Wednesday, July 14 Issue #30

TODAY'S ACTION ALERTS
Join a father of a slain Columbine student in calling for a renewal of the assault weapons ban.

You can thank or spank your representative for his/her vote on the Farr-Rohrabacher amendment which would have forbid tax money from being spent arresting medical marijuana patients.

Send a note to Colin Powell urging him to continue to push for Sudanese relief. You can also take part in numerous other Amnesty International letter campaigns.

Want to send an email sure to be immediately deleted? That is, if your email address hasn't already been added to the spam list for Bush-Cheney 2004.

FEATURED ARTICLES
Paul Krugman takes a look at Enron and that skank Tom "The Exterminator" DeLay.

The WaPo editorializes on the FMA: "Kill This Amendment", and journalist Harold Meyerson continues the onslaught.

Superior journalist Dan Baum looks at the difficult transition from killing machine to average joe.

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES
The NYTimes offered a look into Outfoxed director Robert Greenwald and the making of the documentary.

British journalist George Monbiot takes an English view of media bias and war coverage.

Robert Scheer notes that facts seem to mean less than they once did.

Former Treasury Secretary Robert Reich scolds Congress for failing to reform executive pay rules.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay right or justice."
-From the Magna Carta

TODAY'S BUSHISM
"And today, I'm able to sit down with the Prime Minister of Japan and discuss key issues like North Korea. In other words, a former enemy -- former enemies sit at a table together and say, how can we work to keep the peace, because there were people that preceded me that had great faith in the ability of freedom to change societies."
-July 9, 2004

BLOG OF THE DAY
I Like To Write is one of my daily reads, especially for scoops on the Georgia political scene. ILTW keeps the points on target, relevant, and, well, to the point. You can find great views on national and international politics here, but those of you in Georgia should be reading ILTW every day.

NEWSWORTHY
Liberal groups rallied for paper voting receipts on Tuesday...and the WaPo actually bothers to cover it this morning!

As the economy recovers, employers are passing less on the employees.

If we are winning the war on terror, and safer today under Bush, why is the acting CIA chief saying this?

Bush v Environment: Round 212.

DRUG WAR UPDATE
Houston "war on drugs" will target blacks...again.

Can cannabis help fishermen see better at night? Please?

Drug Warrior Queen considers a run against Barack Obama in the Illinois Senate race.

Hypocrite conservative Representative backs federal government over the will of the people.

LINK OF THE DAY
Hear Robert Greenwald in an On the Media interview.

SITE OF THE DAY
OurCongress.org is a spanking new site featuring the collaborative efforts of Kos (Daily Kos), Jerome Armstrong (MyDD) and others to analyze and report on important races in the U.S. House. The site looks great, and is well worth a visit for the latest on Congressional races.

COOL SITE OF THE DAY
Ever want to take a class without worrying about your grades? MIT offers numerous self-paced courses free online, though not for credit, of course. Anyone can access course materials and become educated on over 700 subjects through MIT OpenCourseWare.

ONLINE VIDEO OF THE DAY
Donald Trump fires a new Apprentice: George W. Bush.

CLAPS, SLAPS, AND THE MIDDLE FINGER

Claps go to the Philippines for choosing to protect the life of one citizen over continuing a foolish effort to pacify Iraq. While many liberal bloggers will seriously disagree with my logic, it is clear to me that the Philippines has shown great support for the hostage and made the only decision it could to protect him. While bloggers argue that this move validates the hostage-taking, the rash of kidnapping and subsequent execution of various foreign nationals failed to send other nation's fleeing, but yet, did not diminish the appeal of hostage-taking in general. This pull-out protects the life of one man, but will do nothing to further encourage more kidnapping. Regardless of the Philippines' decision, the hostage crisis will continue...One Bulgarian was killed yesterday, one more is still being held...

Slaps go out to men. Ouch! Okay, not all men, just those that continue to discriminate against women in the workplace. Although Morgan Stanley settled a sexual discrimination case this week, there are still overwhelming occurrences of sexual favoritism and bias in all industries. Wall Street, it seems, may be the Mecca (or Medina) of male chauvinism, and is unlikely to change its ways any time soon.

My Middle Finger goes to whomever (likely a Rethug) determined that the Presidential election may need to be delayed should a terrorist attack occur. While contingency plans should surely be in place in the event of such an attack, this should be no different than with any other natural disaster. Elections polling should take place in any areas unaffected, with contingency plans kicking in for those regions whose voting process is disturbed. For more on this, check my blog entry here.

ANIMAL RIGHTS WATCH
A war veteran feline earns his stripe.

Morons in Maryland are still killing any dog unlucky enough to be born a pit bull.

Wisconsin park changes its practice of using leg traps for stray dogs.

CANDIDATE OF THE DAY
Denise Majette is seeking a U.S. Senate seat from the Peach State and is facing a tough primary battle. Currently holding a U.S. House seat, this Duke University School of Law graduate has worked in Congress to strengthen policies for education and veteran's affairs, and considers small businesses a priority for our nation. Check in on her progress during next week's primary in Georgia.

DAILY PHOTO

One down...


TODAY'S POLITICAL CARTOON



HISTORY LESSON
Does anyone still believe Bush favors cracking down on corporate improprieties? Dr. Michael Niman presents a look at the administration's relationship with unethical corporations in this 2002 article.

STRANGE HAPPENINGS
The Rethugs are so desperate, they're soliciting donations from one blogger's dog!