Noel, He's Not Really As Bad As He Looks, Here.


Noel, heh. The sunset is creepy. The clouds are smoldering. Over sixty people have died in the Dominican Republic and in Haiti.  ¶ 6:50 PM 0 comments

  Debates. I didn't go to work today. I've been waking up from nightmares and I've been getting the hives. Then yesterday, I got a cold sore and an allergy attack. My new principal is after me. I just need to push the refresh button.

I'm trying to find out what happened at the debates. I found this. It's pretty funny. But the rest is b-o-r-i-n-g. I think I'll go make some coffee.  ¶ 10:19 AM 0 comments

  Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel. I was going to post last night but I started falling asleep. It's exhausting to pay three years of delinquent property taxes, but I got it done yesterday. I was too tired to even find the debates online (I don't have cable.) In any event, I saw a few of the latest models, but I didn't think too much of the most northern forecast. Sometimes, the outliers indicate a shift, but this is just a ts.


As it turns out, Noel is going to impact South Florida more significantly than they believed last night. Tropical Storm warning by 11:00? It's raining right now, with some nice warm gusts. I love a nice tropical storm, and this one is a beauty. We need the rain.

Blogger won't let me upload my images. Later.  ¶ 9:37 AM 0 comments

  The Current Future Track. It's way too early to know where this thing is going for sure. One thing is for certain. I am in the cone. The next advisory is at 5:00 p.m. As my daughter said, "Pray for Haiti."  ¶ 3:10 PM 0 comments

  Hurricane Blogging (Again.)

A photo taken from the Lesser Antilles by msbee at Storm2K. It's been raining here on and off all day. Noel is such an ironical name for a tropical storm (hopefully not a hurricane.) Two people have died in Puerto Rico.

Floater One  ¶ 2:53 PM 0 comments

  Nader Fans Of 2000 Back Al Gore In 2008. Sheeze, they finally grew up.  ¶ 2:50 PM 0 comments

  Obama's Moving Up On The Wonkosphere.   ¶ 2:47 PM 0 comments

  Qwest Was Punished?
The Bush administration allegedly "withdrew opportunities for contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars..."

Nacchio was convicted for selling shares of Qwest stock in early 2001, just before financial problems caused the company's share price to tumble. He has claimed in court papers that he had been optimistic that Qwest would overcome weak sales because of the expected top-secret contract with the government. Nacchio said he was forbidden to mention the specifics during the trial because of secrecy restrictions, but the judge ruled that the issue was irrelevant to the charges against him.

Nacchio's account, which places the NSA proposal at a meeting on Feb. 27, 2001, suggests that the Bush administration was seeking to enlist telecommunications firms in programs without court oversight before the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon. The Sept. 11 attacks have been cited by the government as the main impetus for its warrantless surveillance efforts.

Not surprising.  ¶ 2:37 PM 0 comments

  Sweat Shop Free Links.
Sweat Free Communities
Peace Through Interamerican Community Action
The National Labor Committee
United Students Against Sweatshops
The Workers Rights Consortium
Maquila Solidarity Network
Union Label and Service Trades Department AFL-CIO
Clean Clothes Campaign
Fair Trade Federation
How Americans Can Buy American
Co-Op America
National Green Pages
Responsible Shopper
Sweat Free
Still Made in the USA
Union House
Alden Shoes
American Apparel
Zebulon USA
Vegan Store
earthcreations
buddysjeans
jeans-blue
globalgirlfriend
nosweatapparel
modestapparelusa
prompartydress
Blackspot Shoes
Etsy

Whew! The list still needs some work to update and stick it in my sidebar. Later. I can't believe that it only took 30 minutes to write this up. Thanks CT Liberal. Copying and pasting your links using the source code at dKos sure made the task easier.  ¶ 1:26 PM 0 comments

  Speed Limits In Germany?

Nobel laureate Al Gore last week criticised Germany in a Berlin speech for not having motorway speed limits.

Nobel laureate Al Gore has a nice ring to it. President Al Gore sounds even better. Hillary has that dumb quote about pulling over and asking for directions. Al Gore isn't lost.  ¶ 11:37 PM 0 comments

  Waxploitation Rocks!!!

Causes 1 comes out November 27. It will be available on iTunes for only 90 days, in order to highlight the urgency of the situation in Darfur. Waxploitation will also issue a limited edition CD, which is available for pre-order by signing up here...

