Ding Zi Hu (lit. "Nail House"):

(It's called a "nail house" in Chinese because it's so hard to pull out)

Person or household who refuses to move and bargains for unreasonably high compensation when the land is requisitioned for a construction project.......more

The China Blog

Barack Obama, Opposition from the Start

Dean Says Cheney Full Of Bull

The Vice President’s spin today is more of the same scare tactics and bullish rhetoric that have become a hallmark of the Bush White House when faced with a truth they don’t happen to like?.....here

DFA Tampa Bay Meeting
Wednesday, April 4, 2007, 6:30 PM
Piccadilly Cafeteria 11810 N. Dale Mabry Hwy Tampa, FL 33618

Please bring items for the soldiers. We will be sending packages this week.

Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl

Heart Of The Beholder
Watch Banned Award-Winning Movie Online for Free
This movie is based on the true story of what happened to video store owners from across the country that were targeted by religious groups........here

The Malvinas Of Argentina

25th Anniversary Of The War To Recover Their Islands

"The war has not changed the reality: the Malvinas are Argentine, they have always been and they always will be, we will recover what is ours"..........here

George W. Bush Scandal Collector Plate

You Get, Outing Valerie Plame, Invading The Wrong Country, Illegal Wiretaps, Losing $9 Billion In Iraq, The Patriot Act, Gitmo and many many more.

Snoop Dogg Says: ''F*ck Bill O'Reilly!''

Snoop Dogg offers a few choice words to Billy.

bushflash.com

Shut Down by Homeland Security

The website that you are attempting to visit is currently offline, pending investigation of possible violations of §802 of the USA PATRIOT Act.....h/t - gone like the wind
Prepare, plan, stay informed at READY.GOV

Howard Dean Wins Again
Bringing In Big Money From Major Donors Once Skeptical Of Him

Dean is being helped by the White House's awful political travails. Nonetheless, it's still significant, because it suggests that Dean has had far more success than many expected in winning over the party's major contributors, who were initially so skeptical of Dean's gloves-off, grass-roots approach that they privately were threatening to clamp shut their wallets......more

Democracy for America

The Courage for Peace

One solution to the war-think that so dominates our nation and threatens our world is the establishment of a US Department of Peace. The notion was first suggested by founding father Dr. Benjamin Rush, who advocated for the appointment of a "Secretary of Peace" to the federal cabinet. The idea revived in the 1930s, and again in the '60s, but never gathered the necessary support......more

U.S. Department of Peace

Kasey Chambers - Nothing At All

Amsterdam's Window Prostitutes $66.58

Visitors flood red-light district

Amsterdam's sex workers came to work early on Saturday to offer a free look at the city's famed red-light district. The district -- a warren of narrow alleys and canals lined with sex shops, brothels and neon signs - - is as big an attraction as Amsterdam's art museums and coffee shops, where marijuana is freely smoked and sold......more....What A Country!

Pot raid nets multiple arrests in Tampa

To All Spanish Speaking Ghetto Dwellers
Newt Gingrich wants you to learn the language of prosperity
The American people believe English should be the official language of the government. ... We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto," Gingrich said to cheers from the crowd of more than 100......more
How Low Can You Go

Barack Obama In Ybor

April 15, 2007

Courtyard of the Cuban Club, Ybor City 2pm

For tickets to the $25 rally, call (813) 258-2224

Belacqua Jones
Letters to the president from his ardent admirer
Isn’t psychosis dynamic? Where would the world be without madness? There would have been no Roman Empire, no Carthage, no Crusades, no bringing of Christianity to the New World. We would have had neither World War I or II, nor Hiroshima, nor Korea, nor the Cold War, nor Vietnam, nor Iraq.........more

City Of Largo Sanctioned Civil Rights Violations

Neko Case - Maybe Sparrow

Publix's new pay system:
High performance, Smaller paycheck
Mass merchants have used performance incentives for years, but they're usually tied to a store's performance and meant to foster teamwork. Publix zeroes in on each worker and adds the unconventional twist of institutionalizing disincentives - even for top performers......more

