Astroworld

Oh very cool, the slow wheels of justice grinding fine.

DC Court of Appeals to Bush: No More Enemy Combatants?!

http://tinyurl.com/4q66r7

Hi Sally, Morgana, and all!

I swear, as I researched this post, I did not know Morgana was publishing toward this topic.

On 11/26/08 Pluto will enter Capricorn and stay there; in 1st house of USA or the beginning of the transformation of USA in fiery earnest. A year out from the Presidential election on 11-17-09 Saturn conjuncts the US MC (Career). On 11-20-09 Pluto makes its 3rd pass squaring the MC, and on 12-24-09 Pluto and Sun will be opposite Venus the ruler of Libra where the MC sits. I interpret these 3 transits like this. Saturn, the prosecuting attorney slows USA business down by hauling it into court revealing the case to the uncoverer of secrets Judge Pluto. 2nd transit: Pluto square MC passes sentence. 3rd transit Pluto powered by the Sun Executes the sentence. All this while Uranus is opposite Neptune providing OIL Shocks!
I can’t prove it, but I believe the USA faction planned the sub-prime and the still coming 45 trillion dollar derivatives (see Jim Sinclair's site) debacles to level the global financial playing field while they regroup (NAFTA, CAFTA, Uffda) and position themselves to influence a global currency. As this is a form of foreign war it will backfire.
After the USA breaks down for its break through (as Sally told us) in 2012, it may come to the world individuated from greed, an adult ready to serve mankind as any good leader is a servant.

"Hang on tightly. Let go lightly." Timmy J
(John Denver)

Thank you for this, Miz Morgana. Venus is whispering "don't do it," huh? Feingold just today (though in a loud voice) said this FISA capitulation that is coming to wound We the People is a "farce". A farce and a cover-up, too. And more than enough Dems standing around to say "Aye" to ensure it all occurs.

http://tinyurl.com/6heal8

Morgana and Sally,

Awesome last two posts by you both! Thank you both for all you do for us all!

Have either of you seen this one?

http://www.commondreams.org/views.htm

Subject State of Emergency: The US in the Final Six Months of the George W. Bush Administration

by Lewis Seiler and Dan Hamburg, former US representative

Good article Morgana and very hopeful, especially the last sentence "this transit gives us the opportunity to grow beyond our national infancy." We gotta get something out of this period of time. One thing not mentioned is McCain will be the flavor of choice this month for the media, as the Cancer Sun favors his Virgo Sun, and is the 12th house from Obama's, making him a bit invisible to the public except for the beginning of the nasty articles about him that will begin to spring up, as they are already springing up.

One of the most used methods of voter suppression by GOP (according to political science) is to convince people that the parties are the same, the candidates are the same because a huge voter turnout almost always favors the Democrats (there are more registered Dems in this country than GOP) So that process has already begun and will increase throughout the summer and fall. It's too bad but usually voters fall for it everytime. Planted articles, comments taken out of context, etc. etc. etc.

The season of swift boating has begun in earnest and all the buzz words that might feed into the primodal fears of the human race will be used. Darn it gets tiring to see so many good people falling for it over and over.

OMG

http://tinyurl.com/62exe8

TimmyJ, interesting research. Ya just have to keep beatin' back the buzzards, any Obama nay sayers, women anyway, ya give'm a choice, they can keep theirs or vote for McCcain. I don't think the man is perfect, but I do think the movement can make the man, grass roots are a noisy bunch. If you can a chance check out Marcos from DKOS on Countdown tonight it was interesting. Here's the link to Countdown's site

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/

Thanks for posting I always enjoy hearing your observations.

Sally, I had not seen the Common Dreams list, thank you so much for posting it, that is a terrific resource and thanks to all for the nice comments on Morgana's article. I thought it was especially honest as we go forward.

Sally Harrington, thank you for posting that link to Bushco's remaining months. It's like we're gambling each day longer he is there, holding our collective breath while we try to work through a tedious process hoping to bring an end to his mad reign. Great read, thinking more so about the position we the people find ourselves in, the ever lurking in the back our my mind kind of awareness, like knowing I live along the San Andreas.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i3NLY5naFMJIsbKHNeiWIKMTsEiQD91G3IBG0

NASA warming scientist: 'This is the last chance'

By SETH BORENSTEIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Exactly 20 years after warning America about global warming, a top NASA scientist said the situation has gotten so bad that the world's only hope is drastic action.

James Hansen told Congress on Monday that the world has long passed the "dangerous level" for greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and needs to get back to 1988 levels. He said Earth's atmosphere can only stay this loaded with man-made carbon dioxide for a couple more decades without changes such as mass extinction, ecosystem collapse and dramatic sea level rises.

"We're toast if we don't get on a very different path," Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute of Space Sciences who is sometimes called the godfather of global warming science, told The Associated Press. "This is the last chance."

[snip]
The year of Hansen's original testimony was the world's hottest year on record. Since then, 14 years have been hotter, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Two decades later, Hansen spent his time on the question of whether it's too late to do anything about it. His answer: There's still time to stop the worst, but not much time.

"We see a tipping point occurring right before our eyes," Hansen told the AP before the luncheon. "The Arctic is the first tipping point and it's occurring exactly the way we said it would."

Hansen, echoing work by other scientists, said that in five to 10 years, the Arctic will be free of sea ice in the summer.

Pelosi, et al., seem determined to get us into a war with Iran with this resolution which they may not even bring to a vote, but just declare that it passed (if I understand their machinations correctly):

http://www.truthout.org/article/congressional-resolution-demands-bush-act-iran

And you have to wonder why they don't pass a resolution that stringent inspections like this aren't carried out here to protect us.

Why do you think it is, lunaoscura, that we wait until things are at absolute crisis before acting? Here the legislators are feverishly trying to get us into a war with Iran, which will do ever so much for the situation in the mideast and here and will certainly benefit the earth's climate with all those hideous weapons and poisons flying around. Meanwhile, us old dirty hippies started recycling back in the late '60s-early '70s. And of course that was greeted with much derision, as were the Back-to-the-Landers, etc.

It is as though the earth is an insane asylum and the worst inmates thereof have ascended to positions of enormous power. They are now creating one crisis with the potential for horrible consequences while ignoring another crisis that has the potential for horrendous consequences. I say Go for Life, but then I'm just an old hippie with no savvy for how the world "really works." Sigh.

More inanity/insanity from the Dem Leadersheep: Hoyer is now proclaiming the FISA capitulation as a real success for the Dem Leadersheep when, of course, the Repugs are dancing around in glee that they won this round and eviscerated the Fourth Amendment:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/24/hoyer/

Israel 'will attack Iran' before new US president sworn in, John Bolton predicts

By Toby Harnden in Washington
Last updated: 9:50 AM BST 24/06/2008

John Bolton, the former American ambassador to the United Nations, has predicted that Israel could attack Iran after the November presidential election but before George W Bush's successor is sworn in.
The Arab world would be "pleased" by Israeli strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, he said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.

"It [the reaction] will be positive privately. I think there'll be public denunciations but no action," he said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/2182070/Israel-%27will-attack-Iran%27-before-new-US-president-sworn-in%2C-John-Bolton-predicts.html?service=print

John Bolton is one of the sickest puppies this regime has loosed on humankind. The man lives for bloodshed and carnage. I have no doubt the Zionists are itching to attack Iran, what amazes me is how convinced the Zionist Israeli's are so convinced of their invincibility even after their embarrassing defeat at the hands of Lebanon. I don't think the Irani's along with their Russian and Chinese compatriots are going to sit by idly while Israel plays McCains, hot single bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran.

Living with the Bush presidency is like Russian Roulette, spin the wheel and what do you get.

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/

Dow Chemical increased prices by 25% (after raising them 25% two months ago) ... food rationing? hyperinflation? Euros?????

Thanks, Morgana for the article. boy did you ever call this one. So "we" insist that Bush do something about Iran? and the effort to control prices of food and gas. Jeezzz. Miserable times inded.

Now that we're in the last seven months (we HOPE) of the lengthy Junya-Dick administration, we are finally beginning to see how they corrupted the Department of Justice:

http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/24/breaking-oig-and-opr-confirms-politicization-of-hiring-at-doj/

Maybe Congress will pass a law that retroactively makes them all safe from prosecution for this mess.

Here's how we do it. We set up a PAC for protecting the Constitution and Rule of Law. Then, we parcel out the money during times of critical votes. And you know what? Apparently, it really doesn't cost that much to get the vote you'd want, if this article is accurate. Really. Look at this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark/are-the-telecoms-paying-t_b_108880.html

20 years ago............I didn't need a NASA scientist to tell me we had Global Warming. My S.O. at the time, had pointed out in '82 that the leaves opened out on the first of May. ( In NJ)
'88 they were opening out on April 16. And they were turning color 2 weeks later in the fall!
$ months of summer NJ. 20 years later they have closed their Dept of Ag. just when they could grow more crops!
But, what did I know? Another "dirty ole string savin' hippy". 3 years lkater most of us were forced out by a hostile corporate take-over; downsized jobs. increased property taxes........A lot of us came to Maine. I hope you have as many back to the landers where you are Shy as I do.
Some of them are even farming with horse drawn tools!
If Bolton says it, you can bank on it!
Wonder where scumy Negroponte is hiding out?
If you are watching cspans.you can't get mad at the Dems. they are really pushing. but there just aren't enough of them. That crappy cloture,
( shortcut filabusters) thing to avoid lengthy filibusters put forth by the "bipartisan" Liarman, his handmaiden S collins, and the other 6, is like sticking a big wad of bubble gum inside your Swiss watch!
T neptune is almost sq my moon..........I'm not wasting "my beautiful mind" on trying to retain all the nuances of our creeping enslavement. Just trying to do what I need/ WANT to do!
The electric mower moter burned out.......so I am planting vegetables and annuals on the lawn, to reduce the amount I have to weed whack. Maybe I'll buy a goat!

For those who asked about buying the book I illustrated, "Machis Patriots and the Margaretta".
It is $12.00.
Write the Machias Historical Society /
P O Box 754 / Machias, Me. 04654.

They did a good job of the reproductions.
And it is a hope inspiring read, with 40 regular guys prevailing over the entire British Empire!
( grade 6- 10)

Above was supposed to read 4 four months of summer in NJ!

Utilities cut off more customers who are behind on their bills

USA TODAY

As skyrocketing food and gasoline prices strain budgets, utilities are disconnecting many more customers who fall behind on their bills, and even moderate-income households are getting zapped. Electricity and natural gas shutoffs are up at least 15% in several states compared with last year.

Totals for some utilities have more than doubled.

"We're seeing a record number of shutoffs," says Mark Wolfe, head of the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, which represents programs that subsidize energy bills.

........

Duke Energy in North Carolina is averaging about 11,000 shutoffs a month, 14% above last year. That's an annualized rate equal to nearly 10% of its 1.4 million residential customers, though Duke spokeswoman Paige Sheehan says some households may be shut off more than once. She says unpaid bills are ultimately borne by all other customers through higher rates.

Disconnects are up 27% for Peoples Gas in Chicago, 14% for Southern California Edison and 56% for Detroit Edison, according to utilities or regulators. In Michigan, where home foreclosures are soaring and the unemployment rate is the USA's highest, more than one in five Detroit Edison customers were behind in their electric bills in May. ..... more

http://tinyurl.com/3peacc

Thank Godess I got caught up with my electric bill (it took several years..)
The rates HAVE gone down slightly too.
We had Maine ENergy. slightly higher but local & green. But my friend told me Sun. they switched her over to the 'standard offer"
Which is Constellation Energy,. based in Baltimore.............using a mix, wind farm, solar, nuclear, coal.....But Jenna's new hubby will be CEO there; I hope he doesn't Enron it!

Woot! Woot! Here's a nice article about the book QOP illustrated, and a nice mention of QOP, too.

http://www.bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=165928&zoneid=24

Our electric bill tripled when ENRON gigged California, it hasn't gone down but up even more along with everything else. I sure wish they'd make solar cells affordable. I've seen pictures of cities in France where all the roof tops have solar cells.

My husband also pointed out a car that sells in Europe about 25K our dollars that gets 75 to 80 miles per gallon, but they are not sold here.

Ok back to work for me.

congrats on the book Pat!

Thanks for the newpaper article Shy! I heard about it but I was so busy on the 19th I didn't open my e-Bangor Daily paper!

Awesome qop!

........

Dodd will support Feingold's filibuster of FISA

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/24/123511/197/852/541211

Congratulations qop!

http://astrodynamics.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-marsuranus-and-fisa-bill.html

Obama, Mars/Uranus and the FISA bill

Groundwork for the day of reckoning... This is what I really believed would happen in 2000. But it didn't. This time it needs to happen. There are consequences for things left undone, unfinished and unresolved. We know all about it now.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20118.htm

Law School to Plan Bush War Crimes Prosecution

Press Release: Massachusetts School Of Law

17/06/08 "ICH" -- - A conference to plan the prosecution of President Bush and other high administration officials for war crimes will be held September 13-14 at the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover .

"This is not intended to be a mere discussion of violations of law that have occurred," said convener Lawrence Velvel, dean and cofounder of the school. "It is, rather, intended to be a planning conference at which plans will be laid and necessary organizational structures set up, to pursue the guilty as long as necessary and, if need be, to the ends of the Earth."

"We must try to hold Bush administration leaders accountable in courts of justice," Velvel said. "And we must insist on appropriate punishments, including, if guilt is found, the hangings visited upon top German and Japanese war-criminals in the 1940s."

Velvel said past practice has been to allow U.S. officials responsible for war crimes in Viet Nam and elsewhere to enjoy immunity from prosecution upon leaving office. "President Johnson retired to his Texas ranch and his Defense Secretary Robert McNamara was named to head the World Bank; Richard Nixon retired to San Clemente and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was allowed to grow richer and richer," Velvel said.

He noted in the years since the prosecution and punishment of German and Japanese leaders after World War Two those nation's leaders changed their countries' aggressor cultures. One cannot discount contributory cause and effect here, he said.

"For Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and John Yoo to spend years in jail or go to the gallows for their crimes would be a powerful lesson to future American leaders," Velvel said.

The conference will take up such issues as the nature of domestic and international crimes committed; which high-level Bush officials, including Federal judges and Members of Congress, are chargeable with war crimes; which foreign and domestic tribunals can be used to prosecute them; and the setting up of an umbrella coordinating committee with representatives of legal groups concerned about the war crimes such as the Center for Constitutional Rights, ACLU, National Lawyers Guild, among others.

The Massachusetts School of Law at Andover was established in 1988 to provide an affordable, quality legal education to minorities, immigrants and students from low-income households that might otherwise be denied the opportunity to obtain a legal education and practice law. Its founder, Dean Velvel, has been honored by the National Law Journal and cited in various publications for his contributions to the reform of legal education.

end

http://www.yosemite.org/vryos/index.htm

On the fires in California. Webcam shots of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.

Cough cough cough, we're covered in smoke and we're miles and miles and miles from any of the fires. My husband and I took off to Santa Cruz to get some sea air, and it was smokey as well.

It's a conundrum Morgana....no wing bad....no wind good. Awful. I hope the humidity and the efforts of firefighters puts an end to this quickly.

.........

http://astrotabletalk.blogspot.com/2008/06/kennedy-and-obama-dreams-from-father.html

Kennedy and Obama: Dreams from the Father

So, I've been thinking.

Congress is up for sale, as this article clearly shows:

http://tinyurl.com/6fnsum

and they actually come pretty cheap.

So, why not set up a PAC to just buy congress? Everybody else does it. There are organizations out there fighting tooth and nail to try and keep the Constitution intact. Maybe they should stop being so principled and just get down and dirty like the opposition. Hmmmmmm.

(Yeah, I know it's silly, but I'm feeling rather depressed at the moment.)

Oy.

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/06/24/mccain-the-presidency-is-all-psychological/

McCain: The Presidency is all in his head

Don't miss the one she's just posted, Pat C. It's a doozy, too (immediately on top of the McCain one).

On that last post Pat C........under the comments, the 2nd from the last ( v=bashing Obama) was by MU. Mu'Min M Bey
Didn't he troll AW a while back?

I think so qop. He's busy.

It sure is shy. She gets right to the nub.

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/06/24/trading-our-constitution-away-based-on-the-word-of-alberto-gonzales/

Trading our Constitution Away Based on the Word of Alberto Gonzales

They're doing the fillabuster! Chris DOdd is talking!
You can get link/live video from Du, I couldn't download the plug-in but it is on cspan2.

Dodd is being exceptional, QOP! Just exceptional.

http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/24/feingold-dodd-planning-filibuster-of-wiretap-bill/

Well, he's now moved on to another few items, but, oh, he was magnificent!

Are you sure that was the filibuster?

???? The old fashioned fillibisters used to go on for days non stop didn't they? Like Gravel's to end the draft.
Remember when Byrd showed up for one in his red & green plaid vest? They were bringing in cots etc. ( 2003?-04?). Then they did that nonpartisan thing Joe Jowels, & Suzy (Collins) and ended fillibusters as we knew them/
Then there is this..........
(CBS) Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen leaves Tuesday night on an overseas trip that will take him to Israel, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. The trip has been scheduled for some time but U.S. officials say it comes just as the Israelis are mounting a full court press to get the Bush administration to strike Iran's nuclear complex.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/24/eveningnews/main4206201.shtml
ANd this.................
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/24/french-president-sarkozy_n_108887.htm
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said there had been no assassination attempt on the French leader. ( No BUT how about on the Isreali leader?)

