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Ice Storm in Iowa
Winter is upon us. The days are shorter, the nights are longer, and yet is there a hint of sunlight on the horizon?
It's December and it's Primary Season in Iowa, and yet despite the winter storms throughout Iowa and the Midwest today, the Democratic Presidential Forum was held in Heartland, and Iowans were excited about it.
Five thousand community members heard Obama, Edwards, Kucinich, and Clinton (via telephone) address their concerns and issues--issues like: immigration, healthcare reform, government oversight, and executive power.
We're in the dead of winter, and our democracy has spent the last six years in a deep frost--dying daily. I've got my winter coat, my snow shoes, and of course, I've grabbed my trusty ole' shovel for digging my way through whatever gets tossed out--media lies, candidate's hedging etc... and God forbid, a little snow here and there.
I'm hoping as we inch towards a new Presidential election season that the dark days of American, corporate fascism will be over.
Grab your shovel and join me folks. Something tells me there's going to be a lot of shoveling to do.
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An Irish Prayer (we may need it.)
If God sends you down a stony path,
may he give you strong shoes. (uh..hmmm...snowboots and a sturdy shovel!)
BTW...Ralph..I'll beat you to the punch. Hilary's comments on immigration received boos from the Iowans. However, the article didn't say how well other comments may have been received.
Iowans aren't intimidated by weather.
We have snow but the problem here is it hovers around 32F and rain can freeze over the snow and we have "black ice."
It was like 60 degrees here today. Maybe close to 70.
Good luck with that ice thing though.
Iowans Battle Ice, Each Other
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071202/ap_po/democrats_iowa;_ylt=AsMi08QBF.J.ZQrry7CgZBRB5494
A funny thing to visualize, if you've ever been there .. with what?
Pitchforks?
NMP (from the last thread)
Point well taken - as long as the nation's immigration policy is skewed to favor the powered elites at the expense of everyone else, the nation will continue to be reactionary to the core.
I know it too well from my family (right now, having ANOTHER McCarthyist rant because Samsung is under investigation right now - only Commies can dare topple Samsung, right?) and my neighborhood.
If nobody wants to filter out the bad immigrants from the good, I will support a total moratorium on ALL immigration. It's the ONLY way to save the society.
Also seriously rethinking about buying the Apple iPhone, because it's got Samsung flash memory and possibly Samsung CPU.
Wow! Tremendous video Oncall posted in the previous thread. (Repeating it here so you don't have to click back.)
I got so SICK of the immigrant bashing in all the debates that I whipped up this little video:
smart, brave, ethical reporter
If there were more like that on tv I would consider watching again after my 16 year hiatus
About the Iraqi orphans: this was such a sad and outrageous story (food was stockpiled high on all the shelves yet the kids were being starved by the adults), I put the pictures in my anti-Hillary video, thusly -
Black ice in Iowa. 60 degrees in Louisiana. And a volcano down south.
Mexican volcano erupts, spitting out ash, steam
December 2, 2007 - 11:00AM
Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano rumbled to life with six eruptions in the past two days, spewing steam and columns of ash more than two kilometres high.
There were reports of ash raining down on parts of Mexico state and in the capital 65 kilometres to the northwest, the National Disaster Prevention Centre said in a statement.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/mexican-volcano-erupts/2007/12/02/1196530460420.html
Ralpheh
"Preferred guests" of the Republican Party, the DINOs, and the elite class, such as the immigrants in my neck of woods, DO deserve to get bashed, if not sent back to their sorry countries of origin.
That horrific story of the special kids being abandoned and tied to their beds, was shown here on all channels. The original film of the American soldiers rescuing them. One soldier offered a bottle of water to a child who took it and drank and drank.
There was a follow up piece of the children in their new home and a visit by the soldiers who had rescued them was also filmed and shown on all tv stations here. It was lovely to see the big smiles on the children's faces during the visit.
I can't imagine that you didn't see all of this. All the hate that has been raging about America and Americans, dissipates when you see the children before and after rescue.
Woz, nothing like that gets played here. You could watch news all day long and never even realize we are AT WAR, much less losing two of them.
Other than that.... Lindsy Lohan dumped her rehab boyfriend... OH MY GOD!
Did you say Volcano..? Ummmm. UhOh!
Which is a perfect example of why I have spent my day distracted by a pretty little French girl. In armor! Check my site. No blog ho'ing today, I'm too tired to strut.
Why are all the cool chicks always lesbians or saints?
Go figure.
For the same reason cool men are either gay or married, Christy.
And Saint Joan is lovely, Christy. As you've painted her, as she was in her life.
ABC investigates ’soldiers hooked on drugs’
http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=171
Michael Ware searches for reconciliation in Baghdad
http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=162
Naomi Klein outlines 'The Shock Doctrine' with MSNBC's Olbermann
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Namoi_Klein_joins_Keith_Olbermann_to_1130.html
sparrow - I love your picture and thread-header!
