Jaguars supporters for Obama

Contact City council asap: $750,000,000 No-bid Waste Management Contract

Casie — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:25:55 EST

Hey everybody,

Max Wood and the Young Democrats have alerted me of the need to contact city council and urge them to vote "no" on the $750,000,000, 35-year no-bid contract to give Trail Ridge over to Waste Management. All you need to do is e-mail cityc@coj.net. Let them know, briefly, that you'd like the Trail Ridge bid to be open, competitive, transparent, and fair. Ask them to vote "no" on the mayor's contract proposal. The e-mail can be as short as a couple of sentences. You can even copy my letter below and change it as you see fit!

Bringing this contract down would establish a mighty precedent: Jacksonville residents will not tolerate any more no-bid contracts.

Example:

Dear City Council Members,

As one of your constituents, I urge you to vote "no" on the no-bid Waste Management contract for Trail Ridge. In these tough economic times, it seems both unethical and irresponsible to approve a $750,000,000 contract without opening the bid to other vendors. Jacksonville residents deserve a competitive, transparent, and fair bidding process for all contracts — especially one of such magnitude.

Thank you,

Casie

America Rejected Fear and Embraced Change!

Sandy77 — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:31:30 EST

I cannot stop crying. I am stunned. Barack Obama is the next president of the United States of America, and I cannot stop crying. America closed the deal. Yes, we did. It is hard to focus right now. My mind is traveling sporadically. I am in Jax, Florida, being hugged by Family, friends, neighbors and strangers I met during the primaries. I am trembling at my Dads bedside moments after he passed away on my birthday March 28, 2008. I've been going through my thoughts, one after another, trying to figure out the right words I want to use to express the thoughts I've had since my dad passed. And the main problem that I've come to is that there are just way too many things to choose from.

Choosing from those memories are a task, because how do I possibly put into words a description that can even possibly come close to expressing to the world about the man who is responsible for everything I am today? I wish my dad could have been here with me to witness this historical night. I am exhausted. I am restless. I am America. This is happening. We shook the world. We won. Last night, at five past 11, a collective roar made its way across living rooms and restaurants and the streets of cities and towns. Strangers sought each other out to hug one another and share in this moment.

At my own watch party, chants of "Yes we can!" And what a ride this has been. The manner of this campaign is as important as its ultimate outcome. Grassroots organizing met peer-to-peer networked technologies, learned from old school campaigning and was remixed through new school art. And it won. We won! Our new president. Our new president, Barack Obama, truly represents us, America and the world.

He is Kenya and Hawaii. He is Chicago and Kansas, and through his gifts, his timing and his blessings, we have risen to a great occasion. This campaign was a fire that forged a president and a people, and we have emerged stronger for the trial. It is not simply that we chose an African American or a Democrat for our first post-baby boom leader, although those are all significant milestones. It is not simply that we chose a communicator and scholar and a man who so clearly demonstrates family values through the love and respect he shows his wife and daughters, although those too are significant milestones. It is not simply that we chose, but also that we rejected.

We rejected smears and race-baiting and Muslim-baiting and desperation. We rejected so much history and so many rules that have bound us to the way things have been and are supposed to be. We rejected fear. Most importantly, we rejected fear. Our better angels prevailed for one critical moment which can and will change forever the moments to follow. We said resoundingly that we are not afraid. We are not afraid of the world out there. We are not afraid of ourselves.

In rejecting that fear, we have shed something awful, at least for a time, and in so doing we have liberated ourselves. I am still crying, but they are tears of possibility for all that we are free to do and free to be.Yes, we did. I feel like we, as a nation, stepped back from the edge of the cliff leading to the Abyss. We have nowhere to go but UP. We have the opportunity to remake the government and ourselves as just, compassionate, and wise. Maybe it will take time to win over the greedy and the bigots. Maybe it will happen fast, like a tsunami wave. Who knows what happens when HOPE energizes a people? Yesterday I had faith as small as a mustard seed. Today I believe we can move mountains.

Bush hurries to stick it to us

deanne in florida — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 22:01:38 EDT

would McCain even try to stop this.... since he is so beholden to his party now?
You get 3 guesses. First 2 don't count.

A Last Push To Deregulate
White House to Ease Many Rules

By R Smith Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 31, 2008; Page A01

The Whitehouse is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before pres bush leaves office in January.

The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would ease or lift constraints on private industry, including power plants, mines and farms.

Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.

Once such rules take effect, they typically can be undone only through a laborious new regulatory proceeding, including lengthy periods of public comment, drafting and mandated reanalysis.

"They want these rules to continue to have an impact long after they leave office," said Matthew Madia, a regulatory expert at OMB Watch, a nonprofit group critical of what it calls the Bush administration's penchant for deregulating in areas where industry wants more freedom. He called the coming deluge "a last-minute assault on the public . . . happening on multiple fronts."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said: "This administration has taken extraordinary measures to avoid rushing regulations at the end of the term. And yes, we'd prefer our regulations stand for a very long time -- they're well reasoned and are being considered with the best interests of the nation in mind."

As many as 90 new regulations are in the works, and at least nine of them are considered "economically significant" because they impose costs or promote societal benefits that exceed $100 million annually. They include new rules governing employees who take family- and medical-related leaves, new standards for preventing or containing oil spills, and a simplified process for settling real estate transactions.

While it remains unclear how much the administration will be able to accomplish in the coming weeks, the last-minute rush appears to involve fewer regulations than Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton approved at the end of his tenure.

In some cases, Bush's regulations reflect new interpretations of language in federal laws. In other cases, such as several new counterterrorism initiatives, they reflect new executive branch decisions in areas where Congress -- now out of session and focused on the elections -- left the president considerable discretion.

The burst of activity has made this a busy period for lobbyists who fear that industry views will hold less sway after the elections. The doors at the New Executive Office Building have been whirling with corporate officials and advisers pleading for relief or, in many cases, for hastened decision making.

According to the Office of Management and Budgets regulatory calendar, the commercial scallop-fishing industry came in two weeks ago to urge that proposed catch limits be eased, nearly bumping into National Mining Association officials making the case for easing rules meant to keep coal slurry waste out of Appalachian streams. A few days earlier, lawyers for kidney dialysis and biotechnology companies registered their complaints at the OMB about new Medicare reimbursement rules. Lobbyists for customs brokers complained about proposed counterterrorism rules that require the advance reporting of shipping data.

Bush's aides are acutely aware of the political risks of completing their regulatory work too late. On the afternoon of Bush's inauguration, Jan. 20, 2001, his chief of staff issued a government-wide memo that blocked the completion or implementation of regulations drafted in the waning days of the Clinton administration that had not yet taken legal effect.

"Through the end of the Clinton administration, we were working like crazy to get as many regulations out as possible," said Donald R. Arbuckle, who retired in 2006 after 25 years as an OMB official. "Then on Sunday, the day after the inauguration, OMB Director Mitch Daniels called me in and said, 'Let's pull back as many of these as we can.' "

Clinton's appointees wound up paying a heavy price for procrastination. Bush's team was able to withdraw 254 regulations that covered such matters as drug and airline safety, immigration and indoor air pollutants. After further review, many of the proposals were modified to reflect Republican policy ideals or scrapped altogether.

Seeking to avoid falling victim to such partisan tactics, White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten, in May imposed a Nov. 1 government-wide deadline to finish major new regulations, "except in extraordinary circumstances."

That gives officials just a few more weeks to meet an effective Nov. 20 deadline for the publication of economically significant rules, which take legal effect only after a 60-day congressional comment period. Less important rules take effect after a 30-day period, creating a second deadline of Dec. 20.

OMB spokeswoman Jane Lee said that Bolten's memo was meant to emphasize the importance of "due diligence" in ensuring that late-term regulations are sound. "We will continue to embrace the thorough and high standards of the regulatory review process," she said.

As the deadlines near, the administration has begun to issue regulations of great interest to industry, including, in recent days, a rule that allows natural gas pipelines to operate at higher pressures and new Homeland Security rules that shift passenger security screening responsibilities from airlines to the federal government. The OMB also approved a new limit on airborne emissions of lead this month, acting under a court-imposed deadline.

Many of the rules that could be issued over the next few weeks would ease environmental regulations, according to sources familiar with administration deliberations.

A rule put forward by the National Marine Fisheries Service and now under final review by the OMB would lift a requirement that environmental impact statements be prepared for certain fisheries-management decisions and would give review authority to regional councils dominated by commercial and recreational fishing interests.

An Alaska commercial fishing source, granted anonymity so he could speak candidly about private conversations, said that senior administration officials promised to "get the rule done by the end of this month" and that the outcome would be a big improvement.

Lee Crockett of the Pew Charitable Trusts' Environment Group said the administration has received 194,000 public comments on the rule and protests from 80 members of Congress as well as 160 conservation groups. "This thing is fatally flawed" as well as "wildly unpopular," Crockett said.

Two other rules nearing completion would ease limits on pollution from power plants, a major energy industry goal for the past eight years that is strenuously opposed by Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups.
One rule, being pursued over some opposition within the Environmental Protection Agency, would allow current emissions at a power plant to match the highest levels produced by that plant, overturning a rule that more strictly limits such emission increases. According to the EPA's estimate, it would allow millions of tons of additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually, worsening global warming.
A related regulation would ease limits on emissions from coal-fired power plants near national parks.
A third rule would allow increased emissions from oil refineries, chemical factories and other industrial plants with complex manufacturing operations.
These rules "will force Americans to choke on dirtier air for years to come, unless Congress or the new administration reverses these eleventh-hour abuses," said lawyer John Walke of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

But Scott H. Segal, a Washington lawyer and chief spokesman for the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, said that "bringing common sense to the Clean Air Act is the best way to enhance energy efficiency and pollution control." He said he is optimistic that the new rule will help keep citizens' lawsuits from obstructing new technologies.

Jonathan Shradar, an EPA spokesman, said that he could not discuss specifics but added that "we strive to protect human health and the environment." Any rule the agency completes, he said, "is more stringent than the previous one."

NOT in MY back yard!

deanne in florida — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:43:48 EDT

NOT in MY back yard!
this could be the 'killer Ad that could put Obama over the top for certain sure.
Just like the one the Republicans used during the last week of 2004, the wolves prowling in the dark and in and out of the trees and brush and circling ever closer to your home, inferring terrorists are lusking and it takes a Republican and GW Bush to save you from them.
Our Ad could be pictures showing a nuclear facility and John McCain in an audio clip stating out loud and in front of everybody, as he did so today in Miami at his wednesday October 29th rally, that he will do the following:
*John McCain Will Put His Administration On Track To Construct 45 New Nuclear Power Plants By 2030 With The Ultimate Goal Of Eventually Constructing 100 New Plants. Nuclear power is a proven, zero-emission source of energy, and it is time we recommit to advancing our use of nuclear power. Currently, nuclear power produces 20% of our power, but the U.S. has not started construction on a new nuclear power plant in over 30 years. China, India and Russia have goals of building a combined total of over 100 new plants and we should be able to do the same. It is also critical that the U.S. be able to build the components for these plants and reactors within our country so that we are not dependent on foreign suppliers with long wait times to move forward with our nuclear plans.

*Excerpt from John McCain's web site on Energy Policies.

ALERT URGENT pass it on to campaign

deanne in florida — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:18:08 EDT

*John McCain Will Put His Administration On Track To Construct 45 New Nuclear Power Plants By 2030 With The Ultimate Goal Of Eventually Constructing 100 New Plants. Nuclear power is a proven, zero-emission source of energy, and it is time we recommit to advancing our use of nuclear power. Currently, nuclear power produces 20% of our power, but the U.S. has not started construction on a new nuclear power plant in over 30 years. China, India and Russia have goals of building a combined total of over 100 new plants and we should be able to do the same. It is also critical that the U.S. be able to build the components for these plants and reactors within our country so that we are not dependent on foreign suppliers with long wait times to move forward with our nuclear plans. * excerpt from McCain's web site about his energy policies.

=============================

The reason we have not built nuclear power plants in 30 years is.... the last time somebody brought it up 30 years ago, everybody in America cried "Not In MY Backyard!"

ditto here. I don't want to have 45 nuclear power plants across the country with the possibility of a Chernoble or in each area of America.

This could be Obama's'killer ad over the weekend... remember the wolves at the door for scaring Americans about terrorist lurking Ad that got the republicans back in office in 2004?

and it's too late for John McCain to stop our Ad, he's already said it forcefully today, wednesday 29th, in his Miami rally in front of God and everybody. Including Charlie Crist.

Florida Early Vote EXTENDED statewide

Kristen Psaki — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:32:42 EDT

Early Voting for the entire state of Florida has just been extended.

Every Early Vote location in Florida will now be every day from 7am-7pm up through November 2.

Please pass along this great news to everyone you know who will be voting in Florida. Click here to find your nearest early vote location.

Here's the release:

GOVERNOR CRIST EXTENDS EARLY VOTING HOURS
~~ ~Ensures maximum number of Floridians can exercise right to vote~ ~~
October 28, 2008
Contact:
GOVERNOR'S PRESS OFFICE(850) 488-5394
TALLAHASSEE - Governor Charlie Crist today signed Executive Order 08-217, extending the hours for early voting during the current General Election. Effective immediately, early voting sites will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., through Friday, October 31, 2008, and for a total of 12 hours between 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 2, 2008.

"I have spoken with the Secretary of State and members of the Florida Legislature and have concluded that it is always the right thing to do to give voters every opportunity to cast a ballot," Governor Crist said. "I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote."

Prior to the 2008 General Election, Florida has seen historic numbers of Floridians registering to vote for the first time. In addition, record numbers of voters have chosen to cast a ballot during early voting.

Early voting began on October 20 and runs through November 2. Current Florida law allows for early voting to be conducted eight hours per day on each weekday, and for a total of eight hours during both weekends during the early voting period. Floridians can contact their county's Supervisor of Elections for dates, times and locations of early voting.

Florida voters can also request absentee ballots to be mailed to them until October 29.

Please see the attached Executive Order 08-217.

STATE OF FLORIDA

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 08-217

WHEREAS, early voting is scheduled to end November 2, 2008; and

WHEREAS, early voting turnout has already reached record levels and is forecast to continue with record turnout. There are only 267 early voting sites throughout the state and long lines have formed at many of the early voting sites; and

WHEREAS, a historic number of Floridians have registered to vote for the first time in this election; and

WHEREAS, new voting equipment is being used in 15 Florida counties;

WHEREAS, as a result of this unique combination of circumstances resulting from the historic voter turnout in this election, there is a possibility that election officials will be unable to conduct an orderly election, and thus residents in our state could be deprived of a meaningful opportunity to vote; and
WHEREAS, because of the existing and continuing possibility of an emergency occurring before or during the regularly scheduled election, and in order to ensure maximum citizen participation in the electoral process, and provide a safe and orderly procedure for persons seeking to exercise their right to vote;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHARLIE CRIST, as Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article IV, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution, by the Florida Elections Emergency Act, and by all other applicable laws, issue the following Executive Order, to take immediate effect:
I hereby declare that, based on the above-described conditions, a state of emergency exists. It is hereby found and declared to be necessary to extend the voting hours during early voting. Accordingly, I order the Supervisors of Elections to open early voting sites from 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. through October 31, 2008 and open early voting sites for a total of twelve (12) hours between 7 a.m. November 1, 2008 and 7 p.m. November 2, 2008.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Florida to be affixed, at Tallahassee, the Capitol, this 28th day of October, 2008.

GOVERNOR
ATTEST:
SECRETARY OF STATE

Collin Powell - Obama Transformational Figure

jmarley — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:23:45 EDT

I wrote a posts a while ago about my thoughts of Senator Obama's Transformational Leadership Style. It is very awesome to see a person of History such as Powell mention similar observations and even more powerful, endorsing Senator Obama for his strong leadership style... Please, Vote Early, Vote by Mail and help anyone who needs help getting to the polls, GOD Speed.

-JM

-----------------------

General Colin Powell (Retired), Secretary of State 2001-2005, on Meet the
Press:

So when I look at all of this and I think back to my army career, we've got

two individuals. Either one of them could be a good president, but which is

the president that we need now? Which is the individual that serves the

needs of the nation for the next period of time? And I come to the

conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive

nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America,

because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities – and we have to take that

into account – as well as his substance – he has both style and substance –

he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional

president.

I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into

the ... onto the world stage and on the American stage and for that reason,

I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.

Republicans smear their own name brand

deanne in florida — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:40:51 EDT

Republicans need to rethink their campaign tactics and think seriously about what the party will be remembered as and what Americans will come away with after the 2008 presidential election.

By all indications, most Americans who are not in the maniacal right-fringe, like Sean Hannity of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and followers, are going to come away with a very bad taste in their mouth, regarding the 'Grand Old Party'.

Google AIP sarah and todd palin

deanne in florida — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:17:14 EDT

Todd Palin or 'First Dude', admits or even brags he is an advisor to his wife, Sarah Palin. If Sarah Palin is elected as VP, what effect will Todd Palin have in the whitehouse?

google AIP sarah and todd palin; or follow link below:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20081013/cm_huffpost/133966

as Menachem Rosensaft writes;

We are entitled to know what that role is likely to be. Is Todd Palin going to call government officials from the White House to lobby for or against political allies or enemies? Is he going to summon cabinet members into the Vice President's office to try to get a relative hired or fired? That is, after all, his track record.

Todd Palin also appears to have lobbied Alaska state legislators on issues other than his former brother in law's continued employment. When Republican State Representative Jay Ramras, the chairman of the Alaska House Judiciary Committee, saw the Todd Palin outside the legislative chamber one day last year, "My colleagues told me he was lobbying for the governor's position on oil taxes." This made Ramras uncomfortable. "I think that when the spouse of an elected governor steps away from safe issues that are nonpartisan in nature," he said, "that it is bad for the legislative and executive branches, and Todd Palin would not be an exception to that."

Equally important, if Todd Palin is going to be one of the Vice President's most senior advisors, if not the most senior, he should be made available to the media to answer questions about his political views. The little we know about him is disconcerting.

For seven years, from 1995 until 2002, he was a member of the controversial extreme right-wing Alaska Independence Party. This is a party whose principal goal is a statewide vote on whether Alaska should secede from the United States, and whose founder's nuggets of wisdom, featured prominently on the AIP's website, include "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions," and "The problem with you John Birchers is that you are too damn liberal!"

What, if anything, did Todd Palin do as a member of the AIP? Did he actively support Alaskan independence, and if so, by what means? The Alaska Independence Party is affiliated with other extremist right wing political groups around the United States, including the Constitution Party (formerly the U.S. Taxpayers' Party) which wants to "restore our government to its Constitutional limits and our law to its Biblical foundations." Does he see himself as "an Alaskan, not an American"? What does he think about American institutions such as, say, the Supreme Court and Congress? Does he, like AIP founder Joe Vogler, consider the John Birch Society to be "too damn liberal"? Earlier this year, AIP Vice Chairman Dexter Carter urged party members to "infiltrate" the two major parties. Come again? Is that why Todd Palin is now a registered Republican?

We know that Sarah Palin has been "palling around" with Todd. We don't know with whom Todd Palin has been, or for that matter may still be, "palling around."

At the very least, both John McCain and Sarah Palin should tell us whether they approve of Todd Palin's past membership in the AIP and whether, if elected, they will allow him to use the apparent authority of the White House to promote a personal agenda.

Menachem Rosensaft is a lawyer in New York City.

AIP and Todd Palin will run McCain's presidency

deanne in florida — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:14:19 EDT

Todd Palin or 'First Dude', admits or even brags he is an advisor to his wife, Sarah Palin. If Sarah Palin is elected as VP, what effect will Todd Palin have in the whitehouse?

google AIP sarah and todd palin; or follow link below:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20081013/cm_huffpost/133966

as Menachem Rosensaft writes;

We know that Sarah Palin has been "palling around" with Todd. We don't know with whom Todd Palin has been, or for that matter may still be, "palling around."

Sarah and Todd's past associations

deanne in florida — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:41:06 EDT

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Alaskan Independence Party: The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel
The Huffington PostOctober 9, 2008
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f- ... 33261.html

Read More: 2008 Election, Aip, Alaska Independence Party, Bill Ayers, First
Dude, Joe Vogler, John Kerry, Media Coverage Of 2008 Election, Obama Ayers,
Palin Alaska Independence Party, Sarah Palin, Todd Palin, Todd Palin Aip, Todd
Palin Sarah Palin, William Ayers, Politics News

In 2004, America's malleable mainstream media allowed
itself to be manipulated by artful Republican operatives into devoting weeks of
broadcast attention and drums of ink to unfairly desecrating John Kerry's
genuine Vietnam heroics while obligingly muzzling serious discussion of George
W. Bush's shameful wartime record of evasion and cowardice.

Last week found the American media once again boarding Republican swift boats
against this season's Democratic candidate armed with unfair and hypocritical
attacks artfully designed by GOP strategists to distract attention from the
cataclysmic outcomes of Republican governance. Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah
Palin has taken to faulting Senator Barack Obama for his casual acquaintance
with a respected Illinois educator Bill Ayers, who forty years ago was a member
of the Weathermen, a movement active when Obama was eight and which he has
denounced as "detestable." Palin argues that the relationship proves that Obama
sees "America as being so imperfect that he is palling around with terrorists
who would target their own country."

The Times dedicated a page one article to Obama's relations with Ayers and CNN's
Anderson Cooper obliged Palin by rewarding her reckless accusations about
Obama's patriotism with a major investigative report. Fox, meanwhile, is still
riveting its audience with wall to wall coverage of this pressing irrelevancy.

But if McCarthy-era guilt-by-association is once again a valid political
consideration, Palin, it would seem, has more to lose than Obama. Palin, it
could be argued, following her own logic, thinks so little of America's
perfection that she continues to "pal around" with a man--her husband,
actually--who only recently terminated his seven-year membership in the Alaskan
Independence Party. Putting plunder above patriotism, the members of this
treasonous cabal aim to break our country into pieces and walk away with
Alaska's rich federal oil fields and one-fifth of America's land base--an area
three-fourths the size of the Civil War Confederacy.

AIP's charter commits the party "to the ultimate independence of Alaska," from
the United States which it refers to as "the colonial bureaucracy in
Washington." It proclaims Alaska's 1959 induction as a state "as illegal and in
violation of the United Nations charter and international law."

AIP's creation was inspired by the rabidly violent anti-Americanism of its
founding father Joe Vogler, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American," reads a favorite
Vogler quote on AIP's current website, "I've got no use for America or her
damned institutions." According to Vogler AIP's central purpose was to drive
Alaska's secession from the United States. Alaska, says current Chairwoman
Lynette Clark, "should be an independent nation."

Vogler was murdered in 1993 during an illegal sale of plastic explosives that
went bad. The prior year, he had renounced his allegiance to the United States
explaining that, "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred
for the American government." He cursed the stars and stripes, promising, "I
won't be buried under their damned flag...when Alaska is an independent nation
they can bring my bones home." Palin has never denounced Vogler or his
detestable anti-Americanism.

Palin's husband Todd remained an AIP party member from 1995 to 2002. Sarah can
be described in McCarthy-era palaver as a "fellow traveler." While retaining her
Republican registration, she attended the AIP's 1994 convention where the party
called for a draft constitution to secede from the United States and create an
independent nation of Alaska. The McCain Campaign has reluctantly acknowledged
that she also attended AIP's 2000 Convention. She apparently found the
experience so inspiring that she agreed to give a keynote address at the AIP's
2006 convention and she recorded a video greeting for this year's 2008
convention. In other words, this is not something that happened when she was
eight!

So when Palin accuses Barack of "not seeing the same America as you and me,"
maybe she is referring to an America without Alaska. In any case, isn't it time
the media start giving equal time to Palin's buddy list of anti-American bombers
and other radical associates?

Comments 794
- + postman606
Black man comes on the national scene 4 yrs ago, heavy scrutiny, still not
enough. White female comes on the scene 5 weeks ago, cooing and winking and
demanding more scrutiny of black man. It's so antebellum.

- + Publicola
More information about Palin and her husband's "palling around" with the
anti-American Alaskan Independence Party here:

http://www.mccainfactcheck.com/facts/11 ... 3213.shtml
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/20 ... index.html
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/ ... secession/

Show your friends and Neighbors this article.

deanne in florida — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:02:21 EDT

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1024927/The-wife-John-McCain-callously-left-behind.html

The article in the link is from Great Britain. Get it? I just found out that some of our most ardent supporters have not heard about the True John McCain. When they asked why is it that no one in the media has brought it up. I said, because as always, you don't talk (bad or negative) about a war hero or a veteran. Politically correct, don't you know. Tell everyone, anyway!

McCain throws hissy-fit and picks Palin...

deanne in florida — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:58:31 EDT

September 13, 2008 Op-Ed Columnist
She’s Not Ready By BOB HERBERT
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/opini ... rbert.html

While watching the Sarah Palin interview with Charlie Gibson Thursday night, and
the coverage of the Palin phenomenon in general, I’ve gotten the scary feeling,
for the first time in my life, that dimwittedness is not just on the march in
the U.S., but that it might actually prevail.

How is it that this woman could have been selected to be the vice presidential
candidate on a major party ticket? How is it that so much of the mainstream
media has dropped all pretense of seriousness to hop aboard the bandwagon and go
along for the giddy ride?

For those who haven’t noticed, we’re electing a president and vice president,
not selecting a winner on "American Idol."
===============================================================

Reply from: Fly on The Wall

Alright, Mr. Herbert, I am going to tell you how we now have Sarah Palin on the national ticket for John McCain's vice presidential running mate. It came about because........ John McCain threw a hissy-fit.
Seeing the Democrat Barack Obama's nomination party in Denver, McCain couldn't stand it a second longer, and knew he could never compete with his rival on a man to man, one on one, toe to toe basis and screamed; "bring me a woman!" (must have startled some aides for a nano second or two.) "get me a woman on this ticket now!"
Because he knew he couldn't compete otherwise. He has to win to show Cindy, his rich millionairess heiress, that he still has the old fire in the furnace or the ...uh.. the hanging apparatus, and all.

And when they look blankly at McCain, he screams; "and make sure she is young, has kids, babies, whatever, and has something to do with .... with.... get me a woman!"

McCain equals pain....

deanne in florida — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:01:51 EDT

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk140/bellamis/punchjudi_5ee.jpg

A Repuglican trick...again...

deanne in florida — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:25:27 EDT

Thursday, in the hours leading to the debate, CNN talking head talked to a friend and advisor of Palin's and the woman (didn't get her name...) told CNN that Palin knew the answers to Couric, during any of the CBS interviews but was in the mode of thinking forward as "she learned to do back when she, herself was a journalist-reporter. Like, you have to think ahead of how the Q&A could be used or distorted .. and so Palin did not give answer to the question -- but she knew it. Sarah always does know what the answer is to the subject, she just is careful..."

Rope-A-Dope. Get it? The Repgulicans have used that trick successfully over the last 8 years, thinks to Rove, especially. Make the candidate appear dumb or --(or, something...) -- and get people roped in to see the debate and then ....

Only problem is, Americans are waking up to this ploy. Americans are not quite as stupid as the Repuglicans want us to be.

Phone call from "The Republicans"

deanne in florida — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:03:38 EDT

Today, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008, I am watching Barack Obama give a wonderful speech in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and the phone rings and the caller ID reads that it is The Republicans. Just from curiosity, I push the on button and say hello. The young woman on the other end says "Hi, I wonder if you'd like to help with a survey..."

"I am voting for Obama." I replied strongly. "Oh, well. try to have a nice day..." she said and hung up.

ha ha :-))

July 19, 2008. And, so it goes....

deanne in florida — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:15:41 EDT

July 19, 2008 politics and economy.

On Thursday, I hear that our government is planning to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and IndyMac and now, on Friday, I hear Wachovia Bank mentioned. The figure to bail them out was $300 billion. Dollars. Are you getting that?On Bill Moyer's Journal, PBS, tonight, I learn that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not federal owned institutions, are run by private investors, and foreign investors are able to come in and take advantage of the U.S. crisis. After we ... I mean, our "government" spends $300 billion of our tax dollars to make these gigantic lending institutions flush again, that is. With OUR tax dollars. And with no demands upon the institutions to behave better or to change habits or to stop engaging in un-ethical practices.This week, the JOURNAL presented two different perspectives on our troubled economy. The first came from frustrated citizens of Cleveland grappling with their community’s extraordinarily high rates of foreclosure. Cleveland, Ohio's Cuyahoga County treasurer Jim Rokakis said: back in the old days when there was no sheriff in town people robbed the banks.

"Back in the old days when there was no sheriff in town, people would rob the banks. Well, here we are in the modern day era, and there’s no sheriff in town. The banks were robbing the people... I learned a hard lesson: I learned that the Fed really is there to protect banks, and not to protect the consumers."

these days the banks are robbing the people. ie; when retirees on fixed incomes wanted to re-mortgage their house for repairs for a new roof or plumbing or so on, they got the sub-prime and bad loans instead of the fixed rate loans of the old days.

William Greider, corrrespondent and author, writes for The Nation. says:

We are witnessing a momentous event--the great deflation of Wall Street--and it is far from over. The crash of IndyMac is just the beginning. More banks will fail, so will many more debtors. The crisis has the potential to transform American politics because, first it destroys a generation of ideological bromides about free markets, and, second, because it makes visible the ugly power realities of our deformed democracy. Democrats and Republicans are bipartisan in this crisis because they have colluded all along over thirty years in creating the unregulated financial system and mammoth mega-banks that produced the phony valuations and deceitful assurances. The federal government protects the most powerful interests from the consequences of their plundering. It prescribes 'market justice' for everyone else."

some comments to Bill Moyer's Journal Blog:

I think some of the saddest effects of recent economic problems are not monetary. The human cost is rising as well. Stress, anger, and fatigue are running high. People I talk with down here in Orlando are just exhausted.

As one friend put it, “I have to know everything about everything before I do anything now mostly because if I don’t, they rip me off. I have to know how my car’s cooling system works so I won’t get screwed for an $800 fan switch installation when the problem is most likely a $90 thermostat. I have to be part lawyer, doctor, computer tech, financially analyst. I can’t rely on what anyone actually says anymore.”

So many folks are scrambling and scrambling and scrambling. One lady said she spends an hour in the grocery store just reading labels and ingredients. An elderly neighbor says she spent 2 hours on the internet researching roof shingles for a repair job. Another neighbor is pouring through credit card receipts and statements from 8 months ago to prove to a company that a purchase was made and the item still under warrantee. Another, after hours of research, is fighting with a doctor about why her daughter is prescribed one drug that directly counteracts the effects of another prescribed drug.

And this stress is turning to anger…people are outright meaner and ruder to each other. I saw security people called to a cashier line when a dispute arose over who was there first. It’s a tinder box of reactivity. No one lets anyone finish a sentence. Doors aren’t held anymore. Few people say “please” or “thank you.” Few even say “good-bye” on the telephone anymore.

Comedienne/CBS Commentator Nancy Giles said it best a couple of years ago. She said it came to her when she was pumping her own gasoline one day. “You know, I’m doing a lot more jobs now. Why isn’t there a line on my IRS tax return for ‘wages earned but unpaid?’”

Posted by: songweasel | July 19, 2008 12:17 AM

I'm somewhat amazed (but not surprised) that the same people who, when times are good, talk about the self-correcting nature of the free market (which I believe, but only if everyone is honest and agree to play by the rules), are the first ones to ask for a bailout when things go bad.

Let the banks fail, and I'll bet the next time a sub-prime packaged security is offered there won't be many takers.

Posted by: Eric | July 19, 2008 12:17 AM

I’ve been a fan of Greider for a long time. This was my first opportunity to hear him in person. As when I read his articles, my response is that what he says makes sense. It is too bad that no one (in power, as in Congress) is listening.

The most important point he made is that the private corporations get bailed-out but not bought-out. Why don’t the people of the US own Continental Illinois Bank, all the savings and loans, Chrysler, and Bear Stearns? We paid for them. The only way to stop the exploitation of “too big to fail” is for failed industries to be nationalized.

Posted by: January | July 19, 2008 12:16 AM

Regulators knew this meltdown was going to occur for almost ten years now. It was blatant, obvious, and they did nothing to stop it.

Ten years ago Japan had their meltdown, and it almost took down all of Asia. The experts watched and learned, then turned around to use what they learned to strip the middle class here in America of its assets.

Ten years ago Japan had a major meltdown, recession, and ultimately deflation. The value of homes, everything, had to drop to realistic levels.

Everything that happened to them is happening to us. If you want to understand how bad things are going to get, study what happened to Japan.

After all, that's exactly how the criminals that are stealing your money, destroying your bank, learned how to do it.

Posted by: allyn | July 19, 2008 12:14 AM

What scares me: Greider's prediction -- and my belief -- that Americans have darker days ahead as this ripple of credit woes cripple the US. Greider's fears appear valid about private equity funds buying into US financial institutes.

I hope this is a nightmare...and that I wake to an American Dream.

If Fanny and Freddie are bailed out, more US Treasuries will be sold, possibly doubling the national debt. Thus, ever greater US debt held by China and oil rich countries. What happens when foreign creditors own a controlling majority of US Treasury debt?

What if instead of US private equity funds, it's foreign investment funds that purchase American banks and Wall Street? After all, the combined market value of the US financial market is beginning to look like a bargain.

And there's no rush. As the US implodes, foreign investors can chose at what deflated price they claim the complete package: the US government and Wall Street.

read more if you don't get it yet.... http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2008/07/facing_economic_troubles.html

Repuglican trick. Again.

deanne in florida — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:36:54 EDT

This thing of McCain's to cancel debate to "save" the economy, is of course another repug trick.

