Server Upgrade Coming!

again

Be sure to put the sacrifice to YouTube and post it here.

I think I'll go see him, sounds interesting

Won't be sooooo Crappy(Tech Wise) ?

That would be Great ! :)

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

In the final hour, special-interests worked to weaken the hard-fought product safety bill. They want to make it harder for your state to act quickly when new dangers show up on store shelves.

Federal regulators can’t find all the dangerous products and lead-laden toys out there, especially when many of our products are imported.

But states can respond quickly to new dangers and act to make your family safer. Industry opponents want to make sure that the standards set by the federal government right now are the strongest you will ever get. Federal law should be a floor, not a ceiling.

A special committee is negotiating to produce a final version.
Consumersunion.org

Link to petition-Please Sign-Thank You

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

you sure the feathers, blood, nudity and lurid strange body paint won't offend anyone?

eff "W" and the boys...

this makes ALL their crimes shrink in comparison.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/02/health/webmd/main2147223.shtml

back tonight.

love y'all!

Feingold!

take care SJ..i also gotta get cracking...dentist appt. 2.30 pm and am going to walk there this time no "gypsy cab"

McClellan: Cheney’s memoir could be called, ‘I Upped Halliburton’s Income - So Up Yours.’
In a speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco last night, former White House press secretary Scott McClellan offered cutting criticism of Vice President Dick Cheney, saying he “had a terribly negative influence over this president.” At one point, McClellan suggested “some ideas for book titles Cheney might consider“:

McClellan who is clear that he has no great admiration for Cheney, joked to the audience that his national book tour has given him some ideas for book titles Cheney might consider: “The Lies I Told,” or “I Upped Halliburton’s Income - So Up Yours.”

McClellan also offered potential book title ideas for Karl Rove and Scooter Libby: “The Lies I Told to Whom and Why” and “Well, Pardon Me,” respectively.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/25/mcclellan-cheneys-memoir-could-be-ca...

Beautiful Day eh :)

Hey Jimmer, think you could give me a buzz, need a little advice on Life and a little mechanical advice.

and you are the expert on both fronts I reckon ;)

voting "no"?

OMG that has got me laughing so loud

I think it's a quorum call. It's to delay the vote.

One of the Greats for sure!

Submitted by Bob26003 on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 12:51pm.
...need a little advice on Life and a little mechanical advice.
---------
Always draft a prenuptial agreement and never buy a Chevy Vega.

Why is ugly mug posted on this site?

I thought this was a safe place :D

Looks like we can't escape em ........ Their everywhere! And they crave Human Brains........

AAAAAAaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

I will definately keep that in mind? ;)

Crank, I just got my meds today, so you better be come with funnies Mister.

Good Lord knows I need it. :D

?

A friend of a friend went to some Cheney "fund raising" [god only knows] events recently [his father was ex-CIA - and mysteriously died - so he escorts his mother]. He reported to my friend that everyone at this one event was bad mouthing Bush and co.

Not surprised. I think this is just more anecdotal evidence, along with Gates being appointed and trying to get rid of Cheney neo-cons in various agencies. Another friend who also has ties in the government and military/pentagon, had said that Gates being appointed was a move to counter the Cheney people.

Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq "1,225,898"

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In U.S. War And Occupation Of Iraq 4,106
Cost of U.S. War and Occupation of Iraq

$531,089,948,024
For more details, click here.

http://nationalpriorities.org/cms/costofwar

oh ok was wondering what was happening

The finishing touches on several contingency plans for attacking Iran

By David DeBatto

Just after the first waves of U.S. bombers cross into Iranian airspace, the Iranian Navy, using shore based missiles and small, fast attack craft sinks several oil tankers in the Straits of Hormuz, sealing off the Persian Gulf and all its oil from the rest of the world. Continue

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20164.htm

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq

"The Iraqi-U.S. agreement contains several items that impinge upon the sovereignty of Iraq, including the right of the U.S. forces in Iraq to attack any nation and raid any Iraqi house and arrest people without prior permission from the Iraqi government," Khalaf al-Alyan, a member of parliament from the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI). Continue

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20165.htm

And I imagine Bush peeps don't like them either. After all they concocted this PNAC plan. Which led to Bush being the worst President in History. Among other things of course. But you get my point

Got any new Jokes ya been workin on Crank
Submitted by Bob26003 on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 1:01pm.
------
I thought that the Man Has Sex With Picnic Table jokes had been exhausted weeks ago, then gbasin tossed in a "naughty pine" pun.

