Friday, July 20, 2007

The Schmooze Award

Just want to interrupt to say please read Brad Blog for news about the Holt Bill. Also, thanks for the award! I am writing from Belize, where we are on vacation with the kids and father-in-law. We are in the most beautiful place, Ambergris Caye. Went to Altun Ha, the Mayan ruins, and to Maruba Jungle Spa, in the middle of the jungle. Went scuba diving and snorkeling with sharks and sting-rays.



Also here are some photos of famed pop artist/Warhold protege Steve Kaufman (top) and actor Chris McDonald (bottom) at the Mrs. United States pageant in Vegas. We were all judges.
















Schmoozing is the natural ability “to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.” Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. Bloggers who accept the award should then each pass it on to five blogs of their choice.

We have gained many new regular commenters here on Lydia's blog, and it's nice to have them come to schmooze with Lydia and become another blogging friend. Two such friends with wonderful blogs of their own, have separately bestowed the popular Schmooze Award of which I will name 5 more to pass the award onto.

Thank you Tomcat of the widly popular Politics Plus and also to the popular Betmo of Life's Journey for the award, and for your comments here on Lydia's blog.

The people that this award will be passed to have become regulars here on Lydia's blog and elsewhere, and they each have excellent blogs of their own. It's hard to choose five people, with so many making a presence on various blogs.

Mirth of Liberally Mirth has a popular blog which can be attributed to Mirth's daily visits on various blogs, that bring many to want to visit hers.

Chuck and Karen of Divided States of Bushmerika2 make their way around dozens of blogs, and really do have the art of schmoozing down pat.

Tom Harper of Who Hijacked Our Country has been appearing on many blogs including this one, leaving his thoughts on the issues of the day. Check out his blog, it's a good one.

Jim of An Average American Patriot makes his way to various blogs commenting on the way our country is headed. Check out his blog.

The very popular Lynn of Zelleblog seems to be everywhere making comments as well as writing some great articles for her blog. Check her blog out.


Don't forget to listen to the Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk Show Saturday at 9:00 AM PST. Each week they have well known guests, lively commentary and your phone calls.


124 comments:

  1. Thank you so much, and congrats to your deserved recognition!
    Supporting other bloggers with visits and comments, being enriched and enlightened by what they find to pass on to us, reading the blogs they like, is the best and most rewarding part of the work we all do.
    I was a wreck when I had to pass on LM's Thinking Blogger award. Having to choose only a few of the many was just too hard! I just can't do it.
    So I have to pass on the passing. Instead I'll continue to feature a new blog or news site each week and in that way we as a community grow and are strengthened.

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  2. It's interesting to see the type of people that are attracted here, after we worked so hard to clear out the trolls.

    Good work guys.

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  3. Thanks Mirth, and your Community blog feature is my favorite part of your blog.

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  4. Thanks Carl:

    Don't forget you helped.

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  5. So Bush is having a colonoscopy, apparently to remove the residue of a dangerous growth up there.

    They called it "brain"...

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  6. Larry, it was my pleasure to chew on some cat toys for a few weeks.

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  7. But in truth, all I did was provide one more voice to the choir.

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  8. Thanks Larry!
    As you know I only hope we can start making a difference because we are running out of time
    I was recommended for the thinking Blogger Award and recommended the ones I knew deserved it but I did not know how to post it on my site.
    Coming from you I appreciate this and will pass it on and try to put it on my site because it is an honor to be recognized by quality fellow bloggers regardless of stature. Again, I thank you!

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  9. Carl:

    We still have a troll for you to chew on occasionally. Don't give up that sideline.

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  10. Did anyone see Keith Olbermann's Special Comment" last night?

    It was priceless, telling Bush to go to Iraq and finish his service he copped out on.

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  11. Thanks Jim, and I hope you attract more viewers to your blog.

    You write some good stuff.

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  12. Jim:

    If you have trouble posting on your blog, let me know and I will help you.

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  13. Larry
    I saw that this morning and thought it was pretty good. Knowing while I would love to see it and it would never happen I read it and moved on.You have to love Olberman.

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  14. Jim:

    I think Olbermann has the best show on TV. He tells the truth, where the others are afraid.

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  15. Larry
    I hope you are right. I had a few from here but beyond you and Mike I think especially women find the reality of Bush and his purposeful destructive messes to serious a subject matter. They are quick to burn out and we cannot.
    I was just looking to see if I could put the award on my site and I just don't have the knowledge of this stuff to help myself.
    If you can help or anything E me if you have to but I will accept any and all help. Euroyank, Pawsdedeux, and two crows, are three that deserve the award.

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  16. Jim:

    Put the award within your post for now, like I did on this post, and I will email you on how to place it on your blog.

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  17. Larry
    of course what he says is right on but he is just so funny and doesn't care what he says. I love it!

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  18. Lou Dobbs has been calling Bush a lot of names lately, which makes for good TV.

    Nobody can do the attack like Olbermann.

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  19. Okay Larry but I don't know how to get that picture on it.
    I will see if it is as easy as cut and paste because technically that is the level I am on. Totally clueless with this stuff abd learning everything from scratch.

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  20. Jim:

    I will email you how to put the photo on. Its easy.

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  21. larry
    That would be great because I just tried it and of course it doesn't work and I don't know how to embed links or anything else. That is why I had to let the Thinking Blogger Award drop.

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  22. Jim:

    Check your email and hopefully it explains how.

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  23. Larry said...
    Did anyone see Keith Olbermann's Special Comment" last night?


