Oscar thread

TOP O'DA WORLD!!

"this machine kills fascists"

Just enjoy Oscars. It's fun.

Im gonna watch while snuggling with my kitty named Oscar, which is a semi-coincidence.

٩(-̃ -̃)۶ ٩(•̃•̃)۶ ٩(×̯×)۶ ٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶ (͡๏̯͡๏)

Lawdy lawdy
Who's most gawdy?

Tonight I'm going to blog images of ReTweets of Oscar tweets...

Pray I don't alter it any further

"this machine kills fascists"

Tonight I'm going to blog images of ReTweets of Oscar tweets...

Pray I don't alter it any further

"this machine kills fascists"

i say go for the bottom half.

Roman Catholic Church launches harsh attack against Mexico City's leftist mayor

Source: Associated Press

Roman Catholic Church launches harsh attack against Mexico City's leftist mayor
By Associated Press

7:33 p.m. EST, March 7, 2010

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's Roman Catholic Church has published its harshest criticism to date of leftist Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, accusing his administration of botching issues ranging from crime to public transit.

The church has often disagreed with Ebrard's Democratic Revolution Party.

An editorial published Sunday on the Archdiocese of Mexico's Web site accused Ebrard of "following the line set down by foreign groups" in approving legalized abortion and same-sex marriages.

Ebrard is viewed as a top contender in 2012 presidential race, and some leftists have accused the church of supporting more conservative rivals.

http://www.courant.com/news/nation-world/sns-ap-lt-mexico-church-politic...

toniD's Ya Think?

Sorry, I'm not into these two at all.

toniD's Ya Think?

I cannot emphasize enough how not-gay any and all of that is.

Trust me.

Support for Democrats in Iowa fades as anti-incumbent sentiment grows

Source: Peter Slevin, The Washington Post

MASON CITY, Iowa -- Republican Terry Branstad's lines have a familiar ring as he campaigns to return to the governor's office after 11 years away. He blasts the incumbent Democrat for "mismanagement," promising an "economic comeback" and the end of "more government than we can afford."

The pitch is working. Early polls show Branstad, who served four terms, with a lead as large as 20 points over Gov. Chet Culver (D), who is battling a poor economy and the frustration fueled by Capitol Hill vitriol that incumbent politicians are not delivering.

The state that launched Barack Obama toward the presidency just two years ago is looking like a tough sell for Democrats in 2010. Culver is in trouble, Rep. Leonard Boswell (D) is threatened and Obama's own popularity has dropped by one-third since he took office.

Since the beginning of 2009, unemployment has risen by half, to about 6.5 percent -- high for Iowa, although lower than the national average. Tax revenues are down and social service needs are rising. The legislative news from Des Moines, where both chambers are controlled by Democrats, is often gloomy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/07/AR201003...

toniD's Ya Think?

Submitted by nora on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 7:36pm.

I love the way Luddite Janeane said "cahm-pooter" (instead of the usual "cum-pewter").

---------
There's got to be something there...

guess I gotta see District 9...

The Jobs Of Yesteryear: Obsolete Occupations
Jobs Of Yesteryear

As computers and automated systems increasingly take the jobs humans once held, entire professions are now extinct. Click through the gallery below to see examples of endangered professions, from milkman to telegrapher, and hear from people who once filled those oft-forgotten jobs.

Click on the link for some of the jobs that were lost in the past.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124251060

toniD's Ya Think?

That movie is a very different kinda sci-fi mind fuck, cent...

"this machine kills fascists"

toniD's Ya Think?

A Baffled David Alexrod

by Charles Lemos, Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 11:53:39 PM EST

“For me, the question is, why haven’t we broken through more than we have? Why haven’t we broken through?” - David Alexrod, Senior Communications Advisor to the President

Given the rah-rah-rah Rahm is God pieces in the Washington Post as of late that left even the Dean of the Beltway David Broder scratching his head, it's rather refreshing to see Mark Leibovich of the New York Times take a more balanced and nuanced look at David Alexrod and the lost narrative of the Administration.

The article also provides a glimpse into the inner workings of the Obama White House. We learn that Mr. Alexrod is often at the President’s side, that he sits in on policy and national security meetings and that he is routinely the last person the President talks to before making a decision. That certainly speaks to the comfort and trust the President has in David Alexrod and reflects the measure of his power and influence.

Another insight into the Obama White House comes via a curious quote courtesy of David Gibbs, the White Press Secretary. The affable Alabaman notes that “the list of people who have to deliver bad news to the president is very small" with David Alexrod first on that list and the Press Secretary "probably second.” The quote is somewhat of a non-sequitor in the story nestled between Mr. Alexrod's deep loyalty to the President and the concerns of his friends over the grind of the job and his diet. The Gibbs quote, however, does seem to confirm other reports that Team Obama is perhaps at best a tight-knit, tight-lipped quintet.

Still the most telling part was learning that Mr. Alexrod expresses "bafflement" that the Administration’s efforts to stimulate the economy in a crisis, overhaul the healthcare system and prosecute two wars have been routinely framed and have been met by conservatives and their echo chamber in the media and policy establishment as the handiwork of a big-government, soft-on-terrorism, socialist ideologue. It's as if he's Rip Van Winkle having awaken from a forty year slumber and missed the radicalization of the Republican party. At some point, one has to take them at their word and act accordingly.

http://mydd.com/2010/3/6/david-alexrod-and-the-why-question

toniD's Ya Think?

The American Civil Liberties Union has never treated the Obama administration with kid gloves, but with their latest ad buy it's become increasingly clear that their patience for the continuance of some Bush-era policies has run quite thin.

"What will it be Mr. President?" the ACLU asks in a full-page New York Times advertisement published Sunday. "Change or more of the Same?" The ad also features a portrait of Obama that morphs into Bush.

The ACLU's images of the subtle transition between presidents is filtered and lacking in detail, and spans just four frames. However, it appears to be a take-off of a protest image that circulated Facebook and some progressive blogs late last year, showing a similar transition in eerie detail.

The ACLU's full-size advertisement is below this text.

The ad specifically pressured the administration to hold fast to their decision to try the alleged 9/11 plotters in the judicial system and not by military tribunal as many of Obama opponents have called for.
Story continues below...

President Barack Obama's administration had announced it would try self-confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other accused at a New York courthouse, just steps from where the World Trade Center once stood.

But the plan for the "trial of the century" met a backlash from Republican lawmakers who have introduced legislation to require a military trial, throwing a challenge to Obama months ahead of mid-term elections in November.

Obama made bringing Sheikh Mohammed to a civilian trial a centerpiece of a broader plan to end what he saw as serious abuses of law in the time of his predecessor George W. Bush and his powerful vice president Dick Cheney.

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that aides were recommending that Obama adopt Republicans' position and proceed with a military trial as part of a deal that could help him shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison.

A White House official said Friday it would need weeks to decide on the trial of the accused 9/11 co-conspirators.

"As president, Barack Obama must decide whether he will keep his solemn promise to restore our Constitution and due process, or ignore his vow and continue the Bush-Cheney policies," the ACLU ad read.

ACLU executive director Anthony Romero also wrote a letter to Obama saying these were "the most important terrorism trials -- and arguably the most important criminal trials -- in the entire history of the nation.

"We placed this ad because it’s critical that Americans know what is at stake here: nothing less than America’s commitment to the Constitution and the rule of law. The military commissions are seriously flawed and unprepared to handle these complex cases. If President Obama reverses his attorney general’s principled decision under political pressure, it will strike a devastating blow to American values and do serious damage to our nation’s credibility. We urge the president to do the right thing and keep these cases in federal court, where they belong."

"It would be a colossal mistake to reverse the administration's decision to try these defendants in federal criminal court and again relegate these landmark trials to irretrievably defective military commissions."

However the plan has seen growing opposition from groups criticizing the cost of security in Manhattan and in some cases the principle of providing civilian trials with greater protections for the alleged 9/11 plotters.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg changed his mind at the end of January after initially backing the civilian trial in Manhattan, suggesting that the highly sensitive case could instead proceed on a military base.

In its ad, the ACLU noted that the US criminal justice system has "successfully handled" more than 300 terror-related cases, compared to only three by military commission.

http://rawstory.com/2010/03/aclu-obama-change-same/

toniD's Ya Think?

Ah, hopefully they'll get better, mb, not worse, as I get drunker and stonededer...

"this machine kills fascists"

"this machine kills fascists"

GOP Rep Runs Taxpayer-Funded Campaign-Style Ads On 'Out Of Control Spending'
Justin Elliott | March 5, 2010, 2:56PM

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) is running campaign-style Web ads for a "tele-town hall" on "out of control spending" that are financed by taxpayer dollars -- and the ads were OKed as permissible under House rules.

The ads, which you can check out one version of below, are set on an American flag background and include a red-white-and-blue button that reads "Congressman."

The words "OUT OF CONTROL SPENDING" appear in large white letters on a blue background. The ads include a note saying they are paid for by official funds.

They were approved by the Committee on House Administration, which is in charge of authorizing spending by members, according to Roskam Communications Director Dan Conston. (See the approval letter here.)

"Clearly out of control spending and our massive national debt are relevant to our constituents," Conston tells TPMmuckraker.

Conston says Roskam's office has bought Google ads for the last four or five tele-town halls conducted by the congressman. "We find it very valuable that we are reaching non traditional voters -- really disenfranchised voters, specifically younger voters," he says.

Here's one version of the ad:

n tele-town halls, which have been used by multiple members of congress, a company is hired which calls thousands of households for what is essentially a mega-conference call. Those who pick up the phone can listen to the congressman talking about the issue at hand, and press a button to offer a question.

In Roskam's case, the calls typically go out to just under 100,000 households.
He has done over 25 such calls since taking office in 2007. Roskam, who represents Illinois' 6th district, has been called a "rising star" in the GOP caucus and is heavily favored to win reelection in the fall.

