right

[click picture for the video that saves your life]

...now that I'm no longer teeming with things to say to you, my ISP finally decides to come back up.

Have you watched and listened to Jill Bolte Taylor's TED talk enough times yet? I've seen it at least six times now, and it still moves me to tears. She is telling the plainest truth of all that is, dead on the money, no slip-ups. It's a silly little twenty minutes of your time you should be spending as many times a day as it takes to sink in. This could actually be the most beautiful thing of the modern era, and also our last chance. I cannot stress to you how important it is. Click on that blue blur and have a listen. Please.

i gotta stress this

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In early 2007, Nancy Pelosi pulled down a resolution that would have denied Bush the authority to attack Iran without congressional approval.

befuzzled old 99 leaving for doctorland on sunday

My doctor's grandfather died and so my appointment had to move to next week, which was well because that's when I have to go back to UCSF and Marin General is set to do the CT Scan to bring there with me. Fine. Fine. I'll just hang a wreck till it's copacetic... might as well... since it's not any easier to get out of my own way then as now....

So anyway, UCSF called me earlier to rattle my cage all down the block and back by telling me that in addition to this set-up they have scheduled me for an MRI somewhere near the ball park in SF on 1 May, after which I am to trot back over to UCSF and see my neurosurgeon. I'm flipping on the phone while the lady is repeatedly asking me to get a pen and write it down, and I'm going, but, but, but, how can I have an MRI with the damn titanium plate in my neck? Are you sure about this? She goes off to ask. Yes, we're sure.

Did I say the magic words when I called them the other day? Have they got me confused with someone else? Are they surgifying fiends who are just grasping at likely suspects? I'm just not at all sure which of the complaints I blurted on the phone to the surgeon's assistant has brought this insanity down on my head. I'm alarmed she seemed to know she had to drill me to get the pen in my hand and write it down.

But this news pretty much insures I'm on a two-week doctor trip and going to be blogging as I can from wherever my sorry old self is tolerated by friends and family.

Sheesh, everybody in the real world talks so fast....

pat buchanan

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Because of the failures of a Democratic Congress elected to end the war, Bush can now make a compelling case that he would be acting fully within his authority as commander in chief.

In early 2007, Nancy Pelosi pulled down a resolution that would have denied Bush the authority to attack Iran without congressional approval. In September, both Houses passed the Kyl-Lieberman resolution designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

Courtesy of Congress, Bush thus has a blank check for war on Iran. And the signs are growing that he intends to fill it in and cash it.

I haven't been talking about this piece from yesterday either because it's filling me with too much rage still... but those of you capable of yelling your ever-lovin' brains out... please... please.... Do it now.

of course, why didn't i think of that?

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I mean, if somebody asked me where this administration might put a lab for deadly cattle diseases, I'd have to have answered:
In the middle of a feed lot.
Duh.

they're all hopped up on something or other

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The problem with judging them "performance enhancing" drugs is that dopers always think they function better while loaded. I can't tell you how many stoners I've watched bungle things while expounding on how great they function under the influence. Cracks me up that the cult of empiricism itself is falling for this one too.

tell uc berkeley to fire yoo

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Dear 99,

What would you do if you found out that a pyromaniac worked in the fire department in your town? You would urge the fire department to fire him, right?

Well, what if you heard that a law professor had written a memo authorizing and, in a sense, advocating illegal torture by the Bush administration? We assume the reaction would be the same.

Last week, I wrote to you about a shocking memo written by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel in 2003 advising the Pentagon that laws and treaties forbidding torture and other forms of abuse did not apply to U.S. interrogators because of the president's wartime power.

The man who wrote that memo -- John Yoo -- is now happily ensconced as a tenured law professor at the UC Berkeley School of Law. While an unknown number of people suffer the aftereffects of illegal torture he encouraged, Professor Yoo is teaching, writing, and generally enjoying life in California.

This is flat out wrong. John Yoo should not only be disqualified from ever serving in government again, but he should also be prohibited from spreading his distorted view of the law and the role of lawyers to young law students.

The National Lawyers Guild has called for his dismissal. We are joining their call and hope you will, too.

Please take a moment and send a strongly worded (and pre-written) E-mail to Christopher Edley, Jr, Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, today, urging the dismissal of John Yoo. Just click on the following link to get started:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=24188

After you have taken action, please forward this E-mail widely to friends, family, and colleagues. Together, we can rid John Yoo from the ranks of law professors in this country.