    Yea, I did. He called for Bush's impeachment.

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  24. Worf:

    It was good. My favorite part was telling Bush to go to Iraq and finish fighting his war.

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  25. Musharraf on the Brink in Pakistan?

    By SIMON ROBINSON
    51 minutes ago

    Lawyers across Pakistan burst into tears and cries of jubilation today, as Pakistan's Supreme Court restored the country's Chief Justice, Muhamed Iftikhar Chaudhry, whose sacking by embattled Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf last March sparked national protests. "They have given new life to the nation. For the first time in [my] life I have saluted the judges," says Supreme Court lawyer and activist Ali Ahmed Kurd, a Chaudhry supporter. "It proved that Pakistan has not yet gone dry." What it augurs for Pakistan's President may be something else.

    The decision is a major blow for Musharraf, who has faced increasing resistance to his rule this year, new pressure from Washington to crack down on militants and a wave of suicide bombings and other attacks around Pakistan in recent days. Many foreign observers believe that Musharraf's days are numbered as leader of Pakistan - raising the attendant issue of who could possibly replace America's primary ally in the war against terror in this critical region.

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  26. Mark my words.

    Pakistan is the key.

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  27. Olbermann is great, great show last night.

    He has "the art" down, thats for sure.

    Thanks Larry and folks, for the mention. I don't get around to blogs as much as I want to, and I only read what I genuinely enjoy. I try to support my friends and let them know I hear them.

    The blogs I go to are places where I learn, and think, and feel moved in some kind of way.

    I wish I could read all of the blogs I like, every day. But of course thats not possible.

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  28. Looks like this guy that was just restored may end up taking over.

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  29. Lynn,

    You are always wanted here to comment on anything.

    ReplyDelete
  30. WASHINGTON - President Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy Saturday and temporarily hand presidential powers over to Vice President Dick Cheney, White House press secretary Tony Snow said.

    I thought Cheney already had those powers!

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  31. I really appreciate being selected, but I just don't take part in these award things. I was selected earlier for the Schmooze Award and before that for the Thinking Blogger award and I turned those down too.

    If I was to recommend other bloggers for this award, most of the bloggers I read have already been selected. And if I were to recommend other bloggers for the award, I'd feel like I was dissing the ones I didn't name, and there are some really great people out there.

    So again, I really appreciate the award. Hope I'm not dropping the ball or anything.

    Who Hijacked Our Country

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  32. A senior Bush Administration official unveiled a new strategy in Friday's Washington Post -- anonymously -- to combat Democrats in Congress who are clamoring to file contempt charges against officials who refuse to talk about the firings of nine US prosecutors.

    In sum, this strategy amounts to, "once we say no, we can't be charged."

    Ironically, President Bush's new legal argument hinges on whether one of his own US prosecutors can file charges against his staff.

    According to the Post, "Administration officials argued yesterday that Congress has no power to force a U.S. attorney to pursue contempt charges in cases, such as the prosecutor firings, in which the president has declared that testimony or documents are protected from release by executive privilege. Officials pointed to a Justice Department legal opinion during the Reagan administration, which made the same argument in a case that was never resolved by the courts."

    "A U.S. attorney would not be permitted to bring contempt charges or convene a grand jury in an executive privilege case," a senior official told the Post, which granted the official anonymity because 'he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.' "And a U.S. attorney wouldn't be permitted to argue against the reasoned legal opinion that the Justice Department provided. No one should expect that to happen."

    Under law, a contempt citation by the House or Senate must be submitted to Washington, D.C. US attorney, who then brings the charge to a grand jury.

    "It has long been understood that, in circumstances like these, the constitutional prerogatives of the president would make it a futile and purely political act for Congress to refer contempt citations to U.S. attorneys," the anonymous Bush official added.

    Bush and the Boys: Still Above the Law!

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  33. An Average patriot:
    "...I think especially women find the reality of Bush and his purposeful destructive messes to serious a subject matter."

    Honey, you need to get out more often.

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  34. Mirth:

    I will steer him to your blog. He won't have that impression.

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  35. Hi Lydia!

    Congratulations on the Schmooze award! :)

    I've always thought it best not to give any awards to those who contribute on my blog and that's why I have never given any awards to Lydia or Larry, since they are both contributors to my blog. Although they both well deserve to receive awards! ;)

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  36. P.S.

    Lydia, great photos from the Mrs. United States! Thanks for sharing those! :)

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  37. Yes, Olbermann really slammed Bush hard last night! It was his best comments ever! :)

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  38. Larry said...

    I thought Cheney already had those powers!


    I always thought Cheney performed Bush's colonoscopy's.

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  39. Larry, Congrats! And nice choices. It was memes like these that made me think about starting the Blog World Report. It's nice to be able to point out other places and give blogacrats a wider variety of choices.

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  40. An Average patriot said...
    "...I think especially women find the reality of Bush and his purposeful destructive messes to serious a subject matter."




    Actually according to polling data, its women who hold the most contempt for Bush in this country.

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  41. Suzie-Q (S-Q) said...
    Yes, Olbermann really slammed Bush hard last night! It was his best comments ever! :)


    Hey there groovy chick..

    Yea I saw Olberman last night. He was on fire. He publically called for the impeachment of Bush, which is another historical milestone in Bush's presidency. When a news caster calls for the impeachment of the president, even on a cable news show, thats strong stuff.

    I still stand by my prediction that Bush will be impeached, before the year is out.

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  42. I would not be surprised to see Chris Matthews call for his resignation or impeachment next.

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  43. WORFEUS THE SEER said...

