A Milestone

Tonight on my way back to the apartment from my evening walk, to the Independence Plaza, I was hailed by some folks in a car who, in Spanish, asked me directions and I was actually able to give them directions, also in Spanish. I strutted the rest of the way home.
Also today, my landlord, [...]

Fascism

Canadian lawyer Paul Bigioni has produced an interesting article on the relationship of the subjugation of the state to powerful economic interests, deregulation of markets, concentration of capital and fascism. Mr. Bigioni is working on a book on the subject. The article draws parallels between what is now occurring in Western economies and [...]

Iraqi Death Squads an Explicit Product of U. S. Policy

You have probably read or heard about the Shiite Iraqi death squads that some reports indicate are affiliated with the Iraqi police. Well it appears as though the death squads are a product of U. S. policy.
One of her readers reminds Laura Rozen, at “War and Piece”, of a January Newsweek report.
The El Salvadoran [...]

Commander in Fact Dick Cheney Should be in Prison

By ANNE GEARANThe Associated PressMonday, November 28, 2005; 6:50 PMWASHINGTON — A top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that wrongheaded ideas for the handling of foreign detainees arose from White House and Pentagon officials who argued that “the president of the United States is all-powerful” and the Geneva Conventions irrelevant.
In [...]

Obstruction of Justice and Perjury Charges for Rove?

It looks likely that Rove will be charged with perjury and obstruction of justice. Rove’s personal assistant, Susan Ralston, apparently lied to the Fitzgerald inquiry, was caught in her lie by investigators, was called back for further testimony, and fessed up that Rove had instructed her to not log the call from Time magazine reporter [...]

Immigrant Agricultural Labor

Let’s see. We in the U. S. like cheap food, almost all of us refuse to work in the agricultural industry, there are hoards of folks in other countries that are happy to work in our agricultural industry, and we refuse to let them into our country so they can do such work. [...]

This Evening in the Back Yard

This evening as I was in the back yard to water a couple of cantaloupe sprouts, from seeds I planted to replace a cantaloupe plant the had “dampened off”, Ignacio, a neighbor from across the back yard wall, whom I had not heretofore met, was standing on the back terrace of his home. We struck [...]

Friday Evening at the Symphony

I went again to the Yucatan Symphony Friday evening. The program was music by Mexican composers, with seven vocal selections.
Next Friday the program will be five of the brass players, two trumpets, a French horn, and my neighbor Joel on the trombone.
Living in the Satsop for almost thirty years I rarely had an opportunity [...]

Soil Sifting Operation

Here’s my soil sifting operation. I am using palm frond stems to support the hardware cloth. I excavate the soil with my mattock, throw a shovel full of material on the screen, rub the material around until all of the soil goes through, then flick the stones remaining on the screen into the [...]

Watermelon Close Up

The watermelons and cantaloupes are sprouting their third sets of leaves.

Lettuce and Cantaloupe Close Ups

Bill Richardson’s Presidential Ambitions Go Down the Tube

Why would anyone lie about being drafted by the Kansas City Athletics?
Read all about it here, if you’re interested.

Garden Update

Here is a shot of the back yard. In the foreground is the black plastic covered compost pile, which is really cooking now and teeming with mice feasting of my fruit and vegetable scraps. The bed by the blue buckets is now home to 24 little lettuce plants that are slowly growing.
Beyond the lettuce bed [...]

National Health Insurance

Many of us have been arguing for a single payer, government operated health insurance program for quite some time. Our arguments have been met with red baiting. You know the trope.
Well, now that GM is facing bankruptcy and other mega-corporations are facing the financial pains wrought by a profit driven health care [...]

Remember Ubercrook Jack Abramoff?

Remember Jack Abramoff, the republican machine bag man/lobbyist already indicted for bank fraud related to the purchase of the SunCruz casino boat operation and whose other indicted business partner, Micahel Scanlon, has agreed to testify against Abramoff relative to the bribery of various congresspersons, including Ohio republican Bob Ney? Abramoff, you will also remember, is [...]

Attn: UR

Don’t I even get a hint of what I missed last evening? I would be interested in meeting (particularly if you are who I am hoping you are but probably aren’t) but under less mysterious circumstances. How about coffee, or something more adventuresome, at the place of your choice?I’ll buy.

This Guy Should Be President

And Joel Connelly should be Vice-president
JOEL CONNELLYSEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNISTCHENEY — A sky-high dreamer from the Big Sky State, Gov. Brian Schweitzer aims to make Montana government a lobbyist-free zone and to “create the new energy center of the world.”The mint farmer and cattle rancher — he once exported bull semen — has already accomplished [...]

Antonin Scalia – The Ultimate Judicial Activist

From the New York PostNovember 22, 2005 – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says the high court did not inject itself into the 2000 presidential election.
Speaking at the Time Warner Center last night, Scalia said: “The election was dragged into the courts by the Gore people. We did not go looking for trouble.”
But he [...]

Bush Wanted to Bomb al-Jazeera Headquarters

The British newspaper the Daily Mirror is reporting, based upon a “Downing Street memo” described as a “five-page transcript of a conversation between Bush and British Prime Minister” that Bush told Blair that he wanted to bomb the headquarters of the al-Jazeera news agency “in the business district of Doha, the capital of Qatar.”
Blair reportedly [...]

"The Man Who Sold the War"

James Bamford, a best selling author, reports in the “Rolling Stone” on the “The Man Who Sold the War”. He reports that the Pentagon and CIA’s hiring of the Rendon Group to sell the world on the plan to conquer Iraq. And guess what? One of the chief media conduits for the [...]