I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
rain, rain
seconds?
rain, rain
Ô¿Ô
How are you doing? All is well, I hope?
any news reports on how Rove's GOP fund raiser went? Sort of fitting that Rove would be named the disaster czar isn't it?
Ô¿Ô, Finally getting that much needed rain you wanted? Watch out what you ask for.
Everything intact? Okay?
rorsch
She is beautiful. I am sure you are proud.
I have a new nice also, but I am so computer illiterate, I can't figure out how to link to a pic and show her off.
Ô¿Ô -- I awoke to mentions of Shreveport on tv & thought of you immediately. How goes it?
rorschach
I finally checked out the picture of your niece. She's not just a cutie. She's gorgeous. Congratulations, Uncle R.
rorsch -- Your niece is so fortunate to have an uncle taking such delight in her. And her parents, too . . .
Much as I want my daughters to begin their careers before having children, looking Ror's niece really makes my arms itchy for a baby to hold. She is gorgeous.
Careful, Incog. Sounds like you guys are going to get more rain this week than you do all year. I can't even imagine 25 inches of rain in one week. We start flooding at 2-3.
Alot of rain so far.
I have a new nice also, but I am so computer illiterate, I can't figure out how to link to a pic and show her off.
Billy B
If you'd like, I can advise you as to how to do it. E-mail me, if you'd like.
And thanks to all of you for your comments about Palomi! She is one of those aspects of the universe that enable me to survive all the madness and misery.
(Take that, hamletta!!)
looking Ror's niece really makes my arms itchy for a baby to hold.
You'll be a great grandma.
And the fun those babies will have with Mr. ql's beard!!
We start flooding at 2-3.
In Los Angeles, we start flooding at a quarter of an inch. One of the strangest things about moving to Los Angeles was listening to the weather heads on tv talking about a "storm" which dumped a tenth of an inch on the city. In Tennessee, where I am originally from, we don't even notice a tenth of an inch, much less dignify it with the name of storm. But after living here for fifteen years, I begin to understand their reactions -- it takes so little water to flood things here. Usually not big floods, but underpasses submerged, stores with water in them, etc.
(Take that, hamletta!!)
rorschach
I gotta believe s/he never even looked at the picture.
You couldn't look at Palomi and make that comment.
it takes so little water to flood things here.
Gee -- LA river paved over and it floods with a half inch of rain.
Think maybe there's a connection?
You'll be a great grandma.
There is no doubt about this.
I sometimes wonder if my parents are craving grandkiddies...
It's not the paved-over river that causes things to flood. It's the paved over countryside before the rainwater can get to the river. But I agree -- a paved river is an abomination. There are plans and even occasional actions to unpave the river and restore it.
flory--
That hadn't occured to me. But now that you mention it, it does seem to be the likeliest explanation.
rorsch -
Thanks for the offer - my 15 year old can tell me how to do the linky deal, I am just a lazy sob.
I got a kick out of you fucking with hamletta.
Your niece does not fit in the category that most newborns do. She is a beautiful baby.
Billy B--
Cool.
I got a kick out of you fucking with hamletta.
I aim to please! Seriously though, she just came out with nasty antagonism, and that I cannot abide.
We had a flood here in the rural area where I live and had to sandbag. Being a city gal, I thought this meant building a wall. But we learned quickly it means re-directing the water, not barricading it. We learned what "drainage" actually means that year.
Boy howdy, rain, rain, rain...
From Rosa Brooks in today's LA Times
http://tinyurl.com/alnez
"You see, it's all connected, if you just think about it long enough. President Bush put it best: 'You know, something we — I've been thinking a lot … and it's clear to me that Americans value human life…. And that stands in stark contrast, by the way, to the terrorists we have to deal with. You see, we look at the destruction caused by Katrina, and our hearts break. They're the kind of people who look at Katrina and wish they had caused it. We're in a war against these people. It's a war on terror…. These are evil men who target the suffering. See, sometimes we forget about the evil deeds of these people. They killed 3,000 people on September the 11th, 2001. They've killed in Madrid, and Istanbul, and Baghdad, and Bali, and London, and Sharm el Sheik, and Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv. Around the world they continue to kill. They have a strategy.'"
Ah, the president. He'd be brilliant -- if he weren't so stupid.
We had a flood here in the rural area where I live and had to sandbag. Being a city gal, I thought this meant building a wall. But we learned quickly it means re-directing the water, not barricading it. We learned what "drainage" actually means that year.
I am happy to hear (though not at all surprised) that your learning curve was that steep!
The night our house flooded, we went to bed clueless, and then, at 3 AM, I reached down for my glasses, so I could see what time it was, and found that there was about 6 inches of water in the house.
Rough night, that one.
so, where in nyc do I go to get a haircut?
President Bush is a "strong and decisive leader." Or so he keeps telling us.
http://goodmorninghouston.blogsp...mens-
souls.html
morning, threadbatties. so it's not "so bad" on the gulf coast? i read it avoided houston for the most part, i wonder when people will be turning around and creating a traffice nightmare in the other direction.
Gee -- LA river paved over and it floods with a half inch of rain.
Think maybe there's a connection?
flory, Business Manager
Flory, there is a lot of shotcreeting here, but it takes a couple of inches an hour to get flooding.
