p. m. debate would lead off the lecture series, which has featured such major figures as former Vice President Al Gore and the late Tim Russert of NBC News.

Regan said the full schedule for the series will be announced later this month, when series subscriptions will become available. Tickets for individual programs, including the Edwards- Rove event, are expected to go on sale a short time later.
******

Linkasaurus

The World-Famous Thanks to Morning Sedition
Brilliant at Breakfast
http://brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com
"Only dull people are brilliant at Breakfast" -- Oscar Wilde
Speaking truth to power since 2004

Crank:

"...You are witnessing a classic case of hyperventilating and bedwetting because they are shocked, SHOCKED to learn that political gamesmanship is exuding from their "anti-establishment" candidate.

If I didn't know better, I would say that they are political virgins. They are not. They are frustrated idealists.

The steady "thump, thump" you hear is the sound of them crashing back to earth."

***

Actually, I would say that to mature is to find more patience and more stamina for the marathon and not try to win the sprint. Maturation is being patient enough for the long haul fight. And not always looking at as a 'fight'. Complacency is very different than patience.

Trying to look at the long haul and realize that it is difficult to say what is really a good thing and what is bad is the sign of wisdom [as opposed to knowledge].

I am not going to waste time in being disappointed in myself for what I didn't do, but I'd like to make the changes none the less.

So... would it really be so bad if as a consequence of appropriately challenging Obama, McCain won? Would it not possibly light in people a real fire of realistic activism with a higher purpose?

If McCain won despite us backing Obama would that not be a worse defeat? And if Obama wins and we helped him do so, and he believed [rightfully] that we voted for him because we bought the logic that he was the lesser evil, then .... what did we win? He knows now he doesn't have to do anything that his 'supporters' want.

What then?

I think the perceived difference is only that: perceived.

You see...when I got it out of the 'fridge it was chilly sauce...but hours later after it warmed up it was chili sauce...

It's from Miss Anne, actually :)

see...it's a play on words... a pun of sorts...chilly, chili..get it?

Hope ya all are having a great 4th - good food, parades, festival's & fireworks.
Beautiful weather here in Chicago.
Couldn't of asked for anything better. (Well maybe gas going down about 3 bucks)
)

I, for one, am not a frustrated idealist. I never thought that Obama was an "anti-establishment" candidate. Never. But, I have been deluded into thinking others were.

Meanwhile, I live my life in the conventional pro-establishment way. But, I still would like to see it all fall apart. I also know that it will take a really long time. Most of us live in some version of that same world. And complacency is our modus operandi.

It would be great to rip the band-aid off quickly, but I am honestly not sure I am ready for it to be ripped off slowly.

see, when I got the sauce out of the fridge, it was cold. So it was a chilly sauce.

then, that same sauce warmed up and it was chili sauce.

Am I getting anywhere, or is this material to subtle for this crowd?

yeah. as always, it's way over our heads.

Chilly...Chili...

[TAP, TAP] is this thing on?

[TAP, TAP, TAP] hello, hello?

[TAP, TAP]

today---

they are having too much fun i guess
4th!

Philistines!

How I suffer for my art! ;)

Jimi -

>>they are having too much fun i guess

mine too. At least I get exotic mariachi music!

The Aspen Ideas Festival

Via email, a deep thought from Tom Friedman at the festival.

America has a problem and the world has a problem. America has lost its way in recent years; bad habits have weakened our society’s ability and willingness to take on big challenges. The world also has a problem. It’s becoming hot, flat, and crowded. I am convinced that the best way for America to solve its big problem and the best way for America to gets its groove back is for America to take the lead in solving the world’s problem.

Uh, Tom? SUCK ON THIS.

-Atrios 15:41

Tell them, Crank Bait, Tell them how I suffer for my art.

Tell them how suffering is always mentioned is discussions of my art.

there has been one stuck to the bookdrop for a week...

No way am I touching that...it makes me crazy that someone would put a bandaid on the bookdrop...Oh and did I mention that on the kids coloring table (blank white paper on a table to be colored on at will), that someone wrote "black people suck" on it...and a mother complained and we changed the paper...and I'm pretty sure I know who did it...

Submitted by Catharine on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 11:20pm.
I, for one, am not a frustrated idealist.
---------
I am. So are you. It is possible to be an idealist who has realistic expectations. That's what makes them frustrated.

It is also possible to be an idealist who has unrealistic expectations. That's what makes THEM frustrated.

Chilly today and hot tamale

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 11:29pm.
Tell them, Crank Bait, Tell them how I suffer for my art.
----------
To hell with your art. I'm waiting to learn how Rufus suffered when he licked the chili sauce.

a banned blogger..if you can get behind that fine...not me though...

>>and I'm pretty sure I know who did it

I'm pretty sure you don't have too many blacks in your neck of the woods?

It seems like the worst racists have the least contact with the groups they hate. either that or way too much.

Ther was a new guy at wok yesterday. to look at the guy you'd think he was a total thug, tatoos on the neck, etc. and being a young black man I thought he'd have an attitude despite his not slouching his trousers.

to my surprise, when I talked with him he had a great sense of humor. not like the guy he replaced who would barely answer if you asked a question or whatever.

Run Fer Yer Lives!

by digby

This is getting stupid:

The White House said Thursday that dangerous detainees at Guantanamo Bay could end up walking Main Street U.S.A. as a result of last month's Supreme Court ruling about detainees' legal rights. Federal appeals courts, however, have indicated they have no intention of letting that happen.

