Tired of politics?  Me too!  We all have been very impressed with the impression Obama has given on his 'World Tour'. He is a dignified, attractive, intelligent man who is 'comfortable in his skin'.

So how about you?  Are you happy and comfortable with yourself and your body image?  Do you fret about being too heavy? Too old?  Out of touch?
Balding?  Double Chins?  Or are you a smart, healthy, happy person?

Come on over - let's go on a little video adventure....

Within the last 6 weeks, I was listening to NPR while driving and heard an interview by Terry Gross, I think, maybe the FreshAir program. She was talking with a professor who was writing a book about Middle East politics. He had a daughter who was studying in Europe, who he talked to on the phone on a regular basis. He was relating details of an invasion of his college office by the 'men in black'.

The saga continues below:

You know, some days you wake up and the sun is shining and life looks pretty darn good. Other days, nothing seems to go right. I'm off work for a few weeks between semesters, so there are many little jobs to do around  the house/yard. When I don't have a time structured day, I tend to procrastinate. I'm much more productive when there are definite tasks to accomplish by certain deadlines.

A small group of protestors carrying Tibetan Flags had assembled to walk to the United Nations Building and stage a sit-in for a "Free Tibet" rally. Most of them were Buddhists who believe in peaceful protests for their cause, yet they were confronted by New York's "finest" with pushing, clubs and were forced to the ground, handcuffed and arrested. Fortunately, this was captured by cameras and is now up on YouTube .NYC  police beat protestors

In spite of years - I mean decades - of work by wildlife biologists, the Bush administration has decided today to approve the hunting of up to 1200 wolves in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Rockies areas. Even though there are record numbers of elk in northern tier states, that are suffering from lack of food as well as disease, federal officials have decided to remove any protections from the primary preditors of these large herd animals.

Everytime I watch the launch of a shuttle craft, I feel an intense sense of pride. Remember when NASA was admired by people around the world? Our quest to explore space and seek information for the good of mankind was a pure mission. It's still amazing to me that our rockets and shuttles manage to escape the Earth's gravity and carry astronauts and machines
beyond the edge of our atmosphere. I know with the right leadership, we could feel good about our scientific achievements again.  I know this is short but I wanted to let you all know of another successful launch - and to take your minds off politics.

Next Tuesday, Michigan holds it's "primary" and I do use the word hesitantly, because I feel our choices are limited to say the least. As far as I'm concerned, Michigan Democrats were "sold out by our "leadership" or lack thereof within our state. I want to play a part in the decision making for the Michigan Democratic Committee, but I sure could use the wise advice of all you Kossacks...

With tears running down my cheek, I'm watching Al Gore give his speech before the Nobel Peace Prize audience in Oslo - saying all the right things to a concerned, intelligent group of people who genuinely care about the future of this planet. He and all those in the room are looking far beyond next year, the next decade and the next century, to try to do something to control our numbers, our waste and our abuse of this delicate planet.

Al Gore SHOULDA been our president. Al Gore COULDA made a difference in our country's path during the last 7 years.  Al Gore WOULDA made an even greater impact on uniting the people of the world as President of the United States.

As I watch the disastrous wildfires destroying so many California homes and cities, it brings back memories of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina just 2 years ago.  There are so many similarities yet so many differences in these two acts of nature. It will be very interesting to see what happens when these fires are finally brought under control.

Wahoo - he did it again.  Nailed Bush's ass to the wall. This megalomaniac preznut of ours has sealed his doom. He tells the troops he may be able to draw down their numbers, yet the new book hitting the shelves this week says part of Bush's legacy will be to ensure this war continues into the next presidency.  Sorry this is short, but wow Keith was hot!

There have been rumblings about the possibility of the Department of Homeland Security building detention centers in various locations around the United States.  The President has secretly added many signing statements to Congressional legislation.  I received this today and was shocked by the detailed information it included.  I'm not much of a journalistic researcher and was hoping some of you who are pros, could verify how much of this is valid - or not.  The combination of the expansion of executive powers and this elaborate plan to apparently imprison some of us is pretty scary stuff.....

Check out the details below:

The floor of the Senate is now the soapbox for those Republican Senators doing W's dirty work. Leiberman, Kyl, McCain and now Graham are building the case for an attack on Iran. Each one has laid out the (scanty) evidence of Iranians crossing the border to participate in the insurgency within Iraq. They have tried to convince listeners that munitions and expertise in bomb making is directly linked to Iranians. And those poor Israelis are continuously threatened by Iran's government which doesn't believe Israel has the right to exist. Iran is kidnapping and holding hostages. Iran is SO evil.  

Wow - Keith really nailed this administration!  He challenged Bush and Cheney to be patriots and resign for the sake of our country much as Nixon was forced to do, rather than put us through the destructive process of impeachment.  Please share your thoughts....

Another great American species is struggling for survival as temperatures soar.  There is no denying that the effects of global warming are having a drastic effect on North American wildlife.  Extremes in our weather patterns have brought doughts, wildfires, torrential rains, tornadoes and hurricanes to areas where these were rare occurances.  In the meantime, our present administration ignores nature's warnings and insists on opening national forests up to logging, removing species from the protected list or allowing the shooting of other species such as wolves after years of work to restore their numbers.  

So, behold the Magnificent Moose!

Do any of you watch Washington Journal on C-SPAN in the morning to listen to the call-in sessions?  Often there are definite topics such as "How do you feel about the Immigration Bill before Congress?" or "What are your opinions about Eisenhower's warning concerning the military/industrial complex?" The phone lines are usually designated as Democratic, Republican and Independent, with equal time given to each.  Apparantly, Mike Savage was recently given a "Freedom of Speech" award and the ceremony was not covered by C-SPAN.  Mike Savage sent a DVD copy of his acceptance speech to C-SPAN fully expecting it to be aired.  Brian Lamb, senior spokesperson for C-SPAN said they would not air the DVD but would allow Mike Savage to appear on their program.  Mike Savage then went ballistic on his talk radio program and encouraged his listeners to slam C-SPAN with critical emails.  

After reading Kagro X's excellent blog Some thoughts on journalists and the blogosphere, my mind started to wander and wonder if some of those who post here regularly really do sit around in their bathrobes, for months at a time in an efficiency apartment in the Bronx - as Brian Williams suggested.

Are we really a bunch of social missfits, nerds and geeks, making up stuff to instigate an uprising against any sitting government?  Is there an attempt by those who arrogantly seem to think that only those with "real" jobs in journalism are the only voices that should be acknowledged as credible?  Let's see what we really do in our lives that gives passion and voice to what we write here.....

Remember those Homeland Security "color-codes?  Aren't we now in a continual state of "orange?"  I used to just hang my head with a sigh or a chuckle everytime some administration official (usually Tom Ridge) would step out in front of the White House and declare a change in the "terror level" has occured - usually in time to deflect or submerge some other late breaking story which might put the administration into a bad light. Well, guess what, as many of us suspected......

Tony Blair will step down in just a matter of days or weeks.  One can't help but wonder that being labeled "Bush's Poodle" and being complicit in one of the greatest military/political blunders in history played a major role in his demise. New documents are referenced by former British intelligence expert, Carne Ross in this:   Diplomat's suppressed document lays bare the lies behind Iraq war