jebbypal

Eliot Spitzer on why he and other US governors are suing the Bush Administration. I'll give you a hint: SCHIP veto.

Breast feeding a food allergic baby

Teenage girl beaten, expelled, and arrested.. All for not cleaning up a dropped piece of cake to a security guard's satisfaction. When her mother complained, she was arrested and suspended from her job with the school district. here's video. One of the students that filmed w/ his camera phone was also beaten and arrested.

Republicans boycotting MSNBC??

news trickles out of burma. Caution - there is a very disturbing image when you follow the link (the result of a student protester being beaten to death according to the source). Also, there are unverified reports from people calling out of the country that injured protesters were later burned in a crematorium.

A review of the book Letters to the Next President: What We Can Do about the Real Crisis in Public Education Can I just say how glad I am that I graduated before NCLB came into effect? (or the tests required to "graduate" for that matter).

Most likely useless, but a few stories are being presented in the media and the Democratic national radio address putting a human face on what will happen when if Bush vetoes the SCHIP bill. Also, turns out Bush is also cutting the National Cancer Institute's funding. So just remember, if you aren't rich, or make more money than it takes to be covered by Medicare/aid, Bush and his compassionate conservatism don't care if you live, die or suffer. And the next time you hear a Republican tell you that Universal medicine is BAD because you'd have to wait in line to receive life saving treatment, ask when was the last time you didn't have to wait to see a specialist you were referred to? Or when the first question out of the mouth of a new doctor that you wanted to take you as a patient wasn't "And what insurance do you have?"

As a result of all the inquirees into its operations in Iraq, Blackwater has put on hold all of its new projects.

McCain thinks the constitution establishes the US as a "Christian" nation. And moreover that

Q: Has the candidates’ personal faith become too big an issue in the presidential race?

A: Questions about that are very legitimate.... And it's also appropriate for me at certain points in the conversation to say, look, that's sort of a private matter between me and my Creator.... But I think the number one issue people should make [in the] selection of the President of the United States is, 'Will this person carry on in the Judeo Christian principled tradition that has made this nation the greatest experiment in the history of mankind?'"

Q: It doesn't seem like a Muslim candidate would do very well, according to that standard.

A: I admire the Islam. There's a lot of good principles in it. I think one of the great tragedies of the 21st century is that these forces of evil have perverted what's basically an honorable religion. But, no, I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles.... personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith. But that doesn't mean that I'm sure that someone who is Muslim would not make a good president. I don't say that we would rule out under any circumstances someone of a different faith. I just would--I just feel that that's an important part of our qualifications to lead.

Can I just interject something here? Seriously, if you are running for PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, one of your handlers should sit you down at a table and make you read the entire Constitution (or read it to you if you know, you graduated from college witha C average). Furthermore, they should then make you memorize the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. And anyone that actually wants to really come across as the intelligent candidate? They should go and take a sixth grade civics class if they can't remember little details like the fact that our constitution does not establish us as a Christian Nation!!!!!!

In the meantime, NY Times coverage of Hillary Clinton has devolved to an analysis of her laugh cackle.

Okkkkaayyy...Taliburn refuses to negotiate with Karzai as long as "foreign troops are in Afghanistan". Karzai had offered to meet with the Taliban leader [Omar] and give militants a government position. Okay, so our handpicked Bush-friendly, former oil-exec president of Afghanistan is willing to let the Taliban back into the government mere years after they were deposed? Sounds like Iraq isn't the only place where we're still fighting a war...

Judge rules two provisions of the patriot act unconstitutional Of course, you know the government is appealing.

Another judge quashes two RIAA subpoenas in campus file sharing case

And in another bit of judicial good news, Louisiana Gov Blanco says prosecutor has decided not to pursue an appeal of the State Appeal's court verdict that Mychal Bell's (of the Jena 6) conviction be set aside.

New Hampshire Democratic presidential debates.

In Bangladesh, rising sea levels and continual seasonal flooding is making Waterworld a reallity.

Oh man...this is just too horrible: S. African bishop is claiming some European condoms tainted with AIDS. (Because you know, not using them has been so helpful to the epidemic.) he even goes farther to implicate the pharmaceutical companies in the conspiracy to kill the African people by saying that "I also know some companies who are manufacturing anti-retroviral drugs already infected with the virus".

Sorry I've been so lax on this, but it's not quite the same when I can't blog it when I see it. Finding the energy to go back and get links I've seen at work is a tad hard sometimes.


So, the SCHIP bill passed, but 24 house (republican) votes short of veto proof majority. And no one's quite sure why Bush is against the bill when even the insurance industry, anti-women's choice groups, and religious organizations are for it. Well, except for you know, the whole evil thing.

Blue Cross of Kansas City says that a miscarriage = an elective abortion.

Presidential candidate Brownback would require ultrasounds before anyone had an abortion.

And abusive boyfriends that actively try to get you pregnant.

One pool boy's insight into the super rich (ie, the former president's pool boy)

Newt continues to make noises about running for Prez.

Baiting Iraqis. Almost as fun as baiting bears. You know, every single news article about this war just goes to show that no one in the military or politics seems to have learned ANYTHING from Vietnam. Pandagon makes the obvious correlation that when people have nothing, they'll pick up any scrap to see if it's worth selling.



Gardisil protects against more HPV strains than what it contains.

And now for a laugh, Mitt Romney thinks Bush restored integrity and dignity to the White House.

Biofuels are not quite as carbon neutral as some would have you believe

"Just growing corn requires expending energy – plowing, planting,fertilizing, and harvesting all require machinery that burns fossilfuel. Modern agriculture relies on large amounts of fertilizer andpesticides, both of which are produced by methods that consume fossilfuels. Then there's the cost of transporting the corn to an ethanolplant, where the fermentation and distillation processes consume yetmore energy. Finally, there's the cost of transporting the fuel tofilling stations. And because ethanol is more corrosive than gasoline,it can't be pumped through relatively efficient pipelines, but must betransported by rail or tanker truck."
...

"Intensive harvesting erodes soil; massive use of fertilizerscontributes to the eutrophication of rivers and lakes and the reductionof fish and aquatic life habitat; widespread use of pesticidescontaminates water and soil; and extensive irrigation for cornmonoculture depletes water resources."

Plus, remember, the push for biofuels (at least in the US) isn't being driven by market forces. Because the corn farming lobby has never met a subsidy it couldn't increase (and these aren't your mom and pop farms either. Corn farms are almost exclusively commercial and I haven't seen any gasoline marketed as "organic" yet, have you?).

"Left on its own, the market in time would find a balance between foodand fuel production. As it is, the billions in subsidies areencouraging a dramatic rise in biofuel production that would nototherwise occur. "This is partly why the UN food agencies are worried.Too much biofuel is coming to the market too quickly and the casualtiesmight be the poor who can't afford the sharply rising food prices."

AG gonzo back up before the senate judiciary committee today.

Too bad the skit would be funny with just that script.

And for those of you who may be interested:
current bill in the senate would force top 25 piracy colleges to adopt anti p2p tech and report all violators to the RIAA

via twistedchick (who has a lot of goodies on her post today, but I'd previously posted several of the links):

More on the main stream media's continued attacks on John Edwards

as to why this is important:

The 2000 election was close enough that any number of things can fairly be described as having made the difference. But what Bob Somerby describes as the media's "War Against Gore" was undoubtedly one of the biggest factors in Bush's "victory." The contempt many political reporters felt for Gore is clear, as is the inaccurate, unfair, and grossly distorted coverage of Gore that decided the campaign. And, again, you needn't take my word for it: Bob Somerby, Eric Alterman, Eric Boehlert, and others have chronicled the acknowledgements by working journalists of their colleagues' hate for Gore. Jake Tapper described reporters "hissing" -- actually hissing -- Gore. Time's Eric Pooley described an incident in which a roomful of reporters "erupted in a collective jeer" of Gore "like a gang of 15-year-old Heathers cutting down some hapless nerd."

(I apologize for formatting errors --- Semagic keeps doing something funky when I cut and paste).

It's only extinction - lighten up

We learned in Civics class that Congress holds the power of the purse. The real question is, is the Department of the Treasury a part of the unitary executive. (You know the one. The unitary executive the Cheney ain't a part of).

Go ahead and Smoke. It's for the children. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

More than you ever wanted to know about Bush's .... insides. I can't say it. I just can't. *grabs bottle of brain bleach*

And guess which former Grey's Anatomy star had another sit down with Billy Bush....

Well, someone in the Bush administration got a heart. Here's hoping he can teach the rest of the Bushies the meaning of the word "sympathy" and "empathy" and "every life means something even if it's not an embryo."

Did you hear anything about the attacks in early July that shut down power in Mexico to 1,200 businesses?

Long live the constitution United States under Bush.

Bush's magical shield

dknightshade mentioned it, but I found a good picture to go with it. Tomorrow, add a few thoughts for the well being of the USA because Cheney will be the one in power for a couple of hours.