Man torturing man is a fiend beyond description. You turn a corner in the dark and there he is. You congeal into a bundle of inanimate fear. You become the very soul of anesthesia. But there is no escaping him. It is your turn now...
-- Henry Miller The Soul of Anaesthesia, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare (1945)

  In light of the impending loss of one of our best bloggers, I think it may be a good time to offer some tips on protecting your online anonymity.  Keep in mind that these are not foolproof.  If you are looking for a 100% absolute way to protect your internet privacy I can think of only one, reach over and disconnect your computer from the wall.  Abstinence, as our Republican friends would surely remind us, is the only sure-fire way to protect yourself.

For those of us that are not willing to go to that extreme, I offer a privacy "condom" below the fold.  

According to this article on Yahoo News titled "Mind Control by Parasites"

Half of the world's human population is infected with Toxoplasma, parasites in the body - and the brain.

Hmmm... Half?  That sounds about right numberwise.

Apparently, Toxoplasma gondii, which is a common parasite found in cats, has been found by researchers to be capable of altering the mind.

The two most common beliefs seem to be that (1)she may be taking a principled stand, or (2)she is gauging the political winds in her district and is doing this for re-election purposes.

Well, one of those may very well be the reason.  But I would just like to caution us to not be so willing to take this at face value.  She has an R after her name, and for that reason alone I don't trust her.  Jump below to read what I believe may really be going on here.

We brought the battle directly to one of our enemy's greatest strongholds. Our troops fought with the valiant strength that can only be summoned by those who are driven by the righteousness of their beliefs. We salute these heroes, and assure them that their noble efforts shall not have been in vain. In their honor we must re-dedicate ourselves to their just and noble cause. And we pledge that although the battle may go against us at times, we can not and will not give up the fight, for this is a war where the principles of our great nation are at stake.

Sadly, just as it appeared that victory was within our grasp today, some of our commanders ignored the orders to stand their ground, choosing instead to retreat to safety. Be assured, the cowardly and shameful actions of these commanders will not be forgotten.

Today marks the 20th anniversay of the space shuttle Challenger disaster, where seven brave men and women lost thier lives in the pursuit of our dreams.

While this diary is posted in thier honor, it isn't really about them. It's about the hopes and dreams of a little boy in 1969.

And it's a little bit about all the folks here at dKos.

And all of this caused by a salt-and-pepper-haired pretty-boy pseudo-newscaster on CNN.

You see I have been watching the the first 60 minutes of Anderson Cooper 360.

It was the 1960's, and I was just a little boy growing up in the Midwest. The area I lived in, and the school I attended, were overwhelmingly white. There were only three black kids in the entire elementary school. One of them, Mike, was one of my best friends.

Mike and I did all the things you would expect of little boys. In the sweltering Midwest summers we would strip off our shirts and play with the garden hose to cool off. We would ride our bikes together, zooming down the hills pretending to be fighter pilots, or astronauts. We climbed trees, played cowboys and indians, and on cool summer evenings we were always up for a game of kick-the-can.

Nevertheless, until we can get this horrible piece of legislation changed, there is something that you can do to save these wild mustangs.

(more below the fold)

News story here

So, will the U.S. offer humanitarian assistance here? Will the Bush administration take this opportunity to soften some of the tensions with Iran?

Update [2005-2-22 4:18:7 by bluerevolt]: The loss of life has now risen to at least 175 dead

Update [2005-2-22 5:0:18 by bluerevolt]:Now 190 dead, over 1000 injured

From the LA Times

What the Times is talking about is a little known program called the "Fugitive Felon Project". It was enacted in the mid 90s in order to keep dangerous fugitives from using government money to evade arrest.

The problem is, the project is only right about half the time. And if your grandmother is on the list, she's guilty until proven innocent.

(more on the flip)

Bush is irrelevant. He is a lame duck. He cannot be re-elected without a change to the constitution. Attacks on him do not serve the best interest of the Democratic Party.

Now, when I say stop attacking Bush, I don't really mean stop attacking Bush. What I am saying is, stop attacking just Bush.

We need to use a tactic from the Republican's playbook on this.

(more below the fold)

1. Bush uses his "political capital" to bring up Social Security reform in his State of the Union address. He talks in general terms and actually outlines no specific plan.
   
2. Democrats respond, opposing Social Security reform. They talk about about how there will be cuts in benefits, how it is gambling with the future, and they question the President's numbers.  Some Republicans start to seem a little wishy-washy, and they start to hedge thier rhetoric . The President's plan for Social Security reform appears doomed to failure.

(more below the fold)
     

And you know what Dorothy? While you are not looking, the Wicked Witch of the West Schwarzenegger, along with Grover Norquist and his pack of right-wing flying monkeys, are working to gut $1 trillion in public pension funds nationwide by privatizing them.

Following this yellow brick road has catastrophic consequences for every American. And once we are there, no amount of heel-clicking will get us back to Kansas.

(OK, I promise, I'm done with the Wizard of Oz stuff. The full story is below the fold)

The problem is, I saw almost zero press on this. We really have a problem getting our voices heard. If the two leading Democrats in congress can't be heard above the fray, who can? This happened yesterday and I didn't see a thing about it. But hey, that Michael Jackson story is really important to the future of our country, huh?

Anyway, the speeches were given to the National Press Club. The full text of the speeches (as prepared for delivery) are below the fold.

Today marks the second anniversay of the space shuttle Columbia disaster, where seven brave men and women lost thier lives in the pursuit of our dreams.

While this diary is posted in thier honor, it isn't really about them. It's about the hopes and dreams of a little boy in 1969.

And it's a little bit about the dKos community, and others like it.

From the text of the letter

The full letter is below the fold.

Just for fun, and since I've got an extra diary to burn, I thought it might be interesting to ask the Kos community who they think is the Democratic Party's "Peter Pumpkinhead".  I'm not talking about who is "electable". What I'm looking for is the Dem you think has the guts to stand up for what the party believes in, and is willing to suffer the consequences of making that stand.

So tell me, who is our Peter Pumpkinhead?

Poll and Song Lyrics below the fold.