The Dean boys are first.

Also DFA at TBA.Thank linda b for that work.

funny think I was watching colbert do a sctick on pushing some medicine.

He had a DFA after his name (STEPHEN T COLBERT, DFA). HE SAID HE WAS A DOCTOR OF FINE ARTS. TOO FUNNY.

HQ needs to leave this thread on here through the evening. The previous thread has very few progressives posting right now, hopefully they will come here shortly.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/al-gore-has-already-won-a_b_49039.html

No matter what you think of the electoral mess in the 2000 election, Al Gore won the popular vote. It's easy to forget that, but that should be drilled in everyone's head - Al Gore has already won a presidential election based on popularity. . .

. . . But I suspect Gore would hold nearly everyone who voted for him in 2000 against any of the Republican contenders . . .

from last thread

While listening to CNN with one ear...

There's talk that our soldiers will be offered gambing casinos to raise money. ( and we know the *house* almost always wins)  CNN is doing a special on this today but I don't know when.  While they're at it, why not set up houses of prostitution, opium dens...think of all the ways that putz can have the soldiers funding the war, until they're killed, while encouraging addiction which should be easy considering the pressure they're under.

Putzfollies....so creative, so malicious, so deserving of Gitmo.

Wasn't it Howard who made the "Take Back American" slogan famous? He also needs to be there to speak with his golden tongue.

again,  from last thread

Still listening to CNN with one ear.

New pill approved by FDA suppresses womens' periods indefinitely.  I wonder how many ignorant women will go for this since it's not nice to fool Mother Nature.  The upside is that pregnancy could be avoided, assuming ovulation also is stopped.  I suspect this could be very dangerous for womens' health.

Men,  of course, would like this.  They could just sc%ew with impunity and not worry about being responsible..altho women could do the same.

Zero birth rate could be a good thing, assuming this pill is distributed thruout the world. 

Still think it's a bad idea to take this pil.  And why do women always have to take the risk?  Why not a pill that renders men sterile?  Same results. 

Yes Howard started the Take Back America slogan and many have run with it.

Howard was not there last year, I guess with DNC status, it may not be the place for him.

But we can also push Jim to get Howard to come on by.

Anytime he is there the place goes wild.

Still think it's a bad idea to take this pil.  And why do women always have to take the risk?  Why not a pill that renders men sterile?  Same results. 

I guess that is cause we get pregnant by artificial insemination.

OK, just in case anybody's interested--Firefox refreshes to the bottom of the page even if you've not posted a comment on a thread.  So, people who are having browser problems should download Firefox and give it a try.  It's free.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/22/MNG7QPV65N1.DTL&type=printable

WHY IS THERE SO LITTLE REPORTING OR INTEREST IN THIS BOMBSHELL:

The little-noticed second surge, designed to reinforce U.S. troops in Iraq, is being executed by sending more combat brigades and extending tours of duty for troops already there.

The actions could boost the number of combat soldiers from 52,500 in early January to as many as 98,000 by the end of this year if the Pentagon overlaps arriving and departing combat brigades.

Separately, when additional support troops are included in this second troop increase, the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq could increase from 162,000 now to more than 200,000 -- a record-high number -- by the end of the year.

The numbers were arrived at by an analysis of deployment orders by Hearst Newspapers.

"It doesn't surprise me that they're not talking about it," said retired Army Maj. Gen. William Nash, a former U.S. commander of NATO troops in Bosnia, referring to the Bush administration. "I think they would be very happy not to have any more attention paid to this."

Tell Jason Alexander that my Maine Coon cat (Kiah) mooches Kung Pao (medium heat).

I'm serious...it's the only people food that he goes nuts over (tries to cuff it off my plate while I'm eating)!

Strange cat (as well as my fav episode of him in Seinfeld).

You finally did it, Linda B!  w00t 

It's because males are already uncertain about their ability to reproduce themselves and have to rely on females to do it for/with them.

