It's nice to know that there are still Progressive Dems out there who actually do live up to their 2006 campaign promises.

(Calfornia) Secretary of State Debra Bowen has filed suit against Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S) for nearly $15 million after a four-month investigation revealed the company had repeatedly violated state law.

Bowen, who unseated incumbent Bruce McPherson in 2006 by a narrow 3% (officially), campaigned on a Progressive platform whose centerpiece called for cleaning up the California voting system.  True to her word, she is now aggressively pursuing claims of eVote fraud.

Did you know that you may be entitled to THOUSANDS of dollars in FREE MONEY?

That's right! If you signed up for telephone or Internet service with a major telecommunications carrier any time after September 2001, you may be eligible for an award of more than TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!

THIS IS NOT A SCAM!

This is a bona fide legal claim that over 100 MILLION PEOPLE OR MORE may be entitled to.

But you need to act fast, because this offer may not last if you don't CALL NOW!

It's only been three years since the New York Times publicly apologized for promoting Bush Administration fairy tales about Iraqi WMD, and still the Grey Lady continues to carry heavy water for the Bush Administration, this time regurgitating neocon lies claims that the target of the Israeli bombing strike in Syria was a nuclear facility.

Yesterday, I spent a fun and very worthwhile morning collecting voter signatures with Louisa, the 6th District (Marin and Sonoma Counties) volunteer coordinator for the campaign to place Al Gore on the California Democratic primary ballot.*

This drive is part of a larger grass roots effort to convince Al Gore that we need him as our next President.  Today was our first day collecting signatures.

That afternoon, Louisa emailed a fantastic account of the morning's events.  Louisa's words were so inspiring that I asked her if I could repost them.  Louisa, who is nearly eighty (you'd never know it), graciously agreed, saying, "All of my friends are on Daily Kos!"

While most of the sturm and drang about yesterday's seemingly senseless Senate resolution has focused on implications for war with Iran, a closer look at the text reveals the true agenda of our Parliamentary Putzes - the codification of a long term US military presence in Iraq.

Not just simply a tantrum against Iran, the Senate resolution is, more importantly, a formal recognition of what many US legislators have long known would be the eventual fallback plan once the Surge inevitably failed.

Over at Wired, bloggers Ryan Singel and David Kravets just finished liveblogging the U.S. 9th Circuit Appeals court hearing on the companion cases Hepting v. AT&T and Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. Bush.

Below are some thoughts on their report of the hearing.

I learned Anderson Cooper can't stand to not hear himself talk.

I learned that Hillary Clinton is a Progressive.

I learned that Dennis Kucinich is for slavery reparations.

I learned that Barack Obama is Black enough to be President.

I learned that in Charleston SC, African Americans are paying more than their white counterparts for mortgages than any other place in the United States of America.

I learned that there are racial 'corridors of shame' all across the country.

I learned that Mississippi got better treatment after Katrina than Louisiana.

I learned that Joe Biden likes Chuck Hagel and Dick Lugar.

I learned that John Edwards also likes Chuck Hagel.

I learned that Joe Biden wrote the Clinton crime bill.

I learned that Barack Obama took $195,000 from the head of a foreign owned bank.

I learned that Chris Dodd's thousands of white hairs mean he's ready to be President.

Right now I'm watching Ayaka, who I've never heard of before tonight, put on a damn fine Japanese rock/soul show.

This woman rocks.

So far I've also seen a Punk show (complete with Mohawk) and and a local Sydney band that specializes in political songs.

This is cool.

Link to the Live Earth show

They want you to use IE as your browser.  Oh well, save that fight for another day.

Tonight we're fighting to save the Earth.

Update: Lineups for all of the shows here.

"The power to commute is absolute."

Bank on it.  In the coming days/weeks/months, Gooper loyalists and their MSM enablers will be hitting us over the head so hard with that poetic mantra that they may at times appear possessed by the Ghost of Johnnie Cochran.

Technically it's true. Most Constitutional scholars would agree that the Power of Pardon (and inherent Power to Commute) is absolute in the sense that there is no US governmental entity that can legally challenge the commutation's authority.  Scooter will serve no prison time for his convictions.

Yet even though the power to commute is absolute, Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's Obstruction of Justice/Lying to Investigator's sentence is also a serious crime for which impeachment is entirely appropriate.

So, it's a lazy Sunday morning and I'm listening to progressive radio legend Larry Bensky give his last show at KPFA radio (Berkeley).  The two hour special is a tribute to Larry and his long running show Sunday Salon.

It is a mildly entertaining program for the most part, consisting mainly of Larry and his old radio buddies telling hippie war stories (some well worth listening to).  

Then, all of a sudden, things get VERY interesting.

The BBC website has a very effective mapping tool for understanding just how pervasive and violent the ethnic cleansing campaigns of both the Shia and the Sunnis in Baghdad have become. The tool is also useful for understanding possible operational and tactical reasons for the wall US authorities want to build around a Sunni dominated neighborhood east of the Tigris.

Below is a map of ethnic communities in Baghdad prior to 2006.

Notice the large beige swatches of ethnically mixed Sunni/Shia neighborhoods that predominate the center city.

Now look at what has happened to those neighborhoods in just one year.

Please recommend new live blog diaries and unrecommend any old diaries.

Part 7
Ellicat's excellent pre-game summary

Video
C-Span 3
Real Audio
Windows Media

Audio Only
CapitolHearings.org

No pictures please as a courtesy for dial-up users.  
New diary starts when current one reaches around 250 comments.  

Don’t be fooled.  Time magazine’s declaration of ‘You’ as Person of the Year is not a paean to Bloggers You Tubers, MySpacers, and other Internetworked contributors.

It’s a business plan.

Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, said in the recording posted on the Internet on Friday that the group had 12,000 armed fighters and 10,000 others waiting to be equipped to fight U.S. troops in Iraq.

"I tell the lame duck (U.S. administration) do not rush to escape as did your defense minister...stay on the battle ground," he said.

He said his group would not rest until it had blown up the presidential mansion in Washington.

Seriously, since when do Islamic terrorists use the phrase 'lame duck' to rally support?

Secretary of Defense and Dead Ender in Chief Donald Rumsfeld quoted a Republican Senator as an example of American appeasement of Hitler prior to World War II.

In the speech, Strangelovingly titled "The Will to Win, Does the West Still Have It?",  Rumsfeld says,

There was a strange innocence. Someone recently recalled one U.S. senator's reaction in September 1939, upon hearing that Hitler had invaded Poland to start World War II: "Lord, if only I could have talked with Hitler, all this might have been avoided." Think of that.

Basically, the Israelis started two divisions in eastern Lebanon and are driving west along parallel routes toward end points north and south of Tyre on the Med - with the northern route hugging the Litani river.

A third division of special ops troops has been dropped in between these two lines east of Tyre for backside protection of the two main columns.

A fourth division has been deployed on the heights covering the main Litani crossover points in the east (near the bend that skirts the Israeli border), presumably to prevent supplies and troop reinforcements from succoring enemy forces in the west.

All in all, Debka says the Israeli strike force totals some 12,000 troops.

2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes

So while the Oilers lost 3 of the first 4 games of the series, they must have known their continual pounding on the Hurricanes would pay off eventually.  The big question was whether, with their first string goalie out for the series, Edmonton could survive long enough for their physical dominance to finally reap the expected dividends.

That answer came in Game 5 - when Canes, who had previously shrugged off the hard Edmonton hits, suddenly began dropping.