Christmas

Sometimes I come across something on YouTube that is absolutely magical. This is an ad for the Peruvian Cancer Foundation. It is a wonderous ad.




When you buy your gifts this season, please remember to send some love and money to those organizations who help find cures for illnesses that our loved ones, or even complete strangers, are affected by.

Updates on Ministry of Education Kidnapping

This is I listened to Morning Edition, with Renee Montaigne. Her guest was Solomon Moore of the Los Angeles Times. I strongly suggest you visit this link and read his article "Uniformed men kidnap scores in Iraqi sapitol. You can listen to the interview on the Morning Edition website

It really is a mystery! Officials are not really sure how many people were kidnapped, and the latest figures say around 50 may have been kidnapped and 37 have been released. Sunni, Kurds and Christians were taken, but we don't know who kidnapped them or why.

To avoid cordons, the kidnappers 17 released overnight, and 2 hostages are believed to remain.

Most interestly, 5 Iraqi police were arrested and questioned. There have been rumors that the police have been infiltrated by insurgents, and this really makes you wonder.

The sectarian divisions are really the cause of many problems. If we are ever to get peace, or at least an end to the sectarian violence, we need to find a new way of dealing with the Iraqis because the Bush Doctrine has proven to be a disaster.

100 to 150 Educators Kidnapped in Iraqi Higher Education Ministry

Sunni and Shiia educators were separated by sex and men were kidnapped by men in Iraqi Police uniforms, driving Iraqi Police vehicles. All universities in Iraq have been shut down out of fear for the safety for the educators.

According to Forbes.com

Alaa Makki, head of parliament's education committee, interrupted the body's session Tuesday morning to say that between 100 and 150 people, both Shiites and
Sunnis, had been abducted in the 9:30 a.m. raid at the ministry offices, calling
the kidnapping a "national catastrophe."

The kidnapping is the largest known of any group, although about 50 Shiites were abducted from vehicles near Latifiyah, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, on Saturday and a similar number taken from the offices of a private security company in March. Their fate remains unknown.

"It was a quick operation. It took about 10 to 15 minutes," Theyab said. "It was a four-story building and the gunmen went to the four stories." He said the gunmen had at least 20 vehicles.

Educators aren't the only targets. Sports teams, women not dressed properly, people of the wrong religious faction have all been targeted. And Bush wonders why people want the US to get out of Iraq.

It is a civil war. A civil war where Sunni and Shiia have replaced Blue and Gray.

American soldiers have tortured and taken photographs to show their pride in there work. That is a fact.

Anyone can be label a terrorist and disappeared without seeing the evidence against them and with being allowed an attorney. They can be held as long as the government wants. That is a fact.

Bush and his cabal lied to get us into Iraq, insisting it was needed because Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, not because of oil.

On November 4, 2006 Bush said:

"You can imagine a world in which these extremists and radicals got control of energy resources and then you can imagine them saying, 'We're going to pull a bunch of oil off the market to run your price of oil up unless you do the following. And the following would be along the lines of, well, 'Retreat and let us continue to expand our dark vision.' "

Except that Iraq's oil production is a fraction of Saudi Arabia's. Remember when Saddam invaded Kuwait? Take a wild guess about what Saddam was interested in?

Bush hasn't a clue. He simply has a lust for power, a desire to be the war president his father (wisely) didn't become, to be looked upon as a savior, a freedom-bringer to oppressed peoples.

Instead, he has brought darkness, death and chaos. This will be Bush's legacy.

We won! Now what?

I am not amazed that we Dems took the House, but I'm completely overjoyed that we took the Senate as well! I figured we'd get a few seats, but would still be living in fear of a red world. The 110th Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2007. Oh, happy day for us blues! I plan on watching as much of the festivities as I can.

It wasn't only the war that was the reason for many people voting, Katrina figured quite highly, especially with African Americans. Democracy Now! has an interesting Round Table discussion titled "Who Voted and Why? A Roundtable Discussion on the Ethnic, Religious and Social Makeup of Voters in the Elections" . You can either listen, read the transcript or purchase the CD or Video. It's short enough to read in minutes yet contains much good information.

