9:01 AM EDT

It's Crystal Blue clear to me --

-- Howard is first.

it became crystal clear when out of the blue I was persuaded to vote for Howard Dean -  he's #1!

We choose hope over fear by Al Rodgers. Great photo slides. Wonderful. I love the guy who holds a home made sign that reads *Middle aged white guy for Obama*. Hilarious.

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4/22/...

Please, Barack, make it end today.

9:36 AM EDT

http://www.earthday.net/resources/history.aspx

Participant in Earth Day, 1970.
Photo: EPA History Office

History of Earth Day

Earth Day -- April 22 -- each year marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.

Among other things, 1970 in the United States brought with it the Kent State shootings, the advent of fiber optics, "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Apollo 13, the Beatles' last album, the death of Jimi Hendrix, the birth of Mariah Carey, and the meltdown of fuel rods in the Savannah River nuclear plant near Aiken, South Carolina -- an incident not acknowledged for 18 years.

It was into such a world that the very first Earth Day was born.

Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest "to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda. " "It was a gamble," he recalls, "but it worked."

...

9:40 AM EDT

in western PA last night:

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//080422/photos_ts/2008_04_22t044950_450x360_us_usa_politics/

Senator Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are introduced to a crowd of supporters at the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh, April 21, 2008.(Jason Cohn/Reuters)

Morning Folks,

Happy Earth Day with the hope and effort that unites us in loving and revering the earth and all its denizens, where poisoning, wasting, destroying becomes a thing of the bad old past, and with that a prayer, yes, a prayer that Barack Obama defeats Hillary Clinton by a small margin, which gives her some face so that she might at some near point leave the race and work, as she promised, to help elect the democratic nominee.

It's really an interesting demographic: 76 million baby boomers, retirees, war babies, the really old, and the diffident generation x that has spent so much of its energy on material and social success, and then the millenniums with their passion, commitment, and activism. 

Unfortunately the old f**ts are greater in number, but I'd bet most of them don't know what the word paradigm means, have no idea that Obama is speaking of a whole new way of solving problems and working with people.  I'd bet that the old f**ts are still in the Cold War with the adversarial mentality, the winners and losers, the blaming the victims.  I'd bet further that they don't understand much of what Obama is saying

I've listened to women leaders all my life, have always revered and admired strong, articulate, ethical women.  Barbara Boxer, Maxine Waters, Zoe Lofgren and others have the ability to persuade through reason, through listening, through ideas and  they honor their audience by respecting them.  Hillary, in her imitation of the assertive masculine ethos, hectors, harangues, and is in your face.  She is an authoritarian and will do much the same that McCain will do.  She is old paradigm and I have my heart in my hands with hope that people will see that.

Have a beautiful Earth Day.  Saw two deer below my kitchen window this morning, no doubt munching the buds on the small tress, but hey, welcome deer,.  You make my world wondrous. 

9:41 AM EDT

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gGCC4Y

By Sam Graham-Felsen - Apr 22nd, 2008 at 9:19 am EDT

...

Mark Halperin of The Page says that more Super D's will be coming forward after PA for Barack.

rd - I love that pic of Michelle and Barack. I love her style - hope that doesn't sound superficial - but Michelle is lovely.

Michelle will make a great First Lady.

to celebrate Earth Day HGTV is running a marathon of 'Living with Ed'.  tune in - it's funnny and eco-educational.

I'm ordering an Obama Mama tee shirt!

In honor of Earth Day - I'm going to finish planting my lavendar garden.

watch the obama video I put up. funny.

Printable version

The US Army and Marine Corps recruited significantly more people with criminal records last year than in 2006, amid pressure to meet combat needs.

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

worst President ever

linda b, the video you posted knocked me out.

Printable version

The head of the UN World Food Programme has said urgent action is required to stimulate food production and help the poor cope with soaring food prices.

Josette Sheeran told the BBC that an additional 100 million people, who did not need assistance six months ago, could not now afford to purchase food.

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

many currencies are pegged to the dollar and this is as much about inflation as it is about food

the crumbling dollar has very real consequences

and Republicans in Congress are holding up a farm bill to protect the profits of their corporatist buddies

but global warming made the Autralian drought worse that brought about the whole elimination of world wheat reserves, and if the tax cuts that caused the dollar collapse lead to oil prices so high that consumption drops it will be sweet revenge for mother earth 

We don’t hear a great deal about education in the presidential campaign. It’s much too serious a topic to compete with such fun stuff as Hillary tossing back a shot of whiskey, or Barack rolling a gutter ball.

