Anticlimactic Punishment?

This story tells us that the State Supreme Court of New Jersey recently upheld the death sentence of Ambrose Harris, convicted of the rape and murder of Bucks County graphic artist Kristin Huggins in 1992 (Harris also killed fellow prison inmate Robert “Mudman” Simon, though a jury found in 2001 that Harris acted in self defense).

The larger issue, though, is that New Jersey is probably going to abolish the death penalty in that state shortly, meaning that Harris’s sentence would then be commuted to life without parole.

I posted about this here, and as I noted last May, there are plenty of valid reasons to do this, chief of which is that it would cancel the appeals process for criminals sentenced to death. Also, Harris is only one of eight inmates on that state’s death row anyway, and New Jersey hasn’t executed anyone since 1963.

But somehow, I just worry that there will be fallout for this that will hit the Dems chiefly (the NJ Repugs, as per usual, are already crying that the Dems are “rushing this through,” the state legislature; related bills, that is), though I definitely believe that this will NOT start a wave of states abolishing the death penalty. And I can’t imagine that the family and friends of the victims of those eight Garden State life forms are very happy about this.

What’s Next? Reporters From Guangzhou?

I don’t know what cost-cutting move the Sacramento Bee (a McClatchy paper) will come up with next based on this story; a worrisome trend, I'd say.

First the customer service center goes to the Philippines, then the artists go to India.

Of course, maybe if the management and executive jobs went to Belarus or South Africa instead…

A Toothy Problem

This is a local thing that doesn’t pertain to politics, but it’s a pet peeve of mine, so here goes.

The Bucks County Courier Times published this Guest Opinion yesterday from Dr. Brent Monahan (does not specify whether or not Monahan obtained his doctorate in dentistry) in which he argues that it is unnecessary to fluoridate all of Pennsylvania’s water supplies (currently the water for Lower Makefield and Yardley Borough in PA remains non-fluoridated). And (somewhat amazingly to me) he used this information to support his claim…

Untold billions of dollars in dental care have been saved by water supply fluoridation, since this procedure has been credited with lowering the occurrence of cavities by as much as 60 percent in children up to 16 years of age. Since mouth infections can be fatal, lives have also been saved by a technique that requires no extra time or application by the general public.

The crux of Monahan’s argument seems to be that most people in his experience and immediate community obtain all the fluoride they need from direct application of fluoride directly to their teeth at the dentist’s office during their regularly scheduled appointments, so it is unnecessary to fluoridate the water. And of course, since we’re talking about Bucks County, PA, which remains (on the whole) the “Republican land of God and guns,” Monahan ends his column with this…

For those lower socioeconomic communities where social work research has clearly demonstrated that insufficient brushing with fluoridated toothpaste and lack of regular professional dental care exist, the enforced introduction of fluoride into the water system is merited. Elsewhere, it is merely one more instance of governmental intrusion by the folks who believe that “government that intrudes the most works the best.”

Well, isn’t that special (and let’s all click the heels of our shoes together three times and say, “I hope I don’t lose my dental insurance coverage,” each time we do, OK?).

Guess what, Dr. “I Hate Governmental Intrusion”? Try reading this article, which states the following…

Tooth decay is making a comeback, fueled by junk food, spurred by social changes, and abetted by an unusual culprit - bottled water.

"I had a three-year-old kid come in the other day," says Toronto dentist Sheldon Rose, D.D.S., "and he had at least two cavities that I could see. I haven't seen that for years."

Like most dentists, Dr. Rose blames the usual suspects - snack foods, soft drinks, lack of parental supervision of food. But bottled water also plays a role, he and others suspect.

"It's not the water that's causing the decay," said Jack Cottrell, D.D.S., president of the Canadian Dental Association (CDA). "It's the lack of fluoride."

So it looks like even the people who load up the SUV or the min-van every weekend to head down to B.J.s and buy cases of bottled water are at risk of increased tooth decay without fluoridation also – wouldn’t you agree then, Dr. Monahan? It’s not merely a problem for “lower socioeconomic communities” then, is it (and this Wikipedia article provides more information).

Yep, I’d say there’s something rotten to Monahan’s claim all right, and you don’t have to look into anyone’s mouth to find it.