News on August being wet here
Did get flooding and some landslides during:
"""The two-day deluge of 546.2mm on August 19 and 20 also set a new record for the month."""
Some areas got considerably more than that, but that's what was recorded at the Observatory.
Shaw Kenawe, I think w could turn a speech about panda bears into the horrors of "terrists."
Well -- a cup of tea with brandy and I think I'll try to get back to sleep for a few hours.
Later all.
200 miles west of Shreveport, not a fucking drop. Lots of clouds, no rain. Hopefully it holds off for about 8 hours. I gotta finish this job I'm working.
I think w could turn a speech about panda bears into the horrors of "terrists."
When you are utterly devoid of logic, and utterly incoherent, you can link anything to anything else.
It is, one might say, pandemonium.
Seriously though, she just came out with nasty antagonism, and that I cannot abide.
rorschach
She did the same to me one morning when I had, gasp, failed to provide a link to something. I figure she's just not a morning person.
I think w could turn a speech about panda bears into the horrors of "terrists
"Well, those panda bears, you see, they're almost extinct. I know that. And that's what the terrists want to do to us -- make us extinct. Cause, you know, when you're extinct, it's like you don't exist, like you're dead. And that what the terrists want to do -- they want to dead us. I mean they want to kill us. And that's why we have to kill them dead first, before they kill us dead first."
-- the natural history of pandas as told by G.W. Bush
RAIN!!
She did the same to me one morning when I had, gasp, failed to provide a link to something. I figure she's just not a morning person.
ql in ny
Interesting, ql. That does help to explain things...
rorschach -- "learning curve".
You know, I took geology courses in college, loved them and aced all the tests. But I only knew, didn't really understand anything until those rains came and the water started to run.
.
"Th pander is a beautiful animal, all black and white. Like th world. See, there's the black hearted terrrists that *enjoy* seein a pander 'hind bars. But we, the innacent pure white Mericans got to stand robust aginst them"
your wish is my command
Toonscribe--
Sheer genius.
Thank you, ror.
I was inspired by a vacant-eyed muse.
But I only knew, didn't really understand anything until those rains came and the water started to run.
Yeah, when my house was full of water, I too did come to really understand.
Had the entire house jacked up 18" with a new foundation.
I think w could turn a speech about panda bears into the horrors of "terrists."
The terrists hate pandas because of their cuteness. We love pandas, and that's why we're panda lovers.
'morning, all.
Has anyone heard an explanation of why the preznit changed his travel plans yesterday? Usual chicken-shit behvavior, or was he too toasted to appear in public? Or perhaps there's even a third explanation that doesn't spring easily to mind . . .
rorschach -- Oh, are you the fellow who lost so many books? I was only starting to read comments here back then . . .
.
Oh well, I'll figure it out
bye all
It is an absolutely beautiful morning here in San Antonio. A good thing, too, considering that we are housing many evacuees from Katrina and Rita (some of whom have had to flee twice). The last thing any of them need is a taste of Rita.
I thought we had escaped having W visit. He was supposed to come through yesterday, but called it off. Now I hear that he'll be stopping by today, and perhaps spending the night. Get ready for the photo op in front of the Alamo with a few handpicked evacuees.
What I find interesting about the preznit's speech mannerisms is his constant, petulant repetitions of the phrases "I know that" and "It's hard work." It does sound like a whiney, lazy eight year old who is overly defensive and very used to being lectured about his shortcomings.
rorschach -- Oh, are you the fellow who lost so many books? I was only starting to read comments here back then . . .
.
cs
That'd be me, alas.
Virginia -- On a thread last nite someone linked to an NYTimes piece (I think) that said he canceled because of the weather -- too sunny!
so, where in nyc do I go to get a haircut?
lb0313 - 8:56 am
ahhhh, good...you are still on the damp, green side...i was worried...you have mail, but only a query intended to discover this news...
be well, gal...
.
I always get more than I ask for.
Shoes are still mostly dry here in SW Houston.
But watching for that green-cast tornado sky...
rorschach -- Oh, that made me so sad. Didn't you lose a copy of "Meridian"?
Morning, sweeties!
Ror, you were right yesterday. Basically, I was over-reacting because I hadn't had hardly any sleep since I've met the guy.
We're both walking into this relationship not knowing what the hell is the right thing to do, so we do what we feel is right. But I'm no seasoned dater at this stage in my life...and neither is he.
All is well, except I'm neurotic about it and he understands that.
I just received the latest issue of Harper's magazine.
Louis Lapham continues to write some of the most poignant and pertinent political essays of our time.
His painful point this month is that fascism has been creeping into US government control over the decades and with Bushboy & the Goopers of today it is firmly entrenched.
His predictions for the future of American fascism are bankruptcies, bread riots and "cavalcades of police motorcycles," presumably to control the irate but powerless citizenry!
Virginia,
Rumor around here was that he "didn't want to interfere with preparations for Rita." In other words, one of his operatives decided that it was a bad move politically - like his "hug an evacuee" trips to Mississippi.
WGG
And you have mail to - how great to hear from you.
Off to the city to try to a) find a haircut, b) meet up with other exiles
c) try not to watch cnn
It does sound like a whiney, lazy eight year old who is overly defensive and very used to being lectured about his shortcomings.
