[icopyright one button toolbar] Major Todd Pierce (U.S. Army, Retired) is an attorney who served as a Judge Advocate General (J.A.G.) officer in the United States Army. In that capacity, he has served on the defense teams for two Guantanamo military commissions defendants. On October 13, 2014 I had the privilege of interviewing Maj. Pierce by telephone. What follows … [Read more...] about Interview with Major Todd Pierce
Solar Power
Some good news both on the economic and environmental front, Oregon's SolarWorld is expanding production. SolarWorld Industries America Inc. will add 200 jobs in Hillsboro as it ramps up manufacturing to meet growing U.S. demand, company executives announced Thursday. The company will expand both its cell and module production capacity in early 2015, making $10 million in … [Read more...] about Solar Power
Cartoon: The Scream (Political Version)
See great cartoons by all the top political cartoonists at http://cagle.com. To license this cartoon for your own site, visit http://politicalcartoons.com … [Read more...] about Cartoon: The Scream (Political Version)
O’Keefe Hoist by his own Petard?
Remember Eric O'Keefe? You know, from my Wisconsin series*? And my Howie Rich series*? And from the Sam Adams Alliance's role in the genesis of the Tea Party*, and, finally in possible collusion with Wisc. Gov. Scott Walker, something called the The John Doe Investigation*; thence the high-powered Washington D.C. law firm, the countersuit in Federal court that stopped the … [Read more...] about O’Keefe Hoist by his own Petard?
Peak Water
For several years we have been hearing about Peak Oil but a greater threat to the human race is Peak Water. We have heard about the drought and water shortages in California but that state is not unique. The Central Valley boasts some of the globe's fastest-depleting aquifers—but by no means the fastest overall. Indeed, it has a rival here in the United States. The … [Read more...] about Peak Water
More voting fraud FUD, a researcher backtracks, and surprising facts about suffrage
As I reported earlier this week, forcing voters to show a photo ID at the polls is a GOP boogyman, a "solution" to a non-existent problem. Now comes two researchers -- Jesse Richman and David Earnest -- from Old Dominion University, who claim that "6.4 percent of non-citizens voted in 2008 and 2.2 percent of non-citizens voted in 2010." Their Washington Post blog post has … [Read more...] about More voting fraud FUD, a researcher backtracks, and surprising facts about suffrage
The ‘Ebola Conspiracy’ — A View From the Beach
[icopyright one button toolbar] It takes a lot to get my butt (my fat butt, some would say) off a lounge chair overlooking the gorgeous turquoise Caribbean, into our villa and onto my keyboard. But conservative radio show hostess Laura Ingraham has now earned that dubious distinction. Part of the “honor” goes to my wife, lounging next to me and listening on her IPad … [Read more...] about The ‘Ebola Conspiracy’ — A View From the Beach
Kaci Hickox Is A Hero–Now On Two Counts
Kaci Hickox is a hero. First for volunteering to help treat Ebola patients, as eradicating Ebola in West Africa is the only way to handle this disease. She became a hero again for standing up to unjust restrictions upon her civil liberties upon returning home and supporting the concept of making political decisions based upon science and reason as opposed to giving in to public … [Read more...] about Kaci Hickox Is A Hero–Now On Two Counts
Voting Millennials Support Republican-Run Congress
Gone are the days of young people heavily voting Democratic. The millennial vote is up for grabs and could even swing next week’s elections, according to a poll the Harvard University Institute of Politics released Wednesday. In a departure from youth responses in 2010, a little more than half of 18-to-29-year-olds who said they plan to… … [Read more...] about Voting Millennials Support Republican-Run Congress
Halloween: The Orange and Black
The Orange and Black Raging Moderate by Will Durst Here it comes. Creeping down dark alleys. Overturning garbage cans and spooking black cats. The scariest day of the year. With the exception of your next birthday, that is. Halloween. All Hallow's Eve. The night preceding All Saint's Day. Time to carve a gourd. Besides being an excellent excuse to gorge on candy corn and … [Read more...] about Halloween: The Orange and Black
Cartoon: Honey Boo Boo
