The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com

Dave Johnson: The Spying Started BEFORE September 11 - That's The Whole POINT

2008-07-06T03:45:15Z

In the LA Times today, A good-enough spy law,

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the White House directed telecommunications carriers to cooperate with its efforts to bolster intelligence gathering and surveillance -- the administration's effort to do a better job of "connecting the dots" to prevent terrorist attacks.

No, it started a few weeks after Bush took office - a time when the Bush administration was ignoring the terrorist threat. So it was about something else, and was a high enough priority to plan out during the transition. (Can you say "political spying?")

One telecom company, Qwest, refused because it was flat-out illegal. The Bush administration punished them, blocked federal contracts, and in an early indicator of what was to come from the politicized Bush Justice Department, they prosecuted Qwest's CEO on trumped-up charges.

The combination of the telecoms letting Bush illegally spy on us BEFORE September 11, and the politicized Bush Justice Department punishing the company that refused - refused because it was illegal - is the reason so many of us are so adamant that Democrats should not be passing a law giving these companies immunity. The President can't spy on people without warrants, and the telecoms knew that. They knew it was illegal to spy on us without warrants but they went along with it. Why? Why didn't they ask the Bush administration to just get warrants? And why would Democrats vote to let them off the hook?

Don't forget that Watergate was about Republicans illegally wiretapping Democrats. Don 't think they don't do it.

Huffpollstrology: Candidates' Horoscopes, Polls And More For July 6

2008-07-06T03:26:54Z

Polls have come to dominate the media's horse race coverage of political campaigns. Pundits and reporters constantly use them to tell us who's hot and who's not -- but skip over the fact that plummeting response rates and variables like undecided voters and margins of error and often render these polls useless as anything other than lightweight diversions on par with horoscopes and political betting lines. Our HuffPollstrology chart helps keep you up to date on the latest poll results, along with the latest horoscope predictions, and the latest online political betting lines - and will hopefully help the polling junkies in the media keep polls in the proper perspective.


Mccain vs obama in the General election
mccain	43% Gallup Daily	VIRGO August 29, 1936 It might feel as though you're finally coasting toward the finishing line in a project. There could be good news in other areas of your life too. A labour-saving device could make all the difference to your day. This could even be passed on to you by a neighbor. The world of glamour could be closer to that you than you think: perhaps prompting you to try out a different style.	30.5% chance of winning
obama	47% Gallup Daily	LEO August 4, 1961 A relationship could be now back on safer ground or at least moving towards it. Growing confidence in your ability to deal with an administrative system or new-found ability to steer your financial ship away from the rocks might result in you giving off a different aura. It won't be surprising if others find you exceptionally attractive! Invitations are probable and could include attending a unique event.	64% chance of winning

weather report
East		New York, NY 75 degrees (F), 60% chance of rain. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.
south		Dallas, TX 97 degrees (F), 10% chance of rain. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.
midwest		Chicago, IL 81 degrees (F), 10% chance of rain. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
west		Los Angeles, CA 82 degrees (F), 0% chance of rain. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Sources:

General Election Poll: Gallup Tracking Poll

The general-election results are based on combined data from June 30-July 2, 2008. For results based on this sample of 2,641 registered voters, the maximum margin of sampling error is +/-2 percentage points.

Horoscopes: horoscopes.co.uk

Weather: Weather.com

Betting Lines: Intrade Prediction Markets

Salmonella Investigators Focus On Jalapenos

2008-07-06T02:11:09Z

Investigators are seeing more signs that the salmonella outbreak blamed on tomatoes might have been caused by tainted jalapeno peppers and have begun collecting samples from restaurants and from the homes of those who have been sickened, according to health officials involved in the probe.

New interviews with those who became infected found that many had eaten jalapeno peppers, often in salsa served with Mexican food, according to two state health officials. So far, none of the jalapenos taken from restaurants and from the homes of those who became ill have tested positive for Salmonella saintpaul.

Echoing federal officials, who said this week that tomatoes remain the prime suspect, the health officials said that tomatoes cannot be ruled out as the cause of the outbreak. Investigators have been collecting samples of another possible suspect, cilantro, though the herb is less likely to be the source, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.

