Good Morning!

Morning!

Hope you enjoyed the picnics, parades, and fireworks. Sure is a lazy Sunday morning, here

Want some coffee?

black please

g’morining elliot and all firedogs!

my first sunday off in a long time

any word on fisa turn arounds on our behalf?…any new strategy, does russ have anything else up his sleeve?

gonna be a long week

I won’t be watching it (talking heads tend to give a an all-body rash) but I surely do hope that on ABC This Week Sen. Jack Reed is capable of flensing that odious self-described “McCain supporter” whose name I will not mention.

gonna be a long week

I’m afraid you’re right. Perhaps I’d better go get my hip flask to reinforce that coffee…

What a beautiful morning. The air is so clean and crisp….. wait now I see why that dreadful, pigish, racist a*hole helms has bought the 6 foot plot. I can only hope he suffered. Good bloody riddance to absolute rubish.

It really is a beautiful day here in NH however.

I wish someone would learn how to look at him in a “you pour assinine child” to comensate his rediculous, “I am taking a moral position” even though his position is depraved and he knows it

he needs to be treated with disdain and with no deferance both in response and even the expressions while looking at hims spew his rubbish

Ohh, I do so love a good flensing first thing in the morning! And the Whaling Museum is in Mystic,RI, so I am sure he has impeccable technique.

The other alternative is to look at him with a look of fascinated repulsion, rather like how you would look at an enormous slug in your salad.

lol nonplussed, but now that you mention it…

perris, we still have time to harass our Senators, I know some of the pups had deliberate plans to encounter their Senators, but have heard no reports. Sure feels like we’re getting the bird from Sen. Obabma. :(

I’m on my way out. Curious is any of the panels will be discussing FISA today? Salon surely is. I’ll catch up later. Enjoy the day; Pres. in Japan. Does that make us safer? O well, more intelligent.

It would be so nice to see Lieberman get a verbal flensing from Reed, I doubt Joey will be challenged much by Stephie.

(I wouldn’t stand a chance against you in Scrabble.)

OT but i’d like to know more about this. does anyone have any background on this report (via antiwar.com)?

US planned nerve gas tests on Aussies

IT’S been revealed that the US military planned to test deadly nerve gas on Australian soldiers in far north Queensland during the Cold War.

Newly declassified Defence and Prime Minister’s office files show that the US was strongly pushing then prime minister Harold Holt’s government in the 1960s to allow tests of two of the deadliest chemical weapons ever developed — VX and GB, better known as Sarin nerve gas.

Peter Bailey, a former senior official with Mr Holt, tells the program the request caused consternation in Canberra, and as far as he knows the tests never went ahead.

But he says planning was very advanced in the US, which wanted the operation to be kept secret because the weapons were illegal under international law.

now this is a fourth of july celebration. (bush getting heckled by protesters: save the country impeach bush).

Beinart | Broder | Hoagland | Ignatius | Will

The five whoresmen of the WaPocolypse .

that was a sight to behold,
and Cheney appearing on the USS Constitution, like mooning us.

Cheney mooning? EEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

I think I prefer Wimbelton to Press the Meat.

I prefer watching small children doing fingerpainting to anything He-who-should-eat-shit-and-choke-from-Connecticut can say or do.

good morning everyone,

a funny thing happened yesterday. mid-morning i traveled up to my local staples store hoping to be there when they opened bright and early. staples building is located adjacent to our local verizon outlet and written on the plate glass window of verizon were the words WE WIRETAP WITHOUT WARRANTS. upon close inspection the graffiti seemed to be penned in hand soap. i thought, what a legacy for mr. bush, aka “w”, 4 more w’s, but also what a great idea.

i like it! non-destructive graffiti. i’d still be on the watch out for cameras though - because in addition to wiretapping without warrants we also film without cause.

holy cow. this is bad.

Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.

The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.

