Maron V Seder V Clout

S. Carolina Catholic diocese backs warning to Obama voters

Newman said that those who did not choose the anti-abortion candidate, in this case U.S. Sen. John McCain, “should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation.”
http://www.thestate.com/local/story/589290.html

we try harder

Great news. Obama makes history! All the ballots have now been counted and Obama "officially" has his electoral vote in Nebraska.

After all remaining ballots were counted Friday, Obama emerged with a 3,325-vote lead over Republican John McCain in unofficial results in the 2nd Congressional District.

Obama now has 365 electoral votes to McCain's 162.

~-~-~

Sorry about your rights, we hope to have them restored shortly.

Ditch the smooth transition. The people voted for change
Instead of accepting the corrupted bail-out and reassuring Wall Street, Obama's team must start doing the hard stuff now

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/14/obama-white-house-wa...

yes i heard an interview with her on Maddow last night - verry interesting. She has a new article in Rolling Stone

I just sent a little something for Kevin. Tell Pierce to check his Paypal.

I'll be able to send a little each week, can't send a bunch at once until after the 1st - Uncle Sam's taxes and Christmas and all that shit. Plus I get a raise after the 1st...

God, if we can only all make it until then!!

Thanks for the birthday wishes.

I really appreciate it.

The best of birthday wishes to you in advance, Sam.

Nov. 28th,... as per wikipedia...

ROFLAO!

how do i list my 243,618 posts?

just the broadband load would shut down the web in DC...

Now that I see you on the blog!!

Obama made it clear during her interview he was not pleased with her nagging from the left.

To my eye, he came across as admonishing and even foreboding with regard to her disagreements with his campaign. Most journalists would have fallen in line after that. She, it appears, has decided to choose her personal and political integrity over being popular.

More power to ya babe....

Amy Goodman interviewing Obama

More Muscle
TPM Reader RS ...

Here is something progressives really need to address. On Sunday morning political shows, three Democrats are confirmed as guests: Carl Levin, Barney Frank, and Charlie Rangel. It's as if Democrats didn't just win huge electoral advances in the Presidential, House, and Senate elections. So we get the same thing we've had the past 8 years--republican hegemony on Sunday. Kyl? Check. Gingrich? Check. Steele? Check. Jindal and Shelby? Check and check? Just look at The Page for the whole list. When is the "liberal media" going to give some of the oxygen to Democrats?
This is unquestionably true. The bookers and producers of the Sunday shows are committed to the continuing dominance of conservative/Republican marquee guests. No question about it. And this is going to be one part of the rewiring of Washington that will take longer and face more resistance than possibly any other. The big interests and institutions that go to Washington to buy influence are quickly reacting to the changing political complexion of the city. The TV bookers and opinion act like nothing's happened.

--Josh Marshall

http://thepage.time.com/2008/11/14/on-the-sunday-shows-52/

Submitted by mire on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 3:36pm.
can you imagine the person that has the job of reviewing these submissions...
------
I wouldn't even read a compendium of my own posts.

Why would I? They were written for the moment, not posterity.

Posterity: "I wouldn't read them, either. I have BFF's to text."

Silvis, IL -- Former Congressman Lane Evans has been in Barack Obama's corner since he ran for U-S Senate, and when the President-elect huddled with family and friends in a hotel room in Chicago to watch the election returns earlier this month, Lane Evans, again was there.

What did Obama want to say to Mr. Evans? ''He said, you know, I owe you a few, and I said yea, I know'', Evans said in an interview from his apartment in Silvis Thursday.

Accompanied to the Hyatt Hotel by a friend, and his friend and guardian Cher Erickson, a picture taken of that night is worth a thousand words. Erickson describes it like this.

''When he (Obama) walked into the room and he knelt down and took Lane's hand, and he said if it wasn't for you, Lane, I would not be where I am at today. And he said you've been the best friend anybody could ever have. It was was just so emotional for him and we all cried in the room, didn't we Lane?'', Erickson said, choking up all over again.

The popular 12 term Congressman was forced into early retirement by Parkinsons Disease.

http://www.wqad.com/global/story.asp?s=9346458

Friday, November 14, 2008
Senate will take up $25 billion auto bill
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- The Senate will take up the $25 billion auto bailout bill on Monday, with a procedural vote expected Wednesday to see if Democrats have enough support to overcome Republican roadblocks.

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid said today that debate on the bailout bill would begin on Monday, his spokesman, Jim Manley, confirmed.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, told reporters Thursday that the votes may not be there to pass an auto bailout bill.

"I don't know of a single Republican who's willing to support (it)," he said.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081114/AUTO01/811140...

Dodd is wrong. I understand Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) is supporting the current effort

>>Like Torture, Only Worse

now we know what goes on in Guantanamo and all those other extradition sites...they read all this blog's posts...over and over.

"I'd just like to say hello to my uncle."

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Only 35% of CT voters would re-elect Joe Lieberman
John Aravosis (DC) · 11/14/2008 01:11:00 PM ET · Link
Make a comment · reddit · FARK · Digg It! · Stumble It!

Clearly, Lieberman has us right where he wants us.
Do you approve or disapprove of the job Joe Lieberman is doing as U.S. senator?

Approve 36 (45)
Disapprove 61 (43)

If the 2012 election for U.S. Senate were held today would you to reelect Joe Lieberman would you consider voting for another candidate or would you vote to replace Lieberman?

Reelect 35
Consider Someone Else 18
Replace 48

Markos notes that Lieberman's re-elect numbers drop even more when you ask how voters would feel about Lieberman not getting his committee chair and then becoming a Republican. Yes, Lieberman is clearly the guy who holds all the marbles in this negotiation. Pitiful.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/14/10476/841/187/660873

I hear you ToniD...there is something else going on we are not seeing (as usual).

Dodd is usually pretty straight forward in my opinion. Maybe he wants to wait till next session where they can get a better deal?

With all the posts I've posted. Can you imagine?

I think they'd give up!!!

tonight is the dreaded pre teen dance!

Give me strength and a good pair of noise stoppers for my ears!

Just tap your feet and smile, you'll be fine.

Industrial ear plugs, the foam ones are comfortable:

http://www.redhillsupply.com/ear-plugs.htm

Tonight is grandparent's night at my kid's school, and I just found out that my kid is dancing..

I appreciate the wishes,...very much.

have you considered dating someone a little closer to your age toniD? Are the older fellas too slow for you?

Happy belated Sir Real! I hope you had a good one.

What? You watch CNN at 8 PM? You fool. It's 2008 and MSNBC is where it's at. We dare you not to "Olbermann" after you watch this.

http://www.236.com/video/2008/watch_keith_olbermann_in_a_min_10230.php

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

I wanted to make sure you were on the blog. It's nice to leave a post but it's better when you see it.

Hope you had a great one.

Birthdays are the only day you have to yourself. Your personal mini holiday!

Enjoy!

Sanders Joins Leahy: Don't Let Lieberman Keep Plum Committee Spot
In a statement sent to TPM, Bernie Sanders became the second senator to call for Joe Lieberman to lose his committee chair at Tuesday's Dem caucus vote. "Appointing someone to a major post who led the opposition to everything we are fighting for is not 'change we can believe in,'" he said.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/bernie_sanders_j...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. banking regulator unveiled a plan on Friday to prevent about 1.5 million foreclosures, breaking ranks with the Bush administration by demanding bailout funds be diverted from banks to consumers.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said the plan would modify millions of delinquent mortgages and the government would reward participating lenders by sharing the cost of defaults on restructured loans.

The dispute over housing policy during the administration's final weeks spilled into the public as a U.S. Treasury official and the White House Friday renewed their opposition to using money from the $700 billion bailout fund to support such a program.

Treasury Interim Assistant Secretary Neel Kashkari told a U.S. House of Representatives committee the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), which the Treasury controls, was designed for investing.

"The FDIC proposal at the end of the day is a spending proposal," he said.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/11/fdic_us_treasury_clash_on_...

Later

"The future of the Republican Party." Fuck them, we have to ask ourselves about the future of our party--

HuffPo: Hillary Offered Job Hotlist
by Keith Olbermann
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/14/16949/046/995/661066

This is not the change I paid for.

Treasury rejects credit card
Submitted by toniD on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 7:22am.
Treasury rejects credit card debt, only Wall Street debt matters
Chris in Paris · 11/13/2008 08:05:00 PM ET · Link

*******

Socialism is Only ok when it's for Corporate debt but,Not for Consumer debt ?

Corporations Privatize their Profits and Socialize their losses too !

Must be nice to be a Corporation..A Consumer with kids to feed,not as nice..

If that Consumer also has rent to pay or,possibly a house payment and,medical bills..Sorry..

But,if you are a Corporation maybe we can work something out..

Somethings Wrong with this picture,no ?

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Especially now. Obama has turned the whole new government over the Clintonistas. Expect more of the same. Rupert Murdoch must have a hoary, raging hard on right now. There really is no opposition party in this country.

Good friday evening good folks of the Sedernista bar & lounge! ;)

We will see what is able to happen in the first 100 days. We badly need a lot of progressive actions in that time. FDR showed it was possible although I doubt that Obama will be able to do as much as he did in that short time. It will be very interesting to watch and see. McCain would have mostly continued the disasterous bush policies. This time there will be an opening for citizens to participate on the changes that are needed.
_______________________

TIME Magazine Declares Obama the New FDR

"It's the New New Deal, and it's Barack Obama as FDR, obviously. And it's about how he could forge a Democratic majority, a liberal majority, not unlike what FDR did."

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=220103

-

Submitted by mire on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 12:21pm.
the ayers interview on good morning america (with video) he did a great job!

Yes he did

G.D. A few mid-level appointments of former Clinton administration officials does not by any measure mean that the new administration is being turned over to 'Clintonista's. As part of the healing process and to get Clinton support it is no surprise that some former Clinton administration workers are going to be in the many thousands of new jobs in the Obama administration. Also it is important to keep in mind that many former Clinton officials supported Obama or were silent during the campaigns.

Personally I think that Hillary would work best right where she is as New York Senator.

Don't be afraid of a few Clinton administration people working with the Obama tsunami diversified big tent. This is not the 90's any more and the agenda is all Obama's

The big questions are:

What are your ideas and suggestions to make this new progressive government work?

FOCUS On Those & PARTICIPATORY Government.

Hey kids, there's a shuttle launch in about 20minutes. It's a night launch, and those usually look spectacular.

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

That is what I would call a worthy distraction....

!

Six ways the GOP can recover and start ruining the world again

http://www.236.com/news/2008/11/14/5_things_the_republican_party_10261.p...

Politico is asking their panel of pundits this question: "What's the most important first step Republicans should take on the road to recovery?" Not surprisingly, the responses break down into two camps. Left-leaning respondents basically say "become less douchebaggy," while right-leaning ones say, in effect, "become more douchebaggy."

Right-winger Grover Norquist say, vaguely, that they should avoid advice "from enemies and idiots."

James Pinkerton, meanwhile, says the reason the GOP is in trouble is because of some kinda weird freaky-friday thing where the GOP got blamed for the Democrats' screwups!

"Republicans have to figure out the implications of this painful paradox," says Pinkerton, "the GOP is getting the blame for being the Wall Street party, while the Democrats, who, in fact, are the Wall Street party, are reaping the financial benefits. Getting the blame for what you don't get is the worst of all possible outcomes."

That is a painful paradox. Though at least it's better than the more common painful paradox Republicans find themselves in -- suddenly being offering 20 dollars to an undercover policeman if he'll let you perform fellatio on him.

Maybe that has something to do with getting on the road to recovery. Hopefully it will happen soon, because the system set up by our founding fathers depends upon a strong, viable opposition party working in a bipartisan manner for productive solutions. Kidding! Had you going there, though. No, it's really in everybody's interest that the GOP stays just like it is -- they were always more fun than Democrats, but now they're no longer a threat to destroy the world.

So we'd prefer they stay just the way they are. But in the bipartisan spirit of the day, if they do want to come back, here's our Six Suggestions For the Republicans to Recover...

1) Renounce and reject Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

2) Change names to Democratz.

3) Announce appointment of Joe as Plumbing Czar

4) Spin off "Racist Republican Party" as a separate organization

5) Field dress Sarah Palin.

6) Become a lesbian for a while.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

These inarticulate boobs are what pass for rocket scientists these days?

.

On November 4th, 2008, I rode my bike to Voting Precinct 006 at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church and School in Waterford Township, Michigan. I stood in line, I presented the proper credentials, I was issued one voting ballot, and I filled it out. I did not vote.

I had come to my polling-place intending to cast my vote for Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates that had not made it onto the Michigan ballot: Gloria La Riva for President and Eugene Puryear for Vice President. These are the candidates of The Party for Socialism and Liberation. As a small, mostly-marginalized political party, the names of these candidates were not listed among the options before me. So, when I approached the voting booth - ballot in hand - I meant to write-in these candidates’ names; whom I felt best represented my interests and desires for the nation at large.

