Bush legacy: Setting a standard in fear-mongering Posted: 13 hours ago by DerAlt
"When I left the Bush administration in 2003, it was clear to me that its strategy for defeating terrorism was leaving our nation more vulnerable and our people in a perilous place"

Richard Clarke's comments. From 2006, old, but since Dubya's at it again.....
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 149 [+].

The McCain Doctrines Posted: 1 day ago by DerAlt
Whatever their disagreements on policy, United States senators, even in today’s hyperpolitical climate, are reluctant to impugn one another’s motives or integrity.

Good read not meant to be political. Interesting insights.
Comments: 10 Score: [-] 100 [+].

China earthquake in video Posted: 3 days ago by DerAlt
Actual videos of the quake while it happened and follow up videos of the rescue efforts.
Comments: 5 Score: [-] 326 [+].

McCain Differs With Bush on Climate Change Posted: 3 days ago by DerAlt
Mr. McCain added pointedly: “I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears. I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges.”

Ouch! That will cost him some votes with the hardliners.
Comments: 9 Score: [-] 78 [+].

The 10 Worst Congressmen Posted: 5 days ago by DerAlt
This is quite a group.
Even in politics these folks are standouts.
Number 3, Don Young of Alaska has recently added another shady episode with his adding of a 10 million dollar earmark to the I-75 road project in Florida. The earmark showed up after congress passed the bill but before the president signed it.
This is from 2006 but unfortunately it never seems to get old.
Comments: 20 Score: [-] 141 [+].

Sharpton owes overdue taxes and other penalties Posted: 6 days ago by DerAlt
He and his organizations owe huge tax bills.


Go get him!
Comments: 5 Score: [-] 367 [+].

Lots of Animals Learn, but Smarter Isn’t Better Posted: 1 week ago by DerAlt
“Why are humans so smart?” is a question that fascinates scientists. Tadeusz Kawecki, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Fribourg, likes to turn around the question.
“If it’s so great to be smart,” Dr. Kawecki asks, “why have most animals remained dumb?”
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 114 [+].

Doing the Troops Wrong Posted: 1 week ago by DerAlt
Who wouldn’t support an effort to pay for college for G.I.’s who have willingly suited up and put their lives on the line, who in many cases have served multiple tours in combat zones and in some cases have been wounded?
Well, you might be surprised at who is not supporting this effort. The Bush administration opposes it, and so does Senator John McCain.
Comments: 30 Score: [-] 345 [+].

Long, strange trip to Ecstasy Posted: 2 weeks ago by DerAlt
Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who invented LSD, died Tuesday at the age of 102. Although psychedelic drug enthusiasts are busy writing online tributes to Hofmann (who died from a heart attack, not from attempting to chew off his elbow in an acid-induced freak-out), there's also a sense that few people under the age of 30 have heard much about LSD,
Comments: 10 Score: [-] 422 [+].

The Smart Way Out of a Foolish War Posted: 2 weeks ago by DerAlt
In brief, the war has become a national tragedy, an economic catastrophe, a regional disaster and a global boomerang for the United States. Ending it is thus in the highest national interest.
Comments: 11 Score: [-] 265 [+].

The Pastor's 15 minutes Posted: 2 weeks ago by DerAlt
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright went to Washington on Monday not to praise Barack Obama, but to bury him.
Smiling, cracking corny jokes, mugging it up for the big-time news media — this reverend is never going away. He’s found himself a national platform, and he’s loving it.
Comments: 3 Score: [-] 238 [+].

Hillary Strangelove Posted: 3 weeks ago by DerAlt
AMERICANS have learned to take with a grain of salt much of the rhetoric in a campaign like the current Democratic donnybrook between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Still, there are some red lines that should never be crossed. Clinton did so Tuesday morning, the day of the Pennsylvania primary, when she told ABC's "Good Morning America" that, if she were president, she would "totally obliterate" Iran if Iran attacked Israel.
Comments: 5 Score: [-] 77 [+].

Israeli ex-soldiers expose abuse of Palestinians Posted: 3 weeks ago by DerAlt
"A lot of people come and say, 'Oh, that's all in the past,' " explains Yehuda Shaul, executive director of the group, which has brought 3,000 people on eye-opening trips to Hebron. On the contrary, he adds, he sees abuses as increasingly institutionalized. "The whole point of Breaking the Silence is to understand the moral price tag of a military occupation."
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 95 [+].

'Tax rebate' checks expected to yield short-term benefits, long-term troubles Posted: 3 weeks ago by DerAlt
Budget expert Stan Collender doesn't even like the "tax rebate" terminology used by Washington, since many of the poorer recipients will have paid no 2007 federal income tax or amounts less than their government check. The stimulus package, he says, is really "pure borrowing … just increasing the [federal] deficit."
Comments: 10 Score: [-] 309 [+].

