There is a movie out telling everyone what a great and courageous man Edward R. Murrow was. He was the TV newsman who called a U.S. Senator a liar on live television. I remember Edward R. Murrow on television in the fifties. It's not that I would have chosen him to watch so much as there was only one tv channel in Winston Salem. there were soap operas until five oclock, a half hour of Mickey Mouse Club and cartoons and then the news. My kids don't understand the time before satelites and 150 channel mind numbing noise from talking heads with perfect hair and teeth who graduated from canned "journalism" schools as opposed to the school of World War II.
My mom and dad sat in the TV room after supper and watched Senator Joe McCarthy be dismantled by a man who felt he carried the burden of telling America the truth on his shoulders. The adolescent I was then didn't understand what was going on but I could tell which man was lying. His career was essentially over after that night because American news people stopped reporting what he said. He was a Liar, after all!
We seem to have lost the ability to be outraged at liars along about the same time as the news people lost their honor and courage.
*****
Yesterday's News.
Dick Cheney was in Knoxville yesterday and the TV said he was heckled. He was here to speak nice things about former Senator Howard Baker who was having a University School named in his honor. Here is what the U T web site says about it:
In early 2003 the Howard Baker Center for Public Policy began operations at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The mission of the Baker Center is to develop programs and promote research to further the public's knowledge of our system of governance, and also to highlight the critical importance of public service. The Baker Center will also place a special emphasis on examining the role of the media in society.
Senator Howard Baker rose time and time again above party or ideological lines to craft workable solutions to critical problems facing our country. With this center, we will strive to honor him and to carry on his service to the people of Tennessee and America.
In a speech to 400 people gathered in a public building that holds 25,000, Dick Cheney said things like this:
"Howard did as he has always done: he put the country's interest above all else," Cheney said.
There were only 400 people in the building. They were rewarded with the spectacle of seeing the grand hypocrisy of the most self serving vice president in American history praising the selfless public service of the good man, Howard Baker.
There were only 400 people there but several of them shouted at the Vice President, who, as it has become known, is most responsible for starting the Iraq war. They were taken outside by the security people. Who were they and how did they get in there?
"War! What is it good for?" they said. Security took them away.
"Peace Now!" they said. Security took them away.
"Stop the war!" they said. Security took them away.
In contrast to Howard Baker, today's Republicans do not tolerate the opinions of those who oppose them. Their events are well screened for protestors and only loyal Republicans are allowed inside. This is so that George W. Bush and dick cheney can bask in the love of their sycophants. If the arena in ahich Dick Cheney spoke had been opened to anyone who wanted to see him, I believe there would have been 24,600 more people in there and nearly every one of them would have been shouting at him.
Now here's my observation. They didn't let everyone inside...they never ever do. The people that screamed at Dick cheney must have been...
Republicans!
... at least until recently.
Dick Cheney was attacked by his own kind!
Long ago, we spoke to them but they would not listen. Perhaps they'll listen now.
It is our only hope...and theirs, too!
Peace,
Steve
*****
the evening News showed Bush saying this:
"Let me give you some quotes from (a)... Democrat leader...: First, and I quote, 'There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons.'
But they Dear President left out a few words that were also contained in that statement! Jay Rockefeller also said in that same speech:
"Preventing a war with Saddam Hussein -- whether now or later -- must be our top priority, and I believe this resolution will strengthen the president’s hand to resolve this crisis peacefully."
Sort of had a different gist compared to what the President would have you believe, doesn't it? his Rudeness does it better than I:
rudepundit
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
News of the Weird
Americablog has a new Dem TV up. TV from the web is best in broadband and fun:
Dem TV
The Washington Times is essentially a Republican newspaper. How are we supposed to read this?:
Other stuff from Americablog:
"President Bush feels betrayed by several of his most senior aides and advisors and has severely restricted access to the Oval Office, administration sources say. The president's reclusiveness in the face of relentless public scrutiny of the U.S.-led war in Iraq and White House leaks regarding CIA operative Valerie Plame has become so extreme that Mr. Bush has also reduced contact with his father, former President George H.W. Bush, administration sources said on the condition of anonymity."
The Druge Report, not noted for honesty but Wingnut loyal nonetheless, has this to add:
"The sources said Mr. Bush maintains daily contact with only four people: first lady Laura Bush, his mother, Barbara Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes. The sources also say that Mr. Bush has stopped talking with his father, except on family occasions."
So...George Bush is only speaking with women? How weird is that?
At fafblog...this amazing piece. Why dispense with the Bill of rights for mere Terrorists?...:
"...But why stop with terror when the same tactics could aid America so much more in its war on crime? A lean, streamlined criminal justice system could skip straight from arrest to imprisonment without the lengthy hassle of a criminal trial, while simultaneously eliminating the dangeous possibility that any guilty suspect could evade justice through the loophole of being innocent. Mr. Graham would protest that at Guantanamo "we are dealing with enemy combatants, not common criminals," but the fact of the matter is that common criminals are far more dangerous. In 2003 alone, over seventeen thousand deaths were the result of homicide in the United States - nearly six times the total domestic body count of terror so far. If we insist on denying the most basic rights of an old man randomly pulled out of an Afghan village, can we ask any less of the two hundred million potential criminals roving America's streets?"
