Women in Political Blogging (update)

"Male bloggers predominate, as do male TV shouters. Men I know and men who read The Times write me constantly, asking me to read the opinion pieces they've written. Sometimes they'll e-mail or fax me their thoughts to read right before I have lunch with them. Women hardly ever send their own rants.

There's been a dearth of women writing serious opinion pieces for top news organizations, even as there's been growth in female sex columnists for college newspapers. Going from Tess Harding to Carrie Bradshaw, Dorothy Thompson to Candace Bushnell, is not progress.

This job has not come easily to me. But I have no doubt there are plenty of brilliant women who would bring grace and guts to our nation's op-ed pages, just as, Lawrence Summers notwithstanding, there are plenty of brilliant women out there who are great at math and science. We just need to find and nurture them."

- Maureen Dowd

Women in Political Blogging
Compiled by Jude Nagurney Camwell

I am compiling a list of women who blog about political issues. I'm amazed at how many there are.


al-Muhajabah-Laura Poyneer
Alarming News-Karol
Karen Alston
Ann Althouse
An Old Soul-Shari
The Anchoress
Annika's Journal
Apophenia-Danah Boyd
Athena at Terrorism Unveiled
Sapere Aude-I Am the Hermit
Available Light-Lynda B
Ayn Clouter

Backup Brain-Dori's half
Baghdad Burning-Riverbend
Baldilocks-Juliette Ochieng
Banana Republican-Rachel Jurado
LaShawn Barber
Betsy's Page-Betsy Newmark
Bitch. Ph.D.
Bittershack-Brooke Biggs
Black Feminism-Tiffany
Blaugustine
Blog Amy
Blog or Not
Blog Sisters
Blogslut
BlondeSense
Body and Soul- Jeanne
Book of Days-Chris
Bouillabaisse-Dianne Maire
Danah Boyd-Lakoff-Language of Politics
Martha Bridegam-Demisemiblog
Breaching the Web
Summer Brooks
Burningbird

Marla Caldwell
Elisa Camahort-WorkerBeesBlog
Barbara Camwell-Abuse Sanctuary
Jude Nagurney Camwell
Avedon Carol
Cathie From Canada
Chandrasutra
Natasha Chart-Pacific Views
Citizen's Rent
Collective Sigh
Code Pink
The Corner-Kathryn Lopez, Barbara Comstock
Crescat Sententia

Gail Davis
Natalie Davis
Democracy for California-Diana
Democracy for Virginia-Maura
Jory Des Jardins
Different Strings-Kryselda Jarnsaxa
Dissent Channel-AE
Diva Geek
Divinest Sense
The Duchess-Charlene Barker
Dummocrats-Kris

e-Robin
Echidne
Dawn Eden
Enlightenment Project-HE Baber
Eve Tushnet

Fact-esque
Fantasy Life
Fatshadow
Feministe-Lauren
Feisty Repartee-Christine
Fishbucket
Flamingo Jones
For The Record-Jessica Wilson
FrizzyLogic
Fusion Reaction

Amy Gahran
Jane Galt-Assymetrical Information
Girlhacker
Laura Gjovaag
Sally Greene
Jenny Greenleaf

Half-Changed World
Halley's Comment
Heretik
Mary Hodder

Inkwell

Jane-LipSticking
Janet For Fairfax
Jessica's Well
Joanne Jacobs

Kalilily Time-Elaine
Veronica Khokhlova-Neeka's Backlog
Amy Khoudari-Blog,blog,blog

Ladida
Laila Lalami
Late Night Thoughts-Emma
Left Coaster-Mary Ratcliff
Left2Right-Elizabeth Anderson
Liberty Street-Kathy
Lifting the Fog-Barbara Sehr
Little Miss Attila

Rebecca MacKinnon
Madeleine Begun Kane
Madison Women for Peace
Mahablog-Barbara O'Brien
Majikthise
Marine Corps Moms
"Michele"
Michelle Malkin
Making Light-Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Irshad Manji
Jen Martinez
Maru Soze
Melanie Mattson-Just a Bump in the Beltway
Megnut
Mind of Mog
Misbehaving
Mixter
Diana Moon
Mousemusings-Cyndy Roy
Moxie
Ms. Musings

Netwoman

Maud Newton
Nitpicker-CJ Finis
Chris Nolan
NYCO
Ambra Nykol

Obsidian Wings-Hilzoy
Rosie O'Donnell
One Woman Wrecking Crew-Mary

PG
PalmTree Pundit
Pam's House Blend-Pam Spaulding
Parenthetically Speaking
Patriette-Kelly
Jaqueline Passey
Pen Elayne-Elayne Riggs
Philobiblon
Melanie Phillips
Pinko Feminist Hellcat
Plunky Punk-Vanessa
Podunt Post-Wanda
Polipundit-Lorie Byrd
Political Monitor-Lindy Baumann
Virginia Postrel
Pourquoi pas?-Dianne Maire
Pratie Place-Jane
Preemptive Karma-Carla
Professor Kim's Notes-Kim Pearson
Pseudo-Adrienne

