Dante News Wire: May 23, 2007

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Open Thread: Michelle guest hosts The Factor Update: Video highlights added

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Open Thread: Michelle guest hosts The Factor Update: Video highlights added:

" Here’s the highlight reel. There’s a tasty slam on YouTube a little over
halfway in, along with a great segment on Middle Eastern infiltration along the
Texas-Mexico border."

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Video: Dems jet off to paradise on taxpayer’s dime for spring break

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Video: Dems jet off to paradise on taxpayer’s dime for spring break:

"The GOP must have been guilty of this at some point, but of course they were
the problem the most ethical Congress ever was swept to power to solve.
Apparently the solution involves junkets to London, Brussels, Key West, the
Caribbean, and of course the mandatory layover in the Virgin Islands to attend
to, er, homeland security business. All at the cost of a cool 10 G’s an hour,
and with nary a Republican in sight despite the rule requiring trips on military
jets to be bipartisan."

The more things change the more things remain the same.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » ABC exposes Bush’s secret order to CIA to destabilize Iranian regime

Hot Air » Blog Archive » ABC exposes Bush’s secret order to CIA to destabilize Iranian regime:

"It’s not a secret anymore. Some righty media outlet must have already linked
it, too, because Brian Ross and company are getting reamed in the comments over
there for revealing it. "

I do think that this kind of information should be kept under wraps. If this program is real to put this information out there risks the lives of those involved. If it isn't real it needlessly creates tension between the two countries. Further this doesn't give details about what is being done, and those details should not be known to the press and should not be known to the press.

Daily Kos: "Don't worry your pretty little head..."

Daily Kos: "Don't worry your pretty little head...":

"[L]last month’s Supreme Court decision upholding the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Act marked a milestone for a different argument advanced by anti-abortion
leaders, one they are increasingly making in state legislatures around the
country. They say that abortion, as a rule, is not in the best interest of the
woman; that women are often misled or ill-informed about its risks to their own
physical or emotional health; and that the interests of the pregnant woman and
the fetus are, in fact, the same...."

This is a stupid argument that womyn can't understand a simple medical operation with the help of a doctor. It is honestly unbelievable that these people are claiming that womyn need to be protected from themselves and their doctors this way. I think making abortions illegal is a great idea if this is the case, that way womyn can go to Mexico to get abortions from doctors they think are safe but aren't. The staff won't know or won't tell them what the problems might be, so they will not be able to understand the choice they are making clearly. Yes, take away a safe choice performed by an educated doctor, because womyn can't understand that choice. Sad.

Daily Kos: Buying the Occupation

Daily Kos: Buying the Occupation:

"Flinching in the face of a veto threat, Democratic congressional leaders
neared agreement with the Bush administration Tuesday on legislation to pay for
the Iraq war without setting a timeline for troop withdrawal.
Several
officials said the emerging compromise bill would cost about $120 billion,
including as much as $8 billion for Democratic domestic priorities such as
disaster relief for Hurricane Katrina victims and farmers hurt by
drought."

I think this is a smart move for the Democrats. Get the troops the money they need, then we can debate the war and the action that needs to be taken regarding it. I don't honestly think that President Bush wants this war to go on longer than it needs to. I don't think that anyone in the White House or the Republican party or its supporters like that our troops are being killed in Iraq. It isn't a debate over and endless war versus cut and run. I don't think either are real options, so lets talk about real options.

American Thinker: The Hand of Syria Seen in Lebanese Violence

American Thinker: The Hand of Syria Seen in Lebanese Violence:

"The worried eyes of the western world are turned toward Lebanon as the
under-trained and under-equipped Lebanese army does battle with the Palestinian
terrorist group known as Fatah al-Islam, in and around the Nahr el-Bared refugee
camp just outside of the northern port city of Tripoli.

So far, the
terrorists are staying true to form. They have taken refuge among the civilian
population in the densely crowded camp and are using innocents as human shields.
The Lebanese army, under orders to destroy the terrorists, tries to spare
civilians the worst of the fighting but apparently, to no avail, as many of the
refugees streaming out of the camps this evening report dozens of corpses lying
in the street and in buildings."

