Scarborough and the Scum Sucking Bottom Feeder TRACY CONNOR DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Prepaid cards that unlock one of the raunchiest X-rated sites on the Internet are being peddled by bodegas and newsstands across the city - even to underage kids, the Daily News has learned.
On Scarborough Country last night, Tracy Connor talked about how she broke the story. transcripts here
Joe, the crack interviewer that he is, asked this riveting question.
SCARBOROUGH: And why would somebody go out and buy these porn cards? What is the attraction of them?
Well Joe, the answer is, it's porn!
CONNOR: Well, normally, you have got to give your credit card information to get on to an Internet pornography site.
Penny Nance of the Kids First Coalition had some choice words for Peter Shankman, spokesman for the Pre-Paid Porn Card
SCARBOROUGH: Penny, did you call—is it true that you called these people in the pre-interview scum-sucking bottom-feeders?
NANCE: Hey, I might have said that, but I meant it in the nicest way possible.
New Ohio voter transcripts feed floodtide of doubt about Republican election manipulation!
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman November 25, 2004
COLUMBUS -- A floodtide of evidence of questionable practices in the 2004 election is mounting fast against Ohio Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and Republican Franklin County Board of Elections (BOE) Director Matt Damschroder. New transcriptions of sworn voter testimony, presented below for the first time, confirm growing suspicions of widespread use of rigged machines. Voters experienced hostility from poll workers, refusal of Republican election officials to follow the law, and discriminatory manipulation of voting machine placement, driving significant numbers of Democrats away from the polls.
The Columbus Dispatch, central Ohio's dominant conservative daily newspaper, which endorsed Bush for the presidency, says Damschroder “has faced criticism locally and across the country from groups that contend an already short supply of voting machines were shifted from Democratic precincts in Columbus to Republican areas outside the city.”read on...
Do you remember tug-of-wars from your childhood? I remember the adult in charge lining up us kids by height and then going down the line, alternating which team we would be on, to ensure that neither side was unfairly stacked. That notion of balancing the sides to make things fair has morphed in modern media to this simplistic binary equation of Republican vs. Democrat. But it's a false equivalence, because it assumes a completely valid argument on both sides, and as we chronicle daily here at C&L, rarely do we see sensible, much less valid, arguments coming from the right to make the "balance" actually informative. Instead we get death panels, socialicommunistmarxism, concern trollism over deficit spending and the Olympic Games.
This week, despite the fact that bills are coming out of committees on health care reform, the bobbleheads have decided we need to talk about Afghanistan. So we have National Security Adviser Jim Jones on Face the Nation and State of the Union, UN Ambassador Susan Rice on Meet the Press and former CENTCOM Commander Anthony Zinni on Face the Nation. The economy will also get big play, with former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan on This Week and Sen. Barbara Boxer and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm on State of the Union to talk unemployment. But never fear, health care will be discussed, with of course, the media's version of "balance" of putting Party of No members John Kyl, Lindsey Graham, Saxby Chambliss and John Cornyn on to obsfuscate some more. One bright note in the morning, Rachel Maddow will be back on Meet the Press roundtable, so we have a chance of some reasonable discussion there. That is, if the Davids--Gregory and Brooks--give her a chance to talk.
ABC's "This Week" - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan; Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and John Cornyn, R-Texas.
CBS' "Face the Nation" - National security adviser James Jones; Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.; retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni; Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo.
NBC's "Meet the Press" - Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Bob Woodward, Katty Kay, Elisabeth Bumiller, Howard Fineman. Topics: Will President Obama send an additional 40,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan? Will Israel attack nuclear facilities in Iran without U.S. consent? Meter Questions: Was the anti-Obama venom unavoidable? YES: 6 NO: 6; Has Obama Got Command Back? YES: 12 No: 0.
CNN's "State of the Union" - Jones; Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.; Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich.
CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - The United States holds its first one-on-one talks with Iran in decades. Will this new diplomatic approach work? Hear what our panelists have to say. Plus, the author of a controversial UN report on the Israel-Gaza conflict earlier this year. Finally, an interview with the President of Columbia on everything from the war on drugs to free markets and US relations.
