February 14, 2008 archive

Warm welcome planned for McCain on Iraq Moratorium day

Antiwar activists are planning a warm welcome for John “100-Year-War” McCain when he brings his campaign to Wisconsin on Iraq Moratorium day Friday.

McCain, fresh from a complete flip-flop on torture, comes to the Mississippi River city of LaCrosse for a town hall meeting at the Radisson Hotel.  McCain voted Wednesday against a ban on waterboarding,which passed the Senate 51-45.

Wisconsin’s primary is next Tuesday.

Coulee Progressives are organizing the “welcome” in LaCrosse:

Get Your Protest Shoes On!!


This is Peace Country, where the City of La Crosse along with 32 other cities in WI voted in 2005/06 to bring the troops home back. It’s time we tell those who would bring us deeper into war, that violence is not the answer.

Please come to express your voice for peace this FRIDAY from 3-4 outside the La Crosse Radisson Ballroom. Let’s tell John McCain that war is not the answer.

It’s time to speak out for the unemployed, the underemployed, the sick, those w/o health insurance. It’s time to end the deaths of children and families in Iraq, It’s time to speak for solutions that leave nations better off economically and with healthcare. It’s time to say more than, “NO TO WAR”.

IT’S TIME TO SAY YES TO PEACE!

SAY YES TO THOSE WHO WANT PEACE IN IRAQ,

YES TO THE CHILDREN AND PARENTS OF THE MIDDLE EAST!

YES TO A FUTURE W/O PERMANENT US TROOPS IN ANOTHER COUNTRY OF THE WORLD!

LET’S SEND PEACEMAKERS…NOT WEAPONS OF WAR!

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Progressives announced they plan their own peace protest becasue of McCain’s support for the war in Iraq. Members will meet on campus at 2 p.m. and march to the Radisson Center.

Later in the day, LaCrosse will become the latest Wisconsin community to hold an Iraq Moratorium event, joining 13 others across the state who have planned actions on Friday, Iraq Moratorium #6.  Wisconsin has been a hotbed of Moratorium activity, with 14 events planned on Friday — more than any other state except California, with six times the population.

Nearly 100 events are listed on the Iraq Moratorium website .  The Moratorium asks people to take some action — individually or collectively — on the Third Friday of every month to show their opposition to the war and occupation of Iraq.

Pony Party…. Love Songs

♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥

  Happy Valentines Day!!

♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥  

Chris Matthews HEARTS Hillary Clinton on Valentine’s Day

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(Alternate title: Ratings and Relevance – Why the Media Elite Need Hillary to Stay in the Race)

Like many of you, I am fascinated by our Elite Media’s collective reaction to the Obama surge. They appear to be tripping over themselves to minimize the importance of his victories this week. They are muddling the delegate count to make it appear like we have a neck-and-neck horse race, rather than an obvious clear leader today. Tim Russert has to stand on his head wearing those 3-D colored glasses in order not to sound like a complete idiot when he says ‘As I read the results, there is no clear picture in the race today, Chris’. Matthews, Andrea Mitchell, and the rest are all saying how uncertain things are, when in fact we have a darn good idea of what is happening.

So what’s going on here? Aren’t these the same people who couldn’t wait to trash Hillary Clinton from the moment she announced her candidacy? Weren’t these folks practically wetting themselves when it looked like she had a legitimate challenger in the Democratic primary? Yet now, you get the sense they are all cheering her on behind the scenes, although of course they can’t be so blatant as to say so on national TV.

What’s changed?

Pony Party, The Valentine Thing….

If you’re celebrating Lupercalia instead of Valentine’s Day today, please enjoy my blessings on your celebration.  

