VP Cheney has a blood clot in his leg. (link ) Strong earthquakes rock Indonesia. (link ) Dems alter plans to restrict Iraq War. (link ) 9 US soldiers have been killed. (link )

In positive news, the Asian markets are recovering well. (link )

What's up with you?

Anne Hull and Dana Priest have another VA-related story out today that identifies problem areas beyond Walter Reed. (link ) Meanwhile Iraq continues to be a meatgrinder, even more so for Iraqis than for our troops. (link ) Another WaPo story today talks about the lack of a Plan B if/when the escalation AKA surge fails. (link )Ender will be heartened to see the Newsweek piece on Giuliani. (link )

On another note, with all the talk about Ann Coulter recently, I googled my old piece on the Coulterization of the Republican Party (link ) and found that Paul Rosenberg had mentioned it in a diary at My Left Wing, and just for good measure referred to me by name as the "Fox News Democrat" at Swords Crossed. (link ) I don't think he ever understood what we are doing here. But that gives me the opportunity to ask you what you think we are doing here.

And what is on your mind?

Sec. Gates takes care of problems at home by firing those responsible for not paying attention to incompetence. Bush will visit the tornado ravaged school. And Giuliani easily leads other GOP candidates head to head in this new poll .

...according to the latest NEWSWEEK Poll—beating McCain 59 percent to 34 percent. Giuliani's lead over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is even more formidable (70 percent to 20 percent).

How is it going?

Tornadoes kill 19 across the southeast US. (link ) The General running Walter Reed has been removed from that post. (link ) New stories are emerging about equipment shortages for the National Guard. (link ) The story about fired US attorney Iglesias, and others who were fired, begins to really grow. (link )

What's on your mind?

Good question -- promoted by Brendan

Let's say you go into Ruby Tuesday with three of your favorite political ideologues to discuss politics. One of you orders the red-meat Colossal Burger, one orders the Fresh Chicken-and-Broccoli Pasta, and another, the chicken salad. (I leave you to decide who eats what). I'll get to my point in a moment.

At first I was wholeheartedly against the Nanny-State initiatives that I see happening here in New York. First came the trans-fat ban, then the calorie-listings, and most recently, the law to ban the use of of cell phones, iPods, and other electonic devices while focusing on driving walking across the street. I really don't like the fact that there's nothing else for folks to do inside a state domed building than to play with things like this...

Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. has died. (link ) McCain announced on Letterman's show last night, with official announcement to follow in April. (link ) More from WaPo on Walter Reed, who knew what and how long ago they knew it. (link )

I'm better but not quite well yet, planning to put in a full day today at work. What's on your mind?

In the previous part of this essay, I discussed a few useful pair definitions of liberal/conservative, which may be briefly summarized as: innovation/tradition, entitlement/responsibility, federal/local. Naturally this is a simplification but these rough dichotomies capture the essense of the liberal/conservative split. I'd first like to examine the respective approaches to a deliberately contrived example, then generalize to the different implementations of a "safety-net" in American society.

We begin our journey in the city of Omelas (link to summary but the entire short story is well worth reading), a utopia envisioned by Ursula K. Le Guin in which the people enjoy rich, free, and satisfying lives. The price of this perfection is horrific neglect and cruelty suffered by one child who is perpetually imprisoned in an unlit and uncleaned cell; most of the populace is willing to pay this price, although a few "walk away from Omelas." The way Le Guin balances the happiness of the people against the suffering of the innocent child seems to constitute an indictment of organizing society along strict utilitarian principles¹. What does this scenario say about liberalism and conservatism? How would you, as a liberal or a conservative, act in such a situation?

Mike is probably sleeping so I'll open this up for today. It seems that Democrats backed away from the Murtha plan to withhold funding and instead went for the weak version that the moderate Dems have been pushing - Democrats back away from holding war funds . The market will hopefully stabilize today, after the Chinese market rebounded somewhat. A slowdown in economy should prompt rates cuts. There is a lot of talk of the 2008 Presidential campaign in the news already. Isn't it very premature? In any case Giuliani is my man.

This is an Open Thread.

