Mid-Terms are two weeks away

Do you know how (or if) your vote will be tallied? A big hat tip to Tina for alerting us to this tidbit: Illinois Ballot Integrity Project hacks into Chicago voter database.

The IBIP is a not-for-profit, non-partisan civic organization dedicated to the correction of election system deficiencies and to ensuring fair, accurate, and completely transparent elections.

The Diebold machines operate on proprietary software which is easily hacked. In a paper last month, "Security Analysis of the Diebold AccuVote-TS Voting Machine," (available here) Princeton computer professor Edward W. Felten and two graduate students Ariel J. Feldman and J. Alex Halderman discussed a common Diebold machine. They showed that anyone who gets access to the machine and its memory card for literally a minute or two could easily install the group's invisible vote-stealing software on the machine. (Poll workers and others have unsupervised access for much longer periods.) Changing all logs, counters, and associated records to reflect the bogus vote count that it generates, the software installed by the infected memory card (similar to a floppy disk) would be undetectable. In fact, the software would delete itself at the end of Election Day.

Do NOT LET THIS STOP YOU FROM VOTING. Vote, and tell people how you vote.

As subtle as a sledgehammer

The Republicans have no class. Trailing in polls, party runs TV ad starring bin Laden. Not the first time terror threat used in bid to sway vote.


"They will not come to their senses unless the attacks fall on their heads and ... until the battle has moved inside America," bin Laden says, according to the script, lifted from a 2001 interview he gave to Al Jazeera.

The final frame appears to show a nuclear attack.

"These are the stakes," says the accompanying graphic.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm more afraid of the proprietary software in the Diebold machines; I'm more afraid of my vote not counting, or not being counted at all; I'm more afraid of the Republicans stealing votes then I am of Osama bin Laden, who is probably dead anyway.

And, just to prove Sean Hannity to be the idiot he is, Democrats should get up off their asses and vote! Vote in record numbers. Vote early in states where it is allowed, or if you are traveling. Vote.

Guest posting at The Fat Lady Sings today

The Fat Lady Sings is laid up with a bad back, and has asked a few people to guest post in her absence. I'm honored to be among them. So, today's post is over there.

Friday grandbaby blogging

Musical baby loves all kinds of music. She loves classical: the opening track on a Baby Einstein CD is a medley from the opera "The Barber Of Seville", and as soon as she hears it, she starts dancing and laughing in time to the music. She loves rock. She loves jazz. She loves all things Sesame Street. But this is NOT her IPOD, it's daddy's.

And yesterday when we spoke on the phone, she listened intently as I sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider" - and when I finished, she said with great authority "AGIN". Oh, and her new favorite word is "THIS." The reason we got to speak on the phone yesterday is because my daughter and I were speaking, and Bean pointed to it and said "THIS."

She's running for President in 44 years.

Read this post

We stand at a distinct turning point, politically, ethically, morally, socially, environmentaly. I read a beautiful post at BluePRintX that Tony Bridge wrote specific to the environmental crisis that I urge everyone to read, and participate in.

He begins: "Imagine a world without hatred and fear. Imagine a world where people lived together, working for the common good, in tune with and respectful of the planet, aware of the amazing biosphere on which we stand and determined to allow it to continue, to allow it to support us."

And to this I say, unless we reverse the damage we are doing to our earth, there will be no earth to wage war over. The circle goes round and round, but eventually comes home to me. The journey of 1000 miles begins with one step.

What's next?

Henry David Thoreau, in his essay "On Civil Disobedience", wrote: "Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it."

Our current government does not command my respect. It commands my deep disdain, my rage, my shame. Thoreau was writing in protest of the US invasion of Mexico, but his words hold true today: "All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable. But almost all say that such is not the case now. But such was the case, they think, in the Revolution of '75. If one were to tell me that this was a bad government because it taxed certain foreign commodities brought to its ports, it is most probable that I should not make an ado about it, for I can do without them. All machines have their friction; and possibly this does enough good to counter-balance the evil. At any rate, it is a great evil to make a stir about it. But when the friction comes to have its machine, and oppression and robbery are organized, I say, let us not have such a machine any longer. In other words, when a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize. What makes this duty the more urgent is that fact that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading army." (emphasis mine.)

Why do we not perform acts of Civil Disobedience? Beyond Camp Casey, where are the sit-ins protesting the war? Other than Keith Olbermann I am hard-pressed to find a newsperson who actually dares to speak the truth on television. We blog. We write about this over and over, and sometimes I think we are preaching to the choir, and we need to take our message out to the streets. But not violently. Violence is an act of cowardice. It takes courage to say no, and to stand behind our beliefs. It takes real courage to risk everything for dignity and freedom in an enviroment that lionizes fear.

I am not a professional organizer; I am not a political pundit. I'm a travel agent. I show up to work, and I try to be pleasant, and I try to do a good job. But I am also a citizen, and have a responsibility to make sure I live in a world I can respect. If I cannot respect my home, I am certain the rest of the world holds us in disdain as well.

The Journey of Fear Itself

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I was out for an early pre-work walk. I lived next to LAX, and my path was adjacent to the runways. It was early, about 6 AM, a gorgeous day, and suddenly planes started to land coming in from the ocean. The flight pattern at LAX is this: Planes take off over the ocean, and land coming in toward the ocean. The only time this changes is because of severe weather.

I thought, "hmmm. Maybe a storm is coming in?"

And so I left for the office, stopping at the post office. For some reason, I didn't turn on NPR as I drove in. I just kept the radio off. The flags at the post office were at half staff. I walked in to purchase my stamps, and the clerk realized I was clueless. She told me that the World Trade Center had collapsed. For some reason I thought she meant the stock market, and she said no, that two planes had flown into both towers and the buildings collapsed in rubble. My knees buckled, legs became weak. And I had to get into the office, because I realized we would have clients stranded all over the South Pacific.

At 10:00 AM, we got a call from a friend at Qantas Airways: Laura Lee Morabito was supposed to have been on AA11, the first plane that hit the first tower. Her death was confirmed later that afternoon. Laura was a friend.

And while all this happened, George Walker Bush read "My Pet Goat" to school children. Even after he was informed by an aide that planes had been hijacked and used as bombs, he read to school children. Our nation was plunged into fear, and he calmly read to school children because fear is the weapon of choice for this administration.

Bush has used fear to support lies as he plunged us into war in Iraq, a war which has left more Iraqi civilians dead in three years than Saddam Hussein killed in 20. Bush has used fear to support his lies as he has determined that the Geneva Conventions don't apply to the United States. Bush has used fear to create the Military Commissions Act which he signed into law on Tuesday Oct. 17, 2006, a day which will live in infamy.

Our nation, consumed by fear, went to sleep on September 11, 2001. Fear exhausts the mind, the body, the soul. Fear tells people that they don't know enough to make sound decisions so they abdicate responsibility to those who are in authority. The problem is that this administration staged a coup in November 2000 when Florida was decided for Bush over questionable votes. This administration came into power over contested votes. Slowly, slowly, weilding the weapon of fear they have created a stranglehold on both the House and Senate; they have claimed "family values" as they behave like the thieves and terrorists they really are.

Last night, watching a clip of former President Bill Clinton, I was struck by how Presidential he still is. He said, and I paraphrase, that the problem with idiology is that there is no room for debate. When you have an idiology, you are "right" and the other guy is "wrong" and there is no room for an exchange of ideas, no room to grow, no room to compromise. Idiology is not healthy.

