Maine Owl

"Taxman"


Obama better come up with an answer

"Higher taxes, higher gas prices, economic disaster."

Whoa. This is some powerful stuff McCain is peddling. Ads with a message very similar to this one are running in southern Maine, probably because of the proximity to swing state New Hampshire. It's traditional anti-tax technique coupled with deft transferrance of the harms of decades of Republicanism away from the Republicans. Basically the idea is to hang the last eight years around Obama's neck. Ridiculous? Of course.

The gas prices actually constitute a huge levy on the public for Bush's wars. But will Obama attack back in kind with a strong enough counter-message that it is actually McCain who wants to continue the wars ad infinitum? I haven't seen it yet.

Obama has tried to explain that his economic plan intends a mild restructuring of taxes so the rich pay a few cents more. That would be a step in the right direction. But he better get out there with a strong "fairness" message while drawing a picture of McCain as purveyor of endless war. Otherwise, these ads will set in and Obama will have no hope of shaking enough voters free from the grip of the Republican confusion machine.

More commentary just out describes the weakness of the recent Obama campaign in the face of this Republican onslaught: Progressives Sound Alarm About Obama Campaign. With McCain so inconsistent and so lacking in solutions, the disturbing trend is that, according to Josh Marshall, "The lack of any consistent lines of attack against McCain is becoming palpable."

I couldn't agree more. For evidence about what is happening, go look at the erosion over at the 538 poll tracker. Now the fellow who runs that site is arguing that Obama has a great ground game and that somehow shows the campaign is also great. However, the erosion in the polls is unmistakable. If this is turning into the August disaster that was the Swiftboated Kerry campaign of four years ago remains to be seen. But if I was hoping beyond all hope for an Obama presidency, I'd be worried.

Maine landmark


1807 Munjoy Hill structure a fixture on Portland landscape


Small piece of view from Observatory

Last year, the Observatory was 200 years old. Read all about it HERE. I hadn't been up since eight years ago, shortly after the 1990s restoration project was completed. We visited this amazing site over this past weekend. The view from up top was as clear as it has been for the last several weeks of cloudy, rainy weather.

Cukes


Lots and lots of these ...

But not enough of the actual thing.

The whole garden is like that this year. It came up like gangbusters while we were in Minnesota. But precious few fruit have formed so far. Well, there are many green cherry tomatoes. We've only been able to pull out two actual cucumbers so far.

He must think the taking of Iraq was just a natural gift of God:



One of the hardest things for Americans to accept is that our country used its power to invade, conquer, occupy and eviscerate someone else's country while causing untold suffering of millions of its people. In the mind of McCain, this taking simply does not register as an invasion. H/T Think Progress.

If Obama picks this guy, I won't vote for the ticket.

Update: Here's why.

Hidden off the Trans-Canada Highway




Cascading series of falls near North Bay, Ontario

The Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine did not plan a special event for 2008. So, I am posting an audio player for the WERU Voices program I assembled from our August 6, 2007 Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemorations at Pierce Park and the Hammond Street Church in Bangor:


You may visit peacecast.us HERE to download the podcast.

Today, August 6, 2008, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba asked for the new U.S. president to support a proposed ban on nuclear weapons. Mayor Akiba is quoted extensively in our 2007 program.

What was the source of the REAL anthrax Iraq DID possess?

Obviously the terror-inducing U.S. anthrax attacks during the fall of 2001 fit in nicely with what the U.S. was doing to portray Iraq as the most dangerous regime in the world. Here's President Bush whipping up hysteria concerning Iraq and bioweapons on October 7, 2002 in his famous Cincinnati speech, given as he was pressuring Congress to pass the Iraq War Resolution:

President Bush: ... the regime was forced to admit that it had produced more than 30,000 liters of anthrax and other deadly biological agents. The inspectors, however, concluded that Iraq had likely produced two to four times that amount. This is a massive stockpile of biological weapons that has never been accounted for, and capable of killing millions. ...

We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United States. And, of course, sophisticated delivery systems aren't required for a chemical or biological attack; all that might be required are a small container and one terrorist or Iraqi intelligence operative to deliver it. ...

Iraq could decide on any given day to provide a biological or chemical weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists. Alliance with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints. ...

Now, news about the investigation into the October 2001 "anthrax by mail" attacks in the U.S. is hot again after the death by suicide of the latest FBI candidate for the culprit, another scientist within the U.S. military's own bioweapons program. The latest is that the suspect, the late Bruce Ivins, was some kind of whacko with an obsession with a college sorority.