"Fox News Sunday" - Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Bob Casey, D-Pa.
Here are the details that every American needs to know about this plan: First, if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have. Let me repeat this: nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have. What this plan will do is to make the insurance you have work better for you. Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime.
We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick. And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies – because there’s no reason we shouldn’t be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives. That’s what Americans who have health insurance can expect from this plan – more security and stability.
Now, if you’re one of the tens of millions of Americans who don’t currently have health insurance, the second part of this plan will finally offer you quality, affordable choices. If you lose your job or change your job, you will be able to get coverage. If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you will be able to get coverage. We will do this by creating a new insurance exchange – a marketplace where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices. Insurance companies will have an incentive to participate in this exchange because it lets them compete for millions of new customers. As one big group, these customers will have greater leverage to bargain with the insurance companies for better prices and quality coverage. This is how large companies and government employees get affordable insurance. It’s how everyone in this Congress gets affordable insurance. And it’s time to give every American the same opportunity that we’ve given ourselves.
Yeah, we were right about the U.S. Attorney firings. (See above video, which is ten months old.) Even Karl Rove and Harriet Miers admit it now:
The dismissal of New Mexico U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias in December 2006 followed extensive communication among lawyers and political aides in the White House who hashed over complaints about his work on public corruption cases against Democrats, according to newly released e-mails and transcripts of closed-door House testimony by former Bush counsel Harriet Miers and political chief Karl Rove.
A campaign to oust Iglesias intensified after state party officials and GOP members of the congressional delegation apparently concluded he was not pursuing the cases against Democrats in a way that would help then- Rep. Heather Wilson in a tight releection race, according to interviews and Bush White House e-mails released Tuesday by congressional investigators. The documents place the genesis of Iglesias's dismissal earlier than previously known.
The disclosures mark the end of a two-and-a-half year investigation by the House Judiciary Committee, which sued to gain access to Bush White House documents in a dispute that struck at the heart of a president's executive power. House members have reserved the right to hold a public hearing at which Rove, Miers, and other aides could appear this fall.
House Judiciary Chairman John M. Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) Tuesday characterized the role of Bush White House figures in the firing episode as improper and inappropriate.
I try very hard to be tolerant of others' beliefs. I don't pretend to have all the answers and I certainly don't want to begrudge others answers that work for them. However, I draw the line at the whole false equivalence of the Intelligent Design/Evolution argument. In fact, even though I recognize it goes against the Constitution, I'm not sure that shouldn't be a test for elected office: If you feel that the idea of Intelligent Design (which can not be proven in any kind of scientific way) should be taught alongside with evolution (which is as much a theory as gravity is), then you do not belong in a position where you can make that decision.
Which makes Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal all that more frightening for being on the short list for the Republican Veepstakes. On Face the Nation, Jindal tells guest host Chip Reid that even though we should teach our kids at the highest levels of science, it's wrong to "withhold" from them the concept of Intelligent Design.
As a parent, when my kids go to schools, when they go to public schools, I want them to be presented with the best thinking. I want them to be able to make decisions for themselves. I want them to see the best data. I personally think that the life, human life and the world we live in wasn't created accidentally. I do think that there's a creator. I'm a Christian. I do think that God played a role in creating not only earth, but mankind. Now, the way that he did it, I'd certainly want my kids to be exposed to the very best science. I don't want them to be--I don't want any facts or theories or explanations to be withheld from them because of political correctness. The way we're going to have smart, intelligent kids is exposing them to the very best science and let them not only decide, but also let them contribute to that body of knowledge.
Really? Should we also let students "decide" on whether the theory of gravity makes more sense to them than the notion of a benevolent God moving us around on puppet strings? Does that contribute to the body of scientific knowledge?
