There's No Crying in Baseball...

more importantly is the hint made at the posturing...if senators want to grandstand, do it semwhere other than the forum of a hearing for supreme court justice.

This was an Opportunity to show what we are made of, and it turned out to be a substance resembling the texture of marshmellows.

someday the democrat leadership will get it.

I will have to go back and review the videotape, but I am pretty sure he didn't rush out of the room. I am certain I saw him look back and make sure she was ten paces behind him.

And BTW, I'd be crying, too, if someone photographed me in that outfit...

Oh, Polly:

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
Until the last sylable of recorded time
And all our yesterdays
Lighted fools the way to dusty death.
Out! Out brief candle!
Life is but a walking shadow
A poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more.
It is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury
And signifying nothing.

There, that's from memory. From a public school education.

And it signifies that MacBeth got it wrong.
Tears....

From the perspective of 1863 (and this one I had to copy/paste from the net -- I need to dedicate myself to memorizing it):

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

I just love that speech, so I had to post it (again):

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us...."

Take that, MacBeth!

Democracy -- one day at a time....

Chuck in Doha

Hear, hear, Chuck. Two of my favorites.

A judge's wife cried on tv and I heard about it but didn't see it. Many women cried when Louisiana and Mississippi flooded, and during slavery and segregation.

Check this link - you'll see a segregated page - be sure you read on the correct side for your race, and prepare to be confused if you don't fit into a column.

http://www.remembersegregation.org

Are you going to an event tomorrow? We'll have a long, long march but not nearly so long as during the Civil Rights struggles.

We Shall Overcome, but it's a long road.
__________________________________

An Inquiry from Britain, after reading a story in the Guardian's weekend edition, the Observer:

New Orleans post Katrina
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1686412,00.html

True, or not true?
Derek

It's a long, sad (British) story about Katrina & New Orleans, and how the music died (in the neighborhoods).

A friend told him he had already heard alot of this kind of stuff, that is resulting in the ever widening seperation of classes. The poor neighborhoods are left to decline, and education is too. A huge wall to escaping poverty is built.

He asked, if the politicians won't listen, where do we begin? Do we now finally make a huge push for publicly financed elections, with the Abramoff scandal?

Reading further in the article he pointed out that it's likely business as usual there. "The uptown streets are immaculate. Where houses were damaged, crews are busy painting and restoring. Power and phone service have been restored long since, the zoo is up and running, Tulane University is about to reopen. In designer coffee houses, upscale whites and blacks swap Katrina war stories with the wry humour of the fully insured."

It seemed to the Americans Derek asked brutally honest, though probably not what many in the U.S. want to hear.

Another was more direct in his answer:

What you expect? Tis' a Darwinian free-for-all over here (except in the science classrooms). Money talks; compassion walks. NO is a
developer's dream and a racist opportunity sent by the Intelligent Designer.

Toolmaker:

Just out of curiosity, which grandstanding did you have in mind? What is it you didn't like about the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings?

Chuck in Doha

Hey Dwahzon, I tell you, public education is a worthy cause!

Chuck in Doha
Hosford GS, Cleveland HS, Portland, Oregon

Hey all, just an idea, but given that one of the maiden-voyage precepts of this web page involved electoral reform, don't you think it's a good time to think about gerrymandering and the role of public financing of political campaigns? Seems like these could be 2006 issues with legs, and not only that, the Alito hearings set up an awful lot frames in that respect (also in respect of the idea that Congress may soon have no say in declarations of war or that POTUS can void the 4th Amendment at its pleasure as long as we have anever ending "war" on terror). I have this sense that the Lincoln Logs are lying all about that could build a house undivided if only we could agree on a plan.

Chuck in Doha

PS: The Judicial may be gone so we may have to focus on the Legistative and then the Executive. Just a thought.

Posted by: chuck at January 15, 2006 02:43 PM

Chuck,

Over the past few days I have posted some information and a news article about the corruption in the DuPage Election Commissions office. DuPage County is recognized as one the the Republican's most loyal counties (Henry Hyde is the rep). The news only made it this far but for the efforts of some very determined and resourceful iindividuals who refused to accept what the county commissionors told them.

After you read the article try to tell me that Bob Babcock isn't one of the bravest guys you have read about (where did he get that courage?), and commissionor Mushow doesn't have something to hide.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/naper/news/n13election.htm

FOCUS | Murtha Says Elections Could End War
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011506X.shtml
US Rep. John Murtha, a Democratic critic of the Iraq war, said in remarks to be aired on Sunday that voter pressure in the November congressional election could force President George W. Bush to pull US forces from Iraq. Due to his recent candid remarks, Murtha has become the newest focus of the Swift Boat campaign, whose efforts are to smear his credibility.

A local, Geov Parrish (Seattle Weekly, Working for Change, TruthOut): We Could All Be King

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011506A.shtml
Much much more on this tomorrow.

courage

When you go to http://www.remembersegregation.org
- be aware that besides the website, they are running full page newspaper ads in many newspapers.

Oncall:

I bet that Mushow couldn't even begin to explain how the programming code works. Interesting, seems like we have a "Help America Vote" act; seems like we might need a "Help America Count Votes" act.

Remember the "KISS" of success should work for counting votes too: "Keep It Simple Stupid"

Chuck in Doha

This crying thing and all the media talk about how hard the Democrats were on Alito is nothing more than cat box contents. Alito is a judge and an attorney. What do attorneys and judges do? They ask detailed questions to determine patterns and inconsistencies. Nothing done in the Senate during the hearings was worse than what is done every day in every courtroom in America and several in Europe. We have to stop buying into it and repeat over and over that Americans have a right to have their Senators ask tough questions in a nominees hearing just as employers ask tough questions in job interviews. This is a huge job, so it requires a long and detailed interview.

Posted by: Ellen Beth at January 15, 2006 04:29 PM

Ellen,

It's wrong that the media has manipulated the message. In fact, how do we know it wasn't even a set up?

But frankly, I'm inclined to think that my husband doesn't take me on his job bids so why is she there for his? It IS a job interview! And given that this man would not be fired then the media is once again complicit.

I'm sick of it. So it always boils down to, 'What are we going to do about it?'

Ellen Beth,

You are absolutely right, and my favorite part of the hearings was when Pat Leahy asked Alito a question that he evaded answering and then asked it again and he evaded answering it. Here's the thing, it was the same question that a young Arlen Spector asked William Rhenquist when he was in confirmation hearings to be Chief Justice. When Rhenquist didn't answer it, Spector said, "If you don't answer it Judge, than I won't vote for you". Rhenquist eventually answered the question. When Leahy asked the question the second time and didn't get an answer, he reminded Spector of the Rhenquist moment. And Spector didn't like it one bit.

What the Dem leadership should have done before the hearings is make announcements every time they were asked a question about the Alito confirmation hearings, to say that we have some tough questions to ask, and if we don't get answers and just evasions, we will flat out not vote for Judge Alito. And then in the hearings, remind Judge Alito of that, and him of the "Spector" standard for voting. It would have given the Dems alot more room to pressure Alito and would have given them due cause to filibuster.

A Republican is just a Liberal whose ten year old daughter hasn't been strip searched yet.

