Keeping the Voting Clean

Seeded on Sat Nov 1, 2008 3:16 PM EDT (The New York Times)

We've moved in exactly the wrong direction. Election administration reform has become more, not less, politicized since Bush v. Gore. Since 2004, voter identification laws have been supported only by Republican legislatures and opposed by Democrats.

elections, election, politics, corruption, voting, ballots

The GOP ticket's appalling contempt for science and learning

Seeded on Fri Oct 31, 2008 4:16 AM EDT (Slate)

This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist.

election, politics, mccain, gop, theocracy, palin

So When Will Banks Give Loans?

Seeded on Sat Oct 25, 2008 4:27 PM EDT (The New York Times)

In point of fact, the dirty little secret of the banking industry is that it has no intention of using the money to make new loans. But this executive was the first insider who's been indiscreet enough to say it within earshot of a journalist.

business, treasury, credit, banking, treasury-department, bailout, jp-morgan, paulson

Police raid house of 90-year-old medical marijuana patients, confiscate plants and steal life savings, make no arrests

Seeded on Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:53 PM EDT (indybay.org)

Mary Smith was forced to stay in the house by herself during the 5-hour raid while additional warrants for an adjoining parcel were telephoned in and delivered, allowing sheriff's deputies to enter all the residences.

drugs, police, corruption, marijuana, theft, law, us-news, war-on-drugs, police-brutality

AIG executives spent thousands during hunting trip

Seeded on Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:42 PM EDT (Salon.com)

Seeded by BAjunkie (Clipped by alexd)

AIG officials declined to say which AIG executives attended the trip, which reports have said racked up an $86,000 tab.

business, insurance, corruption, aig, bailout, sack-the-lot-of-em

Whale sanctuary becomes law in Chile

Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:09 PM EDT

By Associated Press (Clipped by alexd)

Chile has turned all of its Pacific Ocean territorial waters into a whale sanctuary.

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whales, chile, pacific-ocean, world-news, lt

Lending money to poor people doesn't make you poor. Lending money poorly to rich people does.

Seeded on Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:01 PM EDT (Slate)

These arguments are generally made by people who read the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal and ignore the rest of the paper—economic know-nothings whose opinions are informed mostly by ideology and, occasionally, by prejudice. Let's be honest.

business, freddie-mac, crisis, clinton, fannie-mae, economics, meltdown, cra

AP Exclusive: Documents say detainee near insanity

Tue Oct 7, 2008 5:50 PM EDT

By Pamela Hess, Associated Press Writer (Clipped by alexd)

A U.S. military officer warned Pentagon officials that an American detainee was being driven nearly insane by months of punishing isolation and sensory deprivation in a U.S. military brig, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

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politics, treatment, associated-press, american-civil-liberties-union, detainee

The Shadowy, Wet World of StreetWars' Squirt-Gun Assassins

Seeded on Tue Sep 30, 2008 12:29 AM EDT (The New York Times)

When StreetWars started on Sept. 7, each of the 250-plus contestants was handed a black envelope marked "Shadow Government," with the name, home address, workplace, e-mail address, cellphone number and photograph of a player to kill by squirting.

assassination, internet, water, odd-news, society, stalking, squirt-guns

House Roll Call: How they voted on bailout bill

Mon Sep 29, 2008 3:51 PM EDT

By The Associated Press (Clipped by alexd)

The 263-171 roll call Friday by which the House approved a $700 billion government bailout bill for the battered financial industry.

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financial, rollcall, politics, house, meltdown

Bailout: The Final Bill

Seeded on Mon Sep 29, 2008 2:42 PM EDT (obsidianwings.blogs.com)

I don't think our Congress has faced a more important decision than whether or not to pass the bailout bill in decades, perhaps longer.

congress, economy, politics, mortgage, bailout, deregulation, paulson

No Method, Just Madness

Seeded on Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:13 PM EDT (Political Animal)

Republican consultant Craig Shirley, who advised McCain's presidential campaign earlier in the cycle, noted the bizarre developments. "It just proves his campaign is governed by tactics and not ideology," Shirley said. "In the end, he blinked and Obama did not.

economy, campaign, debate, election, politics, mccain, obama

$700 Billion? "We just wanted to choose a really large number."

