Tom DeLay: Scandals take GOP off the message that 'we're winning the war in Iraq'

quote[In the wake of sex scandals involving Senators Larry Craig (R-ID) and David Vitter (R-LA), NBC's Today Show invited disgraced former Congressman Tom DeLay to discuss the perceptions of corruption afflicting the Republican Party. "Do we have a party embroiled in scandal, or do we have two bad apples?" host Matt Lauer asked DeLay.

"I hate to say this, Matt, but you just showed the problem," replied DeLay.
"The double standard. ... You listed a whole lot of scandals that involved Republicans but you didn't mention one Democrat."]

Since when is DeLay the voice of moral authority?????

Craig expected to resign today

quote[CNN reported live on air at 9:02 am ET that Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) was expected to resign after an escapade involving the solicitation of an undercover police officer in a Minneapolis bathroom.

The decision could come as early as today, the network said. Fox News followed up moments later by saying the senator would resign today.]

Norm's Headline: "Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) announced his resignation tonight, coupled with plans to immediately move to Iowa. The Senator was quoted as saying:: "Idaho, Iowa, sounds the same to me......now if you'll excuse me, I must run to the toilet."

It's time for MSNBC to address Carlson's comments

quote[During a discussion Tuesday night on MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams about Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) arrest for "lewd conduct" and eventual guilty plea, Tucker Carlson described to fellow MSNBC hosts Dan Abrams and Joe Scarborough his assault on a man who he said "bothered" him in a Washington, D.C., public restroom.

Carlson said, "Having sex in a public men's room is outrageous. It's also really common. I've been bothered in men's rooms." Carlson continued, "I've been bothered in Georgetown Park," in Washington, D.C., "when I was in high school." When Abrams asked how Carlson responded to being "bothered," as Abrams and Scarborough laughed, Carlson asserted, "I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the -- you know, and grabbed him, and ... hit him against the stall with his head, actually." The laughter continued.]

I guess it depends on what "bothered" means. I could handle a minor pass, but if it was a direct solicitation, like staring at me through the stall, or playing footsies while I'm doing my business, then I'm not sure I can blame the guy.

Larry Craig And The Cop

Courtesy the Ed Schultz Show...

Texas governor commutes death sentence in rare act

quote[exas Governor Rick Perry commuted the death sentence of a man hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday, a rare occurrence in America's most active capital punishment state.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles made the recommendation in the case of Kenneth Eugene Foster, who was convicted and sentenced to death for his role in the 1996 capital murder of Michael LaHood.

"Foster sought to have his death sentence commuted to a life sentence arguing that he did not shoot the victim, but merely drove the car ... that the actual killer was riding (in)," Perry's office said in a statement.

"After carefully considering the facts of this case, along with the recommendations from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, I believe the right and just decision is to commute Foster's sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment," Perry was quoted as saying.]

Iraqi WMD Finally Found!

quote[U.N. weapons inspectors discovered a potentially hazardous chemical warfare agent that was taken from an Iraqi chemical weapons facility 11 years ago and mistakenly stored in their offices in the heart of midtown Manhattan all that time, officials said Thursday.

The material, identified in inventory files as phosgene — a chemical substance used in World War I weapons — was discovered Aug. 24. It was only identified on Wednesday because it was marked simply with an inventory number, and officials had to check the many records in their vast archives, said Ewen Buchanan, a spokesman for the U.N. inspection agency.]

Chileans take to streets in anger at regime

quote[Thousands of Chileans took to the streets yesterday in a burgeoning middle class revolt against the 17 years of coalition government that has ruled since the fall of Augusto Pinochet in 1990.

Hundreds of Chileans were arrested as they approached the presidential palace. Squares in and around the palace became a chaotic mix of mounted police, riot troops and teargas. As water cannons blasted protesters, waves of students counterattacked with rocks. Burning barricades almost closed central Santiago.]

Senator, Veteran Larry Craig, shortly after men's room guilty plea, props up Don't Ask, Don't Tell in letter to constituent

quote[PageOneQ has received an exclusive copy of a letter written by Idaho GOP Senator and veteran Larry Craig to a constituent. The letter is dated just eleven days after his admission of guilt in connection with a Minnesota men's room sex sting. It expresses Craig's vehement opposition to repealing the US military's embattled Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, which bars gay and lesbian servicemembers from serving their country openly.]

