Open thread

So have the Republicans done anything else to trash the Constitution or abuse our troops today? Read the rest of this post...

Senate Intelligence chief, Pat Roberts, blasts Karl Rove for highly-sensitive intelligence leaks, demands White House conduct damage assessment

Not really.

Actually, Pat Roberts and George Bush are busy trying to take away the First Amendment.

Somewhere Osama bin Laden is beaming with pride over what Pat Roberts and George Bush have done to America... so Osama doesn't have to. Read the rest of this post...

Who replaced Christopher Hitchens with the crazy drunk guy?

I hate when that happens. Hope he's okay. Read the rest of this post...

Flag burning? How about an amendment to stop Troop Burning?

Seriously. The flag is doing fine last time I checked, but as for our soldiers in Iraq, that's a different story.

George Bush and the Republican party don't give a damn about our military unless elections are around the corner, then they talk about the troops and parade them in uniform at campaign events as if they were nothing more than a cute baby to be ogled and later ignored.

When it comes to our military, the Republicans feel it's expendable. There is apparently no cost in lives, no cost to our national esteem, no cost in dollars, that will override the Republican mania with using our military as a political weapon against ourselves. George Bush and the Republican party couldn't care less about victory in Iraq - they know they lost Iraq a long time ago. But they do care about George Bush's ego and his inability to ever admit a mistake, so they'll keep or troops in Iraq, watching our soldiers die as the situation gets worse and worse, simply because it would be embarrassing for George Bush to admit he lost the war in Iraq.

Republicans don't care about our troops. Oh they talk a good talk, and love to accuse Democrats of hating the military. But as Atrios wrote once, if he really hated the military he would simply send them to war in the wrong country, in insufficient numbers, with insufficient equipment, and without a plan for victory - and oh yeah, he'd keep them there to die long after we'd already lost.

That's the sign of a real America-hater.

So when do we pass a constitutional amendment to protect our troops, from Republicans? Read the rest of this post...

Iraq debates foreign investment policies

While the Bush administration flogs a "stay the course" message and the media focuses primarily on the troop withdrawal issue, the nuts and bolts of trying to get Iraq on its feet are largely overlooked. The economic efforts, in particular, are what will really make or break the nation (assuming it can avoid an all-out governmental collapse). Which is why I would really like to see more analysis on issues like foreign investment there.

According to the article, Iraq's parliament will probably approve a law that allows non-Iraqi investors to have 100 percent ownership of companies, untaxed profit transfers, and 40-year rent leases (with the significant exception of natural resources -- including oil). Most troubling to me is the untaxed profit transfers. While the objections in the article are mostly about the ownership element, Iraq clearly needs foreign investment to help its economy, and I doubt companies would risk investing if they couldn't have ownership control. But I would think it'd be possible to require some level of reinvesting or other benefit to the country and its people, rather than just pulling out all profits to the companies and businesses of other nations.

I'm not an economist, and I'd be curious to hear from people more educated than I. My initial skepticism is based on three factors: first, the law was reportedly written over two years ago, under the Bremer administration of Iraq. Since Bremer's tenure was such an unmitigated debacle, I'm reflexively suspicious of anything that he or his cronies created. Second, it seems there should be measures to keep some of the profits in Iraq. Finally, anything that even gives the impression of Western corporate exploitation is a terrible idea for PR reasons alone.

(Hat tip to Juan Cole for linking the article.) Read the rest of this post...

Flag vote in US Senate goes down in flames

The ACLU reports that it lost by one vote, thank God. But cheer up Republicans, you don't have the flag to make a mockery of but you still have fag-bashing.

Here's an article about it. Read the rest of this post...

Surgeon General foolishly sides with science

How dare he step on the freedom and liberty of smokers who pollute the air of non-smokers. Can't those selfish non-smokers just hold their breath during dinner or at work and wait to breathe until they are outside? And those whiney babies and kids who are especially prone to the negative impact of second hand smoke? They can breathe when they're 18 and leaving home but until then they're just going to have to not breathe and learn to live with it.

Some 126 million nonsmokers are exposed to secondhand smoke, what U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona repeatedly calls "involuntary smoking" that puts people at increased risk of death from lung cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.

Moreover, there is no risk-free level of exposure to someone else's drifting smoke, declares the report issued Tuesday -- a conclusion sure to fuel already growing efforts at public smoking bans nationwide. Fourteen states have passed what are considered comprehensive smoke-free workplace laws, those that include restaurants and bars.

But the surgeon general is especially concerned about young children who can't escape their parents' addiction in search of cleaner air: Just over one in five children is exposed to secondhand smoke at home, where workplace bans don't reach. Those children are at increased risk of SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome; lung infections such as pneumonia; ear infections; and more severe asthma.

Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Has the U.S. invaded the NY Times yet? Read the rest of this post...

Senator Dewine (R-OH) wants to spy on you

Next to Specter, Dewine is the biggest enabler for Bush's illegal spying on Americans. Read the rest of this post...

Hysterical sketch from Aussie TV

Seriously, watch this. Read the rest of this post...

Ann Coulter fans weigh in

I only hope some day to be as good an American as this guy who just emailed me.

Nice thing about free speech is you can lie and make up everything as you go along and call yourself anything you want. It amazes me how people like you who obviously hate the United States so much continue to live hear [sic]. Places like Iran and Cuba, and Ecuador [Ecuador?] would love to have you. Of course if you stay hear [sic] you always can start a home grown terrorist group to kill as many devil Americans as you want. And by the way you should love [Bill] Gates if you check out his wonderful charity a little more. It seems everything he does is geared to help the poor disadvantaged minorites. [Bastard!] The only problem is there are more poor and disadvantaged white people in this country than black and Indian people put together. Now that is what a nice liberal like you is all about right. Make up all the myths and lies you can as you go along and then call yourself Americablog. And come on curse me all you want as liberals are want [sic] to do. People that lie all the time are the first ones to do that because they have been caught in their lies. Ann Coulter tells liberals the truth and gets attacked viciously.

No, the nice thing about free speech is that if people like you had your way, people like you would be in jail. Read the rest of this post...

When is Viagra not Viagra?

When it's the same color pill as OxyContin:



You'll recall that last night I wrote about how this Rush Limbaugh story seems to be missing some key fact. Why would they detain him at the airport for three hours just for having a vial of Viagra? Well, one of our readers weighs in.

Perhaps this might explain some confusion you have with Rush's pills "labeled as Viagra": Viagra are blue pills. Zoloft is also a blue pill. Xanax in the higher doses are blue pills. Oh, and what color is Oxy-Contin? Yes: Blue. You're right that there well may be something more here.

Read the rest of this post...

Atrios says: Stand Up

He's right. Listen to Atrios. The Bush team is trying to silence the media. They want to charge reporters and newpapers with treason. That's beyond Nixonian. It's Stalinist. Stand up:

As treason charges against the New York Times (but not, oddly, the Wall Street Journal) are getting thrown around on various "respectable" news outlets by people working in "journalism" I think it's probably time for the serious reporters at those outlets to inform management that their resignations will be forthcoming if it doesn't stop.

Silly people like me have been trying to warn you for years - you created, cultivated, nourished, and promoted these people. They're one of you. Take a stand, because pretty soon it's going to be too late.

It's more than very annoying to watch television reporters treat this issue like it's just another story...or worse, like it's some kind of political competition between the Bush administration and the New York Times. This is way more serious. It's dangerous. Treat it that way. Read the rest of this post...

Senator John Warner is so powerful, he's stopping the wind

Well, Warner is stopping wind energy at least. When one of my friends explained this to me the other day, it seemed outrageous, given the state of energy in the country. But, it's true. Warner inserted language in to a defense bill that is seriously hampering wind energy in the country. Warner took the action in January, but the ramifications are now being felt.

Despite all the claims of looking for new energy sources, the Senator from Virginia has actually prevented wind energy projects from moving forward. If there was a real policy reason, it would be one thing. But, it's really about his own personal interest.

Congress ordered the study about wind farms and their effects on military radar in a last-minute amendment to a national defense bill in January.

The language apparently was added because of a wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts. Some residents of the Cape Cod area oppose the project on grounds that the machines will spoil their views and kill migrating birds.

The author of the amendment was Sen. John Warner, R-Va., who, the Chicago Tribune reported, has tried previously to block the cape project.

In March, the departments of Defense and Homeland Security issued an interim policy that they would contest any new windmill farms "within radar line of sight of the National Air Defense and Homeland Security Radars" until the study is completed.

This is government at its worst. Another petty Senator putting his private interests before the interests of the country. And it's despicable the way they use the military like this. Read the rest of this post...

More incompetence from the GOP

The reverse Midas touch in action. Everything the GOP gets its hands on turns into a mess. International relations? Disaster. Iraq? Don't even ask. Earmarks 'til the cows come home and padding personal wealth? Where do we start? With total control over all three branches of the government in DC, the GOP has ruined FEMA so badly and now taxpayers are looking at paying the price (again) for GOP incompetence to the tune of a few billion dollars. Wow. There is no one to blame when the GOP owns everything.

If you want more of the same - more failed wars, more special interests, more scandals, more destroyed government programs - you should continue voting for the GOP. More of the same means more incompetence:

A hotel owner in Sugar Land, Tex., has been charged with submitting $232,000 in bills for phantom victims. And roughly 1,100 prison inmates across the Gulf Coast apparently collected more than $10 million in rental and disaster-relief assistance.

There are the bureaucrats who ordered nearly half a billion dollars worth of mobile homes that are still empty, and renovations for a shelter at a former Alabama Army base that cost about $416,000 per evacuee.

And there is the Illinois woman who tried to collect federal benefits by claiming she watched her two daughters drown in the rising New Orleans waters. In fact, prosecutors say, the children did not exist.

The tally of ignoble acts linked to Hurricane Katrina, pulled together by The New York Times from government audits, criminal prosecutions and Congressional investigations, could rise because the inquiries are under way. Even in Washington, a city accustomed to government bloat, the numbers are generating amazement.

Read the rest of this post...

Bush is really, really mad at leakers (unless they work for him)

Bush is angry about news leaks again. He can't win the Iraq war so apparently he's declared war on the New York Times. It's really amazing that the press corps doesn't just break in to laughter when Bush gets like sanctimonious on this subject. Bush's top aides leaked national security secrets for partisan political reasons. That kind of leak is perfectly acceptable to the the Bush administration:

President Bush said Monday it was "disgraceful" that the news media had disclosed a secret CIA-Treasury program to track millions of financial records in search of terrorist suspects. The White House accused The New York Times of breaking a long tradition of keeping wartime secrets.

"The fact that a newspaper disclosed it makes it harder to win this war on terror," Bush said, leaning forward and jabbing his finger during a brief question-and-answer session with reporters in the Roosevelt Room.

It's really amazing that the press corps doesn't just break in to laughter when Bush gets like sanctimonious about leaks. Read the rest of this post...

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

It's stopped raining momentarilty here in DC. This city doesn't handle weather well at all...

Start threading the news.... Read the rest of this post...

Too much nature terrifies German officials - Bruno the bear killed

Bavarian environment officials, clearly shocked at the site of actual wildlife in their environment, ever so slightly got carried away with a single bear knick named Bruno. It's not like situations like this have ever occurred anywhere else in the world, providing some ideas for addressing the hungry and curious bear. Imagine that, the bear was hungry and failed to hit the secret bear drive through restaurant. Catch and release proved to be too much for the environmentally aware officials and after hikers followed Bruno and approached Bruno, triggering a reaction from him, the Bavarian brain trust decided that it was just too hard to trap him so they found a local hunter who shot and killed him. Ugh. How absolutely mindless are those officials? Patience and creativity are clearly not required for the job. Read the rest of this post...

So is this where the US is headed?

You really have to wonder if this is precisely what the Bush administration would like to see in the US. State certified news that's part of the glorious state propaganda machine.

News organizations that report on emergencies without authorization or issue fraudulent reports would be fined between $6,250 $12,500 under the draft law, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The legislation defines emergencies as industrial accidents, natural disasters, health and public security crisis.

The draft law was discussed Monday by Chinese lawmakers in the first of three planned legislative hearings. Following the hearings, the law could come into effect in about four months, Xinhua said.

Read the rest of this post...

In much more important news

Two characters die in the next and final Harry Potter book. When does that damn thing come out anyway? Read the rest of this post...

Equifax quietly loses data records

The company that is selling credit services and keeping records of seemingly every move we make has managed to quietly lose 2500 records of their own employees. Just like the rest of the corporate world and our own government, Equifax is having a little problem with privacy. Read the rest of this post...