Arrrrgh! Dean Failing Dems In Race To Raise Funds

NEWSLINE
"Arrrrrrrgh!" Hear it again for the first time.

COMMENTARY
The story speaks, er, screams for itself. No comments needed.

NEWSBYTE
Democrats Losing Race For Funds Under Dean
(Washington Post) The Democratic National Committee under Howard Dean is losing the fundraising race against Republicans by nearly 2 to 1, a slow start that is stirring concern among strategists who worry that a cash shortage could hinder the party's competitiveness in next year's midterm elections. Read full story.

Political Tension: Don't forget Vermont
Gravity: Behind 2 to 1

Topics: current events, politics, Dean, News, DNC, White House, Democrats, election, 2006, 2008, President

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Selected Iowa Tornado Pictures

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Hurricane Katrina Aftermath News Pictures #8

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Tags: News, Gulf Coast, Hurricane, Wilma, tropical storm, photos, pictures, Katrina, politics, Louisiana, New Orleans, Mississippi

Note to Readers

COMMENTS
Hello folks, I hope you enjoy the blog. I can't really say, however, because very few people leave comments. Maybe I scare everyone or maybe you just don't know what to think. I know you are out there because I see the numbers. Perhaps no comments are good comments? Go figure.

Anyway, this is just a note to let you know that I am in the process of moving my residence from Mobile, Alabama, to the greater Washington, D.C., area.

Updates may or may not be sporadic throughout the next couple of weeks. I'll be firmly entrenched in a hotel after Thanksgiving. In any case, I'll try my best to live by the motto: "Have laptop, will travel."

SM

Bill Clinton: President of Denial

NEWSLINES
"One of the American historians I most admire, Mr. [Douglas] Brinkley, sitting out here, was quoted in the paper as saying that I would be viewed as a great president, except for the fact of impeachment," Clinton said.

"I completely disagree with that," he said.

COMMENTARY
Mom always told me where there's smoke, there's fire. (Or perhaps 'The Smoking Gun' in this case.)

NEWSBYTES
Defending his presidency
(Newsday) Former President Bill Clinton gave a spirited rebuttal yesterday to one of the country's most prominent historians, who had said in a Newsday interview this week that Clinton's impeachment marred his legacy as president. Read full story.

Clinton Calls Impeachment Egregious Abuse
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) - Former president Bill Clinton called Congress' impeachment of him an "egregious" abuse of the Constitution and challenged those who say history will judge him poorly because of his White House tryst with Monica Lewinsky. Read full story.

Clinton's Dirty Dossier
(Smoking Gun) NOVEMBER 11--Claiming that his impeachment was an "egregious abuse of the Constitution and law and history of our country," former President Bill Clinton yesterday blasted the contention that his presidency will be permanently tarred by his Oval Office frolics with Monica Lewinsky.

Enjoy it again for the first time: Read full story.

Tension: Smoke
Gravity: Mirrors

Topics: News and Politics, Current Events, Democrats, Republicans, Politics, Clinton, White House

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Bush Whacks Critics Of Iraq War

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God's Wrath In Penn.vs. Moral Education

COMMENTARY
UPDATED: Back in my college days one of my psych professors asked me how I would teach my children to be moral and to make ethical choices as they grew older. He asked within what framework I would use to teach them.

Being young and passionate, I told him, of course, I would instruct my kid's moral education on my own because I would know best how to teach my own. Was that not part of parenting? And no, I didn't need any sort of religious environment to help. Who wanted that mess cluttering their moral upbringing? I would teach my kids to be rational, and my kids were going to make those kinds of decisions for themselves.

Then, my prof made a profound statement that I carry with me to this day. He said that, too, he had been just as stoic as a young man. But over time he came to see the error in his thinking. He asked me why I would want to reinvent the wheel in the education of my children? He said, "Why not use the church as a moral compass ... they have all of the lessons laid out ahead of time ... they have all the bases covered, so to speak." He said that while I did not have to agree with the church, I could do a lot worse than use the framework they bring to the moral education of my children. He also said that with age I would see what he was talking about.

