Virtual Bali

Obviously, I was very discouraged to hear that Al Gore did not want us to continue the draft movement, which is the primary reason why I haven't posted much lately.

But this is exciting! Using Second Life, OneClimate.net is providing the opportunity to participate or watch events at Bali through Virtual Bali. In fact, "Congressman Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, has linked up with OneWorld.net’s 'Virtual Bali' initiative to participate in the UN’s climate change negotiations currently underway in Bali, Indonesia." OneClimate dot net


This is very exciting! If you have Second Life, you can go right here to participate. I don't, yet, but it looks like I will be doing so ~~ my Christmas present to me!

enjoy!

John Nichols: Gore's fine resume needs one more entry

John Nichols has an opinion in the Capital Times this morning that stoked me up again. I go to bed each night with a prayer and some hope and wake up in the morning debating with myself as to whether Gore will run. Sometimes I think we should just leave it up to him and other times, like after reading Nichols, I know that we need to keep letting Mr. Gore know that we want him to be our next President.

Mr. Nichols said:

It is a velvet grip in which the peace prize winner finds himself.

Gore has arrived at the point that most politicians can only imagine in their wildest dreams. The entire world is asking him to be not merely a candidate but an ecological -- not to mention, ideological -- savior. And he is more viable than he has ever been.

Can Gore resist? Probably.

Should he resist? Probably not.

So let's keep our velvet gloves on, folks, and keep on rockin'

I have my first diary entry at dailykos on this topic.

Be prepared, and don't be surprised

I'm not saying this will happen, but if Cheny's history is any indication, then we need to get prepared sooner rather than later. At OpEdNews.com, you will find this article:

Dick Cheney & Vigilant Shield: Will a Missing Nuke from the B-52 Incident be used in a Simulated Terrorist Attack?

Be your own judge, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared for any catastrophe.

Right now my heart is aching for our country and anger at the people currently in charge.

Draft Gore campaign gets front page news at local paper

The Sarasota Herald Tribune's Saturday edition (today), carried the following article, interviewing little ol' me!

Push for an Al Gore White House bid grows after Nobel Prize award
By CAROL E. LEE
carol.lee@heraldtribune.com

Already an Oscar and an Emmy. Now the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2008, the presidency?

Such are the hopes of activists working to persuade Al Gore to run for commander in chief, again.

The push is particularly strong in Florida, where Draft Gore forces have planned a blitz of radio ads to air next week and are lobbying the state's Democratic Party chairwoman to put Gore on the ballot for the Jan. 29 primary.

Gore has stopped short of saying outright that he will not run, but he has expressed that he does not intend to and has reportedly told former President Jimmy Carter to stop calling him about it.
~~snip~~
The focus on Florida is largely driven by the state's symbolism since the 2000 presidential election, where many Democrats felt the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to stop the vote recount unfairly handed George W. Bush the state's electoral votes, and, in turn, the presidency.

Draft Gore's radio ads -- "He won once. He can win again." -- will run on five to seven stations during morning and evening rush hour starting Wednesday, Ritchey said.
~~snip~~
"Here was his opportunity to put the draft movement to an end, and I think it is significant that he didn't," said Ritchey. "He did not close the door on a possible presidential run, and we are hitting the ground running."

Templeton, too, said she will continue doing her part in Sarasota to get Gore to enter the race: "Until he says, 'I'm not running.'"

Last modified: October 13. 2007 4:48AM

Draft Gore Now! Not only for us, but for the planet.

Draft Gore

Outrage ~~ Malkin&Co on the warpath

Several blogs have discussed the attacks by Michelle Malkin/Free Republic/Limbaugh, etc. on the Frost family (the boy who spoke at last week's Democratic reply to the President's radio address), and the true compassionates (blue to the core) are rightly disgusted. They (Malkin&Co) have posted this family's business and home address on the internet, they have harrassed them, they have encouraged others to harrass them, and they have attacked the very reasons why this family needs SCHIP. See firedoglake.com, dailykos.com for true-blue compassion. Think Progress has a very good commentary with links to the outrageous posts.

Malkin needs to be silenced. She and her cohorts yell to the heavens for protection of a full-grown man with general's stars on his shoulders, but a 12-year-old boy and his younger sister who have been injured severely in a car wreck are “fair game”.

Disgusting, and not the least bit humane, compassionate, or human!

The Saffron Road to Freedom

I am saddened by the plight of the people in Burma but heartened by their bravery and desire for democracy.

From Air America's Lionel show's blog, the link to Democratic Voice of Burma, and the comments on this article moved me to post some of them here:

Commenter:

The world is rightly outraged by the oppression and suffering imposed on the Burmese people by a violent, heartless regime. Who are we? Will we stand back and watch this, or will we by our actions declare that we are all one and that this is intolerable. When a people are violated and oppressed as here, love does not claim that this is an internal matter. The whole world should move to stop this. Right now.
Brinick
(France)
09/28/2007

My sentiments exactly:

This is the clearest defining moment of who we are as the "human race", our values, our beliefs, and what is sacred, and if we looked into the mirror tomorrow can we hold our head up and pride in being a human being. This is it! People! Young people the world over! You want a cause to believe in? Where are you now? Where is your voice?
Chung
(Taiwan)
09/28/2007

Want to do something, anything? Sign the Petition to Stand with Burma.