Thank God, our fellow Americans are seeing things truly, and will vote for Obama, no matter the tricks the repugs play around us.

see my website on how Punch and Judy celebrate repuglicans now. http://www.pajamaparty2008.com/

Phishing alert

deanne in florida — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:28:00 EDT

Pay extra attention to the login areas, and page. The imposter page that I got yesterday, Tuesday 9/23, did not have our usual login fields on the right hand side and stupid me, I kept looking and even while thinking it odd, finally saw a login field in a darker color at the top right hand corner, and logged in and then -- got the phishing alert. Guess I'll go change my password, not that that will help anyone else, though. SIGH

ALERT: phishing website.

deanne in florida — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:54:57 EDT

http://www.barackobama.com/index.php

can somebody tell me about this url? When I was thinking I was on our site, I had noticed the pages were slower and most of all, the login page and fields seemed off somehow. Then the browser IE7 sends up a phishing alarm and said I should check the web site and I did and it said it was an imposter. I tried backtracking and think this is the one. Gee, I hate this if we have been hacked and phished and used by the repugs!

Republicans racking up all they can ......

deanne in florida — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:36:55 EDT

"When I'm president, there will be a whole lot more like this, not only here in the Gulf, but also off of our east and west coasts," McCain said in brief remarks to the press. "We need to drill offshore. We need to do it now. If I were president, I would call the members [of congress] back into session and tell them get back to work."

He added, "Senator Obama opposes new drilling. He has said it will not 'solve our problem' and that 'it's not real.' He's wrong, and the American people know it. I hope he'll seize the opportunity to come out and pay a visit like this one and I think it would probably change his mind."

Obama, along with many experts in the field, has argued oil drilling won't reduce gas prices in the short term, although McCain's opponent has said he could support drilling as part of a compromise to pass broader energy legislation.

But McCain touts his support of offshore drilling everywhere, and his visit here was the most striking declaration of that position. The tour was very brief, as officials here spent about a half-hour explaining to him how oil and natural gas are extracted and produced at the rig.

McCain spent more time traveling to the rig than he did on the platform, where he read remarks an aide had prepared for what was essentially a photo-op at sea.

===============================================================

McCain's visit came a day ahead of the Minerals Management Service's lease sale in New Orleans to auction off 18 million acres of the western Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling. The tracts could potentially yield as much as 400 million barrels of oil, but that amount would only meet the nation's oil needs for about 19 days, and it would be at least seven to 10 years until oil started flowing.

Palin is a Bush-Cheney clone

deanne in florida — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:25:00 EDT

Reading this article, we can conclude that Palin is ready for Washington, DC, on day 1.

The New York Times

WASILLA, Alaska – Gov. Sarah Palin lives by the maxim that all politics is local, not to mention personal.

So when there was a vacancy at the state Agriculture Department, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency.

Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five high school classmates Ms. Palin hired, often at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages.

Ms. Palin walks the national stage as a small-town foe of "good old boys" politics and a champion for ethics reform. And as the Republican vice presidential nominee, she points to her management experience while mocking her Democratic rivals, Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as speechmakers who never have run anything.

An examination of her swift rise and record as mayor of Wasilla and then governor finds that her visceral style and penchant for attacking critics – she sometimes calls local opponents "haters" – often contrasts with her public image.

Throughout her career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials.

Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records.

Obama smart not to reveal his plans....

deanne in florida — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:33:59 EDT

Of course, Barack cannot reveal his plans to go forward on the economy crisis. If he did....and whatever Barack Obama says... then hardly one hour later, John MCain will have co-opted Obama's message,

Any idea or words from our guy, Obama, is immediately taken up and grabbed (stolen) by McCain.

And, Obama is aware of this. Today on the campaign trail in Florida, Obama said "everybody knows that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." speaking of his foe, McCain.

But, in this case, Obama cannot afford McCain's form of imitation which in reality is plain old thievery.

Obama is a Christian part two

deanne in florida — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:42:51 EDT

tell everybody when they want to make excuses not to vote for Obama, such as but, he's a muslim...tell them No. That the Democrat Party wants to win too badly, and, that the Democrat Party would not run a muslim for a candidate for president, not in these troubling times. Argue the case that Obama has to be christian, in order to run for president.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/19/AR2008091903589.html

and help Joe Biden as much as you can; as he suggests in the excerpt below;

excerpt from wapol; At the end of a two-day bus trip through Ohio this week, Biden acknowledged in an interview that he and others still have more work to do in selling Obama to those voters before Election Day. He said a lack of familiarity with Obama and false rumors about him were still hampering the Democratic ticket, particularly the untrue e-mail chains suggesting that Obama is a Muslim. The Democratic presidential nominee is a Christian. Everybody likes him, they get out there and they look and they go, 'I like him a lot, but is this guy a Muslim? Does he go to a madrassa?' Biden said. People like him, but they want to be reassured [that] some of the malarkey, the negative stuff they hear about him, is just not true. But, he added, we're still winning, we're still doing well. Biden said what he described as Karl Rove tactics by Republicans have hurt Obama. I think some of the stuff they're trying to say is less racial. What they're trying to say is, this guy is exotic, this guy isn't like you, like the whole thing that he is a celebrity, he is a rock star, he said.

Obama is a Christian

deanne in florida — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:26:42 EDT

He said a lack of familiarity with Obama and false rumors about him were still hampering the Democratic ticket, particularly the untrue e-mail chains suggesting that Obama is a Muslim. The Democratic presidential nominee is a Christian.

"Everybody likes him, they get out there and they look and they go, 'I like him a lot, but is this guy a Muslim? Does he go to a madrassa?' " Biden said. "People like him, but they want to be reassured [that] some of the malarkey, the negative stuff they hear about him, is just not true."

But, he added, "we're still winning, we're still doing well."

Biden said what he described as "Karl Rove tactics" by Republicans have hurt Obama. "I think some of the stuff they're trying to say is less racial. What they're trying to say is, this guy is exotic, this guy isn't like you, like the whole thing that he is a celebrity, he is a rock star," he said.

To all of you who live in Ohio, this is what we are up against. The fact that to this very day, people still believe that Barack Obama is muslim. (....and, not just Ohio....)Trying to think of an effective way to fight this, so far, I have come up with "do you think that a national party like the Democrat Party, would offer a muslim as a candidate for president, in these troubling times?"

McCain's Keating Five

deanne in florida — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:23:07 EDT

In case you missed it....here is a brief synopsis of the Keating Five scandal, or bad action, of which John McCain, R-AZ, was a member and an actor in the now infamous group.

McCain and four other US senators (known to history as the Keating Five) met
with Edwin Gray, then chairman of the FHLBB. McCain had been hesitant to attend
but had reportedly been called a "wimp" behind his back by Keating. The message
to the FHLBB and Gray from the Keating Five was to lay off Lincoln and cool the
investigation. Gray and the FHLBB did not relent but Lincoln stayed in business
until 1989 when it collapsed with the rest of the S&L industry. The life savings
of more than 20,000 elderly investors disappeared with the failure of Lincoln.
Keating went to prison for five years.

Charles Keating was John McCain's pal. They met in 1981 and Keating dumped
$112,000 in the McCain campaign bank accounts between '82 and '87. A year before
McCain met with the FHLBB regulators, his wife Cindy and her father, according
to newspaper reports at the time, invested about $360,000 in one of Keating's
shopping centers. The Arizona Republic reported McCain and his wife and their
babysitter took nine trips on Keating's private jet to the Bahamas to stay at
the S&L liar's decadent Cat Cay resort. The senator didn't pay Keating back for
the plane rides until years later when he was under investigation.

McCain wasn't found guilty of anything but bad judgment, which is an historic
understatement. Republicans, who led deregulation of the S&L industry, delayed
the bailout until after the 1988 election to make sure George H. W. won the
White House. The cost to taxpayers for helping these 747 bad actors in the S&L
industry was finally estimated at $1.4 trillion. If the bailout had begun in
1986 instead of after the presidential election, the cost would have been
contained at $20 billion.

McCain would spy on ordinary Americans....also..ala Bush

deanne in florida — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:20:20 EDT

If elected president, Senator John McCain would reserve the right to run his own warrantless wiretapping program against Americans, based on the theory that the president's wartime powers trump federal criminal statutes and court oversight, according to a statement released by his campaign Monday.

McCain's new tack towards the Bush administration's theory of executive power comes some 10 days after a McCain surrogate stated, incorrectly it seems, that the senator wanted hearings into telecom companies' cooperation with President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, before he'd support giving those companies retroactive legal immunity.

As first reported by Threat Level, Chuck Fish, a full-time lawyer for the McCain campaign, also said McCain wanted stricter rules on how the nation's telecoms work with U.S. spy agencies, and expected those companies to apologize for any lawbreaking before winning amnesty.

But Monday, McCain adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin, speaking for the campaign, disavowed those statements, and for the first time cast McCain's views on warrantless wiretapping as identical to Bush's.

Help Obama Fight the Good Fight

deanne in florida — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:39:06 EDT

"I don't care what they say about me. But I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage and Swift-boat politics. Enough is enough," he said.

Obama's reference was to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an outside group that in 2004 made unsubstantiated allegations about Democratic nominee John Kerry's decorated military record in Vietnam

Women in Alaska Know Better....

deanne in florida — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:30:06 EDT

"Alaska Women Reject Palin" Rally: UPDATED w/ VIDEO! by frsbdg Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 07:30:42 AM PDT

We begin in Anchorage, Alaska, where a group of average women decided to hold a small rally to let it be known that their Governor, Sarah Palin, does not represent their views on many of the issues that are important in their lives.

They put together a press release and sent it to the Anchorage media outlets. A local right-wing talk show host broadcast the names and phone numbers of the two organizers over the air. They began receiving a series of harassing phone calls for the remainder of that afternoon. The leading TV station picked up the story on Thursday. Alaska Public Radio Network put up some audio.

An anonymous caller contacted the local media on Friday afternoon and told them they were one of the organizers, and the rally had been cancelled. Someone even faxed forged a document saying the Secret Service had cancelled the permit for the rally, even though no permit is required. Some people were putting an awful lot of effort in to making sure no dissent would be heard from Alaska.

Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 07:30:42 AM PDT

He's Baaaa....aaacck Karl Rove, that is...

deanne in florida — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:03:01 EDT

Re: the repubs are sending out complaints to the press, about Obama using the lipstick on a pig term to describe the false tripe coming from the McCain camp. Oh give me a break. The McCain campaign can run an ad with 2 blond white women and Obama and say that that's not racist, but humorous. This is bs. Swift was real forthcoming when Andrea Mitchell asked her about Palin's flip flow on the bridge to nowhere. McCain, Rove and company are trying to insulate Palin from any criticism, and the way the mainstream media is timidly reporting on Palin it is working.

Folks watch the Republican attack machine at its worst in the coming months. Karl Rove is back, and these people have no respect or dignity.

Let it sink in and the Palin fans will go home and vote for Obama

deanne in florida — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:50:51 EDT

Be patient. Time will take care of Palin. The republicans are already fast at work trying to sweep her troopergate mess under the rug, but, it got out anyhow and now we learn that Sarah Palin belongs - - or did belong up until a few weeks ago, a church that speaks in tongues and says that God approves the suicide bombing of the Israelis. And more. Somehow this is far more chilling than rev. wright ever was.

My Thoughts on Palin Speech

Sandy77 — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:08:36 EDT

Honestly she didn't hit it out of the ballpark if you ask me..she didn't trip over her words..she didn't exactly read from the teleprompter like McCain so maybe that's why think she did so well but she has been speaking in front of crowds for years....beauty pagents, town halls, she is a govenor of a state...even though it is short lived. I honestly think it was so strategic..not b/c John McCain honestly believes in a woman's ability to do anything...let's not forget he called his wife a c***.....he respects women? To me she still didn't say one thing she will do as a president or VP, she will be able to relate to soccer moms, parents whom children have special needs? it's a ploy to pull those people's votes....I do not understand how a parent can choose to run for the white house knowing that they will be exposing their teenage daughter to international scrutiny. I think it is cruel, and will back fire on them.

Comment on keeping politics out of Bristol Palin issue

Sandy77 — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:03:49 EDT

It didn't take Republicans long -- and even some Democrats -- to try to dissuade the media from focusing on the news that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter is five months pregnant and plans on marrying the father.

Aides to Sen. John McCain quickly took to the airwaves to deplore any conversation regarding Bristol Palin, saying the issue is private. Even Sen. Barack Obama made it clear that the children of candidates are off-limits.

But of course, that didn't keep some folks from trying to score political points.

"This is the pro-life choice. The fact that people will criticize her for this shows the astounding extent to which the secular critics of the pro-life movement just don't get it," Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, told David Brody of the Christian Broadcast Network.

"Those who criticize the Palin family don't understand that we don't see babies as a punishment but as a blessing."

Now, for everyone on the left and the right, please, shut up for a moment and consider the broader issue here.

We have a crisis in America and Bristol Palin exemplifies that. She's an unwed teenager who is now pregnant, forced to raise a child far too soon.

She is a teenager who chose to have pre-marital sex, which I thought many of these same evangelicals deplored based on biblical reasons. She is a teenager who had unprotected sex, and should thank the Lord that the young man she was with didn't have a sexually transmitted disease.

According to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 46.8 percent of all high school students say they have had sex, which is a decrease from 54 percent.

That's the good news. But we shouldn't be satisfied with almost half of our children making the decision to have sex. Many of them are doing so without any protection, and we have seen an explosion of STDs among teens in the country. In fact, Alaska has one of the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases among teens.

I can't forget the young woman in the CNN documentary Black in America who talked about having sex for the first time, only to be infected with HIV. That one decision has altered her life in a significant way.

It's worthy to examine the issue because Gov. Palin said in 2006 that she was dead set against any federal funding for sex education, but was an avid supporter of abstinence-only funding.

But it's clear that abstinence-only didn't work in her own household. So, should she and her supporters re-examine their position?

On a CNN Radio show yesterday, Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn, of Tennessee, wasn't too thrilled to discuss the issue of Palin's daughter. But when pressed, she said she still supports abstinence-only funding, and not sex education funding.

"I think that is the way we have to work with our children and you have to engage parents in this issue," she said. "This is something you talk about at the kitchen table and you sit down with your children."

But let's be honest. A ton of parents aren't having this conversation, so why not deal with it in the public policy arena?

As an evangelical, I think liberals and conservatives are wrong on this issue. The situation is so dire and prevalent that it's wrong for liberals to completely dismiss abstinence, and it's wrong for conservatives to refuse to accept birth control and condom education as part of a sex-education curriculum.

We desperately need comprehensive sex education that incorporates all of these issues if we are to attack the problem -- and enough of the blowhards on both sides who think their way is the only way.

As America harnessed its resources to tackle an emerging hurricane on the Gulf Coast, these same politicos and activists tried to run away from a similar issue in St. Paul, Minnesota, that involves our children.

I don't give a flip about a politician, pro-choice or anti-abortion activist, or the implications of this story on the presidential chances of Sen. John McCain and Sarah Palin, or Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

What matters most -- and should be the priority of all -- are the thousands and thousands of young women who are dealing with these issues every day, many of whom don't have supportive parents with a good health care plan.

This is not a Republican issue or Democratic problem. We need to put aside the partisan B.S. and confront unplanned pregnancies. Let's do all we can to keep our kids from either having pre-marital sex or unprotected sex.

Then we won't have to deal with them choosing to have an abortion or not, or, as the Palins noted in their statement, seeing our children "grow up faster than we had ever planned" and having to confront "the difficulties of raising a child."

John McCain says, "Drill, drill in the Gulf Coastal waters...."

deanne in florida — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:43:26 EDT

With Hurricane Gustav on course to hit the US Gulf of Mexico coast, the damage it does to the region's oil facilities could be a "worst case scenario".

The stark warning comes from extreme weather impact analyst Jim Roullier, who says Gustav may be more damaging than 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

Output from oil rigs in the US Gulf has already been cut by three-quarters, as staff continue to be evacuated.

The region produces 25% of the US's crude oil and 15% of its natural gas.

About 4,000 offshore oil and gas facilities are located in the US gulf, 100 of which were badly damaged three years ago by Katrina and the follow on Hurricane Rita.

UK oil giants BP and Shell said on Sunday that all of their Gulf of Mexico facilities were being shut down.

"This storm will be more dangerous than Katrina," said Mr Roullier, of Planalytics.

"I think this storm will prove to be a worst case scenario for the production region."

Impact on prices

Forecasters predict that Gustav will hit the central Louisiana coast west of New Orleans by late Monday or early Tuesday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7590463.stm

Concern about the impact of Gustav is likely to push global oil prices higher when trading resumes on Monday.

Crude prices had increased last week as concern mounted about Gustav, before finishing slightly down on Friday.

US light sweet ended Friday 13 cents lower to $115.46 a barrel, while London's Brent closed down 12 cents to $114.05.

Democrats: Get Out The Vote for real this time.

deanne in florida — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:06:38 EDT

Below is a brief summary of the popular and electoral vote in 2004.

The United States presidential election of 2004 was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004 to elect the president. It was the 55th consecutive quadrennial election for the president and vice president of the United States. Republican candidate George Walker Bush, the President of the United States, defeated Democratic candidate John Forbes Kerry, the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts. Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Bush's conduct of the War on Terrorism and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

As in the presidential election in 2000, voting controversies and concerns of irregularities emerged during and after the vote. The winner was not determined until the following day, when Kerry decided not to dispute Bush's win in the state of Ohio. The state held enough electoral votes to determine the winner of the presidency. Both Kerry and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean have stated their opinion that voting in Ohio did not proceed fairly, and that had it done so, the Democratic ticket might have won that state and therefore the election.

