Chimpanzee who knew sign language dies

I hate to bring everybody down but,this is sad.

.
SPOKANE, Wash. - Washoe, a female chimpanzee believed to be the first non-human to acquire human language, has died of natural causes at the research institute where she was kept.

Washoe, who first learned a bit of American Sign Language in a research project in Nevada, had been living on Central Washington University's Ellensburg campus since 1980. She had a vocabulary of about 250 words.

Con't

Happy Halloween Jr. !

.

Wingnut Anon Dating !

Meet me
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 10/29/2007 - 5:11pm.
at 7:00pm
*******
.

National Security Archive Sues White House Over Missing Emails

Washington DC, October 29, 2007 - The National Security Archive filed a motion on Friday, October 26, seeking expedited discovery against the Executive Office of the President to find out what e-mails are missing from the White House e-mail system or backup tapes.

Archive General Counsel Meredith Fuchs explained, “The pressing need for the information arises out of troubling representations by the EOP and its components about its document preservation obligations and the location of its backup tapes. We need information so we can take steps to preserve all possible sources of e-mails deleted from the White House servers.”

Also on Friday, a similar motion was filed in a virtually identical lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) on September 25, 2007.
Con't
Thanks Kevin.

A song to Lady Liberty

Submitted by jbenet on Sat, 10/27/2007 - 12:18pm.

She's been gone such a long time
longer than I can bear
but if she says she wants me
tell her that I'll be there
And if she says to you
she don't love me
just give her my message
tell her of my plea.


Thanks jbenet !

Privatizing The Constitution

by digby

According to this site, a General Counsel of a large communications corporation makes around $300,000 a year, before bonuses, stock options and the rest. One assumes that he or she also has many Ivy league trained attorneys on staff and retains at least one outside law firm, probably more, which bills the company at top rates. All of these people are undoubtedly among the highest quality corporate lawyers in the world.

And yet the Bush administration wants the people of this country to grant their employers immunity from lawsuits brought by ordinary Americans because their lawyers took the word of the Bush administration that they weren't breaking the law by eavesdropping on their customers without a warrant. We are supposed to believe that the best lawyers in the world -- who specialize in the field of communications -- didn't know nothin' bout no fourth amendment.

Con't

Link to Petition-Please Sign !-Thanks !

The Decider Guy's in Town..He'll Fix Everything ! !

CAUTION — Cheney going hunting this weekend.

The Poughkeepsie Journal in New York reports that “Vice President Dick Cheney is coming to Dutchess County again to go hunting.”
On Monday, Cheney is “expected to leave Poughkeepsie and head to the Clove Valley Rod & Gun Club.” No word on whether the Vice President will be drinking beforehand this time.
.

Letter to S.Feinstein on Southwick vote..

Senator,

Barbara Lee on the Southwick confirmation:

“Let me also say that as a Californian and as an African American, I am incredibly disappointed that a Senator from my home state, Senator Feinstein, would not only vote for confirmation but would be the one to effectively bring this nomination to the floor by voting with the Republicans to approve the nomination in committee. It is particularly disappointing given California’s diversity and our history of leadership on issues of civil rights, women’s rights, worker’s rights and the basic commitment to equality before the law, all areas where Judge Southwick’s record is, quite frankly, sadly lacking.”

Nice job, Dianne Feinstein. The words “in the tank” come to mind.


Don't expexct my vote in the next election!

Thank you,..A Democrat..


Thanks Lucille..

Latest Letter to Feinstein-Not my Senator

Senator,

Just some Comments concerning your Yea vote For Southwick..


Diane Feinstein is a liar, or her office staff is, take your pick. They’ve told me repeatedly over this past week she would vote against Southwick.

Words fail me sometimes, so I won’t use the curses that come to mind…


*******
Southwick,
upheld the reinstatement, without any punishment whatsoever, of a white state employee who was fired for calling an African American co-worker a ‘good ole ‘N’word*’”…effectively ratified a hearing officer’s opinion that the slur … “was in effect calling the individual a ‘teacher’s pet.’” “The Southwick majority also affirmed the determination of the hearing officer who said the use of the term good old ‘N’ word…was in this context about as offensive as calling someone ‘a good old boy or Uncle Tom or chubby or fat or slim.’

*Edited for the good reasons.

And they Confirmed this bigot? Nice to know that the Senate is so intouch with reality.

*******

When racists and advocates of torture can pass approval by a majority of Congress, once has to ask, “Just how bad does a nominee have to be” for this Congress to not give them the job?