I do have one big question: now what do we do? Sure, Bush is the lamest of ducks, Rumsfeld is gone, but that doesn't mean it's going to be all champaigne and roses. Bush doesn't even like to believe Democrats exist; after all it's his world and we just live in it. I think having a little chat with Nancy Pelosi actually made him a wee bit nervous.

It does look like he is going to be pushing his favorite cause of the moment, wiretapping Americans. Read this interesting tidbit from the New York Times.

In Washington, President Bush urged that during the lame-duck session that starts next week, Congress pass a bill effectively authorizing the program. And in San Francisco, the Justice Department told a federal court that public scrutiny of the operation risked “exceptionally grave harm to national security.”

But Democrats sounded impatient to begin getting more answers after what they characterized as 11 months of stonewalling by the administration since the program was publicly disclosed last December.

“This administration first hid its domestic spying program from Congress and Americans for years, and when it was discovered, has ducked and weaved on its legal justifications,” said Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, who is to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee when Democrats take control.

Go for it, Senator Leahy! I'm tired of losing my democracy. I want my country back!

The rest of the article suggests that the Bushies are going to use the "state secrets" ploy to keep from having to explain their sorry behinds to the American People.

There's a lot on the Democratic plate right now, and all I want to say to the new Congress is do your jobs, but don't forget that while Iraq is important, so is health care, education, medicare and many more issues that no one wants tossed aside. Yes, we need to investigate the crooks that have used the government for their own person gains, so tread carefully. As easy as it was to get elected this time, but no democrat wants a similar Republican win in the next election.

Hey, Dems: Get your agenda formulated, get your people behind it, and don't bicker like you did in 2004. Find a good presidential candidate, and give him or her 100% of your support early on. It would help if it wasn't Hillary, even though I really like her (not so her DLC ties). The Republicans already demonize her, even though she's tremendously popular. I want an election not a mud slinging contest.

It's going to take years to fix the mess GWB has made, and we need Democrats in the House, Senate and White House to do it.

That's enough for now folks. Keep on working for what is right!

It's election day! Kinda feels like Christmas Eve...

...and not in a good way. So much negative campaigns, so little substance. Being in Tennessee I have seen Republican ads that should make Republicans ashamed of themselves. Party of Lincoln indeed! Take a peek for yourself and remember some states (California, Virginia, parts of New York and more) have seen dirty tricks as well, usually race oriented.




I'd like to add a couple comments here: the "Death Tax" (more properly, and formerly, called the Estate Tax) only applies the the top .27 % or some such number. Do you make $1,500,000 a year? If you do, you will pay the tax. If not, you won't and if you are worried about the "Death Tax" perhaps you should call the IRS to learn more. They'll tell you the facts. Do the research yourself. Stop believing everything you see on the television.

Have too many guns? Huh? The concern isn't having too many guns - it's stolen guns, guns that criminals have that even our police don't have, people having guns that shouldn't, irresponsible owners that are careless with guns that get into the hands of children: these are what needs to be addressed. Ford recognizes that. So do the police.

Let's not forget the "Oh my God, he's coming after a white woman" fear. I wish we, as a society, were past this, but given some of campaign ads I guess we're not. Pulling Playboy into it is just senseless. I'm surprised Playboy didn't raise a fuss, considering they were being used in a racist ad. While I've never been to a Playboy Superbowl Party, I know someone who has, and it apparently is the primo party to be at. Celebrities, fantastic food, nonstop music, and actually there are Bunnies there, in bikinis that cover more than you'd see at the beach. It's expensive and crowded (usually 3,000 or so people), but it's no different than any other Bowl party, just more red carpet.

If this ad is what Bob Corker feels he needs to win, he should be ashamed.

You can tell Corker did not get my vote.

Transitioning to new look

Posts will be added soon!

101 soldiers killed in October 2006 and the month isn't over.

