Fixed, I Think

With help from the trustworthy SideKick, I have the sitemeter thing on the blog. The number hasn't actually kept up since I made the change in format, but hopefully it will work now. We'll see. Of course, I need the traffic, if I am going to attract the advertisers that will pay me the big bucks to do what I am already doing. Luckily, although I like money, I seem to have missed the capitalist gene. In other words, I'm not holding my breath. Come on all four readers of mine, let's increase the traffic.

More Heat

Equals cold, in this study. & the U.S. won't commit to do anything.

Atlantic Ocean currents that make northern Europe warmer than it would otherwise be have weakened by about a third over the last 50 years, British oceanographers are reporting.

The scientists, from Britain's National Oceanography Center, said the measured change meshes with what computer climate simulations project should happen as heat-trapping emissions from human activities warm the global climate.

Warming, in theory, could stall salty, sun-heated, north-flowing currents by causing fresher water to build up in high-latitude seas as ice melts and more precipitation falls.

Some climate models have projected that if this process continued, gradual global warming could eventually trigger fairly abrupt European cooling.

...the pattern of change seen at various ocean depths supported the idea that the shift was a significant trend and not random variability.

They also pointed to independent measurements of a long-term drop in the flows of water between some Arctic seas and the North Atlantic as supporting evidence that a slowing of the overall Atlantic circulation was under way.

Rumsfeld Must Be Fired

Like Murtha, this Marine gets it, at least when it somes to torture. Rumsfeld is such a moron, a moron who apparently enjoys torture & killing for their own sake, while claiming he is "protecting" America.

"When UPI's Pam Hess asked about torture by Iraqi authorities, Rumsfeld replied that 'obviously, the United States does not have a responsibility' other than to voice disapproval.

But Pace had a different view. 'It is the absolute responsibility of every U.S. service member, if they see inhumane treatment being conducted, to intervene, to stop it,' the general said.

Rumsfeld interjected: 'I don't think you mean they have an obligation to physically stop it; it's to report it.'

But Pace meant what he said. 'If they are physically present when inhumane treatment is taking place, sir, they have an obligation to try to stop it,' he said, firmly."

?

I've been trying to put the SiteMeter counter back on the blog & have been having a hard time doing it. I'm not sure what I or Blogger or SiteMeter are doing wrong. I'll keep trying. I forgot to cut & paste the code when I changed the template for the blog. I'm a dope.

Well, Yeah

From a non-wildeyed, non-liberal newspaper from the west coast.

"The arrogance of this administration would be barely tolerable if it were not paired with a stunning incompetence, on display from Kabul to Katrina. That deadly combination has weakened American strength in the world. It has emboldened far more serious challengers in Iran and North Korea, who see the United States as too bogged down in Iraq to credibly threaten them with the use of force"

Son Of A Bitch

Larry Craig ought to be arrested for crimes against salmon. I'm not kidding. What an arrogant dick. Why does Idaho keep electing this evil man? Oh, wait, white supremacists, now I get it.

"In a surgical strike from Capitol Hill, Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) has eliminated a little-known agency that counts endangered fish in the Columbia River.

The Fish Passage Center, with just 12 employees and a budget of $1.3 million, has been killed because it did not count fish in a way that suited Craig."

My emphasis. Right, the hell with science.

Lieberman

I am listening to Lieberman right now on the Imus show. Lieberman is a complete fool. When will the Democrats just throw this lying bastard out of the party. This purge will make us all feel better.

Freedom of the Press

This ought to surprise no thinking person. Bu$hCo has paid for "news" here in this country. Why shouldn't they buy favorable news in Iraq. Real Honest Morons. WORST PRESIDENT EVER.

"As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq.

The articles, written by U.S. military 'information operations' troops, are translated into Arabic and placed in Baghdad newspapers with the help of a defense contractor, according to U.S. military officials and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times"

What A Concept

If it's good enough for New Orleans, it ought to be good enough for Ashland, WI, or, frankly, The Black Cat.

"To help boost its stalled economy, hurricane-ravaged New Orleans is offering the nation's first free wireless Internet network owned and run by a major city. "

Morons

Again, we are not only an embarassment to the world, we are aiding in the murder/death of the earth. Now, that's real leadership. God, I hate these bastards.

"The United States ruled out making extra pledges to fight global warming beyond 2012 yesterday, angering environmentalists who accused Washington of blocking a 189-nation conference in Canada."

It's Certainly All The Lawyer's Fault

Another example of why physicians are the root cause of their own problems, much like the rest of the human population. When the medical profession ultimately realizes this, my bet is that malpracitice lawsuits will become rare. Think about how a veternarian deals with you & your pet. Truth, & the resulting freedom it brings, while not always upbeat, allows us to make the correct decisions.

"Ms. Wong had come across a bane of the medical profession: the difficult doctor. These doctors may be arrogant or rude, highhanded or dismissive. They drive away patients who need help, and some have been magnets for malpractice claims."

Emphasis mine.

Anatomy of a Circle Jerk

From firedoglake we get another example of what a tool Andrea Mitchell is, or, frankly, always was. Via Atrios.

"Come on, guys and gal. Your credibility -- such as it is -- is on the ropes here. Time to put up or shut up. Who did you hear it from? Where is this report? And how convenient it all comes out just as Patrick Fitzgerald announced the Libby indictment. So very handy for you to be able to waltz before the cameras with that little snippet of spin just in time to do damage control for the administration."

Just Stupid

Just completely effing stooopid. Man, I wish these ReThugs trolls would just go back to living in their basements with mom.

Mine Is Not Among Them

All these dead whitetails & not one for me. I was not a particularly nutzoid hunter this year. Something about the weather. Oh, SideKick, can you speak to certain in-laws?

"A preliminary total of 312,519 deer were registered by hunters, an increase of 9,357 over those shot during last year’s gun-deer season."

10 Highest, Lowest State Median Incomes

Lots of blue states in the top ten; lots of red states in the bottom ten. Why do they keep voting for the ReThugs?

Mortgage defaults

Ya think?

"The number of mortgages in default or foreclosure leaped 18.6% in October since September, a possible sign that rising interest rates are turning some heavy homeowner debts into unbearable ones."

...

"'Given all those little hits that the average household budget took in a fairly short period of time, it's not surprising that we'd see an up-kick,' said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing. Those hits include soaring fuel prices, a surge in mortgage interest rates, the start of stricter bankruptcy laws on Oct. 1 and a recent increase in credit card costs, Sharga said."

Just Complete Crap

Crap here.

