Obama VP: Let's Puzzle This Out...

http://openleft.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=624CE229B982B6B3EFCC2D82A4C4E9AB?diaryId=7616

In the early morning hour(it's just past 3:30 a.m.)
I have lighted a candle and listening to the night sounds, and to silence of my beating heart ... A way to blaze the light of healing and wholeness, whatever form it takes. For each one that seeks it ...

Like the star that guided wiser men than I to a stable yet, for me, the discovery has been the star is not in the sky, but in my heart..

In the name of love I pronounce you, darling.

And what a find it was. Beautiful! Twinkle on, girl!

If your best friend became The President, would they suddenly deserve something more from you?

.

Conversely, if you suddenly realized that it was Y-O-U who'd been anointed,

would your friends deserve any less than the best possible gesture on your part?

.

The "Son of God" is the heaviest name that I do not know.

And sometimes, even He lays it on pretty thick!

Thus, my bark is rougher than That which I hold to be quick.

Luvz & Hugz, Uncle Tree

beware of the evil that lurks in the heart of men! or women!

did u hear that noise over there? it's 3 a.m.

wait a minute..."who's that?" is that bill?

see that shadow? brr...run and hide! dat's bery scary! oooohhhhhh!

whose shadow is that? monica's?

hillary...i had a wet dream? u might be the veep! darn!

I knew this was going to be a good day!
This poll was taken before the sweaty palms display last Saturday night:

Poll shows McCain in 5-point lead over Obama

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a sharp turnaround, Republican John McCain has opened a 5-point lead on Democrat Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential race and is seen as a stronger manager of the economy, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

McCain leads Obama among likely U.S. voters by 46 percent to 41 percent, wiping out Obama's solid 7-point advantage in July and taking his first lead in the monthly Reuters/Zogby poll.

The reversal follows a month of attacks by McCain, who has questioned Obama's experience, criticized his opposition to most new offshore oil drilling and mocked his overseas trip.

The poll was taken Thursday through Saturday as Obama wrapped up a weeklong vacation in Hawaii that ceded the political spotlight to McCain, who seized on Russia's invasion of Georgia to emphasize his foreign policy views.

"There is no doubt the campaign to discredit Obama is paying off for McCain right now," pollster John Zogby said. "This is a significant ebb for Obama."

McCain now has a 9-point edge, 49 percent to 40 percent, over Obama on the critical question of who would be the best manager of the economy -- an issue nearly half of voters said was their top concern in the November 4 presidential election.

That margin reversed Obama's 4-point edge last month on the economy over McCain, an Arizona senator and former Vietnam prisoner of war who has admitted a lack of economic expertise and shows far greater interest in foreign and military policy.

McCain has been on the offensive against Obama during the last month over energy concerns, with polls showing strong majorities supporting his call for an expansion of offshore oil drilling as gasoline prices hover near $4 a gallon.

Obama had opposed new offshore drilling, but said recently he would support a limited expansion as part of a comprehensive energy program.

That was one of several recent policy shifts for Obama, as he positions himself for the general election battle. But Zogby said the changes could be taking a toll on Obama's support, particularly among Democrats and self-described liberals.

"That hairline difference between nuance and what appears to be flip-flopping is hurting him with liberal voters," Zogby said.

Obama's support among Democrats fell 9 percentage points this month to 74 percent, while McCain has the backing of 81 percent of Republicans. Support for Obama, an Illinois senator, fell 12 percentage points among liberals, with 10 percent of liberals still undecided compared to 9 percent of conservatives.

OBAMA NEEDS TO WORK ON BASE

"Conservatives were supposed to be the bigger problem for McCain," Zogby said. "Obama still has work to do on his base. At this point McCain seems to be doing a better job with his."

The dip in support for Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, cut across demographic and ideological lines. He slipped among Catholics, born-again Christians, women, independents and younger voters. He retained the support of more than 90 percent of black voters.

"There were no wild swings, there isn't one group that is radically different than last month or even two months ago. It was just a steady decline for Obama across the board," Zogby said.

Obama's support among voters between the ages of 18 and 29, which had been one of his strengths, slipped 12 percentage points to 52 percent. McCain, who will turn 72 next week, was winning 40 percent of younger voters.

"Those are not the numbers Obama needs to win," Zogby said about Americans under 30. The 47-year-old is counting on a strong turnout among young voters, a key bloc of support during his primary battle with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

It made little difference when independent candidate Ralph Nader and Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr, who are both trying to add their names to state ballots.

McCain still held a 5-point edge over Obama, 44 percent to 39 percent, when all four names were included. Barr earned 3 percent and Nader 2 percent.

Most national polls have given Obama a narrow lead over McCain throughout the summer. In the Reuters/Zogby poll, Obama had a 5-point lead in June, shortly after he clinched the Democratic nomination, and an 8-point lead on McCain in May.

The telephone poll of 1,089 likely voters had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

The poll was taken as both candidates head into their nominating conventions and the announcements of their choices of vice presidential picks. The Democratic convention begins on Monday in Denver, with the Republican convention opening the next Monday, September 1, in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Ambasteve:
I can't imagine jumping off the Obama bandwagon of change because of some negative polling data.
If anything, I will be inspired to work harder for what I'm hoping will be a thoughtful, productive four years of inspiring leadership.

It's not about *winning or losing*; it's about understanding that America will not be a good place for any of us until it becomes a better place for all of us.

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

sent by my friend Sandy

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!

JOHN MCCAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialog with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure -- right from Day One! -- that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me...

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road before it goes after the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE' of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not takin g on his 'CURRENT' problems before adding 'NEW' problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on OUR SIDE of the road, or not. The chicken is either AGAINST US, or for us. There is no MIDDLE GROUND here.

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road...

ANDERSON COOPER - CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

JOHN KERRY: Althoug h I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY!
You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any
insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad?
Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain. Alone.

JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth?' That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media white washes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side'. That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road.
Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to
accomplish its life long dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of the Chicken.
This new platform is much more stable and will never cra...#@&&^(C% .... Reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken!

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

Jane...that's funny! All of'em!

Ambasteve...right on... I still kinda figure BO will win...but maybe there is hope. I think the reason for his sliding support, is that people are finally figuring out that behind every pretty speech (written by someone else)...is an empty suit! Take him away from a prompter and he's about as articulate as GWB!!

"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor...would you be mine, could you be mine? " You to Freeya!!

:)

Sheesh you guys, be not so sectarian.

What, ooohhhhh, I know, nobody shot a liberal yet this week.

Give it time, give it time . . .

amber...dude...

don't get too excited too prematurely...when it comes to polls we are an eternity away from november...and a whole lot will change...

i wunda what u'll say when the the dina from zona is handed a major ass whoopin' after the votes are in...

and...hello everybody...

skinny stireth...the big farmboy is ready to reap the harvest...and share it with the nabes...today his post maketh sense..he believes JM cannot win...

but amber is like the stock market and oil prices..every time a nigerian sabatore bust a pipeline crude goes up, every time a hurricane approaches same thing, every time someone in high office speculates the price goes up

amber...maybe one day u'll make some sense...dude!

THE 12 LAWS OF KARMA

THE GREAT LAW
As you sow, so shall you reap. This is also known as the Law of Cause and Effect. Whatever we put out in the Universe is what comes back to us.
If what we want is Happiness, Peace, Friendship, Love... Then we should BE Happy, Peaceful, Loving, a Friend.

THE LAW OF CREATION
Life doesn't just HAPPEN, it requires our participation. We are one with the Universe both inside and out. Whatever surrounds us gives us clues to our inner state. BE and DO yourself...
what you what to have in your Life.

THE LAW OF HUMILITY
What you refuse to accept, will continue for you.
If what we see is an enemy, or someone with a character trait that we find to be negative,
then we ourselves are not focused on a higher level of existence.

THE LAW OF GROWTH
Wherever you go, there you are. For us to GROW in Spirit it is we who must change and not the people, places or things around us. The only given we have in our lives is OURSELVES and that is the only factor we have control over. When we change who and what we are within our heart our life changes too.

THE LAW OF RESPONSIBILITY
Whenever there is something wrong, there is something wrong in me. We mirror what surrounds us and what surrounds us mirrors us We must take responsibility what is in our life.

THE LAW OF CONNECTION
Even if something we do seems inconsequential,
it is very important that it gets done as everything in the Universe is connected. Each step leads to the next step and so forth and so on. Someone must do the initial work to get a job done. Neither the first step nor the last are of greater significance They were both needed to accomplish the task. Past, Present, Future
They are all connected...

THE LAW OF FOCUS
You can't think of two things at the same time.
When our focus is on Spiritual Values it is impossible for us to have lower thoughts such as greed or anger.

THE LAW OF GIVING AND HOSPITALITY
If you believe something to be true, then sometime in your life you will be called upon to demonstrate that truth. Here is where we put what we SAY that we have learned into PRACTICE.

THE LAW OF HERE AND NOW
Looking back to examine what was, prevents us from being totally in the HERE AND NOW. Old thoughts, old patterns of behavior, old dreams... vent us from having new ones.

THE LAW OF CHANGE
History repeats itself until we learn the lessons that we need to change our path.

THE LAW OF PATIENCE AND REWARD
All Rewards require initial toil. Rewards of lasting value require patient and persistent toil.
True Joy follows doing what we're supposed to be doing and waiting for the Reward to come in it's on time.

