tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-126806222024-02-28T08:59:16.147-08:00TediousGotta slither before crawling,
crawl before walking,
walk before running, etc.TDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371685892266672067noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12680622.post-47722184153787943032008-10-22T10:05:00.000-07:002008-10-22T10:08:08.010-07:00Staff Meeting on Monday, checks on Thursday, and... anything in between?<embed FlashVars="videoId=188638" src='http://www.thedailyshow.com/sitewide/video_player/view/default/swf.jhtml' quality='high' bgcolor='#cccccc' width='332' height='316' name='comedy_central_player' align='middle' allowScriptAccess='always' allownetworking='external' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' pluginspage='http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer'></embed>TDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371685892266672067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12680622.post-56882427867110487242008-02-13T11:41:00.001-08:002008-02-13T11:44:57.513-08:00Looking for a sign?<embed src="http://static.ning.com/ObamaCycle/widgets/index/swf/badge.swf?v=2.3%3A3066" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="lt" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="207" height="242" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="networkUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.obamacycle.com%2F&panel=network_large&configXmlUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ning.com%2FObamaCycle%2Finstances%2Fmain%2Fembeddable%2Fbadge-config.xml%3Ft%3D1202871795"></embed><br /><small><a href="http://www.obamacycle.com/">Visit <em>ObamaCycle</em></a></small><br />TDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371685892266672067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12680622.post-18010503548764922902007-09-01T09:28:00.000-07:002007-09-01T09:50:24.895-07:00Having smart people in an administration isn't enough. You have to LISTEN to them!<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YENbElb5-xY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YENbElb5-xY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>TDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371685892266672067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12680622.post-78993611079692674792007-05-08T06:01:00.000-07:002007-05-08T06:18:50.572-07:00Time to Rediscover Phil Ochs<strong><a href="http://www.tmbg.com/temp_site/facts.htm" target="_new">They Might Be Giants</a></strong> cover Ochs' "One More Parade":<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rJlD6ff_jzE"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rJlD6ff_jzE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed><br /><br /></object>TDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371685892266672067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12680622.post-1153314947210790392006-07-19T05:07:00.000-07:002006-07-19T06:49:46.883-07:00MoveOn's "Taking 'Red Handed' EVERYwhere" campaignMaybe I complain to (and about) <a href="http://moveon.org/">MoveOn.org</a> so much because I'm a <strong>member.</strong> When I signed up, my hope was to help advance genuinely progressive policies in government. <em>What a naïve hope <strong>that</strong> was!</em><br /><br /><u>From a July 11 message from Eli Pariser [MoveOn.org Political Action] to members:</u><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><blockquote><em><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Right-wing Congresswoman Nancy Johnson (R-CT) is kicking her campaign into high gear this week. Her strategy: distance herself from the bad decisions she's been a part of (like Iraq), and hope to eke out a win under the radar this November.</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">It ain't going to happen. Starting next Monday, we're deploying our organizers to manage new on-the-ground visibility campaigns with MoveOn members in EVERY competitive Republican district.</span><br /></em></blockquote></span></em><br />Because officeholders of <strong>all</strong> parties are only human, there will probably always be <strong>some</strong> who earn the label, "lap-dog of the administration." Through weasel words and PR maneuvers, some are now attempting to create "distance... from the bad decisions" where <strong>no such distance exists.</strong> <em>Avoiding responsibility and blame-shifting are certainly nothing new to Washington.<br /></em><br />Likewise, other officeholders (again, of all parties) are doing their level best -- against all odds -- to be <strong>responsible</strong> public servants. They aren't afraid to call "bad decisions" exactly what they were: decisions they would make <strong>differently</strong> now -- <strong>not</strong> out of political expedience, but because they've <strong>learned</strong> something. <em>Such experience is valuable.</em><br /><br />MoveOn cites "<a href="http://www.house.gov/nancyjohnson/">Congresswoman Nancy Johnson (R-CT)</a>" without specific explanation, and then (predictably) launches into "we're deploying our organizers... in EVERY competitive Republican district."<br /><br />Presuming MoveOn isn't assigning some coded meaning to "competitive," it sounds like they're targeting <strong>anyone</strong> wearing the GOP armband -- regardless of the merit of that person's service. <em>Such blind "Us and Them" approaches to politics poorly serve <strong>all </strong>Americans. </em><br /><br />Where else is this brand of thinking abundant? <strong><em>The Middle East.