Check out the new FireDogLake

They're tanned, ready and rested, and they've relaunched their blog. Read the rest of this post...

Romney to give speech about being a Mormon

But his religion isn't relevant, really. Romney needs to decide if he wants to be the religious right candidate, the Mormon candidate, or the secular candidate - he can't be all three. He can't be a Mormon, claim he's a Christian, suck up to the far-right Baptist wing of the Republican party that wants to force their fringe religious beliefs down the rest of America's throat, and then tell us that his religion is irrelevant. He's running as the religious candidate while running from his own religion. Should make for an interesting campaign. Read the rest of this post...

AP: 8 men claim GOP Sen. Larry Craig had sex with or hit on them

8 men? ROTFL Read the rest of this post...

La Marmite de l'Escalade!

Extended family, of sorts, visited today and delivered this lovely little "marmite" made of chocolate that is given at this time of the year in Geneva. The complete story is linked here but the quick story is about the attempted attack by the people of Savoy on Geneva. During the attack on 11 December 1602, Madame Cheynel stopped the attack by dumping a marmite (or cauldron) of hot soup on the Savoyard as they climbed the walls, triggering a large commotion, which helped alert the people of Geneva who then stopped this attack. (If you look closely in the photo, you can see a little mushroom.)

Today, the people of Geneva celebrate the moment with these cute little marmite that are made of chocolate and stuffed with "vegetable" candies. To celebrate the holiday, families and friends will take a sword (not so sure where they find one today) and smash open the marmite and eat the goodies inside. For larger groups they would probably have a bigger cauldron, with even more tasty treats. Read the rest of this post...

Did National Review Reporter Make His Stories Up?

From the Huff Post.

There is a growing dispute over the veracity of reporting from Lebanon by former Marine W. Thomas Smith, Jr. who is posting reports on his blog, The Tank, published by the conservative website, National Review Online (NRO). Smith is a supporter of the war in Iraq, and is affiliated with two politically conservative organizations, the Counterterrorism Research Center and the Family Security Foundation. He is the executive editor of World Defense Review, and the co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Intelligent Design.

They have numerous journalists questioning the guy's reporting, and even had The National Review Online admitting his stories aren't quite right. Read the rest of this post...

A not very good week in the campaign of Rudy Giuliani

Steve Benen deconstructs Rudy's "Worst. Week. Ever."

It was Rudy's "Worst. Week. Ever." so far. Though using government money to subsidize your adulterous affair, and then trying to cover up the expense, possibly illegally, is pretty hard to beat. There will be many more weeks like this to come for Giuliani. Read the rest of this post...

BIG STORY: More gay men describe alleged sexual encounters with U.S. Sen. Craig, in detail, on tape

Oh my God, look what the audio files include:

* Listen to David Phillips' account of being led into a house on Capitol Hill by Larry Craig on a late afternoon in 1986 and their engaging in oral sex.
* Listen to David Phillips' account of Larry Craig performing anal sex on him and how Craig's mood changed when the act was complete.
* Listen to male escort Mike Jones describe having sex with Larry Craig.
* Listen to male escort Mike Jones describe the end of his encounter with Larry Craig.
* Listen to Greg Ruth describe his encounter with then-Rep. Larry Craig in a men's room at a Republican convention in Coeur d'Alene in 1981.

From the Idaho Statement. The article even has a warning label:

Audio clip disclaimer: Some of the audio interview excerpts contain explicit descriptions of sex not appropriate for children and listeners who find such content offensive. The Statesman provides the excerpts so Idahoans can hear these accounts and decide for themselves about accusations against Sen. Craig....

David Phillips is a 42-year-old information technology consultant in Washington, D.C., who says Craig picked him up at a gay club in 1986 and that they subsequently had sex.

Mike Jones is a former prostitute who told the world he had sex with the Rev. Ted Haggard last year. The former Colorado Springs evangelist at first denied it but eventually confessed. Jones says Craig paid him for sex in late 2004 or early 2005.

Greg Ruth was a 24-year-old college Republican in 1981 when he says he was hit on by Craig at a Republican meeting in Coeur d'Alene.

Tom Russell, now 48, is a former Nampa resident who lives in Utah. Russell said his encounter with Craig occurred at Bogus Basin in the early 1980s.

A fifth gay man, who is from Boise but who declined to be named for fear of retaliation, offered a recent and telling account: He was in a men's restroom at Denver International Airport in September 2006 when the man in the next stall moved his hand slowly, palm up, under the divider. Alarmed, the man said he waited outside the restroom and then identified the man in the adjoining stall as Craig, whom he had met in Idaho.

Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

On the Presidential candidate front, three GOPers, one Democrat. "Face the Nation" does have top strategists for two of the leading Democrats. On that front, Clinton does have a fierce press operation embodied in Howard Wolfson. Rove is back at home base (Fox News, not the White House) to spew more lies. The media will gobble them up, as usual.

Jim Webb always makes news and he's just back from Iraq. Although what he says about Iran could be more interesting.

And how about Little Steven, from the E-Street band and Sopranos, showing up on "This Week"? Here's the lineup:

ABC's "This Week" — Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark.; musician Steven Van Zandt, founder of the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; David Axelrod, strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaign; Howard Wolfson, communications director for Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.

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CNN's "Late Edition" — Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas; Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa.; Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps in Iraq.

"Fox News Sunday" _ Karl Rove, former adviser to President Bush; Rep. Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; Fred Smith, chairman and chief executive of FedEx Corp.

Have at it. Read the rest of this post...

Paulson & Bush push for subprime rate freeze

OK, so what's in it for the millions and millions of Americans who actually didn't buy into this rubbish? Why should they be penalized for taking out traditional loans with higher rates and paying them? What about the others who didn't jump into the real estate circus because they couldn't afford the high costs and were uncomfortable with the problems now dragging down the system? If the Democrats have any interest in holding or growing their own support with the middle class, they should avoid this like the plague.

The Paulson/Bush bailout has everything to do with bailing out the big financial organizations who created this problem (together with Greenspan and the administration) who now want a lifeline. Any bailout such as this will definitely be viewed as the middle class taking it on the chin for the umpteenth time, despite the middle class doing the right thing. They've paid for the war, they've watched the wealthiest Americans have their taxes cut during a time of war and now this. Sheesh. It's unfortunate that so many bought into the subprime loan story, but it's not the fault of everyone else who didn't so why should they get stuck paying?

How many more times will Washington stick it to this group? Is the middle class such a bunch of chumps that will just sit there and take it? Absolutely not and people are getting fed up with paying for everyone else's problems. Everyone has limits and this new plan is hitting the limits of acceptability for the American middle class. Read the rest of this post...

Europe looking to North Africa and Middle East for energy, but...

It's not for oil. This interesting new plan could generate up to one sixth of the needed power for Europe. Should the program benefit a sliver at the top like in the oil industry, to hell with it. If the intention is to provide improvements to all levels of society, a rarity in the region today, then this could be a model for the future.

Europe is considering plans to spend more than £5bn on a string of giant solar power stations along the Mediterranean desert shores of northern Africa and the Middle East.

More than a hundred of the generators, each fitted with thousands of huge mirrors, would generate electricity to be transmitted by undersea cable to Europe and then distributed across the continent to European Union member nations, including Britain.

Billions of watts of power could be generated this way, enough to provide Europe with a sixth of its electricity needs and to allow it to make significant cuts in its carbon emissions. At the same time, the stations would be used as desalination plants to provide desert countries with desperately needed supplies of fresh water.

Last week Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan presented details of the scheme - named Desertec - to the European Parliament. 'Countries with deserts, countries with high energy demand, and countries with technology competence must co-operate,' he told MEPs.

The project has been developed by the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Corporation and is supported by engineers and politicians in Europe as well as Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Jordan and other nations in the Middle East and Africa.

Read the rest of this post...