This Modern World Petition Drive

Via Firedoglake, This Modern World has been dropped from the print edition of The Village Voice (apparently it hasn't been dropped from the online edition.) If you're not familiar with TMW, click here for the most recent strip and here for more. Tom Tomorrow, the creator of the strip, has started a petition asking that it be reinstated.

A small request for New Yorkers, and anyone else who reads the print edition of the Village Voice. As you may have heard, there have been a lot of changes at the Voice in recent months. My own work still runs in the online edition, but has recently been dropped from the print edition (edit: sometime in the last two or three months, not sure exactly when). In other instances when something like this has happened, I’ve suggested that readers send in email to the editor, but the problem with that approach is that it can irritate the editor and end up hurting more than helping. So I’ve decided to try something new — I’ve posted a petition, here, respectfully requesting that the editors reconsider this decision. If you’re a New Yorker and/or a Voice reader, do me a favor and go sign it. When and if I get a decent number of signatures, I’ll pass it along.

The image below is part of a strip that ran after the November elections. Click here for the whole thing.


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Happy Birthday, Catreona

Okay, I guess it's kinda cheating to use the graphic jc created for Cat last year, but that *is* still her name, and today is her birthday again.

Hope it's a good one!

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Renee's Cake!

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For Tanner

From puddle's blog...

Short form. Tanner had an earache and fever last night. The family spent the night in OR, came home and was called back because the culture showed gram negative bacteria. The fear now is sepsis.

Sepsis is what killed Edwin.

Prayers, please.

Click here for Tanner's candle page.

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Blogger Question

I was just going to put this in the comments, but I thought it should be its own thread so that more people will see it. Has anyone here converted to the new version of Blogger? I am still using the older version. I got an e-mail from one of our contributors, Andrew C. White, asking about whether I had converted or whether I am planning to. He added,

OK... according to blogger documentation... since I am not the original creator of the group blog I can convert my account to the new release without it affecting the group blog. They write:

"If a team member of a blog switches their account to the new version of Blogger before the blog owner does, then the team blog is not converted. It will appear on the team member's converted dashboard, but clicking on it will lead back to the old version of Blogger. Thus, the blog will still be usable, but without the new features of Blogger (e.g. Labels, Layouts, etc.)."

I still haven't done this yet. Have any of the other contributors converted yet? The other group blog I belong to is a special case that blogger says they handle differently because the original creator has relinquished ownership of the blog thereby making it ownerless. So I can't use/see that as a test case.

If no one else has converted yet then I will go ahead and do it as a test case at some point when you are prepared to rescue it in case there are problems. I never trust new versions of software.

I have pretty much been putting off dealing with this--it wasn't *that* long ago that I took on the project of redoing the template again. I'm always a bit shy about touching anything after surviving that endeavor. And I don't know if the new version of Blogger would mess with the custom template in some way. The one time I did use it (on that other blog, which I never really did anything with) I wasn't all that impressed. Granted, that was several months ago.

I know there's documentation I can go wade through to try to figure this all out, but I'm not teaching any classes this quarter, and really need to turn my attention to generating some income. So, my personal inclination is to do nothing. If there's any compelling reason that I need to convert to the new version, someone please explain it to me, using small words. :) I suppose Blogger may make everyone switch eventually, but if I don't have to deal with it right now, I don't plan to.

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Morning Birthday Post

OK, so it's kind'a a lame graphic. What I'd like to say is kind'a lame too, about how grateful I am for this blog and for the wonderful lady who runs it. So, I'll just say:

Happy Birthday, Renee!

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♥ OVERNIGHT BIRTHDAY THREAD ♥

. . . . . . . . . . ♥ . ♥ . ♥ ..♥ .♥ . ♥ . ♥ .♥. .♥. .♥. .♥. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . ||..||..||..||..||..||..||..||..||..||..||.. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . ~~~~~~~~~♥ H A P P Y ♥~~~~~~~~~ . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . ~~~~~~~♥ B I R T H D A Y ♥~~~~~~~ . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . ~~~~~~~~~♥ R E N E E ! ♥~~~~~~~~ . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . . . . . . . .

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Paul Begala: still a jerk

scottforamerica at Daily Kos has a diary about talking to Paul Begala at today's swearing-in ceremonies.

I was going to just politely greet him and shake his hand, but I had an attack of conscience. After all that Begala and Carville have done to undermine Gov. Dean’s efforts at the DNC, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. "I hope you will support the 50-state strategy," I told him, expecting the shrug off or a "nice to meet you too," but that isn’t what Begala had in mind.

