What's Next

1. Congress gives Bush his 200 billion for Iraq with no binding strings. Also more weapons for Saudi's and Israel.
2. Bush manages to get Al Maliki deposed, further destabilizing Iraq while giving more arms to Sunni's.
3. Drumbeat for war against Iran continues despite UN reports of cooperation.
4. Major attack occurs in US. (Who do we really think is behind this.) (Chertoff's gut.)
5. Within days of its occurrence, FBI informs MSM that US attack has been carried out by Iran.
(Most of US believes this.) (At least the most important 26%)
6. We attack Iran. Bush says he was authorized to do this by prior Congressional war authorization.
7. Entire Middle East rises up to kill vulnerable troops in Iraq.
8. Bush decides to go nuclear somewhere. Syria? Iran?
9. Russia retaliates.
10. Religious right gets equivalent of Armageddon, but are surprised to find that it entails only death and destruction and no Rapture.

La Vie En Rose

I went to see the movie La Vie En Rose, the story of Edith Piaf's life. A great movie, very rip your heart out. I recommend it very highly. Wm says his ball game was OK.

Two Blue Boys

The Original Blue Boy

The Latest Blue Boy

Greater Tuna

Went to see the play Greater Tuna out at the Fred Foresman Amphitheater tonight. Very funny play at the expense of Texas. This is the first time the Foothill Theater Company has had another play on nights not devoted to Shakespeare during the Shakespeare run. According to the director's notes the play is 25 years old. Carolyn, the director, first worked on the play in 1985. She was a college freshman in Theater Arts and was one of the dressers.
I worked on packing today and have my suitcases pretty well packed for Texas and then for Europe. I am not taking any of the same clothes as it looks to be pretty warm in Texas even when it is raining and will be pretty cold in Brugge especially when it is raining. I will repack my umbrella.
I wanted to see the movie La Vie En Rose, the story of Edith Piaf, and it is having a 2 week run at the Magic Theater instead of the usual one week run. So Wm says I should go tomorrow night while he is watching some ball game or other.
Also Happy Birthday to Axel and the blue cake. It's the big 1.

Valerio

I am so crushed. In Rick Steves Europe, Cinque Terre: Italy's Hidden Riviera # 205, Rick Steves introduces us to his friend Valerio, a waiter in Vernazza. I thought Valerio was our friend. Now I find out he is the world's friend.
Prior to our trip to Europe in '99 a friend at work said that we should look up a waiter who was a friend of a friend of hers. Kathy was an airline hostess who lived in Hawaii at the time she was friends with the waiter Valerio of Vernazza. My introduction to Valerio was to be that I knew Kathy had moved to Chicago. When we found Valerio working at his Uncle's restaurant I told him the news about Kathy. He was surprised that she had moved as he said his family had lived in Vernazza for 500 years and they would never think of moving. Then he served us the best meal I ever had, his choice of what to serve.
Valerio looks no older than he did in '99. I had my picture taken with him when we were there. William refers to him as Valerio the Lothario.

Resign for Pardon

Everyone is resigning so they can be pardoned.

Faux Recess Appointment

Bush may leave Paul Clement, current Solicitor General and another flack, in place for up to 210 days after 9/17. If he nominates some other flack, the clock starts again for Clement for another 210 days and so on. So he could effectively have Clement indefinitely, violating the spirit of the no recess appointments agreement he made with Harry Ried.

Paris Je T'aime

Went to the Nevada Theater tonight to watch Paris Je T'aime. Wm said he did not think there would be many there, but I reminded him this is Nevada City, and sure enough the theater was well filled. Really enjoyed this movie composed of petite vignettes about various sorts of love in the neighborhoods of Paris. Watch out for the vampire on the Rue Madelaine.