Seeded on Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:05 AM EDT (Forbes)

The more Congress examines the Bush administration's bailout plan, the hazier its outcome gets. At a Senate Banking Committee hearing Tuesday, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle complained of being rushed to pass legislation or else risk financial meltdown.

economy, crisis, politics, bailout, paulson

All of This Sounds Kind of Familiar...

Seeded on Thu Sep 25, 2008 1:47 PM EDT (Political Animal)

Things got really heated when Cornyn accused McCain of being too busy campaigning for president to take part in the negotiations, which have gone on for months behind closed doors. "Wait a second here," Cornyn said to McCain.

campaign, election, politics, mccain, government

Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time

Seeded on Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:32 PM EDT (Political Animal)

This is ridiculous for any number of reasons. First, the crisis isn't new, and McCain didn't reach this conclusion until his poll numbers started falling. Would McCain have made this absurd decision if the polls showed him with momentum? Of course not.

economy, election, politics, mccain, economics, debates

Obama and McCain as Wall Street Reformers

Seeded on Wed Sep 24, 2008 3:44 PM EDT (obsidianwings.blogs.com)

Having gone over McCain and Obama's legislation on banking and mortgage reform, I thought I'd continue my search for John McCain, Scourge Of Wall Street by looking at his website to see what new regulations he proposes for financial institutions.

economy, election, politics, mccain, reform, economics, obama

Scale graph of Obama / McCain Tax Plans

Seeded on Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:01 PM EDT (chartjunk.karmanaut.com)

There's a graph that Obama supporters are sending around, showing the differences between the Republican and Democrat tax cut proposals. It shows that Obama is not in fact planning to raise taxes - he's planning to cut them for all but the very, very rich.

tax, taxes, election, money, politics, mccain, finance, obama

In-your-face time with Joe Biden

Seeded on Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:55 PM EDT (The L.A. Times)

While Biden was on a two-day bus tour of this crucial battleground state last week, Palin's celebrity began to wane, opening an opportunity for the notoriously loquacious senator to play a more significant role in the Democratic campaign after being largely overshadowed.

election, democrats, politics, president, obama, biden, vp

Barack Obama, John McCain and the Language of Race

Seeded on Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:48 PM EDT (The New York Times)

A blatant example surfaced earlier this month, when a Georgia Republican, Representative Lynn Westmoreland, described the Obamas as "uppity" in response to a reporter's question. Mr.

election, race, politics, racism, obama, society

Hitchens: Why is Obama so vapid, hesitant, and gutless?

Seeded on Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:21 PM EDT (Slate)

Last week really ought to have been the end of the McCain campaign.

economy, campaign, election, democrats, politics, mccain, obama, dukakis

Palin Refuses To Say Whether She Would Be Part Of Executive Branch

Seeded on Sun Sep 21, 2008 11:37 PM EDT (Think Progress)

[A] spokesman for the Republican presidential campaign did not answer the question. Instead, he e-mailed remarks Palin gave at a campaign rally in Golden, Colo., on Monday.

cheney, election, politics, president, mccain, secrecy, vp, palin

Republicans move to deny homeless votes, Democrats claim

Seeded on Thu Sep 18, 2008 3:33 PM EDT (Telegraph)

The reported effort has been denounced as "lose your home, lose your vote".

election, fraud, real-estate, michigan, racism, republican, democrat, foreclosure

Preface to "Broken Laws, Broken Lives"

Seeded on Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:39 PM EDT (brokenlives.info)

Maj. General Taguba led the US Army's official investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and testified before Congress on his findings in May, 2004.

bush, iraq, army, guantanamo, constitution, war, military, justice, corruption, united-states

US uses cluster bombs in Sadr City

Seeded on Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:39 PM EDT (presstv.ir)

DPA quoted Leqa Yasin, a Sadrist lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament, as saying that technical and medical examination on the bodies of the victims and wounded of the recent clashes show that US occupation forces have used cluster bombs against civilians in Sadr City.

us, iraq, war, military, illegal, world-news

Fewer Large Corporations Audited by IRS

Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:22 AM EDT

By Jim Abrams, Associated Press (Clipped by alexd)

The tax audit rates of the largest companies are less than half what they were 20 years ago while more small and mid-size businesses are coming under scrutiny, according to an organization that monitors the Internal Revenue Service.

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business, politics, irs, internal-revenue-service, audits

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