It's hard to believe that I haven't blogged in over two and a half years! What was I thinking?? All of a sudden I have at least ten topics to blog about and not a clue where to start. Political topics -- the crazy GOP candidates, the party of NO, my take on the political spectrum, the 2012 campaign.... Personal health and fitness topics -- how to survive multiple surgeries and keep your sense of humor, getting well, bye, bye diets; hello wellness.... Family fun -- genealogy and getting together... hmmm.....

Maybe I'll start with personal stories and work up to (or down to) the wacky world of wingnut politics! Oh, well, I'll think about that tomorrow, Scarlet!

A Subpoena is a subpoena, is a subpoena, is a ........

On February 23, Karl Rove was supposed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in accordance with a Congressional subpoena. But Karl Rove didn't show up. Again!

He didn't show up last year either when he was ordered to testify. He hid behind his buddy George who said Rove's testimony was protected by "executive privilege." Now Bush is no longer president (yippee!!), so we should expect Karl Rove to honor a subpoena like any other U.S. citizen! Finally we should have the opportunity to learn the truth about Karl Rove's misdeeds, from authorizing voter suppression tactics to orchestating the arrest of Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.

But even though we have a new president (yippee!), Karl Rove is still acting like he's entitled to all the privileges that may have come with his old job. 

But there is something that we can do. I just signed a petition telling Attorney General Eric Holder to compel Karl Rove to comply with the subpoena. When that day comes, I'll be glued to the TV to watch this weasel squirm.

It's called accountability, folks! Plus a lot of other words like, justice, honor, truth and the American Way!

And, hey, while we are at it, let's subpoena Dick Cheney about authorizing torture, a violation of both US and international law... how 'bout that?

"In Support of Shunning"

Media Matters for America sent out an email today with an essay, "In Support of Shunning," by Jamison Foser. It is a fascinating, well-researched article that underlines the hypocracy in the conservative media today. The article focuses on George Will, the much acclaimed Washington Post columnist and holier-than-thou conservative. While Will claims to be above reproach, Foser gives several examples of Will's lies and Will's attempts to bury the truth. For all of you who are concerned about truth in the media, this is a must read! I also highly recommend that you sign up for a daily email summary from Media Matters for America that highlights media falsehoods promoted by conservative media sources.

Rediscover Joy

My friend, Ed, a link to the world of the conservative, sent me this video, from his uncle, the ultra conservative, as a reminder to pause for a while among all the hectic activities this time of year and not lose yourself in the activities of shopping, cooking, stress and fatigue. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have. Even the conservatives are supporting change! Be sure to turn up the volume on your speakers and ENJOY!

Click here:  FINDING JOY

A Great Day!

It was a great Christmas day with presents, cooking, good conversation, and playing in the snow. The meteorologists tell us that in Western Washington we have a 7% chance of a White Christmas and that there have only been 10 Christmases since 1891 with more than one inch of snow. Here on South Pass Road at about the 535 foot level we have 26 or so inches of snow on the ground -- not sure if it was a record breaker, but it sure was beautiful. Our guests enjoyed skiing, sledding and making angels in the snow.

Not my usual post, but.....

I just had to tell you about two things I learned today from Customer Service 800 numbers:

1. Six full graham crackers make one cup of graham cracker crumbs;

2. You can keep home-made mashed potatoes on warm in a Rival Crock Pot for 2 - 3 hours.

I searched the Internet for this information and could not find a thing! But the customer service folks at Kraft and Rival had the information at their fingertips -- and they assured me that these were not the most unusual questions they have ever received.

I made my Mother's recipe for Christmas Pudding and it called for 18 crushed graham crackers, but only had the already crushed kind. And I hate the last minute kitchen chaos with the mashing the potatoes, scooping the stuffing and stirring the gravy all at the same time!! 

I'm way ahead with dinner prep this year!!!

Torture Creates Terrorists

On November 30, 2008, the Washington Post published an article by Matthew Alexander, a pseudonym for a military officer who led an interrogation team in Iraq in 2006. In the article Alexander talks about "the deeply flawed, ineffective and un-American way the U.S. Military conducts interrogations in Iraq."

Alexander is a 14-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force serving as a pilot, counterintelligence agent, and an interrogator. In Iraq in February of 2006, he was part of a team trying to locate Zarqawi. He found that the Army was conducting interrogations according to the Guantanamo Bay model, which he defines as the methods outlined in the U.S. Army Field Manual, but often bending and breaking the rules. He said, "These interrogations were based on fear and control; they often resulted in torture and abuse."

Matthew Alexander refused to use those techniques and taught his team another approach that built rapport with suspects, was culturally sensitive, and used "good old-fashioned brainpower to tease out information." Their efforts were successful and led to the death of Zarqawi.

Despite Alexander's team's success, the military continued to use the old methods -- cruelty, hatred and fear. Alexander knows the justification that says, "we need the rough stuff for the truly hard cases...." Yet he recounts an incident in which his new techniques prompted one captive to say, "I thought you would torture me, and when you didn't, I decided that everything I was told about Americans was wrong. That's why I decided to cooperate."

Perhaps the most emotionally wrenching and intellectually compelling statement made by Matthew Alexander was this one:

Torture and abuse are against my moral fabric. The cliche still bears repeating: Such outrages are inconsistent with American principles. And then there's the pragmatic side: Torture and abuse cost American lives.

I cried as he went on to show how the torture created more terrorists with a stronger will who killed more American soldiers. And I couldn't help but place the blame directly at the feet of Cheney and Bush. Here is a military man who figured out a better way, a more morally correct way, to gather information and at the same time to reach out to the enemy in a humane way.

But out leaders, both civilian and military, were too set on their course, too ignorant, too calloused, too devoid of morals and ethics, to even listen to Matthew Alexander, to even consider a better way, to rise above evil and seek a more just way. Alexander says that "at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse." He rightly calls the torture and abuses a stain on our national honor.

Damn you Dick Cheney! Damn you George W. Bush! 

I call on the next administration to charge Cheney and Bush with the war crimes that they have committed. That is the only way to restore our national honor, to reinstate moral and ethical treatment for all and to reset our course based on our founding principles.