I've been demoralized ever since.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen left yesterday on a trip that will take him to Israel, “just as the Israelis are mounting a full court press” to urge the Bush administration to strike Iran. “Israelis are uncertain about what would be the policies of the next administration vis-à-vis Iran,” said CBS consultant Michael Oren.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/24/eveningnews/main4206201.shtml?...

You don't know how happy Steve will be that you honored his joke by being demoralized....and between you and me he is the worst joke teller in the world...his jokes make my teeth ache and my bowels turn.

But that WAS a great one last night.

Last December, the White House refused to open an e-mail from the EPA that declared global warming emissions to be a pollutant regulated under the Clean Air Act. Today, the agency will release a watered-down ruling that strips the agency’s finding that tough regulation of car emissions “could produce $500 billion to $2 trillion in economic benefits over the next 32 years.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/washington/25epa.html?ref=us

“Barack Obama’s Senate staff has requested an intelligence briefing on the latest in Iraq and Afghanistan from aides to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggesting the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate could be gearing up for a trip abroad.”

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/06/25/obama-camp-requests-intelligence...

A bipartisan group of 200 former government officials, retired generals and religious leaders will issue a statement today “calling for a presidential order to outlaw some interrogation and detention practices used by the Bush administration over the last six years.” The group, which includes former Reagan secretary of state George Schultz, seeks to outlaw secret detentions and rendition to countries that torture.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/us/25torture.html?ref=us

New military data shows that “insurgent activity is increasing sharply in Afghanistan and has spread into once stable areas, with attacks up almost 40% in the eastern provinces alone.” The violence marks “the latest in a series of troubling developments that have led to markedly higher U.S. casualties” and has prompted military leaders to review strategies on “how to make do with limited numbers of American troops.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-usafghan25-2008jun2...

Yesterday, in a surprise victory, the House overwhelmingly passed a bill “to prevent a 10 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors that was scheduled to take effect July 1.” Backers of the legislation warned that such a cut “would lead to many physicians opting out of treating Medicare patients.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/24/AR200806...

got lost within all the other posts...

The Senate confirmed five new commissioners for the Federal Election Commission last night, “ending a six-month partisan standoff between the White House and Senate Democrats and putting the campaign watchdog back in business.” The fight began last year when Democrats refused to bring up the nomination of controversial former Justice Department official Hans von Spakovsky.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0608/Senate_confirms_new_FEC_comm...

Submitted by mhappenow on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 1:27pm.
...his jokes make my teeth ache and my bowels turn.
------
I hate to blow his cover...but he might be designing jokes just to reset the rev limiter on your groan-o-meter.

gotta run along now...what colour shades to wear today? black or white ones? i will go with the black pair...

later yourll

yesterday a picture of a solar grid in germany was published. i believe when operating at full capacity it was capable of generating 40+ megawatts.

i know its a stupid question but do these grids generate any electricity at night or on a cloudy day? do they have to be backfilled with a storage mechanism (battery or capacitive) to provide even levels of energy?

if only he were that sharp....

Message To The Federal Government: No, You Can’t Search My Laptop!
Our guest blogger, Peter Swire, is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and served as the Clinton administration’s Chief Counselor for Privacy, working on encryption policy and other issues.

In recent months, I have become increasingly aware of what I consider a deeply flawed and disturbing policy. In April, a federal appeals court held that Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) can search laptops, and even copy their entire contents, as a routine part of border searches. The ruling held that the CBP does not need probable cause, or even the lower standard of “reasonable suspicion.”

The government’s legal theory is that it can open a suitcase at the border, so it can force a traveler to open a laptop and reveal passwords and encryption keys as a condition of entering the country. This simplistic legal theory ignores the massive factual difference between a quick glance into a suitcase and the ability to copy a lifetime of files from someone’s laptop, and then examine those files at the government’s leisure. Some of the problems that arise with this policy:

– U.S. policy creates bad precedents that totalitarian and other regimes will follow. If the United States adopts a policy, then it is generally much harder for the United States to object if other countries adopt a similar policy. Even if you trust handing your encryption keys to the United States, would you feel the same way handing the keys for all your communications to a totalitarian regime?

– Severe harm to personal privacy, free speech, and business secrets. Intrusive laptop searches by the United States and other governments would chill free speech. One vivid example is a human rights activist entering or leaving China, perhaps on a religious or other mission that is controversial in that country. The government may say that they would not do such things, but the lack of legal safeguards once again means that we must simply trust the government not to misuse its power.

