Blue Cat Lair

I will post more next week.

2009-11-15T18:45:00.000-08:00

I want to calm my pain down a bit and read Palin's book. I've certainly seen enough exerpts. I may put my amature fact-sleuthing skills to work and see what's what. And maybe put in a cocktail recipe or two.

SI Joint injection failed big time.

2009-11-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

Trying hypnosis next - it worked with a bone marrow biopsy, so I'm hopeful.

SI-Joint injection tomorrow.

2009-10-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Since Gumby Syndrome (aka Ehlers Danlos Syndrome) has been the bane of my existance lately, posting is going to be haphazard until everything settle down, which should be sometime later this week. Or next.

Gimme Healthcare: Only in America!

2009-10-23T21:53:00.000-07:00

Short and sweet tonight, because, forgive my french, my ass hurts. I have a fusion scheduled for February, an until then the pain looks as if it will get to the intolerable level. I could have had the surgery in June, but it would have bankrupted us. Who am I kidding it probably still will.

Only in America!

Did you know investment banks are buying life insurance policies in lots, and betting on when people will die? Yup. They are.

Only in America!

Did you know accepting treatment for a rape is a preexisting
condition and grounds for insurance denial? Yes, that's true.

Only in America!

Did you know an insurance company can ask a woman who has had previous c-sections to be sterilized before they will insure her? Yes, that's true.

Only in America!

Big surprise: AHIP doesn't like HCR

2009-10-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

Well, duh. What a surprise. Why would "America's Health Insurance Plans" be in favor of reform if it doesn't benefit their bottom line? After all they are an industry trade group.

A good rule of thumb is that when a "pro-reform" group is comprised of groups that are going to be reformed, look deeper. They usually aren't what they seem.

We still need single-payer system, regardless of what reform we end up with now.

Am I dreaming? No. Nobel Peace Prize Winner Barack Hussain Obama? Yes!

2009-10-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

I really thought I was sleepwalking and had stumbled onto the Morning Joe set. The Loki mewed and I realized I was in my living room (whew!). Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize and Loki was not pleased that I had sat down on top of him.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Wait a minute! OUR PRESIDENT WON THE NOBEL F#@KIN' PEACE PRIZE!!!!!!!

To all of you naysayers, look - he was nominated by complete strangers just weeks after his inauguration, but the committee had nine months to evaluate, investigate, prognosticate and deliberate. If they think he should get the Peace Prize, then by-golly, he's gonna get the Peace Prize. He knows he's got a lot to live up to, and he deserves our support because in the duly-elected President of the U.S. of A., and whether you like him or not, as an American, you should support the Office of the President; obviously the rest of the civilized world does.

Later on in the Day Rachel Maddow had a really good taped bit, so I posted hers rather than Morning Joe's.

CRWL 's Center for Reducing Health Disparities

2009-10-08T01:03:00.000-07:00

Case Western's Center for Reducing Health Disparities is a site that is worth looking into.

Hear are just of few issues that they cover, which includes links to their source material.

Breast Reconstruction Varies By Race
Receipt of breast reconstruction varied significantly by patient race/ethnicity (40.9% of whites, 33.5% of African Americans, 41.2% of highly acculturated Latinas, and only 13.5% of less acculturated Latinas; P < .0001). Nearly 14% of less acculturated Latinas said they did not know how to get breast reconstruction, compared with less than 2% for all other groups (P<.001). The differences in survival by race actually appeared to have more to do with the hospitals than the patients themselves. Potential racial differences in access to care or preferences have been used to explain disparities in treatments and patient outcomes. But these are not likely to influence treatment in cardiac arrests since patients were already in the hospital and care of these patients is pretty clear" states Chan.
Black Patients Experience Worse In-hospital Cardiac Care, Lower Chances Of Survival Medical News Today highlights a new study published in the September 16th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. This study points to significant disparities in the rates of successful resuscitation for black patients, making them less likely to survive an in-hospital cardiac arrest compared to white patients.
Race is a factor in the severity of lupus
Recognizing the early symptoms of lupus and referring to specialists can reduce setbacks in adequate treatment options. Graciela Alarcón, M.D., a professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham explains. Rheumatologists are aware of the differences in severity and outcome of lupus among patients of different racial groups," said Graciela Alarcón, M.D., a professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. However, she said that these differences are not common knowledge among "general practitioners who are the ones more likely to encounter patients at disease onset when disease manifestations may not be so obvious.

I want to see how Health Care reform will affect these disparities. Whether we are rich or poor, black or white, we should all have the same high level of health care.

More Republican dog and pony show.

2009-10-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

Right now (as in live), there is a resolution being introduced to remove Charlie Rangel (D-NY) from his chair of the Ways and Means committee. Lots of allegations, lots of media references (now the Republicans like the New York Times and the Washington Post), no actual charges, no actual trial. I'm not a fan of Charlie Rangel, but this is ridiculous. Did he do bad things? So why not investigate and try him?

There is a double standard in Washington. It seems to be OK to buy off a mistress's family and arrange for her husband and son to get cushy jobs. Also it seems to be OK to visit prostitutes if you are a Louisiana Republican, but not if you are a New York Democrat.

Whereas, let those without sin, cast the first stone.

It's a rainy, rainy day!

2009-10-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

Step 1: find comfortable position setting for the chair: done
Step 2: find computer desk that is right height: seeking, seeking, seeking...

In the meantime,

Still sending those cards and letters to congresscritters in favor of a strong public option, with no triggers.

What have you been doing?

Sorry I've been rarely posting

2009-08-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

Cervical radiculopathy is a real bummer, but is an opportunity to redecorate. I hope the cats like the new computer table.

Wage Theft in America

2009-05-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, things conspire to toss something into my life from several directions at once. This time it's a book, Wage Theft in America by Kim Bobo. Within the past twenty-four hours I've had two emails from two different people (who don't know each other) and come across a diary on Daily Kos about this book.

Kim Bobo is the the founder and executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice, an organization founded in 1996 to protect worker rights and encourage faith organizations to become involved in worker rights issues.

I haven't read this book yet, but it is definitely going on my "must read" list.

Crossposted at Bovina Sancta.

"Specter for the Cure" website changed

2009-05-09T05:29:00.000-07:00

Apparently there have been complaints about the way the site played down Specter's plea for fundraising and up the "Cure Awareness Network" aspect of "Specter for the Cure". Some complaints are being directed at the FCC, so my gut feeling is the site could be a goner and might be taken down within the week.

The text on the first page has changed since yesterday afternoon. It now begins with

"In 2010, Arlen Specter will seek re-election to the United States Senate. With his unsurpassed record of support for medical research, helping to return Senator Specter to the Senate is a powerful statement on behalf of those suffering with disease. The purpose of this web site is to encourage support for Senator Specter's mission to improve America's health by helping assure Senator Specter's re-election."

(snip)

On Specter for the Cure, you, and every American who cares about someone who is ill, can take the giant leap for progress...Without Arlen Specter back in the Senate to see it through, Specter for the Cure could be lost to the ordinary politics of Washington that kills real change.

OK, that's still a FAIL because it comes across as "re-elect Specter or people will die".

Google Specter for the Cure and you won't find much support for site, but a lot of "hey, this thing is fraud" type entries. Which is a shame because CAN, the Cures Acceleration Network is a bill Specter intends to introduce, one that could do a great deal of good in promoting research to treat and hopefully cure many diseases.

Maybe it's just me, but I think he takes his reelection more serious than curing my lupus.

Arlen Specter, this is just fraud.

2009-05-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

I voted for Arlen Specter when I lived in PA. To me it seemed he listened to his constituents views and actually took them into consideration. I didn't agree with some of his views - I'm a liberal pro-choice Democrat - but I also realized that there would never be any person whose views would match mine 100%. So I voted for the person I thought would be the best for my state.

I didn't expect Specter to change his views when he joined the Democratic party. But I did expect him to stay the fundamentally honest person he always was. Until I saw this ad for Specter for the Cure. If one were to judge by the title one would think that is an advocacy group of some sort.

Scrolling down the page, comes the answer to what Specter for the Cure really is: a fundraising site for Arlen Specter. Here's the blurb on page one that gives up what the site is really about, in down near the bottom:

Specter for the Cure - Cures Acceleration Network (CAN) Act Turning Research into Cures

(snip)

Senator Specter has launched “Specter for the Cure”, a bold new initiative to reform our government’s medical research efforts, cut red tape and unstrangle the hope for accelerated cures.

The sufferers of cancer, autism, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and too many other afflictions have waited long enough. It’s time we unleashed the cure.

The centerpiece of Specter for the Cure is legislation to transform medical research by creating the Cures Acceleration Network (“CAN”) – a new institution, answering to the President of the United States, the sole mission of which is to turn medical research into disease cures.

(snip)

In 2010, Arlen Specter will seek re-election to the United States Senate. Without Arlen Specter back in the Senate to see it through, Specter for the Cure could be lost to the ordinary politics of Washington that kills real change.

(snip)

Become a member, today, of Specter for the Cure. Please contribute to Senator Specter’s re-election Committee – Citizens for Arlen Specter. All contributions, of any amount, will be gratefully welcomed. Those who sign up to donate $10 each month for ten months, will receive members only information on the Senator’s effort to transform medical research and accelerate cures.

Tell the Congress, the President, and the world, that the time to accelerate cures has come.

Together, we “CAN” do it

This is a screenshot of the contact page. There is no way to tell that this site is a fundraising site for Arlen Specter, just a contact for "Specter for the Cure".

This is a deceptive way to raise money for a 2009 run. The group running this website is "Citizens for Specter", the same fundraising group that raised money for Specter in 2008. Most people don't read the fine print on fundraising ads, but this is a prime example of why people should.

Shame on you, Arlen Specter.

Dear Senator Specter

2009-04-29T04:53:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Democratic Party! I lived in Philadelphia for many years and you were the only Republican candidate I ever voted for. You always seemed to listen to your constituants and overall, we (Democrats and Republicans) were pleased, otherwise we wouldn't not have reelected you so many times. You actually served your constituants, which somepeople might consider a novelty in this hyperpartisan age.

I know you are now what is considered a center right Democrat and there is one issue I want to nudge you on: EFCA. I know you don't like it, but Americans need EFCA to ensure they have a real choice when it come to union membership. Having the Republicans lie about the fact no secret ballet elections will be allowed is a fallacy that needs to go away. Even if you are opposed to EFCA, if you could present the facts, that would be a good thing.

Health care reform or smoke and mirrors?

2009-04-29T04:37:00.001-07:00

This is going to be short since I have to get to PT.

I received an email from Healthcare-Now! this morning. I have bolded the bits that I think are important.

We need your help getting a single-payer supporter into Senate Finance Committee roundtable discussions on healthcare reform. The Finance Committee (Led by Sen. Max Baucus - MT) is holding three roundtable discussions on healthcare reform in the coming weeks.

The first discussion, titled “Reforming America’s Health Care Delivery System,” on April 21st, had thirteen witnesses. Aetna was there. Blue Cross Blue Shield was there. But not one single-payer supporter was invited.

This is unacceptable. We need to make sure our representatives respond to the demands of the people. Together, let’s put the Senate Finance Committee to the test and demand they include single-payer experts at the upcoming Roundtable discussions on health reform.

The next two discussions are on May 5th(”Increasing access to health care coverage”) and May 14th (”Financing comprehensive health care reform”.

Here is the link for Healthcare-NOW! that includes more information. If your congressperson is on this committee, please write them and let them know you support Single-Payer healthcare for the American people. Americans deserve no less.

Good Monday!

2009-03-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile due to a biceps tendon causing lots of pain. I had a biceps tenodesis performed on March 6th so I am on the road to recovery.

It's been fun (and frightening) to watch the economy these days. Could the Republicans and Conservadems (thanks Rachel Maddow for that great word) possibly be more obstructionist? The seem so intent on being the contrarians that they are forgetting their slowing down what the administration wants to do is slowing down the recovery for their constituents. I'm not sure they are know the meaning of the word constituent, but it means the people who vote them in (and OUT) every so often. These people are losing their jobs, their homes, their medical care, and you are playing politics?

Here a hint: start playing nice with others and solve this economic mess that was caused years of deregulation and people being downright greedy.

Things I read in the paper, 02/18/09

2009-02-18T16:06:00.000-08:00

New Tolkien book is due

It's about time! I mean, how often can a person reread the Trilogy? The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun predates Rings. My guess is , judging by the names, there's a little Norse influence here. Tolkien wrote it in the 1920's and '30. Now the hard part: we have to wait until May. It's just like waiting for the Star Wars opening, but I don't know if people will wear costumes for this.

Health Care: My Hotbutton Issue

2008-10-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to the Obama/Biden health care plan, so you can learn more.

Sneaky aren't I. Yes I will make you go to the sources yourself. Why? Because you should always research things on your own and decide for yourself. People keep telling you things about Obama, but have you taken time to find out the real deal for yourself?

Back to (un)reality.

2008-10-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

It's been hard to keep up this blog. Why? I can sum it up in one word: lupus. It does things to you that you never really expect. There's that pesky "mind fog", which people with fibromyalgia will know very well. For those who don't, imagine trying to function mentally when you've had two too many drinks. Then there's the fatigue, which is indescribable, so I won't even try.

I've go a great rheumatologist, and I'm on a great new combination of meds. I actually think I can function at about 80% of normal, which is better than the 40% I've been averaging for the past couple of years. Which is very good, considering this is time we all should be be busy making sure our country gets headed in the right direction again!

Lupus (bad), John Coltrane (good, and very cool)

2008-07-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

It sucks. I've had no energy to post, but with the help of the wonder drugs plaquinil and prednisone, I now have about an hour or two of energy a day, with which I am going to waste an hour blogging. I'll also cut-and-paste the same boring entries to Bovina Sancta and my Facebook pages, so for the next month or so there really won't be really topical stuff posted anywhere, just ramblings.

It's forced my to reschedule my trip to Idaho until late September. This is one time I won't argue back to the Big Guy. It's in the low hundreds there now, and while I used to love that temperature range, right now, I'll admire it from afar.

I have come across something that is very intriguing and has made for some good listening and spirit warming. It's Saint John Coltrane Church in San Francisco. I highly recommend going there on Tuesday afternoons for the Uplift Radio Broadcast. If you can pick up locally, tune in from Noon to 4. If not, you can listen online: KPOO 89.5.

When I was living in Philadelphia I used to go to Jazz Vespers at Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church, which, I learned today have ended due to lack of funding. I'm hope the tradition will continue somewhere in the area; it's a joyous noise too precious to lose.

I don't like Obama's vote on FISA either

2008-07-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

I don't think the issue is going away just because he (and others) voted yes. We still can fight for our Fourth Amendment rights. It's ain't over yet. I got no answers.

For all you who feel let down by Obama, and there are lots of you out there: don't let this one issue (granted it's a biggie) keep your eyes on the greater prize. Getting our country and our Constitution back. I still think it's possible, and I haven't been the most optimistic person as of late.

Keep those donations going; we'll need it against the Swiftboaters. And please, remember to help Senator Clinton pay off her debt. She's a great role model for our daughters, as is Michelle.

On an unrelated note, I so want a dress like Michelle wore on The View. I can't carry off sleeveless dresses anymore. Maybe there's a matching shrug...

Blue Cat's claws are out about Obama smear!

2008-06-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

I really don't want the Lair to become a home for fighting Obama smears; that's what Fight the Smears is for. But this is are Fred Hobbs and Lincoln Davis, Tennessee Dems repeating discredited internet rumors, as reported in todays City Paper!

Fred Hobbs, a state Democratic Party Executive Committee member representing part of Davis’ district, said he understands why Davis is not endorsing Obama and is “skeptical” of the Illinois senator himself.“Maybe [it’s] the same reason I don’t want to — I don’t exactly approve of a lot of the things he stands for and I’m not sure we know enough about him,” Hobbs said when asked why he thought Davis wasn’t endorsing Obama. “He’s got some bad connections, and he may be terrorist connected for all I can tell. It sounds kind of like he may be.”

Here's the link to the Nashville City Paper so you can read the same whole article.

The Tennessee Democratic Party deserves props for reacting so swifty to this badness done by their own members.

“The Tennessee Democratic Party is united behind our party’s nominee, Senator Barack Obama. Mr. Hobbs is obviously misinformed, and his statement highlights the perpetual efforts of the Republican Party, especially here in Tennessee, to turn internet smears and highly offensive gossip into their party’s message against Senator Barack Obama as we head into the General Election. Instead of debating the issues, the Tennessee Republican Party continues to rely upon slanderous and salacious tall tales. They are borrowing from the playbook first written by Richard Nixon and employed in the race against Congressman Harold Ford Jr. Tennesseans of every political persuasion are tired of these tactics.”