I think that was sort of the overture to the filibuster. Stay tuned.

Be still my heart! There may be an opportunity to extend that FISA mess past the Fourth.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/6/24/223033/176/554/541517

Let us hope! (Seems like a particular presidential candidate gave us that message--now if he'll only delivery the goods and save our Fourth Amendment I'll think more kindly toward him.)

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Russia_plans_to_hold_military_exerc_06242008.html

Russia plans to hold military exercises in Arctic

General: Russian military to train in Arctic to uphold claims to resource-rich area.

A senior Russian general says Russia will conduct military exercises in the Arctic to uphold the country's claim to the region's vast natural resources.

Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, in charge of military training at Russia's Defense Ministry, also said planning for the exercises began after several nations disputed Russia's Arctic claims.

More at the link...

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/P2.html

Another note (bill) that's being stealthily passed on to us, the big pocket taxpayer. "Let them eat cake".

That's some amazing stuff, Marta. It would be interesting to see how many involved in all this mess are part of a very high level group that does have access to data being vacuumed up by our federal spies. I'll see what I can find.

A promising trickle?

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5235731

As the cost of shipping continues to soar along with fuel prices, homegrown manufacturing jobs are making a comeback after decades of decline.

While it once cost $3,000 to ship a container from a city like Shanghai to New York, it now costs $8,000, prompting some businesses to look closer to home for manufacturing needs.

Furniture designer Carol Gregg used to have her signature Chinese chests assembled in China, but such a luxury no longer seems viable, considering that some of her pieces now cost five times more to ship.

So now Gregg is having the chests made in North Carolina, simply because its cheaper.

Some large companies like Crown Battery are cutting expenses by moving jobs from Mexico to Ohio. And hair care company Farouk Systems plans to shift all of its production from China to Houston this summer bringing with it 1,000 jobs.

This could mean good things for heavy heavy industry, like steel.

I thought that might begin to happen! I hope the textile mills haven't been completely dismantled. ANd what happened to the shoe manufactoring equipment in Maine?

This was posted on Salon.

.....

“The Bush Legacy:

HOLY CRAP.

Utah County (Congressional District #3 - PROVO, kids) to go BLUE?

With less than an 8% return (they just don’t care, folks!~) - the meanest, nastiest Repug congressional incumbent (6 terms) - Chris Cannon - famous for being a Clinton Impeachment Manager - and all around nutbar wingnut….

Has Lost - 11,387 to 6648. That’s ONLY 6648 votes for the entire congressional district. And only 18,000 voters turning out for the repugs.

Oh My. Be still my heart!~ “

WHoot whoot! Thiis means Howard Dean's 50 states initiative is working!

Glenn Greenwald has an excellent article up this am about the whole FISA thing (including one presidential hopeful's slippery positions)
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/25/dodd/

And emptywheel has an excellent one, too:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/06/25/about-reids-potential-delay/#more-2340

firedoglake itself, has a nice tribute to Dodd posted currently, quoting a lot from his speech of last night.

Good stuff shy!

Here's more on China trade and the icky results.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2008/06/pr_geos_delegate_rankles_chine.html

Pr. Geo.'s Delegate Rankles Chinese Government

Del. James W. Hubbard seems to have started a trade dispute with China -- and he's loving every minute of it.

The Prince George's Democrat began to rankle the Chinese government last winter, when the General Assembly took up his bill to make Maryland one of the first states to ban some products manufactured with lead.

Hubbard, who gravitates toward environmental issues, offered put in the bill in response to a high-profile recall of some Chinese-made toys last year that were found to contain too much lead.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative alerted the Chinese government, which sent a letter from Beijing to protest the bill as a barrier to trade. Lawmakers in Annapolis were unfazed and passed the bill, which takes effect next month.

Then came a four-page missive from the World Trade Organization's Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade -- in English and Chinese -- opposing another of Hubbard's bills, to ban a chemical compound called bisphenol A that is central to the plastics industry. Manufacturers in the United States and China use the compound in baby bottles and other products. With testimony on both sides, the bill did not pass out of a House committee.

More at the link....

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/time-grand-inquest-bushs-high-crimes

Time For A Grand Inquest Into Bush's High Crimes

One of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's first acts upon taking the gavel was to rule impeachment off the table. She wanted Democrats to focus on challenging the president on the war and on kitchen table concerns — from energy to education to health care. With Democrats now enjoying an increasing margin in generic polls and looking towards gaining seats in both the House and the Senate, the strategy certainly hasn't hurt politically.

But the constitutional implications are far more disturbing. This was dramatized as the Congress debated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reform legislation that will provide retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies for warrantless interception of the conversations of Americans — and by implication, retroactive acceptance of the president's authority to order such wiretaps.

We have witnessed a staggering abuse of power by President Bush. Even former Bush Justice Department officials now charge him with trampling the Constitution. Bush has claimed the prerogative to declare an endless war without congressional approval, to designate someone an enemy without cause, to proceed to wiretap them without warrant, arrest or kidnap them at will, jail them without a hearing, hold them indefinitely, interrogate them intensively (read torture), bring them to trial outside the U.S. court system. He claims that executive privilege exempts his aides — even the aides of his aides and his vice president's aides — from congressional investigation. He claims the right to amend or negate congressional laws with a statement upon signing them. And much more.

snip

And there is the rub. According to the leading case on presidential powers, if Bush's extreme assertions of power are not challenged by the Congress, they end up not simply creating new law, they could end up rewriting the Constitution itself. Inaction can alter the Constitutional division of powers by establishing the president's claims as authority that the Congress or the courts may not infringe.

The Steel Seizure case — Youngstown Sheet and Tube v Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952), remains the leading case on presidential power. In Youngstown, a six-member majority of the Court joined in overturning President Truman's executive order nationalizing the steel plants to end a strike during the Korean War. Justice Black wrote the opinion for the Court, but the historically influential opinions were penned by Justices Robert H. Jackson and Felix Frankfurter, both Democratic appointees. Frankfurter laid out the argument for a sort of common law of constitutional amendment:

More at the link....

Sally, I noticed in one of your posts the negativity was getting to you. I've asked this question in here before: What is wanted instead of what we have now? If we have a raging river, what bridge shall we build to cross it on? How shall we stay emotionally and spiritually UP to get the building done?
I feel the link provided provides a good blend of "Follow Your Bliss" with a Spiritual path. I stumbled on the link today.
In the predictive astrology of Solar Arcs, in 2009, in the USA chart, Chiron,the wounded healer, the bridge to higher thinking, is one degree waxing from a conjunction to the Ascendant and opposite the Descendant. We see the wound, the challenge. Now, what shall the healing be? We see the breakdown. What shall the breakthrough be?
My own vision is something like: We become self reliant and empower others to do the same, in a way which allows all to Follow their Bliss.

Nameste', Timmy J

Who wants to hear the BEST NEWS in YEARS?
oH Canada, Oh Canada how luvly is thy Parliament....
On June 3 the Canadian Parliament voted to ALLOW conscientious objectors for the war in Iraq to haven in their country! Read and grin wide:

http://www.workers.org/2008/us/war_resisters_0612/

Paul Levy: We are all Shamans in Training
http://www.awakeninthedream.com/artis/we%20are%20all%20shamans.htm
A new (?) one I haven't read.

"In 1981 I spontaneously went into such an ecstatic state that I was hospitalized by what I call the “anti-bliss patrol.” The authorities had become alerted because I was simply unable to restrain my enthusiasm at the “good news” that was beginning to reveal itself to me about the nature of reality. Stepping out of my usual way of trying to control my experience, during that next year I was thrown in mental hospitals a number of times and (mis)diagnosed as having manic-depressive (bi-polar) illness. I was told that I had a chemical imbalance and would have to go on medication and learn to live with my “illness” for the rest of my life. Little did the doctors realize that although my experience looked like a typical nervous breakdown, I had actually gotten “drafted” into a deeper psycho-spiritual process of an entirely different order – a spiritual awakening/shamanic initiation - that was blowing my mind as it was simultaneously revealing it" more..............

Odd isn't it that the warmongers are considered perfectly normal!

Hi everyone,
It's been awhile since i've had the time to visit. Happy Birthday to those I missed and congrats to QOP and anyone else whose accomplishments I may have missed as well. Glad to see you are are Morgana, I thought about you when the fires first started.
I rented a very good movie last night. I hadn't heard anything about it and I don't beleive it was even shown where I lived. It's called "Lions for Lambs" by Robert Redford. It is very moving and has some of the most relevant discussions I have ever seen. Very hard hitting and also very challenging. Its about the gov't, the war, the people, the games, ......all I can say is WOW! Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise are in it also. Has anyone here seen it?

PatC, there is a War Crimes legal conference in Andover Mass. 9-13/14. Don't know how far they may get (that is one idealistic chart)but it's a start:

http://www.informationclearing.....e20118.htm

Pat QoP..
from the Levy article:
I had actually gotten “drafted” into a deeper psycho-spiritual process of an entirely different order – a spiritual awakening/shamanic initiation - that was blowing my mind as it was simultaneously revealing it" more

well, I.had my freakout in 1983, 2 years after Levy did....lost my job, got sick, acted out all the stuff I was going thru, got into therapy before the big break, so that helped. Pluto on my ascendant....yep, that was it. Squaring Jupiter, MC, Venus, Pluto and finally the Moon...what a wild ride. But it sure KICK started the process of transformation....or continued it, as the same thing happened at my 28 yr saturn return, in which I had a spontaneous kundalini experience...oh, yes....what fun. But hey, I must have signed up for it or it wouldn't have happened.

I totally agree that it is the intensity (good or bad) of experiences which moves us the most...

Raven, thanks for mentioning the Redford movie...missed that announced opening, might just have to go see it....

Thank you Timmy J for that reminder and you are right, the negativity and the lies and the slapping our spirit is getting to me. I don't think it's any secret that this is a mundane political site, that leans Democratic; mostly because of the horrific past 8 years and now the Democrats have a real potential of at least beginning the task of sweeping some of this out. Not all of it, but some; a leader that has hope in us to be something besides consummers. Morgana and I have talked often of how the movement in this country toward change and renewal will shape the candidate, not the other way around. It might have been Hillary but it ended up being Obama and all we see is one attack article after the other of opinion pieces, some of them the racism is barely covered and it does tire me as do the distortions within those articles. It isn't politics or politicians that shift or change things, it's the collective mind. I saw today that 44 percent of Americans support torture of terrorists and that made me heart sick because we obviously still have a long way to go, I do however believe we will get there.

I work for an organization that has very powerful women as its members and I was discussing my disillusionment with her today, she sent me this quote, it's a good one for me to remember and mostly I try to live by.

Powerful Women.......

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the
morning, Satan shudders and says, 'Oh shit ... she's awake!'

You guys will love this! A German architect is going to build moving skyscrapers that look like they're undulating! Scroll down to the video and you can see what they'll look like in motion. 360 views for every floor.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/25/dubais-moving-skyscraper_n_109274.html

Sally, that's a great quote! I'm borrowing it!

qop, I remember Paul Levy from our early days with Chogyam Trungpa, sweet quiet guy..disciplining ourselves under the magical presence of a genuine teacher. D'ose were da days..sigh.
I've noticed how those 'peak experiences' gifts handed through the back door when our egos aren't looking are 100% followed by a kick in the pants. Ha!Ha!Ha!

She's awake.

http://boxer.senate.gov/

qop the Levy article is great, interesting I just read an article a week or so ago by a Psychiatrist who said somehow someway the last 25 years have been dominated by mentally ill and corrupt people and that has become what we see as normal, the true normal is considered mentally ill. It was fascinating. Levy's experience is something multitudes have experienced and yet no one to talk to about those experiences. PatB's comment is certainly what most of us found during our journey. Great article and terrific posts.

By all means take it Luna, my hope is that every woman who knows she is powerful will take it and wear it like a mantle.

PatC, I got an email from somewhere that Feinstein wants immunity stripped out, I did a wow. Boxer, she's terrific.

Sally, TimmyJ - the negativity is insidious in some of these articles. I've taken to checking the source and find a fair number tracking back to the Murdoch operation. The ability we have through the internet to make ourselves heard and felt is tremendous.

Sally this is great I will have to share it with my friends. I so enjoy the imagery.

Powerful Women.......

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the
morning, Satan shudders and says, 'Oh shit ... she's awake!'

Question for our great astrologers:

What causes you to think Obama will be moved by progressives after he is elected?

http://imvotingrepublican.com/

lol

Obama strikes three (first, public financing, second FISA):

http://tinyurl.com/5b5qol

I don't think it will just be "progressives" Pat, the movement for change is so strong in this country among independents, Democrats and even some GOP, I think the candidate will be forced to move with it, it would not have mattered if it was Clinton or Obama. If that desire for change gets strong enough and loud enough it just might move McCain although I have my doubts there. That's what I have been trying to say with the Obama campaign, it wasn't about him, it never was, it was about a "movement for change" and he just had the new face on it. I haven't liked any of the candidates we have had but I do believe there is hope. If Hillary would have been the candidate I would have voted for her even if I didn't trust her, I am not likely to vote for McCain with his promise of "another 4 years of George Bush." Heck, if I didn't like Obama, I might have voted for Bob Barr of the "Liberty Coalition" who is now running as an independent.

Judi G, I have seen that ad, "voting Republican" and it is hilarious. The link you put up is no longer in use so I am putting a new link to it. If any of you have not seen Judi G's video, try this link, you will get a huge laugh.

http://www.myspace.com/imvotingrepublican

I am a very unhappy camper. I don't believe in any of the candidates. Our government represents corporate very well by acting as a funnel, legalizing their goals. It appears to me that the people are nothing more than the chattering classes, fodder units.

I would never vote for McCain, but I don't trust Obama at all. I hope he surprises me. I would be excited at the prospect. That was the reason for my question, though I know it isn't a popular one.

PatC, I don't just think Obama will be moved, but also the heads of state of many other western nations. The People everywhere are in the same boat and are raising their voices. I was recently told how the European heads of state are afraid of their people, the French come to mind, whereas American's are afraid of their government thus our leaders have turned a deaf ear. This movement does not end with Obama, we've have a long way to go in the recovery our national bearings. Heck we've had seven years of destruction it will take thrice that to recover. As TimmyJ mentioned, Pluto is going to go Direct into Capricorn and march through the US 2nd House.

The link I meant to post earlier. http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=8bus34tvhf

A spiritual approach to Follow Your Bliss

Thanks Morgana. I appreciate your response.

Here is some good news.

Cuyahoga County (Cleveland, Ohio) will have paper ballets with local scanners this election. The rest of Ohio will also lose the touch screens soon.

http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/06/cuyahogas_paper_ballots_may_br.html

My apologies, I forgot one. Strike one = Public Financing of campaigns. Strike two = NAFTA. Strike three: Death penalty. Strike four = FISA

Here's Strike Two since I don't think I posted it before:

http://tinyurl.com/5a5tgb

What's next?

Word, Morgana.

Pluto transiting the U.S. natal Second House = Empty Treasury, Bankruptcy, Economic Depression. In particular, this is going to affect the very underpinnings of money and our financial system. We can already see it breaking down. We will have no other choice but to rebuild it all from scratch.

And yet everything has its' time and place. The Pluto in Capricorn years will see over-emphasis upon all things corporate, just as Pluto in Sagittarius has forced religion and beliefs into the fore, seemingly to no end. And yet, that end is nearly here. Come late November, Pluto will depart from Sag for another 235 years. Religion in all its' vehemence will fade into the background for a time, all its' decay and rot having been exposed to be swept away in favor of new growth.

That is also the fate of government and corporations when Pluto transits Capricorn. So much of it all will not survive. (Of course, so many with such massive stakes in the status quo probably won't either.) But to arrive at a time for new growth, we have to experience Pluto uprooting and exposing all of the corruption, rot and decay first, and boy is there a ton of it.

So then, given that humanity seems to be ruled by Aquarius, when Pluto reaches the sign of the water bearer, how much of our very own corruption and rot gets exposed?

Senate passes FISA bill--and those who tried to stop it

OBAMA, MCCAIN DID NOT VOTE

Here are the 15 who tried to block the bill:

Biden (D-DE)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Wyden (D-OR)

Hillary Clinton was also Not Voting.

The other two who didn't vote were Byrd and Kennedy, both of whom are (I believe) still out for medical reasons.

Yeas were 32 Democrats and 48 Republicans.

..........

Spy, phone protection bill clears Senate hurdle

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2528782720080625?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

A White House-backed spy bill to protect telecommunication companies from billions of dollars in possible privacy lawsuits passed a Senate test vote on Wednesday and headed toward final congressional approval.

On a vote of 80-15, mostly Republican supporters of the bipartisan measure, which would also implement the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. spy laws in decades, easily mustered the 60 needed to clear a Democratic procedural roadblock.

Overwhelmingly approved by the House of Representatives on Friday, the bill may win needed Senate concurrence before Congress begins a holiday break the end of this week.

