Like most Americans and the Democratic presidential candidates, I am pro-choice although I believe the first defense against unwanted pregnancy, and STDs, is prevention.  (Today's Washington Post reveals that the "best-kept secret" for AIDS prevention in Africa is birth control, not giving antiretroviral drugs to pregnant women. And, notably, Africa is but one of the continents where  First Lady Hillary Clinton worked hard for eight years for women's rights and economic empowerment.)

There is a compelling moral exception: A fetus born alive during an abortion becomes an infant, and shouldn't be left for hours or days to die without medical care, a practice in some U.S. hospitals.

Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama differ markedly in their voting records on the live birth of an aborted infant.

Barack Obama has had to apologize plenty of times, but hasn't apologized face-to-face to Sen. Hillary Clinton, as she did yesterday when she sought to meet and apologize personally on the tarmac of a Washington, D.C. airport for the remarks of Bill Sheehan, a campaign co-chair, about Sen. Obama's youthful drug usage. Mr. Sheehan resigned yesterday. The "gates" include:

Punjab-gate: The opposition research department for Obama's campaign wrote a dossier titled "Hillary Clinton (D-Punjabs)'s Personal Financial and Political Ties to India," suggesting that Clinton's pro-India proclivities "will compromise her commitment to Americans." Reason identified Obama's hit piece as "Lou Dobbs-level rhetoric."

The dossier was distributed to reporters by the Obama campaign in June "on the condition that they could not attribute it to the campaign," wrote WaPo's Anne Kornblut. Reason's Kerry Howley observed, "It's nice, I guess, that Obama wants to bring people together. Now perhaps his research team can find a social glue superior to a shared xenophobia."

At the Sunday rally in Manchester, NH, Oprah Winfrey stirred the crowd:

"Ain't you tired of the old way of politics," Winfrey asked. The crowd responded "Yes."

Barack Obama recently said:

''We've had enough of ... triangulation and poll-driven politics,'' he said. ''That's not what we need right now.'

Obama is rising in the polls because he's expressing FEELINGS that people WANT to hear. People are worn down by the last seven years, and they want to believe what they're hearing from a hopeful, fresh candidate.  The problem is, it's just talk.  Here are some pithy examples of (1) Obama as the triangulator extraordinaire, and (2) Obama as a do-nothing -- yes, a do-nothing.

And when I'm calling tech support, I'm learning that it's another company's fault.  Typical tech support "pass the buck."  I'm kind of -- more than -- frustrated.

Just FYI in case you're trying to communiate with me.

I am getting most e-mails, although all the e-mails in my Inbox this weekend have disappeared.  Lost.

Dunno why. But I do know that it's somebody else's fault.

I got this e-mail from a member of the Port Angeles for Dean mailing list ... sorry it's so ill-formatted ....

From: WA State Alliance for Retired Americans
To:
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 2:12 PM
Subject: HELP STOP Immoral Cuts today---then PLEASE FORWARD this

ARE YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN ABOUT TO GET HURT?
ACT AS IF THEY ARE.  

National Call-In Week
  To Stop Federal Budget Cuts Starts January 23
  Call your U.S. Representative toll-free: 800-426-8073

PLEASE FORWARD THIS INFORMATION TO YOUR FRIENDS AND NETWORKS

Tell Your Representative: Don't Choose Special Interests Over Families!
  Vote Against The Budget Cut Bill!
On December 19, the House of Representatives approved a budget bill in  
the middle of the night that slashes aid  Americans depend on - after  
having only a few hours to read the nearly 800-page bill.

  The bill protects powerful interests with high-paid lobbyists such as  
the health insurance industry, pharmacuetical companies, and banks --  
while it hurts people who need Medicaid, student loans, child care,  
child support enforcement, and disability assistance.

  Because the Senate made some small changes, the bill goes back to the  
House for another vote on February 1. Now they have plenty of time to  
learn how their constituents are hurt - and vote NO.

For a PDF flier with this information, click here:  
http://www.chn.org/pdf/JanuaryCallInFlier.pdf

  Call your U.S. Representative toll-free at 800-426-8073 starting  
January 23.  This number will connect you to the Capitol switchboard.  
 The person at the switchboard can connect you to your Representative's  
office, and if you're not sure who your Representative is, they can  
figure it out for you.  After you're connected with a staff person from  
your Representative's office, tell them:

"My name is _____ and  
I live in (your town/city). I would like Representative [name] to vote  
NO on the budget cuts bill (S.1932). This bill will cut billions in  
vital services, including Medicaid, SSI, foster care, child care, child  
support and student loans.

  I urge the Representative to vote against this bill because it chooses  
special interests over families."

