Trailing Edge Blog

Look for the Union label

2008-12-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

As a union supporter, I invite you to check out this link and this link for information on how to support labor while you shop this Christmas Season.

Declaration of Human Rights

2008-12-08T08:48:00.001-08:00

Change the World

2008-10-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

Don't know much about economy

2008-10-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

Talk like a pirate week on Capitol Hill

2008-09-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

I watched a little bit of the bail-out hearings on C-SPAN yesterday, and ended up with smoke stains all over the seat of my Jockey shorts. Today, I am going to take a teaspoon of Tequila every time Paulson fails to complete a spoken sentence. I fully expect to suffer alcohol poisoning.

I once had a Financial Planner tell me that I was effectively losing 7% a year on my money because I was sticking it in a savings account at a little under 3% interest rather than investing it in a risk portfolio that was returning at a rate of 10%. He was an excellent sales person, but when he remarked that “even an idiot can see which the smarter investment is”, I had to walk away. I wonder how he is doing this week…

My Mother was firmly against using credit because it tended to make a difficult situation worse. She raised five children as a single Mother on Welfare, and her frugality and sacrifice didn’t escape any of us. Her circumstance was one that could befall any young woman with few employment skills and a husband who decided (after the first four children) he would be better served on his own. Only her oldest son failed to graduate high school, opting to enter the military instead, and he later furthered his education beyond most high school graduates. The rest of us eked out an existence that was below middle class, but did culminate with a high school diploma in hand. Upon graduation, each of us was shown the doorway out of our Mother’s rented house and into the world.

I haven’t always followed my Mother’s example regarding credit, but (except for a brief period following a separation and divorce) I have tried to use credit sparingly and responsibly. I feel much more comfortable drawing 3% interest on a savings account than I feel pushing my money into the hands of a professional counselor who is going to purchase paper with it that has my name on it but yields value only to the people handling it.

My view of the stock market has always been skeptical. I prefer to deal in real estate that might fluctuate in value, but is always something I can place my feet upon. I also enjoy having a pocket full of cash when people are desperately trying to offload stuff that they purchased on overextended credit. I don’t get to do that very often because I seldom have even a hand full of cash, but I can easily see the upside of having liquidity rather than credit. Each situation spirals in its own direction… especially when lending regulations are non-existent, and the credit card companies are allowed to ply their tricks and traps against an uneducated public.

I guess the bottom line is being played out on Wall Street and in Congress this week with the Republican scheme to extract the maximum amount from the National Treasury before the Bush Administration wanders down the Happy Trail. I just have to shake my head because these Power Vultures have plucked and plundered their way into this current financial situation with focused attention, and they expect to wipe the shit off their shoes onto the American people once again.

I say…let the market heal its own wounds. The regulations that are being discussed by many Democrats and some Republicans should be slammed into place while the wound is raw and bleeding, and the fat cats who legislated this situation into existence should be recognized for their greed and irresponsibility. Taxpayer funds should be used to ease the burden of mortgage holders without excusing them from their obligations, but the lending institutions that are on the verge of failure should be allowed to fail if that is what the market decrees.

When the market finally settles out of its own accord (and it will), we should take our newly honed regulatory skills and abilities into the world of Government Contracting with a vengeance. We should also take a piercing look at the military weapons industry, and apply some regulatory common sense to a culture that perpetuates the ability of the world to argue lethally when diplomacy should be the norm.

There are many perversions in Government that need to be addressed. That won’t happen unless the American people insist on it, and we prosecute the Bush Administration officials (including Bush, Cheney, and their enablers) who have removed the last vestiges of honesty and integrity from the Justice Department and the Executive Branch so their political and financial Ponzi schemes could be perpetrated against America.

Country first, my ass!

1 Million Doors

2008-09-18T08:48:00.001-07:00

Conspiracy for Fat America & High-Fructose Corn Syrup

2008-09-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

You can watch the following video from here, or visit it on You Tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi6fK1PvQK4

to get more info and watch other related videos.

Tony Benn from “Sicko”

2008-09-13T11:48:00.001-07:00

Lipstick in School (Priceless!) OH YEAH!!!!!!!!

2008-09-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem.

A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine but after they put on their lipstick, they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Every night the maintenance man would remove them, and the next day the girls would put them back.

Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine the yawns from those little princesses).

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers and then there are educators.

Subscribe to Satellite, Cable, or Internet?

2008-06-04T10:58:00.000-07:00

Please pass the following video around and encourage your friends to visit the link

What can we do?

Obama to Class of 2008

2008-05-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

Pen Pals

2008-05-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

Osama decided to send George Bush a letter in his own handwriting to let him know he was still in the game.

Bush opened the letter and it contained a single line of coded message:

370H-SSV-0773H

Bush was baffled, so he sent it to Condoleezza Rice. Condi and her aides didn't have a clue either, so they sent it to the FBI.

No one could solve it at the FBI so it went to the CIA, and then to MI6.

Eventually they asked the Mossad for help. Within a minute the Mossad emailed the White House with this reply:

"Tell the President he's holding the message upside down."

OMFG

2008-05-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

Downer Cows: Whose Fault?

2008-05-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

What is a downer cow?

A downer cow is a cow that falls down and cannot get up. A cow that has walked in the evening, and cannot walk again the next morning.

A downer cow is an animal in pain. She lays down for one of two reasons. Either her bones no longer support her weight, or her brain is unable to send the proper signals to coordinate her movements.

When a cow goes down at her dairy farm, the dairyman can no longer send her to auction or to commercial slaughter. His choices are to slaughter her, euthanize and bury her, or call the renderer.

Each year, more than 200,000 dairy cows become downer cows, according to the New York Times (May 1, 2008). Many people are familiar with downer cows as a result of recent publicity surrounding the 143 million pound meat recall resulting from video footage filmed by Humane Society employees working undercover.

See: http://youtube. com/watch? v=SWmAJlwLnQI (53 seconds)

Some (not all) cows that become downer cows do so because their brains are infected with an encephalopathy called bovine spongiform encephalalitis, or BSE. BSE is also known as Mad Cow Disease.

USDA should ban downer cows from being used for meat and for pet food, but they refuse to do so, despite petitions from the cattle and dairy industry. Bills have been introduced in Congress to accomplish that ban, but those bills are now in committee, and may or may not ever be enacted.

Whose fault is it that cows become downer cows? Many people would blame the slaughterhouse, but that would not be fair.

Downer cows result from inhumane treatment of cows at dairy farms. There are no California Happy Cows, despite the lies told in cute television ads.

Slaughterhouse workers can easily identify an animal that has been treated long term with the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. How? He can rip apart her porous pelvic bone with his hands.

In 1760, the average American cow yielded just one quart of milk per day. By 1960, the average American cow produced 8 quarts of milk each day. In 2008, the average cow will produce 25 quarts of milk per day. That's a lot of milk, and these are severely stressed animals.

Milk is rich in calcium. Where does that calcium come from? From her feed, of course. From the grass turned to hay and from mineral supplements added to her daily rations. Where else? From her own bones.

Drink cow's milk and you drink her life. You deplete her bone density. Let the truth be known. Downer cows are cows whose bones dissolve from within until they become too weak to stand.

Dairy farmers see the warning signs. It is a race against time to milk the cow until she can be milked no more. To stress the animal until her milk production wanes. To get her to stand and walk onto the truck to be taken to auction. To get her from the auction ring back onto a truck and to the slaughterhouse. Many animals just do not make it. Sometimes the dairyman waits a day too long.

The bones rot from within. The cows go down and become downer cows. They are sometimes unloaded from trucks with machines, unable to stand and walk the final ramp to her own death. Are they downer because of Mad Cow Disease or because of stressed bones? Do they have leukemia or tuberculosis or Johne's Disease, or are they just tired?

Slaughterhouse workers do not create the situation, but they must deal with it. They carry stun guns and cattle prods to urge the animals to first stand up and then be put down.

There ought to be a law. Yes. There ought to be a law. But what is a law? A law is a legal principle which must be enforced by the threat of punishment because men have sacrificed their moral principles.

So who is really at fault for the downer cows? It is not the slaughterhouse worker who is there to do the cleanup. It is not the dairy farmer whose agricultural practices lead to downer cows. It is the consumer, who eats the pain and digests the abuse and must take responsibility for the wretched life and horrific death of each animal to satisfy a lust for flesh and body fluids. Robert Cohen http://www.notmilk.com

What in the world?

2008-05-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

If you are curious about all the crap that is going on in the world (shootouts, airport closures, abductions, mass transit mishaps, etc.), take a look at the Global Incident Map. Mouse over any symbol to get a brief pop-up, and click to get all the known facts. CLICK HERE

Timed Release Monsanto

2008-05-05T01:31:00.000-07:00

Millions Against Monsanto ... is it too little too late?

A 27 minute video with a promising beginning, a sad middle, and a terror filled ending.

May Day

2008-05-03T18:30:00.001-07:00

Do a good thing

2008-05-01T16:46:00.000-07:00

Please recycle your wine corks (check this out)

The Wine & Cork Connection
When people drink wine,
They are celebrating life,
They are celebrating their life or
The life of family and friends,
They are celebrating the life
Of the vine and the grape,
The skilled hands of the vintner.
When the wine is all gone
There often remains at the table,
A small reminder of life.
It’s the wine cork stopper.
The centuries old solution
To preserve the special taste
Of wine stored in stone

Why, that little cork is bark.
Bark from a tree, a mighty tree.
A tree that livesIn just a few places
On our planet Earth.
A tree that is endangered.
If the use of wine corks declines,
The magnificent cork oak
Is threatened with being cut down.
To make more living space for the Coastal loving people.
Once a cork tree is gone,
It is rarely replanted
Because it takes generations to grow
From seedling to cork bark.

When people save their corks,
They are saving some of this life.
They want it to continue.
It surely must have more life,
People want to believe.
When the wine corks are transformed
Into something all may use and see.
Awareness is renewed
About the mighty cork tree.
And drinking that wine
With a real cork stopper
Becomes more of a cause
For even more celebration.
Drinking wine is a celebration of life

Heros return home

2008-04-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

Body of War

2008-04-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

I pulled this video off the Huffington Post here.

More Tavis Smiley here.

The evilist bastard company on the block

2008-04-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

When a product is known to cause harm (for example, Aspartame) and that knowledge is suppressed and covered up for years, when does the justice begin?