Someone is selling a Sioux scalp on eBay
http://www.docudharma.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2708
For those of us struggling to decide among the Democratic candidates for president, here is an excellent discussion of the matter by the distinguished professor, Clifton East, using elements of the Beatles music and African-American history;
BTW...Ralph..I'll beat you to the punch. Hilary's comments on immigration received boos from the Iowans. However, the article didn't say how well other comments may have been received.
@@@@
Good for the Iowans!!!
but
What comments in Iowa??? I never like to miss an opportunity to boo Hillary, you know that right?
NEVERMIND...
I just read the thread header...
Ice, what ice...?
It is so balmy here, I would run around naked if not for the trauma it would inflict upon my children.
BTW, Custer was a bully who got what he deserved. The human pin cushion.
When they sell HIS scalp, let me know, I will happily buy it.
Thanks Carol.
It took quite some time to find the perfect image and then of course to make my words come close to what is in my head. Writing doesn't always come easy for me, but also, I do feel a little gloomy, so that makes writing even harder.
Regardless, we know the seasons will change. The equinox will come in just a few weeks. The days will get longer. And the weather here will get suckier.
But will the dark, chill over our world (metaphorically speaking) end with the new election? It's not easy to hope. Because for the next 12 months we know that lobbyists are trying to buy everything they can from Bush right here and now. They know it will likely be a Democratic Congress and more than likely a Democratic President.
So then the question is yet to be answered: will the next President and Congress break up the media consolidation and promote real reform throughout government, or will they continue the status quo?
The relative success of this video is explained by the interest of the Ron Paulites at You Tube. The video is in reference to a verbal scuffle during the debate between Paul and McCain on Iraq and foreign ( and McCain looked very bad....). McCain started rambling on and on, reaching all the way back to 1930's Germany to explain why we are in Iraq....
As you can see in the video, I get absolutely nowhere with the cruel phone-answerers in Washington DC...
Balmy? Christy, BALMY!!!
insert image *sparrow weeping!*
Don't take this wrong, Christy, but I can not stand the winter months, so can I drop everything in my life for the next four months and move in with you? Just adopt me and my doggy. Pretty please?!
(just kidding.)
Mr Smith goes to Washington
INCOMING foreign minister Stephen Smith will travel to the US next year to negotiate the Labor Government's plan to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq by mid-2008.
Rudd Government confirms meeting with Rice
Troops withdrawn from Iraq by mid-2008
US not expected to object to withdrawal
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22858469-2,00.html
My cats will love your little doggy. Come on down!
Yup, balmy. Like Florida, except with less coastline and Cubans.
It is starting to mist here, so it may turn chilly a little, but right now I am running around in a spaggetti strap sundress and not much else.
Come next summer though, I am sure I will be complaining.
Sparrow
You can come here too... Today's high here is 59 or something, but will be back up to 80 in a few days.
But like Florida and its Cubans, you'll have to put up with the Koreans and the Vietnamese, and their archaic McCarthyism.
Christy
I don't know, but it's the truth, and I love it! :)
This is EXACTLY what I've heard in interviews of soldiers, including a group of Captains who were destined for military careers, were supportive of the war, and who are now leaving.
Nonstop Theft and Bribery Are Staggering Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120207Y.shtml
Damien Cave reports in Sunday's New York Times that there is a growing sense that Iraq has slipped to new depths of lawlessness as "Some American officials estimate that as much as a third of what they spend on Iraqi contracts and grants ends up unaccounted for or stolen, with a portion going to Shiite or Sunni militias."
Re: Hillary and the immigration issue (thread header)
This demonstrates just how messed up the system is.
People who are productive members of society are being sent back for being the wrong nationality (Mexican, etc).
People who do NOTHING but f*ck up the American society (i.e. the Korean nouveaux-riches of SoCal, Cubans in Florida) are not only allowed to stay and given freebie citizenships, they are allowed to come in UNCHECKED.
Seriously, ask what good have the Cubans, the Koreans, the Nicaraguans, and the Vietnamese done to the American society?
Getting The Band Back Together: Bush Admin Offers War Architect Wolfowitz Top Job
An Old Face Resurfaces
The Bush administration has offered the former World Bank president a new public service position.
