Well - fitz-em if they can’t take a joke…

fitz!!!

nertz!

Turd!

Speaking of Osprey:

Here is an Osprey live cam from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

I’ve been following this happy couple for two years now. They just returned to the nest a couple of weeks ago. They should be mating and laying eggs any time now.

Enjoy. :-)

Would help if I included the link:

http://128.128.32.108/view/view.shtml

Eurosatan weighs in at our site.

We have several resident red-tailed hawks in residence at the urban campus where I work. I’ve been privileged to see one fly very low overhead - maybe twenty feet - with a rat in tow. Very impressive and without the conflicting sympathy for the victim I would have had if it had been a dove or a baby bunny.

Late Edition at 11:00 A.M.? Well, that’s certainly not very late - crap- now I’ve gotta run back home and set my TiVo. When God created TiVo, He had a very good day.

Hrm…Kerry might be interesting. He was on fire in the senate the other day.

Oh how I wish I was born a mighty bird, Sailing o’er land and sea,
Cause then I could find Karl Rove’s head, And gleefully screech; bombs aweeeeee!!

Sorry. It’s early………….

Zergle — yeah, I meant to mention that if the Kerry from the Senate shows up, it could be fun. :)

Thanks, SouthernSigh!

Wilson on now with Greg Steph.

more osprey– over the weekend, I came across about 6 mating pair of osprey. here are a couple of the shots I took:
http://www.wolf-digital.com/sh...../index.htm

I love raptors, too. And also hold my breath for the little birds when the resident Harris Hawk (or Cooper’s?) swings around the house and startles the bird feeder brigade.

That’s why this story about how some USDA jerks killed a pair of hawks because some golfers didn’t like the inconvenience of avoiding their nest sends me through the roof.

http://www.birderblog.com/post.php?id=1090

*whew* just made it to the tv in time - Joe got 10 munutes if that much??????

twolf1 - great pics

Bernadette Peters with Steffi? FABULOUS! That means she’ll sing, no?

“Everyone hates me-yes, yes-
Being the Mayoress, yes.
All of the peasants
Throw rocks in my presence,
Which causes me nervous distress, yes.
OOOH, OOOOOOOOOH, OOOH, OOH, OOOOOOOOOH.

Me and my town, battered about,
Everyone in it would like to get out.
But me and my town,
We just wanna be loved!

Stores are for rent, theatres are dark,
Grass on the sidewalks, but not in the park,
Me and my town,
We just wanna be loved!

The people are starving,
So they sleep the day through.
My poor little people,
What can they do?

Who asked you?”

I really love your bird pictures, Christy! I live in NYC brownstone, on the 3rd floor in neighborhood which has lots and lots of trees. The tops of the trees from the backyard are right outside my window, and it is such a wonderful treat to be up on the same level as they are, to be close to their song. And I love raptors (I almost typed raptures lol!) - esp Red Tails, which we do get her in the city as there are so many squirrels. And Falcons! Which I have seen hunting from my perch. Did you know Robin Redbreasts are raptors? I was so thrilled when I found that out.

I want to thank you & Jane again for the late night series you have been hosting. It is such an important issue and unless the race-baiting is EXPOSED for what it is, then I am afraid that it will fly over the heads of most decent, well-meaning but very blind normal people. Naked hatred is so very shocking, most people avert their eyes — it is as though there is a sense on a primal level that this stuff is very dangerous and very infectious.

So while I don’t get to read the late nights in real time, but I wake up in the am and read them, as well as every single comment.

I hope for God’s sake these guys talk about the larger context for this story - but I doubt they will. They were part of the problem. I will be shocked if I hear anyone point out the following ….

Of course, Libby said he heard about Plame from reporters. Why? Because that play had worked before …..

It is absolutely clear now, that in the lead up to the war, the administration leaked selective classified (or, if the President okayed it - unclassified) information to the press to bolster their case for war. Fine. But then the same people would go on the Sunday talk shows and point to that information in the paper as further proof that we had to go to war. Timmeh would point to the NY Times and say “Did you see the report on aluminum tubes, Secretary Rice?” “Oh yes, Timmeh it is further proof of Saddam’s intention. We can’t let the mushroom cloud become a smoking gun, can we?” The administration used the media as an echo chamber to bolster it’s case for war. So when Wilson came out, they tried the exact same thing to discredit him. Why wouldn’t they? They had already established that alley-oop play, they had the channels to the NY times, WP, the Sunday talk shows and it had worked before. Aluminum tubes? I saw it in the NY Times. Yellowcake? I saw it in the WP. WMD? All the papers say it’s true. Wilson’s wife? Heard it from a reporter.

