Here Comes Summer

Perpetual summer.  Almost.  Certainly not the kind of weather folks touting the "livability" of a region want to see…

New Study: Northeast Cities In Danger Of ‘Disastrous Flooding’ If Global Warming Continues

People in Philadelphia would swelter through as many as 30 days over 100 degrees each summer. The entire Northeast ski industry except western Maine would likely go out of business. And spruce and hemlock forests — as well as song birds such as the Baltimore oriole — would all but disappear from New Jersey to the Canada border. These are some of the conclusions of a two-year study by [...]

Tags: Global Warming, Climate Change

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Yes, It Really Is..

"The" Dick Morris!  Via Booman Tribune..

Dick Morris Gets It

…Bush faces a stark choice: If he doesn’t begin pulling out, his party will lose the White House, lose Congress by stunning and likely filibuster-proof margins, and his tax cut and education reforms will be repealed. His footsteps will be obliterated from history. It will be as if he never served. And if Bush doesn’t get it in time, there are enough sensible Republican senators to give him a wake-up call. I didn’t write that. Dick Morris did. But I could have written it, because it is true [....]

Tags: Dick Morris, George w. Bush, Bush Administration

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Taylor Testifies

And her appearance really wasn’t pretty. Don’t jump to conclusions when you read the headline below.  It’s not THE Whitehouse…

Whitehouse Presses Taylor on Rove Briefings

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a former U.S. attorney himself, pursued the most grueling, unrelenting and outright damning line of questioning of the day. Whitehouse wanted an answer to a simple [...]

Tags: Whitehouse, Taylor

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It’s Spreading

Michael Moore’s done something right.  "Sicko" is prompting much discussion and debate over America’s healthcare system.  Look at which mainstream publication is taking notice:

Waiting Times

Business Week finally runs an article stating the obvious: for all the conservative shrieking about wait times for medical care in countries with universal healthcare systems, the United States has considerable waiting lists itself: "If you find a suspicious-looking mole [...]

Tags: Sicko, Moore, HealthCare

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Ware=Truth

Michael Ware on CNN continues to provide some of the most outstanding reporting coming out of Iraq. It’s thoughtful, hard-hitting and (to my senses) truthful.

Video- Michael Ware bats around Joe Lieberman’s rheteoric

CNN’s Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware reports on the reality in Iraq, versus Joe Lieberman’s “everything’s coming up roses” rhetoric. Seriously, Ware has to be one of the best hires CNN has made in years. The man is like a [...]

Tags: CNN, Michael Ware, Iraq War

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It Should Have Been A No-Brainer

Apparently not, for the Senate.

Republican obstructionists block Webb amendment

Of all the Democratic amendments to the Defense appropriations bill, the measure championed by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) was the most obvious no-brainer. The amendment, which was co-sponsored by another decorated war hero, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), didn’t have a direct impact on troop withdrawal or timelines, so it should have been easier for Republicans [...]

Meanwhile, over in the House:

House Introducing a Bill for “Responsible Redeployment”

With the news that the Iraqi government has failed to meet any of the benchmarks set for them (see the National Security Network’s press release on failed benchmarks smacking down any White House spin), the Democratic majority is on record of trying to act as poll after poll shows the American people want them to [...]

Tags: Webb, Hagel, Defense Appropriations Bill

Tags: Responsible Redeployment

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Increasing Presence

But, why?

Third US Carrier sent to Middlle East

Another worrisome sign, though I don’t know if it is directed at Iran, Turkey or Pakistan: The US aircraft carrier Enterprise has been deployed to a strategic area that includes waters close to Iran. The warship joins two carriers already in the Fifth Fleet area of operations and strengthens the US Navy’s biggest presence in the Gulf since the first Iraq invasion. ‘Enterprise provides navy power to counter the assertive, disruptive and coercive behaviour of some countries, as well as support our soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan,’ a [...]

Tags: Middle East, Iran, Enterprise

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Moore Vs. Gupta

Rounds 2 and 3, neatly bundled together.  This is good stuff.  Round 1 is here.

