God Help the Girl.

Am loving this CD by this new band...

God Help The Girl

Happy Independence Day!

Hmmmm.....

He's Barack Obama!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Amusing Ourselves To Death

This just seemed so relevant to my recent reading of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

Froggy Went A-Courtin' ..... [A cautionary tale about weddings]

01 Mr. Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh, uh-huh. Mr. Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride. A sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh, uh-huh.

02 Mr. Froggy, out a-wooing, he would go, uh-huh, uh-huh. Mr. Froggy, out a-wooing, he would go. So, he dressed in finery from top to toe, uh-huh, uh-huh!

03 He saddled up and bridled a great black snail, uh-huh, uh-huh. And he rode between the beast's horns and tail, uh-huh, uh-huh.

04 He rode straight up to Miss Mousie's door, uh-huh, uh-huh! Where he had been many times before, uh-huh, uh-huh.

05 Froggy, while peering into Mousie's den, uh-huh, uh-huh! Said, "Miss Mousie, are you within?" uh-huh, uh-huh!

06 "Oh, Mister Frog, I sit and spin," uh-huh, uh-huh. "Just lift up the latch and please come in," uh-huh, uh-huh!

07 So, Mr. Froggy, he went directly in, uh-huh, uh-huh. And the way they courted, it was a sin, uh-huh, uh-huh!

08 He took Miss Mousie upon his knees, uh-huh, uh-huh. And he said, "Miss Mousie, will you marry me, please?" Uh-huh, uh-huh!

09 When he asked Miss Mousie to be his bride, uh-huh, uh-huh. Her eyes, they opened so big and wide, uh-huh, uh-huh!

10 "I'd like to have you for my wife, uh-huh, uh-huh. "To sit and spin for me all of my life," uh-huh, uh-huh.

11 "No, kind sir, I can't do that," uh-huh, uh-huh. "Without the consent of old Uncle Rat," uh-huh, uh-huh.

12 "Oh, Miss Mousie, will you marry me?" Uh-huh, uh-huh. "Yes! If only Uncle Rat agrees." Uh-huh, uh-huh!

13 "I'll have to ask dear Uncle Rat," uh-huh, uh-huh. "To see what he'll say to that," uh-huh, uh-huh.

14 "For, without Uncle Rat's consent," uh-huh, uh-huh. "I would not marry the President." Uh-huh, uh-huh!

15 So, Froggy, he asked for Uncle Rat's consent, uh-huh, uh-huh. Who came downstairs with his neck half bent, uh-huh, uh-huh.

