Just In Time For HannuKwaanzMas

Good topic! (as a former toy developer for Johnson & Johnson)

Sorry - I can't figure out how to post the photo, but here's the link:

http://www.trollandtoad.com/pd1743045.html?associateid=31_4

Giant Microbe Plush Toy

my daughter received one of these for her birthday - a plush Giardia microbe. (intestinal parasite)

WIERD.

Actually - here's the website - plush microbes of all kinds including STDs!

http://www.giantmicrobes.com/

Can we say it again - wierd.

Carol
I've seen those germ & virus stuffed animals etc. - & these are the Ugly Dolls that were sold even at Starbucks

I found Giant Microbes

yes these appear to be the ones

To me, any video game that glorifies war is fair game.

Just came back from window shopping at Best Buy (and was at Fry's a few days back), and there were plenty of war video games, including one that imagines an all-out Soviet assault on the US in 1989 as the Communist Empire falters.

Ralpheh

Hillary may have been pro-war in 2003, but so were many others, including many of us now here at DCP.

There were "evidences" of WMDs in Iraq, and even though we now know them to be false, most of us had no way of knowing that back then (or how criminal W would act in order to make this war happen).

What ultimately matters is how Hillary sincerely feels about the war, now. And as for withdrawing US troops from Iraq, even if we wanted them all back tomorrow, it won't be easy.

@@@@@@@@@@

I was suspicious of the war from the beginning. I failed to see ANY connection between Saddam - a secular, military dictator and Osama Bin Laden, a devout religious fanatic. Then I looked at who the nineteen 9-11 hijackers were - NONE were Iraqis, not a single one. 14 of the hijackers were, however, Saudis. When Cheney started talking about Saddam having a nuclear bomb, I thought this is surely the administration crying "wolf". Surely, we would have known in 2001 or 2002 if Saddam had a nuclear bomb.

21 Democrats in the Senate voted against the IWR:

Kennedy
Byrd
Graham of Florida (a hero in my opinion for demanding from the Bush a National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's WMD, that's the N.I.E. which Hillary in her hubris and/or laziness did not bother to read)

both my Senators

Levin
Stabenow

Here is the entire list:

NAYs ---23
Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Chafee (R-RI)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Graham (D-FL)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Wellstone (D-MN)
Wyden (D-OR)

Just like Condoleeezzza, Hillary has blood on her hands....................

My daughter got two ugly dolls for her recent birthday. They are pretty ugly. But I guess even ugly dolls deserve a kid!

Free presents

http://freedocumentaries.org/

Ralpheh
Thank you for saying you were suspicious about the war from the beginning. So was I.

I am thinking also that though I hate to see Dem infighting, it's a normal part of the primary process to put the feet of the frontrunners to the fire.

I always think it's a mistake because the candidates that are mainstream never seem to win & we need to save our fire to go against the Republican.

I know one reason why that is wrong though and maybe you're cut out to do something I'm not (but used to be when I was younger and more idealistic).

That is that no matter what the outcome is, SUPPORTING ANTIWAR AND NONMAINSTREAM CANDIDATES WILL ULTIMATELY INFLUENCE THE PARTY PLATFORM.

That is true for both parties. It needs to happen. The candidates do need feedback. I may not always agree with the method - I understand it in principle. I do think the opposition studies it and makes use of it but that's a risk probably worth taking.

Ralpheh
Here is one criticism though - those of us who pay war taxes and use petroleum also have blood on our hands, in our own small way.

We have not even celebrated Thanksgiving yet. (Not that I would celebrate it, but still..)

What is up with the Christmas threads?

Now I just want to go hide incase any relatives are lurking about.

20,000 protest at Ft. Benning Georgia - where military are trained in Spanish and sent to Central & South America for notorious activities we should be involved in - about time this is being protested massively!
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1839781020071118

November 18, 2007 7:53 PM
not my president said:

________________________________________________________________

I will not accept any responsibility for this disaster. I am ashamed of my country, but I am not guilty for its mistakes. My tax dollars go towards paying for roads, our nation's contributions to the UN, food stamps and veteran's benefits. When I send in my taxes, I include a note designating where my money should go..... if only we could make that happen. Guilt by association (being an American citizen) just is not fair. We all do have a responsibility to change what is happening, and some of us are trying to make that change occur. It is truly the House and Senate Majority who are to blame for the continuation of America's destruction. It is a canard for them to blame the Republicans, when the Democratic leaders, in fact, do not have to let any of the war funding measures come to a vote.

Yes, I drive a car that uses gasoline, but I use that car to take me to a job that is completely devoted to helping others. So, I do not feel guilty at all for using gas. If you want to know how I really feel, I feel ripped off.

I also have a few thoughts about Hilary. I was troubled to see her use a typical Republican trick at the last debate after John Edwards clearly pointed out the differences between him and her. She fell back and utilized the Rovian trick of calling it "mudslinging". I am convinced I will never vote for her, even in a general election. I will vote a write in if it comes down to choosing between her and somebody else. For me, voting "for" somebody means just that, I am for them.

I don't agree with, "We all have blood on hands, in a small way."

First, as Oncall pointed out, we can not direct where our tax dollars go to. If we did, then I would certainly opt to pay more towards a lot of different things than the war.

As said before, anti-choicers don't want their tax dollars going towards abortions, well I don't want my tax dollars going towards war.

Next, just because you drive a car or consume petrolium in the winter doesn't mean that you're to blame for Bush and the neocons going after someone elses oil.

And if we, were mislead and lied to by our media and government, then that does not mean that we had the means to know that that was happening or that we could stop it.

I am not convinced that Hilary will be the candidate in the general election. Sorry, but if she is, then I think she will be placed there by the Republicans not the Democrats, just like they did with Joe LIEberman.

OnCall
I was kind of playing devil's advocate - I use petroleum to drive to a job also helping others (hospital) and reluctantly pay my war taxes under protest and I do include a note.

I was just making the point that it's a matter of degree - that's why I said "in our own small way" - we do need to be more conscious, teach our children to do the same, use a smaller carbon footprint, be aware that some people spend several hours a day just lining up their water supply.

