De-Privileging: Open Thread version

I have a supercool little pad for rent/sale in Palm Beach! Lord knows South Florida can use more truth tellers ;-)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen whose stylish work helped define the E Street Band's sound on hits from "Hungry Heart" through "The Rising," died Thursday. He was 58.

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/17/obit.federici.ap/index.html

Sad news, indeed. Danny was a good friend of my older brother for many years. We knew of his illness, but this is still shocking.

I de privileged when I got my PhD and didn't follow that career path but went back to clinical work. Did it again when stopped private practice and joined on with a hospital. Did it again with the recession and my son can't find a job or health care.

We do not go into debt or live beyond our means but could definitely pare down for efficiency - for ourselves and the planet.

Thought about moving but may have passed a critical window (have friends emigrating to Canada) so am tempted now to dig in deeper and try to stay in this house and avoid nursing home when old.

I don't care if the value of the house goes down (maybe taxes will too but we're all depending on local taxes since the govt does little)

There is so much to think about.

Good article.

What is too much?

It's the 4-ton SUV's so common in my industry, stupid!

In construction, anyone who drives anything getting over 13 MPG, is a wuss and a sissy. Even if it's carrying only the driver and no cargo. The more I know this industry, the more it disgusts me.

If I get stuck in this industry, I will have to get my own SUV - except that it'll be a 35 MPG hybrid. Even if it means buying from the hated Ford guys (it's their Escape that gets the good mileage). At least an American, union-built vehicle wins you quite a few friends in the field.

I will also ask my mother to moderate her automotive expectations. She's about to buy her last car, and wants it to be a luxury car with a high series number. At least I've talked her out of the luxury SUVs - the ultimate in uselessness.

In the meantime, I am taking a social justice writing class right now (taught by none other than CODEPINK's Gayle Brandeis) - and I am moved by classmates who are giving up prestigious education and jobs, to be in a field/position they feel passionate about. I need to make that happen myself. Again, the more I work in construction, the less I like it.

If yall wind up moving to France I am coming with you!

Damn, I wish I could get the hell out of Dodge for a little while.

Good luck and Godspeed!

Seriously, are you moving to France?

We should all move to France.

Hey, I know, everyone can rent my house at once, it can be like a DCP commune, except without all the 13 year old wives and whatnot.

Spent? Rent N' Vent!

Christy

I don't think I wanna move to France - at least while Sarko is around.

France has a serious Moonie problem too; Le Pen is funded by the Moonies.

Besides, you vowed to defend the US and its Constitution to death. I still wanna see you do that. :) Seriously!

monkey

No 13yo wives at the commune? That's fine with me, as long as you have wives of a legal age for me. :)

Formerly Ally McLesbian

Is de-privileging a little like redefining the paradigm of what success actually is?

I will join those going to France.

Ummm, Ally.

I was joking on the France thing, but I sure do need a freaking vacation.

This country is starting to freak me out, and I never really thought I would feel the need to step away from it to put it all into perspective, but I do feel exactly that way. It is starting to feel like we are living in a pressure cooker.

No harm in a little Frenchie kissing before sacrificing ones life for a cause.

Or we could just rent out Monkeys house and take turns seeing who can make him palpatate the hardest.

But I think he would probably rather just go to France too.

Or, if they are moving to Brazil, that works too! Carnival anyone?

Obama fights back!

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=7445913&ch=4226716&src=news

HAHAHA!

Like water on a duck!

Richard Quest, CNN Reporter, Arrested On Drug Charges

snipped
The police noticed Mr. Quest at 64th Street and West Drive at about 3:40 a.m., the official said. As he was being escorted out, he volunteered, "I have meth in my pocket," according to an official briefed on the case. The police searched him and recovered a small amount of methamphetamine in a Ziploc bag.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/18/richard-quest-cnn-reporte_n_97466.html

Roo, I suppose you realise the Hillary videos can't be seen from your posts. Do you have any other URL for them?

The Shocking Video Hillary Does NOT Want You To See! (1of2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq8aopATYyw

The Shocking Video Hillary Does NOT Want You To See! (2of2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMfUajhL24I&feature=related

Freedom Tower Plans In New York Trash Can By Homeless Man

The New York Post has an exclusive report on a homeless man who found the "confidential" blueprints for the Freedom Tower in a New York dumpster!

It's a good thing Osama wasn't walking through SoHo yesterday morning.

Two sets of confidential blueprints for the planned Freedom Tower, which is set to rise at Ground Zero, were carelessly dumped in a city garbage can on the corner of West Houston and Sullivan streets, The Post has learned.

Experts said the detailed, floor-by-floor schematics contain enough detail for terrorists to plot a devastating attack.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/18/freedom-tower-plans-in-ne_n_97395.html

Nato admits mistakenly supplying arms and food to Taliban

NATO accidentally supplied Taliban
Food, grenades meant for police dropped in Taliban controlled area by error.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/18/nato.afghanistan?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

Watch this slick reference to JayZ - Fundamentalists aren't the only ones who can dog whistle.

Monkey, so sorry to hear of Danny Federici. He will be sadly missed, that's for sure.

Monkey,

I'm so sorry to hear of Danny Federici's death. I'm sure your brother and you both feel much more sadness due to your associations with him. (Or your brother's association with him.)

Christy,

Love Obama's speech and his gestures. Is it just me or was there a middle finger flying?

