Open

Advanced math was never my strongest subject.

No negitive responses from the,"general public" during rush hour traffic in Northern Nevada. The MoveOn "Clean Energy Rally" was a good thing, 15 to 20% of the people passing by gave thumbs up, horn honking, waves of joy.
God bless America, these people are starting to get it.

2 half sisters is less than 6 mansions...

Everything is just making me so sad today. Tubbs Jones... What an awful awful thing. She was pretty damn cool .

And Obama slipping... I know I shouldn't put much into national polls, but I can't help but worry about the disaster clusterfuck that a McCain presidency will be. And my students will pay the price in McCain's wars. It's just so depressing.

________________________________

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

one good thing about having 2 half sisters whose existence you deny: Unlike the mansions, you don't have to fly by jet to see them.

Representative Tubbs Jones had switched to O'Bama after he won the nomination.

O'Bama super delegates Dianne Feinstein (broken ankle) and Ted Kennedy (brain cancer) will also not be attending the convention.

me, Lord?

________________________________

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

What do you mean by greater? Do you me more than or better option?

There are no half sisters if they don't exist and there are job opportunities for any of those women who are willing to work at any of the the McCain's very many homes.

The half-sister denial really pisses me off, probably more than it should. I know a lot of people who have "half" siblings. A lot of my students too. Not one of them would ever refer to themselves as an "only child", even if they never lived with the sibling in question. What a bitch.
________________________________

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

>>Not one of them would ever refer to themselves as an "only child", even if they never lived with the sibling in question. What a bitch.

yeah...seems like kind of an elitist attitude, doesn't it?

I've kinda gotten used to the taste...

yes...i'm choosing to vote for the most viable less warry candidate...honestly, as an American, it's the best option...Nader, well, he's sweet, but I'm not much for safe bets...plus, considering that I've managed to sleep pretty well over the past 8 years, voting for the candidate who will lose for sure isn't going to make me sleep any more soundly

>>Do you me(an) more than or better option?

As an American I must insist: MORE IS BETTER!!!

Little Man, mp3
A Cowboys Work Is Never Done, mp3
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me), mp3

The Onion: 430 Key Demographics in this Election.

Run time: 02:41
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uql1avoyizc

Free Democracy

My MOOdling friend... Hello.. :)

Run time: 02:44

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGUQI85nIQo

Free Democracy

no one residing on this blog will ever vote for him?

Tell us what the world is like if YOU are the President of the United States...

Letter:
Submitted by Alice on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 11:04pm.
Small voice, big impact

The editorial on Ralph Nader was as thoughtless as it was shallow ("Vanity, thy name is Ralph Nader," The Daily Astorian, March 3). Historically, the great progressive advances in our politics have originated with third parties and independent candidacies.

The abolition of slavery, the trade union movement, women's suffrage, Social Security - all these and more were promoted by small parties whose core ideas were eventually adopted by one of the main parties.

Since major parties are inherently conservative, small parties serve the purpose of generating new ideas. The suppression of independent candidacies and small parties is nothing less than the suppression of new ideas. This is true whether it is accomplished by stacking conventions, harassing petition gatherers or filing bogus lawsuits - as we saw with the Democratic party here in Oregon in 2004 - or whether it is done by scorn and ridicule, as in the March 3 editorial.

By the way, this nonsense about Nader being ego-driven originated with a squad of Gloria Steinem-types who were sent by Al Gore in 2000 to suppress the Nader vote. Unable to take him on on the issues, they all parroted the same line, that Nader was all about ego.

If you read Nader's book about the 2000 election, you will notice that unlike virtually every other political memoir, the author almost never talks about himself. He talks about events, issues and the struggle of people to gather themselves together to take control of their own fate.

Why is it so difficult for the editor to accept that Nader runs so that he can discuss such issues as single-payer health care, major reductions in the defense budget, a Marshall Plan for the cities, ending the drug war and the resistance to corporate domination?

If any person in America has earned the right to be taken seriously, and to be debated on their own terms, surely it is Ralph Nader.

»
=======================================

Although I've been in the presence of some wise gurus, I can't tell that I know how to identify an 'egoless' human being. Can one exist without stringent practice of some sort? However, if there existed an American who expresses to me the nature of a bodhisattva, it would have to be Ralph Nader; and he has lived his life in the form of a practice of one-pointedness! -nora

xoxo

___

.♡. - .☮.

Life on Marijuana Buttsex Island

Submitted by Alice on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 12:02am.

Do we have to know more about McCain here to know that
no one residing on this blog will ever vote for him?
==================================================

Plus, McCain's VP is likely to be the one we should know the most about, since McCain will probably be pushed aside somehow and soon imo.

>>McCain's VP is likely to be the one we should know the most about

Well...we know plenty about Lieberman, too.

for proving politicians are all rats because you know its good to be reminded.

Probably need to know as much as we can about McCain to deal with those not as enlightened as we here on the SS Blog.

Sail away!

came on gave Marc and Mark the odds on topics in the news?

I LOVED that spot!!! How can I forget the character' name? (Who was the comedian?)

Anyway, comedy aside, really, what are the odds that two Dem Superdelegates would go down within a week of the Convention in Denver???!

tonight. The horizon was the tree line and between trees a wall of clouds was behind both North and East. Between the trees and clouds from there came up a giant orange moon. Then the two walls of clouds started to come together. Lightning lit up various parts of each cloud bank. This went on for about 20 minutes.

http://www.thesnotgreensea.com/

Mike Ferrucci

It has been instantly diffused by the story (Vanity Fair UK)claiming Obama's half brother was found in a shantytown in Kenya. Uncanny how these stories are ready and waiting to echo each other.

I'm not saying B.Obama disowned his half-siblings, and I have no idea if he ever sought them out to see if they needed assistance. Rather, my point is about the way the stories appeared born whole.

What did I do to deserve thanks?

________________________________

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

Wasn't that it? The guy who did the odds, I mean.

JOHNNY K STREET! Mike Ferrucci -- oh!

Thanks for the Beck music i.d., too, zeek!

Would helps if remembered toI refresh first, then shoot.

A few photos here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gammablablog/sets/702037/

That was so funny. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time! I knew the little blog screen had vaudevillian potential!

[wipes tears, blows laugh snots out of nose]

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama stepped up his hard-edged ad campaign Wednesday, launching two tough commercials against Republican presidential rival John McCain.

One ad, aimed at the most competitive states, criticizes McCain's economic policies as a boon to corporations. The other, meant for Atlanta voters, sought to exploit a fundraising connection between McCain and a political strategist linked to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Both ads are part of a quickly evolving Obama strategy that has featured a flurry of anti-McCain spots in targeted markets across the country. It signals a shift from the biographical spots that had been dominant in the weeks after Obama secured the Democratic nomination in June...........

Obama needs the Clinton block. Just needs it!

Obama and Bayh? Silly. Obama probably already has the part of Indiana outside Chicago, The Region as it is called. And I doubt Obama could get those southern Indiana votes no matter what. It was the birthplace of the KKK white supremacist insanity.

Pretty funny!

eBay insect fossil is new species

A scientist who bought a fossilised insect on the web auction site eBay for £20 has discovered that it belongs to a previously unknown species of aphid.

Dr Richard Harrington, vice-president of the UK's Royal Entomological Society, bought the fossil from an individual in Lithuania.

He then sent it off to an aphid expert in Denmark, who confirmed the insect was a new species, now extinct.

The bug has been named Mindarus harringtoni after the scientist.

"I was interested to see what it was because I've worked with a team of people involved in monitoring and forecasting aphids, those of greenfly and their relatives in this country," Dr Harrington told BBC News.

"I looked at it with my team and we thought we could identify it down to the level of genus, but we had no idea what the species was."

I had thought it would be rather nice to call it Mindarus ebayi

Next time. There'll be a next time....

That was a great video you posted.

Russia condemns US missile deal

Russia has warned that a US-Polish missile defence deal creates a new arms race in Europe and beyond.

A foreign ministry statement said that Moscow "will be forced to react, and not only through diplomatic demarches". It did not elaborate.

The comments came just hours after the US and Poland signed the deal to locate 10 US interceptor rockets in Poland.

The US says the system will protect the US and Europe against missiles from "rogue" states such as Iran.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - who signed the deal in Warsaw - said Moscow's earlier warning that the base on Polish soil could become a target for a nuclear attack bordered on the bizarre.

Last month, the US signed an agreement with the Czech Republic to base tracking radars there as part of the defence system.

Washington wants the sites to be in operation by about 2012.

'Imaginary' threat

The Russian foreign ministry said the planned missile shield was aimed at weakening Moscow, describing it as part of "US efforts to change the strategic balance of power in its favour".

thesnotgreensea has just about everything Morning Sedition archived nicely.

You can also find streaming Morning Sedition stuff at http://seditionradio.com/, courtesy of PJ Sauter.

...of course!

it was right there the whole time...

Ad right now only playing ... for Atlanta voters, sought to exploit a fundraising connection between McCain and a political strategist linked to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Run time: 00:31

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXj4mEwM6PQ

Someone in the NFL needs to get Bolt, the Jamaican Runner and make him a wide receiver.

Japan sets sights on whaling activists

Will three anti-whaling activists from the UK and US end up standing trial in Tokyo?

By Chris Hogg
BBC News, Tokyo

Japan is attempting to press charges against activists for the first time since 2000, when protesters started harassing the Japanese whaling fleet in earnest.

Earlier this week Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department obtained arrest warrants for the three men: Daniel Bebawi from Nottingham, the UK, and Americans Jon Batchelor and Ralph Koo.

Police sources in Tokyo accuse the men - members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-whaling group - of approaching a Japanese whaling ship, the Kaiko Maru, and laying a rope in its path in an effort to foul its propeller in February last year.

The men are also alleged to have thrown smoke bombs onto the ship which started a fire.

'Red notice' sought

Unconfirmed reports here say Japan's National Police Agency has now approached Interpol and asked them to place the men on their "wanted" list.

They want the international police agency to issue a "red notice" which would notify the authorities in Britain and the United States that a national arrest warrant had been issued for these men.

Only a very small proportion of Interpol's "red notices" are made public. The country making the request, in this case Japan, can ask for the matter to be kept out of the public eye.

The first Mr Bebawi might know of it might be when British police turn up to arrest him.

Interpol cannot insist that the British authorities use a "red notice" as a basis for a provisional arrest. Some countries do, some don't.

Whether or not they do depends on the links between the country seeking the arrest and the country required to carry it out. It can also depend on the seriousness of the crime.

Japan's strategies

Japan and the UK do not have an extradition treaty. But that does not necessarily preclude the prospect of extradition, according to a British Embassy spokesman in Tokyo.
Fishermen slaughter a bottlenose whale at the Wada port in Minami-Boso city, Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, on 25 June 2008
The war between whalers and activists has heated up over recent years

"Any extradition request received from a 'non-treaty' partner would be considered on a case-by-case basis," he said. "For a case to be considered the offence... must be an offence in the UK."

The extradition treaty that exists between the US and Japan lists the offences which are extraditable. These include offences related to disruption of shipping vessels.

They are also for the first time suggesting that the activists may have committed a crime under a UN convention, "The Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation".

This could make the activists liable for arrest in countries that are signatories to the convention.

Run time: 04:17

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj2pmBW1Xb0

it may be the worst thing for the dude personally though.

BAGHDAD — A key pillar of the U.S. strategy to pacify Iraq is in danger of collapsing because the Iraqi government is failing to absorb tens of thousands of former Sunni Muslim insurgents who'd joined U.S.-allied militia groups into the country's security forces.

American officials have credited the militias, known as the Sons of Iraq or Awakening councils, with undercutting support for the group al Qaida in Iraq and bringing peace to large swaths of the country, including Anbar province and parts of Baghdad . Under the program, the United States pays each militia member a stipend of about $300 a month and promised that they'd get jobs with the Iraqi government. But the Iraqi government, which is led by Shiite Muslims, has brought only a relative handful of the more than 100,000 militia members into the security forces. Now officials are making it clear that they don't intend to include most of the rest.

------

He said the army was considering setting a Nov. 1 deadline for those militia members who hadn't been absorbed into the security forces or given civilian jobs to give up their weapons. After that, they'd be arrested, he said. Some militia members say that such a move would force them into open warfare with the government again.

"If they disband us now, I will tell you that history will show we will go back to zero," said Mullah Shahab al Aafi, a former emir, or leader, of insurgents in Diyala province who's the acting commander of 24,000 Sons of Iraq there, 11,000 of whom are on the U.S. payroll. "I will not give up my weapons. I will never give them up, and I will carry my weapon again. If it is useless to talk to the government, I will be forced to carry my weapons and my pistol."..........

only ones to challenge electoral votes of Ohio for Bush in 2004, according to Malloy just now.

what does this say? cannot open utubes from here

morning yourll

>>He said the army was considering setting a Nov. 1 deadline for those militia members who hadn't been absorbed into the security forces or given civilian jobs to give up their weapons. After that, they'd be arrested, he said. Some militia members say that such a move would force them into open warfare with the government again.

Just in time for our election. what an "October Suprise"...

first two years of his life, but did it four minutes a day everyday of his life, he's brushed his teeth 61 days.

How old is he?

Fernando on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 1:12am.

it may be the worst thing for the dude personally though.

**********

and how he was turned into a receiver .... Except Bolt is a hell of a lot bigger and faster 8-)

49ers tried that with hurdler Renaldo Nehemiah but it was a failure.

Someone suggested Bolt and football today on the local sports talker. Two days ago they were slamming him for his lackadaisical finish to his last race even though he still set the record.

Wasn't Hayes a receiver in college?

