If not you, who?

zic

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Tuesday January 29, 2008 · 5:29 PM PST

2008/01/29 · 17:29

Our kind federal government is going to give you back $600, hell, maybe even more. And they want you to go go out and spend it. Go on. Spend it on something that makes you feel real good. I till kick the economy into high gear.

Me, I've got my eye on an All Clad dutch oven, costs about $500 new. It'll be great for all that nutritious food I'm cooking at home now that I've read the "Omnivores Dilemma." It will make my my organic chickens taste more organic; my braised grass-fed beef taste more grass fed. It will help jumpstart the economy. What a great way to contribute, because I really want this pot. I really do. The reviews say it cooks like no other. It's magic.

And I really want to help. I wanna feel good about being American again. So why do I feel empty when I think about being American? Why do I feel like a piece of shit? Why do I want to use that pot to cook my sorrows away? How come, if I want to make America better, all that's being asked of me is to spend?

zic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday August 05, 2007 · 8:45 AM PDT

2007/08/05 · 08:45

We've all heard it; the Republican's without Responsibility ™ chatter, "fear fear afraid fear fear terrorist fear fear. . ."

Yesterday, that chatter, combined with showing some documents that can't be discussed with us because they're "classified," resulted in our Senators and Representatives taking another whak at The US Constitution

I learned to view the US Senate and House of Representatives as serious offices where serious debate took place; where intelligent men (and more recently, intelligent women) pondered the problems that faced our nation are carefully took steps to address those problems. Those steps included research, debate, and conversations with their constituents.

But it wasn't until yesterday that I realized gullibility, not intelligence, is the key to legislative action. More below the fold.

zic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday April 05, 2007 · 7:22 AM PDT

2007/04/05 · 07:22

No, I'm not talking about Kos's idea of Libertarinsism; I'm talking about the Libertarian Party Seems they've jumped on the pork-smashing bandwagon as the way to gear up for 08.

Below the fold is an email I got from them. It's the first email I've received from them. I don't know how I got on their list (and I'd really like to know that, I'm pretty careful with the email address this was sent to. Since it came, I thought I'd put it to good use and post it here for the record.

After watching the Republican efforts to fund third party candidates during the last election cycle, I think we should be paying attention to the Libertarians and to where they're getting their support. We may be looking at the politics of "divide and conquer" to minimize Democratic victories in '08. Remember who we're in a politica war with -- a party that could envision a permenant Republican majority. They will assume Dems have the same goal, and act accordingly.

zic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday March 27, 2007 · 10:17 AM PDT

2007/03/27 · 10:17

I'm sick of us. We complain, we whine. We want a withdrawal. We want representative government.

But we're cowed.

We won't pick up the freakin' phone and dial our Senator's number, "it won't matter. It's never mattered before," we think.

And I'm here to tell you, if that's you I'm describing, you're no better then the fox-watching voters who pulled the lever for Bush in 2000 & 2004. You've abandoned your responsibility as a citizen.

zic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday January 29, 2007 · 1:14 PM PST

2007/01/29 · 13:14

Iraq War Author's Forum On c-span now.

Amazing stuff, will pull this down in a few minutes, just wanted folks able to to tune in.

Water's asking if invasion of iraq was a neo-con plot from before bush's election.

zic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday October 30, 2006 · 8:09 AM PST

2006/10/30 · 08:09

I love Countdown. Don't need to explain the love here, to the choir.

But I switch channels when it gets to the celebrity news. So I just suggested a format change, and I'm hoping others here will echo the change: Dropping the celebrity news for the three top stories you won't hear in the MSM. Read More

on-line predators here? Rep. Fitzpatrick (R-PA) thinks so. Updated.

zic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday June 09, 2006 · 10:50 AM PDT

2006/06/09 · 10:50

Update 2: The title is based on a news story, not on Fitzpatrick's fingerpointing at dKos. As I say in the story, the dKos reference tracks back to Murphy and MYDD. That does not change the import of this -- another threat to limit access to "social networking technology" under the guise of protecting children. I'm a recovering journalist. Long ago, I set up a google alert on Daily Kos while writing a story about Bill in Portland Maine for a Portland, Maine paper. Never bothered to disconnect it, it provided a pretty window to see how the world reacted to our good work here.

