Sunday, June 25, 2006

A 9/11 question to help you forget I'm not around this week

Posted by Mickey Z on 06/25 at 05:59 AM
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  1. If the twit’s that easily confused, it’s bad news...if he’s that dishonest, it’s bad news...if the White House webmaster’s that confident no one’s paying attention that she posts a provable lie, that’s the worst news of all.

    Big Country...happy birthday!  Many happy returns of the day, fellow Expendable.

    CatLady: How was the soiree?  Good turnout?  Much “food” left over?  You might be interested to know that Punkin and I went out for vegetarian dinner last night, inspired by your veggie “do” and it was delicious.  Dolmades and tzatziki gooooood.  And it was lacto-ovo vegetarian, not vegan, so no yip about animal products please.

    Posted by Mudge from Austin, Texas  on  06/25  at  07:42 AM

  2. Fellow James, Commando! Happy Birthday! Hope you did something fun last night yourself.

    Hey man… see my comment from late last night about the party. As fantastic as one could be w/o the presence of our fine host here. No yip about whatever eggs or dairy you ate last night, provided you stop by later to help me clean up. It’s still a little overwhelming. Glad you had a good time yourself last night, but I’m sure you’d have gotten by okay here too with my 2 different kinds of hummus-- chick pea/walnut and red bean/cashew. Streches the definition of hummus, I know…

    Now not sure what’s drearier, that quote from W or that photo of him. Great post and questions posed as always. Hope you’re having a great time on vacation!

    Posted by James from Hell's Kitchen  on  06/25  at  10:14 AM

  3. Thanks, Mick!  I appreciate the birthday wishes and I especially like that cowbell.  I wish there were more songs that featured that instrument.

    Hello James and Mudge...thanks for the good wishes.  I turn 33 tomorrow…

    There are many, many fishy things about 9/11.  This is a big one.  That Dr. Evil pic of GWB is great...here’s my own version of Dr. Evil and Mini-me starring myself (I just need to shave my head)and my cousin’s baby boy:

    Posted by JOS from Oak Park  on  06/25  at  10:46 AM

  4. WHAT A HANDSOME DUDE !!! and you’re not bad either, JOS. A very Happy Birthday is wished for you. Do something that you never did before and make a happy memory.
    Hi James and Mudge. What kind of mischief can we get into now that Mickey is away on a well deserved break. I hope he sees a lot of sunsets and that Michele feels the gentle touch of a seabreeze on her cheek.

    Posted by RMJ from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  06/25  at  01:42 PM

  5. Cong. Murtha says US biggest threat to world peace.....
    http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/135159

    Posted by RMJ from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  06/25  at  01:50 PM

  6. Happy R&R with Michele, Mickey!  And by the time you get back, I’ll put my order in ..

    Happy birthday, JOS - and many happy returns.

    ‘Howdy’, Mudge, James and Rosemarie - from a wintry Daylesford.  We have a clear day coming up - around 54F and a blue sky are forecast.

    And do I hear ‘mischief’, Rosemarie?  Perish the thought ..

    Posted by Helga Fremlin from Daylesford, Australia  on  06/25  at  03:21 PM

  7. happy birfday JOS!

    Posted by owen from barcelona  on  06/25  at  04:18 PM

  8. most of the military top-end behaved oddly on Sept 11. The Joint Chief of Staff Richard B Myers said he heard about the first crash, assumed it was an accident then went into a scheduled Senate meeting (his statement afterwards he said as soon as he realised it was an attack he ran and drove to his office - which was it?), the Pentagon command centre were looking for Rumsfeld for an hour before he rolled in at 10:30 and General Montague Winfield, head of the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon, arranged the night of Sept 10 to be replaced on his scheduled shift the next morning for the two hours starting at 8:30 am by his deputy.

    Posted by owen from barcelona  on  06/25  at  04:19 PM

  9. “...and I saw an airplane hit the tower—the TV was obviously on.”


    Maybe the monkey meant: “I saw an airplane HAD hit the tower.”

    Grammar’s not his strong point, after all.

    Posted by Peter from Endicott, NY  on  06/25  at  05:56 PM

  10. Michael, from Saturday (now that I’ve read the posts): Nothing much to say, really, though thanks for the thought...and how glad I am you don’t have a similar thing in your past.