Don't ever say the Bush administration doesn't take care of its own. Nearly three years after Paul Wolfowitz resigned as deputy Defense secretary and six months after his stormy departure as president of the World Bank—amid allegations that he improperly awarded a raise to his girlfriend—he's in line to return to public service. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has offered Wolfowitz, a prime architect of the Iraq War, a position as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board, a prestigious State Department panel, according to two department sources who declined to be identified discussing personnel matters. The 18-member panel, which has access to highly classified intelligence, advises Rice on disarmament, nuclear proliferation, WMD issues and other matters. "We think he is well suited and will do an excellent job," said one senior official.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/73273
*insert more tears*
Christy, I clearly was born and have lived my life in the wrong state. Though I always felt awful that the most wonderful states temperature wise were the most religious and Republican. I wouldn't fit in there.
Like I fit in here Sparrow. But here I am.
"Seriously, ask what good have the Cubans, the Koreans, the Nicaraguans, and the Vietnamese done to the American society?"
They MADE US include them. As it should be.
Sparrow
Northern California isn't exactly balmy, but it isn't exactly a Republican stronghold either... :)
I don't know of any other place where you can stay snow-free AND Democratic.
Sure, Las Vegas, Nevada is also Democratic (in a swing state), but it does snow there occasionally...
Ally,
I'll definitely keep that in mind. Who knows. Maybe someday, I'll be the DCP mascot and will travel around the country letting all of you adopt me (and my doggy) for the winter months.
Except, I think right now, V holds the record on meeting the most DCP'rs.
I love you, I love you, I love you anyhow...
And I don't care if you don't want me,
I'm yours right now.
I put a spell on you, cause your mine!
Christy
Seriously, when a given community's two biggest contributions to the American society are (1) the Unification Church and (2) John Yoo's crushing of a child's testicles, that community needs to be examined closely.
Such a barbaric community has no place in American society. Just like the Surinamese homophobes are NO LONGER welcome in the Netherlands, a nation that needs to protect its anything-goes attitude.
Sparrow
Yes, V has the record, though some say I am getting close. (Haven't really traveled though, after meeting madame defarge in Chicago last May.)
I missed V three times - in DC, in Albuquerque, and in SoCal.
Umm. Ally, I think that is what you think their biggest 'contributions' are.
To me, just the presence of immigrants is a victory.
I believe that the white man came and stole these lands that did not belong to them, but they have no right to keep others out.
None of us have that right because we are all the wayward bastards of history.
So be it.
Ally,
It's not the snow I mind. It's the ENDLESS MONTHS of snow and cold and shorter days. I would be fine if we could have a warm up every 2 days! (I'm the only one who actually says, "So...what's wrong with global warming?!!!)
Places like North Carolina are good because you do get less cold and a little longer days.
Anyways, don't mean to rain on all the political conversation by discussing my preferences for more mild temperatures.
I was astounded to find the inbred Phelps wierdos continue to afford the planefare to disrupt funerals of soldiers killed in battle, this time at a small community in western WA. I saw it in a small local paper when I was looking at flood watch stuff. These are the outsider Baptists from TN who believe 9/11 was God's punishment for mortal sins.
Here is what the locals thought:
How effective are the demonstrators from Westboro Baptist Church who attend soldier's funerals as a protest against homosexuality?
They draw a lot of attention, but most people just consider them to be a bunch of kooks. They have no effectiveness whatsoever.
88% 302 votes
Some people might listen to the protesters out of curiosity and sympathize with them. But the tide of public opinion is against them, and they are fighting a losing battle. 10% 35 votes
The protesters' message does resonate with many people. And the more they repeat it, the more followers they have.
0% 3 votes
Ralpheh
I am not trying to figure out who to support this primary, and we'll see if that changes in time to caucus. I will vote Dem in the general election and if I don't like the person I will donate relatively less money. I am not watching political YouTube videos much at this point. I am already burnt out so prefer comedy and music, not that some of the political videos aren't funny. Last election I had decided two years in advance but not this time. It does remind me of the 1988 election, when I was pretty much going for Hart but thought Jesse Jackson was making some good points.
Ralpheh
I watched a political video - yours about John McCain. Pretty good.
Ralpheh
I backed up and watched the Professor - that one hit the funny button.
The guy did not take the whole thing too seriously and didn't give anyone a free pass.
Ralpheh
I watched the anti-Hillary one. Every candidate has people in both parties with vendettas against them, often from within their own party. Have fun with it but it's your vendetta. I am not happy that people in both parties supported the war, but I am especially not happy that at that time even more of their constituents supported it and that public war support is higher than last year at this time (Pew surverys 1,2).
But I watched it.
Christy
The "no right to keep others out" theory is itself a value that you want to defend.
If someone threatened that value, you would fight tooth and nail.
Sparrow
I hear you - I've never been to your area, so I wouldn't know, but I spent several NYC winters, and that was depressing enough (unless a rare snowstorm lightened the streets up a bit). And yes, I've been known to wear a mini even through those snowstorms (with tights of course).
NMP
Very important point there. Politicians triangulate and adjust their positions to please the most constituents possible.
Most of us here at DCP opposed the war from the start. But we were ahead of the curve. Most Americans did believe that WMDs existed in Iraq, and supported the war at first.
Actually, it's been so cold last week that I had two layers of pants, sweaters, and a jacket on--and that was while I was inside the building, not outside. When I was home, I didn't even want to leave to go to the grocery store. So you can only imagine the complaints about the 'lack of anything to eat around here!' (Of course they say that one day after I go to the grocery store. It simply translates to, "There's nothing I want to eat.") But in this case there really was not much to eat around here.
But today, it's rather pretty here. It's warmed up today, despite yesterday's winter ice storm. For us it was more freezing rain and sleet than snow but with a lot of strong winds. But now there isn't enough snow to cover the long meadow grass we have, and the meadow grass is still green. Looking out my windows, the kettle ponds are silvery, sleek and the trees have different shades of brown depending on their type. The oaks still have their leafs clinging to them. They will drop next Spring.
But because of the warm-up we have a heavy misty fog around here too. So all those colors peek out from the misty clouds. It's really pretty.
And already today, I've seen five fat wild turkeys cross by my windows, and have seen a couple of deer munching grass outside. They were close enough to the house for me to see the direction of their fur! Their fur has gotten so dark over the last few weeks. Also, we've had a few bucks (male deer) crossing by. Their antlers are HUGE and very intimidating.
So all in all, today has been a nice lift compared to the coldness and darkness since Thanksgiving week.
I didn't oppose the war from the start. I believed their lies--every single one of them! For that reason alone, I believe these people should be impeached.
They lied. The media supported their lies. And I'm angry as hell that I didn't know that all of them were doing this. I don't think it's always apathy that makes people support the status quo. It's being brainwashed.
Our media is brainwashing people.
Anyone ready to join me and Christy blockading Fox News yet? (Or how about all of them! Let's just go capture all of them!)
And the Professor whatshisname that Ralph posted up yonder, has some pretty funny and astute comments to make.
Imaginary Weapons
James Harris and Josh Scheer — Truthdig speaks with Sharon Weinberger, whose book “Imaginary Weapons” looks into why the Pentagon has spent billions of dollars on fantastical weapons programs, some of which defy the laws of physics.
Click here to listen to this interview.
http://www.truthdig.com/podcast/item/20071030_imaginary_weapons/
We've only got 6 states so that might make this a little easier. Right now every state and territory has a Labor government. And now Australia also has a federal Labor government.
You'd think the liberals would get the message that they're past it wouldn't you? But no, they've just elected their replacement for John Howard who has taken up the seat over the way from the government - the opposition. And most of the rubbish he espouses comes straight from Howard's losing mouth. So, I don't think he'll cause much harm. Well, he will until the Senate regroups in July, then no one will have to take any notice of him.
sparrow - I don't know what you're talking about when you say that writing comes hard for you. That description of the surrounds from your house is so clear I could touch it.
I moved to Tasmania for the climate. From Queensland, rossi's very hot and humid state. I want to be as near as possible to the Antarctic. I LOVE winter!! But, the closest I get to snow is to see it on the mountaintops as I walk down to the shops. My 10 year old grandson will be here next winter because he's never seen snow. He's from Queensland too.
HILLARY IS TAKING OFF THE GLOVES (I guess she is not the inevitable candidate after all)!!!! TIME TO SMACK THAT OBAMA, and smack him good...:
not my president Author Profile Page said:
Ralpheh
I watched the anti-Hillary one. Every candidate has people in both parties with vendettas against them, often from within their own party. Have fun with it but it's your vendetta. I am not happy that people in both parties supported the war,
@@@@@@
Not a vendetta. I think it's called "truth" perhaps, or "justice" or just holding people "accountable" for their awful actions. With her vote, Hillary is every bit a war criminal as Bush, Cheney and Rice are. It should be noted that BOTH OF MY SENATORS managed to vote against the IWR. Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd managed not only to vote against it but to "stand up" and speak out against it.
Hillary is NO leader - she is a triangulator and schemer of the worst kind.
Hillary is not good for the Democratic party, and if elected president she will not be good for the average person or the nation as a whole.
It is quite sad... our democracy continues to decline..
The Distinguished Professor Clinton East analysis, as much as could determine not being a Beatles fan is dead on the mark. I do have some gaps in my knowledge of pre-Hard Rock, post-post Elvis, Beatles works.
For example, I don't know what "Dear Prudence" refers to; "Don't Pass Me By" and "Tomorrow Never Knows"
And most frustratingly "She Not A Girl Who Misses Much"
And let me say in closing:
PEACE,
LOVE,
AND SOUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ralpheh
I don't agree Hillary Clinton or people like Maria Cantwell are as much a war criminal as Bush, Cheney or Rice. It's a matter of degree, which does not at all take them off the hook, but to me, you continually overstate your case and there are bigger fish to fry.
The business community are hurriedly making deals, figuring ANY Democratic president will deal more harshly with them than the current Bush administration. (see TruthOut mainpage)
I am as concerned with the Russian and Venezuelan elections as ours, with the planet in the balance. We are not "the" world power any longer, nor do we continue to have large oil reserves. We have cheating in our elections, so it's arrogant of us to act as though we don't & Russia & Venezuela do, which of course they do. We do still have term limits, though with the increase in Executive power during this administration, there are probably those neocons who would like to see that erode.
By the way, I just went out shopping for provisions. The car in front of me had an Air America sticker, a Special Prosecutor Needed sticker and a Hillary in 2008 sticker that looked like Rosie the Riveter. I must say that when Bill Clinton was President, he was too much a moderate for my tastes, but economically (compared to now) I was soaring.
People who do NOTHING but f*ck up the American society (i.e. the Korean nouveaux-riches of SoCal, Cubans in Florida) are not only allowed to stay and given freebie citizenships, they are allowed to come in UNCHECKED.
@@@@@@@
This is why a progressive federal tax structure would be so nice -
and more fair....
Ralpheh
Clinton and Obama are close together on the political spectrum and voting record. I am not talking about their platforms now or how they are funded or how they advertise or who they know but their past record. Edwards is running on a more progressive platform, though he was not in the Senate very long in the first place. We will see how it shakes out. At least the people of Iowa bone up on the issues and records and platforms of the candidate, since their primary is early, and they have a caucus system, unlike New Hampshire, which has a primary.
If you really want to fight Clinton, you ought to be in Iowa braving the ice. What you could do is try to get inside of peoples' 2nd choices, bump of the negative perceptions (since you are primarily a negative campaigner) and try to incite those of value to your cause to go to (or forget to go to) the caucusses. For those who go, get them to switch over to (or away from, in your case) your targeted candidate if they have less than the required 15%. There are alot of YouTube watchers who can not caucus in Iowa.
Ralpheh
I don't agree Hillary Clinton or people like Maria Cantwell are as much a war criminal as Bush, Cheney or Rice. It's a matter of degree, which does not at all take them off the hook, but to me, you continually overstate your case and there are bigger fish to fry.
@@@@@@
If Hillary was stupid enough, or weak enough or scheming enough to vote for the IWR:
she does not deserve to be president... it is really that simple. She has no excuse - NONE.
The most important vote that she made in the Senate, she screwed up Big-Time. And she continues to get it wrong (troops in Iraq until 2013).
our democracy continues to decline....
Ok Ralpheh here we go.
I opposed going into even Afghanistan and protested in the street, not long after 9/11. Kucinich is the only candidate who passes my litmus test and maybe I'll vote for him in the primary this time. Clinton voted for the IWR and the Kyl/Lieberman. Obama wasn't in the Senate when the war started and he didn't even show up to vote on Kyl/Lieberman. Edwards voted for the IWR and isn't even in the Senate now. I oppose the war but it isn't my ultimate litmus test for the generals, as I would rather be under a Democrat, even a moderate one. In my state, Murray voted for Kyl/Lieberman and Cantwell voted against it, but Cantwell voted for the IWR but Murray against it.
I basically would have to slit my wrists if I carried my ethics all the way into the general election.
I would rather have a Democrat in Name Only than a Republican. My husband says he might consider not voting if placed in such a situation but he also voted for Nader in 2000.
It comes down to whether the "electability" thing is important. For example, Obama seems to be doing better than before in Iowa and also New Hampshire. This gives him "electability" points. Suppose he is strong enough to take the first two primaries, then people donors and movers & shakers will "invest" more, because that's how it works.
Meanwhile, suppose Edwards is more progressive domestically and is sorry he voted for the IWR and admits it?
You have me talking about the candidates.
I can find pros and cons (for me) for all the candidates.
I am really not in the mood yet. If our primary were important and early, I would be.
Obama wasn't in the Senate when the war started and he didn't even show up to vote on Kyl/Lieberman. Edwards voted for the IWR and isn't even in the Senate now. I oppose the war but it isn't my ultimate litmus test for the generals, as I would rather be under a Democrat, even a moderate one. In my state, Murray voted for Kyl/Lieberman and Cantwell voted against it, but Cantwell voted for the IWR but Murray against it.
@@@@@@
Sister,
now you be soundin' jus like Professor Clifton East.... you got so many reasons..
LOL
If I had to vote on the IWA, the Kerry/Feingold Ammendment, and the Kyle/LIEberman ammendment, I'd have to sit out the whole election.
I can not look at the IRW vote as the litmus test because I know that the Senators and Representatives were given the false information and had the key information that was against the war withheld from them as Top Secret.
But I do place a lot of weight on the Kerry/Feingold and the Kyle/LIEberman votes because those the evidence was quite clear by then which vote was the right vote and which one was the political vote.
However, we're stuck with whoever. I will vote for whoever wins and I suspect that all of them know that! In 2000, many people sat out the vote and look at what happened. But I hope that whoever wins gives us Universal Healthcare, Public Financed campaigns, breaks up the media, and ends the Iraq Occupation--even if it only means taking them into a nearby country.
Now see, this is not fair!
Putin wins in a landslide and he's a definitely creepy ex-KGB guy.
62.3% of the vote with 12% of the votes counted and allegations of cheating. Amazingly, the Duma (like Congress) has a Lib Dem component though.
Then the Venezuelan referendum .. even if the socialist economy made things more fair, who needs someone to "rule for life"?! It's a close result and there could be violence in the streets. & Chavez is a former paratrooper.
I read these results at Docudharma and am going to read the real articles but am getting to think all leaders are corrupt and that power corrupts absolutely. They may start out alright but boy do they want that power!! If they get it they want to keep it and if they lose it they want it back and if they haven't tasted it, they lust for it.
Beware!
nmp, the lust for power is the reason why you have people like Feinstein and Shumer voting with Bush and the Republicans so frequently. They'll do anything to keep that power. Did you see Feinstein's face as she tried to ignore the waterboarding demonstration?
Here's an interesting article for all of you--particularly those interested in the primaries.
Most Super-Delegates UnCommitted--(Kucinich Save My Mother's Life)
McCain, Paul, and Richardson vow not to use signing statements.
Yep, we're stuck with whoever, isn't that lovely?
No candidate will ever be viewed as strong anymore, with the advent of 24/7 zillion channel cable/satellite options and boocoo internet ways of making a candidate look bad, whether true or not, and the sheep will continue to eat it up, and the negatives on each will be easy to boost with little effort, so we'll never have an effective "leader" of this nation going forward that the "people" can get behind, no matter what.
Everybody I speak to says all the candidates suck, they don't care for any of them, but they do know that they sure as hell don't want Hillary, so if she gets the nomination, God help us all, for so many reasons.
I can't really say I like any of them either.
I also believe that I will forever hold George W. Bush, and all of his loyal supporters, completely complicit in destroying this nation.
I remind everyone I talk to, Repubs included, just who it was that was "in charge" of things the bulk of the last 7 years and just how badly it has all gone, and how I wouldn't vote GOP based on that alone for all the money in Iraq.
Imagine how a different approach after 9/11 would have garnered the worlds respect, or how $1.6 trillion dollars could have been spent in safeguarding our nation (I will NEVER use the term Homeland or Mother Land or whatever, too friggin Nazi-ish).
There hasn't been a single thing that the Bush administration has done that has bettered this nation on any level, not one.
They have destroyed our future, absolutely guaranteed that my children will face unimaginable events and obstacles in their lifetime, and set the table for potential Armageddon the likes of which I still can't wrap my brain around.
I know this as well, this country will never be what it once was, nor will it be able to regain the trust of it's citizens, and worse, the trust of the people in other countries.
We are screwed, on so many levels, it makes me want to pack it in and move to the mountains somewhere and live off my own land.
Forgive my negativity, but I don't see any hope for improvement.... anywhere.
I don't see but a handful of people in this nation standing up and displaying their utter disgust.
I can't even muster up the effort the be disgusted anymore at how this country has been divided, and worse, how it has just rolled over and taken this bullshit like it was a bad epidode of Survivor.
I'm so over it all I could plotz.
Fun thread at DU on if Dennis Kucinich is electable
Hey, Monkey..how you feeling lately? I misssed...are you still in the hospital or at home?
Yeh, I'm with you on that MoNKey. Hense the reason for my blog-header above!
I also avoided the internet for a few days because it just made things worse.
Is anyone else ready to grab the internet by storm, get everyone around the country to blockade Fox and take over all the networks? Soon, the FCC will try to sneak by another regulation allowing more media consolidation. I'm just so sickened by what our media has done--and I know that's why people out here don't get it--they've been brainwashed!
But, I keep asking myself how those in the media and those in Congress (and this administration) can sleep at night. I ask my self if there is a heaven or a hell--and if they go to hell will that be enough to punish them? What if they're not aware they're in hell, then what's the punishment?!!!
Sparrow, I'm back home in Carolina...
Feeling so-so, my brain says go, my body says, shut the f*** up.
Thanks for axin.
If you hear any voices in your head telling you to take over the media, better get some help. [[[just kidding]]]
The media is a lost cause... way too many total morons who've been made into media stuperstars because they have opinions and unlimited outlets to voice them.
I truly hate television, but you'll never stop it.
Monkey,
Cheer up. If worse comes to worse, we'll create a DCP Kibbutz somewhere in Canada or in Oz. You can be the resident drummer. Christy will be the artist. And I'll be the resident PITA. Everyone else can pick their own roles.
But we do need a volunteer to cook.
You could stop them too.
If you tried.
Even if you fail to shut them down, you CAN shut them up.
Do you know WHY people are not going into the streets?
Because THEN WHAT...? Stand at the gates of an empty White House and scream 'Free Tibet!'...? Maybe you could yell 'Let my people go!' on the steps of the Capital building, but honestly, at this point, what freaking good is that going to do?
Petitions? Yeah right. Phone Calls? Dismissed. Hell they do not even let our votes count anymore, wtf do they care if we are being spied on? Think Mz. Fienstien cares about maimed Iraqi children as she buys her grandkids christmas presents with the money her husband made off of their maiming...? No way.
AND... AND... We all know georgie tossed Posse Comitatus for a reason, and if he ever feels 'threatened' by a crowd, even in the slightest, do any of you think he will hesitate to order our own soldiers to kill our own people? He seems eager to do it.
What will it take to get people into the streets? The right target for 1. One they clearly understand how it connects and why it has to be targeted. It also has to be a location that gets maximum benefit with smaller risk associated.
I still think blockading their headquaters and even infiltrating them, is the only way it can be done without a freaking civil war starting.
AND, some truth may finally start spilling out once people start demanding answers of those who have them.
Boy you guys are a bowl of cherries!
Anyway, thanks for the reminder about the SuperDelegates - now those wield some power but also go with the flow. & yes, Sparrow, I think you're right about why some cross party lines to hang with the illegitimate fool - the lust for power.
Christy, that is a good idea about somehow "infiltrating" the media. Now that would be interesting. Probably difficult but not impossible, even taking the reins of something like Faux even briefly and telling the truth.
Here We Are - Nowhere to Run
NMP
They better realize that free-market capitalism works only when the many have the means to effect the market with. What America is about to have, under W's "pro-business" policies, is oligopoly. It's NOT business-friendly, and anti-competitive. (But then, contrary to what they claim to believe in, they hate competition.)
And re: Venezuela and Chavez - not only does he want to rule for life, but his buddies are among the worst human rights abusers in the world - including Ahmadinejad and Mugabe. That alone makes Chavez's "human rights commitment" suspect. With friends like Ahmadinejad and Mugabe, who needs enemies?
Meant to add...mostly avoided Kos and DU and a few other sites where people fight all the time. Also avoided info on the primaries. However, even if I can't post, I always will catch a quick read of the DCP.
So even if you're feeling down...don't jump ship now, ok?
monkey
If I could turn back time and do ONE thing to save America from what it's become today...
I would've BANNED Korean immigration in the 1960s, and cut off American alliance with South Korea.
That would've kept Reverend Moon and John Yoo (and all the other influential fascist thinkers) where they belong.
I wouldn't be here either, but that's a small price to pay for a better country. And none of us would be toting around Samsung cell phones and driving Hyundais either, but who needs 'em?
Sparrow
I also hate Kos and DU. They are too politically correct to realize that partisan immigration policies are what trashed this country.
Sparrow
I don't think Canada under the W puppet Stephen Harper would even let us in, much less let us create a DCP kibbutz in exile.
I'll still travel to Canada while I can. But Conservative Alberta is off-limits.
Will Red State Idaho taxpayers really want to subsidize Craig's Senate career (he's in til end of 2009) after what the Idaho Stateman is uncovering, which is reported in the Guardian, providing further embarrassment, with Ted Haggard connection & all?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7121495,00.html
I don't hate much of anything but I find some of the blogs with infighting annoying, and it would take hours to dig through the comments anyway. Recently, friends and I went some to Docudharma, offshoot of ArtKos and a respite for diaries that would have went down with a thud at Big Orange. Unfortunately, bad energy from said big site turned Buddydharma's effort into a big brawl, which is only now dying down. I hope he has a good trip to Mexico and that things return to normal and the site can go on. I won't name names but one who was a big jerk at other sites hasn't changed. Hint: he admits civility is not his forte.
And on the subject of Canada...
Given how reactionary partisan immigration has destroyed the US, I don't think Canada would want any of the action.
So I expect even the Liberals and the New Democrats to crack down hard on any Americans potentially settling in Canada. And of course, the Parti Quebecois would be nervous about having more English speakers...
Ally
I think it would be not that hard to get into a cool place like Vancouver BC but would definitely need work and any dollars changed into loonies would lose some value (but maybe soon gain). It depends on age, education, money and employment probabilities. I have some determined friends from Florida who did not meet criteria but came up with a long-range plan that will still allow them to emigrate. It just took some doing and working hard to come up with some capital, to essentially make an agreement with the Canadian government that if they fulfill, they can profit from by being Canadian citizens.