The nation’s future may depend on how well we educate the current and future generations, but (like the renovation of the nation’s infrastructure, or a serious search for better sources of energy) that can wait. At the moment, no one seems to have the will to engage any of the most serious challenges facing the U.S.

An American kid drops out of high school every 26 seconds. That’s more than a million every year, a sign of big trouble for these largely clueless youngsters in an era in which a college education is crucial to maintaining a middle-class quality of life — and for the country as a whole in a world that is becoming more hotly competitive every day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/opinion/22herbert.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

linda b, the video you posted knocked me out.

literally

Good morning all.  Happy Earth Day (I walked to High School instead of taking the bus on the first one, of course, the bus ran anyway) and happy PA primary day.

I had an interesting experience yesterday.  I took the oral evaluation for becoming a Foreign Service Officer (State Department).  This is the third stage in the application process which starts with an application and a written test, and moves on from here with a security clearance, medical clearance and "final evaluation."

The good news is I passed the orals, a not trivial effort, and so move on.  If all goes well, I may be representing you in a foreign country this time next year.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

Ed (Begley Jr.) grew up in Merrick, NY, my home town.  Others from Merrick - Ben and Jerry.

A good place to grow up, at least when I was there. 

Just heard on Good Morning America that Julie Nixon Eisenhower is supporting Obama.

rd cute juice post on the last thread - did you make that up??

It is 9:10 ET and I'm off to work. If I was in NYC I'd be late!

nobody goes hungry with money in their pocket, hunger and poverty are one and the same problem

but low grain reserves are a wake up call for a world population that is expected to swell to over 9 billion in this century, we will reach the human carrying capacity of the land at some point

the current problem is mostly one of subsistance farmers leaving their plots of land for the promise of a paycheck in the cities of the world making consumer junk for Americans, and now they buy food instead of producing much of their own

Europeans stole a great continent from the First Nation peoples and we are in no danger of running out of food here, but it is this opulent earth resource on this continent that blinds us to the reality on Haiti or in Bangledesh

LA Times with the story of the super d's (the flood) coming Obama's way. Guess they want to end this thing. Hallelujah!

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

Congratulations to Rich Kolker.

10:19 AM EDT

Denise -

Yes, I made the juice post up after reading this 8/31/06 BBC article promoting drinking juice:

10:23 AM EDT

Congratulations to Rich Kolker.

+++

Ditto.

We knew you could do it, rich.

Pennsylvania's Presidential primary on April 22 will be essentially unrecountable, unverifiable, and unauditable - an irony, because state law requires manual audits of a statistical sample of ballots cast in elections.

Tell Congress: Pass HR 5036 Emergency Bill for Secure Elections in 2008

Please sign the Petition:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/199/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=22334

10:42 AM EDT

a undecided voter ? (eni, meani, mini, mo, catch a

http://www.animationlibrary.com/animation/23536/Tigger_works/

by the toe ...):

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//080422/photos_ts/2008_04_22t101439_450x309_us_usa_politics/

10:44 AM EDT

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//080422/photos_ts/2008_04_22t101439_450x309_us_usa_politics/

Signs promoting US Democratic presidential candidates Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) during the Pennsylvania primaries are displayed in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, April 22, 2008.(Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

So, did you see this?

http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx?id=9b2a61dc-8436-478d-a87a-7497cfc6af4f 

15.

rich^kolker
Tue, 04/22/08

...I took the oral evaluation for becoming a Foreign Service Officer (State Department)...

...If all goes well, I may be representing you in a foreign country this time next year.
-----------------

Congratulations Rich!

Don’t forget though that you might be representing no one but “State Department”.

Although… time runs fast, who knows what’ll happen year(s) from now.

Good luck in either case!

I'm ordering an Obama Mama tee shirt!

mary,

I saw some on Obama's website that were really cute -- pink with cap sleeves and about half price. I would have gotten one if it had Obama Gramma on it but they didn't. (Hubby and I each bought a black one with Obama's picture on it at a rally here this month but black is kinda hot for summer here.)

GObama

Great doing Rich! Good luck to you, I know you will be a terrific asset to our State Department.

11:01 AM EDT

It's a Small World After All:

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//080420/483/4845fecdc708461f83641c9380543bab/

San Jose Earthquakes forward Kei Kamara, from Sierra Leone, and Colorado Rapids defenseman Facundo Erpen, from Argentina, tangle for possession during the first half of an MLS soccer game in Commerce City, Colo., Saturday, April 19, 2008.(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Good Luck, Rich,

Do us proud! 

