Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Will the Russians Retaliate for Spy Arrests?

Will the Russians Retaliate for Spy Arrests?

The roundup of a group of Americans suspected of spying for Russia has puzzled many in Washington and Moscow. Diplomats tell The Daily Beast's Philip Shenon they're worried about the fallout for other intel investigations. A senior European diplomat based in Washington, for instance, says that MI-5, the British equivalent of the F.B.I., and other western law-enforcement agencies fear the American arrests will serve to tip off Russian agents "who have lived among us in Europe for years and years—without much benefit to Mother Russia but some benefit to us since we know who they are."

Read it at The Daily Beast
beast

I say if they haven't done much harm just slap them on the wrist and send them home, Russian retaliation for this farce will be much worse than any harm these cone heads have done


Russian Spies Were Networking Pros
The couples accused of being part of a deep-undercover Russian spy ring may not have acquired much information, but they were pros at being American clichés. Donald Howard Heathfield was known as a gifted networker in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and with his wife, Tracey Lee Ann Foley, they made a model suburban couple. Heathfield, who stole his name from a dead 6-year-old, drew attention for his ceaseless schmoozing, handing out tons of business cards at Harvard. He headed a consulting firm; his wife was a real estate agent. Neighbors and friends describe the couple as dedicated parents who expressed banal suburban concerns, like yard work and expensive contractors. In Montclair, New Jersey, Richard and Cynthia Murphy shared chores and quizzed neighbors about the best middle schools. Signs that something was off were subtle, like when Cynthia Murphy was asked if her accent was Russian—she said no, she was from Belgium. Foley, when asked the same thing, claimed to be from Montreal.

Read it at The Boston Globe
Posted at 8:07 AM, Jun 30, 2010
Read it at The Boston Globe

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Guns Raise Stakes for Kagan

This so so disgusts me. Look at any CREDIBLE statistic listing of developed industrial nations, by that i mean western europe canada australia japan, include singapore and hong kong if you like, the USA tops this list of nations in only one thing, its NOT health care thats the French, its not gnp per capita i believe that luxembourg, we're not the best educated that might be ireland or japan, we are the most heavily armed society we have the biggest military and the highest level of gun ownership among private citizens, we also have the highest homicide rate, duuuuuur drewl , i am so sick of hearing this constitutional argument, change the constitution or ignore it the second amend ment is a deadly anachronism and it makes about as much sense to be proud of it as it does to be proud of the electoral college or the fact that blacks were constitutionally considered only 2/3 rds of a person and women were considered chattel. to the devil with it, its time to get rid of this pariah .
|supreme court ruling on guns
guns guns guns

oh i know what you are thinking hes just talking out his big fat unamericaine tuchas but look i can proove everything i say, well almost

its to make you safe..so shut up

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
Franklin, Benjamin

I don't know about you but i have had it with this government, we grow closer to a police state bit by bit and are told, of course, its for our own good,so please comply,


All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke
Irish orator, philosopher, & politician (1729 - 1797)

IT MAY SEEM LIKE A JOKE,BUT ITS A SIGN OF THE TIMES.

Monday, June 28, 2010

feeling peckish?


note to self. the next time you feel like eating someone alive? do it in france...they'll understand

