The GUILD 7-11: What happens when you run out of skin?

[daisyscarlett]

Yeah, the Bush twins are very lucky to have such caring parents, not to mention those wonderful genes they got, both in the looks and brain departments.

Maybe we will have some more fun photos of Kerry this weekend as he is taking FOUR DAYS OFF to get his head together near the sea, which could mean windsurfing photos....

INSPIRATION BY THE SEA

"The sea is important to me," Mr. Kerry, an old Navy man,(HE WAS IN VIET NAM) said on Thursday. "I get a lot out of being close to it. It's my connection. It's where I've always been. It's where I get a peace of mind, and creativity."

He had just spent two days at home in Boston with no public events, but Mr. Kerry said he had hardly been taking it easy.

"Got to finish writing - working my butt off,"(what butt?) he said aboard his campaign plane, in the fragmented patois Mr. Kerry slips into these days when talking about himself to reporters.

He said he would have more authorship of this speech than of his other major addresses, though two speechwriters were with him in Boston to help get his drafts down on paper.

[lodwick]

Good grief - horrible car news! So far, Mrs.L's "certified" pre-owned Caddy is flawless, and the warranty is even better than that of a new one. SalesDude told me that the employees of the dealership always purchase the certified vehicles for the savings and the warranty.

I don't think that Ken and I would bond on any level, but he's amazing to watch.

[Iowa Granny]

Good Afternoon. Overcast and 86 degrees here at noon.

[lodwick]

Hey, good afternoon up there.

Grow, grains, grow.

[BigWaveBetty]

in the fragmented patois Mr. Kerry slips into these days when talking about himself to reporters.

Ha, the NYT's using a French word to jab Kerry a bit perhaps? Ya know, we don't give reporters enough credit, it must be a drag to have to listen to Effin' drone on in his Shakespearian sermons only to have him use regular folk jargon when speaking with them. Kinda like he has to talk down to them, meaning one of two things, they are either complicit in his deception of Americans (just using all that fancy speak to impress people, he's just a regular Joe!). Or they is too stupid for them big words and or ideas.

Have fingers crossed for lots of goofy pictures this weekend!

Is it my imagination or does Kerry take lots of time off from campaigning? More than algore did?

Something smells:

PARIS (AFP) - Former US president Bill Clinton (news - web sites) indicated that his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton (news - web sites), would not stand for the presidency for at least eight years if Democratic nominee John Kerry (news - web sites) won this year's vote.

His comments would appear to rule out Hillary Clinton standing against an incumbent Kerry in 2008.

"We're going to help John Kerry. If he wins, then four years from now we'll try to help him again," Clinton said in Paris on a promotional visit for his memoirs, "My Life."

"Eight years from now, who knows? If she ever wants to run, I'll certainly support her. She's very good. I'm quite a good judge at political talent, and she's the ablest person I've ever known."

He said Hillary had vowed to serve out her six-year term as a senator for New York. "End of discussion."

Clinton said he and his wife would both address the Democratic convention Monday evening in Boston, Massachusetts which is due to confirm Kerry and his running mate John Edwards (news - web sites) on the party's ticket for the November election.

"Hillary and I are both going to speak for them on Monday night," Clinton said. "She's going to speak, and then bring me on.

"We've already campaigned for them. We're doing a lot and I'll do whatever I'm asked to do."

Clinton said that while it was easy to underestimate Kerry as a politician, "I think he's very good and I think he would be a great president." [so while he looks like a bumbling fool there's really a great man in there, somewhere?]

He also lauded Edwards as having "an unusual feel" for the life of ordinary Americans. [think I'm gonna hurl.]Link

[BigWaveBetty]

Bet you're jealous there won't be any jackasses at the pubbie convention!