The high court ruling, which gave all detainees the right to petition federal judges for immediate release, has intensified discussions within the Bush administration about what to do with the roughly 270 detainees held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"I'm sure that none of us want Khalid Sheikh Mohammed walking around our neighborhoods."

Just plant a bottle of drinking water on him and he'll never be able to enter the country --- just like everbody else.

I've always made a sort of satirical joke that they were screaming "the terrorists are coming to kill us all in our beds!" But now they are literally saying that. Good thing nobody cares what they think anymore.

Vincent- Don McLean
http://www.youtube.com/v/dipFMJckZOM&hl=en&fs=1
(Starry Starry Night)

but their attitudes vary nonetheless..other kids have completely opposite views....I couldn't claim to know which population is more or less though...

>>how Rufus suffered when he licked the chili sauce.

well, if it means anything, the back of the enclosed plastic cat box has a gapping burn hole now.

and rufus singed off half the hair from his hindquarters.

Yes you did, and it was good.

:o)

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 11:40pm.
...Ther was a new guy at wok yesterday...
-----------
An hour later, you were hungry all over again.

the lounge....its way too hot..

but it will turn off the computer
what do you think

conditioner or computer?

The (FISA) bill is unnecessary for intelligence collection and POISON for our civil liberties... - DU

Bush-Led 'Disaster Capitalism' Exploits Worldwide Misery to Make a Buck
By Naomi Klein, The Nation. Posted July 4, 2008.

The Iraq disaster and rising gas and food prices have people across the globe in a state of fear and shock. It's high times for Bush & Co.

http://www.alternet.org/story/90409/?ses=4092dc08972ff581df97d774bd0343f...

I went to DailyKos and tried what you suggested Alice but it didn't work. I probably did it wrong since I'm old and my computing skills are shaky. I was just commenting on the subject searching, which, as a librarian, I thought you would appreciate. They can get pretty abusive with troll ratings. I only read it, I don't post.

>>you were hungry all over again.

chop,chop!!!

good video.. funny! :)

*

I'm not a Librarian...I WISH I could be a Librarian without the debt that entails...You're correct about the searching thing though...It reminds me of..'you only use 20% of your brain" thing - what percent of the internet is unused? How can I FIND IT ALL? ;)

I'm eating chocolate covered espresso beans..

I heard about this a few weeks ago. It's a terrific idea. Many people who were interviewed said, "You mean they haven't been doing this all along?"

I'd be interested in knowing if toniD's hospital has adopted the checklist.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news...

A surgical revolution: checklist that could prevent thousands of deaths

...The checks are extremely basic and are similar to those used by pilots before take off. They range from confirming the site for surgery (which limb to amputate or kidney to remove) to counting the number of swabs after the operation has been completed (to ensure none have been left inside the patient). Because operating theatres are busy and stressful places, they can be omitted – with potentially lethal consequences for the patient.

The surgery checklist is being tested at St Mary's Hospital, London and seven other hospitals around the world – in the US, Canada, New Zealand, India, Philippines, Tanzania and Jordan – and has already resulted in "substantial reductions in complications and deaths," according to the WHO...
------
(No, Chubby. Not the rock band.)

I'm a different Sandy. In fact I will admit something that I was afraid to admit here before. I am a librarian but a Luddite too (sort of). When I went to library school we still had to type cards. I use the internet but I know I'm not that good at it. Part of the reason I am a partial Luddite is that I'm wary of how many people think technology is the answer, not just the tool to find the answers. I work in an elementary school and I think too early use and overreliance on the internet is keeping a generation of kids from learning how to read for meaning. They think cutting and pasting is researching and writing. And the internet has removed the old gate keepers of libraries and publishers, authority and limited space.

Whoa! First time I saw those was in the middle of the table for a final exam in Old English. The professor sent one of my fellow grad students over to Atticus Books to get a paper-plateful for the whole crew before the test. What a blast!
Thanks, Alice.
Happy bowel movements,
- A

I heard that they have added so many fees to the MLS program at the University of Arizona that it is now one of the most expensive masters programs there. The fees are more thn the tution. Another example of what happens when governments have a "just cut taxes" mentality

HOW COOL!

Well...if they would let me anywhere near the Reference desk I would get to learn how to use books to look things up as well as the internet...

I'm in the process of creating a new home page for the kids computers at work..If you have any ideas I would gladly repay you on Tuesday.. :)

Library Information Technologist

Not Olde English?

Hey I have a modicum of self-control, ellwort... I only ate like five of them.. :)

too much money...

Yeah. I really do miss those card catalogues even despite the paper-cuts and lost places and all. I guess what I miss is the disciplined mind-power of being one's own search engine. Sort of like when inexpensive advanced and easily portable calculators became accessible to us. I sort of resented that "kids these days" no longer had to sweat over mathematical & algebraic paper-puzzling in school. As a linguist, I think I yearn for the days way before we were born when the only media for conversation and memory were orality and fingers. In fact, the Egyptian god-king Theuth confronted the newfangled practice of literacy with alarm:

"This invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practise their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are not part of themselves will discourage the use of their own memories within them. You have invented an elixir not of memory but of reminding; and you offer your pupils the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom."