Audit Finds Nearly $50,000 In Credit Card Fraud At Education Department

2008-07-06T01:55:36Z

U.S. Department of Education employees inappropriately used government credit cards to purchase $49,500 worth of goods and services, including meals, items at clothing stores and rental cars, for personal use, according to a review by the department's inspector general.

Auditors examining a sample of business travel expenses for fiscal 2006 found $18,256 in inappropriate charges made by 34 employees. The charges included payments to clothing retailers and restaurants near their homes or office.

Twenty-nine people used bank cards to withdraw about $17,600 more than allowed under the department's travel allowance for meals and incidentals. Four department workers made $13,570 in bank card withdrawals when they weren't on business travel. One logged 44 withdrawals totaling $8,560.

Lindsay Graham Emerging As McCain's One-Man Kitchen Cabinet

2008-07-06T01:44:56Z

If Andrew Jackson created the notion of a president's "Kitchen Cabinet," Sen. John McCain is reinventing it months before his possible election to the White House.

And Sen. Lindsey Graham seems to be McCain's one-man Kitchen Cabinet.

Graham's visibility as the Arizona senator's closest political confidant has risen in recent weeks as the two men crisscross the country and travel abroad on McCain's presidential quest.

"There's nobody I trust more than Lindsey Graham," McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, said by phone Thursday from Mexico City. "I'm honored to have him travel with me and give me the counsel I need."

Obama Repeats Call For Merit Pay In Front Of Powerful Teachers Union

2008-07-06T01:31:26Z

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Saturday thanked the National Education Association for its endorsement but also made it clear that he continues to support merit pay for teachers.

His position is a controversial one with the 3.2 million member group and it has earned him criticism when he addressed the NEA in 2007.

Jessica Catto: Running On Empty At The Aspen Ideas Festival

2008-07-06T01:10:38Z

"Americans do the right thing after they have exhausted all other possibilities." Quoting Churchill, Jim Woolsey, former C.I.A. chief, predicted about action on climate change. That was the optimistic take from the Aspen Ideas festival this week.

"We're headed toward the rapids," said John Podesta, president of the Center for American Progress, on the same panel.

It is difficult to come away from the discussions without profound doubts about our will and ability to do what we should have been doing for the last ten years: switching to electric or hybrid vehicles; providing tax subsidies for wind, solar, and geothermal development; mandating green architecture; utilizing energy conservation technology; carbon taxes and sequestration; and leadership to move these practical and life saving practices from pause to fast forward.

The current administration has neutered the EPA and talked about "oil addiction" while encouraging more drilling and ignoring its own words. Talking the talk and walking the walk have never been farther apart. The pain this will inflict on the world is just now beginning to hit us, at the pump and in harmful weather patterns.

Dr. John Holdren, a scientist from Harvard spoke of the parts per million with which anthropogenic carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide fill the air and at what point those levels produce catastrophic change in our climate. And then there is the methane gas that the melting ice on the tundra will add to the mix. To reverse those levels will take all the technology, leadership and will that we have. The sea ice in the artic is melting at a rate that it may disappear this year or next. Rising seas are predicted to obliterate Florida and Cape Cod in the not too distant future. His conclusion was that we will have to "mitigate, adapt and suffer."

Tom Friedman, columnist for the New York Times, speaking to a packed audience on his new book, "Hot, Flat and Crowded" coupled optimism with the serious stresses on the worlds' resources from an increasing population, sea level rise that will affect migration from Bangladesh to the Caribbean, and a world without enough energy to power its needs. He describes the existing available talent and solutions, but the infrastructure for these new energy sources and their delivery systems is not yet in place. On the other hand, once we have some real leadership, we can begin a new era of job creation and economic growth.

Right now, we are watching the formation of the perfect storm. The factors of economic hardship caused by our dependence on Saudi and other foreign oil are a clear and present danger. They are hurting our productivity, our agriculture, our national security, the structure of our lives and our pride. When our president visited Saudi Arabia recently to plead for more oil, the Saudis presented him with a bicycle. Combine those factors with rising temperatures, crop destruction, food and water shortages, and loss of species at an unprecedented rate, and, well, not just "Houston, we have a problem," but world, we have a problem. By the way, we are a species, too, so we need to pay attention. Just a little intelligent planning could have prevented this abrupt, disruption. It's enough to make a person cross, even testy.

So, we have some choices to make. A new energy tapestry must be woven. It will take many new technologies and innovations, or it can be a nightmare of false choices and lack of political will. The wrong choices will lead to a nasty mess or we can unleash our talent and our will power and create a masterpiece the world will emulate.

How we steer around this perfect storm ultimately is up to us. If we choose the right leaders and if we are insistent enough, they will do the right thing and make the right choices. What we know for certain is that if we are not actively involved in our future, our future may not happen. Democracy imposes this responsibility on us. Are we up for the challenge?

Huff Radio: Arianna Talks To The BBC World Service About The 2008 Election And The Future Of Journalism

2008-07-05T23:42:27Z

Arianna talked to the BBC World Service's Lyse Doucet about HuffPost, the future of media, the 2008 election, and a new direction for journalism.

Click through to the BBC World Service website to listen to the entire interview.

Tom Gerdy: The Other Energy Crisis and The Prom Night Pimple

2008-07-05T23:08:23Z

I have yet to pay $4.00 for a gallon of gas but I am sure that magical moment for me is only days away. It won't be quite as memorable as where I was when JFK was shot, but breaking the $4.00 barrier will be a pretty big moment for me. For decades, it's as if we have been asking Stevie Wonder to watch the world oil and gas situation for our country. No, I take that back and apologize to Little Stevie 'Fingertips' Wonder for that comment. Even a blind man could have seen this coming. A commitment similar to Kennedy's moon landing promise should have been made decades ago. Maybe we have just had a little too much Texas in our government over the past couple of decades and that has kept us from attending rehab for our gas addiction.

As challenging as our current oil predicament is, that's not what I need to discuss right now. We have a bigger and potentially much more dangerous energy problem. The Other energy challenge has the potential to do much more damage than the oil and gas problem. The Other energy challenge touches each and every American on a daily basis. The total dollar cost of the Other energy crisis is hard to put a figure on. Lives are lost every single day due to the Other energy crisis. The Other energy crisis is the negative energy and lost opportunities created by lack of action, surrender or apathy.

There are times when the challenges we face personally or as a society seem insurmountable and overwhelming. The perceived magnitude of some of the issues we need to address often causes people to throw up their hands and give up.

There are times when our skewed vision of our personal short comings, abilities or lack there of keep us from stepping forward and changing the world. Personal issues are often like the prom night pimple. As you primped for the prom, the pimple on your forehead looked like a third eye. The reality is that your inside out perception acted like a magnifying glass. From the outside it really wasn't nearly as bad as you viewed it in the mirror. So don't let your perception of your abilities or short comings keep you from going to the prom. You can make a difference.

Often the roadblock to action is caused by the sheer magnitude of some of the challenges we face as a country or in our own communities. There are problems that seem too big to even try to address. We have to keep sight of the fact that every change, every invention and every major problem that was ever solved throughout history started with an idea in the head. The idea was followed up by a commitment from the heart. The hands then listened to the heart and the rest is history.

Albert Einstein changed history not only because he was smart, but also because he was wise. He was quoted as once saying, "I don't know what your destiny will be but one thing I know, the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." Most of what I write involves calling attention to a challenge we are facing followed by a call to action. I always have hope that at least one person will hear each call, move forward, and find happiness. I hope it's you.

Patt Morrison: One Man, One Vote, What Am I Bid?

2008-07-05T22:34:09Z

What is it with us? We nail the small-time lawbreakers and put them away for decades -- but the big-time operators can get away with murder and their millions.

Max P. Sanders is a Minnesota college student who put his vote up for sale on eBay, starting bid $10, along with the cheerful listing, ``You're country depends on You!'' [Misspellings and erroneous capitalization thrown in free.]

He has now been charged with a felony -- bribery, and violating a 115-year-old Minnesota law against vote-selling.

Maybe it was a joke, as Sanders told authorities. Maybe he chose to call it that after the fact. What's really a joke is that the high-and-mighty official marketplace of legislative votes and support that goes under the grander names of lobbying and campaign financing is considered on the up-and-up, so long as it doesn't look too obvious. Sanders could get five years in prison. What do these high-end operators get? Re-elected.

