Open Thread version of Dance and Politics: Ballet Version

Bush White House has its own interrogation room.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/07/bush-white-house-has-its-own-interrogation-room/

Dear Richard.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Richard--Hope you have a great birthday and since your boat isn't co-operating, I figured you'd appreciate seeing something in the water.

Hey Karen, and Richard, I just saw the most adorable thing!

Ok, well, first I must totally admit I swiped your pics from your slideshow of your house. I sure did, I tracked them from there and stole copies of them. You know, just to study. (The lagoon pic has a play of light across it, Monet like... Anyways)

I was going through my pics and my Ana who is 9 years old was orbitting me in this constant chatter and I kinda was just pretending to be listening as I am clicking through image files. I click on your house and Ana steps up beside my chair saying how pretty it is.

So we look at the pics and talk about you and Novia Scotia.

And on one pic of the house she stops me and says 'Wait!'. And I look at her and she is studying this pic of your house, and I said 'What?'. She got real intense all of the sudden.

She said... 'It looks like a painting'. She put her finger to the comp screen and traced a line of shadows. Without me saying anything at all, she started breaking it down by color, light and shadow! It was beautiful!

It was a GREAT moment! One I have waited a long time to see.

Thanks for the pics! HAHAHA!

Happy Birthday Richard, fellow Leo!!!

Poor Elizabeth Edwards! Plug you're ears Richard or other men here...

(ears plugged now?)

Men are scum!!!

Can that not think about their WOMAN their WIVES who they made a vow to? PLEASE let Elizabeth NOT GO ON THAT STAGE and 'stand behind her cheating man!'

I'm sorry. But it's time that women of cheating political husbands give those husbands the finger and say, "You ******* up...YOU go deal with the problem!"

Support the (Cheating Candidates) Wife's Club

Sparrow
What stage? He isn't going on a stage is he?
Did Edwards manage to upstage the Olympics? I think the Obamas were smart to go to Hawaii to see his grandma. Wonder if this brings back memories for Hillary? Women cheat too but the timing .. why did he admit it after all this time? Actually, I am not even really curious about it .. much more so about why people care much (though it's sleazy) compared with those who have taken us to war on lies - of course the lies spouses tell each other are something people can relate to on a personal level.

I got a couple of emails about it, I saw a couple of newspaper articles about it, & knew about the Inquirer - I saw the Olympic fireworks on a little computer screen just now - I know the Obamas are in Hawaii, Hillary is in Nevada and McCain is in some swing states somewhere.

So if I have the discipline I will take pretty much a news break. I certainly won't go to DailyKos and read or contribute to thousands of comments. Oh my .. think of what I can get done if I ignore all this. It does such though.

It does SUCK though, I mean.

I'm sorry. But it's time that women of cheating political husbands give those husbands the finger and say, "You ******* up...YOU go deal with the problem!"

Right On Sparrow

The timing is that the National Enquirer brought forth the article. Now it's their timing that one might suspect. How many times do people think of the National Enquirer as being true? Odd that they seem to be correct about the affair but are they correct about the 'love baby'?

I have to admit, the Enquirer cracked me up when it said that Bush and Laura are in opposite wings of the White House. OR Bush is drinking again.

Clearly, they are non-partisan in their hopes of making money off their articles. But I had suspicions that it might be true because Edwards wasn't fighting back. The guy who said he'd "Always fight back" was quiet. So I think he fessed up now so that hopefully the mass media storm will die down before the convention. By then, there should be a new silly story to pursue.

slugbug said:
It does SUCK though, I mean

Hey slugbug, the parcel arrived, thank you very much, really appreciated, could you let me know what I owe you.

EE on Kos

Happy Birthday, Dick!

Happy Birthday Richard ! We're getting you a new president but delivery has to wait till January. Enjoy !

abq

Only In America

David Gregory: Broader implications for the party
By: John Amato @ 6:00 PM - PDT
Yes, John Edwards had an affair that was handled privately and the Edwards story is big news. It will get the Anna Nicole Smith/Brett Favre treatment for a while now. Elizabeth Edwards responds here.

From the email inbox:

David Gregory just said young people were inspired by him and are let down…and questioned whether it will have “broader implications for the party.” during the election. This week, Ron Suskind’s book revealed the Bush team knew Iraq didn’t have WMD, forged letters, paid hush money, and lied us into war. (Chirp, chirp…) Any broader implications for the Republican party there?—the absurdity of a media culture where THIS is what passes for holding politicians accountable.

