peace and LOVE, ya'll

(hey everyone... i'm travelling across country in a car with a dog and stopped in a little wifi coffee shop to check email and news. wow, you guys have been BUSY! i knew MF would get the juices flowing again. here's more fuel for the fire. it's a post from democratic underground, by OXBOW that i thought was apropos. sending love from Austin, Texas! -- brook)



For me, love is at the center of Liberal philosophy. Love for our fellow human beings, our fellow life, and this planet that we find ourselves on. And as good as some of us are at showing it for others (even to the point of loving our ENEMIES) we can still be so inflexible when it comes to loving ourselves. I think this might be an issue with a lot of activists I know too. They care very deeply about the world and want to right the wrongs and help the suffering. And on the flipside, they care so little about themselves, and do the work sometimes to convince themselves that they're a good person, rather than from the conviction that they are a good person. At least, that's what I did in my old life.

And I know that any work that's done from a place of self-doubt and self-loathing can easily lead to pettiness and disillusionment. There was an article being discussed in GD (general discussion on democratic underground-- b) last week about how Conservatives are happier than Liberals, and I believe it. Conservatives live in a world of easy decisions, a one size fits all place where the church or the political leaders or some other authority makes all the choices and a minimum of thinking/soul-searching is required by the rank and file. It's a place of pre-processed, easily digestable spirituality. I get the image of McDonalds food thinking about it just now, and its an apt one. It's junk food for your mind; it fills you up easily and goes down delicious, but it has no real value. In the end, it won't lead you to a lasting happiness.

Liberalism, on the other hand, is hard work! We have no choice but to break off from the safety of the patriarchical religions/institutions, the security of having 'all the answers.' We know that nobody else can give us the answers. Nobody can tell us how to live our lives, cast our votes or think about things big and small. The best they can do is to show us the path; we're the ones who must walk it. And many of us on this side of the aisle have to walk through much darkness, loneliness and confusion before we can find God/Inner Peace again. It can be done though, and those who seek will find it. We can begin by being good to ourselves.

So here's the important part: Today, at least, I want everyone on DU (johnson city forum) to be kind to themselves, to treat themselves like they treat the rest of the world. Be gentle and loving and forgiving to yourself. Practice gratitude for your gifts and who you are, and just enjoy being alive. You are doing a good job, and everything is fine. Events are playing out as they must, and big changes are coming for our country and the world. It's a paradox that I constantly deal with, the need to surrender things up to God and the need to take control of my own destiny. It's hard to do either without having all the answers. Eventually though, you learn that you are expected to do only the best you can, and the rest WILL work itself out. The human race will survive, and the sun will still shine tomorrow. Despair only drains our energy, so rejoice in who you are and how things are working out now, be it politically, personally, or whatever.

It is a tremendous opportunity we've been given to be born at this time. To take full advantage of it though, we must be strong in ourselves. We must feed the fire of our soul so that we can act from our full potential, not limited by guilt and anger and feelings of inadequacy. This is not our true nature. We are each boundless, beautiful beings devoted to the greater good of all. This 'all' includes ourselves! So treat yourselves well today, my friends, and know that you are worthy of every ounce of love and gratitude you show."

Morrissey Quizzed by FBI

"Singer MORRISSEY was quizzed by the FBI and British intelligence after speaking out against the American and British governments.

The Brit is a famous critic of the US-led war in Iraq and has dubbed President GEORGE W BUSH a 'terrorist' - but he was baffled to be hauled in by authorities.Morrissey explains, 'The FBI and the Special Branch have investigated me and I've been interviewed and taped and so forth.

'They were trying to determine if I was a threat to the government, and similarly in England. But it didn't take them very long to realise that I'm not.

'I don't belong to any political groups, I don't really say anything unless I'm asked directly and I don't even demonstrate in public. I always assume that so-called authoritarian figures just assume that pop/rock music is slightly insane and an untouchable platform for the working classes to stand up and say something noticeable."

He has a funny way with words..

