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Last year it was reported that pirate attacks rose by 14%

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/16/world/main3371634.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_3371634

Not "probably". It's scarier when a domestic law enforcement agency (like MI5 or FBI) collect this kind of info than when a foreign intelligence service does it (CIA, MI6). The bad new is: when these law enforcement agencies refer to "terrorists", "spies", or "criminals" they're talking about never-convicted, merely-suspected-by-some-white-guy terrorists, etc. Every phone call and unencrypted email message could be read by someone as trustworthy as your last ex-girlfriend. The only thing that is actually preserving our freedoms of speech and movement is that correlating these quantities of data is still a challenge. Not for long.

Check out:
http://security.blogs.techtarget.com/2007/08/29/fbis-dcs-3000-wiretap-system-exposed-to-the-light-of-day/
http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/08/wiretap
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/30/terror/main1949643.shtml

Just did Google searchs.

160K on "Walmart welfare expand".
50K references to "FBI arabic speakers", many about their lack of numbers. here, first listing.
42K on "Secretary of Defense 2.3 trillion". here.

What they hell are you talking about?

The feds built it but the state took over control back when they demanded control of the interstate highway system.

The American Society of Civil Engineers faulted the Corps's levee design, and the Corps has admitted their failure. That has nothing to do with any actions taken by the state.

Nor had the state taken over flood control. The Army Corps of Engineers was still working on flood control projects in the area, though they were massively underfunded.

In 2004, USACE requested $11 million for the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection project; Bush's budget requested only $3 million. Congress increased the amount to $5.5 million. In 2005, the Corps requested $22.5 million - Bush, $3.9 million, and Congress approved $5.7 million.

Investigative articles by the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of the Iraq boondoggle as a reason why funding for the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project dried up in 2003. $250 million in crucial projects was left incomplete, including work right at the site of the main breach.

To add insult to the injury, 35 percent of the Louisiana National Guard had been deployed to Iraq, thus making them unavailable to, you know, Guard that part of the Nation.

The failure of the levvies, and the lack of resources at the state level to deal with it, were the results of deadly incompetence at the federal level.

But it was federalism that allowed the democrats in power in the 20 years before Katrina...

Democrats in power for 20 years? Where?

On the federal level, we had a Republican in the White House from 1980-1992 and 2000-2008. From 1994 to 2006, there was GOP control of the House. 1994-2001 and 2002-2006, Republican control of the Senate.

At the state level, Louisiana had a Republican governor 1980-1984, 1991-1992, and 1996-2004.

hi timesquare... i live in the south bronx. it's not as bad as it once was, to be sure, but i've lived in plenty of not so nice neighborhoods, including Jamaica, Queens and Oakland, CA. Let's see... in Oakland the police shot peaceful protesters (and longshoremen) with "non-lethal" rounds and a crew of them were brought up on charges for abuse of their authority on poor blacks in the neighborhood, but ended up getting off because the suburbanites you speak of were on the jury. As for Queens, the Sean Bell shooting has it's own wikipedia page...

Your posting seems to imply that the more security you have, the more prosperous you can be, which is a ridiculous sentiment. Surely there is some correlation between security and prosperity, but the one does not necessarily imply the other. If it did, we would be lauding the grand prosperity of military dicatatorships.

It's odd how 2 minutes research reveals the truth.

Your polished version of the truth. Read a more honest description here.

Stereotyping is alright if you are a Democrat?

You seem to hold the Bush administration as being quite perfect, considering how you aren't willing to fault them for anything.

You are following the classic liberal strategy, Clinton can do no wrong, the Republicans are responsible for all the evils in the world. Bush has done some bad things, and has been flat-out incompetent in others, but you're deflecting from Clinton by bringing up Bush.

You'll never find "McCain is 72 years old and too old to lead".

You are too easy.

He was following the money, which in the case of the Bush administration, went straight from the federal government to the pockets of CEOs that were intimately close to the Bush administration.

He was following links between Bush and the Saudis. But that link was not there. The Clintons had more links.

Why don't you go ahead and demonstrate your knowledge of the movie (which you clearly haven't watched) and tell us what this "completely false impression" is that was created.

