A Classic

A now classic Today Show clip of Republican Senator Trent Lott, Senator Jim Jeffords, former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Idaho Republican, Larry Craig singing the song Elvira.



It's like a completely different universe.

Thanks Crooks & Liars.
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Top Ten Modified People

"There are some extraordinary human beings intent on changing their appearance permanently for reasons that will forever baffle most people."
-deputydog













kala kaiwi

Thanks deputydog and eponymous.

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William Rivers Pitt - Burning the Law in a Riot of Treason

From truthout: Burning the Law in a Riot of Treason

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.
- Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

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Current tv | Burning Man

Current tv has Burning Man. What, you haven't heard of Burning Man?



Laughing Squid(of course) has more

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Gulf Coast Recovery Bill

Sign the petition for passage of Senator Dodd's Gulf Coast Recovery Bill. Like Iraq the Katrina disaster gave Bushco another money pit to pour federal money into the pockets of wealthy cronies and fatcats. Thousands of others are still without homes and stuck in limbo.



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ZEITGEIST

What are we? Where are we going? What have we done?



Some "God" answers and more. From Google video

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Olbermann Does the Senator Craig Bathroom Scene

In the classic "Dragnet" style.



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Another World

From Tom Tomorrow.


















Of course you knew this was silly. General Petraeus has already gotten his September script from the White House.
Look out Iran you're next.

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John Edwards on Health Care

John Edwards talks to a woman in Portsmouth, N.H. about health care for Americans.



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Katrina Two Year Anniversary

New Orleans was being destroyed on this date two years ago. At least 1800 people killed. here's what dubya and his best bud McCain were doing.














By the way dubya's actually gonna be in N.O. today for the patented Bushco photo-op. You'll see it ALL over the MSM.

Attack on Iran-US As International War Criminals?

Don't these people have us up to our necks in their incompetence as it is? Will they carry my country deeper into further International war mongering and just generally deeper thugs R Us? We'll see:
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Study: US preparing 'massive' military attack against Iran
The United States has the capacity for and may be prepared to launch without warning a massive assault on Iranian uranium enrichment facilities, as well as government buildings and infrastructure, using long-range bombers and missiles, according to a new analysis.

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Investigation in Iraq Involving Billions

A lot of money to be made in dubya's Iraqi meatgrinder.

"The largest ring of fraud and kickbacks uncovered in Iraq yet, federal agents are investigating “the purchase and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other matériel to Iraqi and American forces.” 8-28
..

Meanwhile as of today there's 3732 dead US military in Iraq. The latest is Lance Cpl. Rogelio A. Ramirez, 21, of Pasadena, Calif. He was 21 years old. Think about that for a minute, especially if you're around my age. I can barely remember being 21, and he's dead at 21. For nothing but profit, oil, greed and power. Goodbye Rogelio.

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International Competition vs. Bluecross/Blueshield

This is exactly right from Bluegal at C&L.
"..The tipping point in the healthcare debate, I’m afraid, will come not when the needs of individual human beings are considered, but when the “needs” of General Motors to “compete” internationally outweighs the “need” of Blue Cross/Blue Shield to make a profit. Only when the MSM realizes that a single payer plan is “good for US business,” will the debate take a positive turn."
Read the whole thing.



















And I love this poster from same, and Oldamericancentury.

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The Great Iraq Swindle

Not many pundits will tell you one of the really big reasons Bushco invaded Iraq. To make fortunes for untold numbers of cronies and connected private contractors at the expense of the US treasury and the US taxpayer. Basically cleaning out the US treasury. And as Bush1 himself famously said, "The continuous consolidation of money and power into higher, tighter and righter hands."(George H.W. Bush, 1992)
Here's Rolling Stone:

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The Great Iraq Swindle
How Bush Allowed an Army of For-Profit Contractors to Invade the U.S. Treasury

How is it done? How do you screw the taxpayer for millions, get away with it and then ride off into the sunset with one middle finger extended, the other wrapped around a chilled martini?..


"..Operation Iraqi Freedom, it turns out, was never a war against Saddam ­Hussein's Iraq. It was an invasion of the federal budget, and no occupying force in history has ever been this efficient. George W. Bush's war in the Mesopotamian desert was an experiment of sorts, a crude first take at his vision of a fully privatized American government. In Iraq the lines between essential government services and for-profit enterprises have been blurred to the point of absurdity -- to the point where wounded soldiers have to pay retail prices for fresh underwear, where modern-day chattel are imported from the Third World at slave wages to peel the potatoes we once assigned to grunts in KP, where private companies are guaranteed huge profits no matter how badly they fuck things up.."

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They Keep Coming | Another Republican Pervert

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig(R.) arrested at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.
More here, here, here, etc.
Is anyone doing a study on whether to much Kool-Aide leads to irresistable perversions. By the way expect to see a picture of Sen. Craig up on FOX News with a "D"(Democrat) at the end of his name any time now.

