Wapo:

A federal judge ruled today that Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) will face trial in Washington next month, denying Stevens's request to transfer the case to a court in his home state.

...Stevens, 84, was indicted July 29 by a federal grand jury on charges he failed to report on Senate financial disclosure forms that he accepted more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from executives of Veco, a now-defunct Alaska oil services company.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled that moving the trial to a federal court in Alaska would cause "delay and additional expense."

Aw gee, Judge Sullivan, I'm sure there are some former Veco executives who would be happy to help with the cost (snark).

mediabistro: Independence Day, 2008

The Progressive: Bush's legacy and the damage done.

National Priorities Project: Learn the cost of the war in total, in your community, per household, per person.

Emptywheel: I don't think "accountability" means what Obama thinks it does.

American Street: That any self-respecting newspaper willingly provides space to these lying criminals is indicative of how far journalism in America has fallen

Matthew Yglesias: I'm worried...

Autoblog:

Automakers had until July 1st to plead their case to the NHTSA overlords before the government agency set off to finalize the 2011-2015 CAFE standards. After hearing comments from Detroit automakers, Toyota, Daimler, and others, it seems that the new standards are going to have a sweeping effect on both consumers and auto industry employees. The Auto Alliance states that the cuts would hasten the exit of 82,000 jobs, cost $29 billion for consumers, and raise the cost of your favorite truck by $4,000 or more. The added cost of vehicles will also cut annual production by up to 850k units industry-wide.

Buy that? Me neither. Especially since the Bush administration has hidden the benefits of emission regulations, saving the country $2 TRILLION.

Of course, we could go the automakers' way...keep producing an inefficient engine requiring a diminishing resource for fuel and allow other countries to continue to beat us in technology and sales.

Auto-correct can be a very helpful feature of any word-processing program. But when conservatives use it, they run the risk of embarrassing themselves.

The American Family Association’s OneNewsNow website, for example, takes its AP articles and replaces the word “gay” with the word “homosexual.” I’m not entirely sure why, but it seems to make the AFA happy. The group is, after all, pretty far out there.

The problem, of course, is that “gay” does not always mean what the AFA wants it to mean. My friend Kyle reported this morning that sprinter Tyson Gay won the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials over the weekend. The AFA ran the story, but only after the auto-correct had “fixed” the article.

That means — you guessed it — the track star was renamed “Tyson Homosexual.” The headline on the piece read, “Homosexual eases into 100 final at Olympic trials.” Readers learned:

Tyson Homosexual easily won his semifinal for the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials and seemed to save something for the final later Sunday.

Continue reading »

Reuters:

Overflowing rivers in Iowa and other Midwest states forced evacuations and disrupted the region's economy on Friday with fears of worse to come from fragile levees and more rain.

A Cedar Rapids hospital was flooded and evacuated its patients after a levee break on the Cedar River turned the downtown area into a shallow lake. Thousands were forced to leave their homes in the worst Midwest flooding in 15 years. [..]

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said the damage to his state could cost billions of dollars. Scores of bridges spanning nine overflowing rivers have been swept away or weakened.

Clean, safe drinking water is a major concern right now. If there are local rescue agencies that can help in all the affected areas, please leave their names in the comments for other C&Lers.

Living off Dividends:

If you think that gas prices are high at over $3.50 per gallon (I just paid $3.95 for mid-grade for my wife's Acura TSX), wait until summer. There are reports that the refineries are absorbing the cost of high oil prices right now (and some of them have hedging contracts in place to mitigate this high price), but within a few months they'll be passing this burden on to the consumers. Oil prices at the pump could very well hit $5 and if this trend continues, it could hit $8/gallon.

Due of course to the outrageous oil costs, which are more than double what it was going for this time last year.

Oil recently hit an all-time high of nearly $120 a barrel, more than double its early 2007 price of about $50 a barrel. It closed Friday at $118.52.

The forecasts calling for a jump to between $7 and $10 a gallon are based on the view that the price of crude is on its way to $200 in two to three years.

Translating this price into dollars and cents at the gas pump, one of our forecasters, the chairman of Houston-based Dune Energy, Alan Gaines, sees gas rising to $7-$8 a gallon. The other, a commodities tracker at Weiss Research in Jupiter, Fla., Sean Brodrick, projects a range of $8 to $10 a gallon.

Of course, that's what they're paying now in Europe. Fortunately for many Europeans, the choice of easy public transportation is available as well, unlike much of our country.

Ha ha, just kidding, Mister Murdoch! Strange Tales (syndicated):

The BBC is spending more than $1 million to teach its staff the importance of telling viewers the truth. Vin Ray, director of the BBC's college of journalism, said the cost of taking 17,000 workers off the job for the two-hour training seminar would add at least another $1 million to the cost. Mark Thompson, the BBC's director general, ordered the training after the broadcaster admitted a series of bogus broadcasts, including made-up winners for phone-in contests and a misleading promotional video for a documentary about Queen Elizabeth.

Angry Bear: A payoff so obvious that even the cheerleaders can spot it.

The Mahatma X Files: The United States imprisons more people than any other nation in the world.

uggabugga: This is terrible news...

Left I on the News: The cost of war.

Oliver Willis: John McCain has another senior moment.

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: My Damn Channel, Zippidy Doo Da, Science and Democracy, The Issue

NOW on PBS:

Temporary workers and independent contractors make up nearly a third of the U.S. workforce, and represent a growing asset to companies who rely on freelance flexibility. But corporations are using the designation "freelancer" to avoid paying health care and other benefits, even though many of these workers put in the same hours as their covered counterparts. This week, NOW looks at the effect of this tactic on the lives and personal economy of freelance workers.

We also examine an Enterprising Idea to help independent workers manage their personal needs, including benefits, networking, and investment help. Freelancers Union, founded by former labor lawyer and MacArthur grant recipient Sara Horowitz, provides a safety net for over 60,000 workers, but how is it viewed by the traditional labor movement?

This is part of NOW's series on social entrepreneurs called "Enterprising Ideas".

At NOW's website, learn more about the issue, read personal stories of freelance workers, and watch recent more NOW reports of America's hard-pressed workforce.

I've been freelancing for several years in order to be able to be at home with my kids. Luckily, we have health insurance through my husband's employer because a private account would be completely cost prohibitive. While my situation is extraordinarily lucky, it is gratifying to see a recognition that freelancers and temp employees deserve benefits as well.

PBS's NOW:

How does a democracy decide to wage war? At 8:30 pm (check local
listings) on Friday, December 7 - the very day Pearl Harbor was attacked
by Japanese warplanes 66 years ago - David Brancaccio interviews
filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick and the Rev. James Forbes Jr. about
Burns and Novick's epic World War II documentary "The War". Looking to
the past as a mirror to the present, the four discuss how the waging of
war intersects with our notion of democracy.

"It's incumbent upon a democratic society to evaluate what the
arithmetic is -- the cost of war," Burns tells the group.

See the full show on the NOW website

In addition, in a web-exclusive interview, NOW speaks to BeliefNet's Dan Gilgoff, who shares his insight into the effect of Mitt Romney's speech on religion, the role of faith in the 2008 presidential race, and how America's faithful are reacting. And take note, all you Ron Paul fans: NOW is focusing on Paul and his campaign next week.