I Wish I Could Forget This “Elephant”

And by the way, regarding Iran and the latest NIE, Little Ricky Santorum weighed in today on the pages of (where else) The Philadelphia Inquirer (here) with this somewhat obscure detail…

We must view this information in light of the continued obsession of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with the return of the Twelfth Imam. That's the ninth-century Shiite leader who, according to his view of Shiite theology, will return to earth to lead them after an Armageddon in which Islam has conquered Christians and killed the Jews.

Wow, do you think we’d better turn that “Eye Of Mordor” somewhere else in the Middle East then, former Senator “39 Percent Approval Rating” (here)?

("Divest from Iran, just like I said in my Iran Freedom From Terra! Terra! and 9/11, 9/11 Act before I lost to Bob Casey, bad liberals, this is a recording, blah blah blah...")

Fiscally Reckless Now And Always

From today’s New York Times here…

President Bush’s lame-duck attempt to repair the Repub- lican Party’s thread- bare fiscal reputation is an increasingly reckless game. In the latest exercise of irresponsibility for political gain, Mr. Bush reportedly wants to slash counterterrorism funding for front-line police and firefighters.

The administration’s own Homeland Security agency requested $3.2 billion for this first responder aid to high-risk cities and states in the 2009 budget — the one that Mr. Bush’s successor will inherit. The White House is considering cutting that request by more than half to $1.4 billion by eliminating grants for port and public transit security, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

While Mr. Bush wrestles with more responsible members of his own administration, his larger and more immediate game is to portray the narrow Democratic majority in Congress as feckless overspenders.

In October, he vetoed a sensible bill that would have provided health insurance for millions of uninsured children. In the name of faux fiscal discipline, he is threatening to veto budget measures that the nation needs for effective government.

Mr. Bush is clearly hoping that the public will somehow forget that he is the one who spent the last seven years running up huge deficits and debt with his off-the-books war in Iraq and serial tax cuts customized for his affluent political base. Mr. Bush’s Republican allies on Capitol Hill are also hoping that the voters will forget how they abetted the president through all those years. Those fiscal turncoats are now scrambling to pose once more as budget hawks to survive in next year’s watershed election.

The differences between the Democrats’ spending bills and Mr. Bush’s budget are not that large. And the Democrats are offering to split the difference. But Mr. Bush isn’t interested in compromise.

He’s decided the real political traction comes with manufactured standoffs and blame-the-Congress gridlock. And he clearly doesn’t care who suffers — the nation’s vulnerable cities or vulnerable children without health insurance.

As the White House plays out its cyncial scenario, loyalists are flinching.

“This isn’t a bridge to nowhere. We’re talking about life and death,” Representative Peter King of New York, the top Republican on the House’s Homeland Security Committee, warned of first-responder cuts. Having played along so far with the grand Bush strategy, Mr. King is alarmed now and threatening to vote against sustaining future vetoes.

Republicans sweating political survival beyond Mr. Bush’s desperate endgame would be wise to follow Mr. King’s lead, not the president’s.

And as noted last night regarding DHS (as noted in the editorial), if Dubya was really serious about money management (and he isn’t, because he doesn’t know the meaning of that phrase), he would start with trying to fix that now-wretched agency "run" by Mike "City of Louisiana" Chertoff (and exploited in the ways noted in this video).

Dubya Writes A Letter

(This would not be news for any other president, of course...).

In response to the story about our chief executive finally deciding to contact a head of state he doesn’t like after seven years in office, I should note that I have tracked down the contents of Dubya’s correspondence, as follows...

Dure Kim John ill,

I hop yure r gun to bide bi tha gree ment to disabul yure nukuler pro graam be four I leve off iss in Januery uf two thousan ann nine. I haaf to du suum thin too haf uh legucy lik mah daddy diid when he wus presedent.

Sinceerely,

Goerge W. Bush

P.S. Jus’ jokin’ aah bout tha “little pigmy” and “asses of eveil” there…hee heee.

And he’s finally going to The Middle East also? Ya’ think, on some level, George W. Milhous Bush is starting to get the hang of this whole “president” thing?

Naaahh.

It Truly Never Ends

Regarding this post, we have the following CNN headline today to yet another opinion column brimming with "good news for Republicans" (that is, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan to freeze interest rates on "some 2 million troubled mortgages" - Atrios clarifies this here).

Update: I don't know how this supposedly wonderful plan of Dubya's is going to "boost the GOP" when he tells people the incorrect phone number to call for assistance (here).

