Global Warming Ignored By Corporate Media

Cedar Rapids

Excellent post pointing out what the corporate media ignores: our "weird" weather is actually a direct consequence of climate change.

Kirk James Murphy, M.D., firedoglake: Another Gift From Global Climate Change: That Ugly Weather

Tonight Coach Mom called to tell me that a wind shear event this afternoon dropped a huge old pine tree on her neighbor's house; another neighbor can't get into their house because a piece of roof blocks the door; and half the town is without power. This is in the same tiny community that had a $30 million storm wash out several major roads June 19th of last year. That was their fourth major flood in two years.

MSNBC is in their second day of non-stop coverage of the untimely death of Tim Russert. It is sad that a man that young who was a great friend to all of them died, but it is not earth-shaking news. Tens of thousands are now dying every year in global-warming fueled natural disasters. Hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis, floods, tornadoes, and heat waves are covered as though this was just the weather, but it is actually earth-shattering news of climate change. Maybe if Tim Russert had drowned in a 500-year-flood, the media would cover global warming.

Global Warming Comes To Iowa

An aerial photo shows a flooded area of downtown looking North over Cedar Rapids, Iowa June 13, 2008. Interstate I-380 can be seen at top while Mays Island, with Cedar Rapids City Hall, is seen on the left with its bridges under water. Floodwaters have inundated about 100 city blocks of Cedar Rapids, Iowa's second-largest city with 200,000 residents.
(Ron Mayland/Reuters)

While the news commentators never mention global warming, how many cities and states can have 500 year floods before the media tell us the truth? If you google < iowa flooding > you get 13, 785 news results; if you google < iowa flooding global warming > you get 13, and half of those are global warming deniers.

LATimes: Tens of thousands flee Iowa flooding

Chicago Sun-Times: Iowa's Katrina

DemocraticOz at dailykos: "Unprecedented." Iowa Flooding - w/ photos

Summer Museum Trip

Schenectady Daily Gazette
Adelbert John, a member of the Allegheny Reservation baseball team near Salamanca in New York’s Southern Tier, poses for the camera.

I'm going to make plans to see this show while I'm visiting Coach Mom in New York this summer.

NYTimes: The American Indians of America’s Pastime

Jacoby Ellsbury is beloved by Red Sox Nation.

He is also a member of Navajo Nation.

Ellsbury, whose mother is Navajo, is the first person from that tribe to reach the major leagues. He is among 47 American Indian baseball players whose contributions to the game, from its earliest innings, are chronicled in “Baseball’s League of Nations: A Tribute to Native Americans in Baseball,” an exhibit that opened April 1 and runs through Dec. 31 at the Iroquois Indian Museum in Howes Cave, N.Y.

“Since this exhibit opened, we have had some of our largest crowds in recent years,” said Erynne Ansel-McCabe, the director of the 27-year-old museum. “People have been staying for hours, looking at artifacts and reading all about these players, many of whom suffered from the same kind of racial discrimination as American Negro league players.”

Pitchers Joba Chamberlain of the Yankees (Winnebago) and Kyle Lohse of the St. Louis Cardinals (Nomlaki) are the only other American Indians in the majors.

“I think it’s wonderful to have a place where people can go to see all the accomplishments made by these great players,” Chamberlain said Thursday while sitting at his locker at Yankee Stadium before a game against Toronto. “I can tell you that the three of us playing in the majors are all proud to be carrying on this great tradition.”

The exhibit’s roster includes Jim Thorpe (Sac/Fox), an outfielder for the New York Giants, the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Braves (1913 to 1919); Ben Tincup (Cherokee), a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies (1914 to 1918) and the Chicago Cubs (1928); and Jim Bluejacket (Cherokee), who pitched for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the Federal League (1914-15) and the Cincinnati Reds (1916).

Moses Yellowhorse, a Pawnee, is considered by many historians to be the first full-blooded American Indian to play professional baseball. Yellowhorse, who was not-so-affectionately known as Chief, broke in with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1921. The next season, he hit Ty Cobb with a pitch between the eyes.

“This was probably as much a result of Cobb’s crowding the plate as it was a retaliation for his racist remarks,” is the explanation the museum provides from a Yellowhorse biography, “60 Feet Six Inches and Other Distances from Home” by Todd Fuller.

