Blog Lunch To Go

http://www.uaprogressiveaction.com/archives/2006/01/the_question_of.html

This post references some more new sites you may want to visit such as

the "An Open Letter to Chris Matthews'
http://openlettertochrismatthews.blogspot.com/

and the "Tim Russert blog"
http://openlettertotimrussert.blogspot.com/

and the "Open Letter to the Washington Post"
http://openlettertothewashingtonpost.blogspot.com/

Just providing a little feedback to the MSM that they can't delete from the internet.

"Why is NBC and MSNBC concerned? Google! After three days of the Matthews blog being up, it's already the #10 search result on Google for Chris Matthews and rising fast and Crooks and Liars clip of Matthews comparing Michael Moore to Osama bin Laden is #9.
[snip]
Visit these sites and take a moment to post your comments.

Remember to be polite, but firm.

Tell the big name Corporate Media types 'we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore.' "

Add Ellen's blog to your places to nourish your mind...

On today's menu: Lie all you want. Just don't make me pay attention

She's got lots of good embedded links to lies we've been told and even a poem about lies. Plus she adds her thoughts about what we can do about these lies.

http://ellenofthetenth.blogspot.com/

My comment on the open letter to Matthews Blog with my normal misspelling grrr.

April said...

Dear Mr. Matthews,

I love how everyone keeps saying, Chris Matthews is impartial after all he worked for Carter, and people wonder why poor President Carter did not get re-elected with people like you around the enemies did not need to defeat him.

I had watched the show formally known as Hardball, for years while I have been increasingly dismayed over your obvious pandering to those who support Bush and his reckless policies, I was even more dismayed over you comparing Micheal Moore to Bin Laden, because you did not agree with statements he has made. I know you realize that even those you do not agree with have a right to state their opinion without those obvious partisan smear attacks on their character. It is human and American to oppose anothers veiws, but it is sad that this is what our country has been reduced to.

The next time you want to attack someone saying they sound like Bin Laden, maybe you should think of asking the biggest question in regards to him, where the heck is he and why this administration you love so much not gotten him.

It is in my opinion this is why people believe TV News Stations are trying fauxify themselves what you fail to understand and evidently so does NBC's management there are whole segments of our Society that are hungry for someone to report actual news fairly and accuritly and not pander to political opinions or groups.

On one other issue, I watched your a few weeks ago ( as I have in the past eveynight) we were all told at the beginning that you were going to shed some light on the Bush Abrimoff(spelling) paraphasing there, and all we heard about the whole show was the comments made by Hilary Clinton, while they may have been earth shattering comments for you, they hardly rose to the level of making a whole hour about them. I believe corruption and the apperance of in our Government are more earth shattering than anything Senator Clinton said. You all need to think of what you are doing with your pandering and being constantly easy on those whose run this country. We the people represented by the Press are allowed some answers to the tough questions. It would be awfully nice if you all got back to asking them.

BTW, Bush yesterday telling abortion supporters "We Will Prevail" sure does show what an impartial uniter he is.

Ironic how he's make this statement as his no litmus test judge sails through confirmation.

Brace yourselves...

Clean their Clocks Senator Graham? Threatening the Nuclear Option on the Senate Floor. Sounds like Tom Delay framing. What can we do here to stand up to this language? Is the Democratic Party just going to stand there and get rolled?

"Republicans on the committee accused Democrats of falsely portraying Alito as an extremist and of politicizing the nomination process in preparation for the next election. If this is what the Democrats want in the future, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), "We'll clean their clock."

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) held up a magazine photo of Alito's wife in tears during the hearing, and accused Democrats of "posturing," "name calling," "distortion" and "smear."

where is the memo for that staged event?

Repost from bottom of last thread, because I think it's important.

Posted by: monkey at January 24, 2006 11:20 AM

True. But let us always remember that all those people out there who believe the lies aren't idiots, just ignorant because of a lack of education about what is really going on out there.

Someone here gave statistics on an earlier thread, I believe it was DiAnne, that stated that most Americans STILL get their news coverage from television nooze, and are operating under the assumption that America still broadcasts facts and not propaganda. A small percentile of our population actually knows about and utilizes internet news and blogs.

And therein lies the problem......

Hey, a thought just came to me......what if we educate people toward using the internet for news??? (That's exactly what we are doing here, I understand,.....but, I mean, on a larger scale????)

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at January 24, 2006 03:32 PM

And, also, I think my last post is also in keeping with the theme of this thread.

What can we do to encourage people to go to the internet for their news instead of watching bobble-head shills like O'Reilly and swallow everything they say as gospel truth?

As I mentioned a few months ago, our cable company here in the midwest added Faux (s)Nooze to our lineup of network choices, and although I cannot stand to watch him but for a minute or two, I am amazed, AMAZED I TELL YA, to see that almost any time of day or night I flip to Faux, there O'Reilly is, expounding his "point of view"
$$$ (Ka-Ching!).

TSP... Hey, my bobble-headed O'Lielly loving in-laws claim that the internet news is just as susceptible to bias as TV... cuz O'Reilly said so.

Robert Dorgan just told Ed Schultz that he does not have the 40 votes to sustain a filibuster. Why not? Why is Feinstein, Snowe, Collins and Chaffe not behind a filibuster? Who are the 3 Dems other than Nelson, Pryor and Feinstein not supporting a filibuster?

Anyone here up for blogswarming the Feed the Activists idea? Contact me...or just f-ing do it.

We need more help...

Posted by: karen at January 24, 2006 09:09 AM

Any info on how that meeting with the Park Police went?

Posted by: monkey at January 24, 2006 03:46 PM

Actually Monkey,

They're correct on that. Look at Drudge for one. And look at the fact that the Repubicans PAY bloggers. I believe they call them, "Pajama bloggers."

