Iraq's soccer team surged to victory upsetting three time champions Saudi Arabia to capture the Asian Cup.

Iraq The Model sums up the Iraq response to this victory: 

MSPCA wants you to help close the book on Greyhound racing in Massachusetts.  

I realize this is late to posting and I'm not in the geographical area to attend this event. However,  it is important information regarding the plight of Greyhounds and the dog racing industry. Of note, this sport was 'glamorized' in Matt Damon's break out movie - Good Will Hunting - the same movie where Damon's South Boston character speaks highly of Howard Zinn.  

A New Race Begins 

Join greyhounds, the MSPCA, The HSUS, GREY2K USA, and the Committee to Protect Dogs as an initiative petition to protect greyhounds is filed with the Attorney General on Wednesday, August 1, 2007, at 11:00a.m.  Greyhounds will walk from the State House to Ashburton Place in Boston to file the petition. Please join us particularly if you have a greyhound friend you can bring!
If passed, the initiative, which will be voted on in November of 2008, will end greyhound racing in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and GREY2K USA recognize that dogs play an important role in our lives, and deserve to be protected from individuals and industries that would cause them harm. At local racetracks, thousands of dogs endure lives of nearly endless confinement and are kept in small cages barely large enough for them to stand up or turn around for long hours each day. More than 700 dogs have been injured while racing in Massachusetts over the past five years, including dogs that suffered broken legs, cardiac arrest, spinal cord paralysis and a broken neck - cruelty this law will stop.

 Reason #5672  why I am happy my tax dollars are not supporting any Royal Family:

Norwegian Princess Martha Louise announced on Tuesday that she is clairvoyant and wants to help people by teaching them how to talk to angels. The 35-year-old trained physical therapist and daughter of King Harald and Queen Sonja said on a website for her alternative education centre that she has been communicating with angels since childhood.

 I wonder if these Angels give out winning PowerBall numbers?

A smorgashborg of photos from my recent trip to the Outer Banks have been posted to:

Flickr

Blonde Ambition

Everyone should visit the Outer Banks at least once.  OBX has lots to offer especially if you are a photographer or an outdoor enthusiast.

 Corolla Light,  a remote northern expanse in the Outer Banks, is a haven for outdoor types. Don't expect to find Starbucks or an internet cafe, expect to find beautiful beaches and wild horses. 

If you have the inclination to travel to this quite retreat, keep these tips in mind:

• Avoid peak tourist season, which would be now, unless you prefer stifling heat, and crowds of annoying tourists .
  
• I've encountered no restriction on flash photography or tripod use in my travels around the island.
  
• Pets are welcome in more places than not.
  
• Clean, safe beaches where you can leave your beach chairs and cabana overnight with the expectation that they will be there come morning.
  

It never ceases to amaze me what wonders can be found when communing with nature.

Took the new bicycle out on its inaugural run through a section of the Perkiomen Trail and discovered an antique/consignment shop just off the trail. The market makes a perfect rest stop during this 20 mile excursion and to my wonderment, I discovered this vintage silk dress that fit nearly perfectly.

Further along the trail is a greenhouse/nursery that has to be seen to believed.

Ott's Wholesale Nursery is truly a Pennsylvania curiosity.

Monica, blogmistress of Grizzly Mama has bestowed upon me the very prestigious award of:

 I have so many people to thank for helping me achieve this honor - I just want you to know:

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Skye 

Prequels can be a very scary thing - *cough* Star Wars *cough* - a thing to be kept far, far away from any writer or director.

BSG's own prequel entitled "Razor" is set to hit the American airwaves this September.  The story arc investigates the back story of the Battlestar Pegusus following through to Lee Adama's first mission as commander of Pegasus.  Based on the tidbits released during the Pegasus-Galactica arc in Season 2, the history of the Pegasus is dark and brutal. Of course it would be, as every liberal knows the military is just a band of terrorizing thugs when not under the control of civilian leadership.

But I digress.

Of all the material that the BSG storyline has to offer, this is the least interesting aspect of this series. It seems the writers and producers have chosen to stay in familiar pastures instead of breaking new ground.  Additionally, this story arc will coincide with a rehashing of the creepy Lee/Dee relationship.  Ron Moore simply does not want to let go of this carcass of a failed story line. 

Today I received an email from the organization Vets for Freedom  detailing their grass root effort called '10 Weeks to Testimony'

Veterans from across the country will gather in DC this Tuesday, July 17th, in order to meet with a number of senators to discuss the importance of their support of the Iraq war strategy - better known as The Surge.

They are asking for the senators to consider these three commonsense approaches to victory in the War on Terror.

   1. General Petraeus deserves enough time to implement a winning counter-insurgency strategy in Iraq.
   2. Retreat means a failed state in Iraq and a safe haven for Al Qaeda to plan future attacks against America and her allies.
   3. Decisions about Iraq should be made by military commanders and generals on the ground-not politicians in Washington, DC.

This is a noble effort made by those who put everything on the line to protect our precious freedom. Ironically, they now have returned home from duty only to find their fight is not yet over. The only thing that's becoming clearer by the day is that America's main opponent in Iraq is really in Washington DC.

Those of us who support Winning in Iraq can reinforce this message by taking a few minutes out of your day tomorrow to contact your home state Senators to express your support of the Surge and the Vets on the Hill.

