Morning, Christy

Good Morning, coffee and smokes here.

Meet the Press (NBC): Senators-elect Jon Tester and Jim Webb;

Wow. What came over Pumpkinhead? Is he alright?

NaNOO @ 2

Good Morning, coffee and smokes here.

Thanks very much, but I’ve got my own.
coffee (black) Marlboro (red).

Mornin’ Christy!

Nice to see David Corn on C-Span, will have to get a fire going as My TV is in that part of the house, only heated by wood and I let it go out last night, it’s about 10 degrees outside.

Morning gang…no coffee yet, and no smokes. But doing some Christmas shopping online this morning. Thanks to everyone’s suggestions, I’m almost done shopping…and I didn’t have to leave the house. Woo hoo! No crowds!

Crepes / pancakes with Vermont maple syrup.. of course.

Do you think we will see more from the left side on the insufferable Sunday Morning talk shows now that the D’s are in control of the legislative branch (including most states and govenors?? Na … I did’t think so…

I am more and more convinced that what we see is a side show and the real string pullers are a handful of super rich individuals and their corporation. They will not move some of their focus to the dems… and the same old same old will continue.

How can we demilitarize this nation and the world? Why do we run off to fight, kill each other and make people richer for it?

Does anyone else want to shrink the pentagon to a triangle or a line… and can the national security state that now dominates us?

OK, I have to ask. I just can’t figure out what that’s a picture of.

It’s been five years since I watched MTP (actually, pretty much any of them at all, except for a Kerry appearance on Stephanopoulos earlier this year); but Jim Webb is enough to get me to tune in. What’s been coming from him the last few days would make Jordan Barab proud. Most intriguing. If he brings up Houston or UCLA I might have to move to Virginia so I can vote for him in six years.

And, of course, one should never complain about Rangel putting in an appearance. Elections have consequences, I guess…

Christy,

Don’t forget that online shopping is yet another way to maximize profits, by cutting jobs… It’s a double edged sword… no different than shopping at Walmart.

Try to buy gifts from shops and people who earn a living from your purchase… not mega corporations… like BN and Amazon.

Professor Foland @ 8

OK, I have to ask. I just can’t figure out what that’s a picture of.

I thought it was a bird in the snow, but Redd explains what it is at the bottom of the post.

Sunday mornin’ – reminds me – haven’t seen Sharkbabe for a while – where is that girl?

And *ilson?

Breakfast at my house for the past two weeks has been OATMEAL!!

The temps just dropped here, it’s raining sometimes, so it’s now the season for a real breakfast. I use those barely flattened Scottish porridge oats. So easy to make — takes like 2 minutes. Drizzled with a little maple syrup, then a big splash of milk. And afterwards, a persimmon for breakfast dessert — they’re now seriously in season.

I’ve had an absolutely huge upswing in morning energy and greet-the-day brightness since I re-discovered the wonders of hot oatmeal — seriously! I totally recommend it if you’re getting the gray-sky, short-day blues …

OT – medaka – i tried that email addy u sent me and it bounced back

DefJef @ 9

Christy,

Don’t forget that online shopping is yet another way to maximize profits, by cutting jobs… It’s a double edged sword… no different than shopping at Walmart.

Try to buy gifts from shops and people who earn a living from your purchase… not mega corporations… like BN and Amazon.

I shop at walmart and online all the time.
The way to approach the problem is through legislation– US labor laws, and trade agreements that enforce labor laws and environmental laws around the world.

I don’t mind if people want to avoid shopping at walmart, but don’t lecture the rest of us about it.

I watched Taxi Driver, with DeNero last night, what a film, you almost think he’s going to try to kill the politican, but no he slaughters the pimps. Good movie.

I’ve replaced Sun mornin’ TV with music, which has been going for some time now this A.M. I’m sure my neighbors are thrilled.

Foer is actually sounding reasonable. He agrees with corn more than he disagrees. I was expecting him to be a stronger advocate for The New Republican’s throw more money and lives down the Iraq rathole position.

He just called james baker the bush family janitor and a political hack. He’ll be looking for work tomorrow.

Hi Christy,

I think Webb has a pretty decent tax reform
proposal…
Let’s focus on domestic issues and get out
of the Middle East…

Jack

Riesz Fischer @ 14

DefJef @ 9

Christy,

Don’t forget that online shopping is yet another way to maximize profits, by cutting jobs… It’s a double edged sword… no different than shopping at Walmart.

Try to buy gifts from shops and people who earn a living from your purchase… not mega corporations… like BN and Amazon.

I shop at walmart and online all the time.
The way to approach the problem is through legislation– US labor laws, and trade agreements that enforce labor laws and environmental laws around the world.

I don’t mind if people want to avoid shopping at walmart, but don’t lecture the rest of us about it.

of course we can lecture others about it, just like people against slavery lectured those people that owned slaves.

look, if you;re buying walmart you’re supporting a company you know as a fact abuses children over seas and steals from the middle class here in America, that’s my lecture and I’m sticking to it

now, we need trade agreements that precludes ccountries that don’t have collective bargaining laws for their labor

and we must insist in america all workers be part of a collective bargaining process, this way a company or corporation does not enjoy unitary power over the labor resource they are supposed to be bargaining for

RF @ 14

I am not lecturing, but you sure sound like you are not taking personal responsibility for your actions.

We DO need labor laws to protect workers, but BigBiz will always be exploiting labor at every turn… that is part of the biz model… and when they have squeezed and downsized all they can… have taken all they can out of these corporations… they let them whither and die… after sending our jobs offshore. Look up RubberMaid to see how BigBiz works. They ain’t gonna change.

We all have to do our part. Boycot is one effective way.

Heck… you can make gifts… much more meaningful!

No more money or weapons for Israel too. Let’s really make some peace in the middle east.

NaNOO @ 21

No more money or weapons for Israel too. Let’s really make some peace in the middle east.

while I’m not happy about what isreal is doing with our support, we have to have an american presence in the middle east, Israel is America’s proxy, we have to suppotr her militarily, however we need someone in charge here that knows how to conduct our concerns in the middle east, that description exclueds the current administration

perris and DefJef,

I didn’t come here looking for a fight, but I had to respond to this nonsense.

A personal boycott is good for nothing but enhancing your own feeling of righteousness. A few people refusing to shop at walmart has no effect on walmart (you said so yourself DefJef: “Look up RubberMaid to see how BigBiz works. They ain’t gonna change.”). But it has a major effect on the progressive movement in general. Your self righteous lecturing makes people sick and drives people away.

Let’s stick together and work for laws that regulate corporations to behave responsibly.

Oh jayt and NaNOO

you guys don’t need that nasty tobacco stuff still do you? I am now an insufferable and happy ex-smoker. A year and a half smoke-free, can’t believe it took me so long to grok.

If you guys are in your 30s or 40s, you should seriously think about leaving it behind, unless you wouldn’t mind carrying one of those little oxygen tanks around for the rest of your life. I know, I know, ex-smokers who remind you are the worst.

That’s because we KNOW! Heh. I quit it with one quit-smoking therapy session. It was way too easy, though I was probably way more than ready.

Hey TRex, I do hope you’re eavesdropping!

perris, just why is that, that an American pressence is necessary? Just why does the US need 130 bases all over the world?

a sunday moring w/o lieberman in the lineup – yeah!

twolf1 @ 13

OT – medaka – i tried that email addy u sent me and it bounced back

Oh dear, twolf, I’ll see what else I can come up with. I believe the group I mentioned was called “Justice Chickens”. I’ll see if I can find them, and will let you know what turns up …

If anyone is looking for the NYT columnists from behind the firewall, please be patient. They’re stuck in mod here and downstairs. (I guess even mods get to sleep in on Sunday!)

I suppose smoking is my way of relieving stress, along with drinking. I don’t take anti-depressants, I just read they aare really on the rise in the US. No wonder.

Riesz Fischer @ 23

perris and DefJef,

I didn’t come here looking for a fight, but I had to respond to this nonsense.