THE LAW OF SIGNIFICANCE AND INSPIRATION
You get back from something whatever you've put into it The Value of something is a direct result of the energy and intent that is put into it.
Every personal contribution is also a contribution to the Whole Lack luster Contributions have no impact on the Whole
or work to diminish it. Loving Contributions Lift Up and Inspire the Whole.

Have a wonderful day!
Lily

1...says an embolden skinny,

“Ruth Baby....your panties are getting all bunched up for nothing!”

2 says an angry skinny...

"Craig...that's bullshit...nobody wants poor people to die...

As for you...of all the people I've ever conversed with, you are probably one of the smartest ever.

These IrvineChrisJohnFreeya,et al., psuedo intellectuals....

wouldn't make a pimple on your ass....you think...they regurgitate what they've been told...

Having said that,...most of the time ..I read your stuff I just want to wring your (pucking) scrawny neck...If I could get my hands on you I'd beat the hell out of you,..."

whoahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaa...

At last, Diab, I've tracked down the whereabouts of the masquerading multi-id. Needless to say, he/she's no better than any other Tom, Dick or Pussy.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/20080820/twl-ever-heard-of-a-four-eared-feline-3fd0ae9.html

Aren't you up kinda early, Ed?

And up for pussy2, no doubt!

Heavens to Betsy!

Two inner ears--two outers,

and a third eye!

Yo!
Is that a male
Pussy Galore?

is ur pussy furry?

Faith is my pussy, but she's neutered.

OMG!!! I just fed Faith the fish. That's why she smells, huh?

is ur pussy happy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOY7I5rgcD4&feature=related

Yo Diablo
This is just for you..............enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnbOShSErDQ

whoa reading the OT,
sorry to scroll down so far

(thanks for #12 Lily)

and the Golden Comment-of-the-Week Prize goes to...

can you guess?????

yes, she's the girl with the gentlest heart, the most cogent dead-pan humor, and the courage to say what a whole lot of people have been thinking... it's...

darling Kate, for her #24!

and she wins...

one golden sunset, one late August breeze, one tear from a star, one growly tiger grin, one sip of Welsh's Juice in the flavor of her choice, a limber branch from her favorite tree, dreams to last all her life, and a nod of approval from this northern woman.

and dear Jane, thanks for #8, and all the laughs.

love 'n' hugs, h

THE GREAT LAW
As you sow, so shall you reap. This is also known as the Law of Cause and Effect. Whatever we put out in the Universe is what comes back to us.
If what we want is Happiness, Peace, Friendship, Love... Then we should BE Happy, Peaceful, Loving, a Friend.

Yo, Lily S!

All so terribly open to interpretation?

Ain't no controlling it. The wind bloweth where it lispeth ;)

Love y'all #:)

Flowers smell wonderful

Soft cuddlies are so nice and warm

Sensitive ear hair feels the slightest touch

Comfortable and cozy beckons beginnings

Please, don't offend me

Cat's are definitely psychic, Keith, don't you think?
Flowers are open to interpretation. No fishy flies on Faith. Dragon Arum character fit for a Fred.

The Magic Triangle Abracadabra

Click my name.

lionsgate.com/religulous/

Bill Maher RELIGULOUS a documentry on Religion.

Little known fact, Bill Maher has posted on Shirley Mcclain's discussion board and was kicked off after flaming me for spelling his name wrong and because he got fired after repeating something I had written.

But it all worked out didn't it?

Should be Shirley MacLaine, sorry, Click my name above watch the trailer.

Click below and check out disbelief.net something we suspend when we engage ourselves in fiction.

Just remember Belief is more often then not just another word for fiction. If you don't believe me just click my name below. Be(lie)ve

Thanks for sharing those funny chicken jokes Jane, and thanks Lily for those wise laws.

Love, Char

Silver bracelet

the way my face greets rain
and how my feet
love wetted ground
like that it was

like poplar leaves
the way
they fall
the way they dry
to curved papery boats
in autumn winds
like that

the way a spider's silk's
so magic-fine
an eye can't tell
its strength
like that as well

we held each other
once
you were
the silver bracelet
curving on my wrist

my nights your days
were violins

we played
we played
without a touch

© Heather G. Quinn writing as hera, original 7 Jul 2007, edit 21 Aug 2008

shared for Tammy, Tiger, Bonnie, Ed, Mieke, Derek, Keith and others who read poems

Tammy, thanks for reminding me about this old one with http://www.intentblog.com/archives/2008/08/open_thread_140.html#comment-182643

love, h

Look 'BELIEVE' and 'BELIEF' up on webster.com It does not say that believe is a lie, which is a false definition. Maybe we are talking about the Christian BELIEF, which most are referring to when this word comes up negatively. We could take TRUTH down to the simplest level, which I assume is the intent of the 'beLIEve' play on words?

Anyway, in the ACIMs, Jesus says that we have created one illusion within another, which is why the ACIMs was given to this Therapist to share with us.

What we can image, we can create and that becomes our truth at the most shadowy level.

But again, all Christians cannot be lumped into one pot! And it's okay and good to believe and to trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, until we know the truth. This is where a faithful God comes into the picture, as Jesus' words can be trusted and believed. But whether one understands those words is another story altogether.

It's not Jesus Christ or God that anyone should be attacking in the Christian community, but it is the lies that need to be addressed in a kind, compassionate, and loving way to help others understand the truth, so as not to offend or hurt anyone. If one is disrespected, their heart will be closed before they can hear. Honoring another is the only way to go and maybe some day we will all be as ONE.

Love, Char

Hey BTW: Abracadabra is a powerful name from what I understand, so one should be careful when using it I would think? And I've read that Triangles are for holding demons and one had better be protected and not in that triangle when playing these types of games. Since I have not checked out Richard's site, I don't know what he is implying, but just thought to added my 2 cents in that illusion.

Okay, I checked Richard's bookmark, as I could not resist. That's what I've read too in all that ancient text on sacred-text.com, which is a great place with a ton of good information. It's interesting that they say the real name of God is Tetragrammaton and that it is the most powerful of all names in the study of Qubala or however one wants to spell it. It is fascinating and if I had a proper place (home/location) to study and practice this ancient art, I would. I do know that everything must be exactly perfect and there can be absolutely no mistakes in anyway, shape, or form. This art form can be extremely dangerous without the proper training and preparation.

Love, Char

Today I walk in rain, grey clouds shower me in tears. Why this downpour?

Tonight beneath the white stars I will stroll, in quiet moon beams I will walk and tell you my tale of Love.

The night sky deepens to black. I will bask in the moon's light, as you rise and glow,
to keep me company,
until I make my way home
to sleep,
to dream.

BTW: You do know that you must be 100% PURE to do that stuff .. don't you? Or it will kill you physically.

and Kate!

Dear Kate, I must have internalized you somehow, to sometimes skip your name on lists that you belong on. I will be more alert to myself in the future.

love, h

I definitely must have internalized you, Kate, as when I wrote my #41, I did it from an cached copy of the OT page that didn't have your #39 on it, and when I previewed, I didn't check for new posts!

love, h

and in dreaming
i am awake
and taken away
back home

hi Heather,
I love 'dry leaves curving to papery boats' - which Autumn will bring in abundance.
And we will dance, to celebrate on that crackling sound,
~ Kate

God's name - YHWH

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_God_in_Judaism

Here is how to pronounce it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragrammaton

sounds like Yee-ah-Wah

Hi Heath
After reading about politics and spiritual debate, poetry and creative writing seem to leave all that.........stuff......behind and is the spark of life the seekers talk about and long for.
To be free of the chatter of intellectual and philosophical murmuring and be with the beauty of the words.....of the moment.

Thank you for helping me along this revelation.

derek

About an atheist Prime Minister or President:

“Atheist leaders are not going to think they are getting messages from Beyond telling them to go to war. They will not cloak themselves in supernaturalistic justifications, as Blair came perilously close to doing when interviewed about the decision to invade Iraq.

Atheist leaders will be sceptical about the claims of religious groups to be more important than other civil society organisations in doing good, getting public funds, meriting special privileges and exemptions from laws, and having seats in the legislature and legal protection from criticism, satire and challenge.

Atheist leaders are going to be more sceptical about inculcating sectarian beliefs into small children ghettoised into publicly funded faith-based schools, risking social divisiveness and possible future conflict. They will be readier to learn Northern Ireland's bleak lesson in this regard.

Atheist leaders will, by definition, be neutral between the different religious pressure groups in society, and will have no temptation not to be even-handed because of an allegiance to the outlook of just one of those groups.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/21/davidmiliband.labourleadership

I would like to ask Deepak Chopra to speak about a certain subject...or just bring it into question here...

A lot of negative interaction between people and also between people and their bodies can and has been greatly attributed to diet... recently someone said to me "We dig our graves with our teath"

Most Illnes, moods, allergies, conditions in the human body are sometimes blamed on diet.

What do you think on the subject of "Natural Hygiene"

Maybe you could talk about this subject in particular now Deepak. It may be the key o unlocking the door for a lot of people close by.

Love

Simonxx

``
Hi Char

Just now reading your #36 and wanted to say how wise your statement,

"If one is disrespected, their heart will be closed before they can hear. Honoring another is the only way to go....." is.