Yesterday, that google alert turned up something interesting: a story in the The Doylestown Patriot on the race between the Republican incumbent, Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick and Dem Patrick Murphy in Pennsylvania. Google picked the story up for me because of the following sentence:

Fitzpatrick recently introduced legislation to protect children from child predators on social networking sites such as Dailykos, Blogger and MySpace.

zic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 08, 2006 · 9:53 AM PDT

2006/06/08 · 09:53

I miss Armando.

And I'm dissapointed with him; and every other poster defending the right to blog anonymously.

I'm also dissapointed in anyone who things it's okay to disclose private information.

But they are two distinct issues. The first is about net courtesy; in a world full of bots looking for personal information, posting private info is wrong.

But that doesn't mean that the right to post anonymously is sacred; in fact it makes it harder for us to effectively participate in public discourse. Read More

Illegal Immigrants: From picking strawberries to picking weapons?

zic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday April 13, 2006 · 7:22 AM PDT

2006/04/13 · 07:22

Last night on "Countdown," Olbermann and his guest, Jonathan Alter, discussed the conventional wisdom: the US does not have enought troops to invade Iran. It's all talk; we've got to use diplomacy, they agreed. We don't have the manpower to invade. (updated with link to transcript.)

There's no doubt the military is strained; and while recruitment goals are occasionally met on a a month to month basis, according to US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers, it ain't easy:

In the annual "Military Risk Assessment and Threat Mitigation Plan," Myers reportedly stated that the level of deployed troops meant that future wars could not be carried out as quickly and with as few American casualties as the Pentagon has planned. The assessment itself is classified, but several American newspapers reported on the findings through leaks from top military officials.
A senior Defense Department official quoted in the Los Angeles Times said, "The assessment is that we would succeed [in future wars], but there would be higher casualties and more collateral damage. We would have to win uglier."

zic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday April 09, 2006 · 5:22 PM PDT

2006/04/09 · 17:22

This morning, I was disgusted at some of the comments about immigration on this front page post. Late afternoon found me cooking dinner, or supah as we'd say here in Maine, wondering why it still disturbed me to hear so many people wanting to deport people who have obviously broken our laws.

As I pondered immigration and snapped the tough ends of a bunch of beautiful asparagus, I began wondering who's hands had picked it. The asparagus was the embodiment of a spring that still hasn't got a grip here in the northeast corner of the US. I checked the two rubber bands that wrapped it, and sure enough, "product of California," was stamped on them. So there's a really good chance that an illegal immigrant from Mexico harvested my asparagus. Read More

Shame on Snowe & Collins

zic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday December 17, 2005 · 8:30 AM PST

2005/12/17 · 08:30

Thursday, I contacted each of my Senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, to ask them not to support renewal of the Patriot act. As I recall, I said it was against the spirit and wishes of the People who live in Maine, where we value our freedom. In Snowe's, I compared it the McCarthyism, though I did not use that term, trying to be more subtle and create less hostility.

And it was an eye-opening lesson on how difficult it can be to make your voice heard in the halls of political power in this country.

I have not heard back from Susan Collins office yet. I received an email from Snowe's office yesterday, after she voted for cloture, voted in support of the Act, and I wanted to share it and my thoughts on it with you, after the fold. Read More

A Christmas greeting from Iraq

zic

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday December 14, 2004 · 5:40 PM PST

2004/12/14 · 17:40

I received a Christmas card today, not unusual for this time of year. But this card made me cry. It's from my counsin's daughter. She's serving her country in Iraq -- her ticket to higher education.

Bobbie Blue, her family nick name, sent me a poem. It's a Christmas greeting that made me cry.

It's below the fold. Read More

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If not you, who?

Gullibility

The Libertarians on the Move

Call you Senator NOW

Maxine Waters asking if there's a neo-con plot

Countdown challenge -- Pushing hard news

on-line predators here? Rep. Fitzpatrick (R-PA) thinks so. Updated.

Own what you say

Illegal Immigrants: From picking strawberries to picking weapons?

asparagus and illegal immigration

Shame on Snowe & Collins

A Christmas greeting from Iraq