I am Howard and his Brother are first !

Should have said, I am ...wait for it...Howard and his Brother are first !

The People's Republic of China  has become a huge disappointment.  What have the people gained? A different dance partner who insists on leading.

is the slogan "Free Tibet", more than "Free Iraq" and look where we are five years later, should we say "Free Taiwan", Mexico "Free Texas"

I think the challenge is for human rights throughout China and by extension Tibet.

I don't have anything agains a free Tibet mind you, but standing for human rights period appeals to me.

A slow one with piano:

I sort of agree with the person on the previous topic who said heads of state should show up for the opening Olympic ceremony and then leave.
I don't watch the olympics anyway. I quit when clowns like Barkley took the spotlight away from kids who needed the exposure.
If the HoS come, it would be a good time to work out some ways to relieve the horror in Africa.
I personally think the slaughter in Africa will continue until the African Union leads. And since Africa is a nation of tribes and not states, that isn't going to happen until competing weaker tribes are eliminated.

Pat, I don't know of anyone who's asking that BO act and sound like an angry teenager.  Do you have a link for that?  Was Howard acting  like a teen when he spoke with anger?  Whoever's NOT at least a little angry these days is not paying attention.  That's pretty well accepted in  polite circles.  :-)

BO says he never gets angry.  (and I think McC would be a great prez) 

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

Michelle is living up to my intuitive feelings about her.

"I'm a big fan of accessories.  I'm married to one."

Michelle Obama (tip from Keith)

Would any of you women refer to your husbands like this?  It's not the first time she been so dismissive of him; referring to him also as "stinky and smelly" in the morning.  What does this quote of hers really say?  Not too hard to figure out...scary woman,like Condi.

I think Michelle is the one running for prez  :-)   and I also suspect she agrees with everything that Wright says. She's quite outspoken and militant. Could be a good thing, could not.

JMI   (just my intuition)

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

Annilow, I agree.  Condi on the tickie is alarming.  Black ÅND female and the voters approve of her. 

I asked the other day....how can the voters like Condi and Obama at the same time?   

HuffPost has a bit on Colin Powell saying Obama handled the Rev Wright thing well and that Wright has done good.

Also, I took note of 'Cain's little jerk, which has a pic of the little dick-head Lindsey (I think far too much of myself) Graham (from the Confederate state of SC, who of course hate the union). 

File under 'is this really news' "then n'al security advisor Condoleezza Rice chaired the meetings..." Do we really want this incompetent yes woman anywhere near the Presidency?

Top Bush aides approved interrogation tactics: report
1 hour, 28 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush's most senior advisers approved "enhanced interrogation techniques" of top al Qaeda suspects by the Central Intelligence Agency, ABC News reported on Wednesday, citing sources it did not name.

ABC reported that the so-called "principals" discussed interrogation details in dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House.

Then national security adviser Condoleezza Rice chaired the meetings, which took place in the White House Situation Room and were typically attended by a select group of senior officials or their deputies, ABC said.

"Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding," ABC reported.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080410/pl_n...

Sea,

The quote of Michelle's saying her husband is stinky and smelly in the morning really says that he's stinky and smelly in the morning.

I didn't hear the quote about his being an accessory so I can't comment without the context. But to me, an accessory is something I have that enhances me. I doubt she meant it as a cut to him, and if it was, I'm sure it was playful.

Your intuition needs a tune up, IMO.

There is something very effeminate about Lindsay Graham.

OMG Sun Ra!

Paine you and my ex would have really gotten along, musically. We did, too but he really had a broad reach for what he liked to listen to - and he was always listening to something - musical, that is. Not me or we'd still be together LMAO

There is something very effeminate about Lindsay Graham.

>

Mitt Romney, too.  I have nothing wrong with penny-loafers per se, but Mitt...

What have the people gained? A different dance partner who insists on leading.

