HOWARD'S FIRST

What are they trying to distract us from -- Turkey defending against Kurds??

Purported Bin Laden Tape Calls on Insurgents in Iraq to Unite
By VOA News
22 October 2007

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-2...

bbl

From last thread:

RE: <Someone's definitely got a robot voting for obama right now.>>

Rich, we're doing quality control here at hq and monitoring all the votes as they come in to ensure the integrity of the voting. So far, all the votes for the past few hours seem legitimate. We'll definitely continue to keep an eye out for possible robot voting. 

-Ilya

http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/22656...
last thread

Dennis K. is second today.

~~~~~~~~~~~

We endorse a fundamental change in America's health care - the creation of a comprehensive National Health Insurance (NHI) Program. Such a program - which in essence would be an expanded and improved version of Medicare - would cover every American for all necessary medical care.

Click here for the full plan

http://www.pnhp.org/

US oilfield services giant Halliburton Co on Sunday said third-quarter net profit rose 19 percent,

due to a tax benefit,

new international contracts and higher activity from its customers.

http://www.neftegaz.ru/english/lenta/sho...

Good firstie, Anni!

**********
I do like Mrs. Kucinich very much, and I appreciate Dennis's stand against the Iraq war, but I am afraid that I will take a lot more convincing so far as his candidacy for President is concerned.

***********
putzie has the gall to request this. Dems had better NOT act on it.

More money down a black hole, and an illegal black hole at that!

=============
Bush Requests $46B to Fund Wars
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 22, 2007; 3:29 PM

President Bush requested $46 billion more today to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and other security priorities, bringing the total request pending before Congress to $196.4 billion and setting the stage for another politically charged battle over the course of the war.

The funding request would pay for day-to-day costs of the wars, including everything from bullets to body armor, as well as for training of Iraqi troops, embassy programs and intelligence operations. It also would pay for treatment of injured soldiers, equipment repairs, relief for Iraqi refugees, U.N. peacekeeping in the Darfur region of Sudan and counter-narcotics aid to Mexico.

The president's war funding plan appears certain to revive the debate over Iraq that has grown somewhat dormant in Washington over the last month. Bush demanded that Congress approve his spending request by the end of the year and cast it as a test of whether lawmakers support U.S. troops, rather than his policy.

Democratic leaders in Congress have said they do not plan to act on Bush's request until next year as they seek a new strategy to counter the president's war leadership

[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...

In fact, prick is still on his latest bandwagon, beating the drums of war against Iran.

No $$$$ for the illegal wars of these armchair heroes who all shirked their own duty when it was their time to pay the price.

===================
Cheney Beats the Drums of War
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, October 22, 2007; 1:56 PM

Just four days after President Bush said the best way to avoid "World War III" was to prevent Iran from obtaining the know-how to build a nuclear bomb, Vice President Cheney vowed that Iran would face "serious consequences" if "it stays on its present course."

In an address yesterday to a pro-Israel think tank, Cheney stepped up the warlike rhetoric against Iran, most notably by linking Iran's government to attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq more explicitly than ever before.

"Given the nature of Iran's rulers, the declarations of the Iranian president, and the trouble the regime is causing throughout the region -- including direct involvement in the killing of Americans -- our country and the entire international community cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its most aggressive ambitions," Cheney said. He offered no new evidence for his accusation.

John Hendren reports for ABC News: "Cheney's statement bore a striking resemblance to this warning before an audience of Republicans on Jan. 31, 2003, less than two months before the U.S. invasion of Iraq: 'We will not permit a brutal dictator with ties to terror and a record of feckless aggression to dominate the Middle East and to threaten the United States.'

"A spokeswoman for the vice president said his statements today echoed his previous comments on Iran." (See, for instance, March 7, 2006, and May 11, 2007.)

"But analysts said the administration's talk on Iran has taken on a tone of rising warning and aggressiveness, particularly on a week that included an unusually strongly worded admonition from President Bush earlier this week. . . .

"The rising rhetoric could signal that President Bush intends to take action -- possibly military action -- to halt Iran's nuclear program before the president leaves office on Jan. 20, 2009, some analysts said."

Sheryl Gay Stolberg writes in the New York Times: "The remarks, just days after President Bush suggested that a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to 'World War III,' amounted to Part II of a one-two punch from the administration at a moment when it is trying to persuade its allies in Europe to impose stiffer sanctions on Tehran."

[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...

I was just reading the last thread re: Ron Paul.

In addition to all the well-researched facts about Paul, there is more: much of even the more liberal statements he makes are meant to mislead Dems and Indys to vote for him.

We all know politicians often lie to get elected and Paul is no exception.

Definitely not a liberal or a progressive -- more like a regressive conservative who does not believe is social programs of any kind.

Valerie Plame is telling her story ... well, as much as they will let her tell ... in her own words.

Shame on the traitors in putzCo, every last single one of them .. and it is criminal that the two biggest traitors remain in office while Dems dither as to whether they should be impeached.

