Still one of the most beautiful and creepy songs ever

And all the more poignant, and scary, and understandable, as I get older.

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When globalization works

Globalization is often a loaded subject and while I think the so-called benefits are highly overplayed I also can see the benefits. The US chemical industry is finally being tamed a bit with new European Union laws that force chemical producers to prove their products are safe instead of the US model which forces others to prove chemicals are dangerous. If US businesses want to sell their goods in the EU - a market that has a larger population than the US - they need to comply with these rules or go elsewhere.

Never in a hundred years will the lobbyists allow such regulations to be put in place in the US so in this instance, globalization is taking care of a problem that is simply not possible to address at home. The EU has generally been pretty good with addressing consumer issues and battling trusts in recent years and the EU economy is not exactly crumbling as the right wingers would have you believe. It is possible to have both a vibrant economy and consumer rights so it's great to see the EU helping move this process along. Read the rest of this post...

FOX News: McCain lied to us

You know things are bad when even FOX feels the need to correct a lie from McCain:

Fox News' Shepard Smith:

"I reported at the top of this hour that the campaign had told us at Fox News that the audience would be made up of Republicans, Democrats, and independents. We have now received a clarification from the campaign and I feel I should pass it along to you. The McCain campaign distributed tickets to supporters, Mayor Bloomberg, who of course is a registered Republican, and other independent groups." - Fox News, 6/12/08

Governor Howard Dean responds to the news:

"Once again John McCain's campaign is trying to mislead the American people. Senator McCain should understand that after seven years of a President who has divided Americans and pursued a scorched earth policy full of misleading propaganda campaigns, we need a leader who understands he is the President for all Americans not just his supporters. If Senator McCain likes to brag so much about running a transparent campaign, why is he copying the Bush campaign model by stacking this event with his prescreened supporters? If that is John McCain's idea of straight talk, the American people are in for a long and disappointing campaign season."

Yeah, so basically FOX was duped into giving McCain an hour of free air time to campaign. Or, maybe FOX knew it all along, and since they couldn't legally donate an hour of free air time to help the Republican presidential candidate, they nudge-nudge-wink-wink were "tricked" by McCain into doing it. Oh no, not the briar patch! Read the rest of this post...

Same sex marriage legalized in Norway

Pretty soon the issue won't be other American states causing a problem across the country, but rather European countries getting into a majority diplomatic snit with the US when their couples come here and we don't recognize their marriages under our laws. Anyway, more on Norway - very cool. Read the rest of this post...

CNBC: Oil is really kinda cheap, dah huh, dah huh

Let's throw this stupidity into the same category as the GOP talking about violence in America being worse than Iraq. While CNBC has their numbers correct on the price of Coke, Starbucks and other non-essential goods, those product really aren't at the center of the global economy, are they? Did Larry Kudlow produce this silly little slide show? Yes, it's that bad. Read the rest of this post...

CNBC continues its "economy ain't so bad" theme

This really is a priceless effort by the Wall Street apologist network. Even leading with a quote from an economist with JPMorgan Chase that boils down to "quit your whining, everything is fine." I'll bet life is just fine for that JPMorgan chap. If Americans could only get past paying over $4 per gallon for gas and skyrocketing food prices, they might notice that a digital camera has come down $28 since 2007 and an LCD TV is down a whopping $18. (Yes, but did JPMorgan notice that the cost of cable TV is up?) Yes, I'm noticing a slight flaw in this cute little theory here that points on price declines for items individuals buy every few years versus daily/weekly/monthly costs. Hmmm, don't tell me, I'm sure it's going to come to mind in just a second.

Only on Wall Street and the corridors of Big Oil and the GOP can you find such ridiculous claims. Reading this also tells me that those people have no clue what is going on in the real world and intend to deliver more of the same in November. If you can't recognize a problem how can you fix it? Read the rest of this post...

Chinese hacked congressional computers to find dissidents

Our wonderful friends, the communist dictators in China show their true colors, again. And what will we do as a result? Genuflect.

