The Deans are first.


GOOOOO Vermont!

I think Bush's secret meeting should be held in Bagdad.

Speaking of Vermont, a country doctor, former governor from there is today spreading his wings to heal America with his 50-state strategy -- thanks Howard.

What's up with the state of Vermont ?:

http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/RH/20070420/NEWS03/704200360/1004/SPORTS

Obama leads all candidates in Vermont fund-raising

April 20, 2007

The Associated Press

BURLINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama is the leading fund-raiser in Vermont, raising almost three times as much money in the state as other presidential hopefuls, Democrat or Republican.

Campaign finance records show that the Illinois senator raised $46,271 in Vermont during the first quarter. Obama's donations were made by 41 Vermonters, more than four times the number of donors who gave to other campaigns.

...

I fail to see the merit in raising more money than other candidates--just means more people are expecting to be taken care of when(if) you're elected.

 Money corrupts.

 Let's see if we can get  Obama and other money-grubbers to support publicly financed elections!

Phil -

Have you heard about this, a bio-gas converter ?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6571547.stm

It does not look particularly special; a tank, a few pipes and some foul smelling water, but a locally-built device is the talk of Leguruti village in Kilimanjaro region in northern Tanzania.

Farmer Moses Urio hopes he will no longer have to buy dieselA bio-gas converter, the first of its type in East Africa, is being tested by the 120 members of the local coffee farmers' group.

The gas can be used instead of diesel to power machines used by the farmers to process the raw coffee they grow.

This bio-gas project is a part of a larger project funded by the Swiss government's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) to boost the incomes of Tanzanian coffee farmers.

It is a simple idea. Waste water from the processing of the raw coffee beans is high in acid and it is this acid that micro-organisms like to feed on.

The by-product of the feeding process is methane gas, which can be used to drive engines.

'Amazed'

The savings could be considerable. It costs around $1 an hour to power the pulper machine, so the farmers group could save around $4 a day or $28 a week.

The waste water is produced when the beans are pulped

"We're amazed that we can make power from water which we have always considered as useless and just thrown away," said farmer Moses Charles Urio.

The waste water comes from the group's pulper machine, which washes and prepares the green beans picked off the coffee bushes.

...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laurie-david-and-sheryl-crow/karl-rove-gets-thrown-und_b_46501.html

ROVE-PUTZ DISSES CHERYL CROW

In his attempt to dismiss us, Mr. Rove turned to head toward his table, but as soon as he did so, Sheryl reached out to touch his arm. Karl swung around and spat, "Don't touch me." How hardened and removed from reality must a person be to refuse to be touched by Sheryl Crow? Unphased, Sheryl abruptly responded, "You can't speak to us like that, you work for us." Karl then quipped, "I don't work for you, I work for the American people." To which Sheryl promptly reminded him, "We are the American people."

At that point Mr. Rove apparently decided he had had enough. Like a groundhog fearful of his own shadow, he scurried to his table in an attempt to hibernate for another year from his responsibility to address global warming. Drama aside, you would expect as an American citizen to be able to engage in a civil discussion with a public official. Instead, Mr. Rove was dismissive, condescending, and quite frankly a bully.

Obama’s Refusal of Lobbyists’ Money Has its Limits
by DanPublished on Sunday, April 22, 2007 by Los Angeles Times
Obama’s Refusal of Lobbyists’ Money Has its Limits
by Dan Morain

WASHINGTON - While pledging to turn down donations from lobbyists themselves, Sen. Barack Obama raised more than $1 million in the first three months of his presidential campaign from law firms and companies that have major lobbying operations in the nation’s capital.Portraying himself as a new-style politician determined to reform Washington, Obama makes his policy clear in fundraising invitations, stating that he takes no donations from “federal lobbyists.” His aides announced last week he was returning $43,000 to lobbyists who donated to his campaign.

But the Illinois Democrat’s policy of shunning money from lobbyists registered to do business on Capitol Hill does not extend to lawyers whose partners lobby there.

