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Source: Associated Press Suicide bomber kills 13 in western Afghanistan By AMIR SHAH (Associated Press Writer) From Associated Press November 20, 2009 3:17 AM EST KABUL - A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle killed 13 people, including a police officer, and wounded 30 others Friday in a busy city square in western Afghanistan. Several children were among those wounded in the morning explosion, said a doctor at the hospital in Farah city, Shir Agh Asas. Afghan police shouted "Stop! Stop!" at t...

(Link) THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2009 The 26 Percent Solution Today's magic number must be 26 -- as in 26 percent. Because as if you ever needed proof that 26 percent of America -- that would be one out of every four people you see walking down the street, plus someone else's right ankle -- is totally bat-guano out-of-their-freakin'-minds crazy, check out this new poll just out: The poll asked this question: "Do you think that Barack Obama legitimately won the Presidential election last year, ...

(Link) November 18, 2009, 10:40 AM Playing the Health Care Lottery By THERESA BROWN, R.N. In the short story “The Lottery,” the author Shirley Jackson describes a small farming community in 1940s America, as picturesque a scene as anything you’d find in Norman Rockwell. It’s “Lottery Day,” and families gather in the June sun, the adults chatting while their children play, gathering up small piles of stones. - snip - The townspeople laugh, but the merriment is soon replaced by an anxious wai...

(Link) DOJ Report on Yoo, Bybee's Legal Work on Torture to Be Released by Month's End Thursday 19 November 2009 by: Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | Report A long-awaited Justice Department watchdog report that is said to be highly critical of the legal work three attorneys who worked at the agency's powerful Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) conducted for the Bush administration will be released at the end of the month, Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday during testimony before a Senate ...

(Link) Newspaper threatened with ‘another Fort Hood’ for criticizing Tea Party protest By Daniel Tencer Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 -- 4:06 pm Police in Michigan are investigating after an irate reader of the Port Huron Times-Herald reportedly called in a threat to the newspaper after it criticized a local House representative's participation in the anti-health reform Tea Party protest two weeks ago. "A 60-year-old Port Huron woman threatened to take a gun to the newspaper and 'do what ...

(Link) For 12-Year-Old Without an Arm, Insurance Has Run Out State Rules Vary Widely on Prosthetics and Other Health Needs By Danielle Ivory Huffington Post Investigative Fund 5:31 pm | 16 Nov 2009 Benjamin French was born with his right arm missing below the elbow. In his 12 years, he has been fitted with seven prostheses. His most recent replacement will cost nearly $30,000 and his doctor says he will soon grow out of it. But, according to his insurance company, the boy is ineligible for fu...

Source: CNN U.S. ship thwarts second pirate attack November 18, 2009 6:20 a.m. EST STORY HIGHLIGHTS Maersk Alabama guards drive off pirates with gunfire Ship was at center of bloody hijack drama in April (CNN) -- The U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama, which played a central role in a bloody hijacking drama last spring, was attacked again Wednesday. This time, the container ship evaded the attack by firing back, the European Union's anti-piracy force said. Pirates fired automatic weapons at the shi...

 
MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show - 17 November 2009. Rachel Maddow reports on the latest racist and disturbing attacks on President Obama, including the merchandising of Psalm 109:8 on T-shirts and teddy bears. The Biblical verses are threatening when taken out of context as they do and applied to the President. MADDOW: "And then there's this, a Biblical quote making the rounds in anti-Obama circles, as reported this week in The Christian Science Monitor: Pray For President Obama - Psalm 109 Verse...

 
MSNBC Countdown w/ KEITH OLBERMANN - 17 November 2009: A Two-Fer for Bill O'Lielly in Worst Persons In The World. BRONZE: Rep. John Shadeqq (R-Arizona) uses children to create fear over NYC terrorist trial. SILVER: Billo The Clown talks to analyst Andrew Napolitano... NAPOLITANO: 'There was no declaration of war.' O'REILLY: 'All right, so, because there is no declaration of war, you say that any terror - and it fits the bill, right? Surely 9/11 fits the bill of a terrorist act...' NAPOLITANO:...