    Suzie-Q (S-Q) said...
    Yes, Olbermann really slammed Bush hard last night! It was his best comments ever! :)

    Hey there groovy chick..

    I still stand by my prediction that Bush will be impeached, before the year is out.
    --------------------
    Hey Worf! ;)

    I agree but I believe it will be Bush and Cheney! :)

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  44. Did you guys see the headline story on the NBC Nightly news tonight?

    They talked about everyting I talked about yesterday (and last year).

    They're talking about Pakistans nukes which they believed would be used on us in the event of an attack on their country. Richard Haass just said it was the most dangerous threat we face.

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  45. Groovy Suzy-Q said..

    I agree but I believe it will be Bush and Cheney! :)


    My prediction included Cheney.

    ReplyDelete
  46. WORFEUS THE SEER said...

    Groovy Suzy-Q said..

    I agree but I believe it will be Bush and Cheney! :)


    My prediction included Cheney.
    ------------------
    Cool Worf:

    Okay then I am in complete agreement with you! :)

    ReplyDelete
  47. Thanks so much to you guys on this blog!!! Much appreciated Larry. I apologize for not being around so much and for the infrequency on my own blogs, but I have been a tad busy lately.

    I'll try to get around more often. :)

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  48. Here's a sympathetic Bush:

    During a speech, President Bush commented on a meeting with a veteran who had lost both legs in Iraq. Citing his conversation with the veteran, Bush said "he's a good man, we're gonna get him some new legs...".

    I'm sorry. I should have said here's a Pathetic Bush!

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  49. Financial colossus Citigroup Inc. unveiled a better-than-expected record quarterly profit of 6.23 billion dollars Friday as its coffers overflowed with lucrative earnings from its investment banking and global operations.

    Citigroup said its second-quarter net profit leapt 18 percent from the same period a year ago, as it also announced earnings per share of 1.24 dollars.

    Most analysts had expected Citigroup to post earnings per share of 1.13 dollars.

    "We have very clear priorities to drive growth and we are executing on all of them," said Citi chairman and chief executive Charles Prince.

    In Bush's America: The rich get richer, the poor fade away!

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  50. Nobody messes with Halliburton:

    In a little-noticed executive order issued on Tuesday, President Bush directed the Treasury Department to block the U.S.-based financial assets of anyone deemed to have threatened "the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq" or who "undermin(e) efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq."

    The order empowers Treasury, in consultation with the State and Defense Departments, to target those individuals or organizations that either "have committed, or ... pose a significant risk of committing" acts of violence with the "purpose or effect" of harming the Iraqi government or hindering reconstruction efforts. It applies to "U.S. persons," a category including American citizens. It had not previously been disclosed -- and still hasn't -- that U.S. persons are abetting the Iraqi insurgency, nor that Iraqi insurgents have property in the United States, raising questions about who in fact the order targets.

    "The part where they reserve lots of discretion to themselves is the list of conditions that goes beyond determination of acts of violence. 'Threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq,' that could be anything," says Ken Mayer, an expert in executive orders and a University of Wisconsin political scientist. "Think of the possibilities: it could be charities that send a small amount of money (to groups linked to) the insurgency, or it could be the government of Iran that has assets in the U.S. and has money that flows through a U.S. bank or something like that."

    The order permits the targeting of those who aid someone else whose assets have been blocked under the order -- wittingly or not. And under Section Five, the government does not have to disclose which organizations are subject to having their assets frozen:

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  51. Suzie-Q (S-Q) said...

    Okay then I am in complete agreement with you! :)


    Outstanding. In saying that you are including the part where I suggest we hook up, correct?

    :|

    I'm thinking Stoli and Swordfish on the bay, followed by ....

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  52. When Bush gets his colonoscopy do you think they can make him less of an asshole?

    :D

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  53. Maybe the doctor could unpucker his sphincter muscle a little or something?

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  54. WORFEUS THE SEER said...

    Suzie-Q (S-Q) said...

    Okay then I am in complete agreement with you! :)


    Outstanding. In saying that you are including the part where I suggest we hook up, correct?

    :|

    I'm thinking Stoli and Swordfish on the bay, followed by ....
    ---------------
    Worf:

    Followed by??

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  55. WORFEUS THE SEER said...

    Maybe the doctor could unpucker his sphincter muscle a little or something?
    -----------
    Worf:

    I think the doctor is doing a brain scan... I always said Bush had shit for brains!

    LOL


    Goodnight guys! ;)

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  56. A moonlight sail of course.

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  57. It's always fun to read American folks' perspective on Bush. In Canada he is hated. I work with Iraqi doctors who love their country and say it has been ruined by the politicians "playing politics". Seems to be going around, doesn't it?

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  58. Josie said...
    It's always fun to read American folks' perspective on Bush. In Canada he is hated.



    I can assure you here in the states we are none too fond either.

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  59. Then again, unlike Canada, much of our country has been inundated with inbred halfwits, who's entire lives revolve around "acting and sounding tough". Thats it. Thats all they do. You'll find this indigenous species are densely populated in midwestern trailer parks. Since Bush likes to "talk tough", these people, who's miserable lives rely on their "feeling tough" and "acting tough" because our public educational system failed them (or their moms home schooling), they like Bush.

    And because most of them are unemployed, aside from acting tough and reading the National Enquirer while watching Wheel of Fortune, they have plenty of time to vote.

    And they all do.