What I've noticed is the choice of adjectives and verbs makes a huge difference in determining the spin level of the site. And that goes for Democratic stuff as well as Republican.

But that's why we have to make sure we find more than one source for the information before we jump on the bandwagon.

Ira, do you mean Senator Byron Dorgan from North Dakota?

Posted by: monkey at January 24, 2006 03:46 PM

Hey, my Faux sNooze lovin' relatives told me a year ago that I am being brainwashed with internet news. Ironic, isn't it?

Okay Karen, I am up for helping blogswarm the Feed the Activists idea.

I sent you an email.

ditto, Karen.

OT but important... Here's the text from a document I received RE: the budget cuts that the House is scheduled to vote on Feb. 1, 2006. If you have a rep like mine that votes 86% along with DeLay, you might want to contact him/her to remind him of the right priorities. Links are included at the bottom of the text. (Sorry for the length, but it's important & I have no way to pass you the actual document.)

Here's a link to a fact sheet on the budget cuts:
http://www.chn.org/pdf/2006whenisacutacut.pdf

This document is a response to those (like my rep.) who suggest that this bill does not cut any programs.

Overview of Proposed Federal Budget Cuts

In the early hours of the morning on Monday, Dec. 19, the House passed (212 to 206) the budget reconciliation conference report (S. 1932), a final compromise on the legislation. Members of the House were given two hours to read the 774-page bill, which cuts many supports for low-income families such as Medicaid, child support enforcement, and student loan programs.

On Dec. 21, the Senate approved the conference report. Vice President Cheney, president of the Senate, cut short a diplomatic trip to the Middle East to break the 50-50 tie. But, just prior to the vote, the legislation was changed in a few ways from the conference report the House had passed, removing some provisions that do not affect funding. Therefore, the House must now approve the Senate’s version. A vote is scheduled for February 1, 2006, meaning there is still time to speak out against the bill.

The proposed budget cuts include the following:

Medicaid: According to the Congressional Budget Office, increases in Medicaid co-pays and premiums and reduction in benefits will total a gross of $42 billion over 10 years, affecting many families just above the poverty line. These cuts could affect all of the 28 million children who receive health care through Medicaid, and many working poor families.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Only an additional $1 billion is provided for child care funding—$11 billion less than the CBO estimates is needed to cover costs to states for higher work requirements and to ensure current child care funding levels are not scaled back. As a result, some 255,000 fewer children in low-income working families would receive child care.

Federal student loan programs would be cut by $12.7 billion over five years, further reducing the chances of low-income students being able to afford higher education.

Child support enforcement: Funding for these programs is reduced by $1.5 billion over five years and $4.9 billion over 10 years, resulting in nearly twice that amount in support payments going uncollected over that same period, affecting primarily low-income single mothers and their children.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI): Disabled individuals owed back benefits from the government would have to wait an additional year to receive those benefits, including many elderly and low-income people.

Sources: The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities http://www.cbpp.org
The Coalition on Human Needs http://www.chn.org
(Good site to get more information)

Somebody want to take bets as to how many times Bush talks about the Patriot Act in his speech on January 31? I fantasize that as soon as he tells everybody how important it is, the entire Democratic delegation walks out and joins the protests on the street.

By the way everybody make sure to give your financial contribution for food for those young people who are doing the heavy lifting and standing out in the cold for all the rest of us. Without the people who are willing to take to the streets, we would be even more ignored than we are today.

I remember when one of the JK bloggers-Vana had a matching contribution list drive. I say we get one going here as well. I have already made my contribution, so now its your turn. To add to the list cut and paste to the message window, then post. Please contribute what you can. Every little bit will help. Hey these folks need to eat and drink-don't they?

Oncall: $50.00

Top Story on msnbc.com....

Report: Army could be near breaking point
Rapid troop rotations threaten institution, Pentagon-sponsored study says

WASHINGTON - Stretched by frequent troop rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has become a “thin green line” that could snap unless relief comes soon, according to a study for the Pentagon.

Andrew Krepinevich, a retired Army officer who wrote the report under a Pentagon contract, concluded that the Army cannot sustain the pace of troop deployments to Iraq long enough to break the back of the insurgency. He also suggested that the Pentagon’s decision, announced in December, to begin reducing the force in Iraq this year was driven in part by a realization that the Army was overextended.

As evidence, Krepinevich points to the Army’s 2005 recruiting slump — missing its recruiting goal for the first time since 1999 — and its decision to offer much bigger enlistment bonuses and other incentives.

“You really begin to wonder just how much stress and strain there is on the Army, how much longer it can continue,” he said in an interview. He added that the Army is still a highly effective fighting force and is implementing a plan that will expand the number of combat brigades available for rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 136-page report represents a more sobering picture of the Army’s condition than military officials offer in public. While not released publicly, a copy of the report was provided in response to an Associated Press inquiry.

‘Race against time’
Illustrating his level of concern about strain on the Army, Krepinevich titled one of his report’s chapters, “The Thin Green Line.”

He wrote that the Army is “in a race against time” to adjust to the demands of war “or risk ‘breaking’ the force in the form of a catastrophic decline” in recruitment and re-enlistment.

Col. Lewis Boone, spokesman for Army Forces Command, which is responsible for providing troops to war commanders, said it would be “a very extreme characterization” to call the Army broken. He said his organization has been able to fulfill every request for troops that it has received from field commanders.

more... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11009829/

Kerry: Military Stretched Too Thin

INDEPENDENCE, Mo., June 3, 2004

(CBS/AP) Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry said Thursday that the Bush administration has stretched the U.S. military too thin, complicating the mission to create a stable Iraq. He said 40,000 new troops were needed to confront possible new threats.