Many More To Go

One sleazebag ReThug down. Keep the popcorn popping.

"Cunningham admitted to receiving at least $2.4 million in bribes -- checks for over $1 million, cash, rugs, antiques, furniture, yacht club fees and vacations, according to prosecutors.."

More On The Heat Obsession

This is amazing. The evidence just keeps piling up while the ReThugs & Bu$hCo just keep ignoring what's happening. I love duck hunting, although the last couple of years I've thought about it way more than I've done it, mainly due to the lack of a BOAT. A canoe is fine, if you don't have far to go, but to get to the big water, or the sloughs, you need a BOAT. OK, enough whining about a BOAT, back to the inability of the "leaders" of this country to do anything about global warming. They are supposed to be protecting us, but it has been clear that they don't even want to have a clue.

"North America's premier duck breeding grounds will be much drier and in many places will disappear, according to a study on how climate change could affect the Upper Midwest in the next 50 to 100 years.

Carter Johnson, a professor of ecology at South Dakota State University and co-author of the research, said that the number of ducks could plummet by 50 percent or more as early as 2050 if global warming dries up the wetlands where they nest.

The area, known as the prairie pothole region, contains an estimated 5 million small ponds spread across more than 300,000 square miles of the Dakotas, western Minnesota and Iowa, northeastern Montana and three Canadian provinces. It is notorious for episodic wet and dry spells, but is large enough for waterfowl to adapt and migrate past localized areas of drought to find other ponds in the region with enough water and cover.

That would end if climate change increases average temperatures across the entire prairie pothole region, Johnson said.

Most of the area would become too dry for ducks and other birds, he said. Only the fringes of the region -- in western Minnesota and northwestern Iowa -- might still have wetlands, he said.

Johnson and a team of researchers from Minnesota and Montana reached these dire conclusions after studying 95 years of climate data and using hydrologic models to simulate how the Northern Great Plains would change during this century. Their report, published in the journal BioScience, offers detailed predictions on how global warming might affect the prairie potholes, which produce between 50 to 80 percent of the continent's ducks."

Emphasis added.

The Sorrow of the SideKick, Part 2

I'll bet the SideKick is sorry he moved west.

"...police say there is nothing illegal about the lingerie models."

More Heat

Susie Madrak posts on global warming & hurricanes.

"By a special measure of hurricane power he had defined for other research, they had roughly doubled in power over 30 years. Significantly, the increase tracked with the rise in sea surface temperatures."

Emphasis added.

No People, Just Profits

As long as you contribute to the ReThugs, anything you do is OK. & BTW, the hell with treaties. Bastards.

"Among those pushing for continued exemptions are financial heavy hitters such as the family of Floyd Gottwald, vice chairman of methyl bromide producer Albemarle Corp. of Richmond, Va. The Gottwalds contributed more than $420,000 to President Bush's campaigns and to national Republican Party organizations over the past six years."

Obsession

This is becoming a real big thing with me lately, eh? As I posted below, just when I bitch about U.S. coverage, another good piece comes along. Yosemite now provides more evidence of the warming. Thanks to an early, meticulous biologist, present day scientists discover the changes. Study this, Bu$hCo.

"On the east side of the Sierra, Grinnell and his assistants only saw pinon mice below 7,000 feet, a finding confirmed by other researchers throughout the central part of the range. Patton's group found numerous mice frolicking in the talus slopes of Lyell Canyon, 10,200 feet above sea level and about eight miles from the nearest Grinnell sighting. The distance was too great to be the work of just a few wandering individuals; it was clear to Patton that the range of the pinon mouse, and its habitat, were far different now than in 1915.

"'They're common, and they're easily identified,' says Patton. 'If they had been up here before, (Grinnell and his compatriots) would have seen them.'

"The new Yosemite crew has uncovered more changes. Four other small mammals have expanded their turf in the park, increasing the upper limits of their ranges by an average of 2,000 vertical feet.

"The alpine chipmunk, two high-elevation ground squirrels -- including the Belding's ground squirrel, known as the 'picket pin' for its ramrod-straight alarm posture -- and a small relative of the rabbit called the pika have retracted their haunts uphill, drawing in the lower edge of their ranges by an average of 1,700 vertical feet. At least two species of small mammals, a chipmunk and a wood rat, have dramatically shrunk the overall size of their ranges, and are now extremely rare in the park.

"Ornithologist Andrew Rush, who recently revisited the Grinnell sites in Yosemite, also saw and heard some surprises. In Lyell Canyon alone, he recorded 17 bird species not mentioned by the Grinnell team, many of them riparian and wetland species more familiar at lower elevations. Some of these species, such as the blue-winged teal and the mallard, were even breeding in the canyon's high-elevation meadows."

Another Anti-Torture Editorial

While Bu$hCo keeps sending out the Vice-President for Torture Dick "Dick" Cheney to defend torture, America's moral core keeps shrinking. This editorial from the Mpls. Star Tribune says it well, it's shameful.

"There is no escaping that this administration has undermined the nation's highest ideals, thereby jeopardizing its moral leadership in the world. It is now clear that it also has jeopardized its ability to bring terror suspects to justice."

What can we do? Is there anything we can do?

Bad Language

It must appear that way only to Bu$hCo, who probably made them change the language of the study.

"The Yellowstone cutthroat trout population in the nation's oldest national park 'appears to be in peril,' according to a new scientific journal article by National Park Service scientists."

Yay

We're number 10.

Warm C-Span

Just when I bitched about the lack of discussion of global warming in the U.S. press, C-Span has the head of the League of Conservation Voters on this early Saturday morning. They also have some flack from the American Enterprise Institute. Why is it, I know a stupid & meaningless question, does everyone, even C-Span, think this is an argument with an equal amount of evidence for both sides. The question has been decided, global warming is a fact.

No Joy In Bee Colonies

If I don't get my chocolate almond ice cream. The Sorrow of the SideKick may well become chronic.

"Almonds depend entirely on honeybees for pollination, and bee colonies are increasingly being killed or weakened by the parasitic Varroa mite. The pest has developed resistance to chemical treatments that have controlled it successfully since it made its way to California in the mid-1980s."

Well, They Don't Give Up Easily

Hat tip to Shutterwi for another example of annual occurence, except these guys took it another step.

"Undaunted, Schmerber and his co-workers bought a second turkey and cooked it in the backyard of a house across the street."

Bittersweet News

Goddamn Bu$hCo, get your asses in gear & fix New Orleans. The huggers need help.

