As Bill Clinton, the number one Reaganomicist proved---there is NO such thang as a Democrat

Maybe Democrats need to hold a national conference to discuss this deep clear schism and try to find a way to mend the differences long before the next presidential election.

We need a system of proportional representation.

Consider that 95% of the delegates at the Democratic Convention were opposed to the war in Iraq. And then the nominee couldn't bring himself to that position.

Well, in the words of the Doobie Bros.

"We're takin' it to the streets."

FBI taking on obscenity fight with formation of new squad
BY BARTON GELLMAN
THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON -- The FBI is joining the Bush administration's war on porn.

Last month, the bureau's Washington, D.C., field office began recruiting for a new anti-obscenity squad. Attached to the job posting was a July 29 electronic communication from FBI headquarters to all 56 field offices, describing the initiative as "one of the top priorities" of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller.

The new squad will divert eight agents, a supervisor and assorted support staff to gather evidence against "manufacturers and purveyors" of pornography -- not the kind exploiting children, but the kind that depicts, and is marketed to, consenting adults.

"I guess this means we've won the war on terror," said one FBI agent, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We must not need any more resources for espionage."

[...]

"The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's top priority remains fighting the war on terrorism," Justice Department press secretary Brian Roehrkasse said. "However, it is not our sole priority. In fact, Congress has directed the department to focus on other priorities, such as obscenity."

*************

FUCK! I know of a few obscenities we could look into. They reside in the White House and Environs...

A double amen to proportional representation, as in most OECD democracies. And scrap the winner-take-all electoral college for the presidency as well. Those two items alone should help reduce fraud and meddling in elections.

The Republicans proved when they were a minority that party unity is more important than being in the majority. So if the Democrats want to push their agenda, they must be united.

Of course, that would mean agreeing on what the agenda IS. And these ARE Democrats, after all. But in the positive, at least a Democrat gets to think for themselves, rather than just blindly following the leaders off a cliff.

Perhaps they should take a page from the Federal Reserve Board. The Governors can disagree in private but when they make a public statement, it is almost always unified. Yesterday being the exception.

3 & 5 Perhaps we would be better served by a parliamentary form of "congress" rather than the so called 2 party system where the 2 parties are often hardly distinguishable from one another.

Yessss....a vote of "no confidence" for Senor Bush et al?

Pentagon Nixes 9/11 Hearing Testimony
By Kimberly Hefling
The Associated Press
Wednesday 21 September 2005

**************

Now, I'm no fan of Curt Weldon's, but, I'm intensly interested in trying to find out as much as possible about all aspecets of 9/11.

I certainly don't hold the Kean/Hamilton Commission in very high regard.

Cui bono?

aspects, sorry.

Robb @#7: What a nice thought - Buscho would have been out on the street for quite some time already after a no confidence vote.

The St. Patrick's Four to be tried again: Will the First Amendment survive?
By Leigh Saavedra
Online Journal Contributing Writer

"If you fall on the side that is pro-George, and pro-war, you get your ass over to Iraq, and take the place of somebody who wants to come home. And if you fall on the side that is against this war and against George Bush, stand up and speak out."—Cindy Sheehan, mother of Casey Sheehan, who was killed in Iraq.
September 18, 2005—Tomorrow, the rights of all peace activists go on trial. Representing us are four Catholic anti-war activists who have already stood trial for their stand against the invasion of Iraq. Now, more than two years later, cleared of the original charge of criminal mischief, they are being charged with conspiracy and will be tried again.

THE ACCUSED: Four Catholic Workers from Ithaca, New York. Daniel Burns works in the film industry and traveled to Iraq in 2003 to promote peace and reconciliation. Clare Grady has worked for 17 years as a kitchen coordinator at Loaves and Fishes Community Kitchen, a ministry that feeds the hungry. Peter De Mott is a former marine who served in Vietnam, then joined the army and took a NATO post as a linguist. Peter too has traveled to Iraq as part of a Christian Peacemaker Team. Teresa Grady is a dance instructor and founder of the Ithaca Catholic Worker community with a long history of working with the homeless.

THE CRIME: On March 17, 2003, Dan, Clare, Peter, and Teresa entered a military recruiting center in Lansing, New York, and poured a half-cup of their own blood around the vestibule. No one was prevented from entering or leaving the recruiting center as they then knelt and read the following statement:

"Our apologies, dear friends, for the fracture of good order. As our nation prepares to escalate the war on the people of Iraq by sending hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers to invade, we pour our blood on the walls of this military recruiting center. We mark this recruiting office with our own blood to remind ourselves and others of the cost in human life of our government's war making.
"Killing is wrong. Preparations for killing are wrong. The work done by the Pentagon with the connivance of this military recruiting station ends with the shedding of blood, and God tells us to turn away from it. Blood is the symbol of life. All life is holy. All people are created in the image and likeness of God. All people are family, and everyone is loved by God.
"Dr. Martin Luther King reminds us that ' . . . we are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation, for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers [and sisters].'
"We come here today with pictures of Iraqi people—mothers, children, those who have been the victims of U.S. bombardment and sanctions for the past 12 years. We also come here with love in our hearts for the U.S. service people, also victims of war making.
"We find hope in these dark times when sisters and brothers around the world resist the spirit of hatred and violence, lift up prayers for peace—together with works for peace.
"The St. Patrick's Four"
The following month the four were tried for criminal mischief. Nine of the twelve jurors voted to acquit them, and after 20 hours of deliberation, the judge declared a mistrial. At such declaration the crowded courtroom gave the Four a standing ovation. The district attorney said that he would not re-prosecute them, expecting that another jury would yield the same verdict.

A year later, however, the U.S. government decided to retry the four peace activists, this time on the more serious charges of conspiracy. Technically, they are charged with conspiracy to impede "by force, intimidation and threat" an officer of the United States and three lesser charges. The trial begins tomorrow, and if the four are convicted, the penalty could be up to six years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

This will be the first federal conspiracy trial arising out of civil resistance to the invasion of Iraq. It will also be the first federal conspiracy trial of anti-war protesters since Vietnam. [...] more.

**************

Apologies for the long clip, but this is significant. As we prepare for the weekend ahead, and I hope most of us plan to be in the streets, we must be fully aware of the beast we confront.

So, let me ask out front, do you plan to join the protest this weekend? If so, where?

I'll be at the demonstration here in L.A.

Which side are you on, boys. (and girls) Which side are you on?

Back to John Roberts nomination, and the Dems actually voting for this creep.

Roberts & the 'Apex of Presidential Power'
By Nat Parry
September 6, 2005

(excerpt)One of these still-secret documents was a draft memo that Roberts prepared for his superiors under the heading Re: establishment of NHAO, the acronym for the Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office, which became a controversial part of the Iran-Contra Affair. [Washington Post, Aug. 25, 2005]

In the mid-1980s, NHAO was set up under the State Department to funnel non-lethal, humanitarian aid to the contras, but much of the money instead disappeared into shadowy contra accounts which may have been used to buy weapons. Other money went to hire pilots and planes used by drug trafficking operations with close ties to the contras.