It’s not that complicated - but what do you bet the Sunday talk shows will fall back on the republican talking points? It was not illegal if the President did it. And it’s only a political problem. Bastards.

Yeah, and check out this WP editorial POS. No Shame.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....00895.html

twolf1, great pictures. In the next-to-last one, it looks like the heads of two birds doing serious, uh, snuggling, although the resolution leaves it a little unclear to me.

Saw a couple of ospreys sitting in a tree in Harvard Yard a few years ago. The crows were going nuts. Nice photograph you’ve got there.

Saw a Coopers in a tree in Central Park on Thursday. A red-tail sitting on a light fixture at the Shakespeare in the Park stage as well, but that’s not unusual, although it didn’t look to be one of the pair that nests on Fifth Avenue.

I shouldn’t be surprised any more when I read the Washington Post, but that editorial was pathetic. I had to send this letter. (Not that it will even get read).

“While reading your editorial, I had to look back up at the top of the page to be sure I hadn’t clicked on to the Washington Times by mistake. I grew up reading the Washington Post. It is very sad and disheartening to see what has happened to your newspaper. Katherine Graham must be turning in her grave.”

Have you guys seen the massively dishonest lead editorial in the Post today called “A Good Leak”.

Tries to equate this selective leaking of already debunked intelligence to the actual bureaucratic process for declassification. As if both are equally in the public interest.

Implies that Joe Wilson was “twisting the truth” because his trip actually supported the president’s case for war by confirming the attempt by Iraq to purchase uranium. Completely ignoring the relevant point that his findings only helped make the case for war if Iraq had actually succeeded in buying it — which Wilson said they had not. As did Gen. Fulford and Ambassador Owens-Kirkpatrick.

It’s a mighty sleazy piece of work and I’m thinking Bob Woodward is behind it. It’s actually the kind of thing you see trolls post at here or at Unclaimed Territory or other liberal blogs.

AJ

That editorial in the WP has to be by Woodward. They are just trying to cover their asses. They know they got used. Mark my words, this is going to cause a kind of civil war in the media. The powerful access driven journalists who helped sell the war vs. non-compromised reporters. And the WP and the NY Times are on the front lines. What the WP did in the lead up to the war was completely dishonest - just like that editorial.

Oh, we’ve seen the editorial. Trust me when I say a response is forthcoming.

southernsigh, thanks! The osprey in the nest is looking quite active — or nervous?

Meanwhile, the stork in Germany is standing up on its nest just now — nice view. http://www.storchennest.de/de/.....video.html

I watch all the Friday night and Sunday morning news shows and McLaughlin is my favorite, it is entertaining but they also have some great insights.

I also see a redtail hawk flying around here regularly (near Boston).

Splash says:
April 9th, 2006 at 2:06 am
…WaPo’s new plan to hire two bloggers, and I wonder, will it be one left/centrist DLC-designee polite “liberal†alongside one batshit lunatic theocratic neocon survivalist all spiffed up in a nice clean “conservative†package?

Great thought, this goes to the core of Corporate Media’s Whoredom Complex. Pick Dino-Dems as ’strawmen’ for Wingnuttian Spewdumbheads to soak in cheap gin on National TV and light on fire for the infotainment of the national Pundocracy’s moron audience.

What passes as talkinghead News TV shows are one step from the Circus Maximus at the old Coliseum. The Pundits should all be forced to wear clown costumes on air. It would be so, hmm, Festive.

We had a large pileated woodpecker out back yesterday digging into an old, rotting stump like he had struck gold. He was so engrossed, thrusting his beak in and then swinging his head upward as he swallowed, I was able to sneak up pretty close and get a picture (came out a little fuzzy though). After he took off I inspected the stump and there were tiny ant larvae all over the place. Hope he comes back for seconds.

Oops, the German stork just flew away! But the incredible bald eagle on an island just off Vancouver Island, B.C., is beautifully sitting there, protecting her two eggs — and lots of other bird sounds around her. (Beware of ravens.)

http://www.infotecbusinesssystems.com/wildlife/

jayt, and joke-em if they can’t take a fitz :)

Oh God, I just saw the eggs when the bald eagle shifted position!!!

She’s very active right now.