Fight Obama Smears with the Truth!

2008-06-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

If someone has a legitimate against Obama, bring it forward, shine the light of truth on it and let it be fairly judged. For those who feel smearing Obama is a legitimate way of campaigning, be forewarned:

We're not going to take it,

we're not going to take it,

no we're not going to take it, anymore!

If you are dumb enough print the lies,

we are smart enough to print the truth.

It's a fair exchange

You can fight Obama smears, by going to mybarackobama.com smears homepage.

Not sure what I'm talking about, take a look at these smears, and their debunking:

Michelle says whitey on tape, from a pulpit! Wrongo - truth is here!

Or this out and out fabrication:

Obama won't release his birth certifcate because it shows he was born in Kenya and that his real middle name is Mohammad. Wrongo - truth is here!

Thank you, Mash for passing this along!

Give me a break: Sweetiegate?

2008-05-16T06:55:00.000-07:00

The press is all atwitter with the story that Barack Obama called a reporter, Peggy Agar, "sweetie". Wow. What a hot news story. Not.

So what what does Ms. Agar say? Here we have her response from the Washington Post. (You can read the story in its entirety here.

The reporter, Peggy Agar, with WXYZ TV, an ABC News affiliate, says, "Frankly I have been called worse during interviews than just 'sweetie' so that really didn't take me aback right then."

However, she says, "I felt more offended that he didn't answer the question."

While walking through the press gaggle, Ms. Agar asked Mr. Obama a question about autoworkers.

Later on, Mr. Obama actually left a message on Ms. Agar's Voice mail:

Hi Peggy. This is Barack Obama. I'm calling to apologize on two fronts. One was you didn't get your question answered and I apologize. I thought that we had set up interviews with all the local stations. I guess we got it with your station but you weren't the reporter that got the interview. And so, I broke my word. I apologize for that and I will make up for it.

Second apology is for using the word 'sweetie.' That's a bad habit of mine. I do it sometimes with all kinds of people. I mean no disrespect and so I am duly chastened on that front. Feel free to call me back. I expect that my press team will be happy to try to make it up to you whenever we are in Detroit next.

I'd say that's pretty darn gentlemanly. I wouldn't mind if Mr. Obama called me Sweetie. When I lived it Philly, both men and women used terms of endearment with complete strangers: sweetie, honey, babe, darling, pretty, handsome; the list goes on. It's a regional thing that apparent is shared with Chicago.

So listen, honey, it's no big deal.

Make no mistake

2008-05-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

Politically, just so you know, Blue Cat is a not a Blue Dog Democrat.

If you're interested my political compass is -6.12/ -7.08. If you have a few minutes, it's interesting test, located at Political Compass . I'm pretty close to where the Dali Lama is on the compass. Interesting.

Wow, it's been awhile since I've been here!

2008-05-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

Short summary of my absence:

close-up, face-to-face view of a neat streambed
I thought my sprained left knee would have healed by two weeks
after two weeks I finally went to see a doctor
I'd have thought fracturing a bone would be more painful; boy was I wrong.
Wore stupid knee brace for four months and found out getting pants that would fit over the brace was really hard.
Wore black storm trooper walking brace on right foot and found out you really don't need all of the tendons a body has.
caught up on General Hospital. I miss Alan Quartermaine.
did some embroidery, and it's still unfinished.
took pictures of the area outside my apartment.
did you know you can get along without an acl? Fixing it isn't a high priority, I walk just fine now.
had my left shoulder overhauled.
I'm not going anywhere near that streambed again!

So that's it. Posted some on Kos, read lots of blogs, and got two cats.

It's almost normal here. As far as the Democratic primaries: man, are they are screwed up. We some housework to do before 2012!

And finally: Yes we can!

Christmas

2006-12-08T15:06:00.001-08:00

2006-11-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-15T06:11:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-14T10:07:00.000-08:00

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?

2006-11-13T00:32:00.000-08:00

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...

2006-11-07T14:04:00.000-08:00

...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

2006-10-30T11:15:00.000-08:00

Posts will be added soon!

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

2006-10-30T10:29:00.000-08:00

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

2006-10-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-10-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-09-02T06:53:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-08-24T05:55:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

(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

2006-06-06T13:34:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-15T16:20:00.000-07:00

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

2006-03-10T15:05:00.000-08:00

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

2006-02-15T08:51:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-01-25T10:37:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-11T09:59:00.000-08:00

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.

Former 9/11 Commissioners: U.S. at Risk

2005-12-04T11:53:00.000-08:00

This article, by HOPE YEN, AP is really interesting. What exactly is our government doing about Homeland Security these days? Is Homeland Security the functional equivalent of FEMA. God help us all. I do have an idea to make any kind homeland security work: turn it into Pork. My comments are in orange, because my Snark Level today is rated at Orange.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. is at great risk for more terrorist attacks because Congress and the White House have failed to enact several strong security measures, members of the former Sept. 11 commission said Sunday.
"It's not a priority for the government right now," said the former chairman, Thomas Kean, ahead of the group's release of a report Monday assessing how well its recommendations have been followed. "More than four years after 9/11 ... people (I strongly suspect he means our elected officials here...maybe we can send in Supernanny and she can get them to work nice together.) are not paying attention," the former Republican governor of New Jersey said. "God help us if we have another attack."
Added Lee Hamilton, the former Democratic vice chairman of the commission: "We believe that another attack will occur. It's not a question of if. We are not as well-prepared as we should be." (Hello? Anyone in Washington listening?) The five Republicans and five Democrats on the commission, whose recommendations are now promoted through a privately funded group known as the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, conclude that the government deserves "more Fs than As" in responding to their 41 suggested changes. Ex-commissioners contended the government has been remiss by failing to act more quickly. Kean said the Transportation Security Administration was wrong to announce changes last week that will allow airline passengers to carry small scissors and some sharp tools. He also said the agency, by now, should have consolidated databases of passenger information into a single "terror watch list" to aid screening. (Hey, how about hiring some American IT professionals with experience who have been outsourced and are now working at Starbucks or other stores for a fraction of what they used to make? Hire my husband, and we might actually be able to avoid bankruptcy!)

Calling the country "less safe than we were 18 months ago," former Democratic commissioner Jamie Gorelick said Sunday the government's failure to move forward on the recommendations makes the U.S. more vulnerable.

She cited the failure to ensure that foreign nations are upgrading security measures to stop proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical materials, as well as the FBI's resistance to overhauling its anti-terror programs.
"You remember the sense of urgency that we all felt in the summer of 2004. The interest has faded," the Washington lawyer said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "You could see that in the aftermath of Katrina. We assumed that our government would be able to do what it needed to do and it didn't do it."

One thing Katrina did was expose to the world the weakness and disorganization of the US government. Talk about giving terrorist a gift on a silver platter! I'll bet they are studying the whole mess closely. It wouldn't surprise me if the next terrorist act would involve so sort of ecological terror.
___

Jeff Seemann, OH 16th District Congressional Candidate

2005-11-22T18:06:00.000-08:00

Check this out. Jeff Seemann is a candidate for Congress in Ohio's 16th District. He is currently spending 100 hours as a homeless person. I couldn't do what he's doing. Physically, I couldn't. But I admire him for, as my grandmother would put it "walking in someone else's moccasins".

November 21, 2005
Day 2

Hello. I am writing this diary on behalf of Jeff Seemann. As many of you know, Jeff is running for Congress in Ohio's 16th District, and he's trying a different strategy. He believes that you cannot represent people until you truly understand their lives. Currently, he is spending 100 hours homeless, in an attempt to better understand what life is like for people who have lost everything. We all witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, but Katrina only magnified a problem that exists in every town on every day of every week. I just spoke with Jeff, and he has asked me to relay the story of his first 20 hours to you and several other blogs. The following is Jeff's entry;
Hello everyone. After my first day out here, if I can give you any amount of wisdom, it will be this; don't take anything for granted. You can always end up worse off than you are right now. It hasn't been easy here. The experiences and lessons I've learned already range from harsh to easy, but it's certainly been an eye-opener.
Last night, I tried to find a place to sleep. It was dark by the time I got downtown, and being a Sunday, everything was closed. I went into this experience blind, so I had no idea where any homeless shelters may be located, and I therefore decided to try a few churches. No luck there, all the doors were locked at the 4 area chuches I could find. I ended up by myself for the entire night, and found a bit of warmth behind the Palace Theater sometime around 10pm. I had hoped to find somebody to help me locate a place to sleep, but again, no luck. It was an awful night of sleep, if you can call it that at all. The temperature was probably in the 30s or low 40s. By midnight, I had a splitting headache. It's amazing how many things we take for granted in our everyday lives...like aspirin. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep a couple of times, but it was never anything that one could reasonably call sleep. By about 7 or 8 am, I was chased out of my space by a police officer. I've heard the words "move along" more times than I thought I would today. This morning, I found myself a few agencies that can help the homeless, but they are few and far between. So far, they've been helpful, but the people I've spoken to who benefit from these agencies tell me that the help doesn't last very long.
At one agency, I was told that I "picked a bad time to end up homeless" (as if there's a good time). This is the end of the year, and the grant money has dried up. Agencies don't have any money left to set anybody up with accomodations, and until January 1st, you're at the mercy of the streets. Churches do step in from time to time, but that's usually for one night only. I didn't know that a "homeless hotline" existed, but was advised to call them. One of the agencies allowed me use of their phone, and the hotline referred me to Open Door, a shelter at the Turnaround Community Outreach. I'm to report there tonight between 930 and 10pm, and I have to leave by 6am tomorrow morning. It's an African-American church, and I've already been by there for a meal at 2pm today. Very nice people, very comforting. Tomorrow, they're also having a free meal at 2pm at Open Door, but in order to eat you have to attend a church service first. I'm not willing to question this policy, but I wonder if they would still offer to feed the hungry if they were Buddhist, Jewish or even Muslim? At today's meal, there were 28 people in attendance. Almost all were homeless, but a few had homes but were well below the poverty line. The ages ranged from 18 months old to 70+ years. The 18 month old was a sweetheart. Her mother lives near the church and has no money, so she does what she can to keep her baby fed. The church gave her a few extra biscuits, and she slipped them in her baby's diaper bag (which was not really clean enough to handle food).
For the benefit of those of you concerned with whether or not I may be taking food or a bed from somebody who needs it more, I will gladly report that I waited until everyone had their plates of food before I approached the line (and was told that there was plenty if anybody needed more), and the cot I will sleep on tonight is not the last one. They can fit many more than will attend tonight, so everyone who has requested a place to sleep will get it. Also, no I have no money to make my situation any more comfortable than it is. I have no ATM card, no pocket change, no photo ID, nothing. If I was going to deprive anybody of anything during my experience, I will gladly give it up and go elsewhere. It's only been a short period of time, and I'm only 25% of the way through this, but I can tell you that I've learned a lot.
For starters, there's a whole system you have to know and those who can work it best survive with the least amount of trouble. There are a few phone numbers to call and get assistance, but most places can only offer you referrals to other agencies. It's a messed up web that you have to maneuver through in order to get anywhere. And I'm told that the funds are being slashed for 2006.
That half-eaten corn dog I saw on theground last night....I was too proud to pick it up, a move I could later regret. That bag of Fritos I saw in a trash can while walking down 12th Street...it might have had food inside. Earlier today, maybe some of you stopped by Burger King or Wendy's. Did you finish your french fries? If not, I know of a few people who would love to have what you just threwaway. Man, just that small handfull of leftover fries or the pickles you took off your burger would be a wonderful gift to some people. No, I'm notasking you to take some cold leftover food to people right now....but I am asking you to never again take for granted what you have. Tomorrow, you may not have it anymore.
Jeff Seemann
I'll be posting this diary in a few locations that Jeff has directed me to. I'll try to answer any questions you have if I have the time. In the meantime, you can help out Jeff's campaign - he's promised to deliver 10% of all funds raised to homeless shelters in the area. Visit Jeff's ActBlue page or his blog.
And trust me, as his friend, I heard it in his voice that he's not having an easy time with this. He's surviving just fine, but the people he is meeting are really eating away at his soul. He's going to walk away from this a very different person, even more sympathetic than he is now.
Peace be with you all, Michelle

I have no idea how people suffering from chronic illness survive on the streets. Or what it must be like to be a child on the streets. I do know I'm grateful for what I do have, and try to what I can to help. One person at a time can make difference, some people, like Jeff, may make a bigger difference.

Blue Cat Lair Reads

2005-11-16T08:17:00.000-08:00

Since I'm an avid reader, I'm now posting my monthly reads at Blue Cat Lair Reads.

I tend to be an eclectric reader, so stop by, you might come across something interesting.

Oh, yeah, there might be some DVD or CDs listed occassionally, although they'll usually be at Chasing Waves of Light.

A Democrat plan for Iraq

2005-11-14T16:21:00.000-08:00

At least someone has a plan. Think the administration will listen? Nah, not until their purse strings are affected. (Cynical little critter, ain't I?)

This is from Harry Reid's site:

First, 2006 should be a significant year of transition to full Iraqi sovereignty, with Iraqis taking more and more responsibility for their own security. It’s time to take the training wheels off the Iraqi government. Iraqis must begin to run their own country. In 2006, the US and our allies must do everything we can to make that possible.

Second, the Administration must advise the Iraqi people that U.S. military forces will not stay indefinitely in Iraq, and that it is their responsibility to achieve the broad-based and sustainable political environment essential for defeating the insurgency.

Third, the President needs to submit – on a quarterly basis - a plan for success to Congress and the American people. This plan must specify the challenges and progress being made in Iraq, timetables for achieving our goals and estimated dates for redeployment from Iraq as these goals are met.

Click here for the entire text.

Jimmy Carter weighs in on the real America

2005-11-14T16:14:00.000-08:00

All I can say is -- he's absolutely right. I hope everyone listens to him.

This isn't the real America, By Jimmy Carter

JIMMY CARTER was the 39th president of the United States. His newest book is "Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis," published this month by Simon & Schuster.

IN RECENT YEARS, I have become increasingly concerned by a host of radical government policies that now threaten many basic principles espoused by all previous administrations, Democratic and Republican.

These include the rudimentary American commitment to peace, economic and social justice, civil liberties, our environment and human rights.

Also endangered are our historic commitments to providing citizens with truthful information, treating dissenting voices and beliefs with respect, state and local autonomy and fiscal responsibility.

At the same time, our political leaders have declared independence from the restraints of international organizations and have disavowed long-standing global agreements — including agreements on nuclear arms, control of biological weapons and the international system of justice.

Instead of our tradition of espousing peace as a national priority unless our security is directly threatened, we have proclaimed a policy of "preemptive war," an unabridged right to attack other nations unilaterally to change an unsavory regime or for other purposes. When there are serious differences with other nations, we brand them as international pariahs and refuse to permit direct discussions to resolve disputes.

Regardless of the costs, there are determined efforts by top U.S. leaders to exert American imperial dominance throughout the world.

These revolutionary policies have been orchestrated by those who believe that our nation's tremendous power and influence should not be internationally constrained. Even with our troops involved in combat and America facing the threat of additional terrorist attacks, our declaration of "You are either with us or against us!" has replaced the forming of alliances based on a clear comprehension of mutual interests, including the threat of terrorism.

Another disturbing realization is that, unlike during other times of national crisis, the burden of conflict is now concentrated exclusively on the few heroic men and women sent back repeatedly to fight in the quagmire of Iraq. The rest of our nation has not been asked to make any sacrifice, and every effort has been made to conceal or minimize public awareness of casualties.

Instead of cherishing our role as the great champion of human rights, we now find civil liberties and personal privacy grossly violated under some extreme provisions of the Patriot Act.

Of even greater concern is that the U.S. has repudiated the Geneva accords and espoused the use of torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, and secretly through proxy regimes elsewhere with the so-called extraordinary rendition program. It is embarrassing to see the president and vice president insisting that the CIA should be free to perpetrate "cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment" on people in U.S. custody.

Instead of reducing America's reliance on nuclear weapons and their further proliferation, we have insisted on our right (and that of others) to retain our arsenals, expand them, and therefore abrogate or derogate almost all nuclear arms control agreements negotiated during the last 50 years. We have now become a prime culprit in global nuclear proliferation. America also has abandoned the prohibition of "first use" of nuclear weapons against nonnuclear nations, and is contemplating the previously condemned deployment of weapons in space.

Protection of the environment has fallen by the wayside because of government subservience to political pressure from the oil industry and other powerful lobbying groups. The last five years have brought continued lowering of pollution standards at home and almost universal condemnation of our nation's global environmental policies.

