Saturday at the Shrimp Festival

Spent Saturday afternoon at the Golconda Shrimp Festival. What a cool festival and town. Street was lined with motorcyclists, most of whom seemed to congregate outside the saloon. Great view of Ohio River at the end of the main street. Nice marina. Plenty of food on the street. Bands playing. Reasonably priced beer, though you had a different ticketing/token system than with the food vendors on the street.

We decided to camp at Dixon Springs State Park, nearby. This is a good place for day activities but questionable for camping. We camped there because it was convenient to Golconda and the Shrimp Festival. The park is right off IL 146, but that is one of the negatives. While camping, we could hear highway traffic all night.

Ghost Dance Canyon Trail is well worth the hike, with rock formations, small caves and a creek. However, again, you could hear the highway traffic the whole hike.

Campground was clean and it was nice to have tent campers (as we are) outnumber, or equal, RVs. But, mighty startling as we were setting up, was the loud, bellowing, otherworldly sound of chanting. We finally realized it must be coming from the Impact Incarceration camp next door to the park. We rode our bikes over, about 7pm and were greeted by a guard who told us the noise had been the prisoners engaged in tug-of-war. They quit at 7:00. However, we were awoken at 5:30, or 6:00, the next morning, to the sounds of prisoners shouting their way through calisthenics.

On the whole, a good time, though. We had a great campfire. Steaks and sweet potatoes over the open fire, bottle of wine, cards and great weather. Had another great breakfast fire, over which we perculated coffee, and made eggs, bacon and toast. Worked it all off with a bike ride through the park and a hike through the canyon.

Holy shit!

Who would ever dream that former Attorney General John Ashcroft would come out of any story looking like the good guy? Given the fascist tactics of current Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and former White House chief of staff Andrew Card, Ashcroft appears to be a hero in the fight for liberty. Wow. How low have we sunk? Or did we always just misjudge the prude by the company he kept? See the story of today's congressional testimony here.

Molly Ivins: I miss her already.

Our awful local paper, the Southern Illinoisan ran Molly, every Sunday, across the page from Anne Coulter. It was maddening. It is also not lost on me, that the last column I saw from Molly Ivins, was a call, to go out into the streets to stop the war.

I was watching reruns of the Sopranos last night, when my wife, who was at the computer cried, “Oh, no! Molly Ivens died!” She seemed to be in tears off and on last night.

Ninety nine percent of those who claim to be journalists should prostrate them selves begging Molly Ivins’s spirit’s forgiveness for pretending to be in the same profession as she. I’m going to call my senator and tell them to support Russ Feingold’s proposal to cut off funding for the war. I think she’d like that better than flowers.

The one senator not running for president

The one senator not running for president is the only one with a clear eyed solution to the war. I was disappointed that Russ Feingold chose not to run for president. Now I see that he has more patriotism than ambition. He voted against starting the war and now he proposes to end it. Non-binding resolutions will not affect a President who ignores the law. Bush/Cheney will not be impressed by the Congressional equivalent of a student council resolution. Only action, such as cutting off funding by a defined date, will get the US out of this nightmare (we can't save the Iraqis; we've already ruined their country).

Hillary, Biden, Reid and the rest of the Democratic leadership gave us this war, when the Democratic Senate chose to vote for it in 2002. Then, many of them wanted to be president and were afraid the war would go well and they would be accused of voting wrong. Now they want to be president and they want to cover all bets. They'll vote for a non-binding resolution so they can say they oppose the war but not be accused of voting against the troops.

Feingold supports the troops. He wants to bring them home. Call your Senators and tell them to support him!

jc

Dictatorships are not always installed by coups

Those who failed to oppose this are as guilty as the German Centrist Party

Dictatorships are not always installed by coups. Often they are voted in. In Germany, the act of surrender was the Enabling Act of 1933. After the Communists had been killed or arrested and most Socialists arrested or cowed, the Catholic Center party provided the margin of victory for the nazis.

Now, in the U.S., torture is legal and the right to habeas corpus discarded. The act of surrender was the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Those who should be ashamed, and blamed by history, are the Democrats who failed to vote against it, and the Democrats who didn't bother to filibuster.

This was a proud, free country. How sad, that it went quietly, with barely a wimper. It would have been sad enough, had the Constitution been lost, following a glorious and desparate fight. We've known for the last few years that Republicans are fascists. Unfortunately, the Democrats, unmindful of their oath of office, are enablers.

-- jimmycarl

[Read jimmycarl's other letters]

Permalink

Friday, October 06, 2006 5:29:32 PM

This is what patriotism REALLY sounds like

Wow. I caught this about two thirds of the way through. Click here for the video and transcript of Keith Olbermann's special comment tonight on Countdown. He may be ripping off Edward R. Murrow, but it's OK. I'm sure Murrow's nodding from beyond. Good night and good luck, indeed.

