Some of you may remember that some time ago I received a letter from the DNC asking for a financial contribution and that I responded.

They’ve responded to my letter.

The letter says:

Dear Thomas,

Thank you for writing. It is always good to hear from active Democrats from around the country.

I am pleased to know you understand the importance of building Democratic networks at all levels of government. The Democratic Party is committed to winning elections at every level in every region of the country. The ultimate goal is an active, effective group of Democrats organized in every precinct in the country.

In North Carolina, the 50-State Strategy and national organizing events have really helped to energize the grassroots. We will continue to work hard building on the success of the DNC’s 50 state strategy and provide a nationwide infrastructure and resources to take back the White House in 2008 and maintain and grow our Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

I would encourage you to contact your state party for ways to get involved at the state and local level. Here is the contact information for North Carolina:

North Carolina Democratic Party

220 Hillsborough St

Raleigh, NC 27603

919-821-2777

http://www.ncdp.org

Keep up the great work and thank you again for your continued support.

And at the bottom is a big ole auto-penned autograph from Governor Howard Dean, M.D., the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Ok. So, there’s one big issue I have with Governor Dr. Dean’s letter.

I’m an active Democrat, the letter even says so…One would think that I would know the contact information for the state Democratic Party. I don’t need that information, thanks though.

What I need is a DNC, DCCC, and DSCC that’s willing to make trips to NC and help recruit viable candidates. And so far, I haven’t seen that.

What I need is a DNC, DCCC, and DSCC that’s willing to make trips to NC and help train and educate the State Party, County Parties, and Precinct Organizations on how to recruit, fund-raise, plan events, etc and on and on.

Thus, my money goes directly to candidates without benefit of getting filtered through layers of bureaucratic political parties.

The Mac and Tammy McRoy Band played at the Fort Macon State Park free concert last week. You can find more photos here.

There was a larger audience than for last week’s Morehead Brass Consortium, but I think bad weather was a bigger contributing factor than the music.

I enjoy the bluegrass, which surprises many of my friends who know I dislike the country and the western.

I guess I see bluegrass as a closer cousin to jazz than country and western…

Regardless, I enjoy the banjo pickin’ and enjoyed the concert.

I was at the local post office yesterday and for some reason a flier caught my eye.

It says:

Revelation 13:16-17

He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark in his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Say NO to RFID chips.

“Best placed on right arm or head”

USA SOS: www.infowars.com

Google: Thimerosal, Mercury in your childs [SIC] vaccines induces autism

Cosmo Productions, Love live a FREE USA.

Ron Paul

REVOLUTION

Creepy, eh?

I wonder, does Congressman Ron Paul (who is campaigning for the Republican nomination for President) know that people are running around the U.S., placing his name on fliers and using it as a de facto endorsement for paranoid policy?

Wil Wheaton asks the most important question regarding the FBI/IRS raid on Alaska’s Ted Stevens’ home:

When the feds raided Ted Stevens‘ home, they obviously did not show up in a big truck. So do you think they arrived via bridge or tube?

And I can’t won’t pass up the opportunity to post this:

CNN.

Investigators arrived at the Republican senator’s home in Girdwood shortly before 2:30 p.m. Alaska time, said Dave Heller, FBI assistant special agent.

Oh. Hells. Yeah.

Dear Editor,

The Jacksonville Daily News has published several articles detailing Onslow County Commissioner Joe McLaughlin’s (R) attempt to challenge Congressman Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R) but has devoted no column space for the Third District’s most viable candidate: Marshall Adame.

Marshall Adame (D) is a retired Marine. He’s served in Vietnam and in Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. He retired shortly after and began working on the reconstruction of Kuwait. He’s worked as a Department of Defense contractor and as a U.S. diplomat in Iraq. He was there for 3 years. Two of his children, Benjamin and William serve in the U.S. Army. Both have been to Iraq, Benjamin is currently serving his second tour and William was wounded.

Very few among us have the first-hand knowledge and experience that Marshall Adame has in the situation in Iraq. Jones, Jr. and McLaughlin certainly don’t; yet the Jacksonville Daily News has devoted far more print space to their squabbling, than to the more capable candidate.

Adame has spoken in several counties (including Onslow), has been the subject of several newspaper articles, and has been featured on a local television news-cast; yet, the Jacksonville Daily News has ignored his candidacy.

Even after Adame’s campaign sent several media releases and emails to writers on the Jacksonville Daily News’ staff, his candidacy remains ignored.

