Terrorist trial may go to military tribunal, not court.

Jesus H Christ in the stockade, would someone please tell me a couple things? First, what is the basic difference between Bush and Obama? Second, what happened to the fucking rule of law in the US?

WASHINGTON — Looking to breathe life into President Barack Obama's stalled pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, White House advisers are inching toward recommending military trials for alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four accused henchmen.

Attorney General Eric Holder's original plan to try them in a civilian court in New York City met with criticism so fierce that it threatened to derail Obama's promise to shut the U.S. military's Cuban prison.

As difficult as the politics are concerning how and where to try the most notorious terror suspect in U.S. custody, that's only one step toward the even more fraught and complicated goal of closing Guantanamo where Mohammed and nearly 200 other terror detainees remain

As difficult as the politics are concerning how and where to try the most notorious terror suspect in U.S. custody, that's only one step toward the even more fraught and complicated goal of closing Guantanamo where Mohammed and nearly 200 other terror detainees remain.

Closing Guantanamo was a signature promise of Obama's presidency, and it is still unkept well past his original deadline of January. Failing to keep it would have huge implications for the president, both with his base of supporters in the Democratic Party and in his efforts to remake America's image around the globe.

Has Obama accomplished much of anything he promised, you know the things we elected him to do?

Has he undone anything Bush did wrong? Well, except for banning torture during interrogations? Has he eliminated spying on phone calls, emails, mail, bank accounts, medical records of any Americans without obtaining a court order? Has he really upheld American's rights to privacy under The Constitution? And now he intends to stay in Iraq longer than he promised? Has he closed Gitmo?
As difficult as the politics are concerning how and where to try the most notorious terror suspect in U.S. custody, that's only one step toward the even more fraught and complicated goal of closing Guantanamo where Mohammed and nearly 200 other terror detainees remain.

Closing Guantanamo was a signature promise of Obama's presidency, and it is still unkept well past his original deadline of January. Failing to keep it would have huge implications for the president, both with his base of supporters in the Democratic Party and in his efforts to remake America's image around the globe.

In the next election will we give him eight more years to not do things?

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A Letter to Congresss

Just a fucking joke. Obama is an attorney and US President not a doctor. He can probably Band-Aid® a paper cut.

This is from a letter outlining the final shape the Health Care Reform (HCR) bill as it probably will be presented. I've excerpted the meat. I like number one in particular. I missed that in the health care summit. [ed- yes I pee] Similar "watchdogs" should be employed for all God dam government funded programs. Not Just HCR Duh.

Take special note it states "built around our existing private health insurance system" God damn it, but that fucking sucks the big one.

No matter how we move forward, there are at least four policy priorities identified by Republican Members at the meeting that I am exploring. I said throughout this process that I’d continue to draw on the best ideas from both parties, and I’m open to these proposals in that spirit:

1. Although the proposal I released last week included a comprehensive set of initiatives to combat fraud, waste, and abuse, Senator Coburn had an interesting suggestion that we engage medical professionals to conduct random undercover investigations of health care providers that receive reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid, and other Federal programs.

2. My proposal also included a provision from the Senate health reform bill that authorizes funding to states for demonstrations of alternatives to resolving medical malpractice disputes, including health courts. Last Thursday, we discussed the provision in the bills cosponsored by Senators Coburn and Burr and Representatives Ryan and Nunes (S. 1099) that provides a similar program of grants to states for demonstration projects. Senator Enzi offered a similar proposal in a health insurance reform bill he sponsored in the last Congress. As we discussed, my Administration is already moving forward in funding demonstration projects through the Department of Health and Human Services, and Secretary Sebelius will be awarding $23 million for these grants in the near future. However, in order to advance our shared interest in incentivizing states to explore what works in this arena, I am open to including an appropriation of $50 million in my proposal for additional grants. Currently there is only an authorization, which does not guarantee that the grants will be funded.

3. At the meeting, Senator Grassley raised a concern, shared by many Democrats, that Medicaid reimbursements to doctors are inadequate in many states, and that if Medicaid is expanded to cover more people, we should consider increasing doctor reimbursement. I’m open to exploring ways to address this issue in a fiscally responsible manner.

4. Senator Barrasso raised a suggestion that we expand Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). I know many Republicans believe that HSAs, when used in conjunction with high-deductible health plans, are a good vehicle to encourage more cost-consciousness in consumers’ use of health care services. I believe that high-deductible health plans could be offered in the exchange under my proposal, and I’m open to including language to ensure that is clear. This could help to encourage more people to take advantage of HSAs.

There are provisions that were added to the legislation that shouldn’t have been. That’s why my proposal does not include the Medicare Advantage provision, mentioned by Senator McCain at the meeting, which provided transitional extra benefits for Florida and other states.

The following first paragraph [ed- has been edited], but the words are the same as the original. This is for the "purists" among us. Hahaha.

My proposal eliminates those payments, gradually reducing Medicare Advantage payments across the country relative to fee-for service Medicare in an equitable fashion (page 8). My proposal rewards high-quality and high-performing plans.

In addition, my proposal eliminates the Nebraska FMAP provision, replacing it with additional federal financing to all states for the expansion of Medicaid.

Admittedly, there are areas on which Republicans and Democrats don’t agree. While we all believe that reform must be built around our existing private health insurance system [ed- no single payer or public option] , I believe that we must hold the insurance industry to clear rules, so they can’t arbitrarily raise rates or reduce or eliminate coverage. That must be a part of any serious reform to make it work for the many Americans who have insurance coverage today, as well as those who don’t.

I also believe that piecemeal reform is not the best way to effectively reduce premiums, end the exclusion of people with pre-existing conditions or offer Americans the security of knowing that they will never lose coverage, even if they lose or change jobs.

My ideas have been informed by discussions with Republicans and Democrats, doctors and nurses, health care experts, and everyday Americans – not just last Thursday, but over the course of a year long dialogue. Both parties agree that the health care status quo is unsustainable. And both should agree that it’s just not an option to walk away from the millions of American families and business owners counting on reform... .

As someone with no health insurance and one who won't be affected by the HCR bill, you in the US are getting this information because I care about all of you fuckers. Just lay off the Aspirin^®.

^{If you're under age 60, please trust me on this one. Ol' spiiderweb™ would never steer you wrong.}

The letter is signed by:

President Barack Obama

You know who Barack Obama is. He's that Kenyan who runs the Us govmnt.

So what the fuck is this shit? I was asking about single parer vs public option:

I goe this:

I guess the reats are deserting the ship, or so it seems.

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MS: Be Careful With That F1 Function Key

Another problem for Microsoft. They will issue a patch soon to correct it.

Microsoft Corp. has a message for Windows 2000, XP and Server 2003 users: If you browse the Interwebs with Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8, take care to ignore any prompts that ask you to hit the F1 key on your keyboard, as doing so may be unhealthful to your PC.

It turns out that there is a security flaw in the way these operating systems + browser versions process “Windows Help files” in such a way that is entirely unhelpful. That is, clicking on the F1 key when presented with a specially crafted pop-up box prompting you to do so could allow criminals to download and install malicious software to your computer.

[snip]

In a security advisory issued Monday, Microsoft said it may at some point issue a software update to address this shortcoming. Redmond’s advisory on this topic is available here. The organization responsible for this warning — Polish security firm iSec Security Research — has a bit more information here on the ins and outs of this bug.

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Three Generations in Antarctica

From Bill Gates' blog. Yeah, he's one of us although I doubt he's the one slaving over the fucking keyboard.

On a recent family trip, Bill witnessed great natural beauty and further evidence of global warming – even in one of the coldest places on Earth.

When I gave my ten-year-old son a chance to pick anywhere in the world to go with me and two of his grandparents, he chose Antarctica. I was thrilled. It’s the only continent I’d never visited, a continent with no indigenous people, where the largest land animal is a tiny, wingless fly.

We flew down to Chile (before the earthquake) and then took a special plane to the Antarctic Peninsula. It’s incredibly beautiful. Icebergs and icy mountains make up most of the landscape. The penguins are amazing. But winter temperatures there have risen by five degrees centigrade [41° Fahrenheit], which is changing the icepack and the penguin habitat quite dramatically. The warming being seen worldwide is magnified in the Antarctic Peninsula.

That's a damn interesting son he has there. Mine would have chosen Disneyland®.