"The reopening was so emotional for many visitors that the zoo decided to post huggers at the front gates, Forman said."

Now. That's A Long Time

The evidence just keeps rolling in. How come so much of it is reported in the, cough, cough, foreign press? Does anyone at the White House read these accounts? Do they report this to the moron-in-chief? Any bets?

"Current levels of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere are higher now than at any time in the past 650,000 years.

That is the conclusion of new European studies looking at ice taken from 3km below the surface of Antarctica.

The scientists say their research shows present day warming to be exceptional.

Other research, also published in the journal Science, suggests that sea levels may be rising twice as fast now as in previous centuries."

Real Help For The Poor

As the SideKick has suggested, buy your gas & deisel at a Citgo station & help the poor in the North East. Maybe it will spread west. I'll bet Bu$hCo is really pissed. Good.

"Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, has pulled off his greatest public relations coup yet in his campaign to irritate the Bush Administration with a deal to supply cheap fuel to thousands of poor residents of Boston and New York.

To the anger of many in Washington, Citgo Petroleum Corporation, a company controlled by the Venezuelan Government, will supply more than 45 million litres of oil at 40 per cent below market prices."

What Tunnel?

Read this report about three visits to Bagdad. It is not encouraging. Here is the final paragraph of the story.

"For the first time, we pulled out after dark. As we flew from the Green Zone, the Black Hawk gunners wore night vision scopes, which look like little binoculars on eyeglasses, so they could spot suspicious activity through the night. The pilot of the C-17 military transport that flew us out of Iraq did not turn on the interior lights until we had reached a safe altitude -- and were well out of Baghdad airspace."

Native Foods

While I am not a Native American, I believe it would be a good thing to get rid of fry bread. The redevelopment of native foods seems to be a priority or it ought to be a priority for native peoples, particularly with plants. For me, mammals, especially whales, becomes a much dicier situation.

"One item that won't be featured on her show is fry bread, the puffy circles of deep-fried dough that serve as a base for tacos or are eaten simply with sugar or honey and are beloved on Indian reservations. That bread is fast becoming a symbol of all that is wrong with the American Indian diet, which evolved from food that was hunted, grown or gathered to one that relied on federal government commodities, including white flour and lard - the two ingredients in fry bread."

Happy Thanksgiving

In honor of turkey, ham, venison day, I present the newest installment of the, ta da, Grantsburg Policae Blotter. This is from the incomparable Burnett Co. Sentinel.

Grantsburg Policea Blotter

•Nov. 16, James J. Johnson, Webster, was rear-ended by David D. Wickland, Danbury, on County Road A, when Wickland was driving too close, who then landed in the ditch.
Good god, man, I have tried, tried, & tried, this trying is hard work, but I can't understand what really happened on County Road A.

•Nov. 15, Danielle J. Olson, Webster, was west on Hwy. 70 when she failed to yield from stop sign, causing Dawn M. Straub, Webster, to hit her. No one was injured.
Go west, young woman, go west. But please yield, or someone will hit you.

•Nov. 18, Anthony D. Schultz, 41, Siren, was arrested and cited for possession of THC, domestic disorderly conduct and possession of paraphernalia. Rhyan H. Richison, 24, Siren, was also arrested and cited for the same crimes.
I'd like to possess some of that domestic disorderly, but it's probably not as good as the Columbian, if you know what I mean.

ChChChChChChanges

So I've added a new button on the left sidebar - WWOZ - a great radio station in New Orleans. You can help by clicking on the button & making a donation. If you love music, all kinds of music, with New Orleans as a bottom, listen to this station, it's great. Even in my present state of dialup, I listen. & it's back & building up its show list. Help out. I have mentioned this earlier, but you also need to visit the Shutterwi site - good photos from the north.

Mark Green - Wisconsin's Finest?

I think NOT. Josh Marshall has been on this story, one of many involved with the DeLay scandal. Remember when Green was at Freedom Hall (ha, ha hall would be a truer name)? I'll bet SueHank, et.al., didn't bother to ask him if he returned DeLay's money. This is what the ReThugs, both national & local, stand for - money & just not telling the truth.

"Last month we did a few posts about a guy named Mark Graul, one-time Chief of Staff for Rep. Mark Green (R) of Wisconsin and now his campaign manager as Green runs for Governor. We noted that Graul's name shows up again and again getting tickets to various Abramoff skyboxes back in 2000. (These are from a collection of Team Abramoff emails we received a few months back.)

Graul first denied getting any freebies. But as we published more and more of the emails and the local press started taking notice, he eventually sorta kinda 'fessed up. And he came up with a new line which was basically, tough luck, that's how business is done in Washington.

When asked about the Abramoff freebies, Graul told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 'I believe it's illegal in [the Wisconsin state capital of] Madison. It's legal in Washington.'"

Notice the smart-ass answer in the last paragraph. Is this the kind of person we want influencing policy in Wisconsin. Hell, no. Emphasis added.

Reason To Impeach #34321

Murray Waas wrote this in the National Journal, not exactly a liberal rag.

"Ten days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush was told in a highly classified briefing that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein to the attacks and that there was scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda, according to government records and current and former officials with firsthand knowledge of the matter.


"The information was provided to Bush on September 21, 2001 during the "President's Daily Brief," a 30- to 45-minute early-morning national security briefing. Information for PDBs has routinely been derived from electronic intercepts, human agents, and reports from foreign intelligence services, as well as more mundane sources such as news reports and public statements by foreign leaders.


"One of the more intriguing things that Bush was told during the briefing was that the few credible reports of contacts between Iraq and Al Qaeda involved attempts by Saddam Hussein to monitor the terrorist group. Saddam viewed Al Qaeda as well as other theocratic radical Islamist organizations as a potential threat to his secular regime. At one point, analysts believed, Saddam considered infiltrating the ranks of Al Qaeda with Iraqi nationals or even Iraqi intelligence operatives to learn more about its inner workings, according to records and sources.


"The September 21, 2001, briefing was prepared at the request of the president, who was eager in the days following the terrorist attacks to learn all that he could about any possible connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda.


"Much of the contents of the September 21 PDB were later incorporated, albeit in a slightly different form, into a lengthier CIA analysis examining not only Al Qaeda's contacts with Iraq, but also Iraq's support for international terrorism. Although the CIA found scant evidence of collaboration between Iraq and Al Qaeda, the agency reported that it had long since established that Iraq had previously supported the notorious Abu Nidal terrorist organization, and had provided tens of millions of dollars and logistical support to Palestinian groups, including payments to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.