A personal boycott is good for nothing but enhancing your own feeling of righteousness. A few people refusing to shop at walmart has no effect on walmart (you said so yourself DefJef: “Look up RubberMaid to see how BigBiz works. They ain’t gonna change.”). But it has a major effect on the progressive movement in general. Your self righteous lecturing makes people sick and drives people away.

Let’s stick together and work for laws that regulate corporations to behave responsibly.

medaka @ 24

Oh jayt and NaNOO

you guys don’t need that nasty tobacco stuff still do you? I am now an insufferable and happy ex-smoker. A year and a half smoke-free, can’t believe it took me so long to grok.

If you guys are in your 30s or 40s, you should seriously think about leaving it behind, unless you wouldn’t mind carrying one of those little oxygen tanks around for the rest of your life. I know, I know, ex-smokers who remind you are the worst.

That’s because we KNOW! Heh. I quit it with one quit-smoking therapy session. It was way too easy, though I was probably way more than ready.

Hey TRex, I do hope you’re eavesdropping!

anyone ever try that bravo stuff?

it’s supposedly made from lettuce..pretty cool idea, I smoke a pipe and cruch my own dried craberries, pop it in the bowl and have a very nice smoke

since it’s a pipe I don’t have a nicotene addiction but I love to do something while I’m driving or working on my laptop.

so, anyone try that bravo stuff?

Marion in Savannah @ 28

If anyone is looking for the NYT columnists from behind the firewall, please be patient. They’re stuck in mod here and downstairs. (I guess even mods get to sleep in on Sunday!)

you know I’m looking for it, I always wait for your links marion, thanx for now and for when i forget to tell you thanx

NaNOO @ 29

I suppose smoking is my way of relieving stress, along with drinking. I don’t take anti-depressants, I just read they aare really on the rise in the US. No wonder.

I read that many credible sources in the administration have claimed that Dumbya has started drinking again.

perris, formerly known as me to me, @ 30

Riesz Fischer @ 23

perris and DefJef,

I didn’t come here looking for a fight, but I had to respond to this nonsense.

A personal boycott is good for nothing but enhancing your own feeling of righteousness. A few people refusing to shop at walmart has no effect on walmart (you said so yourself DefJef: “Look up RubberMaid to see how BigBiz works. They ain’t gonna change.”). But it has a major effect on the progressive movement in general. Your self righteous lecturing makes people sick and drives people away.

Let’s stick together and work for laws that regulate corporations to behave responsibly.

medaka @ 24

Oh jayt and NaNOO

you guys don’t need that nasty tobacco stuff still do you? I am now an insufferable and happy ex-smoker. A year and a half smoke-free, can’t believe it took me so long to grok.

If you guys are in your 30s or 40s, you should seriously think about leaving it behind, unless you wouldn’t mind carrying one of those little oxygen tanks around for the rest of your life. I know, I know, ex-smokers who remind you are the worst.

That’s because we KNOW! Heh. I quit it with one quit-smoking therapy session. It was way too easy, though I was probably way more than ready.

Hey TRex, I do hope you’re eavesdropping!

anyone ever try that bravo stuff?

it’s supposedly made from lettuce..pretty cool idea, I smoke a pipe and cruch my own dried craberries, pop it in the bowl and have a very nice smoke

since it’s a pipe I don’t have a nicotene addiction but I love to do something while I’m driving or working on my laptop.

so, anyone try that bravo stuff?

teh bravo lettuce tobacco

Christy -

Thank you for the wonderful swan……….makes me think of England *g*.

Right wing female caller just on C-Span having a total FIT about the “far-left liberal” Corn & NOBODY on for a fair & balanced picture…..doncha luv it! Poor baby ;-) Oh well, there’s always faux news to satisfy her thirst.

oops, forgot the bravo link

http://www.bravosmokes.com/testimonials.asp

If you guys are in your 30s or 40s, you should seriously think about leaving it behind…

Actually, I’ve left both my 30s and 40s behind….

I do tend to rather jealously guard my relatively few remaining bad habits.

It’s snowing here. I’m going out for a run.

I hope I didn’t sound too harsh earlier. I hate to attack my fellow ‘Dogs.

Riesz Fischer @ 32

NaNOO @ 29

I suppose smoking is my way of relieving stress, along with drinking. I don’t take anti-depressants, I just read they aare really on the rise in the US. No wonder.

you know this rumor has been going around for quite a while

at the beginning I gave it plenty of credibility, but more would have come out by now so I think it’s just a rumor

randi rhodes has fun saying she thinks he’s doing cocain again because of his bouncing jaw

I read that many credible sources in the administration have claimed that Dumbya has started drinking again.

Riesz Fischer @ 23

perris and DefJef,

I didn’t come here looking for a fight, but I had to respond to this nonsense.

A personal boycott is good for nothing but enhancing your own feeling of righteousness. A few people refusing to shop at walmart has no effect on walmart (you said so yourself DefJef: “Look up RubberMaid to see how BigBiz works. They ain’t gonna change.”). But it has a major effect on the progressive movement in general. Your self righteous lecturing makes people sick and drives people away.

Let’s stick together and work for laws that regulate corporations to behave responsibly.

the idea isn’t just to NOT shop at walmart – it’s to shop somewhere like costco instead… that’s just an example, but the idea is to support businesses that treating employees better. if we all shopped at walmart, the costco employees would all lose their jobs. in this simplified example, it’s not about harming walmart – it’s about supporting costco and their employees.

btw, i do agree with you that the real goal is to change our laws…

Never heard of the bravo stuff. The one thing that turned me off from Gore was his anti smoking thing that killed his sister, then a week later learned how his family made their money growing tobacco. Just recently i read his book An Inconvenient Truth, here he talks of his sister andd how he should have said something about the guilt his family has had.

NaNOO @ 25

perris, just why is that, that an American pressence is necessary? Just why does the US need 130 bases all over the world?

according to chalmers johnson it’s well over 700 bases.

selise @ 39

Riesz Fischer @ 23

perris and DefJef,

I didn’t come here looking for a fight, but I had to respond to this nonsense.

A personal boycott is good for nothing but enhancing your own feeling of righteousness. A few people refusing to shop at walmart has no effect on walmart (you said so yourself DefJef: “Look up RubberMaid to see how BigBiz works. They ain’t gonna change.”). But it has a major effect on the progressive movement in general. Your self righteous lecturing makes people sick and drives people away.

Let’s stick together and work for laws that regulate corporations to behave responsibly.

the idea isn’t just to NOT shop at walmart – it’s to shop somewhere like costco instead… that’s just an example, but the idea is to support businesses that treating employees better. if we all shopped at walmart, the costco employees would all lose their jobs. in this simplified example, it’s not about harming walmart – it’s about supporting costco and their employees.

btw, i do agree with you that the real goal is to change our laws…

I think we’ve all made our points, like he said, he didn’t come for a fight…we’re all on the same page for what needs to be done to rectify the situation.

we’ve made our point, he’s made his, no fighting, it’s a glorious sunday morning here in long guy land new york

Speaking personally, as a handicapped person shopping on line is the best. And it also opens up avenues of shopping that I could NEVER access before. Last year I found a wonderful laptop drawing board for my 13 year old granddaughter and some wonderful graphic arts pencils, all for little money. It was from some remote graphic arts supply store in Pennsylvania I believe. Would they have been available in the Twin Cities — probably somewhere. The yellow pages were no help and Michaels Arts and Crafts had nothing. Sooooo…

That could never have happened if I was shopping only locally. As long as I have ready access to the stores that do have good track records, I do not see why shopping on line is the worst thing in the world. And I might add that shopping on line is not what brought the labor movement down. Health care is.

rant off…

DefJef at 9 — well, I bought several things from the charitable links I put up in yesterday’s post and, you’ll pardon me, but someone is going to have to run the blog, check comments, watch the moderation queue and research and write my articles for me, and watch my child, if I’m going to get out this year and do all of my socially-acceptable shopping at small boutiques, privately owned only. I live in the sticks, and it would be quite a bit of driving for me to pull that sort of shopping off. As I said yesterday, the election work took a LOT of my time — away from The Peanut and my family, and I got none of my usual early shopping done for the holidays as a result. And since I blog here every freaking day, it’s not like I can just take off any time I like and go shopping. I don’t mean to sound snippy, but sometimes it is incredibly irritating to have someone in the comments tell me how I should be living my life when I spend so much time here on the blog — not really having much of my own life outside of it. Sometimes, I get the feeling that people have no idea how much time this sort of thing takes — and what sacrifices have been made as a result, and what trade-offs and extra work int he evenings after The Peanut’s bedtime have to be made so I can get time with her during the day. Sorry if this is grouchy, but I needed to get it off my chest. I’ve been exhausted, sick and drained all week long, and I am now getting lectured about my inappropriate shopping habits…and that is just one step too far for me this morning.

