Beer and Loose Lips?

I don't know about a beer, but I just came across this video about connecting with each other:

I would definitely go to the party with Nina Hagen and Kucinich and it doesn't end til 6 AM.

Watch the MIDDLE video on this page:

http://www.memorybridge.org/videos.php

AMAZING

I think I'm a little too devious for my own question up there. Because I don't really want to meet a current candidate, and I don't want beer either.

What's I'd love to do is have a lot of 'truth serum' inserted into Bush's beer and basically everyone who even associated with this administration. Then I'd love to have a whole chat with a tape recorder going.

It may not be admissible under the law, but perhaps it could lead to information that would be.

Karen--I got news for you...

There are 9 videos on that link. If I watch the middle one I am watching 4 1/2.

So do we round down or up?

I came across this at Democrats Com. It looks like it is about a week old:

Democrats.com was excited to announce Rep. Robert Wexler's campaign to demand impeachment hearings for Dick Cheney. Wexler's goal was 50,000 signatures but with your support, Wexler's petition passed 100,000!
http://www.wexlerwantshearings.com

Wexler is thrilled with your response, and he will hold a virtual town hall meeting on Thursday at 9 pm ET (6 pm PT) on Florida Progressive Radio with Kenneth Quinnell, co-hosted by Democrats.com.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fpc

Wexler has the support of two Judiciary Committee Democrats, Luis Gutierrez (IL-04) and Tammy Baldwin (WI-02). Five others are co-sponsors of H.Res. 333/H.Res. 799, Rep. Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment for Vice President Cheney: Steve Cohen (TN-09), Keith Ellison (MN-05), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Hank Johnson (GA-04), and Maxine Waters (CA-35).

But that leaves 13 Judiciary Committee Democrats who have NOT called for impeachment hearings. These 6 voted to send Kucinich's bill to Judiciary on 11/6, so they should publicly support Wexler's efforts: John Conyers (MI-14), Bobby Scott (VA-03), Brad Sherman (CA-27), Betty Sutton (OH-13), Mel Watt (NC-12), and Anthony Weiner (NY-09).

These 7 voted to kill Kucinich's bill on 11/6, so they need to CHANGE their positions and fulfill their oath of office to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign AND domestic: Howard Berman (CA-28), Artur Davis (AL-07), William Delahunt (MA-10), Zoe Lofgren (CA-16), Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Linda Sanchez (CA-39), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20).

Please email all House Judiciary Democrats through this petition:
http://www.democrats.com/topelosiandjudiciary

If you are represented by any of the 13 Democrats listed above, please join your local Congressional District Impeachment Committee (CDIC) and plan local actions like letters to the editor, district office visits, birddogging, honkathons, and collecting petitions and personal letters on the streets:

The following letter, I just sent to the Des Moines Register and my local newspaper:

CORRUPTION AND NEPOTISM: 24 YEARS OF BUSHES AND CLINTONS...

(that's what democracy looks like?? It looks like a banana republic to me..... )

If Hillary Clinton is nominated for president, which will be quite a blow to my confidence in the "primary system" (but it must be said that the other Democratic candidates have their problems as well; Richardson, Biden, Dodd etc..) and elected president, I think this will be seen as something of a low point in the history of American democracy.

It will mark the end of the period from 1988 (starting with the presidency of George H. W. Bush) until 2008 where two presidential elections were stolen - in 2000 and 2004 - and virtually nothing was done about it by the Congress or civic leaders. Like the other campaigns in this period, the 2008 campaign will be among the most expensive and corrupt in American history. A Clinton victory would also mark this period in America where ONLY TWO FAMILIES in the entire country of some 300 million people - the Bushes and the Clintons - had the "talent" to run the executive branch government.

With all the sloshing of campaign money and the large role played by lazy, complacent, corporate mass media, my opinion of our system of elections is that we really no longer have a democracy or campaigns of competing ideas, but what we have is a very, very expensive beauty contest - and we elect pretty but not very able presidents. If voters and citizens are interested in trying to improve the present, lousy system of elections, there are at least two internet reform groups working for change: http://www.just6dollars.org (Americans for Campaign Finance Reform) and http://www.whytuesday.org .

CONYERS STILL POOH POOHING IMPEACHMENT:

http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2007/12/22/
from-democracy-now-interview-with-conyers-he-doesnt-care-about-wexlers-petition/

Democracy Now: An Interview With Conyers On Impeachment

AMY GOODMAN:Congressman Conyers, I wanted to turn to another controversial issue, one that you’ve been dealing with and have over time, that issue of impeachment. Now, three Democratic members of your committee, of the House Judiciary Committee-Robert Wexler of Florida, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin-have called on you to begin impeachment hearings against Vice President Dick Cheney. This week, Congressman Wexler said the charges against the Vice President are too serious to ignore.

REP. ROBERT WEXLER: It is time for the House Judiciary Committee to hold impeachment hearings for Vice President Cheney. We have an obligation to ask questions, to determine whether in fact the Vice President purposefully manipulated intelligence, bringing us into war, whether he knowingly ordered the illegal use of torture, whether he knowingly exposed covert agents for political purposes, whether he obstructed federal investigations. These charges are too serious to ignore.

AMY GOODMAN: Since last week, over 100,000 people have signed a petition on Congressman Wexler’s website supporting impeachment hearings. And we’re wondering, Congressman Conyers, now with your committee members taking up this issue, an issue that you actually long championed, what your feelings are today. Will you be supporting them in this?

REP. JOHN CONYERS: Well, no, but there are a lot of things that can and will be done. We’re documenting the transgressions and errors of the administration in the Department of Justice, which have led to the firing of nine US attorneys. We’re looking at the protections of the right to vote. The election is coming up. We’ve got to protect everybody’s right to get out here and make a choice and make sure that it’s counted.

AMY GOODMAN: Why stop short of hearings on impeachment?

REP. JOHN CONYERS: Well, because, unless we’re going to impeach the Vice President and the President within this space of time, I think we could be very seriously compromising the greatest important-most important thing, in addition to documenting any misdeeds that may have happened, whether we continue to have Bush enablers continue to shatter and tear the Constitution to shreds. And so, all of this, academically, is great. I’ve got a number of books from my friends about which articles would be best and which ones we should go after more. But it seems to me that the time element and also the feasibility of whether or not there is any possible chance of success-there is a very stark reality that with the corporatization of the media, we could end up with turning people who should be documented in history as making many profound errors and violating the Constitution from villains into victims. And those are the kinds of considerations that have entered my mind in thinking about this process, Amy.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And, Ray McGovern, you’ve been outspoken on this issue, and given the new evidence now about the destruction of the CIA tapes and the White House staff-some staff involvement in that, your sense of the impeachment situation?

