Brunch

I usually have great luck with that alternate site button.

This live stuff, sheesh, I have to guess what I am listening to. Well I know this one.

For all my West Virginia friends and all on the EC and the NE.

Let's foreclose on the banks.
http://www.rall.com/2009/12/syndicated-column-foreclose-on-banks.html

be # tree

for da new link..

Good Moring to you,Zeek & Sandy.. :)

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

MMRules

yes, my liver will dump sugar if I don't have a small snack every couple of hours. He'll do fine if all his meals are tiny.

forgot BRR was on...
oh shit...............
I'm on it now

What a great idea.....

I skip the Nicene (sp?) creed and focus on the "Peace be with You, and also you". I know my day will be brightened by the old ladies I sit with who are really happy to see me every week. I've already brought in my gifts, personal care products and grocery debit cards. I am curious, what small steps have some of you taken to make the world better?

hello to u - I'm listening
one day I'll have to call in &
chat with ya all.

barking in the background. I don't remember
anyone asking for his opinion. lol

he is very opinionated

The liberals attacking the Senate health reform bill must never have known real illness. They’ve never been fired at the age of 50 and left without health insurance. They’ve probably never known anyone who died for lack of health insurance.

Those are the only reasons I can think of for their last-minute and thoroughly despicable assault on the bill struggling through the Senate.

Spare me their attacks on President Barack Obama, who doesn’t measure up to their impossible standards. And spare me Howard Dean. I thought Joe Lieberman was the dumbest politician from New England until Dean urged Senate Democrats to vote against health reform.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_deadly_cost_of_blocking_health_c...

Murphy - 7 huggs from me to him

We should have thought of this sooner! Fuck single payer. Fuck the public option. Just force people without money to buy a health care policy from these wonderful insurance companies. It's so simple really. Give the old money insurance companies 30 million new customers! Problem solved!

Turns out the problem with health care was us!

To promote Dr Kim's plastic surgery office, this life scale poster was placed at the entrance of his office and by the elevator in the main lobby of the hospital building. Awe inspiring!

http://www.nullweknow.com/2009/06/advertising-be-born-again.html

"The liberals attacking the Senate health reform bill must never have known real illness. They’ve never been fired at the age of 50 and left without health insurance. They’ve probably never known anyone who died for lack of health insurance"

This is the thought I tried to get through to Alice last night.

Anybody else ?

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

MMRules

It's pretty pathetic when David Gregory can make you look that stupid.

Howard Dean "will vigorously support President Obama in 2012"..."Of course."

u got that right Michele

If we make sure that private profits are capped. I listened to Howard Dean once on C-Span answer a question about any successful all-private healthcare in the world. He said Switz. has one that works well because profits are limited by law.

I also remember a thought from the Kos diary I tried to post last night. Do we go crazy when poor people use their gov. subsidies (ie food stamps) at for profit grocery stores.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court dealt a blow to many in the country’s ruling elite Friday by reopening corruption cases against “thousands of politicians,” according to The New York Times, and calling for dozens of those officials to appear before the courts. Included on the list was President Asif Ali Zardari, but his position grants him immunity against prosecution. The same can’t be said, however, for a couple of his key ministers. —KA

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/dozens_of_pakistani_politici...

Michele - I have asked that myself (about Michele)

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

MMRules

Sunday, December 20, 2009
PPP to fight ‘plots’ against mandate;
Make or Break Point for Rule of Law

Dawn reports that a meeting of high officials of the Pakistan People's Party produced a resolution to remain in power, retain existing cabinet members, and simply fight each corruption case brought against PPP officials on a case-by-case basis. On the advice of the reformist wing of the party, headed by Aitzaz Ahsan, the party decided not to attempt to directly confront or tamper with the judiciary.

From a PPP point of view, the decision this week of the Supreme Court to set aside the amnesty proclaimed in late 2007 by then president Pervez Musharraf for politicians against whom there were outstanding corruption cases was part of a conspiracy of the Punjabi elite of the country to deny the party the fruits of its resounding electoral victory in February, 2008. The PPP is a nationwide party with constituents throughout the country, but its base is in Sindh, a poor province, the inhabitants of which often feel discriminated against by the majority Punjabis and by the Urdu-speaking Muhajirs or immigrants who came from India in 1947 and who were more urban, literate and better at capturing lucrative government jobs in Sindh itself than were the largely rural, illiterate Sindhis.

http://www.juancole.com/

;)

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

MMRules

MMRules
LMFAO

NOW President Condemns Compromised Health Care Bill;
Women's Access to Abortion Care Traded Away

Statement of Terry O'Neill, NOW President

December 19, 2009

The so-called health care reform bill now before the Senate, with the addition of Majority Leader Harry Reid's Manager's Amendment, amounts to a health insurance bill for half the population and a sweeping anti-abortion law for the rest of us. And by the way, it's the rest of us who voted the current leadership into both houses of Congress.

