woops

hehe, Matthews said he had lunatic notions.

He wins the prize for understatements.

that worked out pretty well for Bush/Cheneyco, too.

McCain Battles a Nemesis, the Teleprompter

[snip]

He managed to limit the mechanical hand chops and weirdly timed smiles that can often punctuate his speeches. He delivered his lines with an ease that suggested a momentary peace with his longtime nemesis, the teleprompter. (He relied on a belt-and-suspenders approach, with text scrolling down screens to his left and right, and on a big TV set in front of him.)

But when Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, came to the intended sound bite of his speech — the part about reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil — he hit a slick.

“I have set before the American people an energy plan, the Lex-eegton Project,” Mr. McCain said, drawing a quick breath and correcting himself. “The Lex-ing-ton Proj-ect,” he said slowly. “The Lexington Project,” he repeated. “Remember that name.”

In a town meeting in Cincinnati the next day, Mr. McCain would again slip up on the name of the Massachusetts town, where, he noted, “Americans asserted their independence once before.” He called it “the Lexiggdon Project” and twice tried to fix his error before flipping the name (“Project Lexington”) in subsequent references.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/us/politics/06mccain.html

***

*Sniff*

I am so proud!

..you're lucky to find the podium much less read the 'prompter.

___
bluerootsradio

Even still...

You're too generous.

Popped up in my front yard the other day...
___
bluerootsradio

To better compete, Mr. McCain is undergoing a subtle but marked transition as a political performer, said aides and people who have watched him. As part of a staff shakeup that was announced Tuesday, he brought in a new adviser — Greg Jenkins, a former White House official and Fox News producer — who will oversee the producing and staging of Mr. McCain’s events. Mr. Jenkins is considered an expert at political stagecraft, oversaw many of President Bush’s appearances and served as executive director of the 2004 inaugural committee.

***

Good luck with that.

Noam Chomsky on Obama

"When I was driving home the other day and listening to NPR - my masochist streak - they happened to have a long segment on Barack Obama. It was very favorable, really enthusiastic. Here is a new star rising in the political firmament. I was listening to see if the report would say anything about his position on issues - any issue. Nothing. It was just about his image. I think they may have had a couple words about him being in favor of doing something about the climate. What are his positions? It doesn't matter. You read his articles. It's the same. He gives hope. He looks right into your eyes when you talk to him. That's what's considered significant. Not 'Should we control our own resources? Should we nationalize our resources? Should we have water for people? Should we have health care systems? Should we stop carrying out aggression?' No. That's not mentioned. Because our electoral system, our political system, has been driven to such a low level that issues are completely marginalized. You're not supposed to know the information about the candidates."

Chomsky, What We Say Goes,

http://leftthought.blogspot.com/2008/02/noam-chomsky-on-obama.html

McCain adviser Charlie Black defended Helms’ racially-motivated ad.

As ThinkProgress noted yesterday, the late-Sen. Jesse Helms’ ran an ad in his 1990 Senate campaign that preyed on people’s fears about affirmative action. The Politico reports that Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) senior adviser Charlie Black, who was advising Helms at the time, strongly defended the ad.

When asked if there was anything improper about the ad on the MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, Black stated, “Of course not.” “Do you approve of that ad, Charlie,” a guest pressed. Black responded, “I advised Jesse Helms to do what he’s always done.” “[T]here’s nothing racial about the campaign,” Black added.

Free Democracy

DJ Johnson at Blue Roots Radio

Blue Roots Radio

Chomsky opens his latest book, What We Say Goes (Metropolitan Books), with fists flying. On page one of this series of interviews with award-winning journalist David Barsamian, he calls the United States “a leading outlaw state.” It’s the kind of remark that causes teeth to gnash at Fox News, whose anchors will gladly form a hanging party for anyone who questions America’s right to invade countries and have its way with the world. Chomsky never mentions Bill O’Reilly or any of Rupert Murdoch’s minions, reserving his media criticism for the liberal New York Times. It’s the Times, with its reasoned tone as the Sunday morning mouthpiece of the intelligentsia, which defines the worldview of Ivy League academia, the Council on Foreign Relations, the power elite. Let the know-nothings clank their beer cans in approval at O’Reilly’s “No Spin Zone.” For Chomsky, the Times and its peers are more insidious for their role in establishing the paradigm that limits our ability to see the world around us.

This paradigm rests on the assumption that America has more rights in the international arena than other nations, and that American lives are valuable while those of others are counted for little. Chomsky cites many examples. In its editorials on Iraq, the Times failed to mention that the invasion of that country, under the circumstances set forth by the Bush administration, violated the U.N. Charter and international law. When Americans die in a roadside bombing, it’s a headline and an outrage. When a U.S. missile kills dozens of Pakistani civilians by mistake, it’s the back page with no apology.

http://confederator.org/2008/01/19/what-we-say-goes/

Sonny Boy Williamson - Bye Bye Bird

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2jOaYkPvug

We can rest assured that Obama will defend the "What we say goes" driven foreign policy. He would never have won the nomination, otherwise.

Shall we crank up the anti-war movement? Today?
*TLL*

Phoenix....

At the top of the news: Jesse Helms is still dead.

yesterday.

O'Hare is always sooooo busy! It's a zoo getting to arrivals even on a Saturday night in the middle of a holiday weekend!

[T]he United States is a leading outlaw state, The United States invaded Iraq, even though that's a radical violation of the United Nations Charter.
Noam Chomsky

The Detroit News - Libby Spencer

After listening to months of media harping on how John Edwards can't possibly understand the working class man because he owns a big house, that he bought with money he earned himself I might add, and remembering the months of the media obsession with John Kerry wife Teresa's wealth back in 04, I was wondering when our fine media 'analysts' would notice that John McCain is living off his wife's wealth. The lovely heiress provides him a lifestyle that's far removed from our day to day existence.

I wonder which of their eight opulent residences will be the site of their holiday celebrations? I'm guessing the scenic ranch outside Sedona, Arizona and not one of the five condos Cindy spent $11 million on in the last four years. Most of those are oceanfront and John doesn't like the beach.

And our "regular guy" McCain may be reporting a paltry couple of hundred thousand in personal worth on paper, but his wife is ringing up as much as $750,000 in credit card bills in just one month. That does not include an additional $50,000 on a card for one of their dependent children, whom I assume is Meghan, and whose 'hard work' on the campaign trail is chronicled at McCain Blogette.

But maybe the media think Mr. McCain is a "man of the people" because Cindy spent $273,000 on servants last year. He probably talks to them sometimes. And it might also explain why McCain thinks tax cuts for wealthy people need to be extended indefinitely.

: Free Democracy

.. for going there on a holiday weekend.
___
bluerootsradio

evil, racist bastard. Did he have any good qualities?
*TLL*

It's not very complimentary at all!

Let me find it.

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

Win the War Blues.mp3

Uncle Sam is gonna give me a Thunderbolt, he want me to fly away up above the clouds
Uncle Sam is gonna give me a Thunderbolt, he want me to fly away up above the clouds
He wants to drop the bombs on the Japanese, I really got to make my baby proud

I wants a machine gun, and I wants to be hid out in the wood
I wants a machine gun, and I wants to be hid out in the wood
I wants to show old man Hitler, that Sonny Boy don't mean him no good

I wants to drop a bomb and set the Japanese city on fire
I wants to drop a bomb and set the Japanese city on fire
Now because they are so rotten, I just love to see them die

I've got the victory blues, because I know I've got to go
I've got the victory blues, because I know I have got to go
Now to keep the dirty Japanese from slippin' into my baby's back door.

trying to chug from a beer from "the machine" that upon opening has been turing into slush. Its that cold.

As the turns go left at Daytona.

McCain - the real elite

Submitted by Kevin © on Sat, 07/05/2008 - 11:04pm.

***

Good post.

Didn't they say recently that one of their homes was going into foreclosure for their refusal to pay taxes or something?

Having been a travel agent for 20+ years, I've been at that airport more times than I want to think about. Even knowing the shortcuts, it's hard!

It's about 17 miles from where I live. I didn't want my bro to pay $55 for a cab ride home.

While hiking today I was thinking about the country, thinking about the government, post 4th of July cognition. Then a blur of yellow and red appeared on a scotch pine bough, a western Tanager, was showing off her self right in front of us. For some reason I thought of Snyder's poem of 911

Falling from a Height, Holding Hands

What was that?
storms of flying glass
& billowing flames

a clear day to the far sky --

better than burning,
hold hands.

We will be
two peregrines diving

all the way down

(Gary Snyder)

Sobering reminder

McCains' home in California about to enter into tax default

Newsweek reports that John and Cindy McCain have failed to pay taxes on their beach-front home in La Jolla, California, for the last four years and are about to enter into default. Newsweek writes:

When you’re poor, it can be hard to pay the bills. When you’re rich, it’s hard to keep track of all the bills that need paying. It’s a lesson Cindy McCain learned the hard way when NEWSWEEK raised questions about an overdue property-tax bill on a La Jolla, Calif., property owned by a trust that she oversees.

...

http://nearing.newsvine.com/_news/2008/06/28/1621665-mccains-home-in-cal...

Which means they are avoiding estate taxes as well. It's great to be able to afford the legal tax advice that advises you [rightly so] to put everything in a trust.

ain't i lucky!

Charming guy.

Bush wipes out decades of US Forestry policy
Chris in Paris · 7/05/2008 04:12:00 PM ET · Link

Who needs the environment when condos can be slapped up and friends can make a handsome profit?
The deal was struck behind closed doors between Mark E. Rey, the former timber lobbyist who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, and Plum Creek Timber Co., a former logging company turned real estate investment trust that is building homes. Plum Creek owns more than 8 million acres nationwide, including 1.2 million acres in the mountains of western Montana, where local officials were stunned and outraged at the deal.

"We have 40 years of Forest Service history that has been reversed in the last three months," said Pat O'Herren, an official in Missoula County, which is threatening to sue the Forest Service for forgoing environmental assessments and other procedures that would have given the public a voice in the matter.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/04/AR200807...

Rich people Don't pay taxes ... ask Leona Helmsly

Yeah they were 4 years behind on their beach Condo in La Jolla ... and if that would have been me... my house would have been sold by the state.

They paid the taxes as soon as the media reported it.

Thanks, Catherine. Treebu's been saying the US is a "rogue nation" for a couple of years now, and wonders why doesn't any responsible nation decide it's justified in a preemptive strike to end the danger the US poses to the world. Probably because they're not like the currently constituted US, which seems (as Chomsky has observed) to believe it owns everything on the planet, and all the people who live here.
We still live in the US. Really scared.
In the past, when we were on the streets and the teargas came out, we ran away. I think we're ready to run away altogether soon. Bummer.

NYT

When a distinguished American military commander accuses the United States of committing war crimes in its handling of detainees, you know that we need a new way forward.

“There is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes,” Antonio Taguba, the retired major general who investigated abuses in Iraq, declares in a powerful new report on American torture from Physicians for Human Rights. “The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.”.......

..I'll stop worrying now.

___
bluerootsradio
Good night and
good bloggin' all.
Off to the land of Nod here.

on the coming weather patterns....just after seeing wall-e

Treebu's been saying the US is a "rogue nation" for a couple of years now, and wonders why doesn't any responsible nation decide it's justified in a preemptive strike to end the danger the US poses to the world.

***

I remember being in London in late November 2004, and asking them to "please do something! Invade us! Anything!"

Fewer foreign travelers coming to US
Chris in Paris · 7/05/2008 09:00:00 PM ET · Link

If the economy was doing better, losing foreign travelers wouldn't be quite as bad but unfortunately that's not the case. Is it our poor human rights record in recent years or have we become an unfriendly country or are other countries more interesting places to visit? If the US wants to be a world leader, does it even matter what the world thinks?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/04/AR200807...

McCain - the real elite
new
Submitted by Catharine on Sat, 07/05/2008 - 11:10pm.
McCain - the real elite

Submitted by Kevin © on Sat, 07/05/2008 - 11:04pm.