Medium Lobster
Dem TV
The Washington Times is essentially a Republican newspaper. How are we supposed to read this?:
Other stuff from Americablog:
"President Bush feels betrayed by several of his most senior aides and advisors and has severely restricted access to the Oval Office, administration sources say. The president's reclusiveness in the face of relentless public scrutiny of the U.S.-led war in Iraq and White House leaks regarding CIA operative Valerie Plame has become so extreme that Mr. Bush has also reduced contact with his father, former President George H.W. Bush, administration sources said on the condition of anonymity."
The Druge Report, not noted for honesty but Wingnut loyal nonetheless, has this to add:
"The sources said Mr. Bush maintains daily contact with only four people: first lady Laura Bush, his mother, Barbara Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes. The sources also say that Mr. Bush has stopped talking with his father, except on family occasions."
So...George Bush is only speaking with women? How weird is that?
At fafblog...this amazing piece. Why dispense with the Bill of rights for mere Terrorists?...:
"...But why stop with terror when the same tactics could aid America so much more in its war on crime? A lean, streamlined criminal justice system could skip straight from arrest to imprisonment without the lengthy hassle of a criminal trial, while simultaneously eliminating the dangeous possibility that any guilty suspect could evade justice through the loophole of being innocent. Mr. Graham would protest that at Guantanamo "we are dealing with enemy combatants, not common criminals," but the fact of the matter is that common criminals are far more dangerous. In 2003 alone, over seventeen thousand deaths were the result of homicide in the United States - nearly six times the total domestic body count of terror so far. If we insist on denying the most basic rights of an old man randomly pulled out of an Afghan village, can we ask any less of the two hundred million potential criminals roving America's streets?"
Medium Lobster
Oops!
From the Knox News:
"No one had ever seen a smoky madtom - scientific name Noturus baileyi - until 1957, when biologists treated Abrams Creek in the Smokies with a commonly used poison called rotenone to reduce the rough fish population and improve trout fishing.
Among the scores of fish killed was a miniature catfish, complete with tiny whiskers. The scenario was classic good news-bad news: the good news being the discovery of a new species, the bad news being that it was already dead."
It wasn't already dead, actually...They had just killed it!
But our guys saved the day...
A subscription is required but here ya go:
knoxnews
Abrams Creek is a treasure. Check out what the guys at Conservation Fisheries are doing to save your world...and maybe click on the "contribute" button while you're there.
Mad Tom
Peace,
Steve
"No one had ever seen a smoky madtom - scientific name Noturus baileyi - until 1957, when biologists treated Abrams Creek in the Smokies with a commonly used poison called rotenone to reduce the rough fish population and improve trout fishing.
Among the scores of fish killed was a miniature catfish, complete with tiny whiskers. The scenario was classic good news-bad news: the good news being the discovery of a new species, the bad news being that it was already dead."
It wasn't already dead, actually...They had just killed it!
But our guys saved the day...
A subscription is required but here ya go:
knoxnews
Abrams Creek is a treasure. Check out what the guys at Conservation Fisheries are doing to save your world...and maybe click on the "contribute" button while you're there.
Mad Tom
Peace,
Steve
Monday, November 14, 2005
Season of the Witch
Back home from D.C. after a cantankerous and self destructive meeting of the typical nonprofit do-gooder organization, where many awards and plaques were ceremoniously presented by and to a bunch of folks who spend the rest of their volunteer time in schemes worthy of a King Henry court in the darkest of ages.
My wife looked at the mug I had been given at the banquet which read, "Paddlesports Legend". "What does that mean?" she said. "Legend is sort of like a myth" says I. "Yeah" says she.
This morning, it's drizzly, coolish, dark, brown, foggy, and the forest is in its final throes of Fall, leaving the last appearance of life to the heavily outnumbered evergreens. It is the season of the witch
...Oh Yeah!
After the last color gives up and drops to the ground, the forest opens up and sunlight finally reaches the christmas ferns and pipsissiwa crawling around in the leaf litter. In the secondary canopy where dogwoods live, there is another small tree that makes good use of this time of year, as Persephone descends to the underworld for her annual Zeusian conjugal visit.
It's all about competition... For food, water, sun, and sex. Plants have it, too, you know. And they've got it a little tougher than manimals, what with not being to move around very easily. Plants are heavy into bestiality. In the spring there are tons of partners in nature's single's bar. for plants, we usually call them pollinators, and the majority of them are insects, though birds, small mammals, and the wind itself, lend a hand as circumstances permit. the problem with spring time is that while there are tons of opportunities, there's a lot of competition, too. that's why there's nearly always some flower blooming at other seemingly odd times, flirting with danger and unsafe frivolity with the few pollinators that can still do what has to be done on the very edge of the last precipice before the dark of winter.
Now come the Gentian and the Witch. The lowly gentian lives in moist areas and is barely strong enough to poke through the leaves and show the pale blue or white flowers that don't seem to open. The Witch is Witch Hazel...my favorite tree. Small and strong and also living in moist areas. One that I visited most often, lived at the end of the road leading to Whites Creek, next to the water. On my fall hikes I liked to orbit by this tree looking to see if the unusual blossom spires had sprung from the limbs, twisted, white and small...the last bloom of the year. A Thanksgiving decoration, if you will.
Here is a picture of my Witch hazel tree.
If I ever find out who the fisherman was, I plan to vent my anger in expressive exhuberance.