– Disadvantaging the U.S. economy. Foreign tourists will not like the idea of having their laptop inspected at the border, and may decide to visit elsewhere. International conferences and conventions will choose to locate elsewhere. If laptop searches were vital to the fight against terrorism, then we might craft procedures to do them while minimizing the intrusion. The available cases, however, are not about terrorism-related investigations.

CPB has refused to acknowledge any limits on its discretion to search laptops, Blackberries, and other computing devices whenever someone enters or leaves the country. Today, I will be testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is holding the first hearing about this increasingly common problem. The hearing, called by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), features a coalition of civil liberties and business groups that oppose these searches. I hope that today’s hearing will spell the beginning of the end of this troubling policy.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/25/swire-laptop/

My little secret Lucille ;)

I heard Dodd talk about a filibuster last night. Fiengold brought it up too. I think tonight they will do a dog and pony show like they do when they just want everyone to go home. All of the time in quorum calls today, someone has risen to add the time to post cloture time which would mean all of it counts towards some kind of a so called filibuster imo.

anybody listening to the senate hearings? talking about how there are countys where the fed owns most of the land but as a rule the fed doesn't have to pay taxes so no method exists for funding schools, etc. they are trying to pass an act to make payment to these countys.

does anyone know if the fed is collecting fees from the lumber companys that are working on the fed land?

If I see the URL, I will cross post it on my blog and at:

http://www.samsedershow.tv

If this blog is down tonight and you don't know where to go, you will find directions there.

Sen. Mike Crapo (R) Idaho

Bet he was teased as a kid!

Leahy on the floor denouncing the FISA capitulation.

Gitmo Detainee’s Lawyer ‘Not Allowed To Tell Him’ He’s No Longer An ‘Enemy Combatant’

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/25/parhat-combatant-solitary/

Submitted by dan on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 1:49pm.
...i know its a stupid question but do these grids generate any electricity at night or on a cloudy day? do they have to be backfilled with a storage mechanism (battery or capacitive) to provide even levels of energy?
-----
I am sure that you already are aware of the current (no pun intended, okay...maybe a little) and proposed methods of storing solar-produced energy generated from a centralized location, so I won't go into that discussion.

Absent storage, keep in mind that the greatest electrical demand on a grid is during the daylight hours. The grids always have other (usually fossil fuel) sources of energy, so reducing the use of fossil fuels pays-off even when limited to the daytime.

Also (maybe not in Germany?), when the sun is highest and the weather is hottest, air-conditioning increases demand on the grid tremendously. In the U.S. the yearly peak demand is always during the daytime in the summer, and the peaks determine costs throughout the year.

McCain hasn’t voted in the Senate since April 8.
In April, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) became the most absent member of the Senate. According to the Washington Post’s votes database, McCain has “missed 367 votes (61.4%) during the current Congress.” In fact, CQ reports today that McCain hasn’t voted in the Senate since April 8. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) last voted on June 4.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/m000303/

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Sarah H.

Rove critical of NY Times for ‘outing’ CIA agent
By David Edwards and Muriel Kane | Uncategorized | Wednesday, 25 June 2008

Former presidential aide Karl Rove has been widely suspected of having played a major role in the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. These suspicions have never been fully dispelled, even when former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage acknowledged he was the person who gave Plame’s name to columnist Robert Novak, who then revealed it in print.

On Tuesday, Fox’s Bill O’Reilly suggested to Rove that the New York Times, in particular, had hounded him in the Plame affair, making it ironic that the Times itself recently revealed the name of a CIA interrogator.

Last week, the New York Times outed a CIA agent — I’m not going to mention his name — who interrogated Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,” said O’Reilly. “The CIA asked the New York Times not to do that, it obviously puts the CIA agent in danger because al Qaeda knows who he is, and they say, ‘Well, we’ll out anybody unless they’re under cover.’”

The Times added an Editor’s Note to the story following its initial publication, explaining why they had revealed the interrogator’s name even though the CIA asked them not to do so. “After discussion with agency officials and a lawyer for Mr. Martinez, the newspaper declined the request, noting that Mr. Martinez had never worked under cover. … The newspaper seriously considered the requests from Mr. Martinez and the agency. But in view of the experience of other government employees who have been named publicly in books and published articles or who have themselves chosen to go public, the newspaper made the decision to print the name.”