Posted by: oncall at January 15, 2006 03:01 PM

Oncall,

What is key to me in that article is the fact that these electronic voting machines--OWNED by Republican donators and businessmen--ARE being GIVEN the taxpayers money for these machines under the HAVA act.

AND not once does it address the fact that HAVA was suppose to PROTECT elections not make them more hackable!

So is the Alito nomination really in the bag?

Regarding the picture on the front page--the flower blooming in January and the question about global warming, I would like to present the Bush administrations and the neoCON's side of the story.

Their side:

They are trying to help us with out heating bills. They know how their cuts in funding for services that provide care for the poor and the elderly will cause people to have to chose between heating their home or eating. They're trying to simplify their lives by eliminating the severest cold weather.

Additionally, the increase in pollutants will also create an atmosphere that poorest people will not have to chose to invest in medical care either. Because they will just die quicker.

And what those don't take care of...the hurricanes will.

We owe them thanks.

A picture's worth a thousand words, they say... and there are some darn good photos accompanying the articles on the Donkey O.D. blog this weekend:

http://donkeyod.blogspot.com/

let's assume that this ass includes u and me,
Otter

Can't hype this enough!

Al Gore to Warn of President's Threat to Constitution From President's Actions

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=59207

-- Wake-Up Call for Legislative, Judicial Branches: Wiretap Policy Only Latest Extension of Unchecked Executive Power

-- Introduction by Former Rep. Bob Barr highlights breadth of ideological concern over abuse of executive power

WHAT: Major address by Al Gore

WHEN: Monday, Jan. 16 at 12 p.m. (doors open at 10:30 a.m. so let Dick & Karen right in!!)

WHERE: DAR Constitution Hall, 1776 D Street, NW, Washington, D.C. (we will all be there in spirit!)

Former Vice President Al Gore will deliver a major address Monday on the threat posed by policies of the Bush Administration to the Constitution and the checks and balances it created. The speech will specifically point to domestic wiretapping and torture as examples of the administration's efforts to extend executive power beyond Congressional direction and judicial review.

The Vice President will make the case that the country -- including the legislative and judicial branches and all Americans -- must act now to defend the systems put into place by the country's founders to curb executive power or risk permanent and irreversible damage to the Constitution.

The extent of bipartisan concern over these issues is highlighted by former Republican Rep. Bob Barr's introduction of the Vice President next Wednesday, and by the organizations cosponsoring the speech.

The Liberty Coalition brings together ideologically diverse organizations across the political spectrum, including liberal and conservative groups, to preserve the Bill of Rights, personal autonomy and individual privacy.

The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) is one of the nation's leading progressive legal organizations. Founded in 2001, ACS works to ensure that the fundamental principles of human dignity, individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, and access to justice are in their rightful, central place in American law.

I wish I was a mouse in the corner when Geov Parrish (local journalist) interviewed Noam Chomsky (whose linguistic theories AND political writings I devoured in college):

Geov Parrish | We Could Each Be Dr. King
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011506A.shtml
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered. He would have been 77 on Sunday. As his living memory fades, replaced by a feel-good "I have a dream" whitewash that ignores much of what he stood for and fought against, it's more important than ever to recapture the true history of Dr. King - because much of what he fought against is resurfacing or is still with us today.

Chomsky: 'There Is No War on Terror'
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011506B.shtml
For over 40 years, MIT professor Noam Chomsky has been one of the world's leading intellectual critics of US foreign policy. Today, with America's latest imperial adventure in trouble both politically and militarily, Chomsky - who turned 77 last month - vows in an interview with Geov Parrish not to slow down "as long as I'm ambulatory."

Worth checking out in their native habitats, then:

The Liberty Coalition -- http://libertycoalition.net

The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) -- http://www.acslaw.org

it takes more than just us to achieve & ensure justice,
Otter

A Time to Break Silence By Rev. Martin Luther King

By 1967, King had become the country's most prominent opponent of the Vietnam War.  A year to the day before he was murdered King called the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." Time magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi," and the Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people."

Listen to this historic speech in full.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2564.htm
________________________________________________

Noam Chomsky weighs in:
Where do you put George W. Bush in the pantheon of American presidents?

He's more or less a symbol, but I think the people around him are the most dangerous administration in American history. I think they're driving the world to destruction. There are two major threats that face the world, threats of the destruction of the species, and they're not a joke. One of them is nuclear war, and the other is environmental catastrophe, and they are driving toward destruction in both domains. They're compelling competitors to escalate their own offensive military capacity—Russia, China, now Iran. That means putting their offensive nuclear missiles on hair-trigger alert.

The Bush administration has succeeded in making the United States one of the most feared and hated countries in the world. The talent of these guys is unbelievable. They have even succeeded at alienating Canada. I mean, that takes genius, literally.
http://tinyurl.com/7hakd
________________________________________________

One can read all of the posts by residents of the missing on: http://www.nola.com/ Most of the missing are the weakest, elderly and kids, mostly black, but a strong minority of the lost are white. The death toll hovers around 1,000, yet there are nearly 6,500 MISSING!

Here's a great story about how a local artist is helping local churches repair shattered stained glass windows and broken statutes.
http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index.ssf?/base/living-5/113730865442020.xml

Tulane University, the city's largest employer, slowly is rising from the floodwaters. Tulane also is helping historically black Dillard College and Xavier College (the only college in the US that's both Catholic AND African-American) re-open. Once party hardy college students are spending their spare time doing volunteer restoration work.

Now what type of businesses advertise in a city paper post-disaster? Well Home Depot and insurance companies to be sure! Then again, there are the shrinks, for whom there must be an even greater demand:
http://www.drkathleenquinn.com/AHOP%20Journal%20Article.htm

Harry Connick, Jr., who organized a benefit within 72 hours and had it broadcast on primetime national TV. Connick also made it clear to Middle America that the blacks and poor left behind in New Orleans weren't violent animals, as he walked through the damaged streets on national TV, while he was greeted kindly & respectfully by desperate and starving HUMAN BEINGS.

And the newspaper of the year is the New Orleans Tmes Picayune. Thanks to the net and the web, we can read the words of New Orleanians unfiltered through news conglomerates. Thanks to this newspaper, the voices of real New Orleans won't ever die.
_________________________________________________
From a German:
Look at this picture:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/south_asia_enl_1137258187/html/1.stm

These people are walking through the rubble of their remote Pakistan village after it got hit by American missiles at 3 a.m. Sunday night. Eightmen, five women and five children were killed and three buildings levelled. The CIA insists it was looking for some terrorist leader but oops he wasn't there, and even if he was -- killing a bunch of other people that did nothing wrong is pretty foul.

This is pretty much state terrorism and it's unlikely to make the U.S. any new friends. The people in Pakistan (who were previously helping the Americans on their war against terrorism) are now walking the streets shouting "Death to America".
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EA143F38-3942-4895-B15A-246E28A102B8.htm

Yeah, it's amazing how the world went from admiring to resenting the U.S. in a space of less that five years. You know what one of the last things was that Saddam did before he got shock-and-awed? He started selling oil for euros, instead of dollars, which would have seriously undermined the ability of the U.S. to print up money to sell to other countries to buy oil and prop up their horrid trade deficit. If that would have caught on, the U.S. economy would have collapsed. It's self-preservation, plain and simple.