When a company is allowed to patent nature, and create an environment that is causing safe food to disappear, when does the justice begin?

Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear

U R what U eat

2008-04-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

I have managed to cut my beef and dairy consumption to near zero because of the failure of Government oversight agencies to realize that Agribusiness is not their Daddy. I have taken my food purchasing dollars to the Natural Food Stores, and am trying to stick with brands that I can feel comfortable are rejecting the overuse of chemicals and drugs to enhance production , and creating a safer dinner table environment for the world's families.

The following articles barely scratch the surface of critical issues:

Good reasons to support local farmers

Artificial hormones in U.S. beef linked to breast cancer, prostate cancer

Dr. Mom Was Right -- And Wrong -- About Washing Fruits And Vegetables

The Dangers Of Food Irradiation

Neocon Paradise

2008-04-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

rense.com

Well said, Catherine

2008-04-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

Choosing a Leader

(by Catherine Crier)

As a little girl, my hero was Atticus Finch, the fictional lawyer played by Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird. Most of you know the story. The soft-spoken attorney creates a furor in his small Southern town when he accepts representation of a black man charged with raping a local white woman. For Atticus, the decision is easy. Justice requires it.

That single act changes his children's lives forever. They experience a powerful loss of innocence as the community they love and trust is split by the ensuing tensions. For the first time, Scout and her brother Jem must confront prejudice, racism and the debilitating effects of poverty on the human psyche.

They watch their father refuse to rise to the bait as tempers flare. When Atticus is spit on by the father of the 'victim', he slowly pulls out his handkerchief and wipes his face, without stepping back or breaking his intense stare at the offender. The other man is the first to back away, spewing epithets. Jem is puzzled and somewhat humiliated by his own father's apparent pacifism.

Then one day, a rabid dog comes staggering down the family's street. The housekeeper, Cal, calls frantically for Atticus to come home. Speeding to the house, the lawyer and another man, rifle in hand, exit the vehicle. When it comes time to take the shot at the rapidly approaching, obviously deranged animal, the man thrusts the gun at Atticus. Jem is wide-eyed. This must be a mistake. He watches as his bespectacled father raises the weapon and dispatches the danger with a single shot. Seeing Jim's surprise, the other man responds, "Didn't you know your Daddy is the best shot in the county?"

As the community fractures, Atticus responds calmly with candor and reason. Jem and Scout learn just how much strength their father possesses when compared to the swagger and intimidation around him. He acknowledges the dignity of others despite disagreements and insists his children do the same. "If you just learn a single trick, Scout", he tells his daughter, "you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it." Atticus believes in inherent human goodness and in the power of America's system of laws to protect the maligned, yet there is no doubt he has the strength and will to defend his family and client if other options were foreclosed. Critically, he also believes in real justice, a concept that transcends the confines of our rules and courts.

During this contentious political season, we are called upon to judge the character of the candidates. Who should lead the nation, the fighter or the war hero? Who best wears their patriotism on their sleeve (or lapel)? Who can throw or take the biggest punch, swig the strongest shot, or bowl the highest game?

When the American Film Institute took a vote on the greatest American film hero of the last century, the winner was not Rambo, Rocky or a John Wayne cowboy. Instead it was Atticus Finch; gentle, bookish, moral, yet tough to his core. He never proclaimed his authority or postured for effect. He simply acted on his principles, with bravery and integrity, leaving no doubt who the real leader was. This might not be a bad model for the next occupant of the White House.

After watching this most recent debate, I am comforted in the fact that I no longer bother to watch any news broadcast save BBC, and I confine my television enjoyment to "Countdown". "The Daily Show", and "The Colbert Report". I also watch a fair amount of C-SPAN, but mostly get my info from news blogs and other online sources that reflect my point of view.

Earth Hour 2008

2008-03-24T22:11:00.000-07:00

Take Action

2008-03-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

Below is a comment that I lifted from another article about blowback from an attempt to have an outside analysis of anomalies that occurred in New Jersey during recent voting.

(SNIP)
I condemn these electronic voting machines. See the video testimony of a computer programmer who was solicited to make fraudulent software as he testifies before Congress. It can be found on my campaign pages at www.myspace.com/peaceisthesymptom, or at www.williambunker2008.blogspot.com.
E-voting machines were hacked in 90 seconds on live television. They are unreliable vote fraud generating junk. By the public nature of elections, voting machine software and source code is public domain. I demand that our 2008 elections be monitored by responsible authorities and the source code published on the internet or the machines banned from this nation.
Call your senators from New Jersey and tell them that you will not vote on electronic voting machines. This is an outrage.
Read the entire comment, and the article…

This comment boils the issue down to the bare bones of what this discussion should ultimately be about.
E-voting machines…are unreliable vote fraud generating junk that is used election after election to pervert the will of the voters, and give an official position to undeserving party loyalists (or corporate loyalists, if you prefer) like Norm Coleman, George W. Bush (second term), or anyone else sympathetic to big business.
By the very nature of elections in a democracy, voting machine software and source code is public domain, and should be available for inspection and severe scrutiny by any and all. The companies claiming proprietary rights in the election arena should be brought to account for the crimes they have visited upon the American public, and their management structure prosecuted to the full extent of the law (under a court that is not in the same pocket they are).

The problems with e-voting have been recognized, well documented, and summarily ignored by the majority of Congress long enough to understand that an entrenched politician is not fazed by the prospect or threat of losing my vote, so I will vote for the most progressive Democrat on the ticket, and hope that we can once again fill Congress with the voice of the people.

In the meantime, put together a list of the criminals and their enablers. The Bush courts might not feel a need to prosecute on behalf of the American people, but the penalties for crapping on our Constitution will be severe never-the-less.

When it becomes apparent that this Government thinks its only important function is to show us (the citizens) why we hinge in the middle, I am going to start visiting those responsible to clearly voice my disapproval. Until then, I will vote….

Lives in the balance

2008-03-17T22:14:00.001-07:00

Petition for Better Reporting of Drug Side Effects

2008-03-12T16:26:00.000-07:00

I support requiring all drug ads to include a 1-800 number and website so citizens can report drug side effects (petition docket 2008P-0012/CP1).

All too often, drug advertisements fail to present the benefits and risks of using prescription drugs in an accurate and balanced way. It is often the newest drugs that are the most heavily advertised, and it is these drugs whose side effects we know the least about.

The current system for collecting information about side effects catches only a fraction of actual cases. The recent law passed to require print drug ads to provide a 1-800 number and website (FDAAA -- P.L. 110-85) is a step in the right direction, but should be extended to include TV ads which are viewed far more frequently and with a greater command of the viewing audience.
Increased reporting of adverse events will help in the earlier detection and better analysis of problems. All television ads should contain information on how patients can report side effects to the FDA.

Click the link below and take action now!
http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/

Anti-Theft of Elections

2008-02-29T12:09:00.000-08:00

Paper Ballots

Counted by hand.

Any Questions?

If so...recount by hand.

Miles to go before we sleep

2008-02-23T10:51:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Crooks and Liars for the great video

Let it begin with me...

2008-02-15T08:12:00.000-08:00

Join Veterans to Demand Hearings on Substandard Helmet Procurement

Last week, the New York Times reported that the Bush Pentagon had agreed to a contract for more Kevlar helmets for our troops from the very company that was being sued for cheating troops out of helmets that met military standards. Especially at a time when so many troops are in harm’s way, no such company should ever receive a new contract. Demand that Congress investigate how this could have happened, by signing our petition below. We’ll deliver your signatures to Capitol Hill.

Petition to Demand Hearings on Substandard Helmet Procurement

We the undersigned call upon the United States Congress to investigate how Sioux Manufacturing received a contract from the Bush Administration’s Pentagon to produce Kevlar helmets for our troops, after the company was found to have previously produced substandard helmets in the past.

As detailed by the New York Times:

“A North Dakota manufacturer has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a suit saying it had repeatedly shortchanged the armor in up to 2.2 million helmets for the military, including those for the first troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Twelve days before the settlement with the Justice Department was announced, the company, Sioux Manufacturing of Fort Totten, was given a new contract of up to $74 million to make more armor for helmets to replace the old ones, which were made from the late 1980s to last year.”

For years, Sioux Manufacturing had produced helmets that were far weaker than required by the U.S. Military and covered it up. Again, the New York Times reports:

In a conversation Mr. Kenner secretly taped, Rhea Crane, quality assurance officer, worried "if we ever had someone get killed, and they decided to investigate because they thought maybe the helmet wasn't any good."

"If we ever got audited," she said, "you know what they would do to us. Shut us down and fine us big time. Probably never see another government contract."

Sioux should have never gotten another contract, and yet they did, even as the company was being sued by the government. Congress must immediately investigate how this was allowed to happen.

Sign the petition here

When you turn over a rock...

2008-02-11T09:40:00.000-08:00

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/

The Funny Side of Disenfranchisement
By Paul Kiel - February 11, 2008, 12:27PM

TPM Reader JW writes in with a little window into the mind of Washington GOP Chair Luke Esser, who decided to stop counting votes on Saturday night just because.

It's a column from Esser's college days, and a column that was clearly intended to be humorous at that. So it should be taken with a grain of salt. On the eve of the 1986 midterm elections, Esser wrote in the University of Washington's paper that he was praying for rain, because that would drive Democratic-voting "shiftless deadbeats" away from the polls. He explained, "Years of interminable welfare checks and free government services have made these modern-day sloths even more lazy. They will vote on election day, if it isn’t much of a bother. But even the slightest inconvenience can keep them from the polling place."

And since, he wrote, "[m]any of the most successful anti-deadbeat voter techniques (poll taxes, sound beatings, etc.) that conservatives have used in the past have been outlawed by busybody judges," he was organizing a "Rain Dance" for conservatives that night. Ha ha ha.

My Comment:
This might seem humorous on the surface, but it paints an accurate picture of the general Republican mover-and-shaker attitude. No matter where you squeeze the Republican Party, the result is a lot of sleezy pus. The good folks who pony up the votes for Republican Candidates are hard working stiffs with little time to worry about anything other than survival in the world, and the pols use that very efficiently. I used to be one of those good folks, but I retired and found myself with enough time to research the issues. Now I am a Liberal Independent with a current tendancy to vote Democrat.

