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Wednesday News Roundup
New York Is Top State in Dollars Per Student
New York again leads all other states in school spending per pupil, according to the latest census figures. Nationwide, public school districts spent an average of $8,701 per student on elementary and secondary education in the 2005 fiscal year, 5 percent more than in the previous year. New York, which also came in highest last year, spent $14,119 per student, followed by New Jersey at $13,800, Vermont at $11,838 and Connecticut at $11,572.
Possible legal ramifications for Roe v. Wade: Her embryos or his?
Webster, Texas — AFTER two years of infertility treatments — from temperature monitoring and artificial inseminations to hormone injections and laparoscopic surgery — Augusta Roman felt her last, best hope for bearing a child was only hours away. Her doctor had retrieved 13 eggs from her ovaries, and six had been fertilized with the sperm of her husband, Randy Roman. Ten hours before the embryos were to be implanted in Augusta's womb, Randy emerged from their study and broke unfathomable news: Despite all she had endured, he couldn't go through with it.
Wanted: Veteran attorney to oversee important cases in 35 Florida counties. Job expected to last 18 months or so. Salary: $145,400.Sounds enticing, but so far there have been almost no takers. In the past, lawyers clamored to be U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida -- one of the most powerful federal-prosecutor jobs in the country.
LEFT BEHIND: The Skewed Representation of Religion in Major News Media
It would surprise few people, conservative or progressive, to learn that coverage of the intersection of religion and politics tends to oversimplify both. If this oversimplification occurred to the benefit or detriment of neither side of the political divide, then the weaknesses in coverage of religion would be of only academic interest. But as this study documents, coverage of religion not only overrepresents some voices and underrepresents others, it does so in a way that is consistently advantageous to conservatives.
U.S. still lacks disaster response plan: Coast Guard
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is better prepared to deal with a major disaster like Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf region in 2005, but still lacks a formal structure for coordinating a national response, the head of the U.S. Coast Guard said on Tuesday.
Adm. Thad Allen, appointed to oversee the federal response to Katrina a week after the hurricane, said the Department of Homeland Security was reworking it's national response plan to incorporate the lessons of Katrina and other incidents.
NASA: Danger Point Closer Than Thought From Warming
Even "moderate additional" greenhouse emissions are likely to push Earth past "critical tipping points" with "dangerous consequences for the planet," according to research conducted by NASA and the Columbia University Earth Institute.
With just 10 more years of "business as usual" emissions from the burning of coal, oil and gas, says the NASA/Columbia paper, "it becomes impractical" to avoid "disastrous effects." The study appears in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. Its lead author is James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.
Nobody home tonight?
I was headed to zzzville anyway.
The Skewed Representation of Religion in Major News Media
If it was ONLY religion. I turned on MSNBC this morning during breakfast and they had an Exxon shill on explaining that the reason for their record profits is because Americans are consuming more gas. That got old pretty fast since there was no alternative position allowed to be heard.
So I surfed around for a few minutes and when I got back to MSNBC there was a shill from one of the anti-Mexican groups saying that every Mexican family in the US costs US taxpayers $30,000/year. That sounded unbelievable to me, but since there was no alternative POV allowed I just went back to surfing. Before i got back to MSNBC breakfast was over so I turned off the junkbox.
Caught a bit of Gore this AM and then saw some of him from yesterday (rerun) today on cspan...he said:
this AM on CBS - stuff to the effect that TV doesn't engage the electorate and they tune-out.
on the cspan thingie, which I caught next to none of - "Democracy is a conversation and if that conversation doesn't have integrity..." (forgot/lost the last part, but you can guess > people tune-out).
Also said: " Net neutrality is a more important issue than many realize"
Al Gore: he packs a punch.
jc, if you can hear, could you induce some living soul to create this bumper sticker:
Al Gore: he packs a punch
I trust you're hearing, thanks. We all miss you and wish you well)
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Neoconservative_hopes_prays_Bush_will_bomb_0530.html
This guy is a real gem. Google Norman Pedhoretz with AIPAC and be amazed.
rvative 'hopes, prays' Bush will bomb Iran
RAW STORYPublished: Wednesday May 30, 2007 reddit_url=window.location.href reddit_title='Neoconservative 'hopes, prays' Bush will bomb Iran'
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In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, prominent neoconservative Norman Podhoretz writes that he 'hopes' and 'prays' that President Bush will bomb Iran.
"Although many persist in denying it, I continue to believe that what Sept 11, 2001, did was to plunge us headlong into nothing less than another world war," writes the editor-at-large of Commentary, who also sits on the Council on Foreign Relations. "I call this new war World War IV, because I also believe that what is generally known as the Cold War was actually World War III, and that this one bears a closer resemblance to that great conflict than it does to World War II."
That left such a bad taste in my mouth that I'm going out for some yogurt and jam...not to be eaten together. LOL
Sheri, could you not post a new thread right after I've posted a bunch of articles?
It's wasted time for me and I have other things to do besides drag everything over here.
Really pissy, aren't I?
I don't want to stay up half the night posting so would you please let us know what time you're going to put up the overnight thread?
Thanks.
It's a full moon. All will be well. Night here. Til then.
Sitka
Wed, 05/30/07
10:30 pm
Reply to this
I'm endorsing nothing -- especially not a politician's "plan." And at that a politician who either stupidly or evily assisted in the destruction of Iraq's functioning government and helped bring on the current state of misery
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Been really busy - didn't see this response.