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said four of his computers were compromised beginning in 2006. New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, a senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said two of the computers at his global human rights subcommittee were attacked in December 2006 and March 2007.

Wolf said that following one of the attacks, a car with license plates belonging to Chinese officials went to the home of a dissident in Fairfax County, Va., outside Washington and photographed it.

During the same time period, The House International Relations Committee — now known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee — was targeted at least once by someone working inside China, said committee spokeswoman Lynne Weil.

Wednesday's disclosures came as U.S. authorities continued to investigate whether Chinese officials secretly copied the contents of a government laptop computer during a visit to China by Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and used the information to try to hack into Commerce Department computers.

Read the rest of this post...

Energy Department predicts $4 gas though 2009

Painful news though what else should we expect? Republicans laughed when Jimmy Carter tried promoting energy changes and it's been downhill since. Nobody has shown much interest in getting serious about energy including Bill Clinton right into the Bush administration. Then there are people like Congressman Dingell who repeatedly fought against pushing Detroit into the modern world, losing jobs and opportunity along the way.

Now that the issue has everyone's attention, will Detroit and Big Auto get creative and lead the way? Lithium-ion batteries present their own problems (recycling) but these tests are showing that we have many options out there, if only we can move beyond our limited mindset of yesterday. Who wouldn't want 100mpg?

Scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden are testing a spruced-up Toyota Prius, a plug-in hybrid sedan complete with a solar panel attached to its oval roof and a bigger battery in the trunk to supply power in lieu of the gasoline-fueled engine.

The result: A spunky Prius that runs the initial 60 miles mostly on battery, adding up to a fuel mileage of 100 miles per gallon.

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ARCHIVE: Our live online chat with Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO)

Our chat is over, but you can read the transcript in our comments.



Welcome to our online chat with Democratic Congresswoman Diana DeGette of Denver, Colorado. The chat is taking place RIGHT NOW in the comments to this post.

It's easy to join in, just click the comments link for this post (click here: our comments) and you can follow our Q&A; with the congresswoman in the comments. And if you want to ask her a question - and please do, that's why she's here - just make sure you've already created a free account with Disqus here, and just type your question as a comment. And if you want, along with your question you can tell her your first name (and last name too, if you want), and where you're from - just makes it more interesting. The congresswoman should be able to stay with us about a half hour.

In addition to being a lead voice on stem cell research and renewable energy, DeGette is holding the FDA's feet to the fire on their terrible record on food safety, including the latest salmonella outbreak on fresh tomatoes. Ycch. The congresswoman held a hearing on the topic this morning. Primarily we'll be focusing on the topic of food safety during our chat, but you can ask whatever you like, and we'll be hitting other topics as well.

For the purposes of the chat, Chris, the congresswoman and I will all be official "monitors" of the conversation, so we'll each have a small star next to our names in the comments - that way you'll know it's really us and not an imposter :-)

For some background on the food safety issue, here are a few links:

NYT editorial today
Washington Post editorial today
Today's WSJ on food safety. Read the rest of this post...

Our chat with Congresswoman Diana DeGette should take place around 3pm Eastern

A series of votes were just called, so our chat has been delayed a few minutes. Should be at 3pm today (Eastern). In the meantime, there's lots of background on the topic of our chat, food safety (or lack thereof) here.

It really is a unique chance to get to have some face-to-face time, virtual as it is, with a member of Congress. As you know, I've traveled the world a lot, and our government really is unique in offering these kind of opportunities for citizens to question and interact with their members of government. So I hope you'll join us. And remember, you need to register (for free) with our comments system, Disqus, in order to post a comment - you can do that here. Read the rest of this post...

NY voters back governor on gay marriages (in a good way)

From Quinnipiac:

New York State voters support 53 - 40 percent Gov. David Paterson's order to state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed outside New York, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. But voters say 55 - 30 percent that this issue should have been decided by the State Legislature, not the Governor.

