Monday - May 28, 2007R. J. Reynolds Tobacco company overrules Pittsburgh's smoking banAfter Allegheny County passed a smoking ban in
restaurants and bars last October, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco paid the legal bills for Mitchell's Bar &
Restaurant and the Smithfield Cafe to challenge the local law, which was struck
down by the state Commonwealth Court, which ruled that it was prohibited by the
state's Clean Indoor Air Act (1988), which allows indoor air to be polluted by
tobacco smoke.
Saturday - April 28, 2007Abstinence-only sex education has no effect on whether kids have sexThe
Washington
Post reported that a national study of 2000 children
from elementary or middle school into high school, authorized by Congress in
1997, found that abstinence-only sex education does not keep teenagers from
having sex or change the likelihood they will use condoms when they have
sex.
Wednesday - November 08, 2006Anti-gay marriage amendment on verge of defeat in ArizonaArizona seems on the verge of becoming the first
state to reject an anti-gay-marriage constitutional amendment by popular vote.
According to CNN, with 99% of the precincts reported, the voters were rejecting
Arizona Proposition 107 by a margin of 51%.
Wednesday - November 08, 2006Good riddance to Santorum and HostettlerThe voters of Pennsylvania sent virulently
anti-gay Senator Rick Santorum home to play with his dog. With 95.8% of the
districts counted, Bob Casey (58.7%) has defeated Santorum (41.3%) by a wide
margin.
Saturday - October 21, 2006Vote this extremist out of the Senate on Nov. 7Rick Santorum doesn't believe in the Right to
Privacy. He thinks it's a "pure abstraction" created by liberal judges. He
thinks it's okay for the government to punish the consensual sexual behavior of
adults, even when done in the privacy of their bedrooms.
Thursday - October 19, 2006Little evidence of polling place fraudThe U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC)
commissioned a report to find out about voter fraud. According
to USA Today, the
EAC’s report shows that there is no evidence that significant numbers of
voters are lying about their identity at the polls, voting twice, or voting in
the name of dead people.
Thursday - October 19, 2006Keith Olbermann on Bush's signing of the Military Commission ActKeith Olbermann invokes history in condemning
Bush for signing the Military Commission Act into law. Watch this video
commentary: Beginning of the end of America.
Thursday - June 29, 2006Berkeley will ask voters if Bush and Cheney should be impeachedBerkeley, CA, will put a referendum on the Nov. 7
ballot asking the voters to decide whether President Bush and Vice President
Cheney should be impeached.
Friday - June 09, 2006House Republicans are trying to kill public broadcasting (again)According to a report in the Boston Globe, House Republicans are once again
targeting public broadcasting for budget cuts. A House Appropriations
subcommittee voted to cut funds for PBS and NPR by 23% next year.
Saturday - April 29, 2006Nuestro HimnoThe New York
Times reported yesterday that President Bush said "I
think people who want to be a citizen [sic] of this country ought to learn
English." Bush ought to learn English.
Sunday - April 09, 2006Alabama Republican Women want to stop babies from being U.S. citizensThe Birmingham
News reported that the Alabama Federation of
Republican Women is pushing for a Constitutional amendment to prevent babies
born in the United States to illegal immigrants from automatically becoming U.S.
citizens.
Thursday - March 09, 2006Gallup Poll says Bush strongly disapproved ofThe Gallup News Service reported that 44% of Americans strongly
disapprove of the job George Bush is doing, "the highest for any president since
Richard Nixon during the Watergate era."
Sunday - March 05, 2006Watch Bush lie about what he knew of the risk posed by Katrina to the levees in New OrleansThe
Washington
Post web site has a video from the Associated
Press showing President Bush being briefed in advance on Katrina and being told
about the possibility of the levees being breached in New Orleans. The video
also shows Bush lying to ABC News four days later when he said, "I don't think
anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."
Tuesday - February 07, 2006Helen Thomas vs. Scott McClellan on illegal wiretappingHelen Thomas asked White House Press Secretary
Scott McClellan yesterday whether President Bush thinks he should obey the law.
McClellan did not answer her question.
Monday - February 06, 2006Sen. Specter refused to swear in Attorney General Gonzales at Senate Judiciary hearingsSenator Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, refused to swear in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at
the NSA domestic spying hearing this morning, permitting him to testify without
the threat of the penalties for perjury.
Tuesday - January 24, 2006White House was warned in advance on KatrinaThe
Washington
Post reported that the White House "received detailed
[advance] warnings about [Katrina's] likely impact, including eerily prescient
predictions of breached levees, massive flooding, and major losses of life and
property".
Sunday - December 18, 2005Burning the FlagMy representative in Congress, Mike Doyle, sent
me a letter trying to justify his vote in favor of the Flag Desecration Act. He
closes by saying, "While we disagree on this subject, I hope that you will
continue to share your views with me on issues of importance." I consider the
freedom of political dissent pretty high on my list of important
issues.
Thursday - December 01, 2005Stop Alito PetitionSign the petition from People for the American Way asking
the U.S. Senate not to confirm Samual Alito to the Supreme
Court.
Wednesday - September 28, 2005Excellent post-Rita images of Port Arthur available from NOAAHigh quality aerial images of storm damaged Port
Arthur and nearby communities are available at a National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) web site: Hurricane Rita
Images.
Wednesday - September 28, 2005 |