Original Signal - Transmitting Politics

The Raw Story

Blogger suspects Prop. 8 judge is gay: Blogger suspects Prop. 8 judge is gay

German Pirate Party gaining members: German Pirate Party gaining members

Agribusiness may kill climate change bill: Agribusiness may kill climate change bill

Blog: July 4 'tea parties' look like a dud: Blog: July 4 tea parties look like a dud

Honeybee mobs smother giant hornets: Honeybee mobs smother giant hornets

Iran gripped by 'climate of terror': Families kept uninformed after mass arrests of opposition leaders.

Mussel plague could hit Lake Tahoe: None spotted yet but just one contaminated boat could change lake forever.

more

Daily Kos

Open Thread and Diary Rescue: Tonights Rescue Rangers are vcmvo2, shayera, noddem, jennyjem, grog, and ybruti while the jet-lagged editor is dadanation. The rescued diaries Username4242 posts great pictures (along with very informative text) of the candidates for Bonus Dinosaur of the Week! My five

Polling and Political Wrap-Up, 7/03/09: I was busy most of the day, but I heard that something might have happened with regard to the 2010 elections. Some sort of a candidate announcement. Might have been a governors race? Perhaps someone here can fill me in....

Top 10 reasons for Palin resignation: Feel free to add your own theories in the comments.

Palin secedes from office. Also.: So Sarah Palin has resigned. From four colleges. From her job with the Oil & Gas Commission. And now finally, from her job as governor. Highly unusual for someone once so determined to climb the political ladder that she stayed

The Worst Health Care Reform Money Can Buy: This will shock you, I know, but corporate interests have signficiantly outspent consumer groups in the health care reform debate. In the first three months of 2009, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has spent more money on lobbying since

Cheers and Jeers: Mutton and Hard Cider Friday!: From the MASSACHUSETTS-ANNEXED FRONTIER TERRITORY OF MAINE... The Declaration of Independence: Brittle Parchment of Liberty If you are going to sever ties to your Commonwealth through bloody struggle, it is considered polite to write down why. Nobody wants to get

Move over Mark Sanford...: Meet the GOPs newest favorite wingnut from South Carolina, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint: DeMint Supports Honduras Military Coup Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has come out in support of the military coup in Honduras, chastising President Obama in a statement for

Late Afternoon/Early Evening Open Thread: Coming up on Sunday Kos ... Next week, Presidents Obama and Medvedev will meet in Moscow to negotiate a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Plutonium Page will discuss the treaty and the role it plays in the complicated path to

NRCC gives us a shout out: Every two years, Republicans try this crap. And every two years, people look at each other and say, what the hell is a daily cause? “Tom Perriello’s national energy tax vote was the defining moment of his short career,” NRCC

Palin spokeswoman: "This is a fighting move": A few minutes ago, Megan Stapleton, Sarah Palins spokeswoman, seemed to suggest Andrea Mitchells sources who claim Palin is out of politics, period are wrong: FOX ANCHOR: Was todays presentation from Governor Palin the opening salvo in the campaign for

Mitchell: Palin told allies she's "out of politics, period": Andrea Mitchell offers a different read on todays events than most have thus fair, saying sources close to Palin are claiming that she has told them that she is out of politics, period and that they are free to throw

Sarah Palin resignation -- VIDEO: Celebrate the crazy: You notice at the beginning of the clip, she takes a shot at lame duck governors who take overseas trade missions? As I thought about this announcement that I wouldnt run for re-election, and what that means

TX-Gov: Ronnie Earle moves toward gubernatorial run: Remember Ronnie Earle? He was the Travis County District Attorney who indicted Tom DeLay back in 2004. Former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle inched closer to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor Thursday when he filed a one-page form

Palin to resign as governor: Update (12:50PM) -- America is looking north to the future. Must be running. Update (12:45PM) -- Video of Palins statement just now. Well post it soon, but the birds making noises over her announcement are hilarious. And her claim that

Midday Open Thread: An idea whose time has clearly come: Draft Bachmann. California is busy printing up IOUs. Thats not a messed up budgeting system at all... Gay sex has been decriminalized in Delhi, which is expected to lead to further advances in

FL-Sen: Not very Republican-y of you, Charlie: This isnt how Republicans are supposed to act. Gov. Charlie Crist ran afoul of the state Constitution when he refused to fill an appeals court seat because all of the picks submitted to him were white, the Florida Supreme Court

Weekly Tracking Poll: GOP Takes A Hit--Party of No, or Party of Sanford?: Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 6/29-7/02/2009. All adults. MoE 2% (6/22-25/2009 results): FAVORABLEUNFAVORABLENET CHANGEPRESIDENT OBAMA63 (62)32 (32)+1PELOSI:34 (33)56 (57)+2REID:32 (32)54 (55)+1McCONNELL:23 (24)60 (59)-2BOEHNER:16 (17)61 (60)-2CONGRESSIONAL DEMS:44 (43)49 (49)+1CONGRESSIONAL GOPS:13 (14)71 (71)-1 DEMOCRATIC PARTY:50 (49)43 (43)+1REPUBLICAN PARTY:23 (25)71 (70)-3 Full crosstabs

Something doesn't compute here: Washington Post headline: Sanford Didnt Use State Money For His Affair, S.C. Officials Say From the very same article: He reimbursed the state $3,304 this week for part of an official state-sponsored trip to Brazil and Argentina in June 2008

Recruiting Opportunities At Tea Parties: Gee, what a surprise, via Americablog: White supremacists and neo-Nazi hate groups plan to take advantage of the anti-tax “Tea Parties” set to occur in more than 1,000 cities and localities over the July 4 holiday weekend to disseminate racist

Health Care Friday: Argentinas got a flu problem. “We are facing a grave problem here,” said Dr. Jorge Yabkowski, the president of the Federation of Health Professionals of Argentina. “Hospitals here have very limited capacity to deal with this epidemic.” On Wednesday, emergency

more

Think Progress

Grassley tells constituent: If you want good health insurance, ‘go work for the government.’: During a townhall in Waukon, IA Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was asked by a constituent of his: “Why is your insurance so much cheaper than my insurance and so better than my insurance?” When Grassley struggled to explain the

Did an embezzlement scandal force Sarah Palin to resign?: Max Blumental reports on The Daily Beast that Sarah Palin may have quit her job today because she was trying to avert a major, yet-to-be-disclosed corruption scandal. The gist of the rumor is that an Alaska building company called Spenard