=================
Valerie Plame, Telling the (Edited) Inside Story
By Alan Cooperman
senior editor for non-fiction at Book World
Monday, October 22, 2007; C01

FAIR GAME
My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House
By Valerie Plame Wilson
Simon & Schuster. 411 pp. $26

Mothers who are spies, it turns out, face the same juggling act as other working moms.

After a year at home following the birth of twins, Valerie Plame Wilson returned to work in April 2001 in the Iraq branch of the CIA's Counterproliferation Division. "When I had to deal with pressing operational issues I had no choice but to bring the toddlers into my office on a Saturday," she writes in her memoir, published this week. "Making decisions on how much money to offer a potential asset while handing crayons to my daughter who sat under my desk was strange indeed, but not without humor."

Since senior administration officials whispered "Valerie Plame" and "CIA" in the same breath to half a dozen journalists in 2003, some people have not very subtly suggested that her work couldn't really have been all that hush-hush if she had an office job, not to mention blond hair and little kids. "She was not involved in clandestine activities," Robert D. Novak, the syndicated columnist who first published her name, wrote earlier this year in his dueling memoir. "Instead, each day she went to CIA headquarters in Langley where she worked on arms proliferation."

There are lots of she said-he said moments in the Plame affair, matters on which an impartial observer can only conclude that, well, both sides have a point. But this is not one of them.

Before her retirement in 2006, Wilson spent more than 20 years in the CIA, including six years, one month and 29 days of overseas service. We know this because the agency, in a bureaucratic blunder, put it in an unclassified letter about her pension eligibility that it later tried desperately to recall, and that she has included as an appendix to "Fair Game."

We also know that she worked on the operations side, the part of the CIA that runs agents and covert activities, rather than on the analytical side, which tries to make sense of all the information flowing in. From her former CIA "classmates," we know that she went through the agency's elite Career Trainee program, including paramilitary training at the classified location known as the Farm, and was one of just three in her class of 50 who were chosen to be NOCs (pronounced "knocks"), or non-official cover officers, the most clandestine in the agency. And from her memoir, we now know how deeply secrecy was ingrained in her.

[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...

Hi Annilow ;-)

Ilya, thanks for the great post on RP, and thanks to Louise for her point of view on DK.

Hi Judy! I second your comment on Dennis.

Passing through once again. Looks like I won't be heading back to MA til Wed. morning at the earliest.

later...

♥'s to all

Kindness is free

8.JudyforDean

Valerie Plame is telling her story...
============

Saw it on 60 minutes. Somebody should tell Katie Couric she is no Barbara Walters, and that she's chopped liver when she tries to be.

34 from last thread - Rich, I like the way you think.  What can we do to get this started?

Good grief, Pat, you've a bee in your bonnet.  I simply meant that for the good of society, some of us have to pay in when we don't reap the rewards of a particular thing.  I'm all for social programs, you should know that.  And I'm for paying in, which I've done all my life.

Please explain what was totalitarian about my post.  One child limit? Vasectomies?  Tubals? Mental health tests?  

 Are you aware of the population problems and lack of resources?  Look at Atlanta.  Perhaps you're the rightie who wants everybody to just keep on having children and using resources that are running dry. 

I can't believe you lit into me like that....so quick to think so ill of me.

11 - So right you are there.  And she looked like she aged about 30 years.  Bleaaahhh

One more thing, Pat.  Besides owing me a big apology, I helped keep your kids in school with my taxes albeit, a tiny amount.  Me?  Closing libraries?  Me, who devours library books?  I want more social programs and am willing to pay more taxes for the good of our country.

What's with with you today?  

6. Judy, what's not to like about Dennis? (besides the fact that he's short). He has the issues nailed where the others are just skating around them trying not to offend their big donors.

14. Mz*Little

==============
For me it was more of the tone and inflection of the way she asked delicate questions, if not the questions themselvse. She was offensive. Babara Walters has the uncanny ability to ask almost any question in an inoffensive way. Katie doesn't have that ability.

Pat: you are not the only one who has sent a good letter to Nancy P. (Although you said it well!)

One of my DU faves, Nance Greggs, sent off a good one. Here's part. For the rest, try the url.

===================
To Nancy from Nance - A Word about 'The Words'

TO: The Honorable Nancy Pelosi

RE: Remarks of Rep. Peter Stark (D-CA), October 2007

Dear Madam Speaker:

Let me begin by saying that I am fully appreciative of the fact that our elected representatives are expected to behave in a civil, courteous manner when doing the people’s business, and must be circumspect in choosing their words as a matter of course.

However, I wonder if you appreciate that there comes a time when such courtesy and civility must be pushed to one side to make way for the truth. And if the truth is abhorrent, that is often the circumstance in which it should be spoken – nay, shouted – by those courageous enough to give it a voice.

Although the delivery of Mr. Stark’s statements may be viewed by some as lacking in proper decorum, one cannot debate the fact that he spoke the truth. Soldiers getting their heads blown off in Iraq is not an exaggeration, but a statement of fact. As for that kind of tragedy ‘amusing the president”, we have had ample demonstrations of Mr. Bush’s mirth when it comes to the serious topic of our troops dying.

