Carolyn Ho, Lt. Watada's mom wrote this open letter last night and asked for friends to pass it on:

June 22, 2006
Dear Fellow Americans,

I am the mother of Lt. Ehren Watada, an officer stationed at Ft. Lewis. He is part of a Stryker brigade unit that deployed today to Iraq. Despite an unflinching commitment to his men and to democratic ideals, he chose not to accompany his men. His decision came through much soul-searching and through research and consultation with experts across disciplines, inside and outside of the military and the government.

After weighing the evidence, he came to the conclusion that he could no longer be silent while atrocities were committed in the name of democracy. He could no longer be a tool of an administration that used deception and lies to make the case for pre-emptive war.

As a member of the armed forces, sworn to uphold the US Constitution, he refuses to blindly participate in a war of aggression, an illegal war that undermines who we are as a nation and violates international law. Implicit in his oath as an officer is the duty to disobey all unlawful orders for; to carry out these orders renders him an accomplice to a criminal act. Furthermore, to order his men to participate in a war of aggression multiplies his guilt a thousand fold. His conscience will not permit him to do so. He believes that he can best serve them by taking a stand against the war. In so doing, he demonstrates that one does not relinquish the freedom to choose what is right, even in the military, and that the freedom to choose what is right transcends the allegiance to man and institutions.

As a mother, I have evolved from fearing for his safety and for his future to the realization that there is a higher purpose to all that has transpired. My son no longer stands at the crossroads. He has chosen “the road less travelled.

I'm posting this as less to do with putting National Guard on the border (which I support) and more for Ahhhh-nahld acting in the best interest of his state (which I also support).

So here's my question: How many people really support a state's right to act as a body separate from the federal government?

Associated Press: Schwarzenegger Denies Bush Troop Request

....coypu are the host for a nematode parasite (Strongyloides myopotami) that can infect the skin of humans. When this happens the condition is called "nutria itch".

BY BRAD SHANNON

Other activists, like campaign staffer Dan Stonington, carried signs that asked why taxpayers would have to pay for lawyers' fees if property owners make claims. They made their way along city sidewalks talking to voters, including Jade Sousa, a Thurston County native whose family has a farm.

"I don't know enough about it" to support or oppose it, Sousa said, clasping her half-dozing baby, Ezra, in her arms. "As someone who lives on a small farm, I'm concerned about taxes and growth, and what kind of growth we encourage."

Sousa said she would hate to see anything that encourages sprawl, which I-933 foes imply is a potential result of the measure's loosening of land-use controls.

During the Holocaust, humor served three main functions. First was its critical function: humor focused attention on what was wrong and sparked resistance to it. Second was its cohesive function: it created solidarity in those laughing together at the oppressors. And third was its coping function: it helped the oppressed get through their suffering without going insane.

 Humor in the Holocaust

The Creativity Movement is a racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian and White-supremacist organization that advocates a "White Religion" called Creativity. The group denies the Holocaust, embraces racial neo-eugenics with a religious mission that is dedicated to the "survival, expansion and advancement of the White Race exclusively."

OperaGirl would like to adopt this Nazi, who is he?

[Photo courtesy of Groundview Productions]