Saturday, June 20, 2009

Overnight and Open Thread


Astronomy Picture of the Day

Seaside Moon Mirage
Credit & Copyright: Jean-Marc Audrin

Explanation: This surprising view of the Full Moon rising on June 7 was captured with a telephoto lens from a seaside balcony near Nice, France. The orange Moon's dark markings and odd shape put the photographer in mind of an alien creature's face staring down at the passing ship. Of course, the Moon's distorted appearance is due to the unusual bending (refraction) of light rays creating multiple images or mirages, similar to sunset and sunrise mirages.

Click to enlarge.

It's been awful quiet around here today, you guys all out working in the yard and grilling for the weekend?

Iranian photographers capture the crisis

By GottaLaff

Here's the link. Take a look at the stunning photos.

A few excerpts from that site:

From one of our friends in Iran: "Everyone is so energized and pumped up but no one knows how it will all end so enthusiasm and anxiety are inseparable and unavoidable. The city is burning with equal doses of energy and rage and thugs who look like they've been unleashed from the city jail roam the streets wielding sticks and batons. The contrast between the civility of yesterday's mass protest and the brutality of the thugs (they don't even deserve to be called police or security) is almost unbearable. We cannot decide whether to rejoice or despair. "

Reporter arrested in Iran

A Demotix reporter has been arrested and had his camera seized in Iran.

The contributor, who submitted videos from the streets of Tehran to Demotix, contacted us late last night after being released from custody by police. His camera, car and ID card were seized by police, and he was told to report back to police today, 17 June, to be handed to a judge.

While in custody, he was led by officials to believe that were he to be found guilty as a spy, he could be executed.

He said, “Just pray for me. Ten years ago in ‘Koye daneshgah’ [Tehran University] I was arrested, and it's a nightmare for me to repeat my memories...”

VIDEO: Ahmadinejad regime prepares fraudulent ballots before Iran election

By GottaLaff

Via Mother Jones:

David Corn relays this report from a "reliable witness" inside Iran:

...HAS HIT THE FAN...TOHID SQUARE ON FIRE, PEOPLE ARE CHANTING, ALL ALONG SATTER KHAN STREET CHAOS, THEN SUDDENLY QUIET, PEOPLE EATING ICE CREAM, ETC., THEN MORE CHAOS, ROCKS, FIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREETS, CHANTS CHANTS CHANTS AND IT IS NOT YET NIGHT...TEHRAN IS ON FIRE TONIGHT... [...]

There are also clandestine videos being released on YouTube and elsewhere, most of them shot on cell phones, showing the beating, tear gassing, and shooting of protestors. This one, sent to us by an Iranian reporter, reportedly shows how the Ahmadinejad regime prepared stacks of fradulent ballots before the election even began:




How Bush 2000 of them.

At least one Iran watcher in Washington has a dark view of what lies ahead. Daniel Brumberg, acting director of the Muslim World Initiative of the US Institute of Peace, tells Mother Jones:

The regime seems to have an effective plan for quelling the protests. I think they will prevent any major mobiization inthe streets. All Khatami allies, clerics and lay, will be purged, forced to confess on TV that they are agents of the US. Welcome to Stalinism with an Islamist flavor: Iran moves to dictatorship. Sorry to be so grim, but that is my guess.

Read the rest of this really terrific, albeit disturbing, article here.

H/t: David Corn

Drug industry OKs $80 billion Medicare deal


Sounds good doesn't it? But Max Baucus is behind it. What did he have to promise the health care industry to get this compromise?

WASHINGTON - The pharmaceutical industry agreed Saturday to spend $80 billion over the next decade improving drug benefits for seniors on Medicare and defraying the cost of President Barack Obama's health care legislation, capping secretive negotiations involving key lawmakers and the White House.

(snip)

Baucus, a Montana Democrat, has been negotiating with numerous industry groups for weeks as he tries to draft legislation that meets Obama's goal of vastly expanding health coverage, has bipartisan support and does not add to the deficit.