Peace,
Steve
This is a shot of the water next to the Witch. There really is water in the picture..honest, though you may have to click on the image and check the larger version.
My wife looked at the mug I had been given at the banquet which read, "Paddlesports Legend". "What does that mean?" she said. "Legend is sort of like a myth" says I. "Yeah" says she.
This morning, it's drizzly, coolish, dark, brown, foggy, and the forest is in its final throes of Fall, leaving the last appearance of life to the heavily outnumbered evergreens. It is the season of the witch
...Oh Yeah!
After the last color gives up and drops to the ground, the forest opens up and sunlight finally reaches the christmas ferns and pipsissiwa crawling around in the leaf litter. In the secondary canopy where dogwoods live, there is another small tree that makes good use of this time of year, as Persephone descends to the underworld for her annual Zeusian conjugal visit.
It's all about competition... For food, water, sun, and sex. Plants have it, too, you know. And they've got it a little tougher than manimals, what with not being to move around very easily. Plants are heavy into bestiality. In the spring there are tons of partners in nature's single's bar. for plants, we usually call them pollinators, and the majority of them are insects, though birds, small mammals, and the wind itself, lend a hand as circumstances permit. the problem with spring time is that while there are tons of opportunities, there's a lot of competition, too. that's why there's nearly always some flower blooming at other seemingly odd times, flirting with danger and unsafe frivolity with the few pollinators that can still do what has to be done on the very edge of the last precipice before the dark of winter.
Now come the Gentian and the Witch. The lowly gentian lives in moist areas and is barely strong enough to poke through the leaves and show the pale blue or white flowers that don't seem to open. The Witch is Witch Hazel...my favorite tree. Small and strong and also living in moist areas. One that I visited most often, lived at the end of the road leading to Whites Creek, next to the water. On my fall hikes I liked to orbit by this tree looking to see if the unusual blossom spires had sprung from the limbs, twisted, white and small...the last bloom of the year. A Thanksgiving decoration, if you will.
Here is a picture of my Witch hazel tree.
If I ever find out who the fisherman was, I plan to vent my anger in expressive exhuberance.
Peace,
Steve
This is a shot of the water next to the Witch. There really is water in the picture..honest, though you may have to click on the image and check the larger version.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
The Front Yard
Last night I stopped by the creek. (hand held in low light)
I'm traveling for a few days...
S
I'm traveling for a few days...
S
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
I wanna be Elected....
How about these little tidbits via Americablog:
(Dem)St. Paul mayor who supported Bush in 2004 was crushed (by another Dem)
The Dem's really had a big day yesterday with convincing governor victories in Virginia, New Jersey and Arnold was handed a serious slap as well in California, with all three of his ballot initiatives losing. Yesterday was a nice start and sets an excellent tone for 2006.
"Intelligent Design" proponents SLAUGHTERED in PA election
americablog
CHETA? You gotta be kidding? From the Blogger formerly known as Bubba:
"Cockfighters also established a political action committee, Citizens for the Humane and Ethical Treatment of Animals, or CHETA, which gave $1,000 each to then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, and Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas."
Facing South
So does anybody besides me think it's funny that the Intelligent Design people are running around scared to death that the Bird Flu virus will EVOLVE so that it can be transmitted from human to human?
How intelligent is that?
Truth is, Avian Flu cannot be transmitted by humans!
Fear, on the other hand, is incredibly contagious.
Peace,
Steve
(Dem)St. Paul mayor who supported Bush in 2004 was crushed (by another Dem)
The Dem's really had a big day yesterday with convincing governor victories in Virginia, New Jersey and Arnold was handed a serious slap as well in California, with all three of his ballot initiatives losing. Yesterday was a nice start and sets an excellent tone for 2006.
"Intelligent Design" proponents SLAUGHTERED in PA election
americablog
CHETA? You gotta be kidding? From the Blogger formerly known as Bubba:
"Cockfighters also established a political action committee, Citizens for the Humane and Ethical Treatment of Animals, or CHETA, which gave $1,000 each to then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, and Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas."
Facing South
So does anybody besides me think it's funny that the Intelligent Design people are running around scared to death that the Bird Flu virus will EVOLVE so that it can be transmitted from human to human?
How intelligent is that?
Truth is, Avian Flu cannot be transmitted by humans!
Fear, on the other hand, is incredibly contagious.
Peace,
Steve
Bush was never Elected president.
As we learn more aboutthe Ohio election, we can see that this is the plain truth.
When a recount of ALL the votes cast in Florida in 2000 was completed, Al Gore had won. This does not take into account the obvious manipulations of voter eligibility roles that prevented tens of thousands of rightfully eligible black voters from being allowed, the famous butterfly ballot that took 3000 votes away from Gore, or several other suspicious incidents, all of which manipulated the vote talley in one direction only...For George W. Bush.
As a result of an incorrect talley in Florida, Bush won the election. the most outrageous occurrence of all was the Supreme Court decision by 5-4 vote that said, in essence, that it would be unfair to actually recount the Florida votes.
The Supreme Court stopped us from finding out who Florida voters actually voted for and installed Bush as President.
Now we have the Government Accounting Office report that essentially says the Ohio vote was manipulated in 2004. As a part of the report, there are sworn statements claiming that votes were altered in favor of Bush. There were over 57,000 complaintsof incorrect vote talleys and nearly 100% of those detected went in one direction only...For George Bush!
