Gotta say it-- I don't often rush out and buy the newest gizmos or gadgets, I was curious when the Kindle first came out but I took a wait and see attitude. Then in Austin at sxswi a nice lady I met let me take her new kindle2 for a spin. I fell in Love.

Last week- as I headed into a really difficult 3 weeks in my work and personal life my significant other got my a surprise gift. My new Kindle2-- and he gave it to me, just because.

I love it!
I've already read the sunday times, am reading The New Yorker, and have downloaded some great books. The format is awesome, the look and feel luxurious, the screen sooooooo easy to read.

Here's my Kindle2 book shelf so far
The Graveyard and Coraline by Neil Gaimen
The Sun Also Rises (my may book club title)
The New York Times last sunday
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
Linked: the New Science of Networking
Kos (the feed from the last 3 days)
What Every American Should Know About the Middle East (which I don't like so far)
and the New Yorker May 4th edition

So anyway- that's my first blush review.
More later as I get to use it more.

DNC Tim Kaine's statement on Sen. Specter joining our party;

A Republican for 43 years, Senator Specter has chosen to leave a party that he says has moved far to the right and join Senate Democrats as they work with President Obama to turn our economy and our country around.

The Senator's decision is the latest indication that the GOP is increasingly out of touch and has nothing new to offer. How can we expect Republicans to provide any new leaders when they can't even keep one of their own?

Senator Specter courageously supported the President's economic recovery package. He set politics aside to create solutions to America's problems, and decided that "no" just isn't good enough for the challenges we face.

I commend him for his decision to join the Democratic Party today.

Being from PA. I always found Specter to be fairly moderate and mostly reasonable- though of course he is not liberal. He is smart and we need the votes.

Okay, okay, Arlen Spector, close-to-sixty, Republican leadership has a sad, etc, etc. All of those things are worthy of mention and perhaps the tiniest smile ;-)

But I also want to note that First Lady Michelle Obama, SOS Hillary Clinton, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi moved it up a little bit higher, by honoring a woman whose story has stayed with me since I learned of her, many, many years ago: Mother Sojourner Truth. She helped to build a more just America, though she experienced grave injustice for much of her life. Here's a little bit of her story:

Around 1815, Truth met and fell in love with a slave named Robert from a neighboring farm. Robert's owner (Catlin) forbade the relationship; he did not want his slave to have children with a slave he did not own, because he would not own the children. Robert was savagely beaten and Truth never saw him again. Later, he died from the previous injuries.

I believe that this truth is self-evident, that no matter what lie the slaveowners twisted their souls to believe, ultimately, none of them owned the children.

How's it going so far?
do tell...

Maybe not the best way to run your campaign. From the daily round up of the Detroit News;

Ethics claim filed over Palin fund: An ethics complaint filed against Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin claims the legal defense fund she formed last week to challenge such claims is an ethics violation itself. The complaint filed Monday with the Alaska attorney general's office seeks a probe by the Alaska Personnel Board.

Ah the irony. shocked, shocked I say... (not)

Sorry, this is short, but reading this reminded me of how Gilly (where I learned about Mr. Wolcott in the first place) advised that it would be better for asshats not to take the man on, as his effortless verbal pummeling would be followed by a right to the reputation, a knockout in the public square:

The thing about Newt is, no matter how big a crock you think he is, he never fails to outperform. Newt's Letter over at Human Events begins with his usual belch of phony bluster:

The elite media tried to ignore us.

That would be the same suppressive elite media that Newt appears on four or five fucking times a week to deliver his spiels; that collective Pravda.

He's riffing off John Cole's disgusted note about Newt trying to make July 4 another day of teabaggery.
Why, oh why must we sully our beautiful minds with the obvious spectacle of people who can't deal with being out of power, don't want to acknowledge why it happened, and who are determined to fool fools into believing that it wasn't their fault?

image credit: kconnorsMarijuana & Hash Museum, Amsterdam, NL

I was 'substitute teaching' an English class with two Japanese women, late-middle-aged, very different backgrounds and approaches to life. Now, these are two precious people: curious and intelligent. After this year of getting to know them, we are fast friends and will definitely hang out in the future.

The class took some interesting twists and turns. I dropped the books pretty early on: we were all more interested in having real conversations. We discussed politics, a lot, which is something that isn't necessarily done very much outside of close family and friends here in Japan. We talked about what it would be like to have a housewife (one of them proudly self-identifies as a housewife, a homemaker) and an entrepreneur daughter of a Buddhist family running the country, instead of the old guys who've been doing it for years. We talked about women and modernity, and Michelle Obama, and Barack's effect on Japanese folks, and lots, lots more.

And we talked about drugs. It was in the context of the Virtual Town Hall Q&A, in which the President did not take a pot legalization question particularly seriously. I explained that more than 3 million people voted for the question.

They were shocked into silence. 'But it's dangerous!' the more conservative student shook her head.

Gotta say, I was surprised to even be talking about such a taboo subject and seeing their natural curiousity overcome the fear.

'But why would so many Americans think it is good?' 'Isn't that why America is so violent?' I talked about my lovely experiences in Amsterdam. The conversation went on past our time limit, and we all left, not convinced of the others' position (they think all illegal drugs are illegal because they are bad and show a lack of morality in the person who takes them. I think that, since the War on Drugs™ clearly hasn't worked, it's time to get pragmatic and at least decriminalize it).

But we did agree that there's a great amount of fear amongst regular folks in Japan about drugs, that alcohol and tobacco are 'acceptable, nay celebrated' but they are actually drugs, and that it would be interesting to see if legalizing or decriminalizing made people go wild.

I wish I had had this study by big brain Glenn Greenwald (commissioned by The Cato Institute, no less!) reporting on the clear positive affect of decriminalization in Portugal. Glenn writes about it here: it's worth reading.

I think this is another thing, besides torture investigations, that the drum is beating loudly for. Change from the bottom up.

