schizo

http://samsedershow.com/node/4909

Feingold and Old Obama Vs. New Obama on Wiretapping
posted by John Nichols on 06/15/2009 @ 2:57pm

When Barack Obama was running for the United States Senate in 2004, he said that he saw U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, as his legislative role model.

Obama told me five years ago that he wanted to emulate Feingold as a defender of civil liberties and the Constitution, especially when it came to matters of protecting the right to privacy that was so under assault during the Bush-Cheney interregnum.

After his election as the junior senator from Illinois, Obama did work with Feingold on a number of issues and joined the Wisconsin progressive in boldly and unequivocally asserting that the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program was "illegal".

But now, Obama's Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, has asserted in a speech, and restated in a response to a reporter's question, that Bush-Cheney warrantless wiretapping program "wasn't illegal."

Feingold wants to know which side the president is on; that of Senator Obama, who said warrantless wiretapping was "illegal" or that of the Obama administration intelligence director who says it "wasn't illegal."

Here's Feingold's latest letter to the president:

[...]

President Obama needs to pause and consider the message from the man he once hailed as a role model.

The Barack Obama of 2004 was right -- about Feingold and civil liberties.

The Barack Obama of 2009 needs to get back in touch with his better angels.

The Nation

I am with Russ on this....

Now that I finally learned how to post pictures, I think I'm obsessed. But I absolutely love paintings & photographs.

sites which use a lot of script have problems with ie8. ie8 provides whats called compatability mode which when you switch to it makes the problems go away.

you're absolutely correct, dan
here's another...
http://www.samsedershow.com/node/4910#comment-346259

i find edna's pics pornographic!
they're pleasant, wholesome, mundane
with no redeeming value
(but edna & pics is better than no edna)

and mire - i had the same problem with java & you-tube - and i'm racking my brain to figure out why it happened & how i got out of it

that Obama mentioned in his speech to the AMA...

The politics of medicine

By Edward T. Chase

Last June a forty-one-year-old obstetrician, Dr. Joseph Garabedian, died on Staten Island, a borough of New York City which is also known as Richmond County. The cause of death was overwork, according to press reports, which stirred a considerable commotion. Dr. Garabedian practiced in a medical group affiliated with the Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York (HIP). It has half a million subscribers, many of them city employees, and 24,000 of them live on Staten Island.

HIP members–with the aid of a contribution from their employers–pay by the year rather than by the visit for their medical care, which they must get from doctors in different specialties who work as partners, sharing expenses and income. Such groups–according to the demonology of organized medicine–are “closed panels”; and the prepayment system flouts the hallowed “fee-for- service” principle. For these heresies, HIP has been anathema to the general run of private practitioners. In the Richmond County Medical Society the local M.D.s found a ruthless champion.

Staten Island is one of the few uncongested areas left in metropolitan New York. Surrounded by the waters of New York harbor, it is within hailing distance of the Statue of Liberty and only a nickel ferry ride from downtown Manhattan. Its population has been growing rapidly in recent years and many of the newcomers have joined HIP. So the local medicos took corrective action. They agreed to deny any new HIP doctors the privilege of treating their patients at Staten Island’s three hospitals. Pediatricians, a surgeon, and other well-qualified specialists were turned down.

For Dr. Garabedian and his HIP colleagues this was an extremely grave matter. Unable to get hospital privileges for an assistant, Garabedian became the sole obstetrician for all HIP babies born in Staten Island hospitals. This would have been a considerahle workload for a healthy man; Dr. Garabedian suffered from a bleeding ulcer. When he died, the outrage of his patients ex- ploded publicly. Protest meetings were staged and the situation was universally deplored by the press. The temperate and judicious New York Times pointed out editorially that the blackball of HIP doctors was not “in the public interest,” adding that hospitals which receive tax exemptions and other largess from government funds are scarcely private concessions.

But despite the public outcry, the hospitals showed no sign of yielding. Whereupon a com- mittee of the New York State Legislature decided to look into the matter.

The hearing took place on a sweltering July day in an atmosphere further heated by TV lights and the passions of witnesses. For those in- terested in the politics of medicine it was a much more enthralling spectacle than the Democratic National Convention which was simultaneously going on in Los Angeles.

As a writer interested in medical economics I was particularly grateful for the candor of Dr. Herbert Berger, past president of the county medical society, who eloquently defended the lockout. His testimony stated in concrete terms the political philosophy of organized medicine as it operates on the grass-roots level of the county society.

More here:

http://www.harpers.org/archive/1960/10/0009390

Obama said this happened before he was born.

America’s pandemic of corruption
By Jerry Mazza
Online Journal Associate Editor

Jun 16, 2009, 00:24

Think of it as a really lethal swine flu or flu for swine, not a made up one to instill fear in the population, but as the Washington Post reports Lawmakers Reveal Healthcare Investments.

In fact I quote: “Almost 30 key lawmakers helping draft landmark healthcare legislation have financial holdings in the industry, totaling nearly $11 million worth of personal investments in a sector that could be dramatically reshaped by this summer’s debate.”

Members with personal investments in corporations affected by coming legislation, America’s highest priority, according to Obama, include our Congress’s “most powerful leaders and a bipartisan collection of lawmakers in key committee posts. Their total healthcare holdings could be worth $27 million . . . congressional financial disclosure forms released yesterday require report of only broad ranges of holdings rather than precise values of assets.” Does that make you feel sick? Me, too.

Check out this paragraph Sederville.
*****************

Why, even old Senate Majority Leader, hang-dog Harry Reid, Dem from Las Vegas, excuse me, Nevada, has $50,000 invested in a healthcare index. Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), a health committee senior member has something between $254,000 and $560,000 of stock in major healthcare companies like Bristol-Myers, Squibb and Merck. Now, being a pandemic this corruption attacks swine on both sides of the aisle. Representative Jane Harman (D-Calif), senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee (drafting that chamber’s legislation), held some $3.2 million in over 20 healthcare companies as of last year’s end.

*********************

But, being a true pandemic, this corruption does not only limit itself to healthcare business. Regarding the inglorious War on Terror, which President for Change would like to continue in Afghanistan, writer Jeremy Scahill reports US War Privatization Results in Billions Lost in Fraud, Waste and Abuse. Read on . . . then read the whole article.

con't:

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4807.shtml

or am I just being super-sensitive again?

Guantanamo: Don’t buy tickets to the right-wing carnival of the crazily absurd
By Dennis Rahkonen
Online Journal Contributing Writer

Jun 16, 2009, 00:16

What is it about carnivals at county fairs that are so appealing and enjoyable to us?

After all, just about everything associated with them is a rip-off.

Cotton candy dissolves to sweet nothingness in our mouths, the exhibited freaks are bogus, and hustling barkers trade our hard-earned cash for worthless trinkets that we “win” at fixed games.

Don’t forget the “rides” that start and stop at the same place, and make us queasy in-between.

Then we chow down on turkey legs, marveling at how wonderful life can be!

It goes to show what silly geese we human beings really are . . .

But at least that’s all relatively innocent, as opposed to the mad malice of the Ongoing Republican Side Show.

Take the current, conservative conniption fit over President Obama’s plan to close America’s house of horrors, Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba.

Republicans want to indefinitely keep imprisoned, and tortured, some 240 hapless souls who, in preponderance, have less to do with actual terrorism than that guy up the block who gets a little rowdy when he drinks too much Budweiser at the corner bar on Saturday nights.

According to numbers that keep shifting and can’t be verified, anywhere from 15 to 60 of the Gitmo detainees are supposedly hard-core enough to pose a serious threat.