The Massachusetts senator warned that the country is in danger of returning to the low point of the late 1970s after the Vietnam War and "another hollow Army," with too few ready to fight.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/04/politics/main621154.shtml

Websites to give you alternatives to corporate chains ..

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/256726_delocator24.html

You may not be hurting the megacorporation so much as helping the little guy stay in business.
Nice if you're doing both.

Karen, I promise to hunt the paypal button down and I'm in for a hundred.

Truth, yes Byron Dorgan said on Ed Schultz today that we do not have the 40 votes to filibuster.

Why? And by the lack of urgency here I can only presume that we too have thrown in the towel. Graham, Dobson and Frist must be licking their chops tonight when they see our complacency.

I remember the firestorm last year when the nuclear option was being debated. Where has all that fire gone? If the tables were turned I am sure that 40 Republican Senators would muster enough courage to block our Supreme Ct.nominee. Why is the rightward drift of the Supreme Ct. not as important as the Patriot Act or the war? In reality Alito's impact to this country will be felt at least 30 years after we have forgotten about Bush or the war in Iraq, in ways we have not even thought of.

It really sickens me that none of our leaders seem bold enough to take a stand. I am ready to throw my support in '08 to whatever Senator has the courageous to try and put a stop to this insane nomination; Hillary, Feingold, Kerry where is your spine?

I am ready to throw my support in '08 to which ever Senator has the courage to try and put a stop to this insane nomination; Hillary, Feingold, Kerry where is your spine? Heck even Lieberman would get my support in '08 if he were to lead a filibuster.

I truly see this nomination and our leaders' response as a test of our strength and values as Progressives. Why bother to even fight to preserve the filibuster if we are uwilling to use it in this crucial time in history. Otherwise it is nothing but an empty gesture. If all any of our Senators do is stand up and say I oppose, without moving to filibuster, they are truly no better than the Republican neocons behind this nomination.

Here, here Ira.

I too am sickened by it... talk is cheap, and the ripple effect of allowing this to happen will be felt for generations.

The ultimate goal of the conservative movement over the last 20 years is about to become a reality, and all I hear from the left side of the aisle is a bunch of mamby-pamby bullshit.

Say goodnight, America.

Okay I donated 10.00 would have been more but we have strict rules on what can come from Angie's Fund and this sadly isnt in there :( Hubby pointed it out loudly when I suggested it. Hope it helps.

Posted by: spinnaker at January 24, 2006 07:31 PM

Spinnaker,

It's on the top left sidebar.

My donation is coming snail mail. (Haven't done it yet so I don't know how much it is until I actually do it.)

Ira, Monkey,

I heard we did have 41 votes for a fillibuster and that people were not giving up on it.

Casey,

Thanks for those great links. I'm going to save them in my fav's file. Also, going to save Shakespeares sister too which isn't listed up there.

Anybody check out the pictures of the students turning their back to Attorney General Gonzalez?

http://derenegade.blogspot.com/2006/01/students-were-later-rounded-up.html

Watch for their wiretaps to begin any minute now.

I can't believe the newspapers KNEW about the k street project and the GOP openly bragged about it. No wonder ethics are lacking in Gov't in DC.

Thanks Karen and all you activists for at least trying to represent us out here!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-boehlert/how-the-press-played-dumb_b_14076.html

I urge everyone here to turn on reruns of today's C-SPAN and listen to the brilliant presentation today by Senator Pat Lehey today arguing that this President is seeking totally unchecked presidential powers by packing the Supreme Ct. the likes of which we have not seen since FDR who tried unsuccesfully to pack the Supreme Ct.
He pointed out that it took a Democratic controlled Senate to put a stop to that practice by a Democratc President.
Sparrow I am only repeating what Senator Byron Dorgan told Ed Schultz today that the votes are not there for a filibuster. Hopefully he meant just today.
I am doing everything I can to stir that pot of controversy and will try again to call in to Ed's show tomorrow.

when are we going to draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough. After Tom Delay has illegally stacked Congress through phony ReDistricting. After Bill Frist and Lindsay Graham have bullied the US Senate into foresaking a 100 year tradition known as the filibuster? After Bush has succesfully packed the US Supreme ct. with likeminded ideologues? When will our remaining Democratic US Senators wake up and see what Bush's new America is beginning to look like?

when are we going to draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough.
Posted by: Ira at January 24, 2006 08:45 PM

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's my line. I've had enough.

Read read read nice to see! Someone pointing out the truth.

Tax Holiday
How the nonsensically named American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 allowed Ford to slash jobs while reaping huge job-creation tax benefits.

>Just a small snippet.

Congress should thank its lucky stars that federal truth-in-labeling laws don't apply to names it accords to legislation, because almost every dispassionate analyst agrees that the American Jobs Creation Act didn't create jobs in the United States. The only possible exception: short-term paper-shuffling positions added to allow companies to produce documents that let them qualify for the tax break without doing anything differently than they'd have otherwise done it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11008158/site/newsweek/

Posted by: sparrow at January 24, 2006 08:22 P

Thanks for posting the link to the pics of students turning their backs on Gonzales! Warms my heart. If only our Congressfolks would be ballsy enough to do the same next week.

I've had enough too, and I say if they don't filibuster, we replace the whole wimpy lot of them. They are letting the thugs and the media run all over them. Let 'em go nuke, I say. At this point, what do we have to lose?

Posted by: Carol at January 24, 2006 09:23 PM

They are still thinking they have somthing to lose I dont see what.. but hey maybe they are listenin to Gallup. You know they did one of their snazzy little polls where so much of the public said no filibuster. What amazed me was the people who had no opinion added to the people who said to filibuster added up to way more than the people who said dont and it wasnt a small percent who had no opinion.

