First are those who do not accept money from oil, the industrial military complex,  pharma and aipac, to name a few.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/23/world/...

Militants Said to Flee Before U.S. Offensive

By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: June 23, 2007

BAGHDAD, June 22 — The operational commander of troops battling to drive fighters with Al Qaeda from Baquba said Friday that 80 percent of the top Qaeda leaders in the city fled before the American-led offensive began earlier this week.

------------

Superb journalism

Once again, it is proper to revisit the sworn Senate testimony of ex-Army CoS Shinseki in February 2003. He was asked what size of force would be necessary to secure post-war Iraq. He suggested several hundred thousand American soldiers. Well, the civilian leaders at the Pentagon shot that down. Now, four years after, we're trumpeting a minimal escalation of 30,000 troops....this after countless political and tactical blunders.

What kind of arrogance pervaded the civilian leadership at the Pentagon then that their judgment trumped that of a career professional Army soldier, such as General Shinseki?

A very good question!

http://www.counterpunch.org/green06222007.html

How in the world could a Democratic Congress manage to earn a 23 percent favorability rating in just six short months, without even doing anything? Perhaps by not doing anything? Nothing, that is, except, of course capitulating on the single issue that enrages the American public the most, and that most explains the rout of 2006 that gave them their very majority. It was one thing for Democrats to melt like a snow cone in Riyadh when conditions were not terribly favorable to playing the role of principled opposition (although please don't get me started on how failing to oppose on principle actually leads to a vicious cycle which encourages more violations of principle later). But this is something quite different.

The sad fact is that Democrats are frightened of the shadows of their shadows. On an overcast day. Which leads to the even sadder fact that American voters effectively have two bold selections from which to choose when they step into a voting booth. There is the truly disastrous party and then there is the merely embarrassing party. There is the party that is destroying when it isn't pathetically bumbling, and then there is the party that facilitates whatever the other guys want (hey, you don't even have to say 'please', either!). Tweedledee and Tweedledum, my handbag! In any given election, American voters can choose between really evil monsters, on the one hand, and a third-cup-out-of-the-same-depleted-tea-bag anemic approximation of evil monsters, on the other. Who says there's no real choice in American politics?!

BUSH MAFIA WHACKS THE REPUBLIC

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062207H.shtml

In years to come, historians may look back on U.S. press coverage of George W. Bush's presidency and wonder why there was not a single front-page story announcing one of the most monumental events of mankind's modern era - the death of the American Republic and the elimination of the "unalienable rights" pledged to "posterity" by the Founders.

    The historians will, of course, find stories about elements of this extraordinary event - Bush's denial of habeas corpus rights to a fair trial, his secret prisons, his tolerance of torture, his violation of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches, his "signing statements" overriding laws, the erosion of constitutional checks and balances.

    But the historians will scroll through front pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post and every other major newspaper - as well as scan the national network news and the 24-hour cable channels - and find not a single story connecting the dots, explaining the larger picture: the end of a remarkable democratic experiment which started in 1776 and which was phased out sometime in the early 21st century.

    How, these historians may ask, did the U.S. press corps miss one of history's most important developments? Was it a case like the proverbial frog that would have jumped to safety if tossed into boiling water but was slowly cooked to death when the water was brought to a slow boil?

    Or was it that journalists and politicians intuitively knew that identifying too clearly what was happening in the United States would have compelled them to action, and that action would have meant losing their jobs and livelihoods? Perhaps, too, they understood that there was little they could do to change the larger reality, so why bother?

WHERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS ON TUGUBA?

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062207H.shtml

 Rather than thank Taguba for upholding the honor of the U.S. military, the Bush administration singled out this hard-working, low-key general for ridicule, retribution and forced retirement in early 2007.

    In an interview with Hersh, Taguba described a chilling conversation he had with Gen. John Abizaid, head of Central Command, a few weeks after Taguba's report became public in 2004. Sitting in the back of Abizaid's Mercedes sedan in Kuwait, Abizaid quietly told Taguba, "You and your report will be investigated."

    "I'd been in the Army 32 years by then," Taguba told Hersh, "and it was the first time that I thought I was in the Mafia."

    It was also an early indication that Taguba's military career was nearing its end. In January 2006, Gen. Richard Cody, the Army's Vice-Chief of Staff, called Taguba and without pleasantries or explanation told Taguba, "I need you to retire by January 2007."

    So, the general who had violated the omerta code of silence was banished from Bush's Mafia.

    Hersh wrote that the sensitivity over Taguba's report went beyond its graphic account of physical and sexual abuse of Iraqis detained at Abu Ghraib; it also brought unwanted attention to a wider pattern of criminal acts committed with the approval of President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

    "The administration feared that the publicity would expose more secret operations and practices," including a special military task forces or Special Access Programs set up to roam the world and assassinate suspected terrorists, Hersh wrote.

    Hersh quoted a recently retired CIA officer as saying the task-force teams "had full authority to whack - to go in and conduct 'executive action,'" a phrase meaning assassination.

John quoted from David Green in Counterpunch, who wrote "How in the world could a Democratic Congress manage to earn a 23 percent favorability rating in just six short months, without even doing anything?"

I think I figured this out.  Democrats are unhappy with the Republicans in office, the Democratic base is unhappy with the Democrats,  Republicans dislike the Democrats in office,  and the Republican base is upset with the Republicans.

