Damon, I agree with your view of what should be done and appreciate the letter you wrote.  I will in fact, send it out to my representatives.  Thank you. 

Glad I can be of assistance.  :)  The more people that contact their representatives regarding this, the better.

W00t! The War Tapes screening is tomorrow.

Join the real-time conversation at DemocracyInteractive.com

Anger Over 2002 Vote Follows Clinton On Campaign Trail

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/02/17/anger-over-2002-vote-foll_n_41478.html

Some Comments:

"If the waffle-lady wants her credibility back, she's going to have to earn it... "

*******************************************************************************

"Remember how the Clintons handled the Lamont-Lieberman contest?

1. Before the primary, Bill campaigned for Lieberman and embraced him as a "Good Democrat," despite the fact he planned to run against the party's endorsed candidate in the general election.

2. After Lamont won the primary, Hillary quickly wrote a $5000 check to the Lamont campaign, then ran away from Connecticut as fast as she could.

The Clintons and Barbara Boxer legitimized Lieberman's independent campaign, then never returned to Connecticut to undo the damage.

Further, Joe Lieberman was given a standing ovation by Senate Democrats in a private meeting following his return to office.

Not only should the Clintons apologize for Hillary's 2002 pro-war vote, they should also apologize for their 2006 pro-Lieberman actions. "

************************************************************

"Hillary is determined to take the party down with her. Listened to Terry MacCauliffe yesterday say that they will have plenty of money. I wonder what part of "money is not speech" the Clintons don't get.

Go ahead, Hil. Spend away. A year of traveling the US has shown me that you have no chance of winning the nomination. You are hated by people you think are your base. It's amazing that she doesn't know this, or prefers to ignore it. "

Told the others that there's a new thread here.  Great one, by the way.

************

Pat: in case you missed my message on the last thread, the product is called AutoSock and, as of November 2006, it still wasn't being sold in the US.  It's quite popular in mountain areas over here.

Here's a link that will describe it.

http://www.automotiveblogger.net/ditch-your-snow-chains-and-put-on-some-socks/ 

Damon

so much to investigate so little time

thanks for the post

Reminder of video of the first Impeachment Hearing of George Bush and Richard Cheney that passed, yesterday Friday, February 16, 2007

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...


...still waiting on the youtube download.

Missie has it right!

http://www.counterpunch.org/beattie02172007.html

Respect for the office-don't you wonder about the meaning of this? Aren't you aghast that anyone would have the testicles or breasticles to blast and bash me or anyone else for criticizing the occupier of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

Respect for the office? There are so many reasons why I do not respect the office of the presidency of G. W. Bush-in fact, why I scorn the presidency of this failure of someone I have difficulty calling a man, but have no problem calling a thing, an object. This object has no respect for our military, sending our troops without proper body armor to a war based on fabricated evidence. This object has no respect for military families. He has no respect for our environment, education, or our poor. He has used chemicals which are banned by international law on the people of Iraq and has exposed our soldiers and the people of Iraq to depleted uranium.

Respect for the office means respect for the man or the woman, if and when a female shatters the gender ceiling. Please don't let it be Hillary Clinton, another object.

In order for me to respect the office of the presidency, I would have to respect the person holding that office. The current squatter deserves no respect. Instead, George Bush, the object of my disaffection, should be charged with treason.

Jay Rockefeller needs to lay out some facts to a closed session of the Senate.

Pelosi needs to give Conyers an unlimited budget.

Hi Judy

I'm working nights again so will be seeing you at the regular time.

Hey, Phil ... it's time for me to head for PillowLand ... see you in a few hours.

********

But before I go, here's a rant that is SO great ... and what I have been yelling at the TV for years ... that I am posting it here.

h/t to walldude at DU for putting it into words that are more coherent than mine.

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

How Dare You?

