Contempt Citations Pass the House

im the first lady ---

(im whispering)

Happy Thursday, all!

Shall we start making reservations now?

Link To Video-holdfastblog.com

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Thursday 14 February 2008

Once Democrats seized the committee chairmanships on Capitol Hill, the big drug companies sharply aligned with Republicans knew a period of reckoning was coming.

Now it has begun.

The Democrats' investigations range from the drug-approval process to television advertising to the bilking of Medicare. And their targets include the world's largest drug makers - and the Food and Drug Administration itself.

"You know you're hitting a nerve when the halls are flooded with their lobbyists," Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said as he prepared Tuesday for his fifth hearing on the drug approval process. "The whole safety net designed to protect the American consumer has been shredded."

Since the Democrats took power, the subcommittee has sent out 39 requests for information from drug companies and the agencies that oversee them, and has also issued two rounds of subpoenas.

Drug industry lobbyists are not surprised by the scrutiny.

"We generally expected that when the Democrats regained control of Congress, that they would closely scrutinize some of the industries that they believed had been particularly favored by the Republicans and unreasonably benefited in certain ways," said Bret Koplow, a pharmaceutical industry lobbyist at Patton Boggs.

"There was the perception that certain industries, including pharmaceuticals, were getting away with a lot," he said.

The broad nature of the inquiries, though, has the drug industry nervous. As another industry lobbyist put it: "Once they start asking for things, you don't know where it will go."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021408H.shtml

Cuz .. ya know .. It's Valentine's Day and all ...

Hey Chubby!! *Kisses!!!*

Red .. blow me. ; )

Link

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

seriously, Im watching one of my professors go thru throat cancer treatment now. surgery, chemo and then radiation. radiation is 5 days a weeks for a month. he says its like swallowing glass. smoking is no joke.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO MY BLOG FRIENDS

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JB15Ak07.html

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Thu, 02/14/2008 - 3:13pm.
...he's [President Bush] fervently trying to create the legal leg to stand on.
---------
(Known in legal circles as the Heather Mills Shuffle.)

Talking to a Wall
www.counterpunch.org
*Les-Chic*

happy V day!

(hugs) You've always made me feel welcome.

Happy Valentine's Day to you, you sweet lady. :-)

The public sex thing does sound intrigueing, but what if you've got strange turn-ons?

Watching me go at it with my beau would not be unlike watching Sonny and Cher before the tree and the plastic surgeries.

Does anybody really need to see that?

How Long Did Republican Outrage Last?
by BarbinMD
Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:03:21 PM PST
Moments before the scheduled contempt vote on Josh Bolton and Harriet Miers, House Minority Leader John Boehner stood and angrily declared that:

We will not stand for this and we will not stay for this. I would ask my House Republican colleagues and those who believe that we should be here protecting the American people to not vote on this bill. Let's just get up and leave.

And with that, House Republicans walked out and protected the American people by holding a press conference.

So, how long did their outrage last? Long enough to miss the vote to uphold the Constitution, but not so long that they missed the next vote that recognized the achievements of African American scientists, engineers and mathematicians. Certainly a worthwhile vote, but it's unclear how it helped protect America.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/14/144133/691/835/456809

from big joe

*

[what happened there]

Justice Dept. Official: CIA Waterboarding Was Subject to "Strict Limitations"
By Paul Kiel - February 14, 2008, 1:12PM

The CIA's use of waterboarding was legal and not torture, a Justice Deparment official argued this morning, because it was a "procedure subject to strict limitations and safeguards" that made it substantially different from historical uses of the technique by the Japanese and the Spanish Inquisition.

Steven Bradbury, the Justice Department official who heads up the Office of Legal Counsel, is testifying before a House Judiciary subcommittee this morning. And he made an unexpected argument when Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) asked him whether waterboarding violated the law against torture.

It did not, he said. And he argued that what the CIA did bears "no resemblance" to what torturers in time past have done. "There's been a lot of discussion in the public about historical uses of waterboarding," he said. But the "only thing in common is the use of water," he said. Here's video:

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/justice_dept_official_...

isn't that what makes the world go round?