“The New York Times has a double standard,” Rove replied to O’Reilly. “It was deeply concerned when Richard Armitage outed Valerie Plame. Of course, they were only concerned until the point that it became apparent it was Richard Armitage, not Karl Rove.”

“But the New York Times has a habit,” Rove continued. “They previously … revealed the existence of programs to monitor the electronic communications of known and suspected terrorists abroad. They put our country at risk when they revealed the details of a program that saved America from attacks.”

More here:

http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/25/rove-critical-of-ny-times-for-outi...

I can't see it where I'm at... Real player is blocked here.

Wednesday 06/25/2008 - 2:00 PM

2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law

Hearing on the Executive Office for United States Attorneys

By Direction of the Chairman

I'm pretty sure Jonathan Turley was testifying in this hearing. I hope someone got it recorded, it was not aired on C-Span.

Addington and Yoo are scheduled to testify before the Judiciary regarding torture in the ongoing torture hearings. I'll be updating my Dungeon Open Mic with updates on where we are in the process of catching these criminals when the blog comes back online.

Scheduled events for dates
6/26/2008  -  6/26/2008

Thursday 06/26/2008 -
9:30 AM

2237 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Courts, the
Internet, and Intellectual Property

Markup of: H.R. 4789, the “Performance Rights Act”

By Direction of the Chairman

Thursday 06/26/2008 -
10:00 AM

2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on the
Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties

Hearing on: From the Department of Justice to Guantanamo
Bay: Administration Lawyers and Administration Interrogation
Rules, Part III

By Direction of the Chairman

Thursday 06/26/2008 -
1:30 PM

2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Commercial and
Administrative Law

Meeting to consider: A resolution authorizing the Chairman
to issue a subpoena to Attorney General Michael Mukasey for
certain documents previously requested

By Direction of the Chairman

 Thursday 06/26/2008 -
1:00 PM

2237 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Crime,
Terrorism, and Homeland Security

Hearing on H.R. 1889, the “Private Prison Information Act of
2007” (Part II)

By Direction of the Chairman

Bush, Cheney...Bush people don't like Cheney people and Cheney people don't like Bush people...while they push-pull for power, the rest of US and the World get trashed.

Sen. Kit Bond on the floor to answer questions Leahy brought up.

alt min income tax bill.

Submitted by CeeCee on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 2:18pm.
Bush, Cheney...Bush people don't like Cheney people and Cheney people don't like Bush people...
----------
Forgive me for boiling this down to The Three Stooges, but it's an image I can't shake.

Cheney = Moe

Bush = Curly

All of the Cheney and Bush people = Larry

Kucinich. It had a prayer of hope for our country and a few thanks for donations. I felt like framing it. He asked for nothing from me. He was just thanking his supporters. When do you ever see a thank you that doesn't also contain a request for more help?

does that mean new blog?
here's something I saved from last year before
the old majority report blog changed to sss
you can still read some of the comments
if anyone wants to go down memory lane

http://www.majorityreportradio.com/index.php

isn't enough to properly advertise the whore she really is. She could charge more if she changed her lipstick color to a brighter shade too. Add a corset and clear heeled platform shoes with that. Total prostitute. I wonder how much she went for? What did those telecoms pay her to move her mouth like that?

Cheap and tawdry is all I see there right now. What a sellout.

who comes from a long line of fascist whores will be up to pimp the FISA capitulation blow job.

so as usual, you provide an astute correlation ;)

Corrupt Alaska Senator Ted Stevens is the longest serving Republican with over 40 years in the Senate.

He is notorious for his excessive pork projects like the $320 million "bridge to nowhere."

He thinks the "internets" is made up of a "series of tubes" even though at the time he headed the Senate Commerce Committee charged with regulating the Internet.

But that's not the worst of it. Senator Stevens is under federal criminal investigation by the FBI and the IRS for corruption. Evidently, Senator Stevens has a close relationship with an oil services company executive who has pled guilty to bribing Alaskan legislators.

The people of Alaska deserve better than Ted Stevens. They deserve a Senator who will fight for them, not use influence to make money and do favors for friends and family.

Mark Begich is the Democrat ready to move Alaska forward. Born and raised in Alaska, Mark is currently the Mayor of Anchorage, where he has balanced the budget repeatedly and the economy continues to grow even under President Bush.

Support Mark with $25 right now and fund his aggressive campaign.
http://www.actblue.com/page/supportmark
SEND MARK BEGICH TO THE SENATE TODAY!

Nails it.

I'm a proud member of MoveOn and his actions today will say a whole lot about how aggressive my position will be on him in the future.