RF@37

You sounded harsh and wrong. Each person has to vote with how they spend their dollars.

This nation is woefully poor at organizing mass protests. Look at the EU or even Mexico where the people not only VOTE at the ballet box… but with their $$ and their feet in protests.

We merikans are too busy shopping and living the cushy easy life and waiting for elected reps to do the right thing.

If recent history is any indication of where the elected reps are taking us… it’s straight to fascism without passing go.

selise @ 39

Riesz Fischer @ 23

perris and DefJef,

I didn’t come here looking for a fight, but I had to respond to this nonsense.

A personal boycott is good for nothing but enhancing your own feeling of righteousness. A few people refusing to shop at walmart has no effect on walmart (you said so yourself DefJef: “Look up RubberMaid to see how BigBiz works. They ain’t gonna change.”). But it has a major effect on the progressive movement in general. Your self righteous lecturing makes people sick and drives people away.

Let’s stick together and work for laws that regulate corporations to behave responsibly.

the idea isn’t just to NOT shop at walmart – it’s to shop somewhere like costco instead… that’s just an example, but the idea is to support businesses that treating employees better. if we all shopped at walmart, the costco employees would all lose their jobs. in this simplified example, it’s not about harming walmart – it’s about supporting costco and their employees.

btw, i do agree with you that the real goal is to change our laws…

Good point.

But walmart is 5 minutes away and Costco is 30 minutes away. So I’ll be damaging the environment. I drive a Ford Taurus, should I be driving a Prius? Oh wait, that’s not kosher with the union people.

It’s so hard being a righteously pure progressive!

But doing some Christmas shopping online this morning. Thanks to everyone’s suggestions, I’m almost done shopping…and I didn’t have to leave the house. Woo hoo! No crowds

I have started my Solstice shopping and, per long-standing tradition, if it does not arrive from a catalog or through one of the Internets’ many non-military Tubes, then it does not arrive. (The catalog method is long-standing tradition; the Tubes are a turn-of-the century phenomenon).

This will also be a Disney free Solstice. With our four-year-old Nuala, this presents (NPI) a few challenges. Fortunately, she already had the Hayao Miyazaki collection — Miramax releases them in English — well before Disney’s traitorous PT911 GOP infomercial. Otherwise, my doctrinaire stand on post-PT911 Disney related merchandise might have become a flexible position. Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro are her favorites.

So what are the other parents of 3 going on 4 year-old girls who dress like princesses and love Hayao Miyasaki movies finding the most popular this year? How about those of you with 8-year-old boys who are fighting a losing battle against Pokemon and GameBoy but whose sons are still interested in Battleship, Lincoln Logs, skiing and anything that flies?

Prediction: Pumpkin Head is so afraid of being shown up by James Webb that he forgets to concentrate on Jon Tester who, as a consequence, gets in his answers rather than just responding to Pumpkin Head’s asininely ill-framed inside-the-beltway CW horseshit.

Sláinte,
cl

NaNOO @ 25

perris, just why is that, that an American pressence is necessary? Just why does the US need 130 bases all over the world?

like it or not, we are targets, we do have enemies, and we do need a presence around the world

where our presence is welcome, (israil), we enjoy favor among the residence, influence in the region, and we secure our military interests physically as well.

if we want to be the only super power, (and this serves our purpose economically, intellectually, scientifically and socially)then we need to be at the ready in all regions regions of influence

what we should avoid are bases where we are not wanted

this is the real reason bin laden made us a target, and bush, like the puppet he is, removed the base in suadi arabia…one of the reasons some people think we attacked Iraq, to compensate for the base we no longer have in the suadi’s

selisee at 41: wow 700 bases, is this country afraid of something or an control freak?

closing tag

Def at 45: RF@37

You sounded harsh and wrong. Each person has to vote with how they spend their dollars.

Sorry for sounding harsh.

But we have to organize to be effective. Each one of us on our own personal missions will not work.

And trust me, people hate being lectured by self-righteous liberals. I used to live in Boulder.

Christy @ 6:00 -

Love, kisses }}}}}}}. Lady, you are my personification of Superwoman! It’s impossible to imagine how you & all the top dogs @ the Lake have survived the last several weeks. Thank you so much for all you do & give up as a personal life to make things better for the Family & the country.

so, anyone ever try that lettuce tobacco or hear of it?

http://www.bravosmokes.com/testimonials. asp

perris, well you one can almost always buy friends.

perris, formerly known as me to me, @ 22

NaNOO @ 21

No more money or weapons for Israel too. Let’s really make some peace in the middle east.

while I’m not happy about what isreal is doing with our support, we have to have an american presence in the middle east, Israel is America’s proxy, we have to suppotr her militarily, however we need someone in charge here that knows how to conduct our concerns in the middle east, that description exclueds the current administration

Please expalin why we need a prescence in the middle east? Explain how isreal’s continued suppression and slaughter of the Palestians helps our national interest. Please explain at what time has Isreal ever acted as our proxy. Jesus

Riesz Fischer @ 46

But walmart is 5 minutes away and Costco is 30 minutes away. So I’ll be damaging the environment. I drive a Ford Taurus, should I be driving a Prius? Oh wait, that’s not kosher with the union people.

It’s so hard being a righteously pure progressive!

not hard – just impossible! :-)

as christy just wisely commented – our lives are full of trade-offs and we’re all just trying to our best… and while i think helping each other be aware and think more carefully about our choices is a good thing – i certainly agree with you that lecturing is NOT helpful.

NaNOO @ 54

perris, well you one can almost always buy friends.

when it comes to international influence, this isn’t as bad an idea of having enemies.

but it needs to be prosecuted well, by responsible people who are concerned with our national interests, not their personal pocket book

Waccamaw @ 52

Christy @ 6:00 -

Love, kisses }}}}}}}. Lady, you are my personification of Superwoman! It’s impossible to imagine how you & all the top dogs @ the Lake have survived the last several weeks. Thank you so much for all you do & give up as a personal life to make things better for the Family & the country.

amen.

christy – many, many thanks for everything you’ve been doing. i’m so sorry that i haven’t been saying thank you enough…

And yes, before anyone asks, I do need a vacation. *g* But Mr. ReddHedd is buried at work, so it isn’t going to happen until January. Sorry I’m so cranky — am going to finally get my coffee going now…haven’t had time to get to it yet.

perris, well the International Community has condemned Israel for their lastest war crimes, How do you make more friendly countries towards the US, when the US not only gives the the go ahead, but our tax money and weapons.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 59

And yes, before anyone asks, I do need a vacation. *g* But Mr. ReddHedd is buried at work, so it isn’t going to happen until January. Sorry I’m so cranky — am going to finally get my coffee going now…haven’t had time to get to it yet.

What selise and Waccamaw said.

NaNOO @ 60

perris, well the International Community has condemned Israel for their lastest war crimes, How do you make more friendly countries towards the US, when the US not only gives the the go ahead, but our tax money and weapons.