Random Thoughts-Susan
Rebecca's Pocket
Reportette-Yvette Stafford
Respectful of Otters-Rivka
Rhetoric 101
Lis Riba
Emmanuelle Richard
Amy Ridenour
Riggsveda-It's My Country Too
Lindsay Robertson
Evelyn Rodriguez
Rox Populi
Ruminate This-Lisa English

Saheli:Musings and Observations-Saheli Datta
Julie Saltman
Santa Clara CtyDemPty-Elisa Camahort
Scribblingwoman
Cathy Seipp
Jeneane Sessum
Sgt. Lizzie
Shameless Agitator-Andrea
Shakespeare's Sister
Julien Sharp
Ruby Sinreich
Sisyphus Shrugged-Julia
Lizzie Skurnick-Old Hag
Patty Ann Smith
So What Can I Do?
Natalie Solent
Lizzy Spiers
Strangechord-Emily
Suburban Guerrilla-Susan Madrak
Suddenly Routine-Rebecca
Amy Sullivan
Dawn Summers
Surfette

Talk Left-Jerralyn Merritt
Tara Sue
Think Pink
Thoughts of an Average Woman-CE Petro
Tild
Kelly Jane Torrance
Trailer Park Girl
Tsuredzuregusa-Shaula Evans
Tulip Girl
Turnpike Feminist
12 Frogs

Uncommon Thought
Under The Same Sun
Urban Grind
Utopian Hell

ValueJudgment-J's half
Villanous Company-Cassandra

Vivid Pieces- Erin Notebloom

VDARE-Bryanna Bevens,Brenda Walker
Veracity or Mendacity-Melanie
Veralynne-ACT
View From The Left-Chris D'Arcy

Waiting For Nat-LilySea
Wampum-Mary Beth Williams
War And Piece-Laura Rozen
Belle Waring
Diane Warth-Karmalised
Watermark-SB Poet
We Are Not Sheep
What Do I Know
WhatIsPastIsPrologue-Sarah
What She Said
Who Is Sylvia
Wicked Muse
Sissy Willis
Willow Tree-Rachel Ann
Winds of Change-Robin Burk
Rebecca Winters
Amy Wohl
Wonkette-Ana Marie
World O'Crap
World Turning-Jennifer
Worshipping/Altar of Mediocrity

Xeney
XX

You Will Anyway
Yourish

Anne Zook

Democracy Now: Juan Cole & Juan Cole & Osama Siblani

Democracy Now: Juan Cole & Juan Cole & Osama Siblani

Earlier today, Amy Goodmantalked with Professor Juan Cole and Osama Siblani, editor of The Arab-American News, about issues surrounding the Middle East, both in terms of U.S. foreign policy as well as here at home and how Arab Americans and Arab immigrants have been affected by the Bush administration's so-called war on terror.

Juan Cole:

"The Lebanese have been having parliamentary elections for decades and were among the few to have fairly upright such elections at some points in the 20th century in the Arab world. So, they haven't learned anything from the Iraqi elections. In fact, . the elections in Iraq were a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous.. I mean, it was a wonderful thing, people came out and risked their lives to vote, but they didn't know the names of the candidates that they were voting for because of the poor security conditions, and the country had to be locked down for three days. No vehicular traffic at all in the entire country in order to prevent car bombings, so that the elections could be held.

So I think most urbane, sophisticated Beirutis would have looked upon this process in Iraq with a little bit of pity, and . there's nothing inspiring there for them.. They already had the elections in their country scheduled for May. What happened in Lebanon was local.

I think we're going to see a lot of this -- everything that happens in the Middle East from now on is going to be pegged to the Bush administration regardless of whether the Bush administration had anything to do with it, but there's now, I think, a political struggle inside Lebanon, between those groups, especially the Christian Maronites, the Druze, and a section of the Sunnis who want an early end to the Syrian military occupation and an end to over-weaning Syrian influence in Lebanese politics on the one hand, and then Hezbollah and the generality of the Shiite community, I think, as well as another section of the Sunni community that actually wants the Syrians to continue to play a role."

Osama Siblani:

"He [ George W. Bush ] told me just straight to my face, among 12 or maybe 13 republicans at that time here in Michigan at the hotel. I think it was on May 17, 2000, even before he became the nominee for the Republicans. He told me that he was going to take him out, when we talked about Saddam Hussein in Iraq. And I said, ‘Well, you know, I totally disagree with you. You just can’t go around taking leaders out of their countries, you know. Let the Iraqi people do it. They can't do it on empty stomachs. Lift sanctions. Keep the pressure on Saddam Hussein, but lift the sanctions on the Iraqi people. People can't make moves on an empty stomach. Once they start establishing, you know, a connection with the United States and helping democracy inside, they will overthrow him.’ And then he said, ‘We have to talk about it later.’ But at that time he was not privy to any intelligence, and the democrats had occupied the White House for the previous eight years. So, . he was not privy to any intelligence whatsoever. He was not the official nominee of the Republican Party, so he didn't know what kind of situation the weapons of mass destruction was at that time.. But what I am saying now is the President is trying to claim credit for something that really had nothing to do with him."

