Think Progress » No Questions On Global Warming Asked At CNN’s Coal Industry-Sponsored Presidential Debates

Think Progress » No Questions On Global Warming Asked At CNN’s Coal Industry-Sponsored Presidential Debates: "In Democratic presidential debate last night, CNN once again failed to ask any questions about global warming. Perhaps not surprisingly, last night’s debate was sponsored by the coal front group Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC)."

Yes, keep putting your full faith and trust in the corporate-owned media, they deliver all the facts... [The ones that are lucratively paid for anyway...]

The Raw Story | Contempt citations on hold as Dems, Bush craft stimulus plan

The Raw Story | Contempt citations on hold as Dems, Bush craft stimulus plan: "The planned citations now appear to be on hold as Congress and the White House work on a bipartisan economic stimulus package, the central tenet of which involves cutting virtually everyone an $800 check.

Democratic leaders and aides tell The Politico that pursuing the contempt citations in conjunction with the stimulus package would 'step on their message' of bipartisanship.

The contempt citations against former White House counsel Harriet Miers and Chief of Staff Josh Bolten were approved by the House Judiciary Committee in July after the two ignored subpoenas requiring their testimony on the US Attorney firing scandal."

That's ok, justice is on hold so that they can look good. What a freaking joke.

The Raw Story | Stock markets plunge worldwide

The Raw Story | Stock markets plunge worldwide: "Stocks fell sharply worldwide Monday following declines on Wall Street last week amid investor pessimism over the U.S. government's stimulus plan to prevent a recession.

U.S. markets were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but the downbeat mood from last week's market declines there circled through Europe, Asia and the Americas. Britain's benchmark FTSE-100 slumped 5.5 percent to 5,578.20, France's CAC-40 Index tumbled 6.8 percent to 4,744.15, and Germany's blue-chip DAX 30 plunged 7.2 percent to 6,790.19.

In Asia, India's benchmark stock index tumbled 7.4 percent, while Hong Kong's blue-chip Hang Seng index plummeted 5.5 percent to 23,818.86, its biggest percentage drop since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks."

Uh-oh, the stuff is starting to hit the fan...

The Canadian Press: Torture awareness manual 'wrongly' lists Cdn allies, to be rewritten: Bernier

The Canadian Press: Torture awareness manual 'wrongly' lists Cdn allies, to be rewritten: Bernier: "Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier found himself backtracking Saturday over his department's training manual that lists the U.S. and Guantanamo Bay as sites of possible torture - alongside such countries as Iran and Syria."

And for a few days, we actually thought that Canada had a pair and was willing to speak out against the evil empire...

The Raw Story | British media confirms FBI whistleblower Edmonds' account of secret file

The Raw Story | British media confirms FBI whistleblower Edmonds' account of secret file: "The Sunday Times has obtained a document that confirms that a file, which the FBI denied existed, could contain information about American officials stealing nuclear secrets for Turkish and Israeli spies, who would then sell the secrets to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, 37, approached the Times about 'explosive' communications she discovered between high-up American officials and Turkish and Israeli spies. A FOIA request to the FBI, for case number 203A-WF-210023, was answered with a claim that the case number did not exist.

'I can tell you that that file and the operations it refers to did exist from 1996 to February 2002,' says Edmonds."

Isn't it interesting that the British media is reporting this, but I have found no mention of it in our mainstream media.

The Raw Story | Email missing from Cheney's office on day White House told to preserve documents in CIA leak

The Raw Story | Email missing from Cheney's office on day White House told to preserve documents in CIA leak: "Among the sixteen days for which email are missing from Vice President Cheney's office is Sept. 30, 2003, the same day the day the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced they were investigating who outed former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson.

That morning, then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales ordered the president and the vice president's staff to 'preserve all materials that might be relevant' to an inchoate Justice Department probe."

Sure, there is no cover-up here...