16 Uncle Rat laughed 'til he shook his sides, uh-huh, uh-huh. To think his niece would be a bride, uh-huh, uh-huh.

17 Uncle Rat gave them formal consent, uh-huh, uh-huh. And the weasel, he wrote the publishment, uh-huh, uh-huh!

18 Uncle Rat rode right into town, uh-huh, uh-huh. To buy Miss Mousie a wedding gown, uh-huh, uh-huh.

19 Where will the wedding supper be? Uh-huh, uh-huh. Away down yonder in that hollow tree, uh-huh, uh-huh.

20 And what shall the wedding repast be? Uh-huh, uh-huh. Two butter beans and a black-eyed pea, uh-huh, uh-huh!

21 Mr. Froggy was dressed all in green, uh-huh, uh-huh. And sweet Miss Mousie looked like a Queen, uh-huh, uh-huh!

22 The first to the supper was Captain Flea, uh-huh, uh-huh. He tuned his banjo upon his knee, uh-huh, uh-huh.

23 Next to come in was a lady bug, uh-huh, uh-huh. She brought with her a whisky jug, uh-huh, uh-huh.

24 The next to come were two little ants, uh-huh, uh-huh. Willing and eager to join in the dance, uh-huh, uh-huh.

25 The next to arrive, a pesky old fly, uh-huh, uh-huh. He ate up all of the wedding pie, uh-huh, uh-huh!

26 Next through the door was a chickadee, uh-huh, uh-huh. He danced a jig with the bumblebee, uh-huh, uh-huh.

27 The next one come was a big black tick, uh-huh, uh-huh. Ate so much that it made him sick, uh-huh, uh-huh!

28 Next to enter was Miss Raccoon, uh-huh, uh-huh. Who brought as a present, a silver spoon, uh-huh, uh-huh!

29 Next inside was the old gray goose, uh-huh, uh-huh. She picked up her fiddle and she cut loose, uh-huh, uh-huh!

30 The next to come in was Missus Cow, uh-huh, uh-huh. She tried to dance but didn't know how, uh-huh, uh-huh.

31 Next to the feast was the old gray mare, uh-huh, uh-huh. Hip stuck out and shoulder bare, uh-huh, uh-huh.

32 Then in, slowly, sauntered Parson Rook, uh-huh, uh-huh. Under his arm he carried a book, uh-huh, uh-huh.

33 So the knot was tied secure and fast, uh-huh, uh-huh. She's off her uncle's hands at last, uh-huh, uh-huh!

34 They all gathered round the lucky pair, uh-huh, uh-huh. Singing and dancing everywhere, uh-huh, uh-huh!

35 Open the oysters, spill the champagne, uh-huh, uh-huh. Never will there be such a feast again, uh-huh, uh-huh!

36 All the folks, they all sat down, uh-huh, uh-huh. They passed that whisky round and round, uh-huh, uh-huh!

37 The owl did hoot, the birds they sang, uh-huh, uh-huh. And through the woods their music rang, uh-huh, uh-huh!

38 As they celebrated, hot and strong, uh-huh, uh-huh. A big gray cat come prowling along, uh-huh, uh-huh.

39 She sprang to the party right out of the yard, uh-huh, uh-huh. But she had no invitation card, uh-huh, uh-huh.

40 To the guests she said, "I'm a hungry cat," uh-huh, uh-huh. "Who fancies a dinner of mouse and rat!" Uh-huh, uh-huh!

41 Uncle Rat, like a hero, he stood, uh-huh, uh-huh. Puss wet her whiskers with his blood, uh-huh, uh-huh!

42 The cat, she cornered the sweet little bride, uh-huh, uh-huh. And that's how poor little Mousie died, uh-huh, uh-huh!

43 This put Froggy in a terrible fright, uh-huh, uh-huh. He took up his hat and he bid them good-night, uh-huh, uh-huh!

44 Mr. Froggy went a-fleeing, and he did fly, uh-huh, uh-huh! Until he came to a stream, where he paused to sigh, uh-huh, uh-huh.

45 But as Froggy went crossing that silvery brook, uh-huh, uh-huh. A muddy-brown duck nearly gobbled him up, uh-huh, uh-huh!

46 Froggy escaped from that wicked drake, uh-huh, uh-huh! And fled to the edge of a big ol' lake, uh-huh, uh-huh.

47 As the groom went swimming over the lake, uh-huh, uh-huh. He got swallered up by a big water snake, uh-huh, uh-huh!

48 The big water snake, he swam to land, uh-huh, uh-huh. Where he was killed by a Negro man, uh-huh, uh-huh!

49 So here's the end of one, two, three, uh-huh, uh-huh. Uncle Rat, Mr. Froggy and Miss Mousie, uh-huh, uh-huh!

50 This is the end of him and her, uh-huh, uh-huh. Guess there will be no tadpoles covered with fur, uh-huh, uh-huh!

51 There's bread and cheese out in the hall, uh-huh, uh-huh. And, if you want, you're welcome to it all, uh-huh, uh-huh.

52 Froggy's saddle & bridle are there on the shelf, uh-huh, uh-huh. If you want any more, you must sing it yourself, uh-huh, uh-huh!


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A Storybook Wedding.

Literally. That popular turn of phrase is usually used to describe a beautiful, almost magical wedding. In the case of Heather Ross, her wedding was actually inspired by a children's picture book!

I sometimes read the blog belonging to Heather Ross, a big name in sewing lately due to her new book Weekend Sewing. From all accounts she seems lovely and interesting. Here's a Q & A session with Kelly Wilkinson of Make, Grow, Gather, that I rather like -- in it, you get a taste of her childhood (I love that both women had usual homes in childhood which they believe fed their creative minds)

As I was reading recent posts I was refered back to one on her wedding which she did completely on her own... from designing the invitations and printing them herself, to designing the dresses and the cake. She knew partway in that it was all a bit over the top. Yet, if I was going to "do a wedding" at all, I like the angle she took.

Her inspiration? A children's book she remembered fondly from her past --Frog Went A-Courtin' by John Langstaff with pictures by Feodor Rojankovsky (I LOVE him and his work)

An excerpt from her blog post -- It started out innocently enough. I had fond memories of a book that I had loved as a kid called "Frog Went A-Courtin", which I suppose might have been the only visual reference to a wedding that existed in the house I grew up in. My parents had married young, built a geodesic dome, fled to Canada, rolled a Volkswagen bus, and split before I was three. In fact, I think the only detail I know about my mother's own engagement was something I heard her say one summer afternoon when we were having a party and a college friend of mine showed up with a bag of fresh salad greens that she had grown and picked. "I brought fresh Mesclun" she said holding up the sack of lettuce-looking stuff. "Oh God," replied my mother, "I haven't had any mescaline since the day I got engaged to Heather's father." "No, Mom," I heard myself say, pointing to the enormous bag of lettuce, "Mary brought salad greens from her garden. NOT illegal hallucinogenics. SALAD greens."

It would be wrong to systematically recreate her blog post here, when you can simply follow this link and see more images from the book and the way she visually interpreted that inspiration in her table set up, her cake (LOVE the cake), her dresses and location, flowers, and most of all the invitations and a darling (but ill advised) map to the location.

Now, if we were to be draw inspiration from something to create a wedding or a special event like this, where would we go? Is there a children's book that somehow spells "wedding" party to you? Or a movie that seems so romantic and delicious it would be the perfect inspiration?