The world is watching, that is the problem, the world is just watching. The two forces in the region that could give support to the government of Lebanon, can't for political reasons. America already bogged down politically and militarily in Iraq could lend the strength to get Lebanon through this crisis but in doing so it would undermine the government and empower the terrorists. Israel can't move into Lebanon for fear that other groups in the country will join the fight and it will be seen as a move against Lebanon as a whole. Where are the other countries that talk about the need to defeat terror, and why don't they stand up to the plate when action is needed. If terrorists take over Lebanon, the whole region will be a more deadly place. It should be remembered that Lebanon played a crucial role in the development of the suicide bomber.

More on religious right terrorist arrested near Falwell's funeral - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

More on religious right terrorist arrested near Falwell's funeral - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth:

"Campbell County authorities arrested a Liberty University student for having
several homemade bombs in his car.

The student, 19-year-old Mark D. Uhl
of Amissville, Va., reportedly told authorities that he was making the bombs to
stop protesters from disrupting the funeral service. "

A culture of attack leads to more attacks. Falwell attacks gays and liberals. Fred Phelps, only slightly to the right of Falwell attacks gays, liberals, soldiers and in the end Falwell. In what appears to be a China vs. Russia fight on the right, Phelps doesn't think that Falwell hated enough people. The result of this culture of attack is this planned attack by a supporter of Falwell against those of Phelps. This one wasn't one of words though, but of bombs.

Angelina Jolie to Forego Studio Paychecks for Full Year / Jossip

Angelina Jolie to Forego Studio Paychecks for Full Year / Jossip:

" Here’s Angie’s sched: She’s working a few months this summer in Prague, then
taking she’s taking two months off, then working for two months, then taking a
full year, just to be a civilian!"

I think this will be a great thing for her and her family. It is good to see that she has found a space in her life that she feels calm enough to relax in.

SFGate: Politics Blog : Edwards charges $55,000 to speak to UC Davis students about poverty

SFGate: Politics Blog : Edwards charges $55,000 to speak to UC Davis students about poverty:

"The candidate charged a whopping $55,000 to speak at to a crowd of 1,787 the
taxpayer-funded University of California at Davis on Jan. 9, 2006 last year, Joe
Martin, the public relations officer for the campus' Mondavi Center confirmed
Monday.
That amount -- which comes to about $31 a person in the audience --
included Edwards' travel and airfare, and was the highest speaking fee in the
nine appearances he made before colleges and universities last year, according
to his financial records."

This matters because if you are honestly speaking about addressing an issue like poverty why would you charge such a large fee to talk about it. There are two reasons why you would want to offer your services for free, one being that the fee itself could be better used to help the poor. The other is that by asking the college to pay you a fee, the college has to charge for tickets to cover the fee. If you want to address the world on something you care about, why not do it for free. Have a free meeting, where anyone and everyone can attend, and ask for a donation to your cause. The problem in the long run for Edwards is how this is becoming a part of a larger image of him as being disconnected from the people he is talking to, and not really concerned.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Bob Kerrey to Dems: Why are U.S. troops the answer in Darfur but not in Iraq?

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Bob Kerrey to Dems: Why are U.S. troops the answer in Darfur but not in Iraq?:

"So if the Iraqi civil war — which we must not interfere in — devolves as
expected into ethnic cleansing, then … what? U.S. troops go back in? NATO? The
UN? Or do we leave that one alone because Bush ultimately is responsible and
thus a really massive death toll would provide an even more chastening
“teachable moment” about the perils of adventurism abroad (Darfur excluded, of
course)?"

I really think that this is a good point, I would ask also, how many that are calling for action to be taken in Darfur would turn and call it an invasion after action has been taken. I do think that something needs to be done to help those in Darfur, but it is not the role of America alone to take action, the UN needs to be involved, and the African Union and NATO maybe. I would even ask for involvement by the Arab league, let them doing something positive for the world for a change. Why is it that no one condemns them for not taking action, they have the money, they have the power.

NBC tells Donald, "You can't quit yet!" - TV Squad

NBC tells Donald, "You can't quit yet!" - TV Squad:

"After NBC refused to say during the upfronts whether or not they're going
to renew the show or not (probably keeping it in reserve for midseason if they
need another edition to fill in a time slot), the Donald decided to quit, to
pre-empt any sort of 'firing' that NBC could do. But not so fast..."

