Friday, July 29, 2005

7 heavenly virtues

You scored as Charity. Charity- with you is the love that lifts the spirits of the world.

Charity 79% Hope 68% Justice 68% Fortitude 54% Prudence 50% Faith 29% Temperance 21% The Seven Heavenly Virtues created with QuizFarm.com

found via T. Rex's Guide to Life.
Posted by etherealfire :: 4:37 PM :: 3 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- maher on leno

Oh my poor neglected blog. I'm so sorry to be so slow in getting back on track here, but we just got back from beautiful Yosemite a few days ago and then had to move into host/hostess gear right away coz Mina's boyfried flew in from Topeka to vacation with her and he is staying here. It's been lots of fun around here, but very crazy~busy too so I haven't had much of a chance to post.

I will try to post pics and wax ecstatically about the most awesome wonder that Robert Plant's San Diego show and our beautiful Yosemite vacation was as soon as I can (probably this evening...hopefully!) but in the meantime I have a great link to a must~see visit by Bill Maher to Jay Leno courtesy of One Good Move; found via found via In Search of Utopia.

Laters, Beautiful People!
Posted by etherealfire :: 3:15 PM :: 1 Comments:

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---------------oOo---------------

Thursday, July 21, 2005

generation chickenhawk

No substance, questionable style: Max Blumenthal dissects generation chickenhawk.

Raising the musical question: What if they gave a morally bankrupt and highly unethical war and all the rabid supporters of it lacked the cojones to put their bodies where their substantially obnoxious mouths fearlessly tread?

Ummm, that would be... right about where we are now. That's right you neocon privileged kids, you go right ahead and head off to your business and law schools and do your fighting with your words and your keyboards. Just leave the dirty work to the poor and the truly patriotic who dared believe in this bankrupt administration enough to give their very lives for it.

You just keep right on going where you are going because you can run but you can't hide. And I wouldn't for all your trust funds and perks, for one minute trade places with you on the day your conscience catches up with you and you hit that wall of self-revulsion and shame.

And if you really want to know what that looks like, just take a look at the illustrious generation that preceded you. Some of them are still in denial and it is just going to be that much worse when the kool-aid wears off and they have to finally face their part in this God~awful mess.

As for the rest of us who have spent our days in various stages of apathy and slow awakening from this bad dream, we don't get off so easy either. We should have awakened much sooner and fought even harder to keep this mess from happening.

In the end, we are all going to be left with the bill and it is going to be a test of our collective wills trying to get it together enough to pay the collective karmic debt we owe.

I find it fascinating that the right much prefers to compare this debacle to WWII rather than Vietnam despite the obvious. But it is worth noting that the one Republican I hold in the highest esteem of that era was:

1) a hollywood actor

2) technically ineligible due to an under~weight regulation issue

3) who literally had to fight with studio heads and government to fight in that war

You see, nothing, no priority of any kind would keep him from that war because as far as he was concerned there was no higher priority.

That man was Jimmy Stewart. Part of the Hollywood Elite, a man who could have easily opted out due to weight issues and for being a celebrity, but who would not have been able to live with himself if he had done so; in other words, a man of true integrity and honour:

Stewart's life off-screen was as interesting and demanding as his career in films. While he was building his reputation as an actor, the rest of the world was about to go to war. German occupation in numerous countries in the early part of 1940 led Congress to pass the Selective Service Bill — the draft — on September 16, 1940 which called for 900,000 men between the ages of 20 and 36 to be drafted each year. Stewart's draft number was 310. When his number was called and he appeared at his draft board - No. 245 in West Los Angeles - in February 1941, he weighed only 138 pounds, five pounds under the acceptable weight level, but he was able to convince his draft board to accept him. While others tried to avoid the draft, he actually cheated to get into the military. Later, he would actually campaign to see combat.

Jimmy was already a pilot. He bought a plane when he first arrived in Hollywood both because he loved aviation and because he wanted to be able to visit with his family in Pennsylvania between films. He flew cross country many times, navigating by the railroad tracks. In the military, he was to make extensive use of pilot's training. In March 1941, at age 32, he reported for duty as Private James Stewart at Fort McArthur and was assigned to the Army Air Corps at Moffett Field. Throughout the war, he continued to send his agent $2.10 a month (10% of his military pay of $21 a month). He had been earning $200,000 under contract with MGM in Hollywood.

Within a few months, Stewart was promoted from private to commissioned officer. He flew BT-13s at Mather Field where he was transferred in April 1942 as a flight instructor. Later, he achieved the following ranks: Lieutenant, July 1942; Captain, July 1943; Major, January 1944; Lieutenant Colonel, August 1944; and Colonel, March 1945.

Much to his dismay, Stewart stayed stateside for almost two years, until commanding officers finally yielded to his request to be sent overseas. In late 1943, he arrived in Tibenham, England to serve with the 445th Bombardment Group. He was later moved to the 453rd Bombardment Group at Old Buckingham, where Walter Matthau, who was later to become an actor, also served. He flew B17s (The Flying Fortress) and the B24 (Liberator).

Stewart's war record included 20 dangerous combat missions as a command pilot. After another promotion to squadron commander, he became operations officer and from 1944 to 1945 served as chief of staff, 2nd Combat Wing, 2nd Division, 8th Air Force. He so distinguished himself as an officer that he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Clusters, the French Croix-de-Guerre and the Air Medal. After the war he remained active in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, and in 1959, was promoted to Brigadier General. Finally, in 1968, he retired from the service, with honor.