The Raw Story | Anti-war veterans' group: War crimes are 'encouraged'

The Raw Story | Anti-war veterans' group: War crimes are 'encouraged': "At an event in Watertown, New York on Saturday, members of Iraq Veterans Against War charged that war crimes against civilians were encouraged by unit commanders.

'The killing of innocent civilians is policy,' said veteran Mike Blake. 'It's unit policy and it's Army policy. It's not official policy, but it's what's happens on the ground everyday. It's what unit commanders individually encourage.'

Veteran Matt Howard concurred: 'These decisions are coming from the top down,' Howard said. 'The tactics that we use, the policies that the military engages, will create situations, create dynamics, create -- ultimately -- atrocity.'

Blake and Howard were among four veterans speaking at Watertown's Different Drummer Cafe, in a preliminary event to the 'Winter Soldier' gathering scheduled in Washington, D.C. in March. Named after the 1971 event in which John Kerry read testimony from soldiers on atrocities they had committed, this year's Winter Soldier will feature Iraq War veterans speaking about war crimes they committed or witnessed.

In Watertown, veteran Jon Turner blamed himself as well as the orders he was given. 'It was my decision,' Turner said. 'I made it. Now I have to live with the fact I see someone's eyes screaming at me after I shot them.'"

This is not the first time I have heard such claims...

Common-cents choice - - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

Common-cents choice - - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper: "'I really was tired of being poor,' Mr. Napolitano said in an interview this month from the Fox News studio in New York City. 'I was very young, and I had a lot of energy. ... It was a pretty banal reason for the leaving the bench.'

'Poor,' of course, is relative. On the bench in New Jersey's Superior Court, Mr. Napolitano made $100,000 a year. But compared with what lawyers who appeared in his courtroom were making or what he could have been rolling in doing other work, $100,000 was pittance."

Now this is enough to make my blood pressure spike into the red zone, near heart attack territory. His yearly salary could support a "poor" person for at least 5 years... Is "poor" being without a Mercedes or BMW? A plasma TV? A vacation home? Diamond cuff links?

What an A--hole...

Bush calls for $145 billion economy plan - Yahoo! News

Bush calls for $145 billion economy plan - Yahoo! News: "'Letting Americans keep more of their money should increase consumer spending,' he said.

Bush said that Congress should work as soon as possible to send him legislation to 'keep our economy growing and creating jobs.'"

Yes, spend more Americans, go further into debt, because that is the only problem, we are not spending enough. Let's forget about the fact that we no longer manufacture the majority of the items we consume, thus there are fewer decent jobs in America, and decreasing pay rates. Isn't spending more than we make a huge part of the problem here?

I still laugh that on 9/11, one of Bush's major pieces of advice was also to keep spending.

The Raw Story | Ex-lawmaker charged in terror conspiracy

The Raw Story | Ex-lawmaker charged in terror conspiracy: "A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday on charges of being part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to a supporter of al-Qaida and the Taliban who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.

Mark Deli Siljander, a Michigan Republican when he was in the House, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists."

This story, from the Associated Press, is a good example of my less-than stellar faith in the mainstream media and the administration. I have to question what the truth really is.

Did this guy actually knowingly support Al-Qaida?

Is the "Islamic Charity" really funneling money to Al-Qaida, or is it a victim of anti-Islamic sentiment from 9/11?

Did this guy anger the administration somehow, and thus, being targeted politically?

Is this guy being targeted by the Democrats for election reasons?

Is this guy a scapegoat for someone higher up the food chain?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, and how all of the parties in the government, and outside of the government, choose to spin this...

Catherine Crump: Unconstitutional Acts to Protect the President from Protestors - Politics on The Huffington Post

Catherine Crump: Unconstitutional Acts to Protect the President from Protestors - Politics on The Huffington Post: "In the waning days of this administration's tenure, President Bush's lack of interest in opinions contrary to his own is as striking as ever. Most recently in New Mexico, a group of peaceful demonstrators was removed from the president's sight, continuing the administration's long-held tradition that dissenters should be neither seen nor heard. Sound undemocratic? Indeed.

