I would love to see John Edwards get the nod in Iowa and, in turn, get more money in his coffers and more momentum! He is my favorite by far!

Thanks Sally!

"The system is rigged and it's rigged against you. Do you really believe that if we replace Corporate Republicans with Corporate Democrats anything is going to change? It won't until we stand up for ourselves and stop this." (John Edwards)

He speaks for me.

What Pat C said.

Cap'n Sally thank you so much--once again!--for doing all the hard work and sharing what you've found with us. Oh, I do hope that old Irish "wind at your back" blows steadily for Edwards, Dodd, Biden and Kucinich.

Sally, that's the most refreshing look on this mess so far, as well as hopeful for Edwards.
Knowing he's got a road to hoe with his wife's illness, thought that is what shows in his chart apart/separate from a loss of the nomination.

Sally, what's your take on all of Hillary's mars/pluto/transiting south node 11-08, transiting saturn square jupiter, and a host of other transits that, to me, look a whole lot like 'Rage', whether or not those are her chart rulers, and whether or not she has a few mildly optimistic transits and progressions.
Also, there's quite a movement for "write-ins" which will siphon off votes from any nomination she may get. January and Feb 5 just have too many things against her.
My very soul-vision gets a strong "NO" intuitively about her and especially Bill Clinton in the WH. Like it just won't happen. We all know that deep down feeling. Different from wishful thinking. Anyone else?

This is just nuts any way we look at it.

patb

I too have had a gut instinct Hillary won't be elected. My feeling has been more that some catastrophe like a major health crisis for Bill would cause her to drop out. In any case I have always been uneasy about her, as much as I would love to see a woman elected, I stll haven't warmed to her, never have. I feel she is trying too hard to be half a corporate Repug just to guarantee the votes. Like her war votes an vote on the Iran militia thing I think she feels like she has to out testostorone the boys so she won't be thought of as a soft woman. I think that would lead her into some really bad errors in judgement re war and aggression.
Obama is an empty pretty suit, but I am liking John Edwards more and more. Regardless, the Dems have my vote no matter who takes the primary. I weep for what has happened to this country since W took office. He is the faceof or at least facade for evil.

Swamp

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2007/11/6374_edwards_message.html

You have to decide what kind of person you want as your next president. Do you want someone who is going to pretend that wall around Washington isn't there, or defend the people who helped build it? Or do you want someone who is going to lead with conviction and tell you the truth, and have a little backbone?

Do you want someone who is going to hope that the people who spent millions of dollars and decades building that wall, and have billions more invested in keeping it up, are going to be willing to compromise, to take it down voluntarily? Or do you want someone who is going to stand up to those people and fight for your interests, when the chips are down, when your backs are against the wall, every single day?

We have a choice in this election. We can keep trying to shout over that wall. We can keep trying to knock out a chink here and there, to punch little holes in it and hope our voices get through. We can settle for baby steps, half-measures and incremental change, and try to inch our way over that wall and toward a better future. Or we can be bold and knock it down.

Grrrrrrr! This is akin to sacrilege.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/blackwater-mercenaries-in_b_75724.html

Miz Morgana and other interested Left Coasters. We can now exhale:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-electoral7dec07,0,5337231.story?coll=la-home-center

PS in order: They could still try and get the CA electoral vote crap on the November ballot. Nonetheless, we can get some good sleep off this tonight. Whew!

Hi Shy, thanks for posting that, I just got an email from Art Torres that they couldn't get enough legitimate signatures for the June ballot. So exhale, then inhale deeply since these slimey reptilians will be back with another scheme tomorrow. Got to stay on our toes.

Jesus. That was row to hoe. In my benumbed state I actually said that.

Shy and Morgana I hate like the dickins to put all of California on your backs, but we are counting on you and your friends to "stay on your toes" and keep that GOP run against the electoral votes off the ballot.

I've stated this before but I will re-state and probably do so again; Kucinich star is going to rise over the next few years, maybe not to the presidency but to more of a place of respect.

Hope all read the Mother Jones article Pat C put up, it's great and Edwards message is resonating with quite a few. Thanks Pat C, great find.

I received this email from Barbara Boxer about the US finally taking a big step in the issue of global warming. According to her our emails and phone calls are a huge factor in getting things moving in the direction we want.

*********
Dear (Lunaoscura),
Yesterday, by an 11-8 vote, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee passed America's Climate Security Act, the world's most far-reaching global warming program -- critical legislation that would cut greenhouse gases below 1990 levels by 2020 and slash emissions by nearly 70% by 2050.