Some thoughts about why blogging matters–especially when it comes to making sure the angle presented by the corporate media does not go unchallenged. Ended up being a bit of a walk down memory lane to recall an example of local media bias. It may have seemed rather mundane, but it potentially had a negative effect on the lives of ordinary people.

6.C'mon Tom.They were elected to get us out of Iraq--Only one way to do that--cut off funding. They have the power to do it. They haven't used it.

Ergo, their approval rating is in the toilet.

Bill Moyers Take Back America 2005 2 min - Jun 15, 2007

...

+++

Paine -

Bill Moyers will be one of the speakers at the 50th anniversary synod of the United Church of Christ (the most liberal church denomination in America) in Hartford, CT from yesterday through this Tues:

http://www.wfn.org/2007/06/msg00180.html

From Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>
Date Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:03:41 -0700

Synod 'highlights' schedule offered for online viewers

Written by J. Bennett Guess June 13, 2007

The UCC again will offer extensive web coverage of its upcoming General Synod, June 22-26, in Hartford, Conn., where the denomination will celebrate its 50th anniversary with record attendance and high-profile speakers.

?We will once again provide gavel to gavel webstreaming at ucc.org," says the Rev. Robert Chase, the UCC's communications director. "The world is coming to Hartford, even if that means online viewing from your personal computer."

All plenary, worship and celebratory sessions at the Hartford Civic Center will be shown in real time and in their entirety. Visitors to http://www.ucc.org can click to access the streaming from one of the three promotional boxes, now a fixture in the homepage?s new, recently-launched design.

Each plenary session will be streamed live, then archived for later viewing as well.

Below is an overview of some General Synod highlights to help plan your online viewing. All times are Eastern.

...

Saturday, June 23

...

Morning keynote by Bill Moyers, journalist, at 9 a.m.

* Chung Hyun Kyung, theologian, at 10:15 a.m.

* Ricardo Esquivia, Colombian human rights advocate, at 11:15 a.m.

* Rachel Barton Pine, musician, at 12:30 p.m.

* Maria Otero, microfinance expert, at 1 p.m.

* Children?s Orchestra at 2 p.m.

* Afternoon keynote by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama at 2:30 p.m.

...

Tuesday Morning, June 26, at 8:30 a.m. (Music begins at 8 a.m.)

* Election results announced.

* Music by renowned performer Ken Medema who, though blind from birth, demonstrates remarkable musical vision.

* Faith journey of actress Lynn Redgrave, a UCC member, at 10:10 a.m.

...

Money Race: WashPo: Romney, Clinton, Obama Up, Edwards and McCain, Down

The media love the money race. Hardly anyone can connect the dots on this one. The more money a candidate amasses, the more the donors expect for their money.

The corruption continues--in plain view of the ursine electorate

First is Howard and what he has done in the past and is currently doing to advance justice and fairness and togetherness for ALL Americans.

*rdorgan

...too late to get there(

mprrov

King Crimson (click) sounds a bit like your stuff )

...and, wow, FZ follows on this archived show @ WFMU:

Quick pass-by and a response ...

57. Imn2Paine
Sat, 06/23/07
8:27 am

Paine said: {...] I just don't like them and don't want my government or my tax contribution to help them. I think they are a black hole for us.

************
My response: They are not OUR tax dollars, but their own. Israel and the US have been withholding THE Palestinians' OWN agreed-upon tax monies from them with no legal precedent whatsoever. And people have been starving ... and dying as a result.

There has never been a question of our tax monies, not with putzCo anyway.

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

Paine said: All is in flux in the ME. I have no answer but peace, and Hamas will not "go" for that.

************
My response: How will we know if we don't talk to them directly? That is exactly what wasn't done for years with Fatah. Have we learned NOTHING?

Seems so.

We deal with governments we don't like ALL the time. It's worse for the world because very few *like* the gov't of, by and for putzCo, i.e., the biggest terrorist group in the world, but they have no choice but to grit their teeth and deal with it.

You are condemning a whole people for the grandstanding of their politicans. We had all better hope sincerely that the world does not start doing that with all of us.

I will add that the grandstanding has been played up in the US media, while any olive branches have been left ignored and balanced reporting has fallen by the wayside. It's very like what happened with Bill Clinton having lied about a consensual bj and with purz and prick literally continuing to get away with murder. Consider the difference in US media coverage with those ... it's the same with I-P issues.

Don't fall for it. That's all I ask. And please don't keep repeating the memes. It's not helpful to anyone.

Well, well, folks!  ha-ha-haha check this out:

We asked tourists outside the White House: If you had one minute with President Bush, what would you tell him?

Click on the images below to see their responses or go directly to the video section of our Web site to see the videos.

We will update this page regularly with new "Your Turn" videos.

>

What would you ask your president if you were at the WH gate today?

Hey, Paine, didn't realize you were here until I posted!

***

*purz* s/b *putz*, but *purz* sounds like it could fit too.

Anyway, now gone!

Repost from bottom of last thread.

thanks *rdorgan for the notice.

Wow, Good for you Senator Gravel. Just heard his very well expressed position on not why religion has no place in government. Having a sister who is a Nun in New Hampshire, he knows first hand that if someone is of faith and religion, they live their values. If they try to preach them and govern with religion, they are usually lacking in their morality.

This was at the TBA Conference and heard the interview on the radio.

*rdorgan

...too late to get there(

...

+++

Paine -

I posted about Bill Moyers at tyhe UCC synod also yesterday afternoon but you might not have seen the post.

