Infant death rate is on the rise -- in the United States of America

This is just wrong. But, it is happening in the United States of America in the 21st century. What a legacy:

To the shock of Mississippi officials, who in 2004 had seen the infant mortality rate — defined as deaths by the age of 1 year per thousand live births — fall to 9.7, the rate jumped sharply in 2005, to 11.4. The national average in 2003, the last year for which data have been compiled, was 6.9. Smaller rises also occurred in 2005 in Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee. Louisiana and South Carolina saw rises in 2004 and have not yet reported on 2005.

Whether the rises continue or not, federal officials say, rates have stagnated in the Deep South at levels well above the national average.

Most striking, here and throughout the country, is the large racial disparity. In Mississippi, infant deaths among blacks rose to 17 per thousand births in 2005 from 14.2 per thousand in 2004, while those among whites rose to 6.6 per thousand from 6.1. (The national average in 2003 was 5.7 for whites and 14.0 for blacks.)

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Iraqi PM tells US military to stop building Berlin-style wall in Baghdad

SNAFU. Read More......

Dems announce legislation to fix loophole that led VA Tech killer to get guns/ammo

Good. Read More......

It's Sego versus Sarko in two weeks

The results are in for today's vote. Sarkozy takes 30% and Segolene Royal with 25.2%, Bayrou at 18.3% and Le Pen at 11.5%. Read More......

France election update

For those who are interested in keeping up to date with the latest news, check out "Chirac TV" or The Fix for updates. France24.com has streaming video but no solid news quite yet. One interesting bit of information is that the current vote count stands at 84.5%, well above the last election and definitely well above US counts. Here in Montparnasse, I witnessed steady traffic, but no long lines as I've seen in so many photos.

By law, the results are not allowed to be provided until about 8PM Paris time, reminding me again that this is a country that loves procedures. Read More......

Newt Gingrich says students at Virginia Tech should have been packing heat, then says they shouldn't have

In his best John McCain imitation, disgraced former House Speaker, FOX News analyst and potential GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich went on ABC's This Week morning to talk about the Virginia Tech massacre. Gingrich, like many far-right conservatives, suggested that the solution to massacres like Virginia Tech is to have all the students and their teachers packing heat.

Apparently having 30 (or 300, depending on the lecture) hormone-drenched kids, with next to no experience aiming a gun, firing weapons at each other simultaneously, and during a high-stakes emotional crises, in class is a good thing. Then again, watch the clip below and you'll see how Gingrich first says that the fact that VA Tech is a "gun-free zone" led to the mass death because students and teachers couldn't take each other out with their concealed weapons. But then, oddly, and very McCain like, at the end of the clip note how Gingrich does a 180 and says it would be okay for schools to make themselves gun-free zones. Uh, so the problem is that schools are gun-free zones and Gingrich's solution is to pass laws letting schools be gun-free zones.

Methinks someone is still trying to convince the soccer moms that he's not the far-right extremist he really is. But to so blatantly contradict himself in the same sentence - perhaps I should be comparing Gingrich not to McCain but to Mitt "I was for gays, gun control, abortion, and the environment before I was against them" Romney.

Click To Play

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The American people are way ahead of the politicians on Iraq

The American people know that Bush's war in Iraq is a disaster. The punditry may fall for the Bush spin, but it's not working on most people. What Harry Reid said this week is what a lot of people are thinking. Congress is finally catching up with the American people on Iraq, Bush never will:

A fight between the U.S. Congress and President George W. Bush over the Iraq war is set to come to a head this week when Democrats are expected to send him $100 billion to pay for continuing combat while setting timetables for withdrawing troops.

Bush has promised to veto any bill setting dates for removing U.S. combat soldiers from the Iraq war, now in its fifth year.

But when a Democratic-controlled panel of Senate and House of Representatives members meets on Monday to iron out differences between their respective bills, the product is expected to contain 2008 withdrawal dates.

Many lawmakers have been speculating those dates might be nonbinding, as sketched out by a Senate-passed bill.

"The longer we continue down the president's path, the further we will be from responsibly ending this war," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who on Thursday said the war in Iraq was "lost."

