Astroworld

Foreign boycotts over Iraq war a factor in U.S. economic downturn
Economic Policy
by Sherwood Ross | January 22, 2008 - 9:09am
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/12325
I posted this at the end of the last thread but here it is again!
Will print this out and take it to Michaud & Allen. They're comming to talk economic boost, I'm going to connect the dots for them &push impeachment!!
Sally did you tell us this back then? Because that's exactly what I feel intuitively; am I remembering this on another level?
What is so odd to me about this is Claudia Dikinis said to me in 2004 that in the 2000 election McCain made a deal with Bush and that he would win the presidency in 2008, it was promised to him at that time.
"An emotional power for the next several days to create one's own reality,"
Yes indeedy! Did anyone catch Edwards on Letterman last night? John was funnier than Dave!

Hill, Bill and the truth. Jon Stewart helps us find it:
http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml_video=148079

Thanks so much for this, Cap'n Sally. Maybe they'll try to sneak Jebbie in by having him run as veep. McCain is not looking well, is he? Actually, he hasn't looked well since around the time he danced all snuggly with Junya several years ago on that brightly lit stage.

I do wish Edwards could win in SC. Maybe then more people will pay attention. He is trying to push the issues that matter into the debates and is having some success with that. Sigh.

Our Dem "leadership" sucks, ya know?

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Contempt_citations_on_hold_as_Dems_0123.html

QOP I did say that before regarding McCain and I am stunned to watch it unfold. I have a friend who says he isn't stable and screams at his colleagues for no reason. My friend thinks Romney or Huckabee will try to get him to lose that temper in public, I don't know.

The thing about Edwards is as long as he is there, the issues stay on the table and get discussed. If he leaves us to Hillary and Obama it only devolves into more of what we saw and the GOP will absolutely win.

Both parties and what passes for leadership Shy, suck.

Here's something we already knew:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080123/ap_on_go_pr_wh/misinformation_study

I'm picking my horses for the S.C. race on Saturday. This is how I think they will finish:

1)Obama 2)Edwards 3)The Clintons

Remember Gomer on Andy Griffin; "surprise, surprise" that's what we should all be saying. It's hard to pick a culprit or the worse culprit in this day and age, they are all so bad. I think they all just try to hang on for both parties until the people and country are bled dry of resources. Like a friend of mine says "there is only one party, the money party."

WE want to "like" the people we pick for public office, we are all trying to find 'special' qualities in one of the candidates, any of them, something we can relate to and support and believe. All of us out here in both parties are desperately trying to sort and find something we can trust, appreciate, like something, but we know it's not going to be true.

This Saturday in SC will be the last time they have to step up to real questions. From here on out it will be photo ops, hand picked groups, money and media, we the people will have to struggle to get our voices out there.

http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=834&thisview=item

Why is impeachment important?
Congressman Wexler continues fight for impeachment

Sally, I too was fascinated by the moon when I was a child, and still am (maybe because of my Cancer moon), but even more so by its light. As a child, I used to sit on the porch just gazing at the greenery in our yard being bathed "by the light of the silvery moon". Sometimes, the neighbor's children would come over, and we would play games in the moonlight. It was magical.
The sun's light is golden, and the moon's light is silvery. Sunlight is harsh, but moonlight is soft. Perhaps, that is why the Sun is associated with all things masculine, and the moon with all things feminine. Another fascinating thing about the moon, is how it controls the tides.

I knew an old farmer once who planted his garden by the Moon's phases and the suggestions in the Farmer's Almanac of what to plant on the different phases. He had the most beautiful garden I ever saw. I don't know if any of the younger farmers plant the same way these days but I expect some still do.

Me too! In my house in Jersey, I could lie in bed and be bathed by the moon, shining in the south facing windows by the bed. We had NO street lights in that community.
Here the houses roof slopes to the south no windows. The moon rises in the east or the south and moves west.........NEVER takes the Northern route from east to west! To moon bath, I have to sleep in the front bedroom and wait until it is in the west. Even then the street light is south west of the house.
I wonder if this has something to do with the creative difficulty I've experienced since moving here?
My moon is scorpio in the 6th, in mutual reception to my pluto in cancer in the 2nd. house.????

I was introduced to planting by the moon phases, by a gay friend, when we both lived in downtown Philly. He had a deck, where he planted herbs in planters, and supplied 2 restaurants with them during the summer season.
WHen I was a Graphic Design Student I chose as a project to design a moon planting wheel! ( round of course)The outer wheel had the list of plants; when it was good to plant them. I could offer it to Johnny's Seeds, but to up date it I have to start from scratch, because of course, I can't access it on updated software!
My fellow students to a "man" all chose to do rectangular charts. ( not on the moon phases of course!)
Here in Maine.it's dicey! With a short season you just have to get those seeds in when you can, whether it's a positive moon time or not!
We try.......young & old, most every gardener around here can see that it really does work better if you can manage it!

That's a good question QOP, it might have something to do with a loss of creativity, maybe you should move to the back bedroom. I get the moon out my backbedroom window and I love it. However, I go to bed so late most of the time the Moon has passed over the back of the house to the front and there isn't a front bedroom. I go outside and stand in the light even if its freezing

QOP, my mother had a 6th house Scorpio moon too with Pluto in Cancer in the 2nd house, so that means you either have late Taurus, or Gemini rising. My mother had late Taurus rising, but I would guess that you are a Gemini rising - chatty? :)

Yup, Gemini rising!Chatty social....it's that scorpio moon that is a brooding loner!
Sally, the back bedroom has only one window facing due east. ( I am using it as studio space at the moment), but I would have to go to bed very early to catch the moon before it rises higher in the south. Great for Northern Lights tho, if there are any. One day I hope to dormer the entire east side of the loft, which has a window directly to the south. Then I could have a bed/ couch up there.

As the stock market rides the financial ferris wheel, people are losing their homes, retirement savings lost, we are wringing our hands checking to see if the banks are closing, will our money be lost. It's an anxious and fearful time for America and I don't know why we are not laughing and keep on laughing. Remember the movie "The Sting?" It was all a set up, we just have to move out of this fear and giving our power away and start playing just as those at the top are playing with us.

Read this article, first you will be confused, then mad, then hopefully you will laugh at yourself and at all of us out here in the hinterland.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-l-borosage/keep-dancing-chuck_b_82790.html

http://www.atlargely.com/2008/01/afghan-journali.html

Afghan journalist sentenced to death...

Well, so much for winning the war in Afghanistan or freeing the Afghanis from the Taliban. Freedom continues to be on the march, err, farce:

"KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan court on Tuesday sentenced a 23-year-old journalism student to death for distributing a paper he printed off the Internet that three judges said violated the tenets of Islam, an official said.

The three-judge panel sentenced Sayad Parwez Kambaksh to death for distributing a paper that humiliated Islam, said Fazel Wahab, the chief judge in the northern province of Balkh, where the trial took place. Wahab did not preside over the trial.

Kambaksh's family and the head of a journalists group denounced the verdict and said Kambaksh was not represented by a lawyer at trial. Members of a clerics council had been pushing for Kambaksh to be punished.

More at the link...

Was just catching up on the last few posts for the previous article. Had no idea that there was a boycott abroad of American products. I know while Bush was visiting the ME, a person in the Arab street made the remark that "everything that Bush touches, turns to dust and ashes".
King Midas he's not.

This full moon brought heavy rains to my area in central FL, which surprised me, being that it's in a fire sign.

I just wanted to come on to offer a support to anyone on this site who might be "shocked" and "stunned" and "surprised" that the Bush administration has lied to us 935 times over the Iraq war. I know this is hard to believe for some, but we have to be strong and brace ourselves for information coming out over the lies about the economy, Social Security, politics of all GOP manner, business, airline security, port security, Global Warming, can anyone think of other areas where this administration might of lied, oh, don't want to forget Valerie Plame, the Energy Policy, spying on us, the firing of the federal attorney's, I know there's more but just not enough room.

Well for all of you feeling any grief over this don't hesitate to share and do add to the list of probable lies.

Hmm, not surprised Cap'n Sally, but I swear I thought the actual number of lies was well into the 100,000's by now.

I'm not feeling much grief over these idiots any longer(the 2004 "election" pretty much drained that for me)but my 6th house Neptune square my natal Saturn is REALLY trying to put a damper on birthday number 45 for me (1/24/63, 1:15 pm CST Jackson TN) for starters, with a sleep apnea diagnosis and loads of anxiety...but at least I have my online family here for me when I can't sleep...love each and every one of you guys and thanks for being who you are! (Not to worry folks, I'm having acupuncture and hypnotherapy and clinical therapy as well as changing my diet and starting to exercise more--I'm determined to beat this!)

namaste and love y'all! Now where did I hide that birthday beer? :)

I went into a depression on the first lie (GWB won Florida and the Supreme Court lied to give it to him)My enraged rants went from every waking moment down to only a couple of times a month (my family is glad of that) although I have a couple of sons who defended this administration the first 4 years and they are irritated that I was right all along, I secretly feel smug about that, but my public face has been gracious.

Do you have a natal Saturn square Neptune? That does cause anxiety because you live with unfounded fears, things that will never happen. Exercise is excellent and I think hypnotherapy might help. Let us know how you are doing.

I swan Capt'n Sally, George lied to us 925 times, oh my oh my oh my. I read somewhere that the Saudi King gifted George with gold necklaces that he wore about him, dripping with them I gather. The article also mentioned that the Saudi's give their women gold, the men wear silver and platinum. So was the King insulting George, making a mockery of him, and George clueless as usual? Oh right George had gone begging for oil. He is such the dandy.

Happy Birthday Garry, yup 45 is a great age to start getting your health together. I'm a great believe that if you give your body what it needs it will work to heal itself. I am a work in progress :)

Sally, I loved your description of the moon, standing outside in your below zero weather freezing your fanny off.

Here the thin veil of clouds between rain bands clouded the moons face. Fog swirling about the redwoods.

3000 miles away here on the east coast, a thin veil of clouds began to swirl over the moon's face as well,as I attended a special town meeting to vote in 2 new selectmen, there is underhanded intrigue and dirty politics swirling about the town, some desiring to oust our very worthy Town Manager/chief of Police. The first vote t=-returned to us our very conservative guy.........2nd vote outcome still unknown to me, as I left before the count was finished!
I discovered and clarified, that my Father was a Democrat! My Brother is a registered Republican, because of this missasumption tho he has been voting Democratic for lo these many years. Our Father was the Democratic Chair of our town...............
The game gossip comes to mind!
Garry keep up the good work....

Garry, I took a peek at your birthday chart and while not a "perfect" year there is a better year coming this spring for you. I was wondering if any doc has ever tested you for hypoglycemia? The anxiety and depression could be linked to a problem with sugar or things that convert to sugar.

Outside of that I think you do have a better year coming, some increased involvement with either a new job or your present job, although there is some confusion around your present career and over the next two or three years that career could be changing, that becomes more clear around May. In fact this is a year of changes for you and whatever you are doing now as an "avocation" you need to keep at it, because eventually you will be known for it.

Happy Birthday Garry and Have a wonderful wonderful day.

Hello AWers, been trying to read up on all the posts -- an impressive array, for sure. And, a confirmation of what you have been laying out for us, Sally and Morgana. The truth -- pieces of this ugly collusive puzzle -- is exposed with more to come. And this by Ralfee Finn, http://stariq.com/Main/Articles/P0008476.HTM

Was in NYC. The usual full tilt hustle and bustle is not unusual. What was different is a palpable fear. People look as though they're being hunted. Running with fear, willy nilly, no certain direction.

In another post, you mentioned a story about a woman wanting Bill back in office, Sally. Well, i'm sticking by my coined phrase -- Billary for President, the dynasty continues. Like wv, if this continues to be shoved down our throats i may gag. Vote? Would i do so, just to make sure Mitt doesn't get elected? Will it matter? I'm beginning to believe that local politics may matter a great deal more.

This Daily Kos diary has not only Dodd's filibuster statement but contact phone numbers of people to call:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/24/1023/89672/392/442013

Dodd will filibuster

Senator Dodd spoke passionately tonight on the Senate floor, detailing the abuses of the Bush administration and the danger of allowing any American corporation to be put above the rule of law. Who will stand with him?

snip

Call these Senators and thank them for their support, past, present, and hopeful, and urge them to stand with Senator Dodd in the debate tomorrow and over the next days--however long it takes. If your Senators aren't on the list, call them, urge them to uphold the rule of law and reject telecom amnesty, and to help Senator Dodd's filibuster.

Report back here and let us know who's on board.

More at the link....

.........

From Glenn Greenwald:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/24/rockefeller/index.html

Jay Rockefeller's unintentionally revealing comments
Telecoms already have immunity under existing FISA law where they acted pursuant to written government certification or where they prove they acted in good faith (see 18 USC 2520 (d)). There is no reason that the federal courts presiding over these cases can't simply make that determination, as they do in countless other cases involving classified information.

Even Feinstein's "compromise" is a completely unnecessary gift to telecoms: to transfer the cases away from the federal judges who have ruled against them to the secret FISA court. But even that pro-telecom proposal is unacceptable to Rockefeller (and the administration), because that would still leave telecoms subject to the rule of law. Rockefeller's only goal is to bestow on his telecom supporters full and unconditional protection from having their conduct -- and, by effect, the administration's conduct -- subject to a court of law. Manifestly, that's the real agenda. That's why he's feeling "cocky."

snip

Can someone please tell Jay Rockefeller that we don't actually live in a country where the President has the definitively dictatorial power to "compel" and "require" private actors to break the law by "ordering" them to do so? Like all other lawbreakers, telecoms broke the law because they chose to, and profited greatly as a result. That telecoms had an option is too obvious to require proof, but conclusive proof can be found in the fact that some telecoms did refuse to comply on the grounds that doing so was against the law.

There is a branch of Government that does have the power to compel and require behavior by private actors. It's called "the American people," acting through their Congress, who democratically enact laws regulating that behavior.

More at the link....

........

Christy Hardin Smith on FDL:

http://firedoglake.com/2008/01/24/fisa-battle-stand-and-be-counted/

FISA Battle: Stand And Be Counted

Who will stand for the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the rule of law in the Senate and be counted today? Who will stand up with Sens. Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold and put their values on the line, putting the foundations of American government over political expediency, a "get out of jail free" card for Dick Cheney and his minions including telecoms, and a pending airline ticket to Davos.

Hey Dick and telecoms: if you do not take the rule of law seriously, then you have no business asking for a favor and a pass. That applies to Vice Presidents and their minions as much as it does for large corporations who have scads of legal beagles on retainer, fully capable of reading the FISA law and comprehending the straightforward penalty provisions and warrant requirements.

The Bush Administration should not be allowed to use Congress as their own, personal CYA brigade. Period.

snip

And that, in a nutshell, is where things stand as we begin the day today. Please, take some time to call your elected representatives -- Senators and House members. Tell them they must stand up for the Constitution and the rule of law -- and that you expect them not to let lawbreakers off the hook. Now, let's hit the phones and FAXes...

Numbers for Senators are here. Numbers for House members are here.

snip

We should also focus on the 14 Senators who promised to help Sens. Dodd and Feingold last December, and who pushed for removal of retroactive immunity.

More at the link....

Garry's birthday! Oh, my goodness, what a day this is, indeed. I'm assembling the things we'll need to celebrate. I've got crepe paper streamers, huge punch bowl, portable ice chests with lots of beer (including non-alcoholic for those of you who prefer that), lots of delicious munchies, Moon Pies on the grandest cake server I could find, and high aloft there in the center of the crepe paper streamers, a huge pinata depicting Dick "Dick" Cheney. C'mon, folks, let's party down!

Happy birthday, Garry!

Party for Gary?? I'm in! I'll bring chips and a wide varity of dips! I promise to also bring some fresh veggies for dipping into dips that don't convert to sugar, just for Gary to try!

Happy Birthday Gary!! May your year be blessed with health, wealth and happiness!

Geez, Garry i certainly meant to wish you a Great Big Ol' Happy Birthday, but Mercury must have retrograded on me early.

Since Shy is hosting the party. . .well, what would you like besides beer? I could bring a thick stick to whack that Dick pinata. Yes?

Thanks for the headsup on the Durbin filibuster, Pat.

Go get 'em karen!!

Oh dear, bypassed the birthday alert at first. ( before my morning coffee!)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARRY!
To the feast: I bring...a bowl of nuts. They are high in protein, easy to transport, no preparation needed, thus perfect for a hypoglycemic diet.
In Addition for your birthday I bring ......drum roll...a stevia plant! First discovered in !!!! PARAGUAY! http://www.stevia.net/history.htm
Those clever & socially responsible Japanese have been using it since the 70's INSTEAD of Aspertame!

Boy, are we gonna have a great party or what.

Garry, in addition to all the wonderful healthy things others are bringing, would you like some fried pork rinds, cheetos and vienna sausages on the goodies trays I'm getting together here? Thnx.

Did anybody read the article posted on Starlight news about the end of America?

Two nights ago I had a very vivid dream ... I was in a building that was shaped like a long hall covered with a glass roof supported by triangular shaped metal frames. It wasn't a very pretty building. A sort of modern looking hulk of a building. Fairly crude, but big. There were a lot of people in the building and it was some kind of party. A group of us left the main party and went through a hallway to a smaller wing which was open aired and suddenly there was a loud noise and we all looked over to the big hall covered in glass and saw a huge explosion and the glass shattering. All of the glass in the big structure broke up and came raining down on everybody in the main building. Everybody in the big building that shattered, perished. And it was a large amount of people. Only the few left in the side wing were left alive. In the dream it was clear to me that it was humanity that was destroyed with only a few left to "carry on".

The dream reminded me of when I was a child. I had a recurrent dream that there was a great nuclear war and that humanity (as we know it) and most of the earth (think Chernobyl) was destroyed and only pockets of people were left to fend for themselves in fairly remote places on earth, mainly in the southern hemisphere because of prevailing wind patterns. There was a tremendous lack of everything. Starting with water ...

I hesitated about posting this dream, but when I read the article, the coincidence (synchronicity) of running into an astrology article describing the very thing I had just dreamt about was haunting. By the way, I think the article was written in 2003 or so...

http://www.astrologyinserbia.com/e/nikola/amerika_krajimperije.htm

That fits a dream I had as well Marta.

Thanks for the great link qop. I bookmarked it.

PatC ... did you have the dream now? Urk!

Shylurker, it was indeed a media gambling mood in the Jon Stewart show clip. However, the Ron Burkle support for Bill C. goes way back. Burkle is a dem, he has been a big supporter of unions, too. He put Bill on his payroll in a way which I understand, and certainly envy. He made him the beneficiary of a fund with some new businesses he was supporting, and if the businesses had failed, Bill would have received nada. One of the reasons Burkle did this is one we will all remember. Clinton was left with ENORMOUS bills because of all the impeachment legal stuff. So Burkle was doing a favor for a friend.

Marta, I had a different dream....however, that nuclear dream has been around a long time, and I had it after my daughter was born. That was 37 years ago. The dream I had was that the secretserviceguys were in the capital rotunda for a cocktail party. They surrounded all of bushneoconsandhangersons. They were supposed to be protecting them, but instead pulled out their weapons and turned it into a blood bath. I think I even posted it here when I had it...several years ago now.

I'd like to think your dream was the shattering of the glass ceiling...for women.

Happy Birthday Garry! I'm bringing you a big cup of hot choclate and a big bowl of chicken soup.
Marta, I had a similar dream just three nights ago.
And thought you all might like to read this:
http://www.astrowisdom,com/uranusinpisces.htm

(I hope the link works!)

dagnabit!
http://www.astrowisdom.com/uranusinpisces.htm

Judigem, I know ... I've read other posters commenting on the same dream ... just gave me the willies right now with all the upheaval. Also the article timed it around 2011/2012 ... which is when a lot of the "end of times", Mayan calendar, etc. seem to indicate a break from the 'status quo".

having Uranus on my ascendant these past few years has been.....well, an adventure .

