Daily Dose
"...quoting a senior defense department official speaking on condition of anonymity..."
Showing posts with label Daily Dose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daily Dose. Show all posts
2/09/2007
1/19/2007
8/15/2006
8/10/2006
5/26/2006
5/22/2006
The Daily Dose And Mid-Day Blog Review
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Have you signed up for Blogs Against Torture yet?
Mithras, it seems, is getting my emails in the old inbox.
Maybe Alberto Gonzales thinks we're blind, but you can't get this past Donkephant.
Anything They Say has some more news on electronic voting.
Seems Murtha was right with regards to troop drawdowns being forthcoming. But now Susie Madrak is confused. Something...um...something, about...er..."cutting and running" I think it's called? Given Alberto Gonzales' mention upstream, maybe I'll just call it "that thing we don't talk about" and leave it at that.
Republicans lost the records of 25 million veterans. Not to worry, though as some of the records are still salvageable. By whom you ask? Click through...
Stop me if you've heard the one about Michelle Malkin and ping-pong balls.
That's all I've got around town right now. What about you?
5/17/2006
Evening Round-Up And Daily Dose
I had no internet all day so I'm late getting my fill.
Judge rules against AT&T; with regards to airing trade secrets and/or confidential information.
Bill O'Reilly is drinking the crazy, white Christian juice again.
Wanna know what's in your FBI file? This guy can help.
Terrorism instills fear. So let's talk a whole lot about how to live with fear.
Wanna see what your taxes pay for? (Extremely graphic - I've seen a lot of nasty stuff and this is hard for me to even look at.)
How about some cheetos for those chickenhawks?
The Abramoff visitor log mystery has been solved.
Another tip, another search for Jimmy Hoffa.
One solution to the immigration problem? Build a 370 mile, triple layered fence.
The NRA doesn't want gun owners guns to be confiscated during natural disasters or terrorism episodes. Cuz, you know, someone might kill someone.
New Jersey residents say NO! to pumping their own gas. Getting out of your car is such hard work and since the chance of being robbed while pumping your own gas is probably the same as your chance of getting robbed while sitting in your car and having someone else fill it, why not let the underpaid gas station attendant stand out like a sore thumb while you pay a few cents more for him to take the higher risk? Besides, what kind of Democrat is running that state who wants to actually save you money?
Rumsfeld tells us that perhaps suspected terrorists or insurgents should receive tougher and/or different interrogation methods than regular prisoners of war. Interesting, I thought since they were terrorists/insurgents, they weren't POW's to begin with and that the Geneva Conventions didn't apply to them. Furthermore:
The debate hinges on whether suspected terrorists or other insurgents can be treated more severely than captured members of an enemy army. There are concerns such a distinction could fly in the face of a law enacted last year, pressed by Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., that explicitly banned cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners by U.S. troops.
Um...didn't Bush issue a signing statement saying he didn't have to abide by that law? Oh yeah, Bush issued signing statements for over 700 laws that he feels he doesn't necessarily have to abide by.
And now, The Daily Dose.
5/15/2006
Morning Blog Review
Coming back from a long, yet relatively quiet weekend. I'll be covering some posts past and present. But first, let's start off with some laughs.
The Daily Dose
Crooks and Liars, which featured me on their blog round up a few days ago, has a few posts of interest.
In case you missed it, Al Gore was on SNL this weekend and it was great. They've got some video there.
The folks at C&L; have also put up some interesting blogger demographics with regards to blog advertisers. Interesting results....ladies...
Atrios has some more on those "polls" that break with the first poll coming out that said that by a 2:1 margin, Americans overwhelmingly supported the NSA collections of their phone records.
The US is trying to get a hold of European people's communications.
US authorities can get access to EU citizens' data on phone calls, sms' and emails, giving a recent EU data-retention law much wider-reaching consequences than first expected, reports Swedish daily Sydsvenskan.
The EU data retention bill, passed in February after much controversy and with implementation tabled for late 2007, obliges telephone operators and internet service providers to store information on who called who and who emailed who for at least six months, aimed at fighting terrorism and organised crime.
A week later on 2-3 March, EU and US representatives met in Vienna for an informal high level meeting on freedom, security and justice where the US expressed interest in the future storage of information.
The US delegation to the meeting "indicated that it was considering approaching each [EU] member state to ensure that the data collected on the basis of the recently adopted Directive on data retention be accessible to them," according to the notes of the meeting.
Do you know how Mother's Day actually came to be? Neither did I but it seems to involve this: (Tip to brendan)
In the United States, Mother's Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it "Mother's Work Day."
Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.
...
At first, people observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and eventually, by sending cards, presents, and flowers. With the increasing gift-giving activity associated with Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis became enraged. She believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. In 1923 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's Day festival, and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a convention selling carnations for a war mother's group. Before her death in 1948, Jarvis is said to have confessed that she regretted ever starting the mother's day tradition.
