deuddersun says...

9/11 - I Will Never Forget Paul John Gill, FDNY

2011-09-11T09:33:00.001-04:00

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the day that the United States of America was attacked by Terrorists. One of those who bravely gave their lives that day was a friend of mine. Ten years later, I still miss him.

I am re-posting the tribute I originally posted . I just can't find the words today to do another, other than to say that I have often wondered where Paul would be today, had he made another, safer choice? He could have joined our Union - he would have been a shoe-in. He could have worked with me on the movie "World Trade Center", instead of losing his life in the real one. That should tell you all you need to know, that Paul would rather risk his life saving others, than tell the stories of those who do.

I will Never Forget Paul John Gill. Who will you be remembering today? Don't let them be forgotten...

Paul, this is for you...

Miss you, Bro...

Three years ago today one of the finest men I have ever known was murdered by terrorists in New York City. Paul Gill was my friend. I remember the day he walked into our shop. He had flames tattooed up and down his arms, kind of like what you might expect to see on a '57 Chevy Bel Air, you know, a real Hot Rod. Paul was a real Hot Rod. He was a New York City Firefighter and like many of his Brother's, he worked other jobs on his off days. For all the hoopla about New York's Bravest, and probably everywhere-else, Paul needed to work other jobs to make ends meet. What does that tell you about how much we appreciate those who risk their lives for us on a daily basis?

Anyway, I came to know Paul after a period of time. I took him under my wing and showed him the ropes of the make believe world of Motion Pictures. Paul fit right in. He was smart, talented, with a great work ethic. He hit it off with this old Marine and we became friends. I often went to the Firehouse with him and hung out with the guys, watching TV and shooting the breeze as guys often do. We used to go to a little Brazilian Restaurant, Chateau Brazil, after work and hit a few cold ones. The days Paul worked at the Firehouse, I would stop by and hang for a while. His fellow Firefighters were always amazed at the fact that Paul was a good enough carpenter to make it in the crazy world of TV and Movies. They shouldn't have been.

Paul was the kind of guy who was good at anything he tried. He was dedicated. He paid attention. He wanted to learn. He took personal pride in everything he did. He never wanted to let us down or make excuses for sloppy or poor workmanship.

I remember when he came in one day after serving his tour with the Fire Department. He was very excited. I asked him what the happy occasion was and he told me that he had gone on a Rescue Call and had actually saved a guy's life. It was the happiest I had ever seen him. Paul was a Life-saver, not a Life-taker.

But on September 11, 2001, Paul's life was taken. He had been transferred back to his home station at 48th & 8th Avenue, the Pride of Midtown and when the planes hit the Trade Towers he was there. No movie, no make believe. No special effects. Not this time. Paul Gill died doing what made him happiest - trying to save other people's lives.

And Paul, you never let us down. We are proud of you. And we miss you terribly.

Semper Fidelis, Brother, for you were, and are, and will always be, "Always Faithful" We will never forget you.

deuddersun

For the FDNY...

For My Fellow New Yorkers...

Paul Gill, New York City Firefighter

Complete 911 Timeline

(This post will remain on top until Wednesday, September 12, 2009)

Philadelphia's Finest

2011-06-11T09:00:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Philadelphia Police Officer

Gregory Giacomelli

Greg is my favorite nephew and it was with enormous pleasure that I attended his Graduation from the Philadelphia Police Academy on Wednesday, September 5th.

Officer Giacomelli has been assigned to the 39th District here in Philadelphia. A strapping young man at 6'-4" and adept in the martial arts, Greg fulfilled his dream and is now proudly serving the city he loves.

As I mentioned Greg is adept in the martial arts and qualified Expert on the pistol range, but his most important qualities can't be measured- quick to smile or laugh, Greg has an innate ability to relate to regular people, and the patience necessary to reach workable solutions to unworkable situations.

I am so proud to know him. I know he will be a credit to the Police Department, the City of Philadelphia, his family and friends. He's the kind of Cop you would want to see if you're lost, need help or in trouble.

Officer Giacomelli taking his Oath to Serve and Protect.

While I have pictures of Greg and his proud family I have declined to post them in the unhappy event some miscreant decides to take "revenge" on Greg's family for some future"episode", however, I don't have the same reservations, so ...

Here we are!

I told you he was a strapping young man!

Congratulations Officer Giacomelli!

And Congratulations to Class 349, Philadelphia Police Academy!

As Sergeant Phil Esterhaus, of Hill Street Blues used to say: "Hey, let's be careful out there."

d.

Happy 4th Of July!

2010-07-03T11:23:00.000-04:00

This weekend let's put aside our differences and celebrate the birth of our Nation!

Happy Independence Day!

Working

2010-06-29T18:55:00.000-04:00

I've been doing a little house cleaning here, changed the look, moved some stuff around, still plenty to do tho. Some links and widgets are out of date, others just won't work, guess yer gonna have that. Not sure who's comment service I'm using, think it's Blogger's, but it works and that's good enough for the moment. I also need to go thru my link list and see what and who is still active. I hate to delete links tho, you never know when someone will get bitten by the bug and pop up again with something to say, so if there's a site at the end of the link, active or not, I'll leave it. A lot of people have put a lot of effort and love into those sites, and if nothing else, they can serve as archives.

So, while I work behind the curtain, I'll leave you to ponder this.

Little blast from the past...

Let's update this, ok? So what, exactly, have we learned over the last 45 years or so? You tell me...

An Exhumation (and Reincarnation)

2010-06-28T12:25:00.006-04:00

For some reason, a reason I have not yet fully fathomed, I have decided to exhume this old blog and try to make it readable again. There is a lot here - years of my thoughts and realizations, which I am reluctant to bury, some good, some awful, but mine none-the-less. I started this blog in order to combat the lunacy of the Aways Wrong Right during the years of the George "Dubya" Bush debacle. Motivated by my brother, Scroff, I joined other Progressive bloggers in an attempt to counter the Right's lies and insinuations, hence my participation in the American Patriot Institute. How, I reasoned, could we who had served be labeled Un-American and traitors? The swiftboating of a legitimate war hero, John Kerry, showed me that in Right Wing politics there is no room for "reason" of any kind. This was only reinforced by the Right's lame efforts to discredit Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential elections. Indeed, to this day, their claims that he is a Muslim, (as if that in itself should disqualify him somehow in a country founded, in part, on religious freedom), or that he is not a natural born citizen, still ring from the mouths of the Right Wing shills on Fox News and from the likes of Rush Limbaugh on Right Wing Radio, and is eagerly consumed by legions of common working folk, too scared or bamboozled to act in their own best interests. (Face it, the wealthy, who are for the most part, the Real Republicans, are far too educated and intelligent to fall for such blatant nonsense.) With the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States, I naively considered the battle won and slowly withdrew from the field.

But it is not politics that draws me back. Rather it is death. The death of four good friends over the last eight months. I have come to see my own vulnerability and mortality and it is this realization, that tomorrow should never be taken for granted, that motivates me now. There is no more "later". There is only now for me, and if there is to be a "later" for someone-else, a later that involves a truly free country, with equal opportunities and real justice, a later in which all the sick are treated and all the hungry fed, a later where all children are able to reach their potential, where war is a last resort and not a method of strong arm diplomacy, where good, hard working men do not die in mines or offshore oil rigs to feed the Corporate Coffers of soulless, arrogant men, then I must act now.

No longer can I sit by while our work is shipped offshore and our hardworking citizens left to languish in fear, choosing between eating, medical care or paying bills, as rich Republicans deny even the smallest bit of help by refusing to extend unemployment benefits. No longer can I bear to watch once proud workers who built our nation and raised our families struggle, with no help at all from their fellow citizens while Big Banks, Oil Companies and Automakers feed freely at the public trough! Welfare is evil and only encourages laziness! Unless it is Corporate Welfare under the guise of Bail outs! Too big to fail is too big to exist! That is real free market economics! Socialism works fine for Mismanaged Corporate giants, for Wall Street... but not for Main Street! Main Street is told to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" and carry on as the rugged "Real Americans" always have, and the illusive carrot that is dangled is "work hard and you too can join the ranks of the wealthy"! Ah yes, Capitalism at it's best ~ indeed, then let that free market capitalism apply to all.

Myths like the Protestant Work Ethic apply only to the working class! Easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven! This false promise of reward and social justice in an afterlife is small comfort to the family watching their child die due to lack of adequate healthcare.

It is time to level the playing field. And that is exactly what I will try to do. Will you join me? Will you help me? The future is ours, but we must act now.

d.

No Comment

2010-01-18T13:21:00.002-05:00

After years of using a wonderful FREE service from Halscan for comments, a new outfit has moved in, taken over and now wants us to pay for commenting. That is why there are no comments after each post. I am working to rectify this and any suggestions would be appreciated. C'mon, one of the two people who still visit here must have an idea!

I may try to enable Blogger's comments, but I will be damned if I'm gonna pay so some jack-off can call me names in my comment section! Anyway, we'll see what happens.

Ciao!

d.

Move Your Money!

2009-12-30T09:31:00.002-05:00

It's so simple an idea I don't know why it took this long for someone to come up with it! If Washington can't or won't control the Big Banks, we can!

Read the article below and take a look at the video. Then repost this everywhere! Let's put our money where it will do us the most good!

Move Your Money: A New Year's Resolution

Arianna Huffington

and Rob Johnson

Last week, over a pre-Christmas dinner, the two of us, along with political strategist Alexis McGill, filmmaker/author Eugene Jarecki, andNick Penniman of the HuffPost Investigative Fund, began talking about the huge, growing chasm between the fortunes of Wall Street banks and Main Street banks, and started discussing what concrete steps individuals could take to help create a better financial system. Before long, the conversation turned practical, and with some help from friends in the world of bank analysis, a video and website were produced devoted to a simple idea: Move Your Money.
The big banks on Wall Street, propped up by taxpayer money and government guarantees, have had a record year, making record profits while returning to the highly leveraged activities that brought our economy to the brink of disaster. In a slap in the face to taxpayers, they have also cut back on the money they are lending, even though the need to get credit flowing again was one of the main points used in selling the public the bank bailout. But since April, the Big Four banks -- JP Morgan/Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo -- all of which took billions in taxpayer money, have cut lending to businesses by $100 billion.
Meanwhile, America's Main Street community banks -- the vast majority of which avoided the banquet of greed and corruption that created the toxic economic swamp we are still fighting to get ourselves out of -- are struggling. Many of them have closed down (or been taken over by the FDIC) over the last 12 months. The government policy of protecting the Too Big and Politically Connected to Fail is badly hurting the small banks, which are having a much harder time competing in the financial marketplace. As a result, a system which was already dangerously concentrated at the top has only become more so.
We talked about the outrage of big, bailed-out banks turning around and spending millions of dollars on lobbying to gut or kill financial reform -- including "too big to fail" legislation and regulation of the derivatives that played such a huge part in the meltdown. And as we contrasted that with the efforts of local banks to show that you can both be profitable and have a positive impact on the community, an idea took hold: why don't we take our money out of these big banks and put them into community banks? And what, we asked ourselves, would happen if lots of people around America decided to do the same thing? Our money has been used to make the system worse -- what if we used it to make the system better?
Everyone around the table quickly got excited (granted we are an excitable group), and began tossing out suggestions for how to get this idea circulating.
Eugene, the filmmaker among us, remarked that the contrast between the big banks and the community banks we were talking about was very much like the story in the classic Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life, where community banker George Bailey helps the people of Bedford Falls escape the grip of the rapacious and predatory banker Mr. Potter.
It was a lightbulb moment. And, unlike the vast majority of dinner conversations, the excitement over this idea didn't end with dessert. It actually led to something -- thanks in great part to Eugene and his remarkable team, who got to work and, in record time, created a brilliant, powerful, and inspiring video playing off the It's a Wonderful Life concept. Watch it below.
Within a few days, the rest of the pieces fell into place, including an agreement with top financial analysts Chris Whalen and Dennis Santiago, who gave us access to their IRA (Institutional Risk Analytics) database. Using this tool, everyone will be able to plug in their zip code and quickly get a list of the small, solvent Main Street banks operating in their community.
The idea is simple: If enough people who have money in one of the big four banks move it into smaller, more local, more traditional community banks, then collectively we, the people, will have taken a big step toward re-rigging the financial system so it becomes again the productive, stable engine for growth it's meant to be. It's neither Left nor Right -- it's populism at its best. Consider it a withdrawal tax on the big banks for the negative service they provide by consistently ignoring the public interest. It's time for Americans to move their money out of these reckless behemoths. And you don't have to worry, there is zero risk: deposit insurance is just as good at small banks -- and unlike the big banks they don't provide the toxic dividend of derivatives trading in a heads-they-win, tails-we-lose fashion.
Think of the message it will send to Wall Street -- and to the White House. That we have had enough of the high-flying, no-limits-casino banking culture that continues to dominate Wall Street and Capitol Hill. That we won't wait on Washington to act, because we know that Washington has, in fact, been a part of the problem from the start. We simply can't count on Congress to fix things. We have to do it ourselves -- and the big banks are the core of the problem. We need to return to the stable, reliable, people-oriented approach of America's community banks.
So watch Eugene's amazing video, then go to www.moveyourmoney.info to learn more about how easy it is to move your money. And pass the idea on to your friends (help make this video -- and this idea -- go viral!).
JP Morgan/Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America may be "too big to fail" -- but they are not too big to feel the impact of hundreds of thousands of people taking action to change a broken financial and political system. Let them gamble with their own money, not yours. Let's turn big banks into smaller banks. We'll all be better off -- and safer -- as a result.
Make it your New Year's resolution to move your money. We can't think of a better way to start 2010.

