Assuming that I’m not reading the USA Today article, Webb would defund rebuilding Iraq, wrong and that the writer isn’t misrepresenting Jim Webb in some very fucked up ways, I’m going to have to agree with what Marisacat has to say here -
We owe the city of New Orleans (and the Gulf Coast) rebuilding, protection [...]

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The pressure is on… for Tony Blair to exit.
Tony Blair was under pressure last night to announce the timetable for his departure before the May elections - to limit the damage to Labour from the “loans for peerages” affair.
Labour MPs called on Mr Blair to announce the date he intends to quit Downing Street, before [...]

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I find this a bit unsettling. I can say no more.
…Adding - Just to be more random, typing in “I can say no more” made me think of the Beatles movie Help, but I couldn’t find the scene where whatshername keeps saying that to Paul, so here’s Paul singing The Night Before instead.

…Adding again - [...]

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I wish I had the time to come up with something new for Blog for Choice Day, but I don’t. One of the great joys of switching blogs every year or so, is that I can just steal from myself. I wrote the following back in June on Booman and it sums up my feelings [...]

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Here’s the reality the Bush approach to healthcare ignores. Bob Herbert:
A disturbing new report shows that with health care costs continuing their sharp rise, low- and middle-income patients are reaching for their credit cards with alarming frequency to cover treatment that they otherwise would be unable to afford.
This medical debt, to be paid off in [...]

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Surprisingly, it has no basis whatsoever in reality. The shrill one:
On the radio, Mr. Bush suggested that we should “treat health insurance more like home ownership.” He went on to say that “the current tax code encourages home ownership by allowing you to deduct the interest on your mortgage from your taxes. We can reform [...]

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I’m not one for patting somebody on the butt for finally doing what they should have been doing all along, so don’t mistake this for a friendly tap on the ass. I do, however, think that the news that John Warner is publicly splitting with the President over the escalation with a non binding resolution [...]

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Original Caption
Relatives grieve over lost loved ones at al-Kindi hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday Jan. 22, 2007. Two nearly simultaneous bombs struck a predominantly Shiite commercial area in central Baghdad, killing at least 78 people and wounding at least 156, said Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) (Karim Kadim - AP)
John McCain Jon [...]

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Interesting idea that is destined to be severely attacked by the powers-that-be.
THE internet could become even more difficult for governments to regulate with a new website, Wikileaks, promising to provide a safe haven for whistleblowers to upload confidential documents.
Australians are among the volunteers behind the site. “Your country’s support for the underdog and for a [...]

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Cool. Daydreaming may be our brain’s default setting.
Researchers at Dartmouth College may have the answer. They found that a default network of regions in the brain’s cortex—a grouping known to be active when the mind is completely unoccupied—is firing away as a person is engaged in routine activities.
…
Jonathan Schooler, a psychologist at the [...]

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It must have been twenty or more years ago that I was in such a bad place, I clung to this song like a lifeline. Dire Straits:

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Todd:

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Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart cover the Dusty Springfield classic:

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Don’t you think Trump is just buying public relations?
Property tycoon Donald Trump has been fined $16,250 for breaking several codes and ordinances in Palm Beach, Florida by flying a supersized American flag atop an 80-foot (24.4-mete) flagpole.
Town officials voted six to one on Thursday (18Jan07) to hit The Apprentice star with a $1,250 fine for [...]

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1. No Goodbyes - The Subways
2. When Will I Be Loved - Fairport Convention
3. By The Time I Get To Phoenix - Jimmy Webb
4. Prison Sex - Tool
5. Suntoucher - Groove Armada
6. We Gotta Get You A Woman - Todd Rundgren
7. Can’t Find My Way Home - Bonnie Raitt, Lowell George
8. Just Don’t Know What [...]

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Sounds like Tony Blair has another problem. Comparisons to a “new Watergate” always perk up the ears.

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I suppose that if I did this full time, and if I’d ever made a dime off of it, that I would take blogging over the weekends more seriously. As it stands, I work in an industry that doesn’t have a vested interest in holidays, sick time, reasonable hours or vacations, so I do take [...]

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Dire Straits:

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Diana Krall:

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The GOP: Always looking out for the little guy.
President George W. Bush unveiled a plan on Saturday to use tax-code changes to encourage more Americans to buy health insurance as he previewed an initiative for his State of the Union address.
Weighing in on the debate about how to provide health-care coverage to the more than [...]

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Don’t you wish this kind of news were surprising?
Political storm clouds gathered again over the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina as former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown said party politics influenced decisions on whether to take federal control of Louisiana and other areas affected by the hurricane.
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said the partisanship [...]

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From San Jose Mercury News:
With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s backing, state lawmakers from both parties are moving rapidly to make California a player in choosing the nation’s next president by holding the state’s primary four months earlier.
A bipartisan group of state senators introduced legislation Friday to change the 2008 presidential primary from June 3 to Feb. [...]

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There are some sick freakin’ people out there - trying to capitalize on mass murder. When religious figures preach about the flaws in our society, I wish they would focus on this kind of stuff once in a while. It is tempting to make a bid to buy this stuff just to get [...]

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As Mags says, put away that damn cell phone at the pump.

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I do this because I have to, not because I want to.
Say It (Over and Over Again) - John Coltrane Quartet
Hoe-Down - Oliver Nelson
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For - U2
I Fall Down - U2
Mr. Joy -Paul Bley, John Gilmore, Paul Motian, Gary Peacock
Cantaloupe Island - Herbie Hancock
Love for Sale - Cannonball Adderley
Prisoner [...]

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Dar Williams with another of her quirky little tunes:

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The Army Times.
Vet group protests surge on Capitol Hill
Just days after a group of active-duty service members pressed Congress to end the war in Iraq, another group of veterans of that conflict is calling on lawmakers to oppose President Bush’s plan to send additional troops into the fray.
The group’s leader implored lawmakers to listen to [...]

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Mr. Krugman, I was wondering if the wholesale firing of federal prosecutors in the seventh year of an administration is normal. Any thoughts?
In case you’re wondering, such a wholesale firing of prosecutors midway through an administration isn’t normal. U.S. attorneys, The Wall Street Journal recently pointed out, “typically are appointed at the beginning of a [...]

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Go have a look at what Gary from Declarations of Pride has written in support of impeachment, of which I’ve quoted far too much below. I get the sense that the general feeling out there is that it’s politically inconvenient or that there just isn’t enough time. The first part of that is likely true [...]

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As much as Chris might feel that moose, or even owls, are cute, or handsome, or attractive, or animalistic, it’s very hard to beat the Horseshoe Crab. Just look how adorable these two are - call their names and they come running. Err, crawling.

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