Is the summertime living easy where you are?
Special summertime easiness for me was on Cape Cod, particularly at Harwich Junior Theatre, where young thespians budded. When the school year ended, we’d trek north with our beagle wedged in the in-between section of the station wagon; we spent all summer at my dad’s parents’ house. Most long summer days were at the Grange where the Junior Theatre lived: learning lines, treading boards, piecing costumes together, and coaxing the old light board to create the right effects for yet another show. My favorite was Emil & The Detectives, forty years ago.
Then, my parents rebelled against the “perfect vacation” in the same place every year, and we spent a whole summer camping out West. First stop after my mom’s parents’ in St. Louis was Estes Park, Colorado, where we overstayed our carefully planned itinerary by two weeks! Summer in Rocky Mountain National Park was completely new and utterly delightful for two kids reared on the East Coast.
Another fun camping trip took us in our pop-up trailer to Montreal for Expo 67: Man and His World — does anybody know what happened to Worlds Fairs, anyway?
Not a family vacation, but a Boy Scout Jamboree in Idaho in the hot summer of 1969, where thousands of Scouts watched men walk on the moon. After which, incidentally, my troop made a side trip to this strange and mysterious city, my first visit, but not my last….
As a grown-up, I’ve spent favorite summertimes at Kill Devil Hills, NC and at Nauset Beach, back on Cape Cod.
Share your summer memory or your special summer plan — the living’s easy now that it’s summertime. Where’s your summertime easiness? Now? Then? Soon?
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zed
Ah! Been a while since I did that. Hi TSF. Enjoying summer! And you?
We pulled a travel trailer around the country 40 years ago from Florida to British Columbia.
Ohmystars, Teddy! Is that Janis doing Summertime? That sucka is going to take me hours on dialup but will be worth it.
Thank you, thank you. Didja have a good pride weekend?
Suzanne @ 4
Howdy Suzanne. No perfect summer dive?
Teddy,
Tanks For the memory’s…
Well, it was Girl Scout Camp on Catalina Island. Made great new (short-lived) friends and learned to paddle a canoe.
Lots of Girl Scout Camp memories.
Does that make me old? Remembering childhood summers and not the ones in my 30’s, 40’s, etc.?
Tex, a simple but elegant swan dive downstairs.
I would also go walking out in the rangelands behind where we lived for 6, 7 hours at a time with a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich, a canteen of water, and my .22.
We had a creek flowing by the property and there was this tree you could climb up then jump into a pool that was about 10 feet deep. Or you could swing out on a rope and drop in also.
Oh Teddy, you starry-eyed optimist
;>)
Right On Teddy!!! Janis!!!
Suzanne @ 7
ALL the judges gave it above 8, too!
Hey! Suzanne…
If it’s gonna be hot when I’m up there, can I come dip my toes (if not a full on Swan Dive)into your creek?)
Reading back what I wrote..this sounds Too late nite for me.
I also passed along the thread change to the last two, which somehow are still active…
Alfred Kelgarries @ 11
Even Bulgarian and Albanian?
Hello, everyone — we are stuffed fulla Pride at my house tonight. It was a beautiful SF day, and my fiance got the day off, so we saw part of the parade and then wandered around Civic Center for hours with large groups of gays and not-gays. Saw several friends I hadn’t seen in a while, which is always nice, and heard some good music.
Lots of summertime fun, with which I was infected when I came home and had this idea for the post.
Thank goodness for SPF-45 today!
Evening all. For me, at least the living is easy this summer. Hiking, fishing, & camping all summer long. Do have to finish off a MA student here in a couple of weeks, but that is easy.
demi, ankle deep and shin deep only in the summer and moves to fast when deeper…. but it is very very cold and your toes are welcome.
TexBetsy // TexB @ 14
Turns out they have weaknesses involving…maybe I should go no further. But they’ll behave now, TRUST ME. (Evil Grin)
Suzanne got a 10 from me downstairs … the chic of it all!
And Teddy – where did the Worlds Fairs go????
TSF, not sure about the blog or the blogger, but check out the Cheney graphics on this site.
DrDick @ 16
“Finish off” eh? Hmmmmm…….
DrDick @ 16
perhaps for those of not so academically aware, can you clarify on the “finishing off” of said MA student? Will we need to find a place to hide the body?
Alfred Kelgarries @ 13
Alfred, they are still active because we keep threads open for 24 hours to allow for discussions to continue. Conversations are not forced to stop just because a new thread is upstairs.
Oh Suzzzz..
My sweet girlscout girlfriend who lived in SLC, use to call me Pinktoes. Yay, I’ll come dip my toes and we can sip lemonade and yak, yak, yak.
Suzanne @ 23
Ahhhh! I never knew! I thought they locked you out in like five minutes after the next one started. dam you guys are good. You spoil us, you know that?
Hi Hi HI Hi Hi Hi Hi!!!!
Summer is the best! Sleep late. Baby-sit for money. Work on my award-winning blog. Hang out at the pool. Read books that are not for school. Stay up late. Summer is THE BEST!
TexBetsy // TexB @ 21
Perhaps I should have said “complete”. She is defending her thesis in about three weeks. She did really nice work and it has been a joy (and almost no effort on my part) working with her.
Well, it’s the dead of winter here. Of, course winter in Brisbane is about like summer in San Francisco but not as foggy.
As to vacations, I have adopted my late father’s definition of camping: staying at a hotel that lacks room service. I’m too old and too spoiled for a night in tent.
Glad Teddy had a good time at the Pride Parade.
TexBetsy // TexB @ 20
That’ll be his punishment at the hague; reading all the blog posts about him.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 11
That blasted Albanian judge was all set to give her a 5.6, when suddenly a spook appeared and tasered his *ss, so he flipped it to a 9.5 …
… woo hoo, Suz wins Gold !!!
Evenin’ all !!!
Happy Pride Day, TSF !!!
SnarKassandra @ 26
Welcome Cassie! Congrats on the awards!
Siun — I recall a lame-o Worlds Fair in Tennessee or Kentucky in the eighties, but have heard nothing about Worlds Fairs since. Anybody have an idea where they went? Maybe Halliburton bought them up and cancelled them, since they promoted worldwide goodwill. Can’t have too much of that.
That Ms Joplin sure was a wailer, wasn’t she?
Suz, shouldn’t there be a pool with a high dive in your photo album? Or at least a picture of a dollhouse pool with Mr. Bill atop the diving board ready to do his Greg Louganis backwards “OUCH!” imitation? (Oh no, Mr. Bill!) Just joking–I love your dives.
Good evening, all. Ah, summertime memories!
When I was a kid, we’d spend a good bit of the summer at Kilmarnock, VA (which is on the Northern Neck, between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers). There wasn’t a whole lot to do there in the early and mid ’70s, but we loved doing all the simple and stupid kid stuff like paddling a dinghy around the little cove in front of the house, going out with the local waterman on his crab boat (who also took care of the house in the off-season), catching crabs and “mud toads” in the traps, and riding our bikes all around the little town.
I haven’t been back there in years, and I understand that it’s changed quite a bit and turned into somewhat of a retirement community. So I prefer to remember it as it was through kids’ eyes.
Oh, there is saddness in the Jungle Tonight, Hank Medress has passed. For those of us from the ’60’s we remember the Lion Sleeps Tonight. John Amato has a great video up of a live performance.
Hank Medress, whose vocals with the doo wop group the Tokens helped propel their irrepressible single “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” to the top of the charts and who produced hits with other groups, has died of lung cancer. He was 68.[..]
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
We spent two weeks every summer at a beach, when I was a kid. My very relaxing. Loved sand castles. Ahhhh.
I also went to sleepaway camp every year, and have fond memories of that.
petedownunder @ 28
I realized after I hit *Publish* that this post was hemisphere-centric, and that our antipodeal Pups might feel excluded. Please tell us how you’ll spend your winter vacation!!
Evening Cassie. Congrats on the awards. Which ones did you win? I looked, but did not see them listed.
TeddySanFran @ 32
That would be Knoxville Tenn..Drove by the site last week..That must have been the final gasp of World Fairs.
