Operation Imposing Law = OIL

There's a oft-ignored line in the Iraqi Accountability Act of 2007 that refers to an Iraq "Hydro-carbon Law." There follows no explanation of exactly what this law means or does. It would be more accurate to call this important provision the "Iraqi Oil Privatization Law" - it is, in a nutshell, the real reason that we went to war against Iraq and the reason why we are still there after over four years of gruesome deaths, unbelievable destruction, and huge costs.
Here is the text from the aforementioned legislation:

From H.R.1591
U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act, 2007 (Public Print)
BENCHMARKS FOR CERTAIN RECONSTRUCTION ASSISTANCE FOR IRAQ SEC. 1710.
(a) BENCHMARKS- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, fifty percent of the funds appropriated by this Act for assistance for Iraq under the headings `Economic Support Fund' and `International Narcotics and Law Enforcement' shall be withheld from obligation until the President certifies to the Committees on Appropriations and Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committees on Appropriations and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives that the Government of Iraq has--
(1) enacted a broadly accepted hydro-carbon law that equitably shares oil revenues among all Iraqis;
(2) adopted legislation necessary for the conduct of provincial and local elections, taken steps to implement such legislation, and set a schedule to conduct provincial and local elections;
(3) reformed current laws governing the de-Baathification process to allow for more equitable treatment of individuals affected by such laws;
(4) amended the Constitution of Iraq consistent with the principles contained in Article 137 of such constitution; and
(5) allocated and begun expenditure of $10,000,000,000 in Iraqi revenues for reconstruction projects, including delivery of essential services, on an equitable basis.
(b) EXEMPTIONS- The requirement to withhold funds from obligation pursuant to subsection
(a) shall not apply with respect to funds made available under the heading `Economic Support Fund' that are administered by the United States Agency for International Development for continued support for the Community Action Program, assistance for civilian victims of the military operations, and the Community Stabilization Program in Iraq , or for programs and activities to promote democracy, governance, human rights, and rule of law.
(c) REPORT- At the time the President certifies to the Committees on Appropriations and Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committees on Appropriations and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives that the Government of Iraq has met the benchmarks described in subsection
(a), the President shall submit to such Committees a report that contains a detailed description of the specific actions that the Government of Iraq has taken to meet each of the benchmarks referenced in the certification.

Here's an e-mail that I sent not to Stephanie Miller, but rather to Jim "Voice Guy" Ward AKA the SMS's conspiracy theorist. You'll understand why as soon as you read the following message:

Jim,
I'm not sure how interested you are in this topic - the privatization of Iraqi Oil - but the article I sent you yesterday sent me to researching the House Bill referenced therein (Iraqi Accountability Act 2007). I found the following article (Behan, Alternet.org) that is referenced in the article that I sent you yesterday (CommonDreams.org), along with text from the actual legislation (HR 1591) that mentions the "Hydro-carbon Law," but interestingly enough nowhere in HR 1591 is the nature of the "hydro-carbon law" spelled out or even defined. So then I did some research on the Iraq Hydro-carbon Law (see NYTimes article below) and I had an eureka moment "Ah HA, it IS ALL about the OIL!" Now it makes perfect sense to me why Dick Cheney is so eager for the US to maintain its presence in Iraq against all evidence that we are doing more harm than good there. Maybe this has been clear to everybody else all along, but I don't think so. Evidence is that Congress doesn't seem to be questioning the provision of the "Hydro-carbon Law" benchmark in the HR 1591. It appears to me to be a critical piece of the puzzle that is Iraq and the Bush administration's entire plan/approach to the Middle East. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that in the end Oil Boys will reward Oil Boys, but I can't believe how obvious, yet seemingly ignored, it is, considering the legislation that is before Congress. I think that this is the lynch pin that could, and likely should, bring down the entire Bush administration, which we've all suspected was corrupt to its very core, but doesn't this illustrate it perfectly? Here's the High Crime (i.e., impeachable offense) committed by Bush and Cheney in a nutshell: A unnecessary and illegal war of aggression waged against a sovereign nation (Iraq) that has arguably had the impact of creating a more dangerous situation in terms of international terrorism, and that the invading country (US) in the process of pursuing this war has squandered many lives and much treasure and continues despite all evidence that the presence of the occupying country (US) is seriously damaging the occupied country (Iraq) to the detriment of Iraq's infrastructure, political stability and the very safety of its citizens. And all of these highly suspect, immoral and ultimately illegal actions were taken to benefit BIG OIL (not coincidently, Bush and Cheney's biggest supporters) NOT to fight a trumped up "war on terror." Call me a paranoid cynic, but the evidence is right there in front of all of us - we ignore it at our own peril.

Greenwald on How Neo-Cons have Reshaped Our Reality

Good Morning Steph,
I realize that you are taking a well-deserved day off today, and I hope that you enjoy your time away from work, but I just wanted to be sure that you saw this piece by one of my favorite bloggers, Glenn Greenwald, who basically says what you've been saying all along - that Goldwater and his Republican Party would not recognize today's Neo-Cons who are running this country into the ground. He does a good job of laying out the argument point-by-point and demonstrating how far a field the current-day Republicans have gone from their once-upon-a-time platform of limited government and fiscal conservatism. In fact, the goal of the current Neo-Con cabal who are running this country is to grow government, specifically the executive branch, to an extreme degree so that it becomes an all-powerful control of virtually every aspect of our lives - Not exactly what Barry and Bill (your Dad) had in mind, eh?
Cheers - your radical militant librarian,
Faye

"The Bush presidency and the political movement that supports it is not driven by any of the abstract political principles traditionally associated with 'liberalism' or 'conservatism.' Whatever else one wants to say about the Bush presidency, it has nothing to do with limiting the size, scope and reach of the federal government. The exact opposite is true."

Gleen Greenwald, Salon.com, March 29, 2007

Neoconservative Radicalism has Reshaped our Political Spectrum

Lily Does Tulsa (& Does it with Aplomb)

On Sunday evening I had the rare opportunity to see (and even meet) a performer whom I have admired for over thirty years - the one, the only, the truly fabulous, Ms. Lily Tomlin. My boss (Rick Ducey) and I sprung for the deluxe package that included a reception after the show and an once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet the great Lily Tomlin. Lily was in town to perform at a benefit for Planned Parenthood (in recognition of the thirty year anniversary of Roe v. Wade). She was, needless-to-say, fantastic. Lily opened with some jokes that had a Tulsa flavor, she even had Ernestine fielding a call to Senator Tom Coburn inquiring where his donation to the Tulsa PAC Trust Fund was, and in the process we heard one of many signature lines: "Blackmail is such an ugly word, let's just call it a vicious threat." The crowd roared with laughter. Tulsa loves Lily and Lily is apparently fond of Tulsa. At the elegant champagne reception Ms. Tomlin was down-to-earth, gracious, and very accessible, signing numerous autographs and posing for seemingly endless photos with fans. All-in-all, it was a wonderful evening and a night to remember.

