The News Junkie

2004-08-11T21:12:00.000-05:00

Today I registered to vote in North Carolina. That's right people. Not my solidly Democratic home state of California. Listen, if you are going to school in a state remotely contested in the upcoming election at any level, Presidential, Congressional, even State, you owe it to yourself to shape up and register there. Oh I know you've heard it will inconvenience your dainty self, but so will four more years of Republican control of this country. Whew. Now go do it. The good news is, registering is easier than ever with a national voter registration form that can be found here.

Tomorrow we hit the campaign trail again. Greensboro and Winston-Salem.

2004-08-10T21:59:00.000-05:00

Erskine Bowles, me

2004-08-10T21:57:00.000-05:00

North Carolina First Tour 2004

2004-08-10T21:56:00.001-05:00

Me getting a little help from the candidate

2004-08-10T21:56:00.000-05:00

Our glorious bus

2004-08-10T21:55:00.000-05:00

Press Sec. Carlos, Me, Erskine's Assistant Cam

2004-07-30T16:30:00.000-05:00

so i am writing from the inside of the tahoe (the SUV I have been driving most of the bus tour) on the runway of the private airport where I am picking up Crandall erskine's wife. I am on fast 802.11G wireless, the same fast wireless i was on last night when I spent two hours at the holiday inn express (not our hotel) uploading and captioning pictures. We are all getting pretty tired but we push on. The BBQ last night at Wilber's was one of the best things ever. I got a BBQ pork plate. the sides i chose were fresh tomatoes from their farm which they also sell whole, and bbq potatoes which are essentially marinated in the same light vinegary carolina bbq sauce. really awesome. I have been filming a lot this leg, mostly on a Canon GL1. I have been filming theevents, and life on the road. I have now met some of the biggest icons in NC politics. Former Governor Hunt who is the most beloved man alive in this state, and Congressman Bob Etheridge. Every day I learn more about the state, and the quality of people erskine surrounds himself with.

2004-07-26T17:58:00.000-05:00

I have been very bad about updating. The first leg of the bus tour is over. It has been both exhausting and rewarding. At times it has been hilarious, at times frustrating. I got to know racing legend Junior Johnson pretty well, and I have free bags of his brand of pork skins to prove it. I have gotten to know the people on the campaign much better, and have learned to take torrents of abuse from everyone about going to Duke. Especially from Erskine Bowles himself, who went to UNC. Its all good though. I did a lot of driving in the Tahoe (close to 1000 miles) with more awaiting me on the next leg. On the campaign trail, you learn to think on your feet, and roll with the punches. I am still tired from the first leg as we prepare to head out again. I bought two new books on cd (The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and the new David Sedaris book) because I finished Clintons book on cd. From what I hear upperclassmen at Duke are so upset about us 08'ers getting free ipods that they started a petition of some sorts. I will have my laptop on the second leg so maybe I will update on the road.

Please visit www.bowles2004.com and check out the campaign blog to see what we are up to. Make sure to look at the pictures.

2004-07-14T07:08:00.000-05:00

I have not posted and that is horrible of me. The Kerry-Edwards rally was awesome. I was at the very front of 25 thousand people (largest Kerry rally yet). I drove well over 400 miles around the state one day. I feel like I am getting to know it pretty well.

Bowles is scheduled to tour the Pactolus Volunteer Fire Department at 2:45 p.m., his campaign announced Monday. He will discuss ideas to improve domestic security.

yup i helped arrange that. campaigns are fun if sometimes a little scary.

We are back to a bus by the way and we have almost finished work on the wrap.

“I want you to make it personally important to you that Erskine Bowles takes my place in the United States Senate” -John Edwards

2004-07-07T21:11:00.000-05:00

So I didn't get a chance to report on my first day which was awesome and action packed. My commute is long (40min w/o traffic) but the people are awesome and I got lots to do immediately, oh and my new car kicks ass. I am in charge of getting the wrap (think of the outer covering on John Kerry's Real Deal Express) taken care of for the RV on our 10 day Bus (actually RV) tour through the state starting July 20th. 12+ hour days CAN be fun as yesterday proved.

All of yesterday paled in comparison to today. I spent the day tracking down Andy Griffith and planning the 10 day bus tour I will be going on. In fact, as it turns out I may be the poor schmuck in charge of a lot of the logistics and scheduling. OY. But cool OY. Tomorrow I am driving halfway across the globe (3-4 hours each way) to Charlotte where I will probably film a campaign ad, as well as take pictures and measure the RV. So that means I will probably meet Erskine. Wow .