Jimmy C.

Enough!

Our once proud country is now on its knees, crouching behind torturers. The President wants Congress to legalize the CIA's use of torture and to be able to try and imprison people without their seeing the supposed evidence against them. He wants to get around the Geneva Conventions. Enough! Our country is being turned into something dirty. We used to be proud of it. Remember why? We looked down on tin horn dictators who 'disappeared' and tortured people? Now we're doing it. Remember when the Soviet Union was the bad bear, with its gulags? Now we're using secret prisons.

The Senators who opposed the President’s quest for impunity are now wanting to compromise. Our representatives need to understand that it's time to stand up and pick a side. There is no compromise on torture. You're either doing something vile, or you're not. There is no middle ground between decency and fascism.

No matter how bad things got in Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia or Red China, the world could always look to America as a beacon of light and freedom. That is no longer true. We are the strongest country in the world. We are the richest. But we're not that beacon anymore. We can be. We don't have to be afraid of the dark. There is an old proverb, 'Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.' Call, write, email and FAX your Congressmen. Tell them to reject this cowardly legislation.

Jimmy C.

Two war criminals on a couch

Saddam Hussein is going on trial for the second time. He'll now be tried for using chemical weapons on Kurdish civilians. He used them on the Iranian army, as well as the Kurdish civilians. Where did he get those weapons of mass destruction, that he used back in the 1980s? Click here to see Tariq Aziz, Saddam Hussein and Donald Rumsfeld making the dirty deal.

If there's any justice in this world, Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush will feel its blind wrath. If not in this world, then in the next!

jimmy c.

Olbermann channels Murrow

Wow. Check out Keith Olbermann's smack back at Rumsfeld, on Video Dog.

How Ike Skelton could have said it in 25 words or less

What he meant to say and what they should say

I think he meant to say that:

Iraq will be a mess until its political issues are addressed. Terrorism is not state-sponsored. We need NATO to help. Poverty contributes to terrorism.

Democrats need to repeatedly say:

Terrorists don't want to kill us because they hate our freedom. They want to kill us because they hate us. George Bush hates our freedom.

-- jimmycarl

[Read jimmycarl's other letters]

PermalinkTuesday, August 22, 2006 2:05:46 PM

Letters: The Pennsylvania Green Party/GOP nexus - Salon

Letters: The Pennsylvania Green Party/GOP nexus - Salon: "This is another reason why I will never be a Democrat again.

The arrogance! Those votes do not belong to the Democrats. They belong to the voter, to give to whoever he wishes. Those contributors may have been Republicans but they were probably from Pennsylvania. What's wrong with giving it to whoever they want?

What's wrong with the Green's using it to fund their petition drive? Can't the Democrats stand the competition? If they stood for something they wouldn't have to worry about third parties. And for crying out loud, abortion is not a platform. If that's all the Greens stood for, they wouldn't exist. It's the Democrats that use it as a fundraising bogeyman. Boo! Vote for us or your kid can't have an abortion.

Where have the Democrats been the last five years? They voted to let Bush have his war, his tax cuts and the Patriot Act. They've been pipsqueaks about torture and domestic spying.
Geesh. If Democrats think my voting for Nader was so wrong, in 2000, why haven't they made any noise in opposing him since? ...Never mind. Back to the point. The constitution doesn't recognize a two party system. They're not your votes. Earn them!
-- jimmycarl "

Casualties of War: Lebanon�s Trees, Air and Sea - New York Times

Casualties of War: Lebanon�s Trees, Air and Sea - New York Times

A Vacation in Lebanon

My daughter, Alix, pointed out how real this war has quickly become. Last summer, we took a vacation to Greece. We're Greek-Americans and we visited our relatives. What if Greek terrorists had kidnapped a neighboring country's soldiers and lobbed a few missles their way? We would be outraged at the terrorists.

What if Greece was then bombed, by the offended country, whole neighborhoods of Athens destroyed, the country completely blockaded by sea, the Athens airport bombed beyond use? What if the main highway out of the country, to the north, was bombed? Who would we be angry at then?

How would we get out? How would we get home? Ah... you say the U.S. government will rescue us with cruise ships. What are we to do with our relatives? Wish them luck, wave and turn our backs? Now change the words above. Substitute Lebanon for Greece, Lebanese-Canadians for Greek-Americans, Hezbollah for Greek terrorists, Beirut for Athens. This story doesn't have a happy ending, if it has one at all.

Will we let the world end on our watch?

So, why do you think there is flooding in New England, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C.?Seems like something out of a movie that all the documents in the National Archives, except the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights, have been threatened. Speaking of movies, go see An Inconvenient Truth.