The rest, for the most part, were just ordinary folks in the wrong place at precisely the time to have been nabbed in indiscriminate dragnets as 9/11 hysteria ran rampant.

So here’s the Big Rightwing Objection: “Where are we going to put all those terrorists? Surely not in Kansas, or Colorado! What if they escape? What if their murderous cohorts spring them?”

con't,

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4804.shtml

this is a very BAD pun

Submitted by cent on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 11:29am.
Does anyone else find this offensive....
----

You Betcha!

its the new york post. they are playing to their base.

ok - thanks dan and ya'll who proffered advice, i'll check it out

WTF is Murdoch thinking...aren't relations bad enough between Muslims and the rest of America?

This asshole has to publish "RAG HEADS" on the front page of his main paper?

fucker puts me off my lunch....

It's from the NY Post. a Murdoch paper. Consider the source!

It's very offensive to normal people!

But then, that whole "newspaper" is offensive. It's like the Enquirer!

Democrats Plan for Byrd "Contingencies"
Sen. Robert Byrd's (D-WV) state of health "has prompted some quiet, behind-the-scenes discussions in the event the senator is unable to return to office," the West Virginia Gazette reports.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) met with state Democratic Party chairman Nick Casey last week, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on a conference call to discuss contingencies."

Casey "is generally regarded as the consensus choice to serve as a placeholder for Byrd's Senate seat in the event Byrd would have to step down prior to the 2010 elections."

http://wvgazette.com/News/PhilKabler/200906130283

Roll Call reports Byrd is still hospitalized and has no plans to return this week.

http://www.rollcall.com/news/35846-1.html?ET=rollcall:e4849:80065960a:&s...

Update: The Hill reports Byrd will undergo physical therapy this week after being in the hospital for a month.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/byrd-begins-physical-therapy-not-bac...

Apparently, from Cent's post, News Corp hasn't learned a damn thing. Remember the dead gorilla cartoon? And make no mistake about it, Fox help create the climate that killed Dr. Tiller, the guard at the Holocaust Museum, and the people who were killed at the Unitarian Church.

It really is time to go to New York and protest News Corp!

....

but it doesn't offend me in the slightest
it's infantile & boring to be sure
but not offensive

i could go to the last thread and ask the same rhetorical question to any number of articles that toni has posted

e.g.
Big Oil Releases Report Exposing Continued Refusal To Invest In Renewables
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/06/15/big-oil-little-renewables/

but you can see the impact that pictures have
we're a visual animal

i have an allergic reaction to cutsey-poo pics...

please love me
i'm a little piglet & my name is babe

//Babe is a comic fable about not fitting in and the lengths to which an ordinary pig will go to find acceptance.//

and i have a face of an ugly monkey and jump like a kangaroo

(it is grotesque so be warned!)

But it seems that things like that should not be allowed because it interferes with diplomatic efforts.

How far does a freedom go?

...must be an Australian thing ;)

must everyone of your posts contain a pic

is it entirely necessary

i'm offended
that you're not offended
: )

well tough shit!!!

I get offended when I'm good and goddam ready!!! :)

(wars have begun this way)

>>Iran Agrees to Partial Recount of Disputed Ballots

This just in: Norm Coleman Files Suit in Iran Recount -- Predicts Victory When Votes Counted Correctly
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Chubbs that was beautiful!!!

can you curtail cents freedom of speech

because it interferes with diplomatic efforts.

Yep!
new
Submitted by edna ellen poe on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 11:37am.
Submitted by cent on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 11:29am.
Does anyone else find this offensive....
----

You Betcha!
***
DITTO!
*poof*

have you checked your snail mail

because it wouldn't fit in the bag
it's about half the size of a normal footy
and you don't throw it like girlie-men
you kick it or handball it
like real men

[picture a picture of a gridiron footy]
[then curve the pointy ends]

When one has no time to even "fly" by and post, "A PICTURE SAYS A THOUSAND WORDS", that one does not have the time to write.. :D

>>have you checked your snail mail

no, no I haven't my PO box is a couple miles from here. you should google earth it to see what neighborhood I lived in a couple years back.

I crawled right up your ass with it. They even have a picture of that pizza joint across the street from you on the corner. if it is still open.

One of these days you will have to tel us what brought your family to that particular part of Ozzie-Ozzie-Ozzie? As a People, Greeks are a far-flung lot becasue of thei seafaring ways. but...why that particular part of Australia?

Did one of your Ono predecessors have particularly runny sinuses and a doctor thought all that Oz Dust would be just the ticket for them?

that's the only scenario I can come up with for living in such a remote area.

I mean, the place appears about a million km from anything...yet it still doesn't qualify as actual `outback'?

I'd start one of those internet petitions!
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

I'm running off to check the mail right now. It'll give me a chance to get a nice cuppa coffee...
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

when/if you can snatch the footy from the bag without breaking the furniture
then it will be time for me to go
and leave you in peace
to post pics
& vids

is a popular haunt for greeks, italians & other ethnics

not all the homies worked in factories when they ventured over
some went fruit picking

The reporting indicates that the voter support for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is rural, less educated, religious and generally patriotic, nationalistic and isolationist-minded people while the voter support for Mir-Hossein Mousavi is urban, more educated, and generally more tolerant and open-minded people.

It's like deja-vu all over again.

i even voted for ahmadinejad
he's a great bloke to have opium tea & a hash cookie with
so screw that city-slicker

http://www.openculture.com/2009/06/the_back_story_in_iran.html

The Back Story in Iran

in Current Affairs | June 15th, 2009

If you’re looking to get more context for what’s happening right now in Iran, let me direct you to two pieces of media. First, you’ll find above a talk by Abbas Milani, the director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. It was given last August at Google’s HQ in Mountain View, CA, and it overviews how power is structured in Iran and what drives President Ahmadinejad and the ruling clerics. Then, about 15 minutes into the talk, Milani addresses the presidential election and underscores Ahmadinejad’s declining popularity and poor electoral chances. Milani also reflects on the emerging democratic movement and its ability to get traction. As you’ll see, many of his comments (democracy will come on its own — if we don’t start a war over nukes) are starting to look rather prophetic. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Next, you can listen to a talk recorded this morning, which brings together Milani, Juan Cole (the historian of the Middle East who writes the Informed Comment blog) and Scott Peterson (Istanbul bureau chief for The Christian Science Monitor). This hour long conversation (MP3 - iTunes) delves into the election and its aftermath and examines what’s at stake for Iran, the Middle East and the US.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says he believes supreme leader Ayatollah ali Khamenei has deep concerns about the civil unrest that has followed the hotly contested presidential election there.

Obama repeated Tuesday at a news conference his "deep concerns" about the disputed balloting.

He said he believes the ayatollah's decision to order an investigation "indicates he understands the Iranian people have deep concerns."

But at the same time, Obama said it would not be helpful if the United States was seen by the world as "meddling" in the issue.

The president did say, however, that he worries "when I see violence directed at peaceful protesters, when I see peaceful protest being suppressed."

"I believe all these things because freedom is not America's gift to the world, it is the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world."

George W. Bush

posted by wanderlust

Live H2O, organized by Leonard Horowitz and Masaru Emoto, will be a world-wide simulcast event with more than 30 physical locations on the weekend the summer solstice (June 19th-21st). The event will focus on drawing consciousness to the planet's living water. There will also be a a mass meditation in "the love frequency," 528 hz. A schedule of simulcast events and list of confirmed cities is available now.

http://www.realitysandwich.com/water_concert

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,28383,25645915-5007185,00.h...

BY DAY they go quietly about their jobs as nurses, lawyers and office workers.