Yes, the media operates with a double-standard here. Fuck 'em! Figure out ways to transcend those reactionary (conservative!) gatekeepers.
*TLL*

NYT

SO much for a July Fourth week spent in idyllic celebration of our country’s birthday. This year’s festivities were marked instead by a debate — childish, not constitutional — over who is and isn’t patriotic. The fireworks were sparked by a verbally maladroit retired general, fueled by two increasingly fatuous presidential campaigns, and heated to a boil by a 24/7 news culture that inflates any passing tit for tat into a war of the worlds.

Let oil soar above $140 a barrel. Let layoffs and foreclosures proliferate like California’s fires. Let someone else worry about the stock market’s steepest June drop since the Great Depression. In our political culture, only one question mattered: What was Wesley Clark saying about John McCain and how loudly would every politician and bloviator in the land react?

Unable to take another minute of this din, I did what any sensible person might do and fled to the movies. More specifically, to an animated movie in the middle of a weekday afternoon. What escape could be more complete? ......

Is There An Army Cover Up of Rape and Murder of Women Soldiers?

Yes.

Read The Tragic Story of LaVena Johnson.

Excerpts:

Salon has published quite a bit about how American women in the military sometimes face more danger from their fellow soldiers than from their enemies, but the stories never seem to stop.

And all too often, they go largely ignored by the media, as with the case of Pfc. LaVena Johnson.

In July 2005, 19-year-old Johnson became the first female soldier from Missouri to die in Iraq. She was found with a broken nose, black eye and loose teeth, acid burns on her genitals, presumably to eliminate DNA evidence of rape, a trail of blood leading away from her tent and a bullet hole in her head.

Unbelievably, that's not the most horrifying part of the story.

Here's what is: Army investigators ruled her death a suicide.

The blatant lie the military has tried to sell Johnson's family is on a par with the cover-up surrounding football star Pat Tillman's 2004 death in a friendly fire incident.

Link:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2008/06/27/lavena_johnson/index.html...
--------------

Women GIs In Fear of The Enemy In Their Army

Excerpts:

The Johnsons are still fighting for answers. It was only recently, when they met anti-war activist Retired Colonel Ann Wright, that there has been a flicker of movement. Her contacts got Dr Johnson an audience with Congress. Since then, he's received word that LaVena's case may make it on to the congressional agenda.

This is no single aberrant case. John Johnson has discovered far more stories that have matched his daughter's than he ever wanted to know. Ten other families of "suicide" female soldiers have contacted him. The common thread among them - rape.

Meet today's US military - sign up for the armed services and become almost one in three women who are raped or sexually assaulted by their own colleagues, according to Department of Defence statistics. Not exactly the kind of recruitment slogan that fills empty boots.

Upon returning home, these same women will be nine times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress.

--------

Link:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10518131

Is There An Army Cover Up of Rape and Murder of Women Soldiers?

Background Article by Ann Wright:

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/28/8564/

In the past, when we were on the streets and the teargas came out, we ran away. I think we're ready to run away altogether soon. Bummer.
==================================================
Who ran away? From my experiences, people stayed and got tear-gassed and sometimes brutalized. '90-91 Gulf War mass protests--before the war started. 1999 WTO Seattle. 2003 anti-war protests--before...

What happened was that activists stopped organizing against the war and got in line with the Democratic party. *TLL*

AP Exclusive: US removes uranium from Iraq

AP - Sat Jul 5, 2:04 PM ET

The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program — a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium — reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080705/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_yellowcake_missi...

"Achieving The Rare And Final Stages Of Oil Grief"

I'm all set. No roses in the garden just now, but plenty of other flowers with big enough petals to throw at our saviours' feet. (Deliberate Brit spelling)

Love the toon.

Save that.

I put it in a open mic .... so big it wouldn't fit on here and you can't see it right if I shrunk it.

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/3402

that's some mean-ass cool harp playin' right there, yo

and finger clicking at the end...

the man's in his zone

(bbl)

(A vigilante guardian of the TUBES)
http://www.cybercon.com/
http://www.cybercon.com/career.html
This place is looking for help.

World Trade Center 7 mystery 'solved'?
Stephen C. Webster

A new report by BBC 2's "Conspiracy Files" claims that the US National Institute of Standards and Technology is preparing to release a long awaited report on the collapse of World Trade Center 7, which fell on Sept. 11, 2001, about seven hours after WTC 1 and 2 were downed.

The NIST investigators are widely expected to stake the claim that fires were responsible for causing the structure's simultaneous column failure, bringing building 7 down at near free fall speed onto its footprint. Should the claims hold true, WTC 7 would be the first steel frame skyscraper to ever collapse due to fire damage.

The BBC, while focusing on the details of NIST's upcoming report, goes to some lengths to balance its revelation with comments by Richard Gage, founder of the group Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth.

"Building Seven is the smoking gun of 9/11…" states Gage. "A sixth grader can look at this building falling at virtually freefall speed, symmetrically and smoothly, and see that it is not a natural process. Buildings that fall in natural processes fall to the path of least resistance, they don't go straight down through themselves."

9/11 Truth proponents argue that a symmetrical collapse, not just in WTC 7, but also WTC 1 and 2, is impossible without the presence of coordinated explosives. While some purport theories of what 'really' happened, others merely lob questions which have a tendency to make politicians uncomfortable.

The BBC as well is no stranger to the scrutiny of 9/11 Truth activists. On the evening of Sept. 11, 2001, the BBC reported that WTC 7 had collapsed some 26 minutes before it actually fell. Video footage of the report clearly shows the tower in the background, behind Jane Standley, the network's correspondent, as she speaks of its demise. Before her report was complete, the news anchor lost the feed from New York. BBC editor Richard Porter vehemently denies the channel was part of any conspiracy.

Watch the BBC report on WTC 7:

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/World_Trade_Center_7_mystery_solved_0705.h...

"[W]hy doesn't any responsible nation decide it's justified in a preemptive strike to end the danger the US poses to the world..."

==============================================================
Isn't that the message of Bin Laden?

