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ICYMI, Here’s Fox News Being Racist Again

1:42 pm EST August 5th, 2011 | News | 128 Comments

Fox Nation: Obama’s Hip-Hop BBQ Didn’t Create Jobs

PLEASE: Save Somalia

11:57 am EST August 2nd, 2011 | News | 4 Comments

NYTimes: Somalis Waste Away as Insurgents Block Escape From Famine

The Shabab Islamist insurgent group, which controls much of southern Somalia, is blocking starving people from fleeing the country and setting up a cantonment camp where it is imprisoning displaced people who were trying to escape Shabab territory.

The group is widely blamed for causing a famine in Somalia by forcing out many Western aid organizations, depriving drought victims of desperately needed food. The situation is growing bleaker by the day, with tens of thousands of Somalis already dead and more than 500,000 children on the brink of starvation.

Every morning, emaciated parents with emaciated children stagger into Banadir Hospital, a shell of a building with floors that stink of diesel fuel because that is all the nurses have to fight off the flies. Babies are dying because of the lack of equipment and medicine. Some get hooked up to adult-size intravenous drips — pediatric versions are hard to find — and their compromised bodies cannot handle the volume of fluid.

Most parents do not have money for medicine, so entire families sit on old-fashioned cholera beds, with basketball-size holes cut out of the middle, taking turns going to the bathroom as diarrhea streams out of them.

“This is worse than 1992,” said Dr. Lul Mohamed, Banadir’s head of pediatrics, referring to Somalia’s last famine. “Back then, at least we had some help.”

DONATE TO UNICEF
DONATE TO AMERICAN REFUGEE COMMITTEE
DONATE TO INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS (Horn Of Africa Crisis)

Slow Clap

10:43 am EST August 2nd, 2011 | News | 15 Comments

I’m glad to see Rep. Giffords return to congress. I don’t care if she voted for the bill. It’s inspiring that she’s come so far since that dark day.

Domestic Terror Watch: Planned Parenthood Center Bombed

5:57 pm EST July 27th, 2011 | News | 113 Comments

This time it was Texas.

Officials with Planned Parenthood confirmed that their McKinney clinic was the target of violence sometime last night.

Holly Morgan, director of media relations and communications for Planned Parenthood in Dallas, said their McKinney health center located on Eldorado Parkway was “attacked” between 10 and 11 p.m. Tuesday with an incendiary device.

The person or persons involved in the attack threw a Molotov cocktail, consisting of diesel fuel in a glass bottle with a lit rag, at the building. Morgan said the device did not penetrate the front of the clinic but did cause some serious damage.

(via)

Norway Terrorist Was A Pam Geller Fan

11:25 am EST July 25th, 2011 | News | 151 Comments

Hate and hate hang together.

In a manifesto posted online, the admitted killer, Anders Behring Breivik, praised Geller. He cited her blog, Atlas Shrugs, and the writings of her friends, allies, and collaborators—Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch, Islam Watch, and Front Page magazine—more than 250 times. And he echoed their tactics, tarring peaceful Muslims with the crimes of violent Muslims. He wrote that all Muslims sought to impose “sharia laws” and that “there are no important theological differences between jihadists and so-called ‘peaceful’ or ‘moderate’ Muslims.” He reprinted, as part of the manifesto, a 2006 essay by “Fjordman”—a blogger whose work appears frequently on Geller’s site—which argued that “radical Muslims and moderate Muslims are allies” and that because Islam teaches deception, no Muslim who claims to be moderate can be trusted.

Statement By President Obama On Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Certification

4:18 pm EST July 22nd, 2011 | News | 90 Comments

Statement by the President on Certification of Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Today, we have taken the final major step toward ending the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law that undermines our military readiness and violates American principles of fairness and equality. In accordance with the legislation that I signed into law last December, I have certified and notified Congress that the requirements for repeal have been met. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ will end, once and for all, in 60 days—on September 20, 2011.

As Commander in Chief, I have always been confident that our dedicated men and women in uniform would transition to a new policy in an orderly manner that preserves unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and military effectiveness. Today’s action follows extensive training of our military personnel and certification by Secretary Panetta and Admiral Mullen that our military is ready for repeal. As of September 20th, service members will no longer be forced to hide who they are in order to serve our country. Our military will no longer be deprived of the talents and skills of patriotic Americans just because they happen to be gay or lesbian.

I want to commend our civilian and military leadership for moving forward in the careful and deliberate manner that this change requires, especially with our nation at war. I want to thank all our men and women in uniform, including those who are gay or lesbian, for their professionalism and patriotism during this transition. Every American can be proud that our extraordinary troops and their families, like earlier generations that have adapted to other changes, will only grow stronger and remain the best fighting force in the world and a reflection of the values of justice and equality that the define us as Americans.

Cooling Programs Cut For Poor, Tax Cuts For The Rich

12:06 pm EST July 22nd, 2011 | News | 141 Comments

In American society, we’ve decided to let the rich step on the poor in almost every way possible.

Many states hit hardest by this week’s searing heat wave have drastically cut or entirely eliminated programs that help poor people pay their electric bills, forcing thousands to go without air conditioning when they need it most.

Oklahoma ran out of money in just three days. Illinois cut its program to focus on offering heating money for the winter ahead. And Indiana isn’t taking any new applicants. When weighed against education and other budget needs, cooling assistance has been among the first items cut, and advocates for the poor say that could make this heat wave even more dangerous.

One measure of a society is how it treats its least well off. By that measure, we’re doing a crappy job in America.

Somalia Famine

10:51 am EST July 21st, 2011 | News | 1 Comment

This story isn’t getting enough coverage.

The United Nations has declared a famine in two areas of southern Somalia as the region suffers the worst drought in more than half a century.

The UN said the humanitarian situation in southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle had deteriorated rapidly.

It is the first time that the country has seen famine in 19 years.

Meanwhile, the UN and US have said aid agencies need further safety guarantees from armed groups in Somalia to allow staff to reach those in need.

Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group which controls large swathes of south and central Somalia, had imposed a ban on foreign aid agencies in its territories in 2009, but has recently allowed limited access.

UNICEF is soliciting funds to help here.

AP Reports FBI Now Probing News Corp.

2:31 pm EST July 14th, 2011 | News | 17 Comments

Whoops.

A law enforcement official says the FBI has opened an investigation into allegations that media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. sought to hack into the phones of Sept. 11 victims.

The official spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Poor People Benefit From Health Insurance

5:53 pm EST July 7th, 2011 | News | 30 Comments

I confess – I don’t understand why anyone would have ever disputed something that sounds so simple, but that’s how the right and the appeasement left have so perverted dialogue in America:

When poor people are given medical insurance, they not only find regular doctors and see doctors more often but they also feel better, are less depressed and are better able to maintain financial stability, according to a new, large-scale study that provides the first rigorously controlled assessment of the impact of Medicaid.

Topic: Health Care