I hope I don't burn out at this rate. There are almost two weeks till we kick off the tour. I will be testing my endurance. At least it gets dark really late so I don't feel like I am working that long.

I miss everyone back home but this is really looking like the experience of a lifetime.

2004-07-05T20:36:00.000-05:00

Sitting here eating a bowl full of cherries. My friend in the campaign informs me that at the end of July Erskine is going on a ten day bus trip. He said, get this, I could be doing advance work! OH YEAH!

2004-07-05T19:36:00.000-05:00

So the groundbreaking news making me oh so happy is Coach K's decision to stay at Duke

Here I am in North Carolina getting the best welcoming presents ever.

THE NEW CAR RULES!

achem

Anywho, tomorrow I start work on the campaign and I am a tad nervous. Not quite sure what to expect but it will be fun I am sure.

2004-07-04T20:16:00.000-05:00

Best picture of the trip. They both fell out of their chairs at the same time while trying to eat flying M&M's

2004-07-04T20:15:00.000-05:00

Underwater Bro's

2004-07-04T20:14:00.004-05:00

RAY!

2004-07-04T20:14:00.003-05:00

Our Palapa

2004-07-04T20:14:00.002-05:00

Our house in Akumal, Casa Papagayo

2004-07-04T20:14:00.001-05:00

Living on the edge

2004-07-04T20:14:00.000-05:00

Post Cavern/Cenote Dive euphoria

2004-07-04T20:13:00.001-05:00

On our way

2004-07-04T20:13:00.000-05:00

Living on the edge

2004-07-04T20:11:00.000-05:00

Cave dive in a Cenote

2004-07-03T13:05:00.000-05:00

I am not a Yankees fan, but Jeter made one hell of a catch

2004-07-02T16:10:00.000-05:00

DON'T GO COACH K! Stupid Lakers try and ruin everything

2004-07-02T16:07:00.000-05:00

US Secretary of State Colin Powell performs a version of the Village People hit disco song "YMCA" at the conclusion of Asia's largest security meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday July 2, 2004. Powell took to the stage, dressed as a construction worker Friday, with other unidentified US diplomats to deliver their rendition of the 1970's hit song to an audience of Asia Security meeting delegates.
In case you were wondering this happens every year at ASEAN. I am going to try and dig up what Madeleine Albright did because my mom performed with her I think.

2004-07-02T15:52:00.000-05:00

Well I had to take a break from packing so here are the latest odds on Kerry's VP pick.

Bloomberg reports

The Intrade Betting Exchange gives Edwards a 53.5 percent chance at being Kerry's choice for vice president.

U.S. Representative Richard Gephardt of Missouri ranks second with a 10.1 percent in futures trading. New York Senator Hillary Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton, is in third place with a 7 percent chance on the index. Retired General Wesley Clark is given 3.1 percent odds.

Mike Knesevitch, Intrade's communications director, calls the exchange a ``24-hour public opinion poll.'' Traders put their money where their opinions are with $10 contracts that range from the Democratic running-mate choice to whether President George W. Bush, 57, will be re-elected. Bush is given a 56.2 percent chance of winning.

The CQ Tip Sheet lists the odds as follows:

Sen. John Edwards, N.C.

Odds: 3-1 (Chance for the ticket: 25 percent)

Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, Mo.

Odds: 5-1 (Chance for the ticket: 20 percent)

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, N.Y.

Odds: 9-1 (Chance for the ticket: 10 percent) (NOTE: I consider this much less likely)

Sen. Bob Graham, Fla.

Odds: 12-1 (Chance for the ticket: 8 percent)

Gov. Tom Vilsack, Iowa

Odds: 12-1 (Chance for the ticket: 8 percent)

Retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark

Odds: 17-1 (Chance for the ticket: 6 percent)

Gov. Mark Warner, Va.

Odds: 19-1 (Chance for the ticket: 5 percent)

Sen. Evan Bayh, Ind.

Odds: 24-1 (Chance for the ticket: 4 percent)

Sen. Bill Nelson, Fla.

Odds: 24-1 (Chance for the ticket: 4 percent)

Former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin

Odds: 24-1 (Chance for the ticket: 4 percent)

Gov. Bill Richardson, N.M.

Odds: 30-1 (Chance for the ticket: 3 percent)

Gov. Janet Napolitano, Ariz.

Odds: 30-1 (Chance for the ticket: 3 percent)

Wild Cards: Democratic buzz puts these men on the Veepstakes entrants at the last minute, and with 50-1 odds: Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia (1972-97).

2004-06-29T17:44:00.000-05:00

I'm back from Mexico. I'll start news-ing it up again once things settle down. Leaving for N.C. July 5th (I want to see everyone before I go). I'll try and give some campaign updates while I am there.