CNN reporter faces drug charge after arrest in Central Park

A CNN reporter was arrested Friday in Central Park with a small amount of methamphetamine in his pocket, but he avoided jail time by agreeing to undergo drug counseling and therapy. Richard Quest, 46, was arrested around 3:40 a.m. on a count of possession of a controlled substance — a misdemeanor that usually refers to a personal use amount of a drug. He was also charged with loitering; the park officially closes at 1 a.m. When police saw and detained Quest, he told them, "I've got some meth in my pocket," according to the complaint filed in court. The complaint said he had a plastic sandwich bag containing methamphetamine in a jacket pocket. Quest, who is British, is a correspondent for CNN International and is known for his reports on business travel. He hosts "CNN Business Traveler" and "Quest."

It's war.

H Clinton at a fundraiser:

"Moveon.org endorsed [Sen. Barack Obama] -- which is like a gusher of money that never seems to slow down," Clinton said to a meeting of donors. "We have been less successful in caucuses because it brings out the activist base of the Democratic Party. MoveOn didn't even want us to go into Afghanistan. I mean, that's what we're dealing with. And you know they turn out in great numbers. And they are very driven by their view of our positions, and It's primarily national security and foreign policy that drives them. I don't agree with them. They know I don't agree with them. So they flood into these caucuses and dominate them and really intimidate people who actually show up to support me."

Markos Moulitsoz:

By the way, MoveOn never opposed the war in Afghanistan. The organization was created specifically to help her husband Bill Clinton survive impeachment for getting you-know-what.

MoveOn's Eli Pariser responded:

"Senator Clinton has her facts wrong again. MoveOn never opposed the war in Afghanistan, and we set the record straight years ago when Karl Rove made the same claim. Senator Clinton's attack on our members is divisive at a time when Democrats will soon need to unify to beat Senator McCain. MoveOn is 3.2 million reliable voters and volunteers who are an important part of any winning Democratic coalition in November. They deserve better than to be dismissed using Republican talking points."

Man the Dems had better get a nominee by June 3. Howard Dean is right. The Superdelegates better hurry up & specify who they're voting for. Got to focus on McCain not each other.

My son is heading to Portland to canvas. Just went for takeout before he gets on the road for a four hour drive.

See the video called "Baracky" at http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com & if inclined, get ready on Monday to get a million on line in one minute. We need to set all kinds of records.

This is BARACKY - it's by a local - help it go viral if you like it.

I also just got a limited edition signed Shepard Fairey poster in the mail!! It's huge!!

Rock star Bruce Springsteen endorsed Democratic senator Barack Obama for president today, saying "he speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years".

In a letter addressed to friends and fans posted on his website, Springsteen said he believes Obama is the best candidate to undo "the terrible damage done over the past eight years".

"He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next president," the letter said.

"He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where '... nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone' ", he wrote, referring lines from the song Long Walk Home, featured on his 2007 album, Magic.

The singer is known for his lyrics about the struggles of working-class Americans, particularly in the economically ravaged factory towns of the north-east.

Springsteen and his E Street band were part of the Vote or Change tour, a coalition of musicians opposed to the re-election of President George Bush in 2004.

Springsteen did not directly mention Senator Hillary Clinton, Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, in his letter, but appeared to take issue with her recent criticisms of comments made by Obama about working-class voters in small towns in Pennsylvania and controversial statements by Obama's pastor.

"Critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships," Springsteen wrote.

"While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man's life and vision ... often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/16/barackobama.uselections2008?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

Christy

Getting away from the US, for a better perspective from the outside (and a better perspective on the world as a whole), is ALWAYS a good thing.

Scratch that - it's NOT a good thing if you're like Tom DeLay and Jesse Helms, and all you ever visit are Republican wet dream states like Colombia, South Korea, and Poland.

But if you do include sensible nations (and I do consider France to be one, even with Sarko), getting away from the US for a while will definitely help.

Thanks for the urls roo. I hope lots of voters see them.

Robert Reich joins Bill Richardson in Endorsing Obama
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/04/robert-reich-jo.html

Bailed

35,000 in Philadelphia

NY tower plans found in rubbish

The Freedom Tower will be the tallest building in the US
A homeless man has found confidential blueprints for New York's new Freedom Tower dumped in a city rubbish bin.
Mike Fleming handed the documents - marked "Secure Document - Confidential" in to the New York Post newspaper.
The Freedom Tower is being built at Ground Zero, to replace the World Trade Centre towers destroyed on 9/11.
A spokeswoman apologised for the security breach and said that anyone found responsible would be liable for "serious disciplinary action".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7355139.stm

""We have been less successful in caucuses because it brings out the activist base of the Democratic Party. "

I agree. It is freaking WAR now.

She flat out admits the dem base is no longer her base.

I bet her supporters must be so proud tonight.

My God!

I just found a Catholic priest we can all TOTALLY dig!

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5909

Yes I watched several of his speeches last week & really enjoyed them. He was interviewed by a creepy FOX news guy and really stood his ground.