"The highly classified CIA assessment was distributed to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, the president's national security adviser and deputy national security adviser, the secretaries and undersecretaries of State and Defense, and various other senior Bush administration policy makers, according to government records.


"The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked the White House for the CIA assessment, the PDB of September 21, 2001, and dozens of other PDBs as part of the committee's ongoing investigation into whether the Bush administration misrepresented intelligence information in the run-up to war with Iraq. The Bush administration has refused to turn over these documents.


"Indeed, the existence of ,the September 21 PDB was not disclosed to the Intelligence Committee until the summer of 2004 according to congressional sources. Both Republicans and Democrats requested then that it be turned over. The administration has refused to provide it, even on a classified basis, and won't say anything more about it other than to acknowledge that it exists."

Emphasis added. Now all you Bu$hCo supporters, tell me again about your shining hero. How he stands up for truth, justice, & the American Way. Way. Way. Out. Go read the whole thing. Thank you very much.

More Support

for my melancholy. I am not alone.

"You know, if the Bush administration says it can pick up an American citizen off the street, hold him incommunicado, refuse him the right to a trial and refuse to explain what the nature of his crime is, I think this pretty much makes the United States Constitution inoperative. Sure, not many of us are likely to face the problems that Mr. Padilla faces, and for all I know he is a bad guy. But our Constitutional protections are supposed to apply to bad guys as much as good guys. What’s more these dishonest incompetent ideological extremists are almost always hiding something significant whenever they claim to be operating in our national security interests, and you’d have to be an idiot (or a White House reporter or a Fox News anchor) even to be able to pretend to believe them this time. I’m sure when this is over we will find out they are just covering up their own incompetence and dishonesty. But the lack of outcry over this naked police state tactic is one more example of how increasingly hollow are our claims to be an example to anyone of anything, save hypocrisy. Read the sad story here."

The Sorrow of the SideKick

I was invited by the SideKick & Mrs. SideKick to an early Thanksgiving meal last night. It was a celebration for the oldest child, who with his lovely & talented partner, were visiting from Colorado. Mrs. coldH2O was unable to attend, work related. The meal was great. Another SideKick son was there & he learned of drunken initial carving & how to become lost in a bathtub. However, the SideKick FAILED TO INFORM ME THAT THERE WAS ALSO VENISON to go along with the turkey & ham. So in a poetic form of justice, I located this from the Boston Globe. Lock this in the basement Bee-Boy. Emphasis mine.

"'Snow disappearing in Scotland, fewer bees in Italy, crop losses in Spain, forests on the decline in Germany and sea levels rising off the coast of England are dangerous signs of climate change in Europe,' WWF International said, saying the changes hurt the livelihoods of laborers, like foresters and farmers, whose work depends on nature's predictability."

Thanks Again Bu$hCo

This is the much ballyhooed plan that was going to save seniors so much money that they would be able to quit eating Fancy Feast cat food for dinner.

"The new Medicare drug benefit fails to deliver drug prices as low as those found at the Department of Veterans Affairs, in Canada and at high-volume U.S. pharmacies, a congressional report said yesterday."

Go To Hell

Congress just passed a bill reducing the money for food stamps, for health care, for student loans & the rich elite has the gall to call for this.

"Ford Motor Co. Chairman William C. Ford Jr. urged the government yesterday to help struggling U.S. automakers by expanding subsidies...."

Cheney Duh #3938

Lies & the lying liar.

"Then Douglas writes: 'But the war in Iraq isn't primarily with terrorists. Cheney didn't note that Iraq's insurgency rises primarily from ethnic and sectarian tensions among Sunni and Shiite Muslims and Kurds, rejection of U.S.-led occupation forces, and loyalists to Saddam and his once-dominant Baath Party.'

Fletcher and VandeHei also note at the end of their article: 'Some observers called into question Cheney's repeated description of the enemy in Iraq as 'terrorists' who are seeking to control that country to establish a base from which they can 'launch attacks and to wage war against governments that do not meet their demands.'

'U.S. intelligence agencies say foreign terrorists represent a minority of the insurgent forces; the vast majority are Iraqis.'"

I See I'm Not Alone

Someone else, yes the General, is feeling the bad funk. We need The Meters or Johnny Sketch.

"I've been in a funk for the last few weeks. I'm absolutely horrified by what my country has become. "

Read it all, read the links. Let me know what's on your mind concerning all of this.

More Evidence

Santa's reindeer die while Bu$hCo vacations (again) at his stupid non-ranch. When will this non-curious moron wake up & actually read something? Again, I will not hold my breath.

"'We are experiencing the reality of climate change,' Prakhova, who leads a group representing indigenous people in Russia and the Nordic nations, said on a snow-free day in Harstad, a Norwegian Arctic port of about 15,000 people."

Good For The Turkeys

Now I wish the turkey would spare us & resign.

Tell Me Again

How we don't hear any good news from Iraq & how all the good things are overlooked. I suppose this story & the video of the incident were just made up crap. Oh boy.

"In Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, insurgents fired a mortar at a U.S. ceremony attended by top officials to hand over a presidential palace to Iraqi authorities, sending the U.S. ambassador and top commander scrambling for cover but causing no injuries."

Sam, R.I.P.

'World's Ugliest Dog

"Sam, the dog whose ugliness earned him TV appearances, limousine rides and even a meeting with Donald Trump, has died.

The pooch with the hairless body, crooked teeth and sparse tuft of hair atop his knobby head died Friday, just short of his 15th birthday, said his owner, Susie Lockheed.

'I don't think there'll ever be another Sam,' she said, adding wryly, 'Some people would think that's a good thing.'

Sam became an international celebrity after winning the ugliest animal contest at the 2003 Sonoma-Marin Fair -- a victory he twice repeated. The purebred Chinese crested hairless made appearances on TV in Japan, radio in New Zealand and in Britain's Daily Mirror tabloid, stayed in luxury hotels and met Trump on a talk show set."

Good Quote

Wisconsin Assemblyman Gary Sherman (D-Port Wing) said he would have thrown this man out of the Democratic Party. Doesn't say much for Mr. Sherman's notion of what it means to be a Democrat, does it? The link goes to a story about Dick Dick Cheney (ReThug-Torture) & his attack on those who are calling for bringing the troops home from Iraq. Cheney knows what it takes to be a ReThug, Sherman may not know what it takes to be a Democrat.

"Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said in a statement, 'The only thing dishonest and reprehensible is the way the administration distorted, misrepresented and manipulated the intelligence to justify a war America never should have fought,' adding, 'It defies belief that the vice president can continue to say with a straight face that Congress had the same intelligence as the president and vice president had.'"

Remembering

I was sitting in a 5th period study hall when the principal came on the public address system & announced that the President was dead. The little, elderly, white-haired lady, I wish I could remember her name, who ruled the study hall, began to quietly weep. I just sat there, unable to comprehend what was about to happen. It has been "a long strange trip", indeed.

All Too Effing Believeable

From The Washington Monthly.

"In the latest sign that Antonin Scalia has completely given up on the reality-based community, the Supreme Court justice suggested yesterday that the high court did not inject itself into the 2000 presidential election."

Man, this guy is in real denial. I wonder what sort of mental health insurance coverage the Supremes have? Better than mine, I'm sure. No wise-cracks, please. Via Suburban Guerrilla.

The Meters

It's a hell of a song.

"They stretched out pieces such as 'People Say' and 'Ain't No Use' past 20 minutes, Nocentelli leading the forays with glistening, dancing, silvery streams, pausing only long enough to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. Drummer Zigaboo Modeliste, who has lived for many years in the East Bay, was nothing short of an absolute marvel, his polyrhythmic accents and decorations detonating behind the massive sound. Bassist George Porter Jr. didn't just keep the bottom moving; he propelled the whole sound. Nocentelli and Modeliste started up a loose-limbed tattoo, but when Porter slapped his first three notes on top of them, the music sealed into a groove and 'Fire on the Bayou' exploded from the band."

Hey, SueHank Martinsen, Miller, LaPean

How's the Bu$hCo/Cheney thing working for you now? Y'all must be mighty proud.

"On Monday, G.M. workers across the country met the news of the plant closures and 30,000 job cuts with a mixture of shock, resignation and frustration with the company's management."

Oh, excuse me, it's 35,ooo jobs now & you're all highway design experts.

Big Bones

Now, for something on a completely different hump. Via Raw Story.

Link Wray, R.I.P.

Rumble.

"Neil Young once said: “If I could go back in time and see any band, it would be Link Wray and the Raymen.”"

DeLayed Justice

Interesting take on Michael Scanlon's guilty plea in the Abramoff/DeLay scandal.

Digby - Read It All

I've been feeling this sort of melancholy(?), I'm not sure that is the correct word. But the country I thought I lived in as a young man, a country of possibility, of good-hearted people, of an idea that people counted, of torture as completely beyound the pale, well, maybe it was always just a delusion.

"At this rather late stage in life, I'm realizing that the solid America I thought I knew may never have existed. Running very close, under the surface, was a frightened, somewhat hysterical culture that could lose its civilized moorings all at once. I had naively thought that there were some things that Americans would find unthinkable --- torture was one of them. "

Another Crony

Just what the Gulf Coast needs, another campain contributor who thinks Bu$hCo is god.

"Part of his job is being tough enough to say no -- and when he does so, he speaks for President Bush."

Evidence?

Kyoto would just hurt our economy. So evidence like this is meaningless to Bu$hCo.

"When Ghat was destroyed, in 1985, such incidents were rare - but not any more. Last week, scientists revealed that there has been a tenfold jump in such catastrophes in the past two decades, the result of global warming. Himalayan glacier lakes are filling up with more and more melted ice and 24 of them are now poised to burst their banks in Bhutan, with a similar number at risk in Nepal.

But that is just the beginning, a report in Nature said last week. Future disasters around the Himalayas will include 'floods, droughts, land erosion, biodiversity loss and changes in rainfall and the monsoon'.

The roof of the world is changing, as can be seen by Nepal's Khumbu glacier, where Hillary and Tenzing began their 1953 Everest expedition. It has retreated three miles since their ascent. Almost 95 per cent of Himalayan glaciers are also shrinking - and that kind of ice loss has profound implications, not just for Nepal and Bhutan, but for surrounding nations, including China, India and Pakistan"

Real Live Idiots

The people in charge if this country are absolutely real live idiots. Read the whole story in the LA Times & you will wonder how in the world we could be more embarassed by Bu$hCo. Some excerpts from the article below.

How U.S. Fell Under the Spell of 'Curveball'

"The White House, for example, ignored evidence gathered by United Nations weapons inspectors shortly before the war that disproved Curveball's account. Bush and his aides issued increasingly dire warnings about Iraq's biological weapons before the war even though intelligence from Curveball had not changed in two years.

At the Central Intelligence Agency, officials embraced Curveball's account even though they could not confirm it or interview him until a year after the invasion. They ignored multiple warnings about his reliability before the war, punished in-house critics who provided proof that he had lied and refused to admit error until May 2004, 14 months after the invasion.

After the CIA vouched for Curveball's accounts, Bush declared in his 2003 State of the Union speech that Iraq had 'mobile biological weapons labs' designed to produce 'germ warfare agents.' Bush cited the mobile germ factories in at least four prewar speeches and statements, and other world leaders repeated the charge.

Powell also highlighted Curveball's 'eyewitness' account when he warned the United Nations Security Council on the eve of war that Iraq's mobile labs could brew enough weapons-grade microbes 'in a single month to kill thousands upon thousands of people.'"

UPDATE:

More on the LA Times story from Patrick Lang. Via Atrios.

UPDATE #2:
Josh Marshall has more:

"But the Times article suggests that many people in the stream of information passing back and forth between German and US intelligence and the White House were not spoken to either. And those people provided information which puts the whole matter in a rather more sinister light -- not just botched intelligence work and analysis but deliberate distortions of what evidence we had before the war and refusals to come clean about highly relevant contradictory information.

"This speaks again to a point we and many others have made repeatedly: the highly circumscribed nature of these two investigations. The very structure and scope of these inquiries were designed to leave much of the story untold -- quite apart from the numerous intentionally misleading passages we've noted in the Senate intel report from last year."

Rebuked?

He should be fired.

"Howell said Woodward committed a ``deeply serious sin'' by keeping Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie in the dark about his source for more than two years.

``He also committed another journalistic sin -- commenting on National Public Radio and (CNN's) ``Larry King Live'' about the Plame investigation without disclosing his early knowledge of Plame's identity,'' Howell wrote."

No Real News Here

Does anyone with a functioning brain really thing Bu$hCo can do anything right. This fiasco is one more reason to impeach the worst president ever. I'm glad the Taliban is gone, but what plan, if any, could be this screwed up - "design faults" & "construction errors"? Who's designing & who's constructing? Cronies of Bu$hCo? I know, don't answer that question. Good use of our tax money.