2004-06-20T17:55:00.000-05:00

I cannot wait for Mexico. AHHH lots of packing to do.

New Prison Abuse Charges

2004-06-19T02:03:00.003-05:00

Oh damn. Al-Qaida actually killed Johnson. Don't look at the pictures if you are at all squeamish.

The full story

PRESIDENT BUSH ON CAMERA: "The murder of Paul shows the evil nature of the enemy we face. These are barbaric people. There's no justification whatsoever for his murder, and yet they killed him in cold blood. And it should remind us that we must pursue these people, and bring them to justice before they hurt other Americans... May God bless Paul Johnson"

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY IN COLORADO: "This horrendous act shows once again the nature of the enemy that we're facing in the war on terror. They have no shame, not a shred of decency, and no mercy even for the innocent."

SENATOR KERRY PAPER STATEMENT: "Americans are united against the terrorists who committed this abhorrent act against an American civilian in Saudi Arabia. It is essential that we have the full cooperation of the Saudi government in tracking down these terrorists and destroying al Qaeda. This must be our nation's highest priority."

An anonymous author in the CIA is publishing a condemnation of the Bush Administration

2004-06-19T02:03:00.002-05:00

2004-06-19T02:03:00.001-05:00

2004-06-19T02:03:00.000-05:00

2004-06-17T16:36:00.000-05:00

upside down chair day in Iraq

2004-06-17T16:35:00.000-05:00

Is Vincente Fox running for President in this country?

2004-06-17T16:22:00.000-05:00

Rumsfeld acknowledges hiding a prisoner...

Secret detention centers

Online Police Scanner for San Diego

Newt Gingrich the Top 500 Amazon Reviewer?

Bush insists on an Iraq connection

Senate Dems trying to get interrogation documents

Oil is up more than a buck

2004-06-17T14:43:00.000-05:00

from ABCNEWS's The Note

Even aides to several leading contenders admit that the Edwards boomlet is real. They believe that Senator Kerry has seen polls that show how Edwards helps him in states like Wisconsin and Florida. Those Democrats will close ties to the Senate and House races think an Edwards on the ticket could enhance the prospects of an Erskine Bowles victory in North Carolina and help Inez Tennenbaum in South Carolina.

Hell yeah. Bowles 2004!

2004-06-16T13:46:00.000-05:00

FIRE! A truce is lifted in ethics investigations as Reupublican Tom Delay comes under attack

2004-06-16T13:11:00.000-05:00

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it."
Theodore Roosevelt

So some really disturbing things today.

We have Vice President Cheney speaking and telling people Saddam

"had long established ties with al Qaeda."

The independent 9/11 Commission reported today "no credible evidence" that Saddam Hussein had ties with al-Qaida.

Look all election politics aside, what Cheney is doing is disgusting. The experts say no, a while ago Bush said Cheney's old al-Qaida statements were wrong and now retracted, and today more of the same garbage. How Cheney is staying on I don't know, I guess Bush feels tremendous loyalty towards him. One way you judge a leader is the quality of those he picks to advise him and serve under him.

Gen. H. Norman Schwartzkopf said: "I admire men of character, and I judge character not by how men deal with their superiors, but mostly how they deal with their subordinates, and that, to me, is where you find out what the character of a man is"

2004-06-14T20:13:00.000-05:00

Senators are rich

Orange Cauliflower

2004-06-14T13:35:00.000-05:00

Stolen from the experts at ABC News' The Note

LIKELY DEMOCRATIC STATES: (168 electoral votes)
State Electoral Votes
California 55
New York 31
Illinois 21
New Jersey 15
Massachusetts 12
Maryland 10
Connecticut 7
Hawaii 4
Rhode Island 4
Delaware 3
Vermont 3
D.C. 3
TOTAL 168

LIKELY REPUBLICAN STATES: (172 electoral votes)
State Electoral Votes
Texas 34
Georgia 15
North Carolina 15
Virginia 13
Indiana 11
Tennessee 11
Alabama 9
Kentucky 8
South Carolina 8
Oklahoma 7
Kansas 6
Mississippi 6
Nebraska 5
Utah 5
Idaho 4
Alaska 3
Montana 3
North Dakota 3
South Dakota 3
Wyoming 3
TOTAL 172

THE BATTLEGROUNDS:
State Electoral Votes
Florida 27
Pennsylvania 21
Ohio 20
Michigan 17
Missouri 11
Washington 11
Wisconsin 10
Arizona 10
Minnesota 10
Colorado 9
Louisiana 9
Iowa 7
Oregon 7
Arkansas 6
New Mexico 5
West Virginia 5
Nevada 5
New Hampshire 4
Maine 4

