Howard is first as always.

Last are all the Republicans on the morning shows today.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MOTHERS INCLUDING DADS WHO RAISE CHILDREN ALONE.

Happy Mother's Day

Obama is backpedaling on the negotiations over withdrawal on This Week. How can you be against the war and not ready to insist on a direction that is out?

3. Thank you Phil.

Note:

You can't be against the war
if you're not for ending the war. NOW.

Good Morning All.


Happy Mothers Day to all you Mothers! :)

Going to see me Mom today but wanted to wish all moms out there a Happy Moms Day before I left.

The more I find out about politics in this country (both past and present), the more bummed out I get...is there really any chance of changing anything?

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/05/13/youth_voters_a_force_in_08_race/?page=3

By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff  |  May 13, 2007

NEW YORK -- Young voters, who for decades played a marginal role in electoral politics, have emerged as a powerful new force in the 2008 elections and are poised to determine the next president as a result of an explosion in political activity among youth, according to pollsters, political organizers, and young voters themselves.

...

Young voters favor Senator Barack Obama of Illinois among the Democratic contenders and Giuliani among the GOP candidates, according to the Institute of Politics survey. College supporters of both men cited a mutual desire to elect someone they said was not mired down in Washington politics and who could unite the country.

While the jump in young voters stands to have a big impact on both parties' primaries, Democrats are well positioned to benefit from the trend in the general election. Unlike the previous generation -- the voting patterns of which largely mirrored the electorate as a whole -- the current crop of young voters is increasingly Democratic, according to a survey of "Generation Next" by the Pew Research Center.

...

Happy Mothers day to all mothers here.

I'm off to church.

Since my occupation is working with animal moms, you know I appreciate Mothers every day of the year. Today however one Mom gets the computer anytime she wants so goodbye for now. bbl.  I remain a proud dad but I know who deserves most of the credit in our child raising and it isn't me..

Good morning Phil and LInda,

This Week doesn't come on the air here for another hour.

I expect that by the time the primaries take place early next year, circumstances could be much different than they are now. So, for me, too early to judge that.

What I am looking for is their rock-solid, non-changing views now on important domestic issues.

Reed

It will be a long haul. But what in life worth anything comes easy?

Obama did not impress me.  Bring them home NOW !

Sen. Barrack Obama seems to want to be the guy who can in perhaps many weeks or over many meetings come to a solution, much like arbitration, that noone really likes - but then again they will still be mad at each other not him.

He had no explanation for what makes him think that in a crisis he has the stuff to be in front and in charge. He didn't even meander an answer, and meandering seems to be his strong suit.

Overall, a very bad showing.

On the other hand, Cokie Roberts did way better than him in selling... him. That is a bad sign, she is almost always wrong.

Obama does not impress me in the least

Why do Republicans and presidential candidate,Senator John McCain, think that its A-OK to nation-build in Iraq, but it wasn't in the African country of Somalia in 1993? Tim Russert just pointed that out to Sen. McCain.

... but there is great news for Democrats!!

John McCain did even more horribly in front of Tim Russert. There seems to be an exactly opposite stated position for every issue that Mccain takes from ... himself. He even chuckles about it. He is a loser of his own making, but he calls it courage.
I call it finger in the wind... the same wind just blows that kind of courage away. Bye, bye John. Enter Mitt Romney.

... oh yeah, Rudy is taking a beating on Faux Gnews. He too is a jellyfish, no backbone.

I. Roads to Damascus

At a meeting in mid-April in Geneva, held by António Guterres, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, the numbers presented confirmed what had long been suspected: the collapse of Iraq had created a refugee crisis, and that crisis was threatening to precipitate the collapse of the region. The numbers dwarfed anything that the Middle East had seen since the dislocations brought on by the establishment of Israel in 1948. In Syria, there were estimated to be 1.2 million Iraqi refugees. There were another 750,000 in Jordan, 100,000 in Egypt, 54,000 in Iran, 40,000 in Lebanon and 10,000 in Turkey. The overall estimate for the number of Iraqis who had fled Iraq was put at two million by Guterres. The number of displaced Iraqis still inside Iraq’s borders was given as 1.9 million. This would mean about 15 percent of Iraqis have left their homes....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/magazine/13refugees-t.html?th&emc=th

Happy Mother's Day

Obama is backpedaling on the negotiations over withdrawal on This Week. How can you be against the war and not ready to insist on a direction that is out?

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

Maybe he doesn't have an exit strategy?  That's what I keep saying here.  It is very difficult politically or even sensibly (from a logistics point of view) to talk about "out now" without a plan.  The plan needs to have some form of political organization that has hope of being a success. 

As I have said, encouraging an elaborate relocation of a specified Iraqi families and neighborhoods to friendly enclaves and districts, with strong local security and government, will give the country a great deal of stability or at least place it in that direction.  The central governent would be less powerful and no longer the sole distributor of US funds, training, and arms.

That is the kind of process one would need for a responsible exit strategy.

McCain made a comment that made sense, but then he came back with one that didn't. And the one that did make sense really undermines the one that didn't. He said you can't have an effective and functioning government unless there is a secure environment to operate in. I sure do agree with that. Then, he goes off and says we have only 4 of the 5 combat brigades, or 80 percent of the escalation in troops in Iraq. I ask what difference is another 4000 or so troops and their support going to make in a vast city of 6 million people? Not only that, but you have a US commander requesting more troops to deal with the insurgency in Diyala province. Where do they come from? It all goes back to the president not adequately preparing this nation for a long and protracted ground war...one that has led to the deaths of over 3,350 young Americans. It is truly disgusting.

15.