Nor does the ban apply to corporations that have major lobbying operations in Washington. And the prohibition does not extend to lobbyists who ply their trade in such state capitals as Springfield, Ill.; Tallahassee, Fla.; and Sacramento, though some deal with national clients and issues.
Power provider’s largess

.....

Obama’s biggest single source of corporate money - $160,000 - came from executives at Exelon Corp., the nation’s largest nuclear power provider, and its subsidiary, Commonwealth Edison, an Illinois utility.

Exelon spent $500,000 to influence policy in Washington last year. Although Obama took no money from Exelon’s Washington lobbyists, he accepted $1,000 checks from lobbyists John P. Novak and James Monk of Springfield. In Springfield, Novak represents Exelon., and Monk is president of the Illinois Energy Assn., a trade group that represents Commonwealth Edison.

On May 2, Obama is scheduled to attend a $2,300-per-ticket breakfast 10 blocks from the Capitol. The hosts include 22 lawyers. Although they are not federal lobbyists, three in the past have been registered lobbyists; they all work at firms that have Washington lobbying operations or hire outside lobbying firms to contact lawmakers.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007...

6.

Yes, and I bet that if they run the water through a couple more times and filter it, they'll end up with a drinking-water quality effluent. What most people don't know is that domestic waste water treatment plants can rely on "bugs" (microbes) to clean up the water. They do produce methane, as does your septic tank, if you have one, which is usually just released into the atmosphere. In the northeast, where sewage treatment tanks are covered over to maintain the requisite temperature for the bugs to keep working, the methane could probably be collected and piped for some useful purpose.
Here in New Hampshire, the major landfill is going to get a methane collection system and the gas will be piped to the University to be used in its heating and cooling plant.
There's all kinds of fun stuff for engineers to do, if they're not busy designing new missiles and bombs.

and rove is a coward, at that.

go sheryl crow and laurie david.

Monica -

Thanks for the response.  Yes, waste water can be a solution. I'm just glad to hear that Tanzanian farmers are starting to "get it" about the fact that you can be environmentally-friendly and reduce your operating costs.

BTW - I have a septic tank.

some of the speakers for the take back america conference in june:

where is howard?

linda b...but I don't yet see Senator LIEberman on the list?

http://www.justiceforbush.com/new/index....

Bloggie seems a little sticky.

FAILURE OF THE PRESS--SY HERSH

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/14010621/national_affairs_cheneys_nemesis_seymour_hersh_reveals_white_houses_secret_plan_to_bomb_iran/print

In the Nixon years, you had the press turning against the Vietnam War after the Tet Offensive, you had Watergate, you had all these reasons why the press became involved in bringing the Nixon administration to an end. But it hasn't performed that function in Bush's case. Why do you think that is?

I don't know. It's very discouraging. I've had conversations with senior people at my old newspaper, the Times, who know that there are serious problems there. It's not that they shouldn't run the stories that they run. They run stories that represent the government's view, because there are people at the Times who have access to senior people in the government. They see the national security adviser, they see Condoleezza Rice, and they have to reflect their view. That's their job. What doesn't get reported is the other side. What I always loved about the Times when I worked there is that I could write what the kiddies down the line said. But that doesn't happen now. You're not getting broad, macro coverage from the White House that represents anything like opposition. And there is opposition -- the press just doesn't know how to deal with it.

Bennett, a lawyer that gets around:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aHaHO7IhhIvk

Wolfowitz Hires Ex-Clinton Lawyer as Board Mulls Fate (Update2)

By William McQuillen

April 23 (Bloomberg) -- World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, under investigation by the bank's board of directors, hired Robert Bennett, an attorney who represented former President Bill Clinton against sexual harassment claims.

...

With Bennett, Wolfowitz brings a lawyer experienced in handling crises. The attorney represented Clinton during the sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Paula Jones. He also worked for former New York Times reporter Judith Miller in a case involving the leak of the identity of a covert Central Intelligence Agency agent.

``I believe in the mission of this organization, and I believe I can carry it out,'' Wolfowitz said April 16. ``This is important work and I intend to continue it.''

Did America learn anything from Vietnam?