Yeah, today I wasn't able to get online until approx 10:15 am but the UCC article upthread does mention it will be archived.

I'll be trying to catch Obama (who like Lynn Redgrave is a UCC member) online live at the UCC link speaking at 2:30 this afternoon.

I like the UCC church and have attended a number of their worship services in Brewster, MA when I'm on Cape Cod but wasn't able to attend in person their synod in Hartford.

the media love the money race because it puts money in their pockets.

chris Matthews on Hardball asks Robert Kennedy Jr. about the claims with the announcement that the CIA will be releasing their "family jewels"-so to speak, that Kissinger and Helm are trying to claim it will show Bobby Kennedy tried to have Castro assassinated.

Kennedy Jr, clearly points that his fathers enemies, people not to be trusted, making that claim when all evidence and reports state the total opposite, that he was furious when he even learned attempts they made.

No doubt, Kissinger is trying to deflect some obvious dirt that will be coming out on him...as if we don't expect his involvement in pretty much everything bad.

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00...://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/&fg

Global Warming: A Real Solution

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.Posted Jun 18, 2007 7:24 AM

Page 1 2 3 4 5 6

In early May, 100 of the nation's top business leaders gathered for a summit at a private resort nestled on 250 acres in California's Napa Valley. The attendees, gathered at the invitation of Silicon Valley venture capitalists, included CEOs and other top executives from such Fortune 500 corporations as Wal-Mart, Proctor & Gamble and BP. They had been invited to discuss ways to end America's fossil-fuel addiction and save the world from global warming. But in reality they had come to make money for their companies ? and that may turn out to be the thing that saves us.

link here:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/sto...

Judy

by trying to comment on issues that are being debated I give myself the opportunity to test the water - dip my foot in, scoop up some water across my forearms and biceps until I feel comfortable splashing some onto my chest.  It makes me more aware.   I get a sense for the environment.  My subconscious is given a little reality.

I'll keep my mind open, but see things a little differently from where I sit (at this point in time).   

chuck nasmith
Sat, 06/23/07
9:15 am

___________________________________________________________________________

Well Chuck, Im afraid that rules out most if not all of our politicians..............sadly, it is we, the civilian that will probably pay the price someday for the actions of our politicians and military.

General Synod Live!

You're welcome.

http://mcclatchydc.videos.vmixcore.com/vmix_hosted_apps/video/1414942

Mike...thought of you last night.

hubby's cousin came over last night, he just moved here from.....upstate NY...:) He is an avid...PROFESSIONAL Bike rider. He takes his mountain bike up the ski hill in the morning. (I'm hurting just with the thought)....but he has also biked 1400 miles from Albuquerque to New York, 200 miles a day, with NO sponsorship. He's been doing this for decades and continues. But says now he prefers mountain biking than street riding...he's done with that. He is in his 50's and is in better shape than most teenagers and 20 years olds. He checked out our bikes and said they're pretty good. But I'm not ready for his training. :)

The  low polls for Congress reflect as personal dissatisfaction people have with their own lives.  Most people have no idea what Congress does or is doing.  They know more about Ugly Betty or the Sopranos.

Lessons Learned as Obama Shepherds a Following

Barack Obama’s backers in New York City know from Howard Dean’s experience in 2004 that it takes more than dedicated, Web-savvy supporters to win votes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/23/us/politics/23obama.html?th&emc=th

Good afternoon folks

Linda*in*SFNM
Sat, 06/23/07
11:32 am
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi Linda and thanks.........tell my fellow NYer I am in admiration of his healthy pursuits...........

Mountain biking has always intrigued me as of late, and when I retire from Ironman Ill purse that or hiking or kayaking.........odd thing about mountain biking, when you thinkwe as kids used to take our regular one speed bikes (our parents got us for Xmas) down ski trails and dirt trails back home..............LOL

Speaking of training........Im in week 18 in prep for Florida in November..........will finish painting daughters room and then 3 hours on the road followed by a short 50 minute run tonite...........

The beach next week and  nice well earned 4 days off...........NM is a beautiful state, but the previous nuke tests worry me................take a look..............cheers

http://www.cognition.ens.fr/~alphapsy/blog/images/21701757_them_lg.jpg

Mike, LOL, maybe this will inspire a trip out here... and they have hiking tours, biking tours, ecological tours...by the day.

http://www.vallescaldera.gov/ 

And Mike, you are doing fantastic work.  Congrats and ENJOY!

Joe Biden’s Horse Sense

Web-exclusive commentary
By Eleanor Clift
Newsweek
Updated: 10:42 a.m. PT June 22, 2007

The Delaware Democrat may not make it to the White House next year, but his take on Iraq should be taken seriously by the whole presidential field.....

Biden is carving out a role for himself as a truth-teller. He blames the dive in approval ratings of the Congress—down to 24 percent in the latest Gallup poll—on the failure of Democrats to be candid about their limitations in taking over control....

The way he sees it, Republicans and Democrats are backing the wrong policy. Republicans supported the surge to get the violence under control and give the Iraqis breathing room so they could work together and share power. That hasn’t happened. Democrats want to reduce U.S. troops and force the Iraqis to take charge. “They can’t get their act together,” says Biden. His advice? Give up on the idea of a strong central government trusted by everybody in Iraq. “It’s not going to happen in the lifetime of any of you in this room,” he told the assembled reporters. The likely outcome once U.S. troops leave is a splintering within the Shia and Sunni communities, not unlike the crime-family power struggles played out on "The Sopranos." Biden didn’t invoke the popular HBO crime-family drama, but he quoted a three-star general in the south of Iraq who told him there were five different militias there acting like Mafia dons vying to be godfather of the neighborhood once U.S. troops leave.