Deaniac,

Enter Mitt Romey? His is the epitamy of "finger in the wind." Howard describes him as the Republican candidate flip-flopper rather than some other obvious ones -- McCain, Guiliani, Hagel.

So far Repugs have candidates that are flip-floppers, evolution denyers, liars and extremists.

18.

Fred,

I agree. It is what Joe Biden has been preaching for months, if not years.    

Some might say it is unworkable, but nothing else is perfectly workable either and it seems to me that those that claim it is unworkable are those that do not want the blasted war to ever end.

Biden's plan probably has the most promise of success. Even if not initially implemented, it will probably be the way Iraq will end up in years to come, or another dictator like Saddam Hussein was.

Howard Dean's Web Experts Help 2008 Dems

May 21, 2007 issue - Joe Rospars, a Howard Dean Web strategist, was at Vermont HQ when he got the bad news. The calls came from co-workers who'd flown out to Iowa, a week before the 2004 caucuses, to help. Sure, they said, Dean's Net team lured 8,000 supporters to the Hawkeye State. But once those volunteers descended, things got painfully low-tech. They highlighted voter lists, cut them into pieces and glued like-colored strips on new sheets of paper. Using these scraps to walk the precincts, they wound up knocking on the same doors over and over. Iowans were irritated—and so was Rospars.

More at 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18628958/site/newsweek/?from=rss

Organic bees are #1. Five bee hives called our property "home". Ohio beekeepers pay an annual fee to NOT have the state highway spray weed killer on the shoulders. One day they goofed and sprayed in front of our property. The local beekeepers assoc. just happened to have a state AG rep. speak at their next meeting. He felt the full fury so to speak. I raised the question as to why, when the state already had the equipment to cut the high grass along the shoulders, that they spent tax dollars on spray equipment that they delivered on the same vehicles. The next time the Hghwy. Dept. came around they were again cutting the grass and not spraying it, and our progressive bees kept on creating things like golde rod honey, Mmmm.

All the farmers in the area had ponds created by highway construction. The farmers raised fish organically by dumping bails of straw rich with all kinds of delicious stuff like bird "do", and eggs etc. The state ran a fish hatchery where the water was as blue as the sky because they sprayed insecticide. They couldn"t figure how the farmers raised fish that were so much larger than theirs. You can tell the difference between "corporate fish and "progressive" fish.

18.

Fred,

I agree. It is what Joe Biden has been preaching for months, if not years.    

Some might say it is unworkable, but nothing else is perfectly workable either and it seems to me that those that claim it is unworkable are those that do not want the blasted war to ever end...

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

Well, thanks, Joan, for something besides the mindless mottos and mantras of  "out now" (which I am not against, per se) - your response brings to mind a thought - that many here don't really care if the war ends, whether we are there or not.  Getting out will end what Bush calls the "war on terrorism."

While I admit our military tactics really don't help and probably make things worse, they don't really need us there to have a war, and it will continue without us there.  However, we can use our troops for strictly defensive security purposes as we work out a political solution for the country, in tandem with the UN, and/or NATO,  and/or the Arab league, and local representative of the Iraqi people, to redistrict the country into States and provinces with local security and peacekeeping forces.

Then we can leave and it will be a win win situation in the long run.

Good morning Joan!

So what is Joe Rospars trying to do? As he being media director, go after Joe Trippi on the opposition campaign? LOL

25.

Who knows Linda about Joe Rospars. I never was a fan of his in the Dean days.

~~~~~~~~

Just watched Stephie's interview of Obama. I saw no backtracking. If you listen to him and read what he has said in the past, there was nothing new or different today than he has been saying before.

But it's going to be a difficult choice for me as there are several candidates I really like. I'm just happy to be a Democrat and not have to pick from what the Repugs are offering up.

Hagel and Scheiffert talking about  Independent candidates for the presidency - they should be talking about a constitutional amnendment to create a runoff system - since that is the only way any "multi-party" system is going to work under our present form of government.

Beautiful pic of my youngest granddaughter on baby. . . .

clicky!

http://eatapyzch.blogspot.com/

Biden's not going to make it, so wasting breath or brains on him is pointless. Joe Biden is no Howard Dean. . . .

25.

Who knows Linda about Joe Rospars. I never was a fan of his in the Dean days.

~~~~~~~~

Just watched Stephie's interview of Obama. I saw no backtracking. If you listen to him and read what he has said in the past, there was nothing new or different today than he has been saying before.

But it's going to be a difficult choice for me as there are several candidates I really like. I'm just happy to be a Democrat and not have to pick from what the Repugs are offering up.

+++

Joan -

Amen.

I'm glad for the choices us dems have this election cycle. As for the repubs, yeah Mitt Romney used to be the governor here in Massacusetts. His one term even left the repubs here disappointed in him.

puddle,

I hope you didn't take my post as though I were supporting Joe Biden!!! I can't picture him as POTUS, only better than any Repug.

Beautiful granddaughter puddle on baby, cute pose too.

We have a new great-granddaughter, our second, both daughters of our oldest grandson. Makes one think ancient. The grandson's father, our youngest son, came by last night to stay on his way to N.C. and brought me an iPod for Mother's Day. Yes!!!

He said I had every other new, up-to-date electronic contraption and, since I walk and do "Y" with a Sony Walkman, he thought I was quite out of fashion there. Now, to find the time to download some music.

My Lingering Doubts about Obama's Foreign Policy

Senator Barack Obama has become a major celebrity, a truth that is now almost a cliché. His campaign has raised massive amounts of funding. He draws large and enthusiastic crowds when he appears. Often described as charismatic, he is more importantly smart and well spoken.

Yet before I jump into his campaign, I have a few questions that I first want to share with you and which I hope he will address in the not-too-distant future.