I can’t argue your point, my argument is the current administration should have been able to prevent that.

we do need a presence in the middle east, Israel is the only welcome host right now.

we need someone in charge that will controll our proxy according to international interest instead of their theocratic predictions of armageddon

OT – An Inconvenient Truth releases on DVD this Tuesday

tennis weather here in long guy land new york, not too mamy left so off I go.

enjoy the mornign firedogs

perris — enjoy the weather! And serve an ace or two…

Riesz Fischer @
10

Professor Foland @ 8

OK, I have to ask. I just can’t figure out what that’s a picture of.

I thought it was a bird in the snow, but Redd explains what it is at the bottom of the post.

(Emphasis mine)

Reading–there’s nothing like it! :)

perris, Kucinich had a reesolution for an immediate cease fire, but where was the democratic support. I remember H. Clinton being all for dropping the bombs. I sure hope the dem party nominate her for the 08 election.

Russert asks Tester:

“Are you a ‘New’ Democrat? Different from the national Democrats?”

What a tool.

Correction, doesn Not nominate H. Clinton.

Christy really deserves a vacation.

Pach at 70 — we just made reservations for Hilton Head in January. It’s the first week we could find that Mr. ReddHedd could get away. And we are really looking forward to it. :)

Shez @
68

Russert asks Tester:

“Are you a ‘New’ Democrat? Different from the national Democrats?”

What a tool.

Perhaps I haven’t had enough java to be making predictions about the inane proclivities of Pumpkin Head. Glad I don’t have cable or even network reception (except for grainy occassions that are hard to predict) up here in the mountains and way out in the sticks. I’ll see the highlights on Crooks and Liars.
What a prick!
cl

I appreciate this web site, I’ve had this computer one year now, my first and I’ve got to say what an eye opener. I just hope the democrats show their strength on defence of the Americans public opinion who elected them.

Christy, I hope you know how much we appreciate all of your hard work and sacrifice to provide us one of the clearest and sanest voices in the blogosphere. You are a Goddess. Many Thanks for everything you do.

Oh, the huge manatee!

Shez at 74 — thanks. I really didn’t meant to lose my temper like that. I don’t do it very often, and I really try not to do it in the comments because it is counterproductive. I think I’m just a little more tired than usual this morning, having spent the last four days dealing with some sort of stomach ick. Plus, I should know not to jump into the comments before I’ve made myself coffee. *g* Today is the first days in the last four that I’ve been able to drink any…thank goodness whatever was going on with my tummy seems to have dissapated a bit.

twolf1 @
63

OT – An Inconvenient Truth releases on DVD this Tuesday

I thought it had come out early in October. I looked for it, but never asked for it, which fed my (apparently inaccurate) suspicion it wasn’t being stocked at the usual places because of some sort of corporate pressure.

If you know someone who has a peanut or tree nut allergy, and avoids chocolate because of cross-contaimination concerns, here’s a company that specializes in chocolates that are safe for people with those concerns.

http://www.vermontnutfree.com/

Ed*ard Teller @ 77

twolf1 @
63

OT – An Inconvenient Truth releases on DVD this Tuesday

I thought it had come out early in October. I looked for it, but never asked for it, which fed my (apparently inaccurate) suspicion it wasn’t being stocked at the usual places because of some sort of corporate pressure.

All I know is it’s in the new releases list for Netflix this week.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 59

And yes, before anyone asks, I do need a vacation. *g* But Mr. ReddHedd is buried at work, so it isn’t going to happen until January. Sorry I’m so cranky — am going to finally get my coffee going now…haven’t had time to get to it yet.

Redd honey, this has been a momentus year for all the firepups, thanks to the hard work you all do here everyday. Every active Dem I know is exhausted, physically and emeotionally.

You know, taking back an entire branch of Gvoevernmnet ain’t so easy. Especailly in a situation stacked against you by gerrymandering.

I have said it before and I will say it again. “Do not underestimate the power of this place or the importance of the work that every poster and commentor does here.”

This incredible group of people bring more thoughtful analysis into the public debate than any similarly situated group on the internet or in any other form of media.

You all amaze me, time and again.

I rented a houseboat on a canal in Amsterdam last Spring. I sat on the deck in the morning and evening, watching the coots and the ducks. One evening, a swan visited, sailing up and down the canal, looking like it owned the place. But when it got to the home across the canal from mine, a coot came out in a fury and chased it away. The swan made it look good, as if it had just decided to move on, but the firey red eye of the coot made it clear who owned that stretch of water.

Bill Maher’s spoof on the ‘Head On’ commercial:

Bill Maher – Head In

Christy Hardin Smith @ 71

Pach at 70 — we just made reservations for Hilton Head in January. It’s the first week we could find that Mr. ReddHedd could get away. And we are really looking forward to it. :)

OK, I am so totally jealous. I start a federal civil trial on January 2nd. You can imagine what that will do to our christmas/hanuka/solitce festivilies this yea…. The ones that won’t be occuring.

Oh, and I have purches so far, exactly one stocking stuffer. No presents hidden in the garage yet. Sigh

Christy,

What’s the possibility of getting Jimmy Carter on fdl for the Book Salon to discuss his newest book?

I get this constant feeling Gore is preparing a run.

That photo of him doing MoveOn phone banking was a recent thing. Now, when other people are annoucning exploratory committees, his DVD is set to release.

I have no inside info on this. Just twinges.

DefJef @
7

Crepes / pancakes with Vermont maple syrup.. of course.

Do you think we will see more from the left side on the insufferable Sunday Morning talk shows now that the D’s are in control of the legislative branch (including most states and govenors?? Na … I did’t think so…

I am more and more convinced that what we see is a side show and the real string pullers are a handful of super rich individuals and their corporation. They will not move some of their focus to the dems… and the same old same old will continue.

How can we demilitarize this nation and the world? Why do we run off to fight, kill each other and make people richer for it?

Does anyone else want to shrink the pentagon to a triangle or a line… and can the national security state that now dominates us?

Dildo Bill O’Reilly admits that he doesn’t buy products from Vermont any more because the state is too liberal…what with Howard Dean, civil unions and the only socialist in the senate.

It’s OK Bill. Vermont doesn’t supply loofah’s or falafel anyhow.

-GSD

Christy Hardin Smith @ 71

we just made reservations for Hilton Head in January. It’s the first week we could find that Mr. ReddHedd could get away. And we are really looking forward to it. :)

Great time of year to go; should be many fewer humans & hopefully good weather even @ that time of year. Take the little one crabbing if you can find a place; bet she would love it. Just pulled six nice size blue crabs out of the waterway this a.m. Lots of work for very little product but sooooooooooo good.

Pachacutec @ 85

I get this constant feeling Gore is preparing a run.

That photo of him doing MoveOn phone banking was a recent thing. Now, when other people are annoucning exploratory committees, his DVD is set to release.

I have no inside info on this. Just twinges.

So, Pach? Would you want him to run?

as I sit here listening to Tom Waits singing “Waltzing Matilda”, a possible ‘Pull up a Chair” occurs to me:

Ain’t there one damn song that can make me break down and cry?

Or maybe not.

jayt @ 36

If you guys are in your 30s or 40s, you should seriously think about leaving it behind…

Actually, I’ve left both my 30s and 40s behind….

I do tend to rather jealously guard my relatively few remaining bad habits.

jayt, be careful, nkay? it’s just easier to breathe and move and stuff without them. for me, at least, the benefits of letting it go have way outweighed continuing to smoke.

if you ever need some links to help you stop, clicky my name-thingy. that goes for anyone else out there too: the liver regenerates (to a certain degree) but the lungs don’t, so let go of them ciggies before the drinks….

The discussion has moved on, but I can’t resist sending a hug, since I just woke up and read this:

Christy Hardin Smith @ 44

I’ve been exhausted, sick and drained all week long, and I am now getting lectured about my inappropriate shopping habits…

((((((((((((ReddHedd))))))))))))

and while we’re abandoning all Internet-shopping (which, by the way, allows small mom-and-pop Internet-sellers, who have access to a nationwide market practically for free without paying rent to some corporation for a storefront), how’s this:

C’mon, folks, waddya doing supporting multinational Internet and telephone companies by blogging and commenting online, when the only way to support a real economy community is to hang up the modem and do all your shoppingconversing in person?

