Astroworld

Sally,
What lovely poetry! Such a nice surprise to find here in the middle of my night. We've just brought the generator online since the winds have knocked out our power. So at 3:00am pst I stopped by to see the chatter on AW to find much love.
Happy Valentines Day everyone.

xoxoxox

So true, so true,
whenever you're blue
and need to gather
and spirit-chum rally
come home to Astrowold
and chat with Sally.

Thank you, Sally and Morgana for this safe place where our expressions of concern, and love find a home. May this energy not be misused, but seed into the national consciousness and grow another dimension of true liberty for all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-NRriHlLUk

...and furthermore, the love we make is equal to the love we take.

Thanks for the love, the insight shared, the love, and most of all, the love.

Thank you, Sally. Love the creative use of that dear old Valentine poem and also the encouraging forecast of a new direction for US.

There is an opposition to the current Imperial Corporatist Two-Party Cartel, and that opposition is more varied and less visible but very well adapted to our times. For example, Act Blue and Blue America are funding progressive Democratic candidates who challenge Corporatist Repug-Lite candidates in the Democratic primaries.

Donna Edwards (in Maryland, I believe) just defeated such a DINO (Democrat in name only) in the primary. Her campaign was launched by internet donations of $10, $15, --or from the big spenders--$25. Enough money was donated to her campaign to gain the attention of some of the interest groups who donated more. And she won against an entrenched House member who was voting with the Bush Republicans.

Warning to Democrats,
Better vote Blue

Or I'll send ten dollars,
And we will oust you.

For more detail on Donna Edwards' campaign go to

>http://firedoglake.com

Firedoglake is one of the founders of Act Blue.

Mayfly, I am convinced the Dems and GOP know how angry we are out here. I wonder if they think we won't or cannot oust them (loved your poem) So happy to hear about Donna I think I might even give her 50 dollars.

Bernanke is testifying to Congress that the economy is worse that thought. WOW, really. Do they think we don't know they already knew that, are we paying them good money for theater in Washington. Someone, someplace get so sick of these people they will lead us to lead them out. I don't see such a leader on the horizon today

Surrounding every notion
is a blanket of peace
Warmth beats in silence
beneath the snow.

Thank you Cap'n Sally for this cozy home, lighthouse keeping watch over foggy seas, we strain for a clear view of horizon over our reading glasses. Telescoping the heavens we find our quiet now, what we suspect is true, is true, vast in our tiny window frame.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/30/news/economy/Colvin_recession.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008020609

America for sale

It's not just Wall Street bailouts. Foreign ownership of U.S. assets is accelerating - and that's a worrisome trend.

Pugies are red,
Demies are blue,
You-all watch out,
or we'll get rid of you!
Couldn't resist,the devil made me do it!!

Happy V Day to all you lovely, enlightened people on AW!

The best QOP the absolute best

PatC, I want it all to be over, don't you?
Fa'gawd's sake collapse already so we can get on with it.

Condi's reality warping arrogance in the heat of Wexler's spotlight reminded me a bit of driving a stake through a vampire's heart.
Can insulted defense of one's "integrity" give a person integrity even when there is none?
Think not.

Edward's unsettled mind mirrors our own:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/13/edwards-endorsement-clin_n_85997.html

"He is much more torn than people realize," said one former aide who has stayed in contact with Edwards. "Honestly, he has serious reservations about both of them."

On Obama, the aide says, Edwards worries "whether he's tough enough to be President of the United States. If you look at what Edwards ran on, which is not negotiating with the special interests, taking away their power, that's pretty different than the Obama model."

OMG. Which is the worse scenario: 1) the sky is falling or 2) the Pentagon is going to shoot it down?

http://tinyurl.com/36m6rr

What is it about gravity that they don't understand?

And Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Live debate in House on refusal of WH to reply to suboenas for the appearance of Harriet Myers .. important listen here:

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

Happy Valentine's Day AW and Sally!

Patb, be careful of what you wish for .... the collapse will happen when it needs to happen. Now is the space between what was and what will be. Enjoy the moment of peace Now. Forget about the drama. Don't engage. It's all water under the bridge anyway.

Well, PatC. As we await the Prince who will act upon, not yammer on endlessly about the indignity of it all, that Snow White is as good as dead until he acts according to the g**dam script and kisses her awake already!!!!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz....

This is, indeed, very interesting. Why would they be offering such a course?
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002396

Marta, we are one in sentiment according to my fudgey valentine!

PatC, torture is being investigated over at the House Judiciary Committee while the subpoenas debate is going on. emptywheel is trying to cover both. Very interesting testimony (barf variety) from Bradbury right now.
http://tinyurl.com/35ctfr

Hello sweet Valentines. I heart you all.

I love this one!

Roses are Red
Violets are Paisley
By the time of the Convention
We may all think we are crazy.

We've all been trying to figure out why they cave and cave and cave Here is an interesting perspective to ponder:

http://tinyurl.com/396yau

Hmmmmmmmm.

Speaking of incredibly strong people, remember the photo of the Vietnamese girl who was burned with napalm and trying to run away from it? To me, this speaks volumes about Chiron's transformative role in astrology.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/14/child-of-war-turned-peace_n_86543.html

[last paragraph]
The young, terrified girl in that photo, Phan Ti Kim Phuc, is now a 45-year old woman. She is a wife and a mother, and is now a Canadian citizen. Most surprising of all, though, is the fact that she has devoted her life to becoming an ambassador for peace, and has established a nonprofit organization called KIM Foundation International, which is dedicated to helping children who've been traumatized by war to heal, providing both medical and social services to support their recovery.

Hillary's panic raises the specter of an insider superdelegate scam:

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/
Super-delegates are a contingent of almost 900 elected officials, party insiders, and current DNC members and they aren't required to follow the voters. In fact, after every Democrat has voted and the last allocated delegates are assigned, super-delegates have the power to overturn the popular vote and crown a different winner.

That's right, if super-delegates don't like who you choose to be our nominee, they can overturn your vote. We can't let that happen. Our nominee must be chosen by Democratic voters, not by back room deals of the party elite. Sign our petition now to let the voters decide:

Shylurker, re: satellite. I think either parts of it may already have fallen to earth, or they have already been trying to shoot it down, which accounts for all the strange sightings in the sky. You know they only tell us things after the fact.

OMG! The Repugs have walked out of the House. Nothing spontaneous about that, no sireee bob. They had a podium and cameras waiting for them outside where they began speechifying.

Yeah, Crystal, they only tell us things after the fact, and only those things they want us to know. Whether truthful or not, but all "we need to know."

Shy, two things here re caving:
~Senate behavior should be telling.
~Congress deserves what it gets for ignoring
impeachment (hope they get those feets on fire from the Senate).

Oh I love it only 32 votes against holding Meyers & Bolton accountable!
Let them flounce! It only makes them look worse!

Shy, where are you seeing that 'repugs walk out'? (for those of us without cable).

Go to DU. It's all over there. I don't have tee vee, either. emptywheel's latest article (the one where she was live blogging the torture hearings) has a wonderful "Comments" section, too.

What a lovely valentine gift from Mr Conyers!! 223-32-1!

and this....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/13/top-mccain-adviser-ill-_n_86578.html

Top McCain Adviser: I'll Resign If Obama's The Opponent

Then again, the WH will ignore any ruling until they march in there and drag them out with handcuffs.
The WH could care less how they "vote".
When will they do their job and impeach. Uh, never. How does never sound.

A puppy and his valentine

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x7470694

Bush Administration Hides More Data,
Shuts Down Website Tracking U.S. Economic Indicators

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/13/economic-indicators/

The U.S. economy is faltering. Family debt is on the rise, benefits are disappearing, the deficit is skyrocketing, and the mortgage crisis has worsened. Conservatives have attempted to deflect attention from the crisis, by blaming the media's negative coverage and insisting the United States is not headed toward a recession, despite what economists are predicting.

More at the link....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2858703&mesg_id=2858703

Despite the orchestrated GOP walkout, CNN was very much in the Democrat's court on this one, probably because AT&T is attempting to take over AOL-Time-Warner's cable business with the help of the Bush FCC and it would probably like the facts about domestic spying to come out, both to see AT&T wallow in mud and to see a change in party in the WH.

Stay strong House Democrats! CNN quoted Reid as saying if this FISA law expires, the old FISA law takes over.

The DU rundown has the GOP avoiding the topic altogether and falling off their chairs like kindergarteners with midline brain issues.
Just absurd, completely avoiding the topic of why they showed up this morning.
Of course we see dems have to be handed the ball directly and may drop it at any moment.

Probably some other AWorlders have received Howard Dean's fundraising letter saying he believes the Democratic nominee will be chosen BEFORE the Convention.

The super-delegates can't vote UNTIL the Convention. So, this and other statements of his lead me to believe that Dean has a handle on the situation and is not going to allow super-delegates to override the popular vote.

Thank the stars that Dean is head of the Democratic Party and McAuliff is
not. McAuliff, in my opinion, was a DINO.

Thanks all for the warm words in the previous thread. I never actually left, but I have been lurking about here and elsewhere for quite some time, simply observing and listening to the workings of our world, and the universe.

A lot has been on my mind. Although I know I shouldn't be, I remain astonished by the number of times people who knew better, particularly in the Democratic Party, allowed perpetrators of great harm in the GOP to get away without facing the music. And every time they did, more blood was spilt and problems in the US grew worse by one or more new orders of magnitude.

The other day I read an article about Hubert Humphrey and Lyndon Johnson essentially permitting Richard Nixon to prolong the Vietnam war directly in the face of Johnson's quiet yet concerted efforts during the 1968 campaign season to end it.

Nixon, it turns out, with the help of Henry Kissenger, engaged in back door conversations with the Vietnam leaders to convince them to evade peace talks, even while Johnson was working to try and foster them. Nixon's strategy worked, and Johnson's efforts for peace talks fell through.

