Sunday Open Thread
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Just for fun:
Halcyon Days
About 14 days of calm weather follows the blustery winds of autumn’s end. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed them to occur around the time of the winter solstice, when the halcyon, or kingfisher, was brooding. In a nest floating on the sea, the bird was said to have charmed the wind and waves so that the waters were especially calm during this period.
Good morning all. You may get a laugh out of this one - 50 worst people in America:
William “the Bloody” Kristol gets rewarded with a gig by the NY Times for being a neocon—warmongering—psycho. The MMSSSMMM RULES!
Check out C&L’s awesome video archives to see the madness that is “Kristol”
Here’s David Sirota’s response via email:
This is really sick - especially when you consider it is happening at a time when the country is clearly moving more progressive, and there are so many good progressive columnists who have guest columned for the Times before (Ehrenreich, Katha Pollit, Tom Frank, etc.).
Either way - it is an absolute abomination from the standpoint of basic accountability. A pundit being factually wrong on almost everything he hung his hat on is rewarded by the largest newspaper in the world for his track record. If ever there was an example of the world of journalism literally thumbing its nose at basic accountability, this example of Bill Kristol falling up is it.
Well said, David!
=================================================
The NYT is really slipping. Giving this pathological neocon liar Kristol a regular column.
Geez that will get the readership up ... not!!!
The hunt for the killers of Benazir Bhutto became mired in bitter controversy yesterday over a dispute between her supporters and political opponents about how she met her death.
The two sides cannot agree whether she was shot or suffered fatal blast injuries. The dispute could influence the future direction of two inquiries announced yesterday by the Pakistani government.
Any evidence that a lone suicide bomber carried out the attack would support the government's assertion that al-Qaeda was responsible; proof that shots were fired would fuel the suspicion of many within Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) that elements within the Pakistani state were to blame.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2233272,00.html
=================================================
This situation is really a mess. It would seem there is quite a bit of disagreement about what was the cause of her death. Mush is naturally trying to move fast and close the investigation. I think there will be turmoil for some time to come.
rj,
I encourage everyone to send a memo to NY Times re: Crazy Kristol !
letters@nytimes.com
Good morning, all.
Three questions that many are pondering as the caucus and primary season starts:
Who in the Clinton family has the real experience and has shown good judgment when it really counted?
If Obama says he wants real change, why has his record followed the Centralist agenda?
If the problems that working Americans face came from the corrupt establishment in the Beltway how can the answers come from there?
G'morning Essie, Pam, RJ, and Sandy.
it's a lovely day here today, a bright and crisp day. the deer broke my electric fence around the garden but didn't seem to have damaged the garden. so, today, along with picking some more fresh mustard greens (yummy!) looks like i have a fence to repair.
watched a couple of news programs this morning and concluded that after feb. 5th, instead of trying to lower expectations, we should do the opposite. we should be all about 'the next democratic president'. we should focus on projecting the expectation of the next president being a democrat. along with this, i think it would be smart for the DNC to announce, and make a big deal about it, that it will be accepting resumes from anyone wanting to work in the next administration. not only would this help build positive expectations it would also be expedient since the resumes could be given to our nominee after the convention who could have their administration ready to 'hit the ground running' in jan. '09.
Good Morning, again.
Look who is hooking up with the Huckster. AMWAY!!!
Be afraid, be very afraid.*
Here's Huckabee, but first a word
In Iowa, hundreds sit through pitch before main event
*AmWay founding family DeVoss is also the family that founded Blackwater.
Doo bee, I watched Gomer Huckster on TV this morning. How anyone can take this guy seriously, just shows how PT Barnum WAS right ! One born every minute !!
When a political party seek to destroy the rights of the people they are supposed to serve, and attempt to subject the people to economic slavery to enrich the rich and privileged, that party, even if they call themselves Republicans, are in reality the new Totalitarian Communist Party of these United States. The people will only be oppresses for so long before they revolt. When that happens, the bodies of the oppressors will swing from the Cherry trees in Washington D.C.
Are you a double agent?
Unlike you, sicko, I spend time reading various sources like Reuters, BBC, Atimes, various blogs, etc. I listen to analysts on C-Span and CNN and MSNBC and CNN International news.
This was widely discussed over the last few days since it came out, but of course you would not know that, because your lazy uninformed ass was planting hatred instead !
Got it now???
Repost from last open thread:
Digby
It was inevitable. I wrote about it right after the 2006 election --- as soon as the Republicans lost power, I knew the gasbags would insist that it's time to let bygones be bygones and meet the Republicans halfway in the spirit of a new beginning. GOP politicians have driven the debt sky-high and altered the government so as to be nearly unrecognizable, so logically the Democrats need to extend the hand of conciliation and move to meet them in the middle --- the middle now being so far right, it isn't even fully visible anymore.Today we have none other than the centrist drivel king, David Broder, reporting that a group of useless meddlers, most of whom who were last seen repeatedly stabbing Bill Clinton in the back, are rising from their crypts to demand that the candidates all promise to appoint a "unity" government and govern from the the center --- or else they will back an independent Bloomberg bid.
Posted by Cyn_NY on December 30, 2007 at 08:30 AM
Cyn,
I agree wholeheartedly with digby.
Check out the smackdown tbogg lays on The New York Times for giving William the Bloody a weekly forum with which to show the world how he is wrong about everything 100% of the time.
Posted by goodfoe on December 30, 2007 at 12:33 PM
Goodfoe, any attempt at bringing change thru the use of brut force would be pointless and could easily make conditions worse.
I recall going to an animated film festival quite some time ago. One of the films depicted a city in which, ever so often, an individual would mutate and start eating his neighbors until he was gigantic and consumed anyone he came upon. Eventually, however, he would become so large that even his verocious appetite could not sustain him and he'd wander off into the surrounding hills and die. Thereupon, the remaining residents of the city would go out and descend upon the giant's corpse and carve it down to the bone, consuming it for themselves. A wide shot at the end of the film showed many such corpses lying in the hills around the city. Obviously, the process had been an ongoing one.
I should add that economic and ecological systems are sustainable only thru the recycling of vital elements necessary for the systems components to function. In the case of our modern corporate economy we've allowed the process to become corrupted to the point that wealth is not being recycled. Instead of floating around on top like some encapsulated dead whale that never decomposes thereby putting its nutrients back into the system, we need mechanisms to return the value of 'dead' corporations to the system and to the working people of america.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union had the elites who ran everything, controlled everything in perpetuity. (That sounds a lot like the goal of the Republicans here in the United Stated to create "a permanent majority "any way they could)
Everyone else was kept in the working force at slavery wages (or no wages at all) for the good of the regime. This is exactly what the objectives of todays Republican Part were. Fortunately, the middle class in America is slowly waking up to what these criminals, who would steal our Democracy are really all about. The Bush administration has cost us dearly, but hopefully we will remember and stop this type of dictatorship from ever coming to power in America again.
Quote of the Year from Fred Thompson:
I am not particularly interested in running for president." Fred Thompson as quotedby by the Associated Press.
To be fair to Senator Thompson, he is quoted by the AP as saying "I like to say that I'm only consumed by very, very few things and politics is not one of them...The welfare of my country and my kids and grandkids are one of them. But if people really want in their president a super type-A personality, someone who as gotten up every morning and gone to bed every night thinking about for years how they could achieve the presidency of the United States, someone who could look you straight in the eye and say they enjoy every minute of campaigning--I ain't that guy...Nowadays, its all about fire in the belly...I'am not sure in the world we live in today its a terribly good thing that a president has too much fire in the belly...I am not consumed by personal ambition...I will not be devastated if I don't do it. I am not particularly intrested in running for president."
However, if Thompson is not particularly interested in running for President, then why is he in the race?
