Opening Act

Before we get down to business, a quick trip WAY back, down classic TV’s "memory lane".  Almost 52 years ago tonight, you might have been watching "Your Hit Parade" and seeing this –

Tags: Classic TV, Your Hit Parade

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Finally Friday

It’s been another whirlwind week, populated by lots of stories to discuss and debate.  What are your plans for the weekend? The weather has, once again, turned fall-crisp and cool.  That bodes well for some outdoor activities.  We’ll get you into the weekend with a few choice posts, collected from around the blogosphere.  All chosen to stimulate some conversation as you get together with friends and family this weekend.

Guess where we begin?  Day three (or something) of Bill-O!

Late Late Nite FDL: Rick Sanchez Breaks it Down

Rick Sanchez of CNN cuts right to the heart of Bill O’Reilly’s racism issues in a statement to the Washington Post: Sanchez, in a phone interview, said O’Reilly is perpetuating racism by using “the Mandingo argument” against black rappers. “The idea [is] that there’s a big, bad African American out there that we all need protection [...]

Don’t forget, during the week, I try to get around blogger’s usual idea of putting new posts on  top. I pre-write and post in reverse order.  So, at least for now, keep scrolling down. It’s a lot of fresh stuff below.  I just wanted some kind of "welcome" to stay near the top of the page.

Tags: O’Reilly, Sanchez, Racism

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Define "Imminent", Please

Have a nice weekend…

Right-Wing New York Sun Declares: ‘Attack On Iran Said To Be Imminent’

The New York Sun, a reliable neoconservative outlet that has advocated for a Dick Cheney presidential campaign, declares today: “Attack on Iran Said To Be Imminent.” The article’s lead states: In a sign that U.N. Security Council-based diplomacy is losing steam, a number of sources are reporting that a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities may [...]

Tags: Attack on Iran, Dick Cheney, U.N. Security Council

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How Come They Can Do This

And we can’t? I know there’s a very simple answer, lurking out there.  Somewhere. 

Record Budget Surplus In Canada

Canada posted a record budget surplus of C$13.8bn last year, allowing Ottawa to reduce its debt ratio to the lowest level in 25 years and paving the way for a fresh round of personal tax cuts. The announcement on Thursday by Stephen Harper, prime minister, is likely to fuel speculation that [...]

Tags: Canadian Budget Surplus, Stephen Harper

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Conversation-Starter

One of the better quotes of the week.  And, scroll down through the comments on the linked site.  Good stuff, via Mahablog -

What’s Good

Just found this quote: “We’ve lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We’ve been wrong. We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. That requires that [...]

Tags: Wendell Berry

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Impeach Cheney?

One presidential hopeful is just about ready.  Guess who?

Kucinich ’seriously thinking’ about forcing vote on Cheney impeachment

Rep. Dennis Kucinich says he is so concerned about what he sees as the Bush administration’s push for a war with Iran that he is considering [...]

Tags: Kucinich, Impeach Cheney, Iraq War

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Nuclear Power

I lived and work not far from a nuclear power plant for many years.  Honestly, I never really worried about it.  The company was open with reporters and frequently took us on tours to demonstate the latest safety technology, etc.  Nuclear power faded over the past several decades.  However, that seems about to change -

Nuclear Power: Ready For Its Second Act

Something happened this week in the American power industry that has not occurred in at least 30 years: Applications were filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build new nuclear reactors. The last application was made in 1977, two years before the infamous partial meltdown at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (One report says it [...]

Tags: Nuclear Power, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Three Mile Island

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Another Media Dust-Up

This time the target is MSNBC’s David Shuster.

David Shuster was right! UPDATED

Shuster asked the right question of Rep. Blackburn and predictably the attacks followed. (Newsbusters) Whenever someone leaks info to right wing blogs—red flags should go up. Via Blue Texan: Shuster’s apology [re: Marsha Blackburn] may have been premature. The tiny hamlet of Bon Aqua, Tenn., is where Bohannon lived in the months immediately prior to [...]

Tags: Shuster, Blackburn, Bohannon

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The Arkansas Connection

This is one of those stories you kind of wish did NOT have a connection to Arkansas.  Newsweek has new details about a strange, strange, story.

Lost at Sea: A Ghost-Ship Story

A couple of men chartered the Joe Cool for a trip to the Bahamas. The boat was found floating north of Cuba, its crew missing—and feared dead. Two men are in custody. A ghost-ship story [...]

Tags: Joe Cool, Ghost Ship.

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You Didn’t Hack Your iPhone, Did You?

If you did, it’s likely an iBrick by now.

Bits Blog: Steve Jobs Girds for the Long iPhone War

After a software update, iPhones that have been modified do, as Apple warned, turn into bricks. The company must prepare for a long, nasty fight with its own customers [...]

UPDATE: iPhone update: facts and fiction

Tags: iPhone, Hackers

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One Legislator – Many Votes

Kudos to the Arkansas Times for snagging an incredible piece of news reporting out of neighboring Texas. You really MUST see what happens during a vote on a piece of legislation, when several legislators are missing!

Tricky Texas

From our resident web-troller, David Koon: Straight from the state that gave you George W. and Tom DeLay, video of lawmakers at the (nearly empty) Texas statehouse almost running over each other in a mad dash to cast votes on the electronic terminals of their absent colleagues. Republicans voting for [...]

Tags: Texas Legislators, Voting For Others

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Farm Subsidies

They just keep on coming, even though demand is WAY up, thanks to -

Ethanol

Thanks to the ethanol boom, the Washington Post reports that:most farmers earned between $100 and $400 an acre on their 2006 crop after expenses, depending on whether they owned or rented their land. That translates into profits of $100,000 to [...]

Profits are fine.  It’s all the other baggage that’s bugging me.

Tags: Farm Subsidies, Ethanol, Corn Production, Food Prices

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Thompson And The Issues

There certainly are issues, but Fred Thompson doesn’t seem to be too knowledgeable.  In fact, Sam Seder says he’s –

More Clueless than Bush?

I know it’s hard to imagine but the Hollywood Raisin, Fred Thompson seems to know nothing about anything: "Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson said Thursday he was unaware that a federal judge had ruled last week that lethal injection procedures in his home state were unconstitutional. Thompson also told reporters [...]

Tags: Fred Thompson, Lethal Injection

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It’s Not Only O’Reilly

Limbaugh has talked himself into trouble, too!

Jon Soltz of VoteVets to Rush: Say it to my face

Rush Limbaugh has no idea what he stepped into by denigrating those who actually served our country…Jon Soltz, who did serve his country and does oppose the Iraq war, has a challenge for Rush. Say it to my face. Anyone who has seen Soltz in action knows [...]

But. Wait. MediaMatters has more -

CLIPS: Limbaugh previously called Vietnam veteran Kerry "a fraud," "a total phony"

Then, today, still more from El-Rusho –

Limbaugh Outrage Amplified! Limbaugh’s response is to name Jack Murtha!

He not only doesn’t deny, or apologize … but names Jack Murtha!…Rush Limbaugh’s anti-troop remarks has set off a ton of responses so far. Send a message to Rush via Wesley Clark: “Is Jon Soltz a phony soldier?” Rep. Jan Schakowsky: Does Rush Limbaugh really want to look General Odom in the eye and [...]

Final update – even the White House isn"t siding with Rush -

White House Faults Rush Limbaugh Over "Phony Soldiers" Comment

Tags: Rush Limbaugh, Jon Stoltz, Iraq War, Phony Soldiers

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FDA: Protecting Our Health

At least I THOUGHT that’s what the Food and Drug Administration was doing.  Guess I’m going to have to change my way of thinking.  Another government agency falls down on the job -

The FDA Takes a Sleeping Pill

Maybe the FDA has been dipping into the products they’re supposed to be testing.  In any case, they’ve been asleep at the switch. "In a report due to be released Friday, the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, Daniel R. Levinson, said federal health officials did not know how many clinical trials were being conducted, audited fewer than 1 percent of the testing sites and, on the rare [...]

Tags: FDA, Food and Drug Administration, Daniel Levinson

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Put Up, Or Shut Up

This may be the time that we actually find out if the Democrats can stand toe-to-toe with the Administration.  And, for once, not blink.

Dems to ram S-CHIP down the GOP’s throat

Earlier this week, Sen. Chuck Grassely, a conservative Republican from Iowa, offered Dems some advice. Grassley, one of the leading proponents of a bipartisan measure to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), said the majority party could keep bringing the children’s health legislation back up until Bush signed it or Republicans agreed to [...]

Tags: S-CHIP, Presidential Veto, Grassley, State Children’s Health Insurance Program

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Corrupt

Corrupt to the core.  Because they think they can get away with it.  There may finally be enough challenges, from those who still wield a bit of power, to effect change.  The said thing is, reaching that point is going to cost some good people their careers, no matter how you dice it.

State Dept. IG Retaliates Against Whistleblowers, Threatens ‘Their Jobs And Careers’

Approximately 10 days ago, House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote to State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard to report allegations from seven IG employees that he “has repeatedly interfered with on-going investigations to protect the State Department and the White House from political embarrassment.” Krongard has thwarted investigations into waste, fraud and abuse in [...]

Tags: Waxman, State Department Inspector General, Krongard

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Bickering

Oh, those Democrats and Republicans.  They just can’t get along.  The Chicago Tribune’s "The Swamp" blog has the details -

GOP: ‘It’s time for Bill Clinton to move on’

While the Democrats hammer Rush Limbaugh in their retaliatory strike against the offensive that Republicans launched over a MoveOn.org newspaper ad criticizing Gen. David Petraeus, it’s clear that the Republicans are not ready to move on. The Republican National Committee is circulating an email rallying call to fellow Republicans to call radio stations and write letters to editors about a video clip of former President Bill Clinton dismissing [...]

Tags: Bill Clinton, General Patraeus, MoveOn, Republican National Committee

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Good Question

Because there has been a little issue about "who died when" in Iraq. 

Military Reports It Has Killed A Senior Leader of Al Qaeda In Iraq, But Was He Killed A Year Ago?

The U.S. military announced today that it has killed a “senior leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.” Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson “identified the man as Abu Usama al-Tunisi, a Tunisian described as a close associate and likely successor to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, Al-Qaeda in Iraq’s Egyptian leader.” CNN quickly jumped on the story, reporting that al-Tunisi [...]

Tags: al Qaeda in Iraq, Senior Leader, Abu Ayyub al-Masri

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The Craig Dividers

I wonder if he’ll get a name plate on one of them…

Wide Stance Problem Solved

How to deal with a national epidemic? The infamous airport men’s room where Sen. Larry Craig was arrested is getting new stall dividers that drop nearly to the floor to make it a less inviting spot for sexual liaisons…The Minneapolis airport has more than 80 restrooms, but only two are being targeted for the new dividers, including the one now known for Craig’s arrest. How much does something like that cost? The new stall dividers will fall to just 2 to 3 inches above the floor, instead of leaving as [...]

Tags: Larry Craig, Minneapolis Airport Restroom, Wide Stance

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