Grass Roots Planted In Cyberspace
John Edwards's Campaign Leads the Field

No one's sure exactly what role these sites -- a.k.a. socnets -- will play in the upcoming election. But whatever it is, Edwards isn't taking any chances. The man's flooding the zone. He's on the big ones: Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, et al., where supporters and well-wishers are sending their best to his wife, Elizabeth......here

Bush Apologizes
"We're not going to be satisfied until everyone gets the kind of care that their folks and families expect."

Gov. Richardson speaks to Democracy For America

That is just one of Governor Bill Richardson's responses to DFA members who wrote comments in our Presidential Primary Petition on Iraq.

MoveOn.org

Successfully Executing Its Vision and Answering Its Critics

10 questions for MoveOn.org's co-founders Wes Boyd and Joan Blades about the recent progressive debate over how Democrats in Congress approached stopping the war in Iraq and their plans for the future......more

Blogging with Bush

In trying to win support for his escalation in Iraq, President Bush was reduced to quoting two bloggers in Baghdad -- who turned out to be brothers he once met at the White House -- and their comments were more than three weeks old. Has it come to this?.......more

Mos Def - Immortal Technique - Eminem

Orwell with a twist: We have not always been at war

It reminded me of the naive shock I felt upon first finding out that my country was of a type that would have a military training school in Fort Benning where soldiers from all over Latin America could come to learn the techniques they would need not to fight the soldiers of other armies, but to keep their own restless populations in line.....more

Obama speaks to Democracy For America

Last month, DFA members called upon the 2008 presidential candidates to take a stand on Iraq. Here is Sen. Barack Obama's response

Tampa, The City Of Nose Pickers

To Borrow A Phrase From Neil Rogers

After reading the local blogs all week i thought for sure Mr. Redner would win this election. What Happened? Where were all the progressive democrats, is this the best we can do? I have nothing against Gwen Miller but Mr. Redner would of given this city a voice it has needed for along time. Maybe blogs and the people that read them are not as influential as they think they are.

Other Thoughts @ Dont You Hate It When, @ Nite Cricket, @ Tampa's Back Door Ways

Go To Church Win A Falcon
@ The Church Of You

World On Fire

Good Luck Joe

Smugglers Toss Africans Overboard

Smugglers taking illegal migrants from Somalia to Yemen forced hundreds of Africans overboard in stormy seas in an effort to make a fast getaway. Passengers who resisted the smugglers were stabbed or beaten with wooden and steel clubs, then thrown into the water where some were attacked by sharks.......more

Bush And Political Theater

George W. Bush has always despised "political theater," as you can see from these photos which were recently re-discovered by members of DU.

Meet Christopher Brevard he didn't believe in Bush's War
As a kid growing up on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Christopher Brevard dreamed of military glory. As an adult, he spent the last months of his life fighting a war he didn't believe in. 'Mom, I would lay my life down in a heartbeat fighting for America. But if I lose my life over here, I will not feel like I died for my country," said the soldier's mother, Michele Brevard, 51......more

Emerging Republican Minority

Remember how the 2004 election was supposed to have demonstrated, once and for all, that conservatism was the future of American politics? I do: early in 2005, some colleagues in the news media urged me, in effect, to give up. “The election settled some things,” I was told.....more

How I Planned To Kill Tony Blair

The Largo 5

Meet Rep. John Lewis

"Not Another Dollar" for the Iraq War

President John F. Kennedy once said, ``Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.'' My greatest fear is that the young people of Iraq and of the Middle East will never forget this war. My greatest fear is they will grow up hating our children and our children's children for what we have done. Mr. Speaker, the Bible is right. Even a great nation can reap what it sows......more

A Comment By Mark Ferguson
Largo(City of Regress, not Progress)

All I could do after seeing this is shake my head and cry. Its sad that here we live in country that offers freedom to those who seek it. But yet when it comes to beliefs, views, or differences that freedom is easily taken away. Brandon Pride started because Hillsborough County faced similar bigotry, and hatred 2 years ago when commissioners passed a policy that Gay Pride was no longer allowed, or recognized. The question still remains to this day...Are we truly free to live our lives the way we want to live them, or not?