Which I have seen. The impression is clear: The NRA is harsh and uncaring, barging in on Denver right after Columbine, not caring anything about what had happened, trying to capitalize on the tragedy. But as I said the truth is opposite: That meeting was required by law and it was too late to reschedule, they cut days of events, only holding the required meeting. They did the opposite of what Moore suggests. And the "Stay out? We're already here" was cut to mean "we barged in and it's too late to keep us out" when the context that Moore chopped out was Denver is full of NRA members, including the police and fire department who responded to Columbine, so of course the NRA is "already here."

You make it sound like he was living in Beverly Hills.

He shows footage of a practically destroyed Flint, saying he's from there, when his town is actually pretty nice, solid white middle-class, doing quite well.

Why don't you go ahead and tell me what this terrible lie is that you feel I am dismissing?

Smearing the NRA with the KKK even though the NRA was against the KKK.

If it was cut out, how do you know it was filmed? And he never showed a vault of guns in the bank.

Because I have seen the movie and the interviews with the bank personnel. He didn't show a vault, he filmed the bank lady saying they had a vault full of guns, with Moore giving the impression the guns are on-site, especially since they gave it to him right there.

What qualifies you to say that is the impression he wanted to make?

It appears you haven't seen the movie. He walked in and within 15 minutes of filling the form walked out with a gun. The obvious impression is that it is possible to do that at that bank. The part you can't seem to understand is that this was STAGED for him. Contrary to Moore's representation, anyone else could not do the same.

As that shows that you don't believe he said anything worthwhile in the movies and was lying constantly from opening to close.

Thank you for walking into that one. I wanted to see whether you'd zero in on one word to try to dismiss the proven lies and misrepresentations in the movie.

An open minded person would see that he brings up several valid points in each of his documentaries

Find somewhere I said Moore did not bring up valid points in his movies. I didn't because I think he does. The problem is his need to lie and deceive while doing it. If you're okay with that, then you're subscribing to Machiavellian principles, it's okay to lie as long as you agree with the message.

But someone like you, who set

Only 15% of Americans believe that humans evolved, and that God was not involved. With that size of a majority, it's almost inevitable that most school board members, principals, and teachers don't buy the full implications of evolutionary theory.

And yet, evolution continues to be taught in schools nationwide, even most private schools. The clear implication is that most parents may believe in creation to at least some extent, but most don't want their children ignorant of science.

If that's true, then why should Sarah Palin frighten you? Have you seen any policy statements from her office that would imply she favored limiting the teaching of science in school?

(To save you some time, here's what she actually said on the topic:

"Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information....Healthy debate is so important and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject -- creationism and evolution. It's been a healthy foundation for me. But don't be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides."

Nah, this is america where They rule you have to leave your home; Understand, though, economics trumps cleverness.

America's biggest image problem is that people around the world can't distinguish between an American and the Federal Government of the United States of America.

I don't think so. Lots of Europeans dislike the US government and are "concerned" (to put it midly) about the american people because of http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/22/opinion/polls/main657083.shtml. We can understand the Bush-phenomena since all countries have that kind of politicians, but it's a bit harder to understand the 19th century mentality of (the majority of?) americans.

However, most americans who come here (Europe) to work or study are rational and civilized (at least the ones I've met) and therefore appreciated. (Except for the missionaries, who are seen as some kind of excotic animals.)

The administration got absolutely no useful information as a result: they got a series a bogus leads that all turned out to be wild goose chases. And now that the use of torture is known there is no prospect of getting any criminal convictions in a real court of law.

George Tenet has said that the enhanced interrogation techniques ("torture" for those who are "nuanced" on the left that apparently claim moral equivalence between waterboarding and Saddam's cutting out of tongues, raping children in from of parents, and chopping off fingers) gathered more intelligence than all other intel programs combined. Now, you can say Tenet is a liar, but I'd like to hear who your source is on this, other than an anonymous, anti-Bush source in the CIA who doesn't have the balls to ID himself.