In these politically nepotistic and insular times it seems that a majority of the populace cannot understand why anyone would vote off-ticket. These unnamed, third-party candidates have no real chance of being elected, after all. So why not choose one of the mainstream candidates who, at least, represent the better of the options we are presented with?

There are two main reasons that I decided to vote for Gloria La Riva. First, I wanted to encourage the party she represents. It is supremely important - in a Democracy - that we support those groups which rise to champion our beliefs on the national stage. If I cast my vote for some other party, Gloria La Riva and The Party for Socialism and Liberation would never know that I support them. They would never know that I am grateful for their efforts and wish them to continue doing the hard work of carrying my hopes and aspirations into the public limelight.

Second, I want it on the record! I want the state to recognize, even if only by a meaningless act of bureaucracy, that the options I have been presented with by this system do not represent me; that I, and those sharing my beliefs, have been marginalized by a system that drawls on endlessly about “democracy” and “freedom,” but falls short when presenting us with meaningful options.

For these reasons I stood in that voting booth looking at my ballot, wondering how to fill it out. The Presidential and Vice Presidential seats were presented to me as a unified ticket. In other words, if I wanted to vote Obama for President, I had no choice but to vote Biden for VP. The two distinct offices were represented by a single choice: “Obama / Biden.” The problem for my write-in candidates was that I couldn’t possibly fit both of their names into the empty write-in block provided on the ballot.

Unsure how to proceed, I finished filling out the rest of my choices and I approached the man supervising the tallying machine. I began to say, “I think I need a new ballot. I’m trying to write-in my choice for presidential candidate.” He interrupted me.

“You can’t write-in a Presidential choice. You have to pick from what’s listed.”
...

http://www.theseminal.com/2008/11/14/i-didnt-vote/

My half brother and his wife had a baby boy in Italy today!!! YAY.. ! I'm an aunt!...

Good to see you people again in your decorative print. But I'm zooming off in the direction of the TV set ("There's a penguin . . . "). This is just a flyby.
Bye-bye

...but still..After my brother Brett killed himself I thought this Aunt thing was done for...

say hello to treebu too! :)

Well let's see. Rahm Emaneul is already Chief of Staff. Now Hillary as SOS-- a twofer- you get Bill (or least you will the horror stories of his seedy international deals.) Possibly, the bigot Larry Summers as Sec Treasury.
Are you crazy? I, and millions, didn't vote for this!

"I remember landing under sniper fire..."

VIDEO LINK REPLAY GOING ON for the next few min..

-I am impressed Rachel is not backing down...
Submitted by cent on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 5:19pm.-

Yes you did...

http://www.academicinfo.net/

http://infomine.ucr.edu/

"There are two main reasons that I decided to vote for Gloria La Riva."
I should have done the same thing.

I should have too..

or say something..or send something that this kid gets something positive from....that's all..

After the recent tethering-on-the-edge-of-total-economic-and-financial-meltdown, it seems economic systems and their workings have pushed their way into the need-to-know-category.

With thanks to a friend from rural Ireland we can now simplify this down to what makes sense and explain 20 economic models with cows. It's remarkable how much sense it all makes...

*SOCIALISM
*You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

*COMMUNISM*
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

*FASCISM*
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

*NAZISM*
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

*BUREAUCRATISM*
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws
the milk away...

*TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM*
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

*AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
*You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

*ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM*
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using
letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then
execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that
you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The
milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a
Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who
sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The
annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on
one more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United
States , leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with
the release. The public then buys your bull.

*A FRENCH CORPORATION*
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you
want three cows.

*A JAPANESE CORPORATION*
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow
and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow
cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.

*A GERMAN CORPORATION*
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month,
and milk themselves.

*AN ITALIAN CORPORATION*
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

*A RUSSIAN CORPORATION*
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

*A SWISS CORPORATION*
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

*A CHINESE CORPORATION*
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

*AN INDIAN CORPORATION*
You have two cows.
You worship them.

*A BRITISH CORPORATION*
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

*AN IRAQI CORPORATION*
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the sh#t out of you and invade
your country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of a Democracy...

*AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION*
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

*A WELSH CORPORATION*
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive...

"what happened" to the 60's people...I'm glad some still hold to their beliefs....I wonder who Bill & Bernadine voted for though...? Sounds like Obama..not sure...Maybe Part 2 they will say...

I could just as easily do this on an Open Mic...are my posts bothering people? Or is it a time zone thing? Or what?

Denmark, Sweden, Norway....yes...

Venezuela, Nicaragua? ...

sorry kiddo......

I think it's just dinner time across many time zones. Finally sent you something for K, people are getting very dodgy when the bill is due. Gotta run to a Bday party but hope the bloggies come back soon.

PS Happy Bday Sir Real.

Congratulations on Aunthood. Funny - I found out the day before yesterday that I'm an uncle again. I started out in the uncling business when I was just 20. The baby my sister had back then just ushered the third bamboozle (named Ashley) into his family. Between my two sisters' broods, I am an uncle eight times over. But even though my nephew's family's been branching the tree out, they say, "Arch, you're a good uncle, but not . . . "

It's great being avuncular or avauntular (?) - you get to groove with the kids and have genuine fun (doing stuff you haven't done since you yourself were little), but you don't have to be a serious disciplinarian or worry obsessively about nutrition, bedtime, and stuff.

T says hey from her busy desk.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah,....solutions?
Submitted by cent on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 10:02pm.-

If so...my solution was everyone vote for the person who most represented their beliefs...viable or not...then we would see (maybe) what the people really want...

I have to say thought that because of this blog and the extreme exposure to news online in general that it was easier than in past years to see that Obama didn't represent me...

If you were talking to and about something else, cent...sorry...

I get it...Hope you do.

Sorry for the bluntness, but I am fed up with the Gloria spiel....

especially after Daniel.

The answer is somewhere in between....

I would rather get there from here than there...get it?

...?

There are a few things that are good about getting old..

That's one.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

// Sir Real ... I wanted to make sure you were on the blog. It's nice to leave a post but it's better when you see it.

Hope you had a great one. //

Submitted by toniD on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 7:23pm

-

toniD,...I really do appreciate the kind birthday wishes.

(I do miss a lot of comments on the main blog,...to my regret.)

But, nonetheless, ... thank you.

-

Thank you, too, trappper... I really appreciate the b-day wishes.

-

Hi Alice. Even when you blog alone, I'm with you in spirit. :)

You know, Nicaragua...the grand experiment of Socialism in this Hemisphere.....

it doesn't matter what the form of government is called if they don't have the peoples' interest in mind when decision making....(something like that)

The answer is somewhere in between...

...and I prefer to get there from here as opposed to there...push them left...

Solutions...?

Hope ya had a good one..

Also,hope you saw my earlier BDay post for you..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

And Evo...and probably lots more that I don't know about...

*

Thanks MM...So like McCain being born in Panama..if it's on US bases or territory then it is considered being born in the US? Right? So my half-nephew isn't an Italian right?

*

Ellwort..we must all be blessed with Ashley's...P's daughter's name is that...I've known her since she was 9...she is almost 24 now...cool kid...still likes it when I call her kid... :)

If Obama implemented all the policies and views he espoused in his book, "The Audacity of Hope," I think you'd find that you both share virtually all the same views.

Of course, since then, based on all the compromises he made in the Senate and on the campaign trail, I can understand how some people with truly progressive viewpoints would feel as if their heads were going to explode.

Obama seems to imply that an effective politician has to compromise ongoingly, or else be marginalized on all fronts.

I'm paraphrasing,...of course.

And, of course, assuming that I know most your views.
Which I probably don't.

-

Anyway. I hope you had a nice day.

Thank you for the timely "heads up" e-mail.

xoxox

sr

Did you ever ask P to tell his Mom Hi from

my Friend/landlord ? ?

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

I got the other one, too. Greatly appreciated.

I hope all is well with you.

Ironically, I never really celebrate my birthday.

I think this started when I was 11, moved to America, and had no friends,
... just a hockey card collection. So, no need for a party. ;)

These days, I am always hugely grateful for the birthday wishes from everybody, though. So, I celebrate that. :)

"I'm still as mean as ever."

-- Helen Thomas, back after a 6-month illness :)

link

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Research baby, research....

Canada ? Hockey.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

democratic republic... unfortunately, any number of historical precedents would suggest that the only way the united states of america would get there from here would be in the aftermath of a complete social/economic collapse and fragmentation - following which period of instability and (probably) civil war(s) - we might end up with a confederation of nation-states, from which might emerge a variety western euro-style democracies.

I was intrigued by the television series, 'Jericho' which seemed headed in that direction.

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Calgary.

Yep. Canada.

Moved to Arizona after 6th grade.

I used to be quite good at throwing hockey cards.

Apparently, in the U.S., they collect baseball cards.
And, they don't throw them.

Where are you from, MMR...??

and as I've said a thousand times..I hope (the audacity) that he IS fucking with us to obtain sort of power to change politics as its known to me now...AND that I couldn't risk my vote on that this time...But I do hope you are correct...

At our work workshop today.. a person who voted for Bush last time wanted to tell me how her son helped her decide how to vote since she liked neither candidate...she said he told her to read their online platforms and decide. And she, being a Republican and me being P&F bot don't think wars are a proper response...and so she voted for Chuck Baldwin..and she wanted me to know that her heart felt at ease about her decision even though she KNEW Obama would win.

Congrats on being an Aunt, Alice :)

I was an Aunt at 8 years old and it was twins. And then another a year later and another a year later and another 6 years later and that was from one brother! And then 3 more who are step-neices and nephew from his 2nd wife.

The pre-teen dance was not as busy as usual. Only 138 kids. Usually there ar over 200 and as many as 300.

Don't know if this is due to the economy or maybe less kids in my little town.

fragmentation...

uhhh huhhhh...

Obama, to me, represents the bulk of that revolution....the collapse of Capitalism, the other.

Can you think of a better time to consider it?

Nationalized Healthcare...the first step.

This slow incremental shit is killing me.

But it was so long ago I can't remember what Pat sai...I remember him telling her on the phone and Pat saying she remembered her..but I can't remember anything after that...

had someone lauded for his accurate predictions saying by 2012 there would be food riots and mass resistance to paying taxes to Wall Street Corporations.

This was on the top of the hour break on Serius, was listening to Malloy.

Why do you think I asked what everyone here wants to focus on..? I know what IS and what ISN'T...

Obama is the president soon and where is my focus best served now? I don't know.

I could be a petition person..B/C anywhere I have to go to be in a substantial physical protest is at least an hour away...I could entrench in P&F ..but I'm not sure I'm a Socialist..though I do love to share...

I don't have any solutions I guess...because I wouldn't be the first nor last to try to think of any..and look how it is now...

P thinks it's all for nothing..he thinks that if we lived in a cave it wouldn't matter who was in elected offices...and if we focused on what we would choose to do or be in said cave - that is what matters...So sometimes I think if we had no need for money and lived in caves who would I BE? I don't know that either..

Hope that was helpful.. ;)

Ortega...
new
Submitted by cent on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 10:31pm.
You know, Nicaragua...the grand experiment of Socialism in this Hemisphere.....
=========

What was that supposed to mean? What do you know about the history of the Nicaraguan Revolution?

that is a lot of kids...we get stressed out at 15 or less at the lib! Nice work!

Thanks.. I called my Nona and told her since I think I shouldn't call my mom..she would be upset...when I was born..my uncle was 3....he is a religious person who doesn't use birth control...he and his wife have like 5 kids I think...

I was going to vote for Cynthia McKinney & the Green Party up until the last minute when Arizona was supposedly no longer a "solid McCain" state. She's one of my favorite politicians. I liked Nader's idea of taxing each derivative trade, more than I liked McKinney's idea of banning derivatives. Gloria LaRiva wasn't on the ballot.
Only Obama, McCain, Barr, McKinney & Nader.

My folks both voted for Obama. And my father was born & raised in Columbia, South Carolina...and had been a life-long Republican up until the Bunnypants Era, when he switched to being an Independent.

My father, after hearing some loud-mouthed rant from some Shriner about Obama, said: "Well, you better suck it up, buddy. He's gonna be your President." The guy got even more upset & bet my father a hundred bucks. So, that made my father even happier on Nov. 4th. He's apparently donating the money to a food kitchen in the loud mouth's name just for fun.

My aunt & uncle in South Carolina voted for Obama, too.

-

Did you see the newly-released full transcript of the 2004 interview with Obama, which was recently posted on Beliefnet, Alice? I liked it a lot.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/11/obamas-interview-with-ca...

My favorite quote:

OBAMA:

"... I'm always stuck by how much common sense the American people have. They get confused sometimes, watch Fox News or listen to talk radio. That's dangerous sometimes.

