Saturday, November 12, 2005

Arrrrgh! Dean Failing Dems In Race To Raise Funds

Howard Dean Screaming 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: , , , , , , , , , ,

ADVERTISEMENT

Click Here for Three Stooges Merchandise.
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Selected Iowa Tornado Pictures

IOWA TORNADOES NEWS PHOTO PICTURES -- BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER This funnel cloud visible on the north side of Ames later formed a tornado and touched the ground.
IOWA TORNADOES NEWS PHOTO PICTURES -- DOUG WELLS/THE REGISTER A tornado that touched down in Woodward did heavy damage to the Casey's General Store. The storm also damaged dozens of houses.
Debris litters the area around a damaged canopy at Casey's General Store in Woodward, Iowa, after a tornado struck the town Saturday, Nov. 12, 2005. Tornadoes swept across central Iowa on Saturday, damaging homes and buildings and forcing college football fans to take shelter in a nearby basketball arena. (AP Photo/Kevin Sanders)
An overturned car sits in the parking lot of Casey's General Stores in Woodward, Iowa, after a tornado struck the town Saturday, Nov. 12, 2005. Tornadoes swept across central Iowa on Saturday, damaging homes and buildings and forcing college football fans to take shelter in a nearby basketball arena. (AP Photo/Kevin Sanders)
Debris litters the yard of a house in Woodward, Iowa, that was damaged by a tornado Saturday, Nov. 12, 2005. Tornadoes swept across central Iowa on Saturday, damaging homes and buildings and forcing college football fans to take shelter in a nearby basketball arena. (AP Photo/Kevin Sanders)

NOTE: All rights are reserved by image owners; site content is linked only.

Tags: , , , , , ,

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Hurricane Katrina Aftermath News Pictures #8

HURRICANE KATRINA NEWS PHOTO PICTURES -- The New Orleans Fire Department extinguishes a car fire on Interstate 10 west of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana November 12, 2005. Insurance industry experts are working in Louisiana and Mississippi to gather unique vehicle ID numbers of cars damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The plan is to track the damaged vehicles before they make it to the resale market. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a destroyed home in the Lakefront area of New Orleans displays an American flag, Saturday afternoon, Nov. 12, 2005. (AP Photos/Stephan Savoia)
Damaged cars are seen behind a swimming pool that had floated out of its foundation, because of the exceptionally high floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina which inundated the region, in St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans, Louisiana November 9, 2005. Floodwaters in this region of Louisiana reached more than 12ft high and moved everything from swimming pools to cars haphazardly around several towns. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
Cars damaged by Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters are seen on a street, in front of a swimming pool that had floated from its previous location in a backyard in St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans, Louisiana November 9, 2005. Floodwaters in this region of Louisiana reached more than 12ft high and moved everything from swimming pools to cars haphazardly around several towns. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

NOTE: All rights are reserved by image owners; site content is linked only.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Note to Readers

Alabama: Y'all Come

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
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Bill Clinton: President of Denial

Clinton & LewinskyNEWSLINES
"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: , , , , , ,

ADVERTISEMENT

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Friday, November 11, 2005

Bush Whacks Critics Of Iraq War

The content of this post has been archived.

Search popular posts on THE TENSION.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

God's Wrath In Penn.vs. Moral Education

APE SKULLCOMMENTARY
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: , , , , , , , ,

ADVERTISEMENT

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Hurricane Katrina Aftermath News Pictures #7

The content of this post has been archived.
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Paris Riots Pictures Digest

Thanks for visiting: This content has been archived.
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #8

The content of this post has been archived.
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Hurricane Katrina Aftermath News Pictures #6

The content of this post has been archived.
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Al-Qaeda Claims Jordan Attacks

Jordanian children light candles outside Amman's Grand Hyatt hotel. Jordan rounded up suspects over triple hotel bombings claimed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al-Qaeda group that killed 56 people, including foreigners, in the deadliest attacks in the kingdom's history.(AFP/Ramzi Haidar) 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: , , , , , ,
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Kansas School Board Redefines Academic Freedom

Contemplating evolutionCOMMENTARY
"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: , , , ,

ADVERTISEMENT

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #7

PARIS RIOTS NEWS PHOTO PICTURE -- Blazing suburbs : Firefighters try to extinguish a blaze at a carpet warehouse in Aulnay-sous-Bois during the eigth consecutive night of violence on the ouskirts of the French capital. (AFP/Thomas Coex) Stormy weather in the suburbs : A view of the Vernes' housing development, a poor neighbourhood outside of Givors, near Lyon. (AFP/Jean-Philippe Ksiazek) A crane puts a destroyed car on a pile of charred cars destroyed in recent violence, piled up in a dumping ground in Strasbourg, eastern France, Tuesday Nov. 8, 2005. About 20 cars were torched overnight in various suburbs of the town. The Strasbourg cathedral is seen rear right. (AP Photo/Christian Lutz) A mechanic inspects the remains of a torched vehicle in the garage of a car service company in Brussels November 10, 2005. Youths set fire to 15 vehicles across Belgium in a fourth night of attacks which authorities said looked like imitations of violence in France. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir NOTE: All rights are reserved by image owners; site content is linked only.

