Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
On Vacation
Meringue with lavender sauce and strawberries with black pepper ice cream at the King Estate Winery near Eugene, Or. 6-12-08
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Kucinich Reads Articles of Impeachment
On the floor of the House on Monday.
Not sure of the parliamentary significance of actually reading them, unless it then forces some further action, like scheduled hearings.
Democrats.com is pushing this and you can sign the petition of support, etc., here.
Update: Nobody at Kos thinks anything will come of it, but you can thank him here reply@kucinichforcongress.com
Not sure of the parliamentary significance of actually reading them, unless it then forces some further action, like scheduled hearings.
Democrats.com is pushing this and you can sign the petition of support, etc., here.
Update: Nobody at Kos thinks anything will come of it, but you can thank him here reply@kucinichforcongress.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a former Democratic presidential contender, said Monday he wants the House to consider a resolution to impeach President Bush.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi consistently has said impeachment was "off the table."
Kucinich, D-Ohio, read his proposed impeachment language in a floor speech. He contended Bush deceived the nation and violated his oath of office in leading the country into the Iraq war.
Kucinich introduced a resolution last year to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. That resolution was killed, but only after Republicans initially voted in favor of taking up the measure to force a debate.
Kucinich won 50 percent of the vote in a five-way House Democratic primary in March, beating back critics who said he ignored business at home to travel the country in his quest to be president.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Foodie Alert
Wanna be a locavore, getting most of your food locally to reduce the carbon footprint while supporting local farmers?
Sounds good, but as the saying goes, common sense has one big problem, it may be common but it may not make sense.
Consider a study cited in this New Republic article:
.
Sounds good, but as the saying goes, common sense has one big problem, it may be common but it may not make sense.
Consider a study cited in this New Republic article:
.
..it's striking to learn that, on average, replacing just 21 percent of the red meat in the "typical" diet with fish or chicken does as much, emissions-wise, as buying everything in that same diet locally. Another big surprise is that the far-flung globalization of the food chain that Pollan describes seems to have had a relatively small impact on global greenhouse-gas emissions, in part because ocean freight still accounts for 99 percent of all international transport, and that uses far less energy than trucking. That's unexpected, and it sounds like even the authors were surprised by the result.
Web 2.0 And Campaign 2008
Or Comment O' Teh Day
From Rabbitsmrgasbord at Talking Points Memo:
From Rabbitsmrgasbord at Talking Points Memo:
...if the hard-core Hillary supporters are discovering the intertubes could McCain supporters be far behind? Next thing you know they'll discover the googler, and the utube that lets them post videos from those newfangled cameras that don't use film, and then who knows where it will all lead? Next thing you know they'll all be on face spaces and such, and they'll be all blobbing about where the best early-bird specials are and twiddering about much prune juice they drank this morning. It's the beginning of the end, I tells ya.
Attention Bookies
Amazon hides its Listmania in apparent embarassment because it's so chaotic, according to Virginia Heffernan, who writes the The Medium blog for the New York Times.
I read Virginia so you don't have to.
So here's everything from Fun Books About Chickens to I dunno what, cuz I haven't read that far yet.
And then there's Unspun, which is Amazon's attempt to organize the chaos.
So jump in, you might find some whole new category for the summer.
CORRECTION: These are not just lists of books, they are lists of anything, although Amazon was hoping for PRODUCTS that it sells, I guess.
I read Virginia so you don't have to.
So here's everything from Fun Books About Chickens to I dunno what, cuz I haven't read that far yet.
And then there's Unspun, which is Amazon's attempt to organize the chaos.
So jump in, you might find some whole new category for the summer.
CORRECTION: These are not just lists of books, they are lists of anything, although Amazon was hoping for PRODUCTS that it sells, I guess.
Quote O' Teh Week (Last Week)
In reality there is only one candidate. Barack Obama. In November he will win or he will lose. John McCain is relevant only in so far as he is not Barack Obama. The Senator from Arizona is incapable of energizing his party, brings no new people to the polls, and has a personality that is best kept under wraps.
Arch-conservative Bay Buchanan writing in Human Events June 4.Republicans are worried, says Thomas Edsall of Huffpo.
Me, I think it'll be a landslide for Obama and way clear long before November.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
High Gas Prices: It's All Phil Gramm's Fault
The media in the last week has featured several revealing articles detailing former Texas (where else?) Sen. Phil Gramm's involvement with a large Swiss bank that is caught not only in the mortgage crisis but in illegal financial activity. He has been a lobbyist with USB — or is it UBS? — until very recently and continues to be a vice president.
Gramm is John McCain's "economic advisor."
What has not yet grabbed the media's attention is Gramm's leadership role in midnight amendment to 2000 legislation — the Enron loophole — that eliminated government oversight — that bad, bad government regulation — of futures markets.
Sen. Maria Cantwell chaired the Senate Commerce Committee hearing last week on the whole thing, which was shown on C-Span. You can watch and listen to the whole two hours here.
But if you don't want to, here's the bottom line:
You're paying about $1-$2 a gallon too much because of unregulated market manipulation and speculation.
