Even Bush is sick of the Iraq fiasco...he has been mumbling about pulling out troops and about a "time horizon"...yes, "HORIZON," not a timeline, for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. Don't know about you, but I have never heard anyone talk about "time horizons" before. Makes me think of an event horizon around a black hole...which is an ominous comparison.

Remember, though, Bush's shifting to withdrawal is not by any choice of his. The Iraq government has told him in no uncertain terms that we have outlived our welcome and they do not want us there permanently.

I remember stories from my grandmother and stepfather about runs on banks. I remember that famous scene from "It's a Wonderful Life." Today my brother left a message telling me he saw an actual run on a bank in Duarte California. It begins.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. Jacob saw his first real fireworks display and loved it at first. We were watching from the 12th floor of a building right on the waterfront, so it was spectacular. Unfortunately, he was coming down with a fever and by the end was pretty unhappy. He is fine again now.

This was a big week, both locally where my friend qualified for the ballot for NYC's Sept. 9th primary election, and nationally where Obama's surge continued even as the Democrats once again showed less spine than we would like them to. More below.

It is difficult to feel good this 4th of July given the mess the Bush/McCain Republicans have led this nation into. This year alone 438,000 people who lost their jobs. We are well into the Bush's SECOND recession (first president ever to preside over two recessions) with almost no recovery between them. We are officially in a bear market. Food prices are rising worldwide. Oil is at record highs suggesting Americans will have a very, very tough winter. The deficit is WAY above where it has ever been before and no end in sight. And I am not even going into the inept, idiotic and completely useless Bush/McCain Iraq war.

Norman Siegel has been one of the formost civil rights lawyers in America for 40 years, starting with the American Civil Liberties Union's Southern Justice & Voter Law Project in 1968. More recently he was executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. His resume of fighting for American freedoms is impressive.

Throughout that 40 years, Norm Siegel has read the Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, its Amendments with an emphasis on the Bill of Rights on July 4th, usually in public parks. This year he will be at Central Park's Strawberry Fields along with NYS Senators Bill Perkins and Eric Adams, Reverend Billy, the Granny Peace Brigade and Grandmothers Against the War. Come celebrate America and America's freedom with one of the modern champions of those freedoms. Details below.

All politics is local. And no elected position is more local than Civil Court judge. A good friend of mine, in fact the guy who got me into local Brooklyn politics, Devin Cohen, is running for Civil Court judge against a local hack who has spend his whole career throwing money around trying to buy political support. I hadn't expected this race to be quite the battle of values it has become, but, if you read further, you will see why this battle is important for Brooklyn. And let me tell you, this is the kind of race where the grassroots can make a massive difference.

Many think it's kind of a shame that we elect our judges in a way that means they have to raise money and campaign like every other office, but that's the system we have, so, as with every other office, it is up to us to help out the good candidates. (Adapted from a snail mail invitation):

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists recent newsletter, the antibiotic resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that has been an increasing problem in hospitals around the world is now infecting apparently healthy schoolkids outside of hospitals. This is a major development. Up until now anti-biotic resistance was only occasionally a problem outside of hospitals (so-called community-acquired" cases). This may be changing. According to the Centers for Disease Control, MRSA was responsible for almost 19,000 US deaths in 2005.

You can help stop this by your personal meat choices and by pressuring your Congress Critters to support the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act. VERY few of our Reps and Senators have become co-sponsors yet. Their slow response mean more sick children.

Strange week. Saw my first McCain ad this week...and it is clear he is running as a Democrat. Healthcare, alternative energy, environment...all Democratic talking points. We have gone from Democrats feeling like they have to run as Repub-Lite to Republicans trying to hide behind a Democratic facade. You even have a Republican running for Senate in Oregon trying to claim (falsely) that Obama supports him. This is desperation for the Republicans! It sounds like racist attacks have failed them, though I am sure they will try more as time goes on.

Meanwhile yet more polls show Obama ahead in Virginia and Missouri, tied in Florida, AHEAD IN INDIANA (wow!) and within 1-2 points of McCain in North Carolina, Alaska and Georgia. Each and every one of these states was solid Bush in 2004. Now they are either leaning Obama or effectively tied.

This is adapted from a diary I wrote awhile back while reading Global Warming: The Last Chance for Change, by Paul Brown (which I reviewed here). I am returning to this subject because now that Jim Hansen (head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Sciences) has basically told the world that this year is our very last chance to deal with global warming, we have the nuke industry once again pushing for nukes as the cure all for global warming.