I'm not really sure. But I like intimate, homemade, fresh picked flowers and ball jars--the country wedding party seems lovely, but I'm sort of a sucker for all sorts.

--Kate

Not Any Damn Better Than The God Damned Shrub On Many Important Issues!

US to publish torture details, magazine reports -- Canada.com
(President Barack Obama is moving to publish three Bush-era memos that detail interrogation methods used on top Al-Qaeda suspects, U.S. magazine Newsweek reports...)

Obama: No charges against CIA for interrogations -- Reuters

No CIA charges over waterboarding -- aljazeera.net -- United Press International -- The Associated Press

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Comment by Bruce Fein, President, The Lichfield Group:

Obama echoes Bush-Cheney – 2 hours ago

President Obama has embraced the national security psychology of the Bush-Cheney duumvirate not only in matters of secrecy, but the entire range of civil liberties abuses justified by a purported global and endless war against international terrorism. Indeed, Obama has invoked state secrets in litigation to conceal torture, extraordinary rendition, illegal surveillance, or arbitrary detentions that have given rise to private damages litigation against former government officials. He has claimed that Bagram prison in Afghanistan is a sanctuary for United States lawlessness. He has asserted that the entire world is a battlefield against terrorism; thus, drones can be fired without a judicial warrant to kill persons suspected of Al Qaeda membership on the President's say-so alone. Like President Bush, he has issued a presidential signing statement claiming plenary power over the use of the American military. He has claimed authority to detain United States citizens as "enemy combatants" indefinitely without accusation or trial. In sum, on national security and the war on terrorism, Obama has shown that the more things change, the more they stay the same, despite his adept semantical juggleries.

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Please Read The July 25, 2008 Statement of Bruce Fein Before The House Judiciary Committee Regarding The Proposed Impeachment of George W. Bush

Click here for the PDF file of that statement.

Bruce Fein is a lawyer in the United States who specializes in constitutional and international law. He received his degree in law from Harvard Law School in 1972.

Mr. Fein is frequently quoted in The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal and other major national publications. He has been featured on the cover of the American Bar Association Journal, the legal profession's most prestigious publication.

He has authored several volumes on the United States Supreme Court, the United States Constitution, and international law. He has assisted three dozen countries in constitutional revision, including Russia, Spain, South Africa, Iraq, Cyprus, and Mozambique, and consulted foreign nations on matters ranging from telecommunications and cable regulation to sugar quotas, oil and gas pipelines, immigration, election laws, and human rights.

Mr. Fein has been an adjunct scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, a resident scholar at the Heritage Foundation, a lecturer at the Brookings Institute, and an adjunct professor at George Washington University. He has also been executive editor of World Intelligence Review, a periodical devoted to national security and intelligence issues. He regularly lectures to foreign guests and dignitaries visiting the United States on behalf of the State Department.

At present, he writes regular columns for The Washington Times and Slate devoted to legal and international affairs. He is a guest columnist for numerous other newspapers, and writes articles for professional and lay journals. He is often invited to testify regularly before Congress and administrative agencies by both Democrats and Republicans. He appears regularly on national and international television, cable, and radio programs as an expert in foreign affairs, international and constitutional law, telecommunications, terrorism, national security, and related subjects. He is a regular guest at the BBC, C-SPAN, CNN, Reuters, MSNBC, and NPR.

Bruce was raised in San Francisco and was born in 1943.

The Bush administration's terrorist surveillance program that intercepted some communications without a warrant from the FISA court incensed Mr. Fein enough to propose censure or even impeachment of the President George W. Bush. He ridiculed Harriett Miers's brief flirtation with a Supreme Court nomination, and was sharply criticical of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Notable published writings by Bruce Fein include articles advocating the impeachment of former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and former U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney.

On September 2, 2008, Fein addressed Ron Paul's "Rally For The Republic" in Minneapolis offering a critique of the Bush administration's interventionist policy and advocating a more non-interventionist foreign policy. Fein also harshly criticized the anti-terror policies of the Bush White House, including wiretapping and detention of terror suspects.

He is a principal in a government affairs and public relations firm, The Lichfield Group, in Washington, D.C..

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A List Of Thirty Highly Regarded, Well-Loved Books And Plays Which Are Widely Known To Be Fiercely Disliked By Many Readers:

David Copperfield

A Christmas Carol

Great Expectations

Hard Times

Oliver Twist

The Scarlet Letter

My Antonia

The Last of the Mohicans

Moby Dick

Billy Budd

Tropic of Cancer

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Catcher In The Rye

Little Women

Ulysses

The Red Badge of Courage

The Call of the Wild

The Age of Innocence

Ethan Frome

Atlas Shrugged

The Fountainhead

Giants in the Earth

Farewell to Arms

The Grapes of Wrath

Animal Farm

The Stranger

Shakespeare's "histories"

Our Town

Death of a Salesman

The Glass Menagerie

To All Gorgeous Irish Girls Named Kate: Happy St. Paddy's Day!!!