Hey Kate

Send a few buckets of those raindrops my way!
:)

Heath,

Thanks for the grounding back to the beauty of poetry.

Love
B

What is " sikker " Hera?
#27

“Monsters are everywhere these days, and belief in them is as strong as ever. What's harder to believe is why so many people buy into hazy evidence, shady schemes and downright false reports that perpetuate myths that often have just one ultimate truth: They put money in the pockets of their purveyors”.

```

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5a0OAtzrXE

Dear Tammy

Sikkher is the email I use for writing poems. It's a homonym for 'seeker'. The name that goes with it, 'hera', came from the email. I added an 'a' onto the last syllable to make the name. I used to have no confidence in my writing. Still have issues with confidence. Thus pen names. I have another name I use for fiction, Mai Liadan.

Dear Derek

Remember you advising a drop of filigrees in that poem-in-work last week? Yes. :) I enjoy the art of your mind.

Dear Bonnie and Kate

Dear ladies, who add so much grace to this place, Hi and hugs and thanks.

love, h

“If people think God is interesting, the onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about. Otherwise they should just shut up about it.”

Christ, what a role model!

Christ tells us we must hate our entire family, and even our own life, if we want to be one of His disciples (Luke.14:26)

Those who abandon their families will be rewarded (Matt.19:29)

For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother… And a man’s foes shall be they of his
own household.´ (Christ - Matt.10:35-6)

I came not to send peace, but a sword (Christ - Matt.10:34)

If you don’t have a sword, sell your clothes to buy one (Luke.22:36)

Curses fig tree for not bearing fruit in off-season (Mark.11:12-4, 20-1)

Didn’t want to help girl because she was a ‘dog’ gentile (Matt.15:22-)

Of course there are several good passages in the Bible, the ones that are carefully selected by your minister for Sunday readings. But (and pardon the analogy) if you find some chocolate in a pile of dung you don´t eat it, right? No. The good is tainted by the bad that surrounds it.

Atheist leaders will not be tempted to think they are the messenger of any good news from above, or the agent of any higher purpose on earth. Or at very least, they will not think this literally."

Hmmm. Let me think and the names of Lenin, Stalin, Brejznev, Castro, Mao, Pol Pot (and the list can go on and on, and on) come to mind. Shall we ask millions who died in Soviet labour camps and prison chambers what there opion was about earthly atheist paradise? Atheists can behave as badly - or worse - than believers.

April 2007 Fox interview:

BILL O'REILLY: I would point to the worst mass murderers in, uh, modern times. Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot, all confirmed atheists. All people who wanted to wipe out religion. Now I know you can point to the Crusades, and you can point to Al Qaeda right now, I mean it's there, there's no question. But I say I'm throwing in with the Founding Fathers of the United States, which saw religion and spirituality as a moderating influence. As a good thing when people embrace the true tenets.

RICHARD DAWKINS: The Founding Fathers of the United States were secularists above all. Some of them were religious, some of them were not, but they were above all secularists and believed in keeping church and state separate -

O'REILLY: They had to, because of the oppression in Europe.

DAWKINS: That was what they were - precisely - [There was some crosstalk here.]

O'REILLY: Almost all of them, they all said a prayer before their deliberations. In their letters, and I have almost all their letters, they all referenced the deity. Our Declaration of Independence references, heavily. But they saw it as a moderating influence because the federal government at that point couldn't control the country, and they said, you know, if people follow Jesus then the country's going to be better.

DAWKINS: It may well be a moderating influence. As for Hitler and Stalin, and so on, I mean, of course, Hitler by the way was a Roman Catholic.

O'REILLY: He never was. He was raised in that home. He rejected it early on.

DAWKINS: We can dispute that. Stalin was an atheist, no question. Uh, but Stalin did not do bad things because he was an atheist, I mean Hitler and Stalin both had moustaches but we don't say it was their moustaches that made them evil.

O'REILLY: I don't think they had any moral foundation, any of those guys.

DAWKINS: I don't deny that.

O'REILLY: I will say your book[The God Delusion] is fascinating, congratulations on your success, thanks for coming on in here.

DAWKINS: Thank you very much."

Hitler said it again at a Nazi Christmas celebration in 1926: "Christ was the greatest early fighter in the battle against the world enemy, the Jews ... The work that Christ started but could not finish, I -- Adolf Hitler -- will conclude."

In a Reichstag speech in 1938, Hitler again echoed the religious origins of his crusade. "I believe today that I am acting in the sense of the Almighty Creator. By warding off the Jews, I am fighting for the Lord's work."

Hitler regarded himself as a Catholic until he died. "I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so," he told Gerhard Engel, one of his generals, in 1941.

oh....that atheist!

A theist is atheist. Dispense or reconsider.

skeptisch!

I Need You

The fewer needs the better
Self-containment being the goal
Like a hole in the head, sir

arrrr

hear dat keith

Hey Skep how are you? I haven't had time to read that book yet....have you smoked the Monte Cristo?

hope you're well...

Ref # 62

Norm says: “I haven't had time to read that book yet....have you smoked the Monte Cristo?”

No, Norm, I don’t want to get sick without you trying to see the real world, even if it is only with “A candle in the dark”! Remember, replacing ignorance with religion is not a very wise thing to do. But that would not apply to you anyway.

Hope things are ok with you too, and with Mr Welsh. Maybe we will “see” more of each other in the fall.

I am in Eldorado Canyon State park and I have wireless internet and it's working. Crazy.

I'm sitting next to a roaring waterfall looking up at a thousand feet of sheer rock wall. There are people climbing his wall. Even more crazy but I wish them well.

This moment brought to you by the magical world of science.

Hey Heath

I'm going to go marvel at some nature.

later

derek

I am in Eldorado Canyon State park and I have wireless internet and it's working. Crazy.

I'm sitting next to a roaring waterfall looking up at a thousand feet of sheer rock wall. There are people climbing his wall. Even more crazy but I wish them well.

This moment brought to you by the magical world of science.

Hey Heath

I'm going to go marvel at some nature.

later

derek

Yeah ya believe that Derek! This darn internet should be free to everybody, and TV, and phone,

and electricity . . .

ok ok

You have fun brother and be careful!

peace

Hi Derek, sounds wondiefull.....:))

I just got the TEXT!!!!!!!!!

it seems that Barak Obama cannot name his VP today or tomorrow or anytime soon......and why? you might ask.....Because it seems as though all his VP picks have their names on the Bush/Cheney terror watch list and they can't get off.....NOT EVER......have you checked the list yet for your name?

America's Terror Watch list...tom, dick, harry, Joe, apple, emma, and jane...etc.

once on....there is no way off.

Poor Barak Obama...the cards are stacked against his history making text message and he only has one home in which to lay his worried head.....oh, fudge....

if I get another text...I will let you guys and gails know.....I wonder if they checked the name Hillary????

your I reporter this pm...ru

How can you despise career politicians and then demand experienced leadership?

We set term limits, and then wait for HOPE itself to birth the leader.

Get busy. Procreation requires four players.

A spiritual Practice...

What does that mean?

I think that a spiritual practice is what a lot of people look toward in life when they listen to or come to understand a person like Deepak Chopra...

The basis, the Induction to a spiritual practice should be this much..

Ask yourself...

How much of me is a person.....

How Much of me is thought.....

because these are two things divided..

There is the presence of the self; of the person..

Then in conjunction with that is the thought based self, thought based ideas; ego self..

There is self and then along within that is thought and mind..

Am I myself who progegates all my life or am I my thoughts.. that changes from time to time and is wrapped around my self.

This is the question that should always be with you if you choose to realise..

It Can't be made any clearer than that.

Love

Simon xx

Hi Derek,

We use to have a cabin up there in Eldorado Canyon. There was an old man who every year on his birthday would tight rope walk across the entrance to that canyon, he did it well into his eighties. You have brought back the memories of that beautiful place! Enjoy.

Regards
Stan

Hey Stan
I hope this makes it before my battery kicks it.
I just watched the sun set on the cliffs here from a trail that looks down on the river and the valley.
Breathtaking

Wish I could send a video to you guys.

I will be staying in a yurt next to the river tonight here in the canyon.

more later

derek

I will be posting some of the pictures i took today on my myspace very soon.

I'm going to catch the sunrise in the canyon tomorrow.

Hey Stan
I'll snap some pix of the funky town of Eldarado and you can see if anything looks familiar.

derek

Okay so now I'm in an air conditioned office building in Boulder, and it's almost empty.

The sunset over the flatirons as I was driving back into town...............Obama who.......McCa.........what was that on the radio?

Colorado, you can go from complete wilderness to complete urban in 5 minutes. Unless you live in Denver.

Boulder is one of those cities where they have gone so far left that they are coming back round to the right. Strange town.

golden tipped
razor sharp teeth
this wall of stone
it rises
as my creator sets
slowly
that golden hour
spent on the top of a mountain
looking down
at the river
that i can still just hear
i breath in this golden light
this transformation
from day
to
night

derek

Ok, now McCain does not know what car he drives!

What's wrong with him? One has to wonder. As with the houses question, when he was asked what kind of car he drove, he could not give an answer. Hello? From Think Progress:

"In our news interview, he was asked what kind of car he drove, he could simply not answer. As with Politico’s question about home ownership, he didn’t know and had to ask a nearby aide. "A Cadillac CTS," she told him."

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/22/nro-mccain-didnt-know-what-kind-of-car-he-drove/

This is getting ridiculous. McCain does not know how many houses he owns and what kind of car he drives. At this point, one has to wonder what DOES he know. Does he know if he has a cell phone, does he know his middle name? Does he remember if he is married? Does he remember his occupation (given that he missed ALL his Senate votes for perhaps for over an year, including the most crucial ones.)

