Crooks and Liars

I'm excited that my favorite website put up a link to us. See what they're saying at Crooks and Liars.

Calling Commissioners Is Easier Than Voting

And you get to tell them exactly what you think.
Here is a map of the commissioners' districts in Richmond County.
Here are the phone numbers for the commissioners.
Read the proposed budget here.
They are planning painful cuts like limiting bus service further, cutting funding for public health and the battered women's shelter, and closing community centers. And look at what the administrator decided probably can be funded- a soccer park that earns revenues for someone other than the city, the aquatics center, and a raise for the mayor.

The Economy is Doing Great...

...at least if the only statistic you are looking at is third quarter oil company profits. Marathon Oil Company, based in Houston, nearly doubled it's profits from a year ago. UK-based British Petroleum reported a 148% increase in profits. Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's largest oil company, also reported profit increases. What about America's largest oil company? Exxon Mobil reported its highest quarterly profits ever, breaking the record they set for themselves only last quarter by three billion dollars. All this apparently while we sink into recession...

Is This Promo for Jesus or Pro Wrestling?

Because I've never interpreted either as being particularly anti-gay.



Or worried about abortion. Why do so many Christians think they have to be anti-gay and anti-abortion before any other political consideration? Because the Pope says so? (The Pope is also against the Iraq war and the death penalty.) Didn't the Protestants insist that we read the words of Jesus for ourselves? So what did Jesus say? They had abortion then; what did He say about it? What did He say about homosexuality? What did He say about spreading the wealth?

WWJD in Georgia?

Augusta, The Masters, and Cricket

How often do we make the Guardian? Ok, the Guardian sports blog. Still.

John McCain and the Backward B

Military Judge Rejects Confession Obtained through Torture

Guantanamo detainee, Mohammed Jawad, is accused of wounding two U.S. soldiers and an interpreter with a grenade in December 2002 while a teenager. Afghan police threatened to kill the accused's family at the Kabul police station where he was interrogated and forced to confess.
Yesterday, the confession was excluded from Jawad's trial in war court.
"'Torture' includes statements obtained by use of death threats to the speaker or his family," wrote Henley, the military judge. "The actual infliction of physical or mental injury is not required."
This goes against Bush administration legal opinion which does not consider threats to family members torture.

Is the McCain Campaign Good for America?

He might be revitalizing unions.
"Some three dozen workers at a telemarketing call center in Indiana walked off the job rather than read an incendiary McCain campaign script..."

And the campaign is definitely getting in there and ruffling some feathers in the Republican party.

Love America Much?

You know you do.