The National Organization for Women is outraged that Senate leadership would cave in to Sen. Ben Nelson, offering a compromise that amounts to a Stupak-like ban on insurance coverage for abortion care. Right-wing ideologues like Nelson and the Catholic Bishops may not understand this, but abortion is health care. And health care reform is not true reform if it denies women coverage for the full range of reproductive health services.

We call on all senators who consider themselves friends of women's rights to reject the Manager's Amendment, and if it remains, to defeat this cruelly over-compromised legislation.

http://www.now.org/press/12-09/12-19.html

now - hopefully I'll be able to
figure this out

Kinda like Obama did with the banks, Wall Street, and the corporate bonus pay? Put single payer in one hand and this Senate bill in the other and see which hand is full of shit! How many time are we going to be asked to accept a pile of shit and call it a rose garden?

i think it's not caving
Submitted by mire on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 10:40am.

i think there is a very real rift on the left among the truly progressive and the wishy washy more mainstream "progressives"

I'm just a picture pimp.. ;)

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

MMRules

capping profits, it will never happen in the usa

this time it will have to be different from the sixties taking to the street thing; it turned out to be kinda fake

and,a bunch of Draft aged kids,Mostly..

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

MMRules

Makes it to the Blueroots.. :)

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

MMRules

:) she sounds a little like toni to me; so this might be that chicago accent?

i'm learning

is the way he treated dean after the 2008 democratic congressional victories, he took credit for them and poopoooped dean's efforts and achievements

(washington) - they become realists they realize how entrenched the corporate interests are and that it is futile to go against them

i remember when even hillary was more progressive and idealist back in the early 90s, then she drank the washington water

unfortunately these two assholes are now residents of new orleans and carville has a job with tulane! teaches political science, can you believe?

something like that

why did you have to google it? I had it on the tip of my keyboard

I did not refresh the blog to see that

just too much spam

I'm behind on my emails too..

By about 3,000 emails.. :(

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

MMRules

i think i am the only one with my name in the united states and everything that came up was about me

lots of stuff, more than i would have liked to be out there but there it is

facebook and google itself (picasa) and youtube are responsible for that; all these things are connected

I have 4 e-mail accounts and
I do not have or use "Address books"

I have a separate text file with all my friends
or business e-mail addresses
and copy and paste the addresses
manualy when ever I send anything.

i enjoyed the conversation, thanks a lot

Chris - It was good to chat with ya all.

I have to celebrate Christmas with my mom
tonight, she is leaving foe Scottsdale, AZ
on Tuesday. Going to eat Japanese food.
Yum - if ya all r still on I'll give a ring.

and mentioning some of my comments on the air

BMC Publications : The Authors : Sandra McGee
Sandra McGee was born in Los Angeles, California. From the age of three, she studied ballet and piano. At six, she was chosen to be a protégé of Mlle. ...
www.bmcpublications.com/authorsSandra.html - Cached

got a phone call!

toniD's Ya Think?

ain't she?

a very nice name, sandy

i bet there's a lot of 'em out there (none of them as nice and talented as the one we know, though, i am sure)

did you read my comment about her accent?

don't take it personally :)

everyone. I needed the up lifting comments
I have been in a very weird mood lately.
Like - (I'm sure everyone has felt this)
"what the fuck is the point?" "Why am I here?"
2 much time to think - I guess

won't take it personally.
It is kinda funny - knowing the moods
I've been in -

to start jumping into that sunday chores routine, not at all

still in bed cuddling my laptop which is nicely warm, warmth seeping through the blankets and sweet music pouring out

do i really have to get out of the bed

looks like sun is out, real sun, and probably not too cold out there either, yeah i think i should get up

How health lobbyists influenced reform bill
Former staffers of lawmakers from Harry Reid to Mitch McConnell push clients' agenda

By Andrew Zajac

Tribune Newspapers

December 20, 2009

WASHINGTON

David Nexon had a big problem. An early version of national health care legislation contained a $40 billion tax aimed squarely at members of the medical device trade association he represents.

Nexon, a former adviser to the late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, went to work. He marshaled 14 people like himself -- lobbyists who were once congressional aides, many of them from staffs of congressional leaders or committees that had a hand in crafting the health care overhaul.

When Senate Democrats unveiled their bill in mid-November, Nexon's handiwork was evident. The tax on device-makers was still large -- $20 billion -- but only half what it might have been without the efforts of Nexon and his fellow lobbyists.

Nexon's team is an illustration of how deeply the health care industry has embedded itself on Capitol Hill, using former aides of lawmakers and ex-lawmakers themselves.

An analysis of public documents by Northwestern University's Medill News Service in partnership with the Tribune Newspapers Washington Bureau and the Center for Responsive Politics found a revolving door between Capitol Hill staffers and lobbying jobs for companies with a stake in health care legislation.