Did you know that it takes two male toads to service a female and fertilize her eggs--one in front and one behind?  Considering that toads only come out of the ground into bodies of water when they're ready to mate, it would seem that males working together are a requirement for reproductive success where the American toad is concerned.  It's not a matter of intent; it's just how it works. 

Did you know that it takes two male toads to service a female and fertilize her eggs--one in front and one behind?  Considering that toads only come out of the ground into bodies of water when they're ready to mate, it would seem that males working together are a requirement for reproductive success where the American toad is concerned.  It's not a matter of intent; it's just how it works. 

ooh too much info.............

mainfem, great bumper sticker.

Any VA coalition groups still active, Linda?

11.

Well, it would seem they are bound and determined to make the Iraqis "cry uncle" and agree to a long term U.S. presence to maintain its missile bases and radar installations.  Since the reception to the suggestion that they might be located in Poland and the Czech Republican has been so negative, they're going back to the preferred alternative.  Just can't accept that such backward people could continue to resist when the prowess of the American legions is brought to bear.

There was an interesting article in Sunday's Globe about the Roman legions done in by the barbarian Germans.  Barbarians=Bavarians=people who live north of the Alps and rely on rhubarb for their vitamin C. 

mainefem, I emailed alll the DFA groups in NOVA and throughout the state. I would think that they northern va ones would be more active and would want to help. We shall see.

JIm is gonna be there so he can maybe drop by.

I know they did training with one of the groups. I hope they step up. We will see.

Don't forget Al on LKL live tonight, 9 eastern.  People are already calling his book the result of an angry man, resentful about the 2000 selection.  They will try and *Dean scream* him if he runs but I don't think it'll be successful.

Men would never take/pay for/or remember to take a b/c pill, seashell.  Fuggetaboutit.

They can't recall where they left their freakin' car keys...zero incentive.

Women have always been stuck w/the cost, toxicity, & freebie reproductive (unpaid) labor throughout the centuries.

If the damned thing works, I say , go for it.

Some women don't have adequate transportation each month to the pharmacy, don't remember to take pills regularly, and it would help those women (and teens) who live in 'red states' remain unpreggers--a yr. at a time (earn a college degree, or three, instead).  I can hear the "moral objections" from the nutjobs now....

Is it 'natural' not to mense for a yr. at a time?

 Hell, no.  But the "choices" for remaining unpreggers all suck, in some respect.

 It esp. needs to be widely available (Title X PP funding, which is already grossly underfunded--big surprise, huh?) for low income women.

14.

I've got a new toy that will let me convert old VHS tapes into digital format.  Was doing the frogs and toads earlier today.  Also have some fun footage of a water snake swallowing a large goldfish that, with a little editing, might be enjoyable to some people.  It took more than an hour for that fish to go down the gullet and all that time the snake was exposed to aerial predators, since she had to stay out of the water to complete the swallow.

Toad reproduction, btw, is also a risky business.  They have to make a lot of noise to attract each other and, if they aren't done in a couple of days, whole flocks of egrets will be attracted by the noise and make a snack of the late stayers. 

Too bad it isn't as difficult and dangerous for humans to mate as it is for some froggies and snakies.  And what about the spider that eats the male after mating?

Some men (like the ones in the WH) should realize how good they have it while they are pretending to be human.

Gore/ almost anybody.

A Gore/Obama ticket would prolly win, so I could vote for that. 

The issue is impeachment.

Meanwhile, down at the state and local level, Democratic Party committee after Democratic Party committee is voting out resolutions calling for impeachment. The latest Democratic Party organization to call for impeachment of both Bush and Cheney is the Massachusetts Democratic Party, which at its state convention on Saturday, May 19, voted out a strong measure calling on the state’s elected representatives in Washington to investigate Bush and Cheney for misleading the nation into war, for authorizing torture, and for warrantless wiretapping. The message concludes: "If the investigation supports the charges, vote to impeach both Bush and Cheney as provided in the Constitution

http://baltimorechronicle.com/2007/052207Lindorff.shtml

The fix is in -- again! Wolf blister again talking up Repug candidates, no mention of Democrats. We will see more and more of this as time goes by.

