Monday, June 28 Issue #20

TODAY'S ACTION ALERTS
Sign the DCCC letter to Mr. Bush urging his support for a Patients' Bill of Rights.

FEATURED ARTICLES
Get the FAQ of the facts on Fahrenheit 9-11.

16 Afghani citizens slaughtered for possessing voter cards.

An American Marine is now facing a brutal beheading at the hands of Iraqi captors.

The June 30th handover in Iraq occurs this week, but it will not make the sovereign nation more secure.

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES
Are environmental regulations hampering oil refinery production? No, says Clay Risen of the New Republic.

Fahrenheit 9-11 opens up at #1 despite showing on about 1/3 the screens of the other Top 5 movies.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."
-Voltaire

TODAY'S BUSHISM
"Iraqis are sick of foreign people coming in their country and trying to destabilize their country."
-May 5, 2004

BLOG OF THE DAY
Ok, we've all seen Iron Chef on the Food Network, right? Well, now I introduce you to . It might sound silly, but this blog is a serious arena for discourse. Four Iron Bloggers, namely Democrat, Green, Libertarian, and Republican, stand in defense of their blogging skills on subjects such as school vouchers and the death penalty. Challengers come from the blogosphere. New rounds start each Monday, with each day during the week bringing a new rebuttal or argument. Non-partial judges score each argument and award the match to the best blog performance.

DRUG WAR UPDATE
British police officers want to return to a war on marijuana.

Oregan meassure may somewhat relax medical marijuana restrictions.

Supreme Court may decide to hear arguments over federal involvement in simple drug possession case.

SITE OF THE DAY
ProgressivePunch is a searchable database which ranks Members of Congress on a progressive scale. You can search by member name or zip code.

ONLINE VIDEO OF THE DAY
Fern Shubert, one of six GOP candidates looking to challenge Mike Easley for NC Governor, is famous in this state for stirring up a protest to the addition of "Approaching the Quran" to the UNC-CH curriculum. Now, she has grown even more desperate to mark her place in NC politics by launching a TV ad which basically asserts that Easley's "inaction" allowed 9-11. Here is the Raleigh N&O piece about the ad.

ANIMAL RIGHTS WATCH
A Washington state group is suing that state's Attorney General over cruelty in slaughterhouses.

Dalia Lama plea convinces KFC to stay away from Tibet.

Temple Grandin has helped improve the animal care at beef plants for over ten years.

DAILY PHOTO

Balls. Pure Balls.


TODAY'S POLITICAL CARTOON


HISTORY LESSON
I've gotten requests recently for information on Richard Mellon Scaife, the billionaire GOP supporter whose money has touched many a scandal. This 1998 CNN article offers a little light on the reclusive conservative financeer.