Midday Open Thread

Midday Open Thread

Jen Hayden for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday February 19, 2008 · 10:35 AM PST

2008/02/19 · 10:35

CNN's Political Ticker has the response of all four remaining presidential hopefuls on Castro's resignation. To sum it up, all four are calling for the Cuban government to release all political prisoners and move toward free and fair elections. The Bush Administration has already stated they have no intention of lifting the embargo.

As a follow-up to Sunday's piece on the growing respectability of blogs, Flu Wiki Forum features an interview with HHS Science Adviser Dr. William Raub. The questions were provided by the on line community, the answers by Dr. Raub. - DemFromCT

US Banks have quietly borrowed $50 billion dollars from the Federal Reserve in recent weeks.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the undercover Humane Society investigator behind the biggest beef recall in U.S. history "sketched a vivid, bleak account of his six weeks at a Chino slaughterhouse that supplied meat to school lunch programs and supermarkets throughout the U.S." - MB

The fallout from Kosovo's declaration of independence is being felt in northern Serbia where violence erupted from Serbian protestors. European countries are split on whether to acknowledge their independence.

A rumored merger between Northwest and Delta will not be good news for travelers. The consolidation will likely result in higher fares for all.

Bam! Martha Stewart is buying the Emeril Lagasse's franchise (minus his 11 restaurants) for $50 million dollars. When it's all said and done, Emeril could get as much as $70 million.

Grand Valley State University Poll: Which former U.S. president should be the next president's greatest guide? If you want to vote in their tournament, go here. I voted for Nixon in his bracket so they learn what not to do. - DemFromCT

A.J. Rossmiller of Americablog, author of Still Broken: A Recruit's Inside Account of Intelligence Failures, from Baghdad to the Pentagon is the subject of Ken Silverstein's Six Questions series over at Harper's. Terrific stuff from someone inside the DIA.