"That depends what you mean by 50 state strategy he said." I responded by telling him that I meant the plan for Democrats to compete everywhere and for every office in the country. That I don’t support he said, "we should start with principles and values." "Sure, we should compete everywhere" he muttered, "but that’s not the right strategy."

The money quote:

"Anyway," Begala continued... "I don’t need some a**hole from Vermont telling me what to do."

We should give Paul Begala something nice. Maybe one of my cats or dogs could "make" something for him.

Note for the irony-impaired (e.g. anyone from the "news" show Greater Boston): that was a joke.

Update: Thank you to Jessica for pointing out Maura's great diary In praise of some a**hole from Vermont.

Utterly gratuitous photo of me, some asshole from Vermont, and my dear departed dad from a Kim Hynes for State Rep. fundraiser in Stamford in 2003

By the way, I've been lucky enough to meet Howard in person a few times and I've found him to be kind, down-to-earth, personable, and smart as a whip. I don't think he's an asshole at all. But the extent to which Paul Begala and his ilk do think Howard is an asshole is greatly to the Gov's credit. May his assholishness in Begala's eyes continue apace as we move on to a big victory in '08.

And to Begala, I say, Get outta the way and go on to your cocktail parties where you can bash Dean and commiserate with your compatriots about your increasing irrelevance. A whole bunch of us and some asshole from Vermont are busy.

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Welcome (Democratic-led) 110th Congress

Firedoglake has a post about the new session of Congress that begins today, including a neat picture of Nancy Pelosi getting a hug from her granddaughter.




Paul Kiel of TPMmuckraker notes that new Represenative Keith Ellison, D-MN, could be seen making his way over to Rep. Virgil Goode, R-VA, to introduce himself. More, with video clip, here.

And, for anyone who missed this earlier, some in the Republican minority have been pushing for a "Minority Bill of Rights". It's based on a proposal made by Nancy Pelosi two years ago. Guess what Denny Hastert's response was at the time?

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50(ish) Hats, etc

While I am normally a happy little bean counter, the beans sort of slipped through the cracks on this project, making it impossible to count them. Sorry about that...

The good news is that counting the number of coats, hats, etc sent to the Cangleska Battered Women's Shelter from this HEP Project dosn't really matter. They will still warm that many people...whatever that number is, which I think is around 50 based on emails and blog posts I've seen.

The other "good" news is that this is an ongoing project; items needed throughout the winter, not just during the Holiday season...This is good for people like me who just finally mailed her hats...

If you would like to help, you can send new, homemade, or gently used winter outerwear (coats, snowsuits, hats, gloves, scarves, etc) directly to:

Via UPS or FedEx:
Cangleska, Inc., 1 Public Safety Road, Kyle, SD, 57752

Via US Mail:
Cangleska, Inc., P.O. Box 638, Kyle, SD, 57752

For more information, visit Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation.

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Open Thread

Talk amongst yourselves.

Hubby and I are going to watch some Red Dwarf, and later on if I have time, I'll add some news/diary links to this thread.

Update: Heading to bed, but wanted to add a link to this story (mentioned in the comments earlier)

The first Muslim elected to Congress says he will take his oath of office using a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson to make the point that "religious differences are nothing to be afraid of."

And also, for something completely silly, from the Sims 2 Pets game we got for Christmas. Werewolves. In love.




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Real coverage of the Scooter Libby case

Given the mainstream media's tendency to be insanely disappointing in its ability to provide accurate, fair coverage of the news, given what is, quite frankly the *conservative* bias of the so-called liberal media, this is good news. Via Firedoglake

After several months of phone calls and e-mails for logistical assistance, tracking down just the right person for inquiries at the courthouse, and lots of leg work, and thanks to the gracious assistance of Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, we have managed to secure one of the very limited press passes for the Scooter Libby trial. (A huge thank you to Arianna for all of her assistance in this.)

Yep, that is correct: your intrepid pals at Firedoglake, with the more than able assistance of Marcy Wheeler, Emptywheel of The Next Hurrah, and fabulous author of Anatomy of Deceit, and a few other all stars who have talked with us about covering various aspects of the trial process, are headed to DC to cover as much of the trial as we can manage to see and hear.

To do this coverage properly, we are working on subletting an apartment in DC, to allow us to be at the courthouse as frequently as we can manage with our respective schedules. We also have travel costs, to and from DC, and food costs and a number of other necessary budget items that all add up.

But we need a little help from anyone who can give it.