I know, Ira. Sometimes I wonder if alot of people, some Dems, are even alive and breathing this hour.

I was talking to someone last night, and I said "we're so screwed".

TSP

I've had that very same feeling lately - we are screwed.

I was talking to someone last night, and I said "we're so screwed".

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at January 24, 2006 09:29 PM

My sentiments exactly.

We just got back from spending almost all the money you good folks have donated and the kids were ecstatic!! They wanted to answer the phone with "Hello, World Can't Wait, WE HAVE FOOD!!"

Please take this idea to any websites you normally go to and keep asking people to donate. We need more to get them through next week too.

THANK YOU! It was worth the grocery store nightmare just to see how happy they were!

Karen - thanks so much for all you are doing. And thanks to the world can't wait kids also, for doing what all us working stiffs can't seem to do.

How did they do with the park police today?

Posted by: April at January 24, 2006 09:27 PM

This has been my point for a while:

30% of Americans are Republicans/Conservatives
30% are Democrats/Liberals

40% don't care...don't vote

In other words that's 60% who care and 40% who don't.

To accomplish the Democratic/progressive agenda, we need to not only mobilize our base 30% but also get more than half of the 40% couch potatoes to care.

To accomplish the Republican/neocon agenda, they just get their base 30% to go along with what they do by using framing and key words...and at least half of the 40% couch potatoes to ignore them and not care - which is, of course, what they do best.

So we're not dealing with a 50/50 split, or even a 55/45 split.

We're dealing with a 30/70 split. And as long as any of that 30% is too scared to act, the numbers are even worse against us.

Public inaction and apathy is their greatest strength.

Florida Dem Ben Nelson to vote No on Alito!

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Conservative_Democrat_balks_on_approving_Alito_0124.html

State rebuffs raw vote demand
STANDOFF: Democrats want 2004 base election data; machine firm is playing coy.

Anchorage Daily News

The state Division of Elections has refused to turn over its electronic voting files to the Democrats, arguing that the data format belongs to a private company and can't be made public.

The Alaska Democratic Party says the information is a public record essential for verifying the accuracy of the 2004 general election and must be provided.

The official vote results from the last general election are riddled with discrepancies and impossible for the public to make sense of, the Democrats said Monday. A detailed analysis of the underlying data could answer lingering questions about an election many thought was over more than a year ago, they say.

"Basically what they say is they want to give us a printout from the (electronic) file. They don't want to give us the file itself. It doesn't enable us to get to the bottom of what we need to know," said Kay Brown, spokeswoman for the party.

At this point, it's impossible to say whether the correct candidates were declared the winner in all Alaska races from 2004, Brown said.

The private contractor hired to provide Alaska's electronic voting machines is Diebold Election Systems. It has told Alaska officials it owns the "structure of the database" though the data itself is public.

State officials say the Democrats have it wrong.

"The issue is not about whether public information can be released, because the Division of Elections has already offered to provide the information requested by the (Alaska Democratic Party)," elections director Whitney Brewster said in a written statement. "The issue is that the (Democratic Party) is asking for a file format the state of Alaska uses but does not own."

Diebold told the state it owns the format, which can't be released because it's a company secret.

Diebold maintains its voting systems produce accurate results, as proven through recounts in numerous close races, said Mark Radke, Diebold director of marketing.

Questions still hound the company. Some elections officials in other states are questioning whether its electronic machines are secure. Investors have sued the Ohio-based parent company, Diebold Inc., over whether it concealed problems with its voting machines, among other issues. Its chief executive, who once vowed to deliver Ohio electoral votes to President Bush, recently stepped down.

The latest controversy concerns the database holding the results of Alaska's 2004 general election. Democrats say it's important for them to see the database in its original structure ---- the format in which the data was created and now is stored and reported. That's how they hope to figure out if the votes were registered and reported accurately.

But under the state's contract with Diebold, that cannot be released, Brewster said.

Documents provided by the Democrats show that Brewster contacted Diebold and was told the public data can be released only after being transferred to a common format such as Microsoft Excel.

In a Jan. 6 e-mail, Diebold's lawyer, Charles R. Owen, told Brewster that "the structure of the database file ... is proprietary information."

Perhaps, but it's not secret. Anyone can examine Diebold's format on a Web site set up by activists who have been raising questions about the company, the Alaska Democrats said.

"Copies of these kinds of files have been sitting on the Internet for over two years, with Diebold's knowledge," said Jim March, an investigator with Black Box Voting, a private organization that calls itself a national consumer protection group for voters.

Diebold has blocked the group's efforts to get election files in California, Colorado and Washington state, March said. But the data format has been released in a Florida county and in Memphis, Tenn., during a challenge of a mayoral election, he said.

What the state has offered leaves out "the forensic traces we need to figure out what really happened," March said. The Black Box group is helping the Alaska Democratic Party.

"The results from the 2004 election in Alaska just plain look squirrelly," March said.

For instance, district-by-district vote totals add up to 292,267 votes for President Bush, but his official total was only 190,889.

Election officials have an explanation. Early votes for statewide candidates were not recorded by House district but rather were tallied for each of the state's four election regions. Those regional totals then were reported for every House district, essentially inflating the vote total many times over.

The results should be reported differently next time, officials have said.

Democrats also contend more than 2,000 Alaskans cast valid absentee ballots that weren't counted in official totals.

Unless they get the entire file, they won't be able to understand what caused the "bizarre and inaccurate reports" from Alaska's 2004 election, they say.