Causes 1 (not final sequence):
Animal Collective: Safer (Live) [exclusive]
The Black Keys: Stay All Night (Chulahoma Session) [exclusive]
Bloc Party: Rhododendrons
Bright Eyes: Coat Check Dream Song (Live) [exclusive]
Cornelius: Wataridori (Piano Version) [exclusive]
The Cure: The Walk (Live)
David Sylvian: Late Night Shopping (Chris Vrenna Remix) [exclusive]
Death Cab for Cutie: World Shut Your Mouth (Julian Cope cover)
(International) Noise Conspiracy: Washington Bullets
The Shins: Turn on Me (Clint Mansell Remix) [exclusive]
Spoon: Rhthm & Soul (Middle Version) [exclusive]
Teargas & Plateglass: One Day Across the Valley
Thievery Corporation: Passing the Stars
Travis: Gimme Some Truth (John Lennon cover) [exclusive]

Mark your calendars. It's a win win situation.  ¶ 12:11 AM 0 comments

  A community isn't worth a hill of beans. If it's simply a blog for campaign workers and poll gazers. That's just plain sad, when a progressive community is mortgaged off to Hillary Clinton. HRC is the slum lord of ... (fill in the blank.)  ¶ 10:50 PM 0 comments

  Earth, Wind, And Fire. Then And Now.
Florida, May 19.
California, now.

I try to remember that we live in "geotime" and human beings are really not that relevant in the scheme of things. Fires are a feature of Florida ecology, but it's still kind of scary to see these two pictures.  ¶ 8:52 PM 0 comments

  Fighting The Dark Side In Cyberspace. Click to read about Comcast and BitTorrent filtering. C/net does a good job of explaining the issue.

I'm starving for some fried shrimp. Thank the good god for delivery. I live in one of the top 100 cities in the country. Hard to believe we really are a city, as multicultural as any of the big ones. There are only two white families on my block, including me. I'm babbling. My hamster died, last Sunday. She was hiding in the dashboard. She wouldn't come out. I couldn't find her anywhere. I called to her every hour or so for the whole week everywhere and left food and water in every room and in the car. Can you tell how guilty I feel? My car smells. It's not bad, she was such a little thing. I can't stop crying when I'm in the car. I'll have to take the whole dashboard apart to get her out. I might just leave her in there. Who knows where she is and I couldn't take it if I found out that she had got stuck and wasn't able to get out.

My former principal died yesterday, he had become the deputy superintendent of my district. It was such a privilege to be one of his teachers for five years. Deaths come in threes. I've been going up against my current principal. I can take the stress as long as I don't get hives, and I can feel the itching coming on. I went by the exbf's apartment yesterday,because I found out that he had moved out. The landlord directed me to one of his neighbors. She told me where he was. I told her to tell him that I went off on her. He'd believe that. Maybe, if he thinks I think he is with this woman, (he isn't), it'll finally be over. It isn't over yet. We're chained and I'm having another pity party for one tonight.

Another panicky weekend? Tune in to see if I go out Saturday night. I was invited to a Halloween party.  ¶ 7:35 PM 0 comments

  Just Because You Are Paranoid, Doesn't Mean That They Are Not Out To Get You.

Question: 755,000
Answer: The current number of people on the terror watch list.  ¶ 7:10 PM 0 comments

  Obama Draws A Crowd Of 2000 In Columbus. Update: He hired a gay preacher to the tour. Doesn't he get it? I can't vote for him. Obama, please denounce homophobes already, and you had better be sincere. A uniter, indeed. You need some Darryl Worley, Have you Forgotten (Bin Laden.) How about some Wagner to round things out? Get all the hate groups together, Senator.


  ¶ 6:38 PM 0 comments

  Al Gore For President. I wrote about this September 26. Now, Pollster measures Gore's support at about 12%. Even I knew the questions concerning Al Gore were bogus back in September. I have to think that Al Gore knew too. I am really disappointed in him.