It may sound like an exaggeration, but it's true: This has been the biggest week of my life. I'm so grateful to all of you who stood with me and helped us reach this moment.

With yesterday's vote, America has taken a huge step towards showing real leadership on the critical issue of climate change. That's the message we're sending to a United Nations conference in Bali this week, where more than 10,000 participants from nearly 190 countries are meeting to work towards a new international agreement to fight global warming. The world has waited long enough for America to act, and I'm so gratified that yesterday we took a giant step forward.

Now our bill heads to the Senate floor for consideration. We've still got a lot of work to do to convince enough of my colleagues to support this critical bill and get the 60 votes we'll likely need to overcome a Republican filibuster. Over the coming weeks, I'll be asking for your help once again as we work to pass our bill in the full Senate.

But for now, I just want to thank all of you who spoke out and supported me in this fight over the past 10 months. In just the past few days alone, our community sent more than 12,000 emails and made more than 4,000 phone calls to EPW Committee members. That strong support made a real difference as my colleagues and I assembled in the hearing room on Wednesday, showing us clearly that the American people are standing with us in this fight.

I'm so proud of what we accomplished yesterday. Passing the world's most far-reaching global warming program through the EPW Committee and sending it to the full Senate is a huge milestone. We couldn't have done it without your support.

Thanks again for standing with me and helping America lead the fight against global warming.

In Friendship,

Barbara Boxer
U.S. Senator

Wow! Two messages in one day of great hope in the global greening process! Here's an inspired column by Brent Budowsky

http://pundits.thehill.com/2007/12/05/the-greening-of-america/

The Greening of America

Al Gore, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Hagel, Mike Bloomberg, Sam Nunn, General Electric, Coca-Cola, DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, British Airways, Wall Street firms, venture capitalists galore, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee and the armies of the progressive Internet are all part of the greening of America that will transform our politics and business in ways that will astonish and amaze those who are left behind.

The greening of America is about the liberation of and inspiration for an America that will soon be de-Bushed, in which major changes are already advancing and the negativity surrounding Bush will be receding until it finally disappears into the dustbin of history and the real America re-emerges when he is gone from government for good.

The greening of America involves a mindset of politics, business, culture, entertainment, technology and patriotism that will liberate and energize an American spirit that will be Prometheus unbound from a status quo that American voters, consumers, investors and business have already left behind.

The greening of America is about change that brings an idealism, hope and opportunity to the center of American life that will be far more powerful and inspirational and exciting than our Bush-dominated debate suggests, when the darker forces he represents are removed, and the better angels of our nature are liberated, and the American idea, American ingenuity, and the notion of American Dreams are again restored to center stage, where they belong.

Global warming is merely one example as change advances with lenders, borrowers and government realizing that a wave of “Grapes of Wrath”-style foreclosures hurts everyone...

more...

Sally your quote at the top of your article sharpened my senses to find and read that article. I thank you too.

All you Californians stay safe in all that rain. May the universe hold your earth firm. Blessings on all of you in dealing with the elements.

Yessum, Cap't Sally. We be doing our best out here.

Sally, what do you think it will be...corporate or people?

I saw a clip Pat C where he said that and I know it is so true. We've been in the clutches in this country of the corporations (big C) since WWI. Over 127,000 soldiers died because of that war to "save democracy" and we ended up with a whole raft of dictators from that war all around the world. Corporations were estatic, our politicians have belonged to them ever since and so have we.

If anyone has noticed, no matter who is in office nothing changes. FDR came the closest to changing things and the Kennedy brothers had big intentions to make radical changes to the system as well. The corporate cabal had a plan to kill FDR and they failed, they didn't fail with the Kennedys. We don't have anyway of knowing if Edwards is part of that and is just using "words" of truth to be President or if actions will follow. Nonetheless, his words are true. They are all part of it, it's just to what degree. We're part of it, we work for these people, live off these people, go to war for these people, die for these people.

It isn't actually a bad hand in glove system (except the war part, there are other ways to make money) it's when the system gets out of balance with power and greed and it's been out of balance since the late 1800's. The Robber Barons never went away.