Under House ethics rules, members may hold town halls one of two ways: either "arranged, promoted, and put on entirely or almost entirely using official allowances" or "as political events, organized and funded by their campaigns."

According to Attorney Stan Brand, who was previously general counsel to the House, a taxpayer-funded town hall would only be in violation of House rules if it was explicitly campaign-related.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/roskam_runs_taxpayer-f...

Rising Star? Not here! Can't wait to vote him out.

toniD's Ya Think?

The neat thing about Oscars Night from my perspective is that it is something so many share at one time. That's fun. And it is fascinating to see how the movie industry judges its own talent and to guess their criteria.

Yet, as soon as I start to step back some and see it for the Consumer Culture vehicle it has been for decades, the soft-focus camera lens effect disappears.

Then I start thinking again about the investment capital (the realm of the Power Elite, the corporations and the banks, and such). It is the investment capital that makes the big films possible. Next is the consideration of distribution; how is that decided on? THEN I resume wondering: WHO is deciding what films, stories, and worldview we should be consuming, and WHY? Via sharp focus scrutiny I end up asking, WHICH movies can get to this level of public consumption without going through a filter applied by the investors (The Elite)?

I don't intend to spoil anyone's Oscars Night. I'm just saying that scrutinizing ALL that makes up this event and this industry as it exists today is to experience the event in a role other than passive consumer.

(And let's hope this is the year that, with the help of the Academy of Motion Pictures Oscars awards, documentaries will finally get a niche (that supports documentary makers) in distribution and availability at all movie theaters.

Jill Scott...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw3Z8Oa7E3Y&feature=PlayList&p=9C71B7808A...

Oh totally.

I don't even have a teevee, but it's palpable just from the tweet.

-----
Oh...he already said palpable. I have to up the ante. OK...

Yes! is right. Yes yes yes!!

A book about personally choosing peace, starting with one's own food supply.

Book by Will Tuttle, PhD--The World Peace Diet.

http://worldpeacediet.org/

An interview with Dr. Tuttle:

http://radioactivelunch.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18...

Because you all crapped on your base!!!
Submitted by toniD on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 9:27pm.
A Baffled David Alexrod

by Charles Lemos, Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 11:53:39 PM EST

...

The article also provides a glimpse into the inner workings of the Obama White House. We learn that Mr. Alexrod is often at the President’s side, that he sits in on policy and national security meetings and that he is routinely the last person the President talks to before making a decision. That certainly speaks to the comfort and trust the President has in David Alexrod and reflects the measure of his power and influence.

Another insight into the Obama White House comes via a curious quote courtesy of David Gibbs, the White Press Secretary. The affable Alabaman notes that “the list of people who have to deliver bad news to the president is very small" with David Alexrod first on that list and the Press Secretary "probably second.” The quote is somewhat of a non-sequitor in the story nestled between Mr. Alexrod's deep loyalty to the President and the concerns of his friends over the grind of the job and his diet. The Gibbs quote, however, does seem to confirm other reports that Team Obama is perhaps at best a tight-knit, tight-lipped quintet.

Still the most telling part was learning that Mr. Alexrod expresses "bafflement" that the Administration’s efforts to stimulate the economy in a crisis, overhaul the healthcare system and prosecute two wars have been routinely framed and have been met by conservatives and their echo chamber in the media and policy establishment as the handiwork of a big-government, soft-on-terrorism, socialist ideologue. It's as if he's Rip Van Winkle having awaken from a forty year slumber and missed the radicalization of the Republican party. At some point, one has to take them at their word and act accordingly.

http://mydd.com/2010/3/6/david-alexrod-and-the-why-question
========================

IF DAVID AXELROD IS SO SMART, WHY DOES HE HAVE A COMB-OVER?

anyway, where'd you get the money for the vodka...
been selling drugs to school kiddies
or made your own from old beaver heads
heh,
who knows with sam
he's a piece of mystery spam

ok, back to the gala event...
and the winner for best wilfully deluded goes to the obama administration in baffled...
in this scene we see a wilfully deluded and baffled David Alexrod, drunk on old beaver vodka bumping around the halls of power, questioning their impotence:

“For me, the question is, why haven’t we broken through more than we have? Why haven’t we broken through?”

http://mydd.com/2010/3/6/david-alexrod-and-the-why-question

and best blow job goes to the uninformed american public for their performance in "eat a dick"

and here to accept the award is nora!!
how about a big hand job for the fabulous nora!!

but somebody blipped a song from that Alice movie and boy does it suck.

It's this stodgy, boring thing trying to be techno and even failing at that. I think it's called something like "down the hole." (Not exactly that...but close. ;) )

Don't Tim Burton movies usually have good soundtracks?

Eh...Can't pitcher it. How would that work exactly?

and the winner for best fantasy is...
Hank Paulson: 'A Young Paul Newman' Would Best Portray Me On Film
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/04/hank-paulson-a-young-paul_n_486...

bankers not only lurve to fantasize, but they lurve to play games
(especially, with other peoples money)
so let's assist them, shall we:

"The object of this game is to dare to fall with a noose around your neck from a place sufficiently high enough off the ground, such that the fall will hang you. The object of the game is to punish those who have caused great unhappiness by their selfish actions. This is the best game of all, because the winner is also the loser, and the judge's decision is always final."
(a quote from drowning by numbers)

ah, nothing is quite so satisfying as the macabre sensuality of a greenaway flick

so, anyway, am i calling for the hanging clause to be re-introduced?
the hanging clause for "those who have caused great unhappiness by their selfish actions"
damn straight i am
so fuck you bleeding heart liberals
i'd torture them, too

Jesus Christ, Mike Allen, Reconciliation Is NOT THAT COMPLICATED

There are a lot of thorny issues in American politics that require a great deal of concentrated attention to grasp. The controversy over budget reconciliation and health care is not one of them. It's pretty simple, and can be explained in thirty seconds or so. And yet large chunks of the political class seem unable to grasp it.

Before we turn to the principal subject of my latest condescending lecture on this topic, let's briefly review the situation here. Last year, some Democrats considered passing health care reform through budget reconciliation, which would only need a Senate majority. Other Democrats objected, arguing that, since reconciliation bills can only change taxes or spending, it would be very hard to pass a whole health care bill this way. All the features related to regulating insurance companies and setting up exchanges would be stricken out, and the result, as Kent Conrad put it, "would look like Swiss cheese." So Democrats pursued health care reform through the regular process, passing slightly different bills through the House and Senate.

Since a bill can't become a law until the exact same bill passes through each chamber of Congress, and Democrats now lack the ability to break a Republican filibuster, they have a different plan. They'll pass the Senate bill through the House. Then, to appease House members who disapprove of certain Senate features, they'll pass a second bill through reconciliation. This will only address budgetary issues -- some taxes will be raised, others lowered, some spending will be rejiggered. In the grand scheme of things, the changes in the reconciliation bill will be minor. As National Review's Rich Lowry has noted, "Only the House vote matters."

Still with me? Okay. Last weekend, Conrad appeared on Face the Nation to explain this process:

On the question of reconciliation, I have said all year as chairman of the Budget Committee, reconciliation cannot be used to pass comprehensive health care reform. It won't work. It won't work because it was never designed for that kind of significant legislation. It was designed for deficit reduction. So let's be clear.

On the major Medicare or health care reform legislation, that can't move through reconciliation. The role for reconciliation would be very limited. It would be on side-car issues designed to improve what passed the Senate and what would have to pass the House for health care reform to move forward. So using reconciliation would not be for the main package at all.

It would be for certain side-car issues like how much does the federal government put up to pay for the Medicaid expansion? What is done to improve the affordability of the package that's come out of the Senate?

Host Bob Schieffer was totally befuddled:

Let me just throw this in because I'm not sure the White House has the same understanding of this that you do. Because the woman, Nancy DeParle, who is, kind of, in charge of Medicare over there at the White House -- I mean, health care, over there at the White House, said this morning on "Meet the Press" she thought that an up-or-down vote would be the way to go on this.

So, obviously, she's talking about trying to do it through reconciliation, Senator.

And Politico, likewise confused, reported that Conrad "threw cold water on the idea of using the reconciliation process."In fact, Conrad was endorsing the Democratic approach, which is to use reconciliation to make small budget-related changes to a health care bill, but not to pass a whole health care bill.

An irked Conrad commented in an interview with Ezra Klein, "I’ve never seen so much misreporting. It’s like they heard the first three sentences of what I said and not the next three." He proceeded to explain it again:

What I’ve said all year is that reconciliation for comprehensive health-care reform wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t work for two reasons. First, the Byrd rule. The Byrd rule says that only things that score for budget purposes can be in a reconciliation package. If they don’t score, or the score is only incidental to the aims of the policy, they’re subject to strike. That would mean the insurance market reforms and delivery reforms would be stricken. And many of us believe them to be the most important part of the bill. So I never thought reconciliation would work for a comprehensive bill. But we don’t need to use reconciliation for the comprehensive bill. That bill passed with the supermajority, with 60 votes, not using reconciliation.

If the House passes that legislation as well, it can go straight to the president. But there’s a potential role for reconciliation in what we call a sidecar. It’s there to improve or perfect the package, and it only will include items that score for budgetary purposes.

Perhaps suspecting that further explanation was required, Conrad proceeded to write a Washington Post op-ed laying out the distinction one more time:

Reconciliation is not being considered for passing comprehensive health-care reform. Major health-care reform legislation passed the Senate without reconciliation on Christmas Eve. If the House now passes that legislation, it can go immediately to President Obama's desk to be signed into law. What the president and others have suggested is that, after the House acts, reconciliation could then be used to pass a much smaller "fixer" bill to allow for modifications to the comprehensive bill that will have passed under regular order.