Sarah Palin to resign as Alaska governor.: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) announced this morning from her home in Wasilla that she will not be seeking re-election and that she will be stepping down in a few weeks. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated as Alaska’s

Personal Finance Disclosures Reveal Leading F-22 Defender Phil Gingrey Owns Boeing Stock: Last week, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) and VoteVets Chairman Jon Soltz sparred on MSNBC about reinstating funds for new F-22s. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has called for capping production of the F-22 Raptor, a fighter that has never seen combat

FACT CHECK: The Right-Wing Smear Campaign Against Kevin Jennings: The right wing has a new target: Kevin Jennings, whom President Obama appointed Assistant Deputy Secretary at the Department of Education for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (OSDFS). Jennings has had a distinguished career as a teacher,

Santorum claims liberal justices dissented in Ricci in order to ‘protect’ Sotomayor’s nom(...): On Tuesday, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum discussed the Supreme Court’s recent 5-4 ruling in Ricci v. DeStefano on Frank Beckman’s radio show. The ruling overturned a decision made by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and two other judges on

McCain Draws A Blank When Asked About Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio: Yesterday in an interview with Phoenix’s KTVK 3TV, the local news anchor asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to play a quick word association game. McCain was left tongue-tied and speechless when the reporter asked him to give a one-word response

Media Outlet Refuses To Run Republican TV Ad Filled With Misrepresentations Of Clean Energy Bill: This afternoon, Roanoke television station WDBJ-TV, announced they will be refusing to air a National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) ad attacking freshman Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA), citing factual inaccuracies. The NRCC had been planning to run television ads against Democratic

Why are Palin, Perry and Jindal refusing to talk to Biden about the stimulus?: In a new article, Time’s Michael Scherer describes how Vice President Biden has been aggressively reaching out to mayors on the their use of stimulus money. “My rear end is on the line just like yours,” said Biden on a

DeMint Inadvertently Concedes That Public Health Insurance Option Won’t Take Over The Market: A leading right-wing argument against offering a public health insurance option as part of any health reform initiative is that such a plan would drive private health insurance companies out of the market. The health insurance lobby group AHIP called

Kurtz: Can African-American women objectively cover Michelle Obama?: In his column today, Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz devotes his column today to the question of: “Does Race Play a Role in Coverage?” He readily admits that “no one raises questions when an Irish American male reporter covers

Michael Scheuer: Obama Doesn’t Care ‘About Protecting Our Country’: Earlier this week, former CIA operative and torture apologist Michael Scheuer appeared on Fox News, where he told Glenn Beck (who nodded in agreement), “The only chance we have” to repair our national security apparatus “is for Osama bin Laden

Rove: Obama ‘Has Carried Pre-Packaged, Organized, Controlled, Scripted Events To A New Height’: Former Bush adviser Karl Rove went on Fox News this morning and attacked President Obama’s health care town hall meeting yesterday as “pre-packaged, organized, controlled, scripted,” adding that the Bush administration would never have done something so audacious: ROVE: This

Bolton: ‘Targeted force’ is the ‘only option’ for Iran.: In his third op-ed on Iran in a major newspaper in the last month, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton wrote in the Washington Post today that the time is right for Israel to launch an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities:Iran’s

Bye-Bye Ali Frick.: ThinkProgress recently bid farewell to our dear friend and colleague, Ali Frick. For nearly two years, Ali passionately devoted her energy to delivering consistently interesting, insightful, and high-quality posts for ThinkProgress. Around the office, she was always brimming with exuberance,

Gay sailor found dead on military base in a suspected homicide.: Yesterday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the body of openly gay Seaman August Provost was discovered in a guard shack at Camp Pendelton. A “person of interest” in connection to the suspected homicide is now being held in the

Washington Post reportedly selling health care lobbyists and CEOs access to its journalists, Ob(...): The Politico reports that the Washington Post, for a price of $25,000 to $250,000, is “offering lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, non-confrontational access to ‘those powerful few’ — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper’s own reporters and

Saddam Hussein Considered ‘Security Agreement’ With U.S. To Counter Threat From ‘Fanatics(...): Yesterday, the National Security Archive released declassified FBI reports detailing both the bureau’s interrogations and “casual conversations” with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. According to the documents, Hussein told FBI agent George Piro (one of only a few agents who

ThinkFast: July 2, 2009: The U.S. economy lost a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, according to a new Labor Department report out this morning. Unemployment rose to 9.5 percent, the highest rate in 26 years.“Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply

New Budget Estimate Of Public Plan Proves It Lowers Cost And Covers More Americans: A couple of weeks ago, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a preliminary score of the health care legislation under consideration in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. The bill was estimated to cost $1 trillion over 10

more

Little Green Footballs

Dr. Tiller's Murderer Still Advocating Via the US Mail: According to ABC News, Scott Roeder (the fanatic suspected in the murder of Dr. George Tiller), has been using snail mail from his jail cell to stay in touch with the extremist anti-abortion network: Abortion Doc Murder Suspect Advocates Via

Dr. Tiller's Murderer Still Advocating Via Email: According to ABC News, Scott Roeder (the fanatic suspected in the murder of Dr. George Tiller), has been using the Internet to stay in touch with the extremist anti-abortion network: Abortion Doc Murder Suspect Advocates Via Mail.A man charged with

Onion Reviews Innovative Wearable Feeding Apparatus

Shocka: Palin Resigns As Alaska Governor: Initial reports were that Sarah Palin was planning not to run for re-election, but in a surprise move today she announced she’s resigning as Governor of Alaska.ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks,

Palin Resigns As Alaska Governor: Initial reports were that Sarah Palin was planning not to run for re-election, but in a surprise move today she announced she’s resigning as Governor of Alaska.ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks,

CBS: Palin Emails Show Infighting With Staff: CBS has obtained internal McCain-Palin campaign emails that show a lot of infighting between Sarah Palin and campaign staffers.Internal campaign e-mails exchanged three weeks before Election Day offer a rare look at just how frustrated then Republican vice presidential nominee

WSJ: Franken Stole the Election: The Wall Street Journal’s editors weigh in on Al Franken’s Senate win: The ‘Absentee’ Senator.The Minnesota Supreme Court yesterday declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of last year’s disputed Senate race, and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman’s gracious concession at least

Video: Sarychev Peak Eruption from Space: An incredible 3D image captured by an astronaut in the International Space Station as it passed over the Sarychev Peak volcanic eruption on June 12, 2009.Astronaut photograph ISS020-E-9048 was acquired on June 12, 2009, with a Nikon D2XS digital camera

Iran Intends to Try British Embassy Employees: The Iranian thugocracy is holding three British Embassy employees arrested last weekend during the election protests, and a senior cleric says they are going to be put on trial.A senior Iranian cleric said today that several employees of the British

Russia Allows Afghanistan Flyovers: This is a welcome development, but I’m sure Putin has his own reasons for agreeing to it: Russia Opens Route for U.S. to Fly Arms to Afghanistan.MOSCOW — The Russian government has agreed to allow American troops and weapons bound

Krauthammer: The Ricci Case and Affirmative Action: Charles Krauthammer on The Meaning of the Ricci Case.The major conundrum of the civil rights age remains. The 14th Amendment bans discrimination on the basis of race. But the Civil Rights Act, which bans “disparate impact” discrimination — procedures (such

And Now for a Baby Sumatran Orangutan: This Sumatran Orangutan inflicts its ineffable cuteness upon you, courtesy of ZooBorns.