Our government has abandoned fiscal responsibility by unprecedented favors to the rich, while neglecting America's working families. Members of Congress have increased their own pay by $30,000 per year since freezing the minimum wage at $5.15 per hour (the lowest among industrialized nations).

I am extremely concerned by a fundamentalist shift in many houses of worship and in government, as church and state have become increasingly intertwined in ways previously thought unimaginable.

As the world's only superpower, America should be seen as the unswerving champion of peace, freedom and human rights. Our country should be the focal point around which other nations can gather to combat threats to international security and to enhance the quality of our common environment. We should be in the forefront of providing human assistance to people in need.

It is time for the deep and disturbing political divisions within our country to be substantially healed, with Americans united in a common commitment to revive and nourish the historic political and moral values that we have espoused during the last 230 years.

Bill O'Reilly drips on...

2005-11-12T21:59:00.000-08:00

"I mean, look, everybody knows what’s going on there. What I said isn’t controversial. What I said needed to be said. I’m sitting here and I’m looking at a city that has absolutely no clue about what the world is. None. You know, if you had been hit on 9/11 instead of New York, believe me, you would not have voted against military recruting. Yet the left-wing, selfish, Land of Oz philosophy that the media and the city politicians have embraced out there is an absolute intellectual disgrace."

"Land of Oz" philosophy. Sounds interesting, but why does the face of Bill O'Reilly on a flying monkey keep popping into my head now?

Bill O'Reilly spouts off against SF.

2005-11-12T05:40:00.000-08:00

This beautiful picture of Coit Tower is from SF Images. It's a great site - a way to tour San Francisco without being there. I stare at this particular picture often. Seriously. It's like being there.

Bill O'Reilly is having another hissy fit:

O'REILLY: Hey, you know, if you want to ban military recruiting, fine, but I'm not going to give you another nickel of federal money. You know, if I'm the president of the United States, I walk right into Union Square, I set up my little presidential podium, and I say, "Listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you're not going to get another nickel in federal funds. Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead."

"And if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead. "

He says some pretty out there stuff, but this is just outrageous. On the other hand, if SF ever decides to go ahead and be their own country, my husband and I just might go out and join them. I've only been there once, but I fell in love with the place.

You know, Bill, in America we get to disagree with one another. It fine to say what you want to say, but don't try to tell others that they shouldn't disagree. If the citizens of SF want to ban military recruiting in schools, and a majority wants it - that's democracy. Don't say it's OK for al Qaida for blow up something because they disagree with you.

Why make a fuss over the 2,000th casualty?

2005-11-03T16:03:00.000-08:00

We've reached the 2,000th casualty and American death toll is continuing to rise. Why is that number important? Why is the 2,000th soldier to die any different than the first? The 2,001st?

Every one of those numbers represent not just a statistic, but a person who was loved by someone, who loved others in return, and who served their country willingly. They were not drafted. They all had their reasons for volunteering; it's safe to say that part of the reason was they loved their country and wanted to defend it.

The 2,000th casualty, Staff Sergeant George T. Alexander, Jr was no lesser or greater than the first casualties, Major Jay Thomas Aubin (USMC), Captain Ryan Anthony Beaupre (USMC), Corporal Brian Matthew Kennedy (USMC), Staff Sergeant Kendall Damon Watersbey (USMC), Second Lieutenant Therrel S. Childers (USMC), Lance Corporal Jose Gutierrez (USMC) and Lieutenant Thomas Mullen Adams (USN).

So why is the number 2,000 important, aside from the fact that we love to mark milestones, however macabre? It's not because the 2,000th death is more important than the first and will be less important than the 3,000th. (God forbid we have that many, however I fear we will.)

It's important because with each death we are forced to think back and remember why we went to war in the first place. This is where it starts getting disturbing. This is where we have to look back at the reasons given to justify the war. It's now obvious that lies and misinformation formed the basis for this war.

Were the lies inadvertent or deliberate? Was the misinformation known to be wrong but was used anyway because it was politically expedient? That is what we must find out. We need to know if individuals within the administration can be proven without a shadow of a doubt to have misled the American people and the rest of the world into entering the war under false pretexts. We need an independent investigation to determine this. Fitzgerald may just have touched on the tip of the iceberg and we need to see the entire picture, no matter how high in the government the evidence leads, even if it leads to the Oval Office itself.

That's why the 2,000th death marked such a milestone. Because there were many of us who didn't believe the administration's reasons for going to war in the first place. There was evidence by sources that contradicted what the administration was presenting, but people were cajoled into joining the bandwagon. Now many are jumping off that same bandwagon.

Each of the deaths that occurred as a result of this war is one more nail in the coffin in which the truth was buried for a political agenda based on greed and deceit.

As long "Bush's Folly" is allowed to continue, the United States will continue to rot from within unless people stand up and DEMAND THE TRUTH. That is why the 2,000th death is an important milestone. It showed that people are now waking up to the fact that we were lied to. The United States is no longer fit to consider itself the moral compass of the world. We need find a way to stop the next milestone, before the soul of our country is forever tainted.

HARRY REID FORCES CLOSED SESSION!

2005-11-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

The Senate was forced to operate behind closed doors thanks to Harry Reid, D-Nevada, who firmly won his place in my heart. This is the speach he gave before the Senate closed its doors. I think he deserves lots of credit for doing this.

Thanks to dmsilev for posting a transcription. I've cleaned it up a bit to post here. There are some areas where it's unclear and I've put (unclear) in those spots.

Mr. Reid: Thank you very much, Mr. President. Just a couple of days ago, my son Lief called me and indicated that his lovely wife Amber was going to have another baby. That will be my -- our 16th grandchild. Mr. President, i have thought about that, and I have to say that I've been in public service a long time.
Never have I been so concerned about our country. We have gas prices that are really unbelievable. This year they've been over $3 in the state of nevada. Diesel fuel is still over $3 a gallon in nevada. The majority leader of the House of Representatives is under indictment. The man in charge of contracting for the federal government under indictment. Deficits, Mr. President, so far you can't see them. The deficits have been basically run up by President Bush's administration these last five years. We're the wealthiest nation in the world but we are very poor as it relates to health care. We have an intractable war in Iraq. Is it any wonder that I'm concerned about my family, my grandchildren?
This past weekend, we witnessed the indictment of l. Lewis Libby, the Vice President's chief of staff, also on the President's staff, a senior advisor to the President. Mr. Libby is the first sitting White House staffer to be indicted in 135 years. Is it any wonder, Mr. President, that I'm concerned about my grandchildren?

This indictment raises very serious charges. It asserts this administration engaged in actions that both harmed our national security and were morally repugnant. The decision made to place United States soldiers, our military into harm's way I believe
is the most significant responsibility the Constitution vests in the Congress and in the President.
The Libby indictment provides a window into what this is really all about, how this administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to sell the war in Iraq and attempted to destroy those who dared to challenge its actions. Mr. President, these are not just words from Harry Reid.
Larry Wilkerson, Colonel Larry Wilkerson, Colin Powell's former chief of staff -- Colin Powell, of course, was Secretary of State. This man was his chief of staff for four years. Here's what he said about the war in Iraq. "If -- in President Bush's first term, some of the most important decisions about U.S. national security, including vital decisions about post-war Iraq, were made by a secretive, little-known cabal, was made up of a very small group of people led by vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. But the secret process was ultimately a failure. It produced a series of disastrous decisions."
That's what I'm here to talk about today, Mr. President. As a result of its improper conduct, a cloud now hangs over this administration. This cloud is further darkened by the administration's mistakes in prisoner abuse, Hurricane Katrina, and the cronyism and corruption in numerous agencies throughout this administration. And unfortunately, it must be that said a cloud also hangs over this Republican-controlled
Congress for its unwillingness to hold this Republican administration accountable for its misdeeds on these issues.

During the time that we had a Democratic President, eight years, and when the Democrats were in charge of the co committees, we were in the majority, oversight hearings were held covering the gamut of what went on in this administration -- that administration. Today there is not an oversight hearing held on anything. Let's take a look at back how we got here with respect to Iraq.
The record will show that within hours of the terrorist acts of 9/11, senior officials in this administration recognized those attacks could be used as a pretext to invade Iraq. The record will also show that in the months and years after 9/11, the administration engaged in a pattern of manipulation of the facts and retribution against anyone who got in its way as it made its case for attacking, for invading Iraq. There are numerous examples of how the administration misstated and manipulated the facts as it made the case for war.
The administration statements on Saddam's alleged nuclear weapons capabilities and ties with al Qaeda represent the best examples how it consistently and repeatedly manipulated the facts. The American people were warned time and time again by the President, the Vice President, the current Secretary of State and their other capacities about Saddam's nuclear weapons capabilities. The Vice President said -- and I quote -- "Iraq has reconstituted its nuclear programs." Playing upon the fears of Americans after september 11, these officials and others raised the specter that left unchecked, Saddam could soon attack America with nuclear weapons. Obviously we know now that their nuclear claims were wholly inaccurate.
But more troubling is the fact that a lot of intelligence experts were telling the administration then that its claims about Saddam's nuclear capabilities were false. The situation very similar with respect to Saddam's links to al Qaeda. The Vice President told the American people -- I quote again -- "we know he's out trying once again to produce nuclear weapons and we know he has a long-standing relationship with various terrorist groups, including the al Qaeda organization."

These assertions have been totally discredited, not a little bit, totally discredited. But again, the administration went ahead with these assertions in spite of the fact that the government's top experts did not agree with these claims. Again, Wilkerson is a person in point.
What has been the response of this Republican-controlled Congress to the administration's manipulation of intelligence that led to this protracted war in Iraq? Nothing.
Did the Republican-controlled Congress carry out its constitutional obligations to conduct oversight? No.
Did it support our troops and their families by providing them the answers to many important questions? No.
Did it even attempt to force this administration to answer the most basic questions about its behavior? No.
Unfortunately, the unwillingness of the Republican-controlled Congress to exercise its oversight responsibilities is not a limit -- is not limited to just Iraq. We see it with respect to the prison abuse scandal. We see it with respect to Katrina, and we see it with respect to the cronyism and corruption that permeates this administration.
Time and time again, this Republican-controlled Congress has consistently chosen to put its political interests ahead of our national security. They have repeatedly chosen to protect the American -- the Republican administration -- rather than to get to the bottom of what happened and why it happened.
There's also another disturbing pattern, namely, about how this administration responded to those who challenged its assertions. Often this administration has actively sought to attack and undercut those who dared to raise questions about its preferred course. For example, when General Shinseki indicated several hundred thousand troops would be needed in Iraq, his military career was ended -- fired, relieved of duty when he (unclear) out its inspectors.
When Nobel Prize winner and head of the IAEA raised questions about the administration's claims of Saddam's nuclear capabilities, the administration attempted to remove him from his post. When Ambassador Joe Wilson stated that there was an attempt by Saddam -- no attempt by Saddam to acquire weapons from Niger, the administration not only went after him to discredit him, they launched a vicious and coordinated campaign going so far as to expose the fact that his wife worked as a C.I.A. spy. These people are now having 24-hour protection fearing for their own safety. Given this administration's pattern of squashing those who challenge its misstatements, and I've only mentioned a few, what has been the response of the Republican-controlled Congress? Absolutely nothing.
And where their inactions they provide political cover for this administration at the same time they keep the truth from our troops who continue to make large sacrifices in Iraq. Now everyone may think that the troops in Iraq are 100% Republican. I've met a friend -- I've made a friend. He's a Marine. He was over in when the elections were held ten months ago. He said where he was and he never even went to the bathroom without a rifle, wherever he was in his duty all over this area, he said he couldn't find anyone that was happy with the way the elections turned out.
They, the Republicans, do anything they can to keep the truth from people like my Marine friend. This behavior -- I would give you his name -- this behavior is unacceptable. The toll in Iraq is as staggering as it is solemn. More than 2,000s died 2,025 now, Americans have lost their lives. Over 90 Americans have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the month of October alone, the fourth deadliest month in this go-on three-year war. More than 15,000 have been wounded. More than 150,000 remain over there in harm's way. Enormous sacrifices have been made and continue to be made.
Mr. President, we've had soldiers and marines from Nevada killed, from Eli, from Las Vegas, from Henderson, from Boulder City, from Tonapaw. Every time one of these deaths occur, it's a dagger in the heart of that community. This behavior is unacceptable. I'm a patient man, mr. President. I'm a legislator and I know things don't happen over night. I'm a parent man but the call from my son has put this in perspective. I'm worried about my family. The toll in Iraq is as staggering
as I repeat it is solemn. The troops have a right to expect answers and accountability worthy of that sacrifice.
For example, more than 40 Democrats wrote a substantive and detailed letter to the President canning -- asking four basic questions about this administration's Iraq policy, and we received, Mr. President, -- we received a four-sentence fence that is response. "Thank you for your letter to the President expressing your concerns with Iraq. I've shared your letter with the appropriate administration officials." Remember we wrote it to the President. "And agencies responsible in this area. Please be assured your letter is receiving the attention it deserves. Thank you for your compliments, Candy Wolf. (Condi Rice? - No, there really is a Candy Wolf. Jon Stewart did point out it does sound like a porn name.)"

That's the letter the senators of the United States wrote to the President of the its and we get a letter from Candy Wolf that says, thanks, we're working on it. America deserves better than. This they also deserve a searching and comprehensive investigation about how the Bush administration brought this country to war, key questions that need to be answered include how did the Bush administration assemble its case for war against Iraq?

We heard what Colonel Wilkerson said. Who did the Bush administration officials listen to and ignore? How did the senior Bush administration officials manipulate or manufacture intelligence presented to the Congress or the American people?

What was the role of the White House Iraq Group, a group of senior
white house officials, tasked with marketing the war and taking down its critics. We know what Colonel Wilkerson says. How did the administration coordinate its efforts to attack individuals who dared to challenge the administration's assertions. We know what happened to them. I listed a few. Why has this administration failed to provide Congress with the documents that would shed light on their misconduct and the misstatements?

Unfortunately, the Senate committee that should be taking the lead in providing these answers is not. Despite the fact that the Chairman of Senate Intelligence Committee publicly committed to examine these questions more than a year and a half ago, he has chosen not to keep that commitment. Despite the fact that he's restated the commitment earlier this year on national television, he has still done nothing. Except assemble a few quotes from Democratic and Republican senators going back to the first Iraq war. We need a thorough investigation that that committee is capable and tasked to do. At this point, we can only conclude he will continue to put politics ahead of our national security. If he does anything at this point, I suspect it will be playing political games by producing an analysis that files any of these important questions.
Instead, if history is any guide, this analysis will attempt to disperse and deflect blame away from this administration. Key facts about the intelligence --

a Senator: Would the Senator yield for a question?

Mr. Reid: Key facts:
June 4, 2003, Intelligence Committee commits to bipartisan review of the deeply flewed intelligence in Iraq's W.M.D. Phase one.
February 12, 2004, Intelligence Committee commits to Phase 2, an investigation looking at five areas including whether the administration exaggerate and manipulated mel dense (unclear).
July 9, 2004, committee publishes Phase One report on the intelligence agencies mistakes on Iraq. Senator Rockefeller says publicly that Phase Two is as yet unbegun. Republican chairman Roberts says it is one of my top priorities.
July 11 on Meet The Press, Republican chairman Roberts says, even as I'm speaking our staff is working on phase two and we'll get it done.
Fall of 2004, House IntelligenceCommittee, after no follow through on the Iraq W.M.D. investigation, the House announced on May 2003, no final report. Republican committee chairman Porter Goss is selected to
C.I.A. Director.
Regarding the question of vetting the Valerie Plame leak Goss said
show me a blue dress and some DNA and I'll give you an investigation. End of quote.
November, 2004, we had the Presidential election.
March 2005, President's hand-picked W.M.D. intelligence committee says the intelligence agencies got the intelligence dead wrong but says that under the President's terms of reference we are not authorized to investigate how policy-makers used the intelligence assessments they received from the intelligence community.
March 31, 2005, Senator Roberts says it would be monumental waste of time to
replow this ground any further?

April 10, 2005, "Meet The Press" Senator Roberts commits to Tim Russert that the review will get done. September 2005, committee democrats file additional views to their authorization bill blasting the committee for failing to conduct phase two. There have been letters written to the committee, a press release was issued even saying that they were going to go forward with this.
Mr. President, enough time has gone by. I demand on behalf of the
American people that we understand why these investigations aren't being conducted, and in accordance with rule 21, I now move that senate go into closed session.

Mr. Durbin: Mr. President, I motion the -- second the motion.

