Monday, November 5, 2007

Corruption Josh Marshall: "Okay, so surprise surprise, 'it's not bribery, it's the latest innovation in lobbying' didn't pan out as a defense for Duke Cunningham briber (finally liberated from the utterly hollow 'alleged') Brent Wilkes. Guilty on all thirteen counts. So who's next?" "2008 pres" 8:16:34 PM

Iraq Andrew Sullivan: "There increasingly seems as if there is no question that violence of all kinds has subsided in Iraq. There's no question in my mind that Petraeus has made a difference." "2008 pres" 8:15:18 PM

Gay rights Colorado Confidential: "The number of gay couples in the eight-state Mountain region has increased seven-fold since 1990, according to a study released Monday by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, a think tank dedicated to sexual orientation law and public policy. It's the largest regional increase in the country except in the east South Central states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, which saw an increase of 863 percent. Researchers looked at data from the U.S. Census Bureau from 1990 through 2006 and found that across the U.S., the number of same-sex couples increased 21 times faster than the population. The largest increases were found in states that have traditionally been more conservative and less accepting of homosexuality." "2008 pres" 6:07:56 PM

Middle East policy Andrew Sullivan: "It's easily the biggest terror threat to the US and yet most experts and observers are completely flummoxed and/or divided about what to do about it." "2008 pres" 5:58:42 PM

? for President? Ed Cone: "Paulpalooza: Ron Paul raised a lot of money today. More, according to his website, "than any Republican has ever raised online in one day." Wash Park Prophet: "If you want to participate in the 2008 Presidential caucus process in Colorado, you must be registered to vote and affiliated with the political party of your choice by December 5, 2007. "Unaffiliated voters and people who register to vote later don't have a say in who the Democratic and Republican Party nominees will be in 2008. Colorado has a bigger say this year than in any, probably in the last hundred years, because the earlier February 5, 2007 allows us to have a say before the other states have already made the decision for us." "2008 pres" 5:50:58 PM

Women's health Electa Draper, (Via Politics West): "Catholic voters can disagree on issues such as immigration policy and health-care reform, but when it comes to the fundamental right to life, church leaders allow no wiggle room in the voting booth. All three Colorado dioceses and their lobbying arm, the Colorado Catholic Conference, are spelling out to more than 660,000 Catholics in the state what they believe faithful citizenship looks like. They are doing so in sermons, conferences, mailings, parish visits and three church newspapers. "2008 pres" 5:48:26 PM

Healthcare From The Denver Business Journal, "Most Colorado employers think everyone should be required to have health insurance, according to a recent survey from the Business Health Forum. The survey, conducted among members of the business community in six cities, was designed to tap employers' perspectives in the debate over health care reform. According to the survey, 62 percent of the respondents agree that health insurance should be mandatory." "2008 pres" 7:00:24 AM

Middle East policy The Moderate Voice: "If you silence the media the rumours do the round. Pakistan's government on Monday denied rumours sweeping the country that the deputy army chief had placed military ruler President Pervez Musharraf under house arrest, reports Forbes magazine. 'Musharraf had tipped vice chief of army staff Ashfaq Kiyani to take over his military role after pledging to hang up his uniform before being sworn in for a second term.' Meanwhile the United States said Monday it had suspended defence talks with anti-terror ally Pakistan and Defence Secretary Robert Gates demanded the country return swiftly to democracy after emergency rule." Captain's Quarters: "The debacle continues in Pakistan, as police beat and arrested lawyers protesting the emergency rule of Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad today. The Islamist party leader Liaqat Baloch estimates that 500 members have been imprisoned, a fate he narrowly avoided by fleeing Lahore." Juan Cole: "Qadi Hussain Ahmad, the leader of the fundamentalist Jamaat-i Islami called Sunday for massive protests against the coup of Gen. Pervez Musharraf. He was speaking to a crowd of 20,000 near the major Punjabi city of Lahore. I just saw Qazi Hussain on Aljazeera condemning Musharraf as a traitor, saying in English, 'This is clear treason.'" The Moderate Voice: "Among the hundreds of opponents now being jailed by the military regime of General Musharraf, an outstanding woman human rights activist Asma Jahangir has been put behind bars for 90 days. In a mesage smuggled out to The Independent of London just before she was taken to prison, Jahangir wrote: 'Yesterday, I was put under house arrest for 90 days and I was given a copy of my detention order. Ironically President (Musharraf) - who has lost his marbles - said that he had to clamp down on the press and the judiciary to curb terrorism. Those he has arrested are progressive, secular-minded people while the terrorists are offered negotiations and ceasefires.' Asma Jahangir is a leading Pakistani lawyer, head of the Pakistan Commission for Human Rights, and a special rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. She was heavily involved in the movement for the restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry earlier this year. Ms Jahangir sent this message from her home in Lahore." "2008 pres" 6:45:37 AM

© Copyright 2009 John Orr. Last update: 3/15/09; 1:40:43 PM.