Wow, I'm bad at this!

I just can't seem to get back into this! Daily posting is the goal, but I've gotten out of the habit...and tomorrow I go on another mini-vacation, so I doubt I'll get much done until next week. But, I just had to post this stuff. Kind of a long excerpt from an Washington Post article, but so much good stuff!

"What people are looking for is a general approach that is not necessarily confrontational but one that shows that we are strong, that we've got bold ideas," said Feingold. "It is saying, 'Look, if we took over Congress or took over the White House we would do a better, more strategic job of fighting terrorism,' for example. So it's not just negative. It's not just raising hell."

Maybe not JUST raising hell, but that's part of the fun!

Feingold, one could say, is Dean 2.0 -- more substance, less growling.

Feingold's political career began with his 31-vote upset victory over state Sen. Cy Bidwell (R) in 1982. In the legislature, Feingold drew attention for his fight to ban the use of bovine growth hormone. He launched a seemingly quixotic bid for the U.S. Senate in 1992. Defying conventional wisdom with the use of wacky television ads (one featured Elvis Presley offering an endorsement), Feingold won a three-way Democratic primary with 70 percent of the vote and went on to defeat two-term incumbent Bob Kasten.

Check out some of his early ads at Progressive Patriots Fund (link on the sidebar), they are fabulous!

Looking for an analogy to describe Democrats' positioning on Iraq, Feingold reaches back to the early 1990s when then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton began a push for universal health care, a campaign that ultimately collapsed amid attempts at compromise. "It came in with strong language but by the end there were so many compromises," recalls Feingold. "We didn't want anybody mad at us."

Feingold doesn't have that problem -- as evidenced by a recent altercation with Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (Pa.) over a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.

God, I wish I could find video of that encounter!

Feingold is well aware that he is not (and never will be) the frontrunner for the nomination, but he said his own political career shows that the conventional wisdom is often wrong. He will not, however, run for president solely to prove a point. "I would have to feel that I could actually win it for Democrats," said Feingold. "I sure don't want to get the nomination and not win."
It's that mix of passion and pragmatism that Feingold hopes will appeal to Democratic voters looking for a fresh-faced truth-teller come 2008. Feingold's career has been defined by his crusader nature, but it's his skills as a conciliator -- with conviction -- that may be most important for his hopes of capturing his party's nomination.

Check out the whole thing

From the comments on the above article, GREAT titles for the parties in this comment:

A sincere libertarian progressive with a backbone. No-one in the Deadocratic or the Repungelical party comes close to being this authentic. Maybe Chuck Hagel. I would vote for this guy in a second.
Posted by: math nerd | June 5, 2006 08:57 AM

That's it for now! But it's still early....

Part 2

Okay, I just HAD to post this! The most bizarre story ever to appear in the Washington Post. And it fits with today's animal theme.

He pressed his stethoscope to the gorilla's chest and narrowed his eyes. Kuja, a silverback patriarch, was breathing isofluorine. He was the Senate majority leader of the gorillas, who negotiated disputes, back-slapped the ape boys and owned exclusive mating rights with the females. When Kuja started to stir, a veterinarian injected more anesthesia. One backhanded swipe could break Frist's neck.

I'm sure you want to read more!

What a Vacation!!!

This is the story that got me back to blogging after my recent vacation in NYC.

"He attacks from the back," Kettman said Monday. "You never see it coming. He has six toes on every foot, which constitutes a very formidable weapon."
Kettman said she was attacked twice by Lewis the cat, whose owner was due back in court Tuesday on a charge of second-degree reckless endangerment.

Feline story here


THREATDOWN!

The bear walked into a neighbor's garage, Reda said. A 15-year-old girl saw the animal and fled into the house, but the bear pushed the door open behind her and followed her inside, Reda said.

Scary story here


Watch out for your kiddies!

A middle school teacher was arrested after police said he showed up at school drunk, asked one of his students to fetch cognac, then fondled a student and made a sexual remark to another.
Johnson, 55, is an industrial arts teacher at the Pruitt Military Academy, a magnet school in the district.

Disturbing story here


Happy Meal?

A man ran over three toddlers and two adults with his car in the parking lot of a McDonald’s restaurant Tuesday, police said, and one witness described him as having a smile on his face.