If we all went offline, Christie could have her old, disconnected, isolated life back and we could all retreat to our uninformed, narrow, CM-dominated worlds.

/snark off

looseheadprop @ 80

Christy Hardin Smith @ 59

And yes, before anyone asks, I do need a vacation. *g* But Mr. ReddHedd is buried at work, so it isn’t going to happen until January. Sorry I’m so cranky — am going to finally get my coffee going now…haven’t had time to get to it yet.

Redd honey, this has been a momentus year for all the firepups, thanks to the hard work you all do here everyday. Every active Dem I know is exhausted, physically and emeotionally.

You know, taking back an entire branch of Gvoevernmnet ain’t so easy. Especailly in a situation stacked against you by gerrymandering.

I have said it before and I will say it again. “Do not underestimate the power of this place or the importance of the work that every poster and commentor does here.”

This incredible group of people bring more thoughtful analysis into the public debate than any similarly situated group on the internet or in any other form of media.

You all amaze me, time and again.

Ya know – this lhp girl has a way with words. she oughta consider being a lawyer, or somethin’. heh.

Waccamaw at 86 — we’ve found a lovely place adjacent to a stretch of marsh, but not too far a walk from the beach. It’s going to be perfect for relaxing and kicking back, and also for some nice bird watching and walks. I think she’s going to love it. Crabbing is a good idea…although it would probably be a lot more of us looking, and not catching. *G*

Christy Hardin Smith @ 59

And yes, before anyone asks, I do need a vacation. *g* But Mr. ReddHedd is buried at work, so it isn’t going to happen until January. Sorry I’m so cranky — am going to finally get my coffee going now…haven’t had time to get to it yet.

Thanks for your heartfelt, honest reaction, Christy. I’ve been thinking about you since the election (in an empathetic, not stalker-ish kind of way). I imagine everyone’s exhausted post-election, you especially. And likely, we’ve still got some pent-up adrenaline from all the time we spent together — worrying about, and working for, the election. Unfortunately, sometimes the remaining energies seep out sideways.

So an idea…What if you or one of your guest bloggers (or indeed, us Firedogs in the collective) created a menu of opportunities for engagement from this point forward? Today’s conversation suggests there’s interest in generating a list of labor-friendly, economic places to shop; but for global thninkers, we could also create a list of contacts for those who want to get involved in changing labor laws at big box stores. At the end of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore suggested big and small choices we could make to create change. I thought that was a very good way to help people realize how they can best contribute, given their time, interest, and abilities.

I hesitate to ask, as it’s one more thing to add to someone’s to-do list, and I’m not a regular contributor, so I recognize that I don’t have clout and credibility with the group. But I do read every post, every day, and I come away inspired and compelled to act. In the end, this might serve a positive purpose: herding us cats.

I do hope you’ll have time today, like that beautiful swan, to take a nap. =:)

Prof at 90 — you are cracking me up.

Christy, you don’t have to apologize to anybody for anything. You and the rest of the gang here have done superhuman work this year. I “joined” about a year ago and am simply amazed every day at the quantity and quality of analysis and support here.

On other notes above.
Online shopping is the future. Small businesses can sell online as easily as big box stores, and keep their prices lower and competitive. Brick and mortar stores will become the cutsey things for tourists and those who like to actually touch and feel things before they buy.

I quit drinking last week, which was not all that much anyway, and felt no withdrawal symptoms at all. I miss the ritual, though.

…online shopping helps keep the delivery people employed.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 71

Pach at 70 — we just made reservations for Hilton Head in January. It’s the first week we could find that Mr. ReddHedd could get away. And we are really looking forward to it. :)

We all need vacations, from some of the tone this morning.

For me, Mrs. Prof, and lawyer-daughter Prof, it’s Bonaire, just off the coast of (sh-h-h-h-h-h) Vene-youknowwhere-la for snorkeling and a little scuba diving. Just took up the latter in my 7th decade on the planet and it’s a kick!

looseheadprop @ 87

Pachacutec @ 85

I get this constant feeling Gore is preparing a run.

That photo of him doing MoveOn phone banking was a recent thing. Now, when other people are annoucning exploratory committees, his DVD is set to release.

I have no inside info on this. Just twinges.

So, Pach? Would you want him to run?

Keeping such thoughts to myself for a while. Too early. I want to see what everyone has to offer. There are, of course, people I definitely do not want to see get nominated, and you can probably guess who they might be.

Oh, and for that vacation, Christy, do indeed think about my little corner of Yamato.

I know it’s a big jump across the pond, but once the Peanut is a little bigger, I think she would rock, as would Mr Redd.

Plenty room here, so give me a heads-up enough in advance, and I can guarantee you some serious beauty. :-)

jayt @ 88

as I sit here listening to Tom Waits singing “Waltzing Matilda”, a possible ‘Pull up a Chair” occurs to me:

Ain’t there one damn song that can make me break down and cry?

Or maybe not.

I’m a Tom Waits fan, but TRex can’t stand him. The Waits song that absolutely breaks me most is Georgia Lee.

Caoimhin,

I suppose we should now ask all the Rethugs: “Are you a ‘New’ Republican? Different from the corrupt, lying, criminal, blowhard national Republicans?”

I have full cable, and refuse to cancel or block any just so that I can monitor what they are up to. Still, this is the first time in months I’ve bothered to watch TMP.

I haven’t managed to see who the woman is on with Koppel on MTP but she made a great point about Iran. Said that Iranians are as saavy about us as we are ignorant about them. Ok, she is Robin Wright, someone will have to remind me who she is.

Now Tweety has started and showed a clip of McCain saying he’s like Luke Skywalker. Wonder if he has his Red Battle Shorts to match his cape?

You have nothing to apologize for Christy. You’ve worked your ass off,and this system we have in place makes it impossible to make pure choices. Unless you live in a little hut and live entirely off the land wisely,there’s no way to avoid it. The best we can do is minimalize our impact by thinking about what we do.

If not for online shopping,there would be no presents in my house. I worked in retail for 20 yrs before I made the choice to be full time mommy,the nastiness this season brings out in people is not something I miss at all.I was very pregnant with my first child,working 60 hours a week the first year Cabbage Patch Dolls came out,right before Christmas. I was knocked to the ground and stepped on by customers,called every nasty name in the book because I didn’t move out of the way fast enough.

The last straw for me was a couple of years ago when a customer SPIT on a sales clerk who told her the store was out of some dumbass Elmo toy. I’ve seen people nearly come to blows over parking spaces,scream at each other over the last sweater on the rack in their size. Nope,that insanity is just as destructive as anything you can say about corporations. It boggles my mind how anyone could give a gift to a child after spitting on a sales clerk or fighting another customer to get that gift,and give that gift thinking they’re doing it out of love. Yuck.

Pach 85 — there was a recent article somewhere (might have been Seattle PI, can’t remember) about Gore talking with folks in the northwest about running.

In a straw poll yesterday among 40 Dem folks, it was a tie between Gore and Edwards. No votes for Vilsack, Bayh, Richardson, only a few for HRC.

As for Riesz’ comments above: you can disregard his posture that a personal boycott has no effect. First, the shareholders of WMT (Walmart) have certainly felt the personal boycotts; check the five year chart of the stock and compare it to the DJI (Dow Jones) and SPY (Standard & Poors 500) over the same period. Yeah. Quantifiable erosion in value.

Second, if you have others who look to you as an example in leadership — like my two kids — then go ahead and boycott. My kids know that Walmart’s practices are unacceptable, they understand that small local businesses need our support, and now they have first-hand experience in making ethical purchasing and consumption decisions.

Way to disempower people, Riesz. I reject it.

Speaking of the Book Salon, could you also consider David Korten, who just published The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community?

He is the author of When Corporations Rule the World, which seems pretty appropriate to this morning’s discussions.

