She's managed to be both controversial and gracious at the same time over the last 8 years. She's been there to support Al during the worst and best of times. So Happy Birthday, Tipper...

Sharing some pictures of Tipper for your enjoyment...

Make sure Al gives you the best birthday cake ever

This Diary is my time-out contribution to Daily Kos.

Bias alert: Obama supporter.

I didn't start out as one. I wanted Gore, and paid little attention to the primary race otherwise, assuming that Hillary was this year's choice. I even have a Gore page up, and BTW, a Dean page too.

But once I got a chance to see them both in action...I became a fullfledged Obama supporter, giving him my first ever Presidential Primary donation. And it is now clear that Hillary is counting on pressuring the Superdelegates into a decision that they really don't want to have to make.

One reason to start this going is that the sooner we get to Obama, the sooner we can also start the process of supporting the rest of the Congressional candidates as well.

Another is that we, united with our million-plus donor/volunteer base can start piling on McVain and convincing the Nader/Bloomberg/whoever the fuck next that a third party run is a bad investment.

We would also have the summer to start supporting DFA, the local city and state candidates as well.

So take some action. More on the jump.

With so much controversy over this vote, I am astounded there is no real thread for following

the returns and the outcome. So I am creating one with some links for coverage and infomation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/...
(The Constitution of Venezuela)
World Coverage::

Chavez

Supporters Set To Rally In Midtown Ahead Of Venezuelan Election December 02, 2007

http://radiovenezuelaenvivo.blogspot...
(English)

For

Venezuela and beyond, vote today is pivotal

Official Coverage: Spanish:

http://rnv.gov.ve/... Only)
http://venezuelanalysis.com/...

It's one of those things that startle you. Profit in being green? Yes! Apparently recycling is no longer good ecology, but is good business. China buys our recycled stuff for packaging. The rise of the Eastern business sector has created a demand for materials that raw materials suppliers simply cannot fill. So they buy recycled wood and other materials.

This diary will also show you that green is not only moral, but very profitable as well. You have already heard about solar power, but are other alternatives also profitable as well? I will also share as many links as I can on the subject.

Sometimes while cleaning, I do a little thinking about things and it occured to me this morning: our employer-based health care system could not be defended logically! Here's why:

You've gotten used to your Congressperson family member being gone for so long he/she is a stranger. You look up and are astounded at the changes in appearence. They look at you and realize you actually have grown and have separate interests. You put up with demands because you know Mom/Dad will reverse everything when he leaves.

Now he wants to spend "time with you". Household goes from lively to stuffy in a hurry. Usually the stuffy is just for "campaign season" and then it's back to DC, and life returns to the household.

How to cope? After the break.....

This diary is a continuation of the all-night fundraiser diary to raise money for Susan Collins's Dem opponent,.....

Well, this is a grudge diary. I never thought that Joe was a good Democrat-dissing Clinton and standing by while Gore was being hammered endlessly. And the collaboration with the DLC to keep Al from running in 2004 by discouraging collaborations.

It's worth noticing too, how the stolen election has borne out character. Gore has gotten braver and wiser, Lieberman more entitled and bitter, while keeping up a santimonious posture as a "better" man. A better man would have worked on electoral reform and helped grow a better Democratic Party. Joe has just whined and lined his pockets.

Just reading about Al Gore's speech in San Diego refreshed my memory about Al Gore's campaign against "urban sprawl",and how badly it was understood and discussed during 1999. Most of the commentators just lumped into the "Al Gore is weird" category they seem to have and once again not paid attention to what Al was trying to say.

Let's say all goes well, and a Democrat takes the oath of office on January 20,2009 (working toward a Gore restoration myself). Many people believe that the liberal blogspshere would run out of steam without a Bush to oppose. Sure, we'll celebrate for a while (probably have been since Nov 08), and groan about some of the new President's moves, but still, they believe that once that's over we will go away.

I disagree. I like to think that we would still be working on issues, local races, and answering the rightwing noise machine. None of those things would go away after 2009 no matter what. I hope that Kos could have sub-blogs dealing with issues like global climate change, women's issues, election reform and so forth where deeper, more detailed diaries and discussions could take place.