Thank you in advance for taking action.

Best,
Steve

Steve Fox
Campaign Director
American Freedom Campaign Action Fund

All this aside, of course, from the fact he belongs in the dock at The Hague, behind bars for life.

the pain of n e u f n e u f

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One of my readers and correspondents mentioned yesterday that I cause him pain. He has difficulty with some of my positions on arch villains, for example. I don't want to explain, but I don't like being a source of pain if it isn't leading to great joy. I'm not that good at it, but I'm on the right track. When I say stuff that seems more than just an outside-the-box slant on something, a statement that tends to make you think I'm outright deluded, you should know that the cause is likely to be my effort to unchain us from our outright deluded conditioning.

Albanians used to refer to the United States as "The Revisionists" and everybody knew who they were talking about. We like to think we are of tougher mental fiber and can see through the lies being fed to us. We're wrong. We don't have a good enough bead on the extent of the lies and spin that have been fed to us since earliest childhood to not be wrong. The quality of the information that filters down to us has been seriously substandard for... my whole life... and degenerating appallingly.

Plus, almost none of us are even able to think above or beyond what it serves our own personalities to make of any bit of information, even if it is impeccable to begin with. The exact same statement can evoke whole universes of different reactions in the populace, even though there is usually a way to take such a thing from a grounding in actuality. We're rarely even cognizant of actuality on a local level, let alone from somewhere else in the world. No. Our political leanings rush in to color our experience of it. So do our personality quirks. We immediately assess all things for how we can use them to further illustrate ourselves to the others with whom we interact. So actuality gets shunted out of sight instanter in all that comes within reach of our senses. [Actually, pain is one of the least affected by this of any sensory inputs, but it's really hard to work with that when you want to communicate reality... unless you're a sociopath, that is.] The minute Obama says something, Clintonites are making something unflattering of it. The minute the Dalai Lama opens his mouth, we are all making of it more reason to think him a sweet and lovely person, while the Chinese government is sent directly into gales of invective against his evil perfidy. All over the identical inputs. We make of everything either what we've been conditioned to make of it, or what serves us to think about it, not what it is.

That's just when we get the straight dope. What about when it's spin? What about when it's lies? That's the only kind of news we EVER get about anyone the government wants to paint in a certain light. Ever. Do you think that getting English translations of reports from other sources helps? It does a little bit, depending on the translators, of course, but that too is skewed by the POV of the source and the translator.

THEN there is the nearly insurmountable problem of understanding that bad past actions do NOT mitigate the goodness of present actions, that in terms of world leaders' actions especially, whatever they do that helps big populations is not lessened by anything they did before. Heap on this the trouble with making any one action stick into the good category or bad category, and yer dropped into a bottomless well of hassling over stuff that has left fundamental reality back up there at ground level.

There are little constellations of considerations truth junkies take into account when communicating. If you find it painful, it might be a good sign, or it might be a sign you could use to alert you to turn it into a good thing.

Up to you.

I only ever say this stuff to warn you that the times you are thinking That 99 is off her gourd! could well be times when I'm trying to get at something else, purposely startling you into looking. Of course, much of the time it could actually be that I am off my gourd, but, hey....

I mean... seriously... I love and admire both these old coots....
Go figure....

wanna listen to kqed on yesterday's torch run?

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Download mp3

Just right click to download it and listen to it on your mp3 player.

my pants are big in milan

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These are identical to the ones I lived in when I was nineteen. Chic again....

if you get vertigo, don't watch this... really

I almost lost my dinner.

i hate to keep bringing this up

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...but... are they kidding? By far most of the women in America, nay, on Earth, have bigger tits than this! How creepy is it that Consumer Reports is bestirring itself over the uplifting of those who don't even need to bother with it? I know I'm a freak, but I have eyes and this is just too weird. Maybe they're talking about training bras?

he's still dead

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september tenth

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Reminder....

BREAKING: basil fawlty to write speeches for obama

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What an excellent idea! Hope it turns out better than his hotelier gig....

the old switcheroo

[UPDATE: HERE'S THE REPORT FROM A LOCAL.]

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Okay. Sorry. Had to coldcock the Mac from too many feeds going at once, but the deal seems to be that the torch and the runners parted company at the onramp to Doyle Drive from the Marina Green. The torch took a boat to McCovey Cove for a photo op with a bunch of Chinese people playing breast swelling music behind a woman waving this torch there. The runners were bussed to SFO and I'm imagining the torch will meet them there, along with the busloads of privileged people from the Justin Herman Plaza crowd that was waiting for ten hours for the ceremony to be held there.