Big Attack

Predictions are prior to 9/21. Great! That may mess up our travel plans. I would think next year, just prior to the election would be better timing. Unless this is the big one leading to Martial Law. I know I predict these things, but I really would hate to be right.
HUGE put options have been placed on US and European stock markets and will expire prior to 9/21. The last time we had these was prior to 9/11. The Federal Reserve Board which usually meets in DC is moving their Monday meetings to the COG Continuity of Government site in Jackson Hole. And why the troops ordered to DC? Bwa ha Ha.

CA Budget

Arnold just signed the CA Budget, cutting $55 million in programs for mentally ill and homeless (let the cities and counties, who are broke, fund these programs) and keeping a $45 million dollar tax break for yacht owners! read LA Times here
Wm says mentally ill and homeless don't vote, but yacht owners do.
So I say this is why these people are not truly Christians. Since Jesus said,

just as you did it to the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."

DOJ Horror

Well Ted Nugent may be gross, but a real Washington horror story that has some buzz is that Alberto may soon exit stage left to be replaced by the stand in for Freddy Krueger, Michael Chertoff.

Ted Nugent

This video of Ted Nugent threatening to kill Hillary, Obama, Boxer, Feinstein, and Arnold is X rated. He is brandishing and possibly firing (hopefully blanks) 2 assault rifles. I am sure this type of violent excess will not get any play on the MSM.

Obvious Stuff

Hillary says that a terror attack prior to '08 election would help to elect Republicans. Duh! The attack is probably being planned now by the next round of candidates for the Medal of Freedom. Also it will be getting harder to resurrect Osama so long after his probable death. People have gotten better at recognizing his distinctive features.
Also under stupid stuff, the couple arrested in New Haven for marking a running trail through a parking lot with flour, arrows and chalk. People just automatically thought that all this white powder must be anthrax. Duh! No one remembers that the original anthrax letters were directed at Democratic members of Congress to get them to go along with the original Patriot Act and that the anthrax came from a government lab. So the crime has of course never been solved.

Stars at the Ridgetop

Tonight we went to Stars at the Ridgetop at a private amphitheater out of town. It was a benefit for the Nevada County Land Trust, a land conservation group.

We saw Richie Havens and

Dr John and his band the lower 911's from New Orleans. The music totally rocked.

We sat with the Gradhandts. They are moving to Boise Wednesday. Too Bad.

The inimitable William.

In the bus line to return we saw Dr. Scott Kellerman and Carol. They are back from Africa for a vacation. Their work in Uganda has progressed over the years from a mobile clinic to a 60 bed hospital growing to 100 and two 500 student schools. He said the average patient stay is 1 1/2 days. It is all infectious diseases. Youngsters come in in a coma from malaria and wake up and leave the next day. He said the average age in Uganda is 14. He noted that the only black faces at the concert were Richie Havens and 2 members of Dr. John's band. Too much whiteness and oldness in Nevada County.
We were also reminded of all the money lost and wasted in Louisiana and the little that has been spent on rebuilding. Most of the poor and vulnerable are still in a sad state in New Orleans.

Prejudiced Remarks

I was going to the grower's market out at the fairgrounds today. I was part of a line of cars entering gate 4. Suddenly a SUV raced from the side (internal dirt parking lot road to my right) and cut in front of me. I honked loud and long and then followed to the Market. I walked over to her and asked why she cut in front of me like that. Her response was "Oh, was that you? How fast were you going?" I said you were going fast and I honked at you. She said "I never heard any honking." Then she walked off. My prejudiced remark to spouse later and to you now is that her response was a typical Republican response. Deflect, deny and lie. She felt that she was superior and did not have to apologize for her actions to anyone.

Belgium Crisis

Belgium struggles with political crisis

Belgium was mired in a political crisis on Friday after Flemish leader Yves Leterme gave up efforts to form a government with francophone partners who reject his plans for constitutional reform.

Try the web site for lots of expat info about Belgium.

Police Try to Incite Riot

Quebec provincial police admitted Thursday that three of their officers disguised themselves as demonstrators during the protest at the North American leaders summit in Montebello, Que.