The presiding officer: the motion has been made to closed session. The. The chair pursuant to rule 21 directs the sergeant at arms to clear all galleries, clear all doors of the senate chamber and exclude from the chamber and its immediate
corridors all employees and officials of this senate who under the rule are are -- are not eligible to attend the closed session and are not sworn to secrecy. The question is nondebatable.

Then there is this is from his website, Give 'em Hell, Harry.

This past weekend, we witnessed the indictment of the I. Lewis Libby, the Vice President’s Chief of Staff and a senior Advisor to President Bush. Libby is the first sitting White House staffer to be indicted in 135 years. This indictment raises very serious charges. It asserts this Administration engaged in actions that both harmed our national security and are morally repugnant.

The decision to place U.S. soldiers in harm’s way is the most significant responsibility the Constitution invests in the Congress. The Libby indictment provides a window into what this is really about: how the Administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to sell the war in Iraq and attempted to destroy those who dared to challenge its actions.

As a result of its improper conduct, a cloud now hangs over this Administration. This cloud is further darkened by the Administration’s mistakes in prisoner abuse scandal, Hurricane Katrina, and the cronyism and corruption in numerous agencies.

And, unfortunately, it must be said that a cloud also hangs over this Republican-controlled Congress for its unwillingness to hold this Republican Administration accountable for its misdeeds on all of these issues.

Let’s take a look back at how we got here with respect to Iraq Mr. President. The record will show that within hours of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, senior officials in this Administration recognized these attacks could be used as a pretext to invade Iraq.

The record will also show that in the months and years after 9/11, the Administration engaged in a pattern of manipulation of the facts and retribution against anyone who got in its way as it made the case for attacking Iraq.

There are numerous examples of how the Administration misstated and manipulated the facts as it made the case for war. Administration statements on Saddam’s alleged nuclear weapons capabilities and ties with Al Qaeda represent the best examples of how it consistently and repeatedly manipulated the facts.

The American people were warned time and again by the President, the Vice President, and the current Secretary of State about Saddam’s nuclear weapons capabilities. The Vice President said Iraq “has reconstituted its nuclear weapons.” Playing upon the fears of Americans after September 11, these officials and others raised the specter that, left unchecked, Saddam could soon attack America with nuclear weapons.

Obviously we know now their nuclear claims were wholly inaccurate. But more troubling is the fact that a lot of intelligence experts were telling the Administration then that its claims about Saddam’s nuclear capabilities were false.
The situation was very similar with respect to Saddam’s links to Al Qaeda. The Vice President told the American people, “We know he’s out trying once again to produce nuclear weapons and we know he has a longstanding relationship with various terrorist groups including the Al Qaeda organization.”

The Administration’s assertions on this score have been totally discredited. But again, the Administration went ahead with these assertions in spite of the fact that the government’s top experts did not agree with these claims.

What has been the response of this Republican-controlled Congress to the Administration’s manipulation of intelligence that led to this protracted war in Iraq? Basically nothing. Did the Republican-controlled Congress carry out its constitutional obligations to conduct oversight? No. Did it support our troops and their families by providing them the answers to many important questions? No. Did it even attempt to force this Administration to answer the most basic questions about its behavior? No.

Unfortunately the unwillingness of the Republican-controlled Congress to exercise its oversight responsibilities is not limited to just Iraq. We see it with respect to the prisoner abuse scandal. We see it with respect to Katrina. And we see it with respect to the cronyism and corruption that permeates this Administration.

Time and time again, this Republican-controlled Congress has consistently chosen to put its political interests ahead of our national security. They have repeatedly chosen to protect the Republican Administration rather than get to the bottom of what happened and why.

There is also another disturbing pattern here, namely about how the Administration responded to those who challenged its assertions. Time and again this Administration has actively sought to attack and undercut those who dared to raise questions about its preferred course.

For example, when General Shinseki indicated several hundred thousand troops would be needed in Iraq, his military career came to an end. When then OMB Director Larry Lindsay suggested the cost of this war would approach $200 billion, his career in the Administration came to an end. When U.N. Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix challenged conclusions about Saddam’s WMD capabilities, the Administration pulled out his inspectors. When Nobel Prize winner and IAEA head Mohammed el-Baridei raised questions about the Administration’s claims of Saddam’s nuclear capabilities, the Administration attempted to remove him from his post. When Joe Wilson stated that there was no attempt by Saddam to acquire uranium from Niger, the Administration launched a vicious and coordinated campaign to demean and discredit him, going so far as to expose the fact that his wife worked as a CIA agent.

Given this Administration’s pattern of squashing those who challenge its misstatements, what has been the response of this Republican-controlled Congress? Again, absolutely nothing. And with their inactions, they provide political cover for this Administration at the same time they keep the truth from our troops who continue to make large sacrifices in Iraq.

This behavior is unacceptable. The toll in Iraq is as staggering as it is solemn. More than 2,000 Americans have lost their lives. Over 90 Americans have paid the ultimate sacrifice this month alone – the fourth deadliest month since the war began. More than 15,000 have been wounded. More than 150,000 remain in harm’s way. Enormous sacrifices have been and continue to be made.

The troops and the American people have a right to expect answers and accountability worthy of that sacrifice. For example, 40 Senate Democrats wrote a substantive and detailed letter to the President asking four basic questions about the Administration’s Iraq policy and received a four sentence answer in response. These Senators and the American people deserve better.

They also deserve a searching and comprehensive investigation about how the Bush Administration brought this country to war. Key questions that need to be answered include:

o How did the Bush Administration assemble its case for war against Iraq?
o Who did Bush Administration officials listen to and who did they ignore?
o How did senior Administration officials manipulate or manufacture intelligence presented to the Congress and the American people?
o What was the role of the White House Iraq Group or WHIG, a group of senior White House officials tasked with marketing the war and taking down its critics?
o How did the Administration coordinate its efforts to attack individuals who dared to challenge the Administration’s assertions?
o Why has the Administration failed to provide Congress with the documents that will shed light on their misconduct and misstatements?

Unfortunately the Senate committee that should be taking the lead in providing these answers is not. Despite the fact that the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee publicly committed to examine many of these questions more than 1 and a half years ago, he has chosen not to keep this commitment. Despite the fact that he restated that commitment earlier this year on national television, he has still done nothing.

At this point, we can only conclude he will continue to put politics ahead of our national security. If he does anything at this point, I suspect he will play political games by producing an analysis that fails to answer any of these important questions. Instead, if history is any guide, this analysis will attempt to disperse and deflect blame away from the Administration.

We demand that the Intelligence Committee and other committees in this body with jurisdiction over these matters carry out a full and complete investigation immediately as called for by Democrats in the committee’s annual intelligence authorization report. Our troops and the American people have sacrificed too much. It is time this Republican-controlled Congress put the interests of the American people ahead of their own political interests.

Lewis "Loose Lips" Libby

2005-10-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

I can't say I'm surprised, can you? I did hear Bush's speechlet on the way home. What struck me the most is not anything he said, but that he made the statement from the driveway of the White House. It just struck me as strange. I have to think about that some more. Plus he sounded, um, odd? He's obviously very stressed. I haven't seen the footage yet, but it will be interesting to watch because his body language often doesn't match what's coming out of his mouth. I haven't heard from my friend who's into NLP, but I'm sure she has been busy analyzing it.

Today has been laundry day, so I've not been able get enough of my media fix. I haven't even read the indictment yet.

I'll post something tomorrow.

Iraq War Grief

2005-10-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

Pass the flame on. This in not my graphic, it's from Iraq War Grief

President GHW Bush once referred to 1,000 points of light. Well, friends, we need to be point of light for the Iraqi children. I strongly suggest every day that you read Iraq Daily War Grief. Today it's on day 292. I'll warn you ahead of time this is graphic stuff. This is the war the networks aren't televising. This is real life, not Hollywood special effects. It's available at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.

This is the war your sons and daughters and husbands and wives and partners are fighting. This is the face of the war you need to remember when you are judging the Powers-That-Be that lied to get us into their war. he faces of those children, could soon be our children if we don't find our way out of "Bush's Folly" as I like to call it.

When Iraqis and the rest of the world see these pictures, especially the ones of of children with the blood of their parents splattered on them, the pictures of Abu Graib -- it gives them a reason to despise the US. Don't anyone give me any crap about "these pictures are only one side of a story". There's always more that one side. What you need to ask is why pictures like these aren't in the media. Remember Viet Nam. I remember vomiting more than once on seeing photographs and footage from that war. That's one of the reason people became so outraged and we finally got out. Get outraged!

Since the Republicans are in their own little bubble, fellow Democrats, it's left to us. Tell the truth, present the evidence. Let's not screw it up.

2006, then 2008. Start now and change the future.

My Sweet, Sweet Onion

2005-10-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite publications, The Onion, uses the prezinetial seal with its parody of the weekly radio address. So, the WH sent a letter and said "stop that!" It turns out that there is a rule that says you can't you the seal to for a commercial enterprise, but the Lair isn't a commercial enterprise. So, why'd they send a letter to the Onion when they should have also sent one to http://www.westernwhitehousegifts.com/pages/915632/. They have jewelry, assorted and sundry items and a rug with the presidential seal made of 100% New Zealand wool. Were all our American sheep were busy? I wonder where it was actually made?

Anyhows, lot of blogs are now showing the seal as well. And support my sweet, sweet Onion. It shouldn't be fried just because some wonk got their knickers in a knot! Check out Daily Kos for more.

Andrea Mitchell, Hardball and Deliberate Misinformation

2005-10-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

On a recent visit to Hardball, Andrea Mitchell checked some facts on the door. She's NBC's chief foreign affairs correspondent, so you'd think she'd know better! So what did she say that's getting people like me in a tizzy?

This is what Andrea Mitchell said on NBC's Meet the Press, July 6, 2003 edition:

"Joe Wilson went on television with us and in interviews and said he had been dispatched by the vice president...he led people to believe, he said publicly, that he had been dispatched by the vice president. And that was clearly not the case by every bit of reporting that I have been able to do."

Media Matters can't find any reference anywhere that Wilson claimed that Cheney sent him to Niger. Mitchell can't seem to back the her own assertions either. In the July 6, 2003, interview, this is what Wilson said regarding the his Niger trips:

"The [question of Iraq seeking uranium from Niger] was asked of the CIA by the office of the vice president."

This what Factcheck.org says on the matter:

July 6, 2003 – Wilson publishes " What I didn’t find in Africa" in The New York Times, identifying himself for the first time as the unnamed “envoy.” He writes, “I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq 's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.” Wilson does not mention that he learned there was a possibility Iraq had sought uranium during a 1999 trade meeting with Niger’s former Prime Minister.

Contrary to later statements by White House officials, Wilson does not claim that Cheney sent him on the Niger trip, only that he was sent to answer questions from Cheney’s “office.” He also doesn’t claim that Cheney was told of his findings, only that it would be “standard operating procedure” for the CIA to brief Cheney’s office on the results of his mission. (Wilson, " What I didn’t find, New York Times July 6, 2003).

How did Mitchell come to her conclusion that Wilson had been "dispatched by the vice president"? What does her "every bit of reporting" include? Apparently a fanciful leap of logic. I think she owes viewers an explanation and a retraction.

Note to Andrea Mitchell: Facts still are facts Andrea; how about checking yours before you make on-air statements instead of being a shill?

There's an excellent diary at Daily Kos that goes into the matter in more depth, and since I'm not one to reinvent wheels, I'll send you there so you can read VirginaDem's diary.

2005-10-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

Every few centuries a handful of people make a change in our lives, our ways of thinking, our world. Some are driven from birth to grab the world by the shoulders and shake it into change. Some decide to use their voice and argue the world into change. On December 1st, 1955, one tired woman simply sat down on a city bus and our world changed forever. Today, Rosa Parks left this earth, and I know that in Heaven she is gathered among the angels and the saints who left this planet a better place than they found it when they first arrived.

I was born a little over a year after Ms. Parks sat down on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, but I can remember, even as a young child (maybe three or four years old), how my grandmother told me a the story of the woman who wouldn't give up her seat to a white man and go to the back of the bus as was expected of her in that day and time. I forget exactly under what circumstances my grandmother has decided to tell me the story, but I do remember her sitting me on her lap to tell me about Ms. Parks. I remember she said that she though the woman was an angel sent to earth to teach us all a lesson about love and what was right.

Rosa Parks, we will miss you here, but we are eternally grateful for your courage that turned a simple act of defiance (even though you only wanted to get home!) into a lesson for us all.

I'm doing the happy dance!

2005-10-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

Because I won an argument with my cable and internet provided about a payment made via bounced check to my account. Some slight problems though: I don't use checks to pay my bills, the amount didn't match what my bill monthly payment is, my bank showed no record of a transaction that matched what "Company X" said was mine, I didn't have a check by that number anyway, and at the time the payment was made (in a very odd amount I might add) I had just paid my monthly fee and had a balance of $0.00.

It took over a week to straighten in out, and I did my little bit of hell-raising, and eventually they had to admit I was right. Even after one of the customer service androids said "We can't make a mistake like this, the computer won't let us."

Hah! I'm back, and I have a nice fat credit to my account too.

And that is why there have been no entries. I will make up for it though because there has been a wee bit going on in the world.

Let's have a sing along!

2005-10-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

This is what I do when I'm bored. Even though the indictments aren't out yet, it's wishful thinking by a lot of us! Enjoy, and let me know if you want a song mangled to current events. Snarkmusik is always free! Cross posted at Daily Kos.

Holly Jolly Fitzmas
Rogneid (c) 2005

Have a holly, jolly Fitzmas;
It's the best time of the year
I don't know if Bush will go,
but Libby 'n Rove are toast.
Have a holly, jolly Fitzmas;
And when you walk down the street
Wave bye-bye to Scooter and Turd
and pray Darth Cheney's next.

Oh, how the crooks must go
all hung out to dry;
Somebody's perpwalking
It's just so great to see.
Have a holly jolly Fitzmas,
Just one thing left to do:
impeach Dick 'n Dubya too
and have a jolly Fitzmas day!

With sincere apologies to Johnny Marks, whose musical skills far surpass mine!
Holly Jolly Christmas, Johnny Marks (c) 1962
But feel free to pass mine around as long as yougive me credit...I'm soooo needy ;-)

"The rats are jumping ship"

2005-10-06T23:08:00.000-07:00

That's the title of the email I recieved from a friend of mine who forwarded me this. You know when lawyers jump ship there's something wrong somewhere!

Career Lawyers Leaving Justice Department
by Ari Shapiro

Civil Rights Division Letters Critics say these two letters are evidence of the division's changing culture. A Justice spokesman says there is no fundamental difference between the two.
Vista, Calif., Letter (2003) (Requires Adobe Acrobat)
Franklin, Ohio, Letter (2005) (Requires Adobe Acrobat)

Morning Edition, October 6, 2005 · Tension has been growing between career lawyers and political appointees in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, according to some longtime career attorneys who have recently left the division. Now the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding confirmation hearings for a new leader of the politically sensitive group.

Some career professionals who have left the Civil Rights Division say they left because they were shut out of the decision making process in a way that did not occur under previous administrations.

Darn. I missed Morning Edition today because I had a job interview. The letters are interesting and definitely are not just variations on a theme, but you can judge for yourself.

Now, George, There You Go Again!

2005-10-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that when things aren't going well for Bush he gives a speach reminding us about the terrorists who hate us because we are free?

He did it again today, and I'm going to go out on a limb today to predict that within six weeks, he will find a way to up the Terror Alert. Will there be a real threat? Doesn't matter - the neocons have turned the terror alerts into a joke and no one will believe them anyway. Just look at the history of the alerts vs. Bush administration problems. Somwhere on Frankenbot I've got a list I was compiling and as soon and I'll post it as I find it.

The speech today was given before the National Endowment for Democracy, a doublespeak group founded during Reagan's WH. To find out the skinny on the group, click here for the Cato Institute, or if you are in a Googling mood, click yourself silly.

Here are some highlights and some of my heckling of his speech.

In this new century, freedom is once again assaulted by enemies determined to roll back generations of democratic progress. Once again, we're responding to a global campaign of fear with a global campaign of freedom. And once again, we will see freedom's victory. [I didn't think the definition of a global campaign of freedom was lying to the American public and the UN about WMD and then going to war about it while many of our friends opposed us. I guess they just don't love freedom like we do.]

[snip]

I appreciate Carl Gershman. [Carl Gershman? The same Carl Gershman who was a member of the Socialist Party USA in the 70s? The answer to that is apparently yes.]