Weird story here…


Get Out the Vote/Stupid Tax merger

An Arizona political activist is placing his bets that a proposal to pay one lucky voter $1 million will drive people to the polls.
Under the plan, the $1 million awarded to one randomly selected voter after each election would come from unclaimed Arizona Lottery prize money. A voter could get one entry in the drawing for voting in the primary and another for the general election.

Intriguing story here


News You Can Use!

Marijuana smoking does not increase a person's risk of developing lung cancer, according to the findings of a new study at the University of California Los Angeles that surprised even the researchers.
They had expected to find that a history of heavy marijuana use, like cigarette smoking, would increase the risk of cancer.

What was I saying??


Another one of the Bushista magical democracies in the Middle East descends into Civil War …

With Hamas and Fatah forces shooting at each other, Gaza stands on the edge of civil war. A report from the streets.

I started calling it a civil war when the family of a slain bodyguard took over the lobby of my hotel -- one of the nicest seaside hotels in the world, let alone in a place like Gaza City -- and began firing at the Hamas gunmen across the street.

Depressing story here


Guess this explains why we’ve never elected a chef as president.

One Florida man attired in chef attire told the president. "On behalf of all the cooks and chefs in our country, I have to say you're running it the way a chef would run the country, and we're proud of you."

Delicious story here

I'm back!

Weird stuff I noticed…
I went to the bank (instead of the ATM). The teller’s name plate said “Soda Pop”. She was too old for it to be Seinfeld inspired. I would have loved to ask her about it…

At the gas station, there was a sign on the pump, notifying customers that paying by credit card at the pump, the limit had been set at $75, so if you needed more than that, you have to stop and start a new transaction after $75, or you could pay by credit card inside. $75 for gas!? Wow.


Get this man a whizzinator!

Rush Limbaugh must pass random drug tests for the next 18 months to satisfy an agreement filed Monday that will lead to dismissal of a prescription fraud charge if he stays out of trouble.

More here


This paints a pretty picture of the “graduating” Iraqi defenders..

Then some soldiers started tearing their clothes off to demonstrate their rage.
The protest was triggered by an announcement that the new soldiers, all residents of Anbar province -- widely considered the heartland of Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgent movement -- would be required to serve outside their home towns and outside the province as well.
The clip showed what appeared to be dozens of angry, shouting troops ripping off their uniforms and throwing them in the air or on the ground. Others shook their fists in the direction of the camera, as Iraqi officers, waving their arms, attempted to stop the tumult. In the background, most soldiers simply milled around, looking confused about what was taking place.
Army graduation ceremonies have often been troubled. In late 2003, according to Kalev Sepp, a retired Special Forces officer who has advised U.S. commanders in Iraq, U.S. trainers of one Iraqi unit so distrusted their students that they carried loaded pistols at a graduation ceremony in case of mutiny.

Details


This isn’t exactly new, though it seems to be getting more attention suddenly

INTELLIGENCE SOURCES SAY VALERIE WILSON WAS PART OF AN OPERATION THREE YEARS AGO TRACKING THE PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS MATERIAL INTO IRAN. AND THE SOURCES ALLEGE THAT WHEN MRS. WILSON'S COVER WAS BLOWN, THE ADMINISTRATION'S ABILITY TO TRACK IRAN'S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS WAS DAMAGED AS WELL."

a little more info here


Stephen Colbert was so impressive! I like this description:

Packing devastating 150 MPH satire, Hurricane Colbert slammed into Washington D.C. last weekend, laying waste to thousands of expensive egos and careers and leaving behind torrential whining.

For more

For list lovers…guess the title of this one!

Helen Thomas is old and batty.
Mexicans are taking our jobs.
Iraq sent its WMDs to Syria.
Democrats don't want to wiretap terrorists.
Joe Wilson admitted that Valerie Plame wasn't covert.
Karl Rove has a faulty memory.
Scooter Libby has a faulty memory.

