Bottled Water Has Undisclosed Pollutants

Next time you choose to buy a bottle of water rather than just getting a glass and filling it from the tap, ask yourself why? If you believe that bottled water is safer and cleaner than tap water, think again.

In a recent study done by the Washington-based Environmental Working Group, results from samples of leading bottled waters found lots of things you might have thought you were avoiding.
Of over 38 chemicals and contaminates found here are some of the more interesting:

• bacteria
• caffeine
• the pain reliever acetaminophen
• fertilizer
• industrial solvents
• plastic-making chemicals
• the radioactive element strontium

Most likely some came from the tap water many companies use to make their bottled water, but others come from the bottling and plastics of the containers.

From an article in the Associated Press:

"In some cases, it appears bottled water is no less polluted than tap water and, at 1,900 times the cost, consumers should expect better," said Jane Houlihan, an environmental engineer who co-authored the study.

We in America have some of the best drinking water in the world. Our public water supplies with a few exceptions are not only safe but remarkably safe. So why keep adding to the landfill with plastic bottles when we can use a nice washable glass and turn on the tap to get clean drinkable water? Guess all that advertising works!

Bush White House Endorsed Waterboarding In Secret Memos

Talking about the Bush administration seems so 20 minutes ago, but some things are worth discussing. Take the memo sent to the CIA from President Bush that explicitly endorsed waterboarding and other torture techniques against Al Qaeda suspects.

After all the times Bush appeared on TV and specifically said "the US doesn't torture" we find he was lying like a rug! The CIA also requested the memos to cover their ass yet some people in the intelligence community worried that these memos could cause a significant scandal and backlash if they became public. Guess what: They would have! They should still except for the fact that this info is being dumped when the press and the public are focused on the presidential race.

Obviously the CIA realized they were on shaky ground and they repeatedly requested such memos to give them a paper trail should all this come back to bite them. A Lawyer for the CIA, A. John Radsan, was even quoted in the Washington Post as saying, “The question was whether we had enough 'top cover’” in regard to the memos. Top cover?

So these guys were willing to break international law as long as they had a memo from the White House? Amazing, and yet the public will probably not hear or care about this outrage.

Unfortunately we Americans have an attention deficit and cannot concentrate on two issues at a time. You can see this reflected in the press as they move from one shiny object to another. If a story takes more than a few seconds to grasp, we have no interest in it.

That said, here's the story: Bush endorsed torture while lying to the American public and the world!

That in itself would have gotten a Democratic president impeached in a heartbeat. Why has nothing been done about the criminal we have in office? Well have you seen him lately? He understands that we are all afflicted with ADD and he is staying out of sight. Bush has become the Invisible President, emerging from the White House only to make banal statements and wave to photographers.

When was the last time you saw Dick Cheney? Same thing, hide and they will forget you, besides he has far too many documents to shred to be bothered with public appearances.

And so the crime, and it is a crime of international importance, will probably go unpunished and in fact unnoticed. So I stand here shouting for nobody to hear, and besides what's that sparkling over there? Oohh, it's so shiny!

Obama Opens 14 Point Lead in National Poll

Wow! The latest CBS News/NY Times poll shows Obama with a 14 point lead among likely voters. Looks like McCain/Palin's attacks are backfiring big time!

Vote No On Prop 8 - New Video

Christopher Buckley Leaves National Review After Endorsing Obama

Conservative author Christopher Buckley has endorsed Barack Obama for president. That endorsement may have cost him his position at his father, William F. Buckley's longtime home, The National Review.

Buckley writes in The Daily Beast blog:

Within hours of my endorsement appearing in The Daily Beast it became clear that National Review had a serious problem on its hands. So the next morning, I thought the only decent thing to do would be to offer to resign my column there. This offer was accepted--rather briskly!--by Rich Lowry, NR's editor, and its publisher, the superb and able and fine Jack Fowler. I retain the fondest feelings for the magazine that my father founded, but I will admit to a certain sadness that an act of publishing a reasoned argument for the opposition should result in acrimony and disavowal.

McCain's Health Plan? Unbelievable!

As one of the 45 million Americans without health care insurance I am very interested in the health plans being proposed by the candidates. The group Health Care Now was producing a plan about the proposed plans and when they told people McCain's plan they wouldn't believe it. Frankly, nobody should, because it's unworkable and would provide less than we have now.

McCain Hires Former Saddam Hussein Lobbyist For Transition Team

John McCain's new transition team head honcho is a lobbyist who aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime. Say what?

Yup, William Timmons in 1992 worked closely with the two lobbyists, Samir Vincent and Tongsun Park who later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein's government.

So John Sidney McCain worries about Obama having met William Ayers but has no problem with his transition team lead working on behalf of a sworn enemy Saddam Hussein. This guy is amazing in his lack of ethics and judgement.

First he picks an inexperienced incapable VP and then he hires a lobbyist who worked for Saddam Hussein. That's the kind of thing I would expect from....well nobody!

More Assassination Threats From Palin Supporters!