Torture report due June 26

By GottaLaff

http://www.bigkahuna.com/nav_images/kahuna_logo.jpg
As Rachel Maddow calls it, the Big Kahuna:
The hotly-anticipated release of the CIA’s 2004 torture report that will raise questions about torture’s effectiveness and legality — which was set for today but postponed — has been pushed back only one week, a source familiar with the process tells me. That means the target day is now next Friday.
Let's hope it's released, and let's double hope that it doesn't look like this:

Reid: Harold Koh nomination up for vote within 2 weeks

By GottaLaff

Koh-conspirator:

Though President Obama nominated Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh to be chief legal adviser to the State Department in March, [...] at least one senator has placed an anonymous hold on Koh. Now, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-NV) has told Koh’s supporters that he will bring Koh’s nomination for a vote sometime in the next two weeks:

Last night, after yesterday’s phone bank, we got word from inside sources that Senator Reid believes Harold has enough votes, and has decided to file for cloture on the nomination sometime in the next two weeks. While we do not have an exact date yet, it’s an indication that all of your calling is working!

Earlier this week, Obama said he had no plans to appoint Koh or other nominees currently blocked by Senate Republicans under recess appointments.

The Green Revolution is Electrifying in Its Courage on the Streets: America Needed That in 2000

By GottaLaff



Mark Karlin gives us a Bonus Dose of BuzzFlash:

If the American public who was outraged by the theft of the election from Al Gore in 2000 were as courageous and defiant then as the Green Revolution in Iran is now, we may not have had to endure 8 years of destruction to America and the world under Bush and Cheney.

That's not to say there weren't public demonstrations in the U.S. in 2000 -- as the much under-reported opposition protests during Bush's first inauguration proved in January of 2001 -- but they paled by comparison to the sense of longing and outrage demonstrated not just in words, but with bodies, in Iran.

Please go read the whole thing here.

David Shuster is a mensch

By GottaLaff

I tweeted a thank you to David Shuster. Here is his reply:




He is referring to this. If you haven't been keeping up with my series on Fayiz al-Kandari and Major Barry Wingard, it's worth a read. Every bit of it. Links to all of my posts on a Gitmo detainee and his remarkable lawyer are available on the post I just linked to.

More coming on Monday.

From Barry just now:
Victory is so close
If we could get twenty committed people, willing to organize and learn the various subject's surrounding GTMO and the Commissions, become familiar with Fayiz's case specifically, and be available to doing what it takes; Fayiz would be released. I am certain that release is really that close.

We have the truth and will win, the only question is sooner or later. Sometimes you just need to speak truth to power and find something bigger than yourself.

The GTMO story is still being written even if you choose to whistle past the cemetery and "keep on walking" as Peggy Noonan so eloquently said recently on television.
Hands?

VIDEO: One person killed in gun shooting in tehran, iran, 20th june

By GottaLaff

Warning: Graphic:

One young man was killed by millitia at shadmehr st., Azadi St. in tehran election rally

Statement from President Obama on Iran

By GottaLaff

Via White House.gov:

The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.
John McCain: "Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran."



Imagine if that fool had been elected President of the United States.

9 Conservative Myths About Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism

By GottaLaff


Myth-information:
This is terrorism we're dealing with. We can't afford to let ourselves be distracted by spin. It's time to set the record straight with the facts.
That's for sure. Here are the 9 myths. Follow the link for-- What's that word again? Oh yeah-- the facts.

1. These are just "lone wolf" psychos who are acting alone. You can't hold anybody else responsible for what crazy people decide to do.

True and false. But mostly false.

2. These terrorists are really left-wingers, not right-wingers. Because everybody knows that fascism is a phenomenon that only occurs on the left.

False does not even begin to cover the absurdity of this claim.

3. Public right-wing groups like Operation Rescue or the Minutemen don't advocate violence, so these acts have absolutely nothing to do with them.

4. This is just a minority movement that isn't really capable of changing anything. We don't really need to worry about it.

False, and evidence of tremendous denial.

5. It's not fair to hold right-wing media talking heads responsible for the things their listeners might do.

Riiight.

6. All that crazy stuff you hear on the right -- you can find the left wing saying things just as bad. They're equally culpable for how bad it all its.

False. There is no equivalency whatsoever to be drawn here.

7. "Dial it down?" Don't you mean that you want to use the power of government to forcibly shut up right-wing hate talkers?

False.

8. But what you're suggesting is censorship! You're trying to censor free speech!

Oh, please.

9. What about that guy who shot the recruiters in Arkansas -- isn't that proof that the left wing is just as bad as the right?

False. I mean, really, really false.

Want more detailed answers? Go here.