I watched the video of the event. A group of older protesters, especially the older man who was their leader, confronted 3 masked men who were holding rocks and attempting to incite violence in the group. But the group turned on them, trying to unmask them and to get them to put down the rocks. They escaped into the police line.

Blog Tag

If you read this Blog, then you have to copy the list to your own Blog and fill in your own answers. Tag, you're it!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago.
1. Still working
2. Working my part time job into full time with new government regulations
3. Spending a lot of time with 2 small grandchildren
4. Writing a children's book about a walk with Robert and Teddy the dog
5. Buying the illustrations for the book from Robert Crabb (and then not getting it published)

5 snacks I enjoy
1. Chips
2. Other salty things

5 songs I know all the words to
1. Lots of old kids songs like "Little Red Caboose"

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire
1. Change that to billionaire these days then do stuff like more travel and more houses

5 bad habits
1. Procrastination
2. Sitting around too much
3. hardly getting anything done unless I put it on a list

5 things I like to do
1. Read
2. Surf Internet
3. Travel to new places and old places
4. blog

5 things I will never wear again
1. Two piece swimsuits

5 of my favorite toys
1. Robert
2. Jasmine
3. Ben
4. Leah
5. Axel

If you read this blog, you have been tagged!

Freedom Watch

This is very short and very funny. What happens when you "call congress" as urged to by Freedom Watch TV ad.

Bush History

Bush as usual rewrites history. He even rewrites current events, but that is another post. Repubs recent rewrite of Vietnam was debunked in a letter to the editor by John Kerry.
Kerry writes that (A prior opinion writer)

mistakenly views the violence after 1973 as a direct result of our withdrawal. In fact, the violence arose from the conditions that led us to withdraw: a Vietnamese civil war we couldn't stop supported by a Cambodian insurgency we couldn't bomb into submission. It's horrifying that so many South Vietnamese suffered. But, even accepting Mr. Taranto's estimate of 165,000 Vietnamese deaths--double that of most academic sources--this is a significant decrease from the preceding eight years when 450,000 civilians and 1.1 million soldiers were killed.

Suicide?

Recent reports stated suicides of soldiers were at an all time high. Easy to accept with the stress and strains on troops. But I wonder how many of the suicides were like that of LaVena Johnson. Evidence was that her death was the result of a probable sexual assault, but the army called it a suicide. Unless you call being a woman in the army an automatic suicide attempt, I don't think so. You can sign a petition to have the army reopen this case here.

The Surge is Succeeding

Is the Surge succeeding?

That depends on how you define its mission. Is the Surge supposed to create the physical safety needed to support political change and stabilization, so that the U.S. can withdraw and leave a viable Iraq? If so, it's failing. Or is the Surge's purpose to intimidate Democrats, mislead the press, provide talking points for the Right, and confuse everybody else? It's succeeding very well in that mission.

Missile Arms Race

Russia sends Missiles to Syria.
And so we begin to spiral out of control with increasingly belligerent language from all war mongers such as Joe Lieberman and new action in Iraq aimed at Iranian terrorists. The war will spread to surrounding countries just as our leaders planned. I thought one of the reasons for not withdrawing was that the war would spread throughout the region. But then our dear leaders and their camp followers seldom feel that they have to make sense. If you say something often enough in wide enough venues, it is believed to be true by a majority of the people.

Redbud Farm

On Saturday we went to a party at Redbud Farm, way on top of a ridge before you get to North San Juan.

The house was totally owner designed and built.

A pig roasting spit, recently added.

The pig, partially eaten.

The really spectacular stove set up.

Back on line

The laptop is back from Dell after repairs. Thought it was just the video card, but apparently it was the LCD screen also. So sad, but it works now.