    That, coupled with the fact that the Presidents brother just happens to be the govenor of the pivotal state of Florida, and was able overthrow our democracy by leveraging the State Police to keep black Americans in the democrat districts from voting, is why we are now stuck with this "thing" in the White House.

    Perhaps Canada could invade us, and institute some regime change?

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  60. Hi Josie,

    You're right that the wide majority of Americans despise Bush, like Canada does and most of the world.

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  61. Reuters:

    The anemic U.S. housing market has hurt various industries from makers of air conditioners to earth movers, with several manufacturers reporting their top lines have been bruised by the slowdown.

    Still, several investors remain positive about the long- term outlook for U.S. home builders, although a rebound may be years away.

    "It won't really be until 2010 before we start seeing normal levels of activity in most parts of the country," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com.

    Most experts agree 2007 has been, and will continue to be, a washout for the U.S. housing market and things will keep declining for most of 2008.

    More of the faltering Bush economy.

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  62. Look Out America:

    Thom Hartmann began his program on Thursday by reading from a new Executive Order which allows the government to seize the assets of anyone who interferes with its Iraq policies.

    He then introduced old-line conservative Paul Craig Roberts -- a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan who has recently become known for his strong opposition to the Bush administration and the Iraq War -- by quoting the "strong words" which open Roberts' latest column: "Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran."

    "I don't actually think they're very strong," said Roberts of his words. "I get a lot of flak that they're understated and the situation is worse than I say. ... When Bush exercises this authority [under the new Executive Order] ... there's no check to it. It doesn't have to be ratified by Congress. The people who bear the brunt of these dictatorial police state actions have no recourse to the judiciary. So it really is a form of total, absolute, one-man rule. ... The American people don't really understand the danger that they face."

    Roberts said that because of Bush's unpopularity, the Republicans face a total wipeout in 2008, and this may be why "the Democrats have not brought a halt to Bush's follies or the war, because they expect his unpopular policies to provide them with a landslide victory in next year's election."

    However, Roberts emphasized, "the problem with this reasoning is that it assumes that Cheney and Rove and the Republicans are ignorant of these facts, or it assumes that they are content for the Republican Party to be destroyed after Bush has his fling." Roberts believes instead that Cheney and Rove intend to use a renewal of the War on Terror to rally the American people around the Republican Party. "Something's in the works," he said, adding that the Executive Orders need to create a police state are already in place.

    "The administration figures themselves and prominent Republican propagandists ... are preparing us for another 9/11 event or series of events," Roberts continued. "Chertoff has predicted them. ... The National Intelligence Estimate is saying that al Qaeda has regrouped. ... You have to count on the fact that if al Qaeda's not going to do it, it's going to be orchestrated. ... The Republicans are praying for another 9/11."

    Hartmann asked what we as the people can do if impeachment isn't about to happen. "If enough people were suspicious and alert, it would be harder for the administration to get away with it," Roberts replied. However, he added, "I don't think these wake-up calls are likely to be effective," pointing out the dominance of the mainstream media.

    "Americans think their danger is terrorists," said Roberts. "They don't understand the terrorists cannot take away habeas corpus, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution. ... The terrorists are not anything like the threat that we face to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution from our own government in the name of fighting terrorism. Americans just aren't able to perceive that."

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  63. The head of the army has warned that Britain is almost running out of troops to defend the country or fight in military operations abroad.
    The warning by General Sir Richard Dannatt, chief of the general staff, to fellow defence chiefs comes at a time when the army is asking for a big increase in reservists to be deployed in Afghanistan, reflecting a crisis in Britain's armed forces.

    In a secret memorandum he says: "We now have almost no capability to react to the unexpected." Reinforcements for emergencies or for operations in Iraq or Afghanistan were "now almost non-existent".

    He adds: "The enduring nature and scale of current operations continues to stretch people". Gen Dannatt warns the army had to "augment" 2,500 troops from other units for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to bring up the total force to the 13,000 needed there. This remained "far higher than we ever assumed", he says.

    Bush and Blair: Destroying their own military: Destroying their own countries.

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  64. FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq (AP) -- Army Spc. Christopher D. Kube was memorialized Thursday in a packed theater at this outpost in east Baghdad. Another fallen soldier. Another reminder, far from the public spotlight, of the grief that hits not only families of this war's casualties but also their comrades in arms.

    He was 18.

    He was a newlywed.

    He was killed on July 14, eight months after he arrived in Iraq on a deployment that made him nervous from the start, as one fellow soldier remembered. Back at his home station, Fort Carson, Colorado, he drew attention for being so young, so short, so slight and so cheerful.

    "When I saw him I asked, `How old are you, 10?"' recalled his platoon sergeant, Staff Sgt. Eugenie Byron-Griffin. "`What are you doing here? You're a baby.' He looked me straight in my eye, with his chest poked out like he does, and he said, `I'm 17, and I ain't no baby. I'm a man."'

    Tears flowing, she added: "Everyone in the unit used to mess with him because he was so small. And almost always he would fight hard to prove his manhood. Like when he purchased his first vehicle and bragged about how little he paid for it."

    He was determined, Byron-Griffin said: "Even when he was afraid, he would face his fear straight-up. And that was what he did when he enlisted in the Army. He said he was afraid he would deploy to Iraq. But he wanted to make a better life for himself and his family."

    Does this needless death make you happy Mr. Bush?

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  65. How do you like these figures:

    Reuters:

    Attacks in Iraq last month reached their highest daily average since May 2003, showing a surge in violence as President George W. Bush completed a buildup of U.S. troops, Pentagon statistics show.