I believe that idiology is a form of mental illness; and mental illness speaks with an authority that sane voices do not share. Sanity sees shades of gray, and idiology and insanity only see black & white. And the idiology of THIS administration governs by fear, and with an iron fist.

October 17, 2006, Bush signed the Military Commissions Act and with that signature he shredded the Constitution. The Writ of Habeus Corpus was the foundation for all our freedom. The Writ of Habeus Corpus guaranteed the right of an accused to know what he or she is accused of, to a speedy trial, to representation by a lawyer. And now, now a person can be detained for no reason at all; without contact with others; without knowing what he or she is accused of doing.

And today we should all stand in fear of the dangerous, even criminal actions of the current administration. In less than 20 days there will be mid-term elections. I am fearful that they will be the last elections held in the United States before George W. Bush declares himself President for Life. Is that insane?

Review the last six years of his administration, review the slow shredding of our basic rights and freedoms. Then tell me he lacks the capacity to turn our nation into a dictatorship. Keith Olbermann, last night, said We have a long and painful history of ignoring the prophecy attributed to Benjamin Franklin that "those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

And I believe that the nation, asleep, has given up essential liberty. We now must bear the brunt of that weakness.

Ex-House Clerk May Be a Key in Foley’s Case

This is a quiet job, usually. Jeff Trandahl, former clerk of the House of Representatives, was little known outside of Congress until recently. And on Thursday, Mr. Trandahl is scheduled to testify before the House Ethics Committee to either corroborate, or contradict, accusations that Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) knew about Foley's sexual advances toward underage pages at least three years ago.

It is said of Mr. Trandahl that he played by the rules. It is also said that he is quite adept at navigating the waters of an institution known for protecting its own. “When the rest of the trees blow down, Jeff Trandahl will be left standing up,” said Craig Shniderman, executive director of Food & Friends, who has known Mr. Trandahl for nearly a decade.

Mr. Trandahl is a gay Republican who also had a bird's eye view of what was happening in Congress. Republicans have long held a "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gays amongst them. Mr. Trandahl never dwelled on his sexuality. However, he also did not go to extreme lengths to conceal it, unlike Mr. Foley, who publicly acknowledged he is gay only after resigning this month.

Part of the Clerk's job is to oversee the Congressional page program, which meant that concerns about the page's welfare and conduct were routed to Trandahl. Every year, he sent some of them home for inappropriate behavior: drinking, smoking pot, or just misbehavior.

"Over the years, people who worked with him on the Hill said, Mr. Trandahl received periodic complaints that Mr. Foley was acting too friendly to the pages or interns.

The House ethics committee is trying to determine whether Mr. Trandahl simply passed along the information to Kirk Fordham, a longtime aide to Mr. Foley, or whether he alerted the speaker’s office that Mr. Foley’s overfriendly behavior had grown beyond idle gossip."

And Mr. Trandahl is not discussing the case until he testifies on Thursday.

Representative Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) says he alerted Trandahl about Foley's behavior five years ago. Last year, Trandahl and Representative John Shimkus (R-IL) confronted Foley over email messages Foley sent to a former page from Louisiana.

Somehow, I think that Denny Hastert is sweating bullets over Trandahl's testimony

The long arm of Wally-World

Wal-Mart has a goal: global domination. Wal-Mart, currently the largest retailer in the United States, is about to acquire Taiwanese-owned Trust-Mart. With that purchase, Wal-Mart will be able to duplicate in China what they've done in the USA: exploit workers by cutting benefits. Wal-Mart's health insurance options for 2007, dubbed the "value plan" and the "freedom plan," feature deductibles reaching as high as $6,000 for family coverage under the "freedom plan" -- meaning that a Wal-Mart employee selecting that plan would have to fork over $6,000 before insurance started covering their family's medical bills. That's a lot of money for a cashier earning Wal-Mart wages, and it begs some serious questions about how a deductible that high can be met without going into debt.

And it will allow them to do in China what they do in the USA: exploit customers by doing away with layaway. The company cited falling demand and credit cards as reasons for ending the policy. Consumers apparently prefer the instant gratifcation plastic can give them to the patience that is required with layaway.

Wal-Mart wants instant gratification, too. It wants people to pay up and take their merchandise home.

Left out, says customer Laura Walsh of Luray, Va., are people who are trying to live within their means and avoid credit card debt.
"For being a responsible citizen, and paying for my goods ahead of time and not digging myself into debt, this is what I get," she said.

And the acquisition will let Wal-Mart do in China what it does in the USA: bust unions and destroy neighborhoods. "Wal-Mart told the world, the aldermen and the mayor that they weren't bringing supercenters to Chicago. . . . Now, big-box living ordinance goes away and, all the sudden, we're talking supercenters. Wal-Mart has a credibility issue with the public. They're saying one thing and doing another. They owe us an explanation about why they've changed their strategy," Gannon said.

Ron Powell, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 881, said allowing Wal-Mart to build supercenters would destroy good union jobs at other stores.

"Look at what's happened all over the country, especially in small towns. They put every other grocery stores out of business. Then, they start raising their prices," Powell said.

I wonder if the goods sold in China will say "Made in America?"

The highest form of flattery

Hats off to Frederick at MCCS1977 for the following, stolen verbatim:

There was a fever over the land. A fever of disgrace, of indignity, of hunger. We had a democracy, yes, but it was torn by elements within. Above all, there was fear. Fear of today, fear of tomorrow, fear of our neighbors, and fear of ourselves. Only when you understand that - can you understand what Hitler meant to us. Because he said to us: 'Lift your heads! Be proud to be German! There are devils among us. Communists, Liberals, Jews, Gypsies! Once these devils will be destroyed, your misery will be destroyed.' It was the old, old story of the sacrifical lamb. What about those of us who knew better? We who knew the words were lies and worse than lies? Why did we sit silent? Why did we take part? Because we loved our country! What difference does it make if a few political extremists lose their rights? What difference does it make if a few racial minorities lose their rights? It is only a passing phase. It is only a stage we are going through. It will be discarded sooner or later.

Monsters, INC.

I have Chicago Bears fever. Originally from Chicago, I admit being a Bears Fan. Chicago Cubs, too, but baseball season is over. Why do I mention football on a Monday? Because I just spent the weekend with several of my cousins, and my one cousin from San Francisco is a die hard San Francisco 49ers fan, and I get to lord it over her that my Bears are doing so well.

Other than that, I need to go back to the old Joni Mitchell song which says:

"Sitting in a park in Paris, France,
Reading the news and it sure looks bad
They won't give peace a chance,
It was just a dream some of us had"

Friday grandbaby blogging

On Wednesday, I was on the phone with my daughter. Bean was in the background, chattering away. I asked daughter to put her on the phone. Beanie said nothing. So I sang "I'm a little teapot" to her. When finished, she said "Agin, agin, agin!" So I sang again. She said "Agin, agin, agin!" SO I sang a third time. Beanie put the phone down and clapped her hands.

It was the very first time she spoke on the phone!

Ron Kovic, breaking the silence

Sumo has an amazing post about Ron Kovic. Kovic, born on July 4, 1946, was a gung-ho Marine, who became one of the most vocal anti-war activists during the Viet Nam War. His article, essential reading, begins with this quote: A time comes when silence is betrayal. -- Martin Luther King Jr., April 4, 1967

Kovic's article talks about the process of doubt for a soldier involved in an immoral war begins. The mental conditioning for a soldier is incredible. He writes:

You’ve been taught to follow orders, to obey and not question, to go along with the program and do exactly what you’re told. You learned that in boot camp. You learned that the very first day at Parris Island when the drill instructors started screaming at you. It is “Yes sir” and “No sir,” and nothing in between. There is the physical and verbal abuse, the vicious threats and constant harassment to keep you off balance. It is a powerful conditioning process, a process that began long ago, long before we signed those papers at the recruit stations in our hometowns, a process deeply ingrained in the American culture and psyche, and it has shaped and influenced us from our earliest childhood.