This offends me to an unspeakable extent.

[UPDATE: Vice Fuhrer Fudd's reaction to the news....]

Davis was at his post so we could be at this event:

live blogging tv coverage of tibet protests in san francisco

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San Francisco stations: KTVU, KRON, KPIX, and KGO all have live coverage on the internet.

The first half of this TED talk will give you an idea about what everyone is so het-up about.

1:50pm: The torch just showed up somewhere, not where the crowds are waiting, an hour late and people are pissed and they keep changing the route... cops, poor sods.

2pm: THE RUNNERS ARE SURROUNDED BY ALL KINDS OF VEHICLES AND SECURITY AND THEY ARE RUNNING VAN NESS INSTEAD OF THE EMBARCADERO, WHERE THE CROWDS ARE WAITING FOR THEM.

2:07pm: Runners are jogging north on Van Ness with lines of motorcycle cops on both sides of them, lines of cops on bicycles on both sides of them, lines of cops on foot on both sides of them, and a clutch of ununiformed thugs surrounding them. I'm not kidding. The crowds assembled to see it are on the other side of town.

Unbelievable.

2:05pm: Two torch runners are at a dead stop with an army of cops around them. News anchors are all giddy about not knowing if the protesters are monitoring them and will find out where the torch runners are.

2:11pm: I'm losing my cookies over aerial shots of OVERWHELMING security around the relay WALKERS. What a travesty. Good thing I'm not there or there would be some broken glass....

Of course, it could be the fascist shill tv coverage I can hear that's pissing me off this badly. Maybe I'd be more understanding if I didn't have to listen to these evil little whores.

2:17pm: People have been bussing in to the Embarcadero SINCE FIVE IN THE MORNING and they moved the relay to Van Ness without telling anyone, plus put up this fantastic security for no crowds, sneaking it past everyone on the streets.

2:20pm: Bunch of Free Burma protesters are at Vista Point by the Golden Gate Bridge.

2:23pm: KPIX has a bunch of video clips up of their coverage today, where you can see the planned route, and the mobs... and I'm guessing the actual route at some point.

2:26pm: I'm just going to sit back and listen to people flipping about this trick. Woman griping about no respect and no honor right now. PEOPLE CAME FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO SEE THIS. They didn't get to see it.

2:32pm: Mobs on the Embarcadero don't know that the torch isn't coming past them yet. They're still waiting.

2:34pm: Some protesters have knocked over police barriers, trying to get to where the new route comes closest to the planned route. Hundreds of protesters heading for Bay and Van Ness to see the runners... probably not going to make it....

2:37pm: News anchors trying to say they think the torch will get to Bay Street and turn toward the Embarcadero and Justin Herman Plaza where everybody's waiting. Right.

Word is getting out about the ruse, and more protesters are hightailing it for the real route.

2:40pm: Nope. Torch "runners" [read crawlers] just turned left on Bay, which means they're heading for the Marina, NOT Fisherman's Wharf. Yeesh. Thousands of pissed off people in the offing.

Everything happening because of fear. Protesters have not done anything violent. The fear thing from the administration of this event is very likely to turn it into violence though.

2:43pm: People hand-picked by the Chinese Consulate were let through the barriers at Justin Herman to see the closing ceremony of the torch run... even though the torch run is not going there... it's on its way to the Golden Gate Bridge via the Marina.

2:45pm: Huge crowds at Justin Herman Plaza... if this doesn't get really ugly, it'll be a miracle.

2:50pm: Big FREE TIBET banner has caught up with the torch at Fort Mason. Running along beside. Looks like a melee, but cops, CHP, say it's all going smoothly.

2:55pm: Banner is down; bike cops swarming all around; Chinese flag is up... at the Marina Green right now.

Oh, duh, sorry, here's a map.

3pm: Plan is to take the runners by boat back to Justin Herman Plaza... tricky, tricky, tricky.The mobs are waiting on the right side of this map and the torch is running toward the left side of this map. Somehow they are going to move the runners by boat, or truck, over to the Embarcadero...?

3:12pm: Interviewing ecstatic torch runner, waxing moronic about the flawless execution of this ruse.... Mentioning "gala celebration" later... sheesh. Just shoot me.

3:15pm: Torch runners are up onto Doyle Drive [freeway approach to the bridge] now.