But by night these feisty young women don fishnet stockings, hot pants and knee guards, transforming into their alter egos with names such as Trippy Longstockings, Aprila the Hun and Two-Tonne Taylor.

No wonder roller derby - described as a "full contact sport on skates" - is striking a chord in Sydney, with crowds increasing.

Stacey Nelson, aka Miss Biff, said the Sydney Roller Derby League was attracting 250-strong crowds and the league expects to nearly fill the 500-capacity Sydney Boys High school hall on Sunday.

So far there are only two teams - the Screaming Assault Sirens and the Sydney City CBD'viants - battling it out in the league but there are plans for an interstate "Skate of Origin" showdown.
...

"I believe all these things because freedom is not Iran's gift to the world, it is the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world."

[picture an iranian in a mullet]

Wrapped in Grey, mp3

give breaths of fresh air. Visual Arts is where many answers remain and that equals the thrill of "the search".

10-15 minutes & I get to "float away" to sleep.
i hope :}

what is a "footy from the bag?"
Just wondering..

Kucinich: ‘Another $106 billion and all we get is a lousy war’

By Raw Story

Published: June 16, 2009
Updated 16 minutes ago

One week after declaring that the United States “cannot afford” the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq “financially or spiritually,” Ohio’s Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a staunch anti-war crusader, took aim at Congress for not taking a more active role in any of the war on terror fronts.

“We are destroying our nation’s moral and fiscal integrity with this war supplemental,” Kucinich argued on the House floor Tuesday. “Instead of ending wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan now by appropriating only enough money to bring our troops home, Congress abdicates its constitutional authority, defers to the president, and asks for a report. That’s right, all we are asking for is a report on when the president will end the war.”

Kucinich continued, “There is also money for the IMF, presumably to bail out private European banks. Billions for the IMF so they can force low and middle income nations to cut jobs, wages, health care and retirement security, just like corporate America does to our constituents. And there’s money to incentivize the purchase of more cars, not necessarily from U.S. manufacturers because a ‘Buy America’ mandate was not allowed.”

“Another $106 billion dollars and all we get is a lousy war,” Kucinich said. “Pretty soon that is going to be about the only thing made in America – war.”

Raw Story

I am back from the Post Office Box and have footie in hand.

problem is...I can't figure out how to wear it! It is called a footie, so I assume that it is meant to be worn like a `hoodie' but on the lowest extremities. but I can't find the holes to put my feet in!

well, I can always take it out to the cricket pitch and throw it at a wicket or something...I wish I had my cricket bat...
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

-Kucinich is, uh, disappointed....
Submitted by cent on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 1:19pm.

Kucinich: ‘Another $106 billion and all we get is a lousy war’-

War is stupid.

And people are stupid.

-Boy George

Oh, and by the way,

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU,!!!

this is the finest Australian rules football I have ever seen!

I'm going to have to find a place for it that the cats won't claw it up. I think they'd be fascinated by its firm yet yeilding texture.

they love such textures to flex their claws on...just ask my calves...
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

A new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office has concluded that Senator Edward Kennedy’s plan to expand healthcare coverage would cost about $1 trillion over the next ten years and fall far short of providing universal healthcare coverage. According to the CBO, the plan would reduce the number of uninsured by 16 million people, but even if the bill became law, 36 million people would remain uninsured in 2017.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/16/headlines#2

Will Durst

June 16, 2009

Good news is the White House says we’ve hit bottom. Bad news is Bush may have installed a basement.

:)

CREW SUES SECRET SERVICE OVER REFUSAL TO RELEASE WHITE HOUSE COAL EXECS VISITOR LOGS

16 Jun 2009 // Washington, D.C. - Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is filing a complaint against the Department of Homeland Security based on the refusal of the Secret Service to provide CREW with White House visitor records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). CREW sought records of visits by top coal executives in an effort to learn the extent to which these individuals may have influenced the administration’s energy policy. Taking the exact same position as the Bush administration, the Obama administration claimed the records are presidential, not agency records, and otherwise exempt in their entirety because of the possibility in some instances they could reveal information protected by the presidential communications privilege. In prior litigation U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth agreed with CREW that the records are agency records that must be disclosed under the FOIA.

Read CREW's complaint in the Related Documents section on the right.

CREW

i'd love to see you bounce it

and sandy,
i sent chubby a football in a large envelope
now all he needs is a dose of aussie attitude under his belt...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cq-HHjKFEs

(it's a horrible ocker show & embarrassing, but it'll give you a crash course in australiana in all it's glory)

AP INTERVIEW: Sebelius says insurers won't succeed (In Blocking Public Plan)

WASHINGTON – The insurance lobby won't be able to block a public health plan because most Americans realize they would be better off if the industry had competition, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday as congressional committees worked to shape legislation.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Sebelius said that President Barack Obama does not want to drive health insurers out of business, but make them more competitive by offering working families and small businesses the option of a public plan without the high overhead costs of marketing, administration and profits.

"I think there is a lot of understanding that the private market has really failed to provide affordable coverage to Americans," Sebelius said. The industry has had "a lot of opportunities" to get rid of coverage restrictions and other unpopular policies, Sebelius said, and really "hasn't served Americans very well."

However, Sebelius stressed that Obama is open to compromise on the shape of the public plan, which doesn't have to be run by the government. She spoke positively of a compromise idea that envisions consumer-owned nonprofit cooperatives, like rural electricity or agriculture co-ops. They would get started with seed money from taxpayers but then compete without government control. The plan by Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., may end up in a health overhaul bill to be unveiled by the Senate Finance Committee this week.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090616/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_sebelius_health...

Audit: U.S. Overpaid Blackwater (tens of millions of dollars)

Millions Went to Controversial Firm, Despite Understaffing

June 16, 2009—

The U.S. government overpaid tens of millions of dollars to the scandal-ridden security contractor once known as Blackwater, according to a new government audit.

The firm, now known as "Xe," understaffed its security teams assigned to protect the U.S. ambassador in Iraq and other U.S. officials in country. In total, the State Department could have dinged the company $55 million for work it didn't properly perform, auditors concluded.

Those fees should have been assessed for Blackwater's failure to meet staffing requirements laid out in its contract, the auditors said in their report. In addition, Blackwater also overcharged over $125,000 for travel, by booking tickets "in excess of coach fare."

In total, the firm has billed more than $1 billion in work to the State Department, much of it through contracts awarded without competition.

In a written statement, Xe spokeswoman Anne Tyrell disagreed with the auditor's conclusions. "The government contracting officer determined that Blackwater was compliant with the terms and conditions of the contract at the time for which they were reviewing and therefore did not apply any deductions or penalties," she said. "Blackwater only billed for services provided."

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Blackwater/story?id=7851018&page=1

Just today, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri came out in support of peaceful protests and against the election results in Iran. Montazeri is one of the most respected clerics in Iran and was the apparent heir to Khomeini when Khamenei outmaneuvered him for the position of Supreme Leader.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/grand-ayato...

ABC News Responds to RNC Letter (complaining about plans to broadcast a health care “conversation”)

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: With the Republican National Committee complaining to ABC News about plans to broadcast a health care “conversation” from the White House next week, ABC today has responded to the complaint.

The letter -- to RNC Chief of Staff Ken McKay, from ABC News Senior Vice President Kerry Smith -- points out that ABC “will have complete editorial control” over the broadcasts, and says that “no one watching, listening to, or reading ABC News will lack for an understanding of all sides of these important questions.”

...

McKay’s letter -- linked via the Drudge Report -- states that he is “concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda,” and asked that it be paid for by the Democratic National Committee if the Republican Party isn’t included in the event.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/06/abc-news-responds-to-rnc-letter...

