I'm really a dog person. Really.

What could I do, the local kids invited me to their Halloween costume party. Easier to stitch together a cat costume. Life is too short not to have fun!

Happy BIrthday, Mother!

Happy birthday, Mother!

Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman. Wishing you the great joy and happiness you have always showered on us.

We love you!

*****

photo by zteamie

Idea Incubator

Enchanted to work with stellar authors, especially those who don't realize how wonderful they are becoming. I feel that I work in a well-protected idea incubator, observing and guarding ideas until they hatch.

Ask me two years ago if this scenario was even conceivable, and you get the same laughter as I had contemplating the evolving work that would result in 30 trips to Russia to save thousands of lives, before it happened, while the dream was still in the incubator.

Old dream: save the former USSR from darkness, bring hope

New dream: save the current US from darkness, bring hope

*****

Krugman Wins Nobel in Economics

Bush critic wins prize: sweet

Paul Krugman of Princeton was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Let's hope someone in the government is listening to what he has to say. It's not too late.

May I say "Bush Critic Krugman Wins 2008 Nobel for Economics" is a wonderful headline. Talk about getting the most important information out there first.

Next post up will have some ideas for the bailout. Later today we've got action items for Congress. Great start to a busy day!

Pull Up A Chair -- Special Edition for Christy

crossposted 11 october 2008 firedoglake

Set it on the kitchen counter, ok?

On most Saturday mornings, Christy puts on a pot of coffee and invites us over to chat. Today, though, it's our turn to offer some very special FDL love to Christy and her family in the loss of her husband's mother this week.

We lean on each other so much here that it has become a real community of shared joys and sorrows. We offer Christy, her husband, and their family our deep sympathy, our hugs, our spiritual energy, and our flowing love as they go through this terrible loss. We are with you.

When people in our own neighborhoods suffer a loss like this, a lot of us would bring over a casserole, so that the family wouldn't have to worry about cooking for a while. Today, I'm asking you to bring a virtual casserole (or other comfort food) to Pull Up A Chair, since it's what we would do if we all lived in the same physical community.

Bring your favorites here, either a description or the recipe, for her family to contemplate, and maybe some of those recipes will become favorites of her family in the future as they remember the community who loves them.

We all grieve in different ways. At its worst, grief can nearly knock people down physically, and it can be hard to endure one hour to the next. It can be hard to imagine why the sky is still blue -- does it even matter? And how can people go on living normal lives all around us? Don't they understand that everything is different now?

Late Nite Hospital Visit: New Revelations

crossposted 26 september 2008 firedoglake

Murray Waas has a breaking story in the Atlantic with more details about that frightening hospital visit to Ashcroft, where the entire top tier of DoJ stood ready to resign.

Marcy's new Timeline here

According to people familiar with statements recently made by Gonzales to federal investigators, Gonzales is now saying that George Bush personally directed him to make that hospital visit.

[snip]

Gonzales has also told Justice Department investigators that President Bush played a more central and active role than was previously known in devising a strategy to have Congress enable the continuation of the surveillance program when questions about its legality were raised by the Justice Department, as well as devising other ways to circumvent the Justice Department’s legal concerns about the program, according to people who have read Gonzales’s interviews with investigators.

So, is it bad? What is the White House's reaction?

One scenario feared by the White House is that the IG or OPR could send a public report to Congress concluding that Gonzales or some other official may have committed a crime. At a minimum, that would make the conduct of Gonzales, or of any other official deemed to be under suspicion, the subject of a criminal investigation.

If the report also raised unanswered questions about possible misconduct by other senior administration officials, or even the president, that could lead to the appointment of a special prosecutor.

Good times, good times.

video from hidusr

The Debate is On: McCain Flip-Flops Again

crossposted 26 september 2008 firedoglake

The Presidential debate will go on as scheduled. So McCain's campaign suspension is suspended. Or something.

From Reuters:

Republican John McCain said he will attend the first of three presidential debates with Democrat Barack Obama on Friday, ending two days of suspense and setting up a showdown that could help decide a tight race for the White House.

McCain had vowed to skip the debate if a $700 billion rescue of the U.S. financial industry was not settled, but his campaign said in a statement that enough progress had been made to go ahead.

"The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the senator will travel to the debate this afternoon," the statement said. He will come back to Washington after the event and return to the negotiations.

photo by wedgienet

Thirty Years - A Toast

"Kingdoms come and go
But they don't last
Before you know
The future is the past.

In spite of what's been lost
What's been gained
We are living proof
Love remains"

*******

Collin Raye

photo by Picture Taker 2

Jigsaw Puzzle: Ur Doin It Rong

Bring me a hammer and the scissors please? Because that's the only way I can make these puzzle pieces fit.

*****