Clipmarks | smit2174's clips

Pioneer Press workers rally to stop job cuts; AG-elect Lori Swanson attends

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 18:50:35 GMT

clipped by: smit2174
clipper's remarks: I hope this rally does some good. Good newspaper reporters are needed to keep the information flowing.

Clip Source: www.workdayminnesota.org

A rally Monday outside the Pioneer Press called attention to the danger that newspaper cuts are creating for democracy.

Both locally and nationally, journalism jobs are disappearing and newsroom staffs shrinking. That much has been widely reported.

Left unanswered is how downsizing of the news media, the so-called Fourth Estate of politics, will affect public life. Twin Cities media workers of all kinds raised precisely that point Dec. 11, when they gathered outside the Pioneer Press building downtown St. Paul.

"Who is going to ask the questions if the newsroom is gutted, if we aren't here?" asked Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Chris Serres, one of a handful of speakers to address the crowd lined up along the sidewalk in front of the newspaper's headquarters.

Tags: lori swanson, pioneer press, declining journalistic standards, old media

Neocon diplomacy at work - Russia deploying new ICBMs

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 03:16:05 GMT

clipped by: smit2174
clipper's remarks: Thanks dudes.

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

Over the past few days, something terrifying has emerged in Russia, largely unreported in the US media, and a direct result of the Bush administration's terrible policies on non-proliferation and nuclear weapons. Russia is deploying new ICBMs.

A mobile version of Russia’s single-warhead Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) entered service Dec. 4.
Russia accelerated its efforts to build a mobile Topol-M (SS-27 by NATO classification) in 2002, after Washington withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty to deploy missile defenses. The U.S. withdrawal was widely regarded in Moscow as an attempt to tilt the strategic nuclear balance in Washington’s favor.

In case you forgot, Bush gave notice that the US was withdrawing from the ABM Treaty in December of 2001 so that America could continue developing the miracle defense shield that would protect us from all of those nuclear weapons that Al Qaeda was certain to launch.

Tags: russia, nuclear weapons, non-proliferation

Bush approval on Iraq tanks

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 03:11:27 GMT

clipped by: smit2174
clipper's remarks: Wow!

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

A CBS News poll released today has devastating news for the ~~Bush "administration"~~ anyone who still cares:

Just 21 percent approve of President Bush's handling of the war, the lowest number he's ever received, and an 8-point drop from just a month ago. Most of that drop has been among Republicans and conservatives.

An eight point drop since the elections.

Sen. Gordon Smith may be the first to jump ship post-election, but he won't be the last. And with Bush now insisting that the ISG report supports his policies, but majorities calling for troop withdrawals, hard timetables, engagement with Iran and Syria, etc., Bush's last best hope is that the Republicans on the ISG blow up the bipartisan facade and allow him to pretend their report doesn't really require anything of him.

Approve of Bush's job handling Iraq

Now 11/14
GOP 47% 70%
Dem 5% 3%
Ind 17% 23%

Cons. 34% 60%

Look at that drop. Look at that!

More delicious morsels:

Overall job approve/disapprove: 31/63

Will make right decisions on war: Dems in Congress, 53%; Bush, 27%

62% say Iraq a mistake; in 1971, 61% said the same of Vietnam

This is about as vicious an ass-kicking as I've seen in a poll on an issue like this. Which, by the way, 35% of respondents now identify as the country's most important problem. Next leading contender: economy and jobs at just 9%.

Tags: bush, iraq, approval

Civil War in the Muslim world: a new Reformation?

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 20:20:14 GMT

clipped by: smit2174
clipper's remarks: This is Josh Marshall's comment on this Andrew Sullivan piece. Sullivan thinks the bloodletting will only last 10 years:

http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/12/the_gathering_s.html

Clip Source: www.talkingpointsmemo.com

But if what you care about is geopolitical stability, less religious extremism in the political realm, or just fewer people being sawed in half or burned alive, then you can really only say this if you know little or nothing about what the Reformation actually was. Or, perhaps better to say, that it was actually a pretty rough ride for something like 150 years.

In the Muslim world, we don't have the break out of an entirely novel schism in the dominant religious culture. But in other respects, let's go down the list: renewal of eschatalogical enthusiasm, check; heightened sectarian identification and inter-sectarian violence, check; breakdown of established mechanisms of state and social authority, check. I'd say we, or rather they, may be about set to have their Reformation. Or they may already be in thick of it.

Not to worry, though. By 2146 or so, after a century or so of bloodletting, there may be a broad political and ideological consensus in favor or relegating religion to the private sphere and leaving the whole thing to personal conscience.

