Kira, BB2 and 99 Talk 3rd Party Ticket

Catch up on this thread and then join us here!

Just Do It

Take the Live Earth Pledge.... I did earlier today, and I just received an email informing me that my name is going up in lights all over the world during the Live Earth Concerts on 7/7/7. I know it is completely unzen of me, but I filled with an intense feeling of pride for a couple minutes over that. There are other great things about it too. Find out. The whole world is counting on you.

Proof! And Cornell Too!

Tuesday Topic Week 15

This week we have seen even more subpoenas issued by the Senate calling on Cheney and the Whitehouse to explain themselves in the illegal wire tapping scandal.

We've learned wasteful spending by the government has reached an all time high, plagued by fraud, and mismanagement with a sharp increase in no-bid contracts.

We've also seen the horrible birth defects {WARNING - VERY GRAPHIC} caused by the Depleted Uranium we've been spreading all over the place in Iraq. Yet the war goes on!

When will it all end?

Here's this weeks fashionably late Tuesday Topic from One Million Blogs For Peace:

Fifteenth Tuesday Topic
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
We all want the Iraq War to end tomorrow.
But when do you think it will end?
Explain what you think will change or what events will transpire to eventually end the War.

Chico Rocks So Hard

And probably a big ten or fifteen people caught this on local programming in Marin and Sonoma:

Still, the Northern California Nation rulz.... :-P

Burning

Drowning

Emmett Till - Cheers and Jeers

The Good
Our Most Fearless Leader of the Enlightened Bellicoscenti, the illustrious Agent 99, has brought to my attention that this past Wednesday the House of Representatives passed H.R. 923, otherwise known as the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act. The bill was passed by a 422-2 vote with only Congressmen Ron Paul and Lynn Westmoreland voting against it.

The ACLU reports that the bill:

authorizes $10 million annually to establish a special federal investigator in the FBI's civil rights unit focusing on solving crimes committed before 1969. In addition, it allocates additional funds to assist local law enforcement agencies with investigating and prosecuting unsolved civil rights crimes.

They go on to say:

The ACLU is heartened by the House of Representative's overwhelming support for this important legislation. Hundreds of African-Americans and civil rights activists were victims of violence during the turbulent 1950s and 1960s. Too many of these cases still await justice because local law enforcement failed to fully pursue the offenders due to personal bias or political considerations. In light of recent revelations at the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, we hope this legislation will send a message, that effective law enforcement and prosecution cannot and must not be politicized if it's to perform its duty - protecting the rights of all Americans.

The Bad
Set to sail through the Senate with a unanimous vote on Thursday, the bill was brought to a screeching halt when Congressman Tom Coburn put a hold on the bill.

Senators Chris Dodd and Patrick Leahy, introducers of the bill last February, had this to say about Coburn's action:

“My colleagues and I have fought long and hard for this bill in order to bring to justice people who have perpetrated heinous crimes based on racial hatred,” said Dodd. “It has been a bipartisan effort, and I am angry that one of my colleagues is delaying this bill’s passage under false pretense. While we allow another day, another week, another month to pass before enacting this legislation, we allow racist criminals to live the lives of innocent people when they should be apprehended and brought to justice. After so many decades, to further delay justice and solace to the families of the victims of these horrific crimes is simply unimaginable.”

“The Senate should not wait another day to take up this important legislation,” Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said. “This legislation provides necessary tools for our federal government, in cooperation with state and local officials, to vigorously investigate and prosecute these cases. As each day passes, new evidence trickles in while older evidence fades and witnesses age. We must have a sense of urgency about these unsolved cases – justice cannot afford to wait.”

The Ugly
Congressman Tom Coburn, who stalled the bill has earned the nickname Tom “rampant high school lesbianism” Coburn. In an article from 11/5/04 The Nation had the following to say about Coburn:

Tom Coburn - Oklahoma
The former doctor and three-term Congressman elected during the "Gingrich Revolution" of 1994 is undoubtedly the most right-wing member of his new Senate class. Coburn called his campaign against conservative Democrat Brad Carson "a battle of good vs. evil," suggested blacks have a genetic disposition toward a shorter life expectancy, and said "lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they'll only let one girl go to the bathroom." Most noteworthy, Coburn favors "the death penalty for abortionists and other people who take life," explaining his ardent opposition by noting how his great-grandmother was raped by a territorial sheriff. Not surprisingly, he earned a 97 percent lifetime approval rating from the American Conservative Union (ACU).

