Sunday Final Show- I'll be on live for last segment

Any word yet ?

Or are you waiting to tell us on your last show ?

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Hopefully we'll get some news Sunday, if not, hopefully soon after that. Maybe it's just a situation of Sam getting into "free agent" status?

Whatever happens, I haven't regretted a single second of Seder.

___
bluerootsradio

Trust me!

___
bluerootsradio

Air America Brings Back Bender

NEW YORK -- May 29, 2008: Air America Radio's David Bender, whose Politically Direct aired on the liberal talk network from 2005-2007, will be rejoining the AAR lineup as of June 8. The show, which was one hour in its earlier incarnation, will air Sundays from 4-7 p.m. ET, replacing the Sam Seder-hosted Seder on Sundays.

Politically Direct will feature interviews with newsmakers, campaign coverage and other political news, updates from the blogosphere, and listener calls. Bender has been serving as Air America's senior political correspondent and has been appearing daily as the "Political Guru" on AAR's Rachel Maddow Show and on Saturday show Ring of Fire.

"In this important political year, we're thrilled to be bringing back David Bender's Politically Direct," said AAR President Mark Green. "The program will once again provide Sunday listeners with commentary on the networks and the netroots and with David's unique combination of savvy and humor."

Dallas Air America
http://www.dallasairamerica.org/

Progressive talk radio returning to Dallas in July
By Nancy Cunningham of Dallas Air America

David Clifton of Rational Radio wanted to let our group in on a BIG scoop before anyone else knows.

Matter of fact, the ink isn't dry yet but it's a done deal!

Progressive talk radio returns full time to Dallas /Ft. Worth on July 1, 2008.

The station is affiliated with our wonderful friends at NovaM and the station will air programs such as: Jones Radio - Stephanie Miller; Nova M - Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy; and Air America - Thom Hartmann. The exact schedule isn't known yet.

Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy will make this announcement on Monday
Dallas Air America
http://www.dallasairamerica.org/

Michelle Obama Outdraws Bush and McCain — In McCain’s Home State

"This just amazes me. The wife of the Democratic front-runner outdraws, handily, both the Republican front-runner himself and the guy he wants to replace in the White House -- and does so on the Republican front-runner's home turf."

... money raised? Obama is winning on all 3 of these fronts. Most encouraging is the broad base of his donors. Hopefully that will give him the freedom to live up to his campaign promises. That's the change I want to see most of all.

___
bluerootsradio

Submitted by 60th Street on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 10:10pm.
Michelle Obama Outdraws Bush and McCain — In McCain’s Home State

"This just amazes me. The wife of the Democratic front-runner outdraws, handily, both the Republican front-runner himself and the guy he wants to replace in the White House..."
---------
Big deal. The guy who travels to state fairs with the world's biggest ball of aluminum foil could outdraw McCain and Bush.

McLellan... he is not all hostile and pressing the way Meredith Vierra sp was. She sounded like she was on a gossip rag..Kieth did the interview with dignity

Top Dems to push for swift end to primary race

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent 1 hour, 5 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Top Democratic leaders intend to push for a quick end to the battle for the presidential nomination when primaries are over next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday, adding that he, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and party chairman Howard Dean will urge uncommitted delegates to choose sides.
ADVERTISEMENT

"By this time next week, it will all be over give or take a day," Reid said of the marathon race between the front-running Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Obama is within 44 delegates of clinching the nomination, according to The Associated Press tally, and leads Clinton by roughly 200 delegates.

Democratic officials said Pelosi already has begun contacting uncommitted House members urging them to weigh in soon after the primary season ends. Numerous Democrats have expressed concern that a protracted nominating campaign could harm the party's chances of winning the White House in the fall. John McCain effectively wrapped up the Republican nomination in March.

Tantalizingly close to the nomination, Obama stands to gain a minimum of roughly 20 delegates in remaining primaries in Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota under party rules that distribute them proportional to the popular vote — even if he loses all three. He would need to enlist the support of uncommitted superdelegates to amass the rest.

Slightly fewer than 200 superdelegates remain uncommitted, including 64 members of Congress.

One, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the Democratic whip in the House, was quoted in a report published Thursday as saying he intended to disclose his preference as the final primaries are held on Tuesday.

Clyburn, who is black and whose district and state voted overwhelmingly for Obama, is widely expected to support the Illinois senator.

Asked about the story in the Stamford Advocate, Kristie Greco, a spokeswoman for Clyburn, noted that he repeatedly has said he will not endorse before June 3.

Although Obama holds a commanding lead in delegates, Clinton has threatened to campaign into the August convention if she is not satisfied with the results of a party committee meeting this weekend. A Democratic National Committee panel is scheduled to discuss the fate of disputed delegations from Michigan and Florida, two states that held primaries last winter in defiance of party rules.

Reid, in an interview on radio station KGO in San Francisco, said he had talked since Wednesday with both Pelosi and Dean. "We agree there won't be a fight at the convention. ... We're going to urge folks to make a decision quickly — next week."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080530/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_5

I wasn't seeking to impress, just to underscore...this is Arizona we're talking about

tonight 60th

I was really hoping to splurge on myself and get the satellite radio once I heard San was signed back up. Without Sam's show, it's just not worth the bother.

you can get randi, thom, and mike on xm though....you would not be able to get sam if they hire him for the old randi slot because they all carry randi...

maybe so, but I get what he means, it seems to be the trend that Bush and mcCain can't raise money like they used to and I guess that's old news, but the abilities of the Obamas to raise money still, as if they've only just gotten started is of interest to me, having grown up in Arizona and ending up in Illinois makes this especially interesting...

what a wonderful world it could be....

Submitted by 60th Street on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 10:54pm.
...as if they've only just gotten started is of interest to me...
------
Well.

It's clear that you have never seen that ball of foil. It's really big. And it's aluminum. It slipped its chocks at a mall in Tennessee and crushed a tattoo parlor, causing hundreds of dollars in damage.

You don't see that every day.

I'm hoping that Sam will be on to announce that he's going to be picking up the afternoon show - I am currenty going insane in the afternoon slot... Really cutting into my productivity... Come on AAR - lets help to boost the GDP! Put Sammy on!

Recently the aluminum foil guy bought a circus tent for his traveling show.

Too many people were seeing the ball for free.

so, the world's fair guy outdraws McCain and Bush even after paying for the damages?...also I believe it's pronounced a-lu-mi-nee-um

I suggested that the foil guy should dress up like a dung beetle.

He told me that he'd already heard it.

There are benefits, but in the long run it's just not worth it to me. I can't stream media at work anymore, and Randi turned me away shortly before the contract dispute reached a head... i would only use it for Rachael's show and a little Thom from time to time. If there were a regular Sam show that would push me back, but i don't see that happening.

Instead, i'll re-focus my efforts on the world's largest rubber band ball.

The pennycandystore beyond the El
is where I first
fell in love
with unreality
Jellybeans glowed in the semi-gloom
of that september afternoon
A cat upon the counter moved among
the licorice sticks
and tootsie rolls
and Oh Boy Gum

Outside the leaves were falling as they died

A wind had blown away the sun

A girl ran in
Her hair was rainy
Her breasts were breathless in the little room

Outside the leaves were falling
and they cried
Too soon! too soon!

-- Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Submitted by 60th Street on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 11:09pm.
...also I believe it's pronounced a-lu-mi-nee-um
--------
Not if you're a red, white and blue-blooded American it's not.

