from the banquet

FUBAR: America's Right-Wing Nightmare
by Stephen Sherrill & Sam Seder (Audio CD)

Use this link to order

**

www.bartcop.com

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

MMRules

Best Quotation:

"My vote against this misbegotten [Iraq] war is the best vote I have cast in the United States Senate since I was elected in 1962."

-the late, great Ted Kennedy in 2006.

Top 5 Movies of the Decade:

1.) The Departed (2006). Was it Scorsese's best movie? Of course not. But when the directing and the quality of a movie is legendary it makes even Mark Wahlberg seem as if he is a good actor.
2.) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). Orginal, brilliant, well-acted. I hope that it wasn't Wes Anderson's last great movie, but 8 years later it appears as if this is the case. It's also the second movie on my list in which Alec Baldwin had a small part (narrator). If he is truly going to retire from entertainment let it at least be known that he played a role in great movies.
3.) There Will Be Blood (2007). It's quickly becoming a cult classic. I feel as if I was blessed to see this movie several weeks before it hit theaters nationwide. Have we ever seen anyone capture a period of time better than Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day Lewis? Have we ever seen a film that was made entirely of detestable characters earn such rave reviews?
4.) Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003). The first movie in this trilogy was fairly good. The second was good. The third was epic and finally captured the feeling that one had when he read the books.
5.) The Dark Knight (2008). When the actor for the role of Joker was announced I decided that I was probably going to miss this one. Seriously. The first film in this set-- with Katie Holmes, no less-- bored me. Also, at the time I had no idea of the darkness that was in Heath Ledger's life, which he poured into his character. I thought that he was a dull character from "Brokeback Mountain." I had no idea that he was going to make Jack Nicholson's Joker seem quaint.

Best cinematic performance:

Although Heath Ledger was outstanding as the Joker I must go with Daniel Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview. His mannerisms, voice, and attitude all reeked of 19th-going-on-20th century America. It was surreal.

Most disappointing movie: A.I. (2001) We will always wonder if this film could have been great if Kubrick had lived long enough to overturn Spielburg's Disney-ized version of it.

Most overrated movie: Lost in Translation (2003). Unquestionably. I see that this film is listed on some magazine's "best of the decade" list, which is disappointing. Almost every film fan to whom I've spoken says that it is the most overated movie of their lifetimes. I would rate it "average" at best...

Best Album:

"Elephant" by the White Stripes. Everything about this album sizzles. At the time (2003) I thought that it was reviving rock itself. Its production value, original guitar playing and retro themes put it above everything else.

Most disappointing album: "Get Behind Me Satan" (2005) by the White Stripes. They couldn't pull off a great (or even good) followup album, which reminded me of Oasis' followup to "What's the Story (Morning Glory)?"

Most Overrated Album: "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" (2003) by Fifty Cent. Everything about this guy is a fraud, and his music is as bad as his acting. I remember when he claimed that he never exercised and his build is "natural." A few years later a steroids dealer revealed that he was on his list of clients. He probably also lied about being shot multiple times. Is there a shittier "artist" on the planet?

Best song: I agree with Rolling Stone Magazine: it was "Crazy" (2006) by Gnarls Barkley. I'll let them explain:
"In this frazzled and fragmented decade, when the Top 40 broke down into squabbling niches, the idea of a universal pop hit, a song anybody could love, seemed like a sweet old-fashioned notion. Then these guys showed up. Atlanta rapper Cee-Lo and indie producer Danger Mouse decided it would be a gas to pretend to be the world's greatest pop group, and so they gave the world "Crazy." Everybody loved this song, from your mom to your ex-girlfriend's art professor. It blasted in punk clubs and Burger King bathrooms. Every sucky band on earth tried a lame cover. For the summer of 2006, 'Crazy' united us all into one nation under a groove. Gnarls Barkley packed a career's worth of genius ideas into three minutes — and then they basically disappeared. Does that make them crazy? Probably. But was this the most glorious pop thrill of our time? Totally."

Best sports performance: I'm going to give it to Peyton Manning for his overall play during the entire decade. He has established himself as the best regular season quarterback of all time.

www.sigzone.blogspot.com

Jeebus..

Open mic's are good too..

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

MMRules

If I were you I'd look into some property there....

...doesn't look like we will be getting universal health care here anytime soon...

pick me up a wheel of Jarlsberg in duty-free, will ya....

Submitted by MMRules on Thu, 12/10/2009 - 8:30pm.

I've posted it on 5 or 6 different boards.
Most people love it.
I'm sorry that it doesn't agree with you.

"SLEEP TIGHT, BATSHIT."
-Bill Maher to 9/11 nut
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

hmmm...sounds like some people are just being polite....

rules is notorious for not tolerating spam...

that said, I agree with the Daniel Day Lewis take...

;)

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

MMRules

1 through 10: It's been done ad nauseam.

I thought u were in the Caribbean or something.. ;)

Did you ever hear from Annette about the football game ?

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

MMRules

Thank goodness the maintenance man was around and got the driver side door open for me. I had to let the car run a bit and then turned the heat high to melt the ice.

The problem was yesterday we had snow and sleet before it started to get really cold and the winds started blowing to make the wind chill below zero. It took me 45 minutes to de- ice and clean the snow off my car. I have no strength in my wrists and I had to take a few warm up breaks.

Sunny J, I forgot about the petroleum jelly but I will do that before the next cold spell. Thanks!

Evening all.

toniD's Ya Think?

Found it odd, maybe if I see it again sometime alothough thst didn't help unbearable lightness of being

How about kurt warner -best reaction to the blitz.

Happe New mac sounds kewl

I'm typing this on a touch screen 16Gb archos 5 internet tablet. There has to be a better way to enter text. I really like this tablet. Screen is big enough to view regular web pages. This Gb is solid state so it is thin enough to carry in the pocket. The hdd models, up to 500Gb, are thicker anb have to use more power. With a full charge I can watch vids for five hrs.

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

2000 - Bush becomes president
2001 - sucks
2002 - sucks
...
2008 - sucking stops momentarily
2009 - sucking begins again

I understand there were several good movies and albums produced during the first decade of the 21st century. Dylan's Modern Times was a glimmer of greatness and lot's of newcomers are showing promise but for a child of the 60's, it mostly sucked.

I want one more good decade before the long dirt nap.

Get busy peeples!

I guess it isn't a big deal?

Submitted by MMRules on Thu, 12/10/2009 - 9:15pm.
...Did you ever hear from Annette about the football game ?
------
No. Her shame is great and her sadness inconsolable.

It's bad enough that Annette's Jayhawks lost the border battle at Arrowhead stadium to a sophomore quarterback. It's bad enough that they lost their corpulent coach.

Landing in last place in the Big 12 North was too much to bear.

Financial Reform Moves Forward, With Many Loopholes
digg Share this on Facebook Huffpost - Financial Reform Moves Forward, With Many Loopholes stumble reddit del.ico.us RSS

Huffington Post Investigative Fund | Rachel Leven and Maria Zilberman

As Congress inches toward restructuring U.S. financial regulation, lawmakers in the House and Senate have characterized their respective bills as sweeping and historic.

But proposals focused on consumer protection, privately-negotiated derivatives and credit rating agencies still allow broad exemptions for key players in the financial system. The Huffington Post Investigative Fund reviewed both reform packages and assembled a chart that compares the bills--and their loopholes.
BACKGROUND »
A quick guide to financial reform legislation.

On Thursday, amid wrangling within the Democratic Party and intense lobbying by the financial industry, the full House began debating the "Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009," a package of bills largely authored by Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) Lawmakers are considering three dozen amendments--some that could substantially alter the bill--and the package likely will be voted on by the House on Friday. Few if any Republicans are expected to support the reforms.

The Senate Banking Committee, led by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), has crafted a single broad bill for systemic reform. Dodd, however, has yet to corral bipartisan support and the bill likely will be reconfigured before the committee takes it up early next year.

Central to both chambers' efforts is the creation of a new agency that the Obama administration has characterized as a must: a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

The agency would consolidate oversight authority now divided among a range of federal regulators. It would have the power to write new regulations of financial products such as mortgages and credit cards. But some key sources of consumer loans--auto dealers, smaller banks, student lenders--would be exempt from enhanced oversight in the House bill. Late Wednesday, pro-business Democrats also forced compromise language into an amendment that prevents states from enforcing tougher standards for national banks.

Meanwhile, reforms aimed at the shadowy derivatives markets and credit rating companies--widely blamed as contributors to the financial tailspin--also contain loopholes.

Over-the-counter derivatives are among the most complex of financial products that Congress is trying to tame. These insurance contracts, which grew in popularity in the past decade, were unregulated at the time of the crisis and still remain a murky product.

Frank and Dodd are proposing regulations that will raise capital and margin requirements to prevent derivatives traders from committing more than they can cover. The bills also seek to track derivatives trading by increasingly moving it onto regulated clearinghouses and exchanges.

Both bills, however, allow a third option for trading--a "swap execution facility," an alternative derivatives marketplace that could avoid robust regulation. The bills also offer wide exemptions for companies that use derivatives as a hedge against risk. Derivatives traded on foreign exchanges will be exempt, a provision that some believe will encourage the customization of derivatives to fit the loophole.

The bills also will allow credit raters to escape an overhaul. Investors lost billions of dollars in the fall of 2008 when bundles of bonds given high marks by the credit rating agencies swiftly lost value and ultimately defaulted. The ratings turned out to be wildly inaccurate and there are few avenues--save legal action--to hold credit raters accountable. So far, the raters are undefeated in court against investors.

The House does little to promote legal accountability. The bill clarifies that, to be held liable, a credit rater must have "knowingly or recklessly" issued a false rating.

The Senate bill goes further. It would allow investors to sue if the raters "knowingly or recklessly" failed to "investigate" a bond before rating it. The bill also would allow the SEC to "deregister" a rating company for issuing inaccurate ratings over time.

"You're asking the firms that need to be regulated to define their own processes for regulation, and then report on if they are not followed," James Heintz, associate director of the Massachusetts-based Political Economy Research Institute.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/10/financial-reform-moves-fo_n_387...

toniD's Ya Think?

Lesbian Thespian

You can quote me on that.

Stop it. I don't want to hear anymore. You are going to give me nightmares.

WTH are you doing living like that? Move south before the glaciers scrape you off your foundation.

Paddy from TPM lost her electricity. It's like a bad horror movie.

THE COLD COMES AGAIN!

I didn't like the little movie skit Rachel used making the Spartans the far right wing. That's an insult to the Spartans!

Shame on you Rachel!

toniD's Ya Think?

Ya win some, ya lose some but in Kansas basketball is our bread 'n butter.

R.I.P.
Submitted by Crank Bait on Thu, 12/10/2009 - 9:40pm.
Submitted by MMRules on Thu, 12/10/2009 - 9:15pm.
...Did you ever hear from Annette about the football game ?

*******

I think Annette is going through a tough time,unfortunately..

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

MMRules

It looks like I missed a midweek Ya Think?
Damn :(
The Snow Shoveling of the night before
did a number on my back, and I had to rest
for a while.
I didn't even turn on the 'puter on Wednesday.

Looks like mire also had trouble.
Life is hard.

These Obstructionist Republicants have drained all
the life out of me. May they burn in hell.

They advocate mass murder (war), and claim to be Christian,
but have no concern for the country and it's people yet
they claim others are the terrorists.

Get me out of here!

Public Option's Architect Intrigued By Medicare Buy-ln: 'The Original Idea'

The intellectual father of the public option expressed enthusiasm on Wednesday for the decision by Democrats to push for an expansion of Medicare coverage to consumers as young as 55, calling it the "original idea" behind the public plan.

Jacob Hacker, a Yale University professor and leading health care theorist, did not fully endorse the latest incarnation of reform making its way through the Senate. Indeed, he was critical of some of the policy negotiations, in particular the decision to replace an actual public option with something run by private insurers and regulated by the government -- which he deemed "inadequate" and incompatible with the president's principles of reform.

But in a segment on PBS's Newshour, Hacker did call the proposed expansion of Medicare an "enormous, positive development." And, in the process, he provided Senate Democrats with at least a modicum of intellectual cover as they try to patch together their final reform effort.

Well it certainly is a broad compromise, but I think it's a complex one. It has a lot of moving parts and a lot of details we don't know yet.

The way I would describe it is, in sort of Dickensian terms, is it's a tale of two public options. Public option one, the public option that was going to be within the exchange and available to Americans on day one to create competition for private insurance plans to give people a choice, that public option has been replaced, in my mind, with an inadequate substitute, a national system of private plans.

But public option two, which was never on the agenda before, a buy-in to the actual Medicare program for 55- to 64-year-olds, is an enormous positive development. It's actually the original idea, if you will, for the public option, simply letting people get into the Medicare program that provides broad, secure coverage at an affordable price.

Video at link

It's worth noting that one of the provisions Hacker liked about the revised Senate effort was its immediacy. The Yale professor said that having the Medicare buy-in start as early as 2011 -- which appears to be the goal of Senate Democrats -- would be a major breakthrough, something "that is concrete, that people will be able to see it changing lives very early in the reform process." He also stressed that if the Senate drops the public option from its legislative language, it needs to ensure that strong regulatory incentives (triggers) are put in place to keep private insurers in check.