I'm taking a class next week sponsored by Apple and I get to use an IBook. I told my husband this could be an expensive class because I'll want one. Does your library have a subscription to Britannica on line? It has a neat new feature that lets you switch reading levels easily.
I'll try to send you some links our libraries use but it may take me a week or two since I'm not at school.

I have a teenage son and I have always felt like I'm catching up compared to him. He blogs on sport sites. I also have the best job in the world, I read stories and sing songs. You probably don't have to right credits but school librarianship is a growth field right now. And you don't have to work nights, weekends, or summer.
Oh, and have you tried to interest some of your bored, youthful clients with graphic books? We have quite a few now and the kids love them.

Can't believe I misspelled that. No wonder my live life faltered for so long.

with Katharine Hepburn. She is the head of the Reference Dept for a studio I think it is..And she has all these factoids memorized because the studio people call all the time with the same questions...And how books used to have to be copied by scribes and memorization was how info. was passed... neat...I had a blgo where I would try to find the FULL texts of books from my home library...and I only ended up with like about 85 of them...

http://www.fireworkspop.com/Liberty_.htm

I did a blog post about them once...(ashamed to say to you that I copied and pasted it from another library teen blog..with proper credit though)...We don't have Brittanica, but World Book Online..One thing that bothers me is that all the databases we subscribe to for patrons to use...come from one distributor...Thompson-Gale..we used to have more variety...

U of Oregon Enviromental Studies Library.

took the graduate level courses in Library sciences.

i miss the card catalogs too. sigh.

I miss the card catalog too but I don't miss typing cards, I'm a lousy typist. I have found older adults continued to use the card catalog over the computer catalog. It's like reading a print encyclopedia. You learn a lot just by skimming surrounding things. One truth I've learned from teaching kids is that you have to know a little something about a topic to know what you don't know. I have had a kid search for "Saturn" and want to print the car site as well as the planet. I have searched for a strange insect where the first site listed used the insect as an example of why there is a god. The poor kid would have used that in his research if I hadn't been there. The Internet is an exceptional tool but too much information can be a dangerous thing.

The University of Oregon closed their library program a long time ago :( I love the U of O, it's so beautiful. There aren't many MLS programs in the West. Don't you know, we don't need libraries any more, we have the internet (snark)

Alice, Publishers are merging-just like all the other mega corporations.

I tend towards the teenagers...the fussing and crying that little kids do make me want to kill.. ;) (I'm KIDDING)..

Put 60+ miles on the scooter Wednesday night. All through downtown Portland. It was a blast. Rode with 6 other folks, from all over town.

Come to my job and take my catalog class #1...it's getting rave reviews.. :) I put signs next to the card catalog computers that say "Frustrated? Go to Reference and sign up for Catalog Class" :)

The University of Oregon closed their library program a long time ago""

a tear falls for some of the books there, they were friends of mine.

what happened to the archives?

sounds like fun!

cool lil scooter you have!

i'm partial to hot rodded 650's, they're the perfect size for me.

lately i've been subject to sticker shock.

a new rear tire costs as much

as my first panhead hog.

Excellent film. And I did relate (between guffaws) to that element of Hepburn's character. Especially when I was a paralegal in the pre-desktop era (and nary a database in the firm's file room).
My Mactop keyboard is starting to betray me; no actually it's fatigue-faulty fingers. It's way past the witching hour here on eastcoast Samtime. Can't keep up with all you Sam Saloon regulars out west for whom it's only, um, a little after ten? Just got up and brushed my teeth, and the counterpoint between the ceiling fan and treebu's breaking-wave breaths beckons me on to the Land of Slumber.
Pleasant dreams
- A

I worked in a high school for a year and that was enough for me. Little kids still like adults and are interested in learning things. At about 4th grade the hormones start and things start to change. And, working in a school I can make them be quiet, you don't have as much control in a public library. On reading your post again, I think that fussing and crying must be coming from preschoolers, a whole 'nother animal.

http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/

One thing my friend at work told me about that she is learning at SJSU MLS school is that the govt, unless they get a Purl (Permanent Uniform Resource Locator)...they are deleting links to docs..umm.just cuz they can...as usual..I saw a lot missing docs on this site..one being.. Dorthea Dix orations...

You should go on youtube and find this thing called The Impotence of Proofreading by Taylor Mali

I'd post it here but I don't know how to copy links or embed from this iTouch

________________________________

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” –Helen Keller

Community college teacher in a requirement class the inner-city port-town. Every day a source of wonder. Everybody brings something amazing.
Kay bye
ZZZ

-Little kids still like adults and are interested in learning things-

I never got on Obama's bandwagon

Submitted by Catharine on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 5:51pm.
And I never thought he was really any different, and therefore not better than Clinton. I dislike Clinton for many reasons; all related to her stances on issues and her record.

An awful lot of people, always thought Obama was god's gift, and the "answer" [the number 42]. That's what made it sad. The unbridled devotion and delusion. As long as we think like that, we lose. It's one thing to try to be pragmatic and say I'll hold my nose and vote, but to ever think this guy was even close to progressive at all was delusion. What if all those people had put their energy and money into a more progressive candidate? Maybe the 'establishment' would still have been able to quash it, but in their struggle to quash it, they would risk a lot more, and we might have gained more as a people.
--------------------------------------

and rich. Thank you for saying this so well.

I can imagine Shelley had many mornings like that.
________________________________

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” –Helen Keller

:)

Missing documents. Our biggest fear about paperless archives. - Library at Alexandria, and all that.
Alas! Orpheus re-earthed.

