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Something is happening but you don’t know what it is….
George Bush may want to take a quick vacation somewhere, anywhere, from September 24-26, unless he wants to spend the weekend surrounded by what is shaping up to be the most important demonstration against the Iraq War since he launched the invasion.
The energy was almost palpable at tonight’s meeting of the United for Peace and Justice mobilization for September 24-26. More than two-thirds of the people present were there for the first time, ready to staff up a rich series of marches, concerts, rallies, festivals, and civil disobedience.
Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern and Gold Start Mother Tia Steele appeared as guest speakers to start off the evening, before getting down to business.
Things kick off on Saturday, September 24 at 11:30 am with a joint rally sponsored by United for Peace & Justice and International ANSWER on the Ellipse. People will start marching at 12:30 PM, ending up back on the grounds of the Washington Monument in the mid-afternoon. At the monument, United Peace & Justice will have a 20-tent Peace and Justice Festival, while nearby Operation Ceasefire, working with United Peace & Justice, will put on a concert going into the early-morning hours on Sunday.
On Sunday, the Peace and Justice Festival will continue, plus training sessions for the two activities planned for Monday, nonviolent civil disobedience at the White House, and lobbying Congress. The theme of the civil disobedience demo is “Remember and Resist,” and is being organized around affinity groups.
Solidarity demonstrations are popping up overseas, including Australia, Canada, and London, with more expected.
Ray McGovern, who spent several days at Camp Casey, said that he felt more hopeful now than at any point since the start of the invasion in 2003. He said he felt we were on the cusp of something new. He talked about the anger that he and former analysts feel at what he called “the prostitution of the intelligence process.” In an ideal world, CIA analysts are supposed to provide the President with unvarnished analysis of proposals for government actions, regardless of whether the analysis conflicted with the political goals of other agencies. But McGovern said that CIA director George Tennant had “sold out” the agency rather than present unwanted advice and sold his seat at the table. Tennant committed “the cardinal sin—subverting the Constitution” by depriving the Congress of the information that Congresspeople needed in order to exercise their responsibility for declaring war.
McGovern also spoke about the anger. In the U.S., being angry for a sustained period has become socially unacceptable. But McGovern cited the words of the Christian philosopher Thomas Aquinas about “the virtue of anger.” Anger can be virtuous when it looks to justice. Aquinas also had some critical words for “unreasoned patience.” Too much patience in the face of injustice and evil was in itself dangerous, sowing the seeds of vice and encouraging even good people to do evil.
McGovern, who lived for 5 years in Germany, said he was particularly interested in the “unreasoned patience” that the people of Germany showed during Hitler’s rise to power. He said he had asked every German he met how it happened that he or she couldn’t find a voice to speak out against Hitler, but that no one had given him a compelling answer. McGovern mentioned Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s work against Hitler, but focused on the lesser known Albrecht Haushofer, a professor at the University of Berlin. Haushofer refused to sign a guilty plea before he was shot, but the guards found a sonnet in his pocket entitled “Guilt.” McGovern recited the poem in German, and then translated each line:
Schuld
…schuldig bin ich
Anders als Ihr denkt.
Ich musste früher meine Pflicht erkennen;
Ich musste schärfer Unheil Unheil nennen;
Mein Urteil habe ich zu lang gelenkt…
Ich habe gewarnt,
Aber nicht genug, und klar;
Und heute weiß ich, was ich schuldig war.
Guilt
I am guilty,
But not in the way you think.
I should have earlier recognized my duty;
I should have more sharply called evil, evil;
I reined in my judgment too long.
I did warn,
But not enough, and clear;
And today I know what I was guilty of.
(Click here for a speech McGovern gave after returning from Camp Casey.)
Tia Steele, who lost her son on November 12, 2004, spoke of the importance of learning how to listen to those with whom we disagree.
People need healing, she said, “and we can’t heal if we keep shouting.” Steele is working on a “facilitated dialogue” in Baltimore on September 11th, where people will be able to come together in a safe setting and explore their respective beliefs. She told a story about a conversation with a man who had lost one son in the line of duty as a policeman, and who had a son now serving in Iraq. In the end, despite having been a supporter of the war, he told her that “I just want him home.”
It is happening. The country is waking up to what the rest of the world already knew before our government decided to invade Iraq. It is only when we take the responsibility to inform and to help lead the way that our children may have a better life.
Jesus said "Be angry, and sin not." As we live our lives we try to integrate our belief system into our attitudes and actions.
A wise pastor told me years ago: "Anger is a secondary reaction. The primary reaction is usually one of hurt, sorrow, (etc.). Focus on the primary feeling, and the anger will take care of itself."
We can hurt together, be angry together, and stand up tall together, against injustice and corruption. To my way of thinking, the "sin not" part would be something along these lines: To meet corruption with corruption, thievery with thievery, neglect and abuse with neglect and abuse, murder with murder, lie with lie.
We are not about that. I sincerely believe that it is because Democrats are free spirits, artistic, educated, free thinkers, etc., that they are a bit harder to incorporate, and organize, and orchestrate. Democrats I know are artistic, and deep feeling, and honest, and they don't "fit in" to the neocon, churched culture that says "we all must be the same".
They have empathy, and sympathy, and compassion, and the ability to get past themselves (I call it get over yourself), and care for other people, individually and through causes.
Democrats are not the breed to meet an idiotic weak action with the same. Those "macho men" are led by their egos, many Democrats are led by their hearts.
Do we get angry? You are darned right! Do we turn around and do hateful things because we are angry? For the biggest percentage of us, no.
Anger can be channeled into very constructive works. It can be the catalyst that gets us off our complacent seats, and into the sea that says "NO". It's time.
CORRECTION:
We can hurt together, be angry together, and stand up tall together, against injustice and corruption. To my way of thinking, the "sin not" part would be something along these lines: To meet corruption with corruption, thievery with thievery, neglect and abuse with neglect and abuse, murder with murder, lie with lie.
Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at August 30, 2005 01:00 AM
What I meant to write in the paragraph above was: To NOT meet corruption with corruption, NOT meet thievery with thievery, NOT meet neglect and abuse with neglect and abuse, NOT meet murder with murder, or lie with lie. That is what it looks like to not meet wrongful acts with more wrongful acts. When Jesus said to "Be angry yet sin not" he wasn't saying to be a milqtoast pansie who mumbles soft syllables while waiting to get blasted again, in my opinion. I think he was saying to do something positive in the face of wrongdoing and evil. Standing together to ask for and seek truth, and to say NO MORE to the death of our youngsters is not wrong. It is using our anger as a positive catalyst.
*OFF TOPIC*
Sunflower found this story of hope in our local paper...thought I would pass it along :)
Riley County to install voter registration system
Will Klusener Staff Writer
Riley County, with the aid of the Help America Vote Act, is installing a new central voter registration system.
Along with Wyandotte, Sedgwick, and Saline counties, county clerk Rich Vargo told county commissioners this morning that it is a pilot county for a new program slated to go online today. Lyon, Miami, Sherman and Stanton counties go online Tuesday.
Vargo said new voting machines will also be added that should make voting easier. The new machines will be electronic, with the ability to print out paper receipts in the event of a manual recount.
EMERGENCY SITUATION IN NEW ORLEANS HAS DEVELOPED
There is a two block breech in the levy that holds back lake waters in New Orleans, near a hospital with 1000 critically ill patients, and
staff still inside.
Water is rising at the rate of 1 inch every 5 minutes, and has risen 6 ft. at the hospital.