Regarding the sale of 6 US port facilitys to the UAE controled company Bush is quoted as saying:

"This deal wouldn't go forward if we were concerned about the security of the United States of America"

There is a couple of ways to read that isn't there?

go get 'em Harper's

from the March '06 issue-

"We have in the White House a thief who steals the country's good name and reputation for his private interest and personal use...in a word, a criminal- known to be armed and shown to be dangerous."

They aren't even talking about Cheney.

UAE royals, bin Laden's saviours

(interesting piece from march, 25 2004 -- brook)

The Central Intelligence Agency did not target Al Qaeda chief Osama bin laden once as he had the royal family of the United Arab Emirates with him in Afghanistan, the agency's director, George Tenet, told the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States on Thursday.

Had the CIA targeted bin Laden, half the royal family would have been wiped out as well, he said.

The 10-member bipartisan commission is investigating the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US.

Bush Would Veto Any Bill Halting Dubai Port Deal

so, six years as president, 0 total vetos, but he would "spend his political capital"
to send jobs (and i mean ceo, ken lay type jobs, too) overseas? to a country that is lukewarm about democracy at best. oh, and ter'ism too...

i heard about a large family firm in saudi arabia that does construction. can't recall their name, i know one of the sons is in trouble for something, but maybe we could hire them to build some stuff for us.



(...mencken was right about some things.)

MUST SEE video -- Bush, bin Laden, Saudi princes, 9/11, AND great art direction!

(thanks to helderheid at Democratic Underground for this. it's a good introduction or review of the players behind 'our current situation.' especially important in light of this port thing. -- brook)




In light of the sale of 6 US ports to the United Arab Emirates, PNAC VIDEO

I posted this a few months back but many DUers missed it - in light of the sale of 6 of our ports to the United Arab Emirates, this video about PNAC and the Carlyle Group is even more important than ever. EVERY AMERICAN needs to see this video. It is almost entirely in English - it aired on Dutch television on a program somewhat like our "60 Minutes" (approx an hour long):

http://www.vpro.nl/programma/tegenlicht/afleveringen/11838857/

On the right side of the page under "Video" are 2 links:

Bekijk de uitzending DE IJZEREN DRIEHOEK in realvideo (BREEDBAND tot 500 kbs) (Broadband)
Bekijk de uitzending DE IJZEREN DRIEHOEK in realvideo (SMALBAND, tot 100 kbs) (Dial up)

one more time, with feeling

Seasons came and changed the time
When I grew up, I called him mine
He would always laugh and say
"Remember when we used to play?"

Bang bang, I shot you down
Bang bang, you hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Bang bang, I used to shoot you down.

Music played, and people sang
Just for me, the church bells rang.

Now he's gone, I don't know why
And till this day, sometimes I cry
He didn't even say goodbye
He didn't take the time to lie.

Bang bang, he shot me down
Bang bang, I hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Bang bang, my baby shot me down...


-from nancy sinatra(who else?!)

ESPIONAGE CANNOT BE DECLASSIFIED

(anyone following Plame might be interested in the new Citizenspook message -- b)

Cheney and Bush cannot declassifiy Espionage Act violations.



Which brings me to the most important Tresongate story so far ...Outed CIA officer was working on Iran, intelligence sources say by Larisa Alexandrovna of Raw Story.

Raw Story reports that intelligence officials say Plame was working on Iran and that her outing has cost ten years damage. Where is the blogosphere? Where is Firedoglake? Aren't they supposed to be the foremost 'authority' on all things Plame?

They're out hunting Cheney on this shooting thing which is going nowhere while the most important revelations about Treason are ignored. Plame was a NOC and she was working on Iran nukes info.

But this sort of throws a shitload of question marks all over the 'Bush Gang outed Plame to get back at Wilson' idiot spoonfed conspiracy theory for the masses which David Corn et al have forcefed 'the nation'.

Fitz knows the truth. He knows something is wrong with this whole picture.

Please repost.
Citizenspook

Hmmmm

I have put some thought into the Whittington assault and I think I have an answer for all those that wonder why there was an 18 hour delay in Cheney getting the story out.

I think it is because they did not know if Whittington would die or not.

It seems that you have to handle the story differently depending on if Cheney shoot a man vs. Cheney killed a man. So with that in mind, I think it was not possible to firm up the Cheney version of events until his handlers knew whether the victim was dead or merely wounded.