Asked if he thinks the war is lost, Biden said it will never be won on the basis the president has stated. But he thinks it is still possible to achieve a loose federation that is not a threat to its neighbors, not a haven for terrorism and that is secure in its borders. That can only happen if the international community puts its imprint on it, and though Biden didn’t say it, that can only happen with a new president. It may not be Biden, but he has been right enough long enough about this war that his views deserve to be heard.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19373196/site/newsweek/

What I find amazing is that Judy and I have very similar views on the ME with almost totally different sets of resources of information but probably following world news closely for decades.

paine you are totally drinking the kool-aid on what caused what just happened in Palestine

a democratically elected government was undermined by a series of illegal acts meant to cause pain

same old same old, Bush hasn't learned a damn thing in Iraq, and is bent on spreading the failure to the entire region

you too might think that we can force our way with decades of military involvement or through proxies

I kind of think the near past shows that ideology to be bankrupt (leaving out the question of morality).

I keep seeing inventive and innovative excuses for why the Democratic-led Congress is so unpopular.

It's Iraq stupid!

I guess Biden has horse sense because he's such a horse's ass.

No "made in America" plan is going to work in Iraq. We need to leave, and let the Iraqis (yes, all three factions) work it out.

The one thing they're united on is that they want us O-U-T, N-O-W!

Joe Biden’s Horse Sense

Fred

I give you points for persistance. The question I have is why isn't majority rule and self-determination worth a try in Iraq?.

The Floundering Congress

http://www.counterpunch.org/fantina06232007.html

As November of 2006 approached, some incumbents viewed these polls with justified trepidation; prior to the mid-term elections, things were not looking good for many of them, especially if they were members of the Republican Party and had voted lockstep with President George Bush's policies for the previous six years. With the Iraq war the top priority for many voters, and its popularity dwelling somewhere in a dismal sub-cellar, Republican candidates had much to worry about.

On Election Day many of them were sent to an early retirement. The voters had spoken and swept the GOP out of power, replaced by the peace-proclaiming Democrats. The citizens were happy with their selection; a CBS news poll on January 4, 2007 indicated that 68% were optimistic about the new Congress. Members of that body talked about their plans for their first hundred days, and the war in Iraq was on everyone's mind.

Fast forward to June 21, 2007. Congress's approval rating, according to a Newsweek poll, is at 25%. What, one might reasonably ask, happened to all that optimism evident five months ago? Like the 'political capital' Mr. Bush claimed to have earned following his 2004 election, it evaporated in the dusty clouds raised by the bombings in Iraq.

It does not take a genius to figure out what is happening: the members of the current Congress were elected with one aim in mind, the ending of U.S. involvement in Iraq. The opportunity was theirs; the bill they passed that mandated troop withdrawals was vetoed by the president. That left Congress with two good choices: 1) send a similar bill back to the president, or 2) allow funding for the war to end, thus ending the war. But Congress selected door number three, which when opened spilled out billions of dollars to continue the war.

Let us look at how funding the war supports the troops: 1) it causes Americans to remain in mortal danger; 2) it increases the number of Americans who will be in such danger; 3) it creates and aggravates financial, mental and emotional hardships for the families the soldiers left behind; 4) it places American soldiers at high risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which the government has proven to be extremely miserly in treating, and 5) it provides coffins for them if they die in Iraq. Mr. Bush has been victorious in his rhetorical campaign to convince Congress that black is white and white is black.

Congress can ignore its current rating or try to spin it in some positive manner, although how an approval rating of 25% can be so spun will make for some interesting verbal gymnastics, but the facts are plain for all to see. Unless and until Congress acts with the mandate the citizens gave it last November, its ratings will remain at rock bottom. And while the members of Congress sputter and spin and blather on about Iraq, Americans and Iraqis are dying in unforgivable numbers. This is no longer solely Mr. Bush's war; Congress is now its deadly co-owner.

Democratic approval polling is in the toilet for one reason only. They promised to change course from the Republican headings and have failed.

Nobody said it would be easy.

http://www.counterpunch.org/fisk06232007.html

I checked the date--no, it was not 1 April--but I remain overwhelmed that this vain, deceitful man, this proven liar, a trumped-up lawyer who has the blood of thousands of Arab men, women and children on his hands is really contemplating being "our" Middle East envoy.

Can this really be true? I had always assumed that Balfour, Sykes and Picot were the epitome of Middle Eastern hubris. But Blair? That this ex-prime minister, this man who took his country into the sands of Iraq, should actually believe that he has a role in the region--he whose own preposterous envoy, Lord Levy, made so many secret trips there to absolutely no avail--is now going to sully his hands (and, I fear, our lives) in the world's last colonial war is simply overwhelming.

Not once--ever--has he apologised. Not once has he said he was sorry for what he did in our name. Yet Lord Blair actually believes--in what must be a record act of self-indulgence for a man who cooked up the fake evidence of Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction"--that he can do good in the Middle East.

For here is a man who is totally discredited in the region--a politician who has signally failed in everything he ever tried to do in the Middle East--now believing that he is the right man to lead the Quartet to patch up "Palestine".

