Bits of Tid: July 25, 2009

• On the 19th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, President Obama announced that UN Ambassador Dr. Susan Rice will sign a UN treaty which calls upon nations to afford disabled people the same rights as everyone else.
• In domestic policy news, Obama wants schools to reform by being more welcoming of charter schools while paying teachers based on student achievement. The incentive for doing so? Aid. Of course, student achievement can be measured in different ways, and measuring achievement by test scores alone is about as good of an idea as Obama joining the Republican Party.
• Bush considered using troops inside the US to capture terror suspects.
• Republican Kent County Commissioner Dean Agee has been busted for careless firearm discharge.
• Who wants 36-year-old cake?
• Tigers' magic number: 65.

The WeekEnder: July 27-29, 2007

Only 151 days remain until Christmas - so it must be time for the fifth episode of The WeekEnder! The WeekEnder is a weekly series that will provide a hodgepodge of information to fill your soul, make you laugh, make you cry, and inspire you.

• Congress acts to implement 9/11 recommendations
• 9/11, Katrina rescue hero dies
• I'll drink to that
• Do you recall...?
• Searching for Good
• Who needs work when you can vacation?
• Blumenthal at the College Republicans Convention
• Advice from a General
• Leno tells it like it is
• Not a victim to what's popular

Good news: Congress gets serious about protecting America

Which party do YOU trust to keep America safe?

Congress sent President Bush legislation Friday to intensify anti-terror efforts in the U.S., shifting money to high-risk states and cities and expanding screening of air and sea cargo to stave off future Sept. 11-style attacks.

The measure carries out major recommendations of the independent 9/11 Commission.

The bill, passed by the House on a 371-40 vote, ranks among the top accomplishments of the six-month-old Democratic Congress. The Senate approved the measure late Thursday by 85-8, and the White House said the president would sign the bill.

Six years after the Sept. 11 attacks and three years after the 9/11 Commission made its recommendations, "Congress is finally embracing what the 9/11 families have been saying all along," said Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. "It takes a willingness to do things a different way."

It's great to have a majority in Congress that actually cares about protecting America.

Bad news: You Were A Good Dog, Jake
There's a special place in doggie heaven for Jake the Rescue Dog:

A black Labrador who became a national canine hero after burrowing through white-hot, smoking debris in search of survivors at the World Trade Center site died Wednesday after a battle with cancer.

"But against all odds he became a world-class rescue dog," said Flood, a member of Utah Task Force 1, one of eight federal search-and-rescue teams that desperately looked for human remains at ground zero.

On the evening of his team‘s arrival, Jake walked into a fancy Manhattan restaurant wearing his search-and-rescue vest and was promptly treated to a free steak dinner under a table.

After Hurricane Katrina, Flood and Jake drove 30 hours from Utah to Mississippi, where they searched through the rubble of flooded homes in search of survivors.

Maid busted for serving boss water with urine
I hope your dinner has digested:

An Indonesian maid has been jailed for six days in Hong Kong for serving her boss a cup of water containing urine, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to a charge of "administering poison or other destructive or noxious substance with intent to injure," but insisted she had used the urine to treat a skin condition and its appearance in her employer's cup was a mistake.

Her boss, Szeto Ching-han, smelled the urine after asking for a cup of water, and then asked the maid to drink it -- which she did. Szeto, however, kept the liquid to have it tested in a lab, the South China Morning Post said.

Blog highlight of the week: Recalls
Given recent threats by extreme-right tax-haters to recall state lawmakers, Rich at Honest Errors has a few words of satire poking fun at Michigan's most prominent anti-tax figure, Leon Drolet:

Asked if he thought those moves might be considered extreme by Michigan’s voters, he replied, “Not my Michigan voters.” When it was pointed out that he didn’t have voters anymore now that he is retired from the state House, he exclaimed, “It doesn’t matter. When are you guys [in the press] going to get it? I want my way, dammit!”

Link of the week: GoodSearch
Ever wish you could raise money for your favorite charity just by doing something you already do everyday? With GoodSearch, you can. I’ll let the site’s About page do the talking:

GoodSearch is a search engine which donates 50-percent of its revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users. It's a simple and compelling concept. You use GoodSearch exactly as you would any other search engine. Because it’s powered by Yahoo!, you get proven search results. The money GoodSearch donates to your cause comes from its advertisers — the users and the organizations do not spend a dime!

Photo of the Week: India's Media Gets It





Video of the Week: Generation Chickenhawk with the College Republicans
Who's afraid of a little Max Blumenthal?



Quote of the week: George S. Patton
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."

Joke of the Week: Leno on Bush's approval rating
"Things not looking good for President Bush. His approval rating has dropped so low the only thing he's above now is the law."

Final thought
Whosever idea it was to start News From Around the Blogworld deserves kudos. It's a weekly series pf highlights from statewide progressive blogs from around the country (here's this week's edition on Michigan Liberal). It's yet another great way to see what's happening in other parts of the country - and a reminder that all politics really is local.

Saturday Coffee Talk/Open Thread for Michigan Liberal

Ahh, yes, Saturday Coffee Talk. But before we talk, we must make our coffee.

What's the first thing we need in order to make coffee? Hot water, of course. Shouldn't be hard to find; just look for your local Republican congressperson, who is surely in hot water thanks to their support of the Iraq War:

• WDET: Residents Organize to Change Knollenberg's Position on Iraq.
• Grand Rapids Press: Ehlers gets earful from protestors.
• Michigan Radio: Anti-war Campaign Comes to Michigan.
• LivingBlue: - Rogers' Response to War Protest Is Non-Sequitur - Judy does a nice job countering a statement made by a Rogers aide that "Congressman Rogers will continue to fully support our troops."

Once you've mixed the water and coffee beans, you want to add in just the right amount of cream and sugar:

• Blogging for Michigan: The Challenge of Teaching in 'Exponential Times' -Christine discusses what it means to be literate today, and shows how the Right's opposition to investing in teachers can have negative effects on children's education.
• Blue November: Candice Miller's "War on Terror" breaks down, paragraph by paragraph, the spin Rep. Miller has on her web site.
• DKos: Conyers Looking Into Credit Card Merchant Practices - I'm just so glad Conyers is from our beautiful state.
• ICDP Dispatch: Bill Clinton and Truman - what a pair - Having gone to a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Truman Library, Tim shares his thoughts on two great Democrats.
• Liberal, Loud and Proud: - Lucy/Julielyn/Paris Hilton allowed Rich at Honest Errors to make a Guest Post.
• LSJ Capitol Journal: Rocky to fight Levin? Ha ha ha! What's your goal this time around, Rocky? 39%?

But there are some things you just want to avoid adding:

• Yahoo! News: Ice cream vendor accused of selling pot near Benton Harbor. Insert your own joke here.

Because in the end, you want richness:

• Michigan Lottery - someone hit the $126 million Mega Millions jackpot, as evidenced by the fact that the jackpot for Tuesday's drawing is back down to $12 million. I don't gamble much, but high jackpots always pique my interest.

Report: Iraq war worsens terror threat

From the New York Times:

A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.

The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by United States intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled “Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States,’’ it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe.

An opening section of the report, “Indicators of the Spread of the Global Jihadist Movement,” cites the Iraq war as a reason for the diffusion of jihad ideology.

(etc.)

To think of the thousands of American soldiers who have given their lives in Iraq. They deserve better from their commander-in-chief and leaders in Washington.

If you want to truly protect America and fight terrorism, vote Democratic.