Open Thread

According to Bruce, "This is a song about things that shouldn't happen here happening here." For example, torture. We know that Bush and the Republicans support torture. But, Democrats -- Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein -- decided to let that happen here. That's despicable. We're living in the future and it's all happened here.



Thanks again, Taylor Marsh, for capturing this video. Read the rest of this post...

Condi's going to Court

The Secretary of State -- and a bunch of other Bushies -- have been subpoenaed. Lying is so ingrained in the psyche of the Bush team, will they get that whole thing about telling the truth because they're under oath?:

A federal judge today ordered Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and more than 10 other prominent current and former government officials to testify at the criminal trial of two pro-Israel lobbyists accused of violating the Espionage Act.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III in Alexandria directs that subpoenas be issued to officials including Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley, former high-level Department of Defense officials Paul D. Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith and Richard L. Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state.

They were directed to testify on behalf of Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, who are scheduled to go on trial Jan. 14 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

What are the chances any of that crowd actually testify? This case could get very interesting. Very. Read the rest of this post...

Myanmar now recruiting 10 year old kids

Bringing a whole new angle to child labor.

Myanmar's military government, already under criticism for abuses, is recruiting children as young as 10 into its armed forces, a U.S. rights group charged in a report released Wednesday.

Government recruiters target children because of "continued army expansion, high desertion rates and a lack of willing volunteers," the 135-page report by New York-based Human Rights Watch said.

"Military recruiters and civilian brokers receive cash payments and other incentives for each new recruit, even if the recruit clearly violates minimum age or health standards," it said.

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Thank you, AMERICAblog from Donna Edwards

Hi Everyone. Thank you, AMERICAblog for your tremendous support throughout the campaign and especially over the last 72 hours -- you are unbelievable. We're going to take back Congress and the 4th CD in Maryland with your help.

Note from Joe: We're very excited to have Donna Edwards join us this afternoon. I've had the good fortune of knowing and working with Donna for over ten years. She is a true progressive and will be a better Democrat. Donna will take some time to answer questions in the comments this afternoon. But to give you a sense of the powerful advocate that is Donna Edwards, check out the video below from a debate during last year's campaign. You'll see why Donna Edwards is going to be a great -- and truly progressive -- member of Congress. And, don't forget to contribute to Donna's campaign. Every contribution matters.

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Pakistan's dictator imposes emergency rule, fires Chief Justice

The situation in Pakistan is a mess. And, it's getting worse:

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule on Saturday, deploying troops and sacking a top judge in a bid to reassert his flagging authority against political rivals and Islamist militants.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan's internal security has deteriorated sharply in recent months with a wave of suicide attacks by al Qaeda-inspired militants, including one that killed 139 people.

State-run Pakistan Television said Musharraf had suspended the constitution and declared an emergency, ending weeks of speculation that the general who seized power in a 1999 coup might impose emergency rule or martial law.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on a visit to Turkey, criticized the measures as "highly regrettable" and said she hoped Pakistan would have a free and fair election in January as promised.

Oh, that Condi. Ever the optimist. Read the rest of this post...

Reporting in from the blogging conference in Spain

I´m at the second annual liberal bloggers conference in Spain, and the most surprising thing has been how mcuh they´re like us. Lots of questions about what to do when politicians and journalists don´t take bloggers seriously. I was like, uh, yeah, been there done that :-) I gave my presentation last night, alongside the persident of the province (basically, their version of the governor, I think). I gave them an overview of the American political blogosphere, then focused on a few activism case studies, including Jeff Gannon (that they got a total howl out of), Wesley Clark´s phone records, and the recent Obama brouhaha. My talk was in Spanish, which was a bit comical since I haven´t spoken Spanish in 8 years, and kept throwing French and Italian words in the mix, but I found that if you play the ham, the audience eats it up, so all went well.

An interesting aside. The Spanish are currently debating a new law that would outlaw the display of fascist symbols (i.e., symbols representing the military dictatorship that governed Spain until the mid 70s). Interestingly, the Catholic Church has asked for an exemption because, apparently, it´s very important to the Catholic faith, and the pursuit of Godliness, that the church continue to honor the military government that killed so many Spaniards. Whether it´s coddling pedophiles at home, or coddling dictatorial murderers abroad, the Catholic church always seems to find the perfect niche for itself, doesn´t it. And spare me the emails about how mean I am to the church. I´m a Christian too - and the Bible says nothing about coddling pedophiles or dictators. The Catholic Church, that loves to so often meddle in the affairs of others, needs to take the log cabin out of its eye first. Read the rest of this post...

Giuliani pretending he´s a conservative, again

Oh geez, now Giuliani is playing the old "socialized medicine" game - alleging that any effort to reform our dismal health insurance morass is a step towards Godless communism. Giuliani ought to know better. No, Giuliani does know better. But he also knows that there is no way to win the Republican nomination unless he acts like a neanderthal, because unfortunately that´s who runs the Republican party nowadays, modern-day neanderthals who don´t believe in facts, don´t believe in science. It´s just sad to see gay-loving, abortion-loving Giuliani continue to pretend he´s something he´s not. And even sadder to see how much the Republicans are embracing candidates who are total liars. Read the rest of this post...

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Check out the poem of the week, Dulce et Decorum Est, by Wilfred Owen. "Blunt." "Real." "Brutal." Those are the words used to describe Owen's depiction in poetry of World War I. It's relevant today.

Any news? Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Finally saw the movie "Into the Wild" and really liked it. I read the book a couple years ago. The author, Jon Krakauer, sure knows how to tell a story.

What's going on? Read the rest of this post...