|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By Karl Popper
By Ellen E. Schultz
$20
|
|
|
|
|
In an interview with Democracy Now!, constitutional lawyer and bestselling author Glenn Greenwald explains how a federal judge rejected the president’s monarchial leanings when she ordered a halt to his warrantless eavesdropping program.
|
|
Andrew Sullivan has an interesting post on the fundamentalism that makes it impossible for Bush to ever change course: “Faith is to the new conservatism ... what ideology was to the old leftism: an unquestioned orthodoxy from which all policy flows.”
|
|
The Marines implicated in the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha may have attempted to conceal evidence, according to a secret report. Based on an investigation of the incident, the report suggests that the Marines may have tampered with their unit logbook and withheld incriminating footage captured by an aerial drone.
|
|
As part of its drive toward energy independence, Brazil has encouraged the use of cars that run on any combination of ethanol and gasoline. More than 2 million of the flex-fuel cars have now been sold in the country, accounting for 77% of the market.
Posted on Aug 18, 2006
READ MORE 
|
Illustration by Peter Scheer
|
An Apple Computer audit of labor conditions at an iPod factory in China uncovered employees working longer hours than permitted by its code of conduct. Auditors also said that workers earned ?at least the local minimum wage?—whatever that may be in Longhua, China.
|
Image courtesy Snakes on a Blog
|
Even though ?Snakes on a Plane? (which premieres today) promises to be a ludicrous action movie, it heralds a new paradigm in film: direct fan-filmmaker collaboration.
Responding to the pleas of fans on the Internet, the makers of “Snakes” added more violence, more nudity, and even the above line of profane dialogue. Never before have fans so directly influenced the production of a movie. Experts say the ripple effects across the industry could be huge.
Lots of great video links after the jump…
|
|
The White House spokesman claimed that people wouldn’t forget that Hezbollah sent rockets into people’s living rooms. Stewart countered: “Tony, we were the ones putting rockets in their living rooms. We sold them to Israel and they were the ones who shot ‘em.”
|
|
“Daily Show” correspondent John Oliver reports that the militant organization has had so much success rebuilding Lebanon that it’s eager to take on the reconstruction of New Orleans. Louisiana residents are hopeful. Hey, at least Hezbollah’s not FEMA.
Posted on Aug 18, 2006
READ MORE 
|
|
The “Daily Show” host reminds us why news networks had no trouble indulging in another round of wild speculation regarding the 6-year-old girl’s unsolved killing: For the media, JonBenet is known as
oxygen.
Posted on Aug 18, 2006
READ MORE
|
From feministing
|
An Ohio school board voted to allow discussion of contraception in sex education classes upon learning that 13% of one high school’s female students were pregnant.
Earlier: Congress declines to fund abstinence only-programs
|
|
ThinkProgress drew our attention to this nugget buried at the end of a N.Y. Times article yesterday: Bush administration officials are “beginning to plan for the possibility that Iraq’s democratically elected government might not survive.”
Reporters bury this kind of news only if it’s not very well sourced. So we’re staying conservative on this one.
|
|
In this Canadian TV series, a host asks everyday Americans how they feel about news stories that are, in fact, fake news. It’s played for laughs: But if you wonder how Bush’s version of reality went unchecked for so long, look no further than the people featured in this show.
|
|
A federal judge ruled that the nation’s top cigarette makers have been violating racketeering laws and lying to the public about the effects of smoking, but legal restrictions prevented her from slapping the companies with billions in fines.
Posted on Aug 17, 2006
READ MORE
|
|
Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review, indicated in a column on Tuesday that Iraq could turn into another Vietnam. This, after arguing in 2003 that the comparison was ?wishful thinking? on the part of war critics.
|
The International Astronomical Union/Martin Kornmesser
|
A committee of the International Astronomical Union, the body responsible for the naming of planets and other celestial objects, has decided to allow at least three new ?planets? into the solar system. The group made the recommendation after it was asked to resolve the Pluto controversy.
|
|
More roadside bombs were planted in July than in any other month during the Iraq war, indicating a sharp rise in violence as the country moves toward all-out civil war. According to data obtained by The New York Times, 2,625 devices either exploded or were discovered in July, compared with 1,454 in January.
|
cbc.ca
|
UPDATE: Authorities are questioning the veracity of the supposed confession described below.
John Mark Karr, a 41-year-old schoolteacher, has admitted to kidnapping and killing JonBenet Ramsey. The surprise confession comes after 10 years of dead-ends and false accusations in a mystery that gripped the American imagination?and airwaves.
UPDATE: Thai authorities said Karr told them he drugged and had sex with the child, and then realized he had “accidentally” killed her.
|
|
Stephen Colbert wonders if Bush is refusing to endorse Ned Lamonts Republican opponent in the Conn. Senate race because the president is so toxic these days. But Colbert also has another theory…
Posted on Aug 17, 2006
READ MORE
|
|
Noting that President Bush read Albert Camus’ “The Stranger” during his break, Stewart gave a quick primer on the book that will leave you guffawing.
|
|
By Marie Cocco — The Iraqi government, which President Bush heralded last spring as a “milestone,’’ a “turning point’’ and a “watershed event,’’ is perilously ineffectual.
|
|
By Molly Ivins — If you listen to Dick Cheney, Bin Laden & Co. were staying up late to hear the Lamont-Lieberman election returns from Darien, Conn.
|
|
The Pentagon has ordered up a series of studies to examine the military’s failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, reports the Boston Globe. According to one of the authors, the findings (scheduled for this fall) “won’t be pretty.”
|
From redcross.org
|
Seriously: We won’t be responsible for the above if you try to digest your dinner and this news simultaneously….
Ready? OK: Bush is apparently frustrated that the Iraqi people have not shown greater support for America’s mission in Iraq.
That’s right: Bush is frustrated at the lack of public support for America in Iraq.
Has the man stopped watching even Fox News, and instead installed a one-way walkie-talkie in his brain with Don Rumsfeld on the other end?
|
|
Apparently, the Virginia senator was intending to call a rival campaign volunteer a sh—head when he called him “macaca.” How’s that work out? Read the explanation at The Hotline.
|
From The Telegraph
|
British authorities informed the parents of this 5-year-old that the above picture would not pass official muster. Why? Ahhh…but that would ruin the suspense. You gotta jump.
|
|
Iran’s leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, railed against America’s “blind” support for Israel in a wide-ranging interview by Mike Wallace on “60 Minutes.” Watch it.
|
|
That’s the premise of “Man of the Year,” a movie starring Robin Williams as a Jon Stewart-type who successfully runs for the Oval Office. The trailer makes it look kind of cheesy and predictable, but, as a cultural moment, it’s interesting: the hunger for a truth-teller of fake news to lead the country.
|
From ThinkProgress
|
Speaking on Fox News on Tuesday, conservative radio host Mike Gallagher proposed installing a Muslims-only line at U.S. airports. (Watch it) Even scarier, the studio audience broke into applause.
This is happening in real-life America, folks.
|
From the CSM
|
In part three of the 11-part series, kidnapped Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll receives instruction from her captors on how to look miserable on camera.
Posted on Aug 16, 2006
READ MORE
|
|
The U.S. soldier who exposed the atrocities at the notorious Iraq prison camp is speaking out for the first time about his experiences. His claims are unexpected: “Nobody in command knew about the abuse, because nobody in command cared enough to find out.”
|
Crooks and Liars
|
Joe Scarborough, of all people, began his program on Tuesday by asking: ?Is Bush an ?idiot?? ? To provide context for his question, the MSNBC host let loose with a must-see highlight reel of the president?s assault on language and logic.
|
From Salon.com and Youtube.com
|
Virginia Sen. (and presidential hopeful) George Allen referred to a young volunteer of Indian descent as “macaque,” which is tantamount to “monkey” or the “N word” among African immigrants. (Much more after the jump… but for quick hits: story / video / word origins)
|
|
Stephen Colbert trains his mock-Bill O’Reilly act on Ramesh Ponnuru, the conservative author of “Party of Death.” Colbert: “You’ve got a blurb on your cover from Ann Coulter. That’s some credibility right there.”
|
|
Jon Stewart asked “Daily Show” correspondent Rob Corddry if Virginia Sen. George Allen had damaged his image by using a racial slur to describe a young campaign worker. Corddry: I don’t know what macaque means, but it sure as sh—sounds racist. And John, here in Virginia, I’m still not sure if that helps or hurts a guy.
|
|
Hezbollah, flush with cash from Iran, has already begun the work of reconstruction in Lebanon, enhancing its reputation in the country. Hezbollah?s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, promised a year?s rent to anyone who lost their home during the conflict, and hundreds of Hezbollah members have been spotted surveying and clearing damaged property.
|
|
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) wants to impose penalties on pimps who dont file W-2 forms for their prostitutes. But “Daily Show” correspondent Dan Bakkedahl asks, Instead of a tax on pimps, why not a rebate on hoes?
|
history.la.ca.us
|
America Online, the beleaguered Internet giant, has announced plans to dig for gold?seriously. The company recently won a lawsuit against a spammer who then skipped town, so it plans to search his parents? property for gold and platinum bars it believes to be buried there.
Posted on Aug 15, 2006
READ MORE
|
|
By Robert Scheer — Investigators have known for a decade about terrorist plots to bring down passenger jets with liquid explosives. So why, all of a sudden, did Bush ban most liquids on flights?
|
Illustration: Karen Spector
|
By Sam Harris — The bestselling secularist author of “The End of Faith” delivers a scathing review of “The Language of God,” a new book by Human Genome Project head Francis Collins that attempts to demonstrate a harmony between science and evangelical Christianity.
|
AP / Alaa al-Marjani
|
It’s the highest monthly death tally since the war started in March 2003. That’s an average of 110 per day, and in Baghdad, the numbers are up 18% over last month.
Also, a respected veteran Baghdad reporter writes of Iraqis’ fears that Bush & Co.‘s “rosy views are preventing the creation of effective strategies against the escalating violence.”
|
From answers.com
|
The java in this cup could either cause or counter a heart attack, depending on which recent study you believe. The American Medical Association says, drink up; an assistant professor at Brown says, sedentary types: beware.
|
|
Former President Jimmy Carter, himself a famously pious Baptist, lets loose on religious fundamentalists in an interview with Der Spiegel—how they won’t admit mistakes; how they won’t negotiate with people who disagree with them; how they dehumanize people who have other beliefs; and how Bush & Co. fit that bill perfectly.
|
|
That’s the only conclusion we at Truthdig can come to when faced with these facts: Recruiters are increasingly admitting neo-Nazis and skinheads into the military, and the number of soldiers kicked out of the military for being gay rose 11% over last year.
Also, allegations of harassment and outright crimes committed by military recruiters are up. (story or .pdf report)
|
View the most popular tags overall?
|
|
Truthdigger of the Week: Sen. Angus King
Newsletter 
Like Us
Follow Us
Get Our Feed