Their names have not been released yet, but my heart is with their families.

Why are we still in Iraq?

It can't be because the society has broken down into sectarian violence, or that at one news conference, US military commander in Iraq, Gen George Casey, said Iraqi security forces could assume responsibility for the whole country within 18 months, or the fact that, at another news conference, Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki said that no one had the right to impose a timetable on his government. See the BBC article here for more information.

Saddam Hussein is in his cell, probably having a good laugh at the absolute fools who "liberated" Iraq. Weapons of mass destruction were never there to begin with, that we all know.

I think it boils down to is this: you break it, you bought it. Colin Powell said something similar to GWB.

Now, why are we there? What about Afganistan and the growing Taliban presence that was supposed destroyed?

If you'd like to see the total death toll for all the coalition forces and civilian deaths, the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, is a good place to start. It does not include those who died as a result of lack of decent medical car because either they couldn't get it for some reason because of this conflict. It also has pertinent news.

Who Supports Our Troops: Republicans or Democrats

Bob Geiger has the answer, and he's put it in a great table, listing grades by party. The information was garnered by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). I think they'd know who does it best, having actually served in a war theater, unlike Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld...

As a matter of fact, check out AWOLBush.com to see which prominent Democrats and Republicans actually did serve in our Armed Forces. It's an eye opener.

Hank has a job! And a Rant.

Woo hoo! Full-time, great benefits and a good schedule, so we actually see each other!

It will take a while for us to catch up on our bills (mostly my medical bills), because he still doesn't make what he used to, but at least he has a steady, fairly well paying job.

Good economy? Please. I could give a Rattus norvegicuses posterier about what the Bush Spin Machine says: unless you are already rich, the economy sucks, especially for those stuck at the minimum wage and have to work two or three jobs to barely make ends meet.

Herein begins the Rant:

There are those who have no health care, or poor health coverage.

There are those whose children are recieving poor education because No Child Left Behind.

Our natural resources are being ravaged.

We are at war because of lies, and our men and women go to combat with poor resources.

We are more at risk of terrorist attack because the "GWOT" is a political concept, not a reality.

Katrina, Katrina, Katrina, Katrina, Katrina, Katrina, Katrina, Katrina, Katrina

And Darfur. Genocide.

And the list goes on.

Don't take my word. Seek out the truth for yourself. Go the the International Version of CNN, to the BBC, to other foreign papers. Watch Keith Olbermann (on MSNBC), a voice of reason in a sea of drek.

VOTE ON NOVEMBER 7TH to return

America to the ideals of our Founders!

More Republican Crap, or Bigot and Liars Show Their True Colors

I hate this. Dirty ads being tossed around by Republicans. Lies, bigotry and innuendo. For your perusal, here are some you can check out .

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl

--AZ-01: Rick Renzi

--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth

--CA-04: John Doolittle

--CA-11: Richard Pombo

--CA-50: Brian Bilbray

--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave

--CO-05: Doug Lamborn

--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell

--CT-04: Christopher Shays

--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan

--FL-16: Joe Negron

--FL-22: Clay Shaw

--ID-01: Bill Sali

--IL-06: Peter Roskam

--IL-10: Mark Kirk

--IL-14: Dennis Hastert

--IN-02: Chris Chocola

--IN-08: John Hostettler

--IA-01: Mike Whalen

--KS-02: Jim Ryun

--KY-03: Anne Northup

--KY-04: Geoff Davis

--MD-Sen: Michael Steele

--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht

--MN-06: Michele Bachmann

--MO-Sen: Jim Talent

--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns

--NV-03: Jon Porter

--NH-02: Charlie Bass

--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson

--NM-01: Heather Wilson

--NY-03: Peter King

--NY-20: John Sweeney

--NY-26: Tom Reynolds

--NY-29: Randy Kuhl

--NC-08: Robin Hayes

--NC-11: Charles Taylor

--OH-01: Steve Chabot

--OH-02: Jean Schmidt

--OH-15: Deborah Pryce

--OH-18: Joy Padgett

--PA-04: Melissa Hart

--PA-07: Curt Weldon

--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick

--PA-10: Don Sherwood

--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee

--TN-Sen: Bob Corker (Consistantly attacking Harold Ford, Jr. in a dispicable way, but I'm biased, I'm in Tennessee.)

--VA-Sen: George Allen

--VA-10: Frank Wolf

--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

--WA-08: Dave Reichert

Many thanks to Jon'>Chris Bowers for compiling this list!

And for America's sake,

Vote on November 7th! It's your right to have a direct say in our democracy!

Pssst...hey Prez..don't believe everything they read to you.

I got up the sunny Saturday morning, got my Tigger mug full of diet Dr. Pepper as saw this:

Pentagon report on rise in Iraq violence undermines Bush PR campaign
Sheldon Alberts, CanWest News ServicePublished:
Saturday, September 02, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon on Friday delivered a stark assessmen of deteriorating security conditions in Iraq, describing a cesspool of sectarian violence that has skyrocketed since the formation of the country's unity government.

Warning of an "acute and disturbing" trend toward execution-style killings by Sunni and Shi'a death squads, the Pentagon reported a 51 per cent surge in the number of Iraqi civilian deaths in the last three months.

See, it's not just us "war appeasers" who want to help the Nazis who are saying the war is a gigantic mess. Go read the Canada.com article.

And yeah, I'm not surprised this headline didn't pop us in a US paper first.

Oh, and one more thing:

RUMSFELD RESIGN!

Been a long time since I've wandered into my own blog.

Familial joint hypermobility syndrome will do that to you.

Lots has happened since I've been gone. Discovery came home safe, Mel Gibson gave comedians camera fodder for months, Fidel Castro handed power over to his brother and had abdominal surgery, Lebanon got the stuffin' bombed out of it, a man was apprehended in Thailand and escorted back to the US in connection with JonBenet Ramsey's murder ten years ago, and 2500 Marines subject to the Individual Ready Reserve clause have been involuntarily recalled, some of them in their sixties.

Oh, and George Allen, in front of a slew of supporters and cameras, singled out a young man of Indian descent (an American citizen by the way) and called him a macaca. Nothing like using a racial slur at your own campaign rally. And yes, Associated Press, it is a slur, not just a macaque, which is a type of monkey.

So where do I start? I think I'll start at the upcoming anniversary of hurricane Katrina. If you have HBO, be sure to catch Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke: a Requiem in Four Acts". Unfortunately I don't have HBO but from everything I've heard it's a wonderful documentary and one that shouldn't have had to be made. There's fault go around, both before and especially after the hurricane hit. Katrina is an ongoing disaster. If it had hit a predominately white, wealthy, Republican area, I think the recovery effort would be much different.

That being said, I'll be back tomorrow. (Time to put the femur back where it belongs.)

Peace Train Slowly Chugs Ahead

(Yeah, the back problem is still a major pain, so posting is going to be infrequent...)

And now for a pop quiz:

Who said the following: "We must agree on a timed schedule to pull out the troops from Iraq, while at the same time building up the Iraqi forces that will guarantee Iraqi security and this must be supported by a United Nations Security Council decision."

A) Another Democrat, speaking out for Kerry/Feingold resolution?
B) A renegade Republican?
C) Someone seeking to embolden the terrorists and piss off Dick Cheney?
D) None of the above

You'd be wrong if you chose A or B, but I'll give you partial credit for C because I'm sure this is making Cheney stew in his own juices.

It's D, and the quote comes from a draft of the peace package arrived at by "secret talks involving Jalal al-Talabani, the Iraqi President, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Ambassador, and seven Sunni insurgent groups". This was just so interesting when I read it in the Times Online this morning.

Mr Khalilzad recently told The Times that reconciliation required "a
comprehensive strategy that has political elements, that has security elements,
and that has reintegration elements in it: decommissioning, demobilisation, and
reintegration of these forces."