Thanks to AmericaBlog here's Sen. Craig's voting record on sexual matters:

* Voted YES on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. (Jun 2006)
* Voted NO on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
* Voted NO on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. (Jun 2000)
* Voted YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
* Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)

Craig has a 0% rating in HRC's 2006 Congressional Scorecard.
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CO2 - It's Not Just A Plant's Life

No matter what the deniers of global warming say. To much of anything is not good, even good ol' carbon dioxide. Here's Conscious Earth:


--
A favorite argument of global warming deniers is that the carbon dioxide is harmless because it's "just plant food". It turns out that like any other "food", too much will only cause harm.

Both Grist and Environmental Defense are covering new research showing that more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will mean less food value (i.e. decreased nitrogen and protein) in our fruits and vegetables. Think you'll get around that by boosting your meat diet? Once more, think again. Lower food value in plants, means less protein for grazing cows and pigs and therefore less meat produced by each animal. Add to this the exploding demand for meat from developing countries like China and you will need to tell me where we're meant to get all of these food calories from.

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LOLcat | I Can Has Cheezburger?

LOLcats.















Thanks Squid.

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New Orleans | Katrina Doctor Tells Her Side

Dr. Anna Pou was accused of murdering nine patients in a New Orleans hospital wracked by Katrina, but a grand jury declined to indict her. Now she gives her side of the story.
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‘Everybody May Not Make It Out’

"..The conditions were unbearable. Inside the hospital it was pitch black, with odors, smell, human waste everywhere. It was very rancid. You would take a breath in and it would burn the back of your throat. The patients were very sick. That’s when we had to go from triage to reverse triage because we came to realize if patients aren’t being evacuated, [we had to deal with what we had]. Basically it was a general consensus that we’re not going to be able to save everybody. We hope that we can, but we realize everybody may not make it out.."

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Voices From the Gulf

Voices from the Gulf.


Dennis Sigur, Dennis's Barber Shop

Two years after Katrina, the Gulf Coast is still recovering, and thousands of personal stories remain unheard.

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Ben Stein Male Prostitute

Apparently Ben Stein("Ferris Bueller's Day Off", commercials, etc.) has now become the consort of the "Intelligent Design" crowd. I thought Ben reached a new low when he was shilling for the seafood business . Now he's gone into hooking for intelligent design in schools. Read his post, and be sure to read the comments where Ben gets reamed.

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Bob Geiger' Saturday Cartoons

Bob Geiger has the latest of the political cartoons up. I'm sorry to say that Bob says he's calling it quits. Go read his letter.

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Top of Her Class

Ladies and gentlemen! From Miss Teen USA! Miss South Carolina!



Pretty/vacant.

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Bill Maher's Real Time

Actor Tim Robbins and Bill Maher(speaking for the people who were right about Bush's attack on Iraq) verbally kick the ass of Wingnut writer Stephen Hayes for being so wrong on Iraq, and pretty much everything else.




"Shouldn't there be a rule or a law that says, if you fuck things up so badly you can no longer be considered an expert."
-Tim Robbins

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Reading the wrong thing in public

Careful: The FB-eye may be watching
Reading the wrong thing in public can get you in trouble


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Veterans Against the Iraqi Occupation

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Gaping hole found in universe

Things that make you go hmmmm.. From Scientific American.
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Gaping hole found in universe





















WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A giant hole in the Universe is devoid of galaxies, stars and even lacks dark matter, astronomers said on Thursday.
The team at the University of Minnesota said the void is nearly a billion light-years across and they have no idea why it is there.
More.

Not In MY Name! | Torture

From Ella Mazel.

Not In MY Name!
A collection of quotes
on the past, present, and
future of the practice of torture


Thanks Woods Lot.

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Underground Cities

Thousands of people lived in some of these. Fully equipped with granaries, stables, wells, air inlets, chimneys for smoke from the cookfires, wine presses and storage pits, salt-grinding tables, and even huge churches--everything necessary for an extended stay. The pictures are Like scenes out of a video game Dungeons & Dragons,etc.;

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No one knows how many underground cities lie beneath Cappadocia. Eight have been discovered, and many smaller villages, but there are doubtless more. The biggest, Derinkuyu, wasn't discovered until 1965, when a resident cleaning the back wall of his cave house broke through a wall and discovered behind it a room that he'd never seen, which led to still another, and another. Eventually, spelunking archeologists found a maze of connecting chambers that descended at least 18 stories and 280 feet beneath the surface, ample enough to hold 30,000 people – and much remains to be excavated. One tunnel, wide enough for three people walking abreast, connects to another underground town six miles away. Other passages suggest that at one time all of Cappadocia, above and below the ground, was linked by a hidden network. Many still use the tunnels of this ancient subway as cellar storerooms.

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Star Trek Inspiration

The Star Trek Inspirational Posters.















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Vintage Ads For New Products Contest

It's the Worth 1000 Vintage Photo Contest:
In this contest your challenge is to take modern products and display them in a vintage light, through advertisements. You can also reverse the challenge and take vintage products and display them in a modern way.

















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Faux News Attacks - Iran!

Fox "News" goes after Iran. The latest recipient of the Cheney administration's global bloodlust.



From BraveNewFilms. Also go sign the letter while you're at it.

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Come One, Come All

Former Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones(D.) and wife Libby are having another picnic. It's free for all, and it's this Saturday. See the invite below.




