Glenn Greenwald has been all over this story, with several posts focusing on media contributions that helped President Bush falsely pin the anthrax threat on Iraq. Greenwald has his doubts about Ivins's guilt. THIS Democracy Now! segment suggests that the case should be far from closed, despite Ivins's suicide.

As Greenwald suggests, "extreme skepticism" should be the rule when dealing with any government or media claim concerning anthrax. I agree. Why might certain U.S. authorities want to keep the lid on the truth and the public diverted and confused? Perhaps it is because the U.S. itself, along with the U.K. have plenty to keep covered up. Both were key enablers of Iraq's actual bioweapons program during the 1980s.

Is there any evidence for this assertion? Yes. My old site carries an essential 2005 white paper on the subject written by contributor Geoffrey Holland. It is accessible HERE. Holland traces strains of anthrax shipped to Iraq through many decades of U.S. and U.K. bioweapons research, concluding "that the anthrax threat from Iraq, a repeatedly cited reason for the 2003 invasion of that country, actually originated from a dead cow in South Oxfordshire" in the U.K.

Holland argues that the "United States breached the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) by supplying warfare-related biological materials to Iraq during the 1980s" and should be sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council. Holland campaigned in the U.K. on this issue for several years, eventually garnering over 100 sponsors for a Parliamentary resolution demanding such a referral.

Today Juan Cole has more: "Bush Pressured FBI to Blame al-Qaeda for Anthrax", along with a fascinating item about how the notion that Iraq was anthrax central propagated through the U.S. media, even on entertainment shows and with the help of none other than John McCain.

Wisconsin wildlife area


Road through flowage near Sandhill Crane breeding sites


Prairie wildflowers like this Blazing Star in abundance


Video: Trumpeter Swans relaxing

Wind turbine on the move


Major operation: turning off of I-35

We have been seeing these massive trailer rigs that are used to carry huge wind machines up and down I-35 in Minnesota. We got caught behind one here, trying to make a turn from I-35 onto MN 95 in North Branch.

Bruno, MN

Our former landlords have an incredible permaculture going.

1812 replicas arrived yesterday


Tall ship at the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth yesterday


U.S. Brig Niagra in Duluth Inner Harbor

Local story HERE ...

Tall ships arrive in Duluth to the delight of thousands
Candace Renalls - Duluth News Tribune - Friday, August 01, 2008

With cannons’ roar, a trio of tall ships, their white sails billowing in the wind, glided into Duluth Harbor Thursday afternoon to the delight of the thousands of people who gathered to watch.

The ships, including replicas of 1812 war ships, passed through the Aerial Lift Bridge beginning about 4 p.m., followed by an armada of smaller boats that later milled around as the big ships docked along Harbor Drive.

It was the first time in decades that many tall ships had sailed into the harbor at one time, harkening back to the mid- to late-1800s when sailing vessels moved cargo on the Great Lakes. The ships are here for this weekend’s Duluth Maritime Festival and will be open for public tours today through Sunday. ...

Constant teevee play:



We're on a visit to my home state and it's hard to miss the politics. While recent polling has both Maine and Minnesota "likely GOP" in the senate contests, it appears there is a much more vigorous campaign already going on out here.

Just a couple of observations. The huge problem for Franken is that he is still trying to convince people he's "serious." That's deadly at this point, I would think.

Coleman, for his part, has pounced. The campaign as far as he's concerned is all about the quality of Franken as a real Minnesota human being. Franken is disqualified on the basis of some tax irregularities and off-color satire he'd written years ago. But the ad! I agree with the Air America people that it's patronizing. Any decent Minnesotan should be offended and it should backfire on Coleman. If the ad doesn't backfire, Minnesotans will for six more years have the senator they deserve.

Franken's videos have real issues in them. I think they're pretty good. More HERE.

Ontario sunset

Chocolate beauties


Peppers in heaven

Pepper-growing weather has really set in. It's warm, humid, and rainy. Yesterday storms dumping up to 10 cm swung through New England. Here, we had several pretty vigorous showers, but our total has been only about 3 cm. Still, that has made the garden extremely happy. Everything is zooming. Even the Brandywine tomatoes started very late from seed now look very strong and likely to succeed. Cucumbers are about to come in like gangbusters.