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Stupid question:Why do liberals insist that the freedom enjoyed by a child is superior to that treasured by adults?

Duh!!1!!! Because its true? Liberals know this because they live in a reality based world.

Why do liberals insist that the freedom enjoyed by a child is superior to that treasured by adults?

And where did I find such a fucking stupid question? Why, at PajamasMedia.com. Of course.

Where the author turned right around and proved my point:

There’s a lot of freedom that comes with being a child. Food, shelter — all the important day-to-day stuff — is handled for you. You are left to do as you please throughout most of the day, and while there are a few things you are forced to do, such as go to school and eat your vegetables, these are inarguably for your betterment. There are few real worries when the necessities of survival are guaranteed by your parents, who allow you to be content and carefree. In a way, that’s true freedom.

Being an adult is quite different. Food and shelter are your own responsibilities, and bills need to be paid or you end up starving and on the street. Though left to make your own choices, you can easily make foolish ones, and no one is there to stop you from making them. Your whole life is now in your own hands, and if you tried living as carefree as a child, your house and your job and everything you own would soon be gone. In a way, it’s an oppressive existence.

The God damn nutter keeps saying, "in a way". No you fucking ass, childhood is "freedom" and adulthood is "oppressive" and those are your words. There are fun/free times as an adult, but its more work than fun. Capisci?



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Protesting

What? God hates ponies?

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What’s In A Name?

This bill definitely needs work.

People who use fake names to bully others online could face criminal penalties under a bill passed Monday by the House of Delegates.

Delegates approved the proposal (HB4207) by a vote of 92-3, saying they want to target cyberbullies who anonymously make threats from behind the computer screen. But civil liberties advocates say the bill is written so broadly, it could criminalize constitutionally protected speech.

They say:

Sticks and stones can break your bones.

But words will never harm you.

Tell that to the guy who just heard the judge say, "I sentence you to death by lethal injection".

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It's all in your ugly mind

Any one who sees this as sexual or "dirty" is only exposing their thought processes and values and not others'. Wash your eyes out with soap, you fucking perverts.

The whole thing is; if he doesn't curve her fingers its an acceptable figure skating move. And it is totally hetero with restraint or whatever...

Or he's gay.


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Obama to GOP: I Will Quit Smoking if You Will Quit Being Dicks

Maybe this will work. Its a bold idea. But my solution is so God damn better.

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – President Barack Obama today threw down a new gauntlet in the battle over healthcare reform, telling his Republican opponents, “Here’s the deal: I will quit smoking if you will quit being dicks.”

While most political observers expected the GOP leadership to reject the President’s offer out of hand, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) suggested that he and other top Republicans would “take seriously” Mr. Obama’s challenge to cease their dick-like behavior.

“We want what’s best for the American people,” Rep. Boehner said. “If that means making a supreme sacrifice, which stopping being dicks definitely would be, we will certainly consider that.”

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention my solution. Obama needs, by executive order, executive privilege, voodoo*, to take away all government supplied health care from all senators and representatives and state they not get it back unless they include all Americans in the HCR legislation including single payer. That's it. Period.

* I have no clue how or by what mechanism, but he can order Americans' assassinations so this should be a fucking walk in the park.

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Chilean Quake Likely Shifted Earth’s Axis, NASA Scientist Says

Just remember it has happened, but you'll never know it.

The earthquake that killed more than 700 people in Chile on Feb. 27 probably shifted the Earth’s axis and shortened the day, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientist said.

[snip]

The length of the day should have gotten shorter by 1.26 microseconds (millionths of a second),” Gross, said today in an e-mailed reply to questions. “The axis about which the Earth’s mass is balanced should have moved by 2.7 milliarcseconds (about 8 centimeters or 3 inches).”

I can't imagine spending my days coming up with such data. Maybe that's just me, though.



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Bunning is at it again

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY)

Ya gotta admit the guy believes in smaller government. And along with his other shenanigans he's pissing off a shitload of voters.

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) is already infamous for blocking a temporary extension of unemployment and COBRA benefits for out of work Americans. But included in that package is legislation to prevent a mandatory pay cut for doctors--and by standing in its way, he's triggered a 21 percent fee reduction to doctors seeing Medicare patients starting today.