What timing! I just got this! I eat stuff like this up and the guy who sent it to me knows it.

This is endlessly fascinating. It's a breakdown of predispositions and tastes of Conservatives, Liberals, and Moderates, done in a Zogby/Lear poll. It will tell you which kind of book or video game your friend or family member of a different political persuasion would like to find in their Xmas stocking, as well as many other fascinating things about the groups to which we, and others, belong. It will also tell you a possible, and shocking, reason why Rush Limbaugh does better than Air America in the ratings. Titillated yet? Enjoy.

http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1387

oncall, sparrow, NMP

Good points on whether blame belongs to American taxpayers for the misadventures of the W regime.

Buying gasoline, or paying taxes, alone do not place the blame on you. However, if you failed to vote, or if you voted FOR this excuse of an "administration," then you share the blame.

On a related note, I myself am not cutting down on my travels, despite the rather huge carbon footprint of my travel activities. If I learn something new from my travels, and become a greener, more productive person when I am back home, then any increase in my carbon footprint due to my travels will more than be offset. Travel accounts for 5% of the human race's carbon footprint - a significant amount, but not THAT large.

What's my point? Sometimes, "evil" activities - like creating extra carbon footprint (and buying gasoline to make that happen) - can be worth it, if it's for a better cause. I'll keep that carbon footprint smaller, by driving a 27MPG car as opposed to a 15MPG SUV, and actually squeezing 32MPG out of that car through careful driving. But I won't apologize for what I do create.

oncall

I also have a few thoughts about Hilary. I was troubled to see her use a typical Republican trick at the last debate after John Edwards clearly pointed out the differences between him and her. She fell back and utilized the Rovian trick of calling it "mudslinging". I am convinced I will never vote for her, even in a general election. I will vote a write in if it comes down to choosing between her and somebody else. For me, voting "for" somebody means just that, I am for them.

I did just that when it came to Dianne Feinstein. I voted for a third party candidate, since I knew Feinstein was going to crush everyone anyway, but didn't approve of her.

Speaking of Feinstein, I used her as the reason why I wasn't going to contribute to DSCC, when DSCC called me this evening.

On an unrelated subject...

I am under pressure to apply for a position with the DoD (specifically the Army Corps of Engineers). DoD, and nowhere else, be it federal, state, or local.

I am refusing because the current conduct of the US DoD, from unprovoked wars to Don't Ask Don't Tell, is against everything I believe in.

My folks pressured me to apply for medical school against my will ten years ago. Everyone knows how well that turned out - it prevented me from preparing for the real world.

NMP

Thanks for the Zogby link. Loved reading the findings, and put the link on my own blog.

The new joint project with Robert Plant & Allison Krause is pretty nice.
Also wishing Amy Winehouse luck on her UK tour & congrats on #1 album of 2007, & hope she is able to clean up her act & get clean & sober because she's so talented.

I guess I must be the only person in the western world who doesn't celebrate Christmas. Actually, I am in good company. A few friends and I get together to not-celebrate Christmas. To me, it has become incredibly commercial and costly. Parents go into ridiculous debt to buy absolutely everything their children's hearts desire. It is at Christmas when I really am very aware of the have-nots.

NMP and Oncall
I've been wrestling with the notion of guilt at what has been done in the world since 9-11 by the leaders of our two countries and the UK. This question of guilt and the time to apologise is paramount in the minds of many Australians right now with regard to our indigenous. And a federal election on Saturday.

Our current PM Howard has said that he doesn't owe an apology to Aboriginal people. Neither does any Australian alive today, for what was done in the past. But to most of us and all of our indigenous, It's a question of reconciling all the wrongs of the past, and planning together, a new way forward. The original inhabitants need the respect shown by a state apology and the recognition of many, many wrongs.

Until 1969 the law in Australia was that Aboriginal children, especially those of mixed race and fairer skinned should be taken from their families and raised in institutions or adopted by white people. I was almost of voting age (21) by then. Discovering this truth about Aboriginal children and the broken hearts of the families fills me with sorrow. I want to apologise. And I do.

Those people doing the child-stealing were Howard's peers in government. He was closer to 30 when the referendum was held to give Aboriginal people the right to be regarded as actual people. They were allowed to vote at last. They were allowed to receive the same income as white people - employers never carried this through. And most important of all, they were to be counted in the census for the first time ever.

If we get a new PM on Saturday, there will be an apology and many, many changes to the current superiority approach to all negotiations with our first Australians.

I do feel guilt, that my country, has become an invader of other lands. Those of us who oppose it, haven't made enough noise. My country has become an occupier of other lands. Howard said the other day, "There would be no Iraqi people who would want Saddam Hussein back!" How arrogant are they, these murderous leaders? America and Australia have had utter morons as our leaders. And these moronic leaders have sent our youth to face a disgraceful and desperate unrecognisable enemy. And if these young people come home with a mind intact, we are very lucky indeed.

The trouble with suicide of combatants who had served several tours in Iraq, is that our leaders don't have to acknowledge any responsibility for their deaths. They were obviously deficient mentally before they even went to Iraq. That is the assumption of these arrogant, murdering individuals.

I didn't vote for Howard. Never. But when a government is formed every 3 years, we are stuck with it. And what those leaders do, is done in all of our names. Not on behalf of those of us who voted them in. They do it on behalf of all of us.

I look across the waters towards tiny New Zealand, whose PM had the guts to say NO to Bush after 9-11 and the knee-jerk vengeful decisions to invade Afghanistan first of all. My 76 year old uncle and I talked about this yesterday - we're ready to emigrate to NZ whose PM is a woman, Helen Clarke. New Zealand is a signatory to the ANZUS treaty, but Helen Clarke, a PM with a brain, said NO. It's not right. It is not up to us. NO.

Yes - I feel guilty.

OPEC members clash over weak dollar
Critics attack falling greenback; cartel responds to pressure, agrees to study effect of declining U.S. currency.

