Cindy Sheehan is first.............what REAL Americans are made of.

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=15905

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Democrat Barack Obama is the top 2008 presidential contender in the United States, according to a poll by Zogby International. At least 46 per cent of respondents would support the Illinois senator in head-to-head contests against four prospective Republican nominees.

Obama holds a three-point edge over Arizona senator John McCain, a six-point lead over former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, and a 17-point advantage over both former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and actor and former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson.

In other contests, both New York senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and former North Carolina senator John Edwards lead Romney and Thompson, but trail Giuliani and McCain. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson is virtually tied with Thompson, leads Romney by three points, and trails Giuliani and McCain.

...

Polling Data

Possible match-ups - 2008 U.S. presidential election

Rudy Giuliani (R) 42% - 48% Barack Obama (D)
John McCain (R) 43% - 46% Barack Obama (D)
Mitt Romney (R) 35% - 52% Barack Obama (D)
Fred Thompson (R) 35% - 52% Barack Obama (D)

Rudy Giuliani (R) 48% - 43% Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)
John McCain (R) 47% - 43% Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)
Mitt Romney (R) 40% - 48% Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)
Fred Thompson (R) 41% - 48% Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)

Rudy Giuliani (R) 47% - 43% John Edwards (D)
John McCain (R) 46% - 41% John Edwards (D)
Mitt Romney (R) 36% - 50% John Edwards (D)
Fred Thompson (R) 40% - 48% John Edwards (D)

Rudy Giuliani (R) 50% - 35% Bill Richardson (D)
John McCain (R) 52% - 31% Bill Richardson (D)
Mitt Romney (R) 37% - 40% Bill Richardson (D)
Fred Thompson (R) 40% - 39% Bill Richardson (D)

...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070528-110118-4553r.htm

By Brian DeBose
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
May 29, 2007

The presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama is successfully tapping into the youth vote energized by opposition to the Iraq war, as his burgeoning Students for Obama movement has almost doubled its presence on the nation's college campuses in the past few weeks.

...

Pollsters and scholars say Mr. Obama's attraction of young and new voters has the potential to change the face of the Democratic Party as did the presidential campaigns of the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the 1980s and Howard Dean four years ago.

...

"One of the things that changed after 1984 is that other white contenders began to campaign differently going directly to black voters in churches and their communities, using similar approaches that Jesse used," Ms. Tate said, noting that a failure to energize black youths hurt Mr. Dean in 2004.

...

Sheehan...

I thought Howard was first ?

Cindy today seems right

Phil -

Fine by me.

Hi to all, had a good weekend away from all the democratic turncoat crap.

did u see bill mahr friday? a good show.

Phil hope u are doing ok with your operation and all.

There was a time when Dean was first on BFA.

speaking of firsties:

http://www.thejokester.net/ClassicFrame/Who's%20On%20First.htm

I come here for the Abbott andf Costello...

From the AP

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - New Zealand scientists are breeding a herd of cows that produce lower-fat milk after the chance discovery of a natural gene mutation in one animal.

Milk from the cows is also high in health-boosting omega-3 fatty acids and makes butter that spreads as easily as margarine even when chilled, biotechnology company Vialactia said Monday.

Scientists discovered a cow, later named Marge by researchers, carrying the mutant gene in a dairy herd they were testing in 2001, Vialactia chief scientist Russell Snell said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18917406/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/abbott_and_costello_whos_on_first/

When I needed a lift (it was a long flight) on my flight back from China, I listened to "Who's on First" on my Ipod.

Also to bunches of Stan Freberg.

IMO, unlike Bush who'll be defined largely by his war in Irag legacy, Blair will be rightfully so saddled with the same ill-begotten legacy except that Blair has a bit of good will that he did to offset some of the Iraq legacy -- namely helping peace get established in Northern Ireland and Sierra Leone...

Blair will be visiting Sierra Leone before he leaves office at the end of next month:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2088582,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12

Before leaving office, the PM will visit one country where he is regarded as a hero

Slideshow: Meeting Tony Blair - audio by Julian Borger, photographs by David Levene

Julian Borger in Freetown
Saturday May 26, 2007
The Guardian


Unarmed conflict ... The murders and the mutilations of the civil war have given way to more innocent pursuits. Children can now go out in Freetown without too much fear of foul play. Photograph: David Levene
 

His decision seven years ago to send in British troops at the height of a brutal civil war is widely seen by Sierra Leoneans themselves as the critical moment in their country's salvation. It turned the tide in the conflict and helped bring an end to an 11-year nightmare.

The village of Mahera, for example, would almost certainly have been overrun in 2000 by rebels with a well-earned reputation for chopping off the limbs of children had British paratroopers not stood in their way.

The settlement is a dusty cluster of tin-roofed, cinder-block houses next to the airport. When the prime minister dropped by in 2002 he was mobbed, and it is clear that, though his star has long since spluttered and died back home, it still burns brightly over Mahera.

...

Britain has spent an average of £40m a year on Sierra Leone since the conflict, and remains by far the biggest bilateral donor. The country rests at the bottom of the global economic pile. It has the world's worst child mortality rate (a Sierra Leonean has a one in three chance of not surviving until the age of five) and ranks above only Niger in the UN human development index.

Traumatised

After the horrors of the 1991-2002 civil war, however, most Sierra Leoneans feel blessed just to be alive with their limbs intact. Freetown is still traumatised from the day, January 6 1999, when the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) - led by a former corporal, Foday Sankoh, and funded by blood diamonds looted from the gem fields in the east - took over half the city. The ensuing bloodbath left hundreds dead and a generation of amputees.