Good night opeople
________________________________

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” –Helen Keller

*runs screaming from the blog* - grievous grieving....

Screaming is a satisfyingly apt response. Essential orality. Maybe Theuth was right.

Lovelier still.

Excellent article:
Submitted by Catharine on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 5:41pm.
Glenn Greenwald
...
... The next time you hear Steny Hoyer, Obama surrogates and their various apologists tell you how important the new FISA bill is because it contains an "exclusivity" provision and thus ensures that the FISA court is brought back into Government eavesdropping, just go read what Judge Walker said about the current FISA framework to realize how misleading that claim is. They're presenting as a "gift" something you already have, and telling you that you should give up critical protections in exchange for receiving something that you already have -- namely, a requirement that the President comply with eavesdropping laws. What they're doing is tantamount to someone who steals your wallet, takes all the money out, gives the empty wallet back to you, and then tells you that you should be grateful to them because you have your wallet.

(5) Here is the most important point of all. The Court reviewed the basic history of FISA: that the Church Committee in the mid-1970s had uncovered decades of spying abuses by our Government that were made possible -- made inevitable -- because the Government could spy without warrant requirements. The Court quoted the Church Committee's findings:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/03/al_haramain/index.html

» ==================================

That the judges consistently ruled to rein in The Usurper/Tyrant shows that Constitutional checks and balances can work IF ONLY THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH WOULD BACK UP THE JUDICIAL BRANCH ON THIS!

But no. The Dems have no principles.

"Moderation in temper is always a virtue.
Moderation in priciple is always a vice."
-- Thomas Paine

I must be hallucinating...

In the great green room there was a telephone
and a red balloon
and a picture of a cow jumping over the moon
and three bears sitting in chairs
and two little kittens and a pair of mittens
and a comb and a brush
and a bowl full of mush
And a little old lady whispering "hush"
Goodnight Moon...

Goodnight all.

I've checked that in and out so manhy times and never opened it...thanks for the review....I'll read it next time I see it..it's about my mental speed anyway.. :)

Goodnight, Sandy and Blog and MOON..

Wayne Allyn Root for VP!

Naomi Klein on the Iraq Oil theft

http://www.alternet.org/story/90409/?page=2&ses=4092dc08972ff581df97d774...

[excerpt]
Invading countries to seize their natural resources is illegal under the Geneva Conventions. That means that the huge task of rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure -- including its oil infrastructure -- is the financial responsibility of Iraq's invaders. They should be forced to pay reparations. (Recall that Saddam Hussein's regime paid $9 billion to Kuwait in reparations for its 1990 invasion.) Instead, Iraq is being forced to sell 75 percent of its national patrimony to pay the bills for its own illegal invasion and occupation...

Privatizing Iraq's oil, ensuring global dominance for genetically modified crops, lowering the last of the trade barriers and opening the last of the wildlife refuges ... Not so long ago, those goals were pursued through polite trade agreements, under the benign pseudonym "globalization." Now this discredited agenda is forced to ride on the backs of serial crises, selling itself as lifesaving medicine for a world in pain.
[end excerpt]

----------------------------

Was it in the last State of the Union address? Or somewhere else? Bush said we were "addicted to oil" and so many found that meant Bush was seeing the light and could be reasoned with to do the right thing about global heating.

But now here we are and Bush the Pusher has come around again and we've pledged to detox ourselves from our addiction, but he's insisting we shoot up even more than before. Open those oil fields, and coastal waters and destroy what wilderness is left for the sake of the addiction.

Meanwhile...video from Switzerland:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hdj/

Boycott the things you don't like. Everything helps. It's simple, and with the littlest bit of organizing can make a world of difference. Every choice you make as a consumer has power. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I am concerned about the symbolism. An 'X' might say "not this one" although it could also say "X marks the spot". I think a target with a bullseye might be less confusing. Less than a week now!

I ran into my gym pal the other day who had both knees done at the same time. Now she is swimming in the Bay and doing great.

I haven't seen any evidence of Obama's diplomacy. "Obama wants to use diplomacy" is something Joe Lieberman says to scare the rightwingers, because diplomacy is a dirty word in those circles.

But the reality is, Obama has not said anything to indicate that he would pursue policy towards Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc any differently than business as usual. Now, it can be argued that he's just doing this because he has to, and once elected, he'll be the Great Diplomat, but that could also be wishful thinking by desperate true believers.

All options are on the table with Obama, don't kid yourselves. There are some places where Obama and McCain differ, but war policy - excuse me - defense policy, is not one of them.

as it may hit them in the profits. However, I think that tiny group that is at the top of the foodchain has been having a feeding frenzy on us for so long now that they have more than enough money to weather the storm of any boycott we stage. And the Power Elite tell the corporations what to do. Just as The Power Elite doesn't care if millions of us die in wars, they don't care if millions of us die for lack of work>money>medicalcare>food or expire from tainted water, air, soil; from their point of view it is practical eugenics. They are just culling the herd for their convenience.

Things are closing down, tightening up already. Some of the usual items I purchase regularly are getting difficult to get like before. Maybe it is reduced inventory to save money, or I buy stuff that is not real popular, so the less purchased brands will lose shelf space first. Have you ever seen the photos of Russians back in the 1970s-80s who had no consumer choices? You may want to boycott now, but if things get tough, you won't be deciding if you're going to boycott Fritos chips instead of some other brand -- because there will be only one chip available...that sort of thing.