Tenet says the interrogations uncovered networks and broke up plots in the U.S.. - Note on this interview - For some astonishing reason, 60 Minutes edited it and removed the part where Tenet claims EIT gathered more intelligence than all other programs combined. Here's the part 60 Minutes cut, but CBS's affiliate did not:

"Here's what I would say to you, to the Congress, to the American people, to the president of the United States: I know that this program has saved lives. I know we've disrupted plots," he tells Pelley. "I know this program alone is worth more than the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency put together, have been able to tell us."

The "shortage" was due to the gaming of the system that you mentioned. By shutting down perfectly good, working power plants, less electricity was supplied, creating an illusion of a true shortage. This was the biggest problem. And by extension, it was more profitable to raise energy prices than to build more power plants; nuclear or otherwise..

Ok... trying again:

Interstate bank of LA three hours fire, five floors:

One Meridien Plaza, scorched for 18 hours.

That 56-story steel framed building in Venezuela burned for over 16 hours.

Question #1: How old is steel?

Question #2: How old is thermite?

You FUCKING IDIOT. You utter, complete, FUCKING IDIOT.

Actually, scratch that. I hope you're not a FUCKING idiot. Because if you're FUCKING, you might do the world an immense disservice and actually manage to reproduce.

Barack Obama has selected West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd as his running mate!

Wow. So how come Google news doesn't mention this? no word yet.

1) http://wbztv.com/politics/jonkeller/john.kerry.vice.2.796143.html

Hey, look! A guy with a blog spouted unfounded rumor! It must be true, I read it on the internet. Did you even bother to read the random blog entry?

2) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/17/politics/main2369157.shtml

Please show me where in this article that says that Obama wishes to execute babies? THAT is why you are a troll. All the stuff you are spewing are incendiary lies at worst and unfounded rumor at best.

1) http://wbztv.com/politics/jonkeller/john.kerry.vice.2.796143.html

2) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/17/politics/main2369157.shtml

So, as you can see, the John Kerry rumor has legs, and Obama was the only senator in the Illinois Senate to speak out on the Senate floor against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. The first time it was put to a vote, he voted "present." Way to have balls and stand up for your beliefs, Barack.

To the parent poster, I regret to inform you that you have failed miserably in your endeavor to appear intelligent.

Hmm, it didn't include the link..
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/24/tech/main595595.shtml

Whoosh. http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/07/11/politics/fromtheroad/entry4254480.shtml

I live in Los Angeles and after having lived in various places in Canada, I have now witnessed the worst laid out roads ever, with more potholes and disrepair than I ever thought occurred in the civilized world.

The BQE in New York beats that any day - it's like the surface of the moon.

That's actually a perfect example... our gas tax is very, very low compared to Canada and (surprise!) you guys spend more money at the Federal level on roads. Personally, I feel that gas tax is not really such a bad tax - it takes usage into account and penalizes people using heavier (an thus more fuel thirsty) cars - which roughly correlates to wear on the roads.

The problem with Federal gas tax is that it gets dished out according to political whim and not based on usage. If you had driven through West Virginia instead of California, you would have experienced some of the finest and emptiest roads in the country. Why? Because they have a powerful Senator.

And THAT is why I'm for a small federal government :) Let the states collect the fuel tax, or put up tolls. Yeah, tolls suck - but at least the money is more likely to stay where the drivers are. And collection systems like EZ-Pass make it much less painful.

As for health care, well part of the reason that it's a mess is the government is actually running 3 systems: a regulated private system, medicare/medicaid, and the VA. The regulated private system has some really shitty rules, like I can't create a non-profit with the purpose of negotiating health insurance for my members - I can only do that with employees... wtf? Hospitals MUST treat patients at their emergency rooms, but patients don't have to pay... what do you think that does to the costs of paying customers? Then, they under-pay doctors and hospitals in the medicare/medicaid programs, further shifting the burden to paying patients. Then they have the VA... a completely independent system where everyone is a government employee. I've heard it's a great place to WORK. The care at these is very cyclical... in the 90's they were absolutely horrendous and now they are hailed as the best health care in the world.

