the last one is so long that it takes forever for me to load it and I'm lonely!

Grey, windy, temperature dropping like...well not quite like a rock yet, but still. Gloomy, glum sky makes me shiver even before it gets really cold.

and it's not Dumbya...crap!

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/8972

Reminder that Bill Moyer's "Is God Green?" airs tonight on PBS. Check your local TV listings...

"It takes two to speak the truth - one to speak and one to hear." - Henry David Thoreau

* * * *

Coming to America: The Disappeared
       
Written by Chris Floyd    
Monday, 09 October 2006

Kissinger and The Mothers of the Disappeared in Argentina: America on the Brink of Horror.

This blistering Buzzflash editorial deserves to be spread far and wide.

The reappearance of Henry Kissinger as a top adviser in the White House dredges up horrors that have long been buried by time – but which are still fresh in the scarred hearts of millions of people. It reminds us of the complicity and cooperation of the American political elite in the South American mass murder campaign known as "Operation Condor." This earlier "war on terror" – which reached its apogee on that other September 11 terrorist attack,  in 1973, with the American-backed murder of Salvador Allende, Chile's democratically elected president – also featured unrestrained "unitary executive power" claiming the right to imprison and torture and permanently detain anyone arbitrarily declared a "terrorist" or "enemy of the state" on the most specious – or nonexistent – grounds.
 
Must read.......

http://www.chris-floyd.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=876&Itemid=135

I'm sorry Corey Lidle and his flight instructor were killed.  I'm sorry for their wives and their kids (I assume the flight instructor has a wife and kids; I know Lidle did).  I'm sorry for the people who lost their apartments during the investigation and rebuilding of the crash.

That having been said, all of the "What if they HAD been terrorists???" prattle in the media is just horsepucky.  What if the fans who came to last week's Giants game had been terrorists???  What if Wes Clark had been a terrorist, or if the pilot of the jet he was flying today had been???  OMG ... what if my dog is really a terrorist???

A-C-C-I-D-E-N-T.

That's what happened today.

Nothing more.

Tragic, sad, and ... it happens.

Cris Brown

over on the dead thread. LOL!  

http://progressivedailybeacon.com/downloadimage.php?file=John_Trever_way.jpg

I can't post it, it will slow down for others. 

every couple of weeks?

Not really, but it was really great to have him stop by to chat.

 Is a purge of Capitol Hill gays starting?

October 10, 2006

Posted by Frank James at 11:20 am CDT

So are we seeing the beginnings of the Mark Foley-related backlash at the hands of religious and other conservatives against Republican gays with important Capitol Hill staff jobs?

When I tried to gauge that last week by phoning religious-conservative groups like the Alliance for Marriage and Focus on the Family, they demurred. Even the Family Research Council didn’t get back to me with a spokesman.

Anyway, I'm not taking it personally that Tony Perkins, the council’s president, devoted his Washington Update yesterday to the very matter I wanted to talk with him about.

In an item headlined, “Party of Whose Values?” he essentially seems to be accusing gay GOP staffers of being a fifth column within the congressional Republican power structure, thwarting legislative initiatives dear to social conservatives.

“Sunday's New York Times revealed that a homosexual former Clerk of the House of Representatives, Jeff Trandahl, was ‘among the first to learn' of Mr. Foley's’ messages to pages. The Clerk's job is described as a ‘powerful post with oversight of hundreds of staffers and the page program.’ This raises yet another plausible question for values voters: has the social agenda of the GOP been stalled by homosexual members and or staffers? When we look over events of this Congress, we have to wonder. This was the first House to pass a pro-homosexual hate crimes bill. The marriage protection amendment was considered very late in the term with no progress toward passage. Despite overwhelming popular approval, the party seldom campaigns as the defender of marriage. The GOP will have to decide whether it wants to be the party that defends the traditional moral and family values that our nation was built upon and directed by for two centuries. Put another way, does the party want to represent values voters or Mark Foley and friends?”