From Sea to Shining Sea

2008-02-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

That's what I wanta know...

2008-02-01T07:58:00.000-08:00

How it really works...

2008-01-29T16:43:00.000-08:00

While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the man.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar, and champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

"Now it's time to visit heaven."

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.

"The senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.

"So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. "I don't understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning...today you voted."

Why?

2008-01-28T10:58:00.000-08:00

Memories of SOTU last

2008-01-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

Now that the smoke stains have begun to wear off your ass, tune in at 6:00 PM PST to have them touched up to almost like new…

Found posted at Crooks and Liars

Another creative scam

2008-01-26T07:55:00.000-08:00

My email box is a prime target for scammers with a suspect command of the english language. Some of them are pretty creative, like the one below, and they must be getting some response because they just keep coming. I wonder why they don't start their own Mega-Church...
Remember People...this is a scam...

Hello Dear Beloved,

Let me start by introducing myself. I am Marine Capt. Kevin Bixen of 4th Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Chattanooga, currently serving in Iraq. My troops were deployed here in 2005 Iraq since the beginning of the war, though I have visited home twice since then Just last week we received an urgent call from Baghdad that some terrorists were camping there and my troops were sent there to forestall their activities.

On perceiving our presence, they first opened attack on us. There was nothing we could do rather than returning fire. We were really under heavy fire. Finally, we brought the situation under control and some of them flee, 20 were killed and we were able to arrest 11 of the alive. When I was interrogating one of them, whom I got to know was their leader, to see if he could give us more useful information. After series of intense interrogation, he led us to where they keep their weapons. I took some of my men and went there not too far from southern Baghdad here in Iraq.

When we alighted from our patrol cars, he took us straight to a deserted building where inhabitants had vacated for long because of the war. Later, he took us to a particular room inside the building where Guns (AK-47) and TNT for making Bombs were kept. I ordered my boys to search the other rooms about 5 minutes later, one of them came back and took me to one of the rooms where there were two (2) trunk boxes. I opened them and to my amazement, there were loaded with the US dollars. I was confused, I ordered him not to show or tell anybody about it and we all returned to our base.

At night of the same day, I took one of my men who found the boxes and we went back there. We found out the total sum amounted to Fifteen Million Five Hundred Thousand United States of America's currency in hundred bills. Now, I need you help to transfer this money because I want it to be in safe hands. Please confirm your interest through this email:(mkevinbixen@yahoo.fr) to enable me furnish you with all the details and for your assistance.

Please, endeavor to keep this information discrete. Don’t disclose it to anybody for security reasons and to protect my interest with the US marine force.

Kindly Get Back To Me.
Thank You and God Bless America.
Marine Capt. Kevin Bixen

Say Whaaa?

2008-01-25T17:41:00.000-08:00

George Bush and his driver were cruising along a country road one night when all of a sudden they hit a pig, killing it instantly.

Bush told his driver to go up to the farm house and explain tothe owners what had happened.

About 1 hour later Bush sees his driver staggering back to thecar with a bottle of wine in one hand, a cigar in the other and his clothes all ripped and torn.

'What happened to you', asked Bush.

Driver said, 'Well, the Farmer gave me the wine, his wife gave me the Cigar and his 19 year old daughter made mad passionate love to me'.'

My God, what did you tell them', asks Bush.

The driver replied, 'I'm George Bush's driver, and I just killed the pig'.

So, what goes in the tires?

2008-01-18T18:58:00.001-08:00

This is long overdue

2008-01-18T09:52:00.000-08:00

Washington state lawmakers want to lift 10-year time limit on GI Bill veteran benefits

What is a bundler?

2008-01-17T10:39:00.000-08:00

This is an absolute MUST READ.

The woman vs. the black guy

2008-01-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

The woman vs. the black guy
Who's more terrifying to red states, smart Hillary or savvy Barack?
The nation trembles
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

It's the question everyone seems to want to address, the imponderable and frightening and slightly insane sociopolitical phenomenon that's happening right now to such a degree that even the left is falling all over itself trying to digest and parse and comprehend it all at once, and simply can't.

It is this: Just how the hell did it come to pass and which planets finally aligned and what sort of Kool-Aid has been gulped by the universe that the two white-hot Dem frontrunners, the two brightest lights on the political spectrum for the 2008 presidential electional so just so happen to be members of the two most controversial/ least represented groups in modern uber-white ultra-patriarchal American snake-oil politics — which is to say, a smart, savvy woman and a smart, savvy black male?

It's a stunning thing to watch. Right now, the various spurts of venom aimed at Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama from conservative punditsand politicos are, at best, scattershot and convulsive, with only MSNBC's Chris Matthews proving himself to be a consistent blowhard jackass in his relentless slamming of Hillary by claiming that she only made it this far due to adultery-survivor sympathy. Hey, Chris?2001 called. It wants its puerile, sexist analysis back. Thank you.

Yes indeed, the sexism that surrounds Clinton's run like a toxic fog is almost too easy to spot. (Fox News is, naturally, fueling its entire 2008 programming schedule with it.) It is de facto, built-in, implied and inherent in the coverage of just about everything she does, and what's most amazing to me is that people are still surprised that the sexism is there at all, much less so apparent and shameless.

To which I can only reply: I'm sorry, did you somehow miss the last seven years of brutal, testosterone- drunk war-sucking macho neocon hell? Did your noise-canceling headphones somehow block out the sound of those 10,000 tiny, clashing penises, banging like Satan's own baby rattle all the way from Osama's cave to the Oval Office to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad' s gay fetish dungeon in downtown Tehran?

Because truly, while a record number of women currently serve in Congress, Washington is still very much an inbred old-boy's network, so deeply entrenched in ancient male power structures and so drunk on stagnant machismo and so poisoned by the Christian right's woman-in-her- place mentality, it will require a couple more decades and a few hundred more dead southern congressmen before the innate sexism finally fades to a tolerable scar.

(Actually, at the moment, it's tough to tell which aspect the right hates more about Hillary: the fact that she's a woman or the fact that she's a Clinton. I think it's a lethal mix of both, the unconscionable right-wing double whammy, insult added to injury and all resulting in a liberal vagina monologue the misogynistic right is simply not ready to hear.)

As for Obama, well, he's not so easy. The inherent racism simmering all over Bush Nation right now over his, um, Negro-ness? Blackitude? Really good tan? (they don't know what to call it, safely) is decidedly more subtle, more insidious, less acceptable as public display than flat-out, everyday Chris Matthews-grade sexism, and therefore, not so easy to spot. Not yet, anyway.

So far, no one on the right really seems to know the best way to play the race card against Obama. Not that they won't try. Will they go after the drug thing? Paint him as a friend to scary hip-hop thug rappers? Resort to saying 'Obama' and 'Osama' in the same sentence so as to confuse the same red state knuckle-draggers who still believe Saddam orchestrated 9/11? Hard to tell. But rest assured, they'll finda way.

Or, you know, maybe they won't. After all, the right has its own heaping bucket of problems right now, not the least of which is the weakest and craziest and least palatable field of GOP contenders in 50 years. There's the chipper creationist nutball who loves him some Chuck Norris, the stupefied Mormon mannequin who simply cannot believe the world is so icky and complicated, the doddering Iraq-loving war vet who seems to be getting more unstable by the minute, and the cross-dressing former New York mayor who has "9/11" tattooed on his ego in fake blood. And oh yes, a zany old anti-choice libertarian who somehow keeps raising piles of cash and sending fascinating postcards from the edge of political reason. Cool!

Perhaps this is the best news of all. The right is a fractured, inchoate mess, with the once Karl Rove-unified evangelical core now gloriously splintered and disillusioned and completely unsure where to turn to find a candidate who will hate gays and slam women's rights and mistrust foreigners as much as Bush promised, but never completely delivered. They can't yet attack Obama because they're too busy destroying themselves.

But I'm most amazed/amused at the one big question that keeps hovering over the media and infiltrating the political blogs — does all this excitement over Hillary and Barack mean the nation is finally readyfor a female president? A black president? Have we, at long last, come so far that a guy like John Edwards, an excellent, likable, all-around candidate and a classic populist southern Democrat, actually finishes third?

The answer, I'm afraid, is no, we are not ready. Not by a long shot. This is the big, astounding myth. See, "ready" would imply we've more or less eliminated the sexism and at least come to terms with the racism, and therefore neither is much of a factor in the slightest. It's a bit like asking if America is finally ready to rid itself ofits toxic love of guns and strips malls and numb Christian groupthink.In other words, if you have to ask, we ain't.

However, we do seem to be at this weird flash point, a privileged moment in political history where the anti-Bush recoil has become so potent and the right-wing collapse is so profound and the women/youth vote (at least at the moment) seems so invigorated that it all might coalesce just right and catapult a woman or a black male into the presidency, despite the hardcore misogyny and racism built like a cancer into the framework of this nation. Hey, stranger things have happened.

Look at it this way: Much in the same way Bush whored Sept. 11 to drag the nation to its lowest emotional, fiscal and political point in 100years, so could the new wave of enraged, inspired voters leverage the Bush nightmare itself to bounce us as far as possible in the other direction. Hell, it could be even weirder than that: Hillary or Obama wins the nomination, chooses the other as running mate. Talk about your perfect liberal storm.

Are we ready for it? Doesn't matter. Quit asking what amounts to a dispiriting, futile question, and let's go find out.

Wexler on Cheney

2008-01-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

After watching this video, go here to add your name.

I like it

2008-01-14T10:24:00.000-08:00

Request for NH recount granted.

Of course we trust you to count our votes...

2008-01-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

BFF?

2008-01-09T14:52:00.000-08:00

Wexler wants hearings

2008-01-03T08:05:00.001-08:00

The Iowa Caucus

2008-01-01T21:48:00.000-08:00

Integrity and fairness are not qualities easily found in the election process these days. Since the Supreme Court give-away in 2000, a number of people have dedicated their lives to exposing the corruption that drives the Republican victories.

Check out the website to read about the latest crap.

China's contribution

2008-01-01T21:33:00.000-08:00

Above the cloud cover

2008-01-01T21:28:00.000-08:00

I guess if you can't see it...it doesn't really exist.

Who Knew?