Rock on Santa!

2009-12-25T09:23:00.004-05:00

George Thorogood & the Delaware Destroyers!

Crank up the volume and rattle the needles right off the Tree!

Merry Rock & Roll Christmas! From me in the Great White North to you where-ever you are!

Santa d.

Ho Ho Fucking Ho! Merry Christmas! (X Rated)

2009-12-25T09:20:00.001-05:00

Think the Elves have had enough?

Merry! Merry!

d.

Christmas Elf Bootcamp - Not for Children!

2009-12-25T09:17:00.002-05:00

What really motivates the Elves!

Merry Christmas!

d.

Merry Christmas From the Kings of Cool!

2009-12-25T09:15:00.000-05:00

Sickening indeed...

2009-12-17T13:18:00.008-05:00

I never thought it would come to this, but I have to say, there are a lot of Democrats I won't be voting for again, and that includes you, Mr. President.

I have, for well over a year now, proudly displayed your picture in my margin over the words, "Another Union Marine for Obama". You have made me ashamed of that. You have made me doubt myself. How could I have been so blind, how could I have been so fooled? The only answer I can come up with is the one I convinced myself of so long ago, that anybody would have been better than four more years of Republican chicanery. I was wrong.

At least with the Republicans I know what to expect. I know they are against me and those like me. I know that they are self-serving, soul-less creatures who worship at the alter of the almighty dollar. I don't expect anything less from them and I did garner a certain joy in fighting them for eight long years at every turn. I tuned in every night to Keith Olbermann and reveled in his tirades against the Bush Crime Cartel and posted them all right here. I was convinced that once you were elected you would make things right. I looked forward to the end of our military involvement in Iraq. I relished the idea that Gitmo would be closed. I celebrated in the knowledge that justice was finally coming to America and that every American citizen would have access to quality healthcare, regardless of socio-economic status. You, Mr. President, would boldly lead us into the new century and a new America that truly offered the American Dream to everyone. I was so wrong.

Mr. President, in my eyes you have betrayed us. You have sat idly by and watched our dreams get swept away by a handful of Insurance Company cronies led by the ultimate turncoat, Joe Lieberman. You have failed to close Gitmo. You have failed to extricate us from Iraq. And now you have failed us again on an issue of such colossal importance that I can no longer turn away and forgive you your sins.

"Yes We Can" rings empty and unfulfilled.

I can't even credit you with "No we can't", because you just didn't even really try.

You have shown us all plainly that it is, after all, "No We Won't".

Now, excuse me while I replace your picture in my margin with the one best suited to you. The one above, Nobama!

d.

Fix it!

2009-12-16T08:29:00.005-05:00

While perusing my feed this morning I came across this from Fixer at Alternate Brain. Sums up the way I feel exactly, so head on over to Alternate Brain and give it a look.

"Fixing shit is what I do, and I do it well. Everything from lawnmowers to jet engines, I can figure out what's wrong with it and make it work correctly, or let you know it's beyond hope. All except our political system. I wouldn't have a clue of where to start. This health care "reform" process shows me it's pretty well beyond hope."

Read the rest here.

While you're there, look around. A lot of good stuff going on over there!

Hey Liz, STFU!

2009-12-14T09:06:00.001-05:00

Outrageous... Bimbette, Liz Cheney, who was noticeably quiet as her Father's administration did everything it could to drive Gay men and women back into the closet, and straight women back to the "hanger", has no problem defending torture and Gitmo as "American Ideals". Is this chick confused, or what?
Liz Cheney Accuses Obama Of Slandering CIA In Nobel Speech: 'Shameful'
President Obama's speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize this past week has won unlikely plaudits from conservatives, who say he injected a bit of militaristic realism into a committee founded on the lofty notion of world peace. But not everyone is applauding. Liz Chen...
See More

Time to tell Turncoat Joe to Go!

2009-12-14T07:56:00.007-05:00

Outrageous... The only good thing about Gore "losing" the Presidential election in 2000 is the fact that, had he won, "Turncoat" Joe Lieberman would have been the vice President of the United States. This would have positioned him to run for President in 2008, instead of Barack Obama. As big a disappointment as Obama has been, I can't imagine what things would be like under a DINO administration led by a closet Likudnik like Lieberman. It's time to divorce him from the Democratic Party completely. Strip him of his Chairmanship! Thanks Connecticut! We owe all this to you!

Lieberman Tells Reid To His Face: I'll Vote Against Current Health Care Bill

Sam Stein

stein@huffingtonpost.com | HuffPost Reporting

Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) informed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in a face-to-face meeting on Sunday that he will vote against a health care bill that includes a public option or a provision that would expand Medicare, a Democratic Senate aide tells the Huffington Post.

Full story here.

It's time for the Democrats to grow a set and let Turncoat Joe know that there is a price to be paid for his outrageous betrayal - strip him of his coveted Chairmanship!

Hit the road, Joe! We don't want you.

Big Giant Head Rips Wolf; Law & Order

2009-12-12T13:53:00.004-05:00

Bill O'Reilly Slams "Law & Order" Creator Dick Wolf: 'Despicable Human Being'

Huffington Post | Danny Shea

First Posted: 12-11-09 03:28 PM | Updated: 12-11-09 05:09 PM

Bill O'Reilly slammed "Law & Order" and its creator, Dick Wolf, Thursday night on "The O'Reilly Factor." O'Reilly took particular offense to a recent segment in which one character said:

"Garrison, Limbaugh, Beck, O'Reilly, all of them. They're like a cancer spreading ignorance and hate. I mean, they have convinced folks that immigrants are the problem, not corporations that fail to pay a living wage or a broken health care system."

O'Reilly called that "simply defamatory and outrageous," and labeled Wolf "a coward"...

Full story here.

Crazy... Pure, unadulterated bullshit from the Big Giant Head!

I have worked on every Law & Order show there is, including the original series. I can tell you that Mr. Wolf puts his money where his mouth is. He uses Union labor. He pays extremely well. His employees all have one of the best healthcare plans available. He cares about those he employs.

There have been times in the past, when other shows pulled out of New York to seek cheaper labor in Canada or Right to Work states, with little care for the hard working, dedicated people they left behind. Mr. Wolf is NOT one of these. He has helped to shape the New York Television Production industry more than any other single person or company and he has fed my family countless times and will continue to do so in the future.

It is not often that a behind the scenes crew member will publicly defend a producer or production company, but in this case I have no problem putting my name on the line in Mr. Wolf's behalf. If Mr. O' Reilly did half the good for people that Dick Wolf does, he would be a saint. As it is, all he does is sit on his butt and criticize those who do.

So STFU Billo! You aren't fit to be a pimple on Dick Wolf's ass!

Chris "Snaggle" Markunas
Shop Craftsman
IATSE
Local #52

Updated 12/12/09, 2:42 pm, est, to correct omission of source and author

Merry Christmas & Happy Chanukah to Those who Serve...

2009-12-11T09:55:00.010-05:00

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,

Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,

Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear..
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother...
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.."

" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Semper Fidelis to ALL who serve...

Cross posted at The American Patriot Institute

He wore a cane and derby hat...Goodbye Bat...

2009-12-11T07:49:00.006-05:00

Another part of my childhood has died...Goodbye Gene. Thanks for all the great memories!

Gene Barry, Actor of TV, Film and Stage, Dies at 90

By MICHAEL POLLAK

Published: December 11, 2009

Gene Barry, who portrayed debonair lawmen on television but whose career of more than 60 years ranged from song and dance on Broadway to science fiction, died Wednesday in Woodland Hills, Calif. He was 90 and lived in Beverly Hills until about a year ago.

Betrayal!

2009-12-09T21:35:00.002-05:00

I never expected this much betrayal from the Dems...I guess it's time to reopen deuddersun says... and go back on the offensive. These folks need to know that we won't forget and we certainly won't forgive.

Bank-Friendly Dems Shut Down House, Threaten To Kill Wall Street Reform
www.huffingtonpost.com
A group of Democrats friendly to Wall Street interests forced a delay in consideration of the landmark financial regulatory reform bill scheduled to hit the House floor on Wednesday, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told reporters in the Speaker's lobby. ...

Blackwater? Black deeds...

2009-11-30T11:40:00.004-05:00

I found this this morning at Walk of the Fallen. It's a must see. As a United States Marine, it makes me sick to my stomach. I may, we may, have to fight these people some day and it breaks my heart to think I might have to take up arms against fellow Marines, but they made their choice...

Hat tip gratefully given to Walk of the Fallen.

d.

Saving Grace, by Amanda Mueller

2009-11-28T12:19:00.005-05:00

This is a guest article by Amanda Mueller and it really hits home on the Abortion issue. Take a minute and read it. It's well worth it.

Pulling up to the home of Gail and Robert Anderson, a large statute of the Virgin Mary sits in the yard welcoming guests into the home, while protecting the family that lives there. Next to the statute of Mary, inside of labyrinth of daisies, daffodils, tulips and roses is a stone engraved with the word grace. For the Anderson’s grace is not just a word or a concept taught through their strong Catholic faith, but the name of the daughter their hopes and dreams hung onto. It is the name of the daughter they said goodbye to in the Kansas office of a man named Dr. George Tiller.
Both coming from large families with faith deeply-rooted in the Catholic church, the Andersons looked forward to starting their own family with great anticipation, eagerly awaiting pregnancy test results each month in hopes that they would discover they were to become parents. The April morning that their hopes were realized is described by Robert as being one of the best days of his life. After breakfast, they went to the local bookstore together to purchase books on pregnancy, for him and for her, and celebrated by inviting their parents to dinner, sharing their news between the gumbo and the dessert.
“We were the first of our families to marry and were the first in our families to have children. With our parents around the table, we celebrated a generation being added – being first time parents and first time grandparents. It was a moment of love, hope and joy,” Gail says, thinking back to the day that was to change their lives forever, unknowing exactly how much would change.
Their world was now filled with routine doctor visits, baby name books and trying to decide what color to paint the nursery. With no complications known to them, the Andersons enjoyed their last moments together as husband and wife before they would also become mother and father.
It was during a routine ultrasound, Gail’s first, when concern was raised over the development of the child. Told by their doctors that there was no cause for alarm, the Andersons were referred to specialists who referred them to another set of specialists. Finally, at 27 weeks, a doctor out of Baton Rogue gave them the honesty they had needed, informing them with regret that cystic masses were covering the child’s left lung, forcing pressure on a heart that had not fully developed.
Gail would be forced to deliver her child through c-section, as the stress of a traditional birth would be too much for their baby’s body to handle. Their baby would need to be on life support machines for months until able to have the surgeries required that could repair the damage of the child’s suffocated heart and remove the masses from the undeveloped lung. As painful was it was for the Andersons to hear that this child they wanted so badly may not live even after the surgeries intended to repair damage, they were forced to make a decision that not only challenged their personal strength, but where they fit into their Catholic faith.
After a frank discussion with their specialist, they decided that not only did the quality of life of their unborn child need to be questioned, but the life expectancy even if surgeries were successful. There were no guarantees and one day, one month or one year could be added to the life of their child, but not much more than that. After discussing every option available to them, the decision to visit Dr. George Tiller’s office in Kansas to have a late-term abortion was made. Both the Andersons sunk into a depression, feeling as if they were losing both their child and their religion.
“We are catholic. We are supposed to be against abortion, but the church teaches mercy as well. The church examines quality of life. It isn’t a black and white issue as so many like to make it, ” Robert says, looking away while fondling with his fingers the golden crucifix he wears around his neck.
As they packed their car to travel to Wichita, Kansas, members of their parish came, trying to talk them out of their decision. Unable to deal with the confrontation, Gail admits she almost called the trip off at the last minute, unsure of how she would be able to sit next to these women in mass. This group was the same women she had gathered with outside of a clinic that performed abortions in Metarie, Louisiana, once a month coming together, praying for the souls of the unborn babies; for the souls of those making this choice. They traveled in silence, both trying to come to terms with their own perceived failures in the choice they were making.
“It was the longest car ride I had ever been on. I didn’t know what to say to my wife. I didn’t know what to think for myself, ” says Robert, recalling the trip that led them from Louisiana to Kansas, finally reaching the one-story, beige Women’s Health Care Services building where Dr. Tiller practiced.
“Dr. Tiller was a very gentle man to my husband and I. He wasn’t the villain that people, me included, had often painted him. He was soft-spoken. He held our hands while we mourned our loss. He even prayed with us.”
Explaining the procedure to the Andersons and the efforts the clinic would make to help them memorialize their child, Dr. Tiller showed the Andersons the compassion and support they so badly wished they had received from their neighbors and friends.
The next day as they arrived to the clinic, they found themselves surrounded by protesters chanting, begging the Andersons to change their mind and group of children holding a pro-life model of a fetus while calling the Andersons murderers, telling the Andersons that God would not save their souls for taking away the life of another. What was already a traumatic experience, was now infused with guilt, panic and fear.
“The staff was respectful and allowed me to have a little bit of dignity where I didn’t think I had any left. It made me sad that I didn’t get that from my friends or my religious community, but from strangers in a hospital setting. To this day, I am bitter about that,” Gail confessed.
On the wall of their living room, next to a crucifix and a painting of the Virgin Mary and St. Brigid of Ireland, is a plaque that holds on it two tiny foot prints.
“They do not just look at this as being abortion mills – the staff,” Robert says, looking up at the footprints of their baby Grace.
“She was real. They made her real for us. Those footprints was Dr. Tiller’s idea. He wasn’t a man with crazed-eyes anticipating the kill like some anti-abortion activists would like you to picture. He understood the difficult position we were in. He allowed us to still have a piece of the family we wanted. He even called the baby be her name, by Grace.”
It was very difficult for the Anderson family to learn of the murder of Dr. Tiller. Because he was one of the few individuals that showed them understanding, he became an unofficial member of their family, the quiet uncle that sits in the corner, observing, quiet except for a few pieces of sage advice.
“The people that praised Dr. Tiller’s murder - they are the real monsters.”
The Andersons have not left the Catholic church, still strong in their faith, believing that the church has begun to rely too much on the word of man rather than church teachings, becoming dangerously involved in politics and losing sight that the world simply is not black and white.
They continue forward, despite for some calling of their removal from the church, because they know that they are not alone. They move forward because it is their hope that other Catholics faced with similar situations will realize that they are not alone. They move forward by the Grace of their daughter. They move forward, with two beautiful boys, ages five and four, who send kisses to their sister in heaven each night, their head held high, believing their only crime was showing mercy to the meek.