    Hey Helga!  Mischief?  Why, whatever could RMJ mean? >batbat<

    Hi Owen, how’s Sunny Spain?

    CatLady: red bean/cashew hummus sounds de-lovely!  In 102F weather like my part of town had today, hummus is about as solid as food should get.

    Peter from Endicott: yours is a kindlier view of ChimpBoy thank I find myself able to take.

    Have reached a major decision point in Queen Matilda’s Tapestry and have little idea what to do with it.  Against my natural dislike and disdain for double-x bearers I must balance the exigencies of plot...should I prevent that idiot Pope in the 6th century from vilifying Mary Magdalene and thus from offering a millennium’s excuses to oppress and abuse the double-x contingent?  It’s almost painful to contemplate!

    [/irony]

    Posted by Mudge from Austin, Texas  on  06/25  at  08:03 PM

  11. Nothing George Bush ever says is true. No one in those positions up there ever tells the truth. Ever. Period. You have to climb pretty far down before you start having any reason not to lie all the time.

    Birthday greetings for JOS. The rest of you just get regular greetings.

    Posted by Keir from The Hague  on  06/25  at  11:57 PM

  12. Mudge, it´s sunny espadrille weather here but not really Spain, each time I leave the city I feel Oh right I´m in Spain again.

    Posted by owen from barcelona  on  06/26  at  04:37 AM

  13. Owen #12: Sunny Catalonia, then, to be accurate.  Distinction very much with difference!  Rightfully, had history zigged .00122112% left instead of right, everything Mediterranean-y would be a different country from France or Spain...Occitania?  Aquitaine Majeure?

    Imagine a Southern orientation of France and Catalonia and far north-western Italy, two biiig states called Aquitaine and Burgundy, comprising two of the three “tres partes” Caesar so memorably divided Gaul into in his damned dull Latin.

    Paris is a backwater river-port town.

    Poitiers, gorgeous place, is instead a smoggy industrial sprawl.

    Dijon is a great world capital, not a mustard.

    Oh no, oh dear, I’m world-building again and I can’t stop myself!!

    Posted by Mudge from Austin, Texas  on  06/26  at  07:08 AM

  14. “It’s hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.”
    --Bill Watterson, comic strip artist (1958- ), in his comic strip Calvin & Hobbes

    Truer words never passed the lips of man.

    Posted by Mudge from Austin, Texas  on  06/26  at  07:22 AM

  15. How happy are the Japanese to be leaving Iraq?:

    Posted by JOS from Chicago  on  06/26  at  10:15 AM

  16. Latest Churchill:

    http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/9424240/detail.html

    Posted by JOS from Chicago  on  06/26  at  04:39 PM

  17. Hi Mudge, Owen, Kier, Helga, and all…

    JOS, did you do something special today that you had never done before? That’s what birthdays are for. I like the photo of the smiling Japanese. Thanks for the Churchill update. I am not too surprised. Anyone who speaks out in such a way that others will hear him, pays a very high price. It reminds me of the Jack Nicolson line in the movie, “You can’t stand the truth”. In this country most would rather live in denial and ignorance.

    Today the US Supreme Court struck down Vermont’s campaign financing law. That’s too bad because the Supreme Court is siding with the BIG money interests. On the brighter side, I must admit that it gives me a nice feeling to see the Vermont Attorney General’s office slapped down. In my opinion, from the personal experience I have had with the AG office, I have never seen a more arrogant, unethical, dishonest way of functioning....but that is just my opinion. If anyone wants to see how the VT AG does business, refer to my article titled, “The Deposition” on the PressAction site.

    Posted by RMJ from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  06/26  at  05:16 PM

  18. Happy Birthday JOS!!!!!!

    If the government can use the phrase “Since 9/11” as an excuse to bomb, illegally detain, torture, disappear, etc… why can’t bank robbers or drug dealers use the phrase as a defence for their actions?  “We’ll your honor the reason I robbed that bank, since 9/11 ummm...,”


    http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/images/gavel_graphic.bmp


    Today is also Peter Lorre’s birthday. So, for everyone’s viewing pleasure: Bob Hope and Peter Lorre http://tinyurl.com/zvtnc and a scene from
    M, I love this film! the beggars have a union.
    http://tinyurl.com/z93f4

    Posted by TM from   on  06/26  at  05:21 PM

  19. Happy BD JOS. How ‘bout a game of virtual putt-putt golf to celebrate? I’ll even give you a handicap. Now there’s something new for ya (me, giving a handicap to someone else - go figure)...

