Should the Dems Strip Joe of His Committe Chair?

Of course they should. He supported John McCain, and besides he has, again and again, betrayed the Democratic party and Congressional leaders and lied to the American people.

Having said that, they can put make his head of the damn Senate and put him on Mount Fucking Rushmore for all I care if it will help get a progressive health care bill enacted. I doubt that it will, since he's unprincipled - or rather, his only real goal appears to be to protect the insurers from his state. In which case, there's not much more to be done. Except cut him loose. Finally.

What Recession?

James Purdey & Sons, the gunsmith owned by Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, will expand production of its entry-level, 31,625-pound ($52,000) shotguns this fiscal year, broadening the company’s market as the wealthiest luxury- goods shoppers retrench.

Purists respond by saying cheaper guns may risk Purdey’s cachet and cannibalize demand for the more expensive guns, according to Florian Thaler, a London-based shooting enthusiast who trades commodities for a living.

Sporters are ideal for clay-pigeon shooting and may win new clients who later commission a bespoke gun for game, while their light weight may appeal to female shooters as more women take up the sport, Purdey said.

They're going to need those guns when the revolution starts.

Shhh!!! He's Hiding!!

No Bin Laden Reports 'In Years'

The US has had no reliable information on the whereabouts of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in years, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has admitted.

Mr Gates told ABC News in remarks being broadcast on Sunday: "Well, we don't know for a fact where Osama Bin Laden is. If we did, we'd go get him."

A Taliban detainee in Pakistan told the BBC last week that he had information Bin Laden was in Afghanistan this year.

However, Mr Gates said he could not confirm that information.

When asked by ABC's This Week programme when the US last had any good intelligence on the whereabouts of the al-Qaeda leader, Mr Gates said: "I think it's been years."

He could not confirm the details of the Taliban detainee, who claimed to have met Osama Bin Laden numerous times before 9/11.

The detainee said that in January or February he met a trusted contact who had seen Bin Laden about 15 to 20 days earlier in Afghanistan.

Bin Laden had previously been thought to be on the Pakistan side of the border with Afghanistan.

But the detainee said that militants were avoiding Pakistani territory because of the risk of US drone attacks.

The detainee said Bin Laden was well.