Midday Open Thread.

post from Daily Kos on 18 January 2008 01:55:09 PM. © Daily Kos

Planning for Netroots Nation is in high gear, and the deadline for submissions for panel ideas is approaching fast--January 31. More details from Nolan and the NN crew in this diary.[mcjoan]

Recently unsealed court documents obtained by the NYT detail a curious situation involving (surprise!) Dick Cheney and the arrest by the Secret Service of a man who, encountering him at a ski resort, told him the "administration's" Iraq policies were "disgusting." Arresting agent Virgil Reichle didn't witness the encounter, but says he relied on the descriptions of other agents of an "assault," a description the other agents later denied. Reichle believes they changed their stories so that the case arising from the arrest, once that arrest had served its purpose ( i.e., briefly jailing someone whom Cheney found annoying), would "go away." Who's telling the truth? Well, the Secret Service and Cheney's office have no comment, and Reichle has been transferred to Guam, so you tell me. [Kagro X]

Remember those 145,000 trailers that FEMA purchased in a no-bid contract? The ones that ended up not being used for Katrina victims? Well, FEMA ended up selling them for 40 cents on the dollar. Now, they want to buy them back at full price. Turns out they are tainted with formaldehyde and FEMA is worried about public health risks. So, we paid full price (or more based on no-bid cronie contract), sold them for a huge loss, and now have to buy them back for another huge loss. Man, those Republicans are soooo good with money.

Turkish warplanes destroyed 60 Kurdish rebel locations in Iraq. Casualties are being determined.

Controversial chess champ, Bobby Fischer died in Iceland this week. Known for beating Russia's Boris Spassky during height of the Cold War, Fischer later went on to prove himself bat-shit crazy and was known for his anti-semetic and anti-American rants, despite the fact that his own mother was Jewish.

Random geek link of the day: Ballistic computer of 1935: the 3-ton 'Big Brain' [Plutonium Page]

GBLT rights news from the New Mexico State Legislature: The Domestic Partnership Rights & Responsibilities Act passed the the NM House Consumer and Public Affairs committee yesterday. The bill goes to the House Judiciary committee next. Last year's domestic partnership bill was defeated by one vote in the Senate.[Plutonium Page]

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Romney to cross WGA picket line for Leno.

post from Think Progress on 18 January 2008 01:54:00 PM. © Think Progress

Following in the footsteps of fellow candidates Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will cross a Writer’s Guild of America picket line to appear on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight.

UPDATE: Romney’s press secretary, Eric Fehrnstrom, told the Washington Post that “We’ve determined that the path to the White House goes through the Jay Leno show.”

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Edwards Calls for Obama to Denounce UNITE HERE
Radio Ads

post from Taylor Marsh on 18 January 2008 01:50:44 PM. © Taylor Marsh

Edwards Calls for Obama to Denounce UNITE HERE Radio Adsreported from Las Vegas, NevadaFrom the Edwards campaign a few minutes ago: Las Vegas, Nevada – During a “Get Out the Caucus” rally in Las Vegas today, John[...]

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"When History Hesitated . . ."

post from TalkLeft on 18 January 2008 01:49:00 PM. © TalkLeft

A Collossus strode forth:

And held a press conference.

This is some funny stuff.

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Updating the My Left Wing Store

post from My Left Wing - Front Page on 18 January 2008 01:48:53 PM. © My Left Wing - Front Page

I mentioned in the first comment of yesterday's Question of the Day that I was working on the My Left Wing store. I had this idea a while ago when I was considering making another donation to this site. But any monetary donation our family can afford would necessarily be small. Having worked on our own Cafe Press (and other "print on demand" stores) over the past couple years, I have reached a point in the learning curve where I believe that I can actually help make this store profitable over time. That way it could be a "recurring donation" of sorts.

Why I'm doing this... Maryscott mentioned toward the bottom of her post here that the writers' strike could be expected to do some serious damage to her family's finances. Also, I've had this "I need to make things better at MLW" drive for some time now. And I've come to realize that I'm not going to be doing that with my writing--at least not the way I'd like, and not any time soon. So this satisfies my need to do something.