Moses Kamara was a 15-year-old schoolboy, when a gang of rebels grabbed him at random, and gave him a choice. "They asked: "What did I want to keep: my eye or my leg?" he recalled. "What could I say? I said: my eye. They cut off my leg."

He haunts the streets of Freetown begging with his fellow amputees. It is not uncommon to see young men missing both hands or legs. The only apparent motive for this orgy of mutilation was the desire to inspire terror.

The RUF was eventually driven out by a West African regional force, but a year later it was back on Freetown's doorstep and the city panicked. It was at that moment that Mr Blair sent in British paratroopers.

Augustus Kamara, a news editor for the state news agency, spent much of the conflict in hiding. Even today, he sobs when he relives the stress of trying to keep his family alive. "I would not be here speaking to you [if not for] all these risks Tony Blair took, because it was a political risk intervening where you know some of your troops will die," he said.

...

When the Parachute Regiment was deployed in 2000, its primary mission was to evacuate British, EU and Commonwealth citizens and to patrol Freetown. But the operation's commander, Brigadier David Richards, was given wide latitude and found that the RUF melted away when it met a determined show of force.

Later in the year, a rebel gang calling itself the West Side Boys, who had been terrorising the road into Freetown, seized a detachment of British soldiers and held six hostage at their camp deep in the tropical forest. On September 10, the paratroopers and SAS were sent in to rescue them.

The operation destroyed the West Side Boys as a fighting force, with the loss of one British soldier, and quickly became the stuff of legend in Sierra Leone. The mock-up of the rebel camp used to rehearse the assault is now a village in its own right - home to dozens of families. More importantly, the incident had a dramatic psychological impact. British troops were seen as virtually invincible, and the rebels melted away. Peace was formally declared in January 2002, but in real terms the war had ended months earlier.

Coming a year after the zero-casualty invasion of Kosovo, the Sierra Leone experience reinforced the belief in Downing Street that Britain could save entire populations at minimal cost to British forces - an assumption that clearly played a role in the decision to join the invasion of Iraq.

In Sierra Leone, the premise still holds. A small force of British soldiers has stayed on to train a new national army, and they are perceived in much of the country as a totemic guarantee of enduring peace.

"We have peace in Sierra Leone now, and Tony Blair made a huge contribution to that," said Warrant Officer Abu Bakerr Kamara. He pointed out that the new force he is training with includes former government soldiers and rebels. "We are all Sierra Leoneans," he said. "All these people are one army now."

With elections due in August, however, Sierra Leone is nervous. Most political observers are optimistic that any clashes between rival party supporters can be contained by the UN-trained police, with the army on hand as a last resort. But in a country with an unemployment rate of nearly 70%, including many former child soldiers, there are no certainties.

* rdorgan
Tue, 05/29/07
9:16 am
__________________________________________________________________________

Well, I almost put "fuel efficient, practical automobiles are first".......................

oops, actually Blair is visiting Sierra Leone this month (tomorrow):

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2120714,00.html

Sierra Leone ready for Blair
 

29/05/2007 09:01  - (SA)  

Freetown - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is due on Wednesday in Sierra Leone, a west African country where he is popular for bolstering a fragile peace process to end one of the most brutal civil wars of recent history.

...

"Blair's relationship with Sierra Leone goes beyond military assistance in bringing the war to an end but also helped in the training of the armed forces and the police in Sierra Leone," said the independent daily Standard Times.

In office since 1997 and due to step down end of June, Blair is this week to embark on a farewell tour of Africa, which is taking him to Sierra Leone, South Africa and probably Libya.

Blair rekindled ties with the ex-colony after they were severed by former military ruler Valentine Strasser, who suspended British co-operation during the early years of the civil war in 1993.

But in 2002, London and Freetown signed a new deal to renew ties, guaranteeing years of British development aid for a country ranked second from the bottom of the list of poorest countries in the world.

The bilateral co-operation includes general infrastructural development and the training of the army.

London, which financed the creation of an anti-corruption commission here in 2003, continues to give annual budgetary assistance to this country which gained independence from Britain in 1961.

It is also financing the organisation of presidential and parliamentary elections and a constitutional referendum in August.

Blair, who has described the situation in Africa as a "scar on the conscience of the world", has been credited by some with strong leadership and setting the agenda on Africa during his decade in power.

First is Ron Paul in a MINI Cooper.

Please recommend this DemocracyFest diary by Free Spirit at DK. This one actually has a chance of making the Recommend list!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/29/...

one fuel-efficient car ?:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dpotted%2Bplant%2Bcar%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dyfp-t-501%26n%3D20%26fl%3D0%26vm%3Dp%26x%3Dwrt&w=500&h=375&imgurl=static.flickr.com%2F56%2F127457081_0a6e9d8803_m.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fsuviko%2F127457081%2F&size=150.3kB&name=127457081_0a6e9d8803.jpg&p=potted+plant+car&type=jpeg&no=3&tt=16&oid=d6f8cdc17267e4be&fusr=Suviko&tit=Pimp%20My%20Bonsai&hurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/suviko/&ei=UTF-8&src=p

The scene is familiar to anyone who reads magazines or watches TV. A sparkling sport utility vehicle tears across a remote landscape under a beautiful sky. Sometimes the four-by-four is speeding across a redrock desert at dawn, sometimes it's barreling through a mountain stream.

Every ad markets the beauty of the outdoors to appeal to prospective buyers' fantasies of escaping traffic and urban hassles. In reality, these gas-guzzling machines are hastening the undoing of the outdoors and rapidly polluting those beautiful skies.

A sport utility vehicle consumes about one third more gasoline per mile, and puts out one third more carbon dioxide, than the typical car. Carbon dioxide, of course, is harmless to breathe, but it is the main greenhouse gas that is destabilizing our climate and threatening to disrupt ecosystems, economies and human health around the world.