U.S. Ex-Im Supporting Nuclear Advances in China

U.S. Ex-Im Supporting Nuclear Advances in China
Chinese Corporation Has Dubious Business Ties to 'Rogue Nations'

The Ex-Im [U.S. Export-Import Bank] is overseen by the House Financial Services Committee, and they are failing to respond to public concern about the U.S. government's commitment of $5 billion in financing for the China National Nuclear Corporation. A spokesman for Chairman Michael Oxley (R.-Ohio) said Oxley would not comment on the deal.

U.S. intelligence has found China National Nuclear Corporation, on four occasions, providing technology to Iran and Pakistan that would help those countries weaponize uranium and plutonium.

The Westinghouse Corporation stands to economically gain, but what do Americans citizens stand to gain, in National Security, from such hypocritical policy?

It's just another dreadful case of the government supporting corporate profit over National Security interests.

Senate Whitewash on Pre-War Intelligence on Iraq

Senate Whitewash on Pre-War Intelligence on Iraq

Senator Pat Roberts has shut down the Intelligence Committee's probe into the pre-war intelligence on Iraq.

Roberts has said:

"The bottom line was they believed the intelligence, and intelligence was wrong."

Bush administration officials distorted the available intelligence to win public support for the war, and the majority of Americans are not fooled by Pat Roberts' whitewashing statement.


It looks like they're already planning to put the blame on outgoing OSP defense undersecretary Douglas Feith.

"..the committee agreed to examine whether public statements by US officials were substantiated by intelligence information, and whether the Pentagon Office of Special Plans (OSP), which reported to Douglas Feith, the defence undersecretary, had played a significant role in pushing the intelligence community to take a harder line on Iraq."

This, of course, is a joke. The White House is still taking plenty of Neocon advice. Nothing has changed. Feith is just one of their fallen sons.

The shutdown of the Senate committee investigation will effectively leave all blame for the failures with the professional intelligence community, rather than with political appointees, where it actually belongs.

This whitewashing has the stench of Jeff Gannon's dubious reporting career all over it. He was used - and used advantageously - by the likes of GOP Intelligence Committee members. I suggest that, with this Committee activity, not only does the GOP faction of the Committee wish to protect their own from political damage, they want to shield someone from taking a direct hit on the Valerie Plame outing.

From my blogpost of 2-19-05:

From Gannon's Talon article July 13, 2004:

"..the Senate Intelligence Committee discovered a memo from Plame dated February 12, 2002 to the Deputy Chief of the Counterproliferation Division (CPD) that "offered up his name." It was also revealed that Wilson traveled to Niger for the CIA in 1999 on a mission whose details are redacted from the report.

In October 2003, Talon News reported on an internal government memo prepared by U.S. intelligence personnel that detailed a meeting where Plame suggested Wilson be sent to Niger. Wilson claimed to have never been in a meeting with his wife, but a State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) analyst's notes indicated that a meeting was "apparently convened" by Plame who had proposed her husband go on the mission. Plame told the committee that she only attended the meeting to introduce her husband and left after about three minutes.

A CIA source told the Washington Post in December 2003 that the INR memo was still classified and disputed its contents. As a result of asking Wilson about the memo during an October 2003 interview, FBI agents questioned Talon News under the guise of the leak probe to discover the source of the memo that refuted the assertions of the agency and Wilson about the circumstances by which he was chosen for the trip.

The Senate Intelligence Committee report may have a significant impact on the leak probe. Loss of confidence in the agency and its attempts to discredit evidence that suggests alternate motivations by sub-groups within it may serve to undermine the case. The INR memorandum may have revealed Plame's identity prior to Novak's column and therefore any statements by the administration might only qualify as simple gossip.

Even if that is not the case, the federal statute requires that the exposure of Plame would have had to be deliberate and malicious, a threshold that may not be reached by the investigation, particularly in light of new information revealed by the Committee report."

- Jeff Gannon

Pentagon Report on Abu Ghraib=Whitewash

Pentagon Report on Abu Ghraib = Whitewash

Democrats are disgusted with the Pentagon's latest report, absolving themselves for their own involvement and accountability for the Abu Ghraib torture.

They aren't alone. Sen. John McCain says this is all going to come back to haunt our troops, and I can't imagine there's many others who would know better about being tortured than Senator McCain.

It's a scapegoating of the lower ranks and an arrogant denial of responsibility. I have to say I'm not surprised.