The whole thing would be very funny, except that this man has (at least theoretically) a chance to be president of this country. Scary.

ABC News has reported that Secret service has just been dispatched to Joseph Biden...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080823/D92NNRF00.html

This is big folks

Here's the Kicker:

"The United States Secret Service has dispatched a protective detail to assume the immediate protection of Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., a source tells ABC News, indicating in all likelihood that Biden has been officially notified that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, has selected him to be his running mate."

"There's only three things he[Giuliani] mentions in a sentence: a noun, and a verb and 9/11"

--Joe Biden

Get ready for... Noun, Verb, POW!

John Harris of Politico has good advice:

"Two of the three people widely reputed to be finalists for the Democratic vice presidential nomination were out of the running Friday night, leaving just one person who seemed likely to be in: Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.

As of 10:30 p.m., no news organization had definitively confirmed that Biden is Barack Obama’s choice as a running mate, but there was a lot of strong tilting going on — no one leaning into what seemed to be informed hunches more strongly than The Associated Press. The wire service prominently cited Obama associates who “believed Biden was the choice, though they cautioned they had not been told directly."

ABC is also reporting that the U.S. Secret Service has assumed protective responsibility over Biden.

Both reports are hedged enough to avoid a “Dewey Defeats Truman” Hall of Shame moment if it turns out not to be Biden, but not enough that there won’t be some 'splainin to do if it is someone else.

Politico sources were also pointing very strongly — though not conclusively — in Biden’s direction.

Just as significant were more concretely reported stories about politicians not in the running. AP said that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has told Democrats that he is not Obama’s choice. And CNN said it has confirmed that Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana is out of the running.

So these are not just the whispery smoke signals that have been emananting from the highly secretive Obama selection process in recent days. A belching smoke stack is more like it.

Those people who really care about this should be ready to stay up very late or set the alarm very, very early. A hypercompetitive journalistic chase is likely to result in this space being updated often.

Alternately, relax, get some sleep, and see what’s news by the time the sun comes up Saturday."

Hey teacher!

Who's talking too much?

Show me the dragon move!!!...

no mystery now,
he picked Biden

Hello, Hello

Hola!

I'm at a place called Vertigo
Lights go down and all I know
Is that you give me something I can feel
You're teaching me ...aaahhh
Your love is teaching me ...aaaah
How to kneel
Kneel...

I want my vertigo back!!!...

Biden, 65, has twice sought the White House, and is a Catholic with blue-collar roots, a generally liberal voting record and a reputation as a long-winded orator.

Across more than 30 years in the Senate, he has served at various times not only as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee but also as head of the Judiciary Committee, with its jurisdiction over anti-crime legislation, Supreme Court nominees and Constitutional issues.

In selecting Biden, Obama passed over several other potential running mates, none more prominent than former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, his tenacious rival in dozens of primaries and caucuses.

The official who spoke did so on condition of anonymity, preferring not to pre-empt a text-message announcement the Obama campaign promised for Saturday morning.

Obama's campaign arranged a debut for the newly minted ticket on Saturday outside the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill.
~AP wire

hi there J-F,
don't lose your balance,
unless,
you like that falling
feeling
:)

Derek,
you paint a lovely picture with your words
I can imagine seeing what you are seeing ...
it's nice

Hey Mami, you beautiful!

You better tighten up that game
There's a million other guys tryin to get with us
And you all sound the same
You should slow it on down papi
You sound like a carbon copy
I wanna a man whos smooth, got all the right moves
But you're just plain sloppy

Hey Mami, You sexy!...

I have danced tonight j-F,
ran and twirled and sprinted
into the night's warm breeze,
and rain sprinkle - so very refreshing.

I danced tonight.

here is one song I just
listened too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqWTOo7AK_E&feature=related

I know so well...

And now
sleep
and dreams

#74 Very good, Derek!

Wherever it is that you are,

I would love to join you there someday!

Or night...or during those special "in-between" hours.

And so it is Biden, which is not short for Bin Laden.

Good pick! I still remember seeing him on Bill Maher's show 2 years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqLMJwXLLhU

As so it is. Obama-Biden. Not short for Osama bin Laden. lol.

No southern Bible belle this time around.

No Hispanic or Latino token handout.

No country singin' cowboy.

No Kid Rock. M & M?

The Black and Blue Campaign!!!

Musings over morning coffee...

You expect to see message discipline from Republicans, not from Democrats. But the flustered McCain camp is all over the place with their message. "He's a naive elitist!" No, "he's a canny Chicago politician!" This is nothing new. As Chris Weigant points out:

" John McCain said something ridiculous to a reporter yesterday.

I hasten to point out that the previous sentence should have been a major media headline at least twice a week for the past three or four months. McCain has been saying downright ridiculous stuff throughout the entire campaign and the media, up until now, has largely given him a free pass on it."

www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/friday-talking-points-44_b_120755.html

The reality:

"McCain misfires as he attacks Obama's home purchase"

www.newsweek.com/id/154782

Here's how message discipline works:

"Dems keep up pressure on McCain housing gaffe"

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dems-keep-up-pressure-on-mccain-housing-gaffe-2008-08-22.html

Meanwhile, the VP roll-out is yet another example of message discipline from the Obama campaign. The campaign has completely controlled this story all week, with only McCain's housing gaffe competing for discussion on Friday. As Ben Smith of the Politico notes:

"One thing they operatives don't say, but which is worth keeping in mind: Obama's campaign is acutely aware of the new, compressed media cycle. That means that the media will very quickly turn from announcing the vice presidential pick to questioning him or her, and that there's little percentage in leaving the nominee hanging out there for a week."

Expect to see a lot more examples of message discipline, and not necessarily from Republicans. This is a new political world, from text messages to new voters. As it happens, it's the Republican with the multiple unforced errors and the Democrat with the discipline. Get used to it - and get used to the carping that goes with it by those not involved. It's a Democratic tradition to complain to the media (which is where the 'undisciplined Democrat' idea comes from), and it's a media tradition to declare that things that go well for Obama must be bad for Democrats and good for Republicans. They just have to say "it could backfire". They never have to explain how.

We have an example already, with (almost hired by McCain) Ron Fournier from (Republican friendly)AP. Fournier writes that this (the Biden pick) shows Obama feared he couldn't beat McCain by himself and had to pick a VP of some sort to run with, or some such nonsense. Expect McCain's pick to be covered as a brilliant counter-coup that guarantees his election.

Of all the traditions that an Obama win in November might change, these are not among the most important, but in some ways they would be among the most satisfying.

happy sat everyone,

was watching a little of Keith Olbermann on MSNBC last eve...wondering if he got the famous TEXT yet...and while half listening to him and reading a book he starts to tell a few jokes....like I said, I was half listenting and missed the first joke, the second, can't remember, was pretty innocent enough, although, not funny, more stupid, than funny....but the third....was this

you can lay all the girls who attended the Yale proms from end to end and....no surprise there!.....

and that was the joke....by Keith Olbermann a National talk show host...about 50 years of age...give or take 6 either way...

now, really, this joke wouldn't surprise me coming from a guy at a bar...or a guy at a football game or a guy in the office....but a talk show host on national television at 8:30 in the eve......I was incredulous, still am, and, really, I bet it goes absolutely unnoticed and that is the sadest part of it all....

It is like that joke exposed the heart of Keith Olbermann' personality....which, sits front and center below his belt buckle.

oh, well.....between that joke and the ridiculous TEXT MESSAGING stunt by the Obama campaign....I was really missing the Woman who can text message...but wouldn't have...she would have simply annonced it because she does have an ego and doesn't pretend she doesn't.

my sat...ponderings....

oh, and Joe Biden was his best pick....although the best thing he has going for him is that he is running against John McCain and people may not be up to spending another four years in a Republican funny farm....

have a grand day...ruth

I'm sure Hillary is thrilled to see Biden on the ticket.

This is going to be a fun convention to watch.

I hope Biden writes an original acceptance speech.

Good luck,

Steve

Bill Maher Religulous Thread

To me the main thing Biden brings to the table is the same thing that LBJ brought to the table (i.e. assuage fears that JFK would be controlled by the pope.) To lots of people in America, Obama brings a lot of possibly frightening change. Biden as a familiar face negates all that.

Ironically, Biden is an agent of change himself, although not 'perfect'--ex. his support for the Bankruptcy Bill--for about 30 years.

High Strangeness Obama and McCain political ads.

Watching the random political adds showing up on http://illusions.me it first appears to be an Obama or McCain ad but then a few strange twists leaves one wondering did the Obama campaign do an ad for McCain and the McCain campaign do an ad for Obama? Or is it some others? Which is fitting because the page is about illusions and creating appearances.

Obama-Biden ticket has a slight 'Indian accent'

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Obama-Biden_ticket_has_a_slight_Indian_accent/articleshow/3397446.cms

good stuff, John and Tipper.

ruth, I'm waiting for you to tell us you've started a blog.

dear you all are to me.

love, h