Remember, if you are only 1/2 Irish, you are only required to spend 1/2 of the day at the pub!

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Lovin' this.

Feeling Good, Nina Simone
Uploaded by mrfnk

Library Heaven

Check this view of St. Florian Library Austria.

20 (25 really) Films that Impacted Me in Chronological not Meaningful Order (mostly) of Impact.

For me, a fool for films, my journey is winding with many different paths often intersecting and overlapping, difficult to trace or explain. And it's challenging to think of films that impacted me without relying on favorites. Often films that have an impact on me ARE favorites. But not always. As I create this list I am forced to think about what it means to "impact" a viewer. To learn something new? To challenge one's firmly held prejudices and ideas? To fill one's heart with beauty or joy or sorrow? To introduce a new genre of film, essentially a new world? To remind someone they are not alone in this world--that there exists a kindred spirit in a character--and that if someone can write that, that spirit does exist?

1. I first watched Neptune's Daughter on a Sunday afternoon on TCM. It was beautiful. Colorful. Romantic. Old. I think this film was one of the first "old movies" I watched. It opened my eyes to films from a different era. Suddenly I was interested in movies with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe. The clothing, the mannerisms, the sets, the lives of these men and women were like candy to me and I just couldn't get enough. Of course, growing up without cable TV and having limited movie rental options (VHS was just making an appearance in my life and we rented our films at the grocery store).

2. Somewhere in Time is a movie cited in an diary entry dated Monday June 18, 1984:
Dear Diary,
... I'm feeling kind of sick at heart. Because of the most wonderful show on television was just on. It was called "Somewhere in Time." I must see that show again. I must. It had the saddest ending. The main character was played by Christopher Reeve, "Superman."
Love, C

I am guessing this one was one of the first films to really make me cry.

3. On that note, though I am not sure which I'd have seen first Terms of Endearment was a film that sent me over the edge in empathy and floods of tears. While Somewhere in Time was perfect for my 6th grade imagination and sensibilities. Terms of Endearment endures and it can elicit the same reaction time and again.

4. I have never really liked scary movies. I remember Children of the Corn as my first terror inspired movie moment. We watched it at Heather Kramer's at a sleepover and then for what ridiculous reason, I am not sure we had set up TENTS in the pasture behind their house. Following the film, we traipsed out across the wooded area behind the house, under barbed-wire fences heavy laden with snacks and blankets and so forth, only to discover that something or someone had collapsed our tents and slashed them to ribbons. Truly a moment to remember. It turns out that their horses had trampled the tents and actually peed on everything too. Nice. This is a vivid memory inspired by a frightening movie.

But the scariest damn movie of my life was The Shining. I've actually seen this one more than once. One of the first times was in Brian Tupa's basement with a group of kids in 8th grade. Later, in 1997 I watched it on TV while babysitting. I lived alone at the time and when I got home I was so frightened I called my mom and she had to calm me down. I was considering driving over to her apartment to spend the night. I do NOT do scary movies. Children of the Corn was a silly sleepover thing and I dismissed it as much. The Shining is a film I actually WATCHED and allowed in.

5. Sophie's Choice is often mentioned in sociology 101 classes for its great and difficult choice Meryl Streep's character is forced to make. This is a film that appealed to my young melodramatic self. I read the book too. When I was young I think sometimes I had the greatest satisfaction out of tragedy and in a way THAT was a form of "self-mutilation." I hope I've outgrown that. But this film definitely was a big one for me.

6. I am so over this film now, but at one point I probably could have recited the lines to The Princess Bride.

"Stop rhyming, I mean it."
"Anybody got a peanut?"

The delightfulness of the film remains, I don't dispute that. I've just managed to see it a few too many times. A bit like eating ramen noodles repeatedly in college. This film is filled with surprising moments and memorable scenes. The book is fantastic as well.

7. Home for the Holidays is a film for me and Lori, my sister. It's a film that celebrates the way people's families can be completely fucked up and still be a family. I think that explains it well enough, actually.

8. At some point in the 1990s I watched Out of Africa for the first time and from it I took away ideas about love and relationship and daring and stories and women's role in the world. Here's a quote I have not forgotten:"It's an odd feeling, farewell...there is some envy in it. Men go off to war, to be tested for courage. And if we're tested at all it's for patience, for doing without...for how well we can endure loneliness. But I'd always known that. It didn't require a war."

9. While Neptune's Daughter made the introduction, it wasn't until I watched Pillow Talk for the first time in the late 1990s that I truly plunged headfirst into the romantic comedies and more of Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant among others. I adore this film and it was so relevant to me in the midst of my Meg Ryan love fest that I was tickled to discover the same sorts of stories have been written for years. God Bless you Nora Ephron, for reminding me to look back and for writing movies that resonated so well with the good stuff from the 40s, 50s and 60s.