I want to be clear that I do not rule out a role for nukes in our energy policy, and I strongly suspect it will be the solution chosen by China, and I have no say what China does. I also want to be clear that we probably have to keep exiting nuke plants on line for the forseeable future. But there are many myths, misleading statements and possibly outright lies told by the nuke industry I would like to address.

The NY-13 Conrgessional Race keeps getting stranger and stranger. As of right now there are 2 Democrats, Steve Harrison and Mike McMahon (Mike McMahon is an apparent DINO who is also being considered by the Conservative Party because he convinced them he supported Bush's War) one Libertarian, and no Republican. The NY-13 district is proving to be the unlucky 13th for the Republicans.

Update at end with some speculation.

The floods in the Midwest have continued and I include some information where I can in the Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin sections. Best of luck to all readers in the hard hit areas.

This week I return to an issue I discussed before: Republican cronies litterally killing our troops with no government oversight. This week Democratic Sentor Bob Casey is demanding an investigation of the electrocutions due to bad wiring that have been plaguing our military bases managed by a Hallibruton subsidiary. More below.

Americans United for the Separation of Church is sounding the alarm on the Republican "faith based" initiatives. This initiative completely violates the Constitution, particularly since to date ONLY Christian organizations have been given money.

There is no ambiguity in the line our Founding Fathers drew separating Church and State. Our Founding Fathers were very outspoken in their ideas. For example, Ben Franklin very specifically gave his opinion of government funding of religious institutions:

This week's newsletter includes another discussion about the Republican neglect of our infrastructure. Since I wrote it two more levees have failed, flooding Des Moines, which aren't included in my analysis. If you want to help the Midwest, you can go here.

Turning to the election, the attacks have begun in earnest. Republicans rolled out a whole slew of attacks against Barack and Michelle Obama...some borderline racist, some merely lies, and none all that effective. In most states Obama's popularity has surged such that if the election were held today, Obama would easily win with over 300 electoral votes, just like Senator Chuck Schumer predicts will happen. But keep in mind, this is just the first volley of attacks.

The primary is over and our nominee is Barack Obama.

This was going to be a historic moment no matter what. Once the field narrowed to Obama and Clinton, we KNEW we would make history. We would have either the first black or first woman nominated for President by one of the two major parties. Well, THIS, folks, is history. Real and amazing history. We have now done what our parents couldn't do.

The teeth fetish has gone too far and I refuse, REFUSE to contribute one word to the madness. Don't we have better things to do than discuss whose teeth should be on the front page and what shade of puce McCain's teeth are? How many more bytes will be forever lost to this fiasco of toothiness? I ask you this...WHEN WILL IT END?????

I "promise" no teeth below the fold...

I have been pushing some candidates in California for a couple of weeks, mainly Progressive Majority endorsed candidates. In the June 3rd primary election, those candidates did very well.

First off is a race for Superior Court Judge (office 125) where I covered the rather shocking news that a white supremicist, Bill Johnson, was running for judge as a Democrat. The good news is that Bill Johnson lost. His opponent, James Bianco, won with more than 73% of the vote. The main down side is nearly 25% of DEMOCRATIC voters in the district voted for a white supremicist. This in no way suggests those voters are white supremicists. It shows that so few people actually pay attention to the judicial races that they cluelessly vote for a white supremicist probably because they liked his name better. This is why you will find me publicizing judicial races as often as I can using as much information as I can: people need to know more about who they are electing as judges.

This was going to be a historic moment no matter what. Once the field narrowed to Obama and Clinton, we KNEW we would make history. We would have either the first black or first woman nominated for President by one of the two major parties. Well, THIS, folks, is history. Real and amazing history. We have now done what our parents couldn't do.

Now is the time to get it right. Now is the time to come together. Now is the time...the Dream comes true this year bigger and brighter than it has ever been dreamed before. Let's do this thing TOGETHER.

This coming week is a big primary in California. This week I highlight some of the progressives running in that primary and I hope my California readers will consider helping them out. Focusing on these kinds of local elections is so critical, yet so neglected. In California this week we have the chance to elect the next generation of progressive politicians.

This last week was the week when John McCain's campaign took a serious blow. Bob Barr, a Republican who is about as conservative as they get but who got fed up with Bush's war and invasion of civil liberties, has been nominated as the Libertarian Candidate for President. This potentially will hurt McCain big time...but we shall see.