FDL:Why It Matters

Last night was extra ordinary.







I tuned in to what is generally a late night 'chat' at firedoglake. Several of us 'regulars' talk about what a great post TRex has written and have a general shooting of the shit. Not last night.

His post is touching, poignant,compassionate. I got to the lake rather late. I read the post and was floored. This is a must read. Read the whole post and then skip (if you must) down to comment #103. Then #108. Then #116. I think you'll be hooked. It was my first experience with a weird kind of syncronicity I have not experienced on the web. Certainly I've found people in chat rooms that where friends of friends; the 'six-degrees' principle, but this was just plain serendipity.

By-the-way I post at firedoglake as "HopeSpringsATurtle", its my other 'dress'.

If you don't feel after you read this, that this occupation in Iraq should end now, you're not paying attention.

Latest polls today state that 62% of the American People are against this war/occupation. We are not the "Fringe Element". They are.

Bellwether Weather or it's mighty hot in here...

Just a quickie to note that with 19% of Connecticut precints reporting, Ned Lamont is handily beating entrenched incumbent Senator Joe Leiberman 52% Lamont to 44% Leiberman.

This is a bellwether primary. It sends a strong message to 'the spineless, do-nothing, get-along democrats and the rubber-stamp Rethuglicans that it is no longer "business as usual" in the Nation's Capitol. I shall post results as they come in. -Swim 8:30pm CST

52% Lamont 48% Leiberman 55% of precints reporting -Swim 8:58pmCST

53% Lamont 47% Leiberman 86% of precints reporting -Swim 9:42pmCST

Lamont wins Primary!!! the vote is in and Ned Lamont goes on to November. I call for all Democrats of Connecticut to rally behind the majority winner and let's take the House back!

Letter To America

This is an incredible animation done by Ava Lowery, a fifteen year-old artist from Alabama. She runs a website called Peace Takes Courage. Please watch and let yourself feel what truth can do to your psyche.

Letter To America <--Click the link

A quick side note: Tomorrow is the Primary in Connecticut. If you are a connecticut voter, don't forget to vote! Go Ned Lamont!

Sunday Bloody Sunday

This has been around the net for while, but in light of the violence in Lebanon and Chimpy's insistance on not intervening, despite our historical record as brokers of diplomacy with Israel, I give you, "Sunday Bloody Sunday".



Continuing on the Sunday theme, we have Steven Colbert interviewing Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (R GA) about why he supports the 10 Commandant in public buildings.



And Last but not least, a funny, a movie trailer parodying "The Ten Commandments"

Who Are You People?

http://www.canstockphoto.com/file_view.php?id=0226734

The title of this post is 'borrowed' from a new book by Sheri Caudron. She examines the passion of people who have developed 'special' communities from Barbie collecting to storm-chasing. Her premise is to try and understand, "What drives these kooks". The Author ends up being tranformed herself by the stories she encounters in her three year exploration of these groups of people. What touched off her change was the personal story of a Barbie collector who after several years of collecting had her son viciously murdered. The people who stepped up and supported her and cared for her through this trying time were her Barbie friends. Her 'real' friends began to drop away after only a few months.

I was touched by this story because it mirrored the new shift in my life and some of what has come before. In 1998 I had a terrible year. I had so many traumas happen almost simultaneously that to recount them all here, you would think I was lying. Although Hurricane Katrina sure opened some eyes as to the on-going devastation a person can go through. Suffice to say, my spirit was in shambles and I nearly crumbled under the burden. After a few months my good friends started to drift away. Supports I had depended on turned out to rather shaky. I stumbled through the next few years barely keeping it together. What ultimately got me re-engaged with the world turned out to be the Internet.

In the last three months the Internet has percolated another epiphany for me, The Blogosphere. I addressed this a bit several posts back (June Archives) but it has taken a turn since then. I've mentioned here that I comment regularly over at firedoglake, an excellent site devoted to politics mostly, but with the most human of interactions anywhere. This group of people are passionate about politics yes, but they care about eachothers well-being and the well-being of the world. FDler's come from all walks of life and are drawn together at FDL by their interest in Progressive Politics. Since my husband has been away, I have had more support and caring from the people at fdl and other bloggers whom I've gotten to know a bit, than all the people I know here in San Antonio.

