The Chip Hits the Fan

Modern Visionaries Part III: Benoit Mandelbrot

2011-06-16T20:21:00.000-06:00

Chip Lyon

"Think not of what you see, but what it took to produce what you see.” - Benoit Mandelbrot
"Nebulabrot" by Paul Nylander
In keeping with the mathematics theme established in the previous installment of this series (on Buckminster Fuller), Part III is about Benoit Mandelbrot. It is impossible to ignore the “geodesic”, forward-looking genius of Benoit Mandelbrot. Like Fuller before him, Mandelbrot used geometry to identify and educate us about the nature of infinity. Mandelbrot’s elucidation of “fractals” may have given the human race a much closer look at nature’s grand design.
Benoit B. Mandelbrotwas born November 1924 and died on the 14^th of October, 2010. A mathematician born in Poland but raised in France, Mandelbrot spent much of his life living and working in the United States. Starting in 1951, Mandelbrot worked on problems and published papers in mathematics and applied math,  information theory, economics, and fluid dynamics. He became convinced that two key themes -  fat tails and self-similar structures - ran through a multitude of common problems in those fields.
the Mandelbrot setPerhaps Mandelbrot's most famous contribution is the M-set. Mandelbrot discovered the M-set in 1980; this discovery has been widely discussed in books such as The Fractal Geometry of Nature by Mandelbrot and Chaos by James Gleick and in scientific magazines (for example see the beautiful pictures and excellent summary in the July 1985 issue of Scientific American).
I am by no means a mathematician. I’ve always been humbled by the complexities of higher mathematics, more of a right brained guy I guess. Mandelbrot’s discovery of the “M-set” may well be a look in to the true fabric of Mother Nature, and sure enough, Mom speaks math.
For those who are mathematically inclined, here is a brief outline of how the M-set is created: start with the expression z -> z^2 + c; choose two complex numbers z and c; solve the expression z^2 + c to get a new value of z; put the new z into the z^2 + c term and compute another z value; continue this process on a computer for much iteration. Color coding the rate at which different values of c cause z to either (1) shoot off to infinity, (2) stabilize in the realm of finite numbers, or (3) go to zero creates the visual embodiment of the “m-world”. One of the many wonders of this infinitely complex “world” is that it can be created by just a few simple lines of computer code that are repeated recursively. From these little algorithmic loops comes the most rococo universe that anyone has ever seen. No matter how many times you magnify the M-set to infinity, it continues to expand. And you can see the M-set everywhere in nature. Mandelbrot found a mathematical formula to describe a “fractal” (a term he invented to describe the M-set) – in which each part mimics the pattern of the whole.
“Fractal geometry is not just beautiful, but useful – for modeling turbulence, financial systems, the distribution of galaxies. It underpins the physics of disorder and chaos theory. My whole career became one long, ardent pursuit of the concept of roughness,” Mandelbrot wrote in an essay on receiving the 1993 Wolf prize for physics. “Fractal geometry plays two roles. It is the geometry of deterministic chaos, and it can also describe the geometry of mountains, clouds, and galaxies.”
Science and geometry have always been partners and have progressed in lockstep throughout history. In the 17th century, Johannes Kepler found that he could represent the orbits of the planets around the Sun by ellipses. This inspired Isaac Newton to explain these elliptical orbits by devising the law of gravity. Similarly, the back-and-forth motion of a perfect pendulum is represented by a sine wave. Simple dynamics used to be associated with simple geometrical shapes. This kind of mathematical picture implies a smooth relationship between an object's form and the forces acting on it.
Indeed, Galileo put forth the notion that "the great book of nature is written in mathematical language", adding that "its characters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without which one wanders in vain through a dark labyrinth." Mandelbrot added: "(Certain) phenomena need geometries that are very far from triangles and circles. They require non-Euclidean structures and a new geometry called “Fractal” geometry."
3-D fractal modelA lot of math stuff I know, but I found that just learning a little of this math through researching Mandelbrot’s discovery is well, for lack of better term, simply mind blowing. For most of us this kind of mathematical language is often cosmically abstruse and uninteresting; but here with the M-set it is deeply compelling, and it has a certain universal appeal. Mandelbrot’s discovery of fractals shows that an otherwise drab mathematical formula can produce an apparently self-replicating, infinite design that is everywhere around us. When asked whether fractals point to a single rule underlying reality, Mandelbrot simply stated:
"There is no single rule that governs the use of geometry. I don't think one exists." In addition, according to Mandelbrot, "The beauty of geometry is that it is a language of extraordinary subtlety that serves many purposes."
Perhaps if we take away the symbolic, mathematical aspect of the M-set and fractal geometry, it becomes a little simpler to understand. First, get a microscope that kicks ass. My point here and the core amazing trait of the M-set is that no matter how many times you magnify it, it just keeps going on to infinity. This is where we can learn lessons for nature and art (for those of us who don’t want to go the math route). In a PBS Nova documentary called “Hunting the Hidden Dimension” one prominent Ph.D. made a comment that summed up this art-math notion of the M-set quite nicely:
“Math is really quite close to art...They just speak different languages....”
“How Long Is the Coast of Britain? Statistical Self-Similarity and Fractional Dimension" is a paper first published in Science in 1967. In this paper Mandelbrot discusses self-similar curves that have  Hausdorff dimension between 1 and 2. These curves are examples of  fractals, although Mandelbrot does not use this term in the paper, as he did not invent it until 1975. In late 1982, Mandelbrot published his visionary work The Fractal Geometry of Nature. This work explains how fractals can explain a variety of natural forms and structures ranging from trees to coastlines.
ferns have self-similar structureWhat Mandelbrot’s brilliant discovery gives us is a new appreciation of the natural world and the beautiful art we see within it. Many things previously called chaotic are now known to follow subtle fractal laws of behavior. This reflects what we observe in both small details and macroscopic patterns of life in all their physical and mental varieties as well. It all centers around what’s called in Mandelbrot’s math world “iteration”.
Here is Webster’s definition of "iteration". It is short and sweet, and this article just won’t allow the space to go into it more:

the action or a process of repeating; as a : a procedure in which repetition of a sequence of operations yields results successively closer to a desired result b : the repetition of a sequence of computer instructions a specified number of times or until a condition is met - compare recursion.

halved Nautilus shellIn other words, it continually repeats itself... A formula continues to repeat itself in both math and nature. Fun to get your head around.... Just take a close look at the fern hanging inside or outside of your home. You’ll start to see. Look up a picture of a Nautilus (the sea mollusk, not Nemo’s awesome ship) or a simple snail; the M-set is truly everywhere. For us old hippies, it’s everywhere in our tie-dyes and art. It’s quite hard for anyone paying attention to miss. The beautiful tapestries and rugs of Persia and India have the M-set in them as well. The M-set is in winter snow. Before catching that snowflake on your tongue, take a close look at it.
The M-set gives us poetry as well. I felt that closing with this thought was comfortable and soothing and wouldn’t leave most of us dizzied like we'd just received an intensive crash course in advanced geometry. The great poet William Blake penned in 1803 these beautiful lines in his great work “Auguries of Innocence”:

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

Next time you're stopping to smell the roses, take a close look at them as well.http://www.theinductive.com/

A Friend Indeed

2011-05-30T15:51:00.000-06:00

Chip Lyon

What a wonderful thing it is when you feel that things couldn’t seem worse a soul (or more) comes from out of nowhere and at the last minute and miraculously snatches you from the jaws of perceived doom. Many will never know this salvation. Plenty call this sensation “God”; but I’d like to focus on the flesh and give adoration to a human man and his spirit.

Today more than ever we are so acutely aware of all the tragedies that are enveloping the world - war, famine, poverty, personal loss - and the list is longer than I care to write about here. We are force fed with a language of fear through the media because that’s what sells and we are always seduced by what is wrong. But tragedy has always been with us, and it won’t be going away as long as we’re around (a human condition). Maybe it’s me. We see the bad in the world through the camera and computer eye, and many of us withdraw and just carry on surrendering to the "I can’t make a difference” feeling and even feeling like we might be in as bad a position as the other folks we feel bad for.

I’m carrying on about this because a recent interaction and external experience got me thinking about the microscopic aspects of pitching in. We are bombarded with trouble these days it seems en masse by the light-lit screens that are in our faces most of the time. But I think the things underneath are what I would like to bring attention to and try and beat down the doom and gloom that can be so easy to fall into these days. Our great country (and world for that matter) is in dire need of a positive jolt of who we really are. Humans are such a wonderful creature when they care about their brothers and sisters: a truly unstoppable force of good. But so many of us give in to the ethic of helplessness bequeathed by the all-seeing eye of modernity because that’s what comes easy.

Trouble comes to us in mostly macroscopic ways today, and that’s why it can seem unconquerable at times. But this is a deceptive notion. I just wrote an article profiling a man and his brilliant engineering ideas for a better way of life: Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome lets us understand how science can create a beautiful shelter for people now and in the future. I drive at this because the geodesic dome provides us with a metaphor for how we can each make a difference: Buckminster Fuller used small geometrical formations to construct a larger good that ultimately benefits a macroscopic group. The secret is in the small components.

Tragedy comes to any of us in different ways. But there’s no arguing that loss is loss. Today I sit back in my humble dwelling and can easily deflect from the problems I have by empathizing with the misery of the people I see on the screen. But recently, a friend of mine (after I told him I was having a hard time) immediately went to work helping me solve my problems. Even though this person is dealing with a major personal tragedy on his own, he has been unwavering in his support.

Here’s the point and it’s nothing new: it’s the little things. We make progress by thinking small at first so as to tackle a large problem. When our compartmentalized thinking gets a better handle on things, we expand and progress, evolve. But without the (sometimes unnoticed) small help from someone, miracles simply go undone.

My friend who could hardly manage to juggle the recent tragedies of his own life, when he was made aware of my troubles, he forgot all about his own and took mine on. And I would do the same for him.

We don’t die. We multiply.

Modern Visionaries Part II

2011-05-20T21:04:00.002-06:00

"For the first time in history it is now possible to take care of everybody at a higher standard of living than any have ever known. Only ten years ago the "more with less" technology reached the point where this could be done. All humanity now has the option of becoming enduringly successful." - Buckminster Fuller, 1980.
This Buckminster Fuller stamp is itself an achievement in design.
Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was born on July 12th, 1895 and died on July 1st, 1983. Fuller was an American engineer, author, designer, inventor, and futurist. “Bucky” was the author of more than thirty books; he was responsible for creating and popularizing futuristic terms like “ synergetics", “ Spaceship Earth", and “ ephemeralization” - terms many of us have heard and even used without knowing where they came from.
Fuller attended Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts and after that began studying at Harvard University. He was expelled from Harvard twice: first for spending all his money partying with a vaudeville troupe, and then, after having been readmitted, for his "irresponsibility and lack of interest." Fuller later described himself during this period as a non-conforming misfit in the fraternity environment.
Buckminster Fuller went on to become one of the twentieth century's most futuristic, controversial, and creative thinkers. Fuller is best known for inventing the geodesic dome, but Fuller had many other inventions - such as an air-streamed, three-wheeled car - and many influential ideas on how to benefit humankind. Buckminster Fuller was truly a modern visionary.
Fuller had many inventions, most of them architectural, and the most famous is certainly the geodesic dome. A geodesic dome is a structure comprised of a complex network of triangles that form a roughly spherical surface. The more complex the network of triangles, the more closely the dome approximates the shape of a true sphere. “By using triangles of various sizes, a sphere can be symmetrically divided by thirty-one great circles. A great circle is the largest circle that can be drawn around a sphere, like the lines of latitude or longitude around the earth. Each of these lines divide the sphere into two halves, hence the term geodesic, which is from the Latin meaning "earth dividing".
geodesic dome schematicThe geodesic dome was designed by Fuller in order to demonstrate some ideas about housing using his concept of "energetic-synergetic geometry”. The geodesic dome is an ingenious demonstration of Fuller's synergetics principles, a school of thought on thinking and geometry developed by Fuller. Under the right circumstances, the geodesic dome could solve some of the mounting housing and energy problems of today (a crisis which Fuller predicted back in 1927).
In his quest to design things that would benefit mankind, Fuller didn’t stop at housing structures. He was quite successful with motor vehicles as well. The dymaxion car was built by Fuller in 1933. The word “dymaxion” appears in many of Fuller’s inventions. It was a phrase Bucky used as a part of a more general project to improve humanity's living conditions.
from the 1933 dymaxion car patent application From Wikipedia:

The dymaxion car was a three wheeler, steered by a single rear wheel, and could do a U-turn in its own length. However, the rear-wheel steering made the car somewhat counterintuitive to operate, especially in crosswind situations. The body was teardrop-shaped, and naturally aerodynamically efficient. The car was twice as long as a conventional automobile, Drive power was provided by a rear-mounted Ford V8 engine, The front axle was also a Ford component, being the rear axle of a contemporary Ford roadster turned upside-down.

Although the dymaxion cars were never produced, the design was influential on several future car models. The most well-known example of its influence was the Fiat 600 Multipla. With this car, an extreme rear-mounted engine and a driver position above the front axle were combined to produce an extremely compact car/van hybrid capable of seating six people. Optimal efficiency by aerodynamic design and employing the most advantageous materials heralded an age of qualitatively more advanced thinking in automobile aerodynamics and efficiency.
Buckminster Fuller's early 1960s design for "Triton City" to float in the middle of Tokyo Bay. Instead of Cash for Clunkers or bank bailouts, can this please be our next stimulus program?The Buckminster Fuller Challenge was launched in 2007, it is an annual international design competition that awards $100,000 to the most comprehensive solution to a pressing global problem. From the BFI website: "Winning solutions are regionally specific yet globally applicable and present a truly comprehensive, anticipatory, integrated approach to solving the world's complex problems."
For readers interested in learning more about Buckminster Fuller, an episode of the PBS series American Masters about Buckminster Fuller gives an educational vision into the life and ideas of a man many people have never even heard of. The documentary takes a close-up look at his unconventional life, his creative innovations, and his radical view of the contemporary world.
Buckminster Fuller had many inventions and visions for the future; they are still with us today. "Bucky", was undeniably one of the key innovators in the twentieth century. He is known as a philosopher, thinker, visionary, inventor, architect, engineer, mathematician, poet, cosmologist, and more. Like Daniel Quinn in Part I of this series Fuller’s only wishes were to solve human problems through genuine care and thoughtful design.

Modern Visionaries Part I

2011-05-20T21:03:00.002-06:00

But such simple answers aren’t enough to reassure the people of your culture nowadays. Everyone is looking down, and it is obvious that the ground is rushing up towards, you-and rushing up faster every year. - Daniel QuinnIn a world where a pedigree in academia has been the de facto standard of acceptance for information provided to the world, a few remarkable un-credentialed people have come to the forefront of our social collective to provide earthshaking philosophical, technological, sociological, and just plain humanistic revelations that could very well have a major impact on the future of mankind.
These people often come from backgrounds that have nothing to do with the insights and predictions for which they are well-known. These people have been incredibly accurate in their predictions and in the application of many of their theories. They have been disregarded by their academic counterparts and brushed off as fantastical by much of academia.
One of these people is Daniel Quinn. For this post, I would like to investigate the question: Is Daniel Quinn a sociologist?
Sociology is defined as:

the science of society, social institutions, and social relationships; specifically: the systematic study of the development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of organized groups of human beings.

A person who is in the academic discipline of sociology is referred to as a sociologist or often a “social scientist”. Princeton’s online definition search provides this description for a social scientist:

someone who is an expert in the study of human society and its personal relationships.

Concerning the non-academic Daniel Quinn, digging deeper into what really defines a sociologist becomes a little more complex than a simple yes or no answer.
Quinn was born in 1935 and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He graduated from Creighton Prep in 1953. He also studied at St. Louis University, the University of Vienna, and Loyola University of Chicago, receiving a bachelor's degree in English, cum laude, in 1957. Quinn continued on into a 20 year career in educational and consumer publishing in Chicago; he served as Biography and Fine Arts Editor at the American Peoples Encyclopedia, Managing Editor of the Greater Cleveland Mathematics Program (Science Research Associates), head of the mathematics department at Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation, Executive Editor of Fuller & Dees Publishing (a division of the Times Mirror Corporation) and Editorial Director of the Society for Visual Education (a division of the Singer Corporation).
An HR manager looking at the above on a resume wouldn’t exactly start thinking of social and anthropological culture and the current state of humanity. And yet many see Quinn as an enlightened genius seeing both the wrongs and rights of human action in the historical past and present. For many people, Daniel Quinn provides a rational framework to turn around the ecological disaster the human race has created for itself. Those of us who have read Quinn’s work Ishmael know that Quinn as an author dives into both sociological and anthropological issues and packs his prose full of observations both insightful and believable. Ishmael is Quinn’s most recognized work and, undoubtedly, his legacy.

I’m telling you this because the people of your culture are in much of the same situation, like the people of Nazi Germany, they are the captives of a story.

Sociologists are natural social critics, and Daniel Quinn’s criticism of our society is that the cultural solution of the “Takers” in Ishmael will result in destruction. Quinn’s main message and observation in Ishmael is that humans are actively and continually destroying the natural world because we are captives of a cultural system that leads us to do so. This sounds like the language and ideas of an educated sociologist. While this piece is not a book review of Quinn’s most famous work, Ishmael, it is important to realize that that particular work is the foundation of Quinn’s insights and theories regarding our world and society.
It was this first work regarding the state of nature, man today, and what may be in store for the human race in the not so distant future (as well as two other similar works that followed) that cemented Daniel Quinn’s fame and even garnered him a fair amount of respect from some academics. Quinn is brilliant in how he is able to get us to think about the way we live our lives and how our society functions. His observations concerning the Aborigines, American Indians, and Inuit are compelling, as is his argument that the ecological disaster that is today’s Earth is humankind's fault.
Quinn’s espoused ideas provide us with a step-by-step path through the fundamental mythology of our culture to explain how problematic things have gotten on Earth and how they could be better; more succinctly, Quinn writes about the preservation of our planet and what this means for the human race. This entails a re-analysis of the Genesis stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel (cultural religion). Quinn’s analyses are right on the money and often frighteningly logical and accurate within the framework of the sociological/anthropological concepts put forth in Ishmael and the works that follow, The Story of B and My Ishmael. This makes it hard to deny him some sociological authority, despite his lack of credentials.
Quinn is an advocate of a concept called “new tribalism”. From Webster's Online Dictionary:

In the past 50 years, anthropologists have greatly revised our understanding of the tribe. Franz Boas removed the idea of unilineal cultural evolution from the realm of serious anthropological research as too simplistic, allowing tribes to be studied in their own right, rather than stepping stones to civilization or "living fossils." Anthropologists such as Richard Borshay Lee and Marshall Sahlins began publishing studies that showed tribal life as an easy, safe life, the opposite of the traditional theoretical supposition. In the title to his book, Sahlins referred to these tribal cultures as "the Original Affluent Society," not for their material wealth, but for their combination of leisure and lack of want.