As I lift my head up briefly from nonstop work, I nurdle (a word I made up that means meander and other things) over to the HuffPo for a little break, and read this: How Michelle Obama Remains In Full Control Of Building Her Image. Mild interest piqued, I scoot over to the Times article: First Lady in Control of Building Her Image . I'm reading the words of magazine editors whose own arrogance seems beyond belief in a world of real people, but, okay, well, fashion is not a focus for me. Some folks get joy from this, so...

Then I read this (emph. mine):

By focusing on her domestic persona and harnessing the fascination with her family, the first lady and her communications team have emerged as the key architects of one of the most remarkable political transformations in years. Only 10 months ago, Mrs. Obama was described as an angry black woman by some conservatives and as a liability to her husband. Now, she is widely admired for her warmth, and her vibrant and accessible manner, and her race seems almost an afterthought to many Americans. She has the highest favorability ratings of any incoming first lady since 1980, and is even more popular than the president.

Isn't it just possible that her being African American is essential to who she is and how she's dealing with being in the public eye? Rather than an 'afterthought'? Is being White ever an afterthought? Lord have mercy. Sorry, I'm not saying this well. But the 'angry black woman' thing is such a bunch of bullshit. Are some Americans still too abysmally stupid to recognize that Black people, like White people, like any people, contain multitudes? Yeah, I know there are some.

I have to say, the shallow still burns...

Movies get to Japan much more slowly.

Slum Dog Millionaire is officially here this weekend- but we caught an early release last night.

wow.

What great story telling. Nice film work. It deserved the 8 Oscars.
Your thoughts?

It turns out that low saturated fat as a way of reducing heart disease is not supported by scientific evidence. AT ALL. none. nadda. nothing.

The notion that low fat high carb is good is exactly the opposite of reality as many of us foodies have long suspected.

there is a new study out which leads to the following conclusion;

Taken as a whole, I think the findings of this systematic review can be summarised as follows: a low fat, high carb diet is bad for the heart. And, again, a close inspection of the science gives us no reason at all to cut back on saturated fat.

References: 1. Mente A, et al. A Systematic Review of the Evidence Supporting a Causal Link Between Dietary Factors and Coronary Heart Disease. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(7):659-669. DrBriffa.com

In fact if you want to reduce your risk of heart disease- the list of positives is pretty much opposite from what most of us have been told for decades.

fat good (except for the evil manufactured trans-fat) vitamins E and C, Fish esp. salmon and other omega-3 fatty fishes, fruits, veggies, whole grains, fiber, nuts and wine!

Anyone want to join me in a baguette, some creamy cheeses and a good burgundy? YUM.

Say It!

photo from PearlyBlue and Myrtle June, lol-ization by tlg

So are you having a good weekend?
Read any good books lately?
What's for eating in your place this weekend?

Do tell...

In the last 25 years, no sound in American politics has thundered louder than the smirking, conspicuous, complicit silence of the meatsticks on the Right during the Age of Bush as their Dear Leader presided over a historically unprecedented string of impeachment-grade lies, treason, failure, breathtaking stupidity, corruption, catastrophe and outright theft, all wrapped up in an open, snarling contempt for the United States Constitution.

One of the VP Vetters goes on the record about the Palin pick.

Arthur B. Culvahouse, a Veep vetter, said Friday that "I told John, she wouldn't have been ready on January 20th -- I don't think many people would." So did he recommend Palin?

Said A.B.: "The mistake I made -- and we've laughed about it since -- after giving him that advice, he said, 'Well, what's your bottom line?' I said, 'John. High risk. High reward.' And his response, 'You shouldn't have told me that, I've been a risk-taker all of my life.'"-- SFGate

We've laughed about it since?!?

Yeah ha ha, so freakin' funny.

This shows in one quick snapshot just how close we came to having a president that would put our country in danger- on what amounted to a high risk gamble for fame and fortune. He is a disgrace. He knew better and didn't give a shit. He risked it all for his ego. And are very lucky that his gamble was so transparently pathetic and obviously dangerous that the majority Americans did not vote for him.

Here's one piece of the puzzle, courtesy of Jon Stewart (as usual) and the seriously impressive Elizabeth Warren who chairs the group that oversees TARP:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Elizabeth Warren Pt. 2
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

then there's this interesting post on The Motley Fool. Here's an excerpt:

Why You Should Love Higher Taxes
"...when an institutional shareholder has a time horizon of four months, they should want management to pull out the stops right now to hit quarterly earnings targets. If they're not going to own the stock in five years, why would they concern themselves with the long-term effects of today's business decisions?...The fact that a majority of business owners' interests are unaligned with the health of their own businesses runs completely counter to the well-being of our economy and the basic tenets of capitalism.
If capitalism is going to work, this ridiculousness needs to change..."

Now, of course, the Fool is for by investors, for investors - and I've never been in a position to be an investor. I read these articles in part because I want to understand why the system we have seems to focus on short term thinking that hurts people who invest as well as the rest of us.
Isn't this crisis an opportunity to create a more effective system? That is buttressed by the fact that more people can pay more attention and be active in how the system changes, than ever before? And that alternative ways to make a living, as well as more nuanced reasons to make that living, are going to become the norm, rather than the big swinging teabags?

Isn't this our chance to create a permanent intelligent majority?

W.A.R. (Wayne Anthony Ross) the anti-gay anti-woman nominee for Attorney General of Alaska was reject by the legislature. (yeah!)

In a joint session today (Thursday) the legislature rejected the appointment of Wayne Anthony Ross as Attorney General by a vote of twenty three in support and thirty five in opposition. It’s the first time in the state’s history that a member of the governor’s cabinet, the head of an executive branch department, has failed to be confirmed for office. ANPR

If Sarah does want to run in 2012 or even get re-elected as Gov. then her effectiveness and relationships in Alaska are going to naturally be the foundation-- and that foundation is looking pretty weak right now. (remember when reading the next quotes on other legislative issues that these are republicans talking-- not democrats.)