*******
Just a very small sample..

Just another of you crazy votes!

I Will Work Very Hard Volunteering to make sure You Lose your next election!

You have Proved over,and over again that you don't deserve to be Our Democratic Senator from California!!

I've Had Enough Of Your Pathetic Leadership !

Thank you,.A Democrat..

GBC--and St.George too..

Oy vey!
Submitted by GBC on Tue, 10/23/2007 - 11:42am.
How could I forget Sam and Marc? Glad I finally made it.

Btw, saw this play Friday (opening) night. It was incredible. Personal subject for many of us living in Utah and surrounding areas:
Cancer survivor's 'Exposed' puts a human face on nuke-test tragedy.
*******
.
I agree..Alot of people got exposed!

My Dad had to fly B-29's,and B-50's through those Mushroom Clouds..
The Air Force had them dropping all kinds of instruments into the Mushroom clouds!

To prove,or disprove Karl Fuchs theory..Crazy Government..
They should have spent more time finding out old Fuchs was a spy!!

My Dad did get skin cancer later in life but,it was controled..
Don't know about the rest of his crew,or all the crews that had to do this work..
But,Thousands of people in Utah,and Nevada were exposed!
And,like you said,the Milk and food chain were exposed too..

I hope none of your family,or friends got expose to the fallout!

Didn't Howard Hughes leave Las Vegas because of the fall out worry?

Thanks for the article GBC..
I read one about the fallout in St.George Utah about 5 years ago..
It was sad..Alot of peeps coming down with cancer..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Blackwater in San Diego !

Blackwater in San Diego !

Submitted by MMRules on Mon, 10/22/2007 - 8:40pm.

Let's see if those Bastards will help to Fight The Fires !!

Doubt That will Ever Happen !!

Hopefully their little Camp of Horrors will burn !

If it does burn,I bet they will be one of the first ones getting Federal Money
to rebuild !!

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

With Democrats Like These ....

Editorial
Published: October 20, 2007

Every now and then, we are tempted to double-check that the Democrats actually won control of Congress last year. It was particularly hard to tell this week. Democratic leaders were cowed, once again, by propaganda from the White House and failed, once again, to modernize the law on electronic spying in a way that permits robust intelligence gathering on terrorists without undermining the Constitution.

The task before Congress was to review and improve an update to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, that was pushed through the Capitol just before the summer break. That bill endorsed warrantless wiretapping and gutted other aspects of the 1978 law.

House Democrats drafted a measure that, while imperfect, was an improvement to the one passed this summer. But before the House could vote, Republicans tied up the measure in bureaucratic knots and Democratic leaders pulled it. Senate Democrats did even worse, accepting a Potemkin compromise that endorsed far too much of the bad summer law.
Con't-NYT


"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Latest Letter to Pelosi:

Thanks ToniD !.. :)

Dear Democratic Leaders (an open letter)
by Steven D
Sat Oct 20th, 2007 at 02:49:11 PM EST

I see that House Republicans are gearing up to propose a vote on a resolution to condemn Rep. Stark for the comments he made the other day on the House floor during the vote to override Bush's veto of the SCHIP legislation. I also see that Speaker Pelosi has taken the opportunity to repuke Rep. Stark publicly for those same remarks.

"You're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement," Stark told Republicans on the floor of the House. [...]
"While members of Congress are passionate about their views, what Congressman Stark said during the debate was inappropriate and distracted from the seriousness of the subject at hand - providing health care for America's children," Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said.

Let me just say how ridiculous and stupid I find her remarks to be, and let me also openly state that there is no way in hell the Democratic Leadership in the House should allow the Republicans to have a floor vote on any resolution condemning Rep. Stark for simply exercising his first amendment rights.

My concern is I've heard far worse things from Republicans directed toward Democrats on numerous occasions (or have you forgotten what happened to Senator Durbin already, to cite but one example) yet you never hear of any member of the GOP caucus (with the one exception of McCain responding to the Swift Boating of John Kerry) condemning those remarks. So why do Democrats continue to back down whenever one of their members says something that riles up the GOP in the heat of battle? It's shameful and disheartening when Democratic leaders do this, and it doesn't make the liberal base of the party very enthusiastic about working to elect Democrats.

Con't-to save space

Speaker Pelosi,
What is Wrong With You ?!

Please,Enough of Your Weak,Spineless Leadership!!

Please Resign !

80% of Democratc's Do Not Believe Rep.Pete Stark should apologize!!

Why Do You Feel You Need To ?!

Once Again You Feel like You are Above The People You are Suppose to represent!!

