Last week's 1.75 billion dollar (perhaps now even $2.2 billion!) deal Florida Governor Charlie Crist offered to U.S. Sugar for its 187 million acres (nearly 300 sq. miles) was naturally greeted with much enthusiasm by environmentalists.  After all, the Everglades has shrunk to just half of its original size, when Europeans first arrived on the Florida peninsula over 500 years ago, and here is a chance to finally reverse the course of development, and literally begin to release the "River of Grass" from the clutches of civilization.   The apparent main benefit, being to reestablish the natural water supply of Lake Okeechobee with the Everglades to the south. However, a cursory analysis of this deal, while obviously a positive development for the Everglades future, reveals an even sweeter deal for agribusiness.

There's a good story in today's Times, which has dug up some very good news for Democrats in Indiana:

... this year Mrs. Morgan exemplifies a different breed: the Republican crossing over to vote in the Democratic primary. Not only will she mark her ballot for Senator Barack Obama in the May 6 primary here, but she has also been canvassing for him in the heavily Republican suburbs of Hamilton County, just north of Indianapolis — the first time she has ever actively campaigned for a candidate.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

The article dives into the fairly predictable expectations of why:

“I used to like John McCain, but he’s aligning himself too closely with what Bush did, and that’s just not what I want for this country,” Mrs. Morgan, who is 56, said when asked to explain her rejection of the presumptive Republican nominee.

Forget about Petraeus, forget about Crocker, forget about anyone else who wants to characterize the surge as a success.  These are the words from the boots on the ground in Iraq:

"It bugs the hell out of me," said Sgt. George Lewis, Captain Veath’s platoon sergeant in Company B, Third Platoon, First Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment. "We don’t see any progress being made at all. We hear these guys in firefights. We know if we are not up there helping these guys out we are making very little progress."  

NYTimes: Iraqi Unit Flees Post, Despite American’s Plea

Well the new new Zogby poll confirms what most every reality based American knows- we are in a recession.  It also crowns Bush as Mr. 26%  (not sure how that relates historically in Zogby's polls)

Excerpt:

Three in four Americans – 74% – believe the U.S. economy is currently in a recession, a sharp increase from the 54% surveyed last month who believed a recession could arrive sometime in the next year...

Nearly three in four are also pessimistic about the overall direction the U.S. is headed – 73% believe the country is on the wrong track, up from 62% who said the same last month. Independents are most likely to feel this way (85%), but most Democrats (77%) and Republicans (60%) also believe the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction.

also, good portents for the coming election:

Discontent over the nation’s economic policy cuts across party lines, but is strongest among independents (91%) and Democrats (89%). Among Republicans, 80% now give U.S. economic policy negative ratings, an increase from 66% who said the same last month.

and the beneficiary of all this good will is of course Bush:

There were quite a few diaries on this story Sunday and Monday so this follows those recommended diaries as a sort of an update to them, but the story actually seems to be getting some legitimate attention.  For today the NYTimes has published an editorial detailing the whole snafu, and therefore pushing it into the MSM.  What is interesting is that they lead into it with the historic parallel of an earlier 'blackout' meant to squelch a racial desegregation story in 1955 in Mississippi:

In 1955, when WLBT-TV, the NBC affiliate in Jackson, Miss., did not want to run a network report about racial desegregation, it famously hung up the sign: "Sorry, Cable Trouble." Audiences in northern Alabama might have suspected the same tactics when WHNT-TV, the CBS affiliate, went dark Sunday evening during a "60 minutes" segment that strongly suggested that Don Siegelman, Alabama’s former Democratic governor, was wrongly convicted of corruption last year...

Well, not in those words, but the NYTimes article in today's paper quotes Gates, in reference to a lack of support from our European allies for our continued mission in Afghanistan:

“Many of them, I think, have a problem with our involvement in Iraq and project that to Afghanistan, and do not understand the very different — for them — the very different kind of threat.”

The comments were the first in which Mr. Gates had explicitly linked European antipathy to American policy in Iraq with the reason large segments of the public here do not support the NATO operation in Afghanistan.

and this attitude problem is summed up a little later:

Mr. Gates’s assessment was an unusually candid acknowledgment from a senior member of President Bush’s cabinet that the war in Iraq had exacted a direct and significant political cost, even among Washington’s closest allies.

