about judges giving donations to the politicians considering their nomination? Salon
At least two dozen federal judges appointed by President Bush since 2001 made political contributions to key Republicans or to the president himself while under consideration for their judgeships, government records show. A four-month investigation of Bush-appointed judges by the Center for Investigative Reporting reveals that six appellate court judges and 18 district court judges contributed a total of more than $44,000 to politicians who were influential in their appointments. Some gave money directly to Bush after he officially nominated them. Other judges contributed to Republican campaign committees while they were under consideration for a judgeship.
Republicans who received money from judges en route to the bench include Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Gov. George Pataki of New York.
Both my senators are on that list; of course, one of them is the head of the judiciary committee. Good thing one of them is going to be history after next Tuesday.
Diebold struggles to bounce back from the controversy surrounding its voting machines.
By Barney Gimbel, Fortune writer-reporter
October 30 2006: 2:03 PM EST
(Fortune Magazine) — Here’s a five-step plan guaranteed to make an obscure company absolutely notorious. First get into a business you don’t understand, selling to customers who barely understand it either. Then roll out your product without adequate testing. Don’t hire enough skilled people. When people notice problems, deny, obfuscate and ignore. Finally, blame your critics when it all blows up in your face.
As for Diebold, Swidarski is questioning whether the election business “fits into our product portfolio.” He says he’ll make a decision within the next three months. But it says something that Swidarski recently ordered the name “Diebold” removed from the front of the voting equipment. Why? A spokesman would only say, “It was a strategic decision on the part of the corporation.”
The Pentagon is expanding its public affairs operations to counter “inaccurate” news stories and editorials and exploit “new media” to get its message out, its chief spokesman said, denying the effort was linked to the US elections.
The initiative comes amid plummeting domestic support for the war in Iraq and just before crucial mid-term congressional elections in which opposition Democrats are contesting Republican control of the Congress.
Eric Ruff, the Pentagon press secretary, insisted that the new public affairs program was not prompted by either the elections or polls showing that only about 37 percent believe the war is going well.
“What were looking at doing is, ‘How can we get better, how can we get faster, how can we transform public affairs?’,” he told reporters.
Or as the Preznit would say, how can we “catapult the propaganda?”
An ocean dead zone off Oregon that killed fish, crabs and sea worms in an area bigger than Rhode Island last summer lasted nearly three times longer than any of its predecessors before dissipating with autumn’s change in the weather, scientists said Monday.
Test results suggest elephants are self-aware. Happy, a 34-year-old female Asian elephant in the Bronx Zoo showed researchers that pachyderms can recognize themselves in a mirror – complex behavior observed in only a few other species. The ability to distinguish oneself from others had been shown only in humans, chimpanzees and, to a limited extent, dolphins.
British scientists have grown tiny sections of human liver from stem cells, which could help in screening new drugs for toxicity. However, they believe it will be decades before a grown liver can be used in a human transplant operation. But they say the use of small sections of liver, which are less than the size of a small coin, could be used to treat patients within 10-15 years.
“America’s Children and the Environment” is a new EPA report that compiles federal information and trends about children’s environmental health in the U.S. Overall; the new data show a decline in children’s exposure to pollution. For example, children under six are less likely to be regularly exposed to secondhand smoke at home, down from 27 percent of children in 1994 to 11 percent in 2003.
ExxonMobil should “end any further financial assistance” to climate-change-denying lobbyist groups, Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said in a scathing letter sent to ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson on Friday. According to an upcoming report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, the oil behemoth funded 29 climate-change-skeptic groups in 2004 alone, and has spent more than $19 million since 1990 funding groups that promote “science” that hasn’t been peer reviewed. The senators singled out the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Tech Central Station website as Exxon-funded skeptic groups. ExxonMobil’s support, and “skeptics’ access to and influence on government policymakers, have made it increasingly difficult for the United States to demonstrate the moral clarity it needs across all facets of its diplomacy,” the senators wrote.
still having a hissy-fit over the “Path to 9/11” brouhaha? MediaMatters
An internal ABC Radio Networks memo obtained by Media Matters for America, originally from a listener to The Peter B. Collins Show, indicates that nearly 100 ABC advertisers insist that their commercials be blacked out on Air America Radio affiliates. According to the memo, the adverstisers insist that “NONE of their commercials air during AIR AMERICA programming.” Among the advertisers listed are Bank of America, Exxon Mobil, Federal Express, General Electric, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and the U.S. Navy.