Last year, diplomats from around the world met in Kyoto, Japan, and hammered out an agreement to reduce the world's emissions of greenhouse gases. Yet here in America - the heartland of greenhouse gas emissions - sport utilities and other light trucks are growing in popularity and show no signs of letting up. Light trucks (SUVs, pick-ups and minivans) make up almost half of all new passenger vehicle sales in the U.S., and they are the nation's fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Sport utes cause other problems beyond air pollution, including the much greater danger of fatal accidents that large, high-riding vehicles impose upon other drivers. Let's not even mention what happens to a mountain stream when you drive two tons of metal and rubber through it. According to Chrysler polls, 97 percent of Jeep Grand Cherokee owners never leave paved roads.

That's the problem. Most of the time, SUVs are the wrong tools for the job. A truck may be indispensable for workers who carry heavy loads or drive off-road. That's why, when Congress set fuel efficiency standards for cars in 1977, they let light trucks off the hook.

Back then, light trucks were rarities on the highway, and most were used to do things that cars just couldn't do. Today, SUVs are simply overgrown cars - Silly Urban Vanities - used mostly by solo commuters and soccer moms.

Let's face it: we don't need to wrap ourselves in vehicles designed for elephant hunting to grab a coffee at the 7-11!

We Americans do need to reduce our impact on the atmosphere. SUVs are a logical place to start. Let's admit that SUVs are cars, not trucks, and apply cars' fuel efficiency standards and gas-guzzler taxes to them. Let's lower income taxes and raise gas taxes to reward people for making a living, not wasting gasoline. These actions would also benefit our economy by reducing our energy costs and dependence on imported oil.

But it's a bit too easy to pin the blame on SUVs. Until we can reverse the underlying trend of more vehicles being driven more miles, even the greenest cars will cause more traffic jams and accidents and eat up more money and countryside. Individuals and governments need to support alternatives to driving alone.

For most Americans, cars are essential tools of modern life, yet they are often the wrong tools for the job. Nearly half the trips we take are three miles or less, for example. More than a quarter are under one mile. Let's use our cars when we need to, but use something else when we can. Like they say on those police shows, "Step away from the car, and no one gets hurt!"

"Green" SUV ads - like the Chevy ads that quote Thoreau or the catalogs selling Eddie Bauer Ford Explorers that ask customers for a dollar to plant a tree - bug me. But then, why shouldn't gas guzzlers be named after places like Tacoma or the Yukon that will be hard-hit by global warming? Maybe it's just a subtle form of truth in advertising. Why shouldn't automakers name their products - like the Cirrus or the Aurora - after atmospheric phenomena? With all the carbon dioxide they emit, they are atmospheric phenomena.

One ad stands out. The gleaming four-by-four splashes through the rocky surf; dark forests rise in the background. The fate of our warming world was probably the farthest thing from the copywriter's mind, but sometimes you find wisdom where you least expect it. "Careful," the Infiniti ad reads, "you may run out of planet."

What are Ron Paul's views on motor vehicle production and environmental regulation?

Lawmakers Push for Big Subsidies for Coal Process

WASHINGTON, May 28 — Even as Congressional leaders draft legislation to reduce greenhouse gases linked to global warming, a powerful roster of Democrats and Republicans is pushing to subsidize coal as the king of alternative fuels.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/business/29coal.html?th&emc=th

Desperate Iraqi Refugees Turn to Sex Trade in Syria

MARABA, Syria — Back home in Iraq, Umm Hiba’s daughter was a devout schoolgirl, modest in her dress and serious about her studies. Hiba, who is now 16, wore the hijab, or Islamic head scarf, and rose early each day to say the dawn prayer before classes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/world/middleeast/29syria.html?th&emc=th

What are Ron Paul's views on motor vehicle production and environmental regulation?  

__________________________________________________________________________

Dunno..........but in any election, let me educate in the fact that in voting for a candidate in this country anyways, will require  a compromise or two.......personally, our overal major debacle facing this country is idiotic foreign policy...........sooo, if Ron Paul or anybody like him is for major changes along that front I would be willing to at least listen to him.......you see, Tom, we will never ever get a candidate we agree with 100% on everything, thats politics you may be inteested to know.........soooo, one or more key other areas may have to be accepted or tolerated..............I think the Green party has the best advanced platform however.

FRED from OR
Tue, 05/29/07
11:07 am
__________________________________________________________________________

Ya gotta wonder just what some of our bravest are doing for "entertainment" over there...........

DEMOCRATS LEADING THE CHARGE FOR COAL INTERESTS - INCLUDES OBAMA 

Lawmakers Push for Big Subsidies for Coal Process

“For so many, filthy coal is a dirty four-letter word,” said Representative Nick V. Rahall, Democrat of West Virginia and chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. “These individuals, I tell you, have their heads buried in the sand.”

...Representative Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat whose district is dominated by coal mining, is writing key sections of the House energy bill. In the Senate, champions of coal-to-liquid fuels include Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat, Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Larry Craig of Wyoming, both Republicans.

Peabody, which has quadrupled its annual lobbying budget to about $2 million since 2004, recently hired Richard A. Gephardt, the Missouri Democrat who was House majority leader from 1989 to 1995 and a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2004, to help make its case in Congress.

LINK

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/business/29coal.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th

Michael Ellis
Tue, 05/29/07
11:11

===========

Bush and Neocons are such idiots to accuse Syria of supporting the war in Iraq - it is bringing them nothing but trouble - one has to suspect the possible role of  AIPAC instigating such ideas.

Mike wrtoe "let me educate in the fact that in voting for a candidate in this country anyways, will require  a compromise or two."