The twist is that Johnson and Humphrey learned about Nixon's underhandedness just prior to the November 1968 election, but rather than to call Nixon out on his bullshit, which would have surely destroyed Nixon's chances and given Humphrey a boost all the way into the White House, proceeded to let him slide "for the good of the country". And so Nixon barely won, and the war would continue for several more years, and tens of thousands of additional lives were irrevocably maimed and wounded, or lost. What's more, the spirit and trust that people had in their country would be severely wounded by the time Nixon finally resigned in 1974.

One election with results that should not have been, and a turning point in the nation's history that set the stage for even greater disasters over the following decades, rather than positive innovation and social/democratic progress. By refusing in 1968 to stand up and demand ACCOUNTABILITY when and where it was necessary, the Democrats lost their moral authority. The implications have been staggering.

Consider this: There could not have been a Ronald Reagan Presidency in 1980 had there not first been a Nixon Presidency from 1968 to 1974 to wound and weaken the nation and its' people's faith therein. Nor could there have been a George W. Bush Presidency in 2000 had Bill Clinton and the Democrats in 1992 exposed George H. W. Bush for his kingpin/ringleader status in Iran-Contra. Clinton knowing full well what Bush Sr. was responsible for, chose instead to overlook his crimes against the nation. They are now "friends" but at what horrific cost to Americans and the world?

For that matter, Al Gore knew of Bush's shenanigans in 2000, but failed to stand up and expose them, again "for the good of the nation." John Kerry did the same in 2004, conceding also "for the good of the nation."

For the good of the nation? What good, and what nation? Forty years after the first of many Democratic Party concessions to the swindlers and deceivers of the "Grand Old Party" (and what a "party" it has been for them!), there is very little "good" or "nation" left. Our infrastructure of roads, bridges, railways, power lines and pipes, neglected for 40 years, is literally crumbling to dust beneath our feet, because government-hating and people-hating media-controlling elites have conned average working people into believing that investment in public works is tantamount to devil worship. Our factories and manufacturing have been outsourced to nations overseas. Our debt is in the trillions, owed to the same foreign interests, and now the few things of substance and value that do remain in the US are being bought up by the very same foreign nations we owe.

Meanwhile the perpetrators of our nation's destruction still roam free. There has not been so much as a criminal indictment, much less a trial for the likes of Henry Kissenger, George H. W. Bush Sr., et al, and we probably won't even collectively realize precisely how badly these men have picked us blind until they are long dead and finally gone. But worthy of the same criminal prosecution are those Dems who were too cowardly or craven to stand up for what was, and remains just, and put an end to our nation's spiral downward into corruption, chaos and sheer madness.

Which leads me to my conclusion. Obama? Hillary? Sorry, but there's nothing to be impressed about with either of these two. Unless one of them has the courage and intestinal fortitude to stand up, put it all on the line, and call out Rupert Murdoch and the rest of the monied elites. Call them out for the corrupt, craven and decadent fools that they all are. The rich are everything that's wrong with the US and everything that's wrong with the world. They are greedy and use their money to corrupt everything to get what they want. That which they cannot corrupt with their money, they find some other way to intimidate, or else outright destroy. They are cowards and fools, and the United States and the World itself will never truly prosper until there is justice, and until these people are exposed, repudiated and brought down.

Despite what undoubtedly seems like a pessimistic take here, I remain an optimist and spiritual. But I am well beyond tired of the games, the lies, lies and oh so many lies flying in the face of practical matters, and even our very survival. We need high speed trains and organic farming, damn it! Not corporate monstrosities like Monsanto stomping people into the ground who won't eat its' mutant corn, and Detroit auto executives who cringe at the mere thought of having to squeeze an extra Mile Per Gallon out of vehicles too big to be on the road in the first place.

I think it's about time for America to wake up, because as George Carlin once said, they call it the "American Dream" because you have to be asleep to believe it.

So, I guess the Repugs honored the St. Valentine's Day Massacre by shooting themselves in their collective foot. Or, as Marx said, history repeats itself, "first as tragedy, then as farce."

Turned out to be a great day. Now, if only we can keep the Dems going resolutely down the path toward restoring our Constitution!

Oh God, and now a new valentines day massacre in Ill.!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/14/university.shooting/index.html

At least two people have been shot at Northern Illinois University outside Chicago, CNN affiliates are reporting. The reported gunman is dead,

Even as Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was blasting Sen. Barack Obama for his ties to the Exelon Corporation, the firm of Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, was earning hundreds of thousands of dollars from the very same nuclear energy giant.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/14/mark-penn-tied-to-controv_n_86722.html

http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/commentary.asp?record_id=517

Is It Time to Consider Impeaching the President?
By John W. Whitehead

It’s been almost ten years since the House of Representatives voted to impeach Bill Clinton for lying under oath when asked during a deposition in the Paula Jones case whether he had had sexual relations with a White House intern.

I was one of the lead attorneys in that case and had agreed to represent Jones in her sexual harassment lawsuit because I believed the underlying principle in the case was too important to let it slide. Namely, no one is above the law, not even the president.

I did not, however, agree with the impeachment proceedings charging Clinton with perjury and obstruction of justice. Don’t get me wrong: what Clinton did was unacceptable and unworthy of his office and his role as a national figure. However, there’s a world of difference between lying about sex and blatantly disregarding the Constitution.

More at the link....

Here are some more details on shooting down the defunct satellite - danger of toxic fuel. Sounds like a hit or miss misadventure at best.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080214/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/dead_satellite

So Romney endorsed Mc Cain tonight, but what type of endorsement is it? He says he will persuade his delegates to back Mc Cain. I thought when you endorse another candidate, he automatically inherits your delegates. Guess not.

I keep seeing people calling for the impeachment of the President - yes, and Cheney too, and as a matter of fact while we're at it, let's impeach Wolfowitz, Perle, Rumsfeld, and all the other neocons who were instrumental in getting us into this unholy war in Iraq, but the process should have been started at least a year or two ago. It's madness to start impeachment proceedings in the middle of an election year. Already I feel like the whole world is unravelling before my eyes.

A few days ago, I saw the parents of a young, very handsome soldier bemoaning his death in Iraq. He volunteered to go to Iraq as a direct response to the events of 9/11. Why? Because Bush and his cabal convinced these innocents that Iraq was connected to 9/11. For this alone, they deserve to be impeached, but I think the window of opportunity has passed, because our Democrats in Congress, and the Senate, have been delinquent in their duties, despite the valiant efforts of Cindy Sheehan. So, maybe we should stop to consider whether we would have had better results if we had gone about it differently. I myself don't know the answer, but I am guessing that Nancy Pelosi probably harbored some degree of animosity towards Cindy Sheehan for obvious reasons.

I don't think impeachment proceedings can be initiated after individuals leave office, but I think they can still be prosecuted for war crimes.

Clinton wins in NM, but with the many problems that plagued the voting process, who knows for sure??

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080214/ap_on_el_pr/new_mexico_caucuses

KO is reaming out the pRes. tonight. BIG TIME! Warms the cockles of my heart! Best shot yet He suggested he get a T shirt that says Fascist on it!
It's better than recieving a dozen roses!
I am trying to find the video or transcript. I guess it has to wait until the show is over.

Republicans staged a walk out during the funeral service for my congressman, Tom Lantos....what pathetic human beings there are.....unbelieveable.
http://www.americablog.com/2008/02/republicans-disrupt-lantos-memorial.html

Ooooh, I do love this stuff!
http://tinyurl.com/2eaj3b

Repuglicans don't got game, but the ancients sure did.

Anybody else sore from turning cartwheels all afternoon? Of course, mine were all imaginary 'cause I can't physically do them any more, but boy were they fun!

Shy, someday they will find our graves and wonder what the hell we did....I'm sure they won't be able to figure out how to turn the computers on.

Re: shutting down the Economic Indicators web site - the good news, or so it seems, is that it consists of links to the BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis) and the Census Bureau web sites, so if those still operate, the data remains accessible. Just a little harder to locate

KO was stunning tonight, called Bush a fascist and told everyone to buy a t-shirt with that name on it. It was a wow. I was rather amused at the immaturity of the GOP and the lack of interest by anyone, just a "oh yes, the GOP left Chambers in protest and ran to some conviently placed micro-phones.

On the 18th Mercury goes direct and Mars is already direct. When this primary season began, Mars was retro and Mercury followed by "super-Tuesday." That could mean a turn around in front runners. If I were Howard Dean I would be having a headache every day with this campaign season. I wouldn't count Hillary out yet if I were the pundits; nothing like a situation of being down and out that motivates a Scorpio to rise from the ashes. Because of the direct motion of Mercury and Mars, Mitt Romney may have gotten out too soon.

I'm with you Shy, it might have been a small thing but a comtempt citation for Myers and Bolten was just fantastic. And Judi, the deliberate interruption of Tom Lantos was the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed in this country amoung so called leaders. It was sickening no matter who Lantos was or whether they liked him, it doesn't matter. They completely showed themselves to be low life

Sally, it was an enormous breach of etiquette, by opportunists of the lowest order....I heard Larry Diamond of the Hoover Institute talking about his latest book on NPR this afternoon, and he said America was so badly compromised by greed, bribery, and every other name you can think of, that it is, in his eyes, only a 'low level' form of democracy. The country is broken, folks....officially fascist.

The disrespect shown to Lantos' memory will cause enormous blowback....I am sure of that. It certainly will here in San Mateo County, which boasts a preponderance of democrats and has for years, and we kept electing Lantos for a good reason (even if I didn't support all of what he was doing in later years.) But you are right Sally, that is unforgiveable done to anyone.

OK, so we support different candidates based on certain issues….here is a website where you can see how you align with all the candidates.