The Augusta Chronicle Half Marathon

I had the opportunity to participate this weekend in the inaugural Augusta Chronicle Half Marathon. The organizers did a pretty good job of getting everything ready to go in anticipation of the race. The only thing they forgot was that there would be a train on the tracks crossing the race course at the starting time. After a short delay while waiting in the morning dark for the train to pass, the air horn was sounded signaling the start of the race. The runners crowded through the starting arch on Broad Street, made the turn around the block at 8th Street to get onto Reynolds and continued on their way. I knew at this point I was running way too fast, but the adrenaline kept pushing me to keep up with the crowd instead of running my own race. We turned down 13th Street where the Richmond County Police were controlling traffic now that the course was narrowed down to one traffic lane instead of the whole road. Over the length of the course the police and Army volunteers did a wonderful job of directing the traffic away from the runners. We hit our first water station on 13th Street just before turning onto Laney Walker Blvd. As with every other station on the course, the volunteers did a great job of getting water and energy gel out to the runners. The course continued down Laney Walker and then briefly down Druid Park Ave before turning onto Central Ave. This would be the big test of the race. The course took Central all the way up the hill to Highland and then uphill even more to Walton Way. The hill was killer. In all fairness, I hadn't done nearly as much training as I should have before the race, but I wasn't really expecting the hill to take as much out of me as it did. But the hill is not what did me in. Everyone knows that what goes up must come down. After running a half mile down Walton we turned to run down the hill at Milledge Rd. Here we had a mile stretch of road straight down hill. This section killed my knees. On paper a mile straight downhill sounds like a nice break after two miles uphill, but it really wasn't much of a rest at all. I had to consciously remind myself to take it easy and not let gravity grab hold of me. My joints were taking a hit as it was. I didn't need further pain. Once we got to the bottom of the hill there came a lap around Lake Olmstead. This was probably the nicest section of the run, with the fog burning off of the serene lake. I finally got into a groove and set a nice pace for myself going around the lake. It is too bad that the city is considering building a new stadium downtown instead of pumping a little more money into the park and surrounding area by this lake. It is under-appreciated in this town, but that is a topic for a different post. Once the circuit around the lake was complete, we got to run up on the Calhoun Expressway. This was a nice addition to the race as well, and threw in an extra bit of vertical climb too. The downside to this, which I think was not considered by race organizers (and it came into effect a bit toward the bottom of Central Ave too) was the grade of the road around the long curves. This was another unnecessary hit on the knees, as our legs were running at two different levels. But I kept pushing and once I cleared the expressway I saw the sign informing me that I was a mile from the finish line. At this point I began to let adrenaline take over again and ran probably my fastest mile. I ran hard down Greene Street and then when we turned around at 6th Street to go back down Broad I pushed it up one more gear and more or less sprinted the three final blocks down to the finishing chute and across the finish line. It was not my best time for 13.1 miles, but it was not a bad time either. I finished somewhere near the middle of the pack and was not disappointed at all. I still do not know my official finishing time. I am unable to find results posted anywhere on the internet, nor can I find photos from the race, outside of the three pictures the Augusta Chronicle posted with their story on the race . This is fairly disappointing. All in all, the race was a success for Augusta and I look forward to next year's run. I do hope they reconsider the course a bit to lessen the impact on the knees going down that hill and around some of those curves, but the start/finish line area was well organized and the volunteers on the course were great. I do feel that more advertising could be put into the race. Considering that there were around a thousand people entered into the half marathon, I was surprised at how few people were actually out cheering on the course. Those that were out though were enthusiastic and it was appreciated, I'm sure, by all of the runners. Not too bad though, considering it was Augusta's first.

Ted Stevens Found Guilty!

The Alaskan Senator was found guilty on all seven charges of ethics violations earlier today.

Augusta's Proposed 2009 Budget

Mayor Deke Copenhaver is due for a salary increase according to the proposed budget for 2009. The payroll for mayor is now $196,257*, and the proposed budget suggests a raise of $15,438. Go, Deke! According to the calculator at salary.com, $196,257 adjusted for the cost of living in Atlanta would be $209,088. The mayor of Atlanta, Shirley Franklin, makes $147,500. The governor of Georgia made $135,281 in 2007. [Amendment: Deke on facebook told me his salary is $75,000 and that he drives his own car and pays for his own gas. He didn't clarify where the other $121,257 goes. He's busy. Also Deke has now removed me as a facebook friend. :( I guess when he said he was excited about facebook as an opportunity to get information out there to the people without a filter, I misunderstood. And yes, it does sound familiar, and yes, Deke did say that.]
Did you know that we also have a city/county administrator? The administrator’s personal salary is not given in the budget or over the phone, but his office, comprised of Administrator Frederick L. Russell, 2 interim deputy administrators, an administrative assistant, and an executive secretary runs the tax-payers $1,215,996* this year. [The office staff information given here is from a phone call to the administrator's office. It differs from what's on the website.]
Well, that's fine, because the city is doing great now, right? No. Deke’s raise is a rare ray of sunshine in a budget that proposes to cut funding for law enforcement, fire protection, and public transportation. In fact, in addition to planning to slash service to the already ridiculously under served bus riders, (could you get to work if you had to take the bus? Could Deke? Should Deke?) they plan a fare increase to the tune of $870,000. That will increase the average annual cost to each of the 1,934 people who take the bus to work by $403.
Public transportation should be encouraged, not starved, in a sprawling town in which 80% of people drive to work by themselves. Don't all good cities have good public transportation?
By the way, spreading the amount of that fare increase evenly among each of Augusta's households would cost each one $4.35 a year. And to take on that and keep the service from being cut would cost each household a whopping $8.04.