But generally, Americans are tolerant..."

Submitted by toniD on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 11:06pm.

The pre-teen dance was not as busy as usual. Only 138 kids. Usually there ar over 200 and as many as 300.

Don't know if this is due to the economy or ...

__________________

Never thought I'd sees the day when even pre-teens was cryin' out for a stimulus package.

More or less.

Oh..Isla Vista for 1 year..

Canada to AZ..Weather shock..

Kinda like my sister who went from Kauai
to New Hampshire..

I've only been to Tucson twice..Driving through..

Much nicer than PHX though,that's for sure..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

--He's apparently donating the money to a food kitchen in the loud mouth's name just for fun.--

We were supposed to begin this meeting with "What makes us excited about our work" today...I was all ready to explain how it seems when I tell stuff like that, I end up with the opposite of what I want..But listening to the ladies who have been there for 30, 20, 10 years...how they hate the pay but love the job....I melted and copped to loving when people learn how to use a computer..But one lady told about a young girl who found a 20 in parking lot..and she turned it in to the library branch. Then she came back at closing to see if anyone claimed it, and said if no one does I would like to donate to the library...*MELT*

My mind is going on me and after almost 5 years I should write this stuff down. When is your Birthday?

Thanks, Sir Real, for looking up Sam's b-day. Nov. 28th.

rarely much hardcore action....you know how I loves hardcore action... ;)

Suck. On. This.

Schadenfreude has never been so, so sweet:

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

It would be easy to dismiss today’s rant (however spot-on it might be) by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman as yet another ideological tirade against the U.S. automobile industry. But based on the bad news coming out of shopping-mall owner General Growth Properties [GGP], it is no wonder Friedman is feeling crankier than usual. That’s because the author’s wife, Ann (née Bucksbaum), is an heir to the General Growth fortune. In the past year, the couple—who live in an 11,400-square-foot mansion in Bethesda, Maryland—have watched helplessly as General Growth stock has fallen 99 percent, from a high of $51 to a recent 35 cents a share. The assorted Bucksbaum family trusts, once worth a combined $3.6 billion, are now worth less than $25 million.

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

If you click through to the below chart, you'll see the dropped has actually been even more precipitous than described above. GPP was trading at $27.55 the week of September 8th. It's now at $0.44. Thus, it's lost 98% of its value in the past two months.

--Jonathan Schwarz

You did tell me MM and I
Submitted by Alice on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 11:10pm.
But it was so long ago
*******
But,I'll get over it..
It's just that Mrs.S.asks me every once & a while about P's
Mom & all can say is,sorry but I don't know..
She just liked her alot.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

I would cry for them if I had any empathy for them!

That is quite a loss. Did they ask the gov't for a baillout yet?

There are always lots of feel-good words from politicians, SR...

Submitted by Alice on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 11:34pm.

rarely much hardcore action....you know how I loves hardcore action... ;)

______________

A true admirer of the hip-gnostic gospel.

something wasn't right to me...I mean that was rare...I wanted to love her..since poor her and Gloria had to share a smaller hotel room than Brian Moore and Ralph ...but I was all "Ew, what was that?" and after P and I discussed it it was all Gloria..However..he and I both 'got something' after each of our encounters with Ralph that caused me to change my mind...Gloria is hella cool..I mean she was packing sandbags at that last natural disaster...and Ralph's record speaks for itself...He has explained why he comes and goes at pres. elections like he does.. Equal access is a national issue, not a regional one...

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-141998648.html

Alice.

I wouldn't help out with the Democratic campaign because of how disappointed I was with Obama's flip-flop on domestic spying, his pro-Israel blather, the fact that Goldman Sachs employees were his largest contributor, his pick of Joe Biden aka Mr. Bankrupcy Bill & Washington Consensus stooge, his vote on the credit card bill, his yes vote approving Sec. of State Rice, etc..., etc..., etc...

Not to mention Obama letting Paulson trick him into the necessity of the bailout bill,...& subsequent lobbying to get Democratic Reps to change their vote. Ack!

I wrote numerous e-mails to my representative, Gabrielle Giffords, called her in D.C. and here in Tucson,...and she flip-flopped as per Obama's phone call, she told me... Ack! (So, I voted for her Libertarian opponent.) To this day, I still have never been able to vote for a Republican, even once. I'm afraid I'll catch something. :)

But, I'm gonna give Obama the benefit of the doubt, now, for a while,... because his victory brought upon worldwide hope during a time of seemingly global financial collapse... which to me seems unbelievable, not to mention the fact that he's not some old Skull & Bones white guy.

-

Also, in order to remain temporarily positive,...I have to stay away from articles by the Cockburn brothers on http://www.counterpunch.org ... and also must stay clear of http://www.rense.com ... in an attempt to stay positive.

-

As for politics, my Obama donation never got sent to Obama because of above-mentioned reasons... It will soon be sent to Kevin, instead, to be spent on some sort of vice or sin, hopefully... :)

Tucson is involved in a big electronic voting machine revolt movement which has already received some national press, and I most likely will generate my energies towards election integrity, helping get rid of Diebold, E S & S, etc...

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=117425

I also might work with the S.E.I.U. I joined their union, but have dodged their phone calls for the last year or two. Because I suck.

-

I think my wife, Kelly, wants to be a librarian/politician.

I think my role in politics is to just not fuck up, and bring attention to her...

Now I'm rambling...

I hope...? I probably have the email I sent you still...I can go back to find out what happened..There have been a few times when people have re-found Pat online..Once was P's old Nanny...I was all, "You had an effing Nanny?!" :)

dr

Submitted by toniD on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 11:39pm.

I would cry for them if I had any empathy for them!

That is quite a loss.

___________________

I'd likes to think mall rats goes down w/the ship.

(Chubby 'n Crank'll be chimin' in shortly -- if they ain't already.)

Begich lead increases in race for Senate

By SEAN COCKERHAM / scockerham@adn.com

Published: November 14th, 2008 04:32 PM
Last Modified: November 14th, 2008 04:33 PM

Mark Begich has extended his lead over Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens to 1,022 votes with the latest count of absentee and questioned ballots. The Elections Division counted 14,508 ballots today. The count of absentee and questioned ballots will pick up Tuesday. The state has an estimated 24,000 more ballots left to count in the race.

Most of the ballots counted so far today are mixed between the Mat-Su area, Fairbanks and northern and Western Alaska. The state Elections Division has counted a few hundred questioned ballots from Southeast Alaska as well.

The fact that the Democratic Begich's lead over the Republican Stevens is increasing even as ballots are counted from the Stevens stronghold of the Mat-Su is not a good sign for the 40-year incumbent's chances to retain his seat.

The Elections Division on Tuesday will count absentee ballots from Anchorage, which has generally been split between Begich and Stevens, as well as Southeast Alaska, which is heavily pro-Begich.

http://www.adn.com/front/story/589416.html

There was once a birthday here where I just wanted dada to notice it... :) Ever since then I can't tell... You're a woman..You understand...

http://chomsky.info/audionvideo/19700216.mp3

The only reason I would ever want to die is to be able to see everything and go everywhere...first place I'm going is these two guyz's house... to watch em blog... :)

Why do they pretend to be a news organization?

http://mediamatters.org/items/200811130011

In a report on NBC's Today about the Minnesota Senate race, Lee Cowan repeated the discredited rumor
that "ballots have suddenly appeared out of nowhere, including some found unsecured in an election worker's car."
In fact, according to election officials quoted in news reports, the ballots did not "suddenly appear[] out of nowhere,"
and they weren't "unsecured." Cowan also aired a statement by Fritz Knaak, a lawyer for bastard Norm Coleman,
apparently critical of the handling of the ballots in question, but he didn't report previous statements in which
Knaak reportedly said he felt assured that the ballots weren't compromised.

www.bartcop.com
I'm so old, I remember when Huntley and Brinkley read factual news on NBC.
Now, NBC has become a gaggle of silly whores, printing every rumor they get
from discredited charlatans like Limbaugh and Drudge.

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

-Government in the Future
Submitted by grischa on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 11:47pm.-

(morbid curiosity)...

"I told you so" is nowhere. Sorry for the history object lesson, but it serves a point. We have to work from here. The time for the BIG argument has passed. Blaming everybody else for Obama is nowhere. Choose an issue and PUSH.

We need health care and a sound social safety net.

Gloria and Ralph are not the answer right now. Maybe in 2 years, maybe in 4, who knows...

Green is definitely the party of the NEXT election and beyond. Right now we've got to save the souls we can and blame does not work. MANY are disappointed in what we've settled for. That number will grow. Use the more progressive examples as just that, not a hammer.

Honey, Alice. Honey. You know honey...it is sweet and nourishing, it flows and drips...very alluring. Pure. No force necessary...:)

To me it is not necessarily about party, it is about policy....

Right now, for me, it is about healthcare...it is popular, and doable.

Ya I don't know anything about that....

HAHAHAHA :)

Submitted by Alice on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 11:43pm.

... Once was P's old Nanny...I was all, "You had an effing Nanny?!" :)

_______________

Charged charges loves them some effing nannies.

(I should prolly be ashamed of myself.)

but sometimes I read things online that make the BIG argument better than I ever could and although it's passed..sometimes a good verbalization is too good to pass up...

http://www.pentaside.org/article/chomsky-govt-in-the-future.html

I know enough to have a healthy respect for Daniel Ortega and what he was trying to do.

I also know enough about how it has turned out...

What is your question?

>>.first place I'm going is these two guyz's house... to watch em blog... :)

Note to self: Die before Alice.

Alice's idea of post-mortumly watching me or Crank bloggin rivals Cranks teenage dream of `someday owing a Karmen Ghia' as far as low expectations/wasted ambitions are concerned...

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

MMR..well did you tell her that Pat remembered her..
Submitted by Alice on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 11:43pm
*******
I posted a few times asking you about it..
But,missed you..

It's just Mrs.S asked me again yesterday..

If you sent me a email,which is probably the case,sorry..

My memory sucks sometimes.. :)

Oh..And,Mrs.S.remembers P too..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

A step up from a VW.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

-Chubby 'n Crank'll be chimin' in shortly-

Submitted by Alice on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 11:48pm.

The only reason I would ever want to die is to be able to see everything and go everywhere...first place I'm going is these two guyz's house... to watch em blog... :)

_____________________

Your unseen but palpably felt presence might just make them mildly uncomfortable while they scratch.

>>It's just Mrs.S asked me again yesterday..

just tell the old bag to bugger off and mind her own business!
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Cent. You said words to the effect that Nicaragua, unlike Sweden and Denmark, etal, was a failure in socialism. That may be so, but what can you tell us about the Contras? The 1980s? Did sweden have an arbed counter-revolutionary force, out to destroy socialist gains?

>>uncomfortable while they scratch.

I just don't like the idea of people watching me when I burst uncontrollably into tears...
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Obama has some sort of strategy he is using but for the life of me, I can't figure it out!

He isn't even in office yet and I promised myself not to judge until he's in office for awhile to see what he might do first.

Clever monkeys...

They could not hold on to the populism without the dictatorship.

The Scandinavians haven't had that problem yet....

I will say this, I believe in Socialism, but I believe in Democracy first.

Ya Mullet !

Coming down off Rusty's Catnip I see ! Jeebus !

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

that's just life...

There is a new book out now called something like Do the Dead Watch Me in the Shower...I'll find it..

Atrios on Friedman...

Poor Tommy

Might have to start driving a cab soon.

-Atrios 21:24

Not a failure in Socialism Grisha, a failure in Democracy
new
Submitted by cent on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 12:13am.

I thought you said you knew about Nicaragua. Tell us about the 1984 elections in Nicaragua.

Hi everyone, it's been a while.

I heard Sam and Mark drop the f-bomb on Mark Greene's behind, twice. :p

Good too, for taking up Sam's timeslot. I guess Richard Green wanted to replace everyone with Hillary supporters.

Wingnut Wars

Awesome.

ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: A conservative California congressman announced Friday that he's mounting a leadership challenge to House Minority Leader John Boehner, as the GOP continues to assess the fallout from last week’s election losses.

Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., becomes the first rank-and-file House member to announce his intent to challenge the top House Republican in next week’s leadership elections. The No. 2 and No. 3 House Republicans have said they’re stepping down from their posts, but Boehner is seeking another term as minority leader.

-Atrios 15:12

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/11/boehner-to-face.html

>>I promised myself not to judge until he's in office for awhile to see what he might do first.

yeah. his presidential honeymoon didn't really last a day. I can somewhat excuse the reactionary right's wingnuts, but it is somewhat disheartening to see lefties jumping on the naming of every cabinet post as proof positive Obama is a closet Reaganite.

I hear you Toni, I feel the same way. We should at least let him open up shop before we judge him.

Besides, I like the feeling that thing can change for the better.

I'm not really that big on knee-jerk hyperventilating and bed wetting at every turn.