November 19 2007: 4:25 AM EST

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that OPEC's members have expressed interest in converting their cash reserves into a currency other than the depreciating U.S. dollar, which he called a "worthless piece of paper."

His comments at the end of a rare summit of OPEC heads of state exposed fissures within the 13-member cartel - especially after U.S. ally Saudi Arabia was reluctant to mention concerns about the falling dollar in the summit's final declaration.

The hardline Iranian leader's comments also highlighted the growing challenge that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, faces from Iran and its ally Venezuela within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"They get our oil and give us a worthless piece of paper," Ahmadinejad told reporters after the close of the summit in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. He blamed U.S. President George W. Bush's policies for the decline of the dollar and its negative effect on other countries.

Oil is priced in U.S. dollars on the world market, and the currency's depreciation has concerned oil producers because it has contributed to rising crude prices and has eroded the value of their dollar reserves.

"All participating leaders showed an interest in changing their hard currency reserves to a credible hard currency," Ahmadinejad said. "Some said producing countries should designate a single hard currency aside from the U.S. dollar ... to form the basis of our oil trade."

more...
http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/18/news/international/opec_oil.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes

Bush/Cheney has KILLED this nation, isn't it time someone returned the favor?

Woz,

Perhaps it is a matter of semantics. Guilt to me suggests that I personally did something wrong, but I understand your point. Perhaps as an Australian you feel guilty (my assumption). As an American I recognize what is being done in my name is horrifically wrong. I feel ashamed. But I personally do not take responsibility for the mistakes that our President has made. I did not vote for him, strongly supported his opponents and vigorously argued against invading Iraq. I sent notes to my Congressman and Senators detailing my thoughts. Fortunately Senator Durbin did not vote to support Bush prior the invasion.

On death: There are countless issues and factors which leave me thoroughly disgusted by our President. I have rarely thought death would be the best solution, but I do believe that America and the world would be a better place if Bush and Cheney never lived.

Oncall gets it right... again.

THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA IS BUSY CLAIMING THAT HILLARY WAS A SMASH SUCCESS IN LAS VEGAS DEBATE:

But there is a problem with the rigged and very lame questions asked by CNN:

OnCall, Woz

Beautifully written, both. I do believe it is semantics.

When an antiwar group formed called "Not In My Name," I instantly got it. & when a man who has stood vigil every Sunday since 2002 stood out there with a sign that said "shame," I got that too. When I have a sticker on my car that says "Not My President" and take it out of the blue zone, it's the same thing.

Not in My Name. "Peace is Patriotic" is what alot of people show. Similar concept. We could be proud of our country for the good things that have come from it, but there is much now to question. No one here fails to question.

So "guilt" may not be the right word, but there is something going on, a thought process, an analysis - beyond knee-jerk patriotism and unthinking loyalty.

Remember during the Vietnam era?

"Love It Or Leave It" (as if they owned the flag and everything that went with it) or"America Right Or Wrong" (which I grew up looking at and was horrified at though I was a teen).

"If You're Not Part of the Solution, You're Part of the Problem" is what I learned to believe - that and "Question Authority" -

So we did not play a large part in causing the problems in the world, and we do not ignore them - but many seem to.

Ralpheh
I watched the video you posted above. You ought to read this
http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/2007/11/where-is-the-su.html It's about the generally abyssmal content of the debates in general, and how bogus they are and how substantive questions such as about the Iraq war are avoided in favor of trivialities.
I don't even watch the crap, not this year. There are plenty of recaps and I can read. I've already seen all the candidates at YearlyKos and have access to all their records (esp http://www.ontheissues.org). I referred in the article above to the rigged question. You may want to comment there.

Boy this is '60s deja vu .. something I hoped we'd never have to experience in our lifetimes again but glad someone is doing something

We are throwing everything we have right now into putting
up 11x17 full color glossy posters on colleges all over the country
with the message, "If They Bomb Iran You Get Drafted". Thanks to your
kind support we have already printed 50,000 of these, with most of
those already shipped out to valiant volunteers to put up on college
campuses, literally all over the country. If you have not already
seen the poster, please go to this page.

Impeach Cheney Posters:
http://www.usalone.com/impeach_cheney_flyer.php

A couple weeks ago, we told you our goal was to distribute 100,000 of
these posters, and we're half way there.

I am with Oncall.

I will take responsibility for what is happening in my name, and I even feel horrible about it.

But I will be damned if I take the blame for it.

What has happened here these last years was clearly the fault of those who made it happen, not those of us without the power to stop it.

Our people were targeted in a campaign of TERROR and lies and looting, from among our own. Yes, they should have voted different, but I doubt any of us believe it would have mattered anyway.

Damn, I was hoping to release my Bush/Cheney/O'Reilly/Limbaugh/Coulter Voodoo Dolls just in time for the Holidaze, but my heart wasn't in it.

Pin Pals

I think that if we questioned the war, voted, followed the news, spoke out when we got a chance - we did what we could.

& I doubt alot of us are driving around unthinkingly in SUVs and Hummers or using our utilities with no awareness of others on the planet & that we need to conserve.

So I don't think we have an argument. We are not to blame, but things were done in our name, & we should at least be conscious of the connection between our actions & the rest of the planet. I think we need to expect certain things of our leaders & take as much responsibility as we can personally with the small amount of power we do have.

& that's another thing that is a responsibility - to try to keep our civil rights & not just give them up in the name of "security," as we were encouraged to do and so many have done.

We can not be personally responsible for things that happened before we were born or outside our realm of influence, but we can recognize that we have lived in a quite privileged part of the world where we were not encouraged in our education as much as we could have been to realize our role in the planet.

My son's idol is Al Gore and he still leaves lights on in the basement without thinking. He hasn't made the connection very well.

When I said responsible, I meant it in a Marshall Plan type of way.

I told my son, the mark of a true leader is those who take responsibility of the problem, even if it wasn't their fault.

That is what we have to do now, regardless of who's fault it was. As soon as we take responsibility, laying the blame will come next automatically.

You can not hold someone accountable, while letting them continue thier crimes.