RAY McGOVERN: Well, we not only have the obstruction of justice, but we have the President’s former spokesman saying that he was involved in the outing of Valerie Plame. We also have the President threatening World War III on bogus evidence that Iran was developing a nuclear weapons development program. So, you know, it’s sort of like outreach fatigue. Where do you begin?

Related to the Wexler petition:

PETITION TO REMOVE PELOSI FOR THE PURPOSES OF IMPEACHMENT:
From Democracy Now Interview with Conyers: He Doesn’t Care About Wexler’s Petition.

Posted by willyloman on December 22, 2007

by Scott Creighton
SNIP
It’s very important to see what is really going to come from Wexler’s petition. What I have started is a LEGAL way to remove Pelosi as Speaker of the House.
Don’t be fooled: we CAN “get the votes” if the Speaker uses her power behind the scenes to build a bi-partisan consensus. But she won’t and people like Conyers know it. So they won’t stick their necks out to be whacked by their own leader.
That’s what they mean by “we don’t have the votes”. Pelosi must go. And this is how we do it.

Never before has a President and Vice President deserved to be impeached more than these.

Yet our Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is working behind the scenes with House Democrats, not to build a consensus for impeachment, but to do just the opposite: to keep others from succeeding in their effort to hold this president accountable by means of impeachment.

With the FISA bill still looming in the Senate, and a new war funding bill passed with no structure in place to Bring our Troops Home, we have to show the leaders of the House and Senate that this is still our country.

Please read the petition to replace Pelosi with a Democratic Representative who will bring impeachment proceedings to the floor. A Question of Privilege under House Rules IX can declare the Speaker seat vacant.

It can be done, it must be done. We have waited long enough.

http://www.petitiononline.com/everyman/petition.html

I've seen Conyer's too many times from 04-06 when he held Iraq meetings, impeachment meetings, and so on.

I have officially lost any respect I have for him.

Thanks for that Ralph.

Don't go away mad Nancy, just go away.

Christy said:
I came back to tell Rossi I am sorry if I made her angry about the guilt thing.

Had a couple of very busy days Hun, not angry about the guilt thing, Howard made Australia just as complicit as America in this evil illegal war and occupation, remember we are there, and we will be killing innocent citizens too, there is no way that it cannot be avoided.
We are all here because of stolen elections, fighting against the war, and I try to deal with the deaths of 1 million plus Iraqi, the 4 million plus refugees in my mind, I try not to feel guilty, but our Countries citizens were to lazy, to full of their own needs, to worry back then, I remember well all the people around me, without any concerns about this war, until now 1 million deaths later, 4 million refugees later, -5 Million Iraqi kids orphaned later, but it is to late now, My mind goes back to why they did not care before.
I don't agree with Sparrow, at all about Layla being just bitter, When you see your Country and its people, destroyed, killed, maimed, by the lies, and WMDs of an evil administation, working for its own ends,its coaltions working for their own ends, because they knew the lies Christy, they all knew.
Would it only be bitterness for you, Sparrow if it was America and her citizens, Would it be bitterness for me if it was Australia and our citizens, I don't think so, it would be so much more, so when and Iraqi Women expresses her feelings this Christmas, after watching her country and her people laid to waste, I don't think of her as a bitter person, more I think of her devastated by all the things she understands that we do not, about nations playing their hidden games, the web of lies, that has devastated her nation and her people. That to me is not just bitterness. That is pain for her nation that was 4 years ago, and is no more, before evil landed in the White House.

I wonder if my great grand children, when being taught their history, learn that we as a nation, where complicit in the Holocaust of the Sovereign Nation of Iraq.
And I wonder if the war criminals, are ever bought to trial, for their crimes.

I've seen Conyer's too many times from 04-06 when he held Iraq meetings, impeachment meetings, and so on.

I have officially lost any respect I have for him.
=====

Amen to that, he is just there, to benefit himself, for his own power, He is worse than most, because of what he was supposed to stand for impeachment, which was all lies, just as bad as any republican liar.

I don't agree with Sparrow, at all about Layla being just bitter, When you see your Country and its people, destroyed, killed, maimed, by the lies, and WMDs of an evil administation, working for its own ends,its coaltions working for their own ends, because they knew the lies Christy, they all knew.
Would it only be bitterness for you, Sparrow if it was America and her citizens, Would it be bitterness for me if it was Australia and our citizens

I never said that Rossi.

Also, Rossi, I purposely stayed off commenting on that for a number of reasons.

Rossi, Christy

I'm the one who said Layla was bitter but I didn't mean "just" bitter, but bitter with justification. Maybe Sparrow said something but I didn't see it and I'm not going back and read every word. There is alot behind of justification behind the grief of everyone who has lost their family and country in Iraq. Those suffering may think those of us who are living here could have done more and maybe we could have. I respect that but my shame and guilt is conditional because there are those who have alot more power and responsibliity than people like me. & I was never one of those who supported the war(s), not at any time, despite explanations given and drastic events like 9/11.

You may not know it but I protested the Gulf War in 1991 when that was not a popular thing to do and I returned a yellow ribbon/flag pin to my CEO with a note explaining why. I protested the Afghanistan war after 9/11 and my first thought was "what did we do to cause such anger?" Talk about bitterness. There IS bitterness but I have worked work Iraqi immigrants and witnessed mental health problems, extreme anxiety of watching news 24/7, people wondering if relatives are dead, children not really bonded with because parents were no longer psychologically "there" for them.

So no I am not spending breathless, thoughtless holidays unthinking about such things. Neither will I take complete responsibility for it because I am an American. I have been apologizing for my country's foreign policy when travelling even since I was 15 years old and was asked by my Canadian hosts (during the Vietnam war) if I was "patriotic."

Hell I'm bitter too. We may be defining that word a bit differently, so please keep that in mind. To me, it's awareness of unfairness.

Rossi, you know that if we could, every single one of us here would change it.

But, I guess it was just that article, the attempt to aggressively SHAME US...shame me. I guess it just hit me wrong. I don't even have a tree.

My children are not being bombed, nor displaced nor living in a war zone, not yet. But their future is every much on the line as the children of Iraq. The military recruiters will be coming soon for my son. I still don't know how to deal with it, except to make sure all of my kids will refuse to kill Iraqis, even if they face persecution and jail.

Us here, we are all in grave danger of suddenly being arrested. It does not lessen by the day, it only becomes more certain it is coming soon.