Fucking conservative hypocrites!

It's about freakin' time!

quote[ -- U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation Monday after enduring months of bipartisan calls that he leave office.
art.gonzales.press.pool.jpg

Alberto Gonzales was dogged by controversial issues including wiretapping programs and fired U.S. attorneys.

"I have lived the American dream," said Gonzales, the nation's first Latino to hold the post. "Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father's best days."

Gonzales described public service as "honorable and noble" and thanked President Bush for his friendship.

"Yesterday I met with President Bush and informed him of my decision to conclude my government services as Attorney General of the United States effective September 17."]

Question: Will Chertoff be any better?

Dunkin' going zero gram trans fat by mid-Oct., even its doughnuts

quote[Dunkin' Donuts, the food-on-the-go chain whose name celebrates a treat that's symbolic of unhealthy eating, is trying to refresh its image by largely eliminating trans fat across its menu, Homer Simpson be damned.

Dunkin' planned to announce Monday that it has developed an alternative cooking oil and reformulated more than 50 menu items -- doughnuts included. The Canton, Mass.-based chain says its menu will be "zero grams trans fat" by Oct. 15 across its 5,400 U.S. restaurants in 34 states.

About 400 locations nationwide that took part in a four-month test already have made the switch to a new blend of palm, soybean and cottonseed oils. That includes all restaurants in New York City and Philadelphia, which are forcing restaurants to phase out their use of artery-clogging trans fat.

The ice cream chain Baskin-Robbins, another unit of Dunkin' Brands Inc., plans to be zero grams trans fat by Jan. 1.

Dunkin' isn't claiming it will become "trans fat free," but does say any trans fat in foods including doughnuts, croissants, muffins and cookies will fall below half a gram per serving. Federal regulations allow food labels to say they've got zero grams of trans fat, provided levels fall below the half-gram threshold.]

Great news for those of us who want an occasional donut (they're still not going to be "healthy," though).

Sen. Warner: Iraq pullout should start in weeks

quote[ Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican, said Thursday that a pullout was needed to spur Iraqi leaders to action.

He has recommended Bush announce the beginning of a U.S. withdrawal in mid-September, after a report is released from the top U.S. officials in Iraq, and that those troops should be back in the United States by Christmas.

"In my humble judgment, that would get everyone's attention -- the attention that is not being paid at this time," Warner said.

He added: "I really, firmly believe the Iraqi government, under the leadership of Prime Minister [Nuri] al-Maliki, let our troops down."]

The great bamboozle! Now they finally have an excuse for "failing," and "cutting and running."

Fox-Backed Democrat Debate Called Off

quote[Fox News and a black political group say they will not hold a Sept. 23 Democratic presidential debate in Detroit, which the leading candidates already were planning to skip.

A new date had not yet been set, Fox News spokesman Michael Murphy said Thursday.

The campaigns of U.S. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards had said they would not participate in the debate. Opponents have criticized Fox as biased against Democrats.]

Ha! Nobody wants to show up for Murdoch's show!

Why not come up with an F-ing original idea?!?!

quote[Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures are joining forces on Oz, a revisionist take on the original The Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum.

The project is based on an idea by Todd McFarlane; Josh Olson (A History of Violence) will write and McFarlane will produce with Thunder Road's Basil Iwanyk. Rick Benattar (Shoot 'Em Up) is exec producer.

The news was released exclusively by Variety magazine on Wednesday, Aug. 22, generating a lot of buzz in the entertainment industry - and among McFarlane fans as well.

Todd's take on the classic is decidedly edgier than the original story, and McFarlane's Twisted Land of Oz action figures have a cult following among collectors. Olson's vision will tame that down a bit.]

I'm sick of bad movies and remakes...

The Most Insulated pResident Ever!

quote[Not that they're worried or anything. But the White House evidently leaves little to chance when it comes to protests within eyesight of the president. As in, it doesn't want any.

A White House manual that came to light recently gives presidential advance staffers extensive instructions in the art of "deterring potential protestors" from President Bush's public appearances around the country.


