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July 2008 - Posts

EPA turns a blind eye to Gulf of Mexico dead zone

Thursday, July 31, 2008 10:15 PM
Every year, agricultural runoff from Midwestern states pumps extraordinary amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus into the Mississippi River. These chemicals collect at the mouth of the river, in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. This causes
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Eddie Izzard on Pavlov's lesser-known cat experiments

Wednesday, July 30, 2008 10:56 PM
Because I feel like it, here's my favorite stand-up comedian, Eddie Izzard, discussing Pavlov's somewhat less well-known experiments with cats: The man's a genius. Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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David Neiwert on the TVUUC shooting

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 9:50 PM
David Neiwert, who has written extensively about eliminationist rhetoric from the right wing against liberals, had this to say about Sunday's tragedy in Knoxville: In reality, of course, rhetoric like this has historically played a critical role in some
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The day after

Monday, July 28, 2008 8:50 PM
Yesterday, a senseless act of non-random violence struck this city. A man, mad at the world and blaming liberals for his personal ills, targeted the innocent congregants of a progressive church in Knoxville, killing two and wounding seven. Like everyone
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Feel Good Friday: "Nowhere to Run"

Friday, July 25, 2008 9:39 AM
For this week's edition of Feel Good Friday, I thought I'd share some Martha and the Vandellas. Here's the classic "Nowhere to Run": Those ladies were one of the greatest acts Motown ever produced. For more of today's FGF, start here , here , and here
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Richard Holbrooke on Radovan Karadzic

Thursday, July 24, 2008 10:14 PM
Foreign Policy has a short but fascinating interview with former Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who was the chief architect of the 1995 Dayton Agreement , which ended the war in Bosnia. He discusses the recent arrest of the fugitive Serbian war criminal
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A new Church Committee?

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 10:29 PM
Salon has obtained a confidential memo written for certain members of Congress that outlines a proposal for an inquiry modeled on the Church Committee ; this modern version of Church would focus on the malfeasance of the Bush administration, and it hints
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Another day, another papal apology

Monday, July 21, 2008 10:48 PM
A couple of days ago, the Pope apologized again, this time in Sydney, for the Catholic Church's global sex abuse scandal : Speaking in Sydney, where he is participating in World Youth Day celebrations, the pontiff called the abuses 'a grave betrayal of
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The Sunday roundup for July 20, 2008

Sunday, July 20, 2008 11:05 AM
This week's TennViews roundup of Tennessee liberal bloggers is here . Topics cover Gore's speech, the dysfunctional TN GOP, assaults on abortion rights, dispatches from Netroots Nation, health care, bank stability, and the announcement of the new VW plant
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Feel Good Friday: "Mustang Sally"

Friday, July 18, 2008 11:54 AM
In the emerging tradition of Feel Good Friday , here's the Commitments' version of "Mustang Sally": That ought to make the day right. Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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Gore calls for totally clean electricity within 10 years

Thursday, July 17, 2008 9:50 PM
Today, Al Gore gave a speech at George Washington University in which he called for a massive push to transform our energy economy; he audaciously suggested that we can and must convert 100 percent of our electricity generation to clean sources within
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Two quotes of the day, both by Angela Davis

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:49 PM
I ran across these two quotes from Angela Davis , both of which bear remembering: First, on President Bush : When Bush says democracy, I often wonder what he's referring to. Then, dear Angela pretty much sums up our shallow culture's obsession with style
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EPA admits the problem, refuses to act

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 10:03 PM
A Supreme Court decision from 2007 ( PDF here ) mandated that the Environmental Protection Agency was required under the Clean Air Act to determine if anthropogenic carbon dioxide represents a threat to human health. In December, the EPA sent an email
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The phantom promise of offshore drilling

Monday, July 14, 2008 10:17 PM
Today, President Bush rescinded an executive order signed by his father which affirmed the ban on offshore oil drilling (with the exception of a small area off Southern California and a specific region of the Gulf of Mexico). The move was almost entirely
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The Sunday roundup for July 13, 2008

Sunday, July 13, 2008 11:25 AM
R. Neal has this week's edition of the Tennessee liberal blog roundup here . This week, it covers FISA, Phil Gramm, Fannie Mae, and most importantly, the Allman Brothers. Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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Taking the FISA fight to the next level

Thursday, July 10, 2008 9:50 PM
I've often thought that President Bush probably read " The Trial " and " 1984 " at some point and mistook them for how-to manuals. Today's signing of the FISA bill tends to support that theory. On the heels of yesterday's capitulation by the Senate on
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A silver lining?

Wednesday, July 09, 2008 8:15 PM
The Senate predictably caved today and passed the FISA reform bill, which included immunity for the telecommunications companies that had conspired with intelligence agencies to spy on Americans without warrant. Bruce Afran, an attorney representing plaintiffs
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Cheney's office tampered with testimony

Tuesday, July 08, 2008 8:50 PM
This is hardly shocking : Members of Vice President Cheney's staff censored congressional testimony by a top federal official on the health threats posed by global warming, a former Environmental Protection Agency official said today. In a letter to Sen.
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The weekly roundup for July 6, 2008

Sunday, July 06, 2008 12:05 PM
This week's roundup of Tennessee liberal bloggers is up. Check it out. The sort-of weekly roundup is also featured in today's paper edition of the Knoxville News-Sentinel. Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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Quote of the week (on fireworks)

Saturday, July 05, 2008 12:13 PM
Last night, an electrical storm threatened to cancel my family's annual July 4th fireworks extravaganza. We had everything ready to go: the launchers were set on the ground, and six of us sat in two trucks on top of a hill with the fireworks in covered
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Quote of the day (on Jonah Goldberg)

Wednesday, July 02, 2008 10:22 PM
The Anonymous Liberal said this about Jonah Goldberg : For reasons I cannot explain, big publications keep hiring Jonah Goldberg to write columns that make everyone dumber for having read them. That pretty much sums it up. Share this post: Email | del.icio.us
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Byron Dorgan, oil speculators, and the supply question

Tuesday, July 01, 2008 11:25 PM
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) is pushing for tighter regulation on oil speculators : Every day, 20 times more oil is traded than delivered. Because of the way energy trades are regulated (or not regulated), speculators control vast amounts of oil by putting
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