They said the only way they will be able to evacuate the patients is by air lifting them out of the hospital, they cannot get them by boat, they are too ill. They are deciding right now if they are going to call for the evacuation to begin now.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000100&sid=aIdcROq_WWhw&refer=germany
These people need our prayers and good thoughts now more than ever.
(Where in the hell is our National Guard?)
http://www.cnn.com/
Breaking news updates on breach in levy in New Orleans.
Guilt
I am guilty,
But not in the way you think.
I should have earlier recognized my duty;
I should have more sharply called evil, evil;
I reined in my judgment too long.
I did warn,
But not enough, and clear;
And today I know what I was guilty of.
Posted by dickbell at August 29, 2005 10:48 PM
I was guilty too.
I should have spoken, instead of tying to not offend.
I worked hard in 04 but I didn't even look the year before.
When the war was instigated, I thought there was a possibility that Bush was lying but I wanted to believe in the patriotic duty to "fight 'em there instead of here."
I also rallied around the 9-11 call, but I didn't see how that day would be used to make me do anything under the sun.
Now, I know.
Now, I work hard.
I'm still afraid of offending, but I do it anyway.
It is a great missive, isn't it, sparrow?
Last night was kind of electric--way past petty differences in strategies and tactics--just a lotta hard working and focused people getting the word out about the Sept. 24-26 events.
Concerts
March
A Peace and Justice Festival
Training for lobbying
Training for civil disobedience
Legal help
Medical help
An interfaith service
Lobbying on the Hill
Nonviolent civil disobedience at the White House
It's all good and it's all important. We need millions here. Come.
And, in environmental news:
By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
MSNBC
The very technology that protects New Orleans from flooding has backfired, environmental experts say.
They say the levees that ring the city have led to the rapid decay of nearby wetlands during the past century, removing a crucial buffer zone that once protected the area from hurricanes.
Hurricanes quickly lose force when they hit land, but New Orleans is now vulnerable to violent storms because the land around it has been rapidly disappearing. Today, New Orleans is almost completely exposed to the Gulf of Mexico, said Val Marmillion, a consultant for the America's Wetland group, which is lobbying for the Louisiana coast area.
Read more...
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9118570/
(Where in the hell is our National Guard?)
Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at August 30, 2005 03:51 AM
That's a rhetorical question, right? :-)
About 3000 LA Guard personnel are in Iraq risking their lives to protect the oil wells for Bu$hCo and his corporate criminal cabal. I don't know about the Mississippi National Guard units, but I'm assuming a large number of Mississippi Guard personnel are also in Iraq. When I was watching the web feed from LA a few hours before Katrina hit, the TV anchors were talking to one of the Guard commanders from a command center in Baton Rouge, but I don't know if he was from LA or a neighboring state.
Guard units from surrounding states were on alert to help in LA, but it seems the eye of Katrina hit Gulfport, Mississippi.
In any case, those areas are all close to each other, even if there is the artificial state line between them, and the whole area has been ravaged by the hurricane.
Guard units are supposed to be under the control of the governors of individual states, 'cuz it's the governor of any state that activates Guard units in times of disaster. The Guard units are sometimes activated to go help people in disaster situations in other states, but it's still amazing to me that pResNitwit activated Guard units to serve overseas when they are supposed to be serving their military time here, stateside, so they are available when disasters strike on our own soil... not have to go overseas to protect the oil wells for Bu$hCo, Halliburton, etc.
I just wonder how rescue and cleanup operations normally done by Guard personnel will be hampered by the lack of Guard people to help with the aftermath of Katrina. I've seen some film footage where helicopters have rescued people from rooftops, etc., but I don't know if those were civilian helicopters or Guard helicopters pulling people to safety at the end of those ropes. The National Guard will be desperately needed in the next few weeks in those areas of Louisiana and Mississippi where Katrina hit the hardest. I'm well aware of the fact that people will help other people to the best of their ability, but it would be nice to know Guard personnel could be there in short order to help with things like helicopter rescue, organized search and rescue crews, etc., when necessary, without having to deplete Guard units from other states that may need their own people at this time from the rain Katrina is still dumping on other people in other states.
If the cleanup and rescue efforts in Katrina's wake are hampered by lack of Guard personnel, they have only one person to blame......
Hope you all see the amazing photo taken by our own madame defarge on the front page today...
I just wonder how rescue and cleanup operations normally done by Guard personnel will be hampered by the lack of Guard people to help with the aftermath of Katrina.
Posted by: NonnyO at August 30, 2005 08:25 AM
Sub-Contract, Sub-Contract, Sub-Contract !!!!!!
Wonder who has a vested interest in "those" corporations?
20,000 Leaks Under the Seige
Sub-Contract, Sub-Contract, Sub-Contract !!!!!!
Wonder who has a vested interest in "those" corporations?
20,000 Leaks Under the Seige
Posted by: monkey at August 30, 2005 09:08 AM
I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count..... :-(
Love the photo on the main page!
I got a long email from the organizers of an all-city walkout by the high schools and community colleges on the anniversary of the election. If they are already organizing and have set up booths at all the fairs, this could be really something! They are very active against military recruiters in schools too. They also sent out Bush's latest poll ratings (40% in one, 36% in another).
Furthermore, it's not even the height of Hurricane season yet, as we in Florida who experienced hell on earth last September can vouch for.
What then, should another major storm strike this year?
My free spirited, artistic, educated, free thinking heart goes out to all affected by Katrina.
P.S. No such thing as global warming, huh Dumbya?
Blinded by the Right
Info on Louisiana National Guard
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/arng-la.htm
Now how many are deployed abroad?
from Kos, Sunday
Louisiana, along with New York, has lost more guardsmen and reservists - 23 as of July 24 - than any state in the nation, and all but one of those deaths have come in the last eight months.
And like so many fighting in Iraq, the soldiers are from small, tightly knit towns - Olla, Batchelor, Opelousa, Pineville, Natchitoches, Ruston, Crowley and Houma.
Ok, off to work now.
Just had an expert on CNN talking about the effect of Katrina on energy prices.
He said this storm adds insult to injury, and then said that Americans are paying more than $1 billion a DAY more than they were 3 years ago for energy.
$250 million more a DAY than a year ago.
$500 million more a DAY than 2 years ago.
Can we believe this? Hmmm...flatening poll numbers...time to pull the old al-Qaida out of the hat trick!
U.S.: Airstrike kills al-Qaida operative in Iraq
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9126948/
But hey, where is Osama? When do they pull out the ole' Osama look-alike and parade him before the fake news networks.
What't their next trick going to be?
Posted by: monkey at August 30, 2005 09:31 AM
And people thought Bush was stupid!
Wonder what his kick-back is...
Blinded by the Right
Posted by: monkey at August 30, 2005 09:22 AM
Hoodwinked by the wrong too!!
Beautiful picture on the main page!
Posted by dickbell at August 29, 2005 10:48 PM
Excellent thread header, Dick!
I love Ray McGovern's ability to speak clearly and concisely! The poem he quoted is also apt, and I am sending it to the people on my email list.
I firmly believe that if pResNitwit doesn't leave town Sept 24-26, he'll find a way to elevate the 'ter-rr-ist' alert to red and try to call off the peace demonstrations that weekend, starting the Monday before that so people have enough time not to be on the road already on the way to DC if they don't live locally. Fear of the unknown is the trick that's worked the best for him in the past, so he'll try it again, I believe. (Red is the top color, isn't it? I don't think anyone pays attention to the alert levels nowadays since he's cried wolf so often in the past.) However, the news stories I've been following regarding Cindy Sheehan mention she's going to be in DC that weekend, so I suspect she will be there come hell or high water, and nothing will keep her away, which gives courage to those who are peace activists who might be tempted to stay home if the alert level is raised.