6 New Personality Disorders Caused by the Internet: The Internet makes people crazy. We all know this.

Major Military Campaign in Afghanistan: A massive military offensive is under way in Afghanistan against the Taliban.NAWA, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. Marines suffered their first casualties of a massive new military campaign Thursday as they engaged in sporadic gunbattles along 55 miles of Taliban-controlled heartland

Pier

The Washington Post 'Salon': Oh brother. The Washington Post was apparently planning to sell access to top Obama officials and other VIPs, at a price of $25,000 to $250,000 a pop, in a “salon program.”The Washington Post has long prided itself on its access

Arab Fists Still Clenched: Imagine my surprise; Barack Obama’s bold new initiative for Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel is getting nowhere.The U.S. administration has not been successful in securing commitments from Arab countries to take steps toward normalizing relations with Israel, a

North Korea Launches Four Missiles: As North Korea continues preparations for a long-range ballistic missile test, possibly this weekend, today they test-fired four short-range missiles that apparently landed in the China Sea.Reports say these were ground-to-ship missiles; this bit of saber-rattling is probably intended as

Sanford: Dog About Town: More of the Mark Sanford story’s leaking out, and it’s just not looking any better for the creationist governor: Sanford, like a man in love, gushes about his ‘soul mate,’ confesses to other encounters.Crying at times and clearly wearing his

God Said, Don't: Joe the Plumber had a chat with the Almighty, and the word came down from on high: “Don’t run for office, Joe.”Asked if he has plans to run for public office, he replied, “I hope not. You know, I talked

more

Crooks and Liars

Open Thread: You wont have Miz Palin to kick around anymore.Click here for larger.Open Thread below...

C+L's 4th of July Late Nite Music Club: Title: Fourth of JulyArtist: SoundgardenChristmas sure has a lot of songs, but 4th of July not so many. This one by Soundgarden is a fantastic slab of total sludge thats buried toward the end of their classic album Superunknown, and

Ode to The Sacred Cow - Proposition 13 - 1978: You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player! clMediaLoader.loadEmbed(8859a7523,audio,dp=2009/07&mid=8859&controller=audio&model=mp3&movieLength=264.307&mediatitle=Proposition+13+reports+June+9%2C+1978&embedkey=&nodelink=http://crooksandliars.com/gordonskene/ode-sacred-cow-proposition-13-1978&lup=1246483704&ar=0.75,300,75); DOWNLOADS: 3 PLAYS: 12 (Gann

Glenn Beck gets all worked up about an obscure French book nobody's reading: You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player! clMediaLoader.loadEmbed(88791aa5a,video,dp=2009/07&mid=8879&controller=video&model=flv&movieLength=427.877&mediatitle=Glenn+Beck+deeply+worred+about+obscure+French+book&embedkey=&nodelink=http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/glenn-beck-gets-all-worked-about-obs&lup=1246641213&ar=0.75,400,336); DOWNLOADS: (0) PLAYS: (0)

Krugman: It's That 30s Show. We Need Another (Bigger) Stimulus.: Krugman was right again. Instead of taking a strong leadership position and insisting on a larger package, Obama played nice with the so-called moderates of both parties (i.e. morons who would sell their own mothers to feed their swollen egos).

Sean Hannity Has the New Republican Party Theme: The Party of the American Dream: You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player! clMediaLoader.loadEmbed(88762266e,video,dp=2009/07&mid=8876&controller=video&model=flv&movieLength=105.144&mediatitle=Sean+Hannity+Has+the+New+Republican+Party+Theme%3A+The+Party+of+the+American+Dream&embedkey=&nodelink=http://crooksandliars.com/heather/sean-hannity-has-new-republican-party-them&lup=1246598950&ar=0.75,400,336); DOWNLOADS: (30) PLAYS: (60)

Geithner Neuters FDIC's Sheila Bair in New Regulatory Overhaul. She Thinks Her Job is To Protec(...): The New Yorker has a great profile of Sheila Bair, the populist Republican whos at the helm of the FDIC. (h/t Riverdaughter)As you may already know, Bair is not well liked by the Wall St. crowd thats running the White

BREAKING: Sarah Palin To Step Down As Governor Of Alaska: From the MSNBC:WASILLA, Alaska - Sarah Palin plans to resign as governor of Alaska in a few weeks, KTUU-TV reported Friday.Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008, made the announcement at her home

Krauthammer voices the Beltway view: Palin is 'not a serious candidate': You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player! clMediaLoader.loadEmbed(8878513a2,video,dp=2009/07&mid=8878&controller=video&model=flv&movieLength=237.717&mediatitle=Charles+Krauthammer%3A+Palin+is+%27not+a+serious+candidate+for+the+presidency%27&embedkey=&nodelink=http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/krauthammer-voices-beltway-view-pali&lup=1246639454&ar=0.75,400,336); DOWNLOADS: (0) PLAYS: (0)

Fox Nation Ad -- Fox News "Great American" Pundits Champion Their "Core Principles": You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player! clMediaLoader.loadEmbed(887518080,video,dp=2009/07&mid=8875&controller=video&model=flv&movieLength=101.986&mediatitle=Fox+Nation+Ad+--+Fox+News+%22Great+American%22+Pundits+Champion+Their+%22Core+Principles%22&embedkey=&nodelink=http://crooksandliars.com/heather/fox-nation-ad-fox-news-great-american-pund&lup=1246594895&ar=0.75,400,336); DOWNLOADS: (70) PLAYS: (422)

Holiday Weekend News Dump: NSA To Monitor Private Networks: Ive been following this issue for a while and was pretty surprised to conclude that the government doesnt have much choice. The way data travels means the entire countrys far too vulnerable to cyberattacks,