    The data, obtained by Reuters from the Defense Department, showed an upward trend in daily attacks over the past four months, when U.S. and Iraqi forces were ramping up operations against insurgents and militants, including al Qaeda, in Iraq.

    Pentagon officials were not immediately available to comment on the statistics.

    The June numbers showed 5,335 attacks against coalition troops, Iraqi security forces, civilians and infrastructure.

    Guess Bush lied about that "surge" working: Like he lies about everything else.

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  66. That's pretty cool. As a new blogger myself, Its good to see different views and opinions on progressive issues.

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  67. Looks like a fun time! Congrats on the schmooze award. The blogging world is an amazing thing.

    Hugs,
    Holly

    ReplyDelete
  68. WORFEUS THE SEER said...

    A moonlight sail of course.
    ---------------
    Worf:

    Oh, I love sailing... where do you go sailing? ;)

    Please email me regarding another matter. My email is on my profile.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Hi Holly,

    You make the rounds on the blogs, and could be a schmoozer yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  70. House Democrats next week will introduce a $460 billion military spending bill they will use to challenge the war in Iraq, try to close Guantanamo Bay prison and increase oversight of defense contractors.

    The annual legislation is considered a must-pass bill to fund the military's fleet of vehicles and aircraft, research efforts and servicemember payrolls. It covers the 2008 budget year that begins Oct. 1.

    We'll believe it when we see it.

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  71. Another Insurance Sham:

    CHICAGO (Reuters) - Facing growing consumer concern over soaring costs, America's health insurers are more eager to participate in reform now than in the 1990s, but they will still fight any attempt to reduce their profits, policy experts say.

    "If reform means requiring insurers to be much more efficient and would affect their bottom line, they'd probably oppose it," said Robert Laszewski, a health-care consultant at Alexandria, Virginia-based Health Policy and Strategy Associates who has covered the sector for three decades.

    "Like any stakeholder in reform, the industry would resist any demand that they change their behavior."

    The spiraling cost of health care has risen to the top of voters' domestic concerns in national polls, and health insurers have been lambasted in filmmaker Michael Moore's new documentary, SiCKO.

    Unlike a decade ago, big business, consumers and unions say the growing crisis in America's health-care system, which is dominated by the private sector, must be dealt with. And the insurance lobby has stepped forward with a plan that includes tax credits and subsidies, which it says will cover 45 million uninsured Americans.

    Insurance companies want to help in the reform to direct it in their favor.

    Nothing will improve.

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  72. Another Lie:

    US forces have "turned the corner" in Iraq's western al-Anbar province but it will take two more years for Iraqi forces to be ready to replace US troops, a senior US commander said Friday.

    Despite the turnaround in what has long been the center of the Sunni insurgency, military officials said a 2,200-strong marine expeditionary unit brought into Iraq as part of a surge in forces has been extended for another 30 days.

    Asked whether a drawdown of US forces could begin in Al-Anbar this year, Major General Walter Gaskin said the Iraqi security forces needed more time to gain experience, adding, "I don't see it happening overnight."

    "I believe this could go another couple years in order to get this to there," said Gaskin, who commands US forces in western Iraq, including al-Anbar province.

    Of course it will take two more years: Bush will be out of office and it will fall in on someone else.

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  73. The Official George W. Bush
    "Days Left In Office"
    Countdown:

    548 DAYS
    9 Hrs 46 Min 44.5 Sec

    Will this day ever come?

    ReplyDelete
  74. Larry, you are most welcome. The only memes in which I will participate are those that provide an opportunity to honor other bloggers. In your case, the honor could not have been more richly deserved.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Get ready for a bigger war:

    Turkey has warned that it could send troops into northern Iraq after today's general elections if talks with Iraqi and US officials fail to produce effective measures against Kurdish rebels based there.

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he has invited his Iraqi counterpart, Nouri Al Maliki, to visit Ankara after the vote to discuss the presence of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels in northern Iraq.

    Turkey is ready to take Bush's cherished oil fields, while he gets ready to attack Iran.

    ReplyDelete
  76. If this doesn't bring fear into your future, nothing will:

    CityWatcher.com, a provider of surveillance equipment, attracted little notice itself — until a year ago, when two of its employees had glass-encapsulated microchips with miniature antennas embedded in their forearms.

    The "chipping" of two workers with RFIDs — radio frequency identification tags as long as two grains of rice, as thick as a toothpick — was merely a way of restricting access to vaults that held sensitive data and images for police departments, a layer of security beyond key cards and clearance codes, the company said.

    "To protect high-end secure data, you use more sophisticated techniques," Sean Darks, chief executive of the Cincinnati-based company, said. He compared chip implants to retina scans or fingerprinting. "There's a reader outside the door; you walk up to the reader, put your arm under it, and it opens the door."

    Innocuous? Maybe.

    But the news that Americans had, for the first time, been injected with electronic identifiers to perform their jobs fired up a debate over the proliferation of ever-more-precise tracking technologies and their ability to erode privacy in the digital age.

    To some, the microchip was a wondrous invention — a high-tech helper that could increase security at nuclear plants and military bases, help authorities identify wandering Alzheimer's patients, allow consumers to buy their groceries, literally, with the wave of a chipped hand.

    To others, the notion of tagging people was Orwellian, a departure from centuries of history and tradition in which people had the right to go and do as they pleased, without being tracked, unless they were harming someone else.

    Chipping, these critics said, might start with Alzheimer's patients or Army Rangers, but would eventually be suggested for convicts, then parolees, then sex offenders, then illegal aliens — until one day, a majority of Americans, falling into one category or another, would find themselves electronically tagged.