In 1989, a Senate investigation reported that through NHAO, Reagan’≥ State Department hired four companies owned and operated by narcotics traffickers to supply humanitarian assistance to the contras.

The companies were: SETCO Air, a company established by Honduran drug trafficker Ramon Matta Ballesteros; DIACSA, a Miami-based air company operated as the headquarters of a drug trafficker enterprise for convicted drug traffickers Floyd Carlton and Alfredo Caballero; Frigorificos de Puntaremas, a firm owned and operated by Cuban-American drug traffickers; Vortex, an air service and supply company partly owned by admitted drug trafficker Michael Palmer.

In each case, prior to the time that the State Department entered into contracts with the company, federal law enforcement had received information that the individuals controlling these companies were involved in narcotics.[Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, dated December 1988.]

[For more on this contra-cocaine topic, see Robert Parry’≥ Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & Project Truth.]

The Bush administration also has withheld documents pertaining to advice Roberts gave to Solicitor General Starr during George H.W. Bush’≥ administration. At that time, other Iran-Contra topics were under review, including how to limit the investigation of Iran-Contra special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh and whether to pardon Iran-Contra defendants as a way to finally shut down Walsh’≥ probe. [See Parry’≥ Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq.]

end of excerpt.

*****************************

Sen. Leahy should know better.

I'm going to say, what I know it to be or- just read Professor Paul Krugmans last op-ed piece. I quit.

Roberts would have been confirmed even if no Dems voted for him. The repugs have the numbers. They have 10 more votes in the Senate.

In the House they have at least 22 more votes than the Dems. Plus, Bush!

There is not stopping the repugs and the self-destruction of America.

"Sen. Leahy should know better."

Profundity in brevity!

He is testing the water for the DLC'ers. No big stink from the money backers and the republican wing of the Democratic party will cleave.

Sen. Leahy should know better, and I believe he does know better. A very calculated move.

No accident.

capt

Gerald,

That is what the filibuster is for. Remember, those 45 Democrats represent more Americans than do the 55 Republicans. Force the nuclear option!

Capt.

Thanks. My opinion of him has sunk considerably. Maybe I just got carried away by his taste in music.

I'm still interested in whether many of us will be protesting this weekend...

Almost Before We Spoke, We Swore
By NATALIE ANGIER
Published: September 20, 2005

Another look at those 7 words...

#16

You said it for me on all counts.

"Force the nuclear option!"

Make them pull the trigger, get that over with because we know the next nominee will be a pip. (I could be wrong as I often am)

I have no clue his taste in music. Good tunes are good and even politicians get some slack from me on their preference. Most like something I like as my taste is all over the spectrum and has changed over the years so I am pretty flexible.

I have no march to join here in ABQ but will be in both L.A. and DC in spirit.

capt

I'll admit to liking all sorts of music as well, my first live concert was The Weavers at the age of 4.

But I was refering to:

Sens. Patrick Leahy and Barbara Boxer invited the Dead to lunch at the Senate Dining Room: "As the group entered and sat at a table near the door," he writes, "everyone noted the presence of the 1948 segregationist Dixiecrat candidate for president, South Carolina's very senior Strom Thurmond. He, of course, noted Senator Leahy's party, and as he passed the table on his way out, turned to Garcia with the remark, 'I undastand you're the leadah of this heah organization.' Jerry Garcia and Mickey Hart shaking hands with Strom Thurmond was something the wildest acid trip could never have included."

#13 RS, didn't the Dems aquiesce to the repugs' demands? There were 7 Dems and 7 repugs working together to hold off a nuclear war between the two parties?

The curse words.

I think there is too much. Most not necessary. That does not mean the government needs to save our ears from our errant mouths, that is ridiculous.

People will make new ones or use phrases and twist the meaning of the good words. I worked with a guy that was "reformed" and very offended by some words. He was as big as a house so we all "self-regulated" to allow for him. I watched him injure himself (badly) and he said "mother. . . bear." We laughed ourselves silly.

I think anybody that is offended should not watch the box, movies or listen to lyrics that they do not like and they can keep themselves safe from the trash-talk but they have no business telling anybody else what they can or cannot say.

There is still polite public conversation where people self-regulate as a matter of respect but infractions of manners is no business of the government.

IMHO

capt

Frankly, I don't understand what the Roberts stink is supposed to accomplish. Does anyone think Bush will nominate Janet Reno if Roberts is turned down? The guy at least seems intelligent and if he really is a caveman style conservative has managed to hide the fact pretty well. I think the guys on the right stand a far greater risk of being displeased with this nomination in due time than those on the left.

#19,

WOW!!

Too cool for school!

Thanks, I needed that.

capt

Biden steps up to the plate...while Leahy tells us "he hopes they are right and he is wrong". Thanks Leahy for tossing your hat (the american peoples future) in on a maybe. FOLKS FROM OHIO AND OTHERS SHOULD BE HAMMERING VOINOVICH...HE EXPOSED A CRACK OF CONSCIENCE DURING THE BOLTON HEARINGS... maybe he will vote KNOW..IT'S WORTH AN E MAIL even a phone call.

Gerald,

That, of course, depends on the definition of "extraordinary circumstances", which I contend equals everything post Bush v. Gore.

Send comments to:

senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov

Capt.

The article I linked to, 4 pages long, shows how words evolve, and that words which are mild now, were once considered swears, like golly.

Coffin once meant any old box, toilet meant little towel.

It's quite fascinating actually, we seem to biologically need words which are outside the realm of the polite.

Carl F.

So, what do you think of the Nat Parry article?

#26 Robert, how right you are about words. My husband was kicked out of his Boy Scout Troop in Dallas, TX, when he was a boy because he said "heck."

The pious scoutmaster told him, "Son, we don't curse like that."

My husband replied that "I didn't know I had cursed."

Scoutmaster showed him the door!
______________________________________

Robert --

I will be here:

Anti-war activists in the Pacific Northwest will gather at Westlake Plaza in Seattle at 12 noon on Saturday, September 24, 2005, to express their outrage and opposition to the war in Iraq as well as oppose colonial occupation and US threats against other countries.

To endorse the Sept. 24 demonstration, please email ANSWER-Seattle at answer@answerseattle.org or call 206-568-1661.

Robert:

Re: The Nat Parry article

I wonder if Patrick Leahy read it. Apparently not.

Thanks Micki -

Los Angelinos opposed to the war are gathering at:

Saturday Sept. 24, 12 noon
Olympic & Broadway, downtown

For more information:

Answerla.org

PS to Robert

I just sent the Nat Parry article to Sen. Leahy.

I told him he could still change his mind.

I also told him that if he voted to confirm after reading the article...well, I was polite! And I didn't curse -- not even once.

I do not belong to any organized political party....I'm a Democrat

Mad Wars

and a mad emperor!

America's IQ

When they were passing out brains, Bush thought they said trains and he was looking for the caboose.

The amazing hypocrites

Why, oh why has my country forsaken us?

Is this really America

Remember Henry Kissinger's words that our soldiers are only cannon fodder!!!!!