“I’ve had a lot of friction with the governor this year on her lack of connection, frankly the appearance that she’s more concerned about her national ambitions than what’s going on in the state,” Anchorage Republican Rep. Mike Hawker, co-chair of the finance committee, told Palin budget director Karen Rehfeld.

The committee was deciding on a request by Palin for $9 million to help develop a private in-state natural gas pipeline from the North Slope down to the Kenai Peninsula. Hawker and the other co-chair said Palin staffers spoke to legislative leaders about the money -- but several other finance committee members complained this was the first they’d heard of it.

“Nobody from the (Palin) administration has been to my office at all…I see a number of different legislators all shaking their heads, same thing, nobody’s been in their office,” said Kodiak Republican Rep. Alan Austerman.- ADN.com

She's even losing ground on her pet gas line project which is also go to lose her support in the rich-fat-cat energy lobby inside and outside of Alaska-- and she traded all this to do things like go rally with right to lifers in Indiana, attend alfalfa dinners and generally prance around the country chasing fundie votes for 4 years from now. Nice strategy.

photo courtesy Progress Now Colorado

The Tax day Tea-bagging circus promoted and fomented by Fox and Rush and the RWNM (right wing noise machine) are not about taxes, the are about losing. These folks lost the election and they don't know what to do about it. And since there are no reasonable people leading or uniting the republican party-- the vacuum is being filled by the fringe elements and the greedy news media.

Unfortunately the tea bag party has clearly become the happy home of racist, angry, and yes crazy people and they are more than willing to be the literal poster children for the GOP. (like this lovely young racist above)

During the scary Palin rallies it was the left who exposed photos and stories of some of the racist and violent elements that Sarah was stirring up.  Like the grandpa that took the Obama monkey to a rally only to hide it and then give it to a kid when he realized he was on a CBS news camera, 

work is crazy this week- over committed, underpaid, and too crazy

so enjoy

1914 Tax office Barber County

What's Up with you? Did you see any Tea Baggers Today? (if yes did you laugh at them?) Did you file in time? Did you need an extension? How goes it fiscally and otherwise where you are?

Do tell...

Interesting news from Vermont for online entrepreneurs, new companies, and start-ups from everywhere around the globe. Vermont will soon offer a similar service to Delaware's easy corporate set up. But Vermont is taking it one step further into the online world.

These days there are tons of trendy and new companies that are totally online- employees scattered across the planet and meetings that are all done on the toobz.
But in all cases companies are still required by law to have a bricks and morter office or mailing address, to hold real-life board meetings, and to file tons of paperwork- even if they run a paperless business.

Then here comes Vermont;

The state of Vermont is set to become the first in the nation to offer a legal framework for virtual companies. In May, the state's legislature voted to pass a law, which is expected to be signed this summer by Governor Jim Douglas, that would allow any private company to register in Vermont without opening a physical office, holding an in-person meeting, or filing a single sheet of paper. Companies could meet these requirements -- which are mandated by most states in order to legally register or open a bank account -- by using e-mail, instant messaging, or other software programs. from INC.com

Vermont will charge up to $275 a year for each virtual company registered, with state income taxes applying only to income generated in Vermont itself. The granit state is hoping to compete with Delaware which generates more than $700 million a year in incorporation taxes.
Read the full story here.

So when the nation met Gov. Palin on the election stage-- we found out some unsavory things. Not the little stuff like the 150,000 dollars worth of clothes from a frugal maverick. That shit is just stupid. But the darker stuff we found out was that as Wasilla mayor she believed in further punishing rape victims by making them pay for their own exams and evidence kits rather than law enforcement covering that cost to try to help bring rapists to justice. AND we found out that in her deep religious fervor, Sarah thinks that victims of rape and even incest should not be able to get an abortion but should carry to term with no choice or control in their own lives and futures.

But it doesn't end there. Sarah's new pick for Attorney General (the man in charge of justice for the state of Alaska) is Wayne Anthony Ross. (that link goes to a rah-rah piece about Ross and his other amazing thoughts on abortion and conservative values) Ross is homophobic, sexist, and a general nightmare for any public office-- let alone AG! But even I was surprised to read this jewel;

“If a guy can’t rape his wife…who’s he gonna rape?” and “There wouldn’t be an issue with domestic violence if women would learn to keep their mouths shut.”

Ross said this in a speech in the 1990's to Dads Against Discrimination (now known as the Alaska Family Support Group). The group's main mission appears to be helping deadbeat dad's avoid paying child support.

h/t Urbaness.com for digging up this great story on Palin's newest governing statement against women.

Snapshots of the rescued Captain in the Pirate Crisis off the coast of Somalia

For all of Bush and his "mission accomplished" costumes and pandering he was actually quite weak in terms of deciding on actions in crisis. Fox and all their ilk were nattering on and on and on about how Obama was being weak in Somali Pirate incident over the last week.

One Fox "pundit" said that the President was going to give the pirates "A bailout" like everyone else. Because he was too cowardly to take action. Convinced that the President was weak he said that Obama was the worst combination of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. (to wingnuts that combo would be worse than the boogeyman)

But here's the reality folks--

Obama on the Pirates and the use of force;

President Barack Obama issued a standing order to use force against pirates holding an American captain hostage — including giving a Navy commander the authority to act if he believed the captain’s life was in danger, two senior defense officials said Sunday night.

George W. Bush Last year on the same difficult issues;

U.S. President George W. Bush has been briefed about increasing attacks by Somali pirates off east Africa, and the United States is consulting with other U.N. Security Council members on ways to combat the threat, the White House said on Wednesday.

Calling it a "a very complicated issue," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino gave no hint of what, if any, action the United States might take following the hijacking earlier this week of a Saudi supertanker with a $100 million oil cargo.