*The payroll information is from page 52 of the proposed budget. What I'm calling the mayor's salary was listed as "mayor" and what I'm calling the administrator's office is listed as "administrator's office.

Bush and Next Week's Election

This from Alternet:


As the 2008 presidential election heads into its final week, the current president threw a political wild card on table late Friday, when he asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the status of 200,000 Ohio voters.
George W. Bush's request, if honored, could be politically explosive. It would remind voters of the Department of Justice's partisan abuses of power in the scandal surrounding the firing of seven U.S. attorneys in 2006 who did not deliver 'voter fraud' convictions.
It could be a big distraction, drawing attention away from issues that call for legitimate DOJ intervention, such as shortages of voting machines in minority precincts in Virginia and Pennsylvania, compared to nearby white precincts. That disparity would violate existing civil rights law.
Or it could interject a complicating dynamic into the already heavily litigated Ohio general election, by adding the Department's weight to GOP legal claims that pre-emptively question the legitimacy of a close vote count in a key battleground state.
Either way, the Department must choose if it will remain silent or get involved in an action that would go well beyond its historic role of quietly monitoring elections and avoiding messages to voters.

Read this rest here.

Seriously....

I'm not even sure what to say about this. Is the Bush administration admitting an Obama victory already and trying to mess stuff up over there as much as possible? If so, what's next?

Is This What Implosion Looks Like?

McCain aides publicly displaying contempt for the VP pick, saying Palin is "going rogue"

Polling is showing virtual ties between Obama and McCain in states that have only gone Democratic once since 1940

McCain campaign workers are faking attacks against themselves in the most pathetic attempt yet at smearing Barack Obama. And Obama supporters really are being physically assaulted


But, Republicans, never fear. The election is far from over. Voting machines are still being used all over the country in favor of paper ballots, and problems persist. And when the election does go in favor of McCain, police nationwide will be prepared. And don't forget about the US Army...

Who called it??

Everyone with a brain. That Pennsylvania woman made up the bumper sticker attack. Here's 23/6 continuing their story.

Troy Davis Granted Another Stay of Execution

One more time the execution of Troy Davis is put on hold. This is the third time he has been within days of the deed. (Last month he came within two hours.) He was scheduled to die Monday night. Today the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has halted it and ordered briefs from both sides to consider if Davis can prove his innocence.
From the Associated Press. And here's the story from CNN. And here's a translated Swiss article. And French. And more from France about our death penalty sitch.
Finally, here's the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Why is it so difficult for Troy Davis to get a court to hear evidence of his innocence? Learn about the rules to keep us safe in this new world of terror, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. Thanks to Bill Clinton for being tough on crime.
And beyond that, Georgia has some issues. And Chatham County is special even for Georgia.

Mugged by an Obama Supporter????

A Pennsylvania, I mean swing state, woman was apparently attacked because of her McCain-Palin bumper sticker this week at an ATM. Except the ATM camera didn't catch the attack happen and she refused medical treatment. And the attacker was able to carve a near perfect "B" into the struggling woman's face. Except for the fact that is was backwards. Almost as if it was carved while looking in a mirror. By someone too stupid to understand mirrors. Oh, and the attacker was a scary six and a half foot tall black man.

Did You Ever Wonder What ACLU People Look Like?

They are cute as little buttons.

A Public Letter of Resignation

from a hedge-fund manager.
Found by my friend who reads Bloomberg.com. Here's more on that guy who wrote the letter, from last winter.

Naomi Klein with Stephen Colbert

Will She Wear Her Donkey Scarf?

Jim Tharpe in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that the tight race between Saxby Chambliss, the incumbent Republican senator of Georgia, and the Democratic challenger, Jim Martin, could bring a lot of national attention.

“This becomes the center of the universe for the next four weeks if Georgia is the 60th seat,” said University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock said Wednesday. “You’ll have Barack Obama campaigning here. You’ll have Sarah Palin campaigning here.”

Movie Time

Steal Back Your Vote! from Greg Palast on Vimeo.

King of the World?

The Obama campaign has now officially brought in more money in donations than the movie Titanic brought in in box office revenues...