  Making Sure You Get Through To Your Members' Offices
If you can't get through on that line, please call the U.S. Capitol  
Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or
  find their direct line at http://www.house.gov/  

For more information, visit the Coalition on Human Needs website at  
http://www.chn.org/  

The toll-free number is provided courtesy of the American Friends  
Service Committee which has launched a
  budget campaign, http://www.afsc.org/economic-justice/sos/. AFSC  
welcomes groups to circulate and use the toll-free number in support of  
the non-partisan budget goals towards which CHN always works and  
without linking the alert to a website soliciting donations or actions  
which may be used to support partisan lobbying or work.

Do not reply to this email.  But we want to hear from you! If you wish  
to contact CHN, find our contact information at  
http://www.chn.org/about/staff.html.

==========
Please forward this e-mail!  

I adore the weekends because of BookTV.org (where, if you don't get C-Span2, you can watch some of the videos and, I think you can watch too via C-SPAN (right?) ... here's the schedule for all the other nerds like me:

SATURDAY -- rest of today -- Watson's is almost over -- HE IS VERY GOOD -- TRY TO CATCH HIM -- and he's going to do a new book on Sacco and Venzetti!  

12:45    Bruce Watson, Bread & Roses: Mills, Migrants, and the Struggle for the American Dream
2:00    Pamela Winnick, A Jealous God: Science's Crusade Against Religion
3:00    Book Club: "Flyboys" by James Bradley
4:45    Gareth Porter, Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam
6:00    Lynne Cheney, A Time for Freedom: What Happened When in America
7:00    Encore Booknotes: Howard Kurtz, Media Circus: The Trouble with America's Newspapers
8:00    After Words: After Words: Fred Barnes interviewed by Peter Beinart
9:00    History on Book TV: Nell Irvin Painter, Creating Black Americans: African-American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present
10:00    General Assignment: Gary Berntsen and Ralph Pezzullo, Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander
11:00    Larry Beinhart, Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin

For those of you who know what to do, here's the place to do it.

'nuf said.

LISTEN HERE

This diary is for Justice: Day 4 regarding the threat that Alito's confirmation will bring to the rights of people with disabilities.

(For the full list, please see Tampopo's diary. Yesterday's diary -- for Day 3 -- was by Steven D, and titled "For Justice: Day Three -- Alito and Judicial Ethics.")

Each of these diaries is presented for you in the format of a letter -- a letter that you can readily copy, or adapt, and then send to the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as to your own two senators, as they consider their votes for the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito.

Below the fold is my suggested letter regarding Alito's well-known record on disability rights.

By the way, my style of writing letters to my senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray and congressman Norm Dicks is to be as brief as possible. Their staffs get an enormous volume of letters. They will not read my lengthy explanations. They want to know where I stand, so that's typically how I write my letters. However, I don't shoot off one-liners. I try to supply facts and sources (as I've done below).

If you disagree with my succinct style, please set forth your own, more complex argument. Below, I will supply you with more resources.

-- Forwarded to me by a friend --

Dear Friend:

In many regions, people have seen their home heating bills increase rapidly in the past few months.  I want you to know that, if you meet certain income criteria, you may be eligible for assistance with your home heating bills. The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) is a federally funded program, administered by the State of California, that helps low-income households pay their energy bills.

You can check your eligibility by visiting the HEAP website at HEAP FAQ.  It includes clickable tabs for both income guidelines and for a providers directory.  Local community services agencies are responsible for processing applications and a list of those agencies may be found in the providers directory.

Another great part of the HEAP website is a winter-time energy savings guide to conserving energy during the cold weather months.  The list includes many ideas that range from steps you can take that are free to those that involve a significant investment.  I encourage you to check out these tips.  You can find a link on the HEAP website or access it directly at LINK/

I will continue to work to lower and stabilize the costs of home heating.  In the meantime, I encourage you to check your eligibility and to share this information with someone who could benefit from the program.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

TerriPAC

I'll try to keep this short.  In my mind, that one rule at Booman means that 1) we don't personally attack other members of the blogosphere, and 2) we don't issue accusations that could sully the other person's reputation, particularly if the accuations are unsubstantiated.

BooMan and I are very easy-going about enforcement of the rule.  My favored way is to write a personal note to the person -- and I also do that if someone has written a comment that indicates they're very upset about something.  

BooMan always -- always -- communicates with people at length, both in comments and in e-mails before he takes any action.

There have been almost no bannings.  They are a last resort.

More below:

Re Judy and the NYT

I think he's Charlie's only guest for the hour.  Check local PBS stations for time.

CSPAN2