Back home here in the Good Ole USA--Fox is getting out of control, and make no mistake about it, their hysteria is all about elections next year, framing the debate now and trying to take back the house and or senate. Our fight really begins now.

They will paint him as a coward, weak, socialist, tax and spender, anything and everything that they thing might work-- if they throw enough crap at the dems they are hoping some of it will stick.

At least in the President's case he has had a lot of training in defending himself from the the Kitchen Sink strategy when the Clinton Campaign and later the McCain Palin campaign tried one desperate smear campaign after another. But let me tell you this is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

In the meantime, because of Obama's standing order, when the Navy Seals saw that the captain's life was in danger in the recent crisis, they took the action they saw necessary and happily the Captain was saved.

This was a clear instance of a Commander in Chief who actually trusts and leads with integrity allowing his folks in the field to make the right decisions based on their expertise and training.

The GOP is so deluded they can no longer recognize what it looks like when you walk softly but care that big stick.

C&L has video of the Fox Hysteria and Name calling.

From the west wing.

Check it out, it's full of stars.



Black Rain from Semiconductor on Vimeo.

Working with STEREO scientists, Semiconductor collected all the HI image data to date, revealing the journey of the satellites from their initial orientation, to their current tracing of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Solar wind, CME's, passing planets and comets orbiting the sun can be seen as background stars and the milky way pass by.

As in Semiconductors previous work 'Brilliant Noise' which looked into the sun, they work with raw scientific satellite data which has not yet been cleaned and processed for public consumption -- BlackRain

Evan Bayh, who (according to many sources) was almost the VP-- had this to say on Fox News;

Bayh: Some action in the crisis was called for, that's in the short run. In the long run though we've got to start unwinding some of these things. We don't want the government in the business of owning our banks. We don't want the government intruding any more than it has to in the private sector so we've got to start reversing some of this once the momentum is in the economy to grow the economy once again to stabilize situations and I do agree with Tom, when it comes to health care we don't want "socialized medicine," but there is an appropriate role for government to expand coverage, to make it more affordable for people who don't have the means and that actually enables to meet the challenges....

What a bunch of fear mongering horse shit. It is so nice when we can enjoy GOP talking points right out of the mouths of our own Democratic Party Members!

I remember when the rumors started that Evan was on the short list. I was horrified. His name was floated just before the Dem Convention- I can't imagine what the Obama team was thinking. Against providing health care? Throwing around the new evil word socialism? This guy should quit the party, and along with Lieberman and others go off in a corner and triangulate themselves to oblivion. The crazy thing is-- I always feel like this crap is calculated and doesn't even have the basic belief behind it. I think Bayh is so busy figuring out how to out think what voters might say that they might think in the possible future that he doesn't even know what he believes anymore.

I am SO HAPPY that he is not our VP. Dodged a bullet for sure.
C&L has their take and the video.

h/t Bluegal

Blogging Against Theocracy contribution/ guest post Ceabaird.

Let’s understand one thing from the start – this is NOT about religion AT ALL. This about the radical fundamentalist factions of the US, the militant, bigoted, self-righteous, blissfully ignorant teams of power- and money-hungry cadres who have found out that the next best thing to working as a trader on Wall Street, is to pick up a Bible, stand behind a pulpit, and cry about how you – and everyone else – is a SINNER. And need to be controlled.

Science and religion actually have no reason for entanglement, and the only reason why they do in the US and the Middle East is due to one thing – power to have government favor your group and your group alone above ALL others. These two developments of man are looking at similar – but different – questions. Religion seeks to find answers to why things seemingly “karmically” happen, and what we can do to influence, or ameliorate, their effects. Science also seeks answers, but in more mundane matters; why do we breathe oxygen and not ammonia? Why do different animals that do similar things, sharks, dolphins, and ichthyosaurs, all look the same?

The reason why, in the US, religion attacks science directly is very clear: they want first crack at the young minds of children, and young adults, to build of barriers of “faith” that will end with the young allying themselves with religious leaders over secular ones. That is why the whole debate about “creationism” lays bare the actual and unspokenly clear goals of the fanatical religionist cadres for what they really are. Notice that the only story these people are “defending” is the christian biblical “Genesis” story. No time is spent or given to Hindu, Native American, Yoruba, Celtic, Zorastrian, Daoist, Buddhist, or any other religious creation myth. This is because the cadre aren’t interested in what these other people may think, and indeed, claim that these millions of people ARE WRONG. That they believe the WRONG things, and are BAD, and will be PUNISHED. They want we all should only believe what the cadre says. We have a word to describe this kind of thinking: Re-Education. It’s wrong when the communist cadres do it, and it’s wrong when christians do it. It’s wrong when ANYBODY does it.

Science, however, is not a faith. You don’t need to be born in it, you don’t have to convert, and nobody cares if you are part of it or not. Primarily, there is no DOGMA. There is one primary rule: any claim MUST be supported by the research of independent, non-related groups. If their results support yours, then we have a new understanding. Further more, research builds on the work of those who went before. Science is an international, non-denominational effort. It makes no difference what color, what religion, what race, someone belongs to; only the results matter. By the way, science has proven yet another “everybody knows” accepted belief wrong: there is NO scientific support of what is commonly used to descriminate among humans: Race. Genetically, we are ALL much closer to another than the difference between us and other animals. Race, as a construct, has no basis in science. And therefore, the use of race as a divisive factor is WRONG.

The christian radical cadre makes much of race; we know that aside from a parable of human relations, that this is wrong. The christian religion does make one overt distinction among people; the rich and the poor. And, according to Jesus: “And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Mt. 19:24)

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Mk. 10:25)

“For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Lk. 18:25)

I think we know where Jesus’ opinion would lie, when describing the current slavish devotion among the cadre for the rich: they are wrong, and against the will of God. Science would agree: the distintion between the rich and poor is facecious, and ignores the basic truth of human reality; we do better when we support ALL, and make no distinction by race, creed, or social class. And no-one wins when we try to impose a ignorant dogma upon all.