I think you are too judgemental and ridgid. You need to see that people make mistakes but sometimes those people have talents, perceptions and abilities that should not be devalued because of a mistakes. People should be evaluated for the present, not the past.
You have a tendency to label people as this or that, and don't see the value in what they say or do, based upon your apprehension of their past mistakes or statements. Life is more complicated than that, Sitka, and changing every day. The same thing can be said for Iraq.
Politics can be a game, but the situation in Iraq is no game, and we have a serious dilemma there. Getting out ASAP is a good idea, but that alone will not solve the problems Bush and the Neocons created. IMHO, we Democrat have inherited that responsibility and if we don't want it, we don't deserve to rule.
China Sentences Former Drug Regulator to Death
SHANGHAI, May 29 — The former director of China’s top food and drug safety agency was sentenced to death on Tuesday after pleading guilty to corruption and accepting bribes, the state-controlled news media said....
More about the Texas bible and public school showdown coming soon. Odessa showdown.....important court case. These are the groups like Pat Robertson, the LaHayes, James Kennedy etc. Oh, and Chuck Norris.
I wouldn;t mind being at the end of the thread with all my articles if I could bring them all over at once, like on the old system. But I can't anymore..only one post at a time.
OK, still cranky. Moon not quite full but very beautiful.
Geez, Sea, the Norman Pederast story kept me from gobbling my high calorie bedtime sundae. I and my good friend Jake, the black(hearted) Brittany both thank you. Full moon thoughts- Fred, I tend to forgive Democratic critters of the beltway a lot, simply because we all are allies, to some extent, in the fight to impeach, imprison or execute the dark,venal cruds who screwed our country. I can't bring myself to support the nomination efforts of Hillary, Obama, or Edwards, but these three would among the best possible choices for cabinet spots. For right now, the best of all possible futures can probably only happen following a Gore-Clark, or Gore - Dean victory.
OK, I'll cave simply becuz some of this news is worth re-posting IMO.
Oh my, here it is in black and white with stats and everything. Why are we all still here?
Discuss this story
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E-Mail This Article Published on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 by Reuters New Peace Index Ranks US Among Worst Nations by Deborah Charles WASHINGTON- The United States is among the least peaceful nations in the world, ranking 96th between Yemen and Iran, according to a new index released on Wednesday that evaluates 121 nations based on their peacefulness.According to the Global Peace Index, created by The Economist Intelligence Unit, Norway is the most peaceful nation in the world and Iraq is the least, just after Russia, Israel and Sudan.
“The objective of the Global Peace Index was to go beyond a crude measure of wars by systemically exploring the texture of peace,” said Global Peace Index President Clyde McConaghy.
He said the inaugural effort proves “peace can and has and will continue to be measured.”
The index was compiled based on 24 indicators measuring peace inside and outside of a country. They included the number of wars a country was involved in the past five years, how many soldiers were killed overseas and how much money was made in arms sales.
Domestic indicators included the level of violent crimes, relations with neighboring countries and level of distrust in other citizens.
The results were then reviewed by a panel of international experts.
“We were trying to find out what positive qualities lead to peace,” said Leo Abruzzese, the North American editorial director of the intelligence unit that is part of The Economist Group that publishes the well known magazine.
He said they found in general the most peaceful countries were the smallest, the most politically stable and democratic.
“Democracy didn’t actually correlate with peace, but a well-functioning democracy did. Efficient, accountable government seems to be the leading determinant of peace. Beyond that, income helps.”
Fifteen of the top 20 most peaceful nations are in Western Europe, and countries with higher income appeared to lead to higher levels of peace, he said.
The United States ranked 96th out of 121 nations, just worse than Yemen and just better than Iran, Honduras and South Africa.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/30/1553/
It we don't "support the troops" and throw money at Putz, the troops they be goin nekked. I disagree with the premise that this country is culturally sophisticated. IMO we're quite the opposite. This is the end of a good article and I'll say again that organized religion in the form of Xtianity in this country (plus the crazy Zionists) cause most of the damage being done....while they're spewing their creation myths, the corps are taking over the world.
Yikes! I'm still really pissed!
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"Stupidity isn’t new, but the willingness of a culturally sophisticated and technologically advanced society to swallow such obvious hogwash brings it to a higher plane of moronitude: We’re smart enough to know better, but we choose not to. A striking symbol of such willful idiocy takes the form of a new Creation Museum in northern Kentucky. The $27 million facility posits that the Earth is barely 6,000 years old, dinosaurs were created on the sixth day, and Jesus is the savior who will one day repair the trauma of man’s fall. Fossils, the museum teaches, are no older than Noah’s flood; in fact dinosaurs were on a section of Noah’s ark…There are 52 videos in the museum, one showing how the transformations wrought by the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 reveal how plausible it is that the waters of Noah’s flood could have carved out the Grand Canyon within days.”
Hipsters are driving rented Zipcars to Kentucky to revel in smirky awe at the cheese of it all, but there’s a serious reason fundamentalist churches spend $27 million on such propaganda: It works. A new Newsweek poll finds that 48 percent of American adults don’t believe in evolution, and “one-third (34 percent) of college graduates say they accept the Biblical account of creation as fact.”
