While I don't think opposition to the Mosque is quite as strong as a rather badly worded poll suggests, and I highly doubt there's any intensity to the issue except among the people who wouldn't vote for a Democrat ever, it is good to see Obama take a stand on an issue without much obvious political upside because it's the right thing to do.
"General Petraeus is a smart man and he attracts smart people and I know that since he's been given this onerous duty, he's been looking at at least tactical and operational shifts," said Patrick Cronin, a South Asian expert at the Center for a New American Security and one of the contributors to the report. "But what he isn't addressing is the need for a new political strategy."
Cronin said Petraeus's target audience "shouldn't buy into this military incrementalism. 'Six months more' is not a strategy."
WASHINGTON — Federal drug regulators on Friday approved a new form of emergency contraceptive pill that prevents pregnancies if taken as many as five days after unprotected intercourse.
The pill, called ella, will be available by prescription only. Developed in government laboratories, it is more effective than Plan B, the morning-after pill now available over the counter to women 17 and older.
I think more important than the absurdity of believing strongly in any long term projections is the absurdity of thinking that some long term budget roadmap is going to be passed and then everyone declares victory and goes home for 70 years. We have an obvious example in recent history, when during the Clinton era we got rid of the deficit and then Alan Greenspan said that surpluses were dangerous and Bush passed massive deficit increasing tax cuts.
...adding, I forgot to mention earlier that I heard part of a piece on NPR about the economy, and the basic gist was the consumers just need to be more confident that we aren't entering a double dip and all will be well. There seems to be little understanding that people aren't spending money because they, you know, don't have any, and not because of unwarranted existential angst about the future.
It's true that some of us have a rather negative reaction to Jeffrey Goldberg, The Worst Person In The World, but there is good reason for that reaction, and it isn't simply about past sins. Journalists demand we Respect Their Authoritah, but then give us little reason to do so.
People were chatting about this on comments yesterday. Tt's not clear that the Prop H8ers have any standing to appeal.
Although he allowed the coalition of religious and conservative groups that sponsored the measure to defend the lawsuit during the 13-day trial over which he presided, the judge said appellate courts have different rules for deciding when a party is eligible to challenge a lower court.
Based on his interpretation of those rules, it appears the ban's sponsors can only appeal his decision with the backing of either Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger or Attorney General Jerry Brown, Walker said. But that seems unlikely as both officials refused to defend Proposition 8 in Walker's court and said last week they see no reason why gay couples should not be able to tie the knot now.
Walker also turned aside arguments that marriages performed now could be thrown into legal chaos if Proposition 8 is later upheld by an appeals court. He pointed to the 18,000 same-sex couples who married legally in the five months that gay marriage was legal in California as proof.
It occurs to me that the headline unemployment rate is likely to increase every month until the election, or at least for the next couple of reports as this past one was only flat because so many people dropped out of the labor force.
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