Jeffery and Nicole Rank sued after they were arrested in 2004 for refusing to cover their anti-Bush T-shirts at a Fourth of July speech by the president. (By Bob Bird -- ngs, any event must be open only to those with tickets tightly controlled by organizers. Those entering must be screened in case they are hiding secret signs. Any anti-Bush demonstrators who manage to get in anyway should be shouted down by "rally squads" stationed in strategic locations. And if that does not work, they should be thrown out.

But that does not mean the White House is against dissent -- just so long as the president does not see it. In fact, the manual outlines a specific system for those who disagree with the president to voice their views. It directs the White House advance staff to ask local police "to designate a protest area where demonstrators can be placed, preferably not in the view of the event site or motorcade route."]


Manual (PDF) can be found here.

Man, The Orioles Suck!

quote[Five runs in the fourth inning.

Nine runs in the sixth.

Ten in the eighth.

Six more in the ninth.

The Texas Rangers rounded the bases at a dizzying pace and became the first team in 110 years to score 30 runs in a game, setting an American League record Wednesday in a 30-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles.]

I'd hate to be on the losing end of that record!

Texas Executed the 400th Prisoner

quote[The leading state for death penalties in the US, Texas, has executed the 400th person since 1982, the year when Texas resumed capital punishment.

The 32-year old prisoner by the name of Johnny Ray Conner was convicted for murdering, in 1998, the owner of a convenience store, located in Houston. Conner was the 21st man in the state this year, who was executed using the lethal injection.

Eight years he waited on death row. It is worth reminding that Texas resumed the death penalty after the Supreme Court lifted a moratorium on it, which took place back in 1976.

According to the Death Penalty Information Centre, after lifting the moratorium on death penalty 1092 have been in the row for the execution in the United States.

The execution of Conner took place in Huntsville, which is north of Houston. It was sharply criticized by the opponents of the practice, who stated that death penalty is inhumane and it cannot serve a way to make criminals fear.]

A proud day to be a Texan?

Keith Olbermann & Countdown To Air On NBC Sunday Before NFL Game

quote[“Countdown With Keith Olbermann” the highly rated cable news program, will be shown on network television on Sunday before a preseason NBC football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since Mr. Olbermann, right, will have a regular role in NBC’s football coverage once the season begins — appearing as a co-host on the pregame show “Football Night in America” on Sundays — this weekend’s appearance of his cable show will give a wider audience a look at what he has been up for the last four years. “ ‘Countdown’ is rocketing right now over at MSNBC — its ratings are going through the roof,” said Phil Griffin, senior vice president of NBC News. (In July Mr. Olbermann’s show averaged 721,000 viewers, an increase of 88 percent over last July, according to MSNBC.) Mr. Griffin added, “The world has changed, and I think people have come in line with the smart, focused approach he has on the show.” No immediate plans for additional network appearances of “Countdown” have been made, but Mr. Griffen did not rule them out. “It may be the first of several times you see Olbermann on the network,” he said.}

This must be pissing O'Reilly off right now. I wonder if FOX will put his show on before the world series???

Subliminal Advertising

Holy crap! This is creepy!

Is Fred Thompson Skirting Election Law?

quote[ A liberal activist today lodged a complaint (LINK HERE) with the Federal Election Commission against former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., contending that Thompson's "testing the waters" committee has long since surpassed that designation and that he, for all intents and purposes, is a candidate for president.

This is not without precedent. Previous pre-candidates who tried the "testing the waters" committee -- including Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., Rev. Pat Robertson, and Rev. Al Sharpton -- invited FEC scrutiny.

The rule is pretty simple. If you spend more than $5,000 on campaign activities, you're a candidate, whether or not you've officially declared. The question is what constitutes "testing the waters" activity, and what constitutes "candidate" activity.]

Why did it take a blogger to raise the scrutiny???