Nice Companion Story for the one about the homeless guy finding the plans for the Freedom Tower:

CNN reporter faces drug charge after arrest in Central Park

A CNN reporter was arrested Friday in Central Park with a small amount of methamphetamine in his pocket, but he avoided jail time by agreeing to undergo drug counseling and therapy. Richard Quest, 46, was arrested around 3:40 a.m. on a count of possession of a controlled substance — a misdemeanor that usually refers to a personal use amount of a drug. He was also charged with loitering; the park officially closes at 1 a.m. When police saw and detained Quest, he told them, "I've got some meth in my pocket," according to the complaint filed in court. The complaint said he had a plastic sandwich bag containing methamphetamine in a jacket pocket. Quest, who is British, is a correspondent for CNN International and is known for his reports on business travel. He hosts "CNN Business Traveler" and "Quest."

Baracky

I am so freaking mad at hillary right now. I swear I feel all shaky.

Unbelievable.

Holy Crap!

Philly Ignites For Obama
18 Apr 2008 09:36 pm

PHILADELPHIA -- It wasn't so much that Barack Obama had real fight in him tonight, or that more people attended his rally in front of Independence Hall than any other event since he announced his candidacy. It was the spontaneous demonstration of support that happened when it ended.

5,000 people (at least) had nowhere to go but up Market Street. Obama's charge of the night: "Declare independence!" was with them. They started with the familiar "O-Bam-A." By 7th and Market, they had graduated to "Yes we can!" By 10th and Market, with hundreds streaming in between cars on the road, they were just cheering. At first, a few Philly cops, killjoys, tried to rough the crowd to the sidewalks. It didn't work. The cops retreated to the sidewalks. By the time I ducked into my hotel, a full mile away from Independence Park, the Obama crowd was still marching.

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/04/philly_ignites_for_obama.php

But her message, he said, is "that we can't really change the say anything, do anything special interest game of so we might as well choose a candidate who knows how to play the game." He mocked her "kitchen sink strategy." Then he said, "I'm not running to be the president who plays the same old game. I'm running to end the game."

Yes I just watched his entire 23 minute speech on Barack's website - the end is fantastic! I check the Obama and Clinton blogs all the time since I used to be a johnkerry mod and it's very interesting. He has so much the edge for internet savvyness - will raise a million bucks in a minute on Monday maybe - on line - 1 PM. We have it on our website. Obamaminute.com I believe.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5572865

video

http://www.truveo.com/WEB-EXTRA-Obama-Rallies-At-Independence-Hall/id/2214512648

do you have the url for that nmp - I can't find it on the site

thanks Christy

So now Hillary is going after MoveOn.

You know, one of the reasons that I don't want Billary back in the White House - as least as a couple - is that I still feel a little dirty about to defend her husband's behavior after it became clear that he had lied bold-faced to the American people about Monica.

I remember writing a letter to Chris Matthews (who was a fierce critic of Clinton during that period), defending Clinton’s right to remain in office - but having to use this tortured argument: Bill was a pig, but he was our pig (I kid you not). And he didn't start the lying under oath in Washington. That began with Clarence Thomas. And if a Supreme Court nominee can lie with impunity during confirmation hearings, and get away with it, why not a President?

As I said, I still feel little dirty about having had to make that argument. In the America that I want to live in, if you caught in that kind of a scandal, and then compound the wrong by lying to the American people, you resign from office. It's not as if Gingrich would have become President. Gore would have become President.

But instead groups like MoveOn formed to defend Bill - and people like me wrote letters, and sent money, to help with that defense. And now Lady Macbeth resents MoveOn’s role in the primary process. Now isn't that special.

One more thing: I want to take huge exception to the idea that the Clintons are fighters. Oh, sure, the Clinton's are willing to fight when it comes to defending their ambitions and insatiable appetites - but this kind of tenaciousness is pretty common among both rank political animals and thugs. Some people thought John Gotti was a fighter too – but I just thought he was thug. But at the end of the day, Bill and Hillary almost never fight for principle, or great ideas; they only fight for themselves – in Bill’s words, to retain their political viability. Is this the best that we can do in this party? I certainly hope not.

I think Frank Rich, a few weeks back, in an admittedly incendiary column, put his finger on what troubles so many of us about her candidacy – when he quoted Dante admonition to “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here”. I’m not ready to give up my hope of a better kind of politics – and surrender to the grim reality of the Clinton political machine.

Anyone ever seen that movie 'Primary Colors' with John Travolta?

You know it is funny cause I really remember watching almost the whole movie, thinking yeah, Bill is probably something like Travolta portrays, but the one playing the 'Hillary based character' it just didn't fit until that scene in the kitchen almost at the end.

Kathy Bates is pissed cause she feels so dirty after cleaning up his bimbo mess, and then she turns on the wife and says something like 'There you are speaking in that little voice from hell'.

And it was like BAM! That is hillary clinton. Speaking to us in that little voice from hell.

She has become such a political animal she could never be anything else. Like a dog getting a taste for blood, there is no turning back. There is no becoming something different. At that point the only 'fight' you are interested in is the struggle to clamp your teeth into somethings throat and suck them dry.

I am very angy with her and her little voice from hell. But overall it is so tragic and disappointing it is just sad and horrible to watch.

...civil war breaks out among Sunni

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/americas-allies-in-iraq-under-pressure-as-civil-war-breaks-out-among-sunni-811801.html

It just got worse.

WFT?

According to the report, Goldfein even arranged for President Bush to record a video testimonial in the White House Map Room that was included in the SMS contract proposal, demonstrating the company's credibility and access.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/17/AR2008041702248.html?nav=rss_email/components

Wha..? Huh?

