By the Way, which One's Pink?

A bit of Pink Floyd concert footage for a Friday night's blogging: "The Great Gig in The Sky/Wish You Were Here":

"Yes Dear!" | Pelosi and Bush

I love the series of photos of George Bush and Nancy Pelosi from BAGnewsNotes. Dubya's not happy but Nancy is enjoying herself:















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Dumbing Down of America's Magazines

I wanted to make note of Time magazine's dumbing down of their American version for the US sheeple. It goes with Newsweek's earlier effort(see link below). This is from The Talent Show but can be found at many other worthy sites:

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First it was Newsweek, and now Time Magazine is getting into the dumbed-down cover for the American edition game. On the left is the cover here in the U.S., on the right is the cover of the Europe, Asia, and South Pacific editions.

The Onion | Immigration Hurts an Executive

"Unless you've gone through it yourself you have no idea what it's like to have to live year round in your summer home."
--Raymond Boyle

Immigration: The Human Cost
The Onion News Network's Jean Anne Whorton looks at how immigration has affected one former corporate executive.

Immigration: The Human Cost


"I refuse to work so it's been very hard for us."
--Mrs Raymond Boyle

Stop the Canadian Seal Hunt

Boycott Canadian seafood. Details













photo here.

End The Seal Hunt Today!
More than 300,000 seals will be cruelly killed this year. 98% of the seals killed in the past 2 years were between 2 weeks and 3 months old.
Many skinned while still alive.











Photo here:

YouTube Video Winners

The 2006 YouTube video awards:

Keyboard Kommandos: Part 2

Another episode of the Keyboard Kommandos. Why poor Jonah Goldberg can't get anything accomplished.















Eviiil and hilarious.

Ditch Mitch

Ditch my senator Mitch McConnell? I LOVE the sound of that. Could I EVEN be that lucky! Via BluegrassReport. Next I'll be dreaming of ditching Jim Bunning.

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Democratic Activists Put McConnell on Hit List
By: Carrie Budoff, Politico.com

A tip for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: The liberal blogosphere wants you out in '08.

They despise your loyalty to President Bush. They loathe your support of his Iraq war plan and your ability to block Senate Democrats from passing a legislative rebuke of it.

They appear ready to revolt.

"The phenomenon is real," said Mark Stoller, an editor at the liberal blog MyDD. "It is a potential reverse-Daschle situation."

Continue:

Where's the Money?

From Skookum.

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Where's the Money?

My significant other cornered me in bed this morning with the question, "How come there was a budget surplus under Clinton and now there's no money left?"

"The short answer," I said, "is looting."..

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.."Clinton was no saint, but he did reverse some of the tax giveaways to the wealthy under Reagan. Then Bush Junior gave it back. It's a matter of proportion; Clinton knew better than to kill the goose, Bush doesn't care."

Documentaries | Friedrich Nietzsche

Nietzsche(about 50 minutes).


Online Videos by Veoh.com

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
--Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 146

Schmidt Sting Pain Index

Interesting and colorful descriptions of various insect stings by entomologist Justin O. Schmidt. From Wikipedia and with thanks to boingboing.

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1.0 Sweat bee: Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.
1.2 Fire ant: Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet & reaching for the light switch.
1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek.
2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door.
2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine WC Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.
2.x Honey bee and European hornet.
3.0 Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.
3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of Hydrochloric acid on a paper cut.
4.0 Pepsis wasp: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath (if you get stung by one you might as well lie down and scream).
4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail in your heel.

Tom Tomorrow | The Spin and The Reality

From This Modern World.

US "Resisted" Cease Fire in Lebanon in 2006

"Damned proud of what we did."
--John Bolton

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"..A former top American diplomat says the US deliberately resisted calls for a immediate ceasefire during the conflict in Lebanon in the summer of 2006.

Former ambassador to the UN John Bolton told the BBC that before any ceasefire Washington wanted Israel to eliminate Hezbollah’s military capability…

Mr Bolton now describes it as “perfectly legitimate… and good politics”…

Mr Bolton, a controversial and blunt-speaking figure, said he was “damned proud of what we did” to prevent an early ceasefire.."