We have a kind of neat tradition among our friends. We exchange gifts, but there's a contest to see who can spend the least amoung ot money on their gift, and this year, we've also added, who can leave the smallest carbon footprint.

It's been tremendous fun, and it grew out of one of the friends quitting celebrating Christmas because of the commercialism, and she was getting so stressed out about it, that she sent a letter round to family and friends asking them not to buy her gifts, because she wouldn't be reciprocating, and that she just wanted to relax and enjoy the holidays with family and friends.

So I decided to take this as a challenge to spend as close to zero on "getting her a gift". At first, she rejected my present, because she said she wasn't reciprocating, and then I told her that I had spent no time on it, and it had a theme. I had collected wheat free recipes for her, and that it was really a gift to me, because she is such a bitch when she eats wheat. We laughed alot, and thus, a tradition was born.

One year I made her a "try me" basket out of all of the things I had gotten for free (samples, in the mail, whatever), and encouraged her to be adventurous. She made me oven mitts that go all the way up my arms, since I always burn my wrists.

Casey
That is an amazing idea! It's so disheartening to think of just the paper & cardboard, not to mention unrecyclable tough plastic etc. each year. This also sounds like great fun! Our economy is 2/3 dependent on consumer spending. If we quit playing, this would have to change, right? Also, when I buy something made in a sweatshop, even if I don't know, it still helps the sweatshop, I think! Thanks for sharing this! The type of presents you're talking about are also more personalized and fun! We have started to move in this direction at work too.

Christy
That is a good way to put it.

Took a look at the news and with all the world's problems, there was a huge focus on a murder story about a cop, and even clicking onto a newspaper site, I heard a tv commentator voice talking even though I didn't click on anything and didn't see a video link.

With all the seriousness expected for a terror attack or war story, she went on, then "turning now to CB in Chicago.." made an introduction to yet another commentator in another location. Not that it's not a horrible thing, but when I DO have a peek at tv I have seen Jon Benet, the Arruba girl, OJ, Anna Nicole Smith and the like with MORE coverage than the war or the economy.

I would expect that from US or People or National Inquirer but from "news" channels or speaking-internet-pieces from their affiliates that they also own? Can't get away from it? I was merely trying to see what was going on in the world .. get an overview.

I was a dem by 2000 but, I wasn't 'awake' yet, even after 911. I watched 24 news 24/7. My babies could tell you what was going on all over the world simply cause it literally stayed on news all the time.

I woke up the day I realized I was and had been for a while, listening to the 'newspersons' OPINION, as if it was fact and part of the story. Somewhere along the way, they suddenly started doing it and I never even noticed. Then I couldn't NOT notice it.

I started testing it, counting how many times I heard opinion in each segment, I got up to like 57 once, that is when I quit watching it and came online. I still watched for a little while, but only with a growing horror.

Yep, there are so many "personalities" now it makes me wanna vomette.

Everyone has their own "show"... and they suck, some more than others.

So many channels and airtime to fill. Content is King, but it doesn't have to be good or even truthful, it just has to be watchable, flashy, and seem important.

Americans love their TV's as much as they love their cars, which is why content is now being beamed into vehicles as well.

So, we'll continue to burn up oil and get lied to all at the same time.... and like it.

A Propensity for Density

Christy
Great! I didn't realize it was as recent. My dad's family were Dems for 5 generations, my mom's were Republicans. I took to the Dems like a duck to water and grew up with only one tv channel, seldom on. When cable news started, I assumed it would be news, not opinion. During the Gulf war (my son was 10), I first heard the euphemisms "precision bombing" and "collaterol damage" on the news and saw bombing depicted like a video game. I realized war was being glorified on tv and killing of civilians was being sanitized, and turned it off - forever.

There was no real internet then, only for a few hard-core nerds - it was essentially a military network. I had to depend on NPR and the little bit of BBC I could hear now & then via public radio. The public support for that war was high and those were some dark days for me, driving through rain in my commute. The CEO at the hospital where I worked sent me (& the other employees) yellow ribbon/American flag lapel pins to wear and I sent mine back with a message that he had no right to tell me what political expression to display; that it was no more right than sending me a skull & crossbones or swastika. I did not have that job for long.

I then went off, jobless. I signed on with a temp agency and was sent to a head injury facility in place of a speech pathologist (female) who was sent to Saudi Arabia because she was in the Reserves. The rain continued and so did my depression. At the time I did not know about April Glaspie, Halliburton slant-drilling from Kuwait into Iraq or how much weaponry we had sold Saddam to fight Iran. I did know a little about the Iran/Iraq war and had friends from Iran.

That is a little of the story of how and why I left television news and most of the rest of it, really, except for the occasional cartoon or credible documentary.

btw, the night Gulf War I was launched, and the "liberation of Kuwait" was underway, I was at Houston's in Boca Raton, Florida and saw it happen on the TV via CNN.

A reporter from the Sun-Sentinel interviewed a bunch of people in the restaurant, and my quote made the paper the next day.

I can't find it at the moment, but I remember it being something like 'look at what is going on, and everyone in this restaurant is just going about sipping their martini's and eating their meals without batting an eye... I could just cry'...

This country has been out of it for some time now, and the abyss we've sunk into appears to have no bottom.

No Butts About It

Monkey
You aren't kidding. Constant television watching is associated now with increase in ADHD, according to the American Pediatricians national group - kids expect life to move as fast as on tv and to be interestingly edited. I work with ADHD, autistic and other children with learning differences and altered sensory integration. Some of them eat junk cereal and then ride about in their car seats in the back of vans, with lilttle tv screens in front of them, and usually wearing spin-off merch from the movie/video du jour.

Just look at the disconnect between what the majority of the public actually want and what they get (example: 2008 election coverage):

Excerpt: (read the rest at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/338318_pollsteronline06.html

Just five candidates have been the focus of more than half of all the coverage. Hillary Clinton received the most (17 percent of stories), though she can thank the overwhelming and largely negative attention of conservative talk radio hosts for much of the edge in total volume.

"Barack Obama was next (14 percent with Republicans Giuliani, McCain, and Romney measurably behind (9 percent and 7 percent and 5 percent respectively). As for the rest of the pack, Elizabeth Edwards, a candidate spouse, received more attention than 10 of them, and nearly as much as her husband.

"The tone of coverage of the two party front runners, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, was virtually identical, and more negative than positive...In all, 63 percent of the campaign stories focused on political and tactical aspects of the campaign. That is nearly four times the number of stories about the personal backgrounds of the candidates (17 percent) or the candidates' ideas and policy proposals (15 percent) And just 1 percent of stories examined the candidates' records or past public performance."

Fortunately, the report also includes the results of a survey conducted in the last week of September 2007 by the Pew Center for the People and the Press that reflects what the public would prefer to hear more about. In that survey, the topic of "which candidate is ahead in the polls" came in last.

Instead, by a wide margin, 77 percent of the public wants to hear more about the candidates' positions on the issues, and not far behind, 55 percent of the public wants to learn more from candidate debates, about personal background and experience of the candidates, and candidates who are not front runners.

FBI's Forensic Test Full of Holes [Hundreds Convicted Using Faulty FBI Tool]

Hundreds of defendants sitting in prisons nationwide have been convicted with the help of an FBI forensic tool that was discarded more than two years ago. But the FBI lab has yet to take steps to alert the affected defendants or courts, even as the window for appealing convictions is closing, a joint investigation by The Washington Post and "60 Minutes" has found.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/17/AR2007111701681.html?hpid=topnews

Ralpheh
I watched the video you posted above. You ought to read this
http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/2007/11/where-is-the-su.html It's about the generally abyssmal content of the debates in general, and how bogus they are and how substantive questions such as about the Iraq war are avoided in favor of trivialities.

@@@@@@

I had to go back to You Tube and watch 6 segments of the Las Vegas debate until I got to the policy on Iraq. I skipped through the long parts dealing with the rather trivial questions about merit pay for teachers and drivers licenses. (BUT HEY!! at least they didn't burn up 15 to 20 minutes debating gay marriage like they would have in 2004).

I finally got to the Iraq part at the 5 segment. Hillary, Biden, and Obama are for keeping a U.S. troop presence in Iraq; Richardson and Kucinich want out now; I didn't get to Edwards or Dodd....

You know it is funny because I can tell you the exact moments of my evolution into a hardcore liberal.

It all started when I was a republican, and realized, that because of Bill Clinton, I was a hypocrit. Newt Freaking Gingritch had tirned me into a hypocrit. I remember the moment I realized this.

I quit being a hypocrit and wound up a liberal, go figure.

DEJA VU

Illigitimate Supreme Courts and Illigitimate Supreme Court Decisions?

BUSH V GORE

MUSHARRAF V BHUTTO

Court clears Musharraf re-election

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071119/ap_on_re_as/pakistan

Army's new $2.6 billion chopper can't fly in "bathing suit weather"

The Army has discovered that its new UH-72A Lakota helicopter, designed for search-and-rescue and disaster relief, has a fatal flaw: It can't fly in hot weather. At temperatures over 80 degrees Fahrenheit, cockpit temperature soars over the upper safe limit of 104 degrees. Naturally, the Army spent $2.6 billion on the choppers, reasoning that it is unlikely ever to be required to perform missions in temperatures over 80 degrees since everyone would be at the beach.

Sadly, the UH-72A is only the latest in a spate of recent military boondoggles that have cost taxpayers billions.

...more below
http://www.236.com/news/2007/11/16/armys_new_26_billion_chopper_c_1_2396.php

In just a few short days, America will observe Thanksgiving, a celebration of the most successful border incursion by illegal immigrants in the history of North America, where pilgrims from fancy-pants Europe came to America to perform all of the work that the Native Americans weren't willing to do, like give each other smallpox and kill off their own culture. It's a day for Americans to gather, typically on the New Jersey Turnpike, and give an annual boost to all the people who foolishly thought they'd get rich making cranberry sauce.

By and large, this is a holiday that most Americans seem to have down, but Fox and Friends' Brian Kilmeade still doesn't think we know the true meaning of Thansgiving - and so he took to the airwaves today to tell the world about how the Pilgrims signed a "peace agreement" with "his favorite Indians." He seems to think that those Indians were something called the "Okawi" (they weren't: they were Wampanoag, also known as Patuxet), but that's beside the point. They were "the good Indians," Kilmeade says.

Yes. That's right. The "good" Indians. Wonder what they're thankful for this holiday season?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/11/19/a-fox-and-friends-thanksg_n_73302.html

ya know what else I hate? friggin slogans.

Every press conference or appearance by candidates/pols now have a slogan, complete with those moronic backdrops behind the dottering skull that repeats the slogan du jour in a diagonal pattern, sometimes with a corporate sponsor stuck in there.

Road To Victimy

OMG. We are ******!

OPEC leaders debate ditching the dollar.

The Observer reports that during OPEC’s meeting this past weekend, leaders of the oil-producing nations “argued that pricing - and selling - oil using the crippled dollar was damaging the cartel.” The meeting was supposed to have been private, but was mistakenly broadcast to the media for more than half an hour after a technician had incorrectly plugged the TV feed into the wrong socket.

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/19/opec-leaders-debate-ditching-the-dollar/

See my 8:01am post Christy...

I got ****ed this morning.

Christy

Just like you, I left the Republicans thanks to Newt Gingrich and his "Contract with America." It didn't help that the Republican friends I had in college (I was in college at the time) were telling me that because Bob Dole was soft on abortion, he was not qualified to be the Republican nominee for President.

Monkey

This country has been out of it for some time now, and the abyss we've sunk into appears to have no bottom.

It's been out of it since it elected Reagan in 1980 - and AGAIN in 1984.

If this were a sane country, the 1978 California tax revolt wouldn't have happened, and Orange County, the cheerleader of the whole thing, would be in Mexico, where it belongs.

Monkey,

I ******* hate georgie.

******* HATE HIM!

Great to see so many made political change on their own - it should give us hope as we go about giving people information they don't get from MSM, as that's how changing consciousness works. When I was "converted" to feminism in the early 1970s, MS magazine called those "aha experiences" - when people realized they didn't want to be exploited, victimized and lied to any more.

