Thank you, Sally. I don't think Bush can rise to his higher self, because it isn't there.

Saw the CNN lead-in to The Speech, with count-down clock running on their set, and many fawning throwaway lines slipped into remarks about the rescue debacle.

Intended to watch the whole speech, but while whoever wrote it is better than some of his speechwriters, the delivery was sooo monotonous that I fell asleep. No passion--no personal interest, from Bush. He was just repeating the lines fed to him, poor little boy emperor. Just another tedious task he is required to fulfill in order to maintain the illusion of democracy.

I get the sense that Bush et al will be so glad when they don't have to pretend to serve the public anymore.

That's an interesting perception, Barbara, about not having to pretend anymore.

Sally,

Besides your unique and tragic phrase, "the blue stick boy"(that gets me deep inside), is your perspective on the renewal of civil war, which I haven't heard discussed. I think most interesting is the battle within the South now. And within the states as loyalties will be questioned. Some see an exodus of Republicans. Right now everyone is thankful that the immediate crisis is over and are a little gushy, but where the chips fall will be something to watch.

How fortunate if this is true and the elite are imploding. One shocking thing is no matter what happens, the progressive ideal is in the forefront as being a true necessity for this country at this time. Where it goes, we don't know, but the landscape sure has changed dramatically and suddenly. It is also interesting to see the neocons grab for this ideology overnight as a means to steal their money. What a charade. It does prove the failure of their original plans.

What a beautiful thought about Roosevelt. There is so much Aquarian energy now with the Saturn/Neptune opposition and our US Aquarian Moon. AND, of course, the Moon in Aquarius Thursday night.
Maybe they will be prevented from stealing everything from the people. Enough is enough.

I have a theory.

I think the shift came with the Tsunami when the earth's axis moved slightly. Now we are just seeing a result. Maybe a new ability to sense a shift. Maybe an ability to create one.

Sally, you nailed it. "Those good ‘ole boys down South might think it’s ok for Halliburton, and others to clean up our tax dollars in Iraq, but they will feel very differently when it’s “their” tax dollars taken from their state. I believe we are seeing the imploding of the elite."

And Barbara, Bush does makes statements without any heart. He IS pretending, following the script, which is another frigtening concept.

I'm sure this has occurred to all of you, but the number 11 keeps replaying in this country's disaster themes. According to Chaldeans, the Number 11 is "A Lion Muzzled -- A Clenched Fist. . .a number of hidden trials and treachery from others. It represents two opposing situations. Compatibility of interest is lacking and interference from a third force must be conquered. The difficulties may also arise from the illusion of separation. . ."

Another item is Bush's introduction of a police state (sending in the military as first responders). I thought this chilling. Yet, i would not be surprised if this came to some limited fruition especially when petrol becomes scarce and it's necessary to ration. That, i believe, is next.

karen

Well, my error. The number 29 cannot be reduced, neither the number 11. Therefore the number 29 has it's own meaning -- "Grace Under Pressure". . .one of the heaviest karmic numbers indicating trials (like those of Job). There is treachery and deception from others, grief and anxiety. Friends are unrealiable. Unexpected dangers. Blaming, seeking revenge will ascerbate the effect of 29. It is necessary to accept full responsibility for troubles in order to dilute the dangers of this number.

karen

farrout, right--Bush not only doesn't believe what he's saying, he is contemptuous of the people who do believe it. (As Betsey has told us about Bush's disdainful remarks about the fundamentalists.

Reagan was a skilled actor, and he believed it While he was saying it--but after the speech he forgot all about it.

jm, yep like Bush standing in front of the mike in Crawford talking piously about Cindy Sheehan "having a right to her opinion" and calling her "that bitch" to his aides.

I think he would love to see the day when he could just have every protester carted off. (We've seen too many instances of that already.)

Clarity and insight! Wonderful article, Cap'n Sally. I am particularly grateful for the references to FDR. He was there when I was born and was revered by many in the tiny part of the Deep South where I grew up. Many thanks.

sorry to tell ya guys, but FDR was [one of] the greatest traitors our country has ever had. The references to Bush in comparison to FDR are code as to what manipulations he is attempting to achieve. Just like FDR, Bush will pull off a bait & switch that completely undermines our security, and transfers any invested monies into the hands of the elite.

The great Krugman:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/opinion/16krugman.html?hp

Peg, respectfully, I have a different opinion about FDR.

The Republicans then called him "a traitor to his class" and I understand that FDR once told a reporter that his biggest achievement was preventing a revolution in the US.

I guess whether one thinks FDR was a good president or a bad one may depend on whether the limited socialism he introduced is viewed as a good move or a bad move.

"Will we as a nation spend and back spend to bring a regenerated South to life while they have been so willing to throw the rest of the country away? Will the part of the country that “pays” the heaviest tax burden in the United States, the blue states that support much of the South, do so once again for a people who hate them?"

I wonder if these people have learned their lesson? Or will the arrogance of the south remain?

of course Barbara, everything is perspective. I for one, am a great fan of socialism; however, in the nature that we have witnessed it employed, it's been fascism. FDR was in charge of (among many other things) implementing the tax-withholding provisions (previously unconstitutional) which syphoned off American dollars into the Federal Reserve.

While I am no fan of socialism, I consider FDR to be one of the greatest Americans who ever lived. His unfailing optimism and his willingness to try anything to keep this country going during the depths of the depression are examples of what we sadly lack in a leader now. Granted, FDR had many flaws but I think he truly loved this country and empathized with the downtrodden. Such a contrast to GWB who ws also born into luxury but has not even tried to make life better for us "little" people.

Sharon, glad to hear your good news, and that of your mother-in-law's cat! Thank you for sharing all the info you've shared. We're lucky to have the reliable source of info that is you!

Sally, quite an article! So interesting to me that Haley Barbour is protesting the Feds. Good ole Mr. Barbour is a Bushkevik. Or should that be, "was" a Bushkevik? Hmm.

M, the arrogance goes both ways, I think. In 1965 I was turned down for a job for which I was uniquely qualified because I am a Southerner. "We can't hire a bigot," the hiring executive said, before I had said anything more than my name and education. I actually thought at first that he was indulging in irony--but he was dead serious. Guess my accent told him everything.

Of course, there are plenty of unfair hiring practices (and firing practices, too) and they are certainly more prevalent against racial and ethnic minorities. Experiencing it first hand sure is educational.

What you call arrogance most Southerners think of as a kind of stubborn pride and intrasigence.

Don't know if you ever saw the movie about moonshining based on an Elmore Leonard book. Alan Alda (Italian background, I think) plays a man in the Tennessee/Kentucky hills who has hidden a huge amount of whiskey distilled by his family company so that when prohibition is repealed he can legally sell it.

Richard Widmark (who was so great at playing psychopaths) plays a crooked revenue agent who is trying to find the whiskey so he can claim a huge reward (and sell the whiskey illegally).

I saw this movie in a theater in Knoxville Tennessee. At one point the exasperated Widmark pulls out his revolver and puts it to Alan Alda's head. "Tell me where that whiskey is," he demands.

Alda gets a really stubborn look on his face, and just turns his head away.

Widmark shouts, "Damn stubborn hillbilly."

And the theater audience went wild with applause.

I completely disagree that FDR was a traitor. So
far the only traitors in the last century have been the bushes and reagan. reagan'll do anything for money-iran contra, sell drugs in south central
LA to be siphoned off for illegal activities around the world. The same can be said for pop
bush and shrub is the more than a chip of the old block; he wants democratic GOOD things demolished
and ruined. Case in point social security by FDR,
this shrub crook wants it siphoned off for his illegal war and other illegal activities. Same with FEMA(started by the best Prez of USA-Carter)
Rogue dubya siphoned off the funds from FEMA to bare bones and BOY did it come to haunt him,any
of his leftover legacy(if any)for the rest of US
history. These three crooked traitors must be blacklisted in our presidential history if the real TRUTH be TOLD>

Raj, I used to think Nixon was our Richard III--and I guess he was.