    The concept of making all things traceable isn't alien to Americans. Thirty years ago, the first electronic tags were fixed to the ears of cattle, to permit ranchers to track a herd's reproductive and eating habits. In the 1990s, millions of chips were implanted in livestock, fish, dogs, cats, even racehorses.

    Microchips are now fixed to car windshields as toll-paying devices, on "contactless" payment cards (Chase's "Blink," or MasterCard's "PayPass"). They're embedded in Michelin tires, library books, passports, work uniforms, luggage, and, unbeknownst to many consumers, on a host of individual items, from Hewlett Packard printers to Sanyo TVs, at Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

    But CityWatcher.com employees weren't appliances or pets: They were people made scannable.

    "It was scary that a government contractor that specialized in putting surveillance cameras on city streets was the first to incorporate this technology in the workplace," says Liz McIntyre, co-author of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID."

    Darks, the CityWatcher.com executive, dismissed his critics, noting that he and his employees had volunteered to be chip-injected. Any suggestion that a sinister, Big-Brother-like campaign was afoot, he said, was hogwash.

    "You would think that we were going around putting chips in people by force," he told a reporter, "and that's not the case at all."

    Yet, within days of the company's announcement, civil libertarians and Christian conservatives joined to excoriate the microchip's implantation in people.

    RFID, they warned, would soon enable the government to "frisk" citizens electronically — an invisible, undetectable search performed by readers posted at "hotspots" along roadsides and in pedestrian areas. It might even be used to squeal on employees while they worked; time spent at the water cooler, in the bathroom, in a designated smoking area could one day be broadcast, recorded and compiled in off-limits, company databases.

    "Ultimately," says Katherine Albrecht, a privacy advocate who specializes in consumer education and RFID technology, "the fear is that the government or your employer might someday say, 'Take a chip or starve.'"

    Hello Big Brother Bush: Goodbye Freedom!

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  77. Suzie-Q (S-Q) said...
    Yes, Olbermann really slammed Bush hard last night!


    Thanks. Now I have to go wash my mind...

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  78. Larry,

    I don't really have a problem with the chipping thing. I chipped my cat.

    So long as its voluntary. It's like that "frequent flyer" program the TSA has: so long as you're willing (and can pay $300), you get on an express line through security at the airports, after a very thorough screening of your history, and all that.

    But you don't ahve to do that, and I won't.

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  79. Carl:

    I wouldn't mind the chip so much if it didn't open the door to being forced, which is my fear.

    Opening the door a little, gives the Bush's of the world the opportuniy to crawl on in.

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  80. Ok, so according to what I read, Bush had 5 polyps removed as part of today's procedure. He previously had some polyps removed back in 1998.

    Hmmm ... that was before he became president. Kind of makes one wonder if today's procedure was covered by his insurance company seeing as how it's a pre-existing condition. My understanding is his insurance company goes by the name of "US Citizen Tax Payers" and they allow for such things. Wow - how can I get insurance like that?

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  81. My wife summed up our political beliefs very beautifully to a more-conservative friend of hers. Really seems to fit what Democrats stand for: Love one another, share, and keep the place you live in clean.

    Redumblicans on the other hand: Do it unto others before they do it unto you, get while the gettin's good, what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine, screw it I wont be living here forever.

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  82. Carl said...

    Suzie-Q (S-Q) said...
    Yes, Olbermann really slammed Bush hard last night!

    Thanks. Now I have to go wash my mind...
    ------------------
    Carl:

    You just need an IV connected to your mind... to keep it clean... here you go drip, drip, drip...

    LOLMAO

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  83. Hello Big Brother Bush: Goodbye Freedom!
    ----------------
    Larry:

    We're almost there!

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  84. Suzie:

    Getting Too Close For Comfort!

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  85. Do They Deserve This:

    WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Despite record-low approval ratings, House lawmakers Wednesday voted to accept an approximately $4,400 pay raise that will increase their salaries to almost $170,000.

    The cost-of-living raise gets lawmakers back on track for automatic pay raises after a fight between Democrats and Republicans last year and again in January killed the pay hike due this year. That was the first interruption of the annual congressional pay hike in seven years.

    The blowup came after Democrats last year fulfilled a campaign promise to deny themselves a pay hike until Congress raised the minimum wage. Delays in the minimum wage bill cost every lawmaker about $3,100 this year.

    Raise for doing what: Kissing Bush's feet!

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  86. “There once was a man named Vitter
    Who vowed that he wasn’t a quitter
    But with stories of women
    And all of his sinnin’
    He knows his career’s in the — oh, never mind,”

    John Kerry said.

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  87. That was so awful reading about that little soldier kid. They all hurt to hear about...but there's something special in this little guy for trying so hard to prove himself. Argh! I want to hit you-know-who for starting all this crap.

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  88. Sumo:

    I agree they treated him horribly and he jsut wanted to do his tour.

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  89. A very fine list of Bloggers indeed!

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  90. Thanks Dusty, you guys get so many it's hard to pass them along to those who didn't just get one.

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  91. Lydia,

    It was such a pleasure and honor to not only meet you but have you as a judge at the Mrs. United States Pageant!!!! Your energy and passion for life and what you are involved in truly shine through your personality:) I would love to stay in contact and wish you the very best in all your future endeavors.

    Sarah Tichich
    Mrs. MN United States 2007
    www.mrsmnus07.blogspot.com
    mrsmnunitedstates07@hotmail.com

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  92. Gee, I love it when beauty queens drop by.


