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Liberals love her

Oh, yeah, and you apparently missed the 11 antiwar bills introduced so far in the Democratic 110th Congress, in session for only two weeks.

So you're obviously paying attention only to the evidence that proves that your Republicans are wise and just, and Democrats aren't. You did hear that Democrats control Congress now, and that we're losing in Iraq, right?

Did you know that Chief Justice John Roberts also has the role of appointing the Judges that sit on the FISA Review Panel?

Link

It makes me wonder if a new judge was appointed to FISA recently.

that the way the exit polling was conducted was flawed, and can be easily misread. This is based on comparing 2006 results to 2004 results...

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/12/23/91222 /483

Ok, I shouldn't say kos... as it was DemFromCT, but it did get promoted to the front page.

The Feinstein appearance (live) on C-SPAN is now making real news. You can read more details, watch the YouTube, and discuss it somewhere that isn't Slashdot.

* Ok it isn't the worst idea ever, but it is up there--the only way to get it to work is to implement censorship. I find it amazing that anybody who is a free speech advocate would criticize opposition to this domain. The pressure that the Bush Administration brought against this TLD was one of best free speech actions in 2006. Heck, even Markos Moulitsas Zúniga should be giving praise for stopping the .XXX TLD.

First, already this is the top story on MediaPost, a web site for ad buyers. This is very bad for a radio station.

Then their big mistake: On Nov. 14th Melanie Morgan said this about Nancy Pelosi: "We've got a bulls-eye painted on her big laughing eyes." (from the Daily Kos)

That might be a felony. 18 USC Sec. 871

• ...Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, the President-elect, the Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President of the United States, or the Vice President-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."

They said that after the November election, when Ms. Pelosi was Speaker-elect of the House. (The Speaker of the House is second in line for the Presidency, after the Vice President.) Somebody is probably going to be asking some hard questions of the people at that radio station.

There's a legitimate First Amendment issue here, but it's in that grey area between political speech and death threats. Morgan, KSFO and Disney may have some unpleasant months ahead. This could create liabilities that would interfere with the planned sale of the station to Citadel Broadcasting. That sale was supposed to happen during 2006, but on November 22, the deal was postponed and repriced, and not to Disney's advantage. ("the potential amount of cash retained by Disney has been reduced by $300 million in the aggregate, $100 million of which is an outright reduction in the cash...")

In terms of financial losses by a media company, this could be bigger than the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction."

I think if my avatar was attacked by flying penis' during a CNN interview, I would be mortified.

I'll bet Dick Cheney was mortified when someone told him to to fuck himself during a CNN interview. That doesn't mean that Cheney has any right to squelch the footage.

Unfortunately closed minded groups and certain people have a bit of an agenda that isnt simply "find the truth".

Before those who support those groups say that "the other does it as well"- yes, it happens. However, such actions appear on a regular basis with such groups as Pajamas Media, and that they do so blatantly enough to make it a sign of their presence.

I think that most 'true' hard-core geeks tend to be very liberal, perhaps having something to do with reading/watching Science Fiction stories, as the best of them often emphasize compassion, understanding and attempt to acknowledge society's ills.

Compassion and acknowledging society's ills are hardly limited to liberals.

Slashdot has a strong Libertarian trend, and the Left is well represented as well, especially when the Europeans and expatriates start chiming in.

If you caught idiots such as them on an honest day, you will find that they intentionally push their 'views' farther 'right' than they themselves believe, as many foolish people cling to the idea that 'the truth is in the middle', and by pushing their slander they hope to shove the public to their view points. I don't believe that kind of posturing is possible on the 'left' as liberals don't seem to stand for it.

You don't have to look hard on the left to find vitriol, nutters, all manner of other ideas, various troubling developments and unbalanced views. That isn't even starting to scratch the surface.

The coolest bit though is the ad they have running on the same page. It's from Chrysler. It reads "You may not be the time person of the year... [but you can drive like one]"

Stupid Chrysler. Just ASSUMING that I wouldn't be the person of the year or something. Sheesh.