I was quite surprised to find that I align with my candidate 66% of the time. Well, I happen to have aligned with Kucinich 98% of the time, and look what happened to him. I’d be run out of town on a rail in some southern states.

http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460

I anyone out there would like a very quick way to make a Tshirt without buying one, here is a great trick. Take the Clorox Bleach Pen and a Tshirt of a dark enough material to show white as a contrast, and make your own! Be sure to stick a piece of cardboard inside it....so it doesn't bleach thru. I think you can let it sit for 10 minutes then wash it. You can even do it in layers, reapplying the bleach pen for more effects.

Then use your own creativity to write FASCIST or GWB Fascist...hey we need a writer here...how about it, anyone up to create something as lasting as say....

Flower Power?

Oh judi! The possibilities!!

"We're sending the missing idiot back to the village!"

"Exit the clowns"

After a good night's sleep, I know this will be worth giving some real creative thinking to.

The Beatles, the 60's and cosmic clockwork
http://www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_c_l___pa_080214_across_the_universe_3a.htm
Worth a read if you're like me and into looking for 60's redux pointers

Wow Judi, thanks for the great suggestion! Will be allowing inspiration to enter today, come up with something snappy.

There is a theme that runs throughout our sordid current history. Neo elucidated the backroom maneuvers, the good for the nation excuses. It is far easier to work behind the scenes with a few pals, than it is be open and transparent.

I would bet that each of you have personal experience where someone undermines your efforts. You may be blindsided by the act. It has happened to me on several occasions primarily because i often find myself in leadership positions. Perhaps it's because i live in the south, but always a man is involved. And, these situations are always a microcosm of what is happening on the larger political stage. In fact, it just happened to me recently.

Those who deprave another of basic human needs and dignity usually have no "heart." In all cases -- and this is a bit odd, but highly interesting -- they are not fond of big animals. (Why is this?) Always appearances are of far greater importance to them than substance. More, they listen selectively and most times do not listen at all.

Here's that Olbermann transcript/video. ( from last night)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23173388/

Excerpts:
You. By your own terms and your definitions, you have just sided with the terrorists. You’ve got to have this law, or we’re all going to die. But, practically speaking, you vetoed this law.
______________________________________________
"Believed? Don’t you know? Don’t you even have the guts Dick Cheney showed in admitting they did collaborate with you? Does this endless presidency of loopholes and fine print extend even here? If you believe in the seamless mutuality of government and big business, come out and say it! There is a dictionary definition, one word that describes that toxic blend.You’re a fascist — get them to print you a T-shirt with fascist on it! What else is this but fascism?"

Here's another link to Crooks and Liars if you have any trouble with MSNBC.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/02/14/countdown-special-comment-on-fisa-president-bush-is-a-liar-and-a-fascist/

Countdown Special Comment on FISA: President Bush Is A Liar And A Fascist

..........

http://firedoglake.com/2008/02/15/calling-the-presidents-fisa-bluff/

House Democrats Call the President’s FISA Bluff

.........

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/02/15/poe/index.html

Vintage Glenn Greenwald

Jihadis throw a wild bash over the Protect America Act

The reason the President refused to extend by 21 days the "Extremely-Critical-to-our-Survival" Protect America Act -- and instead chose to allow it to expire -- is because the only thing that drives the Republicans is forcing Democrats into ritualistic humiliation: forcing them to surrender and bow over and over. While Jay Rockefeller, Claire McCaskill, Herb Kohl, Ken Salazar and their distinguished friends in the Senate happily rolled over as always, House Democrats, for once, actually refused to play their assigned role of submission, and instead issued clear, potent and persuasive counter-attacks...

snip

When Democrats speak that way -- clearly and with conviction -- the message gets across. Whereas CNN yesterday morning was mouthing the Bush line on surveillance as uncritically as possible in the vapid personage of former (really: current) VJ John Roberts, by the afternoon they were actually making crystal clear the fact that allowing the PAA to expire (a) was Bush's doing for refusing an extension and (b) would not result in any loss of our "intelligence capabilities."

When Democrats actually engage the debate and make their case unapologetically and with some passion, as they remarkably did yesterday, then journalists can and -- at least to some extent -- will convey the message. It's when they run away and hide and act defensively that their message does not get across. One can only hope, even while harboring substantial doubt, that having a taste of this success will drive them to crave more. Our country really can't afford to be bullied any longer by Ted Poe's fantasy jihadi parties and George W. Bush's "you're-all-going-to-die-unless- I-get-everything-I-want" threats.

Contrary to the belief of David Broder and his friends that more meek agreement with the President's demands -- i.e, "bipartisanship" -- is needed, what any healthy democracy desperately requires is precisely this type of adversarial dynamic. The Leader needs to be "defied" and "challenged" and his demands -- especially those for greater unchecked power -- need to be refused if we are to maintain basic "checks and balances" and some form of an accountable government. This is exactly what we have been so destructively lacking.

More at the link.....

Oooooh, Cap'n Sally! It just keeps oozing and oozing and oozing. Now, the true nature and activities of one Bandar Bush are being exposed. Do not miss:
http://tinyurl.com/38f5uu

Shy!! :-)

.....

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/14/wh-bloggers-congress/

White House: Congress Caving To ‘The Fantasies Of Left-Wing Bloggers’

Ok, here is some of the best use of nouns and adjectives I've found so far (today)...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/02/15/notes021508.DTL&nl=fix

Retail therapy saves America
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel ... like buying a new iPod and a boat
By Mark Morford

I have perhaps greatly misunderestimated the Bush administration.

It's true. I have, lo these past 7.3 miserable and karmically bitch-slapped years, perhaps not clearly appreciated their ruthless and demeaning but perhaps rather insanely effective (well, sort of) economic plan for America. Or rather, 'Murka.

Because it's clearly an stroke of nefarious genius, a wickedly underhanded economic strategy to induce such levels of pain and depression and misery across the nation, to load us up on war and bogus fear and divisive hate and overlay it all with the sad, phlegmy truism that our own callous and cretinous government doesn't give a rat's tail about you, your children, the planet or humanity's place in the grand scheme of the universe, to such a degree that a gross malaise kicks in and you feel as though your heart is being slowly ripped through your throat by a pair of rusty fireplace tongs, and you finally throw up your hands and say f- it and amble right out and willingly pay too much for a new couch and a car and some beer.

And lo, the economy flourishes. At least, a little. Until the nasty recession kicks in. But hey, then you're out of office and it's someone else's problem, right? ...

Poppy will soon be endorsing Mc Cain:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080215/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_bush

Boy i don't like this. As foul as this rhetoric is getting about protecting telecoms -- and that's all it is -- what does it bode? Is this administration going to trot out some act to hoodwink the people again? So they can yell, "see! see! we told 'ya!"

SPEAKING OF CHOCOLATE!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23148938/

Bitter chocolate — cartel accused of p-r-i-c-e fixing Mars, Kraft Foods and Nestle raided to search for documents

I copied this from the Planet Waves email on the coming eclipse, Pat C. I think it relates to what has been happening on all public forums and in politics!

On Feb. 19, Mercury stations direct in Aquarius. When Mercury stations, we often experience the truth coming out in one way or another. Information that seemed to not exist suddenly seems like it was behind a thin curtain that was just pulled open. Beware of gossip. It's dangerous right now. Resolve differences promptly, directly and quickly. Establish the truth as you know it. Remember that one thing said to one person can affect many people.

No suprise there; the pResidency was promised to him 7 years ago right after that devestating attack in SC on his poor homely adopted daughter Bridget!
http://bigheaddc.com/category/bridget-mccain/

ANd NO I am not being critical............empathetic.I grew up with a Mother who looked like Ingrid Bergman. ( I took after my Father) And the world wasn't so focused on external appearance back then!

Listening to Larry Diamond, a Hoover Institute Fellow, yesterday on NPR’s Forum (SF in the morning), live interview…and he said America has now become a” low level” democracy because it is so thoroughly compromised from sheer illegalities committed by the administration .

I assume from his being at the Hoover that he is a conservative, but he talked to the issues which Democrats all seem to agree with….ps, he was promoting his new book. He has a number of them, and was in Iraq with Bremer. He says Bremer tried hard, but was totally idealistic and didn’t understand the situation. I would add, he was also trying to do the bidding of the bush, and that of course leads to failure.

What amazes me is that in 2000, numerous articles appeared (not in the mainstream, of course, the one I’m talking about was in the New Yorker) outlining bandar bush’s trashing of every corporate board he sat on, and worse….insider trading, his military back ground, etc. It was an outline of what has happened to our country.

But it had already been decided that he was the next crowned head. And so it was…..

PS..thanks to all who post the MSNBC K.O. links because I don't get basic cable, it is pretty much a waste of time and money for me....so I don't see any of the cable news channels. I do like to read K.O.

From K.O.'s transcript....this is the reason why, a year ago, I went to what is now Credo Mobile Sprint network with all cell phones (not that they aren't tapped too) because they were the ones who DIDN'T turn over records to the FBI...I actually FELT the intrusion into my home thru the wires. It is hell being psychic sometimes....so glad K.O. brought this up again.

Mark Klein was the AT&T Whistleblower, the one who explained in the placid, dull terms of your local neighborhood I-T desk, how he personally attached all AT&T circuits — everything — carrying every one of your phone calls, every one of your e-mails, every bit of your web browsing into a secure room, room number 641-A at the Folsom Street facility in San Francisco, where it was all copied so the government could look at it.

If anyone would like to sign a petition from MoveOn to ask the Superdelegates to honor the will of the majority voters and not override them with a contrary vote here's a link

http://pol.moveon.org/superdelegates/?r_by=12133-1240021-o7ekEH&rc=paste

QOP, I remember that year when Mc Cain was running for the GOP nomination, and I actually liked a lot of his ideas, and was planning to vote for him if he had won the nomination, but when Bush won, and Mc Cain had to get behind him, he did a complete 180 degrees on all the policies he had adopted, and started mouthing George Bush's policies, which were an ocean apart from his own. Well, that was it for me. I never saw a leopard change its spots so fast. Guess that was the GOP in action, or I guess any other political party for that matter.

