Clipmarks | masbury's clips

Conyers to White House: Iran attack=Impeachment

Thu, 15 May 2008 03:11:20 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Bravo.

Late last year, Senator Joseph Biden stated unequivocally that “the president has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran, and if he does, as Foreign Relations Committee chairman, I will move to impeach” the president. 8

We agree with Senator Biden, and it is our view that if you do not obtain the constitutionally required congressional authorization before launching preemptive military strikes against Iran or any other nation, impeachment proceedings should be pursued. Because of these concerns, we request the opportunity to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss these matters. As we have recently marked the fifth year since the invasion of Iraq, and the grim milestone of 4,000 U.S. deaths in Iraq, your Administration should not unilaterally involve this country in yet another military conflict that promises high costs to American blood and treasure.

Tags: bush, impeachment, foreign policy

Is this a Bush impersonator with a golf club in his hand?

Thu, 15 May 2008 03:03:56 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Quit? Not so much.

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

In an interview with Politico’s Mike Allen, President Bush claimed he gave up golf after UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello was killed in Iraq.

De Mello was killed on Aug. 19, 2003. The Washington Post’s Dan Froomkin reports today: “Bush’s story doesn’t hold water“:

[T]he Associated Press reported on Oct. 13, 2003, that he’d spent a “cool, breezy Columbus Day” playing “a round of golf with three long-time buddies.

“Bush played at Andrews Air Force Base with Clay Johnson, Office of Management and Budget deputy director, Richard Hauser, Department of Housing and Urban Development general counsel and another friend, Mike Wood.”

Tags: bush, golf, politics

Smart Car aces crash tests

Thu, 15 May 2008 02:31:06 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Dispelling the myth that efficient cars can't be safe

Clip Source: www.motherjones.com

For years, Detroit automakers have claimed that they couldn't make cars that get better mileage because those cars just wouldn't be safe. And for some reason, people believed them. But here comes the Smart car, the tiny two-person vehicle made by--who else--Germans, which not only gets 33 mpg in the city and 41 on the highway but this week passed new crash tests with flying colors. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports today that the 2008 Smart fortwo won the institute's highest rating for side and front impact tests. The car had already aced government safety testing as well. The car, unlike, say, the Hummer, is selling like hotcakes. Maybe its arrival will finally put rest to the Big Three lies that safe cars can't be fuel efficient.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Tags: green, autos, environment

Military recruiters in schools violate UN agreement

Wed, 14 May 2008 19:43:30 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: UN accord prohibits recruitment efforts directed toward people under 18 years of age.

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

WASHINGTON - Pressed by the demands of the “global war on terrorism”, the United States is violating an international protocol that forbids the recruitment of children under the age of 18 for military service, according to a new report released Tuesday by a major civil rights group that charged that recruitment practices target children as young as 11 years old.

“The United States military’s procedures for recruiting students plainly violate internationally accepted standards and fail to protect youth from abusive and aggressive recruitment tactics,”

The 46-page report, “Soldiers of Misfortune“, which was prepared

for submission to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child

the U.S. Senate ratified the Protocol in 2002, making it binding under U.S., as well as international, law

In a survey of nearly 1,000 children, aged 14 to 17

more than one five respondents — equally distributed among the different grades — reported the use of class time by military recruiters

Tags: war, military, children

Surge of bicycle commuting worldwide

Wed, 14 May 2008 19:32:50 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Just beginning in the US, but moving at record pace

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

WASHINGTON - What single silver bullet can simultaneously reduce air pollution and oil dependency, roll back urban congestion, and fight obesity?

It’s not a pill, nor a complicated formula concocted by the World Bank. People around the world are turning to bicycles by the millions, as governments rush to create incentives for the low-tech transport alternative to gas-glugging, smog-making, traffic jam-producing automobiles.

in the face of rising urban pollution and congestion, Chinese authorities are insisting that bike lanes be re-established

New Delhi, India, for example, calls for fully segregated bicycle lanes on all main roads

In Amsterdam more than 55 percent of those who travel five miles or less to work already ride bikes

Paris now has some 20,000 bikes available for rental by credit card

United States lags

But

the installation of bicycle facilities

is proceeding at a record pace” in the United States.

Tags: green, health, transportation, environment

Judge resists Army's denial of conscientious objector status to paratrooper

Wed, 14 May 2008 17:22:48 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Soldier: "War is evil, and nothing but evil comes from it. Many of those who participate in it lose their souls along the way."

Clip Source: www.democraticunderground.com

The Army should grant conscientious objector status to Pfc. Michael Barnes, a Fort Richardson-based paratrooper who had his request for that designation denied last year, U.S. Magistrate John D. Roberts concluded Tuesday.

while training for deployment to Iraq as part of the 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team at Fort Richardson, he grew increasingly troubled by the tales he heard from soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq

"These stories included making the locals (do) degrading things so they could laugh at them, abusing the kids and taking others lives with ease. ... I told myself it's not really like that -- that's just a few soldiers' perceptions of their experience."

after his unit landed in Kuwait, then Iraq

he began to witness bad behavior firsthand

"How would I justify to the Lord that participating in war is serving him?

I cannot. War is evil, and nothing but evil comes from it. Many of those who participate in it lose their souls along the way."

Tags: war, iraq, military

Obama staffers sometimes face KKK-style racism

Wed, 14 May 2008 05:28:19 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: But this "is what we are breaking through and overcoming"; most experiences positive, but rednecks do pop up in PA and IN, with comments like these ...

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

"Hang that darky from a tree!"

"White people look out for white people, and black people look out for black people."

Veterans of the civil rights movement know what this feels like,

But through the Obama campaign, some young people are having their first experience joining a cause and meeting cruel reaction.

At Scranton's annual Saint Patrick's Day parade, some of the green Obama signs distributed by staffers were burned along the parade route

"He's a half-breed and he's a Muslim. How can you trust that?"

His stepfather was a radical Muslim

experience of most

overwhelmingly positive

"The pictures represent what we are breaking through and overcoming," he said. As McCormick, who is white, sees it, Obama is succeeding despite these incidents. Later, there would be bomb threats to three Obama campaign offices in Indiana, including the one in Vincennes, according to campaign sources.

Tags: racism, elections, obama, politics

Democrats now trusted more on all 10 Rasmussen issues

Wed, 14 May 2008 05:03:33 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: another significant trend of Election 2008—there is a growing number of people who consider themselves to be Democrats. In fact, the Democrats now have the largest partisan advantage over the Republicans since Rasmussen Reports began tracking this data on a monthly basis nearly six years ago.

Clip Source: www.rasmussenreports.com

American voters now trust the Democrats on all ten key electoral issues tracked regularly by Rasmussen Reports. Last month, the GOP’s had an advantage on two issues.

the economy is still seen as the most important issue in this year’s presidential campaign--76% of voters say it is a Very Important issue. The Democrats now have a 14-point advantage

Government Ethics and Corruption

Democrats have a huge advantage on this issue—45% now trust them while just 26% prefer the GOP

Democrats are now trusted more when it comes to National Security and the War on Terror, an issue long considered a GOP stronghold. The latest polling, however, shows that 49% of voters now trust the Democrats more on this issue while 42% trust the Republicans

Republicans used to be trusted more on

taxes

This month, they have fallen behind to a five-point deficit

War in Iraq

Democrats hold an 11-point lead

Democrats lead

by double-digit margins on the issues of education, social security, health care, and immigration

Tags: politics, elections, news