The bond for Scott Roeder, the suspect in the shooting death of Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, is now up to $20 million.

Sedgwick County District Judge Warren Wilbert declined to say Monday why he raised the bond for Scott Roeder. But court records from an unannounced hearing last week show the bond was raised from the initial $5 million bond due to "a change in circumstances."

The new bond requires Roeder to post at least $10 million of that bond in cash.

Roeder is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault for allegedly gunning down Tiller on May 31 at his church.

The higher bond came just days after Roeder told the Associated Press that he knows there are "many other similar events" planned around the country as long as abortion remains legal.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/1253885.html

PYONGYANG, June 15 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has warned it would launch a pre-emptive attack against the United States.

Pak Jae Gyong, vice-minister of the DPRK People's Armed Forces, made the remark at a mass rally that attracted some 10,000 people to denounce a newly endorsed U.N. Security Council Resolution, the official KCNA news agency said Monday.

"Under the present situation where the Korean People's Army (KPA) is technically at war with the U.S. imperialists, and as the Armistice Agreement has lost its legal binding force, the KPA will promptly exercise the right to a pre-emptive strike to beat back the enemies' slightest provocation," Pak said.

He threatened to deliver blows to the "vital parts of the U.S." and "wipe out all its imperialist aggressor troops no matter where they are in the world."

Meanwhile, Kim Ki Nam, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, told the rally that the U.N. resolution was "another grave provocation."

"This is, in essence, a wicked pressure offensive launched by the U.S. imperialists to disarm the DPRK, strangle its economy and undermine its ideology and system," Kim said.

The DPRK will respond to any attempt to blockade it with "resolute and deadly blows," he said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/15/content_11547835.htm

Already, the banking lobby — which has been quietly moving against multiple facets of the Obama regulation plan — is voicing its displeasure with the proposal:

“It’s bad for the consumers,” said Steve Bartlett, president of the Financial Services Roundtable, a lobbying group for banks. Financial industry advocates object to the idea of carving out the enforcement of consumer protection from the mandates of existing regulatory agencies that oversee companies. They argue that consumer protection is intertwined with ensuring that a financial firm is on stable footing. “Give the power for consumer protection to the agencies that have real power,” Bartlett said.

But the current economic mess has revealed that the “agencies that have real power” actually don’t have any power, particularly when it comes to consumer protection. They are simply too far removed from the action to get an adequate sense of how financial products are being marketed to consumers on the ground level. They are looking out for the safety of institutions, not the well being of an individual consumer getting suckered into a bad mortgage or credit card deal.

As Professor Elizabeth Warren — a staunch advocate of a consumer protection council — told The Wonk Room, “all these lousy mortgages got sold, one family at a time…If we had had just basic safety standards in place from the beginning, then we never would have fed these into the front end of the financial system.” And that’s the point of the new council — to watch the origination of these products. Various states tried to regulate mortgages at the ground level back in 2002 and 2003, and were effectively stopped by the Bush administration’s regulators. How many toxic assets would have never found their way into the system if those efforts had been allowed to proceed?

One financial services lobbyist who spoke to Reuters predicted that the consumer protection agency will be stripped out of the final regulation package. If that happens, it will be to the detriment of consumers and to the advantage of the banks that are throwing their weight around Capitol Hill.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/06/16/banks-hate-cpa/

What Do The New CBO Numbers Tell Us About Health Care Reform?

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office released a very preliminary cost estimate of the HELP Committee’s health care reform bill. The organization concluded that reform would cost “$1 trillion over the next decade and reduce the ranks of the uninsured by about one-third, or 16 million individuals”:

According to that assessment, enacting the proposal would result in a net increase in federal budget deficits of about $1.0 trillion over the 2010–2019 period. Once the proposal was fully implemented, about 39 million individuals would obtain coverage through the new insurance exchanges. At the same time, the number of people who had coverage through an employer would decline by about 15 million (or roughly 10 percent), and coverage from other sources would fall by about 8 million, so the net decrease in the number of people uninsured would be about 16 million.

But as Ezra Klein and Jonathan Cohn observe, the estimate says very little about the actual cost of health care reform. Cohn:

Imagine you were trying to build your dream house and the architect gave you a status report. The design still wasn’t finished: He hadn’t sketched out the plumbing, the wiring, and the roof. But, he said, he could tell how much it would cost to build what he’d already designed. You’d be curious about the number; it might offer some hints about how much the house would cost in the end. But you wouldn’t spent too much time dwelling on it since, after all, the final price was going to be much different. Well, that’s the same attitude you should take about the estimates of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee bill that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) delivered yesterday.

Indeed, in an effort to reach a compromise with Republicans, the committee omitted language about the employer mandate or the new public health care plan. Medicaid expansion is outside of the HELP Committee’s jurisdiction (that’s up to Senate Finance) and the CBO incorrectly assumed that individuals would only pay a $100 fine if they remained uninsured. As a result, the organization concluded that reform would cost “$1 trillion over the next decade and reduce the ranks of the uninsured by about one-third, or 16 million individuals.”

The CBO scored a ‘draft of a draft’ proposal. As Paul Krugman concludes, “this was a failure of communication, partly the result of an attempt at bipartisan outreach, rather than a failure of policy.”

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/06/16/cbo-help-draft/

Does anyone else find this offensive....

Submitted by cent on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 11:29am.
or am I just being super-sensitive again?

========================

Is this a publisher who intends to offend and foment?

If yes. then I think they want to push some buttons again, huh?

As a student of costume, I have a lack of understanding about the trend in Middle Eastern cultures to give up ethnic costume. The traditional desert region costume not only made full use of their culture's magnificent textile skills but also functioned to preserve their health in their challenging climate (by providing needed protection, portable shade and insulation in heat or cold). The cultural choices of clothing of distinct groups of ethnic peoples are great expressions of creativity and practicality, and art, and yet all this continues to be negated and left behind for the dull sameness of Corporatist J.C. Penney sameness.

I say, take PRIDE in the turban or any garment that is simultaneously ingenious, beautiful, practical and unique to a people! Take back the ethnic costume and turn one's back on Transnational Corporations' Costume Dictates!

Health care miscommunication

Before people get too worried by the nasty CBO report on health reform costs, read Ezra Klein:

The bill the CBO examined this time was missing these policies. In an effort to buy some extra time to negotiate with Republicans on the committee, the Democrats on HELP left out some of the key points of controversy in the hopes of reaching more bipartisan agreement sometime this week. Among them were the public plan, the employer mandate and the individual mandate. The last two — the first of which pushes employers to offer coverage and the second of which force individuals to purchase coverage — are key to increasing the number of Americans with insurance.

The HELP Committee’s expectation was that the CBO, in crafting its preliminary estimates, would assume something similar to the outline it had seen months before. The CBO didn’t. In fact, it did the opposite. CBO ran its estimates with no employer mandate and an individual mandate with a laughably small penalty. Members of HELP were shocked by yesterday’s estimate. The bill that CBO scored did not look much like the bill they intend to write. Which means that the numbers aren’t correct. If HELP is writing a bill with a strong employer and individual mandate, and CBO scores a bill with no employer mandate and a weak individual mandate, it’s not clear where that estimate leaves us.

This was a failure of communication, partly the result of an attempt at bipartisan outreach, rather than a failure of policy.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/health-care-miscommunication...

i'll be there.

Randi's alter ego Beck gets my forkin goat.
he's got a sappy christmas book out.
slime.

Def one of the most cathartic exp. in my life was the 04 rnc in nyc when we all screamed "fork Fox" for about ten minutes at the newscorp hq while we were marching.

felt damn good.
think i might go watch my crap video of that.