Click here to read more.

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Just say no

Via Firedoglake, discussion of Bush's plan to "surge and accelerate" in Iraq.

How many more Americans should be asked to die for a mistake and to prop up a President's ego? How many more innocents should be caught in the crossfire for the same reason? How many more?

And while we are at it, is this who we are? Because, if so, I am ashamed — holding someone prisoner and interrogating them says a lot about who we are as a nation. It used to be that the United States was an example of what to do with prisoners in terms of their treatment off the battlefield. No longer.

FDL also linked to Keith Olbermann's special comment from last night. If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend that you do.
Transcript
Video

Demetrius reminded me that Bush's plans for "winning" in Iraq are eerily similar to the Zapp Brannigan Doctrine.

The Killbots? A trifle. It was simply a matter of outsmarting them.
...
You see the killbots have a preset kill limit; knowing their weakness I sent wave after wave of my own men at them until they reached their limit and shutdown.

Of course, the insurgents are not robots, so I don't think that will work here. How about we respond to Bush's plan with a resounding "NO!" And then start seriously investigating him and his whole corrupt administration, and get their sorry hindquarters out of office and sent someplace "safe" where they can't break anything.

Update: This entry also posted at Daily Kos, My Left Wing, and Booman Tribune.

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A New Year's resolution worth making and keeping

However you personally feel about New Year's resolutions, I think this one is worth the effort. And I resolve to keep coming back to it and working to make more people aware of these Millennium Development Goals. From Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's New Year's message...

“Consider what might happen if all of us resolved to make 2007 the beginning of a new era in which the hungry are fed, the ill cured, the young educated and women and men treated equally”, she writes. “What if all had access to clean water and adequate sanitation, basic healthcare and the promise of development that does not endanger the rest of creation?”

Dr Schori, who was a practicing scientist before she became an Anglican priest, continued: “For people of all faiths and for those who claim no faith, the Millennium Development Goals provide a way in which together we can achieve greater global good by leading local lives intent upon the eradication of poverty and disease.”

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CNN wants to be Fox when it grows up

I'm becoming increasingly convinced that CNN is trying to become as much like Fox News as possible, in the hopes that it will make people like them. Sorta like the Democrats who hoped voters would like them if they walked and talked and dressed up like Republicans.

Via Crooks and Liars


For anyone who has trouble seeing the image, it is a screen capture from CNN depicting Osama bin Laden, with the words "Where's Obama?"

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Open Thread

Getting ready to turn in and figured we'd better have a new thread. The flowers are from church, where it was still the 7th day of Christmas. We sang carols and learned the stories behind some of them. And I did one of the readings, and someone complimented me on my voice. I like my church. :)

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New Year's Eve 2003 Flashback

Wanted to find a new picture of Howard Dean, or a link to a video, or *something* Howardly to post, but came up blank. So we'll have to settle for a New Year's Eve flashback from December 31, 2003. (That was the same December when Howard said the capture of Saddam Hussein hadn't made us safer, remember?"

Via the Blog for America archives...

Flat Howard united the feuding wings of the office -- he made peace between Joe Rospars and Clay Johnson, on behalf of the South and North sides of HQ, respectively, who agreed that we can only take out country back if we all come together.

Bittersweet, I know. What could have been. But I'm thankful that Howard brought us all together, and thankful that he's still working to take this country back and restore our honor in the international community.

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A prayer for the new year

Holy Mother...Loving Father...
Source of All That Is...
Oh--You know who You are!

That daughter You gave me said a funny thing yesterday:
"It seems like God has gotten shy over the years"
(Meaning You don't talk to people like in the "old days")

I said I wasn't sure that was true--
that sometimes it just doesn't get written down
Sometimes people aren't sure it's really You
(Or are afraid to believe that it is)

And I told her of the time I heard from you
(or one of Your "people")
"Help heal the world" were the words I heard
while lying in bed early that morning
And then You held me close

Maybe I imagined that, but it didn't matter
The words felt real enough, and the need for healing was real,
so I promised that I would
Later I learned about tikkun olam,
the Hebrew phase which translates to "repairing the world"

That confirmed the notion that the call to help heal the world was true and real

It's also impossible

There can never be enough glue, tape, bandages, needles and thread, hammers and nails, hope, patience, and love, to get the job done

I suppose that's why the baptismal vows say, "I will, with God's help"

So as we begin a new year, I ask again for Your help
Help me to find the strength, energy, and love to keep working
to mend that which is broken,
both in myself and in the world You entrusted to our care.

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