The Lupercalia was a very ancient, possibly pre-Roman pastoral festival, observed on February 13 through February 15 to avert evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility….(snip)…The Lupercalia festival was in honor of the She-Wolf who suckled the infant orphans, Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. Explaining the name of the festival, Lupercalia, which translates out into “Wolf Festival.”(snip)…The sacrificial feast followed, after which the Luperci cut thongs from the skins of the victims, which were called Februa, dressed themselves in the skins of the sacrificed goats, in imitation of Lupercus, and ran round the walls of the old Palatine city, the line of which was marked with stones, with the thongs in their hands in two bands, striking the people who crowded near. Girls and young women would line up on their route to receive lashes from these whips. This was supposed to ensure fertility, prevent sterility in women and ease the pains of childbirth. This tradition itself may survive (Christianised, and shifted to Spring) in certain ritual Easter Monday whippings.

…though I’ll sadly not be participating.  Fertility is the LAST thing i need right now…  ðŸ˜‰

To the rest of us,

Happy Valentine’s Day ♥

Segregated Communities in Iraq

May Spell Trouble

As Iraqis who fled their homes during the war begin to return, some are finding it safer to move into areas inhabited by other members of their sect, creating segregated communities of Shia and Sunni Muslims at ever-increasing rates.

The country has seen a drop in sectarian violence as a result, but some observers are concerned by the trend’s other possible consequences.

This does not bode well for a countries citizens, that once lived in relative comfort in a mixed religious/tribal sectarian society, under the rule of a dictatorship once propped up by the west.

A dose of fun and humor (minimum daily requirement)

Cross posted from Sancho Press to Docudharma. Come join Sancho Press and help the troops and veterans. http://sanchopress.com/

THERE ARE SOME CHANGES AND ADDITIONS TO THIS CONTRIBUTION. ALSO, WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOUR PHOTOS FOR “DOG PHOTO OF THE DAY”. IF IT IS YOUR DOG, WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THEIR NAME AND A SHORT BIT OF INFO ABOUT THEM. “HUMOROUS PHOTO/VIDEO OF THE DAY” IS ANOTHER YOU CAN SEND TO ME FOR CONSIDERATION. ADDITIONALLY, WE WOULD LIKE YOUR FEEDBACK ABOUT POSSIBLE CATEGORIES TO ADD TO MAKE THIS MORE FUN. ALSO, ANY TO DELETE THAT THE COMMUNITIES OF SANCHO PRESS AND DOCUDHARMA ARE NOT INTERESTED IN. YOUR INPUT AND FEEDBACK ARE TRULY APPRECIATED. LET’S ALL MAKE THIS A PIECE WORTH HAVING EACH DAY ON SANCHO PRESS AND DOCUDHARMA. PLEASE USE MY EMAIL ON MY PROFILE FOR ALL THE ITEMS LISTED ABOVE. THANKS. DON QUIXOTE. TOMINMAINE.

Happy Valentine’s day.

Trivia question of the day. (answer below the fold) — What hit 2005 film was promoted in ads that declared, “In the harshest place on Earth, love finds a way”?  

Word of the day. (definition below the fold) — Penchant

Quote of the day. — “And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. …” William Shakespeare

Useless information. — About 8,000 Americans are injured by musical instruments each year.

Bad President/Bushisms. — While flying over the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in Air Force one. 8/31/05. “It’s totally wiped out…It’s devastating, it’s got to be doubly devastating on the ground.”

Dog(s) of the day





My dogs. Walter the pug and Oreo the mix breed. Raised Walter from a pup (4yrs old) and adopted Oreo (2yrs old) a year ago. In front of the heater, one of their favorite spots.

Let the Protect America Act Expire (FISA)

Today, Thursday, the House of Representatives is scheduled to mourn the passing of Tom Lantos, victim of fascism.

Tomorrow, Friday, the extension of the Protect America Act expires.

Let it.

This will be brief.

What greater tribute could we pay to a survivor of the Holocaust than to stop the rising tide of fascism in our country?

An American by choice was Tom Lantos, secure in the knowledge that this country could not be stampeded into a Kristallnacht by a mere Reichstag Fire.

9/11 is the Reichstag Fire.  A bully beating to put down the Constitutional guarantees of government and if you don’t see it you are as weak as the Weimar Republicans.  This is an endorsement of Gestapo Police State tactics of torture and universal surveillance.