Operation Enduring Propoganda

The Six Steps of Operation Enduring Propaganda:

Step One - Keep reminding them of the threat posed by the Bogey Man;

Step Two - Spin your current disastrous wars into successes;

Step Three - Ignore, attack or ridicule all those who hold up the truth of the matter;

Step Four - Call for more wars;

Step Five - Ask for increases in intelligence and military means to fight the Enemy;

Step Six - Recycle through Steps One to Five.

Make Money in Direct Mail Business

Linda Chavez who was almost Bush's Labor Secretary has been working the direct mail PAC scam to keep body and soul together.

The basic scam is a simple one: You start with a small mailing list, put together an urgent appeal explaining how your newly-formed PAC with the Respectable Sounding Name is "leading the fight" for/against some crap or other, and solicit donations. The money you rake in goes to pay for the production of the mailing pieces, postage, etc., and what's left over goes toward renting a better list for the next round of mailings. By the second or third pass, you're taking in enough to pay your "consultants" for the great advice he or she gave you on how to raise money with direct mail.

And if those "consultants" just happen to be you, your spouse, and each of your kids, well, so much the better for you! You're the model of entrepreneurialism and efficiency! Congratulations. Why not give yourself a raise?

Cheney pushes out Rove

Cheney and Rove have been at each other's throats for over a year now and with revival of Cheney's influence Rove has been forced out.

Rove's lies that he is resigning to spend more time with his family, including a second wife and son in college who won't be around anyway, are laughable, to say the least.
Perhaps Rove wants to spend more time with his gay stepfather, the one who left Rove and his suicidal mother during Christmas time one year, to talk about "family values."

Toppling the Cheney Statue

Mud Volcano a Warning?

A mud volcano is forming off Trinidad. This is the result of methane gas melting and belching up sea floor mud. Methane is trapped carbon and the melting of this gas as sea temperature rises could be as disastrous as the melting of the permafrost for global warming.

Be Patriotic and Chew on that Lead

From CNBC's Erin Burnett on Friday's Hardball

“A lot of people like to say, uh, scaremonger about China, right? A lot of politicians, and I know you talk about that issue all the time. I think people should be careful what they wish for on China. Ya know, if China were to revalue it’s currency or China is to start making say, toys that don’t have lead in them or food that isn’t poisonous, their costs of production are going to go up and that means prices at Wal-Mart here in the United States are going to go up too. So, I would say China is our greatest friend right now, they’re keeping prices low and they’re keeping the prices for mortgages low, too.”

Response from Logan Murphy on Crooks and Liars:

Burnett makes a valid point, if China were to revalue it’s currency we’d be screwed — so we should just keep our traps shut, let our children gnaw on lead coated toys and eat potentially lethal food so the Walton family doesn’t lose money? I realize it’s a much deeper issue than that, but she probably should have used different analogies to get her point across.

I laughed at this, because if you can't laugh you would have to cry.

Destroy Medicare

It has long been a goal of those who would destroy FDR's legacy to destroy both Social Security and Medicare. In the last 6 years steps have been taken to make Medicare harder to use and less palatable to users.
1. Medicare Advantage plans are heavily subsidized, have resorted to fraud and denial of care to pad their profits. They are also not available to people in rural areas.
2. Experimental Medicare plans offer bonuses to groups that are able to cut spending (mostly by denying care and cutting off expensive patients).
3. Medicare is cutting payments to MD's by 10% across the board. This will result in fewer doctors taking Medicare patients and more complaints about inability to find a doctor. Also Medicare continues to cut payments to hospitals.
4. Medicare's resources are being drained by the Medicare drug bill which is just a huge source of income for big Pharma.
The more Medicare is destroyed and the more older people complain about Medicare the less likely it is that we will have a single payer health plan for all Americans and the further down the toilet our health system will go. We will have the best health care in the world for the rich and famous.

Bush vs Putin

Cold War begins again.

Moscow has said it would bolster its air defence capability in response to US plans to site early-warning systems in the Czech Republic and missile interceptors in Poland to protect against attack from Iran or North Korea.

