Amazing television

Maybe it's some combination of the advanced hour or the heat in this room, but by god I think this is the finest segment of news I've seen in our day. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann takes on Donald Rumsfeld in epic fashion:

In what country was Mr. Rumsfeld raised?

As a child, of whose heroism did he read?

On what side of the battle for freedom did he dream one day to fight?

With what country has he confused… the United States of America?

That was the merest taste. Just go watch it.

Geek break

This is an interesting development.

Time to change your lightbulb

Looks like I need to make a trip to the hardware store. From Fast Company:

If every one of 110 million American households bought just one [compact fluorescent] bulb, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people. One bulb swapped out, enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.

SGAC in the News

Helping out with TAC's Global Day of Action.

AIDS 2006

I'm in Toronto for the International AIDS Conference, along with 20 SGACers. Things are crazy busy, so I won't have much time to post here. Please read the SGAC IAC Blog instead.

For now, here's a little bit of what we're doing:

The only reason

Krauthammer, on how the Lamont victory will destroy America the Democrats:

Apart from the Carter success of 1976 -- an idiosyncratic post-Watergate accident -- the "blame America first" Democrats were not even competitive on foreign policy for the rest of the Cold War. It was not until the very disappearance of the Soviet Union that the American citizenry would once again trust a Democrat with the White House.

Yeah, that had to be it. Couldn't have been voters' short-term interest in tax breaks, huge geographic shifts in population into the south, racist reaction to civil rights legislation bringing party realignment, or anything else. Nope, voters decide on foreign policy alone. Also, everybody frickin' loved Viet Nam.

al-Qaeda survives

Well, a day before an international flight, it's good to know that the recently foiled attacks are likely the work of an al-Qaeda network still in operation. Thanks, Bush administration, for focusing on what really threatens us.

Albatros

With Lamont's primary victory in Connecticut, it's clear that this election cycle will be affected, if not dominated, by the big, stinking issue of Iraq so neatly hung around the GOP's neck by President Bush. I think we're beginning to see the truth in that predicament in places like Ohio, where polls continue to show anti-war Sherrod Brown ahead of incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine. There are plenty of other problems Republicans will face because o Bush, since they've done such a fine job owning him for the last 6 years, but I think the war will remain at the forefront of our political discourse through November. Of course, Bush could always manage to screw something else up worse before then. Anybody remember last August?

Geek break

I'll be busy for the next hour or so.

Astroturf alert

Slashdotters are discussing the latest propaganda:



That work of art was created, apparently, by a PR firm used by both the GOP and Exxon. Hmm. Should we be more upset that someone is attempting to manipulate the public through YouTube, or that we're supposed to be convinced by such a lump of crap?

Hello again

Well, I'm back from a random absence, which was isolated to the online world, I'm afraid - real life did not afford me any special vacation. Some observations about this wonderful world as I return:

Atrios is still bonkers about the Lamont/Lieberman race.

Student Trade Justice Campaign finally has a new website (which represents some improvement over their last.

The suspense is unbearable.

There is more, but I am characteristically out of time.

NY pics are up