Coburn has also held up a bill against cockfighting as reported at Think Progress:

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is “holding up a popular bipartisan bill to crack down on cockfighting that was expected to pass easily in the Senate yesterday.” House bill co-sponsor Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) said that Coburn’s hold “testifies to the powers of these shadowy forces that allow this illegal and barbaric scandal to continue.”

A fine representative indeed!

Original links from Crooks and Liars.

For a background on Emmett Till see my previous posts The Death of Emmett Till and the follow up No Justice for Emmett Till. Also see the comments at those for even more information and links.

Quickly Vanished

Glacial lake goes pft.

Regional Governor of the Alien Invasion Then?

[click picture]

Presidential Records Act? Hatch Act? So what, we're Bushco, they don't apply!

More at The Raw Story:

Olbermann went on to describe the "jaw-dropping scandal" uncovered by Congressional investigators, where, in the most serious breach of the Presidential Records Act since its enactment, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of emails improperly sent by White House officials through outside emails servers may have been illegally destroyed.

Tuesday Topic Week 14

Fourteen weeks after the start of the One Million Blogs for Peace Tuesday Topic we have seen no end to the violence in Iraq. Just today a truck bomb exploded in Baghdad killing 78 people, bringing the total to over 150 for the day. Hundreds more were injured, some with severe burns over 100% of their body. Many of these injured are expected to die from their wounds. The situation is further aggravated by the lack of medical facilities, personnel and supplies.

In the meantime our soldiers sacrificing in this illegal war are being forced to keep fighting indefinitely without pause even though our own Army Mental Health experts claim they need a break. Yet at the same time the State Department is deeply concerned about protecting the mental health of diplomats when they make those "surprise visits".

As these events unfold 10,000 troops are bearing down on another Iraq province to wipe it clean of suspected Sunni Insurgents, which is very strange considering that we learned just last week that the U.S. is funding the Sunni Insurgents - very strange indeed!

But then what can you expect from our leaders who have such a cavalier attitude regarding the laws of our land and our constitutional rights.

So here then is this weeks Tuesday Topic:

Fourteenth Tuesday Topic
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
According to this report by the Fund for Peace, Iraq ranks as the second least stable country in their Failed States Index (Afghanistan ranks eighth).
Given this fact (and Somalia's presence at third), what do you think the overall impact of foreign invasion is on a country?
Has the era of invading a nation to install a new government been exposed as a failure?
If not, can you provide an example of a country that has stablized as the result of invasion since World War II?

Hummelflug

I Can't Look At That Wasp Face Another Minute

Yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes!

Thursday evening I raised the top of our camping trailer trailer to go inside and take inventory of things we would need on our yearly extended family camp-out.

I got it about 2' up when out came a swarm of wasps. They sent me running, chasing me around the trailer and across the yard.

One got in my hair and when I went to swat it away I also swatted my glasses off my face and into the blurry unknown.

About half an hour later, having finally found my glasses, I used a jet nozzle on the hose to blast the two hives I saw out of the trailer.
I figured I'd let them dissipate over night and finish my job in the morning.

Friday morning, having languished much too long in the tub, I decided to wait until after work since I was leaving at noon and there would still be time before Rin got home.

I went out at after work to find a horde of wasps working hard to restore my destruction, plus a new batch I hadn't seen swarming out of the end of the awning enclosure.

Due to the trailer being parked along a wooden fence I didn't have room to run away after opening the awning cover so I decided it would be best to take the trailer out front on the street.

I had to almost kneel down to stay below their flight paths as I jacked up the trailer and hitched it to my truck.

Once out front I dropped the awning cover and ran like hell as about 200 or so wasps came swarming out.

After knocking 3 more hives out I was able to do my survey and then close the trailer up.

As we drove away the wasps were already trying to reestablish.




Returning from our camping trip, as I was unhitching the trailer, the wasps were already beginning to swarm back into the awning cover.
Sheesh!

Anybody have an idea for a natural wasp repellent?

I hate to use poison spray, but this wasp thing has to stop!

99¢

Cuz my two cents ain't worth a plug nickel.

Psssst! Agent BB2's Away, So Let's Play!

Click this warmongering pig's ugly mug for some good news. And, we've got the joint to ourselves for the whole weekend, so let's get in a little trouble here, eh?

[UPDATE: For related issues please go here.]