The draft marks the first time the Iraqi Government has endorsed a fixed timeline for the withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq, a key demand of the Sunni insurgency. the document reads.

That certainly doesn't agree with the Administration view of how things should be done does it? This is what Dick Cheney said during his interview with John King of CNN:

KING: Let me jump in -- that one of these points here is, is it wrong -- you say it's wrong to publicly set a timetable. And I understand the argument for that. You'd cue off -- cue the terrorists to what you're going to do. Has the Iraqi government been told, privately, you need to meet certain benchmarks, training your troops, improving security, by a date certain, because the American people are not going to pay for this forever?

CHENEY: No, I think they know full well that we're expecting them to take on more and more responsibility. It's one of the reasons the president went to Baghdad recently. And all of our conversations with them, they know what we're trying to do and they've stepped up to that task and that responsibility. Fact of the matter is that obviously we've lost a lot of people. Wish we hadn't lost anybody. But the heavy casualties are being taken by the Iraqis. There are a lot more Iraqis being -- becoming casualties in this conflict at present, because they are now in a fight.

Again, I come back to the basic proposition. What happens, in the global war on terror, if United Statesates bails out on Iraq? And that's exactly what withdrawal is. You know, you're going to take your troops before the conflict is over with.

You're not going to complete the mission if we follow the Democrats' advice. And, in fact, we will have set up the situation in which the al Qaeda types can win. They have a plan to establish a caliphate that stretches from Spain all the way around to Indonesia, to kick the Americans out of the Middle East, to destroy Israel, to take down most of those regimes in that part of the world. And they will do anything they can to achieve that objective.

But ultimately, what they're betting on is that we don't have the stomach for the fight, and we can not afford to validate that strategy. We can win -- we are winning -- but we've got to stay at it.

The transcript is posted here.

The administration wanted Iraq to be a democratic government; they got what they wanted. The moral is: be careful what you wish for, because you might get it.

So just how will Bush/Cheney handle this? Stay tuned.

Update: I finally checked Daily Kos and there are a couple of diaries here and here, and I'm sure John Kerry and Russ Feingold are smiling snugly, because this sure does sound like their plan, which you can check out here on Feingold's site. Republicans Lewin and probably are somewhat satisfied too; here's Lewin's site, which links to a PDF , which was really slow to load.

The Way Back Machine Rehashes it all for You, Damian 6/6/6 version

I haven't been posting much due a a back problem, but now with the help of some stratigically placed steriods, I hoping to get back to what passes as normal.

On my afterwood walk amoung the bloggy fields, I came across this. It may be old news for all I know, but my pain addled brain doesn't know better. Link are mine. as are the comments.

Robert Scheer, over at Truthdig has this to say, which edited to save to precious save electrons. You can read the full article here.

Enron Kenny Boy Lay couldn't have fleeced California without Bush help

The Bush family consistently acted to put Enron and its longtime CEO, Ken Lay, into a position to rip off investors and taxpayers. Why are the mass media ignoring that fact now that Lay has been convicted in arguably the most egregious example of white-collar fraud in U.S. history? Until he hooked up with the Bushes, Lay was just
another mid-level energy trader complaining endlessly about being hemmed in by onerous government regulations and those terrible consumer lawyers who prevent free market hustlers from doing their thing. But after he and his company became top supporters of the Bushes -- eventually giving $3 million combined to various Bush electoral campaigns and the Republican Party -- doors opened fothem in a big way.

I'm reminded on Robin Hood right now. While the good King Albert, wrongfully rousted, has gone off to fight for for the glory of home and hearth, some Robber Barrons by the name of Bush have conspired with minor Robbers and Highwaymen to rape and pillage the land all in the name of freedom. To keep the serfs happy, handouts are tossed and troublemakers and sent away with a hardy "fie-on-thee, thou wretched leftist scoundrel!"