But somewhere, something happens, and the soldier says "No. No more. This is wrong." And here, at home, the people say "No more."

Yet Bush calls us unpatriotic for dissent. He does all he can to destroy our right to assemble; to protest; to speak out. He does all he can to silence conscience. I say no more. Read the article, and speak out.

Roundup of Breaking News

Today I will leave it to other bloggers to talk about war, sex scandals, and nukular weapons of mass destruction. Other bloggers can disect the intricacies of Foleygate. Today, I will focus on what's on the minds of millions of Americans:
Dr. McDreamy; TomKat; and Mel Gibson's bender-banter.

McDreamy and Burke scuffle on the Set. Yes, it's true. Patrick Dempsey and Isaiah Washington got into a fight over one of the more unattractive co-stars. The two men stood nose to nose (they used Scope) before Washington stormed off to his well-appointed trailer. Washington said "Our faces are too beautiful to actually hit each other." He's well-aware of what's paying HIS bills.

And Katie Holmes, engaged to Scientologist Tom Cruise, is starting to get cold feet. I wonder why? Anyway, she got a call from Cruise's former wife, actress & Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman. Nicole urged Katie to go through with the marriage, saying "Please, get him out of my hair, already. I'm married to a sane guy now, and I just can't be bothered anymore."

Everybody's favorite anti-Semite, Mel Gibson, hasn't had a drink in 65 days. Gosh, he must be one of those recovery saints, who after a month without booze say, "I used to be an asshole, but now I'm perfect." Mel has been assigned to AA by a judge, which means he needs to go to meetings and collect OTHER people's autographs. So maybe Mark Foley and Mel can work out an arrangement?

Okay, I am just feeling nothing but relief from knowing that these important issues are covered. This way, those Red-State Voters who unleashed the monsters who currently hold office in the USA on the rest of us can have something to care about. I realize I left out Vince & Jen, and Brangelina, but I can only take so much at a sitting.

XXOO

Look what "Staying the Course" does for US

N. Korea Warns U.S. Pressure Would Be War Declaration

North Korea's government said further pressure from the U.S. after the communist state announced the test of a nuclear device would be tantamount to declaring war.

But we stay the course in Iraq, where War blamed for 655,000 Iraqi deaths. "Since March 2003, an additional 2.5 percent of Iraq's population have died above what would have occurred without conflict," according to the survey of Iraqi households, titled "The Human Cost of the War in Iraq."

Meanwhile, Senator John McCain blames Clinton for North Korea. Yeah, Clinton who had a dialogue going with North Korea (while Asea Brown Boveri, the company where Donald Rumsfeld was on the Board of Directors, built Nuclear Reactors in North Korea) - Clinton attempted to talk to North Korea. Rumsfeld helped ARM North Korea. Bush "ignored" North Korea, because they have no oil!

We are in Iraq, on a killing spree. We stay the course. Mel Gibson apologizes for his hateful behavior; Mark Foley apologizes for his criminal behavior - both chalk it up to being drunk. We are in Iraq, on a killing spree. Our planet is dying, because of Global Warming which insurance companies are jumping all over. But we stay the course. Our Bill of Rights is meaningless, only good for wrapping leftover fish, because Bush has killed the Writ of Habeas Corpus - but we stay the course.

I've been wondering about the increase in Space Tourism. Virgin Galactic is in negotiations with Lloyd's of London for flight insurance. This will cover risks to people and structures on the ground near the launch site. However, passengers on suborbital flights are expected to travel at their own risk, at least initially.

None of this deters Sir Richard. Even before the first launch, Branson has plans for orbital space tourism and proposes putting a hotel in space.

Not to be outdone, Space Adventures Ltd. has announced a project named Deep Space Expeditions Alpha to send people around the moon. A five-and-a-half day lunar flight could happen in 2008 or 2009 and cost about $100 million per person.

We are on a killing spree, we stay the course in Iraq. A fire at Baghdad ammo dump sets off series of blasts, which can't be good for anyone.

When our earthly home is ruined, Halliburton and Asea Brown Boveri will get all the contracts to build cities in space. On the moon, on Mars. Global expansion. Only the rich will be able to move. Only the very wealthy criminals in office will continue this destructive path.

I'm over it, folks. I want my country back.

The Rumsfeld Connection to North Korea's Nuclear Missiles

From Jan. 17, 2003 Bush Seeks $3.5 Million for Group Building N. Korean Reactors.

That company? The company that got the contract to deliver equipment and services to build the two light water reactor stations was ABB (Asea Brown Boveri), which describes itself as, “a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact.” The contract was valued at $200 million and was signed in January 2000.

Donald Rumsfeld was an executive director of ABB from 2000 - 2001.

Follow the money.

Elephant vs. Mankind

In yesterday's New York Times Magazine there was an article called An Elephant Crackup? which talked about what is now being called Elephant Breakdown, a wide-spread increase in human/elephant conflict.

It appears that people are blaming the elephants for increasing violent behavior, which includes attacks on villages and individuals. "Still, it is not only the increasing number of these incidents that is causing alarm but also the singular perversity — for want of a less anthropocentric term — of recent elephant aggression. Since the early 1990’s, for example, young male elephants in Pilanesberg National Park and the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve in South Africa have been raping and killing rhinoceroses; this abnormal behavior, according to a 2001 study in the journal Pachyderm, has been reported in “a number of reserves” in the region. In July of last year, officials in Pilanesberg shot three young male elephants who were responsible for the killings of 63 rhinos, as well as attacks on people in safari vehicles. In Addo Elephant National Park, also in South Africa, up to 90 percent of male elephant deaths are now attributable to other male elephants, compared with a rate of 6 percent in more stable elephant communities."

What is causing this wholesale breakdown of elephant culture? Human encroachment of habitat; poaching and culling; human intervention which has so disrupted the natural elephant way of life. And human response? In India, people are being told to stop worshiping the elephant in order to avoid conflict when they go out and kill elephants.

"It has long been apparent that every large, land-based animal on this planet is ultimately fighting a losing battle with humankind. And yet entirely befitting of an animal with such a highly developed sensibility, a deep-rooted sense of family and, yes, such a good long-term memory, the elephant is not going out quietly. It is not leaving without making some kind of statement, one to which scientists from a variety of disciplines, including human psychology, are now beginning to pay close attention."

Elephants are profoundly social creatures. A family group is matriarchal; elephant young are raised by the birth mother; grandmothers; aunties; friends. When an elephant dies, the herd goes through intense mourning as it buries the body - during a weeklong vigil they cover the body with earth and brush. They visit the bones for years after, exhibiting love and care. They are aware of danger to one another, and they communicate danger over long distance. They remember.

But through systematic poaching, habitat destruction, culling, the numbers of older elephants has drastically fallen, leaving young elephants to fend for themselves. Calves are being born to younger, inexperienced elephants and the young males have fewer older bull elephants to keep them in check and teach them elephant behavior. These orphaned elephants have often witnessed the massacre of their elders. And we wonder at why they are reacting with aggression?

We can look to the elephant behavior for a prediction of what will happen over time in Iraq, in Afghanistan as we bring our brand of democracy to the world. We can look to the elephant behavior to predict what will happen to the AIDS orphans in South Africa.

