I still think of Molly Ivins now and then. She had a real thing against people trying to mix religion and politics. So do I. It's just wrong. Here are some of her comments on the topic.

Molly Ivins once said: " Drag God into politics, and you'll ruin His reputation in no time."

One of her statements...I wonder what she would think today of all the Democrats finding religion and mixing it with politics.

"Nevertheless, we are now beset by people who insist on dragging religion into governance -- and who themselves believe they are beset by people determined to "drive God from the public square."

This division has been in part created by and certainly aggravated by those seeking political advantage. It is a recipe for an incredibly damaging and serious split in this country, and I believe we all need to think long and carefully before doing anything to make it worse.

As an 1803 quote attributed to James Madison goes: "The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries."

Good evening fellow Democrats.

Is it a car? Is it a plane? Actually it’s both. The first flying automobile, equally at home in the sky or on the road, is scheduled to take to the air next month.

If it survives its first test flight, the Terrafugia Transition, which can transform itself from a two-seater road car to a plane in 15 seconds, is expected to land in showrooms in about 18 months’ time.

Its manufacturer says it is easy to keep and run since it uses normal unleaded fuel and will fit into a garage.

Carl Dietrich, who runs the Massachusetts-based Terrafugia, said: “This is the first really integrated design where the wings fold up automatically and all the parts are in one vehicle.”...

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article5489287.ece

Finally, I get my flying car! Well, that is if I can scrape up $200K. Oh well, I wonder how long it will be before I can buy a used one?

Body repair 'could be ramped up'

Stem cells can help to repair damaged tissue
A combination of drugs could trick the body into sending its repair mechanisms into overdrive, say scientists.

The technique could be used to speed the healing of heart or bone damage, they claim.

The bone marrow of treated mice released 100 times as many stem cells - which help to regenerate tissue.

Imperial College London scientists reported their work in the journal Cell Stem Cell, but said human trials were some years away.

The release of stem cells by the bone marrow is a natural part of the repair process - different types are sent to replenish tissue depending on the nature of the injury.

However, in some cases, for example the damage caused by heart disease, the repair is not entirely successful, and loss of function persists.

The theory behind the Imperial College research is to boost the quantity of stem cells released, which will hopefully mean a swifter and more complete recovery...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7815449.stm

This is why we should've been fully funding stem cell research all along. Eight years of potential research have been lost because of some nutjobs who can't keep their religion out of public policy debate. It's the 21st century. Let's act like it.

Dear Friend,

As you may know, I am committed to initiating a serious dialogue and raising public awareness about the U.S. criminal justice system and incarceration policies. Over the past two years, I have held a number of Senate hearings, hosted a symposium of experts at George Mason University and delivered the keynote address for a Brookings Institute panel at the National Press Club on this pressing issue.

This year I plan to introduce legislation to launch a comprehensive review of our criminal justice system. It is imperative that a national commission take an overarching look at where the system is broken and how we fix it. To start, focus must be placed on locking up the most dangerous people instead of diverting time and money to incarcerate the wrong people. This means making sharp distinctions between offenders of violent crimes and those incarcerated for non-violent crimes, drug abuse and mental illness.

This challenge of criminal justice reform demands dedicated attention and viable solutions.

More and more Americans are expressing concern over our criminal justice system and I wanted to inform you of the following recent media attention on this important issue. For more resources on my work to study and reform the U.S. criminal justice system, please go to: http://webb.senate.gov/email/incarceration.html For more resources on my work to study and reform the U.S. criminal justice system, please go to: http://webb.senate.gov/email/incarceration.html

Thank you for your interest,
Jim Webb

This comes from my home senator, the senior Senator from VA, Jim Webb (D-VA). For those who are interested, take time to visit the link in the article.

NEW YORK (AP)- A judge allowed disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff to remain free on bail Monday, rejecting an attempt by prosecutors to send him to jail for mailing more than $1 million in jewelry to family and friends over the holidays.

The decision is sure to outrage investors who have been clamoring for Madoff to be sent to jail for allegedly carrying out the largest financial fraud in history - a scheme authorities say he has described as a Ponzi scheme.