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Some of the Lebanese children that Neo-con Bolton is so "damned proud of".

Here:













And here:














Thanks to Tom Tomorrow for the link.

Get Out of Iraq Bill Passes

The Democratic get out of Iraq bill passes. From MSNBC, and here's Skippy, and Taylor Marsh. Thanks Nancy Pelosi.

ignoring a white house veto threat, lawmakers voted 218-212, mostly along party lines, for a $124 billion war spending bill requiring that combat operations cease by sept. 1, 2008 if the iraqi government does not meet certain requirements…

“the american people have lost faith in the president’s conduct of this war,” said house speaker nancy pelosi, d-calif. “the american people see the reality of the war, the president does not.”

before the vote, democratic aides expressed growing confidence of success. four of the bill’s most consistent critics earlier said they had told pelosi that they wouldn't block passage of the bill.

Slowly But Surely America Coming Around

Well seems it all hasn't been for nothing. Thanks to duh-bya.

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Fewer pledge allegiance to the GOP

WASHINGTON — Public allegiance to the Republican Party has plunged during George W. Bush's presidency, as attitudes have edged away from some of the conservative values that fueled GOP political victories, a major survey has found.

The survey, by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, found a "dramatic shift" in political party identification since 2002, when Republicans and Democrats were at rough parity. Now, 50% of those surveyed identified with or leaned toward Democrats, whereas 35% aligned with Republicans.

What's more, the survey found, public attitudes are drifting toward Democrats' values: Support for government aid to the disadvantaged has grown since the mid-1990s, skepticism about the use of military force has increased and support for traditional family values has decreased.

The findings suggest that the challenges for the GOP reach beyond the unpopularity of the war in Iraq and Bush."Iraq has played a large part; the pushback on the Republican Party has to do with Bush, but there are other things going on here that Republicans will have to contend with," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Center. "There is a difference in the landscape."

Continue.

The 'All Out War' on Pot Smokers

From Alternet.

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It's Been an 'All Out War' on Pot Smokers for 35 Years

Since 1972, U.S. taxpayers have spent well over $20 billion enforcing criminal marijuana laws and 16.5 million people have been arrested. It's time to put an end to this waste.

Thirty-five years ago this month, a congressionally mandated commission on U.S. drug policy did something extraordinary: They told the truth about marijuana.

On March 22, 1972, the National Commission on Marihuana (sic) and Drug Abuse -- chaired by former Pennsylvania Gov. Raymond P. Shafer -- recommended Congress amend federal law so that the use and possession of pot would no longer be a criminal offense. State legislatures, the commission added, should do likewise.

"[T]he criminal law is too harsh a tool to apply to personal possession even in the effort to discourage use," concluded the commission, which included several conservative appointees of then-President Richard Nixon. "It implies an overwhelming indictment of the behavior, which we believe is not appropriate. The actual and potential harm of use of the drug is not great enough to justify intrusion by the criminal law into private behavior, a step which our society takes only with the greatest reluctance.

"... Therefore, the commission recommends ... [that the] possession of marihuana for personal use no longer be an offense, [and that the] casual distribution of small amounts of marihuana for no remuneration, or insignificant remuneration, no longer be an offense."

Nixon, true to his "law-and-order" roots, shelved the report -- announcing instead that when it came to weed, "We need, and I use the word 'all out war' on all fronts." For the last 35 years, that's what we've had.

Save Internet Radio

Sign the petition to save streaming Internet Radio.

Memorial to Commemorate Iraq War Dead

Memorial in Louisville Kentucky commemorating the Iraq war dead.


Thanks to Hillbilly Report and Crooks and Liars.

Documentary-Life inside Iran

This documentary by a former BBC correspondent is a good overall slice of of life inside Iran. You know the country that dubya and gang want to be next on their list of preemptive wars. Google video(90 minutes), or click the video imbed:

Thanks to Boingboing.

