Highlights

This is written by Rebecca, Betty, Elaine, Cedric, Wally and Mike and these are our picks unless otherwise noted.

"Corn & Onion Casserole in the Kitchen"-- Trina's latest where she explains why, sincere or not, it really is time Hillary Clinton said she made a mistake in voting for the authorization that Bully Boy sort-of used (it really didn't grant him that power) to go to war with Iraq.

"The Friedman 'Big Dumb'" -- In this chapter, Thomas Friedman is kicked out of the library and finds new ways to invent things. For the record, Betty (though not her character Betinna) did actually speak to Australian community members Olive and Skip to get their take on Friedman's "imaginative" look at Australia. (She says thank you to Olive and Skip.)

"The grind (Mike filling in for Rebecca)" -- Mike fills in for Rebecca and discusses Rebecca and C.I. and blogs and just about everything else . . . except Cedric! Cedric's included at the top and Mike meant to discuss him. Time ran out. Mike says next time or at his own site, he'll discuss Cedric and apologizes for the oversight.

"Grab bag (Betty blogging for Rebecca)" -- Betty fills in for Rebecca and addresses questions from e-mails such as the issue of Obama. (As Kat has noted, Betty really is a natural at blogging. We love her online novel at her own site to suggest that she drop that. But in a perfect world, there would be time for Betty to do two sites.)

"Sir! No Sir! (Betty filling in for Rebecca)" -- in this fill in, Betty discusses the importance of Sir! No Sir! a documentary that airs tomorrow night (Monday night) on The Sundance Channel.

"Kevin Zeese, Willie & Annie Nelson" -- what was with Mike and Betty filling in any way? This post by Elaine explains Rebecca had her baby this week. When is she returning to blogging? She's not sure. She thinks it could be near the end of this week or she might take another week off. (Betty says she has no problem filling in.)

"Ban Bush, Not Baez" -- in a busy week, Kat wasn't too pleased with her posts at her site. We told her we were going to highlight this one and at first, from the titel, she couldn't even remember what she'd written. Yes, the week was that long. (And longer for Rebecca than anyone. Though she says it was a "lovely" delivery.)

"THIS JUST IN! PEACE BANNED AT WALTER REED!" and "Banning Baez won't make Stubby feel like a man" -- Wally and Cedric take a humorus look at the sort of the person who might have banned Joan Baez from performing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. And, as Elaine just reminded us, Joan Baez was a guest on Friday's Democracy Now!, see "Banned by Army: Folk Singer Joan Baez Can't Sing to Wounded Soldiers at Walter Reed."

"ap whitewashes kent state recordings" -- Rebecca posted this last Tuesday and it's her most recent post thus far. (She was actually having contractions while she wrote it but thought it was hunger pains.)

"The continued undercount" -- Mike's father picked this and says everyone who reads or watches a report should be asking themselves what's being included and what isn't -- and he means in terms of what the mainstream has already reported.

"Iraq Veterans Against the War, Tori Amos, P. Smith..." -- Mike lists favorite Tori Amos songs and more.

Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Little Miss Bully Boy" -- Isaiah's comic is a comedy classic and Elaine meant to call him last week to ask if her hunch was correct: Laura Bush represents Judy Garland on a booze and pill fest and Bully Boy represents the show person Judy -- that Laura and Bully are the same, just offering degrees? Regardless, don't miss Laura's zonked eyes.

Ruth's Report -- Ruth's latest just went up this morning. You do not want to miss it. We can't say more without spoiling it.

"Kat's Korner: Patti from the Mount" -- Kat's latest CD review. Here she's weighing in on Patti Smith's new CD Twelve. We love the review and we love the CD. The review is vintage Kat, prepare to enjoy.

"NYT: How Stupid Can Two Men Be & Helene lies again" -- our favorite C.I. entry from last week. As Kat can tell you, the gang was wiped out by visiting the East Coast (for Rebecca's delivery). Wally and Cedric can tell you C.I. called to ask if they were posting that morning. (Wally and Cedric are experimenting with dropping the Friday post and going with Saturday instead for a number of reasons. Including the fact that despite C.I. and Trina posting, some members still feel there should be more posting from the community on Saturdays.) They said they were and it would go up in a second. They told us, "C.I. sounded so tired." Cedric said he really assumed it would be a link-fest post and was shocked to be laughing out loud while reading it. Elaine says "How stupic can two men be" is most likely a nod to a song by Frank Sinatra ("How lucky can one guy be . . . Ain't that a kick in the head . . .").

"'The drooling over Obama needs to stop' " -- Ty noted this was the second most requested to be highlighted piece in the e-mails. He added that this was also his favorite piece by Kat "or anyone else" cheeheads (okay, he didn't call us "cheeseheads") of last week.

"Temptations sing!" & "THIS JUST IN! SUPER CRAZY!" -- Cedric and Wally chat with Super Freak Paul Wolfowitz. Yi-yi!

"Iraq snapshot" -- Thursday's snapshot was the most requested highlight in the e-mails to this site. Ty said many e-mailing also wondered if we could include a link to Gregory Levy's "Northern exposure: American soldiers are fleeing the Iraq war for Canada -- and U.S. officials may be on their trail. North of the border is no longer the safe haven it was during the Vietnam era" (Salon)? No, we can't. Quit bothering us. :D