Illegal Police Raid on AntiRNC Convergence Space in St. Paul

"At 9:15 Friday night, the Saint Paul Police entered all doors of the RNC Convergence Space in St. Paul, MN with guns drawn. The Space serves as a community center and organizing space for the upcoming protests against the Republican National Convention. At the time of the raid, people were sitting down to dinner and watching a movie."

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Police raid headquarters of RNC protesters

Police raided a rental hall used by a group organizing protests at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Friday.As many as 30 police officers entered with guns drawn, according to witnesses .Although no one was arrested, police temporarily detained and photographed at least 50 people who were inside the building.

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Quote for the Day

Although he's regularly asked to do so, God does not take sides in American politics.

Quote for the moment

The problem to be faced is: how to combine loyalty to one's own tradition with reverence for different traditions. - Abraham Joshua Heschel

FBI Recruiting Infiltrators for GOP Convention Protestors

What they were looking for, Carroll says, was an informant—someone to show up at “vegan potlucks” throughout the Twin Cities and rub shoulders with RNC protestors, schmoozing his way into their inner circles, then reporting back to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, a partnership between multiple fed agencies and state and local law enforcement.

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a truth about life...and death

the sad truth is
you are never too young to die
and yes it is a possibility
so why do we still
play at this thing called life
treating those around us as if we have tomorrow to cherish them.
no
you embrace life
you cherish life
today
today an old person died of natural age
a young person died
a baby died.
none of them were too young to die
hopefully the people around them
did not take them for granted
did not behave as if they were promised
endless tomorrows
for tomorrow is not promised to anyone
-mymindspeaks

John McCain turned 72 years today

Happy Birthday John McCain

Dennis Kucinich - WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!

A Moment worth Honoring in US History

McCain Campaign: There are no uninsured-Wow!

Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.) "Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to...

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Question for the Day

i still wonder
how "brownie"
was qualified to head FEMA.

-mymindspeaks

Martin Luther King's I HAVE A DREAM Speech

via RTE

'I have a dream'

On 28 August 1963, Martin Luther King delivered his famous address to civil rights campaigners at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

On the 45th anniversary of the event, this is the text of the speech in full.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatise a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of colour are concerned. Instead of honouring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilising drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvellous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realise that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realise that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, 'When will you be satisfied?' We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: 'For Whites Only.' We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until 'justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.'

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of 'interposition' and 'nullification' -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; 'and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.'

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Martin Luther King

FDIC may borrow money from Treasury: report

(Reuters) - Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) might have to borrow money from the Treasury Department to see it through an expected wave of bank failures, the Wall Street Journal reported. The borrowing could be needed to cover short-term...

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Quote for the Day

"They can track our every move, but they've lost track of the economy," Kucinich

Men Confess on Assassination Plot: "Because Obama Is Black"

The U.S. Attorney's office in Colorado filed felony weapon and drug charges today against Tharin Gartrell, Nathan Johnson, and Shawn Adolf, three idiots involved in a plot to kill Barack Obama. They admitted that the group's desire to assassinate him was not political, but "because Obama is black."

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New York's HIV rate 3 times higher than nation's

New York City's rate of HIV infection is about three times the national rate, according to estimates released Wednesday by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The agency estimates 72 of every 100,000 New Yorkers -- a total of 4,800 individuals -- contracted HIV in 2006, more than triple the national rate of 23 per 100,000.

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What happened?

before you know it
September will be here
Sept 11, 2008
7 years after world trade center
lots of posturing from Bush and others
BUT WHERE IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?

ObamaTaxCut.com - What's your Obama Tax Cut?

53% of Americans think Barack Obama will raise their taxes, which means at least 52% of Americans don't know anything about his tax policies. In fact, 95% of Americans will see a tax cut from Obama, and 80% of Americans will get a bigger cut than they'd get from McCain. Calculate your Obama Tax Cut at ObamaTaxCut.com!