So Perkins is essentially accusing gay staffers of willfully sabotaging the gay marriage amendment while greasing the skids for its own hate-crimes legislation. Perkins doesn’t offer an explanation as to how non-gay members of Congress could be bamboozled to the point that they’d go along with legislative moves that would weaken their position with conservative voters.

But American history is littered with examples of powerful accusations being made in the absence of evidence. Think Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the Red Scare of the 1950s.

The last line of Perkins’ is an unmistakable challenge to congressional Republicans. He is essentially putting the Republican Party on notice, saying it’s either us or them, the religious right’s agenda or that of gay Americans.

Read on.......

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/10/is_a_purge_of_c.html

I love that guy! LOL!

Lt. CMDR Charles Smith being passed over for promotion.

I swear, Keith reads the blogs cuz he's the ONLY one to give this any airtime at all.

And yes......looking forward to Louis Black on KO

:)

This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.....Molly Ivins

...fascist is, as fascist does, mr. preznit

Conservative conservationists - Bush is going to be losing their votes, too.

"It takes two to speak the truth - one to speak and one to hear." - Henry David Thoreau

it's time to restrict these small civil aviation aircraft. OMG.... the scenarios this guy just gave.... anyone could take thousands of lives by flying into buildings, flying down Times Sq., etc. Ahh, Mayor Bloomberg says it's not a problem (and besides lotsa money given to companies that fly tourists, VIPs, around NYC)... hogwash!
NYC citizens have been traumatized enough, I say.

But something IS different about the Scar show. It's been interesting for at least two weeks. Scar is outraged by so much coming from the GOP. I say, GOOD!

with Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinheim! LOL! It looks like it could be funny. :)

Documentary about the ocean life. It's beautiful...... Just started.

Starz Kids and Family Channel.... FYI

HEADS UP KIDS - The games being?

AP EXCLUSIVE:  Reid Got $1M in Land Sale...

By JOHN SOLOMON and KATHLEEN HENNESSEY

WASHINGTON Oct 11, 2006 (AP)— Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show.

In the process, Reid did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company, according to records and interviews.

The Nevada Democrat's deal was engineered by Jay Brown, a longtime friend and former casino lawyer whose name surfaced in a major political bribery trial this summer and in other prior organized crime investigations. He's never been charged with wrongdoing except for a 1981 federal securities complaint that was settled out of court.

Land deeds obtained by The Associated Press during a review of Reid's business dealings show:

The deal began in 1998 when Reid bought undeveloped residential property on Las Vegas' booming outskirts for about $400,000. Reid bought one lot outright, and a second parcel jointly with Brown. One of the sellers was a developer who was benefiting from a government land swap that Reid supported. The seller never talked to Reid.

SNIP...... read on

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2555635

This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.....Molly Ivins

Hi Everyone!!

I know it has been ages since I blogged and I hope you oldtimers remember me. I am currently volunteering for 3 different campaigns in my area and am hoping all you big hearted folks here can help me with one of them. I sent out a mailing to a list I have of NH people, and I thought I could post it here as well and maybe some of you could help us out too. In any case, I hope you all are well and working your butts off for the upcoming elections ! Thanks so much for giving this a look.

Hi everyone,

Boy what a week it has been! Aside from the Shea-Porter and Hodes campaigns, I have found another fantastic group of candidates to volunteer for and I want to tell you a bit about them.

These candidates are running for State Representatives for Hillsborough District 7 which is Goffstown and Weare. I had the pleasure of meeting four of them at a Democratic Committee meeting in Goffstown on Tuesday night.

What is so exciting about this is there hasn’t been a challenge of this magnitude to the Republicans in this district in years!! They are used to running unopposed in District 7. I don’t know how the rest of you feel, but I think one of the best things that has happened in these horrible times is that really fine people are stepping up as candidates all over the country, and these six folks are just awesome!

Their names are Mary Till, Al Packard, Kelly Teevan, Denise Walderich, Ivan Beliveau, and Fay Greenberg. I cannot overstate how impressed I was with Mary, Al, Denise and Ivan, and they assure me that Kelly and Fay are wonderful candidates as well. They are quintessential New Englanders, outspoken, big hearted and intelligent who have simply had enough with the state of affairs in Concord and Washington and realized the best way to make a change is to do it yourself. Their website is www.GoffstownWeareDemocrats.org. Don’t take my word for how great they are, go and check them out for yourself.