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

Since before the birth of Christ through 1949, China averaged one famine every other year. Famine defined as where more than a million people starved to death.  Since 1949, there has been one famine.  During that famine, instead of letting the poor sell off everything they had to the rich, then eat bark and die nekkid, they had ration programs, with the best food going the the schools.

I lived in northern China, the men and women born and raised before 1949, are about 5 feet tall.  Born before "liberation" but mostly raised after, about 5'6".  Those born after liberation, like my ex, are often over six feet tall (men anyways). 

After 1949, woman were declared by law to have a name.  Before that, a girl was Hong's third daughter, Wang's wife and finally Pang's mother in law. The women I knew were so proud of their names that they didn't give them up on marrying.  

 The United States, 150 years after it's very loft beginning, allowed mine owners to work 5 year olds in coal mines.  Child labor has NEVER been allowed under the dirty commies.  

Nope.  Ain't perfect.  But millions and millions still remember what it was like *before* liberation. . . .  when the guy *we* supported was running things. . . .  

Not me or we'd still be together LMAO

>

Thanks for sharing, as I had no idea...wait for it...LMAO  Knowing you, he must have been ...at some point in time...a good person.  

"Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding," ABC reported.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the Hague will be interested in those minutes

Thanks for that viewpoint, puddle.

SF Mayor is going to comment soon as to why the torch route was changed at the request of the Chinese. The torch is now on a plane on the tarmac at SFO, scheduled for a 9pm PT takeoff.

Paine he was a very good person, and I spent 9 years of my life with him. He was his own worst enemy. Fantastic carpenter, painter, remodeler, woodworker, etc. Disappeared last year and no one has heard from him since.

Well Puddle, 'least I got you to ...wait for it...set me straight.  Honored, me lady;-)

please please please please pleasee put condi on the ticket

seashell,

My husband and I had the privledge of hearing Michelle speak.

You are so wrong.  She is a lovely, caring, intelligent woman.  When she spoke of Barack and her children you could feel the love she has for them.  Yes, she joked around a little, it was  refreshing to hear a real person.

After hearing her speak my husband, who was leaning towards Barack, threw his support behind him.  He adores her, he reads people like books, he cannnot be fooled.

puddle I didn't know you had a Chinese husband - you seem to know a lot about the culture - I wish you would write more. I am sure some things are good since '49. But lots bad too - Chinese friends in SF told me some stories. Have you ever seen the movie Ziu Ziu the sent down girl (prolly misspelling it) about a girl from the city sent to the steppe to do farming? Also a book about swans Wild Swans? Took me forever to get through it but learned a lot. On the other hand they're no longer binding feet, etc.

Torch stories from today's Chronicle here

http://www.sfgate.com/olympictorch/?tsp=...

Disappeared last year and no one has heard from him since.

<

I have heard that too many of us (men) head/end-up in that way.   

I could care less if Ricearoni is on the ticket.

The media are just spinning this anyway.

China is fifty times the size of Iraq. What other fifty American sized militaries are we going to find for the coalition of the willing to "Free Tibet"?

how about reality based foreign policy?

Looks like the torch is heading to Buenos Aires next. Maybe it will light up a dance floor there!

- you seem to know a lot about the culture - I wish you would write more.

<

I second that.

Voice count! 

After hearing her speak my husband, who was leaning towards Barack, threw his support behind him.  He adores her, he reads people like books, he cannnot be fooled.

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

my take too is that she is the better half, and I consider Barack pretty exceptional

I've been a DFA monthly contributor for 4 years and have yet to remove my badly worn Dean bumper sticker.

I've followed the blog off and on during this time and I've found value in the ideas presented.

However - my credit card is expiring and I'm going to take this as an opportunity to stop my DFA contributions because I'm dumbfounded by the fact that the issues with the blog posting out of order go unaddressed. HQ should understand that some of us find the blog a way to stay connected to DFA, but I'm tired trying to decipher the ordering of the conversation. My contributions alone could probably have covered the cost to address this.

Sad, but true.

