He trained would-be spies?
One of four men arrested Tuesday for attempting to interfere with the telephones at the New Orleans office of Sen. Mary Landrieu previously helped run a U.S. intelligence-funded program to train would-be American spies, Declassified has learned.
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Another "unfortunate incident" in Afghanistan
Mohammad Yonus, the imam of the Paktia Kowt Mosque in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, was killed by NATO troops while sitting in his car. The nationality of the troops has not yet been made public.
Yonus was reportedly in his car with his three sons waiting for his other son to arrive. A NATO convoy saw the parked car and decided it was a "threatening vehicle," opening fire and killing Yonus. His sons were not injured in the shooting.
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I don't give a f**k about the Taliban. I want affordable health care and my country fixed
Al Jazeera has learnt that a plan is being considered to pay up to $1bn to Taliban fighters to persuade them to lay down their arms.
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"A new poll finds Fox News as the only network that more people say they trust than distrust. Here are the trust/don't trust spreads: Fox 49 to 37, CNN 39 to 41, NBC 35 to 44, CBS 32 to 46, and ABC 31 to 46. Analysis: 'These numbers suggest quite a shift in what Americans want from their news. A generation ago Walter Cronkite was the most trusted man in the country because of his neutrality. Now people trust Fox the most precisely because of its lack of neutrality. It says a lot about where journalism is headed.'" - Political Wire, Link
You mean the average American, the one who can't find Texas on a f-ing map, is stupid?
Who knew?
Gee, it's almost like talking stupid gives them an advantage.
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WTF happened?
How did we lose everything in one year? Link
How did we lose everything in one year? Link
Excerpt:
What's happened is that, true to form, Democrats can't seem to get out of their own way. Unlike the right, the party leadership, from Obama on down, is comprised of a bunch of spineless, visionless, disorganized, pseudo-intellectual sailors sinking in a sea of their own delusion and denial.
What's happened is that, true to form, Democrats can't seem to get out of their own way. Unlike the right, the party leadership, from Obama on down, is comprised of a bunch of spineless, visionless, disorganized, pseudo-intellectual sailors sinking in a sea of their own delusion and denial.
Obama's health-care reform bill is just about dead all because of one new Republican Senator. According to Harry Reid, no super-majority, no reform. That's it.
Despite owning the White House, a 78 seat edge in the House and a 59-41 majority in the Senate, health-care is dead because of Scott Brown. How lame can Democrats be?
Should we bother to answer that question?
When the GOP feared losing Texas, it rushed into action and Tom DeLay redrew the lines to give the GOP more votes in order to win. Democrats lose one Senate seat and its whole agenda is thrown into a coma.
The Democrats are rudderless, drama queens with contemptible timidity.
Obama is our rudder, but he can't seem to find the water with his oar.
Obama is our rudder, but he can't seem to find the water with his oar.
Could somebody show the president where the water is - please?
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Until it links the Midwest, it's a nonstarter. "US President Barack Obama has repeated a vow to improve the economy, as he sought to boost confidence a day after his first State of the Union speech. During a visit to Florida, Mr Obama said: "We're not going to rest until we've rebuilt an economy in which... businesses are hiring again." He also announced $8bn (£5bn) in grants for high-speed rail developments. Mr Obama said he wanted to get Americans working on the country's infrastructure. The White House says that the high-speed rail projects will create or save thousands of jobs in engineering, manufacturing, planning and maintenance."
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If cats were bloggers and politicians: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMPzzDrc4VI&feature=player_embedded#
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Meet the WHY yacht.
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Newsflash: Republicans aren't on your side
The State of the Union is always a big deal in politics. Unless there's a presidential election, it's generally the event of the year. And this one went pretty well (Read the transcript here or view the video here). Whether it's a good speech or a bad speech, it's always the most important speech ever, picked apart by pundits and encoded into spin by opponents and other pundits.
