Las Vegas SUN: White House Said to Bar Hurricane Report

Las Vegas SUN: White House Said to Bar Hurricane Report:

"WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration has blocked release of a report that suggests global warming is contributing to the frequency and strength of hurricanes, the journal Nature reported Tuesday."

Why?

Think Progress » FULL TRANSCRIPT: Clinton Takes On Fox News

Think Progress » FULL TRANSCRIPT: Clinton Takes On Fox News:

"Today (i.e., Friday, Sept. 22), President Bill Clinton taped an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, which is scheduled to be aired Sunday. He was told the interview would focus on his nonpartisan efforts to raise over $7 billion to combat the world’s biggest problems.

Early in the interview, Wallace attempted to smear Clinton with the same kind of misinformation contained in ABC’s Path to 9/11. Clinton was having none of it."

I hightly recommend that you read the transcript -- better yet watch the interview, which is scheduled (we'll see if it airs) sometime Sunday on the Chris Wallace Show via Fox News.

Clinton not only "takes Wallace to task," he calls him on the hypocracy of Fox News and his show. They brought Clinton on under the pretense to talk about the $7 billion raised at his global summit to fight issues of worldwide concern. Instead they try to ambush him. They forgot who they had on, however: someone who can, and this time actually did--stand up for himself.

It's an amazing read.

G.O.P. Gains Big Fund-Raising Advantage - New York Times

G.O.P. Gains Big Fund-Raising Advantage - New York Times: (Subscription Required)

"WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — The Republican National Committee has amassed a significant fund-raising advantage, according to campaign finance records filed Wednesday, feeding Democrats’ fears about remaining competitive in the intense final weeks before the midterm elections."

Ah yes, it is all about money!!

Something to amuse drinking liberally members

From Drinking Liberally member Dorothy Rubin:


Hi Bruce and other Drinking Liberally members: This is Dorothy Rubin. I found this poem by RickMasten (a Unitarian ministe) and thought you all might find it amusing:

A PLACE FOR CONSERVATIVES

i must admit it bothers me more
than just a little bit
to se an airline pilot with dandruf
chewing gum
looking like any one of us.
i mean
when you see the crew
go passing through the gate
don't you want the captain
to be a tight lipped man
with close ccropped hair,
eyes like steel doors slammed shut,
crisp white shirt,
slacks creased so sharply
if you weren't careful
you could get a nasty cut there.

why i'd turn in my boarding pass
just like that.
if some freaky, long haired cat
with an earring on one side
came bopping by
saying:
hey baby,
i'm gonna take us for a ride.

believe me i'm fully coninced
there really is a place for conservatives.

or would you go to a neurosurgeont his fingernails--

The Blog | Harry Shearer: A Clarifying Moment | The Huffington Post

The Blog | Harry Shearer: A Clarifying Moment | The Huffington Post:

"THE PRESIDENT: This debate is occurring because of the Supreme Court's ruling that said that we must conduct ourselves under the Common Article III of the Geneva Convention.
And that Common Article III says that there will be no outrages upon human dignity. It's very vague. What does that mean, 'outrages upon human dignity'?"

The president wants to redefine "human dignity?" This will be a topic for discussion at tonight's Drinking Liberally meeting

AlterNet: Block the Vote: The 10 Worst Places to Cast a Ballot

AlterNet: Block the Vote: The 10 Worst Places to Cast a Ballot:

"We used to think the voting system was something like the traffic laws -- a set of rules clear to everyone, enforced everywhere, with penalties for transgressions; we used to think, in other words, that we had a national election system. How wrong a notion this was has become painfully apparent since 2000: As it turns out, except for a rudimentary federal framework (which determines the voting age, channels money to states and counties, and enforces protections for minorities and the disabled), U.S. elections are shaped by a dizzying mélange of inconsistently enforced laws, conflicting court rulings, local traditions, various technology choices, and partisan trickery.

In some places voters still fill in paper ballots or pull the levers of vintage machines; elsewhere, they touch screens or tap keys, with or without paper trails. Some states encourage voter registration; others go out of their way to limit it. Some allow prisoners to vote; others permanently bar ex-felons, no matter how long they've stayed clean. Who can vote, where people cast ballots, and how and whether their votes are counted all depends, to a large extent, on policies set in place by secretaries of state and county elections supervisors -- officials who can be as partisan, as dubiously qualified, and as nakedly ambitious as people anywhere else in politics. Here is a list -- partial, but emblematic -- of American democracy's more glaring weak spots."

We have read about some of these, but there are surprising ways--some formal, some informal-- that some localities have used to prevent whole segments of communities from voting.

Ney to admit guilt in corruption case - Yahoo! News

Ney to admit guilt in corruption case - Yahoo! News:

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican congressman agreed to plead guilty to illegally accepting tens of thousands of dollars in trips, meals, drinks and tickets, becoming the first U.S. lawmaker convicted in the Jack Abramoff political corruption scandal, U.S. officials said on Friday.

The plea deal represented a sharp reversal for Ohio Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record), who had denied any wrongdoing. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 and abandoned his race for re-election last month as the federal investigation intensified into his links to the convicted lobbyist Abramoff."

How many more will fall?