I get a lot of emails from members of Congress who all seem to have either shared my email or I've written to them in the past. I notice that no matter what they are communicating to me they're always with their hand out wanting money. That really bugs me. My thought is that we elect them to do the very work that they claim they need our donations to do. It's as if they are going to pass the buck to the people who didn't keep giving them donations when they cave again and again.

It seems there was a time when our overpaid Congresspeople (whose salaries come from our pocket) actually stood their ground without needing to be showered with money every time they did anything. This is really beginning to get to me! It seems they've found an easy way to raise the neverending money they need for their endless campaigning! Just shoot off an email to the populace telling them how wonderful your latest actions are and how hard you're fighting for them (regardless of outcome) and then ask for a donation so you can continue the good fight!!!

Well, not all Congresspeople have their hand out. Robert Wexler sends emails and doesn't ask for donations in them. Evidently he thinks holding Bolten and Miers in contempt is part of the job he gets elected for and paid to do. I salute him.

It's pure friggin bribery!

Crystal. That's why I think McCain has been hand picked. I also felt that he was a viable candidate in 2000. ( Funny I wouldn't vote for a Repug today if he came across like FDR!)
I think they promised McCain he would have his turn after Jr. got done. ( Delivered courtesy of Diebold!)
IF HE TOWED THE PARTY LINE. Maybe that's why he's crazy now, didn't know about PNAC & the NEocons at that time. After all Paul O'Neil wasn't aware when he accepted Sect. of Treasury!
lunaoscura, I went proactive last summer. Called the DLC, DCCC, DNC and told them they had let me down as a consquence I was on the floor financially & they would have to pull it off with out my help!
It seems as if the only thing the Dems "GOT" from Dean's grassroots movement, is that we sent him lots of money. The rest has obviously escaped them!
And yes, thank you Wexler and a few others.

Well, if any of you who might have thought of McCain as a viable candidate had lived in AZ, you would never have thought him viable, as he is well known for his vile temper and having been the watering boy for Charles Keating. You know, the Keating 5....the S&L crisis. Keating went to prison...some very prominent congress people in on that one. As Charles was wont to yell to his secretary, Get My Boy McCain on the Line!!!!! licking Bush's boots after 2000 was just the note.

JudiG, yup isn't he a piece of work. Check this out.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/02/senator-john-mccain-has-a-very.php

OMG, I never new that either! And of course, you would, I am so glad you've brought this up. Having lived in AZ in the 1970's, I was aware of the Indian School, (reminds me of the Aboriginal cleansing just admitted to in the Aussie Legislature). I new about the Keating thing because the lawyer who got Keating jailed is Joe Cotchett, whose daughter was a friend of mine in high school...I wasn't in AZ when McCain was senator.
But the story I told was from a photographer friend who witnessed this in Keating's office.

any way, link to wiki's keating 5 page...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five

here is Slate on McCain - this article is called Is McCain a Crook?

http://www.slate.com/id/1004633/

http://www.atlargely.com/2008/02/bae-bandar-blai.html

BAE, Bandar, Blair - And Bulls**t
Posted By Cernig

The UK government's excuses for halting corruption investigations into an arm deal with Saudi Arabia just took an overly-dramatic turn.

Previously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced "another 7/7" and the loss of "British lives on British streets" if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence.

Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists. He faces accusations that he himself took more than £1bn in secret payments from the arms company BAE.

He was accused in yesterday's high court hearings of flying to London in December 2006 and uttering threats which made the prime minister, Tony Blair, force an end to the Serious Fraud Office investigation into bribery allegations involving Bandar and his family.

More at the link....

Eleanor Clift

Al Gore on the second ballot: A scenario that a few weeks ago seemed preposterous is beginning to look plausible to some nervous Democrats looking for a way out of the deadlock between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

It goes like this: We love them both, but neither is a sure bet when it comes to electability. .... What if the super delegates decide not to decide, denying either candidate the requisite number of delegates to secure the party's nomination. Democrats want to win. The new rallying cry: Gore on the second ballot.

Here’s the link.

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/02/15/al-gore-to-the-rescue.aspx

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/the-consumer-is-always-right/

The consumer is always right

OK, not really. But the plunge in consumer confidence in recent weeks is pretty startling. The chart below shows the University of Michigan index; consumer confidence is now lower than it ever was during the 2001 recession and aftermath, and close to its worst levels during the early 90s, when the unemployment rate went well above 7 percent.

Bit by bit, the evidence is mounting that the wheels are coming off this economy.

More at the link....

http://www.freelancersunion.org/?gclid=CN6b7sjJx5ECFQuWHgodmGeJyg
Feb. 15 on PBS
Watch Freelancers Union on NOW on PBS. Find out when and where in your area, or watch it online.

Here is link to Silvestre Reyes (D, Texas) letter to Bush about FISA.

Those last two paragraphs are words I have hungered and thirsted to hear ever since January 2001.

>http://wwwc.house.gov/reyes/news_detail.asp?id=1370

Pakistani Official Taped Saying Vote Will Be Rigged

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021508U.shtml

Jonathan S. Landay, McClatchy Newspapers, writes: "A prominent US-based human rights group Friday released what it said was a recording of Pakistan's attorney general acknowledging that next week's national elections would be 'massively' rigged."

We had a poster before the site switched to a more secure sign in (if anything is secure anymore and that is ever so doubtful) her signature name was Lovi. She sent a post to Morgana and asked that we post the web movie Zeitgeist and I am doing just that for her. I recommend those who have not seen it to watch. It is eye opening.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5547481422995115331&q=Zeitgeist&total=3964&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

http://zeitgeistmovie.com/statement.htm

http://www.wlbz2.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=80781
Tom Allen's Wife Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

Why? SHe is the nicest person, I was just chatting with her several weeks ago!

How come this doesn't happen on the other side????
Life sure isn't fair! How will this affect his campaign for Collins senate seat?

I love coming to this site. I haven't been able to participate so much but just spent some real quality time (as they say) catching up. I am to the point of observing and doing nothing. the current political engagement is so disgusting to me that I am returning more to Pacifica and turning away from AirAmerica for listening. I don't care about Hillary, Obama, McCain and I am sick of all the madeup did you hear what he/she did back on.
A shoutout to you NeoBuckeye-I am sort of in the same place although not so articulated more of a feeling response and my beloved patiently reminds me that there is a differnece, a lesser evil maybe.
I am weary today and shouldn't put this out maybe but wanted to touch in and reacting to all the thoughts and feelings I had just finished reading.

I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't some sort of sea change in Congress? John Conyers sent me this email (and didn't even ask for a donation! Yay Conyers!)

*******
Yesterday the House of Representatives took several historic steps towards
protecting our system of checks and balances. First, by a vote of 223 to 32, the
House passed resolutions referring criminal contempt citations for former White
House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, as well as
authorizing civil actions against them should the Justice Department refuse to
prosecute. Second, we did not succumb to the White House political pressure
concerning the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Yesterday's contempt vote upheld the simple Constitutional principle that no one is
above the law. If an ordinary citizen could not ignore a subpoena without facing
severe consequences, the same must hold true for the White House.
As the morning's papers covered this story, many of them recount the Judiciary
Committee investigation that began a year ago. They talk of the fired U.S.
Attorneys who testified, the thousands of pages of documents produced by the
Department of Justice, and of the subpoenas ignored by the White House.
I hope that as you read those stories, you will remember that the path to today's
contempt vote did not begin with just a subpoena, or a hearing, or even the firings
in December, 2006. Rather, it began with the Bush Administration's politicization
of Justice and its refusal to submit to congressional oversight. I commend my 232
colleagues who joined me in voting to hold the Bush White house accountable and who
stood up for the rule of law.
I also want to commend the Democratic Leadership for standing up to the White House
yesterday and refusing to succumb to political pressure concerning the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act. Last August we allowed ourselves to be jammed by the
Senate and the White House. Yesterday, we stood up in the face of the pressure and
let the President know that we intend to do our jobs as legislators and not hastily
pass the flawed Senate bill with retroactive legal immunity for the
telecommunications firms.
The White House, of course, has complained bitterly about the contempt vote as they
have with many oversight actions Congress has taken. I have linked to some articles
that show breadth of this bluster.
Much more remains to be done, but this week, we made real progress. With your help,
we all made a difference, and the nation and our constitution are stronger for it.

Thank you again for your continued support for a better democracy.

Your Friend,

John Conyers, Jr.

http://wonkette.com/357163/maryland-republican-lawmaker-caught-with-kiddie-porn

In a rare display of political hypocrisy, ( Wonkette does sarcasm well!) a longtime Republican lawmaker has resigned today after child pornography was discovered on his computer. Can you imagine such a thing? Let’s meet Maryland Delegate Robert A. McKee, 58, a 29-year state representative with a proud record of fighting sex offenders. We believe the appropriate metaphor here would be “textbook.”

McKee’s home in Hagerstown, Md., was raided on January 31st. Authorities found — shocking! — pictures of naked children, maybe fucking. And what a heartfelt apology McKee offered today, while resigning from the Maryland House of Delegates:
( Of course he sponsored bill like: Child Protection from Predators Act............

AND:...............
http://wonkette.com/357156/drunk-federal-judge-arrested-in-drag

Police said he “had a difficult time locating his license in his purse,” couldn’t stand up straight, and blew an impressive .12 on the breath test at the police station. He has since pled no contest to a first-offense misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge.

The First Circuit Court bankruptcy judge WAS APPOINTED IN 2004, and according to a spokesperson has “no history of problems.”