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BREAKING: Harriet Miers Must Testify, Judge Says

A federal judge denied the White House's last-ditch attempt block a former aide from testifying before Congress as part of the investigation into the U.S. Attorney scandal. "If the government is trying to run out the clock on the 110th Congress, today's decision suggests that Judge Bates won't let them," said Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at

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Lesbian activist who fought for marriage rights dies

Lesbian activist Del Martin, at the forefront of the battle for same-sex marriage in California, died Wednesday in San Francisco. She was 87.

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Washington Post News Widget

Michelle Obama's DNC Speech

Here is the text transcript of the highly raved-about speech from Michelle Obama last night:

Via CNN:

Michelle Obama: As you might imagine, for Barack, running for president is nothing compared to that first game of basketball with my brother Craig.

I can’t tell you how much it means to have Craig and my mom here tonight. Like Craig, I can feel my dad looking down on us, just as I’ve felt his presence in every grace-filled moment of my life.

At 6-foot-6, I’ve often felt like Craig was looking down on me too…literally. But the truth is, both when we were kids and today, he wasn’t looking down on me — he was watching over me.

And he’s been there for me every step of the way since that clear February day 19 months ago, when — with little more than our faith in each other and a hunger for change — we joined my husband, Barack Obama, on the improbable journey that has led us to this moment.

But each of us also comes here tonight by way of our own improbable journey.

I come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my protector and my lifelong friend.

And I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president.

And I come here as a Mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world — they’re the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night. Their future — and all our children’s future — is my stake in this election.

And I come here as a daughter — raised on the South Side of Chicago by a father who was a blue collar city worker, and a mother who stayed at home with my brother and me. My mother’s love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion, and her intelligence reflected in my own daughters.

My Dad was our rock. Although he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his early thirties, he was our provider, our champion, our hero. But as he got sicker, it got harder for him to walk, it took him longer to get dressed in the morning. But if he was in pain, he never let on. He never stopped smiling and laughing — even while struggling to button his shirt, even while using two canes to get himself across the room to give my Mom a kiss. He just woke up a little earlier, and worked a little harder.

He and my mom poured everything they had into me and Craig. It was the greatest gift a child could receive: never doubting for a single minute that you’re loved, and cherished, and have a place in this world. And thanks to their faith and their hard work, we both were able to go on to college. So I know firsthand from their lives — and mine — that the American Dream endures.

And you know, what struck me when I first met Barack was that even though he had this funny name, even though he’d grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did. Like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities that they never had for themselves. And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them.

And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and to pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.

And as our friendship grew, and I learned more about Barack, he introduced me to the work he’d done when he first moved to Chicago after college. You see instead of going to Wall Street, Barack had gone to work in neighborhoods devastated when steel plants shut down, and jobs dried up. And he’d been invited back to speak to people from those neighborhoods about how to rebuild their community.

The people gathered together that day were ordinary folks doing the best they could to build a good life. See they were parents trying to get by paycheck to paycheck; grandparents trying to get by on a fixed income; men frustrated that they couldn’t support their families after their jobs disappeared. Those folks weren’t asking for a handout or a shortcut. See they were ready to work — they wanted to contribute. They believed — like you and I believe — that America should be a place where you can make it if you try.

And Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about “The world as it is” and “The world as it should be.” And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and we settle for the world as it is — even when it doesn’t reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we also know what our world should look like. He said we know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves — to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn’t that the great American story?

It’s the story of men and women gathered in churches and union halls and high school gyms — people who stood up and marched and risked everything they had — refusing to settle, determined to mold our future into the shape of our ideals.

It is because of their will and determination that this week, we celebrate two anniversaries: the 88th anniversary of women winning the right to vote, and the 45th anniversary of that hot summer day when Dr. King lifted our sights and our hearts with his dream for our nation.

I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history — knowing that my piece of the American Dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me. All of them driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work. The same conviction that drives the men and women I’ve met all across this country:

People who work the day shift, kiss their kids goodnight, and head out for the night shift — without disappointment, without regret — see that goodnight kiss a reminder of everything they’re working for.

The military families who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table. The servicemen and women who love this country so much, they leave those they love most to defend it.

The young people across America serving our communities — teaching children, cleaning up neighborhoods, caring for the least among us each and every day.

