Jonny Lang
Breaking Me

Go Henry Go!

From The Hill:

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) Wednesday requested e-mails from Republican National Committee servers that could help the panel in its investigation into whether administration officials used federal resources for political purposes.
Prior to recess, the committee held a hearing on a presentation White House Deputy Director of Political Affairs J. Scott Jennings gave to the General Services Administration (GSA). Following the event, GSA Administrator Lurita Doan asked her staff how the agency could help “our candidates,” Waxman said.

“Serious questions were raised at the hearing about the legality and propriety of Mr. Jennings’s presentation and the discussion that followed it,” Waxman said in a letter to RNC Chairman Mike Duncan. The congressman noted that the Congressional Research Service has found the event could be a violation of the Hatch Act.

Waxman said Jennings and his assistant used “gwb43.com” e-mail addresses to communicate with GSA.

“To assist the Committee in its investigation of these issues, I request that you provide any electronic messages sent or received by Karl Rove, J. Scott Jennings, or any other White House officials using accounts maintained by the RNC that relate to (1) the January 26, 2007, PowerPoint presentation at GSA, (2) the presentation of any similar political briefings at other federal agencies or to other federal employees, or (3) the use of federal agencies or resources to help Republican candidates,” Waxman said.

What does it say when this crazy loon is more sensible than the President of the U.S.? Oh, and Syria claims a hand in negotiating the release. But hey, let’s not talk to them! It does no good whatsoever!

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has met with some of the 15 British military personnel held in Iranian custody for almost two weeks, shortly after pardoning the group and vowing to set them free.

Iranian state television showed footage of Ahmadinejad shaking hands, smiling and chatting with the detainees who were dressed in suits. One of them was heard to comment in English: “We are grateful for your forgiveness.”

Ahmadinejad joked with one of them: “What kind of compulsory trip were you on?” He added: “I wish you success.” (Watch Ahmadinejad meet British detainess, wish them luck )

An Iranian diplomat in London told The Associated Press that the 15 would be handed over to the British Embassy in Tehran.

One source told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency IRNA that the Britons will leave Tehran at 8 a.m. Thursday (0430 GMT).

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the announcement comes “as a profound relief not just to them but to their families that have endured such distress and anxiety over these past 12 days.”

More at CNN.com

I can’t believe the world is allowing Bush to get away with this crap. It’s shameful. Just shameful.

NAIROBI, Kenya - CIA and FBI agents hunting for al-Qaida militants in the Horn of Africa have been interrogating terrorism suspects from 19 countries held at secret prisons in Ethiopia, which is notorious for torture and abuse, according to an investigation by The Associated Press.

Human rights groups, lawyers and several Western diplomats assert hundreds of prisoners, who include women and children, have been transferred secretly and illegally in recent months from Kenya and Somalia to Ethiopia, where they are kept without charge or access to lawyers and families.

The detainees include at least one U.S. citizen, and some are from Canada, Sweden and France, according to a list compiled by a Kenyan Muslim rights group and flight manifests obtained by AP.

Continue reading at MSNBC

The QuestionGirl has been feeling totally burned out of late. So I packed Buddy, the bird and the boyfriend and am spending the rest of the week on the boat. The bird has a huge cage at home and is feeling a bit cramped in the travel cage. But I think he’s enjoying looking at all the birds and feeling the cool breeze. I know I am…..

So what’s the word today Bur$atil? Oh….here’s something for you. A guy I know at the marina has his boat for sale. He’s desperate to sell it. It’s a BIG boat. Guess who he works for? New Century. I haven’t seen him this week, but I’m not sure he even has a job at this point. Didn’t they file for bankruptcy this week??? Very nice guy…..his job was selling sub-prime loans. He was raking in the big bucks for quite a while, but the party is over for him.

Whose interests does THIS serve? I was under the impression the FDA was there to protect the consumer. Time heals all greed, I suppose. Is there any governmental body still around that puts it’s citizens first?

MSNBC.com:

FDA urges laxer labeling on irradiated foods

Agency proposes admittedly misleading use of term A-pasteurized-

WASHINGTON - The government proposed Tuesday relaxing its rules on labeling of irradiated foods and suggested it may allow some products zapped with radiation to be called “pasteurized.”

