Why I Am Fasting

“TROOPS HOME FAST” BEGINS
Cindy Sheehan, Diane Wilson, Dick Gregory, Iraq veterans and Iraqi citizens gather in front of the White House on July 4th, their first day without food

After eating their final meal in front of the White House yesterday, participants in the “Troops Home Fast”—a historic hunger fast organized by CODEPINK: Women for Peace and Gold Star Families for Peace—will spend their first day without food on the Fourth of July. They will gather at the White House at 10am and plan to hold a spiritual ceremony, send a message of peace to the Independence Day parade, and remain outside the White House with their message to bring the troops home from Iraq now.

Among the Washington fasters are Cindy Sheehan, legendary comedian/civil rights activist Dick Gregory, environmental Diane Wilson, former army colonel Ann Wright, Iraq war veterans, Iraqis and Pentagon whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. They are joined by almost 3,000 others from around the United States and 18 other countries. Celebrities and other well-known public figures have committed to join the fast, including Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn and Danny Glover, musicians Graham Nash and Willie Nelson, writer Alice Walker, and more.

“While others are enjoying their barbecues and fireworks today, we will be going hungry for the most noble cause of all: peace,” said Gold Star mother Cindy Sheehan, who began an open-ended fast today. “We are the true American patriots today. Our founding fathers cautioned future generations against engaging in wars of aggression for empire and economic gain, lest we lose our national soul. And the war in Iraq is exactly the kind of war our nation’s leaders once cautioned against.”

The hunger strike will continue throughout the summer. “This fast has obviously touched a chord with the public,” said CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin. “We thought there might be 3 or 4 of us fasting, and it is more like 3,000. Every day hundreds of new people are signing up for the fast. Some communities are doing rolling fasts, each person taking a day. This is sparking a new level of commitment to get out of Iraq.”

For more information, please see www.troopshomefast.org or meet the fasters in front of the White House at 10-11am or 5-7pm.

All of you fasters, good luck to you. Our thoughts are with you.

I discovered this on a different website. (Sorry, it's not about fasting.) But while we think of our veterans and our politicians, remember what this person wrote.

"A Veteran Died Today

He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast, and he sat around the Legion telling stories of the past. Of the war he had fought in and the deeds that he had done.
In his exploits with his buddies they were heroes, everyone. And 'tho sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
all his buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke. But we'll hear his tales no longer, for ol' Bob has passed away, and the world's a little poorer for a veteran died today.

No, he won't be mourned by many, just his children and his wife. For he lived an ordinary, very quiet sort of life. He held a job and raised a family, quietly going on his way; and the world won't note his passing, 'tho a veteran died today.

When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state, while thousands note their passing and proclaim they were great. Papers tell their life stories, from the time they were young, but the passing of a veteran goes unnoticed and
unsung. Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land some jerk who breaks his promise and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow, who in times of war and strife, goes off to serve his country and offers up his life?

The politician's stipend and the style in which he lives are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives. While the ordinary veteran, who has offered up his all, is paid off with a medal and perhaps a pension, small. It's so easy to forget them, for it is so long ago, that our Bobs and Jims and Johnnys went to battle, but we know. It was not the politicians and their compromises and ploys, who won for us the freedom that our country now enjoys. Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand, would you really want some cop-out, with his ever-waffling stand? Or, would you want a veteran, who has sworn to defend his home,
his kin and country, and would fight until the end?

He was just a common veteran and his ranks are growing thin, but his presence should remind us we may need his likes again. For when countries are in conflict, then we find the military's
part is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor while he's here to hear the praise, then at least let's give him homage, at the ending of his days. Perhaps just a simple headline in the paper that might say
Our country is in mourning, for a veteran died today.

Unknown"

In case I didn't make it clear, you don't have to be in DC to join the fast. You don't really even have to be in the United States. Check out the fast website for more info, www.troopshomefast.org.

Karen,

I loved your post, and I wish you all comfort in your fast. You ARE making a difference - you are keeping their feet to the fire and making sure that they and we don't forget.

My thoughts are with all of you today - and as long as the fast goes on.

This is amazing! UNBELIEVABLE!!!

"4th, 2006
Wanted dead or alive — or whenever
By: Steve @ 6:27 AM - PDT
The president’s interest in capturing Osama bin Laden has evolved over time. After the al Queda leader orchestrated the attacks of 9/11, Bush pledged to get bin Laden "dead or alive." Six months later, after bin Laden proved to be elusive, the president said, "I truly am not that concerned about him."

So it should come as no surprise that the CIA unit dedicated to getting bin Laden is no more.

The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials confirmed Monday.

The unit, known as Alec Station, was disbanded late last year and its analysts reassigned within the C.I.A. Counterterrorist Center, the officials said.

The official response is that there are still plenty of officials responsible to tracking bin Laden and that the terrorist remains a "high priority." But I’m curious, if President Kerry had allowed the CIA to disband the intelligence unit tasked with hunting bin Laden, would conservatives just shrug their shoulders?

– Guest Post by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report"

http://www.crooksandliars.com/posts/2006/07/04/wanted-dead-or-alive-%e2%80%94-or-whenever/

“While others are enjoying their barbecues and fireworks today, we will be going hungry for the most noble cause of all: peace,” said Gold Star mother Cindy Sheehan, who began an open-ended fast today. “We are the true American patriots today. Our founding fathers cautioned future generations against engaging in wars of aggression for empire and economic gain, lest we lose our national soul. And the war in Iraq is exactly the kind of war our nation’s leaders once cautioned against.”

I haven't always agreed with Sheehan's rhetoric, but that is a brilliant bit of July 4th "framing".

If you've never seen this video, it's time to watch it. Just remember, it's not just 'Bush's administration' because the whole party at large is enabling him to continue. This needs to be on the air 24/7!

http://www.ericblumrich.com/14.html

The maker of that Bush/Fascims video is closing shop. Too bad. I think he's done a great job. I remember in 04 seeing some of those clips and it really did make a difference.