Broader implication for the party. OK, let’s talk party.

McClellan said that FOX News got talking points from the White House

Bush authorized rendition.

Bush authorized torture. Yes, that means waterboarding.

Bush authorized a war based on lies resulting in millions of innocent Iraqi and Afghani civilian deaths as well as an ethnic cleansing.

Thousands of our troops have been killed or seriously injured.

The US dollar is in the tank.

The housing/mortgage crisis has almost caused a depression.

How about the trampling of our Constitution with warrantless wiretapping?

Laptops are being confiscated at airports and the border.

Under Bush, oil companies are raking in record profits while Americans suffer.

The US attorney scandal.

A health care epidemic.

Monica Goodling

A standing ovation in Congress for David Vitter’s return.

Military TV Analysts/Generals scandal.

Larry Craig’s bathroom adventure.

And many, many more.

Would any of this have “broader implications” to the Republican party during the election if the media did its job?

Newt Gingrich STILL gets on TV every other day and everyone KNOWS he had affairs, even dumping his wife right after cancer surgery. And yet all these MSM types are wringing their hands about what this means to the Democratic Party. Ridiculous. Throw a stone in DC and try not to hit some one with a little something on the side, and that includes those in the press corps.

And they have the nerve to talk about betrayal of Edwards to the media and his wife — in that order. Why aren’t they more outraged about the betrayal of the White House to get us into a war?

What screwed up priorities.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/

Happy Birthday Richard, from Down Under.

" How many times do people think of the National Enquirer as being true? "

Actually, in spite of the perception, the National Enquirer has probably one of THE BEST investigative journalist teams at work in this country today.

Sad, but, if it is in the National Enquirer, it is almost certainly true. They do not let you think you can sue them.

As far as Edwards goes, denying his child at this point is just totally freaking insulting. If that child was not his, he would ALREADY have had a paternity test done, just to be ready to prove it.

The fact he has not already had it done SAYS EVERYTHING.

And, if he did not 'love her' then why is he there HOLDING THE BABY...?

Edwards has about pissed me off as far as I care to be pissed off. I hope his wife slaps the taste out of his mouth often and I hope it hurts.

I don't know why The National Enquirer gets ragged on so much.

They have MORE credibility than the NY Times and the WaPo combined.

As soon as I saw it was the Enquirer that said 'affair' I knew Edwards was caught.

Kangaroo
No charge! Glad to do it! Enjoy!

I am not going to spend much time on JE or the Olympics.

Also, lest we forget:

http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com

BTW, all those stories about the fighting between georgie and Laura.

Believe them.

The NE has moles EVERYWHERE.

The perfect night. It was twilight and the last race. Watch the last race of the night and see what is at the end of 82nd Street! At the end, "high five." I worked ten house plus commute so only had wine to offer - til I remember that I had 100 Obama bumper stickers from MoveOn, and they were a hit!

more photos at http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com

Thanks for all the kind birthday wishes. My boat is now out of the water, while the yard prepares to search for the leaks that have bedeviled this trip. Last night it rained so hard in Maine that raging streams were undercutting and carrying away roads all over the region. Almost everyone up here claims they've never seen so much rain--something is wrong with the weather. Global warming anyone?

I will hold my comments on other domestic events of the day; I always remember Karen saying that HRC could have changed her political career if she had taken her wandering husband out on the porch and decked him.

Hey, I had a totally brilliant idea the other day, and I just found out it works like a charm!

I was just laying in wait, because I knew it would be soon before I once again was confronted with those stupid little words ENGLISH ONLY! This time, I had a plan!

The young clerk at the store had a hanger on hanging around... and this Mexican was buying his stuff, speaking to I think his woman on the phone, in spanish. Not loud just kinda distracted. No big deal. He gets his stuff and walks out.

The hanger on snickers to the clerk "I wish they would just learn english!"

Which was funny because the Mexican actually addressed the clerk IN ENGLISH.

So, I took liberties and told him, "Why don't you just learn spanish?"

And he gets PISSED OFF! And says, 'Lady, this is America, and we use english!'

I said 'Yeah, I know, english like hamburger, tacos and spaggetti. You do use THOSE words, right?"