</em></strong><br /><br />Silly me, I thought democracy was a <strong>renewable resource. </strong><em>Exporting democratic principles <strong>doesn't</strong> require us to import narrow attitudes and ancient conflicts in exchange. </em>TDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371685892266672067noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12680622.post-1153234161412145562006-07-18T07:44:00.000-07:002006-07-18T07:49:21.836-07:00Re: MoveOn's "Campaign for an Oil-Free Congress"<p><strong>Next to pointless. </strong></p><ul><li>The <strong>worst</strong> offenders -- poster children for this kind of corruption -- will make a straight-faced <strong>photo op</strong> out of "taking the pledge," then <strong>continue to offend</strong> as if nothing had happened! <em>How many genuinely bad boys (e.g., DeLay, the Enron execs) have professed <strong>complete innocence</strong> even as they were being cuffed?</em></li><li>Any <strong>middling</strong> offenders who retain a shred of conscience simply <strong>won't</strong> take the pledge. Instead, they'll <strong>attack its proponents</strong> as wrongheaded (as in "cut and run") and provide spin cover for each other.</li><li>Minor offenders <strong>aren't</strong> the problem.</li></ul><p>Something folks at the grassroots <strong>can</strong> do that is guaranteed to shake up the oil lobby is <strong>dramatically reduce consumption. </strong><br /><br />Big Oil can throw money at Congress all they want, but as their profits dry up, so does their power to buy influence. What they are selling is a commodity -- and they have stockholders to please, too.<br /><br /><strong>Do the math.</strong><br /><br />P.S. Do I think Americans will <strong>do</strong> this? I'm not betting on it -- <strong>yet. </strong>But history has shown that there <strong>is</strong> a point beyond which Americans cannot be pushed.</p>TDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371685892266672067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12680622.post-1137687222904298572006-01-19T07:52:00.000-08:002006-07-19T06:21:22.953-07:00In addition to sound bites from the Judiciary Committee's interrogation of Samuel Alito, I listened to some of <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/">Minnesota Public Radio</a>'s live coverage of this, um, event.<br /><br />Unlike several other senators, <a href="http://feingold.senate.gov/">Russ Feingold</a> did <strong>not</strong>, in my opinion, see this as an opportunity to grandstand for the media. I thought his questions were to the point, appropriately framed, and respectfully delivered. I continue to proud to be one of his constituents.<br /><br />Alito's replies suggested a man concerned more with the soundness of judicial process than of alignment with predetermined outcomes. I believe his responses showed more openness than Justice Roberts' did. I <strong>was</strong> a little disappointed that he did not show more bravery to defuse the CAP flap, but since <a href="http://kennedy.senate.gov/~kennedy/statements/06/01/2006111817.html">Senator Kennedy's minions were unable to produce CAP-specific dirt that would stick to Alito</a>, this appears to be a relatively small amount of water, and long under the bridge.<br /><br />Given the present administration's focus on predetermined outcomes, with contrived, cherry-picked, after-the-fact justification (other than "9/11"), my guess is that Justice Alito is probably as sound an appointee as we are likely to get from President Bush. Therefore, I wrote to Senator Feingold to vote <strong>for </strong>Justice Alito's confirmation -- unless he is aware of a better (and politically feasible) potential appointee.<br /><br />My belief is that a careful and process-oriented Justice (regardless of location on the left-right spectrum) is preferable to an outcome-oriented one carrying a political agenda. <em>Once the robes are on, a Justice is no longer beholden to the President.</em>TDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371685892266672067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12680622.post-1124228642582370352005-08-16T14:39:00.000-07:002007-05-08T07:52:03.454-07:00Peter Mulvey!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2748/1086/1600/FolkAt1a.jpg"><br /><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2748/1086/320/FolkAt1a.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.petermulvey.com/">Peter Mulvey</a> at <a href="http://www.madfolk.org/FolkAtOne.htm">Folk At One</a> (Madison, WI - August 6, 2005).<br /><p></p><p>We first heard this Milwaukee singer-songwriter in <a href="http://www.signaturesounds.com/onlinestore/listeningroom.cfm">the Signature Sounds Listening Room</a>. His songs "<a href="http://www.signaturesounds.com/ulf/multimedia/80/Road_To_Mallow.ram">Road to Mallow</a>" and "<a href="http://www.signaturesounds.com/ulf/multimedia/80/Shirt.ram">Shirt</a>" were enough to get us hooked.</p><p></p><p>[UPDATE: On the camera used for the snapshot at left, we captured a (shaky) video of the final song of Peter's set at Madison: "Sad, Sad (Sad, Sad, and Far Away from Home)." <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CgcIWUAW7Y" target="_new">See & hear it on YouTube</a>.] <p></p><p>Madison is a "fur piece" from here, but it was worth the trip. Check out live performances by Peter (two solo, and two with <a href="http://www.davidgoodrich.com/">David Goodrich</a>) at the <a href="http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=MULVEYPETE">Kennedy Center Millenium Stage</a> website.</p>TDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371685892266672067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12680622.post-1115326821234374382005-05-05T13:54:00.000-07:002005-05-05T14:00:21.240-07:00Medium TediumFrom a pool of primordial HTML, slithers this formless blob of blog glop.TDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13371685892266672067noreply@blogger.com0