"I'm better now, I'm O.K."

The Supreme Court has decided not to look at the legality of a 700-mile wall along the Mexican border despite the large number of lawsuits that have arisen due to Homeland Security’s hotly debated authority to “bypass any environmental and state regulations” and “waive all legal requirements” necessary to swiftly construct the U.S.-Mexico divider.

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/15/high-court-wont-intervene-in-bor...

Climate

“Ancient Australian forests are key to fighting climate change and contain the world’s most dense carbon store, eclipsing tropical rainforests as efficient greenhouse gas absorbers,” scientists said on Tuesday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE55F0SY20090616

POLITICO reports on the GOP’s health care offensive: “They warned of rationed medical care, lack of patient control and government bureaucracy.” Today, the RNC also released a new ad attacking the public option.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23749.html

The Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEvb4xVMP4g

Edward Hugh at A Fistful of Euros explains how banking problems in Europe will send the whole world running for cover: “Basically the whole EU system seems to be in denial on what is happening at the moment.”

http://fistfulofeuros.net/afoe/economics-and-demography/banking-problems...

A coal port being constructed in Newcastle, Australia, “the largest coal exporter in the world,” is being raised “two to three meters above sea level” ” apparently in preparation for the rising sea levels brought about by climate change.”

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/coal-group-coy-about-po...

Senate Finance Panel's Health-Care Overhaul Bill Hits Snag

By MARTIN VAUGHAN

WASHINGTON -- A Senate Finance Committee effort to overhaul the health-care system has been slowed as Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) said he won't unveil a bill Wednesday as planned.

Sen. Baucus said he still intends to unveil the bill this week, and to hold a formal committee session to consider the bill next week.

One reason for the delay, Sen. Baucus said, is lawmakers are still trying to get accurate cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office on the Finance Committee proposals.

Sen. Baucus said the panel received some of the cost estimates from CBO Monday night, but those estimates did not reflect the most current version of the Finance Committee proposal.

Meanwhile, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R., Maine) on Tuesday called the process in the Senate for negotiating a health-care bill "broken." Sen. Snowe is one of several Republicans being courted by Baucus to support health-care legislation.

Sen. Snowe released a statement criticizing a separate piece of legislation sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass.). "This proposal will force an alarming $1 trillion on the federal budget deficit by 2019 alone, without even cutting the number of uninsured in half," Sen. Snowe said.

[...]

WSJ

No one said it would be easy Olympia...now quit yer cryin and do your job.....

Private insurers should only be allowed to sell secondary insurance plans!

A while back Thom Hartmann talked about how other countries which provide a comprehensive healthcare package for their citizens ALSO outlaw for-profit insurance from selling primary healthcare packages that will undercut and weaken the national health delivery programs.

We have a LONG way to go and must not cave to the LIMITATION BRIGADE sent out to entrance us with endless repetitions of "it's off the table", "single payer will never happen", "only a level playing field", or "we don't have the votes" and other swill. Flip them an insult and continue to DEMAND Single Payer!!!

can't see how that could be any trickier than fission.

{poof}

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

"all right! get all the Mothers and children to hawaii!

operation dozing lysystrata is green lighted!"

"Greenspan!"
"Sir!"
"recount the votes!"

"I'm better now, I'm O.K."

"The American Empire is Bankrupt" at truthdig was discussed at length on Thom Hartmann today.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090614_the_american_empire_is_bank...

The Supremes okay'd this
Submitted by toniD on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 3:49pm.
The Supreme Court has decided not to look at the legality of a 700-mile wall along the Mexican border despite the large number of lawsuits that have arisen due to Homeland Security’s hotly debated authority to “bypass any environmental and state regulations” and “waive all legal requirements” necessary to swiftly construct the U.S.-Mexico divider.

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/15/high-court-wont-intervene-in-bor...

» ===============

When you look at the photos of those so-called "walls" and see nothing but piles of stuff that appear merely dumped in holes and covered over, you know they are not worth the pricetag for any purpose -- not labor, not materials, not 'design' (these exhibit design input?), not security!

The so-called walls are a waste of money, an insult to local communities and obviously poison to the environment!

Why isn't Sam tweeting? Marc said Sam was going to watch the idiot Sarah people picketing at Letterman's show. Seems like a great time to twitter.

Lieberman is a big NO on the Public Option, now calls it 'universal access' for health care. I'm NOT kidding
By John Amato Tuesday Jun 16, 2009 11:12am

http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/lieberman-big-no-public-option

>>calls it 'universal access' for health care. I'm NOT kidding

Isn't that what most of us want?

Oh, tht's right...we aren't quite the majority we sometimes think we are...

but still, I believe that most human beings do not want to see other people suffering.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Recession boosts global human trafficking, report says

By Elise Labott

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The global financial crisis has increased the worldwide trade in trafficked persons, says a State Department report released Tuesday.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the report aims "to shine the light brightly on ... modern slavery."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the report aims "to shine the light brightly on ... modern slavery."

The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report also says trafficking has increased in Africa and slaps six African nations on a blacklist of countries not meeting the minimum standard of combating trafficking.

The report, mandated by Congress, features data and statistics from 175 countries around the world regarding the amount of human trafficking that goes on within their borders.

The report cites the International Labor Organization, which estimates that at least 12.3 million adults and children are victims of forced labor, bonded labor and sex slavery each year.

[...]

CNN

Bravo Hillary...work it...

MySpace Fires 30% of U.S. Workers as Ad Sales Decline
By Adam Satariano and Sarah Rabil

June 16 (Bloomberg) -- News Corp.’s MySpace social- networking unit fired almost 30 percent of its staff to save money in response to falling advertising sales and gains by larger rival Facebook Inc.

The cuts lower U.S. staffing at Los Angeles-based MySpace to 1,000, according to a statement today. The announcement suggests the company eliminated about 400 jobs. Dani Dudeck, a MySpace spokeswoman, declined to comment on the firings, severance costs or how much money may be saved.

[...]
Bloomberg

Lieberman is doing exactly what Obama wanted: provide cover for a watered-down health plan that enriches the insurance industry further, while giving the appearance of a being a plan in the tradition of FDR.
That's why Obama campaigned for Lieberman and not Lamont. Why Obama declared Spector to be a Dem.

House kills (GOP Congressman) Bishop's call for Pelosi probe (again)

For the second time in a month, the House on Tuesday killed an attempt by Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, to order a probe into whether the CIA lied to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the use of torture, or whether her claims were the real deception.

The House killed a resolution by Bishop calling for that probe on a 247-171 procedural vote, mostly along party lines.

Bishop had introduced a nearly identical resolution, which suffered identical failure, on May 21.

He tried it again because last week, Pelosi said at a news conference that she continues to receive CIA briefings. But news reports said she refused to say whether she believes the CIA is continuing to mislead her, which she said earlier that it did by not telling her about use of torture. The CIA has denied misleading her.

Bishop said he called for a probe again "for one simple reason … there is no cloture on this particular issue."

"Silence is not a solution," he said. "In an era in which perception is the same as reality, silence does not solve the problem and indeed harms" trust in Congress.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705310890,00.html

And it's pouring out again. It rains here every other day.

I was hoping it would hold off til late tonight but no.

Always when I am ready to go to work!

Have a great evening!