Love Your Country and Fear For the Future

Watch and be afraid. Very afraid!


I'm sure they only picked the worst but it's still frightening. I would be very interested to see how many people they actually interviewed to get the cream of the crop they show in this video.

John McCain's "Straight Talk and Dumbass Express"

How any American to the left of Newt Gingrich could think there's ANY backbone to John McCain after the below photo is beyond me. Maybe the NVA took it out of him I don't know. Of course there's STILL around 30% that think dubya's doing a "heckuva" job(some of them in my own family), so go figure.
Following the photo is a question and answer with "the rebel" about contraceptives, AIDS, etc. The man doesn't even know (or is afraid to say) whether condoms prevent AIDS. Look up 'clueless' in the dictionary and you'll find a picture of john. A "straight talk" robot.
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Photo: NewMexiKen.

Oh and here's the "Recall John McCain Website."

AMERICAblog:

Q: “What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?”

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.”

Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”

Q: “I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?”

Mr. McCain: (Laughs) “Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”

Q: “But you would agree that condoms do stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Would you say: ‘No, we’re not going to distribute them,’ knowing that?”

Mr. McCain: (Twelve-second pause) “Get me Coburn’s thing, ask Weaver to get me Coburn’s paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days. I’ve never gotten into these issues before.”

Mohammed's Confession?

The Talking Dog tells us some essentials on that Corporate news/government recent release of one of our torturees at Gitmo.

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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Reads Script

..So now, with Bush Administration approval ratings hovering in the toilet, controversy over "the SurgeTM", Halliburton's h.q., CEO and numerous bags of cash moving to Dubai and the coming war with Iran all looming (not to mention a bad week for A.G. Gonzales, who after the U.S. Attorney firing fiasco in which good old Harriet Miers is implicated, is called upon to resign by N.H. GOP Senator Sununu), we get this little "Gift from Gitmo"TM.

Richard Thompson

(Bagh)Dad's Gonna Kill Me.

Post Secret Favorites

Two of my Post Secret favorites of the week:














And














(PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.)
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Ann 'thrax Gets Some Bounce Back

I don't think this come-uppance will go very far. Any of the corporate news that actually covered Coulter's "faggot" remark balanced it(of course)with something "unseemingly" that a Democrat has said or done somewhere and at some time and then they quickly moved on. On the other hand It's still good to actually see some consequences for what Rightytighty says. This is from Media Matters also:

Nine newspapers drop Coulter in the wake of CPAC remarks

As of March 13, nine newspapers have dropped right-wing pundit Ann Coulter's column after remarks Coulter made at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where she referred to Democratic presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (NC) as a "faggot." On March 8, Media Matters for America published a list of daily newspapers that carried Coulter's column at the time she made her controversial remarks -- as well as the email addresses of the editors of those papers -- and suggested that readers contact the editors to discuss their papers' decisions to carry Coulter's column.

That Ol' Conservative Cable News Talk

Media Matters tells me something I already knew..

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If It's Sunday, It's Still Conservative
Special Report: How the Right Continues to Dominate the Sunday Talk Shows

On the Sunday after the midterm elections, in which Democrats took control of Congress for the first time in a dozen years, viewers tuned in to NBC's Meet the Press to hear what the Democratic win meant for the country -- only to discover that host Tim Russert did not have any Democrats on at all. Instead, Russert's guests were Republican Sen. John McCain (AZ) and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (CT), who ran in the general election as an Independent after losing the Democratic primary. And after an election in which the public's opposition to the Iraq war was a central issue, Meet the Press hosted two guests who support the war.

But that incident is hardly an aberration. In a new report by Media Matters for America -- If It's Sunday, It's Still Conservative: How the Right Continues to Dominate the Sunday Talk Shows, we show that the Sunday shows -- Meet the Press, ABC's This Week, CBS' Face the Nation, and Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday -- have consistently given Republicans and conservatives an edge over their Democratic and progressive counterparts in the last two years, the period of the 109th Congress. And, as our analysis shows, the recent shift in power in Washington has yielded mixed results, at best.

