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December 29, 2005
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Sunday's Links
Our apologies for today's delay - we experienced computer issues this morning.
Activism
Too often of late we talk about what needs to be done in Darfur. Over 80% of Americans support action to stop Genocide in Darfur. Now is your chance to help. Visit the International Crisis Group to find out how you can help bring U.S. support to Darfur.
News
U.S. Pressure Weakens G-8 Climate Plan. By now we all know that the Bush administration has a soft spot for stopping science. After all, for an administration that doesn't believe in fact, stopping science is right up their alley. We've documented how Bush eliminates data and funding from many scientific initiatives, including all relevant data that shows that global warming is a clear and immediate crisis. So it should be no surprise that Bush administration officials have been working non-stop behind the scenes at the G-8 conference, in an effort to weaken plans for climate change. It's absolutely astounding how Bush's megalomania has extended to forcing sovereign countries to adopt a policy that is not what they want. More definite language in the policy has been changed to more nebulous policy. Simply disgusting.
Hard-Line Figure In Iran Runoff. Despite voter intimidation (doesn't that sound familiar?), Iran's presidential election went off on Friday. No candidate received 50% of the vote, so there will be a run-off between the top two vote getters; former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hard-line working class citizen. There was a very large young voter turnout, who were dissatisfied with the theocracy. Bush is very much against the vote, saying that the democratic election "ignores the basic requirements of democracy." We're not exactly sure how, but it did result in higher voter turnout. Keep an eye on how this plays out - Rafsanjani is far less likely to bring the change that Iran so desperately needs.
Senate Republicans Offer Deal on Bolton Information. You might call it desperation; we certainly would. The White House won't release information on John Bolton that Democrats are asking for, so Democrats won't allow the vote to go on. What are Republicans trying to hide? The question circles around whether or not Bolton tried to misuse U.S. intelligence. If he didn't, then why doesn't the White House release the information? Republicans need 60 votes to allow the Bolton vote to be brought to the Senate, but even with this disingenuous offer, Democrats are confident that they have enough votes to block the full vote as they should. Democrats just want all the facts before they vote to confirm a very controversial nominee to a very important position - is that a crime?
Editorials
Congress Assaults the Courts, Again. Slipping under the radar last week was an amendment put into a budget bill and passed by the House. The amendment would bar money from being spent to enforce a federal court ruling regarding the Ten Commandments. The amendment, introduced by Representative John Hostettler (R-IN) is a direct slap in the face to the judiciary in general, and the Supreme Court specifically. Hostettler declared that the Supreme Court ruling was unconstitutional, and inconsistent with "the Christian heritage of the United States." Funny, we thought that the United States government was supposed to be separate from the church. We know we've read that, somewhere. Hostettler is proving Howard Dean right, and that's the scariest notion of all.
Truth and Consequences. Bill Mon summarizes Gitmo in a way as to remind us why it is so important. Forget Dick Durbin's selfless, passionate speech on the floor of the Senate. Forget about the morality of holding 400 detainees without charges. Think back thirty years, to the Vietnam war. Think about all of those "guests" of the Hanoi Hilton, who owe their lives to the Geneva Convention. When the U.S. can't be bothered to follow the Geneva Convention, in the interests of "security," our nation loses what we value so dear - our values.
What's the Matter With Ohio? It's impressive to see MSNBC interview Ronald McDonald, and yet completely ignore stories like this. Paul Krugman writes about Ohio, and for once, it's not about voting irregularities. There's been a lot of writing by the Toledo Blade about the misappropriation of state funds, exposing a huge web of political and corporate tie-ins. The results of the Blade's investigation are staggering, and should be unheard of in this day and age. Instead, they've become commonplace in Ohio (thanks to Republican politicians), and we give kudos to the Blade for uncovering this mess.
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December 29, 2005
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Sunday's Links
Our apologies for today's delay - we experienced computer issues this morning.
Activism
Too often of late we talk about what needs to be done in Darfur. Over 80% of Americans support action to stop Genocide in Darfur. Now is your chance to help. Visit the International Crisis Group to find out how you can help bring U.S. support to Darfur.
News
U.S. Pressure Weakens G-8 Climate Plan. By now we all know that the Bush administration has a soft spot for stopping science. After all, for an administration that doesn't believe in fact, stopping science is right up their alley. We've documented how Bush eliminates data and funding from many scientific initiatives, including all relevant data that shows that global warming is a clear and immediate crisis. So it should be no surprise that Bush administration officials have been working non-stop behind the scenes at the G-8 conference, in an effort to weaken plans for climate change. It's absolutely astounding how Bush's megalomania has extended to forcing sovereign countries to adopt a policy that is not what they want. More definite language in the policy has been changed to more nebulous policy. Simply disgusting.
Hard-Line Figure In Iran Runoff. Despite voter intimidation (doesn't that sound familiar?), Iran's presidential election went off on Friday. No candidate received 50% of the vote, so there will be a run-off between the top two vote getters; former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hard-line working class citizen. There was a very large young voter turnout, who were dissatisfied with the theocracy. Bush is very much against the vote, saying that the democratic election "ignores the basic requirements of democracy." We're not exactly sure how, but it did result in higher voter turnout. Keep an eye on how this plays out - Rafsanjani is far less likely to bring the change that Iran so desperately needs.
Senate Republicans Offer Deal on Bolton Information. You might call it desperation; we certainly would. The White House won't release information on John Bolton that Democrats are asking for, so Democrats won't allow the vote to go on. What are Republicans trying to hide? The question circles around whether or not Bolton tried to misuse U.S. intelligence. If he didn't, then why doesn't the White House release the information? Republicans need 60 votes to allow the Bolton vote to be brought to the Senate, but even with this disingenuous offer, Democrats are confident that they have enough votes to block the full vote as they should. Democrats just want all the facts before they vote to confirm a very controversial nominee to a very important position - is that a crime?
