Gitmo On the Platte

Denver prepares for the Democratic National Convention with a Gitmo Style jail facility.
Wow! They call it the Land of the Free.

They claim the regular Denver jail is full, so they neeed this auxillary jail space. They hear organizers inviting throngs to come to Denver to join a protest-- the 40th anniversary of the Chicago Democratic Convention, where all hell broke loose, because young Democrats were mad & gathered to demonstrate ~ Vietnam war deaths, and the military draft- angst erupted. Then Mayor Daley vowed to keep control of the protests, using any means necessary. 6000 people gathered to protest. Mass riots broke out with tear gas, billy clubs, and violent clashes.

1968 Democratic Convention Timeline Flashback:

August 23, Friday: At the Civic Center plaza (located in the Loop and now known as the Daley Center) the Yippies nominate their presidential contender—Pigasus the pig. Seven Yippies and the pig are arrested.

Almost 6,000 National Guardsman are mobilized and practice riot-control drills. Special police platoons do the same.

In his welcoming address, Daley says: "As long as I am mayor of this city, there's going to be law and order in Chicago."

The arrest count for Convention Week disturbances stands at 668. An undetermined number of demonstrators sustained injuries, with hospitals reporting that they treated 111 demonstrators. The on-the-street medical teams from the Medical Committee for Human Rights estimated that their medics treated over 1,000 demonstrators at the scene. At some point the anti war crowd swells to about 6000 people.

September 9: In a press conference, (post convention) Mayor Daley makes a now-famous slip of the tongue: "The policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder."

For a full timeline of the 1968 convention, click here.

There certainly is a long list of things to protest about regarding the Democrats. They have had a majority since 2006 in both the House & Senate, but continue to be spineless in any significant leadership. The war funding continues to be rubber stamped with approval. They failed to bring forth impeachment hearings on the most criminal presidential administration of this country. The allowed torture, and human rights abuses, and the existance of Gitmo detention prison in foreign soil so as to aviod obeying our own laws, and international law.
The Democrats have the blood of the illegal occupation on their hands, as well as being a party to allowing the reckless failure of the economy. Negligence and abuse of the environment.
A $9.5 Trillion dollar debt. Lack of managing and protecting Social Security. Denail of basic health care for millions. Failure to properly fund education.
I could go on, but the truth of the matter is this party has been a major disappointment, and has failed us on the most serious of human rights and foundational elements. As a majority since 2006, they have no excuse.



Talk to me people ~ surely you have thoughts on the matter.... I'd love to hear them.

The Swiftboats are Coming!

It's time for the Swiftboaters to set sail. This time in the form of a new book titled "Obama Nation ~ Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality"- get the word play of abomination? Amazon Books has it marked down 45% already, if that tells us anything. I caught a news feature on NPR about it, saying it is short on facts, and heavy on innuendo.

In short, 385 pages of pure unadulterated bullshit.
The author, DR. JEROME CORSI received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in political science in 1972 and has written many books and articles, including the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry.
Let's not forget PhD= piled high & deep.

The guy literally wrote the book on swiftboating-- Ugh!

In his book you will find such juicy pseudo facts on all the misinformation previously spewed in Mass Media:

"In this stunning and comprehensive new book, the reader will learn about:
-Obama's extensive connections with Islam and radical politics, from his father and step-father's Islamic backgrounds, to his Communist and socialist mentors in Hawaii and Chicago, to his long-term and close associations with former Weather Underground heroes William Ayers and Bernadette Dohrnassociations much closer than heretofore revealed by the press

>>>>Oooh! Communist, Socialist, & Islam--Oh my!!!!

-Barack and Michelle's 20-year-long religious affiliation with the black-liberation theology of former Trinity United Church of Christ Reverend Jeremiah Wright, whose sermons have always been steeped in a rage first expressed by Franz Fanon , Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X, a rage that Corsi shows has deep meaning for Obama

>>>>Steeped in rage-- Does that really happen in black & liberal/progressive circles???

-Obama's continuing connections with Kenya, the homeland of his father, through his support for the candidacy of Raila Odinga, the radical socialist presidential contender who came to power amid Islamist violence and church burnings.

>>>> Hammer in those key hot button words *Radical*socialist* Islamist Violence* & throw in a plurality of church burnings. What!!! No Voodoo?

-Obama's involvement in the slum-landlord empire of the Chicago political fixer Tony Rezko, who helped to bankroll Obama's initial campaigns and to purchase of Barack and Michelle's dream-home property.

>>>> Only ONE dream home property? McCain has what 5 or 6???

-The background and techniques of the Obama campaign's cult of personality, including the derivation of the words hope and change

>>>> That's right people, let's put hope and change under the microscope. The words "100 year war" has so much more clarity, and cleary devoid of any hope or change.