If you don't think a vote doesn't matter, you haven't been paying attention since, oh, November 2000. It's heartening that the Minnesota county prosecutor puts such a premium on the sacred right of voting. But if selling one vote is a crime, where's the outrage, where are the consequences of manipulating or denying or nullifying tens of thousands of votes? Maybe we should send that prosecutor to Washington when he's finished with the Sanders caper, and put him in charge of the Federal Election Commission.

How much longer will votes matter, anyway? What our leaders really seem to value from us is our Visa cards, not our votes. We're so much less trouble as consumers than we are as citizens. Citizens have rights; consumers have needs. Maybe Sanders' real mistake was undervaluing his vote. A few more zeroes on there and maybe he'd be hailed in some quarters not as a jailbird in the making, but as an entrepreneur.

Joe Galloway: How Dare They Rip The Fourth Amendment?

2008-07-05T22:28:55Z

Early next week the U.S. Senate will vote on an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, with a few small amendments intended to immunize telecommunications corporations that assisted our government in the warrantless and illegal wiretapping it has grown to love.

That such a gutting of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution even made it out of committee is yet another stain on the gutless and seemingly powerless Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.

That a majority on both sides of the aisle -- not least of them the presumptive nominees for president of both political parties -- intend to vote for such a violation of Americans' right to privacy and of the sanctity of their personal communications is a stunning surrender to those who want us to live in fear forever.

We are living in a time when the right of habeas corpus -- which simply put is your right to be brought before a proper court of law where the government is made to prove that there is good and legal reason to detain you -- recently survived by a margin of only one vote at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Now these bad actors are prepared to set aside your right to privacy -- written into the Constitution as a key part of our Bill of Rights -- with hardly a nod in the direction of the true patriots who rebelled against an English king and his army to guarantee those rights.

That they will do this while the last empty phrases of the political windbags at the Fourth of July celebrations are still echoing across a thousand city parks and the bright red, white and blue bunting and blizzard of American flags still flap in the breeze is little short of breath-taking.

How dare they?

Those denizens of the White House and Capitol Hill and all those gray granite buildings that line avenues with names like Constitution and Independence in the nation's capitol would have us believe that we must trade our rights, all of our rights, for some measure of security from the terrorists.

They would have us believe that a nation of 300 million people must surrender what a million other Americans gave their lives in war to protect in order to protect us from a couple of hundred fanatics hiding in caves in Waziristan.

Benjamin Franklin himself wrote of such a debate:

"Those who can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

The fact that British troops, operating on flimsy general warrants handed out by local magistrates, were kicking in the doors of ordinary Americans and rifling through their pantries and papers in search of smuggled, untaxed goods was a prime reason why our ancestors rebelled against their king and went to war.

This is WHY we celebrate the Fourth of July. This is why the vote on renewing the expanded version of FISA and whitewashing the egregious violations of the Fourth Amendment for seven long years by our government is important.

If neither John McCain, the Republican, or Barrack Obama, the Democrat, can find the courage to oppose such a violation of so basic a right, then what are we to do for a president, a successor to George W. Bush, The Decider, who has since 9/11 decided what rights you are entitled to keep, what laws he will or will not obey, and whether you will be protected by these words of the Constitution:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

That's it. That's the Fourth Amendment. That is what these folks in Washington, D.C., have violated continuously and in secret for seven long years.

Somewhere across an ocean and a desert, hiding in his cave, a man of hate named Osama bin Laden is laughing up the sleeve of his dirty robe at the thought that he and a small handful of fellow fanatics could tie a great nation in knots -- knots of fear stoked by our own leaders.

We have done incalculably more and greater damage to ourselves since September 11, 2001, than a thousand bin Ladens and ten thousand al Qaida recruits could ever have done to us.

Franklin D. Roosevelt famously declared that "we have nothing to fear but fear itself." Now it would seem that we have no one to fear but ourselves and our leaders.

The questions I pose are these:

How can even one senator on either side of the aisle in good conscience vote in favor of this law that does nothing to enhance our security and everything to diminish our rights as a free people?

How can both men who seek to become our next president cast such a vote when both should be standing shoulder-to-shoulder declaring that they would govern by our consent and with our approval, not by wielding the coercive and corrosive and corrupt powers that King George III and his latter-day namesake from Texas thought are theirs by divine right?

