There are some good writers on the blogs these days covering the fun and wonderful aspects of Japan. One blog I read is called KimonoBox. Lots of good stories. Kind of a journal, and Japan-boingboing rolled into one.

Love this piece today about these traditional Japanese dolls called Kokeshi re-invented by the geek-starwars crowd!


Totally fun. I want them!

what are you doing this weekend?

I am so sad about this. What a giant. He will be greatly missed especially now in the time of our best chance ever for health care.

There are great posts all over the blogs today about Teddy, but I just don't have the words to express how sad I am that he is no longer with us.

President Barack Obama had this to say about Teddy;

For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts. (emphasis mine)

I valued his wise counsel in the Senate, where, regardless of the swirl of events, he always had time for a new colleague. I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the Presidency. And even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I've profited as President from his encouragement and wisdom.

An important chapter in our history has come to an end. Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States Senator of our time.

And the Kennedy family has lost their patriarch, a tower of strength and support through good times and bad.

Our hearts and prayers go out to them today--to his wonderful wife, Vicki, his children Ted Jr., Patrick and Kara, his grandchildren and his extended family.

The netroots are busy with a new push and continuing our two prong strategy this week in our battle for Health Care for all Americans.

IN addition to holding together our progressive block of 60 in the house (and trying to get more) Chris Bowers and Open Left, and the fabulous folks at DFA are working on publicizing the 45 senators who have already gone on the record in support of a public option. AND we are working to get 5 more. 5 more means we have a clear path to passing Health Care even in the senate.

Keep your eyes and ears open on Daily Kos, Open Left, and DFA as well as FDL to keep up with what is going on and how you can help.

What's going on in your world? Any new right wing furniture stories? do tell...

Well done, please share widely. And send to your skeptical friends too. NOT just the choir.

I had an idea to start a wiki

the "BatShitCrazypedia"

works like this (I am serious)
list up all our major issues, legislation and crisis that need to be dealt with

then start listing up the absolutely craziest things you can think of that might be said to discredit or defeat reality and what needs to be done

then brainstorm and list up and start preparing in advance for strategies to fight the slurs, smears, and dis-information campaigns.

It would be fun.
It would pre-emptively make fun of them and take the wind out of their sails.
It would prepare us for any possible attack (though we may miss some as it is hard to channel too much nuttiness when you are a member of the reality based community)

538.com has been posting up some good stuff on the state of the health care debate, the tactics being used, and how these tactics are being reflected in the polls. Today this caught my eye...

allow me to suggest that what we are also witnessing here is an asymmetrical battle in which conservatives, Republicans, trade associations and other assorted opponents are adapting campaign strategies--and smear tactics in particular--to a policy debate. And, if you think about it, it's a pretty shrewd strategy to muddy the waters, provide disinformation, and in general try to scare people away from an idea--just as one might try to deter them from voting for a candidate in an election campaign. (read the rest)

We should have seen this coming, and been ready sooner. The GOP knows only one strategy that they have perfected in the last 10 years, deceit and misinformation- waged always like a political campaign. This approach to the very real and urgent need for policy and legislation is so cynical and uncaring as to stagger me. But there it is. We should expect it. All the time. Prepare for it. And push back hard.

They are the party of lies and of saying no to the American people and yes to big corporations and their rich friends. We are still being swiftboated at every turn. Time to sink some boats.

I know, in one way, this site is just wrong. But, on the other hand, I was filled with lots of affectionate laughter, as these folks are sweet and determined and very much alive! I'm also smiling at the idea that there are a bunch of middle-aged and young geeks helping the grands get set up with all the patience that entails. Hey, they were patient with us: time to return the favor.

Got a new name for 'em: seasoned prodigies. I want to be one too! :-)

update: whoops, forgot the link. m'memories goin!

Here is another one of the villagers telling us Enough Already?! Us? Really? Not the hateful fearmongering GOP? Not the made for profit at all costs insurance companies and their well fed lobbyists? But us. The American people, who have been waiting for real health care reform for 40 years. We are the ones who are supposed to shut up?

Mr Pearlstein says,

Enough already with the public option!
It is not the be-all and end-all of health-care reform. It is not the long-awaited safety net for the uninsured. And if, as many liberals hope, it turns out to be nothing more than Medicare for All, it won't do anything to hold down long-term growth in health spending.

The public option is nothing more than a political litmus test imposed on the debate by left-wing politicians and pundits who don't want to be bothered with the real-life dynamics of the health-care market.-- Washington Post

He goes on to lie, distort and mis-categorize the left, the progressives, Howard Dean and anyone he can throw some mud at while he defends the idea that co-ops the insurance and pharma approved plan, is the only way to go. Much like listening to the mortgage companies that ruined our economy, surely it is madness to go to the people who created the problem in the first place and ask them how to fix it? WHY SHOULD WE TRUST THEM? Or you- Mr. Pearlstein?