Anger can be a positive force for good. I suspect that's what's driving Cindy Sheehan and other parents who have lost children in Iraq who support Sheehan's efforts, and I applaud the use of anger for peaceful positive change. I suspect she's also working through a lot of depression while using her anger for peaceful and positive changes in making people aware of the false reasons adult children have been sent to Iraq; children are not supposed to die before their parents. The point is that she's using her stages of grief for something positive. Having gone through grief more than once, I realize the alternative to channeling all those emotions involved in grief for positive things is to collapse hysterically in a depressed heap, pull the covers over one's head, and sob uncontrollably because one is helpless to do anything else.
Anger is one of the five stages of grief (besides denial, depression, bargaining, and acceptance), and the one I had the most difficult time with until I took hospice training after my father died and found out it was normal. Whether doing ordinary housework or something more constructive, a bit of anger can fuel the fires of adrenalin rushes to get things done efficiently, and more quickly than one can imagine! When writing while angry, thoughts coalesce and expression has more clarity - little editing has to be done! (Speaking from experience here!) I don't know why that's so, but it is (at least in my case). That's why Cindy Sheehan's words strike all the 'believability' chords in people who have always questioned the reasons for Bu$hCo's insane war, in spite of the propaganda from MSM, whether they have loved ones or friends in the military here or abroad or not - IMHO. What she has to say makes a lot of sense to me, at least, because I know she's speaking from her heart that aches with loneliness for her dead son. It doesn't invalidate how much she loves her three living children, but the loss of the oldest has left an angry, gaping hole in her heart because she knows the Chicken Hawk-in-Chief's war is only for oil, which profits him and his corporate buddies. That's NOT a good reason for anyone to die in a war!!! It's NOT a "noble cause" for which one sends adult children to fight - and/or die - for!!!
What Noble Cause Did Casey Sheehan Die For?
"Islam is the official religion of the state and is a basic source of legislation. No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam."
- Iraqi Constitution supported by Iran-backed Shiites and the Bush Administration (but opposed by Sunni leaders)
"Fortunately, after years of effort and expectations in Iraq, an Islamic state has come to power and the constitution has been established on the basis of Islamic precepts. We must congratulate the Iraqi people and authorities for this victory."
- Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of Iran's powerful ultra-conservative Guardian Council
"This is the future of the new Iraqi government - it will be in the hands of the clerics. I wanted Iraqi women to be free, to be able to talk freely and to able to move around. I am not going to stay here."
- Dr. Raja Kuzai, an obstetrician and secular Shiite member of the Assembly who met President Bush in the White House in November 2003.
(t r u t h o u t)
The Lords of War
George Bush. "One dead American for every day in office".
by Mike Whitney
President Bush's latest milestone in the war on terror has been predictably ignored in the mainstream media. Bush, who is now in the fifth year of his presidency, has served 1727 days in office. With the death toll in Iraq currently at 1873 servicemen, Bush can now boast that at least one American has died for every day he's been in office; a sobering tribute to a man who wants to be remembered "a war president".
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article10026.htm
Helen Thomas: Democrats Must Call For Pullout:
Voters Will Punish Opposition For Not Opposing War
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article10033.htm
Cindy Sheehan's Diary : One Mother's Stand :
A photographer friend of mine went down to Crawford to the Pro-War, Anti-Peace rally today. There were about 1500 people there he said. He also said that it was the most "third reich" spectacle that he had ever seen in America.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article10030.htm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050829/ap_on_go_su_co/roberts
Leahy: Democrats Will Question Roberts
Excerpt (more on link):
WASHINGTON - Democrats plan to question Supreme Court nominee John Roberts about a disavowed Justice Department memo that critics say led to torture in foreign prisons, top Senate Judiciary Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont said Monday.
Leahy said he gave Roberts a copy of the so-called "Bybee memo" during a meeting Monday in the Senate's Russell office building. It was the second meeting between the two men since July, when President Bush nominated Roberts to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Then-Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee argued in a Jan. 22, 2002, memo that the president has the power to issue orders that violate the Geneva Conventions as well as international and U.S. laws prohibiting torture.
"It will be raised, partly on the question of to what area — if any — can a president be considered above the law," Leahy told reporters.
Bush Commemorates End of WW2
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5242703,00.html
Look at this propaganda they're coming up with - just read this! It's insulting to WW2 vets like my dad was.
Wonderful photo on the front page of the beautiful little girl putting roses by the crosses....
Way to go, Madame! Are you a professional photographer? :-)
figures. Warner had a good chance of beating dirtbag Allen.
RICHMOND, Aug. 29 -- Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) plans to announce Tuesday that he will not challenge Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) next year, leaving the popular Democrat free to explore a presidential bid, several close associates said Monday.
Warner, who leaves office in January, will announce his decision on his monthly radio show on WTOP, said Virginia Democratic Party Chairman C. Richard Cranwell, a Warner confidant.
Feels Like Rain
by John Hiatt
Down here the river meets the sea
And in the sticky heat I feel ya’ open up to me
Love comes out of nowhere baby, like a hurricane
And it feels like rain
Underneath the stars lying next to you
Wondering who you are baby
How do you do?
When the clouds blow in across the moon
And the wind howls out your name
Feels like rain
We’ll never make that bridge tonight
Across Lake Ponchatrain...
And it feels like rain
Batten down the hatches
But keep your heart out on your sleeve
A little bit of stormy weather, that’s no cause for us to leave
Just stay here baby, in my arms
Let it wash away the pain
Feels like rain
Slight Majority Say Bush Should Meet With Sheehan
Survey Suggests Mother's Actions Have Little Impact on War Views
By Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 30, 2005; 7:00 AM
Slightly more than half of the country says President Bush should meet with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed last year in Iraq, who is leading a protest against the war outside Bush's ranch in Crawford, Tex., according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The survey found that 52 percent of the public says Bush should talk to Sheehan, who has repeatedly asked for a meeting with the president, while 46 percent said he should not. Fifty-three percent support what she is doing while 42 percent oppose her actions, according to the poll.
Sheehan began her protest three weeks ago, four days after Bush began a five-week vacation at his Crawford ranch. She has repeatedly demanded that Bush meet with her to discuss the war. The two met last year at an event for military families, and Bush has repeatedly declined another meeting. Recently Sheehan announced plans to embark on a bus tour after protesters break camp later this week. The bus tour will end in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24 with a 24-hour vigil.
Like the war and Bush's overall handling of the situation in Iraq, attitudes toward Sheehan divide along sharply partisan lines. Seven in 10 Democrats say they support Sheehan's position on Iraq while an equal proportion of Republicans oppose her.
In the three weeks since she began her protest, Sheehan has quickly become the most visible symbol of the anti-war movement. Fully three in four Americans say they have read or heard about Sheehan and her protest.
The survey also suggests, however, that Sheehan's anti-war vigil has failed to mobilize large numbers of Americans against the war. If anything, her opposition has done as much to drive up support for the war as ignite opponents, the survey found.
Eight in 10 Americans--including overwhelming majorities of Democrats, Republicans and political independents--say Sheehan's protest has had no impact on their attitudes toward Iraq. While one in 10 say she has made them less likely to support the war, the same proportion say she has made them more likely to back the conflict.