-Obama's far-left domestic policy, his controversial votes on abortion, his history of opposition to the Second Amendment, his determination to raise capital-gains taxes, his impractical plan to achieve universal health care, and his radical plan to tax Americans to fund a global-poverty-reduction program

>>>> We as Americans should be comfortable with $9,5 trillion $ debt. Who needs taxes when you can just go deeply in debt? Let the following generations deal with it. We should be leery of impractical health plans, because the "you're on your own" plan we have now is working just fine, for the wealthy. If there is no profit to be made off global poverty, what good is it, after all?


-Obama's naïve, anti-war, anti-nuclear foreign-policy, predicated on the reduction of the military, the eradication of nuclear weapons and an overconfidence in the power of his personality, as if belief in change alone could somehow transform international politics, achieve nuclear-weapons disarmament and withdrawal from Iraq without adverse consequences, for us, for the Iraqis or for Israel."

>>>> Pro war, pro nuke, fat military, stockpiles of nukes & weaponry, and trillions in debt are the American way.
We are very efficient people. We can just nuke ourselves & be our own worst enemy.

Meticulously researched and documented, THE OBAMA NATION is the definitive source for misinformation and spin.

Just for laughs, I glanced over the- people who read this book are also interested in:

• Fleeced: How Barack Obama, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want to Kill Talk Radio, the Do-Nothing Congress, Companies That Help Iran, and Washington Lobbyists for Foreign Governments Are Scamming Us ... and What to Do About It by Dick Morris

>>>> Hey Dick- You may have given the whole book away with the title.

• Real Change: From the World That Fails to the World That Works by Newt Gingrich

>>>> NEWT! Need I say more?

• Climate Confusion: How Global Warming Hysteria Leads to Bad Science, Pandering Politicians and Misguided Policies that Hurt the Poor by Roy Spencer

>>>> I'm dizzy from all the spin.

Ok~ I did not make any of this up. These are real books/titles, written by real idiots.
You could not pay me to read those books. Grab your lifejackets kids, the Swiftboats are coming!!!

Forever Young

Joan Baez~ Forever Young

Insurance Quandry

The Insurance company of the driver that hit my bike riding son, with her car is sending forms. The driver has been cited for being at fault & ticketed.

They want him to sign off on releasing all medical information (ever) & "no longer protected by federal privacy regulations".

The authorization terminates either by revocation, or upon final resolution of all claims.

We have nothing to hide, but I don't feel comfortable giving carte blanche access to everything ever, when all they need is the exam from the ER that is related to this accident.

Any experience with such paperwork?

Reality Check

While all the focus on the Olympics emerges in Beijing China, I thought I'd take a glance at current happenings in Tibet.

New report reveals intensified crackdown in Tibet as Olympics opens
International Campaign for Tibet
August 5th, 2008

"Despite its promotion of a 'peaceful Olympics', China has intensified its crackdown on Tibet this week following the most significant uprising in nearly 50 years. The wave of mainly peaceful protests against the Chinese government that has swept across Tibet since March 10 is a result of more than half a century of Communist Party misrule, revealing the breakdown of Beijing's Tibet policy at a time when China seeks to convey an image of pre-Olympics harmony.

In order to hide its repression in Tibet, China has virtually sealed off the entire plateau - despite promising increasing openness in the buildup to the Olympics - and imposed a news blackout. A new report published by the International Campaign for Tibet, 'Tibet at a Turning Point: the Spring Uprising and China's New Crackdown' (http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1344) provides evidence gathered at great risk of:

The 'disappearance' and detention of hundreds of Tibetans, including monks, nuns and schoolchildren, who are treated with extreme brutality in custody
Unarmed peaceful protestors who have been shot dead, and names of those who have died following torture in prison or as a result of suicide due to despair over the crackdown or being made to denounce the Dalai Lama
More than 125 protests across the Tibetan plateau - the overwhelming majority non-violent. Tibetans have risked their lives to demonstrate that the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, represents Tibetan interests, and not the Chinese state
Sweeping new measures to purge monasteries of monks and ban worship in the wake of the protests, revealing a systematic new attack on Tibetan Buddhism led by Chinese leader Hu Jintao that is reminiscent of the excesses of the Cultural Revolution
Mary Beth Markey, Vice President for Advocacy for the International Campaign for Tibet, says: "Hu Jintao's leadership appears to have chosen no other means than force and intimidation to restore control in Tibet, and has imposed a brutal crackdown that owes more to the political extremism and paranoia of the Maoist era than to a 21st century would-be superpower. As a matter of urgency, world leaders attending the Olympics must publicly express concern in Beijing about the crackdown in Tibet and the hardline policies that led to the spring uprising."