Most shocking, however, is that the Jacksonville Daily News has published several letters from Adame regarding Congressman Jones, Jr.’s inefficiency and Commissioner McLaughlin’s potential dangerousness as elected representatives. Still, though, his candidacy remains ignored.

It’s certainly a shame that Adame’s hometown paper can’t find the space to write about the next Congressman from North Carolina’s Third District.

Feel free to send your own letter to the Jacksonville Daily News asking why they’ve ignored Marshall’s campaign for Congress. The address is: Editor, Jacksonville Daily News, PO Box 196, Jacksonville, NC 28546.

Use my letter as a template or write your own. You can also post your letter as a comment here.

It can be confusing trying to figure out where the Bush Administration stands in regards to Saudi Arabia.

Last week, Administration officials accused Saudi Arabia of supporting Sunni militia groups and working against Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki. It’s only logical that the House of Saud act in the interest of Sunni groups, as they share that flavor of Islam. It’s also logical that the Saudi’s best interest isn’t keeping al-Maliki in charge of Iraq.

The US claims the Saudi royal family is offering financial support to coreligionist Sunni groups in Iraq opposed to Mr Maliki’s Shia-led government.

How serious does the Bush Administration take the Saudi meddling? Serious enough that the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Zalmay Khalilzad said this:

“We would expect and want them to help us on this strategic issue more than they are doing. And at times, some of them are not only not helping, [they] are doing things that undermine the effort to make progress,” he said.

That’s a pretty big flag to wave…

Interestingly enough, though, the Administration is attempting to bribe the wealthy Saudis. Not with money, though, but with something more solid: Weapons.

The proposed package of advanced weaponry for Saudi Arabia, which includes advanced satellite-guided bombs, upgrades to its fighters and new naval vessels, has made Israel and some of its supporters in Congress nervous.

Don’t worry about Israel, though, they’re covered by an even larger weapons deal.

Senior officials who described the package on Friday said they believed that the administration had resolved those concerns, in part by promising Israel $30.4 billion in military aid over the next decade, a significant increase over what Israel has received in the past 10 years.

One would be right in questioning the Administration’s actions on this…After all, we know that the Saudis will give weapons to the Sunni groups fighting in Iraq, we know that Iran isn’t happy with the weapons deals, and we know that the Israelis are just below a state of full-on war with the Hamas-led Palestinians.

How can this Administration think that sending more weapons into the most violent region on Earth is a good idea?

It seems to me that the Bush Administration still does not understand how the Middle East works…Which is pretty darned pathetic when you know that we’ve been meddling in the area for decades.

CNN.

Your car has a sensor that tells you when you’ve left the headlights on or the keys in the ignition. It probably has another reminding you and your passengers to buckle your seat belts, and still another that sounds when the door is ajar. Some cars even to tell you when the tires need inflating.

But so far, there’s no standard equipment to tell you that you’ve left a child in the back seat of a hot car.

Indeed. In the last decade, over 340 children have died because their parents left them in vehicles during hot weather.

It’s obviously the car manufacturer’s fault, though, since “there’s no standard equipment to tell you that you’ve left a child in the back seat of a hot car.”

What the hell kind of people have we turned into? My list of parenting mistakes may be long, but I’ve never, ever, forgotten where I put my kid!

And, for some stupid reason I’m not aware, CNN thinks it’s really darned important that we all know about some beeper that tells you when your kid is in the car. Clearly, we can’t expect an American parent to be responsible enough without a beep from the car.

There’s also an article at CNN about the disparities in convictions and punishments doled out to these parents.

What is the appropriate punishment for a doting parent responsible for his child’s death?

My bias will show, but I’ll say this:

There should be one penalty for killing your child and that is instant and swift death.

The AP did an analysis of over 300 child-deaths and this is what they found: Mothers are punished more severely than fathers, child-care professionals are convicted more often, but serve less time than parents, and most fatalities happen during the month of July.

The most disturbing fact, to me, is this one:

Charges are filed in half of all cases — even when a child was left unintentionally.

Only half? It’s no wonder America is going down the tubes…

And you all know how that makes me feel…

Nothing is ever the editor’s fault…I wonder if, perhaps, the not-really-supposed-to-be-there media file is the graphic artist’s fault as well?

Interestingly enough, the linked PDF for Saturday’s Comics’ section has tomorrow’s date (July 31st, 2007). I wonder if they’re printing the missing section as an “extra” or if the Daily News’ will be forever a day late…