commentary on peaceable kingdom

no compromise?
the movie was from a cinematic point of view very good to excellent, but I'm afraid as compelling as it was emotionally and cinematically I'm not giving up meat, and I don't support banning dairy production, or using live stock for meat. Man is a predator its in his nature to use his position on the top of the food chain to his advantage. I wish their was a more rational dialogue available with the vegan crowd, for reform, what I do support is efforts to make conditions in these farms and food factories more healthy and less cruel, i'd prefer to eat free range meat as it is healthier and seems less cruel to animals and more natural. I think the farm industry cries out for regulation, and this new federal law making it a federal offense to film inside a food factory/slaughter house is beyond fascist. let people see how their food is produced and decide for themselves if they want to eat meat produced in such filthy disease infested conditions, and if they can still stomach a burger .Also may I ad I found the people at this movie event to be very very very nice. really friendly and non hostile, i did not come across anyone I felt was militant or agressive. HOWEVER. being the aggressive defensive caveman type that I am, I got a bit annoyed at the stridency of most people I met because of their refusal to compromise. Its seems most people realize they must use non violent means and persuasion to change society one person at a time to stop eating meat, thats cool, I don't see congress passing a law banning meat soon, don't see that at all. and sabotaging sausage factories is now a federal offense. to me that is beyond bizarre. what frustrates me terribly , is the enthusiastic refusal by vegans to back any sort of measure to regulate the industry to try to make conditions cleaner healthier, and LESS cruel. its all or nothing, either you convince EVERYONE TO GO VEGAN AND GIVE UP MEAT, or nothing. you cant be nice to elsie give her a nice life eating grass in a big old field, and then eat her, you have to make her a pet or an equal member of the community.sorry you lost me their thats nuts,excuse me its time for breakfast and yes this morning my omelet will continue to sport hot Italian capicolla (ham). i'd love to work for reform to make meat production cleaner healthier and more humane but sorry not giving up meat, i'm not a vegan, its not in my nature..said the scorpion to the frogs.
kingdom info

Leaders Agree to Slash Budgets Another G-20, another non-binding agreement:

Leaders Agree to Slash Budgets

Another G-20, another non-binding agreement: World leaders signaled at this weekend's summit in Toronto that yawning budget deficits—and not the continuing effects of the financial crisis—are now the most significant threat to world economies. The group of the world's wealthiest countries left the summit with a non-binding agreement to cut budget deficits in half by 2013, and stabilize the ratio of public debt to gross domestic product by 2016. The agreement is not exactly what President Obama was hoping for: He and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner entered the summit warning that relaxing government spending while economies are still faltering could trigger a double-dip recession. Obama alluded to the disagreement in a statement, saying, "We must recognize that our fiscal health tomorrow will rest in no small measure on our ability to create jobs today." Despite the president's summer of discontent and his sagging poll numbers, Peter Beinart writes that Obama's on an unbelievable winning streak, exceeding in 18 months what Clinton and Carter achieved in a combined 12 years.

Read it at The Daily Beast




Senator Byrd Dies at 92

For the first time in 50 years, the U.S. Senate will be without Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Byrd, the longest-serving senator in U.S. history, died on Monday at the age of 92. "I am saddened that the family of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., tearfully announces the passing of the longest serving member of Congress in U.S. history," Byrd's office said in a statement. The senator was hospitalized last week for dehydration. Byrd served 50 years in the Senate and held virtually every major leadership post in that time. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and filibustered the civil-rights bill; later, he was one of the most outspoken critics of the war in Iraq. He had never lost in election since first running for statewide office 1946. Paul Begala remembers the man who rose from rural poverty to the pinnacle of power, and journeyed from racism to racial enlightenment.

Read it at The Daily Beast http://www.thedailybeast.com/

beast here

Sunday, June 27, 2010

not much really happened in 932 it was a slow year


The weather is awful tonite and if the power doesn't go out for you during a rainstorm you probably end up stuck in front of the television or the computer.. probably bored eh? ever watched the holy grail?
now why would you want to watch this film? why is it on a politics web site..?? well.. its ground breaking culture man
This film is number 40 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies". In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Monty Python and the Holy Grail the 5th greatest comedy film of all time. The next Monty Python film, Monty Python's Life of Brian, was ranked #1. A similar poll of Channel 4 viewers in 2005 placed Holy Grail in 6th (with Life of Brian again topping the list). A 2004 poll by the UK arm of Amazon and the Internet Movie Database named Monty Python and the Holy Grail as the best British picture of all time. OF ALL TIME..and you've never watched it..never even heard of it have you mate.. well son today is your lucky day.. its all here..
thANK YOU brian of nazareth
one of the funiest movies ever made and youve never bothered to watch it.what were you thinking lad?
because history itself can be rather boring
for example in reality not much happened in
932ad

we will fight for bovine freedom


First of all I want to thank Mark and Marni for inviting me to this gig, a free movie and free vegan chicken tofu
vegetarian pizza. lots of good company, i have NEVER seen the Cinémathèque as full as it was today..
WE ARE FREE ROVING BOVINES, WE RUN FREE TODAY! can't remember the last time i had such a good time without
burger and a beer..the deafening roar of chickens in choppers!