Hacker May Have Obtained E-Mails, Threatened Sanford And Mistress: The plot thickens...RIO DE JANEIRO — A television anchor whos the only journalist known to have spoken with South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanfords Argentine lover since news of their affair broke last week said

New Document: It Was Cheney at the Wheel of Plame Media Strategy: Another controversy where the Obama administration is walking in the footsteps of BushCo!I will say here that Im no more optimistic that Hillary Clintons response would have been any different. The nature of power

Juan Williams tries to be a Conservative and Bernie Goldberg has a plan on Affirmative Action: (...): You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player! clMediaLoader.loadEmbed(88729f14d,video,dp=2009/07&mid=8872&controller=video&model=flv&movieLength=141.807&mediatitle=Bernie+Goldberg+suggests+liberal+whites+just+give+up+jobs+to+black&embedkey=&nodelink=http://crooksandliars.com/node/&lup=1246568441&ar=0.75,400,336); DOWNLOADS: (30) PLAYS: (110)

Mike's Blog Roundup: Mock, Paper, Scissors: Can Sanford salvage his book deal? Oh, yes.. Echidne of the Snakes: Hacktackular Howie Booman Tribune: Advice for Harry Reid Corrente: Terminological Interlude Calitics: At the end of this process, somebody will step up to a microphone

The Alternative Protest to Teabag Day: Million Can March: In case you havent heard, the Million Can March is a counter protest to the teabagging protest redux scheduled for the Fourth of July. Good luck wi dat, teabaggers. Since the news cycle is spinning the Missouri legislator who thinks

Leading Candidate To Head Nat'l Young Republican Group OK With Racist Facebook Friend: As weve pointed out before, some people just cant grasp the concept that everything they post on the internet or send in and e-mail can be spread around the planet

Open Thread: CHICAGO – Visitors to the Sears Towers new glass balconies all seem to agree: The first step is the hardest.The balconies are suspended 1,353 feet in the air and jut out four feet

C&L's Late Nite Music Club with Green Day: You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player! clMediaLoader.loadEmbed(8871e5496,video,dp=2009/07&mid=8871&controller=video&model=flv&movieLength=275.426&mediatitle=Green+Day+live%3A+%22Viva+la+Gloria%22&embedkey=&nodelink=http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/cls-late-nite-music-club-green-day&lup=1246567406&ar=0.75,400,336); DOWNLOADS: (0) PLAYS: (18)

The Colbert Report: Al Franken Finally Declared Senator: From The Colbert Report:The Minnesota Supreme Court rushes to declare Al Franken the winner of the Senate race after only seven months.

more

Common Dreams

National Security Experts Grim on Terror War: National Security Experts Grim on Terror War

Study: Prison Population on the Rise: Study: Prison Population on the Rise

Lebanon Slides Towards Civil War as Anniversary of Hariri's Murder Looms: Lebanon Slides Towards Civil War as Anniversary of Hariris Murder Looms

Britain and US: Worst of Wealthy Nations for Children: Britain and US: Worst of Wealthy Nations for Children

US Briefing on Iran Discredits the Official Line: US Briefing on Iran Discredits the Official Line

Doubts Raised on Linking of Iran to US Deaths in Iraq: Doubts Raised on Linking of Iran to US Deaths in Iraq

Korea Deal Marks Big Victory for Realists: Korea Deal Marks Big Victory for Realists

more

Michelle Malkin

A Palin announcement: Lots of heavy media anticipation over a Sarah Palin announcement expected any minute from Wasilla. Read the rest »

Strike of the Sword: Keep our Marines in your prayers as head off for the holiday weekend. Read the rest »

GoDaddy.com celebrates America: Read this post »

1776: A letter from husband to wife: Ravishing Light and Glory.

A letter from husband to wife: Ravishing Light and Glory.

Cap-and-Tax Watch: Protests across the country: Read this post »

Welcome to Obamacare Theater: Read this post »

more

The Washington Monthly

Barracuda: Barracuda I just watched Sarah Palins announcement that she will step down as governor, which was surreal even by her standards. Its hard to pick just one favorite moment, though this has to be on anyones list: Life is too...

Friday's Mini-Report: FRIDAYS MINI-REPORT.... Todays edition of quick hits: * Yesterday, U.S. troops faced minimal resistance in Afghanistan. Today was far more difficult: Taliban insurgents stepped up attacks Friday against U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistans Helmand River valley, forcing troops in some...

Palin to resign: PALIN TO RESIGN.... Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) decided to shake up an otherwise slow news day with an astounding announcement: not only has she decided to skip a re-election campaign next year, shes also resigning from office altogether later...

Quote of the Day: QUOTE OF THE DAY.... Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada. Reid says he expects the tactic of gentle persuasion to work best, given the size of his Senate Democratic flock and the political divergences within it. I dont...

Pondering ratings success: PONDERING RATINGS SUCCESS.... Reader D.R. posed a question via email the other day, and I promised him Id respond online. He asked: I detest Fox News (except Shepard Smith) but why are their ratings zooming so high? They are on...

Relevant facts aren't 'smears': RELEVANT FACTS ARENT SMEARS.... The far-rights obsession with Alan Carlin continues. Today, the Wall Street Journal ran this wildly unpersuasive piece from Kimberley Strassel on the subject. a senior analyst in the EPAs National Center for Environmental Economics...

Friday's campaign round-up: FRIDAYS CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP....Todays installment of campaign-related news items that wouldnt generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers. * In a bit of a surprise, former President Bill Clinton will headline a fundraiser for...

FRC continues to confound: FRC CONTINUES TO CONFOUND.... The Family Research Council, arguably D.C.s most influential religious right organization on social and cultural issues, picks its battles carefully -- and applies its principles selectively. For example, the FRC had closely allied itself with South...

MoJo server trouble: MOJO SERVER TROUBLE.... Many of you may have noticed that Kevin Drums Mother Jones blog seems inaccessible this morning. I talked to Kevin and it seems there was a fire in the building where the magazines servers are located. Its...

A Jesse Helms for the 21st century: A JESSE HELMS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY.... Sen. Jim DeMint (R) of South Carolina yesterday became the first U.S. senator to endorse the military-backed coup in Honduras. He issued a statement denouncing the democratically-elected president and heralding those responsible for...

Hagan hero?: HAGAN HERO?.... Just last week, freshman Sen. Kay Hagan (D) of North Carolina stood as a possible obstacle to meaningful health care reform. Hagan publicly expressed reservations about a public option, and given the current makeup of the Senate HELP...