I came across this polling report, dated August 14.There are quite a few of these little polls, showing Al Gore as the front runner. Mark Blumenthal found that measuring support for Gore changed when the question was worded differently. If the question was posed as a "what if" Gore decided to run, Gore's support increased. Hmmm, how do we solve a problem like Al Gore?  ¶ 6:33 PM 0 comments

  Laura Bush Shows Class And Beauty.
I am proud of our First Lady. I wish this picture would get plastered everywhere. Laura Bush's is beautiful in this photograph. She is a model of tolerance and respect for all cultures.  ¶ 6:03 PM 0 comments

  The Butter Candidate.
Barack Obama won over Iowa's butter cow lady, Norma "Duffy" Lyon.  ¶ 8:34 PM 0 comments

  H.R.1585. The Text, At Last. Senator Dodd accusing Senator Clinton of lying? I'm sure that he was very diplomatic. Senators are good about that. However, Hillary is not quite correct, if she is saying that the resolution has the requirement of diplomacy. Go to Thomas, search Bill Number "H.R.1585" and go the the 6th. version. Follow the links, download the pdf file, and do a search for the word, "diplomacy"...whew!

Congress supports United States diplomacy with the representatives of the government of Islamic Republic of Iran in order to stop any actions by the Iranian government or its agents against United States service members in Iraq;

  ¶ 7:38 PM 0 comments

  FISA!! Obama Would Support A Filibuster!

"Senator Obama has serious concerns about many provisions in this bill, especially the provision on giving retroactive immunity to the telephone companies. He is hopeful that this bill can be improved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. But if the bill comes to the Senate floor in its current form, he would support a filibuster of it."

  ¶ 7:34 PM 0 comments

  Update: Telecom Double Dips. A big shout out to Secrecy News. You can download the document there.


My old Telecom News.

The pending Senate bill would direct courts to dismiss lawsuits against telecommunications companies if the attorney general certifies the company rendered assistance between Sept. 11, 2001, and Jan. 17, 2007, in response to a written request from the president to help detect or prevent an attack on the United States.

Lawsuits also would be dismissed if any company named in the case provided no assistance to the government. The public record filed with the court would not reflect which position each telecommunications company had taken in response to Bush's request.

Something keeps nagging at me. I read the "rendered" as in "rendered assistance" and I have to wonder if it means freely gave assistance when directed, or was there some kind of a contract involved.   ¶ 8:34 PM 0 comments

  Harmony Onward Friend. Update: betterPropaganda changed the format. It's better....my favorite hamster got loose. She's been gone for five days. She must be dead. I leave food and water all over the place. Not too many people seem interested in stopping the spying ... I'm tired of pills and polls, I miss my ex, my head hurts, nothing helps

2,796 dead since "Operation Iraqi Liberation" began on March 19. Liars. They knew the intelligience was laughable on March 7. Hell, I knew. It was their job to know. I want to respect the troops, but what do you say? How do you politicize death? I think the outcome of this election will be decided in the heart of each American.

I found this great mp3. It's a fine song to listen to today.

Lonesome Valley (Magnolia Electric Company)

I watched you walk out from the world before
And nothing asked you to be much more
Than just a handful of dust
Oh lonesome valley, lonesome valley
Out here the ghost wears the feathered crown of blues
And the sickle moon to watch over all the lost horizon
All through the lonesome valley, the lonesome valley
Now I'm not worried about heading back
I will be punished by a civil death
If I have done enough but not my best
I turn my pain into a simple plan
Harmony onward friend
Dragging myself out again
Oh through the lonesome valley, the lonesome valley
Now let the wolf judge me as I stand
Harmony onward friend
Until I see that old star again
High over the lonesome valley

  ¶ 12:58 AM 0 comments

  Gore Can Take Iowa. Gore Is More Electable Than Hillary.

While Obama is probably not a strong enough candidate to embarrass Clinton in Iowa, Gore could easily do that. In contrast to Bill Clinton, he was enormously popular in Iowa, winning 63 percent of the vote in 2000, at a time when Bill Bradley was still considered a serious candidate.

Gore also has the broadest grassroots support of any unannounced presidential candidate in recent memory and could build an impressive ground game in a short time.

DraftGore.com, an organization that has arisen with the sole purpose of encouraging his candidacy, already has 179,000 signatures on a petition for him to run. One would guess that a win in Iowa would just about K.O. Clinton's hopes for a runaway nomination.

Update:Gore wins in a match up with Rudy Giulani in Iowa.