Ultimately Daniel Quinn is an observer of the failure of modern civilization and an advocate of a return to tribal values like egalitarianism and cooperation. Not only is he a sociologist by description, but a credible philosopher, anthropologist, and futurist as well. While Daniel Quinn may not be referred to as a sociologist because he lacks an academic pedigree, due to his accuracy and knowledge when it comes to societal culture, Quinn comfortably assumes the roll of sociologist.

The Inductive

2011-05-20T21:01:00.002-06:00

http://www.theinductive.com/blog/modern-visionaries-part-i-daniel-qu

Recognizing Convenience: A Story of Forgetting

2011-03-04T17:07:00.002-07:00

Like many I’m sure, I take for granted the ease at which I walk into my corner store and get the thing(s) I need without having to bother or hassle with traveling further to a large grocery store once every three weeks or so to restock. More likely I bitch, like many, about how high the markup is on items (under my breath) and move a long. Something happened to me yesterday as I was in my corner store chatting it up with the day- guy and the night-guy came in for his appropriate shift and while doing so he patted me on the shoulder and said “What’s up Chip?” This little effort made the day a little better and, I obviously remember it.

So I’ll cut to the quick here. Our good country has forgotten just how good we are, and you’ll take notice I didn’t say great, it’s currently impossible to utter the word with any truth where US is concerned. Its time to stop whining and take (some kind of) action. I don’t buy in to the theories that technology and progress are the reason for our collective asses not getting off the couch. There has always been some kind of technology. Blowing smoke has apparently become the status quo. I don’t like having to apologize for wanting to save the world and I live in the country that used to be number one in that department in everyone’s eyes. Unlike Gordon Gekko I don’t think greed is good, its more like Jonestown Kool-Aid. And our whiney little attitudes and the preservation of politicians who only protect themselves and their campaign donor’s butts just won’t cut it anymore. Through fear, intimidation and some good old boy appeasing we have been force-fed that bitching is just how it is and there is no reparation. Hogwash….

It was my experience in the convenience store that made me remember that we American’s are still a caring people as a whole and that this proof is in the pudding of experience. I like to think that I have always cherished these values while on the other hand I’m sure there are people out there that would not see me as such a Gung-ho type. But I was raised by a mother and father that instilled upon me the wish to make other people feel nice when the opportunity is afforded to do so. This isn’t a liberal thing, it’s a character thing. And we are not cartoon characters, we are American’s and it’s a tough role, but somebody’s got to do it….

Walking The Federal Pot Plank: Why its time for more mutiny across America

2011-01-11T18:01:00.006-07:00

An undeniable action is taking place across much of America and the Federal government has seemed to overlook the idea of Jurisprudence.........

Missoula District Court: Jury pool in marijuana case stages ‘mutiny’
A funny thing happened on the way to a trial in Missoula County District Court last week.Jurors – well, potential jurors – staged a revolt.They took the law into their own hands, as it were, and made it clear they weren’t about to convict anybody for having a couple of buds of marijuana.............
The tiny amount of marijuana police found while searching Touray Cornell’s home on April 23 became a huge issue for some members of the jury panel.No, they said, one after the other. No way would they convict somebody for having a 16th of an ounce.In fact, one juror wondered why the county was wasting time and money prosecuting the case at all......“I thought, ‘Geez, I don’t know if we can seat a jury,’ ” said Deschamps, who called a recess.And he didn’t......That was on Thursday.On Friday, Cornell entered an Alford plea, in which he didn’t admit guilt. He briefly held his infant daughter in his manacled hands, and walked smiling out of the courtroom......“A mutiny,” said Paul.“Bizarre,” the defense attorney called it. In his nearly 30 years as a prosecutor and judge, Deschamps said he’s never seen anything like it.

County Attorney Andrew Paul described the jury’s insistence as a “mutiny,” while defense attorney Martin Elison described it as bizarre. Deschamps, however, took a more expansive view, and called the impasse “a reflection of society as a whole on the issue.” "There’s every indication average Americans are mellowing to the idea of legalizing marijuana. A Gallup survey from October, for example, found that 46% of Americans support legalizing the drug, a two-point increase from last year. And though the AP-CNBC poll from April showed less favorable numbers for legalization — only 33% in favor, while 55% opposed — this shows an overwhelming support for medical marijuana: 60% of Americans think cannabis should be used as part of prescription plan."
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/41791/montana-pot-mutiny-signals-prohibitions-obsolescence/

Founding Father and President Thomas Jefferson said, “I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.”

John Adams said of the juror, “it is not only his right, but his duty – to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment, and conscience, though in direct opposition to the direction of the court” (Yale Law Journal, 1964:173).
Wheres the Tea Party when you need them?

So, the obvious question,ever-looming over our collective heads, why isn't pot legal? I mean lots of other things are legal, and lots of people seem to want to make pot legal and I myself can't seem to come up with much if any reasons not to make pot legal. Its a real head scratcher. Marijuana is essentially illegal across all of the United States(except for Good Ole' Breckenridge,CO. those rebels) but has been so decriminalized to a point that getting caught with an ounce or less of pot in many states is the same as getting a speeding ticket for doing ten miles over. You could almost call it the oxymoron of laws.

Now 15 states have passed legislation for the legal use of medical marijuana under the care of a Licensed
Physician for a host of medical conditions, to the joy and elation of patients and disdain to many if not all right wing politicians. And we cant have that can we? A recent article in The Missoulian headlines this:

"Legislation to change medical marijuana law hot topic for 2011 Legislature"
HELENA - Key members of the 2011 Legislature are determined to impose new regulations on a medical marijuana industry that some believe has reeled out of control in the past year.
Others are calling for outright repeal of the medical marijuana law enacted by a 2004 ballot measure, which 62 percent of Montanans approved, and one lawmaker wants to put the issue before voters again.
First of all, repealing this legislation would be as human-less as repealing health care, that's right, I said health care."It would be disastrous for patients who genuinely use and need the medicine, It would be disastrous for the taxpayers for the state to redefine 25,000 Montanans as criminals. It would be a law enforcement nightmare when budgets are tightened." In other words, it would cost more and more money to defend some antiquated principle like, lets say, prohibition.

To be fair, at least in Montana and and parts of Los Angeles and Oakland, exploitation of many loopholes and loose oversight was in practice, but gee whiz fellas, its not like that's ever happened with any legislature prior to this type. Give me a break. The legalization of marijuana makes sense when the stigma is removed and the facts are bared.And before you naysayers are already conjuring up you abuse arguments and the like, remember our wise, good friend Aristotle's words "Nothing to excess, nothing to defect." The Missoula pot mutiny story is a perfect example of the peoples will.
"The people stood up and spoke out."The story "hit a nerve" around the country, said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the national Drug Policy Alliance that advocates drug law reform.
"It shows the emperor-has-no-clothes dimension to what happened. It's an expression of what many people feel - that marijuana possession should no longer be illegal,"
No matter what your take on the position law is law and facts are facts. A recent law was passed in Missoula County to make the persecution and prosecution of minor marijuana offenses the lowest priority.And yet this particular court case is in the limelight.And there's always the ever infamous "War on Drugs" of which pot is an enemy, albeit a small one. So lets take a look at some facts collected from: http://www.drugsense.org/cms/wodclock

The U.S. federal government spent over $15 billion dollars in 2010 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $500 per second. Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy
State and local governments spent at least another 25 billion dollars.
Source: Jeffrey A. Miron & Kathrine Waldock: "The Budgetary Impact of Drug Prohibition," 2010.

Today is January 11th, 2011. it is 3:06 PM MST at this moment both federal and state governments have spent 1 billion, 3million dollars in 11 days in "the War on Drugs." And its working so well.
Conversely, It doesn't take much of a deep thinker to realize the tax revenues, and I mean huge ones, incomes and jobs that would go a long way to our deficit and ailing economy with the legalization of pot.. And yet The prohibition drags on, for the good of The People I'm sure.

But all is not lost.After flexing political muscles in 15 states to push forth legislation on medical weed, Mr. Smith is headed to Washington. A newly formed trade group by the title the National Cannabis Industry Association is a formation of sellers, growers and, manufacturers organizing to promote pot on the Hill.
Now that's a lobby I want to be a part of.

On a more serious note The U.S. Government, as always, is the all powerful Master of F.U.B.A.R., I don't think I need to break down that acronym for most of us. While 15 states are telling licensed physicians who are sworn to a Hippocratic oath that its OK to dispense pot to their patients who need it while in the same moment the good Dr.'s have the wonderful federal government threatening to take away their licenses to practice if they do. Classic Americana.

The marijuana issue has been beaten and ultimately tenderized. Its high time (pardon the expression) we as a country get past old hang-ups and the stigma of pot that's been looming over our heads since before the filming of "Refer Madness". I'd even be in favor of the formation of M.A.S.D. (Mothers Against Stoned Drivers) while I don't think they'd be to busy. Its time for America, as they say, to shit or get off the pot......
Regards,
C.

Some FACTS about healthcare.

2011-01-06T12:53:00.004-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/40949671#40949671

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=464987831496&set=a.408090511496.176560.551516496

By CBS News Capitol Hill Producers Jill Jackson and John Nolen
Cost:

$940 billion over ten years.

Deficit:

· Would reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the first ten years. That is an updated CBO estimate. Their first preliminary estimate said it would reduce the deficit by $130 billion over ten years. Would reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion dollars in the second ten years.

· Would pay for itself in less time than most people take to pay for their homes and would cut the deficit substantially after that.

Coverage:

Would expand coverage to 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured.
That is 32 million Americans who still go to the hospital they just let the taxpayers pay for it instead and it usually costs a lot more by then.

Health Insurance Exchanges:

The uninsured and self-employed would be able to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges with subsidies available to individuals and families with income between the 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty level.
The poor would get subsidies to pay for it which saves us tax payer money by paying small amounts rather than tens of thousands when they wait to go to the emergency room, one way or another they will go to the doctor.
Separate exchanges would be created for small businesses to purchase coverage -- effective 2014.
Making it cheaper for small business to help their employees too not just big companies.
Funding available to states to establish exchanges within one year of enactment and until January 1, 2015.
Help is even supplied to get it up and running.
Also the exchanges are made up of privately owned companies, not the government.

Subsidies:

Individuals and families who make between 100 percent - 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and want to purchase their own health insurance on an exchange are eligible for subsidies. They cannot be eligible for Medicare, Medicaid and cannot be covered by an employer. Eligible buyers receive premium credits and there is a cap for how much they have to contribute to their premiums on a sliding scale.

Federal Poverty Level for family of four is $22,050

Paying for the Plan:

Medicare Payroll tax on investment income -- Starting in 2012, the Medicare Payroll Tax will be expanded to include unearned income. That will be a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for families making more than $250,000 per year ($200,000 for individuals).
Just like the income tax the wealthy could not handle (only 3.8% tax) this only effects the top 2.6% of Americans.
Excise Tax -- Beginning in 2018, insurance companies will pay a 40 percent excise tax on so-called "Cadillac" high-end insurance plans worth over $27,500 for families ($10,200 for individuals). Dental and vision plans are exempt and will not be counted in the total cost of a family's plan. This is stuff like plastic surgery etc.
Tanning Tax -- 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning services.
Really

Medicare:

Closes the Medicare prescription drug "donut hole" by 2020. Seniors who hit the donut hole by 2010 will receive a $250 rebate.
Helping Seniors with prescriptions……
Beginning in 2011, seniors in the gap will receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs. The bill also includes $500 billion in Medicare cuts over the next decade.
This is 500 billion dollars that will be covered by the health care bill so no longer needed in Medicare. Also this 500 billion dollars is not counted in the 1.2 trillion dollars it saves in 10 years.

Medicaid:

Expands Medicaid to include 133 percent of federal poverty level which is $29,327 for a family of four.
Helping poor families is the .... again saves money by helping them before they go to the emergency room where it cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. Like the saying goes “pay me now or pay me later”
Requires states to expand Medicaid to include childless adults starting in 2014.
Federal Government pays 100 percent of costs for covering newly eligible individuals through 2016.
Again, pay me now or pay me a lot more later.
Illegal immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid.
They are not eligible for the health care bill either as this later shows.

Insurance Reforms:

Six months after enactment, insurance companies could no longer denying children coverage based on a preexisting condition.
Does this even need defending?
Starting in 2014, insurance companies cannot deny coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions.
Does this even need defending?
Insurance companies must allow children to stay on their parent's insurance plans until age 26th.

Abortion:
While it does not make abortion illegal, neither has the last several administrations and it actually makes it harder to get one paid for. I would rather concentrate on abolishing this one part of health care and help 32 million people and save money while I am doing that.

The bill segregates private insurance premium funds from taxpayer funds. Individuals would have to pay for abortion coverage by making two separate payments, private funds would have to be kept in a separate account from federal and taxpayer funds.
No health care plan would be required to offer abortion coverage. States could pass legislation choosing to opt out of offering abortion coverage through the exchange.

**Separately, anti-abortion Democrats worked out language with the White House on an executive order that would state that no federal funds can be used to pay for abortions except in the case of rape, incest or health of the mother. (Read more here)
Individual Mandate:

In 2014, everyone must purchase health insurance or face a $695 annual fine. There are some exceptions for low-income people.
You are paying for insurance already through your work donations or on your own or else you do not have insurance and that means I, as a tax payer, am paying it for you. And do the math, the fine is only $58 per month and how much does work presently take out of paychecks to pay for that insurance which I would no longer need. If I am paying the 58 dollar a month fine I have insurance. And do not forget the savings to Medicaid (500 billion) and the savings to Social Security (keeping people healthier longer), and the savings to workmans compensation…all of which will not be coming out of our checks anymore.

Employer Mandate:

Technically, there is no employer mandate. Employers with more than 50 employees must provide health insurance or pay a fine of $2000 per worker each year if any worker receives federal subsidies to purchase health insurance. Fines applied to entire number of employees minus some allowances.
If your company does not already offer health insurance, at some cost to you and I am guessing more than $58 per month, who' paying for that person who has a job and are doing his or her best? Do we say :"Too bad, you couldn't make the American Dream happen so fuck off"........

Immigration:

Illegal immigrants will not be allowed to buy health insurance in the exchanges -- even if they pay completely with their own money.
Here is the big one opponents try to scare us with.
They also cannot buy into Medicaid ….its just not true.

The truth must really hurt for the Republican party .............

Regards,
C.

(THANKS LOUIS!)

An Adult Holiday Chuckle.....

2010-12-17T11:42:00.005-07:00

WooHoo!!

A Conflict of Interest?

2010-12-15T10:14:00.002-07:00

updated 1 hour 56 minutes ago 2010-12-15T14:54:50

WASHINGTON — Republicans are threatening to force a reading of the U.S.-Russia nuclear treaty in the Senate that would delay efforts to push ahead on President Barack Obama's top foreign policy priority.
Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that the only imperative is a tax measure and legislation to keep the government operating. He said everything else can wait until next year.
Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he hoped the Republicans wouldn't require that the treaty be read aloud. He said it would be a "colossal waste of time."
The Senate was scheduled to vote on tax legislation Wednesday morning and then move ahead on the treaty.

Our Lame duck congress is certainly living up to their name. As any of you know that take the time to read my ranting and ravings you are quite aware that I am left of center when it comes to American politics.While this is no surprise I have had this unbelievable feeling of sickness welling up inside of me for some time now and I figure its time to belch out more of my silenced shock as its getting hard to keep quiet. No matter what Mitch McConnell and his other cronies cry foul about here's one the Republicans completely did pull over on their continually mind thickening fan base. Not only is it a fair statement to say the the G.O.P. held the American people hostage, they reacted to this accusation with righteous indignation, the nerve of the American people wanting a higher tax bracket for millionaires....what poppycock. Doesn't it seem like a huge conflict of interest when millionaire lawyers are the ones in charge of deciding if millionaires get extended tax cuts?(for you righties about to form some attempt at a coherent argument for my position bare in mind that 98% of you would still get tax breaks...). You have let the Republican party flip you the bird and you don't even see it. But get used to it, they been doing it to the left for decades.

So, now the party of "Noper's" are blocking the S.T.A.R.T. legislation under the guise of continuing our governments budget through the next year as a stalling process for something they don't like anyway. I know, ridding the world of nuclear weapons is a trivial pursuit but "Gorby" was all for it and we loved him.My how the worm turns. The don't Ask Don't Tell repeal action is a Republican badminton match,Jon McCain and pals have flip-flopped on it so many times there is a clear public record of that chicanery...