Here is a media article that is just a trip to read - I put it also at the main thread as I think it relates to the sensationalization of media and the circus they parade in front of us and the bullshit they expect us to passively swallow, like we are braindead.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/the-narrative-narrative_b_73167.html

I quit being a hypocrit and wound up a liberal, go figure.

Sure as hell glad, you blew off the repressed minded Republicans, for the free thinking Liberals

For Monkey and others...

Just heard on Air America, as I was changing the oil on my mother's Honda Odyssey, that when Reagan first took office in 1981, the US was a strong first-world country. 25% of the workforce was unionized, 50% had pensions, the US was the world's largest creditor nation, and the US imported the most raw materials and exported the most finished goods.

27 years of Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush made all this a distant memory. Now the US is the largest debtor nation, a leading exporter of raw materials, and the leading importer of finished goods.

Already the US was f'd up in 1987, when my parents were trying to move here - even at age 11, I was vehemently opposed to moving to such a country on skids. But my father's love of Reaganism (and the legalization of "Communism" - actually left-wing democracy - in South Korea) dictated that the move happen in 1988.

I love this part:

There are American kids who will be wounded, or worse, in Iraq and Afghanistan this week. I bet that they and their families won't experience what happens to them as a "storyline." There are Americans whose homes will be lost to foreclosure this week, or whose illnesses will go untreated because they can't afford health insurance. I bet they don't live their lives as "narratives."

Warren Buffett to Congress: Keep Taxing the Mega-Rich
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111907O.shtml
Chuck Collins reports for AlterNet, "Billionaire Warren Buffett testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday in defense of the federal estate tax, the nation's only tax on inherited wealth. Buffett invoked the historical roots of the estate tax, established in 1916 during the Gilded Age to put a brake on anti-democratic concentrations of wealth and power. 'Dynastic wealth, the enemy of meritocracy, is on the rise,' Buffett told the panel. 'Equality of opportunity has been on the decline. A progressive and meaningful estate tax is needed to curb the movement of a democracy toward plutocracy.'"

Christy

It's not enough to hate W.

The real culprit is Reagan. He may be dead, but I won't forgive him.

And I certainly won't forgive Southern California, and especially its conservative immigrant pockets, for shoving Reagan down the rest of the world's throat.

Another horrible Reagan legacy:

The 1986 illegal immigrant amnesty!

Reagan knew that flooding the nation with cheap, desperate immigrants would (1) destroy organized labor and (2) drag down everyone's living standards to that of the Third World nations the immigrants came from.

Ally
I agree about Reagan, and his cronies, who were ruling once he already had Alzheimers. He was essentially a puppet, like W. I remember the Saturday Night skit where he was wearing a radio and it got on the wrong station and he started reciting Jim Morrison lyrics and wasn't even aware of it. Kinda like the box on Bush's back during the debates. Kinda like how he kept reading "Pet Goat." Neocons are REALLY in charge during these times, but Reagan was lionized especially after his death, which occurred during the 2004 campaign and was used to benefit Bush. To this day, Republican leaders want to BE like Reagan, because the "rich get richer, poor get poorer" is acceptable. His social and economic programs were virtually identical to Bush's, who just revived them. Instead of threatening the Evil Empire (Soviets) with Star Wars, the revised version was to confront the Axis of Evil while ignoring certain favored military dictators. The latter is still going on, as I just read that we are increasing our military profile in Pakistan, supporting Musharaf against the will of the people, and we ignored the guy from there (Khan) who supplied nuclear knowledge and materials to North Korea and Iran.

No Ally.

The real culprit is georgie and I ******* HATE HIM!

I was a child when reagan was president and I personally completely find him totally irrelevent to ongoing current events. I barely even remember him.

You can hate Ronnie if you want too. I hate georgie too much to worry about anyone else, ecspecially those who are dead or have not ruled in over 20 years. Of which reagan is both.

Did I mention I ******* hate george w bush?

"His social and economic programs were virtually identical to Bush's, "

His economic programs WERE bushes. george herbert walker bushes to be specific.

As you say, reagan was a sick old puppet, not even aware of his surroundings LITERALLY.

But when he was aware, he spoke of the neocons like cheney and called them the 'loonies they keep locked in the basement'.

He just had no idea his VP was a loony sympathizer who would unlock the basement door and let the lunatic loose on the asylum.

And then he forgot what keys are for.

Our prob is not reagan, its THE BUSH FAMILY FREAK SHOW!

Canada won't take US military deserters of the Iraq War:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21794024/

Harper is one helluva f'ing bastard.

Christy, NMP

Moon and the Korean-American community also are major problems.

The US shouldn't be rewarding the Koreans with a free trade agreement and visa-free visits to the US. Instead, Samsung and Hyundai must be barred from the US market, for their country's role in f'ing up US politics and government beyond repair.

Makes even Israel and its alleged interference in US politics look like a joke, honestly.

This was fun--I called up Sen. Carl "The Great Capulator" Levin's office a bit ago about his leading the way for Senate capitulation on the Iraq War spending bill that has timelines on it. Since he is ready to drop the timeslines for withdrawal in the Senate (just the opposite of what Reid claimed a mere five days ago), I thought I should call.

I didn't really know what I was going to say, but since they put me on hold forever, i thought I would think about it and be ready when they came back.

Well,the dog wanted affection and who am I to say no to the doggy, and so when the aide got back on the line with me and asked what he could do for me, I still wasn't ready. I just blurted out the following.

"Yes, could you please give Senator Levin a message for me?' I asked the aide. "Sure, I'm ready,"the aide replied., "Go ahead".

"Stop", I said. "I'm sorry?" the flummoxed aide asked, as if he had misheard me." I said, "Please tell Senator Levin I said 'Stop'. Stop capitulating on the war spending. Stop going against what he knows is right. Stop going against the wishes of the people who elected him and the rest of the majority of Americans. Stop spending my kids into bankruptcy. Stop giving blank checks to someone who's careless with the lives of our children. But mostly, just tell him I said Stop', just stop. Iraq. War. Stop". I said all of this in a really soft tone for some reason. Usually, I'm pretty passionate when i talk to these folks.