"The elephants of decimated herds, especially orphans who’ve watched the death of their parents and elders from poaching and culling, exhibit behavior typically associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related disorders in humans: abnormal startle response, unpredictable asocial behavior, inattentive mothering and hyperaggression. Studies of the various assaults on the rhinos in South Africa, meanwhile, have determined that the perpetrators were in all cases adolescent males that had witnessed their families being shot down in cullings. It was common for these elephants to have been tethered to the bodies of their dead and dying relatives until they could be rounded up for translocation to, as Bradshaw and Schore describe them, “locales lacking traditional social hierarchy of older bulls and intact natal family structures.” " (emphasis mine.)

We bomb in Iraq. We create orphans. The children of decimated families will exhibit behavior typically associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. And violence begets violence.

Over the weekend, I saw The US Vs. John Lennon. It is a must-see. I end this post with a message from John & Yoko, which is as relevant today as it was during the Viet Nam War:


WAR IS OVER - if you want it

Junk mail solutions

When I got back from my travels, my mailbox was stuffed with more junk than it could handle. But today, today I find there are solutions. MrsGreenThumb has compiled a comprehensive strategy on how to get off the lists. Here is a sample:

Credit offers: The major credit agencies all sell aggregate credit information any bidder. Direct mail and credit companies generate mail based on demographics including zip code, income band and credit payment patterns. Stopping this is easy, you just need your address, former address within two years, and social security number. One call does it all for agencies Equifax, Trans Union, Experian and Innovis. Dial 1-888-5 OPT OUT (or 1-888-567-8688) 24 hours a day.

Catalogs:Call the company's 800 number and have the label handy.Write your instructions on the mailing label and fax it to the company. Mark "ATTN: customer service".

AOL (America On-Line): You could pave the nation with the free discs these people send out, call 1-800-605-4297 (24 hours a day) to get off the list. Tell them your first name is "current", last name "resident".

Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes: You can get the Clearinghouse to stop clogging your mailbox by contacting customer service at 1-800-645-9242 (8:30 am to 8:30 EST), sending a fax to 1-800-453-0272, mailing to 101 Channel Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050, or you can send email to pch@ant.net. PCH will remove any number of names from a specific address, but you have to list each name exactly and insist nicely.

American Family Sweepstakes: Ed McMahon and Dick Clark will stop telling you "You have definitely won 11 million dollars (maybe) " if you call them at 1-800-237-2400.

But visit her blog for the complete "how to" of opting out. It is brilliant, and I am forever grateful.

Friday grandbaby blogging (on Sunday)

Such a face. I want to eat her up!




Tormenting Doggie. She loves her doggie. She sings "doggie, doggie, day, doggie doggie day" every morning.

ABC screws Hastert again

While Republicans hoped that "Give 'em hell" Denny's "Buck Stops Here" speech would end their slide into disaster, several newspapers published reports that corraborate that pesky ABC News story indicating that Hastert's office new about Mark Foley's "overly friendly" emails at least three years ago. And wouldn't you know it? Newsweek just ran a poll that shows that for the first time since 2001, people trust Democrats more than Republicans on moral issues.

Meanwhile, Hastert, seen here dressed in his best suit, was crushed by all the Republican candidates who'd cancelled appearances with him. His staff assured him that it has nothing to do with the outfit.

Hastert Vows to Overcome Scandal

Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) said Thursday that he expected to win re-election and run for speaker again. He found his way to the post eight years ago through back-room maneuvering, and by sitting on his opponents, while the party was in crisis. Several Republicans had awakened with the sick realization that they had a moron for a President, and while puking in restrooms in the Rayburn Building, Hastert found his way to the Speaker position.

Speaking to his constituants in Batavia, Illinois, Mr. Hastert vowed he would not become a casualty in the Foley Scandal. He said, "First, I'm not gay, so they can't pin that on me. Next, I'm too fat to get aroused, so I won't stalk any children." When a reporter pressed Hastert on the question of his resignation, Hastert mumbled, "Any time that a person has to, as a leader, be on the hot seat and he is a detriment to the party, you know, there ought to be a change. That's how I became speaker, because that idiot Robert Livingston got caught for screwing around." Livingston had been the party's first choice to replace Newt Gingrich as speaker, but he withdrew when it became public that he was having an extramarital affair.

Hastert used to hide behind his sponsor, the ever-so-slimy Tom Delay. Now Delay is gone, under indictment in Texas for campaign financing irregularities, and under investigation for being in bed with Jack Abramoff. Suddenly, Hastert is looming large, and the party thinks he might be a liability. Yesterday, in fact, he received the kiss of death through a phone call from Prezdint BumbleShrub, who said "Way to go, Denny. We love ya."

In an interview with Larry King of CNN, Mr. Bush said: "I’m very, very fond and think very highly of Hastert."

When Mr. King asked, "Don’t you think he should quit?" Mr. Bush responded, "Oh no. No, no, no. He takes all the heat off of me, and that makes me feel good."

Hastert apologizes but refuses to resign

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) apologizes for his expanding head, but refuses to resign. Rep. Hastert, chins wagging, said "Ultimately, Mark Foley was an idiot to use his computer, and I'm sorry I ever allowed him to do so. But the buck stops here. I take full responsibility for not crashing his hard drive."

The House ethics committee opened an expansive investigation into the unfolding page sex scandal Thursday, approving four dozen subpoenas for witnesses and documents. Hastert, frustrated that the Democrats and ABC News refuse to take responsibility for Foley's sexual activities, said "There is no way I will resign from my post." When asked if he was among the people supoenaed, Hastert blew a raspberry at the reporter. Breaking out in a flop sweat, Hastert said "I refuse to dignify that question with a response. Where's my lawyer?"

Foley, 52, stepped down after he was confronted with sexually explicit electronic messages he had sent teenage male pages. He has since entered an alcohol rehabilitation facility at an undisclosed location. Through his lawyer, he has said he is gay but denied any sexual contact with minors. Because he has admitted he is gay, he has been stripped of his Republican credentials and told he must enter rehab to become either straight, or be forced into becoming a liberal democrat. Gays are not allowed in the Republican party. Pedophiles ARE, of course, allowed, but not homosexuals.

Meet Sydney McGee

Sydney McGee is an award-winning art teacher in the Wilma Fisher Elementary School in Frisco, Texas. She has almost 30 years of experience educating children. Last April, she took her fifth-graders to the Dallas Museum of Art. She thought this would be a treat for the kids, to be exposed to one of the nation's finest museum collections of art. But horror of horrors, one of the students saw a nude sculpture. The following day, the principal of the school, Nancy Lawson, wagged her finger at McGee, scolding her for exposing the children to naked pictures. (Lawson had urged McGee to take the kids on a field trip in the first place.)

Guess what? McGee has been told her contract would not be renewed.

The Dallas Museum of Art has a world-class collection. McGee's focus was on the European Collection, a sample of which you can view here. Over a half million children have visited the museum, including students from other Frisco schools; over a ten year period, there has not been one complaint from a parent about children seeing "naked" pictures or sculpture.

"We're not talking about an exhibit of salacious, sexually charged photos by Robert Mapplethorpe or Richard Hamilton; the art in question includes such work as a marble torso of a Greek youth from around 300 B.C. and a sculpture by Auguste Rodin," writes Richard Roeper in today's Chicago Sun-Times.

