Sun and Rain and Passing the Revolution Around

Wonderful!
I will probably be going to see Russ Feingold tomorrow, before our peace walk around the lake, then working a booth at the U District Street Fair, then welcoming relatives who are coming for Cirque du Soleil the next day. Better plug the camera battery in as soon as I get home.

I hope that this summer, the whole ocuntry is just buzzing with progressive activities & then that in the fall we "throw the bums out" - en masse.

Believe in miracles and fate? Yes.

DiAnne, my hope is the same as yours.

Italy to Withdraw Troops, Calls Iraq Occupation "Grave Error"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051806A.shtml
Another US ally in the war in Iraq distanced itself from the US-led effort today when Italy's new prime minister, Romano Prodi, called the invasion and occupation a "grave error" and said he would propose a withdrawal of Italian
troops.

Sounds too like Afghanistan is really heating up, with the Taleban, almost 5 years after 9-11, with Canada & Britain taking alot of the brunt. Britain is really getting whipped in South Iraq too.

Bush Stomps on 4th Amendment

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/05/16/bush_stomps_on_fourth_amendment?mode=PF

legal perspective

Bush Campaign Official Sentenced to Prison
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051806D.shtml
A senior official in US president George W. Bush's re-election campaign was sentenced to 10 months in prison on Wednesday for his role in suppressing votes in a key US Senate race, a scandal that Democrats charge may involve the White House. What remains unclear is why the national Republican Party spent millions of dollars defending Tobin.

THE WAR ON SEX
Cristina Page, TomPaine.com
The groups trying to ban abortion have another plan up their sleeve: restricting your access to contraception.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/36371/

Excellent pics! What a very cool group.

I thought this was a great point made by Senator Levin
highlighted by David Corn:
the Administration is once again engaging in SELECTIVE LEAKS to provide cover for their NSA spy program.
http://www.davidcorn.com/archives/2006/05/opening_point_a.php

DiAnne:

I have posted here my thoughts about Arlen Specter. Since he will be campaigning for the other Pa dirtbag this summer hopefully we can do something to let Pa voters know that the tag team of Specter and Santorum reak of extremism and are unfit for office. The idea that Pa voters and the AFL-CIO have constantly come to his aid to help his re election baffles me. The way he treated his fellow Senator Russ Feingold today was inexcusable.It started with Clarence Thomas, his recent defense of Sam Alito and his current rudeness to Sen Feingold today. My guess is that he thinks that appealing to the right wing is the only way to save his sinking party and the only hope that Santorum has in November, so he is sending a message to those voters through the Senate microphone. Did I say dispicable.Otter you have some insight into what I am talking about.

Ira, I probably do. But I'm going to have to chew over that particular cud a couple more times before I know what to say about it. There is absolutely no question regarding what I think and feel about Rick Santorum. My thoughts are less simple and less obvious when it comes to Arlen Specter. Every time I think I've got 'em pegged, he turns around and upsets my polemical apple cart again. So I need to process this particular topic a little bit more before we discuss it in detail. Whatever tomorrow's thread might be, we'll talk about it then/there. Okay?

things that make me go 'hmmm',
Otter

I remember Specter and Feingold sitting together on a Sunday morning talk show acting like they were best buddies. Each has a similar agenda, appeal to voters who are most likely to get out and vote - the base.

But tensions are running very high now....former collegues are now the enemy....

Bush Is Certifiable
George W. Bush is suffering from a peculiar but not that uncommon form of madness.
By Paul Levy
Bush literally feels himself above human morality, as he is under the self-generating delusion that he is the supreme moral arbiter, not realizing in the slightest that he has fallen into his unconscious, whose dark side he is acting out. Because of his pathological condition, he is the last person who should be the judge of morality, the very last person on earth choosing justices for the Supreme Court.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13100.htm
Link to Levy's previous article:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13099.htm

Seems to attack the "problem" of DumDum's appeal from a Jungian perspective. Nothing we don't already know, but the 'mass appeal' info I found sort of interesting. Don't know what to think about that, since I've never understood the 'mass appeal' for such an obviously UN-intelligent person...!!! "Charisma" like that just goes over my head....

from the BBC...

Fifteen Saudi Arabians have arrived home after being released from the United States military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
[...]
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said an understanding had been reached with the Saudi government over their release.
[...]
Mr McCormack said: "We were able to assure ourselves that if these people were returned to Saudi Arabia that they wouldn't be tortured and they would be treated humanely."

Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister Prince Nayef said the kingdom was trying to secure the release and return of the remaining Saudi detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

He said that the 15 men "will be made subject to the country's laws", comments that suggest the men may be put on trial.

Eight Saudis have previously been released from Guantanamo Bay, but jailed back home.

At least five of them were freed by Saudi Arabia last year after they completed their jail terms.

It is believed that about 100 of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay are Saudi nationals.

read the entire article here...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4996804.stm

also from the BBC...

US 'must end secret detentions'

The US should close any secret "war on terror" detention facilities abroad and the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba, a United Nations report has said.
The UN Committee against Torture urged the US to ensure no one was detained in any secret facility.

The report followed the first US appearance before the committee since the 11 September 2001 attacks.

During the hearing in early May, the US neither confirmed or denied the existence of secret prisons.
[...]
The committee told the US to provide more information on secret detention facilities.

"The state party should investigate and disclose the existence of any such facilities and the authority under which they have been established and the manner in which detainees are treated," the 11-page report said.

It also called on the US to end detentions at the Guantanamo Bay camp and close it.

Detaining people in such conditions was a violation of the UN Convention against Torture, it said.

The committee also urged the US to act against ill-treatment of detainees, calling for "immediate measures to eradicate all forms of torture and ill-treatment of detainees by its military or civilian personnel, in any territory under its jurisdiction".

It called for an end to interrogation techniques it said constituted torture, such as the use of dogs to scare detainees.

Read the entire article here...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4996798.stm

Here's a pdf of the UN report...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/19_05_06_torture.pdf

Here's a really neat post from a blog named Liberal South which focuses on Louisiana and Mississippi. It's a story of the impact that one woman in LA had on the deliberations of the state legislature's hearing on their abortion law.

via the dailykos diary rescue...

How many times have you heard people say that their vote doesn't matter? How many times have you begged a family member to call a representative on a piece of important legislation, and had them blow you off? Have you forwarded petitions to friends on your contact list, knowing full well that most of your friends won't even open the email, much less sign it and send it on?

I have.

Apathy is such a difficult thing to face, both within ourselves and in others around us. It is so easy, now, to just give up, to give up. So many people see what is going on with our government and feel so disenfranchised, it is hard to convince them that they can, in fact, have an impact. I know I often feel that way. It seems like the more I pay attention, the more screwed up everything seems - the more closely I follow politics, the angrier I get. What can I do, after all? I'm just one person.

Yesterday, I found out. On May 17 at nine in the morning, the Louisiana House committee on Criminal Justice met to vote on SB33, a bill introduced by Senator Nevers (D - Bogalusa). The bill was intended as a "trigger law" - it would have banned all abortions in the state, effective immediately upon the overturning of Roe. It contained a single exception, to protect the life of the mother. Needless to say, the few pro-choice residents of the South (myself included) were not exactly thrilled about this bill.
[...]

I have a voice. Yesterday, my voice was heard.

http://www.liberalsouth.org/index.php?itemid=19

How many ways can I puke this morning? First I see a huge ad for the Glenn Beck Show on CNN, then I read this...

Poll: Border Plan Gives Bush A Boost
Most Americans Approve Of Sending National Guard To U.S.-Mexico Border

(CBS) There's growing support for President Bush on the hot-button issue of immigration, according to a CBS News poll.

Most Americans say they approve of the immigration reform proposals the president outlined in a nationally televised address earlier this week. They're also somewhat optimistic that Congress will pass an immigration bill by year’s end.

-snip-

Mr. Bush's overall approval rating remains low at just 35 percent, but that's a 4-point increase from before his immigration speech.

Americans continue to cite the war in Iraq as the most important problem facing the country, and most still say the war is going badly. Thirty-one percent approve of the president's handling of Iraq, up slightly from 29 percent earlier this month.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/18/opinion/polls/main1631566.shtml

Boy, just when ya think they're catchin' on.... Amurkins are dense.

I WILL BE THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sen. Feingold to Receive Backbone Award During Seatle Visit
Celebrate the leadership and courage of one of our finest Senators.

Saturday, May 20, 12:30 PM
Whittier Elementary School
1320 NW 75th Street
Seattle, Washington
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Backbone Campaign will present Senator Russ Feingold [D-WI] a Backbone Award outside a Seattle rally organized by the Washington State Democrats.  Click here for details about that event.