"These votes belong to us," Brown said. "These are all public record. It's wrong that a contractor like Diebold can keep us from seeing the record."

What do you all think of the new group, Americans United? This must be its launch. Do you think it is promising?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5568666,00.html

Among other things at
http://www.ominous-valve.com/katrina.html

is this juicy tidbit:
April 24, 2004 - T-16 months, 5 days:

The Times-Picayune reports that "less money is available to the Army Corps of Engineers to build levees and water projects in the Mississippi River valley this year and next year." One engineer is pulled off Louisiana wetlands restoration, an important hurricane protection project, to oversee a $100 million study of wetland restoration in the Tigris-Euphrates valley of Iraq.

DiAnne -

It looks promising. Glad to see they're doing something. Looks like the congressfolks who are involved are the ones on the right side of the issues.

More power to them!

Here is a heartbreaking piece from NPR's Morning Addition about the mental health crisis in New Orleans. Suicidal mental health patients unable to get appointments, or emergency room beds for days, weeks, months.

"The mental health system in Louisiana was never in great shape. But after Hurricane Katrina, demands for mental health services throughout the state have increased sharply and people in crisis are not getting care...."

Listen here:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5169670

Posted by: DiAnne at January 24, 2006 10:37 PM

I like their campaign, "Time for a change". It fits on a bumper sticker and says it all. Republicans go for the bumper sticker campaigns, but this is a better one.

Long but oh well, here's more. This is IMHO a good overview of things...

June 8, 2004 - T-14 months, 21 days:

Walter Maestri, Emergency Management Chief for Jefferson Parish, tells the New Orleans Times-Picayune, "It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."

September 22, 2004 - T-11 months, 7 days:

The Times-Picayune reports that the Bush administration has defunded the studies for a design and budget for finally raising the levees, and ordered the Army Corps of Engineers not to begin any such work.

and for those who didn't believe that there was fair warning, although every NHC memo was burned into my exhausted brain:
Friday, Aug 26, 10:00 AM - T-2 Days, 19 hours, 40 minutes:

Katrina is reported to be "rapidly strengthening" in the warm Gulf waters, and it becomes a category 2 "major hurricane." Long range forecasts begin to mention a second landfall somewhere on the Gulf coast between the Florida panhandle and New Orleans. A FEMA memo notes that "New Orleans is of particular concern…"

Sunday, Aug. 28, 12:00 Midnight - T-1 day, 6 hours, 10 minutes:

Approximately 30 hours before landfall. This is the time recommended in the Louisiana emergency plan for New Orleans to begin evacuating in earnest. Nagin, who has already recommended people think seriously of leaving, does not order a mandatory evacuation for another 9 hours.

And I'll never forget the feeling of "D**n I hope I prepared well enough" when reading this:
Sunday, August 28, 4:13 PM - T-13 hours, 57 minutes:

US National Weather Service, New Orleans releases a very scary advisory containing such language as: "Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks... Perhaps longer.... Partial to complete wall and roof failure is expected.... Airborne debris will be widespread, and may include heavy items such as household appliances and even light vehicles. Persons, pets, and livestock exposed to the winds will face certain death... Power outages will last for weeks... Water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards."

Sunday, August 28, 8:30 PM - T-9 hours, 40 minutes:

Amtrak moves an empty train out of New Orleans to a safer area. A phone call is made to authorities offering the space on this train for evacuation. "We offered the city the opportunity to take evacuees out of harm's way…The city declined," said Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black. Nagin later claims that no such call was ever received by his office.

And by now, it's too late: you need at least 48 hours to run a logistics supply train into an area -
Monday, August 29 - morning - T+approximately 2-3 hours:

Bush finally includes the southern Louisiana parishes in a "Statement on Federal Disaster Assistance for Louisiana." Federal assistance and special disaster funding are finally legally authorized in the southern parishes. The "24-hour delay" ends. Of course, now the hurricane has made landfall.

Ok so we shouldn't rescue people?
Sunday, September 4, evening - T+6 days, 12 hours:

In a TV interview, Nagin criticizes bureaucracy and delays in beginning repair work on the breached 17th Street Canal. He says that helicopters were pulled off the dropping of bags into the breach to be used on rescue missions. "There are too many fricken cooks," says Nagin.

And since you were wondering:
Wednesday, November 2 - T+65 days:

Following an outcry from some members of Congress, Brown quietly resigns his consulting gig. He is dropped from the FEMA payroll.

Thursday, November 17 - T+80 days:

Los Angeles Times quotes two conservative Republican politicians, who express extreme pleasure at the thought of fewer Democratic voters in their state. Blanco welcomes the opportunity to cut state social programs, since so many fewer people will be around to need them. End of budget problem.

This was certainly talked about:
Tuesday, December 20 - T+114 days:

Massive Federal funding for levee restoration and hurricane relief stalls in Congress when Republicans attach authorization for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve to a "must pass" defense appropriation bill. Threat of a filibuster kills the bill, and leaves much of the military without future funding. The bill will be reintroduced after the holiday recess.

Remember how Jeb Bush tried to save poor pathetic Terry Schiavo but now he's chomping at the bit to execute a retarded man.

Carol, On Call

Too bad a million dollars has to be raised just to run an ad, but this is what is has come to.

I wish we were one of those countries where political campaigns were publicly funded and private contributions and advertising were completely illegal. We're not.

Duke Cunningham & Tom Delay? More Subpoenas!!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5568904,00.html

Posted by: Veritas at January 24, 2006 10:42 PM

What those folks from NOLA are going through still after almost 5 months after Katrina is so awful. I was surprised, but NBC nightly news this evening had an interview of a man there who said that it was shameful the way those folks down there still can't get adequate shelter and help. All those trailer homes that were ordered are just sitting out and their tires are going flat, and they are unoccupied.