Why is it they always want the POST 9/11 telecom spying to be immune, but never mention the Government requested spying done PRE-9/11?
They started data mining and wire tapping as soon as Shrub took the Oath.
Considering how legally sharp that gaggle of crooks is supposed to be, could this an oversight of that 8 months? Would Cheney leave his ass bare like that?

I'm really confused here.

Workers' rights boosted by US Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court this year made a number of key rulings on workplace discrimination which, unusually for the conservative court, mostly favored workers over their bosses.

Last week, the US high court ruled in favor of several workers in a high-profile age discrimination lawsuit. In a 7-1 decision, the court said an employer bore the burden of explaining its reasons for laying off some two dozen workers -- all of whom happened to be aged over 40.

The court ruled that employers must provide "reasonable factors other than age" for the action in order to successfully defend itself against an age discrimination lawsuit.

The US Supreme Court, which meets from October to June each year, considered some 70 cases this year, with some of its highest profile deliberations on hot-button cases like Guantanamo, the death penalty and Americans' constitutional right to bear firearms.

But about a dozen decisions dealt with the decidedly less sexy but vitally important issues of workers' rights -- including several cases which focused on age or racial discrimination.

The recent workers' victories come in sharp juxtaposition to last year, when the court dealt workers a major setback, in a blockbuster case which labor leaders said dramatically curtailed employees' rights to sue for pay discrimination.

That case involved worker at a Goodyear Tire plant in Alabama who sued the company after learning that, as the sole woman among 17 management-level employees, she was the lowest paid, although she was not the lowest in seniority.

The conservative US high court, in a narrow five-to-four ruling, found that under US labor law, employees have a 180-day time period for filing a gender discrimination lawsuit, and that the employee had not uncovered and documented the discrimination in a timely fashion.

The debate later went to the US Congress, where Republicans succeeded in blocking Democratic efforts to change the law.

But this year, on the heels of that defeat for workers' rights, the US high court's record on employment cases is much more of "a mixed bag," said Neal Mollen, a prominent US employment attorney, who said workers this year might even have come out slightly ahead.

"In most of the cases, the employees have won," Mollen said.

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Workers_rights_boosted_by_US_Suprem_0625200...

there are no existing civil suits existing prior to 9/11. Someone would have to prove they were spied on prior to that date. It's a loop hole. The only existing civil suits that will be thrown out are between the 9/11 date and the Feb 07 cut off. The fact that it's public knowledge that the room was assembled only months after GWB took office won't see a court room because no one has standing to bring it up.

Isn't it interesting that they had the infrastructure ready on day 1 to spy on all America? Gee do they think American's are so stupid that we can't put 2 and 2 together?

Hey, pbtrue1. Did you see Grassley accuse the Investigator General who got the Riggs Bank debacle of corruption? He did that this morning.

with ONE meatball!!!

bernie saunders is putting it all in perspective. these republicans know bush et.al. has been breaking the law and going way past spying on terrorists but all they can do is try and scare us.

No Immunity for Telecoms that Illegally Spy on US!

Last Friday, the House of Representatives granted de facto amnesty to the phone companies who cooperated with the Bush administration's illegal spying on American citizens. Our final opportunity to prevent this from becoming law lies with the Senate. We must stop the Senate from making the same terrible decision, a decision that chips away at one of our most fundamental and progressive values-the right to privacy.

Please call your senators right now and tell them to vote against any bill that lets the Bush administration and these telecom companies off the hook for shredding the constitution.

We cannot let the Senate give the phone companies and the Bush administration a free ride for past and future violations of our basic civil liberties. If we join together and ask our Senators to stop this bill by supporting a filibuster and voting NO against a bill that gives the phone companies amnesty, we can protect our privacy rights from this assault by conservative forces in Congress.

Call Your Senators Today.

The Senate switchboard is (202) 224-3121 (see below for a list of direct numbers). Tell them your state and ask them to connect you to your senator. Be sure to speak with both senators from your state.

In addition to giving phone companies a free pass, this bill fails to restore adequate judicial review for future surveillance, which will continue to put our privacy rights at risk. Protecting our privacy rights is a core progressive value. Don't let them slip away. Take action by calling your senator today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBRUAToB3Ww

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2004-05-14-riggs-fine_x...
Posted 5/14/2004 12:28 AM

The Senate Finance Committee chairman, Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa, recently asked the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks to examine Saudi transactions totaling tens of millions at Riggs and FleetBoston Financial Corp.