On March 13, 2006, Senator Russ Feingold introduced a resolution to censure George W. Bush for illegally wiretapping U.S. citizens.  Despite pleas from citizens around the country, only three other Senators have had the courage to co-sponsor his bill: Sen. Barbara Boxer [D-CA] - (co-sponsored on 3/16/2006), Sen. Tom Harkin [D-IA] (co-sponsored on 3/15/2006), and Sen. John F. Kerry [D-MA] - (co-sponsored on 5/11/2006).

-----
The House of Representatives passed an anti-gay bill yesterday.
The House of Representatives is scary & must be replaced.

Monkey

That's the usual blip Bush gets just from coming on tv.
It normally lasts about 4 days, the length of the average American maximum attention span.

NonnyO
I heard Bush on the radio the other day (unintended).
He was talking about how the job of "our Government" is "to keep Americans safe" and then said "and I intend to do it."
That means he is referring to himself as the Entire Government.

Posted by: monkey at May 19, 2006 08:50 AM

It's only a temporary blip on the polls (and I suspect they only polled his & Rover's family). So, take a deep breath, rinse your mouth with water, and read/watch the following to make you feel better & load up with the ammo you need to continue...

Bush budget cut 9,790 border patrol positions on 2/9/05...
Bush budget scraps 9,790 border patrol agents
President uses law's escape clause to drop funding for new homeland security force

Wednesday, February 9, 2005
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronic...

David Gregory interviews Clueless George about immigration & Iraq War... To keep you from getting sick again, I suggest you read the transcript rather than watch the video. Gregory asked some tough, mean questions and Georgie gave his usual lame answers... It's clear that Gregory has had enough of this crap and tried to show how weak & out of touch Georgie is...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12857539

Posted by: madame defarge at May 19, 2006 09:08 AM

Ahhhh, lemony fresh.

Sit, sour and save.

TGIF...time to lighten up a bit...

Top Ten Signs The Government Is Spying On You:

10. Post office wall has several photos of you sleeping

9. Your houseplant occasionally sneezes

8. Domino's keeps delivering to unmarked van parked across the street

7. Birthday card from your mom has several words blacked out

6. You get nominated for "Outstanding Lead Performance in an NSA Surveillance Video"

5. Your dishwasher functions are "Wash," "Rinse" and "Record"

4. Local news only reporting things that happen in your living room

3. Every time you say goodbye on the phone, you hear a strange voice say, "Roger that, Chico"

2. You googled a recipe for hummus and the FBI raided your house

1. [You] suddenly discover there's an antenna bolted to your ass

---Late Show with David Letterman

You googled a recipe for hummus and the FBI raided your house

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Monkey

Speaking of Google..

===== Mark Morford's Notes & Errata =====
SFGate.com - Friday, May 19, 2006
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elmhurst, Ill., Loves Gay Porn
Which U.S. city seeks the most sex? Who wants to impeach Bush the most? Ask Google Trends
By Mark Morford

The Keebler cookie factory used to be nearby. That could explain it. Or maybe it's the small liberal arts college that inspires so many dirty thoughts, though I'm more given to thinking it's because of Immaculate Conception High School and Timothy Christian High School. After all, repression and guilt-addled masturbatory fantasies make for the most basic of urges, you know?

Because the fact is, for all of last year, Elmhurst, Ill., population about 43,000, home of the Sunshine Biscuit Co. and former home of the largest Chevy dealer in the United States and pretty much quaint upscale yuppie Anytown, U.S.A., was the American city that looked up the term "sex" most frequently on Google.

Isn't that cute? Isn't that interesting? Sort of? I know this because Google just unveiled this nifty and somewhat baffling tool called Google Trends (google.com/trends), wherein you simply enter your search term and choose a couple of parameters and hit Return and boom, you can see which regions (or countries or cities) in the world are looking up that term most actively for a given year (the data also shifts day to day), using Google's massive search database, and it's random, semipractical stuff like this that makes it difficult to hate Google for whoring out to China and for becoming the new Microsoft and for their billionaire geek teenager CEOs. But that's another column.

Google Trends. It is utterly fascinating, at least for a while. It is cool and useful and at the same time enormously frustrating due to its obvious limitations, though I imagine it will spawn enormous amounts of titillating filler for countless PR firms and marketers and research papers and news reports that cite all sorts of vague data that seems to tell you something really important but when you stop and think about it doesn't really tell you all that much at all. You know, just like religion. ...

(click here to read the rest)

(Full URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2006/05/19/notes051906.DTL&nl=fix)