My hope is the final result will be people and corporate working hand in glove with them, instead of the other way around. We have it within the means of this earth to wipe out poverty and disease and to go beyond ourselves. We could clean up the environment and inprove the standard of living for all. I am not a wealthy woman and struggle financially and yet I have so much crap I do not need, do not use, and do not enjoy, it's only in my way and I have to dust it all. Millions of us are like that. I hang on to old things because it's "family" and one day it will all be sold for antiques to another family or worse lost in a flood or fire. It's just a weird system this journey on earth. But I am going to count on People eventually rising because these people have jumped the shark.

Hillary is who they want and if not her, then Obama, both of them empty suits and shills for corporate. For whatever reason corporations are trying to take the teeth out of this government and shove it to the bottom of the heap and this administration is helping them, we are looking for cogs to their wheels

Whatever good comes his way, Kucinich certainly deserves it, Sally. The man is underrated and way underappreciated, even in his own hometown of Cleveland. But there isn't a Congressman or woman in office right now with a bigger heart and the intestinal fortitude to match it. He does has his supporters here, and everywhere to be sure. But genuine respect has always had a hard way coming for him.

I don't get why anyone thinks Dennis Kucinich can't or even SHOULDN'T be President and a great one at that? We've put up with Cheney's cowardly fearmongering and George Bush's heartlessness, fecklessness and buffoonery for seven long, gutwrenching years. How did we as a people ever permit our standards for our so-called leaders to fall so damned low in the first place?

If Pluto in Cap does the number on corporations that it seems to have done on religion these past 12 years, I think corporate power will find itself much diminished and on a much more level playing field by the time Pluto reaches Aquarius. It can't happen soon enough.

Thank you Sally. Well, with no surprise at all, I completely agree. The Robber Barons (puppeteers) have never gone away and, they kill. The only thing I would add, is the interesting and spooky re-emergence of the Reverend Moon through Bush Sr. He seems to have a very big roll in all of this somehow, and remember he has openly called the US the great satan and been kissed by Senators.

Here are some of the latest endorsements I have come across for John Edwards.

http://www.deaniacsforedwards.com/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/7/1126/80707/51/418947

http://www.johnedwards.com/nevada/headlines/20071206-nv-cwa/

http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/12/2/22229/5206

and last but not least, an important article on our food and our government/corporations.

Why We Can't Trust Our Food

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/06/5663/

This will put you in deep shock. Who will join Whitehouse is saving us from this madness?
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/07/whitehouse-rips-the-white-house/#more-1490

Yes, and while he Senators were kissing Moon, they were "CROWNING HIM KING" (actual crown on his head in the Durksen Capital Bldg.
He claimed HE was THE Messiah! Early summer 2004!I'll see if I can find the article in Salon Archives.
QOP

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/06/21/moon/index.html

Now Kwak was standing in a Senate office building declaring Moon the king of the "second and third Israel."

That's Dirksen!
QOP

PatB, I think the aspects mentioned for Hillary in your last post indicate a loss, it is probable that the loss will come before the exact aspects, as they are applying. But her loss could be a marriage or an election. Something from her past that's important to her, it will also be opportunity for lessons learned

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5411

Election Integrity on Trial in Pima County: Day Three Summary

A Courtroom Report as Pima County Democrats Seek Public Records Access to Diebold Election Databases

.......

I'm visualizing every dwelling energy self-sufficient. Every community with local farming to support themselves, and just pain ordinary world peace.

The family is at it again.

http://www.forbes.com/business/2007/11/30/florida-bush-lehman-biz-beltway-cx_mb_1130florida.html

Oooooh, QOP! The 2008 is even better than the 2007, which was quite marvelous. Hope the rest of you got one. What better way to count the days than with a QOP watercolor calendar.

This is the side of Hillary that can't be subdued by pink suits and rose-colored beads:

http://www.all4humor.com/images/files/Scary%20Hillary%20Clinton.jpg

That reached you, quicker than the money order my Daughter sent PRIORITY mail from the Catsklls, how bizarre!
I am so glad you like it even better than last years.music to my ears!
Needed that.
I lost my cousin today, at 2 pm.
Sun 1o taurus, moon 1o scorpio. Sag rising,( I'm 13 taurus sun, 24 scorpio moon, gem rising) .She was a year younger than I and my partner in crime! Our pre barbie dolls were international jet setters in trench coats, not mothers............

http://www.maryhoyerdoll.com/index.htm
( ALL made in USA LAncaster Pa. by the Grandaughter of the company's founder, , if you are looking for safe presents for a girl!)