Marta, my dream was depicted differently depicted but it was in line with the Serbian astrologer. It scared the stuff out o me.

Sorry, I was distracted while I was writing that last post.

Neither Obama nor Clinton showed up today to vote against one more major shredding of our Constitution (telecom immunity). I won't be inking in the little boxes besides either of their names on the ballot, either.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3155002

FLASH: Plain Dealer says Kucinich is dropping out...

Source: Plain Dealer really scuzzy comments underneath by the locals!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3154682

Climate change 'significantly worse' than feared: Al Gore
Published: Thursday January 24, 2008

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1a7af090-c956-11dc-9807-000077b07658.html

The worst market crisis in 60 years
By George Soros --- Published: January 23 2008

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1a7af090-c956-11dc-9807-000077b07658.html

The worst market crisis in 60 years
By George Soros --- Published: January 23 2008

Uranus in Pisces last happened between 1919 and 1927. The swine flu world wide epidemic, women getting the vote (will there, this time 84 years later, be a woman president?), prohibition, and the flappers...the liberation of women on political and social levels, plus the rise of the mafia which controlled all the liquor business, the flight of Lindberg (or to Paris, lots of really interesting things, but it seems also, an unloosening of social structure. I can't remember all the other things, but I'm sure lots of economic things were in the works. Also, really really stupid presidents....after Wilson's reign ended, we had Harding and Coolidge! or was it the other way around. We now have one stupid one serving two terms, so it is similar...and all of them substance abusers.

Uranus entered Pisces April 2, 1919 and left Mar 31, 1927....the Roaring 20's, followed by the Depression.

Surprises are happening on the Senate floor right re the FSLA mess. Here's one live blog:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/24/1613/20340/907/442515

Sorry about that. It's about the telecom immunity (part of FISA) and not whatever it was I mistyped.

I wonder if Morgana is ok....just heard the snow is down to 300 feet in the Santa Cruz mts, Hwy 9 is closed, Hwy 17 has a foot of snow on it from last night, and more falling.....

(Where do my messages go now and then? They surely don't get posted.)

As long as Miz Morgana's computer is working, JudiGem, I'm sure she'll let us know how she is doing.

Sen. Reid has ended the discussion on telecom immunity and is stating there will be an up-or-down vote on cloture on Monday at 4:30 pm DC time. Even DiFi came around toward the end, or seemed to. Mebbe, just mebbe, the outcry from her constituents over her apparently disregard for the Constitution has had some good effect.

At any rate, we have all weekend to get in touch with our senators and urge them to stand for the Constitution. Nothing else will do.

Any astro indications about this, Cap'n Sally? With Merc going retro is there a possibility this thing will not reach resolution for weeks? Thnx.

Shy, that is just it, with the snow down that far, will there be any power at all? She hasn't posted....I was talking with the son of a friend of mine, and he doesn't think he can get home from Santa Clara to Boulder Creek tonight....Hwy 9 closed, Hwy 17 under a foot of snow. I know she has a fireplace at least....

JudiGem, let's not place too much faith in my memory, but I believe she said fairly recently that they have a generator up there at their house.

Judi and shy, I also remember Morgana saying she has a generator because the electricity goes out often enough to make that necessary.

Actually, I think you are right....she did say that. .... I don't place a lot of faith in my memory anymore either. But we also don't get snow every year.

It is about 40 degrees here south of SF, or at least it said so in the car coming home.

It is also weird news that Kucinich might lose his job in Ohio, too...besides dropping out of the presidential race.

I'm not sure why I say this judi, but I think his star is rising. I hope so.

Yes, Morgana has a woodstove & a generator!
On what do you base your assessment of Kucinich Pat C? Intuition? I certainly hope you are right!

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/1/24/where_do_the_presidential_contenders_stand

My GOD! My republican friend just sent me one of those dumb things for the 3rd time in as many years. A cutsey "You gotta love NJ."
The length they will go to to avoid reality!

Hey all, yes wood stove, generator, it's still just rain/ice pellet mix at my elevation, we're around 1000 ft. Our temp is 37 degrees.

Sally mentioned some specific aspects that indicated Kucinich's star rising.

It may be that I'm remembering what sally posted. I know I'm looking forward to seeing his star rise!

Mt Saint Helens is in orange alert erupting according to this link.

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/volcano_status.php?void=1469&lang=eng

I think that with Pluto set to hang around 0 degrees of Capricorn it may be of interest to look at how some United States financial charts match up with the 1929 stock market crash chart.

You can see them here:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/ytz9z8

Bob

Kucinich dropped out because there are 4 to 6 people prepared to run against him, some with rather large war chests.
His constituants were very angry that he
was running for President again. They think that he is ignoring his duties to
them.
So spoke a friend who lives in Cleveland.

PatC, that's that same outdated warning that patb uncovered a couple of weeks ago when I posted it. If you'll click on the MSH icon, you'll see that it dates back to June or July of last year. I don't know why they can't remove the icon and put it back up only when it's needed.

Prime Minister Prodi resigned today with rancorous reactions.
Davos is on this week,
NY Times is endorsing NMcCain & Clitnon.......what did I say?

JudiGem: I'd like to followup on something you posted a while back. You were mentioning Edgar Cayce and his message that Atlanteans were reincarnating in the last half of the 20th century and then went on to mention that you thought that happened on a stationary Neptune. I was curious about the source of the Neptune theory as I have not heard that before and didn't think Mr. Cayce had posited it. I more or less subscribed to the notion that souls came in on the eclipse just prior to birth. I find this other idea interesting as I have a stationary Neptune and would like to do a little more research on this. Karmic astrology is very intriguing as long as you keep sprinkling the salt!
Thanks!

Good morning all! Woke with a thought this morning and wanted to share.

I've been paying close attention to how we use words to frame and influence global consciousness. Beyond the obvious use of the words coined during the bush administration -- clear skies initiative, no child left behind, terrorist, freedom, et al -- there are other, more devious insinuations. News anchors quote EXPERTS. Some are named, some not. In all cases, the words that have become part of our vernacular are authoritative in some way. Very Sag, i'd say.

Has anyone else noted this? What words will we use next during Pluto in Capricorn? Since there will be a change of consciousness, will we use Capricorn influenced words and phrases? And what might those be?

Oh, karen, you'll have me pondering these things all day. In the meantime, do take a look at Swami Beyondananda's first State of the Universe Address.
http://www.wakeuplaughing.com/news.html

Shy, bwahahahahahahahahaha!

Clever, clever, fun and smart, well. . .i'm gonna be ohmmmmmmmming all day!

Karen, the most used phrase during Pluto in Capricorn will most likely be ... "oh, shit!".

With Kucinich out of the race, it is very
important that we give our support to John Edwards.

wv, John Edwards it is ... glad he's still in and I have someone to vote for.

Marta, I've read that the words most often heard on a "black box" by people investigating a plane crash is, "Oh, shit!" :-}

Moonsiren, hi, boy I wish I had known the stationery Neptune thing, I didn't, I think I brought up that I had heard that Neptune retrograde people are the Atlanteans returned. It might have been Sally who added the stationery Neptune info (I actually was born on Neptune stationery at 29 Virgo, its last stationery position before returning to Libra). I know I hadn't heard that before....so if the person who recognizes this info can check in, would love to know more also.

I read Cayce years ago, but I think the Neptune retrograde info came from some other astrological source, perhaps the older slender little paperback book on Retrogrades I have.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/opinion/25krugman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

Stimulus Gone Bad – By PAUL KRUGMAN

I'm listening to Bill's campaign speech, on Cspan. Boy he's good, he's convincoing me to vote for Hillary!
Up is dpwn& dpwn is up!

Oop he just lost me, on the division of the oil money.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

Who gets stimulated ?

Fast work by the people at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, who figure out who gets what from tax plans. They now have distribution tables for the stimulus proposal announced yesterday, and they more or less match my expectations.

More at the link...

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/9200

72,000 American Casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

The US has suffered more than 72,000 battlefield casualties since the start of the war on terror in 2001, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

The query by the campaigning Veterans for Common Sense organisation shows that 4,372 American soldiers have died and another 67,671 have been wounded in action, injured in accidents or succumbed to illness in Iraq and Afghanistan. The veterans' group had to force the US Defence Department to release the figures by persuading judges to uphold their FoI rights.

A second request to the Veterans' Administration, the government-funded body responsible for taking care of ex-servicemen and women, showed 263,909 soldiers with experience of the two 21st-century wars have so far received treatment for everything from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the aftermath of amputated limbs.

It also showed 52,375 veterans had been diagnosed with PTSD and 34,138 have received approval for disability claims for the psychological disorder. As of October 31 last year, 1.6 million Americans have been deployed overseas since 2001.

More at the link...

How the Stimulus Works

http://www.uclick.com/feature/08/01/25/jd080125.gif

Just testing, I received an email from QOP and she said it wasn't working. I just got home so I don't know how long it's been down. Let's see.

Morgana, I didn't realize you were on a mountain! But what a wonderful thing to be so self-sufficient with your energy and your lifestyle. While I'm a city girl through and through (especially nowadays), I certainly am fascinated by living on a mountain.

Stationary Neptune...I wonder how that effects spiritual sensitivity in a person. Does one become a hidden dreamer and mystic? During such a time do people become more inwardlooking and attuned to the universe? Or more likely to be self-deluding?

I see Kucinich finding his true place in a think tank where he could work on his pet issues fulltime without the distractions of actually running for office. He could also train a whole generation of politicians with his experience so that there's more than him with his ideals.

You see, it's been clear to me that Kucinich was drifting away from his Conservative Catholic constituency for a long time, and now he has to face that fact-that he must now go elsewhere.

