Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies—those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention...Because Sarah Palin would NEVER sell her body, right?
RIGHT?
Hmmm....
Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies—those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention...Because Sarah Palin would NEVER sell her body, right?
For the first time in a year, the United States economy grew, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.I don't doubt the numbers. They are what they are. However, I doubt (highly) that our economy is on the mend. We'll have some good quarters, but they'll be off-set by some bad ones. The damage of the Bush administration is too systemic for a normal recovery. My gut hunch is we'll be digging our way out of this for another two to three years (if we're lucky), and even once we are out of the woods, we're probably looking at decades worth of rather weak economic growth.
...Gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the three months ending in September.
...Robust government spending, exports, consumer spending — buoyed by auto purchases Congress’s now-expired cash-for-clunkers program — and housing helped finally push the measure into positive territory. Spending on consumer durable goods like cars shot up an astounding 22.3 percent at an annual rate, compared to a decrease of 23.3 percent the previous quarter.
President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd, Jr. Hates Crimes Prevention Bill into law yesterday. While I am thrilled that it is now - finally - the law of the land, it really stretches the brain to wonder why it had to be placed as an "amendment" to a completely unrelated bill.Governor of Virginia:The NJ race is too close to call. Corzine is extremely unpopular and Christie is your typical Republican bottom-feeder with matching low positive ratings. Corzine might pull this out, but whoever wins will have a hell of a time governing once the new term begins. If I had to guess, I'd say Christie pulls this out.
Bob McDonnell (R) 54%
Creigh Deeds (D) 36%
Governor of New Jersey:
Jon Corzine (D) 41%
Christopher Christie (R) 39%
Chris Dagget (I) 13%
The piece hit three cars, damaging one pretty bad. I didn't see any injuries and news reports later confirmed that no one was hurt. None the less, I knew this was going to be a huge deal; and sure enough CalTrans announced a couple of hours later that the Bay Bridge would be closed indefinitely while they assess the situation and make repairs.
But this raises several questions:Why is the fucking bridge falling down?Enough! The Governor, the state legislature, CalTrans officials, as well as every San Francisco Bay area driver need to demand, in no uncertain terms, that workers pull their thumbs from their collective asses and get to work on the new bridge. Double or triple the work force, work day and night and weekends and holidays, and get this thing finished by the end of next year.
Even after repairs are complete, is the bridge really safe enough to handle the 270,000 cars that travel across it daily?
If the wind was the cause of this accident, what the hell can we expect if there is a substantial earthquake? Will the entire superstructure collapse into the San Francisco Bay?
And the biggest question of all, why in hell is it taking so long to finish the new eastern span of the bridge? I mean, really! 20 years planning, 7 years building it (so far), with 3 to 4 more years of construction expected before it opens?? BOTH spans of the original bridge took 3 years to build in the 1930s!.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Your honor, my answer is: I don’t know.-Charles J. Cooper, a prominent lawyer arguing against same-sex marriage, when asked by a San Francisco judge last week, "What would be the harm of permitting gay men and lesbians to marry?"
I don’t know.
Iran will accept a U.N. deal on its nuclear programme, but only if "very important changes" are made, Iranian state media have reported.- The Wall Street Journal reports that later today President Obama will name 100 utility projects that will share $3.4 billion in federal stimulus funding to speed deployment of advanced technology designed to cut energy use and make the electric-power grid more robust.
...Under the draft proposal, Iran would send its enriched uranium to Russia and France to be turned into fuel.
All the other parties have confirmed their support for the deal, which is seen as a way for Tehran to get the fuel it needs for an existing reactor, while giving guarantees to the West that its enriched uranium will not be used for nuclear weapons.
This thing is going to work.-NY Times columnist Paul Krugman, the 2008 winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, expressing confidence in the coming health care legislation currently working its way through congress.
Kevin Krolicki at Reuters reports that despite a minimum bid of $500, less than 2,000 of the 9,000 homes and abandoned lots put up for sale in the city of Detroit were sold during a recent four day auction.Taken together, the properties seized by tax collectors...and put up for sale last week represented an area the size of New York's Central Park. Total vacant land in Detroit now occupies an area almost the size of Boston, according to a Detroit Free Press estimate.I was born in Detroit and lived there until 1978. My entire immediate family were gone by 1982 because even then the writing was on the wall. I still have a lot of extended family up in the Flint area. It's sad, really, to see how far down the drain this once thriving city has gone. Everyone is to blame, as I see it: The local government (Coleman Young was the worst mayor of any city ever), the federal government (Reagan and Clinton, especially), and the auto industry (corporate for making shitty products for so long, and the unions for making demands they didn't deserve).