President George W. Bush has promised to sign the measure, which would replace a temporary surveillance law that had expired in February.

In addition to providing a special court review of lawsuits against telecommunication companies, the bill would increase oversight of U.S. intelligence activities and bolster privacy protection -- but not as much as civil liberties groups and a number of lawmakers want.

"This bill is not a compromise. It is a capitulation," said Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat. Feingold has offered an amendment to strip out protection for telecommunication companies. But both Democrats and Republicans predict the amendment will be rejected.

More at the link...

My goodness, where is Harry Reid, he made a very big deal of saying he would vote against this. Ah, McCain, Hillary and Obama, so much for change candidates. I read a comment by a gentleman on another site who said "looks like change really is up to us." I agree with him, it's always been in our hands if we as a people could just believe that.

http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/26/taking-the-punitive-out-of-punitive-damages/

Taking the “Punitive” out of Punitive Damages

There have been more than a few areas where conservatives have taken a constant sledgehammer to the law until enough people finally yield in exhaustion.

And this week, we've seen two of them, oh, make it three.

This week is a particularly troubling one because the Fourth Amendment (the new FISA bill); and the Eighth Amendment (reaction to the prohibition of the death penalty for child rape) have come up in an election year. And we all know how much that sucks -- because the media is incapable of having a "mature" debate on issues, as it is comprised of too many venal and insipid shills from top to bottom; and too many people just want their pablum so they can move on. It's all about "character" (i.e. who's a badass?) and process ("who's up, who's down - how can me make them even?).

Well, you know the drill, it gets hammered at you and about you all day.

But there is a third defeat this week as well and it doesn't bode well for those of you who say die or get sick because a produce or meat distributor or even restaurant does not follow well-known and standard safety precautions. Or a manufacturer sells you a car that would be better known as the "Death Trap 3000". A hybrid that crosses rolling over easily with being highly flammable.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court took a not particularly bold step of allowing companies to amortize their own deliberate indifference to safety and responsibility. I guess it's all up to the power of Jesus or something.

More at the link..

Sally I think the reason for the protests against the Viet Nam war was not only because of the draft, but also the press, who hammered the issue every night on the evening news. Now, how about that fairness doctrine? We have today, the opposite of what existed in the sixties and seventies.

http://www.blah3.com/article.php?story=2008062517574851

We don't know how to beat them Sally. Read this.

http://www.gregpalast.com/court-rewards-exxon-for-valdez-oil-spill/

Court Rewards Exxon for Valdez Oil Spill

Twenty years after Exxon Valdez slimed over one thousand miles of Alaskan beaches, the company has yet to pay the $5 billion in punitive damages awarded by the jury. And now they won't have to. The Supreme Court today cut Exxon's liability by 90% to half a billion. It's so cheap, it's like a permit to spill.

Exxon knew this would happen. Right after the spill, I was brought to Alaska by the Natives whose Prince William Sound islands, livelihoods, and their food source was contaminated by Exxon crude. My assignment: to investigate oil company frauds that led to to the disaster. There were plenty.

But before we brought charges, the Natives hoped to settle with the oil company, to receive just enough compensation to buy some boats and rebuild their island villages to withstand what would be a decade of trying to survive in a polluted ecological death zone.

More at the link...

Ah, change. You know, Cap'n Sally, that word has been prominent in the Obama campaign and he has shown us in the past week/10 days that he can change on a dime. And he's also shown us he is not a man of his word. And he, a Constitutional lawyer, just delivered a fatal blow to the Fourth Amendment. So . . . . . where's the astrology in all this? It's amazing, but based on the astrology, is this all we can expect from here on out?

Diane Swinestein didn't vote?

http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/26/following-the-publics-business/

Following the Public's Business

http://judiciary.house.gov/oversight.aspx?ID=458

http://www.c-span.org/

http://balkin.blogspot.com/2008/06/guide-to-new-fisa-bill-part-iii.html

A Guide to the New FISA Bill, Part III

http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2008/06/fisa-and-all-th.html

FISA and All Those Numbers

Hearing on: From the Department of Justice to Guantanamo Bay: Administration Lawyers and Administration Interrogation Rules, Part III

http://judiciary.house.gov/oversight.aspx?ID=458

http://www.c-span.org/

I do know we are all frustrated now Shy and are wondering exactly what is going on here, I also know that astrologically this country, this world is still walking through mud and quicksand and it will be a long time before we get out of it.

Astrologically this is going to be a really tough month for Obama because the transiting Sun is in the 12th house from his natal Sun and he will be slammed from right and left until the end of this month and whether he likes it or not Obama will be held to a much higher standard than McCain and mistrusted more than McCain because he is black and culturally we have all be taught to mistrust the black community for over 200 years, so that's just the lay of the land and the reality.

The FISA bill was a really stupid mistake on his part, he could have not voted like Hillary and McCain, the bill was going to pass anyway and everyone knew it, he could have voted with the 15 that voted against it and it would have been a no foul for him. Whenever there is a vote on the floor like this one, it's always the same 15 or 16 in the Democratic party that stands against these things, it's kind of like the show group so Democrats look like they are standing against an unpopular vote, he could have voted with them and the outcome would have still been the same.

A few days ago, Pat C posted a list of questions that should be asked about this bill and the questions were very good and simple, none of those questions were ever answered. Her list made me think of a million other things that have not been answered and who exactly is pulling the strings in Washington and why.

John McCain should also be in a difficult time and there have been a ton of question raised about him and his dealings in Arizona, his campaign staff, his illegal finance of his campaign and the list goes on, but he is still being given a complete pass, why? His chart doesn't show that he would be given a pass, but he is.

I do know that the GOP machine is still very strong and they know how to play dirty politics and the Democratic candidate was going to be the recipient of those politics, they just sat back and waited while the Democrats took each other out during the primary.

I don't think and never did think that Obama was the second coming for this country, I would be shocked if he were another FDR, absolutely shocked, but I do think he can do somethings such as raise our standing the the world which we desperately need. I've noticed how the world's governments are becoming more and more conservative, while the people more and more liberal, that's going to be a clash of titans because governments have all the major weapons, the people have a huge block of mass. We don't need our government plus the rest of the world after us right now.

I do know if McCain gets in there is no hope over the next 4 years and perhaps beyond, Obama, maybe. He is backing off the NAFTA issue, the FISA issue and we don't know yet how many other issues, but I do know he nor his wife are conservative and those liberal roots will pop through even if in small ways, just as they did in the Clinton's even though they are more conservative than they presented. But Obama cannot change anything unless he gets to office and we don't know from the "back side" of politics what that takes.

It has seemed to me since 1960 that our political candidates are chosen for us and that sense has just gotten stronger. If they had wanted, the MSM could have elevated Kuchinch, Feingold, Edwards but we ended up with what we have, and I don't suggest trust of any of them, just hope.

Astrologically, it's the "big" picture taking center stage with all the outer planets in the universal signs. It won't just be about the US but about the world and all that's in it, we have a bigger astrological soup to read.

With the astro signs Obama has going on right now he could lose it all this month and end up without the delegates he needs at the convention. I suspect his recent vote has to do with the blue dog super delegate dems threatening to take their endorsement back if he didn't stand with them. The blue dog dems wield massive power in the democratic party right now and right now Obama is making the same mistakes Gore and Kerry made listening to them.

Thank you ever so much, Cap'n Sally. I do appreciate your response.

Sally,
I believe I read this morning that Obama did indeed skip the vote.

"It has seemed to me since 1960 that our political candidates are chosen for us and that sense has just gotten stronger. If they had wanted, the MSM could have elevated Kuchinch, Feingold, Edwards but we ended up with what we have, and I don't suggest trust of any of them, just hope."

Word Sally. Thanks for the response.

Do you think there could be trouble for him at the Dem Convention? That sits as a kind of quiet nudge at the back of my mind.

Interesting article, worth the read.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174949/mike_davis_welcome_to_the_next_epoch

Tomgram: Mike Davis, Welcome to the Next Epoch

The major reason to vote Democratic, the ECONOMY -- FORECLOSURE FORCING MIDDLE CLASS INTO HOMELESSNESS

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/housing/foreclosure_report.pdf

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2008-06-25-homeless-families-foreclosure_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

http://www.realtytrac.com/ContentManagement/pressrelease.aspx?ChannelID=9&ItemID=3988&accnt=64847

http://www.firstfocus.net/Download/HousingandChildrenFINAL.pdf

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/06/26/foreclosure_rescue_legislation_stalls_in_senate/

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/06/foreclosures_may.html

I apologize for posting so much and being on such a tear. I am just so furious about what is being done and has been done to so many people here and around the world, not to mention our earth and all that live here. I'll try to find a more constructive outlet.

I hadn't heard that Obama skipped the vote but I hope that he did, that would at least make a little sense to me.

I don't really think PatC that he will have problems at the convention, he just has to get through this month. So does McCain for all that it's worth, the MSM doesn't seem to be questioning him on anything, except Olbermann.
I don't believe Hillary would be any better and she has a far more closed astro chart as far as listening or changing her mind once she makes it up. She is going to also go for NAFTA and all the rest of the trade agreements in a big way, the Clinton's and Bush's are the biggest propoents of "The Third Way." Only they have never said what that means. I also don't like Bill Clinton's (again unexplained)business dealings with some unsavory characters in the Middle East. As I've said many times, we need to keep a watchful eye and do what we can to elevate our own energies above this trash.

In the meantime our financial situation keeps going south.

Here is the Senate Roll call on FISA

Obama did not vote.

http://tinyurl.com/367jyn

PAt C might I suggest a consructive outlet for your fury?
Here's the list of the blue dogs CALL & LEAN ON THEM! I intend to do this.
http://www.house.gov/ross/BlueDogs/Member%20Page.html
1-877-851-6437 ( toll free to Congress)
They began as fiscal conservative, nothing wrong with that, but they are out of control NOW.
I'm glad to see that Mike Michaud, Me 2nd Distr. is no longer on the list. He is voting progressively & supports the Impeach Cheney resolution.
Wonder of wonders, we seem to have some tourist traffic up here.

Good idea Pat! Thanks!

Well I just had a long talk with Kirsten Gillibrandt's campaign manager. I was shocked to see her on the list. He said she is refective of her constuancy, which is those conservative Eisenhower Repigs that frustrate my daughter so.
He did LISTEN & We had a real communication exchange!
It can work!

We got a reprieve on the FISA thing. Final vote has been delayed until after Fourth of July. Unlikely, but maybe the Fourth of July will make some of them rethink gutting the Fourth Amendment. Oh, I do hope so:

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/vote_on_fisa_delayed_until_jul.php

PS You rock, QOP!

Glenn Greenwald on FISA and K.O. and Obama

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/26/olbermann/
---J. Alter:
So, there was tremendous urgency to get the FISA court back into the game. And does this bill do it imperfectly? Yes. But it does do it and it restores the Constitution, which is a point that's not getting made very much.
-----G. Greenwald:
Leave aside the fact that Jonathan Alter, desperate to defend Obama, doesn't have the slightest idea of what he's talking about. How can a bill which increases the President's authority to eavesdrop with no warrants over the current FISA law possibly be described as a restoration of the Fourth Amendment? That would be like describing a new law banning anti-war speech as a restoration of the First Amendment.
As Jim Dempsey and Marty Lederman both note, not even the nation's most foremost FISA experts really know the full extent to which this bill allows new warrantless spying. Obviously, Jonathan Alter has no idea what he's saying, but nonetheless decrees that this bill -- now that Obama supports it -- restores the Fourth Amendment. Those are the Orwellian lengths to which people like Olbermann and Alter are apparently willing to go in order to offer their blind devotion to Barack Obama.

and another one:

nteresting Post From DailyKos

A pragmatist’s view on FISA
by NCrissieB

“I’m a former criminal defense appellate attorney. Most of my cases turned on constitutional issues: search and seizure, interrogation methods, ineffective assistance of counsel, police and/or prosecutorial misconduct, and the like. The issues that dominate the news and the blogosphere today are the issues I worked with in the grit and grist of real defendants, real victims, real crimes, real acts . . .”

“Folks, if you think FISA is the last bastion of the Fourth Amendment, I have bad news for you. If FISA is indeed the last bastion, the Fourth Amendment is already gone. The current bill will not fix the problem, no matter whether telecoms are given the affirmative defense of acting under color of law. The problem exists in the USA PATRIOT Act, not in FISA . . .”

MORE:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/26/62819/0991/926/542170

Excellent article...

Why The Right Isn't Future-Ready
http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/why-right-isnt-future-ready

Well, I woke up this morning and jumped out of bed and as soon as my feet hit the floor something groaned and said "Oh Shit"! It was Satan. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

from crooks and liars

Supporting telecom immunity pays dividends
By: SilentPatriot @ 2:00 PM - PDT
An analysis by LightMAP.org reveals that the 94 Democrats who changed their position on FISA since March are being flooded with donations from the companies who they now want to give a free pass. Shouldn’t this be illegal or something?

Politico:

Dems who flipped on FISA immunity see more telecom cash

House Democrats who flipped their votes to support retroactive immunity for telecom companies in last week’s FISA bill took thousands of dollars more from phone companies than Democrats who consistently voted against legislation with an immunity provision, according to an analysis by MAPLight.org.

The 94 Democrats who changed their positions received on average $8,359 in contributions from Verizon, AT&T and Sprint from January, 2005, to March, 2008, according to the analysis by MAPLight, a nonpartisan organization that tracks the connection between campaign contributions and legislative outcomes.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/26/olbermann/

Keith Olbermann: Then and now

Live from US Overseas: Kucinich & ???? discussing FISA. ( with call ins from USA)
Democracy Now, normally scheduled in this slot.

It's Zogby!

During the House Judiciary Committee hearing today, with witnesses torture-memo-writer Yoo and Dick "Dick"'s chief of staff Addington), there was a delicious exchange between Addington and one of the committee members. Addington stated that the Veep was neither in the Executive nor the Legislative branch, but was "attached" to the latter. That led the committee member to opine that the Veep was, say, a barnacle on the legislative branch.

It's now official: it's now in wikipedia:

“A barnacle is a type of arthropod belonging to infraclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence distantly related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine (with the exception of the Vice President of the United States), and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosive settings. They are sessile suspension feeders, and have two nektonic larval stages.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnacle

Rejoice, for we have found an appropriate place for Dick "Dick".

Wow good hit piece on Olbermann and Alderman. Just enough distortion, a twist here, there, be very very afraid people.

Anyone noticed that our economic crash is unfolding before our eyes? No? Constitution poof gone, Bill of Rights confetti, health insurance bogus, the dollar worthless, our mortgages are owned by China, India, Saudi Arabia, most of Europe and Russia, we have zippo.

I know enough about McCain and Barr that hell would freeze over before I'd cast my meaningless vote for them. Obama is a crap shoot, not near perfect, he is the only option I see for changing or stopping the hemorrhaging of We the People. I knew he was no Kuccinich or Edwards, I knew I disagreed with some of his positions. I disagree with all of John McCain and Bob Barr's positions. So if Obama wiggles toward the center prior to the election fine, I already know I can't take another four years of GOP policies, let alone the Morality Cops.

Also just a side thought. I heard last night that Dukakis went into the November election with a 14 pt lead 4 days before the election and poppy Bush won by 7 pts. back in 1988, I wonder if Dukakis had the election stolen and no one noticed? Wouldn't that be something. Who knows maybe some of those dots will get connected some day.

Interesting new book:

http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/1175

JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters

Judi, you posted ....

As Jim Dempsey and Marty Lederman both note, not even the nation's most foremost FISA experts really know the full extent to which this bill allows new warrantless spying. Obviously, Jonathan Alter has no idea what he's saying, but nonetheless decrees that this bill -- now that Obama supports it -- restores the Fourth Amendment. Those are the Orwellian lengths to which people like Olbermann and Alter are apparently willing to go in order to offer their blind devotion to Barack Obama.

++++++

You're surprised? Why? You're forgetting the old adage, "Meet the New Boss (Obama), the same as the Old Boss (fill in the blanks).

So, the Jonathan Alters and KO's (left?) of the world are the counterparts of Faux News (right?) that are there to steer us. I've smelled this cologne before. When Clinton's impeachment happened. It was time for the repubs to win, so they impeached Clinton because otherwise there's no way the country would have voted for a repub. Then they put Sonny (aka Bush II - who's platform was that he was a UNITER, NOT a DIVIDER (sound familiar?) who was going to CHANGE things so we could BELIEVE in our country again. Sound like somebody you've heard lately? And we all know what Sonny's done for us.

Now that almost 8 years of repubs have gone by (same as the 8 years of dems ... funny, huh). It's time for a new 4-year cycle of a dem Prez to "rule". To give us the lie and to try and defuse the collective anger that's roiling around in this country (to buy themselves time and finish their "plan" - whatever that is). So, we get Obama, who's selling us "HOPE" and "CHANGE" (again). A candidate who has been manipulated into place by the press and is most likely owned by the powers that be (come on ... why do you guys think Feingold, Kucinich, Edwards, etc. don't stand a chance - not because WE don't want them). It's because the system is totally manipulated, from start to finish. Nothing is left to chance. Certainly not the 2 "candidates" that get annointed. It's just a beauty show to continue the "facade".