Rita Swirls Into 165-Mph Monster in Gulf
September 21, 2005 3:35 PM EDT
GALVESTON, Texas - As many as 1 million people were ordered to clear out along the Gulf Coast, and hospital and nursing home patients were evacuated Wednesday as Hurricane Rita turned into a Category-5, 165-mph monster that could slam Texas by the weekend and inflict more misery on New Orleans.

Forecasters said Rita could be the most intense hurricane on record ever to hit Texas, and easily one of the most powerful ever to plow into the U.S. mainland. Category 5 is the highest on the scale, and only three Category 5 hurricanes are known to have hit the U.S. mainland - most recently, Andrew, which smashed South Florida in 1992.
------------
Alan, I am thinking about you and your family, will you be OK? This sounds bad. Anyone else here in the path of this beast?

Support the troops

What does that really mean?

Playing the troops card

The amazing hucksters!!!

Three wise men and an idiot

Do more Americans realize that Bush is an idiot>

Neoconservatives won't back down

Please excuse the excessive posting but Bush pisses me off more and more.

Please excuse the excessive posting but Bush pisses me off more and more. Gerald

So Gerald, where will you be this Saturday?

Capt from # 20... "I have no march to join here in ABQ but will be in both L.A. and DC in spirit."
===============
That's me too, here in Houston. Depending on what Rita's gonna do... I hope I'm anywhere safe!
My little town is outside Houston towards Galveston, and is "mandatory evacuation zone C" which calls for me to leave by noon Thursday. I still haven't decided if I should go or not. I'm 'bout 30 miles from water in Galveston to the southeast, but maybe only 10 miles from Clear Lake to the east... and not far from Clear Creek that empties into it. Dunno how bad it will back up, but I'm not that concerned with the water/flooding. The so far 165mph winds has me worried though! Wish me luck guys.
And give'em hell on the 24th for me!
*in case I can't

The rise of stupid

A stupid American is born every 90 seconds.

I have not read the previous comments but I am distraught that anyone thinks the Democrats should like the Republicans, walk in lockstep. "I am not a member of an organized political party, I am a Deomcrat," is a famous remark and holds true today. I am not a Democrat but I am an anti-republican.

*oops I meant Capt at #18

Roberts qualification for the Supremes was his loyalty as an attorney for the machine.

Now the machine will have a judge.

The machine (MIlitary Industrial Intelligence Complex) is a power hungry mindfuck for America.

I heard a soundbyte on Leahy today. We'll have to see how it goes. The man could be in power 5o years and we'll have to see how it goes?

"Alan, I am thinking about you and your family, will you be OK?"

Thanks for asking Sal. I've gotten some things together if I change my mind about staying. I'm thinking Rita will go back down to a 4 before landfall. Might just stay to protect my house or mitigate damages as they occur. I can "grab and go" pretty much any time before it hits, so I think I'll be ok. Thanks again for the kind words. *multiple hugs*
Alan

Whom would Jesus bomb

God works in mysterious ways, such a hurricanes and now people are wondering when the BIG earthquake will hit California. God does work in mysterious ways.

Uh, thanks, but no thanks, Gerald.

Robert in California

Alan,

I was in Winston-Salem NC for hurricane Hugo. Take a hard look at just making some tracks, personal property is replacable.

Being inland is a good thing but not the same as watching from a distance.

Safety first for you and yours, stuff is just stuff.

Stay safe and sane.

capt

Military unhappy with Bush

How can a person be happy when the commander in cowardice lies and you know that his lies means your buddy dies?

Bush speaks with fork tongue. He is a murderer and a war criminal.

Anybody who is willing to work with an administration to warp the law does not belong on the Supreme Court. People keep saying he's a fine lawyer. I don't like the guy. I never will.

Roberts is a bit too polished. We really can't tell who he is from the hearings. It is a shame that the Dems are not more focussed.

The C and B Junta

C and B are making Clinton look like a saint. How does Saint William Jefferson Clinton sound?

Oh, I forgot to say:

An old oak (150 years est.) fell within a couple of feet of where I slept. A couple of feet. As far as W-S is inland the winds caused substantial damage. Water is an unstoppable force, wind is nearly as bad.

capt

Tricky Dick and the truth

Tricky Dick Cheney is the tricky Dick of the 21st century.

Micki,
When my daughter was two years old my husband was trying to get her into her car seat. I was standing back listening to his mumbling but hearing nothing. Arms were flailing. It was a fight to the finish. He stood back triumphant. Maggie then yelled for the entire neighborhood to hear, "MY NAME IS NOT GODDDAM IT!"

Let me stick out my neck and say that Roberts will be confirmed by the Senate.

#59, those wonderful terrible two's how can we soon forget!!!

The Democrats should get into a huddle and just become the unstoppable force Capt is talking about. If they simply decide what they stand for and become the wall things will change. In MN we had this right wing group doing their "no gay marriage" dance for the voters. The Republicans were in the majority. The Democrats in the house and senate just decided they had enough. It was at the top of the Republican's agenda and they wouldn't stray from the agenda. The Democrats said "Ok." There was nothing passed. And guess what. The Republicans got hammered in the '04' election. I am talking voted down in Republican bastions. It was beautiful.
We have people in MN who are good strong polititions who left government because of those clowns on the right. Some of the polititions switched sides. They've had it. The Republican party is losing their strength. They are losing their integrity. They are losing the group who really desires to make a difference and be there for the majority of the people. We have Republicans now who wouldn't vote yes on taxes if it paid for a fireman to come to their burning house. They are total fools.

The failed mission to capture Iraqi oil

By Michael T Klare

Lacking sufficient troops to protect the oil facilities and all the other infrastructure in Baghdad and other key cities, the military chose to protect the oil alone - allowing desperate and rapacious Iraqis to go on a rampage of looting that fatally undermined the authority of the military occupation and the US-backed interim government.

To make matters worse, the very visible American emphasis on protecting oil facilities while ignoring other infrastructure gave the distinct - and not completely inaccurate -impression that the US had invaded Iraq less to liberate it from a tyrannical regime than to steal, or at least control, its oil. And from this perception came part of the anger and resentment that constituted the essential raw materials for the outbreak of an armed insurgency against the American occupation and everything associated with it. The Bush administration never recovered from this disastrous chain of events.

*****end of clip*****

Oil, oil everywhere and not a drop for cheap?

capt

#63
Aren't we glad we went to war? Saving the oil must have become the noble cause.

An excerpt from John Kerry's statement explaining why he will vote NO on JOHN ROBERTS:

"Now, some may argue that Democrats should vote for Judge Roberts because he is the best nominee we could expect from the Administration. I cannot vote to confirm the next Chief Justice of the United States simply because the next nominee to the Court may be even less protective of our fundamental rights and liberties or less dangerous to our national security.

"The questions I have raised, the absence of critical documents, and the lack of clarity surrounding fundamental issues like how he would interpret the Constitution require me to fulfill my Constitutional duties by opposing his nomination to be the next Chief Justice."
_______________________________________________
So, Kerry is fulfilling his Constitutional duty by opposing Roberts' confirmation...WTF is Patrick Leahy doing?

Jeanne! LOL! Out of the mouths of babes!