And indeed we went yachting on the Mediterrainian Sea, slept in a rental car, on CA US RT 1, when it was too foggy to keep driving to Mendocino, went to Calistoga SPrings,did funny brownies & Champagne at a gay Halloween party in San Francisco, and giggled until 3 AM on my Daughters front porch in the Catskills, before my Grandson's christening. after the Northern Lights...........
SHe helped me rescue Eric 3 years ago.....impossible to think they are both gone!
QOP

QOP, I'm so sorry for your loss! You obviously have great memories of your relationship with your cousin and were very close. How many people can have such diverse and exciting lives together?! And she is not gone, just out of body now.

Oh, QOP, what wonderful cousins were you two! I love your synopsis of your times together, so marvelous and so memorable. I am sad to learn that she has passed on, but gladdened to know you had such a precious person in your life to help you enjoy it to the max and to help sustain you when things turned bleak. My deepest condolences to you, and gratitude for sharing the joys the two of you shared.

QOP, I am so sorry for your loss. What wonderful memories you have to stay with you. I know it's like losing a part of yourself and it would be so hard to deal with at any time. God bless you and stay safe.

Condolences, QQP. No words are sufficient.

Pat (QOP) Your cousin is still with you, prodding you on, standing by your side and cheering wildly for she obviously well knows that you are one dynamic energy (she was one herself). I know those moments you shared with one another will remain as vivid tomorrow as they are today.

Hopefuly you feel the hugs i'm sending you.

Dearest Pat,

Om mani padme hum ~ Om mani padme hum ~ Om mani padme hum ~ Om mani padme hum ~ Om mani padme hum ~ Om mani padme hum ~ Om mani padme hum ~ Om mani padme hum ~ Om mani

December 8, 2007

Op-Ed Columnist

Everything’s Perfect, Except ...
By GAIL COLLINS

The peak of my sympathy for Mitt Romney came when he was being battered on one side by Christian fundamentalists who think his faith is a cult and on the other by fellow Mormons, who were irate when he fudged the fact that they believe Jesus will return to earth and build a new Jerusalem in Jackson County, Mo.

This week, Mitt made his much-anticipated religion speech, and stood up for his rights not to be discriminated against for his beliefs, and not to have to explain the part about Jackson County. Good for him on both counts.

... Except that you have to wonder why he felt compelled to dip into dogma just long enough to assure voters that he believes “Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind.”

Romney’s message, which boiled down to let’s-all-be-religious-together, was certainly different from the John Kennedy version, which argued that a candidate’s religion is irrelevant. But then Kennedy was speaking to the country, while Romney had his attention fixed on the approximately 35,000 Iowa religious conservatives who will tip the balance in the first-in-the-nation Republican caucus.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/08/opinion/08collins.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

QOP-I don't have anything witty to say just that I love your entries and I am sorry that your beloved companion has shuffled off. Thinking of you today with love and radiance.
How does one get one of your calendars? I have been hearing about them but have never learned how to get one.

New Moon in Sagittarius
Sunday, December 9, 2007
9:40am PST
17º 16’

©2007 Lisa Dale Miller
All rights reserved

May the blessings of the season bring great joy to you and your loved ones!
May 2008 be a year of peacemaking for every nation,
every family, every mind, and every heart.

Eight Verses SoundArtwork can now be downloaded for free!

Sagittarius represents idealism, faith, enthusiasm, the quest for meaning, and a generosity of spirit. These are the qualities one needs to gracefully meet this darkest time of the year when the days shorten, the nights lengthen, and cold descends upon the Earth. Even the slanting sun shines with a brightness that is tentative and not quite warming enough. As the earth retreats into its annual death cycle, so must we also turn within, and seek the wisdom of the dark time. Most of us live over-committed, complicated lives, with guilt and/or income-generation as our primary motivator. Our daily schedules, filled with “shoulds”, leave little time for contemplation. This season of darkness calls out to our souls, asking us to face the fallibility of human life and its connection to the inherent impermanence of all phenomena. Mortality, something we fear and deny, shows us our intimate connection with all other natural phenomenon; we are, after all, just another species.

http://www.astrowisdom.com/

What a deep and powerful time for you, Pat Q. The strength of that golden thread, the connection of giggling goddesses, the delightful shared vignettes as your lives unfolded as sisters, little girls whose story of joyful conspiracies went on to include life's profound realities. She can see and hear you now, until you meet again will be there with a glass of wine and a bowl of popcorn.
Love to you, Pat, purveyor of all things beautiful in word and deed.

