Whither Goest Thou, DCP?

I am sitting here wondering how I got left out of that shiny car...mine appears to be well, UNshiny...

But I personally feel guilty about the front page, which I used to update regularly and which is gathering spiderwebs and dustballs.

I love this community and this space and everyone here. I learn from everyone. But I hear Rick loud and clear too. We need a little par-tis-sip-pay-shun.

Hoping some will at least be a part of this conversation, anyway!

I've heard from others to eliminate the "my cells" in the forum. But keep activities up to date there.

I've heard to eliminate the learn section. Eliminate the podcasts or make more of them--pick one side or the other.

Retool the sidebar links.

Keep resources and the library.

Also, a book club or a music club would be cool to actually use again. Though my preference is to use it in conjunction with the irc rather than the forum at least once per week.

AND we want a Monkey party somewhere and somehow! (At least I do!) I gotta hear those drums!

A Monkey Party? Yeah, I could definitely get behind that. What's its party platform, and who's on its slate of candidates? (We already know where the national convention is held every year...)

Whenever I'm too lazy to pull out a paper copy of The Constitution or the Declaration, I head over to the forum to access an online version.

At some point, I should get around to adding material to the historical section. Of course, if we ever decide to get truly ambitious, and teach that authoritative history of democracy that we were threatening, I'll have to add lot of material from the Greek and Roman periods.

183 killed today in 4 bombings in Baghdad.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070418/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

I come here for a free-flow exchange of opinion and to read links to stories others have found interesting - basically so I can learn something new every day and keep up with current events, and find out what others think.

I seldom look at the home page because I head for the community on this blog, and occasionally I still check in the IRC when I'm not occupied with other things.

Whatever I once had for a forum ID I've long since forgotten. I misplaced my password and have never found it back. I find forums a bit cumbersome on other web sites, so I'm not sure how valuable they are here (and when someone posts a forum link here, it never opens for me). The free-flow exchange of ideas and opinions I find here I like. Everyone can multi-task, so going off-topic is not criticized. Heck, to keep up with the criminal activities of Bu$hCo, one is forced to continually go OT just to keep up with the latest outrages (sometimes several in one day).

The free-flow exchange of opinion and finding new information keeps this community vital.

Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at April 18, 2007 04:16 PM

Sad, isn't it? While the horror of the VT and other school shootings and the like is unusual in this country, it's a daily reality in the country Bu$hCo chose to illegally invade and destabilize with insisting the US has to occupy their land for the sake of controlling their oil, and then to add insult to injury, they decided to sanction torture in prison camps.

We who never approved or sanctioned any of that are going to be paying dearly for their crimes for a very long time to come unless our Congress Critters do the will of the people who elected them and hold them accountable for their crimes.

As things stand right now, today, I do not believe anyone will ever hold them accountable for their crimes.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2007/04/18/notes041807.DTL&nl=fix
Mark Morford
You Cannot Save The Earth
Does buying that cute recycled organic lip balm really do any good? Your government snickers
Excerpt:
This, then, is the conundrum: On the one hand, we are ever trying to convince ourselves that we can make a difference on a humble individual basis, in our daily lives, little by little and one recycled Evian bottle at a time, and yet the destructive proof to the contrary is so vast and omnivorous it seems like a nice rerun of "Bambi Meets Godzilla." It can feel as though your little eco-home, your little ethically raised wool rug mean about as much in the overall scheme of earthly health as a speck of organic lint in a nuclear waste dump.

It can, if you let it, feel very much like a sad, intractable war. It's as though you can visit Treehugger.com one minute and get all happy and positive and inspired and think, Hey, maybe our species really does have a shot, maybe all is not lost, maybe we're not as violently abusive of this pale blue dot as it seems we are, and then spin right around and see yet another water-sucking eco-abusive megamall being gouged into the Earth and suddenly all the good vibes from that cute botanical lipstick you just bought get erased in an instant, as you realize we aren't doing nearly enough nearly fast enough and I don't care how many people compost their avocado pits, nothing is gonna change until the corporations and the governments truly get into gear, which is a bit like shooting a water buffalo with a pellet gun. It takes about 2 million shots just to get the damn thing's attention.

Check that: It does not feel like a war. It feels more like a race. A violent, stupid, desperate race against a political and capitalistic machine that hates change and resists caring and slaps down anything that might cut into profits or warmongering, that seems to openly loathe the idea that we should have a modicum of understanding about where our oil and food and water and energy and God actually come from. This is, of course, the brutally depressing view. It's just one option.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/18/daily-show-where-is-paul-wolfowitz-now/
Daily Show: Where is Paul Wolfowitz Now?

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/17/paul-wolfowitz-alpha-dog-of-the-week/
Paul Wolfowitz: Alpha Dog of the Week

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/17/senator-kerry-on-the-colbert-report/
Senator Kerry on “The Colbert Report”

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/17/jon-stewart-to-andy-card-come-to-the-light-side/
Jon Stewart to Andy Card: “Come to the light side..”

NonnyO,

Forums do get a little confusing. Yet one of the benefits are that you can find a thread in the forum where things actually stay on topic.

I know someone who compares it to a cluttered garage. No... That person has never seen my garage!

I started with this site after the vacuum left by the end of the 2004 election and have continued because it has always sufficiently stimulated my interest and curiosity and been a place where people I respect personally and intellectually sift and filter through all the semi-random crap and propaganda out there and try gallantly to make some sense of it. I also like the site because it's a little different from the rest of what's out there.

Okay, this is off-topic for the DCP blog at the moment, but very on-topic for anyone who heard about the Supremes' 5-4 decision to start dismantling Roe v. Wade today...

I wrote a long essay about this from been there, done that standpiont over on DU a little while ago, in a post that's too personal for me to submit as a possible blog threader here. Having finally written about something I've been bottling up for a long time was important, though, so I don't mind sharing it with y'all now.

In fact, since the general Wednesday night mob on DU would rather rant away about John Edward's hair control and $400 gun jobs, the DU post is rapidly fading off the live list.

So I'd better give you guys the link to it now, along with a small request: if what you read reaches out to you, please recommend the post and leave a comment to the thread there so it will kick it back up the list into a more visible position.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x694683

thnx,
Otter

I think the FORUMS page needs drastic revision or perhaps - if no one is going to use it - scrap it altogether.

