x-posted from TexasKaos - where we're taking Texas back!
I'd like to draw everyone's attention to Box Turtle's most recent SUSA polling numbers:
Do you approve or disapprove of the job John Cornyn is doing as United States Senator?
SUSA sampled 600 adults on March 9-11, and released the numbers a few days ago. Let's keep in mind that these numbers are from before Cornyn's pro-troop-killing vote on March 22.
Clearly, with numbers under 50% nearly a year from the Republican primary and nearly two years before the election, Cornyn is vulnerable.
Note: This was originally a "breaking" diary, but jhritz beat me by a few minutes. =) I am glad that a diary about this issue has finally made the recommended list. I have been covering this for a while, so I'm leaving this up in case anyone wants to read any previous coverage.End Note.
MSNBC has just issued a breaking news alert regarding the MenuFoods scandal.
FDA testing has confirmed that a type of rat poison - which is BANNED in the USA - was found during testing of products effected by the MenuFoods recall. Earlier, MenuFoods attempted to zero in on the wheat gluten additive as the source of the contamination. As it turns out, the batch of wheat used to make the gluten was imported from China.
This is Pebbles. Pebbles is a Yorkie from Los Angeles. About a week ago, the healthy seven year old began throwing up her Nutro dog food and became lethargic. A blood test on Friday confirmed she has renal failure, and she is currently awaiting a biopsy to determine whether she needs dialysis:
"It's just terrible to see her go through this," Pebbles owner, Jeff Kerner, said Wednesday. [...]
"Since getting this dog, I've gone through a divorce, I've moved away, my daughter has gone to college, I've remarried. Through it all, Pebbles has been there. I just pray to God I don't have to put a price on my dog's life."
Officials in LA county have thus far confirmed nine pet deaths resulting from the recall. Local media outlets across the country are reporting on pet deaths and illnesses associated with this recall, yet the national media continues to downplay this story.
My question is this: how many more pets have to die before this story gets the attention it deserves?
A Chicago woman sued Menu Foods on Tuesday, alleging the pet food manufacturer delayed announcing a recall of 60 million containers of dog and cat food despite knowing its products were contaminated and potentially deadly.
Dawn Majerczyk, 43, said her orange tabby, Phoenix, fell sick last week just two days after he ate a single package of Special Kitty. It is one of 95 cat and dog food brands recalled by Menu Foods of Canada. Friday's recall came two weeks after nine cats died during routine company taste tests of its products, the Food and Drug Administration said.
This is outrageous! MenuFoods knew this product was deadly as early as last month! I am absolutely floored that they allowed deadly products into the marketplace after animals died during internal testing.
x-posted from TexasKAOS, where we're taking Texas back! Warning: may contain spoilers in the comments. Read with caution.
Congratulations to Texans Natalie, Emily, and Martie! The Dixie Chicks have won Best Performance by a Country Duo or Group for "Not Ready to Make Nice".
If you're watching the show, here's your open thread. Click through for my picks and predictions (yes, I'm a music nerd).
(x-posted from TexasKAOS, where we're taking Texas back!)
CNet is reporting that some disturbing information about the NSA's data collection techniques was revealed at last Friday's "Search & Seizure in the Digital Age" symposium at Stanford.
Paul Ohm, a former employee of the Justice Department who worked in their Computer Crime and Intellectual Property division, explained how data-gathering has changed since the federal government abandoned it's Carnivore program a few years ago. While Carnivore was set up to only collect data which matched certain filters, the full pipe technique (aka "the vacuum cleaner method") is highly invasive and puts our privacy rights at risk:
"What they're doing is even worse than Carnivore," said Kevin Bankston, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who attended the Stanford event. "What they're doing is intercepting everyone and then choosing their targets."
Back in June, a contingent of reformers got their first shot at taking over the Texas Democratic Party. Made up largely of former Dean, Clark, and Edwards supporters, the movement nearly succeeded. We forced a rare runoff, and fell only 3% short in the second round of voting. Although the reform contingent constituted a majority of present delegates, we were outvoted by delegates who held proxy power (ie, multiple votes) for non-present delegates. The loss was heartbreaking for many of us. There were two candidates - Glen Maxey and Charlie Urbina-Jones - who understood that people powered politics is the way of the future. But we were defeated by the old-schoolers who clearly knew how to work the proxy system. Lesson learned.
Follow me beneath the fold for the rest of the story....
This is a placeholder diary for the Election Results Live Blogging project. This diary will be used to cover the results of the following elections: TX-06, TX-31, TX-Agriculture Commissioner, TX-HD93, and TX-HD94.
I will warn you in advance - I am working as an election judge on election day, so this diary will not go live until 8pm Central Standard Time.
I'm not sure how to start this diary, but I felt compelled to write it after reading both of the recommended diaries about supposed "vote flipping" in Texas.
I am an election judge in Texas, so I thought I could provide some insight.
(x-posted at TexasKAOS, mofos!)
Last night Joe Barton (R-Exxon Mobil) made his obligatory one hour per year appearance here in Arlington, TX. I showed up at the meeting intending to ask Smoky Joe why he wouldn't give David Harris the courtesy of a public debate of the issues, but instead I spent my hour listening to some of the most vitriolic bullshit I've heard in years.
I can't find a report on the Star-Telegram website even though they had a reporter in attendance, so I guess it's up to me to tell yall what went down.
(warning: there is quite a bit of profanity in this post. don't click through if you can't deal with the f word. also, if you are offended by the slang term 'blue hairs' as referring to old people, don't bother clicking through)
Ladies and gentlemen, the revolution has begun in Texas!
Wes Clark just took the stage (yes, he flew here from Vegas), and I'm sitting here in the front row in Blogger Alley. Me and my fellow bloggers will liveblog Wes's speech.
This is a copy of an announcement that's being distributed across the Texas blogosphere in advance of our state convention, which begins tomorrow. Chris and I talked about this in Philly over Memorial Day weekend (after re-enacting the epic "Bowers v Texas" battle), and I told him that I was extremely pleased that he's setting an example for everyone by getting involved with the PA Dem Party. I am a true believer in the Silent Revolution Chris wrote about a few weeks ago, and this is the next step that I'm taking in advancing the progressive agenda within my own state party. I hope this will provide other bloggers some inspiration to do the same.
Please forgive me for the use of CAPS in the title - I never do that. But this is truly an urgent/breaking/desperate moment. I am going to break another of my own rules by begging everyone who reads this to please recommend it. Peoples' lives are at stake.
How many people here are aware of the fact that the Ryan White Care Act is up for reauthorisation this week?
Welshman's excellent post, The Startling Revelations that the Media Ignored, gave me a strange sense of deja vu. About a year ago, I picked up a book called Afghanistan: The Bear Trap: The Defeat of a Superpower. Since cracking it open, I've regularly recommended it on these boards. It's a detailed account of the campaign waged against the Soviet occupiers of Afghanistan, as told by Brigadier Mohammad Yousef. Yousef worked his way up through the Pakistani government, eventually ending up as the head of the Afghan Bureau of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence from 1983-87, during the "last throes" of the Soviet occupation. To simplify, he literally planned the guerilla war against the Soviets. As I read his book, I couldn't help but be both stunned and shocked. The similarities between our occupation of Afghanistan and that of the Soviets is eerily similar. And it strikes me with that God must have a sense of humor because what's happening to us in Afghanistan right now is supremely sad irony.
Today Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (formerly Operation Truth) announced their first round of endorsements. IAVA decided to endorse seven congressional fighting democrats (apologies to those who are offended by this term, but for the moment, please get over it because this is great news for these candidates). They are as follows...
Before I begin this post, I'd like to take a moment to say THANK YOU to all the men and women who've worn the uniform. I am in awe of your courage and fortitude.
Now I'd like to take a moment to introduce everyone to the entire contingent of Democratic veterans who are running for the US House of Representatives in 2006. These men have answered the call to service in more ways than one, and each and every one of them deserves our support in their fight to take back Congress.
I'm writing to introduce everyone to another Fighting Democrat: David Harris of Arlington, TX. I'm especially excited about his candidacy, as this is my district, currently represented by the ODIOUS "Smokey" Joe Barton, a Tom Delay lackey.
I believe that the citizens of the 6th Congressional District deserve better than Smokey Joe, so when I heard that we had an Iraq War Veteran considering a run I had to jump on board.
I've pasted part of an ongoing interview into the extended text that Harris is conducting with the proprietor of the District Sixer blog. This interview is killer so far, and I can't wait until District Sixer posts the remainder of the questions.
I spent about two hours today cleaning up the tags section of this website. Why? Well, to begin with, I was looking for something and was unable to locate it. Secondly, I guess I'm a sucker for punishment. Third, I like techie stuff so I felt like playing around with it. And finally, it needed to be done. Now it's by no means complete, but that is because this is not a one person job.
I'd like to take a moment to revisit the tagging subject with the community, because in less than two weeks the system has become an absolute freaking mess. If a chunk of us would make the effort, it can be quickly turned into a very useful tool.
This is Pebbles. Pebbles is a Yorkie from Los Angeles. About a week ago, the healthy seven year old began throwing up her Nutro dog food and became lethargic. A blood test on Friday confirmed she has renal failure, and she is currently awaiting a biopsy to determine whether she needs dialysis:
CNet is reporting that some disturbing information about the NSA's data collection techniques was revealed at last Friday's "Search & Seizure in the Digital Age" symposium at Stanford.