Surprise: Another Timely Prosecutor Firing by Dubya

I'll say it once again, the dubya gang makes Dick Nixon look like a saint by comparison. This is from C and L.
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US Attorney Removal Halted Abramoff Investigation
Boston.com:

A US grand jury in Guam opened an investigation of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff more than two years ago, but President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor, and the probe ended soon after.[..]

Naughty Israeli Ambassador Recalled

Now this is funny. All's well that ends well I suppose. Can you imagine the comments this guy will endure forever?
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Israeli ambassador canned after found drunk, naked, ball-gagged
From BoingBoing Doran says, "Israel has recalled its ambassador to El Salvador after he was found drunk and naked, except for the bondage gear he was wearing. He was only able to speak after a rubber ball was removed from his mouth. It should be noted that he was found *inside* the Israeli embassy compound." Link.
More.

Army Orders Injured Soldiers Back to Iraq

From Salon- Here's more love for our troops from the Bushco military brass.

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The Army is ordering injured troops to go to Iraq

Salon-
This is not right," said Master Sgt. Ronald Jenkins, who has been ordered to Iraq even though he has a spine problem that doctors say would be damaged further by heavy Army protective gear. "This whole thing is about taking care of soldiers," he said angrily. "If you are fit to fight you are fit to fight. If you are not fit to fight, then you are not fit to fight."

As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records.

Florida Getting it Right With Voting Rights

Some great news coming from Florida finally regarding voters rights. This is from C and L:

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Florida Plan Gives Citizens Real Paper Ballots
North Florida. Retired Navy aviator and veteran, Bill Faulkner, MBA, may have done the impossible. He devised a plan to return believable elections to Florida by turning optical scan forms into the ballot of record, to be counted by citizens in public areas where all can view the process taking place. This radical departure from the maze of today's computerized voting harkens back to over 100 years of U.S elections history.
Florida Gov. Crist Makes History
This is one of the most revolutionary and far reaching proposals made by a governor in years. The removal of voting rights for ex-felons, those who have served their time and returned to society, is a direct descendent of the 1890 Mississippi Constitution. This document proudly listed a variety of ways Post Reconstruction whites would remove all political power form black citizens.

Fox News - The Republican National Inquirer

Real Fox News headlines, "We Report, You Deride". From No Quarter , Thanks to Atrios for the link:

Buy Dick Cheney A Cheeseburger Day?

March 30th is Buy Dick Cheney a Cheeseburger Day? That is so mean but at the same time so delicious.

On Polar Bears And Rush Limbaugh Being A Big Fat Idiot

I ordered Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth a few days ago. I haven't had an opportunity to see the whole thing yet, just bits and pieces. Apparently drug addict/windbag Rush Limbaugh has been ranting on his Wingnut radio show about how there's no such thing as global warming and and how everything is JUST FINE! And we need to REMAIN CALM! And we Liberals need to stop saying GLOBAL WARMING! Well regarding Global Warming and the apparently drug addled Rush digby gives us some info.

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Unfortunately for Rush, the facts are on our side:
















1) NASA photos and documentation showing a steady decline in polar sea ice since at least the 1970s.

2) The scientific community, as evidenced by the IPCC (pdf), has reached a consensus that it is "very likely" that global warming is caused by human emissions.

3) The National Snow and Ice Date Center: "If current rates of decline in sea ice continue, the summertime Arctic could be completely ice-free well before the end of this century." Click here to see a graph depicting this decline between 1978 and 2005.

You can take action on this now by contacting U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall and informing him you are among the majority that supports the proposal to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The Fish and Wildlife Service is only taking public comments on this until April 9th so it is essential that you make your voice heard immediately!

Please distribute this message broadly and freely. The best way to counteract the work of global warming deniers is to let the truth spread like wildfire.

The Return of Habeas Corpus?

