X-Powered-By: PHP/4.4.2 Content-type: text/html
|
Weblogs, with Update Times Juan Cole • 18 min ago Firedoglake • 43 min ago Daily Kos • 1 hour ago Hullabaloo by Digby • 1 hour ago Huffington Post • 1 hour ago Suburban Guerrilla • 3 hours ago The Raw Story • 5 hours ago Talking Points Memo • 5 hours ago Whiskey Bar • 5 hours ago Eschaton by Atrios • 5 hours ago War and Piece • 7 hours ago Middle Earth Journal • 10 hours ago Glenn Greenwald • 13 hours ago Maru the Crankpot • 14 hours ago BOPnews • 15 hours ago Energy Bulletin • 18 hours ago Orcinus • 22 hours ago Prairie Angel • 1 day ago MaxSpeak! • 2 days ago Fafblog • 5 days ago Baghdad Burning • 6 days ago Body and Soul • 25 days ago War News Radio • 31 days ago Boing Boing • 46 days ago
NY Times News Hospital Chiefs Get Paid for Advice on Selling Modern Love: What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage Link Between Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Deepens Editorial: The Real Agenda Bush Administration Plans Medicare Changes Libidos of a Certain Age Amid Pomp, Bush Is Pumped and Chat Is Candid Public Schools Perform Near Private Ones in Study At One Paper, All Tension Is Local Advertising: For CBS’s Fall Lineup, Check Inside Your Refrigerator The Overview: Diplomats Seek Foreign Patrols for Mideast Governments Help Nationals Flee From Lebanon and Israel Senator Clinton Speaks Up for Israel at U.N. Rally Shelter: In Israel’s North, Waiting Out Rocket Attacks Gunmen Kill Dozens at Shiite Market in Iraq Tsunami Hits Indonesia, Killing More Than 150 G.O.P. Senator Resisting Bush Over Detainees Political Memo: Republicans Coming Up Short in Effort to Reach Out to African-American Voters Bush’s Policy Chit-Chat: Undiplomatic Prose Stem Cell Bill Nears Passage in the Senate Clinton Vows to Back Israel in Latest Mideast Conflict Texas Hospitals Reflect the Debate on Immigration Chicago Weighs New Prohibition: Bad-for-You Fats The Heat Is On in Most Parts of the Nation All Smiles as Shuttle Ends a Nearly Perfect Mission Two Serial Killers, Acting Independently, Terrorize Phoenix Big Dig Ceiling Must Be Modified, Governor Says Lebanon: Bombings Bring Season of Fear to Seaside Resort Brainy Robots Start Stepping Into Daily Life N.Y. Homeless Face New Effort to Clear Streets Race to the Swift? Not Necessarily The Quest for the $1,000 Human Genome A Conversation with Ben A. Barres: Dismissing ‘Sexist Opinions’ About Women’s Place in Science For Tyrannosaurs, Puberty Meant the End of the Good Life Just Another Face in the Crowd, Indistinguishable Even if It’s Your Own BBC News |
newsfare
Mob Funeral
Ken Lay was ushered into the next world by a coterie of worshippers paying their respects at the Shrine of Mammon. Apparently none of these guests had their utility bills jacked up when Enron ordered power plants to be shut down in California, nor lost their retirement accounts when Lay drove the company into the ground with false business dealings.
By Bruce Nichols and Matt DailyYeah, they done him wrong, just like they done to Jesus. And remember too, Tony Soprano is such a great family man. I guessed this guy greased so many people's palms they they can't afford to appear ungrateful. Once again Republicans prove they have no shame. They don't even try to hide their contempt for ordinary non-filthy-rich people.
Five Weeks in an American Prison
America is supposed to be the greatest country in the world, right? And if you do not agree, you are a traitor, right?
