The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

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FactCheck.org Adds to Their Greatest Hits

By NCD on Sat, 07/07/2012 - 10:06pm |

tmmcarthy recently did a nice blog on FactCheck and facts.

Here, I present the FactCheck.org Greatest Hits, then and now:

(1) FactCheck September 23, 2004: "Kerry Exaggerates Cost of Iraq War" in pre-election ad. FactCheck says the war cost 'is still under $120 billion' whereas Kerry said it was $200 billion. Important information for the public from FactCheck....? By 2008 the cost of the war was extimated to exceed $3,000 billion ($3 trillion) and beyond by Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winning economist. Thanks for that fact check, FactCheck, it helped us a lot.

Police to SCOTUS: Need Blank Check to Tase Anyone

By NCD on Mon, 05/14/2012 - 9:39pm |

NYT:

The case involves Malaika Brooks, who was seven months pregnant and driving her 11-year-old son to school in Seattle when she was pulled over for speeding. The police say she was going 32 miles per hour in a school zone; the speed limit was 20.

Ms. Brooks said she would accept a ticket but drew the line at signing it, which state law required at the time. Ms. Brooks thought, wrongly, that signing was an acknowledgment of guilt.

Refusing to sign was a crime, and the two officers on the scene summoned a sergeant, who instructed them to arrest Ms. Brooks. She would not get out of her car....

Then came the multiple taser shocks, and dragging her from her vehicle. The 'use of force' case is now on appeal at the Supreme Court of the United States, over legal use of tasers by police.  As to whether there are any limits on taser use, a painful police action and compared by some to torture.  The Ninth Circuit federal court has implied there are limits, enraging the police community. The cops are appealing that part of the ruling to the Supreme Court,  they want a blank check to use tasers on just about anybody, for any minor offense, or any small lack of cooperation.

Endgame in Afghanistan?

By NCD on Sat, 02/25/2012 - 3:00pm |

Forget election year politics and polls for a moment, will the apparent negligent disposal by burning of Korans at Bagram signal the final conclusion of not only our 'fragile and reversible gains' there, (Gen. Petraeus, 2011) - but our entire mission? Perhaps speed an end to the whole campaign and occupation, and hasten our exit?

Should Obama have apologized for the Koran disposal? Should he have waited for the investigation to be concluded, as the Korans in question may have already been defaced with messages written by prisoners, and as such were a security risk. On the other hand, did Karzai apologize for the deaths of 4 Americans by Afghan personnel this week? Should we be apologizing or leaving?

Should Obama be quietly or loudly telling the Pentagon to speed plans for departure, leaving Afghans on their own sooner rather than later, while also withdrawing the billions in financing they get from the presence of US and NATO troops? Does Obama have the moxie to exit faster, or will he stick to the ridiculous plan to stay until 2014 or beyond? Would the Republicans pounce on an Afghan exit and say 'Obama lost the war'? Would voters say 'we left too early', or just 'we should never have gone in to start'? Are there enough non-fanatical Afghans, and do they care enough, to stay and stop a Taliban return, or will they just try to get out while they can?

Ron Paul Defends Romney on 'Firing people'

By NCD on Tue, 01/10/2012 - 8:02pm |

In an exclusive interview outside a Manchester polling place, Ron Paul lashed out at fellow Republicans for making unfair and ignorant attacks on Mitt Romney's business record.  "I think they're wrong. I think they're totally misunderstanding the way the market works," Paul told me. "They are either just demagoguing or they don't have the vaguest idea how the market works"...."I think they're way overboard on saying that he wants to fire people, he doesn't care, Paul said.  "You save companies, you save jobs when you reorganize companies that are going to go bankrupt.

Christmas Message from America's Rich

By NCD on Fri, 12/23/2011 - 12:10pm |

Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone, Christmas message from the rich, excerpts:

....Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus, for instance, is not worried about OWS:“Who gives a crap about some imbecile?” Marcus said. “Are you kidding me?”....

Romney: The Dog Ate My Tax Returns

By NCD on Thu, 12/22/2011 - 4:41pm |

Just trust Mitt on this, he really really really pays taxes. Lots of taxes. He would show you his tax returns, but he isn't, trust him. Maybe the dog did eat them, they might have fallen into the Alpo bowl, or maybe the dog got real hungry.

Makana at APEC

By NCD on Mon, 11/14/2011 - 8:03pm |

Hawaiian guitarist, writer and singer Makana has performed in the Obama White House. He is a well known and popular Hawaiian artist.

He was invited to perform instrumental music at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)  in Honolulu Saturday. Instead he sang a song he had just written on the Occupy movement, "We Are The Many".

Earthquake - A Warning to Republicans?

By NCD on Thu, 08/25/2011 - 8:11pm |

Pat Robertson speaking today:

".... it seems to me the Washington Monument is a symbol of America's power, it has been the symbol of our great nation, we look at that monument and say this is one nation under God," he continued. "Now there's a crack in it, there's a crack in it and it's closed up. Is that a sign from the Lord? Is that something that has significance or is it just result of an earthquake? You judge, but I just want to bring that to your attention.."

I agree, there may be clear evidence of a sign from above.

Libya - Was Obama Right?

By NCD on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 8:04pm |

Following are excerpts from Dagbloggers on the Libya intervention from March through 1 June. Who got it right? Who got it wrong? What do the naysayers of a few months ago say now?

Gang of Six Plan-Hits Hard on Middle Class and Poor, Easy on Rich

By NCD on Tue, 07/19/2011 - 3:09pm |

Gang of six: Contributors include Senate Minority Leader Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

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