CNN reports that 23 year old Jeremy Hall was denied a promotion because of his religious beliefs. Hall was also harassed by other soldiers while on duty in Qatar and told the army couldn't protec him from such harassment.

He even had a superior officer (a Major) threaten to bring charges against him for trying to organize a meeting of those who believed as he does.

Hall is a member of one of the most reviled groups in America today because of his relationship to religion. Hall is not a member of a fundamentalist Mormon sect, or a Muslim.

Hall is an atheist.

I know we're all disappointed that Willard Mittens Romney has withdrawn from the presidential race.  The levels of unintended hilarity brought to us by the Mormon George Foreman are unmatched in modern history.

But, friends, Spring is coming.  It's less than a week before pitchers and catchers report and now I have another Republican I have to ask for your support... for.

I speak to you today about our 26th president, Teddy Roosevelt.

I won't pretend that my motives were pure when we pulled the plug on DirecTV, but they were somewhat selfless.  Though we paid $80/month for our service, it wasn't the cost that caused us to cut off the service but the impending arrival of our first child.

My wife's family has a history of autism and the Cornell University study among others, made us worry about video's effect on our soon to be newborn.  I'm not alleging that autism is absolutely caused by TV, but it seems that it may be triggered or exacerbated in susceptible individuals by a steady diet of the flickering light from our idiot box.  Just to be safe, we've decided to go TV-free and I've discovered there are benefits.

I support Barack Obama, and you'd think that I'd be pretty happy with the press so far.  Actually, I'm livid.  Not for their treatment of my guy (though I'm sure I'll have plenty to complain about later), but for their treatment of Clinton.

Did anyone see the Glenn Greenwald column yesterday?  Apparently Hillary Clinton made a personal stop to deliver coffee and bagels to the reporters on the bus following her.  If you've seen the movie Journeys With George that followed George Bush around during his 2000 campaign, you'd know that there probably should have been some appreciation shown, maybe a little joshing or jocularity, maybe even a little journalism in the form of a question or two thrown at the Senator by the reporters on the bus.

What did she get in return for her gesture?

For over 50 years, broadcast television has been a primary source of news for Americans. In February 2009, the plain old regular TV system that we've been using since the 50's will end and all broadcasts will be digital.

If you have cable or satellite, this change won't be noticeable to you, but if you have not upgraded to HDTV and do not currently use a cable or satellite service, your TV will be of no use to you after February 2009.

That's where the converter coupons come in.

I have no doubt, fellow Kossacks, that the order in which the various States participate in the rituals of this time of year has long been a thorn in all our collective sides.

Though they command less than 1% of the population, these two undersized non-representational states have, for far too long, been first and set the tone for the rest of us.

I am of course speaking of New Zealand and Australia going first in celebrating New Year's Eve.

Yes, Hillary Clinton is a former First Lady, an accomplished attorney and a twice-elected Senator from New York State, but let's face facts.

VS.

When people were asked which they'd rather smoke, more than 2-1 they preferred the crisp clean taste of menthol cigarettes to Hillary Clinton.  Let's look at some of the quotes:

This couple had strong opinions -

Him: "What? What the hell are you talking about?"
Her: "Uhhh... Could you go sit over there, please?"

As did this young man:

"You mean, like, SMOKE Hillary Clinton? Like in rolling papers?  Dude!"

This has been an ugly few days here at the Daily Kos.  People from the Edwards side accuse Obama of going negative.  People from Obama's camp accuse Clinton of going negative. People from Clinton's camp accuse everyone else of going negative on her.

Oprah gets slagged, Maya Angelou gets slagged, Bill Clinton gets slagged.

Guess what - it's primary season.  People are going to go negative.  It's a political fact that after everyone has established themselves as the best most positive, way-forward candidate, that the most effective way to gain a late advantage in the polls is to point out how awful your opponent is.

Is it a cheap tactic?  Only if it's false.  Pointing out Giuliani's financial peccadilloes and his lack of judgment in placing the Emergency Response Center in the building most likely to be attacked might be going negative, but it's also a fair point.  Each of our candidates has his or her own negatives as well that are worth examining.

We're having a baby. Yep after 41 years on the planet for me (well, it'll be 42 when the baby's born), and 32 for my wife, we've finally succeeded in making a little half-nightsweat.

When the holidays roll around next year, our little one will be only 7 months old, but I'm starting to think about that holiday season and the ones after it now.  (I'm a planner and worrier by nature).