Glowing Review in the Tulsa World of Lily Tomlin's Tulsa Appearance.

Lily Was Never a Shrinking Flower

White House Never Investigated Plame Leak

Stephanie,
Of all of the revelations that have come out of the White House over the last week, the following story was the one that disturbed me the most (and believe me, it had loads of competition...). The following article that the Plame outing was NEVER investigated at all by this administration is so appalling to me, it truly makes me vomit. Doesn't this qualify as an impeachable offense? It does in my book. One offense among many that should serve as ample evidence of the high crimes and misdemeanors committed by BushCo.

Top Bush Official Reveals White House Never Investigated Plame Leak

Dr. James Knodell, director of the Office of Security at the White House, revealed today that there was no evidence that the White House ever ordered a probe, report, or sanctions as a result of the Plame leak. "I have no knowledge of any investigation in my office," he said.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said he was "shocked" by Knodell's testimony, adding that the White House's lack of action was a "breach on top of a breach."

Knodell claimed the White House did not investigate because there was an outside investigation taking place. But Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) noted that the investigation "didn't start until months and months later, and [only] had the purpose of narrowly looking to see whether there was a criminal law violated." Waxman asked, "But there was an obligation for the White House to investigate whether classified information was being leaked inappropriately, wasn't there?" Knodell answered, "If that was the case, yes."

Shortly after the leak was revealed by Novak, Bush said he wanted an investigation to identify the leaker:

A senior official quoted Bush as saying, "I want to get to the bottom of this," during a daily meeting yesterday morning with a few top aides, including Rove.

Bush: "If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is."

E&P reports, "The White House had first opposed Knodell testifying but after a threat of a subpoena from the committee yesterday he was allowed to appear today."

Transcript of Valerie Plame's testimony.

WaPo's article on Plame's testimony.

The Madness that is March

Welcome to My Favorite Month of the Year - March, the month of upsets and bracket busters, victories and defeats, cinderella teams and one champion. It is simply the month in which the NCAA holds its College Basketball Tournaments. Both men and women of the hardwood vie for a place in basketball history.

Being reared in Indiana - home of the Indiana Hoosiers and the film "Hoosiers" - basketball is the winter religion that raised me. Never mind that every Sunday morning we would all get dressed up and go to Friends Meeting as a family, the real time to pray or center down as Friends say was every Friday night before the Pike High School Red Devils took on a notorious rival like the Carmel Greyhounds. Once upon a time in the state of Indiana, before some meddling busybodies decided to divide the state’s schools into Divisions (A, AA, AAA and even 4A), it was possible for a small, rural school like Hickory in the famed movie “Hoosiers” to win THE State Tournament – there was only one State Tournament and only one champion. And although the NCAA does recognize Division II along with Division I schools, only Division I schools play in THE March Madness tournament. The tournament does by its very nature reflect schools of all sizes, from all conferences, and from every corner of the country. All the teams compete in one single-elimination tournament every March to determine THE National Collegiate Basketball Champion.

The field of 65 teams is culled from a combination of the 31 conference champions and 34 at-large bids – true to form, again this year, the Selection Committee favored major conferences (ACC, SEC, Big Ten, and PAC-10) over the smaller, mid-major schools, a perennial complaint. Nevertheless, the field made for some fine first-round games and at least one upset that not only boosted my bracket, but also raised my spirits (VCU over dastardly Duke).

It’s Saturday and I’m home watching basketball, I am not on Peoria in Brookside, protesting another year of this god awful war. I feel a little bit bad that I didn’t make it to the protest rally, but I’ve had a productive, if relaxing, day here at the house. God, I wish that Bush and Cheney would be impeached. That would be better than winning either pool I’m in. It would be the perfect cap to March Madness.

Vote for Stephanie Miller

STEPH HAS WON A TRAILBLAZER AWARD!

Thanks to all listeners who voted fot Stephanie Miller in the nonstopradion.com
TRAILBLAZER Award - Steph mentioned receiving her award in this morning's show
(Wednesday, April 25, 2007).

Many, many thanks to Aldous Tyler who maintains nonstopradio.com.

Stephanie Miller Show Revamps Web Site

Steph and the SMS crew have revamped their web site - go have a look-see (http://www.stephaniemiller.com/home.php?PageId=85&PageSubId)
Here are a few comments that I sent to Steph that she read on the air this morning (March 13th, Hour 3).

1) I thought you were going to add new StephCrap to the StephStore, but it looks like the same old crap to me, what gives? (**see list of suggestions below).
2) Why is Jim Ward known by so many aliases in his film career? Doesn't he know his own middle name or has the Witness Protection Program suggested that he change it from time to time to "throw off" his pursuers?
3) When can we expect complete bios of the fascinating lives of Jim "Voice Deity" Ward and Chris "BoyToy" Lavoie?
4) Where the hell is the video of you and Joan Rivers slapping each other silly? I checked all of the YouTube clips on the new site and didn't see it anywhere...
5) What's up with the Butt-Cam? You guys are all talk and no action - not unlike the Democratic Congress... ;-(

**Steph read the following suggestions for new StephCrap on her show this morming (March 14th, Hour 2)
--A Stephanie Miller Bobble-Head Doll complete with miniature wine box and three stuffed, oversized dogs.
--Our own version of Steph's Mr. Happy (both battery-powered and manual models would be appreciated).
--A Stephanie Miller Calendar - (nothing says Happy ChristmaHannaKwansica like a year's worth of Steph photos - with and without dogs).
--A coffee table book of some of the more memorable Photoshop Fun Pics.
--A Stephanie Miller remote key chain that allows a person to press a button that is affixed to her/his's wrist that causes key ring to play a clip that says "Here are you freakin' keys, dipwad."
--A SMS Bored Game - along the lines of Monopoly - suggested name "Steph-landia" with properties named after Steph's radio affiliates, for example, Madison Avenue, Portland Place, WeHo Blvd, and utilities like Slime Porner, Screaming Baby Airlines, etc...
--Finally, a line of Stephanie Miller apology cards - not unlike the rejected Hallmark cards you featured on your show awhile back. Here are just a few suggestions:
---"Sorry my dog ate your front porch, I'll get my handyman right over to fix it."
---"Sorry I mistook you for some other celebrity, may I wipe the lipstick off of your cheek?"
--Here are a few bonus cards that Steph didn't read:
---"Sorry my sauerkraut made you sick, would you like to take some home with you?"
---"Sorry I spilled wine on you, how do you take your coffee?"
Just a few thoughts of new items for the Steph Store.

