vacation over

Submitted by SEDER on Sat, 01/03/2009 - 8:09am.

Must be a Time Lord, going into the past to post threads.

I will miss The Tenth Doctor.

Update: Oh, same old thread but with a shiny new date! Pretty.

Weirdness!

toniD's Ya Think?

why does it say what toniD says?

for possible explanation

in any case, sure making things hard for us

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5573#comment-388509

It's like herding cats.

well it don't make sense, why should 74 come before 73? i know i know, this argument is getting old :)

D'oh

i think

i was right that it might just have been a minor seder typo - 9 instead of 10 - causing the glitch, as i see that now everything is back in its rightful place with the correct date on sammy's initial post...

reading about the history of the Shiites and the Sunnah. I see this struggle started up as soon as the "prophet" died. I know this struggle is old and I want to see a resolution to all this fighting.

The Jews and the Americans did not start this. The Hindhus and the Buddhists didn't start this. The athiests and the Gays certainly did not start this..
In the meantime the greedy Oil powers use the "enemy of my enemy is a friend of mine" perspective to monopolize resources .Here again the struggle over the "prophets' have been usurped by the struggle for "profits",

Unethical capitalists with a rigged stock market keep fanning the flames of division. We are our brother's keeper as long as we share the planet. How can we resolve this ? / It is nice to see the people have started shows like "Ya Think". .

That is too pesta mystic for me C..

Finally around to listen live.

You guys have a Ya Think twitter for comments/questions? (It'd also be good for promoting the show)

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http://www.vodamusic.com/blog/

Star the DPP

aka the disgruntled people's party

Cent when the people get out in the streets we should have a non violent leader like MLK

Invoking the "Founding Fathers" for anything other than a history lesson drives me nuts.

First, the Founding Fathers were not of a single mind and the end result of their interactions was a collection of concessions (concede is used here in the sense of yield) to one another. It is true that sometimes opinions were changed but it was more often true that unchanged opinions yielded to the overall effort to move forward with the larger goal which was...

...to address a contemporary problem: To extricate the New World from outside control.

Second, there was no guarantee that the extrication would succeed but the Founding Fathers would have been remiss if they had not outlined a system of local control to fill the void.

None of this has any relationship with the New World in 2010. If the Founding Fathers were magically teleported to 2010, and they were beneficiaries of a Vulcan mind meld that brought them up to speed, and they were gathered together in the same groups as gathered in the late 1700's, I have zero doubt that the content of their conversations and debates would piss off most of the people who are fond of invoking the Founding Fathers today.

Said another way, if a Strict Constructionist (for instance) of today were to say to the teleported Benjamin Franklin "But you said...", Franklin would respond "That was then and this is now."

During the panel discussion Michele said, "The system is mutable." If the Founding Fathers did not believe this to be true and necessary, they wouldn't have told King George III to go fuck himself and they wouldn't have provided for debate in governance.

great idea

logo update needed - 60th, WHERE ARE YA?

Liberal tea parties? I'm down.

As for pitchforks, I think there's an App for that too.

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http://www.vodamusic.com/blog/

link or thread or link or thread??
I'm confused.

http://www.lesecologycenter.org/

These green people are out collecting out of date electronics/computers. This movement was not started by Bloomberg or by the manufacturers of these very toxic products. This comes up from concerned citizens going out to the streets. Do you know of this type of this thing in your neighborhood?

I here UUUUUU.

Russ Feingold ??

I would say what is needed is definitely NOT an elected official. Rather a civilian leader.

That's part of why MLK was so successful.

It's tough to claim moral authority when yr a politician.
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http://www.vodamusic.com/blog/

"The companies didn't disclose terms of the new deal. Terms of TV programming deals are typically kept under wraps and include a bundle of channels, making it difficult to tell how much Time Warner Cable is paying. Contract negotiations had been deadlocked over a $1 monthly per-subscriber fee that News Corp. had demanded for its Fox network stations."
==
But this rag I quoted from - owned by one of the TV players - did not find it germane to find out where the sticking point of money ended up. "TV programming deals are typically kept under wraps," what, unless the agreement is up, then they figure out it's .25 or $1?

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

Blue Roots Radio

As a nation we need to change the
system as soon as we can.

.
.
.
_ _ _

YT

I will set the old alarm 4 next Sunday.
It gives me a purpose - ya know.

What I heard sounded great.

"Rag" another word soon to be slated to the dustbin of history.

Although a quick search of "slate" does not mention that school 'blackboards' [what's a blackboard?] were made of slate and that dustbins were the place where 'rag pickers' would pick rags which is where high quality paper came from.

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

Blue Roots Radio

Here is a list of the Senate-confirmed Bush U.S. Attorneys who are still in office:

-Leura Canary (Middle District of Alabama)

-Joseph Russonello (Northern District of California)

-A. Brian Albritton (Middle District of Florida)

-Leonardo Rapados (Guam and Northern Mariana Islands)

-Thomas Moss (Idaho)

-Patrick Fitzgerald (Northern District of Illinois)

-Matthew G. Whitaker (Southern District of Iowa)

-Jim Letten (Eastern District of Louisiana)

-David Dugas (Middle District of Louisiana)

-Donald Washington (Western District of Louisiana)

-Rod Rosenstein (Maryland)

-Jim Greenlee (Northern District of Mississippi)

-Bill Mercer (Montana)

-George E.B. Holding (Eastern District of North Carolina)

-Anna Mills Wagoner (Middle District of North Carolina)

-Sheldon Sperling (Eastern District of Oklahoma)

-Mary Beth Buchanan (Western District of Pennsylvania)

-William Walters Wilkins III (South Carolina)

-James Dedrick (Eastern District of Tennessee)

-Edward Yarbrough (Middle District of Tennessee)

-James McDevitt (Eastern District of Washington)

-Sharon Potter (Northern District of West Virginia)

-Kelly Rankin (Wyoming)

And here is a list of non-Senate confirmed attorneys appointed during the Bush administration who are still in office:

-Thomas F. Kirwin (Northern District of Florida)

-Matt Dummermuth (Northern District of Iowa)

-Paula Silsby (Maine)

-Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Valez (Puerto Rico)

-Charles T. Miller (Southern District of West Virginia)

-A. Courtney Cox (Southern District of Illinois)

-James Zerhusen (Eastern District of Kentucky)

-Gregory Fouratt (New Mexico)

http://www.mainjustice.com/2009/10/02/one-third-of-us-attorneys-are-bush...

Submitted by jbenet on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 12:08pm.
"Rag" another word soon to be slated to the dustbin of history.
-----------
Rag in the sense of a periodic publication might, indeed, fall out of favor.

On-the-rag in the sense of periodic irritability is destined to live on.

Trust me on this, you insensitive bastard.

World's tallest building set to open in Dubai
BBC News - ‎20 minutes ago‎ -
------------------
I would have gone with...

World's Tallest Building Set To Debut In Dubai

...if I was writing it for maggiesboy to say on-air.

"

Midway
Message from the Gyre
These photographs of albatross chicks were made on Midway Atoll, a tiny stretch of sand and coral near the middle of the North Pacific. The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking.

To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, none of the plastic in any of these photographs was moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the untouched stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent.

~cj, Seattle, October 2009 "

more of Chris Jordan's work here
http://chrisjordan.com/

==
"Global Warming" is a hoax because the problem is bigger than that.
"Global Warming" is a tag that lets the THUGS play with the idea as a money maker.
What is more of an example of human disruption of natural systems than the Plastic Gyre Continent.

The human cesspool, some like to call the earth, needs a PR firm.

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

Blue Roots Radio

How abut that Dear Zachary, eh?

..is only so-so. Dubai debut is a beaut.

You're officially on the payroll Crank.

While also reporting a problem in the party....

GOP cash woes threaten House bids
By: Ben Smith and Josh Kraushaar
January 3, 2010 07:00 AM EST

With the Republican Party on the cusp of major gains in the House next year — and with the dream of retaking the House appearing to be a real, if improbable, possibility — one major obstacle remains: tightfisted Republican incumbents.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, the key cog in helping to finance GOP campaigns, has banked less than a third as much money as its Democratic counterpart and is ending the year with barely enough money to fully finance a single House race — no less the dozens that will be in play come 2010.

A big part of the problem, according to Republican strategists, is that GOP members themselves — the ones who stand the most to gain from large-scale House gains — haven’t chipped in accordingly, despite evidence of solid opportunities in at least 40 districts next year and with as many as 80 seats in play, according to the Cook Political Report’s estimates.

In the past three months, only 75 of 177 Republicans — most of whom represent safe districts — transferred money into the committee, netting it $2.1 million. The average donation was just $28,000, with only 11 members donating $50,000 or more during that time period.

During that same time period, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has netted nearly $4 million from 90 of its members — with 35 House Democrats chipping in at least $50,000.

Republicans are already expressing concerns that they may not have enough resources to fully take advantage of the political climate, which is shaping to be the most favorable for the GOP since the last time they took control of the House in 1994.

“We have the recruits to get this back, but we don’t know if we have the resources. We need every one of [our members] pulling at the oars right now,” NRCC executive director Guy Harrison told POLITICO.

The NRCC’s chairman, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.), took the post last fall with high fundraising hopes, combining his own Texas money connections with a climate of rising anticipation in the conservative grass-roots.

