Let’s consider the following hypothetical.  Your grandfather likes to smoke in his bed.  He’s been told over and over again that it’s neither hygienic nor safe.  But grandpa tends not to listen to anyone and does what he wants regardless of the potential consequences to either himself or those around him ...  

Well, I was all set to hate Hillary, but damn, she shore did make me proud!  I'm just a little younger than Hill, and I've spent my whole life trying to be what I was supposed to be & having that interfered with, by what they wanted me to be.  

This woman was brave as any of the 300 Spartins!  She gave the greatest speech to date of her life on behalf of her biggest rival!

She outdoes any macho hero of recent movie history.  She took the bullet and she did a hell of a death scene.

I am proud of her and I know she will go on to be our new Ted Kennedy.

Give her your props, please.

And, forgive me my ramblings.

If you like public art, public appeals for peace, and public displays of affection, you'll love this video. Peace advocates in Denver for the Democratic National Committee meetings send the delegates a message of peace.

Note that, unlike some of our Republican Members of Congress and right-wing televangelists, the peace advocates in this video practice what they preach. They don't seek to impose burdens on others that they shirk for themselves. When they suggest that others "Make Out, Not War," they are fully prepared to do it themselves.

John McCain has boasted that he knows how to win wars.  Since he has chosen to make his military prowess a central part of his campaign, it can be exposed for the empty, dangerous bluster that it is with one simple slogan.

Witness Against War, a walk from Chicago to St. Paul to promote non-violence and an end to the war is Iraq, is in its final week.  

Dan  Pearson,  the one who dreamed it up, scouted and planned the route, and coordinates much of the logistics, calls it "a totally worthwhile endeavor."  He and Kathy Kelly are co-coordinators of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, the Chicago-based group that organized and sponsors the walk.  

The drive from Milwaukee, where I had last walked with them, to Pepin, WI, on the Mississippi River, to rejoin them, took five hours.  It had taken the walkers five weeks.

As they started Saturday’s trek from Pepin to Maiden Rock, along one of the most spectacularly scenic stretches of river in the country, they had covered 420 miles.   When they reach St. Paul this weekend, in time for the Republican national convention, they will have walked nearly 500 miles.

This is an e-mail letter I wrote to an old HS friend. He went to Nasheville to become a star and I moved to Olympia WA and became a professional do-gooder. We have both been moderately sucessful in our goals.  Thanks to the Internet we have just now regained contact after many years.  We are just now turning 60 this year.  Vietnam was our war. Peace and justice was, and still are, our cause.  The letter is a part of re-aquainting him with my life in these times.  Some of you may appreciate it.  If not that's OK too.  

If you think that all that is happening in Denver this week is pundit blah blah on CNN, consider that it's only Sunday afternoon, Denver time, and already a wide variety of peace protests have taken place today in the Mile High City.

At noon Sunday a spirited CodePink demonstration set out towards Union Station from CodePink headquarters at the Mercury Cafe. Marchers chanted: "Dems, Pay Attention! This Should Be a Peace Convention!" They were greeted warmly by passing pedestrians and motorists.

The majority of TV pundits may strongly feel otherwise, but there is no reason to believe that the majority of Americans want Democratic leaders to blur distinctions with McCain on issues of peace and war. They surely want Democratic leaders to present and defend clear alternatives, including full withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, and the pursuit of serious negotiations with Iran, not a slightly more nuanced version of the Bush/McCain policies of ultimatum and threat, which stand little chance of ending confrontation in the region.

The fact that only 4 Senators stood to protect the people of the United States from the KGB like activities of the FBI and Mr. Mukasey shows how far wacked this country has gone.

If you have not heard the news..... Then you are not keeping up.

Here is your October Surprise... The FBI will be able to get all your information, blood type, telephone and email records, and you don't even have to break the law or be seen as a threat to the U.S govenment.

We can thank Schumer, Feinstein, Bayh, and Landrieu, who helped confirm Mukasey,

Rockport, MA is a small New England fishing town--quaint buildings, trendy shops, an actual fishing industy, but lots of tourists from all ove.  Many come every year to watch the quirky 4th of July parade--my particular favorite "act" is the lawn chair drill team.  It's the kind of place you can put your blanket on the parade route the evening before the parade, and it will still be there the following evening for you to sit on.  

The parade ends with everyone walking down to the beach for the big BONFIRE, while the Legion Band plays familiar songs in the band gazebo. Every year the firemen put something special on top. This year it was a little red shed.  It burned like a "house afire" and fell to the ground with a fire splash that was spectacular.  