While I do not for one minute, believe that the pre-emptive strike that we made (and the aftermath that has followed) towards Iraq in any way compares to the dire necessity of our ultimate involvement in WW II, I have heard this comparison made over and over again by Neo-cons.

If any Neo-con of eligible age truly believes this, then they should be ashamed of themselves for not moving every mountain the way Jimmy Stewart did, to be a part of this effort.


James Maitland Stewart: real men walk their talk
Posted by etherealfire :: 2:55 PM :: 5 Comments:

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---------------oOo---------------

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Star Trek's Scotty died early Wednesday

James Doohan, Star Trek's 'Scotty', Dies.

(AP) James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" TV series and motion pictures who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty," died early Wednesday. He was 85.

Another one of my original cast favs gone. :-(

The chemistry of the original cast was totally amazing and while the original series look and even many of the storylines didn't really age all that well, the interactions between the crew of the original Enterprise was, for me at least, pure magic! He will be missed...


original crew of the USS Enterprise ~ circa 1960's (or the 23rd century); James Doohan's Mr. Scott is in red on the far left (for those who might not actually know).
Posted by etherealfire :: 5:17 PM :: 3 Comments:

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---------------oOo---------------

Monday, July 18, 2005

harry potter personality quiz


Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

found via On the Side
Posted by etherealfire :: 8:49 PM :: 3 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- a glimpse of heaven

karenika has a glimpse of what I'm dreaming about non~stop these days!

Now if only I will be able to capture that beauty even half as well as she has, I will have accomplished something!
Posted by etherealfire :: 7:54 PM :: 2 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- embrace your inner bombshell


WAAAAAHH!! Your inner Bombshell is the zany
Lucille Ball! You like making people laugh, but
also know how to turn on the glamour when the
time is right. To most guys you're the perfect
all-around gal. But sometimes you get into
trouble and have a heckuva time talking your
way out of it. You may be accident-prone on the
outside, but your a first class business woman
on the inside. A pioneer, so to say. Lucy can
still be seen hamming it up on her most famous
television series "I Love Lucy".


Who is your inner bombshell?
brought to you by Quizilla

found via It's a Wyrd World.
Posted by etherealfire :: 7:46 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- discovery's commander confident space shuttle will launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – With an exact launch date for their STS-114 mission still up in the air, seven space shuttle astronauts are hanging tight here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), the spaceflight’s commander said in a statement released Saturday.

More (via Space.com) found here.
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---------------oOo--------------- JAGs recount objections to definition of torture

Military Lawyers Fought Policy on Interrogation

Link via Body and Soul.

Three top military lawyers said yesterday that they lodged complaints about the Justice Department's definition of torture and how it would be applied to interrogations of enemy prisoners captured by U.S. forces, the first time they have publicly acknowledged that they objected to the policy as it was being developed in early 2003.

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---------------oOo--------------- shakespeare's sis speaks for me and says it better

No one could have channelled this overwhelming sense of outrage for me better than Shakespeare's Sister has done with this pertinent warning: Don't Insult Me.

The best synopsis I've seen yet, of the small, sad history of the deception of this country under this deplorable administration.
Posted by etherealfire :: 11:44 AM :: 2 Comments:

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---------------oOo---------------

Sunday, July 17, 2005

border madness

I'm so excited about our trip to Yosemite next week! I can't believe we've lived here 10 years and never seen it (or Sequoia National Park or King's Canyon either, actually) even once! But, finally, we've decided to head up that direction for our anniversary and it's just a little week away now.

Yesterday, I finally took my Mother's Day Border's Gift Certificate and bought some trip~related books, YAY!



And then because I just couldn't resist these:



The only problem is I will have to wait before I can get two cd's I've been wanting for awhile, for another trip (Coldplay's X&Y and Audioslave's Out of Exile). Another time!
Posted by etherealfire :: 12:13 PM :: 2 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- we're having a heat wave ~ in the great white north!

Yikes! 98 degrees in Kuujjuaraapik and the only place to find relief is in and "along the shores of the Great Whale River".

Environment Canada meteorologist René Héroux said Kuujjuaraapik’s heat wave was extremely unusual. Héroux said the spike in temperatures were caused by a layer of hot air in the upper atmosphere, which was pushed north from the United States.

“It was very unusual, and will it happen again? Well, we can certainly say that it’s another indication climate change is no joke,” Héroux said.

Found the scoop at 12thHarmonic Blog.
Posted by etherealfire :: 11:28 AM :: 1 Comments:

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---------------oOo---------------

Friday, July 15, 2005

harvest

As always, Inscribed on the Forest Floor has a simply gorgeous image on display; go see ...as the summer passes
Posted by etherealfire :: 4:13 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- corn fed girl

Found this yummy looking recipe at 101 Cookbooks; the recipe is from The Splendid Grain.

Now all I need is this, this, and, well, let's face it, I also probably need... this!
Posted by etherealfire :: 3:38 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- ap has to retract false report

More Valerie Plame misinformation debunked here.

Though the AP ran a correction, other news outlets had already repeated its mistake. CNN's Ed Henry told viewers that "Wilson himself suggested that she was not undercover." The Drudge Report link to the AP story suggested the same thing, and numerous other news outlets picked up the AP article.