You know when I say I do not feel personally guilty, it is only true in the litteral sense. You know I can not even look at their faces anymore. I can't sleep with the images in my head. Just the memory of it still brings me here every day.

You saw it break me down. I can't even look any more.

I do not know how to deal with the horror of it, nor can I stop them from hiding EVERYTHING in this dimentional press blackout.

I will not judge the Arab woman. If I were living in a war zone, if I were Iraqi, I have no idea what I would do or say just to survive it.

None of us has any right at all to judge the emotions of Iraqis. We gave up that right when we lied and hurt them for no reason.

How could you live in that awful place and not be bitter?

But the shaming will no longer work, it most certainly won't work here, because we have nothing to be ashamed of.

We, in fact, should be proud of ourselves, because we really have tried fighting these bastards at every turn. We are the TRUE patriots of this nation. I am very proud we are still here in opposition.

We are all probably on more lists than you can think of.

Honestly... you think Gitmo is bad...have you ever heard of ANGOLA...?

Jesus.

We have fought hard and stayed together. But this is far from over.

Turkey has effectively invaded northern Iraq. We are on the verge of a World War.

There is NOTHING that can be done in Iraq until our forces are withdrawn. But even then, it is probably too late.

Christy

Thank you.

As I said the hidden agendas that we know absolutely nothing about.

Cassandra's New Year's Wish...

Just heard it now, Condi Rice is full of good wishes for the Middle East.

The statement just issued on her behalf says to the effect that the U.S does not wish to see any more turmoil in this region. That it extends its "friendly" hands to Syria and Iran and primes diplomacy over war.

Condi Rice also assured the Palestinians that her administration is very eager to find a long lasting solution to the 60 years old Palestinian problem (to which her country contributed greatly...)

How nice for all of you of "good faith."

In other words, Condi is saying Iran and Syria thank you for having helped us dismantle the only Arab country that posed a real (in pre-sanctions years) and potential threat to Israel (should Saddam Hussein still be alive)...

What Condi Rice is telling the Arabs is that America and the West in general do not fear rogue states and theocracies loyal to it.

After all, Israel is a Jewish theocracy, Iran is a Shia theocracy and Saudi Arabia a Sunni theocratic monarchy... And the rest are nothing but little rogue statelets hanging in a limbo...

And Egypt, who was called "Umm al Duniya" (mother of the world) by the Egyptians has turned into another satellite American TV station...

What Condi Rice is really telling the Arabs is that Arab nationalism and any true Arab identity is the real enemy of the U.S. Hence the destruction of Iraq and its fragmentation into sects and its turning it into a Shia theocracy is exactly what America and the Western world had hoped for...

On a side note but still related, I find the following very interesting and more than coincidental - namely that both puppet governments in Iraq and Afghanistan have called for a continued American presence in the region.

Maliki from the Shia Dawa party, so called P.M of Iraq and an Iranian at heart and by residence, good friends with Ahmadinajad, has called for the Americans to remain in his new theocracy for another 10 years.

and

Karzai the Afghani puppet helped into power thanks to Iranian intervention in Afghanistan along with the American "war on terror" and very good friends with Ahmadinajad has also asked the Americans to stay in the region for another 10 years.

Those of you, any of you who still refuse to see this bigger picture with all of its ramifications, consequences and conclusions -- are nothing but part of Cassandra's messengers and chorus...

http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/2007/12/cassandras-new-year-wish.html

Stop Jihad/Crusade = Religious War & Stop Oil Wars
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/12/23/10251/691/341/425784 The irony will make your head spin.

(from the above)

Israel is a Jewish theocracy, Iran is a Shia theocracy and Saudi Arabia a Sunni theocratic monarchy

Well, it could be argued that we are (becoming) a Christian theocracy (see Daily Kos graphic I posted just a bit above)

It's ironic that the CIA/US govt has wanted Shiites to revolt against Saddam in the past (but let him kill them when they tried), and would love "the people" to revolt in Iran, Cuba, Venezuela yet not in Pakistan or certainly not in the US.

It all depends whether the CIA/US govt "like" the dictator in question.

& please, whether from Iran, Australia or anywhere else, including US - do NOT lump all born in America in with the CIA/US govt.

We do not set foreign policy.

I am so sorry Sparrow, went back and read through posts again, should have done that before opening my big mouth,

The Arab woman blues thing sounds bitter and I don't blame her, NMP, I just think it is so much more, and I feel so inept in my dealing with so much slaughter of innocent people, who are just the colatoral damage of this war of lies.

Sorry again sparrow, please forgive me, I just feel that we have been here together for a long long time fighting this injustice, and if we cannot talk about what we feel, Then it all is of no worth whatsoever.

No problem Rossi.

The lady's post was a slap in the face--but then again, I can understand (a little bit)where she's coming from. That's just one of the reasons I didn't comment on it.

Well, it could be argued that we are (becoming) a Christian theocracy

Ohhh God NMP please no, a Christian theocracy, there is nothing christian, about the perverted republican party in power. At least not in my mind, as to what Christianity stand for.

Interesting reading above out of the middle east. So it's an Arab nationalist vs the Persian nationalists, and the US is siding with the Arabs. So she does not care for the Iranians nor the Israelis. The US may have gotten us so deep into this that blood is flowing for all sides, which was stupid, but the fighting itself has been going on for thousands of years. We went in for oil, I believe (& some Christians love to additionally hop on the New Crusade bandwagon). The religious infighting has been going on for thousands of years.

I hate the bloodshed but have been punished lots for railing against religion but it's when ANY religion is used to support nationalism and war. That is wrong in every religion I can think of, though they have their violent passages, no "God" advocated for what is now going on. The Mann Coulters of the world will argue over which is the most violent religion, a joke. They are all misused in the name of violence.

You can not find a completely unbiased person anywhere in the world.
Everyone has their agenda. We don't need sacred cows.

And God, I would not want to have a beer with whoever is elected President and Leader of the free World.

I would only ask to respect the man, who is given so much power over life and death of the world community, at least have an understanding of foreign policy, and please at least let him be literate.

The lady's post was a slap in the face--but then again, I can understand (a little bit)where she's coming from. That's just one of the reasons I didn't comment on it.

For me to Sparrow

Rossi
I was the one who could have been offended but I wasn't. I wanted to clarify that I was the one who said the woman sounded bitter, but I did mean to imply that she has reason to be and it is oh so much more.

Rereading her posts, I do realize, as I said above - that she is an Arab nationalist and a Jewish nationalist or Persian nationalist might be equally bitter. That is one reason why I despise the MISUSE of nationalism AND religion. I don't despise nationalism and religion per se, I just think they are prone to dangerous misappropriation and should not be in the hands of fanatics and fools.