You should have seen the look on his face!! OMFG it was priceless! The clerk was just kinda snickering as the guy stomped off.

But, I know he was lurking somewhere as I told his grinning friend the clerk 'How sad is it that we expect immigrants to learn more than we can!'

The clerk had a grin so big, and his friend stomps out of the store like a moody 5 year old! It was great!

SOOOO, the next time someone says to you 'English only' ask them if they ever use the words hamburger taco or spaggetti!

Karen this is great! I'm still laughing and have emailed it already. As a Tasmanian I particularly enjoyed the reference to the "Tasmanian devil". Music, dance, art - all are proponents for peace and pleasure. I can't imagine not having them in my life. The world would be a very dark place. Hmmm - as it is for many in the world right now.

Happy birthday Richard!

Of all the children I interact with, those of Mexican-born parents are far and away the best behaved. Some who are very young translate for their parents and help their younger siblings, teach them. They learn English very quickly but it's harder the older one gets. & the families are incredibly greatful for any help or education.

When I fell in love with an illegal Mexican once, I really believe that it became something so beautiful and solid because we began with a language gulf.

The physical attraction brought us together, but it was learning how to listen to each other that truly taught me some of the best lessons I ever learned.

I will never understand some peoples resentment at those who do not speak the same language. If you just LISTEN to them, and try, you will learn so much.

I think they hate non english speakers because they are too mentally lazy to even consider learning anything new at all. They hate them, because it is easier to hate them than to reach out to them and try to understand.

Brilliant Christy, but 'splain how a frankfurter became a hot dog but a hamburger is still a hamburger?

For Pizza Sakes

Monkey and Christy,

Also, there's salami and bologna.

Oh...and who can refuse lasagna?

Or a nice Chili...all those Chili Cookoffs couldn't be because people actually like Chili.

Regarding the Edward's thing...is anyone else curious about the timing of the article or is it simply because the NE stood to make more money right before the Democratic Convention?

I also am to the point of thinking it is his baby and I hope he is doing right for that child.

I feel really sorry for EE though.

ALso, recently, TSP let me know there had been a military activity between Russia and Georgia and I didn't even know about it because all I heard about was Paris, Edwards, and inflating tires.

I think if the media were to discuss this latest war more people would realize how much 'authority and integrity' our country has lost in this world. And hadn't they sold Condi-liar on us by telling us what a big expert she was in Russia and USA relations? Why isn't she there stopping this? Or at least working diplomatically? Why haven't we heard anything from either campaign or the media on this?

We need a serious media instead of all this fluff media. Even my conservative brother, who claims we have a liberal media (I don't let him get away with saying it) admits that we have more fluff than substance.

I don't think the NE really 'timed' it. They simply waited and he fell into their trap. They knew something was up even if he was lying like no one was paying attention.

All I can say is THANK GOD he did not win the primaries, because he would have just handed the presidency to Mumbles McCrazy.

Afghan children raped with 'impunity,' U.N. official says

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/08/07/afghan.family/index.html?eref=rss_world

Tape: Top CIA Official Confesses To 9/11-Iraq War Forgery Came From White House

http://www.crooksandliars.com/

Monkey, I thought about it and I can not explain the 'frankfurter', except to say someone probably ate it without knowing what it was, and invented an alternative that stuck.

If you are 'English only' then atleast you can still order a hot dog.

Not sure about the croissanwich.

We should really hold them to it!

English ONLY?...Ok dude, you just knocked about 1 million words out of your own vocabulary.

Don't even say Arab or Muslim, you know why? It is NOT ENGLISH!

THEY WOULD HAVE TO SHUT UP ABOUT EVERYTHING!

HAHAHAHA!!!

Christy
Yes I think 40% of English is Latin-derived. All those words are off limits.
We would have to go back to Anglo Saxon like Ye Olde Englishe, I think. No tacos, churros, burritos, pizza, spaghetti etc.

hmm

croissantwhich - croissant = crescent-shaped

The word came to English from French in the 13th Century

http://blog.oup.com/2008/06/croissant/

Sparrow

You bet there is military activity and 1500 people were killed in one day!! That's like 2-1/2 years in Iraq or almost 1/2 day at 9/11.

Google has over 7000 stories on it - a new record (Israel-Lebanon crisis two summers ago was in the 5000s).