It is up to the US citizens to "strike to end the danger.... Get in the gears and stop this machine.
*TLL*

U.S. Journalist Photographs Grisly Aftermath of Attack in Iraq, Gets Booted by Military

By Dahr Jamail, IPS News. Posted July 5, 2008.

An embedded U.S. journalist said the military tried to censor him after he posted photos from Fallujah.

U.S. journalist Zoriah Miller says he was censored by the U.S. military in the Iraqi city of Fallujah after photographing Marines who died in a suicide bombing.

On Jun. 26, a suicide bomber attacked a city council meeting in Fallujah, 69 kms west of Baghdad, between local tribal sheikhs and military officials.

Three Marines, Cpl. Marcus Preudhomme, Capt. Philip Dykeman, and Lt. Col. Max Galeai, assigned to 2d Battalion, 3rd Marine Division based in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, died in the attack.

The explosion also killed two interpreters and 20 Iraqis, including the mayor of the nearby town of Karmah, two prominent sheikhs and their sons, and another sheikh and his brother. All were members of the local "awakening council," one of the U.S.-backed militias that have taken up arms against al Qaeda in Iraq, according to U.S. and Iraqi authorities.

Miller was embedded with Marines on a patrol one block from the attack when it occurred. He had originally turned down the option of going to report on the city council meeting that was bombed.

Miller ran with the Marines he was with to the scene of the attack. "As I ran I saw human pieces...a skull cap with hair, bone shards," he told IPS during a telephone interview from the so-called Green Zone in Baghdad. "When we arrived at the building it was chaotic. There were Iraqis, police and civilians running around screaming. Bodies were being pulled out of the building."

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/90480/

America’s unhappy birthday.Filed Under: Economy
By Amanda at 10:13 pm America’s unhappy birthday.
As the nation celebrated its 232nd birthday, people across America were more worried about how much is “wrong right now.” The AP writes, “The nation’s psyche is battered and bruised, the sense of pessimism palpable.” An example in its report from the Optimist Club in Gilbert, AZ:

They use words such as “terrified,” “disgusted” and “scary” to describe what one calls “this mess” we Americans find ourselves in. … One member’s son is serving his second tour in Iraq. Another speaks of a daughter who’s lost her job in the mortgage industry and a son in construction whose salary was slashed. Still another mentions a friend who can barely afford gas.

Joanne Kontak, 60, an elementary school lunch aid inducted just this day as an Optimist, sums things up like this: “There’s just entirely too much wrong right now.”

Happy birthday, America? This year, we’re not so sure.

A May Washington Post-ABC News poll found that nearly “seven in 10 Americans are worried about maintaining their standard of living,” and a separate ABC poll showed economic anxiety at its “highest level on record since 1981.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/05/americas-unhappy-birthday/

Long-term unemployment rises.
The WSJ reports, “In another sign of the harsh toll being exacted by the economic downturn, the number of Americans unemployed for six months or more has risen sharply over the past year and is likely to increase even more.” According to new Labor Department data, the number of people unemployed for at least 26 weeks has risen to 1.6 million — up 37% in the past year.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121520753147729275.html?mod=rss_whats_ne...

Barack at Risk Comment
By Tom Hayden

Call him slippery or nuanced, Barack Obama's core position on Iraq has always been more ambiguous than audacious. Now it is catching up with him, as his latest remarks are questioned by the Republicans, the mainstream media and the antiwar movement. He could put his candidacy at risk if his audacity continues to shrivel.

I first endorsed Obama because of the nature of the movement supporting him, not his particular stands on issues. The excitement among African-Americans and young people, the audacity of their hope, still holds the promise of a new era of social activism. The force of their rising expectations, I believe, could pressure a President Obama in a progressive direction and also energize a new wave of social movements. And of course, there is the need to end the Republican reign that began with a stolen election followed by eight years of war and torture, corporate gouging, environmental decay, domestic spying and right-wing court appointments, just in case we forget whom Obama is running against.

Besides the transforming nature of an African-American President, the issue that matters most to me is achieving a peaceful settlement of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan--and preventing American escalations in Iran and Latin America. From the beginning, Obama's symbolic 2002 position on Iraq has been very promising, reinforced again and again by his campaign pledge to "end the war" in 2009.

But that pledge has also been laced with loopholes all along, caveats that the mainstream media and his opponents (excepting Bill Richardson) have ignored or avoided until now. As I pointed out in Ending the War in Iraq [2007], Obama's 2002 speech opposed the coming war with Iraq as "dumb," while avoiding what position he would take once the war was underway. Then he wrote of almost changing his position from antiwar to prowar after a trip to Iraq. He never took as forthright a position as Senator Russ Feingold, among others. Then he adopted the safe, nonpartisan formula of the Baker-Hamilton Study Group, which advocated the withdrawal of combat troops while leaving thousands of American counter-terrorism units, advisers and trainers behind. That would mean at least 50,000 Americans, including back-up forces, engaged in counterinsurgency after the withdrawal of combat troops, a contradiction the media and Hillary Clinton failed to explore in the primary debates. To his credit, Obama said that these American units would not become caught up in a lengthy sectarian civil war, leaving the question of their role unanswered.

The most shocking aspect of Samantha Powers's forced resignation earlier this year was not that she called Hillary Clinton a "monster" off-camera but that she flatly stated that Obama would review his whole position on Iraq once becoming President. Again, no one in the media or rival campaigns questioned whether this assertion by Powers was true. Since Obama credited Powers with helping for months in writing his book The Audacity of Hope, her comments on his inner thinking should have been pounced upon by the pundits.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080721/hayden

A New House For Darcy Burner:

http://www.actblue.com/page/anewhouse

Fortunately, Burner's family and puppy escaped the fire that destroyed her home this past week. Sadly, her cat did not survive.

Burner has temporarily stopped her campaigning, but she plans to return as soon as possible.

I support progressive Darcy Burner.

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

Thank You for Your Concern - Letter from Darcy

http://www.darcyburner.com/

SFGATE.COM

A pair of Assembly bills designed to bring more young people into the voting booths are being fought by Republicans who worry that too many of those new voters will be liberal Democrats.