As I watch what has befallen the poor of New Orleans, our children in the military and the deaths that we cause around the world, I can't help but be disgusted by the inability of the Democrats to figure out that just because the Republicans say it does not make it so. Quit cowering! Quit acting as if we don't have the right answers! If you want the Christian vote, start reminding Christians that the Bible states that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a RICH MAN to enter heaven. Remind people that, as the good reverand from Maryland stated, every time we take care of those who are weaker, we care for Him. Everything that is now occuring in this world that has been proposed, supported or begun by the Bush administration is as ANTI-Christian as could be and to see it clothed as being right and good should make those who know better ill. Stand up for what we know is right and lead those who wish to see that we ALL have better lives back to the power that will allow this to happen.

Deb,

100%! No doubt. It has been making me ill for some time.

capt

Patrick Leahy is dancing to the same tune as Hillary Clinton...ignore the party and do what seems to be working. The Democratic Party hobbled Howard Dean in favor of the Kerry/Edwards ticket, they enabled the REDS to trash Dean the only real anti-war Dem that was running. We have DINO'S in our midst...there is no excuse for that type of behavior, at least that nutjub Zell Miller was upfront about his treachery.

pandering to the far Right talk radio variety is not only sad it's detrimental to the progressive movement...I would compare it to my reaction at seeing angry blacks protest gay marriage rallies.
I'm straight but I was still outraged by that fiasco, seriously blacks versus civil rights issues...shameful really, forgetful at best. The lower to what's left of the middle class need to shut up about our petty differences and realize that we have far more in common with each other than THEM. The 1% rule partly because we allow it.

Ed # 70

Rev. Jesse Jackson declared Monday that the fight of gays and lesbians wanting to marry should not be compared to the fight African Americans faced for civil rights.

"The comparison with slavery is a stretch in that some slave masters were gay, in that gays were never called three-fifths human in the Constitution and in that they did not require the Voting Rights Act to have the right to vote," Jackson remarked in an address at Harvard Law School.

Jesse Jackson has done more harm than good for the progressive movement, I rarely listen to him.
The comparison between gays and blacks in regards civil rights and discrimination is elementary at best...or would we have blacks equal and other minority groups less equal. The founding principle behind ending slavery and pushing for the rights of blacks was that all men and women were considered equal. Are we now in an age where that no longer holds true, shall we set up seperate but equal institutions for the gay community, or did we learn anything from our past indiscretions. Equality cannot become a "convienence" issue for Democrats.
Jesse Forgot.

And which group shall we discriminate against next...who else is not equal, who else is different?
Fact is we the 99% of lower income peoples are RULED by the 1% of the most wealthy through that very device...we worry about who's black, or queer, or atheist, or too old, or too Arab looking to realize that in the end we have more in common with each other than we ever will with THEM. It is only through the unity of the oppressed that any of this progressive idealism is going to work out.
United we stand, divided we remain as we are now.

there are Liberals out there that say we should let go of the abortion issue too
I don't agree with that nonsense either

Ed

Jesse forgot lets him off far too easily, he is at best, a one trick pony who has ridden a bloody shirt far too long. Far more in common with Jim Baker than MLK.

Gay marriage is one of the more bizarre arguments I have seen in a while, just like abortion is should be left up to the states
.

Alan,

Jill just got some photos back from NOLA.

Her oldest kid, Marshall is in Houston doing something or other for Frito-Lay as an engineer with Flour-Daniel. He's flying out(hopefully)at noon tomorrow. Why not just pack a few things and go see who's playing in Austin, this weekend? Better yet, c'mon out and help me finish this GDamned fence!

The house will be there when you get back. RITA's a big one, Bro!

-Tom and Jill

agreed on Jackson
the argument against gay marriage is even more bizarre...to date I have not heard one that sounded dissimilar to Jim Crow laws
you can have the same institution...but we NEED it to be different
Democrats shying away from this will lose the moral highground
and abortion...gimme twelve women ready to vote it down and we can talk

from weather.com

Hurricane Rita's rapid intensification cycle that began Tuesday afternoon continues. Top winds are up to 165 mph, now a category 5 hurricane. Rita's pressure has dramatically dropped to 898 millibars! Even as a large and extremely intense category 5 hurricane, further strengthening is possible as the atmosphere remains favorable for development over the next 24 hours.

Ed

The arguments on Gay marriage are interesting. On one hand it is basically "God hates it" no other way to interpret it. Makes little if any sense to me at all. Assuming that God hates it he also hates those that judge in his name, sooooooo.

On the other hand if two men can get married why can't a brother and sister? Mother and Son? Loving adults all? Why can't a man have 10 wives? A woman 3 husbands?

well incest and the results in pregnancy are pretty much the reasoning behind the no inbreeding thing
O'Reilly likes the sleeping with animals thing but again that's an easy one, the animal cannot consent and therefore it's rape which is illegal
gimme a minute on the poligamy one...

ok I got it
many wives or many husbands creates many legal issues in terms of property rights and familial status...it just gets too confusing as an institution
one man and one man
or one woman and one woman is far easier to understand and commit to paper in terms of how legals would proceed and how families would be structured

as for the GOD aspect behind the gay marriage argument it's the same one good Christians used when white women got married to black men
ask Jack Johnson

Mixed Marriage has been legal since 1967!

?

Ed

Like the way you think. If we go with the property rights thing though, we would also have to eliminate divorce and having kids that don't get along.

Public health is also a slippery slope as I think there is much more evidence that male gays tax the system a bit more than the offspring of a brother and sister would.

The goat banging thing is just stupid.

Leave it to the states. If the LDS folks want to marry a mess of their cousins, power to em, just stay in Utah. If the good people of Maine want to enter into wedded bliss with close kin, I really could not care less. If there is a State that will allow two adults of the same gender to wed, let the wedding bells ring.

On the other hand if two men can get married why can't a brother and sister? Mother and Son? Loving adults all? Why can't a man have 10 wives? A woman 3 husbands?

Come on, now, don't forget a man and a dog! Can't forget the man on dog sex, now can we? Or a woman and a donkey, yeah, that's the ticket! A woman with TWO donkeys! A woman with two donkeys, a man, and a goat! Ah, the possibilities are wonderful and endless...

LOL I know I know
I really am working on my federalism spiel
to date I'm a little hung up on whether states rights issues should trump a moral code, but I do understand what you mean
then again after listening to Doc Savage of the Savage Nation for a while I was beginning to have freedom of speech defense issues...that guy is a freakin' menace

US, Afghanistan squabble over resurgent Taliban

By Paul McGeough

"The Americans embedded with the Afghanistan National Army to impart experience and to boost morale, and the foreign jihadis are embedding with the insurgents, instructing them on how to deal with the US from their experience in Iraq, how to conceal themselves and how to make, plant and detonate even more sophisticated IEDs (improvised explosive devices)."

It is a development that has been the stuff of background briefings. But this week's edition of Newsweek magazine carries interviews with two Taliban commanders enthusiastically revealing details of their training in Iraq and how, in turn, they pass it on to hundreds of Afghan fighters.

Claiming that the conflict here was entering a new phase, Mohammed Daoud, 35, credits the fugitive terrorism master Osama bin Laden with opening the Afghan-Iraq technology-and-training exchange.