I remember. Life is a grimly surreal film, ain't it?

how about dem jamaicans? wow boy i have to start smoking weed of some sort....they were kicking ass big time and the girls with the big behinds did not have their arses hold them back...

why dont you rude fucks greet me when i greet yourll?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Hayes

He was a two-sport athlete in college where he excelled in both track and college football at Florida A&M University.

no one seems to talk to anyone anymore around here...oops sorry only the chosen few talk to each other...no place for poor me

49ers tried that with hurdler Renaldo Nehemiah but it was a failure.

Someone suggested Bolt and football today on the local sports talker. Two days ago they were slamming him for his lackadaisical finish to his last race even though he still set the record.

Wasn't Hayes a receiver in college?

*******

I think Nehemia was to light .... the Bears did it with Will Gault and he wasn't that great either .. but he was pretty good ....

Bolt might not make one ... but if I had a team I would try and make hime one .. if he could run in pads and catch .... with his size ... he could run over people ... I would just throw to the end zone and let him chase it down 8-)

Hayes did play football in College ..

am just kidding geez...dont need no X on my knees

watched the olympics yesterday
new
Submitted by Lucille on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 1:30am.

how about dem jamaicans? wow boy i have to start smoking weed of some sort....they were kicking ass big time and the girls with the big behinds did not have their arses hold them back...

**********

Those Jamaicans are doing great .... scary fast

I am glad they are doing so well.

Jeez, Zeek! You're awake. Is it getting on to two AM where you are? And following two conversations at once. Impressive.
Thanks for the vid. When my spare-time ship comes in, I'll figure out all those keystrokes and try to make my comments easier for everyone.
Please be patient, all.

and i get told that i am rude
Submitted by Lucille on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 1:32am.

why dont you rude fucks greet me when i greet yourll?

*********

Hi Lucille 8-)

Free Democracy

Tomorrow's another day.

>>Those Jamaicans are doing great .... scary fast

Don't forget tyhe Afghanistan won their 1st gold ever...

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-oly-tae--taekwondo-afghanistan&...

Free Democracy

"Sleep is the loveliest thing in the world." - Traditional folktale

>>Tomorrow's another day.

That's just what they WANT you to believe!

yeah I saw that ... they gave him a house 8-)

I also saw a woman runner from Bahrain the other night ... I didn't know where she was from at first cause I caught the race in progress .... she won a semi-final I think ... I thought she was wearing some new high-tech track suit .... then I saw where she was from and figured it out ... it was a muslim track suit.

on the WC for me but I do need to go.

Yeah, Skeets was a little light and never strengthened or bulked up like Jerry Rice did as time went on.

I'm still vacillating between that (last words as recounted to me by a beloved childhood friend quoting his beloved father-in-law) and Zappa's "It's fucking great to be alive," as the words to be chiseled into my tombstone (if any).

Forgive us, for we by nature know not what we do.

Open
Submitted by SEDER on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 11:11pm.

Seder, when the hell are you going to get at least an hour spot on the radio again?
You were the brightest host on the radio. I guess it caused you to fail.
You bored me to death sometimes, but you were much more informative than anyone else.

www.sigzone.blogspot.com

McCain In His Own Words: McCain Places Ambition First, Country Last.

Run time: 05:29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaI-_ABG_D8

Shee -itt! I'm outta here. I call time-zone. You guys are cheating.

(Not that I'm faithful to eastcoast morning exigencies in these waning days of summer break).

Reading and then ZZZing

Free Democracy

SEDER V MARON???? Ooooo! What news I wonder!

Mainstream Media
Submitted by Meg on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 11:42pm.

That dude is brilliant... especially for a Canadian.
The only thing wrong with that video is the echoing sound.

www.sigzone.blogspot.com

>>I thought she was wearing some new high-tech track sui

Most of the Muslim women in this area wear those, Ethiopians, I think...but once in a while you'll see the full-faced covering. Usually on Malaysians...and when they open their mouths and speak with their valley girl accents, it makes me question just about everything about the "war on terror."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/nyregion/18windmills.html?_r=1&partner...

...
Lured by state subsidies and buoyed by high oil prices, the wind industry has arrived in force in upstate New York, promising to bring jobs, tax revenue and cutting-edge energy to the long-struggling region. But in town after town, some residents say, the companies have delivered something else: an epidemic of corruption and intimidation, as they rush to acquire enough land to make the wind farms a reality.

“It really is renewable energy gone wrong,” said the Franklin County district attorney, Derek P. Champagne, who began a criminal inquiry into the Burke Town Board last spring and was quickly inundated with complaints from all over the state about the wind companies. Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo agreed this year to take over the investigation.

“It’s a modern-day gold rush,” Mr. Champagne said.

Mr. Cuomo is investigating whether wind companies improperly influenced local officials to get permission to build wind towers, as well as whether different companies colluded to divide up territory and avoid bidding against one another for the same land....

======================================

Those turbines are awful. They are bird shredders. Must be a better way! And corrupt and strong-arming on top of it.

I didn't even see that though I noticed Seder lurking.

Hopefully that week of shows next week or more. It's been a while.

Ciao, y'all.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/19/rachel-maddow-replacing-d_n_119...

===========================

Dang. We need more questioning voices, not just musical chairs.

Sorry, could have been more clear about this while trying to dash out.

Rachel Maddow to Replace Dan Abrams on MSNBC

Mr. Abrams, who is well liked at MSNBC, is expected to remain both there and at NBC News, where he is the chief legal correspondent. He will also serve as an anchor during some of MSNBC’s daytime coverage, as well as a substitute host on NBC’s “Weekend Today” show.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Hope he takes his great insights from the idiot wind of TV and back to the meaningful litigation utterances deployed in correspondences, briefs, interrogatories, depositions, and courtroom examinations.

>>Legal guy and daytime anchor

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212166181.shtml

Dan Abrams 'Verdict' is being canceled and the final episode will appear air this thursday night on MSNBC. His replacment will be Rachel Maddow who will be getting her own show now in his 9pm ET time slot. Rachel Maddow has been favored political commentator for MSNBC.

Just continuing in the same vein...

Really is quite amazing. I love the reversal of the stereotypes of the personalities; I like that Marc has his "no boundaries" face on. Ha!

Is this what she does for a living? She's really good.

from the NYT:

New Guidelines Would Give F.B.I. Broader Powers
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: August 20, 2008

WASHINGTON — A Justice Department plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a national security or criminal investigation against someone without any clear basis for suspicion, Democratic lawmakers briefed on the details said Wednesday.

Well, they're already using 'em. I guess they might as well have 'em.

Honestly I don't know why any of these "one-issue" people would be mad at Nancy Pelosi for helping these guys stay in power. Surely she has a plan...

NBC News poll reveals Hillary Clinton
does better against McCain than Obama

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While Obama leads McCain by three points in the poll, Clinton edges the Republican by six points
in a hypothetical match up, 49 to 43 percent. Wednesday night on MSNBC, the pundits were
suggesting that Obama should take another look at Clinton as his VP pick.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26314990/

Security deal would pull US troops
out of Iraqi cities as soon as June 30

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iraqi and U.S. negotiators have completed a draft security agreement that would see American troops leave Iraqi cities as soon as June 30, Iraqi and American officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=5619815

CATO asks whether McCain's hot rhetoric is helping Al Qaeda recruit
John Aravosis (DC) · 8/20/2008 10:47:00 PM ET · Link
14 Comments · reddit · FARK · Digg It!

From CATO:
Exalting terrorism - as John McCain does with his “gates of hell” talk - is precisely the wrong thing for a national leader to do. The country will be made more secure by deflating the world image of Osama bin Laden and making his movement less attractive. Our leaders mustwithdraw rhetorical power from terrorists by controlling their tongues.

Almost makes you wonder if John McCain's ambition is more important to him than America's victory.

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2008/08/18/john-mccain-recruiting-for-al-...

How war hero John McCain betrayed the Vietnamese peasant who saved his life

In all the tales of wartime courage peppering John McCain's presidential campaign trail, perhaps the most outstanding example of selfless heroism involves not the candidate but a humble Vietnamese peasant.

On October 26, 1967, Mai Van On ran from the safety of a bomb shelter at the height of an air raid and swam out into the lake where Lieutenant Commander McCain was drowning, tangled in his parachute cord after ejecting when his Skyhawk bomber was hit by a missile.

In an extraordinary act of compassion at a time when Vietnamese citizens were being killed by US aerial bombardments, he pulled a barely conscious McCain to the lake surface and, with the help of a neighbour, dragged him towards the shore.

And when a furious mob at the water's edge began to beat and stab the captured pilot, Mr On drove them back.

Nearly three decades later, a Vietnamese government commission confirmed he was indeed the rescuer and, in a 1996 meeting in Hanoi, McCain embraced and thanked Mr On and presented him with a Senate memento.

From that brief encounter to his death at the age of 88 two years ago, Mr On never heard from the senator again, and three years after their meeting, McCain published an autobiography that makes no mention of his apparent debt to Mr On.

It is a snub Mr On took to his death.

His widow, Bui Thi Lien, 71, said: ?In his last years, my husband was very sad sometimes.

He would say, 'Mr McCain has forgotten me.'

?Mr McCain would be dead if it weren't for my husband. He would never have returned to his family and he wouldn't be in the presidential race today.?

Last week on a visit to Britain to meet Gordon Brown, McCain paid tribute to the role played by British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan - comments that carried extra weight in the light of McCain's own wartime exploits.

In his 1999 autobiography, Faith Of My Fathers, which laid the ground for his first, unsuccessful run for president in 2000, McCain wrote a Boy's Own-style narrative of his rescue: ?When I came to, I was being hauled ashore on two bamboo poles.

?A crowd of several hundred Vietnamese gathered around me as I lay dazed before them, shouting wildly at me, stripping my clothes off, spitting on me, kicking and striking me repeatedly.?

What followed, according to McCain, was five-and-a-half years of torture and brutal beatings as a prisoner of war - an account that has given a steely edge to his candidacy by establishing him as a true American war hero.

But the story is at odds with the version uncovered by Vietnam veteran Chuck Searcy, who lives in Hanoi and is in charge of the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Fund.

?In 1995, Mr On gave me a letter he wanted me to deliver to McCain,? said Searcy.

?'It said, 'I am the guy who pulled you out of the lake and I have followed your progress over the years. I wish the best for you and your family and I hope some day you will be president of the United States.'

?I thought it was endearing. I sent the letter to McCain's office and I got back a sniffy response from some assistant saying, 'Mr McCain isn't interested in these fanciful stories.'?

More here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-542277/How-war-hero-John-McCain-...

1992 Senate Select Committee on POW/MIAs:
THE McCAIN FACTOR

Vietnam Veterans Against McCain

nope, just ones about crosses being drawn in the dirt because it endears him with the religous right. i'm surprised we haven't heard the one about just a single pair of footprints yet...

well ... not all are like that just a few ...

Olympics boss rebukes showy Bolt

Olympics boss Jacques Rogge has told Usain Bolt to show more respect for opponents after the Jamaican claimed the first sprint double for 24 years.

Bolt showboated at the start and finish of his world-record breaking 200m race and slowed up yards from the line in the 100m final so he could celebrate.

"That's not the way we perceive being a champion," Rogge told Associated Press.

"I've no problem with him doing a show. But I think he should show more respect and shake hands after the finish."

Rogge said Bolt should "not make gestures like the one he made in the 100m", adding: "He might have interpreted that in another way, but the way it was perceived was 'catch me if you can.' You don't do that. But he'll learn. He's still a young man."......

This is not valid because Clinton has not been subject to any of the smear tactics that Obama has since his nomination. she has gotten a complete pass. Imagine the crap they would be saying about her as the republican machine despises the Clintons.

Happe Talk

Happe Talk

Sharper message needed

Some Democrats - Lakoff included - say it's clear Obama needs to sharpen his message and get tougher on beating back attacks from McCain's campaign, which has suggested that Obama is elitist and even unpatriotic.

"John McCain is jujitsuing Obama's strengths," said one leading California-based Democratic strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of his work with a nationally known party figure.

The strategist said many Democrats witnessed their candidate's performance at the Saddleback forum with "a feeling of vague nausea" because "the stature gap (between Obama and McCain) widened dramatically in the mind of any viewer who watched."

Lakoff, a progressive academic often cited for his views on the importance of "framing the debate" in politics, said the discussion at the Lake Forest evangelical church provided an unusually clear window into the two candidates' strengths, including how effective they are heading into upcoming debates and the final sprint of the presidential race.

Two examples from Saddleback that Lakoff and others said underscore Obama's troubles:

-- McCain - asked his reason for running for president - confidently outlined a strong message of "country first," urging service to America. That idea, dominant in McCain's message and the theme of the GOP convention, showed that McCain Republicans have "figured out the formula" of effective campaign communication - and brilliantly melded ideas touted by both Presidents Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy.

-- Obama, in contrast, delivered a far more nuanced plea for empathy and building bridges across party lines instead of a more direct answer - telling voters what those values would mean specifically "to your children, your future, your environment," said Lakoff.

With just days until the Democrats head into their convention, the tough assessment by Lakoff, author of "The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st-Century American Politics with an 18th-Century Brain," might spark some panic among Democrats.

Even some Republicans agree that the forum should be a dose of very tough medicine for Obama.

"The nature of the campaign is changing less than a week before the convention starts," said Sacramento-based GOP strategist Patrick Dorinson, who also saw the Saddleback forum as a seminal moment. "Obama felt he was sitting with Dr. Phil, and he was trying not to offend anybody. McCain seemed to understand he was running for president ... his answers were more direct and aimed at the electorate."

"The primaries are preseason; you can make mistakes. But now we're into the first game that really counts," Dorinson said. "Obama's folks are reading their own press clippings too much - and they've got to understand they're in a dogfight."
Time to revamp

Barbara O'Connor, professor of political communication at Sacramento State University, agrees with Lakoff that "Obama's message of change needs to be revamped."

