Bombings hit India, 45 dead

Yesterday 17 bombings hit Ahmedabad in western India, the site of previous sectarian violence and the day before 4 bombings hit Bangalore.

India's president and prime minister have appealed for calm after a series of explosions killed at least 45 people in the western city of Ahmedabad.

President Pratibha Patil urged people to "remain steadfast in this testing time and maintain peace and harmony".

Ahmedabad was the scene of sectarian violence between Hindus and Muslims in early 2002 which left hundreds dead.

On Saturday, 17 blasts within an hour struck residential areas, market places, public transport and hospitals.

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McCain flips flops on raising taxes

Read my lips, it's not easy remembering clear statements on TV when they were spoken only in February of the same year. Thankfully when you have journalists bringing you Dunkin Donuts with sprinkles, they won't make much of a fuss about the flip flop.

When asked if that includes a possible hike in the payroll tax, McCain reiterated that nothing -- including such a tax hike -- is "off the table."

"I don't want tax increases. Of course, I'd like to have young Americans have some of their money put into an account with their name on it," McCain said.

However, in a February interview with Stephanopoulos, which also aired on "This Week," McCain made a pledge not to raise taxes as president. When Stephanopoulos asked, "Are you a 'read my lips' candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?" McCain responded affirmatively: "No new taxes."

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Iran reaches out to American conservatives

Convicts executioned, just the way they like it in US right wing circles. See, not as different as many Americans would like to think, are they?

Twenty-nine people convicted of various crimes, ranging from murder to being a public nuisance while drunk, were hanged in Iran, state TV said.

Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency reported earlier that 30 people would be put to death. It was not immediately clear if the last person's life was spared.

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McCain now flip-flopping on affirmative action

Meh-Cain, as I hear he's being called among some unimpressed Republicans, strikes again. From ABC:

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Kevin Kilbane Report: During a "This Week" interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos John McCain reversed himself on affirmative action and endorsed for the first time a proposed state ballot measure which would end race and gender-based affirmative action in his home state of Arizona.

"I support it," McCain declared when asked about the referendum. "I do not believe in quotas... I have not seen the details of some of these proposals. But I’ve always opposed quotas."

McCain has long opposed quotas but his new support for ending affirmative action programs which stop short of quotas puts him at odds not only with Democratic rival Barack Obama but also with the Arizona senator's own views in 1998.

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Backlash building against McCain's negative ad

The backlash against John McCain's latest personal attack on Barack Obama has been building. As I wrote last night, the ad is based on falsehoods and a GOP/Pentagon manufactured issue. It's so over the top that it could only have come from the Karl Rove minions who are running McCain's campaign now.

The initial rebukes have been strong -- but there needs to be a lot more -- a lot more.

Josh Marshall:

McCain's new ad, which you can see here, is really beyond disgusting. At this point I think it's clear that honor really doesn't mean much to McCain. When things get tough, as it is in this election campaign, there's no limit to what he'll do.

Joe Klein at Time Magazine:

This is the sort of thing you put on the air when:

1. You're desperate.
2. Your Middle East policy has been superseded by events and abandoned by your allies.
3. You apparently have nothing substantive to say about America's future role in the region and the world.

Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE):

BOB SCHIEFFER: Do you think that ad was appropriate?

CHUCK HAGEL: I do not think it was appropriate.

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McCain missed every Armed Services Committee hearing In the last two years that discussed Afghanistan

ABC:

A review of the Senate Armed Services Committee hearings as listed on the committee Web site for the past two years reveals that McCain’s committee has held six hearings that included the word “Afghanistan” in the title or Central Command — which overseas U.S. troops in Afghanistan. McCain missed them all.

For an old man so apt at playing president, John McCain badly misjudged the important demands of the office he seeks. Visits with world leaders and speeches to cheering Colombians and Canadians shouldn't be a substitute for comforting injured American heroes. It seems to me that McCain would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign. Read the rest of this post...

McCain on ABC: I never said nothing about no timetable. (Even though he said it the day before)

Wow.

One day after McCain said he thought sixteen months was a "pretty good timetable" for withdrawing from Iraq, McCain claimed he never said the word "timetable." Seriously, McCain said to Stephanopoulos "I didn’t use the word timetable." One day later.

Is he for real?



Think Progress has a longer video of the interview. Two things: 1) George Stephanopoulos really is intimidated by McCain; 2) McCain either thinks it doesn't matter what he says or doesn't remember what he says. Neither is good. Read the rest of this post...

Israeli paper publishes Obama's prayer placed in Wailing (Western) Wall

From Raw Story:

In the note, placed at Judaism's holiest site Thursday, Obama asks God to guide him and guard his family.

"Lord Protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will," reads the note published in Maariv.

Just wondering where John McCain's prayer is, or doesn't he love God and Israel? (That was Rove-ian snark, in case Mrs. Greenspan lost the nuance.) Read the rest of this post...