North Carolina voters say what the neighbors think Posted: 3 weeks ago by DerAlt
As a prelude to North Carolina's May 6 Democratic presidential primary, state voters recently were asked about prejudices. As related by the News & Observer in Raleigh, here's what the poll found:
Not me, but my neighbor is predudiced.
Comments: 4 Score: [-] 232 [+].

3 Candidates With 3 Financial Plans, but One Deficit Posted: 3 weeks ago by DerAlt
"Mr. McCain’s plan would appear to result in the biggest jump in the deficit, independent analyses based on Congressional Budget Office figures suggest. A calculation done by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center in Washington found that his tax and budget plans, if enacted as proposed, would add at least $5.7 trillion to the national debt over the next decade."
Comments: 20 Score: [-] 113 [+].

For a star witness in Sean Bell case, Benefield has tough time with his lines Posted: 3 weeks ago by DerAlt
Ricco asked Benefield if he was drunk that night after drinking three Long Island iced teas and smoking a blunt of "reefer." Benefield said no, he wasn't drunk.

"Didn't you say you were intoxicated?"

"Yes, intoxicated, not drunk."

And worse.

Update to:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24305660/
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 238 [+].

America @ $100+/Barrel: How Long Will the Oil Last? Posted: 3 weeks ago by DerAlt
Pumping oil is surprisingly inefficient: For decades, companies relied on ground pressure and crude secondary well-flooding methods that recovered just one-third of a field’s reserves. Now, through enhanced oil recovery techniques, companies can collect up to three-quarters, dramatically lengtheninga field’s useful life. — D.C.
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 169 [+].

The Tarnished Brass Posted: 3 weeks ago by DerAlt
As it prepared to invade Iraq five years ago, the Bush administration called up retired military officers to help sell the war. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his propaganda team courted as many as 75 retired military officers who could best market the Pentagon line, particularly on television.
The deal was simple: Offer good news on Iraq, even when the news is bad.
Comments: 5 Score: [-] 160 [+].

Atheist soldier claims harassment Posted: 3 weeks ago by DerAlt
It eventually came out in Iraq in 2007, when he was in a firefight. Hall was a gunner on a Humvee, which took several bullets in its protective shield. Afterward, his commander asked whether he believed in God, Hall said.

"I said, 'No, but I believe in Plexiglas,' " Hall said. "I've never believed I was going to a happy place. You get one life. When I die, I'm worm food."

Update to:http://www.plime.com/religion/l/53982/1/
Comments: 5 Score: [-] 323 [+].

PBS: Carrier Posted: 3 weeks ago by DerAlt
ONE SAILOR calmly tells the camera that America went to war for oil. Another, while slurring drunk and again when stone sober, is shown making racist comments. Yet another naval serviceman, who counsels crew members about sexually appropriate behavior, is caught having sex with a shipmate of a lower rank.

Not exactly the message the Navy wanted to broadcast
Comments: 4 Score: [-] 261 [+].

How Not to Build a Navy Ship Posted: 3 weeks ago by DerAlt
In their haste to get the ships into the water, the Navy and contractors redesigned and built them at the same time — akin to building an office tower while reworking the blueprints.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 197 [+].

Prostitution and the economy Posted: 3 weeks ago by DerAlt
While Eliot Spitzer will hereafter be known as Client 9, he can take comfort in the fact that he is by no means alone. About 700,000 men in the U.S. (or 0.65 percent) pay prostitutes for carnal relations each year, according to one survey. Not really focused on Spitzer

Expensive entertainment
Comments: 10 Score: [-] 334 [+].

Time to end abuse, welfare fraud in polygamist clans Posted: 4 weeks ago by DerAlt
Polygamist families are taught that welfare was instituted by God to assist them. Thus, wives who are not technically married as the first wife file for welfare by stating that their husband has left them and refuses to pay child support. In effect, polygamy is cheating the honest citizens of this state out of millions of tax dollars.
This is Utah but is typical of polygamist wefare abuse in other states as well.
Comments: 18 Score: [-] 431 [+].

Behind Analysts, the Pentagon’s Hidden Hand Posted: 4 weeks ago by DerAlt
A few expressed regret for participating in what they regarded as an effort to dupe the American public with propaganda dressed as independent military analysis.

...“It was them saying, ‘We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you,’ ” Robert S. Bevelacqua, a retired Green Beret and former Fox News analyst, said.
Comments: 3 Score: [-] 201 [+].