On CNN this morning, Bill Schneider showed us this stat from their latest poll. The American people have had it:
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Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

An eclectic crowd of topics on the shows: Some Presidential candidates, some U.S. Attorneys scandal, some Bush defenders -- and a lot about the Virginia Tech massacre. Jim and Sarah Brady are on "Face the Nation." I worked with them for seven years. Jim is the greatest guy. We traveled the country together -- Jim, his nurse Mary and me. It was truly an honor and never ever a dull moment. He's very funny and smart. Very funny. Just hope that Sarah is actually briefed and prepared for this interview -- and that she'll let Jim speak.

Since Russert has Secretary Spellings on the show, he really should ask her about the criminal referrals made by her Department's Inspector General about Bush's beloved "Reading First" program. He should, but he probably won't. If Tim gets too tough, he might lose his coveted White House access.

Is Gonzales still the Attorney General? Here's the line up:

ABC's "This Week" _ Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and his wife, Jackie Marie Clegg.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" _ Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; Jim and Sarah Brady of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence; former FBI profiler Gregg McCrary.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" _ Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt; Education Secretary Margaret Spellings; Col. Gerald Massengill, former Virginia State Police superintendent; former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

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CNN's "Late Edition" _ Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell; New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman; Lanny Davis, former special counsel to President Clinton; David Rivkin, former counsel to President George H.W. Bush.

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"Fox News Sunday" _ Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling; Stephen Trachtenberg, George Washington University president; Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

Start threading the news and the news shows. Read More......

FDA springs, sort of, kind of, into action on tainted pet food

Wow, months late and they now have a theory that maybe, just maybe, the companies who were selling the tainted wheat gluten and rice protein were trying to spike the products to show higher levels of protein. Gosh, ya think? Maybe after a few thousand more pets die the Republican-ruined FDA might even start to get serious about doing their job. Well, at least the food importers are getting a cheap deal and business is moving...isn't that what their mission is at the FDA?

Imported ingredients used in recalled pet food may have been intentionally spiked with an industrial chemical to boost their apparent protein content, federal officials said Thursday.

That’s one theory being pursued by the Food and Drug Administration as it investigates how the chemical, melamine, contaminated at least two ingredients used to make more than 100 brands of dog and cat foods.

What will those enterprising folks at the FDA come up with next? Read More......

Voting in France underway

What seemed like an exciting year of change has turned into a major disappointment, with the leading candidates exciting few, leaving large blocks off undecided voters who could swing the vote. The good news is that Le Pen appears to be locked solidly in fourth place but the top three - Bayrou, Royal and Sarkozy - are battling it out to make it into the second round where the top two candidates will then battle each other in two weeks to see who will be the next president of France.

I appreciated Sarkozy's push for a quota system because the racism in France is painfully obvious to anyone who cares to open their eyes but his steady diet of playing the fear card and calling certain people "scum" is disturbing. After the last seven years of Bush, I've had it with fear and find it difficult to respect anyone who runs (or rules) with it.

Segolene Royal, the Socialist candidate, gives hope to empty suits around the world that they too can rise to the top of a political party. Her ideas to have everyone fly the flag and sing the national anthem are as bizarre as her brilliant plan for growth which calls for giving 10,000 euro to any young adult who wants it. Yes, France's debt is not quite high enough, so let's just throw cash around instead of focusing on specific ideas which can create jobs.

The third main candidate is Francois Bayrou, who sells himself as the candidate of the middle. Traditionally a center-right politician, Bayrou has received great attention because he's not Sego and he's not Sarko. He likes to make it clear that he's very religious and owns a farm. Despite claims of France not being interested in personal sex lives of politicians (which to a degree is true but not as much as they like to think) his campaign posters proudly display his wedding ring, hinting at his own long-term marriage as opposed to the other candidates who would fit in nicely with the current GOP presidential crowd.

Fortunately Le Pen, the leader of the extreme right, seems destined to fourth place. The top three have all made every effort possible to chip away at his base. To some degree Le Pen has been a success, since their outreach programs have moved everyone to the right.

With unemployment sitting just under 9% and the youth suffering from massive unemployment and short term job contract after short term job contract, something needs to change. France is a country that hates change more than most countries so whoever wins is still going to struggle implementing change. Read More......