A roundtable you'll want to miss: A ROUNDTABLE YOULL WANT TO MISS.... ABC News George Stephanopoulos posted an item yesterday, letting viewers know what to expect on Sundays episode of This Week. In addition to an exclusive interview with Vice President Biden in Iraq.... Weve also...

Poorly timed attacks: POORLY TIMED ATTACKS.... I cant relate to the rights hatred of Sen.-Elect Al Franken (D-Minn.), but its hard not to notice the conservative vitriol toward the Senates newest member in the wake of this weeks ruling from the Minnesota Supreme...

A rare consequence for lying: A RARE CONSEQUENCE FOR LYING.... The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) this week launched a new attack ad, going after freshman Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) for his vote to combat global warming last week. Perriello eked out a very narrow...

Thursday's Mini-Report: THURSDAYS MINI-REPORT.... Todays edition of quick hits: * Marines launched a major offensive in Afghanistans Helmand River valley early today, described as the first large-scale test of the U.S. militarys new counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan. * As part of the...

He's not crazy, he's just a little unwell: HES NOT CRAZY, HES JUST A LITTLE UNWELL.... Well, theres a headline South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) probably didnt want to see in his states largest newspaper: Sanfords mental state questioned. While mental health experts are reluctant to pin...

Barton identifies 'Carbongate': BARTON IDENTIFIES CARBONGATE.... Throughout his career, Rep. Joe Barton, the Republican congressman from ExxonMobil, has been something of an embarrassment. Part of the problem is his reflexive right-wing ideology. Another part is his well-deserved reputation for being the most pro-pollution...

The Original King of Irony strikes again: THE ORIGINAL KING OF IRONY STRIKES AGAIN.... Karl Rove cracks me up. Consider what he told Fox News this morning: This White House has carried pre-packaged, organized, controlled, scripted events to a new height, and theyre getting away with things...

WaPo scraps salon scheme: WAPO SCRAPS SALON SCHEME.... When a major national newspaper schedules an event connecting lobbyists and policymakers in exchange for lots of money, theres only so much damage control the outlet can do. In light of this mornings revelations, the Washington...

A pattern emerges: A PATTERN EMERGES.... Times Joe Klein notices that a certain former U.N. ambassador has a preoccupation with bombing a certain Middle Eastern country, and manages to keep finding major newspapers to publish his thoughts on the subject. In the Washington...

more

Wonkette

Obama Lets Puerto Ricans Know He's From An Island, Too!: Silly Barry Obama. He thought he could hop to Puerto Rico and say all sorts of stupid crap without us REAL AMERICANS ever hearing about it, and mocking him. But we have the teevee on our Internet, so...

Ron Paul Was Better As A Libertarian Candidate: Of course the biggest news this weekend was Bob Barr winning the Libertarian nomination for president at the partys craziest convention in a while. For some brilliant on-the-scene coverage, check...

Google, Gobble, We Accept Her, One of Us: Last week Americas Princess Diplomat took a dream trip to the magical land of Google with gaunt diplozombie David Miliband. And look! Its our old friends, the Condi Hand Turkeys, to act as special...

Barack Obama Spoke At Wesleyan!: Here is Your Barry pinch-hitting for Ted Kennedy at the Wesleyan commencement this weekend. He talked about how you should serve your country and have big ambitions. Be sure to watch all the way...

REPORTER BRAVELY EMPTIES POCKETS OF OBAMA'S ...: REPORTER BRAVELY EMPTIES POCKETS OF OBAMAS BODY MAN: When Mr. Obama dropped food on his tie while eating in the car between stops, Mr. Love was ready with a Tide pen. He always carries one, along...

Angry Jim Webb Too Angry To Be Veep!: The name of gun-toting incest pornographer and former Republican Jim Webb keeps coming up when people talk about who will be Barack Obamas vice president, mostly because the nomination of a Sexist...

Bush To Make Short, Embarrassing Appearance At McCain Fundraiser: George W. Bush will appear at his boyfriend John McCains fundraiser in Arizona today. McCain is so proud of Bushs support that the nations 43rd president will appear briefly, in the dark, with a...

How We Are Hungry: Another reason we will all be starving soon: with no more illegal immigrants to pick crops, upstate New York farmers arent planting as much food anymore. Compounding the problem is...

BEST IDEA EVER: While you terrible humans ...: BEST IDEA EVER: While you terrible humans have been out on your beaches and patios drinking Corona and eating ribs, hilarious Clinton lawyer-friend Lanny Davis has been delivering the best Michigan...

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, Suckaz!: The survivalists are getting ready, financial wizard and California congresswoman Laura Richardson nearly lost three houses to foreclosure, Terminator Hillary is now hunting Obama in Puerto Rico, but...

Watch Everybody Freak Out Over Hillary's RFK-Obama Assassination Freakout: The response to Hillary Clintons wacky but Obama might get assassinated like Bobby Kennedy comments has been swift, massive, and hilarious. Or depressing. Swift, massive, and depressing. Or...

More Shocking Video: Hillary Gives Her Instructions: Somebody at Daily Kos just found this shocking video of Hillary making her plans. The man in the chair is, of course, George Stephanopoulos.

JIM GIBBONS DIVORCE INSANITY: America's worst ...: JIM GIBBONS DIVORCE INSANITY: Americas worst governor and alcoholic adulterous sex-assaulter crook Jim Gibbons and his power-crazed wife Dawn are finally getting the divorce everybody always knew...

Scott McClellan Can't Ruin George Bush Junior's Day: The great George W. Bush delivered the commencement address at Colorados Air Force Academy today, the same day that his former hobbit slave was publicizing mean books about him. Here he is this...

John McCain's Biggest Fan: 'Your Name': Ooh looky its another Kustomized Kampaign Trinket for you, the reader! For just $250, you can show the world that YOUR NAME totally supports JOHN MCCAIN. But are there any names or phrases that...

Even Little-Girl Hillary Was A Conniving Monster: We usually dont like to encourage the comedy YouTube jokes because none of them are funny, or its something you can watch on the TeeVee, later, on your sofa or whatever, eating your carry out....

Scott McClellan's A Big Hit!: SEE WHAT EVERYONES SAYING ABOUT SCOTT MCCLELLANS NEW #1 BOOK, GEORGE BUSH JR. MADE VAGUE ERRORS!I would think if he harbored such deep feelings about things he wouldnt have and shouldnt have...