2007-12-28T17:29:00.000-08:00

Bring back Progressives

2007-12-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

Corporate Enemy No. 1: State Attorneys General

Washington Dispatch: As the Bush administration turns a blind eye to consumer crises, state AGs are picking up the slack—and making powerful enemies in the process.

By Stephanie Mencimer
December 6, 2007

(Excerpt from awesome Mother Jones) read it all

In return, corporate America has accused the attorney generals of abusing their power, usurping the role of state legislatures and Congress, and getting in bed with the plaintiffs' bar. The nation's biggest companies have been working on a new backlash. In late October, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) held its annual summit, and this year's program featured a special panel on reining in state attorney generals. The ILR rolled out what it called a state attorney general "code of conduct" that, if implemented, would prevent state attorneys general from bringing many of the successful suits they've initiated over the past several years. For instance, it would ban attorneys general from hiring outside lawyers on a contingency-fee basis.

Contingency fee arrangements have allowed the attorneys general to vastly expand their resources by hiring lawyers who get paid a percentage of anything they win in court, but who also get nothing if they lose. Big businesses believe that trial lawyers have inappropriately duped attorneys general into hiring them to bring potentially lucrative cases that the states would otherwise never initiate. They think the lawyers should get paid by the hour so their contracts would require legislative approval.

The code would also require attorneys general to return any lawsuit-settlement money to the general fund or other state agencies rather than invest it in further investigations or consumer-protection initiatives. Such a move would, for instance, wipe out West Virginia's anti-trust enforcement division, which is funded entirely with winnings from lawsuits. The ILR’s model code of conduct is based on a survey the Chamber conducted earlier this year on attorney general practices. Most of the attorneys general refused to participate in the survey, and probably rightly so, given that it's likely to end up being used against them in elections rather than to genuinely improve the quality of state representation.

Bob Cooper, a spokesman for Idaho attorney general Lawrence Wasden, who is the president of the National Association of Attorneys General, says that when the ILR sent out the survey, his boss called up the Chamber and said that if they had a problem with the way attorneys general were doing business, they should come out to Boise to talk to him. They never did, says Cooper. "Companies that follow the law don't have a problem [with attorney generals]," he says.

Nonetheless, with financing from many of the drug and insurance companies that have been the target of state investigations and enforcement actions, the Chamber and the ILR have made state attorneys general a major target of their lobbying and political campaigns. Along with the American Tort Reform Association and the American Legislative Exchange Council (both heavily funded by the tobacco industry), the ILR has pushed legislation in the states to prevent them from hiring trial lawyers. So far, only seven states have passed the Chamber's legislation, but it has had better luck in state election campaigns, in part because it has often employed illegal campaign tactics against candidates it’s seen as anti-business.

For instance, in 2004, the Chamber went after Democrat Deborah Senn, the former Washington state insurance commissioner who was running for attorney general. Using a dormant nonprofit called the Voter Education Committee, the ILR secretly dumped several million dollars into issue advocacy ads in Washington bashing Senn, who was comfortably ahead in the polls. Oddly enough, the ads accused her of being in the pocket of some of the very insurance companies that were funding the ads; polling data suggested that this would turn voters against her. The characterization wasn't true: Senn was a Naderite with a strong history of consumer protection. Nonetheless, she lost the election. The state's Supreme Court later ruled that the Chamber's ads were illegal because they failed to disclose who paid for them. "They spent $4 million in a race that should have been $750,000, at most," says Senn. "It was a devastating loss." (My added comment: at this point, the election for Attorney General should have been nullified, the reasoning laid out for the voters, and the offending ILR fined the amount required to hold a special election for this office. Regardless of the outcome, this action would discourage the type of election tampering that seems to be rampant in current times. Did I mention prison time for ILR officials?)

While, of late, the Chamber has been leading the charge against the attorneys general, it is by no means alone. In January, the Competitive Enterprise Institute issued a "study" on the nation's "Top Ten Worst State Attorneys General." CEI has been heavily funded by tobacco, auto, and utility companies and has been active in fighting off attempts to mitigate global warming.

Liberal Press spews TRUTH

2007-11-25T08:04:00.000-08:00

This opinion piece came from the Seattle PI, a newspaper that has suddenly impacted my vow to never spend money on another newspaper. I will definitely pick up a copy each day for a couple weeks, and if there is real news in there, I might go for a subscription.

There are 283 comments at the end of this piece that make very interesting reading. Go Read

Impeachment: If not now, when?
Lawmakers need to stand up for the Constitution and support impeachment

By LINDA BOYD
GUEST COLUMNIST

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. -- Article II, Section 4

On Nov. 6, Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney on the floor of the House of Representatives. For one shining moment the will of the majority of Americans and the promise of this nation's founders were truly represented.

The detailed charges were solemnly read from the House podium and televised on C-Span. House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer made a motion to table the bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lobbied hard for votes to table.

In a stunning turnaround, House Republicans changed strategy and voted decisively to prevent tabling the impeachment resolution.

Pelosi was defied by 85 Democratic members who voted against tabling the impeachment resolution. This includes John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and six committee members. The resolution was quickly voted back to the Judiciary Committee, where it is not resting quietly.

Judiciary Committee member Bob Wexler wrote, "The American people are served well with a legitimate and thorough impeachment inquiry. I will urge the Judiciary Committee to schedule impeachment hearings immediately and not let this issue languish as it has over the last six months. Only through hearings can we begin to correct the abuses of Dick Cheney and the Bush administration."

Impeachment is squarely on the table, and momentum is building. A year ago, almost no elected official breathed the word impeachment. Now impeachment has hit the House floor, and our electeds have gone on record. Millions of Americans are demanding an end to executive abuse of power.

After six years of state of emergency, the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, continual war and occupations, our Constitution is deeply in crisis. Americans are in danger of losing our system of government and civil rights if they do not roll back the Bush administration's assault on the rule of law.

Allowing Cheney and George W. Bush to finish their terms without being impeached means future presidents are free to copy their lawless behavior. Of course many important issues deserve the attention of Congress. But the Constitution is the foundation of our democracy, not just an issue. Without the Constitution, we have nothing.

Polls show that 74 percent of Democrats and the majority of American adults support impeaching Cheney. "Never in our history have the high crimes and misdemeanors been so flagrant, and the people of our country know it," writes local author Richard Behan.

Kucinich has targeted Cheney first, but investigations will implicate the president as well. For the first time in the history of the Gallup Poll, 50 percent of respondents say they "strongly disapprove" of the president. Richard Nixon had reached the previous high, 48 percent, just before an impeachment inquiry was launched in 1974. With these numbers, why aren't Bush and Cheney gone already?

The vice president is accused of:

· purposely manipulating intelligence to fabricate a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in order to justify an attack on Iraq;

· deceiving Congress about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida;

· threatening aggression against the Republic of Iran, absent any real threat to the United States.

These violations of the Constitution and international treaty are just the tip of the iceberg. More articles of impeachment can be added at any time, and ample evidence to convict is on the public record. Representatives need to introduce articles regarding:

· illegal war, in violation of both international treaty and the Constitution;

· widespread domestic wiretapping in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a felony. Bush already has admitted to this;

· condoning torture in violation of federal laws and international treaties;

· rescinding habeas corpus, the cornerstone of Western law since the Magna Carta;

· obstruction of justice regarding U.S. attorney firings;

· subversion of the Constitution, abuse of signing statements and rescinding habeas corpus.

It's astounding that our representatives to Congress carry on with business as usual knowing that Americans lack habeas corpus and a working code of law. I want my representative, Dave Reichert, to block the doors of the House until habeas is restored as a basic human right in this nation!

In light of Bush's steady drumbeat for war with Iran, Kucinich said he will consider an impeachment resolution against him.

"Impeachment may well be the only remedy which remains to stop a war of aggression against Iran," he says.

"The most conservative principle of the Founding Fathers was distrust of unchecked power. Centuries of experience substantiated that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Constitution embraced a separation of powers to keep the legislative, executive and judicial branches in equilibrium," Bruce Fein, a constitutional lawyer and associate deputy attorney general in the Reagan administration, said in the October 2006 edition of Washington Monthly.

If Congress were serious about oversight, there already would be dozens of bills and resolutions calling for impeachment of Bush and Cheney. The "Unitary Executive Theory" violates the principle of balance of power in the Constitution. The president cites this "unitary" power in hundreds of signing statements that say he can ignore laws passed by Congress.

The First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments are all now subject to the caprice of government officials. The Military Commissions Act allows U.S. citizens to be detained without due process if they are declared enemy combatants. Without our permission, this country has become an exporter of torture.

Congress has failed to provide oversight and exercise its authority to rein in a criminal administration. Only swift action on impeachment can redeem it now. The people have done the heavy work of bringing impeachment forward. Representatives need only ask if the allegations are serious enough to warrant investigations.

George Bush and Dick Cheney promote an imperial presidency. They assert that the executive is the most powerful branch of government, undermining the judiciary and Congress in violation of the Constitution's bedrock principle of shared power among three co-equal branches. This subverts the very nature of our system of government.

"This is an attempt by the president to have the final word on his own constitutional powers, which eliminates the checks and balances that keep the country a democracy. ... That's a big problem because that's essentially a dictatorship," Fein said.

Washington For Impeachment and Citizens to Impeach Bush and Cheney are working to inform the public, collect signatures to petitions, provide forums, and lobby representatives. Washington was the second state to sponsor a bill for impeachment in the state Legislature.

Washington State Democratic organizations have passed resolutions in 11 Democratic legislative districts, five counties and the Washington State Democratic Central Committee. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, has received impeachment resolutions from almost every legislative district within his congressional district. When will he represent the will of his constituents and honor his oath to protect the Constitution?

The national movement to impeach is a non-partisan effort to restore the Constitution and the rule of law. People across the political spectrum can unite to preserve the Constitution and civil liberties given to us by the founders. Impeachment is the peaceful, orderly, constitutionally prescribed way to rid ourselves of a lawless administration.

The issue is not about removing Bush and Cheney as much as it is about preserving the Constitution and redeeming the office of the executive. The Constitution is the contract of governance between the people and the government. What happens when major portions of the contract are violated?

Congress has failed to call the president and vice president to account, so citizens must turn up the heat. Members of Congress who fail to demand investigations are covering for criminals. Every elected official has sworn an oath to "support and protect the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic." Anything less than impeachment and a full repudiation of the Bush administration's crimes and violations of the law is a dereliction of duty and a betrayal of the public trust.