42% Giuliani
51% Gore
7% Undecided

Do the math with the undecideds.  ¶ 6:26 PM 0 comments

  It Was Hard To Love A Man Like You.
Jason Molina. I've been listening to this song all night. Maybe that's why I have so many relationship problems today.  ¶ 1:02 AM 0 comments

  Who, What, Where, When, How, Why. What Is The FCC Hiding?

Update: Could the spying on Americans have started as early as seven months before 9/11? Anonymous Coward, there are a couple of Senators good for something. Let's see if anymore else steps up to the plate.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin turned down a congressional request for an investigation as a top intelligence official concluded it would "pose an unnecessary risk of damage to the national security," according to a letter National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell sent to Martin on Tuesday.

An anonymous coward at Slashdot said, "What is Congress good for?" Not exactly thoughtful analysis, but expresses the collective public frustration.

I found the answer (the tip of the iceberg) to my question.

The FCC is declining to investigate whether telephone companies are helping with federal surveillance...

The Energy and Commerce Committee also asked AT&T Inc , Verizon Communications Inc and Qwest Communications International Inc on Tuesday to describe how U.S. government agencies sought to obtain information about customer telephone and Internet use.

  ¶ 2:35 PM 0 comments

  Chris Dodd. UPDATE: Get Chris Dodd's back. Email Harry Reid here.

In one moment, Chris Dodd became a serious candidate in my eyes. The rest of the candidates need to step up to the plate. Their power in the Congress can begin to right the wrongs now. I just sent Chri some love and it felt good. You know, the knight in shining armor thing.  ¶ 12:44 PM 0 comments

  Another Friday Night.
3 mo...thinking about him again (still.) He was waiting for me when I drove to work yesterday. He said, "Hey." (That's how he says hello.) I just kept on driving. I didn't even look.  ¶ 10:35 PM 0 comments

  TV Links. RIP. What am I going to do without Southpark on demand.  ¶ 9:32 PM 0 comments

  Polls And Contributions. (Updated.) Sad, scary. Obama says he has 300000 donors. 300000 donors is one person in a thousand who has donated money to Obama's campaign. Obama raises more money. Furthermore, most of his donations comes from individual donors. Why these figure are not translating into a closer election is curious.  ¶ 12:47 AM 0 comments

  Dick, Meet Barack. I would love to be a fly on the wall the next time that Cheney walks into the meeting room of one of those ultraconservative groups. The ultimate irony would be if Obama became president.  ¶ 6:43 PM 0 comments

  Hearsay Makes A Strong Case For Hillary. He said Al Gore said ... no they said that Al Gore said

Hillary is Unstoppable.

There sure is a flurry of news from Great Britain. On this side of the Atlantic Ocean a poll was immediately taken to show that Al Gore's entry into the race would benefit Hillary. And that's all the news that's fit to print, folks.  ¶ 10:01 AM 0 comments

  Who Ya Gonna Call? Repugh Busters! Kicking a$$ and taking names! Now, if we can just figure out how these folks view the Democratic presidential candidates ..  ¶ 4:36 AM 0 comments

  What John Edwards Said. According to the Washington Post

Sen. Harry Reid ☼ has informed private-equity funds that the Senate will not be closing the obscenely inequitable tax loophole that allows mega-billionaires to be taxed at 15 percent – lower than most working Americans. Harry says there simply isn't time in the busy Senate schedule. Seriously. And the Post points out that if there isn't time in 2007, there almost certainly won't be in 2008 either – "Congress tends to be leery of tax increases in election years.

Obama immediately called the action a bad decision. John Edwards said:

Incredibly, for an investment of about $6 million dollars in lobbying fees – and another $6 million in political contributions – these elite Wall Street traders preserved a $6 billion tax break for themselves…. We have to end the rigged system in Washington that rewards big corporate interests at the expense of hard-working families.

  ¶ 4:31 AM 0 comments

  Bob Dylan, "Mr. Tambourine Man."   ¶ 12:30 PM 0 comments

  Led Zeppelin, "The Battle Of Evermore."

The Battle Of Evermore was inspired by Tolkien's, The Lord Of the Rings. The title says it all. Check out "When the Levee Breaks." It appears at the bottom of the window after the video finishes. I bet you never knew that Led Zeppelin made political statements. Everybody did back then. It was us against them.  ¶ 11:39 AM 0 comments

  Bush Rules Out Military Strike In Iran. Will he make this speech at home?