Looks like it to me…now what’s with this garbage about the “Damned Librul Media”?
Too bad I’m a victim of Channel 29’s anti-Mac user prejudice…
Did he just get roughed up, or arrested too?
Who’d have thought it would be dangerous to ask questions of your own elected representatives? And I’m guessing from the vicious response to the question that Ol’ Macaca did actually spit on the wife.
about judges giving donations to the politicians considering their nomination? Salon
Both my senators are on that list; of course, one of them is the head of the judiciary committee. Good thing one of them is going to be history after next Tuesday.
Fortune: Rage against the machine:
How about this quote from the same article?
It certainly does.
media offensive, that is: AFP/Yahoo
Or as the Preznit would say, how can we “catapult the propaganda?”
Scientists have discovered a new strain of bird flu that appears to sidestep current vaccines. It’s infecting people as well as poultry in Asia, and some researchers fear its evolution may have been steered by the vaccination programs designed to protect poultry from earlier types of the H5N1 flu. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has announced new plans for fighting pandemic influenza.
An ocean dead zone off Oregon that killed fish, crabs and sea worms in an area bigger than Rhode Island last summer lasted nearly three times longer than any of its predecessors before dissipating with autumn’s change in the weather, scientists said Monday.
Test results suggest elephants are self-aware. Happy, a 34-year-old female Asian elephant in the Bronx Zoo showed researchers that pachyderms can recognize themselves in a mirror – complex behavior observed in only a few other species. The ability to distinguish oneself from others had been shown only in humans, chimpanzees and, to a limited extent, dolphins.
British scientists have grown tiny sections of human liver from stem cells, which could help in screening new drugs for toxicity. However, they believe it will be decades before a grown liver can be used in a human transplant operation. But they say the use of small sections of liver, which are less than the size of a small coin, could be used to treat patients within 10-15 years.
“America’s Children and the Environment” is a new EPA report that compiles federal information and trends about children’s environmental health in the U.S. Overall; the new data show a decline in children’s exposure to pollution. For example, children under six are less likely to be regularly exposed to secondhand smoke at home, down from 27 percent of children in 1994 to 11 percent in 2003.
ExxonMobil should “end any further financial assistance” to climate-change-denying lobbyist groups, Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said in a scathing letter sent to ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson on Friday. According to an upcoming report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, the oil behemoth funded 29 climate-change-skeptic groups in 2004 alone, and has spent more than $19 million since 1990 funding groups that promote “science” that hasn’t been peer reviewed. The senators singled out the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Tech Central Station website as Exxon-funded skeptic groups. ExxonMobil’s support, and “skeptics’ access to and influence on government policymakers, have made it increasingly difficult for the United States to demonstrate the moral clarity it needs across all facets of its diplomacy,” the senators wrote.
Hubble Repair Mission is go.
“The rehab mission, likely launching in May 2008 using space shuttle Discovery, would keep Hubble working until about 2013.”
I’m glad to see this.
Berlusconi to face trial.
Experts crack cancer ‘gene codes.
See Dubya’s Mid-term election night’s dream.
Time to cut and run George
This and more
in Niall Ferguson’s– Sunday Telegraph, UK
‘The road to delusion’
What are they expecting? Economic disaster after election day.
GAO chief warns.
and now it is confirmed. As suspected, this is what underpins the Dow –
PPT the Secretive Support Team `re-activated to prevent markets meltdown.
Hmmmm.
The Road to Dleusion article was good…and I love the Dali-esque cartoon.
Thanks CG.
still having a hissy-fit over the “Path to 9/11” brouhaha? MediaMatters
Looks like it to me…now what’s with this garbage about the “Damned Librul Media”?
Watch Mike Stark get stomped by George Allen goons.
Too bad I’m a victim of Channel 29’s anti-Mac user prejudice…
Did he just get roughed up, or arrested too?
Who’d have thought it would be dangerous to ask questions of your own elected representatives? And I’m guessing from the vicious response to the question that Ol’ Macaca did actually spit on the wife.
October 2006 SIGIR Report, and six new Audit Reports now available. Running a little late this quarter, but always worth the wait.