I have been following the case of Carol Fisher, who was imprisoned last month for putting up anti-Bush posters in Cleveland, great state of Ohio. Now Carol has been released from prison after having her case accepted for appeal. On July 4th, not knowing she would soon be out of jail, Carol wrote the following: Hi,Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for two years starting in 1895, and later wrote in his Ballad of Reading Gaol that the water in the prison was slimy. Wilde had terrible diarrhea for weeks after arriving at the prison. Obviously, in our great America, we have come a long way since 1895! People are always hungry. The meals are what you expect for jail — mostly starch, small portions of processed meat and rotten iceberg lettuce. The fresh fruit is coveted.Oddly, Wilde also mentioned that in Reading, everyone was always hungry. Of course he was at hard labor, which amounted to systematic torment every day and night. So rations there were intentionally kept short. I am told that the jail is paid a certain amount of dollars per inmate — in the thousands — but can't verify that. They act like there is no money for anything. We are supposed to be issued t-shirts, socks, underwear but often as with me, there are no t-shirts, socks or even underwear available. Now they want you to buy it thru commissary, if what you wore in doesn't fit regulation. We went two weeks sharing 3 rolls of toilet paper between 30 women. The blankets are full of holes and the sheets are as thin as gauze. The towels are the size of dishtowels. There is no kleenex or paper napkins for meals.Was Carol actuallly, unbeknownst to her, imprisoned in Mexico, or Albania, or Liberia? No, strangely enough, she was right here in the U.S.A., the greatest country in the world! The water just smelled and tasted like sewage because Carol is such a bad person. A traitor, as I mentioned. She opposed our Unitary Executive! Think about that. And why? Simply because soldiers and civilians are dying every day, and a country is being destroyed, by Mr. Unitary Executive's stupid, obscenely expensive, completely immoral war for oil and military bases.
Crier For Democracy
Catherine Crier anchors a weekday show on Court TV. Her recent comments about the Republican threat to our electoral system (video here, via Bradblog) appear to show that she and her network are not yet in the pay of the Bush administration. To boot, Crier seems to have a good head on her shoulders, and to care about the health of democracy.
Whether a few standout exceptions --- like Crier's commentary on stolen elections, or Keith Olbermann's disdain for the cavalcade of Bush lies --- should be taken to mean that unconditional support for Bush by electronic media empires is finally beginning to crack, I don't pretend to know. Both Crier and Olbermann have their own comments on the frequent concealment of bad-for-Bush stories by the big news outlets. Though I am pessimistic about the near-term future of public information in the U.S., it is good to see that a few people in the public eye have not yet sold themselves body and soul for standing room on some dank and reeking bus plying the Road to Republican Riches.
Supreme Defeat GOOD for Bush?
Notice that the following makes no sense.
By Patricia WilsonThis is a perfect example of a truly laughable interpretation of a major defeat for the current administration: "It will make Bush look stronger." Republican consultant Scott Reed said the court's decision served to "remind everybody what it was like right after 9/11." Such absurd reasoning ought to inspire nothing but derision. Why, then, do we leftists --- or liberals --- or moderates --- or even real conservatives --- tremble to recognize it as a narrative that just might persuade voters? The answer is so simple as to be generally ignored. Voters sometimes swallow such Wonderland logic when U.S. television commentators legitimize the farcical talking point by constant repetition. One of the key lessons of the Bush debacle is that a lie, repeated often enough, becomes true. Check this assertion against lifelong indoctrination by the major religions, and many strange observations about human behavior suddenly start making sense. "[Republicans will] throw the biggest chunk of mud that they can come up with," a senior Democratic official said. "That [Democrats] must be heartened by this ruling because we don't want to see any terrorists get prosecuted. That is just ridiculous." Of course it's ridiculous. This asymmetrical war of interpretations highlights a key aspect of our current situation --- an aspect which I believe most of the world still fails to grasp. As long as prominent television personalities reiterate Republican propaganda during much of their air time, no one and no argument will be able to break the Bushite lock on electoral politics.
Berkeley to Put Impeachment on Ballot
By Jim Christie"Famously liberal" fails to capture Berkeley's political climate. I lived there from 1969 to 1972, a time when "radical" was a term of praise among leftists. For a comparison of those days with today's red/blue political slush, here is a summary of issues raised by campus politicians in Berkeley during my first year there.
Supporting, Critiquing, and Promoting Ethnic StudiesMost of the above might still be lively topics of debate in 2006 if our political system had not been suffocated by the radical right-wing politics of the Reagan administration and its successors. We were already familiar with Mr. Reagan, as he was running California at the time. And Governor Reagan's favorite institutional scapegoat? The University of California at Berkeley, of course. He cut our budget again and again, and constantly criticized the Regents in the press. A number of local governments across the United States have passed resolutions urging impeachment. But the Berkeley city council wants to be the first to put the issue directly to voters, Mayor Tom Bates said in an interview.I'm glad to see Berkeley still leading the way.