Huckabee wanted to isolate AIDS patients

By ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press Writer

Mike Huckabee once advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased federal funding in the search for a cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health risk."

As a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in 1992, Huckabee answered 229 questions submitted to him by The Associated Press. Besides a quarantine, Huckabee suggested that Hollywood celebrities fund AIDS research from their own pockets, rather than federal health agencies.

"If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague," Huckabee wrote.

"It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071208/ap_on_el_pr/huckabee_aids&printer=1;_ylt=Ak.6xX53y6zU17NNbrUA61Zh24cA

clymela, QOP's 2008 calendar watercolors are even more luminous than those of this year. Not many can see and portray light the way she can.

clymela,
e-mail me at psharpart@hotmail.com, and I will tell you about the calendars!
Sorry I clicked on your name but........I get a message airport turned off, instead of your address.
( Mac incompatable with verizon.net, and all their techies have heavy Mexican accents.) ??? Have been
so busy I have left the tweeking of the computer, phone calls for assistance, until right about now.....when 2 out of my 3 doors are iced shut, and the sun is setting at 3:36 PM.
QOP

It eases the loss to have a family here at AW!

It greatly increases our blessings to have you among the family here at A/W, QOP.

And if I could take a little detour with you, QOP: The first time I really noticed what painters can do with light was many, many decades ago when I peered closely at large, well-done reproductions of Vermeer. I mentioned how amazed I was to a friend who was getting an advanced degree in art history. She explained that, among other things he incorporated, Vermeer was one of the first to look at light through a prism. (Remember, also, that Spinoza supported himself at roughly that time and place grinding lenses, so they were all tuned in to light.) Anyway, QOP, correct me if I'm wrong, but I do think you are in the tradition of Vermeer when it comes to light and how you can transfuse your scenes with it.

PQOP, I'm with Clymela, I've got nothing witty to say, but WOW it sounds like this realm is less 1 more great soul. I'm sad that I didn't get to hang with you two during any of those delicious exploits. Much love to you as always!
((PQOP))

Love y'all
G

Hill Close to Deal on War Funds

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120807A.shtml

Jonathan Weisman and Paul Kane of The Washington Post report: "House Democratic leaders could complete work as soon as Monday on a half-trillion-dollar spending package that will include billions of dollars for the war effort in Iraq without the timelines for the withdrawal of combat forces that President Bush has refused to accept, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said yesterday."

From Steve Judd

Thought For the Day

7 Dec 10.33

Emergency patch...... fragility is contagious at times like these. Everyone I know feels something big approaching so it's either the circles I move in or there is something mega brewing. There's a lot more than usual (?!) cracking up going on, so hang in there. New Moon in two days, then we're committed and it's like a light beam accelerator into the eye of the unknowable until the 24th. Enjoy the ride or hide under the bed.

Pelosi fully briefed on torture by CIA in 2002 and had no objections. Unbelievable, very sick and very sickening.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/8/202552/338

That's very high praise Shylurker. Thank you!
Yes I have been studying Vermeer for quite a few years.!
The novel The Golden Tulip, by Roselind Laker, is a very historically accurate, fiction about a young woman student of Vermeer, in love with a young man who is trying to hybridize a new tulip color.
I am SO OVER these politicians..............I want to go back ( OR FORWARD) and live in the Age of Enlightenment!
THINK RENAISSANCE ALL!
QOP

The story of "Stuff" not to be missed. It will make you laugh at all of us and the sum total of what we think our lives should have been.

www.storyofstuff.com

BBC: "India's national security adviser, MK Narayanan, has warned Western and Gulf Arab states to prepare for a new wave of attacks on economic targets.

Speaking at a security conference in Bahrain, Mr Narayanan said new al-Qaeda training schools had been established close to the Afghan-Pakistan border.

He said Indian intelligence reports had also identified the recruits as being from 14 different countries.

He said their targets also included high profile politicians.

Economic infrastructure in the Gulf region, such as oil pipelines and storage depots, electricity pylons and ocean going tankers are also at risk, said Mr Narayanan.

The training of recruits, he said, had become extremely rigorous and the Gulf Arab states were highly vulnerable to such threats.

Referring to what he called "asymmetric war techniques" - the practice of attacking a more powerful enemy's weak spots - India's security adviser said the region faced a new paradigm of al-Qaeda-inspired terrorism through its extensive network of planning, funding, training and arms supply.