Bush seems to be our Caligula.

I don't know who Reagan was--some bread and circuses Roman emperor, I suppose.

PS, AWs please excuse my excesses today--don't know what is going on--got to check my chart.

Well now. . .here's an interesting perspective, one that will be no surprise to AWs.

Quote:
From Brian Bogart

Why the delay in rescue operations? Why now the president's
acceptance of "responsibility for the problem AND the solution"?

All of this fits disturbingly well -- and is not surprising -- for
those who have read the Pentagon's three strategies and the Project
for the New American Century's "Rebuilding America's Defenses" report
of September 2000. Bush's Thursday speech plants all the seeds
needed to change our posse comitatus law, to legalize the domestic
use of our military forces. Posse comitatus allows only the National
Guard to assist in domestic affairs, but the Guard were for the most
part conveniently away, serving overseas in Iraq (which they are not
trained to do). This plan to regularize martial law in the US has
been on the Bush administration's table for years, and now they can
use it.

Check out the below article (also attached) and you'll see what I mean.

By the way, the National Guard does not operate by the same rules as
the other armed forces. I was going to suggest that you Google
"Civil Disturbance Operations" or go to the Department of the Army
and search for the April 2005 "Field Manual 3-19. 15" or "FM 3-19.
15" -- but it has been removed from public access like so many
others. (We'll get it back through the Project on Government
Secrecy, and I have a copy.) This is a manual for domestic crowd
control (for CONUS or "continental US", and OCONUS or "outside
continental US"). Ask yourself why the Army produced such a manual
for CONUS while the posse comitatus law still applies. The answer,
as I've said many times, can be found by understanding the Future
Combat Systems program schedule, the strategy documents, and DoD
plans for deploying crowd-control weapons (such as the microwave
Active Denial System that is now in deployment after successful
testing this year), which all point to 2008, the campaign year.

FM 3-19. 15 examines our behavior in groups, leaving out (for
soldiers) the elements of conscience and the right of Americans to
dissent peacefully, and ordering them to treat us like a math problem
that needs to be divided and solved to a nice neat zero. I'll post
it on strikeforpeace.org next month. (Site will be online late next
week.)

That's why I say we have three years to offer dissent and must begin
now, or say hello to President Jeb Bush, for example.

Brian Bogart
CampU.S. Strike for Peace Campaign
September 26, 2005 - June 10, 2006
Penta-versity of Oregon

(I sent this article yesterday.)
Pentagon devising scenarios for martial law in US
By Patrick Martin
August 2005
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/aug2005/mart-a09_prn.shtml

End quote

karen

Barbara,

I totally forgot about the one and only tricky dick. But anyway, tricky dick totally pales in comparison to these three rogue traitors of the
WORST kind. Even John Dean who worked for and under tricky dick said that what the current roguish traitor is accomplishing is million times worse that what his boss-tricky dick in watergate and Nam.

I don't even think the Republicans at this point would knock FDR or what he did for this nation - or the world. He was never a perfect man or President (example: trying to pack the Supreme Court) but his actions during the depression and WWII were for the better. Not only were his social programs needed, but his anti-imperialist policies were also good too.

In fact not only was FDR good, but I'd also say that Eleanor Roosevelt may have been the best first lady of all time as well:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eleanor/

"I could not, at any age, really be contented to take my place in a warm corner by the fireside and simply look on."

well, I'm not giving this information to cause anyone any distress, and ya'll are free to believe whatever you want, but we "have not had a presidential choice since 1932. Roosevelt was our man; every president since Roosevelt has been our man." a quote taken from a source on the elite: Harold Wallace Rosenthal.

Don't go for perfection. We've not had a perfect
president in all of 229 year history(closest perfection to 90% may be Lincoln) others don't even come to 50% perfection. The day we get 100%
perfect Prez, that day you can call this place
EDEN.

Cheney has an aneurysm and is going in for surgery. This is more evidence of congestive heart failure.

Talk about dunce headed, crooked totally 100% inefficient of shrub/cronies govt and pre-empt war mongering like gung-ho morons. If you really want to pre-empt something SMART-it must have been NOT going for the gas guzzlers like SUVs etc.
Now suddenly the public here realized we need better gas mileage cars and not guzzling SUVs. If
that idea had come like pre-emption say 2 yrs ago
or even 1 yr. ago, public won't be whining about
gas prices, as they today. So even in pre-emption
smart people know where you go for pre-emptive strikes, certainly NOT pre-emptive illegal WARS!

As the waters rise in all of us with this Pisces full Moon and we feel the sorrow and futility, it affects everyone. The elite powers are in just as much despair as they confront their own failures. They have their money, but other things keep slipping from their grasp, including their own lives. The memory of that ridiculous stage set for the speech in that hole from hell grows more ludicrous by the minute. The rush of people to try and recapture what is gone will prove disappointing. The insistence that we can get back to normal, that everything is all right now, will prove to be impossible. Our reluctance to face the truth is clear. For the moment, we're all aware of our losses.

This is a perfect example of the futility.
They want to build a city again below sea level when the earth is warming and the oceans are rising even more. It's a losing battle. reality dictates another eventual demise.

As I was perusing DailyKos and TalkingPointsMemo (just add a dot-com to check them out) today, I found this tidbit on both, reporting about what happens in NO when the illegal Rez shows up for another grandstanding opportunity:

I am duty-bound to report the talk of the New Orleans warehouse district last night: there was rejoicing (well, there would have been without the curfew, but the few people I saw on the streets were excited) when the power came back on for blocks on end. Kevin Tibbles was positively jubilant on the live update edition of Nightly News that we fed to the West Coast. The mini-mart, long ago cleaned out by looters, was nonetheless bathed in light, including the empty, roped-off gas pumps. The motorcade route through the district was partially lit no more than 30 minutes before POTUS drove through. And yet last night, no more than an hour after the President departed, the lights went out. The entire area was plunged into total darkness again, to audible groans. It's enough to make some of the folks here who witnessed it... jump to certain conclusions.

Anyone surprised? I thought not...

On a slightly different note, news from the Middle East

COUNTDOWN
A regular update from the Arab American Institute | Vol. 6, 29 | September 16, 2005
http://www.aaiusa.org/countdown/countdown.htm

Is The Croissant Next?
We know you've missed him, but he's back. US Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) is in the news again, because he, along with a self-proclaimed street evangelist from Pennsylvania has a problem with the design and title of the memorial to commemorate the heroic actions of the passengers of Flight 93 that was hijacked on 9-11 and crashed in Somerset, PA. The memorial, which has been named "Crescent of Embrace," and which has won the approval of the 15-member jury that included family members of the victims, has Tancredo worried. As he stated in his letter to National Park Service Director Fran Mainella, "The appropriateness of the design has been questioned by many people because of the crescent's prominent use as a symbol in Islam—and the fact that the hijackers were radical Islamists." Where do we begin? The memorial designer Paul Murdoch explained that the word "crescent" was chosen because of the curving landform on which the memorial is to be built. "We call it 'Crescent of Embrace' because of the symbolic gesturing of embracing this place." Most importantly, the design and title were welcomed by the victims' families. Perhaps no one summed this foolishness up more eloquently than Hamilton Peterson, who lost his father and stepmother in the crash: "In reality, the red crescent is a symbol of a benevolent humanitarian mission founded in World War I. Now, wackos with idle time and energy are trying to divert our goal."