The candidate of change went with the status quo.

In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness — inexperience in office and on foreign policy — rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions.

He picked a 35-year veteran of the Senate — the ultimate insider — rather than a candidate from outside Washington, such as Govs. Tim Kaine of Virginia or Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas; or from outside his party, such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska; or from outside the mostly white male club of vice presidential candidates. Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't even make his short list.

The picks say something profound about Obama: For all his self-confidence, the 47-year-old Illinois senator worried that he couldn't beat Republican John McCain without help from a seasoned politician willing to attack. The Biden selection is the next logistical step in an Obama campaign that has become more negative — a strategic decision that may be necessary but threatens to run counter to his image.

Democratic strategists, fretting over polls that showed McCain erasing Obama's lead this summer, welcomed the move. They, too, worried that Obama needed a more conventional — read: tougher — approach to McCain.

"You've got to hand it to the candidate and the campaign. They have a great sense of timing and tone and appropriateness. Six months ago, people said he wasn't tough enough on Hillary Clinton — he was being too passive — but he got it right at the right time," said Democratic strategist Jim Jordan. "He'll get it right again."

Indeed, Obama has begun to aggressively counter McCain's criticism with negative television ads and sharp retorts from the campaign trail.

A senior Obama adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his boss has expressed impatience with what he calls a "reverence" inside his campaign for his message of change and new politics. In other words, Obama is willing — even eager — to risk what got him this far if it gets him to the White House.

Biden brings a lot to the table. An expert on national security, the Delaware senator voted in 2002 to authorize military intervention in Iraq but has since become a vocal critic of the conflict. He won praise for a plan for peace in Iraq that would divide the country along ethnic lines.

Chief sponsor of a sweeping anti-crime bill that passed in 1994, Biden could help inoculate Obama from GOP criticism that he's soft on crime — a charge his campaign fears will drive a wedge between white voters and the first black candidate with a serious shot at the White House.

So the question is whether Biden's depth counters Obama's inexperience — or highlights it?

After all, Biden is anything but a change agent, having been in office longer than half of all Americans have been alive. Longer than McCain.

And he talks too much.

On the same day he announced his second bid for the presidency, Biden found himself explaining why he had described Obama as "clean."

And there's the 2007 ABC interview in which Biden said he would stand by an earlier statement that Obama was not ready to serve as president.

It seems Obama is worried that some voters are starting to agree.

____

EDITOR'S NOTE: Ron Fournier has covered national politics for The Associated Press for nearly 20 years

Lucky white people know how to swim! We should be truly thankful for our African-American olympic competitors or else we would not be able to compete with the Chinese at all!

America does not even have one token white boy on the basketball team!

Thank goodness for ex-Russians and Shawn Johnson!

I suppose we could claim Carl Lewis, he acts kind of white anyway . . .

Too funny . . .

I don't have a cell phone, so I'm not bummed about a "middle-of-the-night" text.

Thing is...my paper arrived at 4:00 a.m. CST with "It's Biden" as the bold headline.

They were done printing by 1:00 a.m. at the latest.

I have to assume the impossibility of keeping a secret nowadays. Right, Kate?

White guys only jump high enough to win The Gold in volleyball, Craig-Meister.

Uhhhh . . .

Volleyball is a girls sport!

White boys who couldn't take the heat in deeing up the brothers on the hoop court play volleyball!

Maybe they can make golfing an olympic event; just re-introduce those "no blacks allowed" signs!

;)

arrrrr

wtf does skin color have to do with who makes what teams and plays well in what sports, please tell me... ?????

A surfer needs to be able to not just ride a wave but also know how to pick a good wave to ride.

Ruth
Your words, yo
a blog?

it starts in my house
then in my hood
it grows to my city
my county
my country
and when the borders fall
like so many walls
then it grows all around
no limits at all

peace comes from peace

derek

Hey those guys are coming to Colorado.
I'd better watch my p's and q's. Mostly my Q's.
There's gonna be a big party here or somthin'.
Denver's going to be hoppin' with campaign chaos and I'm sure a few twisters.

I hope Obama can surf.
He did grow up in Hawii.

YObama

derek

in view of the need for peace, let me say my piece another way...

if you white-skinned guys have fast connections and are Netflix members (or if you're not and are willing to do a free trial with them which you can cancel before it "goes active" -- before two weeks is up), and you have 95 minutes to spare, you can watch the film The Dancer by Donya Feuer, in Instant mode -- the film is downloaded to your PC and runs in IE and Windows Media Player. The quality is decent enough. Ignore the reviews on this film. If you are a sports person, this film will teach you something. Take what it teaches you and add to it the thought of how comfort reduces motivation to try beyond your apparent capabilities.

No words I can say or answers you can give will say more than this film and that thought.

I dare you to watch it.

love, h

I was just scoping the Huffington
Yo, there's already over 8000 comments about the announcement. Do you have to read them all in order not to repeat what other posters have said? OMG

derek

"Donya Feuer's 'The Dancer' follows the young and gifted student Katja Bjorner through years of intensive training at the Royal Swedish Ballet School, as she develops into an international ballet star. Filmed with an eye toward conveying the physical aspects of dancing, the pain, sweat, and tears, as well as the exquisite beauty, The Dancer captures the fierce determination and struggle that goes into the desire to dance at the highest level"

Copyright © Documentary Films .NET. All rights reserved.

If the dare is to dance, get ready to laugh!

I got milk...and I gots rhythm...what I ain't got is a move to bust.

Moving 10,000 lbs. of stuff from here to there, 5 days a week, is what I can do.

Tires and hoops can be equally fun to jump through. Watch your inflated ego2.

Dear Keith

the dare is to watch. no inflated ego here, sir. if you have the nerve to take my dare, I guarantee it's a worthwhile film to see.

Dear Ed

thank you for the synopsis.

love, h

Trophies and medals gather dust just like other aging things.

"What have you done for me lately?"

.

Jocks participate in the Olympics to have a chance at making history.

So...10,000 yrs. from now, who will be remembered? Michael Phelps or Jesus Christ?

If you said, "Neither one", then you may be continued.

Can a child aspire to be a whole person and a specialist in a particular sporting event?

Ego2 refers to me, dear Heath. Just funnin' on an other "wise" Sat. p.m. Luvz, UT

there are other reasons, dear Keith.

there's a love of a physical discipline that's so fierce it's willing to stare down all obstacles, despite the athlete's intimate understanding of the inherent fragility of human body & spirit. often the love of the sport is tied to how it frees the man or woman inside and allows them to dream.

this is what that film is about. the dancer portrayed has a delicate, doll-like beauty. ballet is a fantasy-like dance form, all apparent smooth grace and power. what does it take for someone to achieve those moves with excellence. and maintain her physical delicacy and beauty (no steroids. no bulking up allowed!!)? this movie takes you inside to the real story of how it happens.

this dancer is fitter than most zillion-dollar-earning athletes, is in constant pain, and has very little money, and very little life outside dance.

love, h

The scribe participates in an other "wise" fashion and may or may not be inferable.

oh, do watch that film if you can, Keith, it will blow you away, quietly.

(if you're unfamiliar with Netflix, send me an email, addie on my typekey, & I'll tell you how it's been working for me.)

love, h

Wish I could get on Netflix Heath! Sorry, no credit card numbers to give them.

I’ll help you move those 10,000 pounds Keith!

Heath.

I bet it would have been nice to go to dancing school or join the "local" aquatics gym as a kid, but most of us city kids were simply “lucky” enough to have a local park with an unbroken basketball hoop; myself though, I was just too busy drinking and driving with my dad and getting kicked out of grade school, before I became a teenager and really started partying. No Olympic medals for that though sorry.

I am not complaining though, I know children whose parents were feeding them meth and crack before they were even ten years old; tough shit for them I know.

I guess all of us ADDers are stimulated by differing things, perhaps by the closest things available, if I was a Jewish kid I woulda had books, a Saxon kid mommy and daddy, an Irish kid the IRA, but being Scandinavian I had no socialist party with which to bond (I know, I know, “well why don’t you go to Scandinavia then.” I would if I could) . . .

As far as what does skin color have to do with athletics . . .

On the Chinese team nothing, they are all brown (but I am thinking they still have ethnic differences).

On the American team everything, b/c without the black athletes we would just be another commonplace European team, albeit with the highest population, so the largest pool from which to draw upon.

Rocky only happens in the movies, in real life he is a light-skinned brother.

Not that we have not had great white athletes; Marciano, Montana, Namath, Bird, Nicklaus, Gretzky, Ruth, Cousy; but . . .

Like I say, thank goodness for water sports, ice rinks, and golf courses! Watching synchronized swimming right now: ooooh-la-la (oh, I guess they are kind of dancing too!)!

Poor girls must have overcome tremendous odds dancing in swimming pools . . .

peace

Gosh, Sis! I hears ya!

My moods this gargantuan year have taken me away from movies of all kinds.

Many, many, many things which were once entertaining, now bore me to death.

A true guru never excuses himself, so it's okay for me2 ask everyone for pardons.

The kids started school Wednesday. It's the last year in Jr. High for Kirstie(8th).

It's the last year in grade school for Spencer(5th).

The next President may be younger than Uncle Tree. OMG!!!

Catch my driftwood? Anyways...

I do thank you for the kind thoughts and consideration.