Tags: , , , ,
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Wednesday, November 9, 2005

Paris Burning Part Two: The Arab Perspective

PARIS RIOT NEWS PHOTO PICTURE -- Firefighters extinguish a blazing car in Cenon, near Bordeaux, southwestern France, Wednesday night, Nov.9, 2005. The government toughened its stance against those involved in France's worst civil unrest since its 1968 student riots. Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said local officials have been told to deport the 120 foreigners convicted so far for their roles in the violence.(AP Photo/Bob Edme). 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: , ,

ADVERTISEMENT

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Pumping Up Part Five: Defending Oil Profits

PHOTO -- BLING TWOPumping 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: , , , , , , ,

ADVERTISEMENT

Try Netflix for Free!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Katrina: New Orleans' Canal Street Before and After

HURRICANE KATRINA NEWS PHOTO PICTURES -- Residents walk through floodwaters on Canal Street in New Orleans in this Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005 file photo, after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts. Seventy days after this image was taken, traffic on Canal is still not back to normal and the street cars are not yet running but the boulevard is dry and passable. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, FILE)

Seventy days after flooding overran New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and residents used the slightly higher ground of the street car tracks on Canal Street to evacuate, a dry Canal Street is seen Tuesday morning Nov. 8, 2005 in New Orleans. Traffic on Canal is still not back to normal and the street cars are not yet running but the boulevard is dry and passable. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)


















NOTE: All rights are reserved by image owners; site content is linked only.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Unspinning The Election Headlines

Cast your voteCOMMENTARY
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: , , , , , ,
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #6

PARIS RIOTS NEWS PHOTO PICTURES -- Riot police officers stand guard outside the National Assembly while Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin speaks to the parliament in Paris, Tuesday Nov. 8, 2005. De Villepin said that France faces a 'moment of truth' in fighting racial discrimination that has inflamed tempers in suburbs with large immigrant populations. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
A German policeman looks at torched cars in the Berlin district of Wedding November 9, 2005. A number of cars were set on fire in the German cities of Berlin and Cologne in suspected copycat attacks after nearly two weeks of widespread unrest in France, police said on Wednesday. Police in the German capital said three cars and a motorcycle were burned in the working class north Berlin district of Wedding, while witnesses said they later saw two more cars burning. Five other cars were burned in the nearby Moabit quarter two nights earlier. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski
A fireman wipes his eyes as he walks through the rubble of a movie studio in Asnieres-sur-Seine after an overnight fire on the 11th night of violence in suburbs surrounding Paris, November 7, 2005. French President Jacques Chirac vowed to restore order in France after riots in Paris spread across the country. REUTERS/Victor Tonelli
A woman looks into a torched car in the Berlin district of Wedding November 9, 2005. A number of cars were set on fire in the German cities of Berlin and Cologne in suspected copycat attacks after nearly two weeks of widespread unrest in France, police said on Wednesday. Police in the German capital said three cars and a motorcycle were burned in the working class north Berlin district of Wedding, while witnesses said they later saw two more cars burning. Five other cars were burned in the nearby Moabit quarter two nights earlier. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski NOTE: All rights are reserved by image owners; site content is linked only.

Tags: , , , ,
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Tuesday, November 8, 2005

Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #5

The content of this post has been archived.
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Technorati Index Test 10

Indexing test, default ping.

9 prior attempts with no results.


Technorati talk bubble
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

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: , ,
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Monday, November 7, 2005