    @ Mudge: and just to think, MZ had the nerve to talk about “opressive heat” the other day. I cooked my dinner on the GD driveway today. Such is Houstonium.

    @ RMJ (#17): I agree. It’s a well known fact that most Americans ignore the truth and look the other way. “Denial” and “ignorance” are practically understatements....

    And following Keir’s lead, regular greetings to everyone else. It doesn’t mean that I don’t like you; just means I have to go work crummy low-wage job right now, and don’t have time to give you the respect you deserve.

    So, until next time,..

    Posted by RT from The Buyou City  on  06/26  at  07:12 PM

  20. Happy Tuesday, Expendables all.  A propos the $37 billion charitable doantion of Warren Buffett:

    “Our incomes are like our shoes; if too small, they gall and pinch us; but if too large, they cause us to stumble and to trip.”
    --John Locke, philosopher (1632-1704)

    It’s a huge donation, and the money it represents is valuable to the causes he donates to; I take nothing away from Buffett when I say that it’s a voluntary donation of tremendous value; but he’s still worth over $7 billion, so hardly has he given away his earthly substance, the way our lapdogs in the mainstream “liberal” media are making out he has done.  And, revoltingly, no one anywhere is saying anything about the sick-making fact that he was allowed to accumulate so many of the planet’s resources under his (direct and indirect) control.

    So saluti Sig. Buffett for demonstrating, at the age of 75, that you have a shred of human feeling; and odium on the rest of us for allowing one person this kind of economic power.

    Hi RT!  To each and all who lurk and post today, warm greeting and kindest wishes.

    Posted by Mudge from Austin, Texas  on  06/27  at  07:56 AM

  21. Hello all...thanks for the continued B-Day wishes.

    RMJ, as to your question...yes I did do something special yesterday that I had never done before.  I went and saw my 6 year old cousin Lucy win her T-ball championship almost single-handedly.  She hit a triple with the bases loaded and a three run homer.  Then we all went out for ice cream where I was presented an ice cream sunday with a candle.  Pretty nice…

    Posted by JOS from Chicago  on  06/27  at  09:24 AM

  22. “Maybe the monkey meant: “I saw an airplane HAD hit the tower.”

    Nope, sorry, he has repeated this lie on many occations from Nov 2001 to Jan 2002 in speeches around the country (from Florida to California)and in a CNN interview.

    Plus nothing in Bush’s statement is true for him to just make a simple grammatical error… and he was telling this story to a 3RD GRADER!

    http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011204-17.html

    “—actually, I was in a classroom talking about a reading program that works.  I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower—the TV was obviously on.  And I used to fly, myself, and I said, well, there’s one terrible pilot.  I said, it must have been a horrible accident.”

    A) there was no footage of the first plane for him to see.

    B) there was no television in the hallway of the school.

    C) we already knew he found out in the limo on the way to the scool.

    D) having flown a jet fighter shows he blames the pilot… but commercial airliners have a co pilot and a navigator. so he knows nothing to be able to just blame the pilot.

    E) did I meantion - THERE WAS NO FOOTAGE FOR HIM TO SEE!!!! and he didn’t see the second plane hit because he was listening to others read to the children when the second plane hit.

    F)Even in his own fantasy Bush is telling everyone he can watch a JET AIRLINER smash full bore into a GLASS skyscraper - the MECCA OF THE BUSINESS WORLD - and all he does is assign blame and move on with the more important business of a photo opt. Not “What about the people in the plane?” Not “what about the people in the building?” Not “How will this effect wall street?” Not “Will the building be able to support a JET AIRLINER SMASHING into a GLASS SKYSCRAPER?”

    Nothing. He assigns blame and moves on. Then later he says he cares and that if he cuold have stood in the path of the airplanes he would have. What??? How can you claim to watch balls of fire shoot out the other side of a building and not have ANY concerns?

    Not to mention using 9-11 as a back drop of a complete fantasy and inpossible lie just to tell people you used to fly a jet.

