Moveon.org will be hosting a conference call with Al Gore this Sunday. Im sure many folks here are very interested in what he has to say so I thought I would pass on the link.
What would you folks like to ask him besides his plans for running? I know I would like to hear more about the investment group he started that focuses on companies that are environmentally friendly.
KARE11, the local NBC affiliate did an excellent piece tonight on Global warming. There was no hemming or hawing, on whether global warming exists, or any such nonsense that the media usually feel the need to include. The report did a great job in pointing out how global warming is affecting Minnesota. I found it extremely effective. The reported talked about how the Moose population in the state has been decimated, how fish populations are affected and how the northern forests are changing. The link to the article and video is http://kare11.com/...
Today I read horrible, racist comments here that I have only seen so far from LGF and I am upset. I wanted to take this chance to respond to some of the comments that I saw on Georgia 10s post on Muslims and Islam. I also wanted to make it clear why I think this cartoon has turned into such a big issue.
One thing people need to understand is that the Prophet Muhammad is not portrayed anywhere. Not in writing not in pictures. I have no idea whether he was tall or short-fat or thin-had long hair short hair or no hair at all. I cannot say with any certainty whether he wore a beard and a turban. The media however has chosen to represent Islam in this manner. A terrorist in a beard and turban.
The senate just passed the budget bill containing the provision to drill in the refuge.
Amid the backdrop of soaring oil and gasoline prices, a sharply divided Senate on Wednesday voted to open the ecologically rich Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, delivering a major energy policy win for President Bush.
The Senate, by a 51-49 vote, rejected an attempt by Democrats and GOP moderates to remove a refuge drilling provision from next year's budget.
The action, assuming Congress agrees on a budget, clears the way for approving drilling in the refuge later this year, drilling supporters said.
About a week ago I posted a diary on Blue Cross Blue Shields Tier system. It looks like unfortunately, this is going to be the trend. Medica, which is the second largest insurance company in MN has decided to follow suit
I dont know if this is the the norm in other states but Blue Cross Blue Shield in MN has started a ranking system of hospitals in MN. The tier 1 hospitals (which cost them less) are their prefered choice. If patients choose the tier 2 hospitals they then have to pay TWICE their usual co-insurance.
The US government in the 1990s tested the effectiveness of AIDS drugs on foster kids. The kids who were HIV infected got drugs that were known to have serious side effects in adults.
Kerry came to St Paul today to promote his Kids First campaign. It was quite a change from the last time he was here. Then there were over 50,000 people and today there were maybe 500. I did get to get up close so that was good.
He thanked folks for working on the election and said that he really appreciated the hard work and support. He then launched into his talk about how appalling it is that there are so many kids without health insurance-and that the republicans give the wealthy tax cuts while cutting Medicaid. He also took a few jabs at the republican for trying to end the filibuster and Bush on polluting the environment.
Rebecca Polzin walked into a drugstore in Glencoe, Minn., last month to fill a prescription for birth control. A routine request. Or so she thought.
Minutes later, Polzin left furious and empty-handed. She said the pharmacist on duty refused to help her. "She kept repeating the same line: 'I won't fill it for moral reasons,' " Polzin said.
Earlier this year, Adriane Gilbert called a pharmacy in Richfield to ask if her birth-control prescription was ready. She said the person who answered told her to go elsewhere because he was opposed to contraception. "I was shocked," Gilbert said. "I had no idea what to do."
This morning looking through the editorials of my paper the Star Tribune, I saw one written by Bill Moyers. It was an apology for the statement he attributed to James Watt-"When the last tree was felled Christ would return." Linked Apparently he had got it from Grist magazine which had pulled it from some book without checking out if it was true.
According to this article it looks like Dr. Dean has finally found approval for his new role.
"He's got new energy," said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who talks frequently with Dean and approved of his candidacy to lead the Democratic Party. "He understands that our party has to go South and go West. He understands that there is a real opportunity to take the kind of activism that was very evident in his last campaign to the Democratic chairmanship."
Education secretary Ron Paige will be leaving his cabinet post. Good riddance I say. The much heralded programs that he oversaw in Houston before he joined the administration were an unmitigated disaster. Kids were switched from school to school or taken off the rolls completely so that the schools would meet the minimum requirements.
I wonder if we are going to see a complete turnover in Bush's cabinet. There are rumors floating around that Colin Powell will be leaving as well as Tommy Thompson. I dont remember much about Clintons administration but is this kind of turnover normal? Anyhow here is the LINK TO ARTICLE
I have heard a lot suggestions on this site from people who said that the Dems should dump Gays. I say this is wrong. Ours is an party of inclusion and as long as we stay true to our "values" we will prevail.
A perfect example is the win we saw in the MN state house this year. Part of the reason that has been put foward is the turnout we had. However what has been forgotten is that the people were sick of the Republican tactics in the state.
Edina a suburb of Minneapolis voted for Kerry over Bush. Why is this significant you ask because this area has not voted for a Democrat since Eisenhower. As Nick Coleman at the Star Tribune says
Records that go back to the Eisenhower era show no Democrats winning in the leafy precincts. None.
Not Kennedy (who lost by a 4-1 margin to Nixon); not favorite son Hubert Humphrey (who lost by 9,000 votes to Nixon), not Fritz Mondale (Edina gave Ronald Reagan a giant margin of 11,000 votes in 1984)
I am extremely alarmed at the meme I see developing in the media since the election i.e. the "moral majority". What the heck does that mean-people who see that will associate it with something good sort of like compassionate conservatism only better since it seems to have a more religious bent, when in reality it encompasses the politics of hate and intolerance. It will only further marginalise the Dems as being immoral somehow.
We have to stop this right now before it really gets entrenched. So please write to the media to stop with that kind of language its offensive and only divides us further. Im written my letter to the MN Star Tribune.
I honestly beleive that the main reason Bush was able to pull this off was because of their timidity in reporting issues that were important. There was no real questioning of the war. The lack of WMDs, the fact that Osama was still on the loose. They also just were so quick to spout the Roveian talking points and paint JK as a flip flopper. How aggrevating was that-that every poll asked the question-which candidate was more steadfast. It just served to reinforce that caricature in peoples minds. I didnt see any questions about Bush's lying did you
I have seen tons of diaries angry or distraught at the way this election has played out, what i would like to hear from folks is there any positive outcomes in their local races? In Minnesota the turnout was great for the Dems. We got a net gain of 7 seats in the house-just one shy of a majority. One race is in contest, if we win that we control both the senate and the house. So folks any good stories to share?