    :D

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  93. Larry said...
    “There once was a man named Vitter
    Who vowed that he wasn’t a quitter
    But with stories of women
    And all of his sinnin’
    He knows his career’s in the — oh, never mind,”

    John Kerry said.


    Hey, did you write that Limerick Larry?

    I really liked that one.

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  94. Wow, thats a good one.

    Did you think that one up all by yourself or did the Messiah U debating team help?

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  95. While you're busy thinking up a snappy comeback, maybe you can explain just how miserable you have to be to dedicate your existence to disrupting anothers.

    I mean on a scale of one to 10, 10 being miserable beyond all comprehension, are you at -89 or are you already into the triple digits?

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  96. Imagine, getting up, and saying, you know, I think I'll just smugly and arrogantly log into a blog that belongs to people who think differently than me, and mock and insult them.

    Imagine what a pathetic peice of low life shit you'd have to be, to be so freaking lame and miserable.

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  97. If it were me, I'd run over my own head with my own car, and have done with it.

    Better to die like roadkill, than to live like a miserable and pathetic demon who's joy is the suffering of others.

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  98. You can't disrupt. You want to disrupt. By stating that you acknowledge your worthless existence.

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  99. Sorry folks, every now and then the neighbors dog wanders in and takes a crap on the lawn.

    Here... lemme just clean that up for you.....

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  100. There... all better.

    Now it looks like Barts talking to himself, lol.

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  101. Good thing I brought my pooper scooper.

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  102. Poor Volton. So much hate, and no one to read it.

    Oh well. Maybe if we're lucky he'll turn that rage inside and end his worthless, pathetic trailer park existence.

    ReplyDelete
  103. Sarah Tichich - Mrs MN United States 07' said...
    Lydia,

    It was such a pleasure and honor to not only meet you but have you as a judge at the Mrs. United States Pageant!!!! Your energy and passion for life and what you are involved in truly shine through your personality:) I would love to stay in contact and wish you the very best in all your future endeavors.

    Sarah Tichich
    Mrs. MN United States 2007
    www.mrsmnus07.blogspot.com
    mrsmnunitedstates07@hotmail.com"


    I'm sure Lydia will be very happy you dropped in when she gets back.

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  104. Oh look a new blogger shows up and the little troll slithers in to stir up trouble and drive off the new blogger..........thats ALL you trolls have been about from day one you came in here at the behest of Coulter and the GOP to hijack, derail, insult and attack and above all drive off new bloggers.............you did that with me almost 2 years ago and your still at it Duncetron..........you PRETEND to be all nice and sweet but its all a game to you trying to play the POOR persecuted party with your sock puppets and associates and trying to make it look like there is MORE of you than there really are.

    I thought of you earlier tonight Duncetron when I took a dump and flushed it down my toilet and............thats all you and your ilk are is human waste.

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  105. Olberman is awesome, I watched him earlier today.

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  106. WORFEUS THE SEER said...
    Larry said...

    I thought Cheney already had those powers!


    I always thought Cheney performed Bush's colonoscopy's."

    yeah with his head.......his head is permanently up Bush's ass.

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  107. Look at the troll..........once again not a SINGLE fact comes out of his mouth just BS and insults!

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  108. Bullshit Volt. You walked in and insulted a blogger out of the blue, like you do everytime you come in, and then try to blame it on everyone else. And it is no longer welcome here, as neither are you.

    Scram.

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  109. People come here to talk, not be insulted by some Charles Manson clone with a keyboard.

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  110. When is the last time a President fought for workers:

    AP:

    Democrat Barack Obama told union activists Saturday night that he would walk a picket line as president if organized labor helps elect him in 2008.

    The Illinois senator also criticized President Bush's policies toward working people.

    "We are facing a Washington that has thrown open its doors to the most anti-union, anti-worker forces we've seen in generations," Obama told a convention of Iowa's largest union of state workers. "What we need to make real today is the idea that in this country we value the labor of every American."

    Four other Democratic presidential candidates have courted activists at the annual convention of Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents more than 20,000 Iowa state workers.

    Like them, Obama said he was committed to union causes and challenged Bush's labor policies.

    "I stood on the picket line and marched with workers at the Congress Hotel in Chicago last week," Obama said. "I had marched with them four years earlier and I told them when I left that if they were still fighting four years from now, I'd be back on that picket line as president of the United States and we'll get the Congress Hotel organized."

    "I won't just vote the right way with you, I will stand with you," he said.

    Obama cited his years as a community organizer in Chicago and said the experience brought him closer to people who are struggling.

    He asked union activists to keep that in mind in deciding which candidate to support in January's Iowa caucuses, which open the presidential nominating process.

    "When I talk about hope, when I talk about change, when I talk about holding America up to its ideals of opportunity and equality, this isn't just the rhetoric of a campaign for me, it's been the cause of a life — a cause I will work for and fight for every day as your president," Obama said.

    He also portrayed himself as a political outsider, and said a new figure is needed to break the gridlock in Washington.

    "We've heard promises and slogans about change before," Obama said. "The road to Washington is often paved with good intentions, but it always ends in the same divisive, polarizing politics that's blocked real progress for so many years."

    The union plays an important role in Iowa Democratic politics. Besides campaign money, an endorsement brings into play a legion of talented organizers throughout the state.

    How many Presidents have stood up for workers this way!