That should be our permanent response to this pathetic, ridiculous, "you don't support the troops" talking point. I am getting so sick and tired of the same old rhetoric coming from the same old people. Bohner actually had the nerve today to claim that Murtha's bill to insure that the troops get proper equipment, training, and a year off between deployment, was hurting the troops. This lie they have been perpetuating for 4 years now has gone beyond absurd. Olbermann reported tonight that 10 billion dollars in Iraq war money is unaccounted for. This is in addition to the 12 Billion in Iraqi money that is missing. This 10 billion is in U.S. tax dollars. But, you go to war with the army you have not the army you want right? Reminds me of the line in Batman Begins where Morgan Freeman tells Christian Bale that "The government didn't think a soldiers life was worth a $100,000" when he was asked why the high tech body armor Batman uses was never put into production.
It was Republicans who cut Veterans benefits, cut combat pay, cut housing subsidies, and cut disabled Veterans benefits. It's Republicans who think that what lowers a soldiers moral is 70% of America wanting them to come home to their families. Hey freepers, want to know what lowers a soldiers moral? Hearing that "you go to war with the army you have not the army you want" lowers morale. Hearing that "Money trumps peace" lowers morale. Fighting next to a guy who is making 5 times as much money as you are lowers moral. Getting ready to get on a plane home and then being told you have just been re-deployed hurts moral. Not knowing who the enemy is lowers morale. Having most of the soldiers and commanders say "more troops won't help" and then sending them anyway, hurts morale. Not having proper armor hurts morale, especially when 10 Billion dollars is missing. Listening to Virgina Congressman Virgle Goode claim today on the floor that if we pull out of Iraq we will have a green flag with a sickle and star flying over the White House and our money will say In Mohammad We Trust on it is probably not good for morale. Basically what Goode said was our military is so bad and our country so weak that if we pull out of Iraq our military won't be able to defend us from the terrorists and that we will become an Islamic nation. All I can say to that asshole is HOW DARE YOU! Say it folks, and keep saying it. They may have no shame but that doesn't mean we should ignore their shameful behavior. HOW DARE YOU! [...]http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x231663

Yup, here he goes again.  I wonder what he's do if Gore jumped in.  I think he likes to meddle no matter what or who.  I really dislike this man's character, too lazy to work 24/7 for his precious ideals.  What a phony!

 

Nader says he may run in 2008, especially if Clinton gets nod RAW STORY
Published: Saturday February 17, 2007
Print This  Email This Sponsored by: The Agenda with Joe Solmonese

"Former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader said he is considering a presidential run in 2008 and strongly suggested today he would enter the race if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wins the Democratic Party nomination," the San Fransisco Chronicle reported late Friday. Excerpts:

#

"She's just another bad version of (former President) Bill Clinton,'' Nader told KGO radio host Ronn Owens in San Francisco.

Asked to describe Clinton, a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination a year in advance of the primaries, Nader said: "Flatters, panders, coasting, front-runner, looking for a coronation, not taking on the huge waste in the military budget as a member of the Armed Services commission, never going after the corporate crimes against pensions, against workers. ... She has no political fortitude.''

http://www.rawstory.com//news/2007/Nader_says_he_may_run_in_0217.html 

 

Check this:

Beatboxing flute playing Inspector Gadget mix.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=59ZX5qdIEB0

Hey, guys and gals! Deans are always first.

~~~~~~~~~

Why is it that Dennis Kucinich cannot get any traction in his campaign? He has the right message for the country, a decent demeanor, not a glamor boy but not bad either, speaks to the point, has stamina, etc.

What is it that he is always near the bottom of polling.

So I'm crossing Obama off my list of maybe.  Apparently he thinks Israel has the right to pre-emptively attack other countries.  AIPAC got to him fast.  I should think the public is getting really sick of all this "special relationship" talk. And what exactly IS this special relationship?   We really need to do something about these candidates and their unswerving love and acceptance of anything Israel wants or does.

jc, how about a sticker "America First, Israel Get in Line" or something like that? 

U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama. (AP)
Last update - 16:00 17/02/2007 Sen. Obama: U.S. must support Israel's right to self defense By Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent

WASHINGTON - United States Senator Barack Obama, a Democrat from Illinois who is competing for his party's presidential nomination, told Haaretz on Thursday that the United States should help protect Israel from its "dangerous" enemies.

"My view is that the United States' special relationship with Israel obligates us to be helpful to them in the search for credible partners with whom they can make peace, while also supporting Israel in defending itself against enemies sworn to its destruction," he said.

"Israelis want more than anything to live in peace with their neighbors, but Israel also has real - and very dangerous - enemies," Obama said.

More  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/826665.html 

 

Here's Obama's message:

Israel first, America second!

13.

I like!

Never forget what the world expects us to do about Bush.    I posted this before,  but it needs to not be forgotten. 

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1059

A reminder in cartoon style what the world thinks of our leader.

Judy, it wasn't in November, it IS now.  On Ebay.  $100, $9 shipping.  Think I'm gonna get a couple.  I could be outta here right now if I had sum. . . .

The cozy relationship between Obama and AIPAC.  So if a dem wants to be prez, he/she has to kiss AIPAC ass...who in turn help the funds come in.  We need to take the money outta politics or AIPAC and the AEI  or the crazed neo-cons will control our ME policy forever.

********************* 

"But this is just the short version of the policy Obama will be officially presenting soon. This week I was told that while the venue has yet to be selected, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs conference in Washington at the end of February is one possibility. There's also a chance that he will make his comments on Israel at a Washington rally calling for the release of the abducted Israeli soldiers or while speaking to a group of Chicago Jews. One thing is quite clear: It will happen in the next two to three weeks.

I asked about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) convention in March and was told that he will speak there too, but wants to have another speech sooner. Obama doesn't want to wait such a long time - not when he is running a campaign in which he will need the support of many people who care deeply about Israel. (Oh, let's just say it: Jewish voters are major donors to the Democratic Party and its nominees.) He also wants to make sure that people will hear him, and him alone. After all, Obama will not be the only candidate speaking and getting attention at the AIPAC conference.

On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Dan Shapiro, a senior adviser to Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida), was saying goodbye to the job he has held for six years. He is as knowledgeable as anyone on Israel and the Middle East, and apart from the "real" job he got himself now, he has joined Obama's campaign as an adviser on issues related to Mideast policy."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/826665.html 

 

Thanks Judy for the info and Puddle.  We're going to look into it.  Chains are such a hassle.  Your fingers are frozen, they don't fit right, and they are cold and heavy.  I passed on the info to some of my mountain neighbors too.

The problem with driving on icy roads is the other 95% of drivers without traction, including a few even with bald tires.

Finally back online...my monitor kicked the bucket just before the Valentine's day storm. I was lost without my puter : ( ...had to listen to CM news for days, yuck!

Phil, some of the ones with 4X4s are just as bad, they think because they have better traction to go faster, this also relates to being able to stop faster...wrong! They're the ones I see in the median strip all the time. The number one rule for winter driving...slow down. When my daughter first got her license, I put studded snows on her car but still kept telling her that she was going into corners too fast. She didn't listen until one day when she did a 360 into luckily a large parking area that was empty. Scared her enough so that she slows down before the corners now and has been 360 free for 5 years.

jc...got my mugs, they're great. Wife loves the "Sheesh" ones. 

 

Pat, I've heard of chains that you just drive over after spreading them out and somehow they fasten themselves, which I don't quite believe.

 

 

The County sand truck driver always used my driveway to get off the road to safely take off his chains after spreading sand on the hill and I would be there feeding cows so I would get the first report of the day 

it is only 500 foot of elevation but a 9% slope down to the river at the end of my ridge and people would go by at the safe speed of about 35 and then some guy late for work would go by doing 70