It's also no wonder recruitment numbers for the Armed Services is below expectation. If I could predict that no one would have my back in the toughest times, I'd never sign up in the first place.

Link - Financial Times

Jimmy Massey Speaks in Syracuse

Jimmy Massey Speaks in Syracuse

I saw Jimmy Massey tell his powerful story tonight in Syracuse.
I plan to share it with you tomorrow.

UPDATE:

I'm almost finished with the story.
For those of you in Syracuse who saw Jimmy speak, this is my question:

How do I show you a man who his found his conscience while he, at the same time, is a walking casualty of the Iraq war?


I'm going to try to do just that.

I am Woman - Celebrate Me

I am Woman - Celebrate Me
By Rachel Raza

From the ashes of Afghanistan
Where you bombed my home and trapped me in a tomb of dust I am the woman who has risen up like the phoenix
Protected by my burqa - which you see as a symbol of oppression
This tattered cloak - is my only protection
from the mortar and shells
that you gift to my land – as you turn it into a living hell
I shatter the bonds, reach out my hand and
gather the wounded and weeping women of my nation,
Stepping over the blood of our children as I teach them to say “no more”
No more - will we be pawns in the games of political power
No more will we cower
We’ll find ways to alleviate our ignorance
I AM WOMAN – EDUCATE ME


I am the woman from a village in Pakistan
where they threw acid in my face because their honour was at stake
Battered, bullied and bruised – I suffered great pain
But the damage they have done has only fired my resolve
to never let them make MY honour, THEIR gain;
I forced the courts to hear my case and took others like me
Caught in the vicious circle of male violence and frenzy
in trying to dehumanize us
My disfigured face has empowered me;
the cries of my sisters have given me strength in my own strength
I won’t be cowed down by cowardly acts
I have found my path and will never return to the fetters of slavery
I ask for no accolades for my bravery
I AM WOMAN – CELEBRATE ME

I am a mother from the Middle East
Step-by-step trying to build bridges of peace
Surrounded by bloody hell
where every shell
has the name of an innocent bystander;
I am Christian, Muslim and Jew
I bleed the same as you
I am wife, sister, friend and daughter
But our lives are devoid of any laughter
When our children leave home,
we are uncertain if they will ever return
I AM WOMAN – VALIDATE ME



I am a woman of the street where I’m forced to sell my body
part by part to the highest bidder – like a commodity
to those masters of the flesh trade who don’t know
that we are women – we have a heart
and a soul that is torn apart
when we are used and abused like pieces of flotsam
set afloat on the sea of time with no end in sight
We’re just a statistic on the pages of her-story
Not for the unequal wages we were paid
Or fighting the laws that are man-made
But - for being the principal victims of AIDS
I AM WOMAN – DON’T HUMILIATE ME

I am the Muslim woman who came to this land
many moons ago
I couldn’t speak the language, I’d never seen snow
I was alone and afraid with no where to go
for help, for advice about my woes
they scoffed at my head-scarf, my faith
my accent and the colour of my skin –
I felt forsaken
Yet I weathered all this on my own
I cried but I survived – thankful to be alive
In this land of the free
But are we ever truly free?
Today I am a victim again –after the terror of 9/11
My windows shattered, my mosque desecrated
It’s ironical - but I am told this turmoil is created
by the very people who wish to liberate me
I AM WOMAN – LIBERATE ME



Most of all I am a woman like the rest of you
Privileged for the chance to share in solidarity
As I build the courage to stand up and speak out
against atrocities heaped upon us
Breaking the bonds of cultural and social fanaticism to forge
a special bond with my sisters
In breaking the silence, I reach out across barriers of
Race and religion – in the one cause that binds us together
Our feminine souls intertwined with the souls of many others
They were women - therefore they died
WE ARE WOMEN – COMMEMORATE US

Elizabeth Edwards Recovering From Surgery

Elizabeth Edwards Recovering From Surgery

This past Monday, Elizabeth Edwards had a lumpectomy to remove the cancer from her breast at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston . She is resting comfortably and her doctors believe that the surgery was a success.

This message from John Edwards came in an e-mail today:

Since the day we learned about the cancer, we have felt your prayers and good wishes. Every note, every email, every kind word we have received has held us up and given us strength. And we are blessed to be surrounded by a loving family, supportive friends, and the best health care in the world. I want to especially thank all of you who actively participate in the One America Blog. Your kind posts and concerns have truly helped us through these trying times.

Elizabeth, the kids and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your well wishes and prayers.

So many people have asked us, "What can we do to help?" And today, I am asking you to join the fight against cancer by visiting the sites listed below, getting involved, making your friends aware by forwarding this email to them and asking them to get involved , or by supporting any of the many wonderful groups dedicated to fighting this terrible disease.