Later

Freshly brewed & ot Tea Cheers, All :D . It is overcast where I am at, but not RAINY ATT, nor cold att.
*

I just have to weigh in with my 2 cents. Since the only ones who wear turbans in Iran are the mullahs, and many Iranians are a bit fed up with them now, or at least the ones running the government right now, I think they might find the pun hilarious. THe mullahs? Maybe would be offended but it would give them grist for their 'look over there, the sons of Satan are your real enemy, nothing to see behind this curtain,' schtick. And in my experience, Iranians love puns and making fun of ethnic groups, people in power, etc. So, they may have been trying to offend but I don't think it plays the way they might think. That's what I think. And on another subject, isn't twitter down for (delayed) maintenance?

He said the Palestinians had been treated "like animals" and the deprivations faced by them in Gaza were unique in history.

Carter said he was trying to persuade Hamas leaders to accept the international community's conditions for ending its boycott of the movement.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/200961613038571684....

(guaranteed that turd Lieberman, both- ours and theirs- will respond to this tomorrow)

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Bill Gates helps fund mass circumcision programme

Microsoft founder Bill Gates last week injected $50 million into a programme to circumcise up to 650,000 men in Swaziland and Zambia.

The goal of the project is to curb the transmission of HIV in two of the AIDS hotspots of the world, as circumcision has been shown to more than halve the risk of men becoming infected.

[...]

Link

"Ouch" is the only thing that seems to come to mind...

the upshot with this all is that we can't afford to fix this.

(Read the greedheads are'nt going to cut loose any profitmaking)

and we can get away without fixing any of this because we

(read 'the greedheads')

won't have to suffer any of the negative consequences because we can buy our way to paradaise with all the money we got selling off the rest of humanities wealth, health and environment.

Workers' Compensation destroys lives because it by and large favors the employer! If someone digs at this for the FACTS across the nation, I bet they'll find this industry is a big one that works to block universal single payer healthcare delivery!

The profiteering worker (so-called) compensation industry made up of
o employer gatekeepers,
o an army of 'specialist' physician examiners who mince exams of injured workers to favor the employer,
o law firms that fight the claims of injured employees for YEARS to the bitter end
o and the associations like the Chamber of Commerce who advocate all their interests

-- ALL these would lose their bloodmoney if Universal Single Payer stepped in and ended the worker comp system's inhuman RATIONING of healthcare for injured workers!

That's ALOT of nasty power over employees that the Employer Class would lose.

Small businesses, like the caller on Ed Schultz, who was a small business owner with himself and one employee, will welcome not having to pay worker comp premiums. But the Corporate Big Guys? They want EVERY power over employees they can get and hold on to, imo.

Universal Single Payer will save us billions on worker comp insurance.

Would it return power to sue and litigate to the injured EMPLOYEE? If it did, it would mean employers would again have to clean up their work places and stop using human being like so much raw material to use up and throw away!

[Writing this after hearing a caller ask and Ed Schultz clarify that there is no need for workers' comp healthcare insurance for employers when a universal single payer plan takes care of it.]

The US has begun the process of shutting down its air base in the central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan, an important hub for US military operations in Afghanistan.

The base is used as a transit point for 15,000 troops and 500 tonnes of cargo monthly to and from Afghanistan.

The US pays $17.4m annually for the base, which was opened just after its offensive in Afghanistan began in 2001, following the September 11 attacks.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/06/20096158350890987.html

Russia's Medvedev: Supranational currency will be created

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday existing reserve currencies, including the dollar, have not performed their function, and a new supranational currency was in the making. "We are likely to witness the creation of a supranational reserve currency ... which will be used for international settlements," Medvedev told a new conference. "Although volumes will be limited.

"The existing currency system is not ideal. There is a range of risks, including inflation risks," Medvedev said.

-Siddharth Varadarajan

http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/17/stories/2009061759641000.htm

*

Brazil, Russia, India and China form bloc to challenge US dominance

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article65147...

have...

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/06/200961651325920155.html

Afghanistan's government still has not explained why two Al Jazeera producers have been detained by authorities.

yesterday...

America will be composed of a large dispossessed underclass and a tiny empowered oligarchy that will run a ruthless and brutal system of neo-feudalism from secure compounds. Those who resist will be silenced, many by force. We will pay a terrible price, and we will pay this price soon, for the gross malfeasance of our power elite.

Peru PM to quit over land disputes

The Peruvian prime minister has said he plans to resign in the coming weeks following the deaths of dozens of people in clashes between indigenous groups and police over controversial land laws.

Yehude Simon told Peruvian radio on Tuesday he would step down, a day after apologising to indigenous leaders and saying the government had failed to win their support before passing the laws.

Simon's move comes after at least 34 people died in bloody clashes in northern Peru earlier this month, as police fought protesters who said the laws would make it easier for businesses to exploit their ancestral Amazon lands for oil, gas and other ventures
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/06/200961618223869749.ht...

Sen. Ensign admits affair with ex-campaign staffer

(06-16) 15:20 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa%2F2009%2F06%2F16%2F...

Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada admitted Tuesday he had an extramarital affair with a former member of his campaign staff. Ensign told The Associated Press in a statement, "I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions."

An aide in Ensign's office said the affair took place between December 2007 and August 2008 with a campaign staffer who was married to an employee in Ensign's Senate office. Neither has worked for the senator since May 2008. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the developments.

The aide declined to comment on whether Ensign would resign. Ensign scheduled a news conference in Las Vegas for later Tuesday. Ensign did not participate earlier Tuesday in a vote concerning the ailing travel industry, an unusual absence considering the topic's relevance in his home state.

"I know that I have deeply hurt and disappointed my wife, my children, my family, my friends, my staff and the people of Nevada who believed in me not just as a legislator but as a person," Ensign said.

Ensign's wife, Darlene, also released a statement about the affair.

"Since we found out last year we have worked through the situation and we have come to a reconciliation. This has been difficult on both families. With the help of our family and close friends our marriage has become stronger," Mrs. Ensign said.

Ensign was first elected to the Senate in 2000 and has been an influential conservative voice within that chamber. Last year, his GOP colleagues picked him to serve as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, moving him to the No. 4 position in leadership. The committee coordinates the GOP's legislative efforts in the Senate. Previously, Ensign ran the Republican Senate campaign operations.

Last month, Ensign traveled to Iowa for a speech organized by a conservative advocacy group, sparking speculation that he had an interest in possibly running for president. Aides said the visit was about staking out a leadership position within the GOP.

,

Indigenous Peruvians win without "having the votes."
new
Submitted by ghettodefender on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 6:20pm.
Peru PM to quit over land disputes
...continued...

...to continue
Simon's move comes after at least 34 people died in bloody clashes in northern Peru earlier this month, as police fought protesters who said the laws would make it easier for businesses to exploit their ancestral Amazon lands for oil, gas and other ventures
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/06/200961618223869749.ht...

»

US rejects 'Cuba Five' spy plea

The US's top court has declined to hear an appeal by five jailed Cuban intelligence agents who said they did not receive a fair trial.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/06/2009615144731764345.h...

Eight international Nobel Prize winners have written and sent a document to the US Attorney General calling for freedom for the Cuban Five, signed by Zhores Alferov (Nobel Prize for Physics, 2000), Desmond Tutu (Nobel Peace Prize, 1984), Nadine Gordimer (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1991), Rigoberta Menchú (Nobel Peace Prize, 1992), Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (Nobel Peace Prize, 1980), Wole Soyinka (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1986), José Saramago (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1996), Günter Grass (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1999.

Has anyone mentioned Mousavi's past ties with the neocon bunch?

==========

Mousavi runs in neo-con, Iran-Contra circles?
Submitted by nora on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 1:50am.
It helps to save old 1987 magazines...

http://revolutionaryflowerpot.blogspot.com/2009/06/mir-hossein-mousavis-...

[excerpt]

Here is a bit from an article by Time magazine that shows Ghorbanifar's circle of associates; it is from a January 1987 cover story (The Murky World of Weapons Dealers; January 19, 1987):

"By [Ghorbanifar's] own account he was a refugee from the revolutionary government of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, which confiscated his businesses in Iran, yet he later became a trusted friend and kitchen adviser to Mir Hussein Mousavi, Prime Minister in the Khomeini government. Some U.S. officials who have dealt with Ghorbanifar praise him highly. Says Michael Ledeen, adviser to the Pentagon on counterterrorism: "[Ghorbanifar] is one of the most honest, educated, honorable men I have ever known." Others call him a liar who, as one puts it, could not tell the truth about the clothes he is wearing," (emphasis added).

This second bit is from Chapter 1 of Walsh Iran/Contra Report: (http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm)

"On or about November 25, 1985, Ledeen received a frantic phone call from Ghorbanifar, asking him to relay a message from [Mir-Hossein Mousavi] the prime minister of Iran to President Reagan regarding the shipment of the wrong type of HAWKs. Ledeen said the message essentially was "we've been holding up our part of the bargain, and here you people are now cheating us and tricking us and deceiving us and you had better correct this situation right away.''
[...]
"In early May, North and CIA annuitant George Cave met in London with Ghorbanifar and Nir, where the groundwork finally was laid for a meeting between McFarlane and high-level Iranian officials, as well as financial arrangements for the arms deal. Among the officials Ghorbanifar said would meet with an American delegation were the president and prime minister [Mousavi] of Iran and the speaker of the Iranian parliament," (emphasis added).
And to remind how Michael Ledeen became involved in the Iran/Contra affair in 1985, here is a bit from Chapter 15 of Walsh Report (http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_15.htm):

"[McFarlane] authorized Michael A. Ledeen, a part-time NSC consultant on anti-terrorism, to ask Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres to check on a report that the Israelis had access to good sources on Iran. By early August 1985, Ledeen's talks had led to a direct approach by Israeli officials to McFarlane, to obtain President Reagan's approval to ship U.S.-supplied TOW missiles to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages in Beirut. McFarlane said he briefed the President, Regan, Shultz, Weinberger, Casey and perhaps the Vice President about the proposal in July and August 1985.40 McFarlane said that Casey recommended that Congress not be informed of the arms sales."
There you have it. Now, I'm no investigative journalist, so I'll leave it to the professionals to dig deeper into this.

[end excerpt]

Has anyone mentioned Mousavi's past ties with the neocon bunch?

Malloy did last night. Disappointed I couldn't find any mention of this from Prof Cole.
Consult Ono.

Arizona Senate OKs guns in eateries serving booze

The Arizona Senate has reversed itself and voted to allow people with concealed-carry permits to take handguns into restaurants that serve alcohol.

It also would reduce the misdemeanor penalty for bringing a gun into a restaurant that doesn't allow the weapons.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8561876

after seeing the msm "coverage" the first thing that popped in my mind was; another US/Israel sponsored coup?

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered Exxon Mobil Corp to pay $1 billion to Alaskan victims of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill.

The penalty includes $507.5 million in punitive damages and an additional $500 million in interest accrued on the penalty, the Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday.

Exxon's attorneys said the interest payment should be accrued from 2008 onward, pointing to the time the Supreme Court decided punitive damages could be awarded for maritime accidents.

But lawyers representing Native Alaskans, fishermen and other affected parties argued the starting date for the interest accrual should be 1996, when the punitive damages were first assigned.

An Exxon spokesman said the company was reviewing the decision. The company could appeal the interest payment at the Supreme Court level.

There are about 33,000 claimants in the case. Some are set to receive about $30,000, while others would receive a small fraction of that, the newspaper said.

"We're just happy that we've cleared another hurdle, and hopefully we can get the case tied up as soon as possible," said Stanford University law Professor Jeffrey Fisher, who represented the plaintiffs.

"What we want more than anything now is just to bring this case to a close," he said.
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/06/16/Exxon-ordered-to-pay-1-billi...

Robert Fisk: Fear has gone in a land that has tasted freedom

In defiance of the ban on foreign reporters, The Independent's Middle East correspondent ventures out to witness an extraordinary stand-off on the streets of Tehran
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-fear-...

i doubt it. republicans feel they have the right to fuck everything.

will he go the way of john edwards? I can't stand this guy
new
Submitted by dan on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 8:28pm.
i doubt it. republicans feel they have the right to fuck everything.

Back from work and it is still pouring.

Sandy, is it raining as hard in your area? The parking lot where I live had big puddles of water. If we get any more rain I'm starting my Ark!

June 16, 2009

Historical Quote of the Day
"He has no credibility left."

-- Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), quoted by the Las Vegas Sun in 1998, urging Bill Clinton to resign after he admitted an extramarital affair.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/06/16/historical_quote_of_the_day...

http://www.theittybittykittycommittee.com/

Pelosi Pressures Antiwar Democrats to Back War Funding Bill

On Capitol Hill, the Democratic House leadership is pressuring antiwar Democrats to support a $106 billion supplemental war funding bill. In May, fifty-one antiwar Democrats opposed an earlier version of the bill. Now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to pressure some of those Democrats to switch their votes to help pass a new version of the bill that also includes increased funding for the International Monetary Fund. California Democratic Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey says the White House has threatened to pull support from freshman antiwar Democrats who vote no on the bill. In order to block passage, thirty-nine House Democrats need to join with Republicans opposing the bill.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/16/headlines#5

Carlyle, Blackstone bid for First Republic: reportNEW YORK (Reuters) – Carlyle Group (CYL.UL) and Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) are leading an investor group that is bidding to acquire First Republic Bank, a private banking unit of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Bloomberg News said on Tuesday, citing three people familiar with the matter.

The private equity firms may partner with First Republic Chairman James Herbert, the report said, citing one of the people.

Bank of America inherited San Francisco-based First Republic when it acquired Merrill Lynch & Co on January 1. Merrill had paid $1.8 billion for First Republic in 2007.

Carlyle, Blackstone and Bank of America were not immediately available for comment.

Bank of America has taken $45 billion of federal bailout money, and this week won approval of a capital-raising plan after regulators ordered the largest U.S. bank to raise $33.9 billion following a government "stress test."

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank is also trying to sell its Columbia asset management unit.

Blackstone and Carlyle were part of a group that agreed to buy BankUnited Financial Corp (BKUNQ.PK) last month after regulators seized that Florida lender.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090616/bs_nm/us_bankofamerica_firstrepublic

http://www.earthlings.com/earthlings/trailer-streaming-2.php

Sammy gets humiliated for his cluelessness by an A list blogger.

http://dailyhowler.com/

Pro-Ahmadinejad Israelis - narrow strategic thinking
By Aluf Benn

The prize for this week's most stupid remark has to go to the officials, officers and experts who described Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the candidate Israel prefers to win the election in Iran, and were even happy he did. It is hard to think of a more blatant manifestation of the narrow horizons of Israeli strategic thinking.

The claim of pro-Ahmadinejad Israelis goes like this: The president in Iran is a puppet of the real powers - the religious leaders, led by Ayatollah Khamenei. Iran's nuclear plans have advanced and will continue no matter who is president and what that person's positions are. Therefore, it is better for us that Iran's most prominent spokesperson to be a Holocaust-denier who threatens to destroy Israel; that way it will be easier to garner support from around the world for pressure on Iran.

