Reading Room

Lots of catching up to do so let's do it.

More secret coverups..er government...
Amid all the other news yesterday, the attorney general's startling revelation that President Bush personally blocked a Justice Department investigation into the administration's controversial secret domestic spying programs hasn't gotten the attention it deserves...." 'Since its creation some 31 years ago, ......OPR has never been prevented from initiating or pursuing an investigation.' . . . I wonder how the wingnuts will feel when someone they don't like claims these powers on precedent?

How does a man so unpopular weild so much power?

"Father Of American Conservatism" says Bush sucks, not a true conservative.

In particular, Buckley views the three-and-a-half-year Iraq War as a failure. "If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we've experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign.


They'll be standing up any time now.

The Baghdad area recorded an average of 34 major bombings and shootings for the week ending July 13, the U.S. military said. That was up 40 percent from the daily average of 24 registered between June 14 and July 13. ......Many of the death squads are believed to be associated with either Sunni or Shiite armed groups, targeting members of the rival sect as part of a struggle for power between the country's two major religious communities. ...... Combatting death squads runs the risk of armed confrontation with militias such as the Mahdi Army of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose movement is part of al-Maliki's government. ...Gee part of the government. Heard anything similar to that...recently?

Thuggery in science (PDF)

Two in five (40 percent) said they could not publicly express “concerns about public health without fear of retaliation.” More than a third (36 percent) did not feel they could do so even inside the confines of the agency.

Almost one in five (18 percent) responded, “I have been asked, for non-scientific reasons, to inappropriately exclude or alter technical information or my conclusions
in an FDA scientific document.”

Most distressingly, there is no remaining support for or interest in SCIENCE.”--
Scientists from the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research

There's much more.

One example of over the cliff. As noted in the comments on the page this is the Zombie right.

And now for a little levity.. Cheney uses mideast as a campaign issue...That's right, vote for us on the merit of our failed policy.