So, I'm strongly of the view that the way to strengthen this would be to say, look, OK, Office of Personnel -- and I just say and just want to say the insurance companies clearly think that this was a big win for them. There was an insurance industry insider who just wrote on a blog, "We win, administered by private insurance companies, no government funding."

Well, if they have won this round, the question is, can we put in place a trigger that says, if they don't perform up to expectations, then, in the next round, there's a public option that isn't restricted to people over the -- over 55?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/10/public-options-godfather_n_3876...

toniD's Ya Think?

Bernie Sanders Presses For Vote On State Single-Payer Option

While Democratic leaders abandoned the public option on Thursday, one senator reignited his push for an amendment that would allow states to test-pilot single-payer health insurance systems.

No matter what federal health care reform finally looks like, the Senate should give interested state governments the right to prove single-payer critics wrong, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said during a floor speech Thursday.

"I think we have got to give states the option, the flexibility to go forward with a single-payer system if that is what they want to do," Sanders said. "Once they've done it and done it well, other states around the country will say, 'We want the same thing. It's the cost-effective way to provide comprehensive health care to all of our people.'"

Sanders said his state single-payer amendment "could pass and could have the Republicans' support." Given the death of even a weak public option from which states could opt out, he shouldn't bet on it. Sanders acknowledged he won't get much support for the federal single-payer amendment he penned with Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Roland Burris (Ill.), but he wants the chance to fight for it just the same.

"One of my concerns as we hurdle down to the finish line here, I don't know who will be able to offer amendments," Sanders said. "I offered the amendment, I want the right to have that debate. I don't need 20 hours, I don't need five days. I would love to discuss with my Republican friends that issue, Democrats, that's an amendment that has a right to be offered and should be offered."

States would still run the government insurance system even in Sanders' federal single-payer model, but the feds would cover the costs with additional payroll and income taxes. Though he said the current bill marks progress, Sanders said the needed debate and changes are far from over, and one change tops his list.

"I do not think we are at the two-yard line. I think a lot of work has to be done to improve this bill," he said. "I think at the end of the day, the only way you're going to provide comprehensive universal health care to all is with a Medicare single-payer system, which ends hundreds of billions of bureaucracy and waste engendered by the private insurance companies."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/10/bernie-sanders-presses-fo_n_387...

toniD's Ya Think?

Jumbojoke.com

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Witty banter between toniD, 60th, bibimimi and cent that not only solved the world's problems but also cured those itchy flakes of psoriasis, unwanted age spots, napkins that fall from your lap and bad breath. They cured cancer, Aids and Dengue Fever and Erectile Dysfunction. They not only ended the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, they proved once and for all when it comes to flipping the right switches, throwing the right levers and pushing the right buttons....

...I'm not your guy.

Online and Active! (in the last 2 min)
There are currently 6 users and 0 guests online.
Online users

• Jmach1JP
• mhappenow
• nora
• cent
• maggiesboy
• mhappenow

Can put her on the blog twice at the same time. Now that's fast!

We need about 434 more like him.

.
.
.
_ _ _
BRR

1083 | brl vod | WTF

had no idea they played football...

"this machine kills fascists"

"this machine kills fascists"

save it for a rainy day. When it comes to basketball

They're gonna make you love them
They're gonna dry your tears
They'll have a basketball streak for a million years.

Well not really, but the lyrics work...kinda sorta

G'nite

as did the '80's IMO

.
.
.
_ _ _
brr | brl vod | WTF

Interesting email from the DGA:
http://www.democraticgovernors.org/

From: "Raymond Glendening"

Dear Harbinger,

Americans are feeling the pinch like never before. In tough economic times like these, it's more important than ever that our policy makers put people ahead of ideology.

Unfortunately, as American families struggle, the policy makers of the Republican Party are promoting the same ideas that caused this economic crisis. Indeed, the so-called "GOP Comeback" is about a return to the same failed ideas -- and in many cases, the same policy makers -- that caused the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

That's why we're launching The GOP Accountability Project, an initiative developed specifically to educate the public about the Republicans' fiscal recklessness -- and their attempts to subject America to the same destructive policies all over again.

We're starting with a list of five states where Republican policy makers have long records of fiscal mismanagement. Collectively, their past leadership dragged our nation to its knees, and their agendas would only deepen our economic crisis and budget woes at a time when Americans can least afford it.

We've committed to spend at least $1 million in each of these states to make sure the public is educated on their records. And we plan to expand our list -- but we need your help.

Help us identify the next Republican policy maker to go on our list. Go to TheGOPAccountabilityProject.com and tell us what you think. We're counting on you to help us ensure the most dangerous Republican ideas are highlighted as we head into the once-in-a-lifetime 2010 election season.

Our current list includes GOP stalwarts like billionaire Meg Whitman, whose budget plan would both deepen her state's budget hole AND eliminate health care for 940,000 children; and John Kasich, who has suggested completely eliminating the state income tax -- which makes up about one-third of the state's revenue -- at a time when Ohio is facing revenue shortfalls in the hundreds of millions.

But we're not stopping there.

We owe it to ourselves and our fellow Americans to make sure these Republicans' plans remain a thing of the past. With 37 races on the ballot on the eve of congressional redistricting, the 2010 gubernatorial cycle has more potential to reshape the political landscape than any other election in a generation. The stakes have never been higher.

Please tell us which Republicans we should add next -- and why you think their policies are a threat -- right away.

Thank you,
Raymond

Raymond Glendening
National Political Director
Democratic Governors Association

P.S. The Republicans are pushing for policies proven to be disastrous. But Americans have seen this movie before and don't want a U-turn back to the same fiscal recklessness that already nearly destroyed us. Help us identify and expose the Republicans with the most dangerous policies by telling us who deserves to be on our GOP Accountability Project list today. Thank you.

GOP Accountability Project:

http://www.democraticgovernors.org/news/press_releases?id=0295

A call to arms in Larrytown that nobody has ever been able to adequately explain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Chalk,_Jayhawk

So, it is NOT getting better. There is no "Change" (note the capital 'c') evident.

So, as a result of this, now I shall no longer refer to our prez as Barack Obama. Instead, I will use a name for him that reflects the reality that he has shown himself to be a proven orator who cannot break the chain of action forged by the previous 'administration' of Usurper Dubya; instead our president is actually now pulling that chain into our futures. And that's not the "Change" that was marketed in the longest presidential primary on record....

So, my new monicker for our President is "Busharack Obushama" to make it evident that he continues the Torture Policy, the Imperialistic "War" Policy, the Healthcare Delivery Based on Social Class Policy, the Providing Cover for Transnational Corporate Scams Policy, the Continuing the USA-is-the-Only-Good-Guy Hypocrisy Policy, The Perpetual War on Terror is Justified Policy, and the Let the Only Ones Who Pay For Everything Be The Little People Policy. [Probably missed a few more policies...I'll catch-up later.]

So, what can I say? Gotta call a Bush a Bush.

Submitted by M the a-c on Thu, 12/10/2009 - 8:26pm.

"the late, great Ted Kennedy in 2006"

Oh C'mon...

Now I like Teddy but as a U.S. Senator he cheated on his wife many times, drove drunk many times including while driving a young campaign worker(Mary Jo) he was screwing then basically killed her by driving off a bridge into the water then leaving her to drown in his car for hours without telling anyone she was there. Anyone else would have been convicted of manslaughter and kicked out of the senate but not golden boy Teddy. I guess that classifies him as "great".

Any liberal senator from Mass. would have voted against the Iraq war. That hardly classifies them as "great".

Bone Drugs May Beat Back Breast Cancer
U.S. News & World Report - Amanda Gardner - ‎5 hours ago‎
THURSDAY, Dec. 10 (HealthDay News) --
Bone-building drugs used by tens of millions...
---------
If you are thinking Viagra, think again.

Even The Prize could not sway this guy:

http://projects.ajc.com/gallery/view/opinion/luckovichdec09/

I thought it was single prayer
Joe lieberman

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Is this a major part of the man-made cause that is so RAPIDLY altering the Arctic, etc.?

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/pandora/haarp.html

[excerpt]

H.A.A.R.P.

It's not only greenhouse gas emissions: Washington's new world order weapons
have the ability to trigger climate change.

By Michel Chossudovsky - Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa and TFF associate, author of The Globalization of Poverty, second edition, Common Courage Press

The important debate on global warming under UN auspices provides but a partial picture of climate change; in addition to the devastating impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on the ozone layer, the World's climate can now be
modified as part of a new generation of sophisticated "non-lethal weapons." Both the Americans and the Russians have developed capabilities to manipulate the World's climate.

In the US, the technology is being perfected under the High-frequency Active Aural Research Program (HAARP) as part of the ("Star Wars") Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI). Recent scientific evidence suggests that HAARP is fully operational and has the ability of potentially triggering floods, droughts, hurricanes and earthquakes.

HAARP IS A MASS DESTRUCTIVE WEAPON - NOT PART OF ANY NEGOTIATIONS

From a military standpoint, HAARP is a weapon of mass destruction. Potentially, it constitutes an instrument of conquest capable of selectively destabilising agricultural and ecological systems of entire regions.

While there is no evidence that this deadly technology has been used, surely the United Nations should be addressing the issue of "environmental warfare" alongside the debate on the climatic impacts of greenhouse gases.

Despite a vast body of scientific knowledge, the issue of deliberate climatic manipulations for military use has never been explicitly part of the UN agenda on climate change. Neither the official delegations nor the environmental action groups participating in the Hague Conference on Climate Change (CO6) (November 2000) have raised the broad issue of "weather warfare" or "environmental modification techniques (ENMOD)" as relevant to an understanding of climate change.

The clash between official negotiators, environmentalists and American business lobbies has centered on Washington's outright refusal to abide by commitments on carbon dioxide reduction targets under the 1997 Kyoto protocol.(1) The impacts of military technologies on the World's climate are not an object of discussion or concern. Narrowly confined to greenhouse gases, the ongoing debate on climate change serves Washington's strategic and defense objectives.

"WEATHER WARFARE"

World renowned scientist Dr. Rosalie Bertell confirms that "US military scientists are working on weather systems as a potential weapon. The methods include
the enhancing of storms and the diverting of vapor rivers in the Earth's atmosphere to produce targeted droughts or floods."(2)

Already in the 1970s, former National Security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski had foreseen in his book "Between Two Ages" that:

"Technology will make available, to the leaders of major nations, techniques for conducting secret warfare, of which only a bare minimum of the security forces need be appraised... Techniques of weather modification could be employed to produce prolonged periods of drought or storm. "

Marc Filterman, a former French military officer, outlines several types of "unconventional weapons" using radio frequencies. He refers to "weather war," indicating that the U.S. and the Soviet Union had already "mastered the know-how needed to unleash sudden climate changes (hurricanes, drought) in the early 1980s." (3) These technologies make it "possible to trigger atmospheric disturbances by using Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) radar [waves]." (4)

A simulation study of future defense "scenarios" commissioned for the US Air Force calls for: "US aerospace forces to 'own the weather' by capitalizing on emerging technologies and focusing development of those technologies to war-fighting applications." From enhancing friendly operations or disrupting those of the enemy via small-scale tailoring of natural weather patterns to complete dominance of global communications and counterspace control, weather-modification offers the war fighter a wide-range of possible options to defeat or coerce an adversary. In the United States, weather-modification will likely become a part of national security policy with both domestic and international applications. Our government will pursue such a policy, depending on its interests, at various levels. (5)

THE HIGH-FREQUENCY ACTIVE AURAL RESEARCH PROGRAM - HAARP

The High-Frequency Active Aural Research Program (HAARP) based in Gokoma Alaska-jointly managed by the US Air Force and the US Navy-is part of a new generation of sophisticated weaponry under the US Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Operated by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate, HAARP constitutes a system of powerful antennas capable of creating "controlled local modifications of the ionosphere".

Scientist Dr. Nicholas Begich-actively involved in the public campaign against HAARP-describes HAARP as: "A super-powerful radiowave-beaming technology that lifts areas of the ionosphere (upper layer of the atmosphere) by focusing a beam and heating those areas. Electromagnetic waves then bounce back onto earth and penetrate everything-living and dead." (6)

Dr. Rosalie Bertell depicts HAARP as "a gigantic heater that can cause major disruption in the ionosphere, creating not just holes, but long incisions in the protective layer that keeps deadly radiation from bombarding the planet." (7)

[excerpt continued]

Jon Stewart is doing a segment tonight on Glenn Beck driving up the price of gold.

I wonder where I've heard that before ;)

"this machine kills fascists"

[excerpt continued]

MISLEADING PUBLIC OPINION

HAARP has been presented to public opinion as a program of scientific and academic research. US military documents seem to suggest, however, that HAARP's main objective is to "exploit the ionosphere for Department of Defense purposes." (8) Without explicitly referring to the HAARP program, a US Air Force study points to the use of "induced ionospheric modifications" as a means of altering weather patterns as well as disrupting enemy communications and radar.(9)

According to Dr. Rosalie Bertell, HAARP is part of a integrated weapons' system, which has potentially devastating environmental consequences: "It is related to fifty years of intensive and increasingly destructive programs to understand and control the upper atmosphere. It would be rash not to associate HAARP with the space laboratory construction which is separately being planned by the United States. HAARP is an integral part of a long history of space research and development of a deliberate military nature.