Teddy, my favorite summers were the ones just described by Cassie – hanging out at the pool, earning babysitting money occasionally (my allowance was only $0.25 a week – raised to $0.35 when I was in high school), reading books in the trees out front so no one could see me, staying up reading the book I couldn’t put down. All the joys of no school for three whole months.
I gotta say, going from that to a 2 week vacation once a year was one hell of a let down in my introduction to being grown up.
(( waves to petedownunder, languishing in the antipodeal winter ))
AlexandriaCynic @ 33
Here’s her best dive yet — animated even!
I think “award-winning” has a very specific meaning *g*
Or did you mean “award-nominated,” SK?
LoudounLib @ 34
Hey, neighbor! Seems like we have more in commmon. I used to spend my summers on Carter’s Creek in Irvington, VA just around the bend from the Tides Inn. I spent more time time than I can remember in Kilmarnock–even played dupplicate bridge there. And don’t remind me of the crabs (that used to bite my toes.) Don’t they make Jimmys anymore?
This describes the award but now I have to give it away to 5 more blogs so I can post it. But I haven’t picked my 5 yet.
SnarKassandra @ 42
Where did you get that? did you make it?
Hey AlexCynic! I remember very well getting all dressed up to go to the Tides Inn. The place where we stayed was on Indian Creek. Small world!
TeddySanFran @ 43
I think it is winning. Want to check and see if I got it right?
SnarKassandra @ 42
tsk tsk (laughing) and I thought you had captured the time I did the Triple Lindy
Alfred Kelgarries @ 46
Nope. But I collect them. I have over 300.
Past, circa 1970’s: spend the summer cooped up with my mom and siblings at a camp out in the boonies of the Upper Peninsula, pestered by mosquitoes and bereft of television while bored to tears on the beach of the Gitchegumee
Future, in about 4 weeks: spend a few weeks with my kids at my folk’s camp in the wilds of the Upper Peninsula, luxuriating in the silence of the woods and watching wildlife and flora while lounging on the beach of Lake Superior.
Funny how a few decades changes one’s perspective.
One summer we went camping in the Okanagan Valley, B.C.
Woke up next to Orchards filled with the best fruit,
scrambled up the mountainside for walking Wine tours,
then staggered/rolled back down to make breakfast,
went boating on the lake … campfires under the clear Okanagan sky …
SnarKassandra @ 42
LOL! 707! LOL! 707! Just spit sparking water through my nose!!!!!
AlexandriaCynic @ 53
Try the Triple Lindy one—WITHOUT anything in your mouth, nose, or other facial orifices…
Teddy, it wasn’t a vacation but when I was a teen and attending Pleasant Hill Community Baptist Church, our BYF (baptist youth fellowship – youth group) would do retreats out in Pescadero. Walking the creek dripping with mosses and ferns, the redwoods, well it was one of my favorite places to go, even if it meant a weekend of a lot of Bible classes. There was always time to go exploring.
I think that is part of the reason I liked this place so much. Everything except the dripping mosses.
demi @ 24
Jealous.
I remember Yellowstone with extended family (and bears) as a kid. When I was in 5th grade, my dad bought and refurbished an old school bus. He had it painted……mint green with a black horizontal stripe. We’d camp in that, and I’ll never forget Toilyjane.
Dad says we were the original hippies. This was in 1962.
I remember that World’s Fair in Montreal. The US had a huge geodesic dome with the world’s tallest free-standing escalator. When you got to the top, there was a cool exhibit: a rat maze. The maze was shaped like a right triangle. The legs of the triangle were a straight shot to the food, but inside there was a huge and difficult maze. If you put in a hungry rat, it would run the legs and eat. And if you ran it over and over, it would go to the food until it wasn’t hungry. Then it would go and explore the maze. Eventually it learned the hard maze. A real life lesson, that. The Japanese exhibit featured a huge chain printer: a page at a time, banging like a cannon about twice a second. Contrast, anyone?
Then I met this beautiful woman from Calgary in line for the cool Czech movie, but I was too nervous to try to hang out with her.
Summer vacations in the ’50’s…road trip..no Interstates…New England, Canada, Upper Mid-West, Smokey Mts. The maternal grandmother usually came along..my sister recently found letters and post cards that GM had sent to her other daughters from these trips..they were fun to read.
Teddy … I have very fond memories of the Worlds Fair in NY sometime in the 60s … very exciting and my Dad’s wacky fife and drum corps got to play in the big stadium . Rather an interesting example of american culture for the visitors!
frogs, bikes, and bugs. Running around in an endorphin buzz until you collapse for the night to do-it-again.
Sounds like you had fun today TSF!
SnarKassandra @ 45
Fabulous! Congratulation on your award.
AK — I remember delivering some “Lets-all-go-to-the-lobby” Coke into the hair of the guy sitting in front of me in the theater when I saw that dive scene for the first time. Thanks for the warning. My computer thanks you, too.
I had the same thoughts on the first day of summer….. only my “Summertime” ran to the Doc Watson version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3FymSV3_5o
Vacation? What’s that? :D
Enjoy!
When I lived on the West Coast, I took my six-year-old son camping on Orcas Island in the San Juans. We went back every summer for 10 years. It is a special place. The ferry ride from Anacortes prepares you for a transition to Someplace Else. One year, a ferry hit the dock and we couldn’t get off the island. I was supposed to start a new job, and all I could say was “sorry.” I wasn’t, though. In August, the fields are golden and sunny, the water is cold, and the smell of woodsmoke mixed with salt air is something I can dredge out of my memory even now. Thanks for the thread, Teddy, and the opportunity to think about that.
TeddySanFran @ 37
Vacation? I have heard of them, must be nice to actually have one. As close as I get is a trip to Perth (on Australia’s west coast) tomorrow for a a teaching gig. Plan to meet up with Mr & Mrs Persiflage.
The Future Mrs Downunder and I have had some great trips in the past, before work became overwhelming. TFMDU likes bears so we went to Brooks Falls in AK for grizzlies then up to the frozen north of Churchill, Manitoba to see the polar bears.
In 1999 we went to Turkey to see the total solar eclipse which was way cool and the Turks are wonderful, hospitable folks.
OT but…
it sounds like there was a great conversation downstairs in siun’s thread… i presume that everyone chatting there signed the petition :)
pete, please be sure to say hello to the Persiflages for us!
Hi Betsy! Hi Cassie!!
Summertime and the livin’ IS easy. But the computin’s hard work! Who knew Windows 98 and Vista Ultimate don’t speak the same lingo. To xfr my files, I need to shell out $200 bucks for a Windows XP upgrade for the 98 or find a bootleg copy. I’ve been wranglin’ with this thing since noon today.
But boy-howdy does the YouTube smoke on the new computer! Thanks Teddy, I luvs me some Janice.
masaccio @ 57
Wasn’t the Czech pavilion where the audience got to decide which way the movie ended? It was an early step towards “interactive” but we didn’t call it that yet.
LoudounLib @ 67
Hi Loundounlib, will do! It will be fun to actually meet other FDLers.
OK. I made my choices. It’s all up on my blog now. Now I have to write to them all and tell them.
I guess one of my favorite memories is visiting my grandfather’s farm with my family. Not much of a farm, just sixty acres of flint rock and post oak that he worked with a horse team until 1968. About 1/3 was wooded, a creek ran through the back of the property, and his pond was stocked with blue gill. He taught me to fish there and the names of lots of the plants in the woods. I would spend hours wandering in the woods. We would ride his plow horse bareback. In season there were wild grapes and persimmons. Walnuts and hickory nuts in the fall.
Siun @ 59
1964-5. Mother and Daddy kept us outta school for opening day. I recall going through the Ford pavilion over and over and over until we got to ride in a Lincoln convertible. You rode in Ford cars, but there were few fancy Lincolns, which I wanted to ride in.
Also, the GM Futurama had a model of a big wide machine that ate jungle and turned out roadway. It seemed like a good idea at the time…
Also, I remember Belgian waffles from that fair.
tw3k @ 60
It was summerific.
TeddySF @ 69: I can’t remember the movie; what I do remember is that it had a lot of screens like a wall of TVs, and sometimes the movie was on one screen and sometimes on a bunch. It was way cool.
Dr. Dick = really sweet memories!