Toronto Braces for More Protests


Toronto Braces for More Protests

Despite already making 180 arrests, Toronto police are preparing for even more protests Sunday outside the G-20 summit talks. "I do not believe that the individuals bent on vandalism and violence in our city have finished with their intent," the city's chief of police said Saturday night, noting that much of the violence—including four burned police cars—is coming from a small group of disruptors infiltrating a largely peaceful crowd. Still, the police dispatched pepper spray, tear gas, and bean bag pellets in attempts to diffuse the protesters. Meanwhile, inside the meetings, leaders plan to address the competing needs to nurse recovering economies and bring down large budget gaps. "This summit must be fundamentally about growth, and our challenge ... is that we all need to act to strengthen the prospects for growth," U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said. The Daily Beast looks at what's at stake for the world leaders—and who's likely to wield the most power.

Read it at The Daily Beast

the daily beast
somethings happening here what it is aint exactly clear theres a man with a gun over there telling me i got to beware..
Just blocks away from the building where President Obama and a host of other world leaders are conducting high-level economic talks, scores of angry demonstrators are taking to the streets of Toronto with protests. The city’s police have reported 500 arrests, as youths dressed in black smash windows and even torch police cruisers. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s spokesman issued a harsh statement today, saying that the protesters are “a bunch of thugs that pretend to have a difference of opinion with policies and instead choose violence.” The protesters have no apparent overriding message, though many previous global summits of this type have drawn similar riots.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

an inside joke explained


BECAUSE THE FRENCH AREN'T REALLY EVIL, JUST ANNOYING
AND we all have strange heros.
guillaume cale explained
and speaking of favorite jokes..

and finally i brought along john cleese to explain what i meant about extremism.. cheers

but you're in luck cause I got some cream for that

i really enjoyed our meeting at phoenix coffee sorry if i got a bit off topic and times, but i do enjoy our get together cheers

all in all i found our little meeting quite constructive

just another day in paradiSe

Foreign policy is usually a strength for Merkel, but the euro crisis has damaged her reputation at home and across Europe.
but for us compared to the rest of the world its just another day in paradise
the rich kids have a party





Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Drilling Moratorium to Return

Drilling Moratorium to Return
If at first you don't succeed, try again: Hours after a New Orleans judge struck down the Obama administration's moratorium on off-shore drilling, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that he will issue a new order reinstating the temporary ban. Salazar said in a statement that the new order will make clear why a six-month moratorium is essential and include additional evidence that safety conditions are inadequate in deepwater wells. "Based on this ever-growing evidence," he said, "I will issue a new order in the coming days that eliminates any doubt that a moratorium is needed, appropriate, and within our authorities." Earlier Tuesday, federal judge Martin Feldman said the Interior Department failed to justify the moratorium and that the failure of one rig does not mean all rigs are dangerous. The White House plans to appeal the ruling.
drilling is stupid

and in other news..wait wait i found another cool news source to check out..pbs left wing but you probably already know about it..but hey if you don't..

and if you want to know what is happening NOW not a month ago you can just go to the democracy now website
a little infor

The Real Reason to Fire McChrystal It's judgment day for General Stanley McChrystal: The commander in Afghanistan is set to meet with President



The Real Reason to Fire McChrystal

It's judgment day for General Stanley McChrystal: The commander in Afghanistan is set to meet with President Obama today to learn his fate after his disastrous decision to grant Rolling Stone a candid interview. McChrystal has reportedly offered his resignation, but Obama is keeping his cards close, saying on Tuesday night that, while McChrystal "showed poor judgment," he wants "to talk to him directly before I make any final decisions." The Daily Beast's Peter Beinart says the press is turning a story about policy into a story about penises: What matters isn't what McChrystal said about Obama—it's that the general's position on the war could wreck his presidency. Plus, James Carroll, Leslie H. Gelb, Meghan McCain, and more Daily Beast contributors weigh in on whether Obama should accept McChrystal's offer.