The training schools, he said, were turning out a new international brigade of terrorists.

Thanks for the "Stuff" link, Cap'n Sally. It's great and I surely did send it on.

December 9, 2007

Op-Ed Columnist

The Republicans Find Their Obama

By FRANK RICH
COULD 2008 actually end up being a showdown between the author of “The Audacity of Hope” and the new Man from Hope, Ark.?

It sounds preposterous, but Washington’s shock over Mike Huckabee’s sudden rise in the polls — he “came from nowhere,” Robert Novak huffed last week — makes you wonder. Having failed to anticipate so much else, including the Barack Obama polling surge of days earlier, the press pack has proved an unreliable guide to election 2008. What the Beltway calls unthinkable today keeps turning out to be front-page news tomorrow.

The prevailing Huckabee narrative maintains that he’s benefiting strictly from the loyalty of the religious right. Evangelical Christians are belatedly rallying around one of their own, a Baptist preacher, rather than settling for a Mormon who until recently supported abortion rights or a thrice-married New Yorker who still does. But that doesn’t explain Mr. Huckabee’s abrupt ascent to first place in some polling nationwide, where Christian conservatives account for a far smaller slice of the Republican pie than in Iowa. Indeed, this theory doesn’t entirely explain Mr. Huckabee’s steep rise in Iowa, where Mitt Romney has outspent him 20 to 1, a financial advantage that Mr. Romney leveraged to crush him in the state’s straw poll just four months ago.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/opinion/09rich.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

AND here's a timely response to the Story of Stuff!
Fryeburg Man Protests Against Poland Spring
FRYEBURG (NEWS CENTER) -- A man from Fryeburg, upset over Poland Spring's withdrawal of millions of gallons of water from a local aquifer, held his own version of the Boston Tea Party Saturday afternoon.

http://www.wlbz2.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=76166
QOP

And this!
Giuliani Tells Manufacturers That What Defines "The Essential Nature" of Americans is "We Want to Sell You Something"
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/articles/editorblog/018
QOP

Uh oh,is Jenna going to be in trouble now?
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Story?id=3973925&page=1

Did Iceland Teen Call Secret White House Phone?
Icelandic Boy, 16, 'Wanted to ... Have a Chat, Invite Him to Iceland and See What He'd Say'
QOP

Nice quick first reaction to the news that Pelosi knew about the torture in 2002, followed by a discussion that begins with outrage and anger, calms down to dissection and suggestions of strategy, and finally winds up with the need for (righteous) forgiveness and National Reconciliation. Quite an amazing discussion among some very knowledgeable, sharp and patriotic people.
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/09/nancy-pelosi-congressional-leaders-secretly-do-expect-the-spanish-inquisition/#more-1500

(If the above link doesn't work for you go to firedoglake.com, click on "emptywheel" button near the top and go to the article.

From Lynn Hayes...

Saturday, December 08, 2007
Jupiter-Pluto and the End of the War on Terror?

Posted by Dharmaruci On 12th December there will be an exact conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto in Sagittarius. It relates to all sorts of things, such as the sub-prime scam and the bursting of the credit bubble. But it also has a lot to do with the War on Terror: Pluto is war and secret attacks, Sagittarius gives religious fundamentalism as the motive, which Jupiter can also suggest, as well as expanding it out of all proportion.

But conjunctions are beginnings/endings of cycles, so we may well see some new phase in the War on Terror. I use the chart for 9/11 for this war – 8.46am 11 Sept 2001, New York – and what I have been aware of this year is that the 9/11 chart had a Progressed New Moon in August, which again suggests the beginning of a new phase.

I think that this war takes place as much inside of George Bush’s head as anywhere else. It was him who first used the term, and he has since used it as a single category for any person/country who he considers to be an enemy of America. To start with, it was a war against those who had brought about 9/11. But none of the resulting military activity has actually had much to do with 9/11. And he’s fudged it, drawing in Iraq, Iran and North Korea, his ‘Axis of Evil’, as all somehow connected to this ‘war’.

http://astrodynamics.blogspot.com/

I thought you all might enjoy some of these.

http://uk.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=E732C107F45A7739

The following is another string in the web of global corporatism that threatens to entrap the world's peoples. It is a part of the contiguous sirens being alarmed by Naomis Wolf and Klein, and others.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18857.htm

All that's being done and has been done is shaping my decision to vote in the primary for Dennis Kucinich. It's apparent you've come to the same conclusion, Neo.