The candidate running against Putin in upcoming elections is even more hawkish. Putin is popular in Russia and the bellicosity against the US is viewed as warranted. Read more here.

Your Ancestors were illegals?

Think your ancestors came here legally? History begs to differ
Great article in the SacBee today points out that prior to the early 1900's there were no immigration laws. People just booked passage and moved here. Only 1% of people who showed up at Ellis Island were ever turned away.

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

really meant something then. Even after laws were passed to keep out less desirable people from Eastern and Southern Europe, they sneaked in by the thousands. In 1925 published reports stated that 1.4 million people were living here illegally. The government then instituted a process called pre-examination to legalize many of them. In current terms this would be called amnesty. Hypocrisy lives on and on today.

Inspiration for the world

Mugabe signs the Interception of Communications Bill to provide authorization for his government to eavesdrop on all mail, email, and phone conversations in Zimbabwe. We are such an inspiration for other countries.

Deja Vu Petraeus

We are all waiting with bated breath for what Gen. Petraeus will say in September. Surprise, surprise, he will tell us about the Great Progress of the Surge and this will be nothing new. Gen. Petraeus has been telling Americans for years -- since at least 2004 -- that we have been making Great Progress in Iraq. He will also say that more needs to be done, same as usual.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky returned from Iraq and, among other things, reported that "Petraeus told her 'the U.S. would be in Iraq for 9-10 years if we want to win.'" She also reported that the Surge was failing...

Global Warming Hoax?

Due to a small error found in some NASA temperature data some yearly temperature data has been recalculated. Although this has made no difference in long term global climate data, the change is being hyped as a "fact that global warming is a hoax."

See global data below:

Real Climate scientists explain this here.

Deja Vu on Presidential Abuse of Power

WEIGH IMPEACHMENT IN AN ILLEGAL WAR

On August 9, 1983, Don Edwards, Democrat of California, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights:

Do we have any means to stop the President from waging an illegal war? On July 28, the House voted 228 to 195 to stop the invasion of Nicaragua by a mercenary army hired by the Central Intelligence Agency. President Reagan's response was, in effect, ''Try and stop me.'' ...

If we do not try to stop this current president, we will just be stomped further into the ground by future presidents.
Read more from Kagro X.

I think the real reason Nancy Pelosi does not want impeachment to go forward is that she would be acting president as soon as articles of impeachment are filed for both Bush and Cheney.

Banking crisis

Bush flexes his MBA muscles and says liquidity is fine. "There is plenty of liquidity." But in the meantime the Fed has to put $38bn of "new money" (fresh off the presses) into the system while overseas central banks have to put $91bn into their markets. Fed chairman is looking down the barrel of having to decrease prime which may fuel inflation. And the mortgage crisis has just begun. Banks and lending companies are looking at deeper holes later this year and into '08.

Late thoughts

Strange weather in NYC with tornado and flooding closing subways.
Sorry about the end of Discovery Cycling team.
Palm Springs overdue for giant earthquake. 150 years overdue.
Strike 911 more here spread the word.

Daring Dance

Quack and I were near the back of the North Columbia Schoolhouse. Not the best place for pictures. The dancers were great and we also got a cd for the price of admission. The dancer with the wings at the back had a live snake curled around her head.
Update: From Quack: "Since you're out there in cyberspace you must mention the colorful female exuberance displayed in dance and the spoken word, enhanced with the rhythms of the drums, didgeridoo, violin, wails, and shouts all to be found on the cd "Lilyonyx in the Isis Rise" , available now! "

Iowa Straw Poll

Sounds weird. You have to pay $35 to attend, but candidates will give you free tickets, if you vote for them? There will be entertainment. I heard there will be music and Gingrich is bringing an alligator? even though he is not on the poll? How many locations are there and how many alligators is he bringing? Romney will win as he has given out the most tickets? You will vote in the poll on Diebold machines and then dip your finger in purple ink? Some years they ask for an Iowa driver's license, no one is sure if they will this year? Is this a joke?

