October 19, 2007 archive

Run Up to WWIII?

I noticed this article yesterday from Associated Press, and following the foot-steps of several players in the run up to war with Iran, it looks like time is running out.

MOSCOW – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a surprise trip to Moscow on Thursday to discuss Iran’s nuclear program with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who just returned from talks with Iranian leaders in Tehran.

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The very day after Putin meets with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Isreali Prime Minister Ehud Olmert makes a surprise visit to the Kremlin.  His message;

“In a situation in which Iran has nuclear weapons and Syria has sophisticated weapons from Russia, Israel will have to weigh its actions against these threats.”

Other Isreali officials (Ze’ev Hanin, an Israeli expert on Russian affairs) have declared Olmerts message as;

“Iran must not be allowed to acquire the atom bomb. Officials here have warned time and again that if the world does not stop Iran, Israel will. They say military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities is a last resort, but it is an option.”

Link

A Forgotten Senate Prayer: 1975

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I’m posting this to support diversity of prayer in the Senate…

Shaking hands and stealing land

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Life for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories is now so miserable that it has become quite difficult not to be seduced by the theatre of the latest ‘peace push’, such is the desire to see an end to the conflict. When Condoleeza Rice expresses her sincere ambition to create an independent Palestinian state, and when Ehud Olmert hints about a willingness to divide Jerusalem, it is extremely tempting to simply forget about the facts on the ground and dare to hope that perhaps, this time, they’re for real.

Bush quips he may stay on as President

cats bush spoof t

Pony Party, Phone it in Friday

Today’s ‘Phone it in Friday’ is a link to one of my favorite websites, with a couple of examples blatantly lifted from it….

It’s a website which explains the origins of cliches and other terms, which I think is called ‘HaveOrigins’.

Close but no cigar

Meaning: Nearly achieving success, but not quite.
Example: That free throw was close but no cigar.
Origin: Carnival games of skill, particularly shooting games, once gave out cigars as a prize. A contestant that did not quite hit the target was close, but did not get a cigar.

Greetings from FUSE

Fuel consumption is at the core of the most pressing issues that confront people and governments all over the world – global security, human rights, the environment, health, and the economy.  The time to make a difference is now.

We believe that these humanitarian and environmental effects on society and the Earth are moral issues that must be immediately addressed by faith communities.  Through education, organization, and action, faith communities can make their voices heard, leading the movement toward a clean and sustainable future throughout the world.

When Good Sea Monkeys Go Bad

It started innocently.  The Ponies were taking up too much space. 
I traded the larger ones in on Pygmy Ponies, but even then they were just too much for me to handle, so I gave them to my friends.

Portia and Ellen promised to take good care of them, so at least I don’t have to worry about that.

To fill the void in my life, I decided to collect Sea Monkeys. They’re small, they don’t eat much and according to the ad in the back of the comic book, they provide hours of entertainment. I could not resist.

Little did I realize what hell I would unleash….

Docudharma Times Friday Oct. 19


USA

Senators Clash With Nominee About Torture

By PHILIP SHENON

Published: October 19, 2007


WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 – President Bush’s nominee for attorney general, Michael B. Mukasey, declined Thursday to say if he considered harsh interrogation techniques like waterboarding, which simulates drowning, to constitute torture or to be illegal if used on terrorism suspects.

On the second day of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Mukasey went further than he had the day before in arguing that the White House had constitutional authority to act beyond the limits of laws enacted by Congress, especially when it came to national defense.

What are you reading? reference books

Today we’ll talk about reference books.

If you like to trade books, try BookMooch.

cfk has bookflurries on Weds. nights
pico has literature for kossacks on Tues. nights

What are you reading?  is crossposted to dailyKos

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

The muses are ancient.  The inspirations for our stories were said to be born from them.  Muses of song and dance, or poetry and prose, of comedy and tragedy, of the inward and the outward.  In one version they are Calliope, Euterpe and Terpsichore, Erato and Clio, Thalia and Melpomene, Polyhymnia and Urania.

It has also been traditional to name a tenth muse.  Plato declared Sappho to be the tenth muse, the muse of women poets.  Others have been suggested throughout the centuries.  I don’t have a name for one, but I do think there should be a muse for the graphical arts.  And maybe there should be many more.

Please join us inside to celebrate our various muses…

The TaleMaster 3…Seth’s Dream

This little tale started itself about a dozen years ago. It was originally a one page background for a D&D character. Then came a dream or three which added so much more. Life & Death interfered for many years. I’ve begun dreaming of the tale again, recently. This will eventually be a book, I hope.

If you’re just joining the story, here’s a Link to previous parts

So please, go get yourself a tall cold beverage, adjust your reading glasses and settle into your comfy chair…

Durlije rises, working out the cramps from legs and back, stretching, then speaks to The Seth. “I thank you for the tale, you honour the Dwarves. As always, the tale was told with accuracy.” He bows low to The Seth. Then he turns and makes his way up to the Bazaar, becoming lost in the crowds.  

Welcome to the police state

Being of a certain age, much of my early worldview was shaped by childhood indoctrination about authoritarian states, I guess you could call me part of the “Duck and Cover” generation.  Taught from an early age about the evils of communism and fascism, we were often told that one of the greatest differences between free societies like our own, and evil totalitarian states, was that here in America one was safe to voice political views or dissent without fear of government retribution. We had no Siberian exile, Gulags, or internment camps. The police did not burst into your home in the middle of the night and arrest you on trumped up charges simply for voicing opinions contradictory to government policy.

Yet given today’s current situation, it is no longer quite so easy to draw such simplistic comparisons.

Under the current administration, no thinking person can honestly say that they don’t feel the slow grip of government overreach extending into the fabric of everyday life. An uneasiness has settled across the nation, somehow instinctively knowing that we are teetering on a precipice from which at any moment we could be sent spiraling down into the depths of  a fascist nightmare straight out of the a futuristic novel.

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