Swifty the donkey takes a break from eating grass on Morris Powell's family farm in Rising Fawn, Ga., Friday, July 16, 2004. As one of the most active Democrats in the rural part of Georgia, Morris Powell was assured a spot months ago as a delegate at the party's convention in Boston. It took some negotiating, but now Swifty is a delegate too. Swifty overcame security and space concerns to become ``the official Donkey Delegate'' of the convention. (AP Photo/Ric Feld)

They should of named him Shifty being he's a democrat and all.

Did you get any help on your laptop question? I'll tell HLL next time we talk to be sure to see your post, she's got all the computer know how.

[lodwick]

Swifty looks more presidential than eff'n.

I'm on hold with IowaTelcom to see if they have a way to connect at the convention...come on folks, answer!

[lodwick]

If you contact your ISP before your trips, they can save all your email on their server and you can read it from anywhere you're on line...then when you return home, you can download it to your machine.

They have no toll-free numbers outside Iowa.

Really friendly, helpful folks, they just didn't have the answer we were hoping to get.

[Iowa Granny]

Thank you so much for all that leg work. I was pretty sure they didn't have an 800 number, but after you suggested they might, I was holding out hope.

I'm thinking I might get a short term subscription of AOL, Earthlink, or some such nationwide carrier.

[mountaineer]

Who has the longer face, Effin or the donkey?

[lodwick]

You're welcome, friend.

Check with your hotel and see what all they have available in their business center. That motel behind Cummins (sp?) Steak House had a wonderful high-speed internet computer in the lobby that was free to their guests - it saved me from the shakes.

[mountaineer]

If she ever wants to run, I'll certainly support her. She's very good. I'm quite a good judge at political talent, and she's the ablest person I've ever known.

LOL, one look at eight years' worth of Clinton appointees, from Gorelick to Reno, shows us what a great judge of "political talent" he is.

[lodwick]

Cremmins? Cretins? who knows?

[lodwick]

Is anyone else tiring of Angelina's backside?

That donkey would make a better splash.

[Iowa Granny]

Crimmin's Cattle Co. ??????????

[lodwick]

Correct. Crimmin's CC

Thanks.

[lodwick]

...from Gorelick to Reno...to Lanni, to the Sturgeon General (whose name escapses me...the jerk-off gal), Bill brought forth some real weiners...Podesta, Mineta. Cripes, all of'em.

America, what have you become?

[BigWaveBetty]

Who has the longer face, Effin or the donkey?

Remarkably it's Swifty by a nose hair.

[BigWaveBetty]

That was very nice to help out IG to get her the hook up!

News on the broken car front: Mr. B is now not just satisfied with them paying one month's payment, he wants a new car, exactly like the one we bought (minus the glitches) and he's hot on the trial of the president of Audi. We'll be glad to drive the one we bought until they can deliver a new one. Mr. B said the depreciation this repair has caused is unacceptable and knowing they want us to have "a superior car buying experience" I think he'll be able to make it happen.

Btw, it's supposed to be ready tomorrow. Hmph! We'll see.

I have to admit it was a kind of fun problem. One of the fuel injectors or some similar part wasn't working and it made the car idle hard like those V-8 muscle cars do. Varooooooom! :-)

[BigWaveBetty]

This has to be the shortest DoD briefing on record (plz correct me if I'm wrong):

NEWS TRANSCRIPT from the United States Department of Defense
DoD News Briefing
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
Thursday, July 15, 2004

Q: The Iraqi government just had a - Iraq just had a car bombing yesterday and Allawi is coming out to give his recommendations as to what they should do. How should they be dealing with this terrorist threat and has the face of the enemy changed since the transfer of sovereignty?

SEC. WOLFOWITZ: Well, I think they have the right strategy which is getting enough Iraqi security forces out in greater and greater numbers and we're working hard with them to make that happen. And their prime minister is a very courageous man and I think he was on the scene of that bombing very shortly after it happened and that's leadership -- it's showing leadership. You know, the face of the enemy - the enemy hasn't changed, but the face of the enemy looks different now because it's obvious to all Iraqis that this is an enemy of the Iraqi people. And I would think ultimately that's going to be their downfall. They offer nothing but death and destruction and violence and this new government offers a very positive message and that's how they're going to win it.