Posted at 6:00 AM ET, 12/15/2010

Most back repealing 'don't ask, don't tell,' poll says

By Ed O'Keefe and Jon Cohen

Nearly eight in 10 Americans favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The results signal continued widespread public support for ending the military's 17-year ban on gays in the military and come as Congress prepares to vote again on legislation ending the military's "don't ask, don't tell" law.
Overall, 77 percent of Americans say gays and lesbians who publicly disclose their sexual orientation should be able to serve in the military. That's little changed from polls over the two years, but represents the highest level of support in a Post-ABC poll. The support also cuts across partisan and ideological lines, with majorities of Democrats, Republicans, independents, liberals, conservatives and white evangelical Protestants in favor of homosexuals' serving openly.
The House of Representatives is set to vote Wednesday on a bill that would repeal "don't ask, don't tell," and it is expected to pass easily in the Democratic-dominated House; its fate in the Senate remains uncertain.
The survey asked "gays and lesbians" or "homosexuals," presenting each term to random half-samples of respondents. Both versions of the questions yielded similar results.
Respondents were also asked about gays and lesbians who do and do not publicly state their sexual orientation.
When asked -- "Do you think [homosexuals/gays and lesbians] who do NOT publicly disclose their sexual orientation should be allowed to serve in the military or not?" -- 83 percent of respondents said yes, 14 percent said no and 4 percent had no opinion. Again, the terms "Homosexuals" and "gays and lesbians" were used interchangeably by survey takers.
And when asked -- "Do you think [homosexuals/gays and lesbians] who DO publicly disclose their sexual orientation should be allowed to serve in the military or not?" -- 77 percent said yes, 21 percent said no and 2 percent had no opinion.
The results mirror the findings of a February Post/ABC poll that found 75 percent of Americans backed allowing gays serve openly in the military.
The poll was conducted Dec 9 to 12 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Q: Changing topics, do you think [half sample: homosexuals/half sample: gays and lesbians] who do NOT publicly disclose their sexual orientation should be allowed to serve in the military or not?

Yes   No   No opinión     
12/12/10   83    14        4 
2/8/10*    83    15        1 
7/13/08    78    18        5 
1/15/01    75    22        3 
5/23/93    63    35        2 
*"homosexuals"

Lib   Cons  White   No 
    Dems  Reps  Inds  Dems  Reps  Evang. Relig. 

Yes  89    82    80    92    81    75     87     
No   10    14    15     7    15    19     10 
DK    1     3     4     1     4     6      2

Q: Do you think [half sample: homosexuals/half sample: gays and lesbians] who DO publicly disclose their sexual orientation should be allowed to serve in the military or not?

Yes   No   No opinion 
12/12/10   77    21        2 
2/8/10*    75    24        1 
7/13/08    75    22        3 
1/15/01    62    35        3 
5/23/93    44    55        2 
*"homosexuals"

Lib   Cons  White   No 
    Dems  Reps  Inds  Dems  Reps  Evang. Relig. 
Yes  86    74    74    92    67    70      84 
No   13    23    24     7    30    28      14 
DK    2     3     2     1     4     2       2

Leave your thoughts in the comments section below

Lastly, The question is begged, what kind of recession are millionaires facing? Is it like the one our backbone middle class carries on their shoulders? Some how I doubt it, but that's my own observation.The middle class can't leap out windows because the bankers have repossessed all the homes...

Regards,

What are We Going to Do Now? Or, Be careful What you wish for Mr. Boehner.

2010-11-08T07:00:00.010-07:00

Well folks, you have them back now so how are you feeling half of America? I think I can safely speak for the feelings of the rest of us and be concise in in our summation: DOOM.
Realistically, Doom is a Republican aspiration, I believe we are all still safe. (somewhat) But a continual examination of the new Republican house can ill afford any of us being distracted.
Where do I begin. It was only recently the almost newly self-anointed Speaker of the House John Boehner was quoted saying that he would consider negotiating with our president on a tax break the would not extend the glorious indenturing Bush tax cuts blessed upon us from his Mt. Olympus administration. But Boehner isn't even coronated yet and he is already letting us know how he's going to kick the ball around, here's a hint: just like he always has. A narcissistic friend to big corporate interests as he as always been further attempting to push forward his own agenda's without concern for the middle class American. Here you go:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40111181/ns/politics/

Boehner: No compromise so far on tax cuts for all

By Associated Press

updated 11/10/2010 12:34:44 PM ET

WASHINGTON — Incoming House Speaker John Boehner is standing firm on the question of tax cuts even for the wealthiest Americans..........

I found this picture taken recently of the new speaker and could not help but asking myself; Would I even buy a used car from this guy? The answer is a resounding no of course: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/40127858#40127858 but lets move on.

If I am going to rant about coronations yet to take place how could I avoid the graceful, (I quit my job) ex- Alaskan governor Sarah "I Can see Russia..." Palin. We can only hope she actually gets the Republican nomination. She is getting so smart now that she can know more about economic issues than the Wall Street Journal,which of course she was wrong, again, but of course that steel trap jaw of hers wasted no time getting right to on of her tea party, baseless Facebook page so she can set the "lamestream" media straight:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/11/10/ac.palin.vs.wallstreet.cnn?hpt=Sbin

I'll let you watch this and think for yourselves....

Scared yet?
Now Comfortable in their "Shellacking" of the Democrats in the house, by the way, wasn't shellacking something we did in wood shop? ( I probably smelled to much lacquer thinner) you can can count on the same thing you had all along; A party enslaved to corporate interests just as it was before. Half of this wonderful country should be ashamed of itself on this most American of days and consider their spoiled asses in their instant world of gratification. Well guess what? You people(and you know who you are) vote with greed and not consideration with your country as a whole, just your small part of it. Is that really American? Perhaps neighborhoods can once again become competing tribes and we can be more regressive instead of progressive. Are ya feelin me Tea whatever you are's and the same for you right wing religious extremists who cant find the words church and state in the 1st Amendment in the U.S. Constitution your so proud of touting, try looking for the words: "Government and Religion", perhaps the meaning of those words won't escape you.
Regards,
C.

The Chip Hits The Fan: Calling The Ball

2010-10-13T09:54:00.008-06:00

The November 2nd midterm elections this year are previewing a new political quasar that should be examined closely. Polarization and Partisanship rearing their ugliest heads in American political memory. The current pulse, for those of you that don't live in a cave, is that the Republican party is going to make great gains in the House and just plainly kick the Democrats sedentary ass. A political Titanic if you listen to the pundits....
But for the sake of sanity and lack of better words, don't give up the ship just yet Democrats and Independents. I would beg of you to take a look at the record and history. Of course its been 2 years since the current administration has been in place and of course people are growing weary of President Obama and his administration keep bringing up the lame hand they were dealt by the outgoing Bush administration and that is just how it goes when the hand changes from the right to the left. But unlike other arenas, there is no speed shift in this area. If Americans want to punish politicians a mere 2 years after this country witnessed its near economic collapse, punish them all, come up with something new for God's (and ours) sake. Our current ideas of punishing the incumbents and glorifying the extremists is going to send this great country back to the age of the Flintstones.
Get out and vote people, but don't vote based upon what you are choked with on a daily basis by Fox News and CNN, do some homework and examine the facts and history for yourself....

Regards,
C.

2010-08-21T10:40:00.001-06:00

Mama Grizzlies can't even read.......

August 21st, 2010 12:23 pm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38627661/ns/politics/

Palin: Ga.'s Handel to 'fight like a mama grizzly'

ATLANTA —" Sarah Palin handed Georgia gubernatorial hopeful Karen Handel her conservative seal of approval on Monday in a tight Republican runoff, saying Handel would "fight like a mama grizzly" and help usher out the state's "good ol' boy network."......

....."Are you ready to elect a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, commonsense constitutional conservative, who will fight like a mama grizzly for you and the values that you hold dear?" Palin asked a cheering crowd in a hotel ballroom.

This woman , as I have stated before, is a clouding insult to America's political scene. And what is more appalling is that she is revealing an American face,her Republican fan base that is, as a large group of people who will believe just about anything they hear.(see Fox News) but like most of President Obama's time in office large groups on the right just hear words and know them to be truth. People, ignorance is NOT bliss. But in an effort to try and help those of you who don't care much for research and fact, here you go: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38776615/ns/politics/

"Primary losses blunt Palin's 'mama grizzly' claws"

WASHINGTON — "It's been a summer of setbacks for Sarah Palin. Candidate "cubs" endorsed by the Mama Grizzly in Chief have been suffering a recent string of primary election losses.
The Republicans' 2008 vice presidential nominee promised a pack of "mama grizzly" candidates would rise up and defeat Democrats in this November's elections. But office-seekers she supported in Kansas, Wyoming and Washington state lost their primaries despite her high-profile endorsements. And Karen Handel lost her runoff contest for Georgia governor a day after sharing an Atlanta stage with Palin.
Now, Alaska's Senate primary on Tuesday is shaping up as an embarrassing defeat in her own backyard. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is expected to dispatch the challenger Palin has endorsed in the Republican contest.
Palin says it isn't about picking winners"...........

Well, there you have it, or at least some of it.......

Regards,

The Never Ending No.....

2010-08-01T19:45:00.004-06:00

Obama: Republicans holding small businesses "hostage"

by Ross Colvin

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38499710/ns/politics/

WASHINGTON — " President Barack Obama on Saturday accused Republicans of holding American small businesses "hostage to politics" after Republican senators refused to back a $30 billion small-business lending package.

Senate Republicans blocked the package on Thursday, dealing a fresh blow to Obama's efforts to show Americans, in the midst of a tough election year, that his administration is focused on tackling stubbornly high unemployment....."

"I'm calling on the Republican leaders in the Senate to stop holding America's small businesses hostage to politics, and allow an up-or-down vote on this small business jobs bill," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.

Blame me or not, I have been singing a same sad song for some time for you right wing political thinkers. But the "Grand Ole Party" makes it easy for me to fasten my position and opinion on a daily basis, this is just the most recent Republican fodder for me to take aim at. The depths of the disgraced Republican party are as predictable as to what day it will be tomorrow. I know if your filthy rich your pissed off, and that you likely don't care about other peoples struggles outside of your first or possibly second degrees of separation, so here is an idea for your demographic:
move to Costa Rica as many of your kind do ,get your tax shelter, vote with an absentee ballot and quit sucking this country of it's hard earned blood. You have a choice, greed or nationality.

Regards,

C.

Who needs a job anyway?

2010-06-25T09:03:00.025-06:00

By ANDREW TAYLOR

updated 7:18 p.m. MT, Thurs., June 24, 2010

WASHINGTON — Republicans on Thursday defeated Democrats' showcase election-year jobs bill, including an extension of weekly unemployment benefits for millions of people out of work more than six months....
The rejected bill would have provided $16 billion in new aid to states, preserving the jobs of thousands of state and local government workers and providing what White House officials called an insurance policy against a double-dip recession. It included dozens of tax breaks sought by business lobbyists and tax increases on domestically produced oil and on investment fund managers.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs accused Republicans of blocking a commonsense economic package aimed at helping Americans suffering in the recession. "The president has been clear: Americans should not fall victim to Republican obstruction at a time of great economic challenge for our nation's families," Gibbs said in a statement. "The president will continue to press Congress to pass this bill and bring this relief that's critical to our economic recovery."

"This is a bill that would remedy serious challenges that American families face as a result of this Great Recession," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the chief author of the bill. "This is a bill that works to build a stronger economy. This is a bill to put Americans back to work."

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Nearly a million people have lost their unemployment benefits because the Senate failed for the third time Thursday to extend the deadline to file for this safety net.....
More than a million people are expected to run out of benefits this month, according to the National Employment Law Project.....

The Obama administration has not fought aggressively for the legislation but the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, issued a statement chastising Republicans for opposing the bill.

“Republicans in the Senate obstructed a common-sense package that would save jobs, extend tax cuts for businesses and provide relief for American families,” Mr. Gibbs said, adding, “The president will continue to press Congress to pass this bill and bring this relief that’s critical to our economic recovery.”

Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and chairman of the Finance Committee, who is the primary sponsor of the legislation, said the bill had been cut back by about $100 billion in response to Republicans’ demands for a smaller package.........

The Republican Party seems to emulate this blogs title. The G.O.P.'s excuse for leaving over a million new jobless Americans without a financial leg to stand on, mostly thanks to them, was the usual tripe of increasing national debt. While I am not condoning the burying of ones self in debt, It seems debt will increase due to unemployment for middle class Americans, just not their (Washington Republicans) debt. I hope your proud of your vote out there folks, you can now see what it has done for you and the rest of the country. For the majority of active voters, the last time you voted in your current President, you have already witnessed alot of the "change" that was promised to you and there's still more to come. For most of the rest of you, you get an outraged, often child-like, greed motivated representatives who are so pissed off about losing the last election that then will stoop to the lowest depths to trip up their opponent no matter what pain and anxiety it cost us little guys. The proof is in the Pudding......

Regards,

2010-06-17T11:13:00.007-06:00

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/15/gop.gulf.response/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Washington (CNN) -- Partisan bickering over the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster intensified Tuesday as top Republicans once again slammed the Obama administration for imposing a six-month deepwater drilling moratorium and stepped up their fight against a Democratic move to lift current liability caps for oil spills.

Republicans also lashed out at Democrats for allegedly using the disaster to push an alternative energy agenda that the GOP contends will cripple the economic recovery.The political sniping took place as President Barack Obama headed back to Washington from the Gulf to prepare for a Tuesday night prime time speech on the response to the spill.The ruptured BP well at the center of the disaster is still believed to be spewing as much as 40,000 barrels -- or between 840,000 and 1.7 milllion gallons -- of crude every day.Republicans -- along with some Gulf Coast Democrats -- have been particularly upset with the president's decision in May to extend a ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf Coast from 30 days to six months. The ban requires all Gulf wells drilling in more than 500 feet of water to shut down, and prevents new permits from being issued. Wells that are already pumping crude, however, have been allowed to continue operating.

GOP fights Democrats on Gulf moratorium, liability

By the CNN Wire Staff

June 15, 2010 4:21 p.m. EDT

"This moratorium does not makes sense," said Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Louisiana. It is "based on unfounded science. It is not really based on any knowledge of technology or facts on the ground." Boustany complained that the temporary ban will be "hugely detrimental" to the economic recovery."When you shut down [deep water] drilling in the Gulf of Mexico ... you're killing jobs," warned Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas. Eighty percent of all new oil production in United States occurs offshore, he said, and the majority of that production is in the Gulf.The rigs affected by the shutdown "will relocate and they won't come back," said Rep. Greg Harper, R-Mississippi. The moratorium is a "job killer" that "will make a horrible disaster ever worse....."

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10337146.stm>

Congressman Joe Barton, the senior Republican on Mr Waxman's committee, said that while he agreed BP should explain its actions, he was "ashamed" to see the firm having to set up the compensation fund.It was, he said, a "$20bn shakedown".

<http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/06/17/4522143-protester-disrupts-bp-ceos-testimony>

"BP's reported willingness to go along with the White House's new fund suggests that the Obama Administration is hard at work exerting its brand of Chicago-style shakedown politics." R - Barton
"What is shameful is that Joe Barton seems to have more concern for big corporations that caused this disaster than the fishermen, small business owners and communities whose lives have been devastated by the destruction. Congressman Barton may think that a fund to compensate these Americans is a "tragedy," but most Americans know that the real tragedy is what the men and women of the Gulf Coast are going through right now. Members from both parties should repudiate his comments." - Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary

Well folks, just how much more evidence do you need that the Republican party cares nothing about the livelihood of the "little people" of the Gulf Coast or anywhere else in America, and yet half the voters in this country want to blame a President that has done more during this terrible tragedy than any other president in recent memory to help the American common man.
Congressman Barton should be road out of Congress on a rail. But he does perhaps put more of a magnifying glass on the Republican ideology of holding hands with big corporate donors no matter
how it turns out for middle class Americans. People everywhere are saying "Where's the change Mr. President?" I say to the naysayers: EXAMINE THE FACTS! More progressive change has happened in this country in a little over a year than has happened in almost a dozen years. While the old vanguard typically needs glasses, its no excuse to keep blinders over them.
People, quit listening to Republican rhetoric motivated by greed and campaign donations
(for a hundred years or so) and open your eyes and ears. To continue to vote in these money mongering politicians is a sin and it is slowly and truly destroying our great country. You have yourselves as voters to blame for these wrongs just as well. Examine the facts, study your history. Just because our President has a calm demeanor and is pragmatic, doesn't mean he is sitting on his ass.
Wise up America.......

Regards,
C.

2010-04-09T09:56:00.002-06:00

April 9, 2010

Obama brushes off Palin on nuclear deal

Posted: April 9th, 2010 11:10 AM ET

From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

President Obama on Friday brushed off criticism from Sarah Palin that his agreement with Russia to restrict the use of nuclear weapons amounts to a dangerous sign of weakness.

(CNN) - President Obama on Friday brushed off criticism from Sarah Palin that his agreement with Russia to restrict the use of nuclear weapons amounts to a dangerous sign of weakness.

"I really have no response," the president said tersely in an interview on ABC's Good Morning America. "Because last I checked, Sarah Palin's not much of an expert on nuclear issues."

Speaking on Fox News earlier this week, Palin said the recently negotiated treaty with Russia - seeking a reduction in the number of nuclear weapons held by the two countries - is an "unbelievable" move and that "no administration in America's history I think would ever have considered such a step."

"It's kinda like getting out in the playground, a bunch of kids ready to fight, and one of the kids saying 'go ahead, punch me in the face, I am not going to retaliate, go ahead and do what you want to with me,'" Palin said.

Obama said Friday: "I would say to them is that if the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff are comfortable with it, I'm probably going to take my advice from them and not from Sarah Palin."

The treaty requires approval from two-thirds of the Senate to go into effect. Some of the chamber's Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, have indicated that they are not ready to support the deal.

"The Senate will assess whether or not the agreement is verifiable, whether it reduces our nation's ability to defend itself and our allies from the threat of nuclear armed missiles, and whether or not this administration is committed to preserving our own nuclear triad," McConnell said in a statement.

Sarah Palin may be "rogue" but she certainly isn't vogue. This woman is a money/headline grabbing entity that is a dangerous element clouding today's progressive politics. She would have worked well with Betsy Ross. She is even more clueless on American defense issues than Dick Cheney, you know the Penguin. Perhaps will call the audibly irritating Palin "Catwoman". Between the two we now have the "Dynamic Dopes"..........

Regards,
C.