The Food and Drug Administration said the proposed rule would require companies to label irradiated food only when the radiation treatment causes a material change to the product. Examples includes changes to the taste, texture, smell or shelf life of a food, which would be flagged in the new labeling.

The technique kills bacteria but does not cause food to become radioactive. Recent outbreaks of foodborne illness have revived interest in irradiation, even though it is not suitable for all food products. For example, irradiating diced Roma tomatoes makes them mushy, the FDA says.
[...]

Confusing customers
“This move by FDA would deny consumers clear information about whether they are buying food that has been exposed to high doses of ionizing radiation,” Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, said in a statement.

The FDA acknowledges in the proposed rule that allowing alternative ways of describing irradiation could confuse consumers: “Research indicates that many consumers regard substitute terms for irradiation to be misleading,” the proposal reads in part.

But the requirement that the new labeling explain why a product was irradiated should clear up some consumer confusion, said Barbara Schneeman, director of the FDA’s office of nutrition, labeling and dietary supplements.

A video from Project Hamad

Adel Hamad’s lawyers and Martin Sheen collaborated on this new video about Adel Hamad’s detention in Guantanamo.

Is there ANYONE who believes this surge is working???? I mean besides McCain and George the dimwit?

A NEWBORN baby was one of at least 14 children and adults killed today when a suicide bomber detonated a truck laden with explosives close to a primary school in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
The latest massacre of Iraqi children came as 21 Shia market workers were ambushed, bound and shot dead north of the capital.

The victims came from the Baghdad market visited the previous day by John McCain, the US presidential candidate, who said that an American security plan in the capital was starting to show signs of progress.

The Kirkuk bloodshed erupted when a bomber driving a truck full of explosives hidden by sacks of flour targeted an Iraqi police station that US soldiers were visiting. The full force of the blast hit a nearby primary school.

Buthayna Mahmud, 10, was horrified to see the bodies of her classmates strewn on the ground in flames.

“Everyone I saw was wearing the blue school uniform drenched with blood. Some of their dresses were torn. I only saw fire. I heard teachers and students shouting,” she said. “When we rushed out of the school, we saw pupils on the ground, some of them burning.”

Continue reading here

(Cross-posted at Vagabond Scholar)

Denial.

For Republicans of all sorts, it’s more than a rhetorical strategy to deflect empirical facts. It’s more than a political philosophy that ignores the reality of others’ experiences. It’s a way of life, dammit.

Not that Republican pundits have ever clamored to recognize the suffering of the poor, or are in the habit of arguing honestly - but it’s hard to ignore that a sizable portion of the Republican party is just not part of the reality-based community. And just like the kid who brags about not reading any books, they’re awfully proud of it.

Consider, for example, Robert Novak still insisting that Valerie Plame Wilson was not a covert CIA agent, even though she testified under oath that she was, she was a NOC, CIA spokesman Bill Harlow told Novak not to reveal her identity, and the current, Bush-appointed head of the CIA Michael Hayden definitively stated she was covert (Novak even tries, laughably, to assert that Hayden is a Democratic stooge). Of course, Novak is a vile, partisan hack - but he’s also been horribly reluctant to admit that the Republican’s growing unpopularity might have something to do with a little thing called Iraq.

As Glenn Greenwald demonstrates, the National Review’s Cliff May repeatedly denies objective reality - and Instapundit Glenn Reynolds decides to ignore the evidence as well. As Greenwald remarks:

Just think about that: the lesson which right-wing, Bush-following war supporters drew from the mountain of empirical evidence in this post, as well as from this entire day-long exchange with Cliff May (to say nothing of the November, 2006 election), is that Americans support the War in Iraq and do not want to withdraw the troops. That is beyond jarring.

I suppose it’s academic as to whether they’re hacks or delusional, but it’s likely some special blend of the two.

Meanwhile, Oliver Willis weighs in with “The Deniers.” And he doesn’t even hit the frightening statistics on evolution deniers (48% of Americans, according to Newsweek), or the creationist Christians who have built a museum teaching kids that dinosaurs and humans coexisted - that would be roughly 6000 years ago, when God created the world.

Please, Republicans - for the sake of the children, the poor, innocent children - stop the insanity. You cannot show us fear in a jar of peanut butter, only your own painful stupidity. Please. Put down the Kool-Aid. Take the Red Pill. Cast off your shackles and emerge from Plato’s cave. There’s a whole, wonderful world out there waiting for you.