Tags: civil war, shia, sunni, reformation, iraq, bush, secular democracy

List of scandal-tainted Bush administration officials and nominees

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 18:57:27 GMT

clipped by: smit2174

Clip Source: www.tpmmuckraker.com

A number of readers have sent in tips to help the folks at Powerline, who recently admitted to having trouble remembering administration officials (beyond Scooter Libby) who had been accused of corruption or resigned in the face of scandal.

How could you foresake us! cry our old pals Claude Allen, David Safavian, Brian Doyle. Who could forget former FDA commissioner, Lester Crawford? After the jump, you'll find our partial (but fast-growing) list. If we're missing a name, please send it along!

Tags: bush, corruption, white house

Blog experiment

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:46:23 GMT

clipped by: smit2174

Clip Source: acephalous.typepad.com

Most memes, I'd wager, are only superficially organic: beginning small, they acquire minor prominence among low-traffic blogs before being picked up by a high-traffic one, from which many more low-traffic blogs snatch them. Contra blog-triumphal models of memetic bootstrapping, I believe most memes are—to borrow a term from Daniel Dennett's rebuttal of punctuated equilibrium—"skyhooked" into prominence by high-traffic blogs.

For my talk at the MLA, I'd prefer being able to quantify this triumphalism with hard numbers. Had I paid attention when "DISADVENTURE" and "My Morning" made the rounds, I could've completed this little experiment without revealing its existence. Since I lack foresight, I'm stuck announcing my intentions and begging participation. Here's what I need you to do:

Write a post linking to this one in which you explain the experiment. (All blogs count, be they TypePad, Blogger, MySpace, Facebook, &c.)
Ask your readers to do the same. Beg them. Relate sob stories about poor graduate students in desperate circumstances. Imply I'm one of them. (Do whatever you have to. If that fails, try whatever it takes.)
Ping Technorati.

While you do that, a script I've written will track this meme (via Technorati) across the internet in 10 minute intervals. It will record the number of links to this post, register their authority and create a database the very size of which will cause my poor processor to fall tumbling, in flames, down a steep cliff. (So be it. We all must makes sacrifices in the name of science.)

Tags: blog, experiment, meme, blogosphere

Link between mental illness, lack of political awareness, and support for Bush

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 21:34:54 GMT

clipped by: smit2174
clipper's remarks: Ammo to annoy your conservative friends!

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

Lohse, a social work master’s student at Southern Connecticut State University, says he has proven what many progressives have probably suspected for years: a direct link between mental illness and support for President Bush.

Lohse says his study is no joke. The thesis draws on a survey of 69 psychiatric outpatients in three Connecticut locations during the 2004 presidential election. Lohse’s study, backed by SCSU Psychology professor Jaak Rakfeldt and statistician Misty Ginacola, found a correlation between the severity of a person’s psychosis and their preferences for president: The more psychotic the voter, the more likely they were to vote for Bush. [...]

“Our study shows that psychotic patients prefer an authoritative leader,” Lohse says. “If your world is very mixed up, there’s something very comforting about someone telling you, ‘This is how it’s going to be.’”

The study was an advocacy project of sorts, designed to register mentally ill voters and encourage them to go to the polls, Lohse explains. The Bush trend was revealed later on. [...]

“Bush supporters had significantly less knowledge about current issues, government and politics than those who supported Kerry,” the study says.

Tags: bush, voters, 2004 election

Why does Bush hate the troops?

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 13:27:55 GMT

clipped by: smit2174
clipper's remarks: I am so ashamed of my president.

Clip Source: www.talkingpointsmemo.com

At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.

Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.

“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source.

Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t. It’s safe to say, however, that Bush and Webb won’t be taking any overseas trips together anytime soon.

Tags: bush, webb, iraq

Why do Republicans hate religion and religious people?

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 13:20:36 GMT

clipped by: smit2174
clipper's remarks: Dennis Prager, you dick. Why do you hate religion?

Clip Source: www.townhall.com

Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.

He should not be allowed to do so -- not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization.

First, it is an act of hubris that perfectly exemplifies multiculturalist activism -- my culture trumps America's culture. What Ellison and his Muslim and leftist supporters are saying is that it is of no consequence what America holds as its holiest book; all that matters is what any individual holds to be his holiest book.

Forgive me, but America should not give a hoot what Keith Ellison's favorite book is. Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress. In your personal life, we will fight for your right to prefer any other book. We will even fight for your right to publish cartoons mocking our Bible. But, Mr. Ellison, America, not you, decides on what book its public servants take their oath.