2010-04-02T23:33:00.005-06:00

Fla. doc's sign warns off Obama supporters Democrats should ‘seek urological care elsewhere,’ says notice on door

	A sign on the door of Dr. Jack Cassell's office in Mount Dora, Fla., tells patients "If you voted for Obama, seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years." View related photos
Deirdre Lewis / AP

MOUNT DORA, Fla. - "A central Florida urologist has posted a sign on his office door warning supporters of President Barack Obama to find a different doctor.

The notice on Dr. Jack Cassell's Mount Dora practice says, "If you voted for Obama, seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years."

Cassell told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday he wasn't questioning patients or refusing care, because that would be unethical.

"But if they read the sign and turn the other way, so be it," he said.

Cassell, 56, also provides Republican reading material in the waiting room — probably not a risky move, given that Mount Dora's 10,000 residents and the surrounding area lean heavily conservative. Above a stack of GOP health care literature, a sign reads: "This is what the morons in Washington have done to your health care. Take one, read it and vote out anyone who voted for it."

A spokeswoman from the Florida Department of Health, which licenses physicians and investigates complaints, said Friday there was no law prohibiting Cassell from advertising himself this way.

"Because there is no statute, there would be no grounds for a complaint," spokeswoman Eulinda Smith said. "It would be legally deficient,"

A University of Florida professor said Cassell is walking a thin line between free speech and professional obligation. William Allen, a specialist in bioethics, law and medical professionalism, said civil rights protections can prevent patient discrimination. But the law only provides for race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and disability — not political opinion.

Allen said Cassell may be within his rights if he doesn't quiz patients about their politics and hasn't refused to see anyone.

"(He's) trying to hold onto the nub of his ethical obligation," Allen said. "But this is pushing the limit."

Cassell has been practicing in the area since 1988. His wife, Leslie Campione, is a lawyer and GOP candidate for the county commission.

Cassell says most patients have been extremely supportive, though three had complained.

"They know it's not good for them," Cassell said."

Well, until now writers block and apathy have left me listless. I have watched a group of elected millionaire's act no better than a bunch of whining, and often, lying 6th graders degrade our great country just trying to keep their jobs and apparently caring for no one or nothing else. I think it is easy to see that this isn't one sided lambasting on my part. When the facts are facts again, and the Republican smear/fear campaign can withdraw like an un-welcomed tidal wave, perhaps the truth will appear, that is, our president has done more than most since FDR to get this country back on track. Saddled with incomprehensible odds President Obama keeps delivering on his promise of change(the good kind) but his accomplishments are smoldered over by his opponents fear rhetoric. The dust hasn't settled on our beloved presidents legacy and he has accomplished more in a year than his predecessor did in 8. (I'm speaking to positive things). What a fickle country we are acting like children and not taking in the example of history and change. It is the 21st century folks, not 1952. "A person tied to custom is like a prisoner bound in chains." Support you elected President, be patriotic and stop being spoiled brats Americans...

Regards,

2009-12-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

2009-11-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Bodhisattva

2009-11-18T13:13:00.011-07:00

Bodhisattva,
Would you take me by the hand?

Bodhisattva Would you take me by the hand?
Can you show me The shine of your Japan?

The sparkle of your china?

Can you show me, Bodhisattva?

Bodhisattva, I'm gonna sell my house in

town, Bodhisattva, I'm gonna sell my house

in town. And I'll be there To shine in your

Japan, to sparkle in your China. Yes I'll be

there Bodhisattva - Steely Dan

We could use some help from Bodhi right now.....

Regards,
c.

2009-08-31T17:01:00.000-06:00

Click to Play

2009-08-31T07:58:00.002-06:00

August 31, 2009

Should the legal drinking age be lowered to 18?

Posted: 08:39 AM ET

As you know, the legal drinking age is currently 21. But some public officials are now supporting a movement to drop the age to 18. They say underage students tend to drink more, in off-campus settings – because of the law. What do you think? Should the drinking age be lowered to 18? Send Heidi your comments and she might read them on the air during the 9am and 10am ET hours of CNN Newsroom.

August 31st, 2009 9:35 am ET

An Interesting debate Heidi,
while some of the constituents have good ground when sighting the whole military and voting thing, I believe that a careful view of drunk driving statistics should be considered concerning age groups 24 and under. It strikes me as funny how the country might get on board with a consideration like this but scoff at the legalization of pot. Has this issue been raised (again) because of potential tax revenue? It is a hard thought to escape.

Regards,
C.

The Fantastic Fops!

2009-05-21T09:49:00.003-06:00

Meet the Real RNC

Ignore the party, Rush, Newt and Cheney are the muscle

May 20, 2009 | Updated: 9:14 p.m. ET May 20, 2009

Right now there are two RNCs here in Washington, side by side. The contrast is instructive.
One, the Republican National Committee, is a clueless self-parody. The other, the (R)ush-(N)ewt-(C)heney tag team, is providing the real muscle as the Republican right begins to build traction in taking on President Obama and the Democrats.

The official RNC just spent the last two days wasting time and inviting ridicule—listening to a listless, empty speech by its chairman, Michael Steele, and debating the grand idea of calling the Democrats "socialists." Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh hammers away at the Democrats and the president on radio every day; Newt Gingrich sarcastically attacks Nancy Pelosi on The Daily Show (and gets laughs for doing so); and Dick Cheney continues his high-profile, Iraq-star media tour.

Steele kicked away his moment as leader of the party, failing even to launch a single credible attack line, let alone sketch a new strategic or tactical vision for the Republicans. Cheney—despite his deep and abiding unpopularity—has helped the GOP exploit the first true weak spot in the alliance of Obama and congressional Democrats: the question of how to handle the war on terror. In one sense, the issue has been presented, gift-wrapped, to the GOP. But while Steele has dithered, Rush, Newt and Cheney have latched on like the partisan pit bulls they are.

Barack Obama launched himself to power by promising to rethink—and vastly change—America's approach to the war. But in the last several weeks, facing the grim realities of his role as commander in chief, he has been forced to backtrack, seeking a political middle course on defense and national-security policy. The president has accepted military tribunals; asserted the state-secrets defense in court cases; and reversed a decision to release photos of interrogation sessions that led to the prosecution of American soldiers. He has maintained parts of the Bush administration's domestic-surveillance program, and refused to advocate a wholesale review of Bush-era polices on interrogation.

While those retreats have torn a few important pages from Obama's earlier promises, the contributions from his Democratic allies on the Hill better resemble the work of a paper shredder. Speaker Pelosi has gotten ever more tangled up in her own Hermès as she has tried to explain what she did or did not know about the prior administration's use of "enhanced interrogation techniques." Her evolving version of events has been questioned widely, including by two leading members of Obama's own team, CIA Director Leon Panetta and FBI Director Robert Mueller. And now Democrats in Congress have directly rebuffed the administration, joining Republicans in refusing to consider transferring Guantánamo terrorism suspects to prisons on U.S. soil.

Obama has a chance to regain control of the debate today, when he speaks at the National Archives. He will set forth his policy on Guantánamo (whatever it has become). In typical Obama fashion, he will try to work his way out of a jam by putting his decision in the largest possible philosophical context. (He did the same thing during the campaign when confronted by the crisis over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright: candidate Obama gave a sweeping speech on the history of race relations in American life.)

But even as Obama is speaking, who will be clearing his throat at a podium across town? Why, Dick Cheney, of course. The former vice president hasn't singlehandedly created this situation, but he has adroitly capitalized on it. By relentlessly defending his record and promoting his views—keep Guantánamo open, use waterboarding, use all possible surveillance techniques—Cheney the Grim has helped create the fog of controversy now surrounding the White House.
That is what an opposition party does. Chairman Steele and the real RNC should take a look.

If these are the superheroes the RNC are hoping to save (Conservative) Metropolis, the right is in deep dog doo doo.....

Regards,

Happy Mothers Day!!!

2009-05-10T14:40:00.004-06:00

For Mom and all the "Other Mothers" I know and love....Where would this crazy ass world be without all of you? You have been carrying a shoulderload since time began....

Regards, (and much love)

Wheel

2009-04-24T21:16:00.004-06:00

If I took a rollin' wheel
And rolled it ten times round
Would it travel far from here
Or would it just go round
Round and Round
As a young boy I helped the old man
Workin' in the fields
And everyday, we hauled the hay
To the rollin' of the wheels
'Til one day the tractor laid
The old man down to the ground
The tractor pitched him into a ditch and
Left a dusty sound
Of the wheel that kept spinnin' round
The wheel that kept spinnin' round

Rollin' wheel, rollin' on
Takin' us all on our way
Rollin' wheel, rollin' on
Takin back all that they gave
Takin' us all on our way
Takin' back all that they save
I've never knew my father well
The war called him too soon
Said he was an officer
Saw some pictures in my room
The letter said he was reported dead
Near the front lines he'd been found
A mine blew his jeep into a twisted heep
And I still hear the sound
Of the wheel that kept spinnin' round.
Rollin' wheel, rollin' on
Takin' us all on our way
Rollin' wheels, rollin' on
Takin' us all to the grave
Takin' back all that they save
Takin' us all on our way
My brother chased a dream of wheels
His whole life geared for the race
As soon as he could, he drove off for good
His whole life was short, quick, and straight
He only lived to spin those wheels
And make that move over ground
'Til the steering failed and he crashed the rail
And he laid there still for the sounds
Of the wheel that kept spinning round.
Rollin' wheel, they're rollin' on
Takin' us all on our way
The rollin' wheels, rollin' on
Takin' back all that they gave
Takin' us all on our way
Takin' back all that they say
As for me, my life's too short
The wheel has carried me far
Around this world 100 times
By bus, truck, train, bike , or car (???)
And just like the rest I roll on to my death
On a country road far from town
I stare by the wheel just as sure as I feel
That there won't be but one sound
That's the wheel that keeps spinning round
Yeah the wheel that keeps spinning round
Rollin wheels, rollin' on
Takin us all on our way
The rollin' wheels, rollin' on
Takin' back all that they say
Takin us all on our way
Takin' us all on our way
The rollin' wheels, yeah rollin' on
Takin' back all that they gave
Takin' us all on our way

Jerry Jeff Walker

For Derek, my truly best and Oldest Friend.... and the biggest asshole I have ever had the pleasure to know.

2009-04-24T18:56:00.001-06:00

" One Dollar Mortimer!"

Love,
C.

Wouldn't it Be Nice?

2009-04-23T08:58:00.002-06:00

ion

Who wants to talk to Hamas?

Hamas's political leader in Damascus hosts European parliamentarians

After Hamas's leader Khaled Meshaal addressed UK MPs by videolink from Damascus on Wednesday, the BBC's Heather Sharp in Jerusalem looks at the signs that the international community is reconsidering its boycott of the Islamist group.

Hamas has had more international visitors since US President Barack Obama came to power, and they seem to be getting bolder, says Ahmad Youssef, an advisor close to the Islamist movement's political leaders in Gaza.

Groups of lawmakers from the UK and EU, travelling independently, have made widely publicised visits to Hamas's exiled leader in Damascus in recent months.

And Mr Youssef says official representatives of European governments have also come calling - and not just the Norwegians who have long had contact with Hamas.

Mr Youssef says it seems such delegations are now "getting the green light from the Americans".

"They are more courageous than during the Bush administration," he insists.

Diplomatic conundrum

Most of the international community backs Israel's view that Hamas is a terrorist group, and refuses to deal directly with it.

But calls for a rethink have increased since Mr Obama came to power. Some believe there are signs of a subtle change in mood.

KEY STORIES

Hamas chief hails Obama approach

Little hope in Gaza aftermath

Who will rebuild Gaza?

Who are Hamas?

Hamas has posed a diplomatic conundrum since it won Palestinian elections in 2006, while still espousing Israel's violent destruction in its charter.

It became the de facto ruler of Gaza after forcing out its rival, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, during factional fighting in 2007.

Israel and the international community continued to engage with the PA, but refused to deal with Hamas unless it committed to non-violence, recognised Israel, and accepted previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

The hope was to marginalise Hamas while rewarding the PA's moderation, but the view that this has not worked seems to be gaining traction.

Pragmatism

A senior economic advisor to Mr Obama, Paul Volcker, recently put his name to a paper which included a "more pragmatic approach to Hamas" among wider policy recommendations.

Harry Siegman, the head of the think-tank behind the document, believes there are "early indications" that the new US government will adopt its advice to "cease discouraging" third parties from dealing with Hamas.

Many Gazans live in tents as reconstruction is bogged down in politics

Mr Siegman says reaction to the document was "very positive" at a recent meeting which he says was attended by several "senior members" of the Obama administration, including US Middle East envoy George Mitchell.

Meanwhile, Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel who advised US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her presidential campaign, recently co-wrote a book chapter asserting that "a peace process that excludes" Hamas is "bound to fail".

If an Israel-Hamas ceasefire held and Fatah and Hamas reconciled, the US should deal with a Palestinian unity government and "authorise low-level contact with Hamas in Gaza", it said.

And in January, Tony Blair, the international community's Middle East envoy, warned against "pushing Gaza aside".

"I do think it is important that we find a way of bringing Hamas into this process," he told the Times newspaper, although he holds that Hamas should meet the three conditions first.

Palestinian disunity

A Fatah-Hamas unity government is often touted as the most likely route to bringing Hamas in from the cold - possibly paving the way for talks with Israel on lifting its nearly two-year blockade of Gaza.

But the factions are bitterly divided over many internal issues, and deadlock over the three conditions highlights the deep ideological gulf between them.

For Hamas, recognising Israel is an "inviolable red line", which should not even be discussed until the Palestinians have their own state, Mr Youssef says.

Israelis say 6,000 rockets from Gaza have fallen on southern towns since 2000

"Why should Palestinians recognise Israel when Israel doesn't recognise Palestine?" he asks, and points out that no final borders have been agreed.

"Which Israel are we supposed to recognise? Israel with the settlements? Israel with East Jerusalem? Or Greater Israel that includes Jordan, Lebanon, Syria…?"

Furthermore, many analysts point out the condition is one of Hamas's key negotiating cards, so insisting on it from the outset undermines the very point of dialogue.

But for the PA, which says it has seen no indication of a shift in the US view, the conditions are non-negotiable and the Palestinians have already signed up to them.

Its top negotiator, Saeb Erekat, however, warns that Israel's new, right-leaning government is undermining the PA by going back on Israel's commitments.

It has refused to back Palestinian statehood and said it does not accept accords reached in Annapolis in 2007.

"If the quartet demands one thing of the Palestinian government and does not apply the same thing to the Israeli government, the whole concept of a PA, or peace, will become totally irrelevant…it's over," Mr Erekat says.

Tough compromise

Hamas and the PA did, however, reach a compromise formula in Mecca in 2007, under which the Islamist movement joined a unity government which would "respect" existing agreements with Israel.

But only a handful of countries - such as Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and Russia - gave it their backing. This put the PA in "a very, very severe position", says Mr Erekat.

The government then fell apart as intra-Palestinian fighting broke out in Gaza.

Israel remains opposed to direct contact with Hamas, citing the fact the group is sworn to Israel's destruction and the thousands of rockets it has launched at Israel towns in recent years.

But it has held indirect, Egyptian-brokered talks over ceasefires and the captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, and 64% of Israelis backed direct talks in a poll a year ago.

Mr Youssef says Hamas would stop violence if Israel did too, and lifted its blockade of Gaza.

He says the group is open to a 10-year ceasefire, in return for a full withdrawal from the areas Israel occupied in 1967.

And Hamas's founding charter, he says, is an "ideological document" and "not a manual for action".

"But we can't just scrap it to appease Israel," he adds.

Those who advocate dialogue with Hamas believe it will strengthen moderates from Hamas's political wing, such as Mr Youssef.

But others look at the rockets Israel says the group's military wing is continuing to smuggle into Gaza, the fiery, anti-Semitic statements of Hamas-linked preachers and media outlets, and the group's refusal to change its charter, and see no such hope.

Wouldn't it be nice if we were older?

Then we wouldn't have to wait so long

And wouldn't it be nice to live together

In the kind of world where we belong

You know its gonna make it that much better

When we can say goodnight and stay together

Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up

In the morning when the day is new

And after having spent the day together

Hold each other close the whole night through

The happy times together we've been spending

I wish that every kiss was never ending...

Wouldn't it be nice?

Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray... it might come true

Baby, then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do...

We could be married and then we'd be happy,

Wouldn't it be nice?

You know it seems the more we talk about it

It only makes it worse to live without it

But let's talk about it...

Wouldn't it be nice? -

Wilson/Asher

Happy Birthday Moses!!!

2009-04-17T22:44:00.001-06:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

2009-04-14T21:44:00.002-06:00

Remembering Carl

Posted: 10:03 PM

Many students experience bullying at school.

Daryl Presgraves
GLSEN

Every year, hundreds of thousands of students call out for safer schools — without so much as saying a word. But this year, their silent statement will also be about Carl. Carl Walker-Hoover would have turned 12 on Friday.

That’s the same day that students across the country will take some form of a vow of silence as part of the 13th annual National Day of Silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) name-calling, bullying and harassment in school. But Carl won’t be able to join them.

After enduring constant bullying, including an avalanche of anti-gay taunts in person and on the Internet that he was gay, Carl took his own life last week. He hung himself while his mother was downstairs cooking for him. And Carl didn’t even identify as gay.

Carl’s story is a tragic reminder that you do not have to be gay to be called anti-gay names. Words like “sissy” and “fag” are two of the first hurtful taunts we learn on the playground. In fact, two of the top three reasons middle and high school students said their classmates are most often bullied are their actual or perceived sexual orientation and how they express their gender, according to From Teasing to Torment, a 2005 GLSEN/Harris Interactive study.

For students who actually identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender, bullying is the norm. Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students said they have experienced harassment in the past year because of their sexual orientation, according to GLSEN’s 2007 National School Climate Survey of more than 6,000 LGBT youth.

Three out of five LGBT students felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation. As pervasive as the problem is, many schools still fail to address anti-LGBT bullying and harassment. Only seven states (CA, IA, MD, ME, MN, NJ, VT) and the District of Columbia specifically protect LGBT students from bullying and harassment.

