It doesn't look like Obama's going to have much downtime anytime soon:
North Korean has declared it has "weaponized" enough plutonium for roughly four or five nuclear bombs.
Nowhere is climate disruption more dramatically apparent than on the roof of the world – where some experts predict Himalayan glaciers may be gone in as few as 40 years.
The snows of the Himalayas feed the headwaters of the Yellow, Yangtze, Ganges and Mekong Rivers and provide drinking water for billions throughout Asia.
* * *
The Himalayas are the water towers of Asia. We all live in the same building and we have this big water tank on top of our house and when that water runs out we're all gonna suffer. It's not just gonna be the people who live near the mountains. Now when we're talking about one, well, one and a half billion people – it doesn't look very good. I mean, even now, if you look at the region, there's a lot of tensions between the nations, you know, especially between Pakistan and India. Now when people don't have access to fresh water, they may see access to fresh water on the other side of the border, so we're looking at maybe mass migration, you know, heightened conflict. And it's just a very, very bleak picture.
Bleak picture indeed:
Look close and note how much more green you see now where once there was snow packed glaciers. A more detailed examination of the melt as viewed from space can be seen in this photo essay. But even more dramatic is this short video from the ground, comparing panoramic pictures taken in 1921 and comparing them to what greets the intrepid climber today.
If you're as old as I am, you'll remember the "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" campaign. Clean air and drinking water, a pristine environment were a moral imperative to pass on a hospitable planet to our children. Now it's a matter of survival.
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From today's New York Times:
After 22 days of war against Hamas, and the deaths of more than 1,200 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted that "we have reached all the goals of the war, and beyond."
From today's Al Jazeera:
Israeli forces demolished the house of the Sammouni family in Gaza City after ordering them to remain in it for safety. Twenty-seven members of the family died and another 90 Gazans remained trapped under the rubble, with rescue efforts hampered by Israeli forces. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MpWPQcDNi4&eurl=http://badattitudes.com/MT/
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Bill Kristol demands that his fellow jews support George Bush
New York Times "lightning rod conservative" columnist Bill Kristol was among the group of East Coast elite conservative pundits who supped with communist Barack Obama last week at George Will's oxen farm in Maryland, so we were "interested" to see what he would write in today's edition of his war column. Alas, he simply offers a perfunctory mention of the dinner before this terrifying twist: "…I've found myself thinking these last few days more about the man who has shouldered the burdens of office for the past eight years, George W. Bush." Thus begins a rant about his fellow Jews and the anti-Semitic PBS host Bill Moyers, who probably loves the Holocaust.
Kristol is glad that George W. Bush was president these last eight years instead of, say, Bill Moyers — who very well could've been president. Is there any doubt that Bill Moyers would've sold America to Nazi Germany just for his own amusement?
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Moyers fires back - h/t Dick: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/120779/bill_moyers_volleys_back_at_foxman's_'reprehensible'_smear_tactics_on_gaza/
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Congress pushes for credit card relief: http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/16/smallbusiness/congress_credit_card_rights_bill.smb/index.htm?postversion=2009011908
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He should be getting a prison sentence, but instead Cheney will be getting a $132,451 pension: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/planning-to-retire/2009/01/16/dick-cheney-will-get-a-132451-pension.html
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A little comeuppance for the 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' crowd.
The ranks of the nation's unemployed are swelling this week.
As President-elect Barack Obama's team transitions into the federal government tomorrow, President Bush's political appointees will be locked out, and in these tough economic times many of them are scrambling to find new jobs. High-ranking White House loyalists have deluged Washington headhunters with pleas for jobs. Corporations and nonprofit organizations have stopped hiring. With the GOP out of power, jobs on Capitol Hill are scant and K Street lobbying firms have trimmed their golden parachutes.
So this is the new reality: Instead of boasting to friends and colleagues of new jobs in goodbye e-mails, many longtime Bush aides have offered home phone numbers and Gmail and Yahoo e-mail addresses as their new contacts.
"For Republicans, the inn is full," lamented veteran GOP operative Ron Kaufman, a close White House adviser to former president George H.W. Bush and an executive at Dutko Worldwide. "You have lots of folks in the House and Senate on the streets and 3,000 administration appointees on the streets at a time when the job market is shrinking anyways. It's just not a fun time."
Gee, maybe they'll have to apply for unemployment. How ironic. I have no sympathy for any of them.