What if we all just said “No”?

The Folly of Daylight Saving Time...

Are you feeling powerless? Feeling like the world goes on with or without you? As if you have no say in things that impact your life? Well, on Sunday morning if you don’t buy the clap trap that setting your clocks forward an hour will actually save energy rather than just bump up the sales of golf balls and barbeques, then you just might be able to change that. We all know that the retailers across the country are salivating at the prospect of more shopping in the after-work evenings. What would happen if we all just refused to change our clocks? We show up at work at standard time rather than daylight saving time – what would happen? We could start a revolution, one that would appeal to just about everybody (from Progressives to Libertarians to Conservatives – I don’t care what the Fundamentalist Evangelicals think – they drive me crazier than this goddamned administration does.) We all know that we are being played as chumps, as fools who will swallow any thing that is offered in a combo meal. We all know that it is a scam, that getting up an hour earlier doesn’t save energy. In fact, it has been demonstrated that we, as shopping-crazed Americans, will actually use more energy in the form of gasoline, driving our vehicles (SUVs, Hummers, Pick-up Trucks, etc.) to the neighborhood Dairy Barn or shopping mall than we would ever save by staying home and turning into bed an hour earlier.

I think that we have the makings of a real movement here. Think about it – we could send a message to the government rather than the government shoving yet another stupid idea down our throats. We could control at least one aspect of our lives. We have the power to do this, people. And if we can do this, refuse to change our clocks on Sunday morning, just think of what we could do on Sunday afternoon: we could step outside and meet our neighbors and ask them what they think of the government, and what their thoughts are on the war in Iraq, and whether we should consider starting another war in Iran, and inquire how well they are making ends meet. We could find out whether they are able to send their kids to college, what they think of gas prices, on and on and on… It’s just a thought, but I, for one, am sick and tired of being pushed around by an administration that couldn’t balance my checkbook, that has me (and many, many generations that will follow me) so far in hock to China that if the country were me, it couldn’t sit down and take one bite of dinner without having to jump up every couple of seconds to answer a phone call from a creditor. What do you say, folks? Do we have the gumption to take back our country, our lives, our pocket books, our alarm clocks? I really do think it could all start by not setting your clock ahead on Sunday morning, who’s with me on this?

Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time

The Case Against Hillary - Updated(Roxie Responds)

I continue to be amazed by the unflagging support from fellow Progressives (some prefer the term "Liberal") for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid. Just last week in Roxie's World (Roxie is a wire-haired fox terrier), Roxie again mentioned that she was glad to see that there had been a break of sorts in the Hillary-bashing. Roxie's earlier post ("Roxie's Pleading: Halt Hillary Hating") made her case for supporting Hillary amidst all the criticism of Ms. Clinton. In direct contrast to another post on Roxie's World - "What Would Molly Say" Roxie seems to ignore the prescient words of her hero, Molly Ivins, who capably made a case against Hillary Clinton back in January 2006. Roxie obviously hadn't seen this morning's column by Frank Rich in the NYTimes, in which he states what I think has become apparent to both Progressive Democrats and the majority of Americans:

"The issue is not that Mrs. Clinton voted for the war authorization in 2002 or that she refuses to call it a mistake in 2007. Those are footnotes. The larger issue is judgment, then and now. Take her most persistent current formulation on Iraq: ‘Obviously, if we knew then what we know now, there wouldn’t have been a vote and I certainly wouldn’t have voted that way.’ It’s fair to ask: Knew what then? Not everyone was so easily misled by the White House’s manipulated intelligence and propaganda campaign. Some of her fellow leaders in Washington — not just Mr. Obama out in Illinois, not just Al Gore out of power — knew plenty in the fall of 2002. Why didn’t she?....Either way, she made a judgment, and she will not be able to spend month after month explaining it away to voters with glib, lawyerly statements. The politics of personal destruction, should they actually visit the Clintons once more, will not take America’s mind off the politics of mass destruction in Iraq."

It boggles my mind that with such a rich array of candidates in the Democratic field that anyone would still be seriously considering Hillary a viable candidate. Never mind that she is a political juggernaut with an uncanny ability to raise massive amounts of money, never mind the dust up over the questionable comments made by David Geffen at a Hollywood fund-raiser for Barack Obama that were so quickly and ridiculously attacked by the Hillary Camp, she is as duplicitous as any politician and her reputation of being a snob and treating those she views as inferiors with rudeness and contempt is in direct contrast to her husband’s magnanimity. She may be a great politician, but she’s not a great person – her husband Bill Clinton is both a great politician and a great person. That is one of the few reasons why I may end up voting for Hillary if she does indeed manage to secure the Democratic nomination – it’s a backdoor way to get the Big Dog back in the White House. That and no matter her many flaws, Hillary beats Giuliani or McCain or Jebbie or any of the other right-wing lunatics the Repubs might endorse in 2008.

I wish that all Progressives would start focusing on the excellent candidates that we do have: John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and the possibility of General Wesley Clark and Al Gore joining the race. All of these candidates provide much better choices than Hillary who has been wrong on the most important issue of our time: the war in Iraq and the looming war with Iran. Sorry, Roxie, I don't agree with you on this one, but that doesn't mean I don't love you.

Read Molly Ivins' column, I Will Not Support Hillary Clinton for President.

Roxie Responds:
With all due respect, you're missing the point of my Hillary posts. I don't support Hillary. I long ago endorsed Al Gore and devote part of each day to praying that he will jump into the race. What drives me crazy is the mindless trashing of Hillary that has characterized so much of the primary before the primaries and that seems to be fueling so much of the swooning for Obama. I particularly hate seeing women like Maureen Dowd engaging in ad feminem attacks that look and sound ridiculous and give men permission to pile on. For all her flaws--and I acknowledge she has many flaws--Senator Clinton is the first woman to have a serious chance at the presidency, and it seems to me that much of the vitriol aimed at her is aimed at undermining the ambitions of a powerful woman. I realize, of course, that neither you nor the late great Molly Ivins is a part of that. I just don't like Dems beating up on Dems, and I detest the tone of the coverage of the horse race in the "liberal" media.