Unless you're a scientist. Scientists get a pass cause they have to talk to furriners.

But on these here shores it's pronounced a-loo'-meh-num unless you want Homeland Security payin' you a visit.

I'm sure they already have. when I got home, my bong had clean water in it...I don't remember owning a bong

like waiting to hear that Hillary is no longer in the race...not today damnit...no not today...

At least it is good to know that Marc and Sam are not in some kind of tussle...

McCain was in the Navy and Bush in the Air National Guard right? Just sayin'...

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University .

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully.
He got down on one knee, inspected the elephant’s foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.
Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.
Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing, and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.
Probably wasn't the same elephant.
This is for all of my friends who send me those heart-warming bullshit stories.

HA!

Back from work. It's raining here again. Seems like every Thursday the weather doesn't cooperate. In the winter it seemed to snow every Thursday, now it rains every Thursday. And it's my late night. My luck I guess. If it's not bad I don't have any luck at all.

Waiting to see the rerun of KO. Was able to see Colbert. He had David Sirota on tonight. I missed the Daily Show too. That repeat should be on soon.

Cobert is certainly more courageous that Stewart. He has better guest. However, sometimes I want like him to turn down the right-wing shtick. Just a notch, please. You can't hear the guest.

You are right. Sometimes Colbert overdoes it.

Submitted by toniD on Fri, 05/30/2008 - 12:23am.
-----
Glad you understood my post,ToniD. I made an error in the wording. How is your knee tonight?

This weather doesn't help. Throbbing and burning pain. Driving home, everytime I had to put pressure on the gas pedal, I wanted to scream.

I really need that operation!

I guess everyone went to bed, eh?

underground

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJSYzBqA9RA

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

That's why it's better to keep religion and politics seperate. And may I say that these religious leaders should stick to the bible and doing good deeds for people. Stay out of politics!! And they should quit taking sides!

Obama distances himself from another clergyman By CARYN ROUSSEAU, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 17 minutes ago

CHICAGO - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Thursday that he was "deeply disappointed" by a supporter's sermon at his church that mocked Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Chicago activist, also apologized for last Sunday's sermon at Obama's church, in which he said Clinton's eyes welled with tears before the New Hampshire primary because she felt "entitled" to the Democratic nomination and because "there's a black man stealing my show."

In video circulating on the Internet, Pfleger said the former first lady expected to win the nomination before Obama's sudden popularity.

"She just always thought that, 'This is mine. I'm Bill's wife. I'm white.' ... And then, out of nowhere, came 'Hey, I'm Barack Obama." And she said, 'Oh damn, where did you come from? I'm white. I'm entitled. There's a black man stealing my show,'" Pfleger said at Trinity United Church of Christ.

He then went on to parody Clinton, sobbing and wiping his face with a handkerchief.

"She wasn't the only one crying," he said. "There was a whole lot of white people crying."

Obama won the Iowa caucuses, the first contest of the nominating season, in January. Days later, Clinton's eyes brimmed with tears and her voice broke as she talked with New Hampshire voters on the eve of the primary, which she won.

Obama said he was "deeply disappointed" by Pfleger's comments

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080530/ap_on_el_pr/obama_pfleger_9

In my opinion the operation sounds like a good idea.

I saw your post re your coverage - sounds good.

Gotta be better than this pain.

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

How're you doing?

Yeah, it's time. Can't take this pain much longer. And I hate taking the pain pills.

I'm hoping that we hear good news from Sam!

Get in line now. You can always cancel if it gets better. Probably won't.

Do it.

Waiting on my insurance card and I'll make the appointment.

I'd love to get a lap top to take to the hospital with me. It get's boring there after awhile.

getting tired here.

Later

[this is timely]
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=character-attack&sc=rss

... These examples illustrate classic uses of ad hominem attacks, in which an argument is rejected, or advanced, based on a personal characteristic of an individual rather than on reasons for or against the claim itself.

If the character-based attacks are not relevant to these larger issues, then they are best ignored. Instead we should attend to what is really important: What is a person asserting? Why does he or she offer a particular view, and is the view defensible?

Media Argumentation: Dialectic, Persuasion, and Rhetoric, University of Winnipeg philosopher Douglas Walton

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

~ td
nite

`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

Remember Rev. Moon? You know the one who presided over mass marriages between strangers who believed in his cult?
The man who has poured tens of millions of dollars into The Washington Times in order to provide a right-wing Republican propaganda newspaper for the GOP?

George Herbert Walker Bush received two million dollars from Reverend Mood. George W. Bush received 250,000 for his inauguration. Furthermore, Moon has received millions in government contracts for his fake businesses.

Check out this short documentary on Moon.

Perhaps some one can post it on the blog.

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/28/short-documentary-on.html

From listening to David Bender after the segement "nando pointed us to @ Sam, he had Hal Sparks on who will be guest hosting American Afternoons NEXT WEEK.
SO - at least according to that info - there is no decision made as to the permanent host of the 3-6 time slot.

Reality. TV. Two more reasons to read.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.
---Ray Bradbury

http://www.sendspace.com/file/zcj4e5

RESTRAINED and hungry, the monkey was forced to instruct the mechanical arm to get the food.

The miracle of a monkey that can swing through the trees using its two arms, its two legs and its tail to scamper, grab, balance and swing between ground and sky is destroyed by the High Priests of Research. The monkey, who could astoundingly grab food with either hands OR feet, is strapped in the latest unpadded restraining device for the duration. The duration is that period of time before the Experimenter gets bored or his grant runs out and he has to dream up another torture for another grant.

"Deliberate cruelty to our defenceless and beautiful little cousins is surely one of the meanest and most detestable vices of which a human being can be guilty." --William Ralph Inge

Mahatma Gandhi said: "I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence."

one click to send food for free!

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3

The Animal Rescue Site focuses the power of the Internet on a specific need — providing food for some of the 27 million unwanted animals given to shelters in the U.S. every year. Over 10 million animals are put to death every year in the U.S. alone because they are abandoned and unwanted.

I believe sam meant that article to be a parody of how he is being treated.

Hi sj - got my click : )
~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

Gandhi has it right.

thanks for the click bud!

What a day.

With the McClelland coverage, U.S. defending CLUSTER BOMBS and refusing to join a worldwide ban of CLUSTER BOMBS, Hartmann talking about DEATH CULTS, and Malloy's Mark Crispin Miller interview (Mark said that Rep. Peter Defazio's requests for disclosure about Bush's martial law plans were stonewalled and refused) -- is sleep going to be possible?!

Pete sees what's they have in mind and so do many others in the power arena.

it's going to take a lot of needless pain before enough people get off their asses to do something about it.

that's historically how it goes. sad eh? the trend is still positive though even though we might get ground up in the gears.

prepare to be sick
Submitted by pussyfoot on Fri, 05/30/2008 - 2:57am.

look at the old guy in the next to last photo

He isn't smiling. In fact, he looks downright pissed.

www.sigzone.blogspot.com

Saints, protect us! Of all the Bush pictures where he looks like there's nobody home in there, these take the cake!

There's been a coup and the Air Force has been taken over by religious radicals with Bush's blessings and the rest of the military has been ground to a pulp.

Randi Rhodes had Robert Wexler on today, talking about summoning McClelland and Rove et al to testify before Congress. And he said Mukasey has refused to hold anyone in contempt for refusing to respond to Congress' subpoenaes, and Wexler said all that was left was sending the sergent at arms to fetch the witnesses.

The Legislative Branch has been completely restrained --just like that poor monkey.

Bush has the Executive and the Judiciary and the "4th Estate" too (now that the Media is gobbled up by the corporate Military Industrial Complex) and our representatives in the Houses of Congress are left with nothing to remedy this. With the exception of impeachment which they refuse to use -- or is it that they know, by the time, they got it going, BushCo would do another anthrax or something to stop the process. It's like a checkmate. Perhaps it has been for a long time. It's just that with Hillary making sure the Dem Party is going into the election in splinters, the situtation has reached a kind of ENDGAME.

i don't think Billary is going to make it.

the TVidiots pump her up but mostly people are wanting bamarama.

people with enough integrity to vote know Hil has major baggage. that turns off a bunch of them despite the money thrown at this primary.

Bama ain't no stranger to lobbyist money either. i'm voting for him just to irk the bigots.

main thing is the local races. that's where you can kick ass! take over your local dem party. only takes a few people to unseat the "in it for the money" pukes in most cities.

one of their weakest points really.

know what i mean?

Lawton smalls riff!

god! those two are hilarious!

Sorry AA gave this to David Bender. Not that he's no great, but we'll miss having any Sam.

am calling in today, week was too long, besides i have a dentist appointment

good morning to all

great Eagle!

This Maron shit is funny.

US corporate media put slant on report despite IAEA finding no proof of continued nuclear arms program

By Pepe Escobar

A new International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report criticizing Iran’s nuclear program was leaked via the Internet. Although slated to be made public in early June, US corporate media seized the opportunity to put a spin on the report’s findings. The Real News Network's analyst Pepe Escobar provides his analysis of the day’s headlines.

Posted 28/05/08

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20002.htm

interesting because the headline i saw yesterday said the iranians were definitely hiding that they were building a bomb which meant it was time for the next shoe to drop mccain style (you know, that old beach boy song...)

this fucker is way too religious for me for real....all this churchyness is getting on my nerves. msnbc is loving it though! preach!

call him call him ask him gannon questions....

i would get used to it because we're going to get those superstitions shoved down our throats right up to the election.

Scotty is full of shit

thats what he gets! good for him for being a fucking muslim and church goer at the same time!

This "pastor" is a Catholic Priest. And I was so surprised to see his tirade. He has been a champion of the black people for many years here in Chicago.

Do Catholics really want a Clinton deciding what their priests can say from the pulpit?
John Aravosis (DC) · 5/29/2008 09:28:00 PM ET · Link

The house guest who overstayed her welcome is at it again. This time Hillary isn't attacking some fringe pastor, she's bashing Father Michael Pflegler, a well-known Catholic priest who is, according to Joe Sudbay (who knows him personally), "an amazing activist for social justice." (Check out Fr. Pflegler's resume, it's rather incredible.)

http://old.saintsabina.org/aboutus/pastor/pfleger.bio.txt

Hillary is again upset with Obama that a man of the cloth said something Hillary didn't like. And, as usual, her attack-dog campaign manager, Howard Wolfson, is telling priests how to run their churches. That's bad enough, but this time, Hillary may have pushed her luck too far. Put aside for a moment the fact that the race is over, and in 5 days Hillary will have to concede - so she really should stop with the destructive attacks against our party's nominee. No, the bigger problem for Hillary is that this time she is demonizing for political gain a well-known and beloved progressive activist who has done a heck of a lot of good in his life - and to boot, he's a prominent Catholic priest in Chicago, well-loved in his community.

Call me crazy, but I'm going to bet most Catholics don't want Hillary Clinton deciding what their priests can and can't say from the pulpit. (Not to mention, whether it's Monica's love-life or Bobby Kennedy's assassination, I'm not sure any Clinton has the right to pull the moral high ground on anyone, let alone a priest.)

I'm not even going to reprint the details of this story, because why help Hillary in her campaign to get John McCain elected (though for you progressive women out there, you ought to be scared to death about what Hillary and her friends at EMILY's List are doing to our chances to keep Roe v. Wade the law of the land in the next administration). This time Hillary is bashing the Catholic Church, and unlike some of the more progressive Christian religions, the Catholics don't take lightly to holier-than-thou government officials telling them how to run their faith.

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/do-catholics-really-want-hillary.html

Colorado set to vote to give "person" status to any fertilized human egg.

I guess now a pregnant woman can be charged for manslaughter if she miscarries.

I guess now we can sell life insurance to eggs, and claim the death benefit if the mother miscarries.

I guess now we can give eggs social security numbers, and in the event of a birth defect, the newborn can draw social security.

I guess now we will get rid of birth certificates and begin issuing conception certificates. So if you were born on May 30th, you will now celebrate August 30th as your "Conceptionday".

I guess now the song will go:

Happy Conceptionday to you,
Happy Conceptionday to you,
Happy Conceptionday dear human,
Happy Conceptionday to you.

Crystal 1 (12-0.0.0.1)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

white spectral wind ~ kin 102

DISSOLVE in order to COMMUNICATE,
RELEASING BREATH
seal the INPUT of SPIRIT
with the SPECTRAL tone of LIBERATION.
guided by the SAME power DOUBLED.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
◄ 12.19.15.6.14 ≈ caa ix ►

is interviewing Tony Blair and asking him questions about McClellan's book and how religion, that Blair is into right now, has caused these problems and why Blair thinks it can bring the world together.

I want to see them drag the techs out of the in vitro fertilization clinic for throwing the unused eggs errr persons out. What a crime!

Tony Blair is really too much
Chris in Paris · 5/30/2008 01:00:00 AM ET · Link
10 Comments · reddit · FARK · Digg It! ·

Oh please. How does invading a country and killing people in any way mesh with bringing religions together? Let's not forget he is on the payroll of Wall Street, making millions to guide those slimeballs out of their self-created problems, all on the taxpayers bill. What next? Joining hands with Phil Gramm and being a co-chair of the McCain campaign?
Former prime minister Tony Blair has promised to "spend the rest of my life" uniting the world's religions.

He said faith could be a "civilising force in globalisation", bringing people together to solve problems such as malaria and extreme poverty.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7426647.stm

Bahrain appoints new ambassador for US
Chris in Paris · 5/30/2008 02:31:00 AM ET · Link
3 Comments · reddit · FARK · Digg It! ·

Change is good.
Bahrain's king has appointed a Jewish woman as the country's envoy to the United States.

Houda Nonoo said she was proud to serve her country "first of all as a Bahraini" and that she was not chosen for the post because of her religion.

She is believed to be the Arab world's first Jewish ambassador.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7426806.stm

Bush administration siding with Libya over terrorist victims
Chris in Paris · 5/30/2008 04:15:00 AM ET · Link
9 Comments · reddit · FARK · Digg It! ·

This is incredible. Does this administration always have to be Big Oil's lapdog? Libya previously agreed to pay compensation claims for their terrorist attacks and then failed to live up to their agreements. There is no gray area here. Why is Bush and Rice siding with Libya instead of supporting the families who were victimized by terrorism? Let Big Oil do their own dirty work or let Big Oil pay the families if they want the Libyan oil contracts so badly.

Why is Bush re-negotiating a done deal with a known terrorist?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080529/pl_nm/libya_usa_talks_dc;_ylt=AkHEuT...

Assholes are shooting themselves in the foot.