Loo Hoo, Don’t be green, dear, come with us! We’ll talk Suzannes ears off, and dunk our toes together.
Thanks for the Expo 67 link. I was 10 and it was our 1 true summer vacation. We drove from Chicago suburbs to Toronto and stayed in my great aunt’s apt. above her grocery store. I believe it was Blurr ave. We all gained 10 pounds!!
Than we went to Montreal for the world’s fair. No one really believes me when I say I saw Charles DeGaulle there. Now I have the link!!
http://www.collectionscanada.c…..405_e.html
Gosh, DrD, that sounds nice — and a great learning experience for a kid!
Speaking of bears, we went to see our new ladybears last Thursday. They are super-fun.
One summer a friend of my mother’s took us camping at the beach. I think it might have been at Carpenteria. Right on the sand. I remember we had to pee in a bucket. And I also remember the sound of the trains going by, real close.
My mom didn’t like the sand, which is why she didn’t do that.
It’s a different time. In the early 50’s, my parents didn’t give it a second thought to put me on a Greyhound Bus to ride 100 miles to spend time with the GM. If parents did that today they would be charged with neglect.
As a Navy kid, all our vacations were car vacations. We would pile into the station wagon about oh dark hundred (3am) and hit the road from sunrise till dark headed to see kin. Mom oldest of 11 – Dad was middle of 11. Had a free place to stay just about every night, going from relative to relative’s home until we hit KY, and then back again. Always stopped in KS to see dad’s kin since the KY stop was to see mom’s.
Road trips are still my preferred way to go.
Loo-
I’m serious. The site’s reservations are for eight (count them) people!
Bring the girls…
Steve, ain’t that the truth. Are the days gone now when kids would even take a plane flight unattended, except for airline staff?
anyone good with wordpress? how do i add a pic to my sidebar when the pic is on a URL?
omg LooHoo, what did people think of that bus in 1962? There wasn’t even a word for hippie yet, was there? What a great story.
All these stories are great, actually.
LoudounLib @ 67
Yes, please do. And the future Mrs. pete.
LoudounLib @ 67
Hey Pete, please give my warm regards to the Persiflages as well … and the future Mrs. Petedownunder … *g*
A park out in the hills with a creek and tadpoles (the little black ones, toad ‘poles). Also yellowjackets – we had a slide of my grandmother there, sitting with the roasting pan, and a squad of yellowjackets trying to pop the lid to get at the turkey inside. (We didn’t get it open till we went home. Last time we tried that exercise!)
The park isn’t there any more: they eminent-domained it to build a dam. There’s a lake behind it, but it isn’t the same at all.
Loo Hoo. @ 87
Will do. BTW for a cute pic check out my face book page (Pete Downunder). The calf was one TFMDU and I rescued when her mom neglected her. We don’t own the cows, they are tenants on some country property we have.
My mom also took us on a train trip to Illinois..from LA. I was so amazed at the flat land….and we stayed with my aunt in Moline. I remember her water smelled funny and tasted awful. But, I also remember the fireflies, and her water pump and the afternoon rain storms. I was 12.
petedownunder @ 90
Can ya give us a linky to your Facebook please? We gotta be your friend in order to see the pics. Here is mine (shameless facebook whoring of those who haven’t become my friend yet)
Trains! I remember taking a train from St Louis to Kansas City with my Mom once — it was that StratoCruiser train where you could sit up on the second floor, surrounded by glass. Not lots of scenery, but very exciting for a lad.
Ah, summer! Vacations were for city folk according to my farmer parents. I wonder if it had anything to do with the thought of spending a week in a car with six fighting children? The farm was on the St. Croix river in western Wisconsin, beautiful, unpolluted, and free of boaters back in the day. Lots of wonderful afternoons swimming with the sibs. Not such wonderful walks back home when the accompanying farmdogs had rolled and rolled on a ripe and thoroughly dead carp. The day they rousted out a skunk after a particularly large carp…”strong” memory.
My parents were oddities, they didn’t believe in the value or ownership of a TV. We read lots of books. Nights spent memorizing constellations and terrorizing the younger sibs with junebugs. Ah, summer!
oh Teddy … those Belgian waffles … back in the day when we ‘murkins didn’t eat no foreign food!
good memories – thank you!
Pete, I just sent you a friend request via FB
Trains! Only did two – first was the Coast Starlight from LA to SF when my dad retired from the Navy (I was in 4th grade). Slept in our seats, ate breakfast as we passed by Salinas. Loved it.
Took a fun train to Reno one year. Ohmystars, that was a fun trip. Imagine being snowed in on a train – stuck waiting for a blower train to clear the track with an open bar. We were feeling no pain by the time we got to Reno 7 hours late.
The Veep is a sick fuck. Chapter Two:
[snip]
Suzanne @ 92
Here is mine
Suzanne – that’s quite the glam shot! I have no idea how to do the friends thing on Face Book. I thought everyone could see the pic you used for ID. I could see other FDLers.
Please…please, let it be Janis Joplin!
I haven’t peeked yet. I saw the word ’summertime’ and I smelled …. !
Siun @ 95
Many foods “originated” at Worlds Fairs — the ice cream cone at St Louis, something else in Chicago, maybe the hotdog?
LoudounLib @ 84
I drove through Loudoun County a few months ago. It is now a huge tech corridor. I remember when it was in the ass end of no where. The Dulles or Chantilly airport was a political scam by a Va Congressman who’s name escapes me. The Wegman’s grocery store, next to Ferrari of Washington is amazing.
I remember going to relatives on my father’s side in northwestern Alabama. The family had had a small farm south of the town with mainly timber on it. Out back were old sharecropper cabins. There was a barn with lotsa stuff. In the parlor of the house was an old piano with newspapers sitting on it from World War One. I remember an old photo album with tintypes in it too.
Down the drive and across the highway was a cemetary. Family was laid to rest there, my great grandfather Van. His father-in-law was there too with a cast iron Iron Cross above his grave that was put there to symbolize he had fought with an Alabama regiment during the Civil War.
One thing that my brothers and I always found interesting were the fireflys at night. That was cool.
petedownunder @ 99
When you get an email saying someone wants to be your friend, click the link. Then it will tell you.
Sent ya a friend invite, petedownunder. That is a cute little guy in your arms. The glam shot was taken back in the early 90’s.
LoudounLib @ 96
Just confirmed all the folks who requested. I’m flattered. Hi TexB. How do I request to be your friends? I’m a real newbie on Face Book and have no teenagers around to explain it.
Steve, I live but two miles from Wegmans (my mecca!) and 5 miles from Dulles! And you’re right, it has changed quite a bit, and not always for the better. I grew up in Herndon, and we used to think that Loudoun was the back of beyond in those days.
Teddy, I am so looking forward to reading chapter 2. this is so going to be good – finally, the curtain is lifting and showing the OVP for what it is.
Oh, now I get it – C.d’Alene…Farragut State Park.
Apparently, World’s Fairs do still exist. There just hasn’t been one in North America since New Orleans in 1984.
Growing up, we used to spend summer vacations at a little lake called Lily Pond in Maine. It was wonderful — canoeing, sailing, and swimming, or wandering through the woods, catching toads or training chipmunks to eat peanuts out of our hands. Best of all was the spectacular sky, laying out on the dock with no light but the stars, watching the Perseid meteor showers blaze across the lake.
Hey AK, you were going to discuss the WaaPoo’s article on Chin-ey … did I miss that on another thread?
Oh man, look at the time — gotta go y’all, oh-dark-thirty looms and I have to work tomorrow.
Thanks, Teddy, for a great thread. Good night everyone!
AlexandriaCynic @ 62
I live to serve the lake. And The Computer Is Your Friend. Trust It. Be Nice To It. It Has All Your File Hostage!
Night LL. Sleep well.
demi @ 83
Where and when, Demi?
TeddySanFran @ 98
yup… reading it now – I don’t know how these guys are going to avoid a war crimes trial.
Just a quick drive by to say I’m back in New Zealand (Taupo) and hunting through boxes for some long underwear. Oh, but it is still beautiful and it is great to see Kiwi friends and students here. I’ll have quite limited access to the internet, so may only occasionally get to read the columns, not much on comments. Wishing you all a fine summer.