I know no one here prefers temporary safety to essential liberty.  Today is the day to let your Elected Representatives know that you will be satisfied with nothing less.

As Tom knew the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

It is our fate to live in interesting times.

Docudharma Times Thursday February 14

This is an Open Thread:

London calling to the faraway towns

Now that war is declared-and battle come down

London calling to the underworld

Come out of the cupboard, all you boys and girls

Thursday’s Headlines: Obama’s Lead in Delegates Shifts Focus of Campaign: Baseball star caught in ‘drug lie’ duel: Police left Ramos-Horta to bleed: brother :S. Korea Mourns Landmark Lost to Arson : China feels heat as activists take their cue from Spielberg: Serbia appeals to security council as Kosovo prepares to go it alone: Georgian billionaire declared ‘enemy of the state’ is found dead in Surrey exile: : Robert Fisk: Bloody end of man who made kidnapping a weapon of war: Chad vows raids ‘to seek rebels’

Candidates’ Earmarks Worth Millions

Of Front-Runners, McCain Abstained

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton helped secure more than $340 million worth of home-state projects in last year’s spending bills, placing her among the top 10 Senate recipients of what are commonly known as earmarks, according to a new study by a nonpartisan budget watchdog group

Working with her New York colleagues in nearly every case, Clinton supported almost four times as much spending on earmarked projects as her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), whose $91 million total placed him in the bottom quarter of senators who seek earmarks, the study showed.

Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the likely GOP presidential nominee, was one of five senators to reject earmarks entirely, part of his long-standing view that such measures prompt needless spending.

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…

Where to Buy Fair Trade Chocolate

Cross-posted from THE ENVIRONMENTALIST

A Valentine’s Day reminder, given chocolate’s status as a conflict substance, that ethical (and tasty!) chocolate is readily available. Why is this important? With Fair Trade chocolate:

* Forced and abusive child labor practices are prohibited

* Farming families earn a price that is adequate to meet their basic human needs

* Environmentally sustainable production methods are required

Where to buy Fair Trade chocolate and other Fair Trade goods?

A partial list is available here

Happy Valentine’s Day from THE ENVIRONMENTALIST

Ta!

On Labor and Sports

OK, so first of all, I know this isn’t the most important issue in the world.  But having just gotten to the end of one labor dispute, seeing this post today brought up issues which are several of my pet peeves.

After four postseasons and two Cy Youngs, all of which made tons of money for the Pohlad family, Santana, could, with one more year’s work, reap the fruits of his labor and do what all too many major leaguers never do and hit the open market.

It was this set of circumstances caused that Jim Pohlad to utter the statement: “There’s loyalty and wanting to stay in Minnesota, and it varies from player to player.” What did Pohlad mean by this? In all practical terms in meant that Santana’s loyalty should translate into accepting less money than he is worth in baseball’s marketplace.

If Santana accepted this route, what would happen in the grand scheme of things-who benefits? Will the savings cause prices to watch Twins games to go down?

No.

Will it reduce the costs of going to games in the new park?

No.

Will your cable/satellite package that carries Twins games go down?

No.

Will the extra money be ploughed back into the roster?

Possible, but the Pohlad family’s track record indicates otherwise.

What then happens to the money Santana forgoes?

It goes right back into the pockets of the Pohlad family.

What the Pohlads are saying in effect is that the loyalty means that a kid from Venezuela who worked at his profession for 14 years to get to this point in his life should subsidize one of the wealthiest men in one of the richest countries on the planet.

HRC’s “Potentially Incendiary Steps”

Adam Nagourney’s piece in today’s New York Times demonstrates, unequivocally, that Hillary Clinton will do whatever it takes, anything–even destroying the Democratic Party–in order to win.

With every delegate precious, Mrs. Clinton’s advisers also made it clear that they were prepared to take a number of potentially incendiary steps to build up Mrs. Clinton’s count. Top among these, her aides said, is pressing for Democrats to seat the disputed delegations from Florida and Michigan, who held their primaries in January in defiance of a Democratic Party rules.

…more…

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