He says: "I'm explaining to my fighters every day the lessons I learned and my experience in Iraq. I want to copy in Afghanistan the tactics and spirit of the glorious Iraqi resistance."

*****end of clip*****

Iraq was not a distraction from getting Osama, it was the making of a new training base FOR Osama.

"Mission Accomplished"

capt

agreed on the beastiality part LIN
that is a foolish argument...I stand by my rape law argument on that bit of RED state hyberbole

Are you all picking on Hajji?

Don

I think that the key is consent, if you can figure out a way to get a dog to consent, then by all means pick out the dog gown, unless you plan to outfit him with a tux?

thanks capt for yet another example of why we need to pull up stakes in the Middle East altogether...yep, I mean Israel too

not me

#90

His commentary as a goat owner and a deep southerner is lacking from this discussion.

LOL Haj used to be from where I live now
I don't begrudge him his current whereabouts
my RED commentary only applies to The Righties

where you from capt?

also has anyone else ever heard Doc Savage on the radio...does he make anyone else a lil bit scared of the first amendment ?

Gay Marriage in The Netherlands Proves No Impact on Straight Marriage, Discovers New Web Site Company Featuring Narrated European Photo Tours

SAN JOSE, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 08/30/2005 -- As California State Senators prepared to decide whether to legalize marriage equity for gays, on Monday, August 29th, they were alerted about results of a new study released first to them. It proves marriage equity had no effect on straight marriage in The Netherlands/Holland. This report also refutes the significance of statistics often used in arguments against legalizing marriage equity in the U.S. Equally important, it disproves recent anti-marriage equity articles that use The Netherlands as an example of why marriage equity will not work in the U.S. Now the public can read this report and extensive related information posted on www.EuropeByPhoto.com, the Web site of a new company launched this week called Muses Explorations. On the home page of the Web site, visitors are invited to "Take Breathtaking Photo Tours of Europe’≥ Unexpected Sites."

Other states and courts in the United Sates are slated to decide about marriage equity in the future.

"When researching for Muses Explorations, I was impressed to learn that The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize marriage equity in 2001," says Fiona Lucille Friedland, Founder/CEO of Muses Explorations. "The U.S. Declaration of Independence says, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' So I was shocked to read articles against marriage equality in the U.S. These articles gave The Netherlands as an example of how marriage equity supposedly harmed children and traditional families."

Friedland continues, "During a recent TV special on the Wright Brothers' 100-year anniversary of being first in flight, they were quoted as saying that key to their success was questioning the widely believed assumptions about flight. Thinking about the Wright Brothers, I developed a research plan. Then I hired a research team to learn whether the statistics about marriage equity in The Netherlands held water and learn more about this topic in that country."

Friedland emphasizes, "Results of the research are similar to the following: You hear all your life that real estate in a certain town is outrageously expensive because it went up 10 fold over the last 30 years, so you should never try to buy a home there. Then you discover that throughout the entire state real estate went up 10 fold during those exact same years, so there was no reason all along to avoid that town. You would have been perfectly safe."

*****end of clip*****

Gay marriage has no effect on straight marriage. It is not a threat to anybody or any institution. They said the exact things about mixed marriage. That it would destroy the institution of marriage by race mixing their children would have no racial identity.

If two people are willing to make a commitment to each other why would the government discourage such a thing? It makes no sense to me.

capt

So you mean Michael Savage?

Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said Wednesday that he would vote for Roberts but intended that vote “to be a signal to the president that I’m prepared to cast votes for Republican nominees if they are in the jurisprudential mainstream. There is no need for him to have to go to an extreme candidate….”
______________________________

...and THIS passes for taking a stand? Boy, we'll show 'em. Oy!.

always with the diesel supporting documents, hooray capt!
I'm a straight guy with no current but some former gay friends...it's not a personal issue for me but one that does get me angry, not just at Reds but also at Blues who think it's ok to turn a blind eye on this to preserve votes
I like to think of myself as a thorough progressive

Why would anyone want to listen to Savage? To help raise his ratings? For chrissakes. Turn him off. You enable.

yep Michael it is
gotta say he is the first cat ever made me question my stance on absolute first amendment rights...it's like yelling fire in a crowded movie theater with that nutjob

micki rule number one of war
know the enemy

if you don't then you are enabling, friend

Michael Savage, Air America, Rush and the like all appeal to the LCD of their "base". There is a wonderful piece in this weeks Forbes about how strange is was to turn on the radio and listen to the hateful shit on both sides of talk radio after a trip to Australia.

"I'm a straight guy with no current but some former gay friends"

Huh?

Oh, ed, spare me that shit. Like I should buy Ann Coulter's books to verify what she thinks?

SAVAGE NATION INVASION

On the March 18, 2003, broadcast of The Savage Nation Michael Savage called Elizabeth Smart, "Snow White." When I heard that I thought, "Hey that's not right. This girl can't help what happened to her and she shouldn't be mocked for it." I thought that Savage had gone too far even for him but I didn't know that he was just getting started. Savage then went on to say that if he were writing a newspaper article about what had happened to Elizabeth Smart that the headline would be, "Snow White Gets Raped By Bum In White Robes." I was almost 36 years old but I honestly wanted to cry when I heard this. I didn't have any way to know that Michael Savage was saving the worst for last. Michael Savage, host of The Savage Nation then out did himself by saying that if he were going to write a book about what happened to Elizabeth Smart that the title would be, "LIZZIE DOES UTAH"!

I swear, people, I am not the most saintly character you'll ever meet but when I heard what Michael Savage said he would name his book I had to take a time out. I wanted to vomit when I heard his book title. I thought, "Hey this is America and we don't treat a child that has been: kidnapped, raped, and traumatized, like this. We don't even treat an abused and traumatized animal like this." I wondered what kind of man would talk about a little girl like this and then the lightbulb went on in my head. The answer to my question is that no - MAN - would talk about a little girl like this. The radio host that I am talking about isn't a man at all; he is, like his name and the name of his radio talk show suggests, a savage. Michael Savage doesn't live in the same society that most Americans live in. The America that I love is a country that takes care of its own, and loves its children, but Michael Savage's world is a nation of savages. America is a family values nation. America is not, and hopefully never will be, a savage nation.

*****end of clip*****

Michael Savage says "libruls" and such are sub-human. It never fails, people put out what they are putting in. I have pity for anyone so filled with hate and vitriol.

Clearly no peace in that mans heart if he has one.

Any comparison to other radio figures is just deception. This man (if you can call him that) is a HATE speech expert and is embraced by those on the Reich-wing. Never kid yourself.

capt

too true about the talk trash radio
I do see a difference however among certain "far out" groups
Media Matters is a far cry from Foxnews
One is spouting lies the other exposing them
sometimes they overreach but there is a difference
Air America on the other hand is a good idea gone wrong, the REDS control the media with the cable networks and talk radio...mind control and re-education through repetition
Rush is a blowhard
O'Reilly is the worst because he's sneaky about his far rightism
But SAVAGE is dangerous, I heard him one night rambling about rounding up all the muslims in the country, that they were all terrorists
terrorism by genetics, interesting

Hurricane Rita is one BIG FUKN storm!!! It is at CAT 5 with winds at 165 mph. And it's still out in the gulf. Actually it IS the gulf!!! Hurricanes typically STRENGTHEN when they hit land.
I don't want to frighten anyone, but I'd say the entire gulf coast is in for seversl days of this. It's a mighty storm.