Your Wonkette Is Moving, Tonight!: Hello Peoples! Remember that whole thing about your Wonkette getting a new home, and all that? Well, it is still true — and tonight, Wonkette will suffer the miracle of transmigration. What...

BARRY OBAMA'S RACIST POETRY: "Under water ...: BARRY OBAMAS RACIST POETRY: Under water grottos, caverns/ Filled with apes/ That eat figs./ Stepping on the figs/ That the apes/ Eat, they crunch./ The apes howl, bare/ Their fangs, dance,/ Tumble...

McCain Fundraiser Tour Fails Its Way Through Mormon World Capital: Ever since John McCain pissed all over Mitt Romney in a debate, and even before then, Mormons havent taken kindly to the foul-mouthed, unhandsome, twice-married atheist grumpus. So its no surprise...

more

Talking Points Memo

No Quit in the Hagiographers: BEFORE:Rod Dreher, Dallas Morning News, Sept. 7, 2008:Shes a fighter, this one. And worth fighting for. Come what may in November, we now know what the future of the GOP and the conservative movement looks like.Mary Mitchell, Chicago Sun-Times, Sept.

Meditation for the Day: John McCain and his shrewd judge of character.

Surreality Only Beginning: As David noted below, many commentators have taken little more than an hour to proceed from slack-jawed bewilderment to belief that Sarah Palins unexplained resignation may be a political masterstroke. For the moment theres no clear evidence of or explanation

Shorter Palin: Real Winners Quit: Perhaps the best part of Palins announcement today:Life is too short to compromise time and resources... it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: Sit down and shut

From Crazy to Shrewd In One Hour: At 4:06 ET, when news first broke that Sarah Palin was resigning the governorship, Fox News got Palins Svengali, Bill Kristol, on phone who said he was real surprised by the decision. ou know when I first heard it I

Go Crazy, Folks: Weve rounded up the Top 10 Sarah Palin videos weve posted on the site since her selection as McCains veep last year. These are the most-viewed clips of her stumbles and bumbles and of the coverage surrounding here -- in

Shoe Watch: Any stabs at identifying the other shoe that is certain to be dropping soon?In other news, it seems our Top Seven Sarah Palin Moments of the last year slideshow may need some revising.

Just What She Said: Heres the transcript of Gov. Palins rambling resignation statement.

Nothing Suspicious About That: Andrea Mitchell says sources close to Gov. Palin say she is now out of politics for good.

A Modern-Day Checkers Speech: Watch Sarah Palins resignation announcement here.

First Signs What Happened: Okay, were getting our first indication of what happened. It seems like a colossal sulk on Palins part, or perhaps better to say an effort on her part to ingeniously combine anti-liberal media bias agitation with Christianist politics by portraying

WTF?: At first, the reports were contradictory. But now weve seen multiple reports that Sarah Palin plans to resign her office as governor of Alaska at some point in the very near future. Initially reports suggested only that she wouldnt run

The Day in 100 Seconds: The 4th, Fantastic!: Full-size video at TPMtv.com.

Back to the Drawing Board: In trying to gin up claims that President Obama fired an inspector general for political reasons, Republicans look to have backed the wrong horse.

Not Exactly Matewan: Some sort of brouhaha at a health care roundtable organized by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) at a hospital in Omaha this morning. SEIU claims Johanns staff called the police on the union even though the union was invited to participate.

Wheeling and Dealing: Does Wal-Marts concession on health care reform give it political cover to fight harder than ever against EFCA?

Points for Self-Awareness?: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: Im not very good at twisting arms. I try to be more verbal and non-threatening.(Thanks to TPM Reader RL for the catch.)

Certain Unalienable Rights: TPM unearths important old document.

The Eagles Still Rock: We interrupt the wall-to-wall Michael Jackson coverage for this breaking news: Thriller is not the best-selling album of all time (via former Crawdaddy editor Greg Mitchell).

Episcopalian for STFU: Jon Stewart to Mark Sanford: God killed Michael Jackson to save your ass -- and you gave another interview?!?

more

Power Line

They Won't Have Sarah Palin to Kick Around Any Longer: Not as Governor of Alaska, anyway: Governor Palin announced today that she will not seek re-election and, indeed, will resign her office in the near future. Her statement is here. She isnt retiring, but says she will continue to make

Suicide of the West: Todays sign of the apocalypse, from Great Britain: Prisoners on run cannot be named due to privacy rights.Civil servants have refused to name inmates who have fled prison even though individual police forces will often identify them if they pose

Car of the Future: This IowaHawk video spoofs Washingtons takeover of Detroit. Its pretty funny; we might as well laugh as the bows of the ship sink beneath the waves:Via InstaPundit.

Meet Lieutenant Vargas: Hats off to the New York Times for an inspiring profile of Lt. Ben Vargas, a New Haven firefighter who was one of the plaintiffs--the only Hispanic plaintiff--in the Ricci case. The Hispanic Firefighters Association sided against him and he

Barack Milhaus Obama: What prior administration does the Obama administration most resemble? In its early days, there is a surprising contender: that of Richard Nixon.Helen Thomas sounded the theme in an interview with CNS News that followed a Robert Gibbs press conference:The Following

Ballad of a thin man: Omar Jamal of of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center played a walk-on role when prosecutors indicted Somali pirate Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse in New York. He made contact with family members of the pirates during the hostage standoff and spoke up

While America sleeps: Peter Berkowitz has been spending time in Israel this summer. In Bibis choice, he reports on Israels perception of its choices regarding Irans nuclear program. Berkowitz writes:Conversations over the last few weeks with more than a dozen members of Israels

A Miserable Failure: Thats the Obama administrations stimulus plan, which mainly stimulated Democratic constituencies with great gobs of pork. The web site Innocent Bystanders has done a service by plotting the actual unemployment rate against the Obama administrations prediction of what would happen

Coup are you? part 2: Octavio SÃ¡nchez is a lawyer, former presidential adviser (2002-05) and minister of culture (2005-06) of the Republic of Honduras. His Christian Science Monitor column on the events in Honduras is A coup in Honduras? Nonsense. SÃ¡nchez writes: Sometimes, the whole

Administration, Lobbyist, Journalist: Who Can Tell the Difference?: The news cycle these days is like time-lapse photography. Stories are born, flower and pass out of sight again in a matter of hours. For that matter, the Washington Posts Salon program didnt last much longer than that. Blink, or

Judge not. . .: I was in the car with my parents 40 years ago this month when we heard the news that Ted Kennedy had driven his car off of a bridge, after a night of partying, killing a young woman. My father

