The Haze Filter

Bud Cramer Referenced On Kos ::

and this is truly disturbing regarding telecom immunity. I try to never snag an entire post, but this is just too much not to share with fellow Cramer constituents. From McJoan at Kos::

I knew there was some good reason I was still subscribed to RedState's e-mail alerts.

The "Blue Dog" Democrats are the conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives. Twenty-one of the Blue Dogs signed a letter to Nancy Pelosi on January 28th urging her to move the bipartisan FISA legislation forward.

The legislation would allow the government to eavesdrop on phone calls made outside this country to other people outside this country, but whose calls are routed through this country (the majority of international phone calls are routed through the U.S.).

The Blue Dogs said the FISA legislation should include targeted immunity for phone carriers who help the government stop terrorists.

While the Blue Dogs were willing to sign the letter to Nancy Pelosi, they have been unwilling to actually sign a discharge petition, which would bring this matter to the floor of the House without Nancy Pelosi's consent.

Below are the names and phone numbers of the Blue Dogs who talk a good game, but fail to act. Please call them and urge them to sign the discharge petition on H.R. 5440.

So far no Democrats have been traitorous enough to actually sign that discharge petition, but it's not from a lack of effort on the part of the Right to try to force them to do it, as this e-mail will attest. There are signs of weakening among them, though. One of the 21 tried to sell us out on a vote in the House Intelligence Committee last week. It was either Bud Cramer or Leonard Boswell, both of whom signed onto that infamous Pelosi letter, and both of whom are on the Committee.

So this isn't an entirely quixotic effort by RedState. They think there are weak links in this group of 21 members, and they might be right. There are a lot more of us than there are RedStaters, so we can make this calling effort of theirs look puny in comparison. You know what to do with the numbers below the fold. Tell them do stay loyal to their party. Tell them to reject this effort by the Republicans, reject telco amnesty, and reject the Senate bill.

I have strongly made my position clear to Cramer regarding telecom immunity, but this frightens me. Please, everyone get in touch with Cramer and let him know that we absolutely do not support immunity for the illegal actions of the telecom companies!

Everything Is Officially On Hold ::

The meme response will have to wait for a few days. The youngest, Chrysta, just delivered a baby girl, Rylee Quinn Porter, and we will be heading out first thing in the morning for Springfield, Tennessee. Rylee weighed in at 6 lbs 10 oz. and 19.something inches. This was Chrysta's first (and I wouldn't be surprised if only) delivery.

As a portion of the meme:

10 years ago we were awaiting the birth of Taylor. Her birthday was ultimately May 30: just after J. had gotten out of 4 months in intensive care and rehab (more on that later). J. was present at Taylor's birth and the Dr. let her cut the umbilical cord!

We will have photographs by this weekend!

Shuffling On Down The Road To November ::

Today the path crosses Kentucky and West Virginia and I have seen reports that Hillary will win each by double digits. I have been wrong before, but I think she will win, but by much smaller margins in each state. In fact, I'm predicting her margin to be in the low single digits!

[update] with 3% of West Virginia reporting I am being proven totally wrong and Hillary has a huge margin. I thought Kentucky was today, but its primary is next week. I gotta stop drinking tequila before making these predictions!

Tagged!

From of KINGS & carnies by way of GK at Whistle & Fish:

A meme is similar to a gene. A gene passes on biological information from one generation to the next; a meme passes on cultural information from one generation to the next. One might think of memes as religious values and affiliations, cultural music, shared stories or myths — those kinds of things.

On the internet, particularly in the ahem blog-o-sphere, a meme is a list of questions passed on from one blogger to another. The game is that these questions are answered in a blog post and then passed on to other bloggers. Those bloggers are said to be tagged.

And here are the rules:

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about himself or herself. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

And here are the five things which must be described:

1. Ten years ago I was ....
2. Five things on today’s To-Do list ....
3. Things I’d do if I were a billionaire ....
4. Three bad habits ...
5. Six jobs I’ve had in my life ....

Now, I plan to address one point every day or two for the next few days. I had some wind damage to the house last weekend and that will be taking some of my time, but this could be interesting. I also have to come up with 5 others to tag and I'm not at all sure I know 5 others with a blog suitable for something like this, but I'll try. In the meantime:

The Game Is Afoot!

Spending Eternity ::

I thought this was pretty cool--from Yahoo News:

About 45 feet beneath the ocean's surface lies a cemetery with gates, pathways, plaques and even benches.

The Neptune Memorial Reef, which opened last fall, is seen by its creators as a perfect final resting spot for those who loved the sea. They hope that one day the reef will cover 16 acres and have room for 125,000 remains.

"This is simply as good as it gets," said Gary Levine, a diver who conceived the reef and is now a shareholder in the company that owns it.

The Neptune Memorial Reef is located in open waters 3 1/4 miles off the coast of Key Biscayne, which means any certified diver can visit. The artificial reef's first phase allows for about 850 remains.

The ashes are mixed with cement designed for underwater use and fitted into a mold, which a diver then places and secures into the reef. A copper and bronze plaque is installed with the person's name, date of birth and death. There is also a line for a message.

[snip]

In one instance, a mother wanted to mix the cement and ashes of her son. She also left the imprints of her fingerprints and put a note into it.

"It's sad to see someone die, but this is almost a celebration of life," said artist Kim Brandell, who created the reef's design. "We call it 'life after life.'"

In March, the remains of 93-year-old diver Bert Kilbride — who called himself "The Last Pirate of the Caribbean" — were placed atop a column of the reef's main gate, because of his contributions to the sea. Kilbride was named the oldest living scuba diver in this year's Guinness Book of World Records.

"I think he would feel very honored," his son Gary Kilbride said. "This is somebody who has been connected to the sea his whole life."

Fred Barnes Shows No Class! ::

I cannot watch Faux News, but others do and extract excerpts so I don't have to. This clip astounds me:

N.C. And Indiana Results ::

Interesting! Obama did as expected in N.C. and much better than expected in Indiana. I see another momentum shift ramping up!

[update, of sorts] The word is that Hillary has canceled whatever appearances she had scheduled for this morning and speculation is rife that she may withdraw from the campaign. Unfortunately this is a day in which I will be out of touch with the news. Bummer!

The Rubber Chicken Ad ::

I hope this puts a lot of pressure on Pelosi!

Tom Hanks Breaks For Obama ::

Good for him. The piece is up on Raw Story.

Read This ::

Dooce