Tags: ellison, koran, pompous asses

Bush admin. losing faith in Maliki to govern Iraq?

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 05:16:24 GMT

clipped by: smit2174
clipper's remarks: I think it's pretty obvious that Iraq is in a civil war, and the government is unwilling or unable to control the warring factions. The most terrifying thing to me is that militias/death squads seem to have infiltrated key government agencies such as the Army and the police and even the hospitals, and are using them to kill their enemies. Publicly, the Bushies say all is well-- but this memo shows that, privately, they believe otherwise. How long until Iraq/Baghdad becomes really out of control? Will we be able to get our troops out as all hell breaks loose?

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

“We returned from Iraq convinced we need to determine if Prime Minister Maliki is both willing and able to rise above the sectarian agendas being promoted by others,” the memo says. “Do we and Prime Minister Maliki share the same vision for Iraq? If so, is he able to curb those who seek Shia hegemony or the reassertion of Sunni power? The answers to these questions are key in determining whether we have the right strategy in Iraq.”

In describing the Oct. 30 meeting between Mr. Hadley and Mr. Maliki, it says: “Maliki reiterated a vision of Shia, Sunni and Kurdish partnership, and in my one-on-one meeting with him, he impressed me as a leader who wanted to be strong but was having difficulty figuring out how to do so.” It said the Iraqi leader’s assurances seemed to have been contradicted by developments on the ground, including the Iraqi government’s approach to the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia known in Arabic as Jaish al-Mahdi and headed by Moktada al-Sadr.

“Reports of nondelivery of services to Sunni areas, intervention by the prime minister’s office to stop military action against Shia targets and to encourage them against Sunni ones, removal of Iraq’s most effective commanders on a sectarian basis and efforts to ensure Shia majorities in all ministries — when combined with the escalation of Jaish al-Mahdi (JAM) killings — all suggest a campaign to consolidate Shia power in Baghdad.”

Among the concerns voiced in the memo was that Mr. Maliki was surrounded by a small group of advisers from the Shiite Dawa Party, a narrow circle that American officials worry may skew the information he receives.

Tags: iraq, bush, maliki, hadley, al-sadr, mahdi

A House and Senate that actually work

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 20:02:31 GMT

clipped by: smit2174
clipper's remarks: Great move by Nancy and Harry.

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

Harry Reid announces Senate will stay open first 7 weeks of 2007

by Oreo

Tue Nov 28, 2006 at 09:52:01 AM PST

Following the lead of soon-to-be Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's pledge to keep the House open for business in January, Harry Reid announced today that he will keep the Senate open for the first seven weeks of the year.

Reid also said he's doing away with the "do-nothing Congress" that Democrats campaigned against this year as they ousted the Republican majority in both chambers of Congress. The Nevada Democrat, who is wrapping up his final days as Senate minority leader, will take control of the Senate agenda when the new Congress takes the oath of office in January.

"We're going to put in some hours here that haven't been put in in a long time," Reid said. That means "being here more days in the week and we start off this year with seven weeks without a break. That hasn't been done in many, many years here." Read full article here

Oreo's diary :: ::

The Sunlight Foundation has an extensive report on the 109th Do-Nothing Congress and their paltry number of days in session. The report compares each session of Congress all the way back to 1947. And these people had the nerve to give themselves a pay-raise.

CBS did a poll before the elections that is very telling

A CBS News/New York Times poll finds 75 percent of voters can't name one thing Congress has accomplished.

So as this lame-duck do-nothing Republican Congress nears its end days we can only look forward to the start of cleaning up the huge mess they've left the country with.

Tags: democrats, republicans, harry reid, senate, house, nancy pelosi

Reflections on Republican rule

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 03:27:47 GMT

clipped by: smit2174
clipper's remarks: Right on.

Clip Source: strategery.efx2.com

The last 12 years of Republican rule can be summed up thusly:

"Republicans brandished divisive social issues in order to distract Americans from their efforts to funnel taxpayer money to Republican political donor corporations."

Think about it. In the last 12 years did we see a federal ban on gay marriage? Did we see a federal ban on abortion? Did we see a federal insertion of prayer into public schools? Did we see a repeal of the 1964 Civil Rights Act? Did we see a federal codification of marriage as between one man and one woman? Did we see a flag burning Amendment come out of Congress? Did we see English enshrined as our national language? Did we see any of the Republicans vaunted social agenda get enacted at all?

Republicans controlled Congress for 12 years. Republicans controlled the federal government totally for the last 6 years. And yet not one piece of their social agenda was enacted.

Tags: republicans, gay marriage, abortion, congress, family values