Amanda Mueller is an independent journalist based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. Her reporting on human rights issues has been published in syndication and internationally and she serves as a researcher and the only United States member of Press for Peace, an organization focused on advocacy, research, education and networking in peace, human rights and environment related issues. She is also the winner of the 2009 SIANS Human Rights Award and serves as the United States Development Officer for PNN English. Her website can be found at amandamueller.com

Ali G on Drugs

2009-11-24T08:14:00.002-05:00

A little humor to warm you up for the really funny shit below...

Any questions?

d.

The Reagan"Purity" test

2009-11-24T07:14:00.003-05:00

This is too dam funny! They never cease to amaze me with their absolute ignorance of facts!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Give Unto Ceasar...

2009-11-24T06:55:00.003-05:00

Chris Matthews schools Bishop Thomas Tobin in the separation of church and state.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The arguments put forth by Bishop Tobin, that religion trumps all and therefore justifies any activity, might well have come from Osama Bin Laden. You make the call.

Keep your bible off of my laws!

d.

Nooooow I understand!

2009-11-15T11:31:00.001-05:00

Got it?

d.

Happy Birthday Marines!

2009-11-10T04:02:00.003-05:00

234 years of service to the United States of America

Mess With The Best...Die Like The Rest

HAPPY 234th BIRTHDAY TO ALL MY BROTHER AND SISTER MARINES!

SEMPER FIDELIS!

d.

Brother Mike The Marine has an excellent video up at his place. One he did himself. Definitely worth a look. Go wish him a Happy Birthday!

From The Halls To The Shores

2009-11-08T08:38:00.005-05:00

On Tuesday, November 10, 2009, the United States Marine Corps will celebrate it's 234th Birthday. For 234 years, United States Marines have been defending and protecting each other and the citizens of the United States and her allies. In recognition of this event, I will be posting videos and tributes to the Corps. As one young fellow once said, "Becoming a Marine is the proudest achievement in my life." Forty years later, I still feel that way. For my Brothers and Sisters, Semper Fi! For everyone-else, we have always been, are now, and will always be, there to protect and defend you! Here is a little slice of what it means to be a United States Marine! OohRah!

d.

One More Good Reason To Learn English!

2009-10-06T08:02:00.001-04:00

I just can't stop laughing!!!!!!!!!!!

d.

You Tell 'em Ed!

2009-09-30T08:11:00.001-04:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Need I say more?

d.

Why We Need Government-run, Universal, Socialized, Call-it-what-you-want, Healthcare

2009-08-30T14:05:00.003-04:00

Any questions?

d.

Shall The Circle Be Unbroken?

2009-08-29T14:34:00.006-04:00

And so the Lion is laid to rest. The son of a wealthy family who, along with his older brothers, fought tirelessly for the poor and underpriveleged, the common man and woman, upon whose backs this country was built. America has lost a Champion.

The words he spoke at his brother Bobby's funeral echo in my mind today, and ironically, apply themselves to him better than any tribute I could make.

"My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it."

Who now will pick up the torch? Who now will Champion the masses? Who now will seek for justice and equality for all men and women?

It is no accident that Senator Kennedy so fervently endorsed Barack Obama's candidacy for President. In passing the torch he annointed a new Lion. A young Lion. In our grief, let us affirm what Ted Kennedy stood for. Let us throw our stength and will behind the new torch bearer and complete Senator Kennedy's dream. In doing so, we will ensure that he didn't struggle on our behalf in vain.

For Jack, Bobby and Teddy. Thank you all so very much.

Exactly, Barney.

2009-08-23T10:37:00.003-04:00

So why then do we continue to argue with the table? To hell with these ignorant miscreants, let's get it done!

d.

Obama remark on black scholar's arrest angers cops

2009-07-24T00:00:00.002-04:00

BOSTON — Many police officers across the country have a message for President Barack Obama: Get all the facts before criticizing one of our own. Obama's public criticism that Cambridge officers "acted stupidly" when they arrested black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. could make it harder for police to work with people of color, some officers said Thursday.

Tough fuckin' shit, boyos. You forget who you work for. Problem is, you think your shit doesn't stink. Uphold the law. That's it. If someone calls you an asshole - deal with it. You are not God. You don't have the final word. You are paid to protect us, not dominate or intimidate us. So stop crying and do your fucking job. And stop covering up for each other, you fuck up, step up.

This guy stepped on his dick big time. Cut the shit and be a man..or should we give you all crying towels?

d.

This is exactly why I voted for him...

2009-02-28T09:06:00.001-05:00

Go Get 'em Prez! You've got my support!

d.

Julian Brennan - An Ethical Warrior

2009-01-30T07:06:00.003-05:00

In many ways, he was your typical twenty-something Park Slope resident, hanging out at the local bars and aspiring to be a successful actor. But Marine Lance Cpl. Julian T. Brennan, 25, also felt a calling larger than himself. He made the ultimate sacrifice Jan. 24, when a roadside bomb took his life while supporting combat operations in Farah province, Afghanistan.

Billy said his son was really happy with his choice of joining the Marines, and that modern communication systems enabled him to talk to his son fairly regularly from Afghanistan.

“He voted for Obama and talked to my wife on Inauguration Day. He talked with compassion about the folks in Afghanistan. He could understand the resentment that locals had about any outside forces in their country. He was a happy, ethical warrior,” said his father.

From: Brooklyn Marine dies - Julian T. Brennan was 25

By: Stephen Witt

>

The Final Inspection

The Marine stood and faced his God

Which must always come to pass.

He hoped his shoes were shining

Just as brightly as his brass.

"Step forward now, oh, Devil-Dog,

How shall I deal with you?

Have you always turned the other cheek?

To My Church have you been true?"

The Jarhead squared his shoulders... said,

"No, Lord, I guess I ain't,

'cause those of us who carry guns

Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays

And at times my talk was tough,

And sometimes I've been violent,

'cause the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny

That wasn't mine to keep...

Though I worked a lot of overtime

When the bills just got too steep,

And I never passed a cry for help,

Though at times I shook with fear,

And sometimes, God forgive me,

I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place

Among the people here,

They never wanted me around

Except to calm their fear.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,

It needn't be so grand,

I never expected or had too much,

So if you don't, I'll understand."

A silence fell all 'round the throne

Where Saints had often trod,

As the Marine awaited quietly,

The judgment of his God.

"Step forward now, My Fine Marine,

You've borne your burdens well,

Walk your post on Heaven's streets,

You've served your time in Hell."

Saepius Exertas, Semper Fidelis, Frater Infinitas

Sleep in Peace, Brother.

Eagles Choke - Again!

2009-01-18T19:23:00.009-05:00

Against a team they should have rolled over as easily as a steam roller flattens an ant, the Philadelphia Eagles choked once again. True, they have been to the NFC Championship five times in the last eight years, but they have only managed to win it once. And the one time they actually went to the Superbowl, their franchise quarterback, Donovan McNabb, ended up puking into his helmet on the thirty yard line, with 3 yards to go for a first down, 3 points behind the New England Patriots, with 3:30 left to go in the game. We all know how that turned out.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Philadelphia Eagles are the better team. But, just like poker, the best hand doesn't always win. The Eagles were flat as last night's beer. Their vaunted "D", led by maniac, Brian Dawkins took the entire first half off, allowing the underweight Cardinals to score 21 points. The Eagles offense was just as flat, scoring only 2 field goals while missing one critical kick in the first half. David Akers, who has been on a par with a guy named "Automatica Gamatica", missed a 43 yard field goal at 13:34 of the second quarter and a simple point after touchdown in the third quarter that could have changed the momentum of the game. And when the wheels fell off the Eagles "D", the Eagles' offensive collapse was fatal.

Granted, the officiating was horrible, with more than a few pass interference calls which would have benefited the Eagles going unnoticed by the obviously partisan officials. None-the-less, it should never have gotten that close. The Eagles should have run over this Arizona team like an Abrams tank, but the Philadelphia Eagles who dominated both the Vikings and the Giants, never showed up.

McNabb was horrible. His passes were inaccurate, at best. Too low, too high, behind the receiver or over his head. Adding to this, the Eagles' defense played like they were on tranquilizers. Kurt Warner can't scramble, but if you give him time, he will pick you apart - and the Eagles "D" gave him all the time he needed, all game long.

While I give the Eagles credit for a spirited and determined second half comeback, it is also true that it never should have gotten that far. The Eagles should have buried Arizona long before that. Had the same Eagles team shown up today that beat the defending Superbowl Champion, New York Giants, a week ago, it would have been over by half-time.

So whose fault is this most recent collapse of a Franchise bound for Destiny? The fault must lie with Coach Andy Reid for failing to get his team prepared for one of the biggest games of their lives. And the fault must also lie with their franchise quarterback, the inaccurate Donovan McNabb, for throwing away so many chances to win. You can point to McNabb's winning record all you want, but the fact is the guy can't win the Big One. He just can't handle the pressure and until he wins a Superbowl, no argument can convince me otherwise. Once in a while the offense has to step up and do it, especially if the defense is struggling. After all, you can't win if you don't score. Hopefully, next year, both McNabb and Reid will be gone from the City of Brotherly Love. For there is no love for losers here, and we have definitely had enough of the Dysfunctional Duo.

d.

Here We Come, Arizona!!!

2009-01-18T10:41:00.004-05:00

YOU CAN'T STOP US!!!

d.

Here

2009-01-18T10:41:00.001-05:00

E-A-G-L-E-S!!!!! Can You Hear Us Now?

2009-01-17T14:37:00.002-05:00

Eagles beat Giants, reach NFC title game

2009-01-11T17:11:00.004-05:00

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb (5) celebrates after they scored a touchdown during the fourth quarter of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the New York Giants on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2009, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

See ya, Chumpions! Bring on the Cards!!!!!

Silly? Un-necessary? Fuck you Troy! You can get in line to kiss my Philadelphia Ass along with all the "Jint" fans! Oh, and by the way, where's your loser team? America's Team! Ah hahahahahahahahaha!

d.

Fly EAGLES, Fly!

2009-01-11T10:21:00.003-05:00

Good luck to the Giants...they're gonna need it!

Somehow, I've got a feeling the Giants will be hearing a lot of this today...heh, heh

Make no mistake about it, We Came To Play!

GO EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

d.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T13:40:00.002-05:00

Just want to take a minute to wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year! May the world find Peace and may all of you find the love I have been blessed with from my Magster!

This is for you, Baby! Happy New Year!

'Cause Baby, this is how I feel when I'm away from you...

Let's not only have a Happy New Year together, let's have a Happy Little Life!

I love you, Baby...

d. (aka Your Boo)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T10:11:00.005-05:00

(After today, I'm heading for Atlantic City and the casinos - I need a little R&R!)