I use Persian rather than Iranian purposely, as Arab-Persian conflicts predate current national borders.

I can not imagine how individual people feel but I should think an informed person in the middle east, or anywhere, really would wonder at the fickleness of US foreign policy.

Consider that we worked closely with Bin Laden & Mujahadin against the Russians in Afghanistan, if covertly via CIA. Consider that we sold weapons (including chemical) to Saddam to use against Iran (we sold them weapons too). Consider that we (via the CIA) helped overthrow Iran's democratically elected leader Mosadeq in the early '50s and installed the malevolent Shah (& some say we could eventually install his son, waiting in exile).

Consider also that Halliburton equipment slant-drilled into Iraq from Kuwait and our own Ambassador to Iraq (April Glaspie) gave Saddam the go-ahead to handle it as he chose. Consider that we encouraged Shiites in southern Iraq to revolt, then left them to be retalialted against by Saddam. Consider that now we are encouraging Turkey to attack the PKK in Northern Iraq.

Condi Rice has a sham diplomacy, and Powell was much the same, because the way we twist the arms of countries to do our bidding is through weapons and manufacturing deals. I can find all the examples you want, especially right now in South America and Eastern Europe. When we aren't warring we have the CIA behind the scenes. & this has been going on since before we were born.

No I do not have a "Power of Pride" bumper sticker on my car.

NMP is am not educated enough in all the politics of the middle east, but to me it was Georgies foreign policy, that put hamas into power in Palistine and a Shia theocracy into power in Iraq, which was a cecular nation before his war of lies,
Darn I need to know to whose ends, all this death of innocents benefits.

Don’t be fooled: we CAN “get the votes” if the Speaker uses her power behind the scenes to build a bi-partisan consensus. But she won’t and people like Conyers know it. So they won’t stick their necks out to be whacked by their own leader.

@@@@@@@

It would appear that Conyers wants to keep his Chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee and in order to do this he has to do Pelosi's bidding on impeachment.

I just bought a book by John Conyers and Elizabeth Holtzman laying out the case for impeachment called "CONSTITUTION IN CRISIS". It was published in 2005 before the Dems took control. I feel like reading the book back to Conyers over the phone....

Hmmmm.....a beer. Maybe the real question is which candidate would have a beer with US?

Which one wouldn't be afraid of what truths they might reveal after a couple of brews between friends?

I'm not so sure about that one!

On the inside Congress thing: We ran into a friend who works "inside" one of the Member's offices the other night. Had not seen him for a while. He said that as of recently, Congress is just a place where he works. He keeps his head down. He said "activists are not respected."

This is quite different from where he was a year ago, when he was full of hope that things could change.

We gave him a hug.

Kangaroo

Yes, George II, finishing up the business of George I, & not only did we move toward putting a Shia theocracy in Iraq but it could be argued that we did so in Iran first. We got rid of Mosadeq and helped install the Shah, who was so heinous the people overthrew him, with Khomeini coming into the vacuum and making things no better or possibly worse.

All of this for oil. We could have had / did have were it not for the cheating TWO ENVIRONMENTALISTS (Gore, Kerry) for President - but went back to the Bush Oil Dynasty.

"Activists are not respected" is quite CLEAR! They want us for our $$$. THey want us to talk-them-up to beat the Republicans. AND we are not welcome because we HOLD THEM TO THEIR PROMISES and they don't like that!

From The Sunday Times
December 23, 2007
The torture tape fingering Bush as a war criminal
Andrew Sullivan

And now we have found out that all the tapes have been destroyed.

See what I mean by Hollywood? We know about the destruction because someone in the government told The New York Times. We also know the 9/11 Commission had asked the administration to furnish every piece of relevant evidence with respect to Zubaydah’s interrogation and was not told about the tapes. We know also that four senior aides to Bush and Dick Cheney, the vice-president, discussed the destruction of the tapes - including David Addington, Cheney’s right-hand man and the chief legal architect of the administration’s detention and interrogation policies.

At a press conference last Thursday the president gave an equivocal response to what he knew about the tapes and when he knew it: “The first recollection is when CIA director Mike Hayden briefed me.” That briefing was earlier this month. The president is saying he cannot recall something - not that it didn’t happen. That’s the formulation all lawyers tell their clients to use when they need to avoid an exposable lie.

-snip-

But this case is more ominous for the administration because it presents a core example of what seems to be a cover-up, obstruction of justice and a direct connection between torture and the president, the vice-president and their closest aides.

Because several courts had pending cases in which testimony from Zubaydah’s interrogation was salient, the destruction of such evidence triggers a legal process that is hard for the executive branch to stymie or stall - and its first attempt was flatly rebuffed by a judge last week.

Its key argument is a weakly technical one: that the interrogation took place outside US territory - and therefore the courts do not have jurisdiction over it. It’s the same rationale for imprisoning hundreds of suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba - a legal no man’s land. But Congress can get involved - especially if it believes that what we have here is a cover-up.

What are the odds that a legal effective interrogation of a key Al-Qaeda operative would have led many highly respected professionals in the US intelligence community to risk their careers by leaking top-secret details to the press?

What are the odds that the CIA would have sought to destroy tapes that could prove it had legally prevented serious and dangerous attacks against innocent civilians? What are the odds that a president who had never authorised waterboarding would be unable to say whether such waterboarding was torture?

What are the odds that, under congressional grilling, the new attorney-general would also refuse to say whether he believed waterboarding was illegal, if there was any doubt that the president had authorised it? The odds are beyond minimal.

Any reasonable person examining all the evidence we have - without any bias - would conclude that the overwhelming likelihood is that the president of the United States authorised illegal torture of a prisoner and that the evidence of the crime was subsequently illegally destroyed.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3086937.ece

WOW, RON PAUL CRASHES AND BURNS ON THIS SEGMENT OF MEET THE PRESS:

A guy near me tried to make a point by cruficying Santa in his front yard.
A guy wrote a diary at Daily Kos about putting Christ back into Christianity, rather than back into Christmas.
Click on my name to see a picture of Santa.

CIA chief to drag White House into torture cover-up storm

Former CIA Official May Seek Immunity In Exchange For Testifying In Tapes Scandal

Determined Not To Become The Fall Guy

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3087293.ece

I would like to sit down with Chris Dodd and shoot the sh&t. He seems like a guy with whom I could have an interesting conversation. I would ask him what he thinks it will take to get more Americans to actively work to defend the Constitution. I am in Iowa tonight, visiting family. It is obvious that despite the respect that he has earned here. He doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of finishing in the top three or four in the caucuses.