The military implications of combining these projects is alarming. The ability of the HAARP / Spacelab/ rocket combination to deliver very large amount of energy, comparable to a nuclear bomb, anywhere on earth via laser and particle beams, are frightening. The project is likely to be "sold" to the public as a space shield against incoming weapons, or, for the more gullible, a device for repairing the ozone layer. (10)

In addition to weather manipulation, HAARP has a number of related uses: "HAARP could contribute to climate change by intensively bombarding the atmosphere with high-frequency rays. Returning low-frequency waves at high intensity could also affect people's brains, and effects on tectonic movements cannot be ruled out. (11).

More generally, HAARP has the ability of modifying the World's electro-magnetic field. It is part of an arsenal of "electronic weapons" which US military researchers consider a "gentler and kinder warfare". (12)

WEAPONS OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER

HAARP is part of the weapons arsenal of the New World Order under the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). From military command points in the US, entire national economies could potentially be destabilized through climatic manipulations. More importantly, the latter can be implemented without the knowledge of the enemy, at minimal cost and without engaging military personnel and equipment as in a conventional war. The use of HAARP-if it were to be applied-could have potentially devastating impacts on the World's climate.

Responding to US economic and strategic interests, it could be used to selectively modify climate in different parts of the World resulting in the destabilization of agricultural and ecological systems. It is also worth noting that the US Department of Defense has allocated substantial resources to the development of intelligence and monitoring systems on weather changes. NASA and the Department of Defense's National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) are working on "imagery for studies of flooding, erosion, land-slide hazards, earthquakes, ecological zones, weather forecasts, and climate change" with data relayed from satellites. (13)

[more...]

[end excerpt]

a copy of his book came out at a white elephant gift exchange today. Nobody traded for it.

Even the book "What does your Poo tell you" got traded.

DISGUSTING how these reactionary Slavers keep winning and gaining ground.

A statue of abolitionist Thomas Starr King was removed from the U.S. Capitol National Statuary Hall and replaced with a statue of Ronald Reagan.

http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifornia/story/2381373.html

What's going on up on The Hill?...
Submitted by CeeCee on Wed, 12/09/2009 - 11:28pm.

Bank-Friendly Dems Shut Down House, Threaten To Kill Wall Street Reform
==
thnks ceecee - I want to know the procedure they used to do it.
=======================
NDC Management
Adam Pase, Executive Director - (202) 225-3965

Press
Natalie Thorpe - Press Secretary - (202) 225-8901
==

Looks like this is who pays him - Adam Pase
http://www.legistorm.com/person/Adam_J_Pase/15555.html
==
Adam Pase: Lobbyist-Turned-Staffer At Center Of Bankruptcy Fight
by Ryan Grim March 3, 2009 03:44 PM

Adam Pase, the executive director of the New Democratic Coalition, has taken a leading and public role in the negotiations. Depending on who you ask, he's either been an indispensable help at reaching compromise or a toady for the banking industry, pushing the agenda of his former employer, a lobby shop that represented subprime lenders.
...
The coverage hasn't, however, been universally favorable, with critics bringing up his past lobbying work to charge that he's hauling water for the banking industry inside the Democratic caucus. Jane Hamsher, founder of the liberal blog FireDogLake, wrote a piece on Saturday headlined, "Why Does Ellen Tauscher Value Banks Over Constituents? Ask Adam Pase..." The post, the first among several, noted that Pase is "a former lobbyist for the Twenty First Century Group, whose client, the Coalition for Fair & Affordable Lending, is an astroturf group, financed by the banking industry, that lobbied on behalf of. . . you guessed it. . . sub-prime lenders." (Ellipses in the original. Pase is a shared employee of the 67-member NDC but reports to Tauscher.)
...
Why the attacks on Pase? He is, after all, just a staffer. Partly, liberal Democrats were spooked last week when the New Democratic Coalition managed to postpone the vote on the bankruptcy reform bill and are nervous about the strength of the financial industry. The Pase pushback also highlights Washington's current sensitivity to lobbying and the revolving door. Some Democrats are concerned that the lure of future employment can lead staffers to tilt negotiations in favor of the financial industry.

NDC members

==
they call themselves 'the new democrat coalition'
--not democratic I guess.
===========================
Chilly Word Salad at local big box store
new
Submitted by gbasin on Thu, 12/10/2009 - 9:17am.
==
good reporting gb :)

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan coalition in the House voted late Thursday to make it easier for corporations to engage in complex derivatives trades without government restrictions, eroding the reach of proposed regulations to govern Wall Street.
Democratic attempts to toughen the legislation failed.
Though not major setbacks, the votes illustrated the difficulties facing House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and the Obama administration as they seek to pass legislation aimed at preventing a recurrence of last year's Wall Street crisis.
Key votes loomed ahead, with a final vote on the sweeping legislation scheduled Friday.
Democrats hoped to fend off an amendment Friday that would eliminate the creation of an independent Consumer Finance Protection Agency. The agency is a central element of the Democrats' legislation and the Obama administration's proposed regulatory changes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091211/ap_on_bi_ge/us_financial_overhaul

A statue of abolitionist Thomas Starr King was removed from the U.S. Capitol National Statuary Hall and replaced with a statue of Ronald Reagan.
==
I guess that's history for you, slavery's been fixed, we are all slaves now. Working in the masters house. If the bank doesn't own it, some local gov. does via property taxes.

And Reagan, "Well" -- can't say enough about him.

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

The predator drone technology -- so successful at downing the WTC towers and destroying the homes and culture of the mountain peoples of Pakistan and Afghanistan -- are now flying missions in the USA.

Can't find the article I read online for a link; so I will just quote Press Democrat of Dec. 8 which says:

"The drones will be operated out of the Antelope Valley by military contractor General Atomics. They will fly above the border region...The Homeland Security Department, through its Customs and Border Protection division, already operates five of the aircraft..."[along the souther border].

A drone costs around $13.5 to build. They've been used on the border since 2005. There is also a program along the North Dakota.

"The program has its critics. The union for the Border Patrol agents has criticized the drones as costly and inefficient and has suggested the money would be better spend on adding workers and equipment on the ground."

Since the pricey Predator B Guardian drone only can function in clear weather -- the Border Patrol agents sound like their call for human personnel is a more DEPENDABLE, efficient and economical choice!

Here's more that shows how the drones are being used other places--

http://www.ocregister.com/news/border-222845-drones-immigrants.html

in the national Capitol is that of Father Junipero Serra -- and it is a fact that these early Spanish priests enslaved the Native Americans, working them to death to build the Catholic Missions, etc.

Like I said, the Slavers are winning here -- even with the symbols of their exalted 'heroes'.

than to have the con side represented by Sarah Palin?

I mean, that's a RED FLAG right there.

Once again the main stream corporate media allows only two voices to say anything -- the voice they want heard and an opposing voice that will make the voice they want heard sound like the ONLY sane voice to earn the badge of authority. Doesn't anyone WONDER WHY only SARAH PALIN and her denier ilk is allowed to counter the Gore-led CO2ers? Does anyone think that all of the sudden the M$M will change its modus operandi and allow an honest debate??? Sheesh. People keep falling for this SAME FORMULA for manipulating/forming mass opinion, no matter what the topic, even if they previously figured out they've been scammed previously!

Interesting video on HAARP. Anybody know who produced this 'documentary'?
HAARP -- Holes in Heaven (#1):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dT1UUXNgMA

The program expected to be used to get images of the make-up of the Earth's crust -- for use by the Mining/Drilling Industry, of course. Figures they would be behind this. Who else?

Second part of Holes in Heaven:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTk1zT6Htco&NR=1

Center For Investigative Reporting

By Lance Williams | California Watch

When Stewart Resnick needed help in the Delta, he turned to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a frequent recipient of his campaign contributions. Resnick got what he wanted.

Con't..

http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/articles/corporatefarmercalls...

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

MMRules

And yet 30 years later authorities deny such a direction is possible with existing technology?

Part 4 -- HAARP -- Holes in Heaven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf9ZsXUimAk&NR=1

Also, about three quarters of the way through this clip, one speaker says there are alot of experiments that haven't been done yet, but that DOESN'T mean they SHOULD be done.

Wow, it was a relief to finally hear someone state my view.

To me, continuous, relentless, destructive science is the expression and compulsive experience of PATHOLOGICAL CURIOSITY. The Human Race must learn to reject this kind of Science. WE MUST NOT ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE PSYCHED INTO BELIEVING ALL SCIENCE IS GOOD, DECENT, POSITIVE, PRODUCTIVE, AND WORTHY OF THE PROTECTION OF SHIELD OF "INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM"! Ethical and moral restraint MUST have power over Science.

Why are the detracters of evolution, birth control, etc., given so much press? Once again it is the two voices ONLY given sensationalized media time: The total-freedom-to-experiment-in-ANY-way-for-any-reason (especially imagined profit) crowd versus the total reactionaries who are without knowledge or discernment. It's a stupid portrayal of "ALL or NOTHING AT ALL" about which the less fearful majority will never side with the NOTHING AT ALL crowd. However, through it all, the media rarely allows other voices calling for sane scientific pursuits; they are not there to participate in the discussion!

"Rep. Alan Grayson was on Hardball and he told Dick Cheney to "STFU" and speculating that gasoline
would only cost a dollar per gallon if Bush had let Saudi Prince Abdullah 'get to second base.' "

-- Eric Kleeeld, Link

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

MMRules

not to say something...because it would be wrong on some basic level...I do see that.

OK...so far so good...

I tell you, though, it's exhausting--this self-restraint--the effort.

I'd say now I know how Crank feels but...well...you know.

just so there's no misunderstanding there.

;)

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

MMRules

i savor it when it shows up.

nuttin' to do with you...you nutter. ;)

:)

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

MMRules

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/31234647/obamas_big_sellout

What's taken place in the year since Obama won the presidency has turned out to be one of the most dramatic political about-faces in our history. Elected in the midst of a crushing economic crisis brought on by a decade of orgiastic deregulation and unchecked greed, Obama had a clear mandate to rein in Wall Street and remake the entire structure of the American economy. What he did instead was ship even his most marginally progressive campaign advisers off to various bureaucratic Siberias, while packing the key economic positions in his White House with the very people who caused the crisis in the first place.

"SLEEP TIGHT, BATSHIT."
-Bill Maher to 9/11 nut
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

actually comes from research that Tesla did in the early 20th century.

i kept reading about it til i finally figured out what he was working with. basically energy potentials natural to our planet. basically wireless electricity. huge amounts.

he said once if we ever fucked up and dumped it in one place weed have a energy release as big as all the bombs we've ever blown off in history.

if you dig around a bit theres some discussion of the russian project. it showed up as a very strange signal that they couldn't source for quite a while.

heres some background to consider:

http://mindjustice.org/russ9-05.htm

"Future war will liberate man from the battlefield and be less physically destructive because its main objectives are to affect the opponent's infrastructure and psychology. Victory will go to the side best able to execute the emerging "Sixth Generation" of warfare.
Overview

I. New Physical Principles

* Geophysical/ecological weapons
* High-frequency radio/electromagnetic wave weapons, infrasonic weapons
* Ethnic weapons
* Directed-energy weapons
* Psychotronic weapons
* Plasma weapons
* Non-lethal weapons
* Cost-effective
* Secrecy/surprise...

IV. New Physical Principles

High-frequency wave weapons (infrasonic weapons)

* Attack all life-sustaining physiological functions (circulatory and nervous systems, internal organs, etc.)
* Alarm, desperation, horror
* Mass onset of epilepsy, heart attacks, death
* Penetration of concrete, metal structures...
* Detect, monitor, protect against bio-emissions

IX. New Physical Principles

* Directed, non-contact EM fields in SHF/EHF bands
* More dangerous than atomic, etc.
* Suppress willpower/impose "criminal will"
* Radio waves disrupt brain, central nervous systems
* Infrasonic waves = fear, panic, etc.
* Directed irradiation = EM fields from electronic equipment
* Changes behavior, reactions to events
* Disrupts functional systems
* Causes morphological changes in cell tissue
* Penetrates brick, wood, concrete

X. New Physical Principles

* ..."Holographic laser"
* Radiation generator, receiver, device to transform reflected signals...
* Current phase based on artificial intelligence, expert systems, neural networks, transputers using "acquired" knowledge

"Most important objective may be affecting enemy's psychology"

* Individual, collective, mass
* Direct or indirect
* Destroy institutions, create mass disorder, etc.
* "Psychological weapons": psychotronic, psychotropic, infrasonic, electromagnetic... "

a good riff on frequencies and other methods in use.

http://educate-yourself.org/mc/mctotalcontrol12jul02.shtml

for example:

"Human Vulnerability

Dr Andrija Puharich in the 50's/60's, found that clairvoyant's brainwaves became 8 Hz when their psychic powers were operative. He saw an Indian Yogi in 1956 controlling his brainwaves, deliberately shifting his consciousness from one level to another. Puharich trained people with bio-feedback to do this consciously, making 8 Hz waves. A healer made 8 Hz waves pass into a patient, healing their heart trouble, her brain emitting 8 Hz . One person emitting a certain frequency can make another also resonate to the same frequency. Our brains are extremely vulnerable to any technology which sends out ELF waves, because they immediately start resonating to the outside signal by a kind of tuning-fork effect. Puharich experimented discovering that

A) 7.83 Hz (earth's pulse rate) made a person feel good, producing an altered-state.
B) 10.80 Hz causes riotious behaviour and
C) 6.6 Hz causes depression.