From FL commenter Ceabaird's new passel of jack russell puppies. awwwwwwww- check out that teenie weenie tongue. (yes, I am ALWAYS a sucker for doggie related news and photos.)

One of my favorite Easter things for the last 3 years has been the Wapo-Peeptastic Contest. The contestants create dioramas where all the characters must be made of peeps and marshmallow bunnies. Contestants have to make and photograph their entry. Then they have to preserve it-- as the finalists send in their creation for a professional photo shoot, and screen and print coverage. The themes, and creations every year are really supper-- this year they got over 1,100 contestants. You can see the 40 finalists online here.

The rules are simple;

Think of a scene from history or pop culture and make a diorama out of it, using Peeps as people or set pieces or whatever. Anything goes, as long as the focus is on the Peeps and the diorama is made in a shoe box or item of comparable dimensions.

Personally I think the entry above was the hands down winner-- I liked it MUCH better than the one that won. Take a look at tell us your favorite in the thread. You can also vote on your own favorite here.

By the way-- did you eat any peeps this year? I am partial to the bunnies myself--Ears first of course. Next year I am definitely going to send in my own diorama. Maybe a Bunny Kabuki stage? or an opera creation...Madame- Peeperfly? hmmmm?

During the Blogging Against Theocracy weekend- I thought I would start with this ridiculous tirade by Pat Buchanan against the sane and reasonable Lawrence O’Donnell on hardball. (long but worth it)



What I take away from this is that this is one of the reasons that political arguments don't work when we are talking about religion. Buchanan is trying to make a political point using a religion that he doesn't understand, and facts that are-- well-- not factual. And when he is challenged on this- he reverts to shouting and other over the top emotional reactions.

Religion is personal. How people decide to practice their religion is complicated, and adding in political point scoring only makes things worse. It is long past time that we go back to making religion a private thing, between you- your family and your choices. It is what America was founded on. Buchanan can't even really decide what supporting a culture of life even means. And he has no idea what Catholics believe. Time for him, and all the anti-Obama political hacks stfu about Notre dame and this trumped up non-story.

See tons of Blogging Against Theocracy Pieces here.

Pete Souza-The White House

The mystery is over- The Obama's new dog will make his DC debut on Tuesday, but here's the news so far...

The little guy is a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog given to the Obama girls as a gift by that Portuguese water dog-lovin' senator himself, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The girls named it Bo -- and let it be noted that you learned that here first. Malia and Sasha chose the name, because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because first lady Michelle Obama's father was nicknamed Diddley, a source said. (Get it? Bo . . . Diddley?)

Bo's a handsome little guy. Well suited for formal occasions at the White House, he's got tuxedo-black fur, with a white chest, white paws and a rakish white goatee. -Washington Post

He is very very cute! and I am sure he is going to make those girls so happy. Congratulations, AND welcome to the White House Little Bo!

Natalia Morar Facing Charges for Organizing Protests Via Twitter

File this under why social media scares the be-jeezus out of reactionary or conservative governments and political parties.

Moraruka1_3 A Moldovan activist faces criminal charges for organizing demonstrations that were enabled by social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook, the Russian press reports.

In an interview with Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, Moldovan Prosecutor General Valeriu Gurbulea said Natalia Morar, one of the organizers of an anti-Communist flash mob, has been officially charged with "calls for organizing and staging mass disturbances." (Morar has not been put in jail, however -- despite some reports to the contrary.)

Prosecutors, Gurbulea added, were contemplating charges against another 200 people he described as being involved in an attempt to overthrow the government in Moldova's so-called "Twitter Revolution."-- Wired

And in bush-cheney fashion I like how the government catagorizes organizing demonstrations with attempting to overthrow the government. Sounds like our own RNC-8.

Times are tough, and people are struggling. I have seen creative people all over the internet and indie TV working to create quality programing to help people survive in these economic times with their dignity in tact. And then there is Fox...

To populate its new "Lord of the Flies"-esque series, "Someone's Gotta Go," Fox has lined up actual companies -- smaller, Dunder Mifflin-esque-sized (15-20 employees) ones -- having financial difficulties.

In each case, the company's boss or owner will call all the employees together and tell them someone's going to get laid off. But rather than the boss/owner making the decision, he or she will instead give the employees all the available information about one another -- salaries, job evaluations, etc. -- and let the employees decide who will get pink-slipped.- The Washington Post

How does humiliating people help? How does turning a staff against each other help? How does this not just profit on the backs of people and companies that are already struggling? I love too that they target small-medium sized companies. These are the very companies that need real help to stay alive, real support. Small business creates more jobs than any other sector in America.

Why not a reality show where a small company gets support to stay alive on their employees coming up with creative ways to be more sustainable? Or any other positive outcome incentive? Fox is craven and disgusting-- and yet people watch this crap? What is wrong with our country?

As soon as the show airs and there are advertisers to write to-- I hope we'll all let them know that we need to come together in these times not profit from situations that are hurting families and small companies.

h/t FDL

Looks like, in the first major family holiday since the big collapse has really started to sink in-- folks are cutting back-- out of concern, or need. The Easter Ham is going to be a good bit smaller this year. And unfortunately for our friends and neighbors in the service industry-- there are going to be far fewer families springing for a fancy meal out during the holiday weekend as well.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - This year's Easter ham may be smaller and guests may be asked to bring a dish, as cash-strapped consumers spend less to celebrate the Christian holiday.

"I think people are more cognizant that we don't need these elaborate bashes," said Brian Leonard, whose Easter plans have shrunk to include only his family of five, down from previous years, when 30 were on the guest list.

"Sunday we are going to have a small family meal; normally we have a large family meal," said Leonard, who lives on Chicago's west side.

The ongoing recession, 8.5 percent unemployment, and 10 percent of Americans using food stamps have changed the country's eating habits and food buying decisions.