Well, I haven't been around in a while - working my ass off, mainly to pay for this holiday! Also, with a potential Actor's strike looming in the near future, I figured I'd better make hay while the sun shines...sigh...

Anyway, we all know that Christmas is for the little ones, don't we? (Somehow I kinda thought it was a Christian Holy day. How that morphed into a spending frenzy Holiday is still kinda bewildering to me, but, it is what it is...) So now that Christmas is finally here, and all the little dear ones are frantically shredding wrapping paper, losing tiny parts and breaking those oh so expensive toys, it's time for us adults to pour a stiff one and sit back and relax.

With that in mind, I give you the following...

Oh, this is for us! So keep the curtain climbers and the crumb crushers away from the keyboard for a few minutes and enjoy!

Merry Christmas from deuddersun and damarvelous44magster!

For those serving, especially my Marines...

For the rest of us, especially my Union Brothers & Sisters...

And a Happy New Year! (Uh, the one that starts January 20th!)

d.

Cookies Update

2008-11-11T18:48:00.002-05:00

I had hoped to have the pics of the Birthday Bash at Cookies up by now, but Blogger is giving me hell, doesn't seem to like a lot of pics.

So, I'm giving it a rest. Will try again tomorrow.

Good night!

d.

All Gave Some...Some Gave All

2008-11-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

(I am once again re-posting this Tribute...because I just can't say it any better...) This is a post from Veteran's Day last year. I have reposted it, with some modifications, because I think it says it all. While the video and song below relate to a particularly bloody battle fought by the United States Army's 173rd Airborne, the message relates to all who have given their lives in service to the United States of America, whether it be 1945, 1965 or 5 minutes ago on a debris littered street in Baghdad.

Today I would like to put politics aside and honor the Warriors.

The Sentinels Creed

My dedication to this sacred duty is total and wholehearted.
In the responsibility bestowed on me never will I falter.
And with dignity and perseverance my standard will remain perfection.
Through the years of diligence and praise and the discomfort of the elements,
I will walk my tour in humble reverence to the best of my ability.
It is he who commands the respect I protect.
His bravery that made us so proud.
Surrounded by well meaning crowds by day alone in the thoughtful peace of night,
this soldier will in honored glory rest under my eternal vigilance.

Poster courtesy United States Army. Image and Sentinels Creed courtesy Arlington National Cemetery

This is for Jerry Maguire.

Mag's First love...

Who, only six weeks in country

Was shot in the head

While walking point.

God Bless You

Jerry

Today we'll visit the wall

here in Philly

and drink a beer with you.

Gerald Maguire

United States Army

Once, Always. Forever

Faithful

For My Own...

Photo courtesy of Arlington National Cemetery

While the weapons may have changed over time, one thing remains the same, the Marine who wields it.

The Final Inspection

The Marine stood and faced his God

Which must always come to pass.

He hoped his shoes were shining

Just as brightly as his brass.

Step forward now, oh, Devil-Dog,

How shall I deal with you?

Have you always turned the other cheek?

To My Church have you been true?

The Jarhead squared his shoulders... said,

"No, Lord, I guess I ain't,

'cause those of us who carry guns

Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays

And at times my talk was tough,

And sometimes I've been violent,

'cause the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny

That wasn't mine to keep...

Though I worked a lot of overtime

When the bills just got too steep,

And I never passed a cry for help,

Though at times I shook with fear,

And sometimes, God forgive me,

I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place

Among the people here,

They never wanted me around

Except to calm their fear.

"If you've a place for me here, Lord,

It needn't be so grand,

I never expected or had too much,

So if you don't, I'll understand."

A silence fell all 'round the throne

Where Saints had often trod,

As the Marine awaited quietly,

The judgment of his God.

Step forward now, My Fine Marine,

You've borne your burdens well,

Walk your post on Heaven's streets,

You've served your time in Hell.

Sleep in Peace, Brothers.

deuddersun

Get 'em While They're Hot!!!

2008-11-09T10:28:00.003-05:00

Dear MoveOn member,

Have you ordered your free "Victory" sticker yet? We've already given away close to 2 million of them and I wanted to make sure you had a chance to order one.

These stickers are a really special way to commemorate this moment—they're designed by ground-breaking artist, Shepard Fairey, the same artist who designed the iconic "Hope" image of Obama. They're our small way of saying "Thanks!" for everything you did to make this moment in history possible.

Click below to order your free sticker now:

http://pol.moveon.org/shepstickers/?id=15084-8552455-p7gY8Ex&t=6

And please forward this to any other Obama supporters you know. So many people had a hand in this amazing victory, and we want to thank them all—and give them a sticker that'll remind them of it every day :-).

Thanks for all you do, and congratulations!

–Nita, Daniel, Laura, Justin and the rest of the team

Hell, I'm ordering a dozen and handing them out to my Republian friends! Get your's today!

d.

Philadelphia Celebrates!

2008-11-05T10:00:00.004-05:00

Why am I not at work today? Because I was here last night!

I just don't have the words to describe what I'm feeling today so I'll leave it up to the two most beloved Philly women since Betsy Ross -

Lauren Hart and Kate Smith!

God Bless America!

d.

VICTORY! For all of us...

2008-11-05T00:46:00.006-05:00

I have been writing here since March, 2004, ever since my brother, scroff, and his Lady, Ruthie, (now his wife), brought me to my senses regarding the machinations of the Bush Administration. I actually awoke sometime earlier, when they invited me to post on Activist San Diego, and then, on their website, Any Which Way. Eventually, I came to realize that Bush was a fraud, a liar and a gangster supreme, and so I started this blog, to support John Kerry, a fellow Vet, and to expose the Bush Cartel for the traitors they are. I never believed that Bush was dumb. I always believed that he was shrewd. He played the "Good Ole Boy" like Liberachi played the piano and once I "saw" him, I knew I had to do everything I could to defeat him.

2004 was a major disappointment to those of us in the reality based community. It was a hard slap in the face. We were so sure our fellow Americans could see what was so obvious to us. Bush's re-election was an icy cold dagger through our collective heart. And so it was with renewed resolve and dedication that we set out to save our country from itself. While many on the Always Wrong Right prayed for our failure, it seems God delivered to us a man who could finally help us recover all that was good about America - that man was Barack Obama.

Tonight, Barack Obama is the next President of the United States of America. Yes, he is the first President of African American heritage, and that, in and of itself, is earth shattering and history making. But more importantly, he is a man driven to bring out the best in America, to bring out the best in all Americans, and it is that quality that made him my candidate.

I have blogged for him. I have spoken for him. I have turned away from former friends who could not get over their racial prejudices for him. I have campaigned for him. I have sent him my money, given him my time, invested my future in him - in him and America. Because like him, I love my country and only want the best for it. And he hasn't let me down. And I doubt that he will.

A long time ago, before many of my readers were born, I served my country to the best of my ability. Now I am proud to pass the torch to a man who will also serve his country. A man who will lead the next generation into the 21st Century and re-light the flame of Freedom that for so long was a beacon to the rest of the world.

That man is Barack Obama. My job is finally done.

From one "Boss" to Another...thanks Bruce...you helped put it over the top

Sing along.. I wanna fuckin hear ya in Philadelphia!

I need a rest. Good night and God Bless...

d.

America Wins!!!!

2008-11-04T23:17:00.008-05:00

The Whole World Wins!!!

Ain't It Grand?

Ya Just Gotta Believe!

For the Gals, who really came thru and put it over the top!

What we need to do now...

What we did to the Republi-cons...

d.

Election '08 - Live Results!

2008-11-04T14:36:00.002-05:00

Check in as you surf the web to watch Obama win!

We The People...

2008-11-04T04:46:00.008-05:00

We the People...

Powerful words. In those three words lie the basis of our Constitution, our Nation, our Freedom, for all power given to Government is derived from the People. We are the Government and those we "hire" to do our will are answerable to us. Otherwise we become the "governed", subject to the rule of a handful of others, rather than a free and independent people, self-governed through Representatives we elect to serve us.

For the last eight years we have been "governed" by a handful of "others" who have sought only to serve themselves and their own self-interests. They have taken the Power we gave them and abused both it and us. It is time to take that Power back. It is time for a second American Revolution. It is time for change.

Today we will have the chance to make that change. To Revolt against those who have misused our sacred trust. Who have misled us into an un-necessary war for profit, bankrupt our economy, left our children behind, abandoned our fellow citizens in time of National Disaster, (Katrina), deprived the new Veterans they have created of the proper medical care and benefits they have earned, shredded our Constitution, broken our Laws shamelessly and without fear of reprisal, lied to us continuously, allowed Bin Laden to remain dangerous and at large,and made Justice a travesty. They have made profit for themselves their only goal, while using our hard earned money for corporate socialism as they ignore the plight of millions of Americans who have lost homes, jobs and hope.

Today it is time for us to Declare our Independence once more. Today we can take back America, and make it ours again. Today, with one vote at a time, we can tell those who would reduce us to a feudal state that we will take no more, we will not allow them to rape us for the benefit of multi-national corporations whose only interest is maximizing profit at our expense. We can tell them that we want our freedom back - the freedom of a worker to choose whether or not he or she joins a Union, the freedom of a woman to choose what to do with her own body, the freedom to communicate with each other without government eavesdropping, the freedom to peacefully assemble and petition our government without jackbooted thugs attacking us, the freedom from fear of an unforeseen health crisis destroying our lives, the freedom from religious zealots imposing their will upon us. Freedom. The very foundation upon which our America was built - that foundation which the Bush-Cheney regime has consistently undermined and sought to destroy for the last eight years.

Today we must say NO to those who would continue the failed policies of the past. Today we must reclaim the Power we gave to the usurpers and return it where it belongs, with We, the People! Today we must unite together, millions of Americans speaking with one loud, clear voice, it... is... over, we will take no more! We will choose freedom over slavery, hope over despair, the future over the past!

Today we will elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden!

Power To The People!

Turn it up!

VOTE!

d.

Wassup? 8 Years Later...

2008-11-03T19:35:00.002-05:00

VOTE!!!

Obama - Biden for Change We Need!

Hattip to my good friend and Union Brother - Manny Sanchez

d.

For My Brother...

2008-11-02T12:02:00.002-05:00

Woodstock...

Not so much a place

More a state of mind

A state of being

A state of grace

Let us find our way

Back to the Garden...

Vote November 4th

Obama - Biden

Let's find our way back...

d.

Another Veteran for Obama

2008-11-02T10:06:00.003-05:00

I'm going to ask you, once again, to pay a visit to my good friends at Alternate Brain this morning and take a look at this,

You Tell Him Jarhead

When you're done, take a look around. Good stuff going on there.

d.

AFL-CIO Launches Largest Get Out The Vote Effort Ever

2008-10-31T09:06:00.007-04:00

For anyone who mistakenly thinks that Unions are no longer relevant - better think again!

We're in it to win it!

Obama '08

Press Release

250,000 Volunteers in 20 Battleground States Aim to Turn Out 13 Million Union Voters With Emphasis on Swing Groups Like Retirees, Veterans and Gun Owners

The AFL-CIO today launched its largest, most targeted Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort in history, deploying an army of 250,000 volunteers in 20 presidential battleground states for the final two weeks before the election.

The effort – focused on turning out 13 million union voters, with emphasis on 12 Senate races and more than 60 House contests, in addition to the presidential race -- combines advanced, new targeting techniques with unprecedented grassroots energy. The AFL-CIO GOTV program is the largest independent turnout program in the nation, aimed at electing candidates who will champion working families’ priorities.

“Union members are determined to create a sea change in American politics that will benefit working families for generations to come,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. “We’ve mounted our largest, broadest grassroots effort ever to elect Barack Obama and candidates at all levels who are committed to putting our nation back on track after eight years of failed Bush policies."

Elements of the GOTV effort include:

· A 20-state presidential battleground program, the broadest in AFL-CIO history. In recent weeks the AFL-CIO has shifted resources and manpower to non-traditional battleground states like North Carolina and Indiana while maintaining an intense effort in the top-tier states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan;

· 250,000 volunteers working in those states and in additional states where the AFL-CIO is engaged in Senate, House and Gubernatorial races, including 120,000 in the priority states of Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania;

· 25,000 volunteers from non-battleground states like California, New York and Illinois deployed to contact union voters in battleground states; · More member-to-member contacts than ever before. To date, AFL-CIO union voters have received 70 million phone calls, 10 million door knocks, 57 million pieces of mail and 27 million worksite fliers focusing on economic issues;

· A new, microtargeted approach to the most hard-to-reach voters, including working class veterans, retirees and gun owners, many of whom have been contacted 20-30 times and will receive intense communication in the final days;

· 4,000 paid staff working on the AFL-CIO mobilization nationwide, 500 full-time Working America canvassers who are knocking on the doors of 150,000 union voters per week;

· Final outreach at the door, worksite on the phone and through email to 1 million undecided union voters in battleground states;

· A “Final Four” GOTV blitz in the final four days of the campaign to drive turnout among millions of working-class voters in battleground states;

· A nine-state voter protection program to address voting rights abuses and prevent voting rights violations on Election Day.