We have all seen the video of Bush searching for WMDs under his desk, laughing at the fact that they couldn’t be found anywhere – even as our men and women were dying as a result of that very lie. We have seen Mr. Bush chortle and smile smugly as he talks about the casualties; we have heard the disgust of parents who met with him at the White House after losing a child in combat, and the way they were greeted with an arrogant smirk instead of heartfelt condolences for their loss.

While it is always judicious to take into account the feelings of those who take an opposing position on an issue, one should also consider that in a circumstance such as this – dealing with people who are about to keep our poorer children from accessing necessary healthcare – there were no “feelings” to be considered, simply because anyone who would oppose such assistance obviously has no feelings at all.

If I may, Madam Speaker, I would remind you of something you should already know. We, the People, especially Democrats, have had our fill of “niceties” being accorded to the very people who questioned our patriotism when we opposed this war, the draft-dodgers who sent our children to fight, those who never-served who besmirched the reputations of those who did, and did so honorably.

We are tired of courtesy being extended to those who have circumvented our Constitutional rights, corrupted our system of justice, and plundered our treasury to fund an unnecessary war.

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

OBAMA SHOULD BE ASHAMED

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earl-ofari-hutchinson/obama-should-repudiate-an_b_69244.html

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama ripped a page straight from the Bush campaign playbook with his announced upcoming three date barnstorm tour through South Carolina with notorious gay basher, gospel singer Donnie McClurkin. The Grammy winning black gospel singer's last effort on the political scene was his song and shill for Bush's reelection at the Republican National Convention in 2004. Obama has hitched his string to McClurkin's high flying gay bash kite in part out of religious belief (he purports to be somewhat of an evangelical), in bigger part because he's falling further and further behind Hillary Clinton with the black vote in South Carolina and everywhere else, and in the biggest part of all because he hopes that what worked for Bush's reelection will work for him.

15. seashell :-)
================

I voted against library money in my county because they just built a new big library with toxic building materials. I cannot tolerate the inside of it.

16. Well, HJ, for one thing, I still have not forgiven him for going out of his way to screw Howard in Iowa.

When he instructed his anti-war supporters to throw their support to someone who had voted to allow putz to go to war (and that is what it was), then I had good reason to doubt his sincerity.

I have never quite gotten over that.

And no, it's not because he's short. I nearly married someone who was shorter than I. We're probably better friends today that we would have been had we married. LOL

Obama seems to have the same desire to lose the way Kerry had.

Has Dodd come here yet?  

Gore/Kucinich

DEMOCRATS' MO-RAGE, THEN CAVE

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ari-melber/dodd-fights-spying-while-_b_69401.html

After roughly three years of outrage over illegal domestic spying--complete with roars of "Shame on us!"--Democrats are now pushing legislation to validate more warrantless surveillance of American citizens. The same bill would also immunize any companies that assisted in illegal surveillance, squashing vital lawsuits that could provide the first public accountability for warrantless spying.

So much for all that outrage. On the campaign trail, Democrats may run hard against Bush's assault on the rule of law. In Washington, however, too many of them just run from security fights with Bush.

The notable exception is Senator Chris Dodd, who announced that he will put a hold on any surveillance legislation that immunizes the telecommunications companies for participating in domestic spying "with apparent total disregard for their responsibility to protect the privacy rights of customers." Beltway commentators swiftly derided Dodd's move as political.

Dodd, a Senate veteran of twenty-six years, has longstanding and impeccable credentials in this area. He has led the battle to defend constitutional rights for years, fighting the Administration's torture and detention policies, and he wrote a book about protecting rights during wartime, drawing on his father's service as a prosecutor at Nuremberg.

Dodd's aggressive move also pushes the intelligence fight into the thicket of Senate rules. Holds are generally honored by the majority leader, preventing legislation from a floor vote, but their authority officially derives from a senator's power to filibuster. "Implicit in a request for a hold is the ability of a Senator to use parliamentary tools to filibuster or to delay consideration of the nomination or legislation at issue.

BIDEN HAS RISEN GREATLY IN MY ESTIMATION BY HIS SUPPORT FOR DODD IN CONTRAST TO CLINTON AND OBAMA.

I love Kucinich.  Of course he's great,  but he's kind of a weirdo.  This account comes from an old Iowa Pulse report from 2003:

"To the audience at the Iowa Federation of Labor's first presidential forum of the year, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich was putting on a table-pounding show of union solidarity.

" . . . .

"Iowa Federation of Labor President Mark Smith, sitting behind the podium, could see that more than union spirit was driving Kucinich's almost manic performance. After learning that the Adventureland Inn was ill-equipped to download and print his speech, Kucinich had perched his laptop computer on the podium.

"Smith said he could see that the diminutive congressman was struggling to balance the computer and that the screen kept him from adjusting the microphone. To make matters worse, the battery alarm had begun to beep, forcing him to speed-read before losing his text. 'I think he yelled because he was further from the mike than was comfortable,' Smith said.

" . . . .

"Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack admits that her first impression of Kucinich was formed by his antics at her husband's annual fund-raising picnic. 'I will always think of him as like, Rumpelstiltskin, because he was just waving his arms around and carrying on, because he really just got so emotional up there, so much that he burst into the Star Spangled Banner,' she said.

" . . . .

"'In general, I think he's among the best-loved of all the candidates, yet he is among those who they are least likely to caucus for. That's kind of a conundrum,' said David Loebsack, a Democratic activist and political science professor at Cornell College.

"Loebsack, who just recently decided to support Howard Dean of Vermont, said his fellow activists may respond to Kucinich with their hearts, but their heads tell them to nominate someone who can win the general election.

" . . . .

"Now, he says, his candidacy 'is a test of how much people want their country back.' He argues that it is meaningless for Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman to call himself a liberal and Dean to call himself a moderate if both candidates have identical positions on maintaining Pentagon spending, supporting capital punishment and keeping international trade agreements.

"As his cell phone begins to chime the opening bars of 'Stars and Stripes Forever,' Kucinich says he's the only candidate who provides voters a real choice. . . ."

I DO like Chris Dodd a LOT. In my second ... and last pulse poll vote ... I put him right after Al.

**************
Forcing our soldiers to stay and fight the fatcats' war ... how much lower can putzCo sink? Apparently not low enough.

===============
Army to keep forcibly re-enlisting soldiers
'Stop loss' program still needed, general says in response to Gates

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army will continue to rely on an unpopular program that forces some soldiers to stay on beyond their retirement or re-enlistment dates, despite repeated pressure from Defense Secretary Robert Gates to reduce and eventually eliminate the practice.

Lt. Gen. Michael Rochelle, deputy chief of staff for personnel, said Thursday that the number of soldiers kept on duty has actually increased in recent months as a result of President Bush's orders to increase troop levels in Iraq this year to help quell the violence.

The number of those being kept on beyond their commitment — through a program known as "stop loss" — is about 9,000 now, compared to about 7,000 before the troop buildup began in late January, he said.

[...]
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21362930/

Dear Democracy for America members,

I am writing to you to ask you for your support because you, as much or more than any group of voters in this nation, recognize the real issues confronting our country, the real solutions, and the shortcomings and failures of many of our political leaders in addressing them.

I know that many of you agree with me that half measures, compromises, misguided thinking and hollow rhetoric are not the answers. They are symptomatic of the problems, and, to a regrettable extent, the causes of the problems. That's why we are in a war, and why we're moving ever closer to another. That's why our Constitutional rights and protections are being violated every day. Why 47 millions Americans are uninsured and another 50 million are under-insured. Why millions of American jobs have been outsourced. And every other issue that we, as progressive and independent-thinking Democrats stand for is pushed aside.

DFA members have the power to change that by supporting the one and only candidate who isn't afraid to say what he believes - what you believe - and who won't back down.

Ending the war and preventing the next one

I am the only Democratic presidential candidate who campaigned against and voted against the war authorization resolution in 2002 and every supplemental appropriation since.  Five years ago, I presented evidence to my colleagues in the House and Senate based on my own intelligence analysis which showed that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction and was not a direct threat to the U.S. or our allies. I shared that analysis with my Congressional colleagues and rallied more than 120 members to vote against the authorization.

The defense offered by other candidates - "If I knew then what I know now" - is a feeble excuse for making the wrong decision when it mattered most to make the right decision.  Many of us did know then because we weren't tricked or bullied by the White House. We knew it was wrong, and we knew the consequences. So did you.

But what makes the newfound anti-war claims of some other candidates even more indefensible is that they voted to continue funding the war, year after year, at least until their Presidential campaigns began. It's simply not enough to say you oppose the war now when you continued to fund it time and time again.

Right now, the war is fully funded until early next year. There is more than enough money available to bring all of our troops and equipment home within a few months, but the Congressional leadership is unwilling to challenge the President.

My plan, embodied in HR 1234, would end the war, end the occupation, establish an international security and peacekeeping force, begin the process of reconciliation, and provide the kind of support needed for reconstruction.

My target is not 2013. My target is three months after taking office.

But in the meantime, we in the Congress, with your support, must use every means at our disposal to force the White House to act now to bring our troops home. And, we must use every means at our disposal to stop the White House from launching a new war on Iran with the same flimsy, deceptive and outright fraudulent claims it used five years ago.

After failing to deliver what it promised in last year's election, the Democratic leadership has a moral obligation, overdue, to live up to its word to the American people. Please cast your vote:

http://DemocracyforAmerica.com/VoteKucinich

Empowering Constitutional abuses, and ending them

I am the only Democrat running for President who voted against the unconstitutional and illegal U.S.A Patriot Act. The other candidates were wrong then, and various federal court rulings have made that abundantly clear. We can't condone the shredding of our Constitution in the name of "national security." And we can't support leaders, candidates or policies that do. Please cast your vote:

http://www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/VoteKucinich

True "universal health care"

I am the only Presidential candidate who supports a truly universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care system to cover all Americans.  Every other plan preserves, and in some cases, enhances the role of private, for-profit insurance companies that make their billions by not providing coverage. Forcing Americans to buy private insurance denies the moral obligation of this nation to provide coverage for its citizens. Any scheme that provides subsidies or other financial incentives to for-profit providers to make coverage less expensive or more accessible is just that: a scheme. It further enriches the insurers, at taxpayers' expense, and would still not guarantee full coverage or universal availability.