I described Bush's oratorical style the other day like this: He has that pathetic whine in his voice, but always coupled with his stupid little chuckle.
As if he's saying, "Please believe what I'm saying! And if you don't, well then, screw you. Heh heh heh."
You know, I took geology courses in college,
I can still hear Dr. Vosburg, rest his soul, talking about the fact that NO only exists because of the Army Core of Engineers.
His take was not that the city would be flooded by storms, but that the Big Muddy would eventually return to the course that it would take if the COE hadn't diverted it.
He also explained how a tornado is such a destructive force with respect to air pressure differential as opposed to wind speed.
Virginia -- On a thread last nite someone linked to an NYTimes piece (I think) that said he canceled because of the weather -- too sunny!
cs - 9:11 am
Maybe he couldn't get enough displaced, disgruntled people to sign loyalty oaths.
It does sound like a whiney, lazy eight year old who is overly defensive and very used to being lectured about his shortcomings.
Sometimes I wonder whether he might actually have acquired some empathy for people, if George and Bar had let him suffer the consequences of his actions, just once, instead of propping him up or bailing him out at every turn.
Or maybe not, if his mental shortcomings and innate laziness are just too great to overcome.
Food for thought, anyhow.
Someone upthread posting about facism...
Loyalty oaths would be a part of that equation (where's sallyh to write a formula on facism this morning?).
rorschach
I really sympathized with you during your flood and book loss. About thirty years ago when I was in grad school, my apartment building burned down and I lost, among other things, about two thousand books. I would have liked to have contributed to the effort to rebuild your library, but alas, my finances are crap and have been for a while. I did send good thoughts your way.
Has anyone heard an explanation of why the preznit changed his travel plans yesterday? Usual chicken-shit behvavior, or was he too toasted to appear in public? Or perhaps there's even a third explanation that doesn't spring easily to mind . . .
Virginia
I understand the reason "Stormy" cancelled was that the photo-op got scrubbed.
It's damn hard work looking concerned about hurricanes.
Where's Nim? Did he fly back to Michigan to hang out with my sister?
rorschach -- Oh, that made me so sad. Didn't you lose a copy of "Meridian"?
cs
Yes. And check out the memory on cs! Impressive!
Vicki--I am glad to hear all is well. So did you go out with friends last night, or did you and Mr Man hook up?
You say America has not become a fascist state?
Despite Bushboy/Gooper government by hate?
Evolution smeared
Corporations cheered
As war is celebrated by our POTUS impotentate!!!
Good Morning all. How stands the Republic?
If I remember correctly, some kind souls from here sent ror some books to replace those that he lost.
This is a really, really good place.
I know smalfish thinks so, too.
rorschach -- Only because it's my favorite book. I lived through all those times, from the wary approach, the rising anger, the fragmentation, the spiritual search. She captured it all with such immediacy, so completely.
He also explained how a tornado is such a destructive force with respect to air pressure differential as opposed to wind speed.
Billy B |-- 9:15 am
truth, that...
however, i've seen what a 8' piece of two-by-four can do when propelled through a car by 200 mph (f-5) winds...and that ain't pretty at all...
just sayin'
.
Toonscribe--
Damn, that really does suck!
And I really appreciate the good thoughts. They mean more than books anyway.
"You know, something we — I've been thinking a lot …" and ya'll should stop looking at what were - I'm not doing well. Start looking at what they are doing over there.
Reading an Eschaton thread on an un-WebSensed connection..... Priceless
His predictions for the future of American fascism are bankruptcies, bread riots and "cavalcades of police motorcycles," presumably to control the irate but powerless citizenry!
Rudy
OK, that does it. I let my sub to Harpers expire last year, and I've regretted it ever since.
TODAY I am going to pick up a copy and send in a check.
I've got a question: Tomorrow we'll be celebrating Boston's 350th anniversary.
Now I know silver is for a 25th anniversary and gold is for a 50th.
But what the hell do you get for 350 years?
Besides more dirt from the Big Dig?
From the previous thread.
"I would most definitely not want any praying over my dead body."
I would be so furious that I might rise from the dead and punch somebody out as I would consider that act to be one of political bullshit and/or some other kind of usory. I really don't want anybody to puke their religion on me and I will take care of my own religion in my way. I don't like to be used and when somebody dumps their religion on me, my discomfort at having to listen politely while they pretend like "they" have "the Word" can only be likened to having a cockroach crawl up my leg.
When I am dead, let me be in peace that I don't anymore have to put up with the bullshit of man's arrogance and meddling.
The "sincerity" of Bushboy's sympathy/empathy for those who have died or been ruined by the hurricanes can be measured by his continued denial that global warming has anything to do with the increased frequency of category 4/5 hurricanes and his denial that his tax cuts for the rich need to be rescinded to pay for our current obligations.
Bushboy is a pathological fraud and sociopathic liar and the evidence is overwhelming and irrefutable!
If I remember correctly, some kind souls from here sent ror some books to replace those that he lost.
This is true! You beautiful people sent me a couple dozen books to replenish my library, and I was awed by the generosity...
It truly is a good place, here.
Diane:
Harper's deserves your patronage and you are too bright to be without their information!!!
His predictions for the future of American fascism are bankruptcies, bread riots and "cavalcades of police motorcycles," presumably to control the irate but powerless citizenry!