Ava is here now, but we need more of these!

http://www.ericblumrich.com/

I admire you, Karen, because I know you'd rather be at the beach. It's thrilling to see a photo of Dick Gregory in person. I have admired him since high school. Alot of people seek a political high ground, and you all have the moral high ground.
People disagree on what is right and what is wrong, even if so many think they're on the side of the right. You stand for those who believe killing is wrong, so thank you all!

I don't think NonnyO and I post all the scary articles from TruthOut and InfoClearingHouse to be depressing, but to keep ourselves & others awake. This country is addicted to oil and power & the first step in rehabilitation is to admit there is a problem. I think we are both really aware of that, but I'll have to let NonnyO speak for herself! (& I'll bet she will!) There are so many in this country who are in denial.

I try not to focus on the negative, but to me, propaganda & lies are more negative & depressing than reading or hearing the truth, even if it's not the truth we wish we were hearing. Across the street from me is a frameshop run by an ex-librarian. She has an Orwell quote about war in the window & a big sign that says "America Wants the Truth." I think alot of people (not on this blog but in America in general) are too tired to dig for the truth or don't know how. That makes them gullible to propaganda (pro-war, pro-consumerism, scapegoating etc) & that is just the way the propagandists want it.

Keep us posted!! It's raining today so I woke up thinking it may rain on a few parades & maybe God doesn't "bless America" specifically. My mother is staying inside her house & says she isn't celebrating the 4th any more (age 76, rural North Dakota). There was a big funeral in her town yesterday and the church which holds 850 was expected to be full to capacity, with video into a nearby school so more could be there. A tribute to the fallen soldier, but what a waste of human life, and for what?! He was some poor guy who joined the National Guard, perhaps in peacetime, for a little extra money.

There is another boy she kind of "adopted" when he was small, since her grandchildren live so far away. Against his parents' wishes, he joined the military at age 18. Some recruiter got him, or he wanted to help (along the propaganda lines) & now he has a young wife & is back for 2 weeks. They got married before his first deployment & he's going onto another. They have hardly seen each other at all. His wish was that he rest and no one talk to him about the war.

My son sleeps downstairs on the couch right now and looks like an angel (even though he's 25). I have absolutely no guilt that he's not "over there killing terrorists so they won't come over here" or whatever madness is being perpetuated.

Thank you Karen and everyone who is there.

from mbk

http://www.crooksandliars.com
WANTED DEAD AND ALIVE -- OR WHENEVER

The president's interest in capturing Osama bin Laden has evolved over time. After the al Qaeda leader orchestrated the attacks of 9/11, Bush pledged to get bin Laden "dead or alive." Six months later, after bin Laden proved to be elusive, the president said, "I truly am not that concerned about him."

So it should come as no surprise that the CIA unit dedicated to
getting bin Laden is no more.

The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials confirmed Monday.

The unit, known as Alec Station, was disbanded late last year and its analysts reassigned within the C.I.A. Counterterrorist Center, the officials said.

The official response is that there are still plenty of officials
responsible to tracking bin Laden and that the terrorist remains a "high priority." But I'm curious, if President Kerry had allowed the CIA to disband the intelligence unit tasked with hunting bin Laden, would conservatives just shrug their shoulders?

– Guest Post by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report

(headed to last thread to read JK's 4th of July message)

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FROM PRINCE GEORGE BUSH JULY 4TH, 2006:

....when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security......

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.......

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only......

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures....

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved;

http://www.thesoapboxroadshow.com

Today I celebrate the fast and the furious.

Ya can't have one without the other.

Peace and love to all... everywhere.

What number does GWB put on this signing statement? (Since we know he and his party have no idea of what the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are! Nor do they care about the separation of powers or the freedome of speech, freedome to be safe in your own home from search and seizure...etc...)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-15.html

Brought to you by the people who have brought us to facism. http://www.ericblumrich.com/14.html

I guess when he had that bill signed he had his fingers crossed behind his back.

The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great-Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable , and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his Measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies, without the Consent of our Legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of, and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction, of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Public tax-supported federal policy:

"Abstinence" becomes "biblical sex only"
http://volokh.com/posts/1145714795.shtml

This portion of our history is specifically opposite what Bush/Cheney/Republicans endorse: extreme limitless and uncontrolled Presidential Powers.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/sep17.html

From the outset, delegates clashed over issues of state sovereignty while small and large states battled over distribution of power. Fears of creating a too powerful central authority ran high. The Convention tackled basic issues including the essential structure of the government, the basis of representation, and the regulation of interstate trade. As he submitted the Constitution to the Continental Congress, George Washington acknowledged the difficult task the Convention faced:

Sparrow:

Thanks for publishing that. I was thinking of doing the same thing, since we are again so pressed by the likes of a mad King George.

In the Declaration of Independence:

It sounds like Jefferson could have been writing about the Present Occupant of the White House.

from mbk

http://www.crooksandliars.com
WANTED DEAD AND ALIVE -- OR WHENEVER

The president's interest in capturing Osama bin Laden has evolved over time. After the al Qaeda leader orchestrated the attacks of 9/11, Bush pledged to get bin Laden "dead or alive." Six months later, after bin Laden proved to be elusive, the president said, "I truly am not that concerned about him."

So it should come
@@@@@@@@@@@

Bush will leave office in 2009 (if not impeached or resigning) With Bin Laden Still Free....

MISSION FAILURE FOR BUSH.

There is a theory - touted in Foreign Affairs magazine some time ago - that Bush (and Pakistan) don't want to kill or capture Bin Laden..

Ralpheh
It was well-known before the Millennium that there were many terror threats. We were warned by our Mayor not to go to the Space Needle for New Year's Eve. Festivities were completely changed. An actual terrorist was caught on a ferry at Pt Townsend WA, entering from Canada & aiming to blow up LAX.
Shortly after, Bush was inaugurated. His administration had 9 months to continue to follow up on threats and make that a primary focus. 9/11/01 attack might never have happened had that been the emphasis. Richard C Clarke & many others who worked in both administrations can testify to the relative indifference this administration that "protects" us showed toward the issue.

