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| Tuesday, February 7th, 2006 | | 7:08 am |
the Alberto Gonzales hearings...
Howie Kurtz on the media coverage... The cable nets all made a great show of 'covering' the Senate Judiciary hearing by carrying the AG's opening statement, then maybe a question or two from Arlen Specter. Then they trotted out their legal analysts to talk about the meaning of the hearing, which by then must have been eight or nine minutes old. The hearing became video wallpaper as the cable talkers talked. They never even got to Pat Leahy, the panel's top Democrat, meaning that only Republican voices were heard. Gonzales essentially got a free ride.Then everyone moved on to other subjects. MSNBC went back to the hearing for a couple of minutes but thought better of it. We had CNN looking at Fall Fashion Week, Fox ginning up a debate on Ken Mehlman calling Hillary angry, and MS doing a 'Massachusetts Murder Mystery.... But they couldn't even be bothered with dipping in and out of the first attempt on Capitol Hill to hold the administration accountable for its domestic spying program. Instead, we had the appearance of coverage, and even that didn't last long.found this at AmericaBlog | | Monday, February 6th, 2006 | | 7:08 am |
| | Friday, January 27th, 2006 | | 1:29 pm |
How insurance companies view health problems...
The outrage of the week comes from a presentation from an executive with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina to a legislative committee studying the cost of health insurance. BCBSNC Vice President John Friesen told the committee that lifestyle is the biggest driver of rising health care costs. Friesen listed obesity, tobacco use and depression as the major cost items in the lifestyle category and said that 7 of the top ten prescription drugs that Blue Cross pays for are related to lifestyle. Apparently, Blue Cross believes that mental illness is a lifestyle choice. People can choose to exercise and they can choose not to be mentally ill. That may come as surprising news to individuals and families devastated by mental illness, including depression. Folks should just choose to feel better, just like they should choose not to be poor.above quote from Facing SouthI bet this guy is one of those who continue to insist that gays are gays only because they choose to be gay. That's a lifestyle choice too... in their eyes. It's funny how people can be so blind. | | Thursday, January 26th, 2006 | | 10:02 am |
| | 9:46 am |
| | Monday, January 23rd, 2006 | | 11:59 am |
about fair use...
New Senate Broadcast Flag Bill Would Freeze Fair UseYou say you want the power to time-shift and space-shift TV and radio? You say you want tomorrow's innovators to invent new TV and radio gizmos you haven't thought of yet, the same way the pioneers behind the VCR, TiVo, and the iPod did? Well, that's not what the entertainment industry has in mind. According to them, here's all tomorrow's innovators should be allowed to offer you: "customary historic use of broadcast content by consumers to the extent such use is consistent with applicable law." Had that been the law in 1970, there would never have been a VCR. Had it been the law in 1990, no TiVo. In 2000, no iPod. Go read the whole thing... | | Friday, January 13th, 2006 | | 12:26 pm |
about Alito and guilt by association...
Senator Graham is on CNN right now talking about how Judge Alito is being accused of bigotry using "guilt by association" simply because he belonged to an organization that may have said some bad things. Well, here's a newsflash Senator Graham. When an organization is formed expressly to kick women and minorities out of your university, and you join that organization, pray tell what else are we to conclude? That David Duke joined the Klan because they have great bake sales? Because the chicks are hot? What exactly is your point, Senator? This is why the GOP doesn't get bigotry. They think bigots hang out in white hoods with burning crosses in their front yards. Some do, but most don't. And to suggest that it's only guilt by association when you choose to join a group whose main purpose is to embrace and promote bigotry, then you render the definition of bigotry meaningless. And in any case, it's always enjoyable to hear a southern Republican lecture the rest of us on the meaning of bigotry. from AmericaBlog | | 9:32 am |
Beachboys at William and Mary for Kaine
Down in Virginia — fun, fun, fun — the Beach Boys play at the inaugural concert of Gov.-elect Tim Kaine (D-VA) at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg. On Saturday, Kaine becomes the first governor of the Old Dominion to be sworn into office in Williamsburg, VA since Thomas Jefferson. | | Monday, January 9th, 2006 | | 9:34 am |
Create an e-annoyance, go to jail
Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.A new federal law states that when you annoy someone on the Internet, you must disclose your identity. Here's the relevant language. "Whoever...utilizes any device or software that can be used to originate telecommunications or other types of communications that are transmitted, in whole or in part, by the Internet... without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person...who receives the communications...shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both." | | Saturday, January 7th, 2006 | | 1:06 pm |
about a good man's passing
This from the LeftCoaster... A Hero and a ToadyA real American hero died yesterday. It was 1968. Lt. Calley and his troops were raping and killing the peasants in the village of My Lai, South Vietnam. The pilot of a US helicopter, Hugh Thompson Jr., couldn’t believe the scene he and his crew witnessed from the air. Thompson set his bird down on the ground in between defenseless Vietnamese women, children and old men and a murderous gang of American soldiers. He demanded that Calley and his men put down their weapons or Thompson and his crew would open fire on them. He then rescued the wounded in My Lai and took them for medical treatment. Thompson stopped the carnage that day, but not before “America’s finest” had killed 500 people in cold blood. A real American hero died yesterday. At the age of 62 in a VA hospital in Louisiana. Too young. Too unknown. A man who knew the difference between right and wrong down to the core of his being. A man who needed no official regulation to tell him that an unlawful order should never be obeyed. A man that needed no regulation from Congress that prohibits torture of civilians and prisoners in a time of war. A real man that didn’t hesitate to stand up to gun wielding bullies engaged in slaughtering hundreds of people. Thompson had the right stuff that we embrace in our movies, but in real life, we don’t much like real men, whistleblowers that attempt to put an end to the despicable actions of the powerful in our institutions. In real life we prefer to ignore the Thompsons and celebrate powerful toadies, pretending that they possess the character of a hero without ever having exhibited heroism. From My Lai to the UN, Colin Powell demonstrated that he is nothing but a toady. That cares not for others but only for himself. That exemplifies what is so very wrong with America in the 21st Century. | | 8:23 am |
about corporations...