Compromise or two?  Is that what you call promoting the candidacy of a Republican Libertarian?  Some education probably is in order.  His interest in government would be on a scale slightly below Ronald Reagan's.  He won't favor regulation of any sort, including environmental, work place safety, product safety, energy, and interstate commerce.  He won't promote investment in national parks, interstate highways, national healthcare, or other federal programs outside of national defense and security.  He won't champion any type of restricted gun use.  I tend to think that if you drove a Hummer with a machine gun turret on it, he would regard it as the free expression of individual rights over the shackles of oppressive government.

Tom Bearse
Tue, 05/29/07
11:25 am

I tend to think that if you drove a Hummer with a machine gun turret on it, he would regard it as the free expression of individual rights over the shackles of oppressive government

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

LOL - that's a pisser - probably true, mike 

30.

Tom Bearse
Tue, 05/29/07
11:25 am

....Is that what you call promoting the candidacy of a Republican Libertarian? Some education probably is in order.

His interest in government would be on a scale slightly below Ronald Reagan's.
He won't favor regulation of any sort...
He won't promote investment...
He won't champion any type of restricted gun use....
-----------

That's good!
People do not need government to do that, they can do all this by themselves.

Bush is using the leaders of the religous right, like Dobson, as his foreign policy people.  Then they go back to their groups and spread teh word about radical Islam and Iran.  Scary.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1329

 This is giving too much power to groups who even deny evolution.   Video excerpt from Friends of God by Alexandra Pelosi.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1046

And our party just gave this guy permission to attack anywhere.    

Morning Folks,

Linda b, I saw Bill Maher last night too.  A Good show indeed.  He took the Democrats to task for their caving in.  Frankly, if they haven't the courage of their convictions, nor the smarts to devise a strategy, they don't get my support either.  They've been accused of being weak, and boy, did they ever demonstrate that the accusation has legitimacy.  I think they made a fatal mistake.  I know of no one who would define herself/himself as a democrat, a progressive, a moderate, or an independent who doesn't view this giving the administration money to continue a war which will result in more deaths, maimings, insanity, suffering, and devastation as caving in.  It is not okay to allow the killing to go on for a short time and promise to do something about it four months later.

 I've looked at the SUV debate just superficially, but I think of the 50s and 60s American station wagon, big enough for kids, groceries, hauling stuff back and forth.  Of course, they don't exist anymore, and all the bells and whistles and technology on SUVs is designed to appeal to our love of luxury and gadgets.  Even at $3.40 a gallon, it's cheap by European and Japanese standards.

I agree, though, that the fuel inefficiency is unacceptable, and frankly, I haven't found it a pleasure to drive in years.  If we had a light rail system into major cities, I think that would be great.  I-25 to Denver is a nightmare, and the more lanes we add, the more traffic increases.  I really think we need to reassess and reimagine transportation. 

Just another thought: Swift and Co. has been sold to a Brazilian firm.  After all the raids on illegal aliens, (Swift had argued American wouldn't take those jobs), the Mong are moving to Georgia to work at one of the plants.  However, there is a larger turnover, the company reports.  Interesting the patriotism of corporations: rather than improve conditions and wages, they recruit an immigrant group to work there, and even they find it undesirable. Voila, Swift sells to a Brazilian corporation.  Don't you just love it! 

Good Day !!!

Yes, linda b, Bill Maher's Real Tiime was prETty good!

Michael Moore gave his first interview in 2 1/2 years, for his upcoming SiCKO movie, and Bill asked which candidate he was supporting, being he is always active there, he responded with "none". There is someone who isn't yet running that he wants to.... out of all the people asking Al Gore to run, Stars, Former Presidents, Hi Tech CEO's and citizens, this one (pleasantly) surprised me most.

I found a clip on you tube of Michael Moore's interview with Bill Maher, here it comes:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=w2WuBf2hNx8

rich kolker: Re: The Left

Some of the conversation above about Cindy Sheehan and "the Left" just helps prove that the simplistic "left-right" one dimensional political line is inadequate (at best!) for describing where a person stands, even in general, philisophical terms.

A while back I proposed a second, progressive/regressive dimension, and the libertarians talk about a statist/libertarian dimension.  There are others as well.  I'm working on an article where I'll discuss this further.

former 32.  I don't think so, former, though I wish it were true.  I give you China where unregulated industries are killing people, animals, poisoning the land, and poisons are being found in such things as pet food, toothpaste, and medicines.  Now China will execute the official in charge who took $800,000 in bribes to ignore regulations and inspections.

I think one of humanity's tendencies, and it's a creative one, is to defy rules, to find ways around them, to attempt new ways of doing things.  Sometimes this turns out beneficially; other times it's destructive.  In any given group, you can predict that there is a percentage of people who will not go along with the group, who will exploit the group, who will do something that spoils it for the majority.  You can see this everywhere: trash along the roads, bullets in stop signs, the person whose dog menaces others,  the Jeep drivers who go into a wetlands in the national forest and tear it up, etc.  Even regulations can't prevent the small percentage who will do this, though they probably prevent the percentage from becoming larger than it is.

Think of pollution and endgangered species: only regulation and litigation with money damages caused a change in behavior.  Just my take on it. 

Yep, I drove 880 miles to and back from a relative of my wife's in the Washington DC area for the holiday weekend (Northern New Jersey turnpike the most crowded).

I saw so many other drivers in their SUVs (must have been half the vehicles on the road). 

What we're they and I thinking ?

How selfish of us.

Strange that though, one fillup on the way down, another back, smooth, reliable ride in my Izuzu Rodeo suv for my wife and I. I left the Ford Taurus car behind, IMO, not as reliable.