That's what Obama means when he talks about "distraction" - & he's in Hawaii, one of our states, & psychologically it's like people think he's out of the country again! Meanwhile McCain has to hang around nukes and pigs and bikes & stuff, half-heartedly.

I haven't heard or read much about Edwards except I do know the Inquirer was the only one outside of blocks touching it with a 10 foot pole til ABC got involved and I did see a bit of a video of the female love interest as I didn't know what she looked like or how to pronounce her name and she was not even interested in politics.

I didn't find any photos of Edwards in swim trunks but I found these:

Obama, Clinton, Reagan, Kerry, Blair, Sarkozy, Ford w/Kissinger et al
more at http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com

A few too many Big Macs for Bill - Reagan looks something like how we don't want to visualize the wrinkly old white haired man Paris Hilton referred to & Tony Blair looks like he's either spent too much time behind a computer or doesn't smoking pot cause man boobs? Kerry is all covered up but no pot belly obviously & Sarko ok for his age. There were a couple of pictures of Bush I and Bush II fishing but I didn't include them for obvious reasons even though they were not bare-chested. Kissinger better not stand up in the pool either.

I meant to say BLOGS above not BLOCKS.

What A Friking Joke, Georgie Invades And Occupies The Sovereign Nation Of Iraq, And Then Starts Throwing Out Orders To Russia

Sovereignty just isn't what it used to be.

U.S. tells Russia to pull forces out of Georgia
Source: reuters
By Susan Cornwell and Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States told Russia on Friday to withdraw its forces from U.S. ally Georgia and stop its air attacks on the tiny Caucasus state following fighting in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

"We call on Russia to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and missiles, respect Georgia's territorial integrity, and withdraw its ground combat forces from Georgian soil," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement.

Rice issued her statement as Georgia, a former Soviet state that now wants to join NATO, said it would declare martial law as it battled to get control of the rebel enclave, which was backed by Russian forces.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0850115420080808

Obama and Kerry are hot! (Just my own opinion from those pictures!)

Compared to all the rest, Obama is MUEY CALIENTE!

Yeah, ok, croissanwich is out. Sorry Burger King!

Ye Olde Englishe. HEHE!

Try ordering a taco with that and see what happens!

Chicago John for a day or so what a Great Town!

If you see Ally tell her I am doing an expose on Moon. He had Global Peace Festivals all over the place without revealing the underlying cultiness. I had a spy attend, who was almost assigned a "minder" but escaped the Koolaid. We didn't get it to the newpapers in time but we haven't given up. Click my name for "so far.." developing

War: 30,000 homeless as a chaotic conflict intensifies

Putin condemns 'genocide' as eyewitnesses claim South Ossetia's capital is destroyed. Moscow missiles kill dozens in Georgia's frontline city as peace effort gets under way

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/war-30000-homeless-as-a-chaotic-conflict-intensifies-889751.html

The situation on the ground in South Ossetia, most of whose population are ethnic Russians, remained highly confused. Russia said it had seized South Ossetia's capital, Tskhinvali, but Georgia denied this. Russia, which sent in tanks to back the South Ossetians, said its forces had "liberated" the enclave's capital, but Georgia responded that Tskhinvali was under its "complete control".

A Russian journalist said Tskhinvali had been badly damaged. "The town is destroyed. There are many casualties, many wounded," Zaid Tsarnayev told Reuters. Russian jets carried out up to five raids on mostly military targets around the Georgian town of Gori, close to the conflict zone in South Ossetia. But some missiles went astray, killing at least a dozen people. A woman knelt in the street and screamed over the body of a dead man, as a bombed apartment block burned nearby.

I am mad as hell right now.

These pics coming out of Georgia... Why is it when white people die it is so worthy the photos are everywhere, but when brown people die, no one wants to SEE IT...?

I have seen MORE graphic images from GEORGIA, in the last few days than I have seen from IRAQ in YEARS.

Yes, I know... 'But Christy, you ARE white!" Good thing too, maybe when I die everyone will want to see it. Be curious about how it happened. Photograph it, study it, wonder...

I am so mad, and I don't even know at what.

"You bet there is military activity and 1500 people were killed in one day!! That's like 2-1/2 years in Iraq "

2 and 1/2 years in Iraq, but only on the American side.

Iraqis lose that many in a week.

They have lost 1 and a half MILLION Iraqis in the violence so far, so, that 1,500 is a lowball figure.