It is my theory that the Congressional Dems, have been given an infuson of spine, by the Obamamania!
SInce large numbers of Dems are turning out to vote, and the polls are all screwed up making the pundits scratch their heads.......
People aren't willing to settle ( CLinton) and race really doesn't seem to matter; they may realize we have their backs? ( in spite of their lame behavior)

Here's another indication of a growing revolution, or as I like to think of it, a paradigm shift in consciousness. Although I'm undecided for the same reasons Neo and clymela and others here are Gary Hart explains why he supports Obama as the symbol of revolutional change.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-hart/politics-as-transcendence_b_86490.html

Politics as Transcendence

Only once in a very long time does politics become more than politics, that is something more than partisan struggle, vote bartering, or arena of ambition. In ordinary times, ordinary political leaders suffice, more or less.

But on rare occasion, old arrangements and conventional wisdom come unstuck. This happens in periods of rapid if not revolutionary change. We find ourselves now in one of those periods. The forces of globalization, information, eroding sovereignties, and transformation of war ensure that traditional leaders and conventional politics can only muddle through at best and fail badly at worst.

But periods of upheaval also offer opportunities, opportunities to change our methods, our ideas, and our leaders. The rare leader capable of transforming threat to opportunity is one who welcomes transformation and sees it as a chance to abandon tradition and convention, to transcend that which is stale, unprofitable, and ineffective.

Periods of transformation require experimentation, innovation, and daring. America is a nation much more conservative than it thinks itself to be. Thus, its default position is to resist a forward leap even while applauding itself for its creativity. Al Capone said it best: "We don't want no trouble." But transformation is trouble in the best sense of the word, trouble that causes us to adapt to new conditions and circumstances and create new ways of governing.

more...

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/?hpid=news-col-blog-viewall

Obama’s ‘backroom deal’?

Clearing up nuclear waste

“Senator Obama has some questions to answer about his dealings with one of his largest contributors, Exelon, a big nuclear power company. Apparently he cut some deals behind closed doors to protect them from full disclosure in the nuclear industry.”—Hillary Clinton, ABC-Politico Forum, Feb. 11, 2008.

Hillary Clinton has leveled a serious charge against Barack Obama, her colleague on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. During the ABC-Politico forum earlier this week, she suggested that Obama “cut some deals” on nuclear regulatory legislation with the Exelon company of Illinois, a major nuclear power operator. She implied that the backroom “deal” was somehow connected to contributions to the Obama campaign from Exelon.
Both the Obama campaign and Exelon strongly deny these charges, while acknowledging “contacts” between Obama staffers and Exelon officials on the nuclear bill. For the record, Obama has not received any corporate contributions from Exelon. But senior Exelon executives have contributed more than $160,000 to Obama’s presidential campaign and $46,000 to his 2004 Senate run. So what is going on here?

The Facts

Local residents and environmental groups have long complained about unreported releases of radioactive water from Exelon-operated plants in Illinois. Their fears were confirmed in December 2005 when Exelon revealed that more than six million gallons of waste water containing low levels of radioactive tritium had been released from the Braidwood nuclear plant in Braceville, Il., 60 miles south-west of Chicago, in 1996, 1998, and 2000, without the public being informed. The County attorney later accused Exelon of “callous disregard” for public health and safety.

On January 1, 2006, Obama introduced a bill, S. 2348, to help allay the concerns of Illinois citizens. The original draft of the legislation required nuclear plant operators to “immediately notify” local communities of any “unplanned release” of radioactive substances in excess of federal limits. The legislation was subsequently modified in committee over the objections of some environmental activists. The new draft shifted responsibility for drafting the regulations away from Congress itself to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the goverment’s nuclear watchdog. Both drafts are available here.

The chief Exelon lobbyist on the Obama bill was David C. Brown. He told me that Exelon supported the “spirit” of the Obama legislation, in contrast to some other nuclear operators, who opposed more regulation of the industry. Nevertheless, Exelon had some “concerns” about the way the legislation was written. For example, the company felt that the phrase “immediately notify” should be changed to “within 24 hours,” and that small spills on plant premises should be exempted from the reporting requirement.

Links within text, and more at the main link….

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/us/politics/16delegates.html?_r=1&th=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&emc=th&adxnnlx=1203175705-qWT/WvrnjHCWXtSKU9ZVlg

Democrats Look to Avoid Convention Rift

Former Vice President Al Gore and a number of other senior Democrats plan to remain neutral for now in the presidential race in part to keep open the option to broker a peaceful resolution to what they fear could be a bitterly divided convention, party officials and aides said Friday.

Democratic Party officials said that in the past week Mr. Gore and other leading Democrats had held private talks as worry mounted that the close race between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton could be decided by a group of 795 party insiders known as superdelegates.

The signs that party elders are weighing whether and how to intervene reflects the extraordinary nature of the contest now and the concern among some Democrats that they not risk an internal battle that could harm the party in the general election.

But they also provided an early glimpse at the complex set of tradeoffs facing party leaders, from their desire to make their own influence felt to their worries about offending the candidates and particular constituencies — not to mention the long, sometimes troubled relationship between Mr. Gore and the Clintons.

The issues party leaders are grappling with, they said, include how to avoid the perception of a back-room deal that thwarts the will of millions of voters who have cast ballots in primaries and caucuses. That perception could cripple the eventual Democratic nominee’s chances of winning the presidency in November, they said.

A number of senior Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and three candidates who have dropped out of the 2008 race, former Senator John Edwards and Senators Christopher J. Dodd and Joseph R. Biden Jr., have spoken with Mr. Gore in recent days. None have endorsed a candidate, although Ms. Pelosi made comments on Friday that were widely seen as supportive of Mr. Obama when it came to the process the party should use to make its choice of candidate.

more…

And besides my downer thoughts I forgot to say how uch I loved the poetry and the responses. I will come around-this winter has been hard for me. Morgana I loved your words about us being the leaders we are looking for-the inspiration to create that French vegetable bed and the compost pile, keep planning inexpensive trips with the grandchildren to do what I can close to home until a path back into the larger world reveals itself.

Clymela,
Thanks for the kudos, though they go to Sally, I am only echoing her words, that 'we are the leaders we have been waiting for', and it is that sentiment that Obama has tapped into.
The Eleanor Clift article about the remote possibility of Al Gore coming to the rescue because Obama and Hillary are too bloodied to win in November, is just too too enticing.
Great research all! Let's keep connecting those astrological dots with the events that are unfolding before our startled eyes.
Watch out for Russia and China, they've had it with Bush.

Watch how Hillary uses the t. Mars conjunct her n. Uranus. Her campaign going negative is probably a really bad idea considering the unpredictability of Uranus activity. Rather boomerang'ish.

http://www.cain2008.org/

Native Americans: Navajo Indians are the targets of brutal genocide right here
in Arizona, USA ...by Sen. John McCain & the help of a few greedy Senators

SYNOPSIS: To facilitate his special interests, namely: Peabody Western Coal Company (the largest in the US) and the Mohave Generating Facility in Laughlin (operated by Bechtel) delivering low cost electricity to Las Vegas's Casinos, John McCain introduced and arranged for the enforcement of unethical and Constitutionally unlawful legislations which brutally displaced thousands of Navajo farmers onto a Nuclear Waste Dump to live after brutalizing them for two decades in peaceful resistance. McCain assembled (Navajo Resettlement & Navajo Accommodation Agreement, Navajo Settlement, and amendments to PL 93-531) illegal enactments designed to force Native American Navajo of the Dineh Band off their Arizona lands, moving them onto Church's Hill in Nevada, depriving them of lands they've owned since 1500 AD. Using a phony tribal counsel composed of paid stooges, McCain and Peabody Western Coal Company have been progressively exploiting their lands for mutual personal gain. In exchange, three Presidential runs by McCain have been backed by that company and its Nevada Casino clients, and McCain's wife has been granted huge Beer distribution contracts at her company. The supposed "new lands" at Church's Hill are a Superfund Nuclear Waste Dump landfill site! (Read the evidence by clicking the below entry link to "Am I my brother's keeper?" --a website which has steadily grown and accumulated evidence for 10 years!) ( skip to main web page> )

To quote the United Nations' website (http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/mgroups/wedo.htm#dineh) :

"The Black Mesa region in Arizona, USA is home to the indigenous communities of the Dineh (Navajo) and Hopi peoples. This region also contains major deposits of coal which are being extracted by North America's largest strip mining operation. The coal mines have had a major impact on families in the region. Local water sources have been poisoned, resulting in the death of livestock. Homes near the mines suffer from blasting damage. The coal dust is pervasive, as well as smoke from frequent fires in the stockpiles. Not coincidentally, the people in the area have an unusually high incidence of kidney and respiratory disease. "

"The Dineh (otherwise known as Navajo) were stripped of all land title and forced to relocate. Their land was turned over to the coal companies without making any provisions to protect the burial or sacred sites that would be destroyed by the mines. People whose lives were based in their deep spiritual and life-giving relationship with the land were relocated into cities, often without compensation, forbidden to return to the land that their families had occupied for generations. People became homeless with significant increases in alcoholism, suicide, family break up, emotional abuse and death. "

-- Marsha Monestersky for the UN Commission on Human Rights and Women Enacting Change at the UN

More at the link....

California Repulicans in Turmoil

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021608Y.shtml

The cash-strapped California Republican Party is facing deeply divisive political and financial problems in this critical election year - beginning with a $3 million loan from a furious contributor who was supposed to have been repaid on Friday.

Nice to see, PatC, that the Repugs in CA are as cash-strapped as the entire state is. Particularly since the Repugs led the campaign to oust Gray Davis who was blamed for the entire deficit of about $12 - $14 billion a few years back; and now Ahhhhhhhhhhhnold is presiding over a deficit of the same size. They're being awfully hush-hush about those facts.

PatC, Pelosi's latest comments re Miers & Bolton were surprising since we haven't heard much of anything from her since she made her pitch to get elected in '06.
So why the expressed passion now? Does she deserve the benefit of the doubt since her inactions and sabotage of the constitution and the will of the people have been treated with an obvious snearing contempt up til now?
So what is she up to, and does she deserve her position if suddenly she begins to sound like she's listening? She's shown us unequivocally the will of the people is the business of "advocates", not leaders like herself.
I say no. Many troops and innocents are dead and maimed for life because of her inaction over the last year. For her arrogant contempt of people who sincerely wish to end our Death Economy and to impeach these insane renegades who have stolen their office.
Wasn't it she who allowed the floodgates to remain open?
What has she done in the last year to deserve the trust of office and continuence of that office? Answer: she turned on us and cannot be trusted from here on out, no matter how much Pelosi is "turning on the charm" for Obama. She's a fraud who should be put out to pasture and replaced permanently.