REPUBLICAN BATTLEGROUND PUSHES:
Florida 27
Missouri 11
Arizona 10
Louisiana 9
Colorado 9
REPUBLICAN TOTAL 254 (with "pushed" battlegrounds)

DEMOCRAT BATTLEGROUND PUSHES:
Michigan 17
Washington 11
Minnesota 10
Iowa 7
Maine 4
DEMOCRAT TOTAL 217 (with "pushed" battlegrounds)

THE BATTLEGROUNDS LEFT OVER:
State Electoral Votes
Pennsylvania 21
Ohio 20
Wisconsin 10
Oregon 7
New Mexico 5
New Hampshire 4
TOTAL 67

NEEDED TO WIN: 270 electoral votes

2004-06-14T12:46:00.000-05:00

School's out for summer! An Iraqi man is carried on the shoulders of his family members and friends as he is released from Abu Ghraib prison

2004-06-14T12:40:00.000-05:00

It doesn't come as a surprise to me, but a major BOMBSHELL has dropped. Cheney and his staff were involved in the Haliburton decision, a contradiction of previous statements.

Bush pays tribute to Clinton?

Torture approved at highest levels of government. Not isolated but systematic.

OMG...God stays in the pledge of allegiance

Meryl Streep's performance in the soon to be released remake (Note to certain people angered by inaccurate remake of original film: this is a remake of the original novel which was more like this new film) of The Manchurian Candidate is eerily like Hilary Clinton.

From a great column in the Sunday Times

Would Mr. Reagan have done what Mr. Bush did in Iraq?

The longest answer comes in a new critique of neoconservativism, "America Alone," by Stefan Halper, a professor at Cambridge University, and Jonathan Clarke, a fellow at the Cato Institute. Their book faults neoconservatives for calling the Iraq war an example of "neo-Reaganite" foreign policy.

"I do not believe Reagan would have proceeded with this war in Iraq," Professor Halper, who was a deputy assistant secretary of state in the Reagan administration, said in an interview. "Reagan sought to exhaust every possible alternative before proceeding to commit troops to achieve his policy ends. He would have had doubts about the intelligence on W.M.D. and seen the war as a very uncertain enterprise."

Professor Halper said Mr. Reagan wanted to be assured of military success, as he was in the invasion of Grenada, and showed his wariness by withdrawing troops from Lebanon after the bombing of a Marine barracks. "If you look at how Reagan handled the cold war, the leitmotif of the second term was one of negotiation," he said.

A Reagan invasion, though, might have been different tactically. Mr. Meese and Gen. John W. Vessey Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Mr. Reagan, both recalled his instruction to the military during the planning for the Grenada invasion: Double the number of troops you think you need so there will be fewer casualties on both sides.

2004-06-14T12:39:00.000-05:00

Angered by President Bush's conduct of foreign policy and dismayed about America's diminished reputation abroad, more than two dozen former top diplomats and military leaders will release a statement this week calling for a change in U.S. national security policy.

The group calls itself Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change.

Full write up here

2004-06-13T13:30:00.000-05:00

Homeboys Kerry and McCain chizill while they discuss automobile mileage standards, and 22 inch rims

2004-06-13T13:28:00.000-05:00

You da man, NO you da man...Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., meets with Interim Iraqi Governing Council President Sheikh Ghazi Ajil al-Yawar on Capitol Hill

2004-06-13T13:25:00.000-05:00

Iraq carbombing kills 12

Egyptian Necropolis discovered

Baby excercise classes to combat obesity

2004-06-13T01:03:00.000-05:00

Al-Qaida claims it kidnapped and killed Americans in Saudi Arabia

Nader Campaign Run Out of Charity Office; Possibly Afoul of Laws... Developing...

Bush asking for Vatican political help?

Shy Kerry

HAHAHAHAH Kucinich is auctioning a portrait of himself on ebay. He calls it a "historical portrait"

Bush not getting credit for improved economy

2004-06-13T01:01:00.000-05:00

Bush Sr. not aging so well

2004-06-11T18:08:00.000-05:00

More on the not so fun Reagan legacy

2004-06-11T15:55:00.000-05:00

Australians chew mice to win a vacation

The ultimate sleeping system

Good article on the difference between Reagan and GWB

2004-06-08T23:33:00.000-05:00

what a goofball

2004-06-08T22:48:00.000-05:00

9/11 Commission SLAMS CIA/FBI

CIA and Senate arguing over release of prewar intel

2004-06-08T19:28:00.000-05:00

YAY the news is back.

