Howard Dean is first. Danny ain't bad either.

And we will hunt each one down until the last one is dead or buys into the political process, regardless of who the next President is.

We're fighting the wrong war. This war should be about equality, freedom, thought, justice. Instead it's just never ending morass of fighting, suffering and dying. Our troops and their familis deserve better, so does the country

Two PA Sunday newspapers have endorsed Obama today. (Allentown and Scranton)

~~~

Cruising over to the Hillary website, if you click on News Releases, most of March and April is about her attacks on Obama. That's apparently what she believes she has been reduced to and the only way to "win" over those SD's.

A letter to MSNBC posted on DailyKos re: Pat Buchanan

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4/13/104548/739/489/494800

I saw a bit of Buchanan's acid, hateful remarks over the last few weeks, especially those directed at Obama.

If you are inclined to write letters (the paper kind -- there doesn't seem to be any email contacts whatsoever anymore at msnbc), then please read and do so.

We must get rid of this guy on the airwaves. As the letterwriter pointed out, Buchanan is worse than Imus, who they fired. It's time to get rid of an old, hateful sicko still living in the past. We are not a basketball team but enough letters could do the trick.

I'm posting this again to make sure as many people read it as possible.

Jo,

Thank you for your response.

It appears I owe an apology to a number of people and so I want to say I'm sorry if I hurt or offended anyone here.  I will cease doing so immediately.  I certainly don't want to be condescending, as most, if not all the bloggers here are much more politically astute than I.

In addition, I think it might be best if I stopped posting anything about Obama and perhaps just do D&G from time to time.

Carry on, good bloggers, hopefully to a democratic victory in Nov. 

Ånd again, please accept my apologies. 

And we will hunt each one down until the last one is dead

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

or til we think we might be ahead to buy them off like we did with the Sunnis in Anbar and then we just put them on the payroll

pretty good argument for Democrats to end Republican anti-government regulation policy

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

Hi Phil,

yea, we need to bring back "big government" that is government "big on responsibility and serving the people" ....not big on authoritarianism

I'm with Fox on this, but Phil makes an apt point.

And we will hunt each one down until the last one is dead or buys into the political process, regardless of who the next President is...

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

It's their oil and their problem, not ours [even though we instigated the mess]

This is a little off this topic; but I've spend the day watching Obama get slammed for comments which are true. I live in Michigan. Our economy is in the toilet, and has been for a long time. Now it's becoming a national economic crisis. Add to that the war, and its' cost;  both on a personal level and economic level. People are bitter, I am bitter, and frustrated; and people do turn to things that make them comfortable; be it guns, religion, etc. (for me it's baseball.)

I simply cannot believe that this is an issue at all. Especially in light of Hillary's constant lies (and Obama gets in trouble for telling the truth) and their $109 million. Talk about being in touch with real people. The bitterness is real and Obamas' comments were dead on.

On to Pakistan it seems.  No safe havens.

just want to say that y'all are great.  I now i have to do a thing on Clinton and China because the AIE has scheduled a forum here in NH as part of the bash-China strategy.

Fox News: Are the people in PA bitter?

Yes with video.

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

This from someone who was at the SF fundraiser where Barack told the truth.

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

In other words, the Clinton campaign is desperate.

Tulare County is one of the 2 most gerrymandered conservative congressional districts in the country the other is the 19th CD (CD). The 21st CD(CA) is also the largest geographical agricultural district in the country and the one that had the most poverty before Katrina happened. It is full of the major right-wing evangelical establishment.

----

Tulare Co. has spike in syphilis
Disease considered high priority for public health officials who track STDs.

By Erik Lacayo / The Fresno Bee

VISALIA -- Concerned health officials are investigating a recent spike in Tulare County residents who have contracted the sexually transmitted disease syphilis.

Local and state health officials say they don't know why 30 people got the disease here last year, while there has been no significant exposure to syphilis in the rest of the central San Joaquin Valley.

The increase in reported cases in Tulare County in 2007 comes after the county had 21 cases in 2006 and 14 in 2005, said county health officer Dr. Karen Haught.

"It is definitely something we're concerned about," she said. "We want to bring it down to zero."

Syphilis is considered a high priority for health officials who track sexually transmitted diseases because the bacteria can create severe health problems and even death if untreated.

Sores created by the bacteria also increase the chances of transmitting HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Haught said most of those infected were methamphetamine users or had sexual contact with meth users. Those who abuse the drug, she said, are more likely to participate in risky behavior.

About half of the syphilis cases in the Valley -- Fresno, Tulare, Kings, Merced, Madera, Stanislaus and Kern counties -- come from Tulare County, according to preliminary 2007 data from the California Department of Public Health.... full article: http://www.fresnobee.com/local/sv/story/...

Poll: Catholics embrace faith, not Mass By RACHEL ZOLL

American Catholics said in a new survey they were pleased with the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI, ahead of his first visit to the U.S. since he was elected. The study also found intense interest in faith among some young people.

Yet, few parishioners overall said they go to confession, and most believed they could be good Roman Catholics without going to Mass.

The poll, released Sunday, was commissioned by the nation's bishops and conducted in February by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.... full article and poll graphic: http://www.fresnobee.com/649/story/52233...

John Nelson,

Probably most everyone on this blog agrees with what you wrote.

Hillary's lies get the soft touch -- for a short time -- Obama's truths get heavy fire.

Worry not, Obama has already won this nomination.  I is the media that wants to see the Dem primary saga drag out as long as possible, no matter what it takes, even playing the race card or promoting the lesser of the candidates.

MSM makes the majority of their profits during an election year, that tells a lot, though it certainly doesn't tell it all. MSM is not liberal, we know that, but they need to be fair or lose at least half their viewers. I used to watch the sunday talk shows and until recently the CNN Ballot Box. I don't tune into any of that anymore because so much of all of it is bunk.

Poll: Catholics embrace faith, not Mass

That's probably true for most anyone who has some form of faith, be it their own form or some organized structured form.

I live in a town of about 3,000 (in the winter) about 25 miles from the nearest larger town. We have two small churches, one Baptist the other Catholic. Our neighbors and other residents say they are Christian, yet these two little churches can't fill the pews on Sunday morning.

I don't tune into any of that anymore because so much of all of it is bunk.

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

Most of what's on PBS is on the money.

Fox Mulder
Sun, 04/13/08
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You are living in a delusional world.........................you will learn, eventually..................

Agreed Fred and also LINK TV, totally without commercial sponsers.