This just in: Obama's speech was so good, it might have been bad

So sick of some of the inside-the-beltway pundits. The latest inanity is, apparently, a new piece in US News & World Report that was breathlessly quoted today by the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza. In this piece we learn that Obama's universally praised speech in Berlin this past Thursday might be a problem for Obama because, as we learned with George Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech, sometimes great speeches are judged harshly by history.

What?

Yes, did you catch that? Obama gave a great speech. George Bush gave a great speech (yeah, I don't recall the Mission Accomplished speech being all that great, but whatever). George Bush lied to us during that speech and we caught it, big time. Now we hate George Bush. So maybe we'll hate Obama too.

They really are just pathetic. Read the rest of this post...

John McCain again forgets that a few weeks ago, he left the country too

McCain has repeatedly gone abroad over the past four months while running for president (there was Colombia, and Canada, and France (yes even France), and lots more), but when Obama does it too, after McCain practically demanded that Obama go, suddenly McCain is against presidential candidates traveling abroad. He did it again yesterday in the GOP radio address.

"This week the presidential contest was a long-distance affair, with my opponent touring various continents," the Arizona senator said in a U.S. radio address.

"With all the breathless coverage from abroad, and with Senator Obama now addressing his speeches to 'the people of the world,' I'm starting to feel a little left out. Maybe you are too."

It's not clear if McCain is simply confused, or outright lying to the voters. Either way, it's kind of sad to see what McCain has become. Read the rest of this post...

Foreign trip gives Obama initial bump in the polls

Looking presidential will do that to a guy. This is why John McCain is now using gutter politics to smear Obama as an un-American troop-hater. Though you wouldn't know it by listening to Mrs. Greenspan and the rest of the McCain love-child brigade. You see, it's only gutter politics to them when you ask McCain to explain his commander in chief experience. But calling Barack Obama un-American? Saying that Barack Obama wants to lose in Iraq? That's okay to Mrs. Greenspan, no outrage whatsoever. Guess all those McCain backyard barbecues with the media really paid off. After all, John McCain does call the media "his base," and Mrs. Greenspan and the rest are the basest of them all. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

Obama and McCain speak for themselves today. McCain has the benefit of appearing with George Stephanopoulos who, along with Charlie Gibson, pretty much endorsed the Republican during Friday night's broadcast of ABC News. Expect some really tough questions from George -- as if. Watch the body language. I think George is afraid of McCain.

Obama is under full attack from McCain now. McCain has abandoned whatever perceived principles he had and has adopted the Karl Rove strategy of character attacks and the politics of fear. Today, we get to see if McCain owns the nastiness -- and how Obama obliterates it.

Here's the lineup:

ABC's "This Week" — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

___

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Jack Reed, D-R.I.

___

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

___

CNN's "Late Edition" — McCain and Obama.


"Fox News Sunday" _ Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; actor Ben Stein.

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McCain's bread buttered with oil - third Bush term now official policy

Who owns you, John McCain? If ever there was a perfect example of how McCain is a third Bush term, here you go. McCain flip flopped on offshore drilling and the results have been immediate. Big Oil is lining his campaign coffers and we all know how that story plays out. $146 dollar barrels of gas and record high prices at the pump. Big Oil has bought John McCain and now they're going to want their return on investment. Tell me again about McCain being a man of principles? What an amazing coincidence in timing as he sought new sources of deep pockets.

Campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain rose dramatically in the last half of June, after the senator from Arizona made a high-profile split with environmentalists and reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling.

Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain last month -- three-quarters of which came after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban -- compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May.

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For the cats lovers out there

Yes, the music and video presentation are corny but it really is something to see this reunion. We had the pleasure of holding 12 week old lions in South Africa and had to be pried away after an hour. Joelle wouldn't wash her hands for over a day after touching them. You can't even imagine how thick and powerful the cubs can be. Below is Joelle with one of the cubs and yes, I think she was in tears holding the cub. The cubs were in a pen being raised and prepared for release into the wild. Despite their reputation, lion populations are on the decline and require a lot of help to re-introduce into nature reserves where they were previously over hunted or killed by disease.

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Qantas flight now pointing towards oxygen cylinder

Investigators still have a lot of work to do but there is a missing oxygen cylinder in the area of the large hole. Stories are also coming out about failing oxygen masks which suggests more serious safety problems for Qantas. I had one round trip flight with Qantas ten years ago and it was about as bad as the worst US airline so this is hardly a shock for me to hear about this. Also, John Howard (who was just defeated a few months ago) ran Australia much like Bush and the Republicans, meaning they let business get away with everything.

Well done by the airline crew for safely getting people to the ground in Manilla but the updates that are trickling out now are disturbing. I hate to even think about what other airlines are doing these days as they slam customers with new charges and cut back services. Read the rest of this post...

Iowans attempt citizen's-arrest of Karl Rove

Okay, this is kind of funny. Read the rest of this post...