That ballot measure will motivate a lot of progressives, who might otherwise sit it out, to go to the polls.

Net result: More Dems......

The tighter they squeeze, the more the people will slip through their fingers.

trying to find podcast of marc on an affiliate since I cancelled my subscription...anybody know where replays can be heard.. very few affiliates carry the show.

How are all you Sedtonians this morning?

Or is it Sederites?

Marons show download!
Submitted by Sunshine Jim on Fri, 05/30/2008 - 2:39am.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/zcj4e5

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7426971.stm#map
[...]
In Spain, Europe's largest fish producer, the action is expected to bring the industry to a halt, as thousands demonstrate in Madrid.

French fishermen have been protesting for weeks, and Portuguese, Belgian and Italian colleagues are also involved.

UK and Dutch lorry drivers held similar protests earlier this week.

The strike reflects anger at the rising cost of fuel, with oil prices above $130 (83.40 euros; £65.80) a barrel.

Trade unions say the cost of diesel has become prohibitively high, after rising 300% over the past five years.

Wholesale fish prices, meanwhile, have been static for 20 years.
[...]

It is incomprehensible to me that Mrs. Clinton can seriously be touting the notion, with the support of the punditocracy of CNN and Fox, that she is leading in the popular vote and should therefore be seriously considered as the most electable candidate in the November election. She's including those who voted for her in Florida and Michigan's name recognition ballot saying that to exclude them would be to disenfranchise them. What about the Democrats in Alaska, American Samoa, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Nebraska, Washington, Hawaii and Wyoming who did not cast ballots because they were playing by the pledged delegates playbook and voted by caucus. What about them? Certainly if the rules are going to be changed and judgment is based on the 'popular' vote those voters in the eleven caucus states and Samoa will be disenfranchised. What about them?

And what about us? What about the American people? Haven't we had enough of Mrs. Clinton's mad antics in her pursuit of the realization of venal personal ambition; her 'say anything, do anything, no matter what' effort to manipulate our all too willing media to gull this country's populace into believing that her wretched illegitimacy is indeed legitimate. How much mendacity do we have to suffer, how much brazenness do we have to swallow before someone, anyone, has the decency, the common sense, to relieve us of this terrible trifle, this pathetic madness?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/donald-sutherland/hillarys-popular-vote-no...

Submitted by toniD on Fri, 05/30/2008 - 8:23am.

Oh please. How does invading a country and killing people in any way mesh with bringing religions together?
----------

But it is typically British, isn't ToniD? They were ruthless in robbing the world in the name of God. Their museums are full of stolen loot. But God was pleased. At least in their minds.

really appreciate it...the "bootleg"

many of us know the circumstances of our birth (hospital, home, etc). i say, this new measure should have a full disclosure requirement which mandates that you be told everything about your conception and where it occurred.

(insert joke here about little native american boy named broken rubber)

The boss of one of the world's most important economic organisations has said the lack of regulation in world markets was the root cause of the financial crisis which has hit world economic growth.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7425027.stm

Pascal Lamy, the director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), told the BBC that "a little more prudential regulation" could have helped prevent the banking crisis that has engulfed the US and Europe.

Mr Lamy said that the fundamental problem was that here was no international consensus on how to regulate the rapidly changing world financial markets or who should be the regulator.

The WTO boss also said that workers hurt by globalisation should receive more help from their governments.

Mr Lamy's remarks put him at odds with the so-called "Washington consensus" that liberalisation, privatisation, and open markets are the only way to bring about economic growth.
[...]
Trade was often just "an excuse" for not making the necessary adjustments in domestic policy to support workers hit by globalisation, he said.

And he added that he was not surprised that protests were strongest in the US, because it has the weakest system of social protection.

Submitted by dan on Fri, 05/30/2008 - 8:48am.
many of us know the circumstances of our birth (hospital, home, etc).
--------

Well I have nothing to hide. I know I was born in a cabbage patch.

McClellan would be skeptical of White House on Iran

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann in his first prime time interview since the release of his book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and What's Wrong with Washington, that he was disillusioned by his realization of his role in the White House's outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame.

The President's admission of responsibility for the leak during a trip on Air Force One, McClellan said, was the turning point. He further said that he wanted to know what happened to the man that promised to "restore honor and integrity in the White House."

"When I went to work for the President, I had all this great hope, like a lot of people, that he was going to come to Washington and change Washington as he had governed in Texas," he continued. McClellan put his faith, like many Americans, in the President and the foreign policy team after 9/11.

"Did you lie, as White House press secretary, at any point?" Olbermann asked.

"I did when it came to the issue of the Valerie Plame leak episode, when I unknowingly did so. I passed along false information. I'd been given assurances by Karl Rove and Scooter Libby that they were not involved in the leak. And it turned out later that they were, but they both unequivocally told me, when I asked them, 'Were you involved in this in any way?' they said no."

McClellan went on to say that the 9/11 attacks were used to further a "broad view" of what would become the War on Terror, with Iraq being incorporated as part of such a view. 9/11 was seemingly as much of an opportunity as it was a disaster, McClellan insinuated, for members of the Bush administration, including Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, to fulfill desires they may even have had before 9/11.

"What happened was that the intelligence was packaged together in a way to make it sound more ominous, and more grave, and more urgent, than it really was."

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McClellan_would_be_skeptical_of_White_0529...

its only a crisis if you are one of the billions getting screwed. there are a handful of individuals who have made out quite well by trading worthless paper for real wealth.

SECOND CONSTRUCTION-CRANE COLLAPSE OF THE YEAR REPORTED IN MANHATTAN

there was a really bad crane accident in Manhattan and Lu is not here...I worry...

that we are underlings.” - Shakes

Forget votes: Stars say Hillary Clinton may well just fall to Pisces

BY David Saltonstall

Friday, May 30th 2008, 4:00 AM

The delegates aren't aligning for Hillary Clinton, but here's the really bad news - the stars aren't, either.

With Clinton and Barack Obama headed into a fateful weekend - the Democratic National Committee will decide how to count Michigan's and Florida's votes Saturday, and Sunday is Puerto Rico's primary - the Daily News asked top stargazers to look into the candidates' astrological future.

It turns out to be a zodiacal disaster for the former First Lady, a Scorpio born with her moon in Pisces, experts said.

That vulnerable, Piscean moon is bad enough - no President has ever boasted such a weak sign - but it's made worse by a crossing Uranus, said Michael O'Reilly, author of "Political Astrology."

"Uranus is crossing her natal moon, and the moon side of her horoscope is the part where she is weak," O'Reilly said. "It represents her vulnerability."

[...]

---

The problem isn't Uranus crossing her moons, it is her ANUS crossing her mouth thats got her into trouble.

U.S. Withdraws Fulbright Grants to Gaza

By ETHAN BRONNER
Published: May 30, 2008

GAZA — The American State Department has withdrawn all Fulbright grants to Palestinian students in Gaza hoping to pursue advanced degrees at American institutions this fall because Israel has not granted them permission to leave.

Ali Ali/European Pressphoto Agency, for The New York Times
Hadeel Abukwaik, standing, an engineering software instructor in Gaza, was in disbelief over losing her Fulbright grant.

cont

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/world/middleeast/30gaza.html?_r=1&ref=...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7425027.stm
[...]
Protectionist pressures

Mr Lamy said that he understood the growing protectionist pressures around the world, especially in the US, and accepted that the fears about the too-rapid pace of economic change were genuine.