 X-Posted at MidnightBlue 

 On Vacation:

Skye and family are traveling to an undisclosed beach in North Carolina.

At this location, I plan to spend quality time listening to the sound of waves crashing on the beach while sipping a perfectly refreshing mojito.

Surf on to MidnightBlue to catch up on my daily mo-blogging from paradise.

Ciao!

 Happy 4th of July!

We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.

William Faulkner 

Statement by the President:

The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected Lewis Libby's request to remain free on bail while pursuing his appeals for the serious convictions of perjury and obstruction of justice. As a result, Mr. Libby will be required to turn himself over to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his prison sentence.

I have said throughout this process that it would not be appropriate to comment or intervene in this case until Mr. Libby's appeals have been exhausted. But with the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision.

........ The Constitution gives the President the power of clemency to be used when he deems it to be warranted. It is my judgment that a commutation of the prison term in Mr. Libby's case is an appropriate exercise of this power.

The mainstream Democrats over at DU had this to say about today's Presidental clemency:

Edited on Mon Jul-02-07 06:05 PM by autorank

Any Democrat who opposes impeachment after this should be recalled.
This is the beginning of the end of something, don't quite know what but things are going to
explode in our corner of the world and, as we who follow public opinion know, DU is pretty
mainstream (at least on elections and voting rights issues, Iraq, the environment).

This will be one of the most intense and productive periods in American history. We have three tracks of ultimate truth going:

1) The world is dying - according to mainstream science. We're screwed unless we act in the next few years and then we're still screwed to an extent.

2) We're monsters to each other and allow each other to suffer vis a vis our health care system - Sicko is an indisputable argument proving that.

3) NO ONE can now deny this - Bush is utterly corrupt. Those 26% who still support him will dwindle by 20-30% so it will be only the 18% or so who always support the lunatic right (it was about 14% way back who continued to support McCarthy after he was disgraced thoroughly).

On edit: Not worth the effort to recall them. They just need to be scared into doing the right thing.

dicknbush  Mon Jul-02-07 07:09 PM

Response to Original message 233. HYE PELOSI...YOU BETTER PUT IMPEACHMENT BACK ON THE TABLE!    
IMPEACHMENT IMPEACHMENT. THAT SHOULD BE THE ONLY TOPIC OF DISCUSION FORM NOW ON UNTIL THE END OF THIS TRAVESTY. IMPEACHMENT IMPEACHMENT IMPEACHMNET!!!

ProudDad Mon Jul-02-07 07:36 PM
Response to Original message 275. Cute he does this on July 2
    
so it can sink into the news hole under all of the patriotic BULLSHIT that's going to flood the MSM for the next 2 days.

Clever...

PISS ON ALL FLAGS!!!!

Throwing Stones  Mon Jul-02-07 07:36 PM
Response to Original message 277. FUCK THE FUCKING FUCKERS!
   
that is all.

In the Halls of Congress:

Madame Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are expected to announce a new coordinated effort to force votes in July to end the Iraq war, according to Democratic insiders.

 In the Real World:

Dr. David Kilcullen, an authority on counterinsurgency, was appointed to advise the MNF-Iraq commander, Gen. David Petraeus. Dr. Kilcullen visited Soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade out of Fort Drum, N.Y., to take stock of the "Commando" brigade's progress June 2 and 3.

"They've done a great job just setting it up," said Dr. Kilcullen of the JSS. "They've got the Iraqi army and Iraqi police working together, which is a great start, it's a good setup with the IPs doing municipal law and order, and the Iraqi army doing rural security. The next step is to set up a joint-operations room where they can plan operations together.

Dr. Kilcullen also discussed ways to improve combined U.S. and Iraqi operations with Brig. Gen. Ali Jassim Al-Frejee, commander of the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division.

"What makes a local sheikh respect coalition forces more than terrorists?" Dr. Kilcullen asked. "Is it a case - like the Indonesians say - 'either silver or lead'?"

"Either way is difficult," said Brig. Gen. Ali. "People are getting tired of Al-Qaeda in Iraq - they're tired of the ideology and killing. In Anbar, many tribes are fighting terrorism. We just need time to re-culture the people."

"I'm very impressed with your progress here," Dr. Kilcullen told him. "The last time I came to this area, we couldn't even drive here. It's very impressive."

"Everybody knows that July and August are going to be bad months," said Dr. Kilcullen, reminding several company commanders and other officers that Petraeus' plus up report, expected in September, will be a target for insurgents. "You should expect a spike in enemy activity. Civilian and U.S. Soldier deaths will look bad - I think we'll have a hot summer. But if we break (terrorists') backs, it might drop right after. You guys are an important reality check for what's going on, and you know things before division or corps-level people."

It looks as though the terrorists and the DNC leadership will join forces in July in an attempt to evict  US troops from Iraq.   It truly is becoming more difficult to differentiate between al-queda and the DNC leadership these days. 

 Freedom Fact:  Via the men and women who support OIF

In Iraq, approximately 270 km of village roads have been completed. These projects are directly contracted with local firms and assist in the economic development of smaller communities. The Village Roads program is expected to be completed in July 2007 and will provide 424 km of improved roads.

What has al-queda and the DNC done to improve Iraq - The True Face of Our Enemy