Thanks to Mark Nickolas at BluegrassReports.

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Meanwhile in Dubyaland

The slaughter continues:

BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed a fuel tanker into a police station in the northern Iraqi oil city of Baiji on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding 40, police said.

--

BAGHDAD (AP) -- A helicopter crashed in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing all 14 U.S. soldiers aboard, the military said.

Thanks to Duncan.
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June-July-August 2003: 113 Americans killed
June-July-August 2004: 162 Americans killed
June-July-August 2005: 217 Americans killed
June-July-August 2006: 169 Americans killed
June-July-August 2007: 229 Americans killed (August not over yet)

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Red Dome

A Red Dome Under the Big Dipper.




















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The Infamous Work Problem Flow Chart

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The New Wingnuttery Award

From WTWC. So many Wingnuts but only one winner. Go read Blue Girl:

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Introducing the Wurlitzer Prize of the Week for Wingnuttery™

There is plenty of wingnuttery out there, to be sure. I am certain that some weeks it will be difficult to select a winner. This week was rife with possibilities. There was Newt claiming that the war on the streets of America with illegal immigrants gunning down American teenagers is worse than the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. There was Time Magazine editor Michael Duffy on Hardball asserting that "for the last 25 years, Democrats have done everything they can to alienate religious voters, faith-minded voters" and Rudy making his absurd claim of the week, this time that he was at Ground Zero more than a lot of the rescue workers, when in reality he was there a grand total of 29 hours. There was Michael Gerson on the pages of the Washington Post feebly attempting to make the case that Karl Rove is the “opposite of a cynical political operative.” There is the entire body of work for last week of The Weekly Standard and The National Review, and pretty much anything posted at Town Toxichall. (Sorry, no links to those sad sites. If you read them, chances are pretty damned good that you don't read us, so...)

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Another Important Read on Iraq

A related read should be UK History professor Ron Formisano's excellent piece in yesterday's Herald-Leader discussing the complete failure of our "News" media to hold Bushco accountable for anything. Actually he only speaks to the Iraq war but our MSM hasn't been interested in anything this administration has been wrong on(or criminal on) since, well pretty much since day one. Go read on Iraq.

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Media not helping us keep up on Iraq

"..Prediction: In September, Gen. David Petraeus will recommend a gradual drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq, just enough to give cover to increasingly worried congressional Republicans up for election -- and it will be very slow.."
More.

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Opinions From the People Who Fought

A NY Times article written by former US non-commissioned officers.

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The War as We Saw It

..A few nights ago, for example, we witnessed the death of one American soldier and the critical wounding of two others when a lethal armor-piercing explosive was detonated between an Iraqi Army checkpoint and a police one. Local Iraqis readily testified to American investigators that Iraqi police and Army officers escorted the triggermen and helped plant the bomb. These civilians highlighted their own predicament: had they informed the Americans of the bomb before the incident, the Iraqi Army, the police or the local Shiite militia would have killed their families.

As many grunts will tell you, this is a near-routine event. Reports that a majority of Iraqi Army commanders are now reliable partners can be considered only misleading rhetoric. The truth is that battalion commanders, even if well meaning, have little to no influence over the thousands of obstinate men under them, in an incoherent chain of command, who are really loyal only to their militias..

Continue.

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Bill Moyers on Rove's Legacy

Bill Moyer's talks about the legacy of Karl Rove. Adviser to the worst President in US history(my opinion of Rove's legacy).



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What the Iraq War has Cost Your District

The cost of the Bush Iraq war broken down into each district. Find out what it cost yours.


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Debate: Chris Dodd

Chris Dodd talks about the Military Commissions Act at the DNC Iowa debate:



Oh and the Chris Dodd time clock is back. As you can plainly see moderator Snuffleupegus.. er..Stephanopoulis gets more talk time than Dodd, Kucinich and Gravel.



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Jenna Bush Keeps it in the Familia

Well, well, looks like someone predicted Jenna's nuptials to "silver spoon" Henry all the way back in 2005. I was starting to think Jenna and Not-Jenna might end up as lonely barflies on daddy's paraguay retreat. I suppose I should be glad that someone is watching all the trust fund kiddies.
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Anyway, it is possible that the happiness evidenced by newlyweds Charles and Camilla inspired Henry and Jenna to start thinking about marriage, and an announcement about wedding plans could be made as soon as the President's approval ratings slip another 5% . If not, I hope that fellow gala guest (and Jenna's uncle) "Neil Bush, Chairman, Ignite! Learning" got the youngsters thinking about safe sex.

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Post Secret Video

The Post Secret video.



Not bad.
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Geiger's Saturday Toons

The Saturday cartoons

















Steve Sack

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Nancy Pelosi Gets Some Friendly Advice

The Democrat.com "Dump Dick" contest winner:



Thanks BraveNewFilms.

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That September Report From General Petraeus

Polling says most Americans don't believe it already(especially when the White House already admiited they'd be writing it).;
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"A majority of americans don't trust the upcoming report by the army's top commander in iraq on the progress of the war and even if they did, it wouldn't change their mind, according to a new poll."

Start at Skippy's.

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The Government and Corporations Editing Wikipedia

Editors to Wikipedia the online encyclopedia can now be traced back to their IP address. Just guess some addresses they found:

Wikipedia edits have been made from IPs owned by the CIA, Microsoft, Wal Mart, and Fox News.

"..On November 17th, 2005, an anonymous Wikipedia user deleted 15 paragraphs from an article on e-voting machine-vendor Diebold, excising an entire section critical of the company’s machines. While anonymous, such changes typically leave behind digital fingerprints offering hints about the contributor, such as the location of the computer used to make the edits.

In this case, the changes came from an IP address reserved for the corporate offices of Diebold itself. And it is far from an isolated case. A new data-mining service launched Monday traces millions of Wikipedia entries to their corporate sources, and for the first time puts comprehensive data behind longstanding suspicions of manipulation, which until now have surfaced only piecemeal in investigations of specific allegations.

Wikipedia Scanner — the brainchild of Cal Tech computation and neural-systems graduate student Virgil Griffith — offers users a searchable database that ties millions of anonymous Wikipedia edits to organizations where those edits apparently originated, by cross-referencing the edits with data on who owns the associated block of internet IP addresses.."

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From TMW and here among many.

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Covering-and Covering For | That's the News

Exactly what she said:

What if, instead of giving endless airtime to Bob Murray, they had brought on some of the experts we saw last night and asked them questions about the chances of another collapse occurring? What if they had given us Professor Larry Grayson, who was interviewed last night by Dan Abrams on MSNBC, and other experts who could have contradicted once and for all Murray’s assertion that the company had not been doing retreat mining where the original collapse had occurred? What if they had gotten Stickler on the record on this, and had him definitely say whether or not Murray was lying when he repeatedly denied the dangerous technique was being used in the Crandall Canyon Mine?

Our corporate "News" Media are bleating sheep. The wolves? Bushco and the other corporations.

More at Firedoglake.






I knew what Bob Murray was as soon as he said, "coastal elites"(definition: Liberals, Jews, etal.). Oh and the photo is from Rushlimbaugh.com so there you go.



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Friday Vid

"Tonights the Night"



"Bruce Berry was a working man
he used to load that Econoline van."

The Friday clip is Neil Young's eulogy to guitarist Danny Whitten. An excellent album, moody and dark. Feel free to disagree.

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Friday! Colbert vs. Markos

It's been a crappy week so far, workwise anyway. Not sure what's happening there but hopefully it'll get better. I did get my broadband connection back up and running here at Deantopia this afternoon!! So there's that. I've got my nettime back. The family is not only out of town but out of state and I've got Gatti's $7 pizza(Yum!) to myself, two rented movies(Shooter and 300), a beer, and the whole web to myself right now. Okay, while I look around here's "Daily Kos" Markos vs. StevenColbert. It's a few days old but I just saw it today. Have a nice weekend all. Stay safe:



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One World One Dream

One world, one dream, Free Tibet!:
Activists unfurl a "Free Tibet" Banner on the Great Wall of China.















YouTube here.
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When Corporate Media Reports on Corporate Mining

I was very turned off myself by the tv "News" treatment of mine owner Bob Murray. Arianna has an excellent write up at Huffington Post about it. Like all the other things that the MSM could be telling us but won't bother I just put it down as corporate flunkies "investigating" their bosses. Here's Arianna:
--
Why Are the New York Times and So Much of the Traditional* Media Neglecting a Vital Part of the Utah Mine Collapse Story?

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RIP - Phil Rizzuto

The great Phil Rizzuto meets the Meatloaf, no kidding, wait for it:
"Paradise By the Dashboard Light"



Thanks C and L for the heads up.

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George Orwell Descibes Being Shot

Wanted to throw up this interesting piece I found at Boingboing. George Orwell("1984", etc.) describes being shot in the Spanish civil war:
--













George Orwell

"..It was at the corner of the parapet, at five o'clock in the morning. This was always a dangerous time, because we had the dawn at our backs, and if you stuck your head above the parapet it was clearly outlined against the sky. I was talking to the sentries preparatory to changing the guard. Suddenly, in the very middle of saying something, I felt -- it is very hard to describe what I felt, though I remember it with the utmost vividness.

Roughly speaking it was the sensation of being at the center of an explosion. There seemed to be a loud bang and a blinding flash of light all around me, and I felt a tremendous shock - no pain, only a violent shock, such as you get from an electric terminal; with it a sense of utter weakness, a feeling of being stricken and shriveled up to nothing. The sandbags in front of me receded into immense distance. I fancy you would feel much the same if you were struck by lightning. I knew immediately that I was hit, but because of the seeming bang and flash I thought it was a rifle nearby that had gone off accidentally and shot me. All this happened in a space of time much less than a second. The next moment my knees crumpled up and I was falling, my head hitting the ground with a violent bang which, to my relief, did not hurt. I had a numb, dazed feeling, a consciousness of being very badly hurt, but no pain in the ordinary sense.."

...