Republicans say they support a temporary measure to avoid the cuts, but they have been unable to rein in Bunning, and, as such, the Senate has failed to act on a House bill that staves them off.

The American Medical Association warned of this last week: "A Medicare meltdown now seems certain, as the U.S. Senate has left early for the weekend, abandoning seniors, military families and baby boomers," reads an AMA statement from Friday. "The Senate failed to repeal the Medicare physician payment formula that will cause a drastic 21 percent payment cut to physicians who care for Medicare and TRICARE patients. On Monday, the 21 percent cut goes into effect, forcing many physicians to limit the number of Medicare and TRICARE patients they see in order to keep their practice doors open."

One Senator shouldn't have that much power, but then, goopers seem to be taking turns wielding it.



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Damn…Hot And Windy

Climate change is for real and this is the proof. Right? Just look at those temperatures. Case closed.

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I really don’t have this feeling about her as being presidential

Tom Tancredo (R-Colo)

That would be Tom Tancredo (R-Colo) the "Tea Party prominent" [ed- the NRC's term] talking about Ms. Sarah Palin in an NRC interview.

After her speech at the Nashville convention, Palin said she is considering a run for the presidency in 2012. Tancredo however, does not believe she is fit for the presidency.

"I really don’t have this feeling about her as being presidential," he Tancredo said. "I don’t know what it is exactly. I don’t know if the issues really are that difficult for her or not.”

He questions if she has what it takes, and whether she really wants it. “As governor of the state of Alaska, she doesn’t have all that kind of experience. She can get better. But I don’t know if she is really looking to do it.’’

And what does he think about McCain? You may already know this.

His loathing for McCain has a long history. “I don’t like him,” Tancredo said. “He is not a very pleasant person. He is nasty, mean; the skin of an onion would look deep compared to his. He has a short fuse, he is almost peculiarly unstable.”

It's a very good interview.


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RICHARD FERNANDEZ: stunningly inaccurate

There is much to dislike about Fernandez's essay. Probably the best example is where he equates all of American society to doomed convicts sentenced to death. Yes, he really does that.

[A] large number of those condemned to die on Death Row prefer soda and comfort food — bars of chocolate, ice cream, beef enchiladas and the like, to pate de foie gras and lobster americaine, as their last meals on earth. Society may pretend to run on champagne but maybe it really travels on Dr. Pepper.

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Facts and figures on Obama's physical

Apparently Obama's health is as good as he looks. I wish I had his blood pressure.

The details of the examination are contained in the [snip]

Facts and figures about President Barack Obama's health, from a physical examination Sunday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Figures are compared with information from a January 2007 physical exam, which were released in May 2008 when Obama, then an Illinois senator, was running for president in 2008. Obama is 48; he was born Aug. 4, 1961.

[snip]

Overall health: "The president is in excellent health and 'fit for duty.' All clinical data indicate that he will remain so for the duration of his presidency."- from summary of exam.

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Senate impasse puts federal employees out of work

Now I'm gonna give you one and only one guess as to what political party that senator belongs. Yep.

Hey, I used to work highway construction among other things and stopping its funding for a year is gonna piss off a lot of voters. It may also keep someone out of college as it would have me when that highway work was essential for me to buy books and pay tuition.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two thousand federal transportation workers were furloughed without pay on Monday, and the Obama administration said they have a Kentucky senator to blame for it.

Federal reimbursements to states for highway programs will also be halted, the Transportation Department said in a statement late Sunday. The reimbursements amount to about $190 million a day, according to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The furloughs and freeze on payments were the result of a decision last week by Republican Sen. Jim Bunning to block passage of legislation that would have extended federal highway and transit programs, the department said. Those programs expired at midnight Sunday.

The extension of transportation programs was part of a larger package of government programs that also expired Sunday, including unemployment benefits for about 400,000 Americans.

Bunning objected to the $10 billion measure, saying it would add to the budget deficit. He didn't respond to a request Monday for comment.

The impasse has provided the administration with an opening to excoriate Republicans for allowing popular programs to run out, even if only for a short time.

And 400,000 unemployed and 2,000 federal employees too? Bunning isn't doing the goopers any good. What a way to make friends with several thousand voters.