American Cancer Society
Breast Cancer Action
Avon Breast Cancer Crusade

Over 1.2 million cases of cancer are diagnosed every year. These organizations need our help. Their work gives hope to the men and women and children who are battling this terrible disease. And I know that they would embrace all of your support.

For anyone who is battling cancer or has a loved one or a friend with the disease , I saw this and thought I'd share it with you:

What Cancer Can't Do
- Author unknown

Cancer is so limited.
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot quench the spirit

I'm glad to hear Mrs. Edwards is on the road to recovery and wish her and the Edwards family the best.

MSM Finally Talks About Irshad Manji

MSM Finally Talks About Irshad Manji

Where have they been?
Thomas Friedman is finally talking about someone I wrote about almost a year ago. I guess he figures now is the time to spread the word. Why was no one in the MSM talking about this while we were dropping bombs over Baghdad neighborhoods? (NPR and WSJ excepted). I guess it's because we were looking so hard for those imminently-threatening mushroom-cloud-producing WMD, Nigerian-bought yellow-cake, and aluminum tubes that it took a while for us to realize we were really there to spread freedom. (After every other manufactured reason failed the test of truth).

To establish a balance to Tom Friedman's enthusiatic cheerleading ( Sorry, Tom lost me with his public display of being embarrassingly hoodwinked into supporting the Iraq war ), Z-Mag reviewed Irshad's work in 2003 and commented:

"...citing the reports of mainstream human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International on Muslim countries but not on Israel or the United States, this is to be understood as the focus of a moral agent on her own community...Manji's own words suggest otherwise. Late in her book, she talks about reasoning being "entirely compatible with the ideals I hold as a Westerner." (pg. 229) Describing her visit to Israel, she describes the moment of her visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem: "As I spend time in search of an unused crack that will clasp my prayer, I realize I'm holding up the Jews behind me. Still, I don't feel like an interloper. I feel at home. More viscerally than ever, I know who my family is." (pg. 93). Reading her book, it becomes clear that it is not the work of a self-critical individual trying to hold the Muslim community accountable, but a self-congratulatory Westerner, cheering for powerful states and whitewashing the crimes of her "family".

It's unfortunate that Manji has been made the darling of the Likudnik-likes of Daniel Pipes because of her positions on Israel. While Israel is a Western-style democracy, we understand that it is their religious-based tribal nature, similar to the tribal nature of the radical segments of the Arab world, that causes division. If I were writing a book to bring my religion and my people out of their tribal mindset and to convince them of the benefits of belonging to Western society, the Wailing Wall would be the last frame of reference I would use to convince them.

Guess Where I Am

Can you guess where I am?
*If you took the photo, your guess doesn't count!*

Bolton Mania

Condi Rice introduces John R. Boltonto a dismayed planet


"There is no such thing as the United Nations..if the U.N. secretary building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference."

"It is a big mistake for us to grant any validity to international law even when it may seem in our short-term interest to do so ­ because, over the long term, the goal of those who think that international law really means anything are those who want to constrict the United States."

"...most skilled diplomat...."
"....I am honored...."

...honored........honored..........I am honored?..........................honored??
................................honored?????


HONORED?!?

Federal funding cuts limit options for chemo patients

Federal funding cuts limit options for chemo patients

I want to share this story with you because the subject directly affects my own family.

My mother, a senior citizen, has been having chemotherapy at a fine clinic here in Syracuse. Her doctor and the chemo nurses are wonderful, and the room where she'd been having chemotherapy is bright with plenty of sun coming through the many windows that line the room. Plush, comfortable chairs are provided for the patient's comfort and ease. It makes the necessary routine more pleasant than it might be under other circumstances.

Catherine Miller's experience sounds familiar:

It's been three years since the 69-year-old was diagnosed with abdominal cancer, a strain of the disease that can't be cured. Someday, she knows, it will take her life. For now, she's beating the odds.

Miller has had plenty of time to learn the ins-and-outs of local cancer centers. Last year, she settled on ACT Medical Group, a small east-side clinic with hardwood floors and big, sunny windows.

It's hard enough having cancer. To have your government cut away a senior citizen's opportunity to have some form of comfort while battling a terminal illness is an abandonment of respect for and responsibility to our family members in their senior years.

My mother's doctor wants to continue providing chemotherapy to my mother, but the price Medicare pays him for the drugs my mother needs has been reduced by 80% as of January 1st. (A move federal officials have deemed "appropriate.) Her doctor cannot afford to provide extended coverage on a charity basis for his Medicare patients.

What's happening is that senior citizens are being forced to go into a hospital to have chemotherapy while only those (mostly younger patients) who have private insurance are getting the compassion, ease, and personalized attention afforded by the modern clinics. The hospital takes a very lengthy amount of time and the chemotherapy patient, who is no longer immune to disease because of the effect of the drugs on the body, has to be exposed to God-knows-what diseases while at the hospital for that period of time. The patient is placed in a hospital bed and in a room with another patient with who-knows-what illness. There is the admission process, the parking garages, the walk, and all the other inconveniences that come with hospital treatment.