UK:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-07-04T000654Z_01_N03375286_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-USA-PROTEST.xml

Qatar:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-07-04T000654Z_01_N03375286_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-USA-PROTEST.xml

Indonesia:
http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=15617

New Zealand:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10389682

Much of the coverage seems to be foreign press & alternative press.

Posted by: ralpheh at July 4, 2006 12:19 PM

You mean our first George III?

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0624-15.htm

Review that great speech this Independence Day

Karen and protesters are having a 4th of July Independence Day Pro-Peace march.

A Iraq War Veteran Geoff Millard sat down in the middle of Constitution Ave between the W.H. and the Washington Monument. He is right on the street protesting in dissent and is causing a bit of a ruckus. He may be arrested. It's a developing story and it may go nowhere. He is one of them fasting for peace too.

Lovely...Bush just flew overhead and he landed on the White House lawn. They're trying to catch him now.

Karen will check back in with more information.

Geoff has sat down more than once. They let him go the first two times. Now they are arresting him. As they are arresting him, this big truck has come by that says, "Americans support you. An add on the truck says, "Team McDonalds".

There is around 300 people there right now, but they're all shouting, "Let him go!"

And in the meantime there is a marching band going bye.

Everyone is singing "All we are saying is give Peace a chance."

There are more police in front of Karen at this point and blocking them from the road. These are more police like when Cindy got arrested at the SOTU.

Now police on horseback are there.

"We are what Democracy looks like" they are shouting!

Chloe Jon-paul from Bowie, Maryland was also arrested.

They are both sitting in the paddy wagon.

Chloe is seventy years old and is one of the raging grannies. She's a little old lady.

Karen and the others in DC who are fasting (but taking water to keep hydrated so they don't end up in ER after fainting from lack of water, thank you! :-)) and everyone participating in the fast today are heroines and heroes for standing up for the rights of others and for wanting our troops home as fast as humanly possible. As you know, I think the guard and reserves should be on the next troop transport home (but heartily wish they had never been sent in the first place, 'cuz they're needed here to help people at home during and after natural disasters, and it weakens our defenses at home when they are half a world away), and regular enlisted personnel should be redeployed to other US bases (preferably on our own soil, but Europe or Asia would be acceptable - anywhere but in Iraq or Afghanistan or even anywhere in the neighborhood of those countries). Thanks to The Cretin, the Vice Cretin, and their Criminal Cabal, we've done enough damage in Iraq and Afghanistan. The original invasions were war crimes, and our troops do not need to participate in the occupation which is a war crime in progress.

Enough already. Most of the rest of the world hates the people who are currently installed as "leaders" of our country (and pity those of us who never voted for him and deplore everything the current administration stands for based on their actions). Most people in other nations realize the extent of the criminal activities of the administration more than citizens of this country do, and they are wondering why we don't do something about them (gee, thanks Lamestream Media for your cowardly participation in keeping the criminals in power, for not covering the many crimes and war crimes and lack of morals and ethics of the current administration, and being so faithful in broadcasting White House and Pentagon propaganda, and for trying to apologize for and explain away the criminal activities that are also stripping away the rights and privileges of the citizens of this nation). I've wondered why even Repub representatives and senators have put up with the crap the administration has dished out, the coercive tactics and bullying, the number of signing statements, the extraordinary breach of executive power never granted to the executive branch by the Constitution which was designed with three branches of government to check and balance the others.

I just do not get the lack of action by either Congressional body, the lack of screaming outrage by both political parties over the sanctioning of torture (and torture done by anyone is a war crime, or a felony of the worst sort by any other laws and standards, and it's taking place on a US military base at Gitmo, as well as in other countries where prisoners have been sent or kept).... It's totally beyond my comprehension, and I've never heard one LOGICAL explanation as to WHY both Dem and Repub senators and representatives aren't literally howling in outrage on every Sunday morning political talk show for bringing our government to the current state of moral and ethical bankruptcy. Aside from the war crimes themselves, the thing that sends me over the edge is the whole issue of torture. I just can NOT abide the idea that any citizen of this country can actually do such a thing, participate in torture, let alone the mere idea of torture. It makes me physically sick to my stomach every time I think about it. The latest news of the rape of a 15 year old girl and her murder and the murder of her family left me wailing in frustrated tears of outrage. After reading about her rape, the desecration of her body and the murder of her family (I understand there was a five-year-old sister among the murdered, and I can't help but wonder if she was raped, too), I'm inadvertently joining your fast. I lost my appetite anyway.

DiAnne's right. I also don't post the scary articles to be depressing - heck, I don't post half of what I read that makes me shake in outrage. But she's right, and we all need to keep on our toes; we need to be aware of the criminals and their crimes, even if half the people of this nation don't give a rat's @$$ about it.... I firmly believe each person must do what is within their abilities to hound our senators and representatives and editors of newspapers and television producers to let people know what the Criminal Cabal is up to, in addition to whatever else is within our abilities. I have physical limitations to work around, but my brain and my fingers and my keyboard are available, and I utilize them as best I can. I fully realize for everything posted by anyone that talks about the latest criminal behavior (or at the very least, unethical and immoral behavior if not outright illegal actions), something is going on behind the scenes that we won't hear about for days, weeks, or months afterward - if ever; and I, for one, am sick and tired of the talk about non-issues that have so occupied too much time by our legislators and Lamestream Media. For those newspapers who are trying to make amends and get some kind of news out to people, I'm grateful. It's too late in the game for most newspaper stories to be effective or sway any public opinion, but I commend them when they do try to get valid news to the citizens of this country (and I don't believe they should be prosecuted on the feeble say-so of the worst criminal ever to occupy *our* White House just so he can do worse crimes that we won't hear about via the press per the First Amendment).