10:11 PM EDT

The New England Revolution just beat the Kansas City Wizards 3-1.( http://sports.yahoo.com/mls/scoreboard )

All is well in the world -- oops, back to reality, Bush still is president.

Hi Puddle,

When we taught in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China, we heard horrendous stories of starvation, cruelty, children taught to turn in their parents.  We so admired the courage and strength of people who had suffered so much.  And yes, one of the teachers remembered eating leaves off the trees when she was a child.

Seashell, you really ought to write stories, paint, dance.  Your interpretations are inane; your parsing of words, impressions, judgments are ridiculous.  Use your creativity for something more productive.  You  haven't a clue about Obama, bet you've never read anything about him; you don't like Michelle (go on line and pull up the New Yorker Magazine, a wonderful profile), and no matter what people say about him as a compliment or strength, you turn it into an insult.  Enough already.  You've obviously never run for office, aren't even registered as a democrat, and spout opinions as if you've received some innate message most of us are too dumb to know about.  This is absurd.

Though, I will add, you bring adrenaline and a countering that gets people writing.  That's probably a good thing.  

Politics is the art of persuasion, the art of interaction, the art of problem solving, the art of seeing a broader vision for a diverse set of needs.  It demands that people be able to talk to one another, set aside judgments, listen to each other, revise a perspective.  Demands, ultimatums, and judgments about someone's character, capability, and what that person will do are pointless and simply make  people enemies.   

Hi Annilow, we saw Xiu Xiu, and I'm so glad you mentioned it.  I had been trying to think of the name.  It's a good movie, though most Chinese movies are tragic.

Celts lost :-(

please please please please pleasee put condi on the ticket 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ya. My wish, too.  And I prayed that McCain would be the nominee: can't wait till he "explodes" -- and he will.   I loved the one about his calling his wife a c*nt because she kidded him about his thinning hair. . . .  You see, when he gets so stressed, he just can't handle *it*. . . . .

I'm just hoping it's October, while everyone's paying pretty good attention.  

Paine  :)

Steve Tweedale

Hey, I too have a credit card expiring and may use that as an opportunity to stop my monthly contribution.  

10:28 pm 

McCain is senile.  It will show more and more, and he won't be viable.  My off-the-wall prediction.

The more Hillary talks, the more she is off-putting.  She doesn't wear well.  I'm also thinking that she really is a lot less intelligent than she has been characterized as.  Her statements are blatent sound bytes.  Just my opinion, but the more I see of her, the  more I'm sure that she would be a disaster along the lines of George Bush.

This country is at a cross roads, in crisis, and more of the same will just drive us into a faster decline. 

From Denise's SFGate:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/04/09/fioretorch.DTL 

home court? paine? they aren't going to make it all the way anyhow

Fiore is one of SF's treasures. I often wonder what Herb Caen would be writing about if he was still around. He'd have a field day; probably wouldn't know where to start, but it would be excellent, no matter the subject.

OK, I am wrong about everything and have no good intuition.  What a loser I am, right?  Gosh, I'll go flog myself.

Never mind.  Bloggie knows best.

No sam, no Judy, and now most of the time no me.  Does that make you all happy? 

Carry on.  Time will tell the truth. 

http://www.qi-journal.com/Qigong.asp?-token.SearchID=Is%20Qigong%20Political

I'll go flog myself.

Don't waste you energy, Sea.  I tried it in 7th grade.  Actually, Sister Agatha demanded that I slap myself ( wasted breath as I was ...wait for it...prepubescent LOL I digress), which proved futile.  Whiff, whiff, whiff.  

Flogging is best done by another, as Sister Agatha found as she beat (no pun intended) me -with my own hand.

Ah yes, well done Sist'r. 

aren't going to make it all the way anyhow 

<

 Naysayers!  Oh wait...what?  Detroit? 

Sea, you just need to admit that you are powerless over the Obama aura.

Night folkies.