No British Guantanamo
The top U.K. court has refused to allow suspected terrorists to be placed under house arrest.
By Peter GraffAn uproar in Parliament. House arrest now ruled illegal. Evidently in Britain they do not use water boards, dogs, intolerably loud music, strobe lights, hot and cold rooms, deprivation of food and sleep, and "stress positions." What kind of country is that?
Atrios: Stand Up
Everyone who is reading this probably already saw it on Atrios's site, but I just think it bears repeating and remembering. Here Duncan's words sound just as alarmist as anything I've spouted over the past three years.
As treason charges against the New York Times (but not, oddly, the Wall Street Journal) are getting thrown around on various "respectable" news outlets by people working in "journalism" I think it's probably time for the serious reporters at those outlets to inform management that their resignations will be forthcoming if it doesn't stop.Thank you, Duncan. You have both brains and courage. No regime can impose unfettered power onto a previously free populace without the use of force. The Republicans will either have to attempt that, or else back off. Their stupid foray into dictatorship is rapidly turning into a dirty public farce.
Ohio Story
If you can handle any more gnawing despair, read this Daily Kos diary written by a lawyer who observed the 2004 presidential election as it unfolded in Cleveland. That election was stolen, and there is nothing we can do about it.
Everything I read in Kennedy's story I saw or heard about from my fellow volunteers that day: the long lines, the broken machines, the refusal of the BOE to respond, outrageous election challenges by GOP operatives, cars with bullhorns cruising minority neighborhoods warning people that police would arrest people who owed past due child care or parking tickets, names purged from voting rolls, last minute changes to polling places, refusals to hand our provisional ballots, violations of court orders prohibiting the use of GOP generated lists to deny the vote to legitimate residents, the banning of election monitors, the lockdown of some precincts while the vote was being counted, ballots being transported in unsealed containers by GOP part officials to where they were to be counted, etc. etc. etc. We took numerous affidavits of people regarding these and other abuses, argued with election official (sometimes successful, sometimes not) to stop unlawful practices such as requiring photo id for Spanish speaking and/or Hispanic looking voters, and documenting as well as we could the "atrocities."What makes anyone think Rove and his organized crime syndicate won't steal the next election as well... and the one after that?
Convention of the Willing
The recent YearlyKos bloggers' convention in Las Vegas was universally judged a big success by participants --- who were not all bloggers. This post by Christy at Firedoglake, quoting from the great Digby, offers an encouraging summary.
Peak Oil Update
At Energy Bulletin, Jeffrey Brown looks over the depletion picture and concludes that the world's supply of conventional oil is very close to peak production.
Dr. Kenneth Deffeyes, a former associate of Dr. Hubbert's, recently published a simplified method of predicting the total amount of oil that can be produced from a region. This method is commonly called "Hubbert Linearization," or HL. HL uses two known factors -- annual production and cumulative production to date -- to estimate the total recoverable reserves.Brown's article is concise and to the point. Show it to your doubting friends. This problem is very real, and the largest petroleum user of all, the United States, will feel the pinch very strongly. Unfortunately, our country is presently in a kind of Disneyland denial phase. Next comes anger, then bargaining, sadness, and finally acceptance. How long will it take for the U.S. to cycle through the phases and finally start taking action to conserve energy?
Karen Hughes Helps U.S. Image?
If anyone still thinks there are limits to U.S. arrogance and ugliness spewing from top members of the Bush administration, think again.