How could our Congress have allowed this to happen? I keep asking myself that question.

As John Edwards recently said regarding more Americans struggling financially and falling deeper into debt - and how that trend is not an accident:

"It is by design because our Republican leaders value one thing: wealth. We see it in everything they do."

This cut in Medicare coverage for chemotherapy drugs is no different.

"Prodded by her doctor, Miller sent out letters to three federal legislators -- senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama, and Rep. Don Manzullo -- to share the story of her chemotherapy treatments.
ACT's Edwards, hoping to inspire change and improve Medicare payments, asked her to do it.
"I don't imagine it will do much good," Miller said. "But I did it anyway. For him."

I'm going to have my mother do the same thing. It may not make a difference in time to get her back into the clinic that was a comfort to her in these hard times, but it may help me someday. My Mom loves me enough to act. I know she respects her doctor enough to try to help him and his clinic. I love her, and it breaks my heart to see her have to go through this.

Perhaps, if you see this, you will copy my words and put them in an e-mail to your own Representatives.


Our Senior citizens deserve so much better than this.

- Jude

Exploding Dog

Exploding Dog

Check out Exploding Dog.
It's sam's great interactive creation.

I particularly like "the glass is half full".


*Tip of the hat to Nick.

Cut Lindsay Graham Some Slack

"We don't do Lincoln Day Dinners in South Carolina. It's nothing personal, but it takes awhile to get over things."

-Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC)

Cut Lindsay Graham Some Slack

That's my opinion.
I suppose I mean it in a tongue-in-cheek way.
Yet - I think Senator Graham's being truthful, albeit blunt.
Not an easy thing to be in Washington DC.

He's telling us that there is still a hell of a lot of bitterness over the outcome of the Civil War in South Carolina.

Hello?
And you are surprised?

Let him clarify his comments, but I don't think we should go crazy over what he said as if the idea has come from some alien planet.

If the people of South Carolina demand an apology from their Senator, then he should apologize - without hesitation. However, if most of them do feel that way, then Senator Graham can only be accused of "representing". (I'll bet the black population there is none too happy. There goes any scarce African American support the Republicans ever had in South Carolina! Hear the sucking sound?)

Perhaps many South Carolinians do not want to see us as ONE AMERICA?

Does their Confederate heritage mean more to them than their allegiance to a united nation? I think these are fair questions to ask, since Senator Graham decided to bring up the subject.

I think it's time for a national conversation rather than a chastisement of Lindsay Graham. There are divisions in this land that can no longer be overlooked by a sense of false/forced civility.

Frankly, I have more of a problem with Senator Graham cheering President Bush's decision to invade Iraq. President Bush permanently lost half a nation's trust over that gross political misleading, and he has shown, time and time again, that he doesn't value the voice of that particular half of the American population who saw the misleadings for exactly what they were. He's created an American democratic black-out while his administration plots more wars for their cheerleading mob who hypocritically claim to seek "democracy" for nations that they barely understand.

We are polarized. It's eerily chilly where we stand in America today.
Sounds like a civil war all over again.

Will some be terribly skeptical about throwing Bush Day dinners in another 150 years?

Where we stand, here and now, we have a choice to move forward as one nation or languish in our foolish, unfounded hatred for one another and continue on the current path to being a democracy-sick and disrespected nation who gets their way in the world only because others fear our naked wrath.

That's not the America I want to leave behind for our children.

So, let's talk. Blunt honesty is going to be necessary, even if it borders upon incivility. If we want a stronger nation, our leaders are going to need to seek out the policies that are consistent with values that are common to all Americans.

Cut Lindsay Graham some slack.
He's just exposing the cracks in the ever-weakening cultural floor beneath our American feet.

I just wish he'd decided to inspire with his words rather than to serve to divide with them.

Dance!

Dance!

Braude: Internet will change Arab politics

Climate Change: Why the Internet will change Arab politics--and how it already has
TNR / Joseph Braude

I recently thought about writing a blogpost about this topic, and I see that Joseph Braude has been thinking along similiar lines. Sometimes I don't think we realize the power we all possess..and it's right here at our fingertips. A sea change in the ability to politically organize around an ideology has been brought about by an open global exchange of ideas. However, bloggers in some Arab nations are feeling very threatened by their respective authoritarian governments. Little by little, political trends are emerging which may be positive for those who desire democracy in the Arab world, but have been stifled due to fear and/or technological limitations to enable dissidents to communicate their ideas.

Mr. Braude writes:

The Internet is now a destabilizing force to Arab governments, some of which are trying and failing to bottle it back up. Despite its relatively modest penetration in the region, the web is threatening the status quo--in societies as conservative as Saudi Arabia and police states as tightly run as Syria and Tunisia--in ways that previous technologies never could. That's in part because it is making obsolete the strategies that Arab governments had used for centuries--with almost perfect success--to quash dissent and cling to power. It may be trite to speak of the Internet's transformative power; but in the case of the Arab world in 2005, it appears increasingly to be real...