I’m sitting in our family room now, watching a pair of mourning doves in spect our pine trees for a potential nesting site. Here’s hoping — it would be fun for Fiona to watch since we have a perfect view of the branch. Of course, it’s just above our patio table, so I have mixed feelings. *g* (Nothing like “bombs away” above your table — we’d have to re-arrange. lol

How was the Wilson appearance — for everyone who has gotten to see it already? I’m going to have to rely on Tivo this morning, I’m afraid, and I’m trying to juggle This Week and the start of Blitzer’s show to get my Hersh appearance recorded, too. Can anyone tell me whether Amb. Wilson was on early or late on This Week?

Ospreys are truly magnificent birds. I have had the opportunity to watch them hunt twice. Once beyond the surf in the Atlantic ocean when the bird caught a fish that seemed much too heavy for it to lift, and I think nearly was.

They do have the most squeaky littly call that you would never associate with such a massive bird. And they are massive.

Good Morning Everyone,

actually slept in only to find I missed T Bogg last night and David Ehrenstein does a drive by ?!?!? aarrgghh

Thanks so much for the Osprey and the bird talk Christy. We have Red Tail, Broad Wing, Ferruginous, Red Shoulder, and Caracara pretty much daily year round - we have identified a White Tail overhead on 2 different occasions, 1 was banded

Boehner- cut and run, wave the white flag, embolden the enemy, blah blah blah - C’mon George, ask him ‘Who Is The Enemy?’ jeebus

ReddHedd - “Red in tooth and claw” link. Is that pointing correctly?

And then there the 10 little Grover Norquists, Ralph Reeds, Michelle Malkins, and others feeding at the teets of the mother of all political evil, Karl Rove.

Oh, sorry, it’s just piglets having dinner on mom, on the piglet cam in Cornwall:

http://www.saltash.cornwall.sch.uk/pigcam.htm

I am watching kerry on Meet the Press. Where was this decisive man 2 years ago?

jeanne #43

listening to Bob Shrum

Re: Wilson’s appearance. Someone at DU said it was just basically a recap. Nothing new.

crc — yes — I was trying to get the exact Tennyson poem, but couldn’t find a good link for it this morning. So I did a generic Tennyson link to his “In Memorium.” Was hoping to find a better link to move it to later — but I’ve been doing research for the next article and forgot. lol Sorry.

Jeanne — glad Kerry is having a good appearance day. I suppose this is what we could have had without all the Bob Shrum nuance? SIGH

Bonjour everyone,

Lovely Sunday. going hiking and have no TiVo so dang, the first sunday lineup in ages I really want to see is not gonna happen.

My sister has a motel on the banks of the lovely Rogue River in Grass Pants Oregon. They have fisherpeople and families who come back year after year and one of the attractions is an osprey nest at the top of a tall tree on the river bank. Each year the ospreys come back in the spring, raise a couple of chicks and leave. They usually have to kick out the current squatters when they return. All this under the curious gaze of vacationing humans.

Christy, under the heading of red nature, we have a banana tree where a pair of western oriole’s build a hanging nest each year. One year I watched in horror as a crow hovered in front of their nest, tore it apart and ate the eggs. The poor orioles didn’t come back the next year. They’re here now.

Okay, here is the wire story recapping the news from the Sunday morning talk fest. Leads are Specter and Wilson asking Bush, Cheney to explain themselves.

http://cbs13.com/topstories/to.....95727.html

I watch all the Friday night and Sunday morning news shows and McLaughlin is my favorite, it is entertaining but they also have some great insights.

You can trace the decline in political discourse in this country to the in-your-face shouting matches of today back to when McLaughlin went on the air.

Things weren’t that great before (Agronsky and Company was a bit of a snoozer, except when Hugh Sidey said something stupid, which was usually whenever he opened his mouth) but it wasn’t in the gutter like it is today.

I think you can learn more from these shows by turning down the sound and watching the body language. Back when I used to waste my time watching the bloviating punditocracy, it was pretty clear that Howard Fineman and Gloria Borger (Washington Week In Review) were playing footsy under the table.

The Post editorial is so bad I am actually wondering if someone played a prank on the Post — kind of like the recent prank MIT played on CIT.

You know, some college kid at Liberty University gets an internship at the Post and they bet someone else that they can sneak a NR or Washington Times screed onto the editorial page of the Post.

Or maybe it is the revenge of Ben Domenech.

Prof, thanks for the stork cam website. There’s a town in the wine district of Alsace that has numerous wild stork nests, amazing to see. Christy, thank you so much for the lovely bird pictures.