Guess what Iran will start doing on 20 March 2006? Yes, open an oil bourse that will sell oil for euros. These are oil currency and resource wars being fought right now. Watch The End of Suburbia, read about Peak Oil (www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net). The party is coming to an end. Stefan
___________________

Gore's speech will be BROADCAST LIVE on CSPAN tomorrow (12 pm Eastern, presumably 9 am Pacific time)

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/US/Supreme_Court

Diane Feinstein warns Democrats that they shouldn't filibuster Alito.
It occurs to me that that's the Republicans job.

and:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060115/ap_on_go_co/us_pakistan

Evan Bayh thinks it's just hunky-dorey to attack Pakistan , just as long as we're hunting one of the "bad guys."

Uh, supporting the President on his outrageously illegal and immoral conduct of the war- wasn't that the Republicans job too?

I'm confused.

Hey, gang! Check out what's above the fold on the top page of http://www.culturekitchen.com -- woo and/or hoo, huh?

we're finding it harder and harder to contain our collective indictment,
Otter

[P.S. -- please feel free to drop a pithy comment on the thread where you're over there, too...]

....harder and harder to contain our indictment.
LOL.

Wrath,

I think Mrs. Alito was just crying to shed some nervous energy. I would like to know who set up the scene with her facing the camera behind Alito during the hearing's duration. Every single thing is staged with these people, IMHO. 1984 plus so much more....

NMP,

Thanks for posting the audio to the "Time to Break Silence" speech by Martin Luther King. I read that a year ago, and it gave me chills. We are fighting the same demons today.

Here is a link to an article Karen wrote about the speech to the DCP last April, and another link to the written copy of the speech itself:

http://www.democracycellproject.net/blog/archives/2005/04/the_beloved_com_1.html

Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence by Martin Luther King

http://yonip.com/main/peace/vietnam.html

Hearing that Dr. King would have been 77 on Sunday makes me realize how many opportunities were missed because of his death at such a young age.

I wish all clergy and parishioners in America would read it. - If only we had a mechanism in place to communicate with them, we might help them see......

I would like to encourage us all to read the speech again.

3) The freedom to sue a large corporate polluter when you have a child with severe birth defects. This will be replaced with the freedom to live in poverty while trying to pay the mountainous medical bills that pile up.

Posted by Polly Sigh at January 15, 2006 01:40 PM

Yes, Polly. And let us not forget the chance to put new meaning to the term "working poor".

Because of the new bankruptcy bill, many people are no longer able to claim bankruptcy over medical bills that are assininely high in the first place. Never mind that we are the only industrialized nation that does not provide socialized medical care for our citizens.

The new working poor will be able to utilize their new freedom of choosing which shopping cart they want to live out of, because included in the new bankruptcy bill is the right of the medical community to attach the working poor's wages, so they get paid before the rent does. That will also make it very hard for the working poor to keep that high priced gasoline in their automobiles, so they will be free to choose which method of transportation they will use to get to work each day....by bicycle, on foot, or public transportation (if they can afford the fare).

They will also have the freedom of choosing which garbage dumpster to eat out of.

Think you have seen poverty in the United States, folks? You ain't seen nothin' yet.

Truth: and not even considering the medical bills, the credit card companies are going to be causing a lot of people to seek relief through bankruptcy this year.
The average American family has a credit card debt of approximately $9,000. They have been paying either 1 or 2 percent on that bill per month- or an average monthly payment of between $90 and $180.
Due to new government regulations (pushed by the card companies, I'm sure), the minimum monthly payment beginning this month will go up to anywhere between 2 and 4 percent. So, now it becomes a monthly bill of between $180 and $360. And that's just for the average debtor. Those in the lower income brackets probably have more debt, (hey, I'm assuming that, because I do), and the payments may soon become unmanageable.

Then it's off to bankrupcy court, and any property outside your primary residence can be seized. Your car can be seized, any rental properties you have that have been providing you with income can be seized- it's all in favor of the credit card companies. Oh, and re the primary residence, it had better not be more than $130 K in value, because now any value above that amount is up for grabs too. Even in Florida, bankruptcy haven of America.
People are beginning to notice. A cashier in a shoe store yesterday brought it up to me in the course of a conversation, and she said she just "couldn't believe the government would do something like that." She was a republican, of course.
I believe it, but I also believe that doubling the credit card payments of the American public may just be the end of the Republican party majority forever. Not even down here in the Solid South will people tolerate their pockets being picked.
This will be a 2006 election issue- and we need to be sure we make it one.

I told my Republican uncle that Al Gore will be on C-span tomorrow. He said he watches C-Span alot and that my dad (deceased, his brother) used to watch it alot (nonstop, even in the nursing home). I told him we need to watch it for him, & sent along the press release. I'm going to try to get everyone in my extended family to watch it at the same time.

Off of the McLaughlin Group today:

Since the USA's invasion of Iraq,
2200 Americans dead
51,000 Americans maimed or wounded
~120,000 Iraqi civilians dead or severely wounded

As to Iran, my understanding is the USA simply does not have the military capacity to go to war over nukes, oil or whatever. This is apparently why the typically imperious administration is suddenly crying to the UN to do something.

Chomsky: 'There Is No War on Terror'
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011506B.shtml
For over 40 years, MIT professor Noam Chomsky has been one of the world's leading intellectual critics of US foreign policy. Today, with America's latest imperial adventure in trouble both politically and militarily, Chomsky - who turned 77 last month - vows in an interview with Geov Parrish not to slow down "as long as I'm ambulatory."
Posted by: DiAnne at January 15, 2006 05:47 PM

Thanks for posting that DiAnne! I'll second that by highly recommending reading and re-reading the article. What Chomsky has to say is VERY important!

Chomsky says sit better than I ever could, but this is the paragraph that highlights what I've been concerned about as far as who is promoting and escalating the FAKE "war on terror" that could lead to a real war involving many nations if The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal are not stopped - (it's circular, but The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal are driving the escalation with an "us vs them" warmongering rhetoric - and elsewhere in the article Chomsky points out that the US and other "allies" actually gave Saddam Hussein his WMD in the first place - that bit of hypocrisy is never highlighted enough, IMHO):

[Noam Chomsky]:
The fact of the matter is that there is no War on Terror. It's a minor consideration. So invading Iraq and taking control of the world's energy resources was way more important than the threat of terror. And the same with other things. Take, say, nuclear terror. The American intelligence systems estimate that the likelihood of a "dirty bomb," a dirty nuclear bomb attack in the United States in the next ten years, is about 50 percent. Well, that's pretty high. Are they doing anything about it? Yeah. They're increasing the threat, by increasing nuclear proliferation, by compelling potential adversaries to take very dangerous measures to try to counter rising American threats.

DiAnne,

My dad and I still have our spirited talks about politics too. When I am able to stay caught up on the blog I have news he may not have heard, and other times he informs me. They don't have cable, and they cancelled their internet. When I asked him how he stays so informed, he said "I read alot." He is really up on the trade agreements.