I heard him talk last night and bought his new book. His message is an optimistic one — that we can be part of a “great turning” away from the politics and economy of Empire to a future based on community.

Sounds wonderful. I hope its just the right recipe for you to recharge your batteries.
By the by, I saw a pair of pileated woodpeckers in my backyard yesterday. Hadn’t seen them in 15 years. I hope they find a home back there and not just migrating through.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 92

Waccamaw at 86 — we’ve found a lovely place adjacent to a stretch of marsh, but not too far a walk from the beach. It’s going to be perfect for relaxing and kicking back, and also for some nice bird watching and walks. I think she’s going to love it. Crabbing is a good idea…although it would probably be a lot more of us looking, and not catching. *G*

LHP — if you are still reading this morning, do check out the site that Millineryman sent in for yesterday’s Pull Up A Chair. He swears that his teenage neice LOVED her gifts from there — so that might be a thought for littleprop — especially since you can order online, which is great for busy mommas.

Angry Old Broad — heh. You just laid out why I leave all Christmas shopping at the stores to my spouse. I used to work in retail, had experiences at Christmas like people throwing stock at me, cannot stomach the idea of being out in Christmas shopping crowds any longer. Hubby, on the other hand, LOVES to be in the thick of it; he’ll actually be in line at Best Buy at 4am on the day after Thanksgiving, has taken my daughter armed with walkie-talkies to scope out a store at the same early hours.

I think for him it’s a substitute for hunting. He can still bag some big game, but doesn’t need to drive up north and tromp around in the cold, wet woods to do it.

T- at 105 — wow, pileated woodpeckers are very rare where I am. But we saw one once hiking in the Sea Pines preserve area at Hilton Head — picking apart a stump in a swampy area, and meticulously pulling out every last grub. We must have stood and watched this guy from the boardwalk walkway for close to an hour. This huge alligator swam up and just sat there watching us for a bit, and then swam off — guess it decided we weren’t going to wade in and be breakfast. *g*

As I was steaming the milk for my cappacino I couldn’t help but wonder, do the cows support the Kyoto protocol? Or how about the maple trees that the organic maple syrup came from? I can’t imagine them being against reducing carbons. I know the coffee is fair trade certified, and the milk is from a co-op, and the electricity is wind generated but I’m not sure that I should enjoy this beverage until I know how those cows feel about Kyoto.

jayt at 91,

Aw shucks! (blushing)

That was sweet.

Glad I missed the food fight…. Christy, the one right GWB has granted us is the clear RIGHT to shop when and where we want to!

Watched Meet the Press to see Jon Tester.. and of course Web. Surprising how good it was, at least Tim did not throw any of those nasty questions that he ususally does.

When it went to the Iran section I did the channel cruse and found something called “Newsmaker” on my local fox channel. Started watching this during the campaigns because they would have local candidates on. Today was a man (did not get his name) who worked under Bob Gates (nominated Sec of Defense) for two or three administrations. He was CLEAR, the war was based on lies, that it is in civil war AND that any chance of making changes is a very narrow window. His solution is to divide the country into “states” along sectarian lines which would loosely be governed by a federal government. Very interesting to hear this guy talking about how poorly the war has been executed, the lies, showed some really terrible clips if dead bodies. IN AZ! The local Fox reporter is their local news anchor. I was very shocked to hear this, too bad it was at 7:30 am on a Sunday!

Here on the west coast, it hasn’t come on yet, but I am really looking forward to Webb and Tester on the tee vee. I think these guys may be rising stars.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 94

Prof at 90 — you are cracking me up.

Good. Relieves the stress.

You may not know, but you do know that you (and Jane and Pach and TRex and all the Pups here) make a big difference in a lot of lives — not only the work in getting our Democracy back (yeah, big D!) but also the day-to-day work in getting our humanity back.

Last night, David Korten made a list of values that most Americans hold dear and guess what: they are progressive values that even red-staters actually buy into.

Step by step, blog by blog, conversation by conversation we can get our communities back, wrested out of the hands of the thugs.

And you are an important part of helping us do that.

Thanks.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 106

LHP — if you are still reading this morning, do check out the site that Millineryman sent in for yesterday’s Pull Up A Chair. He swears that his teenage neice LOVED her gifts from there — so that might be a thought for littleprop — especially since you can order online, which is great for busy mommas.

Thank you I will do that right this minute.

Oh and if Pow Wow is in the Lake–thank you so much for the links yesterday. I still haven’t finshed reading them all.

Christy,
Pow Wao had links to a whole slew of Team Fitz filings (and some snide commnetary thereon by “clarice”).

Evidently the Big Guy’s team has made almost a filing a day this past week. That, plus being “back to the drawing board” on the CIPA substitutitons–they must be so far beyond exhausted. My heart really goes out to the lot of them.

I hope a Sunday Morning talkster brings up the atrocity being perpetrated in Houston. 39 million for bail? Bush is allowed to breach the walls of the Constitution and now we are seeing the logical result.

twolf1 @ 96

…online shopping helps keep the delivery people employed.

Thanks to Amazon, Netflix, eBay, etal. The USPS folk are beaming.

looseheadprop @
114

Christy,
Pow Wao had links to a whole slew of Team Fitz filings (and some snide commnetary thereon by “clarice”).

Evidently the Big Guy’s team has made almost a filing a day this past week. That, plus being “back to the drawing board” on the CIPA substitutitons–they must be so far beyond exhausted. My heart really goes out to the lot of them.

lhp, I did a search but can’t find those links. Would you happen to have them on hand?

Christy, you get yer coffee and brekkie and have a great day, nkay?

I’ll get into my hot bath, give meself a bit of a scalp and facial treatment while immersed, and then have a night of fabulous, glorious sleep here. Never enough of that, though ((sigh)) …

Prof @ 113

Christy Hardin Smith @ 94

Prof at 90 — you are cracking me up.

Good. Relieves the stress.

You may not know, but you do know that you (and Jane and Pach and TRex and all the Pups here) make a big difference in a lot of lives …

Yeah, Prof!
Me second
third fourth
and fifth that emotion!

And bid y’all good night!

For all ya election lawyers and wannabe’s, there’s quite an interesting diary on next steps in the FL-13 stolen election over at Daily Kos.

Pachacutec @
85

I get this constant feeling Gore is preparing a run.

That photo of him doing MoveOn phone banking was a recent thing. Now, when other people are annoucning exploratory committees, his DVD is set to release.

I have no inside info on this. Just twinges.

So if you decide to run, do you think we would see the Al Gore from the movie? Or the Al Gore from 2000?
Well, I don’t plan to run. I don’t plan to run. And I don’t expect to run.

How many times a day does somebody ask you this?
Well, I’m doing a lot of interviews and it’s on the list of questions. For every one of them. And I appreciate that. I appreciate that people think enough of me still in that world to ask that question. It’s true that I haven’t, uh, gotten to the point where I am willing to completely rule it out for all time. But, that is really more a matter of the internal shifting of gears. I’m not making plans to run again.

But you’re not ruling it out?
Uh… no. [smiles]

From GQ interview.

LOL Rayne, my old man does all the shopping now too, he’s great at it and I love the break from it since I had to do all the ordering and shopping at my old job.

By the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you about the controversy with the Lansing State Journal. Seems the new winger editor did something that’s never happened before, she refused to make an endorsement for our 8th district Rep, nada, nil. Thereby blatantly and partisanly protecting Mike Rogers even though our paper had a scathing review of him the last time. People are pissed, Bob Alexander went ballistic. Our district voted all Dem, except for Marcinkowski which his loss looks more than lopsided in the results.

OT:

I saw the anti Net Nutrality ad again they play it during TDS (or re-runs). It is funded by the telecoms and says Net Nutrality is a bunch of “mumbo-jumbo” by net mogules in Hollywood that mean we pay more… this shit has to be answered with facts, and it needs to be clear before the fact that the party/parties, and the people who try to put this through will lose 2 generations of voters. People have to be pre-educated as the other side is showing they have already started.