Rudy
Sept or Oct?
haven't got my Oct # yet...
lapham is the best political mind at work in the country today, period...
Where's Nim? Did he fly back to Michigan to hang out with my sister?
Vicki
Morning Vicki. Sounds like I have some catching up to do. I got to talk with Nim a bit at the picnic. He is such a nice guy. I was actually thinking of him for you. 
ror,
I went out with my friends. I told him I wanted to get buzzed and then crash, because I was so tired. So I got buzzed, and crashed by 9:00 or so...just woke up. He was all for it, because he's been able to sleep during the day ~ those crazy hours professors keep.
He went to a performance art event, and then went out with the cast.
One thing that is really cool about him is that he is totally comfortable with me and what I want to do. He's confident that this relationship will follow the natural course but that we both have the ability to communicate well toward a positive outcome. So it's okay if I get scared or he gets scared and then we talk about it.
I've not dated a guy who can communicate his feelings as openly as this guy. He's all about getting things out in the open and then working through them instead of saying: Whoa, I don't like that, I'm backing off.
And he is very complimentary of me, which I like, I admit. He likes the fact that I'm open, too. I have a good feeling about it.
however, i've seen what a 8' piece of two-by-four can do when propelled through a car by 200 mph (f-5) winds...and that ain't pretty at all...
just sayin'
Yep. I didn't mean to downplay the windspeed angle, which is huge.
I've seen the piece of straw sticking in concrete block we've all hard about also. Which before I observed same, thought was a joke. It ain't.
Good Morning all. How stands the Republic?
Teetering on the brink, apparently.
And rors,
I agree -- good thoughts are things of value. Many people who I considered more acquaintances than friends were very kind and supportive after the fire.
The thing I remembered most about the immediate aftermath of the fire was the smell of wet charred wood. As an odd corrilary, I couldn't eat smoked cheddar for years afterwards.
QL -
I was as shocked as anyone to learn that my sister couldn't come to Audrey's birthday party last week because a certain young man had flown into town to take her out on the town!
Apparently, EschaCon spawned at least one budding romance.
I'm so glad to hear Vicki's good news. And getting another to understand and accept one's neuroses is no small step - Mazel Tov
WGG:
Lapham deserves to be in the pantheon of the Bravest & the Brightest with Krugman, Rich, Herbert, Kuttner, Ivins and several others.
Luke - Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel.
Vicki--
This sounds fantastic, and I am so happy for you! (assuming he deals with the loud sex v. teenage kid issue...)
Really very happy. And did I not say, when you were worrying yesterday, that that worry would end up as merely a blip?
Sometimes I do get it right.
Question: I just watched Dr Strangelove and am now watching Chicken Run. What does this say about me? Disturbed?
lapham is the best political mind at work in the country today, period...
WoodyGuthriesGuitar
Word!
And I like Rudy's list as well.
rors...
Beautiful niece!
rorschach - 8:28 am
lovely child...
do you still have your book list up somewhere?
the last time i moved (from Okiedom back to NM) i parted with about 2000 books, kept about 500 (what i call my 'memeory)...i knew i wans't gonna be a professor anymore, and a lot of the stuff i gave to the local library was already pretty dated...
kept the critical stuff: foucault, habermas, the Frankfurt guys, Marx and marxians, etc, etc, etc...
leaving that stuff behind would been like leaving a part of my mind there...
The thing I remembered most about the immediate aftermath of the fire was the smell of wet charred wood. As an odd corrilary, I couldn't eat smoked cheddar for years afterwards.
Toonscribe | Email | 09.24.05 - 9:29 am
a carpenter job i usta have: tearing down fire-damaged buildings, mostly houses...worked it for about 6 mos...couldn't stand old campfire smell for about three years thereafter...
.
ror,
We haven't officially done it, but we've explored, and he is very loud. He's self conscious about it. However, I find it a huge turn on, and I don't think it's a big deal. The kid's down the hall. She likes him. No worries is what I told him.
It's not like I've had a parade of men in my house ~ my daughter knows this and knows I must like him if I want to get naked with him. We've talked about it. It's not like she's going to run out and turn into a slut. She's grounded. OF that, I am assured.
So scream, professor, scream. It's good for the soul.
kept the critical stuff: foucault, habermas, the Frankfurt guys, Marx and marxians, etc, etc, etc...
leaving that stuff behind would been like leaving a part of my mind there...
Goddamn right. That'd be an amputation. (Though the Frankfurt School--while they had some good ideas--really tend to piss me off.)
And I don't have the book list anymore. It was on my last laptop, which died a month or so ago.
And getting another to understand and accept one's neuroses is no small step
That's a nice thing to say, and it's true.
We've kind of decided that any book we can get from the library or bookstore does not need to be on our shelves. It is hard to get rid of them, but we will.
Several years ago Mr. QL gave his copy of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire to my mom. When she passed away, the only thing he wanted from her estate was the Rise & Fall. Now they will never be given away again. Unless one of the chicks develops an interest.
I am reading LeCarre's "Absolute Friends," novel, and as many may know, LeCarre was a top Intelligence Officer for Britain during the Cold War.