I may watch the fireworks tonight from the safety of my own porch... but I refuse to "celebrate" when people are dying needlessly for the sake of oil and corporate wealth, and people are being tortured in our names, thanks to The Cretin, the Vice Cretin, and the Criminal Cabal. My head hangs in shame because of the "leaders" of this country, and my conscience won't let me "celebrate" my country for what it has become and for what it currently represents to the rest of the world. I feel certain that if the criminals running this country are not stopped by Congress (and soon!) that other countries will become impatient and attack us within our own borders (another reason to get our guard and reserves home PDQ). Refusing to participate in faux bandwagon patriotism is my passive-aggressive protest against the moral and ethical bankruptcy we have been experiencing as a nation since the SCOTUS decision of 2000 that installed that gawdawful bunch of criminals. I honor the original ideas and ideals of the Constitution, but since 2000 the Constitution as originally written has not been honored by the criminals in office, and I can't "celebrate" that fact; my mind recoils in horror and my conscience won't let me. I honor our nation as it was when our leaders abided by the Constitution, not what it is today. If ever this nation gets back on an even keel without rigged elections, I'll resume celebrating. Right now, I'm in deep mourning for what our nation used to be and I can't celebrate as long as criminals are leading this nation.

Of my ancestors, one direct ancestor is listed on the Massachusetts Banishment Act of 1778 with his second son; they were Loyalists who went to Canada; I only found documents about my direct ancestor a couple of years ago and have the microfilm images in my genealogy files (my direct ancestor died there - one of the documents is his will dated 14 May 1798); his second son was forgiven and came back to the states - I descend from the oldest son who went to Maine). Other ancestors came on the Mayflower, or shortly thereafter, and were Separatists who came to these shores to avoid having a state religion imposed on them; they had escaped to Leyden, Holland where they enjoyed the freedom to worship as they pleased before coming here. It's because of them that I so firmly support the freedom OF and freedom FROM religion, per the First Amendment; I mentally recoil when religion is metaphorically crammed down my throat from Lamestream Media and printed articles. Another ancestor was at Valley Forge and the last record of him is a military pay stub dated in May, 1778; quite likely he died at Valley Forge, but I've not found documentary proof of that and we have no idea where he's buried yet, although I have records for his service in the Revolutionary War (one mention of him says he died of starvation at Valley Forge, but I have now come to doubt that since the date on that last pay stub that's the last record we know about indicates he at least survived that horrible winter - but it is also possible he died that spring as a result of the effects of starvation that winter). Other ancestors did serve in the Revolutionary War but didn't die as a result of it.

Before that, the first president of Rhode Island (about a hundred years before the Rev. War) was my direct ancestor (his daughter is the branch from whom I descend, and she married into the branch of Quakers who arrived on these shores from Barbados after being proscribed and banished from Ireland where they had gone to also escape having a state religion imposed on them), and one of his sons served in the same office after him in RI, and two others who are directly tied to my family also served as president of RI before this country was even a nation, or even thought about a revolution. More recently, my uncles and cousins and brother (and now my youngest nephew who is currently in Afghanistan with his guard unit) and assorted friends have served this nation honorably. It's to my ancestors who each did what they believed was right for this nation according to their own conscience, and fought for those same ideals, that my thoughts turn today. If they knew what The Cretin and the Vice Cretin and their Criminal Cabal have done to our country, how they have dishonored the Constitution with their abuses of power, and what our Congressional members have allowed the criminal "leaders" to do, my ancestors would be howling in outrage, and I know it. In my own way according to my abilities, I also howl in rage in memory of my ancestors who fought for the ideals of this country centuries ago. To have our nation end up under the "leadership" of a de facto tyrannical dictator is NOT what they fought for!

So, if I regain my appetite tonight or tomorrow, first I'll eat some cheese and crackers to see if that stays down properly (that rape horror just won't leave my brain yet and it upsets me badly!), and then I plan on making whipped cream (from scratch with lots of vanilla and sugar, not that fake whipped cream from a can), and then I'll add fresh strawberries and blueberries to the whipped cream and eat that to privately remember our nation as it was before 2000..... It's a dessert I've made before, and it's at least 'patriotic' in the colors of the berries and whipped cream. I hope you will consider doing the same.

Hugs and gratitude to everyone participating in the fast and to everyone in DC at the protest rally....

Dick and I are in a coffee shop right now, watering up some more. I do not know what the rest of our group are doing; they headed off towards the end of the parade. It is very very weird to be in this moment.

It LOOKS normal; people are happy and waving little flags. But the Asican marching groups all were doing the same one-dimensional movements that the drum corps girls from Texas and Utah were doing; only the costumes changed. Not one authentic, three-dimensional fan motion except from the Falun Gong group towards the end.

Dissent is repressed--I never saw the police show up so quickly--on horseback, on foot, on Segways, and finally, a whote car backing up so fast, you would have thought firearms were being displayed, instead of a veteran and a granny with a message of peace.

This site is what Democracy looks like!

"What will you do?"
I sent out a huge mailing of framing info from Lakoff r/t Bush & the conservative agenda. I sent money to a Vets group, local Dem org & local candidate Darcy Burner. Going to think of something else to do outside of this house (today). I have a button to wear that has flags but they are draped over coffins.

& here's some "news" that won't make much of the mainstream press:

George Beres | Alarms Fit the 4th of July
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070406A.shtml
"What does Daniel Ellsberg have to do with Paul Revere," asks George Beres. "The 4th of July holiday reminds that both took personal risks by sounding the alarm about problems with the country's rulers. Like Paul Revere of the original 4th of July, what they reveal and what they urge is in response to malfeasance in government. Citizens must know the truth if they are to act against lies that increasingly keep them captive. That alert once came from Paul Revere. His modern incarnation is Daniel Ellsberg. We must listen - and act."

Fast to End War Begins in Front of White House
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070406C.shtml
About 150 protesters sat in front of the White House on Monday to savor their last meal before starting a hunger strike that some said will continue until American troops return from Iraq.

E.J. Dionne Jr. | A Dissident's Holiday
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070406F.shtml
"The patriotism of the conservative goes unquestioned. But the progressive and the reformer have a problem with what passes for unadulterated patriotism. By nature, the reformer is bound to insist that the country, however glorious, is not a perfect place, that it is capable of doing wrong as well as right. Most reformers guard their patriotic credentials by moving quickly to the next logical step: that the true genius of America has always been its capacity for self-correction. I'd assert that this is a better argument for patriotism than any effort to pretend that the Almighty has marked us as the world's first flawless nation," writes E.J. Dionne Jr.

