Inspired, I took additional steps to becoming "carbon neutral." The surprising thing is that, it's easy, not very expensive, and it makes a difference. I had previously offset my car's carbon emissions, by purchasing a Terrapass (about 50 bucks or so...). Today, I calculated the rest of my carbon footprint (plane travel, home energy use) and offset those costs through investing in wind turbines and dairy farm methane projects. About 25 bucks.

It is a great wonder that war opponents, including increasing numbers of Democratic "leaders," are so silent. Some of the most visible simply believe the invasion of Iraq, which they endorsed, has been mismanaged, that more troops (not fewer) are needed! Even today, they seem untroubled by the false statements and manipulated intelligence of the administration. The most difficult political statement in the English language is: I made a mistake.

Unlike WWI and WWII, where the military was more than willing to bring their heroes off the front lines to rally support, the current administration is reluctant to share with the public stories of heroism from Iraq. Why?

Many in the military are disheartened by the absence of an instantly recognizable war hero today, a deficiency with a complex cause: public opinion on the Iraq war is split, and drawing attention to it risks fueling opposition; the military is more reluctant than it was in the last century to promote the individual over the group; and the war itself is different, with fewer big battles and more and messier engagements involving smaller units of Americans. Then, too, there is a celebrity culture that seems skewed more to the victim than to the hero.

But there's something else going on here. Bigger than public opinion, or group versus individual dynamics, or anything else stated in the article.

It's the idea of "sacrifice."

First, it's a 737. There 200 passengers. It's Lufthansa. In Toronto. And there are Flames!!! and Smoke!!!

more...

"Insurgencies need progress to survive, and this insurgency is not progressing"

"What you're seeing is a change in tactics to more violent, more visible attacks against civilians, and that's a no-win strategy"

"the level of attacks they've been able to generate has not increased substantially over what we've seen over the past year"

Insurgents:

Boom.

If you missed his apologies for outing a covert CIA agent last night, some highlights, below.

More inside...

Times:

More bullshit inside...

They've asked Scotty the tough questions. They've gotten Scotty to back off the Newsweek story. They've published the Downing St. memo. They've uncovered a rare-coin scam in Ohio.

Well, this has got to stop.

The mainstream media only has a limited capability to do actual reporting, and with a Supreme Court opening coming up, the 2006 elections and the situation in Iraq, they will quickly spend all their journalistic capital.

As a solution, I propose a moratorium on real journalism, and offer the following stories to be followed.

AP reports (same link):

Is it me, or are they setting themselves up for the mother of all attacks?

In the diary, some incredible poll numbers were given:

• 64 percent believe that Saddam Hussein had strong links to Al Qaeda (up slightly from 62% in November)

• 47 percent believe that Saddam Hussein helped plan and support the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001 (up six percentage points from November)

• 44 percent actually believe that several of the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11 were Iraqis (up significantly from 37% in November)

• 36 percent believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded (down slightly from 38% in November)

Not October, 2001. Not January, 2002. Not March, 2003.

February, 2005.

Until people stop believing this, it will continue to hurt us in the voting booth.

What can be done? Well, I don't know. But I hope someone here does.

Well, looks like we've turned a corner!

More inside...

Why?

My guess is the Bush Administration is destroying the Earth, but other theories exist.

Come on all of you big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
he's got himself in a terrible jam
way down yonder in Viet Nam so
put down your books and pick up a gun we're
gonna have a whole lotta fun

Follow the bouncing ball, folks!!!

April 29, 1975. On this day 30 years ago, Saigon fell, marking the end of the Vietnam War.

A war that opened wounds still not healed, as we saw in the last election. A war that, while I was only a kid at the time, has persisted in fascinating me.

Mostly because I grew up in a time of relative peace, and, more importantly, no draft. I could not imagine being forced to enter the horror of war, and I am amazed and in awe of all that have lived through it, or perished because of it.

Vietnam was significant in that it was the first war where photojournalists played a significant role in turning public opinion. Photojournalists -- both film and video -- brought the reality of war to the American public as never before.

And so, on this day, I'd like to go back 30 years, and let two photographers that were there describe the day.

(**Note: images will load, in case you're on dial-up)

Transcript continues...

A link to some amazing photos, and why they're important, after the click.

From last night's Scarborough Country:

This is a rush transcript

JOE: Welcome to another edition of Scarborough Country. Tonight, we will be discussing the Pope's medical condition with MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan, Schiavo family spokesperson Brother Paul O'Donnell and Carrot Top. We will also have a heartbreaking 911 call from a 5-year-old girl being attacked by monkeys.

But first, we have NBC correspondent Lisa Daniels with BREAKING NEWS from the Vatican on the pope's condition.

DANIELS: Yes, Joe, we do have breaking news from the Vatican.