Former Hillsborough County Commissioner, and newly elected Tampa City Council member Tom Scott once said quote "Civil rights, and Gay Rights are not the same." But this is not about Gay Rights. This is about Equality, nothing more, nothing less. By what Hillsborough County Commissioners, and Largo Commissioners have done is a great injustice to our county by spiting on the Declaration of Independence, and the US Constitution. Most of all they do not represent the districts they serve. Many people in both Hillsborough County, and Largo have stated that they are supportive of the GLBT community. But those commissioners have put their own interests ahead of their constituents, and that is wrong. I have decided I will no longer be confined to a prison camp created by those who spread bigotry and hate. I will continue fighting for Equality by speaking out, and standing my ground. If anyone discriminates against me for who I am my warning is this: "DON'T TREAD ON ME!" I am who I am and I will fight for my freedom and independence to my last breath.

Mark Ferguson
Brandon Pride President

Largo, Florida

The City of Progress or The City of Bigots?

The third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, USA and is part of the Tampa Bay Area. Centrally located, it is the crossroads of the county. The City of Largo is governed by a commission of 7 people elected at large to staggered, three year terms. The mayor acts as a member and presiding officer of the Commission. The Commission's role encompasses the setting of city policy, exercising those duties imposed by the charter and law, and striving to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the public within the corporate bounds of the City of Largo........Wikipedia

Good Luck, Mr. Stanton

@ Shakespeare's Sister, @ Creative Loafing, @ The Delightful Yank, @ Daniel Ruth

Standing Up In D.C.

"A time comes when silence is betrayal." - Martin Luther King Jr.

It was in important day to be in Washington, DC. And while many Americans busy themselves with their own personal lives, whether the kids have done their homework, or whether the car will be out of the shop on time, or even ponder what plan for season tickets they want for baseball season, too many still are only barely conscious that their country started it’s fifth year in Iraq......more

Idiocracy

Stupid people have outbred intelligent people

Americans Support The Troops

Private support for US soldiers looks as strong as ever

Not all care packages come from Americans who support the war, but many soldiers don't seem to mind. "I would still accept it," says Pvt. David Bounds from the 610 Brigade Support Battalion in Baghdad. "They may not support the reasons why we are here, but it's good that they still care in some aspect.".......more

ExxonMobil Risks Valdez-like Oil Spill in Alaska

Eighteen years after the most devastating oil spill in U.S. history, ExxonMobil still has not paid the punitive damages owed to the victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and is operating the largest, most dangerous oil tanker in the area -- the Exxon Valdez sister ship, Sea River Long Beach.........more

Revolution is a Moment

It’s hard to imagine a bright future for the Cuban revolution when you see a Havana trapped in a time warp. Everything seems a contradiction. Cubans come up to me and start a friendly conversation that ends in a business transaction of some kind; colonial building in decay but that still look royal, and the deafening Studebakers, Chevys, Fords and Cadillacs from the 40s and 50s move among the modern cars that carry a tourist license plate.......more

Let's End The Cuban Embargo, Only With The Free Exchange Of Ideas With The Cuban People Will We Bring A End To This Disaster They Call A Revolution. This Embargo Has Done Nothing But Divide Families And Bring Hardship To The People Of Cuba.