Diebold Now Also Under DoJ Investigation As Stock Price Hits FIVE-YEAR Low!

Once-Great,Now-Disgraced American Company Also Facing SEC Probe, Lawsuits,Upcoming 2008 Election Meltdowns.Yesterday,the reason for the inexplicable get-out-of-jail card they received in CO may have become a bit clearer:As it turns out,the Republican Secretary of State who oversaw the new certification testing,Mike Coffman,is running for Congress, and his campaign shares the same consultants as Diebold/Premiere in the state.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=47986

Ohhh swell just 4 years to late, What a joke

Harvey Wasserman On New Ohio Voting Report: “The 2004 Election Was Stolen…

Finally We Have Irrefutable Confirmation”
Ohio’s top election official, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, announced Friday that the voting systems that decided the 2004 election in Ohio were rife with “critical security failures.” We speak with Harvey Wasserman, author of “What Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004 Election.”

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=47989

US Veteran Reveals: US Already Using Tactical Nukes

As the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists jumped the minute hand of their Doomsday Clock forward two minutes to seven minutes to midnight, White House fundamentalists eagerly sought ways to test their new "baby nukes" against real-world targets. Those buried nuclear targets were specifically located in Afghanistan and Iraq.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=47997

Evidence Mounts Of White House Ties To New Hampshire Phone Jamming Scheme

Three Republican operatives, including consultant Allen Raymond, eventually ended up in jail for their involvement in the phone jamming scheme. In his new book, Raymond alleges that the scandal goes "to the top of the Republican Party" because "the Bush White House had complete control of the RNC" and there was no way such a risky tactic wouldn't have been "vetted by" Tobin's "high-ups."

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=48007

Pelosi Says She Miscalculated GOP Determination On Iraq

The Democrats don't know how to operate like a party; the Republicans do. The Democrats lost the energy bill by one vote because they couldn't get Mary Landrieu, the most vulnerable Democrat in the Senate who's going to need every bit of help she can get from the party next year not to lose her seat, to toe the line.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=48008

Time for me to shut down. And I've hardly said a word here. Oh well. Next time perhaps. I wish everyone a happy and relaxing Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, good music, good friends, good song, good wine, good food and all that goes with days off and happy times.

Christy - friends were here earlier and Alister said, "I really like that painting," pointing at Leyla. He went on, "It doesn't matter where you are in the room your eyes are constantly drawn back to her. It's intriguing. You can't help but wonder who she is and you want to know about her life." I thought you'd like to get such an honest, not-asked-for response to your painting. Happy Christmas.

For a smile and a chuckle, listen to David Sedaris as Crumpet the Elf:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4243755

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas Woz

Thank you Woz! That is a wonderful gift!

Her image still thrills me, and I have no idea why. By the time you tear your eyes away from hers, it FEELS like you have had this... exchange... with her. And she never gives a clue as to how that happened or how she feels about it. She just stares through your soul.

Like you said, her shoulder... even now I just have such an urge to lay my hand on her shoulder and ask her what she thinks.

Did I tell you what it was about YOU that made me paint her? I had screwed up a few canvases, and decided to look at what you had been posting about, your intrests basicly.

Remember posting the thing about the Afgan Beauty pageant?

Those women were so beautiful and so brave. But the danger of it made me want to just wrap them back into their traditional robes so they would be safe. It was the first time I ever felt like they would be better off covered. I was afraid for them.

But then I was looking at one woman, and I just kinda amused myself thinking what would such beauty looks like all encased in that fabric.

Next thing you know, Leyla was staring back at me from that canvas. It really still feels like by the time I shipped her to you, her and I had this whole 'relationship', that FELT SO REAL. It, she, still feels so real to me.

I told you how she was named, I don't think I ever told you how she came to be though.It was because of you, because you posted that.

What brave and beautiful women this world has. I wish I could paint all of them.

Tell Alister I said 'Thank You!'

Giuliani: It Would Have Been 'Impossible' To Give 9/11 Firefighters Working Radios »

Think Progress | December 24, 2007 09:20 AM

Today on ABC's This Week, host George Stephanopoulos pushed former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani on why the radios for the 9/11 firefighters didn't work. Giuliani dodged the question, claiming that it would have been "impossible" to have given them working radios:

STEPHANOPOULOS: They make two main charges. Number one, that those firefighters in the north tower, many of them lost their lives because their radios didn't work. They also say you ended the recovery efforts too soon.

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/12/23/giuliani-radios/

And MerrY Christmas Everyone!

Or Bah Humbug!

Which ever works for ya.

Hey Rossi...

Nuthin. Except I love you. And Merry Christmas!

Hey Hun, just going to leave a Christmas Message from Down Under, A little early but I have a very busy day today, give the kids, Bubba, and Katherine a hug and kiss for me and wish them the best, on this Christmas Day for me.

All at DCP wishing you, a joyful and safe Christmas, Have a wonderful day.

Man protests commercialized Christmas by crucifying Santa - literally

[Excerpt]

NY Daily News

Art Conrad hung a Santa from a cross in front of his West Bremerton, Wash.home, to make a statement about the commercialization of the holiday season. "Santa has been perverted from who he started out to be," Conrad said. "Nowhe's the person being used by corporations to get us to buy more stuff."

For his far flung friends who may not be able to see the holiday decor upclose, Conrad used a photo of his crucified Santa for his Christmas cards,along with the message "Santa died for your MasterCard." The Santa got a chuckle out of one passerby, who told the Kitsap Sun newspaper, "I don't really know what to think. I know it's about God but Santa has nothing to do with it."

The Vote for Endless War

On Tuesday, December 18, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate combined to give President Bush $70 billion to carry the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan into next summer. Only 23 Democrats and one independent supported an amendment by Senator Feingold that would have required the safe redeployment of troops from Iraq. Here are the senators who voted to end the war:
Akaka (D-HI)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murray (D-WA)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
Next summer, when the money runs out, a cutoff of funds will be unimaginable. The election will be too close. So our troops are committed till the end of the president's term; after all the talk, the Democrats have ended by obeying him. This capitulation marks the climax of one of the most extraordinary displays in history of a complex phenomenon: power wielded in the face of popular rejection, and power surrendered in spite of overwhelming public support. A president whose policy was disapproved by more than half of the American people chose to defy a majority whose midterm victory he himself had called "a rout." And the majority, saying they wished things were different, pleading the necessity of 60 rather than 50 votes, but never exacting reprisals or driving a hard bargain against defectors from their own ranks--the majority, again and again, backed down.
This definitive result of the 110th Congress will confirm the popular feeling that George W. Bush believes in his disaster more than the Democrats believe in anything.
LinkHere
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bromwich/the-vote-for-endless-war_b_77805.html

"I don't really know what to think. I know it's about God but Santa has nothing to do with it."

HAHAHA! How's your mind lady? Blown!?

HAHAHA!

I love anything that makes people think deeper than normal. Even if it is painful to watch. HAHA!

DALLAS NEWSPAPER ENDORSES HUCKABEE AND OBAMA:

DALLAS (Reuters) - The Dallas Morning News on Sunday endorsed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for the Republican nomination for president and Sen. Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee, saying both took a fresh approach.

ADVERTISEMENT

Huckabee, a folksy former Baptist preacher, has had a meteoric rise in opinion polls in recent weeks, largely because he has connected with the Republican Party's influential evangelical wing.

This puts him in serious contention with less than two weeks before the January 3 nomination battle in Iowa, which starts the state-by-state process to pick the Republican and Democratic candidates for November's presidential election.

"Mr. Huckabee is not an ideal candidate ... His religious conservatism, particularly his past rhetoric on women and gays, can be alarming," the paper said in the first of twin editorials under the headline "We Recommend."

"But religious conservatives aren't easily pigeonholed ... Mr. Huckabee has a stout heart for working families and the poor," it said.

For Obama, who is seeking to become the first black president, the paper said: "Race is not an overriding factor for us. But it is undeniable that America has failed to heal its racial wounds, including here in Dallas."

The centrist paper said an Obama nomination would "inspire a refreshingly new approach" while it said Huckabee represented "a clean break from the bitter politics of the past."

December 24, 2007 12:22 PM

Kangaroo said:
The Vote for Endless War
__________________________________________________________________

I looked through that list of Senators who supported Feingold. Obviously there are other Senators who voted with the Republicans, but I noticed that Landrieu from LA did not vote with Feingold or the other Democrats.

By caving in to the Republicans has she gained anything for her constituents? Does anybody know the answer to that? Or, is she voting like this because she thinks it may help her to save her job? If it is the latter, I believe she is mistaken.

I looked through that list of Senators who supported Feingold. Obviously there are other Senators who voted with the Republicans, but I noticed that Landrieu from LA did not vote with Feingold or the other Democrats.

@@@@@@

Sen. Levin is not on the list:

that is bad sign, Levin is Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I believe. He had been an opponent of the war..

LIKE THE WATERGATE TAPES????

CIA Chief to Drag White House Into Torture Cover-Up Storm
By Sarah Baxter
The Sunday Times UK

Sunday 23 December 2007

The CIA chief who ordered the destruction of secret videotapes recording the harsh interrogation of two top Al-Qaeda suspects has indicated he may seek immunity from prosecution in exchange for testifying before the House intelligence committee.

Jose Rodriguez, former head of the CIA's clandestine service, is determined not to become the fall guy in the controversy over the CIA's use of torture, according to intelligence sources.

It has emerged that at least four White House staff were approached for advice about the tapes, including David Addington, a senior aide to Dick Cheney, the vice-president, but none has admitted to recommending their destruction.

December 24, 2007 2:35 PM

ralpheh said:

Sen. Levin is not on the list:

__________________________________________________________

I find that concerning as well Ralph. You don't think it has anything to do with money for the Senator and the military industrial complex do you (snark, in case you couldn't tell)?

At least you can read something by Bill Maher here. These are pretty funny and sad at the same time:

\http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/17538811/dickheads_of_the_year/photo/1/large

Try this instead:

http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/17538811/dickheads_of_the_year/photo/1/large

I find that concerning as well Ralph. You don't think it has anything to do with money for the Senator and the military industrial complex do you (snark, in case you couldn't tell)?

@@@@@@

Well, Levin has been all over the map on Iraq. His position varies from week to week

And it doesn't help that Levin is up for election this year but, as far as I know, the Republicans HAVE NO ONE that can even challenge him.

Dick DeVos blew all his money in the race against Granholm - some $40 million??? (unless Dick is willing to pour yet more of his money into a - probably - losing cause.... I don't what the FEC requirements are for billionaires like DeVos...

TED KENNEDY ON THE CIA TAPES:

Think what can be done with the $1,000,000,000 biometric data base.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/24/2127031.htm?section=justin

A senior US security official says strict safeguards will ensure that the world's biggest biometric database will not abuse civil liberties.

The FBI is due to award a $1 billion contract next month for the databank of people's physical characteristics.

FBI assistant director Thomas E Bush says the targets will be terrorist and criminal suspects.

The system is expected to contain a range of biometric information, including iris images and face-shape data.

But civil liberties groups have warned the technology may be unreliable.

- BBC

Police state or paranoia? Deja vu? ( J Edgar Hoover planned to lock up at least 12,000 Americans that he did not consider loyal)

Fot those of you that need it... Norad has Santa on their radar.

The kids LOVE it.

http://www.noradsanta.org/

BTW,

Regarding the header.

I do not want to have a beer with ANY OF THEM.

I do not drink beer and I want them freaking sober long enough to tell me how in the hell are we going to get out of this mess?

I am tired of the b*llsh*t. Either lead us out now or get out of the way.

WTF are they doing drinking anyways? Their time would be better served LEADING. Not drinking.

I hate to say it, but I find the whole freaking thing annoying.

When did who you would like to have a drink with become equal too who you follow politically?

Hell, I would like to have a drink with Thomas Jefferson, but that does not mean I want the damn slavemonger back in power.

I mean, it is just creepy. True leaders don't need to get their men driunk to follow what they are saying!

I just do not get it.

I do not want to hand them a BEER, not when they so obviously need other things more badly. Like a copy of the US Constitution for example.

I suppose the point was who seems like the most truly nice guy.
Maybe nice guys finish last. Take Vladimir Putin - he is said to be worth $50,000,000,000 dollars. That is like 100 Dick Cheney fortunes. Where did he get that kind of fortune growing up in a communist centralized government? You won't find out from the Swiss bankers.

Reporters had what was supposed to be a "casual supper" with him but when they showed up there was formal dinnerware, gold embossed napkins and several courses of gourmet food. Putin would not smile (he did not get their jokes but he seldom smiles anyway). Ten PM came and they were looking forward to the main course, which hadn't been served. Putin said, "It's ten o'clock. There is no more food. Bye Bye" and walked out.

Man of the Year. Time Magazine.

I think it would be more interesting to have a vodka with him.