You might be right there that in the US there are obstacles to cutting-edge medicine. At Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, they've been doing cross blood type transplants for years for newborns. At first one would think that it violates a rule of basic organ transplants that the blood types must match. But what they've found is that newborns have not yet developed the antibodies that would cause rejection. The first child to have the operation was 7 as of the report in 2004.

These kinds of transplants were necessary because of the scarcity of donor organs and only performed when there were no other options. First of all, most parents, understandably, do not want to/do not think to donate the organs of their new infant out of grief. Secondly, most newborns die of diseases that might cause them to be eliminated for consideration. Lastly, infants when born are different sizes and their organs also vary in size. Getting a suitable organ that was an exact blood and size match is extremely difficult.

So, to you, stacking the Supreme Court with anti-abortion zealots

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/14/AR2005111400720.html

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2008/05/sekulow_recalls.html

and going after porn with a vengeance by increasing Justice Department prosecutions and devoting FBI resources to porn DURING A TIME OF TERRORISM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/bushs-war-on-porn-perve_b_7704.html

and viciously pushing to remove porn's sources of funding

http://www.forbes.com/2003/05/01/cz_sl_0501porn.html

and levying huge fines on outspoken media opponents for talking about innocuous things

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0408043fcc1.html

or for showing a tit

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/01/entertainment/main626925.shtml

or using swear words

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article390108.ece

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080616/epps

isn't doing much to push the religious agenda?

How much more does it take to convince you that Bush, especially during the time he had no Congressional opposition, was actively doing things to help the religious zealots? Are you sure that YOU haven't been living on Mars the last seven years?

...especially if you're wealthy, WASPy, and in the hole for billions of dollars due to your idiotic business leadership.

How many more years are we going to rob Native Americans of livelihood? Sad fact is, most of the populace will be celebrating Columbus day, not even aware that Native Americans are still the poorest in the nation.

Here's an idea: estimate the value of all real estate in the US and start paying some reparations to the surviving family members. Or at least give them some decent infrastructure since we destroyed their civilization. And if you meet them, they aren't even angry about it... they're probably some of the most patriotic people I've ever met.

Fuck writing your congressman. If you live near a reservation, call them and ask how you can help.

"Grand Old Party" apparently http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/03/politics/main531460.shtml

Changing a bill after it had been passed

One aspect of the pending FBI investigation centers on Young's role in securing a $10 million earmark in the $286.5 billion highway bill passed in 2005. The earmark, which was inserted in the bill after final passage by the House of Representatives and Senate, was for a study of a highway ramp sought by a Florida real estate developer. At a fundraiser while on a trip to Bonita Springs, Fla., to inspect the site, Young received more than $40,000 in donations.

Holding open vote

CBS News correspondent Bob Fuss reports there was chaos on the Hour floor as Republican leaders passed the bill by holding a five-minute vote open for almost 50 minutes until they could convince two Republicans to change their votes.

They buttonholed lawmakers for last-minute lobbying as Democrats complained loudly that the vote should be closed. Finally two GOP lawmakers switched from "no" to "yes," giving the bill's supporters the margin of victory.

(additional examples)
It is against House rules to keep a vote open in order to alter the outcome.

a recorded vote by electronic device shall not be held open for the sole purpose of reversing the outcome of such vote.

"Abusive holds" is difficult to quantify but I'd point towards Tom Coburn's extensive holds.

About as suspicious as this: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/19/world/main2199604.shtml

Perhaps Obama hiring a political director whos is under investigation for hiring felons to Get Out The Vote? During which time those felons were charged with collecting private data, including SoSec numbers of voters.

http://politickeroh.com/republicans-take-new-obama-political-director-task-04-efforts-ohio

Or perhaps Barack's funny deal with Tony Rezko to buy property that Barack could not buy on his own?
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/124171,CST-NWS-obama05.article
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/04/opinion/main3994002.shtml

Or perhaps Obama calling off his visit to troops based on the fact that he couldn't use them as a political backdrop?
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/07/obama-landstuhl.html

More of the whole story with Bill Ayers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers_election_controversy

I am sure there are several things that I have missed. From what I understand Barack was a typical Chicago politician, which means more than a little soiled.