He was right, and I agree.

NEWSBYTES
Robertson warns Pennsylvania voters of God's wrath
Eight 'intelligent design' school board members lost election
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson told citizens of a Pennsylvania town that they had rejected God by voting their school board out of office for supporting "intelligent design" and warned them Thursday not to be surprised if disaster struck. Read full story.

Pat Robertson warns Pa. town of disaster
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) -- Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson warned residents of a rural Pennsylvania town Thursday that disaster may strike there because they "voted God out of your city" by ousting school board members who favored teaching intelligent design. Read full story.

Also see: Kansas School Board Redefines Academic Freedom

Tension: Promoting even more liberal intolerance in the blogs
Gravity: Historical

Tags: Board of Education, Intelligent Design, current events, politics, News, Pat Robertson, Religion, Education, Creationism

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Hurricane Katrina Aftermath News Pictures #7

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Paris Riots Pictures Digest

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Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #8

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Hurricane Katrina Aftermath News Pictures #6

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Al-Qaeda Claims Jordan Attacks

NEWSLINE
"Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!" Jordanians at hotel blast scene.

NEWSBYTES
At Least One American Among Dead in Jordan
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - At least one American was among the 56 people killed by suicide bombers in attacks on three U.S.-based hotels Wednesday night, a U.S. Embassy official said Thursday. At least two other Americans were wounded. The victims were not identified.

Zarqawi group claims Jordan attacks
AMMAN (Reuters) - The al Qaeda group led by America's deadliest foe in Iraq claimed responsibility on Thursday for three suicide bombings that ripped through luxury hotels in Jordan's capital and killed 56 people.

Assad: Lebanon a launchpad for Syria's enemies
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched a scathing attack against Lebanon's leaders on Thursday, accusing them of turning their country into a hotbed of conspiracy against Damascus.

Shocked Jordanians Protest Bombings in Their Capital
(NYT) Thousands marched a day after three blasts killed 59 and wounded 100. Also today, Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility.

American Among Dead In Jordan
(CBS News) At least 56 people are dead after suicide bombings in three hotels in Amman, the capital. Two other Americans are among the dozens injured. Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility because Jordan is a "backyard garden" for the U.S.

Zarqawi Group: We Bombed Jordan Hotels
(FOX News) AMMAN, Jordan — Calling Amman the "backyard garden for the enemies of the religion," Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for three homicide bomb attacks on Western hotels in the Jordanian capital that killed at least 56 people and injured at least 115 others.

Tension: Is hate a religion?
Gravity: Worldwide

Tags: current events, politics, News, terrorism, Jordan, Middle East, Photos

Kansas School Board Redefines Academic Freedom

COMMENTARY
"Hey Toto, I don't think we are over the rainbow anymore!"

CNN muddles this Kansas evolution story by not defining the difference between scientific 'theory' as opposed to the general use of the word 'theory.' As for theories, while they may look like facts, and act like facts, and even include some facts, they still aren't totally proven facts. If they were facts in truth, they wouldn't be called theories. In any case, if you want to see a real problem with the separation of church and state, you need look no further than to any radical Muslim theocracy say, like Iran's. And that's a fact.

NEWSBYTE
Kansas school board redefines science
TOPEKA, Kansas (AP) -- At the risk of re-igniting the same heated nationwide debate it sparked six years ago, the Kansas Board of Education approved new public school science standards Tuesday that cast doubt on the theory of evolution. Read full story.

Tension: Promoting even more liberal intolerance in the blogs
Gravity: Historical

Tags: Kansas Board of Education, Intelligent Design, current events, politics, News

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Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #7

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Paris Burning Part Two: The Arab Perspective

COMMENTARY
In an earlier post, Is Paris Burning? News Marginalizing the Rioters, I pointed out the failure of the mainstream media to address the underlying causes of the riots in France. While there are plenty of cases where the culture of Islam is at direct (and often mortally violent) odds with the west, the problem in France has as much to do with French culture as it does with Islam.

This afternoon an Associated Press story addressed the Muslim issues. When reading the story, note the name on the by-line.