Puharich made ELF waves change RNA and DNA, breaking hydrogen bonds to make a person have a higher vibratory rate. He wanted to go beyond the psychic 8 Hz brainwave and attract psi phenomena. James Hurtak, who once worked for Puharich, also wrote in his book The Keys of Enoch that ultra-violet caused hydrogen bonds to break and this raised the vibratory rate. "

Matt Taibi of RS Takes Obama to Task
new
Submitted by M the a-c on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 3:44am

*******

The last quarter of the show..

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

MMRules

"The Russian Woodpecker: experiments in global mind control?

In 1978, various US researchers argued that a signal originating from within the Soviet Union, the so-called Russian Woodpecker, was an experiment in global mind control. Thirty years on, what do we know? "

http://www.philipcoppens.com/woodpecker.html

not that good an article on it but some background.

dig around a bit and you'll find the chart of it's targeting in the USA. i'd be interested in your conclusions/theories re what public/political behaviour we've seen since the 80's

best wishes all

Men live longer when married to educated women says study...

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/12/08/Men-Marrie...

Weekedays 9 - 12 EST Progressive Talk 760

Subject: Clear Channel Launches The David Sirota Show

http://www.am760.net/main.html

and shit. ;) I wasn't around when you were doing that before.

I was all upset until I found out that the vendor pulled a glock out and initiated fire endangering civilians in Times Square.If the story is true it seems the Undercover police behaved properly. There is always some doubt but it appears that I jumped the gun.

Blackwater Guards Tied to Secret Raids by the C.I.A.
By JAMES RISEN and MARK MAZZETTI

WASHINGTON — Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.’s most sensitive activities — clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials.

The raids against suspects occurred on an almost nightly basis during the height of the Iraqi insurgency from 2004 to 2006, with Blackwater personnel playing central roles in what company insiders called “snatch and grab” operations, the former employees and current and former intelligence officers said.

Several former Blackwater guards said that their involvement in the operations became so routine that the lines supposedly dividing the Central Intelligence Agency, the military and Blackwater became blurred. Instead of simply providing security for C.I.A. officers, they say, Blackwater personnel at times became partners in missions to capture or kill militants in Iraq and Afghanistan, a practice that raises questions about the use of guns for hire on the battlefield.

Separately, former Blackwater employees said they helped provide security on some C.I.A. flights transporting detainees in the years after the 2001 terror attacks in the United States.

The secret missions illuminate a far deeper relationship between the spy agency and the private security company than government officials had acknowledged. Blackwater’s partnership with the C.I.A. has been enormously profitable for the North Carolina-based company, and became even closer after several top agency officials joined Blackwater.

“It became a very brotherly relationship,” said one former top C.I.A. officer. “There was a feeling that Blackwater eventually became an extension of the agency.”

George Little, a C.I.A. spokesman, would not comment on Blackwater’s ties to the agency. But he said the C.I.A. employs contractors to “enhance the skills of our own work force, just as American law permits.”

“Contractors give you flexibility in shaping and managing your talent mix — especially in the short term — but the accountability’s still yours,” he said.

Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Blackwater, said Thursday that it was never under contract to participate in clandestine raids with the C.I.A. or with Special Operations personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else.

Blackwater’s role in the secret operations raises concerns about the extent to which private security companies, hired for defensive guard duty, have joined in offensive military and intelligence operations.

Representative Rush D. Holt, a New Jersey Democrat who is chairman of the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, said in an interview that “the use of contractors in intelligence and paramilitary operations is a scandal waiting to be examined.” While he declined to comment on specific operations, Mr. Holt said that the use of contractors in such operations “got way out of hand.” He added, “It’s been very troubling to a lot of people.”

Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, has come under intense criticism for what Iraqis have described as reckless conduct by its security guards, and the company lost its lucrative State Department contract to provide diplomatic security for the United States Embassy in Baghdad earlier this year after a 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

Blackwater’s ties to the C.I.A. have emerged in recent months, beginning with disclosures in The New York Times that the agency had hired the company as part of a program to assassinate leaders of Al Qaeda and to assist in the C.I.A.’s Predator drone program in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A. director, recently initiated an internal review examining all Blackwater contracts with the agency to ensure that the company was performing no missions that were “operational in nature,” according to one government official.

Five former Blackwater employees and four current and former American intelligence officials interviewed for this article would speak only on condition of anonymity because Blackwater’s activities for the agency were secret and former employees feared repercussions from the company. The Blackwater employees said they participated in the raids or had direct knowledge of them. more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/us/politics/11blackwater.html?_r=1&hp=...

toniD's Ya Think?

I can take the wireless keyboard into my office and type new pt. notes on the puter which is in the living room. That is so exciting!

It might help to show this

Which is in this story:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/police-shoot-man-at-hotel-i...

"There is always some doubt" but...cop would not only have to have planted the weapon but fired into this window himself, presumably in front of all the witnesses, and (I guess) even while he was firing his own weapon. Isn't that right? Or am I missing something? (Seriously.)

The "artistic" NYT picture of the shattered glass is a little creepy though, given the circumstances. It'll probably win some award...

Does Death Exist? -New Theory Says "No"
Robert Lanza, M.D. posted December 8, 2009
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-lanza/does-death-exist-new-theo_b_3...

Many of us fear death. We believe in death because we have been told we will die. We associate ourselves with the body, and we know that bodies die. But a new scientific theory suggests that death is not the terminal event we think.

One well-known aspect of quantum physics is that certain observations cannot be predicted absolutely. Instead, there is a range of possible observations each with a different probability. One mainstream explanation, the "many-worlds" interpretation, states that each of these possible observations corresponds to a different universe (the 'multiverse'). A new scientific theory - called biocentrism - refines these ideas. There are an infinite number of universes, and everything that could possibly happen occurs in some universe. Death does not exist in any real sense in these scenarios. All possible universes exist simultaneously, regardless of what happens in any of them. Although individual bodies are destined to self-destruct, the alive feeling - the 'Who am I?'- is just a 20-watt fountain of energy operating in the brain. But this energy doesn't go away at death. One of the surest axioms of science is that energy never dies; it can neither be created nor destroyed. But does this energy transcend from one world to the other?

Consider an experiment that was recently published in the journal Science showing that scientists could retroactively change something that had happened in the past. Particles had to decide how to behave when they hit a beam splitter. Later on, the experimenter could turn a second switch on or off. It turns out that what the observer decided at that point, determined what the particle did in the past. Regardless of the choice you, the observer, make, it is you who will experience the outcomes that will result. The linkages between these various histories and universes transcend our ordinary classical ideas of space and time. Think of the 20-watts of energy as simply holo-projecting either this or that result onto a screen. Whether you turn the second beam splitter on or off, it's still the same battery or agent responsible for the projection.

According to Biocentrism, space and time are not the hard objects we think. Wave your hand through the air - if you take everything away, what's left? Nothing. The same thing applies for time. You can't see anything through the bone that surrounds your brain. Everything you see and experience right now is a whirl of information occurring in your mind. Space and time are simply the tools for putting everything together.

Death does not exist in a timeless, spaceless world. In the end, even Einstein admitted, "Now Besso" (an old friend) "has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us...know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." Immortality doesn't mean a perpetual existence in time without end, but rather resides outside of time altogether.--more--

Robert Lanza, MD is considered one of the leading scientists in the world. He is the author of "Biocentrism," a book that lays out his theory of everything.

Hospitals, Insurers Oppose Health Bill Compromise On Medicare Buy-In

Edited on Thu Dec-10-09 11:03 PM by TomCADem
Source: Kaiser Health News

Groups representing doctors and hospitals are coming out against the inclusion of a Medicare "buy-in" in the Senate health bill, The Washington Post reports. The groups joined Republicans in arguing "that a plan by liberal Democrats to allow uninsured individuals as young as 55 to buy into Medicare would be financially untenable and would jeopardize access to health-care services for millions of Americans."

The organizations, including the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals and the American Medical Association, said the proposal would hurt their members because Medicare pays providers at a lower rate than private insurers. "Hospital representatives said the idea also would violate a deal they reached with the White House this year to give up $155 billion in Medicare payments over the next decade. The concession helped to lower the cost of a health-care package that promised hospitals a pool of at least 30 million newly insured customers" (Murray and Montgomery, 12/10).

USA Today: "Though the idea gained traction on Capitol Hill — and got a boost from President Obama — the outcry from the medical groups underscored the difficulty lawmakers are facing as they look for compromises that can win broad support for the Senate's bill, which would cost $848 billion in the first 10 years. 'Bringing more people into a system that doesn't work very well is not a good answer,' said Jeffrey Korsmo, executive director of the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center. 'The current Medicare program is not sustainable'" (Fritze, 12/10).

The New York Times: "The American Hospital Association issued an action alert on Tuesday urging its members to oppose the plan and to call their senators’ offices. ... The Federation of American Hospitals also issued a bulletin ... 'Any Medicare Buy-In would invariably lead to crowd out of the private health insurance market, placing more people into Medicare,' the group said. 'It is critical that you contact your Democratic Senators today!'" (Pear and Herszenhorn, 12/9).

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2009/December/10/Industry-...

toniD's Ya Think?

Contradictory Republicans Still Flummoxed By Medicare

By Bob Cesca
Huffington Post, December 9, 2009

If it weren't for the fact that the Washington media establishment is gamed in favor of Republicans, it's very likely that they would have long since been relegated to nothing more than a LaRouche-style crackpot cult, handing out mimeographed pamphlets outside the post office.

How else, other than via the self-conscious deference afforded it by the press, do the Republicans get away with issuing the following two press releases within a single 24 hour span:

Sunday: "Cutting Medicare is not what Americans want."

Monday: "Expanding Medicare a plan for financial ruin."

In case you're wondering, these statements didn't come from one of the many far out wingnuts like Steve King, Michele Bachmann or Virginia Foxx (Medicare recipient). They were, in fact, dispatched from Senate Minority Leader (And Real-Life Albino Sleestak) Mitch McConnell's office. Yes, the highest ranking Republican in Congress wrote-up both headlines, ostensibly proof-read and unapologetically shoved into the public record.

Two press releases that exactly contradict each other. Yet I'm a little disappointed that Mark Halperin and Chuck Todd didn't fire off tweets about how the opposing headlines were "bad news for Obama." After all, every Republican gaffe is somehow "bad news for Obama." And so they get away with it.

As we have observed over the years, this Republican contradiction problem has been a feature of modern Bush Republicanism for a while now, but it's only during the past year that the gap between contradictory statements -- let's call it the Wingnut Gap -- has narrowed down to just 24 hours. Prior to this week, it took several years for, say, the Republicans to contradict their "criticizing the commander-in-chief during wartime undermines the troops" mantra, or for Glenn Beck to accuse the Obama administration of being Maoists then to inexplicably suggest that America needs to be "more like the Chinese."

Say nothing of the contradictions evident in Sarah Palin's America-hating commie Castro headgear.
And don't give her the benefit of the doubt on this, either. She's not smart enough to wear it with deliberate irony.

But this is a dynamic that's most prevalent when the Republicans discuss Medicare. It really flummoxes them. After all, they despise socialized medicine. They despise single-payer health insurance. They despise government-run health care. They voted against the formation of Medicare during the high water mark of LBJ's Great Society. They ultimately would love to privatize (or drown in a bathtub) the whole thing and be done with it.

Yet at the same time, 55 Republican members of Congress are on Medicare. Congressman Weiner wrote up a list that includes Mitch McConnell. I could be wrong, but I also think proxy-Republican and anti-government-run-insurance drama queen Joe Lieberman, at 67 years old, receives Medicare. He's eligible. Additionally, I'm still attempting to ascertain how many Republicans get their primary care from the government-run Office of the Attending Physician. The office won't give me a partisan breakdown of their patients, but we can safely assume that, based on ideology, it's all Democrats, right?

Today, embattled Republican David Vitter spoke in favor of Byron Dorgan's Canadian drug-importation amendment and, in the process, praised the Canadian system -- which is, as you know, single-payer. However, Olympia Snowe said she doesn't support the Gang of 10's Medicare buy-in compromise, but she supports the Canadian importation measure. So she's siding with the rank and file Senate Republicans against single-payer health insurance on the buy-in, but she supports the single-payer system on the drug importation amendment. And it's not just Snowe and Vitter. The congressional Republicans are all toeing this upside-down We Hate-Slash-Love Medicare position.

No wonder the teabaggers and dittoheads are screeching in gibberish -- steam shooting from their ears. When it comes to Medicare, they have no idea what to support or how to support it. All they know is that President Obama should keep his government hands off their Medicare -- whether or not they understand that the government, in fact, runs Medicare. He just should. So there. more...

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/december/contradictory-republicans-still-f...

toniD's Ya Think?

New Report Highlights Medicare Advantage Insurers’ Higher Administrative Spending

Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
December 9, 2009

Today Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak released a new report which found that 34 Medicare Advantage insurers expend significant sums on profits, marketing, and other corporate expenses.

The report found:

From 2005 through 2008, the average Medicare Advantage insurer spent over 15% of premium revenue on profits, marketing, and other corporate expenses. Two-thirds of the Medicare Advantage insurers surveyed by the Committee had a medical loss ratio below 85% during at least one of the four years examined. Six of the insurers had medical loss ratios below 75% in one or more years. In comparison, traditional Medicare spends less than 1.5% on administrative expenses and over 98% on health care. In the aggregate, the Medicare Advantage insurers spent $1,450 per beneficiary in 2008 on profits, marketing, and other corporate expenses, nearly ten times as much as traditional Medicare spent on administrative expenses per beneficiary.