[snip]

The government of Russia did not support Operation Iraqi Freedom, and yet the militants killed more than 180 Russian schoolchildren in Beslan. [It might be prudent to note that the militants who did this were Checnyan rebels; so because the Russian government did NOT support Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Checnyan rebels killed the 180 schoolchildren? What would they have done if Russia had supported it?]

There's more, but it's the usual warmed over rehash of old material. You can read the full text here.

I spy with my little eye....

2005-10-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

This is from ABC News:

Oct. 5, 2005 — Both the FBI and CIA are calling it the first case of espionage in the White House in modern history.

Officials tell ABC News the alleged spy worked undetected at the White House for almost three years. Leandro Aragoncillo, 46, was a U.S. Marine most recently assigned to the staff of Vice President Dick Cheney.

"I don't know of a case where the vetting broke down before and resulted in a spy being in the White House," said Richard Clarke, a former White House advisor who is now an ABC News consultant.

Federal investigators say Aragoncillo, a naturalized citizen from the Philippines, used his top secret clearance to steal classified intelligence documents from White House computers.

In 2000, Aragoncillo worked on the staff of then-Vice President Al Gore. When interviewed by Philippine television, he remarked how valued Philippine employees were at the White House.

"I think what they like most is our integrity and loyalty," Aragoncillo said.

Aragoncillo admits to spying in while in Cheney's office, and he worked at Al Gore's office when he was VP, but he doesn't whether he spyed there as well.

Huffington Post has good dirt on Miers.

2005-10-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

What is it with Texans and corruption? What'd they all do: go to the J.R. Ewing School of Ethics? David Sirota at the Huffington Post reports this:

In case anyone thought Harriet Miers wasn't a corporate-shill-in-White-House-clothing, take a gander at how Miers did her best Ken Lay impression while heading a major Texas corporate law firm. That's right, according to the 5/1/00 newsletter Class Action Reporter, Miers headed Locke, Liddell & Sapp at the time the firm was forced to pay $22 million to settle a suit asserting that "it aided a client in defrauding investors."

The details of the case are both nauseating and highly troubling, considering President Bush is considering putting Miers at the top of America's legal system. Under Miers' leadership, the firm represented the head of a "foreign currency trading company [that] was allegedly a Ponzi scheme." The law-firm admitted that it "knew in March 1998 that $ 8 million in [the company's] losses hadn't been reported to investors" but didn't tell regulators.

Read more here.

Quick! Say "Corrupt Corporate Conservative Cronies" five times real fast!

O'Reilly does bait and switch with David Kline

2005-10-06T04:42:00.000-07:00

David Kline's blog is BlogRevolt.com and here's an excerpt about his date with Bill O'Really, er, O'Reilly.

Last night I appeared on the conservative TV talk show The O'Reilly Factor, ostensibly to talk about political blogs and the impact they are having on the American political process.

Or so I was told by the two producers for the show who spent over an hour pre-interviewing me. Unbeknownst to me, however, the show turned out to be a total set-up job in which host Bill O'Reilly and guest Jed Babbin spent the entire time attacking the web site Media Matters for having posted commentary in the past critical of them both.

Kline had been invited on the talk show to supposed to have a chat about the impact of American blogs and how they are affected the American political process. Alas, at the last minute, O'Reilly (can't imagine why) and his producers pulled a bait and switch and railed on against Media Matters. Media Matter doesn't seem to be very fond of Bill, and aren't afraid to show it. Anyway O'Reilly got his knickers in a knot about this, and went off on the blog, despite Kline having absolutely nothing to do with the blog whatsoever.

It's a good read. You should click here.

While you're at it, check out Media Matters to see their reaction to this. Here's a choice cut:

In a segment on the October 4 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor that he promoted as examining "the most vicious political websites in the country," host Bill O'Reilly named Media Matters for America "the worst," falsely claiming that Media Matters "make[s] stuff [up] about me ... [e]very day of my life" and has "no ethics or scruples." He also referred to Media Matters as "assassins" and called those alerting the media of items posted at Media Matters "zombies."

Nothing like a good cat fight to help you wake up in the morning while you are waiting for the coffee to brew!

The Wild, Wild South

2005-10-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

First of all, let me go on record as saying I'm for responsible gun ownership. I have family members who are hunters, and I can also understand the need of having a gun for protection as long as a person knows how to use it properly. However, I think Florida has gone a bit bonkers on his. And I think the National Rifle Association went bonkers long ago.

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Clark Ramm sees shades of the Wild West in Florida's new law giving greater legal protections to people who shoot or use other deadly force when threatened or attacked.

"It seems like everybody ought to be packing a piece," said Ramm, a visitor from Ukiah, California. "I don't know if that's the right thing to do."

Ramm and other tourists found out about the law Monday from a gun control group handing out leaflets at Miami International Airport.

The leaflets begin with the words "An Important Notice to Florida Visitors" in bold red type by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

"Do not argue unnecessarily with local people," it says. "If someone appears to be angry with you, maintain to the best of your ability a positive attitude, and do not shout or make threatening gestures."

Florida's "stand your ground" law, which took effect Saturday, removes a duty on the part of citizens to retreat in the face of an attack as long as they are in a place they have a legal right to be, including a public street or their place of business.

It also gives immunity from criminal or civil charges to a shooter as long as the person shot is not a police officer.
The rest of the article is here.

The NRA thinks the measure will make Florida a safer place. I lived for about 40 years in Florida, and it's not guns that will make it a safer place, it's people not acting like jerks while they are armed! Unfortunately legislating the jerk factor is hard to do.

I'm not aware of any city, state, or nation with a law like this. Florida used to have a slogan in the 70's: "The Rules Are Different Here." It looks like they still are.

Let me give you a theoretical situation to describe the problem I have with the "Stand Your Ground" law.

Stan has a restaurant in Coconut Grove and late one Saturday night the police are called to the restaurant because he says he was being robbed and shot the intruder. Under the law, Stan isn't in danger of being charged with murder if the alleged robber dies. But what if he wasn't being robbed and mistook the actions of a foreigner who was just trying to break and fifty dollar bill. It's Stan's word against the dead guys. And the dead guy isn't going contribute much to the conversation. What was a request for change turned into a murder of an innocent man. But if Stan says he was threatened, it's OK.

This is just a bad law. Florida's governor: Jeb Bush, presidential brother.

Brother in Idaho Prison Needs Assistance

2005-10-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

I have a brother in the Idaho prison in Boise. He has numerous health problems, including bipolar disorder, type 1 diabetes and dystonia.

He is only getting 4 of his 11 physician prescribed medications, which is adversely affecting his health. A few days ago he suffered an insulin reaction. His blood sugar went down into the 30's. It could have been avoided if the guards had not taken the food he is allowed to keep in his room to prevent such reactions.

If anyone knows of an prisoner advocacy group there, please let me know. I've not had much luck online, and Idaho is a bit backward when it comes to dealing with mentally ill prisoners.

Actually, they are backward with dealing with the mentally ill period. When my mother was severely depressed and in the midst of a disassociative attack, the police were called because my mother was turning violent. Did they take her to a mental health facility or hospital? No, they arrested her. Yes, arrested her. It's Idaho's way of dealing with the mentally ill when the police are called to help. When she finally came out of the dissassociate fugue, she found herself in chains before a judge. She should have been in a hospital, not in jail. That gives you an idea of what the Idaho criminal justice system is like when dealing with the mentally ill.

I don't know if the ACLU deals with this type of problem my brother is having, but I'm sure John probably isn't the only prisoner having these problems. I've emailed the ACLU and I'm awaiting a response. Because has no access to computers, so I'm doing the virtual legwork for him. If anyone can help, please let me know and feel free to pass on my email (bovina_sancta@yahoo.com) to anyone you think might be able to help John.

At this point I am concerned for his life. If he had not been found the other night, he could have died from the insulin reaction.

Gee, Wally, Did Tom Delay Really Launder Money?

2005-10-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

Gosh Beav, I'm not sure; let's get on the internet and check it out.

Sorry, I couldn't resist that. Why I thought of the Wally and Beaver is beyond me. It's not something I normally do.

Let's answer the question though. This is the definition of money laundering according to Wikipedia:

If a person is making thousands of dollars in small change a week from his business (not unusual for a store owner), and he wishes to deposit that money in a bank, he cannot do so without possibly drawing suspicion. In the United States, for example, cash transactions and deposits of more than $10,000 are required to be reported as "significant cash transactions" to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), along with any other suspicious financial activity as "suspicious activity reports". In other jurisdictions suspicion based requirements are placed on financial services employees and firms to report suspicious activity to the authorities. [snip]

One method of keeping this small change private would be for an individual to give his money to an intermediary who is already legitimately taking in large amounts of cash. The intermediary would then deposit that money into his account, take a premium, and write a check to the individual. Thus, the individual draws no attention to himself, and can deposit his check into a bank account without drawing suspicion.

Another method involves establishing a business whose cash inflow cannot be monitored, and funneling the small change into this business and paying taxes on it. All bank employees however are trained to be constantly on the lookout for any transactions which appear to be an attempt to get around the currency reporting requirements.

By the strictest definition of the term, anyone who assists in concealing the proceeds from his transactions is considered a money launderer. An individual therefore may be unwittingly employed by money launderers, and may still be criminally liable in many jurisdictions.

So in a nutshell, Wally and Beav;

1) Somebody gives money to a person or group, but they don't want to attract suspicion that the money may have been from an illegal source or a legal sources, but is intended to be used for illegal purposes.

2) The person who received the money takes a percentage (maybe not, maybe they're doing this as a favor and not taking any payment) and then deposits the money into another account.

3) Then, the money is returned to the original person, or to other people, having been "laundered".

And boys, it's not just for laundering drug money anymore. It's been used for tax evasion and other purposes as well.

Let's get serious now.

How do the charges against DeLay stack up against the Wikipedia definition of money laundering? This is from the Democratic Party site, and deals specifically with TRMPAC and DeLay.

TRMPAC Indicted. "A grand jury has indicted a political action committee formed by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and a Texas business group in connection with 2002 legislative campaign contributions. The five felony indictments against the two groups were made public Thursday... The charge against Texans for a Republican Majority alleged the committee illegally accepted a political contribution of $100,000 from the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care." [AP, 9/8/05]

DELAY CLOSELY INVOLVED IN TRMPAC FROM THE BEGINNING

DeLay Closely Involved With TRMPAC. DeLay was a founder of TRMPAC, serves on its advisory board and has helped with its fundraising. . . . Some documents in the civil case suggested he may have been actively involved in gathering corporate donations. [AP Online, 3/17/05]

National GOP Leader Founded Texas Republican PAC. US House GOP Leader Tom DeLay founded the political action committee Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) to elect Republicans to the Texas state legislature. DeLay contributed $75,000 from his federal 'leadership' PAC, Americans for a Republican Majority, (ARMPAC). In addition, the executive director of ARMPAC, Jim Ellis, co-founded and served as a paid consultant to TRMPAC. [Dallas Morning News, 3/21/2004; Austin American-Statesman, 4/6/2004]

Subpoenaed Documents Show DeLay Had Direct Involvement With Fundraising Campaign.

* According to the New York Times, "Documents, which were entered into evidence last week in a related civil trial in Austin, the state capital, suggest that Mr. DeLay personally forwarded at least one large corporate check to the committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, and that he was in direct contact with lobbyists for some of the nation's largest companies on the committee's behalf." [New York Times, 3/9/05]

* In one e-mail from August 2002, RoBold tells John Colyandro, the Texas committee's executive director, to create a "top 10 list of givers" he could ask for a large contribution. . . . "I would then decide from response who Tom DeLay others should call. If this is more successful, I will do more of them," the e-mail said. . . . In a September 2002 e-mail between RoBold and Drew Maloney, a Washington lobbyist and former legislative director for DeLay in the House, Maloney said he had two checks from Reliant Energy. "Will deliver to T.D. next week probably," the e-mail said. [AP Online, 3/10/05]

* An e-mail exchange from the computer files of a member of the committee's advisory board notes that a ''finance committee'' conference call in October 2002 was postponed at Mr. DeLay's request ''because of action on Iraq.'' . . . Other documents show how often Mr. DeLay's name was cited by the committee's fund-raisers when they were seeking donations. An e-mail message sent by Mr. Colyandro on Sept. 20, 2002, asked that a telephone call be made to a prominent Texas lawyer for his help at a fund-raising event the following week. ''He needs a push,'' Mr. Colyandro wrote. ''Please tell him how important he is and how important this is to T.D.'' [New York Times, 3/10/05]

TRMPAC LAUNDERED CORPORATE DONATIONS THROUGH THE RNC

TRMPAC Laundered $190,000 of Corporate Money Through the RNC. TRMPAC contributed $190,000 to the Republican National State Elections Committee on September 20, 2002 that included corporate money. Within two weeks, the RNSEC contributed the same amount back to TRMPAC targeted candidates. [CQ Weekly, 3/20/2004; San Antonio Express-News, 3/15/2004; Austin American-Statesman, 2/26/2004; FEC, www.fec.gov, 4/8/2004; Texas Ethics Commission, www.ethics.state.tx.us, 4/8/2004]

* TRMPAC Collected $190,000 In Corporate Contributions. Recently indicted documents conclude six "corporate donations totaling $190,000 were made to TRMPAC." [Washington Post, 3/4/05]

* TRMPAC Director Donated $190,000 To Republican National Committee. According to The Washington Post, TRMPAC Director, John Colyandro sent $190,000 in one lump sum to the RNCs Republican National State Elections Committee. Jim Ellis, the director of DeLay's national PAC, Americans for a Republican Majority, "delivered the check to the RNC and gave the committee a list of names and the check amounts, totaling $190,000, to be mailed back to the Texas legislative candidates in noncorporate money." [Washington Post, 3/4/05]

* RNC Donated $190,000 To TRMPAC Supported Texas Candidates. The RNC's State Election Committee then transferred $190,000 to seven TRMPAC supported Texas House candidates. "Three weeks later, the committee sent checks in the equivalent amount that had been raised from individual donors to seven Republican statehouse candidates supported by TRMPAC. Texas law prohibits the use of corporate funds in election campaigns." [Washington Post, 3/4/05]

So let's try to answer the boys' question with what we have here.

1) Somebody gives money to a person or group, but they don't want to attract suspicion that the money may have been from an illegal source or from an legal source but will be used for illegal purposes. Did DeLay do this?

* According to the New York Times, "Documents, which were entered into evidence last week in a related civil trial in Austin, the state capital, suggest that Mr. DeLay personally forwarded at least one large corporate check to the committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, and that he was in direct contact with lobbyists for some of the nation's largest companies on the committee's behalf." [New York Times, 3/9/05]

* TRMPAC Director Donated $190,000 To Republican National Committee. According to The Washington Post, TRMPAC Director, John Colyandro sent $190,000 in one lump sum to the RNCs Republican National State Elections Committee. Jim Ellis, the director of DeLay's national PAC, Americans for a Republican Majority, "delivered the check to the RNC and gave the committee a list of names and the check amounts, totaling $190,000, to be mailed back to the Texas legislative candidates in noncorporate money." [Washington Post, 3/4/05]

* In one e-mail from August 2002, RoBold tells John Colyandro, the Texas committee's executive director, to create a "top 10 list of givers" he could ask for a large contribution. . . . "I would then decide from response who Tom DeLay others should call. If this is more successful, I will do more of them," the e-mail said. . . . In a September 2002 e-mail between RoBold and Drew Maloney, a Washington lobbyist and former legislative director for DeLay in the House, Maloney said he had two checks from Reliant Energy. "Will deliver to T.D. next week probably," the e-mail said. [AP Online, 3/10/05]

The answer? It certainly looks like DeLay had an active role in this.

2) The person who received the money takes a percentage (maybe not, maybe they're doing this as a favor and not taking any payment) and then deposits the money into his account. Did someone take DeLay's money and deposit it into another account?

* TRMPAC Director Donated $190,000 To Republican National Committee. According to The Washington Post, TRMPAC Director, John Colyandro sent $190,000 in one lump sum to the RNCs Republican National State Elections Committee. Jim Ellis, the director of DeLay's national PAC, Americans for a Republican Majority, "delivered the check to the RNC and gave the committee a list of names and the check amounts, totaling $190,000, to be mailed back to the Texas legislative candidates in noncorporate money." [Washington Post, 3/4/05]

I'd say the answer to this question is obviously yes. Not only was the money from TRMPAC send $190,000 to the RNC, but they also gave a list of names and check amounts that were to be mailed back to specific candidates.

3) Then, the money is returned to an intended recipient, having been "laundered". Was this done?