But McGee is fired; the school district contends it is over lesson planning and other administrative gaffes. Meanwhile, Dennis Hastert (R-IL) blames Democrats and ABC News for fanning the flames over the sex scandal involving former Congressman Mark Foley and the teenage Congressional pages. Foley, a pedophile, is called a victim of his childhood, and an award-winning teacher is fired.

What is wrong with this picture?

From the mind of John Yoo

"The military proceedings to determine if you're an enemy combatant usually don't require as much proof. You know, the point of the war is not to collect evidence and solve crimes. It's to fight and defeat the enemy. So I think this sort of flexible process reflects the demands and the nature of warfare." John Yoo, on NPR Oct. 3.

John Yoo is a scary guy. Christopher Shea, writing in The Boston Globe, Oct. 23, 2005 "IN JOHN YOO'S world, President Bush didn't need to ask Congress for permission to invade Iraq. And if the special forces captured a terrorist suspect who might know of an upcoming attack on the New York subway, Bush could order him placed on a torture rack-regardless of treaties the US has signed or whether Congress had passed laws banning torture." According to wikipedia's entry, Woo contributed to the PATRIOT Act and wrote controversial memos in which he advocated the possible legality of torture and that enemy combatants could be denied protection under the Geneva Convention as a means of diminishing legal challenges regarding war crimes.

Yoo is a brilliant man. His book, The Powers of War and Peace : The Constitution and Foreign Affairs after 9/11, has been critically acclaimed, and likened to Machiavelli's The Prince. He argues that Presidential war powers are above the law. In December, 2005 debate with Human Rights Activist Doug Cassel, Yoo advocated torture of children:

Cassel: If the President deems that he’s got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the person’s child, there is no law that can stop him?
Yoo: No treaty.
Cassel: Also no law by Congress. That is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo.
Yoo: I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that.

Why would the President think it okay to torture children? Why would the President think it appropriate to torture anyone? Yoo is articulate, he's intelligent, and he's cold around the heart. Without any discernable soul.

Over the last two weeks in Chicago, I entered into conversations with like minded friends, some of whom attempted to compare this war to Viet Nam. There are such incredible differences I cannot begin to list them all.

Viet Nam, which I think of as Johnson's hubris, was such a different climate. Johnson, had it not been for his obsession with winning the war, would go down in history as a champion of civil rights, of education, of domestic policies that were good policies. But he had this fatal flaw, and it destroyed him and ripped us apart. Those of us in colleges across the country took to the streets, we protested in any way we could to get us out of Viet Nam. At the forefront of those protests were the students of University of California, Berkeley. Oh, wait a minute. That's where John Yoo teaches.

We are in a state of apathy that has ripped the soul from our nation. I want it back.

Iva Toguri, rest in peace

In Chicago, on Belmont, west of Clark Street, is Toguri Imports. This specialty store stocks a variety of Japanese goods, from Oragami paper to food, from Kimonos to inks and ink stones. I began shopping there in the 1980s while I was a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and recall meeting Iva Toguri every time I entered the shop.

Iva was a short, grey haired woman. She was pleasant, but a little impatient with people who browsed without spending money. She helped me buy my ink stone, and ink block, helped me with my brushes, and the right paper. She assisted me with all kinds of papers, and told me to go down the street to Iko for the really exquisite Japanese papers.

Iva was also known as Tokyo Rose. She was born in Los Angeles on July 4; she was a graduate of UCLA; and she was a victim of the racism and circumstances that blackened America after Dec. 7, 1941. On the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Iva was in Japan visiting; she was stranded there, and forced by the Japanese to spew propoganda on a radio show. Iva was one of many Japanese American women used in this manner; all these women were collectively known as Tokyo Rose by the US Servicemen who listened to the broadcasts.

Convicted of treason in 1948, Iva spent 6 years in prison. Gerald Ford pardoned her in 1977. Iva died Tuesday in Chicago at the ripe old age of 90. Here is the obit in the New York Times. May she rest in peace.

Friday Grandbaby blogging

Exploring


Playing golf in the living room.


Laughing at her own joke.









Photos don't convey the sweetness of her voice, or her energy. She's independent. She's kind. She loves her doggie. She loves her mommy. She loves gramma. She's always talking in her own special language, although doggie, kitty, again are all quite clear. Today she said birdy. And she sang "I'm a little teapot" - right tune, jargon words.

I'm going to be a mess when I fly back to LA next week.

Quote of the day

"There are four enemies of human rights: oil, gas, the war on terror and geopolitical considerations. And we have all four."

YEVGENY A. ZHOVTIS, a human rights advocate in Kazakhstan.

Evil has a new name: Paula Froelich

Hat tip to The Fat Lady Sings for calling attention to this insane rant.

Yesterday, Keith Olbermann got a suspicious piece of mail which contained some white powdery substance and a piece of hate mail. Like any normal American, he was alarmed and called 911. Although the substance was found to not be toxic, Mr. Olbermann did what any normal American would do, and he went to the emergency room to be checked out. It's what I would have done.

Nevertheless, read what Paula Froelich of the New York Post writes:

September 27, 2006 -- MSNBC loudmouth Keith Olbermann flipped out when he opened his home mail yesterday. The acerbic host of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" was terrified when he opened a suspicious-looking letter with a California postmark and a batch of white powder poured out. A note inside warned Olbermann, who's a frequent critic of President Bush's policies, that it was payback for some of his on-air shtick. The caustic commentator panicked and frantically called 911 at about 12:30 a.m., sources told The Post's Philip Messing. An NYPD HazMat unit rushed to Olbermann's pad on Central Park South, but preliminary tests indicated the substance was harmless soap powder. However, that wasn't enough to satisfy Olbermann, who insisted on a checkup. He asked to be taken to St. Luke's Hospital, where doctors looked him over and sent him home. Whether they gave him a lollipop on the way out isn't known. Olbermann had no comment.

Imagine if Maureen Dowd had written a similar piece about Ann Coulter? The entire right wing press would demand her immediate resignation. They would demand that she be run out of town. Instead, because an intelligent, thoughtful commentator who disagrees with Bush's policies, has become the target of an attack by a right wing nutcase, Ms. Froelich applauds the action by belittling Olbermann's reaction. Had the substance been anthrax, or ricin, she probably would lead the parade dancing on his grave.

What has happened to our nation? Seriously, when did it become alright to wish harm or illness on those who disagree with the right wing? With her disdain for the seriousness of the letter, she paints a target on Olbermann's back. It is the modern equivalent of cross-burning in the age of chemical terrorism.

I am appalled. I've written her a letter, and urge all of you to do the same.

My priorities this week

Laughing at baby jokes.





Sliding down slides.





Oreo cookies and milk.

A solution for airport security

quote of the day

"I just follow my own common sense. And to hell with the law." So says Justice Thomas R. Buckley. You know, the phone company repairman from Dannemora, NY, who has spent 13 years on the bench, intimidating neighbors while he passes out his brand of justice.

Only in America, I'm just saying.

A Rosh Hashona Message

One of the prayers: Nations shall not lift up swords against nations, neither shall they know war anymore.

We read that yesterday. And then we listened to the Israeli Counsel General who was worshipping at the Synagogue my daughter belongs to, where I used to belong. We talked about the dysfunction of family, and then we thought about the broader sense of family. And it comes down to this:

Nations shall not lift up swords against nations,
Neither shall they know war anymore.

I ask for peace.

Saturday with Grandbaby

My daughter and Ellie met me at the airport on Thursday, and Ellie looked at me, pointed and smiled. "Doggie" she said. Everything is doggie. She's got a great laugh now, and she laughs at everything. She climbs on everything. She is fearless. Except for that thing they call "turkey" in the "Li'l Meals" - she's afraid of that. These are older photos that live on my daughter's computer; my photos will wait til I get home Oct. 4.