Malta was worth a conversion: President Obama has nominated Douglas Kmiec to be the U.S. ambassador to Malta. If the past is any guide, theres a good chance that Malta will soon be described on someones website bio as a terribly important place attended to

Gray skies are going to clear up?: As John shows below, the unemployment numbers released by the Labor Department today provide strong evidence that the Democrats stimulus package has not succeeded thus far in curbing unemployment. Indeed, notwithstanding the Democratic over-promising, it was always difficult to see

Belt-Tightening In Congress: The times being what they are, one would think that Congressmen would make some effort to economize, if only to show symbolic support for constituents who are being laid off. But no: the Wall Street Journal reports that spending on

Saddam Hussein from beyond the grave: The Washington Post reports on an interview of Saddam Hussein conducted by an FBI agent shortly before Saddam was hanged. The former dictator of Iraq said that he allowed the world to believe he had wapons of mass destruction because

Mission Accomplished?: Yesterday, at a townhall meeting in Annandale, Virginia, President Obama declared the stimulus bill a success. Its done its job, he said. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the nations employers, both private and public. This morning the Bureau of Labor

The mother of all personnel disputes, Part Two: The gossipy nature of the dispute between Steve Schmidt and Bill Kristol over the anti-Palin leaks by the McCain campaign last year (and the breezy conclusion to my post on the subject) should not obscure the fact that someone engaged

A Reminder: We are experimenting with a new comment system. If you click on the view responses button, you can post a comment as well as see comments that others have made. Please remember that comments are moderated, and you must include

McCarthy's four questions: In the course of his post on the Obama administrations negotiations with Iran-backed terrorists and the release of a terrorist responsible for murdering American troops, Andrew McCarthy asks four questions: Will no one ask about why we have released an

The underside of the Ricci case: The Supreme Court opinion in Ricci v. DeStefano runs 93 pages including the concurring and dissenting opinions. It is therefore easy to miss the story told in Justice Alitos concurring opinion that lies behind plaintiffs claims. Justice Alitos concurrence makes

more

Eschaton

Even More Thread: Because you wont STFU!

Thread: Sarah Palins lunacy is good news for the GOP, and thats why theyre celebrating.MORE. Bill Kristol: winner! And myself, Im going with Number Four.

Deep Thought: Remember Alaska... America is now, more than ever, looking North to the Future. Itll be good.

Friday Evening Thread: enjoy

Friday Cat Blogging

Watch It Over And Over And Over

Ruins Of The Second Gilded Age: Neat slideshow.

more

THREE HEADED MONSTER

Should Iraq be Partitioned ?: President Bushs position is that partition as a solution in Iraq is a non-starter. Nevertheless, the idea of partition being part of the solution

Kerry gaffe: November gift ?: You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be

Was Benjamin Franklin right ?: Benjamin Franklin is credited with writing: Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and

Would Democratic control of Congress be a good thing or a bad thing ?: The latest polls indicate that the Democrats may take control of the House and also may take control of the Senate. Not since the

The Political Nature of Man: Aristotle once said, Man is by nature a political animal. In the pages that follow we hope to share with you our political thoughts

Gerald Ford 1913-2006: Former President Gerald Ford passed away on December 26, 2006. We would like to take the time to reflect on this man who had

The First 100 Hours: Democratic leaders in the House have promised to pass several items on their legislative agenda in their first 100 hours in power. Potential items

more

AMERICAblog

Banker accepting souls as collateral: He might be out of luck trying to find a soul on Wall Street but fortunately hes doing micro-loans in Latvia. (Wall Street gladly takes handouts from average Americans to maintain their posh lifestyle, so clearly they are as soulless

More hot dogs, fewer steaks this 4th: With fat bonuses and pay increases, it may still be steaks for Wall Street but elsewhere in America its all about the budget cuts.Americans will be throwing more hot dogs and hamburgers on their backyard grills rather than higher-priced meat

"She has told her supporters she is out of politics, period.": Jed caught this clip on MSNBC:I dont care what Andrea Mitchel has been told, Im still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Breaking: Palin to quit as governor of Alaska: What better way to celebrate the 4th of July than to announce that you are quitting. Strange story and there has to be much more to it.Gov. Sarah Palin announced today that she will resign in a few weeks. Lt.

Who do you believe?: Ill go out on a limb and say this former executive is on to something but who knows? Maybe the insurance industry really is like a big cuddly bear that only wants to pass along hugs and would never dream

The Michael Jackson conundrum: Is it just me, or does anyone else feel oddly conflicted about why we continue to praise Michael Jackson as a great entertainer, and mourn his death, when many of us (most of us?) suspect that he was in fact

Public option: $1 trillion. Bush tax cut: $1.8 trillion.: Krugman makes a good point re: the relative cost of fixing our health care system versus George Bushs tax cuts.

Interview with the leader of the Pirate Party in Sweden: Jane Hamsher and I got a chance to meet and interview Rickard Falkvinge, the head of the Swedish Pirate Party. The party is devoted to patent and copyright reform (theyre not big fans of either), and they also focus on

Friday Morning Open Thread: Good morning.Happy 3rd of July. Today is the federal and state holiday. (But, banks are open today, even though many are practically federal agencies.)It should be a slowish news day and weekend. Obama is at Camp David. Biden is in

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer slams bankers repeating bonus culture: Glad to see someone in power has both a spine and a will to force change. Business as usual is not going to cut it though the bankers also know that without more games - gambles and leverage being among

US bank failures up to 52: The Wall Street gang all feel bullish thanks for billions from taxpayers including plenty of free money (well, maybe not Citi because they remain a basket case) but across the country its a different story. Fewer banks is about the

Scottish sheep shrinking due to global warming: Mother nature always knows.The case involves a rare herd of wild sheep on the remote Scottish island - known in Scottish Gaelic as Hirta - that are refusing to bow to conventional evolutionary pressure, which says big is best. Instead,

Deflation?: Krugman says were heading into Japanese-style deflation territory. And, hes got the chart of wage change to prove it. Earlier this year, Krugman told us getting out of a deflationary trap is very, very hard.I dont like the sound of

Code Rose: Reader Dave writes about the code noir:Your post about making DADT more humane reminded me of The Code Noir. Back in the day, slavery as practiced in French colonies like New Orleans was considered more humane than that throughout the

Who wants to try this?: Gulp. Im sure its incredibly safe but yikes, I really cant stand heights. Give me rough seas, bike riding in Paris, eating insects or dodging motorcycles on the streets of