Bodhisattva

California State Senator Kuehl has made sure we can all appreciate just how dedicated Michael Moore is to us. I implore you, click on his picture here. It will take you to Senator Kuehl's YouTube page, where you can watch and hear him address our state government on Universal Health Care. Please. Wherever you are, you can't ignore this.

Six videos here of the introduction by Speaker Núñez and Q&A after the Sacramento screening of Sicko.

Can we please have our country back now?

Fleetwood to Obama

Go here and here for detailed instructions.

Tuesday Topic Week 13

This week marks the thirteenth week of the One Million Blogs for Peace Tuesday Topic.
In the past week we have seen more extremely weak responses from Congress towards resolution of the war in Iraq as well as further threats towards Iran and Somalia.

The Democrats caved in to Bush's fear mongering and the war will go on into perpetuity, leading to a dismal approval rate for this Congress in which we had such high hopes.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll just released shows only 19% of voters think this country is headed in the right direction and the 23% approval rating for Congress is the lowest ever.

With these items in mind, here is the:

Thirteenth Tuesday Topic
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
In combatant countries in the Iraq War, myopia seems to keep misgivings about the War at bay amongst much of the population.
The media and politicians are able to collaborate in getting citizens to ignore the travesties of a War that has enacted a civilian death-toll equivalent to at least twenty-one September 11th's.
What types of daily activities or behaviors (as opposed to large one-time protests) do you think can help alert these populations to the fact that this is unacceptable?
What do you think of the idea of refusing to rise for anthems or pledges in combatant countries until the War is ended?

What Not To Do... Wink Wink

Democrats Leaving Us Hanging!

It has been over 7 months since we elected the Democrats to gain a majority in both Houses. They've touted their first 100 days of change.

But a closer look reveals another view of their impact: Pew Research Center.

They've crumbled under pressure on the issue of withdrawal time lines in Iraq.

They've sent subpoenas to Karl Rove's Office and Condoleezza Rice but neither have complied nor do they appear inclined to do so, yet nothing more seems to be happening. If they can send the sheriff to haul in Paris Hilton why not these people?

They threw in the towel on the No Confidence Vote for Gonzales.
Where were Biden, Dodd, and Obama? Where was a filibuster? Where is the call for Impeachment?

DO SOMETHING!

We elected you to DO SOMETHING! So far just all we've had has been a lot of talk and piles of subpoenas in a corner somewhere. It seems all talk and no action. After the wimpiest political fight I've ever seen the Democrats caved in to Bush on Iraq.

These men running our country are CRIMINALS! They have hijacked this once great country and are sucking it dry. Once respected throughout most of the world, we now have very few left who favor us.

They have robbed our treasury and given it all to their buddies through fronts like Haliburton and into their own pockets. There was one reason and one reason only for Iraq - $$$$$$$!

What happened to the $1 Trillion dollars missing from the Pentagon which was announced Sept 10, on the eve of the World Trade Center attack?
And the other $1.3 Trillion found missing months later:

DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING!

Not No Confidence

The Senate has just voted that they don't not have confidence in Alberto Gonzales in the way everyone else does.

Not dead after all?

So it looks like it may not be dead after all.







The Military Commissions Act, passed last year by the Republican Congress, stripped away the fundamental Constitutional right of habeas corpus. Now the Senate Judiciary Committee, in voting for the Restoration Act, has taken the first step in restoring it.

Link

Tuesday Topic Week 12 (Belated)

OOPS - This past week has been a hectic one for me and in all the goings on it is all of a sudden Friday and I realized I had forgotten all about the weekly Tuesday Topic for this week.

I hope Storey won't be too disappointed in me.

So with no further delay here is the...

Twelfth Tuesday Topic
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
Assuming you had access to relatively limitless resources, what do you think would be the ideal event to protest the Iraq War?
Describe in detail how you would plan, recruit for, and conduct the event.

Get Out Now And Leave Iran Alone

I don't know about you guys, but I've had it up to here with this stuff.

Olbermann on the Military Commissions Dismissals

Universal Soldier

by BB2

Protecting Bush's Imbecile Lying Ass!

A Constitutional Duty

by BB2

Seymour Hersh on our Constitutional Duty!

And our top law enforcement agent displays

a violation of common sense!

Live From Gitmo

This ruling is making a heck of a big splash right this very now, and it is the first ray of hope that has reached my skin in such a long time. Dig it, maybe the military is not so happy to be un-American after all. Now if they'd just get them out of Gitmo altogether....

...possibly human devolution will slow.

He's Got A Whole Military

He Has Alzheimers

By BB2