Well Huffpo embraces astrology!..............
sort of/
But checkingout their listing, it does bring forth, ( to me) the fact that ALL the left standing Repug candidates are mutable, while 2 out of 3 Dems are in fixed signs...............
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/26/candidates-polls-horosc_n_83357.html

AND.today is the BIG day! Pluto into Capricorn.
Mercury, Neptune, NN, & to a lesser degree, are in late degree,Chiron (15o) Fixed Acquarius, near "the peoples moon", with the sun just entered that sign.
Mars/R,( 24o gem), Uranus,(16o pisces) Saturn R, ( 7o virgo) + the early day moon in virgo-liba.
What does this bode for the election results? .......................................

Sorry if I am being repetitious...do we have MCCain's chart?
Here's a scarey article about him.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-dont-be-fooled-by-the-myth-of-john-mccain-773072.html
Aug29 1936....astrodienst gave me A-1 trailor park AZ.for an address, ( seems appropriate! trailoor trsh indeed!

Carol- that was a wonderful imagination for Kucinich. Somewhere I read another astrologer suggesting that he might gain a girl child. somehow this all goes together. He is one of my heros and I always have supported him for his piercing insights into what we need and where we need to go. I love him. I do though think that he made a mistake with Edwards who is my next choice.
Seems that Pluto has come in his mighty chariot in full battle dress to kick some cheating butts and reveal the duplicity in the words of some formerly respectable types-thinking of the "rolling up debts" and selling them. Pluto will exit for a minute later to give us time to reflect on our outrageous flaunting the facts of the world such as what goes around comes around,etc and then he will be back. I am afraid we will suffer as we get back to what is real but we need it. Even the greedy ones will come to see that as one wise one said +we all do well when we all do well"
Back to Kucinch- I hadn't even thought of his "conservative catholic" district. I gave up mass myself when we got a new priest and all remnants of liberztion theology were swept out of our church. The Church has taken an ugly turn due to fear to say nothing of the fact that some of us finally realized that the story is myth not fact and so many of the rules were develped tp protect rocj men.

UHHH! that last line should read - to protect rich men.
Too early for me to write but Carol's past was so exciting and inspiring.

John McCain

August 29 1936
Yaviza, Panama
09:00 AM

The primary in SC begins today at 7:00am. Jupiter and Venus are in the 12th house with Pluto on the cusp. There is a power game going on folks and we are not privvy to the rules of the game. Bill Clinton is beginning to float the idea of a Hillary/McCain ticket, isn't that nice. The ascendant is 29 Capricorn and the MC is 17 Scorpio, favoring a Hillary win, at least a good start out of the gate.

I will be gone most of the day and will check back tonight. I am pulling for Edwards at least for second and while I have some problems with Obama, I would like to see him win this state.

I'm pulling for Edwards too Sally!

The following are some posts from a poster named JoM on Salon. Hold on to your hats.

Jane Hamsher on FDL:

http://firedoglake.com/2008/01/25/what-the-fk-is-up-with-fisa/

What The F*!k Is Up With FISA

I would just like to clarify my understanding of what's happening with the FISA debate.

The Democrats were ready to give George Bush everything that he wanted on FISA. They used Senate procedure to tank the Judiciary bill, paving the way for the Intelligence Committee bill (negotiated by Jay Rockefeller and the White House) with retroactive immunity for the telecoms. They were all lined up to vote for it save for a few meaningless tweaks...

snip

The Republicans decided that wasn't enough. They decided they would filibuster the "meaningless tweaks" just to humiliate the Democrats even further, then filed for cloture on the Intelligence Committee bill and scheduled the vote right before the State of the Union address. The Democrats either swallow the Intel bill whole or George Bush gets up there on Monday night and screams about how the Democrats are letting the terrorists win.

The Democrats are now lined up to block cloture on the very bill they were ready to pass yesterday. George Bush will publicly humiliate them for it in the SOTU, and with the Protect America Act ready to sunset on Friday February 1st, the Democrats will either find a way to extend it for another 30 days or give the Republicans everything they want anyway out of fear of being called soft on terrah.

snip

Neither of the Democratic Senators currently running for President will commit to be in the Senate for the vote on Monday (I've contacted both campaigns -- the Obama campaign says he'll be in DC but aren't sure of his schedule, and the Clinton campaign hasn't responded.)

more...

.......

Glenn Greenwald:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/?last_story=/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/26/immunity/

More disruptions to the Cheney/Rockefeller plan

As always, the significance of what has occurred here shouldn't be overstated. The only reason Senate Democrats became angry on Thursday is because Republicans actually refused to allow Democrats to capitulate, as they were ready and eager to do. Senate Republicans blocked Democrats from caving in completely to Bush because they didn't want this issue resolved. They want to ensure that Bush, in Monday's State of the Union address, can accuse Senate Democrats of failing to act on FISA, and thus attack and mock them as being weak on national security and causing the Terrorists to be able to Slaughter Us All.

And, rather pitifully, some Democrats are shocked -- so very upset -- that, yet again, their demonstrated willingness to give the Republicans everything they demanded has not prompted a Good, Nice, Courteous Response. "We did everything you told us to do. Why are you being so mean and unfair?" That sad posture is what led even Jay Rockefeller apparently to announce that he will vote against cloture on his own bill.

Worse, even if Democrats prevent the Republicans' cloture vote on Monday, that will mean we'll just be right back to where we were before that happened: with a series of votes that will almost certainly end in the Senate with some form of retroactive immunity and vastly expanded warrantless eavesdropping powers. So it isn't as though there is some victory here yet that is complete or even all that meaningful.

more.....

.........

Marcy Wheeler:

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/01/25/how-to-lead-chris-dodd-edition/

How to Lead: Chris Dodd Edition

While Hillary and Obama were leaving the work of legislating to others, Chris Dodd stepped up to lay out the stakes for the FISA debate.
President Bush wants to shut down courts whose rulings he doesn’t like; last night, Senate Republicans showed that when they don’t like the outcome of a debate, they’ll shut that down, too.

It’s one thing for a president to express that kind of contempt for the process of legislation. It’s another for the members legislative branch to express it themselves.

Mr. President, I’ve spoken repeatedly about the rule of law. The rule of law isn’t some abstract idea. It’s here with us—it’s what makes this body run.

It means we hear each other out, we do it in the open, and while the minority gets its voice, gets its right to strenuously object, the majority ultimately rules.

And standing for the rule of law anywhere means standing for it everywhere: in our courts, and in our Senate. The circumstances are different, of course; but the heart of the matter is the same. Last night, I believe, the Republican party forfeited its claim to good faith on this issue. They’re left to stake their case on fear. Whether that will be enough, the next few days will tell.

more, including YouTube video of Dodd delivering these words

....................

From the invaluable Charlie Savage of The Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/25/bush_plan_for_iraq_would_be_a_first/

Bush plan for Iraq would be a first -- No OK from Congress seen; Constitutional issues raised

President Bush's plan to forge a long-term agreement with the Iraqi government that could commit the US military to defending Iraq's security would be the first time such a sweeping mutual defense compact has been enacted without congressional approval, according to legal specialists.

snip

But there is now also growing alarm about the constitutional issues raised by Bush's plan. Legal specialists and lawmakers of both parties are raising questions about whether it would be unconstitutional for Bush to complete such a sweeping deal on behalf of the United States without the consent of the legislative branch.

"There is literally no question that this is unprecedented," said Oona Hathaway, a Yale Law School professor who has written a forthcoming law journal article about the proposed Iraq agreement. "The country has never entered into this kind of commitment without Congress being involved, period."

At a House hearing on the pact on Wednesday, Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California and a former Reagan administration official, accused the Bush administration of "arrogance" for not consulting with Congress about the pact. If it includes any guarantees to Iraq, he said, Congress must sign off.

more....

Kucinich himself has probably spent less and less time in his district. And his last Presidential run, he probably knew he was going nowhere fast, but had to run anyway to get a larger hearing. I wonder if he even feels at home anymore in his old district. A think tank would allow him to move and work on his issues on a national level. Perhaps he could even be an appointee on a state level once he is no longer in elective politics.

Clymela, I suspect that the Church finds itself increasingly trying to out-old tradition the St. Piux X people in the hope of at least keeping them in the fold. Ironically, I think with Pluto in Capricorn, people may find a certain beauty in old ritual for ritual's sake, but not necessarily go along with 1936 teachings regarding faith. The Episcopalians, once the African dioceses go their own way, is well suited to be both progressive in tone and yet have the beauty of old ritual. The Catholic Church is stuck for the moment. It can't let go of celibate clergy long enough to get real numbers of them, and they can't replace the sick ones they now have with healthier ones because the healthy one are now getting married, and with gay marriage on the horizon, even those guys aren't going to celibacy either. So no personnel for outreach or who can outreach or innovate. And the ones they now hold, the Pius X people, are few and bitter and are never satisfied. Things are never traditional enough for them.

Wiccans may blow the dust off of other old traditions as well and be able to combine them with the newness and inclusiveness of the new ways.

I have a vision about the revival of old furniture, especially the old wood. During the Eighties (Neptune and Uranus in Cap), there was a lot of renovation done which included old classic styles of architecture. Since then, antiques have always had a place in the decor I expect a full-blown revival of both old style and craft as people look for stuff that lasts long enough to pay for it.

I take great comfort in this: the network nooze is looked upon positively by almost as few Murkins as is Smirky & Snarly:

http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2007/chartland.asp?id=479&ct=col&dir=&sort=&col1_box=1&col2_box=1&col3_box=1

Oh, and the Congress, too.

And do note you can manipulate the chart to include some of your faves.

Handcrafted furniture is big here in Maine.

That McCaine chart with the correct birth place & time is scarey! Pluto & mars in the 10th house, mars in leo.ANd there are 4 squares to his sag. jupiter in the 2nd. Youbetcha he doesn't know anything about economics. I bet his wife does the family finances!

It's tempting to think we can survive this last year of BushCo and they will indeed be gone by this time in 2009. So, mebbe there isn't too much to be upset about in the following. But it is either highly amusing or harrowing to know that Mukasey hung a picture of George Orwell in a place of honor in his new offices there at the DOJ:

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/01/26/mukasey-orwell-and-bradbury/

That he also hung a picture of Jackson provides some comfort, though one or the other could have been placed there on the wall to give us peasant some "mexed missages" (remember that Bushism).