UN Iraq Resolution Passed Unanimously

Greenspan is ready to raise rates to curb inflation

Controversial ad for Stepford Wives shows Hilary and Condi

Ashcroft is grilled on the use of torture

More gloating Enron tapes...

Reagan on the $10 bill?

Interesting look at how Bush gets along with foreign leaders.

Good poll numbers for Kerry from Gallup. But remember, their poll is not reliable. Sorry to repeat this, but trust major networks only. CBS,NBC,ABC

Colorado Repub's lose redistricting effort

2004-06-06T19:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates this weekend. Not only was it prom, but Ronald Reagan passed away and sucked the life out of all other news-stories as well.

2004-06-03T18:31:00.000-05:00

Trent Lott is such a nice guy. He was talking about prison abuse on the radio

"When WAPT news anchor Brad McMullan noted that a prisoner died at Abu Ghraib, apparently after a beating, Lott responded, 'This is not Sunday school; this is interrogation; this is rough stuff.' ... Some of the prisoners 'should not have been prisoners in the first place, probably should have been killed,' he added."

The full write-up

If a Republican criticizes the partial-birth abortion ruling. Mention that Phyllis J. Hamilton was approved by unanimous consent on May 24, 2000, after Bill Clinton nominated her for a federal district court seat. Is this significant? Every other Clinton nomination was held up for years.

2004-06-03T18:18:00.000-05:00

Let America Be America Again
by Langston Hughes

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!

2004-06-03T18:05:00.000-05:00

The Farenheit 911 Trailer is out

hilarious

2004-06-03T10:09:00.000-05:00

George Tenet
resigns

2004-06-02T23:11:00.000-05:00

The Chalabi investigation. He may have leaked tons of intel to Iran. Great guy to trust.

U.S. Forces stoned as they pull out of town in Sunni Triangle
Polygraph testing at the Pentagon about Chalabi

2004-06-02T13:49:00.000-05:00

The ABC News/Money magazine Consumer Comfort Index stands at -18 on its scale of +100 to -100. It was at -16 last week after a 5-point fall, and is now well below its long-term average, -9 in weekly polls since late 1985.

Democrat Stephanie Herseth defeated Republican Larry Diedrich 51 percent to 49 percent -- by a total of 132, 066 votes to 128,990 in the special election to replace Rep. Bill Janklow. The AP reports that "South Dakotans went to the polls in record numbers" with just over 56% of registered voters casting ballots.

Enron bastards caught on tape laughing about natural disasters in California

Bush calls Chirac his friend

More soldiers prevented from leaving Army

2004-06-02T10:43:00.000-05:00

Democrats have a chance at southern senate seats. Note the numerous references to Erskin Bowles whom I am working for this summer.

2004-06-02T10:34:00.000-05:00

OPEC raises production

Crawford Texas Mayor supports Kerry

2004-06-01T23:48:00.000-05:00

EWWWWW fat baby

2004-06-01T16:34:00.000-05:00

President Bush opens umbrella in gusting rain, immediately pops open, pool reporter Greg Hitt of the Wall Street Journal writes... Bush "wrestled it all the way to AF1, before handing it over to the officer accompanying him, still inside out..."

2004-06-01T16:27:00.000-05:00

UMMMMMMMMMMMM

2004-06-01T16:05:00.000-05:00

Busy day in the world.

Another record high for oil 42.33 or +6%

REALLY GOOD NEWS: Partial-birth abortion ban ruled unconstitutional

I am so pro-choice I kill babies after they have been born :D

Bush warns violence will increase in Iraq

Interim Iraqi Govt. begins work

Kerry says Nuclear Terrorism is the gravest threat to the U.S.

119.4 Billion dollars and counting

Padilla (Dirty bomber)documents

NEW UN RESOLUTION SETS END DATE FOR US MISSION IN IRAQ: State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher says mandate ends once "democratic elections under a new constitution" occur, meaning mandate would end by Jan. 2006

New Kerry ad

Special election in South Dakota looks like a win for the Dems. For those keeping score at home, this would be the second special election loss this year for the G.O.P.

2004-06-01T00:51:00.000-05:00

Paul Bremer, dictator

2004-05-31T20:37:00.000-05:00

Oldest person dies at 114

Woman performs C-section on herself

The U.S. meddle in decision making for the new government? NEVER!