"Change toward what end?" she asks. "The party is very bad at labeling things that provide an umbrella for other positive memories. Democrats tend to mush around and don't give people slogans like 'Morning in America,' " which Reagan used to evoke a feeling of hope and promise in the country.

But she takes issue with some of Lakoff's tougher assessments of Obama's performance at Saddleback, a forum before evangelical voters that from the start constituted a challenge for Obama.

"When you talk about religion and faith-based values, you have to be nuanced. ... I thought he was really earnest, trying to explain who he was to an audience that largely disagreed with him. These weren't his guys."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/20/MN5M12E16U.D...

Happe Talk

Rice Pops Up in Baghdad

Posted on Aug 21, 2008

Where in the world is Condoleezza Rice? Well, as the ink was drying on the deal she signed to secure Poland’s co-operation in the U.S.’s controversial missile shield project, Secretary of State Rice turned up in Baghdad on Thursday for an unscheduled visit with Iraqi leaders. Surprise!

BBC:

Her arrival comes after 10 months of difficult negotiations on the US military presence in Iraq between Washington and Baghdad.

Reports suggest a compromise draft is being considered by both governments.

Negotiations have been held up by disagreement over the timing of the final withdrawal of US forces from the country and the immunity of US soldiers from prosecution under Iraqi law, says the BBC’s Crispin Thorold in Baghdad.

Read more

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20080820_rice_pops_up_in_bag...

Happe Talk

Worrying about the Bradley Effect while ignoring other important issues that have racial dimensions is one of the disappointing features of this presidential campaign. America has a very low tolerance level for uncomfortable conversations about race. Yes, race is discussed, but too often it is done in a largely reactionary way that does nothing to illuminate the racial issues that impact the country. Race-biased voting has a long, sad, and enduring link to our politics and culture and it was my hope that Barack Obama's presidential campaign would be brave enough to bring the country toward a more intelligent and honest discussion about the eternal pink elephant sitting in the corner of America's living room. Instead, what we have been given is a discussion of racial controversies, but not the underlying causes of racial tensions. So we've been fed "What does Obama do about Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Father Michael Pfleger?" or "Isn't it great that Obama 'transcends' race" rather than discussing the other issues such as the fact that African Americans comprise 46 percent of the 2.4 million people incarcerated in the United States. I would love a full-throated discussion of all the reasons for this disparity as well as all of the potential remedies.

Silence on racial issues represents nothing more than a capitulation to comity over dealing with serious issues. It's bad for the country whenever a quiet but, ultimately, unhealthy, status quo triumphs over a contentious, but honest, quest for truth and reconciliation. Unfortunately, Obama has judiciously avoided any real attempt to take his enormous popularity and move the country from its comfortable position of benign neglect of racial issues toward the difficult, but ultimately healing, national conversation we must have. His much lauded "race speech" in Philadelphia was rhetorical cotton candy - the sort of good tasting pass time that ultimately provides no nutrition. It also represents a missed opportunity to lead the country into a new conversation on race and racism.

The "race" speech and the extent to which the campaign has avoided "Black issues" strikes me as a tacit admission that the country may not be as open on race as he claims in his speeches. Perhaps he's campaign fears a potential Bradley Effect. I think the campaign should speak more openly about the potential impact of the Bradley Effect. It should smoke out those voters who may walk one direction, but vote another. The voters that fuel the Bradley Effect should internal discomfort when they go to the ballot box in November.

Racism is the bully in the schoolyard of American politics and culture. One does not overcome a bully by ignoring it but, rather, by confronting it and exposing it for what it is. Let's hope that this campaign sparks the much needed conversation the nation must have to overcome the most unrelenting of American bullies.

Michael K. Fauntroy is an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University and author of Republicans and the Black Vote.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-fauntroy-phd/obama-and-the-bradley...

Happe Talk

Obama tells Virginians to vote on economics, not biography
By Margaret Talev and William Douglas | McClatchy Newspapers

LYNCHBURG, Va. — Democrat Barack Obama campaigned Wednesday in a conservative stretch of this swing state that's key to his election strategy, telling voters who are more in line with Republican John McCain on social issues that they should vote for Obama because of their economic woes.

At an evening town-hall meeting in Lynchburg — the hometown of the late televangelist Jerry Falwell and his Liberty University — Obama told a mixed-race crowd of stomping, cheering fans that on the economy, "John McCain just doesn't get it."

"Are you better off than you were four years ago? Are you better off than you were eight years ago?" Obama said. "Well, then, why the heck would you want to do the same thing?

"You'd think that things are so bad, that the economy's in such bad shape, that we might not even have to campaign," Obama said. "But the truth is that John McCain is a decorated war hero, and the Republican Party hasn't been very good at governing, but they're very good at running negative ads."

Obama seemed defensive, as if acknowledging that his lead over McCain has shrunk heading into the parties' nominating conventions and accusing Republicans of smearing him out of desperation.

"I don't find myself particularly scary or particularly risky," he said, but conservative critics, including author Jerome Corsi, "just make stuff up. It gets a lot of play on FOX News. After a while people start thinking, 'God, he does have a funny name," or believing false rumors about him they get in emails about Obama's religion or patriotism.

A woman asked: "Do you think you can win by taking the high road? I really worry about that."

"I'm not in this to lose," he replied.

Still, Obama bemoaned that for a year and a half, viral emails have been saying that he's a Muslim, although "I've never been a Muslim. I'm a practicing Christian." He said he'd been baptized and believes that "Jesus Christ is my savior."

"We're going to hit back hard with the truth, and we will answer any lies that are made and we intend to win this election," Obama vowed.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/49536.html

Happe Talk

you bad girl!!! what did you do again? does anyone have a clue as to what Lucille did ((AGAIN))?

this girl stays in trouble no lie!!!

DENVER (AP) — Police have dropped plans to top the holding cells in place for use during next week's Democratic convention with razor wire after some groups started comparing the site to the detention facility for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"We rethought those plans and came up with a way to put a lid on the cells instead of the razor wire," Denver Undersheriff William Lovingier said Wednesday as he led reporters on a tour of the cells in a city warehouse that will be the "Temporary Arrestee Processing Site."

The cells will be topped with chain-link fencing, the same material used to make the cell walls.

The warehouse is a couple miles from the Pepsi Center, where the convention begins Monday. It also is about a mile from the South Platte River, which explains the protesters' nickname for it: "Gitmo on the Platte."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hn9yxBi74Li0vOLbXPGP0-bSwR9QD92MBPAG4

and i only get responses back when i get off the blog but and yet i still fuck up...oh lordy i need to say a novena now here, coz i just dont get it anymore

everytime you are near?
HA!

hows it shaking???
Hows your pup doin to?

Maron v Seder coming back? This and Rachel's show and the heat letting up, I think the world is taking a turn for the better. Now if my puppy would quit dropping squished snails by my feet, life would be great.

good name for a band!

eeeewwwww

Happe Talk

How's Everybody!

I wonder what THEY are putting in the air?

Happe Talk

I'm so glad that the womens volley ball is over.

The country is on the brink of disaster one day to the next and nobody cares as long as they play in the sand. I half way expected to wake up to ashes.

Good morning blog.

VEEPSTAKES: Feingold On Why He's Off the List
posted by John Nichols on 08/18/2008 @ 11:05pm

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/346198/veepstakes_feingold_on_why...
Russ Feingold is popular enough with grassroots Democrats to have been boomed as a potential candidate for the party's 2008 nomination.

He has a national reputation for working across lines of party and ideology; in fact, Republican presidential candidate John McCain jokes that supporters of campaign finance reform think that "Feingold" is his last name.

Feingold comes from a battleground state that both the Democrats and Republicans say is critical to their strategies for accumulating the 270 electoral votes needed to secure the presidency.

Because of the bold stands he has taken as a defender of civil liberties, an advocate for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and a champion of fair-trade economic policies, he could calm concerns among internet activists and labor stalwarts who have complained about presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama's murkiness on those issues.

And he might even help Obama build confidence and support among older Jewish voters -- who have evidenced some skepticism regarding the candidacy of the Illinois senator -- in the swing state of Florida.

Yet, as Feingold is the first to assert, "I'm not considered for vice president by anybody; it's not even a passing thought."

Why doesn't Feingold's name show up on the long short-list, or the even the short long-list, of Obama's potential running mates?

"I'm too hot to handle apparently," says Feingold, laughing at the very notion of an Obama-Feingold ticket.

Playing pundit for a moment, Feingold says, "I'm not the ideal mix for a guy like Obama for a huge variety of reasons… He's a Midwesterner, I'm a Midwesterner. He's a senator, I'm a senator."

But then the senator from Wisconsin gets to the point.

"Obama's looking for someone who would presumably balance the ticket, and I don't think most people would see me as balancing an Obama ticket," he explains.

Don't get Feingold wrong.

He is not one of those who believes it is wise to search for a boring centrist to "balance" Obama's star power and perceived liberalism. Feingold, who established his Progressive Patriots Fund with the express purpose of "promoting a progressive reform agenda" within the party and nationally, says the Democratic presidential candidate would be best-served by a running-mate with a bold values-driven commitment to challenging the caution and compromises of both major parties.

"I would love it," the Wisconsinite says of a vice-presidential selection that tips the ticket in a progressive direction. "But that's not necessarily what (Obama and his aides) are thinking. I think we would all have to agree that hasn't been their direction since the nomination was cinched."

Feingold's not frustrated for himself.

There's no evidence to suggest that he regrets his decision to seek the presidency this year -- or that the fiercely-independent senator would be happy as anyone's "No. 2." But he is uncomfortable watching Obama, who won the Democratic nod by taking bolder stands than Hillary Clinton on a number of foreign and domestic policy issues, now edge toward the ill-defined and uninspired center.

"It is always hard to see a candidate, even though I like him very much, move on certain issues in a direction I'm uncomfortable with," Feingold says. "I hope it's minimized."

Beyond hoping that Obama picks a progressive running-mate, Feingold says he is of the view that the Illinois senator should go for someone with stature rather than a base in a swing state.

Though he once suggested that an Obama-Clinton ticket would be politically muscular -- and thought he has also speculated about the prospect of former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell as a strong vice presidential prospect -- Feingold's less interested in naming names at this point than in suggesting a standard that the nominee would be wise to apply.

"I still think that his choosing somebody who has a credibility on foreign policy and military issues -- to make sure people are comfortable with the Democrats on that, in light of the instability in the world – is probably the best approach," explains Feingold. "I don't think Obama does well by trying to pick somebody who is going to win a state for him. I can understand McCain doing that – with a (former Massachusetts Governor Mitt) Romney, a (Minnesota Governor Tim) Pawlenty or a (former Pennsylvania Governor Tom) Ridge. I think Obama has a different way of running, and that is a national wave of excitement based on his candidacy and a strong ticket. I wouldn't cherry pick a running mate just to try and carry a state. That's not what he needs."

Happe Talk

Seizing the "Obama Moment": Which Side Are We On?

The question of how progressives can seize the so-called "Obama Moment," as my colleague Bob Borosage calls it, is an important one - and it is critical that the question be asked right now - before the election, rather than after (This will be the central focus of my questions to Michael Moore in the Meet the Bloggers discussion this Friday). Though the media's horse race coverage and the Left and Right echo chambers "win at all cost" psychology would have us believe that elections are ends unto themselves, our Founders envisioned them as means to ends - instruments by which the people's will is debated, politicians are pressured, and a mandate is crafted.

Luckily for progressives, America has aligned with us on economic issues, ready to sculpt a populist election mandate. As a new poll by the Drum Major Institute shows, the center of American public opinion is far different from the center of opinion in Washington and Wall Street that says "centrism" and "moderation" is continuing the kleptocratic financial and trade policies championed by the Goldman Sachs twins, Bob Rubin and Henry Paulson. Unlike the Royalist Right, progressives don't have to manipulate the public with the kind of faux populism that packages, say, tax cuts for billionaires as a supposed panacea for the working class. We can offer the real thing: a real populist agenda for higher wages, fairer trade policies, universal health care, a better regulated financial system and a strengthened social safety net - and we can do that knowing the vast majority of America is with us.

But before we can assess an "Obama Moment" we have to know if this is an actual "moment," or whether this is a mirage, like the one when Bill Clinton promised to oppose NAFTA, and then rammed it through Congress "over the dead bodies" of the progressive movement?

http://www.credoaction.com/sirota/

Happe Talk

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/3614

Happe Talk

ACCESS DENIED - can't get on the new thread!

Health care no longer primary ailment
Economy, price of gas, war in Iraq have surpassed insurance as top election issue for candidates
By Jill Zuckman | Washington Bureau
August 21, 2008
WASHINGTON — What happened to health care?

In the daily rat-a-tat-tat between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, the silence is deafening.

It was once the "it" topic of public policy that helped propel the Clintons into office, sparked open warfare among special interests, and then toppled a Democratic Congress.

For a while, health care was that which was not spoken about following the 1994 legislative debacle. For Sen. Hillary Clinton, it was something that taught her great lessons. And in the drawn- out Democratic primary fight between her and Obama, the cost and availability of health care were daily fodder in the debate over which candidate would do a better job as president.

The continual tussle between the two presumptive presidential nominees — Obama and McCain — has largely centered recently on national security and the high price of gasoline. Public opinion polls have shown that among the top issues of concern to Americans, health care is languishing far behind the economy, the war and the price of gas. One CBS poll from July put voter interest in health care at just 3 percent. In August, it was at 8 percent.

Trumped by gas
"For a lot of people who have health insurance, they are paying more for health care, but it may not show up as concretely as paying $70 to fill their gas tank," said Anna Greenberg, a Democratic pollster.

