When does your weekend start? Friday night? Saturday?

I remember back to at least one job where "weekends" began on Thursday night, when a few folks from the corporate headquarters of the company where we worked would head out to a local dance club in a nearby hotel and spend a few hours burning off the week's insanity; Fridays were just much more relaxed after a night of friendship, fun and dance. We got a lot completed and could then get into the weekend proper without having to expend the first half of it unwinding from the toils of the week.

It was, in a sense, a kind of two-step.

With that in mind, I thought I'd remind folks to check out what's been happening over on ePluribus Media: we've had a few pieces that you might find interesting, informative and entertaining.

Sorry to burn a diary on this, folks, but my time tonight is short and I wanted to call your attention to two pieces up on ePluribus Media:

The Scream of the Peacock ... Journalism vs Infotainment by Roxy and Secular Saviors: Science Steps Up by me.

Both touch on topics that I think everyone here will find interesting and well worth the read, but with the focus here on the candidate diaries it wasn't likely that any crossposting would have helped.

Excerpts from the opening sections of each below the fold.

I thought it might help folks who are currently embroiled in the chaos of candidate wars to take a moment and briefly highlight a few of the recent articles on ePluribus Media that may prove interesting and relevant to ongoing discussions.

So, make the jump for a quick check-in, and leave comments here (or there, or both) if you'd like to share your own thoughts.

Thank you. :)

Larry Johnson's piece on the letter by intelligence and military officers, diplomats, and law enforcement professionals to the chairman and the ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee is still on the Rec list -- good. I just wrote a piece on ePluribus Media that included that letter, plus the requisite link back to No Quarter; I also included references to the additional -- and vital -- insights and information provided by FishOutOfWater's piece  The Tortured Back Story on Mukasey and the recently Rescued You too may be waterboarded by smintheus. Please check out those pieces, too, and then ask this question: Why are people afraid of a recess appointment? If they are concerned that Bush will abuse the recess appointment, then simply cancel recess.

Here's an interesting tidbit that I just came across: Pipe Bomb Locks Down Ariz. Nuclear Plant¹. It appears that a contract worker driving through a security checkpoint had a crude pipe bomb in the back of his pickup. And he's not a suspect or under arrest in the case -- apparently, officials investigating have reason to believe that he had no knowledge of its presence. A search of his home revealed nothing to indicate that he himself had fashioned the device. That leaves us with a couple of questions, of course, and we're not the only ones scratching our heads:

As authorities tried to understand why a contract worker would bring a pipe bomb to the nation's largest nuclear power plant, one thing was immediately clear: The security worked.

Guards stopped Roger William Hurd, 61, at the entrance to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station when they spotted the bomb. He was detained about a half mile from the containment domes where the nuclear material is stored. Officials pulled his security clearances and placed the facility on lockdown.

by Publius Revolts

ePluribus Media has learned that the leadership of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has reversed its  July decision and is now signaling its willingness to permit Voting Rights Section Chief John Tanner to testify before Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)’s  House Judiciary Committee.  Although a Judiciary Committee spokesperson has confirmed the reversal, the final date and time for the testimony have not been finalized. There’s speculation that Tanner in his testimony will assume responsibility for the Georgia Voter ID controversy, leaving Hans von Spakovsky, currently up for confirmation to the Federal Elections Commission, a cleaner resume.

George W. Bush is a failure.

The George W. Bush Presidency -- both terms -- are an astounding failure.

The attempts by the GOP to supplement their sagging strategy for success through deception, propaganda and the perditious, seditious undermining of our Constitutional checks and balances have failed, and continue to do so at a rate that is at once both astounding and alarming.

Shortly after TIME Magazine published the article A Bush Speech That Could Backfire by Massimo Calabresi on Thursday, Sep. 13, 2007, standingup posted a diary called "It's his [Bush's] war", followed almost immediately by Devilstower with a front-page post called The Republicans are all in.  Both cited the TIME article as an example as to how the GOP has begun a spectacular implosion.

Is this the beginning of the end for GOP, or are we at an important crossroads...?

From YearlyKos 2007: Correspondent Timothy "Timroff" Smith interviews U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Christopher Dodd.

Podcast -- listen up!

During the Yearlykos Conference's Presidential Leadership Forum, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut was outspoken on issues ranging from the war to healthcare, to election finance reform.

After the breakout sessions following the forum, Dodd stopped to answer a few questions about No Child Left Behind, Immigration, and standing up to Right-Wing Spin.

A now-complete transcript follows after the fold...

Crossposted at ePluribus Media

First, I am an Edwards supporter and do not work for the campaign.  This response was given a while ago, but they have not updated or changed the diary, so I am posting this comment in a new one.

Here is the response:

Final UPDATE:
This situation has been resolved.  All sides are satisfied.  Please respect each other and let us move on supporting Democratic candidates.