Get out if you can. Keep a gallon of water per person.

Hoping for the best, prepare for the worst. Good Luck

th

"I'm a straight guy with no current but some former gay friends"

Huh?

too complicated a sentence for you micki?
shall I dumb down the discourse just for you?

Oh, ed, spare me that shit. Like I should buy Ann Coulter's books to verify what she thinks?

Yes, otherwise you are just pissing and moaning with no data...kinda like a blue troll let's say

A dining contractor has removed coffee cups with a gay author's quote from a Starbucks at Baylor University, saying it was inappropriate for the Baptist school.

Aramark, which oversees the coffee outlet, pulled the cups earlier this month from the campus store after consulting with Starbucks' district office and Baylor's dining service, school officials said Monday.

"I think they were trying to be sensitive," Baylor spokesman Larry Brumley said. "Obviously, Baylor is a Baptist-affiliated institution, and Baptists as a denomination have been pretty outspoken on the record about the denomination's views about the homosexual lifestyle."

The quote from novelist Armistead Maupin reads:

"My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don't make that mistake yourself. Life's too damn short."

agreed capt, he is pondscum
but pondscum with a soapbox
again he makes me question that whole free speech bit, I think anyone should be able to say whatever they want but maybe not that guy

Air America on the other hand is a good idea gone wrong, sez ed...

Well, ed, it could be that Air America is finding its way as a new information outlet, but "gone wrong?"

Huh? (again) Oh, and no need to dumb down, I'm not stupid.

christ I think I'm changing my posted by name to Bush sucks, I take more heat from the blues around here than the reds...me a RED, my friends and family would be amused

"All democracies turn into dictatorships - but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it's Julius Caesar or Napoleon or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea... That's the issue that I've been exploring: How did the Republic turn into the Empire ... and how does a democracy become a dictatorship? "

...Star Wars film maker George Lucas

ok, here's the none dumbed down version
however if you read the posts before criticizing them this would be unnecessary

FoxNews Repubs were born of a constant drumming of RED talking points starting on the morning commute radio and ending at the FoxNews dinner table...repeat something enough times and with different voices and before long you gain traction, fiction becomes truth, words become mantra
Air America is a good idea--equal and opposite force
Gone wrong means it's too late for that approach, it's why the Mike Moores are dragging us down...you can't beat Kansas into being right
especially if we spend all day bashing a president who will be gone in a few short years, rather tha gathering data on why Kansas went wrong in the first place

Do not let it bug ya, things are not always what they seem.

I am in NM, Albuquerque.

capt

or are we not allowed to criticize Dems here
after all they did bring us the War, and the tax cuts and the Patriot Act...etc
no they didn't propose it, but they did vote for it

yikes
just kidding capt
I'm sure you know my midwest south bashing is not toward you either
I mean it about the getting bashed by so called blues more than reds though...I told my friend about somebody on this page accusing me of being a troll plant, he found that hilarious
so maybe just an auto tag comment, after everything I post I can put a Bush Sucks so people don't confuse on which side of the political spectrum I stand LOL

No, I rail against ALL politicians D's R's and I's - greens, libs, whatever.

Some take exception to what I say, that is good I try to be exceptional! HA!

capt

politicians are a shaky lot indeed
viva la third party, at the very least it may force the integrity issue

I take nothing on the blog personally, nobody should.

I like the fact that the Corn blog is not an echo chamber for the left or dems.

Agreement is fine for solidarity but disagreement makes people examine and reinforce or question their notions and assumptions. I truly enjoy being informed, I may not like the information but being informed does not mean liking the info.

That is what this a good place.

IMHO

capt

working on it
I consider this practice in a way
I do enjoy Troll baiting and bashing as we've discussed before
Vanity aside I do think I've helped a few of the FoxNews Repubs...they can be saved I think as long as the discourse rises above the usual Dem talking points
so see I am conflicted with me troll dealings but i think my hearts in the right place
as far as blue trolls go that want to accuse me of redness...well, I am a tad no holds barred with them
really gotta work on my cyber feelings LOL

"viva la third party"

A country as big, rich and diverse as the USA should be able to have many more than just two.

Especially when the two have become one once in office.

Both have the main concern of re-election before the people's business.

"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true. " ~ Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968)

capt

next I'll have to improve my fact gathering
not sure how you find the fatty articles so quick and before long someone will call me out on pissing and moaning ; )

with the corruption of both major parties I do think that third party intervention will be required to salvage the better parts of our governmental system...just not Perot or Nader again, thanks

Way to far gone ed. There will have to be a break out from one of the major parties, and with the total lack of intelligence in the leadership of the two major parties it will take some time to pull that off.

I keep some stuff handy but take pride in finding stuff. The more obscure the more fun for me.

Google, Dogpile, etc. it is all in how the question is phrased.

I look stuff up when the toads post crap, you smoked the hell out of me on the O'liely talking points (kudos)

I no longer entertain any MSM sources and so I am at a loss for current and fresh info.

I no longer trust the infotainment that passes as "news" they lie and serve their corporate masters and the one goal of profit is just not healthy for the truth.

The media had a responsibility and they have failed us miserably.

capt

“From time to time the Tree of Liberty must be refreshed by the blood of tyrants and patriots, for that is it’s natural manure"......Thomas Jefferson

Think we are there yet?

Quotes from Justice Huigo L. Black

The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach.

I am for the First Amendment from the first word to the last. I believe it means what it says.

The layman's constitutional view is that what he likes is constitutional and that which he doesn't like is unconstitutional.

Compelling a man by law to pay his money to elect candidates or advocate law or doctrines he is against differs only in degree, if at all, from compelling him by law to speak for a candidate, a party, or a cause he is against. The very reason for the First Amendment is to make the people of this country free to think, speak, write and worship as they wish, not as the Government commands.

The very reason for the First Amendment is to make the people of this country free to think, speak, write and worship as they wish, not as the Government commands.

The Press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of the government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people

*************

The last quote is specifically about the Pentagon Papers in 1971.

capt

Although tyranny...may successfully rule over foreign peoples, it can stay in power only if it destroys first of all the national institutions of its own people.

~Hannah Areddt

Pornography

I believe that there are two types of pornography-visual and auditory. Pornography contaminates the eyes and the mind. Visual pornography is self-evident through pictures. Auditory pornography is more subtle. Listening to Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Bush, etc contaminates the mind through our ears.

A bombardment of pornography both visually and audibly imprints the eyes and the mind and the person in time is hooked on what is being seen and said by perverse predators who oppose the common good for all the people on this planet.

I will not listen to or read printed material from persons, like Bush, Limbaugh, Coulter, and O'Reilly. These are four names of many people who prowl the earth seeking the ruin of souls.

Gerald

What about Penthouse? Does it seek to ruin souls as well? Or do only individuals do that? Seems like a big job. That pesky 1st again.