Arlen Spected feels ‘There Has Been No Meaningful Congressional Oversight’ in the NSA domestic spying story.
Markos Moulitsas is coming to Philly to Crash The Gate, so to speak.
Philadelphia, PA
Wednesday, May 17th, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Drinker's Tavern
124 Market Street
Philadephia, PA
Speculation about Rove's upcoming indictment can be found at Truth Out.
All Spin Zone has a picture of Bush scaring the hell out of one of our troops.
What else do we have today...hmm...well, alligators have been attacking and killing people down in Florida recently.
Hillary Clinton sticks her foot in her daughter's mouth.
There's a dead whale on a Delaware beach.
And tradgedy struck an 18-month old baby girl when she had her hand cut off on a chocolate factory tour.
5/12/2006
5/09/2006
Morning Notes W/ The Daily Dose
Who will win the title of least-loved President, Bush or Nixon? (Hint - it's pretty damn close.)
Republicans raise the debt ceiling again. This time, to nearly $10 trillion.
MSNBC's David Shuster: "I am convinced that Karl Rove will, in fact, be indicted."
With all the uproar over a Spanish version of the national anthem, you'd think some politicians pushing for legislation for the tune to be sung only in English would at least know the words to it.
Radical right wing Christian ninjas are on the loose. The latest one captured set an adult bookstore on fire, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Firedoglake is now taking bets on the Plame case. Categories include Date, Official(s) indicted, and Charges levied. Oh yeah, there's fabulous prizes too.
In a surprise turnaround, Zacarias Moussaoui now believes he can get a fair trial after being sentenced to life in prison instead of death. Unfortunetly, when he petitioned the judge to change his plea, the judge informed him it was too late.
And here's The Daily Dose.
5/03/2006
5/01/2006
Weekend Roundup
Coming out of this past weekend, there were a number of stories I wanted to highlight in case you missed them.
The first was the episode with Steve Colbert of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report doing a "bit" at the White House Correspondents Dinner Colbert took repeated jabs at not only this administration, but also at the media. Here are some of Colbert's enbtire speech...
...Wow. Wow, what an honor. The White House correspondents' dinner. To actually sit here, at the same table with my hero, George W. Bush, to be this close to the man. I feel like I'm dreaming. Somebody pinch me. You know what? I'm a pretty sound sleeper -- that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face. Is he really not here tonight? Dammit. The one guy who could have helped...
...
In fact, Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong, welcome. Your great country makes our Happy Meals possible. I said it's a celebration. I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq.
...
Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known liberal bias.
So, Mr. President, please, pay no attention to the people that say the glass is half full. 32% means the glass -- it's important to set up your jokes properly, sir. Sir, pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half empty, because 32% means it's 2/3 empty. There's still some liquid in that glass is my point, but I wouldn't drink it. The last third is usually backwash. Okay, look, folks, my point is that I don't believe this is a low point in this presidency. I believe it is just a lull before a comeback.
I mean, it's like the movie "Rocky." All right. The president in this case is Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed is -- everything else in the world. It's the tenth round. He's bloodied. His corner man, Mick, who in this case I guess would be the vice president, he's yelling, "Cut me, Dick, cut me!," and every time he falls everyone says, "Stay down! Stay down!" Does he stay down? No. Like Rocky, he gets back up, and in the end he -- actually, he loses in the first movie.
...
But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works: the president makes decisions. He's the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put 'em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know - fiction!
Because really, what incentive do these people have to answer your questions, after all? I mean, nothing satisfies you. Everybody asks for personnel changes. So the White House has personnel changes. Then you write, "Oh, they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg!
Of course, not surprinsingly, there's been a little bit of a media blackout on the whole story. Maybe because the media and the administration got stupendously served by Colbert, or maybe because Steve Colbert simply, underneath what we all thought was great, didn't really "shit in the punch bowl".
Late breaking - Steve Colbert Arrested
Comedian Steve Colbert was taken into custody early this morning by Department of Homeland security officials. Colbert will be charged with leaking sensitive government information according to a Homeland security spokesperson. Colbert was apparently at the annual White House correspondents dinner when he disclosed information sensitive to the security of the country according to officials. A quick search of the Internet revealed that references to Colbert's appearance last night appear to have been quickly and effectively expunged from all mainstream media outlets, perhaps a sign of the Bush administration's pledge to deal quickly and effectively with leaks.
White House spokesperson Tony Snow stated that the president became angered over Colbert's callous disrespect and displays of "truthiness" at the expense of state secrets. Colbert spoke to the assembled group of dignitaries and White House press correspondents as the "featured entertainment" at the annual dinner.