Requiring all Medicare Advantage insurers to have a medical loss ratio of 85% would provide billions of dollars in additional medical services to seniors. The total amount spent on profits, marketing, and other expenses by Medicare Advantage insurers over the last four years was $27 billion. The House health care reform bill requires Medicare Advantage plans to spend at least 85% of their total premium revenues on medical claims. If this threshold had been in effect from 2005 through 2008, the Medicare Advantage insurers would have spent an additional $3 billion on their beneficiaries’ medical care, enough to eliminate all copays for preventive care for all Medicare beneficiaries for ten years.

In 2007 and 2008, Medicare Advantage insurers with medical loss ratios lower than 85% paid their executives over $1.2 billion. In 2007, a company that had a medical loss ratio of 79% paid an executive over $35 million. The same company paid 16 more executives salaries and bonuses worth $1 million or more. Another company with a medical loss ratio of 79% paid more than $210 million in compensation to 260 executives. more...

http://pnhp.org/blog/2009/12/10/lesson-for-congress-medicare-advantage/

toniD's Ya Think?

Strange to see such a term deployed so uncritically on the pnhp blog even in a summary of another's document.

freezing Friday....

I can pretty much come up with a blue ribbon at a moment's notice. But should there be some extra stripe or something to signify "robustness." 1payer is white--right? Blue with a white stripe?

I'm all atwitter in anticipation...

But then again, so do I.

(No cuentes el dinero etc...) :P

(Transl 4all: Means "don't count your money in front of the poor people.")

I had no idea that he was going to make Jack Nicholson's Joker seem quaint.

my god.... it's COLD here -
geez what i'm i talking about
it's 13 degrees - - ENJOY! :)

Howdy everyone - Hope all is well with
u & yours.

I am so happy & proud that our own
mhappenow got herself a sexy Mac Laptop 

I want toniD to visit me in my mid 70's glory.

what's this about tamales ????
Is it true, that u make tamales & then
send them out to people??
I'm I going crazy????? (No comments from
the peanut gallery either)

I haven't made tamales in 2 decades Sandy. I buy them from the Plano Tortilla Factory. I don't think they ship well. You need to order them locally.

If you want to try having some shipped to you, I will attempt it, however I'm not sure I can guarantee what they will be like when they arrive. Would you like me to send you some when I order?

They make much better tamales than I ever did. I was just reminding people that you can't order tamales when you are ready to eat them. You need to give people a few days to prepare your order, especially around the holidays.

Tamales are famously a holiday food at my house.

Plus, there is no better hang-over breakfast :)

BBL

Have a great rest of the morning.

Very tempting Fernando. 70s.

toniD's Ya Think?

scoff at the suffering. It just makes no sense.

Tamales!

Jerry's Mom used to make them in a 7 gallon pot. Pork on the bottom, than beef, then chicken, then vegetables, then fruit on the top. Jerry was our cellar band bass player. when we got the word we'd all be hanging at his house waiting for them to cool enough to eat.

She made the best tamales ever. sigh. treasured memories )

Jesus ..... why am I NOT surprized by this.

In addition to combating the dog meat trade, Network for Animals campaigns against horse fighting in the Philippines. Most people aren’t aware of this, but on the island of Mindanao, gamblers force horses to fight against each other until one is injured, killed or flees.
Horse fighting is an illegal spectator blood sport where two stallions are incited to fight each other over a mare in season. Fights are attended by raucous crowds who anticipate intense fighting, gore and even death.
While horse fighting is promoted under the guise of tradition, in reality, extensive gambling on the outcomes of the horse fights is the main reason it has become so prevalent.
The animal welfare implications are obvious - gouges, gashes and broken limbs sustained during fights are always serious and can be fatal. Veterinary observers report seeing horses being kicked with such force to the head that their eyes literally pop out of their sockets, horses having their entire ears torn off during fights, and horses drenched in blood from their injuries. In one instance, a fight lasted 6 hours, ending only because one of the horses was so badly injured and exhausted, he was no longer able to stand.
We are working to end this blood sport through lobbying municipalities to ban the practice, education and enforcement of the existing national law. Unfortunately, the region where horse fighting is prevalent is known to be even more lawless than the rest of the Philippines, so we have a major battle ahead of us and i hope that we can count on your support.

http://www.networkforanimals.org/

tell me more.

i have lived a sheltered life and the only ones i have ever had were in a jar and were basically mushy corn meal around some ground up meat immersed in a tomato based sauce.

i really got to get out more often.

No - I think I will take your advice & not
order. They probably don't ship very well.
Thank You so much for offering though, that
is sweet of u. :)

Sunshine - Sounded like they were really,
really, really good ... yummy in your tummy.
Working on any new cars????

Morning toniD - hope your r feeling not to bad
today.

Sammy u look marvelous in that photo
up top.
Oh Sammy - - how I love ya, how I love ya.
& Miss u on the radio & or stream of the
internet

wOOt!

How ya doin?????
Long time no post with u

tamales are more than a meal.

When I was a kid, my grandmother would take a large barrel about the size of a small trash can with a grate and some water on the bottom.

Each tamale is made by smearing the masa onto the husk then putting some filler into it. The husk is then rolled and folded. Then stood up on its end against the barrel wall. Another would stand next to it creating a spiral to fill the bottom. Another layer would come on top of it etc until it gets to the top which receives a lid.

The whole barrel is hoisted over some bricks and a gas flame is placed under the barrel and allowed to steam for hours and hours and hours. The whole neighborhood knew what was down and most of them would be at your door shortly - with their kids. At that point you had two options.

You could let them in to enjoy or not answer the door which would be an offense not soon forgotten. Years if not generations of divisions could erupt on your little street. Tamales was like détente. Their turn to get out the barrel would arrive shortly.

It was an event.

sj - in case you missed it, there's jorma's fur peace ranch is featured here:

http://www.furpeaceranch.com/

and their concerts can be listened to here:

http://woub.org/radio/index.php?section=4&page=21

doin okay. just getting by.

If I ever make it down to "The Fernando Texas Ranch"
I would love to come & visit u & meet the familia.
(I hope that's how u spell familia)

"The whole barrel is hoisted over some bricks and a gas flame is placed under the barrel and allowed to steam for hours and hours"

Yep me 2.

there smcgee43. It will be easy.

wow.

retired the Mustang for the winter, got Bgurl a little 2000 neon, changed all the timing belts, water pump and adjusters and we're hoping for another 100 thou K'meters before we need to put on a head gasket.

Tamales...

heh! the first tamales i ever had were Jerry's Mom's. i bought some at a taco stand some years later expecting something close, primed with the flavor memory of hers in mind.

well!

the disappointment was intense! sigh, you never know what ya got till it's gone eh?

exactly!

towards the last hour of the steaming our mouths would start watering.

tanks bud! good to read ya.

i see they have a good bluegrass show link there too. D28+5

A previously incurable blood disorder – sickle-cell disease – has been successfully treated in 9 of 10 adults who received stem cells transplanted from tissue-matched siblings. - NS

Thanks a lot you f'n moron Bush, for making us wait nearly a decade you ignorant fuck.

We make them every year around this time at my mom's house in AZ.

We make about 15-20 dozen with a handful of family and friends and everyone involved gets to take home a bag.

It's like Fernando described but we don't cook them all at once on the day we make them. We cook some for the people who come but the ones left over are to be stored in the freezer and steamed whenever.

I usually bring home 4-6 dozen and they last me almost all year. :)~

dan, the sauce is red, but it shouldn't be a tomato based sauce, it should be a red chile based sauce, which takes a good day to prepare.

We also make "chumales" which are Ecuadorean (Cuencan) sweet tamales made with sweet corn, eggs, sugar and cheese.

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

"this machine kills fascists"

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration's pay czar is limiting the cash compensation for executives at companies that received the largest U.S. taxpayer bailouts to $500,000 and delaying some other payouts. - MSNBC

A hint of Social Justice AT LAST!!!

Oil firms awarded Iraq contracts

Britain's Shell and Malaysian firm Petronas have been awarded a joint contract to exploit Iraq's giant Majnoon oil field, potentially worth $12bn.

The announcement came shortly after international oil companies, including major Western firms, gathered on Friday amid tight security in Baghdad to compete for deals to exploit the country's natural resources.

"The price that the consortium offered is a little bit less than the price offered by the oil ministry," said Hussein al-Shahristani, Iraq's oil minister.

"It gets 100 points, so we can announce that Shell wins the bidding for Majnoon field."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/12/200912117243440687....

The whole barrel is hoisted over some bricks and a gas flame

that's what i'm talking about, the real deal (I never had it)

dya think we can get maggiesboy to send it to us by USPS if we place the order early

Submitted by 60th Street on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 11:44am.
...We make about 15-20 dozen with a handful of family and friends and everyone involved gets to take home a bag...
--------
When my father was alive we had a similar family holiday tradition.

We'd make several dozen cocktails and everyone involved went home in the bag.

Don't miss Howard Zinn's 'Voices of a People's History' debut on the History Channel on December 13th.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/144486/zinn%27s_%27people%27s_history%27_...

Sanford's Wife Files for Divorce
New York Times - Robbie Brown - ‎30 minutes ago‎
---------
Sanford's Wife Takes Hike
Bait News Service - Crank N.M. Out - 1 minute ago

has me wanting to go look for a good place to get them around here for lunch - nola has been quite mexicanized foodwise since katrina :0 but no, I can't afford the disappointment of not getting the real deal

so i think i'll go for sushi instead, always a good choice on fridays

all that great cajun food and you're going out for sushi?

enjoy.

something that is making inroads in cincy is tempura'd sushi. they basically make a sushi roll and then dip it in tempura batter and quick fry it. its actually really good.

too cold, brrrr!

i'll have to wait for some of that fernando 70 degrees weather to come this way after it's done with texas

i might have to content myself with a catfish poboy from the little cafe downstairs

Do you suspect that the financial industry has bought off your representatives in Congress? Well, you may be right.
Consumer Watchdog's research shows that the financial industry has given $28 million to members of the U.S. House in an all-out effort to weaken the financial reform bill that would protect consumers like you. One friend of the banks is Rep. Walt Minnick, who took $170,000 from the financial sector this year. His amendment to financial reform would eliminate a new consumer regulator from the bill.
The House will take its final vote on financial reform tomorrow! Please take a moment to call 202-225-3711 now and leave a message for Rep. Melissa L. Bean to vote for a strong consumer financial regulator and against Rep. Minnick's amendment.
For u folks that do NOT live in IL.
Just go on to the web-site & find your REP.
for your state.

The reform bill creates one strong federal regulator, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, to prevent the kind of abusive and deceptive lending practices at the heart of the current economic crisis. The banks want to keep the same regulators in charge who failed to stop the last meltdown and congressional members are being paid handsomely to keep the status quo.
Don't let banks take another bite out of reform. Call 202-225-3711 before the vote tomorrow night and ask Rep. Melissa L. Bean to support a strong new Consumer Financial Protection Agency and oppose Rep. Minnick's amendment to eliminate new consumer protections. Then reply to this email to let me know you called.

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org

Sanford's Wife Files for Divorce

Stop with the talk. Stop with the pictures. I'm on PB (no J) here. ;}

I would have picked up maybe a feta focaccia and a pastry at the bakery if I hadn't gotten involved with that NYT article and its links (including info on "The Last Dragon," which I didn't post b/c I thought it would be poor taste at the moment). And posting the picture. And shrinking the picture.

So you see it's all y'all's fault. Especially you Fer... ;P

I usually bring home 4-6 dozen and they last me almost all year. :)~

as soon as I put up a proper house
Submitted by Fernando on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 11:01am.

there smcgee43. It will be easy.
»

"the disappointment was intense! sigh, you never know what ya got till it's gone eh?"

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/cspanjunkie/rep-gutierrez-slams-gop-...

Rep. Gutierrez Slams GOP For Misunderstanding Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
By CSPANJunkie Friday Dec 11, 2009 9:00am

GOP loved Obama's Nobel speech

Newt Gingrich, the Republican former speaker of the House of Representatives and an ever-possible presidential candidate, said on WNYC radio that Obama's speech was "actually very good."

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, offered similar praise through his spokeswoman Antonia Ferrier: "As President Reagan said, Republicans believe in peace through strength, and we were pleased that today President Obama addressed and defended our mission in Afghanistan, where success is the only option."

"Evil in the world? 'Just war'? What was hovering over this speech was 'W,' " said Aaron David Miller, of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, using a nickname for Bush.

Obama "can improve America's image in the world, but when it comes to American interests and the way he's actually going to operate, he's very close to Bush," Miller said.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/80392.html

The Duggar family has another new member. According to The Huffington Post, Michelle Duggar gave birth late Tuesday night to her 19th child, a girl named Josie. The baby wasn't due until spring, so the premature birth definitely has its share of risks. Josie only weighed 1 lb., 6 oz. at the time of her birth.

And I say that without a whisper of snark, simply to inform if you missed.

I always catch the "parting shot" on my way to work (b/c I'm always running late) so that's why I heard. It was disgusting.

on the day of potato latkes. Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-hannukah-aroma-11-dec11,0,4267867...