This week, the Obama campaign criticized McCain's visit to an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana and held a conference call with Tom Vilsack, the former Democratic governor of Iowa, to complain about McCain's opposition to an energy bill pending on Capitol Hill. It also announced a "Next Generation Veterans for Obama" group that will participate at the Democratic convention, and accused McCain of questioning Obama's patriotism.

The McCain campaign, on the other hand, promoted new numbers from the Gallup Poll showing that veterans solidly back McCain, a Navy veteran, over Obama. It also criticized Obama's support for equal pay for women as a cash cow for trial lawyers. And it accused Obama of lacking credibility on the international stage and engaging in theatrics to make up for his deficiencies.

There were no conference calls to talk about health care. There were no television ads about health care. On the campaign trail, Obama responded to a question Monday from a voter on the subject.

To be sure, both campaigns offer detailed — but very different — health-care plans. While both say they want to provide affordable, high-quality health care for all, they go about it quite differently.

McCain, for example, would eliminate favorable tax treatment for employer-sponsored health insurance and provide individuals with tax credits of $2,500 per person or $5,000 per family to buy insurance. He would promote competition among the insurers by allowing people to choose insurance companies outside their state.

Obama, on the other hand, would require all children to have health insurance and would require employers to offer health benefits to workers or contribute to the cost of a new public plan. He would expand Medicaid, which provides health coverage to the poor and the disabled, and he would expand SCHIP, the children's health insurance program.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-health-care-campaignaug21,0,63664...

check out propublica:

http://www.propublica.org/
another news source

Happe Talk

This year is flying by!

Lots of folks have been asking about Maron V. Seder. *strikethrough*For the time being the show is on hiatus, basically because we lost our content delivery provider. *strikethrough*

We'll have some news on Friday 8/22 at 3pm!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

BTW

Talking about the McCain jump in polls.

He looks alot thinner. Didn't recognize him at first.

McCain Revises His Definition Of ‘Rich’: Some People ‘Are Poor If They’re Billionaires’
In an interview with Politico yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was stumped when asked “how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.” “I think — I’ll have my staff get to you,” replied McCain. “It’s condominiums where — I’ll have them get to you.”

Though his staff says “the correct answer is at least four,” the McCain’s actually own 10 houses.

McCain’s out-of-touch response recalls his answer last week when Pastor Rick Warren asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to “define rich.” McCain responded with a joke, asking “How about $5 million?” Other than his quip, McCain refused to give a serious numerical answer, instead saying that “it doesn’t matter really what my definition of rich is.” “Some of the richest people I’ve ever known in my life are the most unhappy,” said McCain.

In an interview with Politico yesterday, McCain again refused to give a number, saying that he defines rich “in other ways beside income.” He added that some people “are poor if they’re billionaires“:

He still did not give a number.

“I define rich in other ways besides income,” he said. “Some people are wealthy and rich in their lives and their children and their ability to educate them. Others are poor if they’re billionaires.”

Despite McCain’s professed desire to “define rich in other ways besides income,” distinctions between income levels are a centerpiece of his tax proposals that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy. The Los Angeles Times reports today:

Where to draw the line among the nation’s wealthiest taxpayers is the central difference between rival tax blueprints that offer starkly differing formulas for reviving a faltering economy. […]

McCain’s plan would cater to wealthy taxpayers and corporations by extending and expanding President Bush’s tax cuts, slashing corporate taxes and weakening the estate tax, but it would also aid taxpayers across the board by making the full Bush cuts permanent.

Though McCain, who doesn’t know how many houses he and his wife own, would get a $300,000 tax break if his proposals were enacted, middle class Americans would only save $319.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/21/mccain-rich-billionaires/

Morning all
new
Submitted by toniD on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 10:12am.
This year is flying by!

GOOD MORNING TO YOU ALL!

Like many of his fans, The Rick Copeland has been jonesing for the return of this weekly hour.

Now, on to the topic. Sammy cut it short. The question shuold read as follows:

Which is greater, the number of homes John McCain has, the number of half sisters Cindy McCain has and pretends don't exist, or the number of presidential elections the Democrats can piss away?

again skirting the wealthy question. This is his answer:

McCain’s out-of-touch response recalls his answer last week when Pastor Rick Warren asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to “define rich.” McCain responded with a joke, asking “How about $5 million?” Other than his quip, McCain refused to give a serious numerical answer, instead saying that “it doesn’t matter really what my definition of rich is.” “Some of the richest people I’ve ever known in my life are the most unhappy,” said McCain.

In an interview with Politico yesterday, McCain again refused to give a number, saying that he defines rich “in other ways beside income.” He added that some people “are poor if they’re billionaires“:

He still did not give a number.

“I define rich in other ways besides income,” he said. “Some people are wealthy and rich in their lives and their children and their ability to educate them. Others are poor if they’re billionaires.”

Try to feed and cloth a family with that answer!

...than just the Seder v Maron hour

Hope I'm not overhyping it! boing! boing! boing!

has anyone done that??
Going to Egypt in January.
That is if this fucking government
does NOT go into Iran.
My mom, sister & I will be going for
3 1/2 weeks.

is such a tease.

are poor BECAUSE of billionaires.

Stick it up your ass Mccain!

We have the Chicago delegation in full strength today!

Me, Sandy and 60th Street!

I didn't even say good morning Toni, SCM...all :)

McCain: ‘I don’t have to show I’m different from Bush.’
In a new interview with Politico, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said, “I don’t have any need to show that I’m different than President Bush.” Though McCain drew “implicit contrasts” with the president during the interview, “he declined to outwardly criticize Bush and flatly stated that he wouldn’t do anything as president to underscore his difference with the unpopular incumbent.” According to a new CBS/NYT poll, 47 percent of voters believe that McCain will continue Bush administration policies — an increase from 43 percent in May.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/21/mccain-i-dont-have-to-show-im-differ...

A new New York Times/CBS News poll finds that the economy is voters’ top concern this year, with four in 10 citing it as the main issue; just 15 percent said the Iraq war. Pocketbook issues — “including the economy, jobs, gas prices and energy policy — were the leading concerns of more than half of those surveyed.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/us/politics/21poll.html

Welcome to 1984!

The New York Times reports that a new Justice Department plan “allow the F.B.I. to open an investigation of an American, conduct surveillance, pry into private records and take other investigative steps ‘without any basis for suspicion.’”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/washington/21fbi.html?adxnnl=1&ref=tod...

Bushco:
More than 325,000 people have signed a Planned Parenthood petition opposing a Bush administration proposal that could “stifle women’s access to reproductive health care” by altering the rules for federally funding health-care providers. The proposed rule “takes some forms of birth control and interprets them as abortion,” said Ellen Golombek, vice president of external affairs for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

McCain:
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is backing off his 2000 and 2007 pledges to change the GOP abortion platform to grant exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. “There’s a process in place for the delegates to work on the platform and we are going to let that process work itself out,” said a McCain spokesman.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/08/mccain-backs-aw.html

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/alisa_miller_shares_the_news_about_th...

Happe Talk

A confidential draft of a federal inspector general’s report says that Medicare’s top officials made “misleading” statements in 2006 when they claimed “that they had reduced the number of fraudulent and improper claims paid by the agency.” Though officials said they had reduced the cost of fraud in medical equipment to $700 million, the report found “about $2.8 billion in improper spending” in 2006.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/business/21medicare.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&...

?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/08/sean-penn-ralph.html

...
Val Kilmer and Sean Penn will be the biggest personalities at the "Open the Debates" rally, which Nader is hosting at the University of Denver Magness Arena with his running mate, Matt Gonzales. Musicians Nellie McKay, Ike Reilly, Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine) and Jello Biafra (of the Dead Kennedys) will also appear.
...

I cannot believe they call people like the writer of this article - Kate Linthicum - - journalists....The way it's all slanted it's obvious where she stands...

Wussy ! Is this guy P*ssy whipped or what ? ?

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Days after he cracked that being rich in the U.S. meant earning at least $5 million a year, Republican presidential candidate John McCain acknowledged that he wasn't sure how many houses he and his wealthy wife actually own.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain responded to a question posed by Politico, according to a story Thursday on the publication's Web site. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

Later, the McCain campaign told Politico that McCain and his wife, Cindy, have at least four in three states, Arizona, California and Virginia. Newsweek recently estimated the two owned at least seven properties.

On the campaign trail, McCain doesn't refer to his wife's wealth, estimated by some at $100 million and based on her late father's Arizona beer distributorship. McCain's campaign didn't respond immediately to a request for comment Thursday.

Democratic rival Barack Obama's campaign has been trying to make their wealth more widely known to blunt criticism that Obama is an elitist out of touch with ordinary Americans. Obama owns one house, the family home in Chicago, his campaign said.

Con't

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

Im home for one second and just received my seder reader...great news....and I wanted to say hi from the rooster ranch before heading back to the city.
having Sammy at the convention and so much going on will sure make things easier at the old folks home;-)
Im just glad that I insisted on a broadband router there! Yay!

Melina
www.RIPCoco.com
www.BrilliantatBreakfast.blogspot.com
www.SweetJesusIHateChrisMatthews.blogspot.com

Ho....well...I guess you could add this to reasons why Biden would be a good attack doggy dog...hmmm

can't argue with a Veep with skin in the game...

....though I'm sure they'll do their darndest

Obama Wants 2012 Campaign To Start In March

The Barack Obama campaign announced Tuesday that it is forming a commission with the goal of moving the 2012 Democratic presidential primary campaign back to March, with select states allowed to hold their primary or caucus in late February.

The commission, dubbed the "Democratic Change Commission" will also look to reduce the influence of superdelegates and make changes to the caucus system.

"Senator Obama is committed to working towards growing our party, improving our nominating process and ensuring as many people as possible participate in the process. Obama believes the Democratic Change Commission is an important and necessary step to achieving these goals," Obama Campaign Chairman David Plouffe said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/21/obama-wants-2012-campaign_n_120...

Happe Talk

http://morningseditionists.com/msblog/?p=1099#comment-109987

Big News- Maron and I will tell you live on Friday

It’s a sad comedy about Joe Lieberman’s loser son, radical religous, extremist postal workers, Charlie Rose obsessions, oral copulation and terror attacks.

THIS is the way to campaign...be quick on the draw and use McSame's own words against him

more please!

H/T Atrios

delighted tha Sam and Marc will get some airtime

Already a diary up at Daily Kos.

Rice says US-Iraq coming together on timetables

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcWJu9bbzrJZ7uNHjvMn0BuTGqHQD92MMK382

By MATTHEW LEE and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA – 2 hours ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Thursday the two countries have agreed that timetables should be set for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the battle-scarred country.

Appearing together at a news conference, Rice and Zebari mutually asserted that a final agreement between Washington and Baghdad on a withdrawal plan and accompanying strategic framework pact is close to fruition — but not there yet.

Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood is gravely concerned that the Bush administration is considering a new HHS rule that would undermine women's access to health care and information. The rule would allow federal funding that is specifically designed to prevent unintended pregnancy and promote reproductive health to instead be used by facilities and providers that refuse to offer comprehensive birth control and reproductive health care services.

This proposed rule will put women's access to birth control and the information they need to make health care decisions at risk. The proposed rule will radically redefine abortion to include some of the most common and effective methods of birth control. As a result, women's ability to manage their own health care is at risk of being compromised by politics and ideology.

We have a chance to stop it.

Petition - Please Sign - Thank you !

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

TRIB
http://mobile.chicagotribune.com/news.jsp?key=173198

DuPage County war protesters see charges dropped
Main witness fails to show to testify in disorderly conduct case

By Art Barnum | Chicago Tribune reporter
11:20 PM CDT, August 20, 2008

Disorderly conduct charges were dismissed Wednesday against two DuPage County war protesters after the main witness did not show up in court to testify against them.

Jeff Zurawski, 40, of Downers Grove and Sarah Hartfield, 45, of Naperville were charged after they placed a banner that read "IMPEACH Bush and Cheney-Liars" on the Great Western Trail footbridge overlooking Interstate Highway 355 near Glen Ellyn for several hours May 6, 2007.

DuPage Judge Ronald Sutter dismissed the charges when an area truck driver failed to appear in court. The driver, Charles Hardin of Carol Stream, had placed a 911 call to DuPage County sheriff's police saying he had seen the couple making a throwing motion toward the highway. He had testified at a pretrial hearing in which Sutter found probable cause to try the couple.

Zurawski and Hartfield denied making any such throwing motion and said that by hanging the banner, they were only practicing their right to free speech.

Since their arrest, supporters have staged three rallies at the courthouse. On Wednesday, 50 supporters applauded them.

"Prosecutors had the burden to prove their case, and they needed their witness to have a chance," said Shawn Collins, the Naperville attorney who represented the couple for free. "I would have preferred to confront the evidence because they had a right to oppose the Iraq war on a public sidewalk."

Zurawski said, "I feel relieved, but we shouldn't have been dragged into this by a vindictive prosecution. Maybe a public apology would help restore my confidence in the system."

Zurawski said his anti-war efforts in the DuPage area will continue and that the banner he displayed over the highway will probably be seen publicly again.

The maximum penalty for misdemeanor disorderly conduct is a year in County Jail.

State's Atty. Joseph Birkett had said that the charges did not have anything to do with political expression but rather public safety.

did you see the one from the guy who likes lionel and is warming up to kuby? jeesh, maybe it's a regional thing and air america should just become air new york? I sure don't see where their programming is good anymore.

I got mine a year ago at the post office. I think all you need is your birth certificate and your social security card. I got the express ship option and it took 5 or 6 weeks. No handcuffs!

No Alice. But thanks, it is today.

on CNN. He is speaking at a town hall type meeting in Virginia.