What's more disgusting is Donna Brazile there, playing the part, debating the Repug merits, of which they  have little.

Blister also mentions that Huckabee won't be at some event in protest of Carter's attacks against Bush! What a laugh these silly people are. Still no mention of Dem candidates.

Then he has Dick Armey attacking Gore's book already. Gotta say, Dick must be a quite study -- the book just came out today at bookstores and I'm sure he didn't get an early arrival in his mailbox:))

The mercenaries haven't been counted into the combat troops either.  Our tax dollars are hiring as many killers as putz wants.

Yeah, bring on the casinos!  Let's give the troops something to do!   Don't forget the cathouses.

Time for a signing statement striking out the wage hike. 

Disgusting group of dems. 

We used to have bake sales for my daughter's high school band...
One of the bumper stickers was something like...
"Equality is when the Pentagon has a bakesale to buy bombers".

That what is needed now...
Bake sales to fund the war effort.
They can buy body armor, new IED-proof hummers, shrinks for the returning vets, new body parts to replace those that were blown off. Maybe some more ammo, guns, bombs, planes, fuel..

After bake sales, how about car washes?
It gets awful dusty in the desert.

Maybe it's time to conclude that the MSM, whose audiences have been consistently shrinking, are catering to Republicans because that's who their audience is.  Democrats don't have to be told how to think because they do their own thing.

If that's how it works, let's take comfort in their shrinking audience numbers.

Maybe we should also reconcile ourselves to the fact that, at least for the time being, failure is the order of the day.  Republicans are bound to fail and businesses are bound to fail and it won't change until they get tired of being failures.

Businesses and socieites follow the same rules of inertia that water does. Unless there are outside forces, nothing changes.
CNN won't change until their viewer-ship drops below some magical profit/loss level.
Folks are leaving MSM infavor of the internet because the MSM is lifeless.
I am one of the few Dems who watch Faux News because I want to know what the enemy is thinking. I am on the donor lists for all Congressfolks regardless of party because I want to know what they are doing.
My Fed House rep gets angry at my questions and removes me from his lists. I re-sign on am back on the list until he kicks me off again.

Great job, lindab.

----------
12. What a riot about your cat, mainefem. My friend has a cat that actually opened her refrigerator and ate out of the left over cartons of chinese food! Now she puts the left-overs in tupperware. LOL

I know that Howard Dean was asked to speak at the TBA conference this year....is he going to speak? 

Don't forget the special video interview he did in Denver...al 25 minutes.

http://www.harbertv.com/index2.htm

Read about oil and Africa...

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052207...

[snip]
Amy Goodman: The fact that the United States gets more oil from Africa - now, that’s a continent versus Saudi Arabia, which is a country. That’s not often recognized by our leaders, the continent versus country issue, but that’s still extremely significant. Give us the picture of Africa, where the oil is and where many are hoping it will be.

John Ghazvinian: Yeah, actually, you know, the US, as you say, gets as much oil now from - as we do from Saudi Arabia, but actually we’re going to be getting about - you know, much more in the next few years. This is what’s significant is that by 2015, we’re going to be getting 25% of our imported oil from Africa. And, you know, this is why I wrote the book, really, because I feel like this is something we don't pay a lot of attention to. When we think of oil, we tend to think of the Middle East or other parts or Venezuela or other parts of the world. But Africa is becoming increasingly important for our way of life and our energy needs, and I think it’s important for people to have some idea what some of the issues are in some of these countries

Kiah doesn't even like cat treats/toys, mary vb...the "hot" factor doesn't phaze him in the least.  {{{shrug}}}

He has shrimp every day (it's dirt cheap here, & good for him) on top of his Innova food (w/shakeable vitamins)--that's all he wants. Then he launches into a 1/2 hr. grooming episode.