Arab Countries And Refugees Have Stepped Up To The Plate
Since the beginning, the international community has offered the US millions of dollars worth of aid and assistance for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Though not widely publicized, Arab countries have proven their sense of global camaraderie and philanthropy by leading international efforts to provide aid. Two notable countries offering assistance are Qatar and Kuwait, with Qatar offering $100 million and Kuwait offering $500 million worth of oil products. Other donors include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Check out the complete list at the Department of State. Even Palestinian refugees have donated $10,000 to the American Red Cross. US Consul General Jake Walles accepted the gift from Palestinian Authority representative Rafiq Husseini at a ceremony in the West Bank. Unfortunately, the State Department does not list exact donation amounts, but while conducting our research, we came across a website that did. Whether it’s accurate or not, www.military.com’s discussion board contributor “sgtdcheney” did his research, listing the donation amounts of the “bad A-rabs.” Thanks to our racist counterparts for being on top of things.

Heard Around Town. . .
This week the United States Institute of Peace hosted Ambassador Peter Galbraith, a senior diplomatic fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation who worked inside the Iraqi constitutional process, to address the complex issues surrounding the drafting of the constitution and the October 15 referendum. When speaking on the current status of the Iraqi military, Galbraith had this to say: “The current strategy [in Iraq] will not work…There is no Iraqi army. There are 115 battalions on paper that should be 80,000 troops. Probably half of them are ‘ghost soldiers,’ because the way the payroll works, somebody brings the dinars to the battalion commander, and he distributes them. And conveniently if there is half the number of soldiers there, his salary is somewhat larger than it should be on paper. Nine of [the battalions] are Kurdish, . .stationed in Kurdistan; they don’t’ fly the Iraqi flag, no Arabs there at all….Then there are 65 battalions that are Shiite; they have some Kurdish and some Sunni officers, then in the center there are 40 battalions that are Sunni Arab….So basically what you already have is purely an ethnic army.”

Thank you Sally. I picked up on the switcheroo by Bush. Now the government will take over and feed you, cloth you, etc. "Resistance is futile."

Oh, and by the way, remember a few months back when Huffington mentioned that Cheney had checked into a hospital? Some of us were speculating. I also stated then that his health was very much in question as his transits and progression bode ill.

Check out http://www.msnbc.com/id/9370321

Look on the right side of the page...Cheney to Undergo Knee Surgery...knee aneurism, etc.

From DU:

“The St. Patrick's Four. They are four people from the Ithaca, NY area who took part in a non-violent protest against the war in Iraq. They were originally charged with criminal mischief, and tried in the Tompkins County Court. When the jury heard their defense, based upon their religious and spiritual beliefs, and rooted in the history of civil disobedience in this great nation, 9 of 12 jurors voted to acquit them.

However, the federal government has recently charged them with conspiracy. They will go on trial starting Monday, 9-19, in Binghamton, NY.

The federal court will not allow these four to present a defense to the conspiracy charges. This was reported in todays edition of The Daily Star (Oneonta, NY; see: www.thedailystar.com LTTE)

The four face 6 years in prison and $250,000 fines if convicted. How in the hell can they not be allowed to put on a defense? I believe it is because the prosecutor knows that no jury would convict them if they hear the truth.

For more information, see: http://stpatricksfour.com /

Please help. Write or contact anyone you can think of who will bring this story to public attention.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4798268

M. I sent the article on to everyone I know who has web connections.

What I don't understand about this aneurism is with Cheney's health record why they would have waited until now. That seems to be taking a big risk

Thanks heaps Sally for passing the St.Pat4 along. I hope this matter gets traction.

As for Cheney, my guess, and open to opposition, is that they were keeping him on ice, stabilised till things settled down in the country, to a lull time, which they may have hoped would come and then the veep thing wouldn't be much of an issue. Also, maybe they needed time to stabilize him in order to prep him for the operation.

OK, Seestahs, it is time to Rumble:
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/files/portal/media/pressreleases/pr-050916-fda.xml

Both Cnn and Olberman talking about the descrepencies between Shrub's speech and what adminisration is talking about and the reality on the ground.

Also, Olberman talked about the lights going on all around when Shrub made his speech, and people heaved a sigh of relief. BUT when the little "blue man" left, the lights went out. Well, gee! Why am I not surprised?

Jeb's son arrested for driving under the influence. Hmmm. The House of Cadmus is beginning to crumble. Where is Antigone?

shylurker,

Ah jeez, just when you think it can't get worse it does...a vet to head up women's health in FDA, sheesh.

Know what it is suddenly crumbling locally as well. Years of work lost by the hiring of mean and care-less people.

I keep remembering that the conservative / fundamentalists rebuit bureacracies at the grassroots in their own image.

The only apparent good is that more folks in my everyday world seem aware and unhappy with the results of all this.

tseka

Sally,
I can only hazard a guess as to a potential reason for the delay on Cheney's surgery. Popliteal aneurysms (behind the knee) are more likely to build up as small clots rather than rupture so perhaps they had Cheney on some blood thinning drug to see if it would be effective. It's stll rather suggestive that our VP's vascular system is shot.

BTW i loved your image as Bush as a head -like a stick puppet. i don't own a tv so i have only seen picts and was really struck by the lifeless appearance. hmmmmm makes me think of voodoo.

great piece.
tseka

Sally,

I recall that you recently mentioned that there is a good possibility of the truth about 9/11 soon being revealed.

The A.P. has just reported that information is now available that a huge number of files on Mohammad Atta, the lead hijacker, have been destroyed by the Pentagon, and the names of people responsible for initiating this shredding of evidence will be publicly revealed this coming week (or next, but quite soon) in Congressional hearings being initiated by a Rethug: Rep. Curt Weldon!!

I guess even some of them have finally had it up to here with Bushco also, and (hopefully) have stopped drinking the Kool-aide, or at least are now thinking seriously about how to save their own sorry asses in Nov. 2006!

Dare we hope that this will have a snowball effect disclosing EVERYTHING about the very bizarre and suspicious events and circumstances surrounding that day and what the govt. actually was up to??

When I said soon that to me is in a 6 month range, (that's the length of this window)

I pulled this off DU and while disturbing and seemingly an impossible situation for the people, the article actually says something quite different to me.
http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/43/deadline-finke.php

It says there are some heavy duty money and greed power struggles beginning to come out into the open and NO should excite the pit bulls of all breeds into a desperate competition. This is a fight about greed and power and blood will be drawn among them. This is not our fight unless we make it so. 2006 was always proclaimed to be the absolutely worst year for the United States and the world. It will be the year that the US progressed Mars goes retrograde for the first time in our history. Mars retrograde is a turn away from overt ambition and a shift in historical actions. Different values will slowly replace the values America has now. China, Korea and Japan own the US now, all our debt is being carried by these countries and if they call in just a third we are in big trouble here. NO will be financed by China.

As I said 2006 was always going to be the worst year for this country. For myself personally I am stocking up on some essentials. Such as Vitimin C in mega doses, Vitimin E and B complex. (these are good for illnesses,) bandaids, neosporin, etc. just things that promote good health and might be hard to easily find. Plenty of bottled or distilled water on hand and a few boxes of health food bars, stuff that might be needed in emergencies. I was struck by the military slogan, "prepare for the worst and hope for the best." That is good advice for everyone.