Yes, Linda, I do worry about our society in the coming years. I don't have to worry about my parents, because they were fortunate because my dad got his pension and insurance benefits (he was of the generation that retired before they started cheating people out of their pensions by laying them off before retirement, or downsizing.)

We absolutely have to get some Dems back in Congress before these in power start WWIII, or our people suffer mass starvation and homelessness.

I don't think I'm reaching either.

As to Iran, my understanding is the USA simply does not have the military capacity to go to war over nukes, oil or whatever. This is apparently why the typically imperious administration is suddenly crying to the UN to do something.

Posted by: nmp at January 15, 2006 07:41 PM

And NonnyO,

I don't think we can underestimate their capacity and desire for more war.

Correction to my earlier statement of "Somewhere on a sea there is a ship of soldiers waiting for the order to disembark, come late January".

It should have said "Come late January, there will be, somewhere on a sea, a ship of soldiers waiting for the order to disembark." It could be February or March, but probably sometime this spring. It was a little birdie....

This iMac G5 I'm testing is so fast .. I'd never get out from behind it.. (Apple Store)

NonnyO
It may not have much to do with our preparedness or ability to wage war on several fronts. Suppose another nation which is proximal to Iran goes to war with it, then we are sure to get involved. Suppose China gets into a scuffle with Taiwan - our trade deals protect us somewhat - our indebtedness to them. Yet once it starts, it could escalate out of control.

Staying informed is part of it, but I don't think we can really predict what would happen. I see our best hope in networking with each other but also with likeminded individuals all over the planet. I don't think most people think it's possible, but I know it is. We may not be the ones with power, but there are alot of us.

We need to build every kind of bridge we can. Every touring dance troupe can be an agent of friendship. Intelligent tourists can seek and spread reality without having to adhere to a party line. Others can figure out where we're coming from - we can be truthful and so can they. We can get around the cultural and linguistic barriers.

We can buy each other's handmade products from as close to the source as possible. We can learn about each other's music, history and politics. We don't have to depend on politicians, laws and diplomats because we've never been able to. Our asset is mass technology and that's why we are all being watched now, but there are too many of us - billions and trillions of messages transmitted constantly, many of which are over their heads.

Click on my URL - I owe them a plug for the free service.

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at January 15, 2006 07:59 PM

I totally agree, TSP. These people (cowards all) who never went to war are desperate to send other people to war to be killed or maimed or psychologically damaged for life, as well as doing the same to innocent people - all for the sake of controlling the world's oil reserves. How immoral or unethical is THAT reasoning?!?

I don't get it.

Or, perhaps I'm just too much of a pacifist by nature and inclination. Truth to tell, all I want now in my old age is time to finish as much of my genealogy research as possible to leave for a legacy to my relatives and the younger generations in my family, including the photos and bios to go with them, time to pursue finishing the dozen or so arts and crafts projects I have going, and time to read the books I still want to read (well, okay - the latter is impossible to accomplish because the list of books I want to still read is very long and getting longer almost daily). In my old age, my wants and desires are very simple, indeed. But to accomplish those simple things requires a peaceful world with honest politicians who won't start any more illegal, unjust, immoral, and unethical wars so I can ignore what's going on in government and not have to take time to write my legislators or the media....

Phooey. I just opened an email from Gold Star Families for Peace and saw that John Murtha was on CBS 60 minutes this past hour.

Anybody see him?

I hope the media picks up and broadcasts Gore's speech and snippets of it tomorrow.

Any plans for us to mass email and call the media outlets?

On The Border
by The Eagles

Cruisin’ down the center of a two way street
Wond’rin’ who is really in the driver’s seat
Mindin’ my bus’ness along comes big brother
Says, ’son, you better get on one side or the other.’

I’m out on the border, I’m walkin’ the line
Don’t you tell me ’bout your law and order
I’m try’n’ to change this water to wine.

After a hard day, I’m safe at home
Foolin’ with my baby on the telephone
Out of nowhere somebody cuts in and
Says, ’hmm, you in some trouble boy, we know where you’ve been.’

I’m out on the border
I thought this was a private line
Don’t you tell me ’bout your law and order
I’m try’n’ to change this water to wine

Never mind your name, just give us your number,
Never mind your face, just show us your card,
And we wanna know, whose wing are you under?
You better step to the right, or we can make it hard

I’m stuck on the border
All I wanted was some peace of mind
Don’t you tell me ’bout your law and order
I’m try’n’ to change this water to wine

On the border
On the border
On the border
On the border
On the border
Leave me be , I’m just walkin’ this line
On the border
On the border
All I wanted was some peace of mind, peace of mind
I’m out on the border
On the border
Can’t you see I’m tryin to change this water to wine
Don’t you tell me ’bout your law and order
Sick and tired of all your law and order
Sick and tired of it

Gore's speech will be BROADCAST LIVE on CSPAN tomorrow (12 pm Eastern, presumably 9 am Pacific time)

Posted by: DiAnne at January 15, 2006 06:09 PM

Here's a list of Mainstream Media phone numbers and email addresses.

Contact them and ask for more coverage of Gore's speech.

ABC NEWS
77 W. 66 St., New York, NY 10023
Phone: 212-456-7777

World News Tonight (put show in subject line): NETAUDR@abc.com

Good Morning America (put show in subject line) NETAUDR@abc.com

World News Now: wnn@abcnews.com

Nightline: nightline@abcnews.com

This Week with George Stephanopoulos: thisweek@abc.com

Primetime: abc.news.magazines@abc.com

20/20: 2020@abc.com

World News Weekend (put show in subject line): NETAUDR@abc.com

CBS NEWS
524 W. 57 St., New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212-975-4321
Fax: 212-975-1893

CBS Evening News: evening@cbsnews.com

The Early Show: earlyshow@cbs.com

48 Hours: 48hours@cbsnews.com

Face The Nation: ftn@cbsnews.com

CBS News Sunday Morning: sundays@cbsnews.com

Up to the Minute: uttm@cbs.com

NBC NEWS
NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112
Phone: 212-664-4444
Fax: 212-664-4426

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams: nightly@nbc.com

Today Show: today@nbc.com

Dateline NBC: dateline@nbc.com

Meet the Press: MTP@NBC.com

Weekend Today: WT@nbc.com

CNN
One CNN Center, Box 105366, Atlanta, GA 30303-5366
Phone: 404-827-1500
Fax: 404-827-1906

CNN asks for emails to all shows to go through this form:
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/cnntv/

CNN Daybreak
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?1

CNN American Morning
'Extra Effort'
Do you know someone who is making a difference? Someone whose extra efforts are having a positive impact? "American Morning" wants to tell the stories of these unsung heroes. If you know someone who deserves recognition for his or her unique contributions, e-mail us! Then watch "Extra Effort" on "American Morning," Fridays at 9 a.m. ET.
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5e.html?1

CNN Live Today
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?3

CNN Your World Today
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?39

CNN Live From
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?5

CNN The Situation Room
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?65

CNN Lou Dobbs Tonight
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?9

CNN Anderson Cooper
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?10

CNN Paula Zahn Now
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?11

CNN Larry King Live
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?12

CNN News Night
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?13

FOX NEWS
1211 Ave. of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
Phone: (212) 301-3000
Fax: (212) 301-4229