Michael Moore has endorsed my health care plan (HR 676), as have thousands of physicians, nurses, and labor union members. It's time to catch up to the rest of the industrialized nations and declare that health care is a right, not a commodity that some people can afford and others can't. No other candidate is willing to take on those insurance companies. I am. And I believe that you are, too. Please cast your vote:

http://www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/VoteKucinich

Marriage equality

I am the only candidate running for president who supports full marriage equality. I believe marriage equality is a defining issue for the 21st century. Any two people who love each other should not be denied the right to share their love with each other. The other candidates disagree. Once again, they are wrong.

If we don't stand up for this issue - vote our hearts and our consciences - the Democratic Party and the Democratic candidates will continue to ignore the issue of marriage equality and continue falling back on "civil unions" as a more "acceptable" alternative. It is not acceptable. You know it, and I know it. Please cast your vote:

http://www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/VoteKucinich

Impeachment

I am only the presidential candidate willing to demand the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney. Every pair of DFA eyes reading this e-mail knows that this President and this Vice President have committed serious crimes worthy of impeachment. This it not a personal attack against the Vice President. It is about the sanctity of the Constitution. This democracy must be protected against leaders who have no regard for the Constitution or the rule of law. The mechanism for taking action against such leaders is impeachment. We, the people, have not only the right but the obligation to stop this. HR 333, which I introduced, is the appropriate recourse under the law to hold those leaders accountable and answerable.

Again, the Congressional leadership and the other candidates are unwilling to take the kind of action that our Constitution, our laws, and our beliefs demand that we take. And again, they are wrong. Please cast your vote:

http://www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/VoteKucinich

My candidacy for President of the United States is about who we are as Americans. It is about who we are as Democrats. It is about who we are as progressives. There are clear distinctions between my friends in this race and me -- major differences on every issue of importance to me and to you.

I stand proudly for my core beliefs. Only if you and others with the courage to hold the Party and its candidates accountable will we be able to make progress on a real agenda for real change in this nation.  And by doing what's right, all of us together, we can send a proud and powerful message that we know what - and who - is wrong. And, very simply, we've had enough.

For more information on my record, please visit my website -- I want DFA members to have direct and constant contact with my campaign. I urge you at any time to reach out to our campaign's national field director, Vin Gopal, by e-mailing him at vin.gopal(at)kucinich.us

I hope to earn your vote in this very important presidential poll.

Please cast your vote today: http://www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/VoteKucinich

Sincerely,

Dennis Kucinich

You're right on, Sea.
Certainly the one child approach was right for China. It will be so everywhere one day, or we'll just perish at the rate we're going. Bush and his crowd won't allow birth control through our donations to the UN.
The churches don't want to admit that over population is our biggest problem, but they will come around when the money begins to ebb.
Of course Bush is helping in his own way to ease the situation with his wars.

Loebsack in the story is now our Second District Congressman Tom.

Pat your snow from yesterday is cold drizzle here but a sweatshirt wasn't enough I had to come back for a jacket. You warned me.

I posted that Kucinich letter in the inbox from DFA because I think HQ's should post such responses from the candidates in the order they come in when they come in, and then post them all together before voting ends.

Chris Dodd is my choice after Al Gore. There I said it or rather typed it.

 Senator Biden's leadership on providing Mine Resistant
Armored Vehicles has been credited with saving the lives of four
Iowa soldiers who were wounded when an IED hit their vehicle a
few days earlier. "If they'd been in a Humvee, they would have
been killed. A Humvee couldn't have withstood the explosion,"
said Lt. Col. Chris Hapgood. Instead, they were in an RG-31, one
of the Mine Resistant Armored Protection vehicles Senator Biden
voted to fund in the May supplemental bill. Pulling the troops
out certainly sounds appealing, but when you attach a name to
those on the ground and visualize what they are exposed to on a
daily basis, one can understand why Senator Biden will not cut funds as long as there is still one soldier on the ground.

Click here to read the full column:
http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071021/OPINION01/710210337/1001

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

emphasis mine

I would also like to state that Kucinich is up there as well. I don't *personally* like him for a couple of reasons. He comes off as very irritating and I didn't like the way he treated his wife during a post-debate outting. He was disrespectful towards her. Bugs me. But he is right on so many issues. Just MO.

building on the successful Violence Against Women
Act of 1994, Senator Biden this week unveiled a domestic
violence initiative that would strengthen it. The plan would
create a new national network of 100,000 additional lawyers to
deal specifically with domestic abuse victims, streamline
existing state networks and create a national federal network to
work in conjunction with state networks. Mary Kennedy, a Des
Moines resident said "I want to thank you for this program. This
is the most exciting thing I've seen since the Peace Corps and
I'm thrilled."