In particular, once Bush the father got rid of key energy industry regulations, Lay was a made man and Enron's fortunes soared. This program of corporate welfare led Lay to dub the first President Bush "the energy president" in a column supporting his re-election because "just six months after George Bush became president, he directed ... the development of a new energy strategy," which, in effect, compelled local utility companies to carry Enron electricity on their wires. It was, Lay crowed, "the most ambitious and sweeping energy plan ever proposed." Another huge gift from the first Bush regime came in the form of a ruling by k, head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, that permitted Enron to trade in energy derivatives, making possible the company's exponential growth.

Hm..41 does all the work, 43 gets all the credit. If you ask me this presidential legacy appointment thing goes a little to far.

Five weeks after that ruling, Gramm resigned and joined the Enron board of directors, serving on its subsequently much criticized audit committee. Six years later, Gramm's husband, U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, further enabled Enron greed by pushing through additional anti-regulation legislation

.

When will people learn - it's not good to be an enabler!
Are You an Enabler? Do You Know Why? Do You Know How to Stop? Please, get help now!

A long list of George H.W. Bush's Cabinet and inner circle, including Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher, went to work for Enron after Bush's 1992 defeat. An even greater number of Enron officials returned the favor by joining the George W. Bush administration in 2001, shortly before the Enron scandal exploded.

Please, for the love of God....NO MORE FAVORS!

The close connections between President Bush and Lay began when they both worked on the 1992 Bush pere presidential re-election campaign. In fact, a long paper trail of their friendly and collaborative correspondence has been made public through Freedom of Information Act requests.

"Dear Ken, one of the sad things about old friends is that they seem to be getting older -- just like you!" wrote then-Texas Gov. Bush in April 1997. "Thank goodness you have such a young beautiful wife."

Because having a beautiful young wife makes it all ok.

After the Enron crash, Bush attempted to distance himself from the "Bush Pioneer" who had sent more than $2 million in Enron funds George W.'s way, as well as supplying him with the Enron company jet on at least eight occasions.

(photo from Paxtonland.com)

"I have not met with him personally," Bush said after the scandal broke. What Bush left out was not only his hundreds of personal encounters with Lay before he assumed the presidency but, more important, Lay's key role in drafting the Bush administration's energy policy, meeting with energy task force chairman Dick Cheney at least six times.

So far, California has recouped some of the billions in taxpayer andpension funds it lost, and several of Enron's top dogs are looking at hard time. Perhaps, after this November, if the opposition party can retake at least one branch of government, the connections between these corporate criminals and their buddy in the White House can be more fully investigated, as well.

And now let's have a sing-a-long to celebrate!
From the Life of Brian:

Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse
When you're chewing on life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best...
And...

...always look on the bright side
of life...
(Whistle)

Always look on the light side
of life...
(Whistle)

If life seems jolly rotten
There's something you've forgotten
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing
When you're feeling in the dumps
Don't be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle
- that's the thing.
And...always look on the bright
side of life...
(Whistle)

Come on.

Always look on the right side
of life...
(Whistle)

For life is quite absurd
And death's the final word
You must always face the curtain
with a bow
Forget about your sin - give the
audience a grin
Enjoy it - it's your last chance
anyhow.

So always look on the bright side
of death...
(Whistle)

a-Just before you draw your terminal breath...
(Whistle)

Life's a piece of shit, when you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true
You'll see its all a show, keep 'em laughin as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you

And...
Always look on the bright side
of life...
(Whistle)

Always look on the right side
of life...

C'mon Brian, cheer up

Always look on the bright side
of life...

Always look on the bright side
of life...

Worse things happen at sea you know.

I mean - what have you got to lose?
You know, you come from nothing
- you're going back to nothing.
What have you lost? Nothing.

Always look on the right side
(I mean) of life...

what have you got to lose?
You know, you come from nothing
- you're going back to nothing.
What have you lost?

Always (Nothing.) look on the right side of life...

Nothing will come from nothing ya know what they say?
Cheer up ya old bugga c'mon give us a grin!
There ya go, see!

Always look on the right side of life...
(Cheer up ya old bugga c'mon give us a grin! At same time)

There ya go, see!