I guess the common denominator is interests. But more than that, the thing we explore in blogs besides interests is passion. Passion for something that on a personal level enriches your life. If you go to a cocktail party, presumably you will meet new people who share your interests, because you have things in common; your host, a job, something. But how many times have you been to a party and come away with the feeling that you met a room full of people you agree with and would want to be friends with? Not often, at least in my experience, and I have been to alot of cocktail parties.

FireDogLake has been a revolutionary kind of experience for me. I have 'met' people who are kind, supportive, smart, caring, funny, politically savvy, charming, engaged, angry at what's happening to Our Country and many more qualities that I demand in my friendships and more importantly my life partner.

I cannot compare this Blogosphere experience to any other in my life, except possibly taking ecstasy in my early twenties. The bonding and 'huggy feelings' you get from that drug are incredible, but of course, drug-induced and short-lived, not to mention illegal. Though I will point out that when I took that particular drug it had not yet been classified as a 'Class One" substance. Anyway. FDL "does it for me".

I suppose the Blogosphere is a giant cocktail party, something like the Mall of America . So many stores, so little time. The difference with the Blogosphere of course, is it's people we find, not material objects, but flesh and well, silicon I guess, people. People who are passionate about whatever it is you're passionate about. People that share their ideas and listen to yours. All the while backing up not only their opinions but supporting yours not in the way some friends would, but the way real friends do--they tell you the truth. The truth from their perspective and experience. Dialog is open and real work for change happens. Change from within as well as from without. It is a community I want very much to be part of, and for this I am grateful.

When The President Talks To God

A stunning quickie, this song by Bright Eyes with floor you. I wish he'd open for the Dixie Chicks on tour. Now that would be a great show.

A Good Reason To Travel Now...

I am on my way in several days, to Germany. I am so glad to be going back to not only the beautiful country where I spent my young adulthood, but the place where my deployed husband currently resides. I've been over to Nate's Get In Their Face and late to arrive to the party as usual, I found this over at his site. A good Bon Voyage.

Back in Business

This has been a terrible time. Not only is my loved one away and in harms way, but a few days ago, my computer crashed. Hard crash. This is the first access I have had to this blog.

I have recently been invited to become a columnist at another site called Powers & Morrison. I have accepted their offer and now my post will appear here as always, and at Powers & Morrison. I posted over at P&M when this crash happened and will try to get that posted over here as well. As I said, this is my first access to this blog since the crash. Many passwords had been changed once I got back online and a number of other 'anomalies' have occured in past days. So to let you know, I am still working on my piece about the authoritarian bastards that run the country but have been understandably distracted and somewhat sidelined until now. Thanks to everyone over at firedoglake who sent emails and lent moral support. Also my thanks goes out to Nathan over at P&M for providing me not only a place to speak out but enormous help in the technical arena. I shall post tomorrow and update on all the goings-on here at the Poodle Palace.

Homesick - "The Golden Gate Blues"

I'm still working on my Vote Fraud piece. Just to let you know. My plate is very full right now and I'm a bit overwhelmed, but still hard at work. This pic was in my photos and I just wanted something pretty to look at. Hope you enjoy it as well. BTW,
I am a native San Franciscan, if you didn't know that already.

Votergate:The Movie

Another brilliant find courtesy of Nate: Votergate: The Movie. Visit The Votergate site (which I will add to 'links') and start to participate in making sure the integrity of the upcoming election is ensured. DEMAND THIS OF YOUR GOVERNMENT. This film will shock you.

http://www.votergate.tv/

The more we know, the more we care because we begin to view ourselves as having a 'personal stake' in what is happenning to our country. Please watch this film. If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.