After 2006 things will slowly begin to improve but be different here. There are still variables that cannot be charted, and one of those variables is how intense the power struggles for those at the top might be. All I am sure of is while some of these things will affect us, they are not a part of us and we will be able to move past all this. The other dynamic aspect that I have written about before is the 14/15/16/17/18 degrees of the fixed signs. Every presidential death that has happend in this country, happened when Neptune has occupied one of those degrees. Neptune is going to go direct on 14 degree Aquarius and with retrograde motion and direct motion, Neptune will hit at least three of those degrees over the next 18 months to 2 years. Those degrees also relate to the August 11, 1999 total Eclipse, remember Turkey had a horrible earthquake on that eclipse, which formed a grand fixed cross. Just about every major disturbance in the world, natural or man-made, since 1999, has happened when a planet set off that grand cross eclipse.

Be prepared, get your popcorn and watch the greedy power hungry folks at the top, duke it out.

Oh ye of little faith, I have found the solution to our financial needs...

http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/images/submissions/swamprat/42775_BushStamp.jpg

Further health problems CHeney is experienceing!!!!!!

The endoscopy “indicated mild esophagitis” or swelling or irritation of the esophagus, the tube that leads from the back of the mouth to the stomach.

The statement did not elaborate on the cause of Cheney’s condition. (Can't imagine why????)

Several possible causes
Esophagitis frequently occurs when acid-containing fluid flows from the stomach back into the esophagus.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8597891/

Sally I liked the Sabian symbols you put forward!
AS well as the "blue stick boy"......funny...he wore red ties leading up to the election...now its all blue all the time!

Parsley is a good source of vitamin c......I guess I better renew the crop in my window box for this winter. Cream of parsley soup is very tasty & it makes a nice pesto as well!

PQ

I'm stocking up on chewable calcium and CoQ10.

http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/09/17/god/print.html

Blame God, not me
After weeks of blaming others for the disastrous response to Katrina, Bush used the pulpit at the National Prayer Service to blame the biggest scapegoat of all: God.

More...

M, thanks for alert on St. Pat's Four---no defense allowed is the way the Feds got Leonard Pellitier. A couple of other individuals charged with him put up defense and the juries found them not-guilty. So the Feds changed the trial location for Pellitier and did not allow him to put on a defense. Sounds like those Stalin show trials, doesn't it?

Bill Maher. This is not only hilarious but should be required viewing for everyone. It would allow us all to step back away from "evil" vs "good" and see the situation for what it is, we have put into office and allowed to remain in office a corrupt, incompetent, greedy regime and Maher tells the truth with a ton of humor.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4801994

Bill Maher is wonderful!

...........

Cindy Sheehan: What Noble Cause?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/091705Y.shtml

http://www.thealliancefordemocracy.org/about.html

THE ALLIANCE is a new Populist movement --- not a political party --- setting forth to end the domination of our economy, our government, our culture, our media and the environment by large corporations.

WE AIM TO PROMOTE true democracy in our country and help achieve a just society with a sustainable, equitable economy. We work together with other organizations, both here and abroad, who share these goals.

WE ARE PEOPLE from every walk of life who have come together from across the country, listened to each other, and united to end corporate rule. We are committed to true democracy, with focus for the voice and will of the people; to social and economic justice for all people; and to the building of alternative democratic, human-sized economic systems.

WE PURSUE THESE GOALS with respect for the dignity of all people and, in a nonviolent way, seek linkages with similar groups to form a new people's movement, both in the United States and around the world.

Sally,

cheny taking a big risk must be good risk for all
of us. Because choosing between the two crooks(shrub and cheny) is like choosing between a devil
and demon. Both must be out of the way, when there
is a vacancy in Oval office in the very near future.

News reports saying that shrub is very confident
that TAX hikes are not required for rebuilding
New Orleans,MS etc.etc. This is like saying all
the crooked CEOs/CFOs-shenanigans were very confident when they were cooking up the books, embezzling funds etc.for 5 years or 10 years that
they'll never be caught in this life or a bank robber robbing a bank is confident he'll never be caught. We know how confident shrub was before invading Iraq and also how confident he was sleeping and vacationing in dude ranch as Katrina
was taking bull's eye on the Gulf territories.
So much for the dude's confidence equivocating to his total idiocity.

I think that it is very important to recall where
Bubble-boy Bush was on the day that Katrina slammed into the coast of the southeastern U.S. That morning our hopelessly clueless and highly- insulaled - from - reality leader was photo-opping and schmoozing with John McCain and a melting birthday cake on the rarmac of an USAF base in Arizona. Later on in that crucial day, "dopey" was opping for more photos in San Diego at the site of his famous aircraft carrier "Mission-Acoomplished" speech. Hopefully he managed to attend a fund raiser or two in between his 'official' visits. He didn't really begin to respond to the disaster in the Gulf until 5:00 AM the next morning. This political cockroach that we have infesting our White House makes the Roman emperor Nero look like a paragon of virtue and responsibility. But good old planet Saturn transiting his ASC has finally exposed for all the nation to see, in all his shameless indecency, that this phony SOB (Son of a Bush) is wearing no clothes.

Historian Douglas Brinkley, author of the John Kerry biography Tour of Duty, was on NPR’s Fresh Air on Friday morning talking about his experiences in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Brinkley teaches at Tulane University and was displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

After Katrina, Brinkley got his family out and relocated them to Houston, TX and then returned to New Orleans to chronicle the history of the aftermath of Katrina. He is in the process of documenting “the catastrophe by gathering oral histories — he hopes to collect as many as 20,000 — for a book, tentatively titled The Great Deluge.”

Brinkley said in the interview that he was determined to document everything that he could, “because if our government can turn their backs on these people in need, they will try to whitewash what happened… make it seem like it was God’s storm and there was not much that could be done. I think it’s…. the story is much bigger than that.”

“I was in New Orleans for Katrina and then got out of town afterwards and I came back. I was… I constantly encountered people on dry land, mainly FEMA people trying to stop rescue attempts of people who were desperate for help and that startled me that this could happen in our country."

Recently,I was reading Vanity Fair dt.May 2004 in
which article 'The Path to War' has these quotes.
cheny to CIA: why doesn't your intelligence support what we know is out there?
cheny to powell: your poll numbers are in the 70s.
you can afford to lose a few points.
rummy thought powell was too dovish:rummy was getting confirmation of his own instincts from
perle's group.
cunty rice:every good reason not to go to war was
irrevelant, said to a French Diplomat
perle: UN is a looming chatterbox on the Hudson
blair trumpeted intelligence that Iraq could launch a biological or chemical attack in 45 minutes and that source was so SECRET that he couldn't give details!

From above, I can't figure out which one was the
biggest LIAR.

So sports arenas have become the cathedrals of modern America. While this country has been busy desecrating the religious shrines of Iraq, Pluto came in a made a mess of one of our great holy sites. Will we ever stop worshipping men who beat the crap out of one another stealing little balls? What will it take to bring a little more grace into our society?

Marjorie Orr at star4cast (see right-hand side-bar Cap'n Sally's made available for us)has posted an article on Hurricane Katrina.

Amanda Griscom Little | GOP Capitalizing on Katrina
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/091705A.shtml
Hurricane Katrina has triggered a whirlwind of new energy proposals in Congress - some gratifying to environmental activists, most galling.

It's been one of the most beautiful full moons I've ever seen where I am. Not a cloud in the sky. The gorgeous eqinoxial light filled the city all day. An exquisite feeling of peace came over me. The gods are pleased.

The people of this country should be proud. The way we handled this disaster by ourselves. I think we've earned a better government.

This song, with a great military style beat, and Leonard's growl, has been my favorite since I heard it on Austin City Limits. Get The Future (on Columbia) to hear it!

http://chemlab.pc.maricopa.edu/cohen-democracy.html

From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay.
Democracy is comming to the U.S.A.