I would have never voted for Obama anyway, so it's not a big loss, but the things I think he's got going against him:

1. Politically expedient religious ties. He makes political hay in Chicago by attending the right churches, even though those same churches supposedly conflict with his personal goals. (Racial harmony, equality regardless of sexual orientation. The church Obama attended has published a great deal of anti-gay material)

2. Questionable dealings with questionable people: Tony Rezko, Bill Ayers, et al

3. Blatant two-facedness. Please refer to many of his statements over the last few weeks.

4. Hubris. The observations are many, from the "guns and religion" comment to the logical matriculation to avoid saying that a troop surge and change in tactics have created an atmosphere of success when reviewed by generals and local political and religious leaders.

5. Everybody loves me! I am not concerned with Europeans regard for our leader. I am more concerned with taxation, gov't subsidies, and energy policy.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/25/supremecourt/main4208760.shtml?source=RSSattr=Business_4208760/

"Justice David Souter wrote for the court that punitive damages may not exceed what the company already paid to compensate victims for economic losses, about $500 million compensation."

Of course they chose to help out Exxon while avoiding giving help to others by specifically limiting the scope of their decision to maritime law.

How does correcting an unfair imbalance equal hamstringing? More attention was paid to boys, and they did better. Now that teachers are giving more time to girls and teaching in a more gender neutral fashion, the scores are becoming more equal.

As mentioned on 60 minutes, "Girls outperform boys in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college, and graduate school".

Does that sound very equal to you?

It goes somewhat against the grain of this report, but what this study seems to indicate is that, relative to their performance in other subject areas, girls aren't doing well in math.

I think that the uninsured are much more likely to receive adequate care for a traumatic injury rather than chronic long term ailments(cancer, kidney, etc). The problem with free market healthcare is that:

The problem is that there is NO free market in health care.

When you are sick/injured and need care it is difficult to shop around in order to save money.

A free market would allow walk in clinics in neighborhoods where costs are lower than paying for an ambulance and being rushed to the ER. Like soup kitchens, someone who wants to help could support these clinics for the indigent.

Healthcare organizations don't usually make public the cost of procedures performed, required drugs, instruments, supplies, access to specialists, etc. Agreements between Insurance companies and healthcare providers further obfuscate the true cost of care.

A free market would require this info to be available. And as for hidden information, it's not just health care where it's hidden, knowledge is also hidden by car and tire manufacturers. Companies like Goodyear and Firestone regularly have court documents sealed when they settle a lawsuit over blown out tires. Now as someone who supports free trade and free markets I abhor the sealing of them. A rational decision requires knowledge which sealing hides.

a good doctor will tailor the care to the patient to provide the best outcome but this further complicates cost comparison

Which is why I don't like HMOs.

Providing high quality cost effective healthcare requires providing ongoing preemptive preventative services

Therefore the neighborhood walk in clinics I mention above.

Falcon

Interesting.

I'd also consider myself fairly libertarian. Always believed in Thomas Paine's credo That government is best which governs least.

And actually, I'd even go as far as Thoreau some days:

I heartily accept the motto "That government is best which governs least" and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which I also believe "That government is best which governs not at all" and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.

But recently I was watching a report on 60 minutes about the happiness of the Danish people (I abhor TV generally, but the GF had it on and couldn't help overhear).

The points that stuck with me:

- For 30 years, the Danes consistently rank themselves happier than the people of any other nation.

- The Danes interviewed credited this to a couple of factors:

1) The have low expectations

2) They have a universal safety net. Health care, education, child care, elder care etc., all taken care of by the State. So they often think of themselves as more "content" than "happy".

3) They have a homogeneous population and very, very low crime rate (no guns! I'm a gun owner, but I'd probably be willing to trade that right to live in a more civil society, assuming that I could trust the government to remain civil towards me).

The tradeoff is 50% income tax!

But I haven't been able to get beyond this for a while now. If socialism is the horrible evil that most Libertarians will tell you it is, then how is it that the happiest country in the world is a socialist country?

