Around the world

How astonishing and unexpected!! Pipeline spill sends 22,000 barrels of oil mix into Alberta muskeg

Whether she will see any of this money is another thing... Woman Who Couldn’t Be Intimidated By Citigroup Wins $31 Million

Oklahoma Rape Victim Denied Emergency Contraceptives. Doctor Cites Religious Objection As Reason. I think suing the doctor (and the nurse who also refused to help) for 18 years of child support might get her attention.

Building tiny houses.. or should I say minimalist housing.

Big corporate fat cat thinks big corporations shouldn't pay taxes like real people.

A WWII Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk is found preserved in the Sahara.

Know your rights if you photograph police.

Because the poor women need to be told what they think? In media reports on women’s issues—abortion, birth control, Planned Parenthood—men are quoted around five times more than women, a new study shows.

Oh NOES!! We're gonna crash! NASA's Hubble Shows Milky Way is Destined for Head-on Collision with Andromeda Galaxy

Compare and contrast: Republican spokesman: ‘Let’s hurl some acid’ at female Democratic senators to these articles about real acid attacks.  Really?  You want to carefully think about what you said, sir?  Are you aware of what you have actually suggested?

What getting rid of Obamacare would really mean to the Republicans:

All of which exposes how problematic the GOP’s two-year-long posture of total repeal always was. As a short-term political posture, it has served them well. But now that the Supreme Court might give them what they want, they’re forced to deal with the reality of what it would mean. And that’s a huge wake-up call for the party, especially one without a clear leader to herd the cats as they figure out their next move. As one Republican health care aide put it to TPM, “I do think some Republicans are finally starting to realize they could be the dog that caught the car.”

Be careful what you wish for... you may get it.

The POW deflector shield is becoming thin

Greg Sargent of TPM:

McCain slipped a reference to his war captivity into an interview McCain did with CBS that's airing today. He appeared to be referring to Joe Biden's crack yesterday that McCain has trouble considering people's kitchen table issues because he has to decide which of his own seven kitchen tables to use...

"I am grateful for the fact that I have a wonderful life," McCain said. "I spent some years without a kitchen table, without a chair, and I know what it's like to be blessed by the opportunities of this great nation...So the fact is that we have homes, and I'm grateful for it."

Senator McCain, we know you were a POW. We know you suffered. We honor and thank you for your service.

But that does not give you a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card for the rest of your life.

We know you had nothing at one time in prison and now you have an immense pile. You are extremely wealthy, beyond the comprehension of most Americans. You have so much you couldn't even answer exactly how many homes you have.

When you did not have a kitchen table nor a chair was thirty five years ago. It no longer is applicable to what you have done since then.

Because Obama is the elitist, my friends!

Really? Because Obama actually worked hard to become a senator? Because he didn't have a famous father and marry into mega-money? Because he knows how many houses he has?

Obama is the elitist... Ohhhhh, because he's educated and eats weird lettuce? And McCain almost failing out of the Annapolis Naval Academy proves he isn't?

Haven't we had enough of incompetent C students with whom we are supposed to want to have a beer? Aren't we talking about a leader who should be competent enough to RUN A COUNTRY? Don't we want someone who actually is an elite in the true sense of the word?:

the choice or best of anything considered collectively, as of a group or class of persons.

Kevin Hayden of American Street asks the best question ever about McCain:

“what does he know and how long did he remember it?”

Update: Globe and Mail:

Both the McCains and the Obamas are vastly richer than most voters. But whether or not the "houses" question has legs, it is likely to undercut Mr. McCain's efforts, which have been quite successful up till now, to portray Mr. Obama as elitist and out of touch.

After all, the Illinois senator may eat arugula and sip Black Forest Berry Honest Tea and read books by authors Mr. McCain has never heard of, but at least he knows where he lives.

A noun, a verb, and a P O W....

The McCain campaign is road-testing a new argument in responding to Obama's criticism of his number-of-houses gaffe, an approach the McCain camp has never tried before: The houses gaffe doesn't matter because ... he was a POW!

(via Keith Olbermann)

Update 8/22: Go read Libby of The Impolitic.