But what am I saying here, it's not my opinion that counts that should matter the most to me, rather I just await instructions on how to live my life and, from what I've heard, a good progressive is good at doing that -- telling others how to live their lives.

I eagerly await more instructions about how I should live my life.

former wrote "That's good! People do not need government to do that, they can do all this by themselves."

In that case, do you mind if we not have one, because without that type of regulation and intervention into the free market, I’m not that interested in having a governing system with so simple a mandate, i.e., protecting our borders. We can each invest in our own weapons and fortress, dig a moat or build an electric fence or whatever, and join our own bands of roving militias, because this colonial aggrandizement is breaking me. I could better use the money for drugs and abortions.

from what I've heard, a good progressive is good at doing that -- telling others how to live their lives.

If that's what you've heard, then you've been spending too much time listening to good conservatives. 

Sitka -

Thanks for the instructions.

310.

Michael Ellis
Tue, 05/29/07
8:23 am

Edwards is the only guy making sense......along with Gravel and Paul. How is Iowa and him these days?

I'm not impressed, since he currently holds no office, he has the *freedom* to say what he thinks. He must be held accountable for initially voting for the war. For that reason, Edwards is not someone I can ever support. 

It's all in your head. 

38.

* rdorgan

You don't know if you want to walk the talk and just talk and talk, do you?

Is this another example of being nice?

Why give you further instruction and information if you clearly don't wish to use it?

and while in chincoteague this weekend at our camper. all the large suv's pulling these monstrous campers all IDLED their gas guzzlers while going to check in at the campground.

the sounds were almost deafening and the smell of fuel was aweful.

nothing like a quiet camping experience.

by reading this blog it shows that we "ain't" no pushover group of thinkers.

I am particular to the fact that jim webb voted for the money and now he is holding a forum at the TBA conference called "out of iraq"

I will be there loaded for bear. you bet.

Having helped foment, voted for, or supported Bush's Disaster is a political kiss of death for me too.

Ok good morning I read the threads and have the following comments:

238 Paine - great poem -- I copied it to the stickies on my Mac - didn't really listen to whole song - have stereo going
309 Rich and 36 Sitka -- My personal dichotomy has become corporatists/populists
18 Jessica - I rec'd your diary on KOS but it was already there - way to go
21 Michael and 38 Rdorgan I live in the sticks and drive a mini-suv (chevy tracker) that gets great mileage, runs like a top, and can make it down my sis's dirt road in the mud and rain -- cars don't cut it in N FL -- yes I coulda bought a truck but the Tracker IS a 'car' over a Chevy Truck chassis.
27. Fred -- Here's my idol (after Howard of course and Rene Pape) and dream candidate for president pushing coal technology (Brian Schweitzer) http://governor.mt.gov/hottopics/faqsynt...

I saw so many other drivers in their SUVs (must have been half the vehicles on the road). What we're they and I thinking ?

It's more a case of people not thinking, or being unaware, at the time they bought their vehicles. 

How selfish of us.

Not selfish. Just ignorant. Everybody is that way until they learn (and accept) the facts.

$3-5 gas will weed most SUVs off the road. 

after reading what cindy sheehan said I am with her.

we have no country left, just put to the highest bidder. I would say it was said but it is beyond that. but hey, lyndsey lohan is drunk again. ameircan idol crowned a winner.

and jim webb voted for the money for iraq.

troubling.

Phil-- scrowling the weekend threads. so glad you are ready to call the surgery a success.

Renee in Ohio and Thankful-- thank for the heads up on J.C.'s bio. wish i was around this weekend to recommend on Ko's. Geez I knew J.C. was amazing, but the more I learn of her the impossible happens, she is even more amazing. Boy were we blessed to have her in our lives. I think that her family was really great to include so many aspects of her in the obit--they really captured her.

Reminder--please spread the word, Join us even if you haven't read the book. Greg will have a lot to say about what is going on recently with recent actions and non actions of the dems, etc..  will be interesting and as always oddly uplifting.

Announcement: Greg Palast was our last Guest Blogger on the Blog Book Club which J.C. and I did--life got in the way so we haven't done one since last summer, our updated our site to the constraits of new dfa site, etc.... Greg gave J.C. an autographed copy of Armed Madhouse, and they were both fans of each other, so I feel that this is a great way to bring back the club, sooth our broken hearts, and to honor J.C.  Please join us--even if you haven't had time to read the book. 

Blog Book ClubBook: Armed Madhouse ( paper back edition, just out)

Guest Blogger: the author, Greg Palast

When: 7:00pm  Thursday, May 31st

Where: Right here, on BFA

Please go to  BlogBookClub.com to order the book. Going through the BlogBookClub link gives j.c. money, which I am sure would make her happy and her family proud.
You will see j.c.s post on when greg last blogged and a picture of Armed Madhouse hardcover.Click that, this leads you to Amazon, then you will see this which I pasted below, where you will click gregs name to get to the paperback edition( $10)Armed Madhouse: Who's Afraid of Osama Wolf?, China Floats, Bush Sinks, The Scheme to Steal '08,No Child's Behind Left, and Other Dispatches from the Front Lines of th (Hardcover)
by Greg Palast (Author)  CLICK HERE ( greg's name  WHEN YOU GET TO AMAZON for paperback editon) See you Thursday next week!    

...

I live in the sticks and drive a mini-suv (chevy tracker) that gets great mileage, runs like a top,

...

+++

Annilow -

Indeed, and I can manuver with my small Rodeo into parking spaces that I can't with my longer Taurus and I frankly don't idle, why waste the gas (I see a lot of cars idling with air conditioners on, that's not just an SUV thing, it's the driver, not the vehicle).  My wife, who has an arthritic knee (and one replacement knee) can more easily get into the Rodeo because it's higher off the ground than the Taurus, that I usually drive.