Here is the clarification of Wilson's statements:

In an interview on CNN earlier Thursday before the latest revelation, Wilson kept up his criticism of the White House, saying Rove's conduct was an "outrageous abuse of power ... certainly worthy of frog-marching out of the White House."

Wilson also said "my wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity."

In an interview Friday, Wilson said his comment was meant to reflect that his wife lost her ability to be a covert agent because of the leak, not that she had stopped working for the CIA beforehand.

His wife's "ability to do the job she's been doing for close to 20 years ceased from the minute Novak's article appeared; she ceased being a clandestine officer," he said.

Adding this and every bit of information related to this mess (as I find it) to this post.
Posted by etherealfire :: 2:15 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- wilson's iraq assertions hold up under fire from rove backers

Another fact to be added to the Debunking List that refutes the ongoing rightwing talking points spinsanity as they try to deflect from Karl Rove's transgressions by trying to discredit Wilson; Rook's Rant has a post and the link to Bloomberg.com.

Bush supporters such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich contend that Wilson lied in claiming that Vice President Dick Cheney dispatched him on the mission to Niger. That echoes a Republican National Committee talking-points memo sent to party officials.

Wilson never said that Cheney sent him, only that the vice president's office had questions about an intelligence report that referred to the sale of uranium yellowcake to Iraq from Niger. Wilson, in his New York Times article, said CIA officials were informed of Cheney's questions.

Posted by etherealfire :: 12:19 PM :: 2 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- because annie green springs was bottled not boxed

I guess I managed to squeak by. :-P

Eh, wine gives me a headache anyway.



found via Marching to a Different Bagpiper
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---------------oOo---------------

Thursday, July 14, 2005

making plastic from corn

"Agricultural products are helping the plastics industry wean itself from oil" and Utne Online has the scoop!

One Word: Corn

As the Los Angeles Times reports, agribusiness heavyweight Cargill Inc. has started producing a corn-derivative plastic that can be used to manufacture hard plastic and a polyester-like fabric. In an effort to jump on the sustainability bandwagon, Dupont and other companies across the country are developing corn-based fabrics for bedding and clothing. And in 2001, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory announced, in an article in New Scientist, that it was researching the possibility of making plastics from manure. By the year 2030, according to the Los Angeles Times, the Department of Energy wants 25 percent of all chemical manufacturing derived from agricultural products.

Posted by etherealfire :: 10:52 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- blog maintenance update

Mina just recently got a new Compaq PC Laptop so I now am able to check the way the blog looks in PC IE Platforms (and oh horrors ~ what a mess my blog was too in that context) so I think I've gotten the main PC IE version of this blog fixed and the left sidebar is now back to the correct size so you can actually read the blog content. Also tweaked the Blogsnob block so it doesn't look quite so funky.

The only thing I can't fix at this point (coz I'm clueless unfortunately) is the way the little clock looks thru the Mac IE version (for some reason it looks like a white rectangle with an outline of the cloud and heart designs that show up on all other platforms (or at least all the ones I was able to check). So it's a bit of an eyesore but I think it shouldn't be too distracting.

So sorry to any PC IE viewers who may have cruised through and couldn't read the content. I hope it looks ok now but if anyone finds a problem, please let me know. And if anyone knows what the solution is to any given problem that arises, I would be most appreciative as well. But hopefully the blog is now readable to most platforms.

Thanks for your patience and my apologies for being so clueless!
Posted by etherealfire :: 12:44 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- this just in: fox news is the administration apologists news network

Yes, I'm in a REALLY BAD MOOD TODAY. I am sick to death of this dog and pony show AKA Bu$hAmerika. IF you are watching Fox News and only Fox and you are swallowing the vile they are spoon~feeding you, then you are in a world of trouble.

The last week or so, that regrettable disinformation network has reached disproportionally high levels of delusion; I never would have believed it possible, but they've actually managed to outdo their previous levels of shamelessness.

It's stunning to me that the very people who claim to disdain the notion of a Pravda~like national propaganda machine masquerading as news are the ones most likely to be ponying up to this deplorable news source as their sole window on the world.

This angers, disgusts and frankly, terrifies me.

That is all. Film at eleven.

(links via and thanks to Oliver Willis and Media Matters for America)
Posted by etherealfire :: 10:29 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- Peter King spouts vile; integrity is shot

Peter King has some fresh nerve: Rep. King Says Russert and Others in Media Should 'Be Shot,' Not Karl Rove

The hypocrisy emanating from the mouths of these contempible clowns on the right is simply staggering. This disengenuous bottom feeder has the unmitigated gall to attempt to demonize those who would challenge the despicable outing of a CIA agent expressly for the purpose of revenge. And revenge for what? For the simple reason that Joe Wilson refused to allow this administration to continue lying about information that they willfully distorted to justify a war that they knew would not be supported by this country otherwise.

This administration is shameful and those who defend these contempible actions by deflecting their own sins onto those who call them on it are as guilty as the corrupt powers that be that they will do anything to defend. This is the end of decency and the death of democracy. WHO EXACTLY IS BEING TREASONOUS HERE????

It is time for all decent Americans to wake up and raise their voices against this disgrace. George W. Bush is NOT the United States of America. This administration is NOT the United States of America. Supporting the actions of this shameful administration is NOT supporting our troops, our way of life or the very principles that our great nation was founded upon. The respect for the Office of the President MUST BE EARNED and this President has not earned that respect. We have been lied to; we have been horribly failed by this administration.