The 2008 GOTV effort relies heavily on sophisticated targeting designed to increase voter turnout among exurban and rural voters in key states. The effort comes on the heels of a months-long targeted approach to these voters through mail, phones, front porch visits and email. Since identifying more than 3 million undecided voters in August, the AFL-CIO’s intense communications among swing groups like retirees, veterans and gun owners have shifted the landscape in states such as Ohio. According to internal polling, among union voters who are gun owners, veterans and retirees, Sen. Obama now leads substantially in key states.

The AFL-CIO’s community affiliate for non-union workers, Working America, now counts nearly 2.5 million members, including 800,000 in Ohio alone. Working America is reaching out to its members – many of whom are moderate “Reagan Democrats” and independents – in 11 states and has mounted its largest GOTV effort ever. The AFL-CIO is also running a nonpartisan voter protection program to tackle voting rights abuses in targeted communities in nine states - Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Virginia, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada. The AFL-CIO's voter protection efforts include a public education program informing voters about their voting rights, coordination with election officials on election administration plans, recruitment and training of union volunteers to serve as nonpartisan poll workers and poll monitors, and legal support provided by the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee.

The final GOTV push is part of a $250 million grassroots mobilization by the AFL-CIO and its 56 affiliated unions, the labor movement’s largest effort to date.

Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education (COPE) Political Contributions Committee, (www.aflcio.org), and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

Contact: Steve Smith (202) 637-5018

Neil Young cancels picketed L.A. concert

2008-10-30T09:22:00.006-04:00

Canadian singer and director Neil Young addresses a news conference at the 58th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin February 8, 2008.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Neil Young has scrapped a Los Angeles concert scheduled for Thursday out of respect to a planned union picket, representatives for the veteran rocker said.

"I am extremely disappointed to have to choose between satisfying my fans or backing my brothers and sisters of the IATSE," Young said in a statement issued late on Wednesday.

Full story

A heartfelt Thank You Neil, from all your Brothers and Sisters in the IATSE and Labor Unions everywhere! It's nice to know that there are still successful Artists who respect integrity, principle and solidarity over money! I'm heading to FYE to buy your CD, Chrome Dreams II, this morning!

Vist the Official Neil Young YouTube Channel and purchase his new album Chrome Dreams II! Let's support those who support us!

For more information on IATSE, browse the links in the left sidebar under "No Biz Like Show Biz" or click here.

Phillies Win the World Series!!!!

2008-10-29T22:11:00.014-04:00

We Won!

PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 29: Chase Utley #26, Ryan Howard #6 and Geoff Jenkins #10 of the Philadelphia Phillies pile on top of closing pitcher Brad Lidge #54 after they won 4-3 to win the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays during the continuation of game five of the 2008 MLB World Series on October 29, 2008 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 10:07 p.m. ET, 10/29/08

Pandemonium reigns just outside my window as a city deprived of a World Championship, any World Championship, since the Philadelphia 76er's won it all in 1983, revels in the victory that makes the Philadelphia Phillies the Champions of the baseball world!

Yes, the Philadelphia Phillies have won the 2008 World Series! The end came in the top of the ninth, when Brad Lidge pitched a strikeout to end it all and finally bring a World Championship to a Sports Loving City long overdue!

Phillies finally finish off Rays, win World Series

Philadelphia, this is for you!

Video courtesy of KidByTheBay415

Note: Thanks to the spoilsports and party poopers at Fox Televsion, any and all videos using any part of their broadcast have been removed from YouTube due to copyright infringement. Thanks for helping us celebrate Fox! One more reason to turn you off!

A city of Rocky's, hard working, blue collar, middle class, real Americans, who dare to dream the impossible, represented on the ball field by a team of Rocky's, who not only dared to dream, but dared to win!

Congratulations Philadelphia and the 2008 World Series Champions, the Philadelphia Phillies!!

See ya at the parade tomorrow!

Video courtesy of PhillyPhan104

The Vet Who did Not Vet

2008-10-29T18:46:00.003-04:00

This would actually be funny if it weren't so dam true...

d.

Undecided? Meet Barack Obama

2008-10-29T09:51:00.003-04:00

Six days from today, on November 4, 2008, Americans will decide which direction this great nation of ours will take into the 21st Century. To me the choice is clear and simple. Barack Obama holds the promise of much needed change. To others, the prospect of change is frightening, for they fear it will transform America into something unrecognizable to them, and so they will choose the status quo - 4 more years of Bush's failed policies, 4 more years of a government that coddles Wall Street and is unresponsive to Main Street.

Still others have yet to decide. They have been bombarded with falsehoods regarding Barack Obama - he's a Muslim, he pals around with "terrorists", he won't wear an American Flag lapel pin, he is only concerned with African American issues, he will bring socialism to America, he isn't a "real" American.

None of this is true.

Yes, he will bring change. Change is what is needed. But what if I told you that that change will return us to the America we knew before George Bush and the neo-cons took power 8 long years ago in 2000? What if I told you that that change will put Americans to work again? That change will strengthen our failing economy? That change will greatly improve our educational system? That change will ensure that no American need ever fear catastrophic illness again?
That no American need ever watch a loved one die due to lack of proper health care? That no American will go bankrupt due to overwhelming medical bills again? That our troops will come home from a war they never should have been made to fight in the first place? That this will strengthen our National Security? That this will give our military a much needed rest and time to rebuild? (Very critical in a time when North Korea threatens to reduce our ally, South Korea, to rubble. We still have troops stationed there who would be over-run and over-matched should this occur. How will we save them with so many troops policing a country, (Iraq), that by now should surely be able to police itself?)

Is that so bad? Not at all. In fact it is what the Republicans have been promising us for the last 8 years. Promises they have consistantly failed to deliver on while fattening the purses of the ultra-rich and the multi-national corporations who have no interest in seeing the average American succeed.

So to those of you who haven't decided yet, to those of you who are leaning towards McCain - Palin, I ask you to meet Barack Obama. A real American who cares for all Americans!

Obama-Biden '08!

d.

Skinheads Plot To Kill Obama - 102 Black People

2008-10-28T07:52:00.014-04:00

This undated photo obtained from a MySpace webpage shows Daniel Cowart, 20 of Bells, Tenn. holding a weapon. Federal agents have broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree, the ATF said Monday Oct. 27, 2008. In court records unsealed Monday, federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads. The men, Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn., and Paul Schlesselman 18, of West Helena, Ark., are being held without bond. (AP Photo)

Feds disrupt alleged skinhead plot to kill Obama

The knucklehead in the photo above brings to mind the Rightwing Hate group, the Protest Warriors - a bunch of young chickenhawks who also like to pose for pictures with firearms while claiming to be a "peaceful counter-protest group". Their ranks are also filled with "real" Americans from the "heartland".

A member of the Rightwing Hate group, The Protest Warriors, holding on to his manhood.

While the residents of the two small towns involved here are claiming shock and ignorance, one has to ask, how is it they knew nothing? A different news report on Comcast.net quoted one resident of Bells, Tn., Sam Lewis, as saying, "If we had any skinheads living in this county, I wasn't aware of it." Mr. Lewis lives across the street from Daniel Cowart and apparently never "noticed" his neighbor's shaven head!

Somehow I can't help but think that the racist hatred displayed by these two miscreants was subtly condoned and perhaps, even encouraged, by a latent racist attitude against black people that still seems to survive in "small-town" America, particularly, Southern "small town" America. Face it, people aren't born racist, it is a learned behavior, taught to, and encouraged in, children by adults. I spent my teen years in small towns and I have seen this firsthand. Like many of us though, my parents taught me that all people are created equal. I guess that basic "Christian" teaching was missing in the formative years of these two hatemongers who, not only wanted to murder 102 innocent human beings, but behead 14 of them as well!

If this is the "real" America, Sarah, you can keep it!

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" - attributed to Edmund Burke

d.

Pops On Race - from Alternate Brain

2008-10-27T09:16:00.003-04:00

Pops On Race

There are at least two larger national lessons to be learned from what is likely to be the last gasp of Allen-McCain-Palin politics in 2008. The first, and easy one, is that Republican leaders have no idea what “real America” is. In the eight years since the first Bush-Cheney convention pledged inclusiveness and showcased Colin Powell as its opening-night speaker, the G.O.P. has terminally alienated black Americans (Powell himself now included), immigrant Americans (including the Hispanics who once gave Bush-Cheney as much as 44 percent of their votes) and the extended families of gay Americans (Palin has now revived a constitutional crusade against same-sex marriage). Subtract all those players from the actual America, and you don’t have enough of a bench to field a junior varsity volleyball team, let alone a serious campaign for the Electoral College.

The good folks at Alternate Brain have a great post up dealing with racism in the upcoming election. Their view is a little rosier than mine and I thought it should be included in any discussion of the subject. I hope that they are right. I hope that there will be a "reverse Bradley effect", where-in white middle-class folks, who would never admit it to each other in their local taprooms, will actually pull the lever for the best candidate for America after all. I hope that I am totally wrong in my fears of latent racism affecting the outcome of this election. I hope that I have "misunderestimated" my own race. Time will tell.

While you are at Alternate Brain take a look around. They cover a lot more ground than I do and they do a damn good job of it too. So head on over and give them a look. You won't be sorry.

Alternate Brain

d.

Barack Obama For President

2008-10-27T09:00:00.004-04:00

This is an older post that I am re-posting. With only 9 days left to the Election, it is time for the "undecideds" to "decide". I post this in the hopes that any who may have reservations about voting for a "Black man", will exhibit the courage required to go against their own prejudices and do the right thing for their families, their country and themselves.

d.

The other day at work, a friend of mine asked me who I was supporting in the upcoming Presidential election. Now this particular individual is actually more than just a friend, I consider him my Brother. He got me into the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local # 52, which is no easy feat. We don't recruit, we don't advertise and we try not to organize. Our Local is the Elite of the motion picture and television industry for technicians and we can only keep it that way by accepting the very best. As such we are powerful in our industry and command the highest wages. It is an honor and a privilege to belong to IA Local #52. For this reason alone, I owe him a debt of gratitude I can never repay. On top of that, he has always hired me as his General Foreman whenever he gets a job. The man has enabled me to make more money than I ever thought possible for a guy who basically nails shit together for a living.

We have always had a very open and honest relationship. He has helped me through some tough times and I have had the privilege of doing so for him. His opinions have always carried a great deal of weight with me and there is virtually nothing I wouldn't do for him.

So when he asked me who I was supporting for President I didn't hesitate. "Obama", I replied.

"Obama?", was his answer. "How can you vote against your own kind?"

"What? My own kind?"

I was stunned as the implication of what he said sunk in. "My own kind?", I repeated slowly. "What 'kind' is that? You mean, how can I vote for a Black man?"

"That's right", he said.

Shock. This is a man who threatened to fire a guy who used the "N" word on the job. This is a man who always said that there was no place for racism on any of his jobs...Shock.

I was stunned. Speechless. This same man has always held me in somewhat high regard because of my service in the Marine Corps, so I thought for a moment.

"Do you know the most important thing I learned from my time in the Marines?", I asked him.

"No. What?"

"That there is only one color in America. Red. The color of the blood that runs through all of our veins. The color of the blood that many of us, Black, White, Brown and Yellow have spilled and bled, to keep this country safe. Believe me Brother, when the shit hits the fan you don't give a flying fuck in a rolling donut what the color of the guy next to you is as long as he's doing his best to keep us all alive, and the shit has definitely hit the fan for America. Who do you want next to you and does his color really matter?"

I have no doubt that John McCain suffered greatly for our country. I have no doubt of his heroism. I do doubt his sincerity though, when he votes against every bill that would aid the veterans we are creating in Bush's nightmare in Iraq. I doubt his sincerity when he says that taking the proper care of our nations new veterans will discourage re-enlistments because it will make it too easy to get out of the military, too attractive to return to civilian life. Well, John, there are two solutions, neither of which you will like. Make it more "attractive" to stay in the military or reinstate the draft, without deferments, so all who live here and reap the benefits will have to serve the country who provides the opportunities. As far as McCain's stand on the economy and domestic issues, well, I do not want another 4 to 8 years of what has already brought this once great nation to it's knees, militarily, financially and Constitutionally.

Anyway, I digress.

What it all boils down to in a nutshell is this. The shit has hit the fan for America. Who do you want fighting with you? For me, it's Barack Obama. For my Friend/Brother, well, he thought about what I said and promised to think about it some more, that maybe I was right.

Think about it yourselves. Talk to some of our new veterans. Search the internet for truth. Don't buy into Faux News or the other falsehoods being spread by the Always Wrong Right. Who do you want fighting for and with you?

And remember. It is about color. It's all about color. But the color it's about is red.

Obama '08.

d.

