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The Oil Spill Commission held its first hearing on the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico Monday at the New Orleans Hilton. During the public comment portion, local residents came forward to tell their own stories of loss and fear and frustration over the oil spill and the moratorium.

When words failed, music prevailed.

I don't remember a time where I've seen a hearing like this. I hope another never needs to take place. Whether the Commission hears or not, I did. We all should.

But for all their passion and courage, they concerned me. Many comments concerned their fear that a moratorium would destroy their business and their livelihoods. Others expressed concern that New Orleans would die for certain under a moratorium.

Their testimony left me wondering how on earth drilling can be made safer without a moratorium. It's a no-win situation, unless there is a way to structure the ban in a way that fast-tracks safety measures or other procedures are put in place to keep these people from losing everything they've worked so hard for.

These are the voices of the ones on the front line. Six kids and a second chance slipping from the grasp of a mom. A fisherman. A musician. And a life they've known slipping away from them.

I don't envy this Commission. There aren't any easy answers. On the one hand, these people see a moratorium as insult to injury. On the other hand, not imposing a moratorium gives them at least a shred of a hope they'll survive.

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Bush supports exit polls (in Ukraine)

"A tarnished election will lead us to review our relations with Ukraine."
-- George Bush

George Bush has suddenly become a great believer in exit polling -- in Ukraine, that is. The surprise triumph of Russian favorite Viktor Yanukovych has transformed the skeptical Bush into a veritable John Zogby. Now, the chagrined President is threatening to take "concrete measures" unless election results aren't revisited. It's the opening volley in a confrontation that threatens to revive the cold war mentality of East against West.

Needless to say Bush's newfound passion for exit polls hasn't carried over to our own "homegrown" polls; most of them have been dismissed by the administration as "wildly inaccurate". Conservative friends in the American media have gone so far as to remove the original polling data from their web sites so that the "statistical anomalies" can't be examined by curious people who think the unthinkable; that Crawford George may have lost and is trying to bury the evidence. The media has acted with as much accountability as a Florida poll-watcher; shredding the evidence it can't use and dumping the results in the circular receptacle in the corner. The full story...

Steny Hoyer's passion is moving in this speech. The compromise is imperfect in some ways, but it IS action, and it DOES repeal a policy that should have never been put into effect at all, and moves our country toward being more human, more compassionate, and more equal.

Update 6:54pm PDT: They're voting now. Also, one Republican, Susan Collins joined the Democrats to support the repeal in the Senate Armed Forces Committee.

Update 6:58pm PDT: They just crossed the 219 vote threshold. Two Republicans have voted yes; 23 Democrats have voted no. 17 votes haven't been cast yet.

Update 7:10pm PDT: Final count: 234-194. Thank you, House.

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Michael Ware reporting from Afghanistan, Sept. 2009

All things CNN:

We won't be seeing any more of Michael on CNN...

In addition to having taken a break recently in order to work on his book, it is no secret that he has been grappling with PTSD, brought on from the hellish years he worked in Baghdad. I was told that, unfortunately, when he needed more time off in order to deal with things, his request was denied. So he will not be returning.

While it is a huge loss for us (and for CNN) I am extremely relieved that he chose to take care of his own needs first. And while I sincerely hope that he will return to US television someday on another network, it is far more important that he gets the care he needs.

His work for CNN over the past four years has been an astonishing and brutally honest look at the causes and results of war. Not easy subject matter to watch… but he made us care. His urgency and passion burst through our television sets and made us pay attention, made us want to understand.[..]

And exactly how does a news organization justify (to themselves, even!) not giving their war correspondents whatever they need in order to deal with their wounds, whether they are visible ones or not? If ABC had treated Bob Woodruff so callously, there would have been hell to pay. I don’t doubt they wanted him back in the field ASAP — doubly so after losing Christiane Amanpour — but don’t force him to make a choice between getting better and getting paid. That just sucks. Surely it would be better to have him off the air but still yours once he is ready to come back than to have him off the air and someone else’s upon his return? So not only has CNN made a callous move here, they have made a stupid one, as well.

What a tremendous asset he has been to CNN. And how foolish they are to lose him.

Michael War was a breath of fresh air with his reporting in the Gulf. Look at how he blew past the empty rhetoric of Bush and generals,Petraeus, Condi Rice, Lieberman and McCain with brutal and unflinching honesty about the conditions there. I can only imagine the nightmares he still endures. And CNN's response to his pain (which Men's Journal covered in Dec. 2008 in a powerful interview with Ware) was to tell him he wasn't allowed any more time to come to terms with the death and destruction he saw daily for years for their benefit. Instead, they hire one of the great armchair soldiers, Erick Erickson.

'Fahrenheit' DVD Beating 'The Passion' in Sales

Everyone's looking for an indicator in the presidential election, something besides the conventional polls. So here's one more bit of information: Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" is way ahead of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" on the DVD bestseller list. On Amazon.com, "Fahrenheit" is holding steady at No. 8, while 'The Passion' is well below it at No. 38. Just ahead of 'The Passion' are the Marx Brothers, "Elf" and "Dawn of the Dead Foxnews

Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington appeared on The Colbert Report to promote her latest book, The Right is Wrong and speak to the particular metamorphosis of John McCain’s candidacy.

