Birmingham Blues

This morning, Del sent me a link to this must-read article from Vanity Fair on the development of the Bush administration’s torture policy. It’s long, and I’m not even going to try to excerpt. Read the whole thing. I’ll warn you that you’re likely to come away nauseated and disgusted. If [...]

Lots of stuff going on in the world lately; not a lot of posting here. Chalk that up to crazy busy real life. I have been following the news, as I know you have, and one huge story is the declaration of martial law in Pakistan. It isn’t exactly a huge shock [...]

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington today released its third annual report “Beyond DeLay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and Two to Watch)”:

Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA)
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA)
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA)
[...]

The Larry Craig story continues to dominate the news, with more and more Republicans calling for his resignation.  I’d been wondering how they justified throwing him under the bus while DC Madam client Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) gets a pass from his colleagues.  Well, actually no, I wasn’t wondering.  It was bloody obvious.  I know [...]

Two years ago today, Katrina roared ashore and devastated a large part of the Gulf Coast.  The next day, I posted some pictures that still take my breath away.  Last year, the recovery had just begun.  Today, we’re further along, but we’re not there yet.
But much of New Orleans still looks like a wasteland, with [...]

As best I can tell from the article, the Board only banned state legislators from working in the two-year college system.  So, while I applaud the effort to end double-dipping, I wonder if it will hold up under a constitutional challenge.
The Alabama constitution isn’t exactly transparent when it comes to a lay person, so I’d appreciate any [...]

Diebold, unable to sell its electronic voting machine subsidiary and forced to slash revenue projections, has changed the name of the e-voting business to Premier Election Solutions.  Well, there you go — problem solved.  Or not.
“Rapidly evolving political uncertainties and controversies surrounding state and jurisdiction purchases of electronic voting systems” have hampered Diebold’s attempts to [...]

Go read.
We must impeach the President and Vice President of the United States, and we must begin proceedings to do so immediately, not just for the purpose of exacting a punitive remedy, but also toward enacting a vitally important preventive measure–one that may be the only available means by which to protect the country from [...]