~~~~~~~~~

Twenty-one elected officials and community leaders from small towns and rural areas throughout Pennsylvania today released an open letter asking fellow Pennsylvanians to set aside Senators Clinton and McCain’s recent attempts at political point-scoring and consider who will fight for them as President.

Dear Fellow Pennsylvanian,

We live in small towns and rural areas throughout Pennsylvania and we support Barack Obama for President.

A few days ago, Sen. Obama made some comments that his opponents are now using to make him appear as if he is something he is not.  Instead of speaking to us honestly about how they intend to solve the problems we are facing, they are playing the same old Washington games that accomplish nothing.

What Sen. Obama said is that over the last 25-30 years, working class people in places like Pennsylvania have been falling behind, and that politicians in Washington haven’t been looking out for them.  He also said that, as a result, many people have become frustrated, angry and even bitter about all the broken promises.

He was right.

The politicians who are now saying that we shouldn’t be frustrated are the ones who are out of touch.

People in the towns and communities we live in have seen their jobs shipped overseas.  We’ve seen our pensions disappear.  We’ve seen our health care costs skyrocket.  We’ve seen everything from the cost of gasoline to a gallon of milk go through the roof.

As our families have struggled to make ends meet and our communities fought to stay intact, how has Washington responded?  By giving tax breaks to the wealthy, rewarding corporations who ship jobs overseas, and turning the levers of power over to the lobbyists and special interests.

Continue reading the letter . . .

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/caitlinharvey

(Signed by the 21 elected officials and community leaders.)

You are living in a delusional world.........................you will learn, eventually.............

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

Let's hope - but there are still people that think Viet Nam was lost because of the hippies - even though most of the 2,000,000 people we killed were civilians, and a great number of our own soldiers were killed by "friendly fire" - and we never knew who the enemy was.

Grand opening
Felling of three lodgepole pines at Yosemite’s Tunnel View parking area opens up a majestic view.

By Mark Grossi / The Fresno Bee

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK -- One of the world's most majestic views just got a little better.
Three lodgepole pines were chopped down a few weeks ago at the Tunnel View parking area, opening up a jaw-dropping overlook upon the Yosemite Valley. Visitors no longer must stand in tight groups peering between trees at the panorama, which is framed by El Capitan, Half Dome and Bridalveil Fall. ...photos and full article: http://www.fresnobee.com/263/v-printerfr...