Download | play Download | play (h/t Bill W)

Colbert: So (McCain) changed his opinions from 2000 to 2008. People do that.

Huffington: He has not changed his opinions. He has replaced his mind with George Bush’s mind. I wouldn’t be surprised if right now, he’s somewhere at the Texas ranch, clearing brush, like George Bush.

Colbert: Perhaps he knows that that’s what he has to do to get elected. He was ”The Maverick” in 2000; that did not get him elected. But if he toes the party line in 2008, maybe that…he’s just doing what he needs to do to get elected. What’s so wrong with that?

Huffington: You mean selling his soul in order to get elected?

Huffington: He was a real reformer. And now, he’s basically completely surrendered on everything. He wants us all to stay in Iraq of course indefinitely. And here’s the one little problem: that he has this kind of passion for Iraq. [..] Because he has this passion for Iraq, that’s his Viagra.

Colbert: He has…I guess the warning on that should be, if your erection last more than a hundred years, pull out.

Liberty Street: Georgetown has decided not to renew Douglas Feith's contract.

Majikthise: A coalition of New York legislators say the Sean Bell case not closed yet.

MyDD: More 'Straight Talk': John McCain breaks two pledges at once.

Happy Valley News Hour: Brush levels in Crawford becoming critical

What happened when Edward Teller tried to landscape Alaska with H-bombs. What happens when KGB agents and gangsters get their own country? What will happen when Matt Yglesias talks about his new book? All these questions are answered in The Opinion Mill's Sunday Bookchat.

HOLY CRAP: Jeremiah Wright has always had far more theological depth and nuance than his detractors...What's worse than Mel Gibson's Passion ? A biography of Jesus by the director of Showgirls...Faith-based health failure...Media Roundup...Religious Right trying to hijack National Day of Prayer... Rod Dreher mistily reminiscing about David Koresh...Did you know that the human body is 90% Lego?...NC pastor - homo no mo'

Wise Bread: Why does the US spend more on the military than the rest of the world combined? Here's one explanation...

Wonkette: Pictures of those some 'Murkans say they'd like to "chase back to their caves."

democracy arsenal: The nuclear scenario in Pakistan

Needlenose: Rank-and-file Republicans make the common sense case for votingDemocratic

The BEAST: 50 most loathsome people in America, 2007. No one is spared...

HOLY CRAP: A Catholic priest found out jogging naked is against secular law...These priests brawled in Bethlehem...Theocracy is incompatible with democracy...Garry Wills discusses the relation of church and state and his new book, Head and Heart: American Christianities...Questions and answers about Americans' religion...Exporting our creationist batsh*ttery...The Passion of Bikini Beach...our Theocrat of the Week...

HuffPo:

Earlier this month the FCC convened the final of six public hearings to air out concerns about this proposed rule change. I have watched, listened to or attended all of these hearings and one thing is clear. The public is single-mindedly opposed to more media consolidation.

Martin himself admitted recently that he remembers "only one" public witness calling for relaxation of media ownership rules at these hearings.

This public opposition is not just evident in the passion of the thousands of people who came to the FCC hearings in Seattle, Los Angeles, Nashville, Tampa, Harrisburg and Chicago. It's a fact reflected in the public record.

The last time the FCC tried to change the rules in 2003, millions of people contacted Congress and the FCC to oppose the changes, which were ultimately thrown out by the courts. My organization, Free Press, checked the filings and found that more than 99 percent of the public comments received by the FCC opposed changing the rules.

None of this has halted Martin's headlong rush to let loose a new wave of consolidation by the end of the year.

FreePress has this .pdf report as well: 10 Facts Kevin Martin Doesn’t Want You to Know About His New Media Ownership Rules

FreePress has ways for you to get involved as well.

You can take away our civil liberties, you can take away our expectations of privacy, but when you take away our chocolate, you've gone too far! (/snark)

Modesto Bee: (h/t OK)

The federal Food and Drug Administration is proposing to redefine the very essence of chocolate and to allow big manufacturers such as Hershey to sell a bar devoid of a key ingredient - cocoa butter. The butter's natural texture could be replaced with inferior alternatives, such as vegetable fats. And consumers would never know.

Chocolatier Gary Guittard said it best: "No one can afford to sit back and eat bonbons while America's great passion for chocolate is threatened."

For every defender of traditional chocolate, there are powerful proponents who want to replace cocoa butter with vegetable oil: the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Snack Food Association. These industry titans have filed a "citizens petition" to the FDA, as the Los Angeles Times recently reported, as if there were some groundswell in society to water down chocolate.

At the moment, chocolate requires two basic ingredients - cocoa and cocoa butter. Cocoa provides much of the flavor; cocoa butter, the texture. So if, say, Hershey wanted to make a chocolate bar without cocoa butter, it can under today's rules. The product has to be labeled "chocolate flavored" (for it still has the cocoa in it) rather than "chocolate." That gives the consumer a signal that something less than chocolate lies beneath the wrapping. To help defend chocolate, visit www.dontmesswithourchocolate.com and learn how to submit feedback to the FDA.