In addition to Sunday's meal, Leonard, who works at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, said his family will donate an Easter ham to a Chicago homeless shelter, where the number of tenants has jumped this year to about 240 from 130.

I wonder if sales in marshmallow peeps will also be down?

What are your plans (if any) for Easter, Passover, Spring Pagan holidays or whatever else you might have going on this weekend?

Whassup?

What is it?

The theme, like always, is the Separation of Church and State — we are for it. But the variations on the theme are many...This is not a bashing of religion - peeps can believe what they choose, however they choose — but it is a reminder that the Government should keep out of religion, and Religion should keep out of the government. from Mock, Paper, Scissors

How can you take part? First read all about it here.

then;
1. Read our blog and other blogs participating.
2. If you write on a blog or are a diarist on other blogs- participate!

Here are the details from the fabulous BlueGal

Here is how to participate in the blogswarm.

1. Write a post in support of our United States Constitution, specifically regarding the separation of Church and State. You can write your post anytime, but the blogswarm takes place Easter Weekend, April 10-12. Your post will be linked at the Blog Against Theocracy website during and just after that weekend.

2. Send the URL of your post via this online form, and add any comments you would like to appear with your link. Make sure you provide the permalink to your post and not just your blog. I will receive your link and over Easter Weekend (and just after I'm sure) I will post these to the BAT website.

3. Sit back and enjoy the hits, and know that Thomas Jefferson, Buddha, Mohammed, and Jesus his own self would be proud of you. (Yes, personally? I really believe that.)

Thank you!
Love,
Blue Gal

A U.S. congressional delegation met on Monday with Cuban President Raul Castro in his first talks with U.S. officials since taking office last year -- a sign that U.S.-Cuban relations may be thawing.

Castro was host to seven Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives who came to Cuba last week to explore ways of normalizing relations between the two countries, which have been at odds for five decades. Reuters

It's about time.

And in honor of that-- how about a midweek drink-- (from TasteofCuba.com)

Cuba Libre recipe

1/2 lime juice
coke
2 oz Havana Club or other rum

mix the lime juice and coke with ice cubes, add Havana Club and serve in a long glass.

Cheers!

I was all ready to wax political on Levi's visit to the Tyra Banks show and how since, according to young Levi, Sarah Palin let him and her then 16-17 year old daughter Bristol share a bedroom in her house- her family values may not be the fundies think they are.

I also pondered writing about Rush's exodus from Sodom and Gomorrah- (I mean NYC of course.)

But then she came to me like a right wing, angel of absurdity. Ahhhhh Lovely Michelle Bachmann. In a blaze of insanity she again burned my laptop screen with the nuclear heat of her stupidity.

Seems like Michelle has decided that community service in exchange for college assistance is like a re-education camp. Yup. that's right- asking our young people if they want to volunteer to give back to their communities in AmeriCorps and then helping those same young people with money for college is like a communist re-education camp.

WOW! That was even stupider than last weeks fomenting revolution in support of rampant corporatism and cronyism.

Here's the quote of the day for me (from Bachmann was on KTLK April 4 );

It's under the guise of -- quote -- volunteerism. But it's not volunteers at all. It's paying people to do work on behalf of government. ...

I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums.

If you are a glutton for punishment you can listen to the full interview here.

Do you think she's heard about the ROTC Program? Or is assisting people with college money for joining the military like "It's okay if you are a republican" I guess we need a new one, It's ok if it is for the pentagon.

Well, you know she has a lot of time on her hands because everything is going so well in her district that she doesn't have to worry about anything. It is all unicorns and roses in the Minn. 6th- so she has time to foment and foam at the mouth. It is understandable- her house is in order-- so why not fix everyone else?

Oh wait-- No it isn't.

Turns out that Michelle's district leads her state in foreclosures and she is actively working against legislation that would help her constituents.

Trouble in the Sixth-- to the north of the Twin Cities, the 6th district, represented by Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, had the most foreclosures of any of Minnesota’s eight congressional districts, with an estimated 5,227 in 2008. Her district also had the highest rate of foreclosures as a percentage of households, at 1.80 percent, nearly that of the city of Minneapolis at 1.85 percent.

The situation was similar in 2007, when, according to a Housing Link study, Bachmann’s district had a higher foreclosure rate than the rest of Minnesota and the rest of the country.

But Bachmann’s record in Congress is not one of a representative whose district faces such a crisis. Bachmann hasn’t authored or sponsored any legislation to assist homeowners facing foreclosure, but she has co-sponsored 14 bills to restrict abortions and 5 to promote Christianity in government.

Bachmann voted against five key foreclosure relief bills, including the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act... From Andy Birkey At the Minnesota Independent.

As Atrios said today;

Deep Thought
When my house gets foreclosed I'll probably be pretty happy if there's a reeducation camp I can go to.

Michelle Bachmann-- the gop gift that keeps on giving.

By the way, here's what AmeriCorps is up to in Michelle's own State.
National Service in Minnesota.

More than 35,000 people of all ages and backgrounds are helping to meet local needs, strengthen communities, and increase civic engagement through 85 national service projects across Minnesota. Serving with national and local nonprofits, schools, faith-based organizations and other groups, these citizens tutor and mentor children, coordinate after-school programs, build homes, conduct neighborhood patrols, restore the environment, respond to disasters, build nonprofit capacity and recruit and manage volunteers. This year, the Corporation for National and Community Service will commit more than $22,800,000 to support Minnesota communities through three national service initiatives

If you want to see what goes on at that evil re-education camps in your state or neighborhood- by all means check out AmeriCorps today.

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I spent the morning watching the crooks and liars videos of idiots like Anti-union David Gregory. And reading the right wing reaction to the Obama Europe trip.

'nuf said.

Rock and Roll hall of fame new inductees...