They are running as a team to make the best use of their time, talents and limited budget. They want to do a bulk mailing as part of their campaign, and to hit every household will take more money than they have on hand at the moment. I have volunteered to handle the bulk mailing and want to ask you all to step up for these great people.

I am calling this my “Give a Buck” fundraiser. If you would all be willing to send just $1 to this campaign it would make a huge difference! Anyone feeling more generous might donate $6, a buck per candidate. This is one of those rare instances where your donation would go directly to the mailing and I assure you that we are doing all this work ourselves to keep costs as low as possible.

So please, please, please help out if you can. It would mean so much. To donate you need to go to their website and click on “How to Contribute” at the top of the home page. We need these donations no later than October 13th. All the information is there, and feel free to add a little note identifying yourself as a Clark supporter if you wish and that Cyr asked you to pitch in. If you have any friends or relations who might be willing to donate please forward this email on to them as well.

Like all the campaigns going on right now these folks could use willing volunteers as well as money. If any of you have some time to give I cannot tell you how much it would be appreciated, and I would be happy to get you in touch with the appropriate people, or you can volunteer via their website.

November 7, 2006… our chance to begin the great work of restoring this country! Please do all you can so you won’t be thinking “If only I had done a little bit more…” on November 8th. ( And hey, it's only a buck. ;-) )

Thanks so much,

Cyr Daniel

WesPAC Hillsborough County Coordinator

The AT&T and BellSouth merger would resurrect the Ma Bell monopoly that ruled communications for decades. But this new corporate behemoth would no longer control just phone calls. The new AT&T wants to become gatekeepers to all digital media -- television, telephone and Internet -- at the expense of the free and open Internet that so many Americans rely upon.

The merger is now in the hands of the FCC. They'll rubber stamp the deal unless the public speaks up.

We can't let the new AT&T jeopardize essential Internet freedoms. Tell the FCC to make Net Neutrality a permanent condition of the merger.

By clicking on submit your letter will be sent to all five FCC commissioners and your members of Congress

Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right. - Hunter/Garcia

Time for me to take some cold medicine and hit the hay.

Be good to each other.

The Iraqis have passed a bill that will allow them to have autonomous regions in their federal system, but they can't divide up for 18 months. That would be just as the GE is getting in full swing here. No reason was given on why it has to be 18 months. Why not now?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/11/AR2006101100809.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/11/175829/67

Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right. - Hunter/Garcia

A Real Hero

http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20061011/index.php

I don't usually mess around in other people's Senate races, but since my first American ancestors were born in Virginia, I'd like to put in a word for James Webb, who's running against George Allen for U.S. Senate in the old commonwealth.

I have nothing to say about Allen. Compare the two men's records. There's no contest.

~ snip ~

Jim Webb is a true scholar-warrior, and I don't have the words to say what a blessing to this country having such a man in the U.S. Senate would be. He would stand out in that herd of mediocrity, and the people of Virginia would never have to worry that this man would sell out to the lobbyists and special interests.

I'm worried about the race. At the present, he's tied with Allen. I'm worried because one of the signs of a sick republic is when people can't distinguish good men from bad ones or outstanding men from mediocre ones. What's the point of good people running for office if the public is always going to choose the backslapping demagogue?

Jim Webb is a true American hero and has the capacity to be a statesman rather than a politician. That's the only race I'll be watching election night. The outcome will say a lot about the state of the nation.

Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right. - Hunter/Garcia

It's worth a watch. Gives me hope that maybe ALL evangelicals will wake up to Global Warming and start being "stewards" of planet Earth. :)

I heart Bill Moyers. :)

Other shoe drops: 60 Minutes to cover WH religion tell-all

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/11/213335/00

Olbermann had a segment tonight (update: video @ C&L here) on the forthcoming blockbuster book from David Kuo, "Tempting Faith -- An Inside Story of Political Seduction," as dKosser PLS already previewed. Kuo worked in the White House as deputy director in Bush's highly touted Office of Faith-Based initiatives from 2001 through 2003. There is little advance information about the book online. But based on Keith's story, Kuo's kiss and tell sounds devastating, exposing the cynicism and hypocrisy underlying the relationship between the Republicans and the religious right.

Yes, of course -- the rubes won't read it. But (a) some of the shepherds will, and (b) perhaps a few of them will watch "60 Minutes" -- the corporate site does not yet list next week's stories, but the American Bookseller's Association website says "Tempting Faith" is on the roster for this Sunday.

blue meme's diary :: ::

I expect this book to put pressure on even those televangelists and other hucksters who have financial incentives to ignore such personal affronts. This book is going to create yet another rift between the the Republicans and their enablers.

So even if the White House succeeds in pushing Foley off the front page (so to speak -- is it even possible to talk about this story with out double entrendre?), next week promises to be another bad week for the Republican coalition of the willing.

Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right. - Hunter/Garcia

We all need to start phone banking or whatever else we can do to GOTV for our Democratic candidates. The Rs have all their millions to run their slime ads everywhere. We've got to make sure we get the people to vote who usually sit out the off year elections in particular. I said I'd do it and I will. I did postcards this week and have canvassed for my 100 voter DNC list. I don't know if there are e-block phone banks set up like we did in 2003/2004, but if there are, we probably all need to help in places that have tight races as well as our own local races.

Voter excitement level highest in years

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 11, 12:34 PM ET
 

WASHINGTON - Politics is a water-cooler topic, a dinner-table subject, an issue to discuss after Sunday services, and this year the interest of American voters is at its highest level in more than a decade.

That renewed attention could translate into higher voter turnout on Nov. 7, according to an Associated Press-Pew poll.

Seventy percent say they are talking politics with family and friends, and 43 percent are debating the issues at work. Among churchgoers, 28 percent share their political views, a number that rises to 34 percent among the congregations in the South.

The relationship with politics is not unrequited.

Americans have heard from the candidates and campaigns through phone calls, e-mail or one-on-one. In turn, they've participated more in the political process, attending campaign events, circulating petitions and making political donations.

SNIP

http://tinyurl.com/mu6ra

if you missed it earlier. LOL!

Daily Show reveals 'Opus Gay' network shielded Foley

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Video_Daily_Show_reveals_Opus_Gay_1011.html

Dear xxxx,
 
Credible sources have reported that the San Diego District Attorney has empaneled a criminal grand jury to investigate Brian Bilbray on the charge of fraud.

I applaud the Republican District Attorney, Bonnie Dumanis,  for having the integrity to investigate corruption wherever it lies, without regard to partisanship.  This is what true leaders do.

The people of the 50th District deserve to know the truth.  After enduring the Cunningham scandal, a year without representation and bruising political campaigns, Mr. Bilbray owes the voters a full disclosure of the status of this investigation, immediately.

Support our efforts to hold him accountable for the truth, by calling his offices and demanding an answer to one question.

"Mr. Bilbray, is it true that you are under investigation by a criminal grand jury in San Diego for perjury, election fraud or tax fraud?"

Bilbray's legislative office:  (760)  737-8438

Campaign office:  (858) 457-5500

We must put an end to the corruption and arrogance that has led our country in this dangerous direction. 

Francine Busby

If you missed the FCC public hearings on Media Ownership -- they are on now (from OCT 3rd) The public is really irate and the FCC panel is largely bored. Kevin Martin looked half asleep and just left to catch a plane back to DC in the middle.

It's heartening to see the collective opinion of the public. They are all of the same mind, 2 minutes speeches allowed per person. FCC will likely pay no mind but because C Span is covering it, at least it gives some a chance to hear public opinion. They're calling out DJ's and stations by name. It was in L.A. -- Had NO idea, would have loved to have gone and given the FCC my 2 minutes...