The figure emphatically contradicts the US government’s claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil.

mornin’–

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weSpqLq1rto found this last night on the jesse jackson green eggs and ham page.helen thomas reamin’ scott mcclellan about wiretapping.and for fun, here’s the rhymin’ jesse jackson reading green eggs and ham-somehow appropriate for wolf’s anniversary…..lol…..the video and audio are a little out of sync-but doesn’t take away from it, still hilarious!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPxPciXcJvc posted them last night, but must have been too off topic

Making biofuels out of corn is foolish. Wonderful soil should feed people. The native/improved pastures on less than optimum for plowing dirt can be a source of biomass or food for ruminants.

and thus we are intimidated into sheepmission.

here’s the helen thomas link again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....ature=user

Hmmmm… If there’s danger of being filmed, and to make a point about sheeple, maybe wearing a sheep suit while soaping the windows? Or would that be a BAAAAA-d thing to do?

not to mention how corn depletes the soil faster than any other crop. History will not judge us kindly.

Posted this link on King Corn before. Have the movie in my queueueue.
And the Q&A interview with Aaron Woolf was worth watching imo

How is your grandson doing, btw? Thriving, I hope.

Why is Feith getting more air time?

so he can lie some more?

(besides, i am sure he’s gonna unpack a new bag of pnac-ian nonsense and fabrications– some Murkans love to be afraid, you know.)

Never to be mentioned in the US corporate media.

Shrub or Barnacle mask works for me.

Sunday funny

it’s only foolish because there’s not a good return, the wonderfull soil should be used to grow and harves hemp for fuel and clothing rather then corn

By far the easiest and quickest way to relieve the energy crunch is to conserve. But the minute you suggest that people cut back (on driving, heating, air conditioning) they have a knee-jerk territorial-aggressive response. It’s going to be hard to convince the lizard brains that we need to drive sensible vehicles and try to conserve energy.

southern at 30–
how bout a cheney mask?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related

gotta go a couple of seconds in to see one…

we need to conserve AND find alternatives to carbon based energy.

high prices make everyone (well, almost everyone) want to conserve. but if these are bubble prices (as they sure seem to be), there is a possibility of a crash in prices before peak oil hits (if it hasn’t already).

bottom line. we need to be as smart as we can. i don’t think it’s unlikely that the next hundred years could see a major human population crash.

That’s Barnacle.

At this point most people have no choice but to conserve, whether they resent it or not. The folks where I work have all cut down on unnecessary driving, and are implementing other measures (higher thermostat settings, use of fans instead of AC, etc.) just to try to stay ahead of the cost of gas and electricity.

Growing corn for beef is foolish

OT but I highly recommend E.L. Doctrow’s piece in the Nation magazine entitled “The White Whale”. This was a keynote address given to a joint meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. The theme of their meeting was “The Public Good: Knowledge as the foundation for a Democratic Society.” It’s a brilliant piece.

oOoo coming up on Fox News AllStars (with the Britzter huming and hosting this morning)

Inside VP Picks!
I suspect there will be some serious concern trolling going on.

E L Doctrow

looks like a must read

What does it say about the United States today that this fellowship of the arts and sciences and philosophy is called to affirm knowledge as a public good? What have we come to when the self-evident has to be argued as if–500 years into the Enlightenment and 230-some years into the life of this Republic–it is a proposition still to be proven?

How does it happen that the modernist project that has endowed mankind with the scientific method, the concept of objective evidence, the culture of factuality responsible for the good and extended life we enjoy in the high-tech world of our freedom, but more important for the history of our species, the means to whatever verified knowledge we have regarding the nature of life and the origins and laws of the universe….