10. The Life of David Gale isn't a favorite film. But until I saw it I never really knew WHY I was opposed to capital punishment. I felt like it was wrong. That God couldn't be pleased with the concept. This film helped me understand what I already knew in my heart.

11. I'm now a fan of the documentary. Yet, only ten years ago I might not have been able to cite a single one I'd seen. I have the Academy Awards to thank for much of my initial exposure. One that impacted me was Born into Brothels, about children of the red light district in Calcutta. It's about photography and art and education and hope. It opened my eyes to a different world and inspired me. It also pushed me to seek out other documentaries. I am fairly certain some of the first documentaries I rented were Michael Moore ones and they had their own impact,sure, but Born into Brothels may well be the first to REALLY get me thinking.

12. Amelie was the first foreign film I watched that really made me love it. It also was a film that I could identify with on the quirky level. It's just the sort of thing I might have written if I were a bit more clever. Completely and utterly my style of film. Run Lola Run was freakin' brilliant in its chronology and plot device, but Amelie is the stuff of adoration.

13. The Thin Man is the first in a series of films featuring Myrna Loy and William Powell. This film ushered in a new phase of film and literature for me... that of the hard-boiled detective. The wit and wisdom of these films is what I love most. The dialogue is brilliant. Loy's fashion, divine. Powell's drinking, incessant. And this film managed to draw me into more movies of the 1930s.

14. Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels is a film that showed me how much I love a good heist film... comedy of errors in the action genre. There are dozens of fantastic films that followed for me, but this was the gateway. Special thanks to my brother who knows what I'll like sometimes more than I do.

15. On a similar note, Jackie Brown -- full of swearing and violence and sex was, for me, like the film that inspired me to watch it (Get Shorty) a twisty, turny, unpredictable look at criminal activity. But what Jackie Brown had in spades was STYLE. Man, oh man. I love the look of this film. The opening credits is a favorite. Music by the Delfonics. Max Cherry. What a great name.

16-17. Two films, though there may be others, that really challenged my thinking are The Secretary and Kinsey. I liked them both. I was really impressed with the efforts and contribution of Kinsey to the American Public's understanding of human sexuality. The Secretary just opened my eyes to something I'd never really encountered or pondered.

18. Little Children did a couple things to me. One it made me terrified of cheating on my husband. I could relate so much to Winslet's character that I suddenly realized that for all my self-righteousness in denouncing cheaters and homewreckers, but for the grace of God, go I. And perhaps the grace of God is simply keeping me from marriage in the first place so as to avoid the heartbreak altogether. I felt a self-doubt creep in as I watched this film. Next it revealed the complexity of things that people like to keep simple even to a fault. The film is also about a pedophile. When he is released from prison and moves home with his mother, the world is determined that he never have a chance. It all makes me sad and sorry and fearful of what folks are capable of in the name of "justice" or what they believe is right. Films that look at the other side, the underdog, what everyone perceives as "wrong" tend to challenge me. They force me to slow down and think about things that rarely cross my mind. Paradise Now, an Oscar nominated Palestinian film, is another one of those.

19. Grey Gardens is a documentary from 1976 but I only discovered it recently. It's absolutely brilliant, but as I learned after loaning it out, it's not everyone's cup of tea. This is a different sort of documentary and it allows Big Edie and Little Edie to tell their own stories by simply living on screen for a few weeks. And the honesty and the glimpses into their eccentric world are truly wonderful. How did this impact me? It made me want to see other documentaries like this. It is a film that has that spark. The Amelie spark. The bit of electricity that says... if you like this and I like this, perhaps we are connected in some spiritual way. Belonging to some elusive club that GETS it.

20. The Royal Tenenbaums is another film like that. The day I went to it, I was at Walmart in line buying some snacks to smuggle in, when I overheard a couple saying they'd just seen it and HATED it. Thought it was the STUPIDEST film ever. Just what you want to hear moments before shelling out the big bucks to see the film. Even after watching the film as I sat, stunned, watching the credits, I could hear folks behind me say... "What the heck? That was terrible." I, on the other hand, count that as one of my favorite films of all time. Wes Anderson has an eye for wonderful details, which means when one adds it all up, it's stunning. I loved the story, the sets, the costumes, the music, the gritty old feel, the dalmatian mice, the cab company, the game closet, Margot's plays. My pulse races as I talk about this one. I get why others don't like it. But it's like Wes Anderson looked into my heart and spilled the contents out on the page and this screenplay is the result. Recently I had a similar response to the film Me and You and Everyone We Know. It wasn't quite as profound as The Royal Tenenbaums, but it was similar with its quirk and wonder.


P.S. I just realized I forgot Mary Poppins. Darn.

--Kate

Happy Birthday, George!

I have a higher and greater standard of principle [than George Washington]. Washington could not lie. I can lie but I won't. --Mark Twain


Some presidential fun. Enjoy.

--Kate

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Kate Spade e-card image. Check out the rest here.