Initial reactions in the chamber itself are usually limited to displays of disapproval through withholding applause, not rising to your feet when the other party does, slow claps, head shaking, slouching, etc. Rep. Joe Wilson was apparently locked in a steamer trunk like Houdini, since he managed to refrain from voicing his opinion this time around.
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PETA wants to take Punxsutawney Phil away from Gobbler's Knob and give the little guy a dignified retirement at an animal sanctuary. In his place, you guessed it: A robot groundhog. Gemma Vaughan, PETA's animals in entertainment specialist, fired off a letter to groundhog club president William Deeley this week, asking for his promise that the group will forgo the use of real rodents in future Groundhog Day celebrations. Little Phil, Vaughan wrote, is a pretty unhappy fellow, "forced to be on display year round at the local library and is denied the ability to prepare for and enter yearly hibernation." Groundhogs are typically shy creatures, Vaughan goes on to explain, and they can become easily upset when confronted by throngs of people, loud noises and camera flashes.
I used to care about PETA, but then I read this.
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Fox News Twitter fail
Last night, during the State of the Union, Fox News' Major Garrett accidentally showed his support for a Las Vegas-based consortium of whores via Twitter. See, he Tweeted: "To overcome the numbing weight of our politics" and other Obama SOTU excerpts Tea Baggers Want Palin to Quit For-Profit Tea Bagger Convention
Quitting is what Sarah Palin does best, but will she heed entreaties from her tea bagger fan base and reneg on her speaking engagement at the National Tea Party Convention at Opryland in Nashville next weekend? http://www.pensitoreview.com/2010/01/28/tea-baggers-want-palin-to-quit-for-profit-tea-bagger-convention/
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Gayle Haggard, wife of meth-snorting fan of gay prostitutes Ted Haggard has just had a press conference in which she announces that Ted Haggard is completely heterosexual…to which I can only reply with this song:
Mrs Haggard also says "Our sexuality is conditioned, and we can be conditioned in any number of ways," which I think is partly true, but I also think is a bit disturbing. It can't be a boost to Gayle Haggard's self-esteem to think that her husband needed the Clockwork Orange treatment in order to find her sexually attractive, and to stop his eye from wandering to the willowy young man with needle tracks in his arm living on a street corner in the bad part of town.
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The saddest story Jeremy Scahill has ever written: Blackwater's Youngest Victim.
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We are so screwed - economics edition
That is basically the central point of Paul Krugman's column today in the NY Times.
You should read the entire piece. But if you don't want to take the time, here is the conclusion:
You should read the entire piece. But if you don't want to take the time, here is the conclusion:
We're paralyzed in the face of mass unemployment and out-of-control health care costs. Don't blame Mr. Obama. There's only so much one man can do, even if he sits in the White House. Blame our political culture instead, a culture that rewards hypocrisy and irresponsibility rather than serious efforts to solve America's problems. And blame the filibuster, under which 41 senators can make the country ungovernable, if they choose — and they have so chosen.
I'm sorry to say this, but the state of the union — not the speech, but the thing itself — isn't looking very good.
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Actions speak louder than SOTU, Carebear
The Hill tells us…
A day after bashing lobbyists, President Barack Obama's administration has invited K Street insiders to join private briefings on a range of topics addressed in Wednesday's State of the Union.
The Treasury Department on Thursday morning invited selected individuals to "a series of conference calls with senior Obama administration officials to discuss key aspects of the State of the Union address."
How nice of Timmy Geithner to call his friends in for coffee and pastries, and insider information. Old habits are hard to break, eh Timmy?
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Tea Baggers are our canary in the coal mine.
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Corporation runs for Maryland Congressional seat to protest SCOTUS campaign finance decision.
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Helicopter Ben gets another 4 years.
Fun fact: 30 votes is the largest number of votes ever cast against a federal reserve chair nominee.
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"They kept waiting to shoot me until they saw the whites of my eyes. Well, I sure fooled them, and that's why I'm still here today!"