I would certainly get rid of the Find Your Local DP Cell. Hardly anyone used this function even during the presidential election and has been dormant for about a year and a half it seems.. Unless some is going to be in charge of setting up local DP "cells", I think this section is just a waste of space...

I used and liked the Coming Events and Action Alerts section. The media contacts list was helpful as well.

I am speechless. There are simply not enough words in the English language (or the other two I sort-of speak, either) to possibly list all of the very many ways in this is just so, so wrong:

http://www.raisingkaine.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8093

Posted by: NonnyO at April 18, 2007 04:59 PM

Nonny:
I believe we can make a difference by doing the same as the UN on a tiny scale. I boycott all places that are environmentally unfriendly, and/or environmentally vandalising. I'm not a big spender so it will never be noticed. However, I encourage others to shop only where there is a commitment to the environment and to Fair Trade with third world countries. When someone suggests that Gunn's nursery has some really cheap vegie seedlings my response is that they are at the top of my boycott-list and ask for the next option. When that person asks why, I give my reasons and leave it to them to judge for themselves.

This is the assessment of the AP on the anti-war "movement", such as it is, as we are into the 5th year of warfare in Iraq, in comparison to the Vietnam era protests:

QUOTE:
America's current anti-war movement is resourceful and persistent, but often seems to lack the vibrancy of its counterpart in the Vietnam era when protesters burned draft cards, occupied buildings and even tried to levitate the Pentagon.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/
IRAQ?SITE=NYSTA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-04-18-10-19-11

That link's too long and is broken by wordwrap from the source you used, Ralpheh. May I suggest that you revisit the site you marked it at and use http://www.tinyurl.com to create a more functionally postable link for us here, please?

For me, DCP's greatest strength is its ability to tolerate views that are outside the rigid liberal thinking lines (and trust me, liberals can get just as rigid and intolerant as conservatives). We are all civil, intelligent individuals who know how to respectfully listen, and disagree if necessary. And that's priceless; while the likes of DU try to shut me up for bringing up the issue of ethnic racism and homophobia, DCP wants an open dialogue.

I do want to see more action in the forum; some ongoing discussions are better handled there than in the blog.

Thanks to everyone for making DCP happen, and for making it what it is.

Dear All:

This is a great topic, but I think it's hard to get a handle on it quickly. Me, I've always just posted on this blog, which was a continuation for me of a conversation that began in the 2004 presidential elections, which in turn stemmed from a very strong sense I had that something was very fundamentally wrong with the political conversation (and hence direction) in this country. I felt I had to say something even if no one listened

Right now for me that sense has changed a bit, because I sense that the country has begun to come around to caring about a lot of the issues a lot of us felt so strongly about. I guess my sense of urgency, if notdesparation, has declined.

So the question becomes, where to focus now? That has a lot of dimensions.

As for architecural (or maybe technical) issues, I like the "flat" blog as opposed to forums, because it's more real-time and lively, and linear. It also concntrates "hits" when events are slow -- the blog always works best when it's almost a chat. Forums reduce the density of comments so during slow times there is no "conversation" per se.

As for resources, personally, I'd like to see more on dependable sources of data on things like campaign finance and media ownership -- sort of a "one-stop-shop" or even "DCP-Wikipedia" that collects data on the original issues the DCP was set up to address, which, if memory serves, involved electoral and media reform. It would be good to maintain a focus on "non-denominational" issues like those over the long-haul, especially in tiumes like now -- after and before political storms. I'd personally like to see voting patterns and resources on analyzing the federal budget as well. The key would be to have best-in-class data in a neutral presentation. This would establish a framework and reputation for rational discourse and facts-based analysis.

Anyway, I know, easy for me to say.

As for the Democracy Cells, well, in a non-polarizing, non-"all-hands-on-deck" moment, I can see where that could atrophy. But I think it's important to keep as a latent source of doing something more than bloviating on the blog as I usually do. Things may arise that make that a very good thing to have kept alive for the right moment.

Anyway,as I said, this is a difficult topic and one suggestion I would make is that it become a regular and recurring theme, sort of like Matthew's old Sunday Sermons or Polly Sigh used to be. I mean, we are sort of in a period in between the peaks of sound an fury that signify political seasons, and that is probably the best time for introspection and re-tooling.

Hope that made sense and thanks to everybody that has been contributing so much and working so hard to keep this blog possible so that gold-bricks like me can find a place to express ourselves, however awkwardly.

Chuck in Houston

Good points, Chuck, and the rest of y'all also. I'm especially with you on the Polly Sigh and the Tao of Politics series -- I really miss both of those, and I think a lot of other folks do too.

Chuck in Houston for Otter:

Actually, if you look at what Ally said and I said, there is sort of a common conclusion: Ally mentioned that some conversations are better handled in a forum while I noted that in times when posts are infrequent that a flat blog concentrates hits -- one way to address both of those -- like "Tao" and "Polly" -- is to assign certain days to certain recurring themes. When events aren't fast and furious, a ggod way to handle that might be to dedicate certain days/times on a flat blog to certain topics.

Chuck in Houston

I came to this blog late, and from the other side of the world. I was thrilled after Rick led me here and suggested I read a little and maybe contribute. I hadn't been a blog user on a daily basis and was overwhelmed with the level of thought and dedication that many people have to the political mayhem that we've caused in the middle east. And of course, to the political mayhem we've caused at home.

I come from an enormous land occupied by few people and an easily-forgotten-sized military contribution to wars that have no reason. Our military is over-stretched by our commitments to our own region - East Timor for stability prior to, and during election rounds, of our new democratic neighbour; Samoa for tsunami relief and restoration; Afghanistan for construction as well as military actions; Iraq for training, reconstruction and protection purposes. There are other places in our region that have our support also, but the names and reasons have fled from my brain, out the window it seems.

It has been great to enjoy varied exchanges with everyone here. Sometimes there are spots of disagreement. If there were not those spots then we would become too dull. I enjoy having my point of view challenged, because that's the only way that I grow in thought and deed.

I've been astonished by the level of commitment of so many here. I always read your links and thank you for directing me to them. At this hour I'm often here alone and it's time for me to say Thank you. It is comforting to know that there are people like you standing up for people like me all over the world. We need America to be a first class world power, not a first class world criminal. Only folks like you can turn that around.

Posted by: Otter at April 18, 2007 08:45 PM

Thank you for sharing. I appreciate your candor, and I also appreciate the fact that you are extremely supportive of women who have difficult decisions to make. I sense that was difficult to write about, let alone share with the blogosphere. And you are entirely correct.

