Notice: The 
Devoter.com Archives: October 2007
Wed Oct 31, 2007
The most dangerous dam in the world
The Mosul Dam in Iraq is "in serious danger of an imminent collapse." That could kill 500,000 Iraqis. A "U.S. reconstruction project to help shore up the dam in northern Iraq has been marred by incompetence and mismanagement."
Blah blah... Republican caught in gay sex scandal. Blah Blah... You know the drill.
Tue Oct 30, 2007
Mon Oct 29, 2007
The Morgenthau Lectures are a series of annual lectures on ethics and international affairs by distinguished speakers. The 2006 lecture was given by Alberto Mora, a Republican and former Navy General Counsel who opposed the Bush administration's use of cruelty for three years. Cruelty harms our nation's legal, foreign policy, and national security interests. I can't put it any plainer than that. Domestically, cruelty is contrary to and damages our values and legal system, including our constitutional order. Internationally, the effects and consequences of cruelty are contrary to our long-term strategic foreign policy interests, including many of the principal institutions, alliances, and rules that we have nurtured and fought for over years, and even decades. 1979 lecture by Hans Morgenthau on human rights and foreign policy.
The man who staged a fake Federal Emergency Management Agency news conference has lost a chance to be National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell's top public information officer.
Traders on the Iowa Electronic Markets, which have been predicting U.S. elections with surprising accuracy for 20 years, are expecting a tight presidential vote next year, with the Democrat narrowly defeating the Republican.
Crackdown on street music in New Orleans. Police have cracked down on funeral processions, a time-honored cultural tradition in the historic black neighborhood of Treme. But musicians vow to play on.
Sun Oct 28, 2007
CNBC.com Ahead in Ron Paul Censorship Poll by 70%
A little anti-CNBC thing I wrote after hearing about the online poll of the Republican debate that got yanked. Note: I'm not a Republican, nor a voting American, so I have no bias towards Ron Paul, nor do I have any idea what he stands for.
Hope you enjoy it.
Sat Oct 27, 2007
There's been some high-profile gang shootings in Vancouver lately. Today's Toronto Globe and Mail has a story on the issue of youth gangs. Apparently there's 7000 members of youth gangs across Canada (versus 700,000 in the US). "The life expectancy of gang members is probably about 25 to 30. Yet these kids are willing to trade that risk for nice cars, nice clothes and living the nightclub lifestyle." In response, Vancouver police are running programs like "Adopt a Gang-Banger"--each cop tracks one gang member closely, arresting them for the most minute infraction.
A University of North Carolina professor said that John Edwards' campaign demanded that he pull a student reporter's television story that focused on the upscale location of the campaign's headquarters.
Fri Oct 26, 2007
In reponse to the ongoing southern California wildfires, FEMA staged a fake news conference with FEMA employees impersonating reporters.
Heck of a job, Brownie.
During the 2004 campaign, Paul Krugman complained that the media was spending a lot of time covering the horse race and very little time on policy proposals. Lately he's been devoting a lot of his columns (BugMeNot) to the issue of health care policy. Pride, Prejudice, Insurance (notes, responses); Health Economics 101; A Private Obsession (on ideology); A Healthy New Year (on evaluating policy proposals). Edwards Gets It Right (Edwards proposal); Obama in Second Place (Obama proposal); Health Care Hopes (Hillary Clinton proposal). More inside.
Thu Oct 25, 2007
The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran That the White House Doesn't Want You to Know: Two former high-ranking policy experts from the Bush Administration say the U.S. has been gearing up for a war with Iran for years, despite claiming otherwise. It'll be Iraq all over again.
Republican Fred Thompson played down a staff member's departure and a New Hampshire supporter's defection, saying it's not up to him to know what's going on at every level of his presidential campaign. "This is a campaign with a lot of different moving parts and a lot of things going on simultaneously."
Republican Mitt Romney said he would be willing to use a military blockade or "bombardment of some kind" to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.
Wed Oct 24, 2007
Cartoonist Garry Trudeau said he thinks a little-known fact about President George W. Bush's past -- that his first mention in The New York Times occurred in 1967 when, as former president of the Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter at Yale, Bush defended the fraternity's practice of branding its pledges with a red-hot coat hanger -- deserves more national attention.
"I took a city that was known for pornography and licked it to a large extent, so I have my own set of qualifications." -- Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani
George W. Bush, despite all his recent bravado about being an apostle of small government and budget-slashing, is the biggest spending president since Lyndon B. Johnson.
Tue Oct 23, 2007
A gay rights group urged Barack Obama to cut ties with a gospel singer who it says spreads false information about homosexuality being a choice.
"Actually, just look at what Osam -- Barack Obama -- said just yesterday. Barack Obama, calling on radicals, jihadists of all different types, to come together in Iraq." -- Republican candidate Mitt Romney
Mon Oct 22, 2007
Republican Party leaders recommended punishing five states for shifting their nomination contests earlier, moving to strip New Hampshire, Florida, South Carolina, Michigan and Wyoming of half their delegates.
Sun Oct 21, 2007
U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal easily defeated 11 opponents and became Louisiana's first nonwhite governor since Reconstruction, decades after his parents moved to the state from India to pursue the American dream.
Sat Oct 20, 2007
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said the head of the Justice Department's voting rights division should be fired for saying voter ID laws hurt the elderly but aren't a problem for minorities because they often die before old age.
Fri Oct 19, 2007
Does Colbert '08 Break Federal Law?
Sen. Chris Dodd has said he will attempt to block the FISA renewal bill because it includes immunity for telecom companies for any role they played in Bush's warrantless wiretap program.
Thu Oct 18, 2007
Reporter: Mr. President, following up on Vladimir Putin for a moment, he said recently that next year, when he has to step down according to the constitution, as the president, he may become prime minister; in effect keeping power and dashing any hopes for a genuine democratic transition there ...
