For the past two months, Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, has assailed Democratic challenger Rep. Sherrod Brown, of Avon, for opposing the Patriot Act and voting throughout the 1990s to trim spending for national intelligence.
But on Wednesday, Brown was one of 34 Democrats who joined 219 Republicans to approve a bill backed by President Bush that would create military tribunals to try suspected terrorists. The measure is opposed by many Democrats because they worry that it violates the rights of the accused.
In a statement released by his aides, Brown said, “This compromise is supported by Sen. John McCain, a former POW who fought to ensure that this tribunal lives up to our national standards on human rights. Unlike President Bush’s plan, this compromise measure prohibits the degrading treatment of detainees and specifically lists the types of behaviors that are banned in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.”
Brown’s vote prompted a zinger from DeWine spokesman Brian Seitchik: “For a guy who so often votes with the political fringe, Congressman Brown has chosen a noteworthy time to vote with the majority.”
Thanks to a tip from my Dad, I found out Bush will arrive at Port Columbus at 4:25 today for a Deborah Pryce fundraiser in New Albany and leave at 6 something. The event is being held at the home of Limited Brands (which includes Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Express) founder and CEO Leslie Wexner and his wife Abigail. Wexner is the 188th richest man in America, worth $3.1 billion. Practically a perfect Republican!
Isn’t it odd that he always comes during rush hour? It’s very convenient for the city, having to close down 1/4 of its main interstate during rush hour. Not that anyone in Columbus commutes to work thanks to our stellar public transportation system. That was sarcasm, by the way. And it’s not like the commuting minions who will be inconvenienced are potential donors anyway, so who cares?
Does this seem like deja vu? That’s because it’s only been a few months since Bush’s last visit/traffic nightmare. Only this time it’s New Albany instead of Powell. Big difference.
Why no fundraisers or appearances in the Hilltop area? Or Linden? Afraid of inciting a riot? Just don’t want to see the poor people you’ve been screwing over?
FYI, New Albany is probably the richest part of Columbus. Well, maybe tied with Dublin, but it’s smaller. It’s the headquarters of Abercrombie & Fitch if that tells you anything. It’s gotta be nothing but Bush supporters and they’ll probably all drive their Hummers to the big event.
I find it very interesting that Pryce has been doing everything possible to distance herself from Bush — putting “Independent” all over her ads for example — but now that she’s getting money from him they’re best friends again.
::sigh:: Oh Deborah, enjoy it while it lasts, Kilroy will be there before you know it!
Where to even start with this one? For starters, you need to see their commercial to truly understand the ridiculousness of the whole thing. If you’re not in Columbus and haven’t had the pleasure of being barraged by this load of crap every day, here it is:
These people want to kill us. Whether called Al-Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, they’re terrorists who want to kill everyone who don’t submit to their extreme ideology, submit to a system where women have no rights, where innocent civilians are political pawns.
Many seem to have forgotten the evil that happened only five years ago.
They would cut and run in the Middle East, leaving Al-Qaeda to attack us again.
Many times before 9/11, Al-Qaeda attacked America, and we took little action: the first World Trade Center bombing, our embassies, the USS Cole.
But after 9/11, we struck back, destroying Al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq. Terrorists like Zarqawi who want to kill us.
Now, we have narrowly escaped “another 9/11,” using proven surveillance that some would stop.
The War on Terror is a war for our country’s freedom, security and survival.
Are you freakin’ kidding me??!! Let’s break this thing down a bit.
“Whether called Al-Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, they’re terrorists who want to kill everyone who don’t submit to their extreme ideology” So all Muslims are terrorists and they all want to kill us, and by removing their government and letting them fall into Civil War we are alleviating this problem? What about the Americans who don’t submit to the NeoCon’s extreme ideology? We’ve seen what happens then. And what about Israeli terrorists? Why are they excused from all this?
“Many seem to have forgotten the evil that happened only five years ago” — and that’s relevent to the Iraq War… how, exactly? The supposed terrorists were from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, and Lebanon, not Iraq. There is absolutely no connection between 9/11 and Iraq, get over it.
“Submit to a system where women have no rights” You mean like the women of South Dakota who can’t have an abortion? Or the women in this country who happen to love other women but can’t legally marry and have the same legal protections as straight couples? What about the fact women make only 75 cents to every dollar that men make? Why don’t we work on women’s rights here first.
“Proven surveillance that some would stop” Too bad that surveillance is ILLEGAL! Seriously. It’s called Amendment IV, read it sometime.
“A war for our country’s freedom, security and survival” Oh if only we really had security and all the freedoms provided by our Constitution…
This whole ad is abhorrent enough but then you have to remember the fact that this piece of crap is being shown on just about every station at any given time. I was babysitting a 9 year old this weekend, we were watching Animal Planet. Should’ve been safe for kids, yes? But nope, this PFA crap showed up there to. I had to tell her not to look or listen to it, then I was even more pissed because she was subjected to it.
Pretty simply, this is just another example of scaring people into voting Republican. Pretty sad when that’s all you have left to offer voters.