Michael Moore Takes on CNN, Mainstream Media

Included below is the second part of the Michael Moore-Wolf Blitzer interview, which was taped on July 9, 2007 but aired on July 10, 2007. Additionally, during the same show, Dr. Sanjay Gupta responded to Moore’s allegations that there were errors in CNN’s initial "Fact Check". Then, later that night, Moore and Gupta appeared together on the Larry King Show. July 10th was a good day for discussion of the health care crisis in America! Videos of everything are included below in chronological order except for the last one. That’s an added bonus – a clip of FOX News’ coverage [...]

Read on, for further thoughts..

House Call

…Moore received thousands of healthcare horror stories in a matter of days simply by posting a brief request on a single, dinky website. What might Sanjay Gupta uncover with the might of CNN behind him and years of experience in the field, if he tried something similar? How much heat could a regular segment on his weekly show highlighting abhorrent practices, intentional abuse, and open fraud in the managed care industry put on these scum bags? How many slimy rocks could a guy like Gupta flip over? Forget universal healthcare for a moment. Every day [...]

Tags: Sicko, gupta, Moore, Blitzer, CNN, Health Care, Larry King

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Olbermann on Nightly News

They promised they’d give him a chance.  Last night was the first of Keith Olbermann’s pieces to appear on NBC Nightly News.  It’s a smart move for NBC, exposing the "star" of sister cable network MSNBC to a different audience. For the first foray on the mothership, NBC wisely left Keith in his most comfortable environment, sports.  The topic? Barry Bonds and the home run record.  Text and video on the link. Say what you will about his style and delivery, the guy CAN write!

He is accused of using illegal performance enhancing drugs, to such effect that, he, in the season he turned age 37, hit nearly three times as many home runs as he had hit, in the season he turned age 27. That, his head in that same span, grew one hat size; his feet, three shoe sizes. Barry Bonds represents a time in which [...]

Tags: Keith Olbermann, NBC Nightly News, Barry Bonds, Homerun Record

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Think It’s Getting Better in Iraq?

This ought to make you think again.

No longer safe for US Members of Congress to spend night in Iraq

Things are improving in Iraq so much that it’s no longer safe for US Members of Congress to stay there overnight. Forget about visiting John McCain’s little street market, they can’t even visit the US Embassy safely. "The delegation’s visit was harrowing at times. While visiting with U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker at the U.S. Embassy inside Baghdad’s walled, high-security Green Zone on Friday, mortar blasts landed inside the [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Baghdad, U.S. Embassy, Green Zone

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The Tide Is Changing

Excellent summation from the CBS News blog…

Writing "Home"

As an unabashed devotee of America"s editorial pages, it"s been interesting to watch them (almost universally) avoid harsh rebukes of the war in Iraq. Until recently.  What began with a drip with the Los Angeles Times two months ago is developing into [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Newspaper Editorials

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The Argument

It just doesn’t hold up.  Not even close.  Carpetbagger tears apart the National Review.

Far-right blog post of the day

In January, when the president unveiled his “surge” policy, Bush vowed to the nation that he had specific goals in mind for Iraq, and expected them to be met. “America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced,” the president said. We’ve known for a while now that the president’s promise was hollow [...]

Tags: Troop Surge, Iraq War, National Review

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Gonzales SHOULD Be in Trouble

Deep trouble.  He probably won’t be, unless the Dems in Congress actually step up and do what they were elected to do!  The evidence is growing daily and becoming absolutely overwhelming.

Wash Post: Gonzales illegally lied to Congress AGAIN

It’s time the Congress did something final about Alberto Gonzales, our chief law enforcement officer who has repeatedly broken the law. It’s a crime to lie to Congress. A crime Gonzales has committed repeatedly. There’s a reason that Democratic voters aren’t happy with Democrats in Congress. We feel as if Democrats in Congress are [...]

Tags: Gonzales

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How Many Times?

How many people? How many stories like this will we have to read…

Fmr Bush Surgeon General Says Admin Muzzled Him On Stem Cells, Contraceptives

The first U.S. surgeon general appointed by President George W. Bush accused his administration on Tuesday of political interference and muzzling him on key issues like embryonic stem cell research. "Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological or political agenda is [...]

Crooks and Liars has more, including video.

Tags: Bush Administration, Surgeon General, Carmona

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The American People Say…

Bring ‘em home. If you believe some reports, that’s sparking a huge debate inside the White House. Of course, if you listen to (and believe) Tony Snow, it’s all just somebody’s fantasy.

Withdrawal? Who said anything about withdrawal?

The NYT ran a major scoop this morning, explaining that White House officials are starting to see the anti-war writing on the wall, which is leading to considerably debate within the administration about whether Bush can begin a gradual withdrawal of American troops from the war. Much of the Bush gang reportedly hoped to push [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Troop Withdrawal, Bush Administration, Tony Snow

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One Thing’s For Sure

President Bush doesn’t have to spend much time going over new speeches.  They’re all about the same..

Bush: ‘We’ve got a plan to lead to victory’

For the record, in case anyone is wondering about the impact of the escalating political debate over the war in Iraq on the president’s war policy, President Bush said this in Cleveland today, on his way to a speech about the war this afternoon: "I’m going to spend some time talking about the war on terror and our need to succeed in Iraq,” Bush said. "And I’m going to remind the people [...]

In case you were wondering, nothing changed between that pre-speech discussion and the real thing..

Bush Iraq Speech Today Likely To Further Alienate Defecting Republicans

One key point stands out from President Bush’s Iraq remarks in Cleveland this afternoon: Bush didn’t say a single thing that could possibly help provide any wavering GOP Senators with any political [...]

Tags: Iraq War, President Bush, Cleveland

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You Can Pretty Much Count Him Out

The McCain campaign is crumbling. Rapidly.

Remember when John McCain was a legitimate Presidential candidate?

Remember those heady days when John McCain was considered a legitimate Presidential candidate? Hell, the guy was but a few swiftboatings by Karl Rove away from being the GOP candidate in 2000. It all seems so long ago. Because now, the wheels are officially off: McCain campaign suffers key shakeups "WASHINGTON (AP) – John McCain’s campaign manager [...]

Tags: McCain, 2008 Campaign

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Vacation Plans?

If you have plans, congratulations!  Good for you! Good for your health, too!

While Europeans Holiday, Americans Toil

It’s a fact: Americans enjoy less vacation time than their European counterparts.  But shorter vacations, longer work weeks and skimpy sick leaves add up—not to greater upward mobility for U.S. workers, but rather a burned-out workforce earning less than preceding generations. Saner government policies [...]

Tags: Vacation, European Workers, American Workers

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Anniversary Time

Too bad we can’t celebrate. Something. Anything…

Six-month anniversary of escalation in Iraq.

Six months ago, on Jan. 10, President Bush announced his plan to send more than 20,000 more troops into Iraq. The Gavel has highlights of what has happened since that time: 590 U.S. soldiers have died and 3,575 have been wounded in Iraq since January 10, 2007. [icasualties.org, 1/10/07-7/9/07] At least 13,463 civilians and members of [...]

REPORT: Six Months Later, Time’s Up For Escalation Proponents

Six months ago today, on January 10, 2007, the President announced his policy of escalation in Iraq. He claimed that “if we increase our support at this crucial moment, and help the Iraqis break the current cycle of violence, we can hasten the day our troops begin coming home.” A host of administration officials and [...]

Tags: Troop Surge, Escalation, Iraq War

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We Have Numbers

Poll numbers.  For the President..

Another New Low

Bush hits 29% job approval in the new USAT/Gallup poll taken July 6-8. On the Gallup web site you can find the partisan break down of the job approval rating which shows Bush is registering only 68% [...]

Oh, by the way, the VP ain’t doing so hot in the polls, either..

Cheney’s unpopularity heads…

Cheney’s unpopularity heads for Dan Quayle territory as his favorability rating sinks to 13 percent, an all-time low in NYT polling. That and other political news of the day in today’s Election [...]

Tags: USA Today, Gallup, Poll

Tags: Cheney, Quayle, NYT Poll

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