Click the image below to see some of the new designs. You'll notice that most of them are rather generic "leftie" designs rather than being specific to My Left Wing. I have every confidence that, over time, this store could by quite successful independent of the support of the MLW community. But with your support, that can happen much faster.

I don't even mean supporting it by buying stuff, although, of course that would be great. But I would appreciate suggestions of more liberal slogans I can add.

Right now my focus is just to get a buttload of designs up, complete with tags/keywords so that they can be found in the marketplace. So we're not planning to do anything with the design aspects of the store any time soon. I say this, because I can just imagine someone suggesting that. :p

Also, I haven't put all the designs on all the available items. Buttons, for example, are more of a PITA to do than just slapping the same graphic on all the available clothing items. So if a design you like is not currently available on an item you want, please drop me a note at ohiorenee(at)gmail.com and I'll take care of that.

"There is no Planet B" tote bag, available at the My Left Wing Store

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sprezzatura

post from Eschaton on 18 January 2008 01:42:00 PM. © Eschaton

From blogofascists to blogocommies.

I guess as with Lee Siegel's intellectual peer, Jonah, it's all the same to him.

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Far Be It From Me

post from Cafe Politico on 18 January 2008 01:40:30 PM. © Cafe Politico

…to judge anyone else’s religious/spiritual beliefs, but this Tom Cruise Scientology video that the Church of Scientology angrily pulled from YouTube (while threatening legal action) does beg the question- is Tom Cruise delusional? I personally think the guy sucks as an actor and that is all I consider him- a bad actor with a [...]

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Some things never change

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 18 January 2008 01:32:00 PM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

The year was 1919, and the Navy was investigating gay service members.

They recruited handsome young sailors to be undercover ?operators? to collect evidence against men who engaged in sodomy.

The operators were told to ?catch them in the act.?

That was precisely where they caught them.

The operators seduced sailors in Newport and participated in numerous sex acts with them ? mostly by accepting oral sex to completion. They recorded their encounters in daily reports.

Seventeen sailors caught in the sting were arrested, held in solitary confinement on a prison ship and then court-martialed. Several went to jail.

The operators who accepted oral sex received notations in their records ?in recognition of their interest and zeal? in pursuing the evidence.

I'm sure.

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Edwards Statement On President Bush's Remarks On
The Economy

post from John Edwards for President: Full-site Feed on 18 January 2008 01:31:00 PM. © John Edwards for President: Full-site Feed

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – John Edwards released the following statement today on President George Bush's remarks on the economy.

"Now that George Bush has finally joined the call for an economic stimulus package, the time for debate and delay is over. American families cannot wait any longer for swift and decisive action. After years of stagnant wages, the economy may be slipping into a recession and if we don't act now we may make our problems worse.

"The economic damage done by Bush and Cheney is deep and long-lasting, and the temporary tax cuts he proposes will not solve it alone. Making matters worse, his plan provides little or no help to some 50 million low-income and middle class families.

"To help middle class families get ahead over the long haul, we need to invest in a clean energy infrastructure that will create jobs now and pay economic dividends for decades to come. A helping hand to families facing foreclosure, states in the midst of budget crises, and long-term unemployed workers will cushion the blow to struggling families and prevent further economic damage. We must also guarantee universal and affordable health care and reverse the shift of the tax burden from the wealthy onto middle-class workers."

Since Edwards became the first presidential candidate to propose a specific stimulus package almost a month ago, there are more troubling signs about the economy. In December, the economy lost 14,000 private-sector jobs. The Dow Jones industrial average fell by more than 9 percent between January 1st and the close of markets yesterday. Some experts suggest that housing prices will fall by another 20 to 30 percent. Manufacturing activity is slowing and new housing starts are at their lowest level in 16 years.

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http://www.johnedwards.com/news/headlines/20080118-bush-economy/

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The Republican word of the day is disarray

The NYT?s Adam Nagourney captures the current state of the Republican landscape pretty well today.On the most tangible level, the vote [in Tuesday] on Tuesday was proof from the ballot box of what polls have shown: this is a party that is adrift, deeply divided and uninspired when it comes to its presidential candidates and [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/01/18/the-republican-word-of-the-day-is-disarr
ay/

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