It occurred to me this morning that we have been going pretty much nonstop here in Texas for three weeks now. Every day has been filled with answering phones, greeting new volunteers, setting up events, training precinct captains and going to rallies. There have been countless house parties thrown, meet-ups held and connections made. And it's all happened because of the awesome effort put forth by the staff and volunteers.

Campaigns are strange creatures. They can wear you out and lift you up at the same time. Everyone, from the candidate to the volunteers has this slightly dazed look about them. March 4th has become an event horizon, drawing in more and more resources yet giving not the slightest clue what lays beyond. The campaign is reaching a fevered pitch.

This (post/diary/comment) is (breaking news/a news alert/the most important thing ever written/a rant/a waste of space).

Building from a comment I left in Obvious To Me's diary Get Rid of the Guns, I wonder if we as a community are missing out on other ways to reduce gun violence in this country that we can agree on.

There is obviously a lot of passion in both sides of the debate, and while we may disagree on whether or not guns should be legal, I think we can all agree that reducing gun violence is a good and worthy cause. So I ask, is gun violence the symptom or the disease? Are there things in our culture that lead us to use guns to commit violence, or to commit any other form of violence for that matter, that we can agree on fixing that would lead to our common purpose, to reduce gun violence in this country?

Follow me below the fold and lets see if we can work this out.

Having observed the boost John Edward's campaign for president received after Edward's wife, Elizabeth, shared in a press conference that her cancer had returned, White House spokesperson Tony Snow announced he is running for president. "Tony realizes this is his chance, since right now the sympathy for cancer victims is at an all time high." remarked Ted Stevensonville, a Republican strategist. Polls do show that a majority of Americans feel cancer is bad, leading some to see opportunity.

This (post/diary/comment) is (breaking news/a news alert/the most important diary ever/a rant/a waste of space.)

Well, I've been perusing the blogosphere and I have noticed a dangerous trend. For those of you that read DKos and MyDD, have you noticed it too? I'm talking about in-fighting.

As a man I can never completely know what it is like to be pregnant or give birth. As a man I can only watch a woman's stomach grow until I watch her give birth to a new life. As a man I can be a father, nurturing and protecting a child, but I will never know what it is like to actually bring another human being into this world.

And as a man I can only know what it is like to sit in the waiting room of an abortion clinic.

Just wanted to share this little opinion piece from my local college paper.

Just as there was no war on drugs, there is no war on terror. They're just names given to socio-ideological agendas to make them seem more important. Although the Sept. 11 attacks placed a renewed -- and incredibly justified -- emphasis on national security, the war on terror is not the most important issue in this year's crucial battle for the White House.

i guess since Brazil has the ability to build a nuclear weapon, they are now on our "to invade" list.

if ever any company was evil incarnate, Dyncorp (now owned by CSC) is that company. this jewel of the devil has brought humankind such wonderful gifts as agent orange and whatever the hell they are really killing the rainforests with. i had read about them a while back, but this news tidbit popped something in my head.

i have been wanting to post this for some time but have been missing one critical piece. but i found it! as mentioned in the last post, go read this. the point is that Dyncorp makes chemical weapons.

Still, who knows if Fort Worth is far enough? It has been in the past, for those seeking asylum from the military and paramilitary groups that have been fighting a civil war in Colombia for decades. But these new refugees cannot be so sure. After all, only a few minutes as the crow flies from Rondon's office, the name of one of their attackers is emblazoned high above a busy Fort Worth freeway -- DynCorp, the company whose planes have rained down poison on their animals and fields and homes. And DynCorp's partner and employer in such attacks is the same entity whom these refugees must now ask for asylum -- the United States government. More than that, Texas is home to many of those who have lobbied for these onslaughts, the companies that would like to develop the rich fields that lie below now-poisoned farms.

hello kos world. i have been a frequent lurker here for some time and felt i should finally contribute to the conversation. this is my first diary so please go easy on me.

since the name monkey was taken i picked just another vet because that is what i feel like. just another guy who served his country and now feels detached from it. this isn't the america i served for. this is a bad dream. unfortunately we are already awake.

this diary entry is crossposted from my blog. it is an ongoing rant. this entry is about venezuela and our governments meddling in their politics.