H/t: Babzter

Photo Phun: Ana Marie Cox, Michael Steele at the Big Dinner

By GottaLaff

Twitpics from the Radio and TV Correspondents Award Dinner aka "NerdProm 2":



Michael Aluminuminum must have sneaked a look at Ana Marie:


Why is Obama Speaking Softly about Iranian Election? Ask North Korea

By GottaLaff


Your Daily Dose of BuzzFlash:
Why is Obama Speaking Softly about Iranian Election? Ask North Korea
I tried to post this yesterday, but Blogger was broken.

AUDIO--"My Tweet Spot": Sarah Palin, Meghan McCain edition- Aired June 12, 2009

By GottaLaff



Did you know that I do radio segments every Friday? Look at me going all podcasty and stuff!

"My Tweet Spot" is a recap of the week in politics via Tweets from Twitter. Today's episode consists of Palinisms and Meghanism, as well as some other Tweeterisms. That's a whole lot of isms.

I do three per show every Friday. Podcasts here.

Hope you like it!

Mid Day Distraction


Because it made me giggle.

Iran Updates (VIDEO): Nico Pitney Live-Blogging The Uprising



Nico is doing an incredible job here. (video is purported to be from today) This is the latest news, but monitoring his liveblog would be the way to keep up.

12:10 PM ET -- Reports: Embassies accepting injured Iranians. Several reports on Twitter report that the Australian, British, and Dutch embassies are taking in Iranians injured during today's violence. A sample: "Australian Embassy accepting injured: No. 13, 23rd Street, Khalid Islambuli Ave. The British embassy is now accepting injured Iranians"

12:08 PM ET -- Gridlock. CNN reporting that metro stations have been shut down to block additional people from reaching central Tehran.
The Guardian has a good timeline as well.

Tony Hawk skateboards at White House



Countdown to Right Wing outrage....

WASHINGTON (AP) — Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk did his thing at the White House as part of a Father's Day celebration.

Hawk took a brief ride Friday in the White House's grand foyer and the nearby Old Executive Office Building. He had the permission of White House officials, and he posted photos and Twitter accounts on his Web site.

Video- Real Time with Bill Maher: Paul Begala Schools Meghan McCain



I know we like Meghan here, but this was too sweet.

Obama change message resonates, poll finds


So howsabout we take that "changey" thing and stick it right into health care? Wonder what the catch phrase will be for the second term.

UTICA, N.Y., June 19 (UPI) -- U.S. voters, especially younger ones, say they believe President Barack Obama is living up to his promise to deliver change, a poll indicated.

The Zogby-Scoop44 poll found nearly two-thirds of voters under 30 polled said Obama's change message has matched his work in the White House, and among those 18-24, 70 percent said they believed this.

Among voters over 30, slightly more than one in four said they don't believe Obama's campaign promises translated into action in office, the poll found. Only 18 percent of those younger than 30 and 5 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds said they shared that view.

The poll found 43 percent of Republicans said they believe Obama's actions are in keeping with his promised change.

(snip)

Two of three women said they believe Obama is keeping his promise of change, compared with 56 percent of men. Most Catholics, Protestants and Evangelical Christian voters agree Obama has brought change but nearly one third of Catholics and Evangelical Christians and a fourth of Protestants "completely disagree."

The poorest voters are mostly likely to agree Obama's actions match his promise. But those with household incomes of $35,000-$50,000 are most likely to believe there's a disconnect between the president's promise and his actions.

Video- Daily Show's John Hodgman on the "First Nerd" at RTCA Dinner



Part one above, part two below. Thanks to FireDogLake for the vid.

Cartoon of the Day



Click to enlarge, via.

Saturday Linkage



Have you ever woken up frustrated and ticked off? Well I sure as hell have, must have been left over from futzing with blogger last night. Grrrr.

Moderate quake shakes central California

Census will count married gay couples

U.N. to investigate Bhutto's assassination

Microsoft chief: In 10 years, computers will know your intent

Suicide truck bomb kills 34 in Iraq

Idaho becomes new home for those who fled old lives

Poll finds uptick in economic optimism


I've heard the same cautious optimism around my area. Now, no one is going out and buying home theatre systems or whatever, but the feeling is out there.

WASHINGTON, June 19 (UPI) -- A poll shows U.S. residents are slightly more optimistic about the economy and their personal finances but still reluctant to spend money.

The survey by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press found that 48 percent of those polled said they expect the economy to get better in the next year, up from 40 percent in February. On their own situation, 63 percent expect improvement, up from 54 percent in February.

(snip)

The percentage of respondents who say the economy is "poor" has dropped significantly to 52 percent from 68 percent in March. The percentage describing it as "fair" has increased from 25 percent to 39 percent.