"Riggs Bank deserves every penny of this huge fine," Grassley said in a statement Thursday. "Banks have a patriotic duty, not to mention legal requirement, to report suspicious activity. When banks look the other way, they put our national security at risk. Whether it's through incompetence, negligence or greed, they are allowing terrorists to funnel their blood money through the system."

Google" Grassley Riggs Bank

A whole slew of info comes up dating back 5 years and more

are helping them dan. This is a bipartisan ass pounding to all Americans by both parties. The are treating us like we are the pig in a spit.

good news - probably this means that i will stop hearing all those whistles and bristles from my security system every time i open the page, loud thump and the warning "this site is not safe - owner hides its identity" highlighted in blue-red-yellow

i'ge gotten used to it by now and it will probably be missed, kinda like a creaky door in your house

do any of you have the same experience? I use the ca security package

That's what was so striking about him calling out the Investigator General who brought light to the money laundering. It was bizarre. I tivo'd it at home.

Expert tells Olbermann: DOJ ‘goon squad’ betrayed legal ideals
By David Edwards | Uncategorized | Wednesday, 25 June 2008

A new Justice Department audit has revealed that under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, highly qualified applicants for jobs or summer internships who had liberal leanings were passed over in favor of conservatives, in violation of the supposedly non-partisan spirit of those programs. For example, in 2006, 82% of summer internship applicants with liberal affiliations were rejected, but only 13% of those with conservative affiliations.

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann invited constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley to discuss these findings, which he described as “the Bush administration’s attempt to make the Justice Department into kind of a goon squad for the Republican Party.”

Turley noted with a smile that “it’s ironic. … The Bush administration has lost so many terrorism cases — maybe this is the reason. You don’t get a very good government when you have political commissars selecting people not because they’ve achieved something, but because they toe a party line.”

However, Turley was far more concerned with the moral issues involved. “We believe that as lawyers, we represent our clients zealously and we put our politics aside,” he stated passionately. “They violated something very precious to most lawyers, liberal and conservative.”

“The honors program is jealously protected by the Department of Justice,” Turley emphasized. “It is one of the proudest and longest-standing programs in the legal profession. It has always transcended politics. … For the Bush administration to invade even that program and to apply a political litmus test is really abhorrent to many lawyers. This is not a conservative or liberal issue. … It’s a very fundamental betrayal.”

In concluding, Olbermann asked Turley if he could connect this latest scandal with Karl Rove’s pursuit of a permanent Republican majority and the US Attorney scandal.

Turley laughed and replied, “The Justice Department’s neutrality and independence is the sort of grout that holds together the other departments. …The invasion of politics by the Bush administration into that department has been so extensive and so severe, I expect the Justice Department will be the one that is most difficult to put back together. … This just shows how deep the damage is. It’s well below the waterline.”

This video is from MSNBC’s Countdown, broadcast June 24, 2008.

http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/25/olbermann-doj-goon-squad-rejected-...

what a prince. We need more like that.

Clue to Senator Oral Hatch. He invaded the privacy of ALL American's not just foreigners. Are you lying or stupid?

After Clinton's brief words to her colleagues at the lunch, Reid and other Democratic leaders formed a procession to escort Clinton toward the reporters outside. Reid described "one of the most emotional caucuses I've attended," complete with tears. But he also made it clear that, in the Senate, he was in charge. He introduced Clinton, decreed that "she'll be happy to take a couple of questions now" and decided when to cut off the session.

Clinton delivered a version of the party-unity theme she had voiced behind closed doors. "I come back with an even greater depth of awareness about what we have to do here in Washington," she said. She spoke with vagueness about her new role ("to be the very best senator I can be"), her plans ("I'm rolling up my sleeves and getting back to work") and her vice presidential ambitions ("I am not seeking any other position"). And she repeated the requisite promise to "work very hard to elect Senator Obama our president."

The ceremonial welcome over, it was time for Clinton to get back to the humdrum life of the legislator. She returned to her old office on the fourth floor of the Russell Building and, handing off her handbag to Reines, began to greet her aides -- until she heard the cheers coming from her office. Inside, she found the players, referees in uniforms borrowed from Foot Locker, three dozen staffers, and signs saying "I like Mike" and "I'm an Ann Fan."
ad_icon

"Silence, please!" the line judge called out.

Clinton beckoned to the ping-pong table. "I think we'll leave this right here -- it doubles as a conference table," she proposed. "Now," she added, "we've got to get back to work."