Lest we forget: WE are the United States of America and this Administration works for us. And they are doing a scandalously horrid job of it.

This relentlessly ongoing abuse of power has got to come to end, before there is nothing left to protect and defend. These unprincipled vipers better thank their lucky stars that they have been spared the divine retribution they make so much claim to believing in; they'd better Thank the very Heavens above for the compassion of a Creator that they themselves so completely lack within themselves.

Heaven help us all...
Posted by etherealfire :: 9:46 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo---------------

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

weekend pics

And more self-indulgence here. This weekend was pet house cleaning: I cleaned our guinea pigs hutch and the bird house and hubby cleaned our goldfish tank. While I was doing piggie hutch housekeeping, Stu captured some pics of our boys, Captain and Morgan:


You can't really see it in the pic, but Captain is the white piggie with a black "eye patch" over his right eye; and Morgan is the tri~coloured white, tan and chocolate one. They had a great time grazing in the grass (supervised by Suzanne and Stu of course) while I was cleaning!

MacKenzie and Groucho are both doing much much better now and MacKenzie is now free of the cumbersome e~collar so we snapped a quick one of him without it:


He still was feeling a little under the weather that day; but he's so much better now!

And here's Groucho and Mina:


And Ms. Gwennie:


And two more of my beautiful girl, coz mommy's proud:




Posted by etherealfire :: 3:55 PM :: 1 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- chiron and friends ~ for astrology buffs

I've been trying to get clear on the effects of the asteroids, transplanets, the centaurs within astrology. I really love Chiron and Friends because it is a really good primer for this fascinating subject.

And to located these objects in your natal chart you can get a free account, create a natal chart at Astrodienst then choose to create an extended chart from the link on this page (about halfway down choose "extended chart selection") and on the page where you plug in your data there is a place where you can type in the name of the asteroids/centaurs you want to add to the chart and it will pull up a separate page that has the complete list of objects with the correct # to input into the chart.
Posted by etherealfire :: 3:44 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- showing off my desktop

I know nobody cares but me but I can't help it: I had a total blast yesterday creating my latest desktop with an image I'd had for months and wanted to do something with and also also using the bit of crow wisdom that I received via a newsgroup.

Here it is:



brushes used:

starry night brushes created by Luciferous Glow at Deviant Art Brush Resource

image used:

crow image by photos by ferelannie (kerrie fearby: photographer, artist and web designer) and her site is kerrie.fearby.com; found image via stock xchng.
Posted by etherealfire :: 3:33 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- plamegate becomes treasongate

found info via post by Bonzo at AirAmerica Radio Al Franken Blog:

American Politics Journal
E-mail Edition
July 13, 2005

Plamegate Becomes Treasongate: GOP Lies Debunked by The Editors with big props to eRiposte and The Left Coaster.

July 13, 2005 -- NEW YORK (theleftcoaster.com via apj.us) -- This is just too good not to pass on.

Here, for your reading pleasure, are the facts that collapse that house of cards known as the GOP Talking Points About That Karl Rove Flap (the ones that were engineered not so much to defend Rove as to falsely discredit ambassador Joseph Wilson in a document that John Byrne and his RawStory team got their hands on -- see Rawstory Exclusive).

They were assembled by eriposte, with a lot of help from netizens and bloggers, and posted to the indispensable Left Coaster blog -- we present them in a convenient text form with all links in parens for those of you who value your e-mail security. Enjoy!

-------======<++++++>=======-------

A number of rebuttals have been provided around the liberal blogosphere to the fakery from the GOP and their media arms about the Valerie Plame expose. Here's a roundup.

[Please feel free to add items in the comments if I missed anything - and distribute far and wide].

++++++++++++++++++

TALKING POINT: Valerie Plame (Joseph Wilson's wife) was not covert.

FACT: She was: here and here.

TALKING POINT: Karl Rove did not leak Valerie Plame's name.

FACT: Please. Her name was not the secret; her identity was (which is the issue here -- see this and he leaked that. Also see this and this.

TALKING POINT: Karl Rove was "not the leaker".

FACT: Rove's attorney's statement and Cooper's email shows this claim is false. See this. Rove did leak Plame's identity. (Whether or not this is found to be prosecutable is another matter).

P.S. It's not like this is the first time Rove has been in the spotlight for leaking secrets.

TALKING POINT: Karl Rove has never lied about his role in this matter.

FACT: Yes, he has.

TALKING POINT: The White House has never lied or misled people about its role in this matter.

FACT: FALSE.

TALKING POINT: Karl Rove never knew that Valerie Plame was covert.

FACT: Really? Then why not state this on the record, something Rove's attorney refuses to do.

TALKING POINT: Matt Cooper of Time magazine "burned" Rove.

FACT: Rove's lawyer, who made the above fake claim, himself has been expounding again and again about how Rove gave complete waivers to all his journalist contacts to testify.

TALKING POINT: Bob Novak used the word "operative" by accident and his sources did not say she was one.

FACT: This is false, after-the-fact spin from Novak.

TALKING POINT: Rove "was discouraging a reporter from writing a false story" based on Joe Wilson's "false premise" (that DCI Tenet or VP Cheney authorized his trip)

FACT: False.