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  111. More than 60 people were killed or found dead in Iraq yesterday, Iraqi authorities said. Here are the major incidents, as reported by Iraqi and U.S. sources:

    U.S. helicopters and warplanes attacked a Shiite area on the outskirts of northern Baghdad, killing at least 15 people and wounding 10, according to the Interior Ministry. U.S. officials disputed that, saying six insurgents were killed and five people wounded when military aircraft used rockets and a bomb to attack two buildings in Hussainiya, where gunmen holed up after firing on U.S. forces.

    In Baghdad's Sadr City Shiite enclave, a bomb destroyed a minibus, killing five wounding 11.
    At least 13 people were reported killed in the northern city of Mosul during a spate of bombings and other killings.
    Police in Baghdad said they discovered 17 unidentified corpses.
    Iraqi officials blamed celebratory gunfire as several people were killed and scores wounded in Baghdad and Basra after Iraq's national soccer team defeated Vietnam 2-0 in Asian Cup competition in Bangkok.

    You sure have screwed your "surge" up Bush: Like everything else you do.

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  112. Sunday Talk
    * MTP: Dir. of Natl Intel Mike McConnell on NIE & terrorism; Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) on Iraq; roundtable of NYT's David Brooks, Weekly Standard's Stephen Hayes and WaPo's Bob Woodward on Bush-Cheney admin
    * FTN: Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) on Iraq and terrorism
    * FNS: WH Homeland Sec. Adv. Frances Townsend; Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO); Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN); Sir Richard Branson
    * Late Edition: WH Homeland Sec. Adv. Frances Townsend; Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY); David Bonior (D-Edwards); roundtable of Dana Bash, John King & Candy Crowley
    * No This Week, this week. (British Open)

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  113. Worf:

    Check out the Saturday post on Patriots blog. It is along the lines of your Pakistan thinking.

    ReplyDelete
  114. Is Bush geting to take over America:

    Oregonians called Peter DeFazio's office, worried there was a conspiracy buried in the classified portion of a White House plan for operating the government after a terrorist attack.

    As a member of the U.S. House on the Homeland Security Committee, DeFazio, D-Ore., is permitted to enter a secure "bubbleroom" in the Capitol and examine classified material. So he asked the White House to see the secret documents.

    On Wednesday, DeFazio got his answer: DENIED.

    "I just can't believe they're going to deny a member of Congress the right of reviewing how they plan to conduct the government of the United States after a significant terrorist attack," DeFazio says.

    Homeland Security Committee staffers told his office that the White House initially approved his request, but it was later quashed. DeFazio doesn't know who did it or why.

    "We're talking about the continuity of the government of the United States of America," DeFazio says. "I would think that would be relevant to any member of Congress, let alone a member of the Homeland Security Committee."

    Bush administration spokesman Trey Bohn declined to say why DeFazio was denied access: "We do not comment through the press on the process that this access entails. It is important to keep in mind that much of the information related to the continuity of government is highly sensitive."

    Get ready to lose your freedom!

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  115. "I believe there are more instances of abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."

    James Madison

    Isn't this true in America?

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  116. I enjoy your blog very much-you are deserving of awards for your efforts. Look forward to many more wonderful posts.

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  117. Thanks Robert, Lydia is a wonderful writer and appreciates your commenting here.

    I was on your blog yesterday and found it informative.

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  118. AP:

    The U.S. would consider military force if necessary to stem al-Qaida's growing ability to use its hideout in Pakistan to launch terrorist attacks, a White House aide said Sunday.

    The president's homeland security adviser, Fran Townsend, said the U.S. was committed first and foremost to working with Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, in his efforts to control militants in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. But she indicated the U.S. was ready to take additional measures.

    How many wars can Bush fight at once?

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  119. Can't he do better than this:

    Feingold announced today that he will “introduce two censure resolutions condemning the President, Vice President and other administration officials for misconduct relating to the war in Iraq and for their repeated assaults on the rule of law.” In March 2006, Feingold introduced a censure resolution against Bush over the NSA wiretapping program. In a statement released today, Feingold said:

    At my town hall meetings, online, and everywhere I go, I hear the American people demanding that the President and his administration be held accountable for their misconduct, both with regard to the disastrous war in Iraq and their flagrant abuse of the rule of law. Censure is a relatively modest response, but one that puts Congress on record condemning their actions, both for the American people today and for future generations.

    What about Impeachment?

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  120. New post is up.

    I will include all the winners of the Schmooze Award.

    xoxo
    Lydia

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  121. Carl stated"Thu!

    It's good to hear your voice once again! How have you been, sir?

    I see where the court threw out Valerie Plame's case on some bizarre technicality, thus neatly avoiding talking about the real grounds of the case."

    Good to hear from you as well Carl, I see you and the others played a integral role in vanquishing the ruffians and sods that infected and were a blight on this blog, in my absence.

    I feel the quality and honesty of the discussion has certainly increased in their absence, however regretably I rather enjoyed besting and dominating the dishonest dotards.

    As for the Valerie Plame trial, I would wager the fat lady has not yet sung regarding this matter; on the other hand I am quite certain the foppish Freedom Fan has given up the ghost here and resigned himself to being the court jester with that sardonic wit of his at the ruffian blog, as he has quite evidently learned not to tangle with his betters.

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  122. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  123. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  124. Carl stated"It's interesting to see the type of people that are attracted here, after we worked so hard to clear out the trolls.

    Good work guys."

    I quite agree Carl, however as I stated earlier, though the dishonest ruffians that infected and were a blight on this blog detracted from legitimate and intense debate, I regrettably must confess that I derived a small minute level of amusement from besting and humiliating them on a regular basis.

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