Let's run the numbers

Out of town I was in Denver last week. I've not had time to get up to speed on the latest Karl Rove revelations, or the latest Supreme Court news. Hopefully soon. Of late I've spent a lot of time listening to RTE News from the Irish Republic. It's escapism pure and simple. Local news isn't as important as U.S. foreign policy, or domestic policy when that causes espionage and treason, but sometimes I just cannot stand our news. Especially when we're talking about the president's senior political advisor blowing the cover of a CIA agent for political payback. Does anyone remember when Dick Morris was one of Bill Clinton's political advisors, and he was caught sucking the toes of a whore? Remember the outcry? And he wasn't even the deputy chief of staff? Like Bob Dole, I'm asking "Where is the outrage?" Anyway, since I was in Denver, and everyone on here who has been around for a while knows I like to eat, here are a few favorite pl...

What's the deal with Bandar? You know, Bandar bin Sultan, Ambassador from Saudi Arabia to the US? The guy the Bushes call "Bandar Bush"? Has he resigned ? BBC said he has. But then Saudi sources have said that he will return to work at the end of August. The International Herald Tribune sums it up pretty well. Bandar is not in Washington. King Fahd has been in poor health since he had a stroke in 1995 (I think) and the kingdom is under the de facto caretaker rule by Crown Prince Abdullah. Fahd had a case of pneumonia that put him in hospital recently, and has been declining. If King Fahd dies, Abdullah becomes king. Prince Sultan, Prince Bandar's father, becomes Crown Prince. Abdullah, like Fahd, is in his eighties. I'm not sure about the age of Prince Sultan. Bandar may be angling to become intelligence chief or defense chief (the position currently held by his father) to increase his chances of becoming Crown Prince, and King eventually. Or, Banda...

New to the blogroll This blogger is great, even if just for the Friday Nudibranch Blogging. Get your minds out of the gutter and check out the sea slug! Bouphonia: Friday Nudibranch Blogging

PBS and bias I've been following the PBS/NPR/Corporation for Public Broadcasting kerflufle for a few days. Basically, the chairman of CPB, Ken Tomlinson, hired a consultant to provide a report to him about liberal bias in PBS and NPR programs. Also, his report analyzed whether or not the shows were favorable of the Bush administration or not. I can almost understand wanting to make sure reporting was truthful, factual, and unbiased. But when they start rating shows based on favorability to the Bush administration, they stepped way over the line. PBS is not a propaganda outlet for the Bush administration. They've already got Fox News, for crying out loud. To prepare a report like this means that the administration may be trying to turn them into one.This and the recent appointment of Patricia S. Harrison , former Undersecretary of State and former Republican Party co-chair, as head of PBS, call the future of PBS and CPB into question. The Corporation was set up to shield...

Karl Rove source of Valerie Plame leak This according to Editor and Publisher, who quote Lawrence O'Donnell on the McLaughlin Group. It's just sad, really. We've got an administration that doesn't really care about policy, good government, or national security. All they care about is what is useful for them now. In this case, national security went by the wayside to extract political payback, "don't fuck with us" points. MSNBC Analyst Says Cooper Documents Reveal Karl Rove as Source in Plame Case : "NEW YORK Now that Time Inc. has turned over documents to federal court, presumably revealing who its reporter, Matt Cooper, identified as his source in the Valerie Plame/CIA case, speculation runs rampant on the name of that source, and what might happen to him or her. Tonight, on the syndicated McLaughlin Group political talk show, Lawrence O'Donnell, senior MSNBC political analyst, claimed to know that name--and it is, according to him, to...