Another Reminder of Priorities

Welcome back Casey!

This is from my friend who is moving from Florida to Canada - permanently.

Bush went to Canada a few weeks back, and I have forgotten who he schmoozed with, but then came the announcement from the Canadian leader that he would attempt to stop the exporting of prescriptions to Americans. A few days later Pres. Bush announced that he would lift the ban on Canadian beef (which got struck down). What a trade off!

I analyzed it this way - I can buy Mad Cow beef from Canada, but I can't buy prescription drugs?

A car company can move its factories to Mexico and claim it's a free market.

A toy company can outsource to a Chinese subcontractor and claim it's a free market.

A major bank can incorporate in Bermuda to avoid taxes and claim it's a free market.

We can buy HP Printers made in Mexico. We can buy shirts made in Bangladesh. We can purchase almost anything we want from 20 different countries BUT, heaven help the elderly who dare to buy their prescription drugs from a Canadian pharmacy!

That's called un-American!

And you think the pharmaceutical companies don't have a powerful lobby? Think again!

Please forward this to every person you know over age 50. This is an issue that should come up in the next election!

Our public library system in Michigan is dependent upon local taxes and a shared system. So we can borrow books across the state on an interloan program. But there is tremendous disparity between our small country library vs the next town over which has a higher tax base.

The New York Public Library is a glorius institution unlike many others, in size and quality, learning material and exhibits, responsible for so many getting an education these years. It's our jewel.

Our budget is like other states where many services have been cut, including libraries. The sustaining donations from the past generations, most concerned with giving and sharing, are fewer. Just like the museum where I work.

DiAnne, what does attempting to stop importation mean? Enough rhetoric to please his base, but not enough action to displease the voters?

The John Kerry ad is cool (gets out wallet)

Linclon Chafee was taken to the woodshed by Rice, Cheney, Bush et all and told that if he doesn't support Boulton they will run a right winger against him in the Republican party in '06. Unless I am mistaken Chafee should worry more about offending Dems in Rhode Island if he plans on winning re election next year. I once again urge anyone here who hasn't contacted Chafee's office to do so. Let him know he needs Democratic voters to win re election. He should also be told that he has a home in the Democratic Party if he should show the courage to stand up to DeLay and Cheney regarding the Boulton nomination. And of course Santorum is walking a tight rope on DeLay's ethical lapses.

Dear Ira,

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations - and, in particular, Senator Lincoln Chafee - have a big decision to make this week.

I've made my decision. I will vigorously oppose the nomination of John Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Have you ever noticed that in the Bush Administration, the only way to get a job promotion is to bungle our national security? As under secretary of state for arms control and international security for the past four years, Mr. Bolton has achieved little. In fact, we secured more nuclear materials in the two years before September 11th than in the two years after. North Korea and Iran are now burgeoning nuclear states. This record earned John Bolton a nomination to the UN?

How can we believe this nomination makes any sense at all?

We can't believe it.

But, unless Senator Lincoln Chafee puts principle over party, the inexplicable John Bolton nomination will squeak through the Foreign Relations Committee on a party line vote.

We have to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen.

That's why, in addition to being vocal about my own opposition to Senator Bolton, I am organizing johnkerry.com activists in Rhode Island to contact Senator Chafee, and I am running online ads in the Rhode Island media.

John Kerry's message.

This vote according to Joe Connison will be a test of the strength of our party to stand up to extremists.

Tax Relief for the Super Rich - how money is funneled out of our pockets directly into theirs

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/041105Y.shtml

(from SF Chronicle)

Ira
You can also fund the ad John Kerry is running - it switches from a picture of him to a picture of Chafee & it's very good. It looks like one of those blinking-type ads that can be placed over any newspaper source on the internet. Any one not on his grassrootslist just Google the site. I dug into my shallow pockets & coughed up a donation.

SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS

It strikes me that any Republican who continues to support Tom DeLay is a self-mutilator. Is the Republican Party so devoid of leadership that they can't muster a replacement that doesn't have dog pooh streaming down his leg?

Apparently.

Here's a copy of a letter I sent to Rep. Mark Kennedy in response to an email from his office that says Tom DeLay has been given a 'written admonishment' from the Ethics Committee (that got a lot of press, didn't it?)

Here's my thoughtful and courteous reply to Mr. Kennedy:

A 'written admonishment' means nothing. Please do not insult my intelligence. Tom DeLay is a power-mad thug, who has recently illustrated the extent of his mental illness by threatening all members of the judiciary who do not share his biblical worldview. HE NEEDS TO RESIGN. Until you grow a spine, and ask for him to do so, I will assume that you are endorsing his unethical, dishonest behavior, and that you share his radical views.

Thank you.

Posted by: Victoria Ellen at April 11, 2005 01:02 PM

I'm so glad that you used the phrase mental illness in regard to Delay.

That's clearly a word that needs to be used a lot more when talking about certain of these people.

Some people really need to spend a lot less time in churches or mosques, and a lot more time in psychotherapy.

There's a significant difference between spirit-based and nuts.

Cyrano

One word that comes to mind is "delusional"

FRONTLINE
"http://www.pbs.org/frontline/">http://www.pbs.org/frontline/

This Week: "Karl Rove -- The Architect" (60 min.),
Tuesday, Apr. 12 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings)

Inside FRONTLINE: "Past is prologue"
Live Discussion: Chat with producer Michael Kirk this Wed. at 11 am ET

"For this report, producer Michael Kirk set out to look for answers to
these questions: Who is Karl Rove? How does he operate? How does he work
with President Bush? And what does Rove's new position mean for America?
You might say that Kirk found out that 'past is prologue.'"

Chafee should not be trusted on the Boulton nomination. Why Democratic voters continue to cross over in Rhode Island and re elect Chafee amazes me. He said the right things (fed to him by Frist), whoopie.

Chafee is easily intimidated by RNC threats to have a right wing Republican run against him next year.

"The outcome could depend on moderate Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I. Chafee spokesman Stephen Hourahan said the senator was leaning toward supporting Bolton "unless something surprising shows up" at the hearing."

"You said all the rights things in your opening statement," Chafee told Bolton during the session.

I just stopped at the Temple of Halliburton to worship and my donation to fill up my tank was $28.35 - highest ever! Clerks and customers were talking about walking, biking and bussing to work etc. whenever they can & cutting back to just essential driving - good for the environment but bad for the Oil Lord.

Then these statistics crossed in the mail - they are flying around like crazy since this Gallup poll came out! & why not - worse than Hoover!!
________

How rough has it been? Bush has the lowest approval rating of any president at this point in his second term, according to Gallup polls going back to World War II.

    Bush's erosion of support among independents in particular has helped bring his overall approval rating down to 45 percent. Fort-nine percent disapprove of his performance.

    Compare Bush's numbers, as of the most recent Gallup poll, to the previous six presidents who served second terms:

* Clinton: 59 percent approval versus 35 percent disapproval
* Reagan: 56 percent versus 37 percent disapproval
* Nixon: 57 percent versus 34 percent
* Johnson: 69 percent versus 21 percent
* Eisenhower: 65 percent versus 20 percent
* Truman: 57 percent versus 24 percent

Read the rest at:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/041105X.shtml

This is from an older poll but I think the trends still probably hold true:

Three in four non-whites, including 85 percent of blacks, say Bush doesn't understand the problems of average Americans; so do two-thirds of independents and nine in 10 liberal Democrats. At the same time, eight in 10 conservative Republicans say he does understand the public's problems, as do six in 10 evangelical white Protestants.

I just called Chafee's office and pushed the button for talking to actual "staff" & got ahold of someone - you can also leave a message.

Do not let Chafee backpedal!!

Here is a good quote about Tom DeLay:

"He is an absolute embarrassment to me and to the Republican Party."

 —Christopher Shays (R) of Connecticut

From Think Progress:

Here’s how American Airlines’ Spokesman Tim Wagner explained the donation (to DeLay's legal fund) to NPR: “We were told that Mr. DeLay, a member of Congress from our headquarters state was facing substantial legal bills that he was unable to pay personally because of their size and his limited resources.”

TODAY’S ACTION ITEM

Call senior American Airlines officials and ask why they gave money to defend Tom DeLay’s unethical behavior and demand that they ask for their money back: (or tell them that you have substantial bills, but limited resources, and ask if they'll send you $5000).

Tim Wagner, Spokesman, Corporate Communications - (817) 967-1577
Dan Garton, Executive Vice President, Marketing - (817) 931-9351
Ralph Richardi, Senior Vice President, Customer Service - (817) 967-2000

I am going to drive down to Austin on Saturday to see John Kerry speak about his healthcare proposal! I'm very excited, and will certainly tell you all about it!

Native Texan:

There is a new Harris County blog site. Could you post a report there. Do you know who JK is speaking to and if there is any way we can try and get the Houston news organizations to report it.

If you have details about when, where, audience etc so I can get it to the Houston Chronicle city desk.

This is what our southern outreach is supposed to be about. South by Southwest is going on next week in Austin.

Ira,

This site gives all the info about the event. I e-mailed and they said they will be adding a link for people to register later tonight.

http://www.austinforkerry.org/

I'll try and post it where ever I can!

Very exciting... I always thought I'd never get to see him without going far, far out of state!

Right on! (from report on Bolton hearings)

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) told Bolton that in view of the "massive intelligence failure" that preceded the U.S. invasion of Iraq, senior administration officials should not be retaliating against subordinates whose intelligence assessments turn out to be accurate.

    "I think the American people deserve to have people who are correct not be fired, but rewarded," Kerry said.

    At one point in the session, the hearing was briefly disrupted by protesters who chanted slogans and held up banners protesting the nomination before security guards escorted them out of the room. "No Bolton, Yes U.N.," one banner said.

Bolton Nomination Under Attack by Democrats
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/041105B.shtml

I have my UN sign up in my window today and a UN sticker on my car.

Native Texan!

How exciting! We need a first hand report!
Be sure to tell him you were/are a Kerry blogger & he'll love that.

DiAnne: very good observation from your newly Canadian friend. We definitely have gripes against the Canadians... while spreading the gap between the rich and the poor in Third World countries and calling it trickle-down economics.

Here in SoCal, gas now costs $2.49 at the local Costco, $2.69 if I fuel up with premium. My only solace is that I use Costco gas and therefore make sure that a Democrat-friendly company takes out a small bite out of the otherwise-Republican act of gassing up. Before long we will be paying European prices - but it'll all be the oil companies' greed, not taxes that support environmental and transportation projects as is the case in Europe.

As for Tom DeLay, since he's running on Korean and British money, I will cease running on those countries' goods and services. I'm boycotting South Korean products until they withdraw their 3,800-man contribution to the Bush occupation of Iraq. (They also have LOTS of explaining to do regarding Reverend Moon.) I'm boycotting British products until they oust Tony Blair. And while I am ashamed to say that my last two overseas travel destinations were Seoul and London, I will of course be taking my vacations elsewhere until then.

Posted by: Victoria Ellen at April 11, 2005 04:42 PM

And American Airlines sells itself as a friend of the gay community and other progressive causes.

Great.

Ally
While you're at it, don't every go to Nordstrom.
They are big R donors. Costco deserves support - they go above and beyond. They're from WA.
(So is Nordstrom).

I support the power of the boycott. Money is power & the personal is political.

Friend Joan had her letter about Sanchez published in the Baltimore Sun! GO JOAN!

Where's the outrage over torture, killing?

Buried beneath coverage of Terri Schiavo and Pope John Paul II (may they rest in peace) was an important report from human rights organizations.

Through the Freedom of Information Act, these organizations obtained memos showing that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the former top U.S. military commander in Iraq, personally authorized 29 methods of interrogation, many of which are considered torture and banned by the Geneva Conventions.

The memo specifically refers to things like intimidation with dogs; disorientation through lights and loud music and beating prisoners.

General Sanchez denied, under oath, that he had authorized these techniques. The documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union prove that he did.

He must be called to answer for his lies. Will he? It's hard to say, as Congress refuses to investigate this administration.

Documentaries are beginning to surface describing the detention of thousands of Muslims and Arabs following 9/11 under Gulag-like conditions, cut off from access to their families and to lawyers.

Human rights abuses are being reported, up to and including murder, in every theater of the so-called war on terror.

People of this state and nation must become involved in uncovering these crimes and bringing the criminals to justice - criminals within the federal government. Have the American people become so jaded that they turn their backs on the suffering of others, a suffering systematically imposed by our government?

I am ashamed and saddened by the actions of my government, whose officials say they are protecting us as they are committing torture and murder in our names.

Joan Weber
Baltimore

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/letters/bal-ed.le.09aapr09,1,5214382.story?coll=bal-opinion-letters&ctrack=1&cset=true

http://www.fundrace.org now has a new feature.
Not only can you find out what anyone donated and to whom, you can find out who all the Democrats and Republicans are in your neighborhood and who they donated to and how much.

I now research every penny I spend, as much as I can.

Karen
Good letter - tell her right on!

Posted by: Karen at April 11, 2005 07:29 PM

Thanks for sharing this letter, Karen.

Something tells me that Sanchez and Gonzales would have been burned at the stake by us progressives if they were WASP. I think we turned a blind eye simply because they were Latinos and therefore "disadvantaged."

I've been screwed over by immigrant communities here in SoCal too many times to turn a blind eye to this kind of stuff. We need to speak up and recognize that hatred comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

The fact is, even "tolerant" Holland is not so tolerant anymore, and nobody wants to point that out because the culprits are Surinamese immigrants. I don't want the same happening to the US (after all, it's already very intolerant to start with!).

YIKES, DiAnne!!!!

I went to the fundrace site.

KEN MEHLMAN LIVES AROUND THE CORNER FROM US!!

More newly discovered neighbors:

Ari Fleischer
Andrew Biggs (Social Security guy--Casey knows who he is!)
Grover Norquist

Posted by: Victoria Ellen at April 11, 2005 01:02 PM

Strong Letter Vic. That might make them think twice about the message their support sends out to us.

Karen

There were relatively few Republicans in my zip cods and not one of them gave a maximum donation.
It's interesting to look at occupations too - often money-greedy types. It's sad to put your bottom line before your conscience.

My mother said today that her father was not the kind of Republican you see today and that his party was different. I do believe that, so I think more of them should be like her and wake up and switch, regardless of how old they are.

Thanks for posting my letter, Karen. I have not yet been able to find coverage of the ACLU FOIA action. They wrote a letter to AG Gonzalez documenting the need for perjury charges against Gen. Sanchez. Has anyone seen anything about this? There's a "smoking gun" (almost literally) in this memo authorizing severe treatment of prisoners by Sanchez and nothing in the mainstream media. It boggles the mind, really. Check with your local media... has anyone covered it???

DiAnne,

That site has explicit an warning about soliciting contributions from people listed. It doesn't say I can't approach my neighbors who supported Democratic candidates, and ask them to join our cell. There were some people whom I was sure would have supported shrub, but didn't. They gave surprising amounts of money to the Dems. It is good resource to seek out local volunteers for DCP.

Here is the Sanchez memo:

http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17851&c=206

Glad to see this come to light again.

Now how about Valerie Plame?

& speaking of boycotts, lots of Chinese students are boycotting Japanese goods because of revisionist history - a new text whitewashes Japanese WW2 atrocities against China

Wages Lagging Behind Prices

This is the first time that salaries have increased more slowly than prices since the 1990-91 recession. Though salary growth has been relatively sluggish since the 2001 downturn, inflation also had stayed relatively subdued until last year, when the consumer price index rose 2.7%. But wages rose only 2.5%.

SNIP

Meanwhile, corporate profits hit record highs as companies got more productivity out of workers while keeping pay increases down.

SNIP

Although the unemployment rate has dropped to a relatively low 5.2%, that figure doesn't count the hundreds of thousands of jobless people who've given up their searches and dropped out of the labor market at a greater rate than anytime since 1988. At the same time, the cost of health premiums has skyrocketed, eating into the pool of corporate cash set aside for raises. Although pay rose only about 2.4% last year, benefit costs jumped almost 7%.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&e=2&u=/latimests/wageslaggingbehindprices

& speaking of boycotts, lots of Chinese students are boycotting Japanese goods because of revisionist history - a new text whitewashes Japanese WW2 atrocities against China

Posted by: DiAnne at April 11, 2005 09:54 PM

I've heard. Junichiro Koizumi is not only one of Bush's best buddies, but also an admirer of Japan's war criminals. Some connection here indeed.

That leaves me with little more than Old Europe when it's time to buy my next car, which will be next year. At least Germany repents about its past. Japan does not - and wants to sell its new militarism as an asset to Bush.

Hopefully the Koreans and the British will clean up their acts by then and will be my alternatives.

Welcome back Casey L. Morris. My public library is very, very good. It recieves much volunteer community support. You should come see it.