Video- President Obama's Stand Up Routine at the RTCA Dinner

Video- President's Weekly Address: Financial Reform to Protect Consumers



I apologize for the lack of posting last night, blogger wouldn't let Gotta or I put anything up. Let's hope this gets up there.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Video- President Hosts a Young Mens BBQ to Celebrate Fatherhood, Grills with Bobby Flay



Above is the Bobby Flay bit, below the President's welcome speech to those gathered.



Former congressman Tom Davis (R-VA) emerges as favorite in Cyber Czar search


I don't remember a whole lot about Davis, except that in the run up to '08 (after he had decided not to run again in what would probably be a whupping) he was preaching moderation to the Republican Church Of Over The Top.

Tom Davis, a moderate Republican from Virginia, has emerged as a leading candidate for the Obama Administration's newly created position of cybersecurity czar. Sources familiar with the White House's deliberations on the subject say Obama officials feel a Washington power player would make a better candidate than a tech guru. "They want someone who understands technology issues, but more importantly, knows how to get things done in Washington," says a cybersecurity expert who has been consulted by the White House. "There are very few people who have that combination of skills, and Davis is at the top of that short list."

Davis, who served in the House of Representatives for seven terms before retiring last fall, is a Hill veteran with extensive experience in technology policy.

Video- President Obama emphasizes the need for good fathers

VIDEO: Sen. Baucus's Health Care Bait and Switch

By GottaLaff



Via Lee Stranahan:

After seeing my post on health care co-ops over at Mother Jones this morning–along with information on the reams of cash Senator Max Baucus is receiving from health care companies–video blogger Lee Stranahan was inspired to produce a video on the subject.

VIDEO: Detainee lawyer on MSNBC with David Shuster

By GottaLaff

Here are my previous posts:
My Convo with a Gitmo Detainee Lawyer: “I’ve given up on American media.”

Part 2-- Gitmo Detainee: "Obama has perhaps broken the spirit of the detainees in a way the former administration could never.

Part 3--Gitmo Detainee Lawyer: "I guess the days of attorney/client privilege are over in GITMO."
Now you can finally meet Major Wingard!

He just e-mailed me, and one of the people working the show told him that, as a guest, he "was Olbermann quality"! I've already contacted Countdown on Barry's behalf. Keep your fingers crossed!

UPDATE: He will be on Common Sense Radio (where I do My Tweet Spots) at 7:35 pm ET. Stream it live HERE.

Thank you David Shuster--Quote-O'-The Day: Detainee Lawyer edition

By GottaLaff



Major Barry Wingard on MSNBC just now:
"Please Obama, get us some justice SOON."
Recap:
My Convo with a Gitmo Detainee Lawyer: “I’ve given up on American media.”

Part 2-- Gitmo Detainee: "Obama has perhaps broken the spirit of the detainees in a way the former administration could never.

Part 3--Gitmo Detainee Lawyer: "I guess the days of attorney/client privilege are over in GITMO."

Lawmaker Returns "Bull Testicles" from Schwarzenegger

By GottaLaff

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3219/2867604149_c98e23cb35.jpg

That's some blog title, huh?
California Gov. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) sent a state senator a metal sculpture of bull testicles "with a note suggesting the lawmaker would need them to make some tough budget choices," the Los Angeles Times reports.

"An annoyed Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D) returned the sculpture with a sober note on the fortitude needed to protect society's vulnerable from the budget ax. That prompted a verbal apology from the governor."

VIDEO: The Republican Health Care Horror Show

By GottaLaff





Gaaaaaaaaaaak!

Watch David Shuster today! 4:30 pm Eastern

By GottaLaff

David Shuster just asked me to do him a favor:

Ensign had earlier affair in 2002

By GottaLaff



Ooo, those family values sure do take a ::ahem:: back seat to Rushpublic urges and hypocrisy:
It is being reported that Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) had an earlier extra-martial affair in 2002. This comes to light after the national news of his recent sexual tryst with a staffer's wife.
The disclosure resurrected questions about a two-week period in 2002 when Ensign abruptly dropped from public view. A person familiar with that episode, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the senator told a close associate the absence followed an earlier affair.
Rumors, rumors...

The Political Carnival loves David Shuster

By GottaLaff



UPDATE: SUCCESS! SHUSTER HAS INVITED BARRY TO BE ON THE SHOW. Waiting for Barry's confirmation.