Only three states changed allegiance. New Mexico and Iowa voted Democratic in 2000, but voted Republican in 2004. New Hampshire voted Republican in 2000 but voted Democratic in 2004. In the Electoral college, George W. Bush received 286 votes, John Kerry 251 and John Edwards 1.

Popular vote count was Bush: 62,040,610

Kerry: 59,028,444

total winning votes: 3,012,166

Electoral vote: Bush 286 Kerry 251

Facts from article in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2004

Democrats need to understand that it was the well-timed video of Osama Bin Laden, in which he tells America what to think and who to vote for, in late 2003, just as the primaries began for the race for president, 2004.

Americans were scared into voting for a second term for George Bush, and it was said that a second factor was the conservative base got up off the couch and went out and voted. Where many would say to themselves; "it's alright if I don't make it to the poll booth, I know someone else will be taking up the slack...." that this time on this occasion of the voting year of 2004, that the conservatives and right-leaning moderates and evangelicals were out in force.

Democrats, take note. Get the vote in early and get the voters out in full-force.

Don't let the networks ruin your night

Marty — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:34:33 EDT

I switched off all the network coverage Monday night, and haven't been back. Too many pundits, too many ads, not enough coverage, they only showed you what THEY deemed important to you.

Tomorrow, watch the entire evening on C-SPAN. No tallking heads, no ads, only the podium, every speech. No, don't let all the morons ruin your night, watch the event and enjoy. They showed EVERY speech, I cannot tell you how much you missed by watching CNN or MSNBC. Personally, I really don't care anymore what they think and their stupid questions, especially having the nerve to bring Giuliani and Romney to the booths to get their 'opinions'.

Take a night off from talking heads who want to tell you what to believe. Stop the madness, and enjoy the moment.

Tomorrow is YOUR night

Marty — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:11:05 EDT

Did you ever dream, many, many months back, that we would be here....

Yes, we did....

The evening is for YOU, this was all YOUR hard work, YOUR hard earned money, YOUR hopes and aspirations, this is because you never doubted YOUR future.

Enjoy the night, at whatever party YOU go to, because, WE DID THIS.....

Take a night off, then, Friday morning, it is the stretch run. Let's finish what we started, people. I'm so proud to know so many of you, here, and at our own local Party headquarters, so many people working hard every day, sacrificing and struggling for all Americans.

Time to close the deal........

Welcome Joe!

Kristen Psaki — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 08:15:41 EDT

It's official, Barack sent out the email this morning, did you get it?

Friend --
I have some important news that I want to make official.
I've chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate.
Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois -- the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago.
I'm excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can't do this alone. We need your help to keep building this movement for change.
Please let Joe know that you're glad he's part of our team. Share your personal welcome note and we'll make sure he gets it:
Welcome Joe

Thanks for your support,
Barack

Send Joe a note! Welcome Joe!

Make sure to turn on your TV at 3:00 p.m. to join Obama and Biden in Springfield, Illinois. Or, watch online at http://www.BarackObama.com.

Inexperience as excuse for Hillary supporters

deanne in florida — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:13:13 EDT

The Hillary supporters are tell the news outlets like Hardball, MSNBC, that one reason they will not vote for Obama, is his inexperience.

I would like to ask the Hillary supporters if they truly believe they will be better off with an older, seasoned politician from washington, DC, such as McCain.

do they really, believe that the republican party and John McCain, is going to crreate change for the good of the American people?

They learned from Vietnam to ban viewing of military coffins

deanne in florida — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:53:39 EDT

The picture shows several workers inside a cargo plane parked at Kuwait International Airport securing 20 flag-draped coffins for the trip back to the United States. Imperial USA president H.W. Bush. Kuwait. remember? .

The civilian cargo worker who took the photo, Tami Silicio, 50, and her husband, David Landry, are now out of work.

William Silva, president of Maytag Aircraft Corporation, says the two were fired for violating "Department of Defense and company policies by working together" to take and publish the photograph.

The firing was first reported Thursday in The Seattle Times, which published the April 7 photo on Sunday.

The Seattle Times says Silicio told them she hoped the picture would portray the care and devotion with which civilian and military crews treat the remains of fallen soldiers.

Look at this picture and think. (Big Oil)

deanne in florida — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:52:43 EDT

we may not be able to get our squeaky little voices heard by Big Oil, but we can vote for Barack Obama and HELP HIM BRING CHANGE.

PBS Journal writer Michael Winship, writes in the post column for Bill Moyers Journal, PBS TV, on Friday, 15th, 2008; In a letter written in 1648, the Swedish statesman, Axel Oxenstierna, chancellor to both King Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina, counseled, “Know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed.”

The fighting between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia is an unnerving reminder of that, and of how quickly the balance of global power can be tilted from unexpected directions with barely a warning.

Some hawks and neo-cons called for NATO intervention or even suggested we send in Stinger missiles or the 82nd Airborne as a peacekeeping force. President Bush warned, “Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century.”

Perhaps, but the reality of the early 21st century is that, in the short run, at least, the President’s words ring hollow. In spite of past promises of support to Georgia, Russia is key to our efforts in the Middle East and our European allies are dependent on Russia for energy. The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have both our military strength and our international credibility stretched perilously thin at a time when oil-rich Russia is reemerging as a superpower. We’ve boxed ourselves in.

It is up to the people to change and to make change

deanne in florida — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:14:19 EDT

We, ourselves have to change and bring change to our countyry. Barack Obama can do it but only if we are solidly behind him like, 2000%.

excerpt by PBS Journal writer Michael Winship In a letter written in 1648, the Swedish statesman, Axel Oxenstierna, chancellor to both King Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina, counseled, “Know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed.”

It was in that light that I came upon the Oxenstierna quote the other night, while re-reading the late historian Barbara Tuchman’s THE MARCH OF FOLLY, a knowing compendium, from ancient Troy to Vietnam, of the ways in which, given half a chance, those in power will steer their ships of state straight into the rocks. In the first chapter, she also quotes American President John Adams: “While all other sciences have advanced” – you can almost hear him sighing – “government is at a stand; little better practiced now than three or four thousand years ago.”

Andrew J. Bacevich probably would agree with all of the above. The retired Army colonel, a West Point graduate, teaches history and international relations at Boston University. His latest book, THE LIMITS OF POWER: THE END OF AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM, explores our nation’s current predicament, not just on the world stage but here at home as well. He spoke with my colleague Bill Moyers on this week’s edition of the PBS series BILL MOYERS JOURNAL.

Bacevich speaks truth to power, no matter who’s in power, which may be why those of both the left and right are eager to hear his views. Perhaps it’s also because when he challenges American myths and illusions, he does so from a genuine patriotism forged in the fire of his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam and the death a year ago of his son, an Army lieutenant in Iraq. THE LIMITS OF POWER is dedicated to the young man but the senior Bacevich, a man of quiet, solid gravitas, holds his grief privately between himself and his family.

“Our foreign policy is something that is concocted in Washington, D.C., but it reflects the perceptions of our political elite about what we the people want,” he told Moyers. “And what we want, by and large is… this continuing flow of very cheap consumer goods. We want to be able to pump gas into our cars regardless of how big they may happen to be… And we want to be able to do these things without having to think about whether or not the books are balanced at the end of the month, or the end of the fiscal year.”

To that end, he says, “One of the ways we avoid confronting our refusal to balance the books is to rely increasingly on the projection of American military power around the world to try to maintain this dysfunctional system or set of arrangements that have evolved over the last 30 or 40 years.”

“… I think historians a hundred years from now will puzzle over how it could be that the United States of America, the most powerful nation in the world, as far back as the early 1970’s came to recognize that dependence on foreign oil was a problem, posed a threat, compromised our freedom of action. How every President from Richard Nixon down… declared, ‘We’re going to fix the problem.’ [But] none of them did.”

Scholar and author Andrew Bacevich, US army colonel, retired, west point graduate, writes;

“The Congress, especially with regard to matters related to national security policy, has thrust power and authority to the executive branch. We have created an imperial presidency. The Congress no longer is able to articulate a vision of what is the common good. The Congress exists primarily to ensure the reelection of members of Congress... As the Congress has moved to the margins, as the President has moved to the center of our politics, the presidency itself has come to be less effective...

Because of this preoccupation, this fascination with the presidency, the President has become what we have instead of genuine politics, instead of genuine democracy... We look to the next President to fix things and, of course, that lifts all responsibility from me to fix things. So one of the real problems with the imperial presidency is that it has hollowed out our politics and, in many respects, has made our democracy a false one. We’re going through the motions of a democratic political system, but the fabric of democracy really has worn very thin.

”http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2008/08/the_imperial_presidency.html

We the people must change things in gov.

deanne in florida — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:04:55 EDT

Just as Obama has been saying ....and sometimes is being demonized for, by the opposing party....it is really we, the people, who are in need of change and as the people of the USA, we need to change ourselves and change our country. Here is only a part of a good read from the Bill Moyers Journal, PBS, and every word strikes true into the heart.

PBS Journal writer Michael Winship In a letter written in 1648, the Swedish statesman, Axel Oxenstierna, chancellor to both King Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina, counseled, “Know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed.”

PBS michael winship

scholar and author Andrew Bacevich US army colonel, retired, west point graduate

John McCain in Real Time

deanne in florida — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:22:20 EDT

and this is not even, swiftboating....

When he came home and saw that Carol was not the beauty he left behind, he started running around on her almost right away. Everybody around him knew it.

‘Eventually he met Cindy and she was young and beautiful and very wealthy. At that point McCain just dumped Carol for something he thought was better.

‘This is a guy who makes such a big deal about his character. He has no character. He is a fake. If there was any character in that first marriage, it all belonged to Carol.’

One old friend of the McCains said: ‘Carol always insists she is not bitter, but I think that’s a defence mechanism. She also feels deeply in his debt because in return for her agreement to a divorce, he promised to pay for her medical care for the rest of her life.’

Carol remained resolutely loyal as McCain’s political star rose. She says she agreed to talk to The Mail on Sunday only because she wanted to publicise her support for the man who abandoned her.

Indeed, the old Mercedes that she uses to run errands displays both a disabled badge and a sticker encouraging people to vote for her ex-husband. ‘He’s a good guy,’ she assured us. ‘We are still good friends. He is the best man for president.’

But Ross Perot, who paid her medical bills all those years ago, now believes that both Carol McCain and the American people have been taken in by a man who is unusually slick and cruel – even by the standards of modern politics.

‘McCain is the classic opportunist. He’s always reaching for attention and glory,’ he said.

‘After he came home, Carol walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona. And the rest is history.’

Additional reporting by Paul Henderson in Virginia Beach and William Lowther in Washington Daily Mail Co.

the BTC Pipeline is what is .....

deanne in florida — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:14:15 EDT

....the reason we are playing nice nice. Once again, the Crude has the EU and the US by the cohones...

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (sometimes abbreviated as BTC pipeline) -- is a crude oil pipeline that covers 1,768 kilometres (1,099 mi) from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It connects Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia; and Ceyhan, a port on the south-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, hence its name. It is the second longest oil pipeline in the world after the Druzhba pipeline.

The first oil that was pumped from the Baku end of the pipeline on May 10, 2005, reached Ceyhan on May 28, 2006.

The pipeline is owned by a consortium of energy companies led by BP (formerly British Petroleum), the operator of the pipeline. The shareholders of the consortium are:

BP (United Kingdom): 30.1%
State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) (Azerbaijan): 25.00%
Chevron (USA): 8.90%
StatoilHydro (Norway): 8.71%
Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) (Turkey): 6.53%
Eni/Agip (Italy): 5.00%
Total (France): 5.0
Itochu (Japan): 3.4%
Inpex (Japan): 2.50%
ConocoPhillips (USA): 2.50%
Hess Corporation (USA) 2.36%[13]

ooops. not doing so well on energy independence thus far....

deanne in florida — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:32:24 EDT

....Maybe we'd better begin with the planting of sugar cane for fuel, like Brazil has done for the last 27 years or so. Sugar cane yields 7 times higher octane than corn.

Georgia-Russia conflict fuels concerns about energy supplies carried in pipelines to the West

By GEORGE JAHN , Associated Press

Last update: August 11, 2008 - 11:49 AM

VIENNA, Austria - Russia's conflict with Georgia could punish the European Union where it is perhaps most vulnerable: Oil and gas supplies from beyond its eastern frontier.

The EU has been trying to wean itself away from energy dependence on Moscow, which supplies a quarter of its oil and half of its natural gas, by developing routes for Central Asian resources that bypass Russia.

A key to this strategy is a network of energy routes that run through Georgia, notably the Baku Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline that was almost hit by a Russian bombing raid Monday. *(excerpt)

http://www.startribune.com/world/26834594.html?page=1&c=y

And Georgian ports on the Black Sea are a main shipping point of Caspian crude from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. More than 500,000 barrels leave these ports daily, and plans are afoot to expand capacity by an additional 200,000 barrels a day.

Gas also transits Georgia toward the West.

The Baku-Tblisi Erzurum pipeline connects Azerbaijan to Turkey through Georgia, en route to European consumers. Annual shipments of more than 6.5 billion cubic meters will be nearly tripled once the pipeline is expanded in the coming years.

Georgia also holds enormous symbolic significance in the West's struggle to diversify.

In comments earlier this year, Steve Levine, author of "The Oil and the Glory" called the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline "the first significant break in Russia's previous monopoly control over all oil and natural gas from the Caspian Sea states."

"Now Russia no longer calls the shots with impunity," said Levine. "Azerbaijan and Georgia, for example, rely on this pipeline ... for the political independence they often act out."

Klare traced Georgia's strategic importance to the U.S. and its European allies to a decision by former U.S. President Bill Clinton to choose Georgia as "an alternative pathway for the flow of Caspian oil and gas to the West."

With the struggle over energy sources intensifying over the last decade, that move by the Clinton administration provides essential background to the current conflict, said Klare.

"Georgia has been one of the leading recipients of U.S. military aid ever since," he told The Associated Press. "This, of course, infuriated the Russians and they determined to try to curb Georgia's ties to the West in any way they possibly could."

The Russian weapons of choice, said Klare, were South Ossetia — where the fighting originated — and Abkhazia.

In both of the predominantly ethnic Russian breakaway Georgian regions, the Kremlin established an armed presence — pointing "daggers into the very heart of Georgia's independence," says Klare.

And the fighting could spread into Abkhazia — with worrying implications for Europe, which hopes to expand Georgia's importance as an energy transit route independent of Moscow.

Still to be built, the EU's Nabucco pipeline is meant to transport non-Russian gas and go through territory independent of Moscow, making Georgia an ideal candidate.

An alternative to Georgia would be Armenia. But it, too, has problems with a breakaway region — the ethnic-Armenian Nagorno Karabakh enclave in neighboring Azerbaijan. Simmering tensions there could flare, drawing in Armenia — and Russia, which continues to regard the region as part of its sphere of influence.

"Nagorno Karabakh is as difficult to solve as Abkhazia and South Ossetia," says Klare. "And Russia can mess that one up too."

Tim Cunha update

Marty — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:17:59 EDT

A Message from Tim...
The campaign is revving up ... and people are talking!
And, that's the best promoton of all, word of mouth. We now have volunteers enlisted and working in each county in the district and in almost every precinct, including a number of Republicans. In a couple of weeks, we'll launch the big fall campaign to gain name recognition everywhere--literature, signs, bumper stickers, TV commercials, etc.-- and that takes a lot of money.

Voters are telling me they're most concerned about the failing economy, rising energy prices, healthcare accessibility and cost, and ending the war in Iraq. For too long, the Washington establishment has failed to lead America in resolving these problems.
My message is that I offer a fresh perspective and a new vision of a Congress that sets aside blind allegiance to partisan and ideological agendas and seeks common sense practical solutions that work for the vast majority of Americans.

The problem is Washington and its professional politicians ... it's time for a new 'citizen legislator' to change Washington to work for the people.

Together, we will win!
and from the campaign... Some Upcoming Events

Sunday, August 10 - House Party in Gainesville
Wednesday, August 13 - Alachua County Democratic Party Meeting
Friday, August 15 - Cherrywood Democratic Club (Marion County)
Saturday, August 23 - Theressa (Bradford County) Rally
Saturday, August 23 - "Italian Feed" Fundraiser in Clay County

Volunteers Needed!
The campaign needs the following:

1.   "Poll Greeters" for Primary Election Day (August 26).

2.   Volunteers to hold fundraising house parties.

3.   Phone callers to make follow-up calls, get-out-the-vote calls, and survey calls.

4.   Yard Sign Positions ... place a sign in your lawn to let neighbors know you support Tim.
5.   Large Sign Positions ... Do you know of a property owner on a well-traveled road or highway who will let us put up a large sign? Let us know!

6.   "Rapid Response Team" ... Volunteers interested in being part of a team to respond to public statements by Stearns and his supporters with Letters to the Editor of the local newspapers in Congressional District 6.