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Chile calls for aid, looters break quake curfew

Please stop calling Haitians and Chileans looters if they're fucking taking food or bathroom tissue and shit. If there are no functioning grocery stores and people are hungry, what options do they have? They take what food they can find. And why they would take the tissue is obvious.

Breaking curfew is another matter. So is helping oneself to a nice new TeeVee. Arrest their asses.

CONCEPCION: Chile called for international aid on Monday as the anguished calls of trapped quake survivors pierced the rubble and police had to arrest 160 looters for defying overnight curfews.

Another serious problem is insurance. When any remaining food stocks disappear and the owners aren't insured, many of those grocery stores may not return because of the cost of restocking. As if these poor people don't already have enough shit to contend with.


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The New News Landscape: Rise of the Internet

We're number three. Not really too fucking shabby for a bunch of monkeys with keyboards.

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Why Are Millennials So Darn Optimistic?

Were they all born with their heads up their asses in the sand? They profess to be more optimistic than they were before the world wide financial meltdown.

Confident. Connected. Open to Change. [ed- link added] That's how Pew Research defines the Millennial generation -- Americans born since 1980. We're socially liberal, technologically savvy and wildly optimistic.

Wait ... wildly optimistic? In these economic times? Actually, as National Journal's Eliza Krigman points out, our optimism is only growing, recession be damned:

Based on previous Pew research, Millennials are actually slightly more optimistic about their future earning potential than they were in 2006, before the recession.

There's nothing wrong with sunniness, but rising optimism through a recession has the whiff of naivité. As the Atlantic's Don Peck wrote in our brilliant new cover story, young Americans have lots of reasons to be pessimistic:

A whole generation of young adults is likely to see its life chances permanently diminished by this recession. Lisa Kahn, an economist at Yale ... found that, all else equal, for every one-percentage-point increase in the national unemployment rate, the starting income of new graduates fell by as much as 7 percent; the unluckiest graduates of the decade, who emerged into the teeth of the 1981-82 recession, made roughly 25 percent less in their first year than graduates who stepped into boom times...

That seems to be a case of damn bad parenting. Perhaps that's why they put a priority on good parenting. These youngsters have been isolated from economic reality. Bad things do happen to good people and they're almost certainly gonna happen to them.

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Nuclear Weapons in the Twenty-First Century

No idea why Matt is limiting this to the twenty-first century. These things have always been with US concerning nuclear weapons.

It's a good (long) read, but well worth your time. Too much there to excerpt so you have to click on it.

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Maximum Capacity - NSFW

Not safe for work... nor anywhere else. Sorry you can't unsee this.



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Paranoid Delusion of the Week

The above is the new NASA logo. Pretty, but subversive to goopers. It seems the fucking Islamists are invading us like crazy.

Now, thanks to an astute observation by Christopher Logan of the Logans Warning blog, we have another possible explanation for behavior that — in the face of rapidly growing threats posed by North Korean, Iranian, Russian, Chinese and others’ ballistic missiles — can only be described as treacherous and malfeasant: Team Obama’s anti-anti-missile initiatives are not simply acts of unilateral disarmament of the sort to be expected from an Alinsky acolyte. They seem to fit an increasingly obvious and worrying pattern of official U.S. submission to Islam and the theo-political-legal program the latter’s authorities call Shariah. What could be code-breaking evidence of the latter explanation is to be found in the newly-disclosed redesign of the Missile Defense Agency logo (above). As Logan helpfully shows, the new MDA shield appears ominously to reflect a morphing of the Islamic crescent and star with the Obama campaign logo [ed- which the fucker excluded].

Obama logo

OK, I'll give this asshole points for similar colors. But I kick his balls on any other comparison. He's a fucking idiot and only morons would agree with his 'linking' of these two logos. I'll also give props for 'roundness.'


However, it is clear the nearest link between Obama's logo and any other organization, troubling as it may be, is Pepsi® .

And we can all ignore this shit:




Hey idiots. I have a fucking revelation for you. The crescent and the star are natural phenomenon. To use them in any God damn logo is perfectly reasonable. They're attractive signs and are not necessarily connected to Islam in common usage. Even though it's no foul.