Here's the tinyurl to get to that great chart about the network nooze that gives me some hope.

http://tinyurl.com/374ec9

w/Many Thanks to PatC for the tinyurl lesson.

Oooooh, Venus-Jupiter-Moon conj Feb 1st:

http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/16296/1075/

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Climate_change_significantly_worse__01242008.html
Climate change 'significantly worse' than feared: Al Gore

Climate change is occurring far more rapidly than even the worst predictions of the UN's Nobel Prize-winning scientific panel on climate change, Al Gore said on Thursday.

Recent evidence shows "the climate crisis is significantly worse and unfolding more rapidly than those on the pessimistic side of the IPCC projections had warned us," climate campaigner and former US vice-president Gore said.

There are now forecasts that the North Pole ice caps may disappear entirely during summer months within five years, he told a gathering at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a massive report the size of three phone books on the reality and risks of climate change, its 4th assessment in 18 years.

Global warming is a key theme at this year's meeting of the world's business and political elite in Davos.

end of article

Now, I ask, WHY would anyone be afraid to esteem Orwell? the man was brilliant, a brilliant writer. WHY is this scary? Because he wrote Animal Farm? because he saw what fascism was? I am perplexed....

Let's hope, JudiGem, he liked Orwell for the clarity of his writing and not because he likes the idea of an animal farm. After all, this is the guy who can't say what torture is--which doesn't strike me as a response from somebody who admires clarity.

Oh, and by the way, the sky is falling. Due to hit late Feb or Mar. Of this year.

http://tinyurl.com/32yovm

Shy isn't that something. Wonder why it croaked?
US Spy satellite went caput, makes you go hmmm. Didn't China prove last year it could shoot them out of the sky, where are they when we need them?

Hi, AW. Twice in this thread people refer to the bullying tactics of GWB and the Repugs--once in the charge that the Repugs wouldn't let the House Dems capitulate on the latest terrorism legislation but Bush plans to rub the Dems' noses in it in the SOTU, and once in the Krugman article about Bush's economic "stimulus" plan.

Not sure how to articulate my question, but is it possible to compare Bush's chart with any of the candidates' charts and see who might be likely to face down the bully? Will the bully even get faced down, or just slink off when his term ends? And can you compare the chart of the Iraq war with the chart of the Dem candidates and see how they would deal with the war?

That may be some tall orders--I don't know, I'm just wondering.

And who said the last few days were very like merc retrograde? We just took our daughter to start college, and boy, the trip was sure like Merc Rx to me. We forgot important things, had hotel snafu, ended up driving around unfamiliar place way too late at night, my husband fell down an escalator when carrying bags, and got rather skinned up. But we all lived, and things worked out ok in the end.

Pluto is making his way to the top of my chart, and now opposite my natal Uranus at 0 Cancer. My second Saturn return doesn't seem very bad. Thank you to whoever wrote on this site about learning to like where your Saturn is (was that how it went?) and said the nice things about Virgo. I think I like my Virgo Saturn now too. (Sun is 25 Gemini, 11 Aries ascending)

Mosh

I read the comments on the Orwell/firedoglake site....

it seems pretty dicey trying to interpret what someone likes....especially a lawyer, who would probably never give a straight answer. (or triangulation, which two lawyers Bill and Hill are VERY good at)

I have kept up wanting to say, over the last few months, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

thank you, groucho marx.

Marcia, this whole past week has affected me more than any merc. retrograde ever has. It's been really weird.

The republicans are the new USSR.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/26/leahy-foia/

Leahy And Cornyn: White House Trying To ‘Eliminate’ FOIA Office

((((Mosh))))

Pat C...UH OH>>>from the same website you posted

THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT REVEALED:

http://www.wnd.com/ news/ printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52576

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

THE NEW WORLD DISORDER
Documents reveal ’shadow government’

Freedom of Information request puts 1,000 new pages online

“We have hundreds of pages of e-mails from U.S. executive branch administrators who are copying the e-mail to somewhere between 25 to 100 people, a third of whom are in the U.S. bureaucracy, a third of whom are in the Mexican bureaucracy and a third of whom are in the Canadian bureaucracy,” said Corsi.

“They are sharing their laws and regulations so we can ‘harmonize’ and ‘integrate’ our laws into a North American structure, not a USA structure.”
Corsi claims the process is well along the way.

“This is totally outside the U.S. Constitution, virtually an executive branch coup d’etat,” he said. “SPP is creating new trilateral memoranda of understanding and mutual agreements which should be submitted to Senate for two-thirds votes as international treaties.”

SPP Documents

SPP Response to Jerome Corsi Freedom of Information Act Requests

The following are the documents SPP sent in response to the FOIA request submitted by J. Corsi. As you will see, SPP responded with incomplete documents, in no particular order. We have grouped the documents here in a fashion which should make examining them possible. J. Corsi is continuing to request additional FOIA-released documents from SPP.

http://stopspp.com/stopspp/?page_id=11

the top link in this article is not right. the bottom one is....

Here's a simple & interesting explanation of Health Ledger's astro influences. He was going through his 1st Saturn return (which, I agree Mosh, has to be worse than the 2nd one because you're still so untested at that time) with Saturn opposing his Picean venus, apparently at his south node.

http://www.tarot.com/blog/?p=56&author_name=jjawer

It's the part of tarot.com site (which offers free tarot readings, as does facade.com) which has the blogs of some good astrologers.

Meanwhile, I'm kind of excited that, in the midst of Saturn in Virgo affecting all of my Pisces and Pluto opposing my chiron, the venus-jupiter conjunction will be transiting the cusp of my 7th house.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/26/sc.primary/index.html

Obama projected to win SC.

No surprise about S.C.....

Huge victory for Obama judi. Poor John Edwards was practically ignored.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21229231

You mean poor us US, don't you?

I wonder if those projections are correct. The numbers are changing dramatically.

HA! unbelievable...! and the company is called 'WellPoint'...well HA! I say...just check out Huffington Post.

Ex-WellPoint Exec Accused of Womanizing

In a cluster of lawsuits gathered up by The Associated Press, the former chief financial officer of health insurance giant WellPoint Inc. is depicted as a corporate Casanova _ a world-class, love-'em-and-leave-'em sort of guy who romanced dozens of women around the country simultaneously, made them extravagant promises and then went back on his word with all the compassion of a health insurance company denying a claim.

Oh don't you just LOVE this...and Well Point was only founded in 2004.

Here's another good source.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

Pat C, what do you mean, the numbers are changing dramatically?

Caroline Kennedy will endorse Obama tomorrow.

And here's another Kennedy heard from............
http://rfkin2008.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/this-is-the-world-eisenhower-warned-us-about-rfk-jr/

Several emails have recently come in asking “what the hell got into Bobby this week on Ring of Fire?” (His Saturday Air America radio show) I don’t know, but whatever set him ablaze, I will say that the man was in rare form. This was one of the best broadcasts I’ve heard from him in quite awhile.

A President Like My Father

New York Times, United States - 10 minutes ago
By CAROLINE KENNEDY

http://tinyurl.com/26gzjm -NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/us/politics/27florida.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

Surge in Early Balloting Shifts Florida Races

BOCA RATON, Fla. — A surge of early voting by Florida Democrats and Republicans has startled officials here and injected additional complexity into the state’s presidential primaries on Tuesday.

Well I guess the Clintons' politics backfired on them, if the figures that I see on the TV screen are correct - Obama won with 54%, Clintons 27%, Edwards 18%. Obama won 2 to 1 over Hillary. My guy won!!! I'm so excited! And I'm happy to see that Caroline Kennedy is also putting in a good word for him. I'm just reading one of Obama's books that Caroline referred to, called "Dreams From My Father", and I highly recommend it. Next, I'll be reading his "Audacity Of Hope" which I already bought.
Go Obama!!! I believe!!! Yay!!!!

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/11/halliburton200711?currentPage=1

If you want to read about somebody to admire, read this article. Alan Grayson is somebody I hope will be making headlines in the near future. You may have read about him over at FDL -the tales he will tell if he gets elected in Florida - wow! I would love to see comments on his chart (that is if anybody is able to get his birth info).

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/ProveIt

Senators Clinton and Obama: You're ready to lead? Prove it.

Show up for the FISA vote.

U.S. Race Captures World’s Eye, and Holds It
NYT By ALAN COWELL

From Berlin to London to Jakarta, the presidential candidates’ destinies have become hometown news in a way that commentators cannot recall. ....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/world/26abroad.html?ref=todayspaper

Please go into these links and watch the video and then also go look at the pictures Bev Harris took of the SLIT ballot boxes. What a complete farce in N.H. with their so-called chain of custody. Ballots were actually packed in boxes used from businesses, like Staples, and they hadn't been counted yet! Most of this is on www.blackboxvoting.org, as well as the links below--sent from Bev Harris:

Please distribute widely, Digg, Blog, reprints, get this to the media, etc.

A troubling 6-min YouTube video from Black Box Voting: Click here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKQEQ7qHvgM

NEW HAMPSHIRE CHAIN OF CUSTODY BREAKDOWN

The "seals" are not seals. The "chain of custody" is not a chain of custody. Ballots being transported by the "state police" are actually transported by Butch and Hoppy, who are not employed by the state police. Butch and Hoppy's real names are not really Butch and Hoppy.

IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, IT'S ALL IN PLAIN SIGHT.

The chain of custody in the New Hampshire recount is using a false seal, and on at least one night, officials chose to leave the ballots out of the ballot vault.

We tailed ballot transport guys "Butch" and "Hoppy", captured ballot footage in the vault, and grilled public officials to get the real answers, which were sometimes lies and often evasive. More to come, new clips will be posted on the main page at http://www.blackboxvoting.org

More on the sham labels and leaving ballots out of the vault, click here: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/71572.html

Photos of ballot boxes delivered with slits in them, click here: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/71456.html

Please feel free to distribute, reprint or excerpt from the information in the stories linked above, with link to Black Box Voting and the video link above.

