Open Thread

post from Crooks and Liars on 28 June 2007 12:23:07 AM. © Crooks and Liars

JC writes a letter to Brownback

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Open Thread and Diary Rescue

post from Daily Kos on 28 June 2007 12:13:08 AM. © Daily Kos

(Tonight’s selections are brought to you courtesy of the Rescue Rangers. SusanG)

June 27 is a day for embarkations along paths that can lead to grand glory or deep controversy: previous todays saw the bequeathing of James Smithson's estate toward the eventual founding of the Institution that bears his name (1829); the first Newberry Medal for Children's Literature awarded (1922); and Harry Truman ordering U.S. forces into the 2-day old Korean War (1950).

Tonight's Rescue Rangers are Got A Grip, hhex65, msobel, nycinexile, and Rippen Kitten (x2), with Unitary Moonbat shuffling the scrolls

The War on Terra

Mahler3 pays tribute to Sergeant Trista Moretti, who was killed in Iraq on June 25, in Another Beautiful Soul Perishes in Iraq. (Rippen Kitten)

BentLiberal shows us that the proof is in the pudding with a detailed analysis of declining support for the war in rural America in Heart and Heartland. (nyc in exile)

Dave in MA writes in analytical detail that the reason Why we can't clean up the Homeland Security mess is that what gets rewarded gets done. AKA Bushit. (msobel)

In Guantanamo - the TPS Report, exmearden analyzes glaring inconsistencies, omissions and NewSpeak in recent Presidential Letters to the Senate. (Rippen Kitten)

fatbyjhnsn gets straight to the heart of why Guantanamo Bay should be closed in Arguments Against Closing Gitmo Miss The Point: IT'S WRONG!. (Got a Grip)

Planetary Matters

Beginning with a mea culpa and ending with great passion, farmerchuck brings us common sense concerning the future of farming in general and his home in particular in the touching and heartfelt diary Farm$: Apologia Plus. (Got a Grip)

Sharon in MD sifts through the candy, pickles, formaldehyde and seafood behind the report that China is closing down 180 food factories in Did China get the message about Food Safety? (hhex65)

gjohnsit weaves history, personal experience, "organized coincidences," and bicycle commuting into one big Critical Mass. (Unitary Moonbat)

MrMichaelMT looks at the effects of evangelism in the Amazon on Christian and Yagua alike in Amazon III: The Missionaries. (hhex65)

I know very little about the dog-eat-dog world of meteorological self-promotion, nor of some global warming-denier's "wager" with Al Gore, but Mother of Zeus does, and she advises Save your dough, Mr. Gore. w/ poll. (Unitary Moonbat)

Thought, Word, and Life

moiv discusses the repercussions of the Republican presidential candidates’ race to the bottom as they clamor for the support of the religious right in The Death Pimps. (nyc in exile)

espresso goes to see Arianna Huffington and brings us along for the ride in the intriguingly and provocatively titled Huffington at Chautauqua: "Let's have a three way!". (Got a Grip)

Reaching back to a time when really cheesy, somewhat sleazy TV was the junk food of the masses, Bill Prendergast tries to make sense of our Executive (?) Branch in the snarky analogy "Cheney's Angels". (Got a Grip)

Carnackiuses soccer (Carnacki family style) as an analogy to show how to move forward on tough political issues in Two ball soccer with squirt guns. (nyc in exile)

Tonight's Top Comments brought to you by noweasels.

Add your favorite diaries from the past 24 hours and use as an open thread.

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US global image continues to stay low

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 28 June 2007 12:09:00 AM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

Maybe if Bush speaks sloooooowwwweeeeerrrr and loooouuuuddddeeeerrrr, they might understand, no? Don't be surprised if that's what the right actually thinks about their message. No surprises here.

The US comes in for sharp criticism. "Global distrust of American leadership is reflected in increasing disapproval of the cornerstones of US foreign policy," the survey says. "Not only is there worldwide support for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq but there is also considerable opposition to US and Nato operations in Afghanistan ... The US image remains abysmal in most Muslim countries in the Middle East and Asia and continues to decline among the publics of America's oldest allies."

Nine per cent of Turks, 13% of Palestinians and 15% of Pakistanis take a favourable view of the US. In Germany, the figure is 30%, in France 39% and in Britain 51% - all down on previous surveys. Only in Israel, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya do majorities believe US forces should stay in Iraq.

The good news in this otherwise predictable but still sad study is that there is a world leader who even even less trusted, so at least Bush has that going for him. Break out the Champagne, errr, the non-alcoholic beer, Putin is worse!

Rising powers such as China and Russia get mixed reviews. Russia's Vladimir Putin scores worse than George Bush in terms of confidence that he will "do the right thing" in world affairs - 30% believe he will, against 45% for Mr Bush.

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Gonzales ‘overzealous’ about death
penalty.

post from Think Progress on 28 June 2007 12:09:00 AM. © Think Progress

“Paul K. Charlton, one of nine U.S. attorneys fired last year, told members of Congress yesterday that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales has been overzealous in ordering federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, including in an Arizona murder case in which no body had been recovered.”Justice Department officials had branded Charlton, the former U.S. [...]

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2006: America Increases as Prison Nation

The 2005-2006 statistics are in. America increased its prison population by the greatest amount since 2000.

The United States, which has the most prisoners of any country in the world, last year recorded the largest increase in the number of people in prisons and jails since 2000, the Justice Department reported on Wednesday.

It said the nation's prison and jail populations increased by more than 62,000 inmates, or 2.8 percent, to about 2,245,000 inmates in the 12-month period that ended on June 30, 2006. It was the biggest jump in numbers and percentage change in six years.

Reasons for the increase:

Criminal justice experts have attributed the record U.S. prison population to tough sentencing laws, record numbers of drug offenders and high crimes rates.