"Global Warming Beach Parties"

This is not a joke. I repeat--this is not a joke.

Will Bunch:

They say that college humor is dead, but apparently not at Oklahoma University, where the kids are having too much fun to even notice the occasional al-Qaeda member in their midst down in Norman, Okla. The picture at left shows some College Republicans there mixing it up at an event called "Global Cooling Day":...read on"

Agitprop has more...

Cohen's Moonie arranged Marriage is also ethically challenged

A lot has been written about Richard Cohen's "reparative therapy" method that's supposed to cure you of being gay. Let's take a look at how this man got married.

"He has been married for nearly 23 years--an arranged marriage that he said was suggested by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon when he and his wife were members of the Unification Church, to which they belonged for 20 years."

His ties to Moon explains a lot, but even more troubling is this:

He is not licensed as a therapist, he explained, because he "didn't want to jump through the hoops and deal with the heterophobia and anti-ex-gay attitudes." He circumvents the licensing requirement by asking for donations to his foundation. "I am not doing therapy per se," he said. "I'm coaching." In 2002, Cohen was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association (ACA) for multiple ethical violations.

Permanent expulsion is a rarely used sanction, according to David Kaplan, chief professional officer of the Alexandria-based organization. Kaplan said Cohen was found to have violated six sections of the ACA's ethics code, which bars members from actions that "seek to meet their personal needs at the expense of clients," those that exploit "the trust and dependency of clients," and for soliciting testimonials or promoting products in a deceptive manner."

The man is thrown out because of ethical violations yet is given tremendous coverage as some sort of a healer by our liberal media. Just another snake oil salesman.

CA-50: Get-Out-The-Vote for Busby

Swing State Project:

This, as they say, is it, folks. If you live anywhere remotely near CA-50, please, please, I implore you: Spend a few hours between now and election day helping out Francine Busby. (Note to DC-area folks: You can help out, too! The DCCC is doing phone-banking. Scroll to the bottom of this post.) In a race this close, the importance of the ground game cannot be overestimated. Here's where you can help:...read on"

You can support Busby here with a little jack.

Why the Swift Boat Hoax Still Matters!

(Eric Boehlert, author of the new book "Lapdogs," writes an exclusive piece for C&L. Hopefully, he will become a regular contributor on the site.)

Sunday's New York Times revisited the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacks against Sen. John Kerry and highlighted how Kerry is still working hard to clear his name and knock down any questions that remain about his stellar service in Vietnam. Kerry's not the only one nursing wounds from the Swifty attacks. For lots of people the phrase 'Swift Boat' has become synonymous with 'Florida Recount'; a dreadful, hard-to-relive chapter in campaign history, in which Republicans played bare-knuckle hardball and the press pretty much let them get away with it.

I devote an entire chapter in my new book: "Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush" to the Swift Boat hoax, not only detailing the absurdity of the allegations, but to chronicle how the press walked away from its traditional role as campaign referee and simply threw up its hands, announcing it was impossible to tell which side--Kerry or the Swifties--was telling the truth. That, despite the fact the Swifties stepped forward 35-years after-the-fact and without a single military document to back up their wild claims. (Every U.S. Navy record backed up Kerry's version of events.)

Thanksfully, over months and years the Swifties' most serious charges of faked wounds and bogus medals have proven to be fictitious; a political dirty trick. Yet thanks in large part to the press' initial timidity during those dog days of summer 2004, the Swifties remain lurking today, waiting for the next opportunity to pounce. For instance, Swifty ring leader and chronic fabricator John O'Neill recently sent out a nationwide fund-raising letter on behalf of a Vermont Republican running for the U.S. Senate. Just this week the Associated Press, profiling James Webb and his effort to unseat Virginia Republican Sen. George Allen, noted the issue of military service could become a campaign issue. (Webb was a decorated Marine; Allen never served.) The AP reported, "A top Allen adviser, Christopher J. LaCivita, was the mastermind behind Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group of Vietnam veterans who made unsubstantiated allegations challenging Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's record of wartime heroism."

And we now know that right after the 2004 victory Bush's brother Jeb personally thanked the factually-challenged Swifties, gushing in a January 2005 letter, "I simply cannot express in words how much I value their willingness to stand up against John Kerry." ...please click here to read the entire article

Iraq PM lashes out at American occupying forces

I saw this on the "TODAY Show" this morning, Russert played it like Maliki was saying this as a political move:

"Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki lashed out at the American military on Thursday, denouncing what he characterized as habitual attacks by troops against Iraqi civilians.As outrage over reports that American marines killed 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha last year continued to shake the new government, the country's senior leaders said that they would demand that American officials turn over their investigative files on the killings and that the Iraqi government would conduct its own inquiry.

In his comments, Mr. Maliki said violence against civilians had become a "daily phenomenon" by many troops in the American-led coalition who "do not respect the Iraqi people." "They crush them with their vehicles and kill them just on suspicion," he said. "This is completely unacceptable." Attacks on civilians will play a role in future decisions on how long to ask American forces to remain in Iraq, the prime minister added." (h/t Kos)

Beating the Gay out of you

Reader Charles sent me this clip from the Beating the Gay out of you
">Paula Zahn show. To say that it's disturbing is an understatement. Watching Cohen beat a pillow with a tennis racket says it all.
Download | play -WMP Download | play -QT

Pam has the full story:

"Paula Zahn had infamous "ex-gay therapist" (or as he calls himself, "conversion therapist") Richard Cohen on last night in a segment called "New Therapy Claims to "Cure" Homosexuality." The transcript doesn't describe what Cohen does next on the video to demonstrate his therapeutic "techniques...read on"

Peter Daou touched on this yesterday, but it gets worse...

The Left Coaster: More bad apples, or the natural fruit of an outlaw regime?

Bring it On! American Legion condemns Chickenhawks

A Liberal Dose: You gotta see this...A 100 Year History of Oil

Hotline On Call: Some things G-Dub finds "interesting." And some things he doesn't.

Rolling Stone: Robert F Kennedy Jr. writes that Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted...
Petition Spot: Demand a retraction and an apology from Bill O'Reilly for his outrageous lies about the Malmedy Massacre.