Please email Info@TimCunha.com if you have questions or would like to volunteer. You can also contact Janet Messer (Janet@TimCunha.com, 352-466-0602) or Jeff Mathewson (Jeff@TimCunha.com, 352-871-0391 or 954-655-1394), or call the campaign office at 352-373-8404. You can also check our website and contact your local field director or coordinator.

Best bet: contact us at ALL the email addresses, and, if you don't hear back from an email or phone message in 24 hours at the most, PLEASE try again.

Some Recent Endorsements

Buddy McKay, Former 6th District Congressman, Lt. Governor & Governor
Karen Thurman, Former Congresswoman & Current Democratic State Chair
Florida State AFL-CIO

Click here to contribute to the campaign

www.TimCunha.com
______________________________
| Paid for by Tim Cunha For Congress |
Contributions are NOT deductible for tax purposes.

Republican John McCain and how he's just like us...NOT.

deanne in florida — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:57:02 EDT

some background on the republicans, grand, little, silver-haired darling;

WASHINGTON (AP) -- On a spring day at a speedway in North Carolina, John McCain posed with his wife, Cindy, and racing star Dale Earnhardt Jr., highlighting the couple's political and business interests in a single snapshot.

Cindy McCain's worth is estimated to be over $100 million. The fortune is not in Sen. John McCain's name.

McCain served as honorary starter of the NASCAR race that weekend in Charlotte, N.C. Earnhardt drove the Budweiser car, painted military camouflage, rather than its trademark red, to honor the troops.

Budweiser, then NASCAR's official beer, is brewed by Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., whose products have made Cindy McCain and her family a fortune.

The brewer sold toy replicas of its race car to aid the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and publicized its support for the group, on whose board John McCain served and whose chairman later endorsed him. The speedway appearance helped mccaincourt NASCAR voters, and his campaign circulated video of the event over the Internet.

The McCains' marriage has mixed business and politics from the beginning, according to an expansive review by The Associated Press of thousands of pages of campaign, personal finance, real estate and property records nationwide. The paperwork chronicles the McCains' ascent from Arizona newlyweds to political power couple on the national stage.

As heiress to her father's stake in Hensley & Co. of Phoenix, Cindy McCain is an executive whose worth may exceed $100 million. Her beer earnings have afforded the GOP presidential nominee a wealthy lifestyle with a private jet and vacation homes at his disposal, and her connections helped him launch his political career -- even if the millions remain in her name alone. Yet the arm's-length distance between McCain and his wife's assets also has helped shield him from conflict-of-interest problems.

Nearly 30 years before John McCain became the Republican presidential nominee, he worked in public relations at his wife's family company

Within a few years of marrying Cindy Hensley, the daughter of a multimillionaire Anheuser-Busch distributor, John McCain won his first election. He was new to Arizona politics and fundraising in the 1982 House race, and his campaign quickly fell into debt. Personal money -- tens of thousands of dollars in loans to his campaign from McCain bank accounts -- helped him survive.

Anheuser-Busch's political action committee was among McCain's earliest donors. Cindy McCain's father, James Hensley, and other Hensley & Co. executives gave so much the Federal Election Commission ordered McCain to give some of it back. McCain's campaign used Hensley office equipment such as computers and copiers, and Cindy McCain personally paid some of the campaign's bills.

Cliff Stearns, man of the people?

Marty — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:38:58 EDT

Here is Cliff Stearns' latest vote against the working people of Florida, and the United States.

Recent House Votes Paycheck Fairness Act - Vote Passed (247-178, 9 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill to increase penalties for pay discrimination and protect employees who share salary information.

Rep. Cliff Stearns voted NO......

Cliff Stearns votes against jobs, and your home

Marty — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:05:08 EDT

I received my weekly "MegaVote" email which reported that our friend Stearns had voted against the Foreclosure Prevention Act, the Consumer Energy Supply Act, and the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act (one of only 55 members of Congress!).

Your Congressman at work

Marty — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:56:48 EDT

Here's what your Congressman, Cliff Stearns, does for YOU

Yesterday, with a vote of 247 to 178, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Paycheck Fairness Act. This bill would update and strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963, closing loopholes and improving the law’s effectiveness.

Cliff Stearns voted NO;

The Real John McCain

deanne in florida — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:38:03 EDT

When he came home and saw that Carol was not the beauty he left behind, he started running around on her almost right away. Everybody around him knew it.

‘Eventually he met Cindy and she was young and beautiful and very wealthy. At that point McCain just dumped Carol for something he thought was better.

‘This is a guy who makes such a big deal about his character. He has no character. He is a fake. If there was any character in that first marriage, it all belonged to Carol.’

Carol remained resolutely loyal as McCain’s political star rose. She says she agreed to talk to The Mail on Sunday only because she wanted to publicise her support for the man who abandoned her.

‘McCain is the classic opportunist. He’s always reaching for attention and glory,’ he said.

‘After he came home, Carol walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona. And the rest is history.’

Additional reporting by Paul Henderson in Virginia Beach and William Lowther in Washington

Daily Mail Co.

Invitation to 6'th Congressional District group

Marty — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 23:42:35 EDT

This is an invitation to all of you in Western Duval, Clay, Bradford, Alachua, Gilchrist, Marion, Lake and Levy counties in the Florida 6'th Congressional District to come and visit the site, and see who is running here as your next Congressman, Tim Cunha. We are fighting a 20 year incumbent Republican, Cliff Stearns, and, this year, with all your help, we WILL succeed. Check here for local apperances by Tim, events, and his site is completely interactive with this group .

Please, sign in, be a member, and Tim would love to hear from you, what your concerns are, and how we can all work together finally taking back North Florida from yes men in Washington

http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/Florida6thCongressionalDistrictVolunteer

Stay tuned, and thanks

Marty

News from Clay County , Florida, events, etc.

Marty — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:49:57 EDT

"DOLLY'S DEMOCRAT ABOUT TOWN" An Up-To-Date Information Guide for
Important Democratic Happenings in NE Florida ~ If it's happening, you will find it here!

DEMOCRATS LET US ALL STAND TOGETHER
~ I AM PROUD TO BE A DEMOCRAT
*******************************************************
CLAY COUNTY DEMOCRATIC HEADQUARTERS!!!

Clay County DEC is proud to announce that their headquarters is open from now until Election Day.

LOCATION: 868 Blanding Blvd., Suite 124 ~ Orange Park, FL

for more information, contact cherold@claycountydemocrats.net or phone: (904) 272-1680

Stop by and meet and greet your fellow Democrats. Volunteers are gladly accepted.
*******************************************************
RESTORATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS SESSIONS !!!

Do you have the right to VOTE ~ Apply for certain Occupational Licenses? Hold a Public Office? Serve on a Jury?
If you hae a Felony Conviction, your Rights may already be restored!!!

RESTORATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS !!!

September 6th and October 4th, 2008 (Saturday) @ 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Supervisor of Elections, Duval County ~ 5200-2 Norwood Ave., Gateway Location ~ Jax., FL ~ 32208 (904) 630-8424

The followig MUST be verified in Order to Qualify for Initial Eligibility:
1.Sentence, probation, and supervision completed.

2.100% of victim restitution paid.

3.No pending cases on the State or Federal level.

Community Partners: Senator Tony Hill * State Rep. Audrey Gibson * State Rep. Terry Fields * Councilwoman Mia Jones * Jacksonville Branch NAACP * Duval County Supervisor of Elections * D.W. Perkins Bar Ass'n. * First Coast African American Chamber of Commerce * Mad Dads * Blacksonville Community Network.

For more information contact: Sen. Tony Hill ~ 924-1646 ~ Rep. Audrey Gibson ~ 353-2180 ~ Concilwoman Mia Jones ~ 630-1684 ~ Rep. Terry Fields ~ 924-1777 ~ and 1-877-60-RESTORE

For additional information: www.duvalelections.com, Florida Parole Commissin at:https://fpc.state.fl.us/clemency.htm and www.RestoreMyVote.com to determine if your name was previously listed for eligibility.
*******************************************************
ANNUAL 10th LOW COUNTRY BOIL !!!

Nassau County Democrats exciting event will take place:

DATE AND TIME: August 2, 2008 (Saturday) ~ 6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Kraft Athletic Club/10 Acres ~ Nassau County

The tickets can be purchased at Nassau County Democratic HQ's ~ 8th and Date Streets

TICKETS: $40 in advance ~ $50 at the door.

Ticket information ~ (904) 261-3364 or (904) 879-5163 or www.nassaudems.org

Silent Auction.
Purchase of a ticket benefits the Nassau County Democratic Executive Committee.
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RECEPTION WITH CONGRESSMAN WEXLER; FIRE BREATHING LIBERAL !!!

The Democratic Professionals Council has the distinct honor of being the first to host Congressman Robert Wexler on his book tour. If you watched Congressman Wexler's passionate testimony last month you certainly you won't want to miss this cocktail !!

DATE AND TIME: August 5, 2008 ~ 6:30 p.m.
VENUE LOCATION: Books & Books ~ 265 Aragon Avenue ~ Coral Gables, FL.

PRICE: $20 online, $25 at door

INCLUDES: One beer or glass of wine and a variety of hors d'oeuvres.

RSVP NOW !

You will have the opportunity to talk to Rep. Wexler as well as mingle with other like-minded professionals. As always, the event is not a fundraiser, and the fee charged will cover the cost of the food and beverages provided.
A book signing will follow the cocktail.

Reply to: miami-dade@democraticprofessionalscouncil.org

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ANNUAL HOB NOB AND STRAW VOTE !!!

Party Leaders of Jacksonville,

Every election year the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce invites its members, regional partners and the general public to a pre-election open house event called HobNob. This will be the 11th (eleventh) HobNob the Chamber has hosted and attendance consistently ranges between 1,200 and 1,500 one-on-one with the candidates who will be running in the November general election and to participate in a straw ballot for the presidential race.

You and members of your organization are cordially invited to join the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce for the 2008 Northeast Florida Regional HobNob. This year's HobNob will be held on:

DATE AND TIME: August 7, 2008 ~ 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Metropolitan Park ~ 1410 Gator Bowl Blvd.

For more information, please email: volunteers@duvaldemocrats.org
*********************************************************
HOUSE MEETING ~ OBAMA SUPPORTERS !!!

Please join Mr. & Mrs. Muyumdar for a house meeting. Meet local Obama supporters and learn how you can get involved in the most historic campaign of our lifetime.

DATE AND TIME: August 2, 2008 (Saturday) ~ 6:00 p.m.

LOCATION: Home of Mr. & Mrs. Muyumdar ~ 361 Tavistock Drive ~ St. Augustine, FL ~ 32095

For more information, please email jyotim@comcast.net

*******************************************************
HELP PUTNAM COUNTY DEMOCRATS DO VOTER REGISTRATION !!!

They have several strongly Obama-leaning neighborhoods in the Palatka area, they are short-handed to register all the voters and NEED your help!

Please can you join them for this Voter Registration Drive in Palatka, FL on:

DATE AND TIME: August 9, 2008 (Saturday) @ 12:00 Noon

LOCATION: Putnam County Democratic HQ (Palatka) ~ 700 St Johns Ave. ~ Palatka, FL ~ 32177

A well-organized door-to-door registration drive in Obama-leaning neighborhoods in the City of Palatka, FL
Enter Palatka on Reid St (US 17) to N 7th St. to St Johns Ave. Event site is at the intersection of 7th St. & St Johns Ave.

DURATION: 4 hours

HOST: Brunzy Hardrick

Please meet outside the Putnam County Democratic HQ's just before 12:00 midday.

Contact phone: (386) 846-3188

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FUNDRAISER FOR TIM CUNHA ~ FOR CONGRESS - DISTRICT 6 !!!

An Authentic Italian Feed is planned for Tim Cunha "Congress - District 6" in Clay County at the residence of Dolly and Cecil Simplot on:

DATE AND TIME: August 23, 2008 (Saturday) ~ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm.

LOCATION: 1240 Summerfield Ct. ~ Orange Park, FL ~ 32073

DONATION: $25.00 per person (Larger donations will be accepted)

MENU: Pasta ~ Sausage ~ Meatballs ~ with Italian gravy ~ Ham ~ Bread and rolls ~ Olives and pickles ~ Salad ~ Deviled eggs ~ Delicious desserts ~ Coffee ~ Iced Tea ~ Juice.
This menu is planned by Dolly and her partner in crime Linda Nazworth.

Invitations will be mailed by the end of July 2008.

For more information call Dolly: (904) 264-8108 or email: hotdolly@webtv.net
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DAVE SMITH FOR STATE HOUSE ~ DISTRICT 18 !!!

The Dave Smith Campaign for State House of Representatives District 18 is moving forward in good shape, with your help! Please check his website and find volunteer opportunities and even a $money-making$ opportunity.
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DOUG COURTNEY FOR STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 20 !!!

Join Doug Courtney's Campaign Team for "State House" District 20.

The Future of Florida is in your VOTE!

Jobs, the Economy, Health care, Drug costs, Education, and Taxes. These are tough times, but Doug states we can beat them. We need NEW directions and NEW ideas and someone with the courage to create the solutions. We have a lot to do and not much time. Join Doug's Team and make a difference in the future of Florida Politics.

Doug Courtney for State House District 20 Website is: http://www.doug2008.net/scc2008.html
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IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE IN CONGRESS !!!

Tim Cunha ~ Democrat for Congress ~ 6th District of Florida.

Tim says "Our government is broken. But, all Washington does is cator to radicals & special interest lobbies. All of us in the center-the vast middle majority of Americans-look for practical common sense solutions, for progress not stagnation.

It's time for America to work together. It's time we revitalize our economy, our schools, and our healthcare system; reinforce our borders and our armed forces; reward our veterans; rebuild our infrastructure; reform our tax system; restore our Constitution.

It's time we change from "business as usual" and take bold, creative, courageous steps to return government to the people.

It's time for leaders who encourage us, challenge us, and inspire us to rekindle our hope and renew our faith in America."

Contact for Tim Cunha or make a contribution to:
Tim Cunha For Congress ~ P.O. Box 6546 ~ Ocala, FL. ~ 34478-6546 or email: timcunhaforcongress@gmail.com
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JAY MCGOVERN FOR U.S. CONGRESS !!!

Jay McGovern is pro-citizen. He is not about talk - he is about real results.

McGovern has dedicated his adult life to service in the community and in America's military.

McGovern supports reducing the national debt.

McGovern supports minimizing the tax burden on middle class families.

McGovern is about representing all people!

Since Democratic challenger Jay McGovern entered the race, Crenshaw has been beating the bushes for free press opportunities and grandstanding.

Crenshaw, who voted for nearly every piece of legislation that spent the budget surplus and put America back in debt, recently sent a self-promoting mailer to citizens at taxpayer expense. His mailer attacks Democrats and refers to them as "burdensome".

CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Scott Shine. Email: http://www.jay4congress.com/contribute.aspx
ADDRESS: P.O. Box 41103 ~ Jacksonville, FL ~ 32203.
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VOTE LINDA MYERS FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE !!!

Linda Myers is an experienced and dedicated public servant, prepared to protect and enhance our quality of life.

Linda is "A LEADER WE CAN TRUST".

Linda will do what's right for:
Building Our Economy ~ Promoting Our Schools ~ Preserving Our Values.

Contact for Linda Myers: P.O. Box 2008 ~ Palatka, FL 32178-2008. Phone: (386) 312-9690. or email: www.electlindamyers.com
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SUPPORT LARRY JONES FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE !!!

Larry Jones "Candidate for State Representative District 19" states that he can make a difference for his district. His goal is to reach out and spreading his message to the more than 70,000 voters in District 19.

If you want to be a part of his campaign team please visit his website: www.electlarryjones.com for times and locations.
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DOWN TO BUSINESS ANDY JOHNSON !!!

Streaming on 1320: please try it!
Now Andy's radio show moves to new and improved AM 1320 WBOB, Jacksonville's Best Talk Station, soon with 50,000 watts.

They simulcast on http://www.1320wbob.com 24 hours daily.
Andy's show is 3 p.m.- 6 p.m.

Andy asks you to please tune in through his streaming on the website: http://www.1320wbob.com please.

If ... EVER ... you do tune in to the website and you cannot get on...or you get kicked off...then please complain right away to ANDY or to the contact info on the website.

One reason Andy is asking for this specific help is because the station does not provide sufficient capacity for people to tune in for streaming. He needs people to complain when they are kicked off so they can get more capacity.

FLORIDA'S BEST NEWS TALK RADIO SHOW HOST. He is also most efficacious, and most prescient talk show!

"Never neutral. But always fair."
On-air: (904) 854-1460 till July 29.
On-air: (904) 954-1320 starting on July 30.
Off-air: (904) 568-0769

* * *What's Happening In NE Florida* * *

SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING EVENTS July 29, 2008 (Tuesday) @ 7:00 p.m. - TBT the Beaches Democratic Club will have a Pot Luck Dinner at 6:00 p.m. Meeting at 7:00 p.m.

EVENT LOCATION: Neptune Beach Library ~ Neptune Beach

For more information please contact: Duval County HQ's at: (904) 390-7001

July 31, 2008 (Thursday) @ 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. the Duval County General Meeting will be held:

LOCATION: IBEW Hall ~ 966 Liberty Street ~ Jax.