At least 166 former aides from the nine congressional leadership offices and five committees involved in shaping health overhaul legislation -- along with at least 13 former lawmakers -- registered to represent at least 338 health care clients since the beginning of last year, according to the analysis.

Their health care clients spent $635 million on lobbying over the past two years, the study shows.

The total of insider lobbyists jumps to 278 when non-health-care firms that reported lobbying on health issues are added in, the analysis found.

Part of the lobbying pressure on current members of Congress and staffers comes from the powerful lure of post-congressional job possibilities.

"There's always a worry they may be thinking about their future employment opportunities when dealing with these issues, particularly with health care, because the stakes are so high and the breadth of the issues -- pharmacies, hospitals, doctors," said Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz.

Lobbyists' earnings can dwarf congressional salaries, which currently top out at $174,000 annually for lawmakers and $156,000 for aides, though committee staff members can earn slightly more.

In the health care showdown, insider lobbying influence has magnified the clout of corporate interests and helped steer the debate away from a public insurance option, despite many polls indicating majority support from Americans, according to Rutgers University political scientist Ross Baker.

"It imposes a kind of conservative bias on the discussion," said Baker, himself a former Senate staffer.

The lineup of insiders working for clients with health care interests includes at least 14 former aides to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and at least 13 former aides to Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, the chairman of the Finance Committee and a key overseer of the health care overhaul.

Nexon, who is now senior executive vice president of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, is among at least a half-dozen former Kennedy aides lobbying on health care.

Nexon acknowledged the value of congressional connections, "but in the end, it's not who I know, it's what I know."

It makes sense to hire former staffers for the health care showdown because they tend to be "more generalists, dealing with a broad range of issues," something that is in demand for legislation that sprawls across at least a half-dozen federal agencies and encompasses issues ranging from tax policy to hospital reimbursement rates, according to Nexon. But specific issues also get specialized help. Earlier this year, the Christian Science Church hired a former Kennedy staffer, Carolyn Osolinik, and three of her colleagues at the Mayer Brown law firm, all veterans of Capitol Hill. The firm has been paid at least $110,000 so far to push a provision requiring insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments.

Phil Davis, a senior official of the church, said the church wanted access to decision makers. "The noise level goes sky high. It's hard to get in to talk to people," he said.

The largest insider lobbying cadre belongs to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, which employs at least 26 former congressional members and staffers, according to Medill/CRP research.

Two other drug interests, biotech firm Amgen Inc. and the Biotechnology Industry Organization trade group, with at least 24 and 16 insiders respectively, ranked second and fourth among reported hiring over the past two years of lawmakers' former staffers and members of committees considered in the analysis.

"The numbers shouldn't surprise anyone," said Ken Johnson, a PhRMA senior vice president. "Former staffers have a unique understanding of how the legislative process works. And when you are trying to advocate on behalf of smart public policies, you want smart people on your team."

But Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog group, had a harsher assessment, blaming "a toxic cocktail of insiders and money" for short-circuiting a government-run plan that would have competed with private insurers.

"We'll get a bill. And the president will sign it. But it'll be less than the country deserves," said Edgar, a former six-term member of the House.

Health care lobbyists increase their effectiveness by strategically targeting their campaign contributions or the donations of the interests they represent, Edgar said.

Health industry contributions to congressional candidates have more than doubled so far this decade, rising to $127 million in the 2008 election cycle from $56 million in the 2000 election, with disproportionate sums going to the party in power and to members of committees that oversee health care, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

But lobbyist and former Kennedy staffer Andrew Rosenberg said political conditions, not big money or the predispositions of lobbyists sidelined a public option.

"You could see this coming from a long way off. The Democratic Party is now the big tent party. They have to get to 60 votes. That is the reality," Rosenberg said. "It was going to have to be something that appeals to moderates" opposed to expanding government-run health insurance.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-health-lobbyists_bddec20,0,5453...

toniD's Ya Think?

1. Click the icon below to go to the BRR website. It will open in another window so you will still be able to see these instructions once you filddle with your windows.

2. Scroll down below the fancy player and click on the Alternate player

3. On the Alternate player you should see buttons in the lower left corner for Setup and Messages.....Click the [SETUUP] button

4. This will open the "Fine-Tune" window. Most likely yours will have (*) Flash selected as your preferred player.

5. In the lower right corner you should see a link for Listen Settings , click it

6. This will open a browser window on a "Listen Settings" ta. Connection Speed is the first option so scroll down into the MP3 Player section

7. Now scroll down until you see Additional Options The options are most likely hidden so you will need to click the Show link to the right of Additional Options

8. Finally!! Your El Dorado! Just click the radio button for (*)iTunes

9. Now scroll all the way down and click the Save Settings button.

Close the window with the Save Settings button

Close the Fine-Tune Your Listen Experience Window by clicking Save Settings

Close your browser completely and reopen

Go back to http://bluerootsradio.com, scroll down and click the Alternate Player button. The Alternate player will popup but this time it will open BlueRootsRadio in iTunes.