A bedrock of American freedom: Habeas corpus - the right of every American arrested and/or jailed to challenge the government's actions before a court with legal representation is making a comeback. Heck before you know it they may stop that Bushco torture thing: Here's DownWithTyranny:
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"..Although I haven't found any coverage of this in either the New York Times or Washington Post-- at least not yet-- this morning stalwart progressive Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and sometimes reactionary Jane Harman (D-CA) joined forces to introduce legislation in the House to restore our right to habeas corpus in America, which will, once again, allow every American citizen to challenge the legality of his or her arrest and detention in an open court of law. The top Democrat and top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced a similar bill in the Senate in January.Ralph Neas, president of People For the America Way worked extremely hard to get Congress to revisit the Bush Regime's outrageous Military Commissions Act of 2006, the bill allowing torture and chipping away at Habeas Corpus. Today Neas, like all Americans who care for constitutional governance (at least those who somehow found out about this), was overjoyed:.."

Continue.

Surprise - FBI Lawbreaking Tied to Bush

Glenn Greenwald tells us what we already knew. That Bushco is behind the FBI's lawbreaking. Greenwald does a wonderful job and fills in ALL the details. I knew in Bush's first term that they'd end up making Richard Nixon look like a saint and they've proved me right every day, day after day.
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The FBI's lawbreaking is tied directly to President Bush

Multiple media outlets are focusing on the unsurprising story that the FBI seems to have been abusing its powers under the Patriot Act to issue so-called "national security letters" (NSLs), whereby the FBI is empowered to obtain a whole array of privacy-infringing records without any sort of judicial oversight or subpoena process. In particular, the FBI has failed to comply with the legal obligations imposed by Congress, when it re-authorized the Patriot Act in early 2006, which required the FBI to report to Congress on the use of these letters.
That the FBI is abusing its NSL power is entirely unsurprising (more on that below), but the real story here -- and it is quite significant -- has not even been mentioned by any of these news reports. The only person (that I've seen) to have noted the most significant aspect of these revelations is Silent Patriot at Crooks & Liars, who very astutely recalls that the NSL reporting requirements imposed by Congress were precisely the provisions which President Bush expressly proclaimed he could ignore when he issued a "signing statement" as part of the enactment of the Patriot Act's renewal into law. Put another way, the law which the FBI has now been found to be violating is the very law which George Bush publicly declared he has the power to ignore.

Continue at Salon.

Nevada Fox News Debate is Officially Dead

Well that Faux News Democratic "debate" is apparently officially dead and that's just the way it ought to be. Fox News is a Rightwing propaganda device. There's nothing Democratic about it and no Democrat should agree to appear on it. I'm not sure how much they pay Hannity's dog Alan Colmes but it must be a NICE wage. DKos fills in the blanks:

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Fox News debate is officially dead

So it's official, though I'm still waiting for an official statement from the Nevada Democratic Party and maybe even Harry Reid.
The Big Winner: the Progressive movement, which came together at all levels -- netroots, grassroots, and even some institutional players.
The other Big Winner: John Edwards, whose early leadership dropping out of the debate spurred intense media coverage (hence pressure) and fueled its demise.

More.

Moon and Stars

I've have some kind of cold/flu crud. WAAAAHH! Haven't had much time to check the net much less post. Here's an interesting non-political shot click on the photo for better resolution:














From here.

Edwards to Skip Fox Nevada Debate

Good for John Edwards. This is showing some leadership. No Democratic candidate should EVER appear on the Rightwing Fox "News" Channel. Go to Kos for the whole story:
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Edwards to skip Fox News debate

We will not be participating in the Fox debate. We're going to make lots of appearances in Nevada, including debates. By the end of March, we will have attended three presidential forums in Nevada - and there are already at least three proposed Nevada debates. We're definitely going to debate in Nevada, but we don't see why this needs to be one of them.

O'Reilly, Hannity, Coulter and the Gay Porn Star

This is hilarious. This guy needs to run around with Jeff Gannon and become a journamalist. Here's the story, and here, and here, on and on. The irony is wonderful.