By Jane SuttonAnd... Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry identified the two Saudis as Manei al-Otaibi and Yasser al-Zahrani but gave no further details. Pentagon documents show Zahrani was 21, meaning he was sent to Guantanamo as a teenager.A young person faces indefinite detention with torture, and chooses death instead. Who among us can say for certain we would not have done the same at his age? Colleen Graffy, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy, told the BBC World Service the suicides were a "good PR move to draw attention."Graffy's statement is an international disgrace. Both she and Hughes should resign or be fired, effective immediately. >>> older articles <<<
Cached Jul 18, 2006, 12:44 am
|
Reuters News China to invest $175 bln in environment clean-up Indonesia tsunami toll 105 World donors to pledge funds, press Sudan, on Darfur Novelist Mickey Spillane dies at 88 Cheney wants security to top election agenda Court sentences ex-doctor on steroid charge San Diego home prices dip as condo fever cools Senate to consider $11.7 bln waterways bill Rice intends to visit Middle East N. America avoids blackouts amid record power use Strip club assault charge dropped against Eminem US immigration law unlikely soon, Bush tells Fox Mexico crisis deepens with civil resistance plan Space shuttle lands in Florida Repair of post-Katrina wetlands may hinge on oil Tsunami on Indonesia's Java coast kills over 100 Senate to vote on three stem cell bills Senate takes up stem cell bill; Bush vows veto Unplugged, Bush speaks frankly on Mideast Tsunami death toll hits 104 in Java Sweltering Midwest has record power demand Shuttle risks persist, even with perfect landing Suspected Sri Lanka rebel ambushes kill 2 U.S-led forces under heavy fire in Afghan south Pregnancy centers mislead girls, says congressman Bayh calls for renewed focus on middle class House speaker Hastert released from hospital Castro sends Mandela 88th birthday cigars Court halts pay of Canada lumber duty to US firms Chile reopens emblematic rights case vs Pinochet US sees widespread record power use amid heat wave Maoists storm Indian government camp, kill 25 Bush, Putin concerned Iran has not responded Diabetes treatments may help Alzheimers: meeting Coalition soldier killed, 11 wounded in Afghan clash NYC's biggest union, mayor announce new contract Nigeria, Clinton Foundation in deal to fight AIDS Small US farmers find common cause with Africans Saudi blames Hizbollah, Hamas for Israel attacks Shuttle lands in Florida after 13-day mission Foreigners flee Lebanon by land and sea Canadian terror suspects face long road to trial US defends rights record to United Nations panel Tsunami hits Indonesia's Java, death toll nears 40 US sending ships for Lebanon evacuation duty Immigrant labor dilemma hits California beach town G8 hits N.Korea tests, backs Russia atom fuel plan Indian police raid Muslim slums in bomb probe Shuttle Discovery touches down in Florida Gunmen kill over 50 in raid on town near Baghdad Dutch court rejects ban of pedophile party Floods ravage south China, kill at least 170 Israel denies manned aircraft downed in Lebanon Official New York sport: Gripe, gripe, gripe Fasten seatbelts! RV owners don blindfolds at rally Shuttle Discovery cleared for Florida landing Suicide bomber hits Afghan govt compound, 3 dead UK officers won't face charges over metro shooting Sudan, EU set for clash over UN troops for Darfur Mideast crisis drives Bush to colorful language Attack in town near Baghdad kills dozens: police UK prosecutors to reveal mistaken shooting decision Trade Rep to Geneva to seek Doha breakthrough Israeli police say caught Palestinian bomber Blast at Afghan government office kills two Attack on Iraq market kills about 40: police Taiwan's Chen seeks party support Bush and Lula urge renewed push for Doha No breakthrough in India bomb probe, police say US-led forces say kill al Qaeda fighters in Afghan Airline battle moves from coach to business class Indian Maoists kill 10 in raid Kenya sinks deeper in corruption China military official visits US Two Canadian Mounties die from gunshot wounds Taliban will be broken by year-end: Afghan minister Evacuations underway as foreigners flee Lebanon Israel jets blast Lebanon Serbia seeks to convince EU it is hunting Mladic Mexico leftist to launch civil resistance Homeland Security urges heightened vigilance Canadian deaths provide grim postscript to G8 statement Space shuttle cleared for Monday return Saddam on 9th day of hunger strike: US military Americans evacuated from Lebanon Arkansas Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller dies at 57 Israel pursues Gaza assault, kills 6 Palestinians Protesters flood Mexican capital to back leftist Uganda demands Lord's Resistance rebels disarm Suicide bomber kills 21, Iraqi oil official seized Eight Canadians killed in Lebanon: Ottawa Sudan should accept Muslim peacekeepers: Clinton Giuliani a wild card in 2008 White House race Greens slam G8 over climate change Huge protest in Mexico backs leftist Police detain 30 at Belarus protest G8 calls on Hizbollah to end attacks G8 calls for "extremists" to end Mideast violence Firefighters progress against California blazes |
So much for enlightenment and the spread of knowledge. It looks like a lot of people just want to bury their heads in the religious sand.
Oy vey!