Quit jerking off over these logos. They aren't indicative of 'hidden meanings' any more than McDonald's golden arches are connected to porn. Well, to the best of my fucking knowledge. Get it you stupid goopers?

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There are like a thousand lies going around in the punditsphere these days regarding health care reform. Let’s have a look at one now. They’re saying

Hugh Laurie

The liars are of both political stripes.

This guy starts out fairly calmly, but his anger really builds quickly.

There are like a thousand lies going around in the punditsphere these days regarding health care reform. Let’s have a look at one now.

They’re saying that there is no public support for health care reform. They’re saying that nobody has protested in support of health care reform. Not true.

Or don’t we count May 2009, when doctors and nurses showed up at the initial hearings, demanding to heard on single payer and were tossed out summarily on their asses? This lady sure was a protestor for single payer. So is this lady.

The anger comes after the above on his site. Its short.

He's also exactly right. Many people have protested and gotten involved. Especially doctors and nurses who see how bad health care is on a daily basis.



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More Dems Join EPA Block

Oops. That's not the right Holland image.

That's the right image.

I know the windmill is a cliché , but they're even on some of their fucking stamps.

Had these people been around, there would be no Holland. They'd have run around pulling the little Dutch boy's fingers out of the holes in the dykes.

And I'm well aware I lost your attention with that last sentence. Focus!

Two House Democrats are joining the assault on the coming greenhouse gas regulations from the EPA. On Thursday, Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Armed Services Chair Ike Skelton (D) introduced a resolution to overturn the agency’s finding that emissions threaten human health. Missouri Republican Jo Ann Emerson is cosponsoring the legislation.

Their measure mirrors the Senate attack on EPA regulations from Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who is using a resolution of disapproval--an obscure procedural maneuver to overturn agency regulations--to block the agency’s scientific conclusion that planet-warming gases endanger humans. The House trio introduced a separate piece of legislation earlier this month to amend the Clean Air Act, but has now synched its efforts with those in the Senate. Murkowski’s measure has 40 cosponsors, including Democrats Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Mary Landrieu (La.).

The EPA's finding has triggered the regulation of gases, with rule for automobiles expected next month and major stationary sources like power plants coming in April. With Senate debate on a carbon cap stalled out, the EPA rules are seen as the last hope for regulating emissions this year.

Climate change won't wait. Its gonna happen regardless whether politicians ignore it and refuse to act. And it will happen even faster when those politicians also insist on blocking any efforts to fight it. At least the EPA is trying to do something.

I'm sure anyone with asthma would contend the fucking emissions affecting air quality are most definitely a health hazard to them as they are for the rest of US.


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Finally available by credit card

I. Want. Go. 1955. I like Ike, I like Ike.

1981 DeLorean

Now I just have to find a fucking DeLorean and some plutonium. The plutonium might be easier to obtain than the car.


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The drumstick country

At first you might assume the 'drumstick country' would probably be Turkey. But as you can clearly see, Turkey is not shaped like a piece of a Turkey at all. No, that would be Niger.



Turkey is shaped more like a chicken McNugget©. I hope this clears everything up for you. Class dismissed.



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Shock over voided Puerto Rican birth certificates

Puerto Rico birth certificate

Bet you are sure as hell happy you weren't born in Puerto Rico. Go Sharks*!

This is gonna be one fucking hassle. It will also undoubtedly put a huge strain on the Pueto Rican embassy in NYC.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Native Puerto Ricans living outside the island territory are reacting with surprise and confusion after learning their birth certificates will become no good this summer.

A law enacted by Puerto Rico in December mainly to combat identity theft invalidates as of July 1 all previously issued Puerto Rican birth certificates. That means more than a third of the 4.1 million people of Puerto Rican descent living in the 50 states must arrange to get new certificates.

[snip]

People born in Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth, are U.S. citizens at birth. Anyone using a stolen Puerto Rico birth certificate could enter and move about the U.S. more easily, which could also pose security problems.

Puerto Rico's legislature passed the law after raids last March broke up a criminal ring that had stolen thousands of birth certificates and other identifying documents from several different schools in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Ricans on average get about 20 copies of their birth certificates over their lifetimes, said Kenneth McClintock Hernandez, the commonwealth's secretary of state.