She's so cool, she's so hip, she's so styling. And today after services, I taught her to make a sound while she fingers her lips -- "brbbrbbrbbrbb" -- which she thinks is the funniest thing in the world. I adore her.

Lipgloss is evil

So I packed, got to the airport in plenty of time yesterday, got to security with no huge lines, and suddenly, by purse is stopped in the machine. Three TSA people are looking at the image. I get called aside. "Ma'am, is this your bag?" Well, of course it is. It is a fashionable shade of burnt sienna, perfect for a traveling Diva. I say "Yes." "Ma'am, I am going to have to open it. Do not touch it." He pulls out my NARS lipgloss, shade called Foul Play. He says "This is a banned substance. It is a liquid." I think, shit. It's my favorite color, I forgot it was in there, can I talk my way out of this? "But it's only lip gloss!" and I quickly put some on to prove it wasn't dangerous. Mr. TSA Man wasn't swayed. He took it, and immediately gave it to one of the women working -- yes, I was pissed.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America



When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred. to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Declare Peace

Go HERE to Code Pink, sign the Declaration of Peace, and take part in a nonviolent action against the illegal and immoral war in Iraq.

Australia photos

koala with joey

same koala

The 12 Apostles

I was on a helicopter here

Sunset at Orpheus Island, tide going out

Seaplane getting ready to leave Orpheus Island

Diva Jood, Co-pilot without a license

Can Soybeans Save Polar Bears?

I love America. I've been lucky to travel all over this country; I've camped (in tents) from Alaska to Wyoming, and I've roughed it in luxury hotels in great cities. And we are on the edge of disaster.

We have an incredible wealth of natural resources which we've squandered, rather than cherished. We teach our children to save a symblol - money - rather than something of lasting value, our natural resources.

I also love Australia. Again, I've been lucky to travel all over Australia, camping in the remote outback, and camped out in luxury hotels. This recent trip, part vacation and part work came as Al Gore's film, "An Inconvenient Truth" was opening in Australia. If you haven't yet seen it, don't wait. Go now. Go today. See it, because our survival depends on the actions outlined in this film.

But I digress. As I said, I was in Australia for a conference. It was held in Cairns, mid-September, when the weather is traditionally dry and fine. Many of our events were scheduled to be outdoors. And guess what? Rain, hail the size of golfballs, 90 Kilometer winds drove us indoors. The wind was creepy, actually. The only thing it wasn't was hot. I'm used to Cairns being hot, hot and tropical. This was just peculiar weather.

America and Australia have so many similarities. Among them: our Native people believe in the stewardship of the land rather than ownership. Our European settlers belive in ownership, manifest destiny, and other bizarre acquisitive behavior. The late architect Mies Vanderohe said "Less is more." The truth is this: MORE is less.

But we in America and Australia demand more, and more, and more. Bigger cars. Supersized meals. Warehouse stores that erase mom & pop stores with a personal touch. A complete effacement of personality. I saw Starbucks all over Melbourne and Brisbane!

One year, during a bad financial patch, I had to take a second job. I went to the Pottery Barn, and worked there for a year. We were taught that the Pottery Barn Mission was to have every home in America look like their showroom floors.

With this level of "sameness" comes an unhealthy anonimity. Without personality, there is no need to take responsibility. There is no need to behave as a steward. There is no need to think.

The Kyoto Protocal "is an agreement made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Countries that ratify this protocol commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases, or engage in emissions trading if they maintain or increase emissions of these gases." Two countries have failed to ratify this agreement: The United States of America, and Australia. George W. Bush and John Howard share an arrogant disrespect for the future of our earth that is criminal.

Arctic Sea Ice is melting at a shocking rate. I saw an article yesterday (or Sunday) that I can't find now, which says that over the last two years, the amount of arctic ice that has melted is roughly the size of Turkey. Not the bird, the country. That this ice melt has uncovered two islands. Now, this ice melt is not going to raise sea levels, because it is water ice; however the glacial ice sheets over Greenland and Antarctica are an entirely different matter. If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet melts, it would raise sea levels significantly. Egypt would be submerged. Florida would disappear. The Maldives will be underwater.

Barley is growing in Greenland for the first time since the Middle Ages. Droughts in Africa have disrupted the animal migration in the Masai Mara and Serengeti, and wildlife are dying in tremendous numbers. In Louisiana wetlands have been lost to sea-level rise. In the northwest there has been dramatic shrinkage of glaciers in Glacier National Park and the South Cascade Glacier in Washington is at its smallest size in the past 6000 years. Innuits in Alaska have had to relocate villages because of sea level rise. Hawaii is seeing coral bleaching for the first time. Venice is in danger of drowning - if you want to see St. Marks Square you better hurry. The English Country Garden will disappear. And the Amazon River - the Amazon river has been reduced to a comparative trickle. This year sand banks have already appeared in the deltas of the Amazon and fears are rising that a drought cycle that was previously measured in multiples of decades may now be an annual event. The Amazon's impact on global patterns of rainfall is only now beginning to be fully understood and scientists warned in July that this extraordinary planetary air conditioner could be malfunctioning critically.

And just as I'm thinking it doesn't pay to get out of bed, comes this ray of hope: Farmers' Hopes Sprout as Brazil Bets on Biodiesel. Biodiesel is made from plant and animal fats, blended with conventional diesel and burns cleaner and releases fewer pollutants, including carbon monoxide, than other fossil fuels. "No country has been more successful at displacing fossil fuels with green energy than Brazil. Hammered by the oil shocks of the 1970s, the nation committed itself to developing a domestic ethanol industry to reduce its dependence on imported petroleum."

Production, and use in the United States has increased, but at 75 million gallons of biodiesel produced and consumed in the US, it's nothing compared to the 140 BILLION gallons of fossil fuel we use each year.

So I ask: Can soybeans save the Polar Bears? Where does environmental change begin? What steps are you taking today to save the environment before it is too late?

Back from Australia

Two weeks is a long time. Got home on Saturday, but words were spinning and I couldn't think straight. Went to bed at 8 PM on Saturday night, slept til 12:30 Sunday afternoon - 16 1/2 hours. Last night, couldn't fall asleep for anything. This is what crossing 17 time zones does to me - I don't know if it is day or night, and yes, it was worth it.

This was my 20th trip to Australia and my first time in Melbourne. It has become my favorite city there - friendly people, great restaurants, a beautiful river in the center, lots of public art - it reminded me of my home town of Chicago in so many ways that I just fell in love with the city. Arrival day, I went for a tour of the city on the back of a Harley Davidson - I spent the first five minutes thinking I was going to die, and the next fifty-five grinning from ear to ear.

Melbourne is one of the few cities you can actually float over in a balloon. So on September 4th, before the crack of my ass, I got up and went ballooning. My balloon was the "Peace & Love" Balloon:

Later that afternoon, I went out to one of Melbourne & Victoria's major tourist attractions, Phillip Island, for the "Penguin Parade." I was with a company I book regularly, as a private tour - which turned out to be a good thing, because that was the day Steve Irwin died in the freak accident - his is one of only three recorded deaths by sting ray. Say what you might about Steve, he was a great friend to tourism, and he did a lot on the quiet to protect habitats - he lived quite modestly, and put all his resources into his zoo, and the purchase of habitat to ensure that no building or development would take place in those par4cels of land. I first met Steve in Brisbane in 1998 at a conference - he was a complete madman. His wife was pregnant out to here with their first child, Bindy, and he's handeling snakes on the rooftop of the Rydges hotel - alchohol flowing freely, about 300 travel agents, and snakes. Oh, my. We'll miss you, Steve!