For My Union Brothers & Sisters...and ALL working Americans

2008-10-25T06:38:00.011-04:00

I am putting this back on top because with only ten days left to the most critical election in the history of our nation, I think this is too important to miss. For those of you who are still on the fence, still undecided, ask yourselves, what is the real reason I'm holding off on supporting Barack Obama?

As you watch the video below, look at the faces in the crowd. They are people just like us. Our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, our families. Listen to what Brother Trumka has to say. Look into your own hearts and decide - four more years of George Bush's failed policies? Or four years of hope and rebuilding. It's time for a change. We need to rebuild America! We need to create jobs! We need a government that is more responsive to Main Street than Wall Street! Barack Obama is the man who can lead us in that effort.

So I'm asking you, working men and women, Union or not, to put aside your prejudices for just 7 minutes and 40 seconds and watch and listen. Then decide.

Thank you.

AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka on Racism and Obama

The entire speech can be seen HERE.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And dont criticize
What you cant understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin.
Please get out of the new one
If you cant lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin.

Bob Dylan

Hat tip to my good friend and Union Brother, Manny Sanchez

d.

PS: Please, please repost this video! Add your own commentary or use mine. It is time for the undecided to decide!

KDKA: Police say Ashley Todd Assault a Hoax

2008-10-24T14:39:00.002-04:00

KDKA: Police say Ashley Todd Assault a Hoax

by Jack Ryan

Ashley Todd's assault has been confirmed to be a hoax, according to KDKA. Police reportedly admitted Friday the attack was a hoax.

20-year-old Ashley Todd was facing a polygraph test to be administered by officials after claiming she was brutally beaten over her political views.

Ashley Todd, who claimed she was attacked and robbed of $60 at an ATM in the Pittsburgh, Bloomfield area Wednesday night when a '6'4, 200-pound black man' mugged her and discovered she was a McCain/Palin supporter.

According to Todd, the man robbed her at knifepoint before noticing the McCain bumper sticker on her car - triggering him to allegedly begin beating Todd with his hands and feet and carving an odd, backwards "B" on her face with his knife.

How desparate are these Rightwing Lunatics?

d.

Scott McClellan Endorses Barack Obama!!!

2008-10-24T08:28:00.006-04:00

Breaking News!!!

In yet another crushing blow to the Always Wrong Right, former White House Press Secretary to George "Dumbya" Bush, Scott McClellan, has endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President on the premiere of D. L. Hughley's new show on CNN!

See it below!

Welcome to the Reality-based community, Scottie!

d.

Opie, Andy, Richie and Fonzie - One Hell of an Endorsement!

2008-10-23T20:49:00.002-04:00

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Redstate Update on Bill Ayers

2008-10-23T14:00:00.003-04:00

Well, it's time once again to check the pulse of America's heartland. Here's what Jackie Broyles and Dunlap have to say about Bill Ayers...

Pallin' around with "hippies"?

Dam, guess I better cut my hair!

d.

There's no-one as Irish as Barrack O'Bama!!!

2008-10-21T20:26:00.002-04:00

Enjoy!

Sláinte!

d.

Life On Mars - Series Premiere Tonight!

2008-10-09T08:30:00.007-04:00

Life On Mars

This is the amazing new show I spent most of the summer working on! Don't miss it! Tonight on ABC! 10pm est/9pm central

The "Teaser"...

Sneak Peek at the Premiere Episode...

A look behind the scenes with Production Designer Stephen Hendrickson...

(Please note the columns - all 21 of which were lovingly handcrafted by your's truly)

So how exactly, does one recreate 1973? Props are essential!

Technology was primitive in 1973, compared to what we have today. Personal Computers hadn't been invented yet. Then a company called Atari introduced an amazing new video game! To play it, click here.

Life On Mars was an absolute pleasure to work on. I honestly can't remember the last time I got paid for having so much fun! Everyone involved in the show, from the Producers to the Cast to the Crew worked together in a spirit of mutual support and creativity.

Then there's fellow Marine, Harvey Keitel...what can I say that I haven't said already? Harvey is a real "guy", a man's man, and it was both an honor and a privilege to meet him. You can read about our meeting here, Harvey Keitel, Once, Always, Forever...

Folks, I can't recommend this show enough! Tune in tonight and every Thursday night for Life On Mars, on ABC at 10pmest/9central!

d.

Sarah Palin - A Madonna and Child Disconnect

2008-10-08T08:33:00.009-04:00

Kitchen Window Woman, of The Dishpan Chronicles has written an excellent post regarding Sarah Palin's parenting skills. I would like to invite everyone this morning, to stop by The Dishpan Chronicles. It's well worth the time.

Kitchen Window Woman is a Mother, a Wife, an Honorably Discharged Veteran of the United States Army and a Resident Scholar of The American Patriot Institute.)

An Excerpt from Sarah Palin - A Madonna and Child Disconnect

We've all been talking, we mothers, grandmothers, aunties, sisters, friends, and an equal number of men (who are not taken in by Sarah's teasing winks) about Sarah Palin's strange parenting behavior. Her treatment of her offspring brings to light yet more evidence that she does not possess the character, values, or skills necessary to serve as Vice President or President.

Candidate Palin's children have been used as political fashion accessories for years as their mother, a perpetual campaigner, has staircased herself toward the most demanding political office possible, the American Presidency.

Read the rest here.

Sarah Palin - Terrorists of Her Own

2008-10-07T07:41:00.008-04:00

Keith says it better than I ever could...

Well, Keith, here's where you and I disagree. I don't feel sorry for Sarah. I don't feel sorry at all. This woman wants to be Vice President of the United States! The Republi-cons are so afraid she'll screw up they won't even allow the media to talk to regular folks who show up at her rallies! ( Press Kept Under A Watchful Eye, St. Petersburgh Times Blog) God knows we wouldn't want to see ole Sarah through the "filters" of the Main Stream Media! Hell, someone might ask her about Todd and Joe Vogler, (the traitorous leader of the Alaskan Independence Party who advocated Alaska's secession from the Union), or Troopergate, or where Canada is - she actually refered to Afghanistan as "one of our neighbors"!

Don't worry Sarah. I'm going to do my best to make sure that the readers of this blog, at least, get a very clear picture of exactly who you are - a vindictive bitch in the mold of Dick Cheney sans brains.

More to come.

d.

Ok, Sarah Barracuda - The Gloves are Off!

2008-10-06T11:57:00.013-04:00

During last Thursdays Vice Presidential debate, Sarah Barracuda repeatedly scolded Joe Biden for looking backwards, toward the past rather than the future. Now, in fact, it is Sarah who is looking backwards, with the blessings of the RNC and the McCain campaign. And why not? Like McCain and the Republi-cons she represents, she has no plans for the future other than to continue the failed policies of one George W. Bush. In doing so, she has sunk to new lows not even approached by the Swiftboat Liars who attacked a decorated veteran's honorable service. Now she is trying to tie Barack Obama to William Ayers, a former member of the Radical '60's group, the Weather Underground. It doesn't matter to Sarah or her advisers or John McCain or the RNC that Obama was 8 years old at the time and hardly in a position to "pal around" with anybody other than his fellow 2nd or 3rd grade schoolmates.

So, okay Sarah, the gloves are off. First I'm going to deal with your running mate and Father figure, John McCain. Then I'm coming after you, your family, your youthful indiscretions, your scandals, your blatant lies. And I won't be polite and I won't take it easy on you. You're a big girl now. You think you're qualified to lead this country, so pull on your Big Girl panties and take it like a man.

Let's begin with a short documentary illustrating John McCain's involvement in the Savings & Loan Scandal of the '80's:

(The video below can be viewed or downloaded at Keatingeconomics.com. For the first two hours since this documentary was released, I could not get any version of it to play past 1:21! I called Obama campaign Headquarters and reported this. I finally got it to play, however, there are still audio drops, which the Producers have said they are working on correcting. Since this is a feed from YouTube, it should automatically include those fixes when they occur. I will, however, check back and repost this video just in case. If you have any problems viewing this, please go to BarackObama.com, find your regional Headquarters and call them. Tell them what Internet Service Provider you use, ie: AOL, Comcast, etc., and describe the problems you are having.)

Now let's take a look at the Five most common myths concerning John McCain's military service:

The excerpt below is from Rolling Stone's Tim Dickinson's article concerning Senator McCain's status as a "maverick":

Make-Believe Maverick
A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty

By TIM DICKINSON
Posted Oct 16, 2008 7:00 PM

At Fort McNair, an army base located along the Potomac River in the nation's capital, a chance reunion takes place one day between two former POWs. It's the spring of 1974, and Navy commander John Sidney McCain III has returned home from the experience in Hanoi that, according to legend, transformed him from a callow and reckless youth into a serious man of patriotism and purpose. Walking along the grounds at Fort McNair, McCain runs into John Dramesi, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who was also imprisoned and tortured in Vietnam.

McCain is studying at the National War College, a prestigious graduate program he had to pull strings with the Secretary of the Navy to get into. Dramesi is enrolled, on his own merit, at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in the building next door.

There's a distance between the two men that belies their shared experience in North Vietnam — call it an honor gap. Like many American POWs, McCain broke down under torture and offered a "confession" to his North Vietnamese captors. Dramesi, in contrast, attempted two daring escapes. For the second he was brutalized for a month with daily torture sessions that nearly killed him. His partner in the escape, Lt. Col. Ed Atterberry, didn't survive the mistreatment. But Dramesi never said a disloyal word, and for his heroism was awarded two Air Force Crosses, one of the service's highest distinctions. McCain would later hail him as "one of the toughest guys I've ever met."

On the grounds between the two brick colleges, the chitchat between the scion of four-star admirals and the son of a prizefighter turns to their academic travels; both colleges sponsor a trip abroad for young officers to network with military and political leaders in a distant corner of the globe.

"I'm going to the Middle East," Dramesi says. "Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran."

"Why are you going to the Middle East?" McCain asks, dismissively.

"It's a place we're probably going to have some problems," Dramesi says.

"Why? Where are you going to, John?"

"Oh, I'm going to Rio."

"What the hell are you going to Rio for?"

McCain, a married father of three, shrugs.

"I got a better chance of getting laid."

Please follow the link above to read the rest of this stunning expose, or just click here.

Is this the man we want as our next Commander In Chief?

Absolutely not!

Later: What Sarah Barracuda would rather you didn't know...

Gee, I can hardly wait...

d.

Rich Lowry's Masturbatory Moment

2008-10-05T17:04:00.002-04:00

Obviously due to Rightwing sexual repression...

Hat tip to My good friend Manny.

d.

Biden/Palen - In Case You Missed It

2008-10-05T09:40:00.001-04:00

Sigh...no comments are necessary...

d.

The Biden/Palen Debate - A View From The Right?

2008-10-04T13:51:00.015-04:00

I guess most of you tuned in for the debate the other night. Personally, I thought Palin looked robotic, hastily spewing out nonsense she had been pre-programmed with in run-on sentences with little or no relevance to the questions posed onnaconna ya see Joe Sixpack wanted her to speak directly to him and the hockey mom's (wink) who are hungry for energy with their lipstick-wearin' pitbulls and I've got lot's of energy (wink) 'cause see Alaska, that's up in the North and I can actually see Russia from my kitchen window (wink) 'cause I' m a maverick, team of mavericks (wink) but ya know global warming needs to be fixed whether or not man caused it but I don't think women had anything to do with that produces 20% of the nations energy golly gee(wink), shout out to all the kids (wink) awwwwwwwwwww, say it ain't so Joe! (wink wink).

Kinda like a resident of Wasilla who may have partaken in a little of that Methamphetamine they like to produce up there. (I mean she did name one of her sons "Track"! So what's with all those long sleeves, Sarah?)

I am happy to know, however, after all this time, thinking that we kinda wasted fifteen years and some 54,000 American lives in a worthless pursuit called "The Viet Nam Conflict", that John McCain, (the only "Reverse Ace" I ever heard of, he crashed 4 planes before he was shot down) actually won the dam war after all! Makes me proud to be a 'Merkin!

Now many of you may be saying, "Aw, hell, d., we know you're nothing but a commie lovin, mother and apple pie hatin', Union ingrate, Godless embarrassment to the United States Marine Corps, anti-'Merkin traitor who spends more time on youporn waxin' the ole bat than in church", and I'd have to say, you're absolutely right! (For once!)

So for those of you on the Right, I've brought back those good ole boys from RedStateUpdate to balance my drug and booze addled Librul moonbat opinions with those of the 'Merkin Heartland!

Enjoy!

(I'm gonna spark up a fatty and go grocery shopping - nothing like going to the supermarket with a severe case of the munchies!)

d.

Truth be told, I have to agree with ole Jackie Broyles, Sarah is better than a great de-bater, hell she's a master-bater!

For Mickey...

2008-10-03T11:03:00.004-04:00

...and ALL of us...

Feel the connection...soul to soul...all part of the tapestry of the ever expanding universe...

