Another White House “whoops”. And another changing story.
About that slam-dunk video out of Syria…
Last September, in an incident Bush administration officials have been very reluctant to talk about, Israeli jets attacked a facility in Syria, destroying what was believed to be a nuclear site, created with apparent support from North Korea. Today, the WaPo had a front-page item about an explosive new video that would have a dramatic [...]
Categories: Middle East
We need a little help, folks. Scientific research. Drug development. We’re losing the big battle..
Humans May Lose Battle With Bacteria, Medicinal Chemist’s Research Shows
It may not be an ideal topic for polite conversation, but human beings are swarming with bacteria: Even the average healthy adult plays host to about 100 trillion microscopic organisms. Infection takes place when the bacteria get out of hand. Now, a University of Kansas researcher has penned a history of the struggle between man and bacteria – and warns that humankind someday may lose its advantage. In the March 28 issue of the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Natural Products, Lester A. Mitscher, a University Distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, calls for the development of [...]
Categories: Health Care
Are there any answers? Maybe.
Amid GOP Sniping, Democrats Seek Answers to High Gas Prices
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called on the Bush administration to stop adding oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for high gasoline prices [...]
Categories: Economy
John McCain has been lounging around, staying out of the political spotlight, for some time now. He’s back out there and he’s not very consistent with his message.
On the campaign trail, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) makes a big show of claiming that he is the “worst nightmare” of Congressional spending and that if elected, he “will veto every bill with earmarks.” At the same time, McCain’s campaign has said it will “cut some $160 billion in discretionary spending” out of the budget, [...]
It is, indeed, time to start paying very close attention to what McCain says…
The excesses of water-carrying for McCain
There’s probably little point to arguing that much of the political media establishment is embarrassingly in the tank for John McCain, but the Washington Post has been especially frustrating this week. On Monday, for example, reporter Jonathan Weisman noted that McCain is faring well in national polls because he’s been “branded” an “independent maverick.” Suggesting that [...]
Categories: 2008 Election · Congress · McCain
Like this is gonna happen.
Milbank: Pentagon shouldn’t hide military deaths from the public.
In his column today, The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank details the difficulty the press has when trying to cover military funerals, writing that “the de facto ban on media at Arlington funerals fits neatly with an effort by the administration to sanitize the war in Iraq.” He describes trying to attend the funeral for Lt. [...]
We’re talking about the U.S. airline industry. It’s in trouble. Big time trouble.
Why Congress can’t fix air travel
Thirty years after deregulation, there’s no going back for U.S. air travel — and no going forward either [...]
Categories: Consumer
It continues. With no end in sight.
New-Home Sales Fall to Low Last Seen in 1990s
Inventories rose to the highest point in more than a quarter century as sales of new homes fell 8.5 percent, a far sharper decline than economists had forecast [...]
Categories: Economy · Housing Market
Sticking with the plan, even when it doesn’t work. Why is that smart?
Experts Testify On Failure of Abstinence-Based Education
Reuters notes how the Bush administration continues to back abstinence based education despite evidence it does not work: “Programs teaching U.S. schoolchildren to abstain from sex have not cut teen pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases or delayed the age at which sex begins, health groups told Congress on Wednesday. The Bush administration, however, voiced continuing support for [...]
Those ‘experts’ and their ‘fancy degrees’ can’t teach House Republicans anything
I’ve already done approximately 10 gazillion items about how and why abstinence-only programs — championed by the Bush administration and conservatives everywhere — don’t work, waste money, mislead young people about reality, and undermine public health. This is not another one of those posts. Instead, it’s about Republicans’ reaction to the evidence on abstinence-only programs. Yesterday, for [...]
Categories: Sex
I guess the economy has become an almost-nightly topic around here. Every day I look at the gas gauge i my car, then the sign outside the gas stations on my way to work, and figure I can go another day – hoping against hope that the price might drop a few cents. Not likely. And now we’re seeing this trend:
Gas Prices Drive Motorists to Pawn Shops (Dozens of similar stories across the US)
They’re pawning their possessions for gas money. Jamie Clagett says he’s never pawned anything before but today he has no choice. “Gas is outrageous. I need money,” says Clagett. Clagett says he’s down to a quarter of a tank so he brought in his car stereo and a [...]
Categories: Economy
This is the GOP plan? You’ve gotta be kidding me!
Conspiracy Conspiracy Alert!!! Got an email from a good friend who is heavily involved in politics here in Pa. He says he heard from a couple of lobbyists; If John McCain wins the presidency, look for him to step down within the first 2 years to allow his vice-presidential pick to become president. And this has been the plan of the RNC for [...]
Categories: 2008 Election · McCain
Olbermann and Letterman. Now THAT’S a heck of a combination. And, do you know what? They made sense. Came off as two intelligent, thoughtful, gentlemen.
Olbermann on Letterman: The Priority of Public Campaign Financing
MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann made an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, and the conversation turned to one of the best arguments for how screwed up our campaign process is and how public financing could allow us to put our money towards other priorities. Letterman: [...]
Categories: 2008 Election · Politics
Do you automatically answer? Or do you check the caller ID. If it displayed an 800 or 866 number do you let it go to voicemail? How about “private”? It could be, in fact, coming from overseas. Yup. That’s right. Outsourced debt collection. And the callers know everything about you.
Another growing industry being outsourced to India
While most industries are going to take a bath this year, there’s one industry that’s likely to enjoy explosive growth: Debt collection. The potential profits to be made from debt collection are huge. But is that enough for the companies in this business? No, [...]
Oh, my. Brad Friedman really nails it in this post. It has electronic voting machines and conspiracy theories all wrapped up in one tidy bit of writing.
Hillary Clinton: The Luckiest Woman in the World
Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is the luckiest woman in the world. Just when it looks like she’ll have no chance to become the party’s nominee, extraordinary good news comes her way, just at the last minute. Again. Take, for example, yesterday’s Pennsylvania Primary. For weeks we heard endlessly how she [...]
Categories: 2008 Election · Clinton
Wonder how it’ll be on the campaign trail between Bush and McCain after THIS:
The Caucus: McCain Says He Would Have Responded Differently to Hurricane Katrina
John McCain stood in the lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans and declared that “never again will a disaster of this nature be handled in the terrible and disgraceful way that it was handled.’’ [...]
Also breaking with the preacher..
Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported that controversial pastor John Hagee — whose endorsement Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) had said he was “glad to have” — had repeated in a recent radio interview his contention that Hurricane Katrina was punishment to New Orleans for hosting a gay pride parade. On his campaign bus today, McCain responded to Hagee’s [...]
Categories: Hurricanes · McCain
The weekend, that is. Just around the corner. After yet another round of rain. Enough already! The rivers are full, the lakes are full, the floods continue. We have too much, yet there’s not enough out west, where the Colorado River is low. Where’s the balance?
Politically, I’m beginning to question the Clinton campaign. To “keep on keepin’ on” may be, philosophically, admirable – but it’s just not making much sense, when you look closely at the numbers.
Charlie Cook: For Clinton, “the war is pretty much lost”
Okay, read one more analysis of the current state of play in the Democratic nomination process. This one is from Charlie Cook, who is pretty much the sage for conventional wisdom — in more of a measured, thoughtful, research-driven and fact-based way than say, Mark Halperin or the other hysterical pundits. When Charlie Cook speaks, a lot of [...]
Or, is there still a chance…
Rove let the cat out of the bag: it’s Michigan, stupid: “While all eyes were locked on Pennsylvania for the last six weeks, Clinton was quietly amassing delegates in the Wolverine State. And she was rewarded this past weekend with [...]
Categories: 2008 Election · Clinton
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