This is really something. I don't see him do this on Twitter. He responds to Tweets, because he's menschy that way, but this?

Please encourage the powers that be at MSNBC to allow him to do the interview. I'm looking for an e-mail address, but all I'm finding are those for specific shows. Here is one that may work: GeneralComments@feedback.msnbc.com or viewerservices@msnbc.com .

Let's do what we can to inform more Americans about this:

My Convo with a Gitmo Detainee Lawyer: “I’ve given up on American media.”

Part 2-- Gitmo Detainee: "Obama has perhaps broken the spirit of the detainees in a way the former administration could never.

Part 3--Gitmo Detainee Lawyer: "I guess the days of attorney/client privilege are over in GITMO."
I'll be posting Parts 4 and 5 next week.

Thanks to those of you who have already gotten these stories around. I've seen a genuine interest and bursts of activity, which just goes to show you that we can make a real difference.

Part 3--Gitmo Detainee Lawyer: "I guess the days of attorney/client privilege are over in GITMO."

By GottaLaff

UPDATE, JUNE 19, WATCH:



Major Barry Wingard

If you want your eyes opened, do not only read the following post, read this one and this one, too. They are the prequels. I will continue to post about this as long as I am able. Why? Because torture is wrong, torturing people should have consequences (as should any form of abuse, including that of the attorney/client privilege), and we must get Fayiz al-Kandari's story out.

Please share this, and my previous, posts, and then consider writing letters to newspapers, your representatives, and the White House. With that...

Barry Wingard and I spoke on the phone the other day, and he told me something very disturbing, following up with the e-mail below. Believe it or not, during the Bush years, the following did not occur:
Since the new administration has taken over nothing on the ground level has improved, instead it has changed as attorney/client privilege apparently is not part of the "new" justice forthcoming. Unlike before, the guards now search and read the detainee/attorney mail in their cells and confiscate things that may help the prosecution. In a recent letter dated 21 May 2009 from my client I noticed the top of the letter had opened in the most clever way. I hope the information provided its unintended reader with satisfaction. I guess the days of attorney/client privilege are over in GTMO.

As a heads up, my next letter to Fayiz will include an update on his mothers cancer and his fathers grief stricken soul. It's probably not worth the time it takes to open and reseal the envelope in such a clever manner. I will probably send it during the third week of June. Unfortunately for Fayiz, he has already used his one call per year for 2009 and requires the information from me personally as to his mothers mortality.

Also, rumor has it that fellow detainees willing to implicate others are getting better rewards and consideration for new evidence that is over seven years old. The usual detainees are hard at work to assist in some fresh, newly remembered evidence against their fellow detainees, Fayiz reports.

Tonight when you rest your head comfortable in the knowledge that GTMO issue has been resolved, remember my client Fayiz al-Kandari who is waiting out his second four month postponement. As the new administration is designing a new court process just for "Fayiz" and we head for our eight year in a cage in Cuba sleep well my fellow citizens.
President Obama has already accomplished so much since his election. I still admire him, and can't imagine that anyone else would have made a better president. But there have been a few areas in which he could improve, and he may well do just that. It's only been a few months, after all.

However, when you've been imprisoned and abused for over 7 years, real change can't happen soon enough... and a few months feel like a few years.

But wait...hang on. I'm hearing something through my imaginary earpiece again... Hm? What's that? Stop the presses! There is some potentially positive news to report:
[From one email] Kuwait has spent millions on a brand new rehab center I visited last week and the met the medical staff. The interior of the building is custom built to handle up to 40 detainees in rehab. Our trip to Kuwait was very eye opening. We made a huge splash in the Arab media.

[From a second email] The Bush Administration committed to releasing the final four Kuwaiti Detainee's contingent on Kuwait creating a rehabilitation center. While in Kuwait last week, Fayiz al-Kandari had an opportunity to visit the Kuwait Rehabilitation center and meet with some of the medical staff and counselors. The building is located in the Kuwait City Jail, which is very secure and 90% complete. The curriculum will be based on the Saudi system. This week several Kuwait officials are in Saudi Arabia to meet and observe their system at work.

The Kuwait government has done their part but have not asked US officials to visit the center because they feel it would not be proper. The US officials refuse to provide input until both the structure and curriculum is complete. So in a diplomatic world, neither are cooperating with the other because neither has asked the other officially. My question, knowing we have a captive audience in GTMO, can we begin rehabilitation there since we have a Jail that satisfies the US and Kuwait has already hired the staff? OK, maybe I'm not a diplomat because it seems to make sense to me.
Makes sense to me, too.

