This is horrible:

A devastating magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and spawning a tsunami that threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe.

Chileans near the epicenter were tossed about as if shaken by a giant. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the country in 50 years and one of the strongest ever measured anywhere. President-elect Sebastian Pinera said more than 120 people died and the toll could climb higher.

Local radio reported up to 150 could have been killed or hurt in a collapsed 14-story building in the hard-hit Concepcion, where firemen were working to put out fires throughout the city. One fire was in the science department in the local university.

Chile was the site of the strongest earthquake ever recorded -- a 9.5 shaker in 1960 -- and its infrastructure is reasonably well prepared for a quake. Hopefully, the death toll will not climb too much higher.

Meanwhile, they're watching carefully for a possible tsunami in Hawaii.

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From This Week with George Stephanopoulos, an interview with Gen. George Casey in which (of course) we use the "terrorism" label, but the general also worries that speculation about the Ft. Hood shootings will fan the fires of bigotry in the military:

STEPHANOPOULOS: You say you can't talk too much about the investigation, but we are learning a fair amount about Major Hasan in the last couple of days. And it appears that there were several warning signs they either could have or should have been caught.

His fellow students and here in Bethesda, Maryland, say that he had anti-American rants at various presentations. The FBI has found some Internet postings by a man with Mr. Hasan's name, very inflammatory, praising suicide bombers.

And one of the major's fellow students has been especially concerned by what he said. He said that it was very clear to him, and his name is

Val Finnell, that -- and that he had complained to administrators at a military university about these anti-American rants. And the AP story that quotes him goes on to say that Hasan's fellow students complained to the faculty about Hasan's anti-American propaganda, but said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim student kept off the students from filing a formal complaint. Is that true?

CASEY: I think we need to be very careful here about speculating based on anecdotes like that. We are encouraging all of our soldiers and leaders that may have information pertaining to the suspect to come forward with that information to the criminal investigation division and to the FBI. So, I realize there is a lot out there. We all want to know what happened and what motivated the suspect, but I think we need to be very, very careful here in these early days to let the investigation take its course. These are professionals and they will sort through this.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So it's fair to say that right now, you can't rule out anything. We don't know if this was an act of premeditated political terror, or if this was a case of someone who just snapped.

CASEY: I think you are exactly right, and I don't think we should speculate on one or the other or any other possibilities.

STEPHANOPOULOS: One of the things this does raise, though, is the special challenge paused to all of you by Muslims in the military.

There are only about 3,000 Muslims in the military right now, and on the one hand, you want to recruit Muslims. There is a great need for Muslims in the military right now. On the other hand, this is not the first case we've seen of fratricide by someone with a Muslim background in the military. How do you deal with this challenge?

CASEY: Again, I think that's something else we need to be very careful about, and I think the speculation could potentially heighten backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers. And what happened at Fort Hood was a tragedy, but I believe it would be an even greater tragedy if our diversity becomes a casualty here. And it's not just about Muslims. We have a very diverse army. We have a very diverse society.

And that gives us all strength. So again, we need to be very careful with that.

The Art of the Possible: Let's look at the question of Vice-Presidentialism on the Democratic side.

Once Upon a Time: Arthur continues to demonstrate why he's considered by many of us to be one the best.

The Moderate Voice: ESPN fires Mark Madden for Kennedy assassination remarks. Apparently sports fans are more discerning than the pea-brained dittoheads who listen to wingmutt radio. Rush Limbaugh got that message in a hurry a few years ago.

skippy the bush kangaroo: Time to stop buying donuts - an action alert

Best wishes to Libby Spencer

HOLY CRAP: Pentagon-connected ministry is electioneering and Obama-bashing...Who profits from "Biblical Capitalism"?...A traditional news outlet finally notices the religious elephant in our political living room...The real impact of the Hagee-McCain divorce...Faith Factor Factbox...The General's Ride...Louisiana dragging science ed. back into the swamp...Beyond Belief...Clinging to the Crucifix...Bible study for atheists

...it seems that fires are burning, cyclones are hitting and massive earthquakes are shaking. It's very gloomy around the world. Hi, Global Warming. And let me tell say this, those aftershocks scare the heck out of you just as much as the quake itself. From what I've read, the quake shook for three minutes in China. The two I experienced lasted about 20 seconds each. If LA's '94 shocker lasted that long, the devastation would have been unbelievable. Over 12, 000 gone and counting...

