6 US soldiers die near Baghdad as John McCain goes shopping

Too bad those now-dead six American service members didn't have 100 troops, 3 Blackhawk helicopters, and 2 Apache gunships backing THEM up. Read the rest of this post...

McCain takes 'safe' stroll in Baghdad market... wearing body armor, flanked by 100 American soldiers, 3 Blackhawk helicopters, and 2 Apache gunships.

Yeah, just like Detroit. More from ThinkProgress. Read the rest of this post...

"No hoods. No electric shocks. No beatings. These Iranians clearly are a very uncivilised bunch"

Terry Jones of Monty Python fame weighs in on the horribly uncivilized treatment of the UK Marines in the custody of the Iranians. A snippet:

I share the outrage expressed in the British press over the treatment of our naval personnel accused by Iran of illegally entering their waters. It is a disgrace. We would never dream of treating captives like this - allowing them to smoke cigarettes, for example, even though it has been proven that smoking kills. And as for compelling poor servicewoman Faye Turney to wear a black headscarf, and then allowing the picture to be posted around the world - have the Iranians no concept of civilised behaviour? For God's sake, what's wrong with putting a bag over her head? That's what we do with the Muslims we capture: we put bags over their heads, so it's hard to breathe. Then it's perfectly acceptable to take photographs of them and circulate them to the press because the captives can't be recognised and humiliated in the way these unfortunate British service people are.

(Hat tip: C&L;) Read the rest of this post...

April Fool's memories

I ticked a lot of people off by publishing this press release on April 1, 2000, during the height of our (successful) campaign to take Dr. Laura Schlessinger off TV. You wouldn't believe how many people thought this was for real.

NEWS from StopDrLaura.com
April 1, 2000

STOPDRLAURA.COM TO LAUNCH IPO
Stock Offering to Raise $100m to Fight Paramount, Dr. Laura

WASHINGTON, DC - Capitalizing on its incredible success to date, the StopDrLaura.com Web site announced today that it will issue $100 million in stock to finance its ongoing battle against Paramount Television and the Dr. Laura TV show. The unprecedented homosexual initial public offering (HIPO) is to be the first of its kind in Wall Street history.

"With 15 million hits in only four weeks, we knew we had to act fast," said John Aravosis, spokesman for StopDrLaura.com, and the new Chairman of the Board of StopDrLaura.com Industries. "The initial public offering will allow StopDrLaura.com to hire 100 new staff, hold daily protests outside Paramount, and frankly get filthy rich."

The StopDrLaura.com Web site and coalition was launched on March 1, 2000 to galvanize opposition to Paramount Television's announced intent to produce the Dr. Laura Schlessinger television show this fall. Schlessinger has referred to gays and lesbians as "biological errors," sexual deviants, and pedophiles. Since its inception, the Web site has had over 700,000 visitors, and has sent over 17,000 email protest messages to Paramount.

In spite of the sudden and quite public success of StopDrLaura.com, many analysts worry about the earnings potential of a company that doesn't really exist - StopDrLaura.com is nothing more than 8 friends working for free out of their homes. Aravosis dismissed such concerns.

"We're the 'Seinfeld' of Web sites," said Aravosis, referring to the hit NBC show that had no real substance.

"StopDrLaura.com is the natural next step in the e-commerce revolution," he says. "If Amazon.com can make the cover of 'Time' by never making a dime, imagine the success we can have by never even existing!"

After StopDrLaura.com goes public this summer, Aravosis says the coalition plans to branch out into Web sites targeting other questionable TV "doctors," including StopDrDrew.com and StopDrBombay.com.

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Joe is on his way back from the Magic Kingdom as I write. Will he bring back a photo with mouse ears and all? Read the rest of this post...

Republican Tommy Thompson to enter presidential race

So here's a question: Is there even one Republican presidential candidate who doesn't have a history of multiple marriages and/or adultery (or persistent rumors thereof)?

And just as good: Is there even one Democratic presidential candidate who DOES have a history of multiple marriages and/or adultery?

I think it's time to start asking the GOP candidates which of their marriages and/or mistresses are they defending? Read the rest of this post...

Bush says his Attorney General really will be honest

As a backdrop to all the Sunday show chatter about Alberto Gonzales, we all need to know that Bush is on his side. Bush even went out on a limb and implied that Gonzales would break with administration policy and tell the truth. Which was probably a lie anyway. Truth, honesty and credibility are fluid terms in the Bush administration:

Bush also said Gonzales, the nation's top law enforcement officer, was providing documents to Congress and would "tell the truth" when he testifies about the matter before the Senate Judiciary Committee in April.

"Attorney General Al Gonzales is an honorable and honest man and he has my full confidence," Bush said.

"I will remind you there is no credible evidence that there has been any wrongdoing," he added.

Because in Bush-world, lying isn't wrongdoing. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

It's almost all about the U.S. Attorneys scandal. Dan Bartlett is going to plead the Bush administration's case. He's such a toady. It could be fun to watch him just plain lie...because that's what Bush and his staff do. Here's the line up:

ABC's "This Week" _ Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; presidential counselor Dan Bartlett; former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson; Cal Ripken Jr., former Baltimore Orioles shortstop.

___

CBS' "Face the Nation" _ Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa.; Bartlett.

___

NBC's "Meet the Press" _ Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

___

CNN's "Late Edition" _ Sens. Kit Bond, R-Mo., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; the Rev. Al Sharpton, civil rights activist; Richard Haass, Council on Foreign Relations president.

___

"Fox News Sunday" _ Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Joe Biden, D-Del.; Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

I have no doubt there will be plenty of fodder for comments. Plenty. Read the rest of this post...

Universities outsourcing loan advice programs to loan providers

Good grief. At a minimum, students and their families ought to know who they are speaking with when phoning what they believe is a university help desk. Anyone who is unable to see the gross conflict of interest with this relationship better think again.

The telephone number looks like any other university extension. And when students call with questions about financial aid, the recorded voice at the other end says, "Thank you for calling Texas Tech University's student financial center."

But what is remarkable about the center is not so much that it is actually located hundreds of miles away from Texas Tech's Lubbock campus. It is that the people giving advice are not university employees at all -- instead they work for Nelnet, a company that made more than $68 million last year off of student loans.

Nelnet's role staffing the help line -- which is not disclosed to callers -- is a window into the often hidden relationships between loan companies and the colleges that students rely on for advice about how to finance their schooling. Nelnet is one of several lenders that the university recommends to its students, though it is not among its 10 largest lenders.

Can you even imagine a Republican Congress lifting a finger or caring about this? Nah, neither can I. Read the rest of this post...

When does the Iraqi military start participating?

I thought the Iraqi troops were supposed to be moving into the forefront but somehow, it doesn't seem to be so. How can this be?

The U.S. military death toll in March, the first full month of the security crackdown, was nearly twice that of the Iraqi army, which American and Iraqi officials say is taking the leading role in the latest attempt to curb violence in the capital, surrounding cities and Anbar province, according to figures compiled on Saturday.

Read the rest of this post...