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Our number two video on the countdown of C&L's most viewed videos of 2011, courtesy of CNN's Anderson Cooper, who apparently thinks bringing on Christian evangelist Kirk Cameron, who starred in the Left Behind series to discuss the mysterious bird and fish deaths in Arkansas, is something that passes for "news" these days.

Heaven forbid they might be lagging behind Fox in the department of not only pushing for more religion in our government (as long as it's the right kind of religion and not those evil Muslims, don't you know), but doing their best to validate the views of right wing evangelicals as well.

From January of this year -- Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas -- Seriously?.

MSNBC reports that the containment cap has been removed from the well, accelerating the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico:

WASHINGTON - Oil was again gushing uncontrollably from the BP spill site on Wednesday after the company was forced to remove the containment cap when a robotic submarine hit a vent. The news came as officials also reported two deaths of workers in the response effort.

BP hoped to reinstall the cap later Wednesday after fixing the vent and checking for safety.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said the accident sent gas rising through a vent that carries warm water down to prevent ice-like crystals from forming in the cap.

MSNBC is also reporting the deaths of two cleanup workers. A closer read of the article reveals that their deaths are unrelated to their cleanup duties.

The deaths reported Wednesday were not tied to the containment operation. The Coast Guard said the workers had been involved in cleanup operations did that their deaths did not appear to be work related.

One death was a boat captain who died of a gunshot wound, a Coast Guard spokesman said. Further details were not immediately available.

I'll update this with more information as it becomes available.

Boy, that's a pretty big jump. The new numbers include deaths indirectly caused by flu complications like pneumonia:

Swine flu has killed nearly 4,000 people in the US, including 540 children, officials said after devising a new counting method.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the new system is based on more precise figures provided by 10 states.

The previous estimated death toll from the H1N1 virus in the US was 672.

Latest figures show about 22 million Americans contracted the virus in six months with some 98,000 hospitalised.

"This is just the first six months and I am expecting all of these numbers, unfortunately, to continue to rise," said Dr Anne Schuchat of the CDC.

She said that, although still imprecise, the new statistics provide "a bigger picture of what has been going on in the first six months of the pandemic".

The CDC now estimates that 3,900 people in the US have died from the virus in the past six months.

Dr Schuchat said that in children under 18, an estimated eight million have had swine flu, with 36,000 hospitalised and 540 deaths.

The new estimated death toll for children is four times higher than the previous estimate.

"We will be updating the toll that the pandemic has taken... about every three to four weeks," she said.

What is it about Democratic hawks that makes them so indistinguishable from Republican hawks? From the AP:

Undersecretary of Defense Michele Flournoy said a strategy decision on new deployments involving the U.S. and other troop-contributing nations would be made within the next few weeks, according to an official transcript released Saturday.

Flournoy, the Pentagon's policy chief, led a U.S. delegation that briefed NATO ambassadors Thursday on the Obama administration's review of the Afghan war. Officials released a transcript of her remarks from that meeting.

"No one is talking about leaving Afghanistan, or even standing pat. We are increasing our commitment and we're talking about how best to do that with both civilian and military resources," Flournoy was quoted as telling NATO ambassadors.

Tell me, Ms. Flournoy, how many thousands of troops NATO is going to be providing, given their limited participation to date and their nations' people also coming out more and more against further involvement in Afghanistan? How many more years, how many more deaths, how many more billions will it take before Afghanistan is "secure"? Honestly, someone needs to clue in Ms. Flournoy about the failed wisdom of following in the footsteps of the "stupidest guy on the face of the planet."

I have never understood the grasping need of Dem politicians to be viewed as being as tough as - and often, as foolish - Repub politicians when it comes to issues of national security. Afghanistan is not vital to American security interests - going after al Qaeda is, and they're in Pakistan. We need a strategy of containment rather than one of nation-building - we can't afford the current strategy, and it's overdue for a change.

Attytood: What's 100,000 or so deaths "to retain political and professional credibility"?

We are Respectable Negroes: A new low for Glenn Beck (for now), and the discreet charm of Ayn Rand.

Beggars Can Be Choosers: GOP Politicians are okay with tax-funded health care - but only for themselves.

Group News Blog: Reviewing my presidential wish list.

Majikthise: Wilkins Coffee ads as a metaphor for U.S. foreign policy.

SteveAudio: R.I.P. Bob Bogle.

Guest post by Batocchio. Temporarily e-mail tips to batocchio9 AT yahoo DOT com. Thanks!

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Now here is a disturbing story:

Federal authorities in Utah are searching for a man who allegedly made threats against President Obama.

Daniel James Murray has been charged with making threats against Obama, after telling a bank teller he was part of a "mission" to kill the president. The Secret Service says Murray has at least eight registered firearms. His whereabouts are unknown.

Murray entered Zion's First National Bank in St. George, Utah, May 19, to open a savings account with an $85,000 check, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Salt Lake City today.