I admit to being completely biased to the appeal of Denmark, as my family is Danish and I travel to Denmark as frequently as I am able to see them. But a recent study has borne out what I've experienced myself for years: the people of Denmark are the happiest people on Earth. (study here-U.S. is #26)
But Danish happiness is one that most Americans don't seem to grasp, because most Americans confuse well being with being well off. Danish happiness is derived from lower expectations, rather than having to be #1. The need to be superlative is supplanted with a contentment of where you are and not needing to keep up with the Joneses. It is also a contentment of not worrying about some basic necessities: healthcare, childcare, education, retirement and long term care. Republicans are quick to demonize the socialism as something akin to the scary Red notion of communism, and it's true that in a socialist democracy like Denmark, the average person is taxed at about 50%, which is uncomfortably high to our American ears, but ask yourself how much of your paycheck goes to health insurance, childcare, college savings plans and retirement accounts. Few people in the US can say that less than 50% of their paychecks don't go towards those needs already. In fact, one of my friends discovered that they actually brought home more money by having the wife stay at home with the kids, because her entire paycheck went to childcare and costs relating to her work.
In The Science of Happiness, author Stefan Klein at this phenomena and comes to some conclusions on a meta-level on what creates happiness in a society and the results might surprise you. He finds that there are three critical standards that must be met: a civic sense, social equality and control over our own lives. The more participatory the democracy, the more equal the social and income distribution among the citizens and the more self-determination (meaning not being forced to do a job you dislike because you have to pay the bills), the happier the society is.
That's not so scary, is it?
You can get the full segment and transcripts on CBS.com
After six years, the liberation of Afghanistan has become a triumph without victory. The fighting is the greatest it has been since the beginning of the war and more civilians are dying. In fact, 60 Minutes was surprised to hear this: while the enemy has killed hundreds of civilians this year, a similar number of civilians have been killed by American forces. With relatively few troops there, the U.S. and NATO rely on air power. The number of civilians killed in air strikes has doubled.
60 Minutes wondered whether civilian deaths are undermining the effort to win the Afghan people.
You think? This is the part that stood out:
"There's this macabre kind of calculus that the military goes through on every air strike, where they try to figure out how many dead civilians is dead bad guy worth," says Marc Garlasco, who knows the calculus of civilian casualties as well as anyone.[..]
"Our number was 30. So, for example, Saddam Hussein. If you're gonna kill up to 29 people in a strike against Saddam Hussein, that's not a problem," Garlasco explains. "But once you hit that number 30, we actually had to go to either President Bush, or Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld."
Garlasco says, before the invasion of Iraq, he recommended 50 air strikes aimed at high-value targets -- Iraqi officials.
But he says none of the targets on the list were actually killed. Instead, he says, "a couple of hundred civilians at least" were killed.
The full video and transcripts are available on CBS's website.
(A) mystery malady, dubbed "Colony Collapse Disorder," is sweeping through the apiaries, leaving many hives almost completely devoid of adult bees, which appear to abandon their hives and disappear. Apiculturists are looking at a number of potential culprits, from bad weather to bad corn syrup to genetically modified corn to pesticides to miticides, and many suspect the problem is compounded by the presence of the varroa mite, which weakens colonies so that invading pathogens pack a particularly destructive punch. (Scientists suspect the 2005 die-off was exacerbated by a viral event.) While Miller's bees have not, so far, been affected by the colony collapse, beekeepers in 24 states have reported losses as high as 80 and even 90 percent, and many of the afflicted bees have been in the almonds, rubbing shoulders with Miller's relatively healthy ones.
Some families testified yesterday in utter despair over their loss of a son and a husband. I've written a lot about the actions of the shady Utah mine owner Bob Murray. This is a heartbreaking look at how these families are dealing with the tragic deaths that happened in part because of the incompetent actions of Bob Murray.
Sheila Phillips - Mother of miner Brandon Phillips:
"It's just hard to have hope, and have your heart broke every day, and have your grandson grow up without a dad…And I'd like to talk a little bit about Mr. Murray -- I didn't go to very many of the meetings because I couldn't stand to listen to the man. He was talking about one day when they were moving the drill holes, and they had the pad ready for one and then they decided to drill it somewhere else, and I asked him why they didn't have two going... and he said 'we could drill you 1,000 holes and it wouldn't make any difference.' (transcripts and Digby below the fold)