Woz
I watched Barack's speech last night by going to his site and one of the commenters linked to a local news version in PA. That was out of over 1000 comments though.

Now it's up on YouTube and this should be it. The end is great.

My son arrived in Portland and is canvassing and registering voters for OR's upcoming primary. He drove 4 hours by himself and doesn't know a soul.

By Aleka from Japan 28 minutes ago
I'm fired up today all day; here in Japan
And all day I spent bloging reading listening to Obama's everything

Do you want to know what happen today...
early in the morning; at 9:10am my door bell rang
I was not expecting nobody at that time
When I open the door .. a post man with big pack is standing
I can't believe my eye
a freind that I met here with Obama momentum
A person I never met; see; talk but exchange e-mail
A person who has no job as such to spend for extra thing
Have sent me .. a desperately needed
two Obama T-shirt
can you litsen to my heart.. my feeling
I was almost cried

Oh what a honest people out there
riding with Obama-train
Obama momentum

Love you all

Thank you my freind from Texas

YES WE CAN!

Awesome thread, the best yet. It never ceases that what I am thinking and sensing in spite of the media propaganda, when I come to this blog you all are seeing it exactly the same way I am.
(With few exceptions.)

Great article, Karen!

Now, I know that I have had the ability to kind of sense what's down the road way before it happens for years, and five and a half years ago I KNEW I had to de-privilege because things in the city were way out of what I could afford
on a continuing basis....people are more likely to rip you off with car repairs, or almost any purchase in the big city. Compaired to this little town, where everyone knows everyone and
honesty is the code word for trust.

For instance: the other day I had to go somewhere but when I went to the garage to start my car, my battery was dead. All I had to do was call our local gas station (mechanics
on staff there) and tell them I was in a crisis,
needed to get somewhere and my battery was dead.
Within five minutes they were at my house to jump start my car. They left without asking for money, I had to remind them I owed them for the jump when I went to fill up with gas. Their price for coming to me and helping me?
Five dollars. My car needed towed in the big city 67 miles north of my little town, and the gas station there charged me $120.00 to tow my
car a block and a half, plus another hundred and something for whatever was wrong with it.

Karen, Dick, et al,

It is so very cool that you guys are de-privileging, and I can't help but think that we are leading that way because it may be the only way we will be able to survive, should everything crash.

For myself, I was really tired of working for Corporate America six years ago, and beating my brains out year after year to pay the mortgage on my home that I was only in long enough to sleep and shower in between work hours. I worked all the over time I could get my hands on
just to keep up with the property taxes, house payments, association fees, and the $250.00 a month electric/gas bills. And don't forget about sewer and water. My passion lay in my desire to do more things regarding my faith, so I sold and gave away EVERYTHING that wouldn't fit into my car and drove to Pensacola to go to a college. Now that I am up here, I have found
delightful items that were almost new and paid used furniture prices for them ~ recliners, a nice sofa, entertainment center, large tv, etc.
for one tenth of the price I would have paid for it all new.

I think it very wise to de-privilege. I am quite happy because I am in a community where people can be trusted, and the people are a bit odd but kind for the most part. I have a less
stressful job, and lots of opportunity to do the things I love the best.

Sure, no more traveling the world, going to expensive places to eat, going on cruises, or
riding the waves in my wave-runner. But you
know what? I think the intuition (if you want to call it that) to de-privilege is something spiritual that we seem to share here. I knew something was going to have to change big time six years ago, and I had no idea about the mortgage frauds and schemes, and Halliburton, or Iraq, or the MIC. So I am thankful for all the fun I had previously in my life, and am for the MOST part happy to sit in a serene atmosphere and do my heart's desire with my life.

Hooray for us.

Now, Richard and Karen. I have wonderful news for you if you aren't already done de-junking.
I registered for this group called FLY LADIES
three years ago, and they teach you how to de-
junk everything in your life, fifteen minutes at a time!!! They also have a special section for being uber-organized when moving, and it's fun. There are hundreds of thousands of people who share the website, and it's FREE.

Here's the URL - they tell you shortcuts to streamlining your "stuff", along with all kinds of really smart ways to do almost everything easier and faster. Their house moving section has all kinds of smart ways to keep your move organized (colored stickers - one for each room and a master copy for yourself so you know what colors go in which rooms when you move,
what's probably a very good idea to dejunk, etc.

FlyLady.net

And Lady Macbeth is a perfect name for you-know-who. How much we need the Obama-train to change how politics is done in Washington has never been truer.

I'll be watching, NMP to see what to do to help on Monday.

As for the pundits ~ I am back to not even being able to watch political tv on any channel at all. I am
over OVER tired of it all, and like most of us, just want it to be over already. When I see the pundits beating up on the Democratic party, which is what they are doing when they keep the "supposed" heat high, they are sinking vampire fangs into not just the candidates, but to WE THE PEOPLE, and bleeding us dry, because IMO, Obama is THE LAST CHANCE WE WILL HAVE to turn this country around. Ratings Schmatings, Money Honey. Makes a guy wonder if they are getting paid to tear the Democratic party apart.

And by THEY I mean T H E Y.