"..There must have been about two minutes during which I assumed I was killed. And that too was interesting -- I mean it is interesting to know what your thoughts would be at such a time. My first thought, conventionally enough, was for my wife. My second was violent resentment at having to leave this world which, when all is said and done, s me so well. I had time to feel this very vividly. The stupid mischance infuriated me. The meaninglessness of it! To be bumped off, not even in battle, but in this stale corner of the trenches, thanks to a moment's carelessness! I thought, too, of the man who had shot me -- wondered what he was like, whether he was a Spaniard or foreigner, whether he knew he had got me, and so forth. I could not feel any resentment against him. I reflected that as he was a Fascist I would have killed him if I could, but that if he had been taken prisioner and brought before me at this moment I would merely have congratulated him on his good shooting. It may be, though, that if you were really dying your thoughts would be quite different.."

Continue.

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Duct Tape Maniac..Ah, I Mean Bandit

This is pretty funny. The "Duct Tape Bandit", a hapless wanna be robber in Ashland Kentucky. I saw this report yesterday morning on my local news. Don't miss the interview where the "bandit" denies he is the bandit:



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See You in September Suckers!

Thanks Americablog.

The Truth | The Ving Rames Dog Mauling Story

News for cats and dogs - The Truth About The Ving Rames Dog "Mauling"

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I'm With.. Well You Know

Here

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Report on "The Flintstones Museum"

Sadly Kentucky is home to the "Creationist museum". Where psuedo-science rules, Fred and Barney and our ancestors of course rode dinosaurs(no mention of Dino). I've seen a few of their brochures, very slick. Daniel Phelps the President of the Kentucky Paleontological Society has a nice write up here:

There are a few valid reasons to see the Anti-Museum. If you go, try to make the most of things by taking lots of photos you can use to show others. Atone for your sins by spending a greater amount of money at a real natural history museum. Here is my list of reasons to actually go:

Shock value: Bring colleagues that don't think creationism is a problem to see this. Note the look on their face when they realize that not only do people believe this, but that they have spent almost $30 million dollars on the nonsense.

This is what creationists really believe: Creation "scientists" usually only attack evolution without stating their alternative. If you debate creationists and are sick of them only presenting misguided attacks on evolution, then you can visit the Anti-Museum and have a record of what the creationists actually believe. Use the information found at the museum to put them on the defensive about the Ark and the Flood and vegetarian velociraptors.

You have a perverse or unusual sense of humor: Although a critic of creationism, I wanted to go to the place from the moment I realized it would someday open. I feel almost guilty about this; it is the same emotion one has when one slows down to watch a gory automobile wreck. I don't know why the creationist museum is comical, but it is, and on a number of levels. Perhaps we should not analyze this too much. E. B. White (1954) once said, "Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind." But then maybe we should…

More.
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Surprise! Millions Going to Wealthy Developers and Investors

You did know that under Bushco our disaster relief money is flowing like a river up to "Righter and tighter hands" didn't you? Good, you're catching on to the B.F.E.E.'s(Bartcop) modus- operandi.

"With large swaths of the Gulf Coast still in ruins from Hurricane Katrina, rich federal tax breaks designed to spur rebuilding are flowing hundreds of miles inland to investors who are buying up luxury condos near the University of Alabama's football stadium."
--Huffington Post

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Markos and Harold Ford on Meet The Press

Markos of DailyKos talks to David Gregory about the Progressive Netroots:



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The Top Ten

You know 'em, you laugh at them, and DU has them, "The Top Ten Conservative Idiots".
Number One, Rudy Giuliani Babee!!:

"This is not a mayor or a governor or a President who's sitting in an ivory tower," Giuliani said. "I was at Ground Zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them."

--Rudy Giuliani

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Karl Rove's Leaving

Other than stealing one Presidential election(2000) and possibly two. What have "Turd blossom" and dubya accomplished. Here's the record or some of it anyway.

















Advisor to the Worst President Ever.

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Saturday Cartoons

Bob Geiger has the Saturday cartoons up.

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Saturday Vid

A little culteere for the passerby.
Pavarotti with Puccinni's "Nessun Dorma"



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Forever War | Return of the Draft

Return of the infamous draft might not be a bad idea. If mister and Mrs Joe Sixpack think little Brannon Sixpack or Muffy Sixpack may be drafted and have their butts sent to Dubya's bloody playgrounds it'll turn 90% of Americans against Bushco's corporate wars instead of the present 70%.



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Surprise! 38% of Internet Users Dislike MSM

The "Main Stream Media" being cable tv info-tainment the likes of CNN, MSNBC, Faux..er, Fox, etc. I'm actually surprised it's not much higher than that:

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Internet News Audience Highly Critical of News Organizations

..The American public continues to fault news organizations for a number of perceived failures, with solid majorities criticizing them for political bias, inaccuracy and failing to acknowledge mistakes. But some of the harshest indictments of the press now come from the growing segment that relies on the internet as its main source for national and international news..

..The internet news audience – roughly a quarter of all Americans – tends to be younger and better educated than the public as a whole. People who rely on the internet as their main news source express relatively unfavorable opinions of mainstream news sources and are among the most critical of press performance. As many as 38% of those who rely mostly on the internet for news say they have an unfavorable opinion of cable news networks such as CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, compared with 25% of the public overall, and just 17% of television news viewers..