A total of 1,006 randomly selected adults were interviewed by telephone Aug. 25 through 28 for this national survey. The margin of sampling error for the overall results is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Additional results from this Post-ABC News poll will be available at 5 p.m. today at washingtonpost.com.
The survey also suggests, however, that Sheehan's anti-war vigil has failed to mobilize large numbers of Americans against the war. If anything, her opposition has done as much to drive up support for the war as ignite opponents, the survey found.
Posted by: monkey at August 30, 2005 11:04 AM
Bulls**t!!! Absolute bulls**t!!!
We're going to prove them wrong!
Madame,
Please contain yourself.
This is what they want. A violent and angry reaction from the people who were there.
Peace.
We'll show them who this Nation belongs to in Washington when Americans from all walks of life and from every state converge to demand accountability and responsibility of our leadership.
The lies will soon be over.
Rome will soon fall.
And Ceasar shall meet a deserved end.
Trust what you felt at Camp Casey.
We are NOT going quietly.
Posted by: Indy at August 30, 2005 11:33 AM
Sigh. You're right...
OK, centering...
oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Posted by: DiAnne at August 30, 2005 09:49 AM
You're right, DiAnne!!! I had to emit a few sonic screams to read that crap!
This bit was the first screamer:
``The president will draw some historical comparisons between the war that we were fighting then and ... the global war that we're engaged in now,'' White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said.
WHAT "historical comparisons?!?!?" There are NO comparisons to draw: none, zero, zip, nada, zilch!!! WWII was not a war of choice; Bu$h's war was one of choice against a country that was not an enemy and had not attacked us, and by all standards and laws known it is illegal, unjustified, immoral, and unethical!!!
The ridiculousness of this administration just got worse from there in that article.... He's apparently giving that speech today, and the European presses have covered it. I wonder if MSM in this country has covered the speech and if they'll do sound bytes on this evening's news?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050830/sc_afp/usweatherscience
Brace for more Katrinas, say experts
PARIS (AFP) - For all its numbing ferocity, Hurricane Katrina will not be a unique event, say scientists, who say that global warming appears to be pumping up the power of big Atlantic storms.
{{{ OK... remind me again: What was that rationalization the Nitwit gave for not signing on to the Kyoto treaty? That it would not be profitable for the corporations? Well, it looks like corporations on the Gulf won't have much to worry about if hurricanes wipe them off the face of the earth.... It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!!!}}}
Hurricane Could Turn City into Toxic Cesspool
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/082905Q.shtml
Though Hurricane Katrina didn't deliver a direct hit on New Orleans Monday, there still were fears that the storm could turn one of America's most charming cities into a vast cesspool tainted with toxic chemicals, human waste and even coffins released by floodwaters from the city's legendary cemeteries.
Totally OT but it couldn't have happened to anyone more "deserving"...
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001050448&imw=Y
'Arizona Daily Star' Drops Ann Coulter's 'Shrill' Column
The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson has had enough of conservative commentator Ann Coulter.
In a column announcing a wide range of changes in the paper's opinion pages Monday, Editor and Publisher David Stoeffler revealed that the paper was dropping Coulter's syndicated column.
"Many readers find her shrill, bombastic, and mean-spirited. And those are the words used by readers who identified themselves as conservatives," the recently appointed Stoeffler wrote.
One recent example of Coulter's controversial approach was in her Aug. 10 column. She wrote: "(T)he savages have declared war, and it's far preferable to fight them in the streets of Baghdad than in the streets of New York -- where the residents would immediately surrender."
~snip~
I'll be driving down to DC Friday evening after work.
Looking forward to seeing some of the DCP folks while attending some of the events. You may also get to meet my son. If so, please offer your condolences for his having been subjected to my nonstop rants for the last 5 years. Fortunately for me he's over 18 or I could have been charged with child abuse...
US Again Delays Decision on Sale of Next-Day Pill
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/082905HA.shtml
Federal drug regulators on Friday once again delayed making a decision on allowing over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill, saying they needed more time to gather public reaction to the plan and to figure out how they could enforce it.
The Boston Globe | For Women and Children
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/082905WA.shtml
Boston Globe editors support a bill introduced by New York Democrat Nita Lowey that would provide aid to protect women and children from being raped, killed, or forced into servitude as soldiers, domestics and sex slaves in foreign wars and disasters.
[In foreign countries, she means, and that says nothing about the victimization of women and children in our own country......]
{{{ Does anyone besides me see the extreme hypocrisy in these two stories?!?!? WHEN will male (and some female) legislators give women adult status with these laws they keep trying to make to restrict a woman's ability to know what's best for her own body and mind?!? The laws they institute to restrict women's ability to act like responsible adults with any sort of personal autonomy is insulting to my intelligence as an adult (borderline Senior Citizen, at that), and to me as a woman (and on behalf of other women much younger than me who really need to NOT have these childish laws in effect to force them to be legal children who can't manage to make responsible decisions for themselves)!!! And, let's make sure our own country is running correctly before pResNitwit or other legislators start dictating to other countries what they can and cannot do, even as they try to cram Bu$h's version of a dictatorial puppet democracy down the throats of citizens of another nation after he invades and destroys their country... in view of the shame all normally moral beings feel about Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, we don't need to be the prime example of the 'world's greatest hypocrites,' thanks to what pResNitwit & his corporate criminal cabal have already done....}}}
Posted by: dwahzon at August 30, 2005 12:44 PM
:-)
But, dwahzon, "media reform" is one of the original goals of this blog! The story is right on topic, in that sense (IMHO).
Anyway, it's nice that you are considerate and share such lovely news with the rest of us!!! :-)
Just FYI...
This is a very small part of a longer more detailed article well worth reading... (yes you have to set thru the little commercial but it's not too bad today)
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/08/30/fcc_indecency/index.html
The FCC's cable crackdown
The indecency war is ready to heat up -- and Tony Soprano, Jon Stewart and the "South Park" kids better watch their mouths.
~snip~
Commissioner Kevin J. Martin, whom President Bush has since appointed FCC chairman...is now poised to win the broader indecency war. During the long hot summer in Washington, he has been quietly meeting with religious activists and industry leaders to organize a push for new standards for broadcast, cable and satellite television. At the same time, Martin's allies in the Senate have been considering new laws that could increase broadcast indecency fines, break up cable TV offerings to allow parents to cut off racy channels, and -- most controversially -- give the FCC the power to fine basic cable programs, like MTV's "Real World" and Comedy Central's "Daily Show," for crude and lewd content.
~snip~
In the coming weeks, observers expect Martin to act upon between 30 and 50 outstanding indecency complaints, the first step in clearing a backlog of hundreds of allegedly inappropriate broadcasts on television and radio. He has promised to remake the indecency process, speeding FCC responses and establishing a clearer precedent of what constitutes indecent programming. "The fact that we have not had any fines this year really just means we are in the eye of the hurricane," says one former FCC official, who has been following the situation. The storm first hit in 2004, when the FCC, under then-chairman Michael Powell, proposed $3.7 million in fines, more than twice as much as all the fines issued in the previous decade.
In the meantime, Martin, a former White House aide to President Bush, has been meeting privately with evangelical activists to assure them of his commitment to change the television landscape. The government does not regulate shows distributed over cable or satellite television for indecency. Similarly, there are no indecency limits on the content of satellite radio, where shock-jock Howard Stern sought refuge and will begin broadcasting next year. But in one session this summer, Martin told activists that he is privately reaching out to industry leaders to address racy content on basic cable and satellite television, says Rick Schatz, the president of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, a Christian ministry. "He said the free rein of cable and satellite and satellite radio is not acceptable," says Schatz, who sat in on the meeting. "He's committed to seeing something is done during his tenure."