Moreover, Joe Wilson did not make such a claim before Rove exposed Valerie Plame's identity.

TALKING POINT: The Senate Intelligence Committee said that Valerie Plame was the one who set up Joe Wilson's trip.

FACT: False and false.

(In fact, there is no consensus view that Valerie Plame even suggested that Wilson be sent on the trip.)

TALKING POINT: The White House/GOP cannot comment on questions regarding Rove or his role because of the ongoing investigation.

FACT: False.

This is a completely bogus claim considering that talking behind the scenes or issuing false/misleading press releases -- also see this and spreading fakery about Wilson (not to mention they felt free to comment self-servingly about the whole matter until the Rove story broke -- see this and this.

TALKING POINT: Karl Rove is not a target of Fitzgerald's investigation.

FACT: He is a subject of the investigation.

TALKING POINT: The Butler Report etc. vindicated Bush's "uranium in Africa" State of the Union claim

FACT: False. The Butler Report was intended to exonerate Tony Blair and George Bush to prevent them from facing criminal charges. For obvious reasons, it excluded reams of information about Bush's claim that showed that the White House lied through its teeth in defending Bush's claim. (Indeed, as the link shows, people from the NSA, CIA etc. themselves stated that the SOTU claim did not have a sound backing.)

TALKING POINT: This is all just a partisan attack by Democrats (or Joseph Wilson)

FACT: False. The GOP leadership has a habit of minimizing numerous acts of treason from individuals inside the Bush administration over the last several years, by smearing truth-tellers. This is just the latest episode among many. In private, even Republicans admit that this kind of nonsense would have resulted in Congressional hearings "in a second", if the President had been a Democrat. Not to mention the hypocrisy of Rove himself.

TALKING POINT: Even if Karl Rove leaked Valerie Plame's identity, it's no big deal and he deserves a medal.

FACT: The GOP's Ed Gillespie and George Bush disagreed (with an emphasis on past tense '-d').

In fact, if it's so not a big deal, why all this intrigue about what the White House can or cannot comment on? Just tell the truth then rather than hiding behind reporters and smears of people who had nothing to do with the expose. (As for medals, it probably deserves a medal in prison, to define the "role model" for fellow prisoners at Gitmo - while eating rice pilaf in the process).

TALKING POINT: There was no legal crime committed with the Plame expose.

FACT: False and false.

So much for offering "a stiff dose of truth" instead of "more lectures, and legalisms, and carefully worded denials"; also here.

TALKING POINT: Joseph Wilson supported John Kerry.

FACT: So? He also supported Republicans in the past (before they turned on him and his wife, treasonously) and was recognized by George Bush Sr. for his bravery against Saddam Hussein in Iraq - where he was ambassador before Gulf War I.

TALKING POINT: President Bush is committed to upholding the honor and dignity of his office.

FACT: For the umpteenth time, false, false and false.

07-15-2005: UPDATING with additional refute of the latest GOP Talking Point disinformation:

Rook's Rant has a post and the link to Bloomberg.com.

Bush supporters such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich contend that Wilson lied in claiming that Vice President Dick Cheney dispatched him on the mission to Niger. That echoes a Republican National Committee talking-points memo sent to party officials.

Wilson never said that Cheney sent him, only that the vice president's office had questions about an intelligence report that referred to the sale of uranium yellowcake to Iraq from Niger. Wilson, in his New York Times article, said CIA officials were informed of Cheney's questions.

07-15-2005: Another addendum/update:

More Valerie Plame misinformation debunked here.

Though the AP ran a correction, other news outlets had already repeated its mistake. CNN's Ed Henry told viewers that "Wilson himself suggested that she was not undercover." The Drudge Report link to the AP story suggested the same thing, and numerous other news outlets picked up the AP article.

Here is the clarification of Wilson's statements:

In an interview on CNN earlier Thursday before the latest revelation, Wilson kept up his criticism of the White House, saying Rove's conduct was an "outrageous abuse of power ... certainly worthy of frog-marching out of the White House."

Wilson also said "my wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity."

In an interview Friday, Wilson said his comment was meant to reflect that his wife lost her ability to be a covert agent because of the leak, not that she had stopped working for the CIA beforehand.

His wife's "ability to do the job she's been doing for close to 20 years ceased from the minute Novak's article appeared; she ceased being a clandestine officer," he said.

Posted by etherealfire :: 1:17 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- nasa calls off launch of shuttle discovery

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A faulty fuel gauge on Discovery's external tank forced NASA to call off Wednesday's launch of the first shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster 2 1/2 years ago. The space agency did not immediately set a new launch date.

Read the rest here.
Posted by etherealfire :: 11:32 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo---------------

Monday, July 11, 2005

dubya & the afterlife: a morality play

Marching to a Different Bagpiper has it right here.
Posted by etherealfire :: 7:48 PM :: 2 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- mythical beast guardian ~ another quiz


You are guarded by a fae


What is your Mythical beast Gaurdian? (With Pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla
Posted by etherealfire :: 7:35 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- led zeppelin: the perfect band

No argument here. :-)

But evidently I'm not the only one who think so, not by far; it seems that the UK is in complete agreement:

LED Zeppelin has been voted the nation's ideal supergroup. Music fans were asked to create their fantasy band, made up of any singers or musicians. But all the names chosen to line up the perfect band were members of Led Zeppelin.