I think that Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" points out that the Powerful have finally found a way to 'artificially' frighten us the way the masses used to frighten them -- through the fear and chaos, because it was fear and chaos that overwhelmed the Powerful when the masses rose up in protest and revolt to squash tyrants.

I think the boycott is a babystep in a linear progression of group actions toward that power the masses have in numbers, the power to overrun the Power Elite. In that regard, it may be a beginning to teach people to work as a mass force. Maybe it might go something like sit-in>boycott>strike>and so on. But the Power Elite has worked to produce more scary crowd control tools than we can fathom and are our days of over-running them long past? Did they end with the invention of microwave crowd control that can explode one's eyeballs or something?

Perhaps I'm all over the map. I'll make the 'I'm sleepy' excuse.

Even during the sixties some people still raised food locally in every area and one could tighten the belt. But now? Imagine a city in protest or strike. I expect the big corporations to cut off the corporate food line so that no big semi-trucks would bring food to the local supermarkets. And the corporate media? They wouldn't give the rest of the country the truth on the situation; if word got out it would be considered anecdotal and suspect for years. (If they can demolition office buildings before our eyes and tell us two jets did that, they can pull off anything.)

Rove, false patriot that he is, celebrated the Fourth by spitting on the subpoena he received calling him to testify before the representatives of the People in this Our Democracy.

alice, what i would do is get some rubber gloves, remove the bandaid which has been stuck on the bookdrop and insert it in one of the books being taken out or used by this library person that might have "done it"

viv48

I agree with you tonid. I miss the good old days, now it is like a dessert. AAR was great when it first came on and it was like an oasis in the desert at the time. I believe that all those voices helped changed things and now we are again in the desert. I hadn't watched TV, except for c-span and now I try to find some information, which is very difficult to find. The people who gave the most information are all gone now.

Amy Goodman: It's not the man, it's the movement
Amy Goodman — 7/03/2008 5:37 am

I was on a panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado this week when Newsweek's Jonathan Alter asked me, "Is Obama a sellout?" The question isn't whether he is a sellout or not -- it's about what demands are made by grass-roots social movements of those who would represent them.

The question is, Who are these candidates responding to, answering to? Richard Nixon's campaign strategy was to run in the primaries to the right, then move to the center in the general election. Bill Clinton's strategy was called "triangulation," navigating to a political "third way" to please moderates and undecided voters. This past week, Barack Obama has made some signal policy changes that suggest he might be doing something similar. Will it work for him?

Take the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, for example. A Dec. 17, 2007, press release from Obama's Senate office read: "Senator Obama unequivocally opposes giving retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies and has cosponsored Senator Dodd's efforts to remove that provision from the FISA bill. Granting such immunity undermines the constitutional protections Americans trust the Congress to protect. Senator Obama supports a filibuster of this bill, and strongly urges others to do the same." Six months later, he supports immunity for the companies that spied on Americans.

I asked Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., about Obama's position on the FISA bill. He told me: "Wrong vote. Regrettable. Many Democrats will do this. We should be standing up for the Constitution. When Senator Obama is president, he will, I'm sure, work to fix some of this, but it's going to be a lot easier to prevent it now than to try to fix it later."

Feingold and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., are planning on filibustering the bill. It will take 60 senators to overcome their filibuster. It looks like Obama will be one of them. Disappointment with Obama's FISA position is not limited to his senatorial colleagues. On Obama's own campaign Web site, bloggers are voicing strident opposition to Obama's FISA position. At the time of this writing, an online group on Obama's site had more than 10,000 members and was growing fast. The group's profile reads: "Senator Obama -- we are a proud group of your supporters who believe in your call for hope and a new kind of politics. Please reject the politics of fear on national security, vote against this bill and lead other Democrats to do the same!"

Then there were the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on gun control and the death penalty. Obama supported the court in overturning the 32-year-old ban on handguns in the nation's violence-ridden capital. It's the court's most significant ruling on the Second Amendment in nearly 70 years. And in a blow to death-penalty opponents, Obama disagreed with the high court's prohibiting execution of those who were found guilty of raping children.

More here:

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/294455

Welcome to the Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Are you concerned that the government's warrantless surveillance, detainee policies, and other post-9/11 laws and policies undermine our basic civil rights and liberties and make our country less safe? Join the Bill of Rights Defense Committee's national network of people who are taking meaningful action to restore protections guaranteed under the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution.

Subscribe to receive BORDC Action Alerts and e-newsletter. Find past issues here.

Bills to watch:

Domestic wiretapping: Senate vote imminent
State secrets privilege
National Security Letters
"Homegrown terrorists"

http://www.bordc.org/

are you not going to wish baby phoenix a happy birhday?

The Muppets Take On The Continental Congress…from the Norman Lear-produced “I Love Liberty” in 1982

Happy birthday to Phoenix and give her a big hug from me!

ToniD, Speaking of inspiring tee-vee , can you guess what televsion show this is from?

"You walk into this room at your own risk, because it leads to the future, not a future that will be but one that might be. This is not a new world, it is simply an extension of what began in the old one. It has patterned itself after every dictator who has ever planted the ripping imprint of a boot on the pages of history since the beginning of time. It has refinements, technological advances, and a more sophisticated approach to the destruction of human freedom. But like every one of the superstates that preceded it, it has one iron rule: logic is an enemy and truth is a menace."