    Who here has forgotten how they found out about 9-11? Apparently the Dubya did.

    AND no one in his staff even thought of corrcting him ever????
    He has repeated this lie many times.  Almost verbatim, so it was not just a grammatical error.

    Bush is an inveterate liar who can’t even tell the simple truth to a simple question.

    Why would he lie about something so basic?

    Posted by GeeDoubleyou from MN  on  06/27  at  11:23 AM

  23. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011204-17.html

    Q One thing, Mr. President, is that you have no idea how much you’ve done for this country.  And another thing is that, how did you feel when you heard about the terrorist attack?  (Applause.)

    THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Jordan.  Well, Jordan, you’re not going to believe what state I was in when I heard about the terrorist attack.  I was in Florida.  And my Chief of Staff, Andy Card—actually, I was in a classroom talking about a reading program that works.  I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower—the TV was obviously on.  And I used to fly, myself, and I said, well, there’s one terrible pilot.  I said, it must have been a horrible accident.

    But I was whisked off there, I didn’t have much time to think about it.  And I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my Chief of Staff, who is sitting over here, walked in and said, “A second plane has hit the tower, America is under attack.”

    http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020105-3.html


    Q First of all, I’m very impressed in how you handled the situation on September 11th. (Applause.)

    THE PRESIDENT: That’s plenty. (Applause.) No. Thank you.

    Q What was the first thing that went through your head when you heard that a plane crashed into the first building?

    THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Well, I was sitting in a schoolhouse in Florida. I had gone down to tell my little brother what to do, and—just kidding, Jeb. (Laughter.) And—it’s the mother in me. (Laughter.) Anyway, I was in the midst of learning about a reading program that works. I’m a big believer in basic education, and it starts with making sure every child learns to read. And therefore, we need to focus on the science of reading, not what may feel good or sound good when it comes to teaching children to read. (Applause.) I’m just getting a plug in for my reading initiative.

    Anyway, I was sitting there, and my Chief of Staff—well, first of all, when we walked into the classroom, I had seen this plane fly into the first building. There was a TV set on. And you know, I thought it was pilot error and I was amazed that anybody could make such a terrible mistake. And something was wrong with the plane, or—anyway, I’m sitting there, listening to the briefing, and Andy Card came and said, “America is under attack.”


    I can’t find the CNN interview, but I know it exists somewhere because that was the first time I read transcropts of him saying it. Unfortunately it’s on my old hard drive that fried :(

    but twice shows that it’s not mearly a “mis-spoken” comment.

    thanks

    Posted by GeeDoubleyou from MN  on  06/27  at  12:32 PM

  24. Strange, huh, GW…

    Here’s an interesting link on the NYT’s reporting “scandal” that is going on right now.  I guess old Abe was a little worse that GWB in this case:

    http://crawfordslist.blogspot.com/2006/06/media-wars-abraham-w-lincoln.html

    Posted by JOS from Chicago  on  06/27  at  01:46 PM

  25. Thanks for the background, GeeDoubleyou. Bush is not one to let the facts stand in the way of a compelling narrative, I guess.

    Posted by Peter from Endicott, NY  on  06/27  at  02:03 PM

  26. Good Day to every Expendable, one and all…

    I believe that gwb is one sinister MF who’d be even more dangerous if others didn’t need to control him so, were his own intellect more fully developed.

    Happy belated to JOS - sounds like you had an enjoyable day & I’m glad to hear it.

    I’m so far behind here - not even time to lurk for ages until today.

    I’ve read of mischief, vegan dinner parties, omnivores essaying greek vegetarian dinners, world building (Utopian, of course) and ice cream sundaes.  I’m sorry I’ve missed so much.

    In our sorry but large nation, our elected minority dictator is busily spending money on war ships and there’s more to be announced, our msm is getting better and better at their propagandist ways (practice makes perfect) and getting worse and worse at delivering actual news (again, practice...) The air on a hot sunny day looks like the air over Los Angeles does from a distance; and that’s “merely” the tip of the iceberg.

    I hope to lurk and blather my opinions more often, but I’ve said as much before.  I wish you all well, and Mickey and Michele the best of holidays!