Special Report with Brit Hume: Special@foxnews.com

FOX Report with Shepard Smith: Foxreport@foxnews.com

The O'Reilly Factor: Oreilly@foxnews.com

Hannity & Colmes: Hannity@foxnews.com, Colmes@foxnews.com

On the Record with Greta: Ontherecord@foxnews.com

DaySide with Linda Vester: Dayside@foxnews.com

FOX & Friends: Friends@foxnews.com

FOX News Live (put show in subject line): Feedback@foxnews.com

Heartland w/ John Kasich: Heartland@foxnews.com

Studio B with Shepard Smith: Studiob@foxnews.com

The Big Story with John Gibson: Myword@foxnews.com

MSNBC
One MSNBC Plaza
Secaucus, NJ 07094
Phone: (201) 583-5000
Fax: (201) 583-5453

Hardball with Chris Matthews: hardball@msnbc.com

MSNBC Reports with Joe Scarborough: msnbcreports@msnbc.com

Imus in the Morning: imus@msnbc.com

MSNBC Live: Newsforce@msnbc.com

Connected Coast to Coast with Ron Reagan and Monica Crowley: Connected@msnbc.com

The Situation with Tucker Carlson: Tucker@msnbc.com

PBS
1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 703-739-5000
Fax: 703-739-8458

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer: newshour@pbs.org

NPR
635 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001-3753
Phone: 202-513-2000
Fax: 202-513-3329

Jeffrey Dvorkin, Ombudsman ombudsman@npr.org

All Things Considered: atc@npr.org

Morning Edition: morning@npr.org

Talk Of The Nation: totn@npr.org

LA TIMES
202 West First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: 800-528-4637 or 213-237-5000
Fax: 213-237-4712

Readers' Representative: readers.rep@latimes.com

National News Department

NY TIMES
229 W. 43rd St., New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212-556-1234
Fax: 212-556-3690
D.C. Bureau phone: 202-862-0300

Byron Calame, public editor: public@nytimes.com

National Editors: national@nytimes.com

USA TODAY
7950 Jones Branch Dr., McLean, VA 22108
Phone: 800-872-0001 or 703-854-3400
Fax: 703-854-2165

General Comment

WALL STREET JOURNAL
200 Liberty St., New York, NY 10281
Phone: 212-416-2000
Fax: 212-416-2658

Letters to the Editor: wsj.ltrs@wsj.com

General comment: wsjcontact@dowjones.com

WASHINGTON POST
1150 15th St., NW, Washington, DC 20071
Phone: 202-334-6000
Fax: 202-334-5269

Ombudsman: ombudsman@washpost.com

Michael Abramowitz, national editor (be polite):
abramowitz@washpost.com

AP
Dallas Bureau
4851 LBJ Freeway, Suite 300
Dallas TX 75244-6002
(972) 991-2100 News
(972) 991-7207 Fax

Links with media email addresses and phone numbers:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/1202

http://www.democracycellproject.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=46

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at January 15, 2006 09:01 PM

I'd love to see protestors infront of the media outfits before, during, and after his speech!

Thanks for the links.

Cronkite: Time for U.S. to get out of Iraq
Former CBS anchor wishes he hadn’t retired so early

PASADENA, Calif. - (AP) Former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, whose 1968 conclusion that the Vietnam War was unwinnable keenly influenced public opinion then, said Sunday he'd say the same thing today about Iraq.

"It's my belief that we should get out now," Cronkite said in a meeting with reporters.

Now 89, the television journalist once known as "the most trusted man in America" has been off the "CBS Evening News" for nearly a quarter-century. He's still a CBS News employee, although he does little for them.

Cronkite said one of his proudest moments came at the end of a 1968 documentary he made following a visit to Vietnam during the Tet offensive. Urged by his boss to briefly set aside his objectivity to give his view of the situation, Cronkite said the war was unwinnable and that the U.S. should exit.

Then-President Lyndon Johnson reportedly told a White House aide after that, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."

The best time to have made a similar statement about Iraq came after Hurricane Katrina, he said.

"We had an opportunity to say to the world and Iraqis after the hurricane disaster that Mother Nature has not treated us well and we find ourselves missing the amount of money it takes to help these poor people out of their homeless situation and rebuild some of our most important cities in the United States," he said. "Therefore, we are going to have to bring our troops home."

Iraqis should have been told that "our hearts are with you" and that the United States would do all it could to rebuild their country, he said.

"I think we could have been able to retire with honor," he said. "In fact, I think we can retire with honor anyway."

Cronkite has spoken out against the Iraq war in the past, saying in 2004 that Americans weren't any safer because of the invasion.

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10869351/

Wow, otter, wonder if Liza of Culture Kitchen knows Karen and Dick. Just saw her last Monday.

Let's see what more we can do.

I am having an effect on my uncle (former Fox watcher who now reads NY Times, Salon & just read a book on immigration issues in Europe):

He says, "interesting....I didn't watch TV at all today"

I suppose I might need to start off this post with a disclaimer of sorts.

As I think I've fairly well established on the screens of this blogsite in the past, I don't in any way lay claim to being a Christian. While I was originally raised as a Presbyterian when I was a child, I have not practiced as one for well nearly four decades. Nor do I self-identify as being a member of any Christian religion, sect, or subgroup. My faith and my beliefs lie elsewhere.

That being said, though, I think I've also fairly well established on the screens of this blogsite in the fact that I respect the faith of others (as I expect them to respect my own in turn). So what I'm about to write is not as self-contradictory as it might at first appear.

I've made no bones on the blog about how much I admire the work of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict that I've gotten to know and to work with here where I live. And I've left no doubt about how much I value the work of true peacemakers everywhere, and the work of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq in particular.

While I don't believe that any particular religion should become the handmaiden or the crutch of those who would use it to further their own political ends, I do believe that faith can and should be a root of both individual and social conscience, and a source of the actions by which this conscience manifests itself in the world.

And so, I don't feel that it's entirely inconsistent or inappropriate for me to share with you the words of an undeniably Christian prayer here on the blog this evening.

Tonight is the first of a fortnight's worth of vigils that members and friends of the CPT are holding in Washington and across the country -- across the world, in fact -- in the cause of global peace and in the name of the hostages being held in Iraq and other hotbeds of the struggle against terrorism and tyranny; and this prayer is their prayer.

The Christian Peacemaker Teams are calling this effort "Shine the Light: A Call to Witness in a Time of War", and I encourage you to visit their website at http://cpt.org/iraq/shinethelight.php to learn more about how and why and where they are giving so selflessly of themselves in the cause of peace.

As we celebrate the birthday of Dr. King today and tomorrow, let us remember his many words of peace as well; and let us share in the prayer of these Peacemakers that his example has helped to inspire, as they stand fast against those who would hold and harm their fellow human beings.

Blessed are all the peacemakers, for they too shall be called the children of God.