3:17pm: "Rowdy situation when they made the turn left on Bay instead of right toward the Embarcadero..." Yuh, I guess.

3:19pm: CANCELED JUSTIN HERMAN PLAZA CEREMONY... even more fucked up than the ruse so far....

3:23pm: Just reported about some protesters rushing a charter bus in an intersection earlier and spray painting "FREE TIBET" on it, but nobody was arrested or hurt. Not enough cops at the protests. They're all swarmed around the torch. They are not afraid of violence in the protests, as earlier mentioned. Obviously.

3:27pm: Hand-picked celebrants are being bussed out of Justin Herman Plaza... toward unknown destination of real ceremony.

3:28pm: Doyle Drive traffic at a standstill... runners done and gone... plan to take the torch to the airport... maybe ceremony to be held at SFO.

3:32pm: I'm bumming that none of the commentary seems cognizant of the travesty of this situation. They're all focussing on the "public safety" issues.... Golden Gate Bridge still closed, pending getting the torch to the airport.

3:38pm: Torch motorcade moving toward 19th [Park Presidio] off Doyle to, presumably, SFO. Traffic on bridge and freeway starting to move now. People at Justin Herman still clueless.

3:44pm: Anchors wondering why nobody's told anybody at Justin Herman about the change of plans. DUH, THEY'RE WAITING TO GET THE COPS THERE FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT, DUDE.

3:48pm: Motorcade is off Park Presidio and onto 19th, heading toward SFO....

3:50pm: Band member at Justin Herman announced the runners weren't coming, not an official, and huge groan went through the crowd.

People have been filing in to the plaza and environs since 5am this morning to see this... and reporters are asking how they feel about it.... It's eerily placid coverage....

i can't get over this

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It rocks so hard!

[unintentional pun]

I want this for my yard furniture so badly... maybe even my house furniture! I love it to bits.

It makes me dream and dream of the places and the rooms that filled me as a girl. I was always seeing my future in little flashes and this stuff reminds me of that. A fire crackling and cigarette smoke wafting. Mossy rocks. Huge tree trunks. His arm brushing me as he bends down to grab a dropped tool. Chipped paint. We could just throw wonderful, billowy cushions on these puppies and every happiness would emanate from our time on our furniture.

Even as we used it dealing with the world.

ya know

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I taught this fucker how to ride decades ago. His seat wants always to be as though he's pulling an airplane out of a dive. Drives me batshit! You can't know how many hours I spent drilling him, hassling with this travesty of horsemanship. When I left him, it was perfect. This is a recent picture. He's backslid something heinous. Think that horse is happy about those meaty mitts hauling on the bit like that? Let's call the Humane Society. Fuck.

and now for a word from the moon

...since it's Poetry Month and all.

never go back for more

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It has come to my attention that this thing is referred to as "the frontman for Babyshambles".

Really. How utterly appropriate.

See, fresh on the heels of yesterday's agreeable experience I thought I'd give celebrity news another whirl. Big mistake. It seems to be a double-edged sword. It can depress you as deeply as it can lift you. Don't rely on it.

while we aren't screaming and breaking things

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give him siegelman's cell

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bring them home

We should all be screaming this without letup until they do it.

and

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you know, i just watched "the war tapes" the other day

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BRING. THEM. HOME.

And this is the next effort in the same vein... just toned way down for tv... and not getting a look at the horrors our sweet boys perpetrate as well as endure. You know, I've got to have the cleanest tear ducts of my life these days. I can't watch these guys without loving them, without my heart breaking for not just the people they kill, but for them living the rest of their lives with that killing they did festering away inside them. I don't want a hair on their heads to be harmed.

You need to see this, to see the kids who keep going back for more tours despite hating it with their whole beings because they can't stop trying to make sure their buddies make it home. It makes me sick, sick, sick that I understand that so damn well. You have to see the kid explain how he had to give up his cushy way of life after 9/11 to go save his country. My stomach is hopping with the hate from knowing insiders pulled that precisely to turn him into their soldier. You should see and hear the young fuck-ups who wanted to turn into good men we've sent to occupy Iraq. You're going to want them home, not just to be out of there, but to be with you, with us.

This one doesn't show guys turning "insurgents" into hamburger, or mowing down pedestrians because they can't slow down or they get blown up themselves. This is just a bunch of guys running the IED gauntlet day and night for their whole tour.... I kept thinking of the ducks moving back and forth at the carnival shooting galleries. That's these guys.

I love them, and I want them to come home now.