Wiki Scandal Getting Very Interesting

quote[- Microsoft tried to cover up the XBOX 360 failure rate

- Apple edit Microsoft entries, adding more negative comments about its rival

- Bill Gates revenge? Microsoft edits Apple entries, adding more negative comments about its rival

- The Vatican edits Irish Catholic politician Gerry Adams page

- In the 9/11 Wikipedia article, the NRA added that “Iraq was involved in 9/11”

- Exxon Mobil edits spillages and eco-system destruction from oil spillages article

- FBI edits Guantanamo Bay, removing numerous pictures

- Oil company ChevronTexaco removes informative biodiesel article and deletes a paragraph regarding fines against the company

- Scientology removes criticism and negatives article from Scientology page

- Al Jazeera TV station adds that the foundation of Iraq was just as bad as the Holocaust

- Amnesty International removes negative comments

- Dell Computers deletes negative comments on customer services and removes a passage how the company outsources work to third world countries

- MySpace removes paragraph when their website was hacked

- EA Games deletes whole paragraphs of criticism about employment practices and business methods

- Dog breeding association deletes whole paragraphs about fatal attacks by dogs on humans
- US Republican Party changes the "Post-Saddam" section of the Baath Party article to a different account of the war, changing the language from "US-led occupation" to "US-led liberation"

- Fox News removes all controversial topics against the network from the Fox News page

- News of the World deletes a number of criticism against the paper

- Nestle removes negative comments on its business practices from its page

- UN address calls journalist Oriana Fallaci a racist ‘prostitute’

- Portuguese government removes entries about Prime Minister’s scandals

- DieBold, the company that controversially supplied computerised polling stations in the US elections, removes numerous paragraphs with negative comments

- Walmart removes criticism of outsourcing work. The retailer also changes negative paragraphs of underpaid workforce

- Sony removes harmful paragraphs against blu-ray systems

- Someone at Reuters calls Bush “a mass murderer”

- Coca Cola removes negative content about its effects

- British Conservative Party removes negative references of its MPs and deletes paragraph of the party’s old policies

- US University adds the “prestigious” adjective to its page

- Boeing edits from “Boeing is a leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer” to “Boeing is the leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer”

- MSN Search is “a major competitor to Google”. That’s what MSN added to their page

- BBC changes Blair's drink from coffee to vodka and his workout from the gym to the bedroom. Someone from the BBC also changes Bush’s page, changing the name from ”George Walker Bush” to “George Wan*** Bush”

- Someone from The Guardian edits the Wikipedia page of rival newspaper The Times. Originally in the article it is said that The Times sells more than The Guardian. After the edit, The Guardian sells more.]

Bill Nye Boo'd In Texas For Saying The Moon Reflects The Sun

quote[Bill Nye, the harmless children's edu-tainer known as "The Science Guy," managed to offend a select group of adults in Waco, Texas at a presentation, when he suggested that the moon does not emit light, but instead reflects the light of the sun.

As even most elementary-school graduates know, the moon reflects the light of the sun but produces no light of its own.

But don't tell that to the good people of Waco, who were "visibly angered by what some perceived as irreverence," according to the Waco Tribune.

Nye was in town to participate in McLennan Community College's Distinguished Lecture Series. He gave two lectures on such unfunny and adult topics as global warming, Mars exploration, and energy consumption.

But nothing got people as riled as when he brought up Genesis 1:16, which reads: "God made two great lights -- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars."

The lesser light, he pointed out, is not a light at all, but only a reflector.

At this point, several people in the audience stormed out in fury. One woman yelled "We believe in God!" and left with three children, thus ensuring that people across America would read about the incident and conclude that Waco is as nutty as they'd always suspected.]

More from the "Only In Texas," files...

Some Baby Bibs Said to Contain Levels of Lead

quote[Certain vinyl baby bibs sold at Toys “R” Us stores appear to be contaminated with lead, laboratory tests have shown, making the inexpensive bibs another example of a made-in-China product that may be a health hazard to children.

The vinyl bibs, which feature illustrations of baseball bats and soccer balls and Disney’s Winnie the Pooh characters, are sold for less than $5 each under store brand labels, including Especially for Baby and Koala Baby.

Tests this summer, financed by the Center for Environmental Health of Oakland, Calif., found lead as high as three times the level allowed in paint in several styles of the bibs purchased from both Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us stores in California.

A separate test by a laboratory hired by The New York Times of the same Toys “R” Us bibs, purchased in Maryland, found a similar level of contamination.]

Remember when "Made In China," just meant it was child slave labor that produced the product???

Aghhh, the good 'ol days!