I'm not saying we could switch to socialism in the US and be happier. I don't think its that easy. But I do believe that if socialism were really the great evil we're told it is, the Danes wouldn't be self-reporting as the happiest people in the world.

Obviously, there's a lot to be said in the implementation of any particular governmental and economic structure....

...but I happen to believe that most, if not all...

Hey, believe whatever you choose to believe.
Your inability to handle reality demonstrates the true worth of your comment.

But what's really ironic is how you will blow off my other statements and say how I haven't supported them (which I believe I have, at length)

No, all you have done is make unsubstantiated claims. Anybody can put text on the page. Its funny that you would complain about my 'beliefs supported by facts' when you have not provided a single citation.

I've given you citations, look at the list of joke terrorists. And your strange inability to do either basic math or simple grammar.

I've even went so far as to try divine your citations and found your buddy "Laurie" by researching your claims. Her books have been widely criticized for making unsubstantiated leaps of logic. But then you say her books aren't your sources, but you don't give your sources.

In absence of facts, all that's left is critical thinking. Your claims don't pass the muster of critical analysis and when faced with that critical analysis you shy away and bring up other topics.

But since you brought it up as another diversion, here is how it is done:

YOU> And after the invasion, we found documents showing he was on the Iraqi payroll from 1993 to 2003.
YOU> Dick Cheney revealed those papers on NPR and it quickly died after that, because as everyone "knows",
YOU> Iraq has no ties to terrorism.

NPR TRANSCRIPT> I think there's overwhelming evidence that there was a connection between al-Qaeda and
NPR TRANSCRIPT> the Iraqi government. We've discovered since documents indicating that a guy named
NPR TRANSCRIPT> Abdul Rahman Yasin, who was a part of the team that attacked the World Trade Center
NPR TRANSCRIPT> in '93, when he arrived back in Iraq was put on the payroll and provided a house,
NPR TRANSCRIPT> safe harbor and sanctuary. That's public information now.
Iraq On the Record

60 Minutes TRANSCRIPT> Abdul Rahman Yasin fled to Iraq after the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993.
60 Minutes TRANSCRIPT> He lived as a free man for a year, but the authorities in Iraq tell CBS News
60 Minutes TRANSCRIPT> they put him in prison in 1994.
60 Minutes: The Man Who Got Away

So your claim about what Cheney said is false. He NEVER gave a date range. What he said is technically true, but exceptionally misleading. As the 60 minutes interview shows, Yasin was only a free man for a year following the WTC attack.

The fact that you bought the spin in Cheney's claims and expanded them to fill your predetermined beliefs shows me how much you are dedicated to having beliefs supported by facts: not at all.

the case highlights the consequence of having online commons controlled by private corporations.

Your being able to use even a public road for driving is not a right, but a privilege. This is the doctrine, which justifies licensing access to the public roads. Because if it is a right, only a judge can take it away, but if it is a privilege, than the Executive branch has complete discretion.

Wearing objectionable clothing on public commons is even more difficult, and protests/demonstrations on public land also require government's permits, while private property can still be used for any (political) speech.

That said, I'm alarmed, that my predictions for (even if only implicit for now) calls to nationalize Internet-businesses is getting fulfilled so soon...

Well, except for the armistice agreements that ended the the first gulf war demanded that Iraq got rid of it or surrender it for destruction. That is also why the dual use items like the aluminum tubes because such an issue.

I really don't think it was about nothing though. Saddam had shown himself to be less then all their upstairs on more then one occasion. I mean he told his interrogator that the real reason for invading Kuwait had something to do with calling Iraqi women whores.

BTW, if you haven't already, watch that interview. You don't have to believe everything but if some of it is true, it is somewhat telling about why we couldn't get a straight confirmation on a lot of stuff. Saddam was mental in my opinion.

Not really opposing it? He supports it according to every report that I have seen. This is after saying he'd never support the bill if it had immunity for the telcos in it.

Interesting. Googlesearch for obama+telecom+immunity reveals a Guardian article that shows that he voted (with only 30 other Democratic Senators) against the immunity.