...The big question, of course, is whether any of these shifting paradigms is actually capable of changing the present distribution of power in an Arab country--and if so, how and where. Maybe all this online noise is just so much noise, and the medium is still no more than an annoyance to the status quo...On the other hand, the pressure imposed on several Arab countries today by the United States stands to exacerbate all the internal tensions these regimes already face...The fact that Internet penetration of Arab populations remains low--the regional average is below 5 percent--means that the extent of the web's influence will depend on whether it can somehow nudge forward broader political trends.....

....it seems likely that the web's most crucial impact on Arab politics won't be in alerting the west to human rights abuses or rallying support in the international community; it will be in allowing Arab dissidents to talk to one another and coordinate their activities...

Read This Story

Read this story.

Tom Fenton, I Love You

"We can no longer afford the luxury of having an ignorant electorate..of dumbing down our audience...The term MSM sounds like a new disease."

- Tom Fenton

Tom Fenton, I Love You


Latest by Tom - click photo

And I can't wait to see you on the Daily Show tomorrow night.
You go, Tom.

Hear Tom on NPR's Diane Rehm Show

Tom tells you to go to the BBC website for some real news.



UPDATE: Julian Sanchez shows that Tom Fenton is not alone.

Women in Political Blogging

Women in Political Blogging
Compiled by Jude Nagurney Camwell

I am compiling a list of women who blog about political issues. I'm amazed at how many there are.

al-Muhajabah-Laura Poyneer
Alarming News-Karol
Karen Alston
Ann Althouse
An Old Soul-Shari
The Anchoress
Annika's Journal
Apophenia-Danah Boyd
Athena at Terrorism Unveiled
Sapere Aude-I Am the Hermit
Available Light-Lynda B
Ayn Clouter

Backup Brain-Dori's half
Baghdad Burning-Riverbend
Baldilocks-Juliette Ochieng
Banana Republican-Rachel Jurado
LaShawn Barber
Betsy's Page-Betsy Newmark
Bitch. Ph.D.
Bittershack-Brooke Biggs
Black Feminism-Tiffany
Blaugustine
Blog Amy
Blog or Not
Blog Sisters
Blogslut
BlondeSense
Body and Soul- Jeanne
Book of Days-Chris
Bouillabaisse-Dianne Maire
Danah Boyd-Lakoff-Language of Politics
Martha Bridegam-Demisemiblog
Breaching the Web
Summer Brooks
Burningbird

Marla Caldwell
Elisa Camahort-WorkerBeesBlog
Barbara Camwell-Abuse Sanctuary
Jude Nagurney Camwell
Avedon Carol
Cathie From Canada
Chandrasutra
Natasha Chart-Pacific Views
Citizen's Rent
Collective Sigh
Code Pink
The Corner-Kathryn Lopez, Barbara Comstock
Crescat Sententia

Gail Davis
Natalie Davis
Democracy for California-Diana
Democracy for Virginia-Maura
Jory Des Jardins
Different Strings-Kryselda Jarnsaxa
Dissent Channel-AE
Diva Geek
Divinest Sense
The Duchess-Charlene Barker
Dummocrats-Kris

e-Robin
Echidne
Dawn Eden
Enlightenment Project-HE Baber
Eve Tushnet

Fact-esque
Fantasy Life
Fatshadow
Feministe-Lauren
Feisty Repartee-Christine
Fishbucket
Flamingo Jones
For The Record-Jessica Wilson
FrizzyLogic
Fusion Reaction

Amy Gahran
Jane Galt-Assymetrical Information
Girlhacker
Laura Gjovaag
Sally Greene
Jenny Greenleaf

Half-Changed World
Halley's Comment
Heretik
Mary Hodder

Inkwell

Jane-LipSticking
Janet For Fairfax
Jessica's Well
Joanne Jacobs

Kalilily Time-Elaine
Veronica Khokhlova-Neeka's Backlog
Amy Khoudari-Blog,blog,blog

Ladida
Laila Lalami
Late Night Thoughts-Emma
Left Coaster-Mary Ratcliff
Left2Right-Elizabeth Anderson
Liberty Street-Kathy
Lifting the Fog-Barbara Sehr
Little Miss Attila

Rebecca MacKinnon
Madeleine Begun Kane
Madison Women for Peace
Mahablog-Barbara O'Brien
Majikthise
Marine Corps Moms
"Michele"
Michelle Malkin
Making Light-Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Irshad Manji
Jen Martinez
Maru Soze
Melanie Mattson-Just a Bump in the Beltway
Megnut
Mind of Mog
Misbehaving
Mixter
Diana Moon
Mousemusings-Cyndy Roy
Moxie
Ms. Musings