When I read the op-ed, I figured it had to be totally redundant. What sentient being who's following this closely could not understand it by now? I give you Politico's Mike Allen, writing Saturday:

When Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) made this confusing argument last week on “Face the Nation,” we weren’t sure he was being deliberately disingenuous. It was, in fact, spin. Now, he’s made the same case in a similarly obtuse WashPost op-ed, “Reconciliation is not an option for health-care reform.” Don’t misread it: It’s an Alice-in-Wonderland argument FOR the use of reconciliation as part of the recipe for getting comprehensive health reform to the president’s desk

Confusing? Obtuse? Does Conrad need to stop by Politico's offices with a picture book and some finger puppets? I understand perfectly well how intelligent people who don't follow this debate closely might not catch on to the distinction. But this is what Mike Allen does all day -- and, as I understand it, much of the night and the wee hours of the morning as well. How can anybody still not understand this? I'm at a loss here. Look, there's an endless list of topics I don't understand at all. I went through an entire semester of pre-Calculus in high school and was never able to understand what a function is. I still don't. It's a complicated subject and I was a lazy student. But this reconciliation distinction is easy, and Mike Allen is (legendarily) not lazy. So, what the hell is going on here?

http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/jesus-christ-mike-allen-reconcili...

toniD's Ya Think?

If you Google it, you will see that the term has been applied and thus visualized literally by others. (Though it's possible English is not their first language.)

Apparently a big hand job is something that is
"executed" (??). It don't even know where to start with that one.

But I still don't know if "big" in that context refers to the length (7:11) or the length.

Perhaps if had watched all of it some more light would have been shed...but it was too cheesy...

(You actually might like it Ono. Very retro.)

do you know about this...

The strategy of tension (Italian: strategia della tensione) is a theory that describes how world powers divide, manipulate, and control public opinion using fear, propaganda, disinformation, psychological warfare, agents provocateurs, and false flag terrorist actions.[1]

The theory began with allegations that the United States and the then-fascist Greek government (GO GREEKS!) supported far-right terrorist groups in Italy and Turkey – whose institutions appeared to be threatened by communism – to spread panic among the population who would in turn demand stronger and more dictatorial governments. The theory is not universally accepted, as disputes continue over alleged evidence of the involvement of the U.S. government in support of terrorist activities[citation needed].

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

NOTES:
1. i've never heard you mention this before, nora!
why have you withheld this vital information from us?
an insinuating "hmmm" follows...
hmmm

2. some clarification regarding the video i posted above
it's titled: RON PAUL - Break the Matrix - Free your Mind
i'm not advocating for ron paul - i found it by searching "free your mind" and not "ron paul"

3. (GO GREEKS!) added by me

4. have i mentioned tonight how much i hate scolling pass long posts

ok, glory
if you want to beat this dead horse...
how about if i had written a big finger fuck for nora
happy now

now would it?

And then I probably would have scrolled and eye-rolled past.

Happy then?

are you sure you're not related to gareth keenan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDzTyOJSe-Y

relax, i know you're hipper than gareth
& you're being humourous

: )

It's safe to be cooler than me now.

humourous can be funny or it can be tedious & unfunny
your humour falls in the latter catagory
sorry to be hurtful
and i know your whacky persona has made you many fans here
i just don't fall under that category

so that's why i reserve the word comedy for something that is actually, you know...
funny
ie, when the intent is acheived
(please note that yes, my attempt at humour can fall under the latter catagory)

i do appreciate you
as i appreciate all the bloggers here
but when they post their stupid insipid pics
i hate them
but i still love them
so don't freak out, ok

: )

Safe to be cooler than me now...

Still waiting...

I know I started the downhill slide but let's end it eh?

Fucking off.

But not fucking off b/c freaking out.

you win
you're the winner
and i think i have an oscar around here somewhere on my mantle piece
that i can present you with

you got in my hair
so i got in your hair
maybe we should get in each others hair
over a bottle of old beaver vodka...
if you get my drift

: )

ono

"yes, that's me"

"yes, that's me"

made me cringe...in a word
they're shit
as for my other posts
they didn't really make me cringe
but they're shit, too

i'll post a cute pic...
ok, ready
are you sitting down
because this is the cutest pic on the net...

Air-ono:
>>and the winner for best wilfully deluded goes to the obama administration in baffled...
in this scene we see a wilfully deluded and baffled David Alexrod, drunk on old beaver vodka bumping around the halls of power, questioning their impotence:

“For me, the question is, why haven’t we broken through more than we have? Why haven’t we broken through?” <<

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

"Broken through" sez Axelrod? His confusion is palpable! Like someone who expected a virgin! Hey, we were screwed by the BushGang; we ain't no virgins no more!

that's the smuttiest post i've ever read
(lol)
congratulations
you're the smut queen

: )

ps. to protect my realm
i may have to up the ante

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15544

[excerpt]

Protesters in Eastern India Battle Against Mining Giant Arcelor Mittal

by Moushumi Basu, Special to CorpWatch
March 2nd, 2010

In the rural, tribal lands of Eastern India, protesters are going head-to-head with world steel giant Arcelor Mittal. "We may give away our lives, but we will not part with an inch of our ancestral land," the villagers cry. "The forest, rivers and land are ours. We don't want factories, steel or iron. Arcelor Mittal Go Back."

Arcelor Mittal calls itself "the world's number one steel company," and had 2006 revenues of $88.6 billion. Operating in more than 60 countries, it "led the consolidation of the world steel industry and today ranks as the only truly global steelmaker," according to its website.

It is here in the mineral rich states of Jharkhand and Orissa that Arcelor Mittal is proposing to invest $201 billion to establish its "Indian presence" with two plants capable of producing 12 million tons/year each. But first, the family-based company needs to acquire land that has been the ancestral legacy of thousands of poor Indians.

A vociferous tribal activist, Dayamani Barla, is spearheading the Jharkhand movement under the banner of Adivasi Moolvaasi Asthitva Raksha Manch (AMARM, Forum for the Protection of Existence of Tribal and Native Population). She has pled her people's cause from the villages of rural India to the centers of European power. (See sidebar.)

Barla argues that the Indian Constitution protects Scheduled Tribes / adivasi (tribal) people in the affected areas by barring non-tribals and private parties from transfer or purchase of tribal lands and natural resources.

[end excerpt]

i'm getting hot
i'm going to take a shower
nora's let her hair down

(ciao)

I am your student, O Air-Ono Smut Guru, and you have taught me well....

12 MARCH 2008

2. Female Writer Of Health Books
In the early part of my dream, I knew that George Bush had raped me, though I didn’t experience it in the dream. I was swimming in the Cambodia River and all these refugees were rafting by me. I felt anxiety that by swimming in the river, what with the agitation of the surf, Bush’s DNA would be washed out of me and I wouldn’t have a case against him. I desperately wanted to get where I was going so I could press charges against him, but other events kept cropping up.

The first was a barbecue with Bill and Hillary Clinton. I found myself sitting next to Hillary. She was very friendly in a girlfriend kind of way. I asked her, Does it bug you that they call Barack Obama "Obama" and they call you "Hillary"?. She replied, It really bugs me.

POSTED BY SHEILA HETI AT 10:16 AM

http://idreamofboth.blogspot.com/2008/03/female-writer-of-health-books.h...

----
Even the inauguration seems like twenty years ago.

And all this silly crap, not quite two years ago, how far away does it seem?

Not the Bush DNA crap. That's not so silly. Getting un-sillier all the time.

----
Ono...besos.

and vulva,
glory

i'm a phony - i'm not really a smut guru
the reason for my loud filthy posts
is similar to this...

NOTES
1. the similarity ends in that i'm not chris rock
2. thank god for chris rock's lack of self esteem if his comedy is the outcome
3. apart from the 1st season of the (uk) office - the rest is a slippery slide to the horrendous american version
4. i lack self esteem, sure, but i'm an uncompromising bastard when it comes to art!
that's what drags me out of bed in the morning...
gotta protect the realm, old chap
so that's why i get very snippy when truth & beauty are on the line
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/snip-snippy.html
that's why i slag on republicans
and not because i'm a liberal
i'm liberalish, sure, but...

ok, ono
you've said your piece
now get out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QUbCNb39r8

we can be like that band
you know the one
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2101/2393910863_008175b9a0.jpg
the b&w stripes
yes,
i can picture you now on a beach somewhere
http://maciekjasik.com/blog/images/2009-12-2-besos3.jpg

sorry to have dirtied up your mind, glory
i've dragged you down to my level...
and this maybe gilding the lily a bit
but while you're down there,
love

hey, i'm playing to my strength: smuts all i got
and you're only young once... hey
ok, i'm going
mind the hair
ok

and because this is a political blog
you might want to see bipartisanship in action
check this out...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_on_Foreign_Relations#Board_of_direc...
then scroll down to see who their Corporate Members are
and who their Notable current members are
and who their Notable historical members were
so what you see on the tv
and read in the papers
is all kabuki

That's a very detailed Wiki page and never saw all that info before.

However, I did read about Operation Gladio in Webster Griffin Tarpley's "9/11 Synthetic Terror" Chapter II.

Operation Gladio is discussed by Tarpley as an example of how the state (or segments of it) -- and the oligarchs that run the state (or segments of it) -- can undercut challenges to their entrenched power; they do this by creating entities to confuse the political landscape, perform false flag operations and other skulduggery. Horrid events (like bombings) are performed by the agents of the Oligarchy but are attributed to those who challenge the status quo.

What is new in that Wiki page, compared to what I read in the Tarpley book, is the inclusion of a Greek nexus in this state terrorism operations. Much in the Operation Gladio discussion by Tarpley describes the use of existing German agents at the end of WWII to create an anti-communist defense on the streets of Italy. He indicates Gladio was first operated out of The Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, then later managed by the Allied Clandestine Committee of NATO. This is spooky stuff.

Addendum: Pulled out the Tarpley book. He indicates the "stay behind" clandestine networks were supposed to be dismantled starting in 1990 in Italy, Belgium, France, Luxenbourg and Switzerland, but that it was "not clear that stay behind networks" in Greece and Germany "were ever terminated". (Page 94)

Interesting commentary on photos...