But he said that there were clear economic gains to be made by freeing up world trade, providing that the inevitable losers were compensated by "appropriate domestic policies".

The problem which protectionism poses for world trade talks is most acute in the US, he said.
[...]
Food fight

The Doha round of talks were launched in 2001 and aimed at freeing up trade in agriculture in order to benefit developing countries.

The talks broke down in July 2006 over disagreements between the US and the EU over the size of the cuts in agricultural subsidies that each of them would have to make to open up their markets to poor countries.

Now Mr Lamy believes that the two sides are much closer together, with the US pledging to cut 70% to 80% of its domestic subsidies - something that is not yet reflected in the farm bill that is being considered by the US Congress.

And he says that the recent rises in world food prices have actually made the task of the trade negotiations easier, as farmers in the rich countries no longer need subsidies to make a profit.

But he warned that action is urgent, because high food prices are here to stay.
[...]
He said the best way to end the food crisis was to encourage economic growth and eliminate poverty so that the poor would be able to afford a decent diet.

Economic slowdown

Mr Lamy said there was no doubt that the effects of the global financial crisis were extremely serious, especially for the US and Europe.

World economic growth and world trade are both slowing sharply.

But Mr Lamy argued that the growing economic power of emerging market countries such as Brazil, China, and India was a crucial counter-weight to the slowdown in the rich countries, adding that this would not have been possible without the expansion of free trade.
[...]
-------------

Oh my, those Corporate Mega-Farms are going to just love this. lol

Looking forward to hearing Hal Sparks' show next week. If you follow his blog on myspace you know he's a dyed in the wool progressive liberal - plus he's very funny and very intelligent.

Not taking away anything from Maron or Seder.

Submitted by mhappenow on Fri, 05/30/2008 - 8:57am.
...I worry...
--------
Not me. I'm much too preoccupied with exercising restraint.

Fixers Indicated That Hillary Was a Key Player in the Marc Rich Pardon Deal

Bill Clinton and the Rich Women
By JEFFREY ST. CLAIR

Despite her campaign’s ongoing slurs against Bill Richardson, the nation’s only Hispanic governor, Hillary Clinton probably feels like she has Puerto Rico, the final primary, in the bank. Those delegates were sown up nine years ago on August 16, 1999, when Bill Clinton issued commutations for 16 members of the FALN Puerto Rican nationalist group serving long sentences for robbery, bombings and sedition. That rare act of humanitarian intervention endeared the Clintons to many Puerto Ricans, obviating the sins committed by the administration at Vieques Island, which had been turned into a toxic bombing ground.

But if Hillary wants to claim credit for the FALN pardons (a strategic decision at the time, geared to helping her win a US senate seat in New York), she should also own up to her role in a much more problematic case, the midnight pardon of billionaire fugitive Marc Rich.

con't

http://www.counterpunch.org/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7423749.stm

A construction crane has collapsed on New York's Upper East Side.

The fire department says it has pulled people out of the wreckage at East 91st Street and First Avenue.

At least two people are reported to have died. The crane appears to have damaged the top floor of a nearby block of flats.

It is the second such accident this year - seven people died in a crane collapse in the same area of the city in March.

and is that why Hispanics like her?

Received this email:

WVKO-AM 1580 is Central Ohio's "Air America" station, broadcasting Progressive Talk programs since December 2007. Sure, I love our own WCRS community radio station, and WCBE, and WOSU, but we need all the diversity of voices we can get and WVKO offers Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ed Shultz, Rachel Maddow, and more. But why does a commercial radio station need help? WVKO is a startup mom-and-pop station that is finding it tough to attract advertising and build their audience - it seems good, progressive sales people are hard to find... they need to raise $50,000 in the next few weeks. If you were disappointed when we lost Air America a year and a half ago, please consider making a contribution NOW to help keep WVKO financially solvent. A show of support from the progressive community will keep the station on the air and enable WVKO management to pay off current debts. Salespeople will be assured that the station will remain on the air, enabling them to make sales calls with confidence. Here's the link: http://wvko1580.com/contribution/ - thanks from WVKO and Ohio Majority Radio

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7427176.stm

The head of the CIA says al-Qaeda is essentially defeated in Iraq....

so he spins it to this:

It is the policy of the Iranian government... to facilitate the killing of American and other coalition forces in Iraq
Michael Hayden
CIA director

i think this applies to direct influence. Direct.

we don't want government telling churches how to be churches.

and we don't want churches dictating what the government does or does not do.

that doesn't mean that politicians can't talk openly about their faith. it doesn't mean that members of clergy have no voice in politics.

it's up to the public to figure out if politicians are sincere or not when it comes to matters of faith -

and if they'd let their religion influence their governing in a positive or negative way.

So that's why Puerto Rico loves Hillzilla.
Submitted by edna ellen poe on Fri, 05/30/2008 - 9:13am.
------
I don't buy into political analysis of Puerto Rico that does not originate in Puerto Rico.

I lived 90 miles from San Juan for many years, read the San Juan Star almost daily and listened to an English language radio program broadcast from San Juan that was devoted to local politics.

The island's politics is a lot more complicated than one might think. Much like politics on the mainland, there are even Puerto Ricans who don't understand Puerto Rican politics.

But what do I know? I would have guessed that Obama would have more support there than he does.

Yeah, that looks horrible. Imagine the crane operator. Lord Jesus

Not to change dimension on you but that is real good proposal Obama has there: to develope a Federal Infrastructure Fund.

Lord knows we have and are wasting enough in Iraq.

Just sose the money goes to protect our troops. But that is by no means where the majority of it is going.

But as Obama says; We should not be there in the first place. And to all Hillary supporters, that is why She is unnacceptable to this ultra Liberal.

Well I tell you. Me and most others see Obama as the given candidate. This race is pretty much over.

Now I know this is a cheap shot, but some have even said that Hill is staying in to payback some of that money she barreeeeed.

But I imagine even the big donors are drying up.

Anybody know if Hill's is still getting big funds from big corpa?

At least part of the mystery of Stonehenge may have now been solved: It was from the beginning a monument to the dead.

New radiocarbon dates from human cremation burials among and around the brooding stones on Salisbury Plain in England indicate that the site was used as a cemetery from 3000 B.C. until after the monuments were erected around 2500 B.C., British archaeologists reported Thursday.

What appeared to be the head of a stone mace, a symbol of authority, was found in one grave, the archaeologists said, indicating that this was probably a cemetery for the ruling dynasty responsible for erecting Stonehenge.

“It’s now clear that burials were a major component of Stonehenge in all its main stages,” said Mike Parker Pearson, an archaeologist at the University of Sheffield in England.

Some scholars have contended that the enigmatic stones, surrounded by a ditch and earthen banks in concentric circles, more than likely marked a sacred place of healing. The idea is at least as old as medieval literature, which also includes stories of Stonehenge as a memorial to the dead. So there could be an element of truth to both hypotheses, experts say.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/science/30stonehenge.html?em&ex=121229...

But I think if a preacher (thinks of looney mega Church megaphones) are going to encourage their thousands and thousands of hard working devotees to distrust and hate certains such as the term "Liberals" and to preach that as if war supporting and conservative ethic is mandated by God the Allmighty as their duty, and thus they are required as a Religious obligation to Vote a certain way , Then by all means, THEY SHOULD BE TAXED. As a Political Organization.