People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters — and our sons — can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher.

People like Joe Biden, who’s never forgotten where he came from, and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again.

All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won’t do — that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.

And that is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack’s journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.

That is why I love this country.

And in my own life, in my own small way, I’ve tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. That’s why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities. Because I believe that each of us — no matter what our age or background or walk of life — each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation.

It’s a belief Barack shares — a belief at the heart of his life’s work.

See it’s what he did all those years ago, on the streets of Chicago, setting up job training to get people back to work and afterschool programs to keep kids safe — working block by block to help people lift up their families.

It’s what he did in the Illinois Senate, moving people from welfare to jobs, passing tax cuts for hard-working families, and making sure women get equal pay for equal work.

It’s what he’s done in the United States Senate, fighting to ensure that the men and women who serve this country are welcomed home not just with medals and parades, but with good jobs and benefits and health care — including mental health care.

See that’s why he’s running — to end the war in Iraq responsibly, to build an economy that lifts every family, to make sure health care is available for every American, and to make sure every child in this nation has a world class education all the way from preschool to college. That’s what Barack Obama will do as president of the United States of America.

He’ll achieve these goals the same way he always has — by bringing us together and reminding us how much we share and how alike we really are. You see, Barack doesn’t care where you’re from, or what your background is, or what party — if any — you belong to. That’s not how he sees the world. He knows that thread that connects us — our belief in America’s promise, our commitment to our children’s future. He knows that that thread is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree.

It was strong enough to bring hope to those neighborhoods in Chicago.

It was strong enough to bring hope to the mother he met worried about her child in Iraq; hope to the man who’s unemployed, but can’t afford gas to find a job; hope to the student working nights to pay for her sister’s health care, sleeping just a few hours a day.

And it was strong enough to bring hope to people who came out on a cold Iowa night and became the first voices in this chorus for change that has been echoed by millions of Americans from every corner of this nation.

Millions of Americans who know that Barack understands their dreams; Millions of Americans who know that Barack will fight for people like them; and that Barack will finally bring the change we need.

And in the end, And in the end after all that’s happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago. He’s the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail’s pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he’d struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her something he never had: the affirming embrace of a father’s love.

And as I tuck that little girl in and her little sister into bed at night, You see I think about how one day, they’ll have families of their own. And one day, they — and your sons and daughters — will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They’ll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, how this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country — where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House — that we committed ourselves, we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.

So tonight, in honor of my father’s memory and my daughters’ future — out of gratitude for those whose triumphs we mark this week, and those whose everyday sacrifices have brought us to this moment — let us devote ourselves to finishing their work; let us work together to fulfill their hopes; and let us stand together to elect Barack Obama president of the United States of America.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

Wasn't it obvious that FOX News did the feed for last night's DNC

To me it was. That is all I would say - mymindspeaks

Diebold comes clean, admits its e-voting machines are faulty

For years, Diebold has embarrassed itself by claiming that obvious faults were actually not faults at all, and during the past decade or so, it mastered the act of pointing the finger. Now that it has ironically renamed itself Premier Election Solutions, it's finally coming clean.

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Obama Assassination Plot Investigated By Colorado Police

According to multiple sources, Aurora police made a routine traffic stop Sunday morning at 2:38 a.m. The Secret Service says two rifles were found in the car along with methamphetamine. Another law enforcement source says he was told at least one of the rifles was a "sniper rifle."-----There are a lot of sick people in this world. Dangerous, sick people. This is just another example of people with small brains, filled with hatred

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Michelle Obama: 'Fight for the world as it should be

"Barack doesn't care where you're from, or what your background is, or what party—if any—you belong to," she said. "That's not how he sees the world. He knows that thread that connects us, our belief in America's promise, our commitment to our children's future, is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree."

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Commentary: Beverly "Hillary-billies" come to Denv

you might catch a glimpse of Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in between appearances by the Clintons. Hillary Clinton is doing her dead-level best to take title to Obama's moment in the sun.

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An Al Jazeera reporting on Pakistan Coalition

Convention Season is in full swing.