Moments later, the ping-pong table was gone, and Clinton had sat down for a meeting with Gen. Wesley Clark.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/24/AR200806...

that can't be true, orin hatch just says its a terrorist smoke detector. i know with a name like orin, he would never lie to us.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/25/serenity-lost-obama-and-t_n_109...

just got the mail, and i got a thank you from kuccinich too!!!!

wish you'd come by more often.

You know to look for the URL during the server outage right???

I'll be cross posting the URL at http://samsedershow.tv as well.

that the Senate may put off wire tap vote, soon!

Perhaps the Telecoms had a talk with Harry like the hedge fund guys did. I'm reminded of David Cay Johnston's interview on Bill Moyers. Here's what Harry the harlot did:

January 18, 2008
Bill Moyers talks with David Cay Johnston

Excerpt:

BILL MOYERS: But did you notice what happened when the Democrats briefly toyed with the idea of removing that tax break from the hedge fund and private equity managers Congress thought very briefly about removing it. And then the industry held a big party for-- Harry Reid, Senate Democratic majority leader down in Las Vegas, and he came back from that big party and said, "I don't think we'll be taking that up anytime soon."

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: The problem of the political donor class's outsized influence and its grip on Congress is bipartisan. There's one party in Washington. It's the party of money. It has different wings and factions. But Washington is the party of money. And the wealthiest people in America, the large corporations in America, are busy milking the government for everything they can get. And you are paying the price of their free lunch.

C-Span will be doing a Tribute to Senator Thurmond. What a disgrace.

then

Torture Hearings are scheduled at 10am tomorrow on C-Span3.

Good to see you here! Things are heating up again.

The House Dems just had a news conference re energy but I caught the very end of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKqc8cSqJ1E

Good to be here! How are you feeling these days? Great articles as always. Nothing throws you off your game!

so, my understanding is that "sam" is going to post a new temporary URL here.

right?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WFgnyM_9rnQ

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2aFT5LBvcCw

My cousin, fishing for sockeyes in Bristol Bay right now, got fucked hard today. A resident fishermen of Kodiak Island in 1989, he has been waiting for his settlement from the punitive phase of the the Exxon Valdez catastrophe for decades. For decades, he would get legal notices estimating his compensation at about 120,000 dollars (1990 dollars). With this complete sellout settlement to Exxon, I doubt he will even get 12,000 dollars (current dollars).
When I started fishing with my father in the 70's, diesel, if I remember right, was eighty cents a gallon. Meanwhile, reds, what my cousin is fishing for right now, were worth about fifty cents a pound. Thirty years later, I think my cousin might get sixty-five cents a pound for reds this summer , but now diesel is five bucks a gallon. The boat he is fishing on will burn up, at least, 15,000 dollars worth of diesel for "Red Season" alone.
A settlement of 500 million dollars is peanuts. Exxon, by legally holding off a fair settlement for decades-- until they finally got a favorably disposed Supreme Court-- have completely robbed Alaska's fishermen.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pbx5blCkjaM

orin hatch is saying people are against the fisa bill only because of their hatred for a wonderful man, george bush...

Waiting for an operation is difficult. I want to get it over with!

Keeping busy helps.

Are they going to vote on FISA today?

________________________________

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” –Helen Keller

I will cross post it at the .tv site.

Toni, you have to have surgery???

________________________________

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” –Helen Keller

I thought this was interesting. This may be the fundraiser I was referring to upblog.

Fundraising: What Comes Around ...
Republicans Set To Host A Dinner For Big Fund-Raisers At The Vice President's Official Residence
By Michael Isikoff | Newsweek Web Exclusive
May 19, 2001

Vice President Dick CheneyRepublican National Committee

The activity kicks off Monday night, NEWSWEEK has learned, with an unpublicized dinner reception for top party donors hosted by Cheney and his wife, Lynne, at the vice presidential residence. It culminates the next evening with a glittering "Presidential Gala" at the National Guard Armory featuring appearances by President Bush and members of his Cabinet.

Anxious to avoid comparisons with the widely criticized fund-raising activity of the Clinton White House, Republican officials insist that the kick off dinner at Cheney's government residence-expected to draw a crowd of over 400-is "not a fund-raiser."

...