Read it at The Daily Beast
war is stupid and people are stupid and love means nothing in some strange quarters

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

told you so told you so..


..and I hate to be the messenger, please don't kill the messenger, but it will be HERE sooner than you think...

Saturday, June 19, 2010

THE DAILY BEAst

How BP Cut Corners on Well Design

Of the two major deepwater well designs available, BP routinely used the cheapest, which had fewer safety checks, employing the riskier well in 35 percent of its offshore rigs, a Wall Street Journal investigation shows. Competitors used that well type, called long string, far less often: Royal Dutch Shell only 8 percent of the time, Chevron 15 percent of the time, and BHP Billiton on only 4 percent of its wells. BP's rivals have blasted the company for its breezy approach to safety. Meanwhile, BP CEO Tony Hayward was pulled from managing daily operations in the oil spill Friday due to his gaffe-prone handling of the crisis. Still, some tiny bit of good news came out of the Gulf Friday, as BP collected 25,000 barrels of oil, the most in a day so far. But questions persist about the rate of the spill, with latest estimates hovering between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels a day. Hayward and his BP henchmen are incompetent, Donald Trump says in an interview with The Daily Beast's Lloyd Grove—not just at plugging holes, but also for how they screwed up their negotiation with the feds.

Read it at The Daily Beast

http://www.thedailybeast.com/ check it out get back to me





Louisiana Turns to Prayer

It has been exactly two months after the Deepwater Horizon oil well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico and the people of Louisiana can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. So Louisiana lawmakers want to call on a higher power than BP for help. The state Senate has unanimously voted on a day of prayer. "Thus far efforts made by mortals to try to solve the crisis have been to no avail," state Sen. Robert Adley said. "It is clearly time for a miracle for us." Meanwhile, BP resumed its recovery efforts Saturday after work was suspended for around 10 hours due to mechanical issues. It meant that it was able to collect 8,480 barrels from midnight to 12 p.m. Saturday, less than half of Friday's 24,500-barrel take. BP CEO Tony Hayward was widely criticized on Saturday for attending a yacht race on the Isle of Wight, but the company's spokesperson jumped to his defense, saying "he's spending a few hours with his family at a weekend. I'm sure everyone would understand that." Meanwhile, one person is coming out on top in this crisis. Once left for dead in his Senate campaign against Marco Rubio, Florida governor Charlie Crist has used the BP spill to show leadership and rise in the polls, writes Samuel P. Jacobs.

Read it at The Daily Beast







BP's Congressional Hypocrites

The Daily Beast's Benjamin Sarlin reports that some of the toughest questions for embattled CEO Tony Hayward at last week's congressional hearing came from House members who don't mind taking big checks from big oil. Plus, in a riveting story, The New York Times reports that the so-called last resort for oil rigs, blowout preventers, may not be the failsafe that the oil companies pretend they are. A 2000 report found that a jam or leak in a single valve could shut down the entire preventer, and a 2001 study by Transocean, which operated the Deepwater Horizon rig, found a failure rate of 45 percent. BP now says that every oil rig it contracts out comes with two blind shear rams, but Deepwater Horizon only had one—which BP says is because it had to carry its blowout preventer as it moved from well to well. The Minerals Management Service was supposed to require data to show that each rig's blowout preventers would work, but the man in charge of Deepwater Horizon's permit admits he approved it without proof.

Read it at The Daily Beast




Julian Assange Surfaces in Belgium

WikiLeaks elusive founder has surfaced: Julian Assange, the man whom the United States government is looking to speak with about classified information he may have, spoke on Monday in Brussels to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. The exact nature of his talk is unclear, though the German-language website Futurezone.orf.at says he "expressed strong opposition to the introduction of a blocking-network infrastructure in the European Union." The Twitter handle jerezim says, "Julian Assange looks tired, but is alive and in good shape."