Democrats support the Governor's gay marriage order 64 - 30 percent, as do independent voters 56 - 37 percent, while Republicans oppose it 57 - 37 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

When New York State voters are given three choices on the gay marriage union:

* 42 percent say same-sex couples should be allowed to legally marry;
* 31 percent say these couples should be allowed to form civil unions, but not marry;
* 21 percent say there should be no legal recognition of same-sex unions.

There is a significant gender split, with 48 percent of women and 34 percent of men supporting same-sex marriage. A total of 63 percent of Republicans, 80 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of independent voters support either same-sex marriage or civil unions.

Read the rest of this post...

New Web site debunks smears against Obama

http://www.fightthesmears.com Read the rest of this post...

Top McCain adviser traded with people who want to wipe Israel from the face of the earth

McCain likes to brag about what a great friend of Israel he is. Too bad one of his top advisers is apparently a great friend of Iran. From NJDC:

Senator John McCain’s Chief Economic Adviser, Carly Fiorina, was CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP) when the company surreptitiously avoided the trade boycott of Iran. McCain, who recently urged further divestment from Iran, picked Fiorina to be his top adviser on the economy while she is also serving as head of the Republican National Committee Victory Fund. It was under Fiorina’s leadership as CEO that, according to an April 19, 2004, Forbes article titled “Trading With The Enemy,” HP traded with the Iranians.

More from Forbes:

If you want to get round export controls, just sell the product to a front company in Dubai. The middlemen will take it from there.... Halliburton is far from the only brand that shows up in Tehran. Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Microsoft, among many other U.S. companies, keep Dubai offices and are favorites these days among Iranian traders in Dubai. (Forbes, 4/19/04)

Read the rest of this post...

Supreme Court says Gitmo detainees have right to challenge their detention in US courts

UPDATE: More from AP

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.... The court said not only that the detainees have rights under the Constitution, but that the system the administration has put in place to classify them as enemy combatants and review those decisions is inadequate.

Huge decision from the US Supreme Court. And just as huge, the decision was 5-4. If John McCain becomes president, the court will shift to the right and this will be another decision, like Roe v. Wade, that will be overturned.

In a nutshell, the court concluded, from what I can find, that we don't suspend the Constitution simply because bad men are trying to hurt us. And the fact that the bad men have dark skin and are Aye-rabs doesn't matter either.

“The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the court.

As always, Scalia speaks for the scaredy-cat wing of the Republican party:

Scalia said the nation is "at war with radical Islamists" and that the court's decision "will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed."

I'm afraid of the dark man isn't a legal argument, Antonin. Nor is "it will save lives." Having cops on the street summarily execute anyone suspected of any crime in America might save lives, it probably would in fact. That doesn't justify suspending the Constitution and doing it. Scalia, like many conservatives, thinks that the Constitution was only written for the good times. In other words, it's only for when you don't need it. Read the rest of this post...

Americans prefer Dem congress by 19 points

From the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll (PDF link). 19 points is more than the 15 point margin Dems had when they took back the Congress in 2006:

Question 12 (on page 18 of the poll): What is your preference for the outcome of this year's congressional elections--a Congress controlled by Republicans or a Congress controlled by Democrats?

Republican-controlled Congress....... 33
Democrat-controlled Congress ......... 52 Read the rest of this post...

Just a reminder, we'll be having our online chat with Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) at 2:15PM Eastern today

UPDATE: NYT did an editorial too.

UPDATE: The Washington Post did an editorial on the topic of our chat today, food safety - it's excellent background:

Nestled within the Food Safety Act of 2007 under consideration in the House is a provision sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) that would give the Agriculture Department and the FDA the power to issue a mandatory recall of contaminated food. This is more than reasonable, since the federal government can and did recall lead-tainted toys imported from China last year. Besides, the hammer of potential government action would be a powerful incentive for growers and packers to conform to safety standards.

What's missing from the act is another provision pushed by Ms. DeGette that would require that food producers track their products from "farm to fork." Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who is shepherding the act through the House, should include the tracking provision as part of the package -- and then get the legislation passed. This and the power to recall are two tools that would make it easier to protect the nation's food supply and find the source of tainted meat and vegetables the moment an outbreak occurs -- not months and many victims later.

Okay, first, the FDA can't recall bad food? That's nuts. And second, we can't track where the tomatoes came from? Geez.

In the meantime, she's holding a hearing in a few minutes about Food Safety. That will also be the topic of our chat, though you can certainly ask her about whatever you like. The committee hearing will be Webcast, probably starting around 10:10AM - you can watch it here.

As for our chat with the congresswoman, that will start around 2:15pm Eastern time, this afternoon, and we'll hold it in our comments sections. Chris and I will be interviewing the congresswoman, but you are very much welcome, and encouraged to ask your own questions, by simply typing your question in a comment at that time. If you're interested in asking Congresswoman DeGette a question, make sure you create a free Disqus account here (it's how you get permission to post a comment), and then just click on the comments-link of the post I publish right before the Congresswoman arrives. You can just read the interview live, or join in, it's your choice.

In the meantime, here is a Wall Street Journal article with more background on the food safety issue, and here is some additional background as well.

The salmonella outbreak in tomatoes is the latest in a series of crises that highlight the cracks in our nation’s food safety system. Despite the fact that the first cases of this outbreak were reported in April, the government has failed to address the issue resulting in more than 170 people falling ill. Despite the clear threat to public health the government lacks the power to mandate a recall, and because no system exists to track food as it moves through the country, authorities have yet to determine the origin of the outbreak. Had Congresswoman DeGette’s mandatory recall and traceability proposals been in place in April, not only would the government have the power to force a recall, it would be able to trace the contamination back to its source.

Congresswoman Diana DeGette, Vice Chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has been a leader in Congress in the effort to reform our food safety system. This morning, the subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing on America’s food safety system, and this afternoon at 2:15 PM she will join us for a discussion about how we can set up a system that keeps our food safe.

And here's some background on Congresswoman DeGette, in video format:

Read the rest of this post...

FOX News calls Mrs. Obama "Obama's baby mama"

I'm sensing a mix of sexism and racism from FOX News on this one - hitting both at once, that might even be a new low for them. This network should be ostracized by every Democrat - no one in the party should be appearing on FOX ever again. And if they do, they should be held accountable for it. And someone should launch a true campaign to take FOX down, once and for all. So far the efforts have been piecemeal and short-lived. Someone with the cash and the staff needs to do something real this time.

Feel free to contact FOX:
roger.ailes@foxnews.com
Comments@foxnews.com Read the rest of this post...

14 Republican House members are refusing to endorse McCain

The best part? McCain issued a press release this week bragging that one - count 'em, one - Democratic House Member wasn't supporting Obama. Oops. From The Hill

At least 14 Republican members of Congress have refused to endorse or publicly support Sen. John McCain for president, and more than a dozen others declined to answer whether they back the Arizona senator....

While some conservative Democrats have yet to endorse Obama and didn’t back Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004, there are both centrist and conservative Republicans representing various parts of the country who are not embracing McCain.

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Mugabe confiscates food for children, gives to army

It's not easy to hit so many new lows but almost every day, Robert Mugabe somehow manages to do so.

Zimbabwean authorities confiscated a truck loaded with 20 tons of American food aid for poor schoolchildren and ordered that the wheat and pinto beans aboard be handed out to supporters of President Robert Mugabe at a political rally instead, the American ambassador said Wednesday.

“This government will stop at nothing, even starving the most defenseless people in the country — young children — to realize their political ambitions,” said the ambassador, James D. McGee, in an interview.

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Top Secret al-Qaida report left on train

What next will go wrong for Gordon Brown's Labour government?

Highly classified intelligence documents relating to two of the most sensitive issues involving Britain's security interests - al-Qaida in Pakistan and the situation in Iraq - have been found on a train near London, it was disclosed last night.

The documents, including one marked Top Secret, are believed to be detailed and up-to-date assessments by Whitehall's Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC).

They were found on Tuesday and handed to the BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, who reported the loss. The BBC said the documents were left on the train by a senior intelligence officer.

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