Breaking news from Universe Today about a special briefing given the White House on recent results from the Phoenix Mars Lander:

More after the fold:

Five years on, we're now being told that the Mission Accomplished airshow stunt didn't mean that the Iraq mission was over.  All they were trying to say is that the Carrier Abraham Lincoln was celebrating it's "Mission Accomplished".

Right.

Candidate McCain has spent a fair amount of time lecturing the country on "Free" (unregulated) Market solutions to our Economic and Health care crises.

Big talk for a guy who spent his entire career in the Government segment of our economy.

Now it's reportedthat McCain has been on a "100% Disability" from the Navy since retiring from the Navy in 1981.

Mr. Obama;

In the Prize fight of a Presidential Campaign, you have to do more than take a Punch.  

You also have to throw a Punch (& land them) on your competitors.

More after the fold.

It's been a great news cycle this week, eh?

St. John the Irish Temper rails against the MSM, the Democratic Primary Horse Race continues to entertain, and Bush pounds his cup on his high-chair and pretends to hold his breath until he gets telco amnesty.

A progressive News junkie's dream!

But back to Earth.  Have been following the economy closely for the last year, reading at least 6 sites a day.  (There are also some great Economic diaries posted on Kos - in particular Bondad).

Lately I've noticed an increasingly Apocalyptic edge to several of the Blog sites I patronize.  And they're starting to make a believer out of me...  

I'm at a loss for words.

After posting a diary + a comment on the quality of diaries here at Kos, I now find my TU status is revoked.

Best as I can tell, both the Diary and the comment were well received.

A simple request.

Could we split the listings in DKos into to sections - one for Issue/News diaries and one for (Partisan) Candidate diaries?

The signal/noise ration is really starting to bottom out here.

John Edwards has always been my favorite for the nomination.  I voted for him in '98, and long considered him a hero of the little man in the mold of a modern day Clarence Darrow.  After Iowa, I held a longshot hope that JE would carry enough delegates into the Convention to be a kingmaker.  But this weekend's results are unequivocal - for all practical purposes, JE's out of the race.  

As we say in the Great State of North Carolina - "It's all over but the shoutin'".

So now we Edwards supporters have to ask the question that Obama/Hillary partisans will be facing- where do we shift our support?

There was a landmark Supreme Court ruling earlier in the week that will profoundly impact Americans.  In a 5-3 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that Businesses who knowingly aid and abet another Business in the commission of a crime (stock manipulation in this case), are immune from Criminal or Civil lawsuits.

The importance of this ruling cannot be underestimated.  

The United States has officially become a Plutocracy.

Did John Edwards miscalculate by not appearing on the Michigan primary ballot?  Admittedly, having Obama and Edwards off the ballot allows for mischief skewing the Republican ticket.  But Michigan is the perfect ground for Edward's populist economic message.  

As it stands now the Michigan Democratic primary is a non-starter.  With only one candidate on the ballot, Democrats in Michigan don't have a lot to talk about.  Which also allows the MSM to focus on the two-horse race of Obama and Clinto in SC and NV.  

Economists are now (belatedly) forecasting that the US is headed for a Recession.  Some call the duration at 6-12 months, others say it could take up to 4 years for the Housing Credit Bubble to work itself through.

On those rare occasion when the domestic MSM does get close to an inconvenient truth, it shows a curious ability to retroactively edit itself.  A case in point is a recent report on the trade gap with China.

Once in a while you come across an idea that's a "whack on the head".

In 2002, Michael Prowse published an article in the Financial Times on "Is Inequality Good for You."  Though the answer seems self-evident, he raises some truly original points - and backs them up with the research to prove it.

I'll get right to the point.

The Daily Kos just isn't that interesting any more.

There was a time in the recent past where this was a great site to pick up a diversity of opinion (within the constraints of the Progressive movement).  Kos now seems to have devolved into a partisan shout-fest, with the majority of postings falling in the category of "My Candidate is better because...".

It's becoming almost surreal watching the chest-thumping of Republican Presidential candidates.  Like a game of oneupmanship to see who's the toughest guy in the field.

Which makes recent discussions of excessive partisanship near comical.  I mean, how do you negotiate with a someone whose views continue drifting towards greater extremes?  It all has the feel of a conservative suicide pact, coupled with "Rule or Ruin" brinkmanship.  The present field of candidates would rather go down in flames than compromise a single iota of ideology.

I've often wondered why a single-payer Health insurance plan would be a hard sell to the Republican Party.  When I had a company in the 90's, Health insurance was our #3 cost (behind salaries and taxes).  So why would a major clip to Big Business's expense ledger be a tough deal to cut?

I mean, damn.  The only explanation is it must be a some kind of Free Market(tm) dogma thing.  

Even so, I've wondered how long dogma could defy gravity levitating against Corporate self-interest.  Today, the NYT is the first to report that the laws of (selfish) nature cannot indefinitely be violated.

Being dominated by beltway insiders, the Washington Post isn't my favorite daily rag.  But today they have a good article about the lack of enforcement of immigration laws by Employers.  

When someone mentions Abraham Lincoln, I immediately take notice.  Yesterday on Meet The Press Ron Paul asserted that Lincoln made a mistake by going to War in 1861.

This statement is so totally false that I can hardly contain myself - it's an effort not to explode into Profanity.  (A bad habit of mine.)  But since I used my Profanity quota up in a previous Diary, I'll have to restrain myself.

So, in the continuing campaign by the Republican Party to rewrite Civil War history ("History, not Hate!"), comes another installment of neo-Confederate revisionism, courtesy of Mr. Ron Paul.

My apologies for the title.  Mama always said profanity under any circumstances is bad manners.  But on the other hand Mark Twain said profanity provides a relief denied prayer.  Given my frustration, I think I'll go with Mr. Twain this time.

The New York Times had yet another editorial expounding on how Free Trade = Good, and how Democratic "protectionism" threatens our Nation's prosperity.

Fortunately, we in the US have an Economy focused on Shareholder value - just ask the Stock flippers on Wall St. who just got $30 Billion in bonuses for perpetrating the crime of the Century using Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs).