Archive for April, 2007

Inefficient Lightblubs Banned In Canada By 2012

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Economy, Environment

Personally, I think this is a brilliant idea, but I know people will start crying “Nanny State” if any politician brings it up. Or maybe, just maybe, we’ll be okay with paying a few extra dollars for new lightbulbs if it can significantly cut down on energy consumption.
One can hope.
From the Montreal Gazette:
Ontario announced earlier [...]

April 25th, 2007 | Permalink| 12 Comments »

An Opening On Iran?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Foreign Policy

Bush said no, then said yes…
said Tuesday that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might have one-on-one talks with Iranian leaders at an international conference on Iraq next month, but that Tehran’s nuclear program would not be on the table.
In an interview, Bush initially appeared to rule out any contact with Iran, a member of [...]

April 24th, 2007 | Permalink| No Comments »

Politico Stretches On Giuliani Remarks

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, The War On Terrorism, War

Some may even call it ‘lying’, but the website reports that Rudy talked about how electing a Dem President means a ‘new 9/11.’
Read this story and tell me if you can find Rudy suggesting anything like that.
I certainly didn’t…
The former New York City mayor, currently leading in all national polls for the Republican nomination [...]

April 24th, 2007 | Permalink| 8 Comments »

Great New Blog: Reality Check

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Blogging

I was sent a link a couple days ago calling my attention to Reality Check, a new, non-partisan blog that looks at inconsistencies on both sides of the aisle.
So I took a look and the site looks great, it’s updated almost daily and I’ve added them to both my blogroll and my newsreader.
I’d [...]

April 24th, 2007 | Permalink| No Comments »

Habitable Planet Found?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Science

The temperature could be just right for liquid water. And where there’s liquid water, there could be life.
From Malaysia Sun:
An international team of astronomers from Switzerland, France and Portugal have discovered the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date.
The planet has a radius only 50 percent larger than Earth and is very likely [...]

April 24th, 2007 | Permalink| 13 Comments »

Why Bush Won’t Fire Gonzales

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in General Politics, Law

Okay, dime store psychologist time.
The GOP wants Alberto to leave. But he won’t. And I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that the President isn’t going to ask him to leave either. Why? Well, take a look at these two paragraphs and I’ll followup with my thoughts after.
From MSNBC:
“He’s done something I didn’t think possible. He’s [...]

April 24th, 2007 | Permalink| 9 Comments »

9 Troops Dead In Baghdad Suicide Bombing

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in War

This represents the deadliest attack for our forces in over a year. Not only that, it happened very close to the Green Zone. And across the country, 48+ Iraqis were killed in other bombings.
MSNBC has more.

April 24th, 2007 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Is Sarbanes-Oxley Outdated?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Economy, History

Both Oxley and Sarbanes, the politicians who wrote the legislation, say yes.
Find out more.

April 23rd, 2007 | Permalink| 3 Comments »

Honoring The Troops

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Smart Things Said By Smart People, War

A good point by one of our soldiers in Afghanistan:
An Army sergeant complained in a rare opinion article that the U.S. flag flew at half-staff last week at the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan for those killed at Virginia Tech but the same honor is not given to fallen U.S. troops here and in Iraq.
In [...]

April 23rd, 2007 | Permalink| 3 Comments »

Will nobody blink?

By Sean Aqui | Related entries in Foreign Policy, Iraq, Legislation, Military, Money, News

I realize that escalating rhetoric often has little to do with what will finally happen, but the bellicosity displayed in the Bush/Congress set-to over Iraq funding is pretty remarkable.
Defying a fresh veto threat, the Democratic-controlled Congress will pass legislation within days requiring the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq beginning Oct. 1, with a [...]

April 23rd, 2007 | Permalink| 7 Comments »

Gay Marriage Coming To New York

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Law, Sexuality

That’s right. Not civil unions. Marriage.
From the NY Times:
Gov. Eliot Spitzer will introduce a bill in the coming weeks to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, his spokeswoman said Friday, a move that would propel New York to the forefront of one of the most contentious issues in politics.
Though he has long voiced support for [...]

April 23rd, 2007 | Permalink| 9 Comments »

Cho Shouldn’t Have Been Able To Purchase Guns

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Guns and Ammo, Law

If the laws had been followed, it look as if this crisis could have been averted.
From the NY Times:
WASHINGTON, April 20 � Under federal law, the Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho should have been prohibited from buying a gun after a Virginia court declared him to be a danger to himself in late 2005 and [...]

April 23rd, 2007 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

Liberalism: The Root Of Current Evil?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Guns and Ammo, Partisan Hacks

*sigh*
So, the meme that a couple on the right are trying to start after the tragedy at VTech is “Did a liberal college education enable, encourage and inform Cho’s psychotic rage?” I would hope that any rational person would agree that Cho was A) mentally unstable and therefore should have B) been heavily medicated or [...]

April 22nd, 2007 | Permalink| 6 Comments »

Torture In Iraq

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Foreign Policy, War

But it’s not us. It’s the Iraqi Army we’ve trained.
From NY Times:
In one of the new joint American-Iraqi security stations in the capital this month, in the volatile Ghazaliya neighborhood, Capt. Darren Fowler was heaping praise on his Iraqi counterparts for helping capture three insurgent suspects who had provided information he believed would save American [...]

April 22nd, 2007 | Permalink| 7 Comments »

Bush’s Legacy: Nobody Trusts US

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Foreign Policy, Polls, The World

The following represents one of the more damning polls I’ve seen about our administration’s lack of care for our global image. And image does matter, because when it tumbles in the global gutter our credibility as the beacon of freedom goes with it.
Yes, the global community is calling BS on the “you’re either with us [...]

April 20th, 2007 | Permalink| 8 Comments »

But…Maybe Cho Seung-Hui Was Just Nuts

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Cartoons, Guns and Ammo

With all the different theories floating around out there right now about why Cho did what he did…I think the comic that Reason offers today has the most logical explanation.
Hop on over.

April 20th, 2007 | Permalink| No Comments »

78% Want Amnesty For Illegals

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Economy, Immigration, Legislation, Polls

Wow. That number surprised me, but it’s not a surprising notion. Americans understand the want to lead a better life.
Still, can we do this before we have better border security?
From USA Today:
WASHINGTON � While Congress and the White House remain divided over what to do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the [...]

April 20th, 2007 | Permalink| 11 Comments »

When Will Iraq Army Stand Up?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Military, The World, War

Especially since a new story reports that training them isn’t one of our priorities now.
From McClatchy:
WASHINGTON – Military planners have abandoned the idea that standing up Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon and now believe that U.S. troops will have to defeat the insurgents and secure control of troubled [...]

April 20th, 2007 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Goodbye Alberto

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in General Politics, Law

Today’s hearing was disastrous for the Attorney General. Senate Republicans were hinting that he should quit left and right.
Take Jeff Sessions (R-AL) for example:
“At this point, I think (Gonzales) should be given a chance to think it through and talk to the president about what his future should be,” Sessions said, adding that he was [...]

April 19th, 2007 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

Blogger Predicts VA Tech Shooting In March?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Blogging, Guns and Ammo, History

Loren Coleman wrote the following on March 28…
Here is my prediction of what to expect in the next two months: There will be new school shootings with increased violent outcomes by “outsiders.” Plots will be discovered, and students, especially girls and women, will be targets, victimized by adults using the vulnerable landscape of schools to [...]

April 19th, 2007 | Permalink| 2 Comments »