[snip]

While the guest list for Cheney's house remains a state secret, a copy of the official program for the next evening's "Presidential Gala"-obtained by NEWSWEEK-shows that a "who's who" of Washington lobbyists and interest groups have committed to raising a sizable chunk of the party's funds. Among those entities listed as "vice chairmen" of the event-an honorific that requires a commitment to raise or donate at least $250,000-are Philip Morris, the country's largest tobacco company; Tom Loeffler, a former Texas congressman who now lobbies for the chief trade association of nuclear power companies, and Cassidy & Associates, a powerful Washington lobbying firm whose top clients include the private institute that represents the interests of the government of Taiwan.

Listed as either "deputy chairmen" (requiring a commitment to raise or donate $100,000) or members of the "dinner committee" (requiring a commitment of $50,000) are AT&T; Bristol-Myers Squib; Sig Rogich, a veteran Republican consultant who represents Nevada gambling interests; Carol Hallett, president of the Air Transportation Association, the lobbying arm for commercial airlines; Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, and Ed Gillespie, a Washington lobbyist whose burgeoning client list includes Microsoft and energy giant Enron.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/79247

Yes, surgery. Knee replacement. Couldn't put it off any more. July 11th is the date.

Anxious to avoid comparisons with the widely criticized fund-raising activity of the Clinton White House, Republican officials insist that the kick off dinner at Cheney's government residence-expected to draw a crowd of over 400-is "not a fund-raiser."

Tax payer dollars!

Toni :(

My right knee is crunchy. Im worried I'll have to do that one day.

________________________________

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” –Helen Keller

Poll: McCain Takes Seven-Point Lead In Missouri
By Eric Kleefeld - June 25, 2008, 3:25PM
A new SurveyUSA poll shows John McCain taking a decent lead in one battleground state: Missouri.

The numbers: McCain 50%, Obama 43%, with a ±4.3% margin of error. Three weeks ago, Obama had a statistically insignificant lead of 45%-43%. The race here has a very stark gender gap: Men go for McCain 60%-36%, and women for Obama 50%-41%.

This state has 11 electoral votes, and has voted for the winner in every presidential election over the last 100 years except for 1956.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/poll_mccain_take...

Rockefeller on after the Honorable Senator Dodd?

One of my friends is being told she has to have a historectomy. At the same time, we teachers are all being told we might not have jobs in the fall. Which means she would lose her health insurance.

________________________________

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” –Helen Keller

Keep a watch on it. There might be any easy surgical fix right now. Maybe have a Dr check it.

You getting one of those fancy robot knees?

________________________________

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” –Helen Keller

Senate Vote on FISA Bill May Wait Until July
Final Senate action on an overhaul of electronic surveillance rules could slip to after the July Fourth recess as the chamber juggles other priorities and procedural snarls.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., on Wednesday said clearing the legislation this week is less important than completing work on housing and Medicare bills.

The spying bill would rewrite the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Reid said Republicans have been holding up the housing bill, thus causing a delay of the FISA legislation, which is supported by the Bush administration.

Reid said he still planned to move the FISA bill this week — even though he opposes it — because he has an “obligation” to act on the measure. It has the support of a majority of senators, including many Democrats.

“I’m going to try to do that,” Reid said. “The only reason why I wouldn’t is . . . if we’re stuck on the housing thing and I can’t get to that.”

But he left open the possibility that the FISA vote could be delayed until July.

“There are two things we have to do before we go home for July Fourth: housing and Medicare,’’ he said. “We do not have to do, if the Republicans don’t want to do it, we don’t have to do FISA and we don’t have to do the supplemental” spending measure for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky., said he is eager to resolve the “complicated legislative tangle” and has the same goal as the Democratic leader: to “get all of those things done in the next few days.”

Senate liberals have been throwing up procedural roadblocks to the FISA bill, which they object to because it would effectively grant retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies being sued for allegedly aiding the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program.

They also argue that court and congressional oversight provisions in the measure are not enough to defend the privacy of U.S. citizens whose communications with foreign spying targets may be monitored without a warrant under the legislation.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=cqmidday-00000290569...

for women. Supposedly is a bit more flexable and smaller.

Don't know what you mean about robot knees, Meg.

every time i turn to c-span it is some ahole speaking (rockfeller now, orin hatch earlier) I have missed ron weyden - just turned in when he was ending - who i'm sure had something good to say

hopefully they'll rerun it tonight

For bin Laden's Election Help Before He Was Against It
John McCain says he "strenuously disagree[s]" with advisor Charlie Black's claim that another al Qaida mass casualty terrorist attack would be good news for McCain's election prospects. But back in 2004 he said pretty much the same thing.

--Josh Marshall

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/mccain_in_2004_b...