How does it happen for reason to have been so deflected and empirical truth to have become so vulnerable to unreason?

linebreaks inserted

Oh, shit, spare me. Mocking fools is such a waste of time.

southern at 36, i missed that, that’s funny.i’m at parents’, so have wireless on the deck this morning, so i  get to ‘youtube’/!!!!i feel spoiled.barnacle, i like that, when did that nickname come about?’come about’ like in sailing, ha ha.nonplussed at 8–the mystic seaport i went to is in connecticut…

gonna gave to go in a few minutes, take care pups…..make sure to watch that helen/scott mcclelland link, it’ll get ya goin’ for the fisa calls.

So much to read, so little time.

So many right wing Christians, so few lions.

That’s encouraging to hear, but it’s not my experience here in Michigan. My coworkers tend to be conservative and I’ve heard some talk of them selling their huge trucks and buying sensible vehicles but so far no action. I haven’t even heard any talk about adjusting the thermostat.

When Obama recently mentioned that people may have to turn down the heat and put on a sweater the lizard brains said he’s a “Marxist”.

It just seems hopeless trying to reach these people.

Somebody called Cheney Barnacle on one of the bobblehead shows not too long ago. I don’t remember who, what show or when. What a great scholor I am.

You’re absolutely correct, I hadn’t had that coffe! To add insult to ignorance I even lived there for six months! In my own defense I wil add that RI State line was really close!

Ever try to get a lizard brain to define Marxist when they throw out the label? Hilarious. And a great opportunity to jump start a few gray cells in the lizard brain. Might elevate them to turtle brain.

sigh
VP picks for Obama

Colin Powell? Ed Rendell?
puhleese

Sebelius comes up.

thanks dmac

Thanks for the link.

Wow, just now on CSpan a lady from Texas was pissed!

She was talking about the contractors in Iraq getting away with rape, and how much they’re ripping off the taxpayers. She was shouting, and she ended by saying “So enjoy your depression!”.

I love her!!!!

What did you expect from that crew? We’re talking about people here who couldn’t poor piss from a boot with directions written on the heel.

When Addington was giving his “testimony” to the HJC, he was trying to dodge and weave on whether the Veep office was part of the Executive Branch or Legislative Branch and someone there (Nadler? Conyers? Davis?) came up with the Barnacle attached to the Lege I believe it was.

First time I saw Cheney referred to as a barnacle was when Rep. Steve Cohen did so while questioning Addington (IIRC, or someone like him) in a hearing.

That’s a good one, I’ll have to try it.

I recently had an ongoing argument via e-mail with a friend in Arizona and I noticed how many conservative talking points seem aimed at characterizing liberals as Marxists. They say:

1) “Conservatives want equal opportunity, liberals want equal outcomes.”
2) Progressive taxes are “income redistribution” and “redistribution of wealth.”
3) They are trying to say that Obama is a Marxist. LOL.

Thanks.

I think between us we got it right!

Good Morning Elliot and Firedogs,

was this discussed yesterday ??

1998 Interview: Bin Laden calls for $144/barrel oil

In a 1998 interview, Osama bin Laden — the terrorist organizer of 9/11 who still roams free — listed as one of his many grievances against the U.S. that Americans “have stolen $36 trillion from Muslims” by purchasing oil from Persian Gulf countries at low prices. The real price of a barrel of oil should be $144, bin Laden demanded.

One month after 9/11, the New York Times wrote of possible “nightmare” scenarios that would deliver bin Laden’s goal. Neela Banerjee warned that among the “misguided decisions” that would put oil supplies at risk would be “that the United States attacks Iraq.”

think progress

Good morning Ms. Elliott and firedog freedom fighters. What a nasty line up we have today. Thanks for the warning as always! I need a shower just reading most of the “experts” names.

It’s a beautiful day in the Ozarks.. Mid sixties with extra fresh air. Rains every day… wildflowers are as abundant today as they normally are in late April.

Reisz, COnservation is always an excellent suggestion, however I believe the best place to start with conservation is MIC. MIC is over 40 percent of all US oil consumption. If we just stop bombing innocents..and dramatically reduce our constant state a readiness to destroy earth as we know it… we can conserve more wasted oil consumption than any other single target on earth.