I normally don't like Joe Klein.
He did a good job even if he is anti-public option.
And he said, something will pass. the question is what?

But the big great point is that the GOP has nothing but lies. end.of.story.

I took a walk to a nearby park this morning. Here's what I saw on the way: it's a Democratic Party of Japan poster touting that party's insistence on 'Change' - a word that I have a love/hate relationship with, frankly. Here's a summary of what Change means here:


Japan election campaign opens; voters eye change

OSAKA, Japan (Reuters) - Voters in Japan flocked to rallies on Tuesday as official campaigning began in an election that is expected to see Prime Minister Taro Aso's party ousted for only the second time in its 54-year history.

Polls show Aso's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headed for defeat in the August 30 vote for parliament's powerful lower house, which would usher in a government led by the opposition Democratic Party and raise the chance of breaking a policy deadlock.

The Democrats have pledged to revive the economy by putting more money in the hands of consumers, hold off on raising the 5 percent sales tax for the next four years and adopt a diplomatic stance less subservient to top security ally the United States.

I love the idea of change, of difference, of the alternative, of the non-mainstream. But, living a life of pretty constant uncertainty is hard on the nerves. I can kind of understand, from a resident outsider's view, why Japanese people who are paying attention are interested in the Change buzzword (besides 50+ years of one ruling party!): Barack's campaign was a popular new subject for a long time here (there was even a 'Change' TV show that was quite popular), and he's still a fixture in the news. The Party's English site goes as far as to predict the future: Japan Will Change! But I can also understand the deep need here to avoid risk, don't be the nail that sticks up, don't be ostracized, don't dare to be different.

The unexpected is generally unsettling for folks here. So, I'm watching to see how strong the desire for change actually is in Japan...

And as we Americans Abroad join the health care fight, which was preceded by other fights, and will be followed by still more fights (climate change, anyone?), I wonder how the folks back home, who aren't fans of politics, are seeing this theme of Change?

Please send a message today
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/activities/181

make sure we keep our progressive house members strong so we don't lose the last chance we have for reform... the public option. Go here today and make your voice heard. We need to be as loud as those obnoxious townhall disruptors. But in a positive way.

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/activities/181

Please take this action asap.



update; here is a list of the heroes, if your guy or gal is on there- call them asap and show your support

P.S. Here's the list of healthcare heroes:

Albio Sires (NJ-13)
Alcee Hastings (FL-23)
Andre Carson (IN-07)
Barbara Lee (CA-09)
Barney Frank (MA-14)
Bennie Thompson (MS-02)
Bill Delahunt (MA-10)
Bill Pascrell (NJ-08)
Bob Filner (CA-51)
Carolyn Kilpatrick (MI-13)
Carolyn Maloney (NY-14)

Chaka Fattah (PA-02)
Chellie Pingree (MN-01)
Corrine Brown (FL-03)
Dennis Kucinich (OH-10)
Diane Watson (CA-33)
Donald Payne (NJ-10)
Donna Edwards (MD-04)
Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Ed Towns (NY-10)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30)
Elijah Cummings (MD-07)
Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05)
Eric Massa (NY-29)

Pete Stark (CA-13)
Grace Napolitano (CA-38)
Gwen Moore (WI-04)
Hank Johnson (GA-04)
Jackie Spier (CA-12)
Jerry Nadler (NY-08)
Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-02)
Jim McDermott (WA-07)
Jim McGovern (MA-03)
John Conyers (MI-14)
John Olver (MA-01)
John Tierney (MA-06)
J! ohn Yarmuth (KY-03)
Jose Serrano (NY-16)
Judy Chu (CA-32)

Keith Ellison (MN-05)
Laura Richardson (CA-37)
Linda Sanchez (CA-39)
Lloyd Doggett (TX-25)
Lucille Roybal-Alard (CA-34)
Luis Gutierrez (IL-04)
Lynn Woolsey (CA-06)
Marcia Fudge (OH-11)
Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)
Maurice Hinchey (NY-22)
Maxine Waters (CA-35)
Mazie Hirono (HI-02)
Mel Watts (NC-12)
Michael Honda (CA-15)

Mike Capuano (MA-08)
Nydia Valezquez (NY-12)
Peter DeFazio (OR-04)
Phil Hare (IL-17)
Raul Grijalva (AZ-07)
Robert Wexler (FL-19)
Rush Holt (NJ-12)
Sam Farr (CA-17)
Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)
William Lacy Clay (M0-01)
Yvette Clarke (NY-11)

As a Deaniac, during the Gov's campaign, I often said 'I want my country back!'. Unpacking that statement, it's clear that the country I wanted only existed in fits and starts, in moments of racial & economic populism, in events filled with shared sorrow, and in events filled with shared joy and optimism. I wanted a government that would help us take those illuminated moments and create an atmosphere in society, and a legislative environment, that could help spread the light to the darkest corners of the country.