Bev Harris Black Box Voting bev@blackboxvoting.org

JudiGem: Thanks for your prompt response. You DID say retrograding Neptune. I misspoke (miswrote?), since my Neptune is SR in Libra I made the leap to actual retrograde. Just can't find the source for the Atlantis connection and don't think it was Cayce either...

QOP: Thanks for the link to the Kennedy site..

http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/3311/81/

Trends for Downsizing the US: The Bright Side of the Panic of ‘08

Futurist and trends forecaster Gerald Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, predicted the 1987 stock market crash, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, the Asian economic implosion of ‘97, the decline of the dollar beginning in 2005, the meteoric rise in gold prices in an age of currency volatility, and the turn of events that may be the blessing of our era, the subprime mortgage crisis. Because of this habit of prescience, Celente has appeared regularly on CNN and Fox and MSNBC, his “Trends Reports” widely quoted in newsprint, on Oprah Winfrey, on Good Morning America.

More at the link...

According to this article in The Nation, Obama is even to the right of Clinton. It's one of the few articles I've seen that attempts to state what his policies and goals are. I have trouble getting a grip on them.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080211/fraser

Thanks shy.

Apparently the Atlantic Free Press (my last post) is down.

Well the Atlantic Free PRess this is not but it's an interesting book review about Celente, & his relationship with his Aunt Zizi.
http://www.ctlibraryassociation.org/reviews/zizi.html
and this, don't know how positive it is!
http://newsblaze.com/story/20080115102558tsop.nb/topstory.html

Sally, beautifully expressed juxtaposing of our rhythmic primordial place in this world invaded by these unnatural, strange, inexplicable bringers of grief. Who can we trust? Obama (can't remember a word he's said)
Hillary (bush/clinton Thatcher Hatchet behind her back?) complete the corporate giveaway?

Then we have Robert Kennedy Jr., whose voice we'll be hearing much more..his progressed chart made me happy and hopeful this morning!
Born 1-17-54, his mercury is now going direct at one degree pisces after 24 years, with firey extraverted accompaniments. In addition, jupiter will be visiting his many capricorn placements (including the north node) throughout this year with momentum to carry him (at the 1/4 moon phase) over the next 7+ years into the future.
Perhaps Caroline Kennedy too, can play a role in keeping Obama HONEST. That did occur to me he can be influenced by the genuinely pure democrats who have been hiding for the last 28 years.
I look forward to mercury going direct in the u.s.a. chart in 2016, this could be when we also find our voices coming out of the silent screams of this waking nightmare to CONTRUCTIVE manifestation.
It has also occured to me that the mars retro moving toward saturn (decades-long process) can actually be US rebuilding our own infrastructure (green businesses) and internal economy.
This meeting of mars/pluto ingressing into capricorn is, I think, the economic shock wave we've been expecting. Just before the Jan 09 swearing-in. If Obama is the one, he'll be forced to grow into his suit straightaway and make clear choices about who he's working for and why. If it's Hillary, I worry more. Lots more. Then again, because they're not plain-speaking people keeping good company, who can dispute our giantsized reservations.

P.S. My son Will came up with a brilliant idea this morning to remedy the global warming induced beetle-kill of our pine forests here in CO (which will be dead within 5 years if our temps don't drop to 40-below zero to nip the epidemic). Here it is: Quit burning the trees and use LIQUID NITROGEN to halt the beetles.

One more comment re Obama. He does have an 'iffy' mercury square neptune. Easily led...
depending on who gets their hands on him, and whether or not he's allowed to live.

Obama's choice of VP is everything. For the sake of his survival and perhaps ours as well.

Why Edwards must stay in the race:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/26/201956/685/633/443806

PatC, fantastic article by grannyhelen. So easy to go into MSM hypnosis, and the unnatural (unspoken, scarey) proposition of H or O. Overnight we buy into the slightest 'suggestion' of the way things are.
Edwards is our mind/heart/body choice. If he withdraws we know his votes flow to O, not H.
Both shakey prospects since day one. But now we've got Caroline's sentimental "just like dad" endorsement based on the reading of a book (?!!).

Thugs are out to get the troublesome Kucinich completely out of the way by threatening his senate seat altogether. They want him silenced. It is not so much neglected contituents...why hasn't this arisen in any other race in memory..this is a party crash power grab bully tactic of the usual order.

And Uncle Ted just jumped on the bandwagon ( CNN Late Edition!)
He is endorsing Obama too.!

Right you are patb!

http://firedoglake.com/2008/01/27/fisa-its-a-sunday-fax-a-thon-for-the-rule-of-law/

FISA: It’s A Sunday FAX-a-thon For The Rule Of Law

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20080127_Judiciary_Committee_should_move_to_impeach_Bush_and_Cheney.html

Judiciary Committee should move to impeach Bush and Cheney

Elizabeth Holtzman
served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973 to 1981

Since mid-December, members of the House Judiciary Committee Robert Wexler (D., Fla.), Luis Gutierrez (D., Ill.) and Tammy Baldwin (D., Wis.) have called for hearings on the impeachment of Vice President Cheney.

This should not be surprising, given the strength of the case for impeachment. What's surprising is that it took so long for members of this committee, normally tasked with holding impeachment proceedings, to call for them.

They face huge political resistance on Capitol Hill. But they aren't alone. Other Democratic members are joining them. Former senator and Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern recently published an op-ed demanding impeachment proceedings for both Bush and Cheney. Bruce Fein, a Republican who served in the Reagan Justice Department, and many other constitutional scholars also argue for impeachment.

More at the link...

Even selecting a mascot for the Dem Convention got a bit rough and contentious:

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=85217

Well, Hillary was lambasted this morning on both NBC's Meet the Press, and CBS' Face the Nation. She came in for mucho criticism about the divisive politics that she and Bill are engaging in, and when Bob Scheiffer put some tough questions to her, her excuses that Bill probably went over the top because he feels passionate about getting her elected, and how much he loves her and all that drivel didn't wash. Her phoniness was just so transparent. Then she always ends with "all the candidates' spouses are campaigning passionately for them", but it's not quite the same, is it Hillary? I saw a comment by a poster which said that she will divorce Bill within a year if he doesn't get he into the White House. Hahaha. You know the more I look at Hillary's face on TV, the more it looks like the moon, especially when it wears that wide grin, so I feel pretty sure that she either has Cancer on the Ascendant, or the Moon rising close to the Asc. Maybe one of the birth times given for her coincides with this position.

Let's not kid ourselves. John Edwards plays both sides. Sometimes it's Hill, and sometimes it's Obama. He knows that his chances of winning the nomination are pretty slim, so he's hoping for a VP position, and that is one of the reasons he's staying in the race. He will use his delegates to make a deal with either candidate, if it means putting one of them over the top - he will give them to whomever chooses him as their running mate. I think one of the things that really turns off potential voters is his tired and old routine of pointing out in the audience, his ever-present parents "the mill workers". He has a narrow appeal - the white voters who don't like Hillary, but won't vote for Obama for whatever reason, so by staying in the race, he does become a spoiler, but that is his choice, and obviously he is well-financed to do so.

Sorry, I don't see Edwards as a spoiler. He's the only candidate left who keeps some vitally important issues front and center. He is anti-corporation which means he's anti-fascist which is when the country is run for, by and off coprorations. Kuchinich did it with impeachement and the war that and Dodd did that for the Constitutional crisis.

And who should he go with? The person who doesn't offer him the VP spot? I would like to see him offered the Attorney General position so he can really go after the corporate crime with all the resources the government has.

I meant to write 'of corporations'. 'Off corporations' would be making them do their fair share of paying for a government of, by and for the people.

And in keeping with the whole mess we have just picked a new Miss America who can't sing! How American. Funny , they remodeled the entire pagent......( and did a oppretty good job of it, )except the talent part! The bar has sunk lower than it was there. I guess the poor girls lack role models. Doesn't matter if you can carry a tune if you look good in a bikini!

Ah, but QOP, you should check out the link I posted just a few above yours, the one about the contentiousness surrounding the selection of the Dem mascot. It's not just Miss America contests.

Meanwhile, just saw a post somewhere else that today is KO's birthday. Anyone have any particulars? He's done so much to try and bring journalism back within the realm of respectability, that it should be neat to see what his astro info is. Thnx.

PatC, I notice that you post on Nancy's website, and I was wondering how you register in order to do that. I see where you can post a comment, but it doesn't get posted unless you register; however, I did not see any instructions on how to register. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Maybe they should hve the donkeys audition, singing, in Vegas?
Still more proof of our cognitive dysfunction.....
McCain & Lieberman speechifying in FLa.! Making extravagant promises about improving education.
Just how they plan to do that in the midst of a 100 years war, they're not saying!
Yes they really are on the stump TOGETHER!
source CNN.

Interesting that there are two asses braying away in FL, QOP.

crystal, it's been a long time since I first started posting, but I think that if you scroll down to the comment box and fill in the required info it goes to the administrator and is approved. If I'm wrong, then there is a clickable contact in the upper left side in the purple margin.

Thanks PatC. I'm in.

Does anyone notice that big bulge sticking out on McCain's left cheek? It doesn't look right. I remember he had a bout with cancer, but I don't recall whether it was prostate related, or melanoma on his face. If the latter, that might account for it.

Yes, McCain had a melanoma growth removed, on that very spot!
Can you hear the din/spin if Kucinich ( or any Democratic candidate had something that looked like that?

QOP and Crystal,
I see McCain as doddering, old, senile, not firing on all his cylinders. The melanoma is worrisome, as is his appearance of frailty, sickly not robust, not strong. I worry about his mental stability, his fanaticism for war. Is he viewing Iraq through the lens of Vietnam, such that by winning Iraq we erase the loss of Vietnam? And he has holy Joe Lieberman in lockstep, makes me smelleth the Zionists, and the bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb ----, ditty McCain sang at a campaign stop.
Every single Republican candidate is seriously flawed. No wonder Trent Lott said the leadership didn't have a player in this lot, he said, "let the people choose", and then he chuckled.
So picture Putin then picture McCain. Picture Romney, oh geeze, picture Rudy up against Putin. Let alone these guys facing the Chinese!