In the hunt for quislings to do our bidding--ie accept even less of Mandate Palestine than Arafat would stomach--I suppose Blair has his uses. His unique blend of ruthlessness and dishonesty will no doubt go down quite well with our local Arab dictators.

The Palestinians held elections--real, copper-bottomed ones, the democratic variety--and Hamas won. But Blair will presumably not be able to talk to Hamas. He'll need to talk only to Abbas's flunkies, to negotiate with an administration described so accurately this week by my old colleague Rami Khoury as a "government of the imagination".

I recall another man with Blair's pomposity, a certain Kurt Waldheim, who--no longer the UN's boss--actually believed he could be an "envoy" for peace in the Middle East, despite his little wartime career as an intelligence officer for the Wehrmacht's Army Group "E".

His visits--especially to the late King Hussein--came to nothing, of course. But Waldheim's ability to draw a curtain over his wartime past does have one thing in common with Blair. For Waldheim steadfastly, pointedly, repeatedly, refused to acknowledge--ever--that he had ever done anything wrong. Now who does that remind you of?

The Obama llama is in the Rodeo Days parade today, but our County float isn't going to make it, because though eight miles as the crow flies, it is 42 mile of detour away around the road work and it has a top speed of 20 m.p.h.. My son will be walking the route and stickering the kids. The real little ones love to have something stuck on them and they become walking billboards for both parties. Some might question the value of that but name recognition is often subliminal.

John the last drop is clearly due to caving on the supplemental.

We invite you to become engaged with these efforts and organize locally.  We also encourage you to sign up for the project: http://vcnv.org/project/the-occupation-project

Fred

I give you points for persistance. The question I have is why isn't majority rule and self-determination worth a try in Iraq?.

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

That's like my asking you why you beat your wife.

The question makes no sense within the context of my posts on Biden - apparently you do not know how to read or if you do, you do not comprehend what you read.

Cheap shots are easy but intelligent explanations are difficult to understand for people who make them.

Driving thru to say howdy all.

43. Hope you have great weather for your parade, Phil. Too bad the float can't make it.

I'll report in after the 38th Annual Pride Parade tomorrow...

♥'s to all

Kindness is free!

vibes being sent for your feet thankful

Fred, you deny an Iraqi identity, I don't.

Joe Biden’s Horse Sense

 Apparently that is where you think "common sense" comes from - not surprised

With so many ideas to deal with intellingent thinking must be difficult

Fred, you deny an Iraqi identity, I don't.

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

I don't deny anything, but there is denial by Americans left and right, that Iraqis,are denying that identity.  We did not help matters with "de-bathification" which for many was perceived as shutting out all Sunnis.

I believe the identity is disintegrating or dissolving, or at best, being greatly devalued as representing the part of history when they were forced to live together.  Whatever the reason, they are putting their ethnicity before their Iraqi identity.

But we have similar ideas here in the States.  How different do Mississipians see themselves from New Yorkers, or Californians from Wyoming?  Why cannot the ethnic people have their own "States"

Back through ... have been in and out ... a truly wonderful Saturday, after some very rainy days! Music, music everywhere!

*******
Paine ... an open mind is good. That's one beginning. Thanks. Try reading Edward Said's "Out of Place" for another. It's a good entree to the minds, hearts and feelings of so many who are not heard in this country.

My own eyes, as were those of so many who served with me, were only well and truly opened after I had actually lived within the culture.

Now I am fortunate to have many very close friends from many Arab countries (and yes, from Israel too) and it is truly hurtful to see how many Americans still buy the stereotypes. But then I remember that you have the CMW blasting one point of view at you 24/7. Sigh.

*******
Phil ... isn't it indeed amazing, how we appear to have come to many of the same conclusions (not just about I-P, by the way...) from very different experience sets? You and so many on this blog, and that I see in other places on the web (thank YOU, Al Gore!) are the reasons that I truly believe, in spite of all the power in the wrong hands today, that we can ... and will ... come through this long dark night of putzCo dominance together.

But it won't be easy.

test.

We pounded away for years on the forces that would have naturally been able to counterweigh the pro-Iranian militias and kept them in check. Now the suggestion is that we keep tens of thousands of troops in place to dictate an outcome. Division may well happen, if they so decide. What I am objecting to is the notion we should pre-judge that process, Fred.

34. Phil. Absolutely.

FAILED-

fell

accomplice

in

line

ending 

democracy 

http://www.filmstripinternational.com/

Has anyone seen a similar treatment of my Senator Joe-mentum ?

A,AA,IISVGTBHAF.

Oh, for God's sake ... putzCo only get more megalomanic by the minute. Since now they are claiming exemption from their own oversight order, it won't surprise me that they will next claim that Presidential elections should not be held in 2008, because national security would be at stake.

Impeachment proceedings had better begin now, if we have any hopes of dislodging them. On the other hand, if the Dems STILL don't get it, perhaps it's time to consider a revolution.

H/t to Deep Modem Mom of DU

=================
LAT: BUSH JOINS CHENEY; NOW CLAIMS EXEMPTION FROM HIS OWN OVERSIGHT ORDER

Bush claims exemption from his oversight order
By Josh Meyer, Times Staff Writer
7:44 PM PDT, June 22, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney's office, President Bush's office is exempt from a presidential order requiring government agencies that handle classified national security information to submit to oversight by an independent federal watchdog.

