Monday, October 01, 2007

Giuliani and That Darn Cell Phone

Ha!  And, you thought he pulled that "gottta answer the phone during this speech" stunt two or three times! Oh, my friends. No, no, no! It's time to make this guy hand it over...turn it in...turn it off...


‘More than 40′ Giuliani speeches interrupted by calls.



During a recent appearance before the National Rifle Association, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani rudely interrupted his speech to take a brief call from his wife, Judith, on his cell phone. Apparently, this is not a new phenomenon for Giuliani. John Fund reports today that it might not be a mere coincidence: “He [...]



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Iceland: Leaving Iraq

This one has always made me chuckle... it would downright funny, it it wasn't so sad.  However, via AMERICAblog, we have a hilarious look at it. Sometimes, you have to laugh through your sadness.  Congratulations, Iceland. You one, lucky, guy...


Another member of the "Coalition of the Willing" leaves Iraq today. This is its story.


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O'Reilly: You Just Have to Despise Him

I'm sure there will be much more response this evening to the latest little O'Reilly blurb about his visit to Sylvia's Restaurant with Al Sharpton. His latest lie came Friday night. And, it's a doozy..


O'Reilly falsely asserted Media Matters added to the audio clip of his controversial comments after posting initial item



On the September 28 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, during a discussion with conservative blogger La Shawn Barber about his controversial comments following his visit to Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem, Bill O'Reilly falsely asserted that Media Matters for America made additions to the audio clip of his remarks after posting the item. Responding to Barber's statement that [...]



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Deaths in Iraq

Conservative bloggers latched onto some of the new numbers late last week. There are others to support those figures today. It IS good news. My question, whenever the death count drops, is always quite simple: how can we sustain the improvement.  The answer, this time, may already be known. We can't -- they've already turned higher. Again.


Civilian And Military Deaths Down In Iraq



The number of violent deaths in Iraq has fallen to the lowest levels since February 2006, according to new reports from the Iraqi government and the U.S. Department of Defense. The number of Iraqi civilians killed in September dropped to 884, less than half of the August count. That makes September the least violent month in Iraq since [...]



More analysis here -


The Surge Works (Sadr's, That Is)


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The Alaska Fraud

That's the only way to described what Alaska Senator, Ted Stevens, has pulled on the American taxpayers. It's fraud. Plain and simple. TPMmuckraker has been keep a close eye on the earmarks up there and has the disgusting latest installment...


Today's Must Read



Just when you think you've heard the most outrageous of Alaska earmarking shenanigans, news breaks that Sen. Ted Stevens clarified, via email, that a $3 million earmark was meant to be handled by his [...]



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The Price You Pay

Just in case any of you wonder why the cost of so much of what you buy is going up, here's a partial explanation.  Beyond, of course, the usual answers of "inflation", "transportation", etc.


The Price of 30 Seconds



Media buyers pay an average of $419,000 to place an ad on “Grey’s Anatomy,” making it the most expensive fall show on network television, according to Advertising Age’s annual survey. “Grey’s” is followed by “Sunday Night Football” ($358,000), “The Simpsons” ($315,000), “Heroes” ($296,000), and “Desperate Housewives” ($270,000). “American Idol,” returning next spring to Fox, is expected to [...]



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iPhone Hackers

I'm sorry, but all of this looks like WAY too much time and trouble, just to be able to use your iPhone on some other network.  Sure, it makes you feel like you've beaten "big business" to a degree.  And, it might let you run another application or two.  But, is it work it?  For some, apparently so. Off we go, to the New York Times...


Hackers Get their iPhones (Back)



Hackers have been able to restore at least some functions on iPhones that had been disabled by last week's Apple update [...]



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Socialized Health Care?

I'm sure have friends or relatives (as do I) who decry any moves by Democrats to provide additional services for Americans as "socialization". The S-CHIP debate is a great case in point.  The conservative argument is always that it's a step toward socialized health care. Whether you believe that's good, or bad, it's always handy to have some solid information to back up what you believe.  Here's a great bit of information, worth filing away in your mind, for the next discussion/argument you have along those lines.