I've written about the horrible death of my grandmother before, but the documentation I had about it didn't include the doctor's note on the reverse side of the death certificate, which I only got a couple of weeks ago (copy of both sides of the original document). The doctor wrote about the toxemia (pre-eclampsia is what they call it now) episode that occurred in March which killed the fetus, the fact that her body didn't expel the dead fetus the way it was supposed to, and included details of what happened on the day she went into labor, "evacuating" the dead fetus from uterus, the inability to stop the bleeding and her death (she died May 26, 1938, carried the dead fetus inside of her for three months; the baby boy's death certificate says he was "of six months' gestation but born at term"). The 19th century law in effect forbidding abortion in 1938 are quite likely to blame for the fact that the doctor didn't surgically remove the dead fetus as soon as he realized her body would not naturally abort the dead fetus. Two and a half years ago a great-aunt told me about what it was like to sit by my grandmother's bedside during those three months, holding her hand while she cried, both in physical pain as the decomposing fetus poisoned her body, and her mental anguish because she knew her baby was dead. I fear with the SCOTUS decision others may, like my grandmother, die a horrible death because of the decision that has pushed us back to the antiquated laws that have nothing whatsoever to do with medical realities when something goes very wrong in a pregnancy. I never knew my maternal grandmother; she died when my mother was only 13 (the five children left motherless ranged in age from two to fifteen), but what others have told me she was a remarkably nice person and everyone seems to have loved her. To a person, no one has ever had anything bad to say about her, and some have recounted nice things she did for them.

Even if it's "only" to remove an already-dead fetus of six months' gestation (which would, in the minds of the rabid anti-choice fundies, I'm sure, come under the umbrella of 'partial birth abortion' past the second trimester), abortion still needs to be an option. Safe, rare, but legal for those who need it. The life saved could be a mother who already has living children, and those children need a mother.

Memo to SCOTUS judges who voted for banning late-term abortions: You are morally and ethically challenged if you think this was a good decision; perhaps if/when we get a president with some common sense you should consider resigning your position for your senile and antiquated thinking processes. The equally senile and antiquated-thinking lawmakers who voted for that piece of nonsense they call a law have no moral right to legally impose their values on those who may need to have a late-term abortion for medical reasons, and the SCOTUS judges should have rendered it unconstitutional because it violates a woman's right to privacy.

If they can't get pregnant, they can't know what a difficult situation some women potentially face if/when they may need to have an abortion someday.

I agree with Otter; SCOTUS judges and patriarchal pontificators who inhabit our legislature all need to STFU.

http://www.msnbc.com/comics/daily.asp?sfile=db070417&vts=41820071449
Doonesbury [You'll like this!]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070418/ap_on_go_su_co/abortion_kennedy
Analysis: Kennedy's pivotal vote
Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling banning a controversial late-term abortion procedure may be as important for who wrote it as for the decision itself.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, considered the court's crucial middleman, came down solidly with conservatives in writing the 5-4 decision.

Abortion cases are difficult for the court, and in the past they've been particularly trying for Kennedy. He agonized over his 1992 vote to reaffirm a woman's right to abortion. That decision enraged conservatives, who had expected the Roman Catholic Reagan nominee to help overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that established a constitutional right to privacy that protects abortion rights.

On Wednesday, Kennedy led conservatives in the decision that for the first time upheld a nationwide ban on a procedure that opponents call "partial-birth abortion." The ruling also opened the way for further restrictions.

{More on link.}

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070418/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq
Bush, Democrats give no ground on Iraq
Excerpt:
During an hourlong meeting at the White House, the president told lawmakers directly he will not sign any bill that includes a timetable for a troop withdrawal, and they made it clear Congress will send him one anyway.

"We believe he must search his soul, his conscience and find out what is the right thing for the American people," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) of Nevada, told reporters after the session. "I believe signing this bill will do that."

{{{Memo to Harry Reid: Don't you get it yet? Bush doesn't have a soul. He was born a psychopath with no conscience. Wake up and smell the coffee, puh-leeze! If we can't trust and depend on you in Congress to stop him and his illegal war and occupation of Iraq and stop the illegal war crimes of torture, then who will...???}}}

This is a subject which comes up quite often on this blog. I believe that if the opportunity for sharing, persents itself, then I must share. Most of all, I'm pleased to have a Christian church leader point to the misinformation that has been gleaned from the biblical text, and set the record straight. At least it's another point of view for the oft-repeated out-of-context text.

Anti-gays misread Bible: church head
Tom Heneghan, Paris
April 19, 2007

THE spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans has said conservative Christians who cite the Bible to condemn homosexuality are misreading a key passage written by St Paul almost 2000 years ago.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, addressing theology students in Toronto, said an oft-quoted passage in Paul's Epistle to the Romans meant to warn Christians not to be self-righteous when they see others fall into sin.

Cont. .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/antigays-misread-bible-church-head/2007/04/18/1176696914662.html

http://www.minnesotamonitor.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1623
Sheriff Anticipates Arresting Thousands During 2008 RNC
{{{Oy.}}}

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/18/colberts-w%c3%b8rd-on-plan-b/
Colbert’s Wørd on “Plan B”

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/18/secret-hold-placed-on-senate-electronic-filing-bill/
Secret Hold Placed On Senate Electronic Filing Bill

FBI Raids Republican Lawmaker's Home
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041807U.shtml
The FBI searched the Virginia home of Representative John Doolittle (R-Calif.) last Friday in its investigation into ties between the congressman and his wife, Julie, and disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to law enforcement and other Congressional and K Street sources.

Ethanol Cars May Not Be Healthier
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/041807HB.shtml
A computer model set up to simulate air quality in 2020 found that in some areas ozone levels would increase if all cars were run on bioethanol, and deaths from respiratory problems and asthma attacks would increase with such levels.

Deaths of Amphibians and Reptiles Signal Climate Warning
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/041807EB.shtml
A protected rainforest in one of the world's richest biodiversity hotspots has suffered an alarming collapse in amphibians and reptiles, suggesting such havens may fail to slow the creatures' slide towards global extinction.

Global Warming Health Effects
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/041807EC.shtml
Higher temperatures over the coming decades are expected to cause more smoggy days and heat waves, contributing to a greater number of illnesses and deaths in the United States, according to international climate scientists.