He was talking about McCain, who was asked how many houses he has. McCain said I don't know, let me get an aide to tell you. The aide said 4 homes. Obama said well if you think that you have to have 5 million to be rich and don't know how many homes you have, you are sure out of touch with people and the economy.

Rice says US-Iraq coming together on timetables.

Well, I was having trouble with my computer. So I called
Richard, the 11 year old next door whose bedroom looks like NASA’s Mission Control,
and asked him to come over and take a look at it. Richard clicked a couple of buttons and solved the
Problem in a short minute.

As he was walking away, I called after him, 'So,
what was wrong? He replied, 'It was an ID ten T error.'

I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless I inquired, 'An, ID ten T error? What's that? In case I need to fix it
again.'

Richard grinned. 'Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?'' No,' I replied.

'Write it down,' he said, 'and I think you'll figure it out.'

So I wrote down: I D 1 0 T

I used to like the little shit!

all they want to do is create a photo op and declare victory. the could care less about the hell they have created.

that's funny. i hadn't seen that one in a while and then i used it on the blog yesterday when there was a posting about whether liebermann should have a D or an ID next to his name, and i suggested 1 D 10 T.

At last count, there are only four members of the dissident cell -- Peter Wehner, Ross Douthat, Jon Henke and John Hawkins -- conservatives who have broken ranks to harshly criticize Jerome Corsi's The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality.

All four make the case that Corsi presents a greater danger to the conservative movement and the Republican Party than to Barack Obama -- that for the right to take Corsi under its collective wing represents a moral and intellectual failing.

...

"The continued tolerance and prominence of Jerome Corsi -- his books, columns and appearances," Henke continued, "is embarrassing for the Right, embarrassing for Republicans, embarrassing for conservatives and libertarians, embarrassing for all of us."

...

"[T]here is one enormous problem with Jerome Corsi: he's a habitually dishonest buffoon who will say absolutely anything to make a buck. He's the Right's Michael Moore, except that Michael Moore has much more talent -- and certain boundaries beyond which, even he won't go." ...

"Keep in mind, folks, this is the same lunatic who has been running around for years telling people that George Bush is going to somehow personally merge the US, Canada, and Mexico over the objections of the American people and Congress. In other words: Jerome Corsi is a conspiracy nut whose credibility level is zero." Hawkins added sarcastically, "Oh yeah, let's put this embarrassing nutjob on point in the attack against Barack Obama -- what could go wrong?"

Submitted by toniD on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 12:12pm.
...Richard grinned. 'Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?'' No,' I replied.

'Write it down,' he said, 'and I think you'll figure it out.'

So I wrote down: I D 1 0 T

I used to like the little shit!
----------
The Bait clones have fanned out and assimilated into the general population.

The Practical Joke Army is nearly ready to strike a devastating blow for world domination!

[insert maniacal laughter here]

that little shit is a rare good one t! It sounds like you two have a lot to offer each other.

script-kiddie attack - a MySQL injector - is under control. We should be a bit snappier, folks. Don't declare a variable when you try to post, please..

Greetings from sunny Southern California.

I was beginning to think Sam's server was repo'd.

Here’s what the Democrats won’t be talking about in Denver
http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=745518

I have no idea what that means.

Happy Birthday Nando!

Happe Talk

Reported by Melanie - August 21, 2008 - 25 comments

Ralph Nader was a guest on Your World w/Neil Cavuto yesterday (August 20, 2008). During his introduction, Cavuto said: "Ralph Nader says he has figured out something: That Barack Obama is desperate and he is so worried he is going to lose, he's going to go for Hillary Clinton as his running mate. No one says that; Ralph Nader does. Ralph is here to explain."

Nader came on and said: "That's a little bit of a stretch. I was just saying that if he wanted a plus for his campaign, Hillary Clinton would get him more votes than anyone else."

Comment: Big difference. But here you have the 34,567th example of Cavuto carrying out his assignment, that of helping to paint a picture of a weak Barack Obama who is "desperate" and "so worried he is going to lose." Good job "fair and balanced journalist" GOP water boy.

http://www.newshounds.us/2008/08/21/cavuto_mangles_ralph_nader_statement...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMtu6cq4pSA&feature=related

say each letter out loud.

Happe Talk

already? its been a fast year. ditto.

Obama campaign hits
McCain hard on homes gaffe

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In an immediately quick turnaround, the Obama camp is already up with a TV ad hitting McCain for his admission that he doesn't know how many homes he and wife Cindy own.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/21/1280881.aspx

McCain's stupefyingly disastrous homes gaffe seen as godsend

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In the kind of stupefyingly disastrous gaffe that the Obama campaign normally only fantasises about at the end of a working day, when they're down at the bar, knocking back pints of hope, John McCain has admitted that he doesn't know how many homes he owns."

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/usa/2008/08/at_home_with_john_and_cindy.html

there is a database on the server which keeps track of all sorts of stuff. when you post that database gets updated. this is done with a language called sql which is text based and has commands like insert, delete, select followed by text. many web based applications take the data that comes in on the post request and insert it directly into the sql command to create the total command to be performed.

one form of sql injection is to intentionally place punctuation and the text of other commands into a post in an attempt to trick the server into doing something else or starting a command but not finishing it (causing a processor thread to hang forever. if repeated, the server eventually grinds to a halt).

so anyways, bottom line is that someone is posting crap trying to break the server.

oh goody, we get to choose between race warfare and class warfare.

Why T. Boone Pickens' clean
energy plan is a ponzi scheme

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The controversial oil magnate has made headlines for a supposed conversion to cleaner energy, but there's ample reason to be suspicious.

http://www.alternet.org/environment/95471/why_t._boone_pickens%27_%27cle...

Clueless: McCain says
economy's fundamentals are strong

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inflation is rising and real wages are declining. Unemployment is increasing and the cost of food is rising. But McCain says the "fundamentals of the economy are strong."

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/20/mccain-econ-strong/

79 million Americans struggle
to pay medical bills

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Working-age Americans are facing mounting problems when it comes to affording health care, a result of what analysts are calling a "perfect storm" of economic woes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20080821/hl_hsn/79millionamericansstruggleto...

HeeHee.. :)

Toni tell him to stop by my place..

I don't mind being called a I D 1 0 T.. :)

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

>>McCain Revises His Definition Of ‘Rich’: Some People ‘Are Poor If They’re Billionaires’

So...people can be poor if they have 5 million bucks...I suppose McCain will tax people based on how happy they are?

Huh ?

Did you stop the Porn spammer ?

And,why do the Page 2 google syndicate page ads..

always won't download when you first pull up thread ?

Anyone else having this problem ?

OR,is it my Ethernet connection ?

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

Facing Sanction, Comcast Threatens 20- to 30-Minute Web Slowdowns
Sam Gustin observes: The Federal Communication Commission has officially released its order sanctioning cable giant Comcast for blocking Web traffic.

Over the next 30 days, Comcast is required to:

- Disclose the details of its discriminatory network management practices to the Commission
- Submit a compliance plan describing how it intends to stop these discriminatory management practices by the end of the year
- Disclose to customers and the Commission the network management practices that will replace current practices

Although Comcast is expected to appeal the decision, the company is already threatening to implement an even more draconian form of network management.

As a result of the F.C.C.'s ruling, Comcast will begin slowing the internet speeds of its heaviest users for 20- to 30-minutes at time of network congestion, Mitch Bowling, Comcast's senior vice president and general manager of online services, told Bloomberg.

This idea would be consistent with the company's new "protocol agnostic" approach to network management, which would not regulate traffic on the basis of application type, but rather based on how much bandwidth an individual is using.

"If in fact a person is generating enough packets that they're the ones creating that situation, we will manage that consumer for the overall good of all of our consumers,'' Bowling said.

Of course, given that the heaviest traffic on broadband networks tends to come from peer-to-peer file swappers, it's no mystery who would be most affected by this policy.

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/the-tech-observer/2008/08/20/facing...

:)

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

Obama Hits McCain on Number of Houses Quote

I rewatched the Seattle thing.

One of the things that was funny to the audience was Hartmann seemingly grew testicles onstage. I guess that his wife wasn't around.
Also, I think that he was trying to illustrate his point about political theat-uh by being theatric himself, though he might disagree.

www.sigzone.blogspot.com

Now EVEN I would know to keep shit like that to myself.

Happy bd Fernando! Hope your daughter is being nice to you for the day instead of teaching the dog to pee on your cake, or something. ;)

Is "Joe Lieberman's loser son" the same real-life stepson who endorsed Obama late last spring, or a different son, or a fictional son? I know...I should get the movie and find out.

Bush Vote-Suppression Expert Scores Gig At Civil Rights Office
Hans von Spakovsky, the controversial former DOJ official with a record of support for voting restrictions, has been hired at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, TPMmuckraker has learned.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/civil_rights_commissio...

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

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-08-19-fortsill_N.htm

FORT SILL, Okla. — An Army social services coordinator here who told USA TODAY about poor conditions at Fort Sill's unit for wounded soldiers has been forced out of his job, the employee and base officials said Tuesday.
Soldiers meeting with Army Secretary Pete Geren here on Tuesday said Chuck Roeder, 54, was a strong advocate for their problems and should not have been forced to leave.

On Monday, USA TODAY reported that the unit's barracks were infested with mold and that soldiers had been ordered by commanders not to speak about conditions there. Maj. Gen. Peter Vangjel, Fort Sill's commander, said base officials had started to investigate and fix the problems.

USA TODAY REPORT: Soldiers: Mold infests Okla. barracks for wounded

By Bonnie Raitt & Jackson Browne

Your sweet and shining eyes are like the stars above Laredo
Like meat and potatoes to me
In my sweet dreams we are in a bar and it's your birthday
Drinking salty margaritas... with Fernando!

Young and wild we drove 500 miles of Texas highway
To the Mexican border as the sun was coming on
We crossed the Rio Grande river and we swore we'd have things "Our WAY!"
When we happened to run into Nueve Leone.

Your sweet and shining eyes are like the stars above Laredo
Like meat and potatoes to me
In my sweet dreams we are in a bar and it's your birthday
And we're having our picture taken... with Fernando!

;-p

>>I rewatched the Seattle thing.

I was starting to regret going to the Seahawks game instead (season tickets already paid for)but when I think that you were in attendance, I don't feel so bad about missing the forum.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/viewbydate.asp?id=1808

I took the day off so it's all good.

So far it's been eventful. Shortly after waking up I got a frantic call from my 'little one' lost as hell and in a panic. I'm glad she still calls me for stuff like that.

no, regret is buying cincinnati bengal tickets

A reminder

http://www.bumbershoot.org/lineup/satiristas

Satiristas

Satiristas target political hypocrisy and media distortion. Satiristas are gladiators who slash with the sword of knowledge, block with the shield of truth, and kill with the stab of humor. Their stand-up spectacle leaves audiences enlightened by spasms of uncontrollable laughter. Stars include Marc Maron, Janeane Garofalo, Rep. Richard (Dick) Martin and Tom Rhodes.

Bumbershoot - Labor Day Weekend

* Saturday, 6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
Charlotte Martin Theatre
* Sunday, 6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
Charlotte Martin Theatre
* Monday, 6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
Charlotte Martin Theatre

I was recently forced to upgrade everything to MS Office 2007. That was very expensive as far as I'm concerned. OpenOffice is Sun's free answer to Word, Excell, PowerPoint, Access etc...

LINK

I misread that... only scanned it at first... I'm cleaning.

www.sigzone.blogspot.com

Google, Paul Allen back geothermal startup

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/375635_altarock20.html?source=myp...

By JOHN COOK
P-I REPORTER

AltaRock Energy believes it can harvest energy by fracturing rocks deep below the Earth's surface, using the heat from those rocks to create electricity.

Some deep-pocketed investors -- including Google, Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers -- are big believers in the concept, too. They are among the investors leading a $26.25 million venture round in AltaRock, money that the 14-month-old company will use to test the concept at an undisclosed site next year.

Sausalito, Calif.-based AltaRock, which was founded in Seattle by Susan Petty and continues to maintain technical operations here, is one of a number of upstarts trying to harness the heat below our feet.

But AltaRock's system is different from other geothermal projects that attempt to discover existing reservoirs of heated water or steam below the Earth's surface. That's the equivalent of oil exploration, not knowing if a well will produce or not, says AltaRock Chief Executive Don O'Shei.

AltaRock is attempting to take some of the risk out of finding the perfect drilling location. It does this by intentionally fracturing rocks -- like granite -- two to three miles below the Earth's surface in order to release heat. At that point, the company introduces water to the heated rock, creating its own reservoirs below ground.

With water pumped below the surface at high pressures, the rock fractures in what O'Shei describes as a "big heat exchanger." And the leftover water then can be used to create power.

O'Shei says the technology has distinct advantages over other renewable energy projects like wind or solar. For one, it can operate 24 hours a day and seven days a week -- meaning that it can meet power needs at different times of day. He also says the facilities could be located near existing power generation plants, so power can be transported more easily.

Since many of the Western U.S. states have heated rock within the drilling range of two to three miles, O'Shei also said the wells could be located nearly anywhere.

"That means you can do it in places where these traditional hydrothermal reservoirs don't exist," said O'Shei. "If you drill deep enough, anywhere in the world is hot enough. So the places that will develop (engineered geothermal systems) first are the places where it is hot shallow."

That's most of the Western U.S., with O'Shei saying the northern portion of Nevada is one potential area where the systems could be deployed.

But the drilling can't occur just anywhere.

Since the process involves fracturing rock and creating man-made reservoirs underground, O'Shei concedes that locating a facility near a fault line might not be the best choice.

"There are so many places to do it, why bother taking the risk?" said O'Shei.