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

A Prayer for Unity in a Time of War

“I implore you then, live up to your calling. Spare no effort to make fast with bonds of peace the unity which the spirit gives.” (Ephesians 4: 1, 3)

Thou hope and joy of all creation,

You have given to all generations the power to seek you, and in seeking you, to find you. Grant us, we pray, a clearer vision of your truth, greater faith in your power, more confident assurance of your love.

Many of our sisters and brothers in Iraq, be they soldiers or civilians, young or old, captives or captors, suffer overwhelming grief and affliction. Bombed, maimed, mutilated, wasted, tormented, these our brothers and sisters endure unending war, much of it fueled by U.S. wealth and arrogance. Grant us, we pray, courage to overcome our cautions, to set aside our unjust comforts. To resist the works of war and embrace the works of mercy.

Grant us, we pray, the grace to hear deep in our hearts our Muslim brothers’ and sisters’ daily call to prayer: “O God you are peace. From you is peace and unto you is peace. Let us live our lives in peace. Bring us into your peace. Unto you be honor and glory. We hear and obey. Grant us your forgiveness God, and unto you be our becoming.”

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

blessed be,
Otter

Otter,
Thanks and blessings.

Peace.

Thank you for sharing that, Otter.

As someone said on the blog last week, "If standing on my head doing jello shots would work right now, I'd do it".

There are many people praying for America right now, and not all of them are nuts. I know some who pray fervently for our country and its direction, and have for several years now.

I am doing two in-depth studies on prayer myself right now, one is a book and workbook by Dr. Myles Munroe, titled "Understanding the Purpose and Power of Prayer", and the other is reading and researching the New York Times best seller by Juanita Bynum, "The Threshing Floor". I am doing the studies with a friend.

I'm not in to superstition, either, but if I find something new that I think will help, believe me I will not hesitate to do it.

This may not have much to do with anything, but I just watched "To Catch A Thief," with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.

& now I'm going to listen to "Hail to the Thief," by Radiohead.

& to my hot White Russian, I added Chocolate Cherry.

The way you wear your hat,
The way you sip your tea,
The mem'ry of all that --
No, no! They can't take that away from me!
The way your smile just beams,
The way you sing off key,
The way you haunt my dreams --
No, no! They can't take that away from me!

We can never, never meet again
On the bumpy road to love,
Still I'll always, always keep
The mem'ry of --

The way you hold your knife,
The way we danced 'til three.
The way you changed my life --
No, no! They can't take that away from me!
No! They can't take that away from me!

hmmmm here's a vision...what do you think would happen if every church,mosque,temple etc included a prqyer for ALL those involved in war-as indicated above0
If you heard a prayer to end war every week...not the usual prayer but a
prayer from the heart

I am going to lead services here soon. I will be including such a prayer/

"What the Dem leadership should have done before the hearings is make announcements every time they were asked a question about the Alito confirmation hearings, to say that we have some tough questions to ask, and if we don't get answers and just evasions, we will flat out not vote for Judge Alito. And then in the hearings, remind Judge Alito of that, and him of the "Spector" standard for voting. It would have given the Dems alot more room to pressure Alito and would have given them due cause to filibuster."

Posted by: spinnaker at January 15, 2006 04:44 PM

and to sparrow:

The above makes a good point about setting up the situation for those barely paying attention. I can envision the new republican way of having a hearing. It will be more like a memorial service for the person where people just get up and talk about how great he (or she) is. Bravo! Barvo! They will probably even start just making stuff up.

And by the way, what is up with Feinstein?

We were told over and over that we had to put up with Roberts because the next nomination was going to be worse and we had to save the filibuster for that. Now that it is here and is worse, we are told no can do...too risky. What are they waiting for, some guy with a little chopped off mustache, wearing a swastika, named Adolf to be nominated?

World powers meet on Iran nuclear program
U.S. pushes urgent IAEA meeting; UK: No 'rush' to sanctions

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Washington has urged the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog to meet as soon as possible on Iran's nuclear program, although Britain warned against a "rush" to sanctions against Tehran.

The latest comments from the top U.S. and British diplomats came as representatives of six world powers were meeting in London to discuss Iran's resumption of its nuclear research program.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, senior officials from the so-called EU3 -- Britain, Germany and France -- and representatives from China and Russia were holding consultations on the situation Monday.

Last week the EU3 recommended that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for its non-compliance in restarting its nuclear program, a recommendation Washington supports.

The United States and the EU3 will be seeking to persuade Russia and China to agree to a referral on Monday, CNN European Political Editor Robin Oakley said.

The U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China are the five permanent members of the Security Council and have the power to veto council resolutions.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that Iran's latest actions "crossed the threshold" and that the IAEA board should hold an emergency meeting as soon as possible.

She said the United States feared that if IAEA members wait until a scheduled meeting in March, Iran would use the time to further "obfuscate" over any nuclear weapons plans, Reuters reported.

"We just can't let them do that," Reuters quoted Rice as telling reporters traveling with her to Liberia for the inauguration of Africa's first elected woman president.

"We have got to finally demonstrate to Iran that it can't with impunity just cast aside the just demands of the international community," she said.

more... http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/01/16/iran.nuclear/index.html

(p.s. Dear Condi, we cast aside the demands of the international community all the time... setting bad precendents is a bitch, ain't it?)

Old news ... or is it? The really interesting stuff starts after the [snip] ... and I don't recall there being much noise made about that aspect of things in the MSM or elsewhere, even at the time ... hmmm ...

-----------

WHY IS OPERATION ABLE DANGER SUCH A SECRET?
(posted by swiftdon, erielead.org, on 1/5/06)

After all the contradictory answers, it is clear that the Bush Administration does not want Americans to know about 'Able Danger'. Who can doubt that Al Qaeda and most foreign intelligence agencies know what was going on? The following is what little we know. Who can blame us from drawing troubling inferences?

In 1999, the Pentagon Special Operations Command established 'Able Danger', a secret program, to gather information on Al Qaeda. In that year, it had identified Mohammed Atta, the architect of 9/11, and three others as members of the cell that attacked the World Trade complex in 1993. Atta would mastermind the 9/11, and the other three were also among the hijackers.

Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, who worked at the DIA, became aware of Atta and his three colleagues in mid-2000. Shaffer informed the FBI of what was known about these four Al Quada operatives. He urged the arrest of Atta, but Pentagon lawyers became involved to prevent the arrest. The lawyers claimed they had problems recommending action against someone holding a green card. But Atta did not have a green card or a valid entry visa. He came to the US three times on a visitor’s visa. The Pentagon is now denying that it knew anything about these people before 9/11.

[snip]

What is known is that Atta attended a flight school in Venice. The DEA confiscated and auctioned a private jet owned by one of the owners of the school. The agency found 43 pounds of heroin. No action was ever taken against the Venezuelan pilot or the owner Wally Hilliard. The same jet had made 39 weekly milk runs to Venezuela before the DEA acted.

The school’s co-owner was Rudi Dekkers, a native of Holland who owed his government $3,000,000. There was a second flight school at that airport owned by another native of Holland, Arne Kruithof. The two Hollanders bought flight schools within months of one another. Dekkers claimed he did not know her, but they both used Ascal Schreier, a German, to recruit Arab students.