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,146

As of Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008, at least 4,146 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

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U.S. Agrees to Withdraw Troops from Iraq by 2011

Iraq and the United States have agreed that a planned security pact will require all U.S. troops to leave by the end of 2011, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday, while Washington said no final deal had been reached.

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These homes for sale suck

Never before have there been so many squalid, dilapidated homes on the market - and they're helping to exaggerate already-plummeting home prices. Mold, maggots and piles of festering trash - no wonder home prices are in freefall.

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Pakistan's Sharif pulls party out of coalition

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says his PML-N party is pulling out of the country's multi-party governing coalition.

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The McCain House Count

Before you start throwing around the "Elitists" label at least look in your backyard (ALL OF THEM)

Susan Eisenhower Leaves The Republican Party

I have decided I can no longer be a registered Republican. For the first time in my life I announced my support for a Democratic candidate for the presidency, in February of this year.

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GOP Fight in NEVADA... McCain In TROUBLE!

Running a strident libertarian campaign in the primaries, Texas Rep. Ron Paul tapped a seam of Republican frustration across the country...Across the state, lifelong Republicans like Mr. Bent who now identify more closely with Mr. Paul's cause than with the party establishment say they won't vote for Sen. McCain.

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The continued breakup of 2 of Greenland's largest glaciers

Researchers monitoring daily satellite images here of Greenland's glaciers have discovered break-ups at two of the largest glaciers in the last month. They expect that part of the Northern hemisphere's longest floating glacier will continue to disintegrate within the next year.

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Earthquake Widgets

Obama Picks Joe Biden as Vice President

Sen. Barack Obama has picked Delaware Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate. He announced this early Saturday Morning, confirmed by CNN and CBS News

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I'm sure the facts will not stop the constant POW references

for the record he does not get a perfect voting rating. McCain lied and lies but keep wanting to make reference to his POW years. I guess at least he did not constantly use "My Friend"

Despite Love Canal's lessons, schoolchildren are still at ri

Thirty years ago this summer, America learned the name Love Canal. The working-class Niagara Falls neighborhood built atop tons of chemical waste became a synonym for environmental disaster.

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Mexican drug gang turns to kidnapping in U.S.

The FBI in San Diego says it is investigating 16 cases of U.S. residents kidnapped and held in Tijuana between October last year and May, including some who were abducted in San Diego County. Several Americans have also been kidnapped in Texas this year and held for ransom in Mexico, the FBI said.

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Quote for the day

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure. - Colin Powell

Coalition air strikes kill 76 Afghan civilians

KABUL (AFP) - A US-led coalition military operation in western Afghanistan on Friday killed 76 civilians, including 50 children and 19 women, the Afghan interior ministry said.

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Johnny, We Hardly Know Ye

There's a candidate in this presidential race who remains a mystery -- hazy, undefined, so full of contradictions that voters may see electing him as an enormous risk. I'm referring to the cipher known as John McCain. His own campaign has said "don't pay attention to what McCain says because he doesn't speak officially for his own campaign."

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FTC Listens To Your Complaints, Bans Telemarketer Robocalls

After reviewing the more than 14,000 comments left by living human beings, the FTC yesterday amended its Telemarketing Sales Rule to ban most types of robotic telemarketing calls. By this December, any recorded calls will have to lead off with an automated opt-out option; by September 2009, telemarketers will need written permission to contact you.Too bad the political calls won't stop. They are the WORST.

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Newstin Widget

I've always enjoyed reading and comparing news from various sources.

Anatomy of a Deception: How The McCains Changed Their Baby Adoption

this deception was no careless accident, but rather another shameless and deliberate attempt by the campaign to reinvent and embellish the McCain family history in time for his 2008 presidential bid.Add it to the other Cindy McCain lies - recipes, visiting husband's cell...