--Kate

I Love You Bigger Than Jupiter.

I found this site rather entertaining... Paperwhite studios is trying to ditch cliches and find a proper measuring stick for love. People can submit their own sentiments.

-Kate

SO MUCH FOR OBAMA BEING "LIBERAL"

Justice Dept. Uses 'State Secrets' Defense
Obama Backs Bush Decision on Rendition Lawsuit

By Peter Finn
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 10, 2009; Page A04

The Obama administration invoked the same "state secrets" privilege as its predecessor in federal court in San Francisco yesterday in opposing the reinstatement of a lawsuit that alleges that a Boeing Co. unit flew people to countries where they were tortured as part of the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program.

The Justice Department's stance on the case came despite a pledge by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., first at his confirmation hearing and again yesterday in a statement, to review all assertions of the state secrets privilege.

The American Civil Liberties Union brought the case on behalf of five foreigners who were allegedly transferred to countries where they were tortured under interrogation. One of the five, Binyam Mohammed, a British resident, claims in court papers in the United States and in Britain that he was flown to Morocco and held there for nearly two years after his capture in Pakistan. He is now in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Mohammed and the others are seeking unspecified damages.

Leon E. Panetta, Obama's nominee to head the CIA, told Congress that he would end the practice of transferring suspects to countries where they are at risk of being tortured.

The Bush administration argued that the lawsuit against Jeppesen DataPlan, a Boeing unit based in Colorado, threatened the country's national security interests. In court yesterday, the panel of three judges asked the government if there was any change in its position because of the new administration.

A Justice Department attorney said the government stands by its brief, which was filed by the Bush administration.

A Justice official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing, said the new administration decided the lawsuit involves state secrets that need to be protected.

Ben Wizner, an ACLU staff lawyer who argued the case for the plaintiffs, condemned the decision as Obama's ratification of the Bush administration's "extreme policies," which he said prevent torture victims from seeking redress.

"This administration is going to have to face the issue of accountability, and the administration cannot pretend the last seven years didn't happen," Wizner said in a phone interview.

The suit was filed by the ACLU in May 2007 and was dismissed last February. The organization told the federal appeals court yesterday that the suit ought to be reinstated.

The government has invoked the state secrets privilege in a number of cases in recent years, including various suits concerning the National Security Agency's wiretapping program.

Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller declined to discuss the ACLU's suit in San Francisco, citing ongoing litigation. A decision in the case may take several months.

But he said the department will scrutinize all cases involving claims of state secrets.

"The attorney general has directed that senior Justice Department officials review all assertions of state secret privilege to ensure that it is being invoked only in legally appropriate situations," Miller said. "It is vital that we protect information that if released could jeopardize national security, but the department will ensure the privilege is not invoked to hide from the American people information about their government's actions that they have a right to know."

Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.

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EBERT AND FANS DISCUSS GETTING HIGH ON ELEVATION!

A few days ago I read a January 14th blog post by Roger Ebert, "I feel good! I knew that I would" that described a phenomenon that many of us experience but find difficult to describe. He calls it "elevation" or "uplift." Here's how the article starts:

"I've been saying for years that I never cry during sad moments in the movies, only during moments about goodness. At the end of "Terms of Endearment," I didn't cry because of Debra Winger's death, but because of how she said goodbye to her sons. Now I've have discovered a scientific explanation for why I feel the way that I do, and there is even a name for my specific emotion.

I wasn't seeking an explanation, and I'm not sure I really wanted one. And, for that matter, I don't really cry, at least not in the wiping-my-eyes and blowing-my-nose fashion. What I experience is the welling up of a few tears in my eyes, a certain tightness in my throat, and a feeling of uplift: Yes, there is a good person, doing a good thing. And when the movie is over, I don't want to talk with anyone. After such movies I notice that many audience members remain in a kind of reverie. Those who break the spell by feeling compelled to say something don't have an emotional clue.

It doesn't require a tearjerker to create this aura. "Fargo" is far from a tearjerker, but at the end, when Marge Gunderson snuggles up to her husband Norm and tells him how proud she is about his design for the wildlife stamp, it made me feel so warm. And it was at the very end of "Do the Right Thing," when the quotations from Martin Luther King and Malcolm X appeared on the screen, that I felt: Yes, that is the choice. And I hope we make the right one."

Please read the rest of the article here.

The comments following the article are wonderful, too, and full of profundity. I felt "uplift" as I READ this article and saw how much it means to so many people. On that note, I thought I'd share some of my moment of "elevation" today:



















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NOT EXACTLY OFF TO THE MOST BRILLIANT OF STARTS, SO FAR, ARE WE, MR. SAVIOR OF THE WORLD?

From The Miami Herald:

Analysis: Obama is tarnished by nominees' tax problems

Instead of 'change you can believe in,' Americans could see business as usual when it comes to the problems of some of President Barack Obama's personnel choices.