What say ye all?

hope, from the heartland

from bluegrassreport.org regarding special elections in kentucky...

"with 65 of 71 precincts reporting -- shows Rep. Perry Clark (D) with a 54.1% to 45.9% lead over Debbie Peden (R)."

the above is amazing since Ms. Peden basically accused Mr Clark of being a pedafile-loving-baby-killin'-communist-who-wants-to-eat-your-children and take all your money in her television ads.

"The House special election is the rout most of us expected with Ron Weston (D) leading Carolee Allen (R) by a 70.7% to 29.3% margin."

people may say this was a democratic district, but bush won ky by 75% and Mitch "bitch-slappin'" McConnell was really quiet this time around.

i've got a secret....

i'd love to announce this in a more spectacular way... i've been thinking about it for a while... but here it is...

The Nightmares are doing a reunion this summer at the Down Home for their 30th anniversary. The Down Home's 30th -- not the Nightmares. It will July, tentatively.

so, i've got a favor to ask everyone. in the spirit of 'reunion' i'd like to do a slide show of old photos. anyone who has images -- please send good scans (approx 1280 x 854 JPEG) to my email address. it's at the top of the page.

Call me crazy, but this seems newsworthy

ok- I saw this on NY1's website, and I'm surprised thats the only place I've seen it. Am i crazy? Isn't this worthy of national news coverage? United Arab Emirates buys NJ port- hope the link works, if not, here it is again for cut and paste:

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=57025&search_result=1&stid=1

10 commandments we can all agree upon...

"Be absolutely sure you have identified your target beyond any doubt," the NRA says in the gun-safety rules on its Web site. "Equally important, be aware of the area beyond your target. This means observing your prospective area of fire before you shoot. Never fire in a direction in which there are people or any other potential for mishap. Think first. Shoot second."

On its 10 Commandments of Shooting Safety, Texas Parks and Wildlife lists being sure of your target as the third commandment. "Know what is in front and behind your target. Determine that you have a safe backstop or background."

....................news flash.......cheney not to blame.......film at eleven.......
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan tried to absolve Cheney of blame for shooting wealthy Austin lawyer Harry Whittington, saying that hunting "protocol was not followed by Mr. Whittington when it came to notifying others that he was there. And so, you know, unfortunately, these types of hunting accidents happen from time to time."

Several hunting experts were skeptical of McClellan's explanation. They said Cheney might have violated a cardinal rule of hunting: Know your surroundings before you pull the trigger.

"Particularly identify the game that you are shooting and particularly identify your surroundings, that it's safe to shoot," said Mark Birkhauser, the incoming president of the International Hunter Education Association, a group of fish and wildlife agencies. "Every second, you're adjusting your personal information that it is a safe area to shoot or it's not a safe area to shoot."


note to scott: failing to take responsibility does not aliviate BLAME.

can't resist...

AP WIRE. UNDISCLOSED GOLF COURSE.

When asked about the odd situation involving Mr. Cheney over the weekend, Former Vice-President Dan Quayle chimed: "Vice Presidents?... but, a, well, you know back in the day, when Raymond Burr shot George Hamilton, at least it was a kill shot...at least some ones honor was at stake... poor dicke..."

Did anyone notice this? Homeland Security does WARGAMES on BLOGGERS

U.S. Concludes 'Cyber Storm' Mock Attacks

WASHINGTON - The government concluded its 'Cyber Storm' wargame Friday, its biggest-ever exercise to test how it would respond to devastating attacks over the Internet from anti-globalization activists, underground hackers and bloggers.

Bloggers?

Participants confirmed parts of the worldwide simulation challenged government officials and industry executives to respond to deliberate misinformation campaigns and activist calls by Internet bloggers, online diarists whose 'Web logs' include political rantings and musings about current events.

The Internet survived, even against fictional abuses against the world's computers on a scale typical for Fox's popular '24' television series. Experts depicted hackers who shut down electricity in 10 states, failures in vital systems for online banking and retail sales, infected discs mistakenly distributed by commercial software companies and critical flaws discovered in core Internet technology.