And just in case things get dicey, they own BOTH candidates. Gives them more options and they "win" no matter who "wins" (remember, as a last resort, they also count the votes).

Sorry, I've been discounting my gut for the past 15 years (kept on getting shot down by my family, the press, friends - I was crazy, pessimistic, whatever), but I refuse to drink the koolaid any longer.

So now that it's the dems turn (and just look how the dems took over Congress and impeached these (fill in your own cuss words). Look how they restored our lost rights, look how they ended the Iraq war. Come on guys! How much longer are you going to BUY into this GREAT LIE?

Remember, the game plan is that they (both the dems and repubs) only need to present things as "plausible". Excuses, Oh, the dems are afraid of being labelled appeasers, weak on terrorism, etc. that's why they voted for this bill. Of course, when they're REALLY in power, THEN they'll finally be able to "fix it". Right.

The repubs say, "oh, if it weren't for those liberal dems women wouldn't be having abortions in this country", etc.

Doesn't it strike anybody as wild that the minority (repubs) are still calling the shots? When the dems couldn't "get anything done or stop the bloodbath" when they were the minority. Does anybody really believe that democrats don't have balls? Come on .... It's cartoonish.

The "strong" repub, the "weak" dem.
These are just word pictures painted to keep us in the dream.
They all play at finger pointing to someone as an excuse how nothing can get done. They all have their marching orders. They are all complicit.

So, since we're a 2-party system, we, the "voters" have to forgive "our team", because at least they have their hearts in the "right" place". If only those blue dogs didn't gang up on everyone and make them pass that bill or do this. It's all a GAME. The system is a GAME. Our democracy is a FIGMENT OF OUR IMAGINATION. I invite you to invoke your first amendment rights and go out to the nearest government building and start picketing them and see how well you fare.

In anycase, the definition of insanity is keeping on doing the same thing. The definition of THEIR game plan IS THAT YOU CONTINUE TO HOPE AND CONTINUE TO DO THE SAME THINGS. Very predictable.

Morgana, I thought it was poppy bush's willie horton ad by the late lee atwater, mentor to karl rove, who pushed the buttons in time to win.....

yes, wasn't THAT fine?

and, having gone thru the 1990 recession which took place under poppy bush, why are we now surprised to see the son redux? That early one was the biggest transfer of wealth from bottom to top since the depression, and this time it will be even greater, I'd bet. except the top people may not be in this country this time. It is 18 years later, a perfect moon cycle....and here we are again....huh, so you think lightening can strike twice? arf....

speaking of the media, shy, was watching KTVU noos this morning and they were covering protests and banners hung in Berkeley, or over the 80 freeway? I didn't catch it, but I distinctly saw the name John Yoo & heard the male anchor say (groan, is this how far we've come?) ...I don't know who Yoo is, but he must be someone they are protesting...

by Jove, Marta, I think you've got it....

pat c, from the few early paragraphs on the buzzflash/jfk review:

Are the years of turmoil that followed the assassination of JFK due to not just the killing of a President, but of a man who had turned from cold warrior to a visionary of peace?

Was JFK killed because he had evolved into a threat to the war machine upon which the American economy and powers that be so rely on for wealth and the continuance of world dominance?

JudiGem, Yoo is the author of the torture-is-ok/just-don't-call-it-torture memos. I'm sure wikipedia has it all. If not, just go to any of the blogs and search.

Marta, if I could add a little to your definition of insanity, I think it's doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result every time. And I certainly agree that it is a big game and we're the losers no matter what. I'm actually glad that Obama has revealed his lack of principle and honesty, doing a 180-degree on issues within a week or two days' tme. Now, let's see if his followers will put his feet to the fire.

Judigem, John Yoo wrote the torture memo's (the ones justifying our use of it). I would love to see him receive karmic retribution for the use those memo's have been put to. He should reap what he's sown.

Shy, thanks for finishing the thought for me ... yes, doing the same thing and expecting a different result is definitely the definition of insanity.

Maybe that's why we're a "Prozac Nation". Nobody can reconcile with the insanity of it all. SOMA.

hi Marta, yes I know who John Yoo is....what made me groan is that this TV anchor DIDN'T ...aaarrrggghhhhh....he DIDN'T know !

Excellent rant Marta.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Kucinich_We_went_to_war_for_0626.html

Kucinich: 'We went to war for the oil companies'

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who has introduced measures to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, said Thursday that oil executives who secretly met with the vice president in 2001 should be held criminally liable for pushing an illegal war.

"In March of 2001, when the Bush Administration began to have secret meetings with oil company executives from Exxon, Shell and BP, spreading maps of Iraq oil fields before them, the price of oil was $23.96 per barrel. Then there were 63 companies in 30 countries, other than the US, competing for oil contracts with Iraq," the Ohio Democrat said during a speech on the House floor.

"Today the price of oil is $135.59 per barrel, the US Army is occupying Iraq and the first Iraq oil contracts will go, without competitive bidding to, surprise, (among a very few others) Exxon, Shell and BP."

More at the link...

Marta, who can't agree John Yoo is a freak of nature. The buddha-faced purveyor of human suffering was born 6-10-67 in Seoul Korea.
Our boy Yoo has a coupla tough tough years ahead especially in his progressed chart which suggests he has at best 5 years spreading sorrow.
I'll look again in more detail which was a month ago, but those points tell us he's got an expiration date on the butt of his package.

Judigem, I should have known better ... of COURSE you know who John Yoo is! And Patb, whatever sorrow happens to John Yoo, it couldn't have happened to a "nicer" guy. He'll deserve every single bit of sorrow there is to reap in this life and the next and the next and the next ... you get my drift.

You are preaching to the choir Marta, it is a game a big game that's been working for a couple of centuries. It hasn't been this bad since crazy King George in the 1700's and the East India Trade Companies. Oh my goodness there was a revolution in this country, we seem to be heading toward the same thing once again.

This will make you heart sick, it's a tale told all over america. Read about Mr. Durham, so you'll know where your tax dollars are going to

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/6/26/134756/023/702/542394

Marta & Cap'n Sally, this is very good. I just pulled it from the latest post by emptywheel. It's in the Comments section. Sound familiar?

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers

He has obstructed the administration of justice

He has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of offices to harass our people

He has effected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury

Corporate hegemony Sally. It's the tragedy we've become. I'm hearing of people who have finally found themselves accepting jobs through Indian middlemen to get American jobs at 40% of the wage they use to get for the same job. NAFTA + CAFTA = HAFTA relocate to work.

This on the other hand is so satisfying I think I'll have a cigarette too. Small pleasures.

http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/26/late-nite-fdl-bob-barr-says-george-bush-worse-than-bill-clinton/

Keith Olbermann responds to the Greenwald article in a KOS Diary

http://tinyurl.com/6hnk5l

Now can anyone think why the administration would not want to put all information on the table about 9/11. Would any stone be too small to turn to find the truth of 3,000 people dying, massive buildings toppled, huge security breech, an ensuing devestating war. I cannot imagine why they wouldn't want to know everything.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/19/america/Sept-11-Lawsuits.php

Crooks, liars, and murderers.

Good morning.............
Here's to a progressive foot stomp from Maine to California; give that Satan an 8.5 headache!

Sally, yes, I can think of a reason to not let the FBI testify about 911, it's to protect "national (i.e. their) security. "cause if ever the truth were known these guys would be toast.

And a good morning to you, qop! and all!

Getting back to the mundane, I'm preparing my garden for the August/Sept. sowing of veggies (Florida, nothing's growing very well now - no tomatoes, etc. too hot, too wet). My compost bin is doing nicely, I installed a new planting bed (a tub I pulled out of a bathroom, it's going to work great!). So, it's all good.

wow, do you really think these guys might end up in prison or on death row if the truth were known Marta? Gee and they are and have been such swell guys the last 8 years.

I am leaving town for a couple of days and will be back Monday. TAke care. We are moving into the 4th and it is a good time for this country to reflect exactly why we went toward revolution in the first place. And to look at why it might happen again

I wonder if watering Mars might not awaken a teaming myriad of bacterial life...

http://tinyurl.com/68qgy3

Martian soil could grow turnips, Phoenix finds

Some Martian dirt has the same basic chemistry as garden soil, a new analysis from the Phoenix lander suggests. The find widens the range of organisms that might be able to live on Mars.

Although the analysis is not yet complete, the lander has already found trace levels of nutrients like magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride. Although these ingredients were known to exist in Martian soil, until now no one was sure whether they would be soluble in water and thus potentially available for life.

The encouraging result came from a test of soil excavated from the top few centimetres of a region called Wonderland at the lander's site in the northern plains of Mars. The sample was delivered on Wednesday to the lander's wet chemistry laboratory in the Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) instrument.

In addition to detecting soluble nutrients, MECA also found the sample to be fairly alkaline, with a pH of 8 or 9. This level of alkalinity is common for many Earth soils, and myriad bacteria and plants, including vegetables like asparagus and turnips, can thrive at such a pH. On Earth, exotic microbes have been found in water with bleach-like pH levels greater than 12.

"It performed flawlessly yesterday, and we were all very flabbergasted at the data we got back," said MECA wet chemistry lead Samuel Kounaves from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, US.
Friendly to life

more...

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/weather/06/27/north.pole.melting/index.html

North Pole could be ice-free this summer, scientists say

(CNN) -- The North Pole may be briefly ice-free by September as global warming melts away Arctic sea ice, according to scientists from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.

"We kind of have an informal betting pool going around in our center and that betting pool is 'does the North Pole melt out this summer?' and it may well," said the center's senior research scientist Mark Serreze.

It's a 50-50 bet that the thin Arctic sea ice, which was frozen last autumn, will completely melt away at the geographic North Pole, Serreze said.

more...

Shhhhhh. Don't tell anyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn4daYJzyls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3p9y_OEAdc&feature=related

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRC4lCQuBmc&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgF9Fd4UyMY&NR=1

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/06/veterans-groups-webb-celebrate-success-new-gi-bill

Sen. Webb's new GI Bill gets overwhelming OK in Senate

Sally, that's exactly what's needed. To try them all for war crimes, corruption, fraud, and a whole basket of other stuff and give them the death penalty.

Slaps on the wrist are encouragement for more of the same from their successors. At the very least. Life imprisonment.

As to whether any of this will actually happen ... you never know. Just ask the French :) Liberte! Egalite! Fraternite!

Some of what Rove predicted in this article did not transpire, so he's not infallible. He did predict that FISA would divide Dems in the fall, however. I doubt that the Dems who are supporting this capitulation are doing so because they are following Rove's script, but I have to wonder if the whispers that the leadersheep are complicit in the horrible torture episode are what is driving them to capitulation and KKKKarl knew that all along. Dunno.

(The quote is way on down in the article.)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118698747711695773.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news

This is major irony.

On July 8, 1776, citizens gathered in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia to hear for the first time the Declaration of Independence, after which the Liberty Bell was rung.

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761554751/Liberty_Bell.html

(Some historians doubt the Liberty Bell was rung that day since the bell tower at that time was in terrible condition, but the lore says it was.)

And so on July 8, 2008, the Senate is supposed to once again take up the despicable FISA bill. If it passes, perhaps the Liberty Bell will develop another crack.

I forgot to ask the astrologers if there is any significance they can see in the July 8, 1776 and July 8, 2008 anniversary.

Sowwy--and I will now cease hogging this board for, oh, say, hours even.

For lunch I had............Keebler wheat, Town House crackers, with cream cheese & greenolive tapenade. And some Pacifica natural onion soup!
( was in my Xmas gift basket)
WHO NEEDS MEAT! and the company is doing good things
http://www.peaceworks.com/
PEACEWORKS, A NOT-ONLY-FOR-PROFIT COMPANY

Since its beginnings in 1994, PeaceWorks Holdings LLC has been a business that pursues both profit and peace. We pursue profit through our sales of healthful food products that are produced by neighbors on opposing sides of political or armed conflicts, whose cooperative business ventures we facilitate. We pursue peace through the support of our PeaceWorks Foundation and the One Voice Movement. We donate 5 percent of all profits to empower the moderates in the Middle East who want a peaceful end to the war through a two-state solution.

QOP very cool, I love tapenade we get artichoke locally. Me, I am still working on coffee.

Shy...I wonder if someone shouldn't run a chart for this historical date....July 8, 1776. It definitely seems to qualify as a horary chart event anyway, although I am not sure how that would work without a starting time....

Pat QofP....great website on the PeaceWorks....it is a concept along with the microbanking which encourages women to take out loans to pay for their small businesses which is so important. Would hope that this will be the future instead of greedy CEOs cornering all the cash in their 30,000 square foot homes with 70 cars in the garages....

That encarts site about the liberty bell is very interesting.
Click on the Liberty Bell, ( on the right) pictures, history, for the full story.
A real "myth buster," a metaphore for what is TRUTH! It cracked 4 times and was rebuilt or repaired, they couldn't get a satisfactory sound....the the steeple was too weak to support ringing it.
" Heck of a job!"
A good talking point for converting the confused, enlightening the kids!

http://www.counterpunch.org/segura06272008.html

powerful statement on the death penalty/Obama's position....or any politician's for that matter.

I thought so JudiGem. They grow the olives in Palestine, assembled in Israel, the glass jars are made in Egypt, sun dried tomaotes from Turkey, ( tomato tapinade) based/marketed in NY, so that is a high use of fuel/transport.
But I think we will also see an increase in small cottage industries again.
Push comes to a shove I will round up some of the Mexican imigrants down the road & start a food enterprise based on blueberries. ( would need to rent a production kitchen!)
Well I am watching the rallylive inUnity. It IS uplifting. They're doind a good job! C & B. Typical male! He's sitting downwith a water bottle letting Hllary do the talking!

I hope that people will start to understand that Hillary is powerful, and human.

I like this whole idea of getting all these cottage industries going...and I like your idea of doing the blueberries also. Go for it!!!

Yes...if the campaign goes as it is now, they will pull it off together easily. CLinton is making a pretty powerful speech. It must be hot there it is here!
Artwork first, blueberries: depression fall back!
THAT would be a lot of work!

Hillary was spectacular in her endorsement of Barack Obama. One classy lady.

a good reminder that 2008 is no different than 1960 in terms of the defense stuff....
http://www.counterpunch.org/spinney06272008.html
Are Pentagon Apparachiks Setting Up Obama?

The Defense Reform Trap

By FRANKLIN C. SPINNEY

Philip Taubman's June 24 article the New York Times and International Herald Tribune is another stellar example of uncritical reportage on national defense. Such stories help sustain a failing status quo by appealing to authority of establishment apparatchiks from an earlier era who are probably trying to worm their way back into the game, perhaps in an Obama Administration.

hmmm....really?

Citing Need for Assessments, US Freezes Solar Energy Projects
http://www.truthout.org/article/citing-need-assessments-us-freezes-solar-energy-projects
Dan Frosch reports for The New York Times: "Faced with a surge in the number of proposed solar power plants, the federal government has placed a moratorium on new solar projects on public land until it studies their environmental impact, which is expected to take about two years."

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

When Hillary gets up in the morning Satan definitely says "Oh Shit!" She awake!

Gore Vidal -- The Bush Presidency, History and the “United States of Amnesia”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19930.htm

PatC, Hillary looked good, great speech. It made me feel good listening to both of them.

DOW has 'officially' entered a Bear market.

Hang on folks! QOP blueberries are the elixir of life, they're highly recommended for people with eye issues. My optometrist wants me to have them daily, but they are too too expensive out here and we can't grow them. Great fall back business. I'm pondering some myself, I'd like to semi-retire someday.

It was a classy day for Democrats Morgana.

.......

The Nuclear Expert Who Never Was
http://www.truthout.org/article/the-nuclear-expert-who-never-was
Scott Ritter writes for Truthdig: "I am a former UN weapons inspector. I started my work with the United Nations in September 1991, and between that date and my resignation in August 1998, I participated in over 30 inspections, 14 as chief inspector... I bring up this history because during the entire time of my intense, somewhat intimate cooperation with the IAEA Action Team, one name that never entered into the mix was David Albright."

luna, I just have to see this again!

"When Hillary gets up in the morning Satan definitely says "Oh Shit!" She awake!"

I believe you are on to something there!

The DOJ has awarded Steven Hatfill ( person of interest in the anthrax attacks.............
2.582 Mil! ( source CNN, too early for posting on website)
It's Fri., wonder what the backstory is...........

A lot on him qop.

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Steven+Hatfill&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Neo, that was a terrific article. I enjoy his mind.

I'm trying again. This is something I posted upthread but I think no one followed the link or they would have made a comment. It's an animation of what a moving skyscraper that's being built in Dubai looks like (should be completed in 2010). Each floor totates 360 degrees, but not at the same rate or at the same time as the floors above and below it. it looks like something out of a science fiction movie.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/25/dubais-moving-skyscraper_n_109274.html

I saw it, lunaoscura and it made me very dizzy (I B afraid of heights), but I did see it.