The environment has grown even more encouraging throughout the year, with a wave of swing district Democrats announcing their retirement. Most recently, House Republicans scored a major coup in persuading freshman Democratic Rep. Parker Griffith to switch parties.

But that hasn’t yet translated into a financial windfall for the GOP, and in November the committee posted its worst monthly fundraising number since April — even at a time when all political indicators suggest the momentum is on the Republican side.

The fundraising disparity between the two committees is striking: The DCCC outraised the NRCC this year by more than $18 million, according to FEC figures at the end of November. The NRCC has only $4.3 million left in its campaign account — with more than $2 million in debt — leaving it with just a pittance to fund the dozens of races it hopes to aggressively contest.

The DCCC, meanwhile, is sitting on a $15.3 million nest egg (with $2.6 million owed), steadily expanding its cash-on-hand advantage over Republicans throughout the year.

The money disparity is so conspicuous that it’s become part of the Democrats’ messaging as to why they’ll be able to hold onto their majority. Earlier this month, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland pointed to the NRCC’s anemic fundraising as a reason he doubted that the GOP would be able to make large-scale gains in next year’s midterms.

Van Hollen estimated that, if the NRCC spent money in just 40 House races, it would only have about $100,000 to spend in each one — chump change given the cost of modern campaigns, particularly in major-market districts.

“We are consistently talking to our members about the opportunity, and we’ve got to make sure they understand that. We’re getting outraised by their members, but I don’t think that will last long term,” Harrison said.

Harrison pointed to the diminished number of Republicans, to a tradition of late-breaking contributions from members and to the difficulties of learning to fund raise while out of power. more...

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=E1FE1B98-18FE-70B2-A8642C823...

toniD's Ya Think?

...in 2 segments.

Sorry cranes for not being a better host and asking for input by giving instructions. I should stick to not pushing the right buttons at the wrong time a just moderate a bit.

Your options are:

1. send email to mail@blueroots.com

2. Get on Skype and IM bluerootsradio

3. Got on Skype and make a Contact Request to bluerootsradio

4. Post it here and hope I'm prescient enough to come look, cuz I do.

5. Holler real loud and hope we hear it.

Are planned airport scanners just a scam?

New technology that Gordon Brown relies on for his response to the Christmas Day bomb attack has been tested – and found wanting

By Jane Merrick

The explosive device smuggled in the clothing of the Detroit bomb suspect would not have been detected by body-scanners set to be introduced in British airports, an expert on the technology warned last night.

The claim severely undermines Gordon Brown's focus on hi-tech scanners for airline passengers as part of his review into airport security after the attempted attack on Flight 253 on Christmas Day.

The Independent on Sunday has also heard authoritative claims that officials at the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Home Office have already tested the scanners and were not persuaded that they would work comprehensively against terrorist threats to aviation.

The claims triggered concern that the Prime Minister is over-playing the benefits of such scanners to give the impression he is taking tough action on terrorism.

And experts in the US said airport "pat-downs" – a method used in hundreds of airports worldwide – were ineffective and would not have stopped the suspect boarding the plane.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, allegedly concealed in his underpants a package containing nearly 3oz of the chemical powder PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate). He also carried a syringe containing a liquid accelerant to detonate the explosive.

Since the attack was foiled, body-scanners, using "millimetre-wave" technology and revealing a naked image of a passenger, have been touted as a solution to the problem of detecting explosive devices that are not picked up by traditional metal detectors – such as those containing liquids, chemicals or plastic explosive.

But Ben Wallace, the Conservative MP, who was formerly involved in a project by a leading British defence research firm to develop the scanners for airport use, said trials had shown that such low-density materials went undetected.

Tests by scientists in the team at Qinetiq, which Mr Wallace advised before he became an MP in 2005, showed the millimetre-wave scanners picked up shrapnel and heavy wax and metal, but plastic, chemicals and liquids were missed.

If a material is low density, such as powder, liquid or thin plastic – as well as the passenger's clothing – the millimetre waves pass through and the object is not shown on screen. High- density material such as metal knives, guns and dense plastic such as C4 explosive reflect the millimetre waves and leave an image of the object. more...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/are-planned-airport-scann...

toniD's Ya Think?

Democrats are turning their fire on Scott Rasmussen, the prolific independent pollster whose surveys on elections, President Obama’s popularity and a host of other issues are surfacing in the media with increasing frequency.

The pointed attacks reflect a hardening conventional wisdom among prominent liberal bloggers and many Democrats that Rasmussen Reports polls are, at best, the result of a flawed polling model and, at worst, designed to undermine Democratic politicians and the party’s national agenda.

On progressive-oriented websites, anti-Rasmussen sentiment is an article of faith. “Rasmussen Caught With Their Thumb on the Scale,” blared the Daily Kos this summer. “Rasmussen Reports, You Decide,” the blog Swing State Project recently headlined in a play on the Fox News motto.

“I don’t think there are Republican polling firms that get as good a result as Rasmussen does,” said Eric Boehlert, a senior fellow with Media Matters, a progressive research center. “His data looks like it all comes out of the RNC [Republican National Committee].”

“Whether intended or not, Rasmussen polls have been used by conservative voices as talking points, and when that happens on one side it inevitably produces a reaction from the other,” explained Mark Blumenthal, a polling analyst and the editor and publisher of Pollster.com. “Rasmussen produces a lot of data that appear to produce narratives conservatives are promoting, and that causes a reaction.”

While Scott Rasmussen, the firm’s president, contends that he has no ax to grind — his bio notes that he has been “an independent pollster for more than a decade” and “has never been a campaign pollster or consultant for candidates seeking office” — his opponents on the left insist he is the hand that feeds conservative talkers a daily trove of negative numbers that provides grist for attacks on Obama and the Democratic Party. more...

Dems say it's the way he frames the questions...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/31047_Page2.html

toniD's Ya Think?

Submitted by maggiesboy on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 2:09pm.
You're officially on the payroll Crank.
--------
All I ask is that I am paid more than you.

The new Katrina flood: Hospital liability

By ProPublica
Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 -- 6:27 pm

Three years before Hurricane Katrina inundated New Orleans, a senior executive at Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital assessed its vulnerability to the sort of flooding that had been long feared there.

Her conclusion is now evidence in a lawsuit against Methodist that could have significant implications for hospitals nationwide.

“The first question is, do we have generators placed to accommodate an emergency flood with 15 feet of water?” wrote Cameron B. Barr, then an executive vice president. “The answer to that question is no.” One of the two main generators was located on a roof, she said, but another “would be nonfunctional at about two feet of flood water around the generator.”

Not only would it have to be relocated, she said, but the power plant and an underground tunnel connecting the plant to the hospital would have to be protected.

As a “back of the envelope” estimate, Ms. Barr wrote, “to protect the Hospital, East Tower, power plant building and to relocate the emergency generators and fuel supply would probably be a $7.5 million project.”

But the money was never spent, the power went out, and the hospital’s life-support machines stopped working. Now, the family of Althea LaCoste, a 73-year-old patient who died in what her family’s lawyers allege was sweltering heat after nurses spent hours pumping air into her lungs by hand in the pitch dark, is raising a potentially far-reaching legal question: How prepared do hospitals have to be for the worst possible circumstances?

More than 100 deaths occurred in New Orleans-area hospitals and nursing homes after Hurricane Katrina when emergency backup power systems failed and patients languished for days awaiting transport. About 200 lawsuits have been filed in Louisiana alleging that these institutions are liable for the deaths and for the suffering of other patients who survived because corporate failure to plan adequately for flooding and implement evacuation constituted negligence or medical malpractice.

The LaCoste trial is set to begin on Monday. “This could be a new theory of liability against health care institutions — lack of emergency preparedness,” said Kristin McMahon, an attorney and chief claims officer for IronHealth, a company that insures hospitals. “The courts across the country will be looking at it.”

The case has already been precedent-setting in Louisiana. The state’s Supreme Court decided the allegations were based on general negligence claims, as opposed to medical malpractice in which damages would be capped at $500,000. This markedly increased hospital owners’ potential liability.

Mrs. LaCoste’s family alleges that the hospital was negligent for having inadequate emergency power systems, evacuation plans and floodwater protection. They say a fuel pump that failed after it was flooded caused the higher generator to shut down — an event they say could have been avoided if the hospital had invested less than $10,000 in a submersible pump.

The hospital’s owners argue in court filings that Hurricane Katrina was an “act of God” that could not be foreseen, that the hospital was not negligent, and that it would be unreasonable to expect a hospital to be impervious to all of the unlikely catastrophes its emergency plans contemplate, including tornadoes and a “terrorist event.”

Methodist’s owners also maintain that the hospital’s emergency power system “met or exceeded applicable electrical codes and standards.”

But systems that meet those standards are “not always sufficient” in major catastrophes, according to a warning issued after Katrina by the organization that accredits most American hospitals, the Joint Commission. National electrical standards for hospitals were traditionally oriented toward maintaining electricity during common, brief local power outages, not prolonged emergencies.

National Fire Protection Association standards call for “careful consideration” to be given to protecting electrical components from “natural forces common to the area” such as storms, floods and earthquakes, but that guidance is not specific. Emergency systems do not have to be designed to power air-conditioning or heating. Other aspects of hospital emergency planning are even less regulated.