Aanuld went on Jay Leno and as if he read Wes Clark's Blog yesterday did everything he could to untie himself for the GOP failures - incompetence.......

The Tonight show denys receiving a letter from Phil's campaign asking for equal time ( free media to millions ) and sent letter of compaint to FCC etc... but you know as Jay said to Aaauld in closing .... good luck my friend  ...... and Phil will not get equal time from NBC

so it is FIGHT OR FOLD TIME the only thing we can do to get equal time is let the Tonight Show advertisers we are not going to buy their products ...... you all are better at composing the reasons for letter but that is what must be done... they are steamrolling us Dems... and we have to stand up or fold up

I don't watch Jay but I'll make a list of the advertisers in Sector 9 CA and I hope you will do the same in your region and get busy faxing emailing phone - ing your boycott message to them your message that the airwaves belong to American public not the GOP not Jay Leno not NBC......

"The election will rest on whether Democrats can tie local Republicans into the failures and incompetence of the White House and Congressional Leadership." Wes Clark  Oct 11 2006

Kos on Lamont

www.myDD.com

"The election will rest on whether Democrats can tie local Republicans into the failures and incompetence of the White House and Congressional Leadership." Wes Clark Oct 11 2006

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/12/63851/098

"The election will rest on whether Democrats can tie local Republicans into the failures and incompetence of the White House and Congressional Leadership." Wes Clark Oct 11 2006

Though the pressure seems to be on the MainStreamMedia to let the Foley scandal and Coverup fade, we, the Democrats, mustn't let that happen.

During these few weeks prior to bringing in a new Congress that Americans will have leading us for Two Whole Years, character and values regarding any sexual exploitation of our kids, our teens needs to be #1.

The New York Times does have an article on it on their online edition this morning. Not top priority, but up front,by Adam Nagourney, one of their top writers, and re the effects in the hot Ohio races:

"Foley Case Snags Incumbent in Ohio Race for House Seat"
By ADAM NAGOURNEY

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 11 — Representative Deborah Pryce is a former municipal court judge, a Republican and a member of the House leadership who has represented her central Ohio district for 14 years. She is also friends with Mark Foley, the congressman who resigned in the page scandal, as she told Columbus Monthly for a feature it published just last month.

Ms. Pryce always thought she would have a difficult re-election campaign this year in a state raked by Republican scandals. But since Mr. Foley quit, she said in an interview on a tense day of campaigning here, her own internal polls have measured a steady drop in support under the weight of attacks by Mary Jo Kilroy, her Democratic opponent.

Ms. Kilroy has emphasized Ms. Pryce’s connections to Mr. Foley, who was on a list of five people Ms. Pryce said she considered Washington friends in the Columbus Monthly interview.

“I’m totally convinced,” Ms. Pryce [the Republican] said, her voice faint, as she described why her support had declined. “All our polling showed we were going in the right direction until this happened. It fell precipitously.”

[in a new twist, reverse advertising, Ms. Kilroy, the Democrat paced an ad on fundamentalist Christian radio stations:]

“Deborah Pryce’s friend Mark Foley is caught using his position to take advantage of 16-year-old pages,” an announcer says in advertisements the Kilroy campaign has placed on Christian radio stations.

Few other issues are getting the same kind of attention here; no one has been asking them this week about, say, the North Korea nuclear test, both candidates said.

Article contimues at

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/us/politics/12cong.html?

ei=5059&en=c1310664c997cee4&hp=&ex=1160712000&partner=AOL&pagewanted=print

NY-29: Kuhl loses his cool over torture
by Eric Massa
Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 05:07:41 AM PDT

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/12/8741/0626

Please recommend!

 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061011/ap_on_el_ho/murtha_schmidt 

looks like the GOP slander monger is gonna feel some pay back 

EXCERPT
 
Wed Oct 11
 

WASHINGTON - Democratic Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record), the decorated Marine veteran who favors withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, will campaign against the congresswoman who labeled him a coward.

"The election will rest on whether Democrats can tie local Republicans into the failures and incompetence of the White House and Congressional Leadership." Wes Clark Oct 11 2006