Video- President Obama at Hispanic Prayer Breakfast



This is a short version focusing on immigration. I'll put up the full one as soon as I find it. Complete video up now.

State Income Tax Revenues Plunge


Sounds like more than one state is about to go the way of California.

The Rockefeller Institute of Government reports that state individual income tax revenues fell 26% in in the first four months 2009 as compared with the same period last year.

Preliminary data for May indicated a continued decline of about 25% in income tax collections.

Audio- Radio Jock Tammy Bruce: Obama "perhaps secretly wishes this nation to be harmed ... his mother certainly did"



There is so much wrong with this...

May I just say


That I find it erm, interesting that both CNN & MSNBC covered President Obama's uber churchy speech at the Hispanic Prayer Breakfast but Fox went with chasing tornados.

Walter Cronkite Gravely Ill



One of a kind. Via Taegan-

TVNewser has learned legendary CBS newsman Walter Cronkite, 92, who once held the title of "Most Trusted Man in America," is gravely ill, according to multiple CBS News sources. The network began updating his obituary more than a week ago, a source adds.

Cartoon of the Day


Click to enlarge, via.

Friday Links For Thee


Storms, lightning, thunder... all the perfect things for sleeping but I actually really do have stuff to do today. Sigh.

High court says rapist can't seek DNA test to prove innocence

Che Guevara's granddaughter poses semi-naked for animal rights... with a string of carrots for ammo

Fifty years of Ikea on display in Stockholm museum

Wall Street Journal: White House Looks to Include Same-Sex Unions in Census Count The White House said Thursday it was seeking ways to include same-sex marriages, unions and partnerships in 2010 Census data, the second time in a week the administration has signaled a policy change of interest to the gay community.

Nude Hiking Buffs Ready As Solstice Nears

Official: World's oldest man dies at 113

Alcohol abuse by GIs soars since '03

Washington Post: U.S. Pursues a New Way To Rebuild in Afghanistan The idea to transform a vacant tract near the Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif into a sprawling commercial farm, with miles of strawberry fields and thousands of cashmere goats, began with an entreaty from President George W. Bush to the billionaire chairman of Dole Foods at a 2006 Republican Party fundraiser.

Presidential Pooch Gets An Official Portrait


Okay, fine. It's stormy and nasty here and I needed an awwwww.

The newest White House resident now has his own official portrait.

In the photograph, first dog Bo, the Obama family's Portuguese Water Dog, sits on the South Lawn with his new home shining in the background.

Along with the picture, the White House has also created a Bo baseball card, which features fun facts about the presidential pooch.

Video- Iran's supreme leader defends election



Guess we're just in "wait and see" mode now.

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's supreme leader passionately defended last week's presidential election process Friday, praising President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election as a "definitive victory" and sloughing off charges of vote-rigging.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed a crowd at Tehran University in a sermon during Friday prayers.

His speech was greatly anticipated amid massive protests from supporters of opposition leaders such as Mir Hossein Moussavi, who disputed the government's assertion that Ahmadinejad won in a landslide.

While Khamenei called on those who don't believe the results to use proper legal avenues, such as requesting the recounting of ballots in their presence, he did not issue a call for a new vote.

He also criticized the street protests and said those who caused violence during demonstrations would be held accountable.

Video- Obama addresses the joint DSCC/DCCC fundraiser

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Crowds in Iran, attacks on university students (VIDEO)

By GottaLaff

Via Steve Clemons:


(photo credit: Madyar in Iran -- check out the other amazing photos at Madyar's blog)

This is a picture of a massive pro-Mousavi rally yesterday in Esfehan, Iran's third largest city.



Also this video from the Washington Note, via Nico Pitney at Huffington Post:
Along the lines of Iran President Ahmadinejad denying the Holocaust, the Ahmadinejad-appointed president of the University of Tehran stated today that there was no attack on university students and no students killed. Outrageous.
This is not going away.

House puts new restrictions on Gitmo closing

By GottaLaff

http://visibility911.com/ford/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-01gitmo.jpg
I'm sure Fayiz will be thrilled to hear this:
The House on Thursday used the first spending bill for 2010 to notify the White House that it will not go along with President Barack Obama's plan to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The House voted 259-157 for the $64.4 billion package to fund many of Obama's law enforcement and science priorities in the budget year starting in October. But the bill denies Obama money to close the facility next year and establishes strict restrictions for the transfer of detainees.