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Watchdogs make it harder for politicians to stretch the truth

How are you going to lie about meeting Mother Teresa??? Cindy McCain does not get a pass on this. It's tacky and shameless. I commend the McCain's adoption but find the lying about Mother Teresa part really distasteful and just nasty

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US troops 'to quit Iraq by 2011'

US combat troops could leave Iraq by 2011 under the terms of a deal awaiting approval by Iraq's parliament and presidency. We'll see but now all the flack Mr. Obama received for suggesting a timetable seems ridiculous (Actually it seemed ridiculous then too)

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20 Crazy Things People Do to Get Wi-Fi Connections

Driving around in sheer panic looking for a Starbucks (but hoping for a Panera, which offers free Wi-Fi) or hopping on a neighbor's unsecured signal has become commonplace. (To read about the Wi-Fi strategies at Starbucks, Panera, McDonald's and Borders, see "Should Retailers Offer Free Wi-Fi to Customers?")

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Quote for the Day

I think the key is for women not to set any limits - Martina Navratilova

Question for the Day

I notice may times John McCain talks about Obama willing to lose the war. Has anyone ever heard McCain's actual policy for winning the war? I haven't. What is his gameplan? What does winning the war look like? Only serious responses please because I truly want to know

-MyMindHurts

Quote for the Day

You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do. - Henry Ford

Barack Obama's 8/19/2008 Speech

At the Veterans of Foreign Wars Conference in Orlando, Florida

Foreclosure Effect: House in Detroit Listed and Sold for $1

One dollar can get you a large soda at McDonald's, a used VHS movie at 7-Eleven or a house in Detroit. The fact that a home on the city's east side was listed for $1 recently shows how depressed the real estate market has become in one of America's poorest big cities. And it still took 19 days to find a buyer.

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Washington Post: Bob Barr, the Master of a Curious Universe

In this lengthy article on Libertarian Party presidential nominee Bob Barr discusses his plans as president. Barr states that he would not sign any bills appropriating money to the United Nations. He would advocate against a Department of Education as well. He'd fight illegal immigration. Most of all, he'd shrink government and taxes.

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Toby Keith Hits Back at Accusation Song Is Pro-Lynching

Toby Keith hit back at a recent blog post that derided his 2003 song 'Beer for My Horses' as a pro-lynching anthem.

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Britain Threatens to Take Fattest Children Away from Parents

Dangerously overweight children will have to be taken from their parents and put into care because of Britain's worsening "obesity epidemic", council leaders have warned. One million children will be clinically obese within four years on current trends, storing up future problems from heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure and diabetes.

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Noose, torture chamber, bodies found at mosque

"There are the bloodstains on the wall, and here it is dried on the floor," says Abu Muhanad as he walks through a torture chamber in a Baghdad mosque where more than two dozen bodies have been found. "And here, a woman's shoes. She was a victim of the militia. We found her corpse in the grave."

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Accepting the Consequence for bad decisions

He should be thankful

Commentary: Is McCain another George W. Bush?

Jack Cafferty has some harsh words regarding John McCain and George W. Bush. "I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me."

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Quote for the Day

It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret - Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Quote for the Day

Spread love everywhere you go...eet no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. - Mother Theresa

Pakistani President Musharraf says he is resigning - WP

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - President Pervez Musharraf announced Monday he was resigning to avoid an impeachment battle with Pakistan's ruling coalition that would harm the nation.He said he leaves office knowing whatever he has done "was for the people and for the country.""I hope the nation and the people will forgive my mistakes," Musharraf said.

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The Candidate We Still Don’t Know

With the exception of John McCain’s imprisonment in Vietnam, every aspect of his profile in courage is inaccurate or defunct.

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McCain plagarizes Solzenitzen story at Pastor Rick's church

What would you think of a man who would lie in a church, before churchgoing voters, while being interviewed by a pastor? Well that's what John McCain did when he stole Alexander Solzenitzen's famous "cross in the dirt" story from the Gulag Archipelago his own. Did McCain and Solzhenitsyn have the same prison experience, or is McCain lying to us?

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Despite Assurances, McCain Wasn’t in a ‘Cone of SILENCE

John McCain’s performance at a church forum raised speculation that he was not isolated as Barack Obama was being interviewed using questions that would later come Mr. McCain’s way. In fact he wasn';t in the CONE OF SILENCE as people now know as a FACT

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Georgia accuses Russia of destroying bridge

Georgia accused the Russian army of destroying a key railway bridge Saturday and starting massive fires in the scenic Borjomi Gorge in violation of a new cease-fire agreement between the two countries.