NZ Expat, back in NZ @ 117
Happy winter!
TeddySanFran @ 86
Everyone was amazed! 5 kids and the folks. We had beds on the side, table for 7 and all. Later, we moved out to California in the hippiemobile. We always laughed as we saw first the VW buses all gussied up and later the buses.
great find, Redshift! It’s been more than a generation, and the site says
So my opinion that Worlds Fairs have disappeared is popular, but wrong!
The first paragraph in the WaPo Cheney article. F*ck John Yoo.
Petrocelli @ 111
No, I’m putting my dad to bed after supper. We had a teeny tiny poo-monuclear explosion after din din and I’m having to change the bed, the rugs, the chair….perhaps I should stop now. He is my dad, i love him, and i will take care of him until he returns to the higher description of quantum space-time from which we all come.
BUT I ALREADY DID THE FRAKKING POO! I HAD FOUR KIDS! ENOUGH ALREADY! (grumble fuss snarl, goes back and gets firehose and connects to wall cleaner outlet, dons hazmat suit…)
Speak of the Office of the Evil One. I do not know if anyone has seen this. Seems there are indications that the WaaPoo has been holding back this story and that (unnamed) editors did a bit of butchery on the story (mostly to present Il Dickhead in a more positive light).
Thanks to all new friends on Facebook. Some were real names with no clue as to screen names but I guess I’ll figure it out.
Anyway Pups, it may be a lazy Sunday afternoon up north but it’s Monday of the last week of the financial year here, so this little pup better get his tail back to work. Hope to catch up on Late Late night.
Take care one and all.
petedownunder @ 124
Bye! Mine is easy to figure out.
SnarKassandra @ 125
Cute graphic too!
I remember Expo ‘67 well — my baby sister got lost and we found her in the “Lost Children” pavillion! There was the India pavillion that smelled like roses and exotic perfume… so wonderful. Our family camped, also in a pop-up, at a campground called something with “… where the birds still sing in the trees” except, there were no trees. We camped all over Canada and always went to Buxton, NC, every year. I loved the ocean, and the night excursions to the beach with flashlights to look for fiddler crabs.
AZ Matt @ 121
My bold – check out that date.
Good night y’all. Gonna let OTHER PEOPLE have a chance to use the computer tonight. Ha ha.
See y’all tomorrow. Happy summer.
g’nite cassie. sleep well
Night Cassie. Have fun tomorrow.
Gotta love this, Addington setting himself up as a good German just following orders:
Why does the vice president, not an attorney, even get a say in this debate? grrrrr
To The Hague!!
The Vice President for Torture.
How Jeffersonian.
-GSD
seriously – these guys need to be prosecuted!
TO THE HAGUE!
Former US Vice President and convicted war criminal, Richard Bruce Cheney…..
Has a certain ring.
-GSD
Redshift @ 110
Maine is another place I really want to visit. My dad’s wife’s family is in Dresden. Gotta get there!
Alfred Kelgarries @ 122
It does get to you from time to time … I took care of my dad for a few years after he suffered a debilitating stroke and was bed- ridden.
It was surreal at times, I remembered him carrying me on his shoulders when I was 5 and our positions were now reversed …
… me carrying him on mine …
Cheney sends minions to a JUDGE to tell him he has erred!!!
Requesting a decision be retracted!
Oh, this is rich.
Here I thought the only client that was to be served at the White House and OVP was the client that is the people of the United States. There I go, being liberal again…
NZ Expat, back in NZ @ 117
And you a fine winter!
I hope Mr. Yoo appreciates this article. Again from the WaPo:
Loo Hoo & Suzanne – YGM (camping dates)
Alfred – oh, you. What a doll. I saw my dad today after church. I don’t think he knew who I was. Now, I’m focusing on mom.
Speaking of already doing that. I find myself just standing next to dad’s bed and watching him sleep. Breathing in and breathing out. Just like we all did when our kids were babies.
(I raised only 3.)
AZ Matt @ 121
Yoo (again if you were downstairs):
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/fa…..?facID=235
so, what do you think Cheney would do if a 100 million postcards showed up at his office with “to the Haig!” on ‘em?
oh, that’s right – the only person who cares less about public opinion than David Addington is Cheney…
(waving to OC) how ya been, coastie?
Perhaps it is time to give them all the Andrew Card Treatment.
Yoo is clearly a war criminal. Clearly a war criminal and yet he still teaches?
I say it is high time Berkeley stops abetting war criminals.
-GSD
Returning to the topic of summer fun, this absolutely cracked me up earlier today.
GSD @ 146
Agreed. Any UCB alums who might want to share their feelings with their alma mater?
Even Yoo tried to do some backpedaling:
It is not his fault that torture was used. He only wanted the CIA to be able to torture.
I think Yoo figured out he had been tossed under the bus.
DrDick @ 123
Wow! Not really too surprising though, is it? I thought yesterday’s article was better, but maybe it was just the shock value that the WaPo is doing this series. Dana Priest’s piece earlier too.
Dick Cheney is having his pacemaker changed soon.
demi @ 142
Hey Demi, how was the church service?
Thank you Gonzo
Suzanne @ 145
finally catching my breath after the end of the school year (and getting a chance to read again!)
Fresh veggies and fruit for all. And they’re all dressed for summer.
Petro,
It went really well. I played my flute with my husband on the organ before the service. It was good. And the service went well. All the elements I selected fit together, (the goal) and the message was well received!
Thanks for asking.
A little summertime music if you please, maestro!
And a-waaaaaaaaay we go!!!
TexB @ 154
Thanks Betsy … mmmmm … Pineapple …
TSF —
Two of my favorite places: St. Louis and Estes Park!
Summer in St. Louis . . . I’ve got just two words for you: Ted Drewes.
I can’t believe this sickness has infested the nation.
It is stunning.
The sleepwalking response to these crimes is as horrifying.
I repeat, it is time that the Andrew Card Treatment becomes routine for these villains who are turning America into a monstrosity.
-GSD
anyone else get the feeling that there is an awful lot of ass-covering now occuring with current and former admin officials?
war crimes, war crimes, war crimes!
GSD @ 146
Someone mentioned downstairs that the kids at Berkely ought to be getting just a little pissed about this. Why would anyone take his class?
demi @ 155
Excellent !
Was this your first time ?
Is this really the beginning of the end of the Cheney Doctrine?
-GSD
The theme of this piece, with regard to the relationship between the President and the man he chose as his running mate (ha!), recurs:
(my bold)
A smart Gates, or Rice, or Bolten would stop these private meetings between W and his hypnotist. Nothing good comes of them. Nothing.
GSD @ 163
I’m surprised this little dose of sunshine hasn’t caused him to melt..
Well, I was up early and I’ve got a job interview in the am…must go nite nite.
Want to put my best foot forward.-
(it’s a cool non-profit gig)
It was sweet to waltz down summers gone by memory lane with y’all.
But, we’ve got sweet summers to look forward to.
Later, folks. and,
Aaahhhhrooooo. (my pound hound puppy says nite nite too.)
custard!!
demi @ 166
Bon nuit, demi !!!
Petrocelli @ 162
TeddySanFran @ 167
Where?? I brought diet food.
OldCoastie @ 160
It’s getting to where you can’t tell the difference between CYA and rats deserting the ship.
For instance, at the DOJ, there’s hardly anyone left in the senior leadership except AGAG. A little CYA here, some deserting rats there, and the next thing you know, AGAG has himself an echo chamber.
Oh wait . . .
Peterr @ 158
I also have fond memories of summers in St. Louis. My father’s parents lived there and we would go visit every summer. We always went to the zoo when we were there, which I loved.
Pre-bedtime Pecan Praline Ice cream being spoon served to me by the Mister!
Night Demi. Good luck with the interview tomorrow.
I have a tin of Dreyer’s Root Beer Float ice cream. The perfect summer treat.
demi @ 173
And you are still here with US? Shut the computer girl!
Goodnight, dear doctor…a place that serves adults with learning disabilities. A nice opportunity to serve. (the gig would be exec ass’t to the ceo).
TexB @ 170
St. Louis, either on South Grand or Chippewa, take your pick.