His lack of interest is exactly why he will lose.
Stuart F. James
American Insider Magazine
Boy, these trolls just never give up with their Pam infatuation. Now they are pretending to be her husband. Eat it, Thumbass.
Doo Bee, I think it is about time to start posting Stevie's info again. After all, he is the one who started this all, by sending on the the group of giggling Balkie deadbeats info on me. So Stevie, don't blame me, chump, give a gingle to MN Thom-Ass, Tuscon Porko, and the German Nazi Turd !
FOR ALL INTERESTED PARTIES, LURKERS INVITED, PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT STEVIE the Wonder boy, WEBSITE:
He has a little counter there and LOVES to see it spin, so be my guest. OH, and don't forget to check out his wonderful occupation. Isn't it exciting what a creative mind he has. I think he will give bloggers a discount ! His phone and his email are also included on this very professional Farm site. Give him a call.
Next edition will perhaps be his family obituaries. Includes his Brother and sister's names and cities, his daughter name , and all kinds of little tidbits about where he lived over the years. OH, and the Holy Roller churches where he rolled with the best of them !
So stayed tuned. As the balkies have their little fun, we shall all learn more and more about the un-funny Steve of MN ! that seems fair to me, doesn't it?????
No matter what they say or how they package it, the Republicans just want to keep Americans oppressed by fear. Too bad most people believe everything they hear (I guess it's easier than thinking for yourself...).
No matter what they say or how they package it, the Republicans just want to keep Americans oppressed by fear. Too bad most people believe everything they hear (I guess it's easier than thinking for yourself...).
Boy, for a former professional PR Flak and a "Preacher" the Huckster sure is B.A.D. when having to answer things without a script. He's just trying to bamboozle his way through any situation.
Mike Huckabee is desperately trying to prove that he has more on the ball than Bush had back in 2000 when he couldn’t name the leader of Pakistan. Talk about setting a low bar for yourself.
Huckabee’s “Prophetic” Understanding of Pakistan
So we are getting ANOTHER dolt who claims that God talks to him. Maybe God can lend him a map of Pakistan and teach the Huckster where the Eastern border is.
The Republican/Communist Party is populated with thieves and assorted other petty criminals with big time theft ambitions.
goodfoe, the Pugs are more like the FASCISTS.
Fourteen Defining
Characteristics Of Fascism
Also, I don't know if you saw my post on this yesterday, but here's an educational film produced by Encyclopedia Brittanica in 1946 and shown in High Schools, long before the Pugs could achieve their goal of creating a stupid populace and therefore a malleable one (and thus to that end killed the Public School system).
Eldest son Benazir Bhutto is named Pakistan Peoples Party leader
I wonder how long cheney will let Bhutto's son live. Will he have him shot in the face too?
Doo Bee,
We must reverse the destruction of our publlic school system. The repukes have been pushing the bullshit charter schools since ray-gun.
repukes suck in more ways than one.
No Stevie, I am posting the info because YOU GAVE my info to these vicious Pigs ! And they think it is fun to post it ! So take your bitching and moaning, and email each of them right now----that they should stop, because you don't like being on the other side! I think it is only fair, don;t you? After all, if you had only minded your own business 3 years ago, and left when you were first rejected, then your silly little life would not be available for all to see !
And don't worry, when and if I DO post your daughter's info, I plan on mailing the package of all of your 3 years of posts of racism, homophobia, attacks on people here who never bother you, and explain WHY I have felt it necessary to drag her into it. That way, she will understand ! And she will only have YOU to blame. I think she will especially vomit over the parts where you have said SHE took turns posting these filthy attacks, don't you?
Oh, and it is not just her that I have info on. I have lots and lots. And I KNOW how paranoid you are, about having your life an open book! (How is Mayor Tim, btw?)
So do not cry to me or to anyone on this blog. You made your dirty little bed, now lie in it !
You don;t like it? Then get on the email to the balkies !!!!!!!!
If as she states on “This week” she was briefed or read classified information while Bill’s wife, without a security clearance, she broke the law
http://www.abcnews.go.com/thisweek
Is this why they wont release her white house records…. Statute of limitations hasn’t run out?
Posted by tadviv on December 30, 2007 at 03:17 PM
does anybody really give a damn, whether Hillary sat with clearance or not? How many other President's wives over the years have had access to, or listened to information that was classified?
Other than Barbara Bush, who was in the kitchen making cookies all day,and Laura Bush who sits with magazines and her cigarettes, most other wives are involved !
There is a flurry of late Iowa polls. And the big headline is that it's basically a photo finish. That is even more so when you consider that the "viability threshold" rule in the Democratic caucuses creates what is in effect a much larger margin of error, if what we are interested in is not individual voter support across the state but who will actually get the biggest number on caucus night.
With that said, however, it is clear that there is another late breaking trend -- toward John Edwards.
The latest poll out from McClatchy/MSNBC (conducted by Mason-Dixon) has it Edwards (24%), Clinton (23%) and Obama (22%).
As you can see, the trend is also clear enough to be visible in Pollster.com/Charles Franklin trendline graph -- Hillary consolidating what had been a softening lead and Edwards finishing strong and quite possibly in line to take second place if not first.
Here's one email we got in a couple days ago from a long-time TPM Reader ...
I'm volunteering for obama in new hampshire. Out of non-Obama supporters, Edwards people are rock solid. They often aren't even interested in talking. HRC supporters are much more wavering and persuadable. They are also much more likely to say that they are considering Obama.
The other question to ask is, is Edwards close enough in New Hampshire to vault into contention if he's the big story coming out of caucus night?
Pam, I watched that video, and it seems that she was referring to being given classified info when she was going on "good will" trips such as to China. It could be anything from 'this is the real power behind the throne so to speak' to 'look for any signs of Bushco involvement in the area'.
She didn't elaborate, and since Snuffle-upagus was part of the Clinton administration and didn't follow up on her statement with any deeper questioning I don't think it's any earth shattering news that Bill and Hill talked over coffee in the mornings.
Classified info could also mean having prior info on her husband's travel schedule so she knows where he is going.
As far as classified info getting out, how about the booze whores rolling around on bar room floors in South America and losing a cell phone with ALL the secret White House and Crapfest TX phone numbers on it? Or Jenna calling Chimpy while on live TV so some kid could figure out the secret Oval Office direct line number?
If that's all the Pugs have, they got nuttin'.
Good God, Pam, I've think you've hit the big time. The entire Republican party is more focused on you than on winning the Presidential election. Way to go, girl!
Democrats on California's Central Coast will have a Pre-primary Straw Poll Convention on Saturday, January 12th. Representatives of all Democratic Presidential Candidates are invited to attend. Candidates or their representatives will be given an opportunity to address Central Coast Democratic attendees at the event. Please check out the San Luis Obispo County Democratic Party website for more information: www.slocodems.org
my dear true independent (who my guess is a card carrying member of the Right wing Nazi party)
I have not EVER extolled Bhutto ! Although she was Bush's only hope for a democracy in Pakistan, and the chance to get rid of Mushareff, who has as much as told Bush to go and shit in his hat, I have no feelings one way or the other ! As far as believing what is coming out of Pakistan about her death, WHY on earth would I believe a man who has taken billions of our dollars meant for him to fight terrorists in his country, and spent it on other things? Of COURSE he had the most to gain by her death.
And as for Kristol, there are Conservative voices, (Will, Krauthammer, etc) and then there are Right Wing Zealots, members of PNAC, best friends of Dick Cheney and the other neo cons whose voices are nothing more than right wing distortions and lies. Kristol is one of them. Like Limbaugh, Coulter, Malkin, he is just another sick Rightie who would like to turn the country into a Facist theocracy.