Chip Ward | Fireworks Deferred: Divine Strake, Hellish Repercussions
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070406G.shtml
"Shock and awe is coming home," writes Chip Ward. "The Bush administration is planning to conduct future preemptive wars with 'mini-nukes' and, to that end, wants to set off a nuclear-sized explosion at the government's Nevada Test Site. Those unfamiliar with the nightmarish ambitions and skewed reasoning of the nation's wannabe nuclear-warriors may find Divine Strake unfathomable. Sadly, the inhabitants of America's original Ground Zero - where our nuclear and chemical weapons were honed during the Cold War - know that thinking all too well. It's a dirty shame..."

Robert Parry | CIA: Osama Helped Bush in '04
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070406B.shtml
"On October 29, 2004, just four days before the US presidential election, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin-Laden released a videotape denouncing George W. Bush. Some Bush supporters quickly spun the diatribe as 'Osama's endorsement of John Kerry.' But behind the walls of the CIA, analysts had concluded the opposite: that bin-Laden was trying to help Bush gain a second term," writes Robert Parry

William Rivers Pitt: The Example
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070406Z.shtml
"Lionizing a Founding Father on the Fourth of July is a simple task, to be sure, but Benjamin Franklin turns this process on its ear. He represents all we can be and all we should be, and likewise represents all we no longer seem to be or care to be today. He is worthy of admiration, which is easy, and worthy of emulation, which is not," writes William Rivers Pitt.

For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise.

- Benjamin Franklin

{{{MUST read! I do understand why Ben Franklin enjoyed "dalliances with a variety of women even into later age." Men with an active and engaging intellect and a sense of humor are the sexiest males on the planet. Er... yes, that's my mature woman's opinion speaking from experience.... :-) }}}

We marched with Michael Berg, who is the father of Nick Berg. I urge you all to read the transcript from his appearance on Democracy Now:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/09/1427206

Dick talked with him at some length about his run for office and why they moved to Delaware from the Philly area. He is amazingly calm and focused.

story about Iraq vet Geof Miilard standing up by sitting down

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/7/4/14058/06475

Thanks for alert from Bert

Nick Berg's dad is another hero. Have been following him.
Quite a concentration of energy there!!

DiAnne,
Energy draining fast here--it is HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Except for Ann Wright of course. She never looks tired; never looks sad.

I just look at her and feel better.

We will be gathering again at 5:00 at the White House. Meanwhile, I am conserving energy here at Caribou Coffee...

“While others are enjoying their barbecues and fireworks today, we will be going hungry for the most noble cause of all: peace,",  said Gold Star mother Cindy Sheehan,..."

How do you know who will be at a barbecue today? I won't. Actually, 14 million children in this country not counting the millions of others living in poverty will go hungry tonight, and not by their choice. Where is all of the compassion for them? And one day is hardly a fast, but I suppose anything that gets you in the media is what this is all about in today's society. And it is unfortunate, because considering who is in the White House now,I don't think this war will end no matter what we do out here. They need to be impeached.

Larry C. Johnson | The Myth of Terrorism, Part Deux
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070306A.shtml
"While terrorism from radical Islamic extremism is a threat we must take seriously," writes Larry C. Johnson, "we are kidding ourselves to place it on par with the military and nuclear threat we faced during the Cold War with the Soviet Union."

Michael Ratner | For His Eyes Only: Bush's Secret Crimes
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070306F.shtml
"The Justice Department has finally taken decisive action in the mounting legal challenges to President Bush's domestic spying program," Michael Ratner writes. "But there's only one problem: It has acted to defend illegal spying, not stop it."

Chip Ward | Fireworks Deferred: Divine Strake, Hellish Repercussions
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070406G.shtml
"Shock and awe is coming home," writes Chip Ward. "The Bush administration is planning to conduct future preemptive wars with 'mini-nukes' and, to that end, wants to set off a nuclear-sized explosion at the government's Nevada Test Site. Those unfamiliar with the nightmarish ambitions and skewed reasoning of the nation's wannabe nuclear-warriors may find Divine Strake unfathomable. Sadly, the inhabitants of America's original Ground Zero - where our nuclear and chemical weapons were honed during the Cold War - know that thinking all too well. It's a dirty shame..."

CNN reporting that North Korea has launched three and perhaps four missiles including the long-range Taepodong-2 missile and perhaps another long-range missle.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/

Now, I feel IL and so does Kim Jong.

Posted by: mary at July 4, 2006 04:10 PM

Mary, I agree they do need to be impeached. Frankly, there are people not barbequeing today for the reasons you stated. However, a barbeque and fire works has long been the traditional memory of many people.

mary,

Many of us are fasting for at least two weeks. I have not decided how long I will last; as I said, I know I am privileged.

An interesting follow up to Caribou Coffee:

The shop closed and Dick, who had gone into the Renwick Museum to see the George Catlin paintings, came back and said to me, "You HAVE to see these." So over we went (the Renwick is right across the street from Caribou and the White House). As we enetered, the security guard informed us that we could not go in b/c we were wearing "protest buttons". Dick is wearing his johnkerry.com t-shirt and I am wearing my DCP t-shirt, but it was the PEACE buttons we were wearing that disturbed them.

We were appalled. We asked to speak to the supervisor, who came down and told us that this was "Smithsonian POLICY". We inquired as to how judgments were made about "protest" materials.

She said that if someone might be offended, then that would not be allowed. Dick mentioned the U.S. Constitution, and also the fact that he had been IN the Renwick twenty minutes earlier, with the same buttons on, and no one had questioned him.

After a brief discussion in which it was clear we would not win, we left and went back to the Code Pink area, where we felt compelled to share the story. On a mic.

About seven folks decided to accompany us back to the Renwick, where everyone was told the same thing we had been told.

We asked for the supervisor again and LO and BEHOLD.

Someone must have read the Constitution! Turns out you CAN wear buttons and hats with messages inside the museums!

