I sit here listening to the news pouring in about the Democratic victories and I can't help crying. The tears won't stop. It's because Ann Richards is not here with us (she died in September). She predicted we would win before anyone dared say so and shood up for progressive values in a red state when no one else would. Ann Richards predates Dean in this value. Wherever you are Ann, this is your victory as much as it is ours.

Harvard has made available online a whole slew of tests which can measure implicit attitudes such as stereotypes, prejudice or racist attitudes. Harvard's version is a web version of a similar laboratory test used by social psychology researchers around the world known as Implicit Association Tests (IAT).

Take the Race IAT and respond in the poll below.  The test takes about 2-5 minutes, requires Flash and requires you answer as quickly as possible.

What exactly is an IAT? Read on to find out.

Bush made a suprise visit to Iraq in Thanksgiving of 2003, and had a nice photo op with the troops holding a plastic turkey. It gave him a slight boost in poll numbers at that time. Bush's approval rating right now is in the mid-thirties, and could go lower. He's toxic to other Republicans and badly needs to stop the hemorrhaging.

He might be desperate enough to use the troops again for a shameless photo op to get back into the mid-forties.

Rice made a suprise trip this week. Does this portend that he will too?

Let's hope Reid and Dean have a response/counterweight planned.

What is an "evil" corporation? I believe an evil corporation is any corporation whose drive for profit is above human life, human rights and/or the environment. Put another way if an "evil" corporation were to disappear off the face of this planet, the world would be a better place.

And let's get it straight--there is nothing objective about the above definition. It's a moral value.

Also, please note that by "evil" I know I'm being disingenuous. Corporations cannot be evil because they are amoral entities. It's the people in charge of a corporation and the drive for profit that can make it evil.

I have limited the list to particularly egregious offenders. The contenders:

Dow Chemical
Exxon Mobil
Halliburton
Monsanto
Phillip Morris (Altria Group, Inc)
Wal-Mart

More below the fold.

I saw this posted earlier, but didn't see it get much traction due to the paucity of details. I hope this diary is more recommendable as now there are considerably more details on Stacy's murder by Wal-Mart security personnel. Keep in mind these Wal-Mart employees have no special legal standing different from you or me, even in Texas.

Mr. Driver, 30, was chased into the Wal-Mart parking lot, handcuffed and forced down to the hot pavement for allegedly shoplifting. He died in under 10 minutes once he was in the hands of the Wal-Mart employees.

First off, here is the original Houston Chronicle story.

Driver lived in Cleveland, where his parents own a small business, Lindeman said. Driver was a master carpenter with a 2-month-old son and was about halfway through taking flying courses to get his pilot's license, Lindeman said.

Employees told investigators Driver had walked out the store with a package of diapers, a pair of sunglasses, a BB gun and a package of BBs, Martin said.

Lindeman said otherwise. "It's our belief he was not shoplifting," he said.

More details under the fold.