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Obama vs. the lunatic fringe

Interesting read.

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GOP Hack Tries To Attack Obama, But Slams McCain Instead

GOP strategist John Feehery attacks Barack Obama for proposing a UN Security Council resolution to deal with the crisis in Georgia...but John McCain has the exact same position.

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ABC News: Lawsuit Filed Against Gonzales & DOJ Officials

Six attorneys rejected from civil service positions at the Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and three other top officials for allegedly violating their rights by taking politics into consideration in the hiring process

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McCain Falsely Takes Credit for ‘Creating' Do Not Call List

REALITY: FTC Chairman Tim Muris announced in October 2001 that the FTC was going to do the Do Not Call list. Yet somehow McCain magically caused the Do Not Call list in 2003. And, given the independent agency status of the FTC, it is a stretch to say that ‘McCain led the effort to ensure that it was upheld.

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ABC News: Lawsuit Filed Against Gonzales & DOJ Officials

Six attorneys rejected from civil service positions at the Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and three other top officials for allegedly violating their rights by taking politics into consideration in the hiring process

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An Advertisement put out by Matthew 25 Group

This is actually the first time I've seen this ad (that I can recall). I came across it while doing some "digging"

Obama Nation Author To Appear On White Supremacist Radio

On Sunday, author and Swiftboater Jerome Corsi is set to make an appearance on "The Political Cesspool" - which, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, is "an overtly racist, anti-Semitic radio show hosted by self-avowed white nationalist James Edwards." The show has previously welcomes such guests as Mark Weber and David Duke.

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Obama Nation Author To Appear On White Supremacist Radio

On Sunday, author and Swiftboater Jerome Corsi is set to make an appearance on "The Political Cesspool" - which, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, is "an overtly racist, anti-Semitic radio show hosted by self-avowed white nationalist James Edwards." The show has previously welcomes such guests as Mark Weber and David Duke.

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Bush pastor RIPS McCain over Sturgis, backs Obama

The pastor that presided over Jenna Bush's wedding and is considered a close confidant of the president absolutely hammers John McCain on family values.

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Votesmart widget

Project Vote Smart - Presidential Candidates

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US Falling Further Behind On Broadband Speeds, Reach

The latest measure of the state of the US broadband market is now available and, like many other takes on the subject, the picture it paints is a bit depressing. The report puts the US in 15th place when it comes to national broadband speeds, and indicates that improvements are coming very slowly.

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Postal Service Posts $1.1 billion Loss In 3rd quarter

Postal Service had a net loss of more than a billion dollars in the third quarter of the fiscal year, the agency said Wednesday.

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Question for the Day

Is the Democratic party afraid of the Clintons?

Jackson Browne sues McCain over song use

Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne is suing Republican presidential nominee John McCain and the Republican party for using his song “Running on Empty” in a recent TV commercial.

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The financial cost of the war in Iraq

Cost of War - MilitaryWidgets

News Widget (why by uninformed?)

Is anyone surprised?

Bernie Mac - You will be missed

R.I.P.

Double Standard? If Obama Had McCain's "Abdullah" Donations

If there were a group of questionable donations all with the name Abdullah that were funneled through a guy in Jordan who is a Jordanian national who is under investigation for war profiteering and it were Barack Obama instead of John McCain would this be a bigger deal? Why is McCain donations virtually ignored

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A Youtube Viewpoint on Healthcare

Mexican Soldiers Enter Arizona, Briefly Detain Border Agent

Four Mexican soldiers crossed into Arizona and held a U.S. Border Patrol agent at gunpoint before realizing where they were and returning to Mexico, officials said.

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Obama is Right: His Tire-Gauge Solution is No Joke

The Bush administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 barrels per day by 2030. So that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mile by 3%. In other words: Obama is right.