SCHIP Versus “Socialized” Medicine



In the upcoming battle to overturn the President’s promised veto of the SCHIP bill, Bush and his Republican supporters are claiming the SCHIP moves too far in the direction of “government controlled health care,” while some Republicans are calling the program “socialized medicine,” which they assume is the equivalent of saying “boo!” to American’s uninsured [...]



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Nitpicking?

I certainly hope so.  Information culled from a number of sources indicates there may have been a hidden (or not-so-hidden) message in the Iranian President's speech at the United Nations. Chilling...


Did A'jad predict Armageddon at the UN?



This will sound alarming. A literal reading of Ahmadi-Nejad's UN address suggests that he is predicting a total war coming [...]



Also, in case you missed it, Sy Hersh has some detailed thoughts on how the Bush Administration is dealing with Iran this weekend.  His latest article is still generating considerable discussion tonight -


Sy Hersh on Bush's New Strategy for Iran



It seems the Bush administration has given up trying to convince Congress and the American people that Iran must be attacked because their nuclear program (currently under inspection by the IAEA) is an imminent threat to the US and its ally, Israel, requiring military action. So, they have shifted gears and gone to Plan B: a new marketing strategy to paint Iran as a supporter of "terrorists" in Iran who are killing American troops, thus requiring attacks on targets inside Iran as a "counterterrorism measure." This isn't merely my analysis, [...]



Another pundit weights in:


Podhoretz: ‘I Believe Bush Is Going To Order Airstrikes On Iran Before He Leaves Office’



Norman Podhoretz, widely reputed as the “godfather” of neoconservatism, has released a new book entitled World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofacism, a strident call for continuing the Bush strategy of preemptive wars. Podhoretz, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Bush in 2004, met privately with the President for 45 minutes recently. [...]



I don't know about you, but I'm not feeling particularly optimistic after reading ANY of those posts.


UPDATE:  Dana Priest says the pilots won't let an attack happen. First bright thought of the evening, but it's quickly shot down -


Bombing Iran



The Washington Post's Dana Priest opines that if the White House decides to bomb Iran, "the military would revolt and there would be no pilots to fly those missions." Matt Yglesias isn't convinced:It's important to avoid overstating the degree [...]



UPDATE 2: And, from the "some things are not what they seem" department, this from  Daily Kos.  Read it all the way to the end, before you jump to conclusions..


Bombing Iran? Please, Don't Be Ridiculous.



I really think Sy Hersh has gone over the top on this one. It's completely implausible: [...]



Final Update: I'm sorry this post has grown to be so lengthy.  It's morphed from the original U.N.-based post to something much more broadbased. Finally tonight, the White House response to the Sy Hersh report. You guessed it -


Perino Dismisses Sy Hersh And ‘All His Anonymous Sources’ On Iran



Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker’s Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist, has a new article warning that there is “a significant increase in the tempo of attack planning” for war with Iran inside the Bush administration. He reports that the administration has switched its rationale for war, from a broad bombing attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities to [...]



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New Week, Familiar Topics

Here's hoping your weekend was a good and productive one. Ours was busy, but enjoyable. Re-discovered (thanks to the local newspaper) a sandwich recipe that I'd forgotten from my childhood in the upper midwest. Turned Saturday's lunch into something special! It's one of those that we'll be holding onto.  Now, I just have to figure out if it really NEEDS a full stick of real butter to make it taste so good.  I'll be walking to lunch today!


As for the "news" of the day, there's much money talk.  We'll try to make this a summary post, with several bits of information.  But, note that the news began early in the day.  And, it wasn't good.


More pain on Wall Street from the sub-prime fiasco



Sounds like a few issues that will need to be addressed in the banking and financial market. Citibank Q3 earnings to plummet 60% and UBS to report losses of almost $700 million for the quarter. Plenty more problems ahead in the banking and we can remember to thank them and their GOP enablers as the economy tumbles. Let's see raised hands out there for [...]



Reaction was quick to follow, with a caveat from the blogosphere -


Today's Housing Bubble Post - Homebuilder Stocks -- Suckers


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