Bill O'Reilly is a big fat liar

So, he's not only a terrorist sympathizer, but he also creates bullshit stories in his 1-man War on Christmas. From WNEM-TV5:

A Mid-Michigan Township makes national news but there's a problem, local officials say the whole thing was made up. Bill O'Reilly is making the claim that Saginaw Township officials banned residents from wearing red and green during the holiday season. Local officials say he's dead wrong.

from poynter.org, the text of an email sent to parents of the Plano, Tx. School District:

"The school district does not restrict students or staff from wearing certain color clothes during holiday times or any other school days," noted Dr. Otto, who said that the school district's attorney has requested that Mr. O'Reilly retract the statement.

And I love the jab from the school district's attorney in his letter to O'Reilly:

"It would be our hope that you would engage in fair and balanced reporting of this nationally recognized school district in the future,"

It's still not polite...

to point fingers...

Ken Lay speaks to sold-out crowd

Oldest Known Maya Mural

From NationalGeographic.com

Starbucks' empire

George Washington is said to have gambled away a horse there. Later, jazz legend Charlie Byrd serenaded fans in late-night jam sessions in the cozy brick room. And, if the Annapolis historic preservation commission goes along tonight, you'll be able to order a tall pumpkin spice latte in the room, in the basement of the Maryland Inn. Plans by Starbucks to occupy the former King of France Tavern have some city leaders lamenting an encroaching sameness in the heart of the Colonial capital. [A brewing question - Baltimoresun.com]

Gubernator to Tookie: "You're Terminated"

declines request for clemency, execution to continue as planned Republicans rejoice; Tookie's gonna DIE!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!! By the way, Tookie can die 10 times over... it won't change the fact that the death penalty is not a deterrent to violent crime. And for those of you who endlessly grapple with moral questions: Why is not OK for Tookie to have killed someone, but it's perfectly OK for the State to kill Tookie?

the slimeball in Annapolis

Today's column by Michael Olesker at The Baltimore Sun lays into Maryland's embarassingly-inept Republican Governor for hiring Bo Harmon to manage his re-election campaign. In case you forgot (or weren't aware) Olesker is the Sun columnist that Governor Ehrlich instructed State officials to boycott, because Michael Olesker has a bad habit of pointing out all of Erhlich's many lies and transgressions. Harmon is the same man who suggested that triple-amputee and Vietnam War hero Max Cleland was aligned with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein to help Saxby Chambliss win election in Georgia. Unfortunately, Governor Ehrlich is to Maryland what President Bush is to America, and what Nero was to Rome. Habitually-destructive, sometimes accidentally, sometimes purposefully... but almost always based on ignorance and a sincere inability to recognize right from wrong. Both have a nauseating distaste for good ideas or anything that resembles progress, and seem to be devoid of moral character. Hopefully, before his first term is complete, Ehrlich finds himself facing a fate not-unlike the fate of many of his criminal GOP friends. A note for the newly-hired redneck: Don't make yourself too comfortable. This isn't Alabama or Georgia and we have no problem reminding you daily that scumbags like yourself aren't welcome here.

welcome to the party Mr. Warner

watch out for Swiftboats Propelled by his popularity at home, Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia has begun a major foray onto the national stage, raising millions of dollars for his likely presidential bid and visiting states already being courted by potential 2008 contenders. [NYTimes has more]

Lists

Best-Selling Luxury Cars 2005 [source: Forbes.com] America's Most Literate Cities [source: www.ccsu.edu] Highest Earning-Dead Celebrities [source: Forbes.com, via Infoplease]

overkill (literally)

If you didn't pay close attention, you probably missed it...the very last line of this article in today's Washington Post:

Authorities have identified more than 1,000 detention centers across Iraq.

Excellent. Iraq is quickly becoming George Bush's vision of Utopia. Nothing says "Congratulations, you've been liberated!" more than one thousand detention centers.

WaPo: Executions, racial disparity and nutless Lieutenant Governors

A Tardy Look at Executions

Monday, December 12, 2005; Page A24 WHEN MARYLAND put Wesley E. Baker to death last week, it highlighted just about all the disparities that afflict its use of capital punishment. Mr. Baker was an African American man who killed a white person in Baltimore County. Blacks who kill whites are substantially more likely to receive the death penalty in Maryland than are whites who kill blacks, and Baltimore County prosecutors are dramatically more likely to seek it than are their counterparts elsewhere. While Mr. Baker committed a horrible crime, his execution nonetheless poses the question of whether the justice system would have demanded his life had he or his victim looked different or had the crime taken place somewhere else. Such disparities used to bother Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R) -- and presumably still do. Mr. Steele, now running for U.S. senator, opposes the death penalty. Nearly three years ago, when Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) lifted his predecessor's moratorium on executions -- disregarding a University of Maryland study that clarified just how unevenly the state's death penalty is applied -- Mr. Steele expressed concern. Mr. Ehrlich asked him to study the issue further and make recommendations. Yet even as Maryland has resumed executions, Mr. Steele's long-awaited study has not materialized. While he has reportedly met with people to discuss the subject, there has been no formal task force -- something the governor's office says neither Mr. Ehrlich nor Mr. Steele ever envisioned. A spokesman for the governor, Henry P. Fawell, says Mr. Steele has met with a variety of interested parties and expects to make his much-delayed recommendations in the first few months of the new year. Maryland's use of the death penalty is relatively rare. Yet partly because it is used so infrequently, its disparities can become particularly pronounced. Reserving the death penalty for the worst of the worst is better than profligate executions. But capital punishment cannot be reserved for black killers of white people in Baltimore County. As an opponent of capital punishment in an administration that has dismissed such concerns, there is undoubtedly a limit to Mr. Steele's influence. Yet burying the issue for three years is not a sign of political courage.

Europe to George Bush's America

You have a credibility problem

the simplest defense

you can't prove a thing if we can't find any records

lunatic fringe

this freak again

promises undelivered

And tonight I also offer this pledge of the American people: Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives.

Bush advisor to former Washington Post reporter Mike Allen: Katrina “Has Fallen So Far Off The Radar Screen, You Can’t Find It” [source: Think Progress]

Amen, brother...

"Will we ever be as wise as our grandparents and end drug prohibition?" [Drug Laws Don't Work]