Back among the chattering classes, the war=troops trope has outlived the funding battle. Attacking Democratic presidential aspirants Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, John McCain decried their votes “against funds to support our brave men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.” I wonder: Is McCain that stupid? Or is he a liar who knows he can count on a brainless public not to call him out?
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/30/1530/
And yet, who will stop putzie from doing His Will?
Survey: US Alone Should Not Pick World Bank President by Haider RizviNEW YORK - Whoever takes charge of the World Bank in July must be elected, not selected, say experts on global financing for development in a survey conducted by a U.S.-based independent think-tank.”We are surprised at how strong and consistent the results are in support of reforms in the selection process of the World Bank,” said Lawrence MacDonald of the Center for Global Development, the group that initiated the opinion poll last week.
The ongoing survey indicates that a vast majority of those working to promote the development of poor countries, as well as many of the World Bank’s own employees, do not like the way the president of the Bank is chosen.
MacDonald told OneWorld that in four days his group surveyed some 600 people. Amongst them, more than 85 percent said they would like to see a democratic way of choosing the Bank president.
Under the current procedure, it’s the United States, not any of the other 183 countries involved in the institution, that names the Bank president. The nomination process does, however, require some informal consultations with other members.
The World Bank was founded in 1944 to help rebuild a European continent devastated by World War II. In recent decades, its purpose has shifted to lending funds and providing advice to the world’s poorer countries.
Proponents of Bank reforms say there is no justification for the United States to impose its will on the selection process because the world’s economic superpower no longer enjoys a dominant role in the Bank’s financing.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/30/1549/
OK, done! Feel better. But the artist should have eaten one of the hunters and not the innocent Corgi.
.
TECH REUNION. Jobs and Gates share stage for first time in 10 years.
Bush wants US in Iraq for years
Snow: Bush envisions lengthy South Korea-like US presence in Iraq.
48 Replies - Links
Artist eats small dog to protest fox hunt
British man eats Corgi to protest Royal fox hunt; Yoko Ono tastes it.
15 Replies - LinksBoeing profited from CIA torture: ACLU
Boeing subsidiary helped CIA with 'extraordinary rendition' program: ACLU.
4 Replies - Links
Troops missing limbs return to active duty
In Pentagon about-face, military putting amputees even back into combat.
45 Replies - Links
Thinking about the artist eating the Corgi.....what an insane thing to do with anger...take it out on an innocent creature, as tho the dog understood why it was being killed and eaten.
And then there's putzie....prolly one of the most angry men on the planet.
How many DMZs will putzie establish in Iraq, using Korea as a fine and noble example of keeping families together and keeping the peace?
Why is this putz still in the WH?
Didn't cheney say that Gitmo is nice, tropical, good fruits to eat, pleasant laid back life style? Why is this madman still in the WH?
Guantanamo Saudi 'kills himself'
About 380 prisoners are held at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay A Saudi Arabian prisoner has died in an apparent suicide at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the US military has said. A statement by the US Southern Command said the inmate was found unresponsive and not breathing by guards, and attempts to revive him failed.
Two Saudis and a Yemeni prisoner were found hanged in an apparent suicide at the camp in June last year.
There are about 380 prisoners at the camp, some held for five years.
'Appropriate care'
There were no details as to how the prisoner died. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating the incident.
You have five-and-a-half years of desperation there with no legal way out 
Michael Ratner
US Center for Constitutional Rights http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6706635.stm
"The detainee was found unresponsive and not breathing in his cell by guards," the statement said.
Good morning, BFA ... great firsties, Reed!
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Can we dare to hope about Al?
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Nice to *see* Deaniac on the last thread!
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V. interesting articles, sea!
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Have fun fishing, Phil, and stretch the leg often!
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♥ jc ♥ you are much missed here where we need you.
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And Garrison Keillor definitely strikes a chord with me.
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Published on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 by Salon.com
Telling Lies Over Good Soldiers’ Graves
Dishonesty Has Gutted The Last Patriotic Holiday That Means Something.
by Garrison Keillor
Memorial Day is a lovely day in America, a day of reunion in small towns, where people drive up to the cemetery on Monday morning and file in, old-timers carrying lawn chairs, and even if you’ve missed a few years, people will come over and shake your hand and thank you for coming. You don’t have to dress up or support the war in Iraq. You just come, and afterward there’s hot dogs and potato salad at the Legion Club.
It’s the last patriotic holiday that still means something, and it persists year after year despite the wooden rituals and leaden speeches. In Central Park on Monday, an admiral with a chestful of ribbons gripped the lectern and read his lines, and the line of his that got quoted was, “Their sacrifice has enabled us to enjoy the things that we, I think in many cases, take for granted,” which does not ring, does it? No.
“Their sacrifice has enabled us to enjoy the things that many of us take for granted” would have been better, but still it’s nothing people will take home with them and ponder. How about, “Their noble sacrifice has enabled us to see the ignobility of the leadership that sent them to their deaths”? How about “We have sacrificed enough of our young men and women and it is time to bring them home to enjoy the things that the rest of us take for granted”?
[...]
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007...
Is it time yet for martial law? Are we getting closer to being totally terrorized?
US steps up precautions over TB
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection spread through the air US officials have begun a worldwide search for people who may have come into contact with a man infected with a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis. They say crew and passengers on the same flights as the man, from Atlanta to Paris and from Prague to Montreal this month, should be checked.