Some mock attacks were aimed at causing a 'significant cyber disruption' that could seriously damage energy, transportation and health care industries and undermine public confidence, said George Foresman, an undersecretary at the Homeland Security Department.

There was no impact on the real Internet during the weeklong exercise. Government officials from the United States, Canada, Australia and England and executives from Microsoft, Cisco, Verisign and others said they were careful to simulate attacks only using isolated computers, working from basement offices at the Secret Services headquarters in downtown Washington.

The Homeland Security Department promised a full report on results from the exercise by summer.

Foresman likened his agency's role during any Internet attack to an orchestra conductor, coordinating responses from law enforcement, intelligence agencies, the military and private firms. The government's goal is a 'symphony of preparedness,' Foresman said.

Homeland Security coordinated the exercise. More than 115 government agencies, companies and organizations participated. They included the White House National Security Council, Justice Department, Defense Department, State Department, National Security Agency and CIA, which conducted its own cybersecurity exercise called 'Silent Horizon' last May.

An earlier cyberterrorism exercise called 'Livewire' for Homeland Security and other federal agencies concluded there were serious questions over government's role during a cyberattack depending on who was identified as the culprit -- terrorists, a foreign government or bored teenagers.

It also questioned whether the U.S. government would be able to detect the early stages of such an attack without significant help from private technology companies."

pennsylvannia, drugs are bad, search warrants are bad, m'kay...

Woman escapes jail time for bestiality
By Keith Gushard
2/4/06 —

A Titusville woman has been spared possible jail time for having sexual intercourse with an animal.

Tina L. Smith, 32, of 17 Jackson Way, was accepted into Crawford County Court’s accelerated rehabilitative disposition program Friday by Judge John Spataro for the charge.

The ARD program offers first-time offenders the opportunity to be rehabilitated and move through the legal system quicker. Offenders are placed on probation, ordered to pay court costs and fees, and may have other conditions placed on them. After successful completion of the program, a person’s record is expunged.

Smith was ordered to serve 12 months probation, pay a $150 administrative fee and court costs, and undergo mental health and drug and alcohol evaluations.

Smith was facing up to a maximum of two years in jail and a $5,000 fine if she would have gone to trial and been convicted.

“Anybody involved with this type of behavior ought to have a mental health examination,” Judge Spataro said Friday.

“I lost my job, my home,” Smith told him. “I’ve tried to get employment. It’s very hard with my name after the headlines.”

“We need to get to the bottom of why you engaged in this behavior,” Spataro said.

Titusville Police Department filed the charge against Smith after a methamphetamine lab raid on the Douglas R. Peterson residence in Titusville.

Police alleged Peterson, 42, acted as an accomplice in that he assisted Smith and Heidi McIntyre, 35, in having sexual intercourse with a dog at his residence back on Oct. 4, 2004.

Peterson and McIntyre also were charged and Peterson also faced charges related to methamphetamine.

However, a videotape that Peterson allegedly made showing the incident was ordered suppressed following an evidentiary hearing before President Judge Gordon Miller.

The tape was thrown out because videotapes weren’t included in the search warrant, said Francis Schultz, Crawford County district attorney.

That meant the tape couldn’t be used against either Peterson or McIntyre because they lived at the home that was raided and had an expectation of privacy since the tape wasn’t included on the search warrant, Schultz said.

However, Schultz said he could have tried to have the tape introduced against Smith had her case gone to trial because she didn’t live at the home.

Schultz said he agreed to offer Smith ARD to avoid a trial on the sexual intercourse with an animal charge.

With the tape thrown out, the same charge filed against McIntyre was withdrawn, Schultz said.

Peterson pleaded guilty Jan. 6 this year to one count of manufacturing a controlled substance — methamphetamine — and will be sentenced in Crawford County Court after an evaluation for state intermediate punishment is completed.

Peterson faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $15,000 fine when he is sentenced.

like nancy reagan said: "Just say no to dogs."

we gonna party like it's 1892...

"Other National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientists and public-affairs employees came forward this week to say that beyond Dr. Hansen's case, there were several other instances in which political appointees had sought to control the flow of scientific information from the agency.