Washington DC osprey cam, new picture about every 2 seconds: http://www.earthcam.com/usa/dc/osprey/

A bit of rain on the lens in the webcam watching the seals at Race Rocks in BC, but saw some flopping around. http://142.31.86.230/Ex1/

So I’ve read crashing the gate, great book. Oh my god, Kerry just said he could have done a better job explaining myself. Anyway, how do we keep Schrum out of it again? I am tired of smacking my head against the wall.

Woodward’s editorial doesn’t even cover the WP’s own reporting — that the very morning Libby is breakfasting with Miller, Fleisher is on Air Force One admitting that yellocake should not have been included in the SOTU. So what is the purpose here? The editorial keeps asserting that the president can declassify anything at all — including, I suppose, the identity of a CIA operative. I think the “leak” which Bush or Cheney authorized was NOT about the yellowcake at all — it was about Plame sending her husband on the trip.

Wow, I’m twitching in anticipation. After Iran/contra they could shut down all the investigations and issue pardons because, hey, only a few hundred nobodies died here and there.
This time there are tens of thousands of corpses piled high all tagged and bagged. No evil empire to hang any good faith defence on and no more mighty wurlitzer.It should be open season on the long necked chickenhawk.

And their enablers - all those Vichy dems and dirty birds in the MSM. FAIR GAME!

egregious, thanks for the DC osprey! I think the frame rate is a bit faster than 2 seconds — more like …

Wait, action over at the other osprey cam: http://128.128.32.108/view/view.shtml
The pair is together now

But I just love the bald eagle, I must say.

Fitz is exposing a congery of lies - amongst which was a harmful truth about Plame/Wilson. The Libby firewall has burned through - the flames are licking at Cheney and Bush now.

Prof - RE: “two birds doing serious, uh, snuggling”

Actually, they were looking at another osprey that was buzzing their nest (see pic #2). I did get a few pictures of a different couple “snuggling” (I think that’s what they were doing anyway). I have tons more osprey (and other raptor) pictures if anyone is interested.

i’m back, had to get dressed. Saw Joe Wilson *swoon* with Stephanop - Joe was totally composed - Stef asked if he knew if Bush was the one who authorized the leak, and Joe said he had no idea -went thru the chronology of how the WMD was debunked well before the SOTU address, and ended up by saying that this should be resolved by the WH releasing their testamony with the GJ for all to read.

He also said, re civil suit, that they are keeping all options open. and wouldn’t be stampeded in to saying more.

twolf1 - love good pics like yours

So nice to chime in on such pleasant subject.

I am lucky enough to live in a little cul de sac that juts into a nature perserve. This gives me the equivelent of a 200 acre backyard that ends at the beach. Considering what the property yaxes are like here, I’m really really glad it’s public land.

We have so much birdsong, all year round. In the summer at dawn, it sounds like the rain forest. Around June, dawn is almost deafening–in a good way.

For a while, we had the sweetest little screech owl who would settle on the deck railing outside my bedroom window every night to eat his kill. He must have nested very close by b/c we would sometimes see him in the daytime. We called him “marshmallow” b/c his cream and tan and browm mottled feathers made him look like a big toasted marshmallow.

There are a number of hawks in the preserve, a pair of great horned owls, and at least one golden eagle.

I know these don’t count for the raptor lovers, but we have an army of swans that live year round in the ponds around here. They (and the ever growing bands of canadian geese) think they are in charge and reggularly take over and block the roadways. Or decdide to baracade a family in (or out of) their house.

They are quite unafraid of humans, cars, police, firetrucks, etc. and it is hilatious to watch the swans chase local law enforcement and emergency services guys around. No one wants to hurt them, just shoo them back into the water or the marshes.

It’s almost a spectator sport.

When they get too out of control, the local rod and gun club (which has a clubhouse on the shore of the biggest pond) will fire off a cannon (blank charge), I kid you not.

I grew up in NYC, so for a city kid, this is like living in heaven.

I live by Long Island Sound. I see ospreys quite frequently. Their cry is magnificent - it gives me goose bumps. It’s fun to watch them fish. The osprey often carry the fish they catch. They will carry the fish for miles until they want to eat it. I’ve frequently seen migrating osprey do this. The osprey actually carries the fish in the most fuel efficient way - head of the fish first and into the wind.

What is McLaughlan’s opinion on Bush now? I can’t bear watching TV news any longer and I’m glad there are people on the blogs who do it so I don’t have to.