Martin has asked media companies to offer a new "family-friendly" tier of cable programming, a package that would likely exclude channels like MTV and Spike TV. "If cable and satellite operators continue to refuse to offer parents more tools, basic indecency and profanity restrictions may be a viable alternative," he said during a House hearing in February 2004. New government restrictions would require an act of Congress.
But Martin seems to have found an ally in the Senate, where Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, recently became the chairman of the Commerce Committee. "We put restrictions on over-the-air signals," Stevens said of network broadcasts in March. "I think we can put restrictions on cable itself." His staff has been reviewing new regulatory options, looking for ideas that would survive a court challenge on First Amendment grounds. Though no schedule has been put forward, several people following the issue expect to see hearings scheduled later this fall.
~snip~
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050830/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush
Bush Marks End of WWII Anniversary
{{{ Three short paragraphs... Quotes from the loudmouth that attempt to solidify his self-delusion that he's a 'war president.' The photo with the story has him hawking his Medicare prescription program that Seniors are NOT signing up for because it's as easy to understand as any of the dead languages. Don't read until after you take your blood pressure medicine....}}}
Roberts Tried to Rein In Employment Agency, Memo Says
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/082905R.shtml
As a young government lawyer, Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. proposed reining in the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because its civil rights positions were "totally inconsistent" with President Ronald W. Reagan's policies, a newly released memo says.
War Critics Have Backing, but Not Much of a Following
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/082905S.shtml
Although support for the Iraq war is waning, this news analysis says, there is not a critical mass of support behind any alternative policy option and divisions are strongest among Democrats.
That's a great photo, madame defarge.
At the Vigils, would you all also inculde a non-denominational prayer or send energy to those who are still trapped in New Orleans. I have been unable to contact my parents, five siblings and two in-laws who are there...there is no electricity, water or phone service.
One brother and his wife made it to Burton Texas and said he was able to contact a friend through satellite phone. 90% of the mid to high rise buildings sustained structural damage. The east side of the Hyatt, connected to the Superdome looks like Oaklahoma City after the bombings.
Just when we thought it could not get any worse...but as with any time in human history...
It takes the worst to bring out the best in humanity.
Thanks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050830/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_hurricane
Bush Returning to Monitor Hurricane Effort
CORONADO, Calif. - President Bush will cut short his vacation to return to Washington on Wednesday, two days earlier than planned, to help monitor federal efforts to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina, the White House said Tuesday.
{{{ Is cutting his vacation short by two days supposed to impress anyone?!? Or is he cutting his vacation short so he can coordinate corporations to go carpetbagging in the disaster areas?!? Or is that a PR move that the kool-aid drinking sheeples will be impressed with??? Or did he return to do some other mischief in secret while the nation's attention is diverted to the hurricane disaster that we won't find out about until after the fact?!?}}}
Indy - prayers to your family.
Karen, Dick, - will the DCP have a tent set up? I'm coming down!
Indy, prayers indeed.
My older brother is heading to Louisiana tomorrow to assist in humanitarian aid, driving a truckload of food and beverages, and is being told to expect to be there for months.
Tent cities will be erected apparently in Lafayette, LA and Pensacola, FL for the scores of homeless.
Blessings to all, and thank you to those who are giving of themselves in this time of need for so many.
for those who are interested in environmental issues, LUTD has an interesting alert here...
Public Comment on OCS Ocean Drilling
26 August 2005
“The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service announced that it is seeking initial public comment on the development of its 2007-2012 five-year leasing plan for energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and accompanying environmental impact statement…
“The Bush Administration has repeatedly expressed its support for the existing moratoria, based upon deference to the wishes of the states to determine what activities take place off their coasts…
“However, recent energy legislation passed by Congress calls for a comprehensive inventory and analysis of the oil and natural gas resources for all areas of the OCS..
~snip~
Continue reading here... http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=1332
I thought of Indy last night and his family in LA. Prayers to all in the area...
Ran across a great OP/ED in the B Globe on Katrina and Global Warming - post here:
Katrina’s Real Name — Global Warming - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=385
And a follow-up post here:
The Ravages of Hurricane Katrina and the Global Warming Connection -
http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=387
It was evident yesterday we would wake today to find mass destruction in the area. Again, prayers to Indy and his family and all in the areas devastated by Katrina.
Oil prices surpass $70/barrel today and Bush still refuses to release reserves from the strategic oil reserves. At what point does it become a national emergency or in our national security for him or for the nation? A catatrophic hurricane perhaps.
I will continue to post about skyrocketing oil prices until I hear our leaders take real action to ease the pain.
Wall Street Journal: Investors see $100/barrel oil
Hurricane Katrina, which killed dozens and left a million without power, sent stocks sliding in New York trading Monday, with oil prices over $70/barrel.
The market got some good news from the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, or LOOP, which suggests no catastrophic damage to the energy shipment hub south of New Orleans. Even so, refineries are closed across the region and oil rigs are floating like rubber ducks in a giant bathtub.
The WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTS: "The sight of oil topping $70 alarmed analysts and sparked worries that prices could keep going higher. Analysts projected a possible slow creep: "We could see oil hovering around $75, and then we could get to $80 and $85 and then $100 a barrel is right around the corner," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment officer at Oaktree Asset Management.
{{{ Pitt's writing keeps getting better every day! Recommended reading to the very end!!! You'll laugh or cry... or both....}}}
William Rivers Pitt | Here's the Funny Part
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/083005I.shtml
George W. Bush coughed up his latest rationale for continuing the Iraq war - I think this is the fourth or fifth one of these to this point - by saying that because so many American soldiers have been killed, we have to keep sending American soldiers to get killed as a means of honoring the American soldiers who have been killed. William Rivers Pitt says this is big talk from a guy who spends more time on vacation than a French aristocrat.
What an absolute insult to the victims of the holocaust, Omaha Beach, FDR, Hiroshima, and to my parent's greatest generation. When will the press or our fine veterans step up to the plate and say this is over the top?
"Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, the president drew comparisons between that 20th-century conflict and current wars on terror and in Iraq"
Bush to go to a Diamondback tonight game while hurricane victims suffer. What a message of getting his priorities straight.
Bolton Wants '11th Hour' Changes to UN Reform Plan
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/083005K.shtml
General Assembly President Jean Ping named a core group of 30 countries to try and work through Mr. Bolton's 750 requested amendments. The group will focus on hard-core issues, such as "defining terrorism and financing development" where the US and most other countries in the world have completely opposite positions.
{{{ Maybe Nitwit is cutting his vacation short by two days to go back to give NutsBolts advice on how to be more of a bully than he already is?!?}}}
Intelligent Design Has No Place in the Science Curriculum
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/083005N.shtml
At least 19 states are now debating the use of intelligent design in public education, and President Bush commented in August that he thought both evolution and intelligent design "ought to be properly taught."
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This is an important story:
Census: Poverty rate rises for 4th straight year
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's poverty rate rose to 12.7% of the population last year, the fourth consecutive annual increase, the Census Bureau said Tuesday.
Children play outside a public housing complex on Cleveland's west side Aug. 23. Cleveland had been the most impoverished city, but now it's Detroit.