The recent capital infusion will be used to complete a demonstration site by the end of next year, which will include wells and a steam generation facility. AltaRock employs 23, with plans to reach 30 employees soon.

About 60 percent of the staff is located in Seattle, though the numbers will probably even out in the coming months as the company adds new employees in operations and fieldwork.

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, is pumping $6.25 million into AltaRock. It also is investing $4 million in Potter Drilling -- which is developing new deep rock drilling technologies. And the Internet search giant is providing a $489,521 grant to Southern Methodist University Geothermal Lab to update geothermal maps of the U.S.

Other investors in AltaRock include Khosla Ventures and Advanced Technology Ventures, a powerful syndicate that O'Shei said will help the company bring the technologies to commercial deployment.

"These are people who are known for being fairly good at figuring out where technologies are about to break," he said. "We see it as more than just money; it is a confirmation of what we are doing at AltaRock."

The Roanoke Times reports that as Barack Obama convened a discussion about unfair trade policies in economically ravaged regions of Virginia, the national Republican Party countered by citing Fairfax County as proof the economy is doing just fine. "It doesn't take a lot of courage to go to Martinsville and talk about trade," said U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (R) said in a Tuesday conference call arranged by McCain's campaign. "What would be courageous is to come to Fairfax County, where you have 362 foreign-owned companies and tens of thousands of employees with foreign-owned firms...and take the same stand up here."

Besides the tone deafness of holding up foreign-owned firms as proof of a solid domestic economy, Davis forgot to mention that according to Forbes magazine, Fairfax County has long been the wealthiest county in the United States - a place where the median (the median!) household income is over $100,000 a year. The county is home to many of the millionaire corporate lobbyists that have been instrumental in the passage of rigged trade deals. Davis citing Fairfax County today as proof that trade policies are working for the vast majority of the country would be like Herbert Hoover citing the Rockefeller family as proof that the economy was working for most Americans during the Great Depression.

http://www.garagetv.be/video-galerij/bartvanbelle/unseen_footage_9_11.as...

the vid shows the atmosphere and the towers but not the demolition or planes, some unfortunate timing in filming. At about 9.30 the video is slowed to make up for all of that, it shows a Manhattan Demolition truck with Twin Tower symbolism passing... The truck also had "Radio dispatched" with an Antenna Tower symbol on it.

warning: eery footage of jumpers from a distance

http://dedroidify.blogspot.com/2008/08/911-coincidence-mountain-megapost...

or maybe it's the 64 it doesn't like...I want to though

http://blog.dispatch.com/dailybriefing/2008/08/nader_files_petitions_to_...

Georgia separatists rise up under Russian protection

AFP
AFP Global Edition

Aug 21, 2008

Georgia faced the growing likelihood of dismemberment Thursday as Moscow-backed separatists hardened demands for independence and Russian troops retained an iron grip.

Tens of thousands gathered in Sukhumi, capital of Abkhazia, to demand Russian recognition of their independence. A similar rally was due in South Ossetia's main town Tskhinvali.

Moscow has indicated it may give both recognition in a move that would risk sparking one of the deepest crises between Russia and the West since the Cold War.

Russia's upper house of parliament is to meet on the issue in emergency session Monday.

The Russian troops that stormed into Georgia two weeks ago showed little sign of movement Thursday, although Moscow promises to withdraw them by the end of Friday.

A checkpoint backed by a tank continued to block the main road from the capital Tbilisi to South Ossetia.

An AFP reporter on the border of Russia and Georgia saw little military traffic leaving South Ossetia.

Under a French-brokered peace plan an unspecified number of Russians will be allowed to remain in South Ossetia as "peacekeepers" -- a role they previously shared with Georgian troops prior to this month's conflict.

General Anatoly Nogovitsyn insisted that "by the end of August 22 all forces of the Russian Federation will be within the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/08/georgia_separatists_rise_up_un...

Happy B'day!

and many happy returns!

>>I was starting to regret going to the Seahawks game

No, Dan...you misread.

I did not regret the game. It was the forum w/Sam, etc., that I missed.

But you are right about the Bengals.

Congress finally takes action on robo calls but exempts election year trash talk? When are we going to get a Legislature that puts the care abouts of the citizens of this country before their own?

You have a great one SJ.

i got that, i was just daydreaming what it might be like to have a real football team. i gave up my season tickets a few years ago when it was clear that hope should be abandoned.

Open Office should be OK w/Vista.

I have XP but it works fine with my 64 bit processor.

he would pick toniD to be VP.

He's prolly just skerd she'll kick his a**.

>>i gave up my season tickets a few years ago when it was clear that hope should be abandoned.

Sorry to stir up such painful memories.

have you looked at google documents? i suppose there are issues with where the documents are stored and who has access to them.

FEC frees McCain from spending limit for primaries

Election panel rules McCain not bound by spending limits in primaries, doesn't rule on loan

JIM KUHNHENN
AP News

Aug 21, 2008 11:59 EST

The Federal Election Commission has freed Republican presidential candidate John McCain from a public matching fund program that would have limited his spending in the primaries.

The commission's unanimous vote means McCain is not bound by spending limits that restrict candidates who do accept such matching funds.

The commission did not specifically vote on an underlying question — whether McCain used the promise of public funds to secure a loan to his campaign late last year.

Commissioners did reject McCain's argument that he did not need the FEC's approval to withdraw from the public system.

The action Thursday does not affect McCain's decision to obtain $84 million in public financing for the general election.

Source: AP News

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/08/fec_frees_mccain_from_spending...

Submitted by MMRules on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 1:22pm.
...Did you stop the Porn spammer ?...
--------
"Porn spam" conjures an unwanted image of a canned pork product.

Microsoft sued over Vista branding

Microsoft has come under attack for the way it advertises the Vista operating system.

By Colin Barker
Special to CNET News.com

A lawsuit, filed in Seattle, alleges that the company advertised systems as "Vista capable," when in fact the systems were not able to run Vista properly. The suit alleges that the marketing around Vista was designed to deliberately mislead potential customers.

The outcome hangs on the precise definition of the circumstances under which a machine is "Vista capable."

Microsoft has allowed PC vendors to put stickers on their systems saying that they are "Vista ready," when the system could run only Vista Home Basic, which does not allow many of the core features of Vista to run. The suit maintains that it was unreasonable of Microsoft to assume that every person to whom it was marketing Vista could understand the system requirements.

PCs need at least 512MB of RAM, a processor capable of operating at 800MHz or faster and a graphics processor that is DirectX 9-capable to be classified as "Vista capable." However, the suit alleges that it was not clear from Microsoft's advertising and marketing around Vista that while a system may be advertised as "capable," it may be incapable of running many of the advertised features of Vista, such as the Aero desktop.

According to the legal action, which was filed as a class action suit on Thursday, "consumers were falsely led to believe they would be upgraded to a dramatically new operating system bearing the key features marketed by Microsoft." In particular, the court action highlights Microsoft's "Express Upgrade" plan, which upgraded users from Windows XP to Vista Basic. This was an upgrade to Vista "in name only," the suit alleged, and "not the functionality."

Microsoft said it had made extensive efforts to inform buyers about the hardware resources needed to run Vista.

"We conducted a broad effort to educate computer manufacturers, retailers and consumers about the hardware requirements to run different versions of Windows Vista," the company said in a statement. "This well-documented effort occurred as part of the Windows Vista Capable program. We look forward to presenting this information to the court and addressing all other issues raised in this lawsuit."

Details of the lawsuit were reported Tuesday by The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

>>an unwanted image of a canned pork product.

or worse...

so i started listening to malloy from last night. he is on a real tear about putin, rice, and the neocons plan to blow up the world rather than let obama win.

My letter to him:

YOU DON'T HAVE THE GUTS TO READ THIS ON AIR.

Yesterday, on air, you attacked my neighbor. I live outside of East Jordan, Michigan-- halfway to Bellaire. These are two small, rustbelt towns, that DLC, beltway pundits, such as yourself, have no understanding of. The kind of places that elitist snobs, always talk about, but in reality have nothing but hopeless contempt for.
My neighbor is Michael Moore. You called him an idiot. I'm not sure how many copies of "Trainwreck," you've been forced to give away, but I'm willing to bet, that nearly all of Moore's books have sold better than any of your books. I read Moore's criticism of Obama's campaign a few days ago and some parts I agree with, and some I don't. (Frankly, I don't know what he was talking about when he suggested naming Caroline Kennedy as VP-- I took it as a joke.) But, Moore is no "idiot." And I agree entirely with his main thesis: Obama has abandoned his base in a futile effort to move to the center.
What has McCain done since the primary ended? The same thing winning Republican presidential candidates always do. Move further to the right; to both fire up their base, look strong, and prove they are more "American" than their opponent. And while Obama moves to the middle, and McCain moves to right, what happpens? McCain surges to a lead he will never relinquish.
This election was never going to be easy. Honestly, I believe this country is at least, tens years away from electing a non-white president. We need to remember, for example, Rush Limbaugh, just got his contract extended for 400 million dollars. (A man, who just a few years ago, said on national television, that blacks aren't smart enough to be NFL quarterbacks.) Notwithstanding, Obama, has mortally wounded his campaign by destroying his change message by not standing up for liberal principles. Change is not caving-in on FISA, promising war in Pakistan, cowering before AIPAC or kissing Rick Warren's feet. If today's Democrats wanted triangluation they would have nominated another Clinton.
I don't expect it, but Michael Moore, the author of Sicko, deserves an apology from you. I know, Mr. Moore has thick skin--living much of year in one of the most conservative parts of Michigan, you would have to. Really, instead of calling him names, you should debate campaign strategy on your show.

Thanks, a regular, if unhappy listener.

a discussion of the use of spam as a martial aid...

good response. i gave up on press a couple of months ago when he wouldn't stop whining about clinton losing.

As federal agency declares 'new phenomenon' downed WTC 7, activists cry foul
Stephen C. Webster

According to a federal agency report released Thursday, a "new phenomenon" known as thermal expansion was directly responsible for the mysterious collapse of World Trade Center 7 on Sept. 11, 2001.

This theory, posed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology -- a federal scientific agency which promotes technical industrial standards -- marks the first 'official' government theory on the collapse.

The building's demise occurred some seven hours after the twin towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001, and has been the source of numerous conspiracy theories key to the "9/11 Truth" movement, most of which argue that the symmetrical, seven-second collapse was brought about by a controlled demolition.

Dr. Shyam Sunder, director of Institute's building and fire research laboratory, oversaw the government's three-year research efforts. The report aims to disprove the controlled demolition argument.

However, Richard Gage, founder of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth and a member of the American Institute of Architects, doesn't believe a word of the theory.

His group, which has swelled to over 400 architectural and engineering professionals, immediately responded to the Institute's claim in a press conference.

"Tons of [molten metal] was found 21 days after the attack," said Gage in an interview with a Vancouver, Canada television station. "Steel doesn't begin to melt until 2,700 degrees, which is much hotter than what these fires could have caused."

"There are holes in this story that you can drive a truck through," Gage added during the press conference. His group asserts that thermite, a steel cutting agent, was used to bring the building down.

Dr. Sunder disagreed.

"We conducted the study without bias, without interference from anyone," said Dr. Sunder. "We have only one single-minded goal in this effort."

While the Institute said it considered the possibility of a controlled demolition taking place at WTC 7, the notion was dismissed due to the absence of any recordings of an explosion sound.

Thermite, however, does not make an explosion sound. And while this was raised to Dr. Sunder in the media's Q&A session, he dismissed it as impossible.

"FEMA found it," said Gage. "Dr. Steven Jones found it, in the dust that landed in the entire area of lower Manhattan. And he finds it in the chunks of previously molten metal [from the towers]."

Specifically, in Appendix C of its World Trade Center Building Performance Study, FEMA claimed:

Evidence of a severe high temperature corrosion attack on the steel, including oxidation and sulfidation with subsequent intergranular melting, was readily visible in the near-surface microstructure. A liquid eutectic mixture containing primarily iron, oxygen, and sulfur formed during this hot corrosion attack on the steel... The severe corrosion and subsequent erosion of Samples 1 and 2 are a very unusual event. No clear explanation for the source of the sulfur has been identified.
Yet, no study of the mysterious sulfur or melted steel was included in the NIST report.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/BREAKING_NIST_%3CI%3Efinally%3CI%3E_poses_...

that's amazing. So 'new phenomenon' knows to call the press and announce the building is falling before it actually does. 'new phenomenon' can do time travel? I can't wait till the string theory people hear about this. Maybe that will explain gravity too.

don't forget to tip your server folks.....

Wednesday, Nov 5, 2008 3:00 am EST

My friends, now I think it is appropriate to rise and giving a standing ovation to a man that made this dream happen. Without those critical votes in Ohio, the leadership of this god-fearing nation would have been entrusted to the inexperienced hands of an ambitious opportunist. So now a big hand for a great American, a real American, and a man, vice-president Lieberman has promised to consult with often: Mr. Ralph Nader.

or worse...
Submitted by dan on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 2:44pm.
a discussion of the use of spam as a martial aid...
-----------
Spam-filled mortar shells?

I put you and your AltaRock Energy on My Wave of The Future Open Mic..

But,didn't include Spam porn..Nothing to do with energy,as far as I can tell.. ;)

Link

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

Now on my blog:

"As you go through life in this country you must remember that it's all bullshit, and it's bad for ya."
-George Carlin.

Does anyone remember the opening harangue from Carlin's final HBO standup act?
He discussed Lance Armstrong -- the steroids-pumpin', blank-faced dolt who everyone thought was a natural Superman. The national hero was a fraud.

I get the same impression of Michael Phelps.

"It's all bullshit, and it's bad for ya."

www.sigzone.blogspot.com

is that for real? has any explanation ever been offered on this?

