A lot of good those phamphlets will do now. We are standing around, waiting for Condi to get done shopping for shoes, while Israel is destroying a country that did nothing to them. Hezbollah does not equal Lebanon.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Old Fogie
I'll admit to being an old fogie (In 1811 an Old Fogey was a nick name for an invalid, wounded soldier; derived from the French word fougeux, fierce or fiery. The modern sense has changed the use a little, but there is still the element of invalid in the saying. Via The Free Dictionary.) as well. Unlike Joe, the New Guy, I don't get a check from myself every week, but I do consider myself a veteran, a veteran of the peace movement, so there, as I stamp my foot. Digby has an interesting post up about the old fogieness & young turks. Go read it.
Yet I was first shocked, then radicalized by the actions of the modern GOP during the 90's and I believe exactly as he does that hyper-partisanship is going to be with us for the forseeable future.
....
By the time all that was over, I no longer saw how it could be possible to forge a consensus or even fashion reasonable bipartisan compromise with these people. While Clinton had been somewhat successful in holding back the tide through his exceptional political skills, it seemed clear to me that the Republicans were determined to kill any remnant of the bipartisan governing style. As it turned out I was right. Since they took power they have consciously ruled with as little Democratic support as they can get away with, finding symbolic cover as necessary with cooperative Democrats like Joe Lieberman. They have consciously marginalized the opposition (or as Hillary said, ruled the government like a plantation) --- and in the process have governed this country in the most dangerous, irresponsible way possible leaving the us with massive debt, international instability and a weaker moral center.
....
I do not think there is any hope of bringing these people around. And frankly, considering their track record, I think it's delusional to believe otherwise. At some point, you have to recognize that you are dealing with something that is irredeemable in its present form. Modern conservatism has a malignant core.
Fog Of War, Con't.
It's enough to add to my understanding of why this war serves absolutely no purpose but to showcase how easy it is to become evil, while following orders & training. & in terms of the investigation? "...a potentially career-ending reprimand to Steele...." I'm sure the dead Iraqis are happy about that.
Military prosecutors and investigators probing the killing of three Iraqi detainees by U.S. troops in May believe the unit's commanders created an atmosphere of excessive violence by encouraging "kill counts" and possibly issuing an illegal order to shoot Iraqi men.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Farmers In The City
Via the kid & son-in-law & 2 in the oven comes this article about sustainable farming & fresh, I mean fresh chicken. I really hope that this sort of thing can spread to the rural areas & not simply be a function of a large urban population. I know that there are organizations in our area that are trying to market sustainable farm products. I would be great if fresh meat & poultry were part of the mix.
That chicken was food for a king: pale, tender, meadow-wind flesh and skin as delicious as sheets of bacon, dotted at key junctures with the yellow pockets of fat I associate with richer poultry like duck. With these available at $2.47 a pound for a whole bird, I am forevermore going to be a nightmare when it comes to reviewing local chefs' chicken dishes—they are going to have to do back-flips to surpass this.
The chicken came with additional benefits, and I don't just mean the giblets and neck, perfect for making stock or at least enhancing the store-bought kind. I mean the kind of benefits that come from talking to farmers and having your understanding of the world expanded. For instance, Callister told me that while they used to let their Cornish Cross chickens roam freely in pasture day and night, they now keep them in barns at night, because they were losing so many chickens to coyotes, raccoons, possums, dogs, skunks, and owls. Yes, owls.
Get this. Chickens have a "crop," a place where they store their feed and let it pre-digest a bit before it moves into the gizzard, for grinding, and then through the rest of their digestive tract. But owls find the corn-based feed that the Callister Cornish Cross eat so delicious that they would fly into the flock and slice off lots of chicken heads at exactly the right place to get in there and eat the crop. I found this anecdote both terrifying—those poor chickens! those poor Callisters!—and also deeply satisfying. See? City-slicker food obsessives aren't the only ones who think these farm-fresh chickens are fit for sashimi.
It's a bit embarassing how the author goes on about the bird's "crops". Jeebus, anyone who has ever spent a bloody afternoon butchering chickens knows all about crops & how they can dull a sharp knife. Crops are in all gallinaceous birds, including pigeons & ruffed grouse. This means they must ingest some sort of grit, whether it is provided from the feed mill, or comes from the gravel or sand on a road or opening in the woods. This grit accumulates in the crop & grinds the food before it hits further down the digestive tract. The crop is a great addition to dressing or gravy for that matter.
The crop is immediately under the neck. It has been split open. The tough membrane needs to be removed before cooking. In order: top - neck, liver; middle - crop; lower right - heart.
No Reason
I think Billmon may be right. We've lost the ability to understand.
Three humans - fifty thousand dogs. Good Christ, where are the scientists, the medical doctors, the veternarians?
China slaughtered 50,000 dogs in a government-ordered crackdown after three people died of rabies, sparking unusually pointed criticism in state media yesterday and an outcry from animal rights activists.
Early, & I Mean Early
Relatively good news. But it still bewilders me that how anyone who continues to think evolution doesn't exist could be elected anywhere in these United States.
Conservative Republicans who approved new classroom standards that call evolution into question lost control of the State Board of Education in Tuesday's primary election.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Too Bad
This is sad.
As have been all the deaths on Bu$hCo's watch. & it was unnessary.
A nephew of Sen. Max Baucus serving in the Marines was killed in Iraq during the weekend, the senator's office said Tuesday.
Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus, 28, died Saturday during combat operations in Anbar province, the Department of Defense said. It did not immediately release further information.
In a statement, Baucus, D-Mont., said the family was "devastated by the loss."
As have been all the deaths on Bu$hCo's watch. & it was unnessary.
Immediate Ceasefire
Go sign the petition. Via Susie Madrak. S.M. just had her cable & interent access cut off, lack of funds. If you like her site, which I've linked to before, send her some fincancial love. She won't shut the door behind her.
Class Warfare
Talk about discussing the obvious.
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., delivering his first public remarks since taking office last month, pledged today to work with Democrats to revamp Social Security and Medicare, and in a gesture aimed at Bush administration critics he said he recognized that the economy was not benefiting all Americans.
“Amid this country’s strong economic expansion, many Americans simply aren’t feeling the benefits,” Mr. Paulson said in a speech at Columbia Business School. “Many aren’t seeing significant increases in their take-home pay. Their increases in wages are being eaten up by high energy prices and rising health care costs, among others.”
Don't Forget
Bu$hCo's noble cause. It's just getting worse. When will the Democratic Party understand that the majority of Americans are sick of it & are sick of Bu$hCo's lies?
Four separate attacks aimed at Iraqi soldiers or police officers killed at least 36 people today and wounded at least 45, officials said, as American and Iraqi generals continued to shift security forces to Baghdad as part of their retooled strategy to roll back surging violence in the capital.
Let Them Eat Cake
RLK & I came across the same post today. David Sirota quotes an economist from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Here's the quote.
“‘Firefighters who want to live in high-priced cities can work two jobs, said W. Michael Cox, chief economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. ‘I think it’s great,’ he said. ‘It gives you portfolio diversification in your income.’”
"But then, that’s exactly what Let Them Eat Cakers want - an economic darwinism where more and more Americans must struggle to make ends meet."
He's right, of course, but that won't stop the ReThugs from continuing to screw the middle class, while chanting "9/11, 9/11, 9/11."
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