in absentia

Bill Moyers on Mideast Violence

Seeded on Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:34 PM EST (YouTube)

Seeded by Redruby (Clipped by Leah M)

Bill Moyers reflects on the recent violence in the Middle East.

israel, terrorism, politics, palestine, oppression

POTUS uses a Mac

Seeded on Mon Nov 10, 2008 12:40 PM EST (9to5mac.com)

Now that the campaigning is over, we have the opportunity to reflect on an amazing milestone in American history. Barack Obama is the first...

technology, obama, barack-obama, mac, macbookpro

The Rich Support McCain, the Super-Rich Support Obama

Seeded on Sat Oct 18, 2008 3:18 PM EDT (Wall Street Journal)

In Richistan, I wrote about a new political divide emerging among the wealthy.

taxes, social-issues, money, politics, mccain, voting, obama, rich-people, richistan

Ecofasa turns waste to biodiesel using bacteria

Seeded on Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:38 PM EDT (autobloggreen.com)

A group of Spanish developers working for a company called Ecofasa just announced a new biofuel made up from trash. This isn't a biodiesel made from used frying oil; instead, it's made from general urban waste which is treated by bacteria.

technology, bacteria, biodiesel, biofuel, ecofasa

Testing Google's 'Drunk E-Mail' Protector

Seeded on Thu Oct 16, 2008 4:49 PM EDT (TIME)

For a company that's dominated the Internet by doing one simple thing well, Google has also managed to build a thriving side business in bells and whistles: its features offer everything from the ability to search inside books and videos to the ability to watch a kid fall off a b …

entertainment, google, funny, mail-googles, drunk-email, drunk-mail

Verizon and AT&T put mobile cell towers on McCain Ranch -- for free

Seeded on Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:10 PM EDT (The Washington Post)

Seeded by Paul William Tenny (Clipped by Leah M)

Verizon delivered a portable tower know as a "cell site on wheels" -- free of charge -- to Cindy McCain's property in June in response to an online request from Cindy McCain's staff early last year.

politics

There's no debate: Palins owe thousands in back taxes

Seeded on Tue Oct 7, 2008 2:08 PM EDT (bojack.org)

Seeded by spiffie (Clipped by Leah M)

Since then, one commentator has reported that there is now a "wonky debate" as to the correctness of their omitting the travel money from their tax returns. We disagree.

taxes, politics, presidential-election, republicans, john-mccain, irs, tax-evasion, election-2008, income-tax, sarah-palin

Palin Takes On A New Foe: Her Image

Seeded on Fri Oct 3, 2008 11:26 AM EDT (The Washington Post)

Sarah Palin looked as though she had prepared for her appearance at the vice presidential debate last night by studying Tina Fey's impressions of her on "Saturday Night Live." She twinkled and winked and piled on the perkiness, a "darn right" here and an "I'll betcha" there.

debate, politics, palin, election-08, sarah-palin

WaMu is largest U.S. bank failure

Seeded on Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:27 AM EDT (Yahoo! News)

Washington Mutual Inc was closed by the U.S. government in by far the largest failure of a U.S. bank, and its banking assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co for $1.9 billion.

economy, us-news, bailout, wamu, bank-failure, jpmorganchase, economy-crash, wa-mu

Troy Davis Deserves a New Trial

Seeded on Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:09 PM EDT (AlterNet.org)

Troy Anthony Davis was scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday. Two hours before the state of Georgia was to execute him, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay until Monday. It had earlier agreed to hear Davis' case on Sept.

scotus, justice, death-penalty, supreme-court, death-row, us-news, criminal-justice, fair-trial, troy-davis, troy-anthony-davis

John McCain's latest crazy, brilliant, desperate campaign tactic.

Seeded on Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:52 AM EDT (Slate)

John McCain has launched his second Hail Mary pass in a month. On Wednesday he called for a suspension of the presidential campaign—no events, no ads, and no debate Friday—so that he and Barack Obama can head to Washington to forge a bipartisan solution.

politics, mccain, john-mccain, election-08, hail-mary

Guantanamo Prosecutor Quits, Says Evidence Was Withheld

Seeded on Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:43 AM EDT (The Washington Post)

A military prosecutor involved in war crimes cases here has quit his position, citing ethical concerns about his office's failure to turn over exculpatory material to attorneys for an Afghan detainee scheduled to go to trial in December.

guantanamo, military, resignation, prosecutor, ethics, us-news, fair-trial, ethical-concerns

GOP Arrogance Bubble ready to Pop?

Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:25 AM EDT

By loosecannon (Clipped by Leah M)

I've had this strange feeling watching the McCain campaign lately, some kind of deja vu. Then it occurred to me that the GOP's behavior resembles that of stock market and real estate investors -- right before they crashed.