(Link) Imagine If Today's Right-Wing Were Around for Nuremberg by Cenk Uygur Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 04:40:06 PM EST I was talking to Frank Mankiewicz recently (he was the press secretary for Bobby Kennedy and campaign manager for George McGovern) and I asked him what's the difference between the right-wing in this country back in the 60's and 70's and right now. Certainly there were crazed conservatives back then, and in many ways they were even more dangerous and vicious back then. But Frank ...

Study: Injured Uninsured More Likely to Die in ER (Link) CHICAGO (AP) -- Uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling new study. The findings by Harvard University researchers surprised doctors and health experts who have believed emergency room care was equitable. ''This is another drop in a sea of evidence that the un...

If you missed it, Keith Olbermann read this entire column on tonight's Countdown written by one of the show's producers in his response to what he saw at the free health clinic held in New Orleans this weekend past after Olbermann called for a fundraising to hold the clinics. Please read it if you missed the show. VIDEO is here: (Link) (Link) Health reform's human stories Countdown producer bears witness to America's health care shortcomings MSNBC updated 2 hours, 37 minutes ago Rich Stockw...

Hmm... Could be interesting. (Link) In theaters: March 12, 2010 Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93) re-team for their latest electrifying thriller in Green Zone, a film set in the chaotic early days of the Iraqi War when no one could be trusted and every decision could detonate unforeseen consequences. During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Damon) and his team of Army inspectors were disp...

Interviewed by Rachel. I am paraphrasing.

(Link) Tea Party Leader: “Liberal blogs” Messed Up Plans for Effigy Burning Over Health Care Reform By: Lowell Feld Monday November 16, 2009 1:16 pm   So sad. :( Nigel Coleman, chairman of the Danville Tea Party, says the local property owner hosting the rally asked him to pull the plug. “We will not be going forward with the plan,” a crestfallen Coleman told me by phone moments ago. “We had to cancel it. The property owner won’t allow us to do it. The media attention was something t...

 
(Link) Trailer #1 to the documentary film "8: The Mormon Proposition". Obviously, it's about Proposition 8 and the banning of gay marriage in California. Even more, it's about the Mormons that dumped millions of dollars into taking away peoples' rights. We just submitted to Sundance and tons of other festivals. Visit the website for updates!

(Link) (Link) Film documents Mormon role in gay marriage debate By JENNIFER DOBNER (AP) – 15 hours ago SALT LAKE CITY — Reed Cowan's reasons for making a film about the Mormon church's activism against gay marriage in California are personal. Himself gay and Mormon, Cowan clashed with his family over his sexual orientation and the beliefs of their faith, but it was a conversation between him and a sibling about her support of Proposition 8 cemented his commitment to make the film: "8: The M...

(Link) Dozens of Guantanamo detainees are getting their day in court By: PETE YOST Associated Press 11/15/09 10:28 PM EST WASHINGTON — In courtrooms barred to the public, dozens of terror suspects are pleading for their freedom from the Guantanamo Bay prison, sometimes even testifying on their own behalf by video from the U.S. naval base in Cuba. Complying with a Supreme Court ruling last year, 15 federal judges in the U.S. courthouse here are giving detainees their day in court after years b...

(Link) BECAUSE SOMETIMES THE COMMENTS ARE THE BEST PART « Previous Post | Comments Blog Home Top 10 reader comments about President Obama's bow to Japan's Emperor Akihito November 14, 2009 | 2:46 pm A post on our Top of the Ticket blog today about President Obama’s greeting of Japan’s Emperor Akihito has already generated over 1,000 comments from readers. This weekend, the president has done a lot of bowing to show respect on his first Asia tour as president. The photo above was taken aft...