Daily Kos has a nice screen grab of the ad here

so some christians like this game, and feel good about murder which is great, and the corporation that makes the game is making money, sending free discs out through churchgroups and such as well, to reach a larger demographic with thier spyware.

more info about the ad placement here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/6/21/113545/735

to me religion is just a business like any other and this is just further proof.

Their rallies promote the very scary and negative elements that they vehemently deny (or spin):
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/22/144636/455
http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/20060523_batt lecry_ron_luce/

A comical take on this is Tony Hendra's book and "Godcasts":
http://www.henryholt.com/messiahofmorrisavenue/god cast.htm

Peace - out.

Wake up - this happens all the time (or at for politics, over the phone, in the US election runup).

In the midterm elections 2006 I found on reddit and some other websites:
1) Repeated automated calls made "important information about Lois Murphy," or another particular candidate. They would continue with explanations on this person's terrible policies - by which time most people had hung up. FCC says the originating party must be identified at the *beginning* of the message - in this case it was at the end. These collected on answering machines in droves and people reported being called in the night-time repeatedly, and being called after they hung up. The calls were actually made by the opposing party. Some media reported it without mentioning the originating party in an attempt to spin the story into a non-party issue.
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:qXa897eiLfAJ: www.alternet.org/blogs/video/43955/+phone+calls+mi dterm+deceptive+LGBT&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=1&clie nt=firefox-a
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/11/6/02926/ 3087

"The cost of these robo-call campaigns isn't high, although the fines that may accrue to the NRCC may be. The problem is, of course, that they don't care how much they have to pay after they've won. This tactic is being used in 15 districts, which is the number that the NRCC believes it needs to hold the House. These are the 15 districts that they believe are so close that voter suppression tactics can change the outcome."

2) "We are calling on behalf of the LGBT [Society or whatever]" and they would like to thank [candidate] for fully supporting them in every way. These calls were not made by the LGBT group nor by the candidate. It was obviously aimed at those who feel queasy about LGBT - but it never said its actual origins. The originators claimed they really *were* doing it for the LGBT group. Scum.

3) Voter suppression calls which say you aren't registered validly and that you may be arrested if you attempt to vote. (Obviously targeted at key districts so that on the balance of probabilities, the party ends up ahead.) Obviously these ones didn't state their origin either.

Crime and lawyering are just different levels of thuggery.

If I were souless and naive I suppose I could see it that way. Take for example the John Edwards "jacuzzi case" where a five year old girl had her guts sucked out by a faulty pool drain. Once the girl's medical bills were covered, do you think the family gave one flying fuck who got the money, so long as it didn't remain in the hands of a company too cheap to pay for a $1 part to fix a known problem with their product?

People are used to treating politicians like nobility, after millennia of class traditions. Celebrity culture is the ultimate expression. And power is always used to avoid accountability for risk.

We should hold our politicians to a higher standard than private citizens, as the public trust makes pefect audits impossible, and our exposure to their risks is greater than in private.

Fortunately, the US government is based on competition among powers and accountability. The party system, especially the Republican Party, has created conspiracies to thwart those separations of powers that have made government unaccountable to itself or the people, especially the past 6-12 years. But now the opposition Democratic Party controls the more powerful branch, the Legislative. And there are many ways to start impeaching.

Asking how is the very beginning, after the crimes have been committed.

Given the high level of informedness and concern about civil liberties with this crowd, I think it's time for a poll. No really, I'd be curious to see the results-
"Do you think George Bush should be impeached for breaking the FISA law?"
-Yes
-No
-No, but impeached for something else
-No, just to take an unarmed stroll through any street in Baghdad

Don't worry, he's not in charge of running America. He's just another paid, idiotic talking-head shill who appears regularly in the mainstream media who doesn't really know what he's talking about. The nice thing about the Internet is, the proles like you and me can debate ideas like his head-to-head here, in discussion forums, blogs, etc. He's preaching to the choir; his audience is a couple of hundred thousand Fox News fanatics who are becoming increasingly irrelevant. Their influence and numbers are declining daily, these days, and many of the ones who do have Internet access are borderline illiterate. There's a far higher proportion of intelligent people hanging out at places like Slashdot and DailyKos.