No fireworks, just good old fashioned New England fun.  But this year two things happened that were a bit unusual...

First about 20 Obama people marched in the parade--to my relief they got a lot of applause--not really surprising, I guess, here in Blue country, but still, it was pleasant.

Today's the day -- Iraq Moratorium #12 -- a day to do something to end the war and occupation of Iraq.

It's a simple concept.  The Moratorium asks people to interrupt their daily routines on the Third Friday of every month and take some action, individually or with a group, to end the war and occupation.  It encourages  locally organized, grassroots actions to move more of the silent majority who say they oppose the war to do something to end it.

The national Moratorium doesn't try to tell people what action to take.  It offers a wide variety of options, from wearing a button or armband to taking part in a demonstration, and many things in between.  The important thing is that people do something.

I would like to enlist the community's help in identifying a short story that has some relevance for today's world. It has been a long time since I read this story. I lost the book when my parents basement was flooded out, and time has erased the name of the story and the authour, but it keeps coming back to me whenever I see efforts of the progressive community to move towards a more peaceful foreign policy.

Today I spent a few hours with a group of Armed Guard and Merchant Marine veterans.  Their monthly meeting is always held at Hoss’s though it is difficult to navigate a buffet with canes and walkers.  The group is 59 strong if all are in attendance – some bring their spouses or are driven there by a relative since they can travel 30 miles to be there.  

Friday marks the 12th month, the end of a year, for the Iraq Moratorium.

Since last September, it has united people holding more than 1,200 events and actions in 41 states and 240 communities, from one end of the country to the other.

But it hasn't stopped the war.  Should we give up now?

The Iraq Moratorium folks don't think so.  In fact, they've renewed their commitment to ending the war and occupation, and have made some improvements in the operation. You'll find a new website, with a new address, www.IraqMoratorium.com, and even a new logo to go with the new look.

Witness Against War, a 450-mile walk from Chicago to St. Paul for the Republican convention, reached a Wisconsin Army base on Sunday, and 13 walkers were arrested when they tried to enter the base to interact with soldiers there.

Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, who organized the walk, was held on an oustanding 10-year-old warrant for civil disobedience at Project ELF in northern Wisconsin.  The others were released and the walk continues today.

This report is from Jeff Leys, one of the walkers who was arrested:  

In the spirit, perhaps, of the Vietnam war protesters (pictured) who attempted to levitate the Pentagon in 1967, activists in Springfield, Mass. will observe the Iraq Moratorium on Friday, Aug. 15, by encircling the federal building there.

They'll gather at 4 p.m. for a short rally, then will encircle the building and hold hands around it. The theme for the day is "Dont Invade Iran." They are calling the action "Hands Around the Federal Building," and say that car pools are coming from other cities. "we need 350 people to make this work. We are confident we will have that," they say on the Moratorium blog.

That's just one of dozens of events happening across the country, which are listed on the new, improved Moratorium website. There are always more that don't get posted, or that only surface after the fact.

Hiroshima Day, August 6, and Nagasaki Day, August 9, will be commemorated around the world this week. These days take on special meaning at a time when the U.S. and its allies are pressing Iran to forgo development of nuclear energy due to concerns that Iran also plans to develop nuclear weapons.

But is it feasible to continue an international regime built on nuclear haves and have nots? Can we expect countries like Iran and North Korea to indefinitely forgo the power and prestige of being a member of the nuclear club when Pakistan, India, Israel, China, and the U.S. all have the bomb?

As the Iraq Moratorium prepares for its 12th monthly observance on August 15 -- the Third Friday of the month, as always -- it's made some changes to get ready for its second year.

You'll find a new website, with a new address, www.IraqMoratorium.com, and even a new logo to go with the new look.

One thing that hasn't changed is the determination to end the senseless war and occupation of Iraq, by encouraging locally organized, grassroots actions to move more of the silent majority who say they oppose the war to do something to end it.

DFH....... DFH.  I've been one since I discovered a personal affection for thinking for myself.  I suspect many Kossacks reading this fit the same description.  We carry it as a badge of honor.

We have been right about a myriad of issues.

From matters of dissent, and religious freedom, to public education and healthcare for all, to the the most important issues that humankind faces the world over: peace and our survival as a species on this fragile jewel we inhabit that hangs so perilously in the vastness of space.  

We were always the one demographic that has been right from the start about every issue we cared about. Every. Single One.

Follow me below for a reminder of what it is we care about and our quest to make this a "more perfect union" and a better world....... all set to the music of my time. And probably your music too.