DrDick @ 172
It is not stretching things too much to say that I grew up in the St. Louis Zoo, given the amount of time we spent there.
fingers and toes crossed for your interview, demi
I remember all the animals at Grants Farm, the Busches’ country place that the public could visit.
Suzanne @ 179
Can you really cross your toes? I’ve only just learned to make mine touch the floor when I walk. Crossing seems impossible.
TeddySanFran @ 180
I don’t think we ever went there, but the St. Louis botanical gardens were a wonderland.
I can cross the next to and big toes. can also pick up stuff with my toes. lots of practice with my friends during long summer afternoonos.
Tex, but i can not walk on my heels with my toes up in the air. Tiptoes just fine but can’t duck walk.
Suzanne @ 183
Me too. Used to freak out one of my ex-wives picking things up with my toes. Speaking as an anthropologist, they really are prehensile, but not very.
Suzanne @ 175
With all due respect, and with great love for Dreyer’s, you’ve obviously never been to Ted Drewes.
Loo Hoo. @ 136
It’s beautiful; we went to the beach up there, too (which was beautiful, but the water was very cold.) I need to get back there sometime. I’m going to my aunt’s in Vermont for a family reunion next weekend, which is pretty close!
Peterr, my fav is, of course, the old A&W pull up in the car and order Daddy-sized root beer floats. This is pretty close tho.
Suzanne @ 184
My 4 smaller toes don’t touch the ground ever, unless i consciously push them down. But nerve damage prevents 2 on the left side from ever touching the floor.
All this talk about summers past inspired me to post a new picture of myself taken on my grandfather’s farm on my FB page.
I remember a long bus trip to Wiscasset, in Maine, one summer to visit a school chum. A very long bus trip. Maine is very large.
Okay I’m finally back. Dad’s happily asleep, the fire trucks have left, and the police on the freeway are letting traffic through again. A slightly better than normal night.
————
Bye and sweet dreams to all who have left while I was “tidying up”.
————–
On the cheney thing, I am now of a slightly different opinion. To wit:
This is Bush saying to Cheney and all the guys threatening Bush about pardoning libby, BACK OFF OR I’LL DO A VALERIE PLAME ON YOUR ASS.
Yoo, Addington, Gonzales, several others are described in detail as committing war crimes, federal felonies, and de facto treason against the constituion here. Cheney could get impeached over this. Yoo and company can be indicted any time, and it will be very hard for me to believe they will keep either major teaching jobs or law licenses after this get percolated.
This is a first-class BushCo hit job. And the revisons at the Wapoo weren’t, IMHO to make it more cheney-friendly but less so. the changes actually put cheney in a worse light.
I’m now going to write a full analysis of the second piece and post it topic by topic. Then I’ll answer questions about my reasoning.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the Ruins of Washington, DC. As you all know, it was destroyed in the internicene second civil war between Dick Cheney and George W. Bush. Our first stop is the secure undisclosed location where the Browns Brigades worked with Cheney to coordinate their attacks on the Blacks working up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue….
oh, dr (pause) dick, that is just precious!
Summer in St. Louis, when it’s 100 degrees F. at 9:30 PM.
The line at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard is ten deep at each of the twelve windows, spilling out onto the street so much that it closes off one of the lanes of Chippewa.
Their specialty is known as a “concrete” — a frozen custand so stiff that you can stick a spoon in it, turn the cup upside down, hold it by the spoon, and nothing will come out. It comes in dozens of flavors — fruits of all kinds, nuts, etc.
Yum.
Suzanne @ 183
Wayne Gretzky could curl his toes under the balls of his feet and walk around. without his heels touching the floor …
… Dear God, how am I gonna make it to September without Hockey !!! *g*
All OK Alfred? I missed some of the drama.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the Ruins of Washington, DC. As you all know, it was destroyed in the internicene second civil war between Dick Cheney and George W. Bush. Our first stop is the secure undisclosed location where the Browns Brigades worked with Cheney to coordinate their attacks on the Blacks working up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue….
AK, I don’t get what you are saying here. I hope there was no racist intent and you are referring to brownshirts vs blackshirts.
Peterr @ 194
Where in St. Louis did you live? My grandparents lived on the north side in an area called Baden (mostly Germans).
Petrocelli @ 195
Damn global warming.
Suzanne
I can do that too!
Is it too late for me to change my name to Long Pink Toes?
Kidding…really going now.
DrDick @ 198
South side, heavily German as well. But I know the Baden neighborhood.
Peterr @ 199
Ummm. Baseball? FDL???
demi @ 200
Nope, only one name change to a customer.
Here in SF, it’s a very Happy Pride weekend, with the theme “Pride Not Prejudice.” Enjoy your loved ones, everyone!
Peterr @ 201
Yeah, my grandfather was bilingual in German (the family moved to St. Louis in 1848)and there were several German language newspapers in the area. The area is mostly black today, but was still largely German when I was young.
Sorry, Tex, I ate all the strawberry and pineapple kabobs. Very cooling (especially when alternated with my ice cream)
WaPoO Monday chatz; questions accepted anytime.
Shailagh Murray at 11am eastern
Howard Kurtz at Noon eastern
Barton Gellman on The Cheney Vice Presidency series at 1pm eastern
Peterr @ 204
It’s a terrific theme, although I bet Miss Austen would be shocked!
Suzanne @ 188
Oh God, Suz … I still remember the Papa Teen with Onion Rings (get yer minds outta the gutter) and Root Beer Float …
TeddySanFran @ 207
Love to chat with Gellman – what a series!
Thanks for the schedule once again, Teddy!
Suzanne @ 206
Cookies for those who ate their fruit and veggies.
DrDick @ 205
It’s possible our families travelled together, oh-so-many years ago!
TeddySanFran @ 208
Perhaps so, but she and Donna Sachet would have quite the conversation about it.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 192
Bob in Hi made a comment that he thinks this is a deliberate attempt by the Neocons
to remove Cheney and install another of their own to carry on their work through ‘08 … do you dispute that?
To hell with politics! Give me Janice or give me death! Sigh!
We are at war with EastAsia. We have always been at war with EastAsia. Long live Oceania! Long live Big Brother!
Peace!
Winston Smith
Summer eh…?
Well this is going to be interesting. The expectation in bubblesville is for a dramatic bear bottom tomorrow (even with a opening gap up and a tease me rally). Tuesday should reverse all that and add some icing. That is the official start of a rally that tops out in the middle of July. I’ll be all out by the end of July thank you very much.
I don’t expect any interest rate change on Wed. and the market won’t do much until Thursday when the march of the White Soldiers kicks off a three week string of positive tech days. How this happens may have to do with China. I’m convinced that they are buying into Tech USA in order to gain control of our markets with their huge currency reserves. Then they can hold us hostage for Taiwan. Bush will be seen to have dropped the ball by his conservative peers and will suffer a political purge. That and the credit crunch in progress and its recession USA.
That’s the summer-ry from bubblesville!
demi @ 173
Best luck tomorrow!
AK’s ANGLER ANALYSIS: OPENING TOPIC.
“White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales, a man with next to no experience on the subject [of torture], Vice President Cheney’s lawyer, who had a great deal of experience, sat nearby.”
TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Cheney’s lawyer is an expert on tortureing people, Bush’s lawyer knows nothing about it.
FAUX NEWS: Bush Good. No Know About Torture. Cheney Bad. Knows ALL about Torture. Bad Man.
———————————————
From that moment, well before previous accounts have suggested, Cheney turned his attention to the practical business of crushing a captive’s will to resist.
TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Cheney personally likes figuring out how to torture people. He then makes others take the blame for it. (unquoted text).
FAUX NEWS: CHENEY JAZZES ON TORTURING PEOPLE LIKE YOU. HE IS A SICK LITTLE FRAK!
============================================
Cheney and his allies, according to more than two dozen current and former officials, pioneered a novel distinction between forbidden “torture” and permitted use of “cruel, inhuman or degrading” methods of questioning.
TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Cheney uses “novel” legal tactics to allow torture. (Novel is Bureaucratic code for “loon city” and “hanging you out to dry”)
FAUX NEWS: CHENEY BREAKS THE LAW BY TRICKERY. HE IS COMING FOR YOUR DAUGHTER.