More here.

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First Signs | The Intelligent Car?

Nissan's Breathalizer and Alertness Car
"I'm sorry Dave, but I can't let you drive..."

The car's technology will use sensors to detect alcohol in the sweat and odour of a driver, as well as checking awareness levels.

Sensors are placed in the gear stick to measure the amount of perspiration on the driver's hand and odour detectors are fitted into the driver and passenger seats.

A monitoring system will also check to see if the car is staying inside its lane and a camera mounted at eye level scans the driver's eyes for signs of tiredness.

Here and also here.

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Friday Vid

Velvet Underground, "Sweet Jane". Crank it up:



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Jon Stewart | In Other Words

Jon Stewart Gives President "Dumbest effing guy on the planet" some talk time.



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Tri Huu Luu

Life #15

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2007 Science Idol Finalists

From Union of Concerned Scientists.















Matt Bors

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Global Warming

The melting Columbia Glacier.

As with many things the American public are on the dumber side of science, and as with many things the corporate "News" media is to blame. This is from Newsweek:
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The Truth About Denial
By Sharon Begley
Newsweek

"..Just last year, polls found that 64 percent of Americans thought there was "a lot" of scientific disagreement on climate change; only one third thought planetary warming was "mainly caused by things people do." In contrast, majorities in Europe and Japan recognize a broad consensus among climate experts that greenhouse gases—mostly from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas to power the world's economies—are altering climate. A new NEWSWEEK Poll finds that the influence of the denial machine remains strong. Although the figure is less than in earlier polls, 39 percent of those asked say there is "a lot of disagreement among climate scientists" on the basic question of whether the planet is warming; 42 percent say there is a lot of disagreement that human activities are a major cause of global warming. Only 46 percent say the greenhouse effect is being felt today..."

Continue.

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Mister 9-11 Hero, NOT!

This is ridiculous:
"I was at ground zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. I was there working with them. I was there guiding things. I was there bringing people there. But I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them."
-Rudy Giuliani

Then of course there's the truth if you want it:
Rudy Giuliani's Five Big Lies About 9/11

Taylor Marsh

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Congressional Chickens

"..I just wish Bush would start smoking pot and visit a hooker
so congress would legalize marijuana and prostitution."
--Marc Perkel

Found at Bartcop.

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AT&T | Censoring Your World

AT&T is one of the big communications companies that wants to control the Internet. During a concert by Pearl Jam they deleted references to George W. Bush. Does this really sound like someone you want to control your access to music and information?:

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"..When rock band Pearl Jam sung the lyrics "George Bush, leave this world alone" at a music festival over the weekend, fans following along online didn't hear the message chanted from a Chicago stage.

AT&T Inc., which broadcast the performance on its Blue Room Web site edited the lyrics from its live Webcast of the Sunday performance at Lollapalooza, leaving the musicians to cry censorship.."

Go to Huffington Post for more.

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Anyway, pretty simple really-don't put corporations in charge of the Internet. Corporations have their own agendas. It's just like you don't put corporations in charge of the government, or war, or the environment, or.. wait..dubya's already put them in charge of those. Hopefully though we can at least keep them away from the free flow of information on the Internet:

Save the Internet.com


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The Daily Republican Pervert

Republican is starting to become synonymous with prevert. Here's Wonkette:
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Republican Perv of the week:

Glenn Murphy, Jr. is our latest addition to the Endless Cummer Cavalcade of Pervs! The Clark County, Indiana GOP Chair was recently elected Young Republican National Federation Chair and so it was only a matter of time before the Sheriff began investigating him for “alleged deviate conduct.” Because apparently some poor Young Republican doesn’t want to wake up to the national chairman unexpectedly fellating him.

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Send in the Clowns - NO WAIT!

Actually not a laughing matter to some. "Coulrophobia" is the fear of clowns(yes clowns!). I've known a few people who have had it. Not to the degree the woman in this video does. My daughter doesn't really like clowns and girl I knew actually did fear them:



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War on Terrorism License Plate?

I agree with Atrios, I don't understand these people.











"..The Oklahoma Tax Commission has extended the deadline to order the global war on terrorism license plate. Officials had set a May 31 deadline for the $37 vanity plate that features a bald eagle transposed in front of the Twin Towers.."

From Think Progress.

This Modern World | News professionals

Speaking of "News" professionals is there a bigger Media Butt-kisser in the world than David Gregory? Just curious.

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Bush Lies About Iran | "Liberal" Media Plays Along

From Left i:

It never stops:
"This is a government [Iran] that has proclaimed its desire to build a nuclear weapon."
--President George "bloody dubya" Bush

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How Walkable is Your Neighborhood

Type in your address to get the walkable score of your neighborhood.

Found through MissLaura.

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Handy Chart on Presidential Positions

See where your candidate stands on the issues at a glance. From here and here:




















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We’re not led, we’re kept

From Making Light.

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Our Crumbling America
--Jonathan Schwarz

"..A country that can't keep its bridges from collapsing is not going to be running the world very much longer. That's the interesting thing about the standard historical trajectory of imperial elites...at a certain point they either (1) forget the power they can wield outside their country ultimately derives from a healthy society beneath them, or (2) understand that but decide they'd rather be comparatively more powerful within a poorer society and less powerful outside.