    Posted by Amelopsis from Canadia  on  06/27  at  02:24 PM

  27. Amelopsis...so happy that you are back !
    JOS...congratulations to Lucy.
    Hi everyone else, too. I had a big day here. My roof which was old, storm damaged, and leaking finally was replaced. Did the whole roof in one day. (Not me, the roofing crew did it. I don’t get up on roofs anymore.) The guys who did it worked hard in the heat and high humidity. I’m tired from watching them work so hard and am going to bed early. I will watch Boston Legal in bed tonight.

    Posted by RMJ from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  06/27  at  06:00 PM

  28. Happy Wednesday to all who come by here!

    GeeDoubleyou #22, 23: Nothin’ like usin’ their own words agin ‘em.  Like George Clooney did for Sen. McCarthy in “Good Night and, Good Luck”: he used the actual McCarthy footage.  Can’t argue his movie distorted the truth that way.

    Big Country #24: Lincoln was a president, so the warping of character that occurs among the powerful was inevitable.

    Empress #26: Welcome to your Imperium, NUtI majesty!  I do my consarndest to forget that the Neighbor to the North is in the grips of the Rough Beast and has begun the proverbial Slouch Towards Jerusalem.  I’m inured to the feeling of helpless rage where the evil men who control Murrica are concerned. But I twinge afresh every time I’m reminded that you must face this ghastly theft of your country by people you wouldn’t give house-room to.

    RMJ #27: A new roof!  What a difference that should make in the bills this coming winter!  And Boston Legal wasn’t bad last night.  I watched it in patches when the Frontline documentary on Sri Lanka’s civil war got too depressing.  I don’t want to visit the place anymore, for sure and certain.  There Are No Good Wars, as our host writes.

    Posted by Mudge from Austin, Texas  on  06/28  at  07:31 AM

  29. Hi Mudge...I was just thinking about you and hoping that you are OK. The new roof won’t help much with the heating bills but it will be nice to be dry. You would not believe how bad the weather has been up here. News is reporting mud slides, dam failures, and road closings.  Yes, Frontline is one of my favorites but last night my brain was too tired so I had Boston Legal on in the background. BL is a program that, with a few minor changes, could be really excellent. I like the way that they kind of hide little political messages in the script.

    Hi to everyone else here today. Now I better go and check to see if I have water coming in the basement.

    Posted by RMJ from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  06/28  at  09:17 AM

  30. Great article describing our crimes in Iraq from someone who was there:

    http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/20060627_occupation_iraq_hearts_minds/

    Posted by JOS from Chicago  on  06/28  at  01:07 PM

  31. JOS...Thanks. That was a good link. Here is an interesting one back to you.

    http://tinyurl.com/fmnwl

    Posted by RMJ from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  06/28  at  01:41 PM

  32. Yes, RMJ, some of the quotes in the article are just so hard to hear...his death makes his parents want the US to “help” iraqis even more...if we leave now I will be upset because my son will have died for nothing.  I am afraid he did.  I understand where a parent is coming from, though.

    On another topic, here’s a political part that I could actually join:

    http://www.neitherparty.org/

    Posted by JOS from Chicago  on  06/28  at  02:20 PM

  33. JOS...I just got this from your link.

    “"The evils of government are directly proportional to the tolerance of the people."”

    Frank Kent

    Posted by RMJ from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  06/28  at  03:51 PM

  34. US citizens have a very high tolerance, don’t they?

    Posted by JOS from Chicago  on  06/28  at  04:54 PM

  35. Big Country #34: And that is EXACTLY the problem in a nutshell.  Tolerating misfeasance, malfeasance, and general turpitude is the major Murrican sin.  Watergate should have created a culture of outrage, and instead it had the same soporific analgesic effect as morphine...plus the addictiveness.  We can’t survive as a political culture now without some “titillating” scandal or another.  Yuck.

    RMJ #29: “BL is a program that, with a few minor changes, could be really excellent. I like the way that they kind of hide little political messages in the script.”

    Yeah, it’s what makes the thing worth watching, isn’t it?  I always chuckle at the comeuppances doled out on the show.  Denny gets a lot, but never learns...thank goodness.

    New roof not help with winter bills?  Huh?  I am not understand.

    CatLady, wherever you are, you got me onto a hummus kick...I take three kinds of hummus to work and dip celery, carrots, tomatoes, and radished into them.  It’s getting expensive, so make with the subsidy check.  Love, your husband.