One of the measures would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to "preregister" to vote, while the other would allow 17-year-olds to vote in a primary election if they will be 18 by the date of the next general election. Both bills have prompted straight party-line votes, with no hint of GOP support.

While Democrats sponsoring the bills say they are merely good-government measures, studies show that their party would get a major election-day boost if more young voters cast ballots.

Exit polls done during this year's presidential primary season showed that the number of voters younger than 30 has more than doubled since the 2004 and 2000 elections, with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, drawing an enthusiastic and growing response from those young voters.

It's only natural that young voters would be more inclined to be liberal and to register Democratic, said Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia (San Bernardino County), vice chair of the Assembly's Election and Redistricting Committee.

"I'm a pretty conservative guy now, but when I was 17 I was a raging liberal," Adams said. "You start to see problems as you get older. As you get older, you get wiser."

He also argued that it would be wrong to set up a situation where political parties could send organizers into California high schools and attempt to recruit impressionable students.

"Our concern is that we want an informed and worldly electorate, and here we have these kids in high school and they're trying to get a grasp of the world," Adams said. "The assumption is that they're not able to make informed decisions, so we have to have a legitimate cutoff" date..............

Kevin Ryan shows his skills as both a chemist and a “private investigator” in his paper, “The Top Ten Connections Between NIST and Nano-Thermites” – Published July 4, 2008, in the Journal of 9/11 Studies -- http://journalof911studies.com/volume/2008/Ryan_NIST_and_Nano-1.pdf .

Kevin Ryan discusses nano-thermite (“super-thermite”) and provides very important results of his own investigation of connections between NIST and researchers studying/developing nano-thermite.

Several of us have been discussing nano-thermite for quite a while now. For instance, I announced in Boston last year the observation of red-gray chips which I found in WTC dust samples. (If you need to catch up, pls see this short video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4186920967571123147&hl=en )

Good night all.

http://moderecords.com/catalog/197cage.html

Noam Chomsky featured in film on John Cage

Uribe's 2006 Reelection "Flawed" - Supreme Court

At the same time that Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was welcoming U.S. Republican presidential hopeful John McCain in the north of the country, the Supreme Court issued a communiqué calling on the government to "respect and obey the decisions" of the courts.

why would anyone wish phoenix a happy birthday when she sleeps?
i alerted ALL this A.M.?
and i said DAY....not NIGHT!!
i will send the message though!
KEW!

Thanks loads, Alice. It'll be nice to let those sounds and images bathe over me when the player starts up. When I was a grad student taking a really cool course called Music and Poetry, Cage's book Silence first taught me to hear the melodies in white noise. That was the year before Cage himself fell silent (giving rise to this memoriam), and I've heard him ever since.

Like a long-legged fly upon the stream
His mind moves upon silence.
- Yeats

And: http://www.lichtensteiger.de/silence.html

about herself
only her policy!

:)

How long did the sign last on the freeway? Do you know?

Treebu goes back tomorrow, and she'll undoubtedly check it out. We hope it didn't fall to the road and hurt anybody. She'll tell me on the phone and, if it's interesting, she'll probably post it up one of these places.
Oh - we've had horror visions of the sign falling to the highway and hurting somebody. Hope not.
We'll letcha know.
- A

Already in progress in some quarters (actually better halves) around here.
- Peace

Lucid Dreams

When you fall asleep,
you go from the presence of yourself
into your own true presence.
You hear something
and surmise that someone else in your dream
has secretly informed you.
You are not a single "you."
No, you are the sky and the deep sea.
Your mighty "Thou," which is nine hundredfold,
is the ocean, the drowning place
of a hundred "thou's" within you.

Rumi mathnawi [111, 1300-13031]

Hi what's up people?
________________________________

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

I love that Burners kitty was named Charlotte. Poor thing.

I would be devastated. I love my pets like they were my actual babies.

But of course she got out with her family and that's great news. When my uncle and aunts house burned they all got out safely and my uncle proclaimed it the best day of his life.
________________________________

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

IFC and Nerve.com

You know I could really mess with my mom by naming one of my pets Charlotte.she has like 5 friends named Charlotte... She'll say "oh imwas talking to Charlotte and..." I have to stop her and ask which one. Because each Charlotte is quite uniqaue and my understanding of the conversation depends on whether or not its Charlotte F, Charlotte L (cat Charlotte), Charlotte Next-door, or Swedish Charlotte.
________________________________

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

I should try to sleep. Night people.
________________________________

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

What You Want, mp3

Savannah Mama, mp3

Los Angeles-1965, mp3

Lecture on Nothing-1998, mp3

Williams Mix-1998, mp3

That meeting Hillary and Barack had at Dianne Feinstein's house--

The national articles I saw on this did not indicate that it was Feinstein that suggested that Hillary and Barack meet at Feinstein's house. It was not until a day or two later that I saw a small article in the newspaper about how Feinstein orchestrated the meeting at her home.

Feinstein, being a DINO, a war profiteer and millionaire, is not my idea of a progressive. She's in my 'untrustworthy' category for sure.

This is the point where my sci-fi suspense film synapses start firing, and I'm wondering (rising suspense theme music): What happened to Obama when he was "alone" with Hillary in that room in Feinstein's house? Has he ever been the same Obama since then?

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

Now there's spin going on that Obama's going to turn the red states blue. Uh, excuse me. He's going to do that by turning himself RED? It defies logic.

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

Being someone with a vagina who wants to go into her doctor's office and consult with her physician ALONE, that is, without the presence of these legislators in suits and the court guys in robes in there with us -- I CANNOT abide Obama now bargaining for votes with my body and the bodies of other women. It is unacceptable. For him to trade away DOE is unconscionable. Now he wants to bargain with our minds, too! What's next? No healthcare or disability or Medicare for mental health treatment and medication? Where in Hades is he going with this unequal treatment of women?

No he's just not the same Obama he led us to believe he was a few months ago. Sheesh.

corporatists and rightwing crooks running? Should we know such dismay at lack of choice when there really are some other choices out there -- like the media-defiled Nader whose platform is reasoned and logical in every way, built from the solid base of the common good.