NEWSLINE
"There are no puzzles here. The core problem is mass degradation and alienation manifesting themselves in ... belts of educated, usually unemployed, young men throughout Arab and Asian urban areas; and in parallel urban zones of mass disenfranchisement and marginalization." Lebanon Daily Star

NEWSBYTE
Arabs Blame French Society, Discrimination
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- France's riots have set off a round of troubled debate across the Arab world: Most here blame a failure to offer opportunity to immigrants, but others see a more ominous clash of cultures over Islam.

Across the Middle East, the images of burning cars and stone-throwing young people have dominated newspapers and television. Analysts have hotly debated the riots' meaning, their cause and whether they might spread. Read full story.

TENSION: Hot
GRAVITY: If thousands of cars were burned in the US, heads would surely roll

Tags: News, Paris, Paris riots

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Pumping Up Part Five: Defending Oil Profits

Pumping Up Part Five

UPDATED
FTC subpoenas Big Oil firms in U.S. gasoline probe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission has sent subpoenas to Big Oil companies in its investigation of gasoline price manipulation and oil refining capacity constraints, and hopes to complete the probe next spring, the agency's head told a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday.

The agency sent out "dozens of subpoenas" to companies, including oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. , ConocoPhillips, and the U.S. units of BP Plc. (BP.L) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc., FTC Chairwoman Deborah Majoras said. Read full story.

COMMENTARY
Party politics ahead of an election year or the economics of free market pressure bought to bear? Who knows? All I know is the price is high at the pump. Period.

NEWSBYTES
Oil Company Executives Defend Profits
WASHINGTON (AP) - The chiefs of five major oil companies defended the industry's huge profits Wednesday at a Senate hearing where lawmakers said they should explain prices and assure people they're not being gouged. There is a "growing suspicion that oil companies are taking unfair advantage,"

Oil execs defend profits at hearing
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Big oil companies defended their combined quarterly profits of more than $30 billion at a Senate hearing on Wednesday, warning lawmakers that proposals for a windfall profit tax could discourage investments and lead to higher prices.

Senators Grill Oil Executives
(NYT) The chiefs of five major oil companies defended the industry's huge profits at a Senate hearing.

Worried Congress Grills Oil Execs
(CBS News) Top executives of five of the largest oil companies are being asked about their industry's huge profits, coming on the heels of record-high gasoline and home heating oil prices. Criticism of the industry is coming from both Republicans and Democrats.

RELATED STORY
Oil prices keep falling as inventories grow
(AP) Oil prices dropped Wednesday after the U.S. government reported that inventories of crude and gasoline grew in the last week. Inventories of distillate fuel, which includes diesel and heating oil, posted a drop for the seventh-straight week, keeping alive fears that heating oil may be in short...

Tension: Gas Pains
Gravity: 200%

Topics: News, Gulf Coast, Hurricane, Katrina Wilma, tropical storm, Rita, Bush, economy

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Katrina: New Orleans' Canal Street Before and After

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Unspinning The Election Headlines

COMMENTARY
No symbolic win here; the major election results retain the status quo.

Reuters news proclaims that the Dems sweep the races and stated, "the off-year election offered grim news for Republicans seeking clues to next year's political climate and the long-term effect of Bush's plummeting approval ratings, now the lowest of his presidency."

Well hello, the truth is the Dems didn't give up races for positions they already held. The governor's races were both won by Democrats, who kept the Democrats in office in those states. Mayor Bloomberg, a Republican, also kept his seat in predominantly Democrat New York.

Reuters also gave undue national political weight to defeats of California ballot initiatives, but buries the passing of a law in Texas banning gay marriage.

AP also proclaims, "Democrats cleaned up big," and re-framed the story by moving the regional California ballot initiatives to a frontal position in their article. Anyone who knows why Sacramento wants to keep spending like crazy should feel free to leave comments.

NEWSBYTES
Democrats sweep Virginia, New Jersey races
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats swept tough and sometimes nasty governors' races in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday, dealing a setback to Republicans and President George W. Bush ahead of critical congressional elections next year.