Don't Rove and BushCo know how inferior that makes the U.S. look, that we are more concerned about tearing up other countries than we are about building up our own?

Oh, what a silly question. It didn't take Katrina to show the rest of the world that. They know only too well our priorities.

Posted by: not my governor at January 25, 2006 12:11 AM

Yep, they're agin'st killin' unless it's prisoners and "evil terra-ists".

No killin' unborn babies. We gotta let 'em grow up to be cowboys. Err, I mean, We gotta let 'em grow up to go to war. If they die then, well, THAT'S patriotic!!!

And, yes, folks, I am feeling a little powerless about the state of our union and therefore the world, so please pardon me while I vent so I can let the anger out and breathe in some good energy so I can accomplish something for good while I exhale.

Also, Karen, okay I am posting the request for funds for food for the World Can't Wait kids on my favorite blogs. Wish I could do more. This is the only pay period I should be strapped for quite a while.

Hang tough everybody. Gosh I wish it weren't so QUIET out there! Is everybody dead? I feel like this land is full of numb/dumb/apathetic people.

Tuesday, December 20 - T+114 days:

Massive Federal funding for levee restoration and hurricane relief stalls in Congress when Republicans attach authorization for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve to a "must pass" defense appropriation bill. Threat of a filibuster kills the bill, and leaves much of the military without future funding. The bill will be reintroduced after the holiday recess.

Posted by: Veritas at January 24, 2006 11:20 PM

V, thanks for the timeline.

Don't be surprised if this turns up to be used against Dems in the '06 race - you know - that Dems stalled or killed the bill.

Truth Shall Prevail
Then you read me loud & clear. For me, it's not so much about "life" as about the hypocrisy of their positions. I respect life across the board. I suppose I should not kill bugs or eat meat, so I'm not a purist either, but I think I'm more moral than Jeb Bush.

Posted by: not my governor at January 25, 2006 01:26 AM

Yes, once again I was stating the obvious. I know, if I ever would picture someone being a vegetarian on principle it would be you.

Horse Sex Porn Candy Teens!
Inside! Fresh Google search terms to confound Dubya and the FBI. Also: Is Bush a fascist?
By Mark Morford

Attention, all who are reading this column right now, please put down your drink and leap up off the couch and put your pants back on and log in to Google and type the words "hot bunny terrorist fluffer banana" into the comely and world-beloved Google search engine. Do it. Do it now.

Oh no wait, make it "Osama butt pancake lube explosives yay." Or better yet, try "homemade nuke porn lollipop kiddie nipple bomb!!!" (Be sure to include extra exclamation points because as we all know, Dubya isn't the brightest of presidents and these will add zing and personality to your entry and make your search terms -- the very ones the Bush administration is right now subpoenaing the Google corporation to gain access to -- really stand out to the FBI and the Department of Justice, which are always in need of a little zing).

It shall be a mini-movement. It shall be called "Operation Screw With the DOJ and Make Lynne Cheney Squirm." It shall be a big national gigglefest as we watch George W. Bush's gummint work to force and coerce the search engines of the nation to turn over their massive logs of search terms, all in an effort to see what perverted and criminal-minded people like you are really searching for, and sure you can defend yourself and claim it's pictures of Brangelina or recipes for blood orange/vodka body shots or just what the hell is wrong with Samuel Alito to make him look so wan and malicious, when we all know you're really looking for, of course, massive amounts of porn. And so are your kids.

Is it not just the warmest and nicest sensation? Is it not just pleasing to your core to know that your government is right now trying to track your behavior in a whole new and unsettling way, using the vague excuse that they're trying to "protect" children from online porn (an effort, by the way, to reinstate nasty anti-porn laws that were blocked by the Supreme Court two years ago)? Are we now utterly charmed to death that this is the most invasive and appallingly mistrustful administration since Nixon secretly beat himself with nails? ...

(click here to read the rest)

The last two paragraphs on the link are my favorite! :-)

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2006/01/25/notes012506.DTL&nl=fix

This is what you get when you spread democracy to the Middle East...

Hamas open to coalition with Fatah
Militant group expected to fare well in Palestinian voting

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, whose party is expected to make a strong showing today among Palestinians in their first parliamentary election in a decade, left open the possibility of forming a coalition with the ruling Fatah Party and also the possibility of future negotiations with Israel, under certain conditions. But asked if militant group Hamas would ever recognize Israel, Zahar replied: "Never."

Hamas, the militant Islamic group that has called for the destruction of Israel and is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department, is expected to get at least one-third of the seats in the 132-seat Palestinian Legislative Council.

more... http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/01/25/palestinian.election/index.html

Joel Stein | Warriors and Wusses
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0124-23.htm

Abby Bar-Lev | Why the Democrats Should Filibuster Alito
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012406Q.shtml
Samuel Alito is so far right, so caught up in the narrow, nonreal world perspective of serving as an appellate court judge for 15 years that he seems to be unaware of many of the harsh realities social minorities in this country face. His record on women's rights and minority rights is dismal at best. This is, after all, a man that has said, "the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion." This is a man who upheld the unreasonable strip search of a 10-year-old girl.

This is a relatively long article, but well worth the read. My questions: Isn't the US as culpable as Hussein is for the mass murder of some of his own people for giving him the WMD in the first place? More importantly, WHY did the US give Hussein WMD??? I have wondered why for a very long time, and have so far never seen anything about WHY the US gave Hussein WMD.