Christy

It always floored me when people said they'd like to have a beer with Bush. He "quit drinking" at age 40 and never went to rehab so he should not be drinking, in any event. He's kind of the Amy Winehouse of politics, but without her talent. ("Don't want to go to rehab .. no no no")

"Where did he get that kind of fortune growing up in a communist centralized government"

Three words for you... K. G. B.

I would not even want to be under the same roof with Putin.

No. No. No.

The only way I would sit down at a table with him was fully armed. That is one cold bastard.

Cold wars make cold men.

BTW, am thinking about doing a Winehouse portrait once I get more canvases. I have a great pic of her, before the self mutilation started.

Merry Christmas everyone - from San Francisco. (I am returning to Red California tomorrow.)

NMP - calling W the "Amy Winehouse of politics" is too much of an insult to Amy.

Merry Christmas! I might have inadvertantly brought this on so, for the record: I'd like to have a few beers with Kerry or Biden (it's a Catholic thing -- beer chasers would be acceptable). Bill Clinton -- scotch (good scotch) or Rye Whisky. Barbara Boxer -- maybe gin and tonic, maybe a martini (if I knew what one was). Actually, I don't think it would be easy to hang with any national politician without drinking something, which I guess makes it impossible to hang with W, thank goodness. Hillary? It would probably have to be wine and cheese or something. Maybe Sherry or Port. Edwards -- Red Whisky or I'd have to call him out for a fraud. Obama -- being as he is kind of a sophisticated person, I guess I'd have to go with the good scotch again.

Chuck in Houston.

PS: If I drank with Vladimir Putin, I would have to figure I would never wake up, or if I did I would probably be a billionaire with....

Oh, never mind!

Merry Christmas!

Actually, if channeling was acceptable, I'd like to knock back some Cutty Sark with LBJ and ask him just what the heck beef he thought we had with some obscure little corner of SE Asia called Vietnam. Much more of what we are dealing with today has to do with that than we are admitting these days, I think. It's a "First Principles" sort of thing.

Ally, Christy
The only reason I linked W with Amy W is because neither would go to Rehab when they needed to.

Chuck
If you click on my name and look at the 2nd comment under the Nina Hagen/Kucinich thing, you can see a list of all the concerts I went to in Seattle and Portland during the '80s. I found all my old tickets.

NMP:

When you say "Paramount" -- do you mean the old theater in Portland on Broadway and Main (or Salmin maybe)?

I mean Salmon

Chuck
When I say Paramount/Portland that is on Broadway (don't know cross street) and when I just say Paramount is in Seattle. As you can see, I saw Costello and the Ramones each in Portland for only $1! They were called "New Stars on the Horizon" - prices gradually went up to $35-50/concert or more, but our wages didn't rise proportionally. Bumbershoot Festival used to be free and now it's $35/day & the lineup was better back then.

Just read that the Pope wants to take care of the environment
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/25/world/europe/25pope.html?hp
Even Arnold Schwarteznegger wanted to do the federal emissions standards one better via the State of California (Gollifohniiya) but was jinxed by Dick Cheney & the Energy Boys. CA/WA/OR will sue the feds but it's going to slow everything up and cost alot of money. Our governor said leadership is lacking in DC and it's a matter of state's rights to be laboratories for change.

Merry Christmas pretty soon, depending on your time zone. I got The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde, Dogopoly (like Monopoly but you buy dogs instead of property, bones, doghouses etc.), a set of tools, robe & slipper, bubble bath and Je T'Aime Paris DVD. Tomorrow am making Panang curry salmon & have two pounds of tiger prawns besides. Pecan pie with whipped cream.

Yeah -- "Catch a Rising Star" I think it was on the $1 gate. It's Christmas here now and as my 8-yr-old is finally asleep I need to get to work!

Chuck in Houston

Chuck

The two Paramount Theaters, both still standing & both still having rock shows

NMP:

By the way, not to brag, but if you knew the heroic cooking I did tonight (my wife is not American so the holiday menu is up to me -- and we have 8 adults and three kids tomorrow).

Chuck in Houston

(1) Brining the Turkey (14 lbs), (2) cranberry sauce done and in the fridge, (3) scalloped potatoes in the fridge ready to go in the oven, (4) candied yams in the fridge ready to goin the oven, (5) bread-crumbs baked and ready to go in the stuffing....

I know I am forgetting something.

And the kitchen is clean.

Chuck in Houston

Chuck,

Merry Christmas!! And what's the address...? ;)

Just having a conversation with Cleo (age 20), who got up early and MADE THE COFFEE and is now making pancakes, something her Dad has always done. And she cleans up after herself too, now! I shared the general challenge of the males to clean up the kitchen as a function of that missing genetic material that the X chromosome has but which is missing from that Y chromosome. And here you are (along with ABQ John, I know!) defying my theories!

Richard is a fabulous cook but a creative and oft-messy one. I call his cooking style the "Flinging School of Cuisine." You don't want to know where the excess food winds up!

And now for the investigation of small packages of books and homemade goods--the Bell/Bradley household is warm and full of gratitude for family and friends.

OH-and if you haven't checked out Matt's comment on the main thread header, please do. It's another brilliant rumination with lots of food for thought.

Chuck, that's an impressive menu!!

karen, my husband must have graduated from the same school (on those occasions when he cooks.) However, usually the deal is if he cooks, I clean. Thankfully, the bbq is easiest to clean and that is one of his specialties. The other is a quiche that comes as close to including the kitchen sink as possible. And that one is a nightmare to clean up after. But in his family, it's sort of the expectation that he make it now.

Merry Christmas everyone.

I want to share what mother nature's xmas gift was to us (yesterday).

We woke up yesterday morning to find this adorable Kritter playing in our spring. Apparently he's found the perfect home there and he blends in quite welland he's out there today. (Karen do you remember the spring at our house?)

At first we thought he might be an Otter--but a very small one at that! But then I discovered this link that tells more about the differences between Otters and Minks. (Lifting part of the information)

American mink are most commonly found in wooded or scrubby areas beside aquatic habitats, where they find much of their prey, though they may also be frequent in more open situations. They are territorial, with an individual mink occupying a territory of around 1-6km along a river or stream. Within its territory, a mink may have several dens, used for shelter and for raising young. Den sites are usually cavities amongst tree roots, in willow pollards, stick piles, rabbit burrows or in piles of rocks.


Mink mate in February/March, producing one litter of between three and six young, known as kits, in late April/May. The kits are weaned at 8 weeks but stay with their mother until late summer, when they disperse and establish their own territories.