Anyone seen anything about Elizabeth Edwards lately? I've seen Cate filling in at the debates and campaign rallies. Tough row to hoe.

Two headlines I just saw: the head of the Mormon church just died and the head of Greek Orthodox just died, too. Interesting coinkydink.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/hillary-sends-bill-on-cam_b_83452.html

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has sent her husband, former President Bill Clinton, on a "special campaign trip" to Antarctica that could last "six or seven months," Clinton aides confirmed today.

"From here on in, Bill is going to be our man in Antarctica," said top Clinton strategist Mark Penn. "We have sent him down there with enough food and firewood to last until the Democratic convention this summer."
AND..........

http://firedoglake.com/2008/01/27/breaking-hillary-clinton-to-vote-no-on-cloture-tomorrow/

According to the Clinton campaign, Hillary Clinton will be in the Senate tomorrow to vote "no" on cloture on the Intel version of the FISA bill. The vote is scheduled to take place at 4:30 pm tomorrow.

Well here is a new Dem site in MAine.
http://www.downeastpolitics.com/content/?q=node/8
poll 42% prefer Edwards!
21% Kucinich even tho he is out!
Gives me some guidance going into the caucus!

Smirky's last (we hope) SOTU address: two views.

The reflective:
http://firedoglake.com/2008/01/28/the-state-of-our-union/#more-16435

The reactive:
http://www.drinkinggame.us/

QOP, that piece on Bill Clinton was too funny. I almost split my sides laughing. Poor Bill, he now looks like a caricature of his former self in the 90s.

QOP, as you know we (FL) vote in the Primaries tomorrow, but since the DNC will not be accepting our delegates, does that also mean that if the Democrats vote, that their votes won't be counted? I'm not sure if I could or should vote.

Morgana, could you imagine team Mc Cain/Lieberman? A recipe for unending war, and worse case scenario if Mc Cain dies in office, and Lieb becomes president by default? Have you seen his views on the ME? He is a Zionist for sure. Probably one of the neo-cons.

Glenn Greenwald (what would we do without him?):

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/?last_story=/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/28/bush_fisa/

What's at stake today in the Senate's FISA filibuster vote

The [Protect America Act's] amendments to FISA -- but not FISA itself -- expire on February 2 and, due almost entirely to the behavior of the White House and their GOP Congressional followers, it seems unlikely that a new law can be in place by that date.

snip

As a result of these GOP-caused delays, Congressional Democrats are seeking a 30-day extension of the PAA to give them time to pass a new law in a calm and deliberate manner. But after claiming that the PAA is oh-so-vital to our ability to remain alive, the President this weekend threatened that he would veto any such extension, thus allowing this Extremely Critical Law to expire

snip

The administration explicitly admits that the President won't allow an extension because he wants to repeat the success of last August -- when Congressional Democrats capitulated to every Bush demand because they were told they had to act within a matter of days, i.e., before their recess, lest they cause us all to be killed by The Terrorists. "They need the heat of the current law lapsing to get this done," said a senior administration official, courteously granted anonymity by The Politico's Allen to issue these threats.

This veto threat is one of the President's brazen acts ever, so nakedly exposing the fun and games he routinely plays with National Security Threats. After sending Mike McConnell out last August to warn that we will all die without the PAA, Bush now says that he would rather let it expire than give Congress another 30 days. He just comes right out and announces, then, that he will leave us all vulnerable to a Terrorist Attack unless he not only gets everything he wants from Congress -- all his new warrantless eavesdropping powers made permanent plus full immunity for his lawbreaking telecom partners -- but also gets it exactly when he wants it (i.e., now -- not 30 days from now).

If the Democrats had even the slightest strategic sense and/or courage -- just the slightest amount -- this is a political confrontation they would be uncontrollably eager to have.

snip

That's what is at stake today as Senate Democrats try to sustain a filibuster against the Republicans' efforts to force a final vote on the truly pernicious Senate Intelligence Committee bill. Are there any limits at all on the willingness of Congressional Democrats to be bullied and humiliated by Republicans, even by the most transparently disingenuous tactics such as these?

snip

The veto threat from the President is so unbelievably corrupt and manipulative that if our national press had even the smallest amount of critical faculties and understanding of the issues, that veto threat would be a major story. After all, how can the President possibly threaten the country that he will veto a law that he himself has claimed for months is indispensable for Protecting Us All?

But as has been true from the beginning of this scandal, reporters have been too slothful to learn the facts (or too willing to distort them), and administration officials have been easily able to convince them of all sorts of things that are patently false, which they then convey to their readers.

More at the link....

Crystal,
I honestly don't know if your primary vote counts? I have been so busy all Fall I have missed out on the nuances ,like Mich & Fla. disagreement with the DNC. Best to call your Dem chair and find out! Or google a state Dem website?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/27/22471/9024/954/444502

Keep pushing, clear up until 4:30 tomorrow afternoon, EST.

The Senators we need to convince of this are those who voted with the Republicans to table the Leahy substitute amendment, the version of the bill that contained all of those protections, and didn't allow telco amnesty. One of them, Rockefeller, has already said he'll vote no on cloture. Call the rest of the Senators and tell them to stand with their majority on Monday's cloture vote and vote no.

Bayh (202) 224-5623
Carper 202) 224-2441
Inouye (202) 224-3934
Johnson (202) 224-5842
Landrieu (202)224-5824
McCaskill (202) 224-6154
Mikulski (202) 224-4654
Nelson (FL) (202) 224-5274
Nelson (NE) (202) 224-6551
Pryor (202) 224-2353
Salazar (202) 224-5852

In addition, call or e-mail your own Senators.

This is where we stand in FL at the moment:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/battle-lines-drawn-over-florida-primary/

Hillary was down here in Sarasota last night at a $2300 a plate fundraising dinner. She said she will also do the same in Michigan. Claimed that she wasn't violating the Democratic pledge to campaignin in FL, but she was meeting and greeting all the people who gathered outside the home where she visited, so what's that?

In the long run, I don't think endorsements influence voters one way or another, and I think Obama has some uphill battles ahead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/us/politics/28kennedy.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Crystal, some of the endorsers are super delegates who can push a candidate over. Say for instance the ruling members of the Democratic Party didn't like Obama. So even though he got the most delegates via the primaries, the super delegates throw their lot to say Clinton, so if the people choose someone they don't like, they just override their will.

I hope the seat the Florida delegates, that was stupid to take them out of the process, even if they did push up their primary. Cripes I'm as sick of Iowa choosing our leader as anyone else. By the time the primaries got to California in June we were stuck with the candidate of Iowa's choice, oh barfo.

Thanks for that input Morgana. I still do not fully understand how the political system works in America. Sometimes it seems very complex.

They just explained on CNN, tho FLa. can't have Dem delegates, they DO count the votes, so if you want to influence the situation go ahead & vote.
(CNN referred to it as a popularity contest.
Meanwhile uberconservative Jeb Babbitt Uh, I mean Babbin, editor of Human Events MAg., pissed me off so bad I called & left an angry message on his answering machine...... He pulled that "old white man" myth: When I was a young man in the navy, my wife & I came to DC. and we made it by eating peanut butter....... In America if you are not lazy, you can get ahead and follow the American Dream!
Bull shit! In the Dark ages maybe! He was almost my age...his disposable income back then was probably 1/2 of his salary AND HIS WIFE probably didn't work but attended teas for Navy Wives!

Babbin was on Cspan, that fair & balanced liberal station!

Crystal, think of it! One plate of Clinton's dinner to feed her Ambitions, can feed a family of 3 for 4 1/2 months, cover medical expenses for a few years, clothing for 5 years, a decent used car, gas & electricity for 2 1/2 years, or housing (poor example)2 1/2 months.

For the fun of it, I did 4 successive charts for Hillary leading up to 2-5 (not the end of it unfortunately). Each chart is a study in red, redder, reddest. Angry, angrier, angriest. How charming is the person pushing to be first on the bus. If we could hear the snorts and grunts we might be appropriately turned off.

As they elbow their way to first it is us shoved out of the way. Their employers. That's why we are pushing back until we wrest our constitutional rights out of their hands and put THEM in search of a Real Job.

WOW! Ted Kennady is delivering a speech, that is right up there with his brothers & MLKs Tom Paine's best!He didn't do this for Kerry 4 years ago although he was compelling then. This is a star momenet for him!
God and he's a handsome man, as well!
I'm a Sucker for a Pisces always was!

qop, wowee wow wow. Maybe they'll make an honest man out of Obama yet!

And BArack is risong to the occassion...........
It's gonna make the SOTU tonight pretty puny!

The Dream has never died!
( Kennedy era.)

Did you know that his Father came from Kenya to study here, through the help of the Kennady Foundation!
What goes around comes around!

QOP, I was listening to the endorsement speech too. Wonderful! And I heard what Obama said about when he visited his grandmother in Kenya living in a hut with no electricity and running water, and he asked her for anything that she might have of his father's, and she handed him a bundle of letters - all applications to colleges in the U.S., and he was finally accepted with the help of a Kennedy Foundation scholarship to attend college - where he met Obama's mother, and here is Obama now. Wasn't that some story QOP? The circle connects. The chain is unbroken. Wheeee!!!!! I'm too old for all this excitement. Hahahahaha.

I'll be voting tomorrow.

I watched the speeches as well. It was all excellent, but though I don't know exactly why, I am still concerned.

Meanwhile:

This was posted by McCamy Taylor on Salon's TT. I think it's perfect.

"The first two things the Bush administration did were to set their energy agenda (i.e. set their sights on Iraq) and implement their universal program of surveillance. That surveillance program--a tug of the forelock to the late J. Edgar Hoover--is what controls official Washington today.

George W. Bush presides over one of the greatest criminal enterprises known to mankind. His administration--with all its problems--stands astride the globe in a way Hitler would view with choleric envy.