"Do you have that down?", I politely and softly inquired of the young man on the other end of the line. "Yes, ma'am", he said, "I have your message. 'Just stop'."

"Thank you, and have a nice day, "I said to him, moving to end the call. "You too, maa'm", and we both hung up.

You know when the young man first got on the phone, he was pretty energetic sounding, as if he had been waiting for yet another person to call the office, pissed off at Senator Levin. I don't think he was prepared for my soft spoken and simple request. I could tell at the end of the phone call, when he repeated my words, Just Stop, that he was changed. Somehow, the guy who answered the phone was different from the guy who hung up the phone.

I don't know if he'll still be different tomorrow, or even five minutes from now, but at least for the moment, the idea of just "stop", got through.

Christy
Reagan is still relevant. Bush Jr. didn't happen in a vacuum. There is a long almost unbroken line of deception and corruption. As you see in the Mission Letter to the Project for a New American Century, they will try to enlist any President, regardless of party.

You know doubt know that Bush's grandfather helped finance the German Reich, who had allies on Wall Street. Averill Harriman had the sort of conflict of interests that Cheney has now. Congress stopped it via the Trade with the Enemy law but not until they'd supplied approx. half the metal, explosives etc. to the very government the US military was fighting. Bush's grandfather was a golf buddy with Eisenhower, just as Jr. is with Ken Lay. His lawyers Foster and Dulles were later made heads of the CIA.

Bush's father's programs armed Hussein in Iraq, including with chemical weapons, with the excuse that he was trying to change the balance of power. They created the army that the US ended up fighting in 1991 - for profit. Saddam received computers, armored ambulances, helicopters - we called them "dual use" as they could have civilian or military applications. We also held the bag for Iraq's defaulted loans. It was called IraqGate and the media did everything they could to cover it up. We used to supply them with anthrax!

Then there is their involvement with Carlyle Group, who buy and sell defense contractors. They have removed their website from the internet, but one among their Directors are Reagan's Secretary of Defense, Bush Sr's Secretary of State, and another Reagan aid and party operative. Bush Sr. continues to be active and has his nose in what is going on in places like North Korea. For this he gets a stake in their investments all over the world. Even Jr. used to be on the Bd of Directors. This is such a conflict of interest!

Is it any wonder we have wars? These guys get rich! They supply people and then send others to fight them, so the equipment can get used and they can make more. Any country that doesn't deal with Carlyle, Halliburton etc. doesn't get aid. Bin Laden's family was affiliated with Carlyle and Prince Abdullah's hands aren't clean. James Baker used to visit the Bin Ladens. Caspar Weinberger, from Reagan's staff, used to as well, to try to get them to invest. Osama attacked the WTC after his family had just earned money off the US.

Weinberger was involved in IranContra and was pardoned by Bush Sr.
Even Jr - Arbusto was funded by Bath, who was US investment counsellor to the Bin Ladens. Khashoggi, the smuggler (Iran Contra) was a Bin Laden friend and middle-man.

Richard Armitage worked for Reagan. He left his post after CIA scandals (Iran Contra, another case of providing weapons and war materials to enemies of the country). A former Navy Seal, he wasn't so different from Prince, the guy who heads Blackwater. He is even suspected in Russian drug trade as their old system fell apart and he was sent over there.

Then Cheney, who used to have pipeline joint ventures with Bin Ladens. Bush Sr.'s first job was with a company that was a subsidiary of Halliburton. Cheney was Secretary of Defense during Desert Storm, against Saddam Hussein, yet was still Halliburton's CEO.

Bush Jr. was affiliated with Carlyle while governor and Harper's magazine claims alot of an endowment he started went to Bin Ladens.

Under Reagan, we fought the Sandinistas and cocaine started coming into this country in metric tons. CIA trained death squads that murdered thousands.

We left behind Agent Orange in Vietnam and now Iraq is radioactively contaminated, all for war profits.

You can get this information from investigative reporters like Greg Palast, who are either run out of the country, ignored or discredited but this stuff is on the record, such as the Congressional Record. Most people just don't connect the dots, and that's just how the Military Industrial Congressional Complex likes it. We pay for it, in money and blood.

Darlin, there is almost an unbroken line of corruption all the way from here back to John Adams too. But that does not make John Quincy Adams just as fair to hate or blame as georgie.

Reagan was out of his freaking mind, being manipulated by evil people.

Even when he was president, he was still irrelevent.

My point is that Bush is being manipulated by the same people who manipulated Reagan - it doesn't matter what figurehead they put in as long as their crony war profiteer system is in place. There is huge profit in arming people and pitting them against each other.

Related to what we've been talking about:

--corruption and training others to kill--

Twenty Thousand Protest at Fort Benning
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111907C.shtml
Bill Quigley, writing for Truthout, reports: "In what has become the nation's largest annual gathering for peace and human rights, over twenty thousand people protested outside the gates of Fort Benning, GA, on November 18, 2007. Eleven people were arrested on federal criminal charges and face up to six months in prison."

--corruption, secrecy & cronyism

Townsend Resigns as Homeland Security Adviser
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111907D.shtml
Klaus Marre, reporting for The Hill, writes, "President Bush's homeland security adviser Fran Townsend resigned Monday, becoming the latest top administration official to leave the White House."

--the buying of the president

The Semi-Secret World of Campaign Bundlers
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111907E.shtml
Lisa Zagaroli, reporting for McClatchy Newspapers, writes: "The Charlotte
businessman has friends all over the country who will hop on a plane and arrive at his house with a check for $2,300. That's the cost of having a chat in a private setting with a presidential candidate."

--warmongering and arms sales--

Riyadh Fears an American Attack on Iran
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111907G.shtml
Reporting from Riyadh - where an American attack on Iran is considered a virtual certainty - Le Figaro's Middle East correspondent looks at the nuances of the Saudi position.