And if it is going to take decades to fix what Bush&Co has wrought, why not go for showing the weak Dems we no longer will accept their weaknesses.

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

Very interesting stuff about Helms and Reagan described in the NYTimes obituary by Steven A. Holmes. Like, how Helms got Reagan funded in the primary, therby leading to Reagan's win.

Helms was a bigot/racist/reactionary who chose to hide his backwards bigotry and racism behind the term 'political ideology', and taught other bigots/racists/reactionaries to do the same. His clever scam worked because he calculated that normal folks who are kind, caring and TOLERANT.

We MUST learn to quit allowing these bigots/racists to pose as legitimate politicians. Bigotry and Racism are are not valid political viewpoints in our democracv.

you're a good guy

i was in that crazy mood that grips me...

if you were wearing black shoes, i would have criticised your black shows

just to be a prick.

"wimpy, cliched, & dull" was part of the "joke"

intended for the shout out

i'll listen again... for you, not your music... you

your voice & your thoughts

cheers

wouldn't reagan have money to burn

helms or no helms

that reality pill that neo takes...

well that pill

wish i hadn't taken it

i took it on day one of aar's broadcast

Helms was a bigot/racist/reactionary who chose to hide his backwards bigotry and racism behind the term 'political ideology', and taught other bigots/racists/reactionaries to do the same. His clever scam worked because he calculated that normal folks who are kind, caring and TOLERANT.

================================================================
Reagan was probably more dangerous, for he could hide his klansman ethos.
"Welfare queens" There's is more. Reagan was a slick version of George Wallace. (Wallace did repent, though.)
*TLL*

http://www.counterpunch.org/fantina07062008.html

...
But what is one thinking? This is a U.S. presidential election, where the daily, ever-changing opinion polls provide the roadmap for the day’s proclamations, where the electorate has a short memory, and where the corporations which put their influential dollars where it will do them the most good are king. With Congress and the White House for sale to the highest bidder, why talk about principles?

Perhaps the ‘change we can believe in’ was all an illusion, something sufficient to tip the scales from the first viable female candidate for president to the first viable African-American candidat

Ford was beating Reagan in every primary, until North Carolina, Then that slimy crypto-nazi started beating Ford, and damn near won the nomination. Some hold that had Ford defeated Carter in the 1976 election, Reagan probably would have stayed on the ranch in 1980, and the safety net would not have taken such a hit. We are catching hell in the US largely because Reagan through open the economy to forces of globalization, and did what he could to wreck the New Deal. Every one of his successors have followed in his steps.Even Clinton.
*TLL*

Pierre, a brave French fighter pilot, takes his girlfriend, Marie, out for a pleasant little picnic by the River Seine. It's a beautiful day and love is in the air.

Marie leans over to Pierre and says, 'Pierre, kiss me!'

Pierre grabs a bottle of Merlot and splashes it on Marie's lips.

'What are you doing, Pierre ?' says the startled Marie.

'I am Pierre, the French fighter pilot! When I have red meat, I have red wine!'

She smiles and they start kissing.

Things began to heat up a little and Marie says, 'Pierre, kiss me lower.'

Our hero tears her blouse open, grabs a bottle of Chardonnay and pours it on her breasts.

'Pierre! What are you doing now?' asks the bewildered Marie.

'I am Pierre, the French fighter pilot! When I have white meat, I have white wine!'

She giggles and they resume their passionate interlude: and things really steam up.

Marie leans close to his ear and whispers, 'Pierre, kiss me much lower!'

Pierre rips off her underwear, grabs a bottle of Cognac and pours it in her lap. He then strikes a match and lights the cognac on fire.

Marie shrieks and dives into the River Seine.

Standing waist deep, Marie throws her arms into the air and screams furiously, 'PIERRE , WHAT IN THE F#@K DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?'

Our 'hero' stands and says defiantly,

'I am Pierre, the French fighter pilot! If I go down, I go down in flames!'

A man boarded an airplane and took his seat.

As he settled in, he glanced up and saw the most beautiful woman Boarding the plane.

He soon realized she was heading straight towards his seat. As fate Would have it, she took the seat right beside his.

Eager to strike up a conversation he blurted out, "Business trip or pleasure?"

She turned, smiled and said, "Business. I'm going to the Annual Nymphomaniacs of America Convention in Boston.

He swallowed hard. Here was the most gorgeous woman he had ever Seen sitting next to him, and she was going to a meeting of nymphomaniacs.

Struggling to maintain his composure, he calmly asked, "What's your Business role at this convention?"

"Lecturer," she responded. "I use information that I have learned From my personal experiences to debunk some of the popular myths about sexuality."

"Really?" he said. "And what kind of myths are there?"

"Well," she explained, "one popular myth is that African-American men are the most well-endowed of all men, when in fact it is the Native American Indian who is most likely to possess that trait.

Another popular myth is that Frenchmen are the best lovers when actually it is men of Jewish descent who are the best.

I have also discovered that the lover with absolutely the best Stamina is the Southern Redneck."

Suddenly the woman became a little uncomfortable and blushed. "I'm sorry," she said, "I shouldn't really be discussing all of this with you. I don't even know your name."

"Tonto," the man said, "Tonto Goldstein, but my friends call me Bubba."

AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock goes up.

FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good.

JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school.

GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour.
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don't know where they are.
While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman.
You break for lunch.
Life is good.

BELGIAN CORPORATION
You have one cow.
The cow is schizophrenic.
Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish.
The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow.
The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk.
The cow asks permission to be cut in half.
The cow dies happy.

An elderly Canadian gentleman of 83 arrived in Paris by plane.
At the French customs desk, the man took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry-on bag.

"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked, sarcastically.

The elderly gentleman admitted he had been to France previously.

"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."

The Canadian said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."

"Impossible, Canadians always have to show your passports on arrival in France!"

The Canadian senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look, then he quietly explained, "Well, when I came ashore at Juno Beach on D Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find any Frenchmen to show it to."

An Australian, over here for the crickets, is offered a 'good time' by a delectable young lady outside Old Trafford.

When they get to her flat, he asks if he can rearrange the furniture, to which she agrees.