How much real change will be left by the November election? As Obama moves toward the center and his idea of what the American voter wants, what will be his final transformation? How will the debate with McCain change Obama's stance on key issues. Iraq, abortion, health care, taxes, did the primary election mean anything?

SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. — Early last month, Jeanne Fair, 62, got her first hot meals delivered to her home in this lake town in the sparsely populated southwestern part of the state. Then after two deliveries the meals stopped because gas prices had made the delivery too expensive.

“They called and said I was outside of the delivery area,” said Mrs. Fair, who is homebound and has not been able to use her left arm since a stroke in 1997.

Faced with soaring gasoline prices, agencies around the country that provide services to the elderly say they are having to cut back on programs like Meals on Wheels, transportation assistance and home care, especially in rural areas that depend on volunteers who provide their own gas. In a recent survey by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, more than half said they had already cut back on programs because of gas costs, and 90 percent said they expected to make cuts in the 2009 fiscal year.

“I’ve never seen the increase in need at this level,” said Robert McFalls, chief executive of the Area Agency on Aging in Palm Beach, Fla., whose office has a waiting list of 1,500 people. Volunteers who deliver meals or drive the elderly to medical appointments have cut back their miles, Mr. McFalls said.

Public agencies of all kinds are struggling with the new math of higher gas prices, lower property and sales tax revenues and increases in the minimum wage. Some communities have cut school bus routes, police patrols, traveling libraries and lawn maintenance. The St. Paul Police Department is encouraging officers to use horses and bikes. A number of state agencies, including those in Utah, are going to four-day workweeks to save energy costs and reduce commuting expenses for their employees.

But older poor people and those who are homebound are doubly squeezed by rising gas and food prices, because they rely not just on social service agencies, but also on volunteers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/05/us/05elderly.html?_r=1&partner=rssyaho...

Sounds familiar but I don't remember the show. Twilight zone? Or something like that?

perhaps....

Submitted by toniD on Sat, 07/05/2008 - 8:44am.
-----

Being the brilliant goddess that you are, ding, ding, ding. You're correct. It's from the Twilight Zone. The episode was called the Obsolete Man.

U.S. Arms Dealer Tests Legal Bounds in Middle East Arms Bazaar
By Sharon Weinberger 07.03.08

Former congressman Curt Weldon is helping broker deals between Russian and Ukranian weapons suppliers and the Iraqi and Libyan governments as part of his new job with a private American defense consulting firm, Wired.com has learned.

Weldon, who is currently being investigated by the FBI over alleged corruption during his time in office, visited Libya in March to discuss a possible military deal, according to a letter describing the trip from Weldon to Defense Solutions CEO Timothy Ringgold. In May, Weldon, together with Ringgold and another company representative, traveled to Moscow to discuss working with Russia's weapons-export agency on arms sales to the Middle East.

Both trips were part of the company's effort to tap into the growing -- and often legally murky -- market for selling weapons from former Eastern Bloc countries to the Middle East and Afghanistan

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2008/07/defense_solutions

edna, that was a guess, but the preamble to the show sounded like Twilight Zone.

I have to turn it off. Jesse Helms must have released all his demons today. It's real crazy. It's fierce. Rednecks everywhere! Did anyone hear the caller from Georgia complaining about education? Now that was hilarious.

http://thisishell.com/

Saturday, July 5th, This is Hell! airs a live and completely unedited four hour broadcast beginning at 9 AM (central) on WNUR 89.3 FM Chicago, and streaming live around the world at http://www.wnur.org. And every show is podcast, just visit our Archives.

Our guests this weekend include:

* this week, Pervez Hoodbhoy wrote the article, "Anti-Americanism in Pakistan and the Taliban Menace." Pervez is chairman of the Department of Physics at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad. He is chairman of Mashal, a non-profit organization which publishes books in Urdu on women’s rights, education, environmental issues, philosophy, and modern thought. He is author of "Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality", now in 5 languages. In 2003, Dr. Hoodbhoy was awarded UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for popularizing science in Pakistan with TV serials, and his film "The Bell Tolls for Planet Earth" won honorable mention at the Paris Film Festival.

* Rick Shenkman is the author of "Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth about the American Voter" (Basic Books), the second chapter of which was excerpted at TomDispatch.com as the article, "How Ignorant Are We?: The Voters Choose… but on the Basis of What?." Rick is an Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter, New York Times bestselling author, and associate professor of history at George Mason university is also the founder and editor of History News Network, a web site that features articles by historians on current events. He also blogs at "How Stupid?"

* Rami Khouri's most recent articles include, "Winds of Diplomacy," "Pretzels and Policies with Mohammad Khatami," "The US War of Ideas at Home," "Israel’s New Diplomacy Needs Palestinians' New Unity," and "Washington’s Grim Performance in the Middle East." All of these can be read by clicking here. Rami is the Director of the Issam Fares Institute of Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut as well as editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper, published throughout the Middle East with the International Herald Tribune. In November 2006, he was the co-recipient of the Pax Christi International Peace Award for his efforts to bring peace and reconciliation to the Middle East.

* Patrick Cockburn is the the author of “Muqtada: Muqtada Al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq.” His most recent writing includes, "Who's Actually Winning in Iraq?"