With several Ohio elected and appointed officials currently indicted or under investigation, it does appear that a little thing like the Law is not much of a deterrent. Millions of dollars have been stolen and a portion of the stolen money was given to the Bush reelection campaign.
It appears that America had better sense than to elect George bush either time!
Now what?
With last night's results handing Bush and company resounding defeats, in spite of their really nasty campaign tactics and huge amounts of money from corporate donors, it appears that enough people wil step forward and cleanse the Whitehouse and Congress. how much damage will be done in the meantime?
Here's the story from the GAO:
GAO Report
courage,
Steve
When a recount of ALL the votes cast in Florida in 2000 was completed, Al Gore had won. This does not take into account the obvious manipulations of voter eligibility roles that prevented tens of thousands of rightfully eligible black voters from being allowed, the famous butterfly ballot that took 3000 votes away from Gore, or several other suspicious incidents, all of which manipulated the vote talley in one direction only...For George W. Bush.
As a result of an incorrect talley in Florida, Bush won the election. the most outrageous occurrence of all was the Supreme Court decision by 5-4 vote that said, in essence, that it would be unfair to actually recount the Florida votes.
The Supreme Court stopped us from finding out who Florida voters actually voted for and installed Bush as President.
Now we have the Government Accounting Office report that essentially says the Ohio vote was manipulated in 2004. As a part of the report, there are sworn statements claiming that votes were altered in favor of Bush. There were over 57,000 complaintsof incorrect vote talleys and nearly 100% of those detected went in one direction only...For George Bush!
"...It therefore was no big task for a single programmer to flip vote numbers to give Bush the 118,775 votes."
"These findings are even more damning when we understand the election in Ohio was run by a secretary of state who also was co-chairman of Bush’s Ohio campaign."
With several Ohio elected and appointed officials currently indicted or under investigation, it does appear that a little thing like the Law is not much of a deterrent. Millions of dollars have been stolen and a portion of the stolen money was given to the Bush reelection campaign.
It appears that America had better sense than to elect George bush either time!
Now what?
With last night's results handing Bush and company resounding defeats, in spite of their really nasty campaign tactics and huge amounts of money from corporate donors, it appears that enough people wil step forward and cleanse the Whitehouse and Congress. how much damage will be done in the meantime?
Here's the story from the GAO:
GAO Report
courage,
Steve
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Hickories from the tub
Folks, I just can't get this shot to come out right. I can't get the yellows to glow like they are back lit in the morning sun. You'll just have to come over and see for yourself.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Presidential Speech
Speech by a candidate for President of the United States:
Now that took courage! Don't you agree? There is only one problem...That speech is from a movie...It never happened...And that is what is wrong with America.
Oddly, there was a great presidential debate on TV last night on the West Wing. Too bed we never get real candidates like that. Here's the thread that put me on to the speech above.
dailykos
Courage,
Steve
"For the record: Yes, I am a card-carrying member of the A.C.L.U. But the more important question is why aren't you, sir?
This is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question.
Why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for president, choose to reject upholding the Constitution? If you can answer that question, then, folks, you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a couple of minutes ago. Everybody knows American isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship.
You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating, at the top of his lungs, that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free, then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest." Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free. I've known my opponent for years. I've been operating under the assumption that the reason he devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong.
My opponent's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. His problem is that he can't sell it. Nobody has ever won an election by talking about what I was just talking about.
This is a country made up of people with hard jobs that they're terrified of losing. The roots of freedom are of little or no interest to them at the moment.
We are a nation afraid to go out at night.
We're a society that has assigned low priority to education and has looked the other way while our public schools have been decimated. We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious men to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, friend, I promise you, My opponent is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: Making you afraid... and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections."
Now that took courage! Don't you agree? There is only one problem...That speech is from a movie...It never happened...And that is what is wrong with America.
Oddly, there was a great presidential debate on TV last night on the West Wing. Too bed we never get real candidates like that. Here's the thread that put me on to the speech above.
dailykos
Courage,
Steve
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Beat a Child for Jesus
37% of Americans believe that Aliens have secretly contacted the United States Government.
19% of Americans approve of the job Dick Cheney is doing as Vice President.
40% of Americans believe Astrology is Scientific.
35% of Americans approve of the job George W. Bush is doing as President.
More people believe in the public beating of children than approve of Dick Cheney...How can that be?
I thought those were the same people!
If Cheney has lost his child beater base...can the end be any closer?
Peace,
Steve
Poll info thanks to:
bobharris
And in our weird world, we can't get real analysis from the news people so we have to rely on the Tooners. Here's one of the best, Tom Tomorrow, explaining the CIA leaks:
workingforchange
19% of Americans approve of the job Dick Cheney is doing as Vice President.
40% of Americans believe Astrology is Scientific.
35% of Americans approve of the job George W. Bush is doing as President.
More people believe in the public beating of children than approve of Dick Cheney...How can that be?
I thought those were the same people!
If Cheney has lost his child beater base...can the end be any closer?
Peace,
Steve
Poll info thanks to:
bobharris
And in our weird world, we can't get real analysis from the news people so we have to rely on the Tooners. Here's one of the best, Tom Tomorrow, explaining the CIA leaks:
workingforchange
Al Gore
The science is extremely clear: Global warming may not affect the frequency of hurricanes, but it makes the average hurricane stronger, magnifying its destructive power. In the years ahead, there will be more storms like Katrina, unless we change course. Indeed, we have had two more Category 5 storms since Katrina -- including Wilma, which before landfall was the strongest hurricane ever measured in the Atlantic.