Ann "faggot" Coulter with former gay porn star Matt Sanchez.

"Man" Coulter Suffers Some Consequences

CNN:

At least three major companies want their ads pulled from Ann Coulter's Web site, following customer complaints about the right-wing commentator referring to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards as a "faggot."
Verizon, Sallie Mae and Georgia-based NetBank each said they didn't know their ads were on AnnCoulter.com until they received the complaints.

More here, here and here.

Taking on Fox | Petition Nevada Democrats

Sign the petition. The Democratic Presidential debate in Nevada shouldn't be hosted by the Rightwing attack dogs of Faux..er Fox News.















Is this really who you want hosting a Democratic Presidential debate?

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From Moveon.org

"Fox is a mouthpiece for the Republican Party, not a legitimate news channel. The Democratic Party of Nevada should drop Fox as its partner for the presidential primary debate."

The Democratic Party of Nevada just announced plans to team up with Fox News for a presidential primary debate. But Fox isn't a legitimate news channel. It's a right-wing mouthpiece like Rush Limbaugh and the Drudge Report—repeating false Republican talking points to smear Democrats. Sign this petition to ask the Democratic Party of Nevada to drop Fox from the debate.

Verdict | Libby Guilty on Four Counts

The verdict is in, Libby guilty on four counts. Go to Firedoglake for the details.

Iraq | 9 US Troops Killed Monday

More Americans dead in Bushopotamia.

Simple Lessons | Iraq 101

From The Nation-Here's what everyone (and especially our elected officials) should know about Iraq.
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Iraq 101

All right, no more excuses, people. After four years in Iraq, it’s time to get serious. We’ve spent too long goofing off, waiting to be saved by the bell, praying that we won’t get asked a stumper like, “What’s the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite?” Okay, even the head of the House intelligence committee doesn’t know that one. All the more reason to start boning up on what we—and our leaders—should have learned back before they signed us up for this crash course in Middle Eastern geopolitics. And while we’re at it, let’s do the math on what the war really costs in blood and dollars. It’s time for our own Iraq study group. Yes, there will be a test, and we can’t afford to fail.

More:

Thanks to Crooks and Liars.

Protests at the Bush/McConnell Fundraiser

From Hillbilly Report here's the lowdown on that dubya/"Mo' Money" McConnell fundraiser:
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George Bush Comes To Louisville to Raise Money For Mitch McConnell And Regular Folks Speak Up At The Mitch McConnell/George Bush Protest Rally In Louisville - YouTube video

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Signs of Intelligence

So you're pretty smart? Let's find out. I only got 6 and I won't give any hints.

Thanks Sean-Paul.

When Neo-cons Attack

Dear compassionate conservatives show their style at the CPAC conference.
From The Nation.

Remember Afghanistan?

From Matthew Cole at Salon.com.

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Photo here.

Watching Afghanistan fall

.."In November, I traveled with the Army's 10th Mountain Division to Afghanistan's Kunar and Nuristan provinces, the region where Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri have been sighted over the past three years, to see how American forces were fighting the "other" war. What I learned is that the war in Afghanistan is going badly. Three years after U.S. forces secured much of the country and helped 10 million Afghans vote in a presidential election, the country has slid back into a dangerous power vacuum, with the Taliban again competing for control of significant sections of the country. Last November, a CIA analysis of the Karzai government found it was losing control, and American ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald Neumann warned then that the U.S. would "fail" if the plan for action didn't include "multiple years and multiple billions." Our gains, once held firmly, have been lost and the coming year may portend Afghanistan's future, with ominous rumors floating down from the mountains about a spring offensive by insurgents"..