Read it at Futurezone.orf.at

Friday, June 18, 2010

vive de gaulle


Sarkozy marks de Gaulle's famed wartime appeal
vive de gaulle

cenk for president


I don't know how many people know about the young turks
check it out on youtube
wikipedia info
website
All i can say is check them out
i can't remember the last time i disagreed with cenk or ana
all i can say is i get tired of cringing every time i hear fox news or msnbc or even cnn
this is better than pbs it is intelligent and slanted in a positive way to our way of thinking
if you haven't you should check them out

theres too much to comment on and i find i almost always agree with what they say
so if you can and haven't already check out young turks
they really are our voice in the wilderness of american politics

Thursday, June 17, 2010

sarah palin is stupid and the media is lieing to you, and bill o'reilly gets one kudo


aaaaaaaaaah soooooo bp said don't worry everything is under control, but it wasn't, so really they refused the help
on the recommendation of BP? Is that right , did I get that finally?! But the Republicans blame Obama?
yeah who deregulated in the first place guys..

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

and i hate to sound like a br0ken record but

europe is in big trouble

a few of my favorite things


Where does politics end and culture begin?
Where does culture end and art begin?
Where does the rational mind turn off and emotion dominate the mind?
Life is complex and people are even more so .
Why do some people spend their free time at an art museum, while others are in the library and still others the disco?
who we are is often more of a self made fantasy than anything tangible
especially on the internet.

who we admire, can't always be explained is not always consistent with anything.
even a favorite scene from a movie
which is probably this
contributes to who you are
or who you think you are
somethings remain branded into your psyche decades after you experience them

the events of today come and go often seeming to repeat themselves
just adding to the mess you call self
meshing culture and politics
A friend once asked Fellini a sixty year old Italian man trying to come to terms with feminism in the late 1970s
what the heck his Movie CITY OF WOMEN
MEANT-Città delle Donne di Fellini

he smirked and shrugged and said"i don't know if it means anything..what do you think it means?"
perhaps more of life is like this than we care to admit
it is just there when we wake up
waiting to be analyzed .
for the pretense it must really be
and THIS still is the single most important event in human history
and realy the only reason this web page exists..

a certain kind of liberation

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

how long how long must we sing this song


Throughout the history of humanity massacres like this have happened too often to count
the irony is , how often, how often
do the perpetrators ever come clean?
Well its been nearly forty years
but still, its nice too hear it
"oops sorry shouldn't have shot those 14 unarmed demonstrators, terribly sorry"
its not much, its 38 years late but its something , finally
bloody sunday report blames british soldiers fully
bloody sunday

Monday, June 14, 2010

help help i'm being repressed!!


just one more and then i will stop
In the United states most people left of center use the word"progressive"
the other dirty word is liberal
and in the case of how it is used
what is meant is social liberalism or modern liberalism
which in most of the world is a centrist doctrine
liberal parties in europe are either dead center slightly left of center or sometimes even on the right of the political spectrum
liberalism really isn't considered very radical at all
hasn't really since the 19th century
but liberalism has made something of a comeback since the
"FALL" of the major leftist dogma around the world
socialism
is socialism dead?
discredited
since the fall of the soviet union?
any old socialists kicking around out there with any thoughts?
help help i'm being repressed!
oh and look found another interesting documentary for you to watch
i bet you'd tune in if everyone showed up naked for the next revolution
bloody hell
part 1

