Only in America - where we switch words so that things don’t seem to be as bad as they really are.
The U.S. government has vowed that Americans will never be hungry again. But they may experience “very low food security.”
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Mark Nord, the lead author of the report, said “hungry” is “not a scientifically accurate term for the specific phenomenon being measured in the food security survey.” Nord, a USDA sociologist, said, “We don’t have a measure of that condition.”
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Many Democratic campaign platforms included the promise to pass legislation that allows negotiation of Medicare Part D drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. Apparently, the Bush Administration still does not think that this is a good idea:
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“Time for Runsfeld to Go” is the title of an editorial that will run in Monday’s editions of the Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times and Marine Corps Times. The editorial calls for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
“So long as our government requires the backing of an aroused and informed public opinion … it is necessary to tell the hard bruising truth.”
That statement was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Marguerite Higgins more than a half-century ago during the Korean War.
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As noted on my last post, “Latest Kuhl Campaign Ad”:
[NOTE: The ad hits on Massa's opposition to the Patriot Act. This is a complex subject worthy of a book, let alone a blog post. Therefore, I'm going to briefly address this in a following post. (This one is long enough already.)]
So, lets talk about the Patriot Act. From the Electronic Frontier Foundation:
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This morning’s lead story in the New York Times: U.S. Web Archive Is Said to Reveal a Nuclear Guide
Last March, the federal government set up a Web site to make public a vast archive of Iraqi documents captured during the war. The Bush administration did so under pressure from Congressional Republicans who said they hoped to “leverage the Internet” to find new evidence of the prewar dangers posed by Saddam Hussein.
But in recent weeks, the site has posted some documents that weapons experts say are a danger themselves: detailed accounts of Iraq’s secret nuclear research before the 1991 Persian Gulf war. The documents, the experts say, constitute a basic guide to building an atom bomb.
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So the guy can’t tell a joke; I’ve not been known for my sense of humor, either (just ask my spouse).
I request anyone who is not familiar with the background of Kerry’s comment to read this:
MSNBC host Chris Matthews read from the AP article during the October 31 edition of Hardball, noting that Kerry “opened his speech … with several one-liners, joking at one point that Bush had lived in Texas but now ‘lives in a state of denial.’ Then he said: ‘You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.’” Matthews further described the White House’s characterization of Kerry’s remarks as a “violent interpretation,” then later, during an interview with former House Republican Leader Dick Armey (TX), said:
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Did you know:
45.8% of the benefits from a reduction in capital gains and dividends went to people with incomes over $1 million. There were 284,000 taxpayers in this income group. This is .19% of all taxpayers.
10.8% of the benefits went to people with incomes between $500,000 and $1 million. There were 593,000 taxpayers in this income group. This is .40% of all taxpayers.
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I’ve recently received the mailing from the Kuhl Campaign, “Eric Massa must think money grows on trees”. As with any negative ad I read or hear, my natural instinct is to (first cringe, because I feel that what I’m reading is distorted) look beyond the rhetoric and try to find the truth. So, lets take a look.
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Massa Responds to North Korean Nuclear Test
…Massa said that this development “fundamentally changes the nature of the security situation in the Pacific.” …
“The Bush Administration and its allies in Congress have been in a state of denial over the real threat of a nuclear-armed North Korea,” said Massa. “Now, because of this administration’s uncompromising focus on a war of attrition in Iraq, our national security options are severely limited.” Massa has been an outspoken critic of the Bush Administration’s foreign and military policies - particularly with regard to the war in Iraq, which he has often described as a distraction from the effort to combat terrorism. (more…)
In an unexpected move earlier today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee cancelled the proceeding regarding John Bolton’s nomination to continue as the US Ambassador to the UN.
Senate panel scrubs vote on Bolton as U.N. envoy
Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican, did not explain why the vote on whether to send Bolton’s nomination to the full Senate was removed from the day’s agenda and did not say if or when it would be taken up again.
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“From August 15 - 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,556 New York State registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points. The survey includes 464 likely Democratic primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 4.6 percent, and 469 registered Republicans with a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.”
Clinton vs Tasini 86% - 10%
Clinton vs McFarland 64% - 24% June: 58% - 31%
Clinton vs Spencer 62% - 26% June: 57% - 33%
Clinton Approval/Disapproval Rating: 58% - 34%
Schumer Approval/Disapproval Rating: 59% - 23%
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This is the program that allowed the NSA to wiretap calls to foreign countries if a person connected to it had a loosely defined relationship with Al Qaeda.
DETROIT - A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government’s warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency’s program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy.
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Sometimes, a coincidence is just that - a coincidence. Sometimes, when too many coincidences occur under similar circumstances, it just makes you wonder.
Last night on “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” (MSNBC, weeknights at 8:00 pm EST), they revisited a story that they had first broadcasted this past October. I leave it up to you to decide if these are all purely coincidental.
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