It's the Christmas and New Year's Eve of October

You know next Friday is Halloween, but did you know this Friday is Take Back Your Time Day? And early voting has started in Georgia. Enjoy!

Science says...

I don't keep the cleanest house...

W. and Religulous

Not much of the Bush presidency is none of our business, but Oliver Stone goes right to those places and sets up camp in W. We are treated to possible daydreams and imagined re-enactments of interactions with his father, mother, brother, wife, pastor, friends, and inner White House circle. The treatment is as invasive and personal as an Enquirer article and as shallow, sympathetic, and pointless as a Hallmark special. It really doesn’t matter to America that Bush choked on a pretzel or that he has father issues. (Both things could have been true for George Washington or Ghandi for all I know.) Those things are not what make this president different. Oliver Stone has interesting and pertinent things to say in interviews; he’d have been more fun and more useful just speaking into the camera for two hours or putting news clips together.
What makes George W. Bush so special? If it’s an unwavering certainty in his own judgments and beliefs, Bill Maher takes the problem on much more directly and effectively in Religulous. Maher takes us on a tour, questioning various religious convictions with a non-believer’s uncertainty. Uncertainty leads to curiosity. Curiosity leads to questioning. Questioning leads to new ideas and learning. This is the train that George Bush refuses to ride because he won’t get out of the Throne that shoots up to Heaven. He is snuggled in tight on Jesus’ lap and all he needs to do to stay safe is not pull on His beard.
Maher talks to believers who are hopeful for rapture, the end of the world, in their (and our) lifetimes. This is where faith doesn’t mix well with military authority. Especially if that military includes world-ending devices.

HE DID IT!!!

Colin Powell just endorsed Barack Obama on Meet the Press!!! "Questions about the direction the party has moved..." "McCain a little unsure how to deal with" the economic problems... "Concerned" about selection of Palin... Obama displayed a "steadiness"... Obama "has a definitive way of doing business that would serve us well" "Disappointed" by some of McCain's approaches (not angry, just disappointed)... McCain has gone "too far" with Bill Ayers... Obama "is not a Muslim" but why should that even be a problem... "This is not the way we should be doing it in America..." "We have got to stop polarizing ourselves..." "Which is the one we need now?"

I had to?

Obama Finally Makes My Dial Go Up

At least I hope it was Obama. Here he totally answer-dominates Joe the Plumber.



But he really needs to correct himself where he says revenue of $250,000 or more. I think he means income. He's going to scare a lot of small businesses.

Read his tax plan here. Here's a teaser: CUTTING TAXES BELOW THE LEVEL UNDER RONALD REAGAN WHILE RESTORING FISCAL
RESPONSIBILITY

Thank You, David Letterman

G. Gordon Liddy is the "mastermind" behind the Watergate break-in. His page on the RadioAmerica website (he's also a talk show host) brags, "The G-Man has also been a high Treasury official, a White House aide and a maximum security prisoner."
He also hosted a fundraiser at his house for John McCain. David Letterman knows this and for some reason thinks it's ok to ask about it.

Next Supreme Court Justice from Georgia?

There's talk that Obama might pick Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice, Leah Ward Sears.
She wrote the dissenting opinion when the Court refused to hear witness recantations in Davis v the State: "The majority cites case law stating that recantations may be considered only if the recanting witness's trial testimony is shown to be the 'purest fabrication.' To the extent that this phrase cautions that trial testimony should not be lightly disregarded, it has obvious merit. However, it should not corrupted into a categorical rule that new evidence in the form of recanted testimony can never be considered, no matter how trustworthy it might appear. If recantation testimony, either alone or supported by other evidence, shows convincingly that prior trial testimony was false, it simply defies all logic and morality to hold that it must be disregarded categorically."

My Two Dads

Terrorist Ties

Remember that Bill Ayers guy that Barack Obama used to "pal around with" 20 years ago? If that association makes Obama a bad choice for President, what can we say about John McCain now that he has chosen William Timmons to head his presidential transition team? But who is William Timmons? He only lobbied ON BEHALF OF Saddam Hussein....