You Work For The People,Not The DLC,and Yourself!!

Thank you,..A Democrat..

Misrepresented Americans

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 10/20/2007 - 9:36pm.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to be taking her marching orders from the DLC.

If she and House Democratic Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer both resigned, perhaps our party would get its priorities in order:

(1) Don't fund Iraq war; bring troops home without further delay.
(2) Hold Bush, Cheney and other necons accountable.
(3) Uphold the Constitution.
(4) Spend our money wisely.
(5) Return Public Airwaves.
(6) Provide Free & Fair Elections.

My Letter to Senator Reid

Senator Reid,

Harry Reid himself took $22,000 in contributions from AT&T between 2001-2006.

OpenSecrets reports that he also owns between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of stock in Dow Jones U.S. Telecommunications Sector Index Fund, the largest holdings of which are AT&T and Verizon.

No Amnesty For The Telecoms !!

At least use what the Telecoms can give you,showing Pres.Bush's breaking the Law,before you do any type of amnesty!

But,better yet..Why don't you just Uphold The Rule Of Law!!
Uphold The Constitution!!

Or,Have You Already Sold Out ?!

Thank you,..A Democrat.

Pentagon Accused of Domestic Spying !

by Guy Raz - NPR

Morning Edition, October 15, 2007 · Documents uncovered in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against the federal government allegedly reveal that the Defense Department engaged in domestic spying, issuing hundreds of "national security letters" to obtain private records.
Link-Listen NPR

Pelosi & Reid are Sooo Over Their Heads !!

Submitted by MMRules on Mon, 10/15/2007 - 12:23pm.

I asked them to Resign,Again !!

Just More Spineless Democratic Leadership !!

It's is tantamount to giving President Bush a "license to do whatever he wants to do."

Uphold The Rule Of Law,or Resign !
Uphold The Constitution,or Resign !
Put Impeachment Back On The Table,or Resign !

You are doing a Huge Disservice to This Country when you just let Pres.Bush,and his Administration keep Breaking The Law,and Disregard The Constitution!

Can't you see that??

Please Resign so we can get someone in there who has A Backbone,and will Uphold The Rule of Law,and The Constitution !!

Thank you,..A Democrat.

Nancy Pelosi, Meet Your Replacement!

Pelosi & Reid are So Over Their Head,I wish they would Resign !!

Qwest CEO's 'classified defense' raises question on NSA surveillance

Nick Juliano
Published: Friday October 12, 2007

A former CEO who stood up to the Bush administration's demands that he assist in the warrantless surveillance of Americans suggests in court documents that the National Security Agency withdrew a lucrative contract in retaliation for his refusal.

Documents released as part of Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio's insider trading trail also seem to indicate that the NSA was discussing the secretive, possibly illegal, surveillance of Americans several months before the 9/11 attacks President Bush used to justify the program.

The heavily redacted legal filings reveal the "classified defense" Nacchio was unable to present during his trial, and they outline a Feb. 27, 2001, meeting between the Qwest CEO and NSA officials to discuss a $100 million infrastructure project, and another topic. Discussion of the second topic was blacked-out in released court documents, but observers believe the NSA could've been discussing its program to compile a database of tens of millions of Americans' phone records.
Con't

My Latest Letter to My Rep's,and Senator's..

Dear Judiciary,Senator's,and Congresswoman,

Please Do Not Give The TeleCom's Amnesty !!
Via FISA !!
The Bush Adminastration,and The NSA have been trying to Spy on American's Before 9-11 !!
Look at The Quest Case !!

Tinker, Tailor, Miner, Spy

Why the NSA's snooping is unprecedented in scale and scope.

By Shane Harris and Tim Naftali
Posted Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2006, at 6:30 AM ET

Fifty years ago, officers from the Signal Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, visited an executive from International Telephone and Telegraph and asked for copies of all foreign government cables carried by the company. The request was a direct violation of a 1934 law that banned the interception of domestic communications, but Attorney General Tom Clark backed it. Initially reluctant, ITT relented when told that its competitor, Western Union, had already agreed to supply this information. As James Bamford relates in his book The Puzzle Palace, the government told ITT it "would not desire to be the only non-cooperative company on the project." Codenamed Shamrock, the effort to collect cables sent through U.S.-controlled telegraph lines ultimately involved all the American telecom giants of the era, captured private as well as government cables, and lasted nearly 30 years. Like other illegal Cold War domestic snooping programs —such as the FBI's wiretaps without warrants and the CIA's mail-opening operations—it collapsed under the weight of public reaction to the abuses of executive power revealed by Vietnam and Watergate.

Today's generation of telecom leaders is similarly involved in the current controversy over spying by the NSA. The New York Times reported in December that since 9/11, leading telecommunications companies "have been storing information on calling patterns and giving it to the federal government to aid in tracking possible terrorists." Citing current and former government and corporate officials, the Times reported that the companies have granted the NSA access to their all-important switches, the hubs through which colossal volumes of voice calls and data transmissions move every second. A former telecom executive told us that efforts to obtain call details go back to early 2001, predating the 9/11 attacks and the president's now celebrated secret executive order. The source, who asked not to be identified so as not to out his former company, reports that the NSA approached U.S. carriers and asked for their cooperation in a "data-mining" operation, which might eventually cull "millions" of individual calls and e-mails.

Like the pressure applied to ITT a half-century ago, our source says the government was insistent, arguing that his competitors had already shown their patriotism by signing on. The NSA would not comment on the issue, saying that, "We do not discuss details of actual or alleged operational issues."
Con't-to Save Space

More to come,I'm sure !
Like I said before,look into The Quest Case !!!

Thank you,.

Without Irony

Rice:

MOSCOW -

The Russian government under Vladimir Putin has amassed so much central authority that the power-grab may undermine Moscow's commitment to democracy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday.

"In any country, if you don't have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development," Rice told reporters after meeting with human-rights activists.

"I think there is too much concentration of power in the Kremlin. I have told the Russians that. Everybody has doubts about the full independence of the judiciary. There are clearly questions about the independence of the electronic media and there are, I think, questions about the strength of the Duma," said Rice, referring to the Russian parliament.

-Atrios 12:42

Can you believe this Crap!? Look In The Mirror Bonehead !!

Gore Wins the Norwegian Primary

Submitted by MMRules on Sat, 10/13/2007 - 5:40am.
By John Nichols, The Nation

Having now won the Norwegian Primary, it is reasonable to ask why Al Gore would want to slog his way through the snows of New Hampshire.

But the inconvenient truth is that never has the man who might yet be president needed to more seriously consider his personal legacy - not to mention the small matter of his potential to make the world anew - than now.
Con't

A Comment on 'Troubled' by Hayden-Helgerson Feud Article:

Submitted by MMRules on Fri, 10/12/2007 - 11:32pm.

Feingold 'Troubled' by
Submitted by toniD on Fri, 10/12/2007 - 11:23pm.
Feingold 'Troubled' by Hayden-Helgerson Feud
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) beats Senate intelligence committee chairman John Rockefeller in the race to comment first on CIA Director Michael Hayden's investigation of Inspector General John Helgerson!
Link
*******
electricphoto wrote on October 12, 2007 5:26 PM:

Troubled? I'm troubled?

If they shot the IG what would you be then? Troubled and worried?

There is a thing called the law, judges and all that - maybe youv'e seen it on Law and Order...

Try using the law and the constitution, the power of subpoena...

While Republican thugs rip apart America you are troubled?

All it takes to overthrow democracy and the constitution is to to refuse to enforce the laws... and Democrats are doing a bang up job of that following the Republican's lead....

Yeah - don't go beyond troubled... wouldn't want to put anything in context...

Can you imagine how great the threat is from the right wing smear machine that people in congress temper their language to this extent?

God help this nation - because the ones running it sure as hell won't

Not Even A Little Bit Subtle

Submitted by Crank Bait on Sat, 10/13/2007 - 12:08am.

Letterman:

Top ten ways you know that you are not going to win a Nobel prize.

#2--You are best known for invading Iraq without an exit strategy.


*******
Good one Crank ! Thanks ! :)

Lionel Will Never Be This Much Fun!

Submitted by 60th Street on Sat, 10/13/2007 - 12:04am

Pelosi and Feinstein,Be Gone !! Poof !

Submitted by MMRules on Fri, 10/12/2007 - 11:26pm.

Pelosi and Feinstein,Be Gone !! Poof !

The Sooner The Better !!

Harry Reid too !!
Poof !
*******
MMR
Submitted by zeek on Fri, 10/12/2007 - 11:30pm.
Who's repping your district?
*Edited by Zeek*
*******
Zeek..Whatsa Matter ya Face ??
Submitted by MMRules on Fri, 10/12/2007 - 11:37pm.
MMR
new
Submitted by zeek on Fri, 10/12/2007 - 11:30pm.
Who's repping your district?
*******
Haven't heard soooo much hostility from you since I called Barry Bonds,Barryroid!!