----

http://www.fresnobee.com/multimedia/v-pr...

VIDEO: Yosemite view renovations

By Eric Paul Zamora and Will Albritton / fresnobee.com

The view of Yosemite Valley gets a lot of traffic, which can be problematic for the scores of pedestrians taking in the sights. Plans are under way to improve safety.

VIEW VIDEO: http://videos.fresnobee.com/vmix_hosted_...

Thanks for the Yosemite news Susan!

I think we should have Demfest here some year 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — One of Minnesota's last uncommitted Democratic superdelegates is backing Barack Obama, the Obama campaign announced Sunday.

Nancy Larson, of Dassel, a Democratic National Committee member, told The Associated Press she decided to support Obama because his campaign will bring new people into the political process, and she believes he has the best chance of winning in November.

Fred, some of your recent comments have been so right on the money. Thanks for hanging around.

Thanks Denise!

What a fun idear.

FRONTLINE
http://www.pbs.org/frontline/

This Week: "Sick Around the World" (60 minutes),
Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2008 at 9.00 pm (kuht / channel 8) on PBS
Live Discussion: Chat with correspondent T.R. Reid April 16, 11am ET


If you look at the World Health Organization's rankings of national health care systems, you'll find the United States sandwiched, uncomfortably, between Costa Rica and Slovenia -- 37th overall.

In this Tuesday night's FRONTLINE broadcast, "Sick Around the World," veteran Washington Post foreign correspondent T.R. Reid asks: What can we learn from some of the thirty-six countries listed above us? With health care reform at the top of the agenda this election year, the answers couldn't be more timely.

In Japan, for example, Reid finds that people go to the doctor three times as often as Americans, have more than twice as many MRIs, use more prescription drugs, and spend more days in the hospital, yet Japan spends about half as much per capita as the United States thanks to strict price controls -- a ten-dollar a night hospital stay, a ninety-eight dollar MRI.

In Taiwan, every citizen is issued a "smart card" containing a person's entire medical history and a code to get bills paid automatically, cutting administrative costs to less than 2% -- a fraction of the 12-30% of American health care dollars that are estimated to be eaten up by all of the paperwork burdening doctors and hospitals.

To be sure, many of the countries Reid visits still have their problems: doctors protesting low pay in Germany, hospitals struggling to stay in business in Japan and Taiwan, patients complaining about long lines and limited choices in the United Kingdom. But, in these countries, Reid also finds a few bottom-line rules of successfully providing universal health care that none of the U.S. presidential candidates has yet dared to suggest: Doctors and hospitals have to accept a set of fixed prices for all services, and private insurance companies can't make a profit when delivering basic care. Not a dime.

Is this our way out of our health care mess? Could an American politician ever propose such reforms or pass them? We hope you'll tune in Tuesday night and after, visit our Web site to watch the program again online, find out more about the five capitalist democracies examined in this report, or read a q&a with correspondent T.R. Reid. And we invite you to join in the discussion, at http://www.pbs.org/frontline/sickaroundt...

Senior Editor
Ken Dornstein

Well, I think the reason Clinton keeps coming back to Bosnia is because he's very conflicted about his "accomplishments'' there.  He wants to brag on the Dayton Accords and he wants to brag on the use of air power without losing American troops, but he doesn't want to reveal that the real goal was to move American military assets forward, closer to Russia and China and to establish an "interest" in the transmission of oil from the Caucasus to the Adriatic.  

(Madera County, CA) Who You Gonna Call?

...County officials didn't appear startled by the request. In fact, Supervisor Tom Wheeler of North Fork put on a white sheet just before he and fellow board members voted unanimously last week to give the OK. ...

----

Ghost hunter to seek Homer
A Fresno crime-scene investigator to spend 24 hours in old Raymond firehouse.

By Charles McCarthy / The Fresno Bee

MADERA -- A Fresno ghost hunter has Madera County's blessing to spend 24 hours in the old Raymond fire station, the reputed home of a mischievous spirit named Homer.

Mickey Burrow -- whose regular job is Fresno Police Department crime-scene investigator -- asked county officials for permission to visit the station along with as many as seven fellow hobbyists operating under the name Pacific Haunting Investigations.

Sometime in the next few months, depending on everyone's schedule, they will hunker down for a nightlong effort to capture evidence of ghosts with cameras and equipment that can detect changes in electromagnetic fields.

County officials didn't appear startled by the request. In fact, Supervisor Tom Wheeler of North Fork put on a white sheet just before he and fellow board members voted unanimously last week to give the OK.