Thank You Sacramanto GOP

What the Supreme Court Should Have Considered

Troy Anthony Davis v the State of Georgia
CAPITAL CASE
QUESTION PRESENTED
Mr. Davis’ request for an evidentiary hearing to
examine his new innocence evidence sharply split the
Supreme Court of Georgia. Since Mr. Davis’ murder
conviction, seven of nine State witnesses have recanted their
trial testimony, and several new witnesses have identified or
implicated a different individual, Redd Coles, as the shooter.
A bare majority of four Georgia Supreme Court Justices
denied Mr. Davis’ motion for new trial and evidentiary
hearing, citing a procedural requirement that witness
recantations could never be material unless extrinsic evidence
could show that the trial testimony of each recanting witness
was the “purest fabrication” and that each piece of new
evidence, standing alone, could prove Petitioner’s innocence.
Three of the seven justices argued that this case illustrates that
the State’s procedures for motions for new trial based on new
evidence are “overly rigid and fail[] to allow an adequate
inquiry into the fundamental question, which is whether or
not an innocent person might have been convicted or even, in
this case, might be put to death.” App. A at 17a.

The questions presented are:
1. Does the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
create a substantive right of the innocent not to be executed so
as to invoke the procedural requirements of the Due Process
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
when substantial evidence of innocence is discovered?
2. Alternatively, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment protects State-created liberty interests when State
law mandates a decision favorable to an individual based on a
set of substantive predicates. Georgia law creates an
Extraordinary Motion for New Trial that mandates a new trial
based on newly-discovered evidence if the defendant can
show that the new evidence meets six substantive predicates.
Does Georgia’s Extraordinary Motion for New Trial create a
liberty interest protected by procedural due process?
3. If either the Eighth Amendment or Georgia law creates a
liberty interest protected by the Due Process Clause, does the
Supreme Court of Georgia’s failure to grant an evidentiary
hearing to review the cumulative substance and credibility of
Mr. Davis’ admissible new innocence evidence violate the
procedural requirements of the Due Process Clause?

From the ACLU:
When it comes to the death penalty, innocence should never have to be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. We must not execute a human being if there is any legitimate chance that he is innocent.
---

The Court stayed Troy Davis's execution to consider hearing the cop-killing death penalty case, but then declined to hear it. Doesn't the fact that they stayed the execution indicate some shadow of doubt? Enough for a trial or hearing to consider the new evidence of his innocence before he is executed?

And from Friends of Justice:
Unless there is proof, with “no doubt of any kind,” that a witness’ trial testimony was “the purest fabrication” no relief can be granted.
That’s a mighty high hurdle. In the absence of physical evidence, how can you ever prove that a witness had it wrong in 1991 and has now got it right? All things being equal, the original testimony will be given greater weight by appeals courts because it was closer to the date of the alleged crime and therefore more likely to be reliable.
What if it is asserted that the recanting witness was coerced into testifying falsely. But how can we evaluate this claim? It would require a hearing to establish that (a) a coercion claim is being made, and a hearing can’t be granted unless all doubt about the veracity of the original testimony has already been removed. Even then, when law enforcement swears that witnesses weren’t coerced, we would be left with a he-said-she-said stand off. The mere fact that law enforcement says witnesses testified freely casts some doubt on the claim of coercion. And some doubt, no matter how little, is all you need to uphold a conviction.
---

Seven recantations but none ever heard in court. See the man who the officer died trying to help tell his story of that night and how the police obtained his statement. As of June 2007, 82% of Georgia police departments have no written policy on how to collect eyewitness evidence using live or photographic lineups. Read some recantations and stories of how the first statements were obtained.

Stephen Colbert interviews an exonoree.

Let Joe the Plumber Vote!

Will Ohio purge Joe from the voter rolls?

Is It Okay to Execute Innocent Citizens? The Supreme Court Isn't Going to Think About It.

Supreme Court refuses to hear Troy Davis case.