So students across the country every year take part in the Day of Silence to illustrate the silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBT students and those perceived to be LGBT. Carl’s life — and death — give special meaning to our silence this year, reminding us that we must do more to make sure all of our students are safe in school. And sometimes the simplest things can be the most powerful.

This is the result of parents who don't take the time to teach your children that passing judgment on others is a crime and sin that parallels Dante's disgust with fraud. You as parents should be ashamed and mortified that you have let the fruit of your loins think that they can behave in an adult world that is already disgusting because we, as adults, have become more vindictive to those we feel inferior as we have moved along in life. For those of you that this reaches, you should be ashamed, and quite frankly, you sicken me. "suffer the little children unto me" (jesus)

You have let your children become little pariahs on this earth simply because you cannot instill some of the great values that this country has been known for since our inception. But don't worry, I'm sure you children won't be pestering you tonight as I'm sure you have enabled them to be safely parked in front of the "boob-tube" with their playstations in hand. You should be ashamed of youselves...

Regards,

It's Time

2009-04-12T14:31:00.001-06:00

Netanyahu 'ready for peace talks'

Mr Netanyahu offered 'economic peace' to Palestinians, not statehood

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has told Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas he intends to resume talks and co-operation to promote peace.

It was their first contact since Mr Netanyahu took office on 31 March.

Mr Abbas initiated the telephone call, which Mr Netanyahu's office described as "friendly and warm".

The new Israeli leader has not publicly endorsed the creation of a fully independent Palestinian state - a fundamental demand of the Palestinians.

An Israeli statement said that during his conversation with Mr Abbas, Mr Netanyahu "recalled their past co-operation and conversations, and how he intended to resume this in the future in order to advance peace".

'Not binding'

Mr Netanyahu leads a right-leaning coalition, which combines the centre-right, centre-left and far-right parties.

During his campaign, he said he was willing to negotiate with the Palestinians but that it was premature to talk of statehood. Instead, he offered Palestinians "economic peace".

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who leads the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, has dismissed past peace initiatives by US administrations.

He has also said the previous Israeli government's acceptance of Palestinian statehood was not binding.

On Saturday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat reiterated his administration's position that that for peace talks to resume, Israel must declare its support for a two-state solution

Jews around the world celebrate rare sun event

Posted: 05:57 PM ET

By Robyn Sidersky
CNN
(CNN) — At dawn Wednesday, Jews around the world celebrated the Blessing of the Sun, an event that happens once every 28 years.

According to Jewish tradition, the sun was at the same spot in the sky when it rose Wednesday as it was when the world was created.

The event occurs during the spring equinox, which itself occurs every 365 and 1/4 days. Once every 28 years, it occurs at dawn Wednesday (the fourth day of creation, based on Jewish beliefs), when Jews recite the blessing. According to Jewish beliefs, God created the sun, the moon and the stars as the fourth day began.

“It is so rare and so unique,” said Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus, executive director of the orthodox movement Chabad-Lubavitch, in South Broward County, Florida. “To know that millions of people observe this today is extremely inspiring and exciting.”

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's all right.
Little darling it's been a long cold lonely winter,
Little darling it feels like years since it's been here.
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's all right.
Little darling the smiles returning to their faces,
Little darling it seems like it's years since it's been here,
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's all right.
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.
Little darling I feel that ice is slowly melting,
Little darling it seems like years since it's been clear,
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
It's all right, it's all right. - George Harrison

I am neither Jew nor Muslim, I am a human man. It is time for the walls to come down and for fences to be mended. I am ready to help, we all need the help of our brothers at one time or another in this precious life that has been gifted to us.What do you ask of me? I am here for us.....(Are you here as well?)

Regards,
C

Because

2009-04-12T14:07:00.003-06:00

New rare orangutan find in Borneo

The orangutan is one of the most endangered great apes

A hitherto unknown population of orangutans numbering perhaps 1-2,000 has been found on the island of Borneo, conservation researchers say.

Members of the reclusive endangered species were found by scientists acting on tip-offs from local people.

Much of the orangutan's tropical forest habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia has been cut down for timber extraction and to create palm oil plantations.

About 50,000 orangutans are thought to remain in the wild.

"The reclusive red-haired primates were found in a rugged, largely inaccessible mountainous region," Erik Meijaard, of Nature Conservancy Indonesia, said.

The journey to the region took 10 hours by car, another five by boat and then a couple more hours hiking.

The team found more than 200 nests crammed into just a few kilometres and spotted three wild orangutans in the canopy above them - a mother and her baby, and a large male who broke off branches to throw at them.

It is even possible, the researchers say, that this could be a kind of orangutan refugee camp - with several groups moving into the same area following widespread forest fires.

The team of scientists is now working with local groups to try to protect the area.

(Lagniappe)

Ah, because the world is round
it turns me on
Because the world is round

Ah, because the wind is high
it blows my mind
Because the wind is high

Ah, love is old, love is new
Love is all, love is you

Because the sky is blue
it makes me cry
Because the sky is blue

Ah, ah, ah, ah - John Lennon

Regards,
C.

2009-03-21T17:27:00.003-06:00

Advertise on NYTimes.com

Travelers, Your Tour Bus Is Boarding for Basra

Ali Yussef/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Bridgett Jones, 77, a British tourist, bought wine and beer in Baghdad on Friday.

By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON

Published: March 20, 2009

BAGHDAD — Jo Rawlins Gilbert, a 79-year-old retired probation officer from Menlo Park, Calif., started traveling, as she put it, “as most people do.”

Skip to next paragraph

Enlarge This Image

Ali Yussef/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Bridgett Jones and Gordon Moore, British travelers in an officially sanctioned tour group, taking an evening stroll in Baghdad.

Readers' Comments

What's the most dangerous place you have ever traveled to?

First England. Then Europe. Eventually she and her husband, who died in 2004, made it to Tibet for his 80th birthday. She became, late in life, an adventure traveler, visiting Syria, Yemen, Bosnia and even Afghanistan.

What could top that? Well, here she was in the lobby of a Baghdad hotel, ending a 17-day tour around one of the world’s ultimate danger destinations.

“It had always been on my list,” said Ms. Gilbert, wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with a cartoon cat and the phrase “Life Is Good.” “If it opened up, I wanted to go.”

Whether Iraq can be described as open is debatable. But Ms. Gilbert is a member of a group, mostly middle-aged and older, that has the honor of being on the first officially sanctioned tour of Westerners in Iraq since 2003 (outside of the much safer enclave of Kurdistan). Her guide is Geoff Hann, 70, the owner of Hinterland Travel, a “specialist adventure travel company” based in England.

The trip has not been nearly as perilous as most expected. On Friday night — six years after the American invasion began — a white-haired British man and woman bought big bottles of cold Heineken in central Baghdad, walking home in the dark. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which helped arrange the tour, had provided armed guards for the trip, but Mr. Hann said they were too restrictive. So the group had driven around, in a minibus, with little or no security.

They have been to Babylon and Basra, Ur and Uruk, the Shiite shrines in Karbala and Najaf, places where, not so long ago, a visit would have made the return ticket unnecessary. They made a disappointingly brief visit to the Askariya Shrine in Samarra, whose bombing in 2006 propelled an already violent Iraq toward all-out civil war.

“The police didn’t want us to stick around at all,” said Mr. Hann, an unassuming man shod in socks and sandals.

Iraq is far more stable and secure than it was two years ago. But the daily episodes of violence continue. On Wednesday night, a Sunni politician was killed in Baghdad when a bomb exploded under his car. On Thursday, an American military spokesman said, allied forces called in airstrikes against insurgent hide-outs in Diyala Province, killing at least 11. On Friday, the loud thumps of explosions could be heard not far from the hotel.

It is not a trip for the squeamish.

Just about everyone in the eight-person group has been to Afghanistan. (Also, perhaps unsurprisingly, everyone is single.) Insurance, which is not provided by the company, is nearly impossible to come by. For that reason, the tourists on these trips tend to be older because they have financial support networks and, Mr. Hann said, “because in the end you’ve been to places and you don’t really worry as much, if you know what I mean.”

The youngest is David Chung, 36, a cheerful vice president at an asset management firm in Manhattan. Mr. Chung has been to Algeria, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Eritrea, Pakistan — the list goes on.

“I get my best travel ideas from the State Department’s travel warning list,” he said.

His impression of Iraq?

“The surge has worked,” he said, describing the safety and ease of travel in most places and the startlingly widespread BlackBerry coverage.

Not that there haven’t been snags.

First, the group arrived in Baghdad on a national holiday, so most sites were closed. Checkpoints have eaten up hours of the tour. Some trips that seemed feasible, like a visit to Assyrian ruins in the north, were declared too dangerous by the government. Others, namely the Shiite sites, were made rather easy by the Shiite-led Iraqi government.

On Friday night Mr. Hann, who first came to Iraq in the mid-1970s and has been back dozens of times since, was nearly apoplectic when ministry officials suddenly told him that the next day’s trip to the Iraqi museum would not work. It was not like last time.

That was in October 2003, well after the war started and as the insurgency was gaining steam. His tour group then saw a man beaten to death by a crowd in Mosul, and heard a bomb explode just up the street at the Turkish Embassy. On the other hand, with war raging and the structures of civilization falling, it turned out to be his best trip: telling tourists where they could and could not go was not a high priority in the country.

Over the next five years he was repeatedly contacted by eager tourists, but the situation was too unpredictable. Religious tourism, mostly Shiite pilgrims visiting the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, has never really stopped, and there have been a few stray Western tourists, notably a Canadian and an Italian, who ended up being detained. But there were no Western group tours.

In November 2008, Mr. Hann finally returned to Iraq for a tourism conference. He was just about the only Westerner there, except for some Spanish architects. He soon began discussions with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities about a trip, and on March 8, the group arrived. He is planning future tours.

“At the moment, I’ve got an American group in October from California,” Mr. Hann said. “And I’ve got a lot of odd people who want to go individually. That I dissuade.”

If our prayers and wishes are to care and protect those who cannot do these things for themselves, and these prayers and wishes are never (and never have been) wholly fulfilled,

For whom do we pray and wish for? Shall we be selective in our choosing? How is that right? Why don’t we keep trying no matter what and defend what is humanly good?

You cannot divvy out kindness and humanity to only those you choose, you are defeating these concepts from the start. We must strive to do it for all at every turn. When we can know in our hearts that someone is truly suffering at the hands of others, we must alleviate this suffering with all our might and at all costs.

Regards,

War is Hell...(some re-posted words)

2009-03-20T19:27:00.003-06:00

Is it worth it?
A new winter coat and shoes for the wife
And a bicycle on the boy's birthday
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
By the women and children
Soon we'll be shipbuilding.......
Well I ask you
The boy said "Dad they're going to take me to task, but I'll be back by Christmas"
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
Somebody said that someone got filled in
For saying that people get killed in
The result of this shipbuilding
With all the will in the world
Diving for dear life
When we could be diving for pearls
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
A telegram or a picture postcard
Within weeks they'll be re-opening the shipyards
And notifying the next of kin
Once again
It's all we're skilled in
We will be shipbuilding........
With all the will in the world
Diving for dear life
When we could be diving for pearls.
- Elvis Costello

Regards,

C.

2009-03-20T16:13:00.002-06:00

Global crisis 'to strike by 2030'

By Christine McGourty
Science correspondent, BBC News

Water shortages are predicted across large parts of Africa, Europe and Asia

Growing world population will cause a "perfect storm" of food, energy and water shortages by 2030, the UK government chief scientist has warned.

By 2030 the demand for resources will create a crisis with dire consequences, Prof John Beddington said.

Demand for food and energy will jump 50% by 2030 and for fresh water by 30%, as the population tops 8.3 billion, he told a conference in London.

Climate change will exacerbate matters in unpredictable ways, he added.

'Complacent'

"It's a perfect storm," Prof Beddington told the Sustainable Development UK 09 conference.

'Perfect storm' poses global threat, says Professor Beddington

"There's not going to be a complete collapse, but things will start getting really worrying if we don't tackle these problems."

Prof Beddington said the looming crisis would match the current one in the banking sector.

"My main concern is what will happen internationally, there will be food and water shortages," he said.

"We're relatively fortunate in the UK; there may not be shortages here, but we can expect prices of food and energy to rise."

The United Nations Environment Programme predicts widespread water shortages across Africa, Europe and Asia by 2025.

The amount of fresh water available per head of the population is expected to decline sharply in that time.

The issue of food and energy security rose high on the political agenda last year during a spike in oil and commodity prices.

Genetically-modified

Prof Beddington said the concern now - when prices have dropped once again - was that the issues would slip back down the domestic and international agenda.

"We can't afford to be complacent. Just because the high prices have dropped doesn't mean we can relax," he said.

Improving agricultural productivity globally was one way to tackle the problem, he added.

At present, 30-40% of all crops are lost due to pest and disease before they are harvested.

Professor Beddington said: "We have to address that. We need more disease-resistant and pest-resistant plants and better practices, better harvesting procedures.

"Genetically-modified food could also be part of the solution. We need plants that are resistant to drought and salinity - a mixture of genetic modification and conventional plant breeding.

Better water storage and cleaner energy supplies are also essential, he added.

Prof Beddington is chairing a subgroup of a new Cabinet Office task force set up to tackle food security.

But he said the problem could not be tackled in isolation.

He wants policy-makers in the European Commission to receive the same high level of scientific advice as the new US president, Barack Obama.

One solution would be to create a new post of chief science adviser to the European Commission, he suggested.

I'm packing up my memories
And I'm gonna move all out of your heart
I'm turning in my keys
And I'm gonna move all out of your heart

'Cause there ain't room enough for two
In dreams that were made for me and you
I'm telling you, it's getting mighty crowded
Too crowded for me
It's getting mighty crowded

I'm gonna take these things of mine
And I'm gonna move all out of your life
Stop wasting my time
And I'm gonna move all out of your life

'Cause there ain't room enough for three
In dreams that were made for you and me
So you see, it's getting mighty crowded
Too crowded for me
It's getting mighty crowded

I'm saving you the trouble of putting me down
Starting on the double, yeah yeah
I'm gonna shop around

I'm gonna find another heart
Where I can live all by myself
Gonna find another heart
I don't have to share with anybody else
'Cause you don't treat me like you should
And hanging around this neighborhood is no good

It's getting mighty crowded
Too crowded for me, getting mighty crowded
I'm packing up my memories, getting mighty crowded
Too crowded for me, getting mighty crowded
Too crowded for me, getting mighty crowded

- Elvis Costello

Regards,

C.

2009-03-16T20:00:00.010-06:00

Julie Lyon- Born March 17th 1959 and taken by cancer in the fall of of 77
I love you sister, Happy birthday.........

your loving brother.

How Do You Spell Hitler in Spanish?...

2009-03-13T16:45:00.004-06:00

Chavez takes over transport links

By Will Grant
BBC News, Caracas

President Hugo Chavez has said he intends to run for re-election in 2012

Venezuela's National Assembly has voted to switch control of the country's highways, ports and airports from the state to the federal level.

The move gives control of key transport links to President Hugo Chavez.

Critics say it is unconstitutional and will further consolidate Mr Chavez's hold on power by weakening governors and mayors in opposition-run states.

Mr Chavez recently won a referendum removing limits on how many times he and others can run for re-election.

This change to the law on decentralisation puts the control of key transport and maritime links out of the hands of the states and under the control of the executive for what the government calls "strategic reasons".

During a lengthy debate in the assembly, which is largely made up of the president's supporters, the head of the United Socialist party, Mario Isea, said they were approving the changes to "defend the right of access" and "guarantee essential public services" to all Venezuelans.

Since the government lost a number of key seats, including the mayoralty of Caracas, in local elections last year, there have been regular clashes over jurisdiction between local mayors and the national government.

This change to the law comes just weeks after Venezuelans voted for a constitutional amendment granting Mr Chavez and other elected officials the right to stand for election beyond the previous limit of two terms.

The socialist leader has indicated on several occasions that he intends to run again for office in 2012 and has talked of remaining in power until 2021.

It shouldn't take much of a history buff to see the similarities here, but if memory serves us, our big buddy Hugo is following an eerily equal path to that of Adolph Hitler's when it comes to his progression in obtaining complete state and political authority. I won't bore you with the details but the record is truly visible.
It seems a fine line between socialism and fascism for Mr. Chavez.
Good luck down there caballeros.........

Regards,

C.

2009-03-11T12:10:00.006-06:00

Howard Fineman

A Turning Tide?

Obama still has the approval of the people, but the establishment is beginning to mumble that the president may not have what it takes.

Mar 10, 2009 | Updated: 8:37 a.m. ET Mar 10, 2009

Surfer that he is, President Obama should know a riptide when he's in one. The center usually is the safest, most productive place in politics, but perhaps not now, not in a once-in-a-century economic crisis.

Swimming in the middle, he's denounced as a socialist by conservatives, criticized as a polite accommodationist by government-is-the-answer liberals, and increasingly, dismissed as being in over his head by technocrats.

Luckily for Obama, the public still likes and trusts him, at least judging by the latest polls, including NEWSWEEK's.But, in ways both large and small, what's left of the American establishment is taking his measure and, with surprising swiftness, they are finding him lacking.

They have some reasons to be concerned. I trace them to a central trait of the president's character: he's not really an in-your-face guy. By recent standards—and that includes Bill Clinton as well as George Bush—Obama for the most part is seeking to govern from the left, looking to solidify and rely on his own party more than woo Republicans. And yet he is by temperament judicious, even judicial. He'd have made a fine judge. But we don't need a judge. We need a blunt-spoken coach.

Obama may be mistaking motion for progress, calling signals for a game plan. A busy, industrious overachiever, he likes to check off boxes on a long to-do list. A genial, amenable guy, he likes to appeal to every constituency, or at least not write off any. A beau ideal of Harvard Law, he can't wait to tackle extra-credit answers on the exam.

But there is only one question on this great test of American fate: can he lead us away from plunging into another Depression?