I'm trying to figure what kind of sadistic pleasure, or whatever, someone might get out of coming on here and proclaiming with such certtainty, as though she were receiving special messages from on high that Howard will NEVER BE PRES.

Is this supposed to cheer everyone up? She thinks it is an unatainable reality? She's into hope these days, a selective kind.

Howard Dean for VP. BO better choose someone strong, experienced, Gov.administrative experience. Also, the media can take turns playing the Rev. Wright and the Scream tapes alternately. People are wise to their tactics now.

Don't flog the blog! :)

Why Eliz. Edwards is wrong (on healthcare)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4...

I love Eliz. but she couldn't be more wrong with respect to healthcare plans.

I dunno, I don't need any cheering up. Sounds like a personal problem, audrey.

I'm going to go out on a limb and make a wild guess that you're talking about Pat's comment. Why refer to her in the third person? That is quite passive aggressive, but it's your style.

Pat backed it up with her opinion that the media did such a number on Dean that his chances are slim to none that he'll ever be president.

I still take ribbing for supporting him, but it's from friends at work that try to get my goat. But I also get it from others that are quite serious that they don't think he ever stands a chance of being taken seriously, again in THEIR opinion.

I know he's right, as do you and most certainly does Pat. But the reality that sucks is that not enough people in America know that to put him in those highest of offices.

It's not that he does not deserve it.

Now let's talk about how you feel about Barack and how he "better choose someone strong....." Or else what? You aren't the only one with opinions, lest you need to be reminded.

seashell - You are most definitely not wrong about everything. After all, we offer opinions here and hopefully back them up with facts. ;-)

Sadly, audrey I feel Denise and Pat may be right about our Howard. The traditional media (as Kos puts it) have done a number on Dean and it is what it is. Thankfully all of us and many state party chairs and activists know the real skinny. I just pray Howard continues to make his mark on the Democratic Party and our country for that matter.

Thanks for getting it mary vb. Howard actually can do more outside of the Oval Office than within its confines.

I'm so tried of these two campaigns' hacks running in the fear mode. If this stuff doesn't stop they're going to help McCain win. Obama's Campaign Co-Chairs in California 'pruned' the district delegate list and went for the big donors rather that the grassroots activists who have given hours of their time. Clinton's Co-Chairs purged the list and went for all the party insiders who have connections.

It's been an insane out here for the last couple of days. My phone has been ringing all day and the emails are flying into my inbox. Our local folks are very upset. They have been campaigning for weeks. The candidate's campaign hacks didn't even have the common decency to call the folks they purged to give them a heads up. They all found out the hard way. Very nasty. This is just not what Democracy looks like. The DNC needs to change their rules to be more inclusive and grassroots friendly. These two campaigns should be ashamed of their nasty insider hacks' behavior.

---

http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe9210747...

Sac Bee Capitol PM Alert: Bucked by Barack

...In tomorrow's Bee: Sen. Barack Obama has built a reputation for developing unprecedented levels of grassroots support for his campaign, but he blocked hundreds of California backers this week from competing to become national convention delegates in his name, angering Democrats who had been organizing for weeks to win a ticket to Denver, reports Kevin Yamamura.

Sen. Hillary Clinton also cut her list, but not nearly in the magnitude Obama did, slicing only about three dozen people whose motives the campaign questioned...

tried s/b tired

UC Davis ready to send the deadbeat Clintons debts to collections.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4...

If you can't manage a campaign effectively how the heck are you going to manage an entire country? No thanks, Hill.

Howard and I got firsties...maybe

http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/24840#comment-1186811 

56.

mary vb
Wed, 04/09/08

None of the candidates healthcare plans were very good except Kucinich's. It's the one that offered real reform. Clinton's doesn't transition well if at all into real Universal HCA (the small business owners I know don't like it at all) and Obama's plan will make some very minor changes in the present system with affordability and will transition into Universal HCA. But our folks out here all like Kucinich's the best.

"34. Pat in Colorado
Wed, 04/09/08"

For a minute there, I thought it was me speaking.