Last August, President Bush attended an exclusive, high-priced fundraiser for New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici. Local activists opposed to the president's policies were, of course, not invited. To let the president know that not everyone agreed with him, they planned to stand along his motorcade route holding up signs expressing their views, especially their opposition to the war in Iraq."

Another case of the "Free Speech Zone."

Forget oil, the new global crisis is food

Forget oil, the new global crisis is food: "The impact of tighter food supply is already evident in raw food prices, which have risen 22% in the past year.

Mr. Coxe said in an interview that this surge would begin to show in the prices of consumer foods in the next six months. Consumers already paid 6.5% more for food in the past year.

Wheat prices alone have risen 92% in the past year, and yesterday closed at US$9.45 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade.

At the centre of the imminent food catastrophe is corn - the main staple of the ethanol industry. The price of corn has risen about 44% over the past 15 months, closing at US$4.66 a bushel on the CBOT yesterday - its best finish since June 1996."

These figures are not good, and they happen to be quite a bit higher than the "official figures." Meanwhile, wages are actually falling...

The Raw Story | Huckabee: Amend Constitution to be in 'God's standards'

The Raw Story | Huckabee: Amend Constitution to be in 'God's standards': "'I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution,' Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. 'But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view.'"

Just with that statement, this guy has shown himself to be the most dangerous Presidential candidate in the current race. The Bible has no business in the Constitution, and Huckabee is crazy to suggest such a thing.

Could you imagine how bad the middle east would look then? The new Crusades would be going full-force, eliminating those who do not believe in the Christian bible...

Bush Delivers Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia - World on The Huffington Post

Bush Delivers Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia - World on The Huffington Post: "President Bush, on his first visit to this oil-rich kingdom, delivered a major arms sale Monday to a major ally in a region where the U.S. casts neighboring Iran as a menace to stability."

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Protesters Demand Guantanamo Close: 80 Arrested

Protesters Demand Guantanamo Close: 80 Arrested: "They were charged with violating an ordinance that prohibits demonstrations of any kind on court grounds. Those arrested inside the building also were charged under a provision that makes it a crime to give 'a harangue or oration' in the Supreme Court building."

How convenient that free speech is not allowed near the Supreme court, especially since they are deliberating on one of the most important cases of our time...

In Voiding Suit, Appellate Court Says Torture is to be Expected - CommonDreams.org

In Voiding Suit, Appellate Court Says Torture is to be Expected - CommonDreams.org: "The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the detainees captured in Afghanistan aren’t recognized as “persons” under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act because they were aliens held outside the United States. The Religious Freedom Act prohibits the government from “substantially burdening a person’s religion.”"

A person in GitMo is not a Person. Got it. Well then, throw out all the rules banning torture, because if they are not people, then it obviously cannot be considered torture.

Wow...

New From Taser: Torture and Tunes at the same time!!!

Bit Player : Los Angeles Times : CES Video: Gadget of the day: "You know what a bother it is to carry both your MP3 music player and your Taser gun?

Worry no more.

Today at CES, Taser International introduced the Taser MPH -- the first combination hand-held music player and Taser.

The player, which has a 1-GB capacity that can hold about 150 songs, is embedded in a holster that slips on your belt. Feel the need to zap someone and you can unholster the Taser, use the built-in laser pointer to aim, and blam -- a couple of darts carrying 50,000 volts hits your victim.

And you don't have to miss a beat.

The Taser MPH is not just a gadget, it's a fashion statement. The company is releasing it in several cover motifs, including leopard.

'It's fashion, with a bite,' said Taser International spokesman Stephen Tuttle."

If this were April 1st, I may have considered this an April Fool's joke... So what will your soundtrack be as you Tase someone? (possibly to their death...)

Off the top of my head, I guess it would have to be Skinlab, Know Your Enemies...