Dekkers said Atta was a terrible person, an incompetent pilot who left school December 20, 2000 and did not return. Others claim Atta was there in 2001 and that he and the operator were friendly. In August, two of the other hijackers were with Atta, and Atta’s attorney father visited from Egypt. The three younger men were said to hire a Yellow Cab in the evenings which was driven by a retired Navy Seal, who left soon after they left Venice.

Another driver reported that the two were on very friendly terms and that they shared a cab to a Sarasota night spot in August, 2001. Atta was apparently a hard drinker. Following the lead of the FBI, the 9/11 commission did not discuss the schools.

The Knight Rider papers, the Washington Post, and Newsweek reported a week after 9/11 that five of the hijackers had been trained at US military facilities at one time or another. This did not involve Atta’s brief employment much earlier in Hamburg, before he experienced a religious conversion in Egypt. It was said that Atta was at the International Officers School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. Abdulaziz Alomari was at the Areospace Medical School in Texas.

The Sarasota Herald-Times discovered that Atta lived for more than two months at the Sandpiper Apartments in Venice in March and April of 2001 with a part-time stripper and lingerie model. She reported that the FBI urged her to keep quiet.

Soon after 9/11, FBI agents were in Venice asking questions that made it clear they knew about Atta’s movements there. They questioned another cabbie about their nocturnal rides with the other driver. They seized a pharmacy’s security tape for the day Atta and his father were there and excised that part of the tape.

There were rumors that the flight schools had a CIA connection, and that that their records were removed on September 12, 2001. The limited action taken after the biggest drug seizure in central Florida history led to speculation about some kind of a protected drug trade. For years there have been rumors about CIA and DIA drug trading; and those who have written about this have had their careers ruined.

There will probably never be enough evidence to prove why the Pentagon did not want to move against Atta and now claims it knew nothing about him. One employee said Atta and others moved on to a school in Pompano Beach to learn to fly big jets via simulator. He added that he did not think this approach could be successful.

Fired FBI translator Sibel Edmunds was asked if she came across evidence that there was any evidence of a connection between drug trading and 9/11. She is now under a very tough gag orders, and she only offered a sort of "nondenial-denial." Don’t look for solid answers anytime soon.

There is compelling evidence that the FBI was keeping track of Atta’s movements in Venice, Florida in 9/11. It has also been suggested that he had been involved in some sort of protected heroin smuggling operation and that this accounts for the Pentagon’s reluctance to pursue him earlier.

Full blogpost is here: http://www.erielead.org/node/317

----------

they can have my tinfoil hat when they pry it from my cold dead fingers,
Otter

When I saw Alito's wife sitting behind him on the first day of the hearings, I said she looked as though she was barely able to control her emotions. She was overwhelmed from the start. I'm no movement analyst :-) but it was clear that her breathing was shallow and she was having trouble with her nerves. I noted to a friend that whenever she smiled at something, it seemed to linger inappropriately into serious dialogue, as though she was unable to move from one emotion to another in a natural way. It was like watching a hand grenade with the pin pulled sitting right behind this man on national TV. So when she cried, I just shook my head and said it was only a matter of time.

Now because of becoming so cynical in the past few years of Rove and Reed, I sit and wonder if everyone knew she was emotionally unprepared for those very bright lights. And if that was the reason for her being there.

Posted by: lou at January 16, 2006 08:41 AM

Lou,

I've been saying all along that I think it was a setup!

And here's your morning news roundup courtesy of Truthout.Org:

WE COULD EACH BE DR. KING
http://tinyurl.com/9x6uu

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered. He would have been 77 on Sunday. As his living memory fades, replaced by a feel-good "I have a dream" whitewash that ignores much of what he stood for and fought against, it's more important than ever to recapture the true history of Dr. King -- because much of what he fought against is resurfacing or is still with us today.

COURT: BUSH CAN BE SUED ON FAITH BASED INITIATIVE
http://tinyurl.com/dsmpj

A group can sue the federal government over claims that President Bush's faith-based initiative is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion, a federal appeals court ruled.

CALIFORNIA SET TO EXECUTE 76-YEAR-OLD MAN
http://tinyurl.com/a5gnl

California's oldest death row inmate -- who is 75, legally blind and nearly deaf -- is asking the Supreme Court to do something it has never done before: block an execution because of the condemned man's advanced age and infirmity.

ASHCROFT STAKES OUT LUCRATIVE NEW GROUND
http://tinyurl.com/bgbs9

Less than three months after registering as a lobbyist, former Attorney General John Ashcroft has banked at least $269,000 from just four clients and appears to be developing a practice centered on firms that want to capitalize on a government demand for homeland security technology that boomed under sometimes-controversial policies he promoted while in office.

A COURT SEAT FOR PRIVILEGE
http://tinyurl.com/cjrf2

Concerning Samuel Alito, Derrick Jackson's diagnosis for America is a case of amazing amnesia. Right on time for the King holiday, America is elevating yet another man to lifetime power, seemingly ignorant of his association with racism and sexism.

MURTHA SAYS ELECTIONS COULD END WAR
http://tinyurl.com/9rlf3

US Rep. John Murtha, a Democratic critic of the Iraq war, said in remarks to be aired on Sunday that voter pressure in the November congressional election could force President George W. Bush to pull US forces from Iraq. Due to his recent candid remarks, Murtha has become the newest focus of the Swift Boat campaign, whose efforts are to smear his credibility.

NYT WARNS OF UNRESTRAINED BUSH POWERS
http://tinyurl.com/95t8w

The New York Times flashes red lights on President Bush's unprecedented powers and the theory behind "signing statements," by which he hopes to trump the intent of legislation written by Congress.

FILIBUSTER BUSH, IMPEACH ALITO
http://tinyurl.com/ey84g

Paul Rogat Loeb assesses the close of the Alito hearings, concluding mainline pundits will call his nomination a done deal. Alito didn't spew obscenities or green bile. He didn't admit that he'd reverse Roe v. Wade or vow to proclaim George Bush Lord Emperor.

the news that gives you fits we print,
Otter

And ditto courtesy of Alternet.Org:

AFTER ALITO: WHAT NOW?
http://tinyurl.com/76bb8

If we had better media, we would not be facing Bush's takeover of the Supreme Court.

WHERE IS DR. KING'S DREAM TODAY?
http://tinyurl.com/bug8a

A new documentary, "The Boys of Baraka," follows four young teenagers, who leave their failing schools in Baltimore to find glimpses of Dr. King's vision in Kenya.

IF YOU DON'T KNOW K STREET, YOU DON'T KNOW JACK
http://tinyurl.com/du4o4

To understand the culture of corruption that infects Washington, DC, it's important to understand the origins of the K Street Project.

DUMPING LIEBERMAN
http://tinyurl.com/b8k3y

Are Connecticut Democrats ready to replace Sen. Joseph Lieberman in the primary election?

INVOKING KING
http://tinyurl.com/c8eav

For years, the GOP has capitalized on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s name to reimagine itself as a party of diversity and inclusion.

FINDING WORDS TO TALK ABOUT RACE
http://tinyurl.com/7rhuq

Whenever I start getting lulled into the idea that maybe race and ethnicity don't matter, something happens to remind me of their power.