While LeCarre's contempt for Thatcher, Blair and Bushboy is relentless, he reserves his most damning critiques for the American Military-Industrial complex, which he considers the greatest evil on the planet today.
Question: I just watched Dr Strangelove and am now watching Chicken Run. What does this say about me? Disturbed?
Well, yes -- definitely disturbed. But that's why we like you.
I lost all of my college books in a flood in 1986. All of my notes, and I took meticulous notes.
It saddened me. I can't imagine losing years and years of the stuff you love the most.
We've talked about it. It's not like she's going to run out and turn into a slut. She's grounded. OF that, I am assured.
So scream, professor, scream. It's good for the soul.
Oh god, no. I have never had any doubt that your daughter would be strong and smart and confident.
And can I just say that those last two sentences are brilliant?
Lapham's "Gag Rule" is a wake-up call - I highly recommend it.
rorschach - as for your taste in movies, sounds like you are an admirer of once and future classics.
And I'm sorry to hear about your books. My apartment is crammed with them - like a thousand roommates, waiting to have a conversation.
Holy crap! Has anyone else been watching Gold Star Mother Diane Ibbotson on the Washington Jounal call in show this morning on C-SPAN?
She'd be better named Robotosson.
An genuine zoloft automation freak spouting shitty Dear Leader rhetoric. Wow.
And it appears that C-SPAN will be covering tomorrow's Pro war rally, but the slate for today is only seeming to cover the book fair on the mall and not the ANSWER rally.
Is it just me or is this protest already going down the memory hole?...
Well, yes -- definitely disturbed. But that's why we like you.
Toonscribe
Hurray!
Question: I just watched Dr Strangelove and am now watching Chicken Run. What does this say about me? Disturbed?
you're an enlightened generalist
or to put it in the terms of nature,
an opportunistic omnivore
Mr. QL is cool. The only thing he wanted from your mom's estate was a book.
That is a man worthy of respect.
I don't like greedy men or money all that much...I should add that disclaimer.
Dear Moonbats,
It's perfect marching weather in D.C. Cool and overcast. Crowds were already gathering on the Mall this morning when I drove into the office. Grandparents, parents, college students, ancient black vets in wheelchairs. It's not to late. Come to D.C.
Thank you, Annie!
And, lavalamp: "opportunistic omnivore" is the greatest little phrase I've heard in a while, and I am honored to have it applied to me.
Hecate:
I couldn't get out of Boston this weekend, but your presence and the thousands of others who are there in Washington today is commendable and you speak for me!!!
It's not to late. Come to D.C.
I would if I had the time and the money. I'm with you all in spirit.
Hecate
New gravatar? Fantastic.
glad I could help, rorschach! I've always liked that it, myself.
Hecate - I wish I could! March for us who can't make it.
Morning Batties -
Hecate, do you have revolving gravatars? A walk-in closet of 'em?
Hecate -- I have a visceral longing to be there. It feels like homesickness . . .
gag rule is a great book.
Hecate,
Thank you for your attendance in D.C. this day. My missus had to travel for work this weekend so I'm tasked with staying home with the pups. This march is important and we look forward to those on the ground reports from you and watertiger.
And on that note, here's a Knight Ridder report via professor Cole this morning...
' The ethnic cleansing of Baghdad neighborhoods is proceeding at an alarming and potentially destabilizing pace.
Some Shiite Muslim residents in predominantly Sunni Muslim Baghdad neighborhoods are fleeing their homes because they say the country's violence and sectarian tensions have reached their front doors, forcing them to move into more homogenous communities.
Government officials and academic experts agree that the virtual expulsion of some ethnic groups from mixed communities is troubling and threatens the nation's stability, which depends on a degree of ethnic harmony. Some worry the purges are setting the early stages of civil war, saying that homogenous neighborhoods could become future battlegrounds in the capital.
Indeed, some government officials concede that insurgents, mainly Sunnis, are controlling parts of Baghdad.
"Civil war today is closer than any time before," said Hazim Abdel Hamid al Nuaimi, a professor of politics at al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad. "All of these explosions, the efforts by police and purging of neighborhoods is a battle to control Baghdad." '
I'm tired of your thread puns.
More writing from you, less threads, please.
Civil war today is closer than any time before," said Hazim Abdel Hamid al Nuaimi, a professor of politics at al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad. "All of these explosions, the efforts by police and purging of neighborhoods is a battle to control Baghdad."
I guess when we turned that last corner, we should've gone left instead of right.
Deranged kakapo!
I wish our country's problems were on this level.
CB- lately i think cole is too cautious. i don't know what you'd call the last two months if not civil war. there are so many factions and so many places that are constantly erupting into violence, not to mention the problems the occupation forces are causing. what, is there supposed to be a sign somewhere "civil war now on!"
i hate the chimp so much for that.
Deranged kakapo!
"the invisible hand is giving you the finger"
heh
I guess when we turned that last corner, we should've gone left instead of right.
That pretty much goes without saying. In just about every way.
Good morning, batses.
It's a beautiful day here in the Big A.
And yes, whoever said today's DC protest will be lost "down the memory hole" is exactly right. Any govt. that can dismiss simultaneous demonstrations of millions of people around the world as a "focus group" (remember that one, right?) is not worried about today's demo in DC.
As WGG would say, just sayin'.
Really, I didn't used to be this cynical. Really.
