Not to worry. Keep on moving. There’s really nothing to see here…
Bad revelations about anti-cholesterol drug Vytorin/Zetia
Hey, so what if the results were in two years ago and the company didn’t release them until right now, coincidentally right after (the Democratic) Congress got involved. I mean, sure, the drug doesn’t really seem to work (and am I reading this correctly that it may actually make things worse?), but hey, [...]
Tags: Health Care
Categories: Health Care
Our President. He is in the Middle East. How’s the trip going? Well…
Bush’s empty talk on Middle East freedom.
One day after delivering an address in the United Arab Emirates about the need for the Middle East to live in “free and democratic” societies, President Bush traveled to Saudi Arabia to spend a day with King Abdullah at his ranch. Newsweek’s Michael Hirsh notes: “What could not be found on Bush’s schedule was one Saudi [...]
Tags: Bush Administration, Middle East
Categories: Bush Administration · Middle East
Better schedule that Yellowstone vacation this year, if you want any peace and quiet. I want to find new sources of energy as much as anyone, but we shouldn’t have to destroy a forest to do it. They’ll try to tell us that damage will be minimal, and they’ll replace what they destroy. I’m not convinced…
A new poll released today finds that a majority of Idaho voters oppose a Bush administration plan to open six million acres, including areas in Idaho’s Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, to phosphate mining, commercial logging and energy exploration [...]
Tags: Environment
Categories: Bush Administration · Environment
Staggering numbers from Arizona tonight. Here’s the basic question: “Can we ever recover”?
A rising number of Valley residents and businesses threw in the towel last month, filing nearly twice as many bankruptcy petitions in December compared with the previous year. Total filings in metro Phoenix, primarily from consumers, increased 97 percent in December, driven by a [...]
Oh, next door in California? Not. Good. Either.
Southern California home sales dive as buyers exit (lowest in more than 20 years)
Home sales in Southern California sank to their lowest in nearly two decades in December as buyers were sidelined or dropped out of the market because they could not obtain mortgages, according to a report released on Tuesday. A total of [...]
Tags: Bankruptcies, Economy, Home Sales
Categories: Economy · Housing Market
He was featured in our lead post tonight, but he’s b-a-a-a-c-k!
Huckabee: The Constitution Should Be Amended To Conform To The Word Of God
So much for secular government… Now, I understand that Christians believe the word of God (as defined by the various denominations) is the ultimate truth. And I understand that Christians want to incorporate that truth as they see it in our laws. But what we need to remember is [...]
Tags: 2008 Election, Huckabee, Religion
Categories: 2008 Election · Huckabee · Religion
No good news here, I’m afraid. It seems the extended tours in the Middle East are really taking their toll on an increasing number of veterans.
PTSD-fueled murders in the wake of the return home
This story about Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who’ve come back from the war only to commit acts of violence at home is a must-read. The NY Times found 121 cases of murders committed by veterans back from these wars, 1/3 of which were domestic murders, and the reporters suspect this is only a percentage [...]
Tags: PTSD, Middle East
Categories: Afghanistan · Bush Administration · Iraq War · Middle East
From just up the road a bit, Mark Elrod’s doing a great job of making me feel really old tonight. Not that I needed much of a push down that slippery path.
I came to a rather shocking discovery a few weeks ago: by using e-mail to communicate with my students, I’ve placed myself in an almost pre-historic category. I’ve always been proud of the fact that I’ve kept pace with the telecommunications age. I can’t remember ever being intimidated by a piece of [...]
Tags: Technology, E-mail
Categories: Internet
Oh, when the tech folks keep recording during the commercial breaks. The clip in the post below has been circulating the internet today, often accompanied by comments that criticize her for paying attention to insignificant details and for some mild swearing.
Listen, folks. I did that job, on a local level, for 30 years. I hate to think what might be floating around a tape library somewhere, based on my performance on election night. It gets quite tense. What I see here is a quite poised anchor, interacting with her crew, being able to laugh a bit and asking for editorial help when she needs it. That’s not a weakness. True, she probably should have known when the Michigan primary was, but…
Couric Does NH: Al Roker’s Weather, Cindy McCain’s Eyes, and More…
MyDamnChannel’s Harry Shearer got a hold of another series of behind-the-scenes clips featuring CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric. This time during CBS’ New Hampshire primary coverage [...]
Tags: Katy Couric
Categories: 2008 Election · Politics · Television
The hits just keep on comin’.
George Bush has managed to fall to yet another new low in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll. His approval is down to 32 percent, falling just below his previous low of 33 percent. Nixon, Carter, and Truman have had approval ratings lower than this, but Bush is likely to set a new record for [...]
Tags: Bush Administration
Categories: Bush Administration · George W. Bush
Big news today is the economy. A plethora of reports, pretty much universally painting a really dismal picture. It’s enough to make a grown man cry. Really, it is…
Staring into the abyss: Citigroup announced a steep cut in its stock dividend and another big investment by foreign investors on Tuesday after taking another big write-down related to subprime securities and posting a $9.83 billion loss for the fourth quarter. Beginning what is expected to be a grim week for financial company earnings, Citigroup said it [...]
Citigroup Posts $9.83 Billion Loss, But Gets $12.5B Infusion
Citigroup Inc. secured $12.5 billion in much-needed cash and slashed its dividend as a huge drop in the value of its mortgage holdings sent it to its first quarterly loss in 16 years. The nation’s largest bank, which lost $9.83 billion in the last three months of 2007, said Tuesday the value of its mortgage portfolio fell by [...]
Merrill Gets Cash Infusion From Kuwait, Korea, Japan
Merrill Lynch & Co. said Tuesday that it is getting a cash infusion of $6.6 billion from three foreign investment funds. The Korean Investment Corp., Kuwait Investment Authority and Mizuho Corporate Bank will receive a special class of stock for their combined $6.6 billion investment. All will be [...]
‘07 wholesale inflation highest in 26 years
Wholesale inflation shot up in 2007 by the largest amount in 26 years, even though falling gasoline costs allowed price pressures to moderate in December [...]
Tags: Economy
Categories: Economy
This extended timetable makes me cringe. I feel somewhat obligated to state simply, “I don’t think so”…
Iraqi Defense Minister: U.S. help needed until at least 2018
Over the last couple of months, much of the political discussion regarding the U.S. policy in Iraq has been centered around the perception of progress. Civilian casualties are down. Military casualties are down. Political progress doesn’t seem quite as elusive. Iraq 2008 appears more like Iraq 2005 than Iraq 2006. No matter what the specifics [...]
Unless, of course, you talk to a different “official”:
Iraqi officials can’t get their stories straight.
Iraqi officials are divided on when their security forces will actually be able to secure the country. Just yesterday, two Iraqi officials gave two entirely different reports: “Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraqi forces would be ready to take over security responsibility for all 18 provinces by the end of 2008.” – Financial Times, 1/15/08 VERSUS “The Iraqi [...]
Tags: Iraq
Categories: Iraq War · Middle East
Today was rough from the get-go. Both my wife an I left vital things at the house when we sprinted for work today. I made a flying trip back to retrieve them, and dropped her stuff off at her workplace. I guess I’m getting old, but things as small as that throw my schedule off for the rest of the day.
At least I’m not a politician, racing from Nevada, to South Carolina, to Michigan. And, then, getting walloped by bloggers who take delight in demeaning. Not that Huckabee isn’t an easy target, but Michael - enough with the stereotypes already!
Did you see Huckabee at the three candidate pile-up yesterday, otherwise known as the Detroit Auto Show? [...]
Speaking of Huckabee, look what’s making online news tonight:
At the second polling place stop of the morning, Janet Huckabee stockpiled three or four snowballs and started a snowball fight with her husband, Mike Huckabee. She struck first but [...]
Watch, now, as the Right to Life issue starts to play a bigger role for Huckabee haters:
Supporting crisis pregnancy centers, where women are lied to, shamed, guilted, badgered and prayed into keeping pregnancies they can’t afford or that were the product of rape, is just pure contempt for women [...]
Tags: 2008 Election, Huckabee
Categories: 2008 Election · Huckabee
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