And after 8 years of Bush, I could use at least a few weeks off from panic attacks whenever the president speaks.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

after they fight each other they go back and nurse the wounded..! And that when they find this leaf called the Piper leaf they get all excited and rub the leaves all over their bodies all excitedly...Those baby monkeys look like my cat Fern...

sounds like a Republican rest stop bathroom scandal

-

I wish I lived in San Diego, MMR...
Tucson's better than Phoenix, but there's no rivers, lakes, oceans, etc...

-

I didn't know that Friedman was related to General Growth, dr...
I did notice how low the stock price had gotten the other day.
The company renovates the malls in Tucson.

-

I know you got a weird vibe off of Cynthia McKinney, Alice.
I was thinking about that the other day. I can't imagine what the question and answer were.

McKinney earned my respect when she reduced Rumsfeld to stammering during a Q & A,... back in the early Bunnypants, early Iraq invasion era... I was watching C-Span and cheering like one of those people who cheers at their television. :)

Submitted by toniD on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 12:08am.

I keep thinking Obama has some sort of strategy he is using but for the life of me, I can't figure it out!

He isn't even in office yet and I promised myself not to judge until he's in office for awhile to see what he might do first.

________________

Agreed.

Think it'd be easy to get down on Obama b/c of alla the less-than-daring Clintonite appointments and get to thinkin' all's we're a-gonna get for our audacity is incremental hope.

Mebbe.

But, it's also fair to sez that staffing a government w/a lotta experienced hands under the direction of (one hopes) someone w/some actual (ahem) audacity (that's you, Barack, case you forgot!) might just help Obama avoid some of the pitfalls of Clinton's early term when he hadda buncha inexperienced hands who fucked up a great opportunity b/c they didn't know how to work the political system proper.

One of the saddest of the sad-but-truisms, imo, is it ain't enough to have a better mousetrap. You still gotta sell it effectively.

And further, imo, it ain't really about "overreachin'", as the concern trolls in the press corpse so often wanna point out. It's about whether you succeed or fail.

If Obama aims for the stars inna Star Voxian manner, and succeeds, then alla this is just parlor talk.

And, as cent has been repeatedly pointing out, right now it is the job of the progressive base to work the refs and push Obama's ass toward doin' the right thing.

I agree...but then what if? Will there be more reasons to wait? Aren't there always reason to wait and see? Isn't that part of the reason they keep getting away with this?

My point is better proved by the current elections in Nicaragua. Are you current? If you were there would be no argument....

For that you need only read the web....

I was in my 20's and politcally aware in the 80's. I watched the Sandinistas fight and win. I also watch Reagan destroy their legitimacy.

Again, what is your question?

just in the Tamarind variety...bbl..

___

.♡. - .☮.

jiving, Cent.

Do monkeys participate in oral sex?

Submitted by Alice on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 12:27am.

_______________

Monkey see, monkey do.

dismantle the US military completely and put out notice that we want to start over with the world and are disarmed and want to begin again from now...something like that...(I was nervous..freaking out really) and She said something about creating a Dept of Peace...and I remembered where I'd heard about that idea first....which isn;t bad in itself to share an idea...but in combination with what I 'got' while we locked eyes that was my outcome...of course we all only can go by our own things...I leaned towards her at one point too...

K..missing monkey info..and calling Kevin soon...bbl..

If you want a friggin seminar, try you tube......

And Other Questions You've Been All but Dying to Ask a Medium

By Concetta Bertoldi

http://astore.amazon.com/science-books-20/detail/0061351229

>>Isn't that part of the reason they keep getting away with this?

with what?

Exactly what evil deed is Obama accused of doing?

Aside from possibly trying to put together a cabinet...how dare he! With Clinton era types, no less!

of course, the rightwing is already comparing Obama to Hitler, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise many on the left have already denounced him...

after a week of being elected...
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

What else it there to do???

GM Collapse Would Cost U.S. Taxpayers Up to $200 Billion, More Than Rescue

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., seeking a federal bailout as its cash dwindles, would cost the government as much as $200 billion should the biggest U.S. automaker be forced to liquidate, a forecasting firm estimated.

A GM collapse would mean ``more aid to specific states like Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, and more money into unemployment and extended benefits,'' Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts, said today in an interview. He prepared the estimate for Bloomberg News.

The projected expense of $100 billion to $200 billion covers funds for existing programs, such as unemployment insurance, and new measures that would be needed to revive economic growth after millions of auto-related job losses.

Such a sum would be an eightfold increase over the $25 billion bailout package that will be debated in Congress next week to help prop up Detroit-based GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC amid the industry's worst sales year since 1991.

A GM shutdown would cost jobs among suppliers as well as at the automaker itself, pushing the U.S. unemployment rate next year to 9.5 percent, compared with current projections of as high as 8.5 percent due to the weakened economy, Behravesh said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&refer=home&sid=ad09qxbiE...

Submitted by grischa on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 12:08am.

Cent. You said words to the effect that Nicaragua, unlike Sweden and Denmark, etal, was a failure in socialism ... Did sweden have an armed counter-revolutionary force, out to destroy socialist gains?

________________

Not unless you count Chef on the Muppets.

I am not convinced the Swedish chef's mission was to destroy socialist gains.

I may have missed it, I was stoned a lot in the 70s when the muppet show 1st aired.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Question: Do monkeys participate in oral sex?

Submitted by Alice on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 12:27am.

Answer: Some just watch & heckle.

-

Okay, I changed the subject to chimpanzees.
I am quite fond of some of the bonobo traditions.

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 12:44am.

I am not convinced the Swedish chef's mission was to destroy socialist gains ...

_______________

All's a body's gotta do is axe the chicken 'n it flaps around like a chicken w/its socialist dream cut off.

Submitted by Alice on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 11:18pm.
...So sometimes I think if we had no need for money and lived in caves who would I BE?
-----
Apostle John, Muhammad or Osama bin Laden.
-----------------------
Submitted by Alice on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 12:22am.
WOW! I think they just said that capuchin monkeys after they fight each other they go back and nurse the wounded..!
-----
...and then they grind their organs.

WASHINGTON-- The White House is throwing support behind a plan to speed release of $25 billion in loans to troubled automakers but is rejecting a Democratic proposal to use money from a financial bailout for car companies.

Spokeswoman Dana Perino says the Democratic proposal would lead to partisan gridlock because the $700 billion rescue package was never intended to help automakers and shouldn't be now. For that reason, she told The Associated Press that the White House is now actively asking Congress to accelerate loans it first approved in September.

Those loans were meant to help automakers build more fuel-efficient vehicles. The administration now supports allowing it to be used for more urgent purposes as the companies struggle to stay afloat.

http://www.freep.com/article/20081114/BUSINESS01/81114082/1014

Submitted by Crank Bait on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 12:48am.

------
Submitted by Alice on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 11:18pm.
...So sometimes I think if we had no need for money and lived in caves who would I BE?
-----
Apostle John, Muhammad or Osama bin Laden.

__________________

The hyperventilating-bedwetter unholy trinity:

Revelation, Condemnation and Obamanation.

Ever read any of the Auel books? Ayla comes to mind. :)

working again tomorrow and need to try to sleep tonight.

Later

Obama's Victory: A Consumer-Citizen Revolt

... This column is dedicated to the top managers of American business whose policies and practices helped ensure Barack Obama's victory. The mandate for change that sounded across this country is not limited to our new President and Congress. That bell also tolls for you. Obama's triumph was ignited in part by your failure to understand and respect your own consumers, customers, employees, and end users. The despair that fueled America's yearning for change and hope grew to maturity in your garden.

Millions of Americans heard President-elect Obama painfully recall his sense of frustration, powerlessness, and outrage when his mother's health insurer refused to cover her cancer treatments. Worse still, every one of them knew exactly how he felt. That long-simmering indignation is by now the defining experience of every consumer of health care, mortgages, insurance, travel, and financial services—the list goes on.

Obama was elected not only because many Americans feel betrayed and abandoned by their government but because those feelings finally converged with their sense of betrayal at the hands of Corporate America. Their experiences as consumers and as citizens joined to create a wave of revolt against the status quo—as occurred in the American Revolution. Be wary of those who counsel business as usual. This post-election period is a turning point for the business community. It demands an attitude of sober reappraisal and a disposition toward fundamental reinvention. If you don't do it, someone else will ...

via kos

Long day. Sleep tight.

sweet dreams

I wonder how much of this blog Obama read tonight?

>>no subject in particular

now, do you have anything with a midget sarah palin impersonator and a monkey?
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

job of the progressive base to work the refs and push Obama's as

Submitted by Hope on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 1:14am.

I wonder how much of this blog Obama read tonight?

_________________

Would zero be too generous?

(If I knew you better, I'd prolly congratulate you on yer prime snark. As it stands, tho', I will refrain from leaping to the conclusion that you assume ever'body's progressive affiliations begin and end on this little ol' backwater blog.)

>>midget sarah palin impersonator and a monkey?

or War Dog, a midget sarah palin impersonator and a monkey three way?
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Cnn..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Crisis squeezes Croat Christmas

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7730813.stm

The Croatian government has banned Christmas and New Year parties in the public sector because of the global financial crisis.

State-run firms and organisations have also been told that they won't be allowed to dip into their funds to buy Christmas presents.

The ban follows a proposal to freeze public-sector salaries next year.

Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said there was no need for panic, but the country had to be serious.

"For that goal we forbid buying of Christmas and New Year's gifts as well as organising of Christmas and New Year's receptions," said Mr Sanader.

"I believe that with the proposed measures ... we can avoid a deeper crisis within the next year," he added.

The government has promised to balance the budget in 2009.

If this is achieved, it will be for first time since Croatia became independent of the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Croatia is heavily reliant on earnings from its tourist industry and there are fears that visitor numbers will drop sharply next year
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Obama asks Hilary to be Sec.of State..

Submitted by MMRules on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 1:24am.

_______________________

First Officer in Obama's radical Black Pant-Suits Party.

Sen. Joe Lieberman should not continue to serve as Homeland Security Chair

CREDO Action:

"As Chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Senator Joe Lieberman has ignored nearly all of his responsibilities. He has held no oversight hearings to hold the Bush Administration accountable for its actions. He has continued to support a war in Iraq that has, by nearly all accounts, weakened our security rather than strengthened it. He has stood idly by and allowed the Bush Administration to spy on Americans and torture innocent human beings. Senator, as your constituent, I am asking you to do the right thing for our country: vote to strip Senator Lieberman of his committee chairmanship."

Please Read,Thank you..

Link

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Obama is not a ref....he is only the ball.

Inmate escapes German jail in box

A manhunt is under way in western Germany for a convicted drug dealer who escaped by mailing himself out of jail.

The 42-year-old Turkish citizen - who was serving a seven-year sentence - had been making stationery with other prisoners destined for the shops.

At the end of his shift, the inmate climbed into a cardboard box and was taken out of prison by express courier. His whereabouts are still unknown.

The chief warden of the jail told the BBC this was an embarrassing incident.

The prison authorities in Willich, near Duesseldorf, said the man, who was tall and broad-shouldered, had hidden in a box that was about 150cm by 120cm.

When the weekly express courier arrived to pick up several boxes of merchandise, the one containing the prisoner was also loaded into the back of the lorry.

Shortly after it had passed through the prison gates, the inmate made his dash for freedom by cutting a big hole in the tarpaulin of the lorry and jumped off.

The driver alerted the police after he noticed the tarpaulin flapping in the breeze.

Lying low

The jail's chief warden, Beate Peters, said the man must have had accomplices outside the prison.

"As soon as the prisoner jumped off the back of the lorry his friends would have picked him up," she told the BBC.

"We have no idea where the fugitive is hiding. We assume that he is still in the county and is lying low before making his move."

Ms Peters said fellow convicts must also have known of his plan but that they would not talk because of a "code of honour" and because it is a criminal offence in Germany to help somebody escape from jail.

She said the incident showed that security needed to be beefed up urgently, something she had been lobbying for in the last few years.

"I was not surprised that an escape happened on my watch. For years I had been asking for more security guards from the government. But now they'll have to listen."

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 1:26am.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7730813.stm

The Croatian government has banned Christmas and New Year parties in the public sector because of the global financial crisis ...

Croatia is heavily reliant on earnings from its tourist industry and there are fears that visitor numbers will drop sharply next year

________________

The Yule Tide has turnt, mistletoes is burnt, 'n flinty-hearted Scrooges ain't learnt.

When bean-countin' overlords impose a revelry gap, even the faint hearts of actuaries die a little.

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 1:26am
...Croatia is heavily reliant on earnings from its tourist industry and there are fears that visitor numbers will drop sharply next year.
------
I don't know about you, but when I want to get away from it all and have some fun in the sun, Croatia is the first place that comes to mind.

You see what I mean Crank?

How the hell do I compete with that?