If we want our democracy back, we need to roll up our sleeves and get to work to clean out the House.

Linda Boyd is director of Washington For Impeachment,
www.washingtonforimpeachment.org. Citizens to Impeach Bush and Cheney, in Olympia: www.citizensimpeach.org

Part one of three

2007-11-10T08:54:00.000-08:00

This documentary is titled "Earthlings", and it addresses the treatment of animals in modern day American society. It also speaks loudly to the issues surrounding our ability to treat others (individuals, races, and countries) as if they are seperate from us, and our treatment of them will have no lasting consequences.
These three segments are time consuming to watch, but I hope you do, and I hope you find them lifechanging at the very least.

Part two of three

2007-11-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

Part three of three

2007-11-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

An Offering

2007-10-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

My way of apologizing for not being around in a long while (I do cruise through to the links on the sidebar, but my political disgust has overwhelmed my ability to give a good damn. That, of course, will change).

A critical issue

2007-10-02T07:14:00.000-07:00

For those of you unable to find the petition I mentioned a couple posts back, the link is on the next line. If you are not ashamed of Jesus, sign the petition and then vote anything but Republican.

Let's REALLY Thank Our Brave Soldiers...

Restore Bush's Cuts to Veterans Benefits!

"Jessica Lynch was near death and severely injured, when rescued, suffering from an injured back, a broken arm, two broken legs, a head laceration, and fractures in both her right ankle, and foot. It is beyond doubt that Jessica will need medical care for a very long time. But what kind of medical care will this hero get from the country she gave so very much for? At the same time Jessica, and thousands, upon thousands, of America's finest were being sent in harms way, Congress was cutting the budget of the VA's Medical Programs for Veterans by $844 million for the next year. To pay for Bush's massive tax cuts for the super rich. Yes, as America's Finest were carrying rifles into combat, our very own government was betraying them, and stabbing them in the back with ink pens, stealing their future Veterans Benefits. To provide Tax Cuts for Corporate America and the super rich." - VetsforJustice.com

More on this page

Democratic Agenda for 10/1/07

2007-10-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

I support the Democrats.com Weekly Agenda for 10/1/07:
http://democrats.com/agenda

Join the 85 Members who have signed the Progressive Caucus "Peace Pledge" to oppose any more Iraq funding except to bring our troops safely home before Bush leaves office

Ban Iraq war profiteering and contractor crimes with harsh penalties and strict enforcement; repeal the 2002 Authorization of Use of Military Force in Iraq;
oppose the meaningless Abercrombie-Tanner reporting bill

Oppose Dick Cheney's insane plan to bomb Iran and hold Congressional hearings on Cheney's secret Iran warmongering

Oppose amnesty and immunity for telephone companies that illegally spied on American citizens without a warrant

Oppose Michael Mukasey for Attorney General because he (a) wants to keep Guantanamo open despite the strong objections of the world (b) allow "enhanced interrogation techniques" which is just Bushspeak for torture, an international war crime, and (c) abused material-witness laws to lock up Muslims without charges

Oppose Hans von Spakovsky for FEC Commissioner because of his key role in illegal voter suppression, disciminatory and illegal voter ID laws, the illegal TX redistricting engineered by Tom DeLay, and the stolen election in Florida

Investigate murder of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater by holding Secretary of State Condi Rice and Blackwater CEO Eric Prince in contempt if they refuse to testify before Congress. Demand prosecution of Blackwater employees under the Uniform Code of Military Justice as required by the Graham Amendment

Pass the resolution to condemn Rush Limbaugh for calling troops who are critical of the Iraq Occupation "phony soldiers" and hold Limbaugh accountable by removing his show from Armed Forces Radio. Also condemn Fox News analyst Col. David Hunt for accusing our Generals of "betraying our soldiers ... again"

Override Bush's planned veto of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

Hold White House officials in contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas requiring their sworn testimony and documents. Since Bush's Justice Department refuses to enforce Congressional subpoenas, Congress must use its "inherent contempt" authority to put White House officials in a DC jail until they comply

Investigate major news exposes:* Newsweek report that Dick Cheney is trying to provoke a war with Iran* Rep. Jane Harman's report that the White House terrorized Congress into legalizing warrantless wiretapping with a bogus threat of an attack on Congress itself* El Pais report that George Bush rejected a plan to let Saddam Hussein go into exile one month before he invaded Iraq, which would have made an invasion unnecessary

Join the 20 co-sponsors of H.Res. 333 to Impeach Dick Cheney for lying about Iraq

How do we really feel?

2007-09-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

Take a moment to "speak out"

2007-09-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

There is also a petition for restoring Veteran's Benefits at this site that I encourage you to read and sign. Those who serve us deserve no less than a lifetime of care, so step up and let your Representative know where your heart is.

Democratic Agenda for September 24, 2007

I follow the news carefully and I am outraged at the innumerable crimes of the Bush Administration - and the failure of Congress to stop those crimes.

As my Representative in Congress, these are the actions I want you to take this week.

1. Join the 81 Members who have signed the Progressive Caucus "Peace Pledge" to oppose any more Iraq funding except to bring our troops safely home before Bush leaves office. http://afterdowningstreet.org/peacepledge

2. Oppose amnesty and immunity for telephone companies that illegally spied on American citizens without a warrant. http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/114

3. Oppose Michael Mukasey for Attorney General because he (a) wants to keep Guantanamo open despite the strong objections of the world (b) allow "enhanced interrogation techniques" which is just Bushspeak for torture, an international war crime, and (c) abused material-witness laws to lock up Muslims without charges. http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/24/mukasey-signals-support-for-torture

4. Oppose the Lieberman-Kyl-Graham-Coleman Declaration of War on Iran http://www.democrats.com/stop-the-lieberman-kyl-graham-coleman-declaration-of-war-on-iran

5. Support the Feinstein-Harkin bill to close Guantanamo.

6. Oppose Hans von Spakovsky for FEC Commissioner because of his key role in illegal voter suppression, disciminatory and illegal voter ID laws, the illegal TX redistricting engineered by Tom DeLay, and the stolen election in Florida, all documented here: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/9/21/122027/759

7. Support the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/09/24/morning-cuppa-misplaced-health-priorities

8. Investigate Newsweek's report that Dick Cheney is trying to provoke a war with Iranhttp://www.firedoglake.com/2007/09/24/morning-cuppa-cheneys-war-provocations/

9. Co-sponsor H.Res. 333 to Impeach Dick Cheney for lying about Iraq http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/73

10. Introduce Articles of Impeachment for George Bush for at least 10 egregiously impeachable offenses:http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/88

Stop the junk calls and junk mail

2007-09-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

Helpful hints can keep pesky marketers at bay
MARSHALL LOEB; MarketWatch
Published: September 23rd, 2007 01:00 AM

Is your trash can overflowing with catalogues and credit card offers? Don’t just sit there and simmer. Here are some steps for keeping the marketers at bay from Money magazine reporter Ismat Sarah Mangla:

Make your intentions known. Cut back sales calls to your home by signing up for the National Do Not Call Registry (www.donotcall.gov). Stanch the inflow of junk mail by registering your name at the Direct Marketing Association. (www.dmaconsumers.org)

Beware of “privacy policies.” Any time you buy a product that includes a so-called “privacy policy,” watch out: If you ignore it, you may be clearing the way for the company to sell your name and address to other vendors. When you spot one, take the time return it with a note denying permission to share your name.

Stop the cascade of catalogues. Most companies that peddle their products via catalogue get consumers’ names from a database called Abacus, says Mangla. To get your name off their lists, just e-mail optout@abacus.us.com.

Block credit card offers. Save yourself the trouble of shredding prescreened credit card offers by visiting Optoutprescreen.com, a joint venture of the credit-reporting agencies Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.

This article was borrowed from the Tacoma News Tribune

Let’s Impeach The pResident

2007-09-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

Support the Troops

2007-09-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

DLC speed bump for progressive agenda

2007-09-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

After watching Rahm Emanuel and the DLC Democrats take credit for the Howard Dean strategy leading up to the 2006 elections, I have been curious about the true colors of the DLC. A lot of this information is pre-2006 election, but the underlying concept comes out loud and clear. Getting corporate money out of our election process is going to be more of a challenge than I realized.

Some of these Senators and Representatives are too deep in the mire to be extracted and cleaned off, so the only option is to support and elect true progressives. If your politician is on the DLC membership list, take a long hard look at their voting tendencies and decide if you are willing to put them back into office. Remember, some of this info is outdated…

http://illinois062006.mydd.com/story/2006/5/27/55951/1586

Brian Baird, U.S. Representative,WA
Max Baucus, U.S. Senator, MT
Evan Bayh, U.S. Senator, IN
Melissa Bean, United States Representative, IL
Shelley Berkley, U.S. Representative, NV
Maria Cantwell, U.S. Senator, WA
Lois Capps, U.S. Representative, CA
Russ Carnahan, U.S. Representative, MO
Tom Carper, U.S. Senator, DE
Ed Case, U.S. Representative, HI
Ben Chandler, U.S. Representative, KY
Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator, NY
Kent Conrad, U.S. Senator, ND
Joseph Crowley, U.S. Representative, NY
Jim Davis, U.S. Representative, FL
Artur Davis, U.S. Representative, AL
Susan Davis, U.S. Representative, CA
Christopher Dodd, U.S. Senator, CT
Byron Dorgan, U.S. Senator, ND
Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Representative, IL
Eliot Engel, U.S. Representative, NY
Bob Etheridge, U.S. Representative, NC
Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senator, CA
Harold Ford, Jr. , U.S. Representative, TN
Charlie Gonzalez, United States Representative, TX
Jane Harman, U.S. Representative, CA
Stephanie Herseth, U.S. Representative, SD
Rush Holt, U.S. Representative, NJ
Darlene Hooley, U.S. Representative, OR
Jay Inslee, U.S. Representative, WA
Steve Israel, U.S. Representative, NY
Tim Johnson, U.S. Senator, SD
John Kerry, U.S. Senator, MA
Ron Kind, U.S. Representative, WI
Herb Kohl, U.S. Senator, WI
Mary Landrieu, U.S. Senator, LA
Rick Larsen, U.S. Representative, WA
John Larson, U.S. Representative, CT
Joe Lieberman, U.S. Senator, CT
Blanche Lincoln, U.S. Senator, AR
Carolyn McCarthy, U.S. Representative, NY
Mike McIntyre, U.S. Representative, NC
Gregory Meeks, U.S. Representative, NY
Charlie Melancon, United States Representative, LA
Juanita Millender-McDonald, U.S. Representative, CA
Jim Moran, U.S. Representative, VA
Bill Nelson, U.S. Senator, FL
Ben Nelson, U.S. Senator, NE
David Price, U.S. Representative, NC
Mark Pryor, U.S. Senator, AR
Loretta Sanchez, U.S. Representative, CA
Adam B. Schiff, U.S. Representative, CA
Allyson Schwartz, U.S. Representative, PA
David Scott, U.S. Representative, GA
Adam Smith, U.S. Representative, WA
Vic Snyder, United States Representative, AR
Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Senator, MI
Ellen Tauscher, U.S. Representative, CA
Tom Udall, U.S. Representative, NM
David Wu, U.S. Representative, OR

This is must read stuff:

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1463

http://spacetimecurves.blogspot.com/2004/12/unsurprising-bedfellows.html

http://www.davidsirota.com/2004/12/attack-of-dlc.html

http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/22047

Ron Paul packs Hannity's fudge

2007-09-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

I am not advocating for Ron Paul, but it does my heart good to see anyone make Hannity whine. In this exchange following Ron Paul's run-away debate win, Hannity gets the final points needed for his "Stupidest Blusterfuck on Earth" merit badge.