And if you have gotten rejected from here in the past, maybe you should take a hint? Maybe you should try and dig up a little bit of self respect? Try and maintain a little pride, and stay the hell away. There are places for Right Wingers like yourself. Go ! then you do not ever have to worry about any little tidbits on your improbable little family coming to light ! See, that's where our other troll made his mistake !
bye, bye..........
Posted by atrueindependent on December 30, 2007 at 03:39 PM
Are you insane?
Columnist Schedule* David Brooks
Tuesday, Friday
* Roger Cohen, IHT
Monday, Thursday
* Gail Collins
Thursday, Saturday
* Maureen Dowd
Wednesday, Sunday
* Thomas L. Friedman
Wednesday, Sunday
* Bob Herbert
Tuesday, Saturday
* Nicholas D. Kristof
Monday, Thursday
* Paul Krugman
Monday, Friday
* Frank Rich
Sunday
Yeah, David Brooks, Roger Cohen, Gail Collins and Tom Friedman are REAL progressive. Dowd has her days on occasion, but your assertion is really off the wall.
The POINT is that Kristol is ALWAYS WRONG about EVERYTHING!
Perhaps you missed this post about "Legacy" hires. (That's when an idiot gets hired because his father's name became a "brand").
Well, Stevie, as you just said, Public Records are Public records. What crime in posting them here? NONE ! So dream on...... I do hope you will be your own attorney on that one, too !
And If you would like to swear on your Mother's soul, that you did NOT give my picture, my email address, my last name to the trolls, then perhaps I shall believe you !!!
You know, when I was a kid we lived in a neighborhood where most people got along with each other. But there was this one jerk who was always giving people a bad time about one thing or another. I suppose he just got off on being an ass. Anyway, one summer he and his family went on vacation and when they returned their house had burned to the ground. It seems an electrical problem had started the fire but no one called the fire department when they saw the smoke. I believe that's what people call 'karma'.
for the last few who would defend Bush and the neo cons, look what they have reduced us to. Same category as China, Russia, etc. Anyone who loves this country should be appalled and outraged !
U.S. seen internationally as an ‘Endemic Surveillance Society
In the recently released annual survey of worldwide privacy rights by Privacy International and EPIC, the United States has been downgraded from “Extensive Surveillance Society” to “Endemic Surveillance Society.” As Glenn Greenwald notes, this is “the worst possible category there is for privacy protections, the category also occupied by countries such as China, Russia, Singapore and Malaysia.” In general, “the 2007 rankings indicate an overall worsening of privacy protection across the world, reflecting an increase in surveillance and a declining performance of privacy safeguards.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/12/30/us-seen-internationally-as-an-endemic-surveillance-society/
Oh! so that answers it, huh? No swearing it was not you who sent the info on? Well, like I said, all is fair ! But if I were you, I would drop a dime on your 3 little balkies anyways to curb their play . Time to quit acting like a big shot for their benefit.It doesn't play here where we all know you. And YEAH, you can control them if you want to.
(ps, I don't need a lawyer. I already checked with some legal sources before I ever even acquired any info on you. As long as it is Public records, then it is fair game. YOU check a lawyer. PLUS, the fact you claimed your little girl was sitting right there beside you playing games too, is a pretty big deterrent, wouldn't you say?) Something about contributing to the delinquency of a minor?
Good God, Pam, I've think you've hit the big time. The entire Republican party is more focused on you than on winning the Presidential election. Way to go, girl!
Posted by Cyn_NY on December 30, 2007 at 03:46 PM
LOL, Cyn, these guys are not here for trying to win any elections. There are filled with sore loser grapes and hatred and just need a place and people to direct it at! If I am the person, no big deal. Saves their dogs getting kicked and their wives getting abused ! :)
back later, time to start some dinner.
When did I say anything about "Freedom of Speech"? The Pug crybaby posted a LIE that the NYT ONLY prints LIBBURRRELLLllllll columnists, and even mentioned that Kristol would be "A SINGLE" conservative (HIS WORDS, NOT MINE, ASSWIPE).
I just replied by posting the publication schedule order of ALL their columnists, as it stands today. I also forgot to mention that Nicholas D. Kristof ain't exactly Abbie Hoffman, either.
BTW, troll. Freedom of the Press belongs to anyone who owns one. They are free to print whatever they want. The point is that Kristol is 100% WRONG about EVERYTHING EVERY TIME he writes a column.
"Time" magazine canned his ass last week. Maybe the NYT should ask why?
And for the Pug whiner who keeps getting banned...
It's only censorship when the Government does it. A PRIVATE owner can do whatever he / she / it wants to do with their own property. Perhaps you are too deep in the Pug Party Fascism mindset to realize that. If you got banned, it's your own damn fault.
What pisses me off is that people put up good posts that could be read and discussed and the jerkoff trolls come on spewing their filth, pushing the positive content into the background where it doesn't get read. Perhaps we should start copying and pasting the good stuff in front of the coprophagic troll droppings.
good stuff----
It was inevitable. I wrote about it right after the 2006 election --- as soon as the Republicans lost power, I knew the gasbags would insist that it's time to let bygones be bygones and meet the Republicans halfway in the spirit of a new beginning. GOP politicians have driven the debt sky-high and altered the government so as to be nearly unrecognizable, so logically the Democrats need to extend the hand of conciliation and move to meet them in the middle --- the middle now being so far right, it isn't even fully visible anymore.
Today we have none other than the centrist drivel king, David Broder, reporting that a group of useless meddlers, most of whom who were last seen repeatedly stabbing Bill Clinton in the back, are rising from their crypts to demand that the candidates all promise to appoint a "unity" government and govern from the the center --- or else they will back an independent Bloomberg bid.
digbysblog.blogspot.com/
Posted by Cyn_NY on December 30, 2007 at 08:30 AM
Cyn,
I agree wholeheartedly with digby.
Posted by SandyH on December 30, 2007 at 12:52 PM
-------end snip------
good stuff----
It was inevitable. I wrote about it right after the 2006 election --- as soon as the Republicans lost power, I knew the gasbags would insist that it's time to let bygones be bygones and meet the Republicans halfway in the spirit of a new beginning. GOP politicians have driven the debt sky-high and altered the government so as to be nearly unrecognizable, so logically the Democrats need to extend the hand of conciliation and move to meet them in the middle --- the middle now being so far right, it isn't even fully visible anymore.
Today we have none other than the centrist drivel king, David Broder, reporting that a group of useless meddlers, most of whom who were last seen repeatedly stabbing Bill Clinton in the back, are rising from their crypts to demand that the candidates all promise to appoint a "unity" government and govern from the the center --- or else they will back an independent Bloomberg bid.
digbysblog.blogspot.com/
Posted by Cyn_NY on December 30, 2007 at 08:30 AM
Cyn,
I agree wholeheartedly with digby.
Posted by SandyH on December 30, 2007 at 12:52 PM
-------end snip------
Posted by BoilerMan on December 30, 2007 at 04:44 PM
BoilerMan and Sandy, Digby is right on, isn't she? Any Democrat that gets the nod had better hold ground. I have no interest in making friends with the thieves.
What the pugs don't realize is that in order to meet in the middle, THEY have to move to the LEFT, not the other way around. There is absolutely NO reason for the Democrats to move 1 inch to the right.
So, screw the Pugs.
Posted by Cyn_NY on December 30, 2007 at 04:53 PM
absolutely, cyn. the center is no place from which to win the election. playing the center only makes us look more like rethugs than we already do and provides no clear choice for voters. there's nothing wrong with compromise to get things done after our newly elected domocratic president is in office as long as we aren't the only party doing the compromising.
Yawn...
Don't feed the trolls, guys. If you can't stand the stench, c-span is airing a Hillary Iowa event.