"In September 2002, nearly a year after an American-led coalition deposed the Taliban, the United States launched what would become an aggressive effort to build or refurbish as many as 1,000 schools and clinics by the end of 2004, documents show. However, design flaws and construction errors caused the initiative to fall far short.

By September 2004, congressional figures show that the effort's centerpiece -- a $73 million U.S. Agency for International Development program -- had produced only 100 finished projects, most of them refurbishments of existing buildings. As of the beginning of this month, only about 40 more had been finished and turned over to the Afghan government."

Welfare Fraud

I wonder if the total amount of the so-called welfare fraud came anywhere this fraud? Of course, this is white collar fraud & we all know that white collar criminals aren't really criminals at all, they are just very creative. I hope this s.o.b. goes to prison for life. I'm not going to hold my breath, however.

"The biggest perk of all - at least $10 million - he secretly awarded himself from company coffers at Bielinski Brothers Builders Inc"

ReThug Family Values

It would have been a good idea if this moron had paid as much attention to her OWN son as she does to the small group of cells in some other woman's belly. Or whether or not black people should be even allowed to vote. Sickness reigns in the ReThug party.

Well, What Do You Think?

Interesting analysis of the fiasco in the House on leaving Iraq. If you've got broadband, click on the link at the end of cited post. It is good. Go Keith.

Good Editorial

That's right, let's attack the weakest among us, they can't fight back. This is what is so wrong with this country. If you have money you can hire a lawyer(s) & destroy someone's life or make large donations to the ReThug legislator & watch as those suffering the most in this capitalist economy suffer even more. & yes, I do include students in the group that suffers. Just look at the cuts in loans, the price of tuition, etc. What christian nation?

"Who should suffer the financial consequences of a costly war, growing deficits and reckless tax cuts? If your answer is the sick, the poor and students, then there could be a place for you in Washington."

Rabbits Next?

I nominate Jeb! Bu$hCo as the prime culprit, yes, I know Curtis. Plus what the hell does it matter if the disease can be transfered to humans, do we kill them all?

"Though the biologists have not firmly identified a cause of the recent deaths, it appears to be an upper respiratory ailment, possibly an infection of a bacteria called mycoplasma; the tortoises' sickness is not considered a threat to humans."

It Will Never Really Stop

What god? Of course, it wasn't their fault. The damn kids were just too provocative.

Loser & Liar

What a pile of horseshit, & not very solid horseshit. Woodward has lost all credibility with me based on this latest revelation. He is clearly a water carrier for the Bu$hCo cabal. He gave up reporting a long time ago. This is one more reason that I have come to believe that my generation has much to atone for, including allowing Reagan to be elected. By allowing that Swiss cheese brained actor to be elected, we now have the no brain Bu$hCo.

Piling On Dick Dick

More on Cheney The Impaler by Paul Begala.

BEGALA, on CNN: But they don't need to do this politics of personal destruction, these personal attacks. I think they're incredibly desperate. Look at the optics of this. I don't know if they can put this back up, here. But can we take a look at Dick Cheney, just as someone -- I don't, of course, support him or like him.

But if I did, I would tell him don't go out there, you know, this fat, corpulent guy in a tuxedo standing up there talking about our soliders and then attacking Democrats. It is the worst image for the Republicans that they can imagine. I have no idea why they want Dick Cheney, of all people, to talk about what is dishonest and reprehensible.

Wolf BLITZER: He's the vice president.

BEGALA: But he's also dishonest and reprehensible. He's the most disliked … in America. He's got a favorable rating of 19 percent. We hate Dick Cheney. As a Democrat, I want Dick Cheney on TV in his fat tuxedo every day. It's the worst optic imaginable. Contrast that with Jack Murtha who's tough as a bar of iron.

Via Maru. Emphasis mine.

Murtha on Cheney

Dirty minds! It's actually good. Rep. Murtha on Bu$hCo V.P. Dick Dick Cheney (R-Torture):

Vice President Dick Cheney jumped into the fray Wednesday by assailing Democrats who contend the Bush administration manipulated intelligence on Iraq, calling their criticism "one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city."

Murtha, a Marine intelligence officer in Vietnam, angrily shot back at Cheney: "I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done."

Via Rising Hegemon.

Vice President of Torture

Admiral Stansfield Turner, former CIA head, just called Dick (Dick) Cheney the Vice President of Torture while being interviewed by a talking head at CNN. The head kept trying to get Turner to change his words, i.e., what is this doing to the troops' morale, etc. effing etc. He wouldn't back down. Good for him. Great for him. I have no link, sorry.

Fred & Darlene Schnook

Went to a party tonight where Fred announced he was not going to run again for Mayor of Ashland, WI. This is understandable, but very bad for the future of Ashland. Fred has been the best thing Ashland has seen in many, many years. & if it hadn't been for the elites, including SueHank Martinsen, & their success at tearing down a good man, Ashland would even be farther ahead. This next election will be important. Will the residents of Ashland allow the wealthy elites to run the city into the ground? Or will they continue the progressive thinking that Fred brought to city hall? I hope it is the latter. The citizens know that money & the ability to buy lawyers is not the way to run a city or even a family. I hope & we need to work, to make sure they don't take over Ashland & turn it into Martinsenville, or Pottersville, if you know what I mean. Congradulations Fred & Darlene & thanks for inviting me & Mrs. coldH2O to the party, but it was bittersweet. As an aside, a certain city council member was extremely conspicuous by her absense, which, quite frankly, I was happy about. She is not helping the progressive movement.

Buffalo Dreams

A good start for the west. Too bad about the grizzlies however.

"Several factors have contributed to a movement to restore the Great Plains, an ecological phenomenon called mixed-grass prairie that stretches from southern Canada to the Sandhills of Nebraska.

'It has the most breadth, depth and diversity of fauna than anywhere on the High Plains,' said Sean Gerrity, the executive director of the American Prairie Foundation.

Birds are especially diverse, with rare grassland species like the greater sage grouse and Sprague's tippet found in abundance."

Climate Change

According to Bu$hCo, minor issues like this must not be allowed to disrupt our economy. They are probaby just a bunch of poor, non-whites anyway.

"Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the World Health Organization have compiled a series of studies showing that people have been adversely affected by regional and global climate change. The WHO suspects 150,000 people per year, for the past 30 years, have died as a result of a gradually warming planet. The WHO says that annually, 5 million cases of illness can be attributed to it, too.