Bush excludes a military strike against Iran
Cairo | October 05, 2007 7:05:07 PM IST


US President George W. Bush said in an interview, to be broadcast Friday on the pan-Arab al-Arabia news channel, that he excluded the possibility of waging a military strike against Iran.

Bush pointed out during the interview, parts of which were broadcast in al- Arabia news bulletins, that he would seek diplomatic means and work cooperatively with the European Union and Russia to send a message to Tehran.

Bush also talked about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, saying the two sides should be committed to the road map.

The US president said he was optimistic and that all parties should exert efforts to realise the two-state solution, which according to him is part of the comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

Also discussed in the interview were domestic issues as well as US foreign policy and its impact on the Arab and Muslim worlds, al-Arabia's official website said.

The 'war on terror', Arab-US relationships, and the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks also featured in the interview.

The interview is due to be broadcast on al-Arabia's Bisaraha (Frankly) programme on Friday morning.

  ¶ 8:38 AM 0 comments

  Obama And The American Flag Pin. The press has been nicer than they need to be. It's a risky opportunity to make a contrast between Obama's patriotism and the patriotism of his pin wearing opponents. Saying that, I'd like to be sure that my future president's respect for the flag is above reproach. For now, it's enough that he is the leads in contributions from military personnel, that his voting record for soldiers and veterans is outstanding.

My attitude is that I’m less concerned about what you’re wearing on your lapel than what’s in your heart,” Mr. Obama told an audience here. “You show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans, especially those who served.

From former Air Force General Merrill "Tony" McPeak, the former chief of staff of the Air force.

"The American people are wise enough to understand the difference between petty symbolism and real substance, real courage, real judgment, which is what Barack brings to this ball game"

  ¶ 7:01 AM 0 comments

  An Important Endorsement In Iowa. And while I'm counting, here's another endorsement.  ¶ 4:11 AM 0 comments

  Those Feisty Iowans. I'm developing an appreciation for the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. They take their primaries seriously, although they typically don't make up their minds until the last minute. Most folks I know here in Florida haven't even thought of who they'll vote for.  ¶ 4:04 AM 0 comments

  FCC Secrets Soon To Be Revealed?

The report says that some people at the commission warn lobbyists when a particular issue is about to come up for a vote. Typically, the commission chairman circulates an item for vote three weeks before a meeting. Under the rules of the FCC, meeting agendas are published one week before a vote is scheduled. Once the agenda is published lobbying is banned. The report says that the two-week window allows lobbyist plenty of time to "maximize their impact."

Keep the pressure on them, Representative Edward Markey (Dem., Mass.)

Slashdot also reports that a judge in California voided an election because Diebold erased the results. Don't we keep a record of these things? Why does Diebold hold election results in the first place? Diebold must die.  ¶ 3:46 AM 0 comments

  Open Secrets. Compare for yourself. Clinton gets big bucks from lobbyists, tobacco, and oil/gas, Obama gets education, retired (I thought the over 50 crowd didn't like him.) I'm not happy that Obama took money from tobacco.

If you click on Hillary's name, the graphic illustrates Hillary's support comes from big business. I noticed that Obama has not fully disclosed his campaign contributions. He needs to fix that.  ¶ 3:12 AM 0 comments

  Obama And Election Reform.

Roll Call (subscription req'd) is reporting that Harry Reid (D-NV) and the Democratic Leadership had shamefully "struck a deal" with Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KS) to slide four FEC nominations, including the GOP "voter fraud" zealot, von Spakovsky, through the Senate on a voice vote, unless any Senators objected.

Barack Obama did object and succeeded in blocking the vote. What does Hillary think? Not that anyone in the MSM will ask.
  ¶ 4:18 PM 0 comments

  The Angry White Conservative Men Choose. Fred Thompson. Is that who the Council For National Policy (CNP) is pushing for? The CNC are a bunch of angry white conservative men, and they just met to discuss the Republican nomination. At first, I was scratching my head. Fred is dumber than a tack. But then I got it. The CNC picked Dumbya, with none other than CNC member, Dick Cheney, as his running mate. We all know who runs the show in this country. I thought that McCain would get the nomination. But, now I'm figuring that he's just too intelligent for the job.  ¶ 6:36 PM 0 comments