Well I don't know patb, maybe the messages of snearing contempt I keep leaving for Madame Speaker are getting through to her. I'm sure I'm not the only one!

shy, everything the right wing does that is destructive is always hush hush, and it'll probably remain so until we restaff the FCC and break up the monopolies. Really sad for our times.

I hope you all watch all three parts of the film Sally posted for Lovi. It explains a lot about the behavior of Pelosi and others who are suppose to lead in the government.

Thanks, guys...qop, after this nightmare, it's a mistake to assume someone's had a change of heart. Words mean Zero, Actions are Everything.
I for one take no gambles anymore with anyone's newfound "sincerity". Bluedogs are an abberant breed that change according to their selfish advantage. She has convinced me she is uneffected by her oath of office, let alone how we feel. I am shocked and amused to hear her sudden "reform".
I want to see her land hard and out of a job.

What Obama is in for from the GOP, this is just the beginning and it's nasty.

http://www.observer.com/2008/g-o-p-bloggers-gird-obama

Hope they don't have these problems come the November general elections:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/us/politics/17vote.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1203207885-qCIZGel/v16wfpT7PIv6NA

Lunaoscura, thanks for posting that article on Obama by Gary Hart. It's just what I've been saying for months, but I guess it carries more weight coming from Gary Hart. Some people see it, and others don't.

IS anyone out there?
The FISA expired atmidnight..........the Internet is stangely quiet. Some of my hotmail e-mails are not going through????????

Crystal,

I am not dismissing or supportive of Obama, but I posted that piece for other reasons which I think are more important than who is running or will win the Presidency. It's more in response to NeoBuckey's and clymela's posts. Why I posted the Gary Hart piece is in my comments before the link. It's about a possible paradigm shift in consciousness. I'm very surprised a politician (Gary Hart) is as aware of what might be happening on other levels that aren't immediately perceivable since the way politicians think is summed up in the word 'triangulation' and they have the acquisition and maintenance of power as their goal. But then we also have Al Gore. Maybe being booted unceremoniously out of a career in politics can make for true leadership.

According to many spiritual teachings the revolution that Gary Hart speaks of comes from the conscious and unconscious desire of the people, not from one lone person. The person who becomes the leader of any nation is the embodiment of what the people want or deserve. Bush fills that role too, as the destroyer of what this country has become (corrupt and as far from what the Founding Fathers envisioned as is possible). I don't think Obama has created the revolution, but he may be the Universe's response to it. Hillary doesn't SEEM to symbolize the kind of change we want. To me people who long for the Clinton years are as regressive as people who longed for the Reagan years, but there isn't anything wrong with that, especially if it's what the American people want in their consciousness (or unconsciousness). If Obama wins we will see if he really is the catalyst for the revolution in consciousness that we claim we long for. But if Hillary wins there's no telling if she might be the one who is the answer to what we want. Or maybe we need more destruction (McCain) before we decide to make that consciousness paradigm shift. What I'm trying to say is that it's all part of the Creator's Gran Plan which we can see working itself out in astrology and in life if we look for it.

testing

QOP, I can only speak for myself, but the entire FISA thing (on top of everything else) was exhausting. Anxiety prevailed and Harry obliged, along with just enough Dems to defeat the Dodd-Feingold bill. Better to strip the Fourth Amendment out of the Constitution than to strip retroactive immunity for the telecoms AND BushCo out of pending bills. But the House stood firm and strong and we have a reprieve for a while. So, again, while I can only speak for myself, it is wonderful to push the anxiety, stress and fear aside for a little while and get some genuine rest.

Good morning everyone! Thought you might all love a bit of sunday truth at it's most innocent:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y

lunaoscura said........
"Maybe being booted unceremoniously out of a career in politics can make for true leadership."
Or is it; true leaders are booted out of a career in politics?

Maybe my computer needs some genuine rest too....... I had to retype in the url to get here. prior to that I posted messages & refreshed.nothing!
I am losing sent e-mails too.
Moon in cancer, I am sewing & baking beans, NE style! Feels GOOD!

Point taken Lunaoscura, and I agree with you on that.

By the way - we are the ones we've been waiting for - was from a speech that Obama gave in Chicago on Super Tuesday night. Here's a small excerpt from it:

“There is one thing on this February night that we do not need the final results to know,” Obama said. “Our time has come. Our movement is real and change is coming to America. We are the ones that we’ve been waiting for; we are the dream that we seek. It’s a chorus that cannot be ignored, a chorus that cannot be deterred.”

Wonderful lyre bird!
We painted lyre birds on the vanettes in Walter Reed III's bathroom in Turtle Bay Gardens in NY!
1969?, 70?) They gave us the key to the town house and went off to Switzerland for a month of skiing while we painted.
Tragically, he died on the ski slope! He was the sweetest wealthy man I ever met. They don't come like that these days!

I want to add that I think the paradigm shift is a process over time and perhaps not even a consciously directed one in most people. And that Bush is the biggest catalyst for it happening. He has opened our eyes to a lot of truth about our country probably more than anyone. It reminds me of a teacher of mine once saying that even if people choose the dark side they always end up doing the Creator's work anyway. Puzzling and paradoxical, but there you have it.

One thing I can say about change - if you don't make it when it is required of you, then it will be forced on you, and it then becomes much uglier, than if you had made it of your own volition; so if the next person who is elected President does not make the changes that the majority is clamoring for, I forsee a great upheaval in this country.

Sorry for the multiple posts, but I've been meaning to ask why the latest article on this blog "Hearts and Flowers to You All" is signed SAMM. Who is that? Is that Sally? When I read it, it didn't sound like Sally's style of writing, but I could be wrong.

Crystal, SAMM is Sally. :)

Crystal, Morgana is right SAMM is me. The quote "we are the leaders we have been waiting for" was from a little known comment by Dr. King in the late 50's at a tiny church in Mississippi where Elanore Roosevelt also spoke to a group of about 25 local people. Not many even came because of their fear of the KKK. I repeated the comment in an article I wrote in 2002 as Uranus passed over the US Moon. I am sure others through the years have said it, because it is an obvious truth and Obama has picked it up.

Luna, your post above regarding "the grand plan" is so eloquent and so accurate and is astrologically on target. We are shifting from the old to the new and are being given choices right now. It doesn't mean Obama will end up being the person who embodies the "new" but he is the person who seemingly is embracing a shift from the old, from the fear, from the class distinctions. It's "we the people" who must do the shift and if we have shifted and are ready to embrace the new, a candidate will rise out of our collective, we just have to determine which candidate that is and we will do so on a very deep collective sub-conscious basis. For some of us "our time, the people's time is now" but will it be "now" for all? Who knows that answer lies in the future.

By the way, I ran across this excellent video regarding the economy in this country and what is happening and what to look for, by an economist in Canada. It is only 6 minutes and the best I've seen.

http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=949&thisview=item

Hahaha. Ok. Thanks Morgana. Thanks Sally. You are right. It probably has been used by various individuals along the way. I just came across this while reading the NY Times. Maureen O'Dowd says that Maria Shriver used it in her endorsement speech in L.A., and thinks it might have originated from the Hopi Indians. Isn't that interesting?

Morgana and Sally, thanks for the Valentine Day hugs and kisses - always welcome.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/opinion/17dowd.html?hp

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/17/news/companies/bees_icecream/index.htm?postversion=2008021712
Disappearing bees threaten ice cream sellers
Premium maker Haagen-Dazs says vanishing bee colonies in the U.S. could mean fewer flavors and high prices.

http://store.americanapparel.net/women-short-sleeves--t-shirts.html
The average sewer with experience at American Apparel is making about $25,000/yr (i.e. $12/hr, well over twice the federal minimum). This can be higher in some cases. We also offer parking, subsidized public transport, subsidized lunches, free onsite massages, a bike lending program, a program of paid days off, ESL classes and much more. Most importantly we guarantee job security and full-time employment; this is an anomaly in the garment industry, which has historically been dominated by seasonal work.

And here is an innovative idea!
I checked with Gabe and she said "Go for it! Make your own T shirt, spread the word!"
http://www.workshop31.com/page8/page8.html

Almost missed this - sign of the times in America:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/opinion/17rich.html?em&ex=1203397200&en=2427f7c3cc6ed0d0&ei=5087%0A

This is written by a rather brilliant guy who use to post on Salon's TT. He did amazing research that got national attention. Here he is doing an interesting take on the superdelegates.

http://www.taylormarsh.com/archives_view.php?id=27036

Count Whose Votes?

Obama and Edwards Meet

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/obama-and-edwards-meet/

........

Great T shirt qop!

A little late in the game, so does it matter anymore?

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/obama-and-edwards-meet/

The exciting thing about the phrase "we are the leaders we have been looking for," is the timing of when it was finally heard at least by a sizeable amount of the "whole." Timing is everything. There is nothing, absolutely nothing new under the sun. All the words, all the ideas, all the innovations have been around for hundreds of thousands of years. If you read back to the beginning of the written word you can see there is nothing new and now they are uncovering ruins hundreds of thousands of years old (in India) that indicate there was some kind of nuclear blast there. Everything just keeps going around and when the time is right a new generation or a new people pick the idea or innovation up and run with it so to speak; perhaps the time is "right" for the people now.