The man was honeymooning in Italy when he was told he had the rare form of TB - but still decided to return home.
He is now under federal quarantine, the first issued in over 44 years.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified the illness as "extensively drug-resistant TB".
This bacteria is a very deadly bacteria - we just have to err on the side of caution
Dr Julie Gerberding, CDC
CDC director Julie Gerberding said it was looking through passenger lists to try to find people who may have come into contact with the man, whose name has not been made public.
Yet another sad indication of who is losing the war in Iraq ... and predictable responses.
Denial is not just a river in Egypt.
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Baghdad lockdown as troops hunt for Britons
· Clerics differ on who was responsible for kidnapping
· US accused of jeopardising negotiations with raids
Audrey Gillan and Richard Norton-Taylor
Thursday May 31, 2007
Guardian
Areas of Baghdad were under lockdown yesterday as American and Iraqi troops searched for the five British men who were kidnapped in the city on Tuesday. There was speculation that the four security guards and the financial consultant they were protecting were taken hostage as an act of revenge for the British army's help in the killing of a Mahdi army militia leader.
Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said Shia militia groups had taken the men, but a leading cleric with experience in hostage negotiation said he did not believe the Mahdi army was responsible. Sheikh Abdel al-Sattar al-Bahadli told the BBC Arab Service that Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi militia were not involved, and wanted to peacefully build a new Iraq.
The four security guards, employed by GardaWorld, and their client, who works for the US company BearingPoint, were abducted from inside the finance ministry building in Baghdad just before noon on Tuesday. They were driven away by men in police uniforms in the direction of Sadr City, the Shia district to the north-east.
Margaret Beckett, the foreign secretary, said British officials were doing all they could to secure the "swift and safe release" of the men. Speaking in Berlin, where she is attending a G8 foreign ministers' meeting, she said: "This is clearly a very distressing time for all concerned. Foreign Office officials are offering help and assistance to the next of kin. We are working closely with the Iraqi authorities."
Tony Blair, speaking in Sierra Leone, said: "We know the dangers and challenges there, but we shouldn't let those who are prepared to use kidnapping and terrorism succeed."
[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,32995...
It's just heartbreaking to see what we are doing to our beloved animal kingdom. I'm still grieving over the lack of any birdsong in the morning. Where are they? Are they here but not singing? In all my years, I've never awakened to silence...now I hear the traffic and I'm so very sad. Where are the birds?
Great apes 'facing climate peril'
Dr Leakey says climate change is putting great ape species at risk Great apes are facing an "inevitable crisis" arising from climate change, a leading conservationist has warned. Dr Richard Leakey said that growing pressure to switch from fossil fuels to biofuels could result in further destruction of the animals' habitats.
The chair of WildlifeDirect called for immediate action and proposed financial incentives to save forests from destruction as one possible solution.
He said: "Climate change will undoubtedly impact everything we know."
The implications for biodiversity are there for all to see
Dr Robert Leakey
The great apes - gorillas, chimps, bonobos and orangutans - are already under threat from habitat destruction, poaching, logging and disease.
Hey, sea ... haven't seen Al on stations over here lately, if that question was directed to me.
But he is much admired here.
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V. interesting discussion going on here ... but watch for the smearing to begin in earnest. Right now things are still at the discussion stage only, but even discussion of the I/P situation is something that some elements will not allow.
Unfortunately, not allowing open discussion is the case in America and it is working to the detriment of our whole nation.
Myself, I am not sure that it is the universities that are necessarily the problem ... but the politicans definitely are.
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Lecturers vote for boycott of Israeli universities
James Meikle, education correspondent
Thursday May 31, 2007
Guardian
University lecturers threatened yesterday to provoke international condemnation by forcing their union into a year-long debate over boycotting work with Israeli universities.
Delegates at the first conference of the new University and College Union in Bournemouth voted by 158 to 99 for "a comprehensive and consistent boycott" of all Israeli academic institutions, as called for by Palestinian trade unions in response to Israel's "40-year occupation" of Palestinian land.
The union's leadership must now circulate calls from Palestinians for a boycott of Israeli universities to all branches throughout the country.
Tom Hickey, a Brighton University academic and union executive member, who led the move, said: "There will be adverse effects on individuals, but this is not targeting individuals or trying to break contacts with them." The vote reflected "the deep concern people have".
[...]
http://education.guardian.co.uk/print/0,...
Yeah, sure ... the money and the mouth are definitely in different places.
Perhaps, prick should just donate all his ill-gotten Halliburton funds.
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US to spend extra $30bn to fight HIV/Aids, pledges Bush
· Washington becomes campaign's biggest backer
· Critics praise president's commitment to fight
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Thursday May 31, 2007
Guardian
George Bush announced yesterday that the US plans to spend $30bn (£15bn) over five years in Africa and elsewhere to combat HIV/Aids.
This would make the US by far the biggest single donor to the campaign against HIV/Aids and is in addition to the $15bn Washington has been spending since 2003. Parts of Mr Bush's policy are opposed by international health organisations, academics, women's groups, European governments and even the administration's financial watchdog. In line with domestic Christian right orthodoxy, a significant proportion of the funds are channelled to religious groups advocating abstinence until marriage and refusing to distribute condoms, an approach regarded as counter-productive and costing lives.