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/15511

Momentum Building For Bugliosi's Case Against George W. Bush For Murder

[snip]
Bugliosi's presentation blew the roof off the venue at the Los Angeles' Great Mind series, hosted by Progressive Democrats of America, and co-sponsored by CODEPINK, LAProgressive.com and several grassroots groups. Bugliosi held the audience spellbound as he guided it down the twisted path of Bush's hedonism and criminality. In true prosecutorial style, this master of law made his audience believe - and understand - that George Bush was guilty of murder. True, the audience was principally progressive and already on Bugliosi's side. Nonetheless, the evidence was overwhelming that Bush took this nation to war knowing there were NO weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. And despite the thousands upon thousands of deaths that he caused, George Bush wasn't bothered in the least. In fact, while young Americans and Iraqis were dying, George Bush was having fun.

Bugliosi describes it this way:

"There's no way to dispute it. The evidence is overwhelming that throughout the hell on earth that George Bush created in Iraq with over 100,000 people dying horrible, violent deaths and hundreds of thousands of their survivors crying out hysterically and having nightmares over what happened to their loved ones, George Bush smiled - smiled through it all. In fact you can look at a photograph of George Bush with 6 or 7 people in it smiling. And who's got the biggest smile on his face? George Bush!

The evidence is very clear that while young American soldiers - 18 and 19 year old kids - who never had a chance to live out their dreams - were being blown to pieces by road side bombs in Iraq, George Bush was having a lot of fun and enjoying life to the fullest. I'm talking about running, bicycling, joking with friends, slapping backs, dancing and swirling his hips like Elvis... almost always seeming to be in the very best of spirits.

Oh I know the White House press people say he takes the loss of American lives hard and he suffers - but that's just pure moonshine!... Suffering on one hand and having fun, joking around and enjoying life on the other, ARE SIMPLY INCOMPATIBLE."

more...

Yeh! the horror part of a SI FI movie! I skipped over it because I saw it on Huffpo and posted a response! It parallels some of my worst re-occuring nightmares. The rubber high rise building with a garden restaurant that droops over allowing evryone & everything to slide off it.
The hourglass shaped ( & red velvet lined) self service elevator, that when the door closes you are in one side the controls in the other.
I painted a mural in a very tall skinny apartment bldg. on the 28th floor, in Phila once. It was just one apartment wide. It was winter and there were some windy storms during the 2 weeks I worked there........
The whole damned buiding swayed!
I met a scientist, ( later nominated for a Nobel, although not chosen) in Dallas, who invited me to dinner in the revolving restaurant on top the Dallas Holiday Inn. We were to meet at the restaurant. First date!
I had to ask the elevator attendant to hold my hand while I stepped from the stationary elevator core out onto the rotating restaurant.
My ex had already had the experience of getting stuck on a similar amusement ride in Atlantic City. The disk went off the tracks and wouldn't descend as it was supposed to. They had to step across space and climb a ladder down inside the core. He was terrified because an older fat lady followed him down & he feared she would fall on him! ( KARMA)
Taurus here, Mars in Cap Nept in Virgo..feet planted FIRMLY on the ground!
It looks real pretty from the ground tho! I could live in the one story house next door!

Luna,
Eeeeewwwww! I get vertigo watching movies, or playing video games. Nope wouldn't get me in it.
And boy howdy that is one building I wouldn't want to be in during an earthquake, I could just see each floor flying out a different direction.

Thank for reposting the link I had missed it.

It's certainly architecture that gets a reaction isn't it?!

I wouldn't mind living someplace where I could watch it though. It would be quite interesting to watch. I especially like the idea of some creative lightwork at night.

And if the spin was slow and smooth you could get so you don't even notice it, but what a view!

Many years ago I had dinner at the rotating restaurant atop the Hilton in Houston when a huge storm came along. It was fascinating, and scary but what a show to see the boiling dark clouds and the lightning and hearing the thunder. You could see it all over the city and off into the great distance.

Of course, Houston thunderstorms are always spectacular no matter where you are. They are monumental and scary as hell!

Dubai out-Texases Texas. Bigger brighter more sparkly. And hey, they have oil too!

Anybody know anything about this Fellowship?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-ehrenreich/hillarys-nasty-pastorate_b_92361.html

I can now report on a criminal conspiracy so vast and monstrous it defies imagination. Using “Christian” groups as tax-exempt and cleverly camouflaged covers, wealthy right-wing businessmen and “clergy” have now assumed firm control over the biggest prize of all – the government of the United States of America. First, some housekeeping is in order. My use of the term “Christian” is merely to clearly identify the criminal conspirators who have chosen to misuse their self-avowed devotion to Jesus Christ to advance a very un-Christian agenda. The term “Christian Mafia” is what several Washington politicians have termed the major conspirators and it is not intended to debase Christians or infer that they are criminals . I will also use the term Nazi – not for shock value – but to properly tag the political affiliations of the early founders of the so-called “Christian” power cult called the Fellowship. The most important element of this story is that a destructive religious movement has now achieved almost total control over the machinery of government of the United States – its executive, its legislature, several state governments, and soon, the federal judiciary, including the U.S. Supreme Court.much, more.....
http://www.rinf.com/columnists/news/expose-the-christian-mafia-parts-1-2

I got it here seveal years ago!
It's long, but read it through, because it connects ALL THE DOTS, from the Smedley Butler story............Billy Graham, Rev Sun MOON, the Bushes, 3 1/2 geberations... to current politicians Yes CLinton!
John Baldacci is listed as one of them, but when he was elected to Governor of Maine, therewas a disclaimer article printed inthe Bangor Daily News! He stayed at their boarding house in D C.
I figure that gives him the insode edge! HE KNOWS!

Good grief, QOP. It seems even worse than I thought.

I read about the Fellowship long before Mother Jones got a hold of it, and it was either Harpers or the New Yorker which carried the story.

Looking it up at Wikipedia, found that it was almost all right wing republicans who joined....and quite frankly, there is nothing in those teachings which I can even begin to imagine HRC would have had anyting to do with in the first place....no record of her joining it.....

this was stated there:

Clinton's associates distanced her from Coe in 2008, saying that Clinton was not a member of The Fellowship and never contributed money to it. They also said that Clinton had not heard sermons Coe gave using Nazi and Communist leaders as examples of gaining commitment.

Mother Jones did a recent follow-up on their original article about The Fellowship:

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/04/7868_httpopenthreadd.html

Hillary CLinton Like Baldacci, KNOWS!
Also like Kerry & Dean both at Yale at the same time as W, Kerry even Skull & Bones.

MCCAIN PREDICTS ‘UNDERDOG’
WIN IN FINAL 48 HOURS

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/06/27/mccain-predicts-hell-overtake-obama-48-hours-before-the-election/

John McCain predicted the general election race would come down to the buzzer Friday, declaring himself the underdog but quipping that he’d ride to victory in the last “48 hours.”
The comment came as new polls show Barack Obama leading nationally and in several key swing states.
McCain may be hoping to reprise his nomination fight, in which he revived his flailing campaign just as primaries began.
“I’m the underdog. I’m behind,” the presumptive GOP nominee told reporters in Ohio.
“I’ve got to catch up and get ahead. And I expect to do that about 48 hours before the general election,” he said with a laugh.

On a day of heavy focus on the so-called “Unity” rally with Obama and Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, McCain also fired off accusations at his general election rival.
He criticized Obama for opting out of public financing and refusing to join him for a series of town hall meetings.
“I would meet him anywhere, anytime,” he said. “I have kept days open.”
McCain later added that the meetings are “very, very unlikely.”

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

The whistleblower lawsuit against voting machine company Hart InterCivic, as filed in federal court on behalf of former employee William Singer, has been withdrawn following a decision by the Supreme Court that makes pursuing the case nearly impossible, according to the lawfirm who originally filed the complaint.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6115

Oh, cheery news to wake up to...........

Well here's a cheer up!Found it over at Huffpo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euu_DMhsXQo

Huh oh!

VERIZON
Sorry, 'www.democraticunderground.com' does not exist or is not available.
I just clicked on the bookmarked link I have visited every day for 5 years??????????

Here QOP this one works, maybe your link got corrupted.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/

Thanks morgana, that did work.
I vaguely remember a notice that DU was going to be down for a period, for revisions. Maybe I caught the tag end of that early tis AM?
Yes ! That was it. My bookmarked link works now!

Eeewww McCain early on Saturday morning. The Democrats are going to have to win really big to overcome the Republican vote rigging. 48 hours, just enough time to rig the machines then have their MSM go to's start talking about McCain surging and the race is getting close. When we hear that then Democrats everywhere will have to take responsibility for honest elections in their home districts.

Glad your link is working to DU I'll have to get some more coffee and go surf.

Iran saber rattles back...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25424938/from/RSS/

Man I'm glad I have a bicycle.

John Conyers' wife (among others) is being investigated by the FBI.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080628/NEWS01/806280384

Guess I'll have to get one!
Good only 6 months, and worth your life onmy narrow road with the too fast drivers ( they aim for little furry animals)...but........

Oh good they are escorting hecklers ( wearing pink!) from McLames talk! At the Latino COnference inDc. Oh & it got him a standing ovation from the sleepwalking!
I did get a coleman camp stove to go with my wind-up radio flashlight!

Fix is in...CNN called MacLame's question answering session ( post heckler's : which were times sequentially for maximum disruption........)

"passionate" ?
I perceived it as desperation. He still had time to insert "my friends"!

Fox hosts outraged Al Qaeda might watch C-SPAN
By David Edwards
Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade appeared upset at the notion that Al Qaeda may be watching hearings about Bush Administration interrogation policies that aired on C-SPAN. Kilmeade believes that Al Qaeda may target David Addington for his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

Kilmeade worried, “so they see him. They understand why sets the policy. They can target him.”
--------
HEY, what outrages me is since I can't and won't spend an extra $30/mo for extended cable channels, I can't even SEE Cspan myself!!!! talk about cable companies controlling the media....you'd think Cspan would be a basic channel, not something you have to pay extra to see.....but they are worried because Al Qaeda can?

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gRQOxMzW3nupNi80CIcmueMOuyBw

Schwarzenegger calls on Bush for aid in California fires

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called on President George W. Bush to declare a federal emergency in the state on Friday, as more than 1,000 wildfires continued to burn.

In a statement, Schwarzenegger said he had written to Bush to request the declaration, which would make federal resources available to firefighters who have been stretched to capacity by the sheer number of fires.

Schwarzenegger said the fires were "of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state," stating that "federal assistance is necessary to save lives."

Around 265,000 acres (107,000 hectares) of tinder-dry forest and parkland have burnt across northern California since the fires erupted on June 20, Schwarzenegger's office told AFP.

Here you go, JudiGem.

http://www.cspan.org/

I don't have any tee vee service, so I just go directly to cspan and watch hearings, etc., on my computer.

Here's the economic bad news in plain English...

http://tinyurl.com/6yqgcv

This Recession, It's Just Beginning
Steve Pearlstein

So much for that second-half rebound.

Truth be told, that was always more of a wish than a serious forecast, happy talk from the Fed and Wall Street desperate to get things back to normal.

It ain't gonna happen. Not this summer. Not this fall. Not even next winter.

[snip]
American Express and Discover warn that customers are falling further behind on their debts. UPS and Federal Express report a noticeable slowdown in shipments, while fuel costs are soaring. According to the Case-Shiller index, home prices in the top 20 markets fell 15 percent in April from the year before, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac report that mortgage delinquency rates doubled over the same period -- and that's for conventional home loans, not subprime. United Airlines accelerates the race to cut costs and capacity by laying off 950 pilots -- 15 percent of its total -- as a number of airlines retire planes and hint that they may delay delivery or cancel orders of new jets from Boeing and Airbus. Goldman Sachs, which has already had to withdraw its rosy forecast for stocks, now admits it was also too optimistic about junk bond defaults, and analysts warn that Citigroup and Merrill Lynch will also be forced to take additional big write-downs on their mortgage portfolios.

[snip]
Meanwhile, General Motors, already reeling from a 28 percent plunge in the pace of auto and truck sales, now confronts the fact that it won't get any help this time from GMAC, its once highly profitable finance arm, which is reeling from an increase in delinquencies on home and auto loans. With the carmaker hemorrhaging cash, whispers of a possible default sent the price of insuring GM bonds soaring on the credit default market.

You know things are bad when middle-class Americans have to give up their boats and Brunswick, the nation's biggest maker of powerboats, is forced to close 10 plants and lay off 2,700 workers.

[snip]
Like the rain-swollen waters of the Mississippi River, this sudden surge of downbeat news has now overflowed the banks of economic policy and broken through the levees of consumer and investor confidence. At this point, there's not much to do but flee to safety, rescue those in trouble and let nature take its course. And don't let anyone fool you: It will be a while before things return to normal.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/2211812/Bill-Clinton-says-Barack-Obama-must-%27kiss-my-ass%27-for-his-support.html

Hey Shy, cool...thanks...Judi

OH yes, astrology certainly was correct on the current economic times....

I have lost my last client (the day Uranus went retrograde) so I have to figure out a new plan also....I have Saturn transiting in square to my natal Uranus and soon will square natal sun/saturn conjunction. My client was an art director at a PA agency (we did Airborne commercials, and the new Rachel Ray organic dog food) but he was highly paid and the agency was bought, and all the high paid people got canned and they are hiring newbies at 1/3 the cost (which is, of course, how I got my original job in fashion illustration). Last time this happened to me was maybe 7 years ago, with my Clorox, Saturn cars (how ironic, I'd worked on those ads since Saturn started up), Sprint PCS loses all at once (after 7-9 years or so of doing them). This scenario was seconded when my ex, a head hunter in NYC, who works placing ad people, said the same thing was happening in NYC....on all levels of the ad world.

The ad world won't make the headlines, but in essence, it tells you like a bellweather which way the working world will be heading and what kind of changes are instore, because advertising is the front line of the economy for the masses.

Regarding the post I added about the economy, it seems that even the biggest of the corporations are falling apart. Wouldn't that be a Pluto in Capricorn thing?

The economic domino effect is taking place and I'm sure even the wealthy are feeling it. Is this what the neo-cons had in mind? Or has it gotten away from them and now has a life of its own as the world's economy spirals out of control?

I really wonder if they meant for this to happen.

from a friend, no urls

Lately, though, a new and unexpected pattern has emerged, taking criminologists by surprise. While crime rates in large cities stayed flat, homicide rates in many midsize cities (with populations of between 500,000 and 1 million) began increasing, sometimes by as much as 20 percent a year. In 2006, the Police Executive Research Forum, a national police group surveying cities from coast to coast, concluded in a report called "A Gathering Storm" that this might represent "the front end of an epidemic of violence not seen for years."

The leaders of the group, which is made up of police chiefs and sheriffs, theorized about what might be spurring the latest crime wave: the spread of gangs, the masses of offenders coming out of prison, methamphetamines. But mostly they puzzled over the bleak new landscape. According to FBI data, America's most dangerous spots are now places where Martin Scorsese would never think of staging a shoot-out - Florence, South Carolina; Charlotte-Mecklenburg,
North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Reading, Pennsylvania; Orlando, Florida; Memphis, Tennessee.

Yes, they tried to vote out the police dept budget here in Milbridge at the annual town meeting last week. Fortunately they figured out how to cut the budget without closing it down! They do have grants & goodies from DHS, What's the use of being given tasers if there is no personel to use them? We DO have a DRUG store & a supermarket!
I read the Burlington COunty Times online from my old NJ community, & it's ALL crime, break in's, home stores........17 years ago I never had to lock my house door!

QOP
I haven't had to lock my door since I left Southern California. Though I have dogs which in itself is its own deterrent. Also have 2 attack cats and 4 parrots that will tattle.

We don't have a police force, just highway patrol and a couple of county mounties. And the highway patrol guy is also one of my neighbors, nice young man.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/28/195859/436/616/543489

Oh my!!

The McCains own a condo on the beach in LA Jolla, CA... and it seems they haven't paid taxes on it for four years....it is in default and it is about to be sold for taxes....

I can leave the door unlocked here! FOR NOW!
HA HA HA.....................4 years, with all that money?

Daily Kos

Europe reports US financial meltdown imminent

http://tinyurl.com/54q4d8

Morgana, did you see the poll on the page about the financial meltdown? looks to me like the voters say this is a deliberate crash (I agree) and not total and complete incompetence of bush co. It is rather like the 1990 recession under bush co one.

Bug impeachment is off the table.

Well, that should have been "But", but maybe Bug is more appropriate.

Bugger! Impeachment is OTT!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/m.s.-bellows/republicans-taunt-obama-a_b_109445.html

Republicans Taunt Obama As Spineless Over FISA Reversal

Well NOW SY Hersh weighs in an Iran. I wondered when we'd hear from him!
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh

Preparing the Battlefield
The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran.
by Seymour M. Hersh July 7, 2008
Oh & we are dependant on the judgement of this fine bunch!
None of the four Democrats in the Gang of Eight—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Intelligence Committee chairman John D. Rockefeller IV, and House Intelligence Committee chairman Silvestre Reyes—would comment on the Finding, with some noting that it was highly classified.

Back, everyone. QOP, here's a site you can Google: Food Not Lawns. My project this quarter is a proposal to turn our condo garden into a vegetable garden.

New Computer that runs on XP-last weekend I wanted to get some stuff done,so I noticed that my old printer cord was going out. Instead of waiting two weeks to get another cord from E-Bay (the machine is no longer being built), I bought a new printer only to find that the old computer would not install. After several tries to install, I bought another computer-and got an upgrade! Harddrive (went from 9GB on the Old to 40GB On the New) is much bigger, I ended up buying an external hard drive (120GB). Found out that the new computer wouldn't recognize the old one (didn't even have a wizard for transfer on the old one), and it it had it wouldn't have worked because the old comp was 2000, the new XP) Will end up in two weeks installing the extra memory and the additional hard drive I bought for the old machine to the new, which means I will have 200 GB of total space! Whee!

