November 2009 archive

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

Now with World and U.S. News.  80 Story Final.

1 Karadzic defiant over boycott at first court appearance

by Mariette le Roux, AFP

1 hr 5 mins ago

Over nine tons of 9/11 steel was recently recycled in building a new navy ship. However, the use of the steel was controversial, according to a number of 9/11 truth groups including swashbucklers911truth, nauticalengineersfor911truth.org and seamensittingonthedockofthebayfor911truth.org.

The President of Swashbucklers for 9/11 Truth explained, “While using 9/11 steel may be patriotic, swashbucklers are very concerned that the steel is not strong enough. We don’t want to be in the middle of the ocean when the engine falls apart.”

However, these strength concerns about 9/11 steel were quickly dismissed by General Don T. Trustnist who was quoted in a recent Popular Navy Mechanics article. He said, “There are no problems. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. We found that the 9/11 steel melts very easily, so we were able to use it for intricate designs where it is much easier to pour into molds.” As for concerns about strength, the General made it very clear that the steel was not used anywhere steel would be heated. General Don T. Trustnist said, “There are many useful applications for this steel including railings, chairs and flagpoles. What is more patriotic than a 9/11 steel flagpole?”

Crossposted at Daily Kos

    Of all the screwed up things the Republican party and their Corporate Media enablers have done maybe the worst is the souring of the debate on whether President Obama is doing the right thing or not. When the “faithful” opposition in American politics is more concerned with ACORN and socialism than it is with Corproate malfeasance or the corrupt status quo, it just isn’t worth debating with, but that debate is necessary and our system does worse without it.

    Similarly, the left has been conditioned by the raving right to interpret ALL criticism of President Obama as an attack on him. Many on the left see activists who criticize Obama as if they were joining in on the hyperbole, and they fear that Obama, and Democratic majorities, might fall if pressure from the left and the right becomes overheated. These people are often the loudest defenders of Obama, but are they really helping his cause?

     I firmly believe that we MUST, as activists and voters, be able to hold President Obama and the Democratic party accountable, otherwise they will walk all over us. In order to do this, we MUST be able to constructivly criticize our leaders, and since the right wing of American politics long ago left the reality based world, it is the left which must provide this criticism. The problem is, will others on the left allow it to happen?

    More below the fold.

It is now Election Day around the US, and one ballot question that is attracting national attention is Washington State’s Referendum 71.

Voting “yes” on the Referendum would codify in law various protections for same-sex domestic partners, and it is similar to a measure that the citizens of Maine are also voting on today.

We have polling data that is fairly fresh, so let’s take this last chance to look at where we might be, and what you should be looking for over the next few days as you attempt to judge how this one is going.

It’s been about ten weeks since I fell and broke both wrists on August 18th. I am just now finally almost back to normal functioning. Whatever that means. While there has not been a whole lot going on in my visible outer world, there’s a lot going on in my own little mind. Still churning and brewing.

Meanwhile. August on, it’s been Health Care Insurance Not Reform farce and the rise of Grayson and lots of other fun stuff.

Guess what has been churning and brewing behind the MSM radar scenes in torture/justice news? I don’t know, somehow I quit paying attention. Thank goodness, the usual suspects did not.

First up, ACLU has this new video up. Go to their site to view it.

The men in this video were held at Guantanamo for years without charge and denied any meaningful opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention. But now they are finally free. This is their story.

The current squabbling over whether or not abortion would be government funded in some kind of back door fashion accentuates how conflicted we are as a nation regarding the procedure.  When many private plans cover the procedure, I find most unfair to expect somehow that government coverage would not include the same provision in the spirit of strict parity.   If some are holding government to some kind of moral higher standard than the sainted private sector, then I guess I can’t understand why anti-choice legislators are attempting to impose their will upon a supposedly evil, fallen entity whose name is government in ways that they are unwilling to extend to business, whose radiant goodness is known to all.  This discrepancy continues to show how much of a shill certain politicians have become for the rich, the powerful, and the well connected at the expense of sense and even their own stated convictions.  

This is what I enjoy about living in NC: when the politicians are loonies, they are real loonies. The genuine article, madder than General Jack D. Ripper, madder than “Mad Jack” McMad, winner of last year’s Mister Madman competition.

http://www.georgehutchins.com/

First offering for your delectation: George Hutchins, who’s running against David Price for his congressional seat (which covers Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, etc). Note well the flamboyant and unrestrained use of color and, well, just “stuff” that gives his web site that certain je ne sais quoi that just screams “he’s mad as a balloon!” Looks like the web page designer got his mitts on the Big Boy box of Crayolas when mommy’s back was turned. The guy’s politics don’t matter; all sane people are morally obligated to vote against him on purely esthetic grounds.

http://mediamattersaction.org/…

And in this corner, we have long-time Uber-loonie Rep Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who states — with nary a hint of  irony (or goldy or bronzey, for that matter) — “I believe we have more to fear from the potential of that bill passing  than we do from any terrorist right now in any country.”  If she doesn’t get mad loonie props for that, then she should definitely get some for using the word “tarbaby” in an earlier public speech on the floor of Congress.

This is the kind of stuff that makes it worth dragging my butt out of bed in the morning.