part 2

part 3

today is your lucky day


hello, not sure why your looking at this
not sure anyone is
but i seem to have the run of the place
at least till the men in the little white coats track me down
I AM A RABID SECULARIST
not an atheist
not saying their isn't a god
what i am saying is it really isn't anyones business
what you believe
maybe there is a god
maybe there isn't
dont much care
maybe i should
if there is a god, please call me send a cab round as i have sprained my ankle and cant walk
we'll meet at the pub of your choosing and we'll have a nice long talk
about
your existence and how i should properly acknowledge it
everyone else can piss off
i am a rationalist and a pythonist
and i feel a certain zeal
about spreading the word
if you havent watched life of brian in your life
TODAY IS YOUR LUCKY DAY
you can watch it now
you can find it here
well go on you've obviously got enough time to
goof off and surf the net for nonsense
put your time to good use
and learn a bit about
the world and religion
and what rubbish most of the dogma
perpetrated in the world is
wait i will even throw in a splendid documentary about the making of the movie
a what a stir it caused because religious people thought it made fun of jesus
which it did not
it was banned in ireland
norway
most of the south of the USA and in many councils in rural england
in sweden it was advertised this way
SO FUNNY THEY BANNED IT IN NORWAY
i mean come on anything so funny they ban it in norway
has to be watched
its possibly the funniest movie ever made
and it makes a very profound political point
you don't have to follow anyone
you can think for yourself
and to think they banned a movie for telling people to think for themselves
surprise surprise
if you have time and have never seen it
here it is
do something useful
watch
AND LEARN

they say that breaking up is hard to do..


I know i sound hysterical
I probably am
but I think something is terribly wrong in europe
the eu is hemorrhaging
bit by bit
the latest victim of economic hard times seems to be Belgium
language has always been a dispute there between french and dutch regions(flemish, and walloons)

but the economy seems to have broken the camels back
I mean think about it
this economic crisis may mean the end of belgium!
election results
i mean but think about it if belgium ceases to exist where you gonna buy good chocolate from?the dutch?

Sunday, June 13, 2010

the greatest b#llsh*t story ever told


Oh go on and laugh
itz good medicine
why not?
Whether or not you believe in god
(i'm not sure why commit?)
I do know this
religion is a scam
for thousands of years
there have been two tyrants
the village chief usually the strongest meanest thug with the biggest gang of cut throats
otherwise known as the king and his nobles
and then there is and was the village witch doctor
one kept people in line with brute force
the other with superstition and fairy tales about hell and divine rights to rule
that kept the witch doctor in good with the village tyrant
we no longer have a king
not here
we now get to vote on who is going to bully us about and steal from us for four years
but we still have the witch doctors about
conning the vulnerable out of their hard earned cash and frightening them into fearing
independent thought
perhaps it will always be so
cheer up could be worse

Saturday, June 12, 2010

the stress of the present economic crisis has caused some to snap, and propose radical changes to tax policy


oh lighten up you know you've had a day like this..
the face of modern britain

we have met the enemy, and it is us...but we've known that

Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion--several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven....The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste.
- "The Lowest Animal"

It never ceases to amaze me, that a man, Mark Twain specifically, that lived well over a century ago,
summed the world up throughout all of recorded history
and into the present day
many things change, but one -
MANS GREATEST ENEMY.
himself

Friday, June 11, 2010

why bother?


Europe is so far away, and in more than distance.
Culturally, economically, electorally they are different.
BUT...but..not completely, there are similarities, and perhaps keeping one eye open is not a bad idea.
Last month the UK threw left leaning Labour party out and put the conservatives back in.BUT
the conservatives did not get a majority and must rule in coalition with the fiscally centrist and socially liberal liberal democrats.
Because the voters seem weary of deficits and a crippled economy.
Now look what the dutch just did, evidently the christian democratic party imploded

the big issues were government spending deficits austerity and immigration, sound vaguely familiar?
the major difference is the electoral system is proportional so coalitions are formed after the elections not before as in the USA
results
really democratic defined
economically europe is in the same boat we are only more so
looking at how voters in these nations(nations i might add with stronger leftist traditions) are responding
to the economic crisis might give us an idea what we might expect
or not, who knows, maybe i'm just bored
but hey when the Dutch vote in a bunch of pro business liberals(in europe the word means something entirely different)
it gets my attention
meanwhile in slovakia
i'm just glad they have elections in slovakia, 25 years ago it was a pipedream

Monday, June 7, 2010

how bad is it going to get?