From Alternet:

This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider the case of Georgia death row prisoner Troy Anthony Davis, giving the go-ahead for his execution. The Court's decision came mere weeks after it blocked Davis's execution at the last minute so that the justices could examine his appeal, something they were scheduled to do six days later anyway. Davis was less than two hours away from the death chamber on September 23, when the Court intervened; it was the second time Davis had come within hours of death; last summer, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole granted a temporary reprieve based on overwhelming evidence of his possible innocence. Among other factors, seven out of nine eyewitnesses who testified against Davis at trial have since recanted, with some saying they were coerced by the police. Of the two who have not recanted, one, a man named Sylvester Coles is said by many to be the real murderer.

More coverage:
The Associated Press ABC Christian Science Monitor The New York Times Time CNN The Guardian The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
and more and more- thanks to x_3mta3.

Should Augusta Build a New Stadium?

Harold Jones questions the proposal in the Metro Spirit:

Proponents will say the key is getting persons outside of this area to come to the game. OK, let me ask a question: How many Augustans travel to Rome, Ga., to watch their minor-league team play, and how many Augustans go to Greenville, S.C., to watch their minor-league team play? You just don’t have thousands of people running up and down the highway watching minor-league baseball. Heck, the Falcons game (and they are winning) was half-full on Sunday.

Said the Dragon Quite Racistly...

Man, CNN is sooooo liberal. Or is that just someone thinking clearly?

Compare How Tax Plans Would Affect You

It's a calculator! Punch in your numbers and see what you (or hypotheticals) would pay according to both candidates' plans.

What About Acorn?

Zachary Roth writes about Acorn for Talking Points Memo:

It's also worth noting that similar allegations were made against ACORN in the last few election cycles, and several investigations were conducted, none of which found evidence of widespread voter fraud. Many of these were conducted by US attorneys, who were pressured by GOP political figures to investigate the issue, then fired after they failed to come up with sufficient evidence.

Ouch.

Remember that scene in Full Metal Jacket with the soap?

Do We Really Want a President Who Dabbles in Prophesizing?

Obama back in July predicting how the McCain campaign would go:



Only one who practices the Dark Arts could correctly guess the moves of a Maverick.

Too Old to Vote

Last week John Stossel suggested that increasing voter turnout among the youth was a bad idea. The youth respond.

Palin "Cheered" at Photo Op

Sarah Palin dropped the puck at the Philadelphia Flyers hockey game the other night. Well, it was more of a photo op than actually starting the game. And she was booed so loudly by the fans that they had to turn the music up in the arena to drown out the booing:

Voter Fraud Sure Is Newsworthy

All of a sudden. A lot of people thought election fraud was pretty ding-dang interesting eight years ago and four years ago.

Watch a video of a Republican making silly jokes about voter suppression.



Watch a programmer talk about making the voting machines flip votes.

I Can't Help It Either

We're all worried. Auf wiedersehen.

Terrorists for Jesus?

Somewhere in America, two nuns have been placed on terror watch lists for anti-war protest activities. The problem is that the two Roman Catholics did not attend the protests the state police apparently used as justification to add them to the list. The two have spent time in prison for their anti-war activities in the past however. What did they do?

On Oct. 6, 2002, the two sisters and another nun - armed with bolt cutters, a hammer and baby bottles filled with their own blood - broke into an unmanned Minuteman III missile site in northeastern Colorado and painted bloody crosses on the silo. It was the day before the one-year anniversary of the war in Afghanistan.

When was the last time you went to such great lengths for something you believed in?

Ethics

McCain-Palin ticket first ever national ticket in which both candidates were found guilty of ethics violations BEFORE the election.

Oh, and speaking of ethics violations:

Despite being in ruin as a company, Wachovia still manages to loan $8 million to the GOP?

And finally, some comedic relief: a dramatic reading of the minutes from a Wasilla, AK town hall meeting

Troy Davis Update

Apparently we're now waiting until Tuesday...

Seriously?

I don't even know how to respond to this? What's happening to our country?

A Cartoon by Mr. Fish

More Palin Bashing

I just can't help it. I'm sorry.

Liberal Media

Does it strike anyone else as odd, that the "liberal" media outlet, CNN, is focusing their main story right now on Sarah Palin's comments attacking Barack Obama's pro-choice stance, rather than the much more important story of the Alaska legislature finding her guilty of abusing power, which broke less than 24 hours ago? For comparison's sake, the Fox News website is currently featuring a story about the US taking North Korea off of the list of terror sponsors.