and then the highschool kids go by talking on a cell phone and doing the same speed whatever the conditions

it truly amazes me how clueless some drivers are of the physics involved

but the courage of that first pass with that big truck with the dump box tipped up does too

thanks to all who do it Reed

Phil, we've come a long way from when I first started. The first sander that I used had spider and sprocket inside the rear wheel hub. A long rod was attached to a lever in the cab that engaged the sprocket, which was connected with a chain to the gear that turned the sander. Problem was if the wheels were sliding, the sander wasn't working.

Then came the days of the hydraulic tailgate mounted sanders, much better as material could be spread even when sliding, problem was it was behind you. I can remember too many days and nights I looked down a icy hill and prayed that no one was stuck in the middle somewhere as there was no stopping and little if any control, just catch another gear to match the wheel speed to the truck speed so you didn't go into a slide and worry about stopping at the bottom. Many still use these.

Nowadays, we have side dumps with the sander inside the bed, the spinner just behind the cab so that we spread sand before our rear wheels to drive on, no steering on ice still but tons more control. Even with the better equipment, 22 hours on the 14th was a bit much.

this country has tens of millions who step up to the plate and do the job day after day

then there are the Republicans in the Senate who can't even face a debate

HEADLINE: REPUBLICANS FEAR DEBATE, DUCK RESPONSIBILITIES

Reed

the ten day has one more big storm headed your way early week after next

be safe

we had those little patches of black ice where snow was blowing across

we need one warm day to tack it down

Throw in CM for ducking responsibilities, Anna Nicole Smith has taken up about 1/2 of all the news lately....why?

The ones that I feel for are the ones battling those lake effect snows. It can really wear on your mental state when mother nature doesn't give you a break and they need a break. Be well Phil, you've also had your fair share of nasty winter this year as well. Pillow time for me so I can rise early for roof shoveling. Winter had a slow start here but is making up for lost time, I hope our elected ones can make up for lost time as well.

23. Reed in VT

jc...got my mugs, they're great. Wife loves the "Sheesh" ones.

Great!  Hot drinks are probably really popular up there right about now!  :-) 

Reed

The big snowfall looks like the 26th for you. Rest Up.

they had a farm report from western New York where the dairy farmers have a threshing ring thing going traveling from farm to farm shoveling off the roofs as a team

rural america is becoming like the rest but there are vestiges of the old ways of cooperation

on thread I'm sure the committee chairs investigating all the malfeasence will cooperate sharing what they find just like shoveling roofs

Tee hee -- if the snow and tire chains are getting you down you guys can move to N FL -- it's about 45 degrees here tonight. Actually they forecasted 'flurries' LOL. We could use a few good liberals in these parts -- ask Charlie G.

Happy Chinese New Year ya'll. . . .

 

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=T2T4D 

I have  a post at Booman Tribune about how Clinton advisors advised 3 of our major Democrats to support the Iraq war.   Clinton approved the war himself apparently.

 http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2007/2/17/22277/8346

14.

Because

1) his name is Dennis

2) his name is Kucinich

3) he's a bit flakey, talking about mystical things and loving everybody
4) he'a a vegetarian

5) he's on his third wife

6) his plan for getting out of Iraq has so many conditions that it won't be realized

7) he's got little managerial experience

8) he asks gotcha questions that are easily dismissed

The more I learn about our major candidates, the more I want to move to Lichtenstein!

Not one more day without Gore!! 

35.

You're right. The plan was to get a foothold for the U.S. military on the Arabian Peninsula since Saudi Arabia was not working out because of religious objections. Saddam Hussein was supposed to invite us in (we don't occupy; all our 700 foreign bases are by invitation), but it seems to he wanted more than Reagan and Bush had been willing to give--he wanted Kuwait. Bush initially said "yes" and then lowered the boom because the U.S. had already decided it could have a base in Kuwait on its own. Bush I stopped short of Baghdad because the plan was still to pressure Saddam to invite us in and then Clinton kept up the pressure with the no fly zones and periodic bombing runs. By the time his term was over, the Pentagon had lost patience and they had plans for 14 bases on the drawing boards.
The real targets of the military build-up in Iraq are China and Russia, as Biden admitted just last week in his speech to the Brookings Institution. The "rise of China" and the "re-emergence of Russia" are two of our major concerns, along with nukes in North Korea and Iran, which really aren't comparable when you come to think of it. North Korea has some duds and Iran is still in the yearning stage. Russia and China are the folks with the real stuff, the real missiles that have to be defended against, if you're not willing to sit down and negotiate nuclear free zones.
Of course, if you were to negotiate away a bunch of nukes and set up a stringent inspection regime to make sure nobody was cheating, you wouldn't have any reason to order more high tech munitions and laser satellite slayers, etc. There's a lot less money in inspections than in building an arsenal.

New thread and good night.