I'm not sure if Americans are paying attention to this, or if they realize it will effect us one way or the other
whether or not we catch the Greek disease, it is NOW the European disease
and is spreading
and anyone concerned about the American economy needs to keep an eye on this
And an eye on this, AND dont say i did not warn you

Progressives criticize White House, Democrats

By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 25 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Progressive activists who helped elect Barack Obama president complained on Monday that the administration and congressional Democrats have been too timid and too willing to compromise.
Even though Obama's major first-term achievement — an overhaul of the nation's health care system — passed without a single Republican vote, progressive leaders who gathered in Washington criticized the president for failing to create a government-run insurance option to compete with private industry.
They faulted Obama for the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the slow pace in repealing the ban on gays serving in the military and last year's economic stimulus package, which they described as inadequate at $787 billion. They also criticized his handling of the Gulf oil spill.
"The White House has been an uncertain trumpet," said Robert Borosage, a co-director of the Campaign for America's Future, a progressive organization. "The administration's reforms were too often too timid from the start and too readily compromised along the way."
Although leaders still spoke with admiration for Obama, it was clear he's not as popular with unions, bloggers and other progressives.
Democrats already face an angry electorate this November. The frustration among the party's liberal base could make the midterm elections even more difficult for Democrats and Obama's own re-election bid.
Although no one seriously suggested a primary challenge to Obama, activists said they would take on congressional incumbents and they cited Arkansas, where the Progressive Change Campaign Committee has sent $250,000 to Lt. Gov. Bill Halter's bid against Sen. Blanche Lincoln, which will be decided in a runoff Tuesday. The committee made 55,000 phone calls on Halter's behalf on Monday alone.
Activists say they would rather have "good Democrats" — in the words of DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas — than moderates who don't advance a progressive agenda.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in his first 500 days in office, Obama "has fulfilled his commitment to bring the change we need to Washington" with a health care overhaul, education reforms that will help strengthen the economy and steps to reduce the influence of special interests.
Many of the activists said Obama cannot blindly be trusted to make good on his many campaign-era promises.
"It's clear that hope is not enough," said Arianna Huffington, the founder of the online Huffington Post. "We need Hope 2.0."
Progressive organizations became emboldened during President George W. Bush's tenure, rallying against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Republicans' agenda. They helped elect Democratic majorities in the House and Senate in 2006 and rallied behind Obama's presidential bid.
But with Obama in the White House and Democrats leading both chambers of Congress, the political environment changed. It was far easier to campaign against GOP governing than to influence their allies running Washington.
"We thought that an election was a victory. What we forgot it that candidates don't deliver change, that they become part of the system," said Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins of Green for All, an organization that pushes for environmentally friendly jobs for low-income residents.
"While I voted for Barack Obama — and I would again — he is not enough."
should we be disappointed ?

often its the way you say it...


I'm all for free speech but often, its not only what you wish to say, but it how and where you say it, freedom does not excuse stupidity, we all have the right to be stupid,but almost always its preferable to choose tact over ranting like a drunken idiot especially when you are sober.
Mel gibson might leave a lot to be desired on the aspect of being a human being, but he is a good actor and arguably an above average film director, artists are rarely exemplary role models,few people really are, but Mel had an excuse of sorts when he made all those horrible remarks some time ago, he was drunk off his Tuchus, Helen was sober, perhaps she is getting a bit senile, at any rate in my mind its hard to find an excuse for her foolish and hurtful remarks, especially considering where she made them.
whats your excuse helen?

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Just a flicker


I'm going to attach another article.
It isn't much.It isn't an oil spill destroying the Gulf.
It isn't a world shaking international incident.
Its not the European Union and its currency imploding.
It might not seem like anything , but it is.
Its a tiny light at the end of the tunnel and I think its going to get bigger.
The Tea Party and their fellow traveling Ilk make a lot of noise.
They scream they yell they make threats.
They pontificate on their 18th century interpretation of the constitution. You know the strict version.
The one where slavery is legal, the income tax and public schools are a travesty, and only white men with lots of property are considered people.They make even more threats, they predict the Second coming of jeebus and a new ice age.
But look you can't fool all the people all the time.
The people are coming around, Reason Bless them
and it looks like they are going to give the 21 st CENTURY version of the Constitution a chance.
Its just a flicker,but thats all it takes to make a campfire