It's comming through a crack in the wall,
on a visionary flood of alcohol,
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's comming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet.
Democracy is comming to the U.S.A.

The darn u in equinox went missing. Here it is.

Just signed on to read this very interesting article and accompanying thread. Had to read fast to keep up as my husband is out there working and I shouldn't take a long break when I can be helping. Shylurker, of course it is perfectly fine to share my comments with anyone at anytime. I heard one of the NOLA city councilmen speaking on local radio today. He lives near my mother-in-law and he plans on rebuilding from the studs. I don't think she will, but am not sure. Her life partner of 20 years was a builder/developer and will know what to do. I get your point, JM, about global warming and the seas encroaching. I know they are thinking about using the Netherlands 3-tier dyke system for the levees. And global warming may not effect NOLA for a good 50-100 years. I wish people would be more practical and just preserve it on a smaller scale as well as build it up higher. Just maybe they will come up with progressive ideas this time. I know people will definitely want to preserve it. As far as MS and AL, I have heard the casinos at least are planning to move inland. We'll see. People just love living by the beach.

Well, gang, keep up the good work.

YES TRUDY!!!!

Fill my cup!

Well, here are some thoughts on the rebuild:

Dreaming A New New Orleans, Version 1
by Alan AtKisson...

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003425.html

Sally, did you see Bill Maher on Leno talking about Roberts? Leno was embaressed.
http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/002258.html

Jill G. I did see Maher on Leno and you are right Leno was a nervous wreck.

I think it is so important that we find a path to defy the brutality of societies and governments in ways I haven't figured out yet.
We've protested, fought, marched, made speeches, believed in great leaders, and here we are with one of the most frightful, corrupt group of public officials I've ever seen. The insults hurled everyday are beyond my belief, and people just egg them on. Applaud them when they hurt and humiliate one another. I'm against the hate and rage simply because of the fact that it doesn't seem to be working. I want something to be effective.

Violence and rage are rewarded in the marketplace, and television is required to obssess about life's horrors. Over and over and over the images are repeated to feed this blood lust. We are all in it together.

As a musician I have constantly been rejected because I haven't hurt them enough. "Faster and Harder", they cry. I'm capable of it, I have the strength, but I refuse. I refuse to have throat surgery like most of the other singers. I hear the others shrieking and banging, becoming famous and making billions. Even being worshipped as icons as they punish their audiences. The volume alone at concerts is unbearable. I feel the hard taught tension in their self expression. I long for rhythm and grace. A groove. Pleasure.

I see all things in nature, violence and beauty included. All things are applied appropriately. I know we have the capabilitiy to create grace and beauty in our societies and I mean to find out just how to do it.

As part of my study I've been observing the large population of rabbits that are thriving in this city of a million and a half. All over town they hop on grassy knolls and in parking garages. They watch the people, into the night, not hurting a soul. They're eating well and enjoying the good life. No one is hunting them.
They have secrets I'm interested in.

I'm so glad you feel that way about the non-music jm.
What city is it of the rabbits? And the wonderful moon? We had lowlying fog, rain and just a hint of brightness above to indicate a full moon.
PQ

Happy Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and full moon tonight for all.bjt

PQ,

The non-music is so irritating. I would rather have silence. There's enough sound already so that the soundtrack they pipe in is unnecessary. It doesn't make any sense because people tune it out. It irritates them, too, but they don't realize it. It's too much sensory input. If it had great rhythm it would add the joyous beat of dance to our movement. But it doesn't. I long for that. I'd love to hear it in the streets before I die.

I can see why you understand this. Your description of Evangeline was beautiful. Better than reading it.

I live in the West where the sun shines 330 days a year. All over this part of the country, there is a shimmer of light that is beautiful. And people appreciate nature and preserve it.
The moisture and depth of rain and fog, though, are just as fulfilling if your personal chemistry desires that kind of air and light. There's more melancholy in environments like that and some people prefer it. The clouded moon reminds me of Longfellow and other Eastern poets and writers.. I grew up in the East. My best friend hated the West, and moved to Northern California to be by the sea and fog. So we all have different desires. And, of course, I believe there is an ideal place for everyone. Or close enough. There are so may beautiful spots. The key is to love where we are. Even when we know we are missing something somewhere.

Thanks, Betsy. Hi over there!

And another thing is that the non-music is so disconnected to the activity. Like when I'm in the grocery store doing a joyus life affirming activity..BUYING FOOD!..and the piped in gals are screaming about some love they lost. Their agony. It doesn't go together. that's for a bar, maybe. I'd rather hear the Banana Boat Song, or Java Jive, or even Tea For Two. Or Chicken Ain't Nothin' But a Bird, the old Cab Calloway song.

jm,
Please respect Sally to keep her bandwidth short. Suspect musical sour grapes. Modern music is great, better mood altering than meds/drugs. So many, too many posts about personal life thoughts, non- news and non- astrology. Talk about a big who cares. Please be more considerate or start a website and not feed off Sally's generosity. Thanks from one who usually never says anything from behind the scenes.

Onto astrology and politics.

From Nancy:

I have a chart that looks like it was for when the first tax cut became law: 6/7/01 at 10:06 AM in DC. Two things come to mind as I look at it. Pluto will conjunct natal Mars 11/30 -12/26/05 and again 6/6 to 10/24/06, which could be times of fierce battling over the law itself.

And Uranus will square the Sun in that chart on and off from late 3/07 to early 2/08. It is possilbe parts of it may be suddenly changed during that period (Uranus). Uranus tends to make things go in the opposite direction quite suddenly or at least a different, unexpected direction. Note that this takes place after the 2006 election. I dare not get too much hope up, but it is interesting.

"On to astrology and politics"
Amen
But jm isnt the only offender.

The cosmic yod formed this week between Jupiter sextile Pluto and Mars inconjunct them both at 21 degrees in their respective signs has lasted for several days. Mars was on Bill Clinton's Moon giving his "Clinton Initiatives" a leg up, and hasn't he been front and center on the talk shows. Look for those Initiatives to become a big topic of conversation over the weeks and months ahead. It's part of the under lying "hum" of change.

http://www.usbln.com/bestprac/09212000_clinton.html

This is his view of the New World Order, same corporate ownership of the people but in a more orderly manner. Watch closely and read carefully all items coming out about this.

jm,

I hear you. You wrote:

"We've protested, fought, marched, made speeches, believed in great leaders, and here we are with one of the most frightful, corrupt group of public officials I've ever seen."

Perhaps it's the difference energetically when we are against something and for it. When we are against something we are expending energy fighting it. And perhaps that doesn't always work. Or perhaps we need to see what we don't want to make us more committed to what we DO WANT. We don't want the policies of the current administration, but do we voice as often and energetically, what we do want and act on that in a "For" way rather than an "Anti" way?

Do we say we're anti-war or for peace. Do we say we're anti- a certain policy or for something. Completely different energy. Isn't it kind of an oxymoron whenever we see any peace activists screaming and name calling?

Energetically, when we're against something, it brings up feelings of anger, which can motivate us into action, which may be helpful in waking people up. Words need to be followed up with action. We can also get caught up in name calling, etc. which may make us feel better, but often may not create the changes we want, but instead turns people off.

Singing and shouting do move energy. But singing of peace and harmony and beauty come from a different place energetically. They come from the heart. You can't sing of peace when you're feeling angry. And the power of music, the power of song- the power of the music and lyrics, is something I believe in. Maybe it's because as a (non-professional) singer/songwriter I've experienced its power and am humbled by it.

Keep on focusing on creating grace and beauty. The violence and ugliness are still there, but we choose in each moment where we put our energy.