(what did fernando say yesterday, something about apes evolving to use the missionary position?)

ghettodefender

you posted some incredible articles a few threads ago

: )

oh, that's kinky, babe

(ee-ee-ee)

"let's do it on the ground"

But our expectations that these people would listen and perhaps learn something were sadly misplaced. Few among the elite seminar-style discussion group seemed concerned about, or even particularly interested in, what is happening on the ground in Palestine-Israel, and the event stands as starkly emblematic of American apathy about the oppressive Israeli regime in the occupied territories that the United States is enabling and in many instances actively encouraging.

The maps that we displayed of the West Bank, prepared by the UN and by Israeli human rights groups, clearly depicted the segmented, disconnected scatter of territorial pieces that would make up the Palestinian state even in the most optimistic of scenarios -- Palestinian areas broken up by the separation wall cutting deep into the West Bank; by large Israeli settlements scattered throughout and taking up something like 10 percent of the territory; by the network of roads connecting the settlements, all accessible only to Israeli drivers; and by the Jordan Valley, currently barred to any Palestinian not already living there, making up fully one-quarter of the West Bank, and ultimately destined for annexation by Israel.
www.counterpunch.org
*Lesbo-Chic*

They delight in moaning and screeching loudly while nailing each other in public. That's what they do. They do this in lieu of war or fighting. Quite civilized.

One other note from the same report, and noted in the earlier contempt thread:

Right in the middle of the Statuary Hall service for the late Tom Lantos, a Republican [Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL)] went to the floor -- just steps from the solemn proceedings -- and called a procedural vote, apparently out of pique.

Niiiiiice.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/14/132822/887/900/456752

Watching me go at it with my beau would not be unlike watching Sonny and Cher...
That sounds sexy. Do tell more.
*Lesbo-Chic*

www.democracynow.org/2006/12/25/a_tribute_to_yip_harburg_the - 62k -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7245002.stm

Howl
http://wweek.com/wwire/?p=10740
*Lesbo-Chic*

dam wonder what it would be like to "nailed" by one of them?

"HOWL"

*Lesbische-Frau*

you fucking factory pig

*

cramped disgusting conditions

nevermind...

those rotating knives will be a godsend

"let the voters decide between Clinton and Obama"

The superdelegates are under lots of pressure right now to come out for one candidate or the other.2 We urgently need to encourage them to let the voters decide between Clinton and Obama—and then to support the will of the people.
Can you sign this petition to the superdelegates right away? Click here to add your name:

http://pol.moveon.org/superdelegates/o.pl?id=12133-2459045-_ykXRn&t=314

If we can reach 200,000 signatures this week, we'll publish the petition along with the final number of signers as an ad in USA Today. If you're one of the first people to sign, we'll include your name (with your permission).

The petition says:

"The Democratic Party must be democratic. The superdelegates should let the voters decide between Clinton and Obama, then support the people's choice."

Spyro Gyra - Morning Dance

Lou Reed-Satellite Of Love

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Cocoa Industry Accused of Greed, Neglect for Labor Practices in Ivory Coast

On Valentine’s Day, we look into two of the luxury industries that have come to expect huge profits on this hyper-consumerized occasion. We begin with chocolate. A scathing new report by veteran journalist and author Christian Parenti says hardly any progress has been made in the cocoa industry’s pledges to address child labor. We host a debate between Parenti and William Guyton, president of the World Cocoa Foundation.

...
CHRISTIAN PARENTI: This is—you know, the key fact here is that the chocolate industry is controlled—the cocoa industry is controlled by large corporations at the ports that set the price.
...

No one can sell without going through one of the large corporations that are members of the international chocolate organizations. And if you really wanted to improve conditions for farmers, there would be an agreement to raise prices by ten or twenty percent, and what that would mean would be that large firms like Cargill and ADM and those who buy from them, like Hershey and Nestle, would have to pay more money and would make less profits. It’s that simple.

"I view the Olympics as a sporting event," he told the BBC's Matt Frei.

.=.=.=.=.=
Jamesbennett

Signed it ! :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Pot 97, or the War Dog clone, is our reality check. He is here to give us hope that the biggest lame brain we've ever seen blogging is assuring us that we 3% ers are on the correct path to Reason & Logic.

It's all between the lines !

(of course, you could spam us with his sillyness and get us to shun you, but then again you already are shunned {by your bird}.)

what an embarrassment...the UK must be in stitches

Nice phrase for it...

dam!