Netwoman

Maud Newton
Nitpicker-CJ Finis
Chris Nolan
NYCO
Ambra Nykol

Obsidian Wings-Hilzoy
Rosie O'Donnell
One Woman Wrecking Crew-Mary

PG
PalmTree Pundit
Pam's House Blend-Pam Spaulding
Parenthetically Speaking
Patriette-Kelly
Jaqueline Passey
Pen Elayne-Elayne Riggs
Philobiblon
Melanie Phillips
Pinko Feminist Hellcat
Plunky Punk-Vanessa
Podunt Post-Wanda
Polipundit-Lorie Byrd
Political Monitor-Lindy Baumann
Virginia Postrel
Pourquoi pas?-Dianne Maire
Pratie Place-Jane
Preemptive Karma-Carla
Professor Kim's Notes-Kim Pearson
Pseudo-Adrienne

Random Thoughts-Susan
Rebecca's Pocket
Reportette-Yvette Stafford
Respectful of Otters-Rivka
Rhetoric 101
Lis Riba
Emmanuelle Richard
Amy Ridenour
Riggsveda-It's My Country Too
Lindsay Robertson
Evelyn Rodriguez
Rox Populi
Ruminate This-Lisa English

Saheli:Musings and Observations-Saheli Datta
Julie Saltman
Santa Clara CtyDemPty-Elisa Camahort
Scribblingwoman
Cathy Seipp
Jeneane Sessum
Sgt. Lizzie
Shameless Agitator-Andrea
Shakespeare's Sister
Julien Sharp
Ruby Sinreich
Sisyphus Shrugged-Julia
Lizzie Skurnick-Old Hag
Patty Ann Smith
So What Can I Do?
Natalie Solent
Lizzy Spiers
Strangechord-Emily
Suburban Guerrilla-Susan Madrak
Suddenly Routine-Rebecca
Amy Sullivan
Dawn Summers
Surfette

Talk Left-Jerralyn Merritt
Tara Sue
Think Pink
Thoughts of an Average Woman-CE Petro
Tild
Kelly Jane Torrance
Trailer Park Girl
Tsuredzuregusa-Shaula Evans
Tulip Girl
Turnpike Feminist
12 Frogs

Uncommon Thought
Under The Same Sun
Urban Grind
Utopian Hell

ValueJudgment-J's half
Villanous Company-Cassandra

Vivid Pieces- Erin Notebloom

VDARE-Bryanna Bevens,Brenda Walker
Veracity or Mendacity-Melanie
Veralynne-ACT
View From The Left-Chris D'Arcy

Waiting For Nat-LilySea
Wampum-Mary Beth Williams
War And Piece-Laura Rozen
Belle Waring
Diane Warth-Karmalised
Watermark-SB Poet
We Are Not Sheep
What Do I Know
WhatIsPastIsPrologue-Sarah
What She Said
Who Is Sylvia
Wicked Muse
Sissy Willis
Willow Tree-Rachel Ann
Winds of Change-Robin Burk
Rebecca Winters
Amy Wohl
Wonkette-Ana Marie
World O'Crap
World Turning-Jennifer
Worshipping/Altar of Mediocrity

Xeney
XX

You Will Anyway
Yourish

Anne Zook

Bono on Short List for World Bank?

Bono on Short List
for World Bank?

"He's somebody I admire. He does a lot of good in this world of economic development," Snow said.

"Most people know him as a rock star. He's in a way a rock star of the development world, too. He understands the give-and-take of development. He's a very pragmatic, effective and idealistic person," Snow said.

From: Bono May Make Short List for World Bank, WT

I agree with John Snow.

I know I'm dating myself here, but I met Bono when he was on his first U2 tour of the United States. I don't even think he'd reached the age of 20 yet. (I know that I hadn't).

The band was virtually unknown in the U.S. at that time. The single "I Will Follow" and the album "Boy" had just been released in the States. A friend of mine owned and managed the radio station which had helped to sponsor the concert. After the show, we were invited for chatter and refreshments on the band's tour bus. The Edge was especially kind to me. He gave me the grand tour of their home on wheels (which was nothing fancy). The group of us talked about the band's first impression of America and we even got around to talking about religion.

I discovered, that night, how different these fellows were from your typical 80s touring band. At the risk of sounding sappy, I found that Bono (Paul) and The Edge wore their hearts on their respective sleeves; they were passionate about life; they seemed especially compassionate toward others; I really liked them. I've remained a fan ever since that night, because when I hear the words to their songs, I feel I know a bit about the men who are delivering their message. And I can say I really like those men. I've followed Bono's work in this world, and I can't say enough about the respect I have for the true spirit I know he's possessed since I talked with him on that night so long ago. That boy followed his path to an honorable, compassionate manhood and I hope he will seriously be considered for the World Bank.