I agree, and I'm glad to.

OT: while I've got a German with whom I seem to be able to communicate fairly well, would you mind commenting on a discussion I'm watching in a totally different discussion site?

Are you familiar with the term "jerry-rigged", an americanism meaning "poor quality, complicated, hasty construction without sensible design from inappropriate materials"? Do you think it insults Germans? I'm sorry if it does and if repeating it might have insulted you, but I think it is an insult, and I'd like a German's opinion before considering it really insulting. I'd like to tell people not to be insulting that way, but if actual Germans, perhaps represented by yourself, don't take insult, then I probably won't bother.

At least when I read Instapundit or Daily Kos, they openly acknowledge their biases. The New York Times still pretends they're objective, when anyone to the right of Nancy Pelosi can tell they're not. Maybe that's why their stock prices continues to decline, even outpassing the declines in other newspaper stocks.

I now await the usual Slashdot downmodding of non-liberal political posts.

Crow T. Trollbot

Democrats now controlling the Congress (in January, anyway) are driving out the antiscience, pro-pollution bureaucrats who the Bush Republicans stuffed into their offices. With at least 6-12 years of lies under the bridge, the new bureaucrats have a lot of shoveling to get to their desks.

He might have jumped the tech track, but he's right in that it is already happenning. I've been tracking (no pun intended) the solar concentrator race here if you'd like to see the players in bringing these products to market:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/10/8/15152/ 1089

Gates was a director of VoteHere, the biggest lobbyist/briber to install HAVA, the new law that's replacing fieldtested voting machines with untrustworthy digital devices. The cosponsors of HAVA were convicted Abramoff gangster Bob Ney (R-OH/Leavenworth), and Steny Hoyer. Hoyer is now the leading candidate to become Democratic House Majority Leader under Pelosi. Somehow I doubt he'll be herding Democrats to stop Gates. Or stop the rigged machines from electing Jeb in 2008.

Gates is on the Jim Baker / Lee Hamilton Iraq Study Group. Hamilton was the "Democratic" "cochair" of the 9/11 Commission with NJ Gov Kean Sr. Hamilton served the same gig whitewashing Iran/Contra, and thereby Robert Gates, for Bush Sr. The real question is why do Democrats allow Lee Hamilton to represent the 50M Americans who vote for them?

So now that American voters have stripped the Terminator down to bare titanium, the ugly guts are starting to show in its desperation. The bipartisan Iran/Contra machine, from Gates to Bolton to Poindexter, has to come out of the closet to go back to work in its old offices. If some of the other Democrats, and maybe some Republicans who got cut out of all those deals, can rip off their remaining mask (too late for Schwarzenegger, the ultimate fascist masquerade), then 2008 might finally kill some of the robot army bred by Bush Sr.

I don't think McCain's "rightward" grope this Summer/Fall will alienate many independents. Rather just a waste of time: the evangelicals will stick with him now that Kuo's book and the loss of power makes those theocrats lose faith in Bush and their old Haggard shepherds. And most of the rest of independents don't pay attention to politics. McCain played both sides of his mouth to mutually exclusive media, so only the rightwingers got his rightist message. To most, especially the news media, he's the "maverick" Republican who "can be trusted" to do their corporatist work, while appealing to a broader Nielsen base. He is the biggest, perhaps only, Republican winner this year. Inheriting the machine, especially as it sheds its old skin, like probably Ken Mehlmann (especially if Bill Maher does out him as gay tonight, as rumored).

Another big loser was the entire Republican print media. The National Review will also do a "realism retake", if it is to keep any readers and influence in the long dark Winter of Bush's lame duckery. I'd love to read their hatchetjob on Giuliani to mine memes that will continue to swirl in the fragmented Republican repressed subconscious that defines their every move. But the Republican affinity for lying, denial and spinning on a point makes their coverage notable only in giving Giuliani press. They took a shot at him while they were still committed to Bush, while they were still in power to do so. But Republican logic goes "Giuliani was bad when Bush was good, so he must be good now that Bush is bad" - and at least half the Republican Party line is now "Bush is bad".