One of the bands that will be inducted into the Rock Hall on April 4th has become one of the most well-known rap groups in history- RUN-DMC (rundmcmusic.com/). The group was made up of three MCs: Run (Joseph Simmons), D.M.C. (Darryl McDaniels), and Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell). RUN-DMC produced their first single, “It’s Like That,” which became a national hit. This was followed-up by two other songs (“Hard Times” and “Rock Box”) that led to bigger and better things. One of the bigger things was the band being one of the first bands to gain a following due to exposure from the new music television network known as MTV (mtv.com/) . After having success with their first several singles, RUN-DMC released a self-titled album. This resulting album became the first rap album to go gold.

Along with influencing the other DJs and MCs that were coming up in the developing rap scene that was happening around the world, RUN-DMC also had a major effect on the rock scene in the country, as well. The band’s single “Walk This Way,” the song originally done by the band Aerosmith, was a rap interpretation that was produced with the help of Aerosmith (aerosmith.com/). The song had a major influence on the future of both rap and rock, as many of today’s bands that combine rap and rock owe a lot of their sound to RUN-DMC to creating the art form. From the Examiner.com

Definitely deserving! Congrats to the two remaining members- and a pause to remember the fallen. Run DMC were really the first rap artists, and the first rap I ever listened to. And they did what they did with out resorting to the levels of sexism and glorification of violence that have become so prevalent.

Big talent. Tricky Stuff.

Many wounded, reports vary from 20-50 people killed.

from Reuters;

ISLAMABAD - A bomb exploded in a religious centre for minority Shia Muslims in central Pakistan on Sunday, wounding scores of people

“According to initial reports there are 40 to 50 casualties. There could be some deaths. We are still collecting details,” Mohammad Mumtaz, a police official told Reuters by telephone. The explosion took place in Chakwal, a city in Punjab province, as hundreds of people gathered for a religious ceremony. The blast came a day after eight paramilitary soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in the capital, Islamabad. Pakistan has a long history of tit-for-tat attacks by militants from majority Sunni and minority Shia Muslim communities in which thousands of people have been killed.

Getty photographer Mario Tama

The print media and the AP have given some coverage to the NYC Anti-Capitalist 2 Day Protest. They are calling it a rally-- downplaying the stronger word protest. And the news media is hardly covering it at all. Certainly they are not covering it with the force and emphasis they covered the protests in London. They don't want us to get mad. They don't want us to fight back. Look at the photo above- a ghost version of the protest in NYC.

NEW YORK (AP) — Protesters asking the government to "bail out the people" are holding a rally on Wall Street. They say they should get some of the billions of dollars being spent to save big business. The rally is starting in downtown Manhattan with a march down Broadway and ends at the iconic statue of a bull on Wall Street. The men, women and children are protesting near the offices of financial giants like Fidelity, American Express, the Federal Reserve and the New York Stock Exchange.

This coupled with Chuck Todd's question at the last prime time press conference, to paraphrase-- "When are you going to ask the American people to sacrifice?" Begins to make the choices stark and the dividing line clear.

As we work to dig ourselves out of this mess we are going to have two clear paths laid out before us in terms of who should receive the help of the government and who should bare the brunt of the sacrifice.

Tood's question was not about daily sacrifice. It was a veiled reference to so called entitlement programs. I hate that word by the way. These are core services.

It was a core value and system set up after the depression to take care of our old, take care of our children, provide some kind of basic medical help to the people who have lived, served, and worked to build the country that we are; Core Services of social security and medicare, medicade.

So the question before us- are we going to keep giving billions to the Banks, and Capitalist giants who drove us off the cliff-- and pay for it by taking away services for our people?

The USA news media, and the president wax on about the lost decade in Japan.

Gotta tell you- I am a proud American and there are things that really drive me nuts about my host country here in Japan-- but the so-called lost decade?!?

Yeah we did not see the major effects of the dot.com bubble and burst, we did not see the huge capital growth that the USA provided for it's richest Americans. BUT during this lost decade-- Japan had health care for it's citizens, a transportation system that is the envy of the world, innovations on green technology, growth of the internet (more podcasts and blogs are written in Japaneses than in English) and our lives did not get significantly worse- though the economy did not grow in double digits.

Now I realize that America's version of the lost decade would indeed be disastrous- job loss, home foreclosure, pensions gone-- but that it because of the basic choices that were made in the time of growth.

The Japanese did not choose tax breaks for the wealthy. They capped the top salaries a CEO can make in a company. They did continue to care for their people.

Ironically the economic troubles that Japan faces now are in large part because of the crisis in the USA. The Japanese auto and electronics industries produce for a huge American market which is not buying. But even as this happens things continue on here even with higher unemployment and worry. The Japanese elderly and Japanese children still have health care, and the trains still run. It will get bad. But just as the Japanese highs were not as high, their lows will be moderate too. It paints them as sane and us as bi-polar, doesn't it.

My fear now is that just as the corporatists and neoconservatives used 9/11 to push for an illegal and immoral war-- they will use the trauma of the economic crisis to gut the few social services left to help our most vulnerable population. They have been hungry for that social security money for decades. They tried under Bush to privatize. They go on and on about how "something must be done!" If Bush had been successful this crisis would be so much worse. Now they will try again under the guise of reducing the deficits for our children. (not that they cared about huge deficits and debt for the last 8 years). We better get angry, and we better be vocal.

We better support those who are speaking out.

And they better rethink who will be asked to sacrifice as we dig ourselves out of this mess.

(there is great analysis of the getty photo above over at bagnews)

AKA Obama's Postcard from Europe.



And what do you all think of the news from across the Atlantic this week?

Attack of the Rainbow DFH Crocheted Dress!



As you know I am a big fan of cakewrecks that site that snarks wildly about the worst of the worst travesties in pastry. Well now I have discovered Craftastrophe.

The absolutely ubelievable craft train wrecks that you'll never forget. The writing by the way is super-snark. Or as Colbert would say Supra-Smart!