COMMANDING RESPONSIBILITY FROM THE PENTAGON
http://tinyurl.com/7k87y

Rumsfeld and Cheney are staring down the possibility they could be held accountable for crimes at Abu Ghraib, Falluja and Guantanamo.

CIVIL WAR LOOMS; MEDIA YAWNS
http://tinyurl.com/a3aaa

Iraq's most influential Shiite leader has reneged his pledge to work with Sunnis on the new Constitution, but the press is still mum.

THE SHAMELESS AND SPINELESS

'It seems the Democrats have given up their right to ask Alito further questions, and they are now lying slumped over the Committee table.'

UNITED STATES OF FEAR
http://tinyurl.com/7zey3

A new documentary on Peru chronicles how fear of terrorism was exploited to undermine democracy. Sound familiar?

MAKING INCOMPETENCE A REALITY
http://tinyurl.com/dluud

Molly Ivins believes that for sheer government incompetence, this administration sets new records daily.

(MORE) LOSS AND DISPLACEMENT IN NEW ORLEANS
http://tinyurl.com/bcvxl

The 1,400 working-class households in this housing project are returning to find their homes destroyed not only by Katrina, but by thieves.

SIERRA CLUB'S GREEN SMALL SCREEN
http://tinyurl.com/dxyp4

The environmental group's new television series dishes the dirt on what happened to rescue workers after Ground Zero.

BETRAYING REAGAN'S REVOLUTION
http://tinyurl.com/bxd9a

Yesterday's Reagan-era Republicans have grown into today's liars and schemers.

DON’T CALL US APATHETIC
http://tinyurl.com/dg7sb

Contrary to popular belief, young people are more politically engaged than ever.

with news like this who needs anomalies,
Otter

And here are some over-the-weekend highlighted links from the finestkind "Tennessee Guerilla Women" blogsite, too:

JUDICIAL GAG RULE
http://tinyurl.com/8e8kp

A casual newspaper reader or television viewer might have gotten the impression that the major problem with last week's Supreme Court confirmation hearings was that some senators on the Judiciary Committee talked too much. The truth, of course, is that the nominee, Samuel Alito, talked far too little.

AL GORE TO GO FOR THE BUSH JUGULAR
http://tinyurl.com/cksa5

It is a measure of the bleakness of these times when the good news is that a Democrat has the courage to stand up and tell the truth (and the media will report it, maybe).

IS ABRAMOFF THE NEW MONICA?
http://tinyurl.com/7pcfg

This much is certain: 1) The Abramoff scandal, so far anyway, boasts plenty of cigars but no sex. 2) It has almost everything else, including the "Miami Vice"-style rub-out of a Florida casino-cruise-ship mogul who'd had contentious business dealings with Mr. Abramoff.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: IMPEACH HIM
http://tinyurl.com/83xv9

"Impeachment is a tortuous process, but now that President Bush has thrown down the gauntlet and virtually dared Congress to stop him from violating the law, nothing less is necessary to protect our constitutional system and preserve our democracy."

STRIP SEARCH SAMMY: UNCOVER HIS DIRTY SECRETS
http://tinyurl.com/8ygc6

Go strip search Sammy Alito and see what he's hiding underneath his robes over at Working for Change. While Stripsearch Sammy is stripping, you'll see plenty of opportunities to take action. Being an activist was never so naughty.

TEARS FOR STRIP SEARCH SAMMY
http://tinyurl.com/ctw6s

And from 'Shakespeare's Sister': "In related news, Congress has passed legislation requiring at least one fainting couch be made available at all future SCOTUS nomination hearings."

DEFEAT SCALITO: VIEW THE AD
http://tinyurl.com/dzsc4

It ain't over yet. Watch the new 'Save the Court' ad over at People for the American Way. PFAW: "Media reports are underestimating the effect of Judge Samuel Alito’s testimony. A huge coalition -– 75 organizations strong –- is going to counter the spin that Alito’s confirmation is a foregone conclusion. Senators are voicing strong concerns about Alito now that the hearings are over – and we need to generate a big voice that tells them: 'defeat this nomination!'"

DOWD: OPRAH! HOW COULD YA?
http://tinyurl.com/bu4vv

"Martha-Ann Alito cries, and the Democrats back off from examining why Samuel Alito was so opportunistic about his bigoted alumni club and whether he will curb women's rights for generations. It's the wimpification of debate."

PRO-CHOICE SEN. SNOWE WON'T SUPPORT FILIBUSTER
http://tinyurl.com/dnssf

Snowe (R-Maine) "does not believe that Judge Alito warrants a filibuster," according to her spokeswoman, Antonia Ferrier. The Pro Choice senator may as well say she'll vote to confirm Alito. If Senator Snowe has been paying attention, she knows that Alito represents a grave danger to women's right to self-determination.

FEMINIST BLOGGERS ON SCALITO, OR, WHERE ARE THE FIGHTING DEMS?
http://tinyurl.com/bo7cl

Still hoping for a miracle here, or some fighting Dems. Here's a small snapshot of some feminist thought from the blogosphere on the seemingly hopeless ScAlito hearings.

FIVE GOP SENATORS IN GROUP OPPOSING ALITO
http://tinyurl.com/b9kv4

According to the WaPo, the Republican group - Republican Majority for Choice - that announced its opposition to Alito yesterday has five GOP senators on its advisory committee. (see below) Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter is one of the five. Specter says he has not yet made up his mind and did not participate in the group's decision.

THE LAWBREAKER IN THE OVAL OFFICE
http://tinyurl.com/aod4o

The country has set the bar so low for the performance of George W. Bush as president that it is effectively on the ground. No one expects very much from Mr. Bush. He's currently breaking the law by spying on Americans in America without getting warrants, but for a lot of people that's just George being George.

you don't have to be female to be a tennessee guerilla woman but it probably helps,
Otter

Well, okay, that's enough of playing online news rebroadcaster for one morning. I have a march to go march in and a vigil to go vigilate at aftertwards, so I'll check back in with y'all later and let you know what transpired here today.

But first, let me leave you with a parting quote from a great man whose memory we are honoring again today. A man, mind you, not a saint; but a great man nonetheless.

"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."
-- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,
Otter

Otter, I deeply appreciate your summaries but would you do me one more favor? Please note which source the tinyurl is referencing.

Also had an interesting chat this morning with a friend of yours, 'the-anti-red', in the irc this morning.

Thanks.

Yeah otter, anti-red was cool blue.

dwahzon:

If I started out a post with newsfeed recaps by saying something like "courtesy of Alternet.Org", then I already *have* noted which source the URLs are referencing.

Sometimes sites like Alternet repost external material, in which case they give full attrribution and a link to the original source on their own page. Other times the material they present is original to them alone. I've stopped trying to source everything back to the original link with each feed that I reference for the convenience of our bloggers who don't have newsfeed readers.

It's just too much work to do that anymore, especially since I already go to a lot of trouble to weed out feeds that have already been posted to the blog and give each feed its own URL and so forth. I don't just copy & paste this stuff, I vet it first.

okay? okay,
Otter