I can read, asshole. If 70% of the public think Chimpy sucks eggs through a straw and 28% think he's a God on Earth, it's time for the mentally challenged to realize that THEY have to stop the Kool-Ade and the false Hero worship of the WORST POS TO EVER COME DOWN THE PIKE.
Which means that in order to compromise the PUGS have to give up on their "Permanent War / Gilded Age" philosophy and work to atone for their sins of the last 7 years by growing a few brain cells and becoming more progressive.
Or they can all hang themselves in November. I don't care.
deep pile of putrid feces.
a.k.a. Bushworld.
well, well. since our peabrained trolls seem to have got their draws all in a knot, here's more good stuff-------
for the last few who would defend Bush and the neo cons, look what they have reduced us to. Same category as China, Russia, etc. Anyone who loves this country should be appalled and outraged !
U.S. seen internationally as an ‘Endemic Surveillance Society
In the recently released annual survey of worldwide privacy rights by Privacy International and EPIC, the United States has been downgraded from “Extensive Surveillance Society” to “Endemic Surveillance Society.” As Glenn Greenwald notes, this is “the worst possible category there is for privacy protections, the category also occupied by countries such as China, Russia, Singapore and Malaysia.” In general, “the 2007 rankings indicate an overall worsening of privacy protection across the world, reflecting an increase in surveillance and a declining performance of privacy safeguards.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/12/30/us-seen-internationally-as-an-endemic-surveillance-society/
Posted by PamB on December 30, 2007 at 04:11 PM
----------end snip------------
Ahhh, memory lane.
A lookback at the idiocy of Torture Czar Gonzales' legal arguments of 2007:
The "fiscal" republicans: We only love to spend money when it's guaranteed to kill something and be a miserable failure at the same time.
I find it interesting that with General/President Musharraf’s government in trouble we are now getting reports that our billions of dollars in military aid to Pakistan is being misappropriated. It seems that for five years we have been contributing about a billion dollars a year to a program known as Coalition Support Funds. This of course is just a fancy name being used for a program that pays the Pakistanis to continue fighting a war they don’t want to fight and the results prove that out.
http://agonist.org/forgiven/20071228/war_on_terror_fought_by_foreign_mercenaries
We should probably send Oliver to capture OBL too...Lord knows the republican can't get it done.
VILLAVICENCIO, Colombia (AP) -- With its fearsome record of kidnapping and violence, Colombia's largest guerrilla army might seem a nightmare group to encounter. But not to Oliver Stone.
The American filmmaker is jumping at a chance to meet with a group the U.S. classifies as a terrorist organization.
Leaving the glamour of Hollywood far behind, Stone arrived in the steamy Colombian city of Villavicencio on Saturday as part of a mission led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to retrieve three hostages held for years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/12/30/stone.colombia/index.html
Why can't they be more like complacent, obedient, good-little republican-Americans who believe everything their gov't tells them?
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Kenya's government has suspended all live television broadcasts as violence engulfed Nairobi following the re-election of incumbent president Mwai Kibaki.
...
The U.S. State Department echoed the president's sentiment and congratulated Kibaki on his re-election. A spokesman for the State Department called on all Kenyans to abide by the results so that the nation can move forward.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/12/30/kenya.elex/index.html
Hi Blue,
Gee, only 10 ? Seems like there should be lots more than that.
Happy New Year to you, btw !
Boiler Man
As Glenn Greenwald notes, this is “the worst possible category there is for privacy protections, the category also occupied by countries such as China, Russia, Singapore and Malaysia.” In general, “the 2007 rankings indicate an overall worsening of privacy protection across the world, reflecting an increase in surveillance and a declining performance of privacy safeguards.”
This is a sad state to be in. This is not what the Forefathers dreamed of for this country, after fleeing from countries that had this kind of surveillance over it's people ! Slowly, these Neo Cons are taking away every right, every liberty, every freedom that has been so hard fought for !
"Some of you worry about your ability to afford health care coverage for your families," Bush said in his weekly radio address, recorded at his Texas ranch.
"Some of you are concerned about meeting your monthly mortgage payments," Bush said. "Some of you worry about the impact of rising energy costs on fueling your cars and heating your homes. You expect your elected leaders in Washington to address these pressures."
-- Republican Prince George
Ahem, Georgie, forget those worries. ALL of us are worried that you and you're republican neocon friend Chainee are going to finish your terms by either bankrupting or killing every last one of us.
From Repairing Democracy Promotion By Thomas Carothers
U.S. democracy promotion is in a deeply troubled state. The Bush administration's close identification of democracy building with the war in Iraq has discredited the concept both at home and abroad. America's standing as a global symbol of democracy and human rights has been crippled by the many U.S. abuses of the rule of law in the war on terrorism. The glaring gap between the president's sweeping rhetoric about a freedom agenda and his administration's many efforts to secure economic and security favors from autocratic allies around the world multiplies the cynicism and confusion. So great is the current incoherence that the president describes himself as a dissident of his own administration's policies. A generation of work to build consensus at home and legitimacy abroad for U.S. democracy promotion is in disarray.
doesn't look like the rest of the world has any desire to follow us like lemmings over the ethical cliff and into a moral swamp...
Here's what is really crazy about Kristol going to the NY Times ! He was it's worst critic !
Kristol: The New York Times ‘Should Be Prosecuted,’ ‘It Isn’t A First-Rate Newspaper’
For years, Bill Kristol has been at the forefront of a vitriolic right-wing crusade against the New York Times. Sadly, the Times has chosen to reward him for it.
After the New York Times in 2006 disclosed a secret Bush administration program to monitor international banking transactions, right-wing pundit Bill Kristol said this:
“I think it is an open question whether the Times itself should be prosecuted for this totally gratuitous revealing of an ongoing secret classified program that is part of the war on terror.” [Fox News, 7/2/06]
“I think the Justice Department has an obligation to consider prosecution.” [Fox News, 6/25/06
Ah yes, this is what is most important to Americans...hunting. Not catching OBL, providing healthcare, reducing poverty, creating jobs, reducing illegal immigration, strengthening civil rights, reaffirming constitutional right of habeus corpus, strengthening our image in the world, protecting the environment....it is HUNTING! Don't get me wrong, I have more guns than I do skis, but really?, this is what the voters need to know about a presidential candidate? Maybe we should just have all of the republican candidates go on a hunting trip and the nominee can be chosen by who bags the most birds...
No better proof how out-of-touch the republicans have become.
OSCEOLA, Iowa (AP) -- Presidential contender Mike Huckabee bagged a pheasant Wednesday, offering Iowa voters the image of an experienced outdoorsman on the hunt, shotgun blasting and dogs braying.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/26/huckabee.hunt.ap/index.html
so much for the much touted surge ! Wonder if Petreus has the grace to feel shame?
Rate of suicide bombs rises in Iraq.
Figures supplied at Gen. David Petraeus’s year-end briefing to journalists “showed a slight rise in suicide car and vest bombs since October.” Petraeus also emphasized that recent security gains in Iraq are “reversible.” “Although the security situation has improved this year, U.S. commanders have been careful not to declare victory after years in which their statements were often seen as overly optimistic,” Reuters adds.
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/12/29/suicide-bombs-rise-in-iraq/#comments
Enter the minds of the wacky republican right and how they view foreign policy:
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/analysis/toons/2007/12/29/mitchell/
Happy New Year Pam and all good Dems!
2008 will hopefully be the year the insanity stops and we can get our government back to the task of actually governing America instead of flushing our money down a middle eastern toilet in the hopes of hitting the pipeline to democracy. I think our troubles began with those republicans that wouldn't recognize a democracy if they were living in one. :)
sheesh, if I had known releasing that rumor about Thom-ass was going to cause him so much pain, I may have thought twice about it. It sure got under his skin to know his secret is out ! ;0
Boy, wouldn't it be something if Ron Paul should end up the Republican Candidate??????