These problems were recognized years before Katrina. When Tropical Storm Allison flooded Houston in June 2001, some hospitals in the nation’s largest medical complex, Texas Medical Center, lost power because either emergency generators or their associated electrical components were located below flood level. more...

http://rawstory.com/2009//01/katrina-flood-hospital-liability/

toniD's Ya Think?

JFI, :o RE:
SF 7
STL 3
;)

That could be a penny. More than zero = 1 cent

toniD's Ya Think?

Submitted by toniD on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 3:23pm.
That could be a penny.
------
I want a piece of the residuals, too.

And a key to the executive washroom.

Nice to se ya!! :)

was a terrible story, i didn't know stuff like that could be allowed to happen in this world, for real

one more toss-and-turn agitated night because of it, but that's nothing new for me (the sleepless agitated thing)

kept thinking of the baby, as a grandma obviously that's the stuff that tugs at my heart the most

The ten day forecast predicts the following lows.

7, 4, 18, 15, 0, 0, 0, 19, 24, 20.

Ms_Anthrope's breast is warmer.

Submitted by toniD on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 3:23pm.

More than zero = 1 cent

....

I guess I'll take that as a compliment...It's nice to be appreciated.... ;)

question

I was watching the rose bowl

Remember when the Ohio player made the catch and tip-toed along the sideline and the Oregon player that tackled him stepped out of bounds and then made the tackle just short of the end zone?

Doesn't seem right. Is that correct? the defender can step out and still make the play?

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

Blue Roots Radio

otherwise a defensive player can return in bounds to make a tackle...

read more if you need to mybudget360.com
==
[thx cent]

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

Blue Roots Radio

not by a long shot.

'A Different Kind of War' nyt

"“A Different Kind of War” is the first installment of the Army’s official history of the war in Afghanistan, covering the period from October 2001 to September 2005. Written by a team of seven historians at the Army’s Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and based on open source material, it is scheduled to be published by spring. The New York Times obtained a copy of the manuscript, which is still under review by current and former military officials."
pg.1 of 422
==
my vote; Person of the Decade: Pat Tillman

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

Blue Roots Radio

The point is they realized they were giving the keys of the asylum to the lunatics. I don't see what the problem is with referring to them, but like Hertzberg said we shouldn't be worshipping them, we should be imitating them because this puzzle is far from solved. Even they said they didn't get it right the first time.

"There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in."

~Leonard Cohen

is still in Retrograde..... 

on the 15th there will be a New Moon, a Solar Eclipse and Mercury starts back direct....

"LA RECETA" by Kemo the Blaxican

http://www.kemotheblaxican.com/

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

Blue Roots Radio

Mummified Peasant Discovered Near Hamburg

Bait News Service - 1 minute ago

A water line crew working near Hamburg, Germany unearthed a mummified man thought to be at least 500 years old. Scientists don't yet know the exact details behind the mummification although preliminary evidence indicates that the unusual soil acted as a dessicant.

"He is very well preserved," said anthropologist Otto Benedikta from his office in Stuttgart. "He is certainly a male despite some missing parts."

Experts in several disciplines from universities across the globe are lining up for the opportunity to study the mummified corpse of a Germanic peasant from the Middle Ages, already dubbed Teuton Common.

Brennan Hits Back at Cheney
White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan blasted former Vice President Dick Cheney's recent criticism of President Obama on Meet the Press.

Said Brennan: "I'm very disappointed in the vice president's comments. I'm neither a Republican nor a Democrat -- I've worked for the past five administrations. And either the vice president is willfully mischaracterizing this president's position -- both in terms of language he uses, and the actions he's taken -- or he's ignorant of the fact. And in either case, it doesn't speak well of what the vice president's doing."

Read more...

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/01/03/brennan_hits_back_at_cheney...

toniD's Ya Think?

Blame Game Backfiring on Republicans?
Mike Allen notes that the GOP is blaming the Obama administration for the failed Christmas Day airplane attack. "But Republican lawmakers, candidates, pundits and commentators -- and the Bush administration -- blamed the CLINTON administration for 9/11."

Flashback to September 2006, Secretary of State Rice told the New York Post editorial board: "Nobody organized this country or the international community to fight the terrorist threat that was upon us until 9/11... We just weren't organized as a country either domestically or as a leader internationally. But what we did in the eight months was at least as aggressive as what the Clinton Administration did in the preceding years... We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al Qaeda."

That logic would mean the Bush administration is also culpable for the intelligence failures discovered over the last week.

http://www.politico.com/playbook/0110/playbook913.html

toniD's Ya Think?

BRIT HUME SAID WHAT?.... As regular readers know, I've made no mention of Tiger Woods on this blog. I don't care about golf; I don't care about golfers' private lives; I don't care about any aspect of this "story" at any level.

But I was taken aback when I saw that Fox News' Brit Hume, reflecting on Woods' career on the air this morning, talked about whether the golfer may return to his chosen profession.

"The extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith," Hume said. "He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So, my message to Tiger is, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."

Hume was not, as the video shows, kidding.

It's hard to even know where to start with something like this. How many high-profile Christians have had damaging sex scandals of late? Why is Buddhism deemed inadequate for those with family problems? Why is a senior political analyst for a so-called "news" network proselytizing, on the air, during one of the network's "news" programs?

Jamison Foser added, "If this wasn't Fox News, I'd take 'Tomorrow, 2 pm' in the when-will-Hume-apologize pool. But it is Fox, so 'the Fifth of Never' seems like a safer choice." Video at link

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_01/021737.php

toniD's Ya Think?

Cities, counties take back corporate tax breaks
AP

CHICAGO – Cash-strapped communities have a message for corporations that promised jobs in return for tax breaks: A deal's a deal.

As the economy sputters along, municipalities struggling to fix roads, fund schools and pay bills increasingly are rescinding tax abatements to companies that don't hire enough workers, that lay them off or that close up shop. At the same time, they're sharpening new incentive deals, leaving no doubt what is expected of companies and what will happen if they don't deliver.

"We will roll out the red carpet as much as we can (but) they are going to honor the contract," said Brendon Gallagher, an alderman in DeKalb, Ill., where Target Corp. got abatements from the city, county, school district and other taxing bodies after promising at least 500 jobs at a local distribution center.

So when the company came up 66 workers short in 2009, Target got word its next tax bill would be jumping almost $600,000 — more than half of which goes to the local school district, where teachers and programs have been cut as coffers dried up.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_tax_fights

toniD's Ya Think?

Floundering Founding Fathers...
Submitted by maggiesboy on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 6:12pm.
...I don't see what the problem is with referring to them...
--------
"The founding fathers" are often invoked by people who want to give their own opinions a shot of sacrosanct gravitas. You will hear the same people lean heavily on "patriotism" and "freedom" to prop up their arguments.

The founding fathers are often included in a commentary that presumes to know their intent as it would be applied today.

I doubt that the founding fathers gave a lot of thought to the 21st century. If they did, they could not have correctly imagined the circumstances.

Jamaal Charles of the Kansas City Chiefs has broken a franchise record by rushing 259 yards during a spanking of the Denver Broncos. The game is still in progress.

K.C. - 44
Denver - 24

..did you watch the Hertzberg book discussion?

still getting beat up on the rink?

I've been damn busy for a couple months. Technically I am a Teamster now! Also smashing my head against this ridiculous recording software.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.vodamusic.com/blog/

Starters rest but Chargers still top Redskins 23-20

SAN DIEGO (CBS 8/AP) -- A Billy Volek pass to Mike Tolbert with 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter led the Chargers past the Washington Redskins for their 11th straight win.

The Chargers were down 20-16 late in the fourth when Volek led a 12-play drive down the field. His pass to Tolbert and the extra point kick by Nate Kaeding gave the Charge

but they say if you have had nonvirtous action you can mitigate it in 4 ways:

* by disclosing it

* by regretting having done it

* by intending not to do it again

* and by engaging in virtuous actions such as public service

So there Mr. Hume once again you've aired your ignorance to the world and broadcast your passive hatred.

Foes of Health Bill look to the Courts

Source: AP

A small but vocal contingent of legal scholars and many Republican lawmakers argue that the measures passed by both chambers are unconstitutional and will be ruled so by the Supreme Court. Their primary target: the individual mandate, which requires people to get health insurance or pay a financial penalty of at least 2 percent of their income to the government.

Though it would affect only those who do not get insurance from their employer, Medicare or Medicaid, the mandate is a central component of Democrats' reform plans, which operate under the assumption that bringing everyone into the national insurance pool — particularly young, healthy people who do not have coverage — will reduce premiums across the board. By adding millions of new customers, the mandate is also designed to make reform more palatable for insurance companies, which will face new restrictions and requirements.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here

But some critics dismiss the economic merits, saying the bills would force people to buy a particular product. Laws requiring drivers to carry auto insurance do the same thing, but people can choose not to own a car. The health insurance mandate includes no such alternative.

"In the history of this country, the federal government has never required every American to enter into a contract with a private company," said Randy Barnett, a professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University Law Center.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34667462/ns/politics-washington_post

toniD's Ya Think?

yes, the opponents of health care reform are definitely trying everything the can. lTHe truth is there's not that much about reform now - only forcing everyone to buy insurance, which i don't think is constitutional. We can do better.