From TPM:Michael Smerconish, the Philly-based radio talk show host, has a column in the Inquirer today arguing that the GOP needs to seriously restructure its primary system in order to have any hope of nominating a potentially winning candidate in 2012 as opposed to one that will appeal to the party's base and ideological purists. His suggestions include regional primaries, moving up the dates of some high-population swing states, giving more of a stay to New England or key Western states, even giving more power to party bosses who have an institutional/professional interest in winning in addition to ideological aspirations.It has been my contention since the 2006 elections that the Republicans find themselves in the same place politically as the Democrats found themselves during the early and mid 1980s - overwhelmingly rejected by voters and relegated to the deep political wilderness.
On its face, it all makes a decent amount of sense if your angle is getting more electable Republicans. What struck me more though is how the arguments could have been lifted almost verbatim from the same conversation going on among Democrats through the 1970s and 1980s. Almost word for word, with the exception of the West and Northeast possibly playing the role of the South for the Dems in decades past. That strikes me as the most revealing thing about it.
Fifteen classic disco tracks for your weekend.The Boss - Diana Ross"Disco, Damn It, Volume 1" can be found here.
No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) - Donna Summer / Barbara Streisand
Midnight Love Affair - Carol Douglas
Mahogany (Do You Know) - The Sylvers
Stomp - The Brothers Johnson
Do It Good - A Taste of Honey
Music, Harmony, and Rhythm - Brooklyn Dreams
Don't Let Go - Isaac Hayes
Mandolay - La Flavour
Perfect Love Affair - Constellation Orchestra
Anybody Wanna Party? - Gloria Gaynor
Lost In Music - Sister Sledge
In the Bush - Musique
Fire Night Dance - Peter Jacques Band
One of a Kind / Heaven Knows / MacArthur Park - Donna Summer
A suicide bomber attacked a suspected nuclear-weapons site Friday in Pakistan, raising fears about the security of the nuclear arsenal...
Senior Israeli and Iranian officials have met face-to-face and discussed the threat of nuclear arms.If this really happened, then it's a huge step in the right direction.
The parents of a two-year-old girl in Colorado are unable to obtain health insurance for their daughter because the insurer, United Healthcare Golden Rule, claims she is too small. In a letter sent to the family of the child, Aislin Bates, United Healthcare Golden Rule writes, "we are unable to provide coverage for Aislin because her height and weight do not meet our company standards." According to a Colorado news station, Aislin weighed six pounds, six ounces at birth, and now weighs 22 pounds.Personally, I'm for either single-payer (get rid of the insurance companies all together) or a Medicare-for-all option (where Americans can opt to buy into Medicare or continue with their employer-based coverage). Alas, neither of those are an option at the moment.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to decide whether federal courts have the power to order prisoners held at GuantĂ¡namo Bay to be released into the United States.
The court’s decision to hear the case adds a further complication to the Obama administration’s efforts to close the prison at the naval base in GuantĂ¡namo Bay, Cuba. A measure in Congress that would allow detainees to be admitted to the United States just to face trial had to overcome strong resistance before winning final passage on Tuesday.
If a public plan were run by the states and available only to those who lack affordable private options, support for it jumps to 76 percent. Under those circumstances, even a majority of Republicans, 56 percent, would be in favor of it, about double their level of support without such a limitation.And if it turns out to be the more fiscally responsible plan, then even better.
A new internal Congressional Research Service report and government sources say there are an unprecedented number of death threats against President Obama - and that the Secret Service is insufficiently funded and staffed to deal with them.According to the report, the number of threats made against President Obama has increased 400% compared to the threats made against President George W. Bush at this point last year.
The solar financing plan that originated in Berkeley [California] in 2007 will become a national model, Vice President Joe Biden said Monday.Of course, if it had been George W. Bush proposing such a plan in, say, Braddock, Texas, the plan would be well received among the fascist right.
Biden's program, known as Recovery Through Retrofit, creates a framework for cities, counties and states to set up tax districts that allow residential and business property owners to install solar panels and make other energy improvements, repaying the investment over a 20-year property tax assessment.
The San Francisco edition of the New York Times began publishing a "Bay Area" section in their Sunday paper this week, and on the front page of yesterday's inaugural edition was this piece on Kite Hill, a little park stuck up on the hillside where the Castro meets Noe Valley and Twin Peaks.
And, looking the other way, up toward Twin Peaks...
Californians are convinced that the state is on the wrong track, and they're mad as hell at the dysfunction in Sacramento. But they're not willing to do much about it.-John Diaz, in Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle.
...A solid majority of Californians say they favor "fundamental change" to the [state] Constitution. Yet on point after point, when asked about a specific constitutional change, Californians say "no way."
Magic - Ladyhawke
Love You Inside Out (Cole Medina Remix) - Bee Gees
If Everybody Looked the Same - Groove Armada
Space Cowboy - Jamiroquai
Bongolia - Incredible Bongo Band
You Know I'm No Good - Amy Winehouse
Nobody Jones - N'Dambi
On the Street Where You Live - Vic Damone
Something Big - The Mick Fleetwood Band
Happy Ending - Joe Jackson / Elaine Caswell
Who Says - John Mayer
My Love - The Bird and the Bee
Who Needs Forever - Astrud Gilberto
Candy - Paolo Nutini
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have.
Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.
"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."
Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them.
"There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage," Bardwell said. "I think those children suffer and I won't help put them through it."
If he did an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said. "I try to treat everyone equally," he said.
President Obama has not made significant progress in his plan to infuse federal courts with a new cadre of judges, and liberal activists are beginning to blame his administration for moving too tentatively on what they consider a key priority.Eight years of hard-lined conservative activists were put on the bench under George W. Bush. Mr. Obama needs to get moving in order to put some balance back in the judiciary.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
The latest results on the most important nationwide math test show that student achievement grew faster during the years before the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law, when states were dominant in education policy, than over the years since...
On the most recent test, 39 percent of fourth graders and 34 percent of eighth graders scored at or above the proficient level.
It snarled traffic around the Bay area well into the early evening. In fact it took me two-and-a-half hours to get home last night via an alternate route. 
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| CNN Leaves It There | ||||
| www.thedailyshow.com | ||||
| ||||
The fascists of the right wing echo chamber still don't get it. For just about the entirety of the 20th century, the United States enjoyed high favorable ratings around the globe. Our great nation was looked to as the bright beacon of liberty and freedom to a world continually torn apart by failed leadership, war, and famine. Then, in early 2003, the administration of George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq. It was, they explained, a necessary war in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.Gallup:For reference, George W. Bush's approval rating when he left office was 34%. His disapproval was a whopping 61%.
Approve 56%
Disapprove 36%
The Breach - Bob Mould
17 Again - Eurythmics
L.I.E. - N'dambi
Maybe Tomorrow - Stereophonics
Eden Is Burning - John Mellencamp
Heavy Cross - The Gossip
When I'm With You - M.E.G.
Ball & Chain - Elton John
Sugar Tongue - Indigo Girls
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey - Wings
Back Stabbers - The O'Jays
Goodbye Baby - Fleetwood Mac
After much consideration, it is with a heavy heart that I announce the suspension of this blog. Following last month's health scare I realize I just don't have the time to tend to USW right now. Between the long commutes to and from work and major projects ramping up at the office, I need to find the time to tend to my doctor's orders: exercise more and decrease my stress levels. Unfortunately, the only logical cut that can be made in my schedule at the moment is to cease blogging. 
I expect to be held responsible, but I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking.-President Obama, yesterday at a party fundraiser in Virginia.
I’m told by a CNN source that the network privately pressed cable operators not to run the Media Matters ad attacking Dobbs, which pilloried his footsie with the birthers as CNN’s “Lou Dobbs problem.”Here is the ad in question...
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
If there's been a more clinically insane political phenomenon in my lifetime than the "birthers," I've missed it. Is this what our national discourse has come to? Sheer paranoid fantasy?Well, there is another political phenomenon brewing that might rival this if it has any legs. Some on the super-duper extreme fringes of the right have some wacky idea that President Obama has instructed FEMA to build concentration camps. (Actually, they're mental institutions for the deranged fascists among us...but, ssshhh, don't tell anyone.)
...Is this an orchestrated campaign to somehow delegitimize Obama's presidency? Is the fact that he is the first African American president a factor? Is it that some people can't or won't accept that he won the election and serves as commander in chief?
Maybe, maybe not. Trying to analyze the "birther" phenomenon would mean taking it seriously, and taking it seriously would be like arguing about the color of unicorns. About all that can be said is that a bunch of lost, confused and frightened people have decided to seek refuge in conspiratorial make-believe. I hope they're harmless. And I hope they seek help.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
A gunman sprayed bullets at a youth meeting in the basement of one of Tel Aviv's two gay centers Aug. 1, killing two people and injuring at least 15, several seriously.Andrew Sullivan quotes the sister of Nir Katz, one of the two killed:
Nir came out of the closet when he was 20, and since that moment wore the flag of gay pride on his sleeve, believed in what he was doing and always walked with his head held high.A spontaneous protest took place in the streets of Tel Aviv later that night...
I had cancer a few years ago. I like the fact that if I lose my job, I won't be able to get any insurance because of my illness. It reminds me of my homeowners' insurance, which gets canceled after a break-in. I like the choice I'd face if, God forbid, the cancer recurs -- sell my house to pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in treatment, or die. That's what you call a "post-existing condition."-Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, in a must-read health care essay.
Do you believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States of America or not?Markos Moulitsas, publisher and founder of DailyKos, talked with Ed Schultz about the polling results...
Yes 77%
No 11%
Not sure 12%
Polling breakdown (pay special attention to those Republican and Southern numbers):
Democrats
Yes 93%
No 4%
Not sure 3%
Republicans
Yes 42%
No 28%
Not sure 30%
Independents (No party affiliation)
Yes 83%
No 8%
Not sure 9%
Northeast
Yes 93%
No 4%
Not sure 3%
South
Yes 47%
No 23%
Not sure 30%
Midwest
Yes 90%
No 6%
Not sure 4%
West
Yes 87%
No 7%
Not sure 6%