Man to Be Executed, Although Prosecutors Say He Didn't Kill

quote[enneth Foster Jr. is scheduled to be executed in Texas later this month for the 1997 murder of Michael LaHood, though everybody — even prosecutors — concede that Foster was at the scene of the crime, but did not pull the trigger.]

Only in Texas...

U.S. to Expand Domestic Use of Spy Satellites

quote[The U.S.'s top intelligence official has greatly expanded the range of federal and local authorities who can get access to information from the nation's vast network of spy satellites in the U.S.

The decision, made three months ago by Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, places for the first time some of the U.S.'s most powerful intelligence-gathering tools at the disposal of domestic security officials. The move was authorized in a May 25 memo sent to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking his department to facilitate access to the spy network on behalf of civilian agencies and law enforcement.]

Freedom anyone?

Top general may propose pullbacks

quote[Despite Bush's repeated statements that the report will reflect evaluations by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, administration officials said it would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government.

And though Petraeus and Crocker will present their recommendations on Capitol Hill, legislation passed by Congress leaves it to the president to decide how to interpret the report's data.]

I like how they snuck that snippet in!

Gonzales Could Get Say in States’ Executions

quote[“It is another means by which people are determined to shut the federal courts down to meaningful review of death penalty cases,” said Elisabeth Semel, director of the Death Penalty Clinic at the UC Berkeley law school. “The inevitable result of speeding them up is to miss profound legal errors that are made. Lawyers will not see them. Courts will not address them.”

“This is the Bush administration throwing down the gauntlet and saying, ‘We are going to speed up executions,’ ” said Kathryn Kase, a Houston lawyer and co-chair of the death-penalty committee for the National Assn. of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

...

Critics also say there is a major conflict of interest for the nation’s top law enforcement officer to judge the qualifications of lawyers defending people whom government officials are seeking to put to death.

Others have doubts about giving Gonzales in particular more power. His judgment has been challenged over his handling of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year, among other matters.

Death penalty foes also say his record on the issue inspires no confidence that the rules will be administered fairly. As legal advisor to then-Texas Gov. George Bush in the 1990s, he gave what many saw as cursory treatment of clemency petitions of capital defendants whom the state subsequently put to death.

“It is almost a cruel joke for Congress to have said, ‘What we would like to do is improve the way states handle these’ . . . and then put it in the hands of, all people, the attorney general,” said Lawrence Fox, a Philadelphia lawyer who teaches legal ethics at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. “It really is quite extraordinary. He is the chief prosecutor of the United States. He couldn’t possibly be unbiased.”]

This just blows my mind!

See Who's Editing Wikipedia - Diebold, the CIA, a Campaign

quote[On November 17th, 2005, an anonymous Wikipedia user deleted 15 paragraphs from an article on e-voting machine-vendor Diebold, excising an entire section critical of the company's machines. While anonymous, such changes typically leave behind digital fingerprints offering hints about the contributor, such as the location of the computer used to make the edits.

In this case, the changes came from an IP address reserved for the corporate offices of Diebold itself. And it is far from an isolated case. A new data-mining service launched Monday traces millions of Wikipedia entries to their corporate sources, and for the first time puts comprehensive data behind longstanding suspicions of manipulation, which until now have surfaced only piecemeal in investigations of specific allegations.

Wikipedia Scanner -- the brainchild of CalTech computation and neural-systems graduate student Virgil Griffith -- offers users a searchable database that ties millions of anonymous Wikipedia edits to organizations where those edits apparently originated, by cross-referencing the edits with data on who owns the associated block of internet IP addresses.]

Don't tell me you're surprised!

Rudy Giuliani's Five Big Lies About 9/11

quote[1. 'I think the thing that distinguishes me on terrorism is, I have more experience dealing with it.'

2. 'I don't think there was anyplace in the country, including the federal government, that was as well prepared for that attack as New York City was in 2001.'

3. Don't blame me for 7 WTC, Rudy says.

4. 'Democrats do not understand the full nature and scope of the terrorist war against us.'

5. 'Every effort was made by Mayor Giuliani and his staff to ensure the safety of all workers at Ground Zero.']

Long read, but worth it!