Sad news around the condo. One neighbor died, another is in the hospital (but is recovering), another neighbor's dad is in the hospital (and is also recovering).

For me, struggling with school, my sister died three weeks ago, but I have plenty of money!

(((((((Carol)))))))

In larger urban areas, there is more resources to bear, and the urban population more organized. The crime wave is hitting the mid-sized cities that have been forgotten both by the feds and the state legislatures. Also larger cities may have a revenue stream due to tourism that can be tapped for some needs.

A story not often talked about is that the Iraq war has drained some police forces dry. Many cops are in the National Guard and Reserves, and they are now in Iraq. Indeed, the military is a prime recruiting source for cops. A lot of police and sheriffs are ex-military, where you can get a lot of training in guns and tactics. Plus a lot of veterans have a taste for action, and chasing criminals gives you some.

Opting out of public financing was the wise thing to do for Obama. He has a million and a half donors, which is a better public financing than governmentally financed public financing. When public financing was first proposed, nobody thought that you could finance a campaign without the support of a lot of fat-cats and slush fund money. Technology makes the new way work much more efficiently and fairly. The 85 million can go elsewhere. Besides, as Obama noted, without an agreement on the 527's, accepting public financing would be to leave him powerless to respond to them. McCain never agreed to do that, saying he couldn't. In any event, trusting the Republicans to stay within financing limits is a fools errand in any event.

Thanks, Pat for the hug. It feels strange, like sorrow is around me, yet not quite touching at the same time. I miss my sister, but it feels more like strange than loss. My neighbor was ill a while too, but it's more like shock at the same time.

Money. I got my stimulus check, was paid for the days I took off because of my sister, and had just gotten extra money from my student loan, and I'm now working as well!. Would trade to see my sister again and hear her voice on the phone.
There's an eerie symmetry in having lost a brother (10 years ago) and a sister(May 30th)

Was called and asked if I was interested in volunteering for Obama. Even if I were laid off tomorrow, there's still school and I would be working every temp job I can get and try to get a perm job as well. So there would be little time anyway for volunteering. But I wanted to.

I'm so sorry for your loss Carol. It's tough. I lost my brother years ago. I fully understand your feeling of not being quite connected yet. It takes a while for the shock to wear off and let you back into your body.

(((((((((((((Carol))))))))))))))
Yes it is peculiar...................the shock factor in losing a loved one!
But then it hits you like a 2 X 4 at unexpected times............as you go forward. Never anticipate what will kickit off!
There are times when it hits me that my son is gone, out of the blue.
LAst night I watched "The Sumer of Love", the hippie takeover of SF in 67.
Boom! I had visited my cousin in SF in'79 I saw familiar store fronts inthe Haight and felt her loss keenly! ( She died Dec 6 2007)

Oh, Carol, what losses you are having to bear! I don't know if it's of any help, but this saying (supposed to have been the last thing the Buddha said before he departed the planet--but I have read others) has helped me through some pretty heavy times: "All things in this world are subject to constant change. Be mindful, and strive on."

Qop, that's right. I felt my best friend's loss keenly, almost immediately. Perhaps it was because we were so close, and it was so unexpected. My sister had been sick for decades, and we were off and on close (she could be manipulative too). But once we were close for a bit. My brother drank himself to death (hurts worse now than another brother is in recovery). Makes you wonder about the talk about "hitting bottom". My brother never did. He was pretty haunted after his illness.

Thanks, shy. I will add the great Buddha's saying to my e-mail signature. Very wise and very true.

The desire to attack Iran has produced some deeply troubling (what else can you say about Junya's gubmint) maneuvers, "Findings", etc. When will Congress get involved????

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/06/29/the-barnacle-branch-still-evading

Interesting thread about Obama's turn-around on FISA:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3539069

Shylurker, you ask when will Congress get involved, so although I know some people have reservations about Counterpunch, this is worth posting since it looks like Congress is already involved, only it's helping to fund Bush's black ops in Iran...

http://www.counterpunch.org/andrew05022008.html

May 2, 2008
A CounterPunch Exclusive
Democrats Okay Funds for Covert Ops
Secret Bush "Finding" Widens War on Iran

By ANDREW COCKBURN

Six weeks ago, President Bush signed a secret finding authorizing a covert offensive against the Iranian regime that, according to those familiar with its contents, "unprecedented in its scope."

Bush’s secret directive covers actions across a huge geographic area – from Lebanon to Afghanistan – but is also far more sweeping in the type of actions permitted under its guidelines – up to and including the assassination of targeted officials. This widened scope clears the way, for example, for full support for the military arm of Mujahedin-e Khalq, the cultish Iranian opposition group, despite its enduring position on the State Department's list of terrorist groups.

Similarly, covert funds can now flow without restriction to Jundullah, or "army of god," the militant Sunni group in Iranian Baluchistan – just across the Afghan border -- whose leader was featured not long ago on Dan Rather Reports cutting his brother in law's throat.

Other elements that will benefit from U.S. largesse and advice include Iranian Kurdish nationalists, as well the Ahwazi arabs of south west Iran. Further afield, operations against Iran's Hezbollah allies in Lebanon will be stepped up, along with efforts to destabilize the Syrian regime.

All this costs money, which in turn must be authorized by Congress, or at least a by few witting members of the intelligence committees. That has not proved a problem. An initial outlay of $300 million to finance implementation of the finding has been swiftly approved with bipartisan support, apparently regardless of the unpopularity of the current war and the perilous condition of the U.S. economy.

more...

Thanks, lunaoscura. That article is also incorporated in the emptywheel piece I posted above.

Thanks, lunaoscura. That article is also incorporated in the emptywheel piece I posted above.

Well the devil got even with me for all that AM foot stomping today.
I met a friend for lunch & we had a nice chat with the couple at the next table. Up here from Houston to sign settlement papers on the old family homestead. They are keeping the camp on the lake front. It was OK until she revealed that she worked for Exon Mobile and told us how they are just regular guys, environmentalists.....etc etc, But the Jude asked how they felt about Bush; still OK they didn't like him . BUT asked about McCaine. "No, not voting for him he's a democrat" with a look of great distaste. That was when I started shouting and waving my arms!
( I was wearing orange!)
Her husband the banker, stopped communicating altogether. just walked away.
After they ;left I had to make amends, for shouting in front of children, to the Evangelical family with 5 !/2 little blonde kids, saying grace before their pizza. ( I had my back to them wasn't as aware of them as my friend facing them.)
It's just fine to insult a very nice person like myself, but go forbid you react! That' NOT NICE!

hahahah...pat qop....welcome to politics in texas.

LOL! Houston is a big oil town!

And I think you sent the Devil packing back to Houston with his spiky tail wagging furiously like a mad cat's! Surely swearing mightily under his breath for fear you might hear him.

Way to go!!!

Well I hope so.......but they'll be baaaack because they OWN a CAMP, without the difficulty of trying to earn a living here. NOT FAIR!

Now they've figured out how to wipe us out through our gardens:

http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/29/persistent-herbicide-in-compost-destroys-uk-gardens-can-it-happen-here/

QOP's the Winnah!!

Anyone who thinks McCain is a Democrat can't survive in the land of truth which is anywhere outside their immediate bubble. I bet they're rethinking their earlier decision because nothing could be scarier than those LIBERALS (eeeeeek!) running around ranting and stuff out there outside of the Great Conservative Houston. They will feel they need to stick together for their safety.

Heck of a job Jindal!!

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/27/jindal-katrina-oil-spill/

Louisiana Governor Jindal Unaware Katrina Caused ‘Major’ Oil Spills In His Own State

Glenn Greenwald hits a new one out of the park, discussing how Obama's "move to the center" (barf) could move him right into the loser's percentage of the GE vote:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/29/center/

Oh creepies!
I carefully read that UK, herbicide in compost story !
I had a problem with my tomaotos last summer.
But on further study I think it is the common tobacco mosaic virus. Good for up to 50 years! No cure!
Thus if you smoke while gardening, you can possibly transmit it through the tobacco.
Or infected soil for many plant purchase etc......
You MUST steam sterilize your soil, gardening tools etc. EEEK!
I am sterilizing the soil where they grew,last
summer with a covering of clear plastic, ( a technique discovered by the Israelis)
But it affects,all in the solanaceaes family! tomatoes, potatoes, petunias, peppers, eggplant, and the deadly nightshade, which I have all over the property. (They have the most beautiful purple flowers with a yellow center.)
I'm off to start sterilizing!!

PatC I was amazed/dismayed Jindal was re-elected after Katrina. He seemed so dull and well, stupid! What did they expect?

patb, sutpidity and lying is just never too much for the political life of neocons.

........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ3juM6vHwg

In 1996, Stan Meyer gave oral testimony before the court demonstrating the WFC Fuel Cell "Mode of Operability" by using the Voltage Intensifier Circuit (VIC) to produce voltage of opposite polarity to separate and disassociate the water molecule into its component gases, hydrogen & oxygen. MUCH more on this in "A New Way to Approach an Old Problem" below.

..........

Run Your Car On Water Today: STAN MEYER KILLED Pt 1 and 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8stApCmxYEM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h75_TGiwg78

Stan Meyer invented a hydrogen fuel cell that converts any automobile to run on tap water. This conversion kit now made by HydroStar sells for $1500. Stan Meyer never saw his invention reach fruition as he was killed shortly after this documentary was made.

Demand this technology, and others like it from your local politician. This is real, obtainable, and cheap alternative to oil. Demand answers, question, question, question.

...........

Man invents car that runs on water

http://www.fastcar.co.uk/04570735436164115979/man-invents-car-that-runs-on-water.html

.........

Solar powered electric car (14 min 10 sec video)

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/348.html

Not a dream, it works.

Solar-Powered 1975 VW (1 min 34 sec)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_lSxhTatUU

Col Lewis CRAParotta is holding a Pentagon Briefing on security in Western Iraq from Falujah.
The man will not make eye contact, with the reporters or the camera! They are downcast as in shame! cspan

Saw that qop!

Here is a political cartoon compiled by a talented Salon poster.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15036239@N00/2622361545/

I wonder if Keith would consider covering this?

Rep. Peter DeFazio on BushCo's secret plans for "continuity of government":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_gD25lwjAk&feature=related

Watch it- Maddow rips Bush a new one on FISA, last night on Olbermann:

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/89742/

And this of course....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YxyEHFdN0k&eurl=http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/89742/

http://consortiumnews.com/2008/062908.html

Iran-Contra's 'Lost Chapter'

By Robert Parry (A Special Report)

As historians ponder George W. Bush’s disastrous presidency, they may wonder how Republicans perfected a propaganda system that could fool tens of millions of Americans, intimidate Democrats, and transform the vaunted Washington press corps from watchdogs to lapdogs.

My life's tempo has speeded considerably over the past few months. I'm just now checking in to catch up. You nailed it, Morgana. The lyrics by the Lovin' Spoonful was the perfect touch.

So deeply sad to hear about your loss, Carol. My beloved sister passed last year, my brother -- far too young -- passed over several years ago; and of course parents and several beloved aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins. QOP is right -- for every so often you will be re-minded of them, their presence will be felt.

The quickening of events is astounding to me, as it is to each of you, no doubt. Your posts and links have served to deepen the feelings i have had. Yet, i continue to have faith in a revolution of consciousness.

The poisoned soil link got me to thinking, Shy. I wonder if any of you remember the PCB incident that occurred in the late 70s in the midwest. Farm Bureau mixed fire retardant into cattle feed mistakenly. The result was horrific -- animal deformities, ulcerated sores, etc. The PCBs entered the foodchain via milk products and the butchered cattle. Those of us with infants were terrified of the consequences of PCBs in our breast milk. Groundwater contamination is still present in those areas with high concentrations of PCBs.

There is no damn way to escape the pesticides and chemicals entering even our compost piles. Think banana peels, egg shells and other stuffs that you know have been sprayed, innoculated, etc. Still, i continue to compost. And, despite the fact that no gas motors are allowed on the small lake we live on there has to be contamination from groundwater. Still, i grind up cooked fish heads, etc and use it as fertilizer. We garden to eat and most of it i can. We are seriously depleted on our food supply because of the draught. Yet, we are most fortunate for at least we will have "some." There are far too many who are now and will, in the near future, go without.

What in the hell have we done?

Karen, this sent to me today...stupid.

We did this:

“Making A Billion Hindus Glow in the Dark"

http://counterpunch.com/

Karen,
Here in California we're still battling the PCB issues, we've several unfunded super sites.

We're growing what we can. Apple trees are loaded, so are the plum. Now just to learn how to make jams and jelly's and freeze what I can.

Good God, Morgana. Another careless deposit of poison that still remains unaccounted for.

I would bet that California has some heavy PCB contamination because it was used as a fire retardant. I didn't even think about that.

This is what you get when you place the law in the hands of corporate entities. The decisions are filtered from management throughout the workforce enabling profits to soar while contaminating (killing and maiming) entire populations including your own workforce. But, what would you care if you were safely emboldened behind a gated community? Thing i can't figure is do those who profit so mightily eat different food than we do? Do they drink different water? Or do they not give a damn?

It's all us dang women's fault. Every last bit of it is our fault. If we just submitted to our husbands, father's, brother's, uncle's, boyfriend's authority the world would a perfect place. We bringitonourselves and create wimps all at the same time. We're marching right into the future, straight back to the middle ages.

http://tinyurl.com/4vmcqt

Southern Baptist scholar says spousal abuse stems from wife’s refusal to submit to husband.»

Bruce Ware — a Southern Baptist scholar – argued that one reason that men abuse their wives is because women rebel against their husband’s God-given authority:

“And husbands on their parts, because they’re sinners, now respond to that threat to their authority either by being abusive, which is of course one of the ways men can respond when their authority is challenged - -or, more commonly, to become passive, acquiescent, and simply not asserting the leadership they ought to as men in their homes and in churches,” Ware said from the pulpit of Denton Bible Church in Denton, Texas.

*******
read some of the comments.

Of Course they eat different food!
When I was a VISTA in 2001, I attended a Search Institute training, for 5 days. We met during the day at the MBNA get away retreat, on top a high hill overlooking Camden Me and the Penobscot Bay. The last day, the CEO's of the company were up from Wilmington, Del. ( there were lodges scattered throughout the woods) and they met in the sunroom of the common building. They also ate lunch in there but we were served the same menue. It was just tuna salad, egg salad, cold cuts and salad/veggies........BUT the quality was way above what we had been served the other days as just VISTAs & non-profit FOLKS.!
This is why these guys (& gals) need such high salaries, to pay their farm staff to care for their vanity black angus/bison herds fancy poultry, hothouses for vegetables.
Fredrick Edwin Church: landscape painter b. May 4 1826, ( mine too dif year) owned a 18 acre farm overlooking the Hudson. He had a staff of 250 to run his farm, orchard & household.
( From his income as an artist, how times have changed!

Lieberman: U.S. May Be Attacked In 2009

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/29/ftn/main4217516.shtml

(CBS) In describing the reasons he believes the Republicans' presumptive nominee for president would be better prepared than the Democrats' to lead the nation next January, Sen. Joe Lieberman said that history shows the United States would likely face a terrorist attack in 2009.

"Our enemies will test the new president early," Lieberman, I-Conn., told Face The Nation host Bob Schieffer. "Remember that the truck bombing of the World Trade Center happened in the first year of the Clinton administration. 9/11 happened in the first year of the Bush administration."

Lieberman nonetheless distanced himself from remarks by McCain chief strategist Charlie Black, who came under criticism for suggesting in an interview that McCain's election chances would be improved if a terrorist attack occurred before November.

"Sometimes even the best of them say things that are not what they intended to say," Lieberman said. "Certainly the implications there I know were not what Charlie intended. And he apologized for it. Senator McCain said he didn't agree. And, of course, I feel the same way.

"But here's the point. We're in a war against Islamist extremists who attacked us on 9/11. They've been trying to attack us in many, many ways since then."

More at the link....

Florida's 2008 Election Landscape Looking More Like 2000

http://www.alternet.org/story/89760/

A little-noticed federal appeals court ruling this week could lead to thousands of Floridians showing up to vote in November only to be told their names are not on voter lists.
"It really penalizes voters through no fault of their own," said Ion Sancho, election supervisor for Leon County, Florida, where Tallahassee the state capital is located. "It strikes me as absolutely Kafkaesque."
At issue is Florida's so-called "no-match, no-vote" law, which allows county officials to reject new voter registration applications if the names on the forms do not match other state databases. Voter advocacy groups sued the state, claiming that database errors can cause applications to be rejected -- through no fault of would-be voters.

More at the link....

This one's for you Sally.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/06/30/richard_myers/

Bush's top general quashed torture dissent

New evidence shows that despite warnings from across the military, former Gen. Richard Myers shut down legal scrutiny of brutal interrogation tactics.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/29/center/index.html

The baseless, and failed, "move to the center" cliche

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#25466045

Olberman's special comment on FISA....don't play politics.