Already this week, the House showed its defiance of Obama's goal of shutting down the facility by approving a $100 billion war-spending bill that stipulates that it will not allow the use of federal money to close Guantanamo in the final months of this budget year. That bill passed the Senate on Thursday and is heading to the White House.

Both the House and Senate want to impose strict requirements on the administration before detainees at Guantanamo can be transferred to the United States, U.S. territories or third countries. [...]

It would allow the transfer to the United States of detainees for prosecution or detention only after Congress has had two months to read a White House report on how it plans to shut the detention facility and disperse the inmates.

The House bill also requires the Obama administration to notify lawmakers of any plans to transfer detainees to other countries. It turns down the $60 million the administration had requested to initiate the closure.

I will be posting at least two more entries that might cause a few people to wish that Gitmo would be shut down sooner than this bill allows. Each day, week, month that goes by is one more day, week, month of hell, especially if you don't deserve to be there in the first place.

War supplemental passes after photo settlement

By GottaLaff

http://eric.metze.us/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/gitmo_torture-300x300.jpg
All that back and forth about the torture photos is settled, then. Finally! Oh wait. No it isn't:
The Senate late Thursday passed a $106 billion military supplemental to fund the U.S. military’s efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan after unraveling a controversy over photos of detainee abuse.

Voting 91-5, the Senate sent the measure to President Obama’s desk, after the House voted 226-202 for it on Tuesday. Both chambers had already passed different versions, which were reconciled in conference meetings. [...]
In the end, the controversy was settled with a Senate vote Wednesday night for a stand-alone law to keep the photos from public view. The House still must vote on that bill, however, meaning the controversy may not be over. But White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday told Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that Obama would sign an executive order to classify them if necessary.
Voting 'no' was a hodgepodge of the Senate's more conservative and liberal members: Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.).

Absent from the vote were Robert Byrd (D-W.V.), John Ensign (R-Nev.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). Byrd and Kennedy are both ill, while Ensign has not returned to the Senate after admitting an extramarital affair on Tuesday. There is also an ongoing vacancy in the second Minnesota seat.
Here's what I wrote in one of the posts of my interviews with a Gitmo lawyer/abused detainee:
Wait, sidebar: I smell a reason for releasing those pesky torture photos everyone's talking about… evidence. Sidebar over.
Public view is one thing. Declassifying is another, for limited use in, say, a courtroom.

David Shuster gives Gitmo detainee story a boost

By GottaLaff

I'll forgive him for spelling my name wrong:


David Shuster plugged my story on Twitter. For that I sincerely thank him.

Now if only he would interview Major Barry Wingard and get his story out. What do you say, David? Pretty please?

Iranian Traffic Engineering: The Chart

By GottaLaff

Via The Motley Moose:

http://asert.arbornetworks.com/uploads/2009/06/iran2.png
Arbor Networks provides a good view on Iran's connection to the Internet via the Internet Observatory. The fat healthy traffic to the left of the dropoff is what Iranian Internet traffic looks like at normal times, the cliff denotes the election and to the right of that you see traffic increasingly "leaking" past the imposed restrictions.
A chart is worth a thousand words.

Judge to review Cheney interview with FBI

By GottaLaff

http://photos.upi.com/slideshow/lbox/4dc48634a7cb151733212992f0c6e4f5/PLAME-WILSON-LAWSUIT.jpg
Judge, in legalese, to The Dick and the Obama legal team: Go Cheney yourselves:
A federal judge says he wants to look at notes from the FBI's interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney during the investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA officer.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said he wants to review the documents after Obama administration lawyers said they would continue the Bush administration's fight to keep the interview from becoming public.
The ObamAdministration is saying that future administrations would hesitate before cooperating with investigations, that their foes-- and comedians-- would abuse the info. Yeah, then they'd have to picket Letterman again, and that can be such a pain.

What did the judge have to say about that? Exactly what you might have hoped:
Sullivan the Justice Department must give him more precise reasons for keeping the information confidential.
How ironic: Now the Obama lawyers will have to come up with a Top Ten List of their own.