Consider several of the broad-sides Paul leveled against our malignant status quo:
[MR. RUSSERT: Would you cut off all foreign aid to Israel?
REP. PAUL: Absolutely.
REP. PAUL: They don’t come here to attack us because we’re rich and we’re free. They come and they, and they attack us because we’re over there.
MR. RUSSERT: “Because we’re over there.” And then you added this on Tuesday: “But” al-qaeda has “determination. The determination comes from being provoked.”
How have we, the United States, provoked al-Qaeda?
REP. PAUL: Well, read what the lead–the ringleader says. Read what Osama bin Laden said. We had, we had a base, you know, in Saudi Arabia that was an affront to their religion, that was blasphemy as far as they were concerned. We were bombing Iraq for 10 years, we were–we’ve interfered in Iran since 1953. Our CIA’s been involved in the overthrow of their governments. We’re bought right now in the process of overthrowing that nation. We side more with Israel and Pakistan, and, and they get annoyed with this. How would we react if we were on their land–if they were on our land? We would be very annoyed, and we’d be fighting mad.
MR. RUSSERT: Do you think there’s an ideological struggle that Islamic fascists want to take over the world?
REP. PAUL: Oh, I think some, just like the West is wanting to do that all the time. Look at the way they look at us. I mean, we’re in a, we’re in a 130 countries. We have 700 bases. How do you think they proposed that to their people, saying “What does America want to do? Are they over here to be nice to us and teach us how to be good Democrats?”
REP PAUL: ….But the point is I’m not against the FBI investigation in doing a proper role, but I’m against the FBI spying on people like Martin Luther King. I’m against the CIA fighting secret wars and overthrowing government and interfering…]
Amen to ending over a hundred years of imperialistic foreign policy, breaking up the military industrial complex, cutting off our financial and military support of the genocidal squatters in Palestine, and reining in the torturers and assassins in our “intelligence” community. His pursuit of these goals is certainly an objectively sound reason to support Ron Paul.
Yet despite these highly laudable positions, Paul is potentially as treacherous as the creatures of the system most of us have come to loathe. Compared to opportunistic moneyed elites like Mitt Romney or Hillary Clinton, Paul is indeed an alluring candidate.
Bloomberg and his independent party are welcome to give it their best 'shot'. It would be the fascist rethug's worst nightmare, causing little if any damage to our candidate but considerable to their's.
time to go...supper.
Posted by PamB on December 30, 2007 at 05:49 PM
Funny that the wacky rightwingers hate him so much. They don't recognize him as the ghost of republican past....
Like John Dean has said many times, the conservatives have moved so far right that even he isn't considered a conservative anymore, neither would Goldwater. The Dems/Liberals, OTOH, have moved to the center...and they know it.
Another look at another Bush failure !
"Immediately after 9-11 the U.S. government began barking orders to the world, especially to the Muslim world. Perhaps echoing unconsciously the Christian scripture passages Matthew 12:30 and Luke 11:23, it proclaimed, "Either you are with us, or with the terrorists." Remember those terrifying days, of omnipresent institutionalized ritualistic grief, anger and mandated unity, when any questioning was met with official indignation, threats, or punishment? When everything was supposed to be so clear? When above all, the national need to attack somebody---some Muslims---was supposed to be obvious, and the attack on Afghanistan in particular framed as common sense?
In Afghanistan, the Taliban was told that Washington would not distinguish between terrorists and the regimes that harbor them. The Taliban was of course one of the fundamentalist Islamist groups emerging from the long U.S. effort (1979-93) to topple the Soviet-supported secular regime. The Taliban in power from 1996 had netted some aid from a Washington deeply interested in Afghan oil pipeline construction, and also received aid and diplomatic support from Pakistan. Pakistan's CIA (the Inter-Service Intelligence or ISI) had helped create the Taliban in order (as Benazir Bhutto later explained) to secure the trade route into Central Asia.
But caving into the U.S. diktat, angering ISI officers deeply invested in Taliban support, risking a coup or assassination, Musharraf complied with U.S. demands. He was rewarded with the removal of U.S. sanctions imposed after Pakistan's nuclear tests in 1998, and promises of massive aid as the U.S. prepared to bomb Afghanistan, topple the Talibs and impose following their downfall a government of Afghans willing to work with Washington. This of course turned out to be a government dominated by the Northern Alliance, a collection of non-Pashtuns including Uzbek and Tajik warlords hostile to Pakistan and supported by India and Iran.
The story that won't go away is once again centerstage in Idaho: Republican Senator Larry Craig apparently has apparently been in a river in Egypt for a very long time...
http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/250654.html
Maybe if he weren't such a damn hypocrite the story would go away like all the other republican sleaze...
Blue,
I think maybe Craig is trying to use the technique taught by Rove.
Tell a lie enough times and it becomes the truth!
(imagine being the wife of Craig or any other of the perverted, or corrupt Republicans! Fibby Libby's wife? Abramoff's? Cunningham? Foley? YUKKKKKK)
Looks like another freakin fundamentalist troll shot up a hooters restaurant in Tennessee. He was also too cheap to pay the bill. This is normal behavior for commie pseudo-religious trolls.
Russia's Izvestia Reports:
A visitor at a Hooters restaurant in the city of Knoxville refused to pay the bill, and then ran into the street and opened fire on the building with a gun.
As a result, another visitor restaurant 35 - year-old Stacy Sherman (Stacey Sherman) was injured, of whom died in hospital.
Another victim was the manager of the restaurant 24 - year-old Chris Key (Kris Key), hospitalized in serious condition.
A visitor at a Hooters opened fire, and one person was killed
History lesson:
Until 1991, the United States was unable to persuade the Arab Gulf states to allow a permanent American presence on their soil. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, while maintaining its close relationship with the United States, began to diversify its commercial and military ties; by the time U.S. Ambassador Chas Freeman arrived there in the late Ô80s, the United States had fallen to fourth place among arms suppliers to the kingdom. "The United States was being supplanted even in commercial terms by the British, the French, even the Chinese," Freeman notes.
All that changed with the Gulf War. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states no longer opposed a direct U.S. military presence, and American troops, construction squads, arms salesmen, and military assistance teams rushed in. "The Gulf War put Saudi Arabia back on the map and revived a relationship that had been severely attrited," says Freeman.
In the decade after the war, the United States sold more than $43 billion worth of weapons, equipment, and military construction projects to Saudi Arabia, and $16 billion more to Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, according to data compiled by the Federation of American Scientists. Before Operation Desert Storm, the U.S. military enjoyed the right to stockpile, or "pre-position," military supplies only in the comparatively remote Gulf state of Oman on the Indian Ocean. After the war, nearly every country in the region began conducting joint military exercises, hosting U.S. naval units and Air Force squadrons, and granting the United States pre-positioning rights. "Our military presence in the Middle East has increased dramatically," then-Defense Secretary William Cohen boasted in 1995.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2003/03/ma_273_01.html
Hey Blue , if you are still around, did you see this story? I had a case just like this one when I was an account exec. What's your take on it?
http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071228/NEWS02/712280372
Pam,
I am so sick of our for-profit health insurance companies. This crap has to end now.
Posted by Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 30, 2007 at 02:46 PM....After having done an extensive, exhaustive review of all available data, I have concluded that you are correct, the correct name should be The Republican/Fascist Party.
Johnedwrd, I cannot imagine HOW any candidate will ever suceed in putting in a Universal health plan, when the HMOs have so much money and so much influence over congress. I am in a state where the Defense Industry and the Insurance INdustry Reigns! I cannot tell you the money poured into politician's coffers by these corporations.