If the establishment still has power, it is a three-sided force, churning from inside the Beltway, from Manhattan-based media and from what remains of corporate America. Much of what they are saying is contradictory, but all of it is focused on the president:

The $787 billion stimulus, gargantuan as it was, was in fact too small and not aimed clearly enough at only immediate job-creation.
The $275 billion home-mortgage-refinancing plan, assembled by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, is too complex and indirect.
The president gave up the moral high ground on spending not so much with the "stim" but with the $400 billion supplemental spending bill, larded as it was with 9,000 earmarks.
The administration is throwing good money after bad in at least two cases—the sinkhole that is Citigroup (there are many healthy banks) and General Motors (they deserve what they get).
The failure to call for genuine sacrifice on the part of all Americans, despite the rhetorical claim that everyone would have to "give up" something.
A willingness to give too much leeway to Congress to handle crucial details, from the stim to the vague promise to "reform" medical care without stating what costs could be cut.
A 2010 budget that tries to do far too much, with way too rosy predictions on future revenues and growth of the economy. This led those who fear we are about to go over Niagara Falls to deride Obama as a paddler who'd rather redesign the canoe.
A treasury secretary who has been ridiculed on "Saturday Night Live" and compared to Doogie Howser, Barney Fife and Macaulay Culkin in "Home Alone"—and those are the nice ones.
A seeming paralysis in the face of the banking crisis: unwilling to nationalize banks, yet unable to figure out how to handle toxic assets in another way—by, say, setting up a "bad bank" catch basin.
A seeming reluctance to seek punishing prosecutions of the malefactors of the last 15 years—and even considering a plea bargain for Bernie Madoff, the poster thief who stole from charities and Nobel laureates and all the grandparents of Boca. Yes, prosecutors are in charge, but the president is entitled—some would say required—to demand harsh justice.
The president, known for his eloquence and attention to detail, seemingly unwilling or unable to patiently, carefully explain how the world works—or more important, how it failed. Using FDR's fireside chats as a model, Obama needs to explain the banking system in laymen's terms. An ongoing seminar would be great.
Obama is no socialist, but critics argue that now is not the time for costly, upfront spending on social engineering in health care, energy or education.

Other than all that, in the eyes of the big shots, he is doing fine. The American people remain on his side, but he has to be careful that the gathering judgment of the Bigs doesn't trickle down to the rest of us.

Fortunately, our government hasn't become so frighteningly big that it can elect an official on its own, including the President.

As mentioned above, President Obama has our (The American People's) approval because we are the ones big enough to elect officials(an important fact that both Republicans and Democrats seem to forget more and more these days). Unlike the talking heads think, We The People are still smart enough to see whats happening and be patient with the man we just swept into office. It would be refreshing for once to observe the press and our elected congress to start acting with the same rational behavior amidst a crisis (or two) as the great citizens of our country. Nice try out there, it has been only 50 days since President Barack Obama took office being saddled with more B.S.in every political arena than any president in recent memory, and much of the press, the Republicans and even some of the Democrats want to hang him on the cross.
It is truly another sign of how pathetic and apathetic we have let this great country become. I'm ready to help and not bitch, how's about you?.........

Regards,

C.

Take that Chavez......

2009-03-09T15:08:00.001-06:00

United States 15, Venezuela 6

Recap Box Score Play-By-Play

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
USA (2-0)	0	0	0	2	0	8	1	3	1	15	16	0
VEN (1-1)	0	0	1	2	0	2	0	0	1	6	13	0

Final

W:	M. Lindstrom (1-0)
L:	V. Zambrano (0-1)

TORONTO -- The World Baseball Classic has been a blast so far for the United States.

Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer, Adam Dunn and Ryan Braun added solo shots and the United States powered its way into the second round of the WBC by beating Venezuela 15-6 on Sunday night.Chris Iannetta and Mark DeRosa each had four RBIs and Youkilis scored four times for Team USA, which broke it open with an eight-run sixth inning and finished with 16 hits."With that lineup, I don't see why we shouldn't have a few of those innings a night," Dunn said. "It was a lot of fun, but I don't think it was very unexpected on our side."Every U.S. starter had at least one hit except for third baseman Chipper Jones, lifted in the sixth because of a mild strain on his side. Jones, 0-for-7 with five strikeouts in the WBC, will be evaluated again Monday.

Team USA has taken two different routes to its two wins at the WBC, writes Amy Nelson. Story

Dunn was one of many U.S. players to rave about the chemistry and camaraderie that has quickly forged strong bonds among a team eager to make amends for a disappointing eighth-place finish at the 2006 tournament."It feels like we've been together for a long time," Dunn said. "I don't know if that's the way they designed it or what. It's a bunch of great guys and everyone gets along. It's amazing."David Wright, who had three hits Sunday, said the Americans "clicked" from the first workout and have grown closer now that the competition is underway."It's not only a tremendous baseball experience, but also a personal experience to be around this group of guys and to have the fun we're having," Wright said. "On the field, in the clubhouse, it's just a blast to be a part of this."Florida reliever Matt Lindstrom worked 1 1/3 perfect innings for the win before a crowd of 13,094.Victor Zambrano took the loss, allowing four runs and two hits in one-plus inning.Venezuela will play an elimination game Tuesday against the winner of Monday's game between Canada and Italy. The winner Tuesday advances to round two, and will face the U.S. on Wednesday night to decide first place in Group C.Team USA will begin second-round play Saturday in Miami.Melvin Mora's RBI single gave Venezuela a 1-0 lead in the third, but the U.S. answered with two in the fourth when DeRosa's two-out triple scored Youkilis and Dunn.Venezuela reclaimed the lead in the bottom half against right-hander Roy Oswalt on Ramon Hernandez's RBI grounder and Gregor Blanco's run-scoring single.

Fast Facts

• Adam Dunn (r), Kevin Youkilis and Ryan Braun homered as the U.S. scored its second most runs in a WBC game.

• The U.S. scored eight times in the sixth inning to erase a 3-2 deficit and improve to 2-0 in the WBC, a record good enough for the second round.

• Every starter except Chipper Jones had a hit for the U.S. Jones left with an oblique strain and will be evaluated on Monday.

-- ESPN research

The U.S. sixth began when Youkilis reached on a wild third strike. David Wright singled and Dunn walked to load the bases for DeRosa, who drove in a run with a walk. Left-hander Carlos Vasquez replaced Zambrano, but Iannetta greeted him with a three-run double to right-center, taking third as the throw went to the plate.Vasquez struck out Curtis Granderson and was replaced by right-hander Yoel Hernandez, who walked Derek Jeter and gave up a two-run double to Dustin Pedroia. Braun batted for Jones and grounded out, but Youkilis capped the inning with a homer to left, his second in two games.Pedroia said Youkilis, his Boston teammate, "looks like he's got 500 at-bats under his belt.""We had some huge hits at the right time to blow the game open," Pedroia said. "Youk is swinging the bat unbelievable right now. Hopefully we can keep it going."Carlos Guillen hit a solo homer and Ramon Hernandez singled home Jose Lopez against right-hander Brad Ziegler in the sixth, but Dunn answered with a towering solo shot to right off Ivan Blanco in the seventh."I thought it was going to hit the top of the dome," Granderson said. "He crushed that ball."DeRosa hit a sacrifice fly and Iannetta and Granderson had RBI singles as the U.S. tacked on three more in the eighth against left-hander Jan Granado.The six Venezuelan relievers who followed starter Armando Galarraga allowed 13 runs in five innings, leaving manager Luis Sojo fuming."As a manager, this is what gets you really upset, because you want the guys to be aggressive," Sojo said through a translator. "You want the bullpen to execute, but that wasn't the case. After that point, everything was lost. They couldn't find the strike zone."Oswalt allowed three runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings, walking two and striking out one.Galarraga allowed two runs and five hits in four innings.Miguel Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez, Venezuela's 4-5 hitters, combined to go 0-for-9 with three strikeouts.Game notes
Venezuelan fans jeered loudly when Victoria Mata, the country's Minister for Sport, threw out the first pitch. ... U.S. manager Davey Johnson said before the game that coach Barry Larkin is responsible for splitting playing time between Jeter and Jimmy Rollins at shortstop. Jeter started Saturday but was replaced in the fifth, with the reverse happening Sunday. ... Rollins was picked off second after a leadoff double in the first, the second time in two days he's been thrown out on the bases. ... Lopez went 3-for-4 with three doubles, matching a WBC record.

The New Lavey

2009-03-02T21:46:00.005-07:00

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- "Over the weekend, Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele called Rush Limbaugh's rhetoric "incendiary" and "ugly" and insisted that he, not Limbaugh, is in charge of the GOP.

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh spoke before the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday.

But that was two days ago. Monday, after a blistering response from the conservative talk-radio kingpin, Steele told the online journal Politico that he "was maybe a little bit inarticulate."

"There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership," Steele said. He added, "There are those out there who want to look at what he's saying as incendiary and divisive and ugly. That's what I was trying to say. It didn't come out that way."

Steele's original remarks came from an interview on CNN's "D.L. Hughley Breaks the News," which aired Saturday. They came as Democrats, including White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, have tried to paint Limbaugh -- who has said he wants to see the Obama administration "fail" -- as the effective head of the opposition party.

Steele rejected the idea, saying, "I'm the de facto leader of the Republican Party."

"Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh's whole thing is entertainment," Steele told CNN. "Yes, it is incendiary. Yes, it is ugly." iReport.com: Limbaugh and Steele show divisions in GOP

Limbaugh fired back on his radio show Monday, saying the Republican chairman appears to be supporting President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He said Steele appears "obsessed with seeing to it President Obama succeeds."

"I frankly am stunned that the chairman of the Republican National Committee endorses such an agenda," Limbaugh said. "I have to conclude that he does, because he attacks me for wanting it to fail."

But Monday night Steele told Politico he didn't intend to go after Limbaugh.

"My intent was not to go after Rush -- I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh," Steele told Politico in a telephone interview. "I was maybe a little bit inarticulate ... There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership."

Steele told Politico he tried to call Limbaugh after the show on Monday and said he hoped he would be able to talk to the radio host soon.

"I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren't what I was thinking," Steele told Politico.

"I'm not going to engage these guys and sit back and provide them the popcorn for a fight between me and Rush Limbaugh."

And in a written statement issued to CNN, Steele said, "To the extent that my remarks helped the Democrats in Washington to take the focus, even for one minute, off of their irresponsible expansion of government, I truly apologize."

"I respect Rush Limbaugh, he is a national conservative leader, and in no way do I want to diminish his voice," Steele said. "I'm sure that he and I will agree most of the time, but will probably disagree some as well, which is fine."

Steele's Democratic counterpart, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, said he was "briefly encouraged" by Steele's "courageous" remarks.

"However, Chairman Steele's reversal this evening and his apology to Limbaugh proves the unfortunate point that Limbaugh is the leading force behind the Republican Party, its politics and its obstruction of President Obama's agenda in Washington," Kaine said in a written statement. Watch Steele, Hughley talk politics »

Don't Miss

Limbaugh brought a cheering crowd to its feet several times as he called on fellow conservatives to take back the country.

He used his self-described "first national address," which ran more than an hour longer than his allotted 20 minutes, to accuse President Obama of inspiring fear in Americans in order to push a liberal agenda of "big government."

Limbaugh also addressed comments he made earlier this year in which he said he hoped Obama failed.

"What is so strange about being honest and saying I want Barack Obama to fail if his mission is to restructure and re-form this country so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundation?" he said.

But a top Republican in Congress disagreed.

"I don't think anyone wants anything to fail right now," House Republican Whip Eric Cantor said on ABC's "This Week." "We have such challenges. What we need to do is we need to put forth solutions to the problems that real families are facing today."

RNC spokesman Alex Conant on Monday did not directly address Steele's comments about Limbaugh but pointed out the back-and-forth between the White House and the conservative

"Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats know they lose an argument with the Republican Party on substance, so they are building straw men to attack and distract," he said. "The feud between radio host Rush and Rahm makes great political theater, but it is a sideshow to the important work going on in Washington.

"RNC Chairman Michael Steele and elected Republicans are focused on fighting for reform and winning elections. The Democrats' problem is that the American people are growing skeptical of the massive government spending being pushed by congressional leaders like [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi," Conant said."

It seems ironic to see this newly anointed Godhead of the RNC ranting and raving about the
non-conservative evils of the current President of our great nation and his politics. Even more laughable should be the fact that the apparent new savior and protector of conservative values
(that Vicodin dude) was dressed like, and acted as though, he was some coked up pimp dressed in monochromatic black with his shirt unbuttoned like a jittery version of John Travolta in what I could only call: "RNC Night Fever". He is even more creepy looking than Anton Lavey........

Regards,

C.

2009-02-01T21:15:00.007-07:00

Would you buy a used car from this man?..........

U.S., Arab Allies Nix Israeli Airstrike on Syrian Site

By RICHARD SALE (Middle East Times Intelligence correspondent)

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal (shown here) was, along with a dozen top Hamas leaders, the target of an aborted Israeli assassination plan to decapitate the group’s leadership as they held a meeting in Syria during the recent war on Gaza. Meshaal has survived two earlier assassination attempts by Mossad. In one he was injected with poisoned hypodermic needles by two Israeli agents. (UPI Photo)

An Israeli plan to launch an airstrike against a Palestinian camp in Syria during its recent invasion of Gaza was vetoed by the George W. Bush administration using pressure from allies like Egypt and Turkey, according to administration officials.

"There was zip support for expanding the war," one State Department official said.

The targeted was the Hamas camp in the town of Yarmouk, Syria, some 15 kilometers east of Damascus, where Hamas opened an office in 1991 and which quickly became the operational nerve center for the group's military wing, these sources said.

More than a dozen senior Hamas leaders were to attend a meeting at the refugee camp, and the Israeli strike was designed to decapitate the group's top leadership at a single stroke including Khaled Meshaal, chief of the movement's political bureau, these sources said.

The United States got wind of the operation through its human sources in Israel as well as by technical means, former U.S. intelligence officials said. The National Security Agency (NSA) and other U.S. groups stepped up scrutiny of Israel during "Operation Cast Lead," launched in late December.

The NSA has a Ground Remote Listening Facility or GROF based on Cyprus which sends data in real time to the agency's headquarters at Ft. Meade, MD. Flights of Rivet Joint flights consisting of RC-135s, an extension of the former Senior Stretch program, which fly from Athens, were also stepped up. Such aircraft contain Hebrew linguists who send their take to Menden Hill in England where it is forwarded to the U.S. embassy in London.

Other NSA resources included Six Fleet ELINT aircraft and RC-135s based in Spain, these sources said.

The joint-run NSA/CIA listening post in the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv was also utilized, they said.

Since Syria had assisted the United States in killing a senior al-Qaida official in Lebanon recently, U.S. opposition materialized quickly.

"Syria was acting in strict neutrality during Cast Lead," suppressing any attempt by Hezbollah in Lebanon to aid Hamas, a U.S. official said.

Soon, Turkish President Abdullah Gul, a friend of Israel, and Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak bluntly told Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that extending the war to Syria would be "reckless," according to one U.S. official.

Although some in the administration warmly supported Israel's mauling of Hamas, several former U.S. intelligence officials expressed disapproval. "The Hamas-Israel cease-fire was not a useless cease-fire," said former U.S. Ambassador David Mack.

Hamas was exercising some restraint even though there were violations of it on both sides. For example, Hamas did fire rockets, and last November, Israel sent in a sizeable ground force into southern Gaza to destroy tunnels used for smuggling weapons, U.S. officials said.

But Mack blamed the severity of the Israeli economic blockade as a key cause of the Israeli-Hamas breakdown. "When you drive legitimate commerce underground and make it difficult for people to earn a living, it's clear the population will turn to other things like weapons smuggling. Israel never eased its economic blockade."

Meshaal has proved a particularly embarrassing thorn in Israel's side. On Sept. 25, 1997, in Amman, the capital of Jordan, Meshaal was attacked by two men as he got out of his car. One of them jabbed a hypodermic needle behind his ear and the other stuck a needle in his arm. Meshaal, gravely poisoned, soon found himself in an emergency room fighting for his life, and Israel was frantically trying to dig its way out of a mountain of embarrassment.

Meshaal's two attackers were agents of Israel's Mossad, and both had been captured by Meshaal's bodyguards in Jordan, a country with which Israel had a peace treaty. Jordan's King Hussein quickly announced that the Israeli agents would be executed if an antidote wasn't sent to Amman in 48 hours. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly sent the antidote that would save Meshaal's life.

Jordan then pressured Israel into releasing Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas who had spent eight years in prison for ordering killings of Israeli soldiers and executing Israeli spies among the Palestinians. A few years later, Israel assassinated Yassin.

As for Meshaal, Israeli had no intention of letting go. In 2004, Israel sent five agents into the camp at Yarmouk, where all were captured by the Hamas leader's bodyguards and interrogated. They confessed they had been assigned by Mossad to assassinate Meshaal and had entered Syria through Jordan.

In July of 2006 again Mossad sent agents into Syria, disguised as aid workers, to kill the Hamas leader, but Meshaal was tipped off and escaped.

The foiled airstrike would have been the third attempt on Meshaal's life.

Its real hard coming to grips with the fact that the world is just better off without some people in it, but its getting easier......

Regards,

2009-01-20T22:39:00.003-07:00

A Historic Inauguration Draws Throngs To the Mall

Video

Obama Sworn-In as 44th President

President Barack Obama delivers his inaugural address Tuesday following his swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

"Barack Hussein Obama took the oath of office as the nation's first African American president yesterday, summoning a vast crowd and a watching nation to the task of reviving a country in crisis...."
".............As he spoke, Obama looked out at a sea of admirers, some of whom had camped out overnight in tents or made long treks by bus and Metro. By the end of the day, those spectators lined the route of Obama's procession to the White House, chanting his name and straining for a glimpse of the new president."

"Obama made only glancing references to the racial barrier that had fallen with his historic ascent. Instead, in an 18 1/2 -minute speech notable for its somber tone as much as its soaring rhetoric, he outlined the challenges of what he called "this winter of our hardship": a collapsing economy, wars on two fronts, a lack of confidence in government and enemies eager to destroy the American way of life."We must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America," Obama told the throng, which stretched from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial......"