Editorials
Congress Assaults the Courts, Again. Slipping under the radar last week was an amendment put into a budget bill and passed by the House. The amendment would bar money from being spent to enforce a federal court ruling regarding the Ten Commandments. The amendment, introduced by Representative John Hostettler (R-IN) is a direct slap in the face to the judiciary in general, and the Supreme Court specifically. Hostettler declared that the Supreme Court ruling was unconstitutional, and inconsistent with "the Christian heritage of the United States." Funny, we thought that the United States government was supposed to be separate from the church. We know we've read that, somewhere. Hostettler is proving Howard Dean right, and that's the scariest notion of all.
Truth and Consequences. Bill Mon summarizes Gitmo in a way as to remind us why it is so important. Forget Dick Durbin's selfless, passionate speech on the floor of the Senate. Forget about the morality of holding 400 detainees without charges. Think back thirty years, to the Vietnam war. Think about all of those "guests" of the Hanoi Hilton, who owe their lives to the Geneva Convention. When the U.S. can't be bothered to follow the Geneva Convention, in the interests of "security," our nation loses what we value so dear - our values.
What's the Matter With Ohio? It's impressive to see MSNBC interview Ronald McDonald, and yet completely ignore stories like this. Paul Krugman writes about Ohio, and for once, it's not about voting irregularities. There's been a lot of writing by the Toledo Blade about the misappropriation of state funds, exposing a huge web of political and corporate tie-ins. The results of the Blade's investigation are staggering, and should be unheard of in this day and age. Instead, they've become commonplace in Ohio (thanks to Republican politicians), and we give kudos to the Blade for uncovering this mess.
|
December 29, 2005
Activism
Too often of late we talk about what needs to be done in Darfur. Over 80% of Americans support action to stop Genocide in Darfur. Now is your chance to help. Visit the International Crisis Group to find out how you can help bring U.S. support to Darfur.
News
U.S. Pressure Weakens G-8 Climate Plan. By now we all know that the Bush administration has a soft spot for stopping science. After all, for an administration that doesn't believe in fact, stopping science is right up their alley. We've documented how Bush eliminates data and funding from many scientific initiatives, including all relevant data that shows that global warming is a clear and immediate crisis. So it should be no surprise that Bush administration officials have been working non-stop behind the scenes at the G-8 conference, in an effort to weaken plans for climate change. It's absolutely astounding how Bush's megalomania has extended to forcing sovereign countries to adopt a policy that is not what they want. More definite language in the policy has been changed to more nebulous policy. Simply disgusting.
Hard-Line Figure In Iran Runoff. Despite voter intimidation (doesn't that sound familiar?), Iran's presidential election went off on Friday. No candidate received 50% of the vote, so there will be a run-off between the top two vote getters; former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hard-line working class citizen. There was a very large young voter turnout, who were dissatisfied with the theocracy. Bush is very much against the vote, saying that the democratic election "ignores the basic requirements of democracy." We're not exactly sure how, but it did result in higher voter turnout. Keep an eye on how this plays out - Rafsanjani is far less likely to bring the change that Iran so desperately needs.
Senate Republicans Offer Deal on Bolton Information. You might call it desperation; we certainly would. The White House won't release information on John Bolton that Democrats are asking for, so Democrats won't allow the vote to go on. What are Republicans trying to hide? The question circles around whether or not Bolton tried to misuse U.S. intelligence. If he didn't, then why doesn't the White House release the information? Republicans need 60 votes to allow the Bolton vote to be brought to the Senate, but even with this disingenuous offer, Democrats are confident that they have enough votes to block the full vote as they should. Democrats just want all the facts before they vote to confirm a very controversial nominee to a very important position - is that a crime?
Editorials
Congress Assaults the Courts, Again. Slipping under the radar last week was an amendment put into a budget bill and passed by the House. The amendment would bar money from being spent to enforce a federal court ruling regarding the Ten Commandments. The amendment, introduced by Representative John Hostettler (R-IN) is a direct slap in the face to the judiciary in general, and the Supreme Court specifically. Hostettler declared that the Supreme Court ruling was unconstitutional, and inconsistent with "the Christian heritage of the United States." Funny, we thought that the United States government was supposed to be separate from the church. We know we've read that, somewhere. Hostettler is proving Howard Dean right, and that's the scariest notion of all.
Truth and Consequences. Bill Mon summarizes Gitmo in a way as to remind us why it is so important. Forget Dick Durbin's selfless, passionate speech on the floor of the Senate. Forget about the morality of holding 400 detainees without charges. Think back thirty years, to the Vietnam war. Think about all of those "guests" of the Hanoi Hilton, who owe their lives to the Geneva Convention. When the U.S. can't be bothered to follow the Geneva Convention, in the interests of "security," our nation loses what we value so dear - our values.
What's the Matter With Ohio? It's impressive to see MSNBC interview Ronald McDonald, and yet completely ignore stories like this. Paul Krugman writes about Ohio, and for once, it's not about voting irregularities. There's been a lot of writing by the Toledo Blade about the misappropriation of state funds, exposing a huge web of political and corporate tie-ins. The results of the Blade's investigation are staggering, and should be unheard of in this day and age. Instead, they've become commonplace in Ohio (thanks to Republican politicians), and we give kudos to the Blade for uncovering this mess.