"They called or e-mailed The Times and sent documents showing that news releases were delayed or altered to mesh with Bush administration policies.

"In October, for example, George Deutsch, a presidential appointee in NASA headquarters, told a Web designer working for the agency to add the word "theory" after every mention of the Big Bang, according to an e-mail message from Mr. Deutsch that another NASA employee forwarded to The Times.

"And in December 2004, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory complained to the agency that he had been pressured to say in a news release that his oceanic research would help advance the administration's goal of space exploration. "

Every once in a great while a book comes along and makes you want to stick the barrel of a gun into your mouth.

WHAT: Dancing with Cats HOW MUCH: $16.95 WHERE: Garden-variety, left-leaning bookstoreI’m struggling to find the words. Groping and bumping my head against a thousand walls. How, exactly, can I relay just how disturbing Dancing with Cats truly is? For instance, I was planning to use that as my first sentence: Dancing with Cats is truly the most disturbing book I’ve laid eyes on….but nah, still doesn’t convey it.I guess I’ll just back up and explain the book’s premise. I’m going to rely heavily on the book’s own text here, because, honestly I still don’t have a fuckin’ clue as to what the authors were trying to do here. So, let me re-print a snippet from the inside leaf .Ahem….
”While researching their ground-breaking book, Why Cats Paint, Burton Silver and Heather Busch discovered another phenomenon that seemed to merit further investigation—people who dance with their cats. Or, more accurately, cats who dance with their people. All around the world today, people are rediscovering the ancient practice of cat dancing, tapping into this remarkable method of channeling feline energy… A brave leap forward in the history of human-feline relations, Dancing with Cats will have you and your cat jumping for joy—and cutting a rug—in no time.”
Point Number One: There is no world-wide trend of cat dancing. If there was, the nightly news would play reels of it non-stop. We’d never see another shark or pitbull attack again. No more coverage of the war in Iraq. There’d be no Brad Pitt-just-knocked-up-Angelina Jolie coverage. Just lots of manx and tabbies fox trotting into TV eternity. If Ted Turner and the combined satanic forces of NBC, ABC and CBS haven’t already fabricated this story, it simply doesn’t exist. Seriously.
Point Number Two: There is no such thing as “the history of human-feline relations”. There is no relationship with a cat—if by the word “relationship” we mean a give and take between two partners who either care for each other or provide one another with services. Here’s the deal: cats are the Ike Turners of the animal kingdom. They use you for food and shelter. They ride on your coat tails. They don’t love or even like you. Yes, cat owners, try hard to construe certain actions as signs of affection, but the same cat owners invariably come into work every other week with a gash on their face or arm, blubbering “I must have done something wrong. I was cuddling with Mr. Paws and suddenly he got up and flayed open my cheek. Now I have tetanus and the doctor is going to have to cut off half of my jaw. I’m so worried about Mr. Paws! Why did I have to anger him? Why didn’t I give him more space?” Something along those lines. Cats don’t love people. They are just biding their time. Eating your food, fucking the neighbors Siamese, spraying your favorite couch because, shit, why the hell not? It’s not like they care about you. The moment you grow weak, they’re on top of you. Eating you alive. I’m dead serious here. True story: In Buffalo they brought a woman into the hospital whose toes had been nibbled clean off by her four cats. The old lady suffered some kind of stroke while on the crapper and sat there for two days, with her pants around her ankles and her cats gnawing on her feet. It wasn’t like it took a month for the cats to turn on her—we’re talking about less than 48 friggin’ hours! Think about it. You may take my ranting as just pure cat-hating rhetoric. While it’s true that I’m a fan of dogs, it’s not that I actually hate cats. I just respect the fact that they’ve never allowed themselves to become entirely domesticated. They’re basically small versions of mountain lions. If they could take you down, they would. Minus the opportunity, they’ll just eat your food and destroy your house. I’ve got in-laws like that. I don’t hate them for it; I just don’t invite them to live with me. Know what I mean?

what really happened -- by cindy sheehan

What Really Happened by Cindy Sheehan

Dear Friends,

As most of you have probably heard, I was arrested before the State of
the Union Address tonight.

I am speechless with fury at what happened and with grief over what we
have lost in our country.

There have been lies from the police and distortions by the press.
(Shocker) So this is what really happened:

This afternoon at the People's State of the Union Address in DC where I
was joined by Congresspersons Lynn Woolsey and John Conyers, Ann Wright,
Malik Rahim and John Cavanagh, Lynn brought me a ticket to the State of
the Union Address. At that time, I was wearing the shirt that said: 2245
Dead. How many more?

After the PSOTU press conference, I was having second thoughts about
going to the SOTU at the Capitol. I didn't feel comfortable going. I
knew George Bush would say things that would hurt me and anger me and I
knew that I couldn't disrupt the address because Lynn had given me the
ticket and I didn't want to be disruptive out of respect for her. I, in
fact, had given the ticket to John Bruhns who is in Iraq Veterans
Against the War. However, Lynn's office had already called the media and
everyone knew I was going to be there so I sucked it up and went.

I got the ticket back from John, and I met one of Congresswoman Barbara
Lee's staffers in the Longworth Congressional Office building and we
went to the Capitol via the underground tunnel. I went through security
once, then had to use the rest room and went through security again.

My ticket was in the 5th gallery, front row, fourth seat in. The person
who in a few minutes was to arrest me, helped me to my seat.

I had just sat down and I was warm from climbing 3 flights of stairs
back up from the bathroom so I unzipped my jacket. I turned to the right
to take my left arm out, when the same officer saw my shirt and yelled;
"Protester." He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat and
roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs. I said
something like "I'm going, do you have to be so rough?" By the way, his
name is Mike Weight.

The officer ran with me to the elevators yelling at everyone to move out
of the way. When we got to the elevators, he cuffed me and took me
outside to await a squad car. On the way out, someone behind me said,
"That's Cindy Sheehan." At which point the officer who arrested me said:
"Take these steps slowly." I said, "You didn't care about being careful
when you were dragging me up the other steps." He said, "That's because
you were protesting." Wow, I get hauled out of the People's House
because I was, "Protesting."

I was never told that I couldn't wear that shirt into the Congress. I
was never asked to take it off or zip my jacket back up. If I had been
asked to do any of those things...I would have, and written about the
suppression of my freedom of speech later. I was immediately, and
roughly (I have the bruises and muscle spasms to prove it) hauled off
and arrested for "unlawful conduct."

After I had my personal items inventoried and my fingers printed, a nice
Sgt. came in and looked at my shirt and said, "2245, huh? I just got
back from there."

I told him that my son died there. That's when the enormity of my loss
hit me. I have lost my son. I have lost my First Amendment rights. I
have lost the country that I love. Where did America go? I started
crying in pain.

What did Casey die for? What did the 2244 other brave young Americans
die for? What are tens of thousands of them over there in harm's way for
still? For this? I can't even wear a shirt that has the number of troops
on it that George Bush and his arrogant and ignorant policies are
responsible for killing.

I wore the shirt to make a statement. The press knew I was going to be
there and I thought every once in awhile they would show me and I would
have the shirt on. I did not wear it to be disruptive, or I would have
unzipped my jacket during George's speech. If I had any idea what
happens to people who wear shirts that make the neocons uncomfortable
that I would be arrested...maybe I would have, but I didn't.

There have already been many wild stories out there.

I have some lawyers looking into filing a First Amendment lawsuit
against the government for what happened tonight. I will file it. It is
time to take our freedoms and our country back.

I don't want to live in a country that prohibits any person, whether
he/she has paid the ultimate price for that country, from wearing,
saying, writing, or telephoning any negative statements about the
government. That's why I am going to take my freedoms and liberties
back. That's why I am not going to let Bushco take anything else away
from me...or you.

I am so appreciative of the couple of hundred of protesters who came to
the jail while I was locked up to show their support....we have so much
potential for good...there is so much good in so many people.

Four hours and 2 jails after I was arrested, I was let out. Again, I am
so upset and sore it is hard to think straight.

Keep up the struggle...I promise you I will too.

Love and peace soon,
Cindy