This may have been a hedge, though; because the bill started in the Senate, he knew there would be another chance to vote after it came back from the House.

Hmmm, hit #4 in the search is a CBS News piece dated 6/21/2008 that has him issuing a statement in support of the House's update of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but said he would try to strip a provision granting immunity to telecommunication companies when the bill comes to a vote in the Senate next week.

I like the idea of an anti-corporate Senator, and I love the idea of an anti-corporate President. It's about time for another TR.

House Democrats who flipped their votes to support retroactive immunity for telecom companies in last weeks FISA bill took thousands of dollars more from phone companies than Democrats who consistently voted against legislation with an immunity provision, according to an analysis by MAPLight.org. CBS News.

Why am I not surprised?

The way I see it, Bam supports the bill with the exception of the retroactive immunity. He has even stated that he will fight to strip it from the bill. If his words are true, he will support the filibuster.

I know martinw89 linked a page containing all of the links, but in case that was too confusing, I better link them again:

Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4
Article 5
Article 6
Article 7
Article 8
Article 9

Hope that helps

Obama is fighting to remove immunity.

Basically, he's the only Democrat who ISN'T caving right now. And that is a change...

Not if he can help it

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/06/21/politics/horserace/entry4200105.shtml

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There have been arrests for it in the US for several years. I'm not sure how many of these were prosecuted, but I've heard of others and I believe one was prosecuted (but it may have been Michigan, which has separate laws).
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060622-7111.html
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070522-michigan-man-arrested-for-using-cafes-free-wifi-from-his-car.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/07/tech/main707361.shtml

Any time you mention the truth about the enviro-nutjob movement, some slashdot troll with a mod point will be there to bury you.

I'm all about SENSIBLE environmental policy. That means we have to balance OUR needs for resources with RESPONSIBLE environmentalism, not turn the entire fucking planet into an off-limits nature preserve.

And yes, it means that there just may need to be a power plant, or a chemical refinery, or any other of a large number of the usual items that trigger "OMGWTFNIMBYAAUGH" reactions from the enviro-nutjobs, NEAR to population centers so that we RESPONSIBLY reduce the transportation and delivery costs (not just monetary but WASTED FUEL ENERGY).

Think about it. It costs us at LEAST 25% more fossil fuel energy to turn OUR FOOD SUPPLY into ethanol fuel and deliver it where it needs to go, than we get back. Ethanol has been one of the biggest energy disasters we've ever gotten into. And at the same time we WASTE petroleum trying to do this, the price of food for starving countries is going through the roof because the US, an exporter of corn, is BURNING THE FOOD SUPPLY - LITERALLY.

Think of it this way: would you dump a gallon jug of Jack Daniels in your gas tank? Guess what - YOU JUST DID. Oh, and the reason you constantly have to get your injectors cleaned and serviced and buy injector cleaner to put in your tank? That's right - ethanol is incredibly corrosive to your rubber fuel line!

And yet the enviro-nutjobs keep screaming for ethanol production and refuse to consider how wasteful it is. They refuse to consider the fact that the "renewable" energy sources all have problems too: in order to make an order of solar panels from polysilicon, you create an immense amount of TOXIC WASTE that has to be dealt with. If you run a mirror-based solar farm, you've got to keep the mirrors polished (congratulations, keep a lot of toxic chemicals handy and be prepared to toxify the hell out of the soil) just as a start. And all it takes to lower or cut entirely your generating capacity is a nice cloud or two. Earth seems to be fairly old hat at generating those, somehow. Walk outside and take a quick peek at the sky, chances are there's one around.

Wind farms are INCREDIBLY noisy and disruptive, the power is intermittent at best with very minimal generating capacity for the land area used, and a major killer of endangered birds already.

Geothermal has limited areas in which it can be placed, areas which are invariably tectonically unstable (or worse yet: the "best" places are usually right in the expected lava flow/blast zone of a volcano).

Tidal power has the same problem, you can only do it on a shoreline, and a rise/fall in the shoreline (not due to "global warming" but simply tectonic activity or seasonal changes in large lakes) can kill it quite easily, since the turbines have to be set at the right place to match the incoming/outgoing tides... and even then, they ONLY generate power during the tidal shift.