I love this. A potential of hundreds of "earth" like planets around suns like ours. Wonder how their elections are going.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7249884.stm

lunaoscura: I'm very surprised a politician (Gary Hart) is as aware of what might be happening on other levels that aren't immediately perceivable since the way politicians think is summed up in the word 'triangulation' and they have the acquisition and maintenance of power as their goal. But then we also have Al Gore. Maybe being booted unceremoniously out of a career in politics can make for true leadership."

--

This country wasn't ready for Al Gore in 2000. Many of us who post here at AW and elsewhere in related sites/communities certainly were, but the country collectively wasn't.

I say this, because had the US collectively had been ready, people would have risen up en masse to block and/or otherwise prevent Bush from coming anywhere near the White House. The Supreme Court wouldn't have mattered. Florida, Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris and hanging chads would not have mattered. Karl Rove would not have mattered. Rupert Murdoch and the whole Right-Wing Corporatist Media would not have mattered. Heck, even the entire US Armed Forces escorting Bush to the White House for his illegitimate inaguration would not have mattered.

Had the American people really wanted to do so, 100 million of us could have descended upon D.C. in a day and blocked Bush from even setting foot in the city. The Bush presidency would have never even been permitted to take root. We could have then cleared the path for the rightful president, Al Gore to enter instead.

I definitely understand where you are coming from, lunaoscura, and I fully understand Gary Hart's perspective as well. It doesn't seem to lessen much my frustration with where things are at the moment -- I wish things were much further along towards where we need to go than where they now seem to be.

You are also indeed correct that Bush, Cheney and the NeoCons have exposed quite a bit of ugliness in the heart and soul of the US that people either weren't consciously aware of, or else were simply unwilling or unable to face. I see in Cheney, for instance, the bully who intimidates, spreads fear and belittles others, but in the core of his heart is really nothing more than a terrified and intensely paranoid coward. I see in Bush the arrogance expressed by Americans who expect the world to "kiss our asses" and want everything to be handed to us just because of who we are, without giving any respect in return, or without accepting any responsibility for our actions.

There really are a lot of Americans who behave very similar to the way these men behave and/or who perhaps subconsciously identify with those very traits that many of us here have at least openly acknowledged within ourselves, and so therefore have not suppressed into our "shadow" selves.

Unfortunately, the America that identified with Bush-Cheney in 2000 and 2004 outnumbered, or perhaps simply prevailed over the America that identified with something better, but not strongly enough to match or prevail over the "fear/terror/arrogance" impulse.

So where does that leave us in 2008? I agree that McCain is just one more step, albeit a big one, down the destructive path that Bush and Cheney have led us very much further down, but didn't start us along. Wherever we are going on this path, McCain will get us even closer to our destination, for better or most likely worse. But maybe the US needs to slide down to the brink in order to collectively awaken to the magnitude of its problems? Maybe we have to get "there" before we can truly begin to attempt to address them?

McCain to me represents the "war, war, war" impulse that arrogantly aches to take on the world as if by doing so we would receive some sort of fulfillment and validation therein. But that is only a path of fools, death and destruction, that if we choose to follow it as a country, the astrological transits of the next 15 years seem to suggest that we will sorely regret doing so.

--

Crystal: "One thing I can say about change - if you don't make it when it is required of you, then it will be forced on you, and it then becomes much uglier, than if you had made it of your own volition; so if the next person who is elected President does not make the changes that the majority is clamoring for, I forsee a great upheaval in this country."

--

Sally also said something similar to this once, I believe. First, from the universe, when a change is required of you, you get a "brush on the cheek" and next, a hit upside your head with a "2 by 4" and then, finally, a "bullet".

That being said, I don't you can't go backwards into the future. But going backwards in a certain sense is what I see with the Clintons and the movement backing them. Many people want to return to the easy going prosperity of the mid to late 1990s when Bill was president and which they believe that Hillary may be able to return us to. But I sense that we are due for something much more deep, transformative and purposeful than coasting on the easier opportunities and good times which marked that period. Falling back on modern Conservative politics, or even just the memories and ideas of years and entire decades past can't be an adequate answer for the change collectively demanded of us, our country and the world itself.

I think I am starting to understand the support for Obama and what he seems to embody for many -- the genuine hope and change for the times -- and a genuine call to step forward into the future rather than the clinging to the past and status quo present that this Cancerian nation seems to be so much addicted to. He doesn't stand on the same level of the Kennedys -- Bobby and John -- or Martin Luther King. But maybe that's because this is a different time with its' own context.

Neo, Yes, I wonder if the people, who are for Hillary, (not including the large block, of woman who want a First Female President,) do want to return to/maintain a comfortable status quo. They don't WANT change.
But the damage is so extreme, it is impossible to go there. They may ave ignored the "brush on the cheek" while the rest of us have been hit with the 2X4.......................

I wonder why the Universe saw fit to gift Bill Kristol with this used book containing George Orwell's essays, so that HE could misinterptrete them to the world via the NYT?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/opinion/18kristol.html?th&emc=th
" Democrats Should Read Kipling"..........

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2879062
Breaking- Dallas Morning News prints Phil Giraldi's Sibel Edmonds commentary

FOX exposes Diebold vote-flipping

I can't imagine how this happened, but it did, and it is good....

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=5355jxx3kc

PARAGUAY: The Dark Side of the Soy Boom
By David Vargas

ASUNCIÓN, Nov 8 (IPS) - A sea of green stretches as far as the eye can see on both sides of the dirt road leading to the communities of Lima, Capiibary and Guayaibí, 250 km from the capital, in the northern Paraguayan department (province) of San Pedro, one of the country’s poorest.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39972

OMG qop, this is horrible beyond horrible. What's humanity to do?

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3161

Hugo Chávez and High Anxiety at the NYT
February 15th 2008, by Patrick Irelan - CounterPunch

Although President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela continues to excite fits of hysteria north of the Rio Grande, Simon Romero of the New York Times (Feb. 9, 2008) wants us to know that Chávez is "increasingly on the defensive."

Mirna de Campos, a nurse's assistant, tells Romero that "I cannot find beans, rice, coffee or milk." Romero mentions other problems in Venezuela, but this food shortage is the one you remember.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-intel17feb17,0,3935942.story
CIA's ambitious post-9/11 spy plan crumbles
'Fox News Sunday'
ADAPTATION: Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., says: “I don’t believe the intelligence community has made the fundamental shift in how it operates to adapt to the different targets that are out there."
The agency spent millions setting up front companies overseas to snag terrorists. Officials now say the bogus firms were ill-conceived and not close enough to Muslim enclaves.

Lots of interesting news around the world this AM,
beyond the presidential race!

Two quotes, forming an interesting juxtaposition:

"We are the leaders we have been looking for." -- MLK

"We have met the enemy and he is us." -- Pogo

The continuing saga of Sarasota’s lost votes and much more...

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/

The modus operandi of the Megafarmers in Paraguay is as old as the hills in Latin and South America. It's the foundation of the present system of economic class distinction. It's the reason there is so much poverty everywhere south of the US border. Historically it's one of the ways that governments keep control of the country's wealth. Farmers are forced (literally at gunpoint) to buy seed from the government which decides what's to be planted and grown and they are then forced to sell it back only to the government at a price set by the government. It's the same with crafts and textiles. It may be slowly changing but the government 'buys' the pottery, weaving, textiles and sells it as exports. In other words, if you want to start an import business of Latin American arts and crafts you don't go to the towns and buy the products directly from them. You go to the government department of export of arts and crafts to buy what you want. The government makes the profit. Monsanto is just the latest in hundreds of years of exploitation.

This is something Chavez (whether anyone likes him or not) is trying to change. I think he and the Populist leaders being elected all over South America will make a difference, but if we find it daunting to reverse the last 8 years imagine what it will take to reverse hundreds of years. And since there is nothing for the populace to revert to, they must work towards something which is unknown to them, but which is fair to the people. The present system was started in 1492 when Columbus discovered America. Within a few short years the native populations were being decimated.

lunaoscura, one would think the Paraguayan farmers are more in touch with what's good for the land, the symbiosis of insects, animals, water and seed than any u.s. farmer in a gimmee hat.
FYI, the chinese thugged the tibetans into growing wheat (alien to their land) and forbid them to grow the traditional barley.
Result, the wheat wouldn't grow, the people starved by the hundreds of thousands.

From Mark Crispin Miller:

I must admit I was so startled by the FOX report that I didn't stop to recognize its very likely purpose, as pre-propaganda for a massive drive to charge the Democrats with vast election fraud. (Homer nods. D'oh!!)

Alan Taylor's email has just brought me to my senses. After all, as I've been pointing out for years, along with other EI activists like Brad Friedman and Jonathan Simon, the GOP has long been masking its own crimes by craftily (and/or fanatically) projecting them onto their victims. Such has been the MO of John Fund, and the "American Center for Voting Rights," and other party animals, who now include Newt Gingrich and will soon probably include the gang at FOX.

All the more reason, then, for the Democrats to stop denying the obvious and speak out loud and clear about the GOP's assault on our democracy--and, especially, about the tight relationship between that party and the companies that sell and service those machines.

Clinton cannot do it now, because of her suspicious "victory" in New Hampshire (which, I repeat, was certainly the work of the Republicans, who wanted her to win). That leaves Obama, who has long refused to face this problem. (He wouldn't stand with the Congressional Black Caucus in their protest of what happened in Ohio in '04, because, he said, Bush won Ohio fair and square.)

If he doesn't speak out now, and the GOP succeeds in casting such fraud as a Democratic practice, their theft of the next election will be all the harder to expose, Obama will be yet another should-be US president, and We the People will have been defrauded once again. (At that point, We the People will be forced somehow to fix this mess entirely by ourselves, or end up in far worse condition than you might think possible.)

MCM

PatC, if FOX is crying election fraud maybe they'll outlaw Diebold machines, ya'think?
Get done what the dems just couldn't seem to manage given 8 years of putzing around. (Feingold/Pelosi mutually decided in '07 "there's not enough time" for the 08 elections).