In Cuba, Fidel Castro is the last person to feel the pain caused by the U.S. measures...Cato

Sunsara Taylor takes on Bill O'Reilly

DISHONORING A NATION'S HISTORY
The US Prepares its First Guantanamo Trials

The Pentagon is launching its first trials of long-term detainees at Guantanamo. The trials will take place before military tribunals, which grant very few rights to defense attorneys. Ironically, it became clear long ago that the overwhelming majority of the prisoners at Guantanamo were not terrorists......more

Chavez vs Bush in Latin America: No contest

From Buenos Aires

US President George Bush has been touring Latin American countries this March with two goals in mind: keep the continent divided and keep it subservient to US imperialist interests. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has also been visiting his neighbours. His goals are the opposite: to unite the countries of Latin America and to encourage and support the continent’s independence from US imperialism.......more

Re-Elect Gore in 2008!

Attorney General Gonzalez

The Shame Of The Latin Community

In a community so desperate for good role models, the ascent of Gonzales represented a double triumph: Not only would he be the first Latino Attorney General, but in addition, he would also be the first Latino to occupy one of the four positions of greatest influence in the presidential cabinet.....more

Fredo

The nickname Bush gave Alberto Gonzales is Fredo - from Wikipedia: in Mario Puzo's novel, Fredo was always thought of in the Corleone crime Family as the weakest and most foolish of the three Corleone brothers, and so was given its unimportant businesses to run......ahnc

I know it was you, Fredo....

Embattled Bush

During President Bill Clinton's final six years, the Republican-led majority in Congress issued more than 1,000 subpoenas to the White House; during Mr. Bush's first term, the Republicans issued none. Of course, this is the same Republican majority that took 140 hours of sworn testimony about alleged misuse of the Clintons' Christmas card list but a mere 12 hours on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.......more

Buddy Johnson is a Buffoon

Or worse, he is manipulating local elections. Either way, he should be fired, suspended or otherwise relieved of his duties.......more

Troops in Iraq want out

"Bush can come fight here. He can take my 1,000 dollars a month and I'll go home."

A poll commissioned by the BBC, ABC News, ARD German TV and USA Today, showed only 18 percent of those questioned had confidence in US and coalition troops, while 78 percent opposed their presence.......more

Blackwater: Bush's Shadow Army

Jeremy Scahill reports on the Bush Administration's growing dependence on private security forces such as Blackwater USA and efforts in Congress to rein them in.

Feed Your Blog @ Outpost Earth

Outpost-Earth is a "Dynamic" directory of the latest updates from bloggers across the web and from around the world. As a visitor you can browse blogs by location or topic to discover what people are talking about in your area. As a member, by adding your own blog, your latest posts will appear across the Outpost-Earth network bringing exposure and traffic to your site......more

Big Sister 1984

Howard Dean and the Last Laugh

"I'm Howard Dean and I'm here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party!" Dean thundered in February 2003 as he began his race for the Democratic nomination. Dean's anger was directed not only at George W. Bush, but also at those Democrats who were backing Bush's Iraq war, tax cuts and No Child Left Behind legislation.....more

Our Choice

DFA Night School
Anyone Can Run

Have you ever thought about running for office? Are you looking for someone to run in your area? Launching your own campaign can seem daunting, yet getting people like you elected is vital to building the progressive movement. Tomorrow night DFA Night School will help prepare you to make the leap and run for elected office.....here

March on Pentagon Protest

Viva The American People

Dean On The Fourth Anniversary Of The Iraq War

"Four years ago, President Bush' his Administration misled our nation into a war of choice that has led to the loss of 3,200 American lives and tens of thousands more wounded......more

The Ybor City Stogie 4 Years On The Net

The Beginnings March 19, 2003

GOP And Dems, How Much Longer Will This Go On?

Odon Soterias: New Fan

Best Band At Williams Park Peace Rally

here

Such A Nice Day For A Peace Rally
Where Was Everybody?

Samm Simpson, My Hero

Dixie Chick's And Captian America

Mr. Moore Was In The House

Teach Them Early

Free Music