It seems sacrifice is only for the military--and the soldiers' families. Over at my other site, one of our longtime members is facing her husband's THIRD deployment. Her description of family life on the base brought tears to my eyes.

Christmas is a peaceful time, so hanging a wreath shaped like a peace sign doesn't sound that out of place, does it? In one Colorado subdivision, it is, enough to get you fined:

A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.

Some residents who have complained have children serving in Iraq, said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs. He said some residents have also believed it was a symbol of Satan. Three or four residents complained, he said.

The Post noted that "the critical question facing voters in November, as opposed to party leaders now, is who would make the better senator -- which is why we welcome Mr. Lieberman's decision to remain in the race. He would be, by far, the better choice for the people of Connecticut." It even asserted that Lieberman had been making "sharp criticism" of the president on the war for years -- likely a surprise to most Democratic voters in the state.

Today's Oregonian ran a New York Times-written front page, but didn't include the entire article. This is the original, headlined "Troops cut death, but not fear, in Baghdad zone." The Oregonian's version, which does not appear on their website but only in today's print editions, is headlined "Seed of hope grows in one part of Baghdad." There's a bigger difference than just headline treatment, though, as one of my readers discovered.

The educational system is never going to be reformed or re-imagined in my lifetime, or my children's lifetimes. It's much more likely to just keep on keeping on the way it always has, growing more bloated and irrelevant with the years. So what's a parent to do?

Homeschool.

John Weaver, McCain's chief political strategist, confirmed today that Nicco Mele, the webmaster of Dean for America, is among those who have committed to help. Mele's work on Dean's campaign, which including , led Esquire to name him as one of the country's "best and brightest." His firm, EchoDitto, lists more than twenty major Democratic and liberal firms and candidates as clients. Mele did not respond to an e-mail seeking immediate comment.

The anonymous, eponymous PDX Media Insider "retired" last week, in no small part I think because his bosses were triangulating in on him (assuming it's a him). A couple of blogs have popped up hoping to keep the magic going, and one of them is mine.

The 60s were a hopeful time for some and a terrifying time for most; to a precocious little kid who read the newspapers way too much it seemed like the world was ending, CONSTANTLY. If the US and Russia didn't blow each other up, berserk hippies on drugs would kill you chanting "kill the pigs" (I lived in SoCal when the Tate-LaBianca murders happened and I read all the coverage, like an idiot--I was like 7) or there'd be a race war. When they killed MLK I think it was the first time I thought, this is it. I said to myself, there's going to be a war now. I'm still amazed there wasn't, and it's a testament to the power of MLK's philosophy of non-violence that it didn't happen.

The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand-in-hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom- shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky.

Tiny Smurfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs.

The final frame bears the message: "Don't let war affect the lives of children."

Perhaps it was a lack of communication or cooperation, or just a lack of common sense management that Mayor Ray Nagin and other officials of New Orleans demonstrated when they sent New Orleans evacuees to a neighboring city without notice, without knowing our capabilities and without a plan.  In the future, in the event of a disaster, New Orleans city leaders have a duty, a responsibility, and a moral obligation to communicate completely and consistently with their neighboring cities and parishes, and we, as neighbors must do the same.  It is not just a matter of protocol but of essential public safety.

I'm extremely depressed to report that things seem to only be getting sadder concerning the people so devastatingly affected by Katrina last week. Two car loads of us headed over to Falls Creek, a youth camp for Southern Baptist churches in Oklahoma that agreed to have its facilities used to house Louisiana refugees. I'm afraid the camp is not going to be used as the kind people of the churches who own the cabins believe it was going to be used.

Jesse Jackson was right when he said "refugees" was not the appropriate word for the poor souls dislocated due to Katrina. But he was wrong about why it is not appropriate. It's not appropriate because they are detainees, not refugees.

More after the jump.

 Call the toll-free number above, enter your everyday phone number, and then record a message.  Other people who know your everyday phone number (even if it doesn't work anymore) can call Emergency Voicemail, enter the phone number they associate with you, and hear your message.

You can also search for messages left by people whose phone numbers you know.

Air America Radio will leave Public Voicemail in service for as long as this crisis continues.  You can call it whenever you are trying to locate someone, or if you are trying to be found.

I hope to see more of these kinds of efforts from the private sector, since the administration has failed abysmally in this disaster. Three cheers for AAR and VoodooVox.

The joke:
How many Kossacks does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Update [2005-8-28 15:11:58 by LynnS]:
Current answer:
At least 219 Kossacks, one skinny female right-wing pundit, and one Fox News reporter
(That's one mo-fo of a light bulb, apparently...)

The rich neighbor had many servants who waited on him and his many children hand and foot; they required a great deal of food for their upkeep, but the fields around his house were sparse and overgrazed. The not-so-rich neighbor's fields were lush, and on them he kept many cattle and sheep of all descriptions. The not-so-rich neighbor was a cattleman, who made his living supplying meat to the rich neighbor to feed all the hungry servants. The cattleman himself had none but his own children; for he used his many children badly, beating them if they made the slightest mistake and saving the best of everything for himself.

Last time she was here she heard about how the No Child Left Behind act was being used by military recruiters, and about the kid who was virtually kidnapped by military recruiters, and was beside herself.

Based on feedback from here and elsewhere, here's what's currently going on at DeanSpeaksforMe.com:

Current Features:

• Tell your Congress member: Dean speaks for you: Automatically emails your congressional delegation based on your zip code.


• Dear Dick: We Love Howard: Photo gallery of everyone who loves Howard.


• Dean Said It: Post your favorite Howard quote. It'll appear like this.


• Misquotes and Distortions: What they say he said, and what he really said.


• News feeds from Yahoo and Google News (just Howard news, both), Kicking Ass (DNC blog) and Blog for America.


• Gear from cafepress.com. Just one design for the present.


• Bloggy goodness for all registered users. Please keep it on the issue at hand.

What's there right now is just a Drupal skeleton, with a link to the petition. I'm taking suggestions as to what else to do here. Suggestions so far include Dean quotes in context, media contacts and rebuttals to anti-Dean statements.

What would you do?