Bill Kristol was on Faux News Sunday calling for a Saturday Night Massacre of Fitz. Saying Fitz ws a partisan hack out to destroy the WH. As much as I love Fitz, I desperately want Abu to try and fire him. Bush would be done.

another way to keep Canada geese off your lawn (the poop problem is gigundous) is to acquire a border collie (are they the ones that herd?) to keep them in the water.

Rapt over Raptors…and impending political conversations. In the mean time you should check out SF’s finest offering, the PG&E NestCam of George and Gracie, a pair of breading peregrine falcons here: http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/falconcamera.htm. The falcons have been nesting in the downtown building for three years now. This year they upgraded to a live camera with sound and the sneaky birds moved around the block. Fortunately volunteers tracked them down, found them in a tall abandoned penthouse, and got PG&E to sublet to keep the family name. There are four eggs in the nest, and these are some *dedicated* parents. A great photographer is tracking their changes here http://www.visavisreps.com/falcon-gallery/. Wonderful people are involved and watching the camera. Hatching some time this month! You should definately check it out.

As the political situation worsens, and the “king” (who originally seized power not through a legitimate election) takes increasingly unilateral actions without regard to the Constitution. He claims to be acting to protect the country against terrorists.

The people finally pour into the streets in protest, to the point where they are shouting slogans like “burn the crown.”

Two people are shot be security forces.

Yesterday. In Kathmandu.

The intensity of the protests of the past week raises the stakes for an increasingly isolated king.

“If the movement goes ahead like this, the inevitable will happen very soon,” said Lok Raj Baral, head of the Nepal Center for Contemporary Studies, a research organization in Katmandu. “The anger everywhere is against the king.”

http://www.iht.com/articles/20...../nepal.php

The NBC channel was out in my area this morning, which may have been a blessing since I didn’t have to look at Timmeh and listen to Big Head Mush Mouth Kerry.

On the other hand Joe Wilson was the picture of reason, sanity and logic. I still think though there were bigger things in plsy in the outing of his wife than just to discredit him. I think the Bush Crime Family wanted to shut down their only source of accurate intel regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

Representative Boehner (I can’t help wanting to call him Mr. Boner) seems to live in an alternate reality. According to him the Senate can’t pass a meaningful immigration reform bill because the mean dems are holding it up. The dems can’t hold up their own arms, much less anything the ReThugs want to push through. The ReThugs themselves can’t agree on whether to have an amnesty or built the Great Wall of China.

Then Mr. Boner went on to sing the praises of the ReThugs fiscal prudence - right pal, they gotta rebuild the debt clock anyday now to accomodate a new digit. He also said the ReThugs were the party that provided health care for Americans, again, right pal, Americans on what planet?

Sometimes I wonder why I even get up early out here on the west coast to watch these idiot slobber, drool and lie. All it does is get me upset and feeling like going hunting for two legged game.

Joe Wilson with George was a saving grace this morning. One nit to pick though is, he wants the preznit to release the transcripts from when he and Big Dick were holding hands while being interviewed by Patrick Fitzgerald. The problem with that is no one can assume they did anything but lie, they weren’t even under oath, though I doubt to those slime that would even matter.

I would love to see Joe Wilson eventually pursue a successful civil suit against the administration and relieve Big Dick of some of his ill-gotten Halliburton gains.

Since I’m dreaming I’ll suggest some other beautiful fantasies.

Don Rumsfeld dies of Avian Flu before he can enjoy all his Tamiflu windfalls.

The preznit doing life at Gitmo in a straight jacket and kept alive for at least an extra two hundred years by extraordinary medical intervention - and it still wouldn’t be enough.

Condi Rice could spend life in one of those secret “black” prisons that don’t exist and if she doesn’t like that - boil her in oil.

Scotty McClennan and Karl Rove could just be sent to a “normal” max security pen where they could spend alternate weeks being the sex slaves of an Ayran gang one week and a black gang the next. I don’t know though, maybe they would enjoy that too much!

Sorry for the rant, I guess that’s what watching these idiots does to me. But I feel better now.

let osprey.

Sorry, the killings were, of course, in Pokhara Narayanghat.

Pokhara and Narayanghat

twolf1- have bookmarked your site and will be back. Beautiful pics. Thanks for the link. And thanks to all who posted links to birdcams.