This post was originally published by McClatchy Newspapers

Michelle Renee: Learning to Love Yourself Through It All

2008-07-05T22:09:23Z

I was in a meeting the other day and found myself uttering the words, "You have to love yourself through it all." as a response to the question of the important take-away message to those who have gone through insufferable circumstances; those I will be speaking with as an Advocate for Children's Hospital Chadwick Trauma Center.

I realized that is exactly what I have done, but first I had to learn how to love myself at all, something that has not come easily or without purposefully taking time alone in stillness to learn to do so. Sitting with my brother last night we began to talk about our childhood and the topic of self-love. I listened to his tender way of expressing his thoughts and the anger associated with being a survivor of child abuse and domestic violence. That anger and fear kept the truth of self-love on the outside looking in, ringing that doorbell waiting for the heart to welcome it in, while self-destruction ruled for so long and at times I didn't even know it. What I thought was buried was living and breathing just underneath the surface of every decision I was making for years. When I got home last night I stood in the mirror, acknowledged every dimension of myself and life, and spoke out loud beginning with, "What and who do you see through the eyes of self-love." The experience was profound for me.

I have come to know that every time I look deeper within and am completely honest with myself it is as though I am starving negative energies; not watering or feeding that which I had allowed to run my life, make my decisions, choose past partners, and more for nearly my entire life. I discovered that for these self-defeating energies or forces, just like those that are positive and self-loving, must be fed to survive. They feed and fatten up on attention, are needy little light suckers and bloat up with power the more attention you give them.

When I began to love myself by accepting all experiences without judging myself- embracing each choice that led me to the next and to the next right up to right now- shame, guilt, anger, fear, blame-they all began to shrink. From powerful to powerless; from fat hogs at the troth to shriveling grapes on the vine.

Today, knowing and loving also the negative or dark aspects of myself that will forever remain because I am human, I choose to focus on feeding the positive energy that is within me, co-creating and attracting with God an abundant life that is built on all that has happened, discovering the gifts in that while filling the belly of self-love-giving power to that which will serve my divine purpose and the divine within.

So today, and each day ahead, give yourself permission to acknowledge all that has come before this moment, seek to accept and embrace the incredible tapestry that is you and decide that you will love yourself through it all.

How To Talk To Your Kids About "Gas-Sex"

2008-07-05T21:16:19Z

Whether they hear about it on the playground or in the soda shop after school, your kids are going to learn about people who have sex in exchange for gasoline and/or pre-paid gas cards. They're bound to be curious about sex-for-gas activity, and maybe they'll even feel peer pressure to have gas-sex before they might be ready. No matter how hard you try you just can't protect your kids from the gas crisis. The best thing to do is talk to them about it. Here's how:

Make it clear that you trust them

You need to let your kids know that the decision of whether or not to have sex for gas is one that they're going to make on their own, and you trust them to decide when and with whom they'll trade sex for gas. They already think they should make their own decisions. Don't make them prove it to you.

McCain's Nemesis: The Teleprompter

2008-07-05T21:01:53Z

Senator John McCain was performing relatively smoothly as he unveiled his energy plan.

He managed to limit the mechanical hand chops and weirdly timed smiles that can often punctuate his speeches. He delivered his lines with an ease that suggested a momentary peace with his longtime nemesis, the teleprompter. (He relied on a belt-and-suspenders approach, with text scrolling down screens to his left and right, and on a big TV set in front of him.)

Obama Mulling Major Speech In Berlin During Europe Trip

2008-07-05T20:47:42Z

A German friend passed along the news Saturday that local sources in Berlin are confirming that the Obama campaign was in contact with city authorities to discuss the possibility of presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) delivering an outdoor address in front of the Brandenburg gate. The thinking is Obama would follow in the footsteps of two very famous Cold War-era speeches of U.S. presidents speaking in Germany: JFK "Ich bin ein Berliner" and Reagan "tear down this wall." It would probably be Obama's only public speech during upcoming visits to Germany, France and England on a swing to include stops in Israel and Jordan. There is still no date for the trip. German news sources are reporting the Obama team is working on a visit during the "second half of this month".