..........

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#25465967

Bush takes credit for himself and McCain for the new GI Bill...which they both opposed.

http://www.truthout.org/
High GAs Prices Threaten to Drain Small Towns Populations
Disaster Capitalism at work again!
Forgetabout your own well, vegetable garden, self suffiency......move to a crappy cheap apt. in some overcrowded city/town.

qop. . .you know the pressure on rural life, especially small farmers has been building since the sixties (perhaps before). It was another post on the boardroom wall. "Break 'em, and seize the land."

When you herd everyone into cities, they're far easier to control. Cattle of a different sort.

And yes, you're right on about the foodstuffs. It's all interconnected. Instead of "let them eat cake," it's now "let them eat poison."

Oh Crap!

http://tinyurl.com/6kvspk

Obama to expand Bush's faith based programs

CHICAGO (AP) -- Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans to expand President Bush's program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups and - in a move sure to cause controversy - support some ability to hire and fire based on faith.

Obama was unveiling his approach to getting religious charities more involved in government anti-poverty programs during a tour and remarks Tuesday in Zanesville, Ohio, at Eastside Community Ministry, which provides food, clothes, youth ministry and other services.

"The challenges we face today ... are simply too big for government to solve alone," Obama was to say, according to a prepared text of his remarks obtained by The Associated Press. "We need all hands on deck."

Obama's announcement is part of a series of events leading up to Friday's Fourth of July holiday that are focused on American values.

more...

I came over here to post the same thing, lunaoscura. Amazing, isn't it? He's not going to do much to protect the Fourth Amendment, he's making conciliatory sounds toward the NRA-interpreted Second Amendment and now he's ready to soil the First. He's also made some annoying noises about wearing flag pins and burning flags. He forgot to add the 58,000-something names inscribed on that wall of granite, the two to three or four times as many with PTSD from 'Nam (and Cambodia and Laos), as well as the Big Lie (Tonkin Gulf "incident") that got us into that horror. He's lost me altogether. Maybe the astrologers can make some sense of this.

(Pls excuse the rant.)

"..... expand President Bush's program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups and - in a move sure to cause controversy - support some ability to hire and fire based on faith.

Obama was unveiling his approach to getting religious charities more involved in government anti-poverty programs....."

All my comments contain words constructed of four letters.

Our financial system is about to be investigated by the IMF.

"...The IMF's board of directors has ruled that a so-called Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) is to be carried out in the United States. It is nothing less than an X-ray of the entire US financial system.
As part of the assessment, the Fed, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the major investment banks, mortgage banks and hedge funds will be asked to hand over confidential documents to the IMF team. They will be required to answer the questions they are asked during interviews...
George makes sure he'll be long gone when the results are in

For seven years, US President George W. Bush refused to allow the IMF to conduct its assessment. Even now, he has only given the IMF board his consent under one important condition. The review can begin in Bush's last year in office, but it may not be completed until he has left the White House. This is bad news for the Fed chairman.

When the final report on the risks of the US financial system is released in 2010 -- and it is likely to cause a stir internationally -- only one of the people in positions of responsiblity today will still be in office: Ben Bernanke."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,562291,00.html

Pat, Shy, Luna -- i'll say it "*hit, *uck, *amn! not necessarily in that order and with a few well-placed exclamations of emphasis.

I just re-read Timothy's response to Morgana's post. I think he nailed it regarding the financial meltdown, using Pluto's whack-up-side-the-head phases. Yes, we are being primed for a new currency. Yet, how does this plan work with those holding debt? Will China say, "ah shucks, we like this new currency so much we'll forgive part of your debt!" And oh, the Saudis will too. Let me see then, that means "we the little people" will be issued ration books. Local constables will now police your food and energy use. Better start swearing in more troopers, and arm them with more than tasers.

I taste revolution in air.

Word karen.

This is a new article from Salon's War Room.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/07/01/faith/index.html

On the faith-based initiative, Obama's way isn't Bush's way

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4232070.ece

Barack Obama may recruit defence chief Robert Gates

I thought of a new sound bite to use, while writing a letter to a paper.

"Drilling rhymes with killing!"

Glen Greenwald

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/01/obama/index.html

The Obama campaign's past two weeks

Hillary's latest statement on FISA:

"I believe we need to modernize our surveillance laws and give our nation"s intelligence professionals the tools they need to fight terrorism and to make our country more secure. At the same time, smart, balanced reform must also protect the rights and civil liberties of Americans. In my opinion, the FISA Amendments Act of 2007 falls short of these goals, and for that reason, I oppose the bill.

As I have maintained for months, I oppose the provision contained in the bill that grants blanket retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that allegedly cooperated in the administration's warrantless wiretapping program. I believe granting retroactive immunity under these circumstances is wrong and undermines accountability. To that end, I have supported and cosponsored Senator Dodd's strong efforts to strip this provision from the FISA bill, and was discouraged to see the amendment fail by such a significant margin.

Over the past seven years, the Bush Administration has blatantly and systematically disregarded Americans' civil liberties. It cannot be trusted to protect Americans' privacy rights. That is why I strongly believe we need to pass balanced legislation that protects our civil liberties and the rule of law while giving our law enforcement and intelligence agencies the tools they need to protect our country."

luna, shy, pat c.,pat qofp, my pendulum said last night (besides saying that 2012 would be the first elections in the USA which were legal and fair which came just after saying the new president would be Barr):

world planting is based on day and night. In 2012, it will be reversed.

there was mention of this reversal and I think we are seeing it underway....now that could be physical reversal of the poles, as the message gave a clear picture of the sun rising and setting in reverse, but it also appears that people will be reversed in some way....we all may get metaphorical and maybe real whiplash from all the reversals (thanks to Uranus) which we are seeing now.

That said, Hillary is saying what needs to be said. Obama and the faith initiative needs close scrutiny.....it may be that the advisors think it will 1) buy evangelical votes 2) jive with Obama's work in community relations 3) think that this has been underway long enough that it has become a part of the 'territory'....so why not use it. Or all three.

Who knows....all I know is that since 2004 when he entered the Senate I've been just about the only one saying Obama is actually more conservative than liberal.

I also think that all of Obama's advisors being ex Clintonites, it makes perfect sense for them to take this route, as it worked for Bill. See...Hillary is LIBERAL compared to Bill....but like him, she works with the other side to get stuff done. Drives idealogues nuts....makes her popular with her voters, I hear.

Judi, I posted to you over on Starlight News, so far no reply. Did you see it?

Sorry AW.

Pat C, I can't post at Starlight...I've apparently been banned, along with another poster named Flo. Neither of us know why....

I was a Hillary supporter, Flo was an independent. Neither of us were trashing Obama (and I said I supported Hillary)....but we both did point out that anyone not an Obama supporter was subject to attack, and of course, the same posters doing that had trashed Hillary unmercifully....plus some of us who were questioning any of the things going on with Obama were asked by certain posters there to go elsewhere and find another place to post. Well, excuse me, it IS an astrological board....or it used to be.....and supposedly we are still a democracy (although I really doubt it).....

A large number of posters were run off, but as far as I know, Flo and I are the only ones now unable to post.

http://writ.lp.findlaw.com/dean/20080702.html

Dean’s column is up on Findlaw, and deals solely with the possibility of criminal prosecutions should Obama be elected. I’m rather disappointed that he didn’t analyze the civil liberties issues, but I guess he’s assuming that the bill’s a done deal.

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

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/06/29/the-obama-olbermann-master-plan-for-criminal-fisa-prosecutions/

bmaz at Emptywheel thinks the chances of successful prosecution are nil. I’m inclined to agree, but bmaz has more reasons and seems to be an actual attorney.

Judi, I am gobsmacked. That's disgraceful. I've seen what you are talking about. To say it's irritating is an understatement, but most of all, it's surprising to see "progressives" adopt the closed mindedness and tyranny of the right when they find themselves in a place where people actually think. I want you to know that you have not been rude, nor have you heckled, unlike some of the others on the Obama team. I'm sorry you were treated so badly. You are such an authentic person who states her thoughts well and states when you think you were mistaken. That's rare, and SN is a lesser place now.

And Flo???? She was so gentle. Wow.

Pat, Well, we are now in the season of 'reversal'....so everything (and it must be the retro Uranus contributing to this) will be its opposite...dark will be light, light will be dark.....Obama isn't going to be the savior of the left, he will be the progressive to the right. Hillary emerges as the voice of the left.

now if only everything old could be made new again. lol

What if Obama picks Lieberman as VP? THEN what will everyone do and say?

Go Mongols!!!!

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Mongolian_president_declares_state__07012008.html

Would that we had some of their spirit over here.

Well now, we also have the two eclipses for Aug 1 and Aug 16 which is when the Olympics in Beijing will be taking place (anyone have any ideas on what will happen with that?)...but the Dem convention:

DNC Announces Dates for 2008 Democratic Convention; Late August Convention Will Maximize Momentum for Democratic Ticket
"DNC Chairman Howard Dean today announced that the 2008 Democratic National Convention will be held Monday, August 25 through Thursday, August 28. The late August convention date will allow the Democrats to host their convention after the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing."

Seeing that Saturn will be hosting the convention along with the Democrats, that ought to be interesting. Will Saturn break thru the Neptunian veils? Will age defy beauty?

I can't seem to get a reading on this.....although it seems that Obama will definitely be the candidate....

Pat C, I read John Dean's article in fact it was the subject of Olbermann's Special comment last night. It's been pretty obvious that Congress neatly placed Obama in a box with this Fisa bill and Dean is trying to give him a way out, as is Obama's surragates Feingold, Dodd, Kerry, plus several others. I would suggest there is a strategy going on right now of which we are unaware.

I realize there are several people who are more than a little nervous about Obama being President and feverently wish Hillary was the candidate, she is not and will not be the candidate. If anyone wants four more years of what we've had I strongly suggest they vote McCain, if anyone can creep far enough out of a national rut and take a chance, there's Obama and he is a chance. He is all we have right now, whether we know it or not, the US and all of us people in it have our back is against the wall and some of the elite are trying as hard as they can to keep this country afloat until the next administration so they will never be held accountable for their crimes against this country.

I don't know if Obama will be better but I do know that McCain will be worse and I am beyond tired of the Obama bashing articles, better than half of which have been debunked. AP
alone put out two articles today that were not true and they had to apologize for them, there is a ton more and will be a ton more of those to come.

There are not enough liberals or progressives in this country to elect a democrat so they have to have a different strategy, we are in a global market and we will not be going back those issues have to be addressed, the list goes on and on. I intended to support who ever the democratic candidate was, right down to Mike Gravel because we absolutely are desperate to have a President who can at least begin the process of bridging the problems we face and the Democrats at this time are the option for that bridge. If anyone thinks the changes in this country are going to be easy then they have been living in la la land, because they won't be easy; they were not easy when this country first started, they were not easy for Lincoln, or FDR, or Johnson as they faced the changes in this country and they won't be easy for us or Obama if he becomes president.

But I will say, if a person on this site is terrified of an African/American being President then vote for someone else but don't bring this constant barrage of "oh God, Obama is terrible" to this site. We don't know that yet, but we do know GWB and his buddy McCain is terrible.

There are right-wing sites that would love to know there are Democrats terrified of an Obama Presidency or a Democratic Presidency and they will love these articles and your fears.

Pat, from the link at Emptywheel on the FISA arguments, this post caught my eye....a real 'I was there post' and not 'this is what I think of all this' kind of post by Ron1:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/06/29/the-obama-olbermann-master-plan-for-criminal-fisa-prosecutions/

FWIW, I spoke to one of Conyers’ legal staffers after the Alexandria (VA) Dems Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. Conyers was being shepherded out of the room by the rest of his staff after about 30 mins of shaking hands with all the elected city and state Dems there, no real time to talk with him.

I asked why, if this terrible bill was going to pass, they in HJC couldn’t at least hold a hearing where they subpoenaed the certifications the telecoms received to convince them to participate in this whole scheme — so that we the People would at least have some idea of what went down before it’s all waved away magically. The staffer was a nice guy, but basically hemmed and hawed that Pelosi and Hoyer wanted this bill for political reasons (to prevent getting conservative/Blue Dog members from getting tarred and feathered this fall) and that there wouldn’t be any further investigations of the program. I asked again why not at least hold hearings, in open session, questioning the telecoms about this program, b/c they can’t clam up due to executive privilege. His basic answer — it’s just not going to happen.

So, that’ll be that. I had some points that the inimitable Mary told me to ask (from a previous thread), but they just aren’t interested in this set of crimes at HJC it seems.

Conyers gave a very moving speech, about the historical page we’re about to turn, and spoke about the connection to the Civil Rights era. He said he’s going to try and build a record of the Bush/Cheney over-reaches as much as possible, but he’s just not interested in impeachment, and called it a ‘time issue’. And as elegant and scholarly a gentleman as he is, it just made it all the more clear to me why we shouldn’t have people in office for 40 years — the fire recedes. The old guard of the Dems just don’t have the anger of betrayal that they did when Watergate occurred.

Sally, and I am not sure you are referring to me in your post as 'fearing an African American as president'...but just let me say that has nothing to do with anything in MY posts. My posts are strictly based on politics and politics alone, not implied racism. I am not afraid of African American presidents, I am afraid of being sold a story wrapped in neptunian veils...which is why I've ALWAYS stated that it is not Obama that bothers me, it is who is behind the curtain.... If you don't want dissent on this site, then, fine....I will stop posting. I don't believe that 'stopping mccain' is the primary reason to sell out one's beliefs.

"But I will say, if a person on this site is terrified of an African/American being President then vote for someone else but don't bring this constant barrage of "oh God, Obama is terrible" to this site. We don't know that yet, but we do know GWB and his buddy McCain is terrible."

Get a clue Sally. I'm really tired of the racism.

Rachel Maddow on MSNBC earlier today, asked the question "With all these slaps at the left coming from Barack Obama, how long will it take till the left slaps back?'. Think she's afraid of an African American President? I don't think so. Do you think Glen Greenwald is afraid of an African American President? I don't think so.

I'm slapping back, because I really do like the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Rule of Law.

SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP

Whee John McCain is President, keep right on slapping girls right on!

OMG

talk about the politics of fear and racism.

Girls?

Bye Sally.

With my first post at Astroworld I'd like to pose some questions? How does one prove they are not racist when others use that accusation at the drop of a hat?? Is proof of non-racism found in who and how lively a person supports one candidate over the other? Aren't we trying to get rid of that "you're either with us or against us" administration? One should not forget that a charge of racism could backfire on November 4 and isn't a win on November 4 what everyone is after??

Sally,

I appreciate your comments. I'm worried that now that Obama has sealed the nomination, he no longer feels the need to stay with those that br'ng him. Not having any alternative at this point feels a bit like political blackmail. I was excited about both Hillary and Obama, and now I'm just unsure. So much for an exciting election cycle. You're absolutely right about McCain - he's the worst.

BTW, I can't for the life of me understand why Nancy took the month of July off.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/

Need a laugh?

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_06_20.html#015428

http://tinyurl.com/6xpjmq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge in Miami has authorized U.S. officials to seek information from UBS AG (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) about U.S. taxpayers suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to evade income taxes, part of a probe that could crack open Switzerland's tradition of bank secrecy.

The order issued on Tuesday gives the Internal Revenue Service permission to serve a summons on Zurich-based UBS to obtain information about possible fraud by people whose identities are unknown.

"The order clears the way for the IRS to take the next steps against wealthy individuals who don't pay their taxes." IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said in a statement.

I absolutely agree Abiline, I do feel somehow the Obama campaign has gone underground and I agree with "you should dance with thum that brung ya." I hope his campaign can pull together what seems to me at this time to be scattered. It makes me wonder if they were really prepared for the attacks and it's just beginning. This is going to be one of the nastiest general election we've seen. I do hope that if the Dems don't get the presidency they at least pick up a real majority in the house and senate. Still, no matter what or who this country is going to go through what it's going to go through. Too much disaster in the wake of the last 8 years to straighten out soon.

I did not articulate the "african/american" quote very well, but the fact remains we have been taught, perhaps not actively, but in society to be or feel cautious of anything or anyone who is different than white or mainstream. John Kennedy went through all this because he was Catholic. This concern of all that's "different" is steeped into the American mindset and Obama is different just as the Kennedy's were different. Catholic was not mainstream in the late 50's/60's, African/American is struggling to be mainstream but they aren't there yet. We all should feel free to face that within us and deal with it. Thus far Obama has been held to a much greater standard than Kerry as a presidential candidate, why is that? Kennedy was also held to a greater standard and the Kennedy's every move was analyzed. We saw clips and movie tones over and over of his family going into church reminding everyone in America that he was Catholic. It did begin a dialogue in this country over religion and what the Catholic Church was really, still people were afraid. I know an elderly man today that will say all our problems started when they let that "catholic" in the WH.

I do think the left should slap back but directly and not just the Democratic candidate, the GOP needs some slaps back too, maybe we should all stand up for truth and ethics beginning with the media.