One of the groups critical of Mr Bush's policy, the New York-based International Women's Health Coalition, welcomed the announcement, describing it as "one of his greatest accomplishments". It also expressed hope that the opportunity would be taken to drop the "abstinence only" approach.
Although the Bush administration's contributions to aid programmes generally have been criticised as stingy by aid organisations, the exception is spending on HIV/Aids. Mr Bush started the President's Emergency Programme for Aids Relief (Pepfar) in 2003, with $15bn to be distributed over five years. That is due to end next September.
Tony Snow, the White House press spokesman, said yesterday that 1.1 million people have received treatment so far but the new funds, to kick in from next September, would provide treatment for about 2.5 million.
Although Mr Bush announced the $30bn, he has to ask Congress to find the money. With Iraq costing billions, it will be hard for Congress to find the sum in an already over-stretched US budget.
[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,32995...
This computer is very slow this am ... not quite sure why. It's probably time to run Ad-Aware or something.
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Well, Darfur is very much in the headlines, but Palestine and the slaughter in Lebanon, among others such as Congo, are not.
Some genocide is apparently OK to overlook.
But there is indeed a focus on Darfur ... and just what is the difference ... hah, O-I-L, or at least one might think so.
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http://www.markfiore.com/animation/group...
Actually, here is some good news ... and perhaps one harbinger of good things to come.
Courtest of DU ...
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Source: Arkansas Times Blog
The U.S. Justice Department has notified Arkansas's congressional delegation that Interim Eastern District U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin is resigning effective Friday, June 1. Jane Duke will become acting U.S. attorney. (This is the assistant in the office who the Justice Department once had said had to be passed over as an interim appointee because of her pregnancy. Since it's illegal to discriminate on account of pregnancy, Justice had to back off this statement.)
Read more: http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasbl... /
The Arkansas Times reported earlier today that Tim was in discussion with the Fred Thompson campaign for future employment.
[...]
http://www.democraticunderground.com/dis...
Courtest s/b courtesy, of course.
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Here are parts 1 & 2 of Al on Keith last evening, courtesy of DU ... and you can also get the comments.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/dis...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/dis...
Hope that those urls work!
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And yes, Monica's been right about a lot of things ... more proof, if any is needed.
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The Colossus Of Baghdad
Tom Engelhardt
May 30, 2007
Tom Engelhardt, who runs the Nation Institute's TomDispatch.com ("a regular antidote to the mainstream media"), is the co-founder of the American Empire Project and, most recently, the author of Mission Unaccomplished: Tomdispatch Interviews with American Iconoclasts and Dissenters, the first collection of Tomdispatch interviews. This post originally appeared on TomDispatch.com.
Of the seven wonders of the ancient Mediterranean world, including the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Colossus of Rhodes, four were destroyed by earthquakes, two by fire. Only the Great Pyramid of Giza today remains.
We no longer know who built those fabled monuments to the grandiosity of kings, pharaohs, and gods; nowadays, at least, it's easier to identify the various wonders of our world with their architects. Maya Lin, for instance, spun the moving black marble Vietnam Memorial from her remarkable brain for the veterans of that war; Frank Gehry dreamt up his visionary titanium-covered museum in Bilbao, Spain, for the Guggenheim; and the architectural firm of BDY (Berger Devine Yaeger), previously responsible for the Sprint Corporation's world headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas; the Visitation Church in Kansas City, Missouri; and Harrah's Hotel and Casino in North Kansas City, Missouri, turns out to have designed the biggest wonder of all—an embassy large enough to embody the Bush administration's vision of an American-reordered Middle East. We're talking, of course, about the still-uncompleted American embassy, the largest on the planet, being constructed on a 104-acre stretch of land in the heart of Baghdad's embattled Green Zone, now regularly under mortar fire. As Patrick Lenahan, Senior Architect and Project Manager at BDY, has put it (according to the firm's website): "We understand how to involve the client most effectively as we direct our resources to make our client's vision a reality."
And what a vision it was! What a reality it's turned out to be!
[...]
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/05...
Well, things here are just too slow and it's THAT time, so do have good ones and stay well!
OK, critters, fund putz's AIDS aid by rescinding the tax cuts or better yet, the ESCALATION MONEY. Putz is now swaggering verbally, sounding compassionate, knowing full well we're outta money...so now he's gonna propose lots of things that sound wonderful to the public.
Think the public can be fooled enuf to vote repug?
Al Gore or bust!!!!
Well, I lied and am still here surfing.
Good for Conyers, who seems to be waking up more and more.
Rep. John Conyers Backs Impeachment by David Swanson | May 30 2007 - 9:37am | permalinkarticle tools: email | print | read more David Swanson
Advocates for impeachment can take some measure of encouragement not just from the 85 cities and towns and 14 state Democratic parties that have passed impeachment resolutions, or the 11 state legislatures that have introduced them (Maine was #11 on Tuesday), but also from comments made Tuesday evening in Detroit by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers.
For about a year now there have been two Congressmen Conyers, the defender of our Constitution and the follower of Nancy Pelosi in her ban on impeachment. Citizens in Detroit organized a town hall forum on impeachment and invited the Congressman. Both John Conyerses came on Tuesday, and they both left partway through the event. But, judging by the Associated Press story, Conyers the impeachment advocate was winning the internal battle.
article continues...
