Quote of the Day

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.

~Groucho Marx

Elected officials side with corporations over rape victims

These are the Senators who favor corporate protection over rape victims' right to sue:

Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/07/meet-the-senators-who-vot_n_312976.html

Bush Invoked Biblical Prophesy as Reason to Invade Iraq

I could only find this story in a few places--in the Columbia Daily Tribune, I read that it was in GQ magazine but didn't find it upon searching--Jonathon Turley blogged about it, and so did one person in the Daily Kos.

Jonathon Turley's analysis May 25, 2009

Daily Kos fact check. May 27,2009

The story in Columbia Daily Tribune August 2009

Now, this leaves one to wonder why the major media outlets didn't pick up the story. I am not a fundamentalist Christian myself, and I find it dizzying that the leader of our country believed that going to war with Iraq was some kind of Biblical mandate.

I find this deeply disturbing. Why don't the editors of the major newspapers find this worthy of reporting? Is it too hot to touch? Is it being censored? If so, what is the reasoning behind suppressing the story?

9/11 Families Seek a Fresh Investigation of 9/11 Events

Mark Crispin Miller Reports:

9/11 Families March on City Hall As City Seeks to Stop Fresh Probe of Attacks from Going on November Ballot;

NY Supreme Court Hearing 9:30AM Tuesday Will Determine Fate of Referendum

New York City - Yesterday, The New York City Coalition for Accountability Now (NYC CAN), a group comprising 9/11 family members, first responders and survivors, led 300 New Yorkers from Battery Park to City Hall in protest of the City's attempt to block the referendum for a fresh probe of the 9/11 attacks from going on the November ballot.

The grassroots organization calling for the investigation, NYCCAN, has complete coverage of the movement and the march, yesterday.

For more information about and from Mark Crispin Miller, see his excellent coverage at his website, http://markcrispinmiller.com

You Do Not (Really) Have Health Insurance

t r u t h o u t | You Do Not Have Health Insurance

Shared via AddThis

Important: read about the opposition to health care reform

http://www.pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/

Texas' surveillance program out of money, only 11 arrests

From Raw Story:

The state of Texas spent a $2 million federal grant to install 14 Webcams along its border with Mexico. After its first year, the crowd-sourced surveillance program is out of money and has only yielded 11 arrests, according to published reports.

$2,000,000

By my calculation, that works out to $181,818.18 per person.

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/07/13/texas-webcam-border-watch-a-failure-after-first-year/

It's Official: No U.S. Prosecution of Bush Officials

THIS IS A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT. I THOUGHT WE ARE A NATION OF LAWS. ??Emanuel said that the president believes Bush officials "should not be prosecuted either and that's not the place that we go." Not that that should surprise anyone: Obama said as much from almost his first day in office, when he told reporters he wasn't interested in a proposed Capitol Hill "truth commission."

read more | digg story

Susan Wilk sent you an article from startribune.com

Susan Wilk wrote these comments: Al Franken made a net gain today in a count of formerly rejected absentee ballots that pushed his advantage to more than 300 votes in the U.S. Senate race.

This Article from StarTribune.com has been sent to you by SusanWilk. *Please note, the sender's identity has not been verified. The full Article, with any associated images and links can be viewed here.

Franken extends lead over Coleman KEVIN DUCHSCHERE, Star Tribune Democrat Al Franken today extended his lead over Republican Norm Coleman in Minnesota's U.S. Senate election, after the counting of about 350 formerly rejected absentee ballots this morning. Franken captured 198 of the ballots, while Coleman took 111. The ballots added 87 votes to Franken’s recount lead, enlarging his margin over Coleman to 312. The result makes it even more likely that, barring an unforeseen circumstance, Franken will prevail in the election lawsuit that Coleman filed in January to contest the Democrat's 225-vote recount lead. The three-judge panel presiding over the case has not said when it will issue a final decision. Coleman will appeal the case to the Minnesota Supreme Court, his lawyer Ben Ginsberg said after today's proceedings. One of the grounds for the appeal will be unequal treatment of the ballots, Ginsberg said. This morning, officials sat down at four tables in the St. Paul courtroom with staffers and campaign officials, separating the ballots from their envelopes so that they can be counted without identifying the voter. Then, one by one, state elections director Gary Poser counted ballots that were accepted by the judges as having been legally cast. The process was much like that with 933 other formerly rejected ballots that were counted before final recount numbers were certified in early January. On Monday, the three-judge panel had reviewed nearly 400 to determine which ones would be opened and counted today. Before the start of today’s action, Coleman lawyer Tony Trimble asked for a 15-minute recess to examine the judges’ list of ballots to be counted. Judge Elizabeth Hayden turned him down, saying that they were ready to proceed. Security was unusually tight for the court session. State troopers and security guards watched the entrance to the courtroom at the Minnesota Judicial Center, and people wishing to enter the courtroom were asked to empty their pockets and walk through a magnetometer.

Ice Bridge Is Gone. Overnight

The ice bridge is a stable structure, one that takes centuries to form.