You think the Defense industry wants an end to this war? You think the HMOs want a swing over to a Federally funded system, where they tell the HMOs how to operate??? Money talks.
How 'clever' of Thumbass (pics available) to C & P somebody's post from another site and claim it as his own. At least by stealing the post and changing a few words he can "claim" that he isn't PLAGIARIZING it. (which he, in fact, is). But that is his stock in trade.
Interesting look this afternoon:
Edwards surges, Huckabee’s bubble bursts
Source: McClatchy
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/23940.html
DES MOINES, Iowa — John Edwards has clawed his way into contention to win Iowa's caucuses on Thursday in the first vote for the Democratic presidential nomination, gaining strength even as rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have lost ground, according to a new McClatchy-MSNBC poll.
At the same time, Mitt Romney has regained the lead among Iowa Republicans as Mike Huckabee has lost momentum and support, even among the evangelical Christians who had propelled him into the top spot just weeks ago.
Boy, those Firefighters sure hate Rudy !!!
"He should have bought those radios."
"The blood of these firefighters is on his hands."
"That's the difference between real leadership and phony leadership."
You can run, Rudi, but you can't hide.
http://firedoglake.com/2007/12/30/lunch-at-the-drake-diner-with-rudi/
hey Doo Bee,
YGM !
maybe you can find a few jokes or riddles from these books ! Not a well known author, but somebody with a sense of humor.
Sorry, Thumbass. YOU did the ol' C & P of somebody elses blog posts and put them under YOUR name WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION.
THAT
IS
PLAGIARISM.
So, either YOU ARE the "Philosopher Stone", or YOU ARE a PLAGIARIST.
It's one or the other, but it CAN NOT be BOTH.
No, but if you C & P ENTIRE blog posts from the SAME SOURCE SEVERAL TIMES on SEVERAL different occasions, and post them under YOUR "Harpo" moniker, either YOU are Thomas Stone, or YOU are a PLAGIARIST.
How stupid are you that you can't figure that out?
Whatever you say, Danny boy. What is your fascination with fried bologna and eggs, any way? Sounds kind of gross to me. But, I guess it may be a step up from your usual can of Spam warmed on the engine block of a 10 year old Ford pick-up.
O.K., if you insist, a 1999 Chevy Silverado. The main player in that scenario is the warm Spam heated on an engine block, Stevie.
First of all I want to say that any of our Democratic candidates will make a fine President. Our country needs a Democratic President. That said: I am writing to my Democratic friends in Iowa to urge you to really think about your vote next week and make it count. You guys have the power to set the pace and pick our candidate. I live in what might be described as the heart of darkness Alabama. I am a blue dot swimming in a sea of red and it gets tough down here for us democrats. We southern Democrats really depend on you guys to set the tone. Please look down the road...a year from now. Also try to look at this election from the perspective of voters in other parts of the country. Our candidate has to be someone who can beat the republican candidate. Leadership and experience. These may be two words that we are really tired of hearing as of late but they are the key elements in the nationwide race. Out of the top 3 candidates and lets face it Edwards,Obama, & Clinton...one will be the nominee. I love the idea of Obama as president however I do not see his nomination playing out well in the long run. I also have to comment on the Clinton Obama...Obama Clinton idea....once again a nice thought but lets be realistic in how this is going to play nationwide...where the general election is won/lost...and the past eight year we have been on the loosing side. It is my opinion that Clinton and Edwards are the best equipped to win the Presidency and in a position to hit the ground running. To win the presidency our nominee is going to have to appeal to undecided voters and even pull votes from the other side. Obama is a good man a nice guy and the future of our party but I feel his nomination will result in another (close) loss next year. Our country cannot afford another four years of Republican rule. The current admin. has made a mess that we will be paying for... for years to come, and a mess that the next President and Admin. will have to clean up. This is going to take leadership and experience. Hillary Clinton may be a lightning rod and a polarizing figure but she is tough smart and can pull votes like her husband did. John Edwards has strong appeal down here and around the country remember he was the no 2 pick four years ago. He does not have the $$ but he can pull votes from the other side...my mother traditionally votes Rep. but loves and supports Edwards and her sentiment is something that I see with many voters in the South. Our economy is suffering...people cannot afford to run a business or pay for their homes or take their children or themselves to the doctor...gas is 3 bucks plus a gallon and I see this up close on a daily basis. I just felt compelled after watching the Sunday news shows to try and reach out to folks in Iowa to plead with you to make a smart decision. I hesitated before posting this because I feel I am speaking against a very good man and as I said the future of our party/country. I was an Obama supporter...but have changed my mind in the past 2 months. I have weighed the options and feel that Clinton and Edwards are our real choices for a 2008 victory. Please do the right thing...so many of us are counting on you. By the time we get to vote down here the nomination will be wrapped up and of course in the general election my state will go Republican...so I have to reach out in as many ways as I can to try and give my opinion and perspective. Concerning the other side I feel that in Alabama and the south in general will not support Romney...the religious affiliation/beliefs will keep many conservatives in the south at home. Guliani has good support around Birmingham and so does Huckabee...YIKES!!
Thanks so much
Mark
in Alabama
PETITION: To Replace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House of Representatives for the Purposes of Pursuing Impeachment
So Humpo has just admitted to being the "Philosopher Stone".
How open and honest (if that word is even familiar to that Libertarian Atheist twit) of him.
PETITION Join Congressman Wexler's petition for Cheney Impeachment Hearings:
Knock yourself out, Humpo. BTW, in what language was that 10:21 post, anyway? It made ZERO sense, as always is the case when it comes to your posts, but this particular time ever moreso.
So, the question is, ARE you the "Philosopher Stone", or are you a PLAGIARIST?
It's either 1 or the other, but it CAN NOT be both when it comes to YOU, under the moniker of "Harpo" STEALING posts from the T/S blog word for word, comma for comma, paragraph for paragraph...etc. and putting YOUR user name under it.
THAT is PLAGIARISM.
Fess up on the plagiarism rap, and be sure to call ALL of your minions out to "get" somebody who works for the County Sheriff. Lots of Luck on that endeavor.
First of all I want to say that any of our Democratic candidates will make a fine President. Our country needs a Democratic President. That said: I am writing to my Democratic friends in Iowa to urge you to really think about your vote next week and make it count. You guys have the power to set the pace and pick our candidate. I live in what might be described as the heart of darkness Alabama. I am a blue dot swimming in a sea of red and it gets tough down here for us democrats. We southern Democrats really depend on you guys to set the tone. Please look down the road...a year from now. Also try to look at this election from the perspective of voters in other parts of the country. Our candidate has to be someone who can beat the republican candidate. Leadership and experience. These may be two words that we are really tired of hearing as of late but they are the key elements in the nationwide race. Out of the top 3 candidates and lets face it Edwards,Obama, & Clinton...one will be the nominee. I love the idea of Obama as president however I do not see his nomination playing out well in the long run. I also have to comment on the Clinton Obama...Obama Clinton idea....once again a nice thought but lets be realistic in how this is going to play nationwide...where the general election is won/lost...and the past eight year we have been on the loosing side. It is my opinion that Clinton and Edwards are the best equipped to win the Presidency and in a position to hit the ground running. To win the presidency our nominee is going to have to appeal to undecided voters and even pull votes from the other side. Obama is a good man a nice guy and the future of our party but I feel his nomination will result in another (close) loss next year. Our country cannot afford another four years of Republican rule. The current admin. has made a mess that we will be paying for... for years to come, and a mess that the next President and Admin. will have to clean up. This is going to take leadership and experience. Hillary Clinton may be a lightning rod and a polarizing figure but she is tough smart and can pull votes like her husband did. John Edwards has strong appeal down here and around the country remember he was the no 2 pick four years ago. He does not have the $$ but he can pull votes from the other side...my mother traditionally votes Rep. but loves and supports Edwards and her sentiment is something that I see with many voters in the South. Our economy is suffering...people cannot afford to run a business or pay for their homes or take their children or themselves to the doctor...gas is 3 bucks plus a gallon and I see this up close on a daily basis. I just felt compelled after watching the Sunday news shows to try and reach out to folks in Iowa to plead with you to make a smart decision. I hesitated before posting this because I feel I am speaking against a very good man and as I said the future of our party/country. I was an Obama supporter...but have changed my mind in the past 2 months. I have weighed the options and feel that Clinton and Edwards are our real choices for a 2008 victory. Please do the right thing...so many of us are counting on you. By the time we get to vote down here the nomination will be wrapped up and of course in the general election my state will go Republican...so I have to reach out in as many ways as I can to try and give my opinion and perspective. Concerning the other side I feel that in Alabama and the south in general will not support Romney...the religious affiliation/beliefs will keep many conservatives in the south at home. Guliani has good support around Birmingham and so does Huckabee...YIKES!!