Kerry criticizes Bush's military policy

Britain backs end to ban on EU weapon sales to China

2004-05-31T14:19:00.000-05:00

Joshua Menusa, 4, holds a photo of his father, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Menusa, at his home Thursday, May 27, 2004, in Santa Maria, Calif. Joseph Menusa was killed in an ambush March 27, 2003, the day his battalion arrived in Iraq. Joshua and his mother, Stacy Menusa, plan to observe Memorial Day quietly, going to a cemetery for services.

2004-05-31T14:11:00.000-05:00

Bush White House losing its once famous discipline

Unprecedented negativity from BC04 (Bush-Cheney 2004)

Kerry-Bush Battle of the Bikes

Missing: Laptop of DEA informants

2004-05-31T12:03:00.000-05:00

OOOOOOH LOOKY HERE RUMSFELD IS ALL SMILES ON MEMORIAL DAY. I WANT TO WIPE THAT GRIN OFF HIS FACE.

2004-05-29T13:39:00.000-05:00

damnit. Pakistan tests nuclear capable missle

Bad news for the world's scariest arms race

Pat Tillman killed by friendly fire

2004-05-28T16:36:00.000-05:00

Clashing ties make my head hurt

2004-05-28T16:30:00.000-05:00

Toddler pronounced dead wakes up before Funeral

Dept. of Homeland Security was surprised by terror warning

The new Prime Minister of Iraq

This weeks's ads

The Bush campaign yanked all of their ads this week to replace them with "Patriot Act," which rails on Kerry for his position(s) on the infamous legislation.
The Kerry campaign continues to run their bio spots, and on Friday they launched a new Spanish language bio ad that touts his shared service with many Hispanics in the armed forces.
There are two anti-Nader ads running to stop Nader from running.
There are several outside groups running ads on various themes: Rumsfeld is bad, drug costs are Bush's fault, national security is Bush's forte, and Hispanic unity is required behind Democrats.

By the numbers...

1 Bush ad bashing Kerry on national security
2 Kerry ads telling his life story
1 Kerry Spanish language ad touting his military service and that of many American Hispanics
2 anti-Nader ads by 2 different groups
1 anti-Bush/Rumsfeld ad by MoveOn.org
1 pro-Bush ad by the Club for Growth
1 anti-Bush ad by the Media Fund on drug costs
4 different ads by the New Democrat Network promoting Hispanic unity behind Democrats

The Wall Street Journal's ed board chides President Bush for not being more candid with Americans on Monday that U.S. overtures to the UN "won't mean any more foreign troops to help us in Iraq." According to the Wall Street Journal, sometimes they think it would be good of Kerry won "just so the Europeans could reject his pleas for help too.

2004-05-27T22:20:00.000-05:00

CBS poll shows Kerry in the lead by 8 points, 14 if McCain were on the ticket.

2004-05-27T15:59:00.000-05:00

People think immigrants take jobs people don't want, but still think immigrants hurt the country.

2004-05-27T15:52:00.000-05:00

Very little has been learned from Prison Interrogations in Iraq

Minnesota's legislature likes to party

2004-05-26T20:02:00.000-05:00

RAWRRRRRRRR

2004-05-26T16:16:00.000-05:00

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, JOHN AND TERESA HEINZ KERRY...

So the real estate agent calls about showing the house (parents are in Palo Alto next year)
They drop by and I rushed to answer the door spilling water all over myself in the process. It was one of those "I rushed to the door and spilled" explanations, and I don't think they bought it. Hope they don't mind renting from the incontinent.

KERRY WILL ACCEPT NOMINATION AT DEM CONVENTION IN JULY

Army Survey shows abuse is widespread

A clown named "Spanky" was arrested on child porno charges. Big surprise there.

Tape shows Nixon was too drunk to talk to the British Prime Minister during the 6 Day War.

Russian Boarder Guards ordered to smile more

"Some people have objected that our border guards are not very smiley," Mr Shibayev said. "But now we hope that they will be more friendly."

Terry Nichols found guilty

Al Gore's big speech

2004-05-25T19:45:00.000-05:00

Feeling kind of blah
Reasons:

-Lack of Sleep

-Not currently at a party in costume

Killer Swan!

Damage to holy shrine makes Iraqis mad

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE TAKES SHARP HIT: Weekly ABC/Money Magazine Consumer Comfort Index down five points since last week, an unusually large drop... It's fallen that far only 22 times in 961 continuous weeks of ABC/Money polls.... Due mostly to rising gas prices...

New Bush attack ad on Patriot Act

GORE ON WEDNESDAY TO CALL FOR 5 ADMINISTRATION RESIGNATIONS: Speech at NYU sponsored by MoveOn PAC... to call for resignation of five members of Bush Administration team and one member of the military command "responsible for the failed policy and abuse of prisoners in Iraq..." MoveOn says speech sold out in less than 2 hours...