One is All

All are One

Sing Along...believe in Hope...believe in each other

Defend the weak...Protect the Innocent...Always be the Right Kind of Guy...

d.

Ah, Those Summer Daze...Royal Pains & Life On Mars

2008-10-02T11:54:00.010-04:00

Well, the summer is over and I finally have a few days off before the next job starts. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I spent the first part of the summer working on "Life On Mars", starring former Marine, and fellow madman, Harvey Keitel (Harvey Keitel, Once, Always Forever...). This was immediately followed by a television pilot called "Royal Pains". (No that doesn't refer to our bosses, they're Union guys too and our buddies. In this business, the guy you're working for today could well be working for you tomorrow.) While it's true I only enjoyed two weekends off since June, the work was challenging and most enjoyable. Of course, as I've always said, you can have the hardest job in the world, it's the people you work with who make it either easy or difficult, and our crew was topshelf.

The boys say goodbye to summer.

Union Brothers all, but not all on the same job, we met on the corner of Russell and Greenpoint every night after work for a little tailgating. From left to right, standing: Ronnie, myself, Indy and Manny. Kneeling: Digger and Bullfrog.

Ron Petagna Jr. led the charge as Construction Coordinator. He's a great guy who knows how to hire a crew and let them work - without micro-managing. (A trick a lot of guys much older with far more experience would do well to learn.) He always made sure we had everything we needed to get the job done, on time and under budget, even if he had to go out and get it himself. Working for Ron is both a pleasure and a privilege.

One of our locations on Royal Pains was at the Catalina Beach Club on Atlantic Beach, Long Island. As you can see, the weather was beautiful and the work went quickly and easily. Here we have Manny (General Foreman), myself and the Bullfrog relaxing on the veranda above the pool, with the Atlantic Ocean in the background, at lunch. Just over Froggy's shoulder you can make out two ships at anchor.

Right after this we wandered down to the beach itself where I found a set of keys half buried in the sand. All morning long, we had noticed a young woman walking up and down the beach with her little terrier. By the time we got there, she was 20 yards away, carrying her tired little pooch. I was the first to hit the beach, (Hell, aren't all Marines?). After Manny made some wisecrack about me being old enough to remember the landing at Normandy, I looked down, shaking my head, and there, half buried in the sand, was a set of keys. Picking them up I saw that there was a house key and a key to a Lexus. Turning to Manny and Froggy, I shouted that I had just found a new Lexus, all we had to do was hit the parking lots and see which car opened when I pressed the remote! Of course I was joking, but the young lady heard me and clutching her doggie ran up to me, shouting, "Keys? Did you say Keys? Lexus?" It seems she had dropped them hours ago while taking her pooch for a morning stroll on the beach and was about to give up and call a locksmith to get into her car, and her apartment! Silly girl, she didn't have a spare key to her abode which is where the spare key to her new Lexus SUV was! We were happy to be able to help her and we all declined the reward she offered, but you can bet we gently admonished her to get spares made asap. I can't tell you how many times I've locked my own keys in my truck, at times with the motor running, so I carry 2 spares and nail one to the wall of the toolroom on whatever job I'm on - doh! All in all, a great day at the beach - with a good deed thrown in to boot!

The only down side to the summer was that I didn't get to spend a lot of time with my Lady, the magnificent magster, but I can assure you that the time we had together was, uh, well spent, lol.

Looking forward, the prospect for work looks good. I work in a recession-proof industry- entertainment, although the Screen Actors Guild could still throw a major monkey wrench into the works. It seems the negotiators for the Guild have asked the National Board for a Strike Authorization and that ain't good. Could bring production to a screeching halt, in which case I'll have more time than I want to blog. Makes me glad I piled it on this summer! I have already turned down two jobs in Philly, they just wouldn't match my rate, but no matter, I expect to be on a new job in New York by Monday. In the meantime, I plan on doing some work on the house here in Philly and catching up on you, my online buds! Hope your summer was as good as mine.

Pax Tibi!

Finally, Nancy, We Agree...

2008-09-29T16:27:00.016-04:00

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

Thomas Jefferson,
Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802)
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

d.

Edited by siteowner to include Jefferson's quote and commentary below.

PS: Since there has been much hand wringing and gnashing of teeth from those on the Always Wrong Right about how Nancy Pelosi's speech infuriated and alienated so many Republi-cons that they felt no other choice but to vote against the bailout, I think it is only fair to present Nancy Pelosi's speech in it's entirety. Judge for yourself.

To me, at least, two things are obvious. First, Ms. Pelosi is finally doing her duty and putting the American taxpayer first. Second, Barney Frank is right. This feigned anger on the part of the Republi-cons is merely a cover-up for their own miserable failure to muster the required number of votes from their side of the aisle to pass the Bill, and perhaps even deeper, a real anger at having their misdeeds, which created this crisis, finally exposed. It's a bitch when the chickens come home to roost, isn't it Sen. Boner, uh Boehner?

Like the corporate raiders of the '80's, the Bush Administration, aided and abetted by fellow Republi-cons, have dismantled our economy and sold off our assets to their own great profit. Coupled with the criminal war-profiteering going on in Iraq, this Administration has used all of us to their own advantage .

Understand this about Iraq - there is not now, nor has there ever been, a plan to "win". The plan has been to rape Iraq and the American taxpayer for as long as it remains profitable to a handful of Corporations. Same as Viet Nam. (Does anyone really believe that the country who defeated both Germany and Japan a few short years earlier couldn't have defeated North Viet Nam had thePoliticians wanted to?) The profit is in the treatment, not the cure. And the treatment is being liberally applied in Iraq right now, at a cost of thousands of American lives, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives and billions of our tax dollars, tax dollars that could have been well used to benefit the American Middle-class. That being said, I hardly think we can expect anything different from someone who voted with George Bush 95% of the time over the last 8 years - John McCain.

For the last 8 years, every attempt by the Democrats to right our Ship of State has been crushed by the Republi-cons. As Ms. Pelosi states below, Democrats couldn't even get a vote on a $25 billion Economic Stimulus Bill, and yet now comes George Bush, at the last minute, begging for $700 billion to cover his own ass and crimes, and save the country from his own miscreant behavior.

So, Ms. Pelosi had it right. The party is over.

Lets make sure it doesn't just end on Wall Street, but at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as well.

Like I said, judge for yourself.

For more interesting reading on this subject, follow this link: Bush Administration Adds $4 Trillion to National Debt, by Mark Knoller.

Moderateman, founder of the American Patriot Institute has been warning us about this disaster for quite some time now. A retired CEO himself, (and a former combat Marine), Mod has an understanding of financial markets, both foreign and domestic, that is astounding. I suggest that you visit his blog, The Moderate Man, and begin reading anywhere for an excellent viewpoint of our current financial crisis.

Enemy of the Republic at Cruel Virgin offers what I like to call a "street level" look on the Bailout Vote. Check her out here, Cruel Virgin.

Support Our Troops!

2008-08-31T11:10:00.006-04:00

Iraq Veterans Against the War

at the Democratic National Convention

Dear IVAW Supporter,

IVAW Claims Victory in Denver and Heads to Minneapolis

Our members were in Denver on Wednesday leading a march of ten thousand to the Democratic National Convention where we delivered a message to the Obama camp in a meeting with senior campaign officials. IVAW called on the Democratic nominee to endorse the three main goals of IVAW: Immediate withdrawal, full veterans benefits, and reparations for the Iraqi people.

There was plenty of news coverage about our march and actions at the DNC, just go to our homepage to learn more. IVAW will continue to advance its goals through the strategic action of our members and the generosity of our supporters.

There is No Better Time Than Now to Support IVAW

IVAW members are now on their way to Minneapolis for the annual IVAW convention. Many will stay on in Minneapolis for the Republican National Convention. We need your support to help keep the momentum from this event going. Please make a donation to IVAW today.

Thank you for your continued support,

Kelly Dougherty

Former Sergeant, Army National Guard

Executive DirectorIraq Veterans Against the War

Also posted at The American Patriot Institute

Sarah...Who? Yeah, right.

2008-08-30T12:21:00.005-04:00

Sarah Palin & John McCain, Who caught who?

Let's check in with a couple of "Good Ole Boyz" and see if they can shed a little light on this...

Oooookay...

Gee, in spite of her "hotness", guess I'm still gonna have to vote for the Obama/Biden ticket.

And in case you missed it, here's Barack's acceptance speech, in full, without interruption. He may not be as "hot", (to me anyway), as "Sarah Barracuda", but he doesn't need to be...see he actually has a "plan" for America.

Enjoy!

d.

Hard At Work...No Bull

2008-08-28T15:10:00.001-04:00

Froggy and d. on "Dynamite"

Yeah..they pay us for this...

Hillary

2008-08-26T23:06:00.006-04:00

Goddam it Lady, you have Class. Unbelievable "Class". You really mean it. You really do. You believe...

Tonight, Lady, YOU are my Rosie!

From the heart of Philadelphia, from the birthplace of America, Rockin' in the cradle of Liberty...

For you...

And all of our Sisters...

Now, give it up to the Ladies, Brothers...

In her own words...

More here.

For The Ladies...

2008-08-24T18:21:00.009-04:00

This is for my Maggie,Ruthie, Sissy, Marge, Rosemary,Elaine, Enemy of The Republic, Enigma Forever, KWW, Anne, Annie, Mary, Hillary, Rachel Maddow, Randi Rhodes, Michele Obama, Jill Biden...and All the other American Girls who are True American Patriots...

Be who you are...

...Don't Back Down!

You are our "Rosies" and we love you for it!

HOPE!

2008-08-24T12:42:00.006-04:00

Barack Obama & Joe Biden

It's time to get it on!

Bring it on, Johnny-boy...

"Swiftboat" my Ass...

Tell it Tom...

Let's get ready to Rrrrrrrrrrrrrumble!!!!!!!!!!

d.

Shoulda Been A Cowboy...

2008-08-21T21:28:00.002-04:00

It's late for me Dear Friends. I'm tired and I start a new job tomorrow. The few days I had off went by so quickly...so much to do...

The most important Election of our lifetime approaches and I am too beat to help out...physically and psychologically drained...for the moment, anyway.

So please humor me while I travel to ...those fateful days of yesteryear..time to recharge the batteries...

TV again. The deadlines must be met, there is no forgiveness. The schedule is brutal, but hey, it's what I always wanted, anyway...

I'm sure most of the guys will be able to relate to this...and maybe some of you Ladies too...

Good Night, peace and love to all.

Cya soon!

Just like Gene and Roy...

Happy Trails to you!

d.

Toby Keith Endorses Barack Obama!

2008-08-20T14:35:00.011-04:00

Whiskey for my men, Beer for my horses

and Toby Keith for Obama

This has to really rattle the Always Wrong Right.

Patriotic Country Superstar Toby Keith, today said that he is a Democrat and is backing Barack Obama for President!

"...he's (Obama) the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton." - Toby Keith

Read all about it here.

How Do You Like Me Now???

Guess it's time to blow the dust off my Toby Keith straw cowboy hat! Yeeeeeehaw!

How The Media Has Failed Us

2008-08-19T08:46:00.002-04:00

Found this at Get Your Own, a great site hosted by Mary. Pay her a visit, it's well worth the time.

d.

Veterans! Think before you vote!

2008-08-19T04:28:00.001-04:00

d.

Also posted at the American Patriot Institute website.

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport

2008-08-19T03:43:00.007-04:00

This one's for Fixer & Gordon and Busted Knuckles, three of my favorite wrenches. Check out their most excellent automotive blog! Fixer & Gordon.

Hey guys, got an extra 2 million dollars laying around? Want to go from 0-62 mph in about 2.5 seconds? Care to cruise the highways and byways at 250 mph? Then the spanking new Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport is just what the Doctor ordered! I ordered mine yesterday! (Yeah, right!)

Check it out here. And don't miss the video!

d.

PS: The boys also do a right fine job at parlor tricks (politics) too! Find Fixer & Gordon at Alternate Brain and Busted Knuckles at Ornery Bastard!

Harvey Keitel, Once, Always, Forever...

2008-08-10T12:00:00.014-04:00

Harvey Keitel as Lt. Gene Hunt

United States Marine and Actor Extraordinaire

Folks have often asked me, "What's so special about the Marine Corps? Why do you guys always think you're better than everyone-else who served our country in the Armed Forces?" It's not that we're necessarily "better", (although I happen to think we are, well, unique), it's just that we consider ourselves to be more than just another "branch" of the United States military. We view our service as a Fraternity of sorts, a Brotherhood we have earned the right to belong to. For no matter where life's road may take us after our service, no-one and nothing can ever take away the title we won after graduation from boot camp - the title of United States Marine. As such, we regard all Marines as our Brothers and Sisters. We are all Marines Forever, and it is that common bond which in my eyes, makes us special.

So I've been working on this TV show, "Life On Mars", and like I said earlier, it's a terrific job. I haven't had a day off in a few weeks, but when you love what you do, every day is a holiday and every meal's a feast. Last week, while returning from lunch, I happened to walk past the Hair & Makeup room for Life On Mars on my way back to the shop. I was wearing the tee-shirt pictured below.

