CPTMitch, I found your name to be ironic when you asked,

"Where were the people of conscience at Haditha or Abu Gharaib? Where were the people who would stand up for human dignity in the worst of circumstances?"

Perhaps you never heard of Christian Peacemaker Teams, commonly abreviated CPT. CPT's goal is to place pacifist protestors in crisis situations worldwide to witness for peace where the wars are happening. Their view is that if soldiers are willing to risk their lives for what they believe than where is the moral authority of the pacifists if they are not willing to do the same. To quote from the CPT web page, "CPT initiated a long-term presence in Iraq in October 2002, six months before the beginning of the U.S. led invasion in March of 2003. The primary focus of the team for eighteen months following the invasion was documenting and focusing attention on the issue of detainee abuses and basic legal and human rights being denied them." One focus from the beginning was the Abu Gharaib prison. They didn't just stand around and protest though. They interceded on behalf of Iraqis trying to gain access to relatives in Abu Gharaib and they documented stories of abuse long before we all heard about Abu Gharaib.

In November of 2005, four CPT members were kidnapped by Iraqi extremists. They were from several different countries with one American. On March 10, 2006 that American, Tom Fox, was found killed, apparently tortured to death. The others were released shortly after. So yes, the people of conscience were at Abu Gharaib. You're not going to hear about them on Fox News though. CPT are still in Iraq and CPT are still in many other countries where wars are taking place. Check them out, www.cpt.org.

Andy

What possessed you to do your running commentary backwards?

You may well have a good point here but quoting stats about doctor's attitudes towards internet use from 2001 is beyond useless. Access to and perceptions about the internet were totally different then as opposed to 2008. As you point out yourself, in 1999 many doctors had very little knowledge about the internet. Two years later that was probably still the case. But in 2008 you can be very certain that has changed drastically.

Andy

Pay attention. It is certainly not a seig heil. It is also not a black power salute by a white guy. He is wearing a bandana and he says cien anos. He's hispanic. Think United Farm Workers.

Andy

Just watched "Sophie Scholls: Last Days", which is a fantastic movie. I was struck by how similar the rhetoric of the Gestapo agent who interrogated her and the judge who sentenced her to death was to the rhetoric about dissenting speech we get from these right wing bloggers. I highly recommend this movie.

Andy

I assume that the CBS sportsline users is an average of multiple users' picks. If so, then it is no surprise that the #1's got to the final four in that bracket. Any individual user may pick several big upsets. But they don't pick the same upsets as the next guy so in an averaged bracket the higher seed would virtually always come out on top. Guts has nothing to do with it.

Andy

@ Cazador

How can you live in Mexico and not know why gas in Mexico is cheaper than gas in the US, in spite of being refined in the US? Perhaps you haven't noticed that all the gas stations are owned by the government? Mexico subsidizes fuel to the tune of billions of dollars per year to keep prices artificially low.

In Tijuana they have major shortages of diesel and gas right now (especially diesel) because people are crossing the border to fill up.

to Ellastu90:

Palin did absolutely say "You can see Russia from Alaska". She did not say "from my house" but she did say "from Alaska". Either way it is a dumbs**t thing to say.

"Having a similar episode at the tail end of the Bush administration might make that maneuver a little more difficult to pull off."

Except for the fact that Bush corrected his mistake. Far be it from me to support Bush, the worst president in history. But he did revoke the pardon. That is a good thing. Marc Rich is still pardoned.

"liberals in right-wing drag"

"that they are morally lax, socially permissive and casually tolerant of moral deviancy -- just like the liberals they despise."

What the heck Joe!? Can you possibly analyze the conservatives without using their language to describe liberals? I'm a liberal and proud of it and I am not morally lax or casually tolerant of moral deviancy. Cheating on your wife is not a liberal trait. It is an a**hole trait. By calling republicans liberals in right-wing drag you are insulting liberals. This is a really poorly written article. You actually don't have to use Ann Coulter's definition of liberal you know. What a dumb premise. Perhaps the stupidest thing you have ever written.

Andy

Hey Xanthro,

Where have you gone to? I say you are a liar. No way you can make that much money and be so stupid. I just don't understand how it is that so many people don't know what a marginal tax rate is. Once someone pointed out here that the increase from 33% to 39% was an increase in the top marginal rate and thus would only apply to the taxable income above 250,000 you suddenly stopped responding to posts. Lets do the math again, because it bears repeating. For your hypothetical 300,000 taxable income you would pay an extra 9% only on the amount above 250,000. Is that 27,000? BZZZZT No, it is 9% of 50,000, or $4500. You would pay an extra $4500 of your $300,000 in income. Cry me a river.

What is crystal clear here is that Sempra hired this woman to seduce and have sex with Duvall. Prostitution is a crime. Furthermore, sex for favors equals bribery of an elected official. Clearly they should all be charged with crimes, Duvall included.