Only Kung Pao (I had some take-out for Mother's Day--about the time of jc's death, actually).

I always emulate the tone of voice Alexander used when I eat it/serve Kiah..."'Ya wanna have some KUNG PAO, puddy-tat?" 

Coon cats do have a quirky personality, which is why I always adopt 'em.  They behave like dogs...follow you everywhere, etc. 

I didn't see Howard on the initial list of speakers this year.

But Jim Dean is now a set speaker so maybe Howard will follow suit.

Come on Howard, you and Jim can blog live!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

mainfem,
Our 16-year-old Main Coon weighs in at about 20 pounds which is said to be about normal for this breed.
We head to warm climates for the winter and the beast travels well.
We feed him baby food for 1 year olds because he is having arthritis issues with his spine and he has trouble pooping.
The funny part is when we go to our local grocery store and buy two dozen cans of baby food. Both my wife and I are over 60 and it gets a quizical stare from the checkout clerk.
Our vets say he has about 4 or 5 more good years left.

Here's an example on the Bangor Humane Society's portal...I can't even look @these cats--I'm a total sucker!

Missy--I named my first Coon Missy (she died in '83; and I still carry her photo in my wallet).

Notice the behavioral profile.

That's a long lifespan, even for a healthy Coon. 

My lease limits me to one cat only; otherwise, I'd have @least 4 adopted Maine Coons.  Love 'em to pieces.

Kiah only weighs around 12 lbs., or so--is a 100% indoor apartment puddy; so that might factor into the equation.  But he's handsome as hell w/his shaggy britches, poofy tail, & long-haired belly.

 He had also been a wonderful "brother" to my daughter's former guinea pigs (all dead now, but he perceived them as "sisters").  Great buddy.  I never involve myself w/men who don't like cats (control freaks)...that's a red flag for me.  "Love me...love my cats(s)...and make room for 'em on/in the bed, too."  <g>

We generally find people we don't care for admit to not liking cats. All of our friends like and have cats. None have dogs except farmers who use them on the job (they also have mousers). Must be part of the personality or something.
In VN, we used dogs to find the enemy and they were loyal beasts. Many gave their lives for us so I am willing to cut K9's and their owners some slack.

OK, so now the dems own the war and are in danger of losing in 08 IMO.  And the only way now that the dems can win the prez is for Gore to run and win.  If putz manages to pull together a political solution before the election, he repugs have good talking points.

Shame on the dems for giving putz never ending death and war.  Hillary and Obama will continue endless wars...maybe Edwards too and certainly all the repugs.

Third party time if Gore doesn't step in.  Or we could/should look for another country.

Judy, how much company can you handle? :-) 

I just came from my chiropractor cuz I've been having terrible headaches every day that leave me useless and on the couch with icebags.  I never have headaches when I'm traveling.  My eyes hurt, I'm stuffed up and filled with phlegm (sp) and she said what I already know; that I'm prolly very allegeric to my cat, Dante.

So...what to do?  I'm starting by keeping him out of my bedroom cuz he loves sleeping with me.  Tomorrow I'll call to have him *detailed* ...hair cut (it's long and fine) dander gone if possible.  I'm cleaning my house today and taking tylenol with codeine.  That's how severe my headaches are.

I want to keep my baby!  If these steps don't work, she said to make a comfy bedroom for him outside and it's getting warm so that could work except that I don't like him outside all night. 

Any other suggestions?  

We need an amendment to the Consitution allowing a national vote to recall presidents or any other critters.  We need People Power.  This representative democracy sh%t isn't working.

The dems should slip in a sentence requiring putz to fire Gonzo.  They never even made him sweat and Rove has referred to himself as a man "who destroys Constitutions." 

Where is everybody?  Is there a new shadow thread?

Even Keith Olbermann doesn't get it - what is wrong with these brilliant cable guys?! 