And they think things are only going to get worse."

Jeez!

Bu$hCo's competence & compassion.

"The continuing Shame of America. No respect for the poor and disenfranchised, even when you're dead. "

He Tried To Get Rid Of That Commie Big Bird

No surprise here, it's all part of the big Bu$hCo plan to destroy America.

"According to the report, Tomlinson consulted with Bush administration officials — including Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove — about his efforts...."

Mad World Poet

Good literary news.

"'Ferlinghetti has had an extraordinary career as a writer and he has had an extraordinary impact on American letters,' he said, citing the poet's multiple roles, including bookstore owner, publisher and victor in the famous censorship suit over publication of Allen Ginsberg's poem 'Howl.'"

Post Bombing Jordon

How come there isn't this kind of accountability in the Bu$hCo administration?

Just Completely Stupid

It's not the only place they would be sticking their heads.

"Legislators would 'stick our heads in the sand' by requiring schools to teach abstinence first, Grigsby said, because 60% of teens are sexually active by age 18."

Vine Deloria Jr., R.I.P.

Vine Deloria died in Colorado.

"Deloria told The Times then that he continued to view Custer as the Adolf Eichmann of the Plains. Eichmann was the Nazi official in charge of implementing Hitler's extermination of millions of people during the Holocaust, in particular Jews.

'Soldiers were nothing to him, except tools,' Deloria told The Times, describing Custer as a psychopath. 'The soldiers were not defending civilization. They were crushing another society.'"

"Memorial contributions may be made to the Vine Deloria Scholarship Fund, c/o The American Indian Scholarship Fund, Attn: Rick Williams, 8333 Greenwood Blvd., Denver, CO 80221."

More Marsh Madness

Mary Landrieau, Mary Landrieau, didn't you sell out ANWR because you were going to get help for the swamps?

"For Dr. Penland, director of the Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of New Orleans, these clumps of black mud knitted with roots and fronds are an alarming sight. The marshballs, some as large as a sofa, others as small as a shoebox, had floated from wetlands to the east. Dr. Penland says they are more evidence that after decades of human interference, the marshes of Louisiana are in deep, deep trouble.

'A healthy marsh is pretty resilient,' he said. 'A stressed marsh - storms will physically break the marsh down.'"

Concealed Carry In Wisconsin

This stupid law from the ReThuglians will cost the taxpayers in more ways than one. Thank goodness Gov. Doyle will have the good sense to veto it AGAIN.

"For Madison the cost would be $996,000 to equip three of 60 buildings, according to one of the aldermen sponsoring a budget amendment there. For Hales Corners, the cost would be about $16,000."

Back To Grantsburg

So, the SideKick, Mrs. SideKick, & I were coming back from the Twin Cities last weekend after visiting the kid & we decided to take a tour of Crex Meadows, a wildlife refuge. We had seen a couple of flocks of Sandhill Cranes on the way down, so we thought the SideKick would get some good pics for his blog Shutterwi. We saw a pair of Tundra swans & that was it! A bunch of Canada Geese, the giant strain, had been at the town park in town, but nothing on the flowages in the refuge. So in honor of no pictures, here's the Policea Blotter (I'm in bold black, the Grantsburg paper is not.):

The cops are just way too particular. Did they really need to mention Somewhere, MN?

•Nov. 5, a 1996 Ford white van was recovered on Skog Road in Grantsburg. The van was stolen from somewhere in Minnesota.

I understand the block got a good conduct medal while acting as a temporary truck block in Texas.

•Oct. 31, a decorated wooden block in front of the White Pine Crafts store was reported damaged. The manager told authorities someone had driven over the objecting, causing about $500 worth of damage. There are no suspects and the incident is under investigation.


But later on, that deer suffered life threatening injuries.

•Nov. 4, Nancy M. Jensen, Siren, was driving eastbound on State Hwy. 70 when she struck a deer. She was not injured at the scene.

This blowing thing, I mean, really, give the girl a break. & that northbound traffic "almost" didn't come to a complete stop, I'll bet, if you know what I mean.

•Nov. 1, Carol A. Mohs, 58, Menomonie, was arrested for operating while intoxicated on Hwy. 35. She was also cited for operating with a PAC of .10 or higher, operating left of center, reckless driving, operating while revoked and driving the wrong way on divided highway. She blew a .20 at the jail after she was arrested. Before the arrest, she almost hit traffic driving northbound before coming to a complete stop. It’s her second OWI arrest.

New Look

I decided to change the look of the blog. Let me know what you think. I still need to deal with the links, so that is what I'll do now.

Good New Orleans News

...rebuilding after the storm has a groove.

"On a good day in a little corner of West Oakland, over the crow of backyard roosters and the low whoosh of cars passing on Interstate 880, you might hear a little bit of New Orleans heaven. Drummer Joseph 'Zigaboo' Modeliste is laying down that famous second-line beat with a smile on his face and an extra little snap on his rolls. His band, the Meters, one of the most celebrated in the Crescent City's storied musical history, is finally back together."

Bu$hCo Duh #1992

Morning After Pill Decision 'Unusual

"The Government Accountability Office report said the apparent involvement of McClellan and other top officials was one of four unusual aspects of FDA's handling of the politically sensitive decision. The investigators reported that several key FDA officials told colleagues that the application to allow over-the-counter sales of the emergency contraceptive would be rejected months before the decision was announced."

Butler Beware?

...Home Has Some New Pets: 1,082 Penguins

No Kyoto, No Problem

Stupid birds; slimy fish. Thanks Bu$hCo.

"A catastrophic collapse in sea and bird life numbers along America's Northwest Pacific seaboard is raising fears that global warming is beginning to irreparably damage the health of the oceans."

More NOLA

Paul Krugman on the Bu$hCo non-plan for New Orleans & the rest of the Gulf Coast. Kayne West was more than right.

"Disaster sometimes gives you an opportunity to rethink your premises and really go out and do something that becomes a model for future policy. What strikes me is that nothing is happening post-Katrina. There’s no sign of planning, there’s no sign of urgency, there aren’t even any discussions over how we should handle reconstruction. I just think that, faced with a genuine policy challenge that wasn’t part of their pre-existing agenda, the Bushies just lost interest. Where is the plan for reconstruction? We’re in the process of forgetting all about the Gulf Coast."

Via The Poorman. Emphasis mine.

Old News

This article is a week old, but well worth reading & noting. We are in such trouble.

"The next day, an administration official said Bush would skip a two-hour Saturday lunch with the leaders because of 'time served' at dinner the night before."