EVENT: July Meeting

For more information, please call Duval County HQ's, (904)7001.

August 6, 2008 (Wednesday) @ 6:00 p.m. the Ponte Vedra Democratic Club meeting will be held:

LOCATION: Ponte Vedra Branch Library

Guests are welcome. The Ponte Vedra Beach Democratic Club meets the First (1st) Wednesday of each month.

For more information, please call Club President: Chris Awerdick at: (904) 543-9696.

August 6, 2008 (Wednesday) @12:15 p.m. the Downtown DWIN will meet:

LOCATION: The University Club (Riverplace Tower, 1301 Riverplace Blvd.) ~ Jax.

Guest are welcome. The Downtown DWIN meets the First (1st) Wednesday of each month.
For more information, please email: firstcoastdwin@comcast.net

August 6, 2008 (Wednesday) @ 12:00 Noon the Nassau County Democrats will hold its Blue Bag Lunch. They will talk about whatever anyone wants to discuss. No reservations! Bring a friend! Bring your own lunch!

LOCATION: Nassau County Democratic HQ ~ 401 South 8th Street ~ Fernandina Beach, FL

The Blue Bag Lunch will take place every week on Wednesdays of each month at noon. Next dates are: August 13 ~ August 20 ~ August 27.

For more information, please contact: Bernita Dinwiddle, Party Chair ~ email: bernitadinwiddle@alltel.net

August 12, 2008 (Tuesday) @ 6:30 p.m. the Mandarin/Southside Democratic Club meeting will be held at:

LOCATION: Mandarin Library ~ Kori Rd.

Guests are welcome. The meetings are usually held the Second (2nd) Tuesday of each month.

For more information, please contact: Josh Sachs ~ Club President ~ jsachs3@gmail.com

August 14, 2008 (Thursday) @ 6:00 p.m - 7:30 p.m. the Duval County Central Committee Monthly Meeting will be held at:

LOCATION: Duval County HQ's ~ 4811 Beach Blvd., ~ Suite 103 ~ Jax

For more information, please call: Duval County HQ's ~ (904) 390-7001.

August 19, 2008 (Tuesday) @ 7:00 p.m. the Beaches Democratic Club will hold their meeting at:

LOCATION: The Beaches Library ~ 600 N. 3rd. Sreet ~ Neptune Beach.

Guests are welcome. The meetings are usually held on the Third (3rd) Tuesday of each month.

For more information, please contact: Tom Collins~FloridaCollins@aol.com or Lynn Cattin ~ lcattin@bellsouth.net

August 19, 2008 (Tuesday) @ 6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. the DWIN General Meeting will take place at:

LOCATION: Duval County HQ ~ 4811 Beach Blvd. ~ Suite 103 ~ Jax.

For more information, please call Headquarters at: (904) 390-7001

August 19, 2008 @ 7:00 p.m. the Westside Democratic Club will be held at:

LOCATION: County Tag Building ~ Mickler Avenue in Callahan.

Guests are welcome. These meetings are usually held the Third (3rd) Tuesday of each month.

For more information, please call Phil Morton ~ (904) 879-5163.

August 25, 2008 (Monday) @ 7:00 p.m. the Clay County DEC meeting will be held at:

LOCATION: Orange Park Public Library ~ Kingsley and Plainsfield Ave. ~ Orange Park, FL

Guests are welcome: These meetings are usually held the Fourth (4th) Monday of each month at the Orange Park Public Library.

For more information, please call Cary Herold "Chairwoman" at: cherold@claycountydemocrats.net or phone: (904) 272-1680.

August 26, 2008 (Tuesday) @ 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. the Duval County Campaign Committee Meeting will be held at:

LOCATION: Duval County HQ's ~ 4811 Beach Blvd. ~ Suite 103 ~ Jax.

These events will take place every Fourth (4th) Tuesday.

For more information, please call: (904) 390-7001.

September 11, 2008 (Thursday) @ TBD ~ The DWIN Annual Reception will be held:

LOCATION: Duval County DEC HQ's ~ 4811 Beach Blvd., ~ Suite 103 ~ Jax.

EVENT DESCRIPTION: Democratic Women's Information Network.

For more informaton, please call: (904) 390-7001.

Any questions or comments?
If you would like to have your organization or function posted here, email me at hotdolly@webtv.net. Feel free to ask questions and I'll point you in the right direction. "Dolly Simplot" is a registered Democrat in Clay County and dues paid member of the Clay County DEC and also a dues paid member of the Duval County Women's Democratic Club, Inc.

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The Media Gives McCain a Pass on everything

deanne in florida — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:01:56 EDT

Columbus, Ohio.http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/24/america/rig.php: John McCain had splashy plans Thursday intended to steal at least a little attention from Barack Obama's big speech in Berlin. He was to take a helicopter to an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and meet with Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who is being mentioned as a possible Republican vice-presidential pick.

But Hurricane Dolly thwarted McCain's plans to raise the issue of offshore oil drilling and the technology that he says has made it safe.

By midday Wednesday, just as blogs were trumpeting McCain's coming campaign stop on the rig, the McCain team canceled the trip and postponed the meeting with Jindal. Asked Wednesday night by Fox News whether he had made a decision on his vice-presidential choice, McCain responded, "No."

The campaign attributed the cancellation to the hurricane, which had just crossed the Texas coast. It did not mention that an oil tanker had just collided with a barge near New Orleans, shutting down a large stretch of the Mississippi River and sending heavy fuel oil into the water.

The accident had nothing to do with the safety of oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, but McCain has highlighted the environmental safety of offshore drilling.

You think?

deanne in florida — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:37:50 EDT

British and US companies win Iraq oil contracts

Matthew Weaver http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.oil?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews
guardian.co.uk,
Monday June 30 2008
Article history

The Iraqi government is to award a series of key oil contracts to British and US companies later today, fuelling criticism that the Iraq war was largely about oil.

The successful companies are expected to include Shell, BP, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Total.

Non-Western companies, notably those in Russia, are expected to lose out.

The technical support contracts will give the companies access to Iraq's vast untapped oil fields. Oil production in Iraq is at its highest level since the invasion in 2003. The Iraqi government wants to increase production by 20%, as the country has an estimated 115bn barrels of crude reserves.

The US state department was involved in drawing up the contracts, the New York Times reported today.

It provided template contracts and suggestions on drafting but were not involved in the decisions, US officials said.

Democratic senators last week lobbied that the awarding of the contracts should be delayed until after the Iraqi parliament passes laws on the distribution of oil revenues.

Frederick Barton, senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, told the paper: "We pretend it [oil] is not a centerpiece of our motivation, yet we keep confirming that it is."
Last year Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve said: "Everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."

Iraq news

Somebody make a picture of this!

deanne in florida — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:54:13 EDT

I need an artist. I need somebody artful. Surely somebody can make a pic or drawing or youtube clip or something of John McCain standing on the deck of an oil drilling platform (in the Gulf of Mexica, was his campaign's plan.) and show how utter nonsense and remeninscent of Bush on the deck of the aircraft carrier ala 'Mission Accomplished'.

can you?

John McCain was forced to shelve his plans to appear standing on the deck of an oil drilling platform this week, because of bad weather and Hurricane Dolly, according to his campaign. In any event, 'an inconvenient truth' would have been spreading all around him. As the candidate for president, John McCain-R AZ. would have been standing on the deck of the oil drilling platform, a smeary black sludge would likely have been mirroring his face from the oil slick caused by the approximately 450,000 gallons of spilt oil from the tanker and barge colllision.

Oil Tanker, Fuel Barge Collide On MississippiPosted on Wednesday, 23 of July , 2008 at 12:30 pm

NEW ORLEANS—The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a Go Team to investigate the collision of an oil tanker and a fuel barge causing an oil spill on the Mississippi River near New Orleans.

At 1:30 a.m. CDT Wednesday, the Liberian-flagged oil tanker TINTOMARA collided with a U.S.-flagged fuel barge DM932 on the Mississippi River near downtown New Orleans. An estimated 375,000 gallons of oil spilled from the barge into the river. The oil tanker was not damaged. The barge is partially submerged and is being kept in place by tugboats.

No injuries have been reported.

NTSB Marine Safety Investigator Tom Roth-Roffy has been designated as Investigator-in-Charge and will lead a team of six investigators. NTSB chairman Mark V. Rosenker is traveling to New Orleans and will serve as principal
spokesman for the on-scene investigation. 7-23-08

McCain hit by 'An Inconvenient Truth'

deanne in florida — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:44:23 EDT

No injuries have been reported.

One More Time, McCain......

deanne in florida — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:35:10 EDT

Trying to avoid being portrayed as a whiney spoilsport, Senator John McCain, R-AZ broke with his advisers Tuesday and told Katie Couric of CBS News that news coverage of the presidential campaign has been fair and even “fun to watch.”

Yeah, right.

But McCain made one of his toughest charges ever against Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill. saying his opposition to the surge strategy in Iraq meant that he “would rather lose a war than lose a campaign.”

One More time, McCain. We are not supposed to be in Iraq. At all. period. Whether the surge works or worked or helped put down some violence matters not to Americans who are losing their very livelihoods, their savings, their dreams, and most precious, the lives of our young people to a war that never should have been started and never should have been called a war in the first place.

Bottom line, Barack Obama would rather use some common sense and save America.

Banks and politics 101

deanne in florida — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:17:48 EDT

Thursday, I hear that our government is planning to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and IndyMac and now, on Friday, I hear Wachovia Bank mentioned. The figure to bail them out was $300 billion. Dollars. Are you getting that?

On Bill Moyer's Journal, PBS, tonight, I learn that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not federal owned institutions, are run by private investors, and foreign investors are able to come in and take advantage of the U.S. crisis. After we ... I mean, our "government" spends $300 billion of our tax dollars to make these gigantic lending institutions flush again, that is. With OUR tax dollars. And with no demands upon the institutions to behave better or to change habits or to stop engaging in un-ethical practices.

This week, the JOURNAL presented two different perspectives on our troubled economy. The first came from frustrated citizens of Cleveland grappling with their community’s extraordinarily high rates of foreclosure. Cleveland, Ohio's Cuyahoga County treasurer Jim Rokakis said: back in the old days when there was no sheriff in town people robbed the banks.

William Greider, corrrespondent and author, writes for The Nation. says:

some comments to Bill Moyer's Journal Blog:

Posted by: songweasel | July 19, 2008 12:17 AM

Let the banks fail, and I'll bet the next time a sub-prime packaged security is offered there won't be many takers.

Posted by: Eric | July 19, 2008 12:17 AM

Posted by: January | July 19, 2008 12:16 AM

Regulators knew this meltdown was going to occur for almost ten years now. It was blatant, obvious, and they did nothing to stop it.

Ten years ago Japan had a major meltdown, recession, and ultimately deflation. The value of homes, everything, had to drop to realistic levels.

Everything that happened to them is happening to us. If you want to understand how bad things are going to get, study what happened to Japan.

After all, that's exactly how the criminals that are stealing your money, destroying your bank, learned how to do it.

Posted by: allyn | July 19, 2008 12:14 AM

I hope this is a nightmare...and that I wake to an American Dream.

And there's no rush. As the US implodes, foreign investors can chose at what deflated price they claim the complete package: the US government and Wall Street.

read more if you don't get it yet.... http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2008/07/facing_economic_troubles.html

They lie to us. Daily.

deanne in florida — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:19:14 EDT

One more time. Here is an example of the Lies for Profit by the Bush and Republican administration. Maybe YOU knew that we sold American goods to Iran. But, I did not.

"I meant that as a joke," Mr. McCain quickly added. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, a former smoker, has warned about the health risks of smoking throughout the campaign.© The Ottawa Citizen 2008

Associated Press study saying that exports to Iran has increased 10-fold during the Bush administration, mostly from cigarette sales. The U.S. also lists sales and exports of bull semen, bras and appliances and other items to Iran. As of this year.

The few news outlets that have mentioned this startling fact, do go on to advise that the hypocrisy of the U.S. is the main reason why other countries are not following Bush's requests for boycotting and placing restrictions on services to Iran.

Let Obama get in office, first.

deanne in florida — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:31:16 EDT

Or, should I say get Obama into office first. For anyone concerned about the FISA vote, you might want to tell us where you have been for the past seven years. (yes, that's sarcasm, but sarcasm meant to be friendly...)

and instructive, like as follows;

...is if they steal the election again. Either that or Bush attacks Iran and declares "martial law", implements his/Cheney's COG and NSPD 51. Then, America will be finished as a nation and Democratic Republic.The attiude of this "adminstration" is best summed up by Cheney when Ellen Ratner told him 75% of Americans were now against the Iraq war. Cheney's response? "So?"
That's how seriously they take us. They know they don't need us anymore, they can always import workers to take our jobs (that we don't want....) The American citizen is an inconvenience,- we still believe we have "rights". 2008 news.

And, also;

Aaron McGruder 2001 interview with Salon. (excerpt)
You don't buy the argument that the curtailing of certain civil liberties is temporary, that it's been necessary in previous wars, and that eventually those rights will be restored?

It's not temporary. Once you give up rights, they're not going to give them back. This is a war that will never end. When are they going to say they've defeated terrorism? No one is stupid enough to say that. Because then when something blows up, they look like dickheads. They can never again come out and say America is safe. They'd be idiots if they did. So given that they've set the situation up as a war they can't win, they're never giving the rights back. Literally, someone will have to be elected who doesn't agree with this shit and gives us our rights back. Someone, I don't know who, will have to get into power and say, "You know, this was all bullshit, and we're changing the laws."

What do you think we'll have to go through for that to happen?

America will really have to understand how corrupt its system is, and they'll have to get so fed up that they're ready to make change. And I don't think that'll happen because the media are so in line with the government and so invested in the status quo. We have, essentially, a worthless democracy. I hate to sound so extreme, but things are that bad. There's nothing we have to share with the rest of the world. We don't even have one man, one vote. And we have so much legal corruption in our political system that no one even thinks about it anymore.

=====================================================================

The last written in 2001, after the election was stolen from Gore. For more look it up and read.

So, we sell products to "The Axis of Evil"

deanne in florida — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:22:10 EDT

United States. McCain jokes about Iran cigarette sales
Citizen Wire Services http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/newsbriefs/story.html?id=a4a71088-f9a6-415c-b2df-a694edef11e5

Published: Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Republican presidential candidate John McCain joked yesterday that a reported increase in U.S. cigarette sales to Iran was perhaps a way to do them in. "Maybe that's a way of killing them," Mr. McCain said at sandwich stop in Pittsburgh. Mr. McCain, 71, was responding to a question about an Associated Press study saying that exports to Iran increased 10-fold during the Bush administration, mostly from cigarette sales. "I meant that as a joke," Mr. McCain quickly added. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, a former smoker, has warned about the health risks of smoking throughout the campaign.© The Ottawa Citizen 2008

============================================================ "Associated Press study saying that exports to Iran has increased 10-fold during the Bush administration, mostly from cigarette sales." And, as you probably know by this hour, we -- the U.S. does sell and export bull semen, bras and appliances and other items to Iran. So. Then the few news outlets that have mentioned this startling fact go on to advise the American people that the hypocrisy of the U.S. is the main reason why other countries are not following Bush's requests for boycotting and placing restrictions on services to Iran.

This was NOT on the local news in the Jacksonville, Florida area.

No, WE need to fight back.

deanne in florida — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:33:19 EDT

It is we, ourselves who need to fight back against the lies and hypocrisy from the rightwing media.

We can quote the doddering old fool McCain saying things like "we should be able to deliver bottled hot water to dehydrated babies", in his speech on June 3rd, 2008. from the Washington Post news article of McCains visit to New Orleans.

and a bunch of whole other misspeaks McCain has said and talk up how he cannot lead if he isn't that mentally capable. Likely, it will be Rove and Cheney who will be prodding and pushing and proping up the old geezer.

Don't Let the Media run this election

deanne in florida — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:20:58 EDT

Yes. As a previous poster put it, the media can admit years after the fact the role they played in the election. Of the latest spin from the media, on Friday July 4th, the media on television (stands for TV...ha ha) ...were earnestly reporting that as of now, the Republicans had counted over 15,000 posts on Barack Obama's own website from supporters complaining about his shift to the center. And I go; say what? Oh. Like I am supposed to believe that the republicans can do what even I cannot do. That is to read 15,000 posts on the Barack Obama website Community Blogs. Well, not saying I couldn't but so far don't know if I could.

anyway, that bit of media tripe was so obviously a psych moment.

Some ideological and probably a lot economical for motives behind IED's.

deanne in florida — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:36:28 EDT

For myself, I do believe this article written by Mr. Jacobs, MSNBC. The words in his piece sound true and plausible to me, myself. When there is no electricity and decent facilities after four and five years of our "presence" in Iraq, would you guess or surmise there might be a bit of corruption at the center of the Iraqi government. (my words)

The excerpt and part of the article in MSNBC about IED's and Iraq is as follows;

By Jack Jacobs

Military analyst

MSNBC

updated 5:07 p.m. ET, Mon., May. 12, 2008

Last week, I had a conversation with a man who had recently led American troops in Iraq, and he recounted the sad story of one of his soldiers who had died from an IED blast. Interestingly, the perpetrator was captured and it was discovered that he did not plant the IED for ideological reasons, nor even with the objective of getting Americans to quit Iraq. Instead, this "insurgent" was one of a large number of Iraqis who are paid about $50 by enemy cells to plant the IEDs. And he did it because he was unemployed and needed the money.