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I am pretty sure this "nurse's" understanding of how an IUD works is flat out wrong. Oh, and this is also essentially assault, as well.
A clinic nurse first removed her intrauterine birth-control device without permission, says the patient in a federal action, then told her that "having the IUD come out was a good thing," because "I personally do not like IUDs. I feel they are a type of abortion. I don't know how you feel about abortion, but I am against them."
It sounds like this isn't the first time she has done this. I hope they keep her from continued employment as a nurse.
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Gitmo detainees leaving ...a few at a time
This is a day of hope and change….for lots of people. Especially Haji Bismullah: http://www.teambio.org/2009/01/19/gitmo-detainees-leavingfew-at-a-time/
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Bush has commuted the sentences of two border patrol agents: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/washington/20sentence.html?hp
And apparently that's it for pardons. Wow, I don't even know what to say.
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Iowa Politics reports that after President Obama's inaugural parade and swearing-in ceremony, Iowa's congressional delegation will be hosting a reception in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Attending will be the state's two senators and four of the five representatives — with Rep. Steve King (R-IA) refusing to participate:
That's right, four — not all five. U.S. Rep. Steve King, a Kiron Republican known for his warning that the election of Barack Obama would lead to terrorists "dancing in the streets," declined to participate, according to congressional aides.
King said in an interview that he would have had to use money from his campaign fund to pay for the cookies and coffee to be offered up at the reception and he didn't think it was an appropriate use for the money. "It's not anti-anybody," he said. "My disagreements with Barack Obama have never been anything but philosophical."
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HBO claims the decision to censor gay Bishop Gene Robinson's invocation at the "We are The One" event was made by the Inauguration Committee - a lame excuse even if it's true. Regardless, here's the speech in its entirety, and here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWWAnitUCw4&eurl=http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/
Beautiful. Amen.
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As the Bush Years wind down I think it's important to remember the times people did stand up. This is one of my favorite political speeches of all time. I read it every now and then just to remind myself what righteous fury sounds like.
Bravo, Senator Dodd.
And from ThinkProgress:
In the Bush era marked by deceit and deception, these were some of the individuals and groups — both inside and outside the government (ranked in no particular order) — who stood up to speak truth to power. This is by no means a comprehensive list: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/19/thank-you-for-standing-up/
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"What Was Yours Is Everyone's From Now On": Among the Americans (and Others) at the Lincoln Memorial:
The Rude Pundit's favorite moment yesterday at the We Are One concert for Barack Obama happened before the anyone started up on the stage at Lincoln's feet. The Rude Pundit was at the south side of the reflecting pool, about halfway down, near one of the Jumbotrons playing what we could not see, and, having an hour to go, he told the people he was with that he wanted to see what it was like closer down. So he walked down the path, near the blue port-a-potties, to almost the limit of where those who didn't have tickets could go. He saw that it would have been one of those frustrating places to stand, being near enough to see tiny people on stage and far away from the screens. So he turned to walk, against the flow of people, back to where he had been.
At that moment, Wilco's song "What Light" started playing over the speakers, a generously hopeful shuffle of a tune, lyrics tinged with realism about ultimately giving oneself over to what's good inside. With his back to the stage, facing the people, the Rude Pundit noticed that everyone passing by was, truly, blissful. Blissful in that silent, almost beatific way that one only sees in babies who have just nursed or grown-ups who have just had an orgasm. As if trying to accept that this was all really happening. Sure, of course, we each read a situation in the ways that grow from our own frames of reference. The Rude Pundit had expected happiness and celebration. But this was way, way different from the raucous party he had thought might happen.
And he just smiled, in the gray, cold but not too cold day, dirt and dust covering his shoes, Lincoln Memorial behind him, Washington Monument in front, Wilco echoing throughout the Mall. A small smile of recognition, a feeling that at this moment, even just for now, things were different. Nothing definable, just, you know, "things." Then he fairly sauntered, hands in his coat pockets, through the people passing him by, and every face he met just smiled and nodded back. Like we knew. Just knew.
You can read about the concert itself elsewhere. There was good and bad and ugly in the performances and readings. But the Rude Pundit's never been in a crowd as attentive and respectful as this one, as quiet when it needed to be - really, there were times no one around him was doing anything but watching and listening. And if you're in as racially and geographically diverse as a huge group can be and everyone is singing with Mary J. Blige and John Mellencamp, and dancing when Garth Brooks did "Shout," waving their hands in the air like it was the best wedding they've ever been to, why critique it? Besides, when Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen are leading everyone in a big, sloppy singalong of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" and the Lebanese immigrant standing behind the Rude Pundit is singing, in a deep voice, "America the Beautiful" with Beyonce' on stage, then we're kind of beyond criticism.