Congress, the press, the courts, and the bureaucracy are no more powerful than the secrets they keep. They have no secrets from the Bush administration. Senators with wealthy husbands can be persuaded easily if knowledge of the existence of that offshore stash of tax dodges affords any leverage. Representatives and senators with hooker and/or drug habits or slush funds or dubious donors or who aren't open about an illicit relationship are malleable because the Justice Department has gathered a treasure trove of information acquired from NSA, CIA, DIA, DEA, and any other component of the alphabet soup that looks over our collective shoulder.

Low taxes, lax regulations, and high oil prices have been Holy Grails for the rich since 1932. The coming economic fall is the sound of that top one percent cashing in its chips. They have achieved their objective and will repair to the far corners of the world, their hoarded dough stashed safely in Switzerland and other monetary safe havens. Tsk! Tsk! What a sty the United States has become!

It has been brought about by surveillance, shameless blackmail, and ruthless prosecution of revenge for those who refuse to cooperate. Yes, government is broken. Intentionally broken. Maliciously broken. The free press isn't free because it's bound by the same snooping that keeps the thieving apparatus running smoothly. It's why telecomm immunity is so important to the administration (and some in Congress) right now.

The Gravy Train is pulling out of the station, fully loaded and with a clear track ahead. The Bush Administration Motto? "So long, suckers!" "

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/28/bush_fisa/index.html

UPDATE IV from Glenn Greenwald:

Hillary Clinton's FISA statement is here http://firedoglake.com/2008/01/28/hillary-clinton-statement-on-fisa/. She's supporting Dodd's filibuster and also now co-sponsoring his amendment to strip the bill of telecom immunity. I can guarantee you that that is a direct result of the pressure exerted by blog readers and others.

The latest indication is that Democrats will successfully block cloture on the bill today -- and thus proceed to debate and vote on the rest of the amendments -- but will fail to get the votes for a 30-day extension. That is a very strange combination, since it will almost certainly put the House in the extremely untenable position of either: (a) passing a bill in a day that is identical to what will be the terrible bill passed by the Senate (i.e., with immunity and warrantless eavesdropping) or (b) allowing the FISA "fixes" to expire with no veto and thus be blamed for that.

That is the same manipulative series of events that happened last August -- when the Senate hastily passed a terrible bill (the Protect America Act) and thus left the House one day either to pass the same terrible bill or allow the recess to occur with no bill at all. If the Senate passes a bill only after the amendments are debated but does not extend the deadline, it will give the House a day or two at most to decide what to do.

More at the link....

FDL will be live blogging the FISA proceeding today in the Senate.

http://firedoglake.com/2008/01/28/fisa-so-whats-next/

Bush Administration Praises Suharto

One of the most bloodthirsty dictators of the 20th century -- who killed up to a million of his own people, then ruthlessly raped a defenseless country, took it over and killed 200,000 more -- died last week. The Bush Administation's reaction was swift, and entirely characteristic of a government that has devoted itself to the advancement of human liberty across the globe:

They sang the mass murderer a hymn of praise.

As Australia's Herald Sun reports:

THE United States hailed former Indonesian president Suharto as a "historic figure" who "achieved remarkable economic development", in a statement released by its embassy in Jakarta.
“President Suharto led Indonesia for over 30 years, a period during which Indonesia achieved remarkable economic and social development,” ambassador Cameron Hume said in the release....
Offering his condolences on behalf of the United States, Mr Hume praised Suharto for his close ties to the United States and his role in creating the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
But we wouldn't like to leave the impression that the Bush response was nothing more than a big wet kiss from one bloodstained tyrant to another. No, in the midst of his laudatory statement, Ambassador Hume suddenly lashed out with a daring verbal blow for the cause of freedom, going so far as to say that "there may be some controversy" over Suharto's legacy. "Some controversy!" Boy, that's telling it like it is. Say on, brother!

He quickly tempered this rash outburst, however, by noting that "President Suharto was a historic figure who left a lasting imprint on Indonesia and the region." In much the same way that, oh, say, Adolf Hitler left a lasting impression in his neck of the woods.

--Chris Floyd

http://www.chris-floyd.com/

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/01/edwards_charts_a_new_path_to_d.html#more

Edwards charts a new "path" to Dem nomination

Tribune

John Edwards entered 2008 with a front-loaded plan to win the Democratic presidential nomination: score wins or strong finishes in the four early states, build momentum, and ride it through Super Tuesday on Feb. 5.

It didn't pan out like he'd hoped. Edwards followed a second-place finish in Iowa with three straight thirds behind Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, most recently in his native South Carolina. Strategy scuttled, Edwards faced two choices: drop out, or get a new plan.

He picked the new plan.

The Edwards campaign laid out the former North Carolina senator's "path to the nomination" in a memo released to reporters today. The strategy banks on ad campaigns in 10 Feb. 5 states – including several of the "red" states where Edwards has been pitching himself as the only Democrat with a shot to win in November – and grassroots pushes in the more than a dozen others that vote on Super Tuesday. It's bankrolled by internet donations the campaign says have rolled in over the last month (analysts say money, more than anything, will dictate how long Edwards can compete).

The strategy presumes that the Democratic nomination, with three viable candidates, will remain a dogfight for individual delegates for weeks to come. It also presumes Edwards will survive to face either Obama or Clinton "one on one" in the final weeks of the race, and that Democrats who haven't heard his message to this point will pick Edwards at the end of the game.

As the campaign writes in its memo: "The bottom line: John Edwards is the underdog against two celebrity candidates who have each raised over $100 million, yet he enjoys broad support – and is in position to win delegates -- across the country."

I'm taking this as a good sign. Harry Reid acknowledged the work of bloggers in getting this FISA/telecom immunity outrage protested widely. emptywheel has the details (she's there today):

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/01/28/reid-thanks-christy-and-mcjoan-on-fisa/

Thanks to wiser, adamant students and parents, the administrators of Choate-Rosemary Hall prep school have had to cancel the appearance of KKKKarl at the graduation this year. Seems the administrators involved in offering KKKKarl the opportunity should be sent to some remedial program to acquire more smarts.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/28/rove-commencement-address-canceled/

I wonder if my sarcastic remark to Landrieu made an impression, she voted against cloture!

Don't count Hillary out yet. Remember the article I posted from Huff a while ago about Scorpios? Well, with all those planets in Scorpio, I'm sure she'll re-invent herself yet again, and make a comeback. She's licking her wounds now, but not for long.

OOOps LAndrieu voted no before she voted yes? Are they allowed to do that? CHange their vote?

Here is something Bush has coming up right away, just for us.

Senators say White House plans to eliminate special FOIA office

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0108/012508cdam2.htm

Less than a month after President Bush signed legislation overhauling the Freedom of Information Act, the measure's main Senate backers are accusing the White House of planning to scuttle a special FOIA office in violation of the law.

An aide to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Office of Management and Budget officials have told committee staff that they plan in the president's fiscal 2009 budget to park within the Justice Department all the funding authorized by the new law for a Government Information Services Office within the National Archives and Records Administration.

The office would include an ombudsman to oversee FOIA disputes across government. It is intended to push agencies to comply with the law, address FOIA backlogs and speed up resolution of FOIA requests. The office has not received any appropriations and its budget has not been set.

But by shifting the funding to the Justice Department, OMB would effectively eliminate the office, because it appears no similar operation would be created there, Leahy's aide said. Instead, the funds apparently would go to the department's Information Policy Office, which now oversees government FOIA compliance.

More at the link...

The vote was 48-45. Republicans missed by a whopping 12 votes to achieve cloture (60 votes needed for cloture). That's a pretty gaping defeat; the Democrats did well to stand together. Three Democratic Senators -- Ben Nelson (Nebraska), Blanche Lincoln, and Mark Pryor -- voted for cloture (Mary Landrieu originally voted for cloture, then apparently changed her vote). The rest of the Democrats (including Rockefeller, Reid, Clinton and Obama) voted in support of the filibuster, along with 1 lonely GOP Senator (Specter).
well I WAS paying attention , she DID change her vote.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/28/fisa_debate/index.html

If you want to see how anyone has voted, remember Project Vote Smart. You can cross check, reference, any politician and their money, too.

you will find may listings for the same bill on the same day under any of the names running, and they may reflect different votes.

http://votesmart.org/index.htm

PatC, re FOIA. Wexler is making progress to impeach. This mutable square is meaner than we think for both sides of the aisle, including mars 9virgo for gwpinhead, the saturn/mars pendulum makes a final swoooshh over his vacant bean in early may, then july and august the guys come in to take out the trash. Going out on a limb here, but first saturn makes it's complicating second drawback from his natal mars, (pullback of the bow), in May mars first conjuncts his saturn, then his mercury/pluto/asc as Saturn goes direct May 3.
In July mars&saturn meet direct on his mars.

This eclipse on Feb 6 is one bookend sandwiching events til the Aug 1 solar eclipse on his asc/pluto/merc finalized around the Aug 16 fm lunar eclipse (the other bookend).
The BUG which is gwpinhead will squish between them. (it is hoped and expected).

Tonight, Monday Jan. 28, Bush's first words at the SOTU address were at 9:09 PM EST.

Turned off the TV then before my stomach turned.

Barbara

Oh no no Barbara...........He;s had a ephiphany last week and become a Democrat. It sounds like a WONDERFUL YEAR AHEAD!
The Democrats are NOT standing to clap!!!!!
The North American Alliance meeting this year will be held in the GREAT CITY OF NEW ORLEANS!
He hasn't said terrah, YET!
BINGO! NO 9/11, he called it a September Day! Spoke too soon.......
(9:33) first mention of 9/11 Guess he has a full 1/2 hour to dwell on the terra factor!
WHAT A LOONEY TOON!

He is ADDING troops to Afghanastan and they panned to a soldier inthe audience who gave a big grimace! Oh now were're getting a story about the war.........sort of formatted like a bedtime story.......
Cheney must have goote the message about his crooked d=snarl, he is keeoig his lis buttoned tight. NOw looka=s like a Komodo Dragon! He said ewe are going to win............brought both soides to their feet, but someone yelled "Good Luck"
20,000. troops will be brought home.