———————————–
But a more careful look at the results suggests that Cheney won far more than he lost. Many of the harsh measures he championed, and some of the broadest principles undergirding them, have survived intact but out of public view.
TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Bush (good) has tried to stop the torture. Cheney (bad) has found unethical and illegal back channels to continue them.
FAUX NEWS: CHENEY HAS DISOBEYED GOD’S CHOSEN PRESIDENT! HE MUST DIE!
————————————–
said James A. Baker III, who has shared a hunting tent with Cheney more than once and worked with him under three presidents. “He has been pretty damn good at accumulating power,
TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Baker (slave of Elder Bush And Wise Counselor to Younger Bush) says that Cheney is a Power Hungry Maniac. (Note the clever jibe about “sharing a hunting tent”. The simultaneously reminds us that Cheney once shot a friend in the face and then made the friend apologize for it. One wonders how JAB-III survived.)
FAUX NEWS: MOSES THE SPOKESMAN FOR GOD SAYS CHENEY IS A POWER HUNGRY MANIAC WHO SHOOTS HIS FRIENDS IN THE FACE WHILE DRUNK. CHENEY IS THE ANTICHRIST ACCORDING TO ANN COULTER.
Later, all!
Well I think I will head to bed. I know I will have pleasant dreams of summers on my grandfather’s farm, the St. Louis Zoo, and the coming self destruction of the Busheviks. Take care and enjoy the snark.
TexB @ 196
All fine. We had a little potty problem but all is better now. thanks for the summer snacks, they’re (virtually) delicious!
Good night Peterr & Dr D
DrDick @ 220
Night, Dr. (pause) Dick!
Night Peterr.
Peterr @ 219
Night Peterr. Sleep safely.
Petrocelli @ 214
Maybe. This crap has me so stunned I can’t think straight. I’m working on an analysis right now but it is slow going. See my post above this one for an example. I have NEVER SEEN so much deadly character/political assassination in one published newspaper report in my life. Ever.
Suzanne @ 183
My sister-in-law always picks up stuff with her feet. When her kids were little it was non-stop!
Beautiful picture of you on facebook, Suz! I’m having trouble adding new friends from tonight. Before, I just had to confirm that I wanted the new friend, but now it’s taking me to my full page and I don’t see anywhere to add the new friend. Sorry, and I’ll check again.
Sweet dreams, DrDick
Carolina Blues – Blues Traveller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO5GNbx918k
Suzanne @ 197
Yes, suzanne. Brown (crap) for Cheney, Black (Utter evil) for Bush. (Gotta remember times change. would never have seen that angle myself…)
…summers in an old, old camp in Maine seem better in retrospect…picking blueberries and mum and her sisters making blueberry muffins, cobbler and pies, cooking on an open fire, TONS of huge mosquittoes, being allowed to stay up as late as we wanted, rowing a leaky rowboat to the middle of the pond and dropping a line for catfish, then screaming as we pulled them into the boat, the smell of Woodsman’s Old Time Fly Dope, wood floors with holes to the ground, camp beds with a thin mattress and wire holding them together, sitting on ratty old screen porches talking and talking and being corrected by my aunts (Helen Rose, Alice, Mary and Anne), catching fireflies in an old jelly jar…my dad showing up on Friday night after a week of work with a bag of groceries and a bottle of gin and we were always so happy to see him, my mom making a special supper for him…it was deliciously quaint and wonderful….to be there for just one day I would probably trade everything…
So, should we try to figure out when Cheney will have health problems that force his retirement (in hopes of preventing impeachment ala Nixon)? August 9th was the day Nixon resigned iirc.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 229
i would have reversed those.
Cheney’s going to have so many blow-darts sticking out of him by Friday that he’ll look like a porkypine.
Suzanne @ 231
Are we okay on that brown/black thing? would never have even thought of it..
Suzanne @ 231
he won’t give up without a fight and nobody will be able to “suggest” he leave…
Yes, we are ok, AK. Was just making sure so no one would think otherwise.
The person who sent me this article seems very troubled by it. Opinions?
I would like to get some feedback from the assembled lakers as to my style and technique of analysing the Cheney article. I’m essentially distilling it into its media components, one for the MSM and one for Faux News. But if it’s not useful (and it easily could be) I can just summarize the high points.
Suzanne @ 236
wisdom, and thank you.
Cheney will leave when the writing is on the wall (and just before the arrest warrant/impeachment papers are signed). He will try to ride it ala Nixon thinking that his resignation will end it.
Wrong.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 226
Wow AK, when you break it down like this, it does look like a direct assault on Cheney, I wonder how he will respond …
anyone heard from Ed*ard Teller? he’s still got big fires in his area…
Petrocelli @ 241
This is part of what I had to do for a living when I wasn’t allowed to play with my supercomputer toys. Create and Defend against psyop articles in contested local papers. (Mind you this all happend AFTER Vietnam, before that we didn’t give a crap).
So it’s useful right?
Petrocelli @ 88
We Persiflages will be glad to receive them! We’ve already started fasting in anticipation of feasting with Pete!
The all caps on the Faux stuff is read as shouting online, AK, so style wise, I would suggest not using all caps to distinguish the two. A simple line break works for me (others may disagree)
Perhaps breaking them up into individual posts on each point – we don’t like the commenter’s comment to be longer than the front page post :)
OldCoastie @ 242
Forest Fires? Oh, crud….
nice word picture, spiderpaws. very nice.
OldCoastie @ 242
Been offline all day – ohmystars!
Suzanne @ 245
excellent suggestions, Suzanne. I’ll implement them both.
DrDick @ 148
Terrific idea and happily I know quite a few UCB grads and staff who will likely answer such a clarion call. Will get right on that in the morning.
Waving to Suzanne – what a treat to see ya!
TeddySanFran @ 191
What a coincidence! Wiscasset is the closest town to Lily Pond!
(waving to spidey) great stars down here tonight spidey. was just out looking at em while walking token the cutest dog in the world.
AK, I certainly hope you’ll chat tomorrow with the author, also. I think you’d have some good questions for him. Your analysis is excellent so far. I’m thinking I’ll need to buy the hardcopy paper of each of these articles; it’s highlighter time. Only so much I can absorb from the screen.
Hey NPB. The little cottage by the creek in the redwoods was graced by a visit from NPB this afternoon. A good time was had by all with lots of hugs.
Suzanne @ 254
How nice!
I assume this was after the open house? How did that go?
TeddySanFran @ 253
I agree with TSF – AK you should ask your questions for the chat. Teddy has submitted many questions in anticipation of chat with successes:)
NPB got here just as my agent was leaving. I was honored to have her visit.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 238
I can see your point of view clearly, especially since Friday night’s chat … and I concur with your analysis.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 238
AK, I for one find them useful (and highly entertaining). Please don’t muzzle.
Night, all. (Tottering sleepily off to bed.)
The open house, however, had 2 neighbors and 1 lookie loo (sigh) still thinking that it is gonna happen soon. positive thoughts and visualizing the sold sign.
persiflage @ 244
G’Day, haven’t seen you in a while … how’ve you been?
Did npb get to see any diving?
TSF, Suzanne, I’m deeply touched. Thank you. Particularly TSF if I understand he wants to HC my posts (I personally don’t think they’re THAT good) correctly. Wow.
Okay, I’m going to work on the next topic now. And when I’m done (this will take about an hour) we can perhaps distill things down to a few questions.
I don’t know if I can be online, though. Dad fell a few days ago and had to have his right big toe tonail removed and has an infected cut on his left middle toe. Anyone 91 years old with neuropathy of the feet and legs and type 2 diabetes has to be utterly paranoid about their feet. So i’m taking him to our local hyperbaric (overpressure oxygen) treatment center here to have the feet worked on. Don’t know how long it will take me.
Okay, diving into second topic. mini-posts with correct expression modes will follow.
Good night spurious.
AK, have you ever thought about doing a blog yourself? Would give you the ability to express exactly as you wish and how you wish, and I for one would certainly read it regularly :)
Alfred,
This could be Bush’s legacy. “I’m not as bad as Cheney. He did all the bad stuff, I knew nothing about it.”