Systematically, he removes every item of furniture from the room.

"Well Aussie", she says, "I've never done it like this before!"

"Well Sheila, I've never actually had a woman before", he says, "but if its anything like a Kangaroo, you need planty of room!"

For Republicans, the Senate outlook is bad
Mississippi and other longtime strongholds could go Democratic this fall. Obama's candidacy is a boost.

WASHINGTON -- Mississippi, one of the nation's most conservative states, has not elected a Democratic senator in a quarter-century. It has voted for Republican presidential candidates in the last seven elections. But this year, there is a real chance that the state will send a Democrat to the Senate.

That prospect is a window onto a remarkable political trend that has been eclipsed by the fireworks surrounding the 2008 presidential contest: Democrats are running strong Senate campaigns in states such as Mississippi, Alaska and North Carolina that Republicans have long taken for granted.

The outlook for the GOP is so grim that party leaders have readily conceded there is no chance they can regain control of the Senate in 2008, even though Democrats' current majority is slim, 51-49. "If you have an R in front of your name, you better run scared," said Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who says the party will do well if it holds its losses to three or four seats. The Mississippi race between Democratic former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and Republican Sen. Roger Wicker distills the wide range of factors that have put congressional Republicans in their weakest position since the Watergate scandal of the 1970s.

The overall political climate, shaped by the sluggish economy and President Bush's low approval ratings, is souring many voters on Republicans. The party has been hobbled by a stampede of retirements by senior Republicans, including Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott. After Lott quit in 2007, Wicker was appointed to replace him. Barack Obama's presidential campaign has generated a big boost in Democratic voter registration, especially among African Americans, who make up more than a third of Mississippi's population. Other quirks, such as ethics scandals, are putting more Republican Senate seats at risk than seemed likely a year ago........

McCain Praised By Media After Killing Puppy & Slapping Baby Girl

Centerville, Ohio - It was just another day on the campaign trail for Senator John McCain who was giving his standard stump speech in front of members of the local chamber of commerce and their families when he was suddenly interrupted by a barking puppy and a crying baby girl in the audience.

Thrown off-stride by this disturbance, McCain visibly became increasingly agitated as the veins in his forehead bulged and his face turned beet red. After a few more seconds he reached his boiling point and exploded in anger as he shouted out "Somebody shut that fuckin' baby up and give that god damn dog a swift kick in the ribs to stop its yappin'."

Unfortunately, McCain's outburst had the opposite effect than the one he intended. Instead of ending the interruptions, his words frightened the baby girl causing her to cry more and they also upset the puppy making it bark louder and more frequently.

At his wit's end, the Republican nominee stopped his speech and angrily left the podium as he pushed his way into the crowd until he reached the crying baby girl and her mother who was holding her. With his eyes glaring and his lips trembling, McCain spit into the mother's face and slapped the baby girl. Then, he grabbed a gun from a secret service agent and shot the puppy repeatedly until it dropped to the ground dead......CONT.....

it might have started at feinstein's house but was probably sealed with that embrace at the unity thing - ominous in itself, the name and the photo up and all the fanfare of this meeting which had overtones of a religious mini-revival

anyway, it was after that obama came out so to speak - and i read that part of the deal with hillary, in order to secure her "compliance" - to just get her to call it quits in other words and stop damaging him and the democratic party - part of the deal was to hire and incorporate in his campaign the clinton people

that sounds terribly dumb to me - these are the people who lost, these are the people - and tactics and policies - we did not want, we chose obama over these people - fought tooth and nail to have him prevail.... and now these clinton people are back in the saddle and running the show

shortly afterwards we saw him talk to madeleine albright and it went downhill from there

Mbeki continues to coddle Mugabe and promote violence
Chris in Paris · 7/06/2008 04:10:00 AM ET · Link
11 Comments · reddit · FARK · Digg It! ·

The long time friend of Robert Mugabe delivers another new plan to divide the opposition and make life easier for the violent despot. Looking at this, of course the MDC opposition sees Mbeki as a dishonest broker. It's even easier to see why his own people voted him out of power. In American terms, this would be like negotiating with Nader, saying he was a relevant leader of the left instead of a fringe element. In an American sense, this would be dishonest. With the violence and murder in Zimbabwe, this is promoting even more violence, if not death.
South African President Thabo Mbeki met Saturday with Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and members of a breakaway opposition faction, the South African Foreign Affairs Department said.

Mbeki -- appointed by the Southern African Development Community last year to mediate between Mugabe and the opposition -- met in Harare with the Zimbabwean president and members of a faction of the Movement for Democratic Change.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/07/05/zimbabwe.video/index.html

Sunday Talking Heads: July 6, 2008
By: Elliott Sunday July 6, 2008 4:30 am

Washington Journal: 7:30 am - Kathy Kiely, USA Today, Reporter. 8:15 am - Gerald Le Melle, Africa Action, Executive Director. 8:45 am - Col. Timothy Reese, U.S. Army, Combat Studies. Institute Director -- Report. 9:30 am - Newspapers & Viewer Calls. email questions for guests to journal@c-span.org

ABC's This Week: Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.),an Obama supporter, and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT.) a McCain supporter. Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr discusses his candidacy. Roundtable: Ted Koppel, Johnathan Capehart, Michelle Cottle, Mark Halperin. contact George

CBS' Face The Nation: Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). contact Bob Schieffer

Chris Matthews: No Chris Matthews today due to NBC's coverage of Wimbledon

CNN's Late Edition: Wolf Blitzer celebrates ten years of Late Edition. contact Wolf

Fareed Zacharia - GPS: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, "one of the most comprehensive interviews Iran has given the western media in recent years. Iran has some surprising revelations about its relations with the United States, its nuclear ambitions and its feeling towards traditional enemy Israel." Sunday at 1pm ET (8am & 3pm ET on CNNI). contact Fareed

ll on a special All-Star Panel edition of 'FOX News Sunday'." fns@foxnews.com

Meet The Press: No MTP today due to NBC's coverage of Wimbledon

Newsmakers: Transportation Sec. Mary Peters. Reporters: Christopher Conkey, Wall Street Journal, Transportation Reporter and Alan Levin, USA Today, Reporter. Newmakers airs Sundays at 10am and 6pm et.