(Is this your blog, air-ono? You gave the digby link and I'm confused.)

http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/

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

[excerpt]

Frantz Fanon (July 20, 1925 – December 6, 1961) was a psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary, and author from Martinique. He was influential in the field of post-colonial studies and was perhaps the pre-eminent thinker of the 20th century on the issue of decolonization and the psychopathology of colonization.[1] His works have inspired anti-colonial liberation movements for more than four decades.[2]. The Wretched of the Earth is published in the US by Grove Press, an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

Fanon has had an influence on anti-colonial and national liberation movements. In particular, Les damnés de la terre was a major influence on the work of revolutionary leaders such as Ali Shariati in Iran, Steve Biko in South Africa, Malcolm X in the United States and Ernesto Che Guevara in Cuba. Of these only Guevara was primarily concerned with Fanon's theories on violence; for Shariati and Biko the main interest in Fanon was "the new man" and "black consciousness" respectively [8]. Fanon's influence extended to the liberation movements of the Palestinians, the Tamils, African Americans and others. His work was a key influence on the Black Panther Party, particularly his ideas concerning nationalism, violence, and the lumpenproletariat. More recently, radical South African people's movements have been influenced by Fanon's work.[9] His work was a key influence on Brazilian educationist Paulo Freire, as well.

...

Although Fanon wrote Black Skin, White Masks while still in France, most of his work was written while in North Africa. It was during this time that he produced works such as L'An Cinq, de la Révolution Algérienne, or Year Five of the Algerian Revolution, later republished as 'Sociology of a Revolution" and later still as 'A Dying Colonialism'. The irony of this was that Fanon's original title was "Reality of a Nation", however the publisher, Francois Maspero, refused to accept this title. He also wrote an important work on decolonization, The Wretched of the Earth[4]. The Wretched of the Earth was first published in 1961 by François Maspero and has a preface by Jean-Paul Sartre.[5] In it Fanon analyzes the role of class, race, national culture and violence in the struggle for national liberation. Both books established Fanon in the eyes of much of the Third World as the leading anti-colonial thinker of the 20th century.

...

His participation in the Algerian FLN (Front de Libération Nationale) from 1955 determined his audience as the Algerian colonized. It was to them that his final work, Les damnés de la terre (translated into English by Constance Farrington as The Wretched of the Earth) was directed. It constitutes a warning to the oppressed of the dangers they face in the whirlwind of decolonization and the transition to a neo-colonialist/globalized world[6].[citation needed]

...

Fanon has had an influence on anti-colonial and national liberation movements. In particular, Les damnés de la terre was a major influence on the work of revolutionary leaders such as Ali Shariati in Iran, Steve Biko in South Africa, Malcolm X in the United States and Ernesto Che Guevara in Cuba. Of these only Guevara was primarily concerned with Fanon's theories on violence; for Shariati and Biko the main interest in Fanon was "the new man" and "black consciousness" respectively [8]. Fanon's influence extended to the liberation movements of the Palestinians, the Tamils, African Americans and others. His work was a key influence on the Black Panther Party, particularly his ideas concerning nationalism, violence, and the lumpenproletariat. More recently, radical South African people's movements have been influenced by Fanon's work.[9] His work was a key influence on Brazilian educationist Paulo Freire, as well.

[end excerpt]

Steve Hildebrand

Barack Obama's National Deputy Campaign Manager
Posted: March 7, 2010 10:53 PM

Note: While I'm consulting to the nonpartisan reform groups Public Campaign Action Fund and Common Cause to advance comprehensive campaign finance reform, these words are my own.

Let's remind ourselves that we're in charge of the train wreck that has stalled the important work of Congress. With large Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, voters clearly understand that we're driving the train.

On November 6, 2006, when voters gave the House to the Democrats, Nancy Pelosi said, "The American people voted to restore integrity and honesty in Washington, D.C., and the Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history."

With a trio of scandals making news in the last two weeks (Charlie Rangel, Eric Massa, and the PMA lobbying earmarks), I predict we will see a lot of these words in the coming months. We are either going to hear them repeated by the likes of John Boehner and Eric Cantor as political attacks, or we're going to hear them from the mouth's of pundits, TV news anchors, and journalists describing a promise kept by Speaker Pelosi -- but only if she can shepherd the boldest campaign finance reform forward in American history.

But it's not simply an issue for the Speaker. Will the Democratic majority help her keep that promise?

Sadly, we've made little progress on anything that voters want. We've failed to bridge the deep divide that exists between the two parties. Republicans certainly share in the blame as they carelessly obstruct everything presented by the Democrats.

Will Republicans get their dream narrative to use against us this fall? Or will we get our act together and preserve the Democratic majorities?

Corruption and ethics scandals still lead the daily headlines. Allegations about Rangel, Massa and others have caused unnecessary distractions and underscore a promise not kept (so far). At the same time, our Democratic majorities have done little to change the public's perception of "the culture of corruption." The new agency they created to investigate unethical conduct has been sidelined. Ethics investigations have led to finding that executives and lobbyists knew precisely why they were giving campaign contributions -- and somehow we're to believe that the expectation of quid pro quo was never understood by members of Congress?

A few years after Tom DeLay's Congress, we still have an institution that appears to prefer to protect it's own rather than improve the enforcement of bad behavior.

Additionally, while holding the majority, Democrats have failed to reduce the enormous power of special interests and the millions used to peddle influence. The political money chase gets worse ever year. Politicians from both parties fly from Wall Street to Hollywood and points in-between begging for campaign cash. They spend countless hours every day courting lobbyists, corporate heads and PAC directors to build their re-election war chests. Even incumbents with no threat of losing re-election crisscross the country begging for cash.

No politician in Washington could credibly deny that the place is broken. While we have champions like Congressman John Larson and Senator Dick Durbin leading efforts to pass the Fair Elections Now Act, our House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader have not made this a top priority. With 137 House Democrats and 3 Republicans co-sponsoring the only real measure to curb the influence of big money in politics, it appears uncertain that a vote on this important reform bill will take place.

Voters are angry about the train wreck. They have long demanded reform and we have failed them. They don't see Washington as a collection of "bad apples" -- they think the barrel is rotten. We promised to do better. So if we don't fix this broken system now and make fixing Washington the centerpiece of the 2010 election, Republicans will use our 2006 "culture of corruption" playbook against us and the Democratic majorities we worked so hard to secure will be in jeopardy. Even as our opponents conduct the greatest obstruction of Congress in history, it will be Democrats who voters punish because we are in charge.

Elections are won largely based on which party has the best narrative. We still have time to develop the better one before the November elections. But will we?

Let's keep our commitments by cleaning up the mess, passing sweeping ethics and political reforms and getting things done. We can't blow this.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-hildebrand/we-cant-blow-this_b_48944...

toniD's Ya Think?

An Irish Mirror
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Everyone has a theory about the financial crisis. These theories range from the absurd to the plausible — from claims that liberal Democrats somehow forced banks to lend to the undeserving poor (even though Republicans controlled Congress) to the belief that exotic financial instruments fostered confusion and fraud. But what do we really know?

Well, in a way the sheer scale of the crisis — the way it affected much, though not all, of the world — is helpful, for research if nothing else. We can look at countries that avoided the worst, like Canada, and ask what they did right — such as limiting leverage, protecting consumers and, above all, avoiding getting caught up in an ideology that denies any need for regulation. We can also look at countries whose financial institutions and policies seemed very different from those in the United States, yet which cracked up just as badly, and try to discern common causes.

So let’s talk about Ireland.

As a new research paper by the Irish economists Gregory Connor, Thomas Flavin and Brian O’Kelly points out, “Almost all the apparent causal factors of the U.S. crisis are missing in the Irish case,” and vice versa. Yet the shape of Ireland’s crisis was very similar: a huge real estate bubble — prices rose more in Dublin than in Los Angeles or Miami — followed by a severe banking bust that was contained only via an expensive bailout.

Ireland had none of the American right’s favorite villains: there was no Community Reinvestment Act, no Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. More surprising, perhaps, was the unimportance of exotic finance: Ireland’s bust wasn’t a tale of collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps; it was an old-fashioned, plain-vanilla case of excess, in which banks made big loans to questionable borrowers, and taxpayers ended up holding the bag.

So what did we have in common? The authors of the new study suggest four “ ‘deep’ causal factors.”

First, there was irrational exuberance: in both countries buyers and lenders convinced themselves that real estate prices, although sky-high by historical standards, would continue to rise.

Second, there was a huge inflow of cheap money. In America’s case, much of the cheap money came from China; in Ireland’s case, it came mainly from the rest of the euro zone, where Germany became a gigantic capital exporter.

Third, key players had an incentive to take big risks, because it was heads they win, tails someone else loses. In Ireland this moral hazard was largely personal: “Rogue-bank heads retired with their large fortunes intact.” There was a lot of this in the United States, too: as Harvard’s Lucian Bebchuk and others have pointed out, top executives at failed U.S. financial companies received billions in “performance related” pay before their firms went belly-up.

But the most striking similarity between Ireland and America was “regulatory imprudence”: the people charged with keeping banks safe didn’t do their jobs. In Ireland, regulators looked the other way in part because the country was trying to attract foreign business, in part because of cronyism: bankers and property developers had close ties to the ruling party.

There was a lot of that here too, but the bigger issue was ideology. Actually, the authors of the Irish paper get this wrong, stressing the way U.S. politicians celebrated the ideal of homeownership; yes, they made speeches along those lines, but this didn’t have much effect on lenders’ incentives.

What really mattered was free-market fundamentalism. This is what led Ronald Reagan to declare that deregulation would solve the problems of thrift institutions — the actual result was huge losses, followed by a gigantic taxpayer bailout — and Alan Greenspan to insist that the proliferation of derivatives had actually strengthened the financial system. It was largely thanks to this ideology that regulators ignored the mounting risks.

So what can we learn from the way Ireland had a U.S.-type financial crisis with very different institutions? Mainly, that we have to focus as much on the regulators as on the regulations. By all means, let’s limit both leverage and the use of securitization — which were part of what Canada did right. But such measures won’t matter unless they’re enforced by people who see it as their duty to say no to powerful bankers.

