Here is another photo I took at the A.N.S.W.E.R march last September.  There were a lot of parents there like this. Cindy Sheehan was also at this march.

Yes, but please don't ask him to remove the cowboy hat.

LOL.  This was a huge, larger than life sign at the A.N.S.W.E.R. anti- war march in Washington DC last September that I attended. 

I had thought that he was going to pick Hillary.

However, other evidence has come to light and I've changed my mind.

Here is the person that I think that Obama will choose and why.

http://iflizwerequeen.com/

lol as long as we allow polls to be reported here, we may as well continue in the realm of fantasy and present horoscopes as well.

BOTH BILL CLINTON AND GEORGE BUSH ARE "FIRE DOGS"

Right off the bat, let's say that Fire Dogs are very attractive! Not only themselves but all the people surrounding them are life's beautiful people. Their natural inclination is to conveniently turn an eye away from perversity. They view all of life through rose-colored glasses. Grays and beiges lead to momentary confusion. They don't know how to deal with adversity and when confronting a mountain, will walk all around the foothills for hours before even getting started. This person's life is filled with dichotomy. On the one hand, they know that hard work and effort will make things happen, but they sometimes accept the status quo. They dream of a bright future but wind up chasing windmills. And despite an overabundance of energy, their careers sometimes stand still. They see-saw from timidity to having grand adventures. They are on a sure course when it comes to friendship and love, though. Very well liked, their social circle is broad and their love life is full of energy and fire. You see, the firedog is a lovebird!

Well, while Bush and other conservatives in the Congress ponder whether they can squeeze the Colombia Free Trade Agreement through congress even though all of USA labor opposes it, here are some new developements from Colombia:

According to Colombian lawyer Alirio Uribe, Colombia is ripe for the ICC. “In no other Latin American country member of the ICC have so many crimes been committed as in Colombia,” he says.

Colombia passed a ‘Justice and Peace law’ three years ago. The law offers paramilitaries, some 30,000 of whom have officially demobilized over the last years, a reduction of their sentence and a guarantee that they will not be extradited to the United States in return for disarmament, demobilization, compliance with the law and financial compensation for their victims. According to Alirio Uribe, the law fosters impunity more than anything else

“Only 55 paramilitaries are in jail - the majority of whom have been extradited to the US. Up until now there hasn’t been any conviction under the Justice and Peace law. Neither has there been any restitution for the victims. That worries the ICC,” Uribe says.

OIL IS STILL AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, THE FIRST WORD OUT OF THE MOUTH OF CONSERVATIVES FOR AN ENERGY SOLUTION--OFF SHORE DRILLING.

GREEN IS WINNING ISSUE FOR DEMOCRATS!   FOCUS BACK TO ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES AND AWAY FROM OFFSHORE DRILLING

Democrats have allowed the Republicans to get us off a winning mark.  Our leaders need to shift the energy discussion back to alternative energies. It's one issue that 80% of America has been reported to agree on.

AND as another winning strategy suggestion:  START FOCUSING on a few Democrats who cross the aisle for the wrong legislation.  Start putting the heat on them to shove some of their conservative votes and stay on the right (left) side of the fence.

ANOTHER LESSON IN THE FALLIBILITY OF POLLS

 Few people believed that President Harry S. Truman had a chance of winning the 1948 presidential election.  New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican  was the predicted winner according to the three polling groups of the time.  And I can see how even to an enthusiastic Democrat that things looked grim.  The Democrats had split.  Strom Thurmand was running as a Dixiecrat and former vice pressident Henry Wallace was running as the canndidate of the newly formed Progressive Party.

 The Democratic convention that year was described as a funeral.  As if all the aforementioned events were not enough, Hubert Humphrey from Minnesota inserted a strong civil rights plank into the party platform that of course further agitated the southern Democrats.  But Truman roused the convention with his speech in which he declared that he and Barkley, his running mate, would win and "make the Republicans like it."  LOL  He also had a lot to say about the do-nothing Republican Congress that had gained control in 1946.

The pollsters with their predictions crucified Truman. 

DEMOCRATS DON’T EVEN HAVE TO DIG FOR THE WINNING ELECTION ISSUE

I just read an article by David Morris from AlterNet titled Republicans have handed the Democrats a Winning Election Issue.  And I was surprised that I had not thought of this as a winning election issue, because for the past month I have featured an appeal to voters on this very issue on my site’s GREEN ACTION page.  Often it takes others to point us to the diamonds in our own back yards.

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According to Morris ” . . .  The gift is the Republicans’ continued opposition to extending renewable energy incentives. Eight times since the fall of 2007, a Republican-threatened filibuster has thwarted a vote on extending these incentives. They will expire at the end of this year — and with that expiration, many believe the solar and wind industries will come to a grinding halt.

