This will really speed things up and make the next evacuation more efficient. NOT! I wonder how much they paid some genius to craft this plan!!!
Texas: Background Checks Before Evacuation
During the next hurricane in Texas, evacuees may be subject to criminal background checks. The Houston Chronicle reports that… Texans seeking to escape the next hurricane or state emergency by evacuation bus will first be submitted to criminal background checks, [... ]
Tags: Hurricane, Evacuation
Categories: Hurricanes · Weather
It worked over Thanksgiving, so we’re headed into another round of pro-forma sessions in the Senate. It’s absolutely ridiculous that they have to do this to keep the President from pulling a fast one. Or two. Or three.
30-second sessions to scuttle Bush’s mischief
A month ago, expecting the president to start making recess appointments the moment the Senate broke for a Thanksgiving break, the Democratic leadership announced it would hold pro-forma sessions for two weeks. Sens. Jim Webb (Va.), Byron Dorgan (N.D.), and Jack Reed (R.I.) would stop by the chamber every couple of days, bang the gavel, [...]
Tags: Bush Administration, Congress, Pro-Forma, Senate
Categories: Bush Administration · Congress
Still liking the idea of those fancy electronic voting machines? Look what just happened out in California!
San Diego’s Diebold Election Software ‘Lost In Transit’
Two shipping tubes sent from the California Secretary of State’s office in Sacramento to the San Diego County Election Office arrived without their contents. The tubes left the SOS Office with more than 174 memory chips, or Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), containing [...]
Categories: Electronic Voting Machines
And it comes from Booman Tribune, where they’re not happy with Nancy Pelosi. Oh, boy are they unhappy!
Pick One: Pelosi a Liar or Merely Stupid
Is this statement by Nancy Pelosi a lie, or simply the stupidest thing any politician has said to date this year: “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., admitted Thursday that she had underestimated the willingness of Republicans to stand behind President Bush?s Iraq policy despite the drubbing the GOP took in the polls in 2006. ?The assumption I made was that the Republicans would soon see the light,? she said. Instead, the minority stuck to the president?s war policy in the face of unrelenting pressure from congressional Democrats and powerful [... ]
We’re not happy with the economy? Even though we keep getting told that it’s doing “just fine”? Gee, I wonder why?
Voters “very dissatisfied” with US economy
The GOP isn’t going to like this news. For the Democrats, who offers the best solution for repairing the economy, including health care, which is part of the economic concern? Just a few years ago [...]
Categories: 2008 Election · Bush Administration · Economy
Here’s your “Must Read” from around these parts tonight. The New Republic has a lengthy article, focusing on correspondence between Huckabee and Arkansas Times editor, Max Brantley.
Max Brantley, the editor of the alternative weekly Arkansas Times, has feuded with Mike Huckabee since the presidential candidate first appeared on the political stage during his failed 1992 Senate run. A liberal columnist married to a circuit judge appointed by Bill Clinton, Brantley penned weekly columns antagonizing Huckabee for his staunchly conservative social views, opaque campaign finance disclosures, and acceptance of gifts during his time in office. “Huckabee would believe I covered him obsessively, and he’d be right about that,” Brantley says. In a series of unpublished private letters [...]
Others in the family are getting some scrutiny, too.
Speaking of nice GOP values and parenting and all that stuff, I was reminded of Mike Huckabee’s son David, mugshot pictured on the left, who got a slap on the wrist for bringing a handgun on an airplane (imagine in this day and age, how dense you have to be to bring a gun on a plane) when I read this story about how David in 1998 was a camp counselor and was dismissed for being involved with [...]
Tags: 2008 Election, Huckabee
Categories: 2008 Election · Huckabee
I’ll bet some of you are getting (or giving) cell phones as a gift this year. Right? I’m kind of an old codger – still have a landline at the house. The kids use cell phones exclusively. Maybe we’ll get there. Someday. Just because we care, I’m passing along a Newsweek report that explains -
More Americans are giving up their landlines for cell phones, but new research indicates that there may be health risks associated with long-term wireless use. What’s a mobile addict to [...]
Tags: Health Care, Cell Phones
Categories: Health Care
You know, the local business guy who has a good product and thinks the government could benefit from it. But, he gets aced out by a competitor, with an inferior product, who has inside help.
Merchant Burned by No-Bid Pentagon Buys
From the Seattle Times, which has been doing an investigative series on no-bid contracts and earmarks, “Lawmakers play favorites; local merchant loses out“: Doug Hoschek sells the Army’s elite Special Forces a T-shirt that resists burning — a feature that can save the lives of soldiers under fire. He wanted to sell his creation to the Marines, [...]
Tags: Pentagon, No-Bid Contracts
Categories: Bush Administration · Military
The lies just keep flying.
Mitt Romney claimed “I saw my father march with Martin Luther King”. Except it isn’t true. It never happened. George Romney never marched with Martin Luther King Jr. Mitt Romney, like with almost everything else in his campaign, apparently made it up. Romney’s campaign cited various historical articles, as well as a 1967 book written by Stephen Hess and Washington Post political columnist David Broder, as confirmation that George Romney marched with King in Grosse Pointe in 1963. “He has [...]
UPDATE: See the comment below. This one just may be bogus. My apologies for jumping on board.
Tags: 2008 Election, Romney
Categories: 2008 Election · Romney
Big problem. No solutions. At least not yet.
But We Can’t Cut Back on Bacon!
The implications of this article by Michael Pollan are chilling. In sum, superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics are increasingly common, and since at least 70% of American antibiotics are actually used on farm animals to prevent them from getting sick in the inhumane, crowded conditions of factory farms, the chances are pretty high [...]
Tags: Health Care, Superbugs
Categories: Health Care
Aw, it’s the holiday season. Even grouchy old guys like me can soften up and pay attention to more than just politics. One of the blogs I have in my bloglines account is “Swapatorium“. It’s a fun collection of things found in flea markets, etc and features a lot of old photographs. In keeping with the season, I’m sending you over there, for a wonderful bunch of pics showing youngsters on the laps of department store santas. Enjoy! I’ll steal one, just to get you interested!
Categories: Uncategorized
Ya’ know, 2008 is just around the corner. Whether we’re ready for it, or not. Dave Johnson has been looking at the GOP strategy and thinks he’s figured things out.
The Republican 2008 Plan is Revealed
The Republican 2008 plan is revealed. In this case it plays out with the FEC, but next year the same strategy will play out over the whole government. The Republicans are demanding that the Democrats approve an unacceptable candidate for the FEC or [...]
Tags: Bush Administration, Republicans
Categories: Bush Administration · Republicans
Things are happening, fast and furiously, in Washington – as the speedy spiral toward the holiday break produces action in Congress and in the Bush Administration. It’s tricky to keep up with, but TPMmuckraker is trying.
We all can get along. At least for the time being. After the House intelligence committee threatened to issue subpoenas yesterday, the Justice Department backed down. Now the CIA will begin forking over documents relating to the destruction of the torture tapes, and the committee will hear from [...]
Tags: Bush Administration, CIA, Torture
Categories: Bush Administration · Torture · Waterboarding
Okay, let’s try to keep up with the numbers coming out Thursday. Just click ‘em and read ‘em.
Democrats in Dead Heat in Iowa (CNN/Opinion Research Poll)
NBC/WSJ Poll: Rudy Falls Into Tie With Romney
Rudy is fading fast. Republicans voters aren’t loving the Republican candidates.
Another Iowa Poll Shows Deadlocked Race
That should be enough to tide you over!
Categories: 2008 Election
There’s a new report out on how the Iraq War is going, from a U.S. Perspective. The conservative bloggers are jumping for glee, taking note of the positive reports that violence is down and al Qaeda in Iraq seems to be in a bit of disarray.
That’s all true. And General McCaffrey details his sources for the optimistic reports. I don’t doubt them. However, as you read deeper into the report, you find that our troops are too small in number, too poorly outfitted, to continue at the present level. That’s appalling. Our troops are at the surge level. And he’s saying we STILL don’t have enough. That only supports the contention of many that we went into the war horrendously undermanned and underequipped.
Yon: The General Barry R. McCaffrey Report
Michael Yon has posted a copy of a strategic assessment of security operations in Iraq, and the news is very good indeed: General Barry R. McCaffrey Report [...]
Tags: Iraq
Categories: Bush Administration · Iraq War
They’re getting set to tear down some public housing in New Orleans. Seems a bit strange, considering how strapped the place is for housing. Looks like the natives weren’t happy, either. Could the response to Hurricane Katrina have been any worse? And, more importantly, why are they still dealing with it two years later?
Police Clash With Protesters in New Orleans
Police used chemical spray and stun guns Thursday on protesters seeking to halt the demolition of public housing tried to break through an iron gate at [...]
Tags: Hurricane
Categories: Bush Administration · Hurricanes · Weather
We’re staring another TGIF in the face already. Where did this week go?!?! Your loyal blogger is stretching the holiday weekend by an extra day, so you’ll likely see a bid drop in posts for a few days. I’ll try to scrape up a few minutes along the way to check on things. Actually, we’re spreading the celebrations out over four days, to accomodate both kids and their respective schedules. That means it’s actually going to be quite low-key this year. At least, that’s the way I envision it right now. We’ll see. Of course, that assumes that we’ll get the last of the decorations up tomoorrow and finish buying gifts. T’would be nice, if it actually worked out that way. Any bets? HO! HO!
Hate to start things out with a downer tonight, but Scott Ritter is a man who should be heard. He’s the former head weapons inspector in Iraq. What’s he think about Iran? He’s not optimistic..
The Truthdig columnist (and WMD expert) warns that war with Iran could be inevitable, despite the National Intelligence Estimate report that says Iran dismantled its nuclear program in 2003. Bush, Ritter argues, doesn’t let facts get in the way of what he [...]
Tags: Iran, Nuclear Weapons
Categories: Iran
Hillary and company seem to have a bright, shiny, gift all wrapped up and ready to send your way. Of course, they consider it a gift to the people of Iowa and the other early states. We wouldn’t want to get down and dirty in this campaign, would we?
Report: Clinton readies web attack on Obama
The Swamp has learned that ABC News has learned that the Clinton campaign is readying to let the world know (especially those parts called Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina) that Sen. Barack Obama sometimes voted “present” when hard votes were taken in the Illinois Senate. Here’s the top of ABC News’s report: [...]
Tags: 2008 Election, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
Categories: 2008 Election · Clinton · Obama
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