You make some strong statements about immigrant groups and I don't think you should throw the baby out with the bathwater. We need our Margaret Chos, after all! That said, there is no reason US government should have ever had anything to do with the likes of Moon. He was a known commodity since the 1960s and should have been persona non grata. Instead, he appears to have been, and possibly still to be influential.
There are alot of conservatives among immigrant groups you mention and among Hispanics too. We can't selectively admit people based on their political beliefs in either direction. It isn't fair. I'm sure it's been done, but I keep trying to remind people - this is a fairly conservative country. We do need immigrants who are good workers and honest and I do think people who are anti-immigration are usually barking up the wrong tree, so to speak.
You know our Thai friend Henry, and he knows people from Indonesia who have framed photos of Ashcroft, own big stock in oil etc. Yet Henry is a progressive immigrant from Thailand, and Ben is incredibly active and is from Indonesia. If Reagan truly had some kind of slanted system for letting in only certain types of immigrants, then that is truly unfair.
I wonder if the special visas for technology workers will work out? I wonder where alot of those people would be on the political spectrum? Coming to America for "a better life" should not mean stepping on the backs of others, and I wonder nowdays if people have illusions about how much of a step up it actually is? It seems there are about as many people plotting to leave the country as to come in.
Ally
I think Vancouver BC had better be aware that some of those people who came from Hong Kong may be virulently anti-Communist and fall prey to right wing philosophies - some, not certainly all.
I don't think it's as hard to move to Canada either. Maybe it depends upon where. But from what I've seen, all they ask is if you have the money to support yourself or to pay for school. Then it seems as if it's a go.
NMP
Best wishes to your friend moving to BC from Florida. It surely looks like a lot of ground work, from what you've described over the past years, but if they can be of benefit to BC and Canada, then Canada would've made a wise choice in letting them in.
BC's political allegiances are a lot like the US - Liberal Vancouver vs. Conservative mountains. But as you mention, I would indeed be very wary of right-wing activism among Asians in, say, Richmond or Burnaby. It IS a serious problem among the Koreans in the area, but they usually are plotting to move into the US anyway. (During the early Clinton era, the flow was in the opposite direction - from Democratic US into then-Conservative Canada.)
High-tech workers: plenty of them down here in California, specifically in Silicon Valley. I do know that Asian Indians trend Republican due to anti-tax stances, while those of Chinese ancestry trend Democratic - partly because there is a good Chinese-American framework in the local Democratic organizations. This is DESPITE the strong anti-Communist stance of many Chinese, especially those who came by way of Taiwan.
Glad to know that we're on the same page re: Moon. The fact is that the US should've cut off aid to South Korea for sending Moon to the US. That never happened. The most the US ever did was preventing the disappearance of leftist leader Kim Dae-Jung (who did become president in 1998-2003, and is widely considered a Communist sympathizer by the Korean-Americans) by the fascists in the 1970s.
Forever 21, which exploits its workers with substandard wages and working conditions, and whose founder is busy going on missionary trips (what a hypocrite), is another reason I am fed up with the Korean-Americans. Forever 21 is pretty much par. Makes me appreciate American Apparel, which has a Korean-American partner yet is a rare exception to the rule.
Sparrow
For a casual visit, evidence of funds should be enough to enter Canada.
However, there is one catch - criminals are not allowed in. And that includes anyone with a recent drunk driving conviction, as well as anyone in an FBI database. The latter got some of our fellow activists like Medea Benjamin and Col. Ann Wright.
Ally
Forever21 is moving into Northgate Mall as I write. Boycott boycott.
American Apparel is a little pricey but worth supporting.
In this community (Seattle), there seem to be alot of political activists and union leaders from the Phillipines in particular. I've done what reading I can on history of immigration in this area, because it's very interesting. As you probably know, there was a time when much of the berg of Tacoma tried to run their Chinese out on a rail. Then there are the internment camps, which I didn't even learn about in school. I was shocked to hear about them when I came out here.
The Truth Правда
new thread
A question for you. In America, are the assassins all republicans? They sure as hell don't want peace and/or justice.
Another question - why don't you all ignore the candidates who have put themselves forward and convince that man (Name escapes me. I plead brain damage and *headed towards Seniorhood*) who won the Backbone Award and made an impassioned speech about the hideous nature of the current wars waged mostly on civilians? He'd sure make a decent moral and ethical president. Or do the masses not want moral and ethical? Just powerful. The rest of the world isn't really listening any more.
I liked Edwards's promise to try and rid the world of nuclear. I assume that means the US as well as everyone else. At least I hope it does.