Grateful Dead

Finally get a decent handle on the Boulder fire and now NW Loveland is burning down. A little rain please! "The dire wolf collects his due while the boys sing round the fire"

Well said Gonzo

James Madison once wrote, "Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other." In armed conflict, he argued, "the discretionary power of the executive is extended ... and all the means of seducing the minds are added to those of subduing the force of the people.... No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." Nine years ago today, the roar of falling aircraft and crumbling buildings gave way to the cries of dying innocents, and that tragic cacophony shook this nation to its foundations. The echoes of that awful, unnatural din still resound in unwelcome ways. Who, for example, could have foreseen that it would crowd from our national conversation the quiet wisdom of voices like Madison's? Obama campaigned on the promise to end torture and shut down the gulag, but the infamous prison camp at Guantanamo remains, trials for accused terrorists have yet to be conducted and the "extraordinary renditions" reportedly continue. (We don't know for sure because they're done in secret.) Equally troubling, the White House reportedly has authorized U.S. intelligence agencies to kill Anwar Awlaki, an Islamic clergyman turned jihadist who was born and raised in the U.S. and is now hiding in Yemen. The summary execution of a U.S. citizen is something not even Bush and Cheney authorized. As former CIA Director Michael V. Hayden told the Washington Times this week, differences between the Bush-Cheney White House for which he worked and the Obama administration on these issues essentially are minor. "You've got state secrets, targeted killings, indefinite detention, renditions, the opposition to extending the right of habeas corpus to prisoners," Hayden said. "Although it is slightly different, Obama has been as aggressive as Bush in defending prerogatives about who he has to inform in Congress for executive covert action." Another unlooked-for consequence of 9/11 is that reasonable people see issues such as torture and access to legal redress for its victims as difficult questions. This week, a narrowly divided panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that those who were tortured in America's gulag cannot sue for damages because the administration believes their attempt to obtain justice may reveal state secrets. The notion that evidence may be withheld from public scrutiny for reasons of national security is well established, but the idea that injured parties can be denied legal redress because the executive branch wants the matter kept secret is an appalling novelty. The story of how the Bush-Cheney administration rushed to make torture an instrument of national policy in its "war on terror," and of how it created an international gulag in which to abuse prisoners, is well known. Less remarked on — for reasons that do nobody credit — is the fact that President Obama and his administration have embraced the secrecy and usurpations of power that made possible the Bush-Cheney betrayal of American values. Tom Rutten, Op-Ed in the LA Times on 9/11/10 Is Obama just more palatable for a greater majority of Americans? Just liberal window-dressing for the same gnashing of fangs? I hate to point it out, but probably so. ~ The time had come to weigh these things ~

I support that 100% Gonz, and put my butt on the line for 20 years in defense of that. I swore an oath to defend the Constitution, an oath that can never be rescinded......but I can dream........'scuse me while i have another Nutter Butter Peanut Butter sandwich cookie

I guess I'm a mainstream radical, not a fringe one. Still, I have to take issue with Johnman wishing away all fringe radicals with a gentle reminder: It is only through the efforts of certain (the ones that history shines a light on and successfully end up changing things, like the Minutemen who gave birth to the USA) mainstream and "fringe" radical elements that anything ever changes for the better. I do know where your sentiment is coming from J'man -- obviously fringe radicals and their supporters who believe strongly that the end justifies the means are the source of every truly horrific thing (mass killings, etc.) that has ever happened on our planet. This is really a double-edges sword. If we come to have a complete police state where there is little freedom and everything is tightly controlled, then that will be the end of our evolution and the status-quo becomes completely frozen -- until another fringe radical group gets things moving again. You see the problem that every government faces that ever wished to be monolithic. One other thing, Johnman, you can't be all things to all people. I respect a person more if they stick to one position. That statement is in regard to our previous discussion of people's free expression of their rights. I guess the old saying goes: "I may not agree with what you say but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." 6 billion people will never find a way to only politely express their opinions, unfortunately. But I am always happy to hear you politely expressed opinion, especially on the matter of cookies -- "The chairperson recognizes the distinguished Senator from Mrs. Fields, err, ummm, excuse me, Famous Andy's."

they will always live in our memories

God be with their familes.....Peace- Moye

I was watching a fascinating documentary about the Bishnois, in what is now Rajastan. In 1485 their Guru told them they must protect trees and all living things, and the group has followed his teachings religiously to this day. In modern times they are active against poachers and tree-cutters, and they have a wildlife preservation territory; where they house wounded animals until they are healed enough to return to the wild. This was a very rousing and inspiring documentary, and completely new information to me, so I thought I would share it with y'all. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishnois ********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain

...I was at home saying prayers. I turned on National Public Radio at noon after my second session and heard the news. Shock, disbelief -- a sense of angst. I went out and bought a flag and pinned it up on the wooden fencing at a construction site across the street where I had been doing free form political art. Little did I know flags would be hard to come by in the coming months Some of the following days were crazy. Seeing vigilantes patrolling the interstate highway. Guards at important public areas like resevoirs. The National Guard at the intersection of I90 & I95. Little did I know that things were to get even worse. I'm sure everybody remembers that whacko who sent weapons grade anthrax through the mail. That had to be the absolute low point. I really thought that my world was descending into chaos. I got on the phone with my father and told him that these were dark days indeed for the republic and that I had no idea what would happen next. I felt the need to assure him and my mother of the love I had for them and express the thought I might never see them again. (That anthrax, by the way, was made at a US military weapons lab in Ames, Iowa. They never caught the perp., though they had a pretty good idea of who did it, not Muslim terrorists but a right-wingnut). 9 years later here we are talking about which rights we're prepared to give away to continue to live a safe and secure existence. Even if another US citizen doesn't die I think we've lost a significant measure of freedom. I am very sad about that as I think this whole matter could have been approached differently. But that is not the topic today...

I stepped into the lounge at my former place of employment for a cup of coffee. The TV was on and I glanced over to see the image of a burning tower, and watched in horror as the second plane center-punched the other building.....forever burned into my memory.... My eyes are filling with tears as I type this.....when will we learn.....we humans cause each other such pain...daily, hourly......when will we learn.......