Did you really just write that dr? Or are you reading out of a 19th century Captains journal?

say hey to kev for me!

>>fun in the sun, Croatia is the first place that comes to mind.

It reminds me of that Garafolo movie, `Wet, Hot Coatian Summer'

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4177264921/
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Capt Paul Watson at 9 PM PST but next Friday or whenever listed -- since My Computer said NO {except for WORD;)}...
...but I did get to see Somewhere Over The Rainbow and HER meeting Glenda -- The Good Witch of The North and getting the Ruby {like my old Rats name)Slippers {reminds me of my dark ROSE Slippers -- teehee}. And coming at the end and Her RUBY Slippers to take her & ToTo too. Now perhaps Sanctuary.
;)

The good doctor can be quite verbose

in conversations both both droll and morose.

His witty word play

keeps disinterest at bay.

Otherwise he'd bore us all comatose!

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

I am thoroughly enjoying hearing David Brooks begrudgingly agree with damned near every step Obama takes.

It is still very early in the game...but it does not look likely that Obama will do anything stupid any time soon.

...like pick Sarah Palin as his running mate, for instance.

I don't share the rabid Far Left dreams and expectations of some of the people who frequent this blog. I hate (very much hate) to sound like War Dog, but long ago I gave up on seeing anything far lefty-ish happen within our government during my lifetime. The process is slower than a lifetime is long.

I didn't even think that the lefty possibilities that are waiting in the wings would be possibilities in my lifetime...so I'm pretty fucking giddy at this point.

Merely having an intellectual headed into the White House is enough to make me do the Happy Dance.

I am sufficiently realistic to know that I won't get everything I want out of the upcoming presidency...but I bet I'll get a hell of a lot more than I dared dream two years ago.

I wonder how long it will be before no one hears "nuclear" mispronounced by anyone on either side of the aisle?

Folksy bullshit is going the way of the buffalo and I ain't gonna miss it one bit.

just got off the horn with my grandy dotter!

just about to turn 14.

a grand lil dame!

"Still, some experts said that a little bit of paranoia could be helpful.

"In a world full of threat, it may be kind of beneficial for people to be on guard. It's good to be looking around and see who's following you and what's happening," Combs said. "Not everybody is trying to get you, but some people may be." "

---

That's at the end of that article about paranoia that mhappenow posted yesterday. I think it was yesterday.

Dear MoveOn member,

Along with our tremendous excitement over Barack Obama's victory, a lot of us are sad and angry about a different election result—the passage of California Proposition 8, which reversed marriage equality and wrote discrimination into the California Constitution.

Many people worked hard to defeat this measure—including MoveOn members, who contributed over $300,000 to defeat it. But agents of intolerance used fear-mongering to eke out a win.

After the election, people across California immediately took to the streets, vowing to put the state on the right side of history by overturning Prop 8.

Now folks everywhere are coming together to add their voices. Tomorrow (Saturday) there will be rallies in support of marriage equality in every single state. If you want to attend an event in your state, go to this page and click on your state name—you'll see the location of any rallies planned:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51025&id=15119-2636901-UOhbAxx&t=1

These rallies will send a strong signal that depriving people of rights is no longer acceptable in America—and it will also be a first step in ongoing activism across the nation.

There's one other thing you can do to support the fight for marriage equality.

The Courage Campaign (which does MoveOn-style organizing in California) is working with other groups on a two-year grassroots plan to overturn Prop 8 in the 2010 election. The first step is for folks to speak out together with one voice right away by signing a pledge to help overturn Prop 8.

Over 100,000 people have already signed the pledge—and thousands more are signing every day. Even non-Californians are signing the pledge in solidarity. If you'd like to sign, click here:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51024&id=15119-2636901-UOhbAxx&t=2

Thanks for all you do.

–Wes, Joan, Carrie, Mari, and the rest of the team
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

That word says it all for me. It denotes higher expectation and compromise, hope and reality, what we wanted and what we were willing to settle for.....

But, there are some who can honestly answer the question "Did you think you would see a Black man as President in your lifetime?" with a simple "yes, of course", and would not accept or even understand the rationalizations of someone who would say "No".

Are they only dreamers? Says who?

Some fully expect, before they die, to see National Health Care and K thru PhD Education in the US, or an end to Extreme Poverty, or even to watch Mars colonized.

I will spare you all the "unreasonable men" and "reach should exceed his grasp" quotes and simply say some will never begrudgingly accept anything, except as only a temporary version of what they truly expect. For some it doesn't even occur to them that certain things will not happen.....

Are they only dreamers? Says who?

>>"Not everybody is trying to get you, but some people may be."

yeah, and the ones who are out to get you can be unexpectedly so...Take my situation, I've been losing a lot of sleep because I suspect the neighbors are with the vampire mafia. I can't tell my landlord because by the way he's been acting lately he's a time-traveling alien from dimension X... can't tell my family because (I'm pretty sure) they've been taken over by the pod people. Long story short, I finally confide in the guy in the produce department of the local grocery store and *he* tries to eat my brain!

True story!

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

>>Are they only dreamers? Says who?

the pod-people and the vampire mafia, to name a few!
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

pessimistic socialist Obama-hater? Probably not. But I'm asking anyway.

Have any progressives been named for the cabinet of wonders yet? Any at all?

>>Have any progressives been named for the cabinet of wonders yet? Any at all?

not progressive to anyone around here...but if you ask the Fascist Werewolves over at Little Green Footballs, I'm sure you'll get a different story
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

You go to war with the cabinet that you have, not the one you wish you had.

Not yet dada.

Edwards probably....maybe.

I betcha he'll get Chomsky, Nader and Kucinich in top posts! ;)
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

gone...gone...gone...

nite all

you should move to the west coast, it's never 3 am out here!
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

In forest dark or glade beferned
No blade of grass shall go unturned
Let those who have the daylight spurned
Tread not where this green lamp has burned.

of course we have our own set of problems out here.

Evangelical lepers and reverse transvestites being among them.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

being pushy helps get things done in the flag sucker goverments.

they have to be put in situations where theres a fair and equitable solution chosen that benefits us.

humor is my weapon of choice, but that is'nt a choice that's commonly offered by the greed heads.

Resistance is next on my list.

was a good day!

love y'all!

night Jim,

Careful with them reverse transvestites...you never know who they might be.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Love. Love.

"And now the liberals want to stop President Reagan from selling chemical warfare agents
and military equipment to Saddam Hussein, and why? Because Saddam allegedly gassed a
few Kurds in his own country.
Mark my words. All of this talk of Saddam Hussein being a
war criminal or commiting crimes against humanity is the same old thing - liberal hate speech.
And speaking of poision gas, I say we round up all the drug addicts and gas them."

-- Rush Limbaugh, November 3, 1988

www.bartcop.com

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

>>-- Rush Limbaugh, November 3, 1988

is that what you call a flip-flop?
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Students chant 'Assassinate Obama' on school bus

http://www.2news.tv/news/local/34274374.html

REXBURG - Controversial words spoken by kids on a school bus have some Madison County parents concerned.

Matthew Whoolery and his wife aren't blaming the school district for what happened on the bus but they do think all parents need to be careful about what they say and teach their children.

Whoolery and his wife couldn't believe it when their second and third graders got off the bus last week and told them what other students were saying.

"They just hadn't heard anything like this before," said Whoolery. "They were chanting on the bus, 'Assassinate Obama. Assassinate Obama.' Then adding in a name sometimes of a classmate on the bus, 'Assassinate Obama and Kate.'"

The Whoolery's explained to their kids what assassinate means then contacted the school about what was happening.

"I think the thing that struck us was just like, 'Where did they get the word and why would they put that word and that person together?'" said Whoolery.

It's not that the Whoolery's are big Obama fans they just don't like people joking about a serious matter concerning any leader of the country.

"I'm assuming if it were, 'Assassinate McCain' you'd feel the same way?" asked reporter Nate Eaton.

"No question about it," replied Whoolery.

After the incident, the Madison School district superintendent sent an email to all teachers, principals, and bus drivers saying that all students should show proper respect for elected officials.

If a student does say something inappropriate, the adult is to calm them down and tell them the behavior is unacceptable.

"I don't think that the majority of people in Rexburg have extreme ideas like that but we were just surprised that it would go that far," said Whoolery.

The Whoolery's moved to Rexburg a year ago. They came from the Middle East where they lived for three years.

In all their time living there, they never heard any comments similar to these about any leaders there or here.
*************************

It was Idaho, but it coulda been any other state...

kid,I kid,Chubbs..

For your kid,earlier.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

???
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

anyway, I should get to bed.

it is getting late, but not quite as late as the time-stamp says.

I wonder if they are just let it be an hour fast for the next 6 months?
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Battlespace: Photographs from Iraq and Afghanistan

Many people are saying the Democrats need to go slow
and not push their agenda, work from the center, etc.

What unmitigated crap - when Bush squeaked by Kerry in 2004,
they all said he had a "mandate" and should do what he wanted.

The only mandate Bush ever had was when
Jeff Gannon showed up in the White House.

- Sam the Pillar

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 1:18am.
>>midget sarah palin impersonator and a monkey?
or War Dog, a midget sarah palin impersonator and a monkey three way?

ew.... poor monkey.

The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla
Electronic devices dislike me. There is never a day when something isn’t ailing. Three out of these five implements — answering machine, fax machine, printer, phone and electric can-opener — all dropped dead on me in the past few days.

Now something has gone wrong with all three television sets. They will only get Sarah Palin.

I can play a kind of Alaskan roulette. Any random channel clicked on by the remote brings up that eager face, with its continuing assaults on the English Lang.

There she is with Larry and Matt and just about everyone else but Dr. Phil (so far). If she is not yet on “Judge Judy,” I suspect it can’t be for lack of trying.

What have we done to deserve this, this media blitz that the astute Andrea Mitchell has labeled “The Victory Tour”?

I suppose it will be recorded as among political history’s ironies that Palin was brought in to help John McCain. I can’t blame feminists who might draw amusement from the fact that a woman managed to both cripple the male she was supposed to help while gleaning an almost Elvis-sized following for herself. Mac loses, Sarah wins big-time was the gist of headlines.

I feel a little sorry for John. He aimed low and missed.

What will ambitious politicos learn from this? That frayed syntax, bungled grammar and run-on sentences that ramble on long after thought has given out completely are a candidate’s valuable traits?

And how much more of all that lies in our future if God points her to those open-a-crack doors she refers to? The ones she resolves to splinter and bulldoze her way through upon glimpsing the opportunities, revealed from on high.

What on earth are our underpaid teachers, laboring in the vineyards of education, supposed to tell students about the following sentence, committed by the syntax-serial-killer from Wasilla High and gleaned by my colleague Maureen Dowd for preservation for those who ask, “How was it she talked?”

My concern has been the atrocities there in Darfur and the relevance to me with that issue as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there that were kind of the people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed governments on the continent, the relevance was Alaska’s investment in Darfur with some of our permanent fund dollars.

And, she concluded, “never, ever did I talk about, well, gee, is it a country or a continent, I just don’t know about this issue.”

It’s admittedly a rare gift to produce a paragraph in which whole clumps of words could be removed without noticeably affecting the sense, if any.

(A cynic might wonder if Wasilla High School’s English and geography departments are draped in black.)

(How many contradictory and lying answers about The Empress’s New Clothes have you collected? I’ve got, so far, only four. Your additional ones welcome.)

Matt Lauer asked her about her daughter’s pregnancy and what went into the decision about how to handle it. Her “answer” did not contain the words “daughter,” “pregnancy,” “what to do about it” or, in fact, any two consecutive words related to Lauer’s query.

I saw this as a brief clip, so I don’t know whether Lauer recovered sufficiently to follow up, or could only sit there, covered in disbelief. If it happens again, Matt, I bequeath you what I heard myself say once to an elusive guest who stiffed me that way: “Were you able to hear any part of my question?”

At the risk of offending, well, you, for example, I worry about just what it is her hollering fans see in her that makes her the ideal choice to deal with the world’s problems: collapsed economies, global warming, hostile enemies and our current and far-flung twin battlefronts, either of which may prove to be the world’s second “30 Years’ War.”

Has there been a poll to see if the Sarah-ites are numbered among that baffling 26 percent of our population who, despite everything, still maintain that President George has done a heckuva job?

A woman in one of Palin’s crowds praised her for being “a mom like me … who thinks the way I do” and added, for ill measure, “That’s what I want in the White House.” Fine, but in what capacity?

Do this lady’s like-minded folk wonder how, say, Jefferson, Lincoln, the Roosevelts, et al (add your own favorites) managed so well without being soccer moms? Without being whizzes in the kitchen, whipping up moose soufflés? Without executing and wounding wolves from the air and without promoting that sad, threadbare hoax — sexual abstinence — as the answer to the sizzling loins of the young?