After all, how could anyone decide what is acceptable message and what is not?

Anyway, we went back and shared the miracle of the Constitution and then the heavens opened up--HUGE thunderstorm here. SO we are home and resting.

I am not particularly hungry.

But I am mighty inspired.

Karen, Dick -

Take care of yourselves, and please stay hydrated! you are brave souls, and we all appreciate what you do, more than you'll ever know.

Your tireless activism is truly inspiring. Thank you again - for everything.

KiK,

Not to complain, but Dick drank a huge iced mocha, with whipped cream, right in front of me today. He is not fasting. But except for that small tortuous moment, he is being incredibly supportive!

Cyber Hugs to Karen!

It Takes A Willage

Peace Like A River
by Paul Simon

Ah, peace like a river ran through the city
Long past the midnight curfew
We sat starry-eyed
Ooh, oh,we were satisfied
O-o-oh, And I remember
Misinformation followed us like a plague
Nobody knew from time to time
If the plans were changed
Oh, oh, oh, if the plans were changed.

You can beat us with wires
You can beat us with chains
You can run out your rules
But you know you can't outrun the history train
I seen a glorious day, aiee------

Ah, four in the morning
I woke up from out of my dreams
Nowhere to go but back to sleep
But I'm reconciled
Oh, oh, oh, I'm going to be up for a while
Oh, oh, oh, I'm going to be up for a while

Oh, oh, oh, I'm going to be up for a while

monkey,

Thank you for that. It's a very sweet gift; those lyrics.

Karen
It's later .. still thinking of you guys & checking back
Hang in there!

Posted by: ralpheh at July 4, 2006 12:25 PM

Ralpheh,

Now that OBL has released several tapes in the last few weeks, I am even more convinced that he wants a Republican victory in November. Just like right before the last election, he believes that his tapes will influence voters to support the President and the President's party. OBL couldn't have asked for more with Bush in the White House and a Republican majority in the Congress. Hopefully, Americans have grown tired of this kabuki dance. But, I suspect that Americans will act true to form and support those currently in power. Hopefully I am wrong, and despite OBL's best efforts to screw America, Americans wont fall for the same dog and pony show.

Posted by: mary at July 4, 2006 04:10 PM

mary,

Many of us are painfully aware of the crippling poverty that innocent Americans are enduring today and everyday. However, the not so simple protest of fasting to protest the horror of the Iraqi war, if it gains media attention, (something, I am not sure is likely to happen) is one way for some Americans to completely demonstrate their total commitment to a cause that deserves all America's resolve. By fasting, nobody is trivializing the daily hardships of Americans who struggle to have enough to feed themselves and their families. Many of the same people who are publically protesting the war have protested against the horrible inequities that American society regularly perpetuates.

Oncall,

So did you embarrass your children by passing around that petition?

Also, you probably didn't see my post before, but are you still putting the 14 points of fascism in the lounge? What is going on with that?

Guess the yen is at a long-time low against the euro & the dollar is dropping .. since the destabilizing & unpredictable DPNK missile firing.

I emailed someone in Canada about jobs (back burner plan for if 2006 elections fail) & someone emailed me back immediately there, since today isn't a holiday there but an ordinary workday. I was surprised.

I don't see any flags of any kind in our neighborhood.

They were thouroughly embarrassed as I got fifteen people to sign. After so many people signed they didn't seem as distraught.

As far as the 14 points of fascism poster, I don't use that coat room anymore. The last time I went in there, I had to put a fresh copy up, but I don't know what has happened to it. I suspect that it has been taken down.

Today's July Fourth parade was a huge disappointment though. Typically the politicians use it to get name recognition. Also the national parties will march as well. Several years ago the Greens actually participated. This year was different. The Republicans were out in force, but I didn't see any other party represented (and that includes the Democrats). I understand that Tammy Duckworth marched in the Wheaton parade. My town, Glen Ellyn and Wheaton are contiguous and equally conservative. Still it makes me wonder?

A New Declaration of Independence
By Emma Goldman
When, in the course of human development, existing institutions prove inadequate to the needs of man, when they serve merely to enslave, rob, and oppress mankind, the people have the eternal right to rebel against, and overthrow, these institutions.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13849.htm

Is Cheney betting on Economic Collapse?
By Mike Whitney
Wouldn’t you like to know where Dick Cheney puts his money? Then you’d know whether his “deficits don’t matter” claim is just baloney or not.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13851.htm

Iraq seeks oversight of rape-slaying case:
Iraq's justice minister demanded Tuesday that the U.N. Security Council ensure a group U.S. troops are punished for allegedly raping and murdering a young Iraqi and executing her family, calling the attack "monstrous and inhuman."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060704/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_060704095528

Paul Craig Roberts: The Reality Beneath the Flag-waving:
Americans who get their propaganda from Fox "News" or are told what to think by right-wing talk radio hosts are outraged at news reports that US troops planned and carried out the rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman. They are not outraged that the troops committed the deed; they are outraged that the media reported it.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13852.htm

Check out this story from DC:

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/7/4/14058/06475/77#c77

Posted by: oncall at July 4, 2006 08:39 PM

Were they invited you think? Or just disorganized?

I saw the evening snooze that mentioned Korea did some missile tests today.

I couldn't help but think that that dirty, rotten, no-good, son-of-a-snake curled around the chair in the oval office is going to mess about and get us into a nuclear world war yet. Bullies like him can't stand it if/when someone stands up to them, so I'm quite sure his warmongering 'ter-rist' rhetoric will ratchet up a few notches and if someone doesn't STOP him and his criminal administration, it will mean war will come to our own shores this time.

My anxiety hasn't been helped any with hearing a jet fly low and fast and very noisy overhead just as I was finishing that last sentence, a sound that is just NOT usually heard here (no air bases nearby). I don't know if it's part of the 4th stuff going on or if it is something else, but they've never had jets as part of the 4th festivities in all the previous years I've lived here.... My stomach is in knots.

Have I mentioned recently that I would like to see The Cretin and the Vice Cretin IMPEACHED, then tried for war crimes at The Hague? I'm repeating myself, aren't I?

Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight -
I wish I may
I wish I might
Have the wish
I wish tonight.....

Posted by: Suz at July 4, 2006 09:08 PM

Disorganized

"CNN reporting that North Korea has launched three and perhaps four missiles including the long-range Taepodong-2 missile and perhaps another long-range missle."

oops. There goes Bush's theory that we need Republicans in control of Congress to keep us safe. I sure feel safe with Bush and Republicans in control Congress with today's news.

NonnyO
Well I'm old enough to remember "duck and cover" & there have often been times in my life where planes overhead that sound different than usual cause me a panic attack. I grew up so conditioned to fear nuclear warfare that terrorism has neve scared me, since it seems more random.

I was never afraid of the Russians any more than I was afraid Nixon or Reagan would provoke them. We had less missiles but more accurate & they had more crude ones but more megatons.

Some wierd plane just flew over really low just now, in fact.
I have no idea how those people in Washington can do one thing to protect us or our economy. We are living history - the scary kind that we used to read about (like Germany 1936 or The Blitz).

I read some supposed-to-be-reassuring news about how even DPNK's longest-range missile is not a threat to the Continental United States. Supposedly the nuclear warheads are too big & crude & the thing has to travel in several stages. Somehow that does not come off as reassuring.

The lunatics have taken over the asylum.

May calm heads prevail. Isn't this the psycho with the mustache who chases women down hallways?

http://www.guardian.co.uk (main page)

America's ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, last night embarked on a flurry of diplomatic activity to try to persuade fellow members of the security council to take harsh measures against North Korea.

thankfully we did not have Bush in charge during the Cuban Missile Crisis. For those of us from that generation it was a scary time but we were comforted by the fact that we had a steady hand and compitent leaders at the controls.

thankfully we did not have Bush in charge during the Cuban Missile Crisis. For those of us from that generation it was a scary time but we were comforted by the fact that we had a steady hand and compitent leaders at the controls.

What could possibly make you more deserving of vanity then making a difference? If it makes you feel better, wear a white dress while you fast.

I'm proud of you.

Ira
yes I was in 6th grade & scared to death - newspaper said Cuban Missile Crisis could be start of WW3. But JFK was our President - no worries that he was a psycho!!

Posted by: DiAnne at July 4, 2006 10:11 PM

I am more mad than anything because we have a psychopathic nut-job "leading" this country - but the low-flying jet did rattle my cage for a few minutes. It's been years since I've heard a low-flying jet, although where I lived years ago I heard them daily; the most I ever hear now is the medical helicopter flying over now and then on the way to/from the hospital.

I was never afraid of anything during the cold war either, not even during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I don't know why. I just wasn't. If we had a mentally stable leader we wouldn't be in this mess with an illegal war and war crimes, and I wouldn't have a twinge of fear (no one would be trying to bully leaders of other nations and they wouldn't respond to the bully, for one thing, if someone else was in charge).

So, my momentary qualms and the jolt by the sound of a low-flying jet is past, and now I'm just plain mad. Still. Yet. Again.

I do not fear the criminals DumDum refers to as 'terrorists.' There are billions of humans on this planet and only a few thousand are actually "terrorists" - there's more of us than there are of them.

But I do still fear that the egomaniacal, power-mad, psychopathic "leader" of this country will get us into a nuclear war because of his monumental stupidity, and that no one in Congress will stop him....

I agree we are living the scary kind of history right now, and at this point, not much would actually surprise me because of the nut-jobs in *our* White House.

Grrrr......!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060704/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_s_foreign_friends
Bush's foreign friends fading fast
WASHINGTON - President Bush's stalwart foreign friends are fading fast.

Just home from fireworks - have to get up at 6 AM so got to get to bed but they had Happy Faces & Squares - very unusual!! They're made by a brilliant brother team from Japan. We stand on this freeway overpass where we can see well but don't have to deal with traffic. Before, we went to the Blue Moon Tavern which is just as it was in the '50s when frequented by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Neil Cassady etc. Next to it the Rainbow Tavern with a grunge band like 15 years ago early Nirvana or Soundgarden - guys throwing their hair around, wearing long baggy shorts - like a time warp.

Anyway, my husband tells me the Mexican recount shows a shrinking gap between Calderon & Obrador.

"The Mexican electoral crisis deepened Tuesday, as the leftist candidate demanded a vote-by-vote recount and election officials acknowledged that up to three million votes had not been tallied in the preliminary results."

Now they can recount vote-by-vote because they have a paper record - like we USED to for many years! It would of course be slanted against the lefty. So it it's close, the lefty probably won by alot, but now with the Florida lessons on how to rig - who knows.

Can you pass the US citizenship test?

Posted by: DiAnne at July 5, 2006 01:57 AM

Good! In the morning it looked like Calderon had stolen the election.

Thanks for the wonderful discussion on the Mexican election, and so many other topics, during my stay here in Seattle. My flight back to Los Angeles leaves in six hours.

Karen and Dick - my heart is with you.

Ally and Dianne,

That's great that you got to visit each other and see Seattle together.

Ally and Veritas,

Both of you have met so many DCP'rs we should annoit you as our 'Dcp good-will ambassadors.'

Goodwill that flowed to the United States right after the Sept. 11 attacks has long been offset by growing opposition to the war in Iraq and to Bush's foreign policy leadership, polls show.

A May poll by the Pew Research Center shows Bush's ratings and confidence in him to do the right thing on foreign affairs to be slipping ever lower in Europe — even at a time of growing apparent consensus with European allies on efforts to restrict the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea.

"Clearly the U.S. presence in Iraq is a drag on the image of the United States. It is cited more often than the current Iranian government as a threat to regional stability and world peace by many people in these countries," said Pew director Andrew Kohut.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060704/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_s_foreign_friends

Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Nicholas D. Kristof has written a scorching attack on Fox News, the media--and his own paper.