I'm big on the "Double Feature" 'cause it lets you eat the big bucket of popcorn.
Found this over at Nate's,(you MUST see his site and visit his "GITF Theater" He has POWERFUL images there and it's a 'must see'). Please watch it. It's about six minutes of Noam Chomsky giving his take on the Israeli/Palestinian/Lebanese conflict now going on.

"Lebanon/Israel Facts The Mainstream Media Aren't Telling you"

Nate's Blog:Get In Their Face

I'm adding a new link And not because he thinks I'm a "hottie", please check out Nate's site:

Get In Their Face

The energy and intelligence at the sites I link here is indicitive of what is good about the country we are trying to take back from the neo-con, theo-con, militar-fasco-authoritarian tools-of-satan criminals that are not only changing the rules regarding what 'America' stands for, but the very foundation of our Democracy.

I'm currently writing on "The Link Between The Authoritarian Personality, Voter Fraud, and What We Can Do About It." Every day I get closer to finding what I think will be a useful tactic in the battle to wrest our power back from the fiends in Washington, D.C.

Swim Deep

This is me by-the-by...Preparing for that body-shot...not really. I can't get this to fit in my profile space. I'm just barely computer literate. Perchance some technically proficient person will tell me how to do it. Alas, we'll see.

We Can't Make It Here Anymore

I found this over at Nate's Place: http://getintheirface.blogspot.com/ (Thanks...) Powerful This video is by James McMurtry. Give him a little love.

Spread it around. I am a service-connected Disabled USAF Veteran with an active duty husband in Iraq as I write. This is a message that needs to be disseminated. Spread it around. Spread it around...Spread it around...Spread it around

On Commitment

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always

ineffectivness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one

elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:

that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All

sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. The

whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner

of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material his way. I have learned a deep

respect for one of Goethe's couplets: 'Whatever you can do or dream you can,

begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.'"


-from W.H. Murray, "The Scottish Himalayan Expedition"

Brad on Mike

Brad Friedman of "BradBlog" will be a guest at The Mike Malloy show on Air America Radio on Tuesday night 07/18 10pm-1am EST. Here's the link:

http://www.airamerica.com/mikemalloy/

Brad will be speaking on the Vote Fraud as well as other topics of interest. If you've never listened to Mike Malloy, fasten your seat belts as he's a bumpy ride. He's sincere, speaks his mind, gets angry and I love his courage and his spirit. Tune In!!

Wherewithall

Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime 1.0 This video and the wherewithall to embed it here was a gift from Musclemouth. You MUST visit his site, its a multimedia and information EXTRAVAGANZA.

It's over there--------------------------->

This video is "Off Topic" but in the theft of our country nothing that shines light on the 'darkside' they've created is off topic. This comes courtesy of Musclemouth, who has it on his site.

Last Minute Double Feature I've just viewed this, compliments again of Musclemouth and it has some additional facts and theory not addressed in "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime"

View them separately or together and if you haven't seen "Loose Change (2nd Edition)",
Do so ASAP. If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.

UPDATE:VOTING SCANDAL

Today's Ring of Fire has more voting news and discussion:

http://www.airamerica.com/premium/podcasts.php?type=free

And the newest link here at DC is Black Box Voting which has a number of good stories and some helpful links. Also check out the Voter Integrity Project, another organization fighting the good fight.


Be part of the solution to stop this Banana Republic and their next attempt to steal our votes and voices.

I'm currently working on establishing a link between what John Dean in his new book "Conservatives Without Conscience" calls "The Conservative Authoritarian" and the voting scandal. I'll post as soon as I can.

This Has Got To Stop

...And We Have To Stop It.

I am aware that we, as Progressives are being inundated with so many issues that it's difficult to see which end is up. Over on the East Coast, the Leiberman/Lamont campaign has people fired up; The Gulf Coast is still a mess, awash with corruption far as the eye can see (though that can argueably be said about the whole country); Kansans running for the State House are all of a sudden 'cutting & running' to switch party affiliation (Rethuglicans to Donuthincrats) ; Texans are trying to replace Tom DeLay with yet another criminal, and everyone I know well, is up-in-arms about 9/11 (we won't go there currently). But in California, a little noticed but somewhat discussed, special election in June is what I think we need to focus on.