Sitka: I'm endorsing nothing....
FRED: I think you are too judgemental and ridgid.
Is there such a thing as a sane response to an insane statement?
I think the voters would turn out in hoards if we had public referendums frequently and about the *now* issues....Iraq, funding, health care etc. Once every 2 years is not enuf. We need to voice our opinions at least once a month..via the Net, or have voting machines right next to ATMs (yikes) supermarkets...wherever people go consistently. We need true participatory democracy.
But then, our critters now know what we want and are ignoring our will in favor of the will of AIPAC/corps/putzfollies/MIC... the unholy marriage.
Maybe I will say g'nite before I get really really REALLY cranky. LOL
Ah, Sitka, I just had to refresh and saw your photo and am LMAO.
If anyone needs "some living soul" to do a bumper sticker, you could always leave a comment at HEP where Demetrius will see it. There's an e-mail address for requests on our store as well.
I keep realizing anew that jc is gone, and it stings all over again. I just recently was looking through my e-mail inbox and found a message she sent less than a month ago, telling me what she'd learned about changes to the Cafe Press affiliate program. She was always thinking of us and passing along information she thought might be helpful to Demetrius and myself with our online stores, and we would do the same for her.
So here's this message in my inbox, just like so many others. Except *this* one, it turns out, would be the last time I would hear jc's "voice".
Dammit.
This Side of the Blue
Svetlana sucks lemons across from me,
and I am progressing abominably.
And I do not know my own way to the sea
but the saltiest sea knows its own way to me.
The city that turns, turns protracted and slow
and I find myself toeing th'embarcadero
and I find myself knowing the things that I knew
which is all that you can know on this side of the blue
And Jaime has eyes black and shiny as boots
and they march at you, two-by-two (re - loo - re - loo);
when she looks at you, you know she's nowhere near through:
it's the hardest heart beating this side of the blue.
And the signifieds butt heads with the signifiers,
and we all fall down slack-jawed to marvel at words!
While across the sky sheet the impossible birds,
in a steady, illiterate movement homewards.
And Gabriel stands beneath forest and moon.
See them rattle & boo, see them shake, see them loom.
See him fashion a cap from a page of Camus;
see him navigate deftly this side of the blue.
And the rest of our lives will the moments accrue
when the shape of their goneness will flare up anew.
when we do what we have to do (re - loo - re -loo),
which is all you can do on this side of the blue.
Joanna Newsom, from The Milk-eyed Mender
http://www.bentclouds.com/music/newsomly...
NINE INCH NAILS LYRICS
"Survivalism"
I should have listened to her
So hard to keep control
We kept on eating but
Our bloated belly's still not full
She gave us all she had but
We went and took some more
Can't seem to shut her legs
Our mother nature is a whore
I got my propaganda
I got revisionism
I got my violence
In hi-def ultra-realism
All a part of this great nation
I got my fist
I got my plan
I got survivalism
Hypnotic sound of sirens
Echoing through the street
The cocking of the rifles
The marching of the feet
You see your world on fire
Don't try to act surprised
We did just what you told us
Lost our faith along the way and found ourselves believing your lies
I got my propaganda
I got revisionism
I got my violence
In hi-def ultra-realism
All a part of this great nation
I got my fist
I got my plan
I got survivalism
All bruised and broken, bleeding
She asked to take my hand
I turned, just keep on walking
But you'd do the same thing in the circumstance
I'm sure you'll understand
I got my propaganda
I got revisionism
I got my violence
In hi-def ultra-realism
All a part of this great nation
I got my fist
I got my plan
I got survivalism
Trent Resnor, from Year Zero
http://www.azlyrics.com/n/nine.html
Declare independence
Declare independence
Don't let them do that to you
Declare independence
Don't let them do that to you
Justice
Declare independence
Don't let them do that to you
Declare independence
Don't let them do that to you
Justice
Start your own currency
Make your own stamp
Protect your language
Justice
Declare independence
Don't let them do that to you
Declare independence
Don't let them do that to you
Make your own flag
Make your own flag
Make your own flag
Make your own flag
Raise your flag (higher higher)
Raise your flag (higher higher)
Raise your flag (higher higher)
Raise your flag (higher higher)
Raise your flag (higher higher)
Raise your flag (higher higher)
Declare independence
Don't let them do that to you
Declare independence
Don't let them do that to you
Damn colonists
Ignore their patronizing
Tear off their blindfold
Open their eyes
Declare independence
Don't let them do that to you
Declare independence
Don't let them do that to you
With a flag and a trumpet
Go to the top
Of your highest mountain
And raise your flag (higher higher)
Raise your flag (higher higher)
Raise your flag (higher higher)
Raise your flag (higher higher)
Raise your flag (higher higher)
Raise your flag (higher higher)
Declare independence
Don't let them do that to you
Declare independence
Don't let them do that to you
Raise the flag
Bjork, from Volta
http://www.alwaysontherun.net/bjork.htm#...
Imagine
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
John Lennon, from Imagine
http://www.oldielyrics.com/j/john_lennon...