See great cartoons by all the top political cartoonists at http://cagle.com. To license this cartoon for your own site, visit http://politicalcartoons.com … [Read more...] about Cartoon: Honey Boo Boo
Mystery of Amelia Earhart Solved? Fragment From Missing Plane Identified
Researchers at The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) revealed that a piece from Amelia Earhart’s vanished aircraft has been identified in Nikumaroro, an atoll in the southwestern Pacific republic of Kiribati. This is the first time that an artifact from the wreckage has been directly linked to Earhart’s last expedition, in which she was… … [Read more...] about Mystery of Amelia Earhart Solved? Fragment From Missing Plane Identified
Canada’s Terrorism Turning Point
[icopyright one button toolbar] TORONTO, Canada -- The live TV coverage on CBCNN brought back memories of another assassination -- the assassination of JFK. A funeral procession punctuated by drumbeats and bagpipes. Only this time, a country's grief focused on Corporal Nathan Cirillo. Only this time, the haunting image of a child that'll be reproduced forever was … [Read more...] about Canada’s Terrorism Turning Point
Moderate thunder out of Kansas
. IOLA, Kan. -- The several dozen citizens gathered at a street corner just off the main square of this southeastern Kansas town of 5,600 were polite and friendly in the Midwestern way. They did not look in the least like a band of counterrevolutionaries intent on reversing the direction of the government in Topeka. Yet the results of the tea party … [Read more...] about Moderate thunder out of Kansas
Birth control device linked to serious harm in women; maker covered up dangers
By Miriam Raftery SAN DIEGO, Ca - An ABC News investigation that includes 10 News in San Diego reveals that the maker of the Essure birth control device covered up evidence that patients have been seriously harmed by the device for over a decade. [icopyright one button toolbar] The device consists of metal coils that are implanted inside a woman’s Fallopian tubes to … [Read more...] about Birth control device linked to serious harm in women; maker covered up dangers
Obamacare’s Post Mid-Term Future
Jason Millman discusses a Harvard meta-analysis of polls on the Affordable Care Act on The Washington Post's Wonkblog. [icopyright one button toolbar] Although the politics of Obamacare have cooled down this year — and even with declining interest in this year's midterms — the upcoming election will have a bigger influence on the direction of health care than you may think. … [Read more...] about Obamacare’s Post Mid-Term Future
Kobani Reinforcements Pour In Via Turkey
Update as of 5:10 a.m. EDT: At least 150 fighters of the rebel Free Syrian Army, or FSA, entered Syria overnight from Turkey on Wednesday to help Kurdish fighters battling militants of the Islamic State group in the town of Kobani, Agence France-Presse, or AFP, reported, citing local Turkish officials. Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip… … [Read more...] about Kobani Reinforcements Pour In Via Turkey
Do Americans deserve this?
In a rare public accounting of its mass surveillance program, the United States Postal Service reported that it approved nearly 50,000 requests last year from law enforcement agencies and its own internal inspection unit to secretly monitor the mail of Americans for use in criminal and national security investigations. The number of requests, contained in a 2014 audit of the … [Read more...] about Do Americans deserve this?
The ‘Blackwaterization’ of War: Obama is Gambling on it (L’Orient Le Jour, Lebanon)
[icopyright one button toolbar] After a trial that for some reason lasted seven years, last week a jury convicted four former Blackwater mercenaries of murdering 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in a firefight on September 16, 2007 aka/ Baghdad's Bloody Sunday. For Lebanon's L'Orient Le Jour, columnist Christian Merville writes that despite the convictions - which will … [Read more...] about The ‘Blackwaterization’ of War: Obama is Gambling on it (L’Orient Le Jour, Lebanon)
My Health Care Premiums
[icopyright one button toolbar] On a side note, the image of the rainbow was taken from my bike and close to where I live. I couldn’t find the pot of gold on either side. It kept moving! A few months ago there was a post and subsequent thread about how much healthcare insurance premiums might rise in 2015. There was even a suggestion that rates at Kaiser Permanente … [Read more...] about My Health Care Premiums