Next day, long trip out to the Great Ocean Road - and a helicopter over the 12 Apostles (one fell down recently, so there's only about 9.) Blogger is limiting the number of pictures I can upload, so that will be later.

After Melbourne, flew to Brisbane to see Hugh Jackman in "The Boy from OZ" - he was brilliant, and gorgeous. At our Aussie Specialist conference, we have an awards ceremony. One of my friends always votes for Hugh as "Best Australian Product" - sigh.

Highlight was Orpheus Island, a beautiful Great Barrier Reef resort with no pretension and no "attitude". Best part? The sea plane transfer. That is so cool I can't begin to tell you. Pictures later.

I'm back. Stupid tired. Have no clue what is going on in the world - clearly Bush has not been impeached yet, but one can hope, yes?

Off to work, I hope my desk is there.

Friday grandbaby blogging

Keith Olberman on Rumsfeld's "Appeasement" speech

I didn't see Olberman the other night - I was otherwise occupied. I understand it was blistering. In case you missed him, Crooks and Liars has videos of it, and also the following transcript, which I print in full:

The man who sees absolutes, where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning, is either a prophet, or a quack. Donald S. Rumsfeld is not a prophet.

Mr. Rumsfeld’s remarkable comments to the Veterans of Foreign Wars yesterday demand the deep analysis - and the sober contemplation - of every American. For they do not merely serve to impugn the morality or intelligence - indeed, the loyalty — of the majority of Americans who oppose the transient occupants of the highest offices in the land; Worse, still, they credit those same transient occupants - our employees — with a total omniscience; a total omniscience which neither common sense, nor this administration’s track record at home or abroad, suggests they deserve.

Dissent and disagreement with government is the life’s blood of human freedom; And not merely because it is the first roadblock against the kind of tyranny the men Mr. Rumsfeld likes to think of as "his" troops still fight, this very evening, in Iraq.
It is also essential. Because just every once in awhile… it is right — and the power to which it speaks, is wrong.

In a small irony, however, Mr. Rumsfeld’s speechwriter was adroit in invoking the memory of the appeasement of the Nazis. For, in their time, there was another government faced with true peril - with a growing evil - powerful and remorseless.
That government, like Mr. Rumsfeld’s, had a monopoly on all the facts. It, too, had the secret information. It alone had the true picture of the threat. It too dismissed and insulted its critics in terms like Mr. Rumsfeld’s - questioning their intellect and their morality.

That government was England’s, in the 1930’s.

It knew Hitler posed no true threat to Europe, let alone England. It knew Germany was not re-arming, in violation of all treaties and accords. It knew that the hard evidence it received, which contradicted policies, conclusions - and omniscience — needed to be dismissed. The English government of Neville Chamberlain already knew
the truth. Most relevant of all - it "knew" that its staunchest critics needed to be marginalized and isolated. In fact, it portrayed the foremost of them as a blood-thirsty war-monger who was, if not truly senile - at best… morally or intellectually confused.

That critic’s name… was Winston Churchill.

Sadly, we have no Winston Churchills evident among us this evening. We have only Donald Rumsfelds, demonizing disagreement, the way Neville Chamberlain demonized Winston Churchill.

History - and 163 million pounds of Luftwaffe bombs over England - taught us that all Mr. Chamberlain had was his certainty - and his own confusion. A confusion that suggested that the office can not only make the man, but that the office can also make the facts.

Thus did Mr. Rumsfeld make an apt historical analogy.

Excepting the fact that he has the battery plugged in backwards. His government, absolute - and exclusive - in its knowledge, is not the modern version of the one which stood up to the Nazis. It is the modern version of the government… of Neville Chamberlain.

But back to today’s Omniscients. That about which Mr. Rumsfeld is confused… is simply this: This is a Democracy. Still. Sometimes just barely. And as such, all voices count — not just his. Had he or his President perhaps proven any of their prior claims of omniscience - about Osama Bin Laden’s plans five years ago - about Saddam Hussein’s weapons four years ago - about Hurricane Katrina’s impact one* year ago - we all might be able to swallow hard, and accept their omniscience as a bearable, even useful recipe, of fact, plus ego. But, to date, this government has proved little besides its own arrogance, and its own hubris.

Mr. Rumsfeld is also personally confused, morally or intellectually, about his own standing in this matter. From Iraq to Katrina, to the entire "Fog of Fear" which continues to enveloppe this nation - he, Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, and their cronies, have - inadvertently or intentionally - profited and benefited, both personally, and politically. And yet he can stand up, in public, and question the morality and
the intellect of those of us who dare ask just for the receipt for the Emporer’s New Clothes.

In what country was Mr. Rumsfeld raised?

As a child, of whose heroism did he read?

On what side of the battle for freedom did he dream one day to fight?

With what country has he confused… the United States of America?

—–

The confusion we — as its citizens - must now address, is stark and forbidding. But variations of it have faced our forefathers, when men like Nixon and McCarthy and Curtis LeMay have darkened our skies and obscured our flag. Note - with hope in your heart - that those earlier Americans always found their way to the light… and we can, too.

The confusion is about whether this Secretary of Defense, and this Administration, are in fact now accomplishing what they claim the terrorists seek: The destruction of our freedoms, the very ones for which the same veterans Mr. Rumsfeld addressed yesterday in Salt Lake City, so valiantly fought.

—-

And about Mr. Rumsfeld’s other main assertion, that this country faces a "new type of fascism." As he was correct to remind us how a government that knew everything could get everything wrong, so too was he right when he said that — though probably not in the way he thought he meant it.

This country faces a new type of fascism - indeed.

—-

Although I presumptuously use his sign-off each night, in feeble tribute… I have utterly no claim to the words of the exemplary journalist Edward R. Murrow.

But never in the trial of a thousand years of writing could I come close to matching how he phrased a warning to an earlier generation of us, at a time when other politicians thought they (and they alone) knew everything, and branded those who disagreed, "confused" or "immoral."

Thus forgive me for reading Murrow in full:

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty," he said, in 1954. "We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.

"We will not walk in fear - one, of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of un-reason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men;

"Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were - for the moment - unpopular."

Everyone has their own Mt. Everest

Obviously, I've gotten sidetracked from my very first post in 2005 - I lost my blog for over a year, didn't find it again until April 2006, actually (okay, look. I'm blond, and I'm a grandmother. It happens. At least I know where I put my keys.)

But back to travel. I got into the travel business 15 years ago. It has always been my believe that travel is a path to peace, because when we travel - I mean REALLY travel, and get an in-depth experience where we meet people on their terms, and on their turf - our hearts are open and we bridge gaps of misunderstanding. So my goal as a travel consultant is to give people real travel experiences - at some point in the itinerary, I build in a few unique experiences that are intended to touch their hearts. Not always, but often enough.

Certain things I won't touch: extreme adventure is one. In the fall of 1995, I met Scott Fischer, of Mountain Madness. He was promoting his adventure company, and also still selling space on the upcoming May, 1996 trip to climb Mt. Everest. At about $50,000 per person, commissionable at 10%, Fischer made it sound like a walk in the park. He was charismatic, and really handsome, and I thought I could for sure find a client or two for that trip. (I did not find clients; Fischer died on Everest in a storm that claimed seven other lives, making it one of the deadliest climbing seasons ever on that mountain.)