The GOP is holding the renewable energy industry hostage to its demand that Congress not reduce the existing subsidies to oil companies, hedge fund managers and foreign corporations. It is a bizarre linkage, but so far the Republicans are getting away with it. . . ”

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Morris points out that the GOP have put us on the defensive by putting the focus on offshore drilling.  He suggests, and rightly so, that Democrats need to shift the focus away from offshore drilling and back to renewable energy–an area that has huge support among Americans and also an area where Democrats have a clear advantage in this presidential election.  John McCain has consistently opposed government support for renewable energy incentives.

First all you can take heart because Conservatives are fading into the woodwork of American politics and I am among those who says "don't let the back door hit your keister on the way out." 

from Eric Lotke

". . . Modern conservatism is dying. There’s still an election to be held, but conservatism as we’ve known it since Ronald Reagan is failing—ground down in the desert of Iraq, drowned in the floods of Hurricane Katrina, foreclosed by the housing crisis and poisoned by toys imported from China.

The American people are figuring this out. While conservatives repeat their time-worn slogans—“small government, low taxes, high security”—the American people are living the consequences.

We’ve seen eight years of a conservative presidency, six years overlapping with a conservative Congress, and 30 years of broadly conservative ideology. Now reality is showing how the values embodied in those slogans have been betrayed.

Conservatives say “shrink government.” We get inadequate levees, exploding steam pipes and schools without textbooks. Conservatives say “deregulate,” and now Thomas the Tank Engine is painted with toxic lead. Conservatives say “low taxes,” but it primarily applies to millionaires, billionaires and crony corporations.

What follows is a history of these problems, and the direction people want to go instead.  . . "

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/conservatism-dying-old-age-ill-health-and-neglect

Keeping in mind that one or even a few roses a summer does not make. . . I  have hope that perhaps the wealthy of the world may awakening.  As one of our bloggers, Highserennity posted earlier, it looks as if billionaires are starting to pay attention to Warren Buffett, the richest man in the world, who for almost two years, has been admonishing his fellow billionaires to start paying their fair percentage of income tax. Now it would seem that he is finally getting their attention.  Some of them are actually beginning to see how it might be in their own best interests to not be so greedy.

It is true that if the wealthy (the upper 1%) and Corporations paid their taxes without the advantage of tax loopholes that we could erase the entire bill that Junior has created with his 8 year deficit spending spree and our nation could be solvent by April 15, 2009.

Tonight in the Arab News, I found yet more evidence of the rich treating ordinary citizens with more respect.

by Seth Michaels, Aug 21, 2008

Union members from around the country will arrive in Denver next week for the Democratic National Convention. A quarter of the more than 4,200 delegates to the convention are active or retired union members or union household members, and they’ll help get the word out about the economic issues that are at the heart of the 2008 elections.

On Sunday, many of the labor delegates will join Colorado union members and their families for a Labor Caucus to get ready for the convention and the election season. The Democratic convention will be a great opportunity for the union movement to highlight the important issues this election year and get ready to get out the vote.

Cindy Spanyers of Alaska and John Clark of Missouri are two delegates who will attend the convention and make sure working families are represented in the election and beyond.

More >>

LOL Sometimes I think the Democrats should take a few cues from the Republicans (but you didn't hear it from me).

CASE IN POINT:  the recent indignant flap, drama and misstatements regarding "The DNC Jail".  First of all there is no DNC Jail.  Second of all the DNC is not in charge of security, as I understand it, the Denver police are.  Thus I suppose they are open about it and the plans are rather public thus it makes it rather easy for the ACLU to create s fuss over some of the plans.

I went to the net to see what the Republicans were doing.  Their security plans are all under wraps, classified, as national security and thus off limits to people like the ACLU.  If any one does dare to ask, there won't be any information forthcoming. because "I'm sorry but that information is classified."  LOL  Same answer these creeps give our elected officials who try to supeona them.

The United States Department of Homeland Security has designated the convention a National Special Security Event, which means the United States Secret Service (U.S.S.S.) leads security planning. Convention staff is working closely with the U.S.S.S. and law enforcement personnel from all levels of government to ensure a safe and successful event. Every effort is also being made to keep local merchants open for business and area traffic running smoothly.

The topic of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement is important.  It is important for two reasons.  First and foremost it is important because we need to stop giving our world away to multinational corporations everytime a conservative holds our his or her hand for another corporate welfare handout.  Second of all I want the Democratic Party to move away from its watered down Republican facade of the past few years and return to the arms of Labor.  We cannot have a Democratic Party without labor.  And you can't have labor with the Colombian Free Trade Agreement.  It's not going to happen.

Colombian businessmen as well as USA multinational corporations want the Colombia Free Trade Agreement passed in the worst way.  They have really stepped up their efforts this year as it is Bush’s last year and he has sworn to do all he can to get it passed before he leaves office.  They know if it has any hope at all of passing it is within the next few months.