UPDATE (the second):  Well, we just got back from dinner.  It's Lollapalooza out there.

Please click here for my reply to Amy's apology: http://www.dailykos.com/...

Timroff has spoken in person with Tracy Joan.  And as soon as I am done on the computer, he'll be sending her an email in an effort to set up some kind of either phone interview or in person the next time he is in Cleveland.  He will post later.

More apology/update below the fold.

Folks, I just wrote an editorial piece that was published today on the ePluribus Media Journal called Civilization's African Toll: From The Cradle of Civilization to a Grave of Indifference.  It centers on the plight of the Hadzabe tribe of Tanzania, who have ...  

...a simple request. "Please just tell the world that we are dying." No accusations, no calls for warfare. Just a simple request -- more of a reminder, really -- that we should be aware of the passing of an indigenous people from the face of the earth.

The Hadzabe resurrect an age old issue ... the sacrifice "man" has to make for "man" in the name of civilization.

by Susie Dow

In an era of privatization and occupation, we need to know how many contractors are working in Iraq. Civilian personnel certainly are performing military-related operations, but we don't know the numbers of civilian contractors filling in the ranks of truck drivers, cooks, service personnel and other logistic roles. Unfortunately, those statistics have been hard to come by.

To remedy this, ePluribus Media filed its first Freedom of Information ACT (FOIA) request for such information in June of 2006. Almost exactly a year later, Central Command (CENTCOM) released updated results of its census on contractors working in Iraq. This census was first compiled in response to a Memorandum issued by Robert A. Burton, Deputy Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) in the Executive Office of the President, with a subject line entitled: Request Contracting Information on Contractors Operating in Iraq, from the Office of Management and Budget, dated May 16, 2006.¹

by Aaron Barlow

Crossposted at ePluribus Media

The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture by Andrew Keen (New York: Currency, 2007).

Hans Von Spakovsky: Right choice for FEC Commissioner? is a three part series.  Part 1 of this series covered von Spakovsky's background in the Georgia Voter ID laws and Texas Redistricting. Part 2 looked at his involvement in the U.S. Attorney purges and his advocacy of Voter Roll purges. Part 3reviews von Spakovsky's recess appointment to the Federal Election Commission.

The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration is holding a hearing tomorrow on Nominations to the Federal Election Commission.  Hans von Spakovsky is a witness and nominee.  

Part 2 - Hans in the Sockpuppet and Part 3 Permanent Recess Appointment are posted this evening.  

by Adam Lambert (clammyc) for ePluribus Media
also available on the ePluribus Media Journal

Hans A. von Spakovsky has been nominated for a full term on the Federal Election Commission (FEC), having already received a recess appointment from President Bush in early 2006, despite his long history of positions and acts which have served to limit the rights of voters, especially minorities.

a review by Aaron Barlow
crossposted from theePluribus Media Journal

A good reporter is also a good historian. And a good news organization understands and cherishes its past. It should be no surprise, then, that a book credited to "Reporters of the Associated Press" would be well written, well researched, and based on the best possible documentation. Breaking News: How the Associated Press Has Covered War, Peace, and Everything Else, based in part on the AP' s own files, is all that.  Published by the Princeton Architectural Press, it' s an imposing book, laid out with the care of a coffee-table book of photography (another field of AP strength) prepared for an upscale market. Unlike the average coffee-table book, however, this one is meant for reading as well as looking.

Add to that a foreword by David Halberstamand what a read it is!

On June 9th and 10th, the fourth annual DemocracyFest will be held -- this time in Manchester, NH. I will be attending as a presenter for ePluribus Media along with luaptifer. We need your help to ensure that we can all get as much as possible out of this.

First, what is DemocracyFest?

DemocracyFest is an annual educational and inspirational festival for the progressive grassroots. DemocracyFest gives grassroots progressives the knowledge and skills they need to take our country back. Participants return home to their communities with renewed commitment, and new skills to help them making a difference.

Several VIPs will be in attendance. In addition to giving our own presentation on Sunday, we're going to try and land some interviews with these folks, and we want you to help us develop the questions.

by Carol White, ePluribus Media Book Review Editor

Crossposted at ePluribus Media Journal

Those familiar with Aaron Barlow's postings on here and on ePluribus Media will not be surprised to find his new book both iconoclastic and of compelling interest.

Barlow is a sharp critic of the current trends in the media,  such as the presentation of news as entertainment. At the same time, he is passionate about the importance of journalism in creating an informed public debate about the policy issues that face us. As one of the early members of the ePluribus Media collective, Barlow believes web journals and blogs have an important, if not essential, role to play in shaping public opinion and giving citizens the means to take on an active role in political debate.  This -- the role of the blogs and the future of print journalism -- is one of the hottest topics in the field today.