(In passing, has anyone observed that hunting animals with high-powered guns could only be defined as sport if both sides were equally armed?)

I’d love to hear what you think has caused such an alarming number of our fellow Americans to fall into the Sarah Swoon.

Could the willingness to crown one who seems to have no first language have anything to do with the oft-lamented fact that we seem to be alone among nations in having made the word “intellectual” an insult? (And yet…and yet…we did elect Obama. Surely not despite his brains.)

Sorry about all of the foregoing, as if you didn’t get enough of the lady every day in every medium but smoke signals.

I do not wish her ill. But I also don’t wish us ill. I hope she continues to find happiness in Alaska.

May I confess that upon first seeing her, I liked her looks? With the sound off, she presents a not uncomely frontal appearance.

But now, as the Brits say, “I’ll be glad to see the back of her.”

http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/the-wild-wordsmith-of-wasilla...

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Reporter wasn't White House
dog's 1st bite victim

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Turns out that when it comes to biting White House visitors, President Bush's dog Barney is a repeat offender.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081115/ap_on_re_us/barney_bites;_ylt=AoLqzu...

Charges added to Ariz.
Congressman's indictment

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A racketeering charge and other counts have been added to an indictment against Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081114/ap_on_re_us/congressman_indicted;_yl...

A dozen London boroughs have implemented a "risk assessment" policy for live music that permits the police to ban any live music if they fail to receive personal details from the performers 14 days in advance. The demand explicitly singles out performances and musical styles favoured by the black community: garage and R&B, and MCs and DJs.

However all musical performances - from one man playing a guitar on up - are subject to the demands once implemented by the council. And the threat is serious: failure to comply "may jeopardise future events by the promoter or the venue".

UK Music chief Feargal Sharkey told a House of Commons select committee that the policy had already been used to pull the plug on an afternoon charity concert of school bands in a public park organised by a local councillor.

"No alcohol would be sold, tickets were limited to three maximum, and the councillor offered to supply eight registered doormen. Police objected on the grounds that the names, addresses and dates of birth of the young performer could not be provided,"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/11/met_police_live_music_terror_tra...

New Blackwater Iraq Scandal: Guns, Silencers and Dog Food
Ex-employees Tell ABC News the Firm Used Dog Food Sacks to Smuggle Unauthorized Weapons to Iraq
By BRIAN ROSS and JASON RYAN
November 14, 2008—

A federal grand jury in North Carolina is investigating allegations the controversial private security firm Blackwater illegally shipped assault weapons and silencers to Iraq, hidden in large sacks of dog food, ABCNews.com has learned.

Under State Department rules, Blackwater is prohibited from using certain assault weapons and silencers in Iraq because they are considered "offensive" weapons inappropriate for Blackwater's role as a private security firm protecting US diplomatic missions.

"The only reason you need a silencer is if you want to assassinate someone," said former CIA intelligence officer John Kiriakou, an ABC News consultant.

Six Blackwater employees are under investigation by another federal grand jury, in Washington, D.C., in connection with the shooting deaths of at least 17 civilians in September, 2007 at a Baghdad traffic circle. Prosecutors are expected to return indictments in the next few weeks, according to people familiar with the case.

The investigation of the alleged dog food smuggling scheme began last year after two Blackwater employees were caught trying to sell stolen weapons in North Carolina. The two, Kenneth Cashwell and William "Max" Grumiaux pleaded guilty in February and became government witnesses, according to court documents.

Two other former employees tell ABCNews.com they also witnessed the dog food smuggling operation. They say the weapons were actually hidden inside large sacks of dog food, packaged at company headquarters in North Carolina and sent to Iraq for the company's 20 bomb-sniffing dogs.

Larger items, including M-4 assault weapons, were secreted on shipping pallets surrounded by stacks of dog food bags, the former employees said. The entire pallet would be wrapped in cellophane shrink wrap, the former employees said, making it less likely US Customs inspectors would look too closely.

Last year, a US Department of Commerce inspector at JFK airport in New York discovered an unlicensed two-way radio hidden in a dog food sack being shipped by Blackwater to Iraq, according to people familiar with the incident.

A Blackwater spokesperson, Anne Tyrrell, said certain arms shipmens were sent to Iraq surrounded by dog food "to secure them on the airplane and not to smuggle them." Tyrrell said she could not comment on specifics because of "the ongoing investigation" but she denied the company had done anything wrong.

In addition to the grand jury investigation, Blackwater sources say the company is facing a multi-million dollar fine for some 900 instances in which it violated State Department licensing requirements for the export of certain weapons.

Of the 900 cases, about 100 of them have been referred to the Department of Justice for possible criminal prosecution, according to lawyers briefed on the case.

Last month, Blackwater hired a team of former federal law enforcement officials and defense experts that it said would review the company's compliance with export laws.

Andrew Howell, Blackwater's general counsel, said, "Ongoing reviews by the Department of Justice, State and Commerce have highlighted the need for a significant and systems-wide initiative."

Another former Blackwater insider who talked with ABCNews.com said company executives made the decision to smuggle the weapons and silencers in the dog food "because it's a war over there and our guys need them."

Despite four separate federal grand jury investigations of its operations, Blackwater's contract to provide security services for the US State Department was renewed earlier this year. The contract pays Blackwater $250 million a year and runs for five years.

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=6254508

Report: Richardson Interviewing For Sec. of State With Obama, Too
Bill Richardson has reportedly interviewed with Barack Obama for Secretary of State, in the wake of media speculation that Obama was offering the job to Hillary Clinton.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/11/obama_weighs_clinton_richa...

Sorry,if this has been posted before..
**
Plus tapes of past shows..

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-jeff-farias-show

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

the yes men's new york times

i particularly like the "copyleft 2009" at the bottom.

the yes men

Obama and his press conference backed by his allies.

Palin and her 'press conference' backed by her allies, the Republican governors of the nation, who later said they were uncomfortable standing behind her because it made it seem as if they support her when they do not, and many of them would probably run against her in any upcoming election.

Obama's press conference, about 30 minutes.
Palin's, 11 minutes, cut off after it got awkward.

It reminded me so completely of The Office, and how the boss, seeing a good idea, tries to imitate it, and it always comes off looking goofy.

I think I am late but just caught up on the blog and watched Marc and Sam's show.

Morning everybody...anybody seen Maggiesboy?

As a matter of fact,no..

Hopefully,he's just been busy.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Nuthin Comes Cheap
From Bloomberg ...

General Motors Corp., seeking a federal bailout as its cash dwindles, would cost the government $200 billion should the biggest U.S. automaker be forced to liquidate, a forecasting firm estimated.
A GM collapse would mean ``more aid to specific states like Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, and more money into unemployment and extended benefits,'' Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts, said today in an interview.

--Josh Marshall

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ad09qxbiElB8&refer=h...

Do you let them go bankrupt and maybe break the unions?

Do you give them money for the top management to miss use?

The repubs don't want to give help. That would mean huge job losses and may worsen the economy.

Lots to think about.

... The general social mood ranges from continued liberal giddiness and wide-eyed expectations (tempered somewhat by "realistic" libs, who counsel that a centrist corporate war state is the best we're gonna get, so shut up and let Dr. Barack tend the machine without added stress), to bizarre right wing fears of an emerging Marxist junta. Some of my rightist relatives seem to expect a dictatorship or cultural upheaval or something unbelievably horrid-- exactly what, I'm not quite sure. None of them I know ingest hallucinogens, at least the kind I'm familiar with. Maybe the skies are relentlessly gray there as well.

http://dennisperrin.blogspot.com/

I have plenty of thoughts about the state's new management, but lack the energy or interest to flesh them out here. I've stopped talking politics with my liberal friends, simply because I've said what I have to say and they don't want to hear anymore. They feel no need to defend their Obama love, impervious to criticism, indifferent to doubt. They Want To Believe, need to maintain whatever state of grace they're in. Fair enough. I know when I'm beaten. I've read Sun Tzu and less militarist Taoists. Only a blind fool would keep charging that Teflon wall, and my eyesight's not quite gone yet.

Only in America can you take a block of ice cream and sandwich it in between two chocolate cookies and then ask, "hey can we fry that"?

Happe Talk

you're not beaten down.

It's always good to plant a seed so people will think about it.

I have to admit I am hoping he will do some good. And as I told Alice, this is the time to really push a third party, even if it builds by netroots. It's the only way to do it now. That and choosing really good candidates.

The part of the republican party that are the "Social" repubs are going to try to do this. The Evangelical asses.
They may just split into a third party because they said they weren't married to the repubs. So I see some movement there.

Sometimes soft nagging works.

Was Wolf Blitzer's first language English, or was it Esperanto?

On CNN's The Situation Room, which he anchors, Blitzer draws on such a limited vocabulary that I predict that when he dies and the coroner cores his skull, the world will learn that he possesses a brain the size of a walnut.

Like a windup toy, Blitzer repeats the same stock phrases into the camera like an ad man. Other CNN talking heads working political stories with Blitzer aren't just his colleagues; they're "the best political team on television," an empty boast that ever echoes on CNN.

"I'm Wolf Blitzer," he intones like an automaton. "You're in The Situation Room." Actually, you're not in the CNN situation room. You're at home or at work or at the bar, of course, and it's Blitzer who is in the situation room. But apparently, that has not yet been explained to him.

The full extremity of Blitzer's very handicap is revealed, however, in those moments that he tosses the story to one of CNN's correspondents or attempts to impress viewers with CNN's devotion to a news topic. Blitzer announces that he or a CNN reporter "will be watching" or "has been watching" the topic "closely."

Before the second hour of tonight's election coverage had concluded, Blitzer had leaned on his "watching" construction so many times, I had to remove my shoes and socks to keep up with the count.

http://www.bartcop.com/wolf-whore-joann.htm

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Senate Democrats on the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees last week told the White House to preserve all records produced by the Bush administration and expressed "particular concerns" whether Vice President Dick Cheney's office will comply with the law.

Con't

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

"I was convinced we'd have a revolution in [the] US and I decided to be its leader and prevent it. I'm a rich man too and have run with your kind of people. I decided half a loaf was better than none - a half loaf for me and a half loaf for you and no revolution." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Moral of the story: if you really want Obama to be like FDR, threaten him with revolution.

http://leninology.blogspot.com/2008/11/hint.html

Comes complete with interesting comments section, as always.

BRANDENBURG, Ky. (AP) - A central Kentucky jury has ordered the Ku Klux Klan, a Klan leader and two former followers to pay $2.5 million to a teenager who was beaten by a pair of white supremacists at a county fair in 2006.

Read more: www.wave3.com/global/story.asp?s=9354327

MUMBAI: Pharma giant Pfizer US is believed to be laying off local IT workers from their unit in Connecticut and replacing them with Indian staff sent on H1B visas.

Many of the Indian recruits are from top-rung Indian IT majors like Infosys, Satyam Technologies and Cognizant, who have Pfizer as their client.

"Pfizer has historically used third-party IT vendors from the US and other countries for software development, applications support and for daily IT-related functions. However, this procedure wasn't designed to replace local non-Pfizer personnel with those from outside the US," a Pfizer Global spokesperson said in response to an emailed questionnaire. There have been complaints from Pfizer's US staff that they are being forced to train their Indian replacements.

Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd and Congressman Joe Courtney recently sent a letter to Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler, expressing concern over Pfizer's internal procedure titled Procedure 117, a policy Pfizer instituted in January that requires the closure of long-term contractor arrangements as those terms expire. "Given Pfizer's critical importance as one of the largest employers in south-eastern Connecticut, we would like you to provide us with information about the potential workforce changes and urge you in the strongest terms to reconsider any such action," the letter stated.

The Senator and the Congressman also sought details on the number of workers who will be affected by this, compensation to be offered to those not re-hired and salary and benefit packages of those retained.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Techies_from_IT_cos_for_Pfi...

That's true.

Obama's weekly radio address: The video version
Joe Sudbay (DC) · 11/15/2008 10:08:00 AM ET · Link
Make a comment · reddit · FARK · Digg It! · Stumble It!

As promised, via YouTube, your President-elect:

http://www.americablog.com/2008/11/obamas-weekly-radio-address-video.htm...

Happe Talk

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has imposed stricter conflict-of-interest restrictions on his White House transition team than any president before him. But a list of transition team members that his office made public on Friday includes a complicated tangle of ties to private influence-seekers.

Among the full roster of about 150 staff members being assigned to government agencies between now and Inauguration Day are dozens of former lobbyists and some who were registered as recently as this year. Many more are executives and partners at firms that pay lobbyists, and former government officials who work as consultants or advisers to those seeking influence.

After campaigning on promises to end the influence of lobbyists in the White House, Mr. Obama has imposed rules that bar officials on his transition team from handling any issues in areas of policy where they have lobbied over the last 12 months or from seeking to influence the same agencies for the next 12 months.