By STEVEN THOMMA

WASHINGTON -- These first days aren't going the way that President Barack Obama hoped when he promised to change the way Washington operates. He remains popular, with broad support from the American people, but the taint of politics as usual is challenging the aura of something new.

Three of his top nominees have been caught with tax problems, two of them departing abruptly Tuesday. Two more were former lobbyists named to high positions despite Obama's ban on lobbyists in his administration. Yet another, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, had to withdraw weeks earlier because of an investigation into alleged ''pay-to-play'' politics at home.

JUDGEMENT ISSUES

''This tax issue was starting to reach critical mass,'' pollster John Zogby said. ``One is a mistake. Two is a problem. When you start getting a third, it possibly becomes a question of judgment. How do you ask Americans to sacrifice while Cabinet members don't sacrifice until they get caught?''

First came reports that Timothy Geithner belatedly paid $34,000 in back income taxes, and $8,000 in interest. He was eventually confirmed as treasury secretary.

Then came Tuesday morning's departure of Nancy Killefer, who was nominated to a top budget post but had failed to pay unemployment compensation taxes for domestic help and had a lien placed on her home as a result. She asked Obama to withdraw her nomination.

Finally on Tuesday, Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination to be secretary of health and human services. Daschle, a former senator, last month paid more than $140,000 in back taxes and interest, most of it owed for his chauffeured luxury car, which he enjoyed as a loan from a private-equity firm he advised. He also reported that he had earned $5 million in two years, largely from industry groups.

Suddenly, too many of Obama's picks struck many people as business as usual rather than ``change you can believe in.''

When it was reported that Daschle had worked for a lobbying firm, for example, the Obama White House said that Daschle himself wasn't a registered lobbyist and thus was exempt from Obama's much-ballyhooed ban on lobbyists.

`DISINGENUOUS'

''I don't know how you get paid $2 million by a lobbying firm and not call yourself a lobbyist,'' Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said Tuesday. ``That just seems disingenuous to me and I don't think passes the smell test.''

Obama exempted another high-profile pick from the lobbyist ban, naming William Lynn as the number two man at the Pentagon. Lynn was a lobbyist for defense contractor Raytheon. The president also named William Corr, a former anti-tobacco lobbyist, as the deputy secretary of health and human services. Corr said he wouldn't deal with tobacco issues.

''Even the toughest rules require reasonable exceptions,'' White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said recently at the White House.

When the reports of appointees not paying taxes piled up, Obama and his party invited ridicule as out-of-touch elitists at a time when Americans are suffering.

''Only the little people pay taxes,'' said a Rex Babin cartoon, showing Daschle and Geithner climbing into a limousine, in The Sacramento Bee.

''There's a huge scientific breakthrough today. Researchers say they're very close to finding someone from Obama's Cabinet who's actually paid their taxes,'' Jay Leno said on NBC's Tonight Show.

Obama conceded in a series of television interviews Tuesday that his appointments suggested a double standard in which the rich and powerful get away with not paying taxes.

''I campaigned on changing Washington and bottom-up politics. And I don't want to send a message to the American people that there are two sets of standards,'' Obama said on CNN. ``This was a mistake. I screwed up.''

DONNYBROOK

At the same time, the man who wanted to lead the way to a new, less partisan politics finds himself caught in a partisan donnybrook between Congressional Democrats and Republicans over a landmark proposal to stimulate the economy. The partisan fight is feeding dissent over the proposal and eroding public support.

Obama got the proposal through the House of Representatives without a single Republican vote. A new Gallup Poll on Tuesday found that just 38 percent of those polled want the proposal passed as written, while 37 percent want ''major changes'' and another 17 percent want it defeated.

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TWO QUESTIONS: (1) THESE GUYS MISSED THE LAST 50 YEARS! ...ISN'T THAT SAD? ...(2) ARE PEOPLE IN "BISMARK" REALLY THIS DUMB?

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From KFYR--TV New Stories
The News Leader Bismarck, ND
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The Day the Music Died

Chris Gallegos
2/3/2009




On this date in 1959, three young rock stars died in an Iowa plane crash.

Rockers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, along with the pilot, died in the crash.

Fifty years later, fans still remember the day the music died.

He`s a familiar voice in South Central North Dakota, waking people up and getting them started for the day.

"Coming up on 49 years on Valentine`s Day that I`ve been working full-time in this business," says Bob Beck, a DJ at Cool 98.7.

Beck has seen it all, and has met his fair share of big-name stars throughout the years, including the Beetles.

"I was fortunate enough to be in Kansas City when they came through on their first American tour," Beck says. "We had a press conference and I got to meet each one individually."

But there are a few stars Beck never had the chance to see.

Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper were performing one cold, snowy night at the famed Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.

"We got down to the end of the road and you couldn`t see the front of the car," Beck says. "So we decided to turn around."

That ended up being their last performance.

After the show, the three boarded their plane for a stop in Fargo.

Minutes later, all three, including the pilot, were dead.

"You have to wonder what would have been different had they not died," says Beck.

Beck says all three of them made major in-roads for rock and roll.

