The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.
[...]
Mr Bush also faced criticism at the summit after Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, was described in the White House press pack given to journalists as one of the "most controversial leaders in the history of a country known for government corruption and vice".

The White House apologised for what it called "sloppy work" and said an official had simply lifted the characterisation from the internet without reading it.

Mark Ames, founding editor of the eXile, was recently visited by Russian Federal Service for Mass Media, Telecommunications and the Protection of Cultural Heritage for an "unplanned audit."

In all my years I'd never heard of an "unplanned audit" of editorial content. The insiders whom I contacted all said, "It's ... strange." That's how my Russian lawyer reacted, it's how an American official reacted, and it's even how the head of the Glasnost Defense Fund reacted
[...]

What [the UM police and the FBI] were looking for, Carroll says, was an informant—someone to show up at “vegan potlucks” throughout the Twin Cities and rub shoulders with RNC protestors, schmoozing his way into their inner circles, then reporting back to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, a partnership between multiple federal agencies and state and local law enforcement. The effort’s primary mission, according to the Minneapolis division’s website, is to “investigate terrorist acts carried out by groups or organizations which fall within the definition of terrorist groups as set forth in the current United States Attorney General Guidelines.”

Carroll would be compensated for his efforts, but only if his involvement yielded an arrest. No exact dollar figure was offered.

via

Hell yeah, I'm $300 richer today than I was yesterday. Time to go to Wal-Mart!

But don't get me wrong, if they're giving money away...

More than one in 100 adults in the United States is in jail or prison, an all-time high that is costing state governments nearly $50 billion a year, in addition to more than $5 billion spent by the federal government, according to a report released today.
With more than 2.3 million people behind bars at the start of 2008, the United States leads the world in both the number and the percentage of residents it incarcerates, leaving even far more populous China a distant second, noted the report by the nonpartisan Pew Center on the States.

So back in September of 2006 Congress passed a bill, The SAFE Port Act designed to funnel large amounts of money to politically connected businesses improve security at U.S. Ports. In one his last acts as Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist used his surgical prowess to graft the totally unrelated Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act to the certain-to-pass SAFE Port Act. This banned monetary transfers to any internet gambling sites (except of course lotteries, fantasy sports, and horse racing). This of course pissed off several foreign companies and led to a successful WTO challenge against the U.S. After negotiations, a settlement was reached, but the government has still not released the text of the agreement. Some blogger decided to file a Freedom of Information Act request for the agreement but this was what he got back:

Clayton County, GA, started a wastewater reclamation project more than 20 years ago, which now includes thousands of acres of forest and man-made wetlands with 10 million gallons of wastewater flowing back into the system each day. While most of Atlanta has a few months of water remaining, Clayton County has the bulk of a year's worth, and their methods are being adapted in dry locations worldwide:

It started in the 1980s, when the county began digging ponds to store wastewater. Clayton purchased a 4,000-acre forest and laid 300 miles of pipeline. The county then installed 20,000 sprinklers throughout the forest. The sprinklers sprayed wastewater, soaking the soil and letting the water flow into two man-made reservoirs — Shamrock and Blalock.

At the time, Clayton was considered one of the nation's leading systems for water technology. But by 2000, that technology could not keep up with growth.

The forest, wedged between Jonesboro and Lovejoy, was running out of room to expand, and the sprinklers were not enough to soak the ground to restore water to the system.

The county replaced the maze of pipes with a 48-inch pipe that runs about 6.6 miles under Freeman Road. It purchased another 400 acres of hilly land and began digging small ponds and planting. Today, cattails, bulrush, water lilies and prickle weeds fill the area.

The provision for recess appointments is a horribly outdated relic from a time when the Senate would be out of session for months at a time with no way to reconvene quickly when, say, a critical post was suddenly left vacant. Now it's useful mostly as a cynical procedural ploy, seen here being countered with another cynical procedural ploy. Fighting fire with fire, I guess... Or maybe a shit hurling monkey metaphor would be more appropriate.

Link, via.

And Senator John McCain of Arizona, once considered a prohibitive favorite, is now operating on a relative shoestring. He raised $5.7 million and spent $5.5 million, leaving him with $1.67 million that could be used in the primaries, and $1.73 million in debts.

By comparison, Representative Ron Paul of Texas, whose libertarian, antiwar Republican candidacy has gained a passionate following on the Web, raised $5.2 million and had $5.4 million left for the primaries and no debt.

Every state must have its enemies. Great powers must have especially monstrous foes. Above all, these foes must arise from within, for national pride does not admit that a great nation can be defeated by any outside force. That is why, though its origins are elsewhere, the stab in the back has become the sustaining myth of modern American nationalism. Since the end of World War II it has been the device by which the American right wing has both revitalized itself and repeatedly avoided responsibility for its own worst blunders. Indeed, the right has distilled its tale of betrayal into a formula: Advocate some momentarily popular but reckless policy. Deny culpability when that policy is exposed as disastrous. Blame the disaster on internal enemies who hate America. Repeat, always making sure to increase the number of internal enemies.

As the United States staggers past the third anniversary of its misadventure in Iraq, the dagger is already poised, the myth is already being perpetuated. To understand just how this strategy is likely to unfold—and why this time it may well fail—we must return to the birth of a legend.

Smokers who cross the state line to buy cheaper cigarettes could see their cars searched or seized as Tennessee tax agents start cracking down on the practice, revenue officials announced Friday.
[...]
Tax agents will stake out nearby stores in other states to find people loading up on cigarettes. Then a second agent will stop and search the vehicle once it crosses into Tennessee, Remke said.
Transporting between three and 24 cartons is a misdemeanor, and 25 or more is a felony, he said.

So depriving the state of $155 is a felony offense that can result in seizure of your car and the loss of your rights to vote or own guns.

I've got a bike, you can ride it if you like
It's got a basket, a bell that rings and things to make it look good
I'd give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it

19th century solutions to 21st century problems

What a jackass (video link).

Lured by false promises and driven by desperation, thousands of Chinese and Filipina women pay high fees for jobs in garment factories on the Pacific island of Saipan—which despite being a U.S. territory is exempt from federal minimum wage and certain immigration laws. The clothing they sew, bearing the "Made in the USA" label, is shipped duty- and quota-free to the U.S. for sale by The Gap, J. Crew, Polo, and other retailers.

see also