The Nightowl Newswrap

Obesity threatens a generation American kids are fatter than they have ever been before and as a result of that epidemic of obesity, they are suffering from diseases that used to be thought of as diseases of middle and later adulthood. New studies reveal that being overweight at a young age is far more destructive to overall health than adding extra pounds later in life. Obesity in youth seems to compromise every single organ system and severe damage appears to be irreversible...Doctors are seeing confirmation of this daily: boys and girls in elementary school suffering from high blood pressure, high cholesterol and painful joint conditions; a soaring incidence of type 2 diabetes, once a rarity in pediatricians' offices; even a spike in child gallstones, also once a singularly adult affliction. Minority youth are most severely affected, because so many are pushing the scales into the most dangerous territory....with one-third of all American kids overweight, the future looks grim - productivity will be compromised, while healthcare costs spiral. "There's a huge burden of disease that we can anticipate from the growing obesity in kids," said William H. Dietz, director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "This is a wave that is just moving through the population."

Disease and infection poised to unleash a second wave of devastation on survivors of Chinese quake As the official death toll hovers near at 34,500, with the expectation that it will rise to 50,000, doctors treating the survivors are confronting a stark reality... survivors are facing conditions that still threaten their lives. Deep infections and waterborne diseases are the latest threat, as the rescue workers shift from rescue to recovery efforts. The World Health Organization is warning that water, adequate food and proper sanitation must be available at the camps that have been set up for suddenly-homeless survivors. Chinese authorities say that no disease outbreaks have occurred to date, but the conditions are favorable, and the danger in the area of the quake persists. Three people were killed in a 6.0 magnitude aftershock on Sunday in the city of Jiangyou.

Microsoft really wants a piece of Yahoo! On Sunday Microsoft announced a new offer to acquire a piece of Yahho!'s advertising business but that would not constitute a complete takeover. In the statement, Microsoft said it was “considering and has raised with Yahoo an alternative that would involve a transaction with Yahoo but not an acquisition of all of Yahoo,” but provided no further details. People close to the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity said that the new round of talks centers on a partnership or joint venture for search-related advertising to compete with Google. Yahoo! has been under fire from shareholders for letting the previous takeover attempt fizzle, and last week, Carl C. Icahn launched a proxy contest to replace Yahoo’s entire board, saying the directors had “acted irrationally and lost the faith of shareholders.” In todays statement, Microsoft denied that another takeover bid was in the offing, but hinted that in the future that could change. “Microsoft is not proposing to make a new bid to acquire all of Yahoo at this time, but reserves the right to reconsider that alternative depending on future developments and discussions that may take place with Yahoo or discussions with shareholders of Yahoo or Microsoft or with other third parties,” the company said.

Speaking of Microsoft...Microsoft has finally been persuaded to join the One Laptop per Child educational effort by allowing the Windows operating system to be installed on the computers. Microsoft had previously resisted participation in the project because the computers used Linux, an open-source OS that is a free alternative to Windows. The small, rugged laptops designed for use by children in developing nations have been lauded as a breakthrough program, but governments and education ministries, the entities that purchase the units for distribution to students, have been reluctant to purchase the laptops because they don't have Windows operating systems. They insist that they want Windows on the units because Windows is the dominant OS and would offer the children who learn it future employment possibilities.

The leader of the ruling junta in Burma/Myanmar finally made a trip to a refugee camp where he patted babies on the head and shook hands with survivors. The cyclone that has killed tens of thousands of that countries citizens. Criticism has mounted as the junta has failed to respond to the needs of the people, and Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the U.N. announced that he would travel to the affected area next week after the generals who rule the country rebuffed U.N. efforts to discuss the situation and offer assistance.

McCain turns to der Party for financing in the face of the Obama money machine that rolls on and on and on, while his own fundraising is anemic at best. But it is a catch 22 - using party money means using money raised with the help of aWol, but McSame is trying to distance himself from the current occupant who has zero support outside the lunatic fringe.

This joke is so not funny There is a joke going around Saudi Arabian right now that asks, "what is Riyadh's preferred price for a barrel of oil at the end of each of the next five years?" The answer is "$100, $100, $100, $10 and $100." The reason it is supposed to be "funny" is the ten dollar answer: If oil prices don't collapse every now and then, alternative energy might actually emerge to compete. But so long as prices collapse at intervals, the companies developing alternatives are effectively bankrupted, and then prices rebound and they laugh all the way to the bank again, after the competition is eliminated.