People get ready, there's a train coming

You don't need no baggage, you just get on board

All you need is faith to hear the diesels humming

You don't need no ticket no no you just thank the lord

People get ready, there's a train to Jordan

Picking up passengers from coast to coast

Faith is the key, open the doors and board all

There's hope for all among who love the most

people get ready

ohohohoh come come .

thank the lord

Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS!!!!

Jimmy Carter Holds Second Meeting With Hamas Leaders, AP Says
Source: AP
April 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. former president Jimmy Carter met with the exiled leader of the militant Hamas group and his deputy today, for the second time in as many days, the Associated Press reported.
Carter's approximately hour-long meeting today with Khalid Mashaal and his deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, in Damascus, Syria, was in defiance of U.S. and Israeli warnings, the news agency said.
Marzouk said Carter and Mashaal discussed a possible prisoner exchange with Israel and the siege imposed by Israel on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, according to the AP.
The two Palestinians are considered terrorists by the U.S. government, and Israel accuses them of masterminding attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians, the AP said. The first meeting was yesterday, according to the news service.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=az_...

Well he got Nobel Prize in 2002 - we'll see how this pans out.

Great posts! Thanks, everyone, for the support. I just got online after spending about three hours cleaning up the kitchen and tossing a large number of never-used or unnecessary items. I think we are going to put stuff out on the sidewalk and let people take it.

We have most of the rooms of the house cleaned out, and tomorrow is basement day (ssshhhh--don't tell Richard. He thinks he ALREADY cleaned out the basement!)

I feel lighter already...

Also packing for Brazil, and planning my presentations there. It's still raining there...

Maybe I'll bring a paddle...

TSP - I can't stand the biased reporting that we are getting here either. I used to enjoy the News Hour every afternoon (almost 24hrs after screening in America) but I can't bear the commentators perpetuating the rubbish. I found myself turning the volume off so often that now I don't bother with it at all.

Christy - that reverend was truly amazing. And the interviewer was utterly incompetent and contemptible. An embarrassment to journalism in America.

kangaroo - Hooray for President Carter. His best work has been done since he was President. When are our leaders going to learn that conflicts don't end by totally ignoring a principle party to the conflict. I am so impressed with Carter right now. Have been for years in fact.

After leaving the White House (or never arriving) they have more freedom not to pander and kowtow

.. Gore is a good example.

I can also see why some people don't choose to run - like even Condi.

Want to see what's going on in America?

Watch Russian TV - news blackout here on rally with 35,000 plus

Karen - a paddle could be useful - and maybe a snorkel and flippers too.

nmp The 7th video from the thumbnails at the bottom gives an overall view of the Russian view of each of the candidates.

Great posts, everybody.

Wunderbar song, NMP. I can kick with it!

Woz, I didn't know you got propaganda over there too. I used to love one cable news channel here in the States, because up until the Rev. Wright overblown crud turned them into frenzied vampires, I LOVED watching it, because they seemed to kind of think and tell it like I did. Since they have put Obama on the spit I can't watch it for one minute. My blood pressure goes up. I wrote to them but I think they all need letters and boycotting. The slimeballs are costing us our very breath and taking away our country permanently, totally ruining our childrens' futures. To me some of those hacks are worse than the shadiest used car salesmen, or snake oil peddlers.

Woz, how are you feeling, dear? Recouped from hospital/or doctoring for a time? I hope so!
I so enjoy your posts, you are very articulate, and your posts are are a real treat.

And Roo!! What would we do if you didn't send us some of the stuff that is blacked out here?
We can always depend on you to send us the real scoop that we might not hear otherwise.

I am getting pretty hyped up about this primary, it's like being in hard labor for a year. I feel like I'm stuck in the transition stage of labor (where I threw the wash rag my hubby was mopping my face with across the hall).

Get it over with already!

NMP,

Saw Colin Powell on Larry King a couple of months ago, and King asked him why he didn't want to be in politics any longer.

He replied something like this ~ "I know who I am, and that's not something I want to do." Ever the loyal soldier, he saw and did enough to know he wanted to get out of Dodge and not look or come back. EVER.

Karen, it's totally AMAZING the "stuff" one accumulates that one thinks she can't live without. One by one, we bring them in to our houses like strays, and they breed like cats.

I purged so much "stuff" during my last move, and slowly but squirrely (even though I am alot more particular now what I bring home) I manage to add more "stuff" again, a little at a time. FlyLady has you do a "27 fling boogie" every once in a while, to throw out or give away 27 items you haven't used, read, or worn in the past year. They even weigh their purges by the pound on the site.

Thanks, TSP. Health issues are great right now - only blood tests every month and only have to go to the hospital for an iron infusion about every year. The plaster is off my arm. How is yours? Mine still hurts but I just have to ignore that and get on with things. I hope yours has healed well.

For the superstitious - 3 bone issues in my family have happened recently. First, I fractured my wrist. Then my son had a mining accident and needed his wrist to be plated and screwed together and now my little 8 weeks old grandbaby, Lily Rose, is in a Pavlik harness for her Developmental Hip Dysplasia. She's in it for 8 weeks but we expect an excellent outcome. So, we're hoping that's it for bone troubles for all of us for a while.

27 Fling Boogie page URL:

http://www.flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Decluttertips.asp

or Tiny URL:

http://tinyurl.com/cey3

(Well, it IS on topic.....)