Elayne Boosler to fill in for Stephanie

Elayne Boosler & Merrill Markoe Sit in for Steph and the Boyz (March 5 -9, 2007)



While Stephanie is off on her secret "cryptic" mission in New York City (we hope that she is doing more than stalking her "Future Husband" Keith Olbermann), we all will have the distinct pleasure of listening to the hilarious team of Elayne Boosler and Merrill Markoe. Elayne and Merrill both blog at The Huffington Post. They are two very funny gals and as Steph herself says, apparently she didn't get the memo about getting sucky hosts to fill in for her when she is on vacation. We true Steph-heads will miss Momma while she is away, but wish her every success with her mysterious venture in the Big Apple.

Meantime we welcome both Elayne Boosler and Merrill Markoe (BTW, two of Merrill's books: What the Dogs have Taught Me, and Other Amazing Things I've Learned and Walking in Circles before Lying Down are both on my reading pile). I promise to get to them before the end of the summer!

Also a real plus about both Elayne and Merrill is that they are both true animal lovers. Elayne runs an organization called "Tails of Joy" that helps out the furry four leggeds. Check it out, and Merrill, if you couldn't tell from the titles of her books, is a real dog-lover. Way to go grrrls, doggies and dog-lovers have a special place in my heart. We wish you the very best as you guest host the SMS!

Another Bill to Consider

Here's a link to the presidential exploratory committee for Bill Richardson, currently the governor of New Mexico, a place near and dear to me. I've been following Governor Richardson's career since I first became aware of him in the early 80s when I was living in Albuquerque the first time (I moved away from New Mexico in 1989 and back to New Mexico ten years later). I was never a resident when Richardson was governor of the state, but I have followed his administration closely via good friends who still live in Albuquerque, and Richardson was a Congressman from NM's Third District for 14 years (1983 - 1997).

One subject that Governor Richardson shines on (and an issue that matters a great deal to me) are issues that impact Native America. Richardson served one term as Chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Native American Affairs in the 103rd Congress (1993-1994). While in the House, Richardson sponsored some of the most prominent Native American bills that were signed into law by President Bill Clinton. Those bills include the Indian Tribal Justice Act, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments, the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act, the American Indian Agricultural Resource Management Act, the Indian Dams Safety Act, the Tribal Self-Governance Act, the Indian Tribal Jurisdiction Bill (commonly known as the “Duro Fix”) and the Jicarilla Apache Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act.

To read more about Governor Richardson's 2008 Presidential Campaign, click here.

Or see America for Richardson.
Here's Governor Richardson's web site.

Indian Country Today did an interview with Bill Richardson.

David Brooks on Bill Richardson (NYTimes, March 4, 2007).

A POEM by Muriel Rukeyser

This poem came into my inbox yesterday, sent by a wonderful woman who maintains a listserv called simply "Democracy," a magnificent list of likeminded souls that allows me to belong. It was just what I needed to read at the moment - my blog was losing steam as was I, with all the talk of war and the typical political debates, senseless and stupifying - this poem spoke to me. I hope it speaks to you, too.

POEM

I lived in the first century of world wars.
Most mornings I would be more or less insane.
The news would pour out of various devices
The newspapers would arrive with their careless stories,
Interrupted by attempts to sell products to the unseen.
I would call my friends on other devices;
They would be more or less mad for similar reasons.
Slowly I would get to pen and paper,
Make my poems for others unseen and unborn.
In the day I would be reminded of those men and women,
Brave, setting up signals across vast distances,
considering a nameless way of living, of almost unimagined values.
As the lights darkened, as the lights of night brightened,
We would try to imagine them, try to find each other,
To construct peace, to make love, to reconcile
Waking with sleeping, ourselves with each other,
Ourselves with ourselves.
We would try by any means
To reach the limits of ourselves, to reach beyond ourselves,
To let go the means, to wake.

I lived in the first century of these wars.
--Muriel Rukeyser

Sent to me by Martha Nell Smith.

War by a Thousand Lies

Dear Stephanie,
We've all heard the drumbeat that we fear will lead inevitably to a war with Iran. To correct a phrase that has eluded the president "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me," but unlike Bush's inept tagline to that well-known phrase, it seems that "we can get fooled again." We could, but we should not, be fooled by this duplicitous administration and the cumulative lies that they have been piling one on another to build a case for war against Iran. We may not know for certain what the casus belli will be, but we are well aware that there are at present two aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, with a third carrier on the way. We must be vigilant and not let Darth Cheney have his wet dream of another war in the Middle East, for this one will be the Big Daddy of them all and may very well end life or at least significantly change life as we know it on this planet - not to be too much of an alarmist, but I am scared. What can we do to stop this madness?
Cheers - for now,
Faye in Tulsa, OK

Targeting Tehran

by MICHAEL T. KLARE

[from the March 5, 2007 issue of The Nation]

At this critical moment when most Americans seek to extricate US forces from the fighting in Iraq as swiftly as possible, George W. Bush appears determined to construct a new rationale for intervention whose logical conclusion is not withdrawal but a wider war, possibly involving attacks on Iran later this year. Like an inveterate gambler who has lost every previous round and now faces insolvency, Bush seems poised to wager everything on one last throw of the dice. Before more lives are put at risk in this reckless bid, the flimsy props of Bush's new rationale must be exposed to rigorous scrutiny and strict limits placed on his warmaking capacity.

Read the BBC article US 'Iran attack plans' revealed

Here's the LA Times article: Data on Iran's Nuclear Aims Unreliable

Here's a link to Seymour Hersh's article in The New Yorker.

Please visit StopIranWar.com and take action!

Prez on the Rez

What is Prez on the Rez?

This historic event, hosted by the INDN’s List Education Fund, will bring candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for President of the United States to an Indian Reservation to meet with hundreds of Elected Tribal Leaders and hundreds more tribal citizens from all across America!


All of the Elected Tribal Leaders, including Chiefs, Presidents, Chairmen and their Councils, Legislatures, Congress and Business Committees from all federally recognized tribes will be invited to attend the forum. The Forum will be followed by a private reception for all of the Presidential candidates and the Elected Tribal Leaders. With limited exception, we know that all 46 American Indian Democrats serving in state legislatures from Washington to Pennsylvania will be at the Forum and Reception as well. The event will command national media attention from publications and broadcasters such as Indian Country Today, Native America Calling, the Native American Times, and the American Indian Report. The unprecedented nature of the event and the gathering of all the Democratic candidates in one location in front of hundreds of leaders representing dozens of Indian Nations is sure to draw mainstream national media coverage as well.

Prez on the Rez will take place on August 23, 2007 at the reservation of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. Check out their beautiful Casino, Resort and Spa.