When Obama spoke, he didn't tell us to blindly celebrate. He didn't simply thank us for being there. No, he reminded us that we were there to work. That we were on the Mall to start a seriously difficult time. That we were in this together. That we had to rebuild and renew this America. And, just for that few hours, at least, if not beyond, we believed we could do it.
...
Well, not all of us are in this together:
A conservative group, Grassfire.org, announced on Monday that its online petition pledging "patriotic" opposition to President-elect Barack Obama has gathered 372,553 signatures.
Grassfire's founder, Steve Elliot, stated, "This is not a personal attack on Barack Obama. On the contrary, this is a call to action for conservatives who profess love for our country and respect for our institutions. Our disagreements with the President are based in ideology and public policy only. From this firm foundation we are mounting a patriotic, resilient, conservative resistance to Obama's agenda."
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/350000_conservatives_pledge_to_block_Obamas_0119.html
F**k them.
And the same goes for the 447,128 "supporters of Sarah Palin" on Facebook.
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The animal odd couple - Tara and Bella: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFz-FMj-9Ps&eurl=http://www.nettavisen.no/dyr/article2503958.ece
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Give me a child until he is a Republican: http://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2009/01/give-me-child-until-he-is-republican.html
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"Imagine if it were reversed and I was the one who made the 'mistake' Timothy Geithner made. There would be penalties. There would be hearings. Wesley Snipes and I would be blood brothers." Der vulgar Pigboy, getting it wrong as usual.
Butt Rush, you got caught with possession with intent to sell Hillbilly heroin - but since you're a millionaire and were friends with the crooked Florida governor, you got off with less than a slap on the wrist.. Oh, and classy move - sending your maid to buy the drugs, Pigboy.
Then you got caught a second time bringing back illegal penis-hardening drugs when you took that boys-only trip to the Dominican Republic, the top boy prostitute destination in the world.
Once again, because you're rich and connected - no penalties. So why whine about a man who made a mistake that didn't involve heroin or child sex?
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The clairvoyance of The Onion
Eight years ago, on January 17, 2001, The Onion posted arguably the greatest -- and in retrospect, eeriest -- snark ever posted to Teh Intartoobz.
Eight years of Onion headlines about the Bush/Cheney misadministration: "Other histories of the Bush years will doubtless be more factual, but none will ever be truer." LOL - these are hysterical.
January 12, 2009: Bush Spends Day Feverishly Booby-Trapping Desk.
January 13, 2009: Vice Presidential Handlers Lure Cheney Into Traveling Crate.
January 13, 2009: Congress Debates Adding Elaborate Dance To Obama's Inauguration Ceremony.
January 14, 2009: Spider Eggs Hatch In Bush's Brain.
January 14, 2009: Bush, Cheney Stand Back-To-Back, Cock Shotguns One Last Time.
Read them all here.
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With the exception of Israel, the rest of the world is about as sorry to see George W. Bush leave the stage as we are here at home:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090119/ts_nm/us_bush_world_editorials
The Warsaw daily Dziennik just thanked God that Bush wasn't born with a Polish surname: "We're the butt of enough jokes as it is, thank you very much."
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Bizarre new creatures discovered
Scientists announce they have uncovered exciting new species, such as carnivorous sea squirts, ocean-dwelling spiders, soft coral, and quite possibly a creature with vertebrae in the US House of Representatives.
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Olbermann Special Comment: Prosecute torture: http://crooksandliars.com/node/25354
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Rush Limbaugh, member of the "Country First" party, got out of Vietnam because he said he had a Pilonidal cyst
Apparently conservative pundits aren't down with the inaugural festivities:
Die-hard Republicans wait for Obama shine to fade
For his part, right-of-center radio talkshow host Rush Limbaugh declares he will be "the last man standing," and will never give in to fervour surrounding new president Barack Obama.
[...]
"I disagree fervently with the people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, 'Well, I hope he succeeds. We've got to give him a chance,'" Limbaugh said on his program last week.
The arch-conservative radio commentator has said he is immune to Obama's message of hope and reconciliation, and said he has every reason to be unmoved, even if a large number of Republicans have joined the bandwagon.
"I've been listening to Barack Obama for a year-and-a-half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don't want them to succeed," he said.