Who ever thought we'd really see the end of the world? Or at least the end of the world, as we know it. Oh, yeah, we used to worry about nuclear war. But, now we have not only willed our children a ticking bomb, we have shortened the fuse. Global climate change, due to global warming, has already started. Mt. Kilamanjaro is losing its snow. Glacier National Park is losing its glaciers and the Artic Sea is losing its cap. Those of us who love going to the beach will find them no more. Those who live near the sea, in Bangla Desh, India and most island nations, will die. Millions will become refugees, leaving the immigration debate as a meaningless joke.

We've known this was coming but have allowed a President and Vice-President, opposed to environmental protection, to be elected. Our legislators are doing nothing. We have lost at least five years to this folly and will lose more if we don't demand immediate action.

Climatic changes will cause more deaths, destruction and political unrest than any terrorist plot. This is a matter of national security and human survival. There will be more Al Gore in the movie than some would like, but the movie discusses the science in terms all can understand and that can then be used to convince our friends, family and neighbors. This is an argument we must win, and now. Go see it. Then act, if you want your children to live in a world with sandy beaches, polar bears and peace.

This is what our elected representatives took an oath to uphold

"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Article II, Section 4, Constitution of the United States of America

Kerry DID hedge his bet

People, we all need to remember the 2004 race. In the course of the campaign, Bush asked the $64 question. There was only one answer, which Kerry should have hit out of the park, but he whiffed it.

Bush asked, if you'd known then what you know today, would you still vote for the resolution. There was only one answer! Kerry gave the other one. Kerry said that yes he would have still voted yes because, even though he thought then that the administration didn't know what it was doing, and proved it since, he thought giving the President the authorization was the right thing to do.

At least Edwards has said he now knows he blew it. Kerry was asked if he would say about Iraq, what he'd said about Vietnam: that it was a mistake. He said no.

Kerry talks a lot about Bush's mistakes and about what we should do now. The first thing should be to stand up and say we made a bad mistake. Then, and only then, can we get out of this. The alternative, as Kerry should remember, is to wait Kissinger's "decent interval". In the end, the result will be the same: a country worse off than when we invaded, our country broke and divided and thousands dead in vain.

So why do all the smart boys want to dump on Feingold? Ah, a prophet is cursed in his own land and time.

-- jimmycarl

[Read jimmycarl's other letters]

Salon.comMonday, June 05, 2006 1:35:14 PM

Phone Companies Using Front Groups?

The bad guys are pretending they're the good guys. The phone companies and allies are hiding behind front groups trying to kill net neutrality. Don't be fooled; click here for details. And remember, call and write your congressman. There is a reason the big corporations are spending wads of money to kill net neutrality. It's just like there is a reason they spend millions on campaign contributions. Votes really count and net neutrality preserves an informed electorate.

Letters: Pelosi: Impeachment is "off the table" - Salon

Letters: Pelosi: Impeachment is "off the table" - Salon: "Patriots worry about the Constitution first; politcal gain second.

No wonder people don't vote. No one represents them. This is how we keep getting into these messes. The smart boys, or in this case, Ms. Pelosi, are always looking after the main chance. She wants to take impeachment off the table because it might scare voters and prevent her from becoming Speaker of the House. She needs to worry about doing the right thing and then trusting the voters to do the same.

It appears that Bush and Cheney have broken the law. The Democrats don't have to campaign on a platform that they will impeach them, but they should not promise not to either. When/if they get a majority, they must impeach. They took an oath to defend the Constitution, not to win the Presidency in 2008.

Whether Cheney or Hastert ascend to office should not be the deciding factor. If the Democrats believe Bush or Cheney broke the law, they should impeach them and force the Senate to try them.

History shows that in a two year period, from 1973-1974, America got rid of Vice President Spriro Agnew and President Richard Nixon. Whether Hastert, or someone else, plays the role of Gerald Ford, the principal of self governement will have won. If the Democrats can't see this, they've lost all purpose. If we don't insist on this, we've lost our country.

-- jimmycarl"

Killing the CIA | Salon.com

Killing the CIA Salon.com

Congress Must Not Sell Out the Internet

The Congress must be persuaded that they must preserve Net Neutrality. Check out this article from the March 20 New Yorker . Then ask yourself why any Congressman, not criminally in the service of the corporate phone and broadband providers, would vote to end Net Neutrality. If they do, the Internet, as we have known it, is dead.

The mainstream media can no longer be trusted to deliver news and the government cannot be trusted to tell the truth. All we have is each other and the only way we can communicate is via a free Internet. Call, write and email your congressman. Insist they vote to preserve that freedom.

jimmy c.