Kill MIC (at least 90 percent of it) and save the planet and our nation at the same time.

Thank the Goddess for the Texan lady on cspan!

yes.

We’ve surpassed his expectations.

Thanks for posting the audio of Lennon & the little boy, Elliott. It gave me chills down my spine! Always a good way to start the day…John Lennon talking about peace. We share his frustrations today. ;-)

You’ve heard about the giant hamburger recall? Well if that isn’t enough of a reason to become a vegetarian, checkout the past record of the Company:

In 2003, USDA went to court to try to shut down Nebraska Beef ’s Omaha packing plant after citing it for numerous violations. The company, in turn, sued USDA and challenged its authority require food safety plans and even won a court injunction stopping USDA from closing it down. Nebraska Beef and USDA later settled the case.

Three years later, Minnesota public health and USDA officials linked an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in ground beef that killed a Minnesota woman to Nebraska Beef, although USDA never publicly named the company as the source. The woman who died ate meatballs at a church event. Her family sued Nebraska Beef and the company, in turn, sued the church saying the volunteers who prepared the food were at fault.

Most recently, in 2007, Nebraska Beef sued USDA again, saying its inspectors had unfairly targeted it. The suit was later dismissed.

dragon—i don’t need specifics, just an idea…thanks…nonplussed–solai and i were talking about rhode island lately, that’s probably why..and there is a new series going to be on npr about pete seeger and today they talked about the ship he helped raise the money for to promote saving the hudson river—got the idea from the ships at mystic, it’s quite a place, been there a few times, was really neat.series starts tonight here…can’t remember the name of it….

here it is, found it–gotta go, have a great weekend pups!

http://peteseeger.org/the_series/

This is a you tube of the exchange. Just watching it makes me want to pummel something (of course, not a person).

Assuming “MIC” means “military-industrial complex” the I agree, that’s the first place conservation of energy should start.

you’re welcome elliot!

NO, thank YOU!

LOL

and barnacle/cheney is gonna be as hard to ’scrape’ off as the real kind.

take care.

As with most reich wing talking points there is a kernel of truth in there. It’s unfortunate that more people haven’t actually read Marx, particularly Capital. Our political economy is based primarily on the works of Adam Smith and Ricardo, adding Keynes later with his emphasis on the middle class, the consumers who keep capital moving. Marx’s critique of the perfectly functioning markets of Smith and Ricardo scares the hell out of the capitalists because Marx shows how it will fail in the long run. After 140 years Marx’s critiques still hold up and we are seeing today the proof of the pudding. In 1965 the British PM sided with the financial capitalists over the industrial capitalists. The de-industrialization of England was the result. We are seeing the same thing here with the influence of Wall Street overriding that of industry and the de-industrialization of our country.

Thanks!

btw -
Spent the entire 4th on the Campaign Trail (local congressional candidate) - a parade and then 5 local picnics/festivals

the good news - everyone asked him about 2 things, and always in this order:

How and When are you getting us out of Iraq ?

What is your plan for Energy Independence ?

was struck by no one wrongly focused on the $4/gal, but were looking for mid to long term policiy changes to gain independence from fossil fuels -

Hey good morning Mr. Springs!

glad you are having lovely weather,
we’re mildewing here, but do need the rain.

You would have barfed at the FoxNews AllStars on Jesse Helms, Brit took exception to the characterization that Helms was racist for starters.

reisz and eureka–i commented last week–

air force uses 71% of pentagon fuel..

1.5 MILLIONS gallons of fuel a DAY…….

so, i guess that would be a good place to start.

that is most Icelandic news cbl!

MIC is over 40 percent of all US oil consumption.

do you have a link for that? that’s a number i’ve been trying to find off and on for years!

Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.

This whole cause and effect thing is vastly overrated. Take for example the idea that if we elect idiots and crooks we will get bad government. Where’s the evidence for that?