New LGBT Center Opens in Tulsa, OK

Hello Stephanie, Rebekah, Chris & Jim,
It will not likely surprise you to learn that Oklahoma ranks as one of the worst states in the nation in regard to equality for lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. At a time when 300 cities in the United States (and 86% of Fortune 500 companies) have non-discrimination policies that encompass sexual orientation, no city in Oklahoma does. In Oklahoma (and 32 other states), it remains entirely legal to fire someone, deny them a lease, or ask them to vacate a public establishment simply because he or she is LGBT. In 2005, 75% of Oklahoma voters elected to amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. And now, while several state legislatures and cities are passing laws extending some basic rights to domestic partners, a new piece of legislation seeks to outlaw civil unions in Oklahoma. But all is not bad news here in Tulsa, OK. This week in Tulsa, OK, we will be dedicating, opening and celebrating a brand new Equality Center - the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center will serve as a community center, meeting place, a wellness center, LGBT library, pride store, cyber cafe, a source for pro-bono legal services, and a center of advocacy for equal rights for all Oklahomans and all people who are facing discrimination because of their sexual orientation. I realize that Oklahoma is likely not on the top of your vacation destinations, but if you ever find yourself here in Tulsa, please stop by the Equality Center and check it out - it represents many, many hours of hard work and contributions by many open-minded Tulsans who support everyone's right to unbiased treatment in our society.

The home for the LGBT & allied community is located at 621 E 4th Street (4th & Kenosha) in the East End of downtown Tulsa.
email: center@okeq.org
phone: 918.743.4297
web: http://www.okeq.org

Oh Man, Obama!

Hey there Stephanie,
Here's the transcript of the speech that first put Barack Obama on my radar screen (his keynote at the 2004 Democratic National Convention). He took my breath away, and I remember thinking to myself, "We're looking at the first African-American president of the United States." I'm almost as fickle as you are - last weekend I was blogging about John Edwards and this weekend it's all Obama, all the time. I'm sending you some quotes from yesterday's announcement, but thought you might appreciate being able to go back and read the words that got the whole thing started...

"It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war. That's why I have a plan that will bring our combat troops home by March of 2008. Letting the Iraqis know that we will not be there forever is our last, best hope to pressure the Sunni and Shia to come to the table and find peace. "
Senator Barack Obama (D - IL)

"I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness - a certain audacity - to this announcement. I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change."
Senator Barack Obama (D - IL)

Here's Obama's 2008 Campaign Site.

Frank Rich's Column, NYTimes, Feb. 11, 2007, Stop Him Before He Gets More Experience

Things I've Learned from Listening to the SMS

Stephanie read this list this morning at the top of Hour 2:

Things I've Learned from Listening to the Stephanie Miller Show:

Nose job came before hip lipo which came after butt impression.

It isn't Monday without a delightful story about how her 100 pound puppy "Max" mauled Momma on the couch.

Just like Britney, Steph never wears panties.

Stephanie has more delusions than your average schizophrenic.

Don't be embarassed to buy your wine in boxes or admit that you can't dance - go ahead and do both anyway.

Stephanie's mother is 84 years old and is a registered Republican.

Stephanie may never marry and have kids, but if she did she wouldn't spank them nor would she let them listen to her own show until they are at least 16.

Daily spinning classes make your butt look fabulous.

And the Number One thing I've learned from listening to the SMS:

Finally learned all the words to the "Lying Sack of Crap" song and can now join eight-year-olds across the country in a sing along.

Cheers - your radical militant librarian,
Faye in Tulsa, OK

Give John a Chance

Remember John Edwards - the brighter half of the Kerry/Edwards Ticket in 2004? I remember admiring John Kerry because he chose a running mate who was arguably more charismatic than he was. I've been following John Edwards since that stolen election in 2004, and I'm glad to see that he is back in the race - this time without the sad sack Senator Kerry dimming his light. His rousing and well-received speech at the DNC meeting in DC last Friday reminded me once again why I like John Edwards: his passion, his ability to turn a phrase, his idealism, his consistent message that we have become two Americas - one rich, the other poor, and that this is unacceptable in a country with all the resources and wealth that exist here. I'm not saying that John Edwards deserves to be the Democratic nominee. I, like many other loyal Democrats, are waiting to see who emerges as the strongest candidate and I'll support whoever the party selects all the way to the White House. I just wanted to mention John Edwards as a viable candidate for all those who think his resume is too light (another blogger said "what has he done in his public life except run for president?"). I beg to differ, John Edwards has a message for America and a message for the Democratic Party that I hope we all hear. We should all aspire to being "One Country" NOT two. Here's to John Edwards and his message for America! Let's all give him a listen with a fresh ear.

States' Rights, Anyone?

Stephanie,
Here is just another example of how the feds support states' rights when it is to their advantage and deny states' rights when the states try to enact laws that aren't in line with BushCo's policies. There are plenty of examples of the feds trumping states' rights from the case of Medical Marijuana to Environmental Regulations, yet they are all in favor of states' rights when the state is trying to ban abortion or gay marriage. I don't think they should be able to have it both ways, but my opinion is apparently in the minority (or is it?). As with many issues in these times, this administration doesn't seem to consider what the people think.

Here's the Tenth Amendment:
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
Yet another example of how selective this administration is in its reading of the U.S. Constitution.

Here are a few relevant links:
Death Penalty Information Center
Cornell Death Penalty Project

Colorado House Panel Votes to Abolish Death Penalty

New Mexico House Passes Bill to Ban Death Penalty

Maryland Governor Calls for Repeal of Death Penalty

Cheers - your radical militant librarian,
Faye in Tulsa, OK

Federal Prosecutors Widen Pursuit of Death Penalty as States Ease Off

By CHRISTOPHER CONKEY and GARY FIELDS

Wall Street Journal online
February 3, 2007

At a time when many states are backing away from capital punishment, the federal government is aggressively pursuing -- and winning -- more death sentences, including in jurisdictions that traditionally oppose them.

On Tuesday, federal prosecutors in New York persuaded a jury to give a death sentence to Ronell Wilson, a 24-year-old man convicted of killing two undercover detectives by shooting each in the back of the head. The decision -- the first time in more than 50 years that a federal jury in New York agreed to sentence someone to death -- marked something of a milestone for the Justice Department in its continuing effort to apply the death penalty more evenly across the country.

Today, there are 47 people on federal death row -- more than double the number six years ago -- and Mr. Wilson this week became the seventh sentenced in a state without a death statute of its own since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988. The ranks may grow in the months ahead, with several capital cases on tap in locales traditionally opposed to the death penalty.