One of the persuasive arguments against my decision was that i would be throwing my vote, but i've little faith in the "system" as it stands. Our presidential candidate is going to be chosen for us. Of this, i have little doubt. This is precisely why i'm going to vote my consciousness.

http://tinyurl.com/2g55qv

Cave Dwellers: More Democratic Deceit on War and Torture

http://carolduhart.blogspot.com/

New look for the blog

I'm wondering if we all write in Kucinich; in spite of the DLC pick, if it will bring enough votes for him? Will those write ins be discarded?
But as a matter of conscious,................
I am also looking at Edwards. He was lite weight the last time, but with the life altering illness of Elizabeth, since 2004, he has gained a lot of substance.....?????
Time to watch and decide. Dennis gets my caucus vote in Feb.!
QOP

Carol, that's beautiful!! Wonderful work!

Pat, I'm thinking that Edwards has the best planets of the two for the election. Astrologers?

http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/filibuster

No retroactive immunity for telecom companies that violate our right to privacy.

Ask Senator Dianne Feinstein to stand up for our Constitution and support Senator Chris Dodd's promise to filibuster any bill that includes telecom immunity

Carol, I love your leading article about wanting a Green Christmas so you can have more White Ones down the road. Very clever!

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2007/12/02/3134743.htm

Bid for visas raises doubts: Congressman, union question effort for 6,000 unskilled workers

(Houston Chronicle (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Dec. 2--The request by Baystone Contractors was pretty simple. The company wanted visas to bring in 6,000 foreign unskilled workers to build and repair ships for four big oil refining companies in Southeast Texas.

The only problems were that the refiners didn't need the work, weren't in the market for unskilled foreign labor and never asked for Baystone's help. Besides, a Texas union chief says there would have been plenty of American applicants for the jobs -- if they existed.

Yet the request appeared to be cruising past state and federal regulators until it was smothered in a union-backed avalanche of U.S. job applicants for the positions that Baystone hoped to fill with unskilled foreign workers.

More at the link....

QUESTION FOR ALL...Recently our local banks (the larger ones) have posted notices on their doors stating that ALL deposits will be held for three days (five days for deposits made with out of town checks) before funds will be allowed to be used.

Also, I was recently given a check for $10.50. I went to the bank it was written on to cash it, but where I did not have an account. The teller said they would cash it provided I showed a picture ID (okay, I'll buy that) AND let them take my thumb print!!! I declined.

Are these kind of things happening for anyone else? I'm trying to determine if this is just local policy changes or if it's something is brewing.

Yes Lovi,
My daughter sent me a money order,to cover some bills my SS didn't cover. I only had $8.00 in my bank account. ( Hello that's why I had to get money from the kids!) The Teller wouldn't cash it, wanted me to deposit it.. Money order = CASH!
( I've been with the bank for 16 years although not giving them a lot of money to speculate with!)
I took the money order back to the PO cashed it and an hour later it was gone!
Also,last Tues. I had given the printer 2 post dated checks when he printed up the calendars, written on my business account. The SS comes into a different account in the 16 year bank. The humongous snow storm, cold, car wouldn't start,
interferred with everything, but the old bank wouldn't transfer funds unless I went IN. The new bank wouldn't cash the checks without charging a bounced check fee, ( profit from 2 1/2 calendars for doing what?)
Fortunately when plugged in the car ( dsl rabbit) started, and I could do my banking.
DAmned banks!
QOP

Thanks, Sharon and Pat. BTW, I've updated again on the blog, this time Jupiter conjunct Pluto in Sagittarius.

QQP, welcome to the world of the checkcashing places, where they will take your check for a fee! I'm glad I have a membership in a credit union!

Lovi, the fingerprint thing is reasonable and has been going on at least 10 years. That's really for the checkwriter's protection, at credit unions too.

The posting on your bank's door, however is a new one. They're experiencing something, for sure to warrant that..lotta, lotta bad check writing/brand new high-dollar scams?

QOP, what a lousy experience! Seems when we need it the most we run into these absurd and rather cruel limitations. The few times I've had a money order sent to me was not the simple affair it used to be (when all you had to do was go to a grocery store to cash them). All this I'm sure is the result of some widespread crime, plus the gov'ts need to stick their noses into every paltry gain that comes our way.
(pushing expletives down to my knees).