The Re-Declared War on Terror
By Noam Chomsky
"Terror" is a term that rightly arouses strong emotions and deep concerns. The primary concern should, naturally, be to take measures to alleviate the threat, which has been severe in the past, and will be even more so in the future. To proceed in a serious way, we have to establish
some guidelines. Here are a few simple ones:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11655.htm

RE: photos of Georgie & Jack -- From Raw Story (I know, I know...) reporting what Isikoff from Newsweek said on MSNBC...

Appearing on MSNBC, Newsweek correspondent Michael Isikoff reported that it was indeed Abramoff who floated the photographs to Washingtonian.

ISIKOFF: As a general rule, if you’re the president … you don’t like pictures out there of you with convicted felons. It sounds like … there’s at least one picture of him with at least one convicted felon and another indicted, so it’s probably not a picture the White House is eager to have out there. The other interesting aspect of this is, while the White House hasn’t put these out, Jack Abramoff has clearly shown them to people. I don’t know anything about Time sources, but I do know that he showed them to Washingtonian magazine, which suggests he may be playing a little bit of a game here. He has, of course, pled guilty already to the Justice Department. But it does raise a question in my mind at least as to whether Abramoff is maybe sort of sending some sort of signal out here: “Hey, I’ve got this stuff.” Maybe he wants something from somebody at the White House, or he wants someone at the White House not to do something, and just sort of subtly playing with people here.
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Abramoff_shopped_Bush_photos_Newsweek_reporter_0124.html

NonnyO
You beat me to post Morford! LOL
Crude but true.

For the techies out there...and also for those who are worried about internet spying...

Free website to list programs with spyware
By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
Here's a new way to attack spyware: embarrass its purveyors.

A free website (StopBadware.org) launching Wednesday plans to provide a list of programs that contain spyware and other malicious software. It will also identify companies that develop the programs and distribute them on the Internet.

Consumers can then decide if a program is safe to download.

Read the rest of the article here ==>
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2006-01-25-spyware_x.htm?csp=15

Here's a direct link to the site that's providing the free software ==>
http://stopbadware.org/

(Read about them; I don't think they're a front for spy software -- or at least I hope they're not...)

Impeachment: How to impeach Bush without the House Judiciary Committee

Update: 25 Jan 2006:

http://constantpated.blogspot.com/2006/01/impeachment-how-to-impeach-bush.html

IMPEACH THEM NOW: It only takes ONE STATE!!! (and poll)
by arbortender [Subscribe]

Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 09:22:11 PM CST

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/1/24/222211/259

Bush to Visit NSA for Pep Talks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5569645,00.html

Erosion of civil liberties .. in the name of security

Patriot Act .. national ID cards .. "smart" passports - with you-know-who defining who should be watched

Courts don't need to issue warrants for spying - a "career professional" from the NSA can make the determination

Embattled Rep. Ney to seek re-election

WASHINGTON (AP) - Undaunted by speculation within his own party that he may have to quit Congress because of a corruption probe, Rep. Bob Ney announced Wednesday he's running for re-election.

We call this hutzpah, but hey these are Republicans, nothing apparently fazes them. Perhaps he, DeLay and Traffican can share a cell.
Maybe this is the gift that keeps on giving, a nice poster child.

Posted by: Ira at January 25, 2006 10:17 AM

I think it's because they just have no one else to run... And you know, I'm all for it. Like you said, he makes a great poster child. And so does Blunt if he makes it to Majority Leader. It's all the better for us to show how "the more things change, the more they remain the same..."

Posted by: not my president at January 25, 2006 09:16 AM

I adore Morford's satire!!! :-) He's one of the best satirists writing today!

I agree; crude but true....

I still give Google kudos for not turning over their info (I downloaded their toolbar with the ad blocker on it a very long time ago; I hate annoying popups! I also have Adaware and Spybot installed to help stop the majority of cookies.) We all know perfectly well that while there may be no names connected with searches today, the next thing on The Cretin's administration's agenda would be getting names & IP addresses - and I'm sure we can all figure out that one of the top five things they want to spy on is the Democrats and others who oppose the policies of The Cretin's administration (high tech Watergate). I've seen WAY too many slippery slopes happen during their reign of terror. Too bad Yahoo, MSN, Microsoft, etc., have already given the government spies their info...!

Besides which, the reason the criminals who hijacked the planes on 9/11 were so successful is that they used low-tech communications, or communication that could not be tracked. The likelihood of any spy agency finding anything out from internet search stuff is remote, at best. The porn thing is problematic, but if some wacko chooses to look at that crap on his home computer, it's his computer and a waste of his own time, not mine. Companies can use spyware to track what their employees are looking at on company time. If caught searching for or looking at porn, they're fired, and that settles that.

Isn't there already software for parents to use that keeps their kids from finding porn? Not a problem for me since the 'biggie' in all my searches is for genealogy data. I've less than zero interest in porn or related subjects, and spam emails from porn sites have been added to my ISPs spam list, so I never get it. Still, it's none of the government's danged business to find out I've searched for genealogy data - or anything else!!!

Grab a cuppa and read Chomsky on the above link I posted earlier, if you haven't already. I'm still trying to absorb all he wrote, think I'll have to go back and read the article again. He reinforces my knowledge base about the origins of what led to the proliferation of terrorism (aided by the US nowadays, no less; ugh) and how it has come to be so prevalent in The Cretin's administration.... I really see no reason why the US is exempt from so many UN rules and regulations, either!!! We have less than zero credibility, moral authority, or high ground to stand on now, so there should not be any exemptions for the US.

I may even send Chomsky's piece to my legislators and in-state media. I've already written to my legislators about filibustering Alito and impeaching The Cretin, but it couldn't hurt to remind our legislators that they have constituents who are genuinely concerned about our republic and that some of their constituents know perfectly well that the US is now a fascist nation in all but name... and we need to change our ways PDQ, before The Cretin and his corporate cronies and administration warmongers do any more harm to the people of this nation or to any other nations The Cretin decides he has the right to invade.