In Scranton, PA the local newspaper blogged from Sarah Palins rally. Here are a few choice snippets:

12:15 p.m.

The line outside Riverfront Sports has dwindled to a a few hundred. Reporters at the scene said it appears that everyone who wants to attend the Palin rally will be able to get in.

One man walked the length of the line shouting out "reminders" to those waiting that " loaded firearms are not allowed inside."

1:25 p.m.

Chris Hackett addressed the increasingly feisty crowd as they await the arrival of Gov. Palin.

Each time the Republican candidate for the seat in the 10th Congressional District mentioned Barack Obama the crowd booed loudly.

One man screamed "kill him!"

Supporters have been noted shouting “kill him,” “terrorist,” “off with his head” and other equally incendiary terms about Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Others have directly suggested Mr. Obama is a Muslim, which he is not, or a traitor. Some comments even drew rebuke from Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

John Cleese On Sarah Palin - Video

Thanks to AmericaBlog for finding this one:

Anchorage Daily News - Palin's Response is "Orwellian"

When the Anchorage Daily News is calling Palin's response to her violation of state ethics laws "Orwellian" you know things are bad. Apparently Palin cannot read or she cannot face the reality of her own state's finding that she broke the law!

From The Anchorage Daily News:

Sarah Palin's reaction to the Legislature's Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation.

She claims the report "vindicates" her. She said that the investigation found "no unlawful or unethical activity on my part."

Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian.

Page 8, Finding Number One of the report says: "I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act."

In plain English, she did something "unlawful." She broke the state ethics law.

Perhaps Gov. Palin has been too busy to actually read the Troopergate report. Perhaps she is relying on briefings from McCain campaign spinmeisters.

That's the charitable interpretation.

McCain Was For ACORN Before He Was Against It

Yup, those emails you have been getting blaming ACORN for the housing bubble, (an insane claim anyway) kind of seem strange when here is a video of McCain praising ACORN for their work and lobbying.

BOING! Dow Bounces Back A Bit

Watching the Dow was thrilling today as investors returned to the market with assurances from central banks that everything would be OK.

At the close it was up 936 points, the single biggest rise in history. I caution my friends against irrational exuberance, I expect it to fall a bit before stabilizing so hang on it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Man Behind Those Crazy Emails - "Secret Muslim, etc."

So if you get the same number of crazy emails as I do, this might help. Most of mine are forwarded to me by friends who want to know if it's true. Is Obama a "secret Muslim"?

Well I get tired of answering them but finally I have the definitive answer from the New York Times about the man who started it all, Andy Martin. Here's a sample from the piece that details his history and his other writings.

An examination of legal documents and election filings, along with interviews with his acquaintances, revealed Mr. Martin, 62, to be a man with a history of scintillating if not always factual claims. He has left a trail of animosity — some of it provoked by anti-Jewish comments — among political leaders, lawyers and judges in three states over more than 30 years.

So read the article and tell your friends to stop circulating his crap. It's a pack of baseless lies and it needs to stop. Muslims are not the problem, there are Muslim Americans as well as Christian, Jewish and Hindu Americans. Religion is not a problem, but lies are.

17 Newspapers Endorse Obama - 2 Endorse McCain

Editor and Publisher has been keeping count and here are their latest tallies.

Backing Obama: In Ohio, The Blade in Toledo and the Dayton Daily News; the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Tennessean of Nashville, the Wisconsin State Journal. the Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times, and in California the Fresno Bee, Sacramento Bee, Bay Area News Group-East Bay dalies (about 11 papers such as Contra Costa Times), The Herald of Monterey, The Santa Cruz Journal and The Sun of San Bernardino (which had picked Bush over Kerry), plus the New Bedford Standrd-Times in Massachusetts.

Joining the Obama team in battleground states were the Muskegon (Mich.) Chronicle, the Lehigh Valley (Pa.) Express-Times and Springfield (Ohio) News.

McCain registered two pick-ups: The Wheeling News-Register in West Virginia and the Napa Valley Register in California.

Et Tu Marueen?

Maureen Dowd, NY Times columnist, retreated to her early Latin education to describe the classic events unfolding in American politics. I muddled through in Latin, with just a few problems, since in my day (years ago) the public school system insisted all student study Latin. Damn we were civilized then!

Read her entire column, it's great stuff, but the Latin portion is a scream. AmericaBlog found a semi-translation here.

__________________

Bellum Gallium

Manes Julii Caesaris paucis diebus aderant — “O, most bloody sight!” — cum Ioannes McCainus, mavericus et veteranus captivusque Belli Francoindosinini, et Sara Palina, barracuda borealis, qui sneerare amant Baracum Obamam causa oratorii, pillorant ut demagogi veri, Africanum-Americanum senatorem Terrae Lincolni, ad Republicanas rallias.

Rabidi subcanes candidati, pretendant “no orator as Brutis is,” ut “stir men’s blood” et disturbant mentes populi ad “a sudden flood of mutiny,” ut Wilhelmus Shakespearus scripsit.