(same link as 16)

No. We made the same dumb mistake. One of the arguments for going into Vietnam was that we had to stop the communist Chinese. The Chinese were behind everything -- we saw them and North Vietnam as one and the same. In reality, of course, the Chinese and the Vietnamese hated each other -- they had fought each other for 1,000 years. Four years after the war ended, in 1979, they got into a nasty little war of their own. So we were totally wrong about the entire premise of the war. And it's the same dumbness in this war, with Saddam and the terrorists.

On the other hand, I would argue that some key operators, the Cheney types, they learned a great deal about how to run things and how to hide stuff over those years.

From the press?
Oh, come on, how hard is it to hide things from the press? They don't care that much about the straight press. What these guys have figured out is that as long as they have Fox and talk radio, they're OK in the public opinion. They control that hard. It kept the ball in Iraq in the air for a couple of years longer than it should have, and it cost Kerry the presidency. But now it's over -- Iraq's done. A lot of the conservatives who promoted the war are now very much against it. Some of the columnists in this town who were beating the drums for that war really owe an apology. It's a sad time for the American press.

What can be done to fix the situation?
[Long pause] You'd have to fire or execute ninety percent of the editors and executives. You'd actually have to start promoting people from the newsrooms to be editors who you didn't think you could control. And they're not going to do that.

17. LOL That's pretty good. "When you need the best, go Democrat" should be under "actions" in the RNC when you need legal help. Rove hired top Democrat too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_S._Bennett

Robert S. Bennett (born 1939) is an American attorney best known for representing President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky investigation. Bennett is also famous for representing Judith Miller in the Valerie Plame case, Caspar Weinberger of Iran Contra fame and Clark Clifford in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandal.

...

He is a partner with the firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Washington, D.C.

...

He is the older brother of William J. Bennett.

...

me thinks LIEberman will not be invited. have never seen him on the list.

we want howard.

A mess either way---

http://nationaljournal.com/njcover.htm

"This will be a much harder exercise than the actual invasion," said retired Col. Richard Sinnreich, a noted SAMS graduate who served on both the Joint Staff and the National Security Council. "During an invasion, the curve representing your capabilities and relative strength goes steadily up, and the situation becomes safer and safer as the operation progresses. As you pull forces out, it reverses, and your strength curve goes down, and the situation becomes steadily more dangerous.
[...]
But all of those options require the careful planning and hard decision-making that Sinnreich fears are being stymied by the deadlock in Washington. "The downside of this political theater in Washington, and the disingenuous refusal to admit that we've lost the political will to keep American troops heavily engaged in Iraq indefinitely," he said, "is that it keeps military planners from developing a timetable and a deliberate plan for withdrawal."

It's almost impossible for the military to seriously plan for a contingency -- withdrawal -- that the commander-in-chief won't even discuss, Sinnreich noted. "The probability that it would leak to the press is too high, and no one in uniform wants to take that chance," he said. "Yet only with deliberate planning will we be able to take some of the sting out of what will surely be seen as a U.S. retreat. My point is, there are defeats -- and then there are defeats."
[...]
Whoever is commander-in-chief on the day the Washington clock expires on Iraq is going to face agonizing decisions that are well above the pay grade of anyone in uniform. A withdrawal of major combat forces would arguably mean a pullout from urban areas such as Baghdad and Anbar province, with units probably consolidating at first in a few large operating bases in isolated regions, for better force protection. Civilian reconstruction teams and thousands of civilian contractors may have to be withdrawn from the field, and evacuation plans would have to be put in place for embassy personnel -- and for the thousands of Iraqis who have closely aided U.S. forces and may not want to gamble on staying behind when the Americans leave.
[..]

http://tbogg.blogspot.com/2007/04/five-not-for-fighting-willard-mitt.html

did u know mitt romney has FIVE sons? and not one in the service? read this little ditty.

and mitt got angry.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/Political%20Tracking/Democratic%20Primaries/DemocraticPresidentialPrimary.htm

2008 Democratic Presidential Primary

Obama, Clinton Tied

For the fourth straight week, Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D) has gained ground and he has finally caught New York Senator Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination. It’s now Obama 32% Clinton 32% and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards holding steady at 17%.  New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is a distant fourth at 3%. Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Biden each attract 1% support. So does General Wesley Clark.