* RNC Donated $190,000 To TRMPAC Supported Texas Candidates. The RNC's State Election Committee then transferred $190,000 to seven TRMPAC supported Texas House candidates. "Three weeks later, the committee sent checks in the equivalent amount that had been raised from individual donors to seven Republican statehouse candidates supported by TRMPAC. Texas law prohibits the use of corporate funds in election campaigns." [Washington Post, 3/4/05]

Again the answer is yes. Because Texas law prohibits the use of corporate funds in election campaigns, by taking the corporate donations deposited into TRMPAC, sending the to the RNC State Election Committee, then the RNCSEC send the money back to the TRMPAC chosen candidates, it made it appear that the money did not come from a corporate source, but directly from RNCSEC.

So you see, Wally and Beav, there is evidence of money laundering. I guess we have to wait for the trial to see if the judge and jury agree.

GO RONNIE EARLE!

Katrina and Louisiana Politics

2005-10-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

Katrina has effected state and local governments and the repercussions could last for decades. New Orleans may lay off as much as 40% of it’s workforce just to balance their budget. St. Bernard Parish has already laid of 120 municipal employees and is asking for federal assistance so that they can make payroll for the remaining employees. The parish is estimating that 80% of the homes will have to be demolished due to hurricane damage. The entire business community was wiped out, as was the Parish’s tax base.

And then there is this – it sounds like Ebenezer Scrooge has been appointed head of FEMA.

Mike McCormick, a spokesman for FEMA, said that the federal government had historically paid only the "extraordinary costs" of local governments and that the agency could not change this policy unilaterally.

With conservatives in Congress already complaining about spending levels, it was not clear how the request would be received.

Responding to widespread criticism, the White House on Monday rescinded the $250,000 limit it had placed on federal government credit cards for use in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

In instructions issued to government agencies, the Office of Management and Budget restored the usual $2,500 limit for so-called micropurchases.

The limit can be raised to $15,000 under some circumstances. An emergency appropriations bill passed early last month had increased the ceiling to $250,000 for Hurricane Katrina recovery needs.

The NYT has more here.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY EFECTS

If evacuees from the Ninth Ward in New Orleans - a reliable bloc of 30,000 black voters that is traditionally easy to mobilize - choose suburban or rural areas over their urban roots in coming years, it could be a political blow to Democrats, said Roy Fletcher, a political consultant from Shreveport who helped elect former Gov. Mike Foster, a Republican.

"It would give a whole lot of a stronger foothold to Republicans in the Legislature and statewide," Mr. Fletcher said. "Louisiana has always been a swing state, a purple state that's both blue and red. You take the Ninth Ward out of that equation and you get a real shot of Republicans winning statewide office."

Barry Erwin, president of a Council for a Better Louisiana, a nonpartisan nonprofit group that monitors the activities of state government, said such a change could forever alter the political landscape.

"These things are symbolic of a divide that we've always had," he said. "There's an us versus them thing. In New Orleans, it's like us, and then there's the rest of the state. Around the rest of the state, it's like us, and then there's New Orleans. This could change all of that."

Read more here:

I'd say now is the time for the Democratic Party to work on a strategy to solidify and build a Democratic majority in Louisiana considering the poor response of the Republican administration and appointees. Any suggestions on how to do this and deal with the basic needs of over 1,000,000 people whose lives have been disrupted at the same time?

Harriet Miers?

2005-10-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

Bush made this announcement on October 3rd:

This morning, I'm proud to announce that I am nominating Harriet Ellan Miers to serve as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. For the past five years, Harriet Miers has served in critical roles in our nation's government, including one of the most important legal positions in the country, White House Counsel. She has devoted her life to the rule of law and the cause of justice. She will be an outstanding addition to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Harriet was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She attended public schools. When illness struck her family during her freshman year in college, Harriet went to work to help pay for her own education. She went on to receive a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a law degree from Southern Methodist University.

Over the course of a distinguished legal career, Harriet has earned the respect and admiration of her fellow attorneys. She has a record of achievement in the law, as well as experience as an elected member of the Dallas City Council. She served at high levels of both state and federal government. Before state and federal courts, she has tried cases, and argued appeals that covered a broad range of matters. She's been a leader in the American Bar Association, and has been recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the most powerful attorneys in America.

Why is it all his nomination speaches sound like encyclopia entries? And does being Bush's friend and White House council qualify her to be a Supreme Court Justice? To be fair not all Justices have been judges; 10 of the 34 Justices since 1933 came from within the administration, with no judicial experience, namely Lewis Powell, Arthur Goldberg, Earl Warren, Tom Clark, Hugo Black, William Douglas and Felix Frankfurter, and of course William Rhenquist.

Miers' expertise is in corporate law, not constitutional. That's not to say she wouldn't be a good Justice. She was head of the Texas Lottery Commission and is credited with ferreting out corruption within the agency. She's donated to both Republican and Democrats, which really irks the Conservatives.

I'm amused that some Conservatives feeled betrayed by Bush on this nomination: William Kristol (Weekly Standard) feels disappointed, depressed, demoralized. Jeez, is her nomination that bad?

She's a FOG (Friend of George), his White House Counsel, from Texas, and by people who have actually interacted with her on a professional level, she is indeed a legal pit bull. On the other hand she thinks Bush is extremely intelligent...

I can hardly wait for the confirmation hearings to begin. Following Roberts is not going to be easy. It's like having an opening act that ended up following the main attraction: she's going to be compared to Roberts, and probably found to be lacking. She's going to be getting some heavy duty questioning from both sides and it will be interesting to see how well she holds up.

Minutemen a threat wrapped in "patriotism"

2005-10-04T06:44:00.000-07:00

Some things are just wrong. Yes, we have illegal immigrants crossing our borders, but the Minutemen are nothing more than a fanatical fringe racist organization wrapped in a mantle of faux patriotism. What will it take for people to take notice that this group is potentially dangerous. Read the article from the Boston Globe, and judge for yourself.

Volunteers beginning watch near Canada line
Minutemen see threat in north

By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Staff | October 4, 2005

The Minutemen have come to New England.

The civilian group, which previously focused its efforts on patrolling the Mexican border, is turning its attention to the US-Canada line. The group is seeking volunteers in eight northern states in an attempt to prevent people from entering the United States illegally and began watching border crossings in some of those states, including Vermont, over the weekend.

''The north is still a threat to national security," said Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. ''There are 1,000 border patrol agents to cover a 4,000-mile northern border. It's an outrage. It's an embarrassment that millions of people a year enter this country illegally across both borders."

The organizers are seeking volunteers to watch the 789-mile Canadian border along New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, in addition to the other northern states. The effort is part of a monthlong, nationwide campaign to keep a closer eye on the nation's entry points and to draw attention to what Simcox's group says are the inadequate resources given to border control in this country.

The effort has started more quietly in New England than in states on the southern border, where Simcox said about 500 people volunteered this month.

''It's developing slowly, but it's developing," Simcox said.

But local officials question the necessity of the volunteer force.

''I don't see much need for that," said Doug Hazlett, town manager in Houlton, a border town in northern Maine. ''It's not like we have a porous border like the Mexican border is. People don't come across to work illegally or anything like that. I'm surprised to hear about it. I'm not sure I fully understand what their mission would be."

So far, the patrol in this region has consisted of one group of a dozen or so volunteers watching the border in Vermont over the weekend. They did not spot anyone trying to cross the border illegally, Simcox said. The patrols in New England are currently a weekends-only proposition, though Simcox said he hopes to recruit volunteers and expand them.

Immigrant-rights groups decried the effort yesterday, accusing the Minutemen of importing intolerance to the region. ''You never hear complaints about the US-Canada border up here," said Judy Elliott of the New Hampshire Immigrants' Rights Task Force. ''So I don't think it comes from New Hampshire people at all. It comes from folks from outside who are trying to bring a malicious message into this state."

The Department of Homeland Security has beefed up security along the US-Canadian border since 2003, tripling the number of agents there. Hazlett said that in addition to the officers, helicopters and aircraft survey the area regularly.

''The degree of sophistication on the border between us and Canada is very, very high now, after 9/11," he said. ''If you ask agents whether they feel any degree of porousness, you would get the answer back that it was minimal."

Customs and Border Protection officers arrested 7,340 people along the northern border in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to preliminary figures. About 2,100 of those people were arrested in the border regions of New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. But there is no way to tell how many of those arrests were of people trying to enter illegally and how many were for other immigration violations, said Customs and Border Protection spokesman Mario Villarreal.

The arrest numbers are dwarfed by those in the South: During the same year, about 1.2 million people were arrested by border patrol officers along the 2,000-mile southern border.

Villarreal said the Minutemen are taking on a job they are not trained to do.

''The front-line border patrol agents are committed to protecting our nation's borders," he said. ''They have the training, they have the equipment, and they are empowered to enforce the immigration laws of this country. We highly discourage private citizens from taking matters into their own hands."

But Simcox said that border patrol agents are overwhelmed because they are given scant resources and that illegal immigrants continue to pour into this country as a result.

The Minuteman volunteers park themselves in lawn chairs on this side of the border, with binoculars and cellphones, ready to report illegal entrants. They watch for people who are crossing over fields, through woods, and along unmanned roadways.
''We feel we can do most good by being a pair of extra eyes," Simcox said. ''Our goal is to force the government to do its job. Until they do it in a way that meets our satisfaction, we will help do it ourselves. That's the American way."

© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.

And now, my two cents:

''The north is still a threat to national security," said Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. ''There are 1,000 border patrol agents to cover a 4,000-mile northern border. It's an outrage. It's an embarrassment that millions of people a year enter this country illegally across both borders."

There have been illegals come across the Canadian border, but the MCDC should let the government do their job. Their view that the 1,000 border patrol agents isn't adequate to patrol the 4,000 mile northern border is questionable. They are ignoring the fact that there's a little thing called technology that helps our legitimate agents. That's certainly better than the folding chairs and binoculars the MCDC use. And the "north as a threat to national security" smacks of paranoia, not patriotism.

Immigrant-rights groups decried the effort yesterday, accusing the Minutemen of importing intolerance to the region. ''You never hear complaints about the US-Canada border up here," said Judy Elliott of the New Hampshire Immigrants' Rights Task Force. ''So I don't think it comes from New Hampshire people at all. It comes from folks from outside who are trying to bring a malicious message into this state."

How true. Racism and intolerance are alive and well in the US, even though many Americans seem to pretend it doesn't exist. Groups like the MCDC foment racism. They are a hate group, pure and simple. They are not performing a community service, but instead are a "Big Brother" group.

The Minuteman volunteers park themselves in lawn chairs on this side of the border, with binoculars and cellphones, ready to report illegal entrants. They watch for people who are crossing over fields, through woods, and along unmanned roadways.

How do the determine someone is an illegal entrant? Do they ask for identification? It's not their job. They are private citizens: to do this is just harassment.

Government officials in states where the MCDC is active should take action and ban this group before someone gets killed. And I mean that literally. Some Minutemen are armed, and it may just be a matter of time before this posse decides to shoot first and ask questions later.

Finally to name themselves Minutemen is an insult to the original Minutemen who played an important role in American history, particularly the Revolutionary War.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2005-10-02T22:49:00.000-07:00

What are the estimated numbers of new breast cancer cases and deaths for the year 2005?An estimated 211,240 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States during 2005. An estimated 40,410 women will die from breast cancer. It is estimated that 1,690 men will be diagnosed and 460 men will die of breast cancer during 2005. Carcinoma in situ (CIS) will account for about 58,490 new cases this year. At this time there are slightly more than two million women living in the United States who have been diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer. Breast cancer is the leading cancer site among American women and is second only to lung cancer in cancer deaths. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women ages 40-59.

The statistics above are from the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Statistics sometimes don' mean much to people, but names do. To me, the following people aren't statistics: Millie G, Donna H, Barbara W, David T, Arlene T. Unfortunately, not all of them are survivors.

Learn the symptoms of breast cancer. Better yet, learn what you can do to reduce the chances of getting breast cancer. Regular monthly self exams and yearly mammograms are important and easy to do. If you are unsure of how to do it properly, check out the Koman FoundationGuide. You will need Macromedia Flash; if you don't have it, you can download a copy the Koman Roundation BSE page. If you cannot afford a mammogram, check the hospitals in the area to see if they offer free screenings. If they don't they know who does.

For more information, check out the Susan G. Koman Foundation. Their site is one of the best I've seen, and it is very informative.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts

2005-09-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

God help us. Really. Let's hope he upholds the law and not radical conservative ideology.

Tomorrow's Friday, and my guess is the Friday Dump will be the new Sandra Day O'Connor replacement nomination.

Cindy Sheehan interview at Mother Jones

2005-09-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

There's a very good interview with Cindy Sheehan at Mother Jones. Definitely worth checking out. It's short enough to read in a couple minutes, but in that time you'll get a clear view of what her views are. They definitely are not what BushCo would like you to believe they are!

Bill Bennett: Former Education Secretary, Author, Racist

2005-09-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I sit back and wonder what goes on in the minds of conservatives. It's a mental exercise, just to keep the old brain limber. Also, like Alice in Wonderland, I try to believe at least one impossible thing a day. It's hard to find anything stranger than a conservative's mind to try to find some to believe in, although it certainly is possible to something impossible to believe in.

Take this for instance. Here's a little tidbit of what goes on inside of Bill Bennett's mind, as in the mind of an unnamed caller. Bill Bennett was the Secretary of Education during the Reagan administration. He also wrote The Book of Virtues and The Children's Book of Virtues. He has a radio show, Bill Bennett's Morning in America. It is broadcast across the nation on the Salem Radio Network. Here is an excerpt from yesterday's show.

CALLER: I noticed the national media, you know, they talk a lot about the loss of revenue, or the inability of the government to fund Social Security, and I was curious, and I've read articles in recent months here, that the abortions that have happened since Roe v. Wade, the lost revenue from the people who have been aborted in the last 30-something years, could fund Social Security as we know it today. And the media just doesn't -- never touches this at all.

BENNETT: Assuming they're all productive citizens?

CALLER: Assuming that they are. Even if only a portion of them were, it would be an enormous amount of revenue.

BENNETT: Maybe, maybe, but we don't know what the costs would be, too. I think as -- abortion disproportionately occur among single women? No.

CALLER: I don't know the exact statistics, but quite a bit are, yeah.

BENNETT: All right, well, I mean, I just don't know. I would not argue for the pro-life position based on this, because you don't know. I mean, it cuts both -- you know, one of the arguments in this book Freakonomics that they make is that the declining crime rate, you know, they deal with this hypothesis, that one of the reasons crime is down is that abortion is up. Well --

CALLER: Well, I don't think that statistic is accurate.

BENNETT: Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.

This is interesting. The caller thinks one of the reasons abortion is wrong is because it is denying the government revenue that could fund Social Security, since those aborted would possibly grow up and become good little taxpayers.

And second, Bill Bennett thinks that if you wanted to lower the crime rate, you could abort every black baby in the country.

If you'd like to listen to an excerpt go to MediaMatters.

Congressman John Conyers isn't taking this lightly, nor should any of us! This is an excerpt from a letter he wrote to Greg Anderson, President of the Salem Radio Network.

It is difficult for us to understand how an individual granted a show on your network could utter such a statement in 21st century America. While we all support First Amendment Rights, we simply cannot countenance statements and shows that are replete with racism, stereotyping, and profiling. Mr. Bennett's statement is insulting to all of us and has no place on the nation's public air waves. The fact that Mr. Bennett later acknowledged that such abortions would be "morally reprehensible," but added again that if it was done "the crime rate would go down," is equally outrageous.

To read more, go to DKos.

Bennett's remarks are inexcusable. I urge you to write to the Salem Radio Network and demand they cancel Bill Bennett's Morning in America. While I all for freedom of speech, when it crosses over to hate speech such as this that is unacceptable. Yes, he did say the abortions were morally reprehensible, but right after that he said if it was done it would lower the crime rate. It's still Hate Speech, racist and unacceptable.

And to think this man had the cajones to write books on virtue!

Brown: It's Their Own Fault

2005-09-28T16:46:00.000-07:00

"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday [August 27] that Louisiana was dysfunctional," he said in his opening testimony.

Later in the testimony he said, "My mistake was in [not] recognizing that, for whatever reasons, ... Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco were reticent to order a mandatory evacuation."

To read more from this on the CNN site, click here.

And then read the posts on Nagin and Blanco. Sure there were problems. I've never seen a natural disaster that didn't have problems. Brown was a BAD appointment. No qualifications, just a FOG. (Friend of George) FEMA is broken and Katrina showed it.

Nagin's evacuation order

2005-09-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

See this and more here.