Bu$hCo is the president of the United States & he can't bring himself to work a few extra hours? What a tool.

Great Fish

Beautiful writing about a great & interesting fish. I did not know there was a southern steelhead. This is one more reason to get rid of Bu$hCo, who doesn't like wild fish any more than he likes black people.

"Footing is unstable on the cobbled floor, and blackberry vines crisscross the streambed and trip feet. Ferns grow 6 feet high, and sycamore and oak shield against the intense sun. It smells of mint, and running water gurgles under rocks."

Bu$hCo Is Such An Effing Loser

Way to rebuild you S.O.B .

"'I'm concerned that the federal government is only trying to rebuild the levees to the level they were before. I'm concerned that FEMA is an immobile bureaucracy stuck in red tape with idiot political appointees at the top.

'I'm concerned because, for far less money than we have spent in Iraq — for 10% of what we have spent in Iraq — all of this could have been avoided. I'm concerned that we have worked like demons to get back into the city and to get back to business and to create a little pocket of normalcy, and I fear it was all for nothing.'"

My emphasis.

Lying Liar - That Would Be Bu$hCo

Read the whole thing. It doesn't go far enough, but it's a start.

"But Bush and his aides had access to much more voluminous intelligence information than did lawmakers, who were dependent on the administration to provide the material. And the commissions cited by officials, though concluding that the administration did not pressure intelligence analysts to change their conclusions, were not authorized to determine whether the administration exaggerated or distorted those conclusions.

National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, briefing reporters Thursday, countered 'the notion that somehow this administration manipulated the intelligence.' He said that 'those people who have looked at that issue, some committees on the Hill in Congress, and also the Silberman-Robb Commission, have concluded it did not happen.'

But the only committee investigating the matter in Congress, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has not yet done its inquiry into whether officials mischaracterized intelligence by omitting caveats and dissenting opinions. And Judge Laurence H. Silberman, chairman of Bush's commission on weapons of mass destruction, said in releasing his report on March 31, 2005: 'Our executive order did not direct us to deal with the use of intelligence by policymakers, and all of us were agreed that that was not part of our inquiry.'"

Science Saturday, Very Early Edition

Didn't get a job today, lost out. Makes me feel like having one of these for a pet, perhaps a Jurrasic pit bull.

"'I'm sure it wasn't nice,' said Diego Pol, a researcher at the Mathematical Biosciences Institute at Ohio State University and a member of the research team. 'A top predator role in the food chain.'"

While Patients Die

This must all be the trial lawyers fault. Who is the real problem in health care?


"Over the last two years, more than 30 people died awaiting liver transplants at UCI Medical Center in Orange as the hospital turned down scores of organs that might have saved them, according to a federal report."

Well, Good, I Guess

But why was this measure
in the bill in the first place? Attention Montana voters.

"House GOP leaders agreed Wednesday night to strip plans to permit oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in the offshore continental shelf from their $54 billion budget-cutting measure, probably securing the votes to pass the measure today."

What?

What an idiot.

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's aides argued Wednesday that the crushing defeat of the governor's measures at the polls meant California voters had rejected the need for the special election -- not his calls for reform."

Intelligent Decision

I suppose they were all in deep conversation with the intelligent designer on what to do next. I'd suggest a steep, rocky cliff. It would be the honorable thing to do, don't you know.

"The incumbents did not return phone calls seeking comment."

Al Franken Update

Imus endorses Al Franken for Minnesota U.S. Senate seat in 2006. Now this endorsement is about as solid as jello, but I still like it. The state where my mother was born deserves a senator way better than that asshat Coleman.

Pro blem

Could it be an attitude like this that is the real problem with the Louisiana wetlands? I think so.

"'If we don't draw this map,' Mr. Walker added, 'nature will.'"

Fog Lifting?

Corzine wins in New Jersey. Kaine wins in Virginia. The Gropenator loses in California. It's three stikes, but wait for the missing white woman, or another terror alert.

Democracy

We'll see if the ReThugs truly support local control.

"Residents of the Mile High City have voted to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults. "

More True Bad News

Another legacy of the stupid, inhumane Bu$hCo junta. Yeah, we don't need no stinking Kyoto.

"'The question is no longer whether we will need to address this problem, but when we will need to address the problem,' said Kenneth Caldeira, an author of the study and a climate expert at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology, based at Stanford University."

Long Time Coming

First the national Dems get a spine, now the labor unions do something for the first time. I may be slowly climbing out of my funk. Via the Suburban Guerrilla.

"For the first time in history, organized labor has taken a stance against a military conflict. At its recent convention, the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) voted to support an immediate end to the Iraq War.

“I think this indicates a change in the way labor conducts its business,” said Andy Zipser, editor of the Guild Reporter, official publication of the Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America."

This Is Good #2

Harry Reid, Democratic leader in the Senate, brought the Senate into a secret session today. It involves national security, particularly the recent indictment of Scooter, no not THAT Scooter, Libby. The ReThugs have all caved in to Bu$hCo's criminality & Reid just won't take it anymore. Good. Read Sen. Rockefeller's statement concerning the ReThugs refusal to continue the investigation into the phoney Bu$hCo intelligence that led us into a war of choice. Via The Washington Note.

"Read Senator Jay Rockefeller's Statement below. Rockefeller, of course, is Ranking Member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence:

'At its core, this is about accountability -- Congressional accountability and White House accountability.

'Congress has a fundamental, constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight -- that's what checks and balances are all about – and we have utterly failed.

'My colleagues and I have tried for two years to do our oversight work, and for two years we have been undermined, avoided, put off, and vilified by the other side. Any line of questioning that has brought us too close to the White House has been thwarted.

'At some point the majority needs to understand that we are willing to bring the Senate to a halt until they will join us in conducting the kind of investigation this situation demands.

'The American people still want to know -- now more than ever -- why the United States went to war, whether they were misled, and whether our intelligence was misused.

'Whether these actions amount to crimes is not the litmus test for congressional oversight. Mr. Fitzgerald is investigating possible criminal activity by senior White House officials, and we won't and shouldn't get in the way of his work.

'But the American people deserve to know not just whether this Administration committed crimes, but whether this Administration told the truth -- the full truth, the straight story.

'And if they didn't -- if they misled about the war and if they misused intelligence, then the American people need to know that the Congress will do everything in its power the make sure that it never happens again.'

Reid, Durbin, Rockefeller -- I salute all three. It's time to spend some political capital on this battle with the White House over the Iraq War and how we got into it."