...worked for “contractor” active in Venezuela, Cuba

.....On December 15, DAI published a press release mourning “project personnel killed in Afghanistan”. “DAI is deeply saddened to report the deaths of five staff associated with our projects in Afghanistan…On December 15, five employees of DAI’s security subcontractor were killed by an explosion in the Gardez office of the Local Governance and Community Development (LGCD) Program, a USAID project implemented by DAI.”

DAI also runs a program in Khost where the December 30 suicide bombing occurred, although it has yet to be confirmed if the eight U.S. citizens killed were working for the major U.S. government contractor. From the operations base in Khost, the CIA remotely controls its selective assassination program against alleged Al Qaeda members in Pakistan and Afghanistan using drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) Predator planes......
http://www.chavezcode.com/2009/12/cia-agents-assassinated-in-afghanistan...

THX {...but she "arfs"... yet she "forces" Love}
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

;)

{i hope this works ;D, toniD}

Banks Roll Out New Check, Card Fees

Source: WSJ

The nation's banks will be bombarding customers with new fees and products in 2010 as they try to replace more than $50 billion in revenue wiped out by new rules that clamp down on certain business practices.

So far, the changes are mostly concentrated in checking accounts and credit cards. In addition to attaching new fees to old products, banks are introducing new types of accounts that they hope will reel in new customers and reduce their funding costs.

For plastic, the new rules go into effect in February as part of the Credit Card Act of 2009. The rules will limit some interest-rate increases, require more disclosure to customers and prohibit banks from raising interest rates on current balances unless a customer is at least 60 days behind in a payment.

Credit-card issuers collected $22.9 billion in penalty fees—such as those assessed for late payments—in 2009, up from $19 billion in 2008, said , who runs a credit-card consulting firm in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Credit-card companies already have been racing to slip new fees and practices into customer contracts ahead of the law. Issuers are closing accounts, switching cards with fixed interest rates to variable rates and introducing cards that have an annual fee.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Banks-Roll-Out-New-Check-Card-wallstreet-3...

toniD's Ya Think?

;)

You got your photo seen and stretched the blog big time. If you don't know how to fix it, delete please!

The dogs are cute, fine, but learn how to shrink the photo here please. that's 1023 pixels wide!

toniD's Ya Think?

.

I believe the Rose Bowl isn't until the 7th between the Texas Longhorns and Alabama Red Tide. How long have you been a time traveler? I swear, Sammy's bloggers are the most talented! If you are referring to last year's game, I didn't watch the rose bowl that year. But I will say too often, the world isn't fair.

Crank, You should at least visit your southern friends in this critical moment. I'm not all sure it will be much different. It will be 17 here on Thursday. Have I ever told you how much I HATE cold weather?

Karma takes care of all of us. If you have accumulated bad karma thru sexual misconduct which is a non virtue...suffering will help to purify it so will accumulation of merit...(virtuous acts) and then there is Buddhist practices like mantra etc.

Forgiveness and confession are a very integral part of the Buddhist philosophy. There should alway be deep regret about anything we do that harms another...

Idiot!

I know, I know I just accumulated some bad karma for wrong speech!

"It's just a god damned piece of paper." - GWB

The Constitution was not just a compromise between rich white guys trying to avoid paying King George taxes...it is more than that...it is about putting laws in place to protect us from our own human frailties...

There are those who would change the laws to suit their own needs and meet their ends, on a whim...without foresight or consideration for the future....and regardless of the impact those changes would have on others...making that task extremely difficult was one of the things they got right...

I would hope that anyone proposing to rewrite the Constitution be as smart as Jefferson or Madison...or at least smarter than me...Bush just doesn't qualify...

Jan 3, 2010 7:45 am US/Eastern Calif. Megachurch Pastor Rakes In More Than $2M

Evangelical pastor Rick Warren's plea for donations to fill a $900,000 deficit at his Southern California megachurch brought in $2.4 million, Warren announced to cheers during a sermon at the church on Saturday.

Warren said the amount raised after the appeal was posted online Wednesday included only money parishioners brought in person to Saddleback Church by New Year's Eve. More was arriving by hand and by mail, he said.

"This is pretty amazing," said Warren, who made the announcement by bringing out 24 volunteers each holding a sign for $100,000. "I don't think any church has gotten a cash offering like that off a letter."

The pastor said he planned to talk about what he called his church's "radical generosity" in the rest of the weekend's sermons. He said the total came from members, and the donations were all under $100.

"We're starting the new decade with a surplus," he said. "It came from thousands of ordinary people. This was not one big fat cat."

The posting on Warren's Web site read: "With 10 percent of our church family out of work due to the recession, our expenses in caring for our community in 2009 rose dramatically while our income stagnated."

Warren said the church had largely managed to stay within its budget during the year, but "the bottom dropped out" when Christmas donations were down.

The letter cited the church's accomplishments in 2009 and detailed how the donations would be used, including the church's food pantry, homeless ministry, counseling and support groups.

Warren made similar pleas after Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Asian tsunami, raising $1.7 million and $1.6 million from Saddleback parishioners.

Warren is the author of numerous books, including the best-selling "The Purpose Driven Life." He was named the top newsmaker of the year for 2009 by the Religion Newswriters Association, gaining attention with his invocation at the inauguration of President Barack Obama and comments in the aftermath of California's Proposition 8, which overturned gay marriage.

He founded Saddleback Church in 1980 in Lake Forest, about 65 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

con't

http://cbs3.com/topstories/rick.warren.million.2.1402330.html

They are cute dogs though!

toniD's Ya Think?

jbenet on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 5:21pm.
Submitted by Fernando on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 8:20pm.
==
easy confusion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Rose_Bowl
The 2010 Rose Bowl, the 96th edition of the annual game, was a college football bowl game played on Friday, January 1, 2010 at the same-named stadium in Pasadena, California.[3] It featured the Ohio State Buckeyes against the Oregon Ducks. The Buckeyes won 26–17.
...
This game was a separate BCS game from the National Championship Game, which the Pasadena Tournament of Roses will also host. The 2010 Citi BCS National Championship Game will be held on January 7 at 5:00 PM (PST).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_BCS_National_Championship_Game

==
later - off to work

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

Blue Roots Radio

Wow James! Thanks for that info. I only know the Rose Bowl as the Championship. They have two bowls in Pasadena? I watched that game on TV and was confused as hell the whole time.

Is that new?

of Regulations....

Bernanke Says Low Rates Didn’t Cause Housing Bubble

Source: Bloomberg

Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank’s low interest rates didn’t cause the past decade’s housing bubble and that better regulation would have been more effective in limiting the boom.

“The best response to the housing bubble would have been regulatory, rather than monetary,” Bernanke said today in remarks to the American Economic Association’s annual meeting in Atlanta. The Fed’s efforts to constrain the bubble were “too late or were insufficient,” which means that regulatory actions “must be better and smarter,” he said.

Bernanke said the Fed is working to improve its supervision of banks and has strengthened measures to protect consumers
Mortgages and other financial products. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, who backs Bernanke for a second term, has called the Fed’s oversight of banks leading up to the crisis an “abysmal failure.” Dodd proposes stripping the Fed and other agencies of bank supervision powers and moving them to a new regulator.

Scholars such as Allan Meltzer, a historian of the central bank, have criticized the Fed for helping fuel the housing boom by keeping interest rates too low for too long. The bursting of the housing bubble led to the worst recession since the Great Depression and the loss of more than 7 million U.S. jobs.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=auCLZh_HZf9E&pos=1

toniD's Ya Think?

Greenspan wasn't responsible for failing to regulate Wall Street...but he was HUGELY responsible by recommending to Congress that they don't....and giving the Banks enough cheap money to make their risk to return ratio too good to pass up...

the market sure did "take care of itself"...stupid assed Objectivists...

...amazing what one can miss...

...and no man has ever complained about being tooooo cold ;D
mwah haha ;)

Submitted by maggiesboy on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 7:19pm.
..did you watch the Hertzberg book discussion?
--------
No.

{I think it was what was "posted" ...}

...I have copied your different suggestions. If I didn't use an already "RESIZE" on PHOTOBUCKET, I would try. I understand what you write, but then again "not", for I haven't got "your way" to work, yet. When done with other things, I will {I hope} learn further. Thank You. You size of PIX was what I was trying for, but it went to other size and on PHOTOBUCKET, I can't change back. ;D
THX ;)

Submitted by Ms_Anthrope on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 9:35pm.
...amazing what one can miss...
----------
Teuton Common.

It was my tour de force. It didn't score so much as a chuckle.

I'm crushed.

{Crank Bait on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 11:22am.}
;)

I bet Neferkitty would think it was funny.

I don't know if that is new or not.

But add these two to that.

The az cards played green bay and next week the cards play green bay.

Because giants stadium is being torn down, the ny giants played the final game in giants stadium today. Got that from watching earlier. Yet Sunday night football... jets and bengals playing the last game in giants stadium...

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

Blue Roots Radio

Missed the full impact of the ham handed discovery. Was reeling from the image of bloody rags.

---
at wk just about tostart. ... later
~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

Family feud desert style.

And then Abraham was the link amongst the tribes that call themselves Hebrew and Arab, so that seems to be another family feud.

http://rawstory.com/2009/01/brit-hume-tiger-woods-must-become-christian/

Look, even the GOPers didn't have the GALL to add a MANDATE to DRUG PLAN D -- but there is the MANDATE in the Dems' healthcare bill!