But I'm not the only one with ideas about what Daily Kos should do. Daily Kos is a group, not just one person (though he owns it)

So this diary is being created to get you to think about what we do once the Inaugural confetti flows away.

I've been up all night cleaning and doing laundry, just so I could have a New Years Eve and Day without worrying about housework. Despite good intentions this has become an annual ritual, with some years more insane than others. In 2000, I was actually shampooing carpet in preparation for a New Years Day move,  and wondering if the power would go out while I was cleaning. 7 pm EST, I was watching TV with one eye, and looking out of the window to see if the street lights would suddenly flicker. If I had know what was to happen the following years, I would have prayed for blackouts that lasted a week.

Other New Years Eve's have found me in church and wondering if (a) I would stay awake or (b) If I would hate the fire and brimstone sermon that accompanied the music.  Either way, unlike Christmas where at least I get good food and presents, New Years' Eve reminds me of how I don't really get out that much with few compensating pleasures.

Well, it's another long weekend where we celebrate something again that we take for granted. This time, its us as workers. Besides the occasional Union rally, there doesn't seem to be much else about Labor that we celebrate. Paris Hilton has her own show, but we only remember Jimmy Hoffa as a murder victim.
But it was labor that made it possible to have a weekend, let alone a long one. Where are our labor and worker songs, anyway? What happened to Joe Hill and Eugene Debs, Randolph, and Martin Luther King? (BTW) Martin Luther King died supporting a garbage worker's strike, and planned a Poor Person's March later that year.

While others have concentrated on explaining DailyKos to you (and I hope you have already read the threads), and others on welcoming new people, I'd like to hear from you directly. If you've read the articles or heard the controversy, or your'e a lurker stirred to speak, this is the thread to speak out. What brought you here, what do you think of the place, and do you think you will stay?

As I sit here, I keep wondering what it is I could do to enhance public awareness and make people give more and more, and thoughts keep running through my head of:

We are the World-remember when all the celebrities got together and did a show? And this year's Live Aid? Can we do it again? And there are so many other ideas I want to throw out.

The reason why I am throwing out ideas is in the hope that someone will actually run with them. I don't have connections, and the one attempt to create a webpage full of links has fell victim to anger and a churning stomach.

This article, which I found on Du made me think of this phrase: Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean somebody isn't out to get you.....Even Jesus had a Judas, Ceasar, a Brutus....What have we found here?

Inside Indiana Business

With a phone call and a retainer, Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell has launched former Democratic National Committee chairman Joe Andrew on a 50-state ambassadorship for electronic voting. O'Dell said he ``wanted to reframe some of the issues,´´ Andrew said.

With all of the turmoil on the blog and the internet lately, I 've decided to create a Calm Zone. Think of all of the things that give you a feeling of zen, peace Serenity....

Below...[ed] Warm winds blowing through a forest on a sunny day...birds chirping at dawn....

When we talk about Peak Oil, we usually talk about consumption patterns and sales patterns. What we rarely want to face is that the world's greatest source of petroleum is held in the hands of people who have yet to figure out how to govern their world in a 20th century manner. To govern in a 21st Century manner is to create government that is based of principles of governance, not blood lines. Blood lines were considered irrational by the Founding Fathers who could see and remember the constant family rivalries played out over succession and the instablity that it caused.

A second look at my cut and paste from yesterday:

Gore in 08 diary inspired this one: But so has the month-long flacking of Hillary as our 08 nominee. Why should she be? Then there's Lieberman, still acting at times like he actually still has a chance to run. We all know who we would like to run, but who would you like to stay off the campaign trail for President, feeling that they have reached their Peter Principle point? For those who don't know, "The Peter Principle" was a book that speculated that people fail when they are promoted higher than their abilities and experience warranted.

For nearly three years now, everything has been linked to September 11th: the war in Iraq, our Civil Liberties, et cetera.
Over and over again, we are told when we criticize Shrub, "what about September 11th?", with the implication that we are refusing to honor the dead by criticizing him and his failed foreign and domestic policies.  

A snippet from a previous diary...and I will expound on this in the next section.