If Giuliani is the spokesmodel by April for Republican defense of their terrorism brand, then he's the one to watch. The one who isn't babysitter Jim Baker's pick, anyway. Jeb vs Giuliani is the contest to whip into a frenzy for the next 2 years, Stalin vs Hitler, so our FDR can step into the rubble and claim victory.

OTOH, I'm interested in your pick for 2008 Republican nominee. And who for the Democrats, if they're even on the radar at this point?

Lieberman is the right-most leaning Democrat in Congress, comparing the rest of Democrats to him is ridiculous. Especially considering that Connecticut Democrats voted him out for being too conservative. If you really think D's and R's are the same, then you think Tom Delay and John Conyers really have the same policies and voting record?

Go right now and compare, say, Daily Kos, a Democratic blog with Red State, A Republican blog. See the opinions and voices of the people there.

Long story short, if you think Democrats and Republicans are really one and the same, you're either trolling or utterly clueless.

Actually, previewing before posting is the answer - to broken posts.

Vote by Mail is the answer to the question of how to vote.

One place to report the illegal Republican robo-calls is this diary on Daily Kos. If you do not have an account there, you probably know somebody who does (another Democrat).

There may be a federal class-action lawsuit coming out of all this wrongdoing by the Republicans, and the amounts allowed by fines for these violations of the law quickly add up over the numbers of illegal calls that have been placed. And that is without any accounting for the damages caused by the misleading nature of these illegal Republican phone calls in terms of affecting Democratic campaigns by suppressing voter turnout. The amount owed in compensatory damages by these criminal Republican robo-callers may well be incalculable.

One place to report the illegal Republican robo-calls is this diary on Daily Kos. If you do not have an account there, you probably know somebody who does (another Democrat).

There may be a federal class-action lawsuit coming out of all this wrongdoing by the Republicans, and the amounts allowed by fines for these violations of the law quickly add up over the numbers of illegal calls that have been placed. And that is without any accounting for the damages caused by the misleading nature of these illegal Republican phone calls in terms of affecting Democratic campaigns by suppressing voter turnout. The amount owed in compensatory damages by these criminal Republican robo-callers may well be incalculable.

Oh, and it's even worse - Republicans are scamming the vote everywhere they can, like in Maryland, where they'll probably lose anyway. I hope a lot of them go to jail, even though they'll overload the courts.

First off:

The Dems are On this, filing one of the only C&D letters I've actually supported. Kinda brilliant of the NeoCons, really -- they hire an impersonator to make a fake 5 minute message, robocall it at 11 PM till 4 AM, make it long enough that most people hang up long before they hear the "paid for by the Republicans" message at the end, and, well, it's just brilliant. Too bad the Democrats are too ethical to try something like this themselves.

Jim Webb's campaign is also being specifically targeted by this, in what is probably a "test run" by Karl Rove. Robo calls are reporting that people will get arrested if they vote, that their locations have changed, pamphlets are being handed out telling black people not to bother voting, and the Voting Machines are set up to "accidently" mess Mr. Webb's name up. Even the Board of Elections are saying these efforts are Widespread and Deliberate (and, oh yeah, ILLEGAL).

Kinda a pity that the Republicans are so afraid of the United States Citizens voices being heard that they have to resort to such disgusting efforts to repress the vote. Of course, having seen this the last 3 elections in a row, this isn't a real surprise.

First off:

The Dems are On this, filing one of the only C&D letters I've actually supported. Kinda brilliant of the NeoCons, really -- they hire an impersonator to make a fake 5 minute message, robocall it at 11 PM till 4 AM, make it long enough that most people hang up long before they hear the "paid for by the Republicans" message at the end, and, well, it's just brilliant. Too bad the Democrats are too ethical to try something like this themselves.