Free Democracy

Download the new This is Hell! poster by clicking here!!

http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn07012008.html

Seymour Hersh strains to catch up to CounterPunch.
*TLL*

Newser) – Federal officials are proposing to loosen accounting regulations, allowing American companies to shift to international standards that offer more latitude in reporting earnings, the New York Times reports. The move would make businesses more competitive, the administration argues, but it would also effectively exempt them from the investor-protection measures instigated after the collapse of Enron, critics note.

Foreign standards allow companies to report higher earnings—on average, from 6-8%, accounting experts tell the Times—and require less transparency. The shift would also do an end run around conflict-of-interest rules for auditors. "We would not for a moment tolerate having American auto safety standards set by China or India,” one securities expert says. “Why should we do it for financial safety standards?

http://www.newser.com/story/31695.html

Jalapeno peppers have pushed tomatoes off the top of the FDA's suspect list in the recent salmonella outbreak, reports the Wall Street Journal. Investigators believe salsa may be the culprit in the rash of illnesses, and after a drop in tomato consumption failed to halt a rise in cases, they switched focus to other ingredients—especially peppers. The agency says tomatoes aren't in the clear yet, but the hunt is on for tainted jalapenos.

The investigation is focused on fresh salsa prepared at restaurants, rather than processed and canned salsa; the restaurants haven't been named, but the agency says most are not affiliated with chains.

Source Wall Street Journal

http://www.newser.com/story/31693.html

Housing Industry Funnels Cash to Lawmakers

(Newser) – The housing industry has given more campaign cash to lawmakers and political parties this election cycle than it gave through the entire 2006 cycle, the Wall Street Journal reports, as an emergency housing bill containing favorable provisions for the industry has been working its way through Congress. Cash has flowed to legislators who control the bill, including Senate Banking Committee members and those on the House Financial Services Committee.

Mortgage bankers and brokers, real-estate companies and home builders had given over $95 million through May, while at this point in 2006 they’d given just $57 million. The donations are intended for “relationship building,” a means of teaching lawmakers “how our industry works and its perspective,” says a lobbyist. The suggestion that it might affect policy decisions is “BS,” says recipient Rep. Barney Frank.

http://www.newser.com/story/31694.html

can't stop bbq'ing!
Submitted by SEDER on Sat, 07/05/2008 - 9:18am.
enjoy

» 1 comment
*TLL*

(Newser) – Patriotism is the word of the day, but what does it mean? For Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it means fighting for your country’s ideals. "I believe I'm lucky to be an American because our founding document embraces the revolutionary idea that any citizen should be able to criticize his government without fear of retaliation," she writes.

We have a First Amendment for a reason, she argues. “Perhaps mine is a peculiar view, but I believe patriotism encourages citizens to criticize their country when they believe it has gone astray,” Tucker writes, “when it betrays its principles by using torture against suspected enemies or when it eavesdrops on its citizens without a warrant.”

Source Atlanta Journal-Constitution

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/tuck/stories/2008/07/03/tucke...

to remain effective, and useful.

Seymour breaking a bead..

The World Needs More SEDER!!!

Film shot secretly by a Zimbabwean prison guard shows how President Robert Mugabe’s party used intimidation to earn votes in last week's run-off election, the Guardian reports. In the footage, ruling party members watch as prison officials fill out their ballots and inspect the results. At a rally, party members are shown telling people to feign illiteracy so Mugabe supporters could fill out their ballots for them.

The guard, who has fled Zimbabwe with his familiy, said he was motivated to make the film by the intensifying violence directed towards the opposition, including the murder of an uncle. “I had never seen that kind of violence before,” said the filmmaker, Sheperd Yuda. “How can a government that claimed to be democratically elected kill its people, torture its people?" The film also shows an opposition party leader wearing leg irons in jail.

Source Guardian (UK)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/04/zimbabwe1

Iran says offers talks without nuclear freeze
Sat Jul 5, 4:52 AM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran is ready to negotiate with world powers on its nuclear programme but without suspending its controversial uranium enrichment work, a government spokesman said Saturday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080705/wl_afp/irannuclearpolitics_08070508...

Protesters rally ahead of G8 summit
2 hours, 4 minutes ago
SAPPORO, Japan (AFP) - Thousands of farmers and activists from around the world demonstrated Saturday in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo ahead of next week's summit of the Group of Eight rich nations.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080705/wl_afp/g8summitdemo_080705114753;_y...

Just when I'ma trying to get caught up..O'well.. :)

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

Toni.. :)

New Thread !

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

Companies begin quest for oil, gas off Fla. coast By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer
59 minutes ago

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Oil companies once viewed drilling in the deep waters off Florida as cost prohibitive. Politicians feared even the slightest sign of support would be career suicide.

No more. Record crude oil prices are fueling support for oil and natural gas exploration off the nation's shores. In Florida, movement was underway even before President Bush called on Congress last month to lift a federal moratorium that's barred new offshore drilling since 1981.

The early activity here stems from a 2006 Congressional compromise that allows drilling on 8.3 million acres more than 125 miles off the Panhandle — an area that had been covered by the moratorium, which was enacted out of environmental concerns. In exchange, the state got a no-drilling buffer along the rest of its beaches.

Florida may turn out to be a prelude for other coastal states. If oil or natural gas deposits are found in the newly opened region, experts say it could further the push to explore other once-protected areas everywhere. It also could be a rallying point for critics, who say the new exploration isn't a license to expand exploration.