The percentage of people without health insurance did not change.
Overall, there were 37 million people living in poverty, up 1.1 million people from 2003. (Related story: Census findings on living costs, education)
Asians were the only ethnic group to show a decline in poverty — from 11.8% in 2003 to 9.8% last year. The poverty rate among the elderly declined as well, from 10.2% in 2003 to 9.8% last year.
The last decline in overall poverty was in 2000, when 31.1 million people lived under the threshold — 11.3% of the population. Since then, the poverty rate has increased steadily from 11.7% in 2001, when the economy slipped into recession, to 12.5% in 2003.
The number of people without health insurance grew from 45 million to 45.8 million. At the same time, the number of people with health insurance coverage grew by 2 million last year.
Charles Nelson, an assistant division chief at the Census Bureau, said the percentage of uninsured remained steady because of an "increase in government coverage, notably Medicaid and the state children's health insurance program, that offset a decline in employment-based coverage."
The median household income, meanwhile, stood at $44,389, unchanged from 2003. Among racial and ethnic groups blacks had the lowest median income and Asians the highest. Median income refers to the point at which half of households earn more and half earn less.
Regionally, income declined only in the Midwest, down 2.8% to $44,657. The South was the poorest region and the Northeast and the West had the highest median incomes.
The increase in poverty came despite strong economic growth, which helped create 2.2 million jobs last year.
"I guess what happened last year was kind of similar to what happened in the early 1990s where you had a recession that was officially over and then you had several years after that of rising poverty," Nelson said. "... These numbers do reflect changes between 2003 and 2004. They don't reflect any improvements in the economy in 2005."
Tim Smeeding, an economics professor at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, says the nation has experienced a shift from earnings income to capital income and capital gains, which aren't reflected in the Census Bureau's latest numbers.
"Most of that growth in the economy over the last couple of years has gone to higher income people and has taken the form of capital income — interest, rents, dividends," Smeeding said.
The poverty threshold differs by the size and makeup of a household. For instance, a family of four with two children was considered living in poverty if income was $19,157 or less. For a family of two with no children, it was $12,649. For a person 65 and over living alone, it was 9,060.
The estimates on poverty, uninsured and income are based on supplements to the bureau's Current Population Survey, and are conducted over three months, beginning in February, at about 100,000 households nationwide.
The only city with a million or more residents that exhibited a significant change in poverty level last year was New York City, which saw the rate increase from 19% to 20.3%.
Patriot Act Support Shrinks with Increased Info
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/083005Y.shtml
{{{ Gee... Wonder what gave them their first clue?!?}}}
Madame and Indy,
Does this bring back fond memories?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4504083
Posted by: dwahzon at August 30, 2005 01:11 PM
Why only worry about shows that aren't during family hours? Why can't they fix the problems they have during day times too--like the fake media. I'd like for them to regulate the fake media too--offer viewers a chance to purchase REAL media and eliminate the FOX, CNN, MSNBC.
If they can help censor comedy, why not fake news?
Bush proposed cutting $72 million dollars in 2006 from the Louisiana Army Corp of Engineers and New Orleans to be used to study fortification of N.O.levees.
Considering the picture of the young women at the start of this thread, I think the following is appropriate and educational for the rest of us born before 1987:
Most of today's college freshmen were born in 1987, which means Starbucks, souped-up car stereos, telephone voice mail systems and Bill Gates have always been a part of their lives. Formal dress is quaint. Aretha Franklin, Kermit the Frog and Jimmy Carter are all old-timers. They've never been tossed in the back of a station wagon with a bunch of friends and told to keep the noise down, walked in the woods without fearing Lyme disease or ever tried to eat all 28 ice cream flavors at Howard Johnson's.
Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2009:
Andy Warhol, Liberace, Jackie Gleason and Lee Marvin have always been dead.
They don't remember when "cut and paste" involved scissors.
Heart-lung transplants have always been possible.
Wayne Gretzky never played for Edmonton.
Boston has been working on "The Big Dig" all their lives.
With little need to practice, most of them do not know how to tie a tie.
Pay-per-view television has always been an option.
They never had the fun of being thrown into the back of a station wagon with six others.
Iran and Iraq have never been at war with each other.
They are more familiar with Greg Gumbel than with Bryant Gumbel.
Philip Morris has always owned Kraft Foods.
Al-Qaeda has always existed with Osama bin Laden at its head.
They learned to count with Lotus 1-2-3.
Car stereos have always rivaled home component systems.
Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker have never preached on television.
Voice mail has always been available.
"Whatever" is not part of a question but an expression of sullen rebuke.
The federal budget has always been more than a trillion dollars.
Condoms have always been advertised on television.
They may have fallen asleep playing with their Gameboys in the crib.
They have always had the right to burn the flag.
For daily caffeine emergencies, Starbucks has always been around the corner.
Ferdinand Marcos has never been in charge of the Philippines.
Money put in their savings account the year they were born earned almost 7 percent interest.
Bill Gates has always been worth at least a billion dollars.
Dirty dancing has always been acceptable.
Southern fried chicken, prepared with a blend of 11 herbs and spices, has always been available in China.
Michael Jackson has always been bad, and greed has always been good.
The Starship Enterprise has always looked dated.
Pixar has always existed.
There has never been a "fairness doctrine" at the FCC.
Judicial appointments routinely have been "Borked."
Aretha Franklin has always been in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
There have always been zebra mussels in the Great Lakes.
Police have always been able to search garbage without a search warrant.
It has always been possible to walk from England to mainland Europe on dry land.
They have grown up in a single superpower world.
They missed the oat bran diet craze.
American Motors has never existed.
Scientists have always been able to see supernovas.
Les Miserables has always been on stage.
Halogen lights have always been available at home, with a warning.
"Baby M" may be a classmate, and contracts with surrogate mothers have always been legal.
RU486, the "morning after pill," has always been on the market.
There has always been a pyramid in front of the Louvre in Paris.
British Airways has always been privately owned.
Irradiated food has always been available but controversial.
Snowboarding has always been a popular winter pastime.
Libraries have always been the best centers for computer technology and access to good software.
Biosphere 2 has always been trying to create a revolution in the life sciences.
The Hubble Telescope has always been focused on new frontiers.
Researchers have always been looking for stem cells.
They do not remember "a kinder and gentler nation."
They never saw the shuttle Challenger fly.
The TV networks have always had cable partners.
Airports have always had upscale shops and restaurants.
Black Americans have always been known as African-Americans.
They never saw Pat Sajak or Arsenio Hall host a late night television show.
Matt Groening has always had a Life in Hell.
Salman Rushdie has always been watching over his shoulder.
Digital cameras have always existed.
Tom Landry never coached the Cowboys.
Time Life and Warner Communications have always been joined.
CNBC has always been on the air.
The Field of Dreams has always been drawing people to Iowa.
They never saw a Howard Johnson's with 28 ice cream flavors.
Reindeer at Christmas have always distinguished between secular and religious decorations.
Entertainment Weekly has always been on the newsstand.
Lyme disease has always been a ticking concern in the woods.
Jimmy Carter has always been an elder statesman.
Miss Piggy and Kermit have always dwelt in Disneyland.
"America's Funniest Home Videos" has always been on television.
Their nervous new parents heard C. Everett Koop proclaim nicotine as addictive as heroin.
Lever has always been looking for 2000 parts to clean.
They have always been challenged to distinguish between news and entertainment on cable TV.