Indeed Sally. My Presbytarian Sunday School teacher "taught " us Not to marry Catholics, or Jews ( in the 50's)AA's weren't even mentioned, it would have been unthinkable!
Fortunately my parents were way ahead of the curve, and in '51, my Brother & I integrated the city park swimming beach while the other white kids Mother's drove them to the next lake over!
I dated a black man too for a while, a music critic for the Phila Inq. It didn't last,not because he was Black but because he was a Cancer! The only Cancer I ever dated more than once! Cancer males are on a differnet wave length than I!

In the little town I grew up in we had every type of religion, every race (except India, or Muslim) and there wasn't any overt prejudice but it was there in subtle messages. The mainstream churches were all up and down main street, the African/American and Catholic churches were on the outskirts of town. The biggest scandal was Margie Evans, the prettiest girl in town and a Prebysterian was marrying the best looking guy in town, a Catholic. Huge fights in families as to whether they would attend the wedding. The African/Americans could swim in the swimming pool but could not belong to the Rainbow Girls. The message of prejudice was in the movies, at church, in schools, looking back it was everywhere. White men were superior, white women next and absolutely white Christian were above it all.

My parents, particularly my father would point out the careful way we were schooled into prejudice and he was adament that it should be stamped out whenever it reared its ugly head, but the messages were there just the same. Not only a fear of anything that was different but the message of what women should be, how they should behave, what was expected of them. I see those things linger on in all of our sub-conscious, no matter our race or religion. If Hillary were the presidential candidate we would see just as many of them as they relate to women.

Right now, Obama seems to me to be behaving from that sub-conscious of trying to please all the white men in this country. The evangelicals, the "working" white man, (isn't that what Hillary called them) the GOP and he seems to be pandering, Gore and Kerry did the same thing and if Obama continues he will lose. While there aren't enough progressives or liberals to get him into office, there are enough to keep him out of office if they feel betrayed enough.

We have become in this country a mass of fears. Fear of difference, fear of germs, fear of our financial situation or job situation, fear of everything and that will go to the heart of this campaign. We are even afraid of war and afraid of not having war. Every single belief that we've ever had that made us feel safe is being called into the light right now, to examine and make changes and this country is not in any mood for any more betrayals. I believe and I hope that it will translate into demanding answers and accountability of McCain, Obama and the media, then we will take on big business and religion. The world is reaching their tipping point I think, I also think we will make it out of this mess in time.

Whew! New Moon in Cancer.

I'm chuckling here. We project a vision on our leaders that is fairly lofty. Our divisiveness, however, when those Neptunian ideals are not (and cannot be) met remind me of a love relationship gone sour.

Most everyone posting on this board is aghast at what this administration has done, the list is horrendous, the death toll and personal tragedies right out of hell. Why is it, then, that we're ready to war with one another so quickly?

The Earth is crying out -- her voice now recorded in space. (I cannot hear the recording since my dial-up loads so slowly). But, it is available to hear.

I surely wouldn't want to be in Sally or Morgana's shoes. It's difficult to find and keep a balance when every word receives unnecessary scrunity.

This world will continue whirling into an abyss unless we are able -- on a personal level -- to drop our own internal petty tyrants and stop projecting it on others.

Excellent summation of our historical lack of regard for humanity, and projecting our "rightness" on the world,

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20214.htm

VERY WISE WORDS KAREN!

Well Sally. That post went through?

Was it the words social revolution that made the filter censor me?

Guess not?

I've still got a message into them QOP because this keeps happening and it's frustrating, glad you got through.

Karen, very wise words indeed. As you know, energy is just that, "energy." Love, anger, support, non support, it's all the same and the energy lands or supports the person or situation one projects it upon. I am always amazed at the melting pot in this country, not just the difference in race, color or creed, but the difference in thinking. I do try to understand why someone would believe that picking up guns and find it perfectly normal to kill innocent men, women and children across the world, but I don't understand it. I don't understand where blind hatred comes from or why people would look at another person and believe them to be a deity or a devil or that they should be a deity.

And you are right, the world's drama has been reaching a boiling point for a long time now and one of these days it will boil over, if man doesn't create that boil over, Mother Earth will, she's working up to it now.

No one really likes change and most of our frustration comes from the changes that are happening and are seemingly out of our hands, only it isn't out of our hands, and it's a hard concept to understand that "we" have brought ourselves to this point by our own choices. It's essential to examine how to make different choices, but we have to change to do so and the wheel goes round.

Later today I am going to write the 4th of July article and will include the New Moon, this New Moon is an interesting one as it falls across the US Sun, plus will be part of the Solar Return of the US.

Flo, welcome to AW, sorry not to have gotten your post up immediately, just a few technological problems, my ever present nemisis.

Your question regarding racisim is a good one, and there is a big difference between "overt" and covert" racism. The point is we have all been cultured to be racist, sexist, prejudice, fearful of all that's different and it mostly isn't an overt issue for millions of us, it's a subtle sub-conscious issue and it isn't unique to the US, however the US is well known for their "wedge" issues. We rarely look at the opposite gender, another race, another religion and think "my brother or sister" and yet they are. We have a hard time extending understanding, patience, and generosity of spirit to those who are different. We are even afraid of people we don't even know, we judge others we don't know based on what someone else might say and we don't even know them.

Our relationship between ourselves (the human race) is convoluted and confusing but surely we must try to weed through it when given a chance. How many times in our lives have we said "I don't have anything against men, women, blacks, hispanics, asian, protestants, catholics, gays...but" and the list goes on. The "but" indicates a need to look at what prompted the "I don't have anything against...but"

We certainly were not going to get over these things with black president or a woman president, it does however indicate a beginning.

As for me, I have been working on getting over my prejudice of men cause I love and admire my sons...BUT I am cautious as to whether Obama can be any different than the men we have in Washington now, he is a politician and willing to lead, there seems to be some mental issue that goes on with that personality type.

Uhm, Pat C's deep sensibilities are so refreshing in that they are without this/that black/white labeling.
This is about a quality that is not complicated. What is the one quality we can't do without that joins heart and mind. Human warmth eradicates the need for mental gymnastics.
The Japanese would put their hand over their heart and say "my mind is made up".

I cannot speak for Pat C. We see one another's strengths and limits of reasoning.
When there is a lack of human regard for what's needed, egos get louder, meaner and crazier around it. The shadow side of those of us who claim to be humanitarian are showing intolerance and prejudice and taking 'time off' rather than admit to having become what one abhors.

This 'race' lacks the element of the warm and the kind. If it were there in our so-called "choices" there would be unity instead of this continual missing the point.
What a shame.

Sally, honestly, I'm glad you're back, even if what you're saying is hard for people to hear.

It's possible that most of us here have been either reading too many blogs or watching too much TV--I don't know what. If that's the case, please, step away from the computer, and the TV, if at all possible.

Like it or not, one of these men is going to be president. And like it or not, I'd rather go ahead and pick one, namely the one I think is going to do me--and my environment--less harm.

We've been dealing with the Neptunian fog in our elections for the last several election cycles, at least since 2000, for sure. Why does anybody think that this year would be different?

Gina, brilliant Dem advertisement for this election season, "We will do less harm".
What a shame.

Gina you are so right, we have been under the Neptune fog in this country since 2000 when Neptune went over our SN at the elections and we are still steeped in that fog. I also think the "doing less harm" is a good way to look at it. This country has been thrown over the cliff and we are swimming in some deep and wild waters, I am not looking for a savior because I didn't think there would be one, I am looking for a bridge over those waters to help us get to where we are going. I don't think this election will be the only bridge before 2020 but it has the potential of being the beginning of those bridges.

The feeling is the same. Scrambling to keep the roof from falling in on us. Inside we know we've been had once again. If not, we'll catch up.

In 2000, on election night, Mercury was retrograde at 29 Libra, and the people voted for Al Gore (he did get the majority of votes) the country was supposed to swing left. George Bush ran as a centrist, middle of the road, uniter and once in office veered way right, while the center became more conservative. This election Mercury is once again at 29 Libra only it's direct indicating that what was supposed to happen in 2000 will happen. On more than one occasion I've thought that either Al Gore would step back in or the Dems would get back what they lost in 2000 and that Obama running in the Center will, if elected, swing way left, balancing out the yin and yang of the energies.

While I am a cynic, I guess not enough of a one to stop looking at future possibilities. I don't feel deep down Pat B that "once again we've been had", I just gotta wait to see. This whole primary season and the way it was shaking out, I could not get over the feeling that this election resembled "The Sting." And the bigger picture is breaking the back of the ultra Conservatives in this country. The only other choice is not voting and that's not an option for me, even if I put a write in candidates name in, I want them to know that there are people still out here watching.

The Swedes are furious over their own Fisa Bill and are protesting en masse and the Conservative party is losing massive support including the support of their "young conservative" movement. I think the pendulum is slowly beginning to swing across the world

That's certainly heartening news Sally!
I guess at the bottom of it I also feel that he will swong left once there. ALthough I never believed the RW mantra that he has the 'most progressive voting record in the senate.......
?? Huh! That would be Feingold, Kennedy, Saunders,Lautenberg, Menendez, etc.......
I finished building my closet and hung up my clothes....yay!

Sally, thank you for the warm welcome.

As a staunch Independent I just find it unbelievable that after eight long miserable years with this Idiot at the helm, we have to accuse others of racism when they question a candidate's positions and beliefs. A person would think that questioning each and every candidate on every little detail would be required after everything we've suffered through these past years. Let's hope we find out much more about these people between now and November 4.

Exactly, qop--those who want to tag Obama as "The Most Liberal Senator" know that most people have never heard of Bernie Sanders. They always say that--any Democrat running is always "The Most Liberal Senator." It's a crock.

If I may, let me spell out some of the harm a president can do: McCain wants to lift the moratorium on oil drilling, not just in ANWR, but off the coasts of Florida, Virginia, and possibly even California. He also wants to build hundreds of nuclear power plants, and we have yet to figure out what we want to do with the waste from the nuclear plants that we have.

I'm not overly optimistic about Mercury in 29 Libra on Election Day singifying the pendulum swinging back just yet, but I'm open for hopin.'

Goodness, is my spelling getting bad or what? I meant "signifying."

Like I said before, the planets I'm seeing don't make me overly optimistic about this election, but I'm open to hopin,' and that's why I keep coming back here, and posting if I think I have something important to say.

Peace.

There are so many unpredictables in play that when we speak of pendulums, those were reliant upon a certain functional paradigm. These times are unprecedented in that we are now in a position of wresting our country back from extremely dangerous people.
Pendulums worked when we had reasonably fair elections. When the supreme court wasn't stacked to destroy our founding principles. When dissenting voices in congress andthe senate were more than one or two, everyone else complicit in stealing our country out from under us.
Of course we can hope and believe the actual face behind the masks are sincere. That's ALL
we've got.
After this election,somehow I know I will go on like the last 20 years of my life without health insurance, and simply expect to die early. I am listening to the emptiness of the actual words being said, which tell me clearly that expectation is realistic.

Do I believe people care about anyone, honestly, other than themselves? No. CERTAINLY not our 'allowed electeds'. We get what we truly deserve. We are flabby.

These times demand revolution. From us.

Did Uribe just pull a Reagan, and scoop Chavez's attempts to free the hostages from FARC??

Funny how silent the CNN journalists are. They never shut their mouths talking about the candidates.

Oh and McCaine is included in the loop! He was called by the WH and is heading for Mexico!
WHat do you know a "July suprise"

Journalists found their words...... Free trade agreement with COlumbia, been blocked by Pelosi.
BOOST BOOST!

These are SUCH EVIL BA_____S I just can't get too excited about the Dem candidate!

patb, I'm not posting here any more but I wanted to tell you thank you for your thoughtfulness in your posts, and particularly for standing up for me. I am grateful.

Flo, your question about racism was refreshingly honest, and I thank you for posting it.

No one can prove they aren't a racist, especially when others are trying so hard to make racism the issue. I would avoid that kind of company in all of my life.

Objective reality anyone?

(major rant)
I wish someone in the media would ask the Green Party Candidate, The Democratic Party Candidate, The Republican Party Candidate, and the Libertarian Party Candidate to be very specific about what they would do to help our Veterans. It does not matter what we think of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars - I yelled against this from the day it was first mentioned - what matters is these people put on the Military Uniform in our name and they deserve better than this.

Homeless veterans face new battle for survival

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/07/02/homeless.veterans/index.html

"I can't find the right words to describe when you are homeless," says Iraq war veteran Joseph Jacobo. "You see the end of your life right there. What am I going to do, what am I going to eat?"

Jacobo is one of an increasing number of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who come home to life on the street. The Department of Veterans Affairs is fighting to find them homes.
Veterans make up almost a quarter of the homeless population in the United States. The government says there are as many as 200,000 homeless veterans; the majority served in the Vietnam War. Some served in Korea or even World War II. About 2,000 served in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The VA and several nongovernmental organizations have created programs that address the special needs of today's veterans returning from war. In addition to treating physical and mental injuries, there are career centers and counseling programs. But the VA still expects the homeless rate among the nation's newest veterans to rise because of the violent nature of combat seen in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Officials say many more Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffer post-traumatic stress disorder than veterans of previous wars. The government says PTSD is one of the leading causes of homelessness among veterans.
"They come back, and they are having night trauma, they are having difficulty sleeping. They are feeling alienated," says Peter Dougherty, the director of homeless programs for the VA.
More……………….

PatC I hope you change your mind and keep interjecting your steady gaze on what's really happening instead of the false puppeteered issues (race & gender) meant to distract us from objective reality.

If you go I go.

Flo, the truth is our troops are seen as something to be used and discarded. Vets are treated like medical trash and serving their country means being used until they drop and are then cast aside.
Never before in our county's history have military principles of engagement, strategy, honor and dignity been so cynically stomped into meaninglessness.
I propose our entire society is viewed in the same light.

AT&T Whistleblower:
Spy Bill Creates 'Infrastructure for a Police State'
By Ryan Singel June 27, 2008 | 1:14:59 PmCategories: Nsa
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/att-whistleblow.html

Mark Klein, the retired AT&T engineer who stepped forward with the technical documents at the heart of the anti-wiretapping case against AT&T, is furious at the Senate's vote on Wednesday night to hold a vote on a bill intended to put an end to that lawsuit and more than 30 others.
[Wednesday]'s vote by Congress effectively gives retroactive immunity to the telecom
companies and endorses an all-powerful president. It's a Congressional coup against the
Constitution.
The Democratic leadership is touting the deal as a "compromise," but in fact they have
endorsed the infamous Nuremberg defense: "Just following orders." The judge can only
check their paperwork. This cynical deal is a Democratic exercise in deceit and cowardice.
Klein saw a network monitoring room being built in AT&T's internet switching center that only NSA-approved techs had access to. He squirreled away documents and then presented them to the press and the Electronic Frontier Foundation after news of the government's warrantless wiretapping program broke.
Wired.com independently acquired a copy of the documents (.pdf) -- which were under court seal -- andpublished the wiring documents in May 2006 so that they could be evaluated.
The lawsuit that resulted from his documents is now waiting on the 9th U.S. Appeals Court to rule on whether it can proceed despite the government saying the whole matter is a state secret. A lower court judge ruled that it could, because the government admitted the program existed and that the courts could handle evidence safely and in secret.
But the appeals court ruling will likely never see the light of day, since the Senate is set to vote on July 8 on theFISA Amendments Act of 2008, which also largely legalizes Bush's warrantless wiretapping program by expanding how the government can wiretap from inside the United States without getting individualized court orders.
Klein continues:
Congress has made the FISA law a dead letter--such a law is useless if the president can break
it with impunity. Thus the Democrats have surreptitiously repudiated the main reform of the
post-Watergate era and adopted Nixon's line: "When the president does it that means that it
is not illegal." This is the judicial logic of a dictatorship.
The surveillance system now approved by Congress provides the physical apparatus for the
government to collect and store a huge database on virtually the entire population, available
for data mining whenever the government wants to target its political opponents at any given
moment-all in the hands of an unrestrained executive power. It is the infrastructure for a
police state.
Neither the House nor the Senate has had Klein testify, nor have telecom executives testified in open session about their participation.
The bill forces the district court judge handling the consolidated cases against telecoms to dismiss the suits if the Attorney General certifies that a government official sent a written request to a phone or internet provider, saying that the President approved the program and his lawyers deemed it legal. Judge Vaughn Walker of the California Northern District can ask to see the paperwork, but would not be given leeway to decide if the program was legal.

The news tonite said Obama is coming to CO and will promote National Service through Vista, the Peace Corps, etc..

Here is a quote from him I found from Dec. 7 2007:

"• Expand AmeriCorps to 250,000 from its current 75,000 positions, with new units to deal with education, clean energy, health care, and homeland security."

Homeland Security. Gee, what could that mean?

patb, re our people in the US armed services--you are exactly right. It makes me sick the way they are regarded as "cannon fodder" and less.

All of us are more or less expendable--or at least suckers to be conned--as far as the current Admin is concerned. But the way those (mostly young) Americans who believe they are defending their country's best ideals (freedom, that is, not the theft of oil) are treated is beyond cruel.

Old Mayfly, I worry this new emphasis on National Service through volunteerism is a ruse for something else.

i haven't been able to keep up for the past few weeks but I have been so excited by the conversation here. such bright strong minds here,
Judigem-you have been banned at Starlight? Good god in the morning. i don't go there as often because there is way too much good girl energy there for this old moon/pluto gal but to ban you and Flo is weird just weird.