The good news is I passed the orals, a not trivial effort, and so move on.  If all goes well, I may be representing you in a foreign country this time next year.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

Rich, I know you will do well. We need someone in this country to "represent" us.

I admire you so much. You went beyond the call of duty for my family.

Best of luck with your new career. Kudos.

Yes, congratulations rich.  I do hope enjoying cocktails and being good at tennis are no longer requirements for advancement in the foreign service.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXum_-8I1TA

Pennsylvania Governor Rendell Praises Farrakhan and N.O.I.

I think the reports a few weeks ago that Obama had 50+ SDs ready to commit to him were true and that Obama asked them to wait to avoid enlarging the sympathy vote to Hillary in PA.  we've seen them trickle in a couple at a time since then and soon they can crank those flood gates open - either after PA or NC.

best of luck, Rich - that is so exciting!

breaking - msnbc currently reporting problems w/voting machines in Philly -  they're breaking down and not working in African Amreican communities.  more to come....  it's gonna be a long day!

I wish there was more info out there that you don't win a state. you get delegates.

even people in my area of Va don't get it . They say well the national polls say.....blah blah.

We got our delegates for obama on sat in our district but some of the hillary people want to come over to our side. they must wait til the convention. so....there may be MORE for obama.

we shall see.

Thanks everyone.

From talking with people who work with Foreign Service Officers and some FSOs, my impression has been the career FSOs are very professional and have the best interests of the United States always in mind. 

Not a big fan of cocktails, but I can play tennis just well enough to lose. 

The bitch is at it again!

Rice criticizes Carter over talks with Hamas

A HOWARDLY to rich.

Hillary Clinton confirmed Monday on MSNBC’s “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” that as president she would be willing to use nuclear weapons against Iran if it launched such an attack on Israel. Full story

Be careful of a posting to Iran, rich.

I think it's interesting about Condoleeza Rice: it's generally accepted that she's done a lousy job in every role she's played in this administration.  When she was at Stanford University, she undermined the Affirmative Action program.  She's, in my opinion, a suck-up and very good at it.  She seems to have no real ideas of her own, attaches herself to powerful people, feeding their egoes, carrying out their agendas.  A thoroughly despicable toady, but then history is replete with them.  There's Wormtongue in the Tolkien trilogy.

I think Jimmy Carter's initiative is terrific, hopeful, imaginative, passionate, and reasonable.  I'm glad he could do it and did it.  He honors us with his integrity.

And finally before I do some work, the Colbert quote for the day: "The Peace Corps identifies those people who hate America and ships them overseas."  Wonderful. 

I think Jimmy Carter's initiative is terrific, hopeful, imaginative, passionate, and reasonable.  I'm glad he could do it and did it.  He honors us with his integrity.

Nicely stated, Pat, and I agree.

Phil~ the pic of Hill says it all; she looks terrible!

New thread.

Here's the link for the New Thread!

Pat in Colorado--Darlin' --your posts are always so well reasoned, thoughtful and ethical--what is it with the derogatory comment about "the od f*rts" not understanding--who in the world are you talking about--and why? I can only tell you I am 74, I live in a rural racially mixed S. Texas county
with lots of retirees and not many jobs for young people.
Our County is sending 8 Obama delegates to the State convention vs. 4 Hillary delegates. Questions?

Shirlee, thanks for writing.  You are right.  I'm an old fart too, 65, but truly, there's no excuse for what I said.  My apology.  In fact, one of my best friends and mentors is 84, and I adore her.  Again, mea cupla, and thank you for calling me on that.

Pat--apology accepted--with love--and hope!!!

I guess, I was thinking, Shirlee, of those people who insist on a fighter, someone who will stand up against the terrorists, all those old saws that seem to say, I see nothing but what I've lived.  When there was the outcry that Obama would meet with any leader around the world, the complaint against him was from that old paradigm of" enemies and friends and superiorty and carrots and sticks".  That's the kind of "old f**t thinking" I was referring to.

But, again, you are so right.  I have raved, raged, castigated name calling, and voila, I name called. 

And thanks for calling me Darlin', just love that Southern sweetness.

One quick last thing, in Estes Park and in the Estes Valley, the most progressive, active citizens and voters are retirees and older folks.  They are and have been the backbone of Democracy for America.  When I call people and ask them to vote, again, they are the older citizens and on my active call list because they've been active.

So, without them, us, I don't know what we'd do.  The Milennium kids seem to be catching on the importance and responsibility to participate.

So, I erase that phrase from now on except to kid about ourselves at home. Perhaps old paradigm thinking best expresses my frustration, and age plays no part in that at all.

Have a wonderful day, Shirlee.