If net nutrality is defeated and the Democrats play a part I will never vote for another one again, nor Republicans. It is clearly the overwhelming will of the people, and folks like me and likely you worked to make invent the internet and make it what it is today. I’ll be dammed if robber barons elite steal the last scrap off my table.

jeffreyw @ 121

Pachacutec @
85

I get this constant feeling Gore is preparing a run.

That photo of him doing MoveOn phone banking was a recent thing. Now, when other people are annoucning exploratory committees, his DVD is set to release.

I have no inside info on this. Just twinges.

So if you decide to run, do you think we would see the Al Gore from the movie? Or the Al Gore from 2000?
Well, I don’t plan to run. I don’t plan to run. And I don’t expect to run.

How many times a day does somebody ask you this?
Well, I’m doing a lot of interviews and it’s on the list of questions. For every one of them. And I appreciate that. I appreciate that people think enough of me still in that world to ask that question. It’s true that I haven’t, uh, gotten to the point where I am willing to completely rule it out for all time. But, that is really more a matter of the internal shifting of gears. I’m not making plans to run again.

But you’re not ruling it out?
Uh… no. [smiles]

From GQ interview.

hmmm… and a new book, “The Assault on Reason“, coming out in may…

More Christmas cheer:

Updated: 8:47 p.m. CT Nov 18, 2006

NABLUS, West Bank – Israel’s deputy prime minister on Saturday said Israel should assassinate Hamas’ leadership, ignore the moderate Palestinian president and walk away from international peace efforts, the latest in a string of hard-line positions voiced by the newest member of the Cabinet.

Good morning all! My period of mourning will hopefully be short-lived.

I was thinking about whats gifts I give that people seem to get the most pleasure from and & I came to the conclusion that is clearly food. More specifically, Zingermans. The best deli in the world, who specializes in supporting food artisans and craftspeople from all over the world.

Here’s an issue that lies under the surface…and there’s a good write-up on it…..anyone remember mind control drugs, LSD. Remember the college students and now I find out GI’s were also test subjects…….well the GI’s need help.

This is a good read:

The Manchurian Veterans — Discussion Open

http://scoop.epluribusmedia.or…../13342/421

Oklahoma kiddo @ 125

More Christmas cheer:

Updated: 8:47 p.m. CT Nov 18, 2006

NABLUS, West Bank – Israel’s deputy prime minister on Saturday said Israel should assassinate Hamas’ leadership, ignore the moderate Palestinian president and walk away from international peace efforts, the latest in a string of hard-line positions voiced by the newest member of the Cabinet.

their lieberman is even worse than ours…

So did nothing interesting happen on the talk shows?

Rangel?

Tester?

Mornin’ doggies!

MTP looks like it may actually be interesting rather than a sewer today. If I’m wrong, there’s always Sunday NFL Countdown on ESPN.

Breaffast…hmmmm, I ate the pizsza last night sl no cold pizza…I’m thinkin’ ’bout waffles. But I’d have to go to the sto and get them.

Donno. Costco coffee, with vanilla extract. I just woke up so I’m not really thinking yet.

whoever it was yesterday that recommended Kiva.com for Xmas gifts — Thanks!

I bought a gift cert. for my friend.

And the abusive (and surely unconstitutional?) setting of bail at nearly $1 million per person for a peaceful sit-in protest in Houston yesterday?

You gotta be kidding me.

lina @ 131

whoever it was yesterday that recommended Kiva.com for Xmas gifts — Thanks!

I bought a gift cert. for my friend.

That was me. I’m delighted you approved! I think they’re doing great things.

These talking heads and huge media…they are just false.

They know the Republicans will keep the drinking Martini’s and snacking on everyones cake (but for the rich).

They are just as corrupt, and just as bought. I know it is scary, but some of these media folks have to topple. I mean that male escort that got a White House pass with a fake name and helped Bush with a reach-around everytime he had a hard question… he needs to be investigated and people jailed. The fake reporters on the governments dime making “fake-real newscast” and all the major networks using them like the are real journalist…that needs to be investigated and people jailed.

The court, which is on its way to being sold out is the only one who can save us from the fight needed to clean-up government (and lobby), and the media from going to far.

Even the judges look at what Bush does… mining lobbyist appointed as federal judges while mines blow up and collapse on people due to lack of regulation. Hell the 2004 elections would have been slightly different if the media had actually reported and Republican criminals weaken mine regulations and appoint (not only “activist” but unqualified) judges that weaken them in concert with Republican lawmakers weakening them. What was it two major accidents (Was it PA, and OH?) that claimed the life of almost 20 people in mines that were not safe.

back for one post;
GOOD NEWS!!!

mccain has done an about face, what the puppets of Rove call a flip flop) and is now trying to reverse roe vs wade

this makes him unelectable

SWEET;

here’s the history;

back in 1999, when he was trying to look like the great uniter, this mariontte made it clear Roe-Wade is dangerous to women, he said CLEARLY he would NOT try to overturn or support overturning the landmark decision

wahsington post:

I’d love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.

ahem

now, today in inteview

since he wants support from the Falwell, the thocratic moron

he does his back flip, bends over, no k-y, and claims with no douby he wants to overturning Roe-Wade

MCCAIN: I don’t think a constitutional amendment is probably going to take place, but I do believe that it’s very likely or possible that the Supreme Court should — could overturn Roe v. Wade, which would then return these decisions to the states, which I support.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And you’d be for that?

MCCAIN: Yes, because I’m a federalist. Just as I believe that the issue of gay marriage should be decided by the states, so do I believe that we would be better off by having Roe v. Wade return to the states. And I don’t believe the Supreme Court should be legislating in the way that they did on Roe v. Wade.

ahem, he’s now a “federalist”?

the federalists were for a two class, robber baron society, so there you have it.

this man is now unelectable

I hope he’s their standard bearer fo 08

Rangel just on – came off pretty well on wanting to simplify the tax code, but fell down toward the end when he again floated his ridiculous draft proposal. How inappropriate is it for the anti-war party to propose a draft?

From Thinkprogress

This morning on ABC, McCain — now aggressively courting the likes of Jerry Falwell — expressed his unequivocal support for overturning Roe v. Wade.

Ok, now McCain has lost the AZ Repug women who are strong supporters of choice. Woohoo… go right ahead and distroy his base in AZ. His cozing up to the Religious Right and now this…. he might be in BIG trouble running a re-election here in AZ.

Two things really, really rile me. That is; I will have nowhere to run but to Senator Clinton in 2008, and my (our) government being taken for granted by the Israeli government.

Rayne @ 103
Good on you… We need more personal ethics… good ones that is and we wouldn’t be sinking into the mess we are in.

It’s greed and laziness and getting away with it which seems to be the merikan way.

Not all online shopping is evil… not all walk in is good. But try to vote with your dollars and don’t support nasty corporations when you have a CHOICE.

Empower the people!

This is OT, but I don’t know were else to post it. I would like to see a thread showing the relationship of demographics to economics and politics in the future.

For example, I see more and more electric carts in the big box stores, and even in medium sized grocery stores. This will continue as the population ages, until they begin to do the bulk of shopping online. The link below is to population pyramids of the US into the future, and definitly shows a heavy weighting of older people until at least 2050. (hope the link works, it was a query to the Census bureau world poulation database)

http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/…..p;ymax=250

Sorry for the OT, but the issue of online shopping reminded me of this.

new thread.

I won.

MayDaze @ 136

Rangel just on – came off pretty well on wanting to simplify the tax code, but fell down toward the end when he again floated his ridiculous draft proposal. How inappropriate is it for the anti-war party to propose a draft?

actually, it’s the only way to get people on board with avoiding war

you need Americans to have skin in the game so they become more informed and challenge any effort to go to war

I am for everybody serving America, no free pass.

does this mean militarily?

no, peace corps, something.

on my way to the casino now, enjoy guys

The draft is the only fair way to have an army… if you are to have a standing army.

Abolish the army… abolish the draft… I’ll buy that.