CIVIL DISTRICT COURT FOR THE PARISH OF ORLEANS

STATE OF LOUISIANA

CITY OF NEW ORLEANS

PROMULGATION OF EMERGENCY ORDERS

WHEREAS, the National Weather Service has indicated that Hurricane Katrina will likely affect the Louisiana coast with hurricane force winds and heavy rainfall by this evening;

WHEREAS, because of anticipated high lake and marsh tides due to the tidal surge, combined with the possibility of intense thunderstorms, hurricane force winds, and widespread severe flooding, Governor Kathleen Blanco and I, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin, have each declared a State of Emergency;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, as the Mayor of the City of New Orleans, pursuant to the authority granted by La. Rev. Stat. 29:727, do hereby promulgate and issue the following orders, which shall be effective immediately and which shall remain in effect until the earlier of five days following the date of this issuance or the declaration by the Governor that the State of Emergency no longer exists:

1. A mandatory evacuation order is hereby called for all of the Parish of Orleans, with only the following exceptions: essential personnel of the United States of America, State of Louisiana and City of New Orleans; essential personnel of regulated utilities and mass transportation services; essential personnel of hospitals and their patients; essential personnel of the media; essential personnel of the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriffs Office and its inmates and essential personnel of operating hotels and their patrons. Unless covered by one of the aforementioned exceptions, every person is hereby ordered to immediately evacuate the City of New Orleans or, if no other alternative is available, to immediately move to one of the facilities within the City that will be designated as refuges of last resort.

2. In order to effectuate the mandatory evacuation, at the direction of the Mayor, the Chief Administrative Officer, the Director of Homeland Security for the City of New Orleans or any member of the New Orleans Police Department, the City may commandeer any private property, including, but not limited to, buildings that may be designated as refuges of last resort and vehicles that may be used to transport people out the area.

The City Attorney is directed to file this declaration promptly in the office of the Clerk of Court and with the Secretary of State.

Gov. Blanco's Letter to Bush

2005-09-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

Here's Gov. Kathleen Blanco's letter to Bush.

August 27, 2005

The President
The White House
Washington, D. C.

Through:
Regional Director
FEMA Region VI
800 North Loop 288
Denton, Texas 76209

Dear Mr. President:

Under the provisions of Section 501 (a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5121-5206 (Stafford Act), and implemented by 44 CFR § 206.35, I request that you declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina for the time period beginning August 26, 2005, and continuing. The affected areas are all the southeastern parishes including the New Orleans Metropolitan area and the mid state Interstate I-49 corridor and northern parishes along the I-20 corridor that are accepting the thousands of citizens evacuating from the areas expecting to be flooded as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

In response to the situation I have taken appropriate action under State law and directed the execution of the State Emergency Plan on August 26, 2005 in accordance with Section 501 (a) of the Stafford Act. A State of Emergency has been issued for the State in order to support the evacuations of the coastal areas in accordance with our State Evacuation Plan and the remainder of the state to support the State Special Needs and Sheltering Plan.

Pursuant to 44 CFR § 206.35, I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster. I am specifically requesting emergency protective measures, direct Federal Assistance, Individual and Household Program (IHP) assistance, Special Needs Program assistance, and debris removal.

Preliminary estimates of the types and amount of emergency assistance needed under the Stafford Act, and emergency assistance from certain Federal agencies under other statutory authorities are tabulated in Enclosure A.

The following information is furnished on the nature and amount of State and local resources that have been or will be used to alleviate the conditions of this emergency:
• Department of Social Services (DSS): Opening (3) Special Need Shelters (SNS) and establishing (3) on Standby.
• Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH): Opening (3) Shelters and establishing (3) on Standby.
• Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (OHSEP): Providing generators and support staff for SNS and Public Shelters.
• Louisiana State Police (LSP): Providing support for the phased evacuation of the coastal areas.
• Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (WLF): Supporting the evacuation of the affected population and preparing for Search and Rescue Missions.

Mr. President
Page Two
August 27, 2005

• Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD): Coordinating traffic flow and management of the evacuations routes with local officials and the State of Mississippi.

The following information is furnished on efforts and resources of other Federal agencies, which have been or will be used in responding to this incident:
• FEMA ERT-A Team en-route.

I certify that for this emergency, the State and local governments will assume all applicable non-Federal share of costs required by the Stafford Act.

I request Direct Federal assistance for work and services to save lives and protect property.

(a) List any reasons State and local government cannot perform or contract for performance, (if applicable).

(b) Specify the type of assistance requested.

In accordance with 44 CFR § 206.208, the State of Louisiana agrees that it will, with respect to Direct Federal assistance:

1. Provide without cost to the United States all lands, easement, and rights-of-ways necessary to accomplish the approved work.

2. Hold and save the United States free from damages due to the requested work, and shall indemnify the Federal Government against any claims arising from such work;

3. Provide reimbursement to FEMA for the non-Federal share of the cost of such work in accordance with the provisions of the FEMA-State Agreement; and

4. Assist the performing Federal agency in all support and local jurisdictional matters.

In addition, I anticipate the need for debris removal, which poses an immediate threat to lives, public health, and safety.

Pursuant to Sections 502 and 407 of the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5192 & 5173, the State agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the United States of America for any claims arising from the removal of debris or wreckage for this disaster. The State agrees that debris removal from public and private property will not occur until the landowner signs an unconditional authorization for the removal of debris.

I have designated Mr. Art Jones as the State Coordinating Officer for this request. He will work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in damage assessments and may provide further information or justification on my behalf.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
Governor
Enclosure

ENCLOSURE A TO EMERGENCY REQUEST

Estimated requirements for other Federal agency programs:
• Department of Social Services (DSS): Opening (3) Special Need Shelters (SNS) and establishing (3) on Standby. Costs estimated at $500,000 per week for each in operation.
• Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH): Opening (3) Shelters and establishing (3) on Standby. Costs estimated at $500,000 per week for each in operation.
• Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (OHSEP): Providing generators and support staff for SNS and Public Shelters. Costs estimated to range from $250,000-$500,000 to support (6) Shelter generator operations.
• Louisiana State Police (LSP): Costs to support evacuations - $300,000 for a non-direct landfall.
• Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (WLF): Costs to support evacuations - $200,000 for a non-direct landfall.
• Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD): Costs to support evacuations - $2,000,000 for a non-direct landfall.

Totals: $ 9,000,000

Estimated Requirements for assistance under the Stafford Act:

Coordination: $0
Technical and advisory assistance: $0
Debris removal: $0
Emergency protective measures: $ 9,000,000
Individuals and Households Program (IHP): $0
Distribution of emergency supplies: $0
Other (specify): $0

Totals: $ 9,000,000
Grand Total: $ 9,000,000

Should Bush and Cheney be impeached?

2005-09-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

Are we that angry that we want impeachment? Are there grounds for impeachment? I do believe there are grounds for being angry at Bush and his (mis)administration.

We've long been skeptical of our elected officials and of the government in general. But look at the voting percentages. We are also apathetic; we like to complain, but don't bother to vote. People, you had your chance to participate in our political process and blew it off. And now look where that got us.

Bill Clinton was impeached because he couldn't keep his zipper in a locked and upright position. Nobody died.

George W Bush lies about weapons of mass destruction and thousands are dying. "Exit strategy"? What's that? Top positions in the administration were filled not by qualified candidates, but by FOGs: Friends of George.

And you want to get really pissed? Come back in a couple days when I post my rant on Abramoff! (Here's a spoiler: he calls Native Americans monkeys and troglodytes. I'm part Lenape. Give you any idea of what the tone will be like?)

This is from ImpeachNow. My guess is it's going to be one of many groups actively calling for Bush and Cheney's impeachment or resignation.

GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT
The President and Vice President misinformed citizens in the most serious act that a government can undertakeÂleading its people to war. The principal reasons they gave have been exposed as unfounded, namely:

That there was an imminent threat of a secret attack by Iraq which would use weapons of mass destruction against the US and its allies;

that Saddam Hussein was cooperating with the al Qaida terrorists, with the implication that he was involved in the attack of those terrorists on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001.

There is ample evidence to believe that the President and Vice President systematically misrepresented the poor intelligence provided them with the intention of deliberately deceiving the public and Congress in order to take the nation to an unnecessary and illegal war. Even if the President and Vice President were misinformed by their intelligence agencies, they did not take due diligence in evaluating the information and analysis provided them in making the decision to go to war, for which they are accountable.

The President undertook aggressive war against Iraq under cover of a defensive, preventive first strike, contrary to the United Nations Charter which by treaty is the law of the land in this country. Therefore he violated US law.

The President undertook aggressive war against Afghanistan without pursuing the negotiations offered by its government to deliver Osama bin Laden to international authorities for trial.

In the aggressive wars against Iraq and Afghanistan tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel were killed and wounded on all sides for which the President and Vice President must be held responsible.

President Bush took the nation to war twice in violation of the authority to declare war that is solely vested in Congress by the Constitution. The President sought and received from Congress unconstitutional authority to take the nation to war against any persons, groups or nations that he designated as responsible for the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, or as harboring such groups. A year later he sought the same authority to go to war against Iraq without a declaration of war by Congress. In both instances he took the nation to war at his own discretion against parties and at a time of his deciding rather than seeking authority from Congress, which is a violation of the war-making power that the Constitution gives only to it. Further, the war powers resolution with regard to Iraq specifically provided that the President secure the authorization of the UN Security Council, which he failed to do, thereby violating the power that Congress gave to him, albeit, illegally.

President Bush also took the nation to war against Afghanistan without approval of the UN Security Council. Its resolution 1368, drafted by the US, specifically avoided seeking UN authorization of the use of force because the Bush administration claimed that its right to self-defense did not require approval by the UN, a clear violation of the UN Charter that forbad retaliation. Afghanistan was not mentioned by the resolution. The US attack on that country weeks later therefore added a further violation of the UN Charter and hence US law.

The President in The National Security Strategy that he promulgated in September, 2002, declared it to be the policy of the United States to seek military and economic supremacy around the world as necessary to US security and prosperity. It adds that the US will be ready to use pre-emptive first strikes unilaterally and without UN approval against any nation or group that threatens US supremacy. In a supplementary statement in December of that year the President declared that the government was entitled to use nuclear weapons for this purpose. These brazen statements violate the Preamble of the ConstitutionÂs declaration that the aim of the US government should be to Âestablish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterityÂ.Â They also violate the UN CharterÂs goal of world peace through collective security, to which the US is legally bound..

The President rammed through Congress the USA Patriot Act and subsequent legislation that abridge the civil liberties of citizens and non-citizen residents, protected by the Constitution. The fact that the Congress approved this legislation does not in itself make it constitutional.

The President and his appointees also issued executive orders that infringe the constitutional rights of citizens and residents, including persons held in custody as Âenemy combatants,Â a newly invented category of what international law calls prisoners of war. These prisoners have been held in indefinite custody without charge, denied benefit of legal counsel and the right to attorney-client confidentiality.

The President has obstructed justice by restricting the investigation of the attacks of September 11, 2001. He has also refused to provide information and records necessary and appropriate for the constitutional right of congressional oversight of executive functions.

President Bush must be held accountable for engineering the coup against the elected democratic president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and instructing the US ambassador to Haiti and US troops to remove him from office by threat and force, when his presidency should have been defended. This constitutes a violation of US law, the UN Charter and other international law.

These are all on-going offenses, and the failure to prosecute them will compound the damage already done, increasing the numbers of lives lost and maimed, the disruption of world affairs and increasing the terrorism that these officials claimed they sought to halt.

Now let's be serious for a moment. Impeachment? Prosecution? At this moment in time, our country is in a crisis caused by natural disasters. We are in a war we cannot win. Our economy is going down the tubes. Do we want to spend the time working on impeachment or rebuilding our country?

I think we need to keep the impeachment option open. But right now there are hundreds of thousands of Americans who need food and shelter and medical care. The deserve to have it and an impeachment would just slow down their healing.

Also, an impeachment would add even more chaos to an already inept government. My gut say wait until 2008 and vote the crooks out!

However, I will keep the Impeach Bush banner up as a reminder that we need to be very vigilent. We need to watch Bush and his FOGs. And we need to point out injustice, lies, and just plain stupid things this (mis)administration does.

It's time to be "eternally vigilant" citizens of this country many of our ancestors fought and dies for.

Up to 300,000 Strong Protest in Washington

2005-09-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

This is heartening! From the Melbourne Herald Sun:

300,000 protest against Iraq war
26sep05

MORE than 100,000 protesters in Washington and thousands in London yesterday demonstrated against the US-led war in Iraq.

Prominent anti-war protester, Cindy Sheehan, who camped outside US President George W. Bush's Texas holiday ranch for weeks after her son was killed fighting in Iraq said: "We need a people's movement to end this war."
Organisers of the Washington demonstration said 300,000 people had assembled -- triple the expected 100,000. But Washington police refused to confirm this.

A US veterans' group said the protests would devastate troop morale.

But a 22-year-old who fought in Iraq until medically discharged four months ago, disagreed. "People join the military to defend their country, not lies," said Adam Reuter.

I wish I could have been there, but given health and finances, this time around I couldn't make it. I do intend to go to as many protests as I can. Why? Like Adam Reuter said, "People join the military to defend their country, not lies." This war is wrong. Period.

My father is a Korean War veteran, and is adamantly against the war. Though he lives in New York, he would have loved to go to Crawford, as would I. Crawford is just the beginning though.

We need to mobilize and have a consistent message: ending the war in a timely and realistic manner in necessary because it was based on lies. You know what? I don't even feel comfortable calling it a war. I'm not sure what to call though. It's not a "police action". Profiteer-led invasion? GWB Legacy Campaign? Operation Fraud?

What do we say to the Iraqis whose country is now in ruins? Yes, most, are thrilled that Saddam Hussein is out of power and his sons are dead. They were scum. But will we help rebuild what we destroyed?

If I were an Iraqi woman, I'd be asking these questions:

Where's our water and electricity?
Why have car bombings skyrocketed?
Why aren't we safe in our own country?
Why is al Qaida here now trying to get my sons to join them?
Do we have to worry about election results being tampered with? (Yeah, I wonder our results here, too.)
Can we really be united as a nation, or will our religious differences result in Federalism?
If we institute Sharia will I and my daughters have to be veiled when outside?
Will be have to have a male relative with us when we go out?
Will my daughters and I be allowed to drive?
If I or one of my daughters are raped, will the only way to get a conviction against the rapist be to have four male witnesses who saw the rape testify that yes, a rape occurred?
If I or one of my daughters is accused and convicted of adultery, would we be stoned to death or beheaded?

What has Bush done? Did he even understand the culture of the area before he decided to put on the White Knight suit and go to "democratize" Iraq. Do Iraqis and Bush even have the same definition of democracy? I honestly don't know. But I feel this war has put the United States in more danger, not just from terrorist attacks, but from attacks from within when protesters are labeled traitors and American citizens, like Manuel Padilla, who are suspected of terrorist ties are denied their constitutional rights.

And I don't want this democracy Bush so wants to put in place result in a form of government where Sharia is used to legally condemn a women to death by stoning or beheading for committing adultery.

Do you want your sons and daughters to fight for that?

Definitely worth an investigation

2005-09-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

This from WaPo:

Senators Accuse Pentagon of Obstructing Inquiry on Sept. 11 Plot

By DOUGLAS JEHL
Published: September 22, 2005

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 - Senators from both parties accused the Defense Department on Wednesday of obstructing an investigation into whether a highly classified intelligence program known as Able Danger did indeed identify Mohamed Atta and other future hijackers as potential threats well before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The complaints came after the Pentagon blocked several witnesses from testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee at a public hearing on Wednesday. The only testimony provided by the Defense Department came from a senior official who would say only that he did not know whether the claims were true.

To read the entire article click here.

Arlen Specter, D-PA, said members felt the assertion by former and current officers in the Able Danger program were credible.

Hey Pentagon, what's the deal? Enquiring minds want to know!

Amendments to the Endangered Species Act

2005-09-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

From the NYT:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 - The chairman of the House committee overseeing natural resources introduced a bill Monday that would make it more difficult for the federal government to set aside land it deems crucial to the health of endangered species.

The proposed amendments to the Endangered Species Act also increase the obligation of government agencies to tell landowners quickly if the law limits their development options, and to compensate them.

The measure, which drew quick denunciations from groups like Environmental Defense, Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council, was proposed by the House Resources Committee chairman, Representative Richard W. Pombo, Republican of California. It was immediately put on a fast track, which is expected to bring it before the full House early next week.

Typical. They put out one little thing that looks reasonable (The proposed amendments to the Endangered Species Act also increase the obligation of government agencies to tell landowners quickly if the law limits their development options, and to compensate them.) while the rest is meant to help destroy government regulation that hinder development for the corporate sector.