Congratulations Mr. President, your new post is well deserved.

I know that it it is time for Americans to "strap our seat belts on".

I'm strapping mine on and I'm glad to know that you are driving.

Now together we need to not run out of gas........

Regards and Respect.

CL

2009-01-13T22:47:00.003-07:00

updated 2:03 p.m. EST, Tue January 13, 2009

Iraqi VP questions Biden on Obama's Gaza stance

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- One of Iraq's two vice presidents raised concerns over President-elect Barack Obama's "silence" on Gaza during a meeting with U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden meets with Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, in Baghdad.

"The new administration's reputation is on the line because of President-elect Obama's silence," Tariq al-Hashimi said in a statement issued by his office.

Accompanied by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, Biden met with President Jalal Talabani and Shiite Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi on Monday, and with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and al-Hashimi in Baghdad on Tuesday.

Speaking as Iraq's Sunni vice president, al-Hashimi stressed that Iraqis want change and fairness in the Obama administration's foreign policy.

Al-Hashimi said he also expressed concern over "crimes committed against the Palestinian people" in his meeting with Biden.

"The president-elect's silence over the tragedies Palestinians are facing in Gaza will hurt U.S. interests; therefore, the new administration must be urged to intervene and force Israel to abide by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1860 and stop its aggression on Gaza."

The men also discussed the political process in Iraq and the implementation of the U.S. troop withdrawal from that country.

Al-Hashimi also noted Obama's strong condemnation of the attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai in November. He has been criticized by some for what is perceived as his relative quiet on the violence in Gaza.

Don't Miss

Israel tightens grip on Gaza City; Hamas defiant

"When you see civilians, whether Palestinian or Israeli, harmed, under hardship, it's heartbreaking," Obama said in a TV interview. "What that does is it makes me much more determined to try to break a deadlock that has gone on for decades now.

The president-elect said he believes in "the principle of one president at a time" when it comes to foreign policy, insisting "we cannot have two administrations at the same time simultaneously sending signals in a volatile situation."

Biden also met with Iraqi leaders in the disputed and oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, where Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds are jockeying for power.

Al-Maliki's office issued a statement saying that he and Biden discussed developing U.S.-Iraqi bilateral relations.

"We achieved a lot in 2008 in terms of building the armed forces, imposing the law and eradicating terrorists and outlaws. In 2009, our army will be [more] ready to bear its responsibilities and reduce reliance on U.S. forces," al-Maliki's statement said.

It said that Biden "stressed the importance of continuing cooperation and coordination to implement the agreement for the withdrawal of foreign troops signed between the two countries."

Violence continued in Iraq on Tuesday as Biden conducted his meetings.

At least 15 Iraqis were wounded in Sunni districts in Baghdad: eight in a roadside bombing in the Dora district and seven by mortars in Adhamiya.

People, believe me when I say that I am a humanitarian and deplore unnecessary violence,(Sorry full on "Peace-Nicks") Saying violence and necessary in concert goes against the "Good" human grain. But with all of the [whatever kind of] violence to go around in the region, why is this "conjoined" Vice-President seeming more concerned with the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza than his own countrymen? Perhaps all of the ills of the Middle East will be healed by exploiting media attention no matter what the human cost.
(see Hamas/Hezbollah)..
Oh yeah, what about the atrocities cast upon the Israeli people? Just not "juicy" enough news I guess.....

Regards,

C.

2009-01-11T10:30:00.007-07:00

"Beauty is not a luxury. Beauty is essential; it is food to our souls. Without beauty we become spiritually malnourished. As with food, we can get by on empty calories for a while, but eventually it will catch up to us and we will find ourselves becoming weak and unable to stay focused or be as healthy and productive as we want to be. So it is with beauty. We can work or live in a harsh, cluttered environment for only so long before our souls become weary and our passion wanes......."

I thought something less mind-bending was in order lately, no matter how cliche it may always seem, this advice, to me, is always sound: "Stop and smell the roses" (Please).
Have a Beautiful day.....

Regards,

C.

2009-01-09T12:43:00.004-07:00

A Modern Parable.

A Japanese company ( Toyota ) and an American company (Ford Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order; American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rowers. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to 'equal the competition' and some of the resultant savings were channeled into morale boosting programs and teamwork posters.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid-off one rower, halted development of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.

The next year, try as he might, the lone designated rower was unable to even finish the race (having no paddles,) so he was laid off for unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India .

Sadly, the End.......

Here's something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US , claiming they can't make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US The last quarter's results:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads, and collecting bonuses...

Wow..... and to think, Ford is in the best shape of the "Big 3".

Whoever is making your seat belt today folks, you had best strap them on,

because we are all in for one Hell of a bumpy ride.....

Regards,

2009-01-08T15:18:00.003-07:00

Cheney: Obama should keep terror policies

VP advises to 'sit down and find out precisely what it is we did'

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday it would be a mistake for President-elect Barack Obama to scrap the Bush administration's terrorist-fighting policies designed to prevent future attacks on the U.S.

"It would be a tragedy if they threw over those policies simply because they had campaigned against them," Cheney said in an interview with CBS Radio's Mark Knoller. "I think they need to proceed very cautiously before they begin to change the policies that are in place. They need to know what they're doing."

Obama has criticized practices that he says amount to torturing detainees during interrogations and has promised to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"He was rather critical during the campaign of some of the policies we pursued, for example, in terms of terrorist surveillance or interrogation of terrorist prisoners," Cheney said.

"If I had advice to give it would be, before you start to implement your campaign rhetoric you need to sit down and find out precisely what it is we did and how we did it, because it is going to be vital to keeping the nation safe and secure in the years ahead."

The Terrorist Surveillance Program was secretly authorized by Bush shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and was disclosed in late 2005, sparking questions about its legality. The Bush administration vigorously defended the program as essential to national security, but brought it under the purview of the federal Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires investigators to obtain a warrant from a secret court in Washington to eavesdrop on suspected terrorists inside the country.

In the wide-ranging, 20-minute interview in his West Wing office, Cheney also debunked his public persona as someone who worked behind the scenes controlling the levers of the Bush presidency.

"The notion that somehow I was pulling strings or making presidential-level decisions. I was not," he said. "There was never any question about who was in charge. It was George Bush. And that's the way we operated. This whole notion that somehow I exceeded my authority here, was usurping his authority, is simply not true. It's an urban legend, never happened.

Cheney also said the financial rescue plan was essential to keeping the finance system functioning. He said that he viewed the automobile bailout as a "stopgap" and that the industry will have to find a way to become a viable industry again. And he said that while the Republican Party currently is in a "trough," he was not worried about the future of the party.

"Asked to identify the biggest misimpression people have about him, Cheney laughed and said, tongue-in-cheek: "That I'm actually a warm, lovable sort."

Cheney said he wasn't troubled by the fact that there were some people who felt hatred for him.

"It goes with the turf," he said. "No, we got elected in one of the closest elections in American history in 2000. Some people never got over that. And then I've had to, in my capacity as vice president, be actively involved in some very tough decisions that some people find controversial."

Raaaaa, Raaaaaa,Raaaaaa, The Penguin speaks!

(all he's missing is his top hat and cigarette holder.......)

Question: Am I crazy? Answer: No... Dick Cheney has about as much business telling Barack Obama about how to succeed in a war against terrorism as the captain of the Titanic does instructing us on how to safely navigate iceberg hazards in the North Atlantic......

Regards,

2009-01-03T13:59:00.005-07:00

Hamas to Israel: ‘Gaza will be your cemetery’

Posted: 03:28 PM ET

(CNN) — "Hamas warned Israel after its military incursion into its territory Saturday night that “Gaza will be your cemetery” and “we will fight until the last breath.”

In a statement read by chief Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan, the militant group, which controls Gaza, said, in part, “The aggression continues against our people, universities, mosques and everything that is there. The Zionist enemy targeted the houses of worship, the mosque — and the worst was today when they targeted the Ibrahim Maqadmeh mosque, killing dozens of civilians.

“What crime can be worse than this? This is happening in front of the eyes of the Muslim and Arab world.”

Radwan read the message on the Palestinian television station Al-Aqsa.

Saturday evening, an Israeli airstrike hit the mosque in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahiya, killing 13 people and wounding more than 60, according to Palestinian medical sources."

What crime could be worse than this? I don't know, why don't you people In Hamas talk about the Muslim suicide bombers killing other innocent Muslims in Iraq and other areas of your world. (If you haven't noticed that's happening in front of the eyes of the Muslim and Arab world as well.) It is Pride that is ultimately your demise...........

Regards,

2009-01-01T18:28:00.004-07:00

updated 1 hour, 6 minutes ago

Analysis: Constitutional fight looms over Senate seat

By Bill Mears
CNN Supreme Court Producer

"The U.S. Senate is considered the most exclusive legislative body in the country, and members of its majority say they will not accept Roland Burris -- tapped by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill a vacant seat -- into their own.".........

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, right, has named Roland Burris to fill President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat.

"Don't say a word
Don't say anything
Don't say a word
I'm not even listening
I read in the paper about their escape
They're just two bit of kids from a bunch of sour grapes
You better watch your step
Watch who's knocking on your front door
Now you know that they're watching
What are you waiting for?
Think you're young and original
Get out before...
They get to watch your step

Ev'ry day is full of fun
And family spies
They're making heroes out of fall guys
They say it's good for business
From Singapore to Widnes
You better watch your step

Broken noses hung up on the wall
Back slapping drinkers cheer the heavy weight brawl
So punch drunk they don't understand at all
You better watch your step

Ev'ry night
Go out full of carnal (carnival) desires
End up in the closing time choirs

When you're kicking in the car chrome
And you're drinking down the Eau de Cologne
And you're spitting out the Kodachrome
You better watch your step

Bye
I send you all my regards
You're so tough
You're so hard
Listen to the hammers falling in the breaker's yard
You better watch your step
You better watch your step
Ooh, watch your step"

- Elvis Costello

Well, this one is summed up here.......
(I don't believe anymore words by me could promote anymore thought in this respect.)

Regards,

C.

Dear Barack,

2009-01-01T12:49:00.008-07:00

"Your name is big brother
You say that you're watching me on the tele,
Seeing me go nowhere,
Your name is big brother,
You say that you're tired of me protesting,
Children dying everyday,
My name is nobody
But I can't wait to see your face inside my door

Your name is big brother
You say that you got me all in your notebook,
Writing it down everyday,
Your name is I'll see ya,
I'll change if you vote me in as the pres,
The President of your soul
I live in the ghetto,
You just come to visit me 'round election time

I live in the ghetto,
Someday I will move on my feet to the other side,
My name is secluded,
we live in a house the size of a matchbox,
Roaches live with us wall to wall,

You've killed all our leaders,
I don't even have to do nothin' to you
You'll cause your own country to fall"

- Stevie Wonder

I know you like Stevie Mr. President,
(I do as well)
Please help us move "Our" feet to the other side.....

Thanks Man.

Regards,

C.

2008-12-31T16:48:00.000-07:00

2008-12-31T11:16:00.006-07:00

Lawsuit seeks to take 'so help me God' out of inaugural

By Carol Cratty
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A number of atheists and non-religious organizations want Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony to leave out all references to God and religion.

President-elect Barack Obama will use the Bible Abraham Lincoln used for his inauguration.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Washington, the plaintiffs demand that the words "so help me God" not be added to the end of the president's oath of office.

In addition, the lawsuit objects to plans for ministers to deliver an invocation and a benediction in which they may discuss God and religion.

An advance copy of the lawsuit was posted online by Michael Newdow, a California doctor and lawyer who has filed similar and unsuccessful suits over inauguration ceremonies in 2001 and 2005.

Joining Newdow in the suit are groups advocating religious freedom or atheism, including the American Humanist Association, the Freedom from Religion Foundation and atheist groups from Minnesota; Seattle, Washington; and Florida.

The new lawsuit says in part, "There can be no purpose for placing 'so help me God' in an oath or sponsoring prayers to God, other than promoting the particular point of view that God exists.................."

Take a guess at why these people are so pissed off all the time.

A: They don't have anything to look forward to......

(and they will never get "In God We Trust" off our currency, thankfully......)

Regards,

2008-12-30T19:00:00.002-07:00

"Is it worth it
A new winter coat and shoes for the wife
And a bicycle on the boy's birthday
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
By the women and children
Soon we'll be shipbuilding
Well I ask you
The boy said 'DAD THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE ME TO TASK
BUT I'LL BE BACK BY CHRISTMAS'
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
Somebody said that someone got filled in
For saying that people get killed in
The result of this shipbuilding
With all the will in the world
Diving for dear life
When we could be diving for pearls
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
A telegram or a picture postcard
Within weeks they'll be re-opening the shipyards
And notifying the next of kin
Once again
It's all we're skilled in
We will be shipbuilding
WITH ALL THE WILL IN THE WORLD
DIVING FOR DEAR LIFE
WHEN WE COULD BE DIVING FOR PEARLS"
- Elvis Costello

2008-12-30T18:28:00.004-07:00

Well, it's official.
I am on a music theme.
(I promise no more.....Today.)

The breaking news in Tehran made me think of this one.

Regards,

C.

"Don't start me talking
I could talk all night
My mind goes sleepwalking
While I'm putting the world to right
Called careers information
Have you got yourself an occupation?

Oliver's army is here to stay
Oliver's army are on their way
And I would rather be anywhere else
But here today

There was a checkpoint Charlie
He didn't crack a smile
But it's no laughing party
When you've been on the murder mile

Only takes one itchy trigger
One more widow, one less white nigger

Hong Kong is up for grabs
London is full of Arabs
We could be in Palestine
Overrun by a Chinese line
With the boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne

But there's no danger
It's a professional career
Though it could be arranged
With just a word in Mr. Churchill's ear

If you're out of luck or out of work
We could send you to Johannesburg"
- Elvis Costello

2008-12-30T16:42:00.005-07:00

Alright, why not just a little more (lagniappe)..........
Regards,

C.

"I ask you nicely
Get my face slapped under wraps
What's going on precisely
Is there something wrong perhaps?

Surprise, surprise (surprise, surprise)
It's more like a booby trap than a booby prize

Civil disobedience from a soldier with a dirty rifle
You're loosening all the screws that hold the hinges of my life

Fat cats and army brats
Hep cats and dog tags pawing over girly mags

Pretty words don't mean much anymore
I don't mean to be mean much anymore
All I see are snapshots, big shots, tender spots
(1) mug shots, machine slots
(2) machine slots, mug shots
Till you don't know what's what
You don't know what you got

Curious women running after curious men
Curiosity didn't kill the cat
It was a poisoned pen
But there's not much choice (it's Hobson's choice)
Between a cruel mouth and a jealous voice

Got back to London
Picked a paper from the mat
No words of consolation
Just cartoons and chitter chatter
Well well, fancy that
Millions murdered for a kiss me quick hat
No backbone, blood and guts
Better keep your big mouth shut."
- Elvis Costello

2008-12-30T15:01:00.008-07:00

"The sky fell over cheap Korean monster-movie scenery
And spilled into the reservoir of the crushed capsule hotel
Between the Disney abattoir and the chemical refinery
And I knew I was in trouble but I thought I was in hell
So you look around the tiny room and you wonder where the hell you are
While the K.K.K. convention are all stranded in the bar
They wear hoods and carry shotguns in the main streets of Montgomery
But they're helpless here as babies 'cause they're only here on holiday

What do we care if the world is a joke
We'll give it a big kiss, we give it a poke.
Death wears a big hat 'cause he's a big bloke
We're only living this instant"
- Elvis Costello

I was in a sour mood today while breathing in the newest information on the latest crisis in the Middle East.
As we know, music often helps us vocalize our feelings. While all my feelings about this issue aren't summed up with music, I just kept thinking of these words today........

Regards,

C.

2008-12-29T21:18:00.001-07:00

From Mother Jones...

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/

Gaza: Insisting on Peace Now Means No Peace Later?

"Just listened in on a Council on Foreign Relations briefing-by-phone that addressed the situation in the Gaza Strip. Israeli air forces are bombing the region and systematically destroying symbols of Hamas' power as a response to months of rocket launches into Israeli territory by Hamas and its allies. Hundreds of Palestinians are dead in what Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is calling "all out war."

On the conference call, one point was made repeatedly. The Israeli public broadly supports the air strikes and will continue to do so until Hamas' ability or willingness to rain rockets into Israel is extinguished. If the Americans, specifically the Obama team, insists that the Israelis stop short, it has problematic consequences for the prospects of long-term peace. Here's why. The Americans (and just about everybody else) say they want a two-state solution, which gives the Palestinians an independent state consisting of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. But giving the Palestinians full control over the West Bank would mean that Hamas would have a more strategically located launching pad for rocket attacks. Major population centers (particularly Jerusalem) would be within reach. If the Americans stop the Israelis from achieving their objectives in Gaza, the Israelis will believe they will be stopped from protecting themselves from similar but more deadly attacks launched from the West Bank. As a result, the possibility of Israel allowing the Palestinians to make the West Bank part of an independent Palestinian state slims significantly.

The speakers on the call also suggested that the Israelis don't want to make to make a mess that the new American president will have to deal with, but that because internal Israeli politics are at play here (Barak needs to appear tough because he is seeking the prime ministership), it isn't clear how long the attacks will last or how far Israel will go in fulfilling its objectives."

It's in my nature to often try
and simplify any of my own understanding(s) in even the most complex situations...
(I believe this one qualifies)
the "Blame Game" is always the center here.
so, here's my simplified thought/question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
This situation is an age old land grab that has no right sides sadly...
funny though, Other than protests, we never observe the powerful Middle Eastern countries giving much Humanitarian aid. (although some of them are pretty cool with supplying weapons and training people how to kill one another.....)

Regards,

C.