America’s elites are, at heart, the same way. They’d prefer to be emirs and kings running a shambling catastrophe of a country than moderately rich men in Sweden.."

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Coal to Liquid and Natural Gas

I've wanted to post something for a while regarding the push by my indicted Governor Ernie Fletcher and the other assorted characters to get a huge tax package passed in Kentucky for plants that turn coal into liquid and/or natural gas. The little info that I've heard about it is pretty scary. Basically an expensive(taxwise) and dirty stop gap measure that's mostly just a way of putting off the real tough decisions needed for our energy, environmental and jobs needs. We live in Kentucky though where coal is king and tough political decisions are for someone else. From the whiny and spineless actions of my National Democrats lately(Ben Chandler, BOO!) I don't have much hope for the local ones. Jodie Richardson may just keep them in line long enough to do something good. I won't hold my breath though. We'll see.










Photo NPR.

Here's a piece of a pretty good Larry Dale Keeling article published a few days ago:
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Double the trouble, at taxpayer expense

"..On the environmental side, the polluting properties of coal - starting with mining and lasting long after burning - and the large amounts of energy required to liquefy it mean that liquid coal produces more than twice the global warming emissions as regular gasoline and almost double that of ordinary diesel. As pundits have pointed out, driving a Prius on liquid coal makes it as dirty as a Hummer on regular gasoline."

Although the immediate motivation for the incentives legislators will consider in a special session tentatively scheduled to begin August 13 is a coal-to-natural gas plant currently under consideration by Peabody Energy, those incentives would also apply to coal-to-liquid facilities (as well as to more environmentally friendly forms of alternative energy).

Of course, no coal-to-liquid plants are likely to be built without massive federal incentives and a guaranteed demand for the fuel that's produced. But the recent push in Congress to commit to such a course at the cost of billions of dollars to American taxpayers prompted Scientific American editors to say:

"This is unacceptable at a time when leading scientists from all over the world are warning that greenhouse gases must be cut by at least 60 percent over the next half century to avert the worst consequences of global warming. Instead of spending billions to subsidize a massively polluting industry, we should be investing in efficiency and renewable energy technologies that can help us constrain global warming today."..

Continue here.

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Here's that Scientific American Article:
Liquid coal would produce roughly twice the global warming
emissions of gasoline.

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Ben Chandler | My Democratic Surrender Monkey

Yep.. Ben swooned at President 25%'s threats and kissed his ring along with 40 other surrender monkey Democrats. Can we just vote out ALL of these Lieberman Dems along with a few more Repubs next election and start again? How pitiful it is to be made ashamed of my own political party? These "Democrats" are making me more and more ashamed to be a Democrat. With a Democratic Bush rubber stamp Congress.
I actually made it almost all the way up the list before finding his name, but knowing my Ben Chandler I was pretty sure his wimpy ass would be right there and sure enough there it is, Ben Chandler(6th, KY-Surrender monkey). I hope his granddaddy Happy Chandler is enough of a Democrat to be spinning in his grave.

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41 House Dems Tremble Before the Mighty Bush

Of the 41 House Democrats who voted today to roll over on the eavesdropping amendment that the White House demanded be added to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, 26 30 were Blue Dogs. The bill, Orwellianly named the Protect America Act, passed 227-183, with 181 Democrats and two Republicans opposed.

These are the Dems who ... failed us. Who failed our country.
Go here for the whole sorry bunch.
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Also by all means read Glen Greenwald, he has the time and is far more eloquent than I on Democratic capitulation and participation in the assault on this country from the inside.

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Vid | Elton John '71

Live '71, from "Madman Across the Water".



Aah..good times..kinda makes me wish I still got a buzz.
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Mister 25% Goes Vacationing

I believe Harry Reid is going along to lick dubya's boots clean in the evenings.

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About.com

"Yesterday President Bush flew out to his prairie-chapel ranch in Crawford, Texas, to begin his eleven-day vacation. It's not really a ranch. There's no cows or horses. It's more like an estate. But ranch sounds better. You know like when you call Iraq a democracy. It sounds better."
--Jay Leno

"President Bush is going on his annual vacation. The White House says he goes to his Texas Ranch to unwind. I'm thinking, when does he wind?"
--David Letterman

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Democrats Surrender: Agree to Buy Kneepads

This is just mind boggling that the Democrats would knuckle under to Bush(mister 25%) on ANYTHING, much less putting Bloody dubya and Abu Gonzalez in charge of who gets spied on without a warrent. You know who will be first to be spied on? Those "surrender monkey" Democrats of course. Or maybe it's already been done. At least that would explain why there's an epidemic of Democratic politicians losing their balls. How 'bout it Jim Web did you happen to get a little folder with some embarrassing info or pics? Secret dossiers on all the Democrats would sure come in handy for Dick "Dick" Cheney and dumbya's errand boy alberto. Once again a circular firing squad by our pitiful Democrats. Here's some points from Kagro and Kos:

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There is something fundamentally wrong here.