Give me just another moment of your time.

This 'other stuff' is important, but if we don't begin acting now to get the DNC and the DCCC to DEMAND that the voting machines (to be used in 90% of the elections in November) be made tamper-proof, all the grassroots in the world will not save another election from being stolen by the criminal right-wing thugs currently in charge.

I realize this is not a 'sexy' story. Not a fight that gets your hackles up. But we already know that getting Democrats to the polls in great numbers is like herding cats. We need every vote to count. How many times have you heard," My vote won't count anyway..."? It would appear that this, is indeed ,true if the party mechanics now in place are allowed to continue on their present course.

A little backstory and some links to find out for yourself that this IS what we need to be doing.
This election in San Diego's CA50 is bogus. And this isn't just about California or Mexico. Brad Blog has all the details and links:

http://www.bradblog.com/

This BradBlog article is a good place to start:http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3002

And please watch the video of Catherine Crier:http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3056

Another easy-to-do thing is listen to the Air America show "Ring of Fire" the 07/08/06 show.
This great show is hosted by Robert F Kennedy Jr. and Mike Papantonio. The first segment is on tort reform (which you can skip or not) and the rest of the program focus is on democratic stategies for the upcoming elections and the voter fraud scandal. Please try and listen to this program and lets begin to find the energy and resources to get back our votes. Here's the link:

http://www.airamerica.com/premium/podcasts.php?type=free the interview with Brad starts at 1:03:30

I really believe that this administration is now and has been, changing the very structure of our Democracy. They are re-making and instutionalizing the changes that are at base, the structural paradigms of how Our country operates. Well, they're not gonna take it without a fight.

And I guess my time is up. Thanks for listening. Now go check this stuff out.
I'm going to do some research and come back with some links and a strategy for taking back the country. I'll post on it in a few days. Please remember , WE NEED EVERYONE TO HELP. If you don't pitch in , who will?

Welcome To The Blogosphere

Well that was fun...Just got off the phone with Mike Malloy at Air America. He is as gracious as he is brave. I have used this Blog to vent MY feelings and now with my husband gone in Iraq I have more time on my hands than I know what to do with.

I guess I should say something about that, the 'Iraq thing'. My guy is deployed for the second time doing CCAT (critical care air transport). I'm calmer this time than I was last year at his deployment. I worry most about his 'emotional well-being' and the stuff he doesn't express. He tends to keep things inside and it takes a team of mules to get it out of him, but thankfully I'm pretty mulish. I'm going to meet him in mid-August in Germany. I'll check in and let everyone knows how it goes.

I don't write much on here because I tend to vent most on firedoglake. I've found a great, supportive community there and wonderful access to new information I had no idea how to find.
I recommend to all seekers of truth to surf around the web and read, read, read. Find out what you aren't being told. And act on it.

Welcome to the Blogosphere

So...It has been quite an adventure, this 'Blogosphere'. The night I started this blog, which BTW I think no one has looked at, my world has been rocked. It started with the film and has expanded exponentially from there. I used the internal search for blogs to find what others were saying or thinking about the movie, which led many, many places. Finally, I landed and have set up house at "firedoglake". The learning curve for blogging is intense but I'm beginning to get the hang of it with the caveat that I still know very little.

I always get fired up about politics during an election cycle, it's unavoidable. Watching "Loose Change" made me question so many things about the 'main stream media' and all the places I was getting information. I thought of myself as 'a progressive' and thought I was getting good info from NPR, BBC,CBC, and a little NYT. Boy was I a mook. But it's getting better now and I'm reading from sources I would never have found if it weren't for FDL. The point is, I believe I have alot more control over the content of the information I'm recieving rather than having to decontruct and critically read what I was getting before. Decontruction and critical thought are still part of the mix, but now I have so much more to work with. Thanks to the Left Blogosphere for all that you do, and keep doing it.