Progress in Iraq

This is the progress:
1. More than 2 million Iraqi's have left the country and more are internally displaced, making fewer Iraqi's to fight.
2. Most of the insurgents are foreign fighters from Saudi Arabia, so all we need to do to stop this is talk to our friends the Saudi Arabians.
3. Almost everyone is walking out of al-Maliki's government, making fewer people to have to convince to vote on such items as the Oil Law that a vast majority of Iraqi's do not want.
4. Al-Maliki is spending a lot of time talking to his friends the Iranians, so when we go after them it will whip al-Maliki into line.
5. The 190,000 AK47's were manufactured by former coalition of the willing partner, Poland, for the Iraqi Army and lost from there, thereby creating plausible deniability.
6. The ~1,00,000 Iraqi civilians we have killed means fewer Iraqi's to keep in line.
7. Soon we might get the electrical and water systems for the Green Zone Palace (American Embassy) working, proving if you are harsh enough with your slave labor you can get something done.
Yeah, for Progress in Iraq!

Plastic Bags

This is why I use cloth bags. (Can you believe this! There was an error in the html and I actually remembered enough to fix it!)

DHS Flashlight makes you vomit

Somehow the fact that DHS is developing this Special Flashlight makes me feel that it might be used at home and on homegrown protesters rather than terrorists. Of course it depends on your definition of terrorist.

Spam

I heard on the radio that there has been a large uptick in the amount of email spam. I had been wondering why I had been getting a lot of messages from weird names with attachments in my junk mail folder. I have my email filter set to exclusive so I don't get any in my inbox, but I have to check the junk mail folder to make sure that nothing I really want is in there. I have been checking, deleting, and reporting all the strange email to hotmail and it has been decreasing. Only had one today.

Ted Bed

Teddy really likes her new bed. She was still asleep on it this AM. Sure glad Wm suggested getting it for her as she is an old dog and needed something soft to sleep on.

Going out Tomorrow Night

Wm is off camping with the boys, so I am going out with Karen Q to 'Lilyonyx in the Isis Rise' a celebration of the feminine.

Russia and China

Russia and China are conducting a joint military exercise. The Neocon saber rattling and planned positioning of portions of the missile defense system in eastern NATO countries is driving the start of a new cold war alliance.

26%er

Funny Nance rant about the Republicans who still love Bush.

Another nitwit prays for another 911

Here is the link to his news/opinion article of drivel. I sent an email to his surely overloaded inbox.

Colin Powell talks?

I think Colin Powell will come forward and talk about the administration prior to the '08 elections. Maybe in a sequel to his prior autobiography. Bush administration is worried about this. In "No End in Sight" a very good documentary about the Iraq War a number of former Bushites have come forward. I hoped to be able to see this movie, but it has been suppressed in the MSM and looks to have a very limited distribution. I have emailed owner of the Magic Theater to ask about it.

Who is going to be the Republican Nominee?

Newt Gingrich will capture his party's nomination despite not being in the race yet. He is saying all the right things in an intelligent way. Bearing in mind that I think he is a creep, he is less of an idiot than the rest of the field. Remember you read it here.

Nomination is not over yet

Remember this poll from 03?

August 2003, Likely Democratic Voters:
Howard Dean: 12
Wesley Clark: 2
Joe Lieberman: 23
John Kerry: 10
Dick Gephardt: 13
John Edwards: 5

The powers that be were already crowning Lieberman and speculating on who his VP pick would be. So remember it is only August.

Now we know the economy is bad

Bush says U.S. economy strong despite stock swings.

US Kills Mastermind of Iraq Shrine

The Pentagon’s latest Big Lie I read this entire very long essay and found it very interesting and credible.

EU travel crackdown?

Travelers from US face EU crackdown

With passage of New US visa law that requires travelers to give US authorities at least 48 hours’ notice of their plans to visit the country, EU commission is considering a tit for tat arrangement for visitors from the US. Nice.