Bush speech on immigration tonight

Warning the rant level is RED.

Tonight The Big Empty Head is scheduled to talk about immigration, and sending the National Guard to help. Somehow, my inner skeptical bitch says Photo Op!

Why? Look at this headline and click the link:

Bush budget scraps 9,790 border patrol agents: President uses law's escape clause to drop funding for new homeland security force

Building a fence, sending National Guard troops (um....who's funding them to do this? Bueller? Bueller? The answer is: I'll let you know after the speech. If he happens to mentions it.)

Also, my inner skeptical bitch says He just want us to really, really like him! His poll numbers don't bother Laura, but they really hurt his feelings!

That and he's desperately trying to keep the Republicans from totally losing control in the next elections. Yeah, right. At this point I don't think anything will help, unless the Democrats really screw up. And the sick feeling in my stomach says that they have several months to find a way.

Message to Howard Dean: Howard, I love you, but what the hell were you thinking when you said this?

"The Democratic Party platform from 2004 says marriage is between a man and
a woman," Dean said May 10 during a "700 Club" program hosted by conservative
Christian leader Pat Robertson on his Christian Broadcasting Network.

Yes, you did redeem yourself:

"I misstated the Democratic Party's platform, which does not say that marriage should be limited to a man and a woman, but says the party is committed to full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation and leaves the issue to the states to decide," Dean is quoted as saying in the statement.

"The Democratic Party remains committed to equal protection under the law for all Americans. How we achieve that goal continues to be the subject of a contentious debate, but our party continues to oppose constitutional amendments that seek to short circuit the debate on how to achieve equality for all Americans."

This is what I mean by the party finding a way to screw up. We need to get our act together! Now!

See you after the Big Empty Head speaks.

My husband is getting laid off

Yup. Laid off. Made redundant. Given a pink slip. Canned. At the end of the month. At least the company was nice enough to give the unlucky workers notice. His last job, the ubermanager came in at 4:45 and said, "thank you for good work, but at of the end of your shift this entire unit is laid off. Have a great weekend!" (Okay he didn't say just like that, but it was pretty close.)

However, my husband was already job hunting for a real job (IT) and has had interviews with groups in Las Vegas, Reno and Memphis. I wouldn't mind going back to Philadelphia. Actually, would LOVE to go back to Philly.

But we'll have to see what happens.

Now that I've finished my rant about my personal life, you really should go here and read what Molly Ivins wrote. I've been a pest and emailed the link to DFA and the DNC. Molly (as usual) has hit the nail on the head!

As usual, the Democrats have forty good issues on their side and want to run on thirty-nine of them. Here are three they should stick to:

1) Iraq is making terrorism worse; it’s a breeding ground. We need to extricate ourselves as soon as possible. We are not helping the Iraqis by staying.
2) Full public financing of campaigns so as to drive the moneylenders from the halls of Washington.
3) Single-payer health insurance.

and then there's my personal favorite:

I can’t see a damn soul in D.C. except Russ Feingold who is even worth considering for President.

I like Feingold too. Here's a link to his site, so go find out more. He's from Wisconsin, and refuses to follow the lemmings. I'm hoping (and praying) he runs for president.

And another brief rant - Iran. Is Bushco going to lead us into a war there, just in time for an October surprise? Or am I just being a cynical bitch? Maybe I'm a cynical bitch and that has nothing to do with Iran. Anyway, I'm getting the same bad feeling about Iran that I had before Iraq.

I need pie.

Lawyers, Guns and Money

That just seemed like an appropriate use of Warren Zevon's song title right now, what with the Bush Misadminstration's legal misadventures, Dick Cheney's "quail hunt" (Dick, the birds are the little feathery things, not the big orange adorned homo sapian), and Abramoff, who apparent ties into all three categories. You can't make this stuff up.

I'm disgusted with the whole lot of 'em. And the Democrats need to get a game plan. I am royally pissed about the way Paul Hackett was treated. I hope he can get support to run as an independent - I'd even toss a few bucks his way, and I'm currently as poor as a church mouse.