That’s why we need an independent agency protecting financial consumers — again, something Canada did right — rather than leaving the job to agencies that have other priorities. And beyond that, we need a sea change in attitudes, a recognition that letting bankers do what they want is a recipe for disaster. If that doesn’t happen, we will have failed to learn from recent history — and we’ll be doomed to repeat it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/opinion/08krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&...

toniD's Ya Think?

Meet The Press with Sec. Sebelius - March 7, 2010
March 7, 2010
Guests:
Kathleen Sebelius (Sec. Of HHS)
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Harold Ford
E.J. Dionne
Rich Lowry

Gregory: Kathy I hate health care reform and
I’m willing to lie to defeat it

Sebelius : we all know that

Gregory: it is a fact that Americans don’t like Obama’s health reforms

Sebelius : it’s fact that you’re a fucking liar

Gregory: [ fluffs hair ]

Sebelius : did you know that people are suffering and Fluffy if people are so goddamm happy with their health insurance do you think they are happy with 40% increases in premiums?

Gregory: I saw a guy on the street who told me
that Obama will fail

Sebelius : I really don’t give a shit about your so-called facts Dancin Dave

Gregory: it’s a really important point whether if this isn’t enacted by Easter Obama will just let it go

Sebelius : good god you are infathomably shallow

Gregory: Easter - yes or no?!?

Sebelius : I officially have total contempt for you

Gregory: Is Obama’s agenda at stake??!

Sebelius : no dimwit - what’s at peril is
America’s health

Gregory: what mistakes has Obama made?

Sebelius : he underestimated your stupidity?

Gregory: anything else

Sebelius : well we need to sell the evil of
insurance companies better

Gregory: you didn’t communicate to the people

Sebelius : right - we spend months assuring the public we weren’t actually going to kill old people

Gregory: Obama wants to control costs but I talked to anonymous Republicans and Warren Buffet
said it doesn’t do that!

Sebelius : calm down Fluffy

Gregory: but why not just do what the GOP wants?

Sebelius : yeah RomneyCare worked great

Gregory: Big Shoulders are covered

Sebelius : idiot

Gregory: you don’t deal with tort reform!

Sebelius : that’s a lie Greggers

Gregory: but not malpractice reform!

Sebelius : that’s another lie

Gregory: but you can’t possibly disagree with
Saint Warren of the Buffet

Sebelius : brace yourself Fluffy - I do disagree
with the richest man in America on the need for guaranteed health care

Gregory: [ falls on fainting couch ]

Sebelius : I heard you were a moron

Gregory: but the Mayo Clinic says this will probably work but where are the guarantees??

Sebelius : look stupid we know prevention and technology reduce costs

Gregory: will a future Congress really raise taxes?

Sebelius : sure why not

Gregory: Stupak wants to ban health care for wimmins health

Sebelius : we’re not going to pay for abortions I promise!!

Gregory: how do you get President Stupak’s vote?

Sebelius : persuade him by putting a pony head
in his bed

Gregory: really??

Sebelius : no Bart’s just misinformed

Gregory: so you maintain he’s just an idiot

Sebelius : yes - you’d like him

[ break ]

More here:

http://moonshinepatriot.blogspot.com/2010/03/meet-press-with-sec-sebeliu...

toniD's Ya Think?

Obama warns staff:
Ignore palace intrigue
The spate of news stories delving into West Wing palace intrigue has become so relentless that President Barack Obama warned his team against fueling the blaze.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34047.html

toniD's Ya Think?

Are Veterans Being Given Deadly Cocktails to Treat PTSD?
A potentially deadly drug manufactured by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has been linked to the deaths of soldiers returning from war. Yet the FDA continues to approve it.
March 6, 2010 |

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Sgt. Eric Layne's death was not pretty.

A few months after starting a drug regimen combining the antidepressant Paxil, the mood stabilizer Klonopin and a controversial anti-psychotic drug manufactured by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, Seroquel, the Iraq war veteran was "suffering from incontinence, severe depression [and] continuous headaches," according to his widow, Janette Layne.

Soon he had tremors. " … [H]is breathing was labored [and] he had developed sleep apnea," Layne said.

Janette Layne, who served in the National Guard during Operation Iraqi Freedom along with her husband, told the story of his decline last year, at official FDA hearings on new approvals for Seroquel. On the last day of his life, she testified, Eric stayed in the bathroom nearly all night battling acute urinary retention (an inability to urinate). He died while his family slept.

more...

http://www.alternet.org/world/145892/are_veterans_being_given_deadly_coc...

toniD's Ya Think?

6.0 earthquake hits
eastern Turkey, kills 57
A strong, pre-dawn earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6 struck eastern Turkey on Monday, killing 57 people as it knocked down stone or mud-brick houses and minarets in at least six villages, the government said.

LINK

toniD's Ya Think?

Talk about your preemptive strike.

The success of national health care reform legislation is still an uncertainty, but some states are already taking measures to keep federal hands off their citizens.

Thursday, Virginia became the first state to enact a law exempting its residents from any health insurance mandates. It's one of 36 states where lawmakers are trying to head off potential federal legislation.

While Virginia enacted a statute, 25 other states are considering constitutional changes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Virtually all the proposals object to mandates requiring individuals or businesses to buy health insurance.

"That is a widespread, common theme," said Richard Cauchi, program director for the NCSL health program. "The real legal issue is the requirement that every person buy health insurance."

In Arizona this November, voters will consider a constitutional amendment banning any requirement for individuals or employers to have or provide for heath care. This spring, the legislature is also consider a statute to allow the state to decline any public health care plan offered by the federal government.

But not all the actions being considered apply simply to federal law. Some of the constitutional provisions would also prohibit future state lawmakers from enacting any sorts of health insurance mandates or enacting any sort of single-payer system. Some measures don't even refer to the federal government, Cauchi said.

But most are clearly aimed at potential mandates that individuals carry health insurance, he said. That could set the stage for legal wrangling between states and feds if a health care package with a mandate becomes law.

"There probably are some phrases or sections that probably are in conflict with some future law," Cauchi said.

Republicans control legislatures in Virginia, Arizona and other states where such moves appear to have the most traction, such as Idaho, Utah, Georgia and Florida. In Florida, GOP Attorney General (and gubernatorial candidate) Bill McCollum is threatening to sue the federal government if an individual mandate is included in any reform legislation.

Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Virginia, questioned whether the U.S. Supreme Court would uphold laws such as Virginia's in a battle between state and federal rights in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine last month. He cited rulings on desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s as well as today's battles over medical marijuana laws in concluding that state attempts to preempt health care are more for show than for action.

"These resistance efforts are not about law -- they are about politics," Jost wrote.

And Cauchi said the politics may be tough for several of the measures being considered by the states. Wyoming's GOP-controlled legislature rejected similar efforts in 2009 and this year. Last year, lawmakers in Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, New Mexico, North Dakota and West Virginia rejected such laws.

Most states require a two-thirds vote by legislatures to put constitutional issues on the ballot. In Iowa, for instance, that two-thirds vote must occur in two consecutive legislative sessions.

"For those that are trying to amend the constitution, it's a multiple-step challenge," Cauchi said.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/03/06/36-states-aim-to-preempt-federal...

toniD's Ya Think?

We're getting a bit more details on just what the complaints against soon-to-be-ex-Rep. Eric Massa were about. On Massa's weekly radio show he explained his side of the alleged incident of sexual harassment and went on to suggest that the timing of recent events was part of a plan by Democratic leaders to force him out of the House to pave the way for passing health care reform.

And from there ... well, I guess the highlights would include the cursing match with Rahm and Massa's story of walking in on his Navy bunkmate masturbating back in the early 1980s and how that led to a misunderstanding and the bunkmate requesting different quarters. And then somewhat above and beyond the call of duty descriptions of best practices for sharing a bed with a staffer when you're on the road and the hotel room only has one bed. (One sleeps under the covers, one over.)

The whole show sounds at once genuine, completely disjointed and confused, somewhat endearing and also totally bizarre. For a good bit of the conversation (the first 25 minutes or so is an impassioned monologue) the topic was whether or not Massa should stay in Congress, cut back his hours and declare himself an independent.

Roll Call reports the story here.
http://www.rollcall.com/news/43920-1.html?ET=rollcall:e6888:80056086a:&s...

And you can listen to the interview itself here (jump to about 5 minutes in). at link

Read more »
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/weirder_still.php#more...

toniD's Ya Think?

neither are all the other digby sidebar links
(lol)
you may have suspected something when i wrote the word "notes" in one of my posts
and you erroneously put the 2 together...
sometimes 2 & 2 equals 2
in that they are seperate entities and there is no connection
however, next time i'll include a caveat or 2.
it's an easy mistake to make, e.g.
once i thought that all legs tasted like chicken legs
until i took a bite out of a dog's leg...
oh, it made all the papers
and don't get me started on the zebra
: )

also, i tracked down "strategy of tension" when i thought about pope john paul 1's death
my amazing detective skills led me directly to wiki
unlike you, nora - i'm a real sleuth
and i can prove it
(see photo below)
below is a photo taken of me during one of my investigations

and as great as i am at solving mysteries
and bringing the culprits before the old bailey
i'm still remembered as *that* guy...
who bit the dog

[rimshot]

hark, a shot!
someone's in distress and there's danger afoot
this will lead our intrepid hero on another exciting adventure, and
*chuckles* where he's bound to be caught up in all manner of hijinks
(ok, gtg)

Unrest within Democratic Party plays out in controversy over Rahm Emanuel's role
By Sam Youngman - 03/07/10 04:20 PM ET
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has become a reluctant central figure in the battle between liberals and centrists in the Democratic Party.

A spate of recent reports have portrayed Emanuel, known for his aggressive brand of Washington politics, as either the voice of reason in a weak, liberal White House or the wet blanket preventing President Barack Obama from pursuing the kind of change he promised as a candidate.

Emanuel has become the flash point in those arguments as liberals express betrayal over Obama's failure to convince Congress to pass a public option in healthcare reform and close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In recent stories and columns in The Washington Post, Emanuel is described as a political pragmatist, pushing Obama to accept realistic limitations on both issues in order to secure smaller victories over abject failures. Or as the Post's Dana Milbank put it, Emanuel is "the only person keeping Obama from becoming Jimmy Carter."

The president, in turn, is depicted as unsure, beholden to liberal groups' desires before ultimately heeding Emanuel's realistic assessment of the political environment and caving to centrists in a fashion reminiscent of the triangulation of Emanuel's other White House boss -- President Bill Clinton.

The culprits behind those stories are not Emanuel or those who support him, Democratic strategists say, but instead the liberal Netroots crowd disgusted by what they view as appeasement to the center.

Some of those efforts to weaken Emanuel are coming from inside the building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, one Democratic strategist said.

"There are people in the White House who are trying to get rid of Rahm, and they are leaking everything they can," said the strategist, who is close to Emanuel. "Some of it's personal, some of it's professional[ly] judgmental, but there is no doubt there's an effort."

Those critics think Emanuel is "too close to the Blue Dogs in the House and too ready to compromise."

But what Rahm represents to the left dates back to liberal anger with Clinton and his kindred spirits at the centrist Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). Emanuel is seen by some progressives as wanting to win, to a fault by sacrificing principles of the party.

"Rahm believes in being elected; not in the glory of losing or failing," the strategist said.

That mentality has never sat well with some prominent bloggers. Just this past week, The Huffington Post, a force in the Democratic Party, ran this headline: "Rahm Emanuel: Obama's Chief of Sabotage."

In that story, author Dan Froomkin said that for Emanuel, "victory is everything -- even if you have to give up your core values to win, and even if you could have won while sticking to them."

"The Rahm Emanuel that Obama hired is the poster child for the timid, pseudo-pragmatism that is inimical to the idealistic Obama agenda so many excited voters responded to [in November 2008]," Froomkin wrote. "And it's a pragmatism that is absolutely killing the Democratic Party in the long run, because American voters have an intrinsic distrust of politicians they see as tacking with the polls or shying away from a fight."

Those kind of attacks have led centrists in the party to defend Emanuel, even former Clinton senior administration official Lanny Davis, a fan of the public option but someone who says that he and Emanuel did not get along in the White House. ("That is an understatement," Davis said.).
more...

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/85353-unrest-in-democratic-pa...

Lannie Davis defending Rahm isn't saying much because Lannie is just as bad as Rahm, if it's possible, maybe worse. Except he isn't in the WH right now.

toniD's Ya Think?

waves to meg at the top of the thread
hope you're convalescing well
xox

The Bobblespeak Translations
Submitted by toniD on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 7:16am.

Are Veterans Being Given Deadly Cocktails to Treat PTSD?

US government cant find enough medicines to wash away the pain they carry within after coming home from a futile military approach to solving world problems. . It must be very hard to know "you were used to kill innocents" and that your own government is really as bad as the problem you were sent to fix?

'FEAR-GATE' FLAP PROVES UNSPINNABLE.... I have to admit, I didn't really expect to see so many Republican leaders respond with contrition to the flap surrounding the so-called "fear-gate" controversy.

Last week, a Republican National Committee fundraising presentation was leaked, and immediately became a headache for the party. The RNC's message -- filled with donor insults, offensive caricatures, and an admission that the party will rely on little more than "fear" -- has already put many Republican officials on the defensive. It's even driving donors away.

The subject came up during the Sunday shows, and GOP lawmakers continued to distance themselves from the controversial party materials.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blasted the Republican National Committee on Sunday for producing a fundraising presentation that mocked the President and congressional leadership as cartoon villains and socialists.

Asked about the document -- which outlines how "ego-driven" wealthy donors could be persuaded to take out their checkbooks -- the Kentucky Republican called it "certainly not helpful" to the Republican cause.

"I can't imagine why anybody would have thought that was helpful," McConnell added. "Typically the way parties raise money is because people believe in the causes they advocate. I think the way we raise money from donors across America is to stand for things that are important for the country."

McConnell dodged a question about whether anyone at the RNC should lose their jobs over this, but he added, "I don't like it and I don't know anybody else who does."

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) added, "There is no excuse for that type of stuff." When Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) offered some tepid praise for the underlying message of the RNC materials, his office soon after issued a statement describing the presentation as "juvenile and insulting."

What I find most interesting about this is the fact that Republicans actually seem rather embarrassed. That's an exceedingly rare sight. Generally, Republicans -- at the RNC, in Congress, or both -- will say or do something completely indefensible, and when Dems try to raise a fuss, the party shrugs its shoulders and says, "So?" No matter what the circumstances, Republicans generally reject the very idea of remorse.

But this "fear-gate" controversy is apparently proving to be unspinnable, perhaps because it includes insulting comments about GOP donors.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/022746.php

toniD's Ya Think?

a well repsected Master pharmacist( and seller of quality nutrients) said to day that he thinks that the dramtic increase in Vit. D use might be part of why the Flu season was very different from expectations.

Jerry Is well respected by the medical establishment in NYC. He is very good with the blending of progressive nutrition with harsh but necessary prescription pharmacology. Before people jump on him for selling Vitamin D understand that is not a very big money maker.
I refer to Hickey for info on the interreaction bewtween drug combining and nutritional supplements.
he is temperate and progressive with the blending of nutrients and pharmaceuticals.
I can safely recommend him and his products and viewpoint.
( Vitamin K ,in his prediction will become very important down the road)

http://www.invitehealth.com/Introduction-by-Jerry-Hickey.html
===============
http://www.nature.com/ni/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ni.1851.html

Vitamin D controls T cell antigen receptor signaling and activation of human T cells
Dr pressman brought up this reason why Vit D is important for preventing the Flu this morning..

This seems scientific to me and I would be cautious not to denegrate The messenger of this research

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8555300.stm

Israel has authorised the building of 112 new apartments in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
This comes as US Vice-President Joe Biden flies to the region, becoming the highest ranking US official to visit since Barack Obama took office.
On Sunday, Palestinian Authority leaders in the West Bank agreed to indirect talks with Israel.
Israel had promised a 10-month pause in settlement building in the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem.
The announcement will place strain on the already fragile agreement to talk, Palestinian negotiators say.

(continues)

even their funky outfits can't detract from the sadness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5gFAiPJhvI

this video is funny & touching; which is quite a feat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2i4OtDks1I
says Marvin Gaye
but maybe getting confused with Harold Melvin

eh, goodnight...
(warning: those songs probably aren't a good idea to listen to early in the morning)
(more for a late night crowd)
have a nice day

http://www.joslinresearch.org/homedir/home.htm

President Obama is expected to announce the nomination of ret. Gen. Robert Harding to lead the Transportation Security Administration. Harding “served in the Army for 33 years and…was the Defense Department’s top human intelligence officer.” Obama had previously chosen Erroll Southers for the position, but he withdrew from consideration after becoming “a lightning rod” for the GOP “political agenda.”

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jM5DvT_ha5EPbslk3GtDoO...

toniD's Ya Think?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/business/08short.html?th&emc=th

In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave.
This latest program, which will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give them a little cash to speed them on their way, is one of the administration’s most aggressive attempts to grapple with a problem that has defied solutions.
More than five million households are behind on their mortgages and risk foreclosure. The government’s $75 billion mortgage modification plan has helped only a small slice of them. Consumer advocates, economists and even some banking industry representatives say much more needs to be done.
For the administration, there is also the concern that millions of foreclosures could delay or even reverse the economy’s tentative recovery — the last thing it wants in an election year.
Taking effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers who have not been rescued by the loan modification program to shed their houses through a process known as a short sale, in which property is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage. Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and what they are owed.
(continues)

In an attempt to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration will start a new program that allows defaulting homeowners to sell their homes for less than they owe “and will give them a little cash to speed them on their way.” The program “could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers who have not been rescued by the loan modification program to shed their houses.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/business/08short.html?ref=todayspaper

The homeowners will still owe the difference to the Bank.
And if it's a foreclosure, which my friend Gloria is going through,an attorney told her to wait to go bankrupt until her house is sold, in auction or otherwise, because she will still owe the difference to the mortgage company and she can put that into her bankruptcy. Otherwise she would still owe that amount.

toniD's Ya Think?

U.S. troops are beginning to pull out of Haiti after helping “thousands of displaced, injured, and orphaned islanders affected by the massive January earthquake.” Meanwhile, the Senate “voted late last week to relieve Haiti of its debt” and mandated that “future aid to the island be given as grants and not loans.”

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/85367-us-troops-pulling...

toniD's Ya Think?

House Democratic leaders are considering “declaring a party-wide ban on earmarks this year.” The “dramatic move,” floated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in a meeting with leaders last week, would help House Democrats “outflank their Republican counterparts, who have mulled and rejected such a moratorium in recent years.”

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/55_99/news/43906-1.html

toniD's Ya Think?

too bad we can't pull out of iraq or afghanistan as fast.

you add "The homeowners will still owe the difference to the Bank."

but

"Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and what they are owed."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/business/08short.html?
ref=todayspaper

I am not very well versed in these matters I wonder what Dan thinks?

i think he's lost his mojo.

if its compelling the lender to accept the deal, then its essentially the cram down program that never got traction (although the significant difference is that with the cram down the owner got a new mortgage for a much lesser amount while here the owner loses everything but gets to walk away).

something important to note is that by the time a lot of owners get into this situation, they have a 2nd and possible 3rd mortage (equity lines or other secured debt) and how those are handled isn't really spelled out. in other words, the owner might still be obligated to pay back those loans.

Submitted by dan on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 10:43am.

excessive cannabis is a sure way to lose your MOJO

and yes I noticed that Maher is not as sharp as he used to be.

have been offering people who still remain in foreclosed houses money to move. I was told it can take 18 months to get people out of the house. Unlike In New York for example ,CA laws dont have the "marshall putting people out on the corner" as I have seen here. But that info is anecdotal. Does anyone have clearer info?