One more Dam thing

Disaster looms as 'Saddam dam' struggles to hold back the Tigris
Dam poorly built in early 80's certain to fail with huge loss of life and certain (though undeserved in this instance) blame for Iraqi government and US.

Snark Article

The War on Infrastructure

Very Funny! Who knows might be true!

Permanent Spying

Analysis: New Law Gives Government Six Months to Turn Internet and Phone Systems into Permanent Spying Architecture Back doors will be created allowing perpetual access. Nice.

Google spy

When you search on Google the data is stored forever and can be searched and used against you. If you wish to search anonymously use Googlonymous.

China Dollar Threat

China threatens 'nuclear option' of dollar sales

Described as China's "nuclear option" in the state media, such action could trigger a dollar crash at a time when the US currency is already breaking down through historic support levels. It would also cause a spike in US bond yields, hammering the US housing market and perhaps tipping the economy into recession. It is estimated that China holds over $900bn in a mix of US bonds.

Nice.
Update: Author of this article is probably not a reliable source.

Democrats are acting cowardly

The Democrats need to stand up to Bush and the Republicans in Congress. If Bush vetos all the government spending bills and thereby shuts the government down, it is his fault. If the Republicans in the Senate threaten to filibuster bills, they should be forced to stand up 24/7 until they fall over rather than calling for a cloture vote in a few hours. The Democrats are giving the Republicans power. They need to stand up and stomp down.

Great Diary

Democrats as battered spouses is a great diary explaining much of the Republican right wing vs Democrat political dynamic.

Walk Score

A walkability index is available here at Walk Score. I tried my house and got a 57/100. Not too bad. House in Texas got a 2/100. Kind of a no brainer but fun.

Bush Economics

Bush economics: 'Only the little people pay taxes' True article.

Six Months Again

How often has Michael O'Hanlon (he of the recent NYT oped) called for another six months to show progress in Iraq. August '07. March '07. March '06. Just about as bad as Thomas Friedman, who has called for another 6 months every 6 months for the last 2 1/2 years.

Scientists reveal secret of levitation

British scientists say they can reverse the Casimir force to cause an object to repel rather than attract another in a vacuum. Although this discovery only applies to nano objects, it has huge implications for an increase in efficiency in all sorts of mechanical objects. Read article here. Beat you to a science story, Richard.

Bad Beans

U.S. issues new botulism warning for green beans It's summer. Just buy fresh.

Fake Al Qaeda

I just read about IntelCenter a U.S. based private intelligence organization that "monitors terrorist activity". This private security company consists of mostly ex-CIA agents who are supposed to gather and review terrorist videos. Increasing evidence is that they doctor videos and release them when it is most valuable for the administration. Nice.

Try again on recession

This cartoon goes along with what I have said here. first item posted on 7/26/07
Try this story if you want your teeth rattled.

Republican values

Nice Republican Values video. View it here.

And so it begins

Bush issues executive order blocking property of persons said to be interfering in the democracy of Lebanon. Lebanon today, tomorrow? And who are these certain people? Are they American citizens? Will they have any habeas corpus rights? Remember the poem:

First They Came for the Jews

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

CA decertifies voting machines

CA state secretary of state de-certified Diebold, Hart InterCivic and Sequoia voting machines. Nice especially since Nevada County just bought in June a bunch of Hart InterCivics on the recommendation of a punk Registrar who was fired in April. Thankfully the normal Nevada County voting method of scanned paper ballots is a secure method. Of course like a large % of Nevada County voters, we vote absentee.

Rethuglican Strategy for "08

Although Hillary is not my candidate, the Republican's are working hard at promoting her as the opposition candidate. The idea is that once she has the nomination, they work to totally demolish her in order to discourage Democrats from voting. Truthfully we have known that Hillary was the Republican's dream candidate for a long time. Just because you know what they are going to do does not mean that their strategy may not be effective. I am looking at the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries where my man Edwards has the lead and hoping that he gets enough of a bounce to pull this off. My ticket is Edwards/Obama. The Repubs would have a much harder time with this ticket. It does not fit with their plans.