(not to mention cut knuckles with all that grating)

Well Happy Happy! Enjoy your xian baby and all that. :)

Redacted b/c had him mixed up with Grijalva. (Of whom what I said remains true.)

and very crunchy. :)

(I'm just trying to keep busy to stop myself thinking of latkes.)

Just yestderday I was thinking, now how are they going to tie Tiger's deeds to Obama? Well here it is:

Does Murdoch own that too?

...months ago and the Jan issue had already gone to press when the scandal broke out. The cover image was leaked immediately after the Woods story broke.

Considering the financial state of magazines nowadays, the controversy will certainly sell this issue out. Not surprised they didn't pull it. This will be a cash cow for them.

"this machine kills fascists"

- Summit Racing has got to be hands down the best merchant I've ever dealt with. I wish they were local but their Atlanta operation is an incredible resource.

and look at their great products:

Look, ma, it has a hemi... head spinning no!

Health care loophole would allow coverage limits

Edited on Fri Dec-11-09 11:13 AM by villager
Source: AP

Health care loophole would allow coverage limits

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

WASHINGTON – A loophole in the Senate health care bill would let insurers place annual dollar limits on medical care for people struggling with costly illnesses such as cancer, prompting a rebuke from patient advocates.

The legislation that originally passed the Senate health committee last summer would have banned such limits, but a tweak to that provision weakened it in the bill now moving toward a Senate vote.

As currently written, the Senate Democratic health care bill would permit insurance companies to place annual limits on the dollar value of medical care, as long as those limits are not "unreasonable." The bill does not define what level of limits would be allowable, delegating that task to administration officials.

Adding to the puzzle, the new language was quietly tucked away in a clause in the bill still captioned "No lifetime or annual limits."

The 2,074-page bill would carry out President Barack Obama's plan to revamp the health care system, expanding coverage to millions now uninsured and trying to slow budget-busting cost increases. A tentative deal among Senate Democrats to back away from creating a new government program to compete with private insurers appears to have overcome a major obstacle to the bill's passage.

Officials of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network said they were taken by surprise when the earlier ban on annual coverage limits was undercut, adding that they have not been able to get a satisfactory explanation.

"We don't know who put it in, or why it was put in," said Stephen Finan, a policy expert with the cancer society's advocacy affiliate. more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091211/ap_on_go_co/us_health_overhaul_senat...

toniD's Ya Think?

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) Schools Rethugs On Their Lies On House Floor

LUIS GUTIERREZ SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT.... As part of regulatory reform for the financial industry, Republicans believe Democrats have created a "bailout fund." Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) yesterday decided this is a lie worth debunking in detail.

Gutierrez, who is bilingual, told his colleagues, "I've had the bill thoroughly examined by those who do speak the English language and have only spoken the English language all their life, and they cannot find the 'bailout fund' in the bill."

Ryan Grim added, "What the bill does do, {Gutierrez} explained, is create a fund that major firms must pay into. If banks get into trouble, the fund is used to take them over, break them up and sell off the parts. If such a fund was socialist, Gutierrez said, then so is Geico. But unlike Geico, he said, drivers who crash the economy don't get their bank repaired and returned to them under the Democratic plan."

In the hopes of making this easy enough for his GOP colleagues to understand, Gutierrez explained, "What they won't tell you is unlike everybody in this room who has to go and take out an insurance policy to drive a car, they want Wall Street and Goldman Sachs to be able to drive our economy into the ground without paying a cent of insurance in case they act recklessly. And all we're saying as Democrats is: 'It's simple. If you want to do business in America and you threaten the economic stability of our country, then you've got to pay into an insurance fund.'

"But let me tell you: it's not the kind of insurance fund where you get into an accident and they take your car and they fix it and they kind of give it back to you new. No no. In our insurance fund, you know what happens? We chop up your car into pieces and sell it and then we pay back the fund with the pieces. That's our fund. Read the bill. It's a funeral fund. You guys love to talk about the death and death and death when it came to health care. Why don't you talk about our death panels now?"

Now that Gutierrez has explained reality, I'm sure House Republican will stop telling people there's a "bailout fund" in the bill, right?

—Steve Benen

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&add...

toniD's Ya Think?

"We have tons of them," - CNN

Submitted by 60th Street on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 2:12pm.
Jan issue had already gone to press when the scandal broke out
-----

And they just couldn't stop it, right? Perhaps if it were an actual photo, I could understand it somewhat. But Golf Digest photo shopped it. This is typically how the press operates. If you recall, when the Letterman scandal broke, they kept showing a photo of Letterman interviewing Obama.

"Echoing the words of Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed (We will not die quietly!) and the African negotiator Ambassador Lumumba, (No to climate colonialism!) hundreds of youth created a loud and energetic “climate storm” today inside the Copenhagen climate talks at the UN. It was the largest demonstration at COP15 yet – and was just a taste of the storm to come. Youth from every continent clapped, snapped, and pounded their feet to make the sounds of a rainstorm in a representation of the typhoons and hurricanes that have ravaged communities around the world this year.

“'Negotiators are turning their backs on us and telling us to keep quiet. As a young person living in the Pacific, I know what it’s like to fear climate change,' said Subhashni Raj, a youth organizer from Fiji who spoke at the rally. 'I’m here to say that we will not die quietly.'”

- from the commondreams.org article about this video by Joshua Kahn Russell

toniD's Ya Think?

House votes against letting judges alter mortgages

Source: MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- A controversial amendment to allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages so homeowners can avoid foreclosure was rejected by lawmakers as they consider sweeping bank reform legislation under consideration by the full House. The controversial "cram-down" measure would have enabled bankruptcy courts to reset mortgage terms, extend repayment periods, reduce interest rates and fees and adjust the principal balance of mortgages so homeowners can avoid foreclosures. The House approved a similar measure in March, but the Senate rejected it

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/house-votes-against-letting-judges-alte...

toniD's Ya Think?

House Passes Financial Regulation Bill, 223 to 202

The House on Friday approved a Democratic plan to
significantly tighten federal regulation of Wall Street and
the financial sector, advancing a far-reaching Congressional
response to the financial crisis still reverberating through
the economy.

After three days of floor debate, the House voted 223 to 202
to approve the measure. It creates a new agency to oversee
consumer lending, establishes new rules for transactions that
contributed to the meltdown, and seeks to reduce the threat
that one or two huge companies on the verge of collapse could
bring down the economy.

Any Senate bill is likely to have substantial differences
from the House measure, necessitating further negotiations.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com?emc=na

Australia shipping alert over massive iceberg

Source: Yaho news

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian authorities Friday issued a shipping alert over a gigantic iceberg that is gradually approaching the country's southwest coast.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the once-in-a-century cliff of ice, which dislodged from Antarctica about a decade ago before drifting north, was being monitored using satellites.

"Mariners are advised that at 1200 GMT on December 9, an iceberg approximately 1,700 kilometres (1,054 miles) south-southwest of the West Australian coast was observed," it said, giving the iceberg's coordinates.

"The iceberg is 140 square kilometres in area -- 19 kilometres long by eight kilometres wide."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091211/wl_afp/australiaantarcticaiceberg

toniD's Ya Think?

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) said Sarah Palin was wrong to call for President Barack Obama to boycott the Copenhagen climate talks on Friday. - TheHill

Joe Barton is a troglodyte haploid of severe infliction. For him to realize that Sarah Palin is wrong says a lot. A whole lot.

Impressive. (Despite "pulling a Nando" ;) at the beginning. I guess I've gotten kind of jaded about that move.)

And I guessed right (Dominican).

Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy: banks should pay for climate change

Source: The Times

A tax on banking could be used to pay for combating climate change under plans pushed by Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy today as Britain almost doubled the cash it put up for short-term funding to help developing countries to go green.

The Treasury found £1.5 billion in so-called fast-track funding from 2010 to 2012 for clean fuel projects and to stop deforestation in developing countries, the Prime Minister said after an EU summit in Brussels.

This was a big increase on Britain's initial offer of £800 million for a voluntary international fund to help encourage progress in climate talks at Copenhagen but Mr Brown suggested that there would be no extra call on taxpayers because the money was already budgeted for.

It means Britain is offering the largest EU contribution to the fund, followed by France and Germany on €1.26 billion each over the three years.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6953222.ece

toniD's Ya Think?

Americans Want Government to Spend for Jobs, Send Bill to Rich

By Mike Dorning and Catherine Dodge

Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Americans want their government to create jobs through spending on public works, investments in alternative energy or skills training for the jobless.

They also want the deficit to come down. And most are ready to hand the bill to the wealthy.

A Bloomberg National Poll conducted Dec. 3-7 shows two- thirds of Americans favor taxing the rich to reduce the deficit.

Even though almost 9 of 10 respondents also say they believe the middle class will have to make financial sacrifices to achieve that goal, only a little more than one-fourth support an increase in taxes on the middle class. Fewer still back cuts in entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare or a new national consumption tax.

These long-standing contradictions in voters’ attitudes toward taxes, spending and the deficit are intensified as the U.S. grapples with the most severe economic crisis in decades, says J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., a Des Moines, Iowa-based firm that conducted the nationwide survey. The rich have become an especially inviting target as the combination of a bank bailout and big bonuses stoke resentments, she says.

“People are hurting,” Selzer says. “They want anything that can help and not hurt them more.”

“It’s hard enough just to get by,” says poll respondent Trevor Wofsey, 32, a postal carrier in Big Pine Key, Florida. “We’re being cut at every level: There are less hours at work and they want us to pay more into medical. Food is up, gas is up.”

Obama Jobs Initiative

The findings are in tune with the job-promotion initiatives President Barack Obama announced Dec. 8, as well as the administration’s assurances it will address the deficit, and proposals from some Democratic lawmakers to raise taxes on the wealthy.

The difficulty of reconciling public demands for government action on jobs while at the same time reducing the deficit is shaping up as a major political theme ahead of the 2010 midterm elections. Obama and Democrats in Congress confront an unemployment rate that was 10 percent for November and a deficit that is forecast to be more than $1 trillion over each of the next two years.

While the public sees both unemployment and the deficit as a threat, anxiety over unemployment is higher. Eight out of 10 poll respondents rate unemployment a high risk to the economy in the next two years and 7 of 10 say the same about the deficit.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awkrRPMONDW8&pos=9

toniD's Ya Think?

Richard (RJ) Eskow: You Call That Health Reform?
t'day

[snip]

Maybe we should call it "health inefficiency redistribution" instead of "health reform."

[snip]

The idea that insurers have to pay 90% of whatever they charge for medical expenses sounds good, but ...
if that happens, what's the one sure way to make sure they have more profit in the years to come? Charge more! Don't think they'd do that? I've worked in that world, and I think they would. At a minimum, it certainly doesn't give them much incentive to lower costs, does it?

[snip]

We already have single-payer in most of the country - it's just private single-payer. One study has shown that 94% of health insurance market areas in this country have a near-monopoly situation, while another showed that in 16% of markets they studied one carrier had 90% or more of the market. We have near-single-payer or absolute singer-payer in wide swaths of the country.

[snip]

Medicare expansion seemed like a good alternative in certain ways, although there are many unanswered questions - and it could become a dumping ground for bad risk. What's more, the number of eligible people is likely to be extremely small. And I never underestimate the political process and its ability to mess up even a marginally good thing. (For reference, see reports that Kent Conrad was trying to ensure that the expanded Medicare program can't use Medicare rates - an idea that would rob it of any real value.)

[etc.]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/you-call-ithati-health-re_b_38904...

-----
Sorry about b4. I wanted y'all to see the post but was just way more interested in passing out than typing.

this is your congress on drugs

Pharma deal shuts down health care debate

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Tiger Woods Voicemail Slow Jam Remix
Uploaded by Tuggle Ravenal 7 days ago. Views: 125176

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

enough, i'm going home

fuck these assholes

{btw it's second part of when he is poisoned on USA Ch}

sure I've only seen many, many times... AKA "a loop 4 me"

Check out this Twitter exchange between Marcy Wheeler and Matt Yglesias:

emptywheel: Dorgan's reimportation amendment would "bend the cost curve" as much as Cadillac tax--but save Americans $$$, too. http://bit.ly/62mK9G

emptywheel: So why is Obama pushing solution that makes unions lose healthcare benes rather than solution that saves everyone $$$?

mattyglesias: @emptywheel b/c he wants Pharma to support the overall package?

emptywheel: How is it not, then, a big giveaway to Pharma? RT @mattyglesias: @emptywheel b/c he wants Pharma to support the overall package?

emptywheel: Last I checked, Obama was employed by and for taxpayers, not Pharma companies.

mattyglesias: @emptywheel It's a swap ($$ for political help) not a giveaway. Reimportation also bad policy, but that's another story.

emptywheel: The swap should be a next neutral: 30 million more customers in exchange for competition through Canada. (Disagree on "bad policy")

emptywheel: But the refusal to allow reimportations is a special kind of protectionism just for that industry, other industries don't get.

emptywheel: And by the same token, the Cadillac-as-Chevy tax is bad policy--will lead to job losses. So why is that okay, reimportation not?

mattyglesias: @emptywheel time to leave work! I'll write on all this Monday morning.

emptywheel: Have a good weekend. RT @mattyglesias: @emptywheel time to leave work! I'll write on all this Monday morning.