We are so in the dark (and it promises to get darker)

2007-09-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

A nugget from Booman Tribune

by Larry Johnson

Wed Sep 5th, 2007 at 05:11:26 PM EST

Why the hubbub over a B-52 taking off from a B-52 base in Minot, North Dakota and subsequently landing at a B-52 base in Barksdale, Louisiana? That’s like getting excited if you see postal worker in uniform walking out of a post office. And how does someone watching a B-52 land identify the cruise missiles as nukes? It just does not make sense.

So I called a old friend and retired B-52 pilot and asked him. What he told me offers one compelling case of circumstantial evidence. My buddy, let’s call him Jack D. Ripper, reminded me that the only times you put weapons on a plane is when they are on alert or if you are tasked to move the weapons to a specific site.

Then he told me something I had not heard before.

Barksdale Air Force Base is being used as a jumping off point for Middle East operations. Gee, why would we want cruise missile nukes at Barksdale Air Force Base. Can’t imagine we would need to use them in Iraq. Why would we want to preposition nuclear weapons at a base conducting Middle East operations?

His final point was to observe that someone on the inside obviously leaked the info that the planes were carrying nukes. A B-52 landing at Barksdale is a non-event. A B-52 landing with nukes. That is something else.

Now maybe there is an innocent explanation for this? I can’t think of one. What is certain is that the pilots of this plane did not just make a last minute decision to strap on some nukes and take them for a joy ride. We need some tough questions and clear answers. What the hell is going on? Did someone at Barksdale try to indirectly warn the American people that the Bush Administration is staging nukes for Iran? I don’t know, but it is a question worth asking.

Discovered at Left Edge North

If you can't do something, do nothing

2007-09-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

I don't really know what works and what doesn't, but I do know that there is a way to feel like you are contributing.

Fill up on gas and groceries prior to the 11th, and get your sign put together the night before. This date falls on a Tuesday, so it will be evident that the people are having a say...especially if there is little to no vehicle traffic out there, and lots of foot traffic.

If you want to prep a little, go watch Zeitgeist The Movie

Election Memories 1 of 3

2007-09-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

These three videos are merely reminders of what has been and what will continue to be unless we go back to hand counted paper ballots for future elections. Video 3 of 3 is about 28 minutes long, but the conversation is the point.

We are a vast number of people being herded by the power brokers of the world. Until George W. Bush slithered into the White House, we were generally content to live our lives without the thought of raising too much hell...but he is overly greedy and ambitious, which has made going along with the flow much more painful than ever before. Point made.

Now, pay attention

Election Memories 2 of 3

2007-09-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

I would have liked to post the original "Dan Rather Reports" segment, but this is all I could find on Youtube

Election Memories 3 of 3

2007-09-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

Had enough yet?

2007-08-31T08:21:00.000-07:00

http://whenthesaints.org/press.php

On the eve of the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Director Robert Greenwald and Brave New Foundation join together with a coalition of social justice groups from across the country to launch When The Saints Go Marching In. The three minute YouTube video reveals the devastating reality of hurricane survivors still struggling to rebuild their lives and the amazing hope they maintain about the future.

When The Saints Go Marching In launched today and can be seen at WhenTheSaints.org. The video is spreading rapidly across the internet with the help of partner groups like Plenty, ColorOfChange.org, and Think New Orleans. When The Saints Go Marching In includes footage of NOLA residents working to make the city home again, and ends with a call to action for viewers to urge the Senate to pass Senator Chris Dodd’s (D-CT) Gulf Coast Recovery Bill (S. 1668).
Please sign the petition here.

This entire post was copied from Crooks and Liars

Oh, the games people play now...every night and every day now

2007-08-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

In 1990, I helped a 60 Minutes producer (Isadore Roesemarin) do a segment on aspartame/NutraSweet, the artificial sweetener. When Searle Pharmaceuticals got NutraPoison approved, their president was a man by the name of Donald Rumsfeld. They then sold the company to Monsanto. A 30-year-old named Clarence Thomas was then Monsanto's lawyer. A congressman by the name of John Ashcroft had received the greatest number of political donations from Monsanto. That's just a bit of trivia and not the primary point to be made here...

At that time I carefully went through Searle's research. They had submitted 112 studies to the FDA for approval. The FDA designated 17 of those studies to be "pivotal." By naming a study "pivital" it had to be available to the public in its entirety. So...I filed a Freedom of Information Act request forthe 17 studies. One of them was performed at the Universityof Wisconsin on Rhesus Monkeys. After day 300 of that one-year study every single one of the monkeys (low dose, medium dose,and high dose groups) developed grand mal epileptic seizures.

Although I totally reject animal research, I recognize that the performance and review of such research is THEIR game. THEY set the criteria. When lab animals suffer adverse affects, THEY are responsible for telling the truth.In this case, THEY ignored the truth. I discovered the truth.

One month before the report aired, I met with a man by the name of Michael Friedman, a high level FDA bureaucrat. I shared the results of the study with him. FDA had approved aspartame by concluding that there were no adverse affects on laboratory animals. I found that FDA had erred. Friedman had my information.

I also found an ex-FDA employee willing to testify regarding internal FDA pressures to ignore the facts and approve NutraSweet.There was fraud and deceit at FDA. The public was about to be intentionally poisoned.

When the actual 60 Minutes piece aired, they left the testimony of the FDA employee on the cutting room floor. Furthermore,Friedman, armed with my information, was interviewed and said,"There were no adverse affects on lab animals." He lied and I was angry and disappointed. The man represented pure evil to me.

Three months later he was named FDA Commissioner. Six months after that he left FDA to become the newpresident of the NutraSweet company.

Now, I get to the real point of my story.

While I was addicted to Oxycontin, the FDA fined the manufacturer, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, $634 million for deceptive practices... for not revealing that Oxycontin was more addictive than heroin. This week after weaning myself from this powerful drug, I learned that the acting president of that company is the very same Michael Friedman.

I live in a world of conspiracy theories, and I do too much research for my own good. The paper trails seem impossible for investigative reporters to follow, while they are marked with day-glo paint for me. Call it my curse. I do what I do for the public, I guess. I keep no secrets. I immediately write about them. Perhaps, in a conspiracy theory world, that is what keeps me alive. I do not really give a damn any more about my safety. Their crimes against mankind are so serious that I must do what I do.

My Woodstock generation.. .we were going to change the world, remember? Remember our phony ideals and how everybody we know sold out and became our own parents?

Am I just wasting my time?

Robert Cohen

See Robert's web site

Whatcha up to, George?

2007-08-21T18:57:00.001-07:00

Control the count...win the election

2007-08-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

Whatever your favorite political issue (you know...the one that gets you off your butt and into the voting booth), it is hard to argue with the importance of having your vote count as it was intended when cast. The issue of election theft has been an ugly reality for Americans since the Supreme Court handed George W. Bush proof of their corrupt devotion in 2000 rather than following through with a ballot count that would have settled the issue with less doubt than ultimately ensued. With GW in the WH, voting machine companies stormed the gates of our polling places, and combined with voter caging and strategic line lengthening, the Rove legacy seemed to be displacing the concept of democratic elections.
With another election knocking at the door, we need to renew the effort to return to paper ballots that are counted by hand while the American voters watch. Nothing else will dislodge the GOP leech from the body of true democracy.

Brad Blog posted this video: (check out black box voting also)

Traveling Medicine Show

2007-08-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

Peaceman

2007-08-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

Found at C&L

You Go, Buzzflash

2007-08-09T07:32:00.000-07:00

A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL

It's become a bit of a cliché to compare the rise of Cheney-Bush fascism to the ascendancy of the Third Reich, but the analogy does reveal a fundamental truth about power and politics.

Fascists or Bolsheviks (just look at the short-lived Alexander Kerensky republic in Russia that fell to the Soviets in 1917) proceed on a premise that liberals are ambivalent about asserting power -- and take full advantage of that weakness.

Bush may be a tin horn cowboy propped up by Rove and Cheney, but almost all of his power at this time is derived by the unprecedented unitary authority granted to him by a Democratic Congress. In short, an utterly failed president guilty of illegal activity, whose poll numbers are in the dust, is able to make enough Democrats fearful that they give him power when they should be aggressively taking it away from him.

In the narrative of "toughness" that Rove has created for Bush -- and that Cheney has backed up with Franco-like substance -- Bush emerges as a "strong" figure, ironically, only because the timid Democratic leadership is so weak.

We are in a moment of history, when the Democrats should be controlling the debate and have Bush, Cheney, Rove and Gonzales cornered. Instead of impeaching Gonzales, they -- due to a lack of party discipline -- just gave him the power to legally spy on Americans without any real accountability, even after he has confessed to at least two programs of illegal spying.

The right wing depends upon a fundamental weakness in the character of "liberals" to achieve its authoritarian goals.