VA TV station won't air GOP ad against Dem. Congressman who voted for energy bill: Remember last week how House GOP leader John Boehner had a tantrum during the debate on the energy bill, trying to filibuster the legislation? Well, that bill has sent the GOP over the deep end. The House Republicans political arm

White Supremacists see conservative Teabagging parties as recruitment opportunity: It ought to give conservatives pause when their only usefulness in politics is serving as a recruiting opportunity for white supremciasts. From the Anti-Defamation League.White supremacists and neo-Nazi hate groups plan to take advantage of the anti-tax “Tea Parties” set

Dana Milbank's employer, the Washington Post, planned "Salons" (at $25,000 a pop) offering acce(...): The Washington Post has completely jumped the shark and lost any shred of credibility. The Post planned to sell access. DC access. Inside access. Remember how sanctimonious Dana Milbank was last week when Nico Pitney asked a question at the

New ad targets Senator Mary Landrieu, who has had taxpayer financed health insurance for most o(...): A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Senator Mary Landrieus history of health insurance. From what I could piece together, the Senator from Louisiana has spent a good part of her life receiving taxpayer financed health care. You know she

Obama deputy campaign manager abandons DOMA & DADT as priorities: The new Obama talking points dont even include DOMA and Dont Ask Dont Tell as priorities any longer.President Obamas deputy campaign manager, Steve Hildebrand, who is himself openly gay, penned a piece for the Huffington Post yesterday that delineates the

more

TPMCafe

Creating Killers: Ten Years Later: Ill never forget the moment, ten years ago this weekend, when I first heard the news. I was winding down after a long week of work, my thoughts drifting to Independence Day holiday festivities, when my cell phone

SARAH PALIN QUITS!!!! This Alaskan Website Has The Story and More: Check out this website. The story is in here. Just start from the top and read in reverse chronological order.

Coming Home from War is No 4th of July Picnic: Ill never forget my Independence Day at war. On July 4, 2003, I was in Baghdad, preparing to return home with my infantry platoon after six months fighting Saddams Army and an insurgency that was just beginning to exact its

Open Thread: Eagles vs. Michael Jackson: David Kurtz asserted on the front page this morning that Michael Jacksons Thriller is actually not the best-selling album of all time - The Eagles Greatest Hits 1971-1975 tops the list. His source? Sales figures from the RIAA.So many readers

Come Clean: One telling moment in Scott Shanes NYT piece on the FBIs 2004 interrogations of Saddam Hussein, just released through the invaluable labors of the National Security Archive, is this FBI summary trying to explain why Saddam wanted to thwart UN

Rosen Redux: Espionage Case Back In The News: Jeff Stein of Congressional Quarterly keeps doing the best reporting on the continuing story. I assume we can expect more including from AIPAC as it fights off Steve Rosens claim that alleged violations of the Espionage Act is just business

Marine Finds Unlikely Reinforcements Online: Nerds: John Hodgman was right. Its the revenge of the nerds in America right now. These past few years weve seen self-proclaimed, highly-influential nerds using the power of online technology to play a huge role in driving public policy, political campaigns

11th Commandment: The Key Difference Between Israelis and Americans: Todays Israeli press quotes Prime Minister Netanyahu as telling 27 EU ambassadors that he was willing to make concessions to the Palestinians but did not want to be a sucker if the Palestinians pocket his concession and give nothing in

America's Effective Unemployment Rate at 18.7%?: Each month, I receive from Leo Hindery an update on Americas effective unemployment rate which includes not only the official unemployment figures but other data points showing off-the-books unemployed or underemployed people.The numbers are staggering and are aggregates of official

Color revolutions and political branding: A guide for the perplexed: The Green Revolution in Iran has its paradoxes-- not least among them the anomaly of seeing young people out on the streets of Tehran in outfits that seemed openly defiant of Islamic dress norms while they also sported a color

The lobby now admits it is a 'sliver,' unrepresentative of majority of American Jews: Months ago I declared that Gaza had cracked the Israel lobby. It did so by causing non-affiliated Jews to at last speak out about Israel/Palestine policy. These Jews had traditionally ceded the foreign-policy turf to their pro-Israel cousins (as I

The White Supremacist in Us: In recent weeks, Americans struggled to make sense of tragic shootings that seemed disconnected at first glance. Anti-Semite James Von Brunn killed Stephen T. Johns, a black security guard at the Holocaust Museum. George Tillers murder a few

The Possibility of an Obama-Chavez Understanding: The media is full of speculation about President Obamas deft deflection against President Hugo Chavez maneuvering and finger-pointing in the Honduras crisis. But another narrative is possible, of an undisclosed new diplomatic collaboration replacing the constant tensions and CIA foreknowledge

How Racism Works: Adding my thanks to Leonard for producing this timely and thorough book. I think mostly about how explicit, violent white supremacy relates to the more subtle ways in which racism works, as seemingly race-neutral policies like deregulation of

Color revolutions and political branding: A guide for the perplexed: The Green Revolution in Iran has its paradoxes-- not least among them the anomaly of seeing young people out on the streets of Tehran in outfits that seemed openly defiant of Islamic dress norms while they also sported a color

The lobby now admits it is a 'sliver,' unrepresentative of majority of American Jews: Months ago I declared that Gaza had cracked the Israel lobby. It did so by causing non-affiliated Jews to at last speak out about Israel/Palestine policy. These Jews had traditionally ceded the foreign-policy turf to their pro-Israel cousins (as I

The White Supremacist in Us: In recent weeks, Americans struggled to make sense of tragic shootings that seemed disconnected at first glance. Anti-Semite James Von Brunn killed Stephen T. Johns, a black security guard at the Holocaust Museum. George Tillers murder a few

The Possibility of an Obama-Chavez Understanding: The media is full of speculation about President Obamas deft deflection against President Hugo Chavez maneuvering and finger-pointing in the Honduras crisis. But another narrative is possible, of an undisclosed new diplomatic collaboration replacing the constant tensions and CIA foreknowledge

How Racism Works: Adding my thanks to Leonard for producing this timely and thorough book. I think mostly about how explicit, violent white supremacy relates to the more subtle ways in which racism works, as seemingly race-neutral policies like deregulation of

Marine Finds Unlikely Reinforcements Online: Nerds: John Hodgman was right. Its the revenge of the nerds in America right now. These past few years weve seen self-proclaimed, highly-influential nerds using the power of online technology to play a huge role in driving public policy, political campaigns

more

Original Signal - Transmitting Web 2.0