Jim Webb's campaign is also being specifically targeted by this, in what is probably a "test run" by Karl Rove. Robo calls are reporting that people will get arrested if they vote, that their locations have changed, pamphlets are being handed out telling black people not to bother voting, and the Voting Machines are set up to "accidently" mess Mr. Webb's name up. Even the Board of Elections are saying these efforts are Widespread and Deliberate (and, oh yeah, ILLEGAL).

Kinda a pity that the Republicans are so afraid of the United States Citizens voices being heard that they have to resort to such disgusting efforts to repress the vote. Of course, having seen this the last 3 elections in a row, this isn't a real surprise.

Democracy is one of the most fundamental things we have. I don't think there are many greater treasons than attacking our demcracy. But for example giving away nuclear secrets might be one of those things.

Here's an article from the DailyKos, which lists at least 24 districts (as of this post) from which people have reported getting the robo-calls. Has anybody here on slashdot received such calls AND in regards to a district not mentioned in that article?

Here's a column published in Philly by someone thinking Democrats were harassing her with robocalls. Even though they sensibly asked why Democrats would do such a thing when it would turn voters off, they thought it was the Democratic candidate. Pretty typical reaction.

Their untypical reaction was to call the Democrat's office demanding an explanation. Which turned out to be "it's a Republican dirty trick". But how many people will find out before voting? And how many people will believe it's not Democrats lying to blame Republicans, when they already believe Democrats have been harassing them with robocalls?

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, Republicans have followed up their 2002 phonejamming of Democrats' lines (preventing Democrats from getting voters to polls) with enough illegal robocalls to cost $100 MILLION in fines. Of course, those 2002 robocalls got John Sununu Jr (R-NH) into the Senate, where he controls the FCC, and he hasn't given up the job he DDoS'ed his way into. So I don't expect Republicans to cough up the $100M they'd owe for this year's attack on the election process.

Unless maybe enough Republicans get fired in the election tomorrow that they can't do these crimes unpunished anymore. Go to the polls and do your part.

Yeah, the only way to effectively deal with the situation is to act before the elections. The penalties for broken laws will end up costing the NRCC a great deal of money, but they won't care once they've won and still have the power to prevent too harsh of penalties. To combat what they are doing, the only way to be successful is to get the word out that it is happening now, like today and tomorrow, through the national and local media.

Also, I submitted a similar blog entry as this was being posted. Of particular interest may be the technical details of how the PBX engineer says the calls disrupt emergency calling, constitute harassment, and misrepresent the caller.

In the middle of a security breach? If it's really bad, like publishing nuke secrets in Arabic on the Internet while you're inciting the terrorist world, you should "stay the course". Accuse those disclosing the breach to authorities of "emboldening the enemy" and "disclosing security procedures". Attack, attack, attack. You'll get to keep your job, though your company might go out of business, perhaps in a mushroom cloud. Then you could claim you'd been "right all along", while you burn in hell for eternity.

In the middle of a security breach? If it's really bad, like publishing nuke secrets in Arabic on the Internet while you're inciting the terrorist world, you should "stay the course". Accuse those disclosing the breach to authorities of "emboldening the enemy" and "disclosing security procedures". Attack, attack, attack. You'll get to keep your job, though your company might go out of business, perhaps in a mushroom cloud. Then you could claim you'd been "right all along", while you burn in hell for eternity.

But, but, opting to delay until after the elections would be wrong! The people NEED this news NOW!

I mean, opting to delay so it wouldn't affect the elections would be like The IRS delaying any tax actions until after the elections or The department of justice delaying the hearing of a corrupt lobbiest with ties all the way up to Rove, Cheney and Bush until after the elections.

And that would just be WRONG WRONG WRONG! Clearly this news, that coincidently helps the Republicans case on the war of terror... (er... sort of) NEEDED to be out before an election that even the Republicans are now expecting to lose. And that news that would seriously harm the public's perceptions of Republicans? Clearly, that needs to wait until AFTER the election.

Your Liberal media at work, folks! (Please ignore the hard-line Republican parent companies behind the curtain.)