If bail had been revoked, Madoff would have been forced from the comfort of his $7 million penthouse where he has been under house arrest and await trial living in a jail cell with nothing but bunkbeds, a sink and toilet...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28620374/

Rob a liquor store of a couple hundred bucks and you'll sit in a cell until your hearing where you'll get at least five years of hard time. Rob thousands of people for tens of billions of dollars and you get to sit in your posh Manhattan digs awaiting a trial that will, at most, get you eighteen months in a Federal minimum security country club. Mr. Madoff proves once again that the American Judicial System is still the best that money can buy.

madfloridian on January 12, 2009 at 05:58 PM
Madison further clarified Jefferson's quote saying that the "separation of church and state was necessary to the purity of both." Use of the inclusive term "both" indicated his intent, as the author of the Bill of Rights, was to extend to each equal protection to each from the other rather than protecting one above the other.
Those who claim, as Fred Thompson did, that it was the intent of the framers to protect the church from the state and not the other way around are incorrect if not down right liars! Those who claim that this country was founded as a "Christian Nation" are completely ignorant of history as the framers went to great lengths to ensure just the opposite.

5
BobVADemocratHawk on January 12, 2009 at 06:27 PM

Bob:
The more I learn about Senator Webb the better I like him. You better enjoy being represented by him while you can because I have the feeling that he is destined for national office at some point in the not too distant future. We would be lucky to have such a fine man work for the whole country!

Economy made few gains in Bush years

Eight-year period is weakest in decades

President Bush has presided over the weakest eight-year span for the U.S. economy in decades, according to an analysis of key data, and economists across the ideological spectrum increasingly view his two terms as a time of little progress on the nation's thorniest fiscal challenges.

The number of jobs in the nation increased by about 2 percent during Bush's tenure, the most tepid growth over any eight-year span since data collection began seven decades ago. Gross domestic product, a broad measure of economic output, grew at the slowest pace for a period of that length since the Truman administration. And Americans' incomes grew more slowly than in any presidency since the 1960s, other than that of Bush's father.

Bush and his aides are quick to point out that they oversaw 52 straight months of job growth in the middle of this decade, and that the economy expanded at a steady clip from 2003 to 2007. But economists, including some former advisers to Bush, say it increasingly looks as if the nation's economic expansion was driven to a large degree by the interrelated booms in the housing market, consumer spending and financial markets. Those booms, which the Bush administration encouraged with the idea of an "ownership society," have proved unsustainable...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28612358/

The handwriting is on the wall. Conservative fiscal policy just does not work. The age of big government has returned and I am glad to see it because the people have a word in how it is run as opposed to the conservative model where only rich people have input. Laissez-Faire is dead and good riddance to it.

marymac_memphis on January 12, 2009 at 06:41 PM

His name was kicked around a while for the President-elect's VPOTUS nominee. Sen. Webb (D-VA) politely declined according to accounts.

Clinton\Webb in '16? Who knows...

msnbc.com news services
updated 3:43 p.m. ET, Mon., Jan. 12, 2009

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel's leader stood within Hamas rocket range Monday and warned Islamic militants that they face an "iron fist" unless they agree to Israeli terms for an end to war in the Gaza Strip. But the foes were in close contact with Egypt, a key mediator.

As Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, Israeli tanks, gunboats and warplanes hammered suspected hiding places of Hamas operatives who control the poor, densely populated territory just across the border.

After nightfall, flares and explosions lit up the sky over Gaza and heavy gunfire was heard in parts of the coastal territory of 1.4 million people.

Hamas showed no sign of wavering: its fighters battled Israeli troops on the periphery of Gaza City and launched 15 rockets at southern Israel. The group's prime minister insisted on an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the opening of blockaded border crossings as part of any truce. "We will deal positively with any initiatives that stop the aggression against our people," Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, said on Hamas' Al Aqsa television. He also had a message for militants: "We kiss your heads, we kiss your hands and we kiss that land that is under your shoes."

Haniyeh sat a desk in a room with a Palestinian flag and a Quran in the background. His location was unclear; Israeli airstrikes have targeted militant chiefs and most are in hiding...

Darn right Hamas is in hiding. I think we've all gotten the message that Israel is not going to stand idly by and allow these terrorists to lob rockets day in and day out. They are still hiding behind the skirts of their women and children. Hamas is nothing more than a group of cowardly thugs who are getting what they deserved. The time for negotiations are over. Bulldoze Gaza and Hamas into the Med and be done with it once and for all.

9
BobVADemocratHawk on January 12, 2009 at 06:56 PM

Bob, it's not the era of "big" government that has returned, it's the era of EFFICIENT and COST EFFECTIVE government.

Why pay a middle man to do what the Civil Servants have been doing for decades at an operational cost of less than 3%?

I'm glad these Pug ripoff artists are finally going to be shown the door.

Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on January 12, 2009 at 07:08 PM

Indeed, the Republican form of government was paying off their cronies three to ten times what a job was worth.

The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who was elected the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop in 2003, will deliver the invocation for Sunday’s kickoff inaugural event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Presidential Inaugural Committee said.

President-elect Obama is scheduled to attend the afternoon event, which is free and open to the public.

“The president-elect has respect for the Rt. Rev. Robinson, who offered his advice and counsel over the past couple of years,” an inaugural official said. “It also has the benefit of further reinforcing our commitment to an open and inclusive inaugural.”

Robinson remains the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay civil rights organization, said in a statement that the choice was "encouraging."

“Bishop Robinson models what prayer should be — spiritual reflection put into action for justice," Solmonese said. "It is encouraging that the president-elect has chosen this spiritual hero, and that should remain our focus today."

Many of Obama’s supporters were furious at the choice of Rick Warren, the evangelical pastor and best-selling author, to deliver the invocation at the swearing-in ceremony.

Warren had endorsed California’s Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, with a statement saying: “There is no reason to change the universal, historical definition of marriage to appease 2 percent of our population.”

The furor has been Obama’s biggest clash with his party’s left wing since he was elected...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17340.html

OK, now everyone has a bone tossed to them for the inauguration. The righties have Rick Warren, the GLBT has the Rt. Rev. Robinson, and the Civil Rights leader have Dr. Lowery delivering the benediction. Welcome to America in the 21st century.

Good night fellow Democrats. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. Yes we can, yes we will, and yes we did!

Good Evening Dems,

Have you noticed that bush is attempting to state USA have not been attacked since his presidency?

1) Which administration was in the White House, warned by CIA and the previous Clinton administration that Al Qaeda was about to attack USA?

George W. Bush

2) Who was in office when USA was attacked by Al Qaeda?

George W. Bush

3) Which administration did not follow through in the capture of Al Qaeda and diverted resources from Afganistan?

George W. Bush

4) Who was in the White House when the administration was warned about people in USA about to attack us and did nothing?

George W. Bush

Gee, George W. Bush reminds me of the kind of people in that commercial telling everyone of harm the impacted sewage along the intestine walls can cause. It's esspecially dangerous when the toxic level rise to the brain and the brain is full of impacted sewage!

Bob the Hawk

Even Israeli soldiers have got soul - to paraphrase Niel Young. The book is by Ronit Chacham, entitled "Breaking Ranks: Refusing to Serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, (2003). "The principal of a state for the Jewish people is dear to me. But not a state that looks like Pharaoh's Egypt." - Staff Sergeant Shamai Leibowitz" (p. 102).

To better understand how Israel was formed as a state visit: http://www.rense.com/general34/ZAND.HTM

And many of our parents went there to fight the war machine that was set in action with the transfer of those assets/ and the opening of a trade route through Palestine. My dad - a medic in the 383rd Army Air Corps. One can be patriotic without being demagogic. Judaism is larger than a piece of land, always has been through the exiles; always will be.

Shalom

good evening, everyone.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090112/ap_on_go_co/voinovich_retirement_2

sounds like good news to me.

;)

thank you fromm, that was interesting......

hey esme, that's #4 gop to retire!!

Galatians 3:26-29
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

enjoy the evening, everyone.

bold,

Z is being reported as one of the dems who may run! isn't that awesome!

it's all in how you look at things. time for beauty sleep.

Isaiah 60
The Glory of Zion
1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light,and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4 "Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm.
5 Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.

that's great, esme.........

loggin out .

blog ya tomorrow

watched that bush version of "queen for a day" today. he was really reaching for some kind of good news to leave us all with about himself of course.

let's i guess he made the strongest case for his brilliant performance during the katrina disaster...he figures if would have landed air force one in new orleans it would have saved the day...such a complete sniveling liar and creep, very few will miss him.

oh and he imitated a whiny person and it was an imitation of himself...it was a bit like watching a pyscho-drama workshop or something. i used to think he should be taken out in chains but now i think a straight jacket would be more appropriate.

gee, isn't it funny! If Hamas and Palestine is to blame for this slaughter, then WHY are there protests all around the entire world against Israel for this massacre???? Must be the troll knows something the rest of the world does not. Or MAYBE, just MAYBE it is because the rest of the world gets nothing on TV but hard cold news facts day after day, and they KNOW WHY Hamas is trying to drive Israel back off their land ! But then, it is always easier for Hawks, with small gonads, to cheer on the bully boys !

they could stop the rocket attacks very quickly, if they got off the land they stole from GAZA !