But their deaths don't count. If they did, we would be counting them.

Christy

Right. By the way, looks like Russia is winning. They are punitive but Georgia has neocon advisory and support. Neocons can no longer just go "spread democracy" any where they want. They never could. It was one of their Ivory Chair pipe dreams (which killed millions.) & McCain has neocon advisors & they will lean on Obama if he gets in too.

As for the racial angle, that is changing over the course of time on this globe and those in power cling desperately to power and perception is power so they try to control perception.

The Russia/George conflict has over 9000 Google news entries. Prior to this week, the most I'd ever seen was 6000 - for the Israeli/Lebanon conflict two summers ago.

Reading this http://www.reuters.com/article/europeCrisis/idUSN09504234
I see Obama & McCain posturing but pretend each is President and the Obama recommendations feel better (trying to pretend I don't even know who these men are) - I kind of wish both Colin Powell and Condi Rice would publicly see the light and just bail from the Republicans.

White supremacists say Obama win could offer them a boost
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080810/NEWS15/808100442
Here we have David Duke and his ilk - estimated 200,000 active white supremacists.

Their days are numbered, imho.

Georgia's army of less than 25,000 men is confronting a Russian force which can count on more than one million troops and has dominance of both skies and sea.

I don't care how many troops the Russians have, they will have to commit genocide to 'win'.

And Putin is more than willing to go there.

I think the war is the point of the neocon version of the world. War is not, I repeat NOT a 'failure' to them.

It accomplishes multiple goals for them. War profits, god like power over life and death...And most important of all, it provides the means for the ultimate goal of 'population thinning'.

There is only so many resources and we can't all have them. The natives here always believed the earth provided enough to share, but we genocided them and they will NEVER be in power again.

BTW, if Russia is 'at war' then are we not technically in a 'World War'...?

Checking in after several days of absence...

First: happy belated b-day, Dick! (Though I wrote on your Facebook wall too)

Second: Just spent some time at the local Costco looking at some anti-Obama books, including one written by the same guy who wrote "Unfit for Command" re: John Kerry. Costco, being pro-Democratic, of course also had books by Obama himself. Also present at that same Costco: two paintings of poker-playing Presidents (one all Republican, the other all Democratic).

Third: As previously mentioned, government contracts have resulted in handsome income for my family business, and we may use that to follow Karen and Dick's example - establish a presence in Canada. Canada loves American investors, so we're looking at possible investment options. Will keep you updated as the plans develop and become more concrete. If we do establish a Canadian presence, it won't be in Nova Scotia though - we're looking more at rural British Columbia. A good family friend who splits his time between suburban Vancouver and rural British Columbia (he's a hotelier) will give us some good advice; I will be visiting him next month. My intention, if at all possible, is to get Canadian investor immigrant visa - but maintain a presence in the US and continue voting as a US citizen (despite rigged polls, I still consider voting in US elections to be a privilege with major ramifications for the rest of the world).

slugbug

Saw your blog entry on the Moonies in Seattle.

Hyun Jin Moon is also known as Preston Moon, and since he's more Americanized, he's more dangerous than the Good Reverend himself.

Hey guys will you get that friking Wanker back home on American soil, he is friking spoiling my Olympics, everytime I sit down to watch the games, the wanker is in the stands, and off goes the games, trust him to even spoil the Olympics for me.

Christy

The average person in other countries speaks at least two languages, the second language often being English.

We English-speakers are notorious monoglots - that's true of not just the US, but most of the UK as well. Why bother learning others' languages when they will gladly speak yours? :)

But seriously though, learning a foreign language is a very wonderful thing. That said, I need to get back on my Spanish drills, which I've neglected for too long.

kangaroo

Tell me about it! I've been hearing about W nonstop since he started this final Asian trip of his pResidency.

What disgusted me the most was 30,000 South Korean Christian extremists holding a thanksgiving prayer vigil, when W visited Seoul.

"Crazy ill-prepared campaign hack say what? "

Oh. My. Gawd!

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/10/fns-rick-davis-brags-on-mccains-maverick-ness-facts-be-damned/

Ally, check email.

President Bush Not So Good With American Flags

mindlessmissy

"LOL OMG the look on his daughter's face is priceless! "Yep.
She is like " Who is this Dumb One I call a Dad " ???

