A friend of mine at Stanford forwarded me the following: This Sunday, April 30th, there will be a Day of Conscience for Darfur in San Francisco. The day will include a vigil in the morning and a rally beginning at 1:30pm. Anyone who is interested can find out more information and sign up at www.ourpledge.org. I know we are having a similar rally up here in The Twin Cities … [Read more...] about If You’re In The Bay Area…

CLICK HERE. There have been various incarnations of a satire with this song, including referring to Iraq instead of Iran, over the years. The satire songsters The Capitol Steps did one as well on Iraq. … [Read more...] about Cartoon Song “Let’s Bomb Iran”

In some ways, having its former employee Tony Snow become White House press spokesman is a prestigious feather in its cap for Fox News — a formal coming of age. In other ways it may prove to be a swift pain in the A — according to this CNN story:During a briefing led by White House spokesman Scott McClellan as President Bush was traveling to New Orleans, Louisiana, … [Read more...] about A Fox News Backlash In The Press Corps?

"Institutionally, the presidency is walking all over Congress at the moment. If we are to maintain our institutional prerogative, that may be the only way we can do it." - Senator Arlen Specter, R-Pa. He's talking about proposing legislation to cut off funding for the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program if Congress doesn't get some answers soon. More here. … [Read more...] about Arlen Gets Tough

What are the gas tax-cut proposals from both sides really trying to solve? Sean Aqui has a few ideas. … [Read more...] about Pandering Or Problem Solving?

Should FEMA's real letters be P.U.? A Senate committee thinks so and is urging that it be scuttled and that the federal government, in essence, start from scratch. The Los Angeles Times reports: Senate committee is urging that the Federal Emergency Management Agency be dismantled and restructured to deal with the problems exposed by its response to Hurricane Katrina, setting … [Read more...] about Does The Emergency Agency FEMA S-T-I-N-K?

Are we seeing more of them? … [Read more...] about ” Invasion of the Word Snatchers”

If an issue manages to unite Barack Obama, Sam Brownback, and George Clooney, it might be worth taking a look at. By the way, let me take a moment to blast CNN's coverage of the Darfur genocide in this article. Start with the word itself: "genocide." They refuse to use it unadultered, saying that it "is being described as genocide." No serious objective scholar denies that a … [Read more...] about Here’s A Clue

Colleges shouldn't refuse to invite speakers like Michael Moore and Ann Coulter just because they're "controversial." They should refuse to invite them because they are morons. … [Read more...] about Easy Answer

More and more, we're moving towards a government where there is indeed an official line — and you toe it, or else:The CIA has imposed new and tighter restrictions on the books, articles, and opinion pieces published by former employees who are still contractors with the intelligence agency. According to several former CIA officials affected by the new policy, the rules … [Read more...] about Bush Administration Clamps Down On Criticism Of It By Former CIA Employees

This is truly alarming: China has secured four oil drilling licences from Nigeria as President Hu Jintao continues his week-long tour of Africa, his second in three years. In exchange China will invest $4bn (£2.25bn) in oil and infrastructure projects in Nigeria. China will buy a controlling stake in Nigeria's 110,000 barrel-a-day Kaduna oil refinery and build a railroad … [Read more...] about The Beijing-Abuja oil axis

The entire Tristate should be ashamed that this professor and her students have been charged in court over the removal of an offensive display which never should have been placed on public property. I have seen this obnoxious display a few times on the grounds of local Roman Catholic churches and parochial schools - it has been moved around the Tristate for years. I am offended … [Read more...] about Shame on NKU!

I haven't done one of these in a while, but how about a round-up of blogospheric reaction to Karl Rove's fifth appearance before the federal grand jury looking into the Plame case? See here. … [Read more...] about Rove testifies again and again and again and again — that’s five times, if you’re counting

See, however much I dislike Bush, I must admit that I don't regard him as evil incarnate. In his heart, he's probably a lot like his father: sensible, pragmatic, and fairly moderate. His extremism, such as there is any, lies in his rabidly pro-business approach to the economy. The problem is that as president he seems to have been pushed to the right by 9/11 and the escalation … [Read more...] about Bush’s immigration problem

Here's a small hint: you'll be seeing and hearing a lot of him from the White House. … [Read more...] about Guess Who Reads Blogs?

From the BBC: Nepal's Maoist rebels have announced a three-month unilateral truce, after street protests forced the country's monarch to restore parliament. The Maoists had earlier said King Gyanendra's move did not go far enough towards meeting their demands. Opposition groups allied to the Maoists however welcomed the king's offer and called off weeks of massive … [Read more...] about Truce and democracy: An update from Nepal

The National Archives' Internal Security Oversight Office (ISOO) has completed its audit of the (formerly-secret) reclassification program conducted over the past several years, and released its report yesterday. The audit uncovered evidence that 25,315 records were reclassified under the program - of a sample of those, 24% were found to fall under the category "clearly … [Read more...] about NARA Audit Reveals Improper Reclassification

From investigative reporter Andy Borowitz:RETIRED OIL EXECUTIVES VOICE SUPPORT FOR RUMSFELD Chauffeur-driven March on Washington Draws Hundreds Responding to the chorus of retired generals who have recently called for his ouster, hundreds of retired oil company executives marched on Washington today to show their support for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The former … [Read more...] about This Just In!

Did you ever notice something about modern-day, 21st century politics? Increasingly, BOTH political parties seem to think that THEY know what's best to for you — and they'll give it to you, even if they have to shove it down your throat. Dick Meyer, the Editorial Director of CBSNews.com, notices it. And in a must-read column on CBSNews.com he explores this attitude … [Read more...] about THEY Know What’s Best For You

Should we be excited about President George Bush's decision on the strategic oil reserves or not? … [Read more...] about The Strategic Oil Reserves