At this point in time, after having failed to protect us from 9/11 -- despite being warned of terrorist acts by bin Laden about to happen in the U.S. -- and years of a failed war against terrorism that has consumed the financial resources of our nation and all too many lives, the Democrats should be making Bush quiver in his boots about the next terrorist attack and how his ineptitude has allowed it to potentially happen.

Instead, the Democrats fear a guy who spent the first ten minutes after 9/11 reading a story about a pet goat with grade school students until his handlers could figure out what to do with him -- and then he went AWOL, just as he did in terms of avoiding service in Vietnam.

The Weimar Republic fell because the advocates of democracy in Germany were too timid to fight back against the thuggish tactics of Hitler's storm troopers. They passed the "enabling act" after the Reichstag fire (read terrorist act) that gave him virtually omnipotent power to "protect the homeland."

The right wing is right about one thing: the Democrats in Congress don't have the will or the wherewithal to put up a fight for the Constitution. Bullying works against a caucus without a backbone.

Hitler's power was legally granted to him by those who thought that the "homeland" faced grave threats.

The gravest threat, of course, that the German homeland faced, was Hitler himself.
That is an analogy to Congress's abject surrender to Bush that is, indeed, worth repeating.

A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL

Subject: A Nation Powered by Solar and Wind

2007-07-31T11:40:00.001-07:00

Hi,

We have the best opportunity we've ever had to get this country off of polluting energy like oil and coal and onto real clean alternatives. This will not only help curb the climate crisis, but save consumers money and create new jobs. Seems like a slam dunk, right?

But some in Congress are still willing to do the bidding of the oil and coal industry and vote down bills that would undercut their stranglehold on our economy. We need to tell Congress now to do what's right for the American people, not continue business-as-usual.

I signed a petition urging Congress to vote for to give solar and wind the support they need to assure a clean energy future. Can you join me at the link below?

http://pol.moveon.org/cleanenergyfuture/

Thanks!

DOJ

2007-07-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

How's that chili (sauce)?

2007-07-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

Tens of millions of cans of chili, chili sauce, beef stew, corned beef and dog food are being recalled nationwide because of possible contamination with the deadly botulinum toxin, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday.

The recalled cans cover more than 90 brands and every "best by" date on the market. Four cases of botulism, two in Texas and two in Indiana, have been traced to the contaminated foods. The four patients were all hospitalized but are recovering, says Michael Lynch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Botulism can cause paralysis. Symptoms, including blurred vision and slurred speech, can occur 18 to 36 hours after eating tainted food.

Georgia-based Castleberry Food Co., a subsidiary of Bumble Bee Seafoods, first issued a recall Wednesday after the botulism cases were traced back to its Hot Dog Chili Sauce Original. Nine other products also were included in that recall.

The recall was expanded Saturday to include 80 brands made at the Augusta, Ga., processing plant. Although only the chili sauces have been linked to the illnesses, Castleberry's is recalling everything made on that manufacturing line.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Food and Drug Administration Botulism
RECALLED ITEMS: Complete list

FDA advised consumers to search their cupboards and shelves for any of the products, which are identified with a USDA seal that has "Est. 195" printed on it. Those cans should not be opened under any circumstances, says Robert Brackett, director of FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

"Discard them immediately. Double-bag the cans in plastic bags that are tightly closed, then place them in a trash receptacle outside the home," Brackett says.
Botulinum is so toxic that it can cause paralysis merely by breathing it in or exposing it to broken skin, he says.

The plant produced more than 10,000 24-can cases of products a day. "That's a lot of product," says David Elder of FDA's Office of Enforcement. "These products can hurt, and they have to be taken off store shelves."

The problem appeared to stem from a particular bank of retorts, large vessels used to heat canned foods to temperatures above 250 degrees to kill botulism spores.

When FDA sent testers in, they found 17 swollen and bulging cans — a classic sign of botulism — and 16 of those tested positive for the toxin, Elder said. All were produced late in the day on May 7 or early in the day on May 9, he said.

The company extended the recall out of caution.

Botulism in commercially canned foods is extremely rare. The FDA last recorded a case in 1971.
Consumers can find more information at castleberrys.com or by calling 800-203-4412 or 888-203-8446.

USA Today Article

Never Forget

2007-07-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

Another Sunday has gone by with the network talking heads stroking and strumming the representatives of the powers that be to pick out the ballad of why we are still sacrificing our precious blood to feed the inferno of Iraq. No matter what the talking points are each week, the end result is always the same...More American Sacrifice.

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

2007-07-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from death throes? He has a new book, and here are some excerpts.

"Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder.We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course"

Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!

You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.

The Biggest C is Crisis

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It’s easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else’s kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of theashes. Where was George Bush? He was reading a story about a pet goat to kids in Florida when he heard about the attacks. He kept sitting there for twenty minutes with a baffled look on his face. It's all on tape. You can see it for yourself. Then, instead of taking the quickest route back to Washington and immediately going on the air to reassure the panicked people of this country, he decided it wasn't safe to return to the White House. He basically went into hiding for the day, and he told Vice President Dick Cheney to stay put in his bunker. We were all frozen in front of our TVs, scared out of our wits, waiting for our leaders to tell us that we were going to be okay, and there was nobody home. It took Bush a couple of days to get his bearings and devise the right photo op at Ground Zero.

That was George Bush's moment of truth, and he was paralyzed. And what did he do when he'd regained his composure? He led us down the road to Iraq; a road his own father had considered disastrous when he was President. But Bush didn't listen to Daddy. He listened to a higher father. He prides himself on being faith based, not reality based. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't know what will.

A Hell of a Mess

So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you've got to ask:
"Where have all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, competence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again.

Now, that’s just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when "the Big Three" referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobble head on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don’t you guys show some spine for a change?

Had Enough?

Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire I'm speaking out because I have hope. I believe in America. In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America’s greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War, the1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: You don't get anywhere bystanding on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I’m raising in this book. It's a call to action for people who, like me, believe in America. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the horseshit and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had enough"

Excerpted from Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
Copyright C 2007 by Lee Iacocca. All rights reserved.

What Happened to Peace on Earth?

2007-07-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

Enough

2007-07-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

If we were involved in the game of "Life Boat", Bush and Cheney would be growing rapidly smaller in the watery distance as the rest of America headed onward toward the future we know to be ours.

The major problem we have right now is the reluctance of a Democrat Majority in Congress to act with the decisive power that is necessary to raise this country off it's knees and out from under the bootheel of an inept and corrupt administration.

The two videos below are from Bill Moyers Journal, and address the wisdom of Impeachment.

I sincerely hope that Congress is paying attention to the polls because almost half the people are yelling for the insanity to stop...and it will continue to get louder. So far, Dennis Kucinich is the only one I know is paying attention.

Part One

2007-07-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

Part Two

2007-07-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

Why we need a super majority

2007-07-10T07:51:00.000-07:00

I lifted this video from my good buddy Mr. Natural

Roll another one...just like the other one

2007-07-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

Senator, You Used to Be a Pot Head -- Now You're Talking Like a Narc

Support Progressive Democrats (dump the rest)

2007-07-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

Kissing up to K Street

Democrats are selling out the economic populism that got them elected in the first place

By David Sirota

(Excerpt)

Democrats rode their populist, anti-corruption platform to victory in 2006. But as we are now beginning to see, what we may have with the Democrats is merely a transfer from honest graft to dishonest graft—that is, corrupt behavior that pretends to be done in the people’s name and that flies in the face of what the people were promised.

On May 10, a handful of Democratic congressional leaders held a press conference to trumpet a so-called “deal” with the Bush administration to push forward a package of lobbyist-written trade deals—the very same kinds of trade deals 100 of their candidates in 2006 said they would work to stop if elected to Congress. Though Democrats said they had secured basic labor and environmental protections in these deals, Thomas J. Donohue, the Bush-connected head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told reporters that he had been given “assurances that the labor provisions [in the deal] cannot be read to require compliance.”

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) provides a good example of dishonest graft. In 1993, Emanuel was the Clinton administration aide charged with ramming NAFTA through Congress “over the dead bodies” of labor and environmental groups, as American Express’s CEO cheered at the time. Emanuel orchestrated weekly meetings with K Street lobbyists to strategize about how to pressure Democratic lawmakers. Emanuel went on to cash in as an investment banker, raking in roughly $16 million over a two-year period. From his Wall Street perch in 2000, he published a scathing Wall Street Journal op-ed demanding Congress pass the China free trade deal—another K Street-backed goodie that has helped keep American wages stagnating in the face of skyrocketing corporate profits, and is now projected to destroy at least 1 million American jobs, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Just two years after grossly outspending an opponent to buy an Illinois congressional seat, Emanuel was appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee, the panel that oversees trade policy and that helped corporate lobbyists ram NAFTA through back in 1993. Emanuel also was appointed head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which ran millions of dollars worth of ads trumpeting Democrats anti-corruption platform, and which supported the scores of Democrats running against the very lobbyist-written trade policies Emanuel has based his political career on.

Now, with Emanuel as Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, we see dishonest graft kick into high gear. The same day as the press conference, a group of House Democrats wrote a formal letter to Emanuel demanding he hold a Democratic Caucus meeting to discuss the secret trade negotiations going on between a handful of Democrats and the White House. That letter, according to The Hill, was “rebuffed” even though, again, it was Emanuel’s DCCC that aggressively supported Democrats 2006 fair trade candidates. No meeting occurred, and instead Democratic leaders held their press conference, announcing a secret trade deal that, like NAFTA, is strongly backed by K Street lobbyists, but opposed by organized labor, environmental groups, health care groups and grassroots Democrats. Meanwhile, when Emanuel was asked by the Politico’s Jeff Patch for details about why Democrats were now backing off their promises to reform lobbying laws so as to prevent Abramoff-style abuse, he did his best Dick Cheney impression, telling the reporter, “Why don’t you go fuck yourself.”

Running a campaign against corruption, against lobbyist-written trade policies and for lobbying reform, and then using the power granted by voters based on that campaign to engage in corruption, pass lobbyist-written trade pacts and reject the most minimal lobbying reforms—all in exchange for campaign contributions—is Plunkitt’s very definition of dishonest graft. It is “political looting” and it is the result of a hostile takeover of the Democratic Party by Big Money interests.