    Posted by Mudge from Austin, Texas  on  06/28  at  06:45 PM

  36. Mudge honey, worn out from adjusting to having to work overnight shifts again. Just getting ready for work right now. High pay, but at what cost? Though I recommend it for weight loss-- I generally eat coffee and tea all night, then get by during the day… damn it. But what is hummus, but a bean and some sort of nut butter? Combinations are endless, and cheaper if you make you own. Chinese medicine says something about red beans affecting the kidneys as a source of courage, so go with those. Good night, or whatever it is…

    Posted by James from Hell's Kitchen  on  06/28  at  08:06 PM

  37. Good Lord, James, it’s too much to do all overnights all the time!  It’s just incredible that you have the stamina.  Though it sounds as though the stamina’s wearing thin at last.

    Courage, mon ami; this too shall pass (and be replaced by something better).

    Nighty noodles, all and sundry.

    Posted by Mudge from Austin, Texas  on  06/28  at  10:15 PM

  38. You’re um, asking about my stamina?

    It’s not so bad here, once I’m actually here, and the pay sure helps things. It’s just dealing with the rest of life around it all somehow, or the lack of such, that’s hard to be okay about. But yeah, sooner or later… Whammies to all of us.

    Posted by James from work, yeah past midnight  on  06/28  at  11:15 PM

  39. James!  Giving away secrets of the marriage bed like that!  I am shocked, shocked I tell you!

    I got this quote this morning.  It covers so many issues I don’t even know where to begin:

    “A myth is a fixed way of looking at the world which cannot be destroyed because, looked at through the myth, all evidence supports the myth.”
    --Edward De Bono, consultant, writer, and speaker (1933- )

    I’ve never heard of DeBono before this good moment.  He’s got a big something here, though!  The myth of Murrican supremacy.  The myth of a “kinder, gentler” or “compassionate” conservative--or anything else political.  Or governmental.  The myth of the Good War or the Greatest Generation.  And those are just the ones I see right away, before 7am!

    Anyone got a pet myth to bring up?

    Posted by Mudge from Austin, Texas  on  06/29  at  06:59 AM

  40. @ Mudge re: question. How about the myth of the “free market”?

    Or how about the myths that surround every freakin holiday in this country?

    captcha = nuclear

    Posted by RT from The Buyou City  on  06/29  at  07:49 AM

  41. RT #40: Exactly, all excellent additions to the list.  I’m sure there are so many more we can’t begin to imagine them all.

    I’ll be moving over the next few days, so will be here only sporadically.  Not ignoring my Expendable buds, just gonna be busy...and no computer at home until Monday the 3rd.

    Back later.

    Posted by Mudge from Austin, Texas  on  06/29  at  01:42 PM

  42. Mudge # 35...Sorry to bore everyone with my roof project. I promise this will be the last mention of it. It is a big deal for me because of the cost. I did a lot of research for the project. One of the things that I learned was the State in which roofs have the longest life span.  Anybody want to guess???? It’s Alaska because the greatest enemy of a roof is the sun. Mudge, it won’t help with the heating bills because the insulation is between the house and the roof. The roof is actually well ventilated so that the underside and outside maintain nearly the same temperatures. A roofing system up here is a bit complex with ridge vents, ice barriers, drip edges, collars around vent pipes, etc. I learned a lot in this process. This house is the second one that I built, but this was only the first time that I had to replace a roof.

    My other news is that my home town where I grew up had a mandatory evacuation of over 200,000 yesterday. Wilkes-Barre is in the flood plain of the Susquehanna River. Most of the area was wiped out in a flood of 1972. A unique problem there is that the area is undermined because of the coal mines. In 1972 one of the worries was that the river would divert to the underground mines. That was the flood that many people still remember because the bodies washed out of the cemeteries and were floating in the flood waters.

    Posted by RMJ from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  06/29  at  04:43 PM

  43. Wilkes Barre evacuated...oh my god.  Hurricanes get the attention, but there are plenty of competing natural disasters.

    I, for one, am not bored with roof talk.  Real estate gets more interesting overall as one grows older, no?