I'm sure they will get right on fulfilling his wish list because he leads by such stellar example. After his outrageous behavior in Israel, Bush left a long to-do list with Arab leaders in the neighboring nations. He also reiterated his delusional insistence that he can do what presidents with actual diplomatic skills have failed to achieve - bring about a Palestinian state.

Japan offers Africa a $10 Billion aid package to Africa to help battle climate change. The formal announcement and details will be unveiled on May 28th during the opening ceremonies for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development that will be held in Yokohama at the end of the month.

Ted Kennedy remains hospitalized, undergoing testing to try to determine the etiology of the two seizures that caused the Senator to be airlifted to a hospital in Boston. We want to take a moment to remind everyone that roughly half of all seizures are isolated incidents and no causation is ever diagnosed.

UPDATE: Soldier who shot Koran removed from Iraq

Probably a good idea--although I hope they don't come down too hard on the soldier:

An American sniper was removed from Iraq after he used a copy of the Quran for target practice, the military said Sunday, a day after a U.S. commander held a formal ceremony apologizing to Sunni tribal leaders.

The elaborate ceremony _ in which one U.S. officer kissed a new copy of Islam's holy book before giving it to the tribal leaders _ reflected the military's eagerness to stave off anger among Sunni Arabs it has been cultivating as allies.

The tribesmen have become key in the fight against al-Qaida in Iraq militants, who depict the American forces as anti-Islamic occupiers. One anti-U.S. Iraqi Sunni group condemned the Quran shooting, calling it "a hideous act." Similar perceived insults to Islam have triggered protests throughout the Muslim world.

Iraqi police found the bullet-riddled Quran with graffiti inside the cover on a firing range near a police station in Radwaniyah, a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, U.S. military spokesman Col. Bill Buckner said.

American commanders launched an inquiry that led to disciplinary action against the unidentified soldier, who has been removed from Iraq, Buckner said.

Members of the local U.S.-allied group said the Quran was found with 14 bullet holes in a field after U.S. troops withdrew from a base in the area.

Sheik Ahmed Khudayer al-Janabi, a local tribal leader, said the group had planned a protest march last Thursday but called it off under pressure from U.S. forces and to prevent any insurgent violence as retaliation.

The incident, which occurred on May 9 and was discovered two days later, was first reported by CNN, which broadcast a ceremony at which the top American commander in Baghdad apologized to tribal leaders Saturday in Radwaniyah. The military confirmed the details Sunday in an e-mailed response to a query.

"I come before you here seeking your forgiveness," Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond was quoted as saying at the ceremony. "In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers."

"The actions of one soldier were nothing more than criminal behavior," he added. "I've come to this land to protect you, to support you _ not to harm you _ and the behavior of this soldier was nothing short of wrong and unacceptable."

The problem with coming down hard on the soldier is this--it will drive the "conservative" American electorate crazy and will lead to outrage in communities that will then stage their own "shooting" of the Koran in order to support the soldier. The soldier should be disciplined and the matter should be dropped immediately. Making a "martyr" out of someone who did something stupid and immature accomplishes nothing. The apology has been delivered, and that should be enough. Kudos to the US Army for at least recognizing that they had to do something. Now is not the time to hand radical elements fodder for controversy, be they the radicals in the Middle East who hide behind Islam or the radicals in this country who hide behind Christianity and the Republican Party to further their own agendas.

Shooting the Koran was offensive because it wasted a perfectly good book and it was offensive to the sensibilities of the people who revere that book. When you are sent into a country to try and win the hearts and minds of the people over to a more peaceful way of settling their political differences, shooting their holy book is a frustratingly immature and stupid thing to do. It teaches no one about free speech to use the opportunity of making a statement to ruin a book with bullets and to write profanity in that book. It is just as wrong to shoot a Torah, a Bible, or any other book. It is a symbolic thing that wallows in the stupidity of the act. No one's mind is changed from shooting a book. Reading a book, on the other hand, is something this soldier should be asked to do, as in, reading the COIN manual, reading a book about basic tolerance for other religions, and reading a book about how to express oneself in a more mature and thoughtful manner. This is the kind of thing that sets small minds to twittering, and we need much less of that.

Another wheel comes off the "Straight Talk Express"

Another day, and other departure over lobbying entanglements. (link goes to the Politico so prep yourself for spin if you click over.)