Important information from another poster:

EVERYBODY ALERT!!!!!!!! Now, the government is trying to make a diversion. They give 10,000 kyats (around $7) & a set of Thin Gan(yellow robe) to "Swan Arr Shin"(like USDA which the form as a group that to crash down violently to protester) team and make them to pretend as Monks. Then, command to destroy the Islamic Mosque. This intends to become a fight between Buddhisms & Islams. So, if u hear or see the news that the monks are destroying the Mosque, these are not real monks. They are just fakes. As u all know, the real monks have no intention like that. So, give this information to Islams who u know and tell them From Ko Htike web site http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/ News from Burma
Fellow
(Singapore)
09/28/2007

Here is Dawn's page (a Burma blogger).

A little slice of hope

Maybe the Dems can get something positive done this year. An unsigned editorial in today's NY Times gave me a little hope that they are trying to roll back some of the outrageous powers Bush has drawn unto himself. From A Step Away From the Imperial Presidency:

Fortunately, the prospects are better for undoing a lesser-known example of presidential overreaching. The defense budget bill heading for Senate passage contains a bipartisan measure to repeal wording that made it easier for a president to override local control of the National Guard and declare martial law. That language was slipped into last year’s defense bill.

The revision is sponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, and Christopher Bond, Republican of Missouri, and is backed unanimously by the nation’s governors. It repeals a major weakening of two protective doctrines of liberty. One of them, called posse comitatus, was enacted after the Civil War to bar military forces, including a federalized National Guard, from engaging in domestic law enforcement.

The other, the Insurrection Act of 1807, long contained a limited exception to posse comitatus for putting down lawlessness, insurrection and rebellion, where a state is violating federal law or depriving people of constitutional rights. Under last year’s revision, the exception was unnecessarily broadened to allow the president to use military troops as a domestic police force in response to a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, terrorist attack or to any “other condition.”

Now, if they can only get a veto-proof majority on these important issues, this country might yet be able to outlast Bush's regime. I second the sentiment that ends the article:

For democracy’s sake, there will need to be many more.

Inadvertent Broadcast on c-span3 today

I don't know where this is coming from, either a person's cam that is inadvertently being sent to c-span 3's streaming, or perhaps gov't spying? Anyway, I captured a shot of it, just so I know I'm not crazy. The television is showing the regular c-span show.

Here's the sleeping man:

Not that Biden!

I watched Biden in Iowa this week, in someone's living room, talking about the issues as he sees them. I watched him on Charlie Rose this week too, and thought he made some sense (about Iraq). I wasn't really considering him as "my" candidate, but I want to be informed, so I gave him some of my time.

As I learned about another infraction by this current administration (I'm new on the scene of the reality-based community), notably the repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act in 2006, in conjunction with the news about clergy aiding and abetting the Federal Government (h/t prisonplanet) in corraling the sheep, I found another good article (thirdworldtraveler) about the Act, that included this tidbit:

One of the most hawkish congressional enthusiasts for Bush's plans to send U.S. troops to the streets of Baghdad is Joseph Biden, Democrat of Delaware. Apparently he wants to see the same troops on the streets of U.S. cities. Interviewed on Fox News on July 21[2002], he strongly endorsed giving power of arrest to U.S. soldiers. Posse Comitatus, said Biden "has to be amended." Even Mr. Homeland Security Tom Ridge begged to differ.

OMG! It's bad enough that the Dems cave time after time, but Biden's endorsement is beyond my comprehension. Now he is definitely off my list, and I won't listen to him again. Obviously, he would not only NOT roll back Presidential powers, but would continue to expand them.

We live in scary times, folks. When, oh when, do we take to the streets????

Glenn Greenwald at YearlyKos

For my own sake, so I don't have to search for it, I am posting the clip of Greenwald at Yearlykos because I admire his direct address of the issues relating to our sickened media.

The US is in tatters

The Iraq War profiteers: all in the name of capitalism."

Today I watched Robert Greenwald's Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers which caused me great heartache and anger. All the cowchips are piling up and I pray that the military-industrial complex set up by the Bush family, Cheney and Rumsfeld comes tumbling down one day, preferably in an International Crimes Court. Every single one of them.

After watching the video, I went to the website's blog, found jessehaff's post about DynCorp, looked them up, and found this July 18, 2007 Washington Post article: Zinni Takes Full-Time Position With DynCorp. Okay, you might think this is old news, but lo and behold, there is a comment posted by one "DynCorp Employee 10 Years" on 08.08.07 that is quite revealing. Needless to say, I also posted a comment.

Then I started crying. I'm angry, I've been getting angrier and angrier each time another rock is turned over and more creepy crawly things squirm in the light. When we all say "Enough is enough!" ???

But now my anger is manifesting in uncontrollable tears. Where is the country I was so proud of? Where are the protestors? Are you all so comfortable with your lives that you don't see, or don't care, what the hell is going on? The robber-baron war profiteers are making billions off of our hard-earned wages. Wake up, America!