    Posted by Mudge from Austin, Texas  on  06/29  at  05:57 PM

  44. Hey everyone!
    Well the found a new Valdez that’s Juan not Exxon.  This one is a genuine farmer he picked his first coffee bean at age six according to the article. http://tinyurl.com/jyh5v

    two cartoons http://tinyurl.com/kybds
    and http://tinyurl.com/jp7h5

    Posted by TM from   on  06/29  at  06:34 PM

  45. ABOUT MYTHS....I think that the idea that the Bush Administration is incompetent is a myth. Here is a partial list of accomplishments, as taken from Commondreams....................
    Centralizing power within the executive branch to an unprecedented degree
    Starting two major wars, one started with questionable intelligence and in a manner with which the military disagreed
    Placing on the Supreme Court two far-right justices, and stacking the lower federal courts with many more
    Cutting taxes during wartime, an unprecedented event
    Passing a number of controversial bills such as the PATRIOT Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Medicare Drug bill, the Bankruptcy bill and a number of massive tax cuts
    Rolling back and refusing to enforce a host of basic regulatory protections
    Appointing industry officials to oversee regulatory agencies
    Establishing a greater role for religion through faith-based initiatives
    Passing Orwellian-titled legislation assaulting the environment — “The Healthy Forests Act” and the “Clear Skies Initiative” — to deforest public lands, and put more pollution in our skies
    Winning re-election and solidifying his party’s grip on Congress
    These aren’t signs of incompetence. As should be painfully clear, the Bush administration has been overwhelmingly competent in advancing its conservative vision. It has been all too effective in achieving its goals by determinedly pursuing a conservative philosophy.

    http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0626-28.htm

    Posted by RMJ from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  06/29  at  06:38 PM

  46. Hello Expendables. I’m ba-a-a-ack....

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  06/29  at  07:39 PM

  47. Well, no big house parties to speak of while you were gone, MZ. From what I can tell the Expendables took really good care of the place by keeping the dialog flowing, etc…

    Anyway, hope you and Michele had a pleasant time away from the circus that is big city life (gawd, I hope that was a part of your itenerary)....

    Meanwhile, I got a $20 tip from some lady at work today. Now aren’t I the whore (gawd, what have I done with my life?)....

    @ Mudge: Forgot to add that I really like that quote by DeBono. Perhaps MZ and the Expendables can compile the “Ultimate Myth List” to finish off “Expendable Writing Month”?

    Anyway, good nights to all (from an uncomfortably warm and sappy city near the Gulf Coast)...

    Posted by RT from The Buyou City  on  06/29  at  08:49 PM

  48. Hi RT. I won’t pretend that I’ve had time to read all the above posts...but I’ll try to do so tomorrow. As for the time away, YES, it was all about recharging the batteries.

    Captcha sez “miss” as in I i miss you all. Back to reghular posting tomorrow, folks.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  06/29  at  08:55 PM

  49. Hmm… busy day of sporadic sleep and puttering about in this beautiful New York afternoon and all that… can’t wait for ‘normal’ MZ posting again tomorrow, the post should go up about the time I get off work. But this DeBono character… isn’t he the singer from U2, whom it is so fashionable to mock around these parts?

    Haha… oh, and yes Mickey, there was indeed 2 kinds of hummus at my party. And kale cream dip. And tetrazzini, and tempeh squash casserole. And roof access… ah well. In another few months.

    Posted by James from work  on  06/29  at  09:25 PM

  50. Sorry I missed the good food, Cat Lady. It seems I’ve also missed some kind of nuptials, huh?

    Stud Terkel sez:
    “We just love the myths we live by. To uncover a truth of the past, a harsh truth, is very hard. It’s much easier not to. In America, we have something over and beyond denial. I call it erasure of the past. We’re suffering from a national Alzheimer’s disease. It’s sort of a self-imposed amnesia.”

    G’night, all…

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  06/29  at  09:34 PM

  51. Come on, I’ve been home almost a half hour now, and no new post yet! And y’know, if you do regret not showing up for all food last week, I still have dishes and pots that need cleaning over here, if it would make you feel better to help… aahh, good night, check back later. Someone please comment about the war crimes Israel’s been committing this week. There’s gotta be something about it I misunderstand, there’s just gotta be…

    Posted by James from Hell's Kitchen  on  06/30  at  05:58 AM

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