We know that hurricanes are heat engines that thrive on warm water. We know that heat-trapping gases from our industrial society are warming the oceans. We know that, in the past 30 years, the number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes globally has almost doubled. It's time to connect the dots:
Last year, the science textbooks had to be rewritten. They used to say, "It's impossible to have a hurricane in the South Atlantic." We had the first one last year, in Brazil. Japan also set an all-time record for typhoons last year: 10. The previous record was seven. This summer, more than 200 cities in the United States broke all-time heat records. Reno, Nev., set a new record with 10 consecutive days above 100 degrees. Tucson, Ariz., tied its all-time record of 39 consecutive days above 100 degrees. New Orleans -- and the surrounding waters of the Gulf -- also hit an all-time high.
This summer, parts of India received record rainfall -- 37 inches fell in Mumbai in 24 hours, killing more than 1,000 people.
The new extremes of wind and rain are part of a larger pattern that also includes rapidly melting glaciers worldwide, increasing desertification, a global extinction crisis, the ravaging of ocean fisheries, and a growing range for disease "vectors" like mosquitoes, ticks and many other carriers of viruses and bacteria harmful to people.
All of these are symptoms of a deeper crisis: the "Category 5" collision between our civilization -- as we currently pursue it -- and the Earth's environment.
The entire speech is well worth your time:
Al Gore
We know that hurricanes are heat engines that thrive on warm water. We know that heat-trapping gases from our industrial society are warming the oceans. We know that, in the past 30 years, the number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes globally has almost doubled. It's time to connect the dots:
Last year, the science textbooks had to be rewritten. They used to say, "It's impossible to have a hurricane in the South Atlantic." We had the first one last year, in Brazil. Japan also set an all-time record for typhoons last year: 10. The previous record was seven. This summer, more than 200 cities in the United States broke all-time heat records. Reno, Nev., set a new record with 10 consecutive days above 100 degrees. Tucson, Ariz., tied its all-time record of 39 consecutive days above 100 degrees. New Orleans -- and the surrounding waters of the Gulf -- also hit an all-time high.
This summer, parts of India received record rainfall -- 37 inches fell in Mumbai in 24 hours, killing more than 1,000 people.
The new extremes of wind and rain are part of a larger pattern that also includes rapidly melting glaciers worldwide, increasing desertification, a global extinction crisis, the ravaging of ocean fisheries, and a growing range for disease "vectors" like mosquitoes, ticks and many other carriers of viruses and bacteria harmful to people.
All of these are symptoms of a deeper crisis: the "Category 5" collision between our civilization -- as we currently pursue it -- and the Earth's environment.
The entire speech is well worth your time:
Al Gore
Warrior?
KH writes:
I have always assumed a spider lives about one year, but now that I think about it...I don't know. Anybody out there in the Blogosphere got the 411?
I figure it's all about timing. When will the babies best be able to survive and find food in the Darwinian contest? I've seen spider hatchlings in the Fall and Spring, each having its advantages, alternating between dispersal and ready access to prey.
There is one other amazing sight on Fall afternoons in the gorge...Flying spiders!
As the late afternoon light momentarily cracks the shadow within the gorge, spiders fly. They climb to an appropriate launch point and release a long strand of silk with which to sail the air currents. it doesn't matter which way the winds go at the time, sometimes upriver, sometimes down. The spider silks glisten in the sun as the arachnid airforce fly where the wind takes them. Thousands of them float by my field of vision from the rock I like to sit upon on such days. It is a common occurance. Nothing rare about it except for someone to appreciate it.
Much wonder to be observed!
KH also said:
Me too!
James Earl is a good and wonderful man. I glanced at his new book in Borders a day or two ago but put it down in favor of "The Onion"...Must have my satire! ...The mind's most nutritious food group.
Anyway, Jimmy Carter is at the top of my list of great people who could have made a difference...but didn't. Ronald Reagan lied his way into the Whitehouse, and Jimmy Carter let him. That was the turning point in world history...America's descent into fascism.
You folks probably know that I am in constant search for the methods of honest persuasion in the never ending battle against Cognitive Dissonance. I believe very few things, though I suspect many. One thing I do believe with all my being, is that we are at war with the forces of evil within all humans. I don't see it in terms of any supernatural mythology, but merely the choice the human race must make in detemining its future, and ultimately whether it will have one.
Jimmy Carter is an honest man, and he proved that the Untied States government cannot function with just one honest man in power. It was him against the world. Even his own political party worked against him (something Howard Dean is facing today.)
What Carter lacked was the warrior nature required to deal with his enemies. He truly loved them in his Christian heart....and he let them survive. This was terribly wrong, as it turns out. The vermin that were not dealt with have now done away with truth in America. Speak the truth and you will be visciously attacked, as Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame found out. People who speak the truth must be revered or America is doomed.
Jimmy Carter is one of those....But he won't save our country. There must be more.
Where are our Warriors?
Courage,
Steve
...I have a happy little spider living in my bathroom underneath the sink. She’s been there for awhile now and shows no signs of leaving. What is the life expectancy of a spider anyhow?
I have always assumed a spider lives about one year, but now that I think about it...I don't know. Anybody out there in the Blogosphere got the 411?