Please allow me to rant! I'm very angry! Some of it may actually be coherent.

In spite of mainstream media’s complete betrayal of America, we still accept their spin. Never mind its complicity in stolen elections, an illegal war and the destruction of our economy. Though the media has never been trustworthy, we keep expecting them to be truthful. How naive. Last night on Obermann, Chuck Todd gave the most asinine reason for Obama’s fall in the polls. Sometimes he pulls stuff right out of his ass. No Chucky! It isn’t the Hillary supporters! No indeed. It’s Public Enemy #1!

Last week, Mainstream Media paraded Jermome Corsi all over the networks. Yes, he is a pathological scumbag. That’s why they did it! They had to catapult the propaganda. The lie must be perpetuated as truth. The pitiful reason they gave for Corsi’s appearances- his book was on the Time’s bestseller list. Funny! Why don’t other best selling authors receive this kind of media attention? Then! There was the Saddleback set-up. The mainstream media immediately announced McCain was the winner. And thus followed the echo chamber- where it was repeated over and over. Never mind, he lied and cheated. Oh forget McCain is insane. The media knows what’s best for- we the sheeple. America would rather have a crazy white man over a smart black one, any damn day. So let’s face it Blogafellows, they are at it again. They are saving McCain’s ass again. After all, it was they, during the primaries, in all of their sycophantic glory, who resurrected his bid for the presidency.

Here’s another example. Lately, the AP & CNN radio news have been advocating strongly for McCain. They will play a McCain sound bite, but it won’t be followed by any response from Obama. When they play an Obama sound bite, it’s followed by a McCain response. The same applies to television. CNN played a speech by McCain before the VFW. I believe it was Tuesday. It was riddled with anti Obama rhetoric. It included the shtick, “Obama doesn’t support the Troops”. When it was Obama’s turn to speak before the VFW, things were different. CNN did a split screen in which McCain was presented with large caption, refuting Obama. And no, there was no split screen during McCain’s speech.

Though an Obama presidency may garner Progressives getting a foot in the door, as usual, for some of us -that is not enough. It’s all or nothing! We cannot unite! We can’t betray our smarty-pants and panties. So we shall throw the baby out with the bath water! To the best of my knowledge, progressive websites like Counterpunch and Black Agenda Report have not printed one positive word about the Obama Campaign. Never mind that he’s been able to do what they have not; which is to galvanize the youth vote, as well as the entire electorate.

On the radio side, Hartmann, Miller and Schultz are passive when it comes to attacking mainstream media. So don’t expect any Operation Chaos from our radio hosts. After all, they want to keep their gig on CNN and FOX. Kuby and Press are diehard Hillary supporters. Frankly, they ain’t worth shit. They also have mainstream gigs to protect. Besides, I wouldn’t call Bill Press a Progressive. But the worst of the lot is Mike Malloy. What a phuccing disappointment! He has been insanely brutal. His rage over Obama is astounding. I’m beginning to question whom the Hell he is working for. Basically, he is encouraging people to not vote.

To summarize, Obama is running against a right wing media media conglomerate, which includes racists and white supremacists groups, mainstream media , the Republican Party, racists in the Democratic Party, Black Radicals on the left, Black Conservatives on the right, and a fractured left wing. That’s why he is falling in the polls.

About three months ago, I posted a link to an online petition. It was yet another attempt to make mainstream media accountable. It asked signers to inform CNN, ABC and FOX that they were going to be blocked from their television. It was also going to notify the sponsors of the networks. To my knowledge, only 3 people from this blog sign the petition. So congradulations President McCain! Goodbye America!

Oh yes Sam Seder, the world really does need you!

To reach the conclusions in its report, NIST complemented its in-house expertise with private-sector technical experts; accumulated an extensive collection of documents, photographs and videos related to the WTC events of 9/11; conducted first-person interviews of WTC 7 occupants and emergency responders; analyzed the evacuation and emergency response operations in and around WTC 7; and performed the most complex computer simulations ever conducted to model a building’s response behavior and determine its collapse sequence due to a combination of debris impact damage, fires and a progression of structural failures from local fire-induced damage to collapse initiation, and, ultimately, to global collapse. - NIST

Remember when NASA was so busy telling us that global warming was not real? This is the politicization of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

dan, my major was structural engineering from UT Austin with a Bachelors of Science in Civil Eng. It doesn't take a genius to see that the NIST is full of shit. Even if the 'new phenomenon' was real, it wouldn't under any circumstance fall down symmetrically. This explanation is laughable on it's face.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R) has asked the Senate Ethics Committee for permission to create a legal expense fund to help pay for costs related to his legal defense. Stevens was recently indicted on seven felony counts of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts and home repairs. If granted, individuals and political action committees will be allowed to contribute up to $10,000 to the expense fund. (McClatchy)

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/244/story/49544.html

The trial of a former U.S. marine charged with war crimes in Iraq begins today. Jose Luis Nazario Jr. is charged with the voluntary manslaughter of four unarmed Iraqi detainees during the fighting in Fallujah in 2004. He is the first person to be charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, a law written to allow the prosecution of civilian contractors and former members of the military who commit war crimes overseas. (AP)

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/08/21/trial_to_begin_for...

House Oversight Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) issued a subpoena yesterday for documents related to the EPA's enforcement of the Clean Water Act. Earlier this month, Waxman had sent a letter to the EPA setting a deadline that passed last week for the documents. (House Oversight Committee)

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2155

Key U.S. Iraq strategy in danger of collapse
More on this Story
Story | U.S. denounces chaotic Iraqi raid
By Leila Fadel | McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD — A key pillar of the U.S. strategy to pacify Iraq is in danger of collapsing because the Iraqi government is failing to absorb tens of thousands of former Sunni Muslim insurgents who'd joined U.S.-allied militia groups into the country's security forces.
But the Iraqi government, which is led by Shiite Muslims, has brought only a relative handful of the more than 100,000 militia members into the security forces. Now officials are making it clear that they don't intend to include most of the rest.
He said the army was considering setting a Nov. 1 deadline for those militia members who hadn't been absorbed into the security forces or given civilian jobs to give up their weapons. After that, they'd be arrested, he said.
Some militia members say that such a move would force them into open warfare with the government again.
"If they disband us now, I will tell you that history will show we will go back to zero," said Mullah Shahab al Aafi, a former emir, or leader, of insurgents in Diyala province who's the acting commander of 24,000 Sons of Iraq there, 11,000 of whom are on the U.S. payroll. "I will not give up my weapons. I will never give them up, and I will carry my weapon again. If it is useless to talk to the government, I will be forced to carry my weapons and my pistol."
About 15,000 militia members have been given security jobs since the beginning of last year, according to the U.S. military. Another 2,342 have been approved for jobs with the Iraqi police after the Iraqi army opposed absorbing them.
The United States has 103,000 militia members on its payroll.
Abadi, the Maliki ally, was blunt in calling the militias a problem.
"You've created a problem here," he said. "You can't get rid of a program by shoveling it on the Iraqi government shoulders."
Colin Kahl, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a centrist policy institute in Washington, who recently visited Iraq, said the dispute over the militias could set the stage for a return of widespread bloodshed, particularly because the Maliki government seemed intent on thwarting the plan.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/49538.html

(Oh, the Green Zone is getting shelled again. Not that anyone gives a shit.)

Web browser to get 'privacy mode'

Microsoft is planning a "privacy mode" for the next release of its Internet Explorer (IE) web browser.

By clicking a button, users of IE8 will be able to limit how much information is recorded about where they go online and what they do.

Microsoft watchers have spotted two patent applications covering ways to manage the amount of information a browser logs.

When introduced the privacy mode will match features found on other browsers.

Medical test

Australian blogger Long Zheng has found two patent applications made by Microsoft on 30 July for ideas it calls "Cleartracks" and "Inprivate".

The applications deal with methods of erasing data that browsing programs log, turning off features that record sites visited or notifying users of what sites are doing to log a visit.

While many browsers already have menu options that let people alter security settings and clear history files it typically has to be done on a use-by-use basis.

Users may wish to turn on the privacy mode if they are planning a surprise party, buying presents or researching a medical condition and do not want others users of the same computer to find out.

Internet Explorer 8 is due to go on general release late in 2008 though early trial versions are already available.

By comparison Apple's Safari browser already has a privacy mode and developers working for Mozilla, creators of Firefox, are reportedly working on a similar feature for future versions.

Other browsers, such as Xerobank, take a more thorough approach to privacy and try to anonymise all web use

Unauthorized photos of my midriff piss me off.

Submitted by M the a-c on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 2:59pm.
-----

I thought steroids.

you guys know he's just a little kid that was always picked on in school and a bit slow, right? He did the swimming thing because it's "where he could fit in". I'm happy that he was able to overcome his obstacles and move on to succeed in the sport. I wish I were as successful without all those barriers.

Oh Alex C. is the original Obama hater--you didn't know?

Pretty pissed off at him myself, but it would have to get a lot worse for me not to vote for him. Left right before the FISA thing ended definitively and came back to hear Sam being in for Malloy being as pissed off as I was and giving the same reasons, that everthing else was rhetoric, etc.

(I'm not saying I'm smart. Really I'm not. I'm sure it's just coincidence. But I am in a kind of time warp in terms of my reaction.)

As you may or may not know, I haven't been able to listen to anything in July or half of August, and then after that, in the past four five days, Malloy has also seemed to me rather "bad (pointlessly) crazy" and I've found myself turning him off rather quickly. I missed the "don't vote" parts though (maybe because of that).

Company acknowledges Ohio voting machine errorAP foreign, Thursday August 21 2008 ContentType:Spot Development; ContentElement:FastStory; Breaking:True;

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The maker of the most widely used touch-screen voting machine in Ohio has acknowledged the machines have a programming error that led to votes being dropped in the March primary

The same machines will be used in the November election. Brunner spokesman Kevin Kidder says the state will monitor and prepare for any glitches.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/7743086

mine was last sunday

Why is the U.S. ordering Russia to leave Georgia "NOW?"

If it were even somewhat consistent, it would advise Russia to "stay and clean up its mess." We all know that when a country invades a sovereign country it's the invading country's duty to "buy it-- you break it, you buy it." So.. what is the deal, money man? Are you telling Russia to acknowledge defeat and surrender? Do you really want Russia to throw in the towel?

...and I thought you were a colonizer.
Oh, wait. You're just a hypocritical moron.

www.sigzone.blogspot.com

mire! It hasn't gotten easier has it?

World heading towards cooler 2008

This year appears set to be the coolest globally this century.

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Data from the UK Met Office shows that temperatures in the first half of the year have been more than 0.1 Celsius cooler than any year since 2000.

The principal reason is La Nina, part of the natural cycle that also includes El Nino, which cools the globe.

Even so, 2008 is set to be about the 10th warmest year since 1850, and Met Office scientists say temperatures will rise again as La Nina conditions ease.

"The big thing that's been happening this year is La Nina, which has lowered global temperatures somewhat," said John Kennedy, climate monitoring and research scientist at the Met Office's Hadley Centre.

"La Nina has faded in the last couple of months and now we have neutral conditions in the Pacific," he told BBC News.

Scientists at the World Meteorological Organization have also suggested that 2008 will turn out to be cooler than the last few years.

La Nina cools waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, but its effects are felt around the globe.

It is one of a number of natural climatic cycles that can re-inforce or counteract the warming trend stemming from increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Earlier this year, one group of researchers suggested that another natural cycle, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, was likely to hold temperatures steady for about the next decade, before reversing direction and allowing a renewed warming.

"The principal thing is to look at the long-term trend," said Dr Kennedy.

"2008 will still be significantly above the long-term average. There's been a strong upward trend in the last few decades, and that's the thing to focus on."

One of the starkest effects of rising temperatures has been the rapid loss of summer Arctic sea ice, which has accelerated since the year 2000.

Earlier in the year, there were indications that 2008 could see even more ice lost than in the record-breaking melt of 2007.

Currently, the ice appears to be holding together better than a year ago, although scientists are wary as much of it is relatively fragile ice that formed in a single winter.

Canadian authorities have just declared that the Northwest Passage is "navigable", though acknowledging that some parts of it still contain floating ice.

Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

Obama Campaign Launches New TV Ad And Holds Events Throughout The Country On John McCain Losing Track of How Many Homes He Owns

Highlights Just How Out of Touch John McCain Is

CHICAGO – Today, the Obama campaign released a new 30-second TV ad, Seven, discussing just how out of touch John McCain is with the struggles of everyday people. The ad highlight’s John McCain’s desire to just offer more of the same economic policies we’ve gotten from President Bush, as just yesterday he declared "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" and lost track of how many houses he owns.

Confused, racist, whatever, people are ready for class war. That's what the Minutemen are really all about. Even though, they don't even know it.

nothing serious, and the good news from sam perked me up a little, looking forward to hearing the "news" tomorrow, damn! why is everyone being so damn coy, just come out and tell us sam, is it gonna be a pay-per-view, i suspect it's gonna be thru aar since sam is still an employee there but i would prefer with nova-m or an independent production....not complaining, very happy regardless of how

i stopped at 33

has mentioned the draft remarks from McCain yesterday. They disappeared!

to campaign politics; it used to be only the dems were ridiculed for being rich, thus insincere (because if you're rich you should only advocate for the rich), see edwards haircut and lavish home; coming back to bite this other john in the ass; yes it was long overdue this focus on this kept man, government pension suckler mcain

Chubbs you might like this..Weird science facts.. :)

Self-recognition, once thought to be an ability enjoyed only by select primates, has now been demonstrated in a bird.

The finding has raised questions about part of the brain called the neocortex, something the self-aware magpie does not even possess.