Ya know, for a guy who said his lobbyist connections were different, honorable even, he sure has had to chuck a whole bunch of 'em for conflicts of interest and specious activities, hasn't he?

Former Rep. Thomas G. Loeffler, a Texan who is among the McCain campaign’s most important advisers and fundraisers, has resigned as a national co-chair over lobbying entanglements, a Republican source told Politico on Sunday.

It’s at least the fifth lobbying-related departure from the campaign in a week.

The McCain campaign, already facing the prospect of being badly outgunned in the general election, now also must cope with the disruption of the lobbying shakeout.

After last weeks mini-scandal surrounding Charlie Goodyear and his resignation over conflict of interest for his involvement with a 527, the McCain campaign instituted a "Caesar's Wife" type of policy for campaign staffers and fundraisers as part of a re-vetting effort by the campaign.

“No person working for the Campaign may be a registered lobbyist or foreign agent, or receive compensation for any such activity,” the policy says.

Officials say Loeffler’s resignation shows that McCain and his campaign is going to be serious about enforcing the policy, which was implemented following revelations about the lobbying ties of several campaign officials.

“Everyone will have to become compliant with the policy or they'll have to make a similar choice,” a campaign official said on condition of anonymity. “But we're not going to discuss every person affected.”

The officials who have left include Doug Goodyear, who was McCain’s top liaison to the Republican National Convention; Doug Davenport, regional campaign manager for mid-Atlantic states; Eric Burgeson, an energy policy adviser; and Craig Shirley, a prominent Republican consultant who was a member of McCain’s Virginia Leadership Team.

Loeffler was part of the rescue mission for the campaign last year after its spending badly outstripped its fundraising, leading to a contraction of the campaign that left McCain running a bare-bones operation in the lead-up to his breakout New Hampshire primary victory.

Loeffler’s departure followed a report this weekend by Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff that Loeffler’s “lobbying firm has collected nearly $15 million from Saudi Arabia since 2002 and millions more from other foreign and corporate interests, including a French aerospace firm seeking Pentagon contracts.”

So I wonder how many staffers will have to depart before McCain realizes he took a stand that places him on the horns of a dilemma?

Personally, I am enjoying watching the stupid unfold and hope the bleeding doesn't stop, because I want McCain to be compromised and despised and lose in a landslide because I think a McCain presidency would threaten the republic. In fact, I hope the campaign stays distracted until June 3 - and if Charlie Black stays in the mix, there is a good chance of that.

Truman Days 2008 - Day 2

Oh, but it is good to be a Democrat! Oh, my, yes. Last night was the banquet, and the evening started off with a wine-and-cheese reception hosted by Mike Sanders, who was our host and master of ceremonies for the weekends festivities, and he is well suited for it. He is charming and witty and thinks on his feet. He gives a good speech and engages the public and one of these days we are going to share him with the state, cause he is that good. We owe our out-state brethren the opportunity to be represented by this guy.

We heard speeches by State Auditor Susan Montee, Senator Claire McCaskill, Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Jay Nixon, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, and Jesse Jackson Jr.

Every speaker was excellent and I heard some words I wanted to hear from Claire. As you know if you read me, I have been mad as hell at her since August, and every bit of my anger is over telecom immunity. In the view of this civil libertarian and long-standing card-carrying member of the ACLU, that is a betrayal I can not reconcile.

In her speech she acknowledged that the Democratic party is messy and prone to squabbling amongst ourselves, and that there are times we don't like one another. What I read between the lines of her speech was "I know I am polling at 30% disapproval among Missouri Democrats and I've pissed a lot of you off. "

Yes, she certainly has. But the thing is, I will let her out of the box if she starts acting like Harry Truman, who defined the oeuvre of the hell-raisin' Missouri Democrat when he occupied that seat. If she stops acting like a blue-dog and tells Jay Rockefeller to go fuck himself, her constituents are overwhelmingly against telecom immunity, and he should accompany her on a trip back home and meet some of us if he thinks that she won't pay a terrible price for taking his position, that would go a long, long way. Other than that one issue, she has been just fine. Here's hoping I didn't hear her speech through a rose-colored filter, hearing what I wanted to hear.

My congressman, Emanuel Cleaver II.


Claire and Kay Barnes. I will likely start spending more time in the northern tier so I can vote in the Sixth in November. EC is safe. He has no primary challenger and we don't have any republicans in the 5th. We are still a Democratic town, but they tell me the "machine" was busted up decades ago - however, I have seen no evidence of this.