Also, here are two (more) quick updates:

- It looks like The Mittster FINALLY gave that speech of his on religion, and Kagro X sums it up here (a follow up to this post).

(Update 12/07/07: Len Hart shames us with typically awesome posts like this, but we're all the better for it...tons of great information to digest).

- This is the best analysis I’ve read to date of Dubya’s latest NIE follies (there's a reason why a Google search for George W. Bush and the phrase "bait and switch" returns 108,000 hits, people).

Wednesday Political Stuff

"DHS Follies - The Movie" (ugh)...



...and on a lighter note, Jackie and Dunlap offer to take over Mitt Romney's landscaping.

Not A Brando In The Bunch

This New York Times story from Monday tells us about the latest individuals honored by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts last Sunday at our nation’s capital, and this Washington Post article more of less “dishes” on the gossipy tidbits for consumption by our entertainment media about the party that followed.

The five individuals honored by the Kennedy Center this year were pianist and conductor Leon Fleisher, singer Diana Ross, musician Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, actor/author/comedian Steve Martin (I guess that’s close enough) and filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The ceremony was recorded as usual and will be broadcast on CBS on December 26th.

Congratulations are due to all of these people for this recognition, representing a lifetime’s achievement in the artistic enterprise in which they’ve excelled. And under normal circumstances, I would just leave it at that and not say another word.

But these are hardly “normal circumstances” in this country. And when I say that, I’m referring to the Iraq war, as you might have guessed.

And my question is this; did it ever occur to any of these people to decline the award as a means of protesting the war?

Now I know this award is presented by the Center and not officially from our government, but I can recall a time in this country when awards were rejected by celebrities out of principle (or pique at times, I’ll admit – Sacheen Littlefeather is pictured here, the person who declined the Best Actor Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando in 1973 as a protest on behalf of native Americans). And the Academy Awards, for example, weren’t even presented officially by the President of the United States, as these were.

But Dubya did present them, following a White House dinner reception.

And everyone accepted.

So nice, right?

Well, guess what (rose-colored glasses alert: here comes a liberal rant)...

All of these people are artists, and that means that they’re supposed to craft something that elevates the sometimes beautiful but frequently wretched thing known as “the human condition.” And in the process, I believe that they’re supposed to contribute something that brings joy where there is sorrow, hope where there is despair, and truth where there is a lie.

Truth where there is a lie.

And the Iraq war, for every moment that it has existed and continues to exist, remains the greatest lie of our age. “Ramped up” for lies, started for lies, waged for lies, sacrificed for lies, prolonged for lies, and accepted for lies (and who knows, one day it may be, at long last – and may we all live to see it, however it happens – ended for lies).

And if that is not worth protesting, then I don’t know what is.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have the right to tell any of these five people what to do. I know at least some of them endured brutal hardship to rise to their present prominence; I’m not familiar with all of their stories, but I’m sure that’s true across the board (I won’t be so ridiculous as to even contemplate telling the director of “Mean Streets,” “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “Goodfellas” and “The Departed” how important it is to resist the temptation of evil and do good through your work).

But I just wish one of them had chosen to act in the way I’m suggesting here. It would have cut through the flotsam of the typical entertainment pabulum consumed by much of this country and the world and stirred consciences to act that, I’m sure, will now remain somnambulant.

And that is sad.

(By the way, I remembered later that another good reason to protest would have been the damage to the Constitution, which is a close second behind the war as far as I'm concerned.)

"Top-Step Shill" Still A "Pill"

So it looks like star pitcher Curt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox is going to campaign for Senator Honor And Virtue when the latter campaigns in Manchester, New Hampshire huh?

I’m tempted to wax sarcastic about this, but I think I’ll pass because the comments to this post do it pretty thoroughly (only found one in support of Schilling, who, by the way, I would no longer consider to be the “ace” of the Red Sox pitching staff, but “Dice-K” instead (update: Josh Beckett probably owns that mantle now, upon further consideration), and Jon Lester won the Series-clinching game anyway).

God, I’m so glad Schilling decided not to sign with the Phillies for next year (and please run against John Kerry for the Senate, Curt; it will be fun to watch you get hammered, with no bloody sock to add to your “legend” this time – though Schilling supports Dubya’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure in Iraq, do you even have to ask whether or not he served, as Will Bunch - again - notes here?).