Yeah, supply/demand is in there, and the falling dollar. So is hoarding. So is producer (e.g. the Saudi's) reluctance.
And yeah, we need to develop alternative energy.
But, $1-$2 a gallon is what this travesty of deregulation under the Republicans is costing you.
Oh, yeah, George Soros was there to testify. He's been all over the Hill lately. That must be killing the R's, to have to listen to their Great Satan.
But the hero of the day was Michael Greenberger, a law professor and former director of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission under Clinton.
He's enraged. He said the FTC needs to be told to buck up and do something now and federal law allows it under the Administrative Procedures Act. Futhermore, this deregulation not only allows the oil speculation, but is behind the food and mortgage derivatives speculation.
There. It's all the fault of Phil Gramm, busy whispering "more, more deregulation" in McCain's ear.
Gramm is John McCain's "economic advisor."
What has not yet grabbed the media's attention is Gramm's leadership role in midnight amendment to 2000 legislation — the Enron loophole — that eliminated government oversight — that bad, bad government regulation — of futures markets.
Sen. Maria Cantwell chaired the Senate Commerce Committee hearing last week on the whole thing, which was shown on C-Span. You can watch and listen to the whole two hours here.
But if you don't want to, here's the bottom line:
You're paying about $1-$2 a gallon too much because of unregulated market manipulation and speculation.
Yeah, supply/demand is in there, and the falling dollar. So is hoarding. So is producer (e.g. the Saudi's) reluctance.
And yeah, we need to develop alternative energy.
But, $1-$2 a gallon is what this travesty of deregulation under the Republicans is costing you.
Oh, yeah, George Soros was there to testify. He's been all over the Hill lately. That must be killing the R's, to have to listen to their Great Satan.
But the hero of the day was Michael Greenberger, a law professor and former director of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission under Clinton.
He's enraged. He said the FTC needs to be told to buck up and do something now and federal law allows it under the Administrative Procedures Act. Futhermore, this deregulation not only allows the oil speculation, but is behind the food and mortgage derivatives speculation.
There. It's all the fault of Phil Gramm, busy whispering "more, more deregulation" in McCain's ear.
...the flowers burn
and I want
to live my life all over again, to begin again,
to be utterly
wild.
A Meeting, Mary Oliver
to live my life all over again, to begin again,
to be utterly
wild.
A Meeting, Mary Oliver
Don't Watch Sunday Talking Heads
because Jason Linkins at Huffpo does it for you and he's mean to everybody. If you don't get one inside joke, just go to the next one.
The Other War
Stunning photos from Afghanistan, take a look. Via Andrew Sullivan.
Barack Obama, Aug. 1, 2007
When I am President, we will wage the war that has to be won, with a comprehensive strategy with five elements: getting out of Iraq and on to the right battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan; developing the capabilities and partnerships we need to take out the terrorists and the world's most deadly weapons; engaging the world to dry up support for terror and extremism; restoring our values; and securing a more resilient homeland.
The first step must be getting off the wrong battlefield in Iraq, and taking the fight to the terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Barack Obama, Aug. 1, 2007
Hillary's Concession Speech
is 29 minutes, and pretty good, according to this TPM commenter.
After her much criticized speech earlier this week, I dug through my record collection to find my vinyl copy of Ted Kennedy's 'concession' speeech from the 1980 Democratic Convention. (Yep--they released one and I bought it 27+ yrs ago). It was, from beginning to end Ted Kennedy's acceptance speech. It contained one sentence, in the final paragraph, acknowledging Carter's nomination. (I congratulate President Carter on his victory). Other than that, he essentially claimed the nomination that the voters had given to Carter months before. Standing at the podium of the Convention itself, Kennedy let the nation know he believed he deserved the nomination.That speech reminded me all over again of the legitimacy of the charge that Kennedy tore the party apart over his failed ambition.
Compared to that speech, and even in its own right, Hillary's speech was a model of grace and reconciliation. Once the speech is published, it will be easy to nibble away at the sentences where she held on to this or that difference with Sen Obama. But those who expected Hillary to give Obama a pinched and begrudging support need to admit that they were very wrong. Who gives a damn if it took her a couple of extra days to do it?
It's always nice to have a little historical perspective.
Must Watch TV
I can't recommend more highly this sweet little documentary, which looks like it was made in Seattle.
It's a series of very candid interviews with mostly gay people of all ages about their relationships and their life histories. They're largely charming and very human. I loved this movie.
KCTS Ch. 9 in Seattle is showing it Wednesday, June 11 at 8:30 p.m.
Check your other local PBS stations for other showings.
Oops, it's called Inlaws and Outlaws.
It's a series of very candid interviews with mostly gay people of all ages about their relationships and their life histories. They're largely charming and very human. I loved this movie.
KCTS Ch. 9 in Seattle is showing it Wednesday, June 11 at 8:30 p.m.
Check your other local PBS stations for other showings.
Oops, it's called Inlaws and Outlaws.
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