It doesn't get much better than this for the Corporatists and Profit Worshippers. So why should they decide to change horses now and fund the GOPers right away?

;D - re: Crank Bait on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 10:26pm.,
... and if talking to me.
;)

The Cowboys and the Eagles played today and meet again next week for their first playoff game.

")

This is for Tiger, (and Brit), if he's checking out the blog tonight!

Submitted by mhappenow on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 8:11pm.
Karma takes care of all of us. If you have accumulated bad karma thru sexual misconduct which is a non virtue...suffering will help to purify it so will accumulation of merit...(virtuous acts) and then there is Buddhist practices like mantra etc.

Forgiveness and confession are a very integral part of the Buddhist philosophy. There should alway be deep regret about anything we do that harms another...

...

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

A favorite quote of the Buddha:

"Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared."

-----

A friend says Woods was single-handedly trying to keep women-of-the-night off the streets and gainfully employed -- but that's not what I'm referring to.

The happiness to which I'm referring concerns Woods' phenomenal commitment to golf excellence which made a lot of people inspired, hopeful, expectant and happy.

From this, I wonder if Woods has some good karma built up by now to cover those transgressions.

In the doctor's office the other day I picked up a People magazine and read there that certain sources say Mrs. Woods started using the golf club on Mr. Woods when he was asleep-with-the-aid-of-Ambien (which is why he was attempting to drive away barefoot?); if that is true, he may already have paid for his transgression via being bludgeoned by Mrs. Woods. (If there was assault with the intent to who-knows-what, might Mrs. Woods' karmic scorecard now be the one with a whopping imbalance?)

http://www.edgechicago.com/index.php?ch=health_fitness&sc=health&sc2=&sc...

;D

Glenn Greenwald on where the fear of terrorism gets us--

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/02

Incredible. Tasering gets more awful every day. Besides, I thought paramedics strapped a patient onto the gurney to prevent patient injury....

http://rawstory.com/2009/01/chicago-cop-tasered-diabetic-seizure-11-time...

And while we're at it, let Wall Street pay for its own bonuses.

http://www.thomhartmann.com/2008/09/26/how-wall-street-can-bail-itself-o...

re: nora on Mon, 01/04/2010 - 1:43am.

Live Text - South Africa v England third Test day two

1142[I think that's GMT-0] - 78-4 Bit streaky from Cook, squirting a drive past gully and away for four. Silly mid-off in for Cook, as Morkel continues to tease him outside off-stump.
...
1150 - 82-4 Still no spin from Harris, it's De Wet to replace Morkel. Still three slips and a gully in for Cook, but Cook's standing firm for now. "Chocolate is a fruit," says the man opposite me, to confused looks all round. He's actually quite intelligent, so no-one has the temerity to contradict him. Happy Spaghetti Day to Calvin in Sheffield.

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

Blue Roots Radio

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/opinion/04krugman.html?src=sch&pagewan...

Here’s what’s coming in economic news: The next employment report could show the economy adding jobs for the first time in two years. The next G.D.P. report is likely to show solid growth in late 2009. There will be lots of bullish commentary — and the calls we’re already hearing for an end to stimulus, for reversing the steps the government and the Federal Reserve took to prop up the economy, will grow even louder.

But if those calls are heeded, we’ll be repeating the great mistake of 1937, when the Fed and the Roosevelt administration decided that the Great Depression was over, that it was time for the economy to throw away its crutches. Spending was cut back, monetary policy was tightened — and the economy promptly plunged back into the depths.

This shouldn’t be happening. Both Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, and Christina Romer, who heads President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, are scholars of the Great Depression. Ms. Romer has warned explicitly against re-enacting the events of 1937. But those who remember the past sometimes repeat it anyway.

As you read the economic news, it will be important to remember, first of all, that blips — occasional good numbers, signifying nothing — are common even when the economy is, in fact, mired in a prolonged slump. In early 2002, for example, initial reports showed the economy growing at a 5.8 percent annual rate. But the unemployment rate kept rising for another year.

And in early 1996 preliminary reports showed the Japanese economy growing at an annual rate of more than 12 percent, leading to triumphant proclamations that “the economy has finally entered a phase of self-propelled recovery.” In fact, Japan was only halfway through its lost decade.

Such blips are often, in part, statistical illusions. But even more important, they’re usually caused by an “inventory bounce.” When the economy slumps, companies typically find themselves with large stocks of unsold goods. To work off their excess inventories, they slash production; once the excess has been disposed of, they raise production again, which shows up as a burst of growth in G.D.P. Unfortunately, growth caused by an inventory bounce is a one-shot affair unless underlying sources of demand, such as consumer spending and long-term investment, pick up.

Which brings us to the still grim fundamentals of the economic situation.

During the good years of the last decade, such as they were, growth was driven by a housing boom and a consumer spending surge. Neither is coming back. There can’t be a new housing boom while the nation is still strewn with vacant houses and apartments left behind by the previous boom, and consumers — who are $11 trillion poorer than they were before the housing bust — are in no position to return to the buy-now-save-never habits of yore.

What’s left? A boom in business investment would be really helpful right now. But it’s hard to see where such a boom would come from: industry is awash in excess capacity, and commercial rents are plunging in the face of a huge oversupply of office space.

Can exports come to the rescue? For a while, a falling U.S. trade deficit helped cushion the economic slump. But the deficit is widening again, in part because China and other surplus countries are refusing to let their currencies adjust.

So the odds are that any good economic news you hear in the near future will be a blip, not an indication that we’re on our way to sustained recovery. But will policy makers misinterpret the news and repeat the mistakes of 1937? Actually, they already are.

The Obama fiscal stimulus plan is expected to have its peak effect on G.D.P. and jobs around the middle of this year, then start fading out. That’s far too early: why withdraw support in the face of continuing mass unemployment? Congress should have enacted a second round of stimulus months ago, when it became clear that the slump was going to be deeper and longer than originally expected. But nothing was done — and the illusory good numbers we’re about to see will probably head off any further possibility of action.

Meanwhile, all the talk at the Fed is about the need for an “exit strategy” from its efforts to support the economy. One of those efforts, purchases of long-term U.S. government debt, has already come to an end. It’s widely expected that another, purchases of mortgage-backed securities, will end in a few months. This amounts to a monetary tightening, even if the Fed doesn’t raise interest rates directly — and there’s a lot of pressure on Mr. Bernanke to do that too.

Will the Fed realize, before it’s too late, that the job of fighting the slump isn’t finished? Will Congress do the same? If they don’t, 2010 will be a year that began in false economic hope and ended in grief.

but is hard to disagree with this rant...

...more on Afghanistan...

Obama was given, and has given, what was asked for to change strategy in Afghanistan...time to put up, or shut up...

Serial Catastrophes in Afghanistan threaten Obama Policy

Juan Cole
Monday, January 04, 2010

You probably won't see it in most US news outlets, but on Monday morning in Kabul and Jalalabad, hundreds of university students demonstrated against US strikes this weekend that allegedly killed a number of civilians. I want to underline the irony that the students in Tehran University are protesting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, while students in these two Afghan cities are calling for Yankees to go home. Nangarhar University in Jalalabad only has a student body of about 3200, so 'hundreds' of students protesting there would be a significant proportion of the student body.

The demonstrations could be a harbinger of things to come, but there was worse news. CIA field officers blown up, four US troops killed Sunday, and the rejection of most of the cabinet nominees by parliament, all signal rocky times ahead.

The past two weeks have seen the situation in Afghanistan deteriorate palpably, raising significant questions about the viability of the Obama-McChrysstal plan for the country. The chain of catastrophes has been reported in piecemeal fashion, but taken together these events are far more ominous than they might appear on the surface.

First, the US military launched a raid in Kunar Province two days after Christmas on a village a night, in which President Hamid Karzai alleged that 10 civilians, some 8 of them schoolchildren, had been killed (some say dragged out of their beds and executed). The NYT reported the head of a Kabul delegation to the village saying,“They gathered eight school students from two compounds and put them in one room and shot them with small arms." (The spokesman is a former governor of Kunar and now a close adviser to President Hamid Karzai-- i.e. not exactly a pro-Taliban source). The charitable theory is that in a nighttime raid, US troops got disoriented and hit the wrong group of young men.

[...]

Much more at Informed Comment

I was impressed to see the University kids in civil protest...as opposed to flat out violence...

Obama and McChrystals next moves here will indicate their true intentions and commitment to this counter insurgency strategy...

It seems to me that calling them on their lies is the honorable thing to do. Even if this clarification was done in proper speech those two would still be offended.I wouldn't worry about the karma of speaking the truth about their lies.

I need your personal opinion on best vegetarian sources of protein....

after giving up meat about 3 years ago, I have finally moved to the next phase and given up poultry (I am really going to miss fried chicken)...so now I am down to fish and veggies and dairy...

what works for you for protein?

to u all......
listening to Steph & the Mooks

hope u all r well today :)

thanks 4 posting Juan Cole - I always go to his site to read the real story, as 2 what is going on in the Mid-East.
I really like his blog...

my coffee will NOT stay warm - WTF??

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
& I can't seem to spell either....

sounds very very cold where you are...

not too bad here, bout 23 and sunny....we might even get up above freezing today.

Submitted by smcgee43 on Mon, 01/04/2010 - 10:47am.
...I can't seem to spell either...
---------
eee-eye-tee-aytch-eee-arr.

I understand your dismay.

Cool Jerk - The Captitols (MP3 - 5MB)

I was going to tell you that you spelled "either" correctly, but Crank's inner nun beat me to
a pulp and I don't know when I'll recover.

Later,
(Recovering RC) Chewsicle

Health care overhaul: Critics on left, right unite against mandate

Buying insurance should not be required, critics say

WASHINGTON -- If there is one thing in the proposed health care overhaul that sets Michael Cannon's libertarian teeth on edge, it's the requirement that all Americans must get health insurance.

"The federal government does not have the power to force you to purchase a private product," said Cannon, a health policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a free-market think tank.

But with Congress poised to do just that, the mandate for near-universal coverage is generating opposition not just from libertarians but from some liberals as well -- and even from some members of the insurance industry, which stands to gain millions of new customers.

Both the House and Senate versions of the health care revamp contain a mandate that everyone have insurance, be it through a job, the government or the private market.

The justification for the mandate seems simple: It reflects the basic concept underlying all insurance. A large number of people pay relatively modest premiums, creating a pool of money big enough to take care of those who need help. Having people of all ages participate is especially important with health care, analysts note, because the medical problems that result in big claims are found disproportionately in middle-aged and older Americans.

If younger, healthier people go without insurance, premiums for the others would be driven higher.

But even as critics on the right talk of legal challenges, critics on the left complain that Americans will be locked into buying a product that threatens to become ever more expensive -- especially if, as seems likely, the final bill does not contain a "public option," a government-run insurance program.

"We'd like to see the individual mandate stripped," said Jim Dean, chairman of the liberal Democracy for America group, which was created by Dean's brother, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. "It was fair given the presence of a government entity that could provide competition and control the cost. It's not fair if people are required to buy insurance from the same insurance industry that caused this problem in the first place."

Mainstream Republicans have also adopted the no-mandate war cry, led by more than a dozen state attorneys general who say they are exploring whether the mandate is unconstitutional.

[...]

Trib

the part that is missing from the mandate discussion is the elimination of pre-existing conditions. granted, they did a half ass job of it by saying that companies could charge you out the yin yang but still mandates would seem to be the price you pay to get rid of pre-existing conditions.

the reason seems pretty straightforward. you don't want people waiting till they know they are sick to start paying for insurance.

Hello - I agree, if u can't afford Health Insurance -
u r not going to be able to afford a stupid fee 4 not having it. It does NOT make any sense to me. So there..

Accountable Predictions and Long Bets:
http://www.longbets.org/predictions

2020 vision: where will we be in a decade's time?
Some predictions for the end of the next decade at The Telegraph (UK):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/6917389/2020-vision-where-will-we-b...

Criswell Predicts MP3:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/11/criswell_predic.html

I like beans and some cheese in mexican corn tortillas tasty!
I found a soy milk that I prefer to milk in my coffee called West Soy unsweetened chocolate . That brand has 8 grams of protein. 4 grams of fiber, one gram of sugar and a good hit of potassium per 8 ounces The sugars can inhibit the aborbtion of proteins and good fats. I grind almonds, walnuts and sesame seeds up in a coffee grinder and even just two tablespoons on oatmeal is tasty and a good protein. . putting seeds on grains is also a good way to keep blood sugar stable.(Last night I added ground sesame seeds to a vegetable curry) I don't feel deprived at all from the pleasures of eating mostly vegetable foods.. My chinese doctor said that seed/nut mixture would be good for my raw food vegan actor son. The grinding of seeds and nuts and making salad dressings with avocado or miso is a tasty favorite. I have made nut and seed milks by just grinding them and adding to water. Seeds seem to be good for men's sexual health.

I also use some organic eggs and fish if it is wild caught. . not everday though.
The Chinese make some gluten meat replacements and there are mixed opinions on them.. Oh yes I like buckwheat {knishes} and It is easy to make pancakes from various whole grains and add some protein powders, fermented buttermilk or even spirulina to the pancakes.
I use a tri protein powder by www.drpressman.com. it is hypo allegenic(doesn't seem to aggravate allergies) in a smoothly .
I am a big fan of supplimenting with blue green algaes like spirulina. It can be taken in tablets . Dr. Schulze(www.herbdoc.com) 1 800 437 2362 has a very imformative catolog I always learn something from him. It seems to help with losing weight when taken between meals.
It is good to to rotate these foods and try not to eat the same thing too many meals in a row. I am lucky because I lke millet and barley in soups. Many people eat some mushrooms. I prefer blue ones. Try to stay away from white flour breads and look for sprouted and stone ground flours. If you can learn to sprout or if you can buy good ones this is a very worthwhile endevour!
Proteins are a little harder to digest. I find vegetable digestive enzymes help me get strentgh and endurance. There are some "rules' about food combining ,basically eat your carbs first and wait a while and eat the heavy (animal )proteins say 30minutes later. These rules are less rigid if your sources of protein are from vegetable sources. Any legume like lentils and low fat yogurt works for me. . If you can figure out how to keep a stable blood sugar and if you eat smaller servings more frequently that "craving for meat seems to subside. . I can eat lower fat dairy and I use it to add taste to salads in dressings. It is obviously better to eat free range/organic chicken
once in a while rather than the airplane food that is so plentiful. enough already good luck finding what work's for you.

I received an email from the company that is publishing the book for the lady I am helping. The email included the pdf format of the proofs and the instruction on how to proof it.
So this morning I was busy printing the proofs and the directions. So that is a good thing.

I will have to input the corrections for her once she proofs them but she just called to tell me there seems to be very few mistakes so far.

So this is one problem seemingly solved.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

She has been writing this book for 20 years. She showed me her journals. It's an inspirational and religious book and even though she has written 2 other books, this seems to be the work of her life. Glad I could help her.

toniD's Ya Think?

do not mention "family feud" - it makes me cringe :)

Waiting For The Movie
Submitted by Crank Bait on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 9:45pm.
Submitted by maggiesboy on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 7:19pm.
..did you watch the Hertzberg book discussion?
--------
No.
--------
I can't do his argument justice re: founding fathers, but you're argument doesn't mesh with his statements. You have to watch. It's well worth the time. The link is now on the BRR website if you want to watch it.

PPIP: Banks 'Making A Killing' On Government Toxic Asset Program

Remember the Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP)? The Treasury Department unveiled the program in March and intended it as a way to help banks unload hard-to-sell (read: often toxic) mortgage securities. In short, private investors partnered with the government to get bad loans off the banks' books -- and everyone, including taxpayers, was supposed to come out ahead on the proceeds of the asset sales.

But, as Bloomberg reports this morning, some of the nation's largest banks have actually bought more risky home loans instead of getting them off their balance sheets.

In other words, the program that was supposed to help banks dispose of these toxic assets instead made those assets so marketable that banks bought more -- which has pushed Wall Street's titans to even greater exposure to the stalled housing market. The banks apparently decided that the government's entry into the mortgage security market was simply a guaranteed money-making opportunity.

Per Bloomberg's figures, Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs added $2.74 billion of this kind of mortgage debt since March. The value of the debt was up 13 percent from the second quarter. Here's more:

The Public-Private Investment Program was introduced in March by Geithner as a means of helping struggling banks by reviving the market for unpackaged loans and mortgage securities that aren't backed by government-supported institutions, such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Under the program, asset managers were supposed to raise money from investors and, with additional capital and loans from taxpayers, buy as much as $1 trillion in toxic assets from U.S. banks, freeing up money for lending.

It's "absolutely ridiculous" that banks, which were expected to reduce their holding of such volatile mortgage securities, bought them before the government program was running and may now profit, said Michael Schlachter, managing director of Wilshire Associates, the Santa Monica, California- based investment-consulting firm. "Some of them created this mess, and they are making a killing undoing it."

Eric Petroff, director of research at Wurts & Associates, a Seattle-based investment advisory firm, told Bloomberg: "Any time the government says, 'We're going to buy something in the securities market,' they're putting out a sign that says, 'Free money, come and get it'."

The PPIP initiative has been widely criticized since it was unveiled last year. In December, TCW Group, was removed as one of the government's program managers after a management shake-up at the firm.

Read Bloomberg's entire piece here:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-04/no-good-deed-goes-unpunished...

toniD's Ya Think?

U.S. growth prospects deemed bleak in new decade
Sun, Jan 3 2010

By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa

ATLANTA (Reuters) - A dismal job market, a crippled real estate sector and hobbled banks will keep a lid on U.S. economic growth over the coming decade, some of the nation's leading economists said on Sunday.

Speaking at American Economic Association's mammoth yearly gathering, experts from a range of political leanings were in surprising agreement when it came to the chances for a robust and sustained expansion:

They are slim.

Many predicted U.S. gross domestic product would expand less than 2 percent per year over the next 10 years. That stands in sharp contrast to the immediate aftermath of other steep economic downturns, which have usually elicited a growth surge in their wake.

"It will be difficult to have a robust recovery while housing and commercial real estate are depressed," said Martin Feldstein, a Harvard University professor and former head of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Housing was at the heart of the nation's worst recession since the 1930s, with median home values falling over 30 percent from their 2005 peaks, and even more sharply in heavily affected states like California and Nevada.

The decline has sapped a principal source of wealth for U.S. consumers, whose spending is the key driver of the country's growth pattern. The steep drop in home prices has also boosted their propensity to save.

"It's very hard to see what will replace it," said Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate and professor of economics at Columbia University. "It's going to take a number of years."

One reason is that U.S. consumers remain heavily indebted. Consumer credit outstanding has fallen from its mid-2008 records, but still stands at some $2.5 trillion, or nearly one-fifth of total yearly spending in the U.S. economy.

Another is that many of the country's largest banks are still largely dependent on funding from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the implicit backing of the Treasury Department.

Kenneth Rogoff, also of Harvard, argued that if the U.S. government ever "credibly" pulled away from its backing of the financial system, then a renewed collapse would likely ensue.

He cited government programs giving large financial institutions access to zero-cost borrowing as artificially padding their bottom lines.

"There's something of an illusion of profitability," he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6021LK20100103?feedType=RSS&feedNa...

toniD's Ya Think?

Bush Officials Admit They Support Obama's Counterterror Policies

Matt Yglesias grabs a key paragraph from Peter Baker's lengthy New York Times magazine piece, "Inside Obama's War On Terror", in which Baker finds a coven of unnamed conservatives staying mum on their support of Obama's counterterror policies out of fear and/or resentment.

A half-dozen former senior Bush officials involved in counterterrorism told me before the Christmas Day incident that for the most part, they were comfortable with Obama's policies, although they were reluctant to say so on the record. Some worried they would draw the ire of Cheney's circle if they did, while others calculated that calling attention to the similarities to Bush would only make it harder for Obama to stay the course. And they generally resent Obama's anti-Bush rhetoric and are unwilling to give him political cover by defending him.

Matt calls Baker's willingness to set aside some of the more unnecessary journalistic niceties and capture this group collectively in this way to be "a good break with convention that more reporters should engage in." He's right, and this sort of thing is welcomed. To take it a bit farther, though, one of the things that's most annoying about the most recent instance of Politico's Mike Allen taking dictation from former Vice President Dick Cheney is that Cheney is in no way attempting to influence counterterror policy or make the nation more secure. That can't be done by following his advice, which is to use the word "war" more often.

Rather, what Cheney is clearly trying to do is influence the politics, so any reporter worth his salt should be able to simply listen to Cheney and accurately report that the former vice president has been reduced to demagoguery. It's really just stupid to pretend that there's some great policy debate unfolding between the current White House and the previous White House. It's nice that Baker finds a way to acknowledge this.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/04/bush-officials-admit-they_n_410...

toniD's Ya Think?

you are a high energy person living in a very stressful city, I figure you must be doing something right with your diet... your input here is very valuable to me....

Seeds beans and nuts...oats and whole grains...and of course, veggies...

small, more frequent meals (which is good for my thyroid issue as well)

keeping blood sugar balanced will reduce carnivorous cravings (and help stave off diabetes, bonus!)

Supplements as needed...

cool...got it. Thanks again, especially for the luck...I will take all I can get.

Dems Will Bypass Conference Committee To Get Health Care Passed

Both chambers of Congress will skip a formal "conference committee" and instead negotiate informally on their respective health care bills, confirm Congressional aides and sources outside of government.

In what one health care reform activist calls a "quasi ping-pong" strategy, House and Senate leaders will each have a set of negotiators bounce variations of health care legislation back and forth until the disagreements between the two chambers are hammered out.

"Absent a stunning turn of events, it's true," said one Senate aide. "All of the motions that we need to go into conference with the House are amendable and debatable."

The basis for negotiations will be the Senate bill (which lacks a public option for insurance coverage and contains a tax on expensive health care plans), to which the House can add amendments.

"It doesn't preclude us from making major changes," explained one House Democratic aide. "We would basically be voting on the 'amendment'. But the amendment wouldn't be a two-page bill. It could be the entire bill itself." The House will hold a caucus meeting this week (with out-of-town members calling in over the phone) to begin discussing priorities for these negotiations.

The decision to skip formal conference negotiations -- which was first reported by The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn -- is not, it should be noted, the rarest of parliamentary maneuvers. Hill aides say it often happens with major or contentious pieces of legislation (though not apparently in this current Congress). "This is what we normally do," said one Hill aide, "it is pretty standard."

The goal, in the end, is to expedite the congressional process by keeping it removed from Republican procedural shenanigans. By skipping a formal conference committee, for example, Democrats can avoid dealing with motions to recommit on contentious issues (whether they be Medicare cuts, late-life consultation, abortion or anything else). This, in turn, provides a narrower window for the GOP to turn the bill into a series of wedge issues and means that there is less of a potential for moderate and conservative Democrats to grow skittish about supporting the legislation.

There are ample opportunities for Republican leadership to draw out the legislative process if it goes to conference committee. The Congressional Research Service, in a report published in April 2003, identified three steps that the Congress has to take simply to send a bill to conference.

- First, the Senate and House must agree to disagree. They must reach the stage of disagreement, which marks the point at which each house has disagreed formally to the legislative proposal of the other.

- Second, the two houses must agree that they want to create a conference committee in order to resolve the legislative disagreement that they have just acknowledged formally. The Senate takes this second step either by requesting a conference with the House or by agreeing to a request for a conference that the House already has made.
Story continues below

- Third, each house must appoint its members of the conference committee. The Speaker appoints House conferees. The Senate can elect its conferees, although it almost always authorizes its presiding officer to appoint the conferees. The Senate must take formal action on the floor to grant this authority to the presiding officer before he or she can appoint the Senate's conferees. more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/04/dems-will-bypass-conferen_n_410...

toniD's Ya Think?

Submitted by cent on Mon, 01/04/2010 - 11:25am.
Health care overhaul: Critics on left, right unite against mandate
---------
My point of view is this: A requirement to purchase for-profit health care insurance sucks. I hold the same disdain for state laws requiring purchase of automobile liability insurance from a for-profit entity. Monetary contributions required by law should go to government entities only.

I believe that some of the anti-mandate folks would not scream "Mandate!" if a single-payer health care system was funded by a tax of one sort or another.

The term "mandate" (or this jewel, "Making criminals out of people) applies whether the money goes into a for-profit entity or into a government pool. (See income tax, personal property tax, sales tax, etc. for clarification.)

I cannot imagine a system of funding health care (or a system of funding automobile operators' liability) more straightforward and more easily controlled than a government-run pool that dispenses the payments. All versions that utilize for-profit entities are more complicated.

In either case the government is tasked with regulating the system. The current health care reform ideas include increased government regulation to address problems created by the for-profit system.

At some point (via reductio ad absurdum), the cost of regulating the for-profit industry exceeds the value of the industry itself.

So, for me, the cry against a mandate requiring payments into the system is a sound-bite canard that, unfortunately, drags Libertarian arguments into the fray. It is a fact that the citizenry must fund the system. The citizenry already funds the system. Health care insurance is not free and uninsured health care, which is neither comprehensive nor effective, is ultimately being funded by the citizenry via a conglomeration of circuitous routes.

The citizenry must contribute funds into a health care system for it to exist. Calling it a mandate misses the point. The salient question is: To whom should we send the money?

Nearly every staff member of Democrat-turned-Republican Rep. Parker Griffith's office quit Monday morning in response to his decision to switch parties. His chief of staff resigned, along with his entire legislative and communications team -- many of whom have worked for Griffith since before he arrived in Washington.

"Alabama's Fifth District has deserved and has benefited from great Democratic conservative leadership since Reconstruction. And until now they had it," Chief of Staff Sharon Wheeler said. "I appreciate Congressman Griffith's being a very dedicated congressman. But we believe he made a mistake -- a well-intentioned but misguided mistake that is not in the interest of the great people of North Alabama who elected him a year ago as a Democrat. As his staff, we wish him only the best, and we all remain committed to the citizens of the Tennessee Valley. But we cannot, in good conscience, continue working for him. It is with deep sadness that we leave our work for the Fifth District. But because we are unwavering in our own principles, we have no choice but to move on. We do not know what the future holds, but we are taking a leap of faith with the belief we will soon find ourselves in the employment of principled public officials."

Joining Wheeler were Legislative Director Megan Swearingen, Legislative Assistants Brian Greer and Will Crain, Press Secretary Sean Magers, Legislative Correspondents Arinze Ifekauche and Chase Chesser, Staff Assistant Mary Lou Hughston, Congressional Fellows Dr. Anjali Shah Kastorf and Leslee Oden and intern Andrew Menefee. They waited until the winter break was over so they could return to Washington to resign. Griffith's campaign consulting team dropped him when he announced his party switch.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/04/parker-griffith-staff-res_n_410...

toniD's Ya Think?

CONGRESSMAN TO RETIRE AFTER 5TH TERM IN OFFICE

Republican Congressman Henry Brown, who has served South Carolina in the U.S. House since 2001, will retire at the end of his term, sources tell The Palmetto Scoop.

Brown will announce his intention to not seek re-election at a 2 p.m press conference on Monday in his district.

Sources said Brown was upset with being a member of the minority party in Washington. And at 74 years old, age was also a factor in Brown’s decision not to run again.

At least four Republicans have already announced their intention to challenge Brown, including Mt. Pleasant Town Councilman Mark Fava and businessman Carroll Campbell III.

Brown’s departure from the race, however, will likely open the field to a host of new candidates.