Well how about that.  If you'll recall, this was one of the main contentions John Kerry made in his campaign against Bush 4 long years ago,

Edited to ad:  I have no problem with what Rich is saying.  I like Obama and agree with much of Rich's arguement.  It's 'the word' I object to.

Let me say this up front.  I know very well that Rich's use of the name "Billary" in today's NYTimes op-ed refers to "the joint Clinton candidacy", as he explains himself in the opening paragraph but- there is the unfortunate truth that the origins of the word lie in the foul and irrational hatred for the Clintons fostered by the extreme right wing.  And that part of this hatred is raw sexism aimed at Hillary.

When you split close to 90% of the vote between 3 candidates there certainly isn't much left to go to the remaining 5 guys, but I agree strongly with BooMan23 that Chris Dodd should get, and in fact has earned, whatever support may be left, (and I would hope it is more than 15%).   I don't agree with everything  BooMan said in his diary today, particularly about it being a very clever and strategic way to vote against Hillary, but in any case he makes an excellent arguement why Dodd is deserving of your caucus vote with these words (emphasis mine):

It rewards good behavior, it shows that backbone pays off electorally, and it keeps someone in the race that is right on the issues and has the experience and press relations to be president... if given the chance.  If Dodd finishes fourth he will not only fight on, but he will surpass expectations and get some new attention.  If one of the big three drop out, Dodd could move up.  He might even get enough publicity and connect with enough voters to get a shot at the vice-presidency.

I am not sure if any of you have personally suffered from this yet, (or know someone who has) but new travel restrictions requiring passports for ALL travel in and out of the United States, (including to formerly exempt Mexico and Canada) have created a major backlog in processing of both new and renewal passports. This brilliant program, intended to secure our borders from the mean and nasty 'evil doers' who want to get in and do harm to you, me, and the kids and the dog, is known as the  Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

The result has been an increase in passport applications which the Bush Administration (brace yourselves...) did not anticipate!  And the further result of all of this sudden scrambling for passports, believe it or not, is that some travelers have actually been forced to miss flights, cancel vacations, and lose any money spent on airline tickets and deposits!

or, free speech withers....

State looks to pull anti-Bush license plate

By Kevin Woster, The Rapid City Journal

RAPID CITY -- Heather Moriah loves the personalized license plates on her silver Prius encouraging the impeachment of President George W. Bush.

But somebody doesn’t agree. And that somebody complained to the state. Now, the South Dakota Division of Motor Vehicles is trying to recall the plates -- which read MPEACHW. And if Moriah doesn’t turn them in voluntarily, the state might send law-enforcement officers to pick them up.

... Division of Motor Vehicles director Deb Hillmer said Thursday that the law clearly gives the state authority to recall the plates and have them forcibly removed if necessary. And although only one person complained about Moriah’s political statement, that’s all it takes to recall a set of vanity plates, Hillmer said.

“I’m following the letter of the law,” she said. “It’s offensive to someone and not in good taste and decency. And the plates are the property of the state of South Dakota.”

'Partial rights for women'

There you go.
It's a good frame. It tells the truth.  And not only does it match each and every syllable of their partial truth slogan, it also ends in the letter 'n'.  
I, for one, refuse to repeat their label for the medical procedure (which is only really used to save a woman's life), but I have no problem throwing this one right back in their faces.

And the facts are that's what the anti-choice, women's rights stealing, in-the-name-of-Jesus-invoking religious charlatans want- to take away the rights of women, and make themselves feel good about their own miserable selves.

Thank you John Kerry.

As you bow out of the 2008 race, I just wanted to send a thank you for all you have done in your long and distinguished career serving this great nation.  But specifically, I want to thank you for the magic you brought to us in 2004.

You inspired me, and 59 million other Americans to cast a vote for you for President of the United States on November 2, 2004.  I thought you were the best candidate for President in my lifetime, and it was with great pride that I gave you my vote- a vote well-earned over a lifetime of service to your country.  

I will especially remember the excitement you and John Edwards generated, along the way....

Nothing like word of mouth, though in this case it's actually electronic mail, but Stephen Colbert is now taking on a life of his own in the blogosphere.  And for further proof of the role bloggers are having in this Colbert afterlife, check out the 3 lists from the NYTimes most active items:

Most emailed (We're No. 1!)
Most blogged  (No.4 )
Most Searched  "Colbert" No. 2 most searched term.