Country First, my ass.
I suggest everyone read this profile of Rush Limbaugh. By day, he attacks wealthy elites; at night, he goes home to his massive mansion and drinks fine French wine and smokes fancy foreign cigars. Limbaugh isn't a conservative pundit, he's a businessman–he probably doesn't believe 90% of the things he says, but he makes his millions by selling conservative vitriol and right-wing rage.
So of course Limbaugh is pledging to fight Obama–the angrier people are, the more money he makes. It's not like he's a lone voice bravely pledging to fight for what's right, he's simply agreeing to do whatever's necessary to get his advertisers to keep cutting him big, fat checks.
Moving on:
Bill] Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine, took umbrage in a recent column in the New York Times at the "presumption" of Obama's handlers of linking the president-elect's inauguration to that of his idol, Abraham Lincoln.
"It might be a good idea if, when he takes the oath, Obama makes sure that the Good Book is open to Proverbs 16:18, and its reminder that 'Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall,'" he wrote last month.
Speaking of pride, keep in mind what Kristol was saying in April, 2003:
We committed ourselves to reshaping the Middle East, so the region would no longer be a hotbed of terrorism, extremism, anti-Americanism, and weapons of mass destruction. The first two battles of this new era are now over. The battles of Afghanistan and Iraq have been won decisively and honorably. But these are only two battles. We are only at the end of the beginning in the war on terror and terrorist states.
Of course, almost 6 years later we're still fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. I mean, I'm glad to see that Kristol learned his lesson about arrogance and hubris, though I don't remember him ever apologizing for it; perhaps he should open his Good Book to Matthew 7:3:
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Now let's take a look behind door #3:
Byron York, a commentator with the conservative National Review, predicted the honeymoon would be brief, once voters realize that Obama's positions on pulling troops from Iraq, and sending them from Afghanistan, differ from theirs.
"This is something that is not talked about enough," he said on "Fox News Sunday" adding Obama and his team "may not get the kind of American support that they thought they would."
Uh, Byron? You do realize that Obama ran on his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan, right? I mean, come on–he made his position on Iraq the cornerstone of his primary campaign. Throughout the election he spoke extensively about his proposals to withdraw troops from Iraq and add troops to the conflict in Afghanistan. This is nothing new to anyone.
And yet, Obama managed to pull this off:
So, the question is, does Byron York think the American people are stupid, or is he simply hoping?
Of course, we know conservatives aren't going to wait for Obama's poll numbers to drop; they're going to do whatever they can to pull those numbers down. But, considering the fact that Obama is the most popular newly-elected President in over 70 years, they definitely have their work cut out for them.
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Cheney to attand inauguration in wheelchair: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Cheney_hurts_back_moving_boxes_will_0119.html
At least he was right when he said he wasn't part of the Executive Branch...
Federal district court judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly says Cheney alone will be the sole determining authority on the public release of his vice presidential records. http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Court_Public_VP_records_to_be_0119.html
Thank you, judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly for protecting our right to know what has been done in our name.
Way to take a stand for democracy.
4,229 soldiers killed in Iraq; 641 in Afghanistan.
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The Bush scandals list as Bush leaves office: http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/3124
Hopefully if criminal charges are ever pursued in these areas, Judge Colleen Kolar-Kotelly will be on the case.
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Sure, today is the big day of "Hope" and "Change" yada yada yada, but it is also the day the door hits Shrubya on the ass on his way out the door.
And we actually have much to be thankful for. Sure, Codpiece didn't get impeached. Sure, Obama won't pursue any legal action against him and his band of war criminals. But think of all our worst fears that didn't materialize!
Codpiece never completely suspended the Constitution, never declared Martial Law and suspended the election, and he never invaded Iran or Pakistan. He also didn't pull bin Laden out of a hat in October prior to the election to ensure a McCain victory, and it doesn't look like he'll be pardoning himself and his merry band of criminals.
So let's enjoy today, full of hope that Shrubya's final flight on Airforce One to Crawford will feature a big bowl of pretzels!
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And let's take it from the Rude Pundit when he says, "There's one final myth about this President that the Rude Pundit would like to put to rest: George W. Bush is not a man you would want to have a beer with. No, not because if you saw him in a bar, you'd react like you had gone on the sex offender registry in Dallas and discovering that a guy who screwed babies in his basement was now living in the downstairs apartment. It's that, despite any feints at finding him charming, he is not, in his soul, a kind or decent person.
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