Click here to read the full article:
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/NEWS/71017019/1001/galleries&template=printart

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

Joe seems to attract supporters here in Iowa (from my conversations) that are possible Hillary supporters, and I think he knows that and is trying to cut into her base, but Joe has excellent credentials on this issue.

one more for Joe, he nailed Hillary's hide for voting for the Iran War authorization vote in this interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6fzbvOvU18

18.  Fred, she pissed me off so much in the way she asked a question and her tone that i couldn't listen to the rest of it.  totally unprofessional in my opinion.

When Dennis K. bursts out in song during a political event it is un-nerving to me, but I'm sure I have personal quirks that would irritate the heck out of folks if I ran for something. It would make for an interesting State of the Union night if Dennis won.

.

19 - Well, that just turns my stomach!  I've always said the DLC types are further to the right than moderate repubs.

19 - Well, that just turns my stomach!  I've always said the DLC types are further to the right than moderate repubs.

Dang!  have no idea how it double posted.  i only touched Submit once.  At least that's what I thought. 

Sorries! 

Barbara how does Washington State elect the actual people who will go to the Denver Convention?

anybody from a state with a winner take all primary?

Electing delegates from caucuses.  the Legislative District will be in February, then they go to the County, then to the State, then to National.  have to have 15% all the way through.

I'd love to go to national this time since my son lives in Colorado.

I wish ours was a winner take all primary.  Caususes discriminate too much for those that have to work, or have children, or can't get out and about.  Besides, they are just plain confusing and stressful.  I really really hate them.  and, since I'm a PCO, I have to lead my precinct.  Sigh.

are all of the National Delegates elected at State in seperate caucuses by Presidential preference?.  do you stand for election each time or do the conventions just keep getting bigger and bigger like they do here?

Yes.  They just keep getting bigger and bigger

I can't find enough help to take a whole day off so I doubt I'll be going to Denver, but it would be great to be at one with Howard as Chair.

19.  It's my sense that there's quite a bit of resentment among some blacks that the civil rights they struggled for are being realized by others than themselves.  Also, it's my contention that people who have suffered abuse turn around and get their revenge by abusing someone else.

As for Obama, he's a panderer and he doesn't know whether he's fish or fowl.

After college he got a job as a "community organizer" and discovered that he didn't like it.  Not to mention that the problems in Chicago or any black community aren't a matter of disorganization; they're a matter of public officials failing to deliver services equitably. 

Just about to head for PillowLand, but I am afraid things are pretty bad out in CA right now, with 250,000 being evacuated from the San Diego area.

Send good vibes that way.

====================
250,000 evacuated in San Diego
Blazes scorch more than 100,000 acres. 'A lot of people are going to lose their homes today,' a city fire official says.
By Tony Perry and Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
2:20 PM PDT, October 22, 2007

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego County authorities ordered 250,000 people to evacuate their homes this morning as wildfires raged across Southern California for another day, destroying scores of homes, clogging highways and sending smoke and ash over a wide area.

Schools were closed and hospitals evacuated by bus, and hundreds of people sought refuge in Qualcomm Stadium and other evacuation centers. Fire officials were stretched to their limits trying to cope with fast-moving, wind-whipped blazes that burned more than 100,000 acres.

"This is a major emergency," Ron Roberts, chairman of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, told reporters this morning as he outlined the scope of the damage and evacuations.

"We have more houses burning than we have people and engine companies to fight them," San Diego Fire Capt. Lisa Blake said. "A lot of people are going to lose their homes today."

Fewer than 100 firefighters were in reserve to protect the 400-square-mile city, said John Langford, a spokesman for San Diego Fire and Rescue. Firefighters targeted the Guejito Fire, which burned into Rancho Bernardo, a neighborhood in northern San Diego.

"We're stretched about as thin as we could possibly be," San Diego Fire Chief Tracy Jarman said. "We've never seen conditions like this," she said of the wind, drought and dryness. "That's why it's the most challenging we've ever seen."

[...]
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-...

30. Phil Specht
================

a hard sell these days to liberals, but in the long run, a smart move, and liberals are also for savings lives any way possible. It would be good if we could leave them there when we leave.

now if only I had bought stock in the company making those vehicles... %~)

Are there any winner-take-all primaries left these days? I hope not since it's as undemocratic, or even moreso, than caucuses. One would expect the "Democratic" party to be all about democracy.

34. Mz*Little
=========

good to know I wasn't alone

Wow...took me a full hour to catch up on the blog this afternoon...some great stuff everyone! What hit me was the discussion about social programs since I grew up on welfare way back before food stamps existed...I know what poor is and few are as poor nowadays as we were then. We did survive on surplus food and for that I am grateful.

The difference between now and then is some type of personal hardship caused your need back then, today it is the society we live in that creates much of the need. You could always get back on track and get ahead through hard work before...hard work is the norm just to survive for this generation. When I look at a pie chart of the federal budget and actually see what goes to social programs I never see red over the small amount of abuse there...I see red over the corporate welfare, the widening gap between those few on top taking all and leaving little for the workers, loss of jobs overseas with no regulation of those companies, etc., etc., etc.