I don’t think it’s a question of – For which one of a laundry list of heinous acts will Cheney go down? It’s more a question of how much of BushCo’s laundry list of heinous acts can he take the bullet for?
The Leak? Torture? The 16 Words? Gitmo? Calling Mrs. Ashcroft? OSP and WHIG? The Niger Forgeries? TSP? How much?
The Bush-Legacy Hiers would have No Problem moving Broken-Pinata Dickie out for their man, Fred Thompson – the next frontman Daddy for the Agenda.
Alfred, hope all goes well with your dad’s medical situation.
Two Words:
Grand:
http://i167.photobucket.com/al…..rthRim.jpg
& Smoky:
http://i167.photobucket.com/al…..lle024.jpg
Expo 67! Montreal! Aaaahhhh. In fact, your vacation WEST reminded me of my family’s vacation EAST in 1967. We went from Oklahoma, up to Montreal, visiting every state in between. Camping, too. Yes, even with the dog. (I often wonder how my parents stood it. It was fun for ME, but now that I am a parent, I know I would have lost my mind if I had done that!)
TeddySanFran @ 262
creek and river are ankle/shin deep only right now. no dives off the wood bridge over the creek.
Suzanne @ 265
I tried it on newsvine. Didn’t understand blogs then, but I do now. We’re going online later this year with my boss’ tech books site and I am allowed to have anything of my own on the machine as a perk. It will be a datacenter deal, remotely managed servers, so we configure them top to bottom. When the time comes I will want to talk to your sysops (if that’s allowed) to set up the blog end. The experience i get from running mine will help me run the other blogs that are to follow from authors of his Computer Book company’s next books.
And I am very compliementd you’d read it. I really am.
TexB @ 268
Thank you TexB. Dad says he can feel your good thoughts coming his way. Who am I to argue?
AK, if you can’t be online during the WaPoO chat, please take a moment to submit questions ahead of time. Early-submissions are often chosen to get the chat started…. (he said, whistling in the corner….)
Otherwise, I look forward to your analysis here as well. As a longtime student of Washington, I share your amazement at this series. Messages within messages, methinks.
I am actually reminded of the morning I awoke here in SF to reports of the August 1991 coup in Moscow.
AK, blogger (blogspot) is a simple to use way to start off – even I can blog and I’m certainly not techie.
A good way to learn what goes into writing, publishing, inserting pictures, etc, all which is done to get readers to read what you write. I learned some HTML just because of blogging. I had never done any HTML stuff before.
Suzanne,
I found out that my dog loves to go for car rids. There’s a warped gate over in the neighbor’s yard, and she gets out that way. The only way I can get her to come back in is by pretending to leave in the car, and she hops right in.
Well, I wanted to put a leash on her, but the last time I tried that it did not go well. So I tried picturing it in my mind: Car! Dog in car! Dog with leash gets to go in car!
And what do you know, she let me put the collar and leash on her. She was jumping up and down by the door.
Is she smart or what? ;0)
Margot @ 266
This is entirely plausible, and may very well have been the BushCo plan all along. Recall that BushOne recommended Cheney to Junja to “find” a Veep. This may be the brand-saving move, right before our eyes.
Margot @ 276
Token loves riding in the car with his head out the window, tongue hanging out, ears pinned back. I think he thinks of it as running while being held. He does not like, however, getting in the car and some of the curvy roads around here. But once he ralphs, he is good to go until we get home. Jumps out of the car the second I open the door.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 263
I for one eagerly await your analysis !
Angler Series from Washington Post
Second Article
Second Topic
The first para speaks of a “blunt memo” from Cheney’s lawyer, otherwise same old same old.
The second para gets meatier. To wit, “No longer was the vice president focused on procedural rights, [but on] How much suffering could U.S. personnel inflict on an enemy to make him talk?”.
The MSM spin: Cheney was mainly interested in making people suffer, rather than determining their legal rights.
The FN spin: Cheney likes thinking up ways to torture people.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 238
I wasn’t sure if you really got it from faux news and didn’t want to trip my beautiful mind.
hello all,
Alfred, i enjoyed my quick read of your news analysis. i look forward to your further insights. it should be an interessssting week …….
on the general topic tonight: i’ve got about four more days of work before i get a break. i’m going to Venice for the Bienale. lots of trendy contemporary art from around the world. i found a B&B for 47 euros per night. i hope it’s not a rat hole. hotels there are really pricey.
i’m also going to oregon to meet up with my older son and grandsons.
TeddySanFran @ 277
I think you are right, TSF and that is the entire purpose of these articles. boosh, so far, is painted as correcting the wrongs cheeney does when boosh finds out about them.
sorry, margot, i somehow did not include your name after tsf’s in my 283. i (head hanging in shame) neglected to remember the peterr prayer preview is my friend.
OldCoastie @ 242
No. I was thinking about him earlier.
TeddySanFran @ 277
Fascinating but begs the question who wrote such a script for the illiterate brain-impaired Chimp?
Karl Rove, per chance? Or his Hallmark card cutout honey and besotted legal counsel Harriet?
TeddySanFran @ 277
Gosh, I hope that’s their plan, because I don’t think it has a chance in hell of succeeding. Or rather, at most they could manage to make it so that Cheney’s legacy (and responsibility) is all the blatantly illegal and immoral stuff and Bush’s legacy is the disastrous Iraq War and complete incompetence at running the country. I could live with that. Especially if they use it to make the ‘08 Republican candidates toe the line and not distance themselves from Bush, because it’s “not his fault.”
re: summer —– I am disabled and on a budget. Someone invite me somewhere for a weekend or so. I have not left Central Texas in 2 yrs. Feeling the need for a break.
Continuing second topic analysis:
The third para contains “The War Crimes Act of 1996 made any grave breach of those [Geneva Accords on Torture] restrictions a U.S. felony…”
The fourth para contains “The vice president’s counsel proposed that President Bush issue a carefully ambiguous directive…Bush … adopted Addington’s formula … verbatim.”
The fifth para has the gold. “What [cheney] did not acknowledge, … was that the new legal framework was designed specifically to leave room for cruelty.”
MSM Message: Cheney figured a legal way around the US and International law and tricked the president into accepting it.
FN Message: Cheney is intentionally writing fake laws that allow him to be cruel to people.
Note that while the fact that captured AQ suspects are involved is mentioned, it is trivialized. Compare with earlier post articles on the same subject; tone is utterly opposite of this one.
Rove. Bush’s numbers are in the toilet. Cheney’s are lower still. Rove still does teh math on GOP elections and the numbers are saying boosh needs to be rehabilitated in the eyes of the public and cheeney is the fall guy. I still think cheeney will resign ala nixon thinking that will be king’s x and he is olly olly oxen free and clear
Alfred Kelgarries @ 272
In the meantime, if you want to start your own threads etc., I’d recommending posting stuff at DailyKos.com for others to comment on. One cool part is that you can re-edit your stuff whenever you want, e.g., you can post updates, etc.
npb – I think it’s the girlfriend, Condi, taking care of business…
Redshift @ 287
I’m going be watching Cheney’s reactions to see where this is heading.
Is it a purposeful setup to replace Darth with Rice or Freddy to continue
the neocon regime through ‘08 or is this the start of the BushCo implosion …
A few years ago I started feeling like I was stressing out too much getting ready to go on vacation. You know, all those little projects around the house so you can leave everything in good shape, arranging for pet care and so on.
So I’ve tried turning things around. I use my vacation to get caught up on things around the house and instead take frequent weekend trips or maybe just a run to a nearby river with a canoe after work.
At least for me this has worked out well. I also like the way this lets me have time to do things with a greater variety of family and friends. There has been so much to do and so many beautiful places to go within a couple of hundred miles that I’ve only scratched the surface so far.
So my advice is to go out and check out your surrounding area. Do you know where the bike paths are? Got some caves to look at? Streams to float? Bluffs to picnic on? Once you start checking around you will be amazed how much you have never done in your own area.
TexB @ 288
is the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods too far away for a weekend? (offer good until it is sold)
Suzanne @ 290
Resign, or maybe go to Ken Lay’s Magic Island.
TeddySanFran @ 274
AK, I love your analysis as well. I wonder if Condi’s team is speaking out?
it is definate pushback against cheeney – the ultimate question is by who? condi or rove?