Before serving in Congress, Brown was the chairman of the powerful South Carolina House Ways and Means Committee. In 2008, he barely edged out Democrat Linda Ketner to win a fifth term in office.

http://www.palmettoscoop.com/2010/01/03/brown-will-not-seek-re-election/

toniD's Ya Think?

new skyscraper official opening

http://www.repubblica.it/2006/05/gallerie/esteri/dubai-4gen/1.html

he spoke oF the Brit Hume ignorant advice to Tiger which was wrong in so many ways. Big Ed said he hadn't read the "article" but he thought Hume was right to basically push Christianity.over (inferior) Buddhism. I guess that is "Entertainment Spiritual advice " like Fox's" Entertainment "style of news so Brit can wiggle out of any responsibility.. Ed when you speak favorably about anything coming from Humes you better be up on the subject matter before aligning yourself with anything fox.

========
Thank's Cent The feeling is mutual.

dubai debut
Submitted by mire on Mon, 01/04/2010 - 1:02pm.
---------
Debut in Dubai is harder to say. I'm just sayin' (but not on-air).

Just ask maggiesboy.

even as figures drop nationwide.
Mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants is increasing in Illinois even as it declines nationwide, a troubling trend for the state because emissions of the toxic metal tend to fall back to earth close to the source.
The amount of mercury blown into the air by the state's coal plants jumped by 7 percent last year, according to a Tribune analysis of newly released federal data on industrial pollution. By contrast, mercury emissions from all U.S. power plants declined by 4 percent.
Only one other state, Michigan, recorded a larger increase in pounds released. Texas tied Illinois for the second largest, but emissions declined in 27 other states, including Indiana, Ohio, Georgia and several others that rely heavily on coal to generate electricity.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-mercury-coal-28-dec28,0,3303176.s...

that's a BIG Skyscraper.

Hi Mark,

I have been reading your blog for some time, and thought I would tell you a bit
about our struggle and disenfranchisement.

These videos will tell you part of our story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qQ8BZwmVhc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EHbDNfBgLk&feature=related

We have tried to get help since 2005. While in the hospital with our youngest
son, who was in critical care (we believe that Westar's substation caused his
illness), we decided to go public. We are non-violent American citizens seeking protection from Westar Energy Inc., which has invaded our private home.

In essence, Westar Energy Inc--the largest utility in the State of Kansas--
has been allowed by the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) and the City
of Emporia, Kansas, to use our private home (with us in it), and our private
land, without our consent. Westar is operating one of their largest industrial
substations in a residentially zoned neighborhood; and they cannot stay
within their property lines.
Simply put, ours is a story of exploitation by corporate greed.
We finally decided to hire an attorney, to write Westar a letter asking them
to buy us out since, they have been using our property, making it impossible,
and morally wrong, to sell this home to another family. We have a 30-year
history with this home. Not only did Westar refused--they expanded their
plant, and sued us, under Eminent Domain, to take another ten feet of our land
(just as their lobbyist had threatened to do, as the video shows).
Westar and their shareholders are untroubled that they have destroying our
home, our health and our well-being. After all, we are only an American family,
and the writing's on the wall: Americans have no protection unless corporate
heads bestow it on them.
Westar can get away with this because the City of Emporia is in their pocket.
Nothing illustrates this better than what happened after our Youtubes came
to the attention of both Westar and the city--whose attorney, Blaze Plummer,
filed a Motion for Protection Order against us, asking a judge to quash our 1st Amendment Rights. This demonstrates the fascist mentality of our local government
and Westar Energy. (The judge denied their motion.)
Folks in Kansas like to bellyache about electricity rate hikes, but as far as I'm
concerned it's all hot air. When Westar grabbed $20 million of federal stimulus
money, we were the only ones who protested. It feels like our family is in a tornado
and no one hears us scream--yet we still exercised our right to question authority,
and filed a request with the DOE, asking them to investigate Westar's accountability
as a federal grantee. That the Department heard from no one but my family--
people forced to live ten feet from a toxic Westar plant--is very sad. Such
complacency will be the death of the midwestern way of life.

I hope your readers will help spread the word about what's happened to us. If anyone
is interested, I have copied documents that prove that Westar and the KCC are both
in need of oversight.

Joanne Evans
evansjoanne@att.net

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup.

Even dividing that by 40 years, that would be 325 women a year. That would mean at about 1 a day.

Busy man!

toniD's Ya Think?

- Top Ten Events That Will Change the Way We Think About Marijuana

There has been a tidal shift in politics and on marijuana laws in America, from Obama lightening up on pot prosecutions to the recognition of cancer prevention properties.

#1 Obama Administration: Don’t Focus On Medical Marijuana Prosecutions
United States Deputy Attorney General David Ogden issued a memorandum to federal prosecutors in October directing them to not “focus federal resources … on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.” The directive upheld a campaign promise by President Barack Obama, who had previously pledged that he was “not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue.” Read the full story here.

http://www.truthout.org/10210_armentano

WOW!

Dick Cheney's Role in Al Qaeda's Yemeni Resurgence

It is a well-known fact in Washington that then Vice President Cheney proudly micro-managed all things Gitmo (authorizing torture and determining detainee releases). And as he continues his hyper-partisan attacks on President Obama and the Democratic Party let it be clearly understood that Al Qaeda's resurgence in Yemen can, in no small part, be traced back to Dick Cheney himself.

In 2007, then Vice President Dick Cheney personally authorized the release of 11 Saudis from Guantanamo Bay, who then passed through a leaky Saudi halfway house terrorist rehabilitation program to rejoin Al Qaeda. Two of the 11 former detainees took the express jihadi underground railroad to rejoin Al Qaeda in Yemen.

In February, 2009, the New York Times reported that U.S. counterterrorism officials confirmed that one of the Cheney repats was Said Al-Shihri, who became the deputy leader of the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda, and that he was suspected of being involved in a deadly attack on the U.S. embassy in Yemen in 2007. Shortly after the attack, Shihri appeared in an Al Sahab Al Qaeda video production along with another Cheney repat identified as Abu Hareth Muhammad al-Awfi, who also rejoined Al Qaeda in Yemen.

Based on a comprehensive review by the Defense Intelligence Agency 14% of the 530 Gitmo detainees released through Cheney's direct approval (74 to be exact) have either been identified as reengaging in terrorism or suspected of doing so.

So, let me get this straight. Cheney authorized the release of unrepentant hardened terrorists to his Saudi friends. Having cut their shackles from the Saudis, these escapees are now training and recruiting the likes of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and threatening to attack the U.S. embassy in Yemen, and Cheney has the chutzpah to accuse Democrats of being soft on terrorism!

Continued>>>

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amb-marc-ginsberg/dick-cheneys-role-in-al-...

toniD's Ya Think?

Have a great afternoon!

Later

toniD's Ya Think?

bloggeristi --- back to the grind

In late December, an Oklahoma court temporarily blocked a law from going into effect that would require doctors to give detailed personal information about patients who have had abortions for posting on a public website. This affront on women's privacy has been temporarily halted -- but we need to keep fighting to permanently stop it! >>
The law requires that abortion providers fill out a 10-page questionnaire for each procedure, which they are to submit to the public health department for posting on a public site. This extensive questionnaire - which includes the reason the procedure was sought - is not only an affront to women's rights, its detailed nature may allow women in small towns to be identified, violating their privacy and potentially jeopardizing their life and livelihood. Take action >>
The law is being challenged as unconstitutional in court. In December, a temporary restraining order was placed on the law to keep it from going into effect until February 2010. Over the next several weeks, we must send a strong message that we won't let Oklahoma serve as a testing ground for extreme anti-choice legislation nationwide!

Sign the petition letter to the law's author, State Senator Todd Lamb, expressing your outrage over the Oklahoma law >>

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/856169122?z00m=19817444

express jihadi underground railroad to rejoin Al Qaeda in Yemen.

now....

What does that mean -
Main Entry: re·pro·gram
Pronunciation: \(ˌ)rē-ˈprō-ˌgram, -grəm\
Function: verb
Date: 1959
transitive verb

: to program anew; especially : to revise or write a new program for (as a computer)intransitive verb : to rewrite or revise a program especially of a computer

— re·pro·gram·ma·ble \-ˈprō-ˌgra-mə-bəl, -ˌprō-ˈgra-\ adjective

come on guys! doesn't have to be

have you ever heard of orgies? could be a orgy per week, no?

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2467.html
Complete and incomplete proteins in grains and vegetables?

off to work - me too.

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

Blue Roots Radio

http://samsedershow.com/comment/reply/5577#comment-form

...would be my bet to explain the Beatty number, mire.

I would think they would be preferable, easier to count and more convenient all the way around. One or two of those a week plus the regular "encounters" would get you there and then some in 40 years.

Orgies seem like they'd be fairly infrequent occurrences.

I'm hardly an expert in such things, though.

"this machine kills fascists"

expert in such things

i think he may just have slipped in a couple of zeros too many, don't ya think, and I'd call it senility

Well, I think it was Chris Rock that said that "a man is as faithful as his options."

A womanizer with the limitless options of Warren Beatty between the age of 18 and 72, well, 13,000 doesn't seem like too much of a stretch.

I know what I'm capable of and, if I had his options, and bank account, marriage would probably seem preposterous to me.

"this machine kills fascists"