Moving right along, the Boston Globe reported over the weekend about how Bush has been quietly issuing signing statements effetively asserting his right to violate the provisions and guidelines of any laws that are passed through Congress.
President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.
Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.
Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush's assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ''to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ''execute" a law he believes is unconstitutional.
More on this topic and a breakdown of exactly what this means for Americans and democracy over at Glenn Greenwald's place.
George Bush asserts he's for immigration reform, yet takes a harsh stance on the pledge of allegiance, or rather, a new spanish version:
"The national anthem ought to be sung in English. And I think people who want to be citizens of this country ought to learn it in English. They ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English."
I can't find the link but it was reported on the Today Show this morning that for a long time, there's already been a Spanish version of the Pledge of Allegiance on a US government website. I tried searching Whitehouse.gov but couldn't find it. But furthermore, as my mother pointed out over the weekend, it's pretty ballsy as the President to publicly state that you feel that immigrants should learn English as well as recite the Pledge of Allegiance in English because...well...because it's a good strategery. Coming from a President who himself is almost troubled by the English language on a daily basis, I find it quite hypocritical for him to make such a statement. In fact, take a spin over to The Ostroy Report for a brief summary of some of Bush's misquotamatations and and misunderestimatations himself of how the Engrish language ought to be practiced.
"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children."
"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."
"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'."
It's also being reported that Josh Bolton may be considering doing away with televised Press Briefings
Chris Wallace asked if Bolton planned to do away with televised press briefings which is another signal that the administration wants to manipulate and silence the press. Chris uses the old " some people say" routine which really means right wingers who are angry that the press has the nerve to actually demand answers.
Wallace: Some people suggest that a way to improve relations with the press, would be to end the televising of the press briefings and all the posturing by members of the WH press corp...
Bolton: It's worth considering. I think that will be Tony Snow's first test to see what kind of power player he really is...My guess is in the short run it would hurt them. The judgement would be as we do in all things is look at the long run and see whether it's helpful in the long run...
There's some links to the video as well over that at the C&L; folks site.
Rush Limbaugh finally got arrested for 'doctor-shopping' to get his must-have Oxycontin's. This stemmed from this little fiasco back in 2003:
...In November of 2003, investigators raided four Florida doctor offices after Limbaugh's former maid claimed that she and her husband sold the conservative pundit drugs. Limbaugh was accused of "doctor shopping" in order to obtain an "inordinate abundance of painkillers," which included "OxyContin, Lorcet, Norco, Hydrocodone and Kadian, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, the cholesterol-lowering drug Niacin, and Clonodine, which treats high blood pressure" according to documents obtained by The Smoking Gun.
And don't act like you didn't see this coming...
...The conservative radio commentator came into the jail at about 4 p.m. with his attorney Roy Black and bonded out an hour later on a $3,000 bail," said a spokesman for the State Attorney's office, according to the Palm Beach Post.
According to attorney Roy Black, a single charge of doctor shopping will be filed in court by the state attorney, and as long as Limbaugh "completes an additional 18 months of treatment" by his physician, and pays $30,000 "to the State of Florida to defray the public cost of the investigation," the charge will then be dropped.
Don't forget there's still a GOP sex scandal that needs to break out in the media. More information on that is available here.
Let me take the moment to include The Daily Dose.
And lastly, a cartoon that highlights a bigger problem. Notice the three person family in the corner of the flag. Newsweek recently reported about a new Flash-based game called "Border Patrol" that's been appearing up on websites that's (no surprise) becoming highly popular with white supremacists. The mission?
...object is to kill as many illegal immigrants as possible...encourages players to kill targets such as a "Mexican nationalist," "drug smuggler" and "breeder" (a pregnant woman with two small children) "at any cost." When a target is killed, blood splatters on the screen.
If there's any debate on the message of this game, I just founded it hosted (which I won't actually link) at http://www.resist.com/racistgames/playborderpatrol/borderpatrol.htm - "White Aryan Resistance - Racists Games" is the title on the tab the game is currently on.
So this cartoon below honors the struggles for immigrants in escaping their country, entering ours, and combatting racism and fear from some nutty-ass Americans.
And in ending, a reminder that Mother's Day is on May 14, 2006. Don't forget the mothers that brought both you into the world as well as the mothers who brought your children into the world. Get them something nice, remind them how much they mean to you, and let them also know that you appreciate the tough sacrifices that they often have to make for their families.
Here's my special woman and her special little guy. He's a happy little guy.
4/24/2006
4/08/2006
3/28/2006
3/23/2006
3/20/2006
3/17/2006
The Daily Dose
It's been such a long time since I've actually browsed the editorial cartoons that I took the time to do so today. I saw a couple good ones that I really liked and then I thought about how many I've missed since the last time I ran them.
So here's the ones I liked tonight. Hope you do too.
2/22/2006
2/07/2006
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