2008-12-29T16:01:00.001-07:00

Wow !!!!!
What a whirl this topic always brings about...
Below are comments from everyone and everywhere apparently, including myself. They originate from a place that I occasionally visit it is called "newsvine" and is located here: http://www.newsvine.com/
Please look into your own hearts as you try and decipher the ancient, twisted history
of this tumultuous region and try and find the truth. I believe with sincerity you will arrive there no matter Who or what you think may be guiding you along.....

Regards,

C.

2008-12-29T15:56:00.001-07:00

Israeli air strikes in Gaza kill more than 200,Hamas says compounds hit, threatens to resume suicide attacks

Israel's air force fired about 30 missiles at targets in the Gaza Strip, destroying several Hamas compounds and killing at least 200 people, a Hamas police spokesman said, according to Reuters.
Some comments....
(Including my own)

SB-632402

Great timing - Bush has given a wink and a nod to the Israelis always. Looks like things are going to change drastically on Obama's watch.

Smartest thing the US can do is to withdraw all troops from all countries and let them start protecting themselves. We have our own homeland to take care of !?

Start getting the message out folks to your 'elected' representatives that if they want to stay in office they better a) get the troops back b) stop giving our resources away c) No bailouts and whatever has been doled out to be returned asap d) no selling of state assets or putting the country up for hock! e) invest in innovation and manufacturing f) no more free trade - only fair trade

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#626 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 9:54 PM MST

{"commentId":4571490}

mookmookie

Israel and Palestine should be thanking each of their gods that there is no substantial oil reserves on either land, otherwise we would have split it with the USSR years ago and they'd be paying taxes ti us, instead of us funding BOTH sides of the debacle.

the world community should announce that any citizens of either nation can leave now, we could even supply the boats and planes, and then all the idiots that run both countries can kill each other off. then we can move in a build a new vegas to compete with dubai.

imagine the publicity: Arafat hotel and casino, the lions den and spa, Caesar' palace: jerusalem, the western wall resort...the possibilities are endless...build high roller hotel rooms right into the jerusalem walls with a view of the Kidron Valley...Tahoe style gambling on the sea of Galilee...the possibilities are endless...

{"commentId":4571540,"threadId":"454192","contentId":"2249768","authorDomain":"mookmookie"}

#627 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:01 PM MST

{"commentId":4571540}

ALL RELIGIONS MAN

I am so frustrated with lack od knowledge, reason why some states make sure they keep their people unaware of the facts.Ignorance

Fact: The Jewish, lived in the Midlle East in that region where later became palestine. They were just one of the tribes -- yes there were many more tribes but they were NOt all Jews.--who lived there.-"Israel is a new concept" and if it is now mentioned in the Bible, guess what" The Jews wrote the Bible."

When the Arabs invaded in the fervor of Islam. -mind you- they did NOT kill Jews, because they were Jews. In fact the Jews lived VERY Harmoniously with the Arabs/Muslims and they followed them everywhere, including to the Iberian Peninsula where is now Portugal and Spain, the jews florished there, with the Arabs, in Commerce and the Arts, Literature, etc. They then chosed not to go back to the palestinian Area, where the other Arabe population stayed, but they fallowed the most prominent societies of Europe, when they took up from the Arabs. The most remarcable was their success in business during the Portuguese and Spanish Golden Period. They were so prominent and threatening to the establishment- The Kings- because of their money--NOT RELIGION- that the Jesuits tried to convert them to Catholicism.. The reason was that if they became catholics they would come under the Pope and the Church, therefore under control, including their money.

BUt, some converted for convenience (or fear) and went under ground, others were not so smart and were burnt at the stake. Others still, ran way to Flandres,(Holand) now an emerging power and to England. Again they chosed NOT to go Back to palestine.

BUt We must Note also that at the same time, there were, Christians who were and are still being persecuted by governments around the world for things they do, including fighting against injustice. Those people were called many things, including communists not long ago. (that was the name before "terrorism" for the sane person)so everyone can remember. This writer had a machinegun pointed at me, at the University Campus, because of a protest. Some of my fellow students were not so lucky to be here today righting about injustice, they were gunned down that day. All we wanted was better and fairer conditions for our parents- the protest was in suport of an wage increase--is that communist? The salaries were what we would rate today, USD0.20c a day. a cheap meal would cost USD0.7/10cents if eaten in a cheap restaurant corner shop.

But back: As well as other religions, the Jewish chose to stay and follow the most prosperous societies in the west--what I would call "the money trail" . In fact like anyone else. Jews, Christians, Muslins, Chinese, etc, flocked to Europe, America, etc. No one, asked for a Religious State, just because they were this or that until, someone started the "State movenment".

When a deal was made after the war, the British Government decided to suport the Idea to form a Jewsh state, in the state of Palestine. " a ".

It came in fact to reality with the support of Churchill and Roosevelt (in fact Roosevelt was a JEW himself if I am not mistaken his real name was Rosenfeld" so no surprises here.

BUt while the declaration of the State of Israel had provisions for the freedom of the Arabes, the Israeli Government, once in power simply ignored it.

When the State was created, with hips of money from Europe and the UN, thousands of "Jews" floked" to the newly overtaken arabe/palestinian lands. They were told -to the Arabes- to leave to a camp for a while because they would be back in a few days. They never did, most were "Ethnically Cleansed".Other old buggers are still in the Camps in Libaon Syria Jordan etc.

In the meantime the fields were being colonised with people from all over Europe. Slavs, Russians, Germans, most blond people with no connection with the area at all, except claiming to be a jew. While in fact most real jews were now in the United States, London, Portugal where thousand came during the war, etc.

The British were happy to keep control of the Area, where they were in a bad position since the Arabe revolt of 1936. Now they had an excuse to be there. In fact is no more than a 'Western Arrow" in Arabe lands.

And because of what they do people keep revolting, that exactly what they want. Everytime they fight backk even with a stone is an excuse for them to Murders hundreds or thousands.. The killd more than one thousand people and destroyed a country because of a soldier was take prisioner. Not even killed.

But the Point is: The State of Israel, should not be allowed to be such a criminal state. They have no morals at all.And the West who planted them there are having a ball.

They Bomb Schools, Hospitals, Destroy crops, still all the Jordan's water, block the access of medication of food for children, and the wounded, Heavens, The Nazis had much more honour and morals. Is it what they learnnt in the camps where they say they stayed? How can people believe and sympatise with them? This like a three years old throw me a toy and I blast him with my shogun.Do they know what compassion is? Guess not.

BTW, the west is always talking about "Democracy" Guess what, in case you didn't know Hamas was democratically elected. The west didn't accuse them of cheating. But it is only democracy if, it suits them. Should the west have recognised Hamas as a legitimate government, which they were entitled to,peace would have probably been achieved. This is a clear case of crimes against humanity. Melosovic of Serbia, never did even an inch of what Israel is doing..

God Bless

{"commentId":4571542,"threadId":"454192","contentId":"2249768","authorDomain":"fragosus"}

#628 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:01 PM MST

mookmookie

as a religious scholar i can see your point, however anybody with a brain (not aimed at you) can see that this has nothing to do with religion, especially on Israel's side. Anyone who has been there knows that its a Judaic minority who has so much power. most israelis (jews, christians and arabs) are not so much concerned about who raised sheep on what hill 10,000 years ago, they just want peace. most of them are about as Western as Americans and Europeans and do not go near a place of worship on a regular basis.

unfortunately Israel has the same problem as most Middle Eastern nations, and Western nations foe that matter...fanaticism. The only problem is that when someone uses that term for Israelis, they get accused of being anti-Semites, which is stupid, to say the least.

I hate Bush, but he should have marched into that region and taken it over instead...

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#628.1 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:11 PM MST

IMELDOCTOR

ALL RELIGIONS MAN,

And may God bless you for your truthful post. If all people were as knowledgable . and compassionate as you are, the world would not be in this mess.

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#628.2 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:16 PM MST

karl-381105

Perhaps a history lesson would be in order...so much typing and so little truth.....

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#628.3 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:17 PM MST

A just Me

bush cant take his underwear to laundry, you think he can take over the middle east. Please write something that make sense

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#628.4 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:21 PM MST

ALL RELIGIONS MAN

The problem is not that Bush takes over enough to ruin everything. The problem is that they ruin it, they have ruined everything they touched...does it make sense to you? Well if not just look around.

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#628.5 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:38 PM MST

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A just Me

Lets stop using rockets and missiles and start launching shoes.

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#629 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:08 PM MST

mookmookie

amen, but are we going to continue to give shoes to both sides?

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#629.1 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:12 PM MST

A just Me

instead of missiles isreal should use size 10 and up.

Instead of rockets Gaza should use size 9 and under

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#629.2 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:16 PM MST

ALL RELIGIONS MAN

The best of the Postings!!!! Congratulations MMookie!!

Yes, We give shoes to both sides, and may the most smelly shoe win. please send your support to: "iraqishoe@hotmail.com" (a real e.mail to the Shoe)

Every gun barrel should from today have a shoe as a flag.

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#629.3 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:23 PM MST

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karl-381105

BOO HOO pay back can be a bummer..

so you fire dozens of rockets daily into a sovereign nation killing and injuring its citizens and now you cry "do over"...i believe it is time to turn Gaza into a parking lot!!!!!

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#630 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:14 PM MST

ALL RELIGIONS MAN

Hope your mother is there!

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#630.1 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:24 PM MST

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Carrie-330271

Israel is to blame more so than the Hamas. Enough already. Israel needs to stop being terrorists themselves. Israel keeps taking land that does not belong to them. The UN took the land that is now called Israel and gave it to the Jews after WWII, the United States keeps giving millions of dollars to Israel every year, why?? We shouldn't be supporting terrorists. Now with this latest stunt Israel has made, the Arab world will soon be in a bigger uproar than ever. Watch... this has only begun. Israel must know that what they reap they sow. Israel has gotten greedy and greed is what will ruin them, if they keep it up by building on land that does not belong to them - they will get what they deserve in the end. And God will not save them.... 'greed' is not condoned by God.

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#631 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:14 PM MST

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karl-381105

BOO HOO pay back can be a bummer..

so you fire dozens of rockets daily into a sovereign nation killing and injuring its citizens and now you cry "do over"...i believe it is time to turn Gaza into a parking lot!!!!!

shmuel..gimmel

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#632 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:14 PM MST

ALL RELIGIONS MAN

Are you telling me Hitler was right? He was just trying to avoid this happening for the way you talk. You have no compassion, no morals. You send American Bombers to bom children, when they have no food to eat because you are blocking access to them, and you think you are funny. Remember nature has a way to level up and probably one day you'll have more "parking lots" than you bargaing for.

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#632.1 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:31 PM MST

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Andrew-730021

Israel had warned these Hamas terrorists over three days, coz. Hamas was firing Mortars and Rockets into S. Israel, over 200 Rockets in all. But Hamas would not listen, why would they? Hamas are simply put Terrorists, who do not want peace. Israel withdrew from Gaza a few years back, and what did Hamas do mean-while? The Hamas savages went and killed over 100 Fatah Palestinian Policemen, their own people, and took control of Gaza! Now in 2008, they wanted a fight with Israel and got one! So Hamas and Islamic Jihad should not cry foul. You guys fired over 200 Missiles and Rockets into Israel and sure you will get your Butts kicked!

Moving over to Isreal's other neighbor Egypt. The peace holds since 1979, the Sinai Peace agreement. Good for Israel and Egypt. If Israel really wanted to keep Sinai, they coud've held on. But they wanted land for peace and have got that from Egypt and partly from Jordan. But in the North, i.e. Lebanon, trouble is looming. If i had family there i would move them. Why? Coz. Hizbolah Terrorists armed by Iran Oil Money and crazy Mullahs have built their arsenal and are waiting to strike. This time around, it will not be a repeat of 2006. If Hezbolah strikes the Jewish state, Israel will and should remove these Hezbolah. It will be bitter but Israel will prevail.

Next comes the turn of Iran, the Terrorist state, whose MADman, AhMADinejad has threatened to wipe Israel off the map. Never in the History of UN has one country threatened to wipe out another. Israel should Not wait for the day of the next Holocaust. Hightime they went and wiped out all Iran's Nuclear facilities. They do Not need UN's permission nor America's. Waiting will take you nowhere. Just go ahead and do what needs to be done, even if it means using any weapon that Israel has! If Israel waits and Iran gets Nukes, the story is over. The edge will be lost and the crazy Rabble-Rousing Mullahs will theaten any and all with their Nukes. Iran will even threaten the Saudis and Kuwait and UAE. Iran will see to it that the Price of Oil goes to $200 a Barrel, coz. that is what Iran, Venezuela and Russia want. So Israel must strike and now! Go ahead and Toast Iran!

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#633 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:15 PM MST

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GettheFacts

That's right! Both sides need to be slapped big time! A "neutral" force on the ground who is willing to punish either side! Unfortunately, as the other comment said, if you try to help innocent civilians on the Arab side, you are labeled a Nazi or anti-semi or if you try to help the innocent Isreali civilian, you'll be labeled a Zionist.

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#634 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:17 PM MST

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Dave P-376614

I like what Daniel Strahan said. It is OH SO TRUE! Hamas is nothing better than an bunch of murdering thugs and need to be Totally destroyed, along with the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and the Rulers of Iran. Pretty simple-stop shelling Israel and they will stop kicking your sorry asses! Until then, more power to Israel. They have a PERFECT RIGHT to defend themselves against those who would see them destroyed. I wish Israel would just simply clean house over there and get rid of ALL the Radical Islamic Terrorists! The world would be a MUCH better place. Israel has the right to exist. They have the right to defend that existence, at All costs!

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#635 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:25 PM MST

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boris-288740

I believe in the God All Mighty, and I am sure he is not amused by all the killing that goes on in this world. We are nothing but savages with a chip on our shoulder! It is a shame that all we know how to do is cause war! Will man kind ever learn?

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#636 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:26 PM MST

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GettheFacts

Listen to some of you, asking to Nuke this, Nuke that, Kill them All..........you are sitting in your nice & warm houses, thousands of miles away, and saying all of this, and then calling people in the Middle East violent!

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#637 - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:29 PM MST

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TheChipHitsTheFan

to:

ALL RELIGIONS MAN (and like minds)

LEARN MORE HISTORY (especially the things that you feel the need to comment about)

Although you may be locked in your recent passions this way, complaining about the devastation of this region is "Old Hat" and not unique to the Middle East.

Perhaps an examination of historical cultures with so much self-pride should be reviewed so as to see the macroscopic outcome of their own identities.

See "The fall of Rome"....

2008-12-28T19:58:00.006-07:00

updated 3:30 p.m. EST, Sun December 28, 2008

Rice: People will soon thank Bush for what he's done

(CNN) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that despite President Bush's low approval ratings, people will soon "start to thank this president for what he's done."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says "there is no greater honor than to serve this country,"

"So we can sit here and talk about the long record, but what I would say to you is that this president has faced tougher circumstances than perhaps at any time since the end of World War II, and he has delivered policies that are going to stand the test of time," Rice said in an interview that aired on CBS' "Sunday Morning."

The secretary of state brushed off reports that suggest the United States' image is suffering abroad. She praised the administration's ability to change the conversation in the Middle East.

"This isn't a popularity contest. I'm sorry, it isn't. What the administration is responsible to do is to make good choices about Americans' interests and values in the long run -- not for today's headlines, but for history's judgment," she said.

"And I am quite certain that when the final chapters are written and it's clear that Saddam Hussein's Iraq is gone in favor of an Iraq that is favorable to the future of the Middle East; when the history is written of a U.S.-China relationship that is better than it's ever been; an India relationship that is deeper and better than it's ever been; a relationship with Brazil and other countries of the left of Latin America, better than it's ever been ...

"When one looks at what we've been able to do in terms of changing the conversation in the Middle East about democracy and values, this administration will be judged well, and I'll wait for history's judgment and not today's headlines."

Asked by CBS' Rita Braver why some former diplomats say Americans are disliked around the world, Rice said that's "just not true."

Don't Miss

"I know what U.S. policy has achieved. And so I don't know what diplomats you're talking to, but look at the record," she said.

Rice said she wasn't bothered by criticism about her or the administration's polices, saying if a person in her business is not being criticized, "you're not doing something right."

"I'm here to make tough choices, and this president is here to make tough choices, and we have. And yes, I -- there are some things that I would do very differently if I had it to do over again. You don't have that luxury. You have to make the choices and take the positions that you do at the time," she said.

Asked about historians who say Bush is one of the worst presidents, Rice said those "aren't very good historians."

"If you're making historical judgments before an administration is already out -- even out of office, and if you're trying to make historical judgments when the nature of the Middle East is still to be determined, and when one cannot yet judge the effects of decisions that this President has taken on what the Middle East will become -- I mean, for goodness' sakes, good historians are still writing books about George Washington. Good historians are certainly still writing books about Harry Truman," she said.

Rice, 54, said she has enjoyed working in the Bush administration during the last eight years, first as national security adviser, then as secretary of state.

"There is no greater honor than to serve this country," she said, adding that there is also no greater challenge.

Rice said when the new administration takes over, she plans to return to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and write two books -- one on foreign policy and one about her parents.

????

I am truly speechless and conflicted in my feelings regarding these words....
How about you?

Regards,

C.

2008-12-28T17:28:00.003-07:00

Hello Jim, this is in response to your feedback on my comments yesterday.
If you do a closer reading of my comments you may see that you and I are trying to say the same thing. I am currently finishing 3 undergraduate degrees at The University of Montana in History, Liberal Studies and, Philosophy. I have done some extensive study on Indo-Iranian culture. While My original comments may seem spirited, I was simply responding to what seemed uneducated and emotional comments.
If you check out my blog today , you will see that as a Christian, I do not condone violence (by the way, have you ever heard the phrase "Armed Mohammad"?) War is ugly, it always has been. There are no right sides in this issue.
We, as educated people, can only hope to try and fathom it and create at least some minuscule aspect of positivity. (something I feel we should do in all realms of life). I respect your comments and look forward to hearing them again.
Go see by blog@ /thechiphitsthefan.blogspot.com/> Have a nice day Jim.

regards,
C.L.

— TheChipHitsTheFan