See the rest here


Funny Colbert photoshophere


Russ has a new statement on troop withdrawal

This body has failed time and again to debate the direction of our country’s policy in Iraq. Three years ago the President landed on an aircraft carrier and declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq. Today, with thousands of lives lost and billions of dollars spent, we are still no closer to a policy that lifts the burden from our troops and taxpayers, and that actually makes our country safer from the terrorist networks that seek to hurt us.
By failing to discuss alternatives to the Administration’s failed Iraq policy, we have let down this institution and our constituents. We simply cannot continue to avoid asking the tough questions about Iraq. We should not be appropriating billions of dollars for Iraq without debating – and demanding -- a strategy to complete our military mission there. Not when the lives of our soldiers and the safety of our country are at risk, Mr. President

Full text of floor speech here


More Colbert stuff, I am obviously obsessed

That's what made the audience at the Correspondents' dinner so deadly silent. Colbert made not-very-exaggerated statements that could easily have come out of the mouths of any pompous reporter or Republican flunky, statements that not only made the press and the administration look silly, but also hubristic, heedless, weak, and even murderous. Those of us who were not implicated by his speech could laugh freely at it. I didn't vote for this administration, and I certainly haven't enabled it through silence. Colbert embodied all those whose ambition, toadyism, and cowardice fuel Bush's whims, while also making it clear that only the "backwash" of Americans support his work as President anyway. To laugh at Colbert as a blowhard is to recognize the evil that his kind of blowhardery enables.

For more of this
To thank Stephen


And a little more satire…

What was the president thinking?
." Colbert... Colbert... Got it! His nickname will be "Cheese!" Like Colby cheese! Hi, Cheese!

Hilarious!


An opening that just confuses me..

The notion of Bob Dylan as a free-wheeling radio DJ might seem as plausible as Kevin McHale, the other pride of Hibbing, making productive trades for the Timberwolves.
The first "Theme Time Radio Hour With Your Host Bob Dylan" focuses on weather, and you don't need to be a weatherman to talk about the weather, especially if you're a Minnesotan. Spinning 18 tunes about rain, wind and sun, Dylan talks more about the music, though he bandies about cloud types and comments on the "winds of apocalypse" in California
Musically, the songs run the gamut from Jimmie Davis' "You Are My Sunshine" to Jimi Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary" to Frank Sinatra's "Summer Wind."

Story


Another of my heroes…

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is a crime-busting phenomenon, the scourge of al-Qaeda terrorists, corrupt Chicago political machines, former media tycoon Conrad Black, and—as special prosecutor in the Valerie Plame investigation—the West Wing. Meet Karl Rove's worst nightmare

Interesting Vanity Fair profile


Another Russ in Iowa article

"He's what we consider the Real McCoy," Grimesey said. "He doesn't have to say what he stands for. You can look at what he's done, and it actually matches what he's said."

That certainly sets him apart


More from Vanity Fair, what’s happened to that magazine lately?

Purdum reports that Cheney travels with a chemical-biological suit at all times. When he gave his friend Robin West and his twin children a ride to the White House a couple of years ago, West commented on the fact that Cheney’s motorcade varied its daily path. “And he said, ‘Yeah, we take different routes so that “The Jackal” can’t get me,’” West tells Purdum. “And then there was this big duffel bag in the middle of the backseat, and I said, ‘What’s that? It’s not very roomy in here.’ And [Cheney] said, ‘No, because it’s a chemical-biological suit,’ and he looked at it and said, ‘Robin, there’s only one. You lose.’”

Nice guy!

Can't believe we're here again

News from RUSS in Iowa

Feingold's camp reports that author Sanford Horwitt is working on a biography of the senator, set to be published by Simon & Schuster some time next year, according to spokesman Trevor Miller.

Miller said Horwitt has been interviewing Feingold and his staff and associates about everything -- from his school years, to his tough '98 re-election fight against Mark Neumann, to present issues.

Horwitt has also written a biography of Saul Alinsky, who he calls a "pioneering Chicago community organizer." That book is titled "Let Them Call Me Rebel."

Details of his trip here


Bill Frist scores another direct hit…on himself…with gas rebate inanity

"What kind of insult is this?" Rush Limbaugh asked on his radio program on Friday. "Instead of buying us off and treating us like we're a bunch of whores, just solve the problem." In commentary on Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume called the idea "silly."

Story here


Stephen Colbert, what a job he did! If you missed the White House Correspondents’ dinner, here is some video
I must say, I did also like W’s bit, pretty funny and self-deprecating. Which brings to mind this comment from Huffington Post:

“You have to love the President's self-defecating type of humor. Colbert's performance shows us that sometimes it's ok to cast our pearls before swine.”