Led Zeppelin Knebworth UK promo 1979-02 via the amazingly complete Led Zeppelin Photo Album destination of the ultimate led zeppelin eye candy experience!

Another link here.
Posted by etherealfire :: 1:35 PM :: 5 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- eurobirdwatching.com

Just found a really fun birdwatching cam site for a moment of midday zen! You can hear cars driving by and dogs barking in the background and it doesn't look like the loveliest spot (I wonder what they think about it) but there is something relaxing about watching them.

If you've got realplayer 8 you can watch my little stork buddies right here! And to check out other bird cams and videos, just click here.


Here's a screenshot capture of my lovely new friends!

There's a photo archive of them on this page.
Posted by etherealfire :: 12:59 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- conservatives denied hysteria hype from brits

The Nation's John Nichols observes that the right wing media is baffled and Bugged by the Brits for denying them the response they were anticipating, in the aftermath of the London bombing last week:

Conservative radio and television personalities in the United States were unsettled after last week's bombings in London -- not because of the terrorist attack on a major western city, but because too few Londoners were willing to serve as props to support the right-wing ranting of the Americans. After one stoic Brit, who had blood on the side of his face, calmly described climbing out of a smoke-filled subway station, a Fox anchor exclaimed, "That man's obviously in shock."

Posted by etherealfire :: 12:37 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- isaac newton's lost notes resurface

Found! Isaac Newton's lost notes:

Notes by the 17th century UK mathematician, physicist and astronomer Sir Isaac Newton, which scientists thought had been lost, have been found.

The notes on alchemy were originally discovered after Newton's death in 1727 but were lost after they were sold at auction in July 1936 for £15 (A$32).

link for this report and previous one found via SciTech Daily Review.
Posted by etherealfire :: 11:59 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- reconstructing the neanderthal genome

Now that the Human Genome Project has been completed, it's time for Neanderthal's genetic code to be reconstructed.

The project, which involves isolating genetic fragments from fossils of the prehistoric beings who originally inhabited Europe, is being carried out at the Leipzig-based institute.

I've always been incredibly curious about our Neanderthal cousins and since the Human Genome Project was such a startling and revealing research project, I'm really excited to find out what secrets will be unlocked from this project. Their disappearance from the planet at the time when our own species was coming into its own has always kind of haunted me.
Posted by etherealfire :: 11:46 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- be a witness

watch video here and then go here to be a witness.
Posted by etherealfire :: 10:54 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- now this is my america

Eric Alterman for the Center for American Progress has written a telling article called Think Again: Conservative Media, Liberal Nation which provides some gratifying poll statistics; we are primarily a nation of liberal and progressive thinkers when it comes to the crucial social issues facing our nation. (Link found via The Sideshow)

Studies also show that even such hot button issues as comprehensive sex education and availability of birth control are supported by most Americans while the idea of abstinence~only programs as effective means of birth control are rejected.
Posted by etherealfire :: 7:03 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- panda newborn thriving at national zoo

Panda Cub Survives Critical First Day

This black and white handout photo from the Smithsonian's National Zoo, shows the zoos female giant panda Mei Xiang bonds with her cub, outlined by a white box, Saturday, July 9, 2005, in Washington. The National Zoo's giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth to a squealing, vigorous cub early Saturday, zoo officials said. The cub likely weighs 3 to 5 ounces and is about the size of a stick of butter. (AP Photo/Smithsonian's National Zoo)

Photo Credit: AP Photo

More info about Mei Xiang and her cub can be found at the National Zoo | FONZ Giant Panda page.
Posted by etherealfire :: 2:58 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo---------------

Sunday, July 10, 2005

it's all happening at the tulsa zoo

Creationists open a "pandora's box" of rivaling cosmology stories; NYT op ed here and well worth the free subscription imho, but here's it is in its entirety because it's just too darn good to miss:

July 10, 2005
It's All Happening at the Tulsa Zoo

Christian creationists won too much of a victory for their own good in Tulsa, where the local zoo was ordered to balance its evolution science exhibit with a display extolling the Genesis account of God's creating the universe from nothing in six days. A determined creationist somehow talked three of the four zoo directors, including Mayor Bill LaFortune, into the addition by arguing that a statue of the elephant-headed god Ganesh at the elephant house amounted to an anti-Christian bias toward Hinduism.

After the inevitable backlash from bewildered taxpayers warning that Tulsa would be dismissed as a science backwater, the directors "clarified" their vote to say they intended no monopoly for the Adam and Eve tale but rather wanted "six or seven" creation myths afforded equal time. There was the rub: there are hundreds of creation tales properly honored by the world's multifarious cultures, starting with the American Indian tribes around Tulsa.

You want creationism? How about the Cherokee buzzard that gouged the valleys and mountains? And why should Chinese-Americans tolerate neglect of P'an Ku and the cosmic egg at the zoo, or Norse descendants not speak up for Audhumla, the giant cow?

The futility of this exercise was emphatically made clear last week when a crowd of critics demanded reconsideration. With the speed of the Mayan jaguar sun god, zoo directors reversed themselves, realizing they had opened a Pandora's box (which see). In stumbling upon so many worthy cosmogonies, Tulsa did us all a favor by underlining how truly singular the evolution explanation is, rooted firmly in scientific demonstration.