Voice of America News: American Indians' Untold Baseball Stories

IROQUOIS INDIAN MUSEUM: Calendar of Events for 2008

North Country Public Radio: Native Americans in baseball's past & present (audio)

Obama Was Wrong

RayRay blows by the Euro-weenies to seal the win
He said Kevin Garnett was his favorite player, but he thought the Lakers would beat the Celtics in six because they had the better team.

Obama was wrong, and now he knows it.

Was there anything more satisfying than coming back from a 24-point deficit to beat the hated Lakers last night? Well, yeah, nothing beats the Sawx coming back from down 3-0 to beat the Yankees, the MFYs, in the 2004 American League Championship series. I'm not as invested in these Celtics as I am in the Red Sox, or as I was with the 1980s Celtics, a team that was assembled by Red, not purchased by Danny Ainge.

But this Celtics team is compelling, starting with Kevin Garnett, one of the most inspirational leaders I've ever seen, a man who came in and transformed an entire team. It's amazing to watch 12 players playing with Garnett's flaming intensity at both ends of the court, playing every professional game like college kids, filled with enthusiasm, every player on the bench jumping up and down on every possession.

Last night's highlights, for me, were: Ray Allen/Jesus Shuttlesworth , age 32, plays 48 minutes; Paul Pierce asks to guard Kobe Bryant at halftime; Paul Pierce blocks Kobe Bryant's fallaway jumper (almost impossible, watch the video here)!; James Posey rains in another outside shot in the 4th quarter, then pops out that goofy green & white mouthguard to grin; Pierce dancing around in the backcourt after Allen's layup sealed the win with 16 seconds left; the total silence of the "fans" at the Staples Center.

This morning I heard some radio gasbags call the Lakers "a bunch of softies and Euro-weenies". I think you could apply that description to the silent fans, too. Can you imagine the Garden (which should be renamed the AUERBACH ARENA, hello!) silent if the Celtics were in a close game? Never.

I think we can go back to what we used to call the Lakers: The Fakers.

While it would be nice to win the trophy in front of the Garden faithful, I would not be surprised to see the Lakers, their backs broken last night, fold like a cheap suit on Sunday night.

Suldog: Ubuntu

I*Heart*Celtics: I Love The Boston Celtics

Boston Herald: Game 4 Photo Gallery

Boston Globe, Game 4 Photo Gallery

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe: Seeing this was believing

How sweet it is

John McCain and His Campaign of Lies, Damn Lies, and More Lies

Remember the old Saturday Night Live debates where Dan Ackroyd played Bob Dole, growling at George H.W. Bush, "Stop lying about my record, George Bush!"

John McCain should be growling at himself, "Stop lying about my record, John McBush!"

John McCain lies about his position on Social Security privatization, today:

"I am not for privatizing Social Security. I never have been. I never will be."

That's not what he said in March:

"As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it – along the lines of what President Bush proposed." [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/2008]

And it's not what he said in November of 2004:

“Without privatization, I don’t see how you can possibly, over time, make sure that young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits.”

That's lie #1.

Here's lie #2. In the famous "green screen" speech on the day Obama clinched the nomination, John McCain said these lies:

You will hear from my opponent's campaign in every speech, every interview, every press release that I'm running for President Bush's third term. You will hear every policy of the President described as the Bush-McCain policy. Why does Senator Obama believe it's so important to repeat that idea over and over again? Because he knows it's very difficult to get Americans to believe something they know is false. So he tries to drum it into your minds by constantly repeating it rather than debate honestly the very different directions he and I would take the country.

[]

I have worked with the President to keep our nation safe. But he and I have not seen eye to eye on many issues. We've disagreed over the conduct of the war in Iraq and the treatment of detainees; over out of control government spending and budget gimmicks; over energy policy and climate change; over defense spending that favored defense contractors over the public good.

I disagreed strongly with the Bush administration's mismanagement of the war in Iraq. I called for the change in strategy that is now, at last, succeeding where the previous strategy had failed miserably.

But that's not what he said in June of 2005 on Meet the Press:

The fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I have been totally in agreement and support of President Bush. So, have we had some disagreements on some issues - particularly domestic issues? Yes, but I will argue my conservative record of voting with anyone's, and I will also submit that my support for President Bush has been active and very impassioned on issues that are important to the American people. And I am particularly talking about the war on terror, war on Iraq, national security, national defense, support of men and women in the military, fiscal discipline, a number of other issues; I strongly disagree with any assertion that I have been more at odds with the President of the United States than I have been in agreement.

Watch John McCain 2005 versus John McCain 2008 on this video:



John McCain, stop lying about your record! (Grrrr.)