Bushco "Birds And Bees" BS

Here’s a bit of a history lesson…

The sexual revolution that began in the 1960s has left two major problems in its wake. The first is the historic increase in non-marital births that have contributed so heavily to the Nation’s domestic problems including poverty, violence, and intergenerational welfare dependency. The second is the explosion of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) that now pose a growing hazard to the Nation’s public health.

To address these problems, the goal of Federal policy should be to emphasize abstinence as the only certain way to avoid both unintended pregnancies and STDs.

I didn’t say it was fact, I just said it was a history lesson – in wingnuttia, I mean.

However, this story tells us the following (from the reality-based community)…

In a troubling reversal, the nation's teen birth rate rose for the first time in 15 years, surprising government health officials who had no immediate explanation.

…

U.S. health officials said it was possibly a one-year statistical blip and not the beginning of a new upward trend.

But several experts said they have been expecting a jump. They blame the increase on increased federal funding for abstinence-only health education programs that do not teach how to use condoms and other contraception.

Some key sexually transmitted disease rates have been rising, including syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. The rising teen pregnancy rate is part of the same phenomenon, said Dr. Carol Hogue, an Emory University professor of maternal and child health.

"It's not rocket science," she said.

Indeed not; you could say that, in terms of accomplishing the goals of reducing both STDs and unplanned pregnancies, “abstinence only” education “doesn’t even make it to second base.”

...

Well, you could, but you don't have to.

About That Broken Clock...

Will Bunch via Atrios tells us today that Little Tommy Friedman of the New York Times “knocked one out of the park” this morning with this column about the supposed dialogue within Iran about the United States at this moment (titled, “Today Is The Day That The Broken Clock Is Right”).

I beg to differ, particularly here…

...We have to note that obtaining open-source intelligence in America has become more difficult, because traditional news shows have become more comedic and more comedic news shows more authoritative.

How right you are, Tommy. Why, it seems like just the other day when I witnessed your famous “hold your nose and vote for Gore or Kerry for President” act that the Democrats supposedly went through during the 2000 and 2004 elections (captured by the fine folk at Media Matters here), though I never saw a photo of a voter actually doing so. However, I can tell you from my own experience that I have assumed this position when reading many of your columns.

And regarding this claim noted in the Bunch post…

…9/11 has made America afraid and therefore stupid.

That actually is quite correct, and you were the standard bearer in that department around the May 2003 time frame as I recall (here – fortunately for Friedman, the YouTube video for this golden moment has apparently been pulled...afraid and more than a little obnoxious also, right Tommy?).

And I also want to note this excerpt from Friedman’s column…

…all the U.S. presidential candidates are distancing themselves from the core values that made America such a great power and so different from us — in particular America’s long commitment to free trade, open immigration and a reverence for scientific enquiry wherever it leads.

You know, Friedman really should pay attention to the Democratic presidential primary from time to time; I don’t hear any of the candidates speaking against scientific news or discovery in any way. And the only place you’re going to hear opposition to common-sense immigration policy is out of the mouths of Giuliani, Romney, Huckabee and those individuals of the same party.

Also, this country’s “commitment to free trade” is a comparatively recent phenomenon in our history, going back to NAFTA in the 1990s – I suppose that’s what Friedman is talking about here, and his embrace of this misguided policy (in the absence of any sensible U.S. congressional legislation on immigration) has led to the flattening of wages and the hiring of illegals for many jobs in this country (those that haven’t disappeared due to offshoring, that is).

Towards the end of his screed, Friedman typically paints with a broad brush stating that both parties are appealing to “nativist extremes” and imagines a “tooth fairy” that “will make their energy, budget, educational and Social Security deficits painlessly disappear” (and Atrios notes here that the minor problem with that statement is that these “deficits” in Social Security don’t, you know, actually exist).

Wish as I might, I don’t expect any of those items to disappear either. However, I can still hope to see this occur with Friedman’s grandiose and self-indulgent missives of questionable veracity one fine day in the future.

Sanity, For Now

I’ve been trying to digest everything involved with the latest National Intelligence Estimate stating that Iran is not the nuclear threat it was purported to be by our ruling cabal (here), with President George W. Milhous Bush threatening of World War III with that country only last month (here).