Kenneth Starr Endorses Sotomayor

By GottaLaff

http://www.menithings.com/images/news/KenStarr2.jpg
Starr treatment:

Kenneth Starr, the lawyer who chased after President Bill Clinton and his wife, said on Thursday that he supports President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court nominee, federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

Starr voiced his backing of Sotomayor while delivering the keynote speech at a luncheon held in Los Angeles for Loyola Law School's program for journalists who cover legal issues. He said that he "thinks very well of her." He noted that he has not written any official endorsement letter for Sotomayor but that he has told more than one US senator that he supports her nomination. He would not identify which senators he has spoken to about Sotomayor.

I'm guessing that's because they didn't want anyone knowing they associate with him.

Maybe he's planning on calling for her impeachment after she's in. He's probably salivating over the intimate details of her sex life that he could dig up and subsequently publish.

H/t: David Corn

RepubliQuotes

By GottaLaff

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/monkey-balloon-animal2.jpg
Rushpublics provide so much entertainment! They're better than party clowns! Why, I bet they can make balloon animals out of each other!

Look! Here's a balloon monkey now:
http://www.gospelballoons.com/images/r12-4.jpg
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) admitted that his vote to oppose Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was a “foregone conclusion” eleven years before she was even nominated:

“That was a foregone conclusion,” the Oklahoma Republican said, citing his 1998 opposition to Sotomayor’s nomination to her current post.

As for The Boehner, well he's just a squeaky little twisted balloon --http://moblog.delicategeniusblog.com/wp-photos/20061127-021211-1.jpg--um, elephant?
Boehner admitted that such stimulus projects do, in fact, "create much-needed jobs":

The stated intent of the so-called stimulus package was to create jobs, and certainly a $57 million slush-fund studying projects did nothing to achieve that goal. With Ohio’s unemployment rate the highest it’s been in 25 years, I’m pleased that federal officials stepped in to order Ohio to use all of its construction dollars for shovel-ready projects that will create much-needed jobs.

Those silly, wacky, zany clowns, always popping out with the darndest things. Pop!
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_101/1164702908EfAFC5.jpg

Ooo, what's Lindsey Graham hiding?

By GottaLaff

http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:V_cVrB6h_qajXM:http://petulantweb.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/lindseygraham.jpg
Gee, anyone wanna take a wild guess?
"I've got plenty of sins that I'm not going to share with anyone else."

-- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by Politico, when asked to comment on Sen. John Ensign's (R-NV) admission of an affair with a staffer.

1999: "John Ensign [...] will not be alone in a car with a woman"

By GottaLaff

http://www.glitterhoney.com/import/graphics/New_Years/Lets-Party-Like-Its-1999-1.gif

Apparently, John broke the unspoken rule. Maybe somebody should have read it aloud:
"Christian politicians and evangelical leaders commonly follow an unspoken rule not to meet behind closed doors with women staff members or travel alone with them... John Ensign, who is running for senate in Nevada will not be alone in a car with a woman."

-- Washington Post, September 30, 1999

Poll-itics: GOP Hits All Time Lows

By GottaLaff

Paddy posted earlier that the NBC/WSJ poll isn't the only game in town. That is so true, but one other point needs to be made: The Rushpublics have their own problems. Do we hear the corporate media pushing that story?

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p250/robert817/magic8ballNO.jpg
Even though President Obama's overall ratings remain high, some in the national media interpreted two new polls as showing the end of the president's honeymoon period.

However, Steve Benen points out that the polls show the favorability of the Republican party hitting new all time lows.

NYT/CBS Poll: "While Republicans have steadily increased their criticism of Mr. Obama, particularly on the budget deficit, the poll found that the Republican Party is viewed favorably by only 28% of those polled, the lowest rating ever in a New York Times/CBS News poll. In contrast, 57% said that they had a favorable view of the Democratic Party."

WSJ/NBC poll: "25% hold a favorable view of the Republican Party, which is an all-time low for it in the poll. 45% hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party."
Here's one more:
A new Pew Research survey finds a solid majority of Americans (61%) continue to approve of President Obama's job performance, "although they express mixed views of several of his policies."

"An important positive sign for Obama is the public's continued optimism that his policies will improve the economy -- fully 65% express this view. A smaller majority (55%) is optimistic Obama will reduce the budget deficit over the long-term. Nonetheless, Obama's job approval on the economy has declined from 60% in April to 52% currently."

"The slippage in the president's economic ratings appears unrelated to the public's assessments of his administration's impact on current economic conditions... Instead, it may have more to do with his relatively poor ratings for handling the problems of troubled automakers General Motors and Chrysler."
Anyone see that on the Tee Vee Machine?
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg278/crucibelle/14.gif

Recent Posts