Ian Welsh:
So, it looks like the Doha round, after 7 years, has failed. As anyone paying even a slight bit of attention anticipated, it did so because Americans and Europeans don’t want to allow other countries to protect their farmers and internal food markets from subsidized competition by the West, nor is Europe or the [...]
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Posted in General on Jul 31st, 2008
Welcome to one more blind person trying to describe her idea of the elephant that is the Progressive Blogosphere 2.0.
For a while now, I’ve had the very strong sense that things have been exactly ass-backwards, upside down in the blogosphere - that the peak of Maslow’s triangle is nowhere near roomy enough to carry the [...]
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Posted in Arts & Music on Jul 31st, 2008
Lesley Gore (who was the inspiration for Kelly Preston, the gay girl singer in “Grace of My Heart,” the wonderful tribute to Brill Building-era rock):
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I wonder what Miss Nancy will do with this?
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Posted in Blogosphere, Politics As Usual on Jul 31st, 2008
I’ll be hosting the discussion here tonight at 7 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. PDT).
What is PB2.0, you say?
Read this, this and this. Have your No. 2 pencils sharpened, and be sure to fill out each of the circles completely… oh, my bad. Never mind!
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Posted in Politics As Usual on Jul 31st, 2008
Billmon on John McCain, the Great White Hope.
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Posted in General on Jul 31st, 2008
Another stunning success in our ongoing war on civil rights and basic human dignity drugs.
“My government blew through my doors and killed my dogs,” Calvo said. “They thought we were drug dealers, and we were treated as such. I don’t think they really ever considered that we weren’t.”
Calvo described a chaotic scene, in which he [...]
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Posted in General on Jul 31st, 2008
I’m sure all the electronic voting machines are working just fine!
On Dec. 3, 2002, Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox’s office faxed documents to the then-president of Diebold Election Systems Bob Urosevich listing a series of issues that occurred shortly before the November 2002 election.
Documents provided to RAW STORY by a whistleblower close to Cox’s [...]
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Posted in Imaginary Global Warming on Jul 31st, 2008
But long-term doesn’t look so good:
Arctic sea ice is unlikely to shrink below a 2007 record low this year in a reprieve from the worst predictions of climate change even though new evidence confirms a long-term thaw is under way, experts said.
The 2007 record raised worries of a melt that could leave the North Pole [...]
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Posted in Higher Ground on Jul 31st, 2008
Beautiful post at C&L about the Knoxville church shooting.
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Posted in Politics As Usual on Jul 31st, 2008
Like me, Avedon still worries about the outcome of this election. Go read the rest:
And here’s the thing: The Republicans don’t like McCain, and they’re not even all that eager to be in the White House when all the crap they’ve sent down the chute hits the fan. So why are the numbers so close? [...]
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In a very important piece, Chalmers Johnson spells out why the “outsourcing” of military and intelligence functions is systematically undermining democratic values.
I strongly urge you to read this. It’s important that Americans understand how contracting out this work was a strategic tactic to avoid accountability and oversight.
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Posted in Blogosphere, Politics As Usual on Jul 30th, 2008
I’ll be hosting the discussion here tomorrow night (Thursday) at 7 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. PDT).
What is PB2.0, you say?
Read this, this and this. Have your No. 2 pencils sharpened, and be sure to fill out each of the circles completely… oh, my bad. Never mind!
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The dominoes are falling down:
Financial Title Co. has shut its doors across the state as part of a closure of multiple offices and title companies by its parent, Mercury Cos. of Colorado.
The decision by the largest real-estate title agent in Silicon Valley follows a move by Mercury’s lenders to pull their line of credit after [...]
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Posted in Arts & Music on Jul 30th, 2008
The Shangri-Las:
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Posted in My So-Called Life on Jul 30th, 2008
Did I mention we’re having another?
I stopped by the local bookstore after lunch because 1) I never had the time before and 2) they were having a $1 sale. (Got a Carl Hiaasen I hadn’t read yet!) Had a nice chat with the owner about the death of journalism, and made plans to return.
The place [...]
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Posted in Politics As Usual, The Regime on Jul 30th, 2008
That Nancy Pelosi will actually do something about this:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Judiciary Committee has voted to hold former White House strategist Karl Rove in contempt of Congress for ignoring a subpoena to testify.
Voting along party lines Wednesday, the committee said Rove broke the law by failing to appear at a July 10 hearing [...]
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Posted in Politics As Usual, The Regime on Jul 30th, 2008
What a gracious thing to do:
In a seeming effort to blunt attention to the fact he was signing a bill he once rebuked as socialistic, President George W. Bush quietly approved a massive mortgage rescue bill shortly after 7 a.m. in the Oval Office and announced his signature by email.
“Only a few aides and administration [...]
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After all, we still have a bunch of nuts running the country:
WASHINGTON — Bush administration officials reassured Israel’s defense minister this week that the United States has not abandoned all possibility of a military attack on Iran, despite widespread Israeli concern that Washington has begun softening its position toward Tehran.
In meetings Monday and Tuesday, administration [...]
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Something I can get behind for an Obama candidacy.
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From the comments section responding to yet another variation on the “why oh why aren’t there more women political bloggers” theme:
Some of the best political writing I see is on personal blogs, and it’s intertwined with personal writing. Because their blogs hybridize the personal and the political (which is how most people actually experience the [...]
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Posted in Arts & Music on Jul 30th, 2008
Now that I’m home during the day, I’m discovering all sorts of TV shows that open a window into different segments of society. My current fave is a makeover show called “Mobile Home Disaster” on CMT. (So far, they only do homes in California.)
What I especially like is that the show doesn’t condescend at all [...]
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Posted in Humor, Politics As Usual on Jul 30th, 2008
Posted in General on Jul 30th, 2008
Here’s the deal, kids: I’m out of work now and I need three different surgeries. (I’m just the tiniest bit suspicious that this had something to do with the timing of my layoff.)
I’m having one surgery (an eye operation - I’m seeing double) in two weeks, but I need to schedule the other two and [...]
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Posted in Arts & Music on Jul 30th, 2008
Free Shakespeare in Clark Park this weekend - “As You Like It!”
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Yeah, I know it’s pretty high up on Maslow’s triangle, but this is the sort of thing that improves quality of life and it’s not a good sign:
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - July 29, 2008 — The Philadelphia Orchestra has canceled its 2009 European festivals tour.
Spokeswoman Katherine Blodgett says the reasons for the decision include a lack [...]
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Glenn Greenwald (and you really, really need to read the whole thing):
If you believe in the Fourth Amendment, an end to the Iraq War, the rule of law for government and corporate criminals, a ban on torture, Congressional approval before the President can attack Iran, and the preservation of habeas corpus rights, then you’re a [...]
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Posted in Media, Politics As Usual, The Regime on Jul 30th, 2008
Duncan says we should give one to Joe Klein.
Since he tackles an extremely sensitive subject well, I second that emotion. (Although I think he’s wrong about Bush not attacking Iran.)
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Posted in Imaginary Global Warming on Jul 30th, 2008
Hey, we can always buy ice cubes if we need ice. Right?
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — A chunk of ice spreading across seven square miles has broken off a Canadian ice shelf in the Arctic, scientists said Tuesday.
Derek Mueller, a research at Trent University, was careful not to blame global warming, but said it the event [...]
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Posted in My So-Called Life on Jul 30th, 2008
When I went into the bathroom this morning (the only room with an open window), I could smell smoke - the kind of smell you get when you let a campfire burn out. I assumed there had been a fire in the neighborhood last night.
But I checked all the local news sites and found nothing. [...]
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