I figure it's all about timing. When will the babies best be able to survive and find food in the Darwinian contest? I've seen spider hatchlings in the Fall and Spring, each having its advantages, alternating between dispersal and ready access to prey.
There is one other amazing sight on Fall afternoons in the gorge...Flying spiders!
As the late afternoon light momentarily cracks the shadow within the gorge, spiders fly. They climb to an appropriate launch point and release a long strand of silk with which to sail the air currents. it doesn't matter which way the winds go at the time, sometimes upriver, sometimes down. The spider silks glisten in the sun as the arachnid airforce fly where the wind takes them. Thousands of them float by my field of vision from the rock I like to sit upon on such days. It is a common occurance. Nothing rare about it except for someone to appreciate it.
Much wonder to be observed!
KH also said:
Did ya hear Jimmy Carter on NPR this morning? He was very well spoken. I’m not very familiar with him or his presidency, as he was in office when I was born. But I was impressed by what I would consider his ability to ‘quietly persuade’.
Me too!
James Earl is a good and wonderful man. I glanced at his new book in Borders a day or two ago but put it down in favor of "The Onion"...Must have my satire! ...The mind's most nutritious food group.
Anyway, Jimmy Carter is at the top of my list of great people who could have made a difference...but didn't. Ronald Reagan lied his way into the Whitehouse, and Jimmy Carter let him. That was the turning point in world history...America's descent into fascism.
You folks probably know that I am in constant search for the methods of honest persuasion in the never ending battle against Cognitive Dissonance. I believe very few things, though I suspect many. One thing I do believe with all my being, is that we are at war with the forces of evil within all humans. I don't see it in terms of any supernatural mythology, but merely the choice the human race must make in detemining its future, and ultimately whether it will have one.
Jimmy Carter is an honest man, and he proved that the Untied States government cannot function with just one honest man in power. It was him against the world. Even his own political party worked against him (something Howard Dean is facing today.)
What Carter lacked was the warrior nature required to deal with his enemies. He truly loved them in his Christian heart....and he let them survive. This was terribly wrong, as it turns out. The vermin that were not dealt with have now done away with truth in America. Speak the truth and you will be visciously attacked, as Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame found out. People who speak the truth must be revered or America is doomed.
Jimmy Carter is one of those....But he won't save our country. There must be more.
Where are our Warriors?
Courage,
Steve
Friday, November 04, 2005
She shrunk!
She was huge last time I saw her and now she's nice and petite. Bad news is, she'll die soon. I don't know when or how long she's got, but I'll keep watch hoping I can find out.
Ok, she's a spider. Big mamma spider until sometime in the last day or so. She's still hanging upside down in the corner of one of the large windows in the dining room, right next to the silk covered ball of spider eggs. A big Mamma spider lays a lot of eggs. I counted and there's exactly one Brazillian of them.
I'm not much on washing windows, particularly when they sit about twenty feet off the ground, but this is the time of year when I can't stand it any more. The leaves are dropping out of my view of the gorge, hidden for the last six months, and I get to see the cliffs with the freshness caused by absence. Of course they were there all along but I would have had to cut something to see them. Now it's time for Mom Nature to show me her stuff and drop those leaves out of the way. Suddenly, the spots on the glass become significant. That brilliant red soft maple tree on the far side is about the same size as the smudge that lies in direct line of view. Smudge gotta go!
...Time for the window washing contraption I make up out of aluminum poles, a sponge mop, and duct tape. Clean windows are coming...except for one. Folks are generally too polite to ask why we have one dirty window. (Actually, folks who know me marvel that any of them get washed in the first place, let alone all but one.) As it is, I'm not about to abort one Brazillian spider babies. Only about six of them will make it to adulthood anyway.
Fishing in the air can be a tough way to make a living.
And if you're a male spider...Your life ends with being eaten as part of sex. I mean really eaten...
Peace,
Steve
*****
Personally, I get the maddest at people who try to manipulate me with false information. Here is something written by Mike Scanlon, a former aide to Tom Delay, who, like his boss, has now been indicted.
Via Kos:
"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees," Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."
...Scanlon confessed the source code of recent Republican electoral victories: target religious conservatives, distract everyone else, and then railroad through complex initiatives.
"Where's the threat?" Factoid of the day:
Deaths in the United States from Terror during the Clinton and Bush administrations: Less that 3500.
Deaths in the United States from medical mistakes in the last 12 months: Approximately 195,000 (Business Week)
Think we spend 50 times more on health care than terrorism?
At the Tennessee Theater last night:
I looked up the origin of the word "Politics."
"Poly" is from the Greek word meaning "Many"...
"Tics" are a bunch of blood sucking parasites!
Tommy Smothers
Ok, she's a spider. Big mamma spider until sometime in the last day or so. She's still hanging upside down in the corner of one of the large windows in the dining room, right next to the silk covered ball of spider eggs. A big Mamma spider lays a lot of eggs. I counted and there's exactly one Brazillian of them.
I'm not much on washing windows, particularly when they sit about twenty feet off the ground, but this is the time of year when I can't stand it any more. The leaves are dropping out of my view of the gorge, hidden for the last six months, and I get to see the cliffs with the freshness caused by absence. Of course they were there all along but I would have had to cut something to see them. Now it's time for Mom Nature to show me her stuff and drop those leaves out of the way. Suddenly, the spots on the glass become significant. That brilliant red soft maple tree on the far side is about the same size as the smudge that lies in direct line of view. Smudge gotta go!