I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all members of the military profession I never had an original thought until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of the higher- ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service: Major General Smedley Butler, USMC.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4377.htm
{{{ WOW!!! This quote and link were at the top of the ICH newsletter. The piece was written in 1933, and except for the jarring numbers and the fact that the World War he's talking about is the First World War, most of what he said could have been written 70 years later in 2003. Seventy years, WWII, Korea, Nam, and Iraq later, and NOTHING has been learned from even recent history that is still remembered by the eldest citizens of this nation!!!!!!! People are still falling for the same propaganda, the same bandwagon patriotism, soldiers are still the ones taking the brunt of the danger or being killed, and the corporations are still the biggest winners from war.... Nothing has changed.... Highly recommended reading...!!!}}}
If you haven't caught what's been going on in Kentucky...chk out this site.
http://www.bluegrassreport.org/
very interesting point about accepting a pardon as being an admittance of guilt about 1/2 way down- see Burdick vs US.....
Shrub found a new card-- BushCo understands that the public is no longer scared by the old ploys. The now line:
"BUSH SAID A PULL-OUT WOULD ALLOW AL QAEDA TO TAKE HOLD OF IRAQ'S OIL FIELDS TO FUND NEW ATTACKS."
Are there no depths this regime cannot attain?
(The picture with this article is unsettling (to me, at least)-- click to enlarge)
_________________
Bush appeals to public to support him on Iraq
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-08-30T204039Z_01_SCH068514_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-BUSH-DC.XML
It is hard work everybody. Here is a picture that shouldn't surprise anybody
http://www.pensitoreview.com/2005/08/30/bush-fiddles-with-a-guitar-while-new-orleans-floods/
AND introducing...another valuable web poll!!!
SURVEY
Should President George W. Bush be in the Southwest drumming up support for his policies while Hurricane Katrina batters the Gulf Coast?
Yes
No
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/militaryconnection/4912531/detail.html
Posted by: oncall at August 30, 2005 07:03 PM
And that, Oncall, is from the man who has no time to meet with the mom of a murdered soldier.
David Swanson at afterdowningstreet has a task for us: "See if you can find Bush"
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/2418
"This is the choice we face: Do we return to the pre-September 11 mind-set of isolation and retreat? Or do we continue to take the fight to the enemy and support our allies in the broader Middle East?" Bush said.
"I've made my decision. We will stay on the offensive. We will stand with the people of Iraq and we will prevail," Bush said.
Pardon me Mr. Presnitwit,
But weren't the "enemies" in Afghanistan? And by standing with the Iraqi people, do you mean killing 100,000 of them as well?
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-08-30T204039Z_01_SCH068514_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-BUSH-DC.XML
Posted by: aimzzz at August 30, 2005 06:46 PM
True, the picture is very unsettling... like the one with the patriotic bunting that some said looked sorta like a skirt and his hand out in the sig heil salute a few months back.... Creepy beyond belief....
I've finally come to the conclusion that every time Nitwit and his administration cannot possibly sink any lower that I must expect he or they will. (Of course, I also have an old scarf by my chair now to tie my chin back on my head when it falls on my keyboard or on the floor with his latest atrocity or latest speech propaganda for justifying his war... each day or each week....)
Posted by: oncall at August 30, 2005 07:03 PM
Besides the scarf holding my chin up, now I have this nervous tic where my head is shaking back and forth.... How the hell will we ever get through the next two and a half years with an idiot like that as our "leader"?!?!?
The Great Lie Of Our Times
Where are senators Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, John Kerry, Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman? They all voted for Bush's war.
By Bill Gallagher
As long as those gutless Democrats are the party's "leaders," George W. Bush will continue his senseless war. People with sense are listening to Cindy Sheehan and following her admirable leadership.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article10034.htm
Excerpt (more on link, including Rowley's retort to an NBC reporter during an interview after going to Camp Casey):
But other veterans have a more sober and sane assessment of George W. Bush. Last week, at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Salt Lake City, Bush repeated the great lie of our times -- that the war in Iraq is linked to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and that the imperial war there makes us safer at home.
"The lesson of Sept. 11, 2001, is that we must confront the threats before they materialize," Bush said in his speech.
Bush speaking to the VFW gathering is like an Orthodox rabbi offering advice on pork recipes to a cooking class. Joyfully, not all the delegates were buying his fantasies. One of them, 73-year-old Bill Moyer, wore cardboard covers over his ears labeled "bullshit protectors."
Such irreverence sent Bush into an obscene tirade, according to a report in Capitol Hill Blue, an online journal that occasionally chronicles Bush's unhinged behavior. Bush refers to those who protest his war as "motherf---king traitors" and he was so enraged when he heard reports about the "bullshit protectors" that he screamed at his aides, "Tell those VFW assholes that I'll never speak to them again if they can't keep their members under control."
Capitol Hill Blue has long dealt with a topic that the corporate media won't touch -- Bush's mental fitness for the presidency and the behavior patterns associated with his addiction-damaged personality. The journal reports Bush's doctors are trying to control his dark moods with anti-depressant drugs.
While the Busheviks have sold the myth that their man is an affable "nice guy," the reality is that he is often vile and profane. His explosive temper is increasingly displayed. At a recent strategy session, discussing polls showing most Americans are now against the war and don't believe Bush, he reportedly bellowed to his staff, "I'm the president and I'll do whatever I goddamned please. They don't know shit."
George W. takes much more after his acerbic and vindictive mother, Barbara, than his more even-tempered father. The president's pattern of blame and denial and his rattled response to the criticism of his disastrous war are manifestations of his addiction-damaged and dangerous personality, according to psychiatrist Dr. Justin Frank, author of "Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President." He sees Bush's history of substance abuse shaping him into a fear-driven bully. Confrontation -- like Cindy Sheehan's vigil -- unveils the real Bush.
"Actually confront him in a clear way, to bring him out, so you would really see the bully, and you would see the fear," Dr. Frank says.
When aides suggested Bush meet with Sheehan, whose son died in Iraq, Bush screamed, "I'm not meeting with that goddamned bitch. She can go to hell as far as I'm concerned," Capitol Hill Blue reports.
Storm Turns Focus to Global Warming
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/083005A.shtml
Although most mainstream hurricane scientists are skeptical of any connection between global warming and heightened storm activity, the growing intensity of hurricanes and the frequency of large storms are leading some to rethink long-held views.
{{{ Ya think?!?!?}}}
Ross Gelbspan | Katrina's Real Name
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0830-22.htm
Excerpt:
As the pace of climate change accelerates, many researchers fear we have already entered a period of irreversible runaway climate change.
Against this background, the ignorance of the American public about global warming stands out as an indictment of the US media.
When the US press has bothered to cover the subject of global warming, it has focused almost exclusively on its political and diplomatic aspects and not on what the warming is doing to our agriculture, water supplies, plant and animal life, public health, and weather.
For years, the fossil fuel industry has lobbied the media to accord the same weight to a handful of global warming skeptics that it accords the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- more than 2,000 scientists from 100 countries reporting to the United Nations.
Today, with the science having become even more robust -- and the impacts as visible as the megastorm that covered much of the Gulf of Mexico -- the press bears a share of the guilt for our self-induced destruction with the oil and coal industries.
G. Jefferson Price III | Fundamentalist Radicals at Home are Just as Scary as Those Abroad
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0830-24.htm
Interesting diary on Kos.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/30/74947/6017
This live journal is incredibly sad:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/rev_wayfarer/
It's the one that starts like this: Posted on 2005.08.13 at 10:25
Current Mood: EEEARRGH! "
Posted by: NonnyO at August 30, 2005 07:44 PM
Nonny,
He is the most perfect example of a human piece of //// that has ever lived. He is the epitome of my disgust for what has happened to this country.