I know someone posted this last night but thought I would post it again.

David Bender is unlistenable.
Plus, the reason Mark Green uses for putting Bender is Sam's time slot is the reason SAM should be on the radio. In fact when I wrote to AA to plead for a show for Sam, I said in this election year we NEED SAM on the radio!!!!
-------------

NEW YORK -- May 29, 2008: Air America Radio's David Bender, whose Politically Direct aired on the liberal talk network from 2005-2007, will be rejoining the AAR lineup as of June 8. The show, which was one hour in its earlier incarnation, will air Sundays from 4-7 p.m. ET, replacing the Sam Seder-hosted Seder on Sundays.

Politically Direct will feature interviews with newsmakers, campaign coverage and other political news, updates from the blogosphere, and listener calls. Bender has been serving as Air America's senior political correspondent and has been appearing daily as the "Political Guru" on AAR's Rachel Maddow Show and on Saturday show Ring of Fire.

"In this important political year, we're thrilled to be bringing back David Bender's Politically Direct," said AAR President Mark Green. "The program will once again provide Sunday listeners with commentary on the networks and the netroots and with David's unique combination of savvy and humor."
http://tinyurl.com/57lyyy
--------------
Mark Green makes me sick!
BTW, Mark, how often do you visit the tanning booth??

Hillary = Evita?
new
Submitted by mystic23 on Fri, 05/30/2008 - 9:21am.
and is that why Hispanics like her?

___________________

They don't necessarily like her. They hate black people.
They had this discussion on a local radio show a couple of months ago here in L.A. The host basically theorized that hispanics distrust and hate black people so they were voting against Obama. Many hispanics called in to.... CONFIRM his theory.
Also, many baffled black people called the show to express shock at their confirmations.

www.sigzone.blogspot.com

Protesting fishermen gave away their catch during a rally in Madrid [EPA]

Spanish fishermen have gone on strike as discontent over soaring fuel prices spreads across Europe.

"Compliance is total. The entire Spanish coast is at a halt," Jose Caparros, of the fishermen's co-operative in the major northeastern port of Barcelona, said.

Fishing fleets in Portugal also staged an open-ended stoppage, with their counterparts in Italy and Belgium expected to do the same.

The strikes follow widespread protests by fishermen in France and reflect anger at the rising cost of fuel, with oil prices above $130 a barrel.

The Spanish strike was set to coincide with a mass demonstration outside the environment, agriculture and fisheries ministry in Madrid, where fishermen gave out 20 tons of fish free in an attempt to draw attention to the ailing industry.

Cepesca, a fisheries association, has predicted a fish shortage by mid-June if the strike persists.

Spain is considered Europe's largest fishing fleet.

Dwindling stocks

In Belgium, a group of fishermen staged a loud protest in front of the EU Council, lighting flares and popping firecrackers.

The European Commission has said fuel costs for fishermen have surged by 240 per cent since 2004, and urged EU governments on Thursday to downsize fishing fleets to rescue their already troubled fishing sectors.

European nations have seen decades of dwindling stocks of cod, tuna, herring, plaice and other species because of significant overfishing and illegal fishing.

Also in Brussels, the European Fishing Action Group, a collection of fishermen's unions from several European countries, called held a meeting to discuss the situation.

In recent years, the European Commission has repeatedly urged governments to restructure their fishing industries by cutting down on the number of fishing vessels.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FFE6C624-1AD0-49C6-B29F-CF421AA79...

Globalization and Terror: Fomenting Inflation to Pay for War

May 30, 2008
By Toni Solo

Toni Solo's ZSpace Page

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/17772

Discussion with Libertarian Socialists

December, 20 2007
By Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky's ZSpace Page

Discussion with Libertarian Socialists

Pt. 1

Lemme Know if U want Pt. 2

VERY GOOD as always by the Man Professor Noam Chomsky!

hey.......

why is sunday sams last show?

im working 7 days a week - so i missed alot lately

Whatcha got planned for Today?

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's main communist party, an important government ally, said on Friday it would protest in the streets if ministers agree to raise retail fuel prices to help ease mounting losses of state oil firms.

India is debating how best to bail out oil retailers and refiners losing tens of millions of dollars a day due to crude oil's record run while having to sell petrol and diesel at cheap, government-set rates.

The ruling Congress Party-led coalition is widely expected to raise prices over the weekend, but wary of upsetting voters in a year dotted with important elections, the size of the hike is likely to far less than the 15-20 percent increases sought by the oil ministry.

"We will go to the streets if the government does not listen, we are totally opposed to any price rise," said Prakash Karat, head of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the largest among the left parties.

Congress has lost a string of state elections and has been widely criticised by opposition parties and the left for fast rising food and other commodity prices which pushed inflation over 8 percent in mid-May to a new 3-½ year high.

The country's oil minister, Murli Deora, said on Thursday some communist leaders had been helpful and cooperating on the issue of raising petroleum prices but Karat ruled out any negotiations over the issue.

The left has proposed a cut in excise and import duties on crude oil and petroleum products to tide over the crisis.

BIG guns were wheeled out yesterday in the battle over independence: their ammunition – oil and taxes. It is a battle that has been building for 21 years, ever since two Scots, then aged 33 and 32, entered the House of Commons as young and inexperienced MPs on the same day in June 1987. Yesterday, they clashed, not just as Scottish MPs from rival parties but as politicians at the height of their powers.
Alistair Darling, the Chancellor and Gordon Brown's closest political ally, was one; Alex Salmond, the First Minister and leader of Scotland's first Nationalist administration, was the other.

Mr Darling was first into the fray, using an interview with The Scotsman to launch his most sustained, detailed attack to date on the SNP's flagship policy of local income tax.

He didn't stop there. He also dismissed the SNP's call for oil tax revenues to be distributed to Scotland and for a "fuel tax regulator" to limit the rising price of fuel.

Within half an hour, Mr Salmond was on his feet at Holyrood, telling of the "fury" in Scotland over the UK government's refusal to use its oil-tax windfall to help families and companies cope with crippling fuel prices.

"A massive national outrage" was how he described Scotland's position as one of the world's top oil producers but with nothing to show from the massive extra revenues being generated as a result of rising prices.

Yesterday's clash showed how central the arguments over oil have become to the future, both of the government in Westminster and of the Union itself.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/Holyrood-and-Westminster-at-w...

Gas prices throughout Arizona hit new record highs Thursday following a spike in prices, and some stations have surpassed the once unthinkable cost of $4 a gallon.

The average price across the state for regular unleaded jumped 16 cents in the past week to $3.81 a gallon, according to AAA Arizona.

It was the highest one-week jump since prices rose by an average of 40 cents a gallon following Hurricane Katrina in early September 2005.Yet, back then, the average price of $3.12 a gallon would be considered a bargain today, and the continual rising prices are taking a toll on consumers.

"You get to the point where you wonder how much further can this go?" said Nancy Gray, a saleswoman who lives in Chandler. "I have to drive for my job, but I think twice if I have to make extra trips."

Gas prices typically rise during the summer because of increased demand, and they also rise in Arizona because stations are required to use cleaner-burning gasoline that is more expensive than the winter blend.

Prices also are increasing nationally because of an increased global demand and political uncertainty in countries that provide oil.

With the price jump, the average price for regular unleaded in Arizona was $3.81 a gallon, according to AAA Arizona.