ENERGY FOLLOWS THOUGHT.

Did all of us touched by Katrina reach out because we were anti something. NO. We reached out because our hearts were touched and we reached out in compassion and love. It was a palpable feeling.

I remember a wise teacher of mine, Ann Pace, saying: It takes two to fight and one to love.

Peace,

Have I missed something? I thought the study of astrology and politics; was for the purpose of guidance to a more holistic, earth conected lifestyle. Are not appreciation of the moon, and music ( or lack thereof) END products, part of a desirable lifestyle?
Since the above enchange re: music, I have noted that CNN headline news around the world, is drowned out by a fast paced jiggy, brain bashing sound accompanyment. No wonder people doen't remember the MESSAGE! Certainly mars in venus ruled taurus; throat, squared to neptune would enhance this effect!
Certainly music is mood altering, and I think Corporate & Rove's, PR boyz are using it to great effect! There are those who CAN"T block it out, and perhaps those who think they can; are fooling themselves!
PQ

Apologies if anyone has already posted this link, but a good commentary on the ineptitude of Bush and his cronies plus other compelling revelations:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/18/opinion/18rich.html?hp

Thanks for the link Crystal.

Frank Rich nails it. His last line sums it up so well:

"At this point, merely plain old competence, integrity and heart might do."

To Anonyomus from 1:59pm:
It is your opinion and your opinion alone that would consider modern music great. I detest it.

Seems to me all they do is bellow and dramatize their heart ache. I will NEVER understand what the attraction is that so many people would fork over billions of dollars to the music industry.

I suspect it is a way for folks to escape from themselves so they won't have to experience their own inner silence. You wouldn't be quilty of that would you? Our society is bombarded with continuous, non-stop noise. You say it is better than drugs, but just do applied kinesology when blaring music, sad music, or lurid music is playing and your body will tell you the truth. It is NOT beneficial to the body,mind spirit complex. It does nothing except provide a temporary escape from oneself.
I can't even shop or pump gas, go to the bank, or the book store without it blasting away. I am overcome at times when it plays constantly at work, all day long, with 2-3 different stations playing all at once. My personal right to choose silence is nonexistent at such times. Just think and FEEL how the world could change instantly if we were only willing to listen to our inner silence where peace and love reside.
I am not looking to pick a fight but feel your attack on jm is unwarranted and unjust. Many others use just as much bandwidth and more.
If you are open to suggestions to someone who has a differing pov, I would like to suggest "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle.

I just saw a notice in the NY Times, that as of Monday, 9/18, the Editorials/Op-Ed section will no longer be free to access online - they will now be charging a fee :(

You're welcome Barbara. I feel this is a test case, and if they can get away with this, who knows what they will try next.

Beverly, there's music and muzak and I share the same saturation point with you in terms of the latter.

anon at 1:49, why not just skip over jm's posts if they bother you?

Cap'n Sally and other astrologers, could you please direct us to a source to reconnect with Bill Clinton's chart? He is up to something and has me concerned. His is certainly a much kinder and gentler face, but he got off track sometime back in the 90s. I'll never forget being mystified by NAFTA. As in, Whazzup with that? And my initial concern turned out to be well-founded. What happened to him and what is his future role in terms of us vs the global oligarchy? Many thanks.

I choose silence most of the time. I am very sensitive to what 'comes in'.....and the NYTimes is going 'greed'? well....then they will be preaching just to the choir, won't they?

I just got my computer back up.....I took it up to an appointment to have the fan replaced and they guy wasn't there and it was an hour round trip for nothing, plus I keep having to shut down the Mac...which among other things is why I haven't been reading these pages. Loved the Maher videos....I miss seeing him on HBO. Don't miss HBO tho.

The yod/Sabin symbols were so interesting....thanks Sally....good article. Got an email from my Unc which was written by a Rabbi who is quite right wing....attacking the ACLU, Frank Rich, Paul Krugman, and of course, Jesse J. He acalled it 'brotherhood' and was outraged because 'lefties' are 'using' racism labels on NOLA outcomes....

Well, Mark Crispin Miller did say that the "SPIN" was coming. Funny how the supposed spiritual people are part of the bigger problem.

Pluto in Sagittarius...letting us see what is and what is not 'spiritual'?

Shylurker, there is NO definitive chart on Big Dog Bill.....he was born in Hope, Arkansas, on Aug 19, 1946, sometime early in the morning...but there is continual disagreement on what time. The one I have is for 7:30 AM, but I personally think it may be 5:30 AM....

Thanks, Judy Gem! Nice to see you again. I do hope your computer probs are behind you now. Clinton is up to something, though, don't you think?

I am at a loss as to why anyone in the human race would care how someone privately worships, vote, goes to movies, consensual sex between adults, or listens to music. I do not allow obscenity on this site, or personal attacks (no matter how well meaning, or because someone's intrepretation is different that others) but I am mystified why anyone cares who says what or writes what (unless it is an attack) if there is a poster not appreciated don't read don't respond.

We all have different concepts or understandings and most of them are based on our "narrow" filters and our filters are narrow even if we have traveled around the world.Too often we defend ourselves by saying our couching our words in such a way as to say "you're wrong," instead of saying "I think or I believe or have you thought of this" As an example, "I love music because of the words, I love words, and often times there are omens in those words or the truth of history" It's in the diminishing another's concepts that seems mean spirited and I sure don't like it. We've had people on this site that got into arguments back and forth and I feel they should take it off-line, if they don't want to I take it off this line. I just don't see the need to "prove" a point here, once a person gets into the process of "proving" it's lost, because you cannot "prove" anything to anyone who has already made up their mind. The Full Moon is almost over, Mars is going retrograde soon so we can chew on what has happened the past couple of months. Look outside of here, believe me there is going to be so much bickering and fighting over New Orleans we can get all of our entertainment watching the government and fat cats.

Bill Clinton's mother gave his birthtime to Lois Rodden by way of a birth certificate as 8:51am

http://villagevoice.com/blogs/bushbeat/archive/001847.php

Look Out Below!

We're not only having a hard time fighting the current grim battles on two fronts, but we can't even cover them simultaneously.

This morning on Face the Nation, veteran CBS newsman Bob Schieffer introduced a brief report from Iraq by noting that the past week of violence there was the worst yet and that during any other time "it would have been all over the television." Then he added that "of course, it wasn't," meaning that it was overshadowed by Hurricane Katrina news.

Blotted out is more like it. But there's no reason Baghdad has to be pushed off the air or buried in the back pages.

The Baghdad and New Orleans tragedies have many parallels. They even produce similar pictures. Look at the photos above by Technical Sergeant Russell Cooley IV (left) and Staff Sergeant Jacob Bailey (right). On the left, Staff Sergeant Daniel Vallenavedo scans a landing zone in north Baghdad for insurgents. On the right, Specialist Timothy Houston scans the streets of New Orleans for survivors.

Don't blot out what's happening in Iraq, not when our 140,000 soldiers are trying to maintain order while simultaneously annoying the populace by their presence as an occupying force. And especially not after the latest major slaughter. At sunset yesterday, a car parked at a produce market in Nahrawan, a shabby Shiite suburb of Baghdad, exploded, killing at least 30 people and injuring about 40 others. The AP's Slobodan Lekic reports this morning:

On March 17, 2003, two days before the US invasion of Iraq commenced, four protesters--now known as the "Saint Patrick's Four"--entered a military recruiting center near Ithaca, New York, and poured small amounts of their own blood around the building's vestibule in a symbolic protest against the coming invasion. By their own account, they were alone in the vestibule and no one was prevented from entering or leaving the center.