The last federal execution was in 2003, when Louis Jones Jr. died by lethal injection at an Indiana facility where all federal executions now take place.

"I get the sense that it's really beginning to change a lot. There seems to be a renewed emphasis on this," said Jensen Barber, an attorney defending Larry Gooch, a man facing federal drug-related murder charges and a potential death sentence in Washington, D.C.

We'll Keep Fighting the Good Fight, Molly...

The Nation
BLOG Posted 01/30/2007 @ 5:35pm

Molly's Pledge

Many Nation readers know that the inimitable, invaluable, iconoclastic columnist Molly Ivins has been battling cancer. It started in her breasts and now has spread throughout her body. This past weekend she was back in the hospital for the third time since the disease was first diagnosed in 1999.

In the second-to-last syndicated column she's been able to write she declared herself on an "old-fashioned newspaper campaign" and vowed to use every column she had to "write about this war until we find some way to end it."

But since then she's only managed to write one more column. That one ran on January 11 and opposed President Bush's proposed "surge" escalation of the war. In strong language -- even for a writer famous for plain talk -- Ivins stated: "We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war."

And now, with Ivins too sick to write, the rest of us will have to carry her "old-fashioned newspaper campaign" forward.

To read more about the "Molly Ivins Festschrift," at the Berkeley Daily Planet. Click here.

Here's Molly's obit in the Texas Observer.

Paul Krugman & Readers weigh in thoughtfully on Molly's passing.

Here's a tribute by a favorite Terrier (Roxie): Roxie's World: What Would Molly Say?

Read Maya Angelou's Tribute to Molly Ivins, HERE.

What I learned from Molly Ivins. By Dahlia Lithwick (Slate.com).

Point Austin: What Molly Wrote by David Denison

Molly on Why She Won't Support Hillary Clinton.

Dixie Chicks - Don't Shut Up!

Shut Up and Sing

Hello Stephanie,
I'm no movie critic, but I just wanted to highly recommend the film "Shut Up and Sing" the documentary that features the Dixie Chicks. I'd also like to offer a sneak preview of my favorite line in the whole film - Natalie Maines is being interviewed by Howard Stern on the air and he asks her if she is wearing underpants and she replies, "I'm not wearing panties until the war is over." It's a great line among many others that make the film loads of fun and well-worth watching. Check it out!
Cheers - your radical militant librarian,
Faye in Tulsa, OK

Congratulations to the Dixie Chicks for their FIVE Grammy Awards.

Great Quotes from Saturday's March for Peace in Washington DC

"The president has been saying there is no plan. But I've offered a 12-point plan and elements of it have been out there for three full years. Our plan is peace. Our plan is to end the occupation. Our plan is to bring the troops home."
Representative Dennis Kucinich (D - IL)

"It's not the American people or the United States Congress who are emboldening the enemy. It's the failed policy of this president, going to war without a strategy, going to war prematurely, going to war without enough troops, going to war without enough equipment, and lastly, now sending 17,500 people in the middle of a city of 6.5 million people with bullseyes on their back with no plan."
Senator Joseph Biden (D - DE)

"George W. Bush led us into this immoral war. He tricked the American people, and he told us there were weapons of mass destruction. He did not tell the truth. He came out on the battleship and said, 'Mission accomplished.' He misled us again. He said we were working with the coalition of the willing. It was only a figment of his imagination. He said that we were moving forward with training the Iraqi soldiers who would take over the security. Where are they? They are nowhere. As a matter of fact, they're undermining our soldiers in this civil war. He said we were going to get proceeds from the oil that would be pumped back into Iraq so that it could be reconstructed. As a matter of fact, he told us he made these decisions; he said he is the decider. But you know what? He's not the decider. He is the liar!"
Representative Maxine Waters (D - CA)

"We all know it’s not about winning or losing. It's about doing the right thing. Everybody knows this. Everybody knows this, except the President. He asks us to sacrifice more of our tax dollars so he can win in Iraq. You know what they say. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results."
Representative Lynn Woolsey (D - CA)

"President Bush is the Commander-in-Chief of the military, but he is not the Commander-in-Chief of the citizens of this country. He is not. Vice President Cheney has said repeatedly,

'Congress can't stop me.' But we must stop him! We're going to stop him. And so, the founders of our country gave the Congress the power of the purse, because they envisioned a scenario exactly like the one in which we find ourselves today. Not only is it within our power to stop Bush, it is our obligation to stop Bush."
Representative John Conyers (D - MI)

"You and I will not let this country slide back to our barbarian ancestors, the barbarians that lived to plunder, torture, rape and murder innocent people for their bounty. We are a civilized nation. We need to bring an end, an end to blood oil. We need to bring an end to the training of our children to massacre the villages of Iraq for Halliburton's oil."
Bob Watada, Father of Lt. Ehren Watada, Iraq War Resister

"What’s Hollywood doing here today? We're here, because it’s our job, just like it’s yours. We’re Americans, and our fellow Americans are dying as we're standing here today. We are dependent on our congress, but our congress is dependent on us, and we're going to come out here in these numbers and in doubled numbers, and we're going to send our congress this message. We've heard the excuse, "if I had known then what I know now." Well, we're here to tell them now what they have to know in 2008. And if they don't stand up and make a resolution as binding as the death toll, we're not going to be behind those politicians. We're here, and we’re going to be in local districts, and we’re going to push this until this resolution is binding, the money stops and the troops come home."
Sean Penn

"I’m so sad that we still have to do this; that we did not learn the lessons from the Vietnam War; that we've made the same mistakes, blindness to the realities on the ground, hubris and arrogance in dealing with a people and culture far older than we are; and that we understand so little, carelessness and thoughtlessness in our approach to rebuilding a country we've destroyed, allowing billions of dollars to be stolen, squandered at the hands of private contractors, just as this administration has done in our own gulf in the post-Katrina era."
Jane Fonda

"Here are some staggering facts. One in three homeless Americans are military vets, and that is rising. One in four vets with PTSD sought medical care from the VA, where they experienced a two to three month wait to see a doctor. Over 53,000 are wounded. The ratio of doctors to patients is one doctor for every 500 patients. Veteran males aged 20 to 24 have twice the unemployment rate. 40% of troops currently being rotated are National Guard or reservists. 95% of them are experiencing problems getting their pay. Many are being sent back are on potent anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs with little or no counseling or supervision or screening. Over 200 have committed suicide. There's a 70% divorce rate for returning soldiers. The GOP plan for 2007 drops $65 billion in benefits over the next five years."
Susan Saradon

"This god seems to be giving George a pass on stealing, stealing the resources of the Iraqi people, on squandering the hard-earned tax dollars of United States citizens for an unnecessary war! Money that could be used to intelligently fight against terrorism is squandered in a way and in a war that creates more terrorists. Money that could be helping the elderly, the poor, the infirm here at home is instead lining the pockets of war profiteers from Halliburton and private mercenary militias like Blackwater."
Tim Robbins

INDN's List Video on YouTube

You can now view the INDN's List (www.indnslist.org) video on YouTube. Please check it out and watch for news on upcoming events: Campaign Boot Camp August 2007 (Location TBD) and "Prez on the Rez" August 2007 (Location TBD). Things are really heating up at INDN's List and we would love for you to be a part of what's happening. Check us out!