According to the Washington Post these are things the President did not do in his speech:

"provide the midcourse correction that even some Republicans had called for in the face of increasingly macabre violence in recent weeks."

- "try to answer some of the looming questions that have triggered growing skepticism and anxiety at home and abroad about the final U.S. costs, the final length of stay for U.S. troops, or what the terms will be for a final U.S. exit from Iraq."

What the president did do:

Bush "said his current plan is good enough to win, and he set out to rally Americans to his cause with rousing language that placed the conflict in Iraq in the context of the larger, more popular battle against terrorism."

Correction of the Day:

Washington Post : "In some May 21 editions, a photo caption misstated President Bush's April fundraising total. The Bush campaign raised $15.6 million, not $15.6 billion."

Al Qaeda is out for summer!

2004-05-24T16:06:00.000-05:00

So much important news today, please stay informed. Bush's speech is at 5pm PST

Highly reputable CBS poll shows abominable Bush numbers

The equally repitable and equally bad for Bush ABC et al. Poll

Brilliant editorial comparing Bush to Nixon in order to make the argument that the Republican Party must drop Bush.

White House asks the media to respect Bush Twins. Right don't focus on them just because they have run-ins with the law and are doing a spread in Vogue.

Supreme Court allows searches of parked cars. Lesson to take from the case: Don't drive a gold Lincoln town car.

Oil is back up not that it was down much.

David is clean! hurrah

Speaker Dennis Hastert told the New York Times that, in dealing with Mr. Bush, "You have to get through a little Texas cocky..."

Time Mag reports on Bush's pep talk

"Some lawmakers checked e-mail on their BlackBerrys or read newspapers on their laps while Bush rambled 'on and on and on with a stream-of-thought speech that lasted 35 minutes,' groused a G.O.P. Representative, adding that the applause afterward was only 'polite.'"

Harvard report on the failure to secure fissile material

Less fissile material was secured in the two years after Sept. 11, 2001, than in the two years just before, according to the Harvard report, which was obtained by The Washington Post ." Former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, who is sometimes mentioned as a possible running mate for Kerry and who heads the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative that funded the study, warns, "What's missing is a sense of urgency." "Nunn believes President Bush must focus on removing bureaucratic hurdles and work more pointedly with Russian President Vladimir Putin."

Go Senator Nunn! When I was like 8 I asked him a tough question about our country's preparedness for Chem-Bio attacks.

A look at the political cost of Gasoline

2004-05-23T21:51:00.000-05:00

Rumsfeld bans camera phones

2004-05-23T20:29:00.000-05:00

Peter 'stache-ing it up

2004-05-23T20:27:00.000-05:00

CRAP

2004-05-23T20:26:00.000-05:00

2004-05-23T20:24:00.000-05:00

Lower Hermosa

2004-05-23T13:32:00.000-05:00

So while this may not be news per se, I want to recount a few things from last night before I forget them.

Pauly Shore (So B list that at this point I almost wondered how he got in)

Our costumes of course (if you didn't see it I'll have pics eventually)

People not knowing who I was, or thinking I was someone else

Random people who wanted to take pictures with me and grab my ass

Getting props from the people who knew who we were dressing as (especially those hired breakdancers and the security guards who all got it)

Just about all of Lower Hermosa crew getting thrown out (and sneaking back in) but me

Coordinated security guard and MTV camera crew drama

Females (who I think detest real douche-bag moustaches) lapping up the fake ones

And that's all I am going to mention.

EDIT: Katie has some pics up, not the best angle on the outfit but it gives you the idea, minus the matching loafers

2004-05-21T08:19:00.000-05:00

Video of the abuse

2004-05-21T00:20:00.001-05:00

Disgusting

Just wrong

OH SNAP! A TON OF IRAQI ABUSE NEWS IS BREAKING

New statements from prisoners

Sworn statement from prisoner: witnessed an Army translator having sex with a boy. He said the boy was between 15 and 18 years old. Someone hung sheets to block the view, but said he heard the boy's screams and climbed a door to get a better look. Said he watched the assault and told investigators that it was documented by a female soldier taking pictures. 'The kid was hurting very bad,' he said...

Previously secret sworn statements by detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq describe in raw detail abuse that goes well beyond what has been made public, adding allegations of prisoners being ridden like animals, sexually fondled by female soldiers and forced to retrieve their food from toilets...

Description of new videos

2004-05-20T16:52:00.000-05:00

Akumal

Paradise

We booked our house in Akumal!!!! We have our plane tickets!!!!!!