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Came across this petition online from Matthew25 Christian Group

The Matthew 25 Network has a petition out against John McCain:

http://matthew25.org/theonepetition.htm

The text of the petition reads:

Senator McCain,

As fellow Christians, we are deeply troubled by your campaign's latest ad entitled "The One,” which portrays Senator Obama as some kind of would-be Messiah and implies that those who support him are cultish followers looking for a new Savior.

We find it beyond offensive for you to piece together out-of-context video snippets to suggest that Senator Obama is a false Messiah or the anti-Christ, especially in light of Senator Obama’s open and humble confession of Christian faith.

Instead of seeking to inspire false fears, we would prefer you speak more positively about how your own faith would guide you in leading this country.

We trust that this desperate and insulting campaign tactic is not an indication of your true character, and we call on you to repudiate this ad and take it down immediately.

Sincerely,

Detroit DEMOCRAT Mayor Kilpatrick Ordered Jailed

District Court Judge Ronald Giles ordered Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to jail on Thursday for violating the terms of his bond, a decision the judge said he would have made for any 'John Six-Pack' defendant before him.

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Sadly McCain will probably still keep up with the stupid ads

Paris responds...

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Researching Bogus Emails

Here is a great site to check out regarding the taxes email that seems to be going around.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/taxes.asp

Time for Travel

Lately I have been thinking about travel. I am certain I want to go by train. I've never traveled by train before. I'm not sure where to. Any suggestions? I'll be stalking the Amtrak pages for the rest of the week so I can try to formulate a budget - AThinkingMind

Regarding that Bogus Obama is raising all the taxes email

Per non-partisan FACTCHECK.ORG

CHECK THE COMPLETE ENTRY AT THIS LINK

Home Sales: The claim that Obama would impose a 28 percent tax on the profit from "all home sales" is false. Both Obama and McCain would continue to exempt the first $250,000 of gain from the sale of a primary residence ($500,000 for a married couple filing jointly) which results in zero tax on all but a very few home sales.


Capital Gains Rate: It's untrue that Obama is proposing a 28 percent capital gains tax rate. He said in an interview on CNBC that he favors raising the top rate on capital gains from its present 15 percent to 20 percent or more, but no higher than 28 percent. And as for a 28 percent rate, he added, "my guess would be it would be significantly lower than that." Furthermore, he has said only couples making $250,000 or more (or, his policy advisers tell us, singles making more than $200,000) would pay the higher capital gains rate. That means the large majority of persons who pay capital gains taxes would see no increase at all.


Tax on Dividends: Another false claim is that Obama proposes to raise the tax rate on dividends to 39.6 percent. Dividends currently are taxed at a top rate of 15 percent, and Obama would raise that to the same rate as he would tax capital gains, somewhere between 20 percent and 28 percent but likely "significantly" lower than 28 percent. This higher tax also would fall only on couples making $250,000 or more or singles making more than $200,000.
===================
NO CANDIDATE CAN BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE. I JUST HATE WHEN STRAIGHT UP LIES ARE BEING SPREAD AND PEOPLE TRY TO MANIPULATE USING FEAR TACTICS.

Regarding that Bogus Obama

Blogher Political Bloggers

McCain's Mom says Celebrity ad is KINDA STUPID

Sen. John McCain may be "proud" of the Paris Hilton/Britney Spears ad released this week, but his feisty 98-year-old mother apparently disagrees. "I think it's kinda stupid," she says.

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More Political Humor

Bush quietly remaking The Justice Departments Civil Rights Division.

The Bush admin. is quietly remaking the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, filling the permanent ranks with lawyers who have strong conservative credentials but little experience in civil rights, according to job application materials obtained by the Globe. only 42 percent of the lawyers hired since 2003 have civil rights experience!!!

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Milbank accuses Obama of "hubris" via use mis-quotes

Falsely suggested that Obama's conduct in reportedly beginning to set up a transition team and in meeting with foreign leaders is unusual or unprecedented for a presidential candidate. Milbank also cropped two statements by Obama that resulted in a misrepresentation of what Obama said, baselessly suggested that Obama "excluded" The New Yorker.Also note Bush set up a transition team too but that is conveniently forgotten.

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