For this act of non-violent civil disobedience, the longtime Catholic peace activists--sisters Clare and Teresa Grady, Daniel Burns, and Peter DeMott--have been charged with conspiracy to impede "by force, intimidation and threat" an officer of the United States along with three lesser offenses. If convicted of federal conspiracy in a trial starting tomorrow, September 19, they face up to six years in prison, a period of probation and $275,000 in fines. The trial is the first time the Federal government has pressed conspiracy charges against civilian Iraq war protesters. The obvious intent of the wildly excessive indictment is to chill antiwar dissent.

Click below for more on the case and for suggestions on how you can help. http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow?bid=4&pid=22412

Also, make sure to make plans to be in Washington, DC next weekend for what United for Peace and Justice and other activist groups are expecting will be a massive series of protests against the war in Iraq. Click below for info. http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3092

Mars in Taurus hopefully will give us an opportunity to slow down, maybe relax a bit.

Criticising unimportant things is kind of useless. Especially now in this time of crisis when the chance for some in depth thinking about solutions to problems has presented itself. This is one of the "water off a duck's back" Sagittarius traits. Let the little things slide as we look at the big picture and see opportunity for change. There are so many angles. Within it all, it's also always good to get to know one another and develop like and trust. This will help the big political picture.

"Cindy Sheehan is a clown," and other strokes of fascist wit....

Rove Off The Record On The Anti-War Movement: Cindy Sheehan Is A Clown. There Is No Real Anti-War Movement...

Huffington Post | Posted September 17, 2005 10:39 PM

AP/Francis Specker
Karl Rove, President Bush's top political advisor and deputy White House chief of staff, spoke at businessman Teddy Forstmann's annual off the record gathering in Aspen, Colorado this weekend. Here is what Rove had to say that the press wasn't allowed to report on.

On Katrina: The only mistake we made with Katrina was not overriding the local government...

On The Anti-War Movement: Cindy Sheehan is a clown. There is no real anti-war movement. No serious politician, with anything to do with anything, would show his face at an anti-war rally...

On Bush's Low Poll Numbers: We have not been good at explaining the success in Iraq. Polls go up and down and don't mean anything...

On Iraq: There has been a big difference in the region. Iraq will transform the Middle East...

On Judy Miller And Plamegate: Judy Miller is in jail for reasons I don't really understand...

On Joe Wilson: Joe Wilson and I attend the same church but Joe goes to the wacky mass...
In attendance at the conference, among others were: Harvey Weinstein, Brad Grey, Michael Eisner, Les Moonves, Tom Freston, Tom Friedman, Bob Novak, Barry Diller, Martha Stewart, Margaret Carlson, Alan Greenspan, Andrea Mitchell, Norman Pearlstein and Walter Isaacson.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2005/09/17/rove-off-the-record-on-ka_n_7513.html

Ooooh, thank you Cap'n Sally! 8:51, and via birth certificate, too. Noted.

Sally, thanks so much for this site! I haven't said that in awhile and felt the need to.

All AW gardeners--Jo already knows this--where are you Jo?--Sept 28 is a great day to pull up weeds, cut briars, pluck out whatever you don't want to grow. The waning Moon will be in Leo. Don't plant. Also at sunrise in the EDT the moon will be just past Saturn--doubly a barren time.

Whatever you want to pull up/weed out will have the odds against coming back again.

I wonder if there is any validity to extrapolating this to the larger picture. Venus will be opposite Mars (both in fertile signs) and Mars in Taurus is inconjunct Jupiter in Libra (stubborn force badly related to law?)

Just wondering.

Heads up

Right-Wing Talking Points on Katrina Speech
Think Progress obtained the following talking points on President Bush's primetime speech on Katrina that were distributed to right-wing pundits. The text is as follows (9/15/05):

++++++++++
President Katrina Speech Talkers:
* America and the Gulf Coast are recovering from one of the greatest natural disasters this country has ever faced.
* Tonight President Bush will talk about how there is some optimism that we can see as we move forward. We're going to build a better Gulf Coast, a better New Orleans and we'll work with local officials to make sure that happens.
* This will be a massive funding effort at every level of government. We shouldn't just look at government - we're seeing private charities, and the American people's enormous compassion.
* There were breakdowns of communication and planning at all levels of government - federal, state and local levels. It is very critical we learn why those breakdowns took place in the first place.
* Many parts of this will be chalked up to the fact it was one of the worst storms our country has ever faced. But there were things in a post-9/11 world that our government at all levels should be doing better and President Bush more than anybody else wants to find out why it took place and how it took place to make sure it doesn't happen again.
* Bottom line now is all levels of government must take responsibility. This President is taking responsibility and what we have to do now is look forward.
* Senator Frist and Speaker Hastert have indicated that Congress will conduct a thorough investigation modeled after some of the most serious investigations that Congress has ever undertaken: the 1973 Watergate Committee, the 1987 Iran Contra Committee, the 1994 and 1995 Whitewater Committees and the 1997 Campaign Finance investigation.
* Tonight President Bush will talk about specifically what we'll talk about to help these tens of thousands of people who are literally living with only the shirts of their backs spread out throughout the country. We have to have a strategy for education and heath care, and he'll spell those out.
* It's wrong to say it's either winning the war on terror or funding aftermath of Katrina. We have to do both that means we'll have to cut spending where else to make sure we are fiscally prudent with the taxpayer's dollars.
* There's always discussion about raising taxes but right when businesses and people are trying to get back on their feet in the gulf coast region, the worst thing we can do with these families is pop them with another tax.
* This is going to require difficult decisions in Washington. It's going to be important that we don't have the same ol' same ol' that we see in Washington. Tough choices will be to have made and President Bush is willing to do that.
http://thinkprogress.org/katrina-speech-tps/

I certainly appreciate your comments on music jm. I have long thought that vibrations of the ever increasing volume and harshness of today's music/sound in large part contribute to the angst that modern society exhibits. Silence is an undervalued treasure - it is the space between the notes that makes the music.

kiwijeanie,

Yes

Here I go again--about music this time and hardly any astrology.

When I lived in Nashville, Vanderbilt sponsored an evening of electronic music. Being a spacey Aquarius I got a ticket.

Well, there is electronic music and there is electronic music. This was painful. No pattern I could discern. The audience was composed of some who perhaps "got it" (I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt) and the rest of us, who were suffering but didn't want to appear unsophisticated.

Finally a six-year-old son of a faculty member stood and loudly proclaimed (while his mother tried to shush him) "I can't stand this." He put his hands over his ears. "I'm leaving."

Brave kid. I waited until intermission to make my escape. Returned to my apartment and turned on the radio. Some group from Canada was singing "Ma Blonde." It was like a heaven of sanity.

I can't even fully express my joy in hearing your feelings about public music, one of our most important social problems. The pain is so detrimental to the whole and to political, social well being. It's like being forced to eat food you don't like. It's cruel. It makes peole sick.

kiwijeanie, I'm astounded. Your comment about space. Here is a quote that is part of my bible... by Arthur Schnabel:

"The notes I handle no better than other pianists. But the pauses between the notes--ah, that is where the art resides."

I think we have to learn about spaces and silence to progress as a society. And to understand the pain we inflict on others by forcing sounds into their ears. Not to do this so unthinkingly. And Barbara, you are so right about not wanting to dissent from the crowd.
This gives me great hope.

Barbara,
Thanks for the belly laugh! Not many these days!

 Washington - President Bush's push to give the military a bigger role in responding to major disasters like Hurricane Katrina could lead to a loosening of legal limits on the use of federal troops on U.S. soil.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/091805G.shtml

No Rice at UN Dinner on Women's Rights

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/091805E.shtml

PQ

PS...........
I heartily agree with the statements expressed by Barbara & jm above, 11:27 & 12:01. Apart from performance music, which is a matter of individual taste, inescapable public "sound",
needs to be scrutinized, and altered! It is the very lack of space, that contributes to the general malaise!