It's unusual that I was wearing this shirt. I have owned it for years and only wear it on November 10, the Marine Corps Birthday. I have no idea why I chose to wear it that day, but I did. And I'm glad I did, for as I passed by Hair and Makeup, a wild man stepped out into the hallway and stuck his finger in my chest and asked, "Is that you?"

His shirt was open, his face unshaven, his hair disheveled and his eyes had a semi-insane glint of mischief in them. Standing nose to nose with me, he prodded me in the chest again and repeated, "Is that You?" I was taken totally off-guard. Why, I asked myself, would I wear a shirt I hadn't earned the right to, and who was this maniac questioning me on it? Yet, there was something vaguely familiar about him, but I was too shocked to put two and two together.

"Yes it is", I stammered back.

"You a Marine?", the madman responded.

"Yes Sir!" I said.

Grabbing my hand and pumping it furiously, he almost shouted, "Semper Fi, Jarhead!"

"Semper Fi to you too", I lamely answered. "Were you a Marine?", I asked.

"Betcher sweet ass I am. Got a minute, I want you to meet someone. Come with me."

With that, he put his arm around my shoulder and ushered me into the crowd gathered in the Hair & Makeup room.

"See that tall fellow over there?", he said, pointing at the tall young man in the center of the room, who, by now, with everyone-else, was watching this surreal play unfold, for we were, at this point, the center of everyone's attention. "He's the Producer and I want you to tell him something for me."

My stomach flipped. He was the Producer and here I was, in the clutches of a madman, in Hair & Makeup, where I had no right to be, looking him eye to eye.

"I want you to tell him that if he messes with me, you'll kill him!"

I swallowed. Hard.

"This man is my Brother and if you mess with me, he'll kill you!", he went on.

It was then I heard it. The voice. The voice of Mr. Wolf. Pulp Fiction. The man with his arm around my shoulder, ordering me to threaten the Producer's life, was none other than Harvey Keitel.

I turned and looked at him. He hugged me closer, "Go on, tell him." I'm a huge fan of Harvey Keitel so there was no way I was going to disappoint him.

Gathering my wits, I turned to the Producer and said, "Sir, if you mess with my Brother, I will kill you."

And Harvey said, "And if you mess with my Brother, I will kill you!"

Thankfully, the whole room burst into laughter. Grabbing my hand once more, Harvey shook it hard and said, "Semper Fi, Brother, Once Always, Forever!"

He then asked me what role I was playing in the show. I told him I was playing the role of "Scenic Carpenter", building his sets. He asked me how it was going. I told him it must be going great because I had been playing the same role for 25 years and so far I had everybody fooled. Laughter again. I told Harvey what a pleasure and honor it was meeting him and got the hell out of there as fast as I could.

I have always wanted to be an actor. In fact, in my younger days I was pretty good. I even did a stint with the American Shakespeare Company in Stratford, Connecticut, but as life would have it, I never made it in front of the camera. I never achieved the success that Harvey Keitel has in our chosen profession. No matter, I'm a damn good hammer and I'm proud of my little contribution to this thing called show biz. But that's not the point.

The point is this. I was, and still am, a United States Marine. And so is Harvey Keitel. And between Marines, that is all that ever really matters.

Semper Fi to you Harvey. You made me proud and you made my day. And you gave me one hell of a story to tell.

Speaking of stories, Life On Mars is a great one. I highly recommend it. Watch for it on your local ABC affiliate on Thursday, October 9th at 10pm est/9pm central.

Hell, it must be great. There's a United States Marine in it.

Life On Mars

d.

And Now For Something Completely Different, Part One

2008-08-03T18:11:00.002-04:00

Oh McCain!

Courtesy of Lunatics And Liars, via VoteVets! Enjoy!

d.

And Now, For Something Completely Different...Part Deux...

2008-08-03T18:06:00.003-04:00

Courtesy, (once again), of Lunatics and Liars

d.

Good Night

2008-07-28T23:05:00.002-04:00

Just a personal note. I'm on a new TV show called Life On Mars. Couldn't be better. Hours are kinda long tho, haven't had a day off in almost four weeks. Good thing I like what I do.

Anyway, I'm beat. I'm going to bed and read myslef to sleep. Reading Confessions Of An Economic Hitman, by John Perkins. Highly reccomend it.

So, let me leave you with this, to stoke the coals...

It really is time for change...

Good night. See you soon.

d.

Help Moveon.Org Fight McCain on MTV and Comedy Central

2008-07-28T19:27:00.005-04:00

I recieved an e-mail from Moveon today and I thought I should pass on a wonderful opportunity to counter the Always Wrong Right's attempts to smear and discredit Barack Obama on MTV.

I know it must seem like every post I make lately is asking for money or time for one progressive cause or another. The fact is, the Always Wrong Right is taking nothing for granted. They believe that with the proper propaganda, they can win this Presidential Election. If we become too confident, too complacent, we could find ourselves faced with four more years of war, recession, lost jobs and lies and broken promises - in other words, a continuation of the policies that have brought our once great nation to it's knees, the policies of Geroge Walker Bush.

It is critical that we do all that we can too ensure that Barack Obama wins the Presidential Election. We must also work hard to get as many Progressives elected to public office as well. Notice, I didn't say Democrats. There are way too many DINO's, (Democrats In Name Only), and we must replace them with dedicated individuals who are committed to the principles outlined in the Consitution. We cannot afford to let up for one minute, or we may face our worst nightmare come January 20, 2009.

So please take a look at the ad below. If you like it and can afford it, click the link below and help get it on the air. It is up to us, the people, to take back our government and make it, once again, a Government of the People, by the People and For the People.

d.

From the e-mail:

Dear MoveOn member,

MTV just started accepting political ads. And the first political ad that millions of young people will see is a negative attack on Barack Obama—saying he's "worse than a flip-flopper" and accusing him of no longer being against the war.1 It's outrageous.

The Republicans' strategy is clear: kill the hope that's brought millions of new young voters out of the woodwork.

We can't let that happen. And as it turns out, we've got a funny, positive, hopeful way to fight back.

The "funniest ad" award winner in our Obama in 30 Seconds contest is a perfect counterpoint to the cynicism-mongering ad on MTV. Plus, it was made by actor (and MoveOn member) Rider Strong.

We just found out that we can run this ad on MTV and Comedy Central (as their first political ad ever) for $150,000. If 6000 of us contribute $25, we can do it. Can you check out the ad below—and if you like it, will you chip in to get it on the air?

Brain On Hope

Thanks for all you do.

–Peter, Ray, Daniel, Justin and the rest of the team

VoteVets: Keep your word John McCain

2008-07-23T22:23:00.005-04:00

Today, we're announcing a new national television ad, and wanted you to see it right away.
Senator McCain once said that if the Iraqis asked us to leave, we would have to leave. Those of us who served agree with that. Senator McCain now either has to back off his refusal to set a plan to leave Iraq, as Prime Minister Maliki requested a number of times in the past week, or tell the American and Iraqi people why he would overrule Iraq's government and turn our troops into an indefinite occupying force. Those are his only two options. Our new ad makes that clear.

Click Here To Help Keep Ads Like This On The Air

Now is not the time to send mixed messages to the Iraqis. Even the Bush administration is bending on timelines for redeployment. Senator McCain does more harm than good when he signals to the Iraqi government that their request for a timetable for redeployment is a non-starter. We should be supporting the Iraqi government, not undermining it.

Further, there is a real enemy to fight in Afghanistan. It is time to set our focus on destroying the real terrorist threat in the Afghansitan/Pakistan region. We cannot want to be in Iraq more than the Iraqis want us to be there. We cannot referee Iraq's political problems with troops, especially when we have a real job to do protecting America from the terrorists in Afghanistan. And, we cannot do it all.

Click Here To Support VoteVets

Please take a moment to look at this powerful new ad, and donate to help us keep turning ads like this out. And, don't forget to tell your friends about this ad, and spread the word about the work VoteVets.org does. It's easy – just click on the "Tell-a-friend" link below.

Thanks for all of your support.

Sincerely,

Jon Soltz

Iraq War Veteran

Chairman, VoteVets.org

Paid for by VoteVets.org Action Fund

Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.

Tell-a-friend!

If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for VoteVets.org.

Joseph Dwyer, Army Medic and Iraq War Hero, Couldn't save Himself

2008-07-20T16:24:00.013-04:00

Soldier In Famous Photo Never Defeated Demons

PINEHURST, N.C. — Officers had been to the white ranch house at 560 W. Longleaf many times before over the past year to respond to a "barricade situation." Each had ended uneventfully, with Joseph Dwyer coming out or telling police in a calm voice through the window that he was OK.

They found Dwyer lying on his back, his clothes soiled with urine and feces. Scattered on the floor around him were dozens of spent cans of Dust-Off, a refrigerant-based aerosol normally used to clean electrical equipment.

A photograph taken in the first days of the war had made the medic from New York's Long Island a symbol of the United States' good intentions in the Middle East. When he returned home, he was hailed as a hero.

But for most of the past five years, the 31-year-old soldier had writhed in a private hell, shooting at imaginary enemies and dodging nonexistent roadside bombs, sleeping in a closet bunker and trying desperately to huff away the "demons" in his head. When his personal problems became public, efforts were made to help him, but nothing seemed to work.

This broken, frightened man had once been the embodiment of American might and compassion.

<
div>

"I'm a soldier," he said. "I suck it up. That's our job."
___

One more casualty in a bullshit war fought for profit. Go back and click the link above and read the entire story. How could this happen? How could a bona fide American hero, who saved all he could, including the"enemy" die alone and insane, paralyzed with fear of an imaginary enemy in a country where every other car has a bumper sticker demanding that we "Support The Troops"?

Well, maybe his enemies weren't imaginary.

And maybe we aren't doing such a fine job of "supporting" those we send to kill in our names.

Maybe it really is time for "Change".

Brings to mind another Iconic American Hero. One who fought at Iwo Jima and was hailed as a hero.

One who also succumbed to his demons.

At least the war Ira Hayes fought was worth the terrible price he paid. Is this current war worth the lives of men and women like Joseph Dwyer?

I suspect Ira and Joseph had a lot in common. Good men who wanted only to serve their country when they believed their country needed them most. It's a Damn shame that country couldn't or wouldn't help them when they needed it most.

Rest in Peace, Joseph. May Ira's tribute honor you as well.

It's All Psychological...

2008-07-19T18:20:00.002-04:00

And now a word from our sponsor...

Why not help out?

d.

Bush welcomes probe of CIA leak

2008-07-16T19:40:00.008-04:00

Photo courtesy of scroff & Ruthie from

Any Which Way

The Lie:

'I want to know the truth,' president tells reporters

Wednesday, February 11, 2004 Posted: 1:46 AM EST (0646 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said Tuesday he welcomes a Justice Department investigation into who revealed the classified identity of a CIA operative.

"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is," Bush told reporters at an impromptu news conference during a fund-raising stop in Chicago, Illinois. "If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.

"I welcome the investigation. I am absolutely confident the Justice Department will do a good job. ..."

Bush said he has told his administration to cooperate fully with the investigation and asked anyone with knowledge of the case to come forward.

- CNN, International Edition, Wednesday, February 11, 2004

The Truth:

Bush claims executive privilege on CIA leak

Vice President Cheney's FBI interview on the subject at issue

WASHINGTON - President Bush invoked executive privilege to keep Congress from seeing the FBI report of an interview with Vice President Dick Cheney and other records related to the administration's leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity in 2003.

- Associated Press, Wednesday, July 16, 2008

While I fervently hope that "King" George and "Dick" Cheney will be impeached and indicted, I have come to realize that this will probably never happen.

I can, and do, implore all of our elected reps, from both sides of the aisle to come to their senses and force the Bush Crime Cartel to co-operate with the legally mandated investigations "King" George promised he was anxious to co-operate with. Didn't he say something about firing anyone in his Administration who had taken part in the outing of a covert CIA operative?

By now, even the staunchest Republican must realize that Bush and his Cronies are RINO's, Republicans In Name Only, and that their party has been hijacked by criminals who make John Gotti and Al Capone look like Alter boys.

It is up to us, the People, to make sure that all of our Elected Representatives, Democrat and Republican, understand that their actions in the coming months will determine how long they "serve" the people. It's an important election year. Let's tell our "servants" that we expect honesty and openess in our Government, and that they can regain our faith in their leadership only if they restore "Government Of the People, By the People and For the People", by holding those who have abused their power, and ignored the People, accountable.

d.

For My Maggie

2008-07-13T19:29:00.001-04:00

Just like the Fleetwoods, we ain't gettin' older, we're gettin' better...

I love you Baby.

d.

Redstate Update

2008-07-05T13:12:00.002-04:00

Sorry. I had to. Just had to. Too goddam funny...

Man, this is some good shit...chuckle, smirk...

Enjoy...

d.