Thompson May Soon Start Exploratory Committee
A former aide to ex-Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) said that Thompson could soon form an "exploratory" committee for a possible campaign against Sen. Russ Feingold (D), CQ Politics reports.

Bill McCoshen said that Thompson is "very seriously considering" a Senate race and that he "wouldn't be surprised" if Thompson forms a preliminary committee in the next couple of weeks to begin raising money.

Said McCoshen: "Tommy will obviously have the opportunity to say no. He's got a couple more hurdles he's got to get over, but he's working his way through it. You can see the passion that he had when he ran for governor four times successfully."

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2010/03/wisconsin-thompson-could-f...

Tommy Thompson from wiki. More at wiki but these are the important parts....

Private-sector career

Thompson is the President of Logistics Health Incorporated. He is senior partner at Akin Gump, a Washington, D.C., law firm, and is a senior adviser at the consulting firm Deloitte and the chairman of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.[13] Thompson taught a class in the fall of 2005 at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government on medical diplomacy.[14]

Shortly after leaving his Bush Cabinet post, Thompson joined and served for two years on the board of directors of Applied Digital Solutions, makers of the controversial VeriChip: a glass-encapsulated RFID chip that can be injected into human flesh for various database-driven identification purposes.

Thompson currently serves on the board of Directors for Pure Bioscience Inc. (PURE.OB) that is in the process of introducing a revolutionary new class of non-toxic antimicrobial/disinfectant based on silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC). Thompson serves on the Board of Trustees of the non-profit, Medical Missions for Children and is the co-host for their television series, Plain Talk About Health.[15]

Thompson serves as a Senior Advisor of Capital Partners of McKinley Reserve[16], a Wisconsin corporation with ties to both Hilbert, Wisconsin and Dubai.[17][18]
[edit] Criticism
[edit] Medicare controversies

After leaving office, Thompson promoted changes to Medicare that some complained would benefit companies Thompson has a financial stake in (including Centene and the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions).[19]

Additionally, while in office, Thompson was involved in a dispute over whether the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services had to share cost estimates to Congress for legislation that would create a prescription drug benefit. Critics accused HHS of downplaying the true cost of the law by $150 billion. CMS Administrator Tom Scully threatened to fire the actuary if he revealed to Congress his estimate. Investigators determined that the data was improperly hidden from Congress, but did not conclude whether laws had been broken.
....

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

toniD's Ya Think?

PR 101: It's time to play hang the hypocrite asshole out to dry again.

Force the Republican establishment to distance themselves from Palin and her adoring fans and kneecap her/their future talking points NOW.

Palin: Growing Up, I ‘Hustled Over the Border’ For Health Care

"We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada. And I think now, isn’t that ironic."

"this machine kills fascists"

of that certain live Patti Labelle version.

I would link it, but THAT version never stays up on YouTube etc. for long...for whatever reason. You can only find the vastly inferior, virtually-patter-free version.

But you (or y'all) prolly know which one I mean.

("Imma try and talk to ya sugar")

Sensibilities...whatterryagonna do.

Yes that vid sure is something (with the lil' Emo guy).

Don't EVER tell me listen to something like that at night. Are you trying to kill me?

("You break your back you break your legs and you break your face ...")

Here's Aretha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYeDPhZ1FA4

("And if that turns you off baby you ain't worth me anyway.")

;)

has always been kinda detachable.

Quote of the Day
"Rahm Emanuel is son of the devil's spawn... He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive."

-- Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY), in a radio interview, on the White House chief of staff.

Massa also claimed it was Democrats who pushed the ethics charges that led to his resignation today.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/08/quote_of_the_day.html

toniD's Ya Think?

Repeating Bush's Mistakes
Mark Halperin: "Who would have thought that one of Barack Obama's biggest missteps as president would be repeating some of the bad habits of George W. Bush? No single factor was more instrumental in Obama's 2008 victory than his pledge to completely reverse the nation's course once in the White House. Instead, over the past year, Obama has mimicked some of Bush's most egregious blunders, leading to much of the political predicament in which the present decider finds himself today."

Key mistakes: No chief economic spokesperson... Failure to integrate policy, politics, and communication... Tying the Administration's fate too closely to his own party's congressional leadership... Failing to empower Cabinet members on domestic policy.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1970413,00.html

Just so you know, Massa was a no vote for HCR.

toniD's Ya Think?

A rockslide on Interstate 70 near Glenwood Springs smashed through a bridge and dumped boulders the size of tractor trailers on the highway, closing a 17-mile stretch of the road.

I'm sorry to see an ostensibly good Progressive go. But, that comment is precious!

I so do love the 12-dimensional-chess-in-reverse club.

Hey, I'm all for it! Speculate away, Eric, FDL,! Connect the dots!

Maybe it would have played out a different way had Massa been a confirmed "yea" on HCR.

Maybe Rahm did take out a good Progressive for his evil shadow government aims.

Whatever gets you through the day :)

"this machine kills fascists"

CNN has a blog post up. The comments under the post are nuts!

I'll post video when I get it.

"this machine kills fascists"

is my understanding that the process for passing hcr is that the house has to pass the crappy senate bill as is and that then they introduce a new bill that corrects the problems and that gets passed using the rules of recounciliation, but there is no guarrantee that it will pass, which means that we might just get stuck with the senate bill and that recounciliation is just kabuki?

Obama To Dems: Reform Will Kick In This Year. This Year. This Year.

"One striking thing about the speech Obama just gave at the big health care rally in Pennsylvania is how many times he stressed that if reform passes, voters will begin enjoying the benefits this year.

Though he didn’t say it directly, it’s an obvious effort to put some spine in wavering Congressional Dems by urging them to understand that they’ll have something to run on this year if they vote for reform."

I'm glad he's running with that ball. It's a winner. I just hope he runs fast, fast, fast.

"this machine kills fascists"

"this machine kills fascists"

(Too big to fail will become too big to save!)

They Saved the Big Banks But Kind Of Lost The Economy Doing It

By Simon Johnson

It would be easy to take relatively cheap shots at the portrayal of Tim Geithner — “we saved the economy but kind of lost the public doing it” — in the New Yorker, out today.

1. Mr. Geithner is quoted as saying, “Some on the left have fallen into a trap set by the Republicans, allowing voters to mistakenly think that the biggest part of the bank bailout had come under Obama rather Bush.” Mr. Geithner should know – as he spearheaded the saving of banks and other financial institutions under both Bush and Obama. In fact, it’s the continuation of George Bush’s policies by other means that really has erstwhile Obama supporters upset.
2. “I think there are some in the Democratic Party that think Tim and Larry are too conservative for them and that the President is too receptive to our advice.” Probably this is linked to the fact that Tim Geithner is not a Democrat.
3. Geithner also suggests that his critics compare government spending on different kinds of programs under President Obama: “By any measure, the Main Street stuff dwarfs the Wall Street stuff.” This insults our intelligence. Wall Street created a massive crisis and we consequently lost 8 million jobs; any responsible government would have tried hard to offset this level of damage with all available means. This includes fiscal measures that will end up increasing out privately held government debt, as a percent of GDP, by around 40 percentage points. It’s not the fiscal stimulus, broadly defined, that is Mr. Geithner’s problem – it’s the lack of accountability for the bankers and politicians who got us into this mess.

But the Geithner issues reflected here run much deeper. The New Yorker’s John Cassidy alludes to these but he may be too subtle. Here’s the less subtle version.

What exactly was the “Geithner stabilization plan” that frames the article – and is the basis for Secretary Geithner claiming to have saved anything? We are not really talking about the much vaunted but little used toxic asset/loan purchase program (the “PPIP”). “The plan” here means essentially the stress tests designed by Treasury and run by the Fed – which brought some transparency to banks’ balance sheets, but which also used a relatively benign “stress scenario” (watch commercial real estate, residential mortgages, and credit card losses now unfold).

The main feature of the plan, of course, was – following the stress tests – to communicate effectively that there was a government guarantee behind every major bank or quasi-bank in the United States. Of course this works in the short-term – investors like such guarantees. But there’s a good reason we usually don’t guarantee all financial institutions – or act happy when other countries do the same. Unconditional bailouts lead to trouble, encouraging reckless risk-taking and undermining responsible governance. You can’t run any form of reasonable market system when some big players hold “get out of bankruptcy free” cards.

All crises end – this is actually Larry Summers’s famous line. We avoided a Great Depression primarily because, compared with 1929-31, we have a government sector that is large relative to the economy – and which does not collapse when credit goes into freefall. What exactly did the Obama administration do in ending the crisis that a Clinton or McCain administration – or even Bush – would not have done? The most plausible answer is: Nothing.

Geithner insists, according to John Cassidy, that the Obama administration has “proposed the biggest regulatory overhaul in seventy-five years.” This is the worst conceit. The sad and unfortunate truth is quite the opposite – because Mr. Geithner and his colleagues refused to seize the moment and didn’t break the economic and political power of anyone who mattered, they have doomed us to re-run the same horrible credit loop as before. Legislation may tweak the details, but the regulation and control of systemic risk remains just as weak as before.
more...

http://baselinescenario.com/2010/03/08/they-saved-the-big-banks-but-kind...

toniD's Ya Think?

Dallas Shooting: Multiple Shots Fired At Office Building, Per Reports

A Dallas shooting took place at an office building this morning, March 8, 2010, according to multiple media reports.

FOX 4 reports that the shooting took place in an 18-story office building in North Dallas that houses the United Texas Bank.

CBS 11 News notes that there were at least three shooting victims; two were taken to Parkland Hospital and the alleged shooter was sent to Baylor Medical Center after suffering a shot to the head.

CBS 11 first reported about the incident on Twitter: "FLASH: Dallas fire says they are sending multiple amublances to a shooting scene at an office complex in North Dallas."