The International Campaign for Tibet is also pressing leaders to seek from Beijing a full accounting of the more than one thousand Tibetans whose status following the spring demonstrations in Tibet is unknown."

So if things seem strangely calm in China, regarding Tibet, it is oppression & iron fist rule that are making it so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In other news Prezzzident Bush gave the Chinese a verbal whupping about human rights violations & pollution.
Please? They must have thought they were being Punk'd.

I noticed they gave Bush a crappy seat up in the bleachers, or "nosebleed" section, he does not appear to be in the cushy VIP seating area. Bush was having to use binoculars to see the opening ceremony! Is this the Chinese way of saying "take your opinions & criticism & shove it"?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kudos to the creative concepts of the opening ceremonies....
It was beautiful & dreamlike with cultural ties, and innovative ideas.
I watch the Olympics with the spirit of the international unity at the heart of the gathering.
The idea that China is hosting the Olympics is questionable as the list of negatives is long- human rights, even air quality issues. I am choosing to cut through all the negative elements, and tune in to the original intent.

Settling down

Things are settling down here. Someone up there was looking out for my son. He is feeling aches & pains from being hit by a car & flying backwards onto the street. He said he does not remember the actual moment of impact. He saw that it was going to happen, somehow remembered hearing that one should try to swerve with the direction of the thing that is going to hit you. He said he tried to not tense up.

I volunteered to go back to the driving to pick him up from after work again.
A 14 mile round trip commute at 10 pm for now. We are still waiting to hear when his workplace closes down if he will still work security there, or what.

Just still so thankful that he walked away from that accident in one piece.

Talk Ain't Cheap

While chatting on her cell phone & driving late last night, Suzy was distracted. She failed to stop at the stop sign.
The next thing she knew, was she hit something & her windshield was shattered.

She did not notice the bike rider in the bike lane with his lights on.
The bicyclist saw it coming as she blazed out in front of him, making a left turn- he knew he was about to get hit by a car.

He was wearing a helmet, & a heavy backpack, full of college books and a laptop computer.

The car struck him & the bike. He flipped backwards off the bike and landed on his back.
The thick backpack prevented his helmet protected head from ever hitting the ground, but his lower spine, tail bone, slammed into the pavement.

Here are photos of the bike:


The handle bars are not turned, thisshould be thestraight front view of the bike.




The bicyclist, is my 19 year old son.

When the Officer finished the accident report, I took him to the Emergency room to be checked out. There the Doctor said *if* his tailbone was broken, there was nothing they could do about it anyway, but to let it heal. His pain level was not indicitave of a break & after examination, the Doctor opted to not do an X ray.


The bike is toast. My son has scrapes and bruises, and white car paint marks on his work pants.

After we returned home, wired, tired at 2 am, It really sank in -- his bike took the hit & not him.
Thank God it is his bike that is all mangled and NOT his body. Bikes can be replaced- and I fully expect her insurance company to replace it- it was a nice mountain bike. They will be given the ER & any Doctor's bills to pay as well.

But by the grace of god, he is OK. I will drive him to his 10 am College class this morning, so he did not have to ride the bus.

But I am realizing how VERY fortunate he is to have walked away from this.


* The name was changed to protect the guilty, who was ticketed for being at fault & failing to yeild.

Talk ain't cheap when you are chatting on your cell phone, driving a vehicle & not paying attention to the road & or bicyclists.

Paris for President?

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Views from Oregon...

South Sister


Falls Creek


Mysterious Plume off South Sister

The above photos were taken by the husband, he went on a little camping trip recently.


Wolf Song ~ Nature photo montage

Oils well that ends badly- or- Too Slick for me

Allowing Offshore Exploration to Help Address Rising Fuel Costs

>>>Ok this title should trigger a big red flag. The Bush Administration wants to "help" us?
When they "helped" Iraq, it turned out to be a profit scheme involving oil. Either that or why does this administration not care about other brutal dictators, and human rights violations in Rowanda, or Darfur?
I'm going to say the short answer is, there is no profit to be made.
Allow me to rip into this announcement---

President Bush Lifts An Executive Ban On Oil Exploration In America's Outer Continental Shelf And Calls On Congress To Lift Its Legislative Ban

President Bush lifted an executive ban on producing oil from the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the Democratically controlled Congress.

>>>That statement alone has me worried!

To reduce pressure on prices, President Bush recognizes the need to increase the supply of oil – especially here at home. For years, his Administration has called on Congress to expand domestic oil production. Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal – and now Americans are paying the price.

>>> Whoah Whoah Whoah- that segment has so much spin, I'm feeling dizzy.

Prez Bush recognized the profit margin of oil supply. For years they have been wringing their hands trying to get to the "precioussssss" oil- not to save America & support the fossil fuel addiction, let's just state up front, someone in the oil tycoon business believes there is profit to be made. If you don;t believe me, ask Exxon Mobile & Shell about the 11.6 billion quarterly profit they just posted.