What do the teabaggers, birthers, deathers, and now, incredibly, gunners, mean when they scream that they want their country back? Tim Wise gives some clues:

photo of Shannyn Moore in Alaska

Sorry for not posting, though I was tweeting! http://twitter.com/littlestgator

I will post up thoughts, impressions and some of my insights as we wind down. This morning we are just getting started with the big conversation with Valerie Jarrett.

One of the highlights for us this week was the awarding of the Steve Gilliard 2009 Grant to Shannyn Moore (a girl from Homer) for her work over this year in the blogosphere and in her bravery for standing up to Gov. Palin in Alaska.

Nice write up on FDL as well.

HS and I were so proud to stand up and choose her, and Shannyn was quite surprised and honored. I felt like Steve was there with us.

More on the other fabulous experiences at NN09 coming soon.

Hiya FL Fam:


In my life I seem to have sloughed off right wing crazies along the way: the ones I know are not crazies, and they're amenable to discussion. Given the incredible looping insanity going on with (health care now: it'll be something else after we get that done), I'm sure the right wing emails are spreading even more lies and madness than usual. They may be coming from people you know and love.

So, when I saw this post on Kos, I decided to post a spell-checked version of each of these rebuttals. Here's a downloadable document, to make it easier to copy and mail.

Download the Word Doc

It's disheartening, and downright frightening what's been unearthed in our society by an unholy confluence of the oligarchy and the dopes who love it. But we have to keep fighting back - we're bending the arc of the universe, so of course it isn't easy.

But we will prevail.


A Day in the Life of Joe the Republican

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.
All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.
He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.
Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.
He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.
If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.
It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression (and are trying to do the same again because those regulations were weakened by conservative thinking).
Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that his in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.
Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the tax-payer funded roads.
He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.
The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.
He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.
Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."


I AM AN AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US Department of Energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the national weather service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time (as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory), I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
I then log on to the internet which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and post on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.
The only reason government doesn't work is because conservative Republican administrations defunded and/or patronage staffed them with people with ties to special business interests: to wit the last FDA, Dept of Interior and Agriculture under GWBush. No one seems to have a problem with pumping over $500Billion to the Defense Department - which last I hear is a socialized entity.

Investors Business Daily has a lovely editorial up now, promoting the crazier than crazy Obama's going to kill old people. meme. It is rife with the expected nutiness but as Jay Bookman Points out-- there is a real gem in there too which just makes the stupid in to art. (almost)

People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless. IBD

of course as Jay points out-- that sounds pretty scary until you consider;

...that same Stephen Hawking who wouldn’t have a chance in the United Kingdom was in fact born in the United Kingdom, has lived his entire life in the United Kingdom and lives there still today, at the ripe old age of 67. (He was in fact hospitalized earlier this month.) Hawking is, you might say, living, breathing proof that these people are first-class fools.

I.really.hate.these.people.

My good friend LM from over at the Group News Blog, hasn't been writing much lately and I've missed him terribly. LowerManahattanite writes like nobody else in the blogosphere and in addition to politics he is especially knowledgeably about music, entertainment and culture. I wondered what he thought when Michael Jackson died last month. I really wanted to read a piece by him about the life and death of the King Of Pop. I knew he would have an amazing perspective. And then this week he wrote... put out the best piece I read anywhere on what the life of Michael Jackson meant and put things in a perspective that is well beyond "worth your time."

When I wrote about Michael here a few weeks ago, lots of folks wrote me about how he was just a mess and not worth all the mourning. I still disagree.

I hope LM will keep writing. And I hope folks will read this piece and maybe look at Michael in a deeper or different way.

So we knew she was leader of the stupids, and the racists, and the grifters... but turns out she is leader of the liars too.

Palin is out there stumping along with the other big forces against sane health care reform trying to trot out this notion that the "Obama Death Plan" is about denying care.

Here she is in her wing-nuttiestness

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil. Sarah Palin

I'll tell you what is Downright Evil lying to people and scaring them. All this while in the real world people are already dying due to lack of coverage, being denied coverage for the crazy policy of pre-existing conditions, being turned away at hospitals because the have the wrong health insurance, etc. etc. etc.

The premise of these Health Care Fear Mongers is that everything is hunky-dorey out there and so we can't change anything. Well guess what, that is a lie, blatant, hurtful, intentional and yes evil.

In a few days we are off to Pittsburgh for Netroots Nation. Any other GNB of FL folks going? We should get together and raise a glass. 8/13-8/16

Any questions you want us to ask President Clinton, Or Valerie Jarrett, or any other of the headline speakers? We'll be reporting live and twittering, blogging, and sharing the trip.

