How do we really feel?

Take a moment to "speak out"

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

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

Support the Troops

DLC speed bump for progressive agenda

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

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)

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

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

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

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

Had enough yet?

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

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?

Control the count...win the election

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

Peaceman

Found at C&L

You Go, Buzzflash

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

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!