Bush: I've been planning that myself.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said he would support the GOP nominee and not launch an independent bid, no matter who wins. "I think it's a legitimate process. I respect it. It's a hard one, but exhilarating."
Wed Oct 17, 2007
The Real Iraq We Knew. By 12 former Army captains.
Former US Vice-President Al Gore has ruled out again making a late entry into the 2008 presidential race.
Stephen Colbert has announced his candidacy for president on "The Colbert Report," tossing his satirical hat into the ring of an already crowded race.
There's no sign of a family reunion planned, but U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama are distant cousins.
Tue Oct 16, 2007
Jott the Vote -- - Send a message to your favorite presidential candidate!
The leading Democratic presidential candidates have nearly three times more money to wage their battle for the presidency as their Republican rivals.
Mon Oct 15, 2007
Sen. Larry Craig says he will file an appeal over a judge's refusal to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea stemming from his arrest in an airport bathroom sex sting.
Sun Oct 14, 2007
Sat Oct 13, 2007
After Al Gore was named a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Fox News kicked off the right-wing smear attacks on the former Vice President, comparing him to "Yasser Arafat and that crazy Jimmy Carter."
The U.S. mission in Iraq is a "nightmare with no end in sight" because of political misjudgments after the fall of Saddam Hussein that continue today, a former chief of U.S.-led forces said.
Fri Oct 12, 2007
Rudy Giuliani is trying to keep his distance from Bernard Kerik, the former New York City mayor's police commissioner who could be facing new federal charges in a case built on a secret meeting of city officials eight years ago.
Former Vice President Al Gore: Nobel Peace Price winner ... still not a candidate.
Thu Oct 11, 2007
techPresident -- How the candidates are using the web, and how the web is using them.
Wed Oct 10, 2007
Draftgore.com, which describes itself as a group of grass-roots Democrats, underwrote a full-page open letter to Al Gore in Wednesday's New York Times, imploring the former vice president to enter the presidential campaign.
Tue Oct 09, 2007
One of President Bush's closest advisers has a brutally candid analysis of the Republican nomination battle: Fred Thompson is the campaign's "biggest dud," Mitt Romney has "a real problem in the South" because people will not vote for a Mormon, Mike Huckabee's last name is too hick and John McCain could end up repeating 2000 by winning New Hampshire but losing the nomination.
Four Democratic candidates have withdrawn from Michigan's Jan. 15 presidential primary, leaving what amounts to a beauty contest for front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton and a handful of lesser-knowns.
Mon Oct 08, 2007
White House hopeful Barack Obama stood in front of a pulpit Sunday and told worshippers that his faith "plays every role" in his life. "It's what keeps me grounded. It's what keeps my eyes set on the greatest of heights."
Sun Oct 07, 2007
Mitt Romney is relying increasingly on his own bank account to fund his presidential campaign, announcing yesterday that he chipped in almost as much money during the summer as his supporters did
Sen. Larry Craig will be inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame next week, despite his well-publicized arrest and guilty plea in an airport sex sting.
Sat Oct 06, 2007
Fort Hunt's Quiet Men Break Silence on WWII. "During the many interrogations, I never laid hands on anyone," said George Frenkel, 87, of Kensington. "We extracted information in a battle of the wits. I'm proud to say I never compromised my humanity."
"We lost control of Congress because we were just like the Democrats as far as spending is concerned - shame on us." -- Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani
The State Department has issued new guidelines to rein in and monitor Blackwater USA, the private contractor that provides heavily armed security for U.S. diplomats serving in Baghdad.
Fri Oct 05, 2007
Barack Obama's hopes for the Democratic nomination hinge on getting hundreds of thousands of new voters fired up enough to actually turn out -- and on spending a good chunk of his $80 million at the very end of a front-loaded campaign.
Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson is not letting himself get bogged down in a lot of details on the campaign trail and many Republicans are wondering how long he can get away with it.
Thu Oct 04, 2007
The Log Cabin Republicans, a gay GOP group, is running a new ad in Iowa that seeks to undercut Mitt Romney's standing with social conservatives by praising his past record of doing battle with conservatives on social issues when he was governor of liberal Massachusetts.
"Can I have a round of applause?" -- Republican candidate Fred Thompson
Long-shot Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul raised a surprising $5 million during the past three months, capitalizing on his stance as the only anti-war contender in the GOP field.
The White House denied reports that a secretly issued Justice Department opinion in early 2005 cleared the way for the return of painful interrogation tactics that the Bush administration had earlier seemed to renounce. "This country does not torture."
Wed Oct 03, 2007
"If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president." -- Author Ann Coulter
President Bush, in a sharp confrontation with Congress, vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have dramatically expanded children's health insurance.
Tue Oct 02, 2007
"I am more of a 12th Commandment man: Don't speak ill of them until they speak ill of me. And then really speak ill of them." -- Republican candidate Fred Thompson
Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton raised $22 million for her presidential primary campaign this summer, outpacing all other candidates so far with her best three-month showing of the year.
Mon Oct 01, 2007
White House Civil War -- "Promised real power as Bill Clinton's vice president, Al Gore found he had a rival for that role: the First Lady. And when Hillary decided to run for the Senate, a tense competition got ugly. In an excerpt from her new book about the Clinton White House years, the author reveals how conflicting agendas -- the triangle of a scandal-ridden lame-duck president, the wife he'd betrayed, and his designated successor -- sapped Gore's 2000 campaign as the bond between two couples dissolved into distrust, anger, and resentment."
Moving swiftly to stamp out a potential political firestorm, the campaign of Senator McCain is trying to clarify the Republican presidential candidate's statements that he would prefer a Christian president and that the Constitution established America as a "Christian nation."