Also, I have a large yard with a lot of growth (trees, bushes, grass, leaves) in which I do my own yardwork.  What clippings, etc. won't fit into the compost, the rest I haul away in the Rodeo to the town compost.

Got it used for $10000 with less than 60000 miles on it in excellent condition, so avoided a car payment at that price, the price I could afford at the time.

49.

Sitka

_______________

Most. But some seem to want to ignore the common sense of making wise choices just in an argument of claiming, "don't tell me what to do".

Some like to paint a false argument of black and white only, when that question was never raised to beging with.

Some folks as Annilow pointed out may need vehicles more suitable for their environment. But as linda b pointed out, with informaiton provided, can alter habits to benefit themself and the environment.

My guess is just the hypocritical crankiness where he claims to care about the environment, but as soon as I mentioned Al Gore, he resorted to the "cut your nose to spite your own face" bit.

linda 44-- what does loaded for Bear mean? never heard that expression. That incredible  about Webb. Go get em. ( whatever bear means)  

CIndy sheehans resignation was very powerful and sad, very sad.

Yes, linda b and Chris, I with Cindy, too.

I was surprised to see, hubby turned on CNN, they had a scroll reading the news about Cindy, too.

Chris,

the very last line in your Palast alert says "next week"

What happens when D.C. pundits and journalists run in the same social circles as the people they cover? You get a complicit press greasing the skids to a brutal war while enabling the administration's crusade against its critics.

Get Marcy Wheeler's Anatomy of Deceit at Amazon or your favorite retailer today!

May has officially become the deadliest month of 2007 for U.S. forces held hostage to the President's whim in Iraq.

BAGHDAD - Eight American soldiers were killed in roadside bombings and a helicopter crash in a restive province north of Baghdad, the U.S. military reported Tuesday, making May the deadliest month of the year for U.S. troops in Iraq.

In other violence, at least three Westerners were kidnapped Tuesday from an Iraqi Finance Ministry office in Baghdad, according to Iraqi government officials, and two car bombings killed 40 people and destroyed a Shiite mosque in the capital, police said.

from daily kos.

what does loaded for Bear mean?

loaded for bear (American, informal)ready and eager to deal with something that is going to be difficult.

Linda*in*SFNM    49.

"Most. But some seem to want to ignore the common sense of making wise choices just in an argument of claiming, "don't tell me what to do". "

 That is what I hear from so many people who are against social services and "big government"  'don't tell me what to do'. In the name of that sentiment they naively support vouchers for school, supported bush, don't want national helth care, unions, etc..

39.

Tom Bearse
Tue, 05/29/07
12:07 pm

Reply to this

former wrote "That's good! People do not need government to do that, they can do all this by themselves."

In that case, do you mind if we not have one, because without that type of regulation and intervention into the free market, I’m not that interested in having a governing system with so simple a mandate, i.e., protecting our borders. We can each invest in our own weapons and fortress, dig a moat or build an electric fence or whatever, and join our own bands of roving militias, because this colonial aggrandizement is breaking me. I could better use the money for drugs and abortions.
-----------

"People do not need government to do that, they can do all this by themselves." means that all the rules/regulations/agreements/standards/etc. can be setup bu people not by government.

linda 44-- what does loaded for Bear mean? never heard that expression. That incredible  about Webb. Go get em. ( whatever bear means)  

YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD THAT EXPRESSION??

IT MEANS I HAVE THE WHERE WITH ALL TO GOT OUT AND 'GET 'EM.

Proverbally it means "I have a gun and I am ready to shoot the bear"

It always takes some longer than others to get to the same place. Probably because their starting points are different. 

Sitka -

I didn't know how to thank you this morning (for telling me that it's actually conservatives I've been hearing from, jeez it's like they must be wearing disguises, wearing masks) and wasn't sure if you had this one in your troll toolbag pop art ?

"Dupree, get out the pliers. I think I smell a troll up ahead."

thanks Chili-- Blog Book Club is THIS week, this Thursday

Sitka-- thank you for the definition--maybe that originates from when people hunted bear or had to worry about bear, and they were prepared with big guns.

Randi Rhodes she do something on Cindy SHeehan.. She reported from her camp and talked about her a lot.

Does anyone know when Cindy's book is suppose to come out, has it already?

Sitka 62-- because starting places are different. what a dynamic way to think. cool, that is very important. I know everyone has different starting places, but how that fits into equations is paramont.

FROM LAST NIGHT

The pot calling the kettle black.

Actually ,since Oler used to call me "leftist" in a perjorative way too, I don't think your pot/kettle statement is accurate. But in both cases, I was proud of being called "left" since the only other options are "right" and "center."

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

Moslems don't get offended when we talk about Islamists, they know the term refers to extremists.  Although I lean heavily to the Democratic Party side on most issues, there are extremists and/or extreme ideologies in all groups, all parties.  Sometimes I prefer to call such extremism among Democrats "Leftist" or "Leftism" - I don't care if Oler uses the term. To compare our political affiliation based on the use of one term is rediculous - but I have come to expect such knee-jerk apprehensions from you, my friend.

off to the hardware store - bbl

59 Chris
YES! Exactly.

I wonder if Randi is going to be buying Cindy's 5 acres in Crawford.

A rough idea to have Bush as a neighbor, but what did Cindy mean, he may be moving anyhow? Was that just a joke or wishful thinking or did something come up I didn't hear about?

gotta go for a few hours. back later blog

PS. #3-- Dean was destroyed by the Democratic party establishment and the media, not as the article says a lack of energizing the black vote.