Pretty good.  Keep up the good work.  And in case you don't realize the importance of the Colbert story being so high up on the most emailed list, please know that this list is always on the front (home) page of the website (lower to middle of right column).  In addition to the millions of eyes who might happen to see it there, there are also many people like myself who scan that list solely to see what others are reading, and in case I missed any stories of novel interest. So again, keep up the good work everyone!  And oh yeah... email that story!

And let's see if we can get onto the most emailed list for the past 7 days!

Anybody worried about this? I posted in bonddad's diary and got not a response.

Savings rate at lowest level since 1933  

The Commerce Department reported Monday that the savings rate fell into negative territory at minus 0.5 percent, meaning that Americans not only spent all of their after-tax income last year but had to dip into previous savings or increase borrowing.

The savings rate has been negative for an entire year only twice before -- in 1932 and 1933 -- two years when the country was struggling to cope with the Great Depression, a time of massive business failures and job layoffs...

or is he looking out for the mining companies?

I simply ask: How can Senator Byrd vote for Judge Alito, when the not-so-good justice has shown he would rather err on the side of corporate profit, than on the side of worker safety?  How many more worker deaths do you need to see before you realize that greedy, craven, and soulless corporate bastards like Bush and Cheney, Rove, et al., care more about the health and profit of mining companies than the health and welfare of their workers?

ON EDIT: I just caught this re-reading Alito's opinion, and although he quotes another offical, it seems to betray Alito's view of government oversight: he mentions "scarce government resources". WTF? Why would Alito concern himself with the 'scarcity of government resources' in consideration of this issue? Either the mining operation is entitled to the proper oversight or not- availability of government resources should NOT enter into what is legally acceptable or required!!!

O.K. The original poll got pulled because of freepers, here's the new link: Link to Murtha poll

The original results were badly hacked by someone with a script file. Murtha's office was notified and reposted the poll now requiring registration. Here are the questions and some of the bogus results from the first couple hours:

Please indicate which of the following best summarizes your view on what the United States should do in Iraq:
Issue  # Votes  %  
A We should immediately remove all troops.  10.8 %
B We should redeploy to the periphery of Iraq as soon as practical to protect troop safety and give the Iraqis incentive to take charge sooner, not later.  24.6 %
C We should maintain current troop levels until Iraq builds an army to defend and stabilize their country, even if that takes years.  63.3 %
D We should re-institute the national draft to increase troop levels to where we can seal the Iraqi borders and stop the passage of insurgents and insurgent-supply missions.  1.4 %
Total  1835  

Old Link

Disregard and go to new link: New Link to Murtha poll

The astonishing thing is not the headline, which is just below the fold of the print edition, but the very first sentence:

American aviation officials were warned as early as 1998 that Al Qaeda could "seek to hijack a commercial jet and slam it into a U.S. landmark," according to previously secret portions of a report prepared last year by the Sept. 11 commission.

F.A.A. Alerted on Qaeda in '98, 9/11 Panel Said

Ahh, so they did put 2 and 2 together regarding the Algierian hijacking in '94, and Bojinka in '95, etcetera....

It is explained herein, that these revelations come as some of the formerly redacted portions from the 9/11 reports issued in January are now revealed, which only came after the Bush administration stalled their release until after the elections. (They were ready in August last year, but Rove decided they needed time and some magic markers before releasing them).

So do tell us, Condi Nobody-knew-they-would-use-planes-as-missiles Rice: how big is your nose? Oh and Mr. Bush, we eagerly await "I take full Responsibility...." ACT II

So this was in yesterday's Crain's New York Business news:

Heat wave melted retail sales in July

The heat wave that gripped the New York area last month apparently melted sales of back-to-school clothing at local retailers, according to July figures released today.

Sales in July at stores open for at least a year fell short of forecasts. One notable exception was the luxury market, driven by the increasing concentration of personal wealth, analysts said.

"With 30% more millionaires [nationwide] compared with 2002, luxury is on fire," said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a Manhattan-based retail consulting and investment banking firm. Non-luxury sales slowed because consumers are weighed down by excessive consumer debt, rising interest rates and energy costs....  

http://newyorkbusiness.com/news.cms?newsId=11327

So this is what our Marines are dying for- an increasing concentration of personal wealth.  And people wonder why some of us liberals hate Bush so much.