So, apparently, even after seven years, President George W. Bush still hasn't learned how to correctly display the American flag. Glorious. We still have to pay him a salary, out of our stimulus packages, apparently.

It's times like this that you just sort of have to say, "Know what? On second thought, Mr. President, please don't make an effort to resolve the crisis in Georgia, okay? I think we'll all be better off."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/10/president-bush-not-so-goo_n_118037.html

Georgia;

The US has been covertly supporting popular Georgia against the minority, which are pro Russian. In july there were large scale military excercises by US and Georgian forces on the border.

On friday, August 8th Georgia / US forces launched large scale rocket attacks against the pro russian population.

Russia Responded with large scale counter attack, which is why the UN and US are calling it a "disporportionate" response. The US and Georgia pushed Russia, they just didnt want Russia to push back. They thought russia would lodge a compliant with the UN.

There are news stories of American forces among the dead, which would confirm covert support of georgian military against pro russian population.
Furthermore georgian forces have been burning down the houses and businesses of pro russian civilians.

It wasnt enough for Bush to invade the Middle East, he wanted to push Russia as well...

now what, Bush?

Do you have links for the reports of our soldiers amongst the dead?

If that is true, then 'Now what?' is WORLD WAR 3.

And he is doing it DELIBERATELY.

I hope it is not true, but knowing georgies need for war profits, I would not doubt it.

The Pipeline War: Russian Bear Goes for West's Jugular

By Svetlana Skarbo and Jonathan Petre

The war in Georgia escalated dangerously last night after Russian jets reportedly bombed a vital pipeline that supplies oil to the West.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20476.htm

Petraeus: US is flying Georgian troops into battle zone

Exclusive: Deborah Haynes, Baghdad

US aircraft have started to fly some of Georgia's 2,000 troops in Iraq back home to join the fight in the breakaway province of South Ossetia, General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq said today.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20475.htm

US condemns 'dangerous' Russian response in South Ossetia:

American official calls Moscow's military action against Georgia 'disproportionate' and warns of lasting damage to relations

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/10/georgia.russia2

===

U.S. suggests Russia wants "regime change" in Georgia:

The United States suggested on Sunday that Russia was interested in "regime change" in Georgia after Moscow rejected Tbilisi's offer of a cease-fire in the separatist enclave of South Ossetia.

http://tinyurl.com/6zs4sz

===

Georgia: Vladimir Putin leads from front to send US a bullish message:

The fighting in Georgia has answered the question that world leaders have been asking since Vladimir Putin stepped down as President this year: who runs Russia?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4499726.ece

===

U.S. has few options to deter Russia:

Most of the key cards, including the power to veto any United Nations, were held by Russia, which appeared to be using the crisis to ram home to the United State and its allies that it will not accept further expansion of NATO. Both Georgia and the former Soviet republic of Ukraine are seeking to join the alliance.

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/254/story/398835.html

===

Did the U.S. Prep Georgia for War with Russia?:

One of the U.S. military trainers put it to me a bit more bluntly. "We're giving them the knife," he said. "Will they use it?"

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/08/did-us-military.html

===

'US incited Georgia offensive in S. Ossetia':

The White House has orchestrated the current conflict between Russia and Georgia in South Ossetia, a high-ranking Russian official says. In a Friday press conference, Chairman of Russia's State Duma Security Committee Vladimir Vasilyev said without US aid, Tbilisi would have been unable to start military operation in South Ossetia.

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=66208§ionid=351020602

I haven't been hiding out, but my computer is experiencing some problems with the server. Expecting tech help tomorrow. Been offline for several days so I couldn't come in and put my two cents worth in about JE.

Tonight I worked late, so here is my 2 cents worth:

I feel sick (but not stunned) about JE. Elizabeth is a remarkable woman.

Well where IS everybody?

I JUST GOT BACK ONLINE! Alas, only to find my comrades are not on line tonight.

I have got VERY EXCITING NEWS TO SHARE with y'all. I'm stoked!

EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON!!!

But I want to wait until I am sure I am on the right thread.

Well where IS everybody?

I JUST GOT BACK ONLINE! Alas, only to find my comrades are not on line tonight.

I have got VERY EXCITING NEWS TO SHARE with y'all. I'm stoked!

EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON!!!

But I want to wait until I am sure I am on the right thread.

AND..... I am NEVER redundant.....