Open thread for night owls: Arctic sea ice at
lowest June level ever measured

post from Daily Kos on 28 June 2012 11:31:39 PM. © Daily Kos

Open Thread for Night Owls Given all the big news this week, the latest report from the National Snow and Ice Data Center hasn't gotten much attention. That's not exactly something new. Or surprising. Indeed, it's business as usual when it comes to global warming. Look, for instance, at the media coverage of the latest earth summit, Rio+20, last weekend. Go ahead. I've can wait five minutes for you to read it all.

True, it's hard to spark much interest when pretty much what was done in Brazil by those 50,000 delegates and other participants fighting all those traffic jams was to once again kick the global warming can down the road.

Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo:

We didn't get the Future We Want in Rio, because we do not have the leaders we need. The leaders of the most powerful countries supported business as usual, shamefully putting private profit before people and the planet.

Environmental activist and Guardian columnist George Monblot:

It is, perhaps, the greatest failure of collective leadership since the first world war. The Earth's living systems are collapsing, and the leaders of some of the most powerful nations?the United States, the UK, Germany, Russia?could not even be bothered to turn up and discuss it. Those who did attend the Earth summit in Rio last week solemnly agreed to keep stoking the destructive fires: sixteen times in their text they pledged to pursue "sustained growth," the primary cause of the biosphere's losses.

Lots of promises were made. The Natural Resources Defense Council has created a website specifically to track them. It's called Cloud of Commitments. It's a great idea. But forgive me if 20 years after the first earth summit in Rio, I've grown more than a little jaded about such vows. \

Meanwhile, there's those NSIDC data for the Arctic sea ice. It's at its lowest level ever for this time of year. The ice-loss rates are more than twice the climatological rate. Most of the snow cover is "nearly gone, earlier than normal, allowing the coastal land to warm faster."

When you look at that startling NSIDC graph below, remember that's it's not just ice and snow that's disappearing. Not just polar bear habitat. Not just the Northwest Passage opening up and the Arctic becoming available for the drilling of oil whose prodigious burning has contributed so heavily to the Arctic meltdown.

What you're looking at is the world changing forever in ways that we can only guess at. The kicked can has hit the wall. Sssssshhhhhhh. Don't tell any of our leaders.

Extent of Arctic sea ice June 27, 2012, compared with previous years and 1979-2000 average (National Snow and Ice Data Center)

Extent of Arctic sea ice June 27, 2012, compared with previous years and the 1979-2000 average (National Snow and Ice Data Center)

Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2004:

Enemy Combatants Can Challenge Detentions
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that an American captured overseas in President Bush's war on terrorism cannot be held indefinitely in a U.S. military jail without a chance to contest the detention.
Four of the nine justices concluded that constitutional due process rights demand that a citizen held in the United States as an enemy combatant must be given "a meaningful opportunity" to contest case for his detention before a neutral party.
Two more justices agreed that the detention of American citizen Yaser Hamdi was unauthorized and that the terror suspect should have a real chance to offer evidence he is not an enemy combatant.
Suspects at Guantanamo Bay Can Use Courts
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that foreign terrorism suspects at a U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba can use the American legal system to challenge their detention, a major defeat for President Bush.
By a 6-3 vote, the justices ruled that American courts do have jurisdiction to consider the claims of the prisoners who say in their lawsuits they are being held illegally in violation of their rights.

Tweet of the Day:

Boehner: "This is a dark day for America. If we are forced to have healthcare, it's only a matter of time before we have education."
? @BorowitzReport via web

Here you can hear David Waldman and Armando of Daily Kos Radio analyzing today's Supreme Court ruling on health care coverage and getting it correct from the get-go, unlike CNN. Just listen to caller Monica from Maryland tell how she heard the news:

High Impact Posts. Top Comments.

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-owls-Arctic-sea-ice-at-lowest-June-level-ever-measured

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Open Thread

post from Crooks and Liars on 28 June 2012 11:30:08 PM. © Crooks and Liars

enlarge Credit: Twitter: Mollyesque

h/t Nicole. Open Thread below....

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Thursday Stuff

post from The Liberal Doomsayer on 28 June 2012 11:19:00 PM. © The Liberal Doomsayer

(I also posted here about today?s top story.)

Before I include anything about the Supreme Court?s upholding of the individual mandate, and pretty much the rest of the Affordable Care Act (including the shocking inclusion of Hangin? Judge JR with the 5-4 majority), I should bring you this note (backgrounder here) about more non-governance from the U.S. House Repug ?leadership,? and by extension, Mikey the Beloved (how utterly predictable and pathetic, kind of like this ? and by the way, more like this in response)...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
...and I thought this was a nice little primer on the Affordable Care Act...