President Alvaro Uribe is a right-wing leader of Colombia who has had ties to drug cartels in Colombia for years.  As President, he has supported big business and American big business in particular.  One of the ways in which he has done this is through the employment of right wing militias to kick small farmers off their land so  that the Colombian aristocracy of which Uribe and much of their Parliment belong can then lease the land to large American agribusinesses such as Chiquita and Cargill.

FOR DEMOCRATS, IT'S A NO-BRAINER!

If you want the support of labor and their continued support such as $200 million that they brought to the table this year and are pouring into election of Democratic officials all over the  USA, then those who represent the Democrats in Congress will vote against the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

The AFC CIO is against the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and that should be enough for Democrats.  Organized labor makes up at least 25% of the Democratic party.  Bill Clinton and other conservative Democrats got too big for their britches in 1993 and passed NAFTA.  The end result was that in the mid-term elections of the next year, the Democrats lost both houses of Congress because they lost the support of labor.  Labor stayed home that year.

We can only hope that our elected officials learned this lesson.

It is a very simple fact:  without labor's support, Democrats cannot win.  Tell this to your elected officials just in case they may have forgotten.

The polling equipment used by national pollsters such as Rasmussen, Gallup, etc. can only dial to land lines.  According to Technocrati, nearly a third of those from ages 18 to  29 do not have land lines.  A report from Rocky Mountain News stated that consumer land lines are falling rapidly at a rate of 8.8 percent each year.  Thus it is fairly safe to say that all the polls have a much wider margin of error than they currently allow for.  AND we can also say that this margin of error that is not considered is grossly in favor of Democratic voters who tend to be younger and more techno savvy than Republicans.  Case in point:  I am a Democrat beyond my fifth decade who has not had a land line for over 4 years.  Thus, whenever I read any poll, I automatically add 8 points in favor of the Democrat.

I wonder how many Americans are aware of this story?  Another thing to remember about these groups that they call "leftist guerilla groups":  That is a lie. Nothing but more newspeak from conservatives, banana republic thug leaders like Uribe, and the corporations they support in the US. These death squads are right-wing paramilitary squads that the Uribe government has looked the other way on for years who bully and murder unioinsts and people who want to organize labor.  There is nothing "leftist" about them at all.  President Alvaro Uribes cousin has been in charge of them. It should be enough for Americans and espeically Democrats to know that the AFL CIO is against the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

THIS FOLLOWING STORY IS FROM ABC MARCH 19, 2007
(It is written from the slanted viewpoint that these paramilitary groups are "lefist" terrorists. when in fact they are right-wing thugs who want to keep labor out and will murder to do so.)

yeah right, President Alvaro Uribe (Colombia) gets his cousin released on a technicality.  UH huh.

NO COLOMBIAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT FOR AMERICAN CRIMINAL CORPORATIONS LIKE CHIQUITA BANANA WHO ARE ALLEGED TO PAY MILLIONS TO THUGS WHO MURDER PEOPLE

The Supreme Court ordered the release of Mario Uribe Escobar, cousin and close ally of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, because of a procedural mistake by the prosecution.

Former President of Colombia’s Senate Uribe is awaiting trial in the Picota prison in Bogotá for his alleged involvement with the paramilitary group of Jairo ‘Pitiri’ Peralta.

Both ‘Pitiri’ and extradited AUC head Salvatore Mancuso claim they had a meeting with him before the 2002 elections.

The senator’s trial will go on as planned, but he no longer has to stay in prison until a conviction.

The interrogations of ten executives will be starting next week. Managers from Chiquita Brands and Banacol, Chiquita’s Colombian partner, will have to appear before the prosecution to be heard.

The prosecution hopes the local executives of the multinational will release the names of the specific CEO’s in the U.S. who were responsible for the deals made with the paramilitary organization AUC.

Chiquita paid the AUC US$ 1.7 million between 1997 and 2004. The AUC committed at least hundreds of crimes against humanity in Uraba during that period, included murder and extortion.

A U.S. judge ordered Chiquita to pay a US$ 25 million fine, after they were found guilty of crimes against humanity last year. Executives of Chiquita, responsible for the deal, were never criminally prosecuted.

CORPORATIONS EMBRACE VOLUNTARY CODES OF CONDUCT

When I read this article today in Corporate Watch I was reminded of a childhood plan that my brother and I drafted when we were five and six years old.  We made a deal that we would give each other the spankings to "save" my mother the work.  Of course our agreement was that the one delivering the blows would do so with great exaggerated movements but then stop fairly short of impact and actually deliver  a light touch.  When we delivered our plan to our mother, of course she laughed and was amused, but her answer was still a decided no.

AND A DECIDED "NO" is the same answer that should be given to corporations who volunteer to provide their own oversight--what a joke!