In Virginia, Democrat Tim Kaine handily defeated Republican Jerry Kilgore despite Bush's 11th-hour appearance on Kilgore's behalf. Democratic Sen. Jon Corzine (news, bio, voting record) beat Republican businessman Doug Forrester in a bitter New Jersey race featuring an attack on the divorced Corzine by his ex-wife. Read full story.

Democrats Win Elections in NJ, Va., Calif.
Democrats cleaned up big in off-year elections from New Jersey to California, sinking the candidate who embraced President Bush in the final days of the Virginia governor's campaign. They also turned back all four of GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's efforts to reshape state government. Read full story.

Political Tension: Status quo
Gravity: Divisive

Tags: current events, politics, News, Republican, Democrats, 2008, election

Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #6

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Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #5

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Is Paris Burning? News Marginalizing the Rioters

COMMENTARY
The city is on fire. African and Arab Muslim youths recruited to the cause are rioting. Flashes of extensive property damage roll by on television and computer screens. Is this Ramallah? No. This is Paris.

The foundations of reporting are the five "W"s (who, what, where, when, why) and the "H" (how) that make up the facts of any news story. So why is it when looking at the majority of news written about the Paris Riots, the 'who' is either burred deep within the story or marginalized by generalization? The mainstream media, who tend to report close to the sensational news byte, appear to favor (or feel sorry for) the French, and as such are unable to report the story framed as a problem of economics, racism and religious intolerence.

Presented below are today's stories and my observations:

NEWSBYTES
(AP) State of Emergency Declared in France
Rioters are identified only as 'youths.'

(AFP) French government approves emergency curfew powers
Rioters are identified only as 'youths.'

(AP) Rioting Threatens France's Tourism Image
Rioters not identified.

(AP) Tough French Projects Were Once Desirable
Rioters not mentioned.

(Washington Post) French Officials Try to Ease Fear as Crisis Swells
Several mentions of 'youths' one mention of Muslim Web sites.

(NYT) Suburban Officers Criticized as Insensitive to Racism
Mentions racism but fails to mention races affected.

(WSJ) France Authorizes CurfewsAs Riots Cast DoubtOn Its Policing System
In second paragraph, identifies rioters being men of "North African descent, from poor, mostly Muslim neighborhoods."

(Reuters) France backs curfews to curb riots
Refers to Muslim clerics statements but does not identify rioters as Muslim youths.

(CBS News) France Invokes Emergency Laws
Identifies rioters as 'youths' but removed their earlier story discription, "black and Arab youths who feel disenfranchised."

FOX News State of Emergency Declared in France
Identifies the ritoters as, "a nationwide insurrection by disillusioned suburban youths, many French-born children of immigrants from France's former territories like Algeria."

TENSION: Hot
GRAVITY: If thousands of cars were burned in the US, heads would surely roll

Tags: News, Paris, Paris riots

Indiana, Kentucky Tornado News Pictures #2

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Topics: News, Indiana, Kentucky, tornado, severe weather, natural disaster, photos, pictures

Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #4

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Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #3

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Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #2

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Topics: News, Paris, Paris riots, photos, pictures

Bush: 'We Do Not Torture'

COMMENTARY
Unlike the mainstream media who blindly tortures us with insipid programming and biased reporting, Bush denies knowledge of the actions. I suppose it's a relative point of view. A whinny, yet vindictive foe, will cry foul when he is fondled and hooded. With the tables turned, that same foe will see nothing wrong with simply letting the hooded head roll. Reporters: if you have to ask, what's the point. Go figure.

NEWSBYTE
Bush Declares: 'We Do Not Torture'
PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) - President Bush vigorously defended U.S. interrogation practices in the war on terror Monday and lobbied against a congressional drive to outlaw torture.

"There's an enemy that lurks and plots and plans and wants to hurt America again," Bush said. "So you bet we will aggressively pursue them but we will do so under the law."

He declared, "We do not torture." Read full story.

Political Tension: Unveiled
Gravity: One head is better than none

Topics: current events, politics, Bush, News, White House, terrorism, Panama

Selected Paris Riot News Pictures

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Topics: News, Paris, Paris riots, photos, pictures

Is America Still Red v. Blue Or More Purple?