CNN and all saying 'the Democrats folded".    Did they not notice that the Democrats have been pushing Bush back from this war for months!   That our 'timetables', 'partial payments' and benchmarks have been ALL the news media has been talking about? That we are investigating?   We got it in the news constantly.   Facts about the war, the lies, the bad decisions and the coverups - still going on.  And the American people saw it.  That we MADE the Republicans put their names down for following the Bush surge and war?   That we have the whole bunch of them backed into a corner?   And that the American people know dam well the Democrats will get us out of this lost war.     Republicans will pay - because they held back their votes so we couldn't over-ride Bush's veto.     Everyone knows on the hill, that the Republicans can't afford to go along with the Administration much longer.  If there isn't a MAJOR TURN AROUND in Iraq before September - they are all bailing on him.   They've even told the Democrats that.   It would take us that long to work through this anyway.  I say - WE WON and our SOLDIERS WON.   And we will take Bush's Veto Pen and put it where - the sun don't shine.  (pardon the french).   They majority of them WILL be coming home....alive.

 Brainwash 5,649:   

CNN 9:00 a.m.   Lebanon Battle:   It is a group called Fatah al Islam.  CNN 12:00 p.m:   It is suspected that they are afiliated with Al Qaeda.   CNN 4:00 p.m: It is - Al Qaeda.    This is great - CNN has better intelligence than our CIA.....

In a display of arrogant bullishness, Bush went before the cameras today and said that if he didn't get the money for the war, "then it would just have to be taken out of other programs" "Other programs?" those dollars were not appropriated for WAR! Impeachable.

Reagan did that when Congress turned down funds for Iran Contra. Reagan, on camera said, well, then we'll just have to get it from somewhere else. He should have been impeached, for that illegal act.

Now, Nancy seems to think that she can take impeachment off the table. she maybe can set the schedule for bills to come up, but she took an oath to uphold the constitution, and that supercedes the flow of regular business. She needs to do her duty and get impeachment back on the table.

We are not done. The voters are not done yet. Next election we need to start weeding out the Dems, and we need to start telling them now.

Ah now...CONDI said there would be no PLAN B.

Sam, it doesn't feel like we're winning anything. Putz will use the same MO in Sept and will again force the dems to do his bidding.  Repugs bail?  Maybe, but since they've already been the cog in the wheel, they should not be re-elected.  But that 37% will do so.  Or try.

If the dems want a pat on the back from me, they need to figure out how to get rid of Gonzo and then refuse to confirm anyone like him.  And then they need to get rid of cheney/bush.  

Your points are well taken, Sam, but the CMW are reporting this as a dem folding and a victory for the warmongers.  Putz now gets to say that the dems funded the war....who's gonna say differently?  If the dems were cagey enuf, they'd pack that bill with money for social programs ie stem cell research, ....things the repugs would back and putz and his cronies and fundis will hate....that what they should do and then dare him to veto so they can say that they gave him what he wanted on Iraq and he won't give anything back to the American people.

It could be done.

Sea,

 Just came in from yardwork, had to deliver supplies to the woman I caretake for and had a 10 hr. day of roadwork...that's where I've been...I'm sure other have busy schedules in other ways too...  heck, some may be Tango dancing...: ) I'd much rather have more time to spend here but retirement is still a few years away : (

 I have severe allergies too. In fact I use to tie fishing flies for Orvis before I went into road work. Had a few local sporting good shops that I supplied as well. I developed such severe allergies to the feathers and furs I used that I sold everything I had owned for next to nothing just to get the stuff out of the house.

 A few years back when I was dealing in antiques, I would be crawling around old dusty attics, dusty barns, cellars and the such and my allergies came back from the old dust. My doctor tried a few different meds and Nasacort spray has basically made my allergies go away. I know, I'm a druggy but breathing is nice.

audrey...yes, quite a few from the blue wave of '06 should be culled. 

The war is already being *internationalized."  The ME is starting to blow up.

The warparty is running scared, the dems are frozen in the Senate, Lieberputz is a nasty cog in the wheel and frankly, I'm sick of the lot of them.