Cum Quirites Americani ad rallias Republicanas audiunt nomen Baraci Husseini Obamae, clamant “Mortem!” “Amator terroris!” “Socialiste!” “Bomba Obamam!” “Obama est Arabus!” “Caput excidi!” tempus sit rabble-rouseribus desistere “Smear Talk Express,” ut Stephanus Colbertus dixit. Obama demonatus est tamquam Musulmanus-Manchurianus candidatus — civis “collo-cerviciliaris” ad ralliam Floridianam Palinae exhabet mascum Obamae ut Luciferis.

Obama non queretur high-tech lynching. Sed secreto-serventes agentes nervosissmi sunt.

Vix quisque audivit nomen “Palinae” ante lunibus paucis. Surgivit ex suo tanning bed ad silvas in Terram Eskimorum, rogans quis sit traitorosus, ominosus, scurrilosus, periculosus amator LXs terroris criminalisque Chicagoani? Tu betchus!

“Caeca ambitio Obamana,” novum rumorem Palina McCainusque dixit. “Cum utilis, Obama laborat cum amatore terroris Wilhelmo Ayro. Cum putatus, perjuravit.” McCainianus bossus maximus Francus Keatinx vocat Obamam, “plebeium,” et ut iuvenum snifferendum cocaini minimi (“a little blow.”)

Cum Primus Dudus, spousus Palinanus, culpari attemptaret “Centurionem-Gate,” judices Terrae Santae Elvorumque castigat gubernatricem Palinam de abusu auctoritatis per familiam revengendum.

Tamen Sara et Ioannes bury Obama, not praise him. Maverici, ut capiunt auxilium de friga-domina, hench-femina, Cynthia McCaina Birrabaronessa, (quae culpat Obamam periculandi suum filum in Babylonia), brazen-iter distractant mentes populares de minimissimis IV 0 I K.ibus, deminutione “Motorum Omnium,” et Depressione Magna II.0. Omnes de Georgio Busio Secundo colossale goofballo. “V” (because there’s no W. in Latin) etiam duxit per disastrum ad gymnasium.

Gubernatrix (prope Russia) Palina, spectans candidaciam MMXII, post multam educationem cum Kissingro et post multam parodiam de Sabbatis Nocte Vivo atque de Tina Feia, ferociter vituperat Obamam, ut supralupocidit (aerial shooting of wolves) in Hyperborea.

Vilmingtoni, in Ohionem, McCain’s Mean Girl (Ferox Puella) defendit se gladiatricem politicam esse: “Pauci dicant, O Jupiter, te negativam esse. Non, negativa non sum, sed verissima.” Talk about lipsticka in porcam! Quasi Leeus Atwater de oppugnatione Busii Primi ad Dukakem: “non negativus, sed comparativus.”

Palin Heckles Her Own Supporters!

Want proof Sarah Palin is a clueless fool? How about the latest escapade wherein she heckles her own supporters who are trying to get her to speak louder.

From the Associated Press:

Many on the outer periphery, more than 100 yards from the stage, couldn't hear.

They started chanting, "Louder! Louder!" Palin thought they were protesters, looked toward them and said, "I hope those protesters have the courage and honor to give veterans thanks for their right to protest."

McCain Campaign Claims Conservative Columnist Bill Kristol Is "Buying Obama Campaign Line"

It is a sad day when the McCain campaign is saying Bill Kristol is "buying into the Obama party line". We're talking Bill Kristol for God sakes! This guy is so conservative he makes Genghis Khan look like a liberal!

McCain's people are so scattered they can't figure up from down and that is why Kristol made the remark that McCain is running "a pathetic campaign" on FOX News Sunday. He went even further this morning in the New York Times when he said McCain should"fire his campaign" and start over. Apparently the truth hurts too much for the McCain folks to accept it and that is why they will lose and lose big!

Sarah Palin Lies About Her Guilt In Ethics Violations

So Sarah Palin seems to be a compulsive liar. When asked about the trooper-gate scandal, where she has been found guilty of ethics violations in Alaska, she told a reporter, "I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing, any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that."

The ruling begins with this sentence:

"I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act ... Compliance with the code of ethics is not optional..."

The problem is she wasn't cleared, she was found guilty. ABC News notes the lie and gives the facts.

12 Major Newspapers Now Back Obama

And the number of newspapers backing Obama grows to 12..

Acording to Editor & Publisher:

In Ohio, The Blade in Toledo and the Dayton Daily News; the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Tennessean of Nashville, the Wisconsin State Journal. the Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times, and in California the Fresno Bee, Sacramento Bee, Contra Costa Times, The Herald of Monterrey, and The Sun of San Bernardino (which had picked Bush over Kerry).

Sarah Palin Limericks - A New Art Form!

Thank God for America's poets. they have a never ending supply of limericks about Sarah Palin. In fact there is now a website dedicated to them, the American Center for Sarah Palin Inspirational Limericks. Here is one of my favorites:

As debates go, it was quite a flat one,
each answer most likely a pat one.
Though a night with no drama
is a win for Obama
the same can’t be said for Mc “That One.”