Suzanne,
No problem, thanks for answering. I love my little dog. Even though she’s not as little as she used to be, the trash hound.
TSF,
I really just threw that comment out, because it seemed like something he’d try. I mean, we’ve had torture, loss of habeas, got lied into a war, etc. Why not try political character assassination via newspaper series?
The thing about Bush is he wants to be, must be, the person in control. And he likes to be liked. If he’s not liked he gets very cranky. Now, not even his base likes him.
Redshift @ 287
The buck stops at the President. He claims to be “the decider.” There’s no way that Cheney can take the fall for him. Not in court. And not in history.
wigwam @ 300
From your mouth to history’s ears.
OldCoastie @ 292
OC – that never occured to me – such food for thought! ;~)
My brain cells count is not what it once was. I thought Condi was Dick’s idea rather than Shrubs. I do so hope it was Condi and she was wearing her black stilleto heeled Third Reich boots for added drama.
continuing analysis of second topic:
para 6 is historical scene setting, neutral in tone.
para 7 has no less than three body blows to Cheney in it. The first: “This previously unreported meeting sheds light on the origins of one of the Bush administration’s most controversial claims. “
The second: “The Justice Department … [said the law] “prohibits only the worst forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” and therefore permits many others.”.
The third: “[signed by] Jay S. Bybee, [opinion prohibited only torture] “equivalent in intensity” to the pain of “organ failure ….. or even death.”".
MSM Spin: “In a secret meeting….lawyers associated with Cheney said US law permits torture…to the point of death.”
FN Spin: “Cheny set up a clandestine meeting to trick the White House into allowing rogue interrogators to torture people almost to death.”
The buck stops at the President. He claims to be “the decider.” There’s no way that Cheney can take the fall for him. Not in court. And not in history.
Doesn’t mean the little boosh won’t try it. He has successfully ducked responsibility for everything his whole life.
Petrocelli @ 293
The end game is very delicate. I don’t want to see Bush get off by resigning a few hours early and having the VP-turned-President suddenly give him a Nixon-style pardon. If Cheney leaves office early, the House needs to impeach Bush before confirming his chosen replacement. Once impeached, he’s no longer pardonable, per (my non-professional interpretation of) Article II, Section 2.
Suzanne @ 265
my sentiments exactly. How about it AK? I’m in your fan club.
OT:
Taylor Detention Facility Draws Protests
Jason Wheeler
Reporting
(CBS 42) AUSTIN Attention from across the state is on Taylor, Texas – the home of the Don T. Hutto Detention Center.
The federal government started the immigrant holding facility to toughen up border enforcement.
But protesters who demonstrated Saturday complain it’s too tough, especially considering who is being held there.
The T. Don Hutto Center is a non-descript building well off the tourism trails of Central Texas
But it has made it onto the international map — by word of mouth.
Hundreds of people from around the state and beyond descended on the site, lending their voices to the chorus calling for the closure of this institution.
Their chants for change are aimed not only at the U.S. government, but also to the people being held inside by that government.
“It’s going to let the people inside Hutto know that we care about them,” said Amnesty Internatiopnal’s Sarnata Reynolds. “That they’re here — that we’re doing everything we can, to try to get them out.”
Immigration and customs defends the establishment as a humane way to secure the border and hold illegals who might otherwise disappear by the time their migrant status can be determined by the courts.
more
Suzanne @ 304
Yes, but now he’s in far over his head. Daddy can’t help him this time. There are some adults in congress. They are my heros. ( along with the national archive data collectors!)
Suzanne @ 304
When he says, “That devil Cheney made me do it,” he’ll be a tree falling in the forests of Paraguay and David Broder will no longer be listening.”
Good night dear friends. Time to take my towel and be off.
Tex, isn’t that where they sent the women and children and families rounded up in the ICE raids up in MA?
Hello everyone. I’ve been in the shadows near the treeline keeping an eye on everything at the lake and just wanted to de-lurk for a minute.
Suzanne: as always-good thoughts towards the house sale.
Alfred:you blow me away. I’m astounded by the breadth and depth of you knowledge and keep your analysies coming. I hope you are correct.
back to the treeline…
Suzanne @ 311
Immigration raids all over the place. Want more links?
Hi Felix!
wigwam @ 305
I almost think this is a deliberate mock up to get Cheney out, install Rice or Freddy and have Bush hailed as the guy who saved us from Darth.
I agree with you, if Cheney resigns, Congress should refuse to confirm his replacement and swiftly move to impeach Bush.
Methinks Leahy and the SJC already have a gameplan for this possibility.
Wouldn’t you love to watch Whitehouse question Bush ?!!
Tex, I’m pretty sure it is where they sent them in that case. MA is suing to try to get them back in MA iirc.
Petrocelli @ 315
Jeb??
Avoid server sag: feel the newness!
TexB @ 317
No chance … that’s why pappy was crying in the Florida Legislature …
… the smart one didn’t get in the White House, and now Dumbya has ruined the family name for good … he knew it then.
Sweet dreams Tex Betsy – you never fail to inspire and raise this ole brat’s spirit.
newspaperbrat @ 320
well THANK YOU.
Suzanne, that is meant to show feeling and not shouting.
TexB @ 288
TexB, if you’re still up i sent a facebook message
Felix, you come down from the tree line anytime you want and take advantage of some hammock time here in the trees lining the shore.
NewDealFarmGrrrlll @ 322
Oooh Oooohhh. Let me go look.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 303
I haven’t read those memos in about two years, but it seemed to me that they were a sophomoric attempt to set up a good-faith defense for both the actual torturers and their chain of command. The torturers could say that they were operating in good faith on assurances from their superiors that what they were doing was not illegal. So could their superiors up to the President, who could claim that he was operating on good faith on the advice of counsel. (
Visibly, that’s a minor variant of the long-discredited Nuremberg defense. But John McCain worked very hard to get it into law both in his Anti-torture legislation and in the Military Commissions Act, which refers back to McCains anti-torture bill.
IMHO, when push comes to shove the mere existence of these memos will prove that these people weren’t operating in good faith.
Suzanne @ 323
Will do!
However-I get tangled-up-in and fall out of those things!
Felix, go on upstairs and join us! Hit Teddy’s link at 318.
Suzanne- incoming mail.
My parents funded as many summer expeditions as they could for me and my siblings so they could have some time to themselves. Can’t say I blame them.
So, my trip for the summer of 1964 was to the 6th National Boy Scout Jamboree in Valley Forge, PA. My most vivid memory of this event was the night I sat on a hill with 50,000 of my fellow Scouts, each with a candle which we all lit on cue while the helicopter carrying President Johnson was on its way. I imagine seeing our candles from the air was an impressive sight.
The helicopter hovered and landed behind the stage, and when LBJ emerged, everyone around me leaped to their feet and gave him the most amazing ovation I’ve heard at any gathering, before or since. Only seven months had passed since Kennedy’s assassination, and American involvement in the Vietnam War wasn’t yet in high gear. His popularity was at its peak.
He gave his speech and was in his chopper and gone within a few minutes. I’ll never forget his presence at the podium, the timbre of his voice and his forceful delivery, but until searching online tonight and finding the text of his remarks, I remembered nothing of what he said. On reading it, I have to say it was a nicely crafted little speech, tailored to instill pride and purpose in our impressionable young minds. For those interested, the text may be found here:
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu…..?pid=26391
Teddy, thanks for your post. Have a good summer.
RP
Thank you, RP, a great summer remembrance!
TeddySanFran – do you have any report to share on Elizabeth Edwards appearance at the breakfast/lunch she had scheduled today in celebration of the annual parade?
Happy trails to you and yours travels, says a sincere albeit jealous ‘brat. ;~)
Walloon Lake Michigan – my in laws used to have a cottage on Walloon Lake. My husband and I spent our vacations up there every year. When our daughter was little, after she learned to swim, we would sit on the end of the dock and watch her frolic in the water. The sun would shimmer on the water – I could hear the wind in the trees and the clink of the flagpole chain. Heaven on earth. My mother in law just passed away on Friday after making one last trip up to Michigan for what surely was to be her last summer up there. Rest in Peace Dorothy!