The executive order that Bush issued in March 2003 covers all government agencies that are part of the executive branch and, although it doesn't specifically say so, was not meant to apply to the vice president's office or the president's office, a White House spokesman said....

***

...from the start, Bush considered his office and Cheney's exempt from the reporting requirements, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said in an interview Friday...."We don't dispute that the ISOO has a different opinion. But let's be very clear; this executive order was issued by the president, and he knows what his intentions were," Fratto said. "He is in compliance with his executive order."

Fratto conceded that the lengthy directive, technically an amendment to an existing executive order, does not specifically exempt the president's office or the vice president's office from the requirements. Instead, it refers to "agencies" as being subject to the requirements, which Fratto said did not include the two executive offices. "It does take a little bit of inference," Fratto said....

***

"If the president and the vice president don't take their own rules seriously, who else should?" said Tom Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, a nongovernmental research institute at George Washington University in Washington that lobbies for open government. "If they get a blank check, it's a recipe for disaster. I can't think of a quicker way to break down the credibility of the entire security classification system."...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/dis...

Judy I was schooled in a one room rural school with one classmate, with a portrait of Washington at one side of the blackboard, and Lincoln on the other and a globe on the teachers desk, and eight years of classes were taught each day. For the end of the year picnic/program one student recited the Declaration, one the Preamble, and one the Gettysburg Address from memory. I'm pretty sure I hand absorbed those concepts by third grade, that there are universal rights, because the students selected to do the recitation practiced in front of the room daily as the year drew to a close.

Once you concede universal human rights, many actions and attitudes follow.

Phil Specht

=========

You speak in very abstract terms, Phil, so it is difficult to respond to your points, but when Biden first suggested Biden-Gelb, back last September,

Biden wanted to be out of Iraq by  the end of 2007 with just a risidual force, point 4. of the plan  "...perhap 20,000 to strike any concentration of terrorists, and to keep Iraq's neighbors honest and train its security forces"  http://planforiraq.com/documents/pfi.pdf

but of course that was last September.  Now you have to push everything back another year.

then you say "Division may well happen, if they so decide. What I am objecting to is the notion we should pre-judge that process,

{{{Phil}}} My mother was one of those who taught all eight years in one of those rural schoolhouses. Those concepts are definitely the foundations of my life and those of my siblings ... and I am proud to say that they are the foundation of our childrens' lives too.

We all grew up believing that concepts of human rights and justice meant something ... and that *something* was not the exclusive property of those of us fortunate enough to be born US citizens.

I got cut off by the blog

 Phil Wrote

"Division may well happen, if they so decide. What I am objecting to is the notion we should pre-judge that process,"

=========

If by "it" you mean the separation into about 18 ethnic security zones and the larger entities of three separate federal states, then that is happening already happening, Biden-Gelb just speeds up the process for more protection during the mobility of individual families moving.  This will speed up an end to peace and security.  What is wrong with that?

Why do you try to spin this as an imposition being forced on people?  That is a total perversion, or at beast misunderstanding of Biden-Gelb.  and Boxer and five other Senator  would agree with me.

bbl

We all grew up believing that concepts of human rights and justice meant something ... and that *something* was not the exclusive property of those of us fortunate enough to be born US citizens.

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

Judy, I bet paine will join us in that view upon further reflection.

I'm sure he will, Phil ... anyone who is n2Paine surely would!

And Paine is also a musician (or so I gather), and I have a soft spot for musicians.

Speaking of which, the music is calling ... bbl.

last post for me too for awhile

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

As often happens, the impetus for change is at the local level.  One exciting initiative is the “March to Re-Energize Iowa,” a student-led walk from Ames to Des Moines on August 2 – 5, culminating in a 3:00 p.m. rally at Nollen Plaza.  It’s organized by the Sierra Club’s “Sierra Student Coalition,” and there’s a similar march the same week in New Hampshire.  One young person joining the Iowa march is Holly Jones from Mt. Pleasant, who studies history and environmental policy at Drake University. 

“Our goal is to build a clean energy economy for real solutions to global warming,” says Holly.  “We call upon our leaders to take bold, comprehensive and immediate action. We want to highlight the need to reduce global warming pollution by 2% a year starting now, achieving 80% reductions by 2050 and simultaneously creating millions of new, clean-energy jobs for American workers.”

Organizers want to make this event one of the largest-ever actions in the Midwest on global warming.  Given their single-minded focus and determination, they might pull it off.  Lynn Heuss and I plan to represent An Independence Movement for Iowa on the March, and organizers hope many others will walk for all or part of one or more days. 

 You can an internet search for “Sierra Student Coalition” to learn more about the umbrella group coordinating this effort.

PET TRIVIA

If you're still cooking for your cat or dog:

You give them good vegetables, meat and limit their fat and they'll be fine," she said. "Just like people."

What not to use

What's good for you is not always good for Fido or Boots. Here are some foods to avoid putting in the food bowls:

Potato, rhubarb, tomato and potato leaves and stems contain oxalates, which can affect the digestive, nervous and urinary systems.

Macadamia nuts, moldy or spoiled food and mushrooms have toxins in them that can be fatal to our four-legged friends.

Grapes and raisins have an unknown toxin that can cause kidney damage.

Chocolate contains theobromine, which can cause a dog's heart to fatally increase or beat irregularly. Dogs will eat chocolate, but it's unlikely that a cat would swallow it.

