Quick Hits

Haven't done one of these in a while.

• 11 states have now halted the procedure of lethal injections, out of 37. That's almost one in three. The latest was North Carolina, where again the physicians refused to participate in ensuring the humaneness of the execution, as it violates the Hippocratic Oath. Global warming and the death penalty are but two examples of the country slowly moving in a more progressive direction.

• I don't know if it's true, but I'd like to see someone ask Dianne Feinstein about this.

As chairperson and ranking member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee (MILCON) from 2001 through the end of 2005, Feinstein supervised the appropriation of billions of dollars a year for specific military construction projects. Two defense contractors whose interests were largely controlled by her husband, financier Richard C. Blum, benefited from decisions made by Feinstein as leader of this powerful subcommittee.

There's the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the Money Party. A lot of crossover between them.

• I don't have too much to add to the archaeological discovery near Stonehenge, but it's good to see how little things change. Stonehenge was apparently less an astronomical site and more a local gathering place, like a neolithic Times Square.

• A Gallup poll shows self-identification among Democrats is up, and self-identification among Republicans is down. The split is 34% Dem, 30% GOP, 34% indie. With leaners it expands to 50-40 Democrats, and state-by-state only 6 have a clear Republican advantage.

Wow.

• I know Dennis Kucinich isn't a "serious" person, and in this position paper he isn't taking a "serious" position, but if you took those biases out of it, wouldn't you have to come to the conclusion that he's absolutely right about our failed war on drugs?

• Not so easy to find countries willing to put their soldiers in the middle of a civil war, is it? Unless you're the United States, of course. But in this case, troops are desperately needed for security in Somalia.

• Big-time tortilla protest. No, seriously. Prices of corn tortillas are up 400% in Mexico, and "tens of thousands" of people marched in the streets in protest. How many less marched in this country when habeas corpus was repealed? That's right, tens of thousands.


• Congratulations, by getting this far in Quick Hits, you now have spent as much time reading as it takes for Exxon Mobil to make around seven million dollars. Overall they make $39.6 billion in 2006. What did you do?

• You think some of that $39 billion goes to pay global warming deniers to speak out? Man, if you're willing to contradict science and logic and let the stupidest pabulum come out of your mouth, there's big money in it for you. If you do it anyway and don't get paid . . . you're just a tool.