If you see BlueRootsRadio in your playlist you can pull it over to a PlayList and use that link in the future, or just keep launching the Alternate Player from the website.

If you need more help, just ask.

Conrad: Senate Health Care Bill Is Basically The Final Version

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) asserted on Sunday that the Senate's version of health care legislation will, by and large, be the final product, even though negotiators in the House and Senate have yet to merge their respective bills.

The North Dakota Democrat, during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, offered a reading of the political tea leaves, predicting that several conservative Democratic senators would abandon reform if too many changes were made to the current legislative compromise.

"It is very clear that the final bill that passed in the United States Senate is going too have to be very close to the bill that is being negotiated here," he said. "Otherwise you will not get 60 votes in the United States Senate. So, look, this is a bill that does reduce the deficit according to the independent expert. This is a bill that expands coverage to 30 million people. This is a bill that will begin to control the cost explosion, has got critically important insurance reforms, delivery system reforms, so those who say kill the bill, I think, have really missed the boat."

The conference committee negotiations between the House and Senate should be a very delicate process, for the reason that Conrad notes. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.) has insisted that the Senate's version of reform is not going to be the final product. And on everything from affordability provisions to pay-for mechanisms, she and others seem poised to try and pull the Senate bill toward the House's version.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/20/conrad-senate-health-care_n_398...

toniD's Ya Think?

I forgot to turn it on..

to cut that out.

Thank you.

;-)

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5555#comment-386632

Submitted by smcgee43 on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 11:42am.
everyone. I needed the up lifting comments
-------

It appears that a number of us are in some sort of turmoil. If it is not some physical health problem, it's probably a psychological one. If you're like me, it's both. The Bush years have left us in a angry and hypersensitive state. You could assert that the whole country is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But we must press on.

You're going to be just fine Smcgee. ToniD, your feet will be good as new.

i didn't hear about rachel

yeah mb, i did cut it out and got to some of my chores

still nervous to enter the laundry room and tackle the new load, first load since i had my little accident with fire...

after that came the flood (supposed to be armageddon or what)water came into the laundry room from all the rain we've been having and the contractor said if i really wanna use that room a lot (do i have any choice) it should have proper walls, insulation and sheetrock, not you know like just a couple of planks of cardboard and leaky rotten wood and a rusted gutter; so here we are, there's plywood and sheetrock and a bunch of stuff in there right now, since they started the work but didn't finish because it's sunday the day of god worship and the contractor can't work

but i did brace myself and started to run a wash

Rather rude & shows you are speaking near end of a debate Crank B. started a bit ago, in other words you know nothing.

Jmach1JP on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 11:23am.
...
I have a separate text file with all my friends
or business e-mail addresses
==
done - thanks again

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

your post shows you can write and spell after all, when you want to

my point was that yours is just an act

but rude, yeah you're right i was rude, and no particular reason for being rude, which is really not good, gratuitous uglyness, i am sorry, just cranky and rude sometimes, i apologize

[worth a repeat]
Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) Senate Floor Remarks on Single Payer Amendment
Wednesday
Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT) made remarks after withdrawing his single payer amendment from consideration on the Floor of the Senate.
Washington, DC : 36 min.

cspan video
linked from

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/fc201209.html

Sanders' speech[link] was riveting. He spoke the words that we have been waiting to hear for so long. He spoke about the beauty and simplicity of Medicare for All. He spoke about having the courage to stand up to the medical-industrial complex which profits at the expense of human suffering.

Most importantly, Sanders spoke about the national movement for single payer being led by nurses, doctors, medical students, faith and labor organizations, and people across the land of all backgrounds and beliefs. He declared that this strong movement is not going away and he announced that we will succeed.
Onward to single payer.

Margaret Flowers is a pediatrician in Baltimore, co-chair of the Maryland chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) and PNHP Congressional Fellow. Andy Coates is an internist in Albany, secretary of the Capital District (NY) chapter of PNHP and co-chair of Single Payer New York.

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

it was to be as a 7 with a CAP = &.

Lately, I am trying to post with complete sentences, but with another ol' keyboard = SKIPPING LETTERS -- also "in the past" this was not worth the wasting of my time TO EDIT. Many here got what I was saying ... so no need to EDIT; however , as now some seem to have a "type" of problem, thus I try to EDIT {kinda}. :D

significant object project

just heard of this on npr
==

The idea : “A talented, creative writer invents a story about an object. Invested with new significance by this fiction, the object should — according to our hypothesis — acquire not merely subjective but objective value. How to test our theory? Via eBay!”

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

new thread
http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5555

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