Obama has been steadily gaining ground during April. Last week, Clinton had a two-point lead. Two weeks ago, it was Clinton by five. The week before that, the former First Lady was up by seven. Our last release in March found Clinton enjoying a double digit lead.  Clinton now holds a narrow edge among white voters while Obama leads by 16% among African-Americans.

A separate survey showed that Obama has the highest level of core support among all Presidential candidates—33% of voters say they’d definitely vote for him if he’s on the ballot in November 2008.

...

Among all voters, Clinton is viewed favorably by 50% and unfavorably by 49%. Obama’s numbers are a bit stronger—59% favorable and 34% unfavorable. The two candidates are essentially even among Democrats—Clinton is viewed favorably by 74% in her party while Obama is viewed favorably by 72%. Among unaffiliated voters, Clinton is viewed favorably by 50%, Obama by 67%.

...

rdorgan

Obama's stands are a hard read if you follow closely, so it is hard to be against (unfavorable).

He won't be able to get away with that indefinitely.

Those kind of polls are kind of meaningless right now. 

If I were him I'd play it up though because it is the main thing he has going for him. 

FIVE NOT FOR FIGHTING

Maybe these guys will help out:

This is Tagg. Tagg is 37 and likes spending time with his wife and kids, baseball (go Sox), basketball (go Celtics), waterskiing, horses, travel, snow skiing, movies, trust funds, and not fighting in godforsaken hell-holes in the Middle East. Tagg is an Aries.

This is Matt. Matt is 35 and likes hanging out with family, basketball, Scuba diving, hiking, tennis, the remote control, trying new restaurants, trust funds, and not wearing forty pounds of kevlar in 110 degrees. Matt is a Scorpio.

This is Josh. Josh is 31 and likes surfing, waterskiing, snowskiing, reading, travelling (sic), playing with his three children, trust funds, and not dodging sniper fire in Fallujah. Josh is a Leo.

This is Ben. Ben is 28 and is somewhat private about what he likes, but his hero is his dad who has provided him with a trust fund. Ben is studying to be a doctor, but not one of those doctors who performs triage in Ramadi on soldiers with severe head trauma. Ben is a Gemini.

This is Craig. Craig is 25 and likes longboarding, Baseball, Volleyball, Surfing, Snorkeling, Lacrosse, Music, trust funds, wearing his trucker hat backwards and listening to The Whitest Boy Alive (which kind of goes hand in hand), and not having to wonder if second base is an IED when he plays baseball. Craig is a Taurus.

One might think "at this stage of the conflict" that Willard-Mitt might call his Osmond Bunch together and say, " Boys. I'm going to need one of you to set an example for the country

THOSE CUTE GUYS ARE MITT'S SONS, NOT ONE IN THE MILITARY.

http://tbogg.blogspot.com/2007/04/five-not-for-fighting-willard-mitt.html

There are some on that list I'd love to be associated with -- and some I wouldn't. 

SUCCESS of the PRESS

The Corporate Press (Main Stream Media) has been a great success.  They are executing the Corporate Agenda developed when they picked President Bush.  The Corporations have a financial interest in sustaining the Bush Presidency from expanding ownership of communications; corporate tax breaks; Globalization, etc,etc,etc.

Corporate America has gone Global and the job of the Press is to faciltate the "globalization of America"; outsourcing jobs and insourcing labor to keep  profits high.  America's middle class is the victim!

The Blogs can work for the American People, if they don't sell out  to the Corporations.  Beware the Corps!   Wake Up America. the "Press News" is cooked by crooks!

Phil -

The polls do show traction though.

Segwaying, did you see comment # 6 above, that Monica responded to in # 9 ?

Gun Store Owner - If Someone Else Had A Gun Tragedy Might Have Been Averted

Today on Fox & Friends Caroline Shively reported on the gun store where the 9 mm gun had been purchased. She said the glock was bought in a gun store about 40 miles from the school in Roanoke, Virginia. Shively said the gun store owner said it wasn't the problem of Cho buying the gun, that was legal, the problem was that no one on campus was allowed to have a gun.

http://www.newshounds.us/2007/04/18/gun_...