Not sure how to take that one… Judge for yourself


Thanks to Marina, I have an interest in this:

But our press says nothing about who the Maoists are in Nepal. What does it mean to be a Maoist in 2006, long after the death of Mao? What is the political program of these Maoists? Is land reform their central issue? Are they anti capitalist (unlike the Chinese heirs of Mao)? I, for one, would like to know. Perhaps I'm uniquely ignorant on this subject, and most readers of the New York Times and Washington Post already know a great deal about Maoism in Nepal. But somehow I suspect that's not the case.

The issue here is not simply that I and other consumers of news would like to better understand what is going on in a very-far-off place: in an era of immense American power, it would indeed be valuable for Americans to learn what Nepalese Maoists believe and why a Maoist movement has endured in the Himalayas. (Oh yes, it now appears that there are Maoists in India also, most of whom are probably not software engineers.)

The issue is also the use of lazy, politicized labels to describe political movements that are ill understood and out of the (American) mainstream. Reporters always need to use some shorthand, but if the shorthand is nowhere fleshed out, it can only serve to promote stereotypes. Maoists? Populists? Insurgents? Warlords? Words that mask more than they tell can get us into trouble.

Media bias is all too prevalent


So, Pat and Jerry, who’s responsible for this one? The president?

Storms with wind up to 100 mph and hail the size of baseballs battered parts of Texas on Saturday, damaging buildings and slamming parked airplanes into one another at an airport.

Don’t mean to be heartless, but am so sick of their hypocrisy….Here for weather details


This fascinating subject courtesy of a pod on Current yesterday:

Earthship Biotecture designs and builds homes that...
• Heat and cool themselves naturally via solar/thermal dynamics...
• Collect their own power from the sun and wind...
• Harvest their own water from rain and snow melt...
• Contain and treat their own sewage on site...
• Produce a significant amount of food...
• And are constructed using largely the byproducts of modern society;
like cans, bottles and tires.

Really worth a look!


Harsh irony

A 76-year-old woman who drove to a cemetery to visit her husband's grave has been killed by her own car.

Sad story here


things that make you go WTF?????

Keith Richards fans gathered outside a hospital Sunday where the Rolling Stones guitarist was believed to be undergoing treatment for a mild concussion reportedly suffered when he fell out of a palm tree on vacation in Fiji.

What was he doing in that tree??? No answer here


Who says the Germans don’t have a sense of humor?

About 100 bearded men have been preening, waxing, curling, washing, varnishing, brushing and combing their copious facial hair in a bid for glory at the International German Beard World Championship in the northern town of Hesel.
Britain's Rod Littlewood, president of the Handlebar Club, founded in 1947 and believed to be the oldest beard wearers' club in the world, said he once made it into the Guinness Book of Records with the longest beard in England, 1.60 metres. Since then, his ambition has waned. "I'm only here for the beer," he said.

Great photos included here


Neil Young is providing the soundtrack to this blog:

Peace groups including True Majority smartly have seized on the moment to mobilize Young’s listeners. Never before has any album moved so quickly from concept to completion to pre-release controversy, to the ears of millions of listeners. Mr. Young knows how to craft a message, and how to market it in a way that no one has before. He's done it like a martial arts expert, utilizing the venom and energy of his attackers who don't like this Canadian citizen's urgent, compelling, pro-peace vision of the American dream.

Listen here


Bush as Vegas gambler on a losing streak…

It's just like playing blackjack in Vegas.
Invariably, sitting right next to you is some guy, eyes shifty and body twitchy and making weird sounds with his mouth and smelling vaguely of sawdust and horse manure and dead dreams, with a huge pile of chips he is quickly turning into a very small pile of chips.

for the lowdown

Hurry up and wait

This one’s for Kira!

Cheeseheads speak up: It's Wis-KAN-sen. Web site sets record straight on state's words including Oconomowoc.

Herefor more Wisconsin fun.

At last! A source for answers to pressing questions like these:

How do I use my new coffee mug? What if the cap on my ChapStick will not snap back on? If I take some raw popcorn kernels outside into the sunshine, will they pop? Can I eat this vanilla-scented candle? How do I screw the top back on this newfangled toothpaste? Can I wear these tube socks on my hands like cute little mittens and walk around like a funny Martian? Why, sure you can, sir.

A must-read!


Russ is at it again!

Sen. Russ Feingold said Thursday he will introduce an amendment to a spending bill requiring that U.S. troops leave Iraq by the end of the year.

For more

Are we there yet?

This is music to my ears:

It isn't easy being a Republican these days, either. Bush's approval rating is at an all-time low, gas prices are near an all-time high, and Iraq continues to burn. Voters have an even lower opinion of the GOP-controlled Congress. Ideological disputes within the party make it hard for believers to pick sides, and incompetence at the top makes it difficult to follow through on the agenda items Republicans do agree on, like reducing the deficit. Bad news from Iraq and any number of scandals tied to the GOP erupt regularly. A month ago, the Republican political class was merely worried. Now its members are talking about "avoiding catastrophic losses." Conversations about the state of the party used to have two parts: all the bad news followed by signs of hope. I'm just hearing a one-act play now.

Quite encouraging…I’ve spent some time lately exploring the state-level blogs for Feingold. Then I found this mapwhich gives a good idea of how Russ is catching on all over.


Wow, impeachment seems to be gaining momentum, around the country if not in DC…

Enter the blogs. On Jan. 24, well before the Illinois legislator Karen Yarbrough stumbled over this state legislature loophole, blogger arbortender of DailyKos had unearthed the rule that another writer dubbed "Jefferson's Revenge". Fellow blogger Kagro X took the baton, and the blogs have been pushing the story and building the momentum ever since, from Vermont's various town- and countywide resolutions to the Illinois bombshell, through California's and now Vermont's state-level proposals. According to Steve Leser, Democratic state legislators in Wisconsin, New Mexico, Nevada and North Carolina are also considering either impeachment or censure proposals.
In any case, the three states already debating impeachment represent nearly 50 million Americans, or roughly 16 percent of the total U.S. population.

Full story here


Inside the Bubble

As the presidential motorcade moves north on Interstate 15 past the Strip, past the billboards for Danny Gans and the Chippendale dancers, an eerie silence envelops the highway, which is empty, save for the armored Cadillac limousines, the black Secret Service Suburbans, the press buses and vans and the massive police escort.

Continued


Real hypocrisy, surprise, surprise!

President Bush's retreat from the ambitious goals of his second term will proceed one small but fateful step further this Friday. That's when, after more than two years of stalling, the president will deliver a warm White House welcome to Ilham Aliyev, the autocratic and corrupt but friendly ruler of one of the world's emerging energy powers, Azerbaijan.
Here's why this is a tipping point: At the heart of Bush's democracy doctrine was the principle that the United States would abandon its Cold War-era practice of propping up dictators -- especially in the Muslim world -- in exchange for easy access to their energy resources and military cooperation. That bargain, we now know, played a major role in the emergence of al-Qaida and other extremist anti-Western movements.

Very interesting article about how in order to block his buddy Putin’s efforts to reassert control over former SSRs, Bush is more than ready to abandon his (alleged) principles, here


Consequences. Bush is so used to never having to face them, he probably doesn’t even consider that he has any responsibility for fiascos like the Chinese visit. Here’s some Asian perspective on that.

Considering how much time and effort was spent on the ceremonial details of Chinese President Hu Jintao's official visit to Washington last week, it is hard to understand how things could have gotten fouled up so badly.

This part is funny

Toward the end of the ceremony, President George W Bush was photographed grabbing Hu's jacket sleeve to guide him in the right direction. Hu looked down on Bush with obvious distaste as if to say, "Keep your mangy hands off me."

I saw that photo (sorry, no link) and that is exactly the look. for the whole sorry story

Busy, busy day!

The NY Times is repeating an argument I disagree with:

But the backlash against the president's critics ultimately benefited Democrats more than the embarrassment hurt them, Ms. Nichols added, just as some Republicans are hoping talk of impeaching Mr. Bush may help them this year.

Some people are arguing that this is a lesson that tells us not to rile people up about censuring or impeaching Bush. The difference is, Clinton was not hugely unpopular even at the height of the scandal, and the Republicans acted as if everyone was ready to hang him. Now, people are deeply angry with Bush, and the Democrats act as if he’s still hugely popular. I don’t think censure and impeachment talk are going to scare too many people, not nearly as many as it will energize.


Here’s something new: a recipe! This just plain intrigued me, so now I will share it…

Lime Pickle and Peanut Butter Sandwiches. Use a soft whole grain bread. Spread crunchy natural peanut butter thickly on the first slice. Spread a sweet or medium lime pickle thinly on top. Cover with the second slice of bread.

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