While LeCarre's contempt for Thatcher, Blair and Bushboy is relentless, he reserves his most damning critiques for the American Military-Industrial complex, which he considers the greatest evil on the planet today
LeCarre and the late Dwight D Eisenhower.
The things he had to say about the military industrial complex and about certain Texas oil men was just prescient. I still reel when I reread that stuff.
Eisenhower would have been a Democrat if he was around now.
have we ever done a "who you are/why are you here" thread? i'm pretty sure atrios has never done so, but there's one going on over at kos today and i always find them interesting at bigger sites.
Fish Rots from Head
Soldiers in the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division vented their frustration by systematically torturing Iraqi detainees from 2003 into 2004, hitting them with baseball bats and dousing them with chemicals, a U.S. rights group alleges in a new report.
The Human Rights Watch report, issued Friday, was compiled from interviews with a captain and two sergeants who served in a battalion of the 82nd Airborne that was stationed at a military base called Mercury near Fallujah, the insurgent stronghold retaken by U.S. forces last year.
Nice.
Let's hear no more from the right about the depravity of New Orleans, when "disciplined" troops are allowed to vent their frustration out on "Gunga Din".
Fish Rots from Head
Soldiers in the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division vented their frustration by systematically torturing Iraqi detainees from 2003 into 2004, hitting them with baseball bats and dousing them with chemicals, a U.S. rights group alleges in a new report.
The Human Rights Watch report, issued Friday, was compiled from interviews with a captain and two sergeants who served in a battalion of the 82nd Airborne that was stationed at a military base called Mercury near Fallujah, the insurgent stronghold retaken by U.S. forces last year.
Nice.
Let's hear no more from the right about the depravity of New Orleans, when "disciplined" troops are allowed to vent their frustration out on "Gunga Din".
I think it's only rained lightly here in SE PA only twice since the beginning of August. My lawn looks as parched as George Bush's soul.
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bj- Really, I didn't used to be this cynical. Really.
bj | Email | 09.24.05 - 10:02 am |
welcome to my world! be careful, for such an attitude can bore friends to tears and cause suburban mothers to hide their children from you.
...cause suburban mothers to hide their children from you
Well, that's a plus, isn't it? 
Who you are
Why are you here
The Yankees suck
Down by three
Chi-Dyke,
Yeah, me too, on Cole. However, he IS the only one I see who is at least floating the idea and promoting dialogue on the subject.
Everyone else seems to be singularly obssessed with the weather in Texas.
if lapham sees the us degenerating into facsism im really worried. i keep telling myself im just paranoid.
CB- lately i think cole is too cautious. i don't know what you'd call the last two months if not civil war. there are so many factions and so many places that are constantly erupting into violence, not to mention the problems the occupation forces are causing. what, is there supposed to be a sign somewhere "civil war now on!"
chidyke--Well put. And I mean, The Guardian has been publishing articles declaring that the civil war is in fact "now on."
But the thickness of the American cranium appears to be able to disregard such obviously false stories.
This, for example, is from late April:
Whereas once politicians were not willing to utter the term for fear of dignifying it, it is no longer taboo.
"I do not want to say civil war, but we are going the Lebanese route, and we know where that led," says Sabah Kadhim, an adviser to the Interior Ministry who spent years in exile before returning to Iraq after Saddam Hussein's overthrow.
"We are going to end up with certain areas that are controlled by certain warlords ... It's Sunni versus Shi'ite, that is the issue that is really in the ascendancy right now, and that wasn't the case right after the elections."
The Flying Speghetti monster inflicted a hurricane and Matt Lauer on the people of Galveston.
So unfair.
did somebody say cynicism?
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - As the anti-war movement arrives in Washington this weekend, many top Democrats are leaving.
Nationally known Democratic war critics, including Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and John Kerry of Massachusetts, won't attend what sponsors say will be a big anti-war rally Saturday in Washington.
The only Democratic officeholders who plan to address the rally are Reps. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia and John Conyers of Michigan.
Today's leading Democrats head a party divided over the war, and many leaders are wary of standing with anti-war activists, who represent much of the party's base. The divide between anti-war activists and Democratic leaders underscores a challenge the party faces in the 2006 congressional elections and beyond. Some activists say that Democrats such as Clinton and Kerry who criticize the war but refuse to demand a timetable for withdrawal are effectively supporting the status quo - and may not merit future support.
En route to Washington for the rally, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan protested outside Clinton's New York office. "She knows that the war is a lie, but she is waiting for the right time to say it," Sheehan told about 500 cheering supporters. "You say it or you are losing your job."
is obama going to be there? sigh. never mind, cspan still would only cover the prowar rallies.
"We are going to end up with certain areas that are controlled by certain warlords ...
rorschach
Oh... Iraq will go the way of Afghanistan, in other words.
cause suburban mothers to hide their children from you.
chicago dyke
So there is an upside to this, then?
BTW: On NBC right now, little Matt "coke head" Lauer is reporting from Beaumont, TX on the tellie right now.
Why the fuck do they always have these reportors standing in a puddle with gum boots on?
Aren't they smart enough to not stand in water? And if not, why am I listening to THEM?
pretzelattack --
It's impossible to be:
- too worried
- too paranoid
- too depressed
these days. The big challenge is to still find beauty & meaning & joy in life, 'cause that's exactly what the Powers That Be want to stamp out, except for those in their little club.