My Ashes
All the things that I needed
I wasted my chances
I have found myself wanting
When a mother and father
Gave me their problems
I accepted them all
Nothing ever expected
I was rejected
But I came back for more
And my ashes drift beneath the silver sky
Where a boy rides on a bike and never smiles
And my ashes fall over all the things we've said
On a box of photographs under the bed
I will stay in my own world
Under the covers
I will feel safe inside
The kiss that will burn me
Cure me of dreaming
I was always returning
And my ashes find a way beyond the fog
And return to save the child that I forgot
And my ashes fade among the things unseen
And a dream plays in reverse on piano keys
And my ashes drop upon a park in Wales
Never-ending clouds of rain, and distant sails... distant sails
Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree), from Fear of a Blank Planet
http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/porcupi...
Just saw Paul Wolfowitz on the Charlie Rose show. Rose was tough and did not give him much slack. Asked the hard questions, but Wolfowitz never lost his composure and answered the questions directly for the most part in a mild tone throughout. Very little was said about Iraq. 99% of the show was about the World Bank the work it was doing, the changes he made, and most of that was about Africa and cleaning up corruption, what he describes as a "cancer" that eats away at developing countries.
Got a little upset about Iraq, Wolfowitz interjected, " I was never the architect of anything...."
At the end of the interview, Wolfowitz said "Nobody in Africa ever said anything to me about Iraq, they wanted to know how I could help them in Africa."
Anyone who cares about Africa, corruption in developing countries, the World Bank, and would the character of Paul Wolfowitz, aside the fact that he was a Bushie, should see this. Paul Wolfowitz is a complicated person. I would not compare him to Rove, Gonzales, Bolton, etc. He is different.
King Crimson - Facts Of Life Lyrics
Six billion ants
Crawling on a plate
Six billion ants
Crawling on a plate
None of them give back
As much as they take
Six billion ants
Crawling on a plate
Doesn't mean you should
Just because you can
It doesn't mean you should
Just because you can
Like Abraham and Ishmael
Fighting over sand
It doesn't mean you should
Just because you can
That is a fact of life
That is a fact of life
Now some of us build
And some of us teach
Some of us build
Some of us teach
And some of us kill
What some of us eat
That is a fact of life
That is a fact of life
Nobody knows
What happens when you die
Nobody knows
What happens when you die
Believe what you want
It doesn't mean you're right
That is a fact of life
That is a fact of life
King Crimson
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/King-Cr...
fred, even though i invite your particular brand of ridicule by saying this, i must: if you think wolfowitz is a blameless creature in the whole mess that bush-co has created, then you're just stupid and are not paying attention to the facts. stop promoting the facist's cause. really now!
so, go on. dig your diatribe and personal insults and whatever. the fact is that you're defending the absolute worst sort of person. and you think you're liberal or whatever.
People should be evaluated for the present, not the past.
For politicians, that amounts to a "Get Out Of Jail" card. Allowing politicians to sweep their rotten records under the rug doesn't ask for the worst in government; it demands it.
As for Biden and everyone else in either party who voted to give Bush authority to instigate the worst foreign policy disaster in US history, they are damned by their own incompetent or corrupt judgement.
You have a tendency to label people as this or that
But that's not why Fred labeled me as belonging to the "whacko left."
Democrat have inherited that responsibility and if we don't want it, we don't deserve to rule.
Ending the US occupation of Iraq immediately is the only responsible thing to do. Anything else only increases the misery and waste all around and further strengthens extremism throughout Islam.
Got a little upset about Iraq, Wolfowitz interjected, " I was never the architect of anything...."
Defeat is indeed an orphan.
most of that was about Africa and cleaning up corruption, what he describes as a "cancer" that eats away at developing countries.
Wolfowitz row seen hurting Africa anti-graft drive
At the end of the interview, Wolfowitz said "Nobody in Africa ever said anything to me about Iraq, they wanted to know how I could help them in Africa."
Africa's Glee in Wolfowitz Woes
Paul Wolfowitz is a complicated person. I would not compare him to Rove, Gonzales, Bolton, etc. He is different.
Of course he's different. Which one is he again?
Good News!!! Well, for Fred at least.....
President Sees Long-Term U.S. Role In IraqPresident Bush wants to see the U.S. military provide long-term stability in Iraq as it has in South Korea, where thousands of U.S. troops have been based for more than half a century, the White House said Wednesday.
Is half a century in Iraq what you're thinking, Fred?
Somebody needs to tell Bush that a cease fire was signed in 1953 and since then SKorea hasn't been full of NKoreans blowing up any and everything, taking hostages and murdering, and causing thousands of US casualties.
Bush can project from inside his protective bubble that Korea and Iraq are remotely similar in any way.
Bush can only project from inside his protective bubble that Korea and Iraq are remotely similar in any way.
5.
Good morning, everybody
A Blast from the Past
In response to a petition to JC, I was reminded of Karen Johnson (Fomby) who used to blog here as karen anne and did some early Dean graphics as Grassroots Graphics. Since her page is still on the web, I'm thinking we might be able to recruit her to carry on JC's tradition. Anyway, here's the thread I found her on:
The Bat is Back by Joe Rospars Published Friday, 04/30/04 @ 2:33 am
Governor Dean wrote to the DFA grassroots this afternoon about what's been happening with your organization. Most obviously, the website looks different -- it's been resdesigned to help you find information and tools quicker and easier. (Even mundane changes make a difference; two grassroots supporters wrote in the comments today that they were pleased that DFA could now take monthly sustainer donations and process contributions with your American Express card.)