(monkey love)

(muskrat love)

(possum love)

(porcupine love)

(ouch)

doh. is there a bigger context to this. was he sniping at speilberg for pointing out the issues with darfur?

told you to watch---here dont throw up in the middle!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7245002.stm

[sorry for the delay .. been on the phone .. GOD!! I hate insurance companies!] Happy Valentine's Day to you!!

Now .. do I want to get into a long protracted discussion with Red in which I relate TMI about my personal life on the blog once again .. when I have only just returned after such a long absence?? Hum .. it is tempting .. I cannot tell a lie!

But let's just say, I have watched my aunt die of throat cancer - not on the periphery but actually there. I also was there when the plug was pulled on my sister-in-law when she had had a stroke due to undiagnosed dual lung cancer. My Da has COPD due to smoking as well. I also smoked for .. oh .. longer than you have probably been alive I am thinking?? [I just counted on my fingers and toes and it was Sophomore year of High School .. so .. 1982 til .. well... on and off til last summer really - so 25 years??] So I understand the logistics of nicotine addiction and being able to quit and not.

But I do applaud your efforts to enlighten me to the dangers of nicotine and letting me know smoking is dangerous. ; ) Needless to say, it didn't refute my argument that this is a small step down a hill that erodes my civlil liberty to f**k my girlfriend in my own condo because someone decides being gay is as much of a lifestyle choice as smoking .. not that I am gay. ; ) NO!!! Not me!! I have a gorgeous 6'4, Blonde, Blue Eyed Swedish boyfriend .. yep.

Sorry .. I hate to be an a$$hole Red .. I just get bitchy when civil liberties evaporate at the speed of light .. which for many segments of this population .. they are.

Now!! What's this I read about public sex?? Whew! Glad it isn't me bring that whole deal into the blog this time!! ; )

[great .. took me so damned long to get back .. I think Red is now gone .. : / ]

Ohio couples have White (Castle) wedding

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1120ap_odd_white_castle_wedding.h...

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Three couples got the Valentine's Day wedding they craved on Thursday, marrying at a White Castle in the restaurant chain's home city.

The morning ceremony at the burger joint, which features the slogan "What You Crave," involved a flower girl who threw salt and pepper packets instead of rice, and employee name tags on the grooms' lapels.

The cake resembled a White Castle tray holding three "slyder" burgers, fries and a drink - all made of cake and frosting.

Cyndie Nunamaker of Plain City, 17 miles northwest of Columbus, said she and new husband Brian Wilson opted for the alternative wedding because they love White Castle.

The nuptials were broadcast live on a local radio station, which paid for the flowers and other arrangements.

yegh!!! thats nasty!

who does he think he is kidding. sorry lucy but i could only take a minute of his bullshit.

.=.=.=.=.=
Jamesbennett

From: Cafe, Muckraker
By PG - February 14, 2008, 3:42PM

Please don't sit in silence and then wonder why you weren't heard.

Exclusivity: House dems want it; Senate rejected it.
Immunity: House didn't include it; Senate did.

The difference is that one could be fixed later (exclusivity), and the other can't be undone, ever (immunity).

What is the rush on the immunity issue? This provision should be taken out of the final bill and debated later. The suits don't threaten future cooperation by the telecoms; warrants compel cooperation.

Please demand that your representatives adopt this reasonable compromise.

Write at: house.gov (there's even a link in the upper left-hand corner), and senate.gov. Easy
Link

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

i watch when i am sad....he got good joke lines---fucker! i wonder if he understood the british reporters when he was questioning him...dam hick!

for the people
new
Submitted by Lucille on Thu, 02/14/2008 - 4:23pm.
I like it!
*Les-Chic*

re Submitted by Lucille on Thu, 02/14/2008 - 3:54pm.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7245002.stm

[yes dan you got it]
.=.=.=.=.=
Jamesbennett

[eh, deleted - it needs work]

why bother with that pea-brain, when i got real work to occupy my own pea-brain
- which reminds me... bye-bye

The Kinks-Victoria

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

2/14: SKYLINE CHILI 'S Valentine's Day Dinner by reservation only!!!