Rar!!! I wanna know whyy!!!! Now I have to wait until Monday for Yglesias' piece!! GrrrrrrRRR!

"this machine kills fascists"

Why don't we ever get to have fun like this...the closest we get is "STFU" *sigh*

"this machine kills fascists"

Most unparlimentary-like
Submitted by 60th Street on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 6:00pm.
--------
Faw cue. It loses something in the translation.

It all matters

None of it matters.

In it for the long fight.

No better tool for fucker-uppers than to discourage people.
==
I always hear that comment "I worked for George McGovern and that broke my heart, I'll never work for a candidate again."

"SUCKER" Karl Roves' ilk are shouting up there sleeves.
==
This is how it's done on the hill. The long term; "You help me with this now, I'll help you with that later." Only for us it's "you fuck me on this now - I've got an internet memory, I'll never forget."

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

http://www.georgegalloway.com/

he was very unparliamentary - i think he got kicked out, suspended or something

i used to love his radio show, haven't listened in a while though, too much other stuff on my mind

i love his accent, more than that, his way with language, just wonderful

and his championing of the palestinian cause has made him very dear to me

lol

http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=1078694774

i'll have to watch it; wonder if it's anything like our tool, george stephanopoulos

Happy Hanukkah!

toniD's Ya Think?

is anyone jewish around here?

i didn't know that

Sam is Jewish

toniD's Ya Think?

Gun laws are getting
looser across much of US
A nationwide review by The Associated Press found that over the last two years, 24 states, mostly in the South and West, have passed 47 new laws loosening gun restrictions. Among other things, legislatures have allowed firearms to be carried in cars, made it illegal to ask job candidates whether they own a gun.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091211/ap_on_bi_ge/us_looser_gun_laws

toniD's Ya Think?

Lawsuit threatened over
atheist councilman in NC
Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell believes in ending the death penalty, conserving water and reforming government -- but he doesn't believe in God. His political opponents say that's a sin that makes him unworthy of serving in office, and they've got the North Carolina Constitution on their side.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091211/ap_on_re_us/us_godless_politician

toniD's Ya Think?

Lawmakers seek emergency
steps to halt Asian carp
Members of Congress are demanding emergency action to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes and devastating their $7 billion fishery.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091211/ap_on_re_us/us_asian_carp_congress

toniD's Ya Think?

US Christians into voodoo-like
thinking; flirt with New Age
Although most Americans are Christian and many are devout it hasn't stopped some members of the flock from believing in astrology, reincarnation or the ability of trees to trap spiritual energy. A poll by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life shows a surprising number of U.S. adults claim to have had supernatural experiences such as ghost sightings.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091210/lf_nm_life/us_usa_religion

Maybe the ghost of Christmas past will show them the error of their ways!

toniD's Ya Think?

wth, i am in favor of that! put us out of our misery, this country is so fucked up, might as well

EU nations commit
$3.6 billion to climate fund
EU leaders say they have agreed to commit euro2.4 billion ($3.6 billion) a year until 2012 to help poorer countries combat global warming. French President Nicolas Sarkozy says the offer "puts Europe in a leadership role in Copenhagen."

LINK

toniD's Ya Think?

I thought he was Jewee. Jew-ish as in kinda like a Jew.

He observes all 613 mitzvot?

Hawaii Dem. says he'll resign from Congress (Abercrombie)

Source: AP

Hawaii Dem. says he'll resign from Congress
(AP) – 1 hour ago

HONOLULU — U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii says he's resigning from Congress.

The Democrat, who has been planning to run for governor, says he'll announce soon when his resignation will be effective.

The congressman said in a statement Friday the decision was difficult. But he says concluded he should resign to "allow someone to be elected who will carry on the work of this office."

Abercrombie has represented Hawaii's 1st Congressional District continuously since 1991.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iHeKCe68ytAfo-V0efUMMA...

toniD's Ya Think?

Someday they're going to believe her when she says she isn't playing...

LBJ Freeway...Strangely appropriate.

Only downside...Malloy's definitely gonna do that stupid impression 2nite.

-----
Sign Letter to Susan B. Komen Foundation: Donations Shouldn’t Go To Hadassah Lieberman
By: Jane Hamsher Friday December 11, 2009 9:02 am

AP Photo / Tammie Arroyo

Nancy G. Brinker
The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation Headquarters
5005 LBJ Freeway, Suite 250
Dallas, TX 75244

Dear Ms. Brinker,

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and Susan G. Komen for the Cure are driving forces in funding breast cancer research. Each year they take in hundreds of millions of dollars from people who want to end the suffering of those who are fighting breast cancer.

How these donations are channeled, therefore, is of great concern to those those who have invested untold amounts of money and support in its work.

It has come to my attention via an article by Joe Conason in Salon http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2009/11/05/hadassah_lieberman/index...
that Hadassah Lieberman – wife of Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) – is currently a compensated “Global Ambassador” for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. It is widely known, however, that not only has Senator Lieberman been an instrument of obstruction to the kind of health care reform advocated by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, but that Mrs. Lieberman is also a former lobbyist for APCO Associates, which represents the interests of the same major, private health insurance and pharmaceutical companies which Mr. Lieberman seeks to protect.

Mrs. Lieberman’s relationship with Susan G. Komen for the Cure is unethical and misleading. Important and often very personal donations made to Susan G. Komen for the Cure to benefit the sick and dying are essentially undermining their intended use. And as Hadassah travels the globe under the banner of Susan G. Komen for the cure, decrying the inadequacies of our health care system and the desperate need to reform it, her husband is at home to kill the reform efforts we so desperately need.

As a three time breast cancer survivor, I call on Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Komen Foundation to ask Hadassah Lieberman to step down as a “Global Ambassador” for the organization in light of the inherent conflict of interest her continued presence brings. It is counterproductive not only to Susan G. Komen for the cure’s positions and goals, but is also unfair to the millions of families that depend on its work.

Sincerely,

Jane Hamsher

Please join me in calling on the Susan G. Komen for the Cure to ask Hadassah Lieberman to step down by signing the petition.

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/hadassah

GE wins $1.4 billion wind farm contract

Source: Green Technology Daily

Power company Caithness Energy has given General Electric a $1.4 billion contract to supply wind turbines and 10 years' worth of maintenance for an Oregon wind farm, GE announced Thursday.

The massive 845-megawatt wind farm, Shepherds Flat, will be located near Arlington, Oregon, but span approximately 30 square miles and cover parts of Oregon's Gilliam and Morrow Counties.

If the full project is built out, Shepherd’s Flat will surpass the world’s current largest wind farm in Roscoe, Texas, which was brought on line in early 2009 by the North American division of E.ON Climate & Renewables.

http://www.greentechnologydaily.com/solar-wind/534-ge-wins-14-billion-wi...

toniD's Ya Think?

Greg Palast: Supreme Court's Ruling Would Allow Bin Laden to Donate to Palin's Presidential Campaign Updated at 5:45 PM

Supreme Court's Ruling Would Allow Bin Laden to Donate to Sarah Palin's Presidential Campaign

By Greg Palast, AlterNet. Posted December 11, 2009.

I'm biting my nails waiting for the Supreme Court's ruling in 'Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission' -- here's why you should be too.

I thought that headline would get your attention. And it's true.

I'm biting my nails waiting for the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which could come down as early as Tuesday. At issue: whether corporations, as "unnatural persons," can make contributions to political campaigns.

The outcome is foregone: the five GOP appointees to the court are expected to use the case to junk federal laws that now bar corporations from stuffing campaign coffers.

Technically, there's a narrower matter before the court in this case: whether the McCain-Feingold Act may prohibit corporations from funding "independent" campaign advertisements such as the "Swift Boat" ads that smeared John Kerry. However, campaign finance reformers are steeling themselves for the court's right wing to go much further, knocking down all longstanding rules against donations by corporate treasuries.

Allowing company campaign spending will not, as progressives fear, cause an avalanche of corporate cash into politics. Sadly, that's already happened: we have been snowed under by tens of millions of dollars given through corporate PACs and "bundling" of individual contributions from corporate pay-rollers. ...........(more)

http://www.alternet.org/rights/144502/supreme_court%27s_ruling_would_all...

toniD's Ya Think?

I'm home...but I still don't got a big ole fillet of fried catfish...Or Mexican or Cuencan tamales...Or that mari-juana cheesecake.

Jessayin'.

(Aaagh: Taj Majal earworm!!!! Outoutout!!!)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama says curling up with the first family's dog and clicking through food and design shows on television provide moments of peace amid a busy schedule.

During an interview to mark her selection as Barbara Walters' most fascinating person of the year, the first lady said her guilty pleasures involve food and "really bad TV." She also said her toned arms are a bit of "revenge" against her in-shape husband, President Barack Obama

"My really lazy days are I sit with Bo, who usually climbs up on my lap. He thinks he's a lap dog," she said of the Obamas' large Portuguese water dog. "He'll cozy up with me, and I'm just clicking through mindless shows. A lot of, you know, shows about food and design, and all that good stuff. And it's just quiet, and I'm not thinking about anything for that second — not about the kids, not about my husband, not about my schedule. If I get an hour of that during the course of a week, it feels like heaven."

Mrs. Obama went on about her connection with the dog, a gift from the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy: "Bo is my baby, he's our son. He's wonderful. He's growing. It's like I'm a mother. You ask about my kid, I'm gone."

http://www.airamerica.com/lifestyle/12-11-2009/a-guilty-pleasure-for-fir...

toniD's Ya Think?

who's sam?

toni, i forgot to put the little snarky smiley ;)

i am so with michelle on this... sounds so good; a fuzzy pet on your lap, food on your lap (preferably some sweet concoction with ganja or some other great secret ingredient (liquor?).. some mindless show on tv, i favor these political italian programs, because unlike the political programs here they engage me without making me angry, yeah, because i am not directly involved, hey i don't live there any more :(

sounds like a very pleasant way to spend an evening after a day of work

*

that Tiger Woods returning to regain his name or popularity or success on the course is a stupid goal at this point.

I don't care if he ever returns if he and his family are happy. Why does it have to be about how we see it or what his future value is? That's just stupid.

I'm glad he's decided to focus on his family for a change.

gloryoski on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 7:49pm.

You have us and your sense of humor. If that's not enough find your happy place.

@crazywtf
Who would have thought this was a position? There really is a job (sorry, career) for everything. #wtf http://bit.ly/4Mf8TF

I think I screwed up asking him to do the show this week.

Oy Vey!

I'm sure he knows we all love and respect him. He's a busy man.

Plus he has a small child. That alone will wear anyone out.

on countdown... hey i don't care about this shit, other than to say this is bullshit

why is this country so hung up on this extramarital stuff? give up your career for stuff like this, are you kidding me...

oh yeah i remember the monika lewinski and the president for chrissake

will you guys ever grow up?

Submitted by toniD on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 7:30pm.
US Christians into voodoo-like
thinking; flirt with New Age...
-----
Superstitions are beliefs in the supernatural. After someone has accepted the Trinity myth as real, a lateral adjustment to flying monkeys isn't much of a reach.

Every day my five senses download more of the tangible than I can decipher. I don't need to add supernatural fantasies to keep my psyche occupied.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, December 11, 2009

CONTACT: Laurie Dobson, Director, End US Wars, 207-604.8988, contact@enduswars.org

Rally in DC on December 12 will tell President Obama "No You Can't!" send more US troops to Afghanistan

• Obama's escalation plans will turn many of his supporters against him, say rally organizers and speakers

Emergency Anti-War Rally at the White House against President Obama's planned military escalation in Afghanistan

• When: Saturday, December 12, 11 am to 4 pm

• Lafayette Park in Washington, DC, across from the White House, near the Farragut West Metro Station

• Organized by End US Wars http://www.enduswars.org

• Rally speakers available for interview: see speakers list (http://www.enduswars.org/guide), call 207-604.8988

WASHINGTON, DC -- Thousands of Americans will gather in Lafayette Park across from the White House on Saturday, December 12, to tell President Obama "No you can't!" send over 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan.

Speakers for the rally will include Rep. Dennis Kucinich, former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader, former Sen. Mike Gravel, and many others. Many of the speakers are available for interview: see the online speakers list (http://www.enduswars.org/guide) and contact Laurie Dobson at 207-604.8988.

Ralliers will demand that President Obama announce an immediate ceasefire in Iraq and Afghanistan to end the wars and order our troops home, stop Predator drone attacks and covert operations in Pakistan, and begin immediate reconstruction and recovery in war torn regions.

If the President does not meet these demands, he will face intensified opposition, with anti-war candidates prepared to defeat his war policy politically.

Along with the rally on December 12, the film 'Rethink Afghanistan' will be shown Friday December 11, from 8 to 10 pm at Busboys & Poets, 14th and V Streets NW in Washington, DC.

More information: email contact@enduswars.org or visit http://www.enduswars.org

For press inquiries, phone: Laurie Dobson, Director, End US Wars (207) 604.8988

what's the big deal here, why not go on and accept it? is this fish not good to eat? is there racism involved here?
i wouldn't mind an asian carp po-boy .... and don't let me forget the winky snarky

;)

n. ass·hat

"this machine kills fascists"

in a word - NO!

President Obama, the Afghan war escalator, received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, and proceeded to deliver his acceptance speech outlining the three criteria for a “just war” which he himself is violating.

The criteria are in this words: “If it is waged as a last resort or in self-defense; if the force used is proportional; and if, whenever possible, civilians are spared from violence.”

