Dahr Jamail

Author of "Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq"

Arthur Silber

Go check out Arthur Silber's latest rant at "Yes: I TOLD YOU SO"

It is a nice rant. I know how he feels.

I visited Atrios' site for a bit, but dropped out just after the 2006 elections. The worship of the Democratic Party was too much for me. I got tired of being called a Republican troll for arguing that the Democrats won't impeach, that most of the Democratic candidates were Republican-Lites.

Then I got flamed for being a spoilsport as people argued that they deserved a celebration because they work so hard to get the Democrats elected, even if I was right. So they deserved to celebrate a fantasy prize from a fantasy victory, based on actual real work that ultimately aided their enemies? It is no wonder that fantasy wrapped up as reality, sells so well on television.

I agree with you that an attack on Iran seems certain. But even Democratic Party faithfuls that accept this, argue that this is a good thing, because it will insure a Democratic Party sweep in 2008. I can't help but think, 'So what?' Why can't they use the over sized primate brains in their skulls, to consider the consequences?

Let's assume our bombers are hitting Tehran as Hillary Clinton drinks champagne at her victory party.

1. The Strait of Hormuz is closed to shipping as tankers are sunk and fires spread accross the Gulf.
2. The world stock markets tank.
3. The US dollar begins a rapid free fall.
4. The price of gasoline approaches $10.00/gal.
5. The high price of fuel drives the cost of goods through the roof. Many store shelves sit empty.
6. Food and fuel rationing is begun.
7. Our ground troops in Iran and Iraq start taking heavy losses.
8. Hillary and Democratic majority in Congress and the Senate, vote to start a conditional draft.
9. Protests heat up. Protesters are killed in a number of events by Blackwater Security.
10. The unemployment rate begins rising. The MSM has difficulty avoiding stories of massive layoffs.
11. Hillary has her own 'Jimmy Carter moment', as she implores Americans to conserve and to help each other in this time of crisis.
12. In the wars, casualty rates climb. Republicans start screaming that Hillary is losing the war.
13. The war expands into Syria, Jordan, Turkey and Africa.
14. Republicans take the House and Senate in 2010.
15. Impeachment hearings against Hillary are immediately begun.
16. The draft takes more and more young men and the body bags flow freely back to the US.
17. Hillary is impeached and removed from office.
18. The Republicans own the Presidency, House and Senate in 2012.
19. Stuff doesn't get better.

If the Democrats don't impeach, and Bush starts World War III, it is not in their interest to have their candidate in the White House. A war on Iran will be a steaming bowl of shit. The next President will be stuck with it.

And for this reason, I am confident that a Democrat will win.

T. Boone Pickens

On this segment, the talking heads have trouble taking him seriously. He's not regurgitating the talking points, they think that's funny.


T. Boone says we peaked last year.


T. Boone on oil prices.


Back in April...

Gardening Weekend.

I had an easy weekend. I jammed a bit with my neighbor, and spent some time in the yard.

Normally by now, I'd have my gardens ripped up, and I'd be snagging leaves from the neighbor's, and getting them tilled in.

This year, I looked at my weed patch that is dotted with a mix of healthy tomatoes, peppers and basil, and I wasn't sure what to do.

My wife had some input. Touch my tomatoes and die!

It is mid-November and I have big beefsteak tomatoes still growing!

I ended up weeding and tilling around the plants. It is late in the season, but I went ahead and threw in a variety of lettuce and cabbage seeds. In what used to be a normal winter, these are plants that grow well. I've had lettuce and cabbage under three inches of snow, thaw out unfazed.

This year, it is still in the 70s. There is no sign we'll get a freeze anytime soon. They may just sprout and do fine.

My winter wheat is nearly a foot high. Irene says that's the dumbest thing I've planted yet. She's probably right. There is no way I can grow it cheaper than I can buy it. Without government subsidies, I can't compete with an industry that sells below cost, in order to keep third world nations impoverished.

Even as I write this, I'm reminded that during Perestroika, fresh bread and staples such as flour and sugar, were hard to come by. There is no way I can grow enough food on my plot to sustain us, but that isn't the point. Having something to fall back on, when the store is out of what you need, is the point. And that is how the Russian people recovered from Perestroika. They grew what they couldn't buy.

Last year, we were eating artichokes twice a week. It seemed like a sinful indulgement, considering how expensive they are in Texas supermarkets. But not for us. I just walked out to the front yard and picked them when they were ready.

This next year, we'll be pigging out on fresh asparagus and artichokes!

Impeach Cheney!

Go Dennis!

I've heard a lot about how there just aren't enough votes to win. So when you can beat them, you join them. Since Nancy Pelosi can't get the votes to impeach Bush or Cheney, must work to help Bush keep slaughtering people in the ME and to help start a war against Iran, leading possibly to open war against Syria and Turkey, both to b backed by Russia and China. In essence, the beginning of World War III.

Dennis Kucinich understands that joining an promoting evil, simply because you fear you can't defeat it, is not an option.

An Un-American American Band

My grandfather was a big fan of Woody Guthrie, and of course Pete Seeger.

Pete Seeger was a member of the Almanac Singers when he toured with Woody Guthrie, then went on to play in new band called, The Weavers.

The various members of The Weavers had been playing together at union rallies and promoted various socialist organizations.

When they came together as the Weavers, they dropped politics from their music and performed a wide variety of folk tunes. Their fans from the union and socialist rallies criticized them for abandoning politics to 'go commercial' and then Joe McCarthy and his supporters went after them with accusations that they were communists and sowing dissent. As arguments went back and forth about their politics, they continued to sing and record music without making any political statements as a band.

Joe McCarthy's hearings on Anti-American affairs finally ended The Weavers as a band. They found it increasingly difficult to get gigs and the record companies were facing pressure not to record their music. The band quit in 1952, then reunited after the hearings ended and finally disbanded for good in 1964.

But their legacy lived on. The Folk Revival and protest groups of the 1960s were inspired by the Weavers and their story. Although Pete Seeger remained blacklisted, went on to write and record additional songs that became hits for other bands. Song such as 'Where Have All The Flowers Gone' and 'Turn Turn Turn'. My grandfather used to enjoy playing, 'Waist Deep In The Big Muddy'.


Around The World


So Long (It's Been Good To Know Yuh)


And the one everybody knows!
Goodnight Irene