"..And of course, at this point it should go without saying that if a bill is placed before you that addresses additional powers and authority for the Attorney General, of all people, this is a full stop moment.

The vote on this bill is no. The vote on any bill expanding the powers of this Attorney General is no.

These are things I should not have to outline for anyone at this point. Certainly not Daily Kos readers. But you'd hope Members of Congress, too. But apparently, in that hope you'd be disappointed.

Still, these are merely the surface issues. There's something deeper and even more troubling going on here. What's happening here is the ceding of the last remaining prerogatives of the legislative branch to the executive. We are currently watching the Congress cede its oversight authority -- not its ability to hold hearings, but its ability to make hearings mean something. We may be watching the Congress cede its "power of the purse," as George W. Bush now threatens to veto any appropriations bill that does not match the numbers in his budget. (You need to know that the president's budget has almost never been the working model for Congress. The traditional reaction to the president's budget, no matter whose it is or even who's reacting, has been that it's "dead on arrival.") Now we are watching the Congress cede even its legislative powers, reacting to Bush's threat to keep them in session until they pass the exact FISA legislation he demands.

Does this comport with any American's concept of the basic functions of the different branches of our government? Since when does the president dictate the terms of legislation... to legislators?

Since they started rolling over for it, that's when.."

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What's Changed
109th Congress: Rubber stamp Republicans
110th Congress: Rubber stamp Democrats
-Magnifico(Kos)

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The Magic of Republican Obstructionism

And you were wondering why the Democrats can't seem to get much done. Aside from Republicrats(cough_Lieberman_cough!). The evil revealed?:



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Senator Sanders Explains The Real State of US Economics

The Bush-borg nominee for "budget" office replays it's talking points and then reboots. It's amazing to watch how little this nominee really cares about the poor and middle class of this country. He's happy as a tick if the Walmart heirs keep their 32 billion dollars and never pay another dime in taxes. We're viewing a country ruled by superrich sociopaths. Listen to Bernie:



Thanks to Blue Gal for the link.
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Howard Dean | YearlyKos

Howard Dean speaks at the YearlyKos. Bill O'reilly eat your heart out.



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Faceball?

I don't like the looks of this. The office game "Faceball"?



An introduction to Faceball from Face Ball and Vimeo.

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When Democrats Drink the Kool-Aide

Congress needs to check their water supply and Harry Reid needs to check into a self-imposed abuse clinic. What a 90 pound weakling. I still haven't forgiven him for that Iraqi-funding Bush butt-kisser he and Pelosi arranged a while back. Here's Digby:
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Reflexive Fear of Wimpification
by digby
When I read this this morning, I thought I might be hallucinating:
Under pressure from President Bush, Democratic leaders in Congress are scrambling to pass legislation this week to expand the government’s electronic wiretapping powers.

Under pressure from President Bush, Democratic leaders in Congress are scrambling to pass legislation this week to expand the government’s electronic wiretapping powers.

.."Let's set aside the idea that "trusting" the Bush administration with warrantless wiretaps is like trusting your four year old with a zippo lighter, what kind of bucket-of-lukewarm-spit kind of politics is this? What are they afraid of, that the Bush administration will blame them if a terrorist attack occurs and they didn't approve another blank check? Guess what? It wouldn't matter if the Democrats named Bush king with the power to draw and quarter hippies and Muslims on the white house lawn, they will still blame the Democrats if there is another terrorist attack.

I do not know what this latest program is, but whatever it is, it needs to be approved by somebody other than the White House. I'm sorry, but that should be non-negotiable. Dick Cheney has delegated to himself virtually limitless power and he is borderline insane. The executive branch cannot be trusted with additional power of any kind. They have quite enough, thank you.

Here we are trying to pry from the Bush administration just what in the hell was in the "other intelligence activities" they were doing before the entire upper management of the Department of Justice threatened to resign, and the Dems are now publicly capitulating to white house demands that they give them more warrantless surveillance powers --- and Harry Reid is whining about how he hopes the Republicans will work with him? Talk about muddying the waters. The substance is nuts and the politics are nuts.."
Continue.


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A Few Things to Wonder About

Tom Tomorrow has a few things to think about. Of course the GOP has made and continues to stretch the definition of satire. Sometimes you think you're reading The Onion, Tom Tomorrow, Whitehouse.org, etc. but you realize it's just todays actual political news. Anyway here's just a few things we've suspected:


















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Video | Brian Eno

"An Ending(Ascent)" from "Apollo".



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Ben Chandler Co-Sponsors Gonzales Impeachment

Thanks to my Representative Ben Chandler for co-sponsoring the "Abu" Gonzales impeachment proceedings.

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Surprise! Florida Voting Machines Can Still Be Hacked

Votes can be changed "without a trace". Deja Vu.

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truthout and the Miami Herald:

"Florida Secretary of State's office has conducted an elections study that confirmed Tuesday what a maverick voting chief discovered nearly two years ago: Insider computer hackers can change votes without a trace on Diebold optical-scan machines."
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Oh, and California recently had virtually the same results:

State-sanctioned teams of computer hackers were able to break through the security of virtually every model of California's voting machines and change results or take control of some of the systems' electronic functions, according to a University of California study released Friday.

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