Yeah! The newest supreme court justice. "Justice Sotomayor!"

Important facts about the RNC Townhall thuggery.

There's been a lot of media coverage about organized mobs intimidating lawmakers, disrupting town halls, and silencing real discussion about the need for real health insurance reform.

The truth is, it's a sham. These "grassroots protests" are being organized and largely paid for by Washington special interests and insurance companies who are desperate to block reform. They're trying to use lies and fear to break the President and his agenda for change.

We need to expose these outrageous tactics...read these "5 facts about the anti-reform mobs," then pass them along to your friends and family?

5 facts about the anti-reform mobs

1. These disruptions are being funded and organized by out-of-district special-interest groups and insurance companies who fear that health insurance reform could help Americans, but hurt their bottom line. A group run by the same folks who made the "Swiftboat" ads against John Kerry is compiling a list of congressional events in August to disrupt. An insurance company coalition has stationed employees in 30 states to track where local lawmakers hold town-hall meetings.

2. People are scared because they are being fed frightening lies. These crowds are being riled up by anti-reform lies being spread by industry front groups that invent smears to tarnish the President's plan and scare voters. But as the President has repeatedly said, health insurance reform will create more health care choices for the American people, not reduce them. If you like your insurance or your doctor, you can keep them, and there is no "government takeover" in any part of any plan supported by the President or Congress.

3. Their actions are getting more extreme. Texas protesters brought signs displaying a tombstone for Rep. Lloyd Doggett and using the "SS" symbol to compare President Obama's policies to Nazism. Maryland Rep. Frank Kratovil was hanged in effigy outside his district office. Rep. Tim Bishop of New York had to be escorted to his car by police after an angry few disrupted his town hall meeting -- and more examples like this come in every day. And they have gone beyond just trying to derail the President's health insurance reform plans, they are trying to "break" the President himself and ruin his Presidency.

4. Their goal is to disrupt and shut down legitimate conversation. Protesters have routinely shouted down representatives trying to engage in constructive dialogue with voters, and done everything they can to intimidate and silence regular people who just want more information. One attack group has even published a manual instructing protesters to "stand up and shout" and try to "rattle" lawmakers to prevent them from talking peacefully with their constituents.

5. Republican leadership is irresponsibly cheering on the thuggish crowds. Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner issued a statement applauding and promoting a video of the disruptions and looking forward to "a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress."

Go Jane Go!
great video on pushing President Obama and the Democrats to pass a public option.

I will note that the jerk talking about dissent-- truly made me angry. Where was he supporting healthy dissent and debate when the GOP and the Bush Administration was busy creating caged "Free Speech" zones, miles from events? Where was he when they were arresting peaceful protesters during the republican conventions in 04 and 08. What a bunch of Hooey.

How's your summer going so far? Catch any killer waves, surfer gals or guys, smooches under the boardwalk?

Do you think healthcare reform is riding the rip curl? or headed for a wipe out?

do tell...

This was going to be easy.

Back on the battlefield. Pay attention to this one and be ready to call your representatives and senators.

WASHINGTON -- Today, Reps. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) introduced the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009. This landmark legislation would protect Network Neutrality under the Communications Act, safeguarding the future of the open Internet and protecting Internet users from discrimination online.

Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, made the following statement:

"The future of the Internet as we know it depends on maintaining freedom and openness online. This crucial legislation will help to ensure that the public -- not big phone and cable companies -- controls the fate of the Internet." from FreePress.net

Colonel Timothy Reese (US military senior adviser in Iraq) issued a memo calling for a dramatically reduced time frame for the pullout from Iraq. Reese it should be announced that all troops will be out of the nation by August 2010.

That's right, Colonel Tim Reese says we should get the heck out of Iraq by August of next year. He issued an honest and well thought out memo. One that would be hard to attack as bleeding liberal or emotional. He logically lays it all out there.

(seems that staying there)

...“isn’t yielding benefits commensurate with the effort and is now generating its own opposition,”

Iraq is not a country with a history of treating even its welcomed guests well.

The full text of the memo is well worth a read. Especially the 9 reasons we should get out-- which are logical and strategic. This type of thinking we ignore at our dire peril.

The most telling part to me was this...

Our combat operations are currently the victim of circular logic. We conduct operations to kill or capture violent extremists of all types to protect the Iraqi people and support the GOI. The violent extremists attack us because we are still here conducting military operations. Furthermore, their attacks on us are no longer an organized campaign to defeat our will to stay; the attacks which kill and maim US combat troops are signals or messages sent by various groups as part of the political struggle for power in Iraq.

So it is time to head to our bases in Kuwait and Afghanistan and call this ill fated and illegal fever dream of Dick Cheney and George bush over.
h/t tanbark