Go Read

Good news story of the day: the Supreme Court ruled that The Great Writ, the writ of habeas corpus, applies to the Guantanamo Bay prisoners: The Rule of Law Prevailed The prisoners are entitled to challenge their detention in federal court; the Bushies have failed in their attempt to create an extrajudicial SuperMax prison for the world. But it was only a 5-4 decision; our democracy rests on the weary shoulders of 88-year-old Justice John Paul Stephens. Elect Obama, save the Court.

To understand why this is so offensive, you must know that in contemporary jargon, "baby mama" means unwed mother: Fox News calls Michelle Obama "Obama's baby mama"

36-year-old right-wing nutjob Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal keeps getting invited to McCain's house for ribs as a VP candidate. Perhaps he's banished a few spirits while he's there? After all, he's an exorcist! Is Bobby Jindal -- Who May Be On McCain's Veep Shortlist -- An Exorcist?

We all know the corporate media is bought and paid for. And then we see the concrete evidence. David Broder, the supposed "dean of the Washington press corps" is selling his own corpse to speak at coporate events. If they're lucky, he then features their issue in a column. Presstitute. David Broder’s Moonlighting: Post columnist benefits from corporate speaking deals

I'm Voting Republican

Well, not really, but watch this video for why you "should"



And if you're going to vote Republican, you may as well learn to Speak Republican!



hat tip to this diary at dailykos.

We Love Lists

timran, Dailykos: McCain's History of Blow-Ups: The Top Ten

Temper, temper.

The Real John McCain

Not a nice man.

DailyMail (uk): The wife U.S. Republican John McCain callously left behind

[T]here is another Mrs McCain who casts a ghostly shadow over the Senator’s presidential campaign. She is seldom seen and rarely written about, despite being mother to McCain’s three eldest children.

And yet, had events turned out differently, it would be she, rather than Cindy, who would be vying to be First Lady. She is McCain’s first wife, Carol, who was a famous beauty and a successful swimwear model when they married in 1965.

She was the woman McCain dreamed of during his long incarceration and torture in Vietnam’s infamous ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prison and the woman who faithfully stayed at home looking after the children and waiting anxiously for news.

But when McCain returned to America in 1973 to a fanfare of publicity and a handshake from Richard Nixon, he discovered his wife had been disfigured in a terrible car crash three years earlier. Her car had skidded on icy roads into a telegraph pole on Christmas Eve, 1969. Her pelvis and one arm were shattered by the impact and she suffered massive internal injuries.

When Carol was discharged from hospital after six months of life-saving surgery, the prognosis was bleak. In order to save her legs, surgeons had been forced to cut away huge sections of shattered bone, taking with it her tall, willowy figure. She was confined to a wheelchair and was forced to use a catheter.

Through sheer hard work, Carol learned to walk again. But when John McCain came home from Vietnam, she had gained a lot of weight and bore little resemblance to her old self.

Today, she stands at just 5ft4in and still walks awkwardly, with a pronounced limp. Her body is held together by screws and metal plates and, at 70, her face is worn by wrinkles that speak of decades of silent suffering.

For nearly 30 years, Carol has maintained a dignified silence about the accident, McCain and their divorce. But last week at the bungalow where she now lives at Virginia Beach, a faded seaside resort 200 miles south of Washington, she told The Mail on Sunday how McCain divorced her in 1980 and married Cindy, 18 years his junior and the heir to an Arizona brewing fortune, just one month later.

Carol insists she remains on good terms with her ex-husband, who agreed as part of their divorce settlement to pay her medical costs for life. ‘I have no bitterness,’

she says. ‘My accident is well recorded. I had 23 operations, I am five inches shorter than I used to be and I was in hospital for six months. It was just awful, but it wasn’t the reason for my divorce.

‘My marriage ended because John McCain didn’t want to be 40, he wanted to be 25. You know that happens...it just does.’

Some of McCain’s acquaintances are less forgiving, however. They portray the politician as a self-centred womaniser who effectively abandoned his crippled wife to ‘play the field’. They accuse him of finally settling on Cindy, a former rodeo beauty queen, for financial reasons.

[]

[] Ross Perot, who paid her medical bills all those years ago, now believes that both Carol McCain and the American people have been taken in by a man who is unusually slick and cruel – even by the standards of modern politics.

‘McCain is the classic opportunist. He’s always reaching for attention and glory,’ he said.

‘After he came home, Carol walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona. And the rest is history.’