Since George has had to remind us about the 9/11 anniversary coming up in a few days (gee, how long before Hallmark makes a card for it...or did they already...), here's something from Bernard Weiner (The Crisis Papers)...
Twenty Things We Now Know Four Years After 9/11
http://www.democraticunderground.com/crisis/05/026_bw.html
It's worth the read.
The fact that Roberts did not recuse himself from ruling on this issue while he was in the process of being interviewed for the Supreme Court appointment by the employer being sued in the case, would seem to be an open-and-shut case of conflict-of-interest. If the Democrats have any balls, this egregious ethical lapse should serve as an "extraordinary" reason for a filibuster of his nomination.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/crisis/05/026_bw.html
MD,
This is an excellent, but somehat strident (nothing wrong with that ) piece. IMO the point I listed above is the crux of the matter. I will be making basing all my future political considerations and donations (financial and otherwise) on which way Senators move on this point.
Correction (I forgot to use the preview button.):
I will be basing all my future political considerations and donations (financial and otherwise) on which way Senators move on this point.
Bush comparing the Iraq war to World War II is outrageous. This man proves over and over that he is criminally insane. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor so we attacked them. Osama Bin Laden attacks our us on September 11th and we attack Sadam? Does he really have the gall to compare himself to Roosevelt spreading democracy?
He cuts his vacation 'short'?? 5 weeks when the country is going to hell and a handbasket...he cuts his 5 week vacation by 2 days and expects us to be proud of his selflessness?
Karma. I believe.
My thoughts to you Indy. I pray your family is safe.
Juxtaposed pictures
9/11/01
plane crashing into tower//My Pet Goat
8/30/05
New Orleans//Bush in baseball stadium
Karen Hughes will have shrub helicoptering around the Gulf Coast by tomorrow & somehow the baseball game will become a beneift to the hurricane victims
Who thinks Bush will be flying into Florida first and then on to the rest of the Gulf Coast states to make his tour? I hope somebody puts up a sign that says: PRESIDENT BUSH WE ARE DYING HERE AND OUR MONEY IS GOING TO IRAQ.
I think you nailed it Oncall.
Bush with his sick and twisted narcissistic needs will exploit this tragedy with a photo op. I don't need to be in a helicopter to realize that this tragedy is unprecidented. You are so right on about the money too...he absolutely robbed our country of lives and resources to feed his own vendetta. I never imagined a president could do as much damage in 5 years as this one has done.....His legacy will be astonishing alright...
Posted by: oncall at August 30, 2005 08:38 PM
Yup - Conscienceless Toxic Greedy Human Garbage....
Sparrow:
I checked out that live journal. Did you read the comment section of the top post, called Two things?
The ultimate in sad. God rest his beautiful soul.
Louisiana National Guard's 8 Long Days
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/083005D.shtml
Nearing the end of their tour in Iraq, National Guard troops from Louisiana face an uncertain homecoming. With only eight days left before their tours end, the biggest worry on these soldiers' minds is 10,000 miles away. "We were going to have a homecoming," said Carrigee. "Now we don't know if we'll have homes to go home to."
Posted by: Carol at August 30, 2005 09:46 PM
Yes, I did! It is way too sad.
Nonny - I bet BushCo uses that as an excuse to keep them over in Iraq.
Rockin' blog from my Republican uncle!
I think he wants to point out that there is something in the water around Waco.
http://www.flaregun.org/
Carol,
Actually, I just clicked on that thread. I hadn't read that thread before. (Though I already knew about his death, I hadn't seen this one post. It is heart wrenching!
mekurakumo
2005-08-15 17:39 (link)
sorry oncall and others, but Bush flying around Miss. and Louisiana does not bother me in the least. In fact if he fails to do so, when he would not be interfearing with rescues, would be morally wrong.
What would be even more important then his flying around to those families,would be a legitimate financial pledge to rebuild N.O. and Miss.beyond what the reinsurance carriers will be providing from oh my gosh, yes dreaded federal dollars. If that means a temprary tax surcharge to the wealthy to pay for it, so be it. For those of you not situated in the gulf coast, area, I just don't think that some of you appreciate the enormity of this disaster. Thousands of stranded and many homeless, penniless folks have driven to Houston, Beaumont,and surrounding areas and found our shelters brimming over capacity, running out of room, food, and support staft. Thousands of others will have neither homes, jobs or income from their jobs or businesses to support themselves. We plan on taking in a family and volunteering for the next week with the Red Cross.
I am all for blasting Bush, but truthfully he is irrelevant. If N.O is truly evacuated in the next 48 hours, as reported, there may be as many as 100,000 more displaced people, w/o cars, money,family food ,etc.
Please lets put our heads together and think of things we can we can do from far away to help these people, red staters and all. From a religious,moral,humanitarian, and yes even from a political perspective, our help is desperatly needed, wherever you are and whatever time, money or effort you can offer.
The hell with W and how he handles this disaster, we should not care in the least.We should be doing and saying the right things for mankind whatever p.r stunts W has in store. Sorry guys if that sounds preachy, maybe we are too close and too emotionally involved to be objective about this subject but it is pretty dire for thousands.
Ira:
You are right. I would be there to help if it were possible. My heart is there.
How can we help?
redcross.org would be a place to begin...
local red cross organizers are urging folks to go to their local offices to volunteer answering phones etc that are being routed all across the country. anyone with family or friends in the texas area i strongly urge you to find time and a place in your heart to help these people in whatever capacity you can.this goes well beyond bush or politics.you local communities can probably help with food and essential drives as it looks like it may be weeks or even months these folks need help.many of these folks are coming through town with no more than their clothes on their back and $50 in their pocket and not even enough to buy gas to get home when that happens.
A friend came to dinner who grew up in NOLA--his whole family is there. It looks like their house may be gone.
It is going to be weeks before some of these folks can even get back to see what's left.
Let's try and research some Five Minutes A Day for Katrina Relief, ok?
Let's try and research some Five Minutes A Day for Katrina Relief, ok?
Posted by: karen at August 30, 2005 10:46 PM
oncall & I were just discussing this in the IRC. Wonder if the Crawford Peace House can be a fundraising channel for people to donate to Katrina Relief?
Ira,
Your points are well taken. Please do not think for a moment that I, and probably others, are mortified at the enormity of this disaster. I am hurting...my pain goes even further than the painfully sad realization that those who were most in need were stranded. Not only the human casualties I am thinking about...but those of the pets etc. who are helpless as well. Not for a second will I not absorb the ramifications of Katrina. I just view Bush as pretty ineffective at this moment. You, me, and the rest of us are not. Thank you.
typo....not mortified....
Howdy!
Just got a call from Sister No. 1...she and husband and child were rescued from their two story home ROOF in Old Metarie, Louisiana. (See New York Times Map of New Orleans)
She called me from the Baton Rouge air port...they are going to stay with in-laws family (yuppie scum could not even hang around to help)
BUT!
All in my family are alive.
I am trying to join up with the Camp Casey Round Table Warriors for Peace who are headed (with local juristiction's permission) to Covington, Louisiana, the staging ground for relief work in rescusing families by boat.
I will be taking a leave of absence from work and have requested a satellite phone from wealthier friends so as I can keep in touch in the efforts.
Most of my f