There is a way in which I cannot tell who is the real Senator Obama. For one, he has not carved out—at least as of this writing—any cutting edge issues where he is taking the lead and defining the terrain. Second, and to some extent more troubling, he permits people to see and assume in him what they want to see and assume. I have said to many of my friends that this situation reminds me of an episode from the original Star Trek series where there was a creature that appears to the viewer the way the viewer would like to see it.

I am, to add to this, very uneasy about some of the Senator’s foreign policy pronouncements, particularly with regard to the Middle East. To his credit, he opposed the Iraq invasion and had the courage to say so. Yet over the last year, he has displayed a peculiarly uncritical stance when it comes to Israel and has all-but-ignored the plight of the Palestinians. This past summer, when Israel launched its massive and deadly assault on Lebanon, the Senator was quite vocal in his support. He seemed to miss the Israeli use of illegal cluster bombs and the lies the Israelis offered for their unapologetic destruction of entire Lebanese civilian communities.



Further, the Senator seems to ignore the atrocious conditions being faced by the Palestinians who, after all, are occupied by the Israelis in violation of United Nations’ resolutions. This occupation is worsening with the creation of what some people describe as the “apartheid wall”, and what I simply call the "wall of death," that the Israelis are building as they carve out the land they wish to control in perpetuity.

Compounding this odd situation, the Senator seems to want to be a “hawk” when it comes to Iran, describing that country as a threat to Israel and the USA. Here again I remain perplexed. Iran does not have the military capability to hit the USA. There is absolutely no proof of Iran advancing military nuclear ambitions. It is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Everything else is speculation. Israel, on the other hand, has not signed the treaty, possesses nuclear weapons but will not acknowledge that fact, and has assisted apartheid South Africa in developing weapons of mass destruction. India, to use another example, has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has nuclear weapons, has those weapons pointed at Pakistan (which has its own weapons pointed at India), has fought several wars with Pakistan, and yet received nuclear support from President Bush and the US Congress. I cannot find any record of Senator Obama suggesting a tough stand against either of these countries, irrespective of his particular concerns with the Indian nuclear deal. Perhaps I did not Google long enough???

So, I think we need to understand the Senator’s thinking. After having what many observers described as a friendly relationship with Arab Americans over the years, the Senator appears to have yelled, “abandon ship” and jumped into an anti-Palestinian and anti-Iranian lifeboat.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/229/229_...

Puddle, she's a cutie...but then again, all the photo's I've seen have proven your family to all be good lookin'...no doubt they got that from you!

31.

Linda*in*SFNM
Sun, 05/13/07
12:37 pm


...
There is a way in which I cannot tell who is the real Senator Obama...
--------
!!!
Gravel-2008!

9.

Phil Specht
Sun, 05/13/07
10:00 am

....
It will be a long haul. But what in life worth anything comes easy?
------

Who knows ..., who knows.
Shorter haul does not necessarily means an easier one.

Biden's not going to make it, so wasting breath or brains on him is pointless. Joe Biden is no Howard Dean. . .

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

It sounds like you are assuming that every point made on this blog must be germaine to supporting  someone for the presidency.  I like Biden's ideas and would not object to his being a candidate, but that is far from my mind when I refer to his expressed strategies on how to end the Iraq occupation.

Biden might even be better able to execute such a strategy as Secretary of State than President

Happy Mothers Day to all you MOMs on the blog.

Just found out that Randy Rhodes is going to be at the TBA conf. in June.

We already have a table full of friends to meet up with. Can't wait. See you on Cspan.

28.
puddle
Sun, 05/13/07
11:48 am


Biden's not going to make it, so wasting breath or brains on him is pointless. Joe Biden is no Howard Dean. . .
-------
Puddle, let's go with Gravel!
Don't you like this old, wise man (also, btw, professional. politician in the past) who has finally lost his patience with American politics as usual?

Gravel-2008!

Puddle, let's go with Gravel!
Don't you like this old, wise man (also, btw, professional. politician in the past) who has finally lost his patience with American politics as usual?

Gravel-2008!

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

Gravel is like the Archie Bunker of the Left

wow looks like we got some cleaning up to do.

bush was just at jamestown to commemorate 400 years of the landing.

so....................to talk about democracy they shut down jamestown so the boy king could talk about democracy. the same ol lame excuse for a diktator using his same ol mantra.

so. looks like we need to get out the hose and wash that area clean of his stench.

thank goodness he didn't go to va tech for the graduation. it went quite well without him.

my son said it was very nice. General Abizaid was the speaker on Friday nite. why, I have no idea.

My son was impressed that they gave an honorary degree to The guy from the movie "october sky",  Homer Hickam, who was a tech graduate.

that is an excellent movie and story.

Happy Mother's Day!  and yes, to all the Dad's who are raising children alone, too.

My problem with most all the candidates is -- I keep comparing them to Howard.  Where is their  passion, their ability to 'talk' to all of us -- to express the real human seriousness of what's happening to our country and military.    It seems they're tippy toeing, being so careful not to lose 'one' vote from every group out here.   Lord, I'm ready to check out Chuck Hagel!  Still like Joe, though....

 I got Great Grandma and Grandpa a new singing phone  - changed it from "I'm Bad to the Bone!"....to Elvis - "I just want to be your Teeedddy bear". : )

Good Day all - count your blessings.

FRED from OR
Sun, 05/13/07
1:04 pm
___________________________________________________________________________

Fred,

I like Gravel..........hes a throwback to the politicians of the 60s and 70s........a straight shooter and a nice brath of fresh air from the pre-packaged, phoney baloney, middle eastern , religion dominated ,phoney balonies we see today...................