Skyline Chili located on 5005 Cornell Road in Blue Ash, Ohio is having it's 6th annual Valentine's Day dinner by reservations only. We take reservations from in 1/2 hour increments from 5-8. Call and make your reservations today because they are filling up quick. The price is 24.99 per couple and includes 2-three course meals, a rose for the special lady, and a picture of the two of you. You will be in a candle-lite environment with violinists playing around you. All male staff will be in tuxedos and the female staff will be in pink dress shirts and black dress pants with the exception of your hostesses in formal gowns. No dress code required to dine. This is something you don't want to miss so call now:

(its a layer of spaghetti, greek chili, beans, onions, and topped with cheese. hot sauce on the side)

is that a stick on nipple?

"Absolutely," he {Bush] replied. "We believe in human rights and human dignity. We believe in the human condition. We believe in freedom."
Has George been reading Sartre, or something? Human condition! Hannah Arendt, anyone?
*Les-Chic*

George. You damned name dropper.
*Les-Chic*

*Les-Chic*

I have a gorgeous 6'4, Blonde, Blue Eyed Swedish boyfriend
Submitted by Lucille on Thu, 02/14/2008 - 4:26pm.
yegh!!! thats nasty!
---------
He's a Nordic rap star known as Lutefisk.

"A lot of alliteration from anxious anchors placed in powerful posts!" - Aaron Altman/Broadcast News

Afternoon everyone. :)

and of course it is going to snow again.

I am sick of snow!!!!

Getting ready to Leave soon. Bah!

And all I hear from people is "And they say it's global warming"! I'm sick of that too.

I asked if they maybe considered that this is a side effect of Climate Change?

Hope you all have a nice evening.

Wil, Just heard there was a Campus Shooting at NIU (DeKalb).

Northern Illinois Univ. is now in lockdown.

happy valemtymes day to you!

Jean paul Sartre!
The whole world knows
Jean Paul Sartre!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srQP-wSdJWk
*Les-Chic*

Gunshot from a lecture hall. Gunman still on campus.

This was posted on the NIU web site at 3:20 PM

happy valemtymes day to you!

I used to pronounce it Valentimes, until I learned how to read.
"Les-Chic*

//He called it a "seminal decision" not to intervene with force//

"seminal" (wtf)

i call him an elitist...

c'mon base, let's...

STORM THE BASTILLE!!!

*

man, if bush wasn't coached for that interview to impress the euros, then it's time for me to hand in my cynics membership card and take up professional golf

im become hiaku master

i am muck4doo
i have much wisdom for you
always buy wholesale
Posted by muck4doo at April 13, 2004 05:03 PM

A haiku:

robin chirps, good news
green trees rejoice yet below
shrubs wilt in shadow

Neil 4-13-04
Posted by Gayest Neil at April 13, 2004 05:04 PM

Another haiku

I will be a guest
On Janeane's show tomorrow
Please tune in for me

Thanks,
Jeff Seemann
Democratic candidate, 16th District of Ohio
US House Of Representatives
Posted by Jeff Seemann For Congress at April 13, 2004 05:04 PM

Nothing to the sides ! Nada !

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

good to new york

real fast to seattle.

my guess is sam's server.

.=.=.=.=.=
Jamesbennett

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

: )

at least its back

.=.=.=.=.=
Jamesbennett

yes, very minimal, goes well with the haikus

Happy Valentine's day Toni. Blog flowers to ya and a big

smooooch!

He's a Nordic rap star known as Lutefisk.

Know any good Norwegian jokes, BTW?
*Les-Chic*

I take a break and the blog go all hard to read and wonky!!

Maybe this is a bad harbinger of my return?? Huh .. well.. if it's my fault .. I surely do apologize!

: /

Ya know if you woulda played those cards right .. I could be a Master Baiter's Girl ; )

Damn .. Toni .. I did not hear about the shooting ..: ( I will go see now ..

you come back and the blog comes up straight. magical.

F The CC lyric by Steve Earle

People tell me that I’m paranoid
And I admit I’m gettin’ pretty nervous, boy
It just gets tougher everyday
To sit around and watch it while it slips away

Been called a traitor and a patriot
Call me anything you want to but
Just don’t forget your history
Dirty Lenny died so we could all be free

.=.=.=.=.=
Jamesbennett

New: Shooting reported at Northern Illinois University

http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2008/02/14/news/local/doc47b4b34dd9e...

By The Chronicle News Group

DeKALB - At least two people have been shot at Northern Illinois University, according to information heard Thursday afternoon over a police scanner.