Third party or Gore.  Either will do, Gore is preferable.

LKL tonight...Al Gore. :-) 

Hey, again, all.

Just a driveby post-and-scoot.

Page in Amsterdam says hi to everyone. (I talked to her in email about JC)

Phil, a former friend of mine had double knee-replacement surgery. He chugged Vitamin E both for several weeks before and also after the surgery, and healed from it the quickest of anyone his doctor had ever seen. Might be worth a try.

Thanks, ChrisNYC, for your comments a thread or 2 ago. I intend to live to a healthy 100 if I can, but it can't hurt to take measures "just in case". http://www.crocuta.net/Dean/Dean.zip, 325 Mb.

Re Dems caving: I also hate that they are, but I can see they are in kind of a rock-vs-a-hard-place situation. On the one hand, thanks to the full complement of idiot elephants still in the Congress, they can't muster a veto-proof majority. On the other hand, if they don't get some kind of a spending bill passed, the troops will run out of funds in, IIRC, July or so. This would not only screw up life for the troops (very bad), but also give the Rethugs an in to accuse the Democrats of "playing politics and hurting the troops." Not sure if that propaganda would really stick, given the way the American people are feeling, but after 6 long years of that being the case, the Dem politicians may be gun-shy that it would.

I do wish that Pelosi or her agents would be doing some clandestine investigations under the table right now which could lead to impeachment. But even if she is, she would have to persuade enough elephants in Congress to get impeachment to pass-- a tall order. Look how the majority-Republican Congress failed to impeach Clinton.

(Sigh) There must be *some* way to get the treasonous bastards out of there ASAP, short of an all-out armed coup. They'll do more damage even in 1 1/2 years.

42.

 Sam,

 I wonder if the American public has noticed anything other than what the CM is feeding them?  Yes, all these things are in the news but if they're written as failures by the CM, who's to say how many really do "get it". I hope you're right but I fear not.

Is everybody watching Al Gore on LKL?

I thought so.  LOL 

Reed

My plan would be to cull some of the Dem regulars too.
Why is it that when the Repugs have a majority, the Dems meet in the basement, are shut out of meetings etc. when the Dems have a majority, the Repugs still get their way. I don't really think anymore that the Dems don't have a spine. It looks like they are doing exactly what they want to do, and their only problem is how can they keep fooling the base?

Al Gore for President!  No one else will do.  Oh to have an articulate and honest president who's his own man and not run by Rove.

Besides, how often do we elect senators?  The last time was JFK  and it appears the dems have forgotten that.

He's wise to not announce right now but he needs to fall, doncha think?  By then, we'll all be so fed up with the nonsense from Obama and Clinton. 

 51.

Audrey 

I agree completely...many of the Dem. front runners should be culled as well. Progressive Avengers post last night ...Greg Palast  re: Hillary,  hits the nail on the head....

http://www.gregpalast.com/hillarys-mother-fing-tour-business

I think the problem is larger than anyone can imagine but then hey, I fall into that conspiracy theorist catagory.

Just reading past threads...

Phil...hope everything goes picture perfect with your operation...take the time you need to heal. I imagine that will be the toughest part for you. A doer hates to be down. 

Me limited time is used up...

zzzville 

Just sent this to my legislators...including the first line for my good Senators...

Thank you for voting against continued unchecked funding for the Iraq war. I feel discouraged that Congress appears to have caved in to Bush's demands. What if Congress simply didn't offer funding until a timetable is accepted by the President? If he won't sign good legislation he would have to bring the troops home. We are asking far too much of our young people; the cost is too high, robbing them of health and life, and we cannot afford to properly care for them when they return. It is utterly shameful.

Meanwhile, things are further unraveling in the Middle East. I am OUTRAGED that Israel is shelling the Lebanon refugee camp!! The law says that they cannot enter the camp. Sending shells into the camp *IS* entering the camp, and I am FURIOUS that our country is backing the action!

What can be done? I will check your website for your views on these concerns.
Gratefully,