Automatic for the People

My friend talked about living in a shack, eating rice and getting high. It sounded kind of nice once he said high. Since there are threats that more Americans may start living in shacks, should we think about letting people have some relief?

Supreme Court Decision Not Delivered as Expected

Watch CBS Videos Online

The Supreme Court did not deliver a decision Friday on whether they will hear the Troy Davis case. Friday, October 10, was coincidentally the European Day Against the Death Penalty.
Nations with 25 or more executions in 2007: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and USA.

PALIN GUILTY!!!!!!!!!

Sarah Palin has been found guilty of abusing power as Alaska governor! Court document here.

Sarah Palin on the Economy

Sarah Palin spoke to reporters on the campaign plane on Tuesday. An excerpt from Fox News:
Americans are caring about the problems in the economy of course And wanting to know what those long term solutions are that our ticket can provide and what the other ticket is proposing so when you talk though about what it is that we are proposing and what it is that Barack Obama is proposing again it is relevant to connect that association that he has with Ayers- not so much he as a person Ayers, but the whole situation and the truthfulness and the judgment there that you must question if again he's not being forthright in all of his answers as to how did you know him, when did you know him, why would you continue to be associated with him?

Governor Palin, let's try a multiple choice economy question. As mayor, which of these would you consider deserving of public funds: rape exams, redecorating the mayor's office, or a multi-million dollar, publicly/privately-owned sports arena?

Network

One of the greatest movie monologues of all time, and it's horribly relevant 32 year later...

How Do We Vote in Augusta?

John McCain got 5180 votes from Richmond County in the primaries. Barack Obama won 20,396. Joe Biden 40. (Dennis Kucinich 47.)
Columbia County voted for McCain 6426 times. Obama got 5402 votes and Hillary Clinton 3568.

The Army Is Here.

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now writes about the army's new mission right here in the USA. Army Times calls it the same mission as in Iraq but "with a twist- at home."

Troy Davis and the Media at Large

I'm guessing that the previously reported information indicating that the Supreme Court was not going to hear the case came from a reporter somewhere assuming that since his case was not on the list of appeals that would be heard by the Court, released Monday, the case wouldn't be dealt with at all. Which leads into a rant on how the media in this country won't bother to research anything any more. The media is too lazy or apathetic to ask questions and get to the bottom of stories. They take what the government hands them and take it as God's word holy truth. This story from WGCL quotes CNN as reporting that the Supreme Court wouldn't intervene. The Atlanta based station didn't bother doing it's own fact checking. It just borrowed from another news source. Or at least attributed it to another news source. I could not find anywhere on CNN saying that the Supreme Court had rejected the case. The only national news programs that seem interested in actually digging into the truth are Countdown with Keith Olberman, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and the Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert. Note that two of those run on COMEDY CENTRAL. Here is Keith Olberman's Special Comment from last night's episode regarding the McCain campaign, and specifically Sarah Palin's, attacks against Barack Obama:

Davis Case-- Supreme Court meeting Friday

The Supreme Court will now meet in private on Friday to consider Troy Davis' case.

Will the Supreme Court Consider a Suspicious Georgia Execution?

It looks like the Supreme Court has yet to decide if they will hear the case of Troy Davis v. The State of Georgia. the court ordered an emergency stay of the execution on Sepember 23 less than two hours before the scheduled lethal injection to consider whether or not to hear the appeal. Troy Davis was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer in Savannah. No physical evidence linked Davis to the killing, and of the nine witness testimonies used to convict, seven have been recanted, some citing police coercion. One of the two unrecanted testimonies comes from the lead alternate suspect. The other is from a man who first identified Troy Davis in the courtroom years after telling police on the night of the shooting that he "wouldn't recognize [the assailant or the two other men] again except for their clothes."

Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart

Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart

No Friends

Doesn't look like John McCain is having a very easy time making friends these days, even in his own party....

Solution?

Apparently all people have to do now to get out of their bad mortgages is attempt suicide...

America's Most Wanted

Why is it that the FBI does not list anything from September 11th in its reasoning for putting Osama bin Laden on their most wanted list?