Garlic, onions and onion powder can be fatal because of the sulfoxides and disulfides that can damage the red blood cells. Also avoid feeding your pet baby food, which contains these substances.

Neither science -- nor Purina -- has figured out a way to tell what really lights up the "Mmmmm" inside your beasts' brains. But plenty of experiments have pondered what Punkin will choose.

"It's more that people and dogs select for sweet things than cats do," said Richard Hill, the Waltham Associate Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "On the other hand, cats seem to be more sensitive to bitter things."

Dogs tend to pick new stuff if they've been fed a variety of foods before and are more concerned about texture than you or I, Hill said. Cats are more interested in whether the food looks like a mouse or a bird, he added.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Lifestyle/Family/lifeFAM01062307.htm

oops, my 56. was supposed to be to Phil's 39, not 34, for anyone with scrunched eyebrows when viewing that.

__________________

And, Georgie, sorry, but you are not above the law...even though you want to be a Dictator, you AREN'T.

between Kissinger, Dick and Georgie, I think they're about to lose it...The SopranoCons may find some family members sleeping with the fishies.

I guess now we'll have to invade both cheney AND putz. 

We're getting very close to suspension of 08 elections, Folks, especially if it looks like Gore steps in and looks like a winner.  I have friends who have predicted this since 2000; that it's been the plan all along and that's why they keep terrorism front and center and may even consider another *attack."

Can't put anything past these clowns.

It's way past time to impeach or we'll be left as the minority party again, assuming there's an election, and then it'll be all over...no more choices.  Can  you imagine another neo-con rule that lasts 3 generations or until the people decide to really take back the country?

Or maybe Bloomberg will win on a 3rd party ticket....more unending wars, more I/P death and destruction and eventually big big big booms.

Impeach and cut funding.

Gore/? 

Linda SF, putz thinks he's above the law and acts like he's above the law..and no one is stopping him.  So for all practical purposes, he IS above the law.  And we're finding that out.

The repugs in Congress need to help stop him or we're toast. 

Call and write your repug senators and lean lean heavily on them.

Democratic approval polling is in the toilet for one reason only. They promised to change course from the Republican headings and have failed...Nobody said it would be easy. 

The way DCDems took was the easy one. 

John wrote "[Democrats in Congress] were elected to get us out of Iraq--Only one way to do that--cut off funding. They have the power to do it. They haven't used it."

Assuming, without conceding, that you're right and cutting off funding is the only way to get us out, I have reason to think they will.  The 110th Congress meets until January 2009.  I know Mussolini made the trains run on time but, according to Aesop, slow and steady wins the race.

How Could Blair Possibly Get This Job?

When the poodle performs all the tricks demanded of it, it's customary to give it a reward. 

according to Aesop, slow and steady wins the race.

With support for DCDems dwindling due to their dawdling they may lose the next race. 

Abject pity for your sorry condition prevent me from responding in kind. 

On the same subject, if you think defunding is the only way to remove ourselves from Iraq, I'll reiterate my suggestion yesterday to get behind Charles Rangel's legislation to reinstate the selective service.  Currently, lawmakers have the luxury of sending people they hardly know to go police a civil war.  That could change overnight with the right incentive.

One other clear option, equally indigestilbe for Republicans, is Phil's proposed measure to make funding pay as you go.  Call these dolts on their patriotic fervor.

Sitka wrote "With support for DCDems dwindling due to their dawdling they may lose the next race."

Who will replace them and how?

I wonder if the CIA's airing of all the dirty laundry is their payback for the way Bush blamed them for his lies about Iraq/

Slow and steady is eroding faith and trust.  Americans are quite pi$$ed and rightly so.

We need majority party bulldogs, not castrated wimps.  Reid doesn't know how to wield power and Pelosi makes nicey nice, thinking putz will respond.  Nor does she know how to get tough.  Rove/Cheney are far far better chess and poker players.

Threatening is now in order which means impeachment and closing the purse.  Bullies need to be threatened not placated. My 2 cents. 

Who will replace them and how?

You'd think DCDems would would think of that before throwing their own supporters overboard. 

sea wrote "Slow and steady is eroding faith and trust.  Americans are quite pi$$ed and rightly so."

They were elected in November.  They're in office until January 2009.  A new president will assume office.  The occupatiion is coming to an end.

As I mentioned before, I disagree that DFA's support for legislators rest on a litmus test, especially on foreign policy matter like Iraq, where there is clearly more than one  exit strategy. These calls I'm hearing are not to end the occupation, which is the universal goal of all Democrats.  They're to end it now, with no regard for the policy positions of besieged elected officials on any other issues.  None. People here have touted Hagel, for example, the No. 1 Bush supporter in the Senate based on his voting record in 2006, because of his complaints about the war. 

Sitka wrote "You'd think DCDems would would think of [who will replace DCDems] before throwing their own supporters overboard."

I would think their supporters would think of it before throwing the Democratic majority overboard.  There's clearly not enough thinking going on.

I would think their supporters would think of it before throwing the Democratic majority overboard.

That's because you're putting the cart before the horse. A political party should support those it purports to represent. Political parties are supposed to serve the people, not the other way around. And people who support a party which doesn't serve and represent them are fools indeed. They at least get the bad government they deserve. 

There's clearly not enough thinking going on.

With that I'll agree if it's DCDems you're referring to. 

Why do Republicans constantly kowtow to their conservative base while Democrats constantly denigrate their liberal one?

Because the GOP knows the cons will abandon them if they don't, whereas DCDems assume the libs won't. 

71.

seashell


and


79 Sitka


Yes, I believe the effort the CIA is doing is aiding in the Revolution that isn't being televised. :)


I agree Congress has aided this President, but I also agree that with the Dem's in the majority in the House, they have stopped and now showing the Shadow Government that has been operating and showed what these yahoos have been doing. But, most importantly, the people who REALLY DO KNOW WHAT THESE YAHOOS ARE AND HAVE BEEN DOING and know this putz's clothing has been removed, they will NOT allow Bush to further act like the Dictator.

Bring on the Papers!


gotta go. have a good day

they have stopped and now showing the Shadow Government that has been operating

At this point, the Bush Mafia doesn't care about light, and DCDems show no inclination to apply heat.

they will NOT allow Bush to further act like the Dictator.

Yet he still does. And meanwhile, Ayatolla Cheney has set himself up as an unchallengable fourth branch of government. Based on what I've seen from them to date, I expect all but handful of DCDems to do their 3-monkeys routine about it.

Rove/Cheney are far far better chess and poker players.

Pelosi and Reid are playing chess and poker while Rove and Cheney are cage fighting.

The result is there for all to see. 

Went to check my events page and the trailer for Sicko,  It said the URL was malformed.

This one works.

Somebody called me today and said when she went to get tickets at the movie theater they told her that "Sicko" is not on the schedule and they'd gotten a strange message from their HQ saying the previews were cancelled.

anybody know anything? 

86,

Actually, I think it's because the Republican party is made up of people who rely on somebody else telling them what to do.  Nobody acts independently and nobody makes choices.

Democrats need to learn to take that into account and start giving orders.  Think of Republicans as three year olds.

Progressive parents think that children learn to make choices by making them.  That's not correct.  When children are forced to make choices for which they are not prepared because they don't have access to all the alternative possibilities, they either become reckless or shut down and refuse to commit themselves.  It's possible that the latter is what happened to people who are now Republicans.

Or maybe they grew up in an environment where all the choices were negative and they learned not to make them. 

Phil

paine you are totally drinking the kool-aid on what caused what just happened in Palestine

>

I hope not. 

I think Palestine was doin' OK, far as I know, til (what was it) 1948 - when Israel's boarders were created.

It is a big problem, which I would like to resolved peacefully.  

I do not accept Israelis confiscating land and settling in the "new territories" 

Hamas and Fatah are at civil war. 

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

a democratically elected government was undermined by a series of illegal acts meant to cause pain

>

yes. 

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

you too might think that we can force our way with decades of military involvement or through proxies

>

No, I don't think might is right.

And,  I think "we" are not the principle actors in the region.

Pay go is a good idear.

Selective service is a good idear, too.

Both are responsible. 

If the schedule is accurate, then

Peter Gomes, Harvard preacher, at 4:30 p.m.

http://pointers.audiovideoweb.com/asxfiles-live/il83winlive3168.asx

Peter Gomes on vocation

just gave a quote :

"Where your great joy

meets the world's great need" 

84

 I would think their supporters would think of it before throwing the Democratic majority overboard.  There's clearly not enough thinking going on. 

Got the email from Howard. Told him not a dime from me until the Dems do what they were elected to do.

If they can't grow a spine, throw 'em overboard!

Peter Gomes / General Synod Live

in relation to suicide bombers in the ME and the contrast with the United Church of Christ: 

"We are not asked to die for our religion

we are asked to LIVE for our religion" 

50. FRED from OR

Abject pity for your sorry condition prevent me from responding in kind

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

Apparently, you are referring to my severely limiting and disabling MCS condition.  Obviously, your sarcastic "pity" doesn't keep your trap shut when you don't have anything intelligent to say, which is always.

I think it's because the Republican party is made up of people who rely on somebody else telling them what to do.

In the last election there was a very vocal conservative "don't vote" presence. It's obviously from the extreme pandering of the GOP prez wannabes that they're afraid of their base.

Democrats need to learn to take that into account and start giving orders.

They do give orders -- to their liberal base. And too many meekly comply. 

But if you were suggesting that Democrats need to be more like Republicans, that's already their problem. 

AND WHO CAN FORGET THIS ONE FOLKS

27.

Sitka
Fri, 06/01/07
12:37 am

Reply to this
4. FRED from OR

You misunderstood. I just meant that anyone with your affliction would probably be a grump too.

Face it, Fred. You're always in a personal spat with one blogger or another. If I left for a week and came back you'd be doing the same dance with someone else. I just hope the others around here appreciate me keeping you out of their hair for a while. But when I get busy elsewhere again they'll be on their own

New thread.

Apparently, you are referring to my Apparently, you are referring to my severely limiting and disabling MCS condition.

Actually, I was referring to your severlely limiting and disabling mental condition.

But there I've done it -- forgotten my pledge to ignore and have nothing but pity for you since that's all you're really after. 

AND THIS ONE TOO

87.

Sitka
Thu, 05/31/07
11:06 pm

Reply to this
74. FRED from OR

Who'da'thunk the government gave out checks for that? But it does perhaps explain your behavior on this blog

AND WHO CAN FORGET THIS ONE FOLKS.....

With so many ideas to deal with intellingent thinking must be difficult.

Like I said, anyone with your affliction would probably be a grump too.

Your severely limiting and disabling mental condition may have nothing to do with the other one you have. Have you thought applying for another disability check? Or is it one per customer?