Pachacutec @ 85

I get this constant feeling Gore is preparing a run.

That photo of him doing MoveOn phone banking was a recent thing. Now, when other people are annoucning exploratory committees, his DVD is set to release.

I have no inside info on this. Just twinges.

Christy — good morning, and please take a well deserved break.

Pach: I would welcome Gore’s entry into the race, with the hope/expectation that his argument would be that we need to completely change how we define the issues and what our priorities should be. I think he could change the entire nature of political discourse, even if he didn’t win. And i think that’s what he needs to do even if he only wants to further his global warming cause.

Today’s political discussion is vacuous, and as long as it remains so, we will have to listen to people/politicians/pundits/media analysts who are equally vacuous.

Oklahoma kiddo @ 138

Two things really, really rile me. That is; I will have nowhere to run but to Senator Clinton in 2008, and my (our) government being taken for granted by the Israeli government.

Not if you support Wes Clark for Prez. in ‘08. (and bring your friends and neighbors).

Shez @ 101

Caoimhin,

I suppose we should now ask all the Rethugs: “Are you a ‘New’ Republican? Different from the corrupt, lying, criminal, blowhard national Republicans?”

I have full cable, and refuse to cancel or block any just so that I can monitor what they are up to. Still, this is the first time in months I’ve bothered to watch TMP.

I haven’t managed to see who the woman is on with Koppel on MTP but she made a great point about Iran. Said that Iranians are as saavy about us as we are ignorant about them. Ok, she is Robin Wright, someone will have to remind me who she is.

Now Tweety has started and showed a clip of McCain saying he’s like Luke Skywalker. Wonder if he has his Red Battle Shorts to match his cape?

My television is on the PBS / Sunday morning kids shows, so I am not able to watch MTP. Having said that, is the lady in question fair skinned with very fair, straight blonde hair?

If so, she may be Robin Wright Penn, Sean Penn’s wife. I’ve never known her to be as uber active as her husband, I always thought of her as the behind the scenes type.

She was great in Forrest Gump.

Shez — Hey! You know, I’d followed along with that Lansing Journal brouhaha, was written up extensively in MichiganLiberal.com. Liberal media my eye; one more example of the crying need to reevaluate media ownership rules in this country.

Christy — now wouldn’t “An Assault on Reason” make an excellent book for the FDL Book Salon???

;-)

From crooksandliars.com:

Mort Kondracke keeps up the high standards of FOX NEWS analysts and proclaimed to Brit “Bush’s BFF” Hume that:

Quote MK: “So the history on the House leadership – we had the Hammer, Tom Delay, and now we have the Wicked Witch of the West, Nancy Pelosi, who’s twisting arms and having her aides making threats.”

Wow! They are so clever, they can repeat stuff some 7-figure

stuffed shirt came up with over a 3 martini lunch.

The media is a whore.

Speaking of media whores…new thread, gang.

lina @ 144

Oklahoma kiddo @ 138

Two things really, really rile me. That is; I will have nowhere to run but to Senator Clinton in 2008, and my (our) government being taken for granted by the Israeli government.

Not if you support Wes Clark for Prez. in ‘08. (and bring your friends and neighbors).

Clark or Gore!!! But the Hill is trying to steam roller us. And I resent it.

The Clinton Battle Plan
‘People didn’t give Democrats a mandate,’ Bill Clinton warns. ‘They gave us a chance.’ A chance to do what?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15…../newsweek/

Beacause McCain is a Federalist… ba haw ha. This guy is going to run a worse campaign than Kerry (and I hope McCain gets swift boated again after kissing the man (Bush) who did it to him). Of course the media is going to try and install him to get some nice fat war contracts and free lunches.

What else they got, Mitt Romney – a Morman Kerry. That guy is a waffler who actually makes fun of the state he “governs” to try to appeal to a broad audiance. Choke on a drumstick as you think about it Mitt, that would be the best thing you could do.

Guliani can’t even coordinate so his police and fire can communicate with eachoterh, nor can he practice evacuating the World Trade once even though it had already been bombed…oh, and good work on having the terror task force in the World Trade. Take stupid pills lately?

Time to fold their tent.

Huckleberry Graham says to send more troops. When asked, “How many more?”, replies, “Enough to win the war.” I shit you not. What a fuckin’ maroon.

This is where they’re going. “We wanted to send more troops to win the war, but the Dems are forcing us to cut and run.” Going for Vietnam all over again. We need to nip this in the bud.

selise @ 128

Oklahoma kiddo @ 125

More Christmas cheer:

Updated: 8:47 p.m. CT Nov 18, 2006

NABLUS, West Bank – Israel’s deputy prime minister on Saturday said Israel should assassinate Hamas’ leadership, ignore the moderate Palestinian president and walk away from international peace efforts, the latest in a string of hard-line positions voiced by the newest member of the Cabinet.

their lieberman is even worse than ours…

I think the two men have identical views. They face different constituents, and so have different degrees of freedom in expressing the logical implications of their underlying positions. Our Lieberman believes that we should use military force to kill Islamic leaders and supporters, so that Jewish/Christian fundamentalist can be in power.

Good morning everyone. I just returned from a terrific brunch – an omelette with smoked salmon, cream cheese and capers, and baked french toast with Michigan cherries and pecans. I’m stuffed and ready for some morning political tv.

I’ve been watching Tester and Webb on MTP, but I’m about to switch over to This Week, primarily to see Fareed Zakaria. I enjoy hearing his point of view regarding the War in Iraq, the War in Afghanistan, and the greater “GWOT”. He wrote a terrific piece in the 11/20 Newsweek that’s worth a read:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15…../newsweek/

scarecrow – sigh, good point… well, i guess it’s up to us to do what we can to influence their constituents so as to limit their ability to cause damage.

This Week Roundtable: Zakaria says that the Iraqi government will not LET us go after the kidnapped American soldier, they will not let us go after our enemies, and therefore McCain’s call for putting more troops in Iraq is futile. We cannot put more troops in Iraq because the Iraqi government won’t let us do what we believe will stabilize the situation.

Robert Reich also says that right now, the administration is focused on the blame game. He said in no uncertain terms that a year and a half from now, it’s all about who is to blame – more people will be dead, there will be more blood on the ground, and the situation will only be much worse. So, the Baker report and the actions going forward are all about trying to deflect blame. Surprisingly to me, George Will nodded in agreement.

As interesting as this is, it is very depressing. I want to go back to my breakfast nook, have another cup of coffee, and tune out this terrible situation… but I know the horrific situation we’re in is unavoidable.

Lindy @ 118

looseheadprop @
114

Christy,
Pow Wao had links to a whole slew of Team Fitz filings (and some snide commnetary thereon by “clarice”).

Evidently the Big Guy’s team has made almost a filing a day this past week. That, plus being “back to the drawing board” on the CIPA substitutitons–they must be so far beyond exhausted. My heart really goes out to the lot of them.

lhp, I did a search but can’t find those links. Would you happen to have them on hand?

I will look for them and put them on the new thread

selise @
41

NaNOO @ 25

perris, just why is that, that an American pressence is necessary? Just why does the US need 130 bases all over the world?

according to chalmers johnson it’s well over 700 bases.

Anybody got a link to info about all these bases (maps, manpower, etc)?

Somehow I don’t think the general public would be enthused about hearing how we spend so many billions on those bases.

gleex @
124

OT:

I saw the anti Net Nutrality ad again they play it during TDS (or re-runs). It is funded by the telecoms and says Net Nutrality is a bunch of “mumbo-jumbo” by net mogules in Hollywood that mean we pay more… this shit has to be answered with facts, and it needs to be clear before the fact that the party/parties, and the people who try to put this through will lose 2 generations of voters. People have to be pre-educated as the other side is showing they have already started.

If net nutrality is defeated and the Democrats play a part I will never vote for another one again, nor Republicans. It is clearly the overwhelming will of the people, and folks like me and likely you worked to make invent the internet and make it what it is today. I’ll be dammed if robber barons elite steal the last scrap off my table.