And to top it off, the bill gets fast tracked, just when we are recovering from a major natural disaster, with another on the way. The real kicker? It's a bipartisan bill! You can read the bill here.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the changes would:

* completely repeal protections for endangered species critical habitat

* remove protections for species listed as "threatened" under the law

* allow political appointees - such as Secretary of Interior Gale Norton - instead of scientists, to determine what constitutes the best available science

* exempt federal agencies from the requirement to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on actions that might impact endangered species

* bankrupt the endangered species program by forcing the Fish and Wildlife Service to pay developers to comply with the law.

Roberts: Just Say No!

2005-09-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

This from SFGate.com

Roberts' ruling in Bush's favor debated
Terrorism case came as White House was interviewing him

There's no dispute that chief justice nominee John Roberts met with high-level White House officials while his appellate court was considering a case of enormous importance to the Bush administration, on the president's power to try battlefield captives and foreign terror suspects before military commissions.

There is considerable dispute, among legal ethics experts as well as supporters and opponents of Roberts, about whether his contacts amounted to a conflict of interest that should have disqualified him from the case.

"A reasonable person might question his impartiality when he sat on an appellate panel that directly and widely expanded the president's powers'' while he was under consideration by the president for a seat on the Supreme Court, said Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents military detainees, in testimony opposing Roberts' nomination.

This isn't a theoretical question about how his beliefs might shape a court opinion. This is a real life situation that has occurred, and at least IMHP, should disqualify him. He should have disqualified himself, but he didn't!

If you are still on the fence about Roberts, this should knock you off.

Complain to Committee Members!

2005-09-22T04:34:00.000-07:00

These are the members of the House Committee on Resources:

Richard W. Pombo, R, California, Chairman
Nick J. Rahall II, West Virginia, Ranking Democrat Member

Don Young, R, Alaska
George Miller, D, California
Jim Saxton, R, New Jersey
Ed Markey, D, Massachusetts
Elton Gallegly, R, California
Dale E. Kildee, D, Michigan
John J. Duncan, Jr., R, Tennessee
Peter DeFazio, D, Oregon
Wayne T. Gilchrest, R, Maryland
Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, D, American Samoa
Ken Calvert, R, California
Neil Abercrombie, D, Hawaii
Barbara Cubin, R, Wyoming
Solomon P. Ortiz, D, Texas
George P. Radanovich, R, California
Frank Pallone, Jr., D, New Jersey
Walter B. Jones, Jr., North Carolina
Donna M. Christensen, D, Virgin Islands
Chris Cannon, R, Utah
Ron Kind, D, Wisconsin
John E. Peterson, R, Pennsylvania
Jay Inslee, D, Washington
Jim Gibbons, R, Nevada
Grace F. Napolitano, D, California
Greg Walden, R, Oregon
Tom Udall, D, New Mexico
Thomas G. Tancredo, R, Colorado
Mark Udall, D, Colorado
J.D. Hayworth, R, Arizona
Raúl M. Grijalva, D, Arizona
Jeff Flake, R, Arizona
Dennis Cardoza, D, California
Rick Renzi, R, Arizona
Madeleine Z. Bordallo, D, Guam
Stevan Pearce, R, New Mexico
Jim Costa, D, California
Henry Brown, R, South Carolina
Charlie Melancon, D, Louisiana
Thelma Drake, R, Virginia
Dan Boren, Oklahoma
Luis Fortuno, R, Puerto Rico
Stephanie Herseth, D, South Dakota
Cathy McMorris, R, Washington
Bobby Jindal, R, Louisiana
Louie Gohmert, R, Texas
Marilyn Musgrave, R, Colorado

Drop them a line, especially if they are your representative, and let them know what you think!

And what about Rita?

2005-09-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

Arrgh. This from the Democratic Party site.

Republicans are fighting over how to pay for the enormous costs of Katrina reconstruction, debating between cutting funding for public broadcasting, cutting public funding of elections, and cutting other programs -- some necessities, some pork.

But you'll notice they've taken one option off the table: eliminating the Bush tax cuts. Despite the fact that the cuts are overwhelmingly responsible for the record federal deficits and overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest sliver of Americans, Republicans refuse to call for the most minimal sacrifices.

This is about responsibility: responsibility to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and responsibility to the future generations of Americans whose future earnings we're currently borrowing against.

I don't want my nephews and nieces futures mortgaged by BushCo. I was speechless when he announced the tax cuts in the first place. All he thought about was padding the pockets of people with a few measly dollars. He could have used that money to set aside for an emergency (hmmm...like Katrina?) or improved the health and welfare of the citizens. But no, he had to the play the role of the benevolent leader who shares "his" wealth.

He's no leader, and he's not benevolent either.

We need an INDEPENDENT Katrina Commission

2005-09-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

BushCo is doing the same thing with Katrina that they did with 9/11: they are trying to conduct/misconduct an investigation. We need an independent commission to conduct the investigation. Why? Because partisan politics have no place in a humanitarian disaster.

Katrina has shown that the US is ill prepared for any catastrophe, whether a natural or manmade. We need to fix the problem. Period. What happened with Katrina is not only a tragedy, it is a morally repugnant tragedy. There's enough blame to go around, I'm sure, but we need the truth, we need changes, and we need it now.

2nd Annual Talk Like A Pirate Day!

2005-09-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

Arrrr...git yer parrot and put on yer pirate hat! It's the second annual TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!

Are you a pirate? I am!

You Are A Pirate!

What Type Of Swashbuckler Are You?
brought to you by Maddog Varuka & Dawg Brown

Your pirate name is Captain Aetheflaed

What is YOUR pirate name?

Arrrr - pass the rum, matey!

Rove? In charge of Katrina reconstruction?

2005-09-16T06:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, please, tell this is someone's idea of a very bad joke. I was reading the NYT online this morning and found this. I thought I was perhaps hallucinating.

Bush to Focus on Vision for Reconstruction in Speech

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 - President Bush is to pledge in an address to the nation from New Orleans on Thursday night that the federal government will provide housing assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina and also help reimburse the states for costs they have absorbed in taking in evacuees, a White House official said Wednesday.

Basically it was so early my eyes were glazing over until I reached this part:

Republicans said Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff and Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, was in charge of the reconstruction effort, which reaches across many agencies of government and includes the direct involvement of Alphonso R. Jackson, secretary of housing and urban development.

Eyes glazing over is disbelief at this point. But it goes on!

"I want him to reassure the people that the big part of this fight is ahead of us, and he's going to make sure that the federal government does a better job, does its part," Senator Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi, said in an interview on MSNBC on Wednesday night. "We're all to blame to a degree." Mr. Lott added that Congress should never have passed legislation, as the White House wanted, that made the Federal Emergency Management Agency part of the Department of Homeland Security.

"We went along with that, and I guess we'll have to go back and try to rewrite the history, but that should be an independent agency reporting only to the president of the United States," Mr. Lott said.

WFT? Go here to read the whole article.

Just because you convene a panel...

2005-09-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

...doesn't mean you have take any of their recommendations.

Yes, I'm talking about the 9/11 Panel. Thomas Kean (former NJ governor and a Republican) seems a little peeved, and rightfully so. This from WaPo:

Thomas H. Kean (R), the former New Jersey governor who headed the panel that investigated the terrorist attacks, said the bungled response to Katrina laid bare how unprepared the nation remains for a catastrophic event, whether it is another terrorist strike or a natural disaster.

"This is not a terrorist incident, but it brings into play all of the same issues and shortcomings," Kean said. "What makes you mad is that it's the same things we saw on 9/11. Whoever is responsible for acting in these places hasn't acted. Are they going to do it now? What else has to happen for people to act?"

Lawmakers and the Bush administration are in the midst of a partisan debate over whether an independent panel akin to the Sept. 11 commission should be formed to study missteps that left tens of thousands in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast stranded without assistance after Katrina. More than 640 deaths have been confirmed from the Aug. 29 storm and its aftermath.

Basically the Bushies formed the 9/11 Panel for show, to placate those who wanted something done and who wanted answers. Well, we got answers but they don't seem to the the answers the Bushies wanted because many recommendations were ignored.

So now, Bushies want to investigate themselves and everyone else wants an independent panel similar to the one we had for 9/11. I don't know about you, but I think it's a bad idea to let people investigate themselves. It's a great way to find a way to blame somebody else and pat one's back at the same time. Phooey!

Kudos to Lt. Frederick Fell!

2005-09-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Here's for ignoring instructions! Kudos to Lt. Frederick Fell for choosing to be a man and ignore his orders.

National Guardsmen find 74-year-old alive 16 days after storm
BY KEITH SHARON
The Orange County Register

NEW ORLEANS - (KRT) - This was just another body in the growing number of bodies that they encounter every day. A human foot arching at an odd angle was visible through the front window of a locked and dark home. The NationalGuard team of searchers was about to call in a "DB" (dead body) at 1927 Lopez St. in the Broadmoor district when Lt. Frederick Fell decided to investigate.
In the last few days, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has ordered searchers NOT to break into homes. They are supposed to look in through a window and knock on the door. If no one cries out for help, they are supposed to move on. If they see a body, they are supposed to log the address and move on. The morticians will remove the deceased later. But Fell broke the rules and ordered his men to bash open the door, launching a series of events that would save a man's life and revitalize California Task Force 5 from Orange County, Calif. In the last two days, the 80 member task force had identified seven dead bodies in the same neighborhood, and they had rescued no one.
Go here to read the entire article, with pix.

What I'm wondering is this: how many "dead bodies" may actually have been barely alive, but unable to respond? Could any of these "dead" been saved? How many "dead bodies" are upstairs, or unable to respond to the searchers? How many people will die because of FEMA's policy?

What an amazing "culture of life" we have in this country.

This is what I had posted on my other blog...

2005-09-14T17:56:00.000-07:00

If you go here you can read the rest of the archives.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Roberts Confirmation Hearings

I actually watched on CNN for a bit, and then fell asleep. Today seemed to be the "OK, everybody gets to say something inconsequential for ten minutes, and then we'll really begin tomorrow." What was really annoying was that you could hear whispering and apparent laughter which made you wonder what was going on in the gallery. However, according to the Washington Post, three junior Republican senators, Comyn, Coburn and Brownback were"whispering and joking among themselves as others spoke." And to think people elected these people. Well, let's hope they behave better on Thursday. (OK, Tuesday was the second day of the hearing, but I thought it was Wednesday when I wrote that...)
I've been trying to keep an open mind about Roberts until I've actually what happens during the confirmation hearing. Or as CNN put it on their banner, confirmation battle. I guess battle might bring higher ratings?
I do think the government should have released all of Roberts' papers. This is a lifetime appointment, and deserves scrutinization.Why there were unwilling to is just very strange. They may not be, but it looks to many as if they are hiding something. This administration just seems to like being secretive.
I was raised in Florida, which has something called the "Sunshine Law". Basically, all state and local business is conducted in the open, unless there was some sort of security issue involved. I liked that. Heck, if it were up to me, I'd even release Roberts' Post-its!From what I've seen he approaches cases with an open mind, even though personally he would seem to be a stereotypical conservative.
I'm concerned about maintaining the freedoms women and minorities have rightfully won. Yeah, I'm a liberal, and proud of it. But I also don't have a closed mind and will wait until the hearing end to decide for myself whether or not Roberts is a good choice. From what I've seen and read so far, I'm willing to give him a chance, but there's also a knot in my stomach. His confirmation feels like a slam dunk.
Times like this make me feel really thankful that we have three different branches of government and checks and balances.
posted by
Pam at 5:23 PM 1 comments
Sunday, September 11, 2005

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Dies

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, died Saturday at age of 81. He had suffered from lung cancer and heart disease. His career spanned 50 years. He was a singer and guitarist who played blues, country, jazz and Cajun music. Brown died at his brother's home in Orange, Texas, where he had go to escape hurricane Katrina. Brown's home in Slidell, La., was completely destroyed by the hurricane.
His first hits were "Okie Dokie Stomp" and "Ain't That Dandy," but Brown disliked being labeled a bluesman. In his later career he played a half-dozen instruments and performed jazz, country, Texas blues, zydeco and Cajun music.Brown had more than 30 recordings and won a Grammy award in 1982 for Alright Again. He was also nominated for a Grammy in 1986 for Long Way Home. To learn more about Gate, click here.
posted by Pam at 5:25 AM 0 comments
Friday, September 09, 2005

Love Will Find a Way!
Joe and Trenise were supposed to get married last Sunday, but Katrina interrupted their plans. Word got around the Coliseum, and everything from wedding clothes, cakes, food and drink were donated from nearby businesses. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Kirsh!
Weekend Edition - Sunday , September 4, 2005· One ray of hope amid painful days on the Gulf Coast: Two evacuees from the hurricane, Joe Kirsh and Trenise Williams, were married while waiting with 1,000 others gathered at the Mississippi Coliseum. Their planned New Orleans wedding was interrupted by Katrina.
Photo by David Schaper, NPR Click here to go to the NPR site to read more.
posted by Pam at 11:21 AM 3 comments
Saturday, September 03, 2005

Chief Justice Rhenquist Dies
From CNN: Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who helped shift the U.S. Supreme Court towarda more conservative ideology and strongly supported states' rights during his three decades on the bench, has died. Rehnquist was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in October 2004, not long after the 2004-2005 court session began, and received outpatient radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
For the full story, click here.
posted by Pam at 10:33 PM 0 comments

Finally, Hope has Arrived in Nola!

Evacuations are going full speed at last. Even Carnival Cruise Lines is pitching in, sending three of their ships to help. I think people have figured out that finger pointing wasn't helping the stranded people. Once everyone is safe, then it's time to figure out what went wrong.
President Bush has promised 17,000 more troops will be deployed over the next 72 hours.I'm glad that he has acknowleged that the response to Hurricane Katrina's victims has been unacceptable. How we treat Katrina refugees is going to go a long way in showing people what we are really like as a nation.
posted by Pam at 6:11
PM 2 comments
Friday, September 02, 2005

Red Cross PREVENTED From Helping in New Orleans
Yes, you read that right! And it is unbelievable. A big thanks to SteveRose who posted this find at Daily Kos. Are we ready for another 9/11? Not if Hurricane Katrina is a test, because our government agencies have failed miserably.
Disaster FAQs
HurricaneKatrina:
Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans? Acess (sic) to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders. The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request---that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city. Click here to see what the Red Cross has to say.
While you're at it, write the media, your elected officials, and just generally raise hell. THIS IS WRONG. The Red Cross should given top priority considering people are DYING. Does Homeland (In)Security really believe that if people were given a few bottles of water and MRSs, that they would want to stay in an area with water contaminated with chemicals, feces, decomposing corpses, and no food? At the very least, the Red Cross should be able to go in with the rescuers to administer basic first aid, and to give out water and a meal. Even if it's bag of chips. We need some good clear, leadership on this issue, and it sure as hell doesn't seem to be coming from Bush.
posted by Pam at 10:22 PM 0 comments

Katrina
Being a weather junkie, I was glued to the television, radio, the Weather Channel, the NYT - anyplace I could get a fix. Now it's Friday and I need to get some sleep. I cannot even begin to feel the pain of the people still trapped. This is a disaster of epic proportions, and the polititians (with except few) are twiddling their thumbs
while people die.
Who's the designated Rudy Guiliani for this event? It feels like no one is in charge.In listening to Bush's televised address yesterday, it did not strike me as being his best moment. What did stick with me (maybe I was addled by lack of sleep) was that he mentioned oil and gas much more than he mentioned the human cost. If any of you out there were keeping count, let me know. I'll post them here. Or over at my weather blog.In the mean time, I'm off to take and ativan (lots of anxiety) and a hydrocodone (f-ed up back) and sleep. I'll says some prayers first because I'm grateful I'm alive and well and warm, and so is all my family.

On an unusual note, those of you who know me know I have a brother named
George who is a walking one man destruction crew. Last week he fell off a three
story building, landed on a truck and bruised his bum. Lucky bastard, and he
knows it!
posted by Pam at 11:42 AM 2 comments
Saturday, August 27, 2005

City on the Edge of Crawford, Part 2
Check out the graphic on Perrspectives.com.
It would seem that the portal's out of adjustment because some comments almost seem to be contradictory the further one travels forward in time. The war seems to be occuring backwards! Or perhaps we are seeing a bizarre parallel universe infringing on our own. Hmm. Something's not quite right here.
posted by Pam at 4:42 PM 0 comments

I'm a splitter, not a lumper...

2005-09-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

...which explains why all my political rants are being moved here.