So today, I'm reading some headlines, and I see this:
American to Be First Female Space Tourist and I'm of mixed reaction. First, I think, rock on! You go girl! And, at $20 Million, commissionable at 10%, I wish I'd been her travel agent. In 2002, I met with a company that was promoting commercial space travel - space tourism - and I came away with ambivalent feelings. Truthfully, it is the same ambivalence I feel toward commercial (tourist) climbs on Mt. Everest.

Anousheh Ansari is Iranian by birth; she came to America as a teen. She is chairwoman and cofounder of Prodea Systems, a multi-media and digital home solutions company. She will travel to The International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft with Spanish-born, American Astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin. It doesn't get more international than this group.

She's been training since March. Her goals, her personal goals, are quite noble. "I'm hoping that not only my flight but the life I've lived so far become an inspiration for our youth anywhere in the world, especially women and girls around the world, to pursue their dream, whatever that may be," Ansari said Wednesday. I applaud that. She is a strong woman, and I am all about pursuing dreams. God knows I've done my share of that in my lifetime.

But in general, I am somewhat leery of space travel given our current administration. All I can think of is the Strategic Defense Initiative, aka Star Wars, Reagan's ill-conceived missile shield. I think about we've gone into space with a military bent, and our propensity to litter, and clutter whatever we visit - and that certain places should just be left pristine. Everest, Antarctica, Space. And then I think, why?

It isn't that I am saying people should not climb Mt. Everest. But I feel that commercial trips to this sacred mountain attract people who might not be capable, who lack the technical skills to climb it. The Sherpas know it is a sacred place; they respect this mountain. It is littered with corpses, discarded oxygen cannisters, ropes, pick-axes, other gear. It is covered with the detrius of failed attempts. Should a wealthy dentist from Texas, who has never been above 12,000 feet, be allowed to join a commercial climb to the rooftop of earth just because he can afford to pay $50,000?

It isn't that I am saying that people should not tour space. Frankly, given what we are doing to earth, eventually we'll have to start colonizing other planets (Mars) or our own Moon. (Why does OUR moon not have a name other than "Moon?") And while Ms. Ansari is not the first space tourist, she is the first female space tourist, and she's been something of a rebel. Her goals are not selfish, she really wants to make this an educational experience. Her goals, I believe, are really peaceful goals. I applaud her. She can afford the $20 million, but she intends to go to schools after her trip to talk about science and pursuit of dreams - to reach out to young people and light their personal fires.

That's what I believe travel should do to a person. Come to think of it, I wish she was my client, because she gets it. She knows that when we leave home, we need to travel with an open heart and an open mind. You go, girl. Bon Voyage.

New Holiday: Bushtemberfest

Steve, at The Opinion Mill has created a new holiday: Bushtemberfest, aka The Festival of Fatal Fuckups. He says it is a chance to celebrate the non-accomplishments of George W. Bush, the first president to let one major American city be devastated by terrorists and allow another one to drown, all within the space of a few years. The observance will start with the anniversary of the flooding of New Orleans and climax with the anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center, during which time we will pray — loudly and publicly — that no other disasters befall us while we await the blessed day that King George and his menagerie of religious hucksters, corporate bandits and ideological grifters get their eviction notice.

I'm so ready to celebrate, that I think I'll use the word "Appease" all day, working it into every sentence I can. Go over and read his post, but I'm telling you, it's on.

The Administration's Word du jour: Appease

It seems that both Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney have decided to woo the Veterens of Foreign Wars at their convention in Reno, NV, with speeches peppered with the word "Appease."

First, let's define it, so we're on the same page:

From Merriam-Webster Online:
appease
One entry found for appease.


Main Entry: ap·pease
Pronunciation: &-'pEz
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): ap·peased; ap·peas·ing
Etymology: Middle English appesen, from Anglo-French apeser, apaiser, from a- (from Latin ad-) + pais peace -- more at PEACE
1 : to bring to a state of peace or quiet : CALM
2 : to cause to subside : ALLAY
3 : PACIFY, CONCILIATE; especially : to buy off (an aggressor) by concessions usually at the sacrifice of principles
synonym see PACIFY
- ap·peas·able /-'pE-z&-b&l/ adjective
- ap·pease·ment /-'pEz-m&nt/ noun
- ap·peas·er noun

Now, Mr. Rumsfeld was in Reno yesterday in a particularly combative mood. He said that that critics of the war in Iraq and the campaign against terror groups “seem not to have learned history’s lessons,” and he alluded to those in the 1930’s who advocated appeasing Nazi Germany. Now, I'm going to paraphrase Herman Goering (I've used the exact quote previously), but Goering said it's easy to get the people to do the will of the government: tell them they're under attack, and then accuse the critics and pacifists of being traitors.

But Rumsfeld, on a roll in front of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, pounded at his theme: Islamo-fascists as a "new type of fascism", and ridiculing those who oppose the war as being on the wrong side of history. Without naming specific groups or people, he compared opponents to those in England and the US who attempted to appease Hitler.

Vice President Dick Cheney told the Veterans that a recent federal court ruling finding a warrantless surveillance program unconstitutional will be overturned on appeal. He said, with the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks less than two weeks away, that it's no accident there has been no attack on US soil since we've been in Iraq. He said, I know some have suggested that by liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein we simply stirred up a hornet's nest. They overlook a fundamental fact. We were not in Iraq on Sept. 11, 2001, and the terrorists hit us anyway.

What? Did he really say that the reason we were attacked was because we weren't in Iraq? We hadn't invaded Iraq, and THAT is the reason my friend, Laura Lee Morabito was murdered? Laura Lee, and Mike Toomey, and 3000+ other innocent souls, murdered? Don't say that, Mr. Cheney. Do not insult me, and my fellow citizens, with this blatant dissemblement of the truth.

And on Tuesday, at Offutt Air Force Base, Cheney rolled out the same dog and pony show he's been using - and the Administration's favorite word, saying "This is not an enemy that can be ignored, or negotiated with, or appeased."

The first definition of appease is quite lovely: to bring about a state of peace or quiet. Calm. That is not what the Administration means.

The second definition of appease deals with hunger - not what they're talking about.

The THIRD definition is perjorative: to buy off (an aggressor) by concessions usually at the sacrifice of principles. I believe it describes this Administration to a tee. Fueled by arrogance, greed, and power, they press on at the expense of American lives; they will force their brand of "democracy" on anyone who stands in the way of a New American Century. They've deflected money to fight their war in Iraq, money that could have gone to help rebuild New Orleans.

Sometimes I get to a place of dark fear, fear of this Administration and all I can do is watch television - mindless, numbing stuff that acts like an anesthetic. My father was a Quartermaster in World War II, stationed in England. His unit helped supply the D-Day invasion. My father died in 1996; and I am grateful that he didn't live to see what our nation has become.

Will other nations stand up and put an end to this nightmare? I doubt it. We have to use our voices, our minds, our votes. Midterms are coming. Now, more than ever, voting is essential.

Katrina - one year later

Bush flies by en route to Crawford for his vacation while New Orleans and the coast of Mississippi lie in ruins. The White House says it has allocated $110 billion toward rebuilding and victim assistance; of that, $44 billion has been spent. Apparently, Bush thinks this is enough.
















If you agree with me, and feel that this administration's callous disregard for the Hurricane victims is NOT enough, please click HERE to donate to Habitat for Humanity's rebuilding efforts.

Separated at Birth

Steve Carell







Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad