just a quick shout out to all those cats who bat pics around the interwebs.

it paints pretty and keeps connections sweet and fresh.

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contacts … need more!

wit and wonder

what it’s all about

just for the record, if Sabine ever dumps my schizo-ass … i’m stalking Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman until she converts to the darkside and lands herself in my lap.

yup, she’s that hot.

So, here’s a quote and there’s the {{LINK}} for mas lefty-pinko writin’s ~

On the Sunday following Sept. 11, 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney told the truth. On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he said regarding plans to pursue the perpetrators of that attack: “We have to work the dark side, if you will. We’re going to spend time in the shadows.”

The grim, deadly consequences of his promise have, in the intervening six years, become the shame of our nation and have outraged millions around the world. President George Bush and Cheney, many argue, have overseen a massive global campaign of kidnapping, illegal detentions, harsh interrogations, torture and kangaroo courts where the accused face the death penalty, confronted by secret evidence obtained by torture, without legal representation.

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Or, maybe i’ll club Naomi Klein {{LINK}} over the noggin’ and take her back to the cave.

hmm …

and i’m going to include this quote from Klein’s article (Beth, you might want to check the ramifications of that Scahill article we were talkin about).

Postscript: Ari Melber criticized this column, citing a video the Obama campaign has been circulating featuring a minister of Obama’s church who makes it clear that while Obama is not a Muslim, there would be nothing wrong with it if he was. I had the same clip sent to me directly from the Obama campaign and wrote this in response: “What I am suggesting needs to be said can only be said by the man himself, just as he has taken brave stances against racism directed at Latinos under the guise of fighting illegal immigration. Do not underestimate the message that his silence is sending, not just in the U.S. but around the world.”

One more thing: now is the time when candidates are most open to pressure. For instance, Hillary Clinton just announced that she will co-sponsor legislation to ban the use of private military companies–exactly one day after my Nation colleague Jeremy Scahill revealed that both Clinton and Obama were poised to let the mercenaries stay in Iraq even if the troops come home. Pushing candidates on the issues during a campaign can have a real impact, so can we please move beyond superfandom? I have also heard from people who think that saying Arabs and Muslims are worthy of exactly the same rights and protections as other minorities is just too high-risk a position for Obama during the campaign. If that’s the position, so be it, but don’t pretend the campaign is doing something it is not. It is precisely because he has been so strong on other issues of discrimination and racism that his trepidation on this issue leaps out.

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Yeah, i’d take Goodman or Klein in a pinch.

but, maybe i’ll stay lucky and keep the girl happy.

yeehoo! love is in the air!
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… what put my morale in order yesterday ~

1. training with the pals

2. glimpsing JustinRobinson taking his youth group out for a bike ride … he calls it training, i call it growth. thanks Justin ~ seeing that put a little light back into it all.

3. a conversation with my woman. a conversation about love, and need, and trust.

and i am grateful.

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Ban Radios

Michael Barry is a bit on the white-bread side of the fence, but gawdamn ~ i admire the way the guy rides and writes. And, he’s married to dede … so, he’s gotta have at least a wee bit of darky in him to keep a firestarter like that interested.

Hell yeah, Barry. I’m a fan.

Here’s an excerpt from his VsNewz piece {{LINK}} ~ too long, but right on.

“At the back of the peloton there were splits and bottlenecks on the small roads, so unless the leader was well placed he had no chance at victory. As everybody is racing to put their leader in front the speed naturally increases to the point where it felt as though we were heading towards the finish line - there was desperation in the group and riders took risks diving up the side and through gaps that barely exist to make it to the front before the beginning of the climb.

Universally, in most major bike races, the same desperation can be heard in the director’s voice over the radio as he knows the climb is coming and splits in the group are imminent; he warns the riders, scolds the riders, yells at the riders, to get to the front, and in position. Over the radio, he counts down the kilometers until the climb begins, until the climb is over and then, when we get to the top, tells us to stay in front for the dangerous descent as splits in the peloton and crashes going downhill can be equally damaging to the team. Racing would be far safer, more dynamic and interesting if radios were banned as the director now tugs the reins on his horses telling them when to go, turn, stop and eat.”

word

create art

sabine dukes on flickr.com, for more
~~~ {{LINK}} ~~~