All this nonsense started under Reagan......IMO..tell the people what they want to hear, pump up the military...........throw God in every other sentence and there ya go......................

Linda*in*SFNM
Sun, 05/13/07
12:37 pm
__________________________________________________________________________

Good post..........Obama will fool a good % of the people........thats to be expected.............

Our unfair, foolish and one sided foreign policy in the ME, along with bakcing corrupt Arab regimes has put a target on our backs now...................if many Americans are OK with that, then fine...........I, am not however.

I like Gravel..........hes a throwback to the politicians of the 60s and 70s........a straight shooter and a nice brath of fresh air from the pre-packaged, phoney baloney, middle eastern , religion dominated ,phoney balonies we see today...................

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

Those are exactly the things people liked about the Archie Bunker character, even if they were not conservatives.

It is easier to talk the talk than to walk the walk - I haven't heard or read that much of him but he seems to be too simplistic, i.e. everybody is so dumb when the solutions are so simple)  Well the solutions are never THAT simple in the real world. 

Has he said anything about the holy grail of political reform, the multi-party system?  The first step there is to have mandatory run-off elections if there is no clear majority winner.  Has he said one thing about that?

FRED from OR
Sun, 05/13/07
1:28 pm
__________________________________________________________________________

Fred,

You neednt worry about the likes of Gravel, Dean..maybe even Gore............this countries destiny has laready been pre chosen by the military industrial complex, religious right(to a much lesser extent), big corporations and one or two ME nations that have assured of us disaster after disaster for the next 25 years or so if we get that far......................

Michael Ellis
Sun, 05/13/07
1:33 pm

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

not worried, just  tire of the sensational splash and hoopla.   He's a great entertainer, but seriously folks.

Who the hell cares what Cheney says?

 He has a single-digit approval rating, and the media are still kow-towing

42.

Michael Ellis



I suspect the Black Commentator should be paying better attention, but it's hard to say. Because they called him out in his Senatorial campaign questioning his values. Shocked that he joined the DLC. And asking why he softened on the Iraq War as his Senatorial campaign furthered.

Obama responded that that he didn't know he would be on the 100 Rising Stars for the DLC, he had just filled out a 3 line questionare witht he DLC 1 year prior. (thats an answer?) and That he may have removed his anti Iraq War speech, just to talk about new things, he's still opposed to it (wink, wink) But he is still talking about the danger of our rights being impacted with the Patriot Act and the upcoming Pariot Act 2. (but then he voted for that when he got in the Senate too)


They, more than anyone, should no how his rhetoric is empty promises and how his votes rarely match his speeches, at least when it matters most.

GOOD TAKE ON OBAMA

http://www.alternet.org/story/51754/

I cannot tell who is the real Senator Obama. For one, he has not carved out -- at least as of this writing -- any cutting edge issues where he is taking the lead and defining the terrain. Second, and to some extent more troubling, he permits people to see and assume in him what they want to see and assume. I have said to many of my friends that this situation reminds me of an episode from the original Star Trek series where there was a creature that appears to the viewer the way the viewer would like to see it.

I am, to add to this, very uneasy about some of the Senator's foreign policy pronouncements, particularly with regard to the Middle East. To his credit, he opposed the Iraq invasion and had the courage to say so. Yet over the last year, he has displayed a peculiarly uncritical stance when it comes to Israel and has all-but-ignored the plight of the Palestinians. This past summer, when Israel launched its massive and deadly assault on Lebanon, the Senator was quite vocal in his support. He seemed to miss the Israeli use of illegal cluster bombs and the lies the Israelis offered for their unapologetic destruction of entire Lebanese civilian communities.

Further, the Senator seems to ignore the atrocious conditions being faced by the Palestinians who, after all, are occupied by the Israelis in violation of United Nations' resolutions. This occupation is worsening with the creation of what some people describe as the "apartheid wall", and what I simply call the "wall of death," that the Israelis are building as they carve out the land they wish to control in perpetuity.

Compounding this odd situation, the Senator seems to want to be a "hawk" when it comes to Iran, describing that country as a threat to Israel and the USA. Here again I remain perplexed. Iran does not have the military capability to hit the USA. There is absolutely no proof of Iran advancing military nuclear ambitions. It is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Everything else is speculation. Israel, on the other hand, has not signed the treaty, possesses nuclear weapons but will not acknowledge that fact, and has assisted apartheid South Africa in developing weapons of mass destruction.

I am not ready to write off the inspiring Senator from the great State of Illinois, but no matter how hard I try, I keep thinking about that creature from Star Trek.

31. Linda--sorry I repeated your post. It probably bears repeating, as Obama can't hope to keep on snowing people with happy talk and Lieberputz talking points

44.

Michael Ellis


I refuse to let the "establishment" make the decision for us. I want greatness and anyone who says why bother, means they don't care. And if you don't care, you will never strive to achieve good things.

If we followed like sheep, we wouldn't have helped get Howard Dean elected as Chairman to the DNC. But we didn't and look how much better we are for it.

I refuse to rollover for them!



And you too can get involved in bringing our country to the greatness she has the potential for.


If anything, we do have history to reflect truths. Those who wish to ignore those truths, live in denial. I embrace all the ugliness to know it's worth fighting!

50.

Huron John


LOL, yes.

We need to pass a test to become citizens.  Perhaps we need a test to vote intelligently.

===========

I say allow primates to vote - chimps have been known to make better stock picks than Wall Street analysts.

Go get 'em Nancy!!!