How do the non-religious section of Kossacks handle the holiday onslaught with your kids?  My wife and I both grew up in ostensibly Christian housholds (mine was Catholic/Lutheran, hers was unspecified Protestant), but we've both fallen away.

The horses are on the track and..

After leading for months, Hillary Clinton has slipped in the latest ABC News poll

Overall, in current preferences, 30 percent in Iowa support Obama, 26 percent Clinton and 22 percent Edwards, with 11 percent for Bill Richardson. That's little changed since July (Edwards -4, Obama +3, both within sampling tolerances, and Clinton unchanged).

Among those who say they're "absolutely certain" to attend a caucus, Obama has 28 percent support, Clinton 26 percent -- again very close, and a contrast to Clinton's nearly 2-1 lead over Obama nationally.

It's no surprise that most American products are no longer made in America, but are, instead, manufactured in China. This didn't seem so horrible to the elites who rationalized the outsourcing of manufacturing and our transition to the service economy as natural and a good thing for our country in the long-term.  We'd come up with the technologies and all that high-paid symbolic worker stuff, and we'd outsource the drudge work to the Chinese, the Indians, and maybe eventually to the Africans.  Rising tide carries all boats, etcetera, etcetera...

So what to make of this article in the NYT today -
http://www.nytimes.com/...

G.M. to Build Hybrid Research Center in China

The technology and geek-culture blog Boing-Boing brings us news that's sure to be music to the ears of Administration flunkies and wrong-again pundits everywhere:

Researchers used a protein injection to wipe out a long-term memory in rats. The scientists at Insrael's Weizmann Institute of Science and the State University of New York conditioned the rodents to associate a certain smell with being sick. Then, the injected the rat's brains with a protein, called ZIP, that inactivates an enzyme thought to be essential to the continued storage of long-term memory. Even after a month, the mice showed no memory of the previous conditioning associating the odor with illness.

I'm guessing that the overwhelming majority of Kossacks have been Dems for a very long time, but I'm also sure some of us are Ex-Republicans who were radicalized by the actions and inactions of this administration.

I have a question for those of you who voted for Bush in 2000 or 2004 - why did you vote for him then, and when and what turned you against him (presuming, of course that you are against him)?

I belong to that other variety of Kossack - the kind who have not voted for a Republican for president (or rep or senator) ever.

(This started as a comment in the open thread but soon spun out of control and demanded its own diary.)

The first Democratic debate was held last night in South Carolina at South Carolina State with all the candidates you'd expect.  Brian Williamson of MSNBC moderated.

The post-debate analysis by Tweety and Keith Olberman was at odds with what I saw there on stage.  Maybe it's just me, but I'm curious to see how others  saw it.

Here are my impressions of how the candidates did last night.  It does not necessarily reflect my own leanings (which, before the debate were pretty much divided between Edwards, Obama, and Richardson).

Actually, have you put your money anywhere yet?  I'm interested, given that it's April of 2007, in just who is funding the candidates so far.  I gave $1000 last cycle to Dean and Kerry total. ($250 to Dean, $750 to Kerry), but I haven't given anyone one red cent yet.  I do intend to later, especially for the general.

Have you?  Given the record fund-raising pace, I'm guessing at least some of us have.

It's been noted that primary season here is an ugly time as each side tries to find the fatal flaws that will sink the opposition and boost their own candidate.

I maintain that while comparisons and contrasts can be made, we have to be careful not to work ourselves up into such a lather in opposition to the candidates in the race that we can't take the Long Walk Back to the dugout when our guy (or gal) is not chosen as the standard-bearer for our party.

Based on recent polling of the Democratic base as a whole, HRC has the lead with something in the 34-35% range.  That means that AT THE LEAST, 65% of our party will be "stuck" with a candidate they don't support with all their heart.

Hard to believe that a nation where the party in control of the White House doesn't believe in evolution or global warming and that cuts science funding in favor of corporate pork and tax cuts for the wealthy would have trouble sustaining its technological edge, isn't it?

In the modern world, economic progress is driven by increases in productivity and productivity is driven by technology.  Progress also depends on the creation of new industries that are made possible by our technological edge.

Why yes, this is a lame excuse for a diary, but a great excuse for a poll.

We have the President on TV tonight, but whatever is he going to say?  Probably "terra" and "decider" but what's the substance going to be?