And gee, the pictures on TV and the papers do not show Arabs at all. they are thousands of people in Japan, India, China, etc who find this totally unacceptable, and Israel wonders why it is not sympathized with! Might does not make Right!

what is all this crap with bush saying goodbye so many times? just get the f_ _ k out of here you lying sack of..

yesterday he said he was disappointed that there were no weapons of mass destruction...a weird turn of phrase by a very weird, nasty and self involved guy. what he should have said was he was sorry he got lots of people killed based on faulty and fabricated information, then pulled out the hari kari kit and then...

Good morning, all.

PamB on January 13, 2009 at 08:19 AM

Pam,

Yeah, just like the rest of the world admires what Bush did in Iraq and the world-wide depression the Republicans caused. Don't you jut know the trolls can't wait to start another world war, too.

That land was given to them by God. That land belongs to them.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the time God came to visit earth, and designated which land belongs to whom. Too bad the American Indian got the short stick, huh?

speaking of ridiculous crapola pulled out of rear ends, have you LISTENED to yourself? What a right wing moonbat! You believe anything that the right and the religious zealots tell you. Hey, I have some land in FL, prime waterfront in the everglades. Would you like to buy it???

In your opinion , then if Israel is on stolen land, where should they go?
That land was given to them by God. That land belongs to them.
41
neo_con on January 13, 2009 at 08:48 AM

The land belongs to the society that is strong enough to take it and hold it.

Dear Neo Con

You sound like the victim of postmodernism. In other words, you have no sense of the past 60 years between Israel and Palestine.

The bible - you mean the Torah. Read carefully, Deuteronomy - and you learn that to be in the land you must also keep the law and the covenant, and that means living justly with one's neighbor. this has never been the case. Armed Israeli's had already slaughtered an entire village (Gish) in 1948. Not the kind of welcome that was expected.

Going further back in history, this type of behavior resembles the nation that helped Israel get its start:http://www.rense.com/general34/ZAND.HTM

There is no military solution. The IDF occupation of Gaza, along with its settlement expansions needs to be ended, and then order can be restored.

Shalom

This comes from my home senator, the senior Senator from VA, Jim Webb (D-VA). For those who are interested, take time to visit the link in the article.
5
BobVADemocratHawk on January 12, 2009 at 06:27 PM

Nice idea, However I have a hard time when looking at the scale of justice with regard to comparing a violent crime with a white collar crime like the Enron issue.

How do you replace the 20 years of labor some of the employees gave to this company in hopes that they would be able to retire in their latter years.

Are you trying to say that a violent crime out weighs this?

Not in my book

In my book a violent crime is mild in comparison.

test

madfloridian on January 12, 2009 at 05:58 PM
Madison further clarified Jefferson's quote saying that the "separation of church and state was necessary to the purity of both." Use of the inclusive term "both" indicated his intent, as the author of the Bill of Rights, was to extend to each equal protection to each from the other rather than protecting one above the other.
Those who claim, as Fred Thompson did, that it was the intent of the framers to protect the church from the state and not the other way around are incorrect if not down right liars! Those who claim that this country was founded as a "Christian Nation" are completely ignorant of history as the framers went to great lengths to ensure just the opposite.
7
marymac_memphis on January 12, 2009 at 06:38 PM

I agree totally

Except, I believe but not certain, that the Bill of Rights was written in response to the writings of the anti federalist papers.

There are times when I understand that the trolls take a contrary side, just to get their jollies and to argue. and then there are other times, when I say "Holy Shit, these guys BELIEVE this propoganda"! And I feel a sense of wonderment and pity, that they can really be that stupid, yet work and drive a car, etc.

(ps, The MN troll no more believes that there is no global warming than we do, but he likes to pretend and stir the pot, and find absurd little articles to keep the conversation going. Otherwise, he would get no attention at all)

52neo_con on January 13, 2009 at 10:14 AM

hahahahaha, when you don't have an answer, then punt! Try and turn the subject around so you don't have to use intelligence or debate or facts to get yourself out of a ridiculous situation. Don't forget, idjit, that the Bible was written by MAN. God did not come down and write a verse or two. MAN wrote that thing from beginning to end, many times YEARS after events had even happened. I think they might have been very similar to the politicans we have today, don't you???

what is all this crap with bush saying goodbye so many times?

gregg on January 13, 2009 at 09:15 AM

gregg,

Oh, I don't think we have seen Bush's final swan song yet. He has always had a much bigger ego than even Cheney banked on. Just wait. Spunky is going to demand his own show on Faux News...although it will have to be filmed while mountain biking through Kansas.