Waxman May Subpoena Rice to Testify on Iraq-Niger Claims
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041807J.shtml
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is resisting a US House panel's demand that she testify tomorrow on why Bush said in a 2003 speech that Iraq sought uranium from Africa. Waxman, in a letter to the State Department released late yesterday, wrote that he has "postponed the scheduled vote for a subpoena for your appearance before the committee from tomorrow to April 25."

Eugene Robinson | Are They Serious?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041807M.shtml
Eugene Robinson writes: "Today's topic is credibility - specifically, recent claims by certain high-ranking present, former and perhaps soon-to-be-former Bush administration officials. The aim is to answer a simple question: Should we believe these three Bush loyalists if they tell us that rain falls down instead of up, or should we look out the window to make sure?"

Excerpt:

Gonzales had an op-ed Sunday in The Post that included this positively breathtaking claim: The attorney general of the United States writes that "to my knowledge, I did not make decisions about who should or should not be asked to resign."

To his knowledge? What on earth does that mean? Is Gonzales in the habit of making decisions without his own knowledge? Does he have multiple-personality issues?

Rove, Wolfowitz and Gonzales are making the last-ditch argument of a cheating husband caught in flagrante: Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?

President George W. Bush was scheduled to visit the Episcopal Church outside Washington as part of his campaign to restore his poll standings.

Bush's campaign manager made a visit to the Bishop, and said to him, "We've been getting a lot of bad publicity because of the president's position on stem cell research, the Iraq war, Katrina, wiretapping and the like. We'd gladly make a contribution to the church of $100,000 if during your sermon you'd say the President is a saint."

The Bishop thought it over for a few moments and finally said, "The Church is in desperate need of funds and I will agree to do it." Bush showed up for the sermon and the Bishop began:

"I'd like to speak to you all this morning about our President.

"George Bush is a liar, a cheat, and a low-intelligence weasel. He took the tragedy of
September 11 and used it to frighten and manipulate the American people. He lied about weapons of mass destruction and invaded Iraq for oil and money, causing the deaths of tens of thousands and making the United States the most hated country on earth. He appointed cronies to positions of power and influence, leading to widespread death and destruction during Hurricane Katrina. He awarded contracts and tax cuts to his rich friends so that we now have more poverty in this country, and a greater gap between rich and poor, than we've had since the Depression. He instituted illegal wiretaps when getting a warrant from a secret court would have been a mere administrative detail, had his henchmen lie to Congress about it, then claimed he is above the law. He has headed the most corrupt, bribe-inducing political party since Teapot Dome. The national surplus has turned into a staggering national debt of 7.6 trillion, gas prices are up 85%, and vital research into global warming and stem cells is stopped cold because he's afraid to lose votes from some religious kooks. He is the worst example of a true Christian I've ever known.

"But compared to Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, George W. Bush is a saint."

We are trav'ling in the footsteps
Of those who've gone before
And we'll all be reunited,
On a new and sunlit shore,

Oh, when the saints go marching in,
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Lord how I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in

And when the sun begins to shine
And when the sun begins to shine
Lord, how I want to be in that number
When the sun begins to shine

Oh, when the saints go marching in,
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Lord how I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in

Oh, when the trumpet sounds its call
Oh, when the trumpet sounds its call
Lord, how I want to be in that number
When the trumpet sounds its call

Oh, when the saints go marching in,
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Lord how I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in

What's my name, what's my name?
Hold the S because I am an AINT
What's my name, what's my name?
Hold the S because I am an AINT

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was to be summoned to a Capitol Hill showdown Thursday as he fights to save his job in the face of calls for his ouster over the bungled firings of eight U.S. attorneys that Democrats say were driven by party politics.

ADVERTISEMENT




The Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled a daylong hearing for Gonzales' first appearance under oath since the firings set off an uproar in February that has only escalated with a bewildering series of conflicting accounts from the attorney general, his current and former aides and White House officials.

Gonzales himself has provided differing versions of the events, first saying he had almost no involvement in them and then later acknowledging that his role was larger, but only after e-mails about meetings he attended were released by the Justice Department to House and Senate committees.

President Bush has stuck by Gonzales, a longtime aide going back to Bush's days as governor of Texas, through calls for him to resign by several Democratic lawmakers as well as a few Republicans.

snip

The sooner it's over, the better," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (news, bio, voting record) of Utah, whose support of Gonzales is one key to the attorney general's fate.

Republicans have urged Gonzales to be more assertive and answer the questions more specifically than he did in his prepared testimony, which was released by the Justice Department on Sunday in anticipation that the hearing would be held Tuesday.

"I hope he doesn't apologize," said Rep. Chris Cannon (news, bio, voting record), R-Utah, who spoke with Gonzales a week ago. "He is in a really miserable position where people are focused and saying nasty things. He thinks that he acted appropriately. I told him he ought to be less gracious in his responses."

Said Hatch: "If he just answers the questions, he'll be fine."

Gonzales' own statements could complicate his task. On style and substance, he is famously mild-mannered and loyal to Bush.

Democrats say that's just the problem: Gonzales may have led the Justice Department as if still Bush's White House counsel, thus allowing his cadre of young-but-senior aides to make decisions on which of the nation's 93 federal prosecutors should be fired, and why.

Critics allege that some of the eight fired were dismissed to interfere with ongoing corruption investigations in ways that might help Republicans. Gonzales strongly denies that, but Democrats have maintained that a stiff denial is insufficient without more details.

Some Republicans acknowledge that merely sticking to the talking points in Gonzales' prepared testimony will make it hard for him to hang onto his job. The committee's senior Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania, dismissed the prepared remarks as "pablum."

pab·lum (pāb'ləm)
n. Trite, insipid, or simplistic writing, speech, or conceptualization; worthless or oversimplified ideas [syn: pap]; intellectual pap;

"We have to settle for the pablum that passes for the inside dope" -Julie Salamon

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pablum

bwahahahaha....

Navarrette: Will Gonzales get a fair hearing?
April 19, 2007
By Ruben Navarrette Jr.
Special to CNN

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- Details, details. The critics of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales are absolutely sure of his guilt in the matter of the fired U.S. attorneys. They're just not sure what he's guilty of.

Well, they had better figure it out fast. Gonzales testifies Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In an op-ed Sunday for The Washington Post, Gonzales admitted that he had "created confusion" with recent statements about the firings but insisted, "nothing improper occurred."

He wrote that he directed his former deputy chief of staff Kyle Sampson to initiate the process, that he knew it was occurring and that he approved the final recommendations -- but "did not make decisions about who should or should not be asked to resign."