Pelosi Has Started Phone Tally for Impeachment

Pelosi Has Started Phone Tally for Impeachment- CALL NOW!!! House Speaker Pelosi's office is taking calls voting for Impeachment of Bush/Cheney at 202-225-0100. Folks, each of you who have been wanting impeachment, need to commit right now to ask at least 10 others to call and ask each person to commit to asking 10 others to call and so on. It needs to happen fast and NOW. Let's BLITZKREIG the Speaker's office

 (I hope this is true - now I can't find the address....)

WHIPLASH.......When at first you don't succeed, or later on you don't succeed, or in the middle you don't succeed or five years on you don't succeed....maybe you should try 'diplomacy'.

World peace conference: Nobel leaureates to headline event
(2 comments; last comment posted Today 08:07 am) print | email this story



Related Links
NM Tourism Dept
World Peace Conference


By DAVID MILES | The New Mexican
May 13, 2007

More than 400 people will attend the sold-out World Peace Conference this week to listen to speeches from Nobel Peace laureates and participate in five ``peace councils.''

The conference, dubbed ``Building a Culture of Peace,'' is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday at the Hilton Santa Fe. Although registration for the conference is full, a limited number of tickets will be available at the door beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday for $65.

Tickets remain available for a concert Thursday by the Indigo Girls and Richie Havens at the Santa Fe Opera, with prices ranging from $20 to $49.

_______________________________________


I'll let you all know how it goes!

Just a reminder, I don't know what the news will be or when it will be on, but we have been advised that the Draft Al Gore Organization will be on CBS news tonight and they interviewed the LA California Organizer.

...and you too can be a part. Fight for the change you wnat to see.

http://www.algore.org/get_involved/gore_...

And if you didn't yet sign the petition, please do.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/algor...

We are already over 75,000!!!

well, seashell, we don't know if he can bring in the votes. Right now you just have support that the MSM has been pushing for.

He doesn't have a good track record for challenging elections. What he has a gift for is giving speeches. Unchallenged, no answering, just a carefully pre crafted message.


Gore/Dean
Gore/Kennedy Jr.
Gore/Feingold
Gore/Boxer


gotta run. Work out, then planting. Have a good day!

Oops, forgot one.

Florida friends, please be careful and I sure hope these fires are put out soon. I am nervous as summer is only approaching.


220 wildfires rage across Florida
Winds fan blaze that has charred 300 square miles of land rendered tinder-dry by drought
By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor


Florida, the US state that is most vulnerable to global warming, is belatedly joining the fight to control climate change as more than 220 wildfires - fanned by the first named storm of the season - rage across its territory.
In an embarrassing blow to President Bush, the state's new Republican Governor, Charlie Crist, announced last week "the first steps towards addressing the impact of climate change" by joining 30 other states in setting up an organisation to monitor greenhouse gas emissions.


Florida is the third most polluting US state after Texas and California; if it were a nation, it would be among the top 30 emitters in the world. Yet as a low-lying peninsula, dangling into the hurricane zone, it is particularly at risk from the consequences.


The Governor - dubbed "chain-gang Charlie" for his proposals for harsh treatment for state prisoners earlier in his career - pointedly signalled a sharp break from the attitude of his predecessor, the President's own brother. And he is scathing of the way Jeb Bush ignored the issue, even though he served as his attorney-general
http://news.independent.co.uk/environmen...

Ok -- I'm voting -- Obama/Richardson. Linda SFNM will want a divorce LOL. The first time I had a supervisor job and was interviewing my boss told me there was a big dose of 'gut feeling' when making hiring decisions. I'm hiring Obama based on my gut feeling. For one thing, I think what folks are reading as being waffly is his desire to negotiate, to find a meeting in the middle. I think my generation and the boomers have had our turn. We've done some good things -- computer technology, music, but we've let a lot go by the wayside, like the US of A government, war/peace, the environment. Let's see what this next generation can do. I also like Richardson and have for some time because of his resume, that new ad notwithstanding. He's not 'southern' but he is 'western' and that's the new south for Democrats. And he is Hispanic, which should go a long way to gain us some votes in that sector. So there's my vote. At least today LOL

seashell
Sun, 05/13/07
2:21 pm
__________________________________________________________________________

Well sea, thanks for the compliment.............there are many arguments across the board pro and con my policies and thoughts.....so be it..........in the final analyissi I merely point out to our past and present course as a antion and people......start from the end of WW2 and the proof is in the pudding.............its all there.....lying, wars, corruption, nazi like nationalism, greed and the list goes on and on.............

Like John Lennon sang, "Im watching the wheels go round and round"..............its funny much of the time, and sadly tragic as well..............Ill travel during my retirement.........try and mend a few bridges that way as an emissary of sorts..........

rock on

http://www.wcjb.com/

Here's the latest on our fires. My fire is s/b 65% contained. Looks like they've evacuated a whole county north and west of me. That fire sounds like is not getting worse, at least, and they've reopened the interstate.

The two sand hill cranes grazed my front yard today. The dog barked, but I sat her down, turned off TV and we were respectful of our visitors. They did not stay long.

The radio just came on with a severe t'storm warning but it's the 'wrong' county for the fires. Never know.

61. Annilow

LOL
"For one thing, I think what folks are reading as being waffly is his desire to negotiate,"

No, it's his record. He votes opposite of even what he himself claims. Countless examples and supports things he shouldn't.

And his compromises start from a compromised position, which ends up supporting a wrong position.


But as you said, you have to do what sits well with you.

The WGBH concert is starting now if therre is interest -- first Bernstein, then Beethoven -- it'll be a little while before they get to the world's greatest living basso -- I'll try to come back and alert you :~)

http://www.wgbh.org/classical/

65.
Seashell, I agree. And the fix that THEY(DLC and establishment, after all it was Clinton backers that started pushing him in 03)want-for sure, just not what' good for us.