They've learned the lessons of the 1950s and 60s well -- that widespread prosperity gives average people too much time and leisure, so that they can take up extracirricular activities, such as civil rights fights, antiwar protests, etc.
If you keep people borderline poor & desparate, they don't have the strength or inclination to use what few resources they have in protesting or fighting.
How about we tell who we are/why we're here in poorly-constructed haiku?
Just an idea.
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Nationally known Democratic war critics, including Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and John Kerry of Massachusetts, won't attend what sponsors say will be a big anti-war rally Saturday in Washington.
The Democrats are so very much not our party. Too bad we don't actually have a party.
Chomsky said it years ago: We have two parties working for the owners, and none working for, well, the workers.
is obama going to be there? sigh. never mind, cspan still would only cover the prowar rallies.
CSPAN is so rightwing.
They reference the Rev. Moon's paper more than every other big MSM newspaper. Especially, Connie.
Why the fuck do they always have these reportors standing in a puddle with gum boots on?
Aren't they smart enough to not stand in water? And if not, why am I listening to THEM?
Especially when they're all wired up with electronic gear.
WHOO-HOOOOOOO!!!
Aren't I just glad to be alive, today? Yes, I am. 
.
How come NBC didn't send their great journalist, Katie Couric to report from the region?
Afraid she might blow out to sea?
robert parry wrote that it may be too late too. they use one of their greatest failures to cut the minimum wage of people rebuilding after katrina, and bankrupt us giving handouts to some of the same people that have fucked up so badly in iraq. somebody mentioned a sign upthread. where is the sign for the us.
Attaturk, I wandered into Eschaton looking for your daily blogwhore. Apropos of your link, you gotta read Billmon's latest.
And the only thing I can think to ask God -- if she does exists -- is why, just for once, can't you smite the wicked instead of the innocent?
Jeffraham --
When do you start the new job?
Mrs. bj just had an interview this week for a job she'd be perfect for, now we're crossing our fingers & waiting for the callback and trying not to count our proverbial chickens before they hatch.
Afraid she might blow out to sea?
Dartanyon
Well, the whistling noise generated by Cateory 4 winds as it blew through her head would shatter windows for blocks in every direction...
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Aren't they smart enough to not stand in water? And if not, why am I listening to THEM?
Especially when they're all wired up with electronic gear.
Well, at least they didn't hire this guy.
An Australian man built up a 40,000-volt charge of static electricity in his clothes as he walked, leaving a trail of scorched carpet and molten plastic and forcing firefighters to evacuate a building.
How come NBC didn't send their great journalist, Katie Couric to report from the region?
Afraid she might blow out to sea?
Dartanyon
"Category 5 Hurricanes Rock!"
Bobo's World - Country Music edition
Country singer Mindy McCready was hospitalized after overdosing on antidepressants early Friday following a quarrel with the father of her unborn child. She was in fair condition Friday afternoon, officials said.
According to a police report, McCready and William McKnight were arguing on the phone about whether his parents would help pay for the pregnancy. He cursed at McCready and she became angry and took about 30 antidepressant pills, the report says.
After McKnight called her back and she didn't answer, he called police and an ambulance.
McCready's lawyer did not return a phone message to his office.
McCready, 29, has had a series of legal and personal problems in recent months, including a drunken driving arrest in Nashville, a suicide attempt and an arrest in Arizona on charges stemming from her involvement with a con man she said she was trying to help police catch.
McKnight was also charged earlier this year with trying to kill her. McCready said he punched her in the face and tried to choke her.
Last year, McCready was charged with obtaining the painkiller OxyContin fraudulently at a pharmacy. She pleaded guilty and was placed on three years' probation.
bj: When do you start the new job?
10/11, for one day, then 10/13 for another day, then my regular 40 hr. schedule starts on 10/17. There are orientation and indoctrination steps in those first two days, according to the Spherion rep with whom I interviewed.
Mrs. bj just had an interview this week for a job she'd be perfect for, now we're crossing our fingers & waiting for the callback and trying not to count our proverbial chickens before they hatch.
I hope she gets it. I've been out of work since June, 2003. Spent my 401K, all other retirement, lost my house, and managed not to starve (thanks in large part to the loving and generous Atriots, here, btw), but came close to calling "game over" a few times.
Here's to better days for all of us. We deserve it. Amen.
.
Hiya Jeffraham Prestonian, damn, read yesterday you were going to be fully employed. Oh, happy days for you!
picture fema trying to cope with an actual bio or chemical attack. the evacuation out of houston was a mess, and most of the people weren't even panicking--they were afraid, but they had time, and a hurricane is a known quantity. picture a million people in a mass panic. mussolini at least made the trains run on time--these guys are incompetents, and when the lobotomotariat realizes this, im afraid they will go for real fascists to put things back in order.
Phredd,
Thanks for that link.
What a great post from Billmon...and how very, very depressing.
Ror,
The description of the Kekapo Dot as a 'deranged nitwit', I wasn't sure whether they were describing Dubya or a bird.
