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• A U.S. jury on Friday found Conrad Black guilty of criminal fraud and obstruction of justice in a grim Friday the 13th verdict that could send the former media baron to jail for up to 35 years. Black was allowed to remain free on a $21 million bond pending a July 19 hearing on whether bond should be continued. His lawyers said he would appeal, and sentencing was set for November 30. Black surrendered his passport in court.


• Two leading Republican senators said today that President Bush should seek a new war authorization and present a plan to Congress by Oct. 16 outlining contingency plans in Iraq. Those plans, which would include reducing American forces, should begin by the end of the year. Senators John W. Warner of Virginia and Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, both of whom have criticized the administration’s troop buildup plan, introduced a measure expected to be considered next week when the Iraq war debate resumes.

If it wasn't for Moyers, Nova, and Frontline, what the hell would PBS be for?  I really don't know anymore.  The News Hour has gone to shit.  "Documentaries" that blatantly distort American history are aired as if no one would notice or care.  And it only gets worse.

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• In the latest of a string of departures of White House aides, U.S. budget director Rob Portman announced on Tuesday he is stepping down after just over a year on the job.




• Nine firefighters died battling a blaze that raced through a furniture store and warehouse in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday night, triggering a rolling ball of smoke and flames that destroyed the roof and pelted onlookers with hot ash.




• A suspected al Qaeda bomber killed 78 people when he rammed a truck into a Shi'ite mosque in Baghdad on Tuesday, just hours after 10,000 U.S. troops began an offensive against the Sunni Islamist group north of the capital.




• New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, often mentioned as a possible third-party 2008 presidential candidate, said on Tuesday he was changing his political status to independent from Republican.

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• As many as 35 people were killed and 52 injured yesterday in a devastating suicide bomb attack on a bus carrying police recruits in Kabul. The attack - the largest single attack in Afghanistan since 2001 - bore all the hallmarks of insurgent attacks in Iraq and raised fears of a leap in the capability of the Taliban and its al-Qa'eda mentors in Afghanistan.




• In the latest example of politics embracing Web 2.0 trends, YouTube and CNN said Thursday that they will stage two debates letting voters present their questions to the politicians.

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• Michael Elston, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, became the fifth department official to leave his post since the controversy over the firings rocked the nation's top law enforcement agency.

• Six foreign-born Muslims accused of participating in a plot to kill soldiers at Fort Dix proclaimed their innocence Thursday during a hearing in federal court in Camden.

For years upon years the U.S. government has been using the ocean as a dumping ground for chemical weapons.  Let me say that again.

FOR YEARS THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN DUMPING CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN THE OCEAN

This is something I did not know about and I am guessing that maybe you don't either.  I first read about it at Deep Sea News and from their links I went to The Daily Press which has been all over this. I can't believe this hasn't garnered more attention, even in the debilitated MSM, but also out here in the lefty blogoshpere.

Follow me below the fold if you can stomach it.  

In the midst of all the gnashing of teeth and rendering of garments that has been abounding throughout the land of orange over the past 24 hours, I thought a bit of good news was in order. Michael Baroody, the former head of the National Association of Manufacturers, has withdrawn his name from consideration to head the Consumer Protection Agency.  This fox is not getting into the hen-house.  So give yourself a pat on the back and remember that every victory in this battle is a step closer to winning the war.  More on the flip...

Edit:  I forgot to give a h/t to Steve Benen at The Carpetbagger Report where I found the link to the USA Today article.  If you don't read The Carpetbagger Report , you should.

When I first started reading about the Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal , I was intrigued and wondered, with the politicising of the DOJ, which has been evident to many of us in the blogosphere long before the current controversy, how this came to be.  It seemed to me that the Bushistas would have kept this from coming to light or at least given it their best shot.  But now Scott Horton from No Comment explains it perfectly.  Not only did Abu Gonzales not care if Lawrence Franklin's deeds were revealed, he and Paul Mcnulty couldn't wait to get this into a courtroom.  Follow me beyond the flip for why this matters.

More after these messages...

Although I was severely disappointed that Stewart didn't pull a "russert" on Russert last night - throwing up some obscure quote from him and making him defend it - or just straight up bust him over his personal involvement in l'affaire de Plame, I was even more disappointed that he let Tim spew the bullshit about his new "book" - and I use the term loosely in case the quotes didn't give that away.  His self important, self aggrandizing, and insipidly crass and narcissistic masturbation was about as craptacular as watching Paris Hilton explain what a great fucking vocalist she is.

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Although this only means the case now goes to the 8th circuit, listed in dkospedia as "moderate court (?)", I think the judge should be applauded for trying to frame the case correctly from the beginning.

In his ruling on Friday, Judge Robert W. Pratt, chief judge of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, said he was not ruling on the efficacy of religious programs in rehabilitating inmates or "the ultimate truthfulness about religion."

Instead, Judge Pratt ruled that the InnerChange program had violated the separation of church and state by using money from taxpayers to pay for a religious program, one that gave special privileges to inmates who accepted its evangelical Christian teachings and terms.

more after these messages...

Seems like the only qualifications for heading the Department of the Interior under Dubya are thinking ANWAR drilling is neato and wanting to drill for oil and gas off the coast of Florida.

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate confirmed President George W. Bush's nominee, Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, as interior secretary on Friday, after several lawmakers lifted procedural holds that allowed the vote to proceed.

Kempthorne replaces Gale Norton and will be the 49th interior secretary, charged with overseeing federal lands.

The Senate confirmed Kempthorne in a voice vote after voting 85-8 to suspend debate on his nomination.

More on the flip...

This is not a rant or a call to action.  It is not a request for symapthy or pity (except perhaps for my friends and family, and most especially my girlfriend and for the pain it has caused them).  It is just the story of one person's struggle with health and the "greatest healthcare system in the world".

I am about to celebrate my third anniversary of no health insurance hopefully by getting some health insurance. I currently endure "moderate to severe" hemmoragic psoriasis, psoriatic arthristis, and most probably undiagnosed Addison's Disease. (This is what my last endochrinologist was leaning toward when I left my last stint with health coverage 3 years ago)  If only the term "pre-exsisting condition" did not apply.