OK, it's been fun, but I REALLy have to go. Be well all and I'll check back for that Bill girlfriend story. :)

File under Duh -- my Ipod Nano earbuds work on my Mac :~)

Shortcuts.

Pentagon Opens Inquiry of Troop-Support Group
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051307A.shtml
The Pentagon is looking into complaints that Defense Department officials charged with building public support for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan might have engaged in improper fund-raising and unauthorized spending. The inspector general is examining whether officials who run “America Supports You,” a three-year-old Pentagon program lauded by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, helped arrange a fund-raiser for a private foundation set up last December by former Bush administration appointees. The foundation raises money to help troops and their families.

Civilian Deaths Undermine War on Taliban
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051307B.shtml
Scores of civilian deaths over the past months from heavy American and allied reliance on airstrikes to battle Taliban insurgents are threatening popular support for the Afghan government and creating severe strains within the NATO alliance.

David Bacon | AfroColombians Oppose Free Trade Agreement
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051307C.shtml
Later this spring the US Congress is expected to debate a free trade treaty that President George Bush has already signed with Colombia. Like all such agreements, it will create more favorable investment conditions for US corporations and banks, by removing legal protections for the land inhabited by AfroColombian and indigenous communities, cutting the public budget for social services, and privatizing public enterprises like electricity. Colombian workers and farmers fear these measures will lead to a huge loss of jobs, and are organizing to resist the treaty.

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

All these free trade agreements are also good for Wolfie and his bank that supposedly helps poor nations...wink wink. 

No Disclosure: Presidential Candidates Defy Tradition, Refuse to Release Taxes

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Story?id=3165953&page=1

In a break with the tradition of recent presidential campaigns, most of the major presidential candidates aren't releasing their income-tax filings.

Edwards has indicated that he will keep his tax returns private, and while Romney is still considering his options, he has never released his returns in previous runs for office.

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., aren't saying whether they will or not, but neither has released income tax forms filed this year.

That means voters are likely to know less about the income sources, personal wealth and charitable inclinations of the presidential candidates than in any election in the past generation.

"When you run for president, you really have to open yourself up to the American people," said Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for Common Cause, a government watchdog group. "If you're asking voters of this country to elect you as president, it's reasonable and rational that your tax returns are made public."

Do these clowns really think we just fell off a turnip truck?

The Oligarchy is circling the wagons to keep us peasants in the dark.

We need to push them to come clean with the public--NO MORE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY!

WHERE THEY GET THEIR MONEY FROM AND WHO THEY GIVE IT TO IS THE PUBLIC'S BUSINESS.

http://www.wgbh.org/classical/

4th movement of Beethoven's 9th just started -- first singing voice should be Pape (I feel like I'm calling a baseball game).

Ok -- I'm voting -- Obama/Richardson.

...

+++

Annilow -

Thanks for the comment.

Go Revs !

Playing to go all the way:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mls/recap;_ylt=AqpmgU93vHWtpCFr8MDtzxZQ0bYF?gid=2007051207&prov=ap

CARSON, Calif. (AP) -- Taylor Twellman scored two goals, including the winner in the 85th minute, to lead the New England Revolution to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night.

The Revolution (4-1-2) took over first place in the Eastern Conference by two points over Kansas City, and extended their unbeaten streak to six games. New England midfielder Steve Ralston set a MLS record by playing in his 318th career game.

"A lot of teams would put their heads down, try to pack (the defense) in and get out of there with one point," Ralston said. "It shows the character of our team to keep playing and get that third goal."

...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mls/standings;_ylt=AtTXFoKQ.BQdoBKq29RPVPKkvrYF

Standings Eastern Conference Standings GPWLTPtsGFGAHomeRoadStreak L10  New England7412141472-0-02-1-2Won 2 4-1-2  Kansas City6420121162-1-02-1-0Lost 1 4-2-0  New York530211832-0-01-0-2Tied 1 3-0-2  Chicago632110782-0-01-2-1Lost 2 3-2-1  Columbus61147441-0-30-1-1Tied 1 1-1-4  DC United51314691-1-10-2-0Won 1 1-3-1  Toronto FC514033111-1-00-3-0Won 1 1-4-0  Western Conference Standings GPWLTPtsGFGAHomeRoadStreak L10  FC Dallas7331109101-2-02-1-1Won 1 3-3-1  Colorado62228891-1-21-1-0Tied 1 2-2-2  Houston52217431-1-11-1-0Won 1 2-2-1  Chivas USA62317972-0-00-3-1Tied 1 2-3-1  Los Angeles41214661-2-00-0-1Lost 1 1-2-1  Real Salt Lake602446120-1-30-1-1Tied 2 0-2-4 

61.
Ok -- I'm voting -- Obama/Richardson.

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

Maybe in the general for me but certainly not in the primary...gotta vote my heart in the primary...take what I get in the general...even if it is a fluffernutter.

John McCain was on Meet The Press this morning, 5/13/07, and while watching Tim Russert interviewing McCain, I thought back to a recent interview by Jon Stewart of John McCain on The Daily Show, and thought laughingly to myself that McCain is using “weeble logic”.

“Weeble logic” is weighted logic that is attached to the inside arc of a spherical base so that no matter how much it is battered by reality, it “pops up” more readily than a “jack in the box”.

I noticed that when John McCain was using “weeble logic” in his interview with Jon Stewart, that when Stewart knocked him over, McCain “popped back up”, but would not look Jon Stewart in the eyes; apparently John McCain is not quite as brazen as George W. Bush and the Conservative Right Wing Republican EXTREMIST cronies of the Bush Administration, who can look you directly in the eyes when they “pop up” from their “weeble logic” like a “jack in the box”.