What is up with these "signing statements"??? I'd not heard of them before The Cretin signed one regarding McCain's attempt to ban torture. If there has been anything about them in Lamestream Media, how and why they came to be, precedent for them, I've failed to catch it. To use "signing statements" to signify a pResident is above the law or decides he doesn't want to follow or uphold the laws of this nation (counter to what he swears to do when inaugurated), then the signing statements need to be abolished!!!

"Vice President Cheney is on an extended tour of the Middle East. They love him over there. He's known as Lawrence of Arrhythmia."
---David Letterman

Posted by: oncall at January 25, 2006 09:28 AM
Posted by: oncall at January 25, 2006 09:30 AM

Oooohhhhh..... Too bad MN currently has a neoCon governor whose lips seem to be surgically attached to Bu$h's behind. Pawlenty was yapping about immigration during his campaign, dropped the subject as soon as he took the oath of office, but is now starting to talk about immigration again. (No, it's NOT a problem in this state, so doesn't even come under the heading of the top twenty "issues" anyone ever talks about!!! But the neoCons in this state have taken lessons from the Rovian slime machine, so to mention so xenophobic a topic hits someone's buttons and it becomes a distracting 'issue' because Georgie mentioned it in his '04 campaign.)

What an 'absatively posilutely' WONDERFUL idea about how to impeach without Congress!!! Our legislators are going to HAVE to wake up to the REALITY that their constituents who favor impeachment are not heard about in Lamestream Media (through sin of omission - we're just never asked, and film footage of protests are never aired because of the neoCon control of the media), we're tired of this administration's abuses of power, and our patience level about Congressional inaction about impeaching the worst president this nation has ever had snapped years ago - or at least no later than the stolen '04 elections!!!

C-SPAN - Alito nomination - Kennedy is talking now.

Somebody, I think Veritas, posted about Diebold and Alaska and how the database structure was proprietary and therefore couldn't be released for auditing (basically) due to intellectual property issues. Well, I think this gives us the makings for some electoral reform: federal straight-out ban on proprietary software being used for critical public records. This out-sourcing the government crap has gone to far. Just like using private companies in Iraq instead of military personnel (including the Army Corps of Engineers). This simply has to stop. It is not right and it raises a lot of legal issues.

Also, and I think this was Oncall, was going for a bumper-sticker of "Time for a Change" -- well, just to kibbitz, how about "Time to Change" -- shorter and more imperative.

Chuck in Doha

Chuck in Doha for Ira/Carol/Madame:

Now, I am not against filibistering Alito. However, I have a couple questions for you all. First, do you think a filibister will trigger the "Nuclear Option," and if so, do you think the "Nuclear Option" will succeed? I think yes and yes, with the net result being Alito is in and the filibuster gone.

Now, that is a result I am prepared to accept, but if and only if it produces positive results in the composition of the Legislative Branch -- i.e., that it strenghtens congress against the next Alito.

So, on what grounds, and I mean grounds that will get voters attention in 2006, should a filibuster be supported? I'd love to hear your ideas on that, because unless we have a disciplined and solid case taken to the airwaves in force, the 2006 message will be "they drove that poor women to tears."

Me, I like the unitary executive theme in conjunction with "we don't need no stinkin' delcarations of war."

We'v got to get them, folks; were are running out of "next-time's." We can't afford any more mistakes and we can't afford not to make some bold moves.

Chuck in Doha

chuck from everything I have read and heard it is unlikely that there will be a filibuster.Dems are whipped and their knees shaking whenever the nuclear option is brought up.

Specter and Warner are against the filibuster but have also made public statements that they understand that once the filibuster is gone it will certainly come back and bite them in the a** once they are out of power(we should keep reminding them of the possibility of a Hillary Administration), which they are intelligent enough to understand will eventually happen. Ed Schultz also has been talking down the filibuster b/c he believe that Republicans will then end it for legislation as well as for judicial nominees and that they will then ramrod permanent tax cuts, Anwr, and SS privatization through with 50 votes.

I have raed that Barbara Boxer plans some kind of surprise when she votes and maybe the unitary executive and spying on Americans is her strategy for triggering extraordinary circumstances. Its weird to think that Lieberman may be our only hope to push the filibuster, but that is about how desperate we are to have a leader stand up and stop Alito. that's my take Chuck.

It would be a gamble to filibuster and should be done only if there are 41 0r 42 sure votes but I just don't think we should put up with needling and childish threats by Lindsey Graham who said yesterday go ahead(with your filibuster)we will clean your clock in Nov. The crying episode was a preplanned stunt and somehow I am hoping someone can expose that stunt as being preplanned. They have framed the filibuster as some kind of radical concept, by our allowing Rove et al to drive the message, and our remaining silent too long.

Ira:

If Barbara Boxer doesn't let me down, it won't be the first time she didn't let me down! It only takes one Senator to filibuster. My concern is that that one shot frames 2006 right. Could be just what we need if played smart and cool and could be a disaster if we give in to venting; that's my sense of it. If Senator Boxer takes that tack (unitary executive, 4th Amendment), I think we will be on solid ground.

Get on Down to Washington, Mr. Smith!

Chuck in Doha

Chuck,

You raise some interesting points. From what I have been reading, I don't think the Democrats have the votes to sustain a filibuster. They do have the opportunity to walk out on Bush during his State of the Union speech, and that is something they can do without jeopardizing votes on further tax cuts, social security and the patriot act. It is a bold move, but purely political theater without any significant long term consequences.

Oncall/Ira:

New thread