If ya need to know Susan Davis CA-D

And,last I checked Davis isn't the Speaker of The House,Zeek !!

I take it ya don't like Cindy Sheehan.??

Tinker, Tailor, Miner, Spy

Why the NSA's snooping is unprecedented in scale and scope.

By Shane Harris and Tim Naftali
Posted Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2006, at 6:30 AM ET

Fifty years ago, officers from the Signal Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, visited an executive from International Telephone and Telegraph and asked for copies of all foreign government cables carried by the company. The request was a direct violation of a 1934 law that banned the interception of domestic communications, but Attorney General Tom Clark backed it. Initially reluctant, ITT relented when told that its competitor, Western Union, had already agreed to supply this information. As James Bamford relates in his book The Puzzle Palace, the government told ITT it "would not desire to be the only non-cooperative company on the project." Codenamed Shamrock, the effort to collect cables sent through U.S.-controlled telegraph lines ultimately involved all the American telecom giants of the era, captured private as well as government cables, and lasted nearly 30 years. Like other illegal Cold War domestic snooping programs —such as the FBI's wiretaps without warrants and the CIA's mail-opening operations—it collapsed under the weight of public reaction to the abuses of executive power revealed by Vietnam and Watergate.
Con't

Larry Craig YMCA Music Video Parody

Larry Craig YMCA Music Video Parody

"this little blog"

Submitted by bibimimi on Tue, 10/09/2007 - 2:36pm.

*ping!*

an angel gets it's wings every time u say that.

(Sam Seder Show Blog)

Woooooooooo !! :) Sammy & Marc Rule The Playground !!

.


"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Where's Did My Bike Go ? Damn !!

.

We Can now Create Life it seems,But We Can't Figure out how to have Clean Elections !!

Public Financing of Elections is The Only Way To Go!!

Get Behind,and InFront Of It !!

www.commoncause.org-Info

www.publicampaign.org



"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

An Age Of Miracles

Submitted by jbenet on Sat, 10/06/2007 - 3:11pm.
: )

Been thinking lately that we are truly living in

An Age Of Miracles.

The daily, most astounding miracles, take place right before our eyes (and ears.)

I infer, that the God that talks to President George Bush and his elites, is telling them the following:

"Tell the biggest lie you want. Does not even matter if there is documentary evidence that you said the opposite. You will be believed."

And sure enough, they are.

Must be divine intervention, no other explanation.

Time: In Alabama, Prosecutors Chased Dem Ex-Gov, Ignored Allegations against GOPers

By Laura McGann - October 4, 2007, 11:16AM
Substantive new evidence makes it look even more likely that politics played a role in the decision to prosecute Gov. Don Siegelman (D-AL) on corruption charges.

Siegelman supporters have long claimed that Siegelman was targeted for being a successful Democrat in a largely Republican state.

According to documents obtained by Time, in 2002 a lobbyist and trash dump developer named Lanny Young told investigators, including representatives from the local US attorney's office, the Justice Department's public integrity unit and the Republican attorney general's office, that he'd given illegal gifts and contributions to Siegelman and a number of other powerful Alabama politicians. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Session's successor as attorney general and now federal judge William Pryor (R) were named.
Con't

The worst interview about the book he's had.

Submitted by bibimimi on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 1:47pm.
Re: Tweety

Personally;

I started my tender career track in the area of broadcast journalism. If you dig being abused, undercompensated, and having your intelligence insulted, I can wholeheartedly recommend.

[I was well-liked. I cursed a lot for a Catholic girl]

What Tweety is talking about is the kind of guy who succeeded in his line of work; an obsequious back-stabber who goes with the flow, doesn't make waves and let other people do the work.

I'm a purist. I floundered in that environment. He flourished.

Stewart was right. Your soul is DOA.
Link

Greenspan: Taser The Penguin !

So True-This Modern World

Just Great ! Not ! :(

While Bush plays Tiddlywinks, the World is playing Chess
Submitted by Kevin © on Tue, 10/02/2007 - 6:45am.
Chinese hackers crack Homeland Security computers
*******
Is there any Department in This Government that isn't Incompenent??

Link to Story


"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Lone Justice -- Ways to be wicked

Growing up in SmelLA I was lucky enough to See these guys(Lone Justice),Rickie Lee Jones,and The Alley Cats all compete at different times,on Amateur Night at The Sweetwater in Redondo Beach!
And,Next door at The Fleetwood,I got to see a Pre-Famous Van Halen..Pretty cool!
Too bad that whole area is now one Big Hotel..Progress can really suck!


"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."