With ordinary weebles, “weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down.” With “weeble logic”, “weeble logic” wobbles, but it “stays the course”, much the same as Adolph Hitler in his bunker under the Reichstag issuing orders to armies that no longer existed in support of propagandistic “weeble logic”.

The American people can not afford to follow the rhetoric and propagandized “weeble logic” of a type prescribed by Joseph Gobles to Adolph Hitler, and wait for the “bullet to the brain” solution of Adolph Hitler, as the only solution left to the President of the United States.

It is time for the Congress of the United States to step up and take charge so that the American people have better options than those of the German people under Adolph Hitler.

Adolph Hitler did not feel that he had failed the German people. Adolph Hitler felt that the German people had failed him, and that it was fitting the German people should die for failing him. Adolph Hitler “stayed the course”, killed himself and tried to drag the German people into the grave with him.

George W. Bush is much the same as Adolph Hitler in this respect with the exception that George W. Bush’s resolve is rhetorical, rather than actual; Bush will “stay the course” until he lays waste to the American Military and the resources of the American people; he and his cronies will then make excuses, like cowards, and fail to have the resolve of a “bullet to the brain” like Adolph Hitler.

sorry, this is a speech by poet niki geovanni at va tech. moving. and inspiring.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002573.html

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 11, 2007; Page A01

CHICAGO -- For the first time in her adult life, Michelle Obama is about to be unemployed.

She never aspired to be a stay-at-home wife or mother. For years she wrestled with the issues that many professional women with families face, chiefly whether to quit her job. Now, that is what Obama, 43, has decided to do. And though she will hardly be homebound, she admits to being conflicted.

...

"It's a bit disconcerting," she said. "But it's not like I'll be bored."

Identity issues are something Obama has confronted head-on all of her life: as a black student at Princeton, where she wrote her senior thesis based on surveys of black alumni, then as an Ivy League-educated professional woman surrounded by white men, and now as the wife of a man who could become the first black president of the United States. She is no less thoughtful about labels she chooses to apply to herself -- and those she rejects -- than her husband, who has made his half-African, half-Kansan lineage and his part-Hawaiian upbringing a focal point of his narrative. On the campaign trail, she calls herself a mother, a citizen and a "professional," a term that has not always been an asset for potential first ladies.

...

...On Sept. 2, 2006, Lujai’s husband went to work and prepared for the first of three operations scheduled for the day. At the end of his shift a patient came in unexpectedly; no other doctor was available, so Adil stayed to treat him. Adil was driving home when his way was blocked by four cars. Armed men surrounded him and dragged him from his car, taking him to Sadr City. Five hours later, his dead body was found on the street.

As she told me this story, Lujai began to cry, and her confused young children looked at her silently. She had asked the Iraqi police to investigate her husband’s murder and was told: “He is a doctor, he has a degree and he is a Sunni, so he couldn’t stay in Iraq. That’s why he was killed.” Two weeks later she received a letter ordering her to leave her Palestine Street neighborhood.....

===========

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/magazine/13refugees-t.html?pagewanted=2&th&emc=th

Hope you get some moisture down there Annilow...we had a brush fire that engulfed trees last week across from Brattleboro in N.H., we never have brush fires like that here. These winds are relentless, I can't remember such a prolonged windy spring...at least things are greening up making less of a fire hazard.

Enjoy the classical music : )

In some ways, despite the ethnic and religious motives of most of the Iraqi factions, the Iraqi civil war resembles internal conflicts in revolutionary China or Cambodia: there is a cleansing of the intelligentsia and of anyone else who stands out from the mass. The small Iraqi minorities — Christians and such sects as the Mandeans — are mostly gone. The intellectuals and artists are gone....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/magazine/13refugees-t.html?pagewanted=2&th&emc=th

Howdy Reed, did you see the other day my posting about Senator Gravel speaking at the National Press Club tomorrow?

WHO: Former United States Senator and
Democratic Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel.
WHAT: The Senator offers a plan to create a constitutional confrontation between
the US congress and the President, adjudicated by the American people.
WHEN: Monday May 14, 2007 at 9:30 AM EST.
WHERE: National Press Club
Edward R. Murrow Room
529 14th Street NW
Washington DC 20045

For More Information

www.gravel08.us

Alex Colvin
Press Secretary
310-650-7481
alex@gravel2008.us

linda will gravel be on cspan? let us know kiddo.

I talked to michelle obama at our jj dinner in richmond, what a lovely woman with lots of personality.

I mentioned I had seen her on 60  minutes and we talked a while. She is articulate and a great asset to anyone.

she said that she keeps barack in his place. yea me too with my hubby.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Linda *in*SFNM...

Sorry I didn't respond sooner, just back from bringing the wife to work.

Yes, I did see your post but just been too busy lately to engage on the blog. I do lurk around, don't ya know...; ) I would imagine it would be on C-Span...I hope.

Have our Dem. Comm. meeting tomorrow and Pro-Tem Peter Shumlin is giving the legislature wrap-up...he's seen the light regarding impeachment. Like Phil said earlier..."It will be a long haul. But what in life worth anything comes easy?"...I just wonder who's on our side sometimes.

linda b...you BO's wife not be the only ones...lol

When my wife and I first got an apartment together in the 70's, she saw me making a snow jump in the yard for my moto-cross bike...only problem was I had to duck in mid-air to prevent being decapitated by the dog run...she gave me an ultimatum...bike is gone, she's still here. I'm numb at times but not dumb. I'm glad there's a check for us testosterone driven fools once in a while and it's called woman.

s/b you and BO's wife

The Flight From Iraq  

Nir Rosen is a contributing writer for the magazine and a fellow of the New America Foundation. He is also the author of “In the Belly of the Green Bird: The Triumph of the Martyrs in Iraq.”