Hajji at #76... "Why not just pack a few things and go see who's playing in Austin, this weekend?"
======================
Oh hell yeahhh! Sixth Street rocks. Even the bushies know that. haha I'm definitely leaning towards leaving, just not now. Prolly Friday morning. The freeways outta here are packed and crawling at 4 fkn mph! There's people that have already turned around, to try again later... so they don't run outta gas. *biggest peace time evacuation of citizens ever... so it's a regular clusterfk right now.
I'll look in a minute for a live "jam cam" to link you guys to, to see the view of the freeways. ugh!! Thanks for your concern Hajji. Tell that good woman "hey" for me and maybe give her one extra hug too.
peace 'n chicken grease,
Alan

I-45(Gulf Freeway) at Collge/Airport(to Hobby Airport on SE side)

Welp, this cam isn't far from where i'd hit the freeway, but... says the damn camera isn't working right now. *shrug*
Trust me, it's a fkn mess! Might get another cam up at another intersection at this link...

Houston Jam Cams
Pick a camera 'bout half-way down the page on the right.

There are certain aspects of freedom that make many of us cringe but are the price of being able to express ourselves and live as we will. Our obligation is to educate all members of the society in being able to discriminate between truth and lies, kindness and cruelty, power that hurts and power that helps. As was mentioned, we enable the 1% to keep the rest of us down because we fear risking what little we have to rock the boat. But we need to learn that by combining what we all have and know, we can become strong enough to disrupt the status quo. How excited I was when Howard Dean started out and how depressed I was when the press brought him down and the Democrats went running. There must be someone out there with passion who will push forward no matter what...

Rita's winds now at 175mph!
TH, the winds die down slowly after a hurricane hits land. They strengthen when over water, especially warm water, like the Gulf. Katrina was a 5 but weakened back to a 4 before landfall. I hope Rita lets up some.

latest on "Able Danger"
Senators Accuse Pentagon of Obstructing Inquiry on Sept. 11 Plot

Alan, I thought about you this morning and your location. I was reminded by my mom that most of my cousins live in the Baytown area. One by one, they've made reservations at Casa Pandemoniaco.

My bro and I are hosting 7 (or 8) families this weekend. Mrs. Pandemoniac and my sis-in-law have been scrambling trying to find storage units for all their stuff.

I've been lurking these last few days and have gotten a kick out of watching differences get sorted out, bit by bit. When I compare it to the straight-jacket lockstep that I see at Reactionary blogs, it makes me proud that folks can agree to disagree without getting zapped or comments deleted. Yes, free speech is bitchin' in every sense of the word.

That is what amuses me the most about the liberal haters that make their way to this blog. There are just as many former-republicans, Libertarians, and Voodootarians on this blog as yellow-dog dems or liberals. The one thing that unites us is the dogged distrust of the corporate-political elite.

I also find the idiotarian talking points (hannity, rush and Rovers alike) are getting immediately packed and dismissed. So sad the reactionaries can't even get their lies straight.

Gare even showed up to make a an ultramaroon of himself conflating the Gold Stars Mom lie with the Sheehan criticism of Mizz Clinton. The Grand Ol' Lynching Party pinheads are a hoot!

Dave,

If I were to have any issue at all that departed from what you said, I would have said...

If I had an issue it would likely be.......where the hell are all the Americans????

ARE THEY THIS BRAIN DEAD????

This seems to me to be bunker mentality, are we really there?

Time to take stock...

And plan your plan.

Anyone who doubts they are on their own, should google Katrina.

Bill Mahr was totally correct in saying President Bush this is your worst nightmare, you are helping the poor. This soundbyte is well worth a search..

Again the let them eat cake quote comes to mind.

Wonder why?

Nobless Oblige??

Byte my middle class Butt W......you and the horse you rode in on (Middle East Oil).

Bill helpfully suggested alternative persuits for W, like......... Cowboy or.........Spaceman

"Alan, I thought about you this morning and your location. I was reminded by my mom that most of my cousins live in the Baytown area."
==========
Pande, Baytown will be underwater for sure! If my area floods, it'll be from a backed-up creek overflowing, not the storm surge water from the gulf. I'm thinking it won't be that bad. It's the damn winds that are scaring me. Those shots of completely flattened towns in Mississippi from Katrina get your attention! ... though I'm farther inland. I'm worried about our area in particular, and the country in general if we lose some refineries. I think the local/state/federal people will work alot better this time because they will be under a microscope. Get out the checkbook, in that sense. Don't you feel a grand 'get my polls back up' moment coming? Sheeeeyit, Doofus is a homeowner too, you think he'll already be here in Tx for the quick response?
I feel for you with the houseful of guests. haha I just went through that for a week. Now they're all in Kansas emailing for us to come join 'em! "NOT" LOL Well, post when you can Pande, but I know you'll be bizzy.
*I used a "wherezPande.com" address recently

For all the COTC WHINING.....

you guys don't actually think that you're going to get a "Green Party" guy to take on Patrick Leahy, next time around, do you?

Face it....Most of you are to "left of Dean" and the REAL power brokers in the DNC know it and can tell you to "screw off" with impugnity.

Blog away.....it's just mental masturbation for the "real progressives", while the REAL action is going on in Washington!

((Just thought I'd pop in to brighten your days again....I know how capt and Saladin have missed me!))

Sheeez!

I can't hang with you 1230am nightowls out west. (or you young, forever clubbin' urban intellectual party animals, ed) Nothing like being greeted with a discussion of beastiality right after feeding the goats and having my donkey drag me around the pen while trying to give her a shot!

Pabla had scared the HELL out of me, yesterday, had gotten her right hind hoof caught in her halter, while scratching like the dogs do, I suppose.

When we came up the hill after a 3-Negra Modelo lunch with Dr.D and Dennis (former WCOG Pastor and my favorite spiritual cynic) she had been struggling for quite some time. I cut off the harness (she'll never wear one with loose loops, again!) and she was out, cold. If she was breathing, at all, It wasn't more than 5 or six times a minute. (shock or exhaustion, I suppose)

I blew a few deep breaths into her nostril while holding her mouth and other nostril closed, she sorta coughed, sneezed and raised her head. I wetted her dry mouth with some water and talked to her until her eyes looked focused.

After some massaging and extension of her cramped, rear right leg she stuggled to her feet (uhm, hooves) stumbled once, got her balance and walked straight to the FEED BUCKET! She ate a few mouthfuls, drank some water and walked away, either embarrassed by her folly or poutingly blaming ME for it all!

Today she seems just fine, but it didn't take her long to remember how much she HATES shots. A 500lb donkey is as strong as a offensive lineman and smart as a quarterback so I'm finding myself in need of some pain meds, myself.

Last night I flew high on the adrenaline rush, drank too much cheap white wine on ice and basked in the glow of my self-congratulations.

-Just wanted to share some good news here, where so much local, regional, national and global tragedy gets most of the attention.

-T

Bush back to boozing?

Oh, I know we're not supposed to make fun of people with addictions. But here goes anyway, since it's the prezident of the United States of American. The National Enquirer says the Bush is back to boozing.