FOX is up to its usual despicable tricks, preparing to condemn the Democratic win in November since they know there won't be a RepubliMcCain win. They're going to play the victim role as the losers and at the same time keep their fake outrage going full throttle.

Hannity has been on the verge of a major stroke with his raging outrage for years. Why would he change anything now? Just blame the Democrats for 'stealing' the next election through the voting machines. Facts have never gotten in Fox's way before.

The Republicans are beginning to enter survival mode now. It works out for them that just when the crapola hits the proverbial fan we will have a Democratic President and they (Hannity, O'Reilly, and Limbaugh) will scream loud and long that Democrats caused all our coming problems. The Democratic President who will labor very hard to fix what he/she can which in turn will be just in time for them to try to take permanent power again in 2012 or 2016.
Their plan seems very predictable to me.

Pat QOP, I really take exception to you calling all of us who support Hillary people 'who don't want change'. It reminds me of when I was in my 20's and we all said no one should trust anyone over the age of 30. It is an awful broad brush. I really do have my doubts about Obama, and that doesn't mean I don't want change. I think Hillary is far more liberal than she has been allowed to be....and everything I've heard or read so far on Obama has him siding far more to the right of Hillary....which to me says he's being 'handled' and from what I've read, being handled by many of the centrist democratic operatives. They are trying to position him as a centrist, and that doesn't mean change. He is talking about Reagan because that is where he hopes (or his people) to get the votes. To me that is pandering.

Whether one supports or does not support Hillary for reasonable reasons, i.e., policies and voting record--every sensible person recognizes that Hillary is and has been the victim of very strange, pathological hatred.

My Scorpio daughter and I were discussing that this morning, and she opined that Hilary attracts irrational hatred in part just because Hilary is a Scorpio. She (my daughter) suggests that Scorpios give off a certain vibe of intensity that elicits a crazy opposition.

Interesting idea, and I would be interested in any comments here.

Old Mayfly, you daughter speaks a truth. Scorpios do attract great admiration and also great disdain, or whatever that is.

I think Hilary has tried to signal that she is far more liberal than she has been able to disclose openly.

I'm very worried about corporate interests for both candidates.

.......

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Pennsylvania_bill_0217.html

Pennsylvania bill: Allow doctors to deny treatment, medicine on religious grounds

Pat C,

Thanks for your insight. A variable that muddles the waters in our case, is that my daughter is Eurasian. So some antagonism is due to her ethnicity. (When my friends and I were counter-protesting an anti-choice "life-chain" the "Christians" screamed at her, "Go back to China, you Chink!" (Her national origin is not Chinese.))

Nonetheless, she is very intuitive and has picked up on the Scorpio thing.

Got to say though, that overall, the kid is very adept socially (Venus in Libra) and has many friends.

Regarding denying treatment on religious grounds, those "health care providers" should be required to prominently display their biases.

This is a wonderfully brilliant and plain spoken woman.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02152008/watch2.html

..........

You know Old Mayfly, I think so many of those "pro-life" people are just control freaks, fascists, and just generally a very dark force. I have to wonder if you would hear remarks like that from "pro-choice" people. I doubt it.

I know all countries have this kind of fearful/hateful element, but I never get use to them.

JudiG I didn't mean you. I said......
Yes, I WONDER IF the people, who are for Hillary, (NOT INCLUDING the large block, of woman who want a First Female President,) do want to return to/maintain a comfortable status quo. They don't WANT change.
I didn't call ALL Hillary supporters afraid of change! I WONDERED IF there was an element of that at work, among the rather smug, self satisfied demigraphic group I have encountered here in Maine. The CLub for Growth's "latte drinking volvo driving, liberals"......they do exist up here!
I'm picking up a similar tone in the blogs on Huffpost, & DU.
YES, there is a problem with the Scorpio energy, I have felt that kind of irrational opposition,because of my Scorpio Moon. Donna Cunningham, describes it very well in her book, Healing Pluto Problems.
PersonallyI can't justify Clinton's vote against the cluster bomb ban. There is NEVER any need to scatter bomblets through neighborhoods where kids can pick them up years later! And where they interfere with agricultural activity in a region trying to recover from war!
I'm just not thrilled with any of it! It has been scripted by the corporate media!

Has anyone noticed Cindy McCain's eyes in the CNN clip of Poppy Bush's endorsement? She's over his left shoulder & the pupils are rolled right up under the upper lid, showing only the whites of her eyes. I wonder if she is trying to stay awake? or reacting to the speech?

Pat C, great link.

When I began escorting/defending women's clinics in the early '90s, it was such a learning experience for me.

Control freaks, indeed. I was just completing the end of my life's menopausal period. (And I probably should explain here, my experience of men in my family couldn't have been better.) Anyhow, here I am standing at the entrance of the clinic parking lot, where a woman who wanted no more of the pimpled-faced youth who was the putative but non-supportive father had just entered the clinic.

This kid, in his 30s, told me he was going to enter the parking lot. I thought to myself, "Oh, I'll feel so foolish rolling around in the gutter with this kid, but that's what is going to happen if he persists."

I told him to back off, and maybe he got a clue, because he did back off..

Control freak-Zero.

Lady-One.

Good for you Old Mayfly! Speaking of control freaks....

John McCain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain#Naval_training.2C_early_assignments.2C_first_marriage.2C_and_children

Hoo boy!

http://allspinzone.com/wp/2008/02/18/bush-judicial-appointee-caught-in-dui-fishnet-stockings/

Bush Judicial Appointee Caught in DUI, Fishnet Stockings

More Bush Admin miscreants, this time a Bush nominee to the bench. Robert Somma remembered his purse, cocktail dress and fishnet stockings, but he forgot about a designated driver. He was a Bush appointee, but has now resigned.

I read the article on Robert Somma. It is indeed a sad situation as everyone around him loves him and thinks he's not only a fair and brilliant legal mind but a high-quality person. He may be a bush apppointee but sometimes Bush gets it right.

The thing that bothers me about McCain is that he's a mighty strong willed guy AND Jupiter is going into Aquarius in 2009. Other than that, I'd have to go back and brush up on what's been said about his chart.

Well, I am a latte drinking liberal, that is for sure, Pat Q....no doubt at all. Don't drive a Volvo, though. Never liked them. And of course, with Scorpio rising, I don't go out of my way to schmooze, either...which must be really really hard for Hillary to do also.

You know, I just wonder why it is other people can do things, make mistakes, change their minds, but Hillary isn't allowed.

To say some 'should' know something is way too simplistic.

It's like saying you should have used birth control instead of getting pregnant....geez, I know people who have used birth control and gotten pregnant....and Edwards apparently changed his miind about some things also....I say, good for both of them for doing it.

Gosh, need I say more? from Raw Story headlines

It's one of his funniest campaign jokes, getting huge laughs, but it underscores what could be absolutely crucial to Barack Obama's White House hopes: the fact that some Republicans secretly back him.

"There's one right there, an 'Obamacan,' that's what we call them," the Democratic senator declared last week after winning primary contests for his party's presidential nomination in Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia.

"They whisper to me. They say, 'Barack, I'm a Republican, but I support you.' And I say, 'Thank you. Why are we whispering?'"

Obama has cracked the joke in every campaign speech since his win in Iowa on January 3. He tells it with a stage whisper into the mike, and can get a stadium packed with 16,000 supporters to burst out laughing.

But the point is not just to warm up the crowd: Obama is also underscoring that he has the ability to win the presidential vote, and then to govern effectively, transcending partisan strains, unlike his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who is reviled by conservatives.

I likek Susan Jacoby..

"It remains to be seen, as the current presidential campaign unfolds, whether Americans are willing to consider what the flight from reason has cost us as a people and whether any candidate has the will or the courage to talk about ignorance as a political issue affecting everything from scientific research to decisions about war and peace."

Without taking sides because I refuse to choose at this point, but because this is just too perfect a way for Tanzanians to greet Bush I want you guys to check out the photo at the link. It rocks! It was taken from the Bush motorcade.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4641831

Weighing in on the Scorpio syndrome.

I am usually referred to as a Scorpio, because my sun is in Scorpio but it is the only that I have in Scorpio, and in a fixed sign(I'm not counting my Pluto in Leo), so I'm thankful for it. Fortunately, my Scorpio sun receives only positive aspects from other planets, so I don't manifest any of the negative traits associated with the sign. In fact, I identify more with my Jupiter in Sagittarius conj. my Sag. Asc. I have a cousin, and 2 close friends who also have their suns in Scorpio, but their other planets are also scattered around the zodiac.

I think the Scorpio syndrome arises when there is a concentration of planets in Scorpio, and they receive stress aspects from other planets in fixed signs. The Scorpio energy becomes blocked, and if there are no trine or sextile aspects to release this energy, it implodes, and all the negative traits of the sign are manifested. Better to be on the good side of these people, because they make formidable enemies. Case in point - Tonya Harding,the skater (11/12/70). Remember her?

Hillary Clinton also demonstrates some of these negative Scorpio aspects in her chart. People who worked with her on her Health Plan, claimed that she was very secretive about it and did not welcome criticsm. I am sure her positive Scorpio traits serve her well too, but I guess not too many people are aware of them.

Nice Crystal....not really. Good lord.

Has anyone done any astrology on Kucinich to see what will happen to his Congressional seat?

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/interviews/096

[snip]
Many progressives lamented that the person who most articulated their values in the current presidential primary race was Dennis Kucinich (or John Edwards). But in large part due to media neglect of his campaign, he was never able to get enough exposure to gain traction. MSNBC even went to court to keep him out of a presidential debate.

Kucinich cut short his effort to raise fundamental issues of justice at the national level because trouble was brewing in Cleveland. In short, well-monied interests took advantage of Kucinich's presidential campaign to back a candidate to challenge Dennis in the March 4th Ohio primary. So Kucinich had to suddenly switch gears from running for president to battling to keep his Congressional seat, due to well-heeled opposition who don't cotton to Kucinich's calls for corporate and political accountability.

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