(Page 5 of 10) 

....To become a refugee in the Middle East is in some ways to become like a Palestinian. Their lives are the essence of statelessness. And to be an Iraqi Palestinian, it seems, is to be doubly cursed. In a no-man’s land along the Iraqi and Syrian border lie a desolate moonscape stretching several miles and, on one slab of wind-blown dirt, a collection of neatly ordered tents. When I visited in February, about 350 Iraqi Palestinians were marooned here, refugees for a second time. Most of Iraq’s Palestinians had come from three villages — Ijzim, Jaba’ and Ein Ghazal, together known as the Little Triangle, which were near Haifa in northern Palestine. Other Iraqi Palestinians came from the nearby village of Tira, still others from Ayn Hawd. All of these villages had been forcibly emptied of Palestinians in 1948 by the Israel Defense Forces......

The Flight From Iraq

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/magazine/13refugees-t.html?pagewanted=5&th&emc=th

Gotta do some more yard work before it's dark...bbl

Two of Hussein’s uncles were kidnapped. The kidnappers, Hussein told me, had demanded $100,000 in ransom, but Hussein’s family did not have the money. The next day they received a phone call informing them that his uncles’ bodies were in the morgue. Hussein’s uncles had been tortured and mutilated, drills driven through their bodies — a signature practice of Iraq’s Shiite militias — and their genitals cut off. “We couldn’t even have a funeral because they said if you do it, we will blow you up,” Hussein said. “We had to bury them at night.” .....

The Flight From Iraq  (Page 5 of 10)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/magazine/13refugees-t.html?pagewanted=5&th&emc=th

---------------------------------------"IRAQ Now Has 53 Outposts"-------------------------------- 

Per John McCain the United States has built 53 U.S. outposts in Iraq. Outposts are for colonization.  53 U.S. outposts in Iraq makes it plain that the U.S. is not planning on helping Iraq build their military any more than the U.S. built a military for the Native Americans.  No wonder after all this time Iraq has only 6,000 ready soldiers in the Iraqi military.  The Bush administration has chosen to colonize Iraq against the will of the Iraqi people, and the American people.  The U.S. is making progress in building outposts, not training and equipping the Iraqis. Nothing that has been told to the American people about Iraq has been true. 

John McCain told the American people some truth this morning, 5/13/07, in his hour interview with Tim Russert on Meet The Press that the United States “now has 53 outposts”, which he feels will simplify the future complete take over of Iraq. 

The 14 bases that was suppose to have dwindled down to 4 bases, has instead morphed into 53 OUTPOSTS for colonization.  The truth finally slipped out. 

Colonization is ongoing and “forever”.   515 years ago in 1492 the English started colonization of the U.S., and to date the Native American does not have true equality. Neither will the Iraqi.  Many Iraqis do not choose what happened to the Native American, and one can’t blame them. 

Apparently, John McCain was not suppose to tell the American people about the 53 OUTPOSTS IN IRAQ, because I went back to check the tape to see if I had heard right, and MSNBC had wiped the part out about the 53 OUTPOSTS, or it appeared to be wiped out, because I couldn’t find it, but on careful examination it was found to have been muted, and could be located by muting and reading the writing for the deaf.  After the “53 outposts” words had been pin pointed, you can  turn the sound up and faintly hear what was actually said, but it is difficult. 

Since all presidential candidates are to be given a complete hour interview with Tim Russert on Meet The Press, I am now concerned that what they say will also be muted down so quiet that no one will be able to hear what doesn’t agree with the Conservative Right Wing Republican agenda.

Democratic Presidential Candidates BEWARE -- MSNBC mutes what they do not want you to say.

.....One of Sheik Hardan’s companions that day, who served as deputy chief of police for Anbar Province under the American occupation, had survived numerous assassination attempts. He blamed them on Al Qaeda, which he also believed blew up his house. “Al Qaeda is not cooperating with the Iraqi resistance,” he said. “The real Iraqi resistance considers Al Qaeda an enemy.”

Sheik Hardan’s refugee counterparts in Damascus told a similar story. ...

The Flight From Iraq

(Page 7 of 10)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/magazine/13refugees-t.html?pagewanted=7&th&emc=th

...He, too, recognized the strategic Sunni error made at the beginning of the American occupation. “That is the origin of the problem,” he said. “They boycotted. If they had participated with all their weight, they would not have let the Shiite militias take over the government of Iraq.” He blamed the Iraqi Sunni leadership for denouncing elections and threatening those who participated....

The Flight From Iraq  (Page 7 of 10)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/magazine/13refugees-t.html?pagewanted=7&th&emc=th

He blamed the Iraqi Sunni leadership for denouncing elections and threatening those who participated....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was illegal for them to participate for many because of past Baathist ties and we were jailing or killing their leadership the whole time with our military.

Our counter-productive military actions have haunted us since day one.

We made it much harder than it could have been. and since there was nothing to gain (unless you are there for the oil fields) we could have dropped Saddam off at the Hague on our way home.

new thread

....In Sattam’s view, the only way to protect Sunnis was a Sunni state that would include Anbar Province, Mosul and Tikrit. But radicals like Al Qaeda were now in control of Anbar Province, and the resistance was finding it hard to resist Al Qaeda. “Al Qaeda kills Sunnis the most, and you don’t know what they want,” he said. His priority was to deal with Al Qaeda in the Anbar first, then reconcile with the Shiites and then work to end the occupation. “When Sunnis in Baghdad get arrested by the Americans they feel good because it’s better than being arrested by Shiite militias.” .....

The Flight From Iraq  (Page 7 of 10)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/magazine/13refugees-t.html?pagewanted=7&th&emc=th