Q: Now you met with some women leaders in Iraq today. Did they get into the security issue at all? Did they express any concerns or-

SEC. WOLFOWITZ: What was really powerful from these women - I heard them talking to members of Congress -- and the members of Congress asked, 'was it worth it? Should we have done it?' and one of them said, "Saddam Hussein himself was a weapon of mass destruction himself. I don't know why you Americans are so worried about this."

Q: OK. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. SEC. WOLFOWITZ: Thank you.

Q: Appreciate it. Link

The way most media avoid good news from Iraq I'm surprized the questioner didn't stick his fingers in his ears and hum loudly as he ran away. It's not like he was going to use his hands for anything important like writing down what Wolfowitz said anyhoo.

The more I learn about some Iraqi women the more I like. They're strong, opinionated and focused on the hard work that needs to be done to rebuild Iraq. One of these women is Rend Rahim, ambassador-designate of Iraq to the United States. Here is the transcript of her presentation on: What's Next? Iraqis Take Control. I recommend reading her inspirational and honest appraisal of what's next for Iraq.

Below is just one question she was asked and her answer is evidence of her straightforward approach to difficult times in Iraq.

MR. DAWOUD: Madam Ambassador, my name is Khaled Dawoud from Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper. I have two questions.

It's concerning the statements--confusing statements--by Prime Minister Allawi on the possibility of postponing elections or imposing emergency laws. If you can, clarify this for us, even if he backtracked.

And the second issue is what's your comment on the fact--
PARTICIPANT: [Off microphone.] [Inaudible.]

MR. DAWOUD: Oh, okay. The emergency--it's the statement by Allawi. Just a quick thing about the amount of money which has been spent, $400 million only out of $18 billion. I mean, do you think there would be a speeding up of this expenditure?

AMBASSADOR RAHIM: Just for brevity, I'm going to answer the two more difficult questions.

Emergency law--no, first of all, let's do the election. Iyad Allawi was really doing no more than echoing what Carina Perelli, the U.N. expert on elections, said in her report to the U.N. secretary general, which the report I think was submitted on June 1st or June 2nd. She said very clearly that there is a minimum of security that is required for free and fair elections to take place. And I think that Dr. Allawi was really only saying that, that we are going to strive to combat terrorism, combat violence, and bring security under control, bring security to the country, and that is a prerequisite, with the understanding that if we can't do that, if we fail--and God forbid that we should fail because, if we do, so much is going to be at stake, not just the elections, believe me--if we fail, then we can't have the elections. So this is really what the U.N. report said.

On the issue of emergency law--and, by the way, he did not speak about martial law. He spoke, quite rightly you mentioned, about emergency law. I'm going to say something that perhaps people won't like. We have been functioning under emergency law for the last 15 months. Why hasn't anybody noticed?

Emergency law means that you can break into people's houses, search and seize property and persons without the necessity of a warrant. It means you can detain people for long periods of time without their being charged. It means being able to ban demonstrations. It seems to me that this is precisely what has been going on. It hasn't been going on all over Iraq, but certainly the Coalition forces have used emergency laws in dealing with hot spots like Fallujah, like not Najaf and so on, but certainly other areas, parts of Baghdad even.

So, again, this is stating the obvious. Iyad Allawi did say that these will be on a case-by-case basis, they will be limited both in terms of geographic extent and duration.

So, again, being the sort of "bleeding heart" liberal Democrat that I am, I don't want to see that, but we have to accept reality and work with reality. And the fact is most Iraqis have welcomed these statements. They really see this as what is needed, and some of us or some Iraqis have been saying this should have been imposed on April 9th, 2003, and had emergency laws, and curfews, and martial law been imposed on April 9, 2003, we would probably be in better shape today.