And yes, you do feel lighter. Not encumbered. Our stuff can own us instead of us owning it, because it makes you it's slave....you have to clean it and look at it and move it all the time......I found I was only using 10% of what I had, the other 90% I thought I needed but never used!

I think as we 27 Fling Boogie we are throwing away more than just our "stuff". There are energies attached to alot of that stuff that need to GO.

Have fun Richard and Karen. You are off to a new adventure, and there is nothing like freedom!!!

Oh my goodness, Woz. I didn't know you had fractured your wrist. How long ago was that?

My break was four weeks ago. My boss went into my dr. appointment with me this past Thursday as I asked her to so she could hear it from the horse's mouth. Her mouth just dropped open. The doc said that I didn't just break it in four places and fracture my wrist, but my arm bones shattered into many pieces, and they went in and put a plate in and pinned as much as they could together, and Mother Nature is supposed to cause all those bones to fuse back together again in time (sometimes it can take a year or two for it to really fuse). Doc said I can't use that hand or arm for at least ten more weeks.

I was weak after the surgery and in so much pain for three weeks that I was in Pain Med La La Land.

Good to hear your arm is healing and that your health is going through a really good period.
You seldom mention your challenges on the blog. Me, give me a pain pill and I'll show you all my operation scars and a few other things you didn't ask to see. Hee hee.

You are such a treat. You are intelligent, well informed, and so articulate. I can feel your solid kind spirit through your writing, and it is a privilege to read your posts.

If you would ever like to email, just ask Sparrow for my email addy.

Also Woz, my sister had the same problem with her hip bone when a baby as your little grandaughter, and she had to wear a big contraption or brace at night for quite a while to correct it, but it worked!

"The immediate fallout, with the Pennsylvania primary only two days away, is electoral. Mrs. Clinton has been losing potential endorsers and superdelegate backing from grass-roots activists like Mrs. Larson as well as elected officials, party luminaries and former Clinton White House aides (the most recent being former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who endorsed Mr. Obama on Friday). It is the constituency that provided Mrs. Clinton with an early lead among superdelegates, one she retains although by a narrowing margin."

"But there is something more wrenching at work as well, a reckoning of whether the Clintons, on balance, have been good or bad for the party. It has the feel of a very personal testing of loyalties to a former president who once always seemed to be adding to the “Friends of Bill” list, and to a sitting senator who, if not so driven as her husband to win over everyone, used her fame to help elect other Democrats."

"But one person’s “disloyalty” is, to another set of eyes, well-deserved “comeuppance.” And there is no shortage of powerful Democrats who are quick to accuse the Clintons of defining loyalty as a one-way street, with little regard for the sacrifices they have made for a couple whose own political needs seem to their critics always to come first. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/us/politics/20loyalty.html?hp

Scary, but also extremely interesting....

April 20, 2008
Chinese Urge Anti-West Boycott Over Tibet Stance
By ANDREW JACOBS and JIMMY WANG
BEIJING — Armed with her laptop and her indignation, Zhu Xiaomeng sits in her dorm room here, stoking a popular backlash against Western support for Tibet that has unnerved foreign investors and Western diplomats and, increasingly, the ruling Communist Party.

Over the last week, Ms. Zhu and her classmates have been channeling anger over anti-China protests during the tumultuous Olympic torch relay into a boycott campaign against French companies, blamed for their country’s support of pro-Tibetan agitators. Some have also called for a boycott against American chains like McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

On Friday and Saturday, protesters gathered in front of a half-dozen outlets of the French retailer Carrefour, including a demonstration in the central city of Wuhan that reportedly drew several thousand people, according to Agence France-Presse. On Saturday, about 50 demonstrators carrying banners held a brief rally at the French Embassy here before the police shooed them away.

For the moment, however, most of the outrage is confined to the Internet. More than 20 million people have signed online petitions saying they plan to stop shopping at the Carrefour chain, Louis Vuitton and other stores linked to France because of what they see as the country’s failure to protect the torch during its visit to Paris two weeks ago. In a survey released on Friday, China’s state news agency, known as Xinhua, said 66 percent of those who responded said they would stay away from Carrefour during a monthlong boycott planned for May.

Public indignation has also been directed at Western news outlets, which are blamed for one-sided coverage of the torch relay and for anti-Chinese bias in their reporting on the disturbances in Tibet. In recent days, foreign news outlets here have been swamped by angry phone calls; two music videos circulating on the Internet blast CNN with expletives and lyrics like, “Don’t think that repeating something over and over again means that lies become truth.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/world/asia/20china.html?hp

On this other hand, this one is just flat out ugly...

Fair Game
Piling On: Borrowers Buried by Fees
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
SLOWLY but surely, a handful of public-minded bankruptcy court judges are drawing back the curtain on the mortgage servicing business, exposing, among other questionable practices, the sundry and onerous fees that big banks and financial companies levy on troubled borrowers.

It isn’t a pretty sight, if you are a borrower. But shining a light on this dark corner certainly qualifies as progress.

The cases come out of bankruptcy courts in Delaware, Louisiana and New York, and each one shows how improper, undisclosed or questionable fees unfairly penalize borrowers already struggling with mortgage debt or bankruptcy.

Given the number of new borrowers falling daily into the foreclosure mire, dubious practices by servicers are beyond troubling. Foreclosure filings rose 57 percent in March over the same period in 2007, according to RealtyTrac, the real estate and foreclosure Web site. It also said that banks repossessed more than 50,000 homes last month, more than twice the amount of one year earlier.