Continue reading this entry ...

politics, mccain, john-mccain, election-2008, sarah-palin

Missing 'Cell-Phone Onlys' Matters in Polling

Seeded on Wed Sep 24, 2008 3:38 PM EDT (pollster.com)

Few in the field of survey research have examined the problem of cell phones and surveys as closely over the last four years as Scott Keeter and his colleagues at the Pew Research Center.

politics, mccain, cell-phone, obama, polls, polling, electorate, pollster, data-analysis

Bush Administration will keep secret 'grim' Afghanistan report quiet until after election

Seeded on Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:10 PM EDT (Raw Story)

A secret US intelligence report which says the political and military situation in Afghanistan is "grim" will be withheld from the public until after the election, a new report says.

bush, afghanistan, report, intelligence, us-news, al-qaeda, gwb, grim, election-08

Help me Nominate Vas and iarnuocon for a RAV!

Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:34 PM EDT

I am writing this to nominate Vas for a Random Act of Vineness (RAV) award regarding his work to save Troy Anthony Davis from execution before his appeal would have been heard by the supreme court.

Continue reading this entry ...

Giant Investment Banks Grasp for Government Safety Net

Seeded on Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:58 AM EDT (The Washington Post)

The Federal Reserve approved the conversion last night of the two remaining investment titans on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, into bank holding companies, offering them broader government protection in exchange for tighter regulation and constraints on their onc …

markets, economy, fed, finance, us-news, bailout, business-model, investment-bank, market-crash

Fannie, Freddie Paid McCain Adviser Davis Nearly $2 Million - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Mon Sep 22, 2008 5:53 AM EDT (The New York Times)

Seeded by loosecannon (Clipped by Leah M)

Incensed by the advertisements, several current and former executives of the companies came forward to discuss the role that Rick Davis, Mr.

freddie-mac, politics, fannie-mae, mccain, john-mccain, lobbyists, election-2008

Jimmy Carter Calls for Clemency for Troy Davis

Seeded on Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:36 AM EDT (AlterNet.org)

Seeded by blahmni (Clipped by Leah M)

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter called today on the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles to reverse its decision to deny clemency to Troy Anthony Davis, convicted for an alleged murder of a Savannah police officer in 1991.

human-rights, georgia, rights, justice, death-penalty, law, clemency, parole, us-news, jimmy-carter

McCain Plays the Race Card

Seeded on Fri Sep 19, 2008 2:23 AM EDT (TIME: Real Clear Politics)

When politicians interject race into a campaign, they seldom do it directly. Consider McCain's new ad, which the campaign says it will be airing nationally...This is hardly subtle: Sinister images of two black men, followed by one of a vulnerable-looking elderly white woman.

election, ad, race, mccain, us-news, sleaze, campaign-ad, political-advertisment

Conservatives Scare More Easily Than Liberals, Say Scientists

Seeded on Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:11 PM EDT (Wired News)

Deep-seated political differences aren't simply moral and intellectual: they're also biological. In reflex tests of 46 political partisans, psychologists found that conservatives were more likely than liberals to be shocked by sudden threats.

science, liberal, conservative, human-evolution, human-brain, political-thinking

John McCain and the Lying Game

Seeded on Thu Sep 18, 2008 2:06 PM EDT (TIME)

Politics has always been lousy with blather and chicanery. But there are rules and traditions too.

campaign, politics, mccain, john-mccain, senator-honorable

Bush says he's working hard on economic turmoil (just like he worked hard on Katrina)

Seeded on Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:54 PM EDT (Associated Press - Google)

Eager to show that he feels people's pain, President Bush scuttled a political fundraising trip Thursday to tell the country his administration is working feverishly to calm turmoil in the financial markets.

markets, economy, wall-street, bad, us-news, turmoil, market-crash, bad-news, investment-banking-crash

U.S. Seizes Control of AIG With $85 Billion Emergency Loan

Seeded on Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:24 AM EDT (The Washington Post)

Invoking extraordinary powers granted after the 1929 stock market crash, the government seized control of the insurance giant American International Group to preserve a crucial bulwark of the global financial system.

market, economy, fed, crash, aig, us-news, bailout

Today's Lead NYT Editorial: Mr. McCain and the Economy

Seeded on Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:11 AM EDT (The New York Times)

Seeded by greenpagan (Clipped by Leah M)

John McCain spent Monday claiming as he had countless times before — that the economy was fundamentally sound.

white-house, campaign, politics, mccain, republicans, john-mccain, election-2008, the-new-york-times, edits

– Show More

Comments & Feedback

Hi M you are really the most thoroughly perceptive writer on the chat
— fourth

Thanks Leah, I appreciate it.
— Emerald Vision

Have I really never left you a comment before? How slack of me - you're one of the best writers and most thoughtful people here on NV and I've had you watchlisted forever. Damn! So I also wanted to say I like your "I am Spartacus" concept LHM. Excellent :)
— Djehuty

Hi, Leah M. You are my first friend requst, so, thank you. I look forward to interesting discussions in the future. Wish I had more time to chat, but I'm on my way to a council-meeting. Look forward to seeing you on the vine!
— Geminga