Cheney is OK after a blast at the Afghan base he was visiting. (link ) The stock market opens low after a 9% tumble in the Chinese market. No link yet.

I'm home sick today and headed out to the doctor later. What's on your mind?

TduBfQ wow, awesome blog.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.

Martin Scorcese finally won an Oscar. Departed had a big night. More snow on the east coast. Iraq is still a mess. Ender has a story up about Frank Rich's piece on a nuke inside the US.

What's on your mind?

There is an interesting diary on dkos recommended list titled Frank Rich’s Warning Today – What if He’s Right? that poses a question with wide repercussions. A little excerpt:

But Rich points out that today, as in 2001, warnings are surfacing from the intelligence community that Al Qaeda is growing ever more resurgent in Afghanistan and western Pakistan with little response from Bushco. Preoccupied with trying to rescue their disastrous Iraq adventure, and with rattling sabers at Iran, they may be ignoring once again a threat that is real and growing.

The White House doesn’t want to hear it now, either. That’s why terrorism experts are trying to get its attention by going public, and not just through The Times. Michael Scheuer, the former head of the C.I.A. bin Laden unit, told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann last week that the Taliban and Al Qaeda, having regrouped in Afghanistan and Pakistan, "are going to detonate a nuclear device inside the United States" (the real United States, that is, not the fictional stand-in where this same scenario can be found on "24").

Keep reading...

Good morning everyone! Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. This morning I got involved in a little discussion about those CIA pilots charged by foreign courts. The discussion on dkos is here - my comments are a bit down with some responses.

So what are you all up to?

The weekend is upon us! Dems are crafting a bill to limit President Bush on Iraq. (link ) CNN thinks the back and forth between Obama and Hillary is a top news story that reveals serious issues. (link ) MSNBC's main slot is given to a story on Cheney remarks to China. (link )

So what do you want to talk about?

Ender will be probably be heartened to know that the two current frontrunners for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination are attacking each other. (link ) It looks like British Prince Harry is on his way to Iraq soon. (link ) BTD has a piece on habeas corpus and the NYT. (link )

In a side note to some of yesterday's discussion, here are few links to discussion about the estate tax: (link )(link )(link )

So what's on your mind?

Today's big news is that England is drawing down the number of troops in Iraq. (link ) Yesterday's big news was the decision that Guantanamo prisoners have no right of habeas corpus. (link ) McJoan's piece on this over at dKos (link ) had some good references and discussion. All those helicopters going down may reflect a new strategy by militants. (link )

On another note, I traveled on Jet Blue recently, thankfully not during the bad weather that grounded many planes, and liked the service. Do any of you want to talk about Jet Blue and its chances of recovery?

What's on your mind?

Rising healthcare costs hurt families and businesses. Fortunately, both sides of the aisle are finally taking steps to confront this issue. ILJ points out that some companies are already ahead of the politicians. (Promoted by Brendan)

The topic below was originally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal .

Milt Freudenheim reports in the New York Times that some employers are finding it more cost effective to give their employees free drugs. His article, illustrates how much attitudes within the business community are changing regarding the rising cost of healthcare. As Freudenheim reports,

Ender recently posted a piece on "Why I am not a liberal" decrying the mob intelligence, need entitlements, and mommy government that seem to go hand in hand with liberal principles. I think there are three definitions of liberal/conservative implicit in this, and I want to use this as a starting point to address each of them briefly (in a neutral manner, for the moment).

F8Nxoz Major thanks for the blog article.Really thank you!

Violence continues in Iraq after 63 die on a bloody Sunday. (link ) Bombs kill 66 people on a train bound from India to Pakistan. (link ) IRaq War vets face numerous hurdles at the VA. (link ) A Republican former Secretary of Defense says "How many casualties should the United States accept in that effort to try to create clarity and stability in a situation that is inherently unstable?" (link ) Larry Johnson has taken the Washington Post to task for spreading lies about the Plame case. (link ) And Eric Massa writes about billions wasted and other billions unappropriated in Iraq. (link ) Meanwhile, the smears have started against Jack Murtha and his plan to place limits on President Bush. (link )

I have connections to Massa and Johnson. And BarbinMD, author of the last piece, used to be a regular here at SC. nedir