Q & A: Kathleen Parker is a nationally syndicated columnist with The Washington Post Writers Group. Her twice-weekly column, focusing on social issues, appears in more than 400 newspapers across the country. Her new book is entitled "Save the Males: Why Men Matter, Why Women Should Care." airs on on CSPAN at 8pm and 11pm et

Religion & Ethics: Cover: 2008 Campaign: What's Appropriate?. Examining the proper relationship between religion and politics. Belief: The 30 Hour Famine. A behind the scenes look at a global fund-raising fast. Feature: Aging Out . Faith based efforts help young adults transition out of foster care. for broadcast times in your area click here

60 Minutes: Kings Of Congo -- With just 700 mountain gorillas left on earth, CNN's Anderson Cooper finds some high in the African jungles and reports on why they have become so endangered. The Path To War -- The first Pentagon insider to give his account of the run-up to war says the attack on Iraq was more a defensive move against possible future threats from Saddam Hussein than a retaliation for the 9/11 attacks. Steve Kroft interviews Douglas Feith, the former undersecretary of defense for policy. Should We Make Cents -- The U.S. Mint is in a bind: should it continue to produce pennies and nickels whose metal content is worth more than their face value? Morley Safer reports.

To The Contrary: Topics: Actress Raven Symoné on surviving the pressures of Hollywood. Panelists: National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy; The Washington Times' Tara Wall; Global Summit of Women President Irene Natividad; and former EEOC Chair Cari Dominguez.

http://firedoglake.com/2008/07/06/sunday-talking-heads-july-6-2008/#more...

and people that elect them are arse holes too

good morning yourll
"sorry for the harsh language this holy day"

Hope your all well and enjoying the Holiday Weekend..

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

A day without Tweety is a Good Day Indeed !

Traffic - Glad

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

Berlin - Barack Obama would be a shoo-in for US president if Germans instead of Americans were voting: a poll released Sunday showed 72 per cent of Germans prefer the candidate for the Democratic nomination to his Republican rival John McCain. The survey of 501 Germans by Emnid pollsters for the German Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag showed the presumptive Republican nominee had just 11 per cent of Germans behind him.

Asked what the next US president should do first, 34 per cent of respondents said he should beat world poverty and undernourishment.

Separately, the news weekly Der Spiegel said senior German officials had pressed Obama to stage a major public speech in the heart of Berlin when he visits Europe later this month.

The magazine said German government officials had arranged for an Obama campaign official to meet with the mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, and float the idea that Obama address a crowd at the Brandenburg Gate, close to the new US embassy that opened Friday......

John McCain, George Bush’s Bagman
By: emptywheel Saturday July 5, 2008 5:58 am 10
diggs
digg it

So I spent a day and a half, knowing full well that the Colombian rescue was done with the assistance of our intelligence services, wondering, still, why they timed the rescue to coincide with McCain's visit to Colombia.

Leaders of the Colombian FARC rebel movement were paid millions of dollars to free Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages, Swiss radio said on Friday, quoting 'a reliable source'.

The 15 hostages released on Wednesday by the Colombian army 'were in reality ransomed for a high price, and the whole operation afterwards was a set-up,' the radio's French-language channel said.

Saying the United States, which had three of its citizens among those freed, was behind the deal, it put the price of the ransom at some $20 million.

[snip]

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the rescue 'was conceived by the Colombians and executed by the Colombians with our full support,' while implying that Washington had provided intelligence and even operational help.

Silly me! They didn't need McCain there for a photo op! They needed a bagman.

Now I wonder how long it'll be before we find out the ransom came from Bandar's little slush fund? But don't worry--McCain's just aspiring to be like Saint Ronnie.

More here:

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/07/05/john-mccain-george-bushs-ba...

enjoying the long weekend very much - catching up on sleep and relax

Lucille, I had a feeling you were not liking Mbeki.
Did your daughter have a good day yesterday?

Morning MMR. Hope you're doing well.

Kevin, spent the morning so far reading your jokes. Where do you get all these jokes? I get some through my email, but few and far between.

and i had nothing to do with it...its grover

she got a huge skate board for her birthday---it seems to be bigger than what she is
dare devil child of mine

Good you are still here.

Have any of you noticed how huggy kissy Obama is? Growing up, his family must have been very demonstrative. That's good. At least I think that's good.

diggin' in my old collection - after mhappenow mentioned bulworth the other day, got me craving some good old political dramas - my favorite genre - and somehow thought of WUSA a 1970 Robert Stone movie, i probably have it - i thought - because it's practically disappeared and impossible to get anywhere (ain't it true of the best "controversial" movies?) and went into the closet to look in my 400 movie catalogue - old videocassettes that may or may not work at this point because they are so old- that was an hobby of mne, any time i came across an interesting movie on tv i would record it and built up an amazing collection over time

anyway, I did rewatch this amazing movie - for one, it is filmed in new orleans and it is always fun to see and recognize familiar localities, street signs, bars, french quarter doorways, some shots of the jazz band in Preservation Hall; the inside of the superdome for the religious rally of this right wing white supremacist political group which was running a radio station (WUSA) and hired paul newman as version of rush limbaugh i guess - gorgeous paul newman, great acting by joanne woodward, tony perkins is some moralistic dude who's doing some dirty work and feeling guilty about it....

no point in recommending because you couldn't find it anywhere now (I don't think) being done in 1970 was before reagan and all the crap that came after but it kind of presage all the fascistic horrors that were to follow

today i am re-watching jacob's ladder

that's my way to be patriotic i guess

NEW THREAD

http://www.amazingjokes.com

I get some from here .... I just put a word in the search engine at the bottom and hit search.

MMRules, Good morning to you too. Sunshine and cool temperatures here.

toniD, I bet you are impatient for your nooner, I mean noonie, er, new knee.

(Sorry, my weak attempt at humor. Kevin started it!)

LU, glad Phoenix had a wonderful birthday.

..and everyone here in Sederland ((((group hug))))

Blue Roots Radio

The World Needs More SEDER!!!