But, but, opting to delay until after the elections would be wrong! The people NEED this news NOW!

I mean, opting to delay so it wouldn't affect the elections would be like The IRS delaying any tax actions until after the elections or The department of justice delaying the hearing of a corrupt lobbiest with ties all the way up to Rove, Cheney and Bush until after the elections.

And that would just be WRONG WRONG WRONG! Clearly this news, that coincidently helps the Republicans case on the war of terror... (er... sort of) NEEDED to be out before an election that even the Republicans are now expecting to lose. And that news that would seriously harm the public's perceptions of Republicans? Clearly, that needs to wait until AFTER the election.

Your Liberal media at work, folks! (Please ignore the hard-line Republican parent companies behind the curtain.)

But, but, opting to delay until after the elections would be wrong! The people NEED this news NOW!

I mean, opting to delay so it wouldn't affect the elections would be like The IRS delaying any tax actions until after the elections or The department of justice delaying the hearing of a corrupt lobbiest with ties all the way up to Rove, Cheney and Bush until after the elections.

And that would just be WRONG WRONG WRONG! Clearly this news, that coincidently helps the Republicans case on the war of terror... (er... sort of) NEEDED to be out before an election that even the Republicans are now expecting to lose. And that news that would seriously harm the public's perceptions of Republicans? Clearly, that needs to wait until AFTER the election.

Your Liberal media at work, folks! (Please ignore the hard-line Republican parent companies behind the curtain.)

I don't think so.

Mr Pot - I'd like you to meet Mr Kettle...

RS

See http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/29/162837/62 A researcher for Jack Carter's NV Senate campaign has really taken this on, and wants to make some noise. Click to help out.

So, basically, you're saying the Oreo throwing didn't happen. But, um, they, or other people who probably have something to do with them have done other really bad things, so that makes it okay for the Republican governor to lie.

I urge people to read the Daily Kos link provided therein. Steele says he saw one Oreo roll to his feet, Schurick says they were 'thick in the air like locusts'. But, hey, read the stories as they appear here. It's interesting as the incident got worse and worse over two weeks.

In short, it looks like some idiot passed out Oreos outside. And...well...that's actually the whole story. Apparently it wasn't enough for the Republicans, so they made up people viciously hurling cookies at the stage.

Now, here's the sixty-four thousand dollar questions: Which is worse behavior: Some unnamed and misguided possibly-Democratic activist calling a black Republican an 'Oreo' with visual aid, or Republican governor lying about the incident to make it seem a lot worse than it was. I don't know about you, but in every crowd there's an idiot or two, but I expect elected officials not to lie. (Granted, he wasn't elected at the time.)

But this is pretty much general Republican behavior. Find the looniest and most offensive person on the left they can, exaggerate their behavior, and ascribe it to the entire party as a general position. (Why they have to exaggerate the behavior I don't know. Maybe people have figure out that crazy paint-throwing-on-fur people aren't really representive of the party, so they have to pick more sane people.)

Meanwhile, Republicans distance themselves as much as possible from what are basically mouthpiece of their party, so when they say offensive things like 'We should invade their countries and convert them to Christianity', well, obviously that's not the official position of the Republican party.

But, hey, I hereby officially apologize on behalf of the Democratic Party for the offensive Oreo reference made by some random person you've assumed is a Democrat. (Hey, if some random person's behavior is attributable to the Democratic party, mine is too, and thus I can apologize for them.)

Now, you apologize for my asshole neighbor, who has made quite a few offensive comments about Hispanic citizens lately, going so far as to suggest we should arrest Hispanic citizens who were born here and lived here all their life and send them 'back' to Mexico. He's a Republican, so, you know, you're responsible for his opinion, apparently.

Until you apologize for him, shut the fuck up about what some random 'Democrats' do.

Quite often when I'm "socializing" I have to escape ASAP because all people seem to want to talk about is bloody "Survivor", "CSI" or worse, professional sports.

Okay, this is kinda divergent from what I mentioned in the first place. But anyway...