Second thoughts are a creative characteristic of Homo sapiens, and the Tulsa Zoo directors did well by theirs. They were fortunate to have Ganesh, known to true believers as the remover of obstacles and the god of harmony, on the grounds.

* Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

Link found via the always informative comment box within this post at the Daily Kos courtesy kitebro.
Posted by etherealfire :: 10:58 AM :: 2 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- reason 3,581: why i love the british

They can handle the truth and they will not be muzzled. Follow the link that The~Goddess has posted to this video at Dem Bloggers.
Posted by etherealfire :: 10:26 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- Andy Stephenson, Voting Rights Activist gone

Robbdoggblog has some links here, obituary can be found here and another link at Democracy for Washington:

Andy was an activist in the true sense of the word, and continued working for clean and transparent elections right up to the last. He was convincing the Johns Hopkins staff about the need for "voter verified paper ballots" the minute woke up from his recent surgery! Through his time with Black Box Voting, his run for Secretary of State and his work around the country afterward, Andy was instrumental in bringing electronic voting issues to the forefront of our political discourse as a key issue facing the nation. In the truest sense of "Don't mourn, organize," Democracy for Washington will honor Andy by extending the fight for transparent elections and universal health care in Washington state.

He will be missed but his legacy will live on in those who continue the work he began.
Posted by etherealfire :: 9:32 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- a pack of lies

Watch this; found via this post at The Republic of T.

How many more innocent lives lost will it take for the American people to wake up? How many more contemptible acts of corruption and deceit?

I want My America back, Constitution still intact and liberty something more than just a hollow empty shell of a word. I want the truth to come out and the opportunity for our country to find redemption and begin building trust again, in our own country and with the rest of the world.

I don't want revenge and I don't want any more violence and ugliness added to our collective karma. I don't want a National Divorce. I just want the pack of lies to end ~ the people who have caused harm to do the right thing and admit it, and then step down ~ and I want My America back.
Posted by etherealfire :: 9:05 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo---------------

Saturday, July 09, 2005

love's in need of love today



London, I love you too.

Flowers are seen outside King's Cross station two days after the bomb blasts in London, July 9, 2005. Four blasts ripped through London during rush hour on Thursday morning, killing at least 50 people.

(Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

found via yahoo news photos
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---------------oOo---------------

Thursday, July 07, 2005

6 blast rock london, killing at least two

Report here and here:

LONDON (AP) - At least six blasts rocked the London subway and tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday, police said, killing at least two people and injuring nine, prompting officials to shut down the entire underground transport network.

The near simultaneous explosions came a day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics and as the G-8 summit was getting underway in Scotland. Initial reports blamed a power surge, but officials were not ruling out an intentional attack.

London Explosions Timeline

Found link via It's Morning Somewhere

Our thoughts and prayers go out to our brothers and sisters across the sea.

***Updated*** 7:05 a.m.:

to add link to BBC Report which states "An Islamist website has posted a statement - purportedly from al-Qaeda - claiming it was behind the attacks."

Also posted at The Moderate Voice are several links and updated information as well as at Pam's House Blend, found via Julien's List.
Posted by etherealfire :: 4:09 AM :: 4 Comments:

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---------------oOo---------------

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

"the ghost of an america i used to know"

This post at the always wonderful Spontaneous Arising pointed me in the direction of Whiskey Bar's poignantly beautiful Goodbye Columbus.

"America doesn't really believe in democracy any more. It's just a slogan used to sell unpopular wars, or justify the greasy manuevers of a corrupt political machine. America doesn't want social justice, either -- just a few extra crumbs from the tables of the wealthy. It worships power and material success and expects those who don't to hold their tongues. It hears what it wants to hear and sees what it wants to see, and it has a corporate media establishment increasingly dedicated to ensuring that it always does."

Read it and weep for a hopeful America, long ago and light years away from us now:

"What I saw in Jimmy John's hot dog stand was the ghost of an America I used to know -- a land of little guys looking for a place to build something. Of strong unions and good-paying jobs that didn't require a PhD. Of black and white televisions where you could watch the cheesiest ads imaginable. Of corner drug stores and transistor radios and long evenings spent sitting on the front porch, talking to the neighbors.

Read it and weep, but don't ever, ever give up hope for the future and don't ever stop fighting for those democratic ideals that America is meant to stand for. It's not over yet; not by a long shot ~ not if the wake up call gets through to the decent vast majority of sleeping Americans.
Posted by etherealfire :: 10:55 PM :: 2 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- joel stein gets an f (for flippant arrogance)

Dr. Pepper (of the Daily Pepper) has a great analysis of Joel Stein's snarky little diatribe aimed at justifying the horribly misguided idea of privatizing PBS.
Posted by etherealfire :: 10:13 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- presenting the ipod flea!

(you'll be itching to use it)

oh, this is great. I just loves that cutting edge modern technology from Apple.

;-)

;-P

Actually though, I really really do love my eMac, iTunes and the iPod that my hubby has and that we all kinda fight over around here; and despite the battery issues, I really really do want a iPod mini of my own some day; still this was very funny (and maybe just a little bit closer to home than I'd like to admit).

Found via this post at Cupie Spew!
Posted by etherealfire :: 9:32 PM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- 40,000 year old human footprint found in mexico

link found at afarensis; story here.

Human footprints discovered beside an ancient Mexican lake have been dated to 40,000 years ago. If the finding survives the controversy it is bound to stir up, it means that humans must have moved into the New World at least 30,000 years earlier than previously thought.