In the Phoenix-Mesa area, it was a penny more, but some stations, such as Big Tiger Fuel at the corner of Interstate 17 and Seventh Street, broke the $4 a gallon barrier.

"It has been OK. We still get people in," said Maria Galicia, head cashier at Big Tiger Fuel, where regular unleaded was $4.25 a gallon. "There is nothing I can do . . . . I have been doing this for 10 years. I just go with the flow."

The highest average price in the state was $3.91 in Flagstaff, while the lowest was $3.65 in Tucson.

work... new job. lots of overtime....

im going for a bike ride first...

how is WV,

pollen allergioes up here in CT are bad this . i never had any ever, but now my nose wont stop running.... I got get some zyrtec-D

No relief is in sight from the skyrocketing retail gasoline prices Texans are paying, according to a weekly survey released Friday.

The weekly AAA Texas gasoline price survey found that regular self-serve averaged $3.84 per gallon, up 11 cents from last week. Nationally, the average price rose 12 cents to $3.952.

Another AAA Texas survey found those prices have prompted more than half of the auto club's Texas membership to cut back significantly on the miles they normally drive. The survey also found that more than two-thirds of the membership are combining errands to reduce driving.

"There is no doubt that gas prices are having a big impact on many Texans," said Mark Bell, regional vice president and general manager for AAA Texas. "Drivers are changing how they drive and how often because of the relentless upward swing in gas prices."

The most expensive gasoline in Texas was found in Amarillo, where regular self-serve rose 11 cents to $3.87 per gallon. The cheapest gas was in Corpus Christi, where the average price rose 6 cents to $3.79 per gallon.

These are average per-gallon prices of regular, self-serve gasoline in Texas and nationally, as well as the change from last week, according to the AAA Texas Weekend Gas Watch released Friday:

Amarillo — $3.865, up 11.3 cents

Austin-San Marcos — $3.832, up 10.8 cents

Beaumont — $3.842, up 11.0 cents

Corpus Christi — $3.791, up 6.4 cents

Dallas — $3.845, up 10.3 cents

El Paso — $3.793, up 12.0 cents

Fort Worth — $3.841, up 10.2 cents

Galveston-Texas City — $3.820, up 12.7 cents

Houston — $3.818, up 11.8 cents

San Antonio — $3.802, up 10.6 cents

Texarkana (Texas only) — $3.798, up 6.8 cents

State — $3.841, up 11.1 cents

Nationally — $3.952, up 12.1 cents

that mike allen is a little pissant...he is incredibly irritating

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/30/allen/index.html

Glenn Greenwald
Friday May 30, 2008 06:51 EDT
The right-wing Politico cesspool

Politico reporter Mike Allen, formerly of The Washington Post and Time, appeared yesterday on the show of right-wing radio host Mike Gallagher. The two of them guffawed together at how absurd are Scott McCellan's claims that the media was "deferential" to the Bush administration and then Allen said this:

ALLEN: And indeed, Scott does adopt the vocabulary, rhetoric of the left wing haters. Can you believe it in here he says the White House press corps was too deferential to the administration?

Think Progress has the audio, which makes even clearer how eager Mike Allen was "to adopt the vocabulary, rhetoric" of the right-wing operatives which Politico exists to serve. Actually, not even Karl Rove -- who gave Allen and comrades their marching orders earlier this week when he said during an interview with Sean Hannity that McClellan "sounds like a left-wing blogger" -- goes so far as to refer to those critical of the media's war coverage as "left wing haters." But Politico "reporter" Mike Allen does.

After hearing his repugnant comments, I e-mailed Allen last night and asked him several questions, including (full email is here): "Is anyone who believes that the media was too deferential to the Bush administration in the run-up to the war a 'left-wing hater?'" and "Can you give a few examples of the 'left-wing haters' you were referencing?" and "Are there 'right-wing haters'? If so, any examples you can provide?" Allen sent me a completely non-responsive reply that had nothing to do with what I asked. When I emailed him again and emphasized that I was particularly interested in his use of the term "left wing haters," this is the reply he sent me, in full:

Ah, gotcha. No, you can call them "critics" or "skeptics" or "opponents" or whatever. My only point was that McClellan has now validated points of view that the administration had in the past pushed back against -- and that, in fact, have been proven empirically in many cases. For instance, the Larry Lindsey $100-200 billion was once considered heresy by Scott and his colleagues. Now, it looks like a lowball...

When he referred to "left wing haters," he just meant "critics" of the administration -- war "skeptics" and Bush "opponents." That's all synonymous in his mind with "left wing haters" -- interchangeable terms. Thus: "you can call them 'critics' or 'skeptics' or 'opponents'" -- or the phrase I used: "left wing haters" -- "or whatever." So according to Politico's chief political correspondent (the former White House Correspondent of Time), administration critics are, by definition, "left wing haters."

Allen shared his complaint about "left wing haters" while chatting agreeably with Mike Gallagher, who previously said this:

I think we should round up all of these folks. Round up Joy Behar. Round up Matt Damon, who last night on MSNBC attacked George Bush and Dick Cheney. Round up Olbermann. Take the whole bunch of them and put them in a detention camp until this war is over because they're a bunch of traitors.

Allen and Gallagher can't stand those left wing haters.

Allen recently conducted an "interview" with George Bush that was so vapid and sycophantic that the normally polite Dan Froomkin of The Washington Post detailed the "questions" Allen posed and then asked rhetorically: "Has there ever been a more moronic interview of a president of the United States than the one conducted yesterday by Mike Allen?"

Speaking of Politico's sycophantic service to the GOP, Allen's colleague, Daniel Paul Kuhn, today has an article about how gay marriage is going to help McCain win the election and doom Obama among independents and working class voters. Last week, Kuhn wrote an article reporting that GOP operatives were excited about the prospects of McCain winning in a "blowout." Several weeks before that, Kuhn wrote an article about how the Iraq War's growing popularity among Americans would be a huge asset for McCain and doom the Democratic candidate. Not even the most shameless GOP hack makes such absurdly optimistic claims about the GOP's electoral chances -- at least not out in the open. They just have Kuhn and Politico do it for them.

I once thought that Politico would be a pernicious new addition to our rotted media culture. Instead, it actually provides a valuable service by packing every destructive and corrupt journalistic attribute, in its most vivid form, into one single cesspool.

"I am just a caveman. Your mechanical birds frighten me."

As Lionel would say, "Bless their hearts."

www.sigzone.blogspot.com

ANTI-WAR campaigner George Monbiot has admitted he was “disappointed” he was unable to arrest one of George Bush’s leading allies at the Hay Festival.

The 45-year-old, who lives in Machynlleth, was bundled out of a reading by security guards after he tried to grab, and hand over to police, the former Under Secretary of State at the US State Department, John Bolton, for “assisting in the planning of a war of aggression”.

Mr Monbiot, an author and honorary fellow of Cardiff University, said: “Although I am disappointed that he got away, I believe this is the first time anyone has attempted to perform a citizen’s arrest on one of the architects of the Iraq war.

“I’m pleased to have been able to do my duty as a citizen and challenge him in this way. It seems right that Bolton should be greeted with an attempt to bring him to justice, rather than just the polite applause you normally find at literary festivals.”

Mr Monbiot was quickly stopped by security officers as he made his way to the stage on Wednesday evening in his bid to arrest Mr Bolton for what he claimed were war crimes.

He then tried to force his way back in but was stopped from doing so by a team of guards.