 
MSNBC The Ed Show w/ ED SCHULTZ - 12 November 2009: VIRG BERNERO, MAYOR, LANSING, MICHIGAN: "These mortgage companies, these mortgage folks got away with murder and a lot of these companies got bailed out. And they're still screwing the homeowners. So we need a moratorium. There's no question about it. ... we need a two-year moratorium, at least, on foreclosures. I would say, Ed, you know, homes under $200,000. Let's have a moratorium. Let's sort this out. Let's give some people some breathing ...

Source: Birmingham News Federal prosecutors oppose former Gov. Don Siegelman's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court By Mary Orndorff -- The Birmingham News November 14, 2009, 9:54AM WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court does not need to hear the appeal of former Gov. Don Siegelman because prosecutors adequately proved at trial that he exchanged an official act for a political donation, according to written arguments filed late Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice. Siegelman and co-defendant He...

Source: Raw Story / New York Times New estimate for Afghan war: $1 million per soldier By Joe Byrne Saturday, November 14th, 2009 -- 8:54 pm Senior administration officials reported to the New York Times today that budget projections for the war in Afghanistan will cost U.S. taxpayers at least $1 million per soldier, per year. The plan to add 40,000 American troops and greatly expand Afghan security forces, supported by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, is estimate...

"Jon Stewart heard that Sean Hannity was going to offer an apology for showing fake Tea Party protest footage, so he sat down to watch the show and hear Hannity say he was sorry" (Link)

 
CNN - 14 November 2009: Veteran Col. Norbert Schmidt Ashes Stolen Before Burial At Arlington National Cemetery. The urn containing Schmidt's remains was stolen from the family's rented van while it was parked in front of one of the Smithsonian museums in D.C. The family has offered a $1,000 reward for information.

(Link) SATURDAY, NOV 14, 2009 02:15 PST The Right's textbook "surrender to terrorists" "We're too scared to have real trials in our country" is a level of cowardice unmatched in the world. BY GLENN GREENWALD Terrorism is a psychological weapon and is directed to create a general climate of fear. As one definition cogently notes, "terror is a natural phenomenon, terrorism is the conscious exploitation of it." Terrorism utilizes violence to coerce governments and their people by inducing fe...

(Link) November 14, 2009 9/11 Trials - Fear of justice or fear of truth? A group of men commit a horrible mass murder. Still others helped in the planning of the murder. Law enforcement apprehends the surviving individuals allegedly involved in this horrible crime. A trial is to take place in the city where this mass murder occurred, which gives the surviving victims and the families of those killed a chance to witness justice for their loved ones. Unless of course you live in nowhere- near ...

Source: Associated Press Obama urges Congress to put off Fort Hood probe Posted on November 14, 2009 at 2:16 AM WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Congress to hold off on any investigation of the Fort Hood rampage until federal law enforcement and military authorities have completed their probes into the shootings at the Texas Army post, which left 13 people dead. On an eight-day Asia trip, Obama turned his attention home and pleaded for lawmakers to "resist the tempt...

Source: SCOTUS Blog Gates bars abuse photos’ release Friday, November 13th, 2009 11:10 pm | Lyle Denniston | Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ruled on Friday that 44 photos that reportedly show abuse of detainees by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan cannot be released publicly. The Obama Administration notified the Supreme Court on Friday evening of this action by the Pentagon leader, and urged the Court to set aside a lower court ruling directing release of those photos. The new b...

Source: SCOTUS Blog U.S.: No need to rule on torture claim Friday, November 13th, 2009 11:36 pm | Lyle Denniston | The Obama Administration on Friday evening urged the Supreme Court to turn aside a test case by four former Guantanamo Bay detainees, and do so without ruling on their claims of torture and religious discrimination by U.S. agents there. It is clear, Solicitor General Elena Kagan argued in the new filing, that the detainees had no legal basis for their claims at the time they we...