Con't

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

If I had so many houses I couldn't keep track of how many there were, I'd think the economy was pretty good, too...

>>Chubbs you might like this..Weird science facts.. :)

Are you trying to tell me the weirdo in the mirror (that guy who helps me shave) is actually my own reflection?

Come on, I wasn't born yesterday...

McCain Spokesman's Retort: Obama Lives in "a Frickin' Mansion"

A spokesman for Sen. John McCain vowed to retaliate against today's story about how many houses the GOP candidate owns with a renewed focus on Sen. Barack Obama's ties to a Chicago developer and charges that Obama is an elitist.

"John McCain is not an arugula-eating, pointy headed professor-type based on his life story."

No...he's an ahi tuna, farfalle, Napa cabbage, passion fruit mousse-eating, hot-headed adulterer based on his life story...

McCain responds: POW!

Emeril responds: BAM!

Happy belated Birthday :) Wish I would have known sooner!

If Obama publicly admitted he didn't know how many homes he owned he'd be decried as elitist and totally out of touch with the average person.

>>he'd be decried as elitist and totally out of touch with the average person.

oh, they did it anyway...

Erik Prince, CEO of Blackwater, and Mia Farrow had a business breakfast last month in New York to discuss possibly working together for Darfur. Farrow has long been an advocate for Darfur refugees while Blackwater has recently been targeted by the Justice Department over a shooting incident in Iraq. In response to critics skeptical of Blackwater, Farrow claimed that, "Blackwater has a much better idea of what an effective peace-keeping mission would look like than Western governments." (ABC Blotter)

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5617186&page=1

I think she is out of touch with what's up with Blackwater.

I'd like to see a breakdown on how many net sq footage of McCain's homes compared to Obama`s. and the estimated values of each's property holdings.

McCains Bought Second Beach Condo At Around Time McCain Said Struggling Homeowners Needed To Skip Vacations
By Greg Sargent - August 21, 2008, 2:37PM

Here's a fun little find that is likely to give Dems more ammo to blast away at John McCain's number-of-houses gaffe.

It turns out that a few months ago, a McCain family corporation closed on a second multi-million-dollar beach condo in the same building in exclusive Coronado, California -- at around the same time that John McCain offered his somewhat tone-deaf observation that struggling homeowners were "working at second jobs" and "skipping a vacation" in order to make mortgage payments on time.

Cindy McCain discussed the timing of the second condo purchase in a June interview with Vogue magazine (not online) that's newly relevant in light of the explosive controversy over John McCain's inability to recall how many homes the McCains own.

And in another fun fact that could pour fuel on this controversy, Cindy told her interviewer that the reason they needed a second beach condo in the Coronado building was that the first was too crowded because her kids were staying there and as a result she "couldn't get in the place."

Cindy continued: "So I bought another one."

Here's the relevant passage, from the start of the Vogue piece:

It is a late Sunday afternoon in April, and I am sitting in a condominium in Coronado, California, taking in the view of the gorgeous San Diego Bay with Cindy McCain. She closed on the place just two weeks earlier, and the only things unpacked so far are the family photos that dot almost every surface. It's her family's second condo in the building. "I like the ocean, and the kids love it here, and I love that," she tells me, curled up on a nondescript couch that looks like it might have come with the apartment. "When I bought the first one, my husband, who is not a beach person, said, 'Oh, this is such a waste of money; the kids will never go.' Then it got to the point where they used it so much I couldn't get in the place. So I bought another one."
According to a July story in The Politico, a McCain family corporation spent a combined $4.7 million on the two condos in Coronado.

If the interview was conducted sometime in April, and she'd closed on the condo two weeks earlier, that means that the latest the closing could have happened is mid-April, and the earliest is mid-March.

On March 25, John McCain said:

And 51 million homeowners are doing what's necessary: working at second jobs, skipping a vacation, and managing their budgets to make their payments on time.
So at around the time McCain said this, the McCain family corporation was either actively in the market for, or had closed on, a second multi-million-dollar beach condo in the same building which was necessary because the first one was too crowded with their children in it.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/mccains_bought_s...

seems like its about time for babs bush to weigh in and clear the air for us.

I noticed! Someone needs to ask either candidate point blank if they support a draft. I can't believe McFeeble isn't ready for the Q, but if he isn't it could be a game ender.
I feel much better today. The polls are all blue today! Those fucking liars at RCP haven't bother to change their polling average (O +1.2), but it is actually (O +4.0) again-- even +3.0 from FOX.

I remember hearing Obama say his mother bought food w/food stamps while he was growing up.

What an elistist!

Why couldn't they use cash like `regular people'?

right? What's the line in Vegas? :)

even from most of my friends, can't keep it from my daughter though, not likely to forget to call mom on her birthday, because she was born on my birthday 30 years ago, same birthday

some sort of elite status...

a group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status

it's someone not about ego, mmmmm does it mean biden is out? I have the feeling it's gonna be somebody unexpected, ie none of the ones that have been bandied about, a real surprise....all i know is that i am not so excited about none of these characters, yes biden is probably the lesser evil, we've become so used to this downsizing of expectations, haven't we!

Submitted by gloryoski on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 3:28pm.

-----
For understanding my rant.

It appears that old Liberal white guys are having an Obama problem. Cockburn is 66 and Malloy is 65. Sometimes, we will advocate for the oppressed, until the oppressed becomes an equal. Then! We feel threatened. This kind of behavior is not just limited to race. It occurs in every aspect of life. It's like a friend who tells a friend to lose weight. They'll state the health risks. They'll speak of their love for the friend. That is, until the friend loses the weight. In reality ,it's not about being a true friend or advocate. It's about using someone else's misfortune to esteem our own ailing ego.

McCain Camp Responds On Houses Gaffe: He Was A POW!
By Eric Kleefeld - August 21, 2008, 1:57PM
The McCain campaign is road-testing a new argument in responding to Obama's criticism of his number-of-houses gaffe, an approach the McCain camp has never tried before: The houses gaffe doesn't matter because ... he was a POW!

"This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison," spokesman Brian Rogers told the Washington Post.

For those of you who haven't kept track, the McCain campaign just recently cited McCain's POW years in explaining away the Miss Buffalo Chip gaffe, and in dealing with the allegation that he broke the rules and listened in on Barack Obama during the Rick Warren forum.

Also, Rogers made sure to play the anti-intellectual card: "In terms of who's an elitist, I think people have made a judgment that John McCain is not an arugula-eating, pointy headed professor-type based on his life story."

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/mccain_camp_resp...

:)

only in anti-intellectual america, everywhere else a sign of envy respect something to aspire to

A federal appeals court on Thursday declined to rule on whether lawsuits seeking to target President George W. Bush's warrantless wiretapping are covered by secrecy laws or can be challenged in court.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2124224720080821

___

.♡. - .☮.

That's the whole thing in a nutshell. We don't trust anyone any more.

I'd like to get back some of Alice's idealism. Being a realist is depressing.

>>You can't blame McCain, he was a POW!!!

If being POW is to blame for his inability to remember common things (like how many houses do you own?) and his other public fumbles, shouldn't being a POW be a liability rather than an asset?

i told you before. It's Chuck D.

did the other day, Toni....about being an idealist and a realist - and how she USED TO BE in the P&F party...

>>I'd like to get back some of Alice's idealism.

Idealism? Really?

Another GOP Congressional Incumbent Links Himself To Obama In New Ad
By Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld - August 21, 2008, 4:11PM

Okay, we now have another GOP Congressional incumbent linking himself positively to Barack Obama: Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut, who has a new ad that declares flatly that he possesses "the hopefulness of Obama."...

Video at link

By our count, this makes Shays, who's locked in a tough re-election fight against Dem Jim Himes, the second serious GOP down-ticketer to link himself positively with the Illinois Senator. GOP Senator Gordon Smith, who's also facing a bruising re-election battle, has run two ads hailing Obama.

The Shays campaign declined to comment on the ad, which was forwarded to us by a Connecticut source, but the Himes campaign confirms seeing it up on the air this morning.

Another fun thing about this ad is that Shays actually associates himself with both Obama and McCain, saying that he possesses "the hopefulness of Obama" and "the straight talk of McCain." Talk about fence sitting...

Late Update: The Shays campaign has confirmed to us that the ad is indeed running.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/goper_shays_new_...

TPMTV: Three Years After Katrina
Saturday will be the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's initial formation over the Bahamas. When she washed over Mississippi and Louisiana six days later, on Aug. 29, 2005, she breached critical levees that were supposed to protect New Orleans. Hundreds drowned.

I recently interviewed John Barry -- author of Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America and The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History -- a New Orleans resident who now serves on the Levee Board. We discussed the current situation in New Orleans three years on and the reasons the rest of the country bears some responsibility for New Orleans becoming so vulnerable to storms.

Video at link

Full-size video at TPMtv.com.

--David Kurtz

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/209563.php

Submitted by 60th Street on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 4:03pm.
... he's an ahi tuna, farfalle, Napa cabbage, passion fruit mousse-eating, hot-headed adulterer...
--------
Napa cabbage? A Krautonnay with a plucky insouciance.

Submitted by toniD on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 4:35pm.
---------

But we are to timid for a revolution. Therefore, we should fight like Hell for our crumbs from an Obama presidency. Furthermore, he may not be the silver bullet to kill the right-wing, but he might provide us with a small wooden stake.

Obama camp: New group is McCain front

The Obama campaign responded to the new anti-Obama ad from a group whose backers remains a mystery by linking the group to McCain, noting that one of its two named board members, Ed Failor, Jr., is an Iowa conservative activist who consulted on the McCain campaign until last summer.

Emailed spokesman Tommy Vietor:

The fact that John McCain dispatched his paid consultant to launch this despicable ad from a so-called ‘independent’ committee shows how desperate he is to change the subject from his shocking disconnect with the economic struggles of the American people. He knows that Barack Obama has denounced the detestable crimes that Bill Ayers committed forty years ago.

Instead of invoking Paris, Britney and obscure sixties radicals, Senator McCain should take the day off at one of his seven homes to consider whether his support for outsourcing, tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas and continued spending of ten billion a month in Iraq is really putting ‘country first.’ To us, it sounds like just more of the same.

Failor denied the connection.

"I have not been dispatched by John McCain in any manner," he said. "This isn’t about the McCain campaign. There’s been no discussion with that campaign. I ended my involvement with that campaign voluntarily in July of 2007."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff08212008.html
How can I or any progressive vote for a presidential candidate who cannot state categorically that he will defend the Constitution by reversing all of President Bush’s abuses of power and who will not promise to prosecute the president and members of his administration for any crimes committed while in office?

If you look at Obama's vaunted website, and check out his positions on the big issues of healthcare, education, the economy, labor, social security, etc., you can see he’s pretty good on most things (okay, his health care “reform” is a loser and will never fly. He should be calling for a nationally-run insurance system modeled on Medicare and paid for by the government). The problem is that there has been a deliberate effort to soft-pedal all of it, while backpedaling on his position on the Iraq War. It's almost as if he and his campaign think the "smart" progressives will go to his website and be satisfied with his online positions, while the "dumb" unaffiliated voters will not go there and will just base their votes on his gauzy image TV ads. (More importantly, if he can go from anti-war to pro-war, what's to say he won't backpedal in office on the rest of his positions, especially if he won't highlight and defend them vigorously on the campaign trail?)

There has clearly been a decision made in the Obama campaign to soft-pedal liberal positions and to make Obama appear “safe” and uncontroversial.

The result has been his precipitous slide in the polls.
DAVE LINDORFF

...did I leave out the Aste Spumante?

it was maggiesboy's recommendation...Anyone seen him lately?

Happe Talk

when it comes to supporting a progressive agenda he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

he needs to ditch the dlc strategerists that are telling him to run to the center.

Excuse me?

An American success story is now somehow WRONG to these guys?

And how is this not the frickin' same thing, ya asshat?

65 books he's authored, co-authored, wrote a forward for, was involved with, by this count.

How many of those are based on Grandpa's "life story?"

Report Says Fire, Not Explosion, Felled 7 W.T.C. -- nyt

wow, great, another mystery put to rest.
; )
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happy one fernando.
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just a drive by - ttl
: )

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

Just like Rachel says. He has said enough about himself. It should all be McCain now...so much material

Happe Talk

Report: E-Voting companies being charged with counting votes
David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Although many states have rejected electronic voting machines because of their vulnerability to errors and outright fraud, a third of the nation will still be using them this fall.

What's worse, notes CNN's Lou Dobbs, "a new report says election officials often are outsourcing their responsibilities to the very companies that make the e-voting machines, even trusting those companies to count the votes."

That report (pdf) was issued by voting rights group VotersUnite.Org, whose founder Ellen Theisen told CNN, "Elections should be accountable to the people and run by public officials who are selected by the people. ... When that's handed over to private vendors, these public elections are no longer public."

The problem is particularly serious when voting machine companies also tabulate the votes, because the companies own both the equipment and the propriety software which runs it and election officials have no way of double-checking their tally.

The VotersUnite report concludes, "The depth of the current dependence is shocking, but even more shocking is the fact that our elections are dependent on vendors whose records reveal their unethical and even unlawful behavior, as well as their incompetence."

Oklahoma is one state which owns its own voting system and wasn't tempted by the offer of federal funds in 2002 to switch over to a proprietary system. "There was really nothing on the market we would buy then," Michael Clingman of the Oklahoma State Election Board told CNN, "and there's still nothing we would want to buy today."

"Oklahoma is a real piece of America!" Dobbs commented approvingly. "They're telling these silly son-of-a-guns to go stick it -- and they're honoring a commitment to the public."

Dobbs promised to post a list of every state or county that is outsourcing the vote on his Web site.

This video is from CNN's Lout Dobbs Tonight, broadcast August 20, 2008.

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