Not really something I would enjoy either. Perhaps you should find new people to hang around with, though, if you don't share any of their interests.

These are intelligent professional people, and it scares the hell out of me that this stuff is foremeost on their minds. Does anyone care that our nation is 8 trillion dollars in debt, involved in 2 wars, or that our personal freedoms are evaporating right in front of us?

They may care, but not enough to let it take over their leisure time. Unless you're a hardcore political activist or something, it's all about balance.

I sometimes interject a thought like this, and 2 minutes later we're back to NFL Sunday.

Again, find other people to hang around with. Go meet people on DailyKos or something. Not everyone in the world is like whatever small, shallow group of people you associate with.

What would you consider to be a worse use of time than TV? Apart from actively damaging your body, staring at the blank wall would be better than TV!

It's not that the other things are worse than TV, but at the same time I question whether they're really more worthwhile as well.

Not to mention it doesn't support the popular viewpoint that the Earth is heating up to what will next month be catastrophic levels entirely due to BusHitler's failure to sign Kyoto, and anyone who says otherwise, whether or not they're a supporter of the Bush administration, is either mallevelantly evil, or stupid, or most likely, both.

By the way, by taking the position you did, you might be facing Nuremburg style trials in the future:
http://gristmill.grist.org/print/2006/9/19/11408/1 106?show_comments=no

And also, Bush is also responsible for the earthquake in Hawaii:
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/10/15/194929 /14/23#c23

That article at the Daily Kos to which I linked itself links, in it's third sentence, to the ABC News transcript of 5/24/99 documenting Brian Ross investigating Abramoff's slavery biz in Saipan. But the Daily Kos article was written by someone who's been covering the abuses in the islands for a long time. It includes copies of Preston, Gates lobbyist conspiracies to protect the Marianas abuses. And compiles lots of other cited evidence into a good picture of the racket Abramoff's Republicans, including Delay and Hastert, were running in their "Conservative Paradise", making a travesty of American borders, Chinese trade, and other "Conservative" values. Read it and judge for yourself. That's the power of the Web. Google the facts presented in DKos, and make your own decision.

So instead of seeing a Daily Kos link and caving in to Republican "shoot the messenger" copouts, just click it and see all the facts and logic painting this picture. Not that you are copping out, but others reading this thread have to fight off several layers of Republican media brainwashing. We're just here to help.

Check out just a few links in the Abramoff Web of corruption. For extra points, google each player to see how deep in jail they are already.

Abramoff's other business with Dennis Hastert (R-IL) included a child slavery industry in Saipan, the Northern Marianas Islands US territory (near the Phillipines). Sex slavery and manufacturing slavery (child and adult). Hastert was simultaneously covering up for Mark Foley (R-FL) while Foley was molesting House pages. Interestingly, ABC News' Brian Ross broke both stories, but hasn't yet connected them.

Abramoff raised money to elect Republicans, Hastert controlled those House Republicans (and through their majority, the House). Together they made laws for the past 6+ years.

Now they're revealed to be in league to suppress open source. Are these Republicans really evil, or does it just require corrupt politicians to give evildoers the advantage they need to win? Is there a difference?

Republicans have a lot of money. Their local campaigns have been caught trolling blogs already. I wouldn't be surprised if they're astroturfing Slashdot, which has many "independent" and just inexperienced voters, many with good incomes. That's when trolling meets astroturfing in moderators to become AsTrollMod'ing.

I think you meant that headline to say "Bush administration secretly tells N. Korea to announce that they have conducted their first nuclear test before the November election".

Try again. If you want to do conspiracy theories, you ought to do them right.

MSNBC, via Daily Kos:

On Sept. 19, 2005, North Korea signed a widely heralded denuclearization agreement with the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. Pyongyang pledged to "abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs." [...] Four days later, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sweeping financial sanctions against North Korea designed to cut off the country's access to the international banking system, branding it a "criminal state" guilty of counterfeiting, money laundering and trafficking in weapons of mass destruction.

In the past week, Karl Rove has been promising Republican insiders an "October surprise" to help win the November congressional elections.