...and I also thought Lawrence O?Donnell made some good points here...

...and in a related story, as they say, this little dedication goes out to that sleazy weasel Eric Cantor for this.

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Late Night: Eleventy Dimensional Chess

post from Firedoglake on 28 June 2012 11:00:39 PM. © Firedoglake

Watching the wingnut apoplexy unfold today after the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare, it began to occur to me that with increasing frequency, President Obama deftly plays Road Runner to the Republicans' Wile E. Coyote. And just like in the cartoons,[...]

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More Not Buying It

post from Talking Points Memo on 28 June 2012 11:00:31 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Another TPM Reader, LD, isn't buying the idea that Roberts' decision was some sort of double secret jujitsu chop on the welfare state ...I practice constitutional law and a commerce clause geek, and I have to agree with your reader who says the liberal[...]

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_it.php

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But, But, But ...

post from Talking Points Memo on 28 June 2012 11:00:31 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on why the mandate is a tax at the federal level from President Obama but not at the state level from Gov. Romney ...Romney "supported it on the state level. Which means if you didn't like it in Massachusetts, you could move to[...]

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Keeping it Real

post from Kmareka.com on 28 June 2012 11:00:14 PM. © Kmareka.com

Susan Gardner at Daily Kos shares her family story…

Several Sundays ago, I chronicled my then-22-year-old daughter’s adventure in open heart surgery, all thanks to Obamacare, which allowed her to remain on my insurance. The bottom line: We were terrified the young adult provision would be overturned.

The young adult provision is a win-win for parents and insurance companies, who get a cohort of the young and usually healthy. But for families like Susan’s, this is a lifesaver.

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http://kmareka.com/2012/06/28/keeping-it-real/

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A victory for O but his AG is still being hunted.

The most hated man by the FOX NEWS crowd in America tonight is John Roberts. Justice Roberts was the deciding vote in giving O a victory for his AFA.

The NY Times is calling this "the most significant federalism decision since the New Deal". If you are a wingnut tonight you are really pissed. If, on the other hand, you are a single mother with breast cancer; you are probably in the Hallmark store looking for a nice thank you card for the aforementioned Mr. Roberts.

Let's stay in Washington for my next issue. The republicans followed up on their political ~~witch hunt~~ investigation, and voted along party lines (yeah I know some blue dog dumbocrats crossed party lines, but they are dems in name only)to find the AG of these divided states of America in contempt.

"Eric Holder is the first African American to hold the position of Attorney General. He is the 82nd person to serve in the position. Holder also served briefly in the position in 2001 under President George W. Bush before John Ashcroft.

Democrats were very angry with the way the Republican controlled House proceeded on the matter of the investigation of a gun operation known as Fast and Furious. They were particularly unhappy with House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA).

The stakes were raised even higher when the House?s most senior member, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), who is 85, offered a resolution to conduct a bi-partisan investigation. Dingell, who has served in the House since 1955, was critical of the Republican led investigation of Holder.
Democrats had very strong words on the matter.

?We?re doing what has never been done in 111 Congresses,? said Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD). ?I believe the political motivations behind this motion present a clear and present danger to this country,? he strongly added.
?The vote should not be dignified with an answer? This is a cheap political stunt to bring disfavor to the President of the United States,? said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA).

?It may just be a coincidence, I don?t know, that the Attorney General is fighting voter suppression? it may just be a coincidence. Or maybe it isn?t,? said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). ?Just when you think they couldn?t possibly go over the edge they come up with something like this,? she added. Pelosi announced she would join Democrats in protest and not appear on the House floor during the vote. " [Source]

Now now Nancy, you know that this is no coincidence. The republicans know exactly what they are doing. And I find it ironic that the democrats who crossed party lines to vote for this joke of a measure were all threatened by the NRA.

The same NRA that advocates for the free flow of all types of guns into this country, and to whose feet the blame can be squarely placed for all the carnage and killings that take place on the streets of our cities every damn day.

When are we going to have a "fast and furious" style investigation of that ongoing tragedy?

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Texas GOP opposes critical thinking

Proudly ignorant?One of our eagle-eyed readers emailed us to point out this unbelievable passage in the RPT 2012 platform, as adopted at their recent statewide conference."Knowledge-Based Education ? We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE)...