Experts believe that OCS areas under leasing prohibitions could produce about 18 billion barrels of oil. We will not know for certain until exploration is allowed. The problem is that Congress has restricted access to much of the OCS since the early 1980s. Since then, advances in technology have made it possible to conduct oil exploration in the OCS that is out of sight, protects coral reefs and habitats, and protects against oil spills.

>>> My rheoric-o-meter is in the red zone.


Last month, President Bush asked the Democratic Congress to lift this legislative ban and allow the exploration and development of offshore oil resources. He committed to lift an executive restriction on this exploration if Congress did so, tailoring his executive action to match what Congress passed. However, it has been almost a month since he urged Congress to act – and the Democratic leadership has done nothing. They have not moved any legislation, and as Congress has sat idle, gas prices have continued to increase.

>>>Speaking of sitting idle-- the US has done little or nothing towards requiring better mileage efficiency, or moving towards alternative fuel sources. Let's point the finger in the right direction. ( I think you know which finger I mean!).

This failure to act is unacceptable to American citizens – and it is unacceptable to President Bush. So Bush has issued a memorandum to lift the executive prohibition on oil exploration in the OCS. With this action, executive branch restrictions on this exploration have been cleared away, except for areas within existing marine sanctuaries. Areas near Florida are also off limits until 2022 under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act.

This is a difficult period for millions of American families. They are rightly angered by Congress' failure to enact common-sense solutions. Today, President Bush has taken every step within his power to allow offshore exploration of the OCS. All that remains is for Democratic leaders in Congress to allow a vote.

This legislation must allow States to have a say in what happens off their shores, provide a way for the Federal Government and States to share new leasing revenues, and ensure the environment is protected.

>>> Funny they should mention that. Because here is what three West Coast States have to say:

:Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, joined with Democratic Govs. Ted Kulongoski of Oregon and Chris Gregoire of Washington to reaffirm their opposition to opening undersea oil fields to new drilling, as part of an elaborate action plan for preserving coastal waters.

The 116-page document outlines ambitious goals for cleaning up coastal waters and beaches, restoring fisheries, preparing for rising sea levels and developing projects that harness energy from waves and tides, among other topics.

"We are united ecologically, and now we are also united politically with Democrats and Republicans here working together and with one powerful voice," said Schwarzenegger, flanked by images of the two other governors beamed in via satellite." (Quoted from the L.A. Times)

>>>Furthermore, I would like to add that on the West Coast, Oregon specifically, there have been "Dead Zones" found in the Ocean-- vast expanses of areas in the Ocean, where suddenly, entire ecosystems, of fish & plants, can't survive. We've already fouled up the waters with human activity, in ways we don't even understand.
How much abuse can our planet endure?



Republicans in Congress have proposed several promising bills that would lift the legislative ban on oil exploration in the OCS. President Bush calls on the House and Senate to pass such good legislation as soon as possible.



This legislation should also take essential steps to expand domestic production from oil shale and in Alaska and to increase refining capacity. Congress should clear the way for our Nation to tap into the extraordinary potential of oil shale – which could provide Americans with domestic oil supplies that are equal to more than a century's worth of current oil imports. Congress should permit exploration in currently restricted areas of northern Alaska – which COULD produce roughly the equivalent of two decades of imported oil from Saudi Arabia. Finally, Congress should enable the expansion of our domestic refining capacity – so that America will no longer have to import millions of barrels of fully refined gasoline from abroad.

>>> I emphasized the word "could". I tried to find the statistic, but it seems the US burns through 20 million barrels of oil PER DAY. The drilling restrictions were put there for sound reasons. They throw in this "we will be careful" clause so gingerly. But seriously-- when oil drilling goes bad, there is no reversing it, and if it is not the drilling, it is oil tanker mishaps.

Go to this link for a sampling of things gone wrong Oil rig disasters

The Oil rig disasters link has them categorized- Deadliest, Most Expensive, Offshore Blowouts, Structural collapse, Sunk Rigs & Hurricane Damage. Let's just say the number & degree of peril in the drilling business is extensive.

These Proposals Will Take Years To Have Their Full Impact, So We Should Move Quickly

For the long run, we are dealing with the demand for oil by promoting alternative energy technologies. President Bush's Administration has worked with Congress to invest in gas-saving technologies like advanced batteries and hybrid vehicles, mandated a large expansion in the use of alternative fuels, and raised fuel efficiency standards to ambitious new levels. With all these steps, we are bringing America closer to the day when we can significantly reduce our reliance on oil.

>>> Doublespeak! If we want to "significantly reduce our reliance on oil" then what w should move quickly on is getting off the oil entirely.