dark night of the cole.

Hagel to step down. I'm thinking this means a Romney/Hagel ticket. But who for Clinton? Less confidently I'm thinking Biden, although the idea of having to listen to that guy even more than I do now is kind of sickening.

Worst answer ever. Almost seems like he did it on purpose. Like he's a good soldier, and he'll do what he's told by his commander, including weeks of shameless political pandering, but he's not going to take all the blame - he's just the military genius in charge of Iraq.

In any case, that answer isn't going to fly. Or, worse for the Republicans, it really will fly but just not in the way they wanted. Chris Matthews has almost had three heart attacks today blasting Petraeus over it. "How can we send our sons and daughters off to war when their commanding officer doesn't even know if it is making us safer?" That's so obvious even a pundit can get it.

Still, yeah, I know it won't change anything. Except maybe to make it a little more uncomfortable for Bush while he's doing what he wants to anyway. But that's something at least.

How long before the wingnuts start to trot out the "I never liked Petraeus and his PHD Ivy League staff anyway - they're just a bunch of east coast elites who don't have the guts to do the job?"

Don't want to kill an animal in Reno, just to eat it up? Pneumatic Diner, 501 W. First at Ralston St., near the Truckee River walk. For those who crave animal protein, they serve eggs all day. I recommend the huevos rancheros. The tofu parmigian was good too.

Dog walking: good for you, good for your pet.


Not so good for birds, apparently.

Australian researchers have found that walking leashed dogs along woodland paths leads to a significant reduction in the number and diversity of birds in the area, at least over the short term.

Peter B. Banks and Jessica V. Bryant of the University of New South Wales surveyed birds along woodland trails near Sydney shortly after dogs were walked on them or after people walked alone. All kinds of dogs were involved, big and small, purebred and mutt. As a control, they also surveyed birds on trails that no one, human or canine, had recently walked on.

Dr. Banks said the study was an outgrowth of his interest in predator-prey interactions. “Here you have a predator that is being walked through the bush quite regularly,” he said.

The researchers chose trails in places where dogs were banned and in other areas where dog walking was common, expecting different results in each. “We thought that where there was regular dog walking birds would get used to it,” Dr. Banks said. “Well, they didn’t.”

Regardless of the type of area, dog walking led to a 35 percent reduction in the number of bird species and a 41 percent reduction in overall bird numbers, compared with the control. (People walking alone caused some disturbance, but less than half that caused by people with dogs.)

msnbc running original 9/11 nbc show in realtime.

Lipkin set aside the bits and pieces of DNA from the bees and started sorting through what was left, searching for material found only in beehives infected by CCD. What they found, eventually, was a bee-killing virus first identified in Israel.

These findings have now been published online by the journal Science.

But both Pettis and Lipkin are quick to note that they have yet to prove conclusively that the Middle Eastern virus they found is the sole cause of CCD.

"Right now, we are claiming it is a marker in Colony Collapse Disorder," Pettis explains. "We have shown that it is present when colonies are collapsing, but we haven't shown cause and effect."

markos is pretty useless as a pundit but chris matthews is a buffoon in the nicest sense of the word. i dont know where he pulled this reference from.

also watched part of olbermann. he has an interview with john dean who seems to crank out a new book every month but i had to close my eyes because the camera kept swooping around during the interview. note to msnbc: a news program is not a theme ride. i dont want to feel dizzy while contemplating the destruction of our system of checks and balances. and dont tell me its some kind of visual metaphor...

At least Judith Miller had the decency to wait a while before making it official, and going public with her relationship with the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.

To me, this most recent chapter of the Miller story has the tawdry feel of one of those celebrity break-ups where everyone knows that the reason she left her mate (the NYT) was because she was having an affair (with the neo-cons).

But rather than be honest and admit that and move right in with her new lover, Miller waited for a few months to pass, enough time to convince the gullible that maybe this is a relationship that started after her departure from the Times.

petreaus testimony on cspan.

Redeeming Rainbow (3 roomates living in jersey city)

You'd think that having a rainbow for a roommate would be nice. You'd be WRONG! Two guys (and comedian Kristin Schaal) learn firsthand that living with ROY G BIV is a little lame - and creepy.

When hankering for Mexican foord in Salt Lake City -- Not Just Mormons Anymore! -- check out the Red Iguana. Not to be confused with the Blue Iguana.

free documentaries

waterproof (birdwatching?) gloves

on fresh air today w/ terry gross

Executive producer and actor Jeff Garlin and actress Susie Essman discuss the upcoming season of the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Garlin plays Larry David's affable best friend and agent. Essman plays Garlin's wife and as such is known for her vitriol, no-nonsense attitude and foul mouth.

Six nukes "accidentally" flown across US by the Air Force. This story makes no sense. Or does it?

create your own snowflake

The ‘Entourage’ Guilt/Pleasure Index: French People Love Jerry Lewis, Hate ‘Medellin’

Karl Rove told George W. Bush before the 2000 election that it was a bad idea to name Richard B. Cheney as his running mate, and Rove later raised objections to the nomination of Harriet E. Miers to the Supreme Court, according to a new book on the Bush presidency.

In "Dead Certain: The Presidency of George Bush," journalist Robert Draper writes that Rove told Bush he should not tap Cheney for the Republican ticket: "Selecting Daddy's top foreign-policy guru ran counter to message. It was worse than a safe pick -- it was needy." But Bush did not care -- he was comfortable with Cheney and "saw no harm in giving his VP unprecedented run of the place."

Harriet Miers with John G. Roberts Jr., right, and an unidentified person in July 2005. A new book, "Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush," describes how Bush came to nominate Miers for the Supreme Court. (By Eric Draper -- White House Via

When Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, expressed concerns about the Miers selection, he was "shouted down" and subsequently muted his objections, Draper writes, while other advisers did not realize the outcry the nomination would cause within the president's conservative political base.

Many say the incident might not have happened if not for the nooses

greenwald cribs my pullquote. although i also liked the bit about ashcrofts wife sticking her tongue out at fredo and card after their now infamous hospital arm twisting session with her husband.

bremer says fu to the-buck-stops-elsewhere bush.

According to a recent U.S. Department of Energy study, there is so much excess energy on the U.S. grid nightly that if every light-duty car and truck in America today used plug-in hybrid technology, 73 percent of them could be plugged in and “fueled” without constructing a single new power plant.

A Brief History of Neoliberalism

coming soon to a theatre near you.