Donald seems to be set for a fight with the network NBC. Fearing that he was going to be fired by the network, he attempted to pre-empt them move by quiting. NBC is saying that he can't quit though, because he is still under contract for one more season. It is being rumored that the network may be saving the show for mid-season in case one of their other shows fails. If none of the other shows, it would seem that the end of Donald's show is at hand. There is some irony to the fact that Rosie is leaving The View and Donald is getting fired. Maybe the can work on a project together.

Two Food Stamp Follies: Oregon Governor's Publicity Stunt, and the Reporting on It | NewsBusters.org

Two Food Stamp Follies: Oregon Governor's Publicity Stunt, and the Reporting on It

NewsBusters.org: "But there's a significant problem with the premise behind the
governor's awareness campaign, and with the reporting by the AP's Julia
Silverman -- a problem that could have been prevented with just a few minutes of
research. You see, USDA's 'food stamp budget' provides per-person per-week
benefits to recipients with no other available resources that are 28%-70% higher
than the $21 used in the article."

This goes partly to a point that I myself made about the food stamp program and the way this operation was being done. It looks like the number that was used by the Gov. is an average, those who have less resources would receive more with a maximum set at 35.67 for someone living alone and 31.30 for a household of three. I don't know if this was an attempt to distort the facts or just an honest mistake, I choose to believe it was a mistake. It does however change the meaning of the exercise and what is to be gained from doing so.

I have strong questions about the food stamp program. I am sure it helps many people, but at the same time I see that many people will waste their allotment on chips and candy. I also see that a number of people will spend their food stamps so that they can spend money on beer. It isn't their money, it is mine and yours that they are spending. It is given to them so that they can buy food, and provide for themselves, not so they can spend more money on beer.

Fox News Shamelessly Bashes John Edwards

Katie Holmes Up in Arms Over Porn Star Namesake - The Hollywood Gossip

Katie Holmes Up in Arms Over Porn Star Namesake - The Hollywood Gossip:

"A blond-haired, blue-eyed fashion student, who claims to be a virgin, has
changed her name to Katee Holmes and is launching a porn career in which she’ll
be deflowered in her first movie."

This first of all further enforces my claim that the road to fame in todays media market is to ride the fame of someone else. Kim Kardashian did it masterfully as a friend of Paris Hilton, if could be said that even Nicole Richie used this trick to gain attention. This abuse of Katie's name is sad, and I hope that it can all be cleared up. Sadly the damage is done, even if this virgin changes her name, she has landed in the spot light and will benefit from doing so.

Colbert talks about Carter

Jesus loves Colbert

Family Strife: Oprah "Disappointed" Dad's Shopping A Tell-All - Gawker

Family Strife: Oprah "Disappointed" Dad's Shopping A Tell-All - Gawker:

"Confirmed: Oprah Winfrey doesn't read Gawker. She had to hear from
the Daily News that her dad Vernon Winfrey is writing a book about her, and she
didn't even believe it at first. 'I called him and it turned out he is writing a
book. The worst part of it was him saying, 'I meant to tell you I've been
working on it,'' she tells Rush & Molloy. She's 'shocked,' and we would be
too if our dad was telling the world how ornery we were as a pregnant teenager,
as in this excerpt of his proposal!"

Oprah is being sold out by her own father. If there is any respect for the relationship between a father and a child he should have told her, he should have asked her. It is an obvious way for him to make money off her fame. It is sad to see the effects that fame and wealth can have on family members, sad to see that some are more concerned about money than family.

Daily Kos: Arnold Schwarzenegger (D-CA)