That won't satisfy the critics. Nothing will, absent Gonzales' head. To get it, they keep changing their line of attack.

First, the critics said that Gonzales didn't understand the difference between being the president's personal lawyer and being attorney general. Then, they said he had orchestrated a purge of dissidents to further political goals. Then, they said he lied to Congress. Then, they said he lied to the media. Then, they said he had been a bad manager. Then, they said he bungled the explanation of what happened and created the appearance of a scandal where there may not have been one in the first place.

For some conservatives, principle lost out to practicality. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich recently said the firings had wrecked Gonzales' credibility and that the administration would be better served by "a new team at the Justice Department."

Perfect. Liberals have spent more than a month slinging mud at Gonzales, and now weak-kneed conservatives are giving in and saying that maybe the attorney general should go because: "Look, he's covered in mud!"

As it happens, some of that mud has come from the get-Gonzales faction of the Fourth Estate.

Recently, The Washington Post reported that Gonzales had "retreated from public view ... in an intensive effort to save his job, spending hours practicing testimony and phoning lawmakers for support in preparation for pivotal appearances in the Senate."

Time out. The Washington Post and the rest of the media have repeatedly insisted that Thursday's testimony is "make or break" for Gonzales. If so, why wouldn't he prepare for it?

Then there is Andrew Cohen, who has been covering this story on a Washington Post blog that serves as a sort of deathwatch anticipating Gonzales' demise. Cohen called it a "disgrace" that Gonzales is so heavily immersed in preparing his testimony that he "isn't working full-time for you or for me" but "working instead to save his professional hide."

Come again? One of the most common arguments you hear from Gonzales' critics is that he can't be effective on the job while this cloud hangs overhead. So shouldn't lifting the cloud be his No. 1 priority? And when he tries to do that, they blast him.

I've said all along that Gonzales deserves a fair hearing. Thursday, he'll get the hearing. But, so far, no sign of the fairness.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/19/navarrette/index.html

bwahaha-hahahah...oh man, my glutes hurt from laughin so hard...

homophobia, mysoginy, doubts about masculinity and guns
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041907P.shtml

Recruiters count on this.

"Hundreds" of high school students took to the streets of Seattle yesterday, to protest recruiters in the schools and the war in Iraq.

bwahaha-hahahah--laugh at this too!

~~

Ruben, Gonzales owes us all quite a lot, for example, the truth and fidelity to the U. S. Constitition. Didn't they teach you about that at Harvard?

From that little snippet, you now know Ruben's whole routine: bash both sides, but end up with a Republican attack and talking point, all while snottily sucking up for tenure in the establishment civility elitist police force.

In English, we often call someone like this a "concern troll." In Spanish, I like the word mocoso, which translates roughly as "snot nosed brat." Here's what the most popular review of his book about his experiences at Harvard has to say about the book:

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Watch him grow in arrogance, November 23, 2002
This book is worth reading since it is provocative and has interesting observations about being Latino in the Ivy League. Particularly interesting is his encounter with Richard Rodriguez, who starts out as an enemy and becomes a friend and intellectual mentor of sorts. However, as the book progresses, it feels more like a revisionist explaining away of his shortcomings–why he couldn't commit to his girlfriend and how his confrontations earn him enemies, who of course are mean, petty people in his version of events. Navarette makes everything seems so extreme–it's either Fresno State or Harvard, with nothing in between [emphasis added - Pach]. He seems shocked that almost every institution in his life from UFW to Harvard's RAZA group turns out to be imperfect so ends up basically condemning them as evil. It seems as if he is very good at pointing out the imperfections in everything around him and is obsessed with making people agree with him. The book ends abruptly and on a note of frustration as he gets fed up with the shortcomings of the educational system and leaves graduate school. You really have to start over to the introduction to get any sense of resolution that he has learned something from his experience and not just grown in cynicism and ego.

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/03/23/te-presiento-el-mocoso-ruben-navarrette-jr/

~~

Monkey
Naverette is always an apologist for conservatism. Read his articles on immigration.

Part of the whole problem is the American Dream myth. It's tied to alot of the problems that we have in this country and on this planet.

Not everyone can be rich. Not everyone can come to America and work day and night and be rich. Not everyone can be the American idol.

It is basically "15 minutes of fame" and then on to something else. Today, let's hope it's justice when it comes to Wolfowitz and Gonzales - justice for people affected by their lack of leadership.

Reason number 1 why McBush should not be president

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-zoPgv_nYg

http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan3_wm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS3

Gonzalez live stream.

Gonzo's tp's.

Deny Deny Deny.

Process ongoing.

I don't recall. (Hmmm can't wait to see that tally!)

Incompetence.

Wasn't me. Lower level decisions. Poor planning.

Posted by: madame defarge at April 19, 2007 10:37 AM

He lost me at "hello".

Jerry McLiar

I can't bear watching or listening to him! Gonzo the torturer. Why are we giving him a "fair hearing" when he advocates otherwise for others.

p.s. otter, not ignoring the porpoise of this thread, gathering my thoughts, which as you may have noticed, can get away from me every once and a while...

Oh look! A Blue Jay!

Gonzo says he looks back with pride when he looks at what he's accomplished in the last 2 years.

When the American people say they loose faith in me, they are insulting the career people in the Justice Department. (He's yelling as he says this.)

I have to know in my heart that I continue to be effective as leader of this dept. The moment I believe I can no longer be effective, I will resign as AG.

I am committed to getting to the bottom of this, let's find out what happened here. If someone else made improper recommendations, there's going to be accountability.

Thank you for the ongoing play-by-play. This way we can all feel as though we are watching the Gonzales hearings live in real time, too. (Instead of poring over re-runs of 'American Idol' trying to find some loophole by which we the sheeple can demand that SCOTUS re-instate Sanjay-the-hair-guy...)

POOR AL GONZO!!!!

He is actually being held accountable for stupid and perhaps illegal decisions...

QUOTE:
I've said all along that Gonzales deserves a fair hearing. Thursday, he'll get the hearing. But, so far, no sign of the fairness.

BTW:

How about the 8 fired attorneys? Do they deserve a fair hearing? or no? Is the DOJ just a plaything for Karl Rove and Republican hacks??