My view, Heath, for what it's 'not really thought out' worth, is that all these pursuits, sport or otherwise, are symbolic of a much deeper potential fulfilment that only the death of the body will bring home to one. That is not to decry sports-striving, as the example here. I can see that he/she who dares, 'wins.' I can see that pushing any 'limits' will eventually deliver that same ultimate fulfilment. Of that I cannot further speak, though I am prepared for extreme trial, none worse than Christ himself. arghh!

Boredom, Keith, or on through it?

Dear Imperious

Being quarter Swede and quarter Finn, I can empathize -- not enough deep snow or long-lasting winters to challenge you, so what was at hand... adventure and strife and deep seriousness (of the almost-deadly kind) is what we're used to, and if there isn't enough, we make our own. That film is about a young Swedish dancer, btw. You'd see yourself in her determination.

See, I think the apparent color-related differences are due to two things: local selection, of the Darwinian type, and who has the most hardship at the moment. If you are born of people born of people born of people who are taller than average and have longer legs than normal (Swedes, please raise your hands), or who are slender-boned and accustomed to high-altitude walking and running as part of daily life (Kenyans, please raise your hands), you are better equipped, potentially, to do sports that use those features. And then there's what hunger makes you try. I have my own stories about that.

Dear Tree

I know you're mighty busy. Sometimes breaking the rules results in things that are so surprising, so life-changing, that you thank God you chose that moment to shuck it all off and try something different. (This has been me, the past couple of years.) I saw that documentary this morning. I used to do ballet practice. It's determined me to go back to it. For one thing, I can see where it may help me mend my broken knee better. And if such a pretty young child can work so f-ing hard, who am I not to?

love, h

Dear Ed

I agree.

love, h

....EDITOR'S NOTE: Ron Fournier has covered national politics for The Associated Press for nearly 20 years

101. Posted by Kate...

************

As I wrote earlier in Post #93 The Associated Press' new Washington bureau chief Ron Fournier was sounding an awful lot like a surrogate for John McCain in his "analysis" piece on the Biden pick that ran across the wires overnight. What I didn't remember at the time was that it wasn't a long time ago that the McCain campaign was actually trying to hire Fournier.

"Before Ron Fournier returned to The Associated Press in March 2007, the veteran political reporter had another professional suitor: John McCain's presidential campaign.

In October 2006, the McCain team approached Fournier about joining the fledgling operation, according to a source with knowledge of the talks. In the months that followed, said a source, Fournier spoke about the job possibility with members of McCain's inner circle, including political aides Mark Salter, John Weaver and Rick Davis. "

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/12149.html

Maybe it shouldn't be surprising that it sounds like Fournier is working hard to carry water for John McCain, or that he engaged in months of conversations at the highest levels of the McCain campaign about taking a senior level position with the outfit.

This is, after all, the guy who told Karl Rove to "keep up the fight" during the investigation into the death of Pat Tilman, who editorialized about Howard Dean in what was supposed to have been a straight ahead news piece ("his lack of foreign policy experience, testy temperament, policy flip-flops, campaign miscues and edgy anti-war, antiestablishment message"), who was one of the worst disseminators of entirely false and scurrilous GOP attacks on Al Gore in 1999 and 2000 ("He [Gore] claimed credit for inventing the Internet" and "Gore, who once claimed to have invented the Internet", to take two examples).

If pure Republican spin and McCain talking points are what we are to expect out of the AP under Fournier, it's going to be a long hard slog full of truth squading between now and election day.

PS: Much more on the specifics of the problems with the Fournier piece from the inimitable Steve Benen:

www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_08/014385.php

"McCain camp delights in Fournier piece", writes Jonathan Martin. No doubt they should delight -- they appear to have the AP's Washington bureau chief, who they almost hired, in their back pocket.

+++

Jonathan Martin of The Politico writes "McCain camp delights in Fournier piece". No doubt they should delight -- they appear to have the AP's Washington bureau chief, who they almost hired, in their back pocket.

The embarrassment over at the Associated Press grows with the widely-read-within-the-Beltway Politico newspaper's Michael Calderone reporting on the pushback to Ron Fournier's McCain-talking-point-laden hit piece on Joe Biden, which Calderone calls "Drudge-worthy."(read gossip)

www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/0808/Fournier_inflames_the_netroots.html

(btw, Politico is a leading *conservative* news and opinion source.)

Now the AP is doubling down, pushing out a story across its wires under the heading "Biden pick draws Democratic praise, GOP criticism." Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/veepstakes;_ylt=Arw8IY22XLIO_6rrIYDHPnes0NUE

News items are supposed to be man bites dog, not the other way around. It's not at all newsworthy that Republicans are attacking Barack Obama's decision to choose Joe Biden as his running mate. That's their jobs as Republicans.

What is newsworthy, however, and what the AP buries well below the lede -- way down in the ninth graf, and only in a passing manner even then -- is the fact that REPUBLICANS ARE ACTUALLY PRAISING the Biden pick, a story that cuts against the grain, one that doesn't merely fall into the normal and expected course of events in a political campaign:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Sen. Chuck Hagel: U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel issued the following statement today following Senator Barack Obama's selection of Senator Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic Vice Presidential nominee: "Joe Biden is the right partner for Barack Obama. His many years of distinguished service to America, his seasoned judgment and his vast experience in foreign policy and national security will match up well with the unique challenges of the 21st Century. An Obama-Biden ticket is a very impressive and strong team. Biden's selection is good news for Obama and America," Hagel said.

Sen. Richard Lugar: Tbilisi, Georgia - U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar made the following statement today en route to Tbilisi. "I congratulate Senator Barack Obama on his selection of my friend, Senator Joe Biden, to be his vice-presidential running mate. I have enjoyed for many years the opportunity to work with Joe Biden to bring strong bipartisan support to United States foreign policy..."

Sen. Arlen Specter: Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, a Republican who serves on the Judiciary Committee with Biden and often rides Amtrak with him to Washington, also offered praise. "No one on the Democratic side knows more about foreign policy than Sen. Biden," Specter said. "He's been an articulate spokesman on the subject. He also knows about domestic policy. He's been a leader on crime control."

www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-23-biden-profile_N.htm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It's going to be an awfully long fall campaign if the AP Washington bureau under Ron Fournier insists on shoddy journalistic techniques and merely regurgitating the spin from the McCain campaign. Coming from AP this is totally and utterly unacceptable -- just as it was unacceptable for Fournier to falsely assert that Al Gore claimed to have invented the internet, or to have editorialized against Howard Dean in what were supposed to have been straight news reports.

Thanks Tipper, for the info on Fourier.

Another interesting development...

FireDogLake.com, in the past, had generated 15,000 letters to the editor in opposition to the Associated Press' Nedra Pickler's recitation of bogus smears against Barack Obama.

See for details:
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200803040004

FireDogLake is at it again with another important action item: Calling on the AP to force Ron Fournier to recuse himself from covering the White House race given his all-too-close ties with the McCain campaign (which he was in months of conversations about joining). Here's the action item :

"Ron Fournier, the Washington AP bureau chief, wrote a hit piece against Obama's selection of Joe Biden as VP and tried to pass it off as objective reporting.

His clear bias makes him unfit for his role as bureau chief, and we can push for him to be removed from this role by writing to the editors of local and national newspapers.

Please take action and call for Fournier's removal as Washington AP Bureau Chief by calling his boss, Kathleen Carroll, at 212-621-1610, sending her an email at kcarroll@ap.org, and sending a letter to the editor of your local paper. To send a letter enter your zip code to the right."

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/speakout/fournier

FDL also gives you the opportunity to write a letter to the editor to your local paper, including draft LTEs to expedite the process (to help people like Kate who 'might' want to take part in action.) So head on over to the FDL action center today and make your voice heard!

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/speakout/fournier

I don't think the enormity of Ron Fournier's hit piece on the Obama-Biden ticket can be fully appreciated. This story will be in every small-town paper, and quite a few big ones, by tomorrow. As newspapers reduce their staffs and rely more heavily on wire services, Fournier's reporting and his style as the Washington bureau chief will be more and more prominent. What's more the media swarm takes their cues from sources like the AP.

Fournier's attack on the ticket - that Obama's pick displayed weakness, that he chose the status quo over a reinforcing pick - isn't the most egregious perspective in the world. Obama did fill the gaps in the resume. But as Steve Benen notes, it was a lazy analysis:

"First, on the substance, Fournier's analysis seems a little lazy. By his logic, any potential running mate shows a "lack of confidence" -- picking Hillary would mean Obama lacked confidence in his ability to win over women voters; picking Bayh would mean Obama lacked confidence in his ability to win over independents and conservative Dems; picking Webb would mean Obama lacked confidence in his ability to win over voters concerned about national security; picking Kaine would mean Obama lacked confidence in his ability to win over voters in the South; etc. For that matter, "the status quo" in Washington has been conservative Republican rule. Biden may be an old pro and a DC insider, but he's anything but "the status quo.""

www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_08/014385.php#more