One last (?) swipe at the ABC debate from MediaBloodhound, with the "untelevised portion" transcript:

GIBSON: But how wasted were you the first time you heard "I Am the Walrus," Senator [Obama], and did your psychotic drug binge -- which may have caused you to black out for days on end while committing unspeakable acts you don't remember -- add or subtract from your listening pleasure?

OBAMA: Again, Charlie, I'm not sure how this helps get Americans health insurance, brings home our troops, or fixes the economy.

GIBSON: I'll take your response as an admission that pot and acid do, in fact, make this song better....

STEPHANOPOULOS: So [Senator Clinton,] you admit there was no gunfire that day you landed in Bosnia?

CLINTON: Well, you know, George, I've already conceded that I misspoke on that issue....

(STEPHANOPOULOS brandishes a revolver and fires a few feet above Sen. Clinton's head.)

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you would've remembered that, right?

Open Thread below....

CNN:

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin has died at the age of 76, a Kremlin spokesman confirmed Monday.

Kremlin spokesman Alexander Smirnov confirmed Yeltsin's death, but gave no further details.[..]

He became the first democratically elected president of Russia in 1991 and two months later put down a coup attempt against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

One of the images most associated with Yeltsin is that of him sitting on a tank during the raucous street rallies that marked the coup attempt.

"I think that is the image that he would like people to have forever," former Yeltsin adviser Alexander Nekrassov told CNN Monday.

But just two years later, he ordered tanks to storm the Russian White House to oust barricaded deputies who dug in after Yeltsin dissolved parliament, accusing it of blocking reforms.

"He has trampled on democracy," said Gorbachev in a later interview. "The first freely elected elected parliament in Russia in 1,000 years and he fires on it with tanks!"

Yeltsin was both loved and hated by fellow Russians, said Matthew Chance, CNN's senior international correspondent in Moscow.

LA Fires

A plume of smoke covers the horizon outside my house. The smell of the burning countryside sticks to my throat and my eyes tear up like an allergic reaction. I'm about 30 miles away and it looks like a giant storm is headed in. You've all seen pictures of the smog in LA. Magnify that by one thousand. The LA Times says that the weather is letting up and giving firefighters some hope. To be honest, I don't know. Click here for more pics

Anderson just published the book called South Park Conservatives, The Revolt against Liberal Media Bias. O'Reilly had him on and if you can stand to watch the segment, he says That Air America isn't successful because its not funny and un-American.

Download | play -WMP

Download | play -QT

His explanation of Bill Bennet getting over 120 station affiliates immediately as he began his talk show is because of "liberal bias." Ridiculous! Corporate money had nothing to do with it? Rush and Ann are just so funny, that's why they are so successful. Telling the "truth" doesn't mean much. It took FOX three years and Monica Lewinsky to get them in the black after losing millions. Oh and O'Reilly claims that FOX gives a traditional POV. Anderson basically said that FOX decides what is news worthy. lol

Anyway, I'm sure some of you can dissect this book and segmet for us. He will be all over FOX and 24/7 TV in the coming weeks.

Al Franken fires back and debunks Brian Anderson: Click here: It's during the first segment.

And By The Way . . . The Peach

If you want to get a better sense of who Tom DeLay is strumming up support from, one only need look at who spoke at the annual NRA convention before DeLay took the stage. Yes, it was none other than that has-been, 'can't even sell out a concert in my home state of Michigan' rock dinosaur . Ted has become such a minor blip on the celebrity screen that he now desperately seeks attention from an audience that prepares themselves daily for the feared invasion by Canada and Mexico (they're organizing I tell ya).
And if anyone wants to know what fires up these supposed mainstream Americans, part of Ted's speech included this rant:

"Remember the Alamo! Shoot 'em! To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em."

And if anyone wants to know what fires up these supposed mainstream Americans, part of Ted's speech included this rant:

"Remember the Alamo! Shoot 'em! To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em."