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: [...] When I came into office three years ago, you and I
talked about it then. I, I was, you know, promoting and pushing stem cell
research then already, literally. Like, I was not even in office when I
was already out there campaigning for stem cell research. I think this is just a
very important issue.
[...]
MR. RUSSERT: What’s an Arnold
Republican?
GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, it’s basically being fiscally
conservative, being socially moderate and you know, being environmentally
progressive.
[...]
MR. RUSSERT: It’s interesting how you have stepped out
on the green movement, on global warming. I, I’ll show you something about a
fellow Republican, Jim Inhofe, he’s chairman of the Environment and Public Works
Committee, and he says this back in August of ‘03: “With all of the hysteria,
all of the fear, all of the phony science, could it be that man-made global
warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people? It sure
sounds like it.” What will those kinds of statements do to the Republican Party
in the future, in your mind?
GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: I don’t think it does—it
does much to the Republican Party. I think it is just, you know, there’s always
in history been people that are back with their thinking in the Stone
Age.
[...]
GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: [...] where’s America going to be in 2020?
Where are we going to be environmentally? Where we going to be with our
dependence on fossil fuel? Are we going to get off fossil fuel? Is there a
goal where we say, “We’re going to be 50 percent more self-sufficient and to
go—and to rely more on hydrogen fuel or on, on biofuel?” All of those kind of
alternative fuels, I think this is what we have to look at. Are we going to be a
nation that’s going to rebuild our infrastructure? Because our infrastructure
nationwide is, is falling apart, it’s aging right now. We in California have
made a commitment to rebuild our infrastructure, to rebuild our roads, our
schools, our levees, and all of those kind of things.
[...]
GOV.
SCHWARZENEGGER: [T]his year is the year where we go—this coming year—where
Democrats and Republicans are going to work together to fix our health care
problem. First of all, we have to bring down the health care costs, we have to
make it more affordable to provide health care. Number two, we’ve got to insure
everybody, because we have 6.7 million people that are uninsured, and we’re
working right now on the various different ideas, we’re going to bring those
ideas together, I’m going to present this in my State of the State
address.
[...]
MR. RUSSERT: Before we go, you mentioned Iraq. When you
were last on, you said you thought the war was the right thing to do. Right
before the election, you said we should start consider to get out. What advice
would you give the president about Iraq today?
GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: [...] I
think we got to get out of there. We have to have a time, a timeline. I totally
believe that there has to be a timeline there. But we got to get out of there
with a victory rather than with a defeat.

Where does Arnold stand, why doesn't he come out as a independent? His politics do not line up with either of the two main parties and I think he would gain support from a larger audience by becoming an independent.

Allie Is Wired - The Entertainment Blog: Perez is in Even More Hot Water

Allie Is Wired - The Entertainment Blog: Perez is in Even More Hot Water:

"It's amazing, just how much I've learned about publishing a blog over this past
year. All the things I've learned NOT TO DO, ...were all from this man."

While he should be given credit with opening the frontiers of blogging, I think his success is not long lasting. If you are going to create a lasting business, which even blogs are business, you have to create relationships. He has done just the opposite, he has created enemies and refused to work with those what could have helped him. As others join the market and create relationships with the main stream media and with photo agencies, they will create stronger blogs that will draw the market away from Hilton.

Hasselhoff Gets Custody! - TMZ.com

Hasselhoff Gets Custody! - TMZ.com:

"After the famous hamburger incident, David Hasselhoff has emerged victorious in
court! He has won temporary custody of his two kids."

I honestly think this is a good move, I don't think that he was a danger to his children, he may have been a danger to himself. He has shown his concern for his children, a one time incident that was abused for legal gain during a divorce should not harm his relationship with is children. I think he knows the mistake that was made, and that he has moved beyond that point in his life.

Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog » Progressive Action on Immigration Reform

Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog » Progressive Action on Immigration Reform:

"If 'temporary means temporary' when it comes to a program for future
workers, it creates two big problems: it either creates a churning second-class
workforce with limited rights and opportunities, or, more likely, it creates
incentives for immigrant workers to ‘jump the program,' creating another fast
growing poll of undocumented workers. Workers without any opportunity to put
down roots could be used against low-wage workers already here. We oppose guest
worker programs. However, we do support a temporary worker program with a path
to citizenship as a way to provide legal channels for future migration. We
believe it unlikely that even the best enforcement system will stop undocumented
immigration unless a 'break the mold' new worker program is created, providing
new workers equal rights and a realistic, structured path to citizenship."

It appears to me that this new bill is dead in the water. The blogs on the left are calling it amnesty and the blogs on the right are slamming the bill as well. I agree that the creation of a second class of worker, that this bill creates is unhealthy for the nation and for the immigrants themselves. Further I think that what is needed is a clear path to citizenship, this is not a path to citizenship clear or otherwise. It is putting todays problems off until tomorrow much as the amnesty bill of the 80's signed by Regan did.