Any builder will tell you that you need to have a solid foundation on which to build. America's working class is the foundation of America and it is crumbling under the weight of a gluttonous privilged few. The war is just a distraction to round the bellies a bit more of these few imo.

Under a better note...did get these pics up I took yesterday of a wonderful day in Vermont...enjoy...
http://windhamdem.org/oct08.html

YEP!!

Dennis K. has it correct. There is no way his 'style' keeps me from hearing his message ... or reading his voting message.

His delivery from the podium is fine, but even if it weren't, we're not electing an actor. The election is for a President, one with the correct direction!!

Dennis Kucinich/Russ Feingold '08 - Patriots, both from the democratic wing of this sickly party

I support Barack 100%.  He is not a panderer and he knows exactly who he is.

As for Donnie McClurkin he is performing one night at a series of three gospel singer concerts.  He has also performed for Bill Clinton.  He has performed on Oprah.  Does this make them anti-gay?

that's voting record... sheeez

That last post didn't print out well...turned into a block of text with no link but having problems with Firefox so used Safari...I'll try and make the link clickable
http://windhamdem.org/oct08.html

There are others here that are 100% Obama, too.  Not many though.

Hey, anyone know any Social Security history?  could you answer a few questions?

Great pix Reed.  Thanks!

I'm for Obama :)

If Gore doesn't step up, that is.

Missed you Saturday, Reed, at the blogger's lunch but that was quite a ride for you. Cya next time!

Sorry I couldn't make it Denise...I was headed out the door but wife had change of plans last minute, well last day but with a busy schedule lost some communication somewhere. Can't even blame Molson on that one...lol Next time for sure.

Obama .03% from taking over Edwards. Gore is sinking. What gives? Seems like unusual numbers.

21.

When he instructed his anti-war supporters to throw their support to someone who had voted to allow putz to go to war (and that is what it was), then I had good reason to doubt his sincerity.

I have never quite gotten over that.

Judy,

That is exactly our thoughts here. We have not forgotten what he did then.

We both support Chris Dodd unless of course Al . . .

I reported that Obama was getting ready to take over Edwards, but it didn't send.
Now, it has happened. Gore, 29.56%, Obama in second with 19.9.

Compiling contact lists tonight so bbl...won't last that long as I stayed up for the Sox game and didn't get much sleep last night...yawning already.
We need Al...the only one that unites center to left

$10 says Mccain gets the republican nomination................his somewhat comparative remark at the debate last night is typical of the era and the ones who supported and fought in it and those that protested it and stayed home............................

Gore has dropped .75%, and Obama has gained 1.33% in the last 2 hours.

That Florida event?  That must the one where Matt Stoller is speaking as well.   I am really p***ed about the post he did...and attack bit on Dean.  Pretty bad. Sounded just like Florida Democrats who refuse to accept blame for the primary goof.  Got the mail to attend, but we are not going anywhere near party stuff here for a while.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1598

Matt needs to do some research.

Dodd on Bluehampshire

Jeez Audrey and I didn't even vote!

Denise....

So, you're the one! lol

This matters to me...
Gore 29.41%, Obama 2nd 20.11 fast moves.

Obama has 300,000 email addresses and the power of Oprah, and was bound to see this process as an opportunity at some point, since they are all organized.

I welcome their votes and membership in DFA. A majority are progressives.

Gore supporters have to just outwork them if they want to win.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/22/141924/27

hmmm.  didn't need a robot to vote, just Oprah.  are these folks actually real DFA  members, or just members long enough to get a vote in?  Then off they go, willi nilli into the night.  The whole thing was/is a farce anyway since it is a vote held open for so long.

The western edge of our low day long grey cloud deck cleared just before sunset and flame struck the aspens and then jumped to the bottom of the whole sky and if you weren't outside right at that instant you missed it  ... happened that fast.

there is a great big old rainbow somewhere because I was smack in the middle of a huge pot of gold

Barb what were your questions regarding Social Security?

Hi Ms Little :)

Phil isn't autumn wonderful?

Beautiful sunsets, trees in their best dress, and the big ol' harvest moon. Perfect for spooning.

Oh Dang.  I have to go home now, Denise.  Can I email you?  My sister asked some questions and i told her I'd research knowing that i'd most likely find answers faster here.  I won't get back home until late tonight, though as i'm going to a health care forum in lieu of my usual movie night.  which is actually tomorrow, but we were going to have a health care forum, but I didn't see any sense in duplicating so I asked all my movie goer to go to this one tonight.  Thanks, I'll email you later. 

Denise 

no moon here still low grey clouds except for a little sliver of sky to the west, and it will probably clear in time to freeze, back to doom and gloom, sigh, but it was simply glorious as it happened, sublime

it should work to battle the down corn the next few days again so I'm going to be doing drive-bys

what nature giveth, nature can take away,but not my memory of that moment

Thinking of Martha in Poway. Fire seems to have arrived there. Same for my coworker who lives in Rancho Santa Fe.