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.."The Kamdesh base is the northernmost American outpost in Afghanistan, in an area of Nuristan so remote that local villagers asked American troops in August, when they arrived, if they were Russian. The base itself is not more than a quarter-mile wide, on a valley floor, next to a clear, trout-filled river. Three-thousand-foot mountains rise above the base on both sides of the river. A row of Humvees, all mounted with grenade-filled Mark-19 machine guns, face the closest mountain, which nearly hangs over the front of the base. When I was there the soldiers hadn't yet named the base, and had made up their own name, Warheight, for the imposing peak. From Kamdesh, a small outpost near the Pakistani border, to Naray, a larger base 25 miles south, to another border outpost called Camp Lybert, the 10th Mountain Division's 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry -- the so-called 3-71 -- was supposed to control a 220-square-mile triangle of territory"..

More:

The Al Gore Lie Is Halfway Around The World

From the Huffington Post.

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The Al Gore Lie Is Halfway Around The World And The Truth Is Sitting In Nashville

There's a tragic but true old expression that a lie can make it half way around the world before the truth can even get its pants on. Sadly, this has been proven true again this week with the $mear attack on Vice President Al Gore and his energy consumption..."

.."As Media Matters continues to speak out about every single day - and we all owe them thanks - the corporate media in America absolutely fails to serve the interest of the public. How could they spread this lie? How does a small, unknown organization with a $100,000 budget issue a press release containing a $mear on a respected former Vice President of the United States and have their lie echoed around the world within hours? Pathetic. (Just look at their IRS form! No officers, directors or trustees? Very little information? A P.O. box? Is it normal for an organization to spend that high a percentage of their funds on "meals?") One reporter asking one question about this group, or about the facts behind Gore's energy use, and the story is over. But they didn't.
Furthermore, it's our collective fault. As we noted in our post a few days ago, no one should have been surprised when Al Gore was attacked for the positive press he and his movie received last weekend. An Inconvenient Truth was sure to win an Oscar. Gore would then speak to a billion people about the problem of global warming. The well-funded global warming denial industry would respond, and $mearing people is their standard method of attack. They destroy our leaders"...

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Thanks to David Roberts here's some answers that the corporate media either won't/or isn't capable of giving you:

It's nice to see the conservative media taking the message of conservation and energy efficiency seriously. Hopefully they will hold their own leaders and readers to the same high standards.

The Tennessee Tax Dept. does not consider the "Tennessee Center for Policy Research," which roughly no one had heard of before this, a legitimate group. It's run by a long-time right-wing attack hack, and its only registered address is a P.O. box. Why is everyone in the media taking what it says about Gore's electricity use at face value?

Gore's electricity company has no record of being contacted about his bills.

The "average" home electricity use quoted by TCPR is a national average that includes apartments and mobile homes. In Gore's climatic zone, the East South Central (Dept. of Energy PDF), the average is much higher, thanks to hot, humid summers and cold winters. Within that zone, Gore's usage is three (not 20) times average, and his per-square-foot usage is squarely average. (More here.)

The Gores are not an average family. He's an ex-VP with special security arrangements, and has live-in security staff. He and his wife both work on their many business and charitable undertakings out of their house, so they have space for offices and office staff. All that would be tough to cram in an average size house.

Gore buys the maximum allowable green electricity from the program offered by his utility.

Most of the electricity in TN comes from hydro and nuclear, and so doesn't generate all that much CO2 anyway.

Bottom line folks. It's Rightwing B.S. and we should have seen it coming as soon as Al Gore's documentary won the Oscar.

New Head of Hospital Let Soldier Sleep in His Own Urine

The army fired the head of Walter Reed Hospital today and this is the guy they put in charge(from the Washington Post) Gen. Kevin Kiley:

In 2004, Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and his wife stopped visiting the wounded at Walter Reed out of frustration. Young said he voiced concerns to commanders over troubling incidents he witnessed but was rebuffed or ignored. "When Bev or I would bring problems to the attention of authorities of Walter Reed, we were made to feel very uncomfortable," said Young, who began visiting the wounded recuperating at other facilities.
Beverly Young said she complained to Kiley several times. She once visited a soldier who was lying in urine on his mattress pad in the hospital. When a nurse ignored her, Young said, "I went flying down to Kevin Kiley's office again, and got nowhere. He has skirted this stuff for five years and blamed everyone else."

More at Americablog.

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