Thanks so much
Mark
in Alabama
FLY by again - long day!
Our newspaper had some interesting info on IOWA today and how it's NOT as important as everyone is clamoring around about............
In 72 they voted for Muskie - McGovern won
In 80 they voted for Bush Sr. - Reagan won
In 84 they voted for Gephardt - Dukakis won
In 82 they voted for Harkin over Clinton
They did get it right in 2000 and 04.
So their track record is not so good.
Also did you all know Nationally whites are only 73.9 percent of the population yet in IOWA WHITEs are 93 percent of the population. That's just NOT right. (my opinion)
I thought it was worth a repeat. Asheville Citizen Times Forum page. Iowa vs. The Nation
Ok Gnite!
Peace!
GO DEMS!!
I forgot this is for gregg and dpd
Space Weather News
http://spaceweather.com
After a 13.6 year absence, Comet 8P/Tuttle is once again traveling
through the inner solar system. On Jan. 1 and 2, 2008, it makes its
closest approach to Earth--only 24 million miles away. The
emerald-colored comet will brighten to a predicted magnitude of 5.8,
visible to the unaided eye from dark-sky sites and a fine target for
backyard telescopes anywhere.
Two nights before closest approach, on Dec. 30th and 31st, something
extraordinary will happen: Comet 8P/Tuttle has a beautiful close
encounter with spiral galaxy M33. The comet and the galaxy may even
overlap! This is a can't-miss opportunity for astrophotographers around
the world.
Visit http://spaceweather.com for sky maps, photos and more information.
now gnite ;-)
Dawn, the whole thing isn't a primary, it's a Caucus. Everybody is hoping to get enough second place votes to put them over the top. Any candidate who gets less than 15% of the votes can log roll and caucus with other candidate's supporters and choose to (or not) lend their support. So, Edwards coming in 2nd across the board can have his people negotiate to get the support of the second tier people.
That means the Kucinich, Dodd, Biden, Richardson votes can be negotiated for backing. Once they hammer that out, number 2 becomes the winner.
It's the old "smoke filled room" type of retail politics that used to happen at the Conventions, only out in the open in front of all the friends and neighbors.
It's "retail politics" at the brass knuckled raw level.
The Republican/Fascist Party is headed over the cliff and toward massive defeat in '08.....Go Edwards! and good night!
The Republican "wanna bee's" are a rather sad sight. McCain staggering around like a 71 year old man a a flee circus, not knowing which way to go. It does not appear that he has the stamina to last 4 years on the job. Ghouliani, mumbling and stuttering responses to questions, trying to cover up his old criminal associations and adulterous past. Romney with more positions on every issue, depending on who he is talking to: therefore a political prostitute, and that former darling of the ladies (his version), Fred Thompson, sleep walking through the whole thing "I really don't want to be president, this is all a bad dream, I hope I wake up soon" and Mike Huckabee, the slick talking, smooth as silk, former Baptist preacher, who is clueless on all the real substantive issues. ....All in all, a sad sack bunch.
I do not for one minute believe that this is the same Republican Party that gave America Abraham Lincoln who spoke so eloquently and simply of,"Government of the People, by The People and for The People," no, it's not the same Republican party, not even close!
good morning goodfoe and impeach. we got a nice eight inches or so of snow last night and it is a real winter wonderland here in the hudson valley. move shoveling is in order!
Abrah Lincoln once said, "God must have loved 'the common man' because he made so many of them." He identified hinself as a common man and felt most at home with common folks. If he were alive today, he would not be comfortable in the Republican Party. He would be far more comfortable as a liberal Democrat, fighting for the interests of "the common man."
Abraham Lincoln was a rail splitter, a store owner and pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, studying law at night by candle light. It's time for another present with "a common man" back ground who also has pulled himself up by his own bootstraps and who has NOT forgotten where he came from: JOHN EDWARDS!
Abrah should read Abraham, my apologies to Mr. Lincoln....
skould read, "another president"...I'm trying for the record on typos this morning....
Nuts!...I did it again! skould should be ....."should".....someone else post something, please!
Good New Year's Eve Morning, Dems. A beautiful morning in upstate NY with approx. 7 inches of fluffy snow on the ground and still falling.
Posted by *FrostyTheMagnificent* on December 31, 2007 at 02:44 AM
Hardly any hits because people don't want you tracking their isp, and messing with their set up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This website was mentioned on CNN yesterday during one of their news shows. They were reporting on bloggers vs. Iowa caucas. They had a blogger from each side. Please forgive my not remembering the details, I was not too focused on the show at that time.
Good Morning Cyn! I'm glad you have the snow and I don't....Go Edwards!
Good morning, all you wonderful morning bloggers! Have I told you lately that I really appreciate your fellowship?
End of the year remembering to count my blessings...name them one by one...count your many blessings, see what God has done!
We can all be thankful for 2k8!
That's the last year of w!
What a glorious new year it will be!
{{{johnboy}}}
Very fitting, if I do say so myself.
Matthew 5:6
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Posted by *FrostyTheMagnificent* on December 31, 2007 at 02:44 AM
Stevie, I would have stayed longer, but it was a crappy site. I expected more. You probably didn't get any more hits than the 3 hits from here.
I guess the Great Big Fat Mensa Brain you brag about doesn't include any creativity, as it certainly didn't help you in creating that boring website. It's about as interesting as watching grass grow.
Morning gregg, Cyn, JohnBoy, Essie and Impeach,
It's 24 here in beautiful downtown NM and clear.
The repukes become more disgusting every day. What I don't understand is why God doesn't put them down.
I was going to submit myself as delegate for a certain presidential candidate, but with starting my new position next week, I think I should focus on that this coming year instead.
Good morning, JohnBoy! Go Edwards!! He is fired up - I watched 3 of the Democratic candidates yesterday and they all did well.
Morning Esme! I know you are bi-partisan, so I'll try to stay away from political talk. ;-)
johnboy, I start next Monday. No more blogging in the mornings (and probably not in the evenings either) since I will have to leave home by 6 a.m. to arrive on time at 8 a.m. It's a 92 mile commute one way. I cringe knowing the amount of gas I'm going to be using, but I have no choice until I can find a reasonable little home there to stay during most of the week. I'm keeping my house here..this is where my roots are, this is where family has been for generations, this is where my heart & soul have been poured into, this is HOME! Tiny hamlet or no...it's my desire to retire here.
I wish you well, Essie, as we all do, in your new adventure!
What I don't understand is why God doesn't put them down.