To understand how baseless this approach is, it is enough to look at what has happened over the four years of Ahmadinejad's rule. The Iranian nuclear project has crossed the "technological threshold" and reached the capability to independently manufacture enriched uranium without really being bothered from abroad except for hollow sanctions. During this period, Israel enjoyed a loving relationship with the Bush administration and a reasonable relationship with Europe, yet did not manage to get the international community on board to stop the centrifuges in Natanz. Hezbollah and Hamas, Iran's allies, armed themselves uninterrupted.

Israeli PR ostensibly had an easy job. All it had to do was distribute Ahmadinejad's hate-filled speeches and harvest the fruit. But it achieved nothing. The bizarre initiative, which enjoyed Benjamin Netanyahu's support, of putting Iran's president on trial in The Hague for incitement to genocide, got no attention. No one in the world accepted the argument that Iran is Nazi Germany and Israel is Czechoslovakia, and the year is 1938. Bush, the friendly president who gave Israel a green light in Lebanon and Gaza and to bomb Syria, did not allow Israel to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.

Barack Obama is specifically demanding that Israel does not attack, and that it does not spring any surprises on the United States. The presentation of Ahmadinejad as Hitler and Iran as a police state a la "1984" ignores the internal pressure in Iran for greater democracy and openness. Those who see Iran only through its centrifuges will also find it hard to understand and accept the Obama approach, which seeks dialogue with Tehran's rulers and smiles at the Muslim world. To the Israeli establishment this amounts to kowtowing to the neighborhood bully.

ess than two weeks after his Cairo speech, Obama has reasons to smile: Hezbollah lost the election in Lebanon and in Tehran, hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets to protest election fraud and support the reformist Mousavi. The demonstrations forced the Guardian Council, headed by Khamenei, to announce an investigation and a recount of some of the ballot boxes; that is, to sacrifice Ahmadinejad in an attempt to save themselves from the irate masses. It is difficult to imagine such an outcome in Hitler's Germany.

Obama was right not to intervene. He did not accept the results of the election but he did not publicly declare support for the protesters. Thus he gave the reformists room, without seeming to be pulling the strings from afar. It is too early to tell how events will pan out in Tehran, if the regime will really mellow, but the demonstrations offer a chance of change in Iran for the first time in 30 years.

It is also clear that "the world" has come to terms with Iran being a "nuclear-bomb threshold" power which possesses the technology but not the actual bomb. The world may will also come to terms with an Iranian bomb. Israel will have difficulty bombing Iran with Obama against it, and may even be too late. Under such circumstances, it would be best for Israel if there were people in the Iranian leadership who could calm things down in the region, not stir up strife.

Netanyahu has internalized the strategic change that Obama generated. He quickly responded to the Cairo speech with agreement to a Palestinian state, and also changed his public position on Iran: Instead of threatening war and talking about the Holocaust, he returned to Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert's approach that the problem is international and not only Israel's. Perhaps after meeting Obama, Netanyahu understands the reality better than his officers and his officials.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1093588.html

I never heard of that blog.

Must be a winger blog!

one party's full of pussies
the other's full of dicks
you'd think they'd get together
and get the country fixed

instead they screw each other
while never getting kissed
should they vanish from the earth
neither would be missed

except for bernie sanders
and maybe barney frank
not reid or mitch mcconnell
you can take that to the bank

you can put down all the blue dogs
and hate filled radical right
the nightmare still ain't over
at least it's not tonight

Letterman protest draws more media than activists

NEW YORK (CNN) — A protest rally against David Letterman over a failed joke about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her daughter attracted more members of the media than protesters Tuesday afternoon.

A crowd of 15 protesters upset with the late night comic held signs and occasionally shouted as they stood across the street from Letterman's studio.

But they were often hidden from view by the more than 35 members of the media there to cover the protest, and out-shouted by a few very vocal counter-protesters.

Radio talk show host John Ziegler — who is behind the FireDavidLetterman.com Web site that organized the protest, and who is an outspoken supporter of the former Republican vice presidential candidate — told reporters that the turnout at the event was not representative of the number of people who have responded to his site and e-mailed.

He also argued that Letterman should have been fired, and the only reasons that he hasn't been fired were "the media's love of David Letterman and the media's distrust and, I believe, hatred of Sarah Palin."

He also called Letterman's apology — issued on Monday's program and accepted by Palin — bogus and said that the comedian should make a charitable donation to an organization of Palin's choosing.

Ziegler made a film about the 2008 presidential campaign called "Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Hamas, the Palestinian group that rules the Gaza Strip, foiled an attempt by al-Qaeda-linked militants to assassinate Jimmy Carter, a source tells Haaretz. Hoping to kill the former president as his vehicle left Gaza, militants placed a pair of bombs at a border crossing. Witnesses say that they saw Hamas troops patrolling and detonating bombs near a crossing; but an official denies the source’s claim.

A Hamas spokesman said troops had just been carrying out routine work and weren’t aware of any assassination attempt. Carter was in Gaza to urge Hamas leaders to accept international conditions for lifting Gaza’s economic blockade. He also brought a letter for an Israeli soldier held by Palestinians since 2006.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1093353.html

So that's why they hire the yound interns!

----------------

Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign, considered a possible contender for the GOP’s presidential ticket in 2012, has confessed to an extramarital affair.

“The affair took place between December 2007 and August 2008 with a campaign staffer who was married to an employee in Ensign’s Senate office,” reported the Associated Press, citing an anonymous aide in Ensign’s office. “Neither have worked for the senator since May 2008.”

“I know that I have deeply hurt and disappointed my wife, my children, my family, my friends, my staff and the people of Nevada who believed in me not just as a legislator but as a person,” reads a prepared statement from the senator.

His wife, Darlene, added in a separate statement: “Since we found out last year we have worked through the situation and we have come to a reconciliation. This has been difficult on both families. With the help of our family and close friends our marriage has become stronger,”

Sen. Ensign, who currently serves on the Senate Republican Policy Committee, voted in the House to impeach President Bill Clinton over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinski and repeatedly called for the former president’s resignation.

Sen. Ensign was also one of the loudest critics of former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Id.), calling for his resignation after he was famously arrested for gay sex in an airport bathroom. At the same time, Sen. Ensign defended Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), whose telephone number turned up in the databases of the Washington, D.C. “madam’s” prostitution ring.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said at the time that Ensign’s criticism exhibited a clear double standard.

“I don’t think they’ll ask [Vitter] to resign because, of course, he’d be replaced by a Democrat,” he added. “It’s easier to ask Larry Craig to resign because he’d be replaced by a Republican.”

Sen. Ensign has not resigned. A press conference is scheduled for later Tuesday.

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/06/16/gop-sources-ensign-affair/

goodun Paul!

Bravo!

John Ensign
AKA John Eric Ensign

Born: 25-Mar-1958
Birthplace: Roseville, CA

Gender: Male
Religion: Protestant
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Politician
Party Affiliation: Republican

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: US Senator from Nevada

Wife: Darlene
Son: Trevor
Daughter: Siena
Son: Michael
Father: Michael S. Ensign (casino mogul, stepfather)

High School: E. W. Clark High School, Las Vegas, NV (1976)
University: University of Nevada at Las Vegas
University: BS, Oregon State University, Corvalis (1981)
Medical School: DVM, Colorado State University, Fort Collins (1985)

US Senator, Nevada (2001-present)
US Congressman, Nevada (1995-99)
Amway distributor
Close Up Foundation Board of Advisors
Leadership Institute Bi-Partisan Congressional Advisory Board
National Student Leadership Conference Honorary Board of Advisors
Promise Keepers
Rotary International Las Vegas Southwest
Sigma Chi Fraternity
Bush Pioneer 2004 Ranger

http://www.nndb.com/people/240/000032144/

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/4911

and references it.

Gee, you're uninformed. What else have you never heard of?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Howler