Sex Education

They’re saying it again: Abstinence does not work.  My interest in the teen pregnancy problem has its roots in some television reporting I did almost 15 years ago. As I mentioned in that earlier post, sex education was a hot topic then and it remains so today.

Abstinence-only programs — they still don’t work

There seems to be something of a pattern here. A study is commissioned to test whether abstinence-only programs are effective in affecting teens’ sexual behavior. Another study is commissioned, and we see the same results. And on and on. Those who are concerned with reality probably didn’t need more evidence, but we have some anyway. The [...]

Arkansas Blog notes: Effective sex ed

…Thirteen states have now rejected federal funding for abstinence-only programs, Planned Parenthood says. In 2006, Arkansas accepted $2 million for these programs. It is a waste. The programs prevent teaching of [...]

Slamming The Door on The Truth

“Executive Priviledge”.  Again. Kind of tells you all you need to know.

White House Cites ‘Executive Privilege’ To Block Inquiry On ‘Eviscerated’ Global Warming Testimony

Last month, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) officials revealed that the White House “eviscerated” the congressional testimony of CDC President Julie Gerberding on the “Human Impacts of Global Warming.” The deletions included “details on how many people might be adversely affected because of increased warming” and the scientific basis of specific diseases impacted by climate [...]

Rosie and MSNBC

For those of you following, Olbermann announced tonight that there is no deal with Rosie, based on her blog…loose lips sink ships..

Rosie & MSNBC: “over B4 it began”

On her blog, Rosie O’Donnell writes… in verse… that she will not be taking a job with MSNBC. O’Donnell writes: [...]

Bill O’Reilly Milks Rosie/MSNBC Story Even Though Deal Is Dead

Bill O’Reilly was all set to milk the story about Rosie O’Donnell’s possible show on MSNBC indefinitely but tonight Rosie posted on her blog that the deal was off. Posted at 7:06 PM tonight , Keith Olbermann caught it in time for his show also at 8 PM on MSNBC but Bill conveniently missed the news before doing two segments on the topic.. [..]

Ugh

Oh, this is sickening. Literally.

Secret Cam Reveals Hotels Don’t Wash Glasses,

Fox Atlanta set up secret cameras inside 5 different hotel chains from the Holiday Inn to the Ritz Carlton … and caught every single one of them failing to properly wash the room’s glasses. At every single hotel, regardless of price, the glasses were simply rinsed out and left for the next guest. Some hotels used [...]

Bush On Iraq

Just stumbled upon what must be my “quote of the day” for today.  Courtesy of George W. Bush, we find out that it’s another “mission accomplished” in Iraq.  Freedom is theirs! I think we have a bit of “cart before horse” going on here.  Again.

Bush: If I Were Iraqi, I’d Be Saying, ‘God, I Love Freedom’

This afternoon, President Bush held a joint press conference with French President Nicholas Sarkozy. A reporter asked Bush where he stood “on Iraq and your domestic debate on Iraq,” and whether he had a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops. In response, Bush insisted that “freedom’s happening” and Iraq isn’t in a “quagmire”: I don’t — you [...]

Looking Ahead To Tomorrow

More hearings on torture and waterboarding.  Here’s some tough talk from one of those called to testify.

Ex-Navy Instructor Promises to Hit Back If Attacked on Torture

Malcolm Nance, good-spirited though he is, is a pugnacious guy. Nearly 20 years’ service in the Navy, including time instructing would-be Navy SEALs how to resist and survive torture if captured. Intelligence and counterterrorism expert. Several years in Iraq as a security contractor. So don’t expect him to suffer in silence if his credibility is attacked during testimony to a House panel tomorrow about his personal experiences with waterboarding. “God forbid if there’s even the slightest hint about my credentials,” Nance says over [...]

Here’s a hint at what’s ahead…Nance has been waterboarded.  Nance says it IS torture. Some will not like what he says.

Election Priorities

The economy has vaulted into first place in the list of hot election topics.  I believe the Iraq War has pretty much had a lock on that, up until now. Or health care.  That’s what $3.00/gallon gas will do for ya’!

It’s the economy.

A new CNN poll reports that the economy is the “number-one issue on the minds of Americans.” 82 percent said the economy will be extremely or very important to their vote for president, two points ahead of those who cited the Iraq war. Rounding out the top five were: health care (76 percent), terrorism (76 [...]

About the economy, just in case you weren’t paying attention today..

The Dollar is in Freefall

A friend sent me a simple email message this morning: HAPPY WEDNESDAY!! DOLLAR NEW LOW… OIL NEW HIGH… GOLD $850 For the first time in my lifetime (I think) the Canadian Dollar is worth more than the American Dollar. Somehow I think that is the type of thing that will resonate with low information voters…particularly in the northern border states. It strikes at our national prestige. Over at Daily Kos, London Yank points out that the grim reality: “The US dollar has now lost more than a third of [...]

So, I guess this really doesn’t make all that much difference, does it?  Nah…..

“7 Countries Considering Abandoning the US Dollar”

Leslie just e-mailed this to me, and I thought I’d toss this up for your evaluations and discussions. “From CurrencyTrading.net: It’s no secret that the dollar is on a downward spiral. Its value is dropping, and the Fed isn’t doing a whole lot to change that. As a result, a number of countries are considering [...]

And to raise your spirits even more…don’t be expecting gas prices to go down anytime soon.

Oil Prices: It Gets Worse

Oil prices hit a record high of $97 a barrel on Tuesday, but the next generation of consumers could look back on that price with envy. The dire predictions of a key report on international oil supplies released Wednesday suggest that oil prices could move irreversibly over the $100 a barrel [...]

Remember Those Nukes?

The ones that were flown from North Dakota to Louisiana a while back?  It’s always bothered me on several fronts – that it happened and that the government said it was just a mistake.  I’m not comfortable with nukes being transported right over my head.  Former CIA guy, Larry Johnson, isn’t letting the story die..

Are We Preparing to Nuke Iran

More today on the mysterious movement of nuclear tipped cruise missiles from Minot to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana in September. An excellent piece in Counter Punch by Dave Lindorff identifies some key gaps in the story. According to Lindorff: The Pentagon has been stonewalling on my requests for answers to key questions. [...]

A New Low

And, for once, we’re not talking about George W. Bush’s poll numbers.  These are for Hillary Clinton and I’m sure they’re causing some consternation in the Clinton camp…

Rasmussen: Clinton Drops To New Low In NH

A new Rasmussen Poll of New Hampshire voters out today (772 LVs, Nov. 5, MOE 4%,) shows Clinton dropping to a new low in the state and Obama rising to within just 10 points. Here again we see that as Clinton has dropped since late September, Obama appears to have benefited the most. This is the first early state poll to come out since [...]

Chris Bowers broadens the view and looks at what may be happening and what its impact might be.

Clinton’s Downturn: Careful What You Wish For

…In this case, what appears to be a Clinton drop in the polls was largely fueled by the same media machine that, most of the time, happily reinforces Republican narratives as conventional wisdom. The lesson here, I think, is to remember that the corporate, established media is still very good at creating national convention wisdom as they see fit. While in this case that conventional wisdom might make many people in the netroots happy, most of the time it won’t. It is still a powerful [...]

The Fight Over Forced Service

It’s getting ugly over at the State Department.  The big argument remains whether employees can be ordered to go to Iraq, since there aren’t enough volunteers.

Debate Over Forced Iraq Service Continues: Diplomats Trading “Undiplomatic Potshots”

A bitter dispute over forced assignments to Iraq has erupted inside the State Department with diplomats taking decidedly undiplomatic potshots at one another. The latest public salvo came Tuesday with a harshly critical post on the department’s official blog in which a foreign service officer in Iraq skewered those who spoke out against the prospect of ordered tours of [...]

Your Internet Traffic

Just in case you live in some alternate universe where you believe they really wouldn’t want to to monitor what little old you is doing…

Color Of Law: FISA Review, Part I

If this doesn’t make the privacy crowd sit up and take notice — let alone the follow-the-leader “fear-fear-fear” sheep — I don’t know what will.  Via the NYTimes (H/T to dakine): “…In early 2003, Mr. Klein took a tour of the Folsom Street office, where he saw a secret room under construction. By October 2003, he [...]

The Latest Chinese Toy Issue

This one hits Australia, not the U.S., but it’s a frightening scenario…

Australia’s Chinese-made Toy of the Year contains ‘date-rape’ drug

Australian officials ordered a popular Chinese-made children’s toy pulled from the shelves after scientists found it contained a chemical that converts into a powerful “date rape” drug when ingested. Three children have been hospitalized [...]

UPDATE: Just heard on MSNBC that there ARE sick kids in the U.S. from eating the tiny toys.

Putting Your Kids First

There were a couple of key votes in western states yesterday; votes that will directly affect the young people in Utah and Oregon.  In both cases, deep pockets funded campaigns that failed in one case and succeeded in the other.

How to lose with dignity — or not

For a couple of decades, supporters of private school vouchers have insisted that Americans really want public funding for private tuition, but elected officials won’t budge. So, proponents keep putting vouchers to statewide referenda — presumably giving people a chance to get what they want — and they keep losing. Indeed, none of the votes [...]

Those Old Songs

I’ve long been a fan of the music of the 60’s and 70’s.  It’s the music I grew up with and the music I had the opportunity to expose a radio audience to for a few short years in the 1970’s.  Today, the 60’s and 70’s channels are the presets on my Sirius satellite radio (sharing time with CNN and the talk radio channels).  I found the post below fascinating for it’s detail into a chapter from Bob Dylan’s career and for the fact that it comes from the Arkansas-based “Oxford American” magazine.  Via Brijit, here’s the 100 word summary and a link.

Mystic Nights

The story is now a legend: Having just finished Highway 61 Revisited and gone electric at the Newport Folk festival, a creatively stifled Bob Dylan goes down South to record Blonde on Blonde with country session musicians. At the final recording session, Dylan and company roll out six landmark songs in the early morning, changing modern music in just a few hours. Wilentz does an admirable job collecting the accounts of the characters involved, including one from the studio janitor — a struggling musician named Kris Kristofferson [...]

Politics Today

Let’s round up some of the political chatter from today, starting with a rather surprising post from Mark at “Blogs for Bush”.  This is likely the only time I’ve ever agreed 100% with him!

Will Obama Surprise in Iowa?

I was talking to the Mrs yesterday (I do that from time to time, ya know?) and she pointed something out to me – Obama is everywhere on daytime TV. The Mrs works out of a home office and for [...]

Next up, another endorsement.  I’m not sure if it’s a good thing for Rudy, or not…

What Robertson’s Giuliani endorsement means for the race

TV preacher Pat Robertson, himself a former Republican presidential candidate, bucked the religious-right trend and threw his official support to Rudy Giuliani today. Pat Robertson, one of the most influential figures in the social conservative movement, will announce his support for Rudy Giuliani’s presidential bid this morning in Washington, D.C., according to sources familiar with the [...]

Robertson and Falwell: America “deserved” 9/11 [Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall]

As we’ll be discussing more through the day, the Robertson endorsement Rudy Giuliani bagged today is perhaps the ultimate fusion of right-wing religious extremism and war on terror mania. Giuliani’s claim to the presidency is based on his service as [...]

Speaking of Rudy, CNN joined a bunch of pundits in questioning some recent claims.  Rightfully so.

CNN Fact Checks Rudy “Pinocchio” Giuliani’s Cancer Claims

Wolf Blitzer: Elizabeth,tell us what Giuliani claimed and what you’ve learned. Did he get the numbers right? Elizabeth Cohen: Well, according to a lot of the folks we talked to, in fact, all of the folks we talked to, they said he did not get his [...]

And, before we leave you, take note that Obama came out swinging in my old stompin’ grounds of Cedar Rapids, Iowa yesterday..

Please Stow Your 1990s Baggage Underneath the Seat in Front of You

Maybe, finally, possibly, Barack Obama is making those distinctions between himself and Hillary Clinton. Last night at a Cedar Rapids town hall, Obama offered examples of their differences on foreign and domestic issues, criticized HRC’s efforts to reform health care and raised the specter of the old Clinton dramas.  “I believe I can bring [...]

Food Costs

As transportation costs increase, so does the price of food at the supermarket. We’re a household of just two right now, but stopping by the store on the way home is still a downright scary proposition! I can’t imagine a shopping trip to feed a family of four.  Or five. Or six. You know it’s getting bad when you find a blog post like this one – detailing how to get around the high cost of…..BREAD!

What to Do About the Rising Cost of Bread

I don’t know about you, but even the thrift store prices of bread lately have turned it into a luxury item at our house. With bread being such a family staple, and lunch sandwiches being the item of choice to pack for the road and school, this is hitting and will continue to hit family pocketbooks in a big way. Following are a few strategies and resources to help adjust this particular line item in your [...]

Hillary And Blackwater

I haven’t seen any other candidates going out on this limb. You can talk health care, education, environment all you want.  Hillary’s going after Blackwater!

Hillary vows crackdown on Blackwater

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton Tuesday vowed to rein in huge private security contractors like Blackwater in Iraq if she is elected president next year. Clinton slammed the Bush administration for pushing “billions of dollars out of the door to these contractors” during a meeting with supporters in rural Iowa. “We have got to rein them in,” Clinton said. “They have no [...]

Is It Really??

Wednesday?  Are we really seeing the weekend on the horizon? He Haw!!! It feels like an entire week was packed into Monday and Tuesday, doesn’t it?  Too much going on around here.  Lets begin tonight with just a snippet of TV chatter.  Because we can and I want to! By the way, I think this isn’t a bad idea.  Not at all!

Looking Beyond Primetime For Rosie

The NYPost’s Linda Stassi has an idea. If a deal should come to pass, MSNBC shouldn’t put Rosie O’Donnell on [...]

Still Awake?

This’ll give you nightmares.

Crude oil surges to record $97.45 a barrel in after hours

Crude oil for December delivery climbed $0.75 to a record $97.45 a barrel in after hours trading Wednesday, adding to strong gains in the previous session that saw the energy contract into record territory Tuesday. During Tuesday’s session [...]

How About a Bill/Hillary Ticket

Oh, my friends. There are those who say it could happen. Just imagine the ire from the right!

Constitutionally a Hillary Bill Clinton ticket is Feasible but what would it to the Repug’s and the Country?

I am going to take a break from my regular routine of monitoring the daily missteps of Bush and the rest of the world as it slides towards world war. I want to talk again about Hillary and Bill! I remember when Hillary first announced she would be running for President in 2008 I wrote a story wondering if Constitutionally there was a possibility of a Hillary Bill ticket? Think of the implications? I really do not think it [...]