COMMENTARY
Please find linked below some interesting observations into the "states" of the nation.

NEWSBYTE
Is America Still Red Vs. Blue, or Purpler?
Dial back to a year or so ago, to the wrenching, vicious, partisan escapade that was Campaign 2004, to a time when we were told by a thousand pundits that America was deeply, hopelessly divided.

And it felt that way: Family dinners became shouting matches. Bush and Kerry signs were snatched from yards. Blue and red were at war.

But 12 months have passed since then, ample time for the nation to relearn the principles of civil discourse. We have had time to heal, to start listening to each other again. To become, in a word, purpler.

So have we? Read full story.

Political Tension: Divisive
Gravity: About 55/45

Topics: current events, politics, News, Republican, White House, Democrats, 2008, President

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Indiana, Kentucky Tornado News Pictures

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Hurricane Katrina Aftermath News Pictures #5

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The FBI's Secret Scrutiny

COMMENTARY
Perhaps the Post would rather be reporting about the failings of the Patriot Act to prevent attacks on American soil since September 11. They sure didn't allude to the positive effects of the Patriot Act's powers in the article.

NEWSBYTE
The FBI's Secret Scrutiny
(Washington Post) The FBI came calling in Windsor, Conn., this summer with a document marked for delivery by hand. On Matianuk Avenue, across from the tennis courts, two special agents found their man. They gave George Christian the letter, which warned him to tell no one, ever, what it said.

Tension: Elevated
Gravity: None as of yet

Topics: current events, politics, FBI, Patriot Act, News, terrorism

Bush Sends Staff Back to Ethics Class?

COMMENTARY
If only you could send those folks at CNN back to journalism ethics class. Like "Scooter" Libby, who CNN reports, "Is not charged with deliberately disclosing the name of a covert agent, which is a federal offense," CNN is not credited with knowing how to figure out why defining something by what it is specifically not can be anything but subjective reporting. See how that works? It's no wonder FOX News has trashed CNNs ratings. (Note the keyword, 'Trash.')

NEWSBYTES
Bush sends staff back to ethics class
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With his chief political aide under investigation as part of a probe into the public unmasking of a CIA operative, President Bush is sending his staff back to school -- ethics school.

Bush Orders Staff to Attend Ethics Briefings
White House Counsel to Give 'Refresher' Course
(Washington Post) President Bush has ordered White House staff to attend mandatory briefings beginning next week on ethical behavior and the handling of classified material after the indictment last week of a senior administration official in the CIA leak probe.

Tension: Re-manufactured
Gravity: Less than you are led to believe

Topics: current events, politics, Bush, Rove, News, Republican, White House, Journalism, mainstream media, cable news,

Kerry Now Says 2004 Election Was Stolen

COMMENTARY
Stolen election? Perhaps John Kerry just misplaced it. Too bad he didn't have something like an Election Finder to help him locate the issues. I can almost bet that Hillary won't be helping Kerry look for the election in 08, either. An important fact Kerry missed (and one Hillary needs to be wary of) is that very few US Senators have been elected President. A Senator's record is hard to run on and even harder to run away from.

NEWSBYTES
Mark Crispin Miller: “Kerry Told Me He Now Thinks the Election Was Stolen”
New York University professor and author Mark Crispin Miller says in an interview on Democracy Now!: “[Kerry] told me he now thinks the election was stolen. He says he doesn't believe he is the person that can be out in front because of the sour grapes question. But he said he believes it was stolen. He says he argues with his democratic colleagues on the hill. He said he had a fight with Christopher Dodd because he said there's questions about the voting machines and Dodd was angry.”

Kerry Suspects Election 2004 Was Stolen
Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004, has told acquaintances over the past year that he suspects that the election was stolen, but that he didn’t challenge the official results because he lacked hard proof and anticipated a firestorm of criticism if he pressed the point.

Political Tension: MoveOn.John
Gravity: It's over

Topics: current events, politics, News, Republican, White House, Democrats, Hillary, Condi Rice, 2008, President