Live blogs all over the place. FDL and Kos or DU. But I'm watching Jesselyn Radack's diary at Kos because the personal link and the whistleblower's viewpoint is interesting. She'll be updated as she can.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/18/6293/22120

Posted by: not my president at April 19, 2007 10:31 AM

Not only do the recruiters and the military commanders count on this, but we've taught these values to our puppet immigrants, the Korean community and Cho being the most blatant examples this week.

From that little snippet, you now know Ruben's whole routine: bash both sides, but end up with a Republican attack and talking point, all while snottily sucking up for tenure in the establishment civility elitist police force.

Posted by: sparrow at April 19, 2007 10:31 AM

While the Republicans do nothing for Latinos and other minorities, they love to groom selected token minorities, like Naverette and Moon, for their own gain, and to win votes in the immigrant communities.

The saddest thing is that all the "pro-family" talk in the Republican Party, along with these trolls, actually wins votes in the minority communities.

Sick.

Judiciary Committee is on lunch break until 2 p.m. Eastern Time. C-SPAN-3 is showing a RE-RUN of the first hour plus (up to first break) of this morning's session....

BTW: Cindy Sheehan is at the Gonzales hearing. There were quite a few protesters, signs and some yelling. Sen. Leahy allowed them to stay but not to be disruptive...

Ray McGovern will speak at tomorrow's protest at Bush's visit in Grand Rapids

Subject: [Progressive] Ray McGovern to Speak at Bush Protest
>
>
> Former CIA analyst and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity will speak at Friday's antiwar protest (April 20) outside of President Bush's visit to East Grand Rapids. McGovern, who has been an important critic of the Bush administration' s Iraq policy and the administration' s distorted pre-war intelligence, will speak at 12:15pm at John A. Collins Park (on Lakeside between Reeds Lake Blvd. and Wealthy).
McGovern has written a number of pieces critiquing the Bush administration 's rationale for the continued occupation of Iraq (http://www.antiwar. com/mcgovern/), the most recent of which is highly critical of Michigan Senator Carl Levin's failure to stop funding the war (http://www.antiwar. com/mcgovern/ ?articleid= 108260). McGovern drew widespread media attention when he directly questioned Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about his prewar claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (http://www.democrac ynow.org/ article.pl? sid=07/03/ 07/1436239).
> For more information on the protest, visit http://www.activate gr.org
> ACTIVATE still needs help promoting the protest, please tell everyone you know and/or pass along the following to your email contacts and listservs:
>
>
> Protest Bush in Grand Rapids on Friday (4/20)
> Friday, April 20 - 12:15pm (SHARP!) John A. Collins Park in East Grand Rapids (on Lakeside Dr between Reeds Lake Blvd and Wealthy)
> This Friday, President George W. Bush will be speaking to deliver a "major policy speech" on Iraq. In response, ACTIVATE/SDS is calling for a protest to demand an immediate end to the occupation Iraq. From the recent escalation of the war to the killing of 655,000+ Iraqi civilians, this is a criminal war and occupation and it must end now.
> Please bring noisemakers (drums, horns, shakers), large banners, and signs. We want this to be a loud and visible protest.
> For more information: http://www.activate gr.org
> For information on why ACTIVATE calls for an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq: http://www.activate gr.org/news/ end-the-occupati on/
>
> HELP PROMOTE THE PROTEST:
> Please pass this email along to your friends, groups, and other contacts. We have flyers below that we encourage people to print and distribute, as well as a graphic suitable for posting on MySpace, Facebook, and other related sites.
> Quarter Size Flyer: http://www.activate gr.org/wp- content/uploads/ 2007/04/bush- protest-042007- quarter.pdf
> Full Size Flyer: http://www.activate gr.org/wp- content/uploads/ 2007/04/bush- protest-042007. pdf
> Graphic for Websites: http://img263. imageshack. us/img263/ 2755/bushflyerri 0.gif
>

"I hope he doesn't apologize," said Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, who spoke with Gonzales a week ago. "He is in a really miserable position where people are focused and saying nasty things. He thinks that he acted appropriately. I told him he ought to be less gracious in his responses."

"The sooner it's over, the better," said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, whose support of Gonzales is one key to the attorney general's fate.

Said Hatch: "If he just answers the questions, he'll be fine."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18195314/page/2/

Is anyone else listening/watching C-SPAN-3 online?

Gonzo's stammering and yammering and giving indefinite answers at EVERY turn. His body language alternates between attempting to compose himself and twitching.

He's lying, lying, lying, lying, lying...!

After the open love-fest with Hatch's words all but excusing Gonzo from any responsibility (which he's pleaded all along; it's always someone else's decision, someone else did it, etc.), I'd like to slap Hatch upside the head with a hunk of wet lutefisk....

NOT the Lutefisk!

Posted by: monkey at April 19, 2007 04:06 PM

:-) For Hatch and his ilk, YES, the Lutefisk!

P.S. If you're not Norwegian, Danish, or Swedish and have never been around when lutefisk is being prepared, you have no idea what I'm talking about, but trust me; you wouldn't want to be smacked with a hunk of stinky wet lutefisk!

Translated to English, lutefisk is literally "lye fish." It's cured in lye (preservative) and has to go through days of washing in fresh water before it can be baked or cooked. The stench is almost unbearable. Oddly enough, once baked like my mother made it and dipped in melted butter, the fish itself has little or no flavor. But the smell - it's legendary in Scandinavian -American family stories and humor... Uff da! I didn't even taste lutefisk until I was 40 years old because of the smell, but now I wish I'd learned how my mother made it.

Certain Congress Critters who deliberately keep themselves ignorant about reality, who deliberately refuse to see/hear that Gonzo is LYING (and that so many others within the Bush administration are LYING - not "misleading," LYING!), yes, they deserve to be slapped upside the head with a hunk of wet lutefisk!

McCain sings "Bombs" to Iran
(to tune of Barbra Ann by the Beach Boys)
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1929196820070419
He has lost it.

Lutefisk
Visualize Ballard
(Seattle)

Posted by: not my president at April 19, 2007 04:43 PM

Who is Ballard?

Chuck Schumer and Patrick Leahy did well with their ending statements. I'm listening to a little news conference between Schumer and reporters....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070419/ap_en_tv/virginia_tech_nbc
Backlash leads to pullback on Cho video
NEW YORK - With a backlash developing against the media for airing sickening pictures from Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui, Fox News Channel said Thursday it would stop and other networks said they would severely limit their use.