With reminds me, isn't it about time someone did a remake of the the "Wizard of Oz" with a modern political bend. The casting possibilities are endless. (This is especially for neocon who has not imagination.)

Coulter as the Wicked Witch with her skinny legs hanging out from under the Democratic House of Representatives which has fallen on her? Rove as the Tin Wordsmith? Larry Craig as the tap dancing Scarecrow? Bush as the Cowardly Lion? Sarah Palin as a ditzy Auntie Em? And, of course, Cheney hotly pursuing poor little Barney (now named Valerie not Toto) with his blunderbuss and Alberto Gonzales in tow.

The Wizard of Oz? Joe the Plummer, of course. And the munchkins could be played by the 20% of The Sheeple who still believe Bush is terrific.

We need to get George Clooney on this ASAP.

good to see hillary getting her confirmation under way. she has the opportunity to truly change the world. she has the brains and experience. she will need luck but i can't think of a better person to hand the reigns to...

This comes from my home senator, the senior Senator from VA, Jim Webb (D-VA). For those who are interested, take time to visit the link in the article.
5
BobVADemocratHawk on January 12, 2009 at 06:27 PM

Nice idea, However I have a hard time when looking at the scale of justice with regard to comparing a violent crime with a white collar crime like the Enron issue.

How do you replace the 20 years of labor some of the employees gave to this company in hopes that they would be able to retire in their latter years.

Are you trying to say that a violent crime out weighs this?

Not in my book

In my book a violent crime is mild in comparison.

Id like the clarify comment here farther.

There is a difference between a company going defunct because of incompetence, ignorance, lack of fore sight, work ethic, product obsolescence or market down turn. I understand everyone can’t be a winner all the time.

and

fraud or dishonest dealing and you have compromised the lives of thousand.

Gregg, Hillary is doing very well thus far. Wait until the first Republican gets ahold of her, and they start on their attempt to discredit her because of Bill. That is the topic they shall take, and they shall try and shake the faith in her. In the end though, it is a simple majority vote, and she shall get the nod! Much to the Repugs dismay. this is why already FOUR of the GOP Senators are retiring next year ! No more fun when they cannot obstruct !! When they can destroy even more of this country!

neo_con on January 13, 2009 at 10:31 AM

It seems to me that the Jewish state is doing a pretty good job of alienated all of its neighbors to the point that they're going to get themselves slaughtered someday.

It's time to give back the Golan Heights. Syria will then join with Jordan and Egypt to undercut Hamas and Hezbalah and freeze out Iran. Right now the neighbors are all lined up with the radicals and have no incentive to stop the violence.

Brief History Of The Golan Heights
By Alyssa Fetini

Tuesday, Sep. 30, 2008

Caught in between four countries and sixty years of conflict, the disputed territory of the Golan Heights seems closer than ever to a permanent resolution, after decades of tug-of-war between Israel and Syria over its rightful ownership. Israel's new Prime Minister, Tzipi Livni, has expressed a commitment to resolving the Golan issue once and for all, while outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert mentioned the impossibility of ever hoping for peace with the Syrians without giving up the Golan Heights in a recent interview...

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1845638,00.html

Even the Israelis know what they have to do. But they keeping listening to those idiots in IAPEC who think they can rule over the Middle East from afar without having to suffer any of the consequences everyday Israelis do.

When Big Oil and religious fanatics come together it spells violence. Greed and Fundamentalists are the root of this problem. It's always been the problem in that region.

No wonder God dropped an atomic bomb on them centuries ago in Sodom and Gomorrah. This time the Israelis are going to do it to themselves via Iran or some other rich Moslem country like the UAE if they don't heed the covenant laid out in the Torah and reiterated by Jesus: Love thy Neighbor...or at least try to get along with them enough that everyone feels secure

No one should have to live in a refugee camp or a ghetto in Europe for centuries and be discriminated against and harassed.

gregg on January 13, 2009 at 10:48 AM

I'll second that. If Hillary could hold off the the Far Right for eight years and still rise to the top in world politics as Secretary of State, she'll have no problem handling foreign interests. She has more brains and resolve than Bill ever had.

I wish her great success and possibly a Supreme Court Justice position someday.

Gotta get to work. later.