But much more important is Fournier's personal history with this campaign and these candidates. He famously told Karl Rove to "keep up the fight" while Pat Tillman's case was raging. He considered joining the McCain campaign earlier this year.

He simply has no business covering the Presidential campaign.

www.americablog.com/2008/08/why-does-ap-have-mcfournier-even.html

It's one thing for an openly conservative columnist - Charles Krauthammer, Bill Kristol - arguing against the Democratic nominee. It's another thing for a purportedly "objective" journalist, running the AP's Washington office at a time where the wire service has more influence than ever - offering a slanted take without disclosing his bias. The AP has a Ron Fournier problem:

"Think about it: That year, Rove was engineering the president's re-election -- a campaign Fournier was covering as an AP reporter -- and Fournier urged Rove to "keep up the fight"? Even if that phrase was not written in connection with the campaign, that kind of communication is just wrong. If Fournier could produce emails from 2004 in which he urged top Democratic strategists to "keep up the fight," it would certainly remove doubts about his relationship with Rove, but I suspect Fournier cannot [...]

The problem for Fournier is that the now-public email exchange with Rove simply amplifies long-running concerns about his political tilt and its manifestation in his work.

For instance, in the months before Fournier was privately bonding with Rove and urging the White House to "keep up the fight," this was the lead Fournier wrote for a straight-ahead news article about then-Democratic front-runner Howard Dean receiving Al Gore's endorsement:

Dean hopes the coveted endorsement eases concerns among party leaders about his lack of foreign policy experience, testy temperament, policy flip-flops, campaign miscues and edgy anti-war, antiestablishment message.

Gee, not many Rovian talking points embedded in that AP article, eh?"

http://mediamatters.org/columns/200807220006

Boehlert's article is long and filled with material about Ron Fournier's biased reporting. Fournier even invented the idea that Al Gore "invented the Internet."

This is not something to be dismissed and I'm not the only one who thinks this. Ron Fournier is destroying the AP and driving the clubby, sneering, insider journalism that has damaged this country.

PS. Tipper, John, thanks for your inputs.

Sometimes I think the Republicans are right about us democrats.

It's funny. They say we aren't tough enough to lead.

I think they are right, but not in the sense you might think.

When they say it, the implication is that we'll be soft on Al Qaeda. That if we caught Osama bin Laden, we'd give him the best lawyers in the country, try him in Federal Court and let him go when it was discovered that the govt. didn't properly cross its I's and dot its T's.

That assertion is, of course, fucking ridiculous.

But...

When it comes to punching bad guys in the mouth during the course of an election, I cannot tell you how right the Republicans are about us.

And let me tell you who "us" is.

If you did nothing more than call the AP or write a fucking letter... well, you are part of the "weakness problem".

It is fucking ridiculous to beg right-wing operatives for understanding. The proper reaction to this is not to whine, it's to take the motherfucker down and make an example out of him.

John #127 posted a link to the letter-writing campaign at FireDogLake. I see... it is not directed at Fournier or the AP. Instead it is directed at the local newspapers that run Washington Bureau AP reports. I actually think this is a good idea. That aside, I also think it's a good idea to do everything we can to make an example out of Fournier. And that includes digging into his personal life to see if there is anything there that should disqualify him from working as the AP's Washington Bureau Chief.

When Michelle Malkin and the FReepers (FreeRepublic.com gang) got their panties in a bunch over the Dan Rather report, they didn't make phone calls and write letters. They crucified Rather and Mapes. Leaving aside the fact that the report was absolutely true, the right wing did exactly what we should be doing.

We know (or have reason to strongly suspect) from his email to Karl Rove that Ron Fournier is a right-wing Christian evangelical. What else do we know about him?

Precious little.

When the Dan Rather story broke, FReepers got busy. For weeks they obsessed over fonts and sources and typesets... they launched a distributed research effort.

What if we were to do that with Fournier? What if we were to find out what church he attends (and record a sermon or two, ala Jeremiah Wright?) What if someone discovered that his wife volunteers for the John McCain campaign or made several thousand dollars in contributions to Republicans? What if we learned that Fournier took his daughter to a purity ball?

The fact is that Fournier has succeeded in making himself a public figure. He is no longer a private reporter; he's the story. He wrote the right the right-wing talking points and called it "Analysis". He interviewed with the McCain campaign and has shilled for them ever since.

Yeah, it's distasteful to investigate someone's personal life. Yeah, you wouldn't want someone going through your personal life with a fine-toothed comb. But you aren't writing political hit pieces for the premiere press wire in an effort to influence an election, are you? And when you do write, you don't call it "News", do you?

Fournier put himself in this position. He's climbed out to the edge of his own petard. It's time we suspend him from it.

So yeah... we can find information that may help to expose Fournier as a partisan hack with an axe to grind. This is a story that deserves development with a serious distributed reporting effort.

#122 "Boredom, Keith, or on through it?"

Hi Keith, that probably doesn't read well ;)

Interesting that 'boring' does tend to hollow one out regarding a subject.
What I was suggesting was that boredom equates to a going on through....that nothing should be a be-all and end-all in our evolving.
(That, of course, dumps me back in my own paradox!)

Love to the family including Faith, :)

Why-Yeah-Yo! Thank ya, Ed! And luvz to you and yours as well.

.

The information I received last night from my ex perhaps ex-pains my situation.

Not that I have any emotional investment with/in her, because I don't.

.

One of my best, long-time friends asked for a divorce this weekend.

He's been married to a very strict Christian lady for 25 years or so.

I could only laugh when told by my ex that she was the reason he'd leave his wife.

No need for me to go any further into this story. It has yet to transpire.

Big changes in the world coincide with changes in the home and my psyche.

Kids are resilient, thank goodness, and we'll get by on getting by.

Letting bygones be just 'that' is an approach I've had to learn the hard way.

.

Now...on with the body politic, as per usual.

Be done with it
Bore right through it
Get on with it

Thread the needle
Lasso a limb
Dangle across

Tiptoe tightropes
Abysmal feet
Sacred escaped

Quick as a quark

Agree with Preity (and ruth), and its time dems go on offense for a 'change', on every front.

********
"John McCain Is A Dangerously Hot-Headed Celebrity POW Who Can't Remember How Many Houses He Owns"
********

Paul Rosenberg says, "If the Democrats want to win decisively in November, the way they should, in November, then that's what they ought to be saying in their ads. It's not just hitting McCain on one or two things, and it's not trying to "build a case," it's going full throttle, and beating the GOP at their own game, which Josh Marshall identified four years ago--almost to the day as "the Republicans' Bitch-Slap theory of electoral politics." Yes, it's an offensive term, and it was meant to be."

http://openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=7700

He has a brilliant suggestion:

"McCain's over-the-top antics have given Obama an out--particularly if he takes the truly condescending "more in pity than in anger" approach, shaking his head, and saying, "He was such a decent guy before he got consumed by blind ambition." It wouldn't hurt, either, to run some cheeky, smart-ass ads, such as one featuring a Paris Hilton look-alike that might go something like this...."

Paul Rosenberg :: "John McCain Is A Dangerously Hot-Headed Celebrity POW Who Can't Remember How Many Houses He Owns"

ENJOY!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Paris Hilton Look-Alike: "Okay, so we know he's like, the oldest celebrity in the world."

Flashback clip from intro of REAL Paris Hilton ad...."He's the oldest celebrity in the world," the video opens. "Like, super old. Old enough to remember when dancing was a sin, and beer was served in a bucket."

Paris Hilton Look-Alike: "And we know he was a POW, because he's always reminding us, every time he says or does something stupid, which is like once or twice a day, at least."

[Looks at nails, studies them for half a second, then looks up and continues]

Paris Hilton Look-Alike: In fact, I can't even think of another POW, outside of a Ramdo movie. So, he's like celebrity-POW-white-haired-dude. Which, is kool, I guess, since he endorsed me for President.

But here's the part I don't get. What's with him not knowing how many houses he owns? Can't he like, type it into his blackberry, so he doesn't forget? Even I know how many houses I own, and I'm just a dumb celebrity blonde, right?

[Smiles, broadly]

Paris Hilton Look-Alike: Here's a clue, wrinkley white-haired dude: Never own more hourse than you can count. If you can't count to four, don't own four houses. Own three. Just supersize one of them. Oh!

[Listens intentently to something in her earphone]

Paris Hilton Look-Alike: Well, I just heard you already did that. Well, supersize it again!

Oh, and by the way, I'm not really Paris Hilton.

Barack Obama: But I am Barack Obama, and regretably, I just have to apporve this ad, because unfortunately, it's all too true.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"We can pick up the dangerous hot-head part in a separate ad, and then combine the two later.

If the Democrats are serious about winning, then that's the kind of ads we will run. Barbed, but light-hearted mockery, non-stop, from now until November."

#132 You really are a wizard with those multiple-meaning word associations, Keith.

'quick as a quark' I love it.......I love quarks!

Thanks for all the lightning and some of the thunder ;)

Fork quarks! Spoon muon a pion!

POW, POW, POW

Quoting Josh Marshall at TPM, "When Dowd devotes a 'column' to it, the meme has arrived."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/opinion/24dowd.html

I totally agree Heath!

peace

Joe sure didn't like Saddam Hussein and was certainly all for eliminating him and justified the war:

Joe Biden Called Saddam Hussein "An Extreme Danger To The World." Biden: "This is a guy who's used weapons of mass destruction. This is a guy who's destabilized the whole neighborhood. This is a guy who in a war with the Iranians, over 800,000 people on both sides were killed. This is a guy who is an extreme danger to the world. And this is a guy who is in every way possible seeking weapons of mass destruction. That case, in and of itself, ought to be sufficient." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 8/4/02)