I am disappointed to find this gorgeous dress at this late date-- I could have worn it to the inauguration ball in January. Damn. Do you think it will still be "in" if we win a second term? What shoes would go with something like this?

Craftastrophe
"Because Handmade Isn't Always Pretty"

Barack has the task of helping change the world right now, the sooner the better. But Michelle has been working toward more long term changes. This week she works on the big picture game one young future female leader at a time. While in London, as Barack met world leaders and was grilled by the British press- Michelle was visiting an all girl's school.

The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School has about 1,000 students, all of them girls ages 11 to 17, two-thirds of whom speak English as a second language. Fifty-five languages are spoken at the school. Ninety percent of the students are ethnic minorities, and no single ethnic group makes up more than 21% of the student body. As a group, they treated Obama as if she were an American Queen, a personification of what they can only dream of becoming in a country where no minority has risen nearly as high as the Obamas.

"I am just very touched," Michelle told the girls, choking up with emotion as she spoke. "All of you are jewels."

As part of her address Obama brought attention to the importance of education in the lives of girls: "I am an example of what's possible when girls are loved and nurtured by the women around them. From Care2.com

The photos and coverage from this visit are really inspiring. I am thrilled she made time to do this.

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Happy Friday- what's up for you this weekend? You goin' out on the town? What kind of Flair do you wear? Do tell...

A 19-count indictment covers the ousted Illinois governor, his brother, two former aides and two businessmen. The indictment charges Rod Blagojevich with engaging in a "wide-ranging scheme to deprive the people of Illinois of honest government,"

Was there ever any doubt? The court process will finally begin, and let justice be done- I hope.

Easy to be in a good mood when this is what the street in front of your apartment building looks like.

Hump Day. What's up with you and the world?
do tell...

Blankets with Sleeves?
Ok, I try to stay up on what is going on back in the homeland, even though I live in the land of the rising sun. But occasionally you, my fellow Americans who are living back home, sometimes you scare and confuse me.

What the heck is with the snuggies? I mean it. What the heck? I don't get it-- you are really buying these things? Why? Please explain. I am at a loss, a drift on a sea of being cut off from pop culture. Life raft, please.

Wow.

Go here and see more.

h/t for twitter from Behance's @scottbelsky

If you wonder why the pitchfork and torch set has no sympathy for the hedgefund managers, investment bankers and AIG execs-- the reasons become more and more obvious every day.

Hedge fund hotshot Robert Mercer files lawsuit over $2M model train, accusing builder of overcharge

A hedge fund hotshot's lawsuit over a toy railroad setup sounds more like the great train robbery than Thomas the Tank Engine.

Robert Mercer is accusing the builder of overcharging him by nearly $2 million for the elaborate HO-scale model railroad constructed and installed in his Long Island mansion.

Mercer, 62, contends in a federal suit that the correct amount due for labor and materials is more like $704,669, according to the complaint filed in Central Islip Federal Court. Mercer's lawyer Steven Pinks confirmed the figures are not typos, but declined to comment further. - BY John Marzulli DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Ok, I think model trains are cool. But you have got to be kidding me. Even if it should have cost 700,000 and not 2 million... I am supposed to feel bad for hard working wall street types that have lost their jobs? We are supposed to NOT be outraged at the state of the nation that they and the Bush administration have handed us? Yeah, right. Quell the populist anger? hell no.

This sounds just like the excesses of the 1920's robber barons. Or the courtly lives of the Sun King and his entourage. To fix what ails us we need, and these guys certainly need, a good old greed-ectimi. Cut that gene right out of the double helix.

And on a side note, can I just say-- part of the point of model trains is the DIY aspect. You don't pay some firm to come in and build one for you? wtf? You choose and build and craft the layout and set yourself, with pride and love. Or what's the point? Is it just fantasies of you being larger than life and presiding over your micro world? These people are shocking. seriously.

The story goes on to say, that the builders had to charge more because Old Mercer had to have the job done in time for his daughter's wedding. I am sure she would have been crushed if dad's train set was unfinished on her big day.

Ok, now I think Sarah Palin would have been a dangerous and horrible choice as VP. But that doesn't mean I have to like it when Chris Matthews uses sexism to make fun of her or any woman. Sheesh in Palin's case isn't there more than enough ammunition whenever she opens her mouth to crtique her on stupidity and slimy ethics without resorting to gender based attacks?

On Hardball 3/30 speaking with Howard Fineman (who he fawns over first) about McCain Palin;

MATTHEWS: You're a great reporter, Howard - I'm going to set you up. You are a great reporter. You are the best - the best in the business. What happened between those two?

FINEMAN: It was a lost weekend that didn't go beyond the weekend.

MATTHEWS: He thought she was something special. He thought she was the genuine article.

FINEMAN: He had no idea. He had no idea, with all die respect to the Senator. He had no idea what he was getting. They came into the convention and I was covering it closely at the time.

MATTHEWS: What was she - a mail-order bride? What do you mean he had no idea who she was?

FINEMAN: Practically he really didn't know. He didn't know her. They didn't have any other good choices. They had a boring convention they were facing in St. Paul. They wanted to liven it up. They said, hey - let's pick this conservative young woman governor from Alaska. And he crossed his fingers and said fine. It was a great convention, it was exciting. It was fun.

By the way I also find it odious that Fineman absolves and makes light of the fact that John McCain put the nation and world at risk by choosing Palin. Just a Lost weekend? He only wanted to liven up a boring convention!!! Yeah, that's the guy we should have leading America. Those are good credentials for VP.

great video work by Blue Gal.

Head over to Drifty's place and leave some love in the comment thread.

The volcano that GOP Wunderkind Bobby Jindal said did not need monitoring when he made fun of the stimulus money for Volcano Monitoring-- has erupted 19 times in the last 8 days. I find it an fantastic image of how out of touch the GOP and their good followers and blog trolls are on the issues and needs of the world.