This is because they are regularly asked to produce them for such events as enrolling children in school or joining sports leagues. Schools and other institutions have typically kept copies, a practice prohibited under the new law since January, McClintock said.

As much as 40 percent of the identity fraud in the U.S. involves birth certificates from Puerto Rico, McClintock said he was told by the State Department.

And all this hassle is falling on people who've done nothing wrong. They simply provided their birth certificates when required to do so.

And and speaking of hassles, what about all the poor clerks in Puerto Rico who have to issue millions [?] of birth certificates in one enormous flood?

* Yes, its a reference to West Side Story.


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Clothing for the homeless

Just wear the damn thing.

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Now is the time to act

So get off your ass and act if you want the deduction.

Feb. 28 is the deadline for individuals and corporations to donate to charities providing earthquake relief in Haiti and claim those contributions on 2009 tax returns.

Source: IRS.gov

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If "God Has a Plan For Sex," Does Obama Have a Plan for Monitoring Programs Overseas?

A billboard promoting abstinence for HIV prevention in Tamale, Ghana

Think of this as the missionary position [ed- intended] of the US government. The question is whether they hand out Watchtower.

On Saturday, the White House faith advisory council task force released recommendations for government agencies that do business with faith-based social service groups. These recommendations touch on several issues related to a recently filed lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. In that case, the ACLU asked a court to order the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to release documents related to its funding of religious abstinence-only-until-marriage programs overseas, which will likely uncover violations of the constitutional guarantee of separation of church and state.

Interestingly, the faith advisory recommendations say that USAID is better suited than the Department of Defense for development work. Though perhaps correct, the shift of additional work to USAID only increases the need for additional oversight of its faith-based work given that USAID has a history of violating the Constitution. Indeed, the ACLU's investigation was trigged in July 2009, when the Inspector General of USAID released a report (PDF) after auditing USAID's faith-based grantees. The report came to startling conclusions about the misuse of government funds. For example, the Inspector General noted several instances of biblical references in government-funded curricula, and USAID itself admitted that some of the abstinence-only-until-marriage programs it funds "reflect a religious perspective and include religiously infused materials and religious references." One of the curricula includes an optional biblical verse for "reflection or memorization," the purpose of which is to show students that "God has a plan for sex and this plan will help you and protect you from harm."

Did you pay for that sign?

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CHILE EARTHQUAKE: 8.8 Magnitude Quake Hits Chile

This earthquake is the largest I've ever heard of. The TV news is saying it is one of the 10 largest. If Haiti's had been this large the deaths would have been in the millions. Chile gets many earthquakes and has better construction standards, but even those didn't prevent massive damage.

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake, one of the largest ever recorded, tore apart houses, bridges and highways in central Chile on Saturday and sent a tsunami racing halfway around the world.

Chileans near the epicentre were tossed about as if shaken by a giant, and authorities said at least 214 people were dead.

The quake was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil — 900 kilometres to the east. The full extent of damage remained unclear as scores of aftershocks — one nearly as powerful as Haiti's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake — shuddered across the disaster-prone Andean nation.

President Michele Bachelet declared a "state of catastrophe" in central Chile and said the death toll was rising.

"We've learned that it was a shallow thrust earthquake, which means it had the potential to cause a tsunami, which it did in this case," said Jessica Sigala of the U.S. Geological Survey.

"The earthquake in Chile released about 500 times the amount of energy that the earthquake in Haiti did," she told CBC News.

[snip]

Did you catch that? Five hundred fucking times the magnitude of the Haitian quake. Now this teacher puts the magnitude at 35 times that of the Haiti quake. No link, but I've seen some stories that rate it at 1,000 times. You can decide which number is correct, but they're all pretty damn bad.

The quake struck at 3:34 a.m. local time (1:34 a.m. ET) and was centred 325 kilometres southwest of the capital, Santiago, at a depth of 35 kilometres, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

In the hours after the 90-second tremor, the U.S. Geological Survey reported 11 aftershocks. The strongest was a magnitude 6.9.

The President of Chile by some accounts had declared a state of catastrophe within 3 hours. Three God damn hours!!1!!! Can we elect her here and set her loose in NOLO?

It appears the earthquake has trumped the killer whale story on CNN.

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