The rules also bar officials from working on matters where family members or recent business associates may have a direct conflict of interest. In cases where there is even an “appearance of conflict,” officials must seek a waiver from the transition’s executive director, an Obama Senate aide and law school classmate, Christopher Lu.

At least one official initially involved in the transition appears to have been reassigned because of concern about his lobbying or legal work. Henry Rivera, a former Democratic commissioner on the Federal Communication Commission who was involved in planning for the agency’s transition, has dropped out of that role because he had represented clients on communications policy in the last year, the newsletter Communications Daily reported Friday.

Instead, on the list that was made public on Friday, Mr. Rivera was listed on the team handling science, technology, space and the arts. The rules permit people who have lobbied in one area to join an Obama transition team in another. (With Mr. Rivera is Jim Kohlenberger, executive director of an advocacy group for Internet companies.)

Representatives of the transition team declined to comment on the assignment, and Mr. Rivera did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Transition officials said that their policy went further than any previous White House to avoid self-dealing or influence-trading in the formation of the new administration, and that in the modern Washington it would be foolish to try to eliminate anyone who had worked in public policy for a private interest — or who had a family member in that business — from contributing to the transition.

Stephanie Cutter, a transition spokeswoman, said in a written statement that the transition team reflected what she called Mr. Obama’s “commitment to change the way Washington does business and curb the influence of lobbyists on our government.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/us/politics/15transition.html?_r=1&par...

Happe Talk

Tiny Bit Of Truth

I don't think McCain lost because he wasn't conservative enough, but I do think the fact that he was all over the place on every issue didn't help him. He didn't need to be "more conservative" but "more consistent."

-Atrios 11:29

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_11/015676.php

The NYT's woeful Minnesota recount reporting, cont'd
We noted earlier the several blotches that appeared in the Friday Times article about the Al Franken/Norm Coleman recount. We didn't' like the way the article was heavily favored in terms of quoting and referencing Coleman supporters, and how the Times gave a platform to the GOP claim (completely unsubstantiated) that the race was being "stolen." And how the newspaper even quoted Sean Hannity, as if his propaganda had any relevance in the recount.

Now we find out that a person quoted in the Times piece and presented as sort of an Everyman Minnesota voter (who, by the way, came down on the side of Coleman), actually has close ties to the GOP. Worse, the Everyman voter says he explained his GOP connection to the Times reporter and that even the Everyman voter was surprised when his GOP ties were not mentioned in the Times article.

Go read more here. It's not pretty folks.

http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Fminnesotaindependent.com%2F17...

It's About Time

I think the Dems probably should have moved a bit more quickly on that oversight board.

-Atrios 08:41

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1575

yes, that's the historical fact.

Kucinich nails it. He needs to be on Obama's team!

*

Rep. Cummings asks, ‘Is Kashkari a chump?’»
In a hearing today, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) excoriated “bailout czar” Neil Kashkari after reports emerged saying that AIG doled out $503 million to top executives. Noting the financial troubles in his Baltimore district, Cummings asked rhetorically whether his constituents would think Kashkari is a “chump” after learning of the AIG bonuses:

CUMMINGS: I’m just wondering how you feel about an AIG giving $503 million worth of bonuses on the one hand, and accepting $154 billion from hard-working taxpayers. You know, because I’m trying to make sure you get it. What really bothers me is all these other people who are lined up. They say, well, is Kashkari a chump?

“I wouldn’t want to be asking my friend for some money to stay afloat. … Then my friend, who can barely afford to go to McDonald’s sees me in a restaurant costing $150 a meal. There’s absolutely something wrong with that picture!” exclaimed Cummings. Watch it: at link

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/14/kashkari-chump-cummings/

CNBC and Gawker have more angry reactions from lawmakers.

CNBC: http://www.cnbc.com/id/27721157

Gawker: http://gawker.com/5087576/angry-congressman-yells-at-poor-neel-kashkari

So, can I ask an unpopular question, without being called a
Submitted by dada on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 3:44am.
pessimistic socialist Obama-hater? Probably not. But I'm asking anyway.

Have any progressives been named for the cabinet of wonders yet? Any at all?
-----
This is a perfectly reasonable question although it implies some undertones. For the answer to your question to hold significance absent the implied question "Is Obama Left, Right or Center?", a host of other factors must be ignored.

Among them is to posit that a president-elect is well advised to announce intentions that are near the ends of the spectrum rather than near the center, as if this tactic is likely to garner future political support from both sides of the aisle. This would seem to be a falsehood because the spectrum is graphed as a bell curve having the greatest numbers near the center.

If you, dada, are basing your expectations of the Obama presidency on announcements that have occurred in the intervening eleven days between the election and today, you are placing your egg-y bets in a very small basket.

By way of recent example of how an announcement perceived to be on the end of the spectrum rather than in the center can influence the political future, I offer McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate.

After the unknowns about her became knowns, she became defined as a Social Conservative with religious leanings (which is about as far Right as a modern day politician can be), and she became defined by her ignorance of many national and international issues beyond those of the 600,000 people populating the state of Alaska that she governs.

The result was a lack of support for her and the McCain/Palin team from both sides of the aisle. By extrapolation from her position on the Right of the spectrum and her lack of qualifications for the vice-presidency, McCain's ability to make prudent decisions came into question.

All of this to say that, in politics, the earlier that "extremes" are trotted out for review, the less likely that widespread support will be in the politician's future.

Still, your question is perfectly valid, especially if you believe that the future Obama administration would enjoy greater success if Obama were to be making announcements now that are unambiguously left of center.

thats where the shrunken fonts start

thanks for the nice wishes, too

-

Kucinich is right. It's racketeering, not incompetence.

...A thankful message to Sederites. (below)

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/4060

As in; no, there are no progressives being named as likely cabinet members.

did not show up to picket the Matthew Shepherd Project here.

300 ppl came to form a human wall between them and where the play was.

I think they just spread the rumor to get a bigger audience. ;-}

That was a very interesting answer to my nosey questions.

No money though, huh?

Earlier in the century I read there were about 150 people in the whole world who had full-time, permanent work in lexicography. So I was just going to be (more)in awe of you if you were one of them.

Michael Moore shifts focus of new film to economy

Controversial documentarian Michael Moore's changed the focus of his current film from a critical take on U.S. foreign policy to the economic crisis worsening across the globe, according to http://rawstory.com/news/2008/MIchael_Moore_shifts_focus_of_new_1114.htm...

So, Vladimir Putin was right: It was Georgia that started the war with Russia, and once again it was President Bush who got caught in a lie. As The New York Times reported last week, “Newly available accounts by independent military observers of the beginning of the war between Georgia and Russia this summer call into question the long-standing Georgian assertion that it was acting defensively against separatist and Russian aggression.”

The Bush White House knew—but kept from the American public—facts concerning provocation by Georgia’s U.S.-trained forces, which killed civilians in the capital of South Ossetia before Russian troops crossed the border. The provocation has also been documented in a BBC investigative report and by a growing consensus of other reliable sources.

No surprise, but it is a reminder of just how eager some are for a new Cold War and how indifferent they are to the truth of the matter. The career hawks are influential in both political parties, as was evidenced by the knee-jerk response of both presidential candidates, who claimed that the Russians had launched a totally unprovoked attack.

article continues... Brzezinski, Robert Gates, covert support to Afghan mujahedeen... you know, the usual stuff

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081111_cold_war_hawks_nesting_with...

(Scheer says...) I know, Obama is not yet in office. I voted for him with enthusiasm in part because he does seem to have transcended the preoccupations of the Cold War. But as a buyer, I have to beware of those unrepentant Democratic hawks now hovering.

New York Times "Special Edition"

http://www.nytimes-se.com/2009/07/04/the-fine-print

-

Thanks, jenise.

Oh good I like that guy.

I guess Ian is still at KPHX, so not producing that show anymore though. I love the way he integrates the music in the breaks.

Fires threaten LA power supply
A fast-moving blaze may cut off electricity to Los Angeles, officials warn.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/15/california.wildfires/index.html

They showed the burning power lines just now on CNN.

Sent my daughter an email. Hope she and her family are okay.
Even if the fire isn't near her, the winds caryy all that soot in the air and they've had to wear masks to not breathe in all that soot.

TORONTO: Canada is mulling the possibility of a joint package with the US to bail out the sinking auto industry in the two countries

Ontario and Quebec provinces of Canada serve as a manufacturing hub for American auto giants, creating thousands of jobs and pumping billions into the economy.

So interlinked is the auto industry in the US and Canada that during the assembly of vehicles some auto parts cross the border up to seven times before the vehicle is completed.

Though Ottawa has already announced a $450-million package for this sector, Industry Minister Tony Clement Friday said the government was also considering joint steps with the US to bail out this ailing industry.

He said he would visit Detroit next week to meet three US automakers and hold discussions with US leaders on the possibility of a joint bailout.

"People talk about the need to have an integrated solution. And from a theoretical point of view, that makes sense. But how viable is it? What exactly does that mean?" the minister said.

With the country on the verge of recession, there was more bad news as the market crisis seems to be taking its toll on the housing sector.

Figures released by the Canadian real estate association Friday said sales in October slumped by 14 percent from September.

This was the worst slump since 1994, the association said. According to it, house prices have also retreated nine percent since last year.

It will be interesting to see the sentiment for November after the government's announcement to buy $50 billion of mortgage-backed securities from banks to spur lending.

Meanwhile, Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) woes continued, with the composite index diving 292.82 Friday.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/International_Business/Canada_for_jo...

Have a great afternoon!

maggiesboy said he was doing fine and living liberally!

Later

can't get through! Now I am really worrying!!!!

That is my biggest fear with what Obama is doing. It is obvious he is trying to stack his team with the toughest meanest and smartest SOBs in the game to 1) help him move his agenda forward, and 2) remove them from the opposing team. I get it. But its a lot like working with wild animals, all of these creatures are very powerful and have their own agenda, if they sense weakness, or somehow lose fear or respect for you, one day they will turn on you and rip your ass to pieces.

Some praise this strategy as brilliant and cite Lincoln as an example of its success. They do so without acknowledging that Lincoln presided over the bloodiest chapter in American history...partly because he could not politic our way out of it.

he made another good point to the effect of:

let the oil companies bail out the big three...

=====

i don't disagree with the idea that letting one or more of the big 3 go bankrupt could have devastating consequences both for the workers but also for the world if its the catalyst that throws us into a great depression.

the real answer is that the government needs to nationalize the auto industry and set the direction needed with fuel efficient and eventually alternative energy cars. a manhatten style project. given where auto company stock is trading, it shouldn't be as expensive as it sounds.

So I guess that is a "no"
Submitted by dada on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 1:12pm.
As in; no, there are no progressives being named as likely cabinet members.
----
Defining a "progressive" as a "progressive" depends upon how one self-defines oneself in the political spectrum.

My guess is that you are self-defined as decidedly left of center, so you see anyone who is somewhat left of center as being well to your right.

For some people, Hillary Clinton is a socialist commie. For others, she is disconcertingly conservative.

The labels thingy is around to stay. Of that I am certain.

But when I see a Hawk like John Murtha speaking out against a war or a charter member of PNAC like Francis Fukuyama speaking out against his own pax Americana plan, it reminds me that it's the actions that count in the end, not the labels.

Many of the Conservative anti-government-regulation Reaganites are now supporting greater market regulation. When push-came-to-shove and they realized that they were not smart enough to formulate an alternative, regulation started looking like a pretty good idea.

So what do we call the Reaganites now?

Anti-Regulation-Reaganites-Except-When-They-Are-Not?

Leftist Reaganites?

(Shitheads is still my first choice.)

dada,

I apologize for being even-handed and sensible while you are clearly searching for a battle. For reasons unknown to me, you have a stick up your ass about the Cult Of Obama.

Me? I don't care about the Cult Of Obama, assuming there is one, though I am pleased that people are hopeful and more engaged because of Obama. It beats the shit out of the way I felt after Nixon was reelected, after Reagan was elected and reelected, after George H.W. Bush was elected, and after Dubya won the Oval Office twice.

Go ahead and nitpick to your heart's content. Cynicism is one of my strongest traits so you won't find me discouraging your cynicism. Neither will you find me attempting to squash the hopes of others by accusing them of being Obama cultists.

Perhaps when you are my age and have several more decades of lousy presidencies and Conservative stupidness under your belt, you will be as ready (and hopeful) as I am to experience one, just one, government administration that leans more your way than against it.

On the other hand, if Cheney and Bush were not sufficiently awful to make you hopeful for better things to come, maybe it can't be done. I have spent most of my life smothered in political cynicism, so who am I to suggest that you should do otherwise?

>>Obama cultists.

I have just set up a faux voting booth up by the road and put out some Obama and McCain campaign signs, red, white and blue bunting up as well..

My hope is to trick passerbys into pulling over to vote. then I can steal all their stuff.