If even one of those repossessions was owing to improper fees or practices, that would be one too many.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/business/20gret.html?pagewanted=1&hp

Is it just me or has anyone elses grocery bill tripled?

I thought when it doubled I was trippin, now I am just in pain.

And does nobody in the States grow tomatos anymore? I mean, can't I just get a freaking USA tomato?

Remember when the only consumer good from Mexico we mass consumed was weed? Those were the days.

I am running away with Karen to Brazil.

My easel has wheels.

Wait, wait...

Do they sell Dr. Pepper in Brazil?

You know what would be the height of irony?

You go to Brazil, and pick up a tomato in one of their grocery stores, turn it over, only to find a 'Grown in the USA' sticker.

I almost forgot, to our Jewish brethern...

Happy Passover!

I made a rockin' little video:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=146717871&blogID=381918129

U.S. military groomed TV analysts, NYT says
Paper: Extensive ideological, business ties raise issue of manipulation

Sun., April. 20, 2008
Reuters

NEW YORK - Many U.S. military analysts used as commentators on Iraq by television networks have been groomed by the Pentagon, leaving some feeling they were manipulated to report favorably on the Bush administration, The New York Times said in Sunday editions.

A Times report examining ties between the Bush administration and former senior officers who acted as paid TV analysts said they got private briefings, trips and access to classified intelligence meant to influence their comments.

"Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks," the newspaper said.
-snip-

One case cited by the Times was in the summer of 2005, when accusations were rife over human rights violations at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay on Cuba, where foreign terrorism suspects are held.

The Times said administration communications officials flew a group of retired military officers to the camp on a jet normally used by Vice President Dick Cheney to give their side of the case. Many in the group have subsequently appeared as commentators on the TV networks.

The Times quoted Robert Bevelacqua, a retired Green Beret and former Fox News analyst, as saying, "It was them (the Bush administration) saying, 'We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you.'"

'I felt we'd been hosed'
Kenneth Allard, a former NBC military analyst who taught information warfare at the National Defense University, told the Times the campaign amounted to a "coherent, active," sophisticated information operation.

As the situation in Iraq deteriorated, he saw a gap between what analysts were told in private briefings and what subsequently was revealed in inquiries and books.

"Night and day," he told the Times. "I felt we'd been hosed."

Some analysts said they had suppressed doubts about the situation in Iraq for fear of jeopardizing their access.

much more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24220130/

Anyone shocked?

Christy,

I'll let you know about the tomato crop in Brazil. Last time I was there, it was all-mangoes-all-the-time.

In preparation for my departure into the land of endless rain tomorrow, it is monsoon season today in DC.

Either that, or the gods are weeping over our loss of any sense of peace OR justice.

For those in the New York City area...

Senator Kerry and Teresa will be in town tomorrow (Monday, April 21st) at the Barnes & Noble at Union Square, starting at 7:00 PM. details below. Hope to see you there!

________________________________

On Monday -- the night before Earth Day -- my wife Teresa and I will be at Barnes & Noble Union Square from 7-9 pm to talk about our book "This Moment on Earth" -- and to catch up with old friends who care about the big environmental challenges we face.

The environment's been a big part of our public passion for years and years -- in fact, Teresa and I first got to know each other at the first meetings on climate change in 1990. After the last election, when we met so many incredible environmental activists, Teresa and I decided we needed to tell the stories of some of the people we met, to help break through this notion that somehow the environment is this daunting, grim unsolvable challenge -- and to illustrate the incredible depth of Americans' commitment to environmental justice.

What we found -- and the story we told in our book -- was an incredible creativity from people from all walks of life working to make a difference. We met people working for environmental justice in their community, and patrolling rivers to chronicle environmental damage, and building organizations to track the connections between environmental toxins and rising levels of certain diseases. They didn't think of themselves as traditional environmental activists; they just saw the situation around them and decided that they had to do something.

We're at a critical moment on Earth, with our climate crisis growing ever-more acute. We need legislative solutions and political will, but we also need a new concept of environmentalism. At Barnes & Noble, we'll tell the stories of some of the people we met, and we'll talk about what they tell us about the hope for our planet.

So please join us on Monday:

Barnes & Noble Union Square
33 East 17th Street
New York, NY 10003
Monday, April 21
7-9 pm

Hope to see you there!

Sincerely,
John Kerry
________________________

Idiocy. Every major over-the-air station in NY is broadcasting the Papal mass.

When did a mass become a news story? But perhaps they're using different camera angles to represent the view from heaven, hell, purgatory and limbo? No. As it turns out, they're all broadcasting the same feed!

Makes me look forward to Cromwell raging about Popery on tonight's episode of The Tudors!

They're also showing it on CNN, FOX and MSNBC. Ugh.