Would it be intruding to ask NZ advice from you and Miriam? My boss has given me the go-ahead to take the 21/2 weeks, now it's a manner of planning.
forgot to mention this. clicking between channels yesterday morning, caught an anti-war ad playing on...fox! one run by the military families gold star group. one mom said there were no wmds in iraq. another called bush a liar. another said her newborn son will never get to know his dad. kick in the gut kinda stuff.
after the ad played, cut to the hosts looking uncomfortable, who went back to their regular chatter and their next guest without mentioning the ad.
haven't seen this played on cnn or msnbc yet. wonder why fox allowed it.
Something just blew: POW POW POW and now the generator just kicked in.
How about we tell who we are/why we're here in poorly-constructed haiku?
Just an idea.
-
MisterX
=============================
I'll bite.
Punk rock actor fury,
Choosing path not often trod
lives with wincing hope.
any body else?...
If you keep people borderline poor & desparate, they don't have the strength or inclination to use what few resources they have in protesting or fighting.
bj
Ding, ding, ding
We got a real winnah here folks.
WTFWJD? -- I had lunch @ The Green Hills Grille with Mindy back in 1996 or '97. I'd recently moved to Nashville to start up a web design and hosting company with a good pal, and we were meeting with her and her manager to spec out a website. Of course, me being a total non-country music guy, I hadn't the faintest idea who she was. We didn't get the job, but we did get Hal Ketchum (whoever that is/was).
.
They're "briefing" Chimpy on rescue operations. What a fucking waste. It's like trying to teach an elephant to wipe its ass after it shits.
came close to calling "game over" a few times.
Here's to better days for all of us. We deserve it. Amen.
Amen. I've been there, and very nearly called "game over." But it passes, and then life begins its work again.
And you are stronger for having survived.
Jeffraham --
Mrs. bj was out of work back in 2000-2002, first waylaid by serious illness, then by the screwed-up economy -- her previous employer arranged things so she'd get NO unemployment and we were at wit's end for a long time, near divorce, etc., so I definitely hear ya.
We're in better shape now to deal with the situation, but it's still scary.
Here's looking forward to a nice secure work rut for all of us soon!
Big Dick undergoing surgery for an aneurysm this morning. Pray to the Flying Speghetti Monster to take him home.
Congrats, Jeffraham.
mer: Hiya Jeffraham Prestonian, damn, read yesterday you were going to be fully employed. Oh, happy days for you!
Yes; thanks for the well-wishes (to everyone)!
.
They're "briefing" Chimpy on rescue operations. What a fucking waste. It's like trying to teach an elephant to wipe its ass after it shits.
They're "briefing" Chimpy on rescue operations. What a fucking waste. It's like trying to teach an elephant to wipe its ass after it shits.
Do not insult elephants!
I can perfectly envision Bush's demeanor during these briefings.
Something like this.
Am I the only one skeptical that Cheney is actually having surgery today?
From the Washington Post, and Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, said yesterday...
"...'and the main worry of all the neighbors' was that the potential disintegration of Iraq into Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish states would "bring other countries in the region into the conflict.
Turkey, he noted, has long threatened to send troops into northern Iraq if the Kurds there declare independence."
I posted my opinion of Iraq partitioning into 3 separate, distinct quazi-nations a few months ago and looks as if others, from the region, are in agreement...shit's gonna hit the fan if they partition.
The Kurds may "think" they have the backing of the Bush Administration, the Republican's running Congress, and US military if they strike for "independence". However, the US will find they're gonna have to fight the entire Mid-East if they elect to do so. As I said before, "everyone' in the Middle East hates the Kurds and no one is willing to entertain the idea of an independent Kurdish State/Nation especially in an oil-rich part of Iraq.
Add to this the fact that Bush painted all Sunni's in Iraq as "bad guys" which left a political void that the Shiites moved into and now have a firm, grasp on the throat of the quasi-government. The Kurds saw their opportunity to start the process of defining their independence as a separate State/Nation. Also, the Shiites are tightly bound to the Iranian mullahs to boot, which in turns pisses off the Sunni's in the region.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are mild summer showers compared to the mayhem that’s gonna erupt in the Middle East if Bush doesn’t do something to bring all side together to form a unified Iraqi government that incorporates all three partys … free and democratic elections is nothing more than a straw dog.
Regards
.
Good morning, moonbats!
How about we tell who we are/why we're here in poorly-constructed haiku?
Just an idea.
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MisterX | Homepage | 09.24.05 - 10:13 am
Overweight folk-rock
comedian trying to
save the world and make everything scan.
Congrats on the full-time, Jeffraham! Doin' what?
found that ad.
http://www.gsfp.org/index.php
Haiku is not in my unabridged dictionary, but...
haiduk -- a class of mercenary Magyar footsoldiers in Haungary.
haik -- a tramp [Scot.]
haik, haick -- a large piece of woolen or cotton cloth worn by the Arabs over the tunic but under the burnoose.
haikwan -- Chinese maritime import duties.
... are all there. Odd. Perhaps I should update my unabridged.
Civil war today is closer than any time before," said Hazim Abdel Hamid al Nuaimi, a professor of politics at al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad. "All of these explosions, the efforts by police and purging of neighborhoods is a battle to control Baghdad."
Civil war in Iraq began the day the first US troops crossed the border from Kuwait and began the invasion/conquest/occupation/rape of Iraq...
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