Excerpts from his latest column follow:

When I was covering the war in Iraq, we reporters would sometimes tune to Fox News and watch, mystified, as it purported to describe how Iraqis loved Americans. Such coverage (backed by delusional Journal editorials baffling to anyone who was actually in Iraq) misled conservatives about Iraq from the beginning. In retrospect, the real victims of Fox News weren't the liberals it attacked but the conservatives who believed it.

Historically, we in the press have done more damage to our nation by withholding secret information than by publishing it. One example was this newspaper's withholding details of the plans for the Bay of Pigs invasion. President Kennedy himself suggested that the U.S. would have been better served if The Times had published the full story and derailed the invasion.

Then there were the C.I.A. abuses that journalists kept mum about until they spilled over and prompted the Church Committee investigation in the 1970's. And there are secrets we should have found, but didn't: in the run-up to the Iraq war, the press — particularly this newspaper — was too credulous about claims that Iraq possessed large amounts of W.M.D.

In each of these cases, we were too compliant. We failed in our watchdog role, and we failed our country.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Times_We_failed_our_country_0704.html

Posted by: karen's Son at July 4, 2006 11:01 PM

I am so proud of YOU.

I have extra DCP hankies if anyone needs.

Gen X. Ample

You folks are really something...
A little Benson humor today.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/

Posted by: karens krewe at July 5, 2006 08:11 AM

I neeeeeeeed a haaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnky!

I cccrryy at baby ccom-mer-cials.

Posted by: monkey at July 5, 2006 07:26 AM

It's good to see that admission; however it's not good enough. I want to know what they're doing to fix the mistake?

Words without actions are meaningless.

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/business/enron
Enron founder Kenneth Lay dies at 64
HOUSTON - Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay, who was convicted of helping perpetuate one of the most sprawling business frauds in U.S. history, has died. He was 64. Nicknamed "Kenny Boy" by President Bush, Lay led Enron's meteoric rise from a staid natural gas pipeline company formed by a 1985 merger to an energy and trading conglomerate that reached No. 7 on the Fortune 500 in 2000 and claimed $101 billion in annual revenues.

{{{Wow... These fellows will do anything to avoid spending time in jail for their crimes, including die on vacation. BTW, I won't believe he's really dead and this is not a hoax until/unless there are close-up pix of his body in a coffin....}}}

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060705/ap_on_re_us/ex_soldier_charged
Officials: Ex-GI had antisocial disorder
Excerpt:
But U.S. military officials who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case said late Tuesday it was an "antisocial personality disorder." They did not elaborate.
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Antisocial personality disorder is a mental condition (no delusions or compulsions involved), NOT a reason for WHY Green committed rape and murder, and he should NOT be excused for his crimes...!!! People like Green have choices to make in life, and he CHOSE to commit his heinous acts (yeah, okay, he's innocent until proven guilty; whatever); no little green men from another planet that only he can see in his brain told him to do so. Read Without Conscience by Dr. Robert D. Hare, or The Mask of Sanity by Hervey Cleckley, or When She was Bad by Patricia Pearson, or DSM-IV (the latter is online and can be Googled).

Hare's book is about the shortest and the most concise, and his expertise is in working with men who are in prison who were convicted of heinous crimes. Psychopath, antisocial personality disorder, and sociopath are three interchangeable terms for people born without a conscience. They do know the difference between good and bad, but they choose bad actions over good most of the time. There is a fine distinction between antisocial personality disorder and psycopath because antisocial behavior is a cluster of antisocial personality traits, and the psychopath additionally has socially deviant behaviors besides the antisocial personality traits. Most have crossover traits for more than one kind of personality disorder (there's a series of eleven different kinds of personality disorders in DSM-IV).

But the crux of the matter is that even though they are born without a conscience, these people DO know the difference between right and wrong, and any wrongs they do are choices freely made. We might better know them as extreme control freaks addicted to instant gratification in some cases but the only aim they have is control and power over other people. They are born the way they are, there is no medication that can help them, and psychological counseling only makes some of the smarter among them worse because they learn how to fine-tune their ability to manipulate other people while getting psychiatric counseling - they can be very charming, at first meeting, not unlike a manic-depressive in a manic phase... things get ugly if people around them don't do their bidding; then the nasty temper flares. Almost-half-truths are their specialty, as is character assassination if the people the people they know (family or friends or acquaintances) don't do exactly what they say. (Sound familiar? Yep, those are among some of the reasons why I'm convinced W is a power-mad psychopath with no conscience. Probably Rove and Cheney, too, although we don't see as much of them on TV, but we do see the character assassination trait in political campaigns masterminded by them, i.e. swiftboaters.)

Sorry for the rant, but in law enforcement one runs across people like Green all the time, so my psycho-radar is rather finely tuned. By the time psychopaths who have been caught for their crimes get run through the judicial system, they have people (and jurists) feeling sorry for them because they have a 'mental condition.' That's a p!$$-poor reason/excuse to give perpetrators light sentences which then lets these life-long criminals off practically scot-free, only to be let out early to commit more - and worse - crimes. Think: child predators and rapists among them. Whether or not they've been the victims of child abuse or child sexual abuse is a moot point. Many victims of such abuse do not grow up to then turn around and abuse or sexually abuse children, their own or other children (I note many work within the system to try to protect children from becoming victims of the same crimes perpetrated on them, and they'd never harm a child the way they were harmed); but a person who was also born without a conscience does often choose to turn around and make others victims of the same crimes (and rape and child abuse, sexual or otherwise, is a power thing, as we all know), and some who were never victims of child abuse or child sexual abuse choose to make children their victims - it's that choice thing again, combined with the power over innocent victims, the younger the better for criminals like that.

Choice is the operative word; people can choose to do evil and they can choose to do good. That's what the Genesis tale of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is all about. Having KNOWLEDGE gives one the freedom of choice (and indirectly speaks to educating people!).... Having the knowledge of good and evil doesn't mean one must act on that knowledge, but it does render one able to choose to do bad or choose to do good. As an aside, I note that patriarchal religionists faithfully do NOT point out that women had knowledge first and gave knowledge to men. Adam blamed Eve for giving him knowledge...! "She gave it to me!" Adam whined, thus biting the hand that fed him knowledge, so to speak.