Murray allegedly asked if the bank was solvent and then stated, according to the complaint, "With all this mess going on under President Obama with banks and the economy, I'm sure if citizens happen to lose their money, they will rise up and we could see killing and deaths."

Sounds like someone who's been watching Glenn Beck, doesn't it?

On May 27, the complaint states, Murray came back to withdraw $12,698 from his savings account. He did not have proper identification and was told he needed it to complete the transaction. He allegedly said, "Not to be disrespectful, but if I don't get this money, someone is going to die."

The bank manager allowed the transaction, and Murray allegedly demanded bills smaller than $50 in non-sequential order.

Murray then said, "We are on a mission to kill the president of the United States," according to the complaint.

Murray told the teller during that visit, the complaint added, "We are 94 million miles from the sun, and are in-between the sun and moon, and the eagle that flies between them, and it's a giant step for mankind. ... I have traveled thousands of miles to be here and know things that are going to happen. ... The banking system will fail and people will die. ... There will be chaos in the world."

The next day, according to the complaint, Murray withdrew the remaining $72,000 and closed his account.

But perhaps the most disturbing part of the whole story is this:

A Secret Service spokesman said there will be no further comment on the case because it involves protective intelligence.

"This is one of a gazillion cases," the spokesman told ABC News. "It's not that out of the ordinary. We see this day in and day out."

Somehow, I find that less than comforting.

The Salt Lake Tribune has more.

[Ed. note: Please welcome to the C&L team our old friend Ian Welsh, whose work from the Agonist and FDL many of you many know. Ian will be writing whatever he chooses, but that usually means economics and international politics.]

It's Memorial Day. I gather for many it's just another long weekend, but I know that for many it's what Remembrance Day is for Canadians like myself: a day to remember those who have died in war. I won't say "died to protect our freedom" or any such trite BS, because with few exceptions, most wars had nothing to do with protecting anyone's freedom, but they did die, nonetheless, for us.

Their blood is on our hands, sticky and wet, and it will never dry. Why?

Because we live in democracies. Because we elected the leaders who sent them to war. Whether you think those wars are justified, or not, at the end of the day, we bear the collective guilt of their deaths. They died due to the decisions we made, the society we live in.

Oh, we can say "I did everything I could to oppose the war", whether that's Iraq or Vietnam, or some other war. But even if that's true, well, you failed, didn't you? (Didn't I?) And so off went the young men and women, and they died, or they were maimed, or their brain case got knocked around and they came back shaking, and they wake up screaming at night, and they can't control their emotions and they'll never be the same again.

It's one of the ironies of democracy that we're all responsible, collectively, and yet each of us, individually, can say "but not me, I voted against him" or "I protested against that policy". And because it's true, each of us can feel, in the end, that the deaths and suffering caused by our society, whether in war, or through a horrific medical system, or through abuses in the penal system, aren't our fault.

But is it true? Or is it true instead, that we failed, that we support the system with both our consent and our tax dollars, and that we are therefor complicit in what it does?

I don't know. But I do know this, on this Memorial day, even if it's not a Canadian holiday, I'm thinking of those who died, both soldiers and civilian.

And at the very least, I know I failed.

Download | play Download | play (h/t Heather)

This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passing of actor/comedian Bernie Mac, Nobel Laureate author Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, talent agent/producer Bernie Brillstein, GOP foreign affairs consultant and Kissinger protege Peter Rodman, as well as 16 soldiers and Marines killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to icasualties.org, the allied deaths in Iraq now total 4,451. During this same period, Iraq Body Count numbers 147 Iraqi civilian deaths.

Rising Hegemon: Another endorsement...

Steve Audio: More Rethuglican 'broken government' negligence. People, it's not mere incompetence, it's their ideology.

the field negro: Toby, I think you have a hit on your hands

Sadly, No! You probably remember that fringe-dweller's favorite, The Clinton Body Count. And if you're on the wingnuttiest email lists, you've been warned about the Obama Death List. Now comes the McCain - Obama Death List, a partial list of deaths of persons connected to both John NMA McCain and Barack HUSSEIN Obama during their time as presidential hopefuls in the United States.

Susie Bright's Journal: Going Off The Rails

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: 2 Political Junkies, Rustbelt Intellectual, Cagle's Cartoon BLog, Guys From Area 51

Attytood: Why does John McCain hate trains?

Collateral News: There is more evidence that some of the 26,000 people held without charges by the US have been incarcerated on floating prisons.

The Real News Network: Our 'news' networks aren't telling the public about the deaths of Iraqi civilians since the invasion (anywhere from 600,00 to 1.2 million) or about the 5 million displaced Iraqis.

Lawyers, Guns and Money: Bobo

Sleuth: Politicians can finally get their MTV. The cable channel, which has declined political advertising since its inception in 1981, is reversing course. Advantage: Obama

Congratulations to our friend, Mad Kane. She's a finalist in the Robert Benchley Society Award For Humor Competition!