NBC News was the recipient Wednesday of Cho's package of rambling, hate-filled video and written messages, with several pictures of him posing with a gun. Contents began airing on "Nightly News," and its rivals quickly used them, too.

Family members of victims canceled plans to appear on NBC's "Today" show Thursday because they "were very upset" with the network for showing the pictures, "Today" host Meredith Vieira said.

Virginia State Police Col. Steve Flaherty — who praised NBC Wednesday for coming to authorities first with the package — said Thursday he was disappointed with what the network showed.

"I just hate that a lot of people not used to seeing that type of image had to see it," he said.

NBC said the material was aired because it helped to answer the question of why Cho killed 32 people and himself on the Virginia Tech campus Monday.

"The decision to run this video was reached by virtually every news organization in the world, as evidenced by coverage on television, on Web sites and in newspapers," NBC said in a statement. "We have covered this story — and our unique role in it — with extreme sensitivity, underscored by our devoted efforts to remember and honor the victims and heroes of this tragic incident."

NBC and its MSNBC cable outlet will "severely limit" use of these pictures going forward, "Today" host Matt Lauer said, a restriction echoed by ABC News. At both CBS News and CNN, producers will need explicit approval from their bosses to use them going forward.

Fox News announced on the air late Thursday morning that it would no longer air Cho's material, saying "sometimes you change your mind."

These decisions, of course, came more than 12 hours after the pictures became available, after they already made their impact. The news cycle dictates they would be used less, anyway.

{{{More on link. What do you all think about this? I'm of a divided mind. On one hand people need to know how the mind of a deranged person works, what they sound like. On the other hand, it "appears" to glorify the actions of a person who is clearly mentally deranged, especially since the still photos include Cho posed with his handguns. I saw a few seconds of the video tape, but don't remember which channel; he was clearly incoherent and not mentally stable, so I found it pathetic, not really worthy of being broadcast (but definitely it should be studied by mental health professionals and mental health researchers and law enforcement, especially profilers). If it helps family and friends of people who are mentally unstable and dangerous to themselves and others to be informed and alarmed enough to report them and try to get them mental help, all to the better. But... the families of the victims who were killed or injured have to be upset that Cho is even getting posthumous publicity. Still, whether self-censorship or caving into pressure from people who don't want to see anything bad on TV, the whole censorship thing disturbs me.}}}

Hey All,

We are in Pittsburgh for the Women's Health and the Environment Conference. We kept turning on the radio and then turning it off as we drove up here today. Neither Richard nor I could deal with the sound of air hissing out of Alberto's mouth.

I think we will helping Rick et al live blog the conference tomorrow. But of course we will pay attention to many other issues as well...

Said Hatch: "If he just answers the questions, he'll be fine."

@@@@@

LOL!!! Gonzales didn't answer any of the important questions - like: WHO PUT THE LIST OF ATTORNEYS FOR FIRING TOGETHER? DID GONZALES CAREFULLY REVIEW THE LIST? DID HE DOUBLE CHECK WITH OTHER D.O.J. PEOPLE BEFORE FIRING THE ATTORNEYS? WAS THERE UNDUE POLITICAL PRESSURE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE INVOLVING THE FIRINGS? HASN'T THE FIRINGS CREATED A HUGE CHILL AND DAMAGED MORALE AT D.O.J.?

NonnyO
Nonsense like this - exploitation OR propaganda and nothing else - is why I quit watching tv in 1991.

That said, I suppose there are plenty of people who get off on watching it & so there is money to be made as they will buy things advertised on the programs.

So there are sickos in the media, in the viewership & it's a matter of degree, making them on a continuum with the killer.

There are plenty of foos w/arsenals, all the way to the top!

Heard the McCain Beach Boys video is going viral on the internet, much as the Rove Rapper thing did - hope people are watching it ironically.

Cho and Sanjay have about lived out their 15 mins of fame, both exploited by the media.

Posted by: NonnyO at April 19, 2007 05:10 PM

I'm one of those who strongly object to showing the images on tv, online, or anywhere. I find them extremely horribly offensive & of no value at all. It's quite obvious that he was deranged & there are many ways to make that be known, without showing the video & giving him posthumous publicity (as I'm sure he figured he would get).

As for helping others recognize the signs of derangement, again, there are more effective ways to help people identify the signs.

To me, this is not censorship. This is common sense & decency & respect for the victims, their families, & the world.

Censorship is not letting the media take photos or videos of the caskets arriving at Andrews Air Force base from Iraq & Afghanistan.

This is common sense & decency & respect for the victims, their families, & the world.

Posted by: madame defarge at April 19, 2007 07:06 PM

Yeah, well....

Posted by: not my president at April 19, 2007 04:28 PM

McCain's macaca moment

President Clinton: Gonzales Should ‘Step Aside’

In an interview with CNN’s Larry King tonight, President Bill Clinton says the best thing Alberto Gonzales can do for the President he has “served so loyally is to step aside”:

I understand why President Bush is reluctant to let him go. I don’t think he ought to force the President to fire him. He had a long and good run here. And if what I saw coming out of Sen. Specter today and others is right, and there’s a lot of opposition to him in the Congress. These cases raise real troubling questions — these U.S. Attorney firings. The best thing he could do for this president that he served so loyally is to step aside.
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/19/bill-clinton-gonzo

If you're near your tv right now, turn on Keith O. He's on fire about all the "things" that this regime has claimed are missing: tapes, blueprints, emails, Bush's military records, etc...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- White House insiders tell CNN that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales hurt himself during testimony before a Senate committee Thursday on the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

The sources, involved in administration discussions about Gonzales, told White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux that two senior level White House aides who heard the testimony described Gonzales as "going down in flames," "not doing himself any favors," and "predictable."

"Everyone's putting their best public face on," one source said, "but everyone is discouraged. Everyone is disappointed."

But these sources acknowledge that no one knows what the president will do. No one is looking for a replacement yet, sources said, and the White House is waiting to see how this plays out with the public and members of Congress over the next couple of days.

Another White House insider said it's up to the President to save him.

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/19/gonzales.testimony/index.html

Great photo

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/19/washington/19cnd-gonz.html?

My head is about to explode from all this!! I work with people with language impairments (experience with all ages, strokes, autism, head-injured) and W takes the cake!! Someone dropped him on his head.