On Kos, someone posted more recently released Abu Graib pix. How can this misadministation be so evil? If you have the stomach for it, go look at the pictures. If you don't have a strong stomach don't. They are graphic. Those are not actors with special effects make up. They are human beings. Remember, the acts were perpetrated by Americans. Us. The U.S. If they do this to prisoners what happens when they come home to their families? Has anyone ever studied the effects of torturers once a war is over and they return to "normal" life. I don't see how anyone's life can ever be normal a participating in such degrading and horrific events.


I am currently listening to: Pink Floyd Echoes, and Time is playing.

In today's episode, Katrina refuses to leave the room, much to George's chagrin.

Months have passed since Katrina devastated the coastal areas of three states on the Gulf of Mexico. Deaths are in the thousands, damages are in the billions. In a display of unmitigated gall, the Bush misadministration is not allowing their staff to testify about the government's response to the tragedy named Katrina. Why? It seems they are concerned about confidentiality.

According to Trent Duffy, the WH Deputy Press Secretary, "The White House and the administration are cooperating with both the House and Senate...but we have also maintained the president's ability to get advice and have conversations with his top advisers that remain confidential."

That argument is getting old. It was used during the 9/11 committee investigation to try to prevent Condi Rice and others from testifying; it was used in the Plame affair; it was used by Dick Cheney to try prevent release of information about the energy task force committee, and it is now being used in the torture scandal and the Katrina investigation. It will no doubt be used again.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, a member of the Senate committee that is investigating the government response to Katrina, says that the departments of Justice and Health and Human Services ''have essentially ignored our document requests for months." The Department of Health and Human Services has not even allowed testimony from those in their department. As for the response of the department of Homeland Security, their response was ''too little, too late."

Sen. Susan Collins, the committee's Republican chair, criticized the lack of Homeland Security cooperation. ''We are entitled to know if someone from the Department of Homeland Security calls someone at the White House during this whole crisis period," Collins said. ''So I think the White House has gone too far in restricting basic information about who called whom on what day." She also says she can respect the WH's executive privilege, which allows the administration to get advice from Bush's aides.

I want to know what the administration's definition of advice is. According to The Free Dictionary it is:

1. Opinion about what could or should be done about a situation or problem; counsel.

2. Information communicated; news. Often used in the plural: advises from an ambassador.

The Bush administration seems very reluctant to release the source of any "advice" which makes me wonder if they have another definition which is along the lines of:

1. Opinion about what could or should be done to further our own interests or cover our collective ass; all such "opinions" are considered secret and are to be withheld everyone not a member of our double super-secret cabal.

2. Information nobody else can have because it would help the Enemies of Freedom.

I can certainly understand the need for confidentiality when the safety and security of the nation is at stake. I think every can. But this administration takes the need for confidentiality to new levels and given the amount of malfeasance the administration is accused of (in just about every aspect of its operation, it seems) such reluctance to be open about advice given comes across as being overly cautionous at best, and paranoid at worst. Their reluctance, on so many fronts, to be candid about advice given makes it seem as if they feel they have hide the reasons for doing what they do because they know it's wrong and don't want to be found out.

This all brings to mind the definition Ambrose Bierce gave in The Devil's Dictionary:

Advice: n. to seek another's approval of a course already decided upon.

Samuel Alito: Just Say No

While I have a gut feeling he'll be sworn in, after a filibuster. He's a bad choice if you like living in a democracy. Right now he seems to be telling the committee exactly what they want to hear, although not everyone is buying it, namely the Dems who've been very agressive in their questioning.

People for the American has some very good reasons why Alito should not be comfirmed. Here's a link to their Alito pages, and a few other sites that are worth checking into:

Supreme Court Watch has a pdf that is very interesting, and that publishes Alito's rulings. Give you a good idea of what Alito is really like, and why he shouldn't be confirmed: Alliance for Justice.

As always, Media Matters keeps a close eye on the spin.