Mink do hunt on land, preying upon small mammals and birds, but are expert hunters in the water. They take a wide variety of fish and also waterfowl in shallow areas near lakes and river banks. Occasionally a mink will indulge in 'surplus killing', taking a large number of prey at one time. Whilst this may appear wasteful, in their native North America, such surpluses would be frozen during hard winters and act as a store of food for the future. Mink are opportunist predators, taking whatever prey is available, with fish, birds, eggs, small rodents and particularly rabbits making up the major part of the diet in different areas.


They are also sometimes confused with otters; a mink is slightly smaller than a domestic cat, an otter is considerably larger, closer in size to a medium-sized dog.

Check the link to see the scaled drawing. Though I can tell you that the Kritter looked close to my pom's size. Cappy is smaller than the average cat.

Anyways, the minks are so cute and small, imagine how many minks it takes to create one coat! Just the thought of that has turned me into a raving PETA--so if you own a fur coat, you'd better watch out because I've got the paint!

Merry Christmas All !

Light menu this year:
Ham; Cornbread dressing; Rolls; Sweet Potatoes; Cranberry Sauce; Corn; Mashed Potatoes; and Strawberry Shortcakes with Cool Whip and homemade biscochitos for dessert.
And Plenty of Christmas Cheer to go around !

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Thanks for being a bright spot in my world!

Merry Christmas everyone. Monster Tacos. And that sums up my menu for today.

No family gatherings until we can find a family we both agree we like.

No gifts except those Santa brought for the kids. But I made sure to thank Santa properly for it.

It has been a GREAT christmas so far.

I can not wait til New Years!

Hey Chuck... What nationality is your wife?

Why? Because I feel the need to look up more art work and learn something new.

It suddenly occurred to me that teaching children history should not be done the way it is. It should be taught..with art.

NMP,

Who did that Winehouse sketch? It is very cool.

I got a pic of her backstage at a music awards show or something in early January of this year. She is so picture perfect in it. I got another one from her Lapapolooza concert too, also very pretty. I will paint them both I think.

I look at her new pics now and all I can do is pray. If I were her mother I would be going batsh*t insane with worry right now.

I hope she makes it back. Seeing her get so lost is truly heartbreaking.

Christy
I did that sketch - thanks! I am having kind of a vicarious maternal thing with her myself. She is only 24 years old and what a voice. It's a mess. More talent I think than Britney and Paris and Lindsey and all the other train wrecks. On the league of Billy Holliday who also had a pretty intense and tortured life. I have listened alot and that's made me more conscious she's real not a plastic celebrity, so the cycle of worry about someone who is rich and famous and potentially another Joplin or Cobain or Hendrix or Morrison - none made it til 30.

Chuck

You would remember the menu here - salmon & prawns.

I am making Panang curry - coconut milk, panang paste, bitter lime leaves, basil, red peppers, broccoli, fish sauce, sugar.

Pecan pie with whipped cream. (good but I didn't make it)

We open presents on Christmas even so it's cleanup time tomorrow.
The tree is dry and in danger of burning (Noble pine) and I always get stuff ready to give to charity. I have five bags this year.

What is not being reported..

Turkey says 200 rebel Kurd targets hit

Turkey Claims Over 200 Kurdish Rebel Targets Hit in Iraq, Hundreds of Insurgents Killed

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Turkey_says_200_rebel_Kurd_targets__12252007.html

OH MY GOD!

NMP

Panang curry? You make me drool!

perhaps I need to drive my car north to Seattle, instead of south back to Los Angeles, so that I can have a bite... :)

Merry Christmas everyone - ABQ John's dinner looks great too!

Signing off from San Fran. I am checking out of my hotel now. Long live NorCal (and shame on you, O'Reilly).

Israeli Cluster Bombing Ruled Within the Law

Source: Associated Press

JERUSALEM, Dec. 24 -- Israeli military prosecutors have determined that Israel's use of cluster bombs during last year's war in Lebanon did not violate international humanitarian law, the army said Monday, closing an investigation into a practice that has drawn heavy criticism from the United Nations and international human rights groups.

The investigation determined that Israel's use of the weapons, which open in flight and scatter dozens of bomblets, was a "concrete military necessity." No legal action would be taken against anyone in connection with use of the weapons, it said.

The United Nations and human rights groups have accused Israel of dropping about 4 million cluster bomblets during its 33-day war against the Hezbollah guerrilla movement. As many as 1 million bomblets failed to explode, according to the United Nations and the rights groups, and now endanger civilians. More than 30 people have been killed by cluster-bomb and land-mine explosions in Lebanon since the 2006 summer war.

Amnesty International has harshly criticized Israel for bombing civilian areas and using cluster bombs during the fighting. It also has criticized Hezbollah for firing nearly 4,000 rockets at Israeli cities and towns.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

So the UN and Amnesty International think cluster bombing violates international humanitarian law but Israel's own military prosecutors do not.

No wonder we get a similar result with we have our Justice Department investigate whether it allowed torture, or when the White House decides whether the New York Times can publish an article about destroying evidence of torture without altering the title.

It's Kangaroo Court.

From what I learned on my trips to DC, Chris Dodd is the party animal in this group - and if you're gonna have a beer, you might as well have a good time as well.

SUNDAY TALK SHOW ROUND UP:

It's Kangaroo Court.

=====

Sure as hell is

NMP, that is a VERY cool sketch.

It amazes me sometimes at how little we do know about each other here. I had no idea you draw, but then again, very few people here realized I painted all these years too.

It is one of those things you just assume people will know about you, and it is so, impulsive, it is like telling people 'I breathe often' so you just kinda forget to mention it.

It is funny to suddenly find those abilities in people you THINk you know. It is truly a gift to find it in the people around us.

Art really is like sex, it is one of those things we just do when no one seems to really be paying attention.

Christy
I used to draw as a kid, and I took one course in it later but then I stopped for about 30 years. I started again after my first trip to Europe at age 40 and relearned in just 4 days. It was just a matter of teaching my hand and eye to work together and having done photography since age 10 was an asset, although much more for the eye rather than the hand. For awhile I drew every day and I usually do something for the kids when at work, but I need to start again. I had a couple of things on here before but they had to do with conservative rightwing pundits. One was published in the ArtKos book along with a couple of Kayakbiker's photos. I'll see if I have any thing in my photo files.

This is literally photographed off the wall. You may be able to enlarge it by clicking on it. Most things I draw are not political, but for these I took inspiration from my autistic neighbor, who likes to catalogue like things in poster-like form.

Those are GREAT! OMG! I love it! You are good!

Please post them on the art blog if you will...?

I swear I learn something new on this blog everyday.

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