But they're not taking any chances. They required Burrow to sign an agreement not to sue the county for any "injury, property damage or death" that might happen while the ghost hunters are at the fire station. ... photo and full article: http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/38703...

4:07 PM EDT

Renee in Ohio delivers her own smack down of Hillary's *I'm more American than you*.

Enjoy! And pls rec her diary up.

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

+++

mary vb -

Indeed.

Renee in Ohio has posted a great comment about Hillary's bar-hopping (trolling for votes). 

All I know is drinking is a serious problem in America and a presidential candidate lifting a foamy mug IMO is not something to promote (though, Cindy's father's Bud beer empire in Arizona is probably grateful for Hillary's beer-drinking endorsement, and by extension John himself):

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/13/112537/146/474/494815

Hillary Clinton: "Who do Americans want to have a beer with? Look--I've got photographic evidence right here!"

"What's that? Do shots with you?"

I can totally imagine her TerminatorVision activating at this point, rapidly displaying the probabilities of various outcomes depending on whether she says yes or no. After all of her efforts to convince the regular folks that Barack Obama is the one who is elitist while she "gets" small-town  America (having been raised on "pinochle and the American dream"), can she afford to say no?

"Well...(shrug). Down the hatch!"

• Renee in Ohio's diary :: ::

From ABC's Political Radar:

Clinton stood by the bar and took a shot of Crown Royal whiskey. She took one sip of the shot, then another small sip, then a few seconds later threw her head back and finished off the whole thing.

(Pictures via Huffington Post)

...

Wouldn't it be funny if Homer did appear to the ghost hunters and he said "Doh!" ?

Twenty-one elected officials and community leaders from small towns and rural areas throughout Pennsylvania today released an open letter asking fellow Pennsylvanians to set aside Senators Clinton and McCain’s recent attempts at political point-scoring and consider who will fight for them as President.

Dear Fellow Pennsylvanian,

We live in small towns and rural areas throughout Pennsylvania and we support Barack Obama for President.

A few days ago, Sen. Obama made some comments that his opponents are now using to make him appear as if he is something he is not.  Instead of speaking to us honestly about how they intend to solve the problems we are facing, they are playing the same old Washington games that accomplish nothing.

What Sen. Obama said is that over the last 25-30 years, working class people in places like Pennsylvania have been falling behind, and that politicians in Washington haven’t been looking out for them.  He also said that, as a result, many people have become frustrated, angry and even bitter about all the broken promises.

He was right...

Look, I always wondered about the relevance of that line about the reformed alcoholic that one was supposed to enjoy having a beer with, but I think I've got a handle on it now.  What i've figured out is that Ronald Reagan didn't just bring an actor to Washington; he transformed the whole political process into a twin of the entertainment industry.  And it wasn't just in terms of the fantasy being peddled; it was the whole deal-making, glamour-promoting, unrealistic financing, script-promoting, concept scene.

I'm tempted to suggest that the country's agenda has been constructed like a situation comedy serial--with a new adventure each week--but it wasn't funny.  However, the Republican complaint about poll-driven policies in the Clinton Administration was valid to a certain extent.  Where it went wrong is that the polls weren't designed to establish what the public wanted; they were designed like Abutron ratings to determine what was selling and what wasn't.  In effect, the Clinton Administration was focused on which lies were convincing and which weren't.  And that's what we're seeing repeated in the current campaign.  The whole thing is a fiction and the script is being adjusted according to what's working and what isn't.

That the Thomasons and Burkle used to be in the TV and movie business is not incidental.  They transfered the business practices from Hollywood to Washington.  It shouldn't be surprising that the economy, like the major entertainment enterprises are going down the drain.  What's telling is that the creativity that's surfacing in support of Obama is indicative.  We've got a whole generation of really talented artists who have been stymied by the profit driven entertainment monopolies. 

Two bitter insiders sing from the same desperate prayer book

turn the page......

http://blogforamerica.com/view/24890#com...

 What's telling is that the creativity that's surfacing in support of Obama is indicative.  We've got a whole generation of really talented artists who have been stymied by the profit driven entertainment monopolies

~~~~~~~~~~~

Monica

former often overstates that basic point; but which is that is true in that and many other situations if you drop the word "entertainment"

What an opportunity to have a real discussion of what ails America with Obama's bitter truth.

the debate should get into real meat of solutions and it isn't free trade with Colombia where they murder labor organizers with neo-con aid