If history teaches us anything, it is that people who are prospering economically don’t revolt, don’t commit crimes, don’t emplace explosives. It is instructive that in the north of Iraq, in Kurdistan, the economy is vibrant and there is little violence. In Anbar Province, which used to be absolute hell on Earth, employment is now growing and as a consequence violence is nearly non-existent.

But neither the U.S. nor Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has done enough to enable the people of Iraq to prosper. The majority of contracts are let to foreign companies and to companies that employ everybody but the citizens of Iraq. Kuwaitis and Jordanians are doing very well, thank you, but not Iraqis, the people who can really make a difference. Saddam Hussein was a bloodthirsty, megalomaniacal tyrant, but he operated 160 state-owned enterprises and the Iraqi government needs to get them operating again.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24581668

Grieving parents and flag draped coffins.

deanne in florida — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:05:52 EDT

The Washington post Reports:

"Since the end of the Vietnam War, presidents have worried that their military actions would lose support once the public glimpsed the remains of U.S. soldiers arriving at air bases in flag-draped caskets.

To this problem, the Bush administration has found a simple solution: It has ended the public dissemination of such images by banning news coverage and photography of dead soldiers' homecomings on all military bases.

In March, on the eve of the Iraq war, a directive arrived from the Pentagon at U.S. military bases. "There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning to or departing from Ramstein [Germany] airbase or Dover [Del.] base, to include interim stops," the Defense Department said, referring to the major ports for the returning remains."

So much for a free press -- as if it weren't in complete control of the Pentagon's propaganda masters anyhow.

========================================================================

Earlier this week, (2003) the Seattle Times published a similar photo taken by a military contractor, who was later fired for taking photos of coffins of war dead being loaded onto a transport plane in Kuwait.
The Web site, the Memory Hole (www.thememoryhole.org), had filed a Freedom of Information Act request last year, seeking any pictures of caskets arriving from Iraq at the Dover base in Delaware. The Pentagon on Thursday labeled the Air Force Air Mobility Command's decision to grant the request a mistake, but news organizations quickly used a selection of the 361 images taken by Department of Defense photographers.
Tami Silicio's photo of flag-draped caskets appeared on the front page of the Seattle Times on Sunday. Her husband, a co-worker, also was fired. The contractor, Maytag Aircraft, said Silicio of Seattle and her husband, David Landry, had ``violated Department of Defense and company policies.''

========================================================================

excerpt from pop-politics.com article, 2004. Pop Politics forum
Isn't there one republican who believes that losing your son or daughter during war earns you a right to speak out in protest? GW Bush is obviously ashamed of our troops who are brought back to the United States in coffins. President Bush ordered all dead troops to be brought back home in the dead of night to prevent the media from recording the event and to prevent military honor guards to properly acknowledge the deceased soldiers. Bush's order is also depriving the families of our fallen soldiers from being able to pay their respects to their loved ones immediately upon their return.

Together we can do it..

deanne in florida — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 23:24:35 EDT

We had to call an air-conditioning company to our home the last week in May. When the technician finally found our rural home south of Jax, Fl., and pulled up in our drive and got out of his truck, I thought, "Oh, Goodie". I can try out something on him. He was a young black man. What I wanted to try to do is find out what the thinking is about Barack Obama, here in northeast Florida.

When Jerome (didn't get his last name) had fixed our air-conditioner unit and came inside to inspect the flow of air from the vents and pick up the check for services rendered, I took the opportunity to ask him off hand and I hoped casually; "so, who are you voting for this year?" Jerome kept his eyes on his clipboard and said "I'm not voting this year". My surprise was total, as he had to be of voting age. Young, yes. But at least twenty-something. "Well, I'm voting for Barack Obama", I said proudly. Sure enough, he looked up at me and quickly looked back to where he was filling out the invoice form on the clipboard. Yet, I saw the tiny smile that came over his face and having already prepared for something like this, I reached over to where I had placed my own paperwork, a notebook that I keep to record my favorite sites and passwords and emails for registrations, and notes and other internet related things. "See, I'm not, making it up," I said, since I am, after all, a white older woman that according to the media and the other camp, will not vote for Obama. Jerome looked, a kind of reluctant or quick glance, but I helped him by saying, "see, here and here" pointing to my notes on the Obama site and a couple others that promote our guy. "I believe you!" he finally said, trying to sound exasperated. Which didn't work because he was smiling a lot by this time. So, seeing the smile get bigger and remain there on his handsome face, I kept silent until we were exchanging the invoice and check at the door. He was preparing to leave and I said; "and, you are going to vote for Obama..." and looked up and saw his huge grin. And then he took my hand in a firm handshake and smiling, Jerome left. I know he will vote for Obama. Now, all I've got to do is get his boss to get me in touch with him so I can ask him to be sure to spread the word among his family and friends. And, maybe his boss, too.

I dreamed I fell asleep on Barack's shoulder......

deanne in florida — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:44:03 EDT

I went to bed thinking a bunch of thoughts after our big win. I woke up, dreaming that I was like, in a car, maybe, and then dreamed that my head was resting on Barack's shoulder on the white shirt and my head felt so light and easy. I expect that this has actually happened with his wife and kids. In a car on a long drive, or something. But for me it was a real but strange dream. I take it to mean that we can rest our cares and burdens on his shoulders.

Hooray! Barack did it!

deanne in florida — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:02:49 EDT

Kudos and kisses and hugs and all that stuff to Barack, Michelle, and family!

Puhleeeeze! NO Hillary VP!

deanne in florida — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:44:16 EDT

Hillary R. Clinton did in fact, stand idly by and not lift a finger while John Kerry D-MA. Senator, ran for president in 2004. Knowing she could run in 2008. If not for this fact, it is possible Kerry may have beat Bush. Maybe, Kerry may have pulled our troops out of Iraq long before now. Who knows. Leaving this thought to your own discretion as to if and whether Hillary has the interest of the country and the Democrat Party as a matter of concern in her brand of politics.

Sample of how Hillary will conduct herself as VP; (republican contender, no matter, for her it is all the same. "It's me! It's me!")

The contest drew national attention. Lazio blundered during a September debate by seeming to invade Clinton's personal space trying to get her to sign a fundraising agreement. She was sworn in as United States Senator on Jan. 3rd, 2001.

A small question - about America and religion

deanne in florida — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:57:14 EDT

I have a question regarding what America stands for and religion. It never occurred to me in my 60+ years until this year and the primaries. So, what is it about religion that can make or break a candidate?

We've all seen or been exposed to the hate mongering involving Obama's middle name. I won't go into detail but you know how they state outright lies about his background.

But it goes on further than that. Why is it, the Mormon faith of Mitt Romney seemed a possible problem? Or, Joe Lieberman, of Jewish faith? John McCain doesn't seem to have any faith, or hasn't declared himself (sic). My theme is; so what if a person who is born in America, and is of a Muslim or even a Hindu faith oriented family or raised as such, then, not a viable candidate for America. If you are born in America and have no anarchist or criminal or "dangerous" or anything that is potentially treacherous in one's background, then wouldn't that person be American enough to run for the presidency or some other office?

Just wondering.

Should Hillary Clinton be on the ticket if Barack Obama is the nominee?

Alpha83 — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:58:57 EDT

I do not believe that Senator Clinton would be a wise choice as Senator Obama’s running mate if he were in fact the democratic nominee. If she is placed on the ticket, this will cause the other half of this country to come out in droves to vote against her and the ticket would be unable to capture independent voters.

Even though she speaks of her foreign policy experience, the history records do not reflect this experience. The very name Clinton does not bring change, which is contrary of the platform in which Senator Obama is running on.

Hillary Clinton also voted for the war in Iraq, which completely contradicts Barack Obama's position on the war. She does not have governing experience and will be unable to reach across the isle in demonstration of unity.

In addition, Senator Obama will have a very difficult time trying to defend Senator Clinton’s statements that John McCain has more experience and would make a better president than Barack Obama.

Senator Obama needs someone who will be able to complement his experience by adding foreign policy and national security experience and someone who has the ability to capture those independent voters who are unhappy with the way this country is currently being run.

One of the things McClellan couldn't tell us.

deanne in florida — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:08:13 EDT

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Musharraf sided with the United States against the Taliban government in Afghanistan after an ultimatum by U.S. President George W. Bush. Musharraf agreed to give the United States the use of three airbases for Operation Enduring Freedom. Secretary of State Colin Powell and other administration officials met with Musharraf. On September 19, 2001, Musharraf addressed the people of Pakistan and stated that, while he opposed military tactics against the Taliban, Pakistan risked being endangered by an alliance of India and the U.S. if it did not cooperate.[76] In 2006, Musharraf testified that this stance was pressured by threats from the U.S., and revealed in his memoirs that he had "war-gamed" the United States as an adversary and decided that it would end in a loss for Pakistan.

=========================================================================

If I remember right, we were told that Pakistan had agreed to the arrangement with our military operations. I don't remember hearing that Pakistan cooperated under threat from our government. I just took it for granted that Pakistan was one of the few places in the middle east that wanted to help the U.S.. So, our "friends" are not even our friends, in the George W. Bush and Republican world of diplomacy.

source (....and don't laugh. It's as good as the MSM...) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pervez_Musharref

Some are afraid of change.

deanne in florida — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:30:52 EDT

Some people are afraid of change. Some are just not paying attention. There is no arguing with people who are innately afraid of change. For whatever reason, people abide by their own set of rules when it comes to events happening around them. To the people who are only not paying attention to the political arena, as yet, we would advise them; when you do decide to get involved in the voting process, use your inner-gut. Your deepest instincts. While you listen to the speeches and rhetoric coming from the campaigns, take special note as to how their words make you feel. Not just what the words seem to mean or sound to your ears.

I remember how hard it was when I tried to convince myself that the war in Iraq was alright, that it was a justified thing in some form or fashion; maybe I couldn't quite comprehend readily why it was alright but surely it had to be the right thing to do. I also remember the very real qualms and deep-gut uneasiness when we were told at one point, that the U.S. would be using Pakistan as a launching base.

Protests to rattle the Rules Committee.

deanne in florida — Wed, 28 May 2008 00:38:52 EDT

Protests Planned for Rules Committee Meeting By Julie Bosman A Clinton supporter held up a sign at Century Village in Boca Raton, Fla., last week. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images) The Democratic National Committee is bracing itself for protests outside its Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting on Saturday in Washington, where the fates of the Florida and Michigan primaries could finally be decided. Supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton are organizing to march and then gather on the street outside the panel's meeting, scheduled for Saturday morning at a hotel in Northwest Washington. source: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/

Did I Imagine - part two

deanne in florida — Tue, 27 May 2008 01:50:18 EDT

CNN) – Victor DiMaio, the plaintiff in a refiled lawsuit aimed at forcing the DNC to seat Florida’s delegates to the Democratic convention, has announced that a protest will be held in Tampa, Florida on the eve of the hearing in his case. The hearing is Wednesday.

The “lawsuit was filed long before the first vote was ever cast or counted,” DiMaio said in a statement released Monday. “How do you ignore the fourth largest state in the nation and millions of Florida voters who exercised their right to vote?,” he added.

The dismissal of Dimaio’s original suit was upheld by a federal appeals court in March but the court stated that the suit could be refiled if the defects it had identified were fixed.

***********Sorry, I had the date wrong. It is this Wednesday, 28th.

Did I just imagine it?

deanne in florida — Tue, 27 May 2008 01:16:43 EDT

Did I just imagine that Hillary Rodham Clinton went down to Florida back in January of this year? And campaigned in Florida? After signing off and acknowledging that Florida is to be penalized if they set their primary date early and which Florida did hold their primary on January 29, 2008?

If you didn't know better, you would almost get the impression that Clinton and Harold Ickes knew and planned all along for a rehash of the Hanging Chad nightmare scenario in Florida. Clinton and her people and Bill, campaigning in the illegal Florida primary. Huh. Like as in- if anytime, things go awry, the necessary votes are right there in Florida, don't you know.

We actually have somebody sueing to have the votes counted in Florida and who plans to hold a protest rally to have the votes all counted on May 31st when the DNC meets for deciding things for the party.

John McCain's Goosey Math.

deanne in florida — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:04:07 EDT

John McCain is using some really fuzzy math-logic we may call Goosey Math.

The Goosey Math goes like this: McCain argues that only a few young people join the military for educational benefits. Most, sign up for patriotic reasons. Very good, McCain.

Next, McCain argues that; If our soldiers can get a first-rate college education after only three years of serving in (active) military, they will be leaving sooner and they will not be prone to return to the military thereby reducing rather than increasing the military forces we need. Not good. McCain.

The legislation, an updated version of the GI Bill, passed the Senate Thursday afternoon by a 75-22 vote margin and passed the House earlier this month by a similar margin. It proposes to essentially provide a full scholarship to in-state public universities for members of the military who have served for at least three years.

But McCain, as well as President Bush and much of the military brass, -oppose this specific measure because they worry it will deplete retention rates among those currently serving in the military at a time when recruitment efforts are already struggling. "Our bill has a sliding scale that offers generous benefits to all veterans, but increases those benefits according to the veteran's length of service," he said.

McCain argues this difference will help prevent those in service from leaving after one enlistment.

His measure was killed by Senate Democrats last week.

*************************

Now we wait to see if Bush will veto the GI bill as he promised. hope not. Firstly, more young and not so young people would enlist. Second, we owe them everything and more.

When you say that in Iraq, to date we have lost over 4,000 American lives, it is not taking into account the hundreds of thousands of wounded and recovering soldiers returning from the illegal war in Iraq.

Also;

Fully 90% of enlisted men and women do not have a college degree because most enter the service right after high school. At the same time, almost 400,000 service men and women now leave the armed forces every year. This means that most end up entering the job market without much-needed higher education.

And employers, small business and large corporation alike, often like to hire employees with a college degree. But without a G.I. Bill for today, these troops are left to their own devices.

Do NOT forward the viral hate-emails.

deanne in florida — Sun, 25 May 2008 20:26:24 EDT

Listen, kids. I am the 60+ white female Obama supporter from Florida. I am begging you to listen to this "older" person.

1. Do NOT forward the viral hate-vitriol filled emails that are circulating from the clinton camp.

2. As soon as you recognise what it is DELETE the email.

3. Do NOT let it affect you or get you down.

Now, the prime reason I think the emails filled with hateful things about our guy should be deleted is because if you forward it to warn your friends you are adding to their email list. They - the senders collect addresses by tracking the emails they send out. So when you send the email to a pal even as a heads-up warning, you are adding more addresses and helping to perpetrate the hateful things.

Separation of state and church?

deanne in florida — Fri, 23 May 2008 22:48:47 EDT

Maybe I got it all wrong, but in my memory, rev. wright was Obama's pastor, now former pastor (he retired) and we know the rest. What is strange to me is how John McCain can seek and get endorsements from church leaders. Two of which McCain was forced to suddenly reject, McCain has now separated himself from reverend Ron Parsley and John Hagee. Note that this is the week of May 23, 2008.

How does a church endorse a candidate and not lose its tax exempt status? Oh. It's a verbal thing, I guess. As in, the endorsement is not counted in the political arena and just that McCain will now know he has the church leader and his flock in his pocket come Nov. 4th. Oh.

Time to take off the gloves

deanne in florida — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:20:18 EDT

Is anybody listening to clinton doing her spin in Boca Raton? Clinton is going way over the line. She is lying and spinning par excellance. I for one, think that as Obama supporters, we may need to show we have some backbone and we will not take it lying down. Clinton entirely leaves out the part where she signed a letter stating her willingness to go along with party rules. And then as most likely her plan all along, goes to Florida anyway and campaigns in the heavily white and older pop. areas.

Now I ask you. Leave gender aside. Do we want a president who constantly goes back on her word? A president who has no moral standards and keeps to no ethics in any subject? I could go on, but I believe all of you know the extent to which shrillary is capable to steal the nomination from Barack Obama.

Let Your Voice Be Heard! (Super Delegates)

Sandy77 — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:24:27 EDT

Holla at Them!

Here’s what most of us seem to know: Obama has 260 superdelegates, and Hillary has 273.

A lot of us have been throwing those numbers around like we really know what we’re talking about. I’ll only speak for myself when I say I’ve never been as involved in an election as I have been in this one. And I’ve certainly never had as many conversations about the whole election process as I’ve had about this election. I’m sure that I must have taken a political science course in college and some civics or social studies classes in high school, but I don’t remember them.

Like many of you, this primary election season has given me a crash course in politics. And I’m trying to keep up.

For example, as much as we talk about superdelegates, do most of us really know who they are or what they do? According to the 2008 Democratic Convention Watch website, there are 795 (not including Michigan and Florida) total Democratic superdelegates that the nominees are trying to be endorsed by.