So here’s my reply: yeah, “these people” do want to kill us. But Progress for America’s got the wrong people in their commercial.
Take steps to raise funds for suicide prevention, erase the stigma surrounding suicide and its causes, encourage those suffering from mental illness to seek treatment, and to show support and provide hope for the families and friends of the 30,000 Americans who die by suicide and the 20 million people suffering from depression each year. In Ohio, suicide takes three lives every single day.
I’ve been thinking about this whole Iran thing. As usual, I can’t understand the Bush administration’s logic behind going to war with them. Aside from the fact that, like the other wars we’re currently waging, we don’t have the money, soldiers, or moral justification to add a third war to our list.
The main argument for war on Iran is that they’re developing nuclear technology, claiming it’s for civilian purposes but others think it’s a cover-up for the real goal of a nuclear weapon, right? But WE think Iran can’t be trusted with this story [and our opinion is the only one in the world that matters] so WE want to take it upon ourselves and bomb every single suspected nuclear development site with complete disregard for the civilian population. Okay fine, I got that. Why communicate with words when you can just drop a bomb instead? Diplomacy is silly. Plus the U.S. government has already labeled all Iranians terrorists and “we don’t negotiate with terrorists.” See, if you attach the “T” word onto someone/something/entire countries, it’s basically a “Get out of diplomacy FREE” card. Or a “Go directly to WAR” card. Whichever you prefer.
My problem lies in the U.S. picking and choosing when to apply their reasoning. If their reason is the development of nuclear weapons shouldn’t we attack India? Pakistan? Israel? Saudi Arabia? North Korea? What about our own weapons of mass destruction? We have 5,735 active nuclear warheads stockpiled and we’re the only nation that has used nuclear weapons on another country, that seems pretty suspicious and dangerous to me. Does it possibly have something to do with who has oil and who doesn’t? Or who is a business partner and who isn’t? Or who is Muslim and who isn’t? What am I missing in the equation?
I’m posting the text of an email I received regarding the fight for support and funding for AmeriCorps, Learn & Serve, and the Senior Corps national service programs. Today is the big outreach day where all supporters are urged to contact their congressional leaders and fight for AmeriCorps.
AmeriCorps is worth saving for so many reasons!!
Though it’s a government program, AmeriCorps members pick up where the government fails and critical needs aren’t being met, i.e. Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, K-12 education programs, after-school programs, HIV/AIDS prevention education, and so much more.
The funding needed is a drop in the bucket compared to the trillions spent on war. Assuming my math is correct, right now the budget for National Service is one fifth of one percent of the Defense Department’s budget. I can’t even imagine what change would come to this country if the budgets were to be reversed: $851 million for the Defense Department, $439 BILLION for National Service, what a dream!
From Voices for National Service: September 14th, National Service Hill Day, is finally here! Today provides the opportunity for advocates from around the country to meet with their Congressional representatives in Washington, D.C. about the impact of AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America, and the Senior Corps in their communities.
For those of us who are unable to make it to D.C., today is still an important opportunity to make our voices heard about the power of service-learning and the value of Learn and Serve America. Participate in the effort on the Hill by calling your Senators and Representatives at the Washington offices. Please click here to find out who represents you and view their contact information.
When you call, inform the person answering the phone that you’re a constituent and ask to speak with the education staff member. Click here to refer to talking points about the program and its appropriations and feel free to use the enclosed script as a guide if you’re leaving a message on voice-mail or if the staff or receptionist is in a rush. Please click here to review the script. Remember to personalize your message and highlight how national service has impacted your organization, your program, the youth and families you serve, and yourself, if applicable.
The new features include enhancements to the iTunes Store, specifically the addition of movie and TV video downloads. Is there an advantage to buying a movie through the iTunes Store? I have no idea, but I’m thinking that unless you have a video iPod, the answer is no. You can watch it on your computer and that’s it, unless you want to mess with the cables needed to hook up your computer to your TV. Since you can’t download the file to a playable DVD, what’s the point? I’m definitely far from sold on this concept.
There’s also a new viewing mode called “Cover Flow” which allows you to flip through the cover art of your library like you would flip through a book of CDs. The idea behind it is cool but pointless for me since 99% of my imported music comes from burned CDs and therefore have no associated cover art. Only about 3 out of 1,000 songs in my library had covers (see 2 of them below.) But perhaps I’m an exception and other people don’t have this problem?
The main thing I noticed is a change of interface appearance and grouping of sidebar items, but nothing drastic. It’s a little darker than before, more slate blue, less sky blue. I welcome the slight change of appearance since iTunes doesn’t have skins, it’s nice to look at something new. Which brings up a long-standing question, the Mac world touts customization right, so why not iTunes?
All in all, for me 7.0 doesn’t bring anything all that fabulous. What I’d really like to see is a customizable interface. Even if all that meant was a skin color palatte to choose from. And I’d REALLY love if CDs burned through iTunes actually had the song information burned with it. So many times I’ve brought a burned CD into work and had to type in all the song information again before importing it into my libary. Perhaps 8.0 will fulfill these remaining wishes…