Read the entire article

Both political parties are loaded with slime-balls, and it will be hard work getting rid of them. Make sure your contributions go directly to the campaign you desire to support instead of through a Congressional Organization that serves the interests of the people struggling to be on top of the heap (like the guy who took credit for the work Howard Dean did in the states the Democrats previously gave up on).

Willie Nelson speaks

2007-07-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

Take Action: Support a Better Farm Bill

I believe nothing is as central to our well-being as food — who grows it and how. When produced with the interests of the eater in mind, food makes our bodies strong. When produced with the dream of passing the land on to the next generation, food strengthens local communities. And when produced with a long view of the planet’s health, food keeps our environment intact, even thriving.

Family farmers have always understood the direct connection between healthy soil, healthy food and healthy people — that’s why they take great measures to improve and protect their soil. The key to strengthening this fabric that holds our country together is to keep family farmers on this land, from coast to coast. It’s a solution to many of today’s most important concerns — climate change, fossil fuel dependence, childhood obesity and dwindling biodiversity.

In the coming months, Congress will seal the next farm bill, legislation so broad in scope that it touches each of us in many ways. When you hear “farm bill,” think beyond the farm. Think food bill, renewable energy bill, nutrition bill, environmental stewardship bill, anti-hunger bill.

Over the past several decades, the farm bill has served the interests of large-scale industrial agriculture with policies designed to produce cheap food and lots of it. This cheap food policy, however, comes with incredibly high external costs: a depleted countryside with fewer farmers, degraded soils and waterways, and public health disasters. A new farm bill — one that serves the interests of all Americans — with a vision toward sustainability, can help reverse these trends.

Instead of countless dying small towns across rural America, imagine the countryside dotted with thriving communities, all of them contributing to strong local economies. Imagine clean waterways, protected for generations to come. Imagine farmers markets in every community with fresh, locally grown food, free of chemicals and additives. Imagine powering your home and automobile with energy from renewable sources produced close to your home. Imagine your child’s school serving fresh, wholesome food from your neighbors’ farms. Imagine young people returning to the land to carry on the great tradition of farming. These dreams aren’t futile. They are possible with a farm bill that serves your interests over those of giant corporations.

If you want your grandchildren to inherit a nation with healthy soil, clean water and nutritious food, pick up the phone today and call your representatives in Congress. Tell them you want a farm bill that assists young people who want to start farming; one that restores fairness in the marketplace so family farmers can compete with giant food companies and factory farms; one that puts better food in our schools and rewards farmers who transition to sustainable methods. Let them know you want a farm bill for all, because the farm bill belongs to all of us.

For Congressional contact information, visit www.congress.org. To keep up with farm policy news, and find helpful tips for communicating with your representatives, check out the following sites:
Farm Aid
Community Food Security Coalition
National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture
National Family Farm Coalition
Building Sustainable Futures for Farmers Globally
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Bread for the World
Rural Coalition
Western Organization of Resource Councils
Union of Concerned Scientists
FarmPolicy.com

Taken from Mother Earth News

So help me, GOD

2007-07-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

Food for thought

2007-07-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

The Wall is coming to Kitsap County in a few days, and and it stirs a lot of mixed emotion.

Tar and feathers are too good for the Bush Administration

2007-07-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

9/11 Sicknesses consistent with environmental radiation contamination

by David Jones

A group of 9/11 responders has contracted blood cancers at an unusually young age, and top doctors suspect the disease was triggered by an unprecedented "synergistic mix" of toxins at the World Trade Center site. These growth of these cancers among Ground Zero workers, and others, are consistent with exposure to environmental radiation contamination associated with the destruction of the "9/11 targets".

The WTC Medical Monitoring Program is now studying a group of Ground Zero workers, including cops, construction workers and volunteers, suffering from cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

"The kind of thing that worries us is that we have a handful of cases of multiple myeloma in very young individuals... a condition that almost always presents late in life," said Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of the program at Mount Sinai Hospital.

"That's the kind of odd, unusual and troubling finding that we're seeing already," she says in an interview with the New England Journal of Medicine, which comes out today. The WTC monitoring program has examined more than 20,000 workers, but so far has focused on respiratory ailments.

The mounting cancers, Herbert said, represent a "third wave" of sickness stemming from Ground Zero exposure. First came immediate breathing problems, then chronic lung diseases.

"We're worried about a third wave, which is the possibility of cancer down the road," she said.

Simple song of freedom

2007-06-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

My good friend, Mr. Natural at Left Edge North has posted this video, and it tugs at my desire to share it also.

In case you missed it...

2007-06-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

I subscribe to the notmilk yahoo group, and receive individual emails for each posting that goes up on that group. This one strikes at the heart of what the Bush Administration is all about and what we can expect from any administration dedicated to the corporate bottom line rather than the interests and well being of the American people. This issue, in concert with the abysmal lack of concern for our physically and mentally damaged war fighters, makes my blood run cold.

Today The Bitch Will Lie

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I have dictated today's Notmilk column to my daughter and thank her for doing her best to post this online. Forgive us for spelling and grammatical errors. - Robert
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Today The N.J. Bitch Will Perjure Herself

My Notmilk columns are archived, and you should find interesting what I wrote in the days after 9/11/2001:

http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/notmilk

Today, Christie Whitman, breast cancer survivor, will play her role in keeping a president from being impeached. If she had the courage to tell the truth, her lie would lead on a straight path to the Oval Office. On that path, one can smell the cow feces used to fertilize the Rose Garden.

Her lie gave birth to the pre-mature deaths of thousands of rescue workers.

Today she falls on her sword.
Today she swallows her arsenic capsule.
Today she accepts blame so as to protect a president.
Or, maybe she twists facts and avoids justice.
She will not be the first to insulate the integrity of a nation's leader.
Her veil will be paper-thin so that the deceit will be exposed like the combined power of the most sophisticated x-rays, CAT scans, and MRIs. There is no need for a second opinion.

On September 13, 2001, just two days after the planes hit the World Trade Center Towers...just two days after my very dear college friend Linda Gronlund sat in seat 1A and died in a Pennsylvania field, I wrote this column:

ASBESTOS WARNING

To my friends in the New York area:

The World Trade Center was the last major construction job in the United States to use blow-on asbestos insulation.

Crocidolite asbestos fibers are carcinogenic.

If you reside in Manhattan, now might be the perfect time to let adversity become an excuse for a two-week New England vacation while professionals dispose of toxic asbestos fibers.

If you visit or live in Manhattan, use a face mask. Shower frequently, and after each exposure, send your clothing to adry cleaner.

The very next day, on September 14, 2001, I wrote:

Many of you live or visit New York City and continue to breathe the dust and fiber of mankind's worst evil.

Please exercise caution....

dust masks do not protect you from asbestos fibers. They are too small, you need a fullface respirator with hepa cartridges.. .Asbestos is dangerous because it is less than 0.3 microns and will go into the alveoli and form scar tissue...a dust mask does not stop those small particles.

When I posted these two columns I was not the director of the Department of Environmental Protection. It was not my business to be the expert on such issues, but nobody else was issuing such warnings. In my own small way, I had to be the one.

Shortly thereafter, I was punished with a series of tax audits. That is how whistle blowers are sometimes rewarded. What more can they do to me? Frankly, Scarlett..

The country that I grew up loving continues to lie to its people.The country that I continue to love needs some fixing. Some fine tuning. Millions of dollars in bribes continue to be paid tomen and women of power so that Americans are continuously betrayed.

For me, the issue has been milk. Lies, deception, bribes. I've named names and dates and circumstances over the years. Few have the courage (insanity) to continue to shove it in their faces. The miserable crooks. The betrayers. The Christie Whitmans of this world who sell out their ideals for dollars. She, the breast cancer survivor. What irony. It is only on rare occasions that I am angry enough to make such requests as the following. Let their ultimate fates be directly connected to those swords by which they live.

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk. com

Bipartisanshit

2007-06-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

Check this out...

The newsman you would most like to have a beer with? FKN “A”

2007-06-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

Every journey begins with...

2007-06-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

If you are getting tired of that perpetual daydream about double fisting Karl Rove (because deep down inside you know he would severely enjoy it), how about dipping your awareness into the latest copy of YES Magazine to discover some ways to shut down the bubbling war cauldron.

You will notice that some of the following info is dated, but missing an opportunity to march or peacefully protest simply means you will have to hook up with the next opportunity.

Here is an excerpt:

:: 12 WAYS TO STOP THE WAR

Here are some resources to make your voice heard:

1. Contact your representative in Congress. For a sampling of key legislation being considered in Washington, see the YES! Peace Page.

2. Write a letter to the newspaper. The letters sections are widely read. Or call in to a talk show. Or call your favorite television station and ask them to cover all sides of the issue. Here's where you can find a listing of local and national media.

3. Get your city or town to pass a resolution. Cities for Progress shows how to do it, including examples of letters and petitions, toolkits, and resource guides.

4. Join in one of the many marches taking place on March 17, the fourth anniversary of the war, in Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and elsewhere.

5. Consider nonviolent direct action. "The Occupation Project: A Campaign of Sustained Nonviolent Civil Disobedience to End the Iraq War," is organizing coordinating activities around the country, mostly centering on March 16-19. The Declaration of Peace is offering training in nonviolent civil disobedience during National Nonviolence Training Week, February 17-25, in preparation for nonviolent action March 16-19.

6. Support our Troops, including those who resist going to war. The court martial of Lt. Watada, the first U.S. military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq, will begin February 5, and supporters are mobilizing around the nation.

7. Sign on to an ad by Rabbi Michael Lerner and Rev. Tony Campolo for Tikkun describing a way to peace, to be published in major U.S. newspapers.

8. Attend a worship service with the Christian Peace Witness on March 16 at the National Cathedral, and then a candlelight procession to the White House. Or plan your own local religious event.

9. Sign a petition that reflects your views. Peace Action is opposing military action against Iran; OutNow and United for Peace & Justice are calling for immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

10. Join the Global Virtual Peace March: Avaaz.org is gathering signatures from the international community to form a massive “Internet march.” Already, 89,000 people from over 100 countries have signed on.

11. Learn more about how you can make peace in all dimensions of life. See the YES! Peace Page.

12. Forward the link to our email. Let people on all your lists know how they can be part of the solution. Send them this link: http://www.yesmagazine.org/newsletters/stopthewar.html