I had a little yellow chirper in my house yesterday. He flew in through an open window and couldn’t find his way out. Ironically enough, he chose as his resting case not the beautiful bird’s nest we found on a hike that now graces our mantle but the decorative bird cage on the back porch ;-)

McLaughlin gave Bush an 8 on the scale of Hurt by Leaks scandal - 0 being Totally Pure as the Driven Snow and 10 being Utter and Complete Metaphysical Certitude of Taint (or words to that effect).

Hi! Your neighbor here in northern WV (I think). Sadly, we had to give up our bird feeders because of bears. Love firedoglake, etc.

John Kerry is giving the interview of the year. A man that can think and speak on his feet, take responsibility for his words and offer a solution to someone else’s fcukup. If the supposed uniter bush had one iota of intelligence he’d make Kerry an offer to help America out of (t)his mess.

thanks everyone for the cams - we’re lovin’ it !
and twolf1 - I too bookmarked your pics

who wrote the WaPo editorial ?

To add to the discussion here is my take on the impending nuclear strike on Iran and two points that I hope do not get lost in the shuffle.

Joe Wilson was good. Oh if they would release those WH transcripts. Christy, how long is breakfast with Wilson et al in Las Vegas going to last. Can we lock them in a room until all our questions can be answered? I can not wait.

Christy

Thanks for the Sunday bird photos. I look forward to them every week. In addition to everything else, now I find myself searching for the birds in the Santa Cruz Mountains online. As if I didn’t spend enough time online (laughing).

“who wrote the WaPo editorial ? “

Dude, it was the LEAD editorial from the WP editorial board. That said, I bet Woodward wrote it. I’m seeing signs of a civil war within the WP. Good, skeptical reporters on one side vs. kool-aid drinking access driven hacks like Woodward, VanderHei, Kurtz on the other. The editorial was probably in response to Gellman and Linzer’s article below. I would bet Woodward tried to have that article killed and got the editorial as a consolation prize.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....00916.html

Can we give some “feedback” to the WP editorial board? Anybody got an address?

Suzanne # 80

I’m with you - when the hubby sees the birdblog ‘cookie’ from above, I’m sure I’m in for the long threatened ‘blogging intervention’

Oh and it looks like Comstock and crew, via Joseph E. diGenova is angling for a pre-trial pardon of Libby …

http://www.latimes.com/news/na.....-headlines

DAY 2,017 SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE IRAQ WAR

Good mornin’ fdlers, I promised myself I wouldn’t ferget the victims of this war (American and Iraqi) since I, like a lot of othrs, spent a lot of time and energy tryin’ ta ferget the last insane colonial war of occupation we waged. We have a moral obligation of citizenship not only to work to end the war in Iraq but to get out in front right now in opposition to the use of nuclear weapons in a boming campaign against Iran. And we can’t hope that some coalition in the oligarcy is gunna come together to stop this insane fratboy who is loose in the armory of democracy…we must face it, Bush is doin what the corporate rulers want him ta do.

The fascist takeover is coalesed, the only thing we can do is create a wide “Resistance” movement. This means creating a coalition of anti-fascists including Greens, Libertarians, liberals, Republicans, Democrats, feminists, anti-racists… whose sole objective is to end this insanity in the middle east and replace the current administration and ruling party. The ideology of this coalition is “anti-fascism” and it defines an enlarged form of the coalition FDR brought together to fight the depression and fascism 74 years ago. We have no choice and the prospects are not good for immediate success but we can’t fight among ourselves any longer. (Let me take this opportunity to thank Ralph Nader again for makin all this necessary).

I have children in college and grandchildren, and I used ta have the prospect of retirement within 5 years…all that is threatened now. So, I am dedicating every non-workin’ moment to political work, commenting here, working the county Democratic Party and volunteering at the Vet’s Hospital. My first post here everyday will have the count of the number of days since March 20, 2003…I will try not to be a monomaniac and I will rely on this wonderful oasis of sanity and intelligence to shore up MY sanity and intelligence…

KEEP THE FAITH AND REMEBER GOD DOESN’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT FAITH IF THERE AIN’T ANY WORK BEHIND IT!!!

Here is a link to Ivy’s birdcam, located in the redwoods in Boulder Creek, CA. I’m also in that area and get similar birds at my feeder.

http://www.ivyjoy.com/webcam/

Still new at this linking and blog stuff so I’m crossing my fingers and toes the link goes through.