Good poll for Kerry in New Jersey (Remember what I mentioned a while ago, when in doubt assume the poll is utterly worthless)

ABC News' Karen Travers reports that according to the Bush-Cheney '04's April FEC report, the campaign has officially hit the $200 million mark for total fundraising. As of April 30, BC04 had $71.6 million in cash on hand, putting the campaign's spending at about $128.4 million. In March, BC04 spent nearly $50 million.

A look at Bush's Twin Daughters

Nader kindly mentioned the difference between Kerry and Gore "is the difference between a spruce tree and petrified wood."

Chalabi, known for misleading the suckers in the Bush administration who listen to him tim eand time again, had his house raided by coalition forces in Iraq just a day after the funding for the Iraqi National Congress was cut off. This is a man who said Muqtada Al-Sadr was no problem, that US Forces would be greeted as heroes etc...

Bush tells Congressional Repubs to keep the faith

Rich Lowry of the National Review:
I'm hearing that Bush flopped in his meeting with congressional Republicans. He gave them a pep talk, telling them how good the economy is and how determined he is to prevail in Iraq. Then he didn't take any questions and left. The members, expecting a more substantive session, were disappointed.

Another Hamas leader has been killed

Berlusconi vows to stay with US in Iraq till the end

2004-05-20T16:48:00.000-05:00

Typos happen

2004-05-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

Not cool

2004-05-19T22:30:00.000-05:00

More abuse photos...

2004-05-19T22:25:00.000-05:00

Bush plans to detail his Iraq strategy or lack thereof

Sadr is getting more popular

Gen. Abizaid says Iraq will get more violent after June 30th and require more troops. Um boo.

Giuliani gets heckled by families

In Sen. Byrd's office:
Sen. Byrd to 6'4" Kerry: "What do you have to say about my height?"
Kerry, looking down on Byrd: "You're a growing boy."

Republicans are pissed at McCain

2004-05-19T22:21:00.000-05:00

Not the image you expect to see...

2004-05-19T22:19:00.000-05:00

Why can't we be friends?

Kerry and Nader have a friendly chat

2004-05-18T23:12:00.000-05:00

Its not news, but it is hilarious. Helps if you know a bit of spanish, but the story of the mammoth (el mamut) is universal

2004-05-18T16:52:00.000-05:00

New ABC show in which wives trade places

Fidel Castro can live to 140?

Great picture of a member of the Indian Congress threatening to shoot himself

Reuters, NBC Staff Abused by U.S. Troops in Iraq

Abuse being covered up

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany was bitch slapped!

Barely any Iraqis are working on the reconstruction

Rocket Launcher found near Atlanta Train Station

2004-05-17T22:45:00.000-05:00

Pfc. Lynndie England, the Army soldier seen laughing, smoking and flashing the thumbs-up in front of naked male Iraqis in photographs., has told investigators: Guards forced detainees to crawl on their hands and knees on broken glass and forced male detainees to wear women's 'maxi pads'... Guards also applied needle and thread to prisoners after beating them.... 'Would personally stitch up detainees if the wound weren't too bad' and take pictures of the work. One particular incident, a guard ran a former Iraqi general into a wall and split his lip. The guard than stitched up his lip'...

MP's ordered to strip prisoners

HURRAY for the Gambian giant pouched rat

BAD economic news

Prom arrangements suck

2004-05-17T15:45:00.000-05:00

Sarin nerve agent in roadside bomb

Blix, the former U.N. weapons inspector, said in Sweden Monday that before the war, his team found 16 empty warheads that were marked for use with sarin.

He said it was likely the sarin gas used could have been from a leftover shell found in a chemical dump.

"It doesn't sound absurd at all. There can be debris from the past and that's a very different thing from have stocks and supplies," he said.

Pentagon says Hersh artcile is journalistic malpractice

Bush and Blair speed up exit

Military jets collide over Indiana

Same sex couples are marrying in Mass.

$1,000 omelet

Report from Texans for Public Justice on Bush fundraising

Kerry Campaign Manager Mary Beth Cahill urges the White House to disclose meetings it has had with the lobbyists whom have raised large amounts of funds for BC '04 re-election.

State Department Report on Human Rights and Democracy

The AP reports the "head of the Iraqi Governing Council was killed Monday in a car bombing near a U.S. checkpoint in central Baghdad." And also today, "South Korean officials said the U.S. plans to shift up to 4,000 U.S. troops from their garrisons in South Korea to Iraq to cope with spiraling violence. The move would be the first significant change of U.S. troop levels in South Korea since 1992 and it underscores how the U.S. military is stretched."