Warning Notices

In California we have the choice to go to restaurants that have health department warnings. We are warned by red, yellow, or green placards in the window. I think we should have the same choice for bridges we travel over. If a bridge is a safety hazard, it could have a colored warning sign. Also Google maps would let you know if your proposed route had a bridge with a safety hazard. This would give you a choice of routes.
It's not as if we have not been warned about our crumbling infrastructure. The 1.6 trillion needed to fix bridges, roads, steam pipes, electrical grids, etc. years ago, has been spent on tax cuts. Since we do not seem to have the political will to fix our system, it has been proposed that we just sell these expensive roads and bridges to private enterprise. Corporations will fix them up and charge us user fees. Privatizing will also involve liability limits. So you will be able to go from here to there, if you can afford it. Here goes Eisenhower's vision of a great federal interstate system. Sold to the highest bidder to become a road for the wealthy. A ribbon of gold across the nation. another note
Update: Many bits of our infrastructure, toll roads etc., have been purchased---by foreign companies!

Lake Valley

We went kayaking on Lake Valley Reservoir today. There was another couple that took off quite a bit ahead of us, but we are fast paddlers. We passed them and got to our favorite take out ahead of them.

We got a call from Val while we were there. We never used to have cell coverage here, but today we had 3 bars. All are well in Texas. Val says she is going to have to explore some child care for the baby after school starts and Jaz and Robert go back to school. She has some new stuff to sell to her customers and needs to be able to call them. She was thinking nanny, but the baby is almost 2 and a big boy so I suggested that she look at a nice daycare. I think he would enjoy other children to play with.

These are phone pictures. I sent them to Val's cell and finally have the set up to import them to the laptop. The new apple came today. We have some time to learn how to work it and load up all our programs. Time is getting short. Counting down to departure day.

Favorite Cartoonist

Tom Tomorrow is one of my favorite cartoonists. See his latest here.

Omerta

Omertà (or a code of silence) has become the final bond holding the Bush administration together. Honesty is dishonorable; silence is manly; penitence is weakness. Loyalty trumps law. Protecting higher-ups is patriotism. Stonewalling is idealism. Telling the truth is informing. Cooperation with investigators is cowardice; breaking the code is betrayal. Once the code is shattered, however, no one can be trusted and the entire edifice crumbles.

Sidney Blumenthal spells out why Alberto must stay and all Bush staff will use executive privilege.

US Climate Action Report

The US Climate Action Report was released to no fan fare on Friday the 27th in an attempt to bury the bad news. This was a successful ploy as it has gotten no press. The news was of course bad which was why it was buried. read more

Travel plans

Spent much of the day on travel planning. We have weeks 4-16 to fill up. Plan to join the Boulder Bakers on trip to Greece week 4 and may stay on for week 5. Wm wanted to go to Croatia for week 5, but visa requirements are lengthly. Don't know why? Weeks 6-10 will be in Italy. Weeks 11-13 in Spain. Got a timeshare trade for Macdonald Dona Lola Resort near Malaga for week 12 and put in a request for a resort near Barcelona for week 11. Portugal was a thought, but it requires a visa. Weeks 14-16 will be in France, with week 16 in Paris at a hotel run by some Sacramento expats. Rolled over our Puerto Vallarta timeshare weeks to start the build up of weeks for '09, seven weeks now in '08. Still more to plan, but we also plan to do some traveling without plans. See how that goes.

Bits of the day

Fox News corp wins in a Florida court on the grounds that it is their 1st amendment right to lie and distort the news. Fair and Balanced news is rated #2 as a conservative web site.
Pres wants revision to NSA wiretapping and eavesdropping to drop all requirements for FISA court review. He wants it done right now and have AG in permanent charge of the program. Dems say "when pigs fly."