Well, as usual I will not be watching any of these shows, and I still think you would be doing everyone a service by NOT publicizing who’s on TV. Just let ‘em fade away, let the ratings tank. I’m sure this is a minority view, possibly even a crackpot view, but very few people are enlightened enough to avoid the dangerous gut-churning distraction that accompanies such viewing. Believe it or not, there are larger issues.

I count on sites like this to tell me enough to know what’s going on, i.e. that we live in a criminal dictatorship ruled by a madman out to destroy life as we know it. That’s pretty heavy stuff. It also presents an opportunity to examine our lives , collectively and individually. In fact, the times demand it.

The present structure of our society — indeed, Western society in general, so sadly emulated in most developing countries — is deeply flawed and unsustainable. Wry future human historians may even thank George Bush for making us the pariahs of the world and shattering the arrogance that has led us to this brink, so that others can learn. But people really need self-containment and detachment now, because the train is truly off the tracks. What happens now is beyond the ability of any political party to deflect, yet life is good… :-)

The paradox marks a teaching moment for the species. It might pay to achieve a calm and receptive state of being. I’m just sayin’…

P.S. I don’t have “spellcheck” for my comments…”bombing”

I accidentally posted this to the nutcracker thread because I had to go to it to get the quote that the NYT apparently took down, but I want to repeat it because it’s something that really pisses me off, and I’d like to see a stop put to it NOW. Yahoo news as quoted here on another thread, and now the NYT (although when I just went back to grab the quote, the story, on Arlen Specter’s Fox News This Morning appearance was gone) repeat without qestioning the dubious claim “President Bush declassified sensitive intelligence in 2003 and authorized its public disclosure to rebut Iraq war critics.†No, he didn’t. He can’t as a functionary in the _people’s_ government (albeit the highest-ranking one - gag) declassify something just by stating it or allowing it to be stated. Can he just go on the teevee and blurt out our nuclear launch codes and submarine positions? I think not. His person is not synonymous with the government. L’etat, ce n’est _pas_ lui, Dieu merci. In fact, I can think of more approprate French for him. But this meme is creeping in that his mere stating of something is de facto declassification, and the press corpse is helping to propagate it with their usual zombie-like acquiesence. I know many others have noticed this. Please somebody call bullshit.

Back to lurking now, promise.

NorskeBabes! DAY 2,017 SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE IRAQ WAR is so incorrect. 2017 days is 5.5 years. please recalculate…

Should have mentioned that the attention paid to bird life in this thread is wonderful. Important, too.

SqueakyRat (24) we saw the same ospreys! I’m not much of a birder, but they were something. They hung around for several months, often right out my office window!

I just want to make a short point about the NIE that I’ve not seen many places (maybe Wilson said it this morning, I am no longer capable of watching the Sunday shows.)

The DoD was for the aluminum tubes interpretation; State and Dept. of Energy against. So whom to believe? Well, most people aren’t aware that the Department of Defense does not enrich nuclear materials or build nuclear weapons. DoD is an end-user after the warheads are built. Who builds them?

The enrichment happens at a few sites around the country; the weapons labs (Los Alamos and Livermore) are where the expertise on weaponizing resides. Both the enrichment facilities and weapons labs are run by DoE.

So when DoD says the tubes are for enrichment, and DoE says they’re not, there’s not much to discuss about who knows what they’re talking about.

I know we all know they’re lying, but sometimes it’s almost admirably breathtaking how brazen they are about it.

Here is the e-mail address for feedback to the Post on that piece of crap editorial.

opinions@washingtonpost.com

And here’s what I wrote to them:

The stunning intellectual dishonesty of “A Good Leak” boggles the mind. In the mind of the writer it would appear that Wilson’s only task in Niger was to find out if Iraq had tried to buy uranium as the administration claimed. I guess he was just supposed to come back without asking if Iraq had succeeded.

But I guess Joe Wilson thought that, if American lives were going to be at stake, he should ask the appropriate follow-up question. Did Iraq succeed?

So he asked his contacts and he reported back that not only had Iraq tried to buy uranium (confirming the president’s claim), but that they had failed to do so (in which opinion he was supported by reports from both General Carleton Fulford and Ambassadore Owens-Kirkpatrick). Thus undermining the president’s case for war. Which is exactly what Joe Wilson said that his trip had done.

My guess is that Woodward wrote this piece of crap editorial.

Or this is a college prank where one of your interns (probably from Liberty University) bet another that he could sneak an editorial screed from the National Review or the Washington Times onto your editorial page. In fact this looks remarkably similar to a recent troll posting at a left-wing website.