I am becoming an Obama cargo-cultist.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

just relishing the pleasant small things today.

my dogs don't eat our slippers!

except a fuzzy pair made out of rabbit fur that jax drags out everytime he can get into the bedroom closet.

the Obama presidency?

well so far theres no major scams that have gone too far.

the point made about 'Making them make change' seems about as good a sum up as i've seen so far.

hope for the best, like i've been saying for quite a while, anything going in the right direction tickles my fancy.

been thinking about how cool a really good car could be.

maybe a little change in the destruction of the sea.

maybe cleaner water.

it would be really satisfying to be a part of that change too.

Remember back in the 80s how just about every college in the nation became an MBA-mill?

And as a nation we cranked out hundreds of thousands, maybe millions (who really knows or cares?) of MBA degrees. MBA holders infested every industry at every level (except production and janitorial)...

and despite having the benefit of all this business acumen, we find ourselves mired in one of this country's greatest financial meltdowns.

Despite, or because of? I mean, you have all these businessmen with the exact same lemming-like, cuttie-cutter business philosophy...is it really a coincidence they suddenly all lined up and charged off the nearest cliff?
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

"Take a music-bath once or twice a week
for a few seasons,
and you will find that it is to the soul
what the water-bath is to the body."

this is your brain.

this is your brain on hope.

You'll never work for Barack Obama

http://www.236.com/news/2008/11/14/youre_not_fit_to_shine_the_oba_10244....

Sure, we're in an economic crisis, but that doesn't mean nobody's hiring. President-elect Obama is looking for a few good men, and by "good," we mean squeaky-clean, unbesmirched, never-done-a-thing-wrong-ever good. Anyone seeking a high-level post in the new administration has been asked to submit a seven-page questionnaire that includes extensive requests for personal and professional information. For instance:
Please furnish copies of all resumes and biographical statements issued by you or any other entity at your discretion or with your consent within the past ten years.

And that's just question one of 63. Applicants are asked for financial details, copies of e-mails and online transactions, information about organizations to which they belong, and a hell of a lot more. One section requests immigration information for domestic help, while 11 separate questions dig into an applicant's history of legal proceedings. (Sorry, sexual harassers!)

A PDF of the entire questionnaire is available here. Unfortunately for any potential cabinet members, 23/6 has turned up an additional page of questions that will need to be included in any application. Please click through to get started.

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul,
and paints his own nature into his pictures."

pressure, population or social, makes things happen.

my parents saw it as an opportunity. i saw it as enslavement.

Despair fuels apathy.

--------------------------------------------------
"I am A Great American Patriot !!!" - McCain Scroter
http://www.vodamusic.com/blog/

http://www.drmardy.com/

...local indigenous peoples around the town who use Coke to induce burping in the participant, the act of which expels the bad and negative energy inside. They used to use a fermented corn drink that took eight days to make, but as Coke is sold at a subsidised price on indigenous lands it quickly replaced the traditional ceremonial beverage. In fact Coke is cheaper than clean water in San Cristobal, its ubiquity in stark contrast to the equally omnipresent masked visage of Subcomandante Marcos, whose eyes peer down at you from every shop, although they do share the same colour scheme.

His description of San Cristobal is amazing:
...

what age is she now? what is she in to?

i sort of agree there, except that nothing fuels apathy, apathy needs no fuel. apathy is an empty gas-tank and a dead battery.

despair and hope are intimately related, they are the two sides of a worthless coin. they are two answers to the same question: "what can i do?"

despair answers: "nothing."

hope answers: "I don't know. Maybe someone else has a better answer."

Hope is an empty promise. It is a dream, a prayer before dying.

I'm just saying - when things are this terrible, hope is all we have - but it's not an answer. The real question is, "what are YOU going to do about it?"

As a people, as a culture, we've been conditioned to be passive consumers - of things, 'services', and ideas. It's enough to make a real thinking, feeling human being puke in despair.

Hope is what we have to start with - but we cannot afford to wallow in it, any more than we can afford to succumb to despair. 'Hoping' isn't action. Hoping is what people do instead of acting.

Just a point of view.

hope is the enemy of action.
Submitted by rctowns on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 4:53pm.
-----
Congratulations! You have discovered another worthless aphorism.

If I was not hopeful that I could diagnose my car problem and be capable of repairing it, I would not open my toolbox.

In fact, I wouldn't own tools. I'd pay some other idiot to do the diagnosis and repairs for me.

Chuck Todd on the possibility of Hillary at State

First Read:

Hillary at State? As we've learned with anything regarding the Clintons, one never knows exactly how serious the speculation might be.

But let's assume the news -- reported last night by NBC’s Andrea Mitchell -- that Hillary Clinton is in the mix as a potential Secretary of State is as serious as it appears. (Because if it's not, and her name is being floated only to be rejected, it's going to make her more upset. But we digress…)

The best reason for Obama to be looking for a place in his cabinet for Clinton is simple: to get her out of the Senate. Just ask George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter what it was like to have a once or future presidential rival in the Senate serving as a one-person Roman tribunal. Remember how easily the press gravitated to John McCain in '01 or Bob Kerrey in '93 or Ted Kennedy in '77 to allow them to be one-senator judge/juries on Administration proposals?

The upside for Obama putting Clinton at State (or even the Pentagon) is that it gets her out of the Senate and gets her out of the domestic policy debates. Also, one other thing to keep in mind if Clinton does end up at State, she'll be off the political circuit; it’s considered unseemly to practice politics while serving in one of the big cabinet posts, especially at State or Defense.

So this would mean no more Hillary on the stump for candidates, no more Hillary raising money, no more Hillary collecting chits. OK, we will now take First Read away from Machiavelli and turn it back over to the current authors ...

________________

I gets what's innit for Obama (gets a potential burr in his backside outta the Senate 'n brings her -- theoretically -- into his direct political domain, essentially coopting a political rival).

What I can't puzzle out is what's innit for Clinton? Why would this position appeal to her? Trade in a seat-for-life in the Senate for a serve-at-the-prez's-pleasure cabinet position inna political rival's presidency? I fail to see the upside for a politically ambitious amnimal like Hillary.

Smells like an faintly insincere political feel-good pas-de-deux on Obama's part: If she bites, fine, he can live w/it and it gets her potential McCainesque power-plays outta the Senate. If she don't, well, he were perceived as the big-hearted concilliator what got spurned.

(I'd be damn awful s'prised if Hillary took the position, unless she's give up on her prez hopes. If Obama goes eight years w/o gettin' killt, what are the odds a Sec. of State -- who may or may not serve four years much less eight -- is gonna be a viable steppin' stone to the White House? John Quincy 'n T.Jeff might demur, but I'd sez not likely.)

fwiw

baseball, boys and working at the dunebuggy shop.

surviving a week long grounding for helping a freind out at 4 am,
and not checking in with mom by phone.

doing good in school. being ornery and nice in waves.

growing up. lost all her jewelry when they moved and when her gym teacher spaced out her grammas wedding ring.

discovering sex, carefully.

writing stuff!

turning into a good human sounds like.

Get you damn dirty brain offa me!

I actually like the one below better. Marcos dolls Made In China. I had no idea. How depressing.

I wonder how much of this happens elsewhere in Mexico.

I am naturally suspicious of mustachioed men who go by "Dr. *," where *=first name.

Sorry, but, when even Ashton Kutcher gets it, and 52% of the rest of the population doesn't...it is definitely time to start scouting out a new place to live.....

Blame to Go Around

by Matt Yglesias

... Related: Everyone who spoke to us in Switzerland who works in the center warned against “the dangers of over-regulation.” And needless to say, it’s possible to regulate an industry a more-than-optimal amount.

But at the same time, look who’s talking. I mean, what’s the “danger” of over-regulation exactly -— that it might leave the global financial system on the verge of collapse, create the need for over $1 trillion in global government bailout spending, and a worldwide recession necessitating a massive fiscal stimulus response to (maybe) pull us out of the ditch?

O[h] right —- that’s what’s happening now!

You could imagine regulations that don’t “fix the problem” or else that “go too far” in some sense, but the amount of actual “danger” involved seems pretty minimal relative to the status quo ante.

"Hope" as a mental state though, rather than just saying, "gee, I hope this and that gets done." We're looking at some seriously trying times over the next couple years. You could either "hope that someone figures out an answer," or you can have hope that there is an answer and that you can be a part of that process.

But if you've just got despair, one might as well pack up shop. Which is how I think a lot of people felt under Bush. It's tough for people to come together, be creative, and to work hard on solutions if there doesn't seem to be any hope of things ever getting any better.

In the late 1990's there were all kinds of social and political movements gathering quite a bit of steam. That was really exciting. I "hope" that under a less awful administration we can get back to that creative experimentation and citizen action.

--------------------------------------------------
"I am A Great American Patriot !!!" - McCain Scroter
http://www.vodamusic.com/blog/

Any way you could call Kevin now?

you can see the people making the "shit," but I guess they could get just enough raw materials to make stuff in public during the day (nursing each clay bowl or intricate scene painted on a feather [that may be just Costa Rica]) and do the rest through importers.

I wonder how financial-crisis proof the Chinese chiapazania factories will be.

email his phone number to me?

sofrajones@telusnospamdotnet

There is nothing wrong with hope per se...

It is "hope fiends" that are the issue. Clinging to hope means you are out of options and must rely on outside influences to decide your fate. It is surrender.

Not something I have ever been very comfortable with.

So you're saying worse than clinging to guns, but about the same as clinging to religion?

walk hopefully and carry a big stick.

>>I am naturally suspicious of mustachioed men who go by "Dr. *," where *=first name.

how about Doctor Bob?

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

.

In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ('ACT'), there is the notion of 'creative hopelessness' - a moment in which a person realizes that the 'problem' they're struggling with isn't the problem... that the 'struggling' is the problem. Stop 'struggling', then act - start moving your hands and feet in a way that has meaning for you; not moving 'towards' something, but moving in a way that is meaningful and important to you, right in this moment.

This is the core of my argument: "Hope" isn't an answer - it's a question.

I honestly believe that this weird kind of creeping worry about 'what will obama really do', or 'can he really save us?' is a response the 'hope'message. 'okay, we're hoping our hearts out - now what are we supposed to do?' For hundreds of thousands of Obama volunteers and supporters, there was always an answer: 'go knock on more doors; go make some more phone calls'

There's no doubt that our President-elect has inspired a great many people in our country - and many many more around the world - with his message of hope. And it is a powerful one. But that message of hope is an unanswered question, still hanging out there.

For me, the struggle now is to be patient. To look around and see if there's some other kind of 'door' to 'knock' - something that will make my family's/neighbor's, my community's day a little better.

This is much like JFK's 'Ask not... ' Same question, really. What's your answer?

Submitted by rctowns on Sat, 11/15/2008 - 5:21pm.

i sort of agree there, except that nothing fuels apathy, apathy needs no fuel. apathy is an empty gas-tank and a dead battery.

despair and hope are intimately related, they are the two sides of a worthless coin. they are two answers to the same question: "what can i do?"

despair answers: "nothing."

hope answers: "I don't know. Maybe someone else has a better answer."

Hope is an empty promise. It is a dream, a prayer before dying.

I'm just saying - when things are this terrible, hope is all we have - but it's not an answer. The real question is, "what are YOU going to do about it?"

As a people, as a culture, we've been conditioned to be passive consumers - of things, 'services', and ideas. It's enough to make a real thinking, feeling human being puke in despair.

Hope is what we have to start with - but we cannot afford to wallow in it, any more than we can afford to succumb to despair. 'Hoping' isn't action. Hoping is what people do instead of acting.

Just a point of view.

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Wisht I had time to reply to this.

Tho' I likes yer empty gas-tank 'n dead batt'ry metaphors for apathy, suffice to sez I thinks yer impressions of what "the worthless coin" "hope" is to be overly reductionist 'n arbitrarily simplistic.

If yer point is hope alone ain't sufficient 'n action is wanted, point taken.

Agreed.

But you might consider that you needn't diminish the concept of "hope" merely to exalt the call to action.

Hope 'n action ain't mutually exclusive, and possessing the former don't necessarily negate the latter as you rather breezily suggest. It's sort've a false (binary) dilemma where none exists.

imo

Gotta go.

dr

What I meant was the last 1/3 of spinal tap always made me feel uneasy, like being in the room with a couple that were about to admit wanting a divorce and their between you and the door. You can't leave but you really want to. Thats what the Sex Pistols final show brings up for me. Great band, just an unpleasant end.

>>"Hope" as a mental state though, rather than just saying, "gee, I hope this and that gets done."

Well, let me just say I hope Hope gets help in the state mental facility.
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"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

I don't know..he needs help...big time...

Honestly I would not be at all surprised if he does it again...right now...

Yeah, kinda...as in "I hope and pray I've got enough ammo"... :)

is there something / anything?

none.

trapper

...

Did he get through? God I hate this shit.