Indiana, Kentucky Tornado News Pictures #2

INDIANA, KENTUCKY TORNADO NEWS PHOTO PICTURES -- Residents of the the Willow Brooke subdivision clean off tree limbs and debris from what was left of their home's roof after a tornado destroyed it in Evansville, Indiana November 6, 2005. A powerful tornado tore through southern Indiana and parts of Kentucky early on Sunday, killing at least 23 people and injuring more than 200, many caught sleeping when the twister hit, officials said. REUTERS/ John Sommers II
Jill Reeb (R) and Bill Canney clean up debris outside Canney's home in Newburgh, Indiana November 7, 2005. Rescue workers tore at the shredded remains of an Indiana mobile home park on Monday, looking for possible survivors of a tornado that killed at least 22 people in the state but fearing they might find more dead. Search efforts were centered on the Eastbrook mobile home park in Evansville where Sunday's middle-of-the-night tornado dealt the deadliest damage, killing victims ranging from children aged two, five and six to a 78-year-old man. REUTERS/John Gress
Debris from mobile homes litters the area of Eastbrook Mobile Home Park in the aftermath of a tornado in Evansville, Ind., Sunday. Nov. 6, 2005. The tornado ripped across southwestern Indiana and northern Kentucky, killing at least 20 people, wrecking homes and knocking out power to thousands, authorities said. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Debris from the grandstand at Ellis Park litters the area in the aftermath of a tornado in Henderson, Ky., Sunday, Nov. 6, 2005. The tornado ripped across southwestern Indiana and northern Kentucky, killing at least 20 people, wrecking homes and knocking out power to thousands, authorities said. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) NOTE: All rights are reserved by image owners; site content is linked only.

Topics:
, , , , , , ,
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #4

The content of this post has been archived.
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #3

The content of this post has been archived.
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Selected Paris Riot News Pictures #2

PARIS RIOTS NEWS PHOTO PICTURES -- A man holds a banner that reads 'Violence - Dialogue' during a silent march in Aulnay-sous-Bois, northeast of Paris, in protest of arson and disorder that is sweeping through the country November 5, 2005. Hit-and-run arson attacks escalated in poor Paris suburbs as the government met to formulate a political response to nine nights of urban violence that has spawned copycat unrest in major towns. REUTERS/Franck Prevel
A fireman tries to put out a fire in a car in a Paris surburb on the tenth straight night of unrest following the electrocution of two boys who believed they were being chased by the police. The French riots are a warning to Europe that racial integration requires a political solution, the head of Britain's race relations watchdog said(AFP/File/Stephane De Sakutin)
A French police officer uses his high power flash light at the side of a housing project building of Saint Denis, north of Paris, early Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005 on the ninth day of unrest. Vehicles and buildings were torched by youths in largely immigrant areas who began rampaging after two of their peers were electrocuted last week at a power substation while hiding from police they feared were chasing them. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
A car burns in a street of Pierrefitte, north of Paris, early Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005 on the ninth day of unrest. Vehicles and buildings were torched by youths in largely immigrant areas who began rampaging after two of their peers were electrocuted last week at a power substation while hiding from police they feared were chasing them. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

NOTE: All rights are reserved by image owners; site content is linked only.

Topics: , , , ,

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Bush: 'We Do Not Torture'

BEHEADINGCOMMENTARY
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: , , , , , ,
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Selected Paris Riot News Pictures

PARIS RIOTS NEWS PHOTO PICTURES -- A car burns during clashes between French youth and riot police in the Paris suburb of Aulnay sur Bois, early November 3, 2005, in a seventh night of rioting. Street fighting, sparked by the deaths of two teenagers electrocuted while apparently fleeing police during a local disturbance, spread to other parts of the poor suburbs ringing the capital to the north and the east. (Victor Tonelli/Reuters)
Riot police advance during clashes with French youths in Paris suburb of Aulnay sur Bois, early November 3, 2005, in a seventh night of rioting. Street fighting, sparked by the deaths of two teenagers electrocuted while apparently fleeing police during a local disturbance, spread to other parts of the poor suburbs ringing the capital to the north and the east. (Victor Tonelli/Reuters)
Police officers investigate near the wreckage of some of the 27 city buses burned by youths in a warehouse in Trappes, west of Paris, Friday Nov. 4, 2005. Hundreds of cars have been torched over the past week by youths in largely immigrant areas who began rampaging after two of their peers were electrocuted at a power substation while hiding from police they feared were chasing them.(AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
The wreckage of a car used by rioters to break through the glass door of a McDonald fast food restaurant lies amid the rubble of the restaurant in Corbeil-Essonnes, south of Paris, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2005. Spreading urban unrest - with arson attacks on vehicles, nursery schools and other targets in France from the Mediterranean to the German border - for the first time reached central Paris, where police said Sunday that 28 cars were burned overnight. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon) NOTE: All rights are reserved by image owners; site content is linked only.

Topics: , , , ,
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Is America Still Red v. Blue Or More Purple?

Red and Blue states 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: , , , , , , ,

ADVERTISEMENT

Banner
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Sunday, November 6, 2005

Indiana, Kentucky Tornado News Pictures

The content of this post has been archived.
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Hurricane Katrina Aftermath News Pictures #5

The content of this post has been archived.
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

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: , , , , ,

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

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: , , , , , , , , , ,
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Kerry Now Says 2004 Election Was Stolen

JOHN KERRYCOMMENTARY
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: , , , , , , , , ,
AddThis Social Bookmark Button