Call for change

Give some time and some cell minutes to help put some checks and balances back in our government My friend here in Bernal is hosting at least one more call party for MoveOn.org Get a list, a script, some background info on the race, and start dialing. It comes down to person to person (and lots of answering machines) connections that can make a difference.

The way to connect is to visit MoveOn and look for a place to search for a call party by entering your zip code. Once he has his party registered, voila! See you there. And if his party doesn't show up, others will. Wherever you are.

With the gorgeous weather we've been having around here, it would be a great way to donate to the cause.

Limits to blogging Flickr slideshows

OK, so digg dug a dud. Maybe that's a bit harsh.

The code for blogging a Flickr slideshow above is buggy. Not what it was advertised. Looks to me like the set_id parameter is not working. I just get my most recent shots.

Which is OK. It's still fun to have that there. But it sure would be nice to correctly specify a slideshow. If any readers come here with more info, code fix suggestions, leave a comment.

Fun with Flickr

Thanks to Digg, I found a cool recipe for embedding Flickr slideshows in a blog.

Here's my summer vacation set, which may actually be of interest to the friends and family that make up a the majority of the audience here:

Baghdad Burning — again

This is not the first time Riverbend, my favorite Iraqi blogger, has taken a hiatus. But this was a really long break. And with the news coming out of Baghdad being what it is, it's hard not to worry when a voice like hers falls silent. So it was a great relief, of sorts, to read her latest post

This has been the longest time I have been away from blogging. There were several reasons for my disappearance the major one being the fact that every time I felt the urge to write about Iraq, about the situation, I'd be filled with a certain hopelessness that can't be put into words and that I suspect other Iraqis feel also.

Checks and Balances on the horizon

Krugman nails it:

But while the Democrats won't gain the ability to pass laws, if they win they will gain the ability to carry out investigations, and the legal right to compel testimony.

The current Congress has shown no inclination to investigate the Bush administration. Last year The Boston Globe offered an illuminating comparison: when Bill Clinton was president, the House took 140 hours of sworn testimony into whether Mr. Clinton had used the White House Christmas list to identify possible Democratic donors. But in 2004 and 2005, a House committee took only 12 hours of testimony on the abuses at Abu Ghraib.

Impeach Bush? Nah, just put him on a spit and roast him slowly. Stop the hemorrhaging and start shining a light on what has really been happening.

Have you read Nancy Pelosi's plans for her first 100 hours?

CBGB closing for good

...and moving to Vegas? OMFUG. Not Vegas...

Josh Marshall lets his guard down?

"I love the sound of Republicans whining. It is the sound of Democratic victory."