Video Of The Cheney Protest

Protesters show up in force near Cheney home

quote["We organized it because of the war in Iraq and what an injustice it has been," Walt Farmer, retired Air Force captain and registered Republican said. "The Vice President has received a pass in Jackson long enough. We want to let them know we don't approve of the war or how they play fast and loose with the Constitution."]

I keep waiting for America to wake up!

Learn from the fall of Rome, US warned

quote[David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country’s future in a report that lays out what he called “chilling long-term simulations”.

These include “dramatic” tax rises, slashed government services and the large-scale dumping by foreign governments of holdings of US debt.

Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”.]

Interesting...

The Oldest Living Thing???

quote[An 8-million-year-old bacterium that was extracted from the oldest known ice on Earth is now growing in a laboratory, claim researchers.

If confirmed, this means ancient bacteria and viruses will come back to life as ice melts due to global warming. This is nothing to worry about, say experts, because the process has been going on for billions of years and the bugs are unlikely to cause human disease.

Kay Bidle of Rutgers University in New Jersey, US, and his colleagues extracted DNA and bacteria from ice found between 3 and 5 metres beneath the surface of a glacier in the Beacon and Mullins valleys of Antarctica. The ice gets older as it flows down the valleys and the researchers took five samples that were between 100,000 and 8 million years old.]

Fascinating! I'd love to write a sci-fi story on this.

BTW, I'm on vacation this week, so updates may be slow and infrequent.

Edwards got $800k from News Corp

quote[John Edwards, who yesterday demanded Democratic candidates return any campaign donations from Rupert Murdoch and News Corp., himself earned at least $800,000 for a book published by one of the media mogul's companies.

The Edwards campaign said the multimillionaire trial lawyer would not return the hefty payout from Murdoch for the book titled "Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives."

The campaign didn't respond to a question from The Post about whether it was hypocritical for Edwards to take money from News Corp. while calling for other candidates not to.]

Note to NY Post, making royalties off of a published book is quite a bit different from accepting campaign donations!

This is especially true since Edwards' profits were donated to charity!

'Crowd Farm' Converts Footsteps into Electricity

quote[wo MIT students have found the next new source of energy: you.

A new technology developed by the graduate students would take the energy generated by human movement, such as walking or jumping, in crowded settings and turn it into electricity.

The so-called "Crowd Farm" would work something like this: A responsive sub-flooring system would be placed under, say, the platform of a subway terminal. The blocks that make up the system would depress slightly under the force of human footsteps. As the blocks slipped against each other, they would generate power in the form of an electric current. ]

What a great idea!

How Safe Are Your State Bridges???

Doesn't look great for my state!

Clinton Takes in $20K From NewsCorp

quote[John Edwards criticized Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday for taking more than $20,000 in donations from News Corp. officials, arguing that the company's Fox News Channel has a right-wing bias and Democrats should avoid the company.]

Kucinich receives pro-impeachment petitions with more than 120K signatures

quote[Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said his push to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney is gaining support among the American people as he collected petitions with more than 100,000 signatures supporting the effort.

"I made it very clear that I was not alone," Kucinich said. "Today I am proud to see that hundreds of thousands of Americans have joined this effort."]

I want him impeached, but I really don't want a sitting republican VP in 2008.

Army's 'Debt Of Service' Leaves Vets Perplexed

quote[Servicemen and women who made huge sacrifices fighting in the war and now paying yet another price, even after coming home.

One soldier in particular is currently battling against a new "debt of service."

Brian Rodriguez is a fighter, an honorably discharged soldier who'd been deployed in Iraq.

"I was a combat engineer," Rodriguez said. "We deal with land mines, explosives."

He fought for his nation, only to return to his homeland and wage a fresh battle.

Former Army Specialist Rodriguez started getting bills for $700 for lost or damaged government property this summer. Although he was discharged some four years ago, bills recently arrived demanding payment, but giving no details on what or why -- nor do they offer a way to dispute the charges.

"For doing my job you're going to bill me?" Rodriguez said.]

I've heard of this before. It's great to know they are still doing it...

Global Peace Index

quote[This section lists the results of the analysis into each nation's peace. This is the prime table in the Global Peace Index section. The countries are ranked from most peaceful to least peaceful, highlighting their ranking as well as their score. You can click on a country to see the detail of its peace indicators and drivers.]

You have to scroll down pretty far to find the United States.