Yes linda b, I doubt LIEberman will be any where near the Take Back America Conference, mainly because that's not something he subsribes to. As a few of them that will be there. But now, if he was running for Prednizet again, he would be embracing those mostly lefty, liberal, grassroots, bloggers. :)

good news for all those affected, FREE (did you hear, free !) Credit Monitoring:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070421/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/government_data_breach;_ylt=At6_U87.BWV9r0oeH.PRL94Gw_IE

Fed breach leaks Social Security numbers

By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN, Associated Press Writer Sat Apr 21, 1:20 AM ET

WASHINGTON - The Social Security numbers of 63,000 people who received Agriculture Department grants have been posted on a government Web site since 1996, but they were taken down last week. Free credit monitoring is being offered to those affected.

...

The Agriculture data that included Social Security numbers were removed from the Web on April 13 and similar data from 32 other agencies were taken down April 17 as a precaution, said Agriculture spokeswoman Terri Teuber.

...

The breach was discovered by Marsha Bergmeier, president of Mohr Family Farms in Fairmount, Ill. "I was Googling my farm name at 11 p.m. when I couldn't sleep," she said in a telephone interview, and details of her land loan came up in the second listing of the Google search, a private Web site that reposted the government data.

The next morning, April 13, she contacted the Agriculture Department, her congressman, Rep. Tim Johnson (news, bio, voting record), the private Web site and the Census Bureau and was surprised by how quickly they removed the personal information.

"If somebody downloaded it, it's still out there in the world," she said. "That will never be a private number again."

Chris Hoofnagle, senior attorney at the University of California at Berkeley law school clinic on technology, said the only federal law violated by such a breach is the Privacy Act, but the Supreme Court had ruled last year that victims could only collect damages for measurable losses to ID thieves, not merely for anxiety.

...

C-Span pushes the Republicans Agenda and dismisses the Democrats Agenda. 

That depends on which Democratic agenda you mean. Many Democrats, maybe even most, push a corporate agenda themselves.

rdorgan

yes you can make bio-gas from any kind of organic matter(grass clippings for sure)

thanks for the story

in India they make cooking gas from cow dung that is caught in inner tubes and simply burned off for the flame to cook with, the process is simple, the results very variable according to analysis of input so not commercially saleable hence no interest here

but guys could do their lawn work, pile in the clippings, and fire up the grill

Worth a repost, I believe.

Not a fan of Bill Richardson, but he is spot on about the equalizing effect of debates.

Like volunteers, debates are worth far more than $$$ campaign contributions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/23/us/politics/23debates.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

And, as always, it is so very good to be here among friends.

Sitka
Mon, 04/23/07
11:37 am

Reply to this

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

Hi Sitka. Make sure you include Kucinich by name in that "Corporatist Group" - lol.

There are some on that list I'd love to be associated with -- and some I wouldn't. 

me too, but you can choose who you want to go and hear and they have great workshops and networking.

the only ones missing are howard and bill moyers.

35.

Phil Specht
Mon, 04/23/07
11:39 am

rdorgan

yes you can make bio-gas from any kind of organic matter(grass clippings for sure)
...
in India they make cooking gas from cow dung that is caught in inner tubes and simply burned off for the flame to cook with, the process is simple, the results very variable...

-----------

I might be wrong on this but scalability of the above proposition remind me the times (I guess 50th?) when China's countryside families were encouraged to produce metal...from row material..., the idea, of course failed miserably.

anyone here going to TBA conference in June. I am still considering it.

Linda in SFNM,

I just sent you an email, check it out and let me know what you decide to do.

Lynn in Cincinnati

Yeah, everybody on campus should have a gun. Right.
Beer Pong will become a lethal sport.
Jane

And INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING is the best! Go Vermont, and may the rest of us follow your example!
jane

42. Lynn, so nice....and u hav email too :)

oops 41, 42...what's the difference....definitely not my age anymore. :)

Trump regarding Bush:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a30rJQbDDno

fyi - new thread