But the progress runs deeper than that. DFA has a new Executive Director, Tom McMahon, who discussed his vision for the organization in a chat earlier today. We will be redesigning Project Commons to help you organize your state or local group more effectively. And we will be working with candidates and the grassroots to fundamentally change how politics has been taking place in this country.
We're taking our political process back one volunteer at a time. And we are committed to taking control of the money in politics one donor at a time. Hit the bat for DFA in order to demonstrate that we are serious -- that power can't be bought by special interests and we will fight until we win.
Later today we'll have more news about the new site and more guest writers who will be featured regularly. You can make it happen now by making your contribution.
Funny, that post crashed my Firefox.
Firefox continues to be crashed by this thread. It loads, but the page won't scroll.
And it won't let me go to other tabs either.
I'll see what happens with Safari.
Safari doesn't recognize my new email. Firefox is kaput for this thread. So, I'm back to plain Opera. Lesson? It's useful to have a variety of browsers on your computer.
BTW, this site isn't the only one that's quirky. Hannah just got moved over to WordPress, a blog software outfit, which provides templates for setting up blogs. It's got a problem with the latest Opera on the MAC and does fine with the old browsers on the linux box and with Firefox.
More evidence that Yale graduates some real dodos.
Blogger unmasked, court case upended
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | May 31, 2007
It was a Perry Mason moment updated for the Internet age.
As Ivy League-educated pediatrician Robert P. Lindeman sat on the stand in Suffolk Superior Court this month, defending himself in a malpractice suit involving the death of a 12-year-old patient, the opposing counsel startled him with a question.
Was Lindeman Flea?
Flea, jurors in the case didn't know, was the screen name for a blogger who had written often and at length about a trial remarkably similar to the one that was going on in the courtroom that day.
In his blog, Flea had ridiculed the plaintiff's case and the plaintiff's lawyer. He had revealed the defense strategy. He had accused members of the jury of dozing.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/article...
Good morning Monica et al:
I see that Seashell, J for D, mprov, and sitka had an active night.
Great Posts!
Bush Tells America that the Iraq Nightmare Will Never End: "Bush envisions U.S. presence in Iraq like S. Korea"
Lieberman Confronted By Troops In Iraq: ‘When Are We Going To Get Out Of Here?’ 5/31
Fred Thompson Adds Excitement to Boring Republican Primary Field. Wait... No, it's Still Boring -- A BuzzFlash News Analysis
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/analysis/217
Only in the Republican primary field could a relatively unknown and inexperienced candidate enter the race months late and still start in second or third place before any official campaigning. But that's exactly what is likely to happen if actor and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson formally throws in his hat as expected in early July.
So abysmal are the Republican candidates thus far that conservatives will take just about anyone over the flawed likes of McCain, Giuliani, and Romney (plus some other guys who aren't worth mentioning). Even Newt Gingrich is being urged to run just to breathe a gust of life into the stale drudgery the GOP contest has turned out to be.
Fred Thompson is tall, southern, and ultra-right wing. But that's about it. "He didn't have a particularly distinguished Senate career," said American Conservative Union president David Keene. "The book on him is he's lazy."
Yikes.
(Just pointing out where I posted--I got the impression the post wasn't seen.)
The apparently offending post, which I took Fred to advocate the following @
51.FRED from OR
Thu, 05/31/07
3:03 am:
~Anyone who cares about Africa, corruption in developing countries, the World Bank, and would the character of Paul Wolfowitz, aside the fact that he was a Bushie, should see this. ~
>
Thanks for the heads up on Wvolfi in the hot seat on Charlie Rose.
Bummer I missed it last night. If others can, Charlie Rose is rerun during the day hours the next day. That rerun will happen today!
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070531/photos_wl_uk_afp/c584a2e9082a5797a9f33442a8561581
AFP - Thu May 31, 7:19 AM ET
Prime Minister Tony Blair (C) talks to recruits and serving soldiers at a military training camp in Mahera, Sierra Leone, 30 May 2007. The world's richest nations need to show greater commitment towards Africa, Blair said, amid concern that pledges on aid and development were falling short.(AFP/Leon Neal)
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070530/481/lon81405301902
AP - Wed May 30, 3:02 PM ET
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, LEFT, is made an honourary Paramount Chief in the village of Mahera in during his visit to Sierra Leone, Wednesday 30 May 2007. (AP Photo/Stefan Rousseau/PA)
* rdorgan
Thu, 05/31/07
8:20 am
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nothing like shoving something down peoples throats persistently...........
Much livelier new thread.
Must read #67
The link to the Lieberman article, probably mentions in the comments following just about every fitting name for Lieberman that one could think of, maybe even adding a couple. It helps to vent sometimes.
I need to call Lieberman's office and tell him to get out of the Dem Party, now.
I need to have a little "conversation" with Reid also. Why didn't he try to stop Lieb. when he could, why didn't the Party help Lamont, the only Dem running in Ct.?
Then I need to tell Nancy again that she has no right to take impeachment off the table.
Arrogance abounds. I guess I should include my own for thinking my voice means anything to them. Howard tells us it does. That's the only thing that keeps me interested.
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Videos of some of the 64 House Healthcare Heroes standing strong for a public health insurance option
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By Reed in V T on May 30, 2007 11:13 PM EDTI'm here first to say...Dean's 1st!