Statement from Jim Webb:

“I worked very hard to try to persuade the Democratic leadership to include clear, restrictive language in this Supplemental.  I did not succeed, and was disappointed in many of the provisions that remained. However, we are working under the reality that, on the issue of Iraq, this Senate does not have a Democratic majority.  From the outset, we are a minority of 49, given Senator Lieberman’s position on the war. This reality dictates our conduct.  On the one hand, I find myself unable to vote against a measure that is necessary to fund our troops who are now in harm’s way.  On the other, I will not relent from my continuing efforts to bring this occupation to an end."

thanks jim................................

lins\da SFNM 67--  I 2nd that :-)

bye for now all.

62.

Sitka

That is probably true for most of us. But the question is, when you supposedly arrived at a place, do you ignore where you are and how you got there and choose to go back and make the drive all over again, or do you make the changes in your course?

didn't know how to thank you this morning (for telling me that it's actually conservatives I've been hearing from

"a good progressive is good at doing that -- telling others how to live their lives"

Might as well have come from the mouth of Rush. 

3466

Cindy was on Stephanie Miller, Randi Rhodes, as well as Ed Schultz frequently.  I think she considered them friends. (weeellll, maybe not Ed..)  But even Stephanie said that while her first impulse was to call Cindy, she thought she should honor Cindy's expressed wish to step back and not call her.

I think Cindy will be back.  But I think she is right to take some time off.  IMHO

To compare our political affiliation based on the use of one term is rediculous

The comparison wasn't of your political affiliations but rather your use of language.

As rdorgan has demonstrated on this thread -- you don't have to be a Republican to use their talking points.

lindab quote Sen. Webb on the supplemental appropriations bill saying "On the one hand, I find myself unable to vote against a measure that is necessary to fund our troops who are now in harm’s way.  On the other, I will not relent from my continuing efforts to bring this occupation to an end."

Will this help provide cover for everyone else who got smeared here last week for their vote?  To make the situation more hilarious, the campaigns of John Edwards and and Ron Paul get boosts here from the armchair critics.

Lawmakers Push for Big Subsidies for Coal Process


By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: May 29, 2007

WASHINGTON, May 28 — Even as Congressional leaders draft legislation to reduce greenhouse gases linked to global warming, a powerful roster of Democrats and Republicans is pushing to subsidize coal as the king of alternative fuels.

Richard A. Gephardt, a former Democratic House majority leader, has been hired by Peabody Energy to help make the case for liquefied coal.

Prodded by intense lobbying from the coal industry, lawmakers from coal states are proposing that taxpayers guarantee billions of dollars in construction loans for coal-to-liquid production plants, guarantee minimum prices for the new fuel, and guarantee big government purchases for the next 25 years.



With both House and Senate Democrats hoping to pass “energy independence” bills by mid-July, coal supporters argue that coal-based fuels are more American than gasoline and potentially greener than ethanol.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/business/29coal.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 

Richard A. Gephardt, a former Democratic House majority leader, has been hired by Peabody Energy to help make the case for liquefied coal.

I'm actually relieved to know they've hired such a loser to make their case. 

$3-5 gas will weed most SUVs off the road. 

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sitka,

The weeding has already begun........just like the Winnebago........I see lots of em for sale, or sitting in driveways collecting dust...............they are learning, ever so sluggishly.......

Will this help provide cover for everyone else who got smeared here last week for their vote?

Since another vote is coming up in September, hopefully not. Keep their feet in the fire. 

Annilow
Tue, 05/29/07
12:24 pm
__________________________________________________________________________

Mini Cooper is making an suv love...........youll get much better gas mileage, pollute less, and the makers are of better quality........hell, who knows? maybe youll start a fad in N FL...........

Pretty good clip from youtube about the politically-motivated firings of 9 or more US attorneys.

Tom Bearse
Tue, 05/29/07
11:25 am
__________________________________________________________________________

I didnt say Id vote for a Ron Paul much less support him Thomas..........but just the fact that people are willing to advertise our faults as  a nation over the past 50 years i find refreshing candor..............

82.

Sitka

LOL

So fitting, huh?


Please, everyone, call your Representatives and say NO tax dollars or credits, no subsidies to Coal industry.

1-877-331-1223 The Capitol switchboard

Just b/c Carol Lam successfully prosecuted Rep. Duke Cunningham for corruption does not give the Bush administration the right to fire her for that as well as other US attorneys who did the same thing. It just diminishes from the job that US attorneys are supposed to perform. It also reflects terribly on the US DoJ. It looks Nixonian when you have Gonzalez aide Monica Goodling recalling she was coached on her testimony by the AG himself. Something he said he didn't do. Deeply troubling.

Of course, GOPheart worked for the coal industry (among others) even when he was in Congress.

The only difference is that now he gets paychecks instead of "contributions." 

Mike wrote "I didnt say Id vote for a Ron Paul much less support him Thomas..........but just the fact that people are willing to advertise our faults as  a nation over the past 50 years i find refreshing candor."

I want to commend you for not necessarily voting for or supporting a Republican Libertarian, but your open-mindedness is a little disconcerting.  Our faults as a nation get aired here seven days a week.  I don't really view that as such a point of recommendation for a candidate to a group of former Dean supporters. 

lindab quote Sen. Webb on the supplemental appropriations bill saying "On the one hand, I find myself unable to vote against a measure that is necessary to fund our troops who are now in harm’s way.  On the other, I will not relent from my continuing efforts to bring this occupation to an end."

The justification Bullshit begins. They voted for more war without restrictions. Why? so they could run home for Memorial Day and say how they support the troops!

Newsflash: Sending more troops into a civil war without the necessary training, equipment and rest will result in more death and injury. THEY DO NOT SUPPORT THE TROOPS. The sold out so they could march in the parades SAYING they do.

I want to commend you for not necessarily voting for or supporting a Republican Libertarian, but your open-mindedness is a little disconcerting.  Our faults as a nation get aired here seven days a week.  I don't really view that as such a point of recommendation for a candidate to a group of former Dean supporters. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You can include Mike Gravel also...........Howard Dean WAS speaking the truth about out assinine foeign policy when he promptly got beheaded by the media and all thos ephonies in Congress........I dunno, maybe you jumped on board late, but I DO recall he was rather outspoken but truthful............stop emanating Oler thank you, its beneath you.

Webb has a son in Iraq so how could he have voted this way?  Voting against the life or death of his own child?  Who got to him?  Jeez!

Thanks for the Maher clip. 

...and the Abbott and Costello.

I have a busy day, which is good since I still have the taste of ugly democratic cave in in my mouth.  This is not going away since the reality has hit me that we have only a one party system and it's a corrupt one to the core.  I really believed that we had an oppostition party and the very people I believed in to lead us out of chaos and more wars are the very same who deceived us and bowed to AIPAC.  And yes, Fred, I think AIPAC is very invested in widening the war to Syria.    

The coup is complete.  American tourists traveling abroad may be targeted with rotten tomatos  just becuz the world is now starting to blame the populace here.  They know we are watching FOX and Brittany and listening to Limbaugh and voting on Idol. 

I hope Gore's book is translated into every possible language ASAP so the world knows that we have one honest statesman besides the very few in congress...and Dean.

Obama and Clinton do AIPAC's bidding.  If Edwards wants me to consider him, he needs to make a clear statement about what he'd do to neuter AIPAC's influence in foreign policy, which is drastically affecting us here at home.

Phil, please ask Edwards about AIPAC.  Thanks.  

Gas here is $3.24 and rising and the SUV's are still on the road.  Other countries pay up to $8 or so a gallon and they drive small cars.  We need high gas prices to force the car companies to discontinue the horrors they make or tax the hell outta SUV drivers who can't prove they need monsters for their work.  And give tax credits to people who drive small earth-friendly cars.  

The bigger they are, the harder they fall and that applies to countries as well. 

OK, what just happened?

What the hell just happened?  Is this the new censorship? I was talking about the craven caved in dems. 

I posted above, Michael Moore's Interview on Real Time with Bill Maher.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=w2WuBf2hNx8

Also,

If you missed the truly excellent hour with Al Gore on Charlie Rose Friday night, here is the full video.


http://underthelobsterscope.blogspot.com...

Here's what was blocked out.

Webb has a son in Iraq so how could he have voted this way?  Voting against the life or death of his own child?  Who got to him?  Jeez!

Thanks for the Maher clip.

...and the Abbott and Costello.

I have a busy day, which is good since I still have the taste of ugly democratic cave in in my mouth.  This is not going away since the reality has hit me that we have only a one party system and it's a corrupt one to the core.  

THEY DO NOT SUPPORT THE TROOPS. The sold out so they could march in the parades SAYING they do.

It goes much deeper than that. Most Americans know that they wouldn't leave the troops w/o food and clothing and guns while withdrawing.

It goes much deeper than that and we've been discussing that here for several days; or rather, I have.  I've talked about the forbidden subject..AIPAC. 

rdorgan - I just had to do it.......: )

Mike wrote "I dunno, maybe you jumped on board late, but I DO recall he was rather outspoken but truthful............stop emanating Oler thank you, its beneath you."

December 2002. The problem for me is that you compare support of Dean, a Democratic governor and former chair of the National Governor’s Association, who balanced budgets and worked with legislators in both parties to get visionary social programs and bills enacted into law, who opposed the Iraq invasion without promoting any kind of doctrinaire antiwar agenda, with wacky fringe candidates from both parties, as if there’s any worthwhile comparison to be made.

It seems whenever I call out people out on exactly the things they say, I draw the emanating Oler charges, as if I’m emitting some kind of rays. You probably mean emulating but, even so, it seems so unlikely, besides being unfair.

183. Jao, if you see this, what is the BCBS that you called for Medicare info?
Thx.

_________________

Annilow  I contacted bcbs in Kansas city as this is my local area. However, they have a website bcbs.com that should have all the info on their different bcbs in all the other areas. Hope this helps..

KO (Olbermann) is having Gore on his show tonight for an indepth interview.. Program on MSNBC at 7pm Central.

new thread

http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/21009...

Tom Bearse
Tue, 05/29/07
1:55 pm
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Again, HD was just beginning to talk about the inadequacies of our foreign policies when he was hammered, drawn and 1/4rd and eventually lost the hi ground with the powers that be.......he was at least making a conversation of it.......which Gravel and Paul are attempting.

Dont worry..nobodies listening........their American idol mentality will lead them to flock to Obama or Hillary..........any kind of saviour.........but they still dont want to know who we are and how we got to this place and where we are going........

Cindy Shehann has reasoned it out, as many of us have..........

102. duh -- I couldn't figure out bcbs - bluecross bluesheild. Thanks.

83.

Michael Ellis
Tue, 05/29/07
1:09 pm

minicoopers are cute - but when you take yours down my sister's sand road before or after a rainstorm, please call me -- I want to watch lol

Actually, Dean's enemies depicted him that very way. In fact, the very words "doctrinaire anti-war agenda" and "wacky fringe" which Tom chose to use are cliche's used by the doctrinaire establishments of both parties to smear anyone who doesn't promote their "sensible doctrinaire mainstream pro-war agenda."