To me, this whole matter absolutely screams for an investigation by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, currently chaired by Dem Jay Rockefeller. However, based on this exchange (in which Rockefeller pled to reporter Charles Davis that, regarding intelligence, “I only get, and my committee only gets, what they want to give me,” with that being an apparently good enough standard for the committee chairman), I’m not holding out much confidence that Congress will be able to get to the bottom of the Bushco propaganda (I mean, we all know Cheney is ultimately behind this, but proving it is another matter).

And by the way, regarding Rockefeller’s predecessor in that job from the 109th (Pat Roberts of Kansas by name), he deserves another dishonorable mention for doing nothing but fronting for this regime’s overseas misadventures, as Think Progress noted so thoroughly here.

Is Iran still a threat? Of course, but given this most recent report, the time will never be better for negotiations (Biden and Jim Webb are both right that we should at least talk with Ahmadinejad here), and on that score, I agree with the assessment from Atrios on Our Gal Condi Rice here, but the problem is that 1) Everyone is dirty in this administration, and if you’re not going to choose her, then Negroponte is probably the only other alternative, and 2) This type of high-level negotiation is something requiring involvement of a head of state, but Dubya will involve himself in something like this the day that Britney Spears sings opera at The Met.

And speaking of Iran, it turns out here that Rudy “Sex On The City” Giuliani just released a TV ad…

…using Iran to how (sic) punch home his message on how to handle today's terrorism challenges. Invoking Ronald Reagan, Giuliani warns voters that a certain mindset is needed defeat those who threaten the United States and that he has it.

Entitled "One Hour," the former New York City Mayor and Reagan justice official steals a page from his stump speech and uses the Iranian hostage crisis of the late 70's and early 80's to illustrate how he would approach dealing with "tyrants and terrorists."

Using black and white stock footage of those Americans that were held by the Iranians for 444 days, Giuliani reminds viewers that they were released within one hour, the hour in which Ronald Reagan took the oath of office.

It would actually be funny were it not so pathetic. As noted here…

…On October 18, 1980, George H. W. Bush, Republican candidate for vice president of the United States, flew to Paris to negotiate with representatives of Iran over the release of 52 hostages held by that country.

By doing so, Bush and his co-conspirators were in potential violation of the International Commerce Acts of 1798 which prohibit any American citizen or party from negotiating with a foreign power in matters of national policy or military action.

Although numerous Republican activists and two Congressional committees claimed that no such effort or trip was attempted, more than a dozen credible sources told of their knowledge of the trip and its results.

Bush, representing Ronald Reagan and himself, told representatives of the Iranian government, including cleric Mehdi Karrubi, that a Reagan administration would provide arms and other assistance to Iran in response to its release of the 52 remaining hostages.

According to reports by Robert Parry, ". . . Israeli intelligence officer Ari Ben-Menashe . . . said he saw Bush attend a final round of meetings with Iranians in Paris."

"Ben-Menashe said he was in Paris as part of a six-member Israeli delegation that was coordinating the arms deliveries to Iran. He said the key meeting had occurred at the Ritz Hotel in Paris."

"Ben-Menashe said the Paris meetings served to finalize a previously outlined agreement calling for release of the 52 hostages in exchange for $52 million, guarantees of arms sales to Iran, and unfreezing of Iranian moneys in U.S. banks. The timing, however, was changed, he said, to coincide with Reagan's expected Inauguration on Jan. 20, 1981."

Gee, Rudy, what a shame that you’ve sunk so low in the polls that you now feel it’s necessary to unofficially team up with Mike Huckabee so both of you can go after Willard Mitt Romney (here). Guess that Pat Robertson endorsement isn’t worth as much as you thought, huh?

And by the way, I'll admit that I've been wrong to snub Huckabeee - mea maxima culpa - but who knew the other Repug presidential candidates would turn out to be so incompetent that Huckabee would actually stand a chance (including this latest Romney misadventure)?

And Atrios, once more, reminds us that Huckabee has to face the fire on this also, among other issues.

Update 1 12/5/07: Speaking of Pat Roberts, this is good news.

Update 2 12/6/07: This is probably the best summary of everything going on here that I've read over the last few days.

Edwards On Health Care, Again

I wanted to take a minute and note this post by Paul Krugman from his blog for a couple of reasons. The first is because it’s refreshing (and a bit shocking, actually) to watch him call out fellow Times writer Kit Seelye on her reporting of the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama health insurance proposals (with Krugman highlighting the absolutely absurd claim by Seelye that the AEI is somehow “nonpartisan”).