There's more:

Joe Biden: "We Have No Choice But To Eliminate The Threat." NBC's Tim Russert: "If the president of the United States was saying four years ago clear evidence of mass destruction, do we have any choice but to eliminate Saddam Hussein and the threat?" Biden: "We have no choice but to eliminate the threat." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 8/4/02)

And finally this ouchy:

In July 2003, Amid Questions Concerning A Lack Of Stockpiles Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction In Iraq, Joe Biden Defended The War As "Justified" And Said "I Still Believe That Saddam Possessed Weapons Of Mass Destruction." Biden: "I still believe that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction and that the war in Iraq was justified." (Sen. Joe Biden, "Statement Of Senator Joe Biden On The White House's Acknowledgment That Iraq-Uranium Assertion Was Wrong," Press Release, biden.senate.gov, 7/8/03)

Of course having said all that,now it's a mistake and he is Obama's running mate. I guess that's how it works in Washington from the inside.

I'm sure the youth vote is stoked these days!

Cheers,

Steve

happy blah sunday all

I just have to laugh because John McCain has an add running, targeting Hillary supporters, with the wondering why Barak Obama didn't pick her for VP and then Rudy Guillieeee(remember him?, sexy Rudi) was interviewed saying just that same thing...wha? Hillary wasn't good enough for Barak even though she got most of the popular vote toward the end of the primary?????huh,huh,duh,duh......god, these repubs are too hilarious, and, yes, predictable....repubs using Hillary against Barak Obama, really, nothing is sacred to them, I can understand them using god, but Hillary!!! oh, the slime of it.....as the McCain campaign slithers it's way across this Nation....and into our homes..slither, slime, and slither they go and where they stop nobody knows...:))))))

but, here is the scoope on Hillary...she is not VP material....she is the President or the Senator...

Biden is VP material....

Heath, I have put The Dancer on hold from the library...will get it in a few days....looking foward to viewing it....hopefully, during the Democratic convention...

gotta go and check under the door mat for any slithery, slimies trying to enter....: have a good one....ruth

The Cycle begins again....

The Cycle Begins again...

The Cycle begin again..

The Cycle begins again.

Everything you can possibly know, understand, begin to understand, embrace, contemplate and resist is connected to a cycle. It may change by name and face but the cycle it repeats just the same through out time.

Like the body as it is always regenerating.. so is the spirit, so is God, so everything. We are connected to the ever turning wheel of creation and destruction followed by renewal..

There is nothing you will ever be able to hold on to ever..

Untill you grasp God... the the cycle becomes a wheel of the self.

Love

Simon xx

dear ruth

hope you enjoy. waiting for you to start your blog -- that was funny!!

love h

As expected, Republicans didn't waste a moment before launching the full concern troll attack on Obama's selection of a running mate. The concern trolls bemoan Biden. No matter who was chosen, they would have professed concern that they know much better than Democrats who the Democratic nominees should have been.

In this case the goal is to sow discord among Democrats by riling supporters of Hillary Clinton. Here's Rudy Giuliani concern trolling this morning on ABC:

"You almost have to go to extraordinary lengths to avoid (Clinton) as the vice presidential pick of the party."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/08/obamas-top-stra.html

How touching that Republicans care to (interfere) offer us advice.

McCain is so concerned that the Democratic ticket isn't as strong as he'd like that he spent his own money on an attack ad to make the case belatedly for Clinton. McCain even claims to know Obama's thinking in the matter. Surprising for a man so confused he can't even remember how many homes he owns, that McCain has such precise insight into his rival's thoughts.

Ad's narrator: "She won millions of votes - but isn't on his ticket. Why? For speaking the truth, on his plans...The truth hurt, and Obama didn't like it."

Actually, as David Axelrod explained this morning, the reason Obama made the choice he did is that "he felt Senator Biden would be the best fit for him". Odd that the McCain campaign didn't bother to ask first what basis the Democrat had used. Even odder that Republicans are *so concerned* about helping to improve the Democratic ticket.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/08/obamas-top-stra.html

And oddest of all in that the ad ascribes Truth to whatever opinions Hillary Clinton expressed about her rivals for the presidency. Because Clinton is highly critical of McCain:

"Clinton’s team immediately dubbed the ad misleading. "Hillary Clinton's support of Barack Obama is pretty clear,” said Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand. “She has said repeatedly that Barack Obama and she share a commitment to changing the direction of the country, getting us out of Iraq, and expanding access to health care. John McCain doesn't. It's interesting how those remarks didn't make it into his ad."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/24/mccain-ad-says-clinton-got-vp-snub-for-speaking-the-truth/

I guess we're all deeply concerned about the research and writing skills of the Republican attack machine. At some other time in the future, maybe, we can suggest the people they ought to have hired instead of the bums they've got. For now, why don't we content ourselves with helping the GOP to select John McCain's running mate?

I offer Joe Lieberman.
(Larry Craig and Alan Keyes as the fall back choice.)

Obama 'pre-responded' to Biden criticism. Here is what Obama said about his criteria for selecting a Vice President earlier in the week while taking a question at a town hall:

"Let me tell you first what I won't do. I won't hand over my energy policy to my vice president, without knowing necessarily what he's doing. I wont have my vice president engineering my foreign policy for me. *The buck will stop with me, because I will be the president*. My vice president, also by the way my vice president also will be a member of the executive branch, he won't be one of these 4th branches of government where he thinks he's above the law. But here's what I do want from my vice president, I want somebody who has integrity, who's in politics for the right reasons, *I want somebody who is independent. Somebody who is able to say to me, 'you know what, Mr. President, I think you're wrong on this and here's why' and who will help me think through major issues and consult with me, would be a key advisor.* I want somebody who is capable of being president and who I would trust to be president. That's the first criteria for vice president. And the final thing is I want a vice president who shares with me a passion to make the lives of the American people better than they are right now. I want someone who is not in it just because they want to have their name up in lights or end up being president. I want somebody who is mad right now, that people are losing their jobs. And is mad right now that people have seen their incomes decline, and want to rebuild the middle class in this country. That's the kind of person that I want; somebody who in their gut knows where they came from and believes that we have to grow this country from the bottom up."

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/08/your_vp_senator_what_will_he_b.php

Note that Obama specifically said he wanted someone unafraid to disagree with him that he could consult with and "think" with. He wants someone to debate ideas with, you know, like people who make important decisions normally do. We can easily use this opportunity to remind America of the stupidity of the Bush white house. We can contrast our candidate, who is unafraid of debating to clarify his decisions, with the inbred ideas that came from Dubya's reign because no one would tell the emperor he was wrong while Cheney was wearing his clothes.

So when you read the tripe the McCain camp pumping out, like this:

"There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama's lack of experience than Joe Biden," said McCain spokesman Ben Porritt. "Biden has denounced Barack Obama's poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing -- that Barack Obama is not ready to be President."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121947414185366305.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

...remember that Obama has already said he would choose someone who would disagree with him. Everyday, Obama's politics impress me a bit more.

And if you're worrying about the conflicts in the platform, and the times Biden has been dead-wrong, well, take comfort in Obama's pre-response as well. Especially the part where he said "The buck will stop with me, because I will be the President."

.

.

.

.

It's not very often that I come here in the afternoon and see a blank slate.

.

.

.

.

Did someone just knock?
Well, then---my door is wide open.
Feel free to walk all over me2.

Every one else must have left to climb a Tree.

Hi Gang

I was stunned by simplicity and beauty of Michele Obama's speach to the DNC! I don't know how any America could watch it and not feel proud that she could be our next "First Lady".
Barack is a lucky man, and we are a lucky Nation to have their family as a choice for the next occupants of the White House.

For those of you who missed it ck it out:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/08/25/sot.michelle.obama.history.cnn

Kind Regards,
Stan

I had a brilliant insight this morning about what emotions are like and how to describe them in a physical sense.

Imagine a meadow that has been freshly cut and left to dry these are our thoughts. Each blade of cut grass is a thought of some kind..

Then a harvester comes along and it sucks the thoughts deep into its innards and compresses the thoughts into a Hay bail.. The Hay bail is the emotion.

As long as the grass keeps coming there will be bails of hay coming also.

Love

Simon xx

Ignore the old bore
Stubborn goes quite well with rust
Shriveled brain stems rule

Oh, come on, mon Keith
It makes a lot of horse-sense
Et le soleil brille

I registered to vote today.

After all the spinning facts and swirling info, there are two things that speak more than anything else.

McCain didn't know how many homes he owned and it is SEVEN and ABBA, top of the list.

The first sickens me to my core.
The second has not completely sunk in. There still some core issues there.

I will not support anyone that is so completely disconnected.

That's all I need to say on that matter.

peace comes from peace

derek

Oh one more seed
The desire to gain large amounts of money and power and property must become the new social disorder that people need therapy for. Like meth addiction. It kills and corrupts an other wise peaceful people.