I’ve mentioned before in comments that I’ve been working abroad for two years.  My contract ends this fall and I’ll be returning to the U.S in less than a month.  I can’t tell you how I feel about that.  Sometimes, I get excited to be close to friends and family again, to be an active member of my community; then at other times I read articles like this in the New Yorker by Jane Mayer.  Information that makes my chest hurt, my eyes burn, and wonder if America will ever be able to scrub the stain of evil wrought by this administration from her soul.  

Tuesday November 7th.  

I think it's a safe bet to say that everyone here on DailyKos knew the answer to that one.  You didn't even have to break a sweat.  

Now, second question: When is the verdict in Hussein's first tribunal predicted to be delivered?  

Sunday November 5th.

A little bit tougher, maybe you had think for a few, but I'm sure some diehard Kossacks got that one.

Last question: Did anyone else completely miss the connection between those two dates?

Have you ever tried to talk to a Republican?  How about a staunch Republican?  Did it give you a headache because, damn it, it was like beating your head against a brick wall?

I've tried.  My brother is a diehard Republican (the only one in our entire family).  Even he has agreed that we can't talk about politics.  He thinks I'm wrong, I think I'm right, and every time we would talk (aka: argue) politics, by the end I just wanted to scream: "Why can't you just listen to reason!"

I never liked history.  I zoned out during my history classes in high school and luckily, or so I thought at the time, there was no history requirement at my University for biology majors.  History was just so...boring.  What was the point of memorizing a bunch of useless facts?  Looking back, I wish something had happened to stir my interest-anything-because now I'm getting a crash course and playing `catch up' to understand some of what is happening in the world today.  Frequenting sites like Trueblueliberal, Daily Kos, Eschaton, and Firedoglake have caused me to Google or Wiki, among other things, "Reichstag fire, Emmett Till, Saturday night massacre, Watergate Seven," and the list goes on.

Like so many other people, since the onset of Bush's misadventure in Iraq I've learned `words' of war: IED, WMD, yellowcake, aluminum tubes, MIA, KIA, WIA, collateral damage (what a polite euphemism for "innocent dead people").  

Today, I learned one I should've already known but didn't: PMC.

Cheers,
Mz Beerocrat

Apparently, there will be an indepth, independent investigative follow-up article; check the site for updates if you're interested.  If I receive permission I will post that as well.

"In the Dumps: Marvin Bush, the Mob, and the "Liberal" Media"

 by Ryan Grim

If there was a story out there that involved the mafia, New York City garbage, the bribing of an entire rural county in Virginia, and the President's brother, do you think the mainstream media would invest a few bucks to look into it? Would the FBI prosecute it? What if most of the documentation of the criminal activity was public?

I am so sick of people telling me that I should be tickled blue that my redder than red state has Jim Matheson (a Democrat) in UT-02.  Quite frankly it's bullshit.  

We used to be a nation of neighborhoods.  Weekends were spent talking to our neighbors about the weather or current events.  Weekdays were a friendly wave as you headed out to work, or loaded the kids into the car for school.

      [Update] I've changed the title to reflect what I consider the important fact here, which is that individual counties can opt out of HAVA funds and buy equipment that they approve of rather than the state HAVA purchased Diebold machines.)

In November of 2000, when it appeared as though the presidential election would be decided by a hand recount of the votes cast in Florida, the news cycle was abuzz with voter intent.  Entire segments hinged on discussions of hanging, pregnant, and dimpled chads.