...Time for the window washing contraption I make up out of aluminum poles, a sponge mop, and duct tape. Clean windows are coming...except for one. Folks are generally too polite to ask why we have one dirty window. (Actually, folks who know me marvel that any of them get washed in the first place, let alone all but one.) As it is, I'm not about to abort one Brazillian spider babies. Only about six of them will make it to adulthood anyway.
Fishing in the air can be a tough way to make a living.
And if you're a male spider...Your life ends with being eaten as part of sex. I mean really eaten...
Peace,
Steve
*****
Personally, I get the maddest at people who try to manipulate me with false information. Here is something written by Mike Scanlon, a former aide to Tom Delay, who, like his boss, has now been indicted.
Via Kos:
"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees," Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."
...Scanlon confessed the source code of recent Republican electoral victories: target religious conservatives, distract everyone else, and then railroad through complex initiatives.
"Where's the threat?" Factoid of the day:
Deaths in the United States from Terror during the Clinton and Bush administrations: Less that 3500.
Deaths in the United States from medical mistakes in the last 12 months: Approximately 195,000 (Business Week)
Think we spend 50 times more on health care than terrorism?
At the Tennessee Theater last night:
I looked up the origin of the word "Politics."
"Poly" is from the Greek word meaning "Many"...
"Tics" are a bunch of blood sucking parasites!
Tommy Smothers
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Why It's a Big Deal
I can't believe the capacity of the Right wing noise machine!
Tom Delay didn't do anything illegal...just launder money to subvert Texas State Law. All trumped up charges from a partisan prosecutor and judge. Forget, if you will, that most of the other people who worked for Tom's Pac are under indictment, too.
Senator Frist is being investigated for stock fraud but he grandstands, outraged that Harry Reid wants Frist to move forward with the investigation into who manipulated the CIA intelligence and got us into the Iraq War under false pretenses. "Can't trust Harry! any more" said Frist. Harry wants us to find the truth.
Truth? Truth got no place in the Republican world! This is an outrage! I mean take Sccoter Libby for example.
Scooter, Scooter, Scooter! Tried to punish Joe Wilson for telling the truth. Then Lied to a Federal Grand Jury, plain and simple. But no worries, Nobody knows who he is, anyway...Why he's only the Vice President of the United States' right hand man...No biggie, eh? And who'd he lie to protect, anyway? Hmmm.
..Check these quotes compiled by Tom Tomorrow:
Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.
Dick Cheney, Vice President
Speech to VFW National Convention
8/26/2002
Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons.
George W. Bush, President
Speech to UN General Assembly
9/12/2002
Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons. We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons — the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have
George W. Bush, President
Radio Address
10/5/2002
After eleven years during which we have tried containment, sanctions, inspections, even selected military action, the end result is that Saddam Hussein still has chemical and biological weapons and is increasing his capabilities to make more. And he is moving ever closer to developing a nuclear weapon.
George W. Bush, President
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
10/7/2002
We’ve also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas
George W. Bush, President
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
10/7/2002
The president of the United States and the secretary of defense would not assert as plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true, and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it
Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Response to Question From Press
12/4/2002
Iraq is a grave threat to this nation. It desires to acquire and use weapons of mass terror and is run by a despot with a proven record of willingness to use them. Iraq has had 12 years to comply with UN requirements for disarmament and has failed to do so. The president is right to say it’s time has run out.
Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader
Senate Speech
3/7/2003
The rest of some Interesting reading From Tom Tomorrow:
thismodernworld
Peace,
Steve
Tom Delay didn't do anything illegal...just launder money to subvert Texas State Law. All trumped up charges from a partisan prosecutor and judge. Forget, if you will, that most of the other people who worked for Tom's Pac are under indictment, too.
Senator Frist is being investigated for stock fraud but he grandstands, outraged that Harry Reid wants Frist to move forward with the investigation into who manipulated the CIA intelligence and got us into the Iraq War under false pretenses. "Can't trust Harry! any more" said Frist. Harry wants us to find the truth.
Truth? Truth got no place in the Republican world! This is an outrage! I mean take Sccoter Libby for example.
Scooter, Scooter, Scooter! Tried to punish Joe Wilson for telling the truth. Then Lied to a Federal Grand Jury, plain and simple. But no worries, Nobody knows who he is, anyway...Why he's only the Vice President of the United States' right hand man...No biggie, eh? And who'd he lie to protect, anyway? Hmmm.
..Check these quotes compiled by Tom Tomorrow:
Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.
Dick Cheney, Vice President
Speech to VFW National Convention
8/26/2002
Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons.
George W. Bush, President
Speech to UN General Assembly
9/12/2002
Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons. We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons — the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have
George W. Bush, President
Radio Address
10/5/2002
After eleven years during which we have tried containment, sanctions, inspections, even selected military action, the end result is that Saddam Hussein still has chemical and biological weapons and is increasing his capabilities to make more. And he is moving ever closer to developing a nuclear weapon.
George W. Bush, President
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
10/7/2002
We’ve also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas
George W. Bush, President
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
10/7/2002
The president of the United States and the secretary of defense would not assert as plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true, and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it
Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Response to Question From Press
12/4/2002
Iraq is a grave threat to this nation. It desires to acquire and use weapons of mass terror and is run by a despot with a proven record of willingness to use them. Iraq has had 12 years to comply with UN requirements for disarmament and has failed to do so. The president is right to say it’s time has run out.
Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader
Senate Speech
3/7/2003
The rest of some Interesting reading From Tom Tomorrow:
thismodernworld
Peace,
Steve
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Bullies Squall the Loudest!
So my much beloved Tennessee Senator, Bill Frist is all upset with Harry Reid for wanting the same classified information that the Republicans have. Frist doesn't like it when people want him to play fair
...Not the Frist family way, you understand
...just vote like we tell you and shut up. Sure, we're destroying the country, but we're getting rich, rich, rich! That makes it ok, right?
Billy is just a little stressed out what with being caught lying, and investigated for stock violations, and his buddies, Tom and Scooter, being indicted, and the Republican party going down in flames, with the Prez hovering at a 40% approval in this reddest of states.
Billy was all upset and claimed he had been slapped in the face, figuratively speaking, just because he was stone walling a little investigation into Whitehouse treason...Not like it's anything serious. Providing false info to Congress is only an impeachable offense. Not anything like having sex.
Don't be fooled by the dark glasses, anyway...he can see right through them into blind trusts and secret financial shenanigans. Cheney has pair, too! I'm sure you noticed that Halliburton stock bopped right on by Cheney's stock option prices, making the toad in the vice presidential office even more millions that he will never live to spend.
Go Charlie, Go!
The Scribble
Personally, when I find everything to be so incredibly screwed up that I can't make sense of it, I like to read a bible. Try this little test to see how mush you really know...and be sure to check your answers!
Bible lesson for today:
Bible Study
Sorry about all that blood and lice and stuff...bible study ain't for the delicate!
Peace,
Steve
...Not the Frist family way, you understand
...just vote like we tell you and shut up. Sure, we're destroying the country, but we're getting rich, rich, rich! That makes it ok, right?
Billy is just a little stressed out what with being caught lying, and investigated for stock violations, and his buddies, Tom and Scooter, being indicted, and the Republican party going down in flames, with the Prez hovering at a 40% approval in this reddest of states.
Billy was all upset and claimed he had been slapped in the face, figuratively speaking, just because he was stone walling a little investigation into Whitehouse treason...Not like it's anything serious. Providing false info to Congress is only an impeachable offense. Not anything like having sex.
Don't be fooled by the dark glasses, anyway...he can see right through them into blind trusts and secret financial shenanigans. Cheney has pair, too! I'm sure you noticed that Halliburton stock bopped right on by Cheney's stock option prices, making the toad in the vice presidential office even more millions that he will never live to spend.
Go Charlie, Go!
The Scribble
Personally, when I find everything to be so incredibly screwed up that I can't make sense of it, I like to read a bible. Try this little test to see how mush you really know...and be sure to check your answers!
Bible lesson for today:
Bible Study
Sorry about all that blood and lice and stuff...bible study ain't for the delicate!
Peace,
Steve
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Why do you hang around with that sadist?
"Beats me..." said the masochist.
I keep asking myself things like, "Why aren't Republicans really angry at President Bush?"
I mean, isn't it painfully obvious that they've been lied to and manipulated beyond all reason? Can it be that they really all are in an abusive relationship?...And they like it?
Why do Republicans choose ignorance? They do you know! Here, try this little test just to prove it to yourself:
Ask a Republican this question:
"Who was George W. Bush first business partner?"
I will be shocked if any of you receive the correct answer, which is, of course, Salem Bin Laden, Osama's big brother. Let me know what you hear...I'm curious.
And if anyone questions whether Karl Rove is recovering from his near death experience by indictment, The first business day after his cohort in the Whitehouse was charged...Bush announces the appointment of a crazy guy to the Supreme court.
There goes the right to privacy! That's only for big Corporations anyway, Suckers!
Peace,
Steve
Paul Krugman:
"...the long nightmare won't really be over until journalists ask themselves: what did we know, when did we know it, and why didn't we tell the public?"
Krugman
Aaron McGruder:
"Jesus is black, Ronald Reagan is the devil and the government is lying about 9/11."
Boondocks will be animated on the Cartoon Network:
Boondocks
I keep asking myself things like, "Why aren't Republicans really angry at President Bush?"
I mean, isn't it painfully obvious that they've been lied to and manipulated beyond all reason? Can it be that they really all are in an abusive relationship?...And they like it?
Why do Republicans choose ignorance? They do you know! Here, try this little test just to prove it to yourself:
Ask a Republican this question:
"Who was George W. Bush first business partner?"
I will be shocked if any of you receive the correct answer, which is, of course, Salem Bin Laden, Osama's big brother. Let me know what you hear...I'm curious.
And if anyone questions whether Karl Rove is recovering from his near death experience by indictment, The first business day after his cohort in the Whitehouse was charged...Bush announces the appointment of a crazy guy to the Supreme court.
There goes the right to privacy! That's only for big Corporations anyway, Suckers!
Peace,
Steve
Paul Krugman:
"...the long nightmare won't really be over until journalists ask themselves: what did we know, when did we know it, and why didn't we tell the public?"
Krugman
Aaron McGruder:
"Jesus is black, Ronald Reagan is the devil and the government is lying about 9/11."
Boondocks will be animated on the Cartoon Network:
Boondocks
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