An Air That Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana Uncovered a National ScandalWe have government regulations because companies are not to be trusted. Their interest is, for most large corporations, profit and share price, not the health and well-being of their workers of the communities in which they do business. As we witnessed in the West Virginia mining disaster this week, a hands-off approach by government can be deadly. And this intrepid journalistic unraveling of the deadly tale of Libby, Montana, is further proof that we are all at risk when large companies are let run loose. This is really a tale about corporate murder, corporate greed, and corporate evasion of responsibility. The publisher describes "An Air that Kills" as "the horrifying true story of the decades-long poisoning of a small town and the definitive exposé of asbestos in America -- all told by the prize-winning journalists who broke it. | | Thursday, December 22nd, 2005 | | 4:50 pm |
| | 2:48 pm |
PCs vs Macs
"PC User's Lament"by Vern Seward (Sung to the tune of 'Let It Snow') I use a PC and I'm a-frettin' cuz viruses my box is a-gettin' Now all I can say is, "Oh No!" Windows Froze! Windows Froze! Windows Froze! I was in Project and was a-peckin' on a big contract I was a-workin' Now nothing on my screen will go! Windows froze, Windows froze, Windows froze! When I tried to reboot it crashed and I got a fatal error. Now all the stuff that I did is trashed, And I got to start all over! Well, I got a deadline that's a-loomin' or pink slips will soon be a-bloomin'. If I'd done this on a Mac I'd be through! Wish I knew, wish I knew, wish I knew. http://www.macobserver.com/colum.../ 20051222.shtml | | 8:20 am |
2005 events you want to forget...
A great roundup from Arianna.My favorites... Judy Miller, Bob Woodward, Viveca Novak: The Three Media Stooges of PlamegateThat there is a debate about whether waterboarding is actually torture. The passage of the morally bankrupt bankruptcy bill. Bush strumming his guitar, Condi taking in Spamalot, and Cheney shopping for luxury digs -- all while New Orleans flooded. That Bush waited five days before visiting the Gulf following Katrina. And that once he got there, he joked about his hard-partying days, congratulated Mike Brown on doing a "heck of a job," and promised to rebuild Trent Lott’s house. | | 7:55 am |
Bush arrogance regarding FISA...
Atrios gives us the shorter version.Clinton said there's no law covering this so we can do this. Congress passes law covering such circumstances. Clinton administration (presumably) follows law and never claims they have the right to not follow the law. Bush administration situation covered by existing law. Decide they don't want to follow it. Realize Congress won't change law to make them happy. Decide they have Divine Right to explicitly break law. Gives speech saying how proud he was to have broken law. There is a civil liberties issue, and we can have that debate too, but this is about President Bush willfully and intentionally committing multiple felonies. | | Wednesday, December 21st, 2005 | | 8:36 am |
apostrophe lesson...
From Arianna's Huffington Post... It's really not that complicated. To make a word plural, you simply add an "s" (ropes). To make the word possessive, you add an apostrophe and an "s" (rope's). To make a plural noun ending in "s" possessive, add only the apostrophe (ropes', states' rights, the girls' toys, etc.). Of course, apostrophes are also used for contractions like can't, he's, won't, and it's. My biggest beef, though, is with the erroneous use of apostrophes to pluralize acronyms and abbreviations like CEOs, GIs, and CDs. The rule is: If there is more than one CEO it's "CEOs" -- no apostrophe. If an individual CEO possesses something -- and you can bet the farm he does -- it's "CEO's," as in "the CEO's $125 million dollar yacht, paid for by company shareholders." And if those execs jointly possess something, then it would be CEOs', as in "the targeted CEOs' lushly appointed offices were raided by SEC investigators at roughly the same time." | | Tuesday, December 20th, 2005 | | 10:16 am |
Now here's something that should be shared widely...Today, Rockefeller released the sealed letter he wrote in July 2003, and criticized the administration for claiming that its briefings with members of Congress on the spying program constituted anything resembling “oversight”: For the last few days, I have witnessed the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General repeatedly misrepresent the facts. The record needs to be set clear that the Administration never afforded members briefed on the program an opportunity to either approve or disapprove the NSA program. The limited members who were told of the program were prohibited by the Administration from sharing any information about it with our colleagues, including other members of the Intelligence Committees. | | Sunday, December 4th, 2005 | | 9:49 am |
| | Thursday, December 1st, 2005 | | 8:58 am |
another Bush lie...
about Iraqi security forces.TIME Magazine reporter Michael Ware, who is embedded with the U.S. troops in Iraq who participated in the Tal Afar battle, appeared on Anderson Cooper yesterday. He said Bush’s description was completely untrue: I was in that battle from the very beginning to the very end. I was with Iraqi units right there on the front line as they were battling with al Qaeda. They were not leading. They were being led by the U.S. green beret special forces with them. | | Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005 | | 10:01 am |
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