**and this is all in ONE speech.

Bush muses on marriage, chicken-plucking
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070419/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_musings

ASHINGTON - Strange things sometimes come out of

President Bush's mouth. "Polls just go poof." "Remember the rug?"
ADVERTISEMENT

When Bush went to Ohio on Thursday to talk about terrorism, he ended up musing about marriage and chicken-plucking plants, the agony of death and his Oval Office rug, which resembles a sunburst.

About his legacy, Bush said historians are still assessing George Washington, the nation's first leader. "My attitude is, if they're still writing about (number) one, 43 doesn't need to worry about it."

On being married: "A good marriage is really good after serving together in Washington, D.C."

Maybe the president just felt like jabbering at the town hall-style event in Tipp City, Ohio. He began talking about terrorism and ended 90 minutes later after chattering about everything from life after the White House to Vietnam War and the brutal

Khmer Rouge regime.

Some highlights:

_"Politics comes and goes, but your principles don't. And everybody wants to be loved — not everybody. ... You never heard anybody say, `I want to be despised, I'm running for office.'"

_"The best thing about my family is my wife. She is a great first lady. I know that sounds not very objective, but that's how I feel. And she's also patient. Putting up with me requires a lot of patience."

_"There are jobs Americans aren't doing. ... If you've got a chicken factory, a chicken-plucking factory, or whatever you call them, you know what I'm talking about."

_"There are some similarities, of course" between

Iraq and Vietnam. "Death is terrible."

_"I've been in politics long enough to know that polls just go poof at times."

As he has before, Bush told the story about how his first presidential decision was to pick a rug for the Oval Office, a task he quickly cast to his wife. He told her to make sure the rug reflected optimism "because you can't make decisions unless you're optimistic that the decisions you make will lead to a better tomorrow."

Later, when he talked about his hope for succeeding in Iraq, Bush said, "Remember the rug?"

We sit here in sheer jawdropping horror at that post, nmp.

Another great photo from today:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63946635@N00/465370320/

Our leaders in crime have come up with this plan through their paranoia and attempts to convince everyone that genuine refugees are actually terrorists.

Two countries that trade in human misery
David Corlett
April 20, 2007

Australia and the US are now indulging in people trafficking themselves.

REFUGEES intercepted by the United States and taken to Guantanamo Bay will be resettled in Australia under a deal signed this week by the US and Australian governments. In return, refugees caught by Australian authorities and taken to the remote Pacific island of Nauru will be resettled in the US.

There is a symmetry to this new arrangement that is at the same time natural and alarming.

cont. .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/two-countries-that-trade-in-human-misery/2007/04/19/1176697001723.html

High Holy Day for Potheads
(from 04.20.02)

April has two days when many Americans, en masse, engage in something that's plainly illegal but is, they swear, OK to do anyway because everyone does it and it doesn't hurt a soul and it makes you feel just so very happy.

The first of these days has already passed: April 15, tax day, when millions of Americans, according to the latest research, fail to pay billions in taxes. The other day is April 20 -- Saturday -- a day when thousands, if not millions, will "mow the grass." That's a polite way of saying that these folks get baked, blitzed, paggered, blazed, obliterated, perved, shmacked ... in other words, they get high, as 4/20 is recognized by many as "national smokers day."

The term "420" and its attendant traditions date back to the 1970s, but at least some evidence exists -- enough to convince any stoner, at least -- that the term has experienced something of a resurgence in our electronic times.

On message boards and community sites across the Web, it's possible to find people who are "420 friendly," meaning that they'd love to meet you and smoke your dope.

And for such people, 4/20 is the recognized day to get your smoke on. And especially at 4:20 a.m. or p.m. on 4/20, and especially while listening to Phish. This year, dozens of celebrations are planned across the globe.

In San Francisco, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, NORML, will finish up its two-day conference "celebrating personal freedom."

"Once again we have scheduled the conference to coincide with '4/20,' that date that has become associated in the popular culture as a special day for marijuana smokers -- sort of what 'It's Miller time' has become to beer drinkers," the group said on its site. "We hope to build on that tradition and encourage supporters from across the country to join us in San Francisco as a way to celebrate 4/20."

The event comes after a week of attention focused on NORML, which spent half a million dollars to run ads (PDF) in New York City asking Mayor Michael Bloomberg to fine and ticket -- rather than arrest -- people caught smoking marijuana in the street. The ads feature Bloomberg's response to a New York magazine reporter's query about whether he'd ever used marijuana. The mayor said, "You bet I did. And I enjoyed it."

more...
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2002/04/51986

monkey up

Good morning!
We will no doubt have a thread header up soon, sharing the linkages between environmental concerns and women's health, and throwing in war, bad economics, and corruption to boot!

It's Friday, it's Pittsburgh, and we could use some of what monkey is smokin'...

Posted by: monkey at April 20, 2007 07:18 AM

Uh-oh...I thought today was the *one* day of abstinence...

I'd say a joint session of Congress is in order.

Peace Pipe Dreams
aka Hit Me, I'm Open

Maybe Gonzales Won't Recall His Painful Day on the Hill

By Dana Milbank

Alberto Gonzales's tenure as attorney general was pronounced dead at 3:02 p.m. yesterday by Tom Coburn, M.D.

The good doctor, who also happens to be a Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made this clinical judgment after watching Gonzales suffer through four hours of painful testimony. The Oklahoman listed the cause of death as management failure and other complications of the Justice Department's firing of eight federal prosecutors.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902571.html?

Monkey
Rick Steves the travel guy (Euope Through the BackRoads) is a big NORML backer.

norml is on the monkey party platform...

It Takes a Weedage

Monkey
just got to work and think I'll have a certain Peter Tosh song stuck in my head all day

..I still have the "earworm" ..

TGIF

Comcast main page:

NEW YORK - Sanjaya Malakar, who was just voted off "American Idol," could meet President Bush on Saturday. Malakar is attending the White House Correspondents Association Dinner in Washington. He's a guest of People magazine.

Bush will be attending the annual dinner.

Malakar will share a table with People magazine's other guests, Valerie Bertinelli, Zac Efron of "High School Musical," comedian Eddie Izzard and Robert Kennedy Jr.

NOW THAT IS WHAT AMERICA CONSIDERS NEWS ..

song running through my head has finally been replaced .. by "this little piggie went to market" (a hazard of my job) .. better that than "Wheels on the Bus"

TGIF, for sure

Still nursing the broken finger, so haven't been writing lately, but I still read you little devils every day...

Look forward to getting the apparatus off my hand so I can post more often.

Love you all.

Casey, call me one of these days, will ya?