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/63426

NatEnq has been known to break a few stories in the past, remember.

Senators Accuse Pentagon of Obstructing Inquiry on Sept. 11 Plot

that's just too ironic, since the senators are equally complicit in covering up the 911 plot

Pande,

Good to know you're bringin' the family in. One of the worst effects of Katrina seems to be the scattering (exacerbated by the thoughtless FEMA evac planning, just shippin' folks off to Utah and Cape Cod, etc) of friends and families. Thousands still haven't located their loved ones and since very few of the dead have been properly identified, the unknown is most certainly horrifying to people every day. I'm sure they hope beyond hope, but KNOWING is definately better.

Give 'dem little ones somebody to play with, re-aquaint yourself with your year's peers and listen closely to the older ones, they've probably more insight into life than the most often quoted philosopers.

Oh, and pass Junior 'round and 'round and 'round. Babies (hell, toddler by now?) can never be loved too much.

That said (as my ER training kicks in) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE institute a rigorous hand-washing and disinfecting policy with such a large group. Keeping containers of anti-bacterial waterless hand cleaners and showing the kiddies how to use it will keep almost all the bad buggies at bay! Keep 'em HEALTHY!

-T

Hajji,

It is all good that you saved Pabla but I do not think you are supposed to be dressing her up in a halter top. Also what is up with the lipstick?

HA!

"If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans." ~James Herriot

capt

Capt,

What makes a girl feel better when she's down? A new dress and makeover!

Besides, I'd NEVER dress her in a halter-top. It's AFTER labor day, you neanderthal! I'd sooner put her in WHITE sling-back pumps!

thanx,
-T

Capt,

The animals are far more deserving of love, happiness and, well....heaven, than most of us ridiculous humans, IMHO.

-T

linac,

My beautiful yellow lab, Daisy, loves me even though she can't verbalize it. Would licking my face be considered consent?

Seriously, though, I don't see how the "states rights" argument can work for or against gay marriage. Although the legalization of gay marriage or civil unions is starting in state legislatures, ultimately the feds will get involved. After all, states can't forbid interracial marriage nor can they permit bigamy, right? Would you want it any other way?

Jeanne #62, did you know that on average, homeowners now pay approximately 52% of their total income in one form of taxation or another? I realize that some tax is necessary to keep the country going but this strikes me as above and beyond the call of duty, especially considering the extreme waste and corruption our tax dollars are supporting. The feds are virtually extorting money from us and spending it illegally on foreign wars of aggression and conquest, much like the mafia forcing local businesses to pay for protection from their own hitmen. Our taxes are used to pay interest on the fiat currency, itself illegal, forced upon us by the Federal Reserve, which is really foreign banks that are literally a huge counterfeiting operation. This monster is so far out of control it will never be reined in. The monetary system we are under is the reason the economy of this country is sliding into hell. It was set up so we would be in perpetual debt that would only get bigger and bigger. People say greenspan is an idiot, but the truth is, he is doing exactly as he is told. We have been set up for a fall that we will never recover from, and all the taxes in the world will not change that.

The Failed Mission To Capture Iraqi Oil

Oil was certainly not the only concern that prompted the American invasion of Iraq, but it weighed in heavily with many senior administration officials. This was especially true of Vice President Dick Cheney who, in an August 2002 speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, highlighted the need to retain control over Persian Gulf oil supplies when listing various reasons for toppling Saddam Hussein.

Nor is there any doubt that Cheney's former colleagues in the oil industry viewed Iraq's oilfields with covetous eyes. "For any oil company," one oil executive told the New York Times in February 2003, "being in Iraq is like being a kid in FAO Schwarz." Likewise, oil was a factor in the pre-war thinking of many key neo-conservatives who argued that Iraqi oilfields - once under US control would cripple the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and thereby weaken the Arab states facing Israel.

supporting the troops!

Halliburton Serves Contaminated Water To Troops

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- Outrage overflowed on Capitol Hill this summer when members of Congress learned that Halliburton's dining halls in Iraq had repeatedly served spoiled food to unsuspecting troops. "This happened quite a bit," testified Rory Mayberry, a former food manager with Halliburton's KBR subsidiary.

But the outrage apparently doesn't end with spoiled food. Former KBR employees and water quality specialists, Ben Carter and Ken May, told HalliburtonWatch that KBR knowingly exposes troops and civilians to contaminated water from Iraq's Euphrates River. One internal KBR email provided to HalliburtonWatch says that, for "possibly a year," the level of contamination at one camp was two times the normal level for untreated water.

James, the compassionate conservatives at their finest!

#134 Linac, let me start by saying a woman's body is simply a beautiful creation by God. There is nothing wrong with the woman's body. What happens if we fill our eyes with naked pictures, we can start to look upon a woman and sizing her up as a play thing or a tool to be used and not loved. There is nothing wrong with the human body and the woman's body. If our mind is filled with filth and garbage, we will be pre-occupied with filth and garbage. Stinking thinking will be upon us endlessly. I avoid looking at naked pictures of women but I do enjoy looking at my wife's body.

#145 caroline, Bush is probably back to alcohol and drugs because even though he is an emperor, he is still aware that his entire life has been clueless, meaningless, pathetic, useless, and worthless. Returning to these addictions is an attempt to drown himself away from reality and his miserable self.

Anybody remember when red meant left? Gettin' to be you can't tell the players without a scorecard, or somethin'.

To piggyback on Saladin's comments about the Federal Reserve, check out:

Randolph T. Holhut: 'The faith-based economy is about to meet reality'

[...][I]n Greenspan's mind, inflation is the threat. So this week, for the 11th time since June 2004, the Federal Reserve raised its short-term interest rates.

This is turn drives up the cost of credit for consumers - higher credit card interest rates, higher home equity loans, higher mortgages. A nation already overextended in debt gets another kick in the wallet.

But that doesn't matter to Greenspan and the Fed. As long as economic growth is sufficiently restrained to keep wages low and price growth minimal, who cares who gets hurt? Just keep the financial markets safe.[...]

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Looking into the Federal Reserve is a curious enterprise, I found...

Robert, I just read that article. The Federal Reserve and the IRS go hand in hand, but ignorance is bliss! I wonder how many people are aware of what that traitor wilson did to us.

Saladin,

There really isn't much talk from the strict constructionist crowd, or anybody else really, about US Constitution Section 8 clause 5, now is there?

Of course, the history of banking and the US goes back to Hamilton.

Actually banking goes back to pre-United States, it's really quite interesting. They set up a scam that people fell for instantly. Store their real gold, give paper in the form of loans and charge interest, brilliant!

Er, I thought I said and the US but yes you are right.

One of the major beefs that world Islam has against the west is the whole concept of lending money at interest. This is/was called usary, and the church originally agreed. Now, of course, usary in considered lending at exorbitant interest, in the west.

If memory serves, and I'm not stopping to check, I think it was the Templars that instituted checking as a form of travellers insurance. You wouldn't have to carry gold, but a voucher redeemable at the Temple in the area of your destination.

Taliban will keep up the fight

Bush's wish list comes true. America will be involved in endless wars. Bush's miserable self not only haunts Americans but all people on Earth.