Now it's heading toward Lake Arrowhead, where my cousin lives.

♥'s to all. 

Sorry I don't get here as much as i'd like too.  Boss was gone today so I took advantage!

oops. that's "to" not "too".  fingers going faster than brain.

yes u can email me Barb!

current Gore supporters have no reason not to be DFA members, we are totally compatible

I think this vote was a legitimate attempt to poll the membership and see if we have united around a single candidate to support and since there are several, probably will not happen, but we can have fun with it and grow the membership.

My folks are actually in San Diego, Lemon Grove/College Grove area.  I think they are ok.  I'll phone them on my way to my forum.

Al Gore1873929.27%Barack Obama1300520.32%John Edwards1255319.61%Dennis Kucinich1109617.33%

57.

     Mz. Little--what is it you want to know.  I only qualify because of age and experience : )

Thank you Ilya Sheyman for sharing your homework about candidate Ron Paul's political views, party and voting record.

Audrey, Obama folks started hitting it, not members, outside.

Jumped up thousands within a very short time. He was at 16.75 that it started jumping 7-9 signatures per every refresh. Hitting hard all at one. I watched it jump 100 votes within only about 5 mins.

_____________________________

Annilow, I'm sorry I missed you question earlier.

It seems root canals I previously had done, with posts and crowns, they didn't complete them and they got infected. The one last week...I don't want to get graphic, but had to go cut back the gum, go through the bone and clear it out. Today, they had to go through the crown and found it was not the in completed root, there was one they never even touched. Don't you just love it?

Keys, Etheridge, and Tunstall to Honor Gore
Singersroom News
10/22/07

Bookmark or Share this headline:




Alicia Keys, KT Tunstall, Earth, Wind & Fire, Annie Lennox and Melissa Etheridge will perform at the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Concert December 11 in Norway.

The event will be a salute to Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their efforts in raising awareness of climate change. Gore and the panel won the Nobel Peace Prize last week.

Etheridge, who was requested by Gore, won an Academy Award this year for the song "I Need to Wake Up," which featured in Gore's environmental documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." The singer recently released her ninth studio album, "The Awakening."

"The Nobel Committee is pleased to welcome such a talented and eclectic group of artists for this momentous occasion," said Geir Lundestad, secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

I agree with 

Combine the %'s of Gore, Obama and Kucinich, and 67.19% support people who don't have the blood of Iraq on their hands. That is very encouraging.

Linda...90

It would have to be Obama supportersw, who else?
How ironic, their candidate wouldn't even shake hands with Dean.
I had something very similar done with a root canal, my face swelled up like a ball. Missed a trip to Fl. on account of it. Hope you're better soon.

Ron Paul is a libertarian and therefore offends most everybody in one way or another.

That said, here is what I like about him: he has had the guts to stand up to Bush and the GOP leadership over and over again. This is not easy, especially for someone from Bush's home state delegation, but he has unswervingly done it.

If by any odd fluke Ron Paul was elected President, we would see little change in the country. He would uphold checks and balances -- being a strict constructionist and all -- and they would check and balance him.

Meantime, back to Al Gore. Today I read that a Swedish high tech environmental company that wanted Al Gore on its board of directors decided to ask George Clooney instead because of the "continuing possibility Gore will run for President".

-- volney

Gore-Boxer '08

Phil,...

Your Pot of Gold sounds amazing.
I had a similar experience in Fl. I was driving along 41 and a dark cloud was alongside. Suddenly the road turned and we went into a downpour. The sun was shining brightly, but the rain looked like all color confetti. It was very bright. My passenger said she was glad she was with someone because nobody would believe her. It was truly awesome.
It lasted about 15 seconds.

Maybe you have heard of the "Green Flash". It occurs in two areas of the world, as I remember. I was watching the sun set in Napes Fl. and just the second that the sun disappears into the Gulf a briht green explosion of light flashes up from that spot and lasts for just a second or two. The temp and humidity have to be just right. I only saw it once, but will never forget it.

Hi,

Quick stop in.  Audrey, I saw it in American Samoa on the island of Ta'u Manu'a, the green flash, but I would have loved to see the confetti rain.

The older I get the more amazed I am at the beauty, the complexity of life on this planet. 

thank you Audrey...now two such "procedures" within a week...it's time to hit my herbs.


Time for a COOL change,
Gore
2008


And, Van, if you're lurking, the poll is obviously open to "candidate supporters" not just DFA members, and HQ has no problem with any supporter voting in this poll....so, bring your friends inDEED! :)

a new thread is up

Linda....

I can't imagine having two in a week. Take good care of yourself.

Pat in Col.....

I forgot to mention that we had been admiring this beautiful rainbow as we were driving alongside it, and when we turned it seemed we literally bumped into it. A wondrous world.

Help Kucinich to be heard in America.  Pledge now for the massive one-day donation event:

december152007.com

Let's even the playing field and see what happens.  Tell friends.