The second is because the Seelye article quotes an adviser to the Obama campaign who states that Clinton has not come up with a means of penalizing those eligible for coverage who do not enroll.

Actually, Krugman himself noted that John Edwards had come up with an idea on that here…

…John Edwards has just called Mr. Obama's bluff, by proposing that individuals be required to show proof of insurance when filing income taxes or receiving health care. If they don't have insurance, they won't be penalized - they'll be automatically enrolled in an insurance plan.

That's actually a terrific idea - not only would it prevent people from gaming the system, it would have the side benefit of enrolling people who qualify for S-chip and other government programs, but don't know it.

For more information on this and other proposals from the Edwards campaign, click here.

Tuesday Videos

Bush (the band, that is - "Everything Zen")...



...Happy Birthday to Chris Hillman of The Byrds ("Eight Miles High" - ends just a bit early, but close enough)...



...Frank Zappa died on this day in 1993 ("Cosmik Debris," live)...



...and I neglected to extend Happy 80th Birthday wishes yesterday to Andy Williams ("The Way You Look Tonight," from 1966).

Iran Out Of Anything To Say

Haven't had the time to say anything about Iran and the latest NIE which tells us that they aren't a nuke threat after all, but it looks like our corporate media cousins still aren't giving up here (snark - lots of bad words, but I thought it was still funny)...



...and just as a reminder (besides this great post by Greg Mitchell of E&P - h/t Atrios...some of the comparisons to Iraq are a bit dated at this point, but if nothing else, it shows up Faux News as spectacularly wrong once again).



Oh, and by the way (regarding this story), let Israel try fighting its own damn war with Iran without our help, OK?

Time To Do A Good Deed

(And the title of this post is aimed at Jeff Jubelirer of the Cradle of Liberty Council of Philadelphia, Delaware and Montgomery County).

The Philadelphia Inquirer tells us here today that Philadelphia City Solicitor Romulo L. Diaz Jr. has contacted the local chapter of the Boy Scouts of America and told the group to either renounce its policy of banning gays from the organization in order for it to remain in its headquarters near Logan Square (Jubelirer is the spokesperson for the local Boy Scouts chapter) or pay up more for its rent.

As the story tells us…

Diaz has said that if the scouts did not respond by his Dec. 3 deadline - by either relenting on the policy or paying a $200,000-a-year "fair-market rent" - he would actively begin looking for a new tenant for the 79-year-old building at 22d and Winter Streets near Logan Square.

The Cradle of Liberty Council built the Beaux Arts structure in 1928 on Fairmount Park land that the city agreed to lease to it in perpetuity for a dollar a year.

Perpetuity, however, could not outlast recent U.S. Supreme Court cases holding that taxpayer money cannot be used to support private groups that knowingly discriminate.

Last year, Diaz wrote to the scouts that it was impossible to reconcile the group's policies on homosexuals and atheists with the city's antidiscrimination fair-practices law.

Cradle of Liberty officials maintain that they have used a "don't ask, don't tell" practice but cannot change the policies without violating their charter from the national scouting organization.

Jubelirer said the scouts should not be required to pay additional rent for a building the scouting council built, spent $2.6 million renovating in 1994, and pays $60,000 a year to maintain.

"The council could not afford it, and it's not feasible," Jubelirer added.

Maybe, but given the fact that the Boy Scouts refuse to relent on their ban of gays, there’s no way they should be charged only a dollar a year of rent on the structure (and given the wide discrepancy between that amount and the fair market value, you know the taxpayers of the city of Philadelphia are picking up that tab).

And as far as the December 3rd deadline, which of course has come and gone, Jubelirer had this to say…

"We're letting it pass. We feel it's a political, arbitrary deadline"…

Oh really? This little drama has been going on since last May, Jeff. And the city must comply with the Supreme Court ruling. Why is that so difficult to understand?

Actually, though, as D-Mac of Philadelphia Will Do notes here, this little gay-baiting song-and-dance has been going on for nearly a year and a half at least; the Fairmount Park Commission (which oversees historic properties such as the Scouts’ headquarters) sided with the administration of soon-to-be-departing Mayor John Street in July 2006 regarding the issue of the adjusted rent for the building.

It’s time to change the policy or pay up, Jeff; given all of this, I think Jubelirer needs to brush up a bit on the scout law, which states…

A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.

Ya’ think Jeff needs to keep working on the “obedient” thing?

Monday Videos

Carbon/Silicon ("The News")...



...and to mark the 30th anniversary yesterday of the acquittal of the South African police charged with his murder, (legitimizing state-sponsored terrorism as far as many were concerned, including yours truly) here's "Biko" by Peter Gabriel from one of the Amnesty International Concerts in 1988 (I can't tell you what that last shot is about either).

Kos and BNF Video Monday

Because presenting Christopher Shays of Connecticut as the spineless, whining Lieberman wannabe that he is brings a smile to yours truly (h/t Daily Kos)...



...and K.O. nails Falafel Boy again (put this one in the vault - another h/t Daily Kos).



...and let's "Meet The Foxers" (h/t Brave New Films)...



...and getting serious, here's the ad that Fox refused to air (Surprised, huh? Not - also from Brave New Films).

Another Monday Mashup

(Posting is iffy for tomorrow, by the way.)

Just a few items thrown together…

For everyone following the WGA strike (and I’m not one of those people, though I may come across a story about it), this item appeared in the New York Times on Friday, telling us that…

A federal appeals court yesterday threw out a hard-fought agreement between publishers and freelance writers to pay the writers for electronic reproduction of their work.

In a 2-to-1 decision, an appellate panel ruled that the courts had no jurisdiction over the copyright dispute and that a lower court erred in accepting the writers’ lawsuit and approving the settlement.

It sounds like the legal rationale here from Judge Chester J. Straub (such as it was) was that the writers weren’t allowed to claim damages because they had not registered their work with the U.S. Copyright Office, though in dissent, Judge John Walker said that the non-registration was “a malleable procedural rule” only.

I think we can pretty much bank on an appeal to The Supremes on this one if there is standing to do so, especially since the Court had already ruled in 2001 that digital reproduction of the writer’s work by publishers without the consent of the writer violated his or her copyright. Stay tuned.

This story (h/t Daily Kos) tells us that our U.S. House Rep Patrick Murphy has been “busting his hump” as they say trying to recruit other Iraq war vets to run for Congress next year….

A political neophyte considering a run for Congress…29-year-old (Jon) Powers wondered what kind of reaction he would get from those he'd served with. He had no idea how to assemble a staff or how running in his native New York would affect his family life.

The conversation ended with a clear message from Murphy, Powers recalled. ''He literally looked at me across the table, and said, 'You have to do it.'''

Murphy, the Bucks County Democrat who emerged from the 2006 congressional races as the first and only Iraq war veteran elected to Congress, is looking for company in Washington. And he's not waiting around to see if it shows up.

The 34-year-old former Army captain is helping out other veterans as they jump into a different kind of combat than the one they faced in Iraq: campaigns for U.S. House seats against Republicans.

''I want to have battle buddies in Washington,'' Murphy said in a recent interview. ''I want these guys to stand there with me.''

…

At least 17 have announced candidacies for 2008, roughly split between the major parties, according to congressional campaign offices. Several others remain on the fence.

Murphy and his campaign staff are helping -- giving tips on honing a message on Iraq, dealing with the media and holding fundraisers -- a handful of them, Murphy said.

There's Powers, a former U.S. Army captain who led an artillery platoon before assisting a battalion commander in Najaf and Baghdad, now a declared candidate in New York. There's John Boccieri, an Air Force Reserve major vying for an open House seat in Ohio. And there's Doug Denneny, a 22-year Navy veteran who is running in Virginia.

Go, Patrick (and as always, to help, click here).

This story is a bit dated, but in case anyone missed it, Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt was sentenced to one year in prison for his participation in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal in which he participated in a scheme to pay illegal surcharges to the former Government of Iraq in connection with the purchase of crude oil through the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program between mid-2000 and 2003.

No word on a reaction from Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota (with his back to us above, appropriately enough), who tussled with Brit MP George Galloway over the scandal as we may remember (oh, and by the way, speaking of Coleman, click here to help Al Franken send him back to private life next year).

And finally, this tells us of Vermonter John Nirenberg, who…

…plans to walk from Boston to Washington, D.C., to confront House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in hopes of persuading Congress to take up the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Go John (you truly have the thanks of a grateful nation).