The Beetles, for example, named themselves after Buddy Holly and the Crickets.

"These guys were so early in their careers and people have always wondered had they lived longer, what would the outcome have been," he says.

And even though their careers were cut short, their impact still lives on today.

Holly is considered one of the founding fathers of rock and roll.

The tragedy is immortalized in Don McLean`s song "American Pie" as "the day the music died."


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HAPPY M.L.K. DAY!

Edgar Allan Poe, born on January 19, 1809 in Boston





Feeling blue? Today - January 19, 2009 - is the most depressing day in HISTORY, say experts

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 2:02 AM on 19th January 2009

If you woke up feeling blue today then the chances are you are not alone. For Monday, January 19, 2009 is going to be the most depressing day in history, according to experts.

Cold weather, fading Christmas memories and broken New Year resolutions mean this period is usually miserable, but the effects of the economic downturn makes this year worse than ever.

Millions will feel so glum they will decide to stay in bed and up to a quarter of workers are expected to call in sick, research suggests. Psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall has devised a mathematical formula that pinpoints today as Blue Monday.

He says there are six depressive factors which will come together including the winter weather, Christmas credit card bills and abandoned New Year's resolutions. Fears over job security, mounting debt and the house price collapse make this year the toughest yet.

Monday is regarded as the worst day of the week with many dreading the prospect of returning to work. Dr Arnall, 43, said: 'The credit crunch means today is potentially the most depressing Blue Monday we have had.'

The former academic at Cardiff University said the best way to overcome the Monday blues was to do something fun, adding: 'People feeling depressed could put on a fun DVD, get some friends over for something to eat or call someone they've put off calling for months or years.'

Separate research by staff absence specialist FirstCare claims 22 per cent of workers are likely to call in sick today as seasonal illness hits a peak.

A spokesman said: 'Colds and flu like symptoms are often a pre-cursor to stress and depression and it is no coincidence that as the economic climate deteriorates we continue to see people with fatigue and anxiety.'

Meanwhile, William Hartson, a psychologist at Cambridge University, has devised a mathematical formula which marks today as the most likely for accidents.

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ON A MUCH BRIGHTER NOTE....

Hooters Calendar Girl, Melissa Poe


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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE KING OF REISSUES!

Elvis would be 74 years old this year!

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NEW YEAR'S DAY

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All is quiet on new years day,

A world in white gets underway,

And I want to be with you,

Be with you night and day.

Nothing changes on new years day.


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HAPPY 118TH TO MY OTHER MAIN MAN!

Henry Valentine Miller (and friends)

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HAPPY 110TH TO MY MAIN MAN!

Humphrey DeForest Bogart (as Sam Spade)

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MERRY CHRISTMAS

The Naughty Girl Next Door.

Bettie Page (1923 - 2008)

Saucy, vivacious, spirited, free. The naughty girl next door. None of these quite capture the whole woman. Ms. Page remains a pin-up legend in the hearts and minds of many. In her later years she refused to be photographed lest her 80 year old self take away from her iconic image--coal black hair cut into her signature bangs, spectacular smile, and killer curves.

Richard Foster, one of her two biographers, called her “the trendsetter in American sexuality.” Writer Harlan Ellison said, “There are certain women, even certain men, in whose look there is a certain aesthetic that hits a golden mean. Bettie is that. Marilyn is that.”Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner put it another way in an interview 2 1/2 years ago:

“Exactly what captures the imagination of people in terms of pop culture is something hard to define,” Hefner said. “But in Bettie’s case, I’d say it’s a combination of wholesome innocence and fetish-oriented poses that is at once retro and very modern.”

In the early fifties, the brother-sister photographers Irving and Paula Klaw, who ran a mail-order business in cheesecake, were promoting the Bettie Page image with spike heels and whips, while Bunny Yeager’s pictures featured her in jungle shots, with and without leopards skins. These are some of the most famous image;, though, I discovered a wealth of images on a fan site. And many of them are almost wholesome. It's clear she was also a playful, fun-loving, girl with a sense of humor.

Her provocative cheesecake photographs during the period of 1950 through 1957 violated all manner of sexual taboos and finally invoked a United States Senate Committee investigation. Perhaps it was not surprising, then, that at the height of her fame, she disappeared for 30 years. Then when the spotlight turned her way again in the 80s, she'd become a born-again Christian and even worked for the Billy Graham Crusade for a time. From what I can tell, though, she never apologized for or regreted her pin up days--she was just mystified as to why so many people were so fascinated by those pictures.

Her signature look has been imitated by film stars in the 80s and 90s after she was "rediscovered" by Hollywood. And in recent years films like Bettie Page: Dark Angel and The Notorious Bettie Page brought her legend to new audiences. Though she's gone, Bettie lives on.

Follow the link to read her obit in the NY Times. And this one in the Chicago Tribune.

I also like what Sheila wrote about her here.

-Kate

Bettie Page -- A Photo Tribute