--oil wars--

Michael T. Klare | Beyond the Age of Petroleum
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111907H.shtml
Michael T. Klare, from The Nation, writes: "This past May, in an unheralded and almost unnoticed move, the Energy Department signaled a fundamental, near epochal shift in US and indeed world history: we are nearing the end of the Petroleum Age and have entered the Age of Insufficiency. The department stopped
talking about 'oil' in its projections of future petroleum availability and began speaking of 'liquids.' The global output of 'liquids,' the department indicated, would rise from 84 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe) per day in 2005 to a projected 117.7 mboe in 2030 - barely enough to satisfy anticipated world demand of 117.6 mboe. Aside from suggesting the degree to which oil companies have ceased being mere suppliers of petroleum and are now purveyors of a wide variety of liquid products - including synthetic fuels derived from natural gas, corn, coal and other substances - this change hints at something more fundamental: we have entered a new era of intensified energy competition and growing reliance on the use of force to protect overseas sources of petroleum."

Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!
Sir Walter Scott,

Ofcourse they are being manipulated by the same person.

His name is george herbert walker bush.

All of the neocons surrounding bush jr were all actually sr. people and acted on loyalty to him, not georgie.

But, unlike reagan, georgie is the sacrificial son, stupid enough to rish prison to do everything his daddy wanted to do but couldn't.

I understand there is a larger cabal, but they are allllll at the command of georgie sr.

Reagan won because he engineered Iran to not release US hostages til after his inauguration. In exchange, he and Bush Sr. secretly allowed Israel to ship US military hardware into Iran. The only way we knew was when an Argentine plane with US military supplies headed from Israel to Iran was shot down accidentally over Soviet Union. Israel invaded Lebanon and Reagan-Bush sent troops in to help, so more US hostages were taken. Reagan's CIA director then traded arms for hostages, and Bush (VP) worked on funneling arms to the contras in Central America even though Congress had passed laws forbidding this, with plenty of Cuban-Americans helping out.
This was then covered up, which was known as "perception management."

Reagan was totally in on Iran Contra, with Bush Sr. and Cheney bringing up the rear by intimdating the panel that was investigating Iran Contra. Not a single Republican signed off on the report, so Bush Sr. got off the hook.

I am not saying reagan was not at fault for what happened under him, because he was, even sick. I am simply saying that telling me that hating georgie is not enough, I must hate a man whos rule ended before I was ever even grown is just a wee bit ridiculous to me.

I do remember what happened back then, but no one carries more blame than the amazingly corrupt and freakish bush family.

Not only did reagan not get us into this mess, but for 2 he was mentally gone and 3 is dead.

I can not see any reason at all why I should interrupt my hatred of georgie to hate on Ronnie, cause honestly, it will not do a speck of good.

We can blame all of reagans problems on Carter, or Carters on reagans while we are there, and none of it will address our current problems nor even identify them.

Hating georgie is enough for me to burn the rest of my life. Ronnie Reagan is just a waste of time at this point, and probably always was, even when he wasn't crazy.

"Perception Management" - interesting term, that

from Wikipedia:

Perception management is a term originated by the U. S. military. The U. S. Department of Defense (DOD) gives this definition:

perception management—

Actions to convey and/or deny selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning as well as to intelligence systems and leaders at all levels to influence official estimates, ultimately resulting in foreign behaviors and official actions favorable to the originator’s objectives. In various ways, perception management combines truth projection, operations security, cover and deception, and psychological operations.

One writer characterizes the phrase "perception management" as a "euphemism" for "an aspect of information warfare." She notes a distinction between "perception management" and public diplomacy, which "does not, as a rule, involve falsehood and deception, whereas these are important ingredients of perception management; the purpose is to get the other side to believe what one wishes it to believe, whatever the truth may be."

Although perception management is specifically defined as being limited to foreign audiences, critics of the DOD charge that it also engages in domestic perception management. An example cited is the prohibition of viewing or photographing the flag draped caskets of dead military as they are unloaded in bulk upon arrival in the U.S. for further distribution, a policy only recently implemented.

As of 2004, the phrase "perception management" is filtering into civilian use as a synonym for "persuasion." Public relations firms now offer "perception management" as one of their services. Similarly, officials who are being accused of shading the truth are now frequently charged with engaging in "perception management." .
Although perception management operations are typically carried out within the international arena between governments, civilian use of perception management techniques have been carried out by some practitioners.

Disinformation

Disinformation is the deliberate dissemination of false information. It may include the distribution of forged documents, manuscripts, and photographs, or propagation of malicious rumours and fabricated intelligence. In the context of espionage or military intelligence, it is the deliberate spreading of false information to mislead an enemy as to one's position or course of action. It also includes the distortion of true information in such a way as to render it useless.

Disinformation techniques may also be found in commerce and government, used by one group to try to undermine the position of a competitor. It in fact is the act of deception and blatant false statements to convince someone of an untruth. Cooking-the-books might be considered a disinformation strategy that led to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Unlike traditional propaganda and Big Lie techniques designed to engage emotional support, disinformation is designed to manipulate the audience at the rational level by either discrediting conflicting information or supporting false conclusions.

Another technique of concealing facts, or censorship, is also used if the group can aefect such control. When channels of information cannot be completely closed, they can be rendered useless by filling them with disinformation, effectively lowering their signal-to-noise ratio.

The Cold War made disinformation a recognized military and political tactic, though disinformation is generally more subtle and designed to remain unnoticed by the target audience.

Disinformation should not be confused with misinformation, which is not deliberate; i.e., the person or news source forwarding the information doesn't know it's not true and/or actually believes it; thus, disinformation can be relayed as misinformation if the one relaying the message is not aware that the originator of the message deliberately manufactured false information and offered it up for distribution. Whether the target of such an attack is to mislead the end user of the information or if the disinformation is meant to destroy the credibility of those gullible enough to relay it (usually news agencies) and not really caring what damage it does to the ultimate recipient must be judged on a per-case basis.

from Wikipedia

Christy
I don't agree - I hate them all from Nixon forward and they're all related.