Biomass is a nice thought, but you get back to the food supply and other effects. Wood chips? Watch the price of particulate board matter of all sorts (the sort likely most of your furniture is made of, especially if it came from Ikea) jack through the roof. Much of the rest is fed to animals or composted to create fertilizer in order to grow more food, which means you'll decrease crop yields and jack food prices up again.

Do I say we shouldn't use these? No. But if we had a SENSIBLE and RESPONSIBLE nuclear policy, including recycling "spent" fuel and refining it back for reuse rather than trying to stash it under a mountain, we could eliminate a LOT more of the oil/natural gas/coal portion of our energy than these sources are ever likely to manage.

"there is substantial evidence of [Saddam] Hussein's associations with world terrorism before we invaded Iraq. The Iraqi dictator aided, abetted, and provided sanctuary to Abu Nidal's terrorists, Abu Abbas, and all kinds of radical Islamic terrorist groups - Hizbollah and Hamas among them."

Saddam's relationship with Abu Nidal (the nom de guerre of Palestinian terrorist Sabri al-Bana) deserves special scrutiny since, as many intelligence analysts and commentators have noted, he was "the bin Laden of the 1970s and 1980s." That is, at that time he was the most lethal and feared terrorist in the world.

Salaries For Suicide Bombers - Iraq Pays $25,000 To Families Of 'Martyrs'

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has raised the amount offered to relatives of suicide bombers from $10,000 per family to $25,000, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday.

Since Iraq upped its payments last month, 12 suicide bombers have successfully struck inside Israel, including one man who killed 25 Israelis, many of them elderly, as they sat down to a meal at a hotel to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Passover. The families of three suicide bombers said they have recently received payments of $25,000.

Palestinians get Saddam funds

"Saddam Hussein considers those who die in martyrdom attacks as people who have won the highest degree of martyrdom," said one.

The party estimated that Iraq had paid out $35m to Palestinian families since the current uprising began in September 2000.

The Senate's Intelligence

"Our evidence suggests that Baghdad is strengthening a relationship with al-Qaeda that dates back to the mid-1990s, when senior Iraqi intelligence officers established contact with the network in several countries."

"We have some evidence that Iraqi Intelligence has been in contact with elements in the northeastern area. And the al-Qaeda operatives there are in regular contact with other operatives located in Baghdad. The Iraqi government has also received information from other sources alerting it to the presence of al-Qaeda operatives in Baghdad."

"We have hard evidence that al-Qaeda is operating in several locations in Iraq with the knowledge and acquiescence of Saddam's regime."

Christopher Hitchens debates Iraq with Reagan Jr.

Report Details Saddam's Terrorist Ties

The report, titled "Saddam and Terrorism: Emerging Insights from Captured Iraqi Documents," finds that:

The Iraqi Intelligence Service in a 1993 memo to Saddam agreed on a plan to train commandos from Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the group that assassinated Anwar Sadat and was founded by Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

In the same year, Saddam ordered his intelligence service to "form a group to start hunting Americans present on Arab soil; especially Somalia." At the time, Al Qaeda was working with warlords against American forces there.

Saddam's intelligence services maintained extensive support networks for a wide range of Palestinian Arab terrorist organizations, including but not limited to Hamas. Among the other Palestinian groups Saddam supported at the time was Force 17, the private arm

This isn't free speech - it's a simple case of contempt of court. A court told him to do something. He refused. He's in contempt.

Yes, but a court order must be grounded in reality & law.

There was a semi-famous case with Tucker Max who published factually true information about his relationship with a woman. A court issued an order preventing Tucker Max from discussing his relationship with the woman, exercising his first amendment rights, even to the point where discussing it with his lawyer was prohibited.

When the case got in front of a judge with a 3-digit IQ, the order was laughed out of court.

There was recent case in Niagara Falls where a judge was annoyed by a cell phone ringing in his courtroom. When no one confessed, he ordered everyone arrested.

The judge has been removed from the bench.

You mean things like voting against and then encouraging Bush to veto a waterboarding ban?