DNC Member and KC Councilwoman Melba Curls, engaged in conversation with Kay Barnes.


Kay and Mike Sanders catch up at the reception before the banquet.


Claire McCaskill and "Ruckette" Mary O'Halloran - who is as much fun in person as she is when she is on the verge of jumping out of her chair and throttling Woody Kozad his chair on the set.


Claire, EC and Kay. I want this picture to be the norm once Kay is elected. That will flip Missouri back to blue, you know. Right now our congressional delegation is as evenly split as it can possibly be using whole numbers. Right now, our Senate delegation is one of each and the house is five/four with the advantage to the republicans. That will reverse in less than 180 days, when Kay is elected! (That Act Blue link is going to stay there for the duration of the campaign - Graves has a lot of out-of-state and PAC money. Every penny counts.)

Overall, the weekend was a success, and a blast and I am already looking forward to next year! I will attend this function every year for the rest of my life, because I am a true, Truman Democrat, and I have the good fortune to have generations of history and a sense of place that is rooted in the soil of the northern tier counties of this state.

We are going forward and we are going to win in November. We are going to take back the Governor's mansion, and we are going to take back at least one chamber of the statehouse. We are going to elect Kay Barnes and we are going to retain the Secretary of State's office, we are going to pick up the State Treasures office, and we have a deep bench for the Attorney Generals race (Jeff Harris, Margaret Donnelly, and Chris Koster) and meanwhile, I am a political junkie and I can't even tell you who is running in the republican primary for that office. (There will be an AG candidates debate Thursday at UMKC and I will be there to cover it.)

Finally, I can't close this post without thanking Senators Koster and Victor Callahan. They used parliamentary procedure and ran out the clock on the session, and in so doing, they strangled Rosemary's Baby - the proof-of-citizenship-to-vote amendment to the state Constitution - in it's crib.

A lot of Democrats have given Koster a hard time since he switched parties last year, and I started cringing soon after - don't we want the Missouri republicans with some common sense and decency to have that "come to Harry" moment? I sure as hell do!

Chris gets full marks from me for his clever application of the rules on Thursday and Friday. I won't have any problem marking my ballot for him when his name appears. I told him last night when we were talking before the banquet that the way I understood it, he was the last person to realize he was a Democrat, and he laughed and said he has heard that and it's quite possibly true.
Let's get busy, Missouri, and start growing the grassroots (this is where DFA comes in...) and let's elect Democrats all the way down the ticket in November.

So, Who's Really in Charge?

The US regularly holds detainees that were freed by Iraqi courts.

In the eyes of Iraqi justice, Yahya Ali Humadi is a free man.

To the U.S. military, he's another of the detainees in yellow jumpsuits held at the sprawling Camp Bucca in southern Iraq.

Humadi — ordered released nine months ago after an Iraqi judge dropped all charges — now spends his days in a legal limbo. It's one that has confronted and confounded thousands of other Iraqis since 2003 who have been freed by their nation's courts but remained in U.S. custody.

"I don't know why the U.S. army brought him to an Iraqi court, if they intend to keep him for an unlimited time," said Humadi's lawyer, Samiya al-Baghdadi.

The American military, however, sees no contradiction.

Commanders say the current international mandate in Iraq, as well as general codes of war, allow them to hold any prisoner until the detainee is no longer considered a threat to U.S. forces. Local law and court rulings do not apply, they add.

The lack of a legal framework--an operative Status of Forces Agreement or SOFA that has been ratified and approved by Congress and not secretly negotiated between the Bush Administration and al-Maliki's government--would fundamentally alter what rules the US would have to abide by. Without that framework, anything goes:

These dual realities — freedom granted by Iraqi courts but continued detention by the Americans — have been faced by about 3,000 Iraqis since 2003 and stand as a sharp contrast between U.S. policies on the battlefield and Washington's appeals for Iraqis to build credible civic institutions.

The differences could grow even more pronounced as Iraqi authorities move ahead with an amnesty program that was strongly supported by the White House as a step to reconcile Iraq's rival factions.

The amnesty rulings could offer an early exit for many of the 27,000 prisoners in Iraqi hands. They also could wipe the slate for hundreds of the roughly 22,000 detainees held by the U.S. military — which then must decide whether to abide by the decisions or ignore a formula that Washington applauded.