T- t -th-t t... I d- dont' know how to spell this one.

Its 'the' Mr. President, sound it out. Thuh, as in 'the' Trade Center has just been attacked.

Oh, THE, haw haw. I guess you can teach an old cowboy new tricks. Haw haw hee.

Well, sir, it might be easier if you turned the book right side up.

The New York Times Op-Ed: Maureen Dowd: "I am very impressed with James Guckert, a k a Jeff Gannon.
How often does an enterprising young man, heralded in press reports as both a reporter and a contributor to such sites as Hotmilitarystud.com, Workingboys.net, Militaryescorts.com, MilitaryescortsM4M.com and Meetlocalmen.com, get to question the president of the United States?
Who knew that a hotmilitarystud wanting to meetlocalmen could so easily get to be face2face with the commander in chief?
It's hard to believe the White House could hit rock bottom on credibility again, but it has, in a bizarre maelstrom that plays like a dark comedy. How does it credential a man with a double life and a secret past?
'Jeff Gannon' was waved into the press room nearly every day for two years as the conservative correspondent for two political Web sites operated by a wealthy Texas Republican. Scott McClellan often called on the pseudoreporter for softball questions.
Howard Kurtz reported in The Washington Post yesterday that although Mr. Guckert had denied launching the provocative Web sites - one described him as " 'military, muscular, masculine and discrete' (sic)" - a Web designer in California said "that he had designed a gay escort site for Gannon and had posted naked pictures of Gannon at the client's request."
And The Wilmington News-Journal in Delaware reported that Mr. Guckert was delinquent in $20,700 in personal income tax from 1991 to 1994.
I'm still mystified by this story. I was rejected for a White House press pass at the start of the Bush administration, but someone with an alias, a tax evasion problem and Internet pictures where he posed like the "Barberini Faun" is credentialed to cover a White House that won a second term by mining homophobia and preaching family values?"

t r u t h o u t - Amy Goodman: Voice of America:

Just thought I would put this up here to give everyone a collective pat on the back. I'm proud to have friends who not only have opinions about the world around us, but research and most importantly share that information.
Don't hate the media, become it.

"What do you think about the internet, and blogging -- what sort of impact will new technologies that sort of democratize media creation have?


    The more decentralized, the better; the more sources of information, the better. At Democracy Now! we always try to give people more access to lots of different forms of information linking to many different sites because it's in no one's interest just to rely on one source of information. For too long, the networks have monopolized information and really just channeled one kind of propaganda, and we've got to break the sound barrier, and we do that by many people getting involved, so I support as many ways of getting out any kind of information as possible -- it makes us all healthier, it protects us all."

In honor of Douglass' birthday, and black history month in general, I thought I would post an essay I wrote two years ago about him and Malcolm X. I haven't read it over since then, don't laugh, this is from my first rhetoric class!

The autobiographies of Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X represent the inner gap between mental slavery and complete freedom and that knowledge is the bridge between the two states. Although a century apart, two men in the later stages of life gained the power of knowledge. They obtained the power to control not only their lives, but they also helped others take control of their own lives. Having control is the ability to overcome being a slave to your condition. Rising above the circumstances of society means freedom from not only physical constraints but also mental restraints. Literacy is the tool to obtain independent knowledge and therefore liberate the mind from the restriction of ignorance.
(see comments for more)