Shortly after 3 p.m., calls started coming over a police scanner about a white, male shooter with a shotgun and pistol.

Reports have said the shooter is down.

A university spokeswoman said at 3:10 p.m. she had just heard about the shooting and could not immediately comment on the situation.

At 3:20 p.m., the university posted a campus alert on its Web site.

“There has been a report of a possible gunman on campus,” the alert read. “Get to a safe area and take precautions until given the all clear. Avoid the King Commons and all buildings in that vicinity.”

A Daily Chronicle photographer on the scene reported five wounded people going by on stretchers.

At least two people are reported down in DuSable Hall, and one person had blood on the back of the head, according to eyewitness reports. It could not be confirmed if it was from a gunshot.

Police have established a perimeter around Cole Hall, and 15 to 20 emergency vehicles were in the area.

Kishwaukee Community Hospital reported on its Web site that it was expecting up to 15 victims.

People near the scene were seen praying, talking on cell phones, and crying.

Classes have been canceled for tonight at NIU.

I worked my magic again!

But seriously .. just looked at MSNBC, FOX News [EW!!] and CNN and no one has boo on about the shooting right now. Perhaps this, too, has become passe to our jaded media. But I did read on the AP wire the shooter has been gunned down.

Txt'd my Godson Ian who is at one of the hospitals in Naperville ..Edwards?? If I am reading his shorthand right they have victims and are on alert??

Online resting place for broken hearts

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1120ap_odd_relationship_obits.htm...

By ULA ILNYTZKY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

NEW YORK -- If the love affair is dead, why not give it a proper send-off?

A new Web site offers the lovelorn a way to bury memories of an old love affair - by writing an obituary.

Relationshipobit.com is the brainchild of Kathleen Horan, a 38-year-old reporter for WNYC public radio.

She recalled that after a two-year relationship fizzled she found it "oddly comforting" to write her father's obituary. It made her think that if she wrote an obituary for her relationship, it might help her move on.

"It was a goofy thing to do, but it made it feel real so I could finally cremate the thing and move on," she said in an interview Wednesday.

She said the response to the Web site, which started Wednesday, was much bigger than she expected.

In one entry on the site, an unidentified woman writes: "He had no time, I had too much. We burned too hot to last. ... Why didn't he ever have any time for me?"

In a video entry, a woman describes how her relationship ended when she caught her boyfriend cheating at Monopoly, with a "whole bunch of $500 bills under him."

"My philosophy is, if you're going to cheat in monopoly so blatantly, what hope do we have really?" she wrote.

Horan says she has no idea where her "reverse social networking" Web site might lead her but for now views it as a social experience.

"Time heals," she says, "but you want to know what the heck other people" do to mend their hearts.

more shootings... nice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvi5a1twgiA
*Les-Chic*

more shootings... nice
Submitted by Meg on Thu, 02/14/2008 - 5:38pm.
more shootings... nice

===

Thats proof guns make us safer......

If everybody at that school was carrying guns imagine how safe they would have been.

I remember taking my Desert Eagle .50 to English Composition and Sociology......

Why cant those lazy Northern Illinois University students carry theirs so tis kind of stuff wont happen?

Or something like that, I should check FOX News and the NRA for the official talking points

"Time heals," she says, "but you want to know what the heck other people" do to mend their hearts.

i keep telling you, duct tape lasts longer.

(we used to have a pic of someone duct taped to a living room wall. i call it the red/green approach to intimacy)

one of the standards: if you take the gus away, they'll find another way to kill you.

And what does the Constitution say that we do when the Executive Branch is in contempt of Congress, class?

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

>>And what does the Constitution say that we do when the Executive Branch is in contempt of Congress, class?

Punt?

http://www.unpiano.com/music/wp-content/music/wipers/so_young.mp3
*Les-Chic*

Happy Valentine's Day!!

; )

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Thu, 02/14/2008 - 5:59pm.
>>And what does the Constitution say that we do when the Executive Branch is in contempt of Congress, class?

-

you mean the constitution before 9/11 or after ?

Because " 9/11 changed everything " heh heh....

That old constitution is so "quaint"

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

that's not funny. I've been done like that and found it very difficult to defend my virtue.

g

Is clearly the one on Ludlow. Especially in the winter when it's all steamy inside!!!

how true. its a great place to stop in at 1 am for a big old plate of chili.