He bemoaned being forced to make “an undignified exit from the back of the festival tent”.

Meanwhile Mr Bolton – a senior fellow at right-wing think-tank the American Enterprise Institute, who was at the Hay Festival promoting his book Surrender is Not an Option – left the stage to get into a waiting car.

a long time....i know many of you are dissapointed that i was not nowhere near the collapse....but!

good re-morning yourll, now to do some laundry

lalalalala

just watch

WV is great and beautiful as usual. Trees and birds are magnificent here.

I was thinking of a bike ride myself.

But, I am my 4th beer so no.......

Plus had a very long night last night.

But everything is going swimmingly on this end.

Hope they ain't a robbin ya for ye overtime. Cause man, that ain't right.

The substance (or lack thereof) of the controversy notwithstanding—big sister blog Swampland weighs in here and here and here and here and here—Olbermann is edging ever-closer to self-parody, or, worse, predictability. (As soon as the Clinton gaffe broke, blog commenters were wondering how ballistic he would go, and he obliged, and how.) Even if we concede his argument—that Clinton was at best callously and at worst intentionally suggesting she should stay in the race because Obama might be killed—every time he turns up the volume to 11 like this lately, he sounds like just another of the cable gasbags he used to be a corrective to.

But mostly his outburst reminds me of how the long Democratic primary has divided the left-of-center media (or at least, the media outlets with a left-of-center audience) into camps, like a bad divorce. Personalities and institutions that were once universally beloved by people who were sick of the Bush administration have either taken sides, or have been perceived to, splintering what used to be a unified and largely uncritical amen chorus.

Most of the perceived side-takers have been on the Obama side, as we've seen—it's not just Olbermann, Daily Kos and the Huffington Post, but even some viewers of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report (as sanctified as any center of anti-Bush comedy can be) have gotten alienated by the shows' attacks on Hillary Clinton. (I haven't sat down with a stopwatch to see if they mock her more than Obama, but they certainly mock her better.) There are fewer pro-Clinton equivalents, but Saturday Night Live, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and my old employer Salon.com have all taken criticism for carrying water for Hillary, from the same sorts of people who loved them when they were knocking Bush and Cheney.

As much hand-wringing as there's been over the strife in the Democratic primary, however, I have to wonder if these particular schisms aren't a good thing. It has to be healthy in some way to see that someone you used to cheer automatically is actually capable of believing something you disagree with. Shocking, I know! (For this reason, I only wish there were more anti-Obama outlets to balance the anti-Clinton ones, because the other half of the Democratic Party—not to mention the entire Republican party—could use this experience too.)

It's probably asking too much, but maybe the experience of being annoyed by someone you used to constantly agree with could teach political audiences something about how they have appeared all along to their adversaries. Think about it: if you've found yourself suddenly irritated by any of the people or outlets I mentioned above this election, is it really they who've changed? Or are they simply less charming when they're not confirming your comfortable beliefs?

Sometimes, maybe, the only way to really understand how your idols sound from the other side is to actually find yourself on the other side of them.

[Update: By the way, I left this out of my original post because I figured that regular readers of my blog were sick by now of my constantly disclosing it—but for the benefit of those of you directed here from HuffPo or elsewhere, I voted for Obama.]
http://www.time-blog.com/tuned_in/2008/05/keith_olbermann_blows_last_rem... |

STOCKHOLM (AFP) — Condoleezza Rice may be a top diplomat who once aspired to being a concert pianist but she let her hair down a bit in Stockholm to meet the flamboyant rock group KISS.

"I was thrilled," a beaming US secretary of state told reporters Friday after meeting lead singer Gene Simmons and his three band members at the waterfront Sheraton Hotel in the Swedish capital on Thursday night.

"For someone who likes the whole range of music, it was really fun to meet KISS and Gene Simmons," Rice said on the plane taking her from a conference on Iraq in Stockholm to talks with Iceland's leaders in Reykjavik.

The gathering was held in an executive loung at the hotel after the band, which is on a European concert tour, contacted the US delegation who were in Stockholm for the Iraq Compact Review Conference, US officials said.

Her aides showed reporters digital photographs of Rice smiling and chatting to the long-haired band members who were dressed casually rather than in their flamboyant stage costumes of black leather and painted faces.

They wore slacks, open-necked shirts and jackets. Rice, who had just returned from a dinner with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, appeared in her usual business attire.

Simmons and the other band members -- Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer -- autographed for her a glossy concert photograph of them on stage and gave band T-shirts to Rice's aides.

Rice said she had never seen KISS perform but she had been to four rock concerts in her life.

The first was when she was 10 years old and she saw Paul Revere and The Raiders in her native Alabama and the second was when she was 16 years old and went on her first date with an Air Force cadet to see Smokey Robinson.

She later saw Earth Wind and Fire and U2 in concert.

New Thread

can i come over? after all this is my sick day and i can cancel my later dentist appointment. laundry sucks anyway

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/3173#comment-210817

David Sirota
But the anti-war uprising outside of D.C. is done playing nice. Congressional candidates are now giving anti-war orders to their party, rather than taking pro-war orders from the Wise Men of Washington - and the Responsible Plan is just the beginning. Anti-war primaries in Maryland and Iowa have been mounted against pro-war Democratic incumbents. Meanwhile, the uprising is bleeding into the gears of commerce, as dockworkers this month shut down ports to protest the war.

Military conflicts don't end on their own, and they don't end because of politicians, insiders and parties. They are forced to end by power-challenging mass movements. That is the principle behind the Lamont Lesson - and we're lucky that lesson is again being taught

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/the_lamont_lesson.html

to file for rehearing on new trial plea
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/news_breaking/20080527_Abu-Jamal...

5/27/08

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit yesterday granted a two-week extension for lawyers for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal to file a petition for a rehearing on his effort to get a new trial.

Abu-Jamal was convicted in 1982 of the murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner and sentenced to death. In late March, a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit affirmed Abu-Jamal's conviction but vacated the death sentence. The court said Abu-Jamal should be sentenced to life in prison or get a chance to persuade a new Philadelphia jury that he deserves a life sentence rather than death.

Defense lawyer Robert R. Bryan of San Francisco intends to seek a rehearing before the court on his contention that Abu-Jamal deserves a new trial, or at least a hearing on his argument that some blacks were intentionally excluded from his jury.

The court said the new filing deadline is June 10. Inquirer Staff
*TLL*

Healing the wounds of Democrats' sexism
By Geraldine A. Ferraro
We feel that if society can allow sexism to impact a woman's candidacy to deny her the presidency, it sends a direct signal that sexism is OK in all of society.

In response, a group of women - from corporate executives to academics to members of the media - have requested that the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University and others conduct a study, which we will pay for if necessary, to determine three things.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/0...

I would like to know too about what that caller asked about last night. Is anyone talking about how people might communicate beyond the neighborhood/local level if there is no radio or internet.

Well, is anyone...?

If he was totally gone - then they would have done a farewell show again................ He had no problem with the last time when he was relagated to the back forty on Sundays -

this time - pretty hush hush - So I am praying - yes that is right - praying - that he announces @ 6:30 that he gets the 3-6 pm slot with Maron as his once in a while side kick when he is not traveling.

Kinda makes sense - You want to go head to head with Rhodes in the slot - you need some mighty double headed power.

Then in about - 6 months they will can Lionel and split the two up. Because I would say that Lionels contract is probably two years.