INDN's List Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpw-KH2x4MY

Another Brilliant Piece by Mo

Maureen and Stephanie - Separated at Birth?

Dear Stephanie,
Maureen Dowd has received some flak lately for her column on Hillary-bashing, but I think that she more than redeems herself with this brilliant piece on the utter derangement of Darth Cheney. It's something that you've been pointing out for quite some time, and I think it is just more evidence that you two were separated at birth (you got the slutty, comic gene and Mo got the brainy, writing gene), nevertheless you are both so clearly on the same wavelength that I'm not sure who owes whom credit for each one's respective success. I've, as usual, taken the liberty of highlighting a few of my favorite passages, but the truth is this column is so rich and full of quotable lines that I think that you could take just about any sentence from this piece and it hits at least a handful of nails on their heads.

"Delusional is far too mild a word to describe Dick Cheney. Delusional doesn’t begin to capture the profound, transcendental one-flew-over daftness of the man. Has anyone in the history of the United States ever been so singularly wrong and misguided about such phenomenally important events and continued to insist he’s right in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary?"
Maureen Dowd, NYTimes, Jan. 27. 2007

"You must have a real talent for derangement to stay wrong every step of the way, to remain in complete denial about Iraq’s civil war, to have a total misunderstanding of Arab culture, to be completely oblivious to the American mood and to be absolutely blind to how democracy works. In a democracy, when you run a campaign that panders to homophobia by attacking gay marriage and then your lesbian daughter writes a book about politics and decides to have a baby with her partner, you cannot tell Wolf Blitzer he’s 'out of line' when he gingerly raises the hypocrisy of your position."
Maureen Dowd, NYTimes, Jan. 27, 2007

"Mr. Cheney has turned his perversity into foreign policy. He assumes that the more people think he’s crazy, the saner he must be. In Dr. No’s nutty world-view, anti-Americanism is a compliment. The proof that America is right is that everyone thinks it isn’t. He sees himself as a prophet in the wilderness because he thinks anyone in the wilderness must be a prophet. To borrow one of his many dismissive words, it’s hogwash."
Maureen Dowd, NYTimes, Jan. 27, 2007

NYTimes, January 27, 2007, Op-Ed Columnist, Daffy Does Doom

Grand Opening of GARBO's

Traveling around the Oregon Coast soon? Well, you are in for a real treat! You can stop in Wheeler, Oregon and visit Garbo's Vintage Global Wear on Hwy 101 (695 Nehalem Blvd.) in loverly downtown Wheeler. The proprietor of this glorious Shoppe in none other than this blogger's sister, Lynn Hadley, vintage clothier extraordinaire... So if you find yourself in the neighborhood, please stop in and say hello and tell Lynn that you read about it on my blog and she'll give you a 10% discount. Congratulations Lynnie and best wishes for a magnificent venture!!!

GRAND OPENING

GARBO'S

Vintage Global Wear

Saturday, January 27, 2007

10:00am - 6:00pm

695 Nehalem Blvd. (Hwy 101), Wheeler, Oregon

503-368-GARB (4272)

Response to the State of the Onion Speech

Stephanie,
I have just one question for Comandante KooKoo Bananas - "Would it fuckin' kill you to say "DemocratIC"? That might be one way to show a true commitment to bipartisanship. How about vowing to stop with the "Signing Statements?" Talk about advancing laws that nobody has voted on (in case he doesn't remember, a majority of Americans didn't vote for him!). I gotta go back to bed, my head is killing me...

“Most Americans believe that escalation will not bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end, and that's why I've proposed not just a troop cap, but a phased redeployment that will start bringing our troops home,”
Senator Barack Obama (D - IL)

“It will be clear to us whether he’s ready to work cooperatively to do that or if he’s saying, ‘I’m the decider,”’
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D - CA)

"When one looks at the health of our economy, it's almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say that things have never been better. The stock market is at an all-time high, and so are corporate profits. But these benefits are not being fairly shared. When I graduated from college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did; today, it's nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day."
Senator Jim Webb (D - VA)

"In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy ­ that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today."
Senator Jim Webb (D - VA)

Click here to read The Nation's comments on Webb's response.

UPDATE: Navajo Marine Given Conscientious-Objector Status

Man's beliefs pit military vs. Navajos
By Electa Draper
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 01/20/2007

Durango - Ronnie Tallman comes from a long line of Navajo spiritual leaders, but there also were soldiers among his kin.
At the age of 19, he decided to follow in the footsteps of the soldiers, joining the Marines in October 2004. Now he believes it was the wrong path, that his destiny lies in healing, not fighting.

The Navajo Nation and an organization of medicine men agree. The Marines do not, and now a federal court must decide a case that pits the spiritual beliefs of the Navajo against United States military rules. It started in November 2005 while Tallman was on weekend leave on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.

There, he says, he underwent a spiritual experience and discovered he had been given the gift of a sacred entity known as teehn leii, a rare form of spiritual diagnosing and healing celebrated among Navajos. Tallman is a hand trembler. While a simple definition is clouded in the translation from Navajo, hand tremblers are rare medicine men who can sense people's problems and illnesses and often restore physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

Please see the updated story: Navajo Marine Given Conscientious-Objector Status

Best of Monday Morning Quotes

"The war was so successful, they don't have any arguments left. They can't even sound busy. Just two weeks ago, they claimed American troops were caught in another Vietnam quagmire. That didn't happen. They predicted huge civilian casualties. That didn't happen. They said Americans would turn against the war as our troops came home in body bags. That didn't happen."
Ann "Transsexual, Plagiarist, Psychic(?)" Coulter, Jewish World Review, May 1, 2003

"Every single person out there that is of any consequence knows the vice president doesn't know what he's talking about. I can't be more blunt than that. He is yet to be right one single time on Iraq."
Senator Joe Biden (D - Dela.), Jan. 21, 2007

"The most important lies to watch for now are the new ones being reiterated daily by the administration’s top brass, from Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney on down. You know fiasco awaits America when everyone in the White House is reading in unison from the same fictional script, as they did back in the day when 'mushroom clouds' and 'uranium from Africa' were the daily drumbeat."
Frank Rich, Op-Ed column, NYTimes, Jan. 21, 2007

"The war -- literally -- is basically being run by a handful of war-hungry extremist ideologues out of the American Enterprise Institute who are driven by an insatiable appetite for endless war on various Middle Eastern countries and little else. They are backed up by Weekly Standard and Fox News (starring John McCain and Joe Lieberman), and that is all that's left -- a tiny band of fringe war-obsessed extremists who are highly unrepresentative of the American public. But that is more than enough to ensure the pointless, wasteful, and tragic continuation, even escalation, of this war because they are the ones to whom the President listens."
Glenn Greenwald, Blogger at Unclaimed Territory, Jan. 20, 2007

Are the Hoosiers for Real?