Behind Military Analysts, the Pentagon’s Hidden Hand

A PENTAGON CAMPAIGN Retired officers have been used to shape terrorism coverage from inside the TV and radio networks.
By DAVID BARSTOW
Published: April 20, 2008
In the summer of 2005, the Bush administration confronted a fresh wave of criticism over Guantánamo Bay. The detention center had just been branded “the gulag of our times” by Amnesty International, there were new allegations of abuse from United Nations human rights experts and calls were mounting for its closure.
The administration’s communications experts responded swiftly. Early one Friday morning, they put a group of retired military officers on one of the jets normally used by Vice President Dick Cheney and flew them to Cuba for a carefully orchestrated tour of Guantánamo.
To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as “military analysts” whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.
Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.
The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.
Those business relationships are hardly ever disclosed to the viewers, and sometimes not even to the networks themselves. But collectively, the men on the plane and several dozen other military analysts represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants. The companies include defense heavyweights, but also scores of smaller companies, all part of a vast assemblage of contractors scrambling for hundreds of billions in military business generated by the administration’s war on terror. It is a furious competition, one in which inside information and easy access to senior officials are highly prized.
Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.
Analysts have been wooed in hundreds of private briefings with senior military leaders, including officials with significant influence over contracting and budget matters, records show. They have been taken on tours of Iraq and given access to classified intelligence. They have been briefed by officials from the White House, State Department and Justice Department, including Mr. Cheney, Alberto R. Gonzales and Stephen J. Hadley.
In turn, members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated. Some analysts acknowledge they suppressed doubts because they feared jeopardizing their access.
A few expressed regret for participating in what they regarded as an effort to dupe the American public with propaganda dressed as independent military analysis.
“It was them saying, ‘We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you,’ ” Robert S. Bevelacqua, a retired Green Beret and former Fox News analyst, said.
Kenneth Allard, a former NBC military analyst who has taught information warfare at the National Defense University, said the campaign amounted to a sophisticated information operation. “This was a coherent, active policy,” he said.
As conditions in Iraq deteriorated, Mr. Allard recalled, he saw a yawning gap between what analysts were told in private briefings and what subsequent inquiries and books later revealed.
“Night and day,” Mr. Allard said, “I felt we’d been hosed.”
The Pentagon defended its relationship with military analysts, saying they had been given only factual information about the war. “The intent and purpose of this is nothing other than an earnest attempt to inform the American people,” Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said.
It was, Mr. Whitman added, “a bit incredible” to think retired military officers could be “wound up” and turned into “puppets of the Defense Department.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html?_r=1&ex=1366344000&en=196b27df83cc255c&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&page&oref=slogin

April 20, 2008 2:10 PM
monkey said:
U.S. military groomed TV analysts, NYT says
Paper: Extensive ideological, business ties raise issue of manipulation

Does this mean we're not nuts?

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and waddles like a duck, call it a duck.

April 20, 2008 9:00 AM
Matthew Carnicelli said:
On this other hand, this one is just flat out ugly...

As I've said before, when I got laid off in the 2001 recession, Citi-Corp/Citi-Group was at my door promising me refinancing on my home if I would just give up my unemployment benefits and take a part time minimum job somewhere. They didn't appear just once at my door, ~ they actually came over to my home and tried to close a deal with me three times. I was making pretty good money with my unemployment benefits, I had earned them, and there just weren't any job openings in the city that didn't have 300 people applying or paid much more than a very low salary. That was the summer that everything just STOPPED in it's tracks, right before 9-11. Our office, which had been so busy the years before, was worse than a morgue.

One of the guys trying to sell me the deal said that "Citi is the largest corporation in the world now".

You can't tell me those guys didn't know what they were doing when they did it.

I read up on them, and their pattern of corruption goes all the way back to the Civil War.

April 20, 2008 4:22 PM
Matthew Carnicelli said:
Idiocy. Every major over-the-air station in NY is broadcasting the Papal mass.

*****

I immediately thought of you when I saw the Papal mass being televised this afternoon.
I was going to tease you about it, 'cause I knew that if you knew it was being broadcast, you were having apoplexy. LOL.

*****

The Tibetan situation is very sad indeed, but who are WE as a voice of authority as a nation to tell China not to invade and to stop demanding conformity? Really!

April 20, 2008 9:49 AM
Christy said:
Is it just me or has anyone elses grocery bill tripled?

I would say mine has at least quadrupled. Can't get in and out of the market without spending fifty dollars and walking out with two very light bags of items. I never thought I'd see the day when a pack of turkey for sandwiches cost $5.00.

Afghans to probe whether U.S. used depleted uranium
Source: Reuters

KABUL, April 19 (Reuters) - The Afghan government plans to investigate whether the United States used depleted uranium during its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and if it might be linked to malformed babies born afterwards.

Parts of Afghanistan, particularly the mountainous region of Tora Bora in the east -- the suspected hideout of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden -- came under heavy U.S. bombing in late 2001 when the Taliban regime was ousted.

Depleted uranium is a heavy metal used in some weapons that can pierce armour. It has small levels of radioactivity associated with it.

Cases of malformed babies delivered in the heavily bombed Afghan areas have come to light, Faizullah Kakar, Afghan deputy public health minister for technical affairs said on Saturday, citing an unnamed U.S. expert.

Kakar told Reuters the Afghan government planned to investigate the matter.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL146529.htm

The perfect antidote to Popery is HBO's John Adams marathon.

John is getting ready to argue for independence in the famous July 2nd debate on HBO West.

TSP
I fractured my wrist 9 weeks ago and the plaster was removed almost 2 weeks ago.

WOZ
How is your wrist feeling? Doing your exercises? You got to keep your plaster on 7 weeks? Mine was off and I was put into a plastic splint ten days after surgery.