Posted by Johnedwrd on December 31, 2007 at 08:14 AM
I'm not a wise ole sage...yet..., but I do believe God does things in His time. And I've learned not to question His timing.
Good Morning Fine Dems, and Happy New Year to you all !
I do not for one minute believe that this is the same Republican Party that gave America Abraham Lincoln who spoke so eloquently and simply of,"Government of the People, by The People and for The People," no, it's not the same Republican party, not even close!
Posted by goodfoe on December 31, 2007 at 07:06 AM
This is NOT the same Republican Party , {[JohnBoy}} You read article after article of how many Republicans have left the party since this neo-con form of government has come in. It is both sad, yet a relief that we now have a clear cut way to take back our country. I used to have fun discussions with Republicans in my office years ago, and their beliefs were entirely different than this new platform of the Republicans. I met one of the guys for lunch a couple weeks back, and he has nothing but disgust for this administration. Depending on the candidate, he may either stay home, or vote Democratic for the first time in his life.
This is a Nazi/Facist party, that believes in Dictatorship, not Democracy. I cannot wait to be rid of it !
So, if I post I'm going to walk now, will gregg come back and maybe Michael will put up a thread? haha
I have a good one for the new thread!
Enjoy the day, everyone.
Good morning, JohnE. I think that the republicans that troll this board have more problems than just being republicans.
Posted by PamB on December 31, 2007 at 08:37 AM
I'll drink to that!....give 'em hell, Pam!...that's where I feel they deserve to be and will be, with their fellow 'wanna be' dictators, Hitler, Stalin, Castro et al.....
{{{Cyn}}} you are so right. The trolls here are not even political, they are just filled with hate. Have you ever seen ONE of them say what they are doing for any candidate? God forbid money contributions. THIS is their contribution to the Repug party---HATE.
(ps, isn't that website a hoot? I think he had an 8 year old design it.)
This would be a Great win, should Edwards come in first or second in Iowa. For one thing, it would stop the inevitability of Hillary and Obama leaving there still in #1 and #2 position! It would put a different slant on the whole Political scene.
DENISON, Iowa - John Edwards predicts his financial disadvantage against Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama would be quickly overcome if he were to pull off a victory in the Iowa presidential caucuses Thursday.
"It's just reality that if you win the Iowa caucuses, the money pours in," Edwards said in an Associated Press interview Sunday. "It's almost like you cannot process it because it comes in so fast. There will be plenty of money to run the campaign."
After months of being seemingly stuck in third place in most polls, Edwards has climbed into a virtual tie in recent surveys and has drawn large, enthusiastic crowds on a well-trod route through the state since his second-place finish here in 2004.
wondering how the mortgage monster got so bad...lobbyist pimps putting politicians out on the street to work for them....oldest profession in history. from the wall street urinal:
Lender Lobbying Blitz
Abetted Mortgage Mess
Ameriquest Pressed
For Changes in Laws;
A Battle in New Jersey
By GLENN R. SIMPSON
December 31, 2007
During the housing boom, the subprime industry succeeded at more than just writing mortgages. It also shot down efforts by some states to curtail risky lending to borrowers with spotty credit.
Ameriquest Mortgage Co., until recently one of the nation's largest subprime lenders, was at the center of those battles. Working with a husband-and-wife team of Washington lobbyists, it handed out more than $20 million in political donations and played a big role in persuading legislators in New Jersey and Georgia to relax tough new laws. Those victories, in turn, helped blunt efforts by other states to crack down on reckless lending, critics of the industry contend...
The Republican/Fascist Party has dug their own grave with the American People and soon will reap their just rewards. If we can prevent Cheney from manipulating the drug store cowboy into attacking Iran, we will have our reward at the next elections.
Pam, it's pathetic. Both the hate of the trolls and the website.
Off to work! Enjoy the day.
Looking at your Financial investments? Make Sure you have some Oil Corporation stock in your folder!!! they are looking to keep financially raping the American Public all next year too! (funny how you never hear any complaints from those trolls who own those big old used trucks and SUVs. Guess they don't mind paying $3.39 per gallon so Bush's buddies can rake it in !)
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil steadied near $96 a barrel on Monday, heading for its biggest annual gain this decade as dwindling fuel stocks and growing concern over political turmoil offset the impact of a softening U.S. economy.
U.S. crude edged 30 cents lower to $95.70 a barrel by 8:15 a.m. EST, while London Brent crude gained 31 cents to
$94.19.
With prices starting the year at around $61, oil is now up almost 58 percent. It hit an all-time high of $99.29 on November 21 as a falling dollar and thinning inventories stoked investor interest.
Oil's rally is entering its seventh year, more than quadrupling its market value of below $20 at the start of 2002.
If prices hold, they will register their best performance for a front-month contract since 1999, when oil prices more than doubled from a $10 low.
While oil prices have been buoyed by a slide in U.S. crude stocks to below seasonal norms, some analysts are already looking beyond the peak demand winter season.
"We do see this squeeze starting to ease in the new year, as the peak of the heating season will pass in 3-4 weeks, more U.S. refineries come back into service in 2008, and the focus shifts back to gasoline inventories," said First Energy Capital analyst Martin King.
Happy New Year's Eve, ALL!
There is a new open thread.
M. Collins: Forget the Torture Tapes
There’s a reflexive tendency to think the worst of the Bush-Cheney administration when scandals like the torture tapes emerge. This tendency is well justified.
This administration’s defining moment was the Iraq invasion. Over time, it caused death to 1.2 million civilians and the injuries of 1.1 million noncombatants. Just last week we found out that there are now five million orphans in Iraq.
How can the administration and their enablers ever top that? Why shouldn’t we expect the worst immediately when we hear yet another accusation of criminal or unethical conduct?
Destroying torture tapes pales by comparison to these tragedies, all a result of the illegal invasion:
http://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0801/82655ebf34345615c1ee.jpeg
http://www.opinion.co.uk/Newsroom_details.aspx?NewsId=78
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m39245&hd=&size=1&l=e
Have you heard or read that 9% or Iraq’s population is either dead or injured to date due to the 2003 invasion? This is rarely addressed by U.S. media or politicians. ...full article: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0801/S00011.htm
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September 2007 – More than 1,000,000 Iraqis murdered
In the week in which General Patraeus reports back to US Congress on the impact the recent ‘surge’ is having in Iraq, a new poll reveals that more than 1,000,000 Iraqi citizens have been murdered since the invasion took place in 2003.
Previous estimates, most noticeably the one published in the Lancet in October 2006, suggested almost half this number (654,965 deaths).
These findings come from a poll released today by ORB, the British polling agency that has been tracking public opinion in Iraq since 2005. In conjunction with their Iraqi fieldwork agency a representative sample of 1,499 adults aged 18+ answered the following question:-
QHow many members of your household, if any, have died as a result of the conflict in Iraq since 2003 (ie as a result of violence rather than a natural death such as old age)? Please note that I mean those who were actually living under your roof.
None 78%
One 16%
Two 5%
Three 1%
Four or more 0.002%
Given that from the 2005 census there are a total of 4,050,597 households this data suggests a total of 1,220,580 deaths since the invasion in 2003. Calculating the affect from the margin of error we believe that the range is a minimum of 733,158 to a maximum of 1,446,063 ...full article: http://www.opinion.co.uk/Newsroom_details.aspx?NewsId=78
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5 million Iraqi orphans, anti-corruption board reveals
Baghdad, Dec 15, 2007 (VOI) – Iraq's anti-corruption board revealed on Saturday that there were five million Iraqi orphans as reported by official government statistics, urging the government, parliament, and NGOs to be in constant contact with Iraq's parentless children. ...full article: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m39245&hd=&size=1&l=e
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