“If true, this would completely change our view of how and when the Americas were first colonised,” says Chris Stringer, head of human origins at the Natural History Museum in London, UK. But like several US experts, he is reserving judgement until the dates can be independently confirmed.

Posted by etherealfire :: 9:58 AM :: 2 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- conyers to president: rove must explain or resign

Raw Story report link via AfterDowningStreet.org found here.

"We write in order to urge that you require your Deputy White House Chief of Staff, Karl Rove, to either come forward immediately to explain his role in the Valerie Plame matter or to resign from your Administration," the veteran Democrat writes. "High-ranking members of your Administration who are involved in any effort to smear a private citizen or to disseminate information regarding a CIA operative should be expected to meet a far higher standard of ethical behavior and forthrightness."

Posted by etherealfire :: 9:43 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- daydreaming of the Dordogne

Ever since I learned that Jean Auel, writer of the Earth's Children Series, had based the location of Jondalar's people in the Dordogne area and (loosely) wove a story around the famous Cave of Lascaux (in the 5th book, The Shelters of Stone) I've been insatiably curious about the caves and the surrounding area including Montignac.

The famous cave of Lascaux has been closed for general viewing since 1963 due to the deterioration of the paintings caused by "an excess of carbon dioxide in the air brought about by the [cave] visitors' breath" but the caves have been extensively studied and photographed for future generations to enjoy; there is even a replication of the cave and the art at Grottes de Lacave!

The entire area is apparently a rich source of fossils and other cave dwellings, as well as being the setting for many historical sites, and well-known for its beautiful countryside.

Someday... maybe, I will get to see that for myself. In the meantime, though, the internet provides the closest access I am going to be able to get, and it does the job very nicely indeed!


Country courtyard, Dordogne, France

photo by blogman aka Philip Collier
found at stock.xchng
Posted by etherealfire :: 8:12 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- tumbleweed tiny house company

Found the link to these adorable tiny little custom cottages via Soap Box Girls.

I think I might go a little stir crazy spending several days in a small space like that though, unless it was really only for one person; but what a great little getaway/sanctuary for one...
Posted by etherealfire :: 4:21 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo---------------

Monday, July 04, 2005

happy 4th!

Wishing everyone in the US a peaceful 4th ~ and everyone else in the world, a beautiful and peaceful day.



4th of July gif courtesy, Anne's Place.
Posted by etherealfire :: 9:10 AM :: 2 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- deep impact probe makes hit

Complete Deep Impact Mission Coverage here.

Journey to a Comet via Quicktime capture here.

Animation of the impact here.

This image shows the initial ejecta that resulted when NASA's Deep Impact probe collided with comet Tempel 1 at 10:52 p.m. Pacific time, July 3 (1:52 a.m. Eastern time, July 4) . It was taken by the spacecraft's medium-resolution camera 16 seconds after impact.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD

More impact photos here.
Posted by etherealfire :: 6:11 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo---------------

Sunday, July 03, 2005

how to watch july 4 comet impact

from Space.com.

For skywatchers here on Earth, it should also produce a large cloud of ejected material that should cause the comet to significantly brighten enough to become visible with binoculars and perhaps even with the unaided eye.

Posted by etherealfire :: 8:47 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- Iona: a virtual tour

I'm struck by such a powerful wanderlust this morning, and this time my armchair travels landed here.

The Isle of Iona website can be found here. What prompted my search for the island, was some early morning listening to this band, a celtic christian band that creates the most heavenly music; though, I'm a pagan I love the beauty of their sound; it's just gorgeous music that feeds the spirit! Perfect early morning music.
Posted by etherealfire :: 8:34 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- GK's weekend update

The Green Knight's Holiday Weekend post has four items of interest, in particular, a pair of links related to the Valerie Plame outing and the Downing Street Memo.

MSNBC Lawrence O'Donnell has claimed that Karl Rove is the unidentified source and, naturally, Rove's lawyer has wasted no time statng that Rove did nothing wrong and that while he did speak to Time Magazine's Matt Cooper back in July 2003, he did not leak Plame's name.

Yeah, mmmmm hmmm.

Meanwhile, Tony Blair has now confirmed the authenticity of the Downing Street Minutes and Rep. Conyers and 51 other members of Congress have now "submitted a broad and comprehensive FOIA request to the White House, the Department of Defense, and the Department of State seeking any and all documents and materials concerning the Downing Street Minutes and the lead up to the Iraq war, RAW STORY has learned."

What with the Supreme Court nominations battle getting ready to heat up, it looks like it is going to be another weird and wacky week here in the United States of Surreality, once again. Jaded much?

Ummm.... I can only speak for myself and say, yes. With every passing day, it seems as though we are the unfortunate recipients of some new and repugnant comfirmation that we are on the fast track to hell; scandalous information rises up from some dank and dirty cesspool in Washington and yet the vast majority of it fails to register with the mainstream media. Maybe it really is starting to turn around, but it is utterly demoralizing that it has taken this long for any one of the several scandalously newsworthy stories to get any serious attention in the media.
Posted by etherealfire :: 7:48 AM :: 0 Comments:

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---------------oOo--------------- walking the sacred spiral

Connecting Heaven and Earth.

Another link for one of my fav forms of intention/meditation: Labyrinth Walking!
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---------------oOo---------------