28 November 2006

100 Ways to Save the Environment

This site is a wonderful place to start if you want to do something nice for the world and for future generations. Here's an idea: Why not take up one of the tips every day until you run out? Or every few days? Or every week? It's better for everyone.

100 Ways to Save the Environment

27 November 2006

Excerpt from "The Perils of Escalation in Iraq: A Grim History Lesson"

From AlterNet's G. Pascal Zachary:

"The past is not always prologue of course. But the failed escalations in Korea and Vietnam are surely warnings against any escalation of the war in Iraq. And surely the failed escalations of the past should cast doubt on any premature euphoria over escalating the Iraq war. The escalate scenario should only be met with dread -- and the hoary reminder that people who forget the past are condemned to repeat it."

26 November 2006

VegSpace is back

It's been awhile, but it's finally back. Here's my profile. I love this site!

25 November 2006

U.S. involvement in Iraq war eclipses WWII

From the History News Network:

U.S. involvement in Iraq war eclipses WWII

Source: AP (11-25-06)

The war in Iraq has now lasted longer than the U.S. involvement in the war that President Bush's father fought in, World War II.

As of Sunday, the conflict in Iraq has raged for three years and just over eight months.

Only the Vietnam War (eight years, five months), the Revolutionary War (six years, nine months), and the Civil War (four years) have engaged America longer.

Fighting in Afghanistan, which may or may not be a full-fledged war depending on who is keeping track, has gone on for five years, one month. It continues as the ousted Taliban resurges and the central government is challenged.

Bush says he still is undecided whether to start bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq or add to the 140,000 there now.

23 November 2006

One of the Reasons Abortion Should Be Legalized

Because it kills 68,000 women a year.


And it sends over five million to the hospital.

BBC News

21 Reasons to Give Thanks


This Thanksgiving, progressives have a lot to be thankful for. Here’s our list:

We’re thankful for our country’s troops.

We’re thankful America dumped the 109th Congress.

We’re thankful Rick Santorum will have more free time to find the WMD.

We’re thankful we don’t have to go to war with the Secretary of Defense we had.

We’re thankful for “red state values,” like protecting reproductive rights, supporting stem cell research, and rejecting discrimination.

We’re thankful Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), who calls climate change the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people,” will no longer chair the Senate environmental committee.

We’re thankful Matt Drudge does not rule our world.

We’re thankful Al Gore helped the country face an inconvenient truth.

We’re thankful Bill O’Reilly does not resort to name calling - well, besides labeling ThinkProgress as “far left loons,” “kool-aid zombies,” “hired guns,” “vile,” “haters,” a “far left smear website,” and “a very well-oiled, effective character assassination machine.”

We’re thankful minimum wage ballot initiatives passed in six states.

We’re thankful the Dixie Chicks aren’t ready to make nice.

We’re thankful Ted Haggard bought the meth but never used it.

We’re thankful for the 100,000 readers who responded to our Tell the Truth About 9/11 campaign.

We’re thankful for “the Google” and “the email” (and the “series of tubes” that make them possible) — but not iPods, which are endangering our nation.

We’re thankful Maf54 isn’t online right now.

We’re thankful people send us Jack Abramoff’s email.

We’re thankful Keith Olbermann’s ratings are up and Bill O’Reilly’s ratings are down.

We’re thankful President Bush’s secret plan for Iraq is safe with Conrad Burns.

We’re thankful we won’t spend Thanksgiving turkey hunting with Dick Cheney.

We’re thankful the “Decider” only gets to make the decisions 789 more days.

And last but not least: We’re thankful to the Think Progress readers for their tips, energy and support.

Happy Thanksgiving! — The Think Progress Team.

From Think Progress

20 November 2006

Betsy Miller

Recently I became aware of an admirable woman named Betsy Miller. Although she is not very well-known, I feel she shouldn't be forgotten.

Betsy Miller was born in 1791, the first of eight children, in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland, to parents William Miller and wife Mary. William dealt with timber and was the owner of a ship, the Clytus, which usually carried 200 tons of coal from Saltcoats to Belfast, Ireland. Carrying out their lives overlooking the harbor, the sea ran through the family's veins. Betsy began lending a helping hand to her father's business when she was fifteen years old. Her only brother, Hugh, also worked on the ship.

In 1839, when Betsy was forty-eight years old, tragedy struck the Millers. Hugh, who the family was counting on to carry on the business, drowned at Ardrossen, Ayrshire. In the same year William's health started to falter. Despite such setbacks, Betsy, who was as confident at sea as anywhere else, bravely took over the business. She needed to get her family out of the £700 debt that her father had put them in.

Betsy Miller became the first woman to be listed in the British Registry of Tonnage as a ship's captain. Although many people were at first startled to see a female captain, she received respect from the men she encountered.

According to records, Betsy always were a "white frilly cap", even though she was on a dirty coal ship. She converted the ship's deckhouse into her own private quarters so she could be apart from the men of her crew, and she was always at the head of things.

One of the key moments of her career took place in a storm just outside of Irving Bay. The captain, crew, and ship were all struggling to keep afloat. When things looked their darkest, Betsy calmly remarked "Lads, I'll gang below and put on a clean sark, for I would like to be flung up on the sands looking kind of decent ... Irvine folks are gossiping, nasty bodies!" While she was in her cabin, the situation changed drastically for the better. From that day forward her crew believed that they were alive thanks to Betsy's clothing and wisdom.


Betsy's career as the Clytus' captain ended in 1862 due to bad health. Two years later, when she was seventy-four years old, she died and was buried at Ardrossen Parish Church, which was later made into the North Ayrshire Museum. Her youngest sister Hannah took over for a little while, but the ship was not long after condemned by the Board of Trade. It was left to rot on the sea at North Pans.

In a fitting statement made after Betsy's death by the Ardrossen and Saltcoats Herald on 14 May 1864, "Her memory, her deeds and her example will live and be spoken of long after the generation who knew her personally will have passed away."

I'm back!

Sorry it's been so long. I kinda, sorta forgot about this blog. But I'm back and I'm going to continue adding to my growing archives.