You would have barfed at the FoxNews AllStars on Jesse Helms, Brit took exception to the characterization that Helms was racist for starters.

You may need to change your “talking Head” title to .. Just Shoot Your Television Now *g*

exactly - it’s only a correlation. *g*

So for the Cheney story I suggest the headline “Barnacle found on USS Constitution.”

This particular graphic/post shows MIC consumption to be well over 50 percent of all US oil consumption.

All the talking heads today (ABC and Faux) are all over Obama’s “refine” statement on Iraq. The corporate elites are painting him as virtually the same as McSame now. Must really be afraid he might just win.

http://www.npr.org/templates/s.....re’s the transcript for the pentagon fuel usage reportok really outta here now, boy tempting to stay out on the deck with the wireless!!! what fun!

Obama would find it eaier to push back against his Iraq statement if he weren’t busily backing away from his opposition to the FISA bill.

David is upstairs with Ted Stevens.

I don’t think that chart means what you think. It’s just total military consumption divided between domestic and overseas. US total consumption is in the millions of barrels per day.

No, there is not a kernel of truth in any of those talking points, they are lies.

1) Liberals do not advocate equal outcomes, that would be communism.

2) Progressive taxation is not income redistribution. People who are far richer than most people will still be far richer than most people after progressive taxes.

3)Obama is not a Marxist by any stretch. He is not even a liberal, he is a centrist.

Don’t say there is a kernel of truth in these talking points, they are absolute lies. And your assertion that most conservative talking points contain a kernel of truth is incorrect. That’s been the lesson of the past seven years, that conservatives are brazen about telling bare-faced lies and repeating them over and over.

i wish the author had provided links, but at least there is reference to sources so i will try the google and see if can follow the analysis from the source material.

because if it is anywhere close to being accurate, that is fucking huge.

thanks.

Jeremy Scahill has been saying that BO replaced his progressive policy advisors with the foreign policy advisors to HRC recently.

There is no way out of the mess that has been made of our country and Constitution.

I don’t think that the pressure on BO regarding FISA will help. I have returned empty all the fund raising envelopes I received to the campaign with notes about FISA inside. I don’t expect it to make any difference.

Barnacles on the Constitution, the lot of them.

If people were to eat enough free-range livestock, the lid might come off their primitive instincts, and what would keepers of the docile public do.

hopefully hugh is still here because he will know better - but isn’t usa consumption on the order of low 20’s million barrels per day? i think 400,000 is huge.

Low 20’s of millions sounds right. So 400,000 is what, 2% at best?

I make it a habit not to argue with absolutists.

I make it a habit not to argue with wishy-washy people.

that doesn’t strike you as a lot? (agreed, not the 50% that es first quoted - but that seemed over the top even to me).

i’m downloading what i hope is a source doc from desc now. will try to get more info….

20.7 million according to a few sources on teh google.

Think about it ,a vote for FISA is a vote to throw out the constitution,Period.

It’s right around 20 million bbls/day.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/ipsr/t21.xls

poor David.

Well, yeah, it’s a lot, and reduction of military consumption should be part of the overall conservation strategy. But it’s definitely, as you noted, not overwhelming. We could do a lot more by mandating higher mileage standards and not get into the whole “readiness” argument.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the military spending needs to be cut drastically, both for the economic and political consequences of the MIC, as ES calls it. But this might not be the best way to go about that.

Hugh - “Barnacle found on USS Constitution” - BRILLIANT!!!!

It’s the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 that’s being considered. No one in Congress proposes doing away with FISA altogether.

I applaud concern over the bill-backers’ disregard for the Constitution.

Just to follow-up, infrastructure repair is a much better issue to fight the MIC with. Dollars that could go into infrastructure are being wasted on military adventures. This would have the advantage of avoiding job losses (should actually increase employment significantly) and be much more politically palatable to the average joe - everyone drives on poor roads now, thanks to our tax cutting rethugs.