After 9/11, warmonger George W. Bush could have used the international law doctrine of hot pursuit with a multilateral force of commandoes, linguists and bribers to pursue the backers of the attackers. Instead, he blew the country of Afghanistan apart and started occupying it, joined forces with a rump regime and launched a divide-and-rule tribal strategy that set the stage for a low-tiered civil war.

Eight years later, Obama is expanding the war within a graft-ridden government in Kabul, fraudulent elections, an Afghan army of northern tribesmen loathed by the southern and south-eastern tribes of 40 million Pashtuns, an impoverished economy whose largest crop by far is a narcotic, and a devastated population embittered by foreign occupiers and non-existent government services.

President Obama’s national security adviser, former Marine General James Jones, said two months ago: “The al-Qaeda presence is very diminished. The maximum estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability to launch attacks on either us or our allies.”

Since Mr. Obama repeats George W. Bush’s reason for going into Afghanistan—to destroy al-Qaeda—why is he sending 30,000 soldiers plus an even greater number of corporate contractors there in the near future at a cost stated by the White House of one million dollars per solider per year? Is this “proportional force”?

Always small in number, al-Qaeda has moved over the border into Pakistan and anywhere its supporters can in the world—east Africa, north Africa, Indonesia. The gang is a migrant traveler.

Is Obama pouring soldiers into Afghanistan so that they and our inaccurate, civilian-destroying drones can start fighting across the border in Pakistan, as indicated by The New York Times? Beyond the violations of international law and absence of constitutional authorization involved, this could so roil Pakistanis as to make the U.S. experience next door look like a modest struggle.

Obama has emphasized weakening the Taliban as the other objective of our military buildup with its horrible consequence in casualties and other costs. Who are the Taliban? They include people with different causes, such as protecting their valleys, drug trafficking to live on, fighters against foreign occupiers or, being mostly Pashtuns, protecting their tribal turf against the northern Tajiks and Uzbecks.

How many Taliban fighters are there? The Pentagon estimates around 25,000. Their methods make them unpopular with the villagers. They have no air force, navy, artillery, tanks, missiles, no bases, no central command. They have rifles, grenade launchers, bombs and suiciders. Unlike al-Qaeda, they have only domestic ambitions counteracted by their adversarial tribesmen who make up most of the Afghan army.

Robert Baer, former CIA officer with experience in that part of Asia, asserted: “The people that want their country liberated from the West have nothing to do with al-Qaeda. They simply want us gone because we’re foreigners, and they’re rallying behind the Taliban because the Taliban are experienced, effective fighters.”

To say as Obama inferred in his Oslo speech that the greater plunge into Afghanistan is self-defense, with proportional force and sparing civilians from violence is a scale of self-delusion or political cowardliness that is dejecting his liberal base.

For as President Eisenhower stated so eloquently in his 1953 “cross of iron” speech, every dollar spent on munitions and saber-rattling takes away from building schools, clinics, roads and other necessities of the American people.

The Afghan War and the Iraq war-occupation—already directly costing a trillion dollars—are costing the American people every time Washington says there is not enough money for neonatal care, occupational disease prevention, cleaner drinking water systems, safer hospitals, prosecution of corporate criminals, cleaner air or upgrading and repairing key public facilities.

Even the hardiest and earliest supporters of his presidential campaign in 2008 are speaking out. Senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus, such as John Conyers (D-MI) and Maxine Waters (D-CA) have recently criticized the President for not doing enough to help African-Americans weather the hard times.

In a stinging ironic rebuke to the first African-American President, Rep. Waters declared “We can no longer afford for our public policy to be defined by the worldview of Wall Street.”

According to Congressman Conyers, an upset Barack Obama called to ask why the Michigan lawmaker was “demeaning” him. Conyers has been increasingly turned off by the President’s policies—among them health care reform, the war in Afghanistan, slippage on Guantanamo and the extension of the Patriot Act’s invasive provisions.

The 80-year old Congressman spent most weekends in 2007 and 2008 tirelessly on the campaign trail trying to get Obama elected.

White House aides are not troubled by the rumblings from the moderate Left. They said they have all of 2010 to bring them back into the fold by the November Congressional elections. Besides, where else are they going to go?

Well, they could stay home. Remember 1994 and the Gingrich takeover.

http://nader.org/index.php?/archives/2158-Just-War-Is-Just-Words.html

Could It Happen Again? GOP Aims For 2010 To Be '94 Repeat
Christina Bellantoni | December 11, 2009, 3:40PM

The Republicans are planning to fight furiously to try and recapture control of the House of Representatives in 2010, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who helped orchestrate the Republican revolution 15 years ago, thinks it's possible for a repeat.

"I think you could easily have a bigger backlash in 2010 than we had in 1994," Gingrich (R-GA) told Newsmax TV recently.

Looking at generic polls of party preference, Republicans like what they see, and most Democrats acknowledge they will lose seats next fall.

But a Republican House takeover? Pretty unlikely it seems, as TPMDC explored the question by talking to political consultants and campaign hands to see what conditions existed in 1994 and whether they exist now.

Timing is everything
Here's where it's similar - you have a Democratic president who will be completing his second year in office when voters head to the ballot box next November to choose all 435 members of Congress.

President Clinton was a major factor in the Republicans' 1994 victory, when the party won 54 seats and kept control for more than a decade. President Obama's approval ratings have dropped significantly, but he won more electoral college votes than Clinton and a larger portion of the popular vote.

The base!
But - Obama's supporters on the left have grown frustrated with him as he's taken the center approach on military issues and domestic priorities. As we've seen in some recent elections, the base, already worn out from a long 2008 political season, stayed home. That is the biggest thing Democrats have to worry about next year.

Safe seats
The Democrats have a 258-177 advantage in the House now, having won the chamber back in 2006 with a 30-seat victory and gaining more seats last year.

The 1994 revolution came about in part because there were so many Democrats retiring in districts that had become redder and redder over the years.

Redistricting also made Republican districts more so, and carved out Democratic voters for the Democratic districts. So the number of swing districts has shrunk considerably over the years.

Primed
The GOP is excited, and feel they have a movement bolstering their charge against Obama and Congressional leadership as big government big spenders.

But key Democrats believe their members will not be caught flat-footed. Everyone is worried about losing seats, so they will fight harder. Democrats who were shocked by losing power in 1994 won't make the same mistake this time around by being unprepared.

The DCCC has been preparing since January for the tough next cycle.

For that reason, Democrats believe their candidates are top-tier this time around. They also are aggressively going after GOP seats, which they didn't do in 1994, and because of gains in recent years aren't dependent on one region as they once were.
more...

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/could-it-happen-again-gop-aim...

toniD's Ya Think?

who cares if Republican's win again? If the Democrats are just a bunch of liars like the blue dogs who won't uphold the election planks of the 2008 election platform, who cares?

They have a lot of power and get paid. Shouldn't we expect at least a good health care bill?

Who the fuck cares? If Democrat's can't deliver on health care, then what? Is that the moment where we meet our neighbors stopping traffic with garden utensils and utility trucks?

This is a really bad time for the powers that be to ignore the impact of an oppressed population. Tis already a decade of war.

Just say'n.....

Check out the outfit on number seven. I guess young repugs are back to dressing the same as their grandpas.

Sorry, I was just singing along...

No Cubans were harmed.

Heard Hartmann today. When listening to Thom's interview with Bill McKibben -- so help me -- what came to mind was George W. Bush et al's endless repetition of "9/11-alQaeda". Just take out "9/11-alQaeda" and insert 'CO2'. WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THE SAME DEMONIZING FORMULA?

WHY don't people look a couple squares forward on this gameboard to the square where -- after all the draconian CO2-control civil laws are in place -- the AUTHORITIES tell us that the ONLY AVAILABLE energy technology we can develop to replace coal and oil is NUCLEAR POWER, because only nuclear power does not create CO2. This can only happen if they convince us that CO2 is the evil culprit of global warming.

In addition, letting them restrict the discussion to CO2 just does not make scientific sense. The Authorities (who apparently want to make disaster profits on this) will claim that we do not have time enough to develop solar, thermal, tidal, wind renewable technologies with our tax dollars and that the nuclear technology is already there to be implemented and therefore should be the only choice possible! THIS CO2 hype is a SCAM that will only serve the NUCLEAR POWER developers.

Thom and friends, THAT is the obvious scenario here. We mustn't be had by these scammers!

There must be other aspects to global warming that are responsible for the geologically SINGULAR rapid melting of the polar ice caps, some humongous heat source degrading the atmosphere. And I wonder why NO ONE is questioning the HAARP introduction of explosive heat to the upper atmosphere, or the amazing increase of heat-generating microwave transmissions in the last ten+ years from the use of cell phones (particularly in the heavily populated Northern Hemisphere where the greatest melting was evident for a while).

Demonizing CO2 looks like a classic marketing/advertising/propaganda method, and I don't like it or trust it. It is not thoughtful or balanced or even honest (because some scientists point out or admit calling CO2 responsible for global warming is only a theory). Real common sense use of science is what we need -- rather than Corporate Science which always uses science to develop and sell a product like Nuclear Power. With Common Sense Science we would be looking at multiple areas and approaching them all with appropriate intensity, to find a COMPREHENSIVE plan of action.

"Jumped the gun," so to speak. ; )
Submitted by gloryoski on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 8:47am.
It might help to show this

Which is in this story:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/police-shoot-man-at-hotel-i...

"There is always some doubt" but...cop would not only have to have planted the weapon but fired into this window himself, presumably in front of all the witnesses, and (I guess) even while he was firing his own weapon. Isn't that right? Or am I missing something? (Seriously.)

The "artistic" NYT picture of the shattered glass is a little creepy though, given the circumstances. It'll probably win some award...

» =========================

When I talked to my friend about this story he said that there's another possible layer to the event. He mentioned that many street venders get to stay on the street as long as they give cops a cut in the sales or give cops some inventory or something. So maybe this victim wasn't paying up or refused to hand over some goods or inform or something. Maybe he knew he was a marked guy because of something besides just breaking the law by selling on the street...?

over here

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5535#

...that's part of the George Will line, glory...

"this machine kills fascists"

Jeebus
Submitted by 60th Street on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 9:01pm.

RE: Thom Hsrtmann's suggestion yesterday to go to Tea Parties and his call yesterday for REVOLUTION

There is another method. EDUCATE THE POPULATION who haven't had time or resources (interest, time, education, computer, accessible library) to get the information.

Every local ballot or poltical battle I've participated in and been on the winning side of, was won by getting the general population UP-TO-SPEED with the facts of the issue.

We usually had to do this ourselves because the local papers and media were in solidarity with the Power Elite/Establishment opposition who were planning on getting a piece of the action eventually from the project or development.

And we did it by doing all sorts of things:

1/ Teach In: Set up a table and chairs with photocopied info available in someone's frontyard/driveway or public spot and discuss the issue; we often invited the opposition to be there at the same time to give their point of view, but they never showed up. (The Big Money High Rollers don't care to rub elbows and debate because their paid people only MEMORIZE scripts, can't think on their feet and don't have answers for any question they have not been trained to answer! They prefer controlled situations where they actually PLANT questions/questioners.)

2/ Guerilla Marketing: Pass out "Dear Neighbor" leaflets and fliers to people in public places. Or at night put them at people's front sidewalk to pick up in the morning. (How NOT to do it: We used to put them on the windshields of parked cars, but people are getting really fussy about having their cars touched, so I'd find another way to get it to them. NEVER put anything in a mailbox.)

3/ Use humor: Draw cartoons, make clip art cartoons, make up songs and skits that bring a smile about the usually CRAZY reality of the opposition is attempting to squeeze passed the Public! When you are looking for it, you will have MORE THAN ENOUGH material to work with, because bad ideas, scams, and destructive projects, and follow-the-money connections are ripe for satire! And once people start laughing at the scammers and profiteers, A SHIFT HAPPENS in what the public is noticing about what the oppostion claims. It is one of the easiest ways to REFRAME the issues which the Authorities/Insiders/MoneyBags usually defined as they began their campaigns. And people feel so much better approaching these serious issues if they can LAUGH; it melts the ice of apprehension that the issues are too complex for a normal person to understand (which is why the Elite/Authorities usually get normal folks to back away saying "I can't figure it out -- I'll have to trust you.")

4/ Share YOUR research: The facts that WOW you and references for those are just what you should share. Make your hand-outs, fliers, leaflets, cartoons a composition of your hours of research all in a single place. Be clear. Say "This is the position to support/oppose because of these things reasons/facts" and show those referenced facts and arguments that have made a difference for you. Keep it simple. Forget paragraphs. Use bulleted items with just a sentence or two.

5/ Keep your references handy: Whether talking, singing satirical songs, leafletting, etc., ALWAYS have your references with you. Referencing local newspaper articles or internet research is easy; just put the reference in parentheses() after each fact. Carry your list of winning facts with you with full references wherever you go to leave with the person/s who are interested or you think you can reach.

If we went in large numbers to the streets doing stuff like this for six months or so, we might UNDO years of the Corporate Media's non-reporting, slanted reporting, censorship, lousy priorities, and their sensationalizing of meaningless stuff. We MUST make our own NEWS MEDIA via actions of this kind to replace the corrupt Corporate Media which backs only the Transnational Corporate goals.

EDUCATE FIRST.