With gas topping $4 a gallon, recent polls show Americans, Floridians included, more supportive of drilling in protected areas. Some politicians — including Gov. Charlie Crist — have switched sides.

"We think the public is way out ahead of the politicians on these issues. People are more open to (offshore drilling) now," said Tom Moskitis, spokesman for the American Gas Association, a trade group.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080705/ap_on_bi_ge/drilling_off_florida_11

Ransom Claim in Ingrid Betancourt Release Ransom Claim in Ingrid Betancourt Release
Friday 04 July 2008
»
by: Haroon Siddique and Agencies, The Guardian UK

In this frame-grab from a video released by Colombia's Army taken on July 2, 2008, hostage Ingrid Betancourt reacts as she rides in a helicopter during a Colombian military mission that reportedly rescued her from captivity in an unknown location in Colombia's Guaviare state.
(Photo: Colombian Army / AP)
Ingrid Betancourt arrived in France today after being held captive for six years in the Colombian jungle, amid claims that a ransom was paid to free her.

The Colombian government said that she was freed in an audacious operation after the military tricked Farc into handing the French-Colombian politician over without a shot being fired.

But quoting "reliable sources", Swiss Radio reported that a ransom was paid of around $20m (£10m).

It said that the US, which had three citizens among those freed, was behind the deal and that "the whole operation afterwards was a set-up."

The station reported that the wife of one of the hostages' guards was the go-between, having been arrested by the Colombian army.

If proved true, the allegations would be hugely embarrassing for the Colombian government which was showered with praise for the efficiency of the operation. Many commentators had predicted that it would even spell the end of Farc as a credible force.

President Nicolas Sarkozy met Betancourt at the Villacoublay military air base south of Paris.

The hero's welcome for the 46-year-old, who has held by the Farc, is being shown live on French television.

The government is to throw a party in the presidential Élysée Palace in her honour later this evening.

Addressing journalists after landing she said: "I am amazed that I am standing here alive. I have cried a lot. Today they are tears of joy. Before, they were tears of pain."

Betancourt was kidnapped by Farc rebels during her election campaign in 2002. She was freed on Wednesday with 14 others. The rebels were tricked into handing them over in a Colombian covert military operation.

Next week, Betancourt is expected to be received by the Pope. She is a devout Catholic and made wooden rosary beads to pray with in the jungle.

At a press conference in Bogata upon her release, Betancourt urged Farc to release the rest of its prisoners - it has about 700 captives, including 40 high-profile hostages - and embark on a peace process. She has vowed to work for the freedom of all hostages.

"I hope that the Farc understands that this is the time to release all its hostages and use this release, this act, not only to improve its now tarnished image, but especially for us here in Colombia, to try to make this first step towards a negotiated peace."

Friday 04 July 2008
»
by: Haroon Siddique and Agencies, The Guardian UK

In this frame-grab from a video released by Colombia's Army taken on July 2, 2008, hostage Ingrid Betancourt reacts as she rides in a helicopter during a Colombian military mission that reportedly rescued her from captivity in an unknown location in Colombia's Guaviare state.
(Photo: Colombian Army / AP)
Ingrid Betancourt arrived in France today after being held captive for six years in the Colombian jungle, amid claims that a ransom was paid to free her.

The Colombian government said that she was freed in an audacious operation after the military tricked Farc into handing the French-Colombian politician over without a shot being fired.

But quoting "reliable sources", Swiss Radio reported that a ransom was paid of around $20m (£10m).

It said that the US, which had three citizens among those freed, was behind the deal and that "the whole operation afterwards was a set-up."

The station reported that the wife of one of the hostages' guards was the go-between, having been arrested by the Colombian army.

If proved true, the allegations would be hugely embarrassing for the Colombian government which was showered with praise for the efficiency of the operation. Many commentators had predicted that it would even spell the end of Farc as a credible force.

President Nicolas Sarkozy met Betancourt at the Villacoublay military air base south of Paris.

The hero's welcome for the 46-year-old, who has held by the Farc, is being shown live on French television.

The government is to throw a party in the presidential Élysée Palace in her honour later this evening.

Addressing journalists after landing she said: "I am amazed that I am standing here alive. I have cried a lot. Today they are tears of joy. Before, they were tears of pain."

Betancourt was kidnapped by Farc rebels during her election campaign in 2002. She was freed on Wednesday with 14 others. The rebels were tricked into handing them over in a Colombian covert military operation.

Next week, Betancourt is expected to be received by the Pope. She is a devout Catholic and made wooden rosary beads to pray with in the jungle.

At a press conference in Bogata upon her release, Betancourt urged Farc to release the rest of its prisoners - it has about 700 captives, including 40 high-profile hostages - and embark on a peace process. She has vowed to work for the freedom of all hostages.

"I hope that the Farc understands that this is the time to release all its hostages and use this release, this act, not only to improve its now tarnished image, but especially for us here in Colombia, to try to make this first step towards a negotiated peace."
*

*

tiffany
tiffany jewellery
tiffany uk
tiffany jewelllery uk
tiffany jewellery sale
tiffany jewellery london
silver jewellery
tiffany jewellery sale
ugg boots
uggs
ugg sale
ugg boots sale
uk ugg boots
cheap ugg boots
ugg australia
winter boots
ugg boots discount
tall ugg boots
ugg boots 2009
cheap uggs
uggs on sale
ugg uk
uggs boots
australia ugg boots