For the millionth time, don't eat the salad
because it's tainted

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 17 September 2007 11:58:00 PM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

Remember when tourists used to say that about eating salads and raw veggies while traveling in Mexico or certain foreign countries? Not so surprisingly, the problem of E. coli in salads is popping up again just days after the AP ran a story about how nothing had changed in the produce industry since the E. coli deaths from tainted spinach last year. How many people have to get sick or die before the factory food industry wakes up to the problem? The problem also highlights the need for Democrats to gain more seats in Congress next year so they can step up the progress of proper food safety.

These problems are just another reminder of the failed programs of Newt Gingrich and the GOP who still believe that industry can regulate itself, despite what consumers see with their own eyes. Industry is simply not up to the task and consumers deserve a heck of a lot more.

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at-salad.html

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Guest Post by Mindy Kotler: A New Day
Coming in Japan or Sam Rayburn Speaks

post from The Washington Note on 17 September 2007 11:43:00 PM. © The Washington Note

(Yasuo Fukuda is on the right) Mindy Kotler is director of Asia Policy Point, a Washington research center that provides objective information on East Asia to the policy community. To be sure, Japan only marginally matters right now. At...

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Monday Videos

post from The Liberal Doomsayer on 17 September 2007 11:42:00 PM. © The Liberal Doomsayer

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam ("Hard Sun," from the soundtrack of the movie "Into The Wild," directed by Sean Penn - don't know where these pics came from; a nice fan video, though)...

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...and Happy Birthday to Fee Waybill (yeah, like that's his real name) of The Tubes ("T.V. Is King," from "Remote Control" produced by Todd Rundgren; another neat little fan video).

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For more videos, please check the WeShow link from the home page.

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http://liberaldoomsayer.blogspot.com/2007/09/monday-videos_17.html

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4 Tips for Successful Radio and Television
Interviews:

post from The Francis L. Holland Blog on 17 September 2007 11:24:00 PM. © The Francis L. Holland Blog

1) NOTHING is "off the record!"; NEVER say anything you don't want to hear on the radio or see on television.

2) Speak from your press release, and relentlessly repeat the highlights in different ways. This assures that what YOU think is important will end up on the radio.

3) Be quotable! Use short, punchy "sound-bite" sentences that, when taken alone, will get your message across completely, succinctly and successfully. (This is a large part of what determines whether your comments will make the "final cut" to appear on radio and television.)

4) Don't forget to mention your national organization, whether it's Color of Change or the AfroSpear. The media is contacting us because they recognize that our ORGANIZATIONS have national influence.

Good Work!

Francis L. Holland, Esq.

francislholland@yahoo.com

The Francis L. Holland AfroSpear Blog

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Late Nite FDL: Stay the Corpse

post from Firedoglake on 17 September 2007 11:13:08 PM. © Firedoglake

(Image by darkblack)Every now and then, I hit a wall. There comes a point in every political blogger’s life, I think, when you’ve soaked up as much Bush idiocy, rank incompetence, duplicity, deceit, and downright dumb-assery as you can[...]

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Rudy Redux

post from The Liberal Doomsayer on 17 September 2007 11:13:00 PM. © The Liberal Doomsayer

Hat tip to The Daily Kos for this one - before Rudy! fusses too much about an ad, maybe he ought to explain this, if he can.

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And I honestly thought Frank Rich knew better, by the way; more fool me, I guess.

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C&Ls Late Nite Music Club with Lucas Gardner

post from Crooks and Liars on 17 September 2007 11:05:52 PM. © Crooks and Liars

A few days ago Jane, D-Day, Todd Beeton and I went to a mini-rally for Russ Warner and we met a really talented young musician whose music I want to share with you before it gets whored out to KROQ and MTV. He’s Lucas Gardner and he’s from Maine. He reminds me of someone [...]

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ner/

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WH’s ‘furious attempt’ to sell
Mukasey to conservatives.

post from Think Progress on 17 September 2007 10:54:00 PM. © Think Progress

The New York Times reports that over the weekend, the top aides to President Bush “made a furious attempt” to sell Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey to the right wing, “inviting at least six leading conservative thinkers to the White House for meetings with Mr. Mukasey. Participants said a range of issues were discussed, from Mr. Mukasey’s views on national security matters to his Republican pedigree.” Nevertheless, as ThinkProgress reported earlier, many on the right wing are “deflated” by Bush’s choice.

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vatives/

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I Have No Idea If The Devil Wears Prada

But she does write for the Washington Post.

Rolla, Mo.: Is Sen. Webb's approach one way to get around the issue of ending the war through direct funding cuts? I ask because the Dems are in a fix, the American public wants the war to end, but they are against the seemingly only option the Dems have, cutting funding.

Shailagh Murray: Democrats, and not a few Republicans, believe Webb's approach is an effective way to limit the U.S. role in Iraq, in a way that benefits American troops, rather than potentially harms them through a funding cutoff. In particular, it directly addresses a big area of concern for Republicans from large military states, namely the war's toll on troops and their families.

and

Princeton, N.J.: Why can't people understand that a single-payer health care system is simply much more efficient than what we have? Forget the immorality of the uninsured, forget the competitive disadvantage of our business community -- other countries get much better health care at much lower cost. The evidence is overwhelming. We can't afford our current mess. We need Medicare for all. Is this a failure of democracy?

Shailagh Murray: Back in another century, I covered health care policy for the Wall Street Journal, and I couldn't believe the complexities. You have huge corporate, political and labor interests, all with their own perfect solutions. Another thing I realized was that none of the other models out there, i.e. in Western Europe, are perfect fits for the U.S., which is much bigger and more diverse, both socially and economically.

That said, if a Democrat wins next year, it will be interesting to see him/her attempt to deliver on some very big promises now on the table (at least from Edwards, Clinton and Obama)

Washington: To the best of your knowledge, have any of the candidates addressed how to solve the supply side issue of health care, specifically how we are going to find doctors to care for the 40 million-plus that (presumably) will have some kind of health insurance in the future? I see lots of rhetoric about making sure that everybody has insurance, but nothing about how to find doctors for everyone. Most of my own MDs rarely or never accept on new patients -- who's going to take care of the newly insured? This seems to be a big unknown.

Shailagh Murray: This goes to my last point. It's not just about insurance coverage. I know all you liberals and trial lawyers out there groan when a Republican says "tort reform," but this is exactly why the GOP-led Congress tried so many times to change medical malpractice laws -- and why many states already have.

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Move On Fires Back At Rudy With New Ad -
Giuliani: Betrayal Of Trust

MoveOn.org has released a new ad, this time taking on Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani for missing key meetings of the Iraq Study Group and eventually dropping out to rake in big bucks at speaking engagements. Rudy’s been out telling lies about Move On’s ad in the New York Times last week and even [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/09/17/new-moveonorg-ad-giuliani-betrayal-of-tr
ust/

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