Hoosiers Top Connecticut, 77-73, For Fifth Straight Win
Senior Roderick Wilmont scored a game-high 23 points, including the basket that gave IU the final lead, as the Hoosiers defeated Connecticut, 77-73, on Jan. 20.

Jan. 20, 2007

HARTFORD, Conn. - Three Hoosiers scored in double figures, with two over 20 points, as the Indiana University men's basketball team defeated Connecticut, 77-73, in the Hartford Civic Center on Jan. 20. Senior Roderick Wilmont led IU with 23 points, including a runner in the lane that gave IU the lead with just over a minute to play, as the Hoosiers improved to 14-4 on the year. It was IU's fifth consecutive win. The Huskies fell to 13-5 with the loss.

Who Can Stop Comandante KooKoo Bananas?

Dear Stephanie,

Cant' somebody PLEEEASE STOP this man? Does the concept of a Democracy completely elude this idiot? Does he not understand that he has made a horrible mess and it is up to him and his cronies to put an end to it? What can "We the People" do to make sure he doesn't do any more damage to this country and the world? These are among the many questions that run through my mind every day, if not every hour. I hate to make a doomsday prediction, but I don't think that we can wait until 2008 to change this disastrous course that the incompetent, arrogant boob who inhabits the white house has set for us...

Cheers,

Faye in Tulsa, OK

The Nation

This article can be found on the web at
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070205/editors
For the Republic
[from the February 5, 2007 issue]

World opinion is against it. The American people are against it. The Democratic Party is against it. The Congress of the United States is against it. The Iraq Study Group is against it. The Iraqi people are against it. The Iraqi government is against it. Many Republican lawmakers are against it. The top brass are against it. But George W. Bush is going to do it: send 21,500 more troops into Iraq. Can a single man force a nation to fight a war it does not want to fight, expand a war it does not want to expand--possibly to other countries? If he can, is that nation any longer a democracy in any meaningful sense? Is its government any longer a constitutional republic? If not, how can democratic rule and the republican form of government be restored? These are the unwelcome questions that President Bush's decision has forced on the country.

What's Wrong with Living Single???

Stephanie Miller
The Matron Saint of Single Grrrls Everywhere

Hey there Stephanie,
With all the commotion about Barbara Boxer's comment to childless Condi Rice (that was completely misrepresented by the right wingers) and the here-to-fore ignored comments by Laura Bush that were very inflamatory toward single women in particular, I thought that the following article might shed some light on the shifting demographics in this country, regarding single living. As a single (never-been-married) woman in my forties, I must agree with the women who find their singleness liberating. I had an opportunity recently to join a partner in a living situation, but turned it down, because I enjoy my life and my freedom too much. My doggies and I are just fine, thank you very large...

“For better or worse, women are less dependent on men or the institution of marriage. Younger women understand this better, and are preparing to live longer parts of their lives alone or with nonmarried partners. For many older boomer and senior women, the institution of marriage did not hold the promise they might have hoped for, growing up in an ‘Ozzie and Harriet’ era.”
Dr. William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, a research group in Washington.

“This is yet another of the inexorable signs that there is no going back to a world where we can assume that marriage is the main institution that organizes people’s lives.”
Professor Stephanie Coontz, director of public education for the Council on Contemporary Families, a nonprofit research group.

“Although we can help people ‘do’ marriage better, it is simply delusional to construct social policy or make personal life decisions on the basis that you can count on people spending most of their adult lives in marriage,”
Professor Stephanie Coontz, the author of “Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage.”

“Considering all the weddings I attended in the ’80s that have ended so very, very badly, I consider myself straight up lucky. I have not sworn off marriage, but if I do wed, it will be to have a companion with whom I can travel and play parlor games in my old age.”
Sheila Jamison, lives in the East Village, works for a media company, is 45 and single.

January 16, 2007
51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse
By SAM ROBERTS

For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results.

In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000.

Kalyn Free on Native America Calling

Today, Tuesday, January 16, 2007, Kalyn Free, (founder of INDN's List - www.indnslist.org) along with Frank LaMere, both spoke on Native America Calling. They both spoke about 'Prez on the Rez." You can listen to the fantastic interview at the following link:

http://www.nativeamericacalling.com/

National Conference for Media Reform

The National Conference for Media Reform is for anyone who is concerned about the state of our media and committed to working for change. This energizing weekend presents ideas and strategies for winning the fight for better media and connects you with thousands of media reformers from across the nation.

"As ownership gets more and more concentrated, fewer and fewer independent sources of information have survived in the marketplace; and those few significant alternatives that do survive, such as PBS and NPR, are under growing financial and political pressure to reduce critical news content and to shift their focus in a mainstream direction, which means being more attentive to establishment views than to the bleak realities of powerlessness that shape the lives of ordinary people."
Bill Moyers, National Conference for Media Reform, Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 14, 2007

“The cold-blooded murder of Abeer and her family is a tragedy. But it’s almost as great a tragedy when her story and all the other stories that are difficult to hear and difficult to accept are buried in the back of news pages and quickly shuffled off the nightly news. A truly powerful media is one that can stop a war, not start one.”
Jane Fonda, National Conference for Media Reform, Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 14, 2007

The Spirit of Dr. King Lives in Burgeoning Media and Democracy Movement

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today, the country honors the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who would have been 78 years old. The civil rights leader, who was assassinated in 1968, was only 39 years old when he died.

"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law."
Martin Luther King Jr.

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
Martin Luther King Jr.

"Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
Martin Luther King Jr.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Martin Luther King Jr.

"Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
Martin Luther King Jr.

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
Martin Luther King Jr.

"When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative."
Martin Luther King Jr.