Or this is the revenge of Ben Domenech. And it worked because, man, do you look like fools today. And that is going to become ever more apparent as this president moves toward his date with impeachment.

And I am not even going to comment on what kind of a lunatic (can you spell morally tone deaf?) would equate selective leaking of politically advantageous albeit debunked intelligence to the bureaucratic process of declassification in the interests of the public’s right to know.

Perhaps your editorial writer should spend today reading your news pages.

AJ

PS- And Jim Brady STILL needs to be fired for his egregious editorial errors in judgement.

1,116 DAYS SINCE MARCH 20, 2003 (Old age is a mother…)

Thanks guys, I’m glad you enjoy the photos. Here are a couple more links to photos my girlfriend and I have shot over the last couple years:
http://www.wolf-digital.com/sh...../index.htm

http://www.wolf-digital.com/sh.....wkmtn.html

enjoy!

We’ve got redhawks on our golf course- messy eaters- they leave the remains of often unrecognizable furry things all over the place.

Interesting to watch them- the smaller birds often terrorize them while they are in the air. Their turning radius is so small that the little guys can turn inside em and peck hell out of em. They don’t seem to attack full grown crows- or “mud ducks”- pity- the crows make huge holes in the greens looking for worms and the “mud ducks”, (coots), leave a heavy residue of cootshit nearly everywhere- they are a health hazard.

Oops- meant to say “their turning radius is so LARGE”.

Hey Norske;
great comments…

I post the Iraq casualty number on my apartment front door weekly.
It bums people out, and that’s the point. I think it’s helped turn the bush/war supporters to become “former” in my building. I also post it at work and have been asked not to by some of my colleagues, but I continue.
I know what you mean about retirement, I thought it was closer than it now is. But in my time away from work (psychiatric social worker) I have a 93 y/o mother and a disabled daughter to attend to. So my off-work hours are spent mostly on line and on phone. I have stood on street corners with posters, I wear anti-bush and anti-war pins and they elicit many (mostly positive) comments now. Much more so than 3 years ago.

I love your passion… spell checkers are not all they’re cracked up to be.

I’ve done quite a bit of reading in the last few months- most of it political. I am beginning to realize that my reading includes almost NOTHING that discusses how to fix the massive problems we will face when we finally get GW Clusterfuck out of the White House..

I don’t want to read partisan stuff on these issues- too suspect. I want to read thoughtful stuff on the alternatives for dealing with:

Iraq and the middle east- a scenario for “success”.

Medical costs and availability

The deficit-it’s long term consequences and solutions

The environment

Oil cost and availability

Anyone have any suggestions? Bright objective people writing about integrated solutions to the above? It all needs to be integrated to be of use- particularly at the budget level.

The leak case was barely touched on on the shows I watched.

Zinni is on CNN Late edition now.

Professor Foland # 91

Oh where were you Prof. when the story initially emerged ?!?!? Think it was NYT, but it was a confusing narrative, and took several reads to get the DOE bottom line. Plus the hubby was a vendor to NIF at the time and although everyone kept quiet, it was clear there was a great deal of consternation on the part of the DOE employees over the spin

Christy, speaking of ospreys, we live on the coast of Connecticut, and at the local Audubon center they have an osprey stand, complete with online “osprey-cam”. The osprey pair have nested here over the last few years, and we’re anxiously awaiting their annual return. Hopefully soon!

Oh god- I just turned on Chris Mathews in time to see him saying “Coming up next, what Hillary could learn from Katie Couric”- you know what that means- more Hillary bashing and probably some advice along the lines of “be more feminine, don’t be so pushy and play nice with the men” or something like that.

This guys hillary obsession is getting creepy. Honestly. In a way, he gives her a lot more power by constantly keeping her in the news and criticizing her. If she were a man, you know damn well he wouldn’t be chastizing her for being aggressive.

Prof Foland at 91 — thanks for staying on this point about the credibility of the judgements in the NIE. Recall that the NIE was not a normal product of mature, careful intelligence analysis. It was a hastily ginned up political document, more a “brief” to prove a case, put together without the usual peer review, and put out to satisfy Durbin and others who were demanding a real, honest intelligence estimate but never got one. And Rummy wanted his own intel operation to validate his own policy view (and that of Cheney). It is tragic that the Administration took this responsibility so cavalierly in the NIE.

does anyone else think it’s much too quiet now? Or is it just Palm Sunday?

Oops! Correction…they’re back already. YAY!

Does the Washington Post