PQ

It's also good to keep in mind the effect of music in that Hitler rose to power largely with the manipulation of crowds through music. The sense of sound is closely connected to smell and goes to the instinctual primitive part of the brain in an uncontrollable way. It's the first sense to come into the embryo, it's connection to the outside world in the womb, and the last to leave. Hearing continues for one hour after we die.

Thank you all so much. I'm so heartened I can't tell you enough.

One last thing. Hearing is essential to our survival. Since we have a limited range of vision, our ears become the 360 degree sonar that picks up danger in the environment. When we plug them full of useless sounds, this function is interfered with. And this is political, too. We have to be alert and use our senses to their best advantage.

Sally....I wonder if you can answer this on the Clinton chart: in 1946 in Arkansas, are we dealing with daylight savings time or standard? thanks....on DST, it gives him 22 Virgo ascendant...(same as my EX !)...it does tend to make one very detail oriented...a real wonk at what the big dog does, and I miss him so much....shylurker, I always thought he was up to something....an IQ like that will see the big picture. And check out this:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050918/wl_afp/usweatheriraqeconomy_050918200308

PBS had a 60's music (My Music #104) on the other night....brought back the stars (the ones not DEAD, of course, hahahah) for an archival process of video taping the greats and not so greats. Guess what, John Kay of Steppenwolf still rocks out! And Procul Harum still sounds great....as did, suprise and suprise, The Association....remember "Along Came Mary"....that's what we all need....a little more Mary and a little less testosterone induced male fantasies involving very loud metallic music.

As a side note....I was stopped at a stoplight in SF on Friday, and was next to a man who was either Asian or Hispanic (or both) and he had a beauty of a Rottweiller in the passanger seat....the dog started 'talking' to me with little yips....and then I heard what he had on the radio, the smarmiest, snake oil southern voice preaching 'the word of the bible or god" or whatever he had cooked up....it was totally disgusting....the light changed, and the dog suddenly went into total frenzy barking at me. Maybe he wanted me not to leave him with this guy listening to crap from a snake oil preacher?

My fan is still flakey in my Mac G4...I went to the city to get it fixed and the guy bailed on me, so I shut it down when it starts to vibrate....so I may disappear. I also have been driving 100 miles round trip during the week and weekend to paint murals of Pan and Angels and Faeries....

Speaking of gas bags in DC....just got a scanned JPEG of a Michigan paper from a friend with a picture of Newt Gingrich...he gave a talk on the lakes and water (undoubtedly shilling for the most dangerous of futures....privatization of water rights)....Ken wrote:
He told the audiance, that the Great Lakes would not run out of water and we need to sell some of it.......( ACTUALLY, only 1% is renewable by rain and snow )...........and the Great Lakes hold N. America's greatest source of fresh water and maybe 1/3 of the worlds supply.........and he dosn't think it's vaulable and we should protect it ?????

HE is the perfect example of having a education and being a DUMB ASS.........'
---
Personally, I think Newt is the perfect example of a Faustian gas bag.....

I totally cracked up today when I came across the following item:

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0918-24.htm

Published on Sunday, September 18, 2005 by the New York Daily News
Chavez' Surprise for Bush
Offering to Sell Cheap Oil to America's Poor
by Juan Gonzalez

n an exclusive interview yesterday, the Venezuelan leader said his country will soon start to ship heating oil and diesel fuel at below market prices to poor communities and schools in the United States.

"We will begin with a pilot project in Chicago on Oct. 14, in a Mexican-American community," said Chavez, who was in town for the United Nations sessions. "We will then expand the program to New York and Boston in November."

The first New York neighborhood in the program will be the South Bronx, where Chavez was to speak today as a guest of Rep. Jose Serrano.

And here is what Clinton has to say about the disasterous Bush economic policies...read it and weep.....
On the US budget, Clinton warned that the federal deficit may be coming untenable, driven by foreign wars, the post-hurricane recovery programme and tax cuts that benefitted just the richest one percent of the US population, himself included.

"What Americans need to understand is that ... every single day of the year, our government goes into the market and borrows money from other countries to finance Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, and our tax cuts," he said.

"We have never done this before. Never in the history of our republic have we ever financed a conflict, military conflict, by borrowing money from somewhere else."

Clinton added: "We depend on Japan, China, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Korea primarily to basically loan us money every day of the year to cover my tax cut and these conflicts and Katrina. I don't think it makes any sense."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/18/news/clint.php
Clinton assailing the georgie government...

the sink hole of republican thinking:

THE SEARCH FOR SCRATCH: Inspecting the damage in Waveland, Miss.
Looking for a Corpse to Make a Case

Senators look for a wealthy casualty of Katrina as evidence against the estate tax
By MASSIMO CALABRESI
Posted Saturday, Sep. 17, 2005

Federal troops aren't the only ones looking for bodies on the Gulf Coast. On Sept. 9, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions called his old law professor Harold Apolinsky, co-author of Sessions' legislation repealing the federal estate tax, which was encountering sudden resistance on the Hill. Sessions had an idea to revitalize their cause, which he left on Apolinsky's voice mail: "[Arizona Sen.] Jon Kyl and I were talking about the estate tax. If we knew anybody that owned a business that lost life in the storm, that would be something we could push back with."
(more)
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1106213,00.html

A "minister of the gospel" here at work, is saying that Katrina is god's(yes, I'm using lower case) revenge on NO because there is a gay pride celebration there every Sept. So, just out of curiosity, I googled this from AGAPE Press:

Rev. Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans, also sees God's mercy in the aftermath of Katrina -- but in a different way. Shanks says the hurricane has wiped out much of the rampant sin common to the city.

The pastor explains that for years he has warned people that unless Christians in New Orleans took a strong stand against such things as local abortion clinics, the yearly Mardi Gras celebrations, and the annual event known as "Southern Decadence" -- an annual six-day "gay pride" event scheduled to be hosted by the city this week -- God's judgment would be felt.

“New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion -- it's free of all of those things now," Shanks says. "God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there -- and now we're going to start over again."

Please tell me when we will be free of the brain droppings of these morons! I swear, if I wasn't afraid of the law of 3, I'd cast a spell on them.

Patricia

They have always existed Patricia. I guess the important thing is to not let them make us hate them. Then we become like them without really realizing it.

Now that really is hard work.

Bush wants people to make private donations to rebuild Iraq.

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/politics/12679449.htm
New twist on Iraq aid: U.S. seeks donations

Unbelievable.

Patricia, there is no end to smarminess....we are in the season of it now. God help us. We all need to read and reread Dosteyevsky and Kafka along with our Orwell.
dosteyevsky said one can judge a society's level of civilization by entering its prisons.

Sausage - Looted Or Not - Puts Elderly Church Leader In Prison
By Kevin McGill and John Solomon
9-16-5
KENNER, Louisiana (AP) -- A 73-year-old diabetic grandmother and church elder who fled Katrina's floodwaters for the safety of a hotel ended up in prison instead for more than two weeks -- all over a bite of food. Police in this New Orleans suburb arrested Merlene Maten the day after the hurricane on charges she took $63.50 in goods from a looted deli. Though never before in trouble with the law, her bail was set at a stiff $50,000 and she was shipped away to a state penitentiary.

http://www.democrats.com

Judi, by 1946 the entire country was off War Time and Daylight Savings time didn't come back in for years after that. So it was not War Time or DST and the Asc. is 5 Libra for Clinton