Superdelegates are made up of Democratic governors and members of Congress, former presidents, including Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter; former vice president Al Gore, retired congressional leaders, and all Democratic National Committee members, such as my girl Donna Brazile, and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Superdelegates automatically get to cast a vote at the convention this summer to decide who the party’s nominee will be. They can come out any time before their state’s primary and pledge to support either Obama or Clinton. That support is actually a vote that moves the candidate closer to the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination.

Before the superdelegate system was put into place, party bosses that were usually white men had way too much power and influence in the way candidates were nominated. So, in the 70s the party’s rules were changed to open the process to more grassroots activists, women and ethnic minorities.

Usually, by the end of the primary season, it’s clear who the presidential nominee will be. Of course, this is not a usual election, and it looks like the battle between Obama and Clinton will not only go beyond the primary season but all the way up to the convention. If this is the case, the role of the superdelegates will be huge.

So, I thought it would be a good idea to let you know who some of these superdelegates are and how you can get in touch with them to let them know how you would like them to vote. We know it’s ultimately up to the individuals, but I don’t see how letting them know how we feel can hurt.

Even though this is radio advocacy, it isn’t a case where we’re contacting a person to yell at them or make a demand. It’s more like a “let me holler at you” kind of thing.

Here’s the first list of uncommitted super delegates and their e-mail addresses. Holla at them.

Rep. Chris Carney (PA)
h ttp://carney.house.gov/contact.shtm

Joyce Beatty, DNC (Ohio)
Dist rict27@ohr.state.oh.us

Gilda Cobb-Hunter
gch@schouse.org

Rep. Jim Clyburn (S.C.)
http://clyburn.house.gov/zip_code_veri fy.cfm

Akaka, Daniel K.- (HI)
http://akaka.senate.gov/public/inde x.cfm ?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Baucus, Max- (MT)
http://baucus.senate.gov/contact/em ailFo rm.cfm?subj=issue

Biden, Joseph R., Jr.- (DE)
http://biden.senate.gov/services/contact/

Brown, Sherrod- (OH)
http: //brown.senate.gov/contact/

Byrd, Robert C.- (WV)
http://byrd.senate.gov/byrd_email.html

Cardin, Benjamin L.- (MD)
http ://cardin.senate.gov/contact/

Carper, Thomas R.- (DE)
http ://carper.senate.gov/contact/

Delegate Caging

Heath — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:09:10 EST

An acquaintance of mine has become an elected delegate for Obama in Nevada. Recently he received a phone call from the Clinton campaign. Here is the story:

“Just a minute ago I got a call from a Hillary person, asking me who I'm supporting in the county convention (which is this Friday.) Wanting to waste his time, I said "I'm not 100% sure..." and he just said that I should expect a call from a county organizer soon.

Even more strangely he ended the call by asking for my first name, and then telling me that the call was paid for by Hillary for President. The whole thing was vaguely surreal.

A friend of mine who works frequently in NV politics has informed me that the call was likely an attempt at delegate caging. So now I get to go down to the county Dems office and inform them that I'm going to the convention, and that any information to the contrary is a lie. Wee.”

What is Delegate Caging, you may ask. It’s where the opposing team calls in/uses a web form and states that you won't be showing up to the convention. Then they suggest an alternate (without a suggestion, your alternate is drawn from the precinct pool). This happens frequently, according to my friend.

This would be an extremely dirty tactic if they were actually employing it, but the worst part of all is there is no way we can say for sure what she is trying to do. Is she trying to win over elected delegates? Is she attempting to cage? All of these are equally possible in the scorched-earth scenario her and Bill have mapped out.

A word of warning to any other elected delegates, BE CAREFUL and be in constant communication with your county dem office about your status.

Why Barack Obama?

Annette — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:19:09 EST

Many have asked why should I vote for Obama for president? I ask, have you been better off with our current state of affairs? Has our country been viewed by the world as one of equal opportunity? Do you believe in the guiding principles that this country was built on (democracy)? For to long we have been seen by the world as a country divided by race and social economics. At this point in time we have the opportunity to show the world that we are indeed a United States that believes in a just society. Our history has shown that we are constantly changing,but changing for the better. I am not foolish enough to believe that we are in search of utopia. I do believe that as Dr Martin L. King said in his I Have A Dream speech, that we are becoming a country where a man/woman is not judged by the color of his/her skin but by the content of his/her character. Barack Obama is a man of character that has embarked on a journey to unite this country with the hope of a better day. When one questions his experience as a canadate, one implies that they are satisfied with current political arena of office holders. What many have failed to realize is that it is not so much his experiene as a politician, but his experiences as a man. It is these life experience that we all have and learn from. No one knows what it is trully like to be an American with out the privilages that economic status provides unless one has had to live without. It is the real life experiences that Barack Obama has that makes him a man in touch with reality. We need this reality in Washington. So let us show the world that a nation composed of many can speak as one.

Swine Story

Carol Sladon — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 13:48:36 EDT

President Pork
Pierre Tristam/Candide’s Notebooks,

Pork cutlets in Potomac marinara sauce

“The House and Senate bills have too much pork,” President Bush declared on Wednesday, referring to the latest “supplemental” spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pork? Let’s see. The bill is a monstrosity. No question about that: $122 billion to finish off the year’s fighting — and raise the cost of the wars this year alone to $200 billion, or $3.8 billion a week, or, essentially, $500 million a day. Put aside for now the demonstrated futility of it all. Let’s just take that $500 million a day, most of it in Iraq, some of it to feed Halliburton’s various frauds as it pretends to feed, clothe and toilet the troops, and compare the $500 million a day to what Bush calls Pork. According to a Times blog, the entire porkish amount adds up to some $5.5 billion, $4.2 billion of which being agricultural supports, and $640 million for something called “LIHEAP.” Hmmm. Sounds suspicious. Let’s see.

St. Augustine Event Speech, By Brian James Dawson

Carol Sladon — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 07:57:41 EDT

Let me begin by saying thanks to Tony Owens for filling in for me & reading my speech Sunday, and all of you who organized this event. I'd also like to thank my wife and Sarah Willis for helping to promote this wonderful gathering.

I was asked to come here and talk about the issues with you, the issues as Mr. Obama sees them. I having been trying to find clever ways to recite words you can find on a website to no avail. So I'm just going to ask you a questions and let you figure out the answers for yourself.

I ask you, are you better off right now than you were eight years ago.

I remember hearing Bill Clinton say this at the 2000 Convention, but unlike President Clinton, I'm not going to answer this for you.

Are you better off now, is the world a better place, are you safer when you sleep, is this a time where you are proud to raise your children, are neighbors more like a family then people who just live on the same street?

There are many people who want to answer this question for you,

those who wish to push their wills and ideas upon on the public

serving only opinion and calling it fact

now I am not one of these people.

I am not here to tell you what to feel or think,

What I want is simple and it's for you to go on

From this event with an investigative spirit,

one that questions before it believes.

Now when you turn of your talk radio and Rush or Fraken are silenced,

when the Television is off and our nightly reminders of the evil among us is over,

when you lie your head upon your pillow before sleep,

ask yourself,

am I better off now than I was 8 eight years ago.

We live in an every changing world,

with partisans and pundits,

drive by medias and boosters of bias,

I know it can all get just a little too loud.

With so much stimulus, with so much activity,

different people trying to tell us what to believe and when to believe it,

I understand how most people can turn the channel or move to the arts and entertainment section instead of being reminded of the problems facing us.

We live in a time of so many lights and screens and LCDs that everything becomes blinding and at the end of the day all we can see are the very few things directly in front of us, like our family, our pocket books. We live in a time were a few wish to change the minds of the many, to believe as they believe, to feel as they feel. That's why I'm not going to speak about issues to you.

Are You better off now?

In these tumultuous times we have many problems.

We have numerous wars on numerous fronts,

the rate that many of us face in rent is rising

but the rate of pay is not.

We are paying more for gas,

for power,

for Internet access

all things necessary in our changing times.

Our schools look more like prisons than places of higher learning.

Our citizen still face oppression disguised as issues of states rights.

Our hero's are entering rehab or being released from jail.

All these problems we face together are being used to divide us,

shown to us over and over, interpreted and spun

on the all media outlets.

We are told we are many separate Americas

and this creates the fear needed to create followers,

but there is a man running today

a man who tells us this is not true

that there is no black or white America

only the Untied states, only our union.

My grandfather used to tell me that there is no shame in failed ideas;

only the refusal to admit our failures carries shame.

Weather it's the war on terror or the war on drugs or the war on difference,

Our government is refusing to admit its failures,

declining to try new directions and accept new lifestyles

because they didn't think they up

or because they don't approve.

It's easy to be become cynical,

it's easy to be become jaded

because the aforementioned are easier to swallow than any form of shame.

Robert Green Ingersoll said

"The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart."

I bring this up because heart is completely necessary for hope.

The heart has an obligation and self-interest in being full partners with hope,

It cannot wait for other abstracts to act first.

Without heart we can't find the strength to roll up our sleeves

and push forward in front of looming obstacles,

we can't get hit hard and continue moving towards a promised progress,

towards a better tomorrow not only for us and our families, but for all Americans. We can not lose heart,

we can not welcome into our lives indifference

if we want hope to have any chance in a cynical society.

Dr, Martin Luther King Jr. once said

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. Everywhere I go I hear people losing hope,

I see it everywhere I go and this worries me.

When hope is lost, we are left with only indifference,

with selfishness, and the need to place blame.

It is only in Hope that we can conquer shame,

only hope can bring us together as one union,

indivisible, where justice for all is possible

where we can see passed phenotypes and gender and sexuality,

with hope the future is nothing but infinite progress.

Mr. Obama has spent much time talking about the audacity hope

and I want to second that idea,

the bravado we must have to wish for a better tomorrow,

what tenacity to put our shoulders to the wheel of status quo

and push it towards something different, towards liberty.

I believe, no I feel, in the deepest realms of my being,

that Senator Obama is the man to lead us

from the pits of two minute sound bit issues and solution spin

towards the round table of bi-partisan conversation and compromise.

He urges us to not only let hope into our hearts

but to spread it around like gossip,

to our neighbors, friends, family, community,

to the world.

Senator Obama reminds us of the genius

our founders showed by designing a system of government that can be changed and that in the face of impossible odds,

people who love their country can change it.

He reminds us to have heart

in the face of all our obstacles, he reminds us of hope.

As a people, we are faced with many important decisions,

Some of us have children going to war, some have them going to college,

There is the rent and food and clothing,

But none more important than the one we choose to led us.

Into the fire and into the fight, the one we choose

Must come with the answer to my question,

Are we truly better off now than eight years ago

They must re-sew the fractured fabric Of the American dream

and return it to the many and not the select few,

because that is what makes this country great

and I quote Senator Obama

If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read,

that matters to me, even if it's not my child.

If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her prescription

and has to choose between medicine and the rent,

that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandmother.

If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process,

that threatens my civil liberties. It's that fundamental belief "I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper" that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams,

yet still come together as a single American family.

"E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.

The end of this road is far off.

Most Americans haven't even given this race much thought,

so I salute all of you here today.

It is not only our responsibility, it is our job to give this decision,

the decision of who should be president of these united states,

it's due diligence, to read and listen, to question and investigate.

I urge everyone to go home and read the about the issues

set forth by not only Senator Obama, but all the candidates,

I urge you to make up your own mind.

Until these races end,

people are going to try and sway you towards one side or another

and that is not what I hope to achieve today,

though I'd pleased to see a million Obama tee-shirts

in St. Johns and Flagler county.

I hope that after hearing my words,

you go back into your homes

and ask yourself am I better off today

and after doing so explore the issues and solutions before you

find one that suits your own morality, your own heart.

I'd like to end with a quote of Senator Obama.

In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?

Ike Spiked

Carol Sladon — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 16:13:57 EDT

What Bush Squandered
Pierre Tristam/Daytona Beach News-Journal, March 13, 2007

Browsing through a used bookstore the other day I did something I hadn’t done since reaching the age of consent two and a half decades ago. I picked up one of those old National Geographic issues with the pictures of doffed and frolicking natives. Except that the natives inside weren’t the bouncy kind from Bali or Burundi . They were from countries we’ve come to know as breeders of anti-Americanism or out-and-out enmity: France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, the kind of places where, if President Bush was to venture — as he has been venturing through Latin America last week — he’d be burned in effigy and local authorities would have to mobilize the equivalent of two military brigades to protect him. Colombia , the third-biggest recipient of American aid in the last decade and supposedly its greatest ally south of the Rio Grande , had to do just that for a Bush stop-over lasting just a few hours on Sunday.

But the Geographic was dated May 1960. The 63 pages featuring all those countries fell under the banner of a single article entitled, “When the President Goes Abroad.” And in every country, in almost every picture, Dwight Eisenhower’s presence was cause for delirious celebration. It didn’t matter where: Madrid , Kabul , Teheran, even Karachi , that now-seething Pakistani sweatshop of hatred for America . (Daniel Perl, the Wall Street Journal reporter, was beheaded by Islamic militants he was investigating in Karachi ). “From his open car,” the Geographic wrote of Eisenhower’s stop in Karachi , Eisenhower “waved to cheering Pathan tribesmen wearing baggy white trousers, long-tailed white shirts, and faded turbans.” The car he was traveling in was actually an open horse-drawn-carriage, slow and providing not even shade from the sun.

Iraq War Peace Vigil in Daytona March 19

Carol Sladon — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:52:37 EDT

Iraq War Anniversary Vigil

Americans across the country are more concerned than ever about our direction in Iraq. Now is the time for Congress to force a change.

On March 19th, thousands of us from organizations across the movement will gather together to observe the fourth anniversary of the war through candlelight vigils. We’ll solemnly honor the sacrifice made by more than 3,000 servicemen and women, and we'll contemplate the path ahead of us. We cannot send tens of thousands of exhausted, under-equipped, and unprepared troops into the middle of an Iraqi civil war.

Join us at a candlelight vigil on Monday, March 19th. Honor the sacrifice. Stop the escalation. Bring the troops home.

Events in your area:
International Speedway & Nova Road
4 registered participant(s) (100 maximum)
International Speedway & Nova Road
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Description Hi everyone...I hope you will join me at our usual corner, International Speedway & Nova Road at 6pm on March 19th. Children and pets are all welcome too! Parking is best at "Books a Million" parking lot. Come on everyone - let's show them that Florida says NO MORE with a big candlelight vigil in honor of our fallen soldiers!

Right now, there are 1058 gatherings planned

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The Weekend Essay, Britney, Harry, Anna and Me

Carol Sladon — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 22:15:13 EDT

Pierre Tristam/Candide’s Notebooks, March 9, 2007

James Madison didn’t have Britney Spears and Harry Potter in mind when he worried about the tyranny of the majority. His concerns oriented more toward the danger of political blocs acting like mobs by force of numbers. Madison’s solution: the Bill of Rights as a legal check, and the multiplication of political factions for civic balance. Great for the polity. But what about majorities outside the political process, where market forces apply but the Bill of Rights doesn’t, where most of us spend our lives and sustain the cultural swarms and smarms of Nielsen ratings and Hollywood IQs, where careers and counter-trends are made, mangled and spat out on whims, where the narrow aperture of what makes a news cycle and how long it makes it for is a modern Crock Inquisitor? Tyranny in those cases is so alive in the United States, so bouncy, that it provides a full-frontal view of American society’s Achilles’ hells (no, not heels): love of judgment, the need to conform, the comfort of mobs. It’s a story as old and treaded over as “The Scarlet Letter,” “Main Street,” “The Crucible” and “The Human Stain.” If those are refined examples, lost for the most part on dozing English majors and faithful choirs, the themes behind those works have been on display for the last few weeks with the vengeance of the Furies. The people involved — Britney Spears, Anna Nicole Smith and Daniel Radcliffe, the 17-year-old star of the Harry Potter manufacturing co. — are either dead or rich, famous and seasoned enough in public-lynching theater to handle it. But it doesn’t diminish the luridness of the spectacle, or what it says about those who pile it on. And the society they pile it on.

Pounce it on is more like it: Should Britney Spears have been partying so much? Should she have shaved her head? Was that an unshaven hair under her left armpit? Was her bikini wax Brazilian enough? Should she have gotten so many tattoos? Shouldn’t she be wearing underwear more often?

Obama's Florida itinerary - Miami Herald

Carol Sladon — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:38:04 EST

Obama's Florida itinerary

In his first public appearance in Florida as a presidential candidate, Barack Obama will attend a March 25th rally in West Palm Beach sandwiched between private fundraisers. Here's the schedule:

11:30 a.m. brunch at the Palm Beach home of Jim Clark, founder of Netscape. $1,000 per guest.

1 p.m. rally at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. $100 per person.

2:30 p.m. fundraiser at the Hallandale Beach home of Jeremy and Rachel Alters. $1,000 per person.

6:45pm fundraiser at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. $250 per guest.

8:00pm fundraiser at the Coral Gables home of Roy and Lea Black residence. $2,300 per guest.

Obama will have breakfast with Hispanic leaders on Monday, March 26 at the Biltmore before taking off.

February 23, 2007