The Dallas Morning News tweeted that the location of the shooting was "a North Dallas bank near Medical City Dallas Hospital."

This is a developing story. Details to come.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/08/dallas-shooting-shots-fir_n_490...

toniD's Ya Think?

Glenn Beck Urges Listeners to Leave Churches That Preach Social Justice

On his daily radio and television shows last week, Fox News personality Glenn Beck set out to convince his audience that "social justice," the term many Christian churches use to describe their efforts to address poverty and human rights, is a "code word" for communism and Nazism. Beck urged Christians to discuss the term with their priests and to leave their churches if leaders would not reconsider their emphasis on social justice.

"I'm begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them . . . are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!"

Later, Beck held up cards, one with a hammer and sickle and other with a swastika. "Communists are on the left, and the Nazis are on the right. That's what people say. But they both subscribe to one philosophy, and they flew one banner. . . . But on each banner, read the words, here in America: 'social justice.' They talked about economic justice, rights of the workers, redistribution of wealth, and surprisingly, democracy."

Audio at link

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/03/08/glenn-beck-urges-listeners-to-le...

toniD's Ya Think?

Dodd Announces He Will Back Public Option, Becomes 37th Supporter

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/08/chris-dodd-public-option_n_4897...

toniD's Ya Think?

With bank credit frozen, small U.S. businesses starting to turn to microlenders

By Ylan Q. Mui
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 8, 2010; A09

Ryan Fochler's life changed six years ago when he left his job in the computer industry to buy an Arlington County-based dog-walking business with $50,000 in personal savings and a home-equity line of credit. The firm grew quickly, with revenue more than doubling each year. By 2008, Fochler was ready to expand the business into a full-fledged pet day-care service called Dog Paws 'n Cat Claws.

The only problem was money.

Fochler wanted to convert an old drugstore into a 7,000-square-foot paradise for pets, complete with retail products and dog training. But those plans collided with the most severe financial crisis in a generation, and credit froze up. At one point, Fochler said, his bank refused to release the money needed to complete the construction.

"We just kind of hit it at completely the wrong time," he said. But, he added, for entrepreneurs, "failing is not an option."

To help plug the gap, Fochler turned to the Latino Economic Development Corp.'s nascent microlending program, part of a growing network of financial institutions that specialize in small loans to mom-and-pop operations that are often below banks' radar. The average size of the LEDC's loans is $10,000 at a 10 percent interest rate, said Lending Director Rob Vickers. Many banks will not consider loans less than $200,000, he said.

Microlending first became popular as a form of foreign investment in poor, emerging markets. Before joining the LEDC a few years ago, Vickers was a microlending specialist in Latin America for the World Bank, including financing projects in Nicaragua to help rural villagers connect to electrical grids. The trend has been slower to take off in the United States, especially because many consumers have access to credit cards and because lending requirements were lax.

But tightened underwriting standards have pushed many consumers out of the traditional banking system and sent them hunting for alternatives. In a survey of 16 microlenders by Opportunity Finance, a network of financial groups, 81 percent reported that applications for those small-dollar loans increased during the fourth quarter compared with the previous year.

"We're seeing a lot of demand from formerly banked businesses that are now looking to us to meet their needs," said Mark Pinsky, chief executive of Opportunity Finance.

In addition, the Internet has created a niche of microlending that allows businesses to appeal to everyday consumers for capital through peer-to-peer lending. Renaud Laplanche, chief executive of the Lending Club, said small businesses account for about 10 percent of loans made on his peer-lending site, with the average amount about $18,000. Laplanche said that demand has increased among small businesses but that individuals have also grown more cautious about whom they lend money to.

"It's not like if you can't get any loan from a bank, you can get it from Lending Club," he said. "The individual lenders are also savvy investors."

But Fochler said that even the staff members at the LEDC were surprised that he could not qualify for a bank loan when he approached them two years ago. He reported record sales each year, with growth rates averaging 170 percent. The pet day care is profitable. Fochler employs 25 people and recently added dog training to his services. But he said that after the financial crisis, banks not only wanted to see profitability, but also matching assets.

At the LEDC, Vickers said staff members consider not only standard criteria such as credit scores in approving loans but also the entrepreneur's ability to pay. The LEDC requires all applications to go through credit counseling to be approved and scrutinizes companies' balance sheets. And it helps borrowers separate personal expenses from business ones, typically a tangled web for small-business owners.

"We are obsessed with making good loans," Vickers said.

Still, the tough economy has taken a toll on LEDC loan holders. The repayment rate fell from 100 percent in fiscal 2007 to 92 percent in 2009, Vickers said. Nationally, 69 percent of microlenders reported an increase in the number of workouts with customers, according to the Opportunity Finance survey.

Vickers said that he expects the repayment rate to improve this year as the economy recovers and that the LEDC hopes to expand its program over time.

"We think growth is very important," he said. "There is unmet demand out there right now."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/07/AR201003...

toniD's Ya Think?

(Senator) Durbin to insurance companies: 'Party's over' Updated at 1:01 PM

Source: Chicago Trib

Small businesses and ordinary citizens are suffering under the crushing increases in health insurance premiums, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said today at a press conference with Chicago-area business owners and residents meant to underscore the need for healthcare reform.

Durbin said that health insurance premiums could increase up to 60 percent in Illinois this year. Meanwhile, he said, insurance companies are experiencing some of their highests profits in history.

"The outrageous premium prices which they have been pushing on the American people in order to drive up their profits are unacceptable and unfair," Durbin said. "We're going to start watching them more closely, requiring them to spend a higher percentage of premiums going for actual medical care. The party's over."

He said the plan is to send President Obama a healthcare reform package in a matter of weeks.

"First we're going to end their anti-trust exemption," Durbin said. "Currently, they can literally collude and conspire to fix prices. It's legal. It's legal. And it's been that way for over 60 years. We're going to change that."
...

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/03/durbin-to-insurance-companies...

toniD's Ya Think?

An editorial published Sunday on the Archdiocese of Mexico's Web site accused Ebrard of "following the line set down by foreign groups" in approving legalized abortion and same-sex marriages.
====================
It is interesting that the Catholic Church is so dead set against same-sex marriage and other gay issues, as well as abortion and assisted suicide, that they will support the hard right and all the murderous things they are about--and that Christians are supposed to be against.I am looking for examples of honest debate and discussion where church spokespersons try to answer this contradiction. The Jesuits sometimes are good for this sort of thing. (I get a headache just writing queries about this.)

GROUNDBREAKING STUDY FINDS
SOLAR, WIND, OTHER RENEWABLE POWER SOURCES
COULD MEET NEARLY ALL NORTH CAROLINA ELECTRICITY NEEDS
http://www.ieer.org/reports/NC-Wind-Solar.pdf

Challenging conventional wisdom on renewable energy's limits

In making the case for a rapid conversion away from heavily polluting energy sources like coal and nuclear power to cleaner generation, renewable energy advocates often confront the argument that their scheme is impossible due to the intermittent nature of sun and wind.

But a groundbreaking study out of North Carolina challenges that conventional wisdom: It suggests that backup generation requirements would be modest for a system based largely on solar and wind power, combined with efficiency, hydroelectric power, and other renewable sources like landfill gas.

"Even though the wind does not blow nor the sun shine all the time, careful management, readily available storage and other renewable sources can produce nearly all the electricity North Carolinians consume," said author John Blackburn, professor emeritus of economics and former chancellor at Duke University in Durham, N.C.. He's also the author of the books "The Renewable Energy Alternative" and "Solar in Florida."

The study was published last week by the Maryland-based Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, whose executive director, Arjun Makhijani, called it landmark research. "North Carolina utilities and regulators and those in other states should take this template, refine it, and make a renewable electricity future a reality," he said.

http://www.southernstudies.org/2010/03/challenging-conventional-wisdom-o...

toniD's Ya Think?

US and S Korea begin war games

Source: Al Jazeera

Thousands of troops from the US and South Korea have begun 10 days of joint military exercises, despite threats of reprisals from North Korea which has denounced the annual drill as a rehearsal for invasion.

Some 18,000 American and an undisclosed number of South Korean troops began the exercise on Monday, military officials from both sides said.

Kim Yong-kyu, a US military spokesman, said the exercises are aimed at rehearsing the deployment of US reinforcements in the event of an emergency on the Korean peninsula.

The US and South Korea say the exercises – which include live-firing by US Marines, aerial attack drills and urban warfare training – are purely defensive.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/03/201038519091698.h...

toniD's Ya Think?

great comments today on the old blog.
I forgot about the Oscars last night....

bill Maher - is he reallly losing his mojo???

Don't want to lose Feingold!
Submitted by toniD on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 11:19am.
NO WAY - HE'S TO GOOD TO LOSE

before i unplug
Submitted by air-ono on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 9:08am.
You make my heart quiver a-o. 2 sweet

But could we make some phone calls for
the HORSES & BURROWS - They NEED OUR HELP -

Urgent Action Needed For Wild Horses
Send Fax (Below) Before March 9!

Senate AND House Appropriations Committees must hear from YOU
This Tuesday, March 9, Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee about his agency's FY 2011 budget proposal. The very same day, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Bob Abbey will testify before the House Appropriations Committee to justify BLM’s FY 2011 budget. Both Salazar and Abbey will attempt to justify an additional $12 million for the controversial Bureau of Land Management (BLM)'s Wild Horse and Burro program, as well as $42.5 million to purchase the first of several so-called "preserves" in the Midwest or East to house horses rounded up and removed from their native western ranges. See below to take action.

https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction...

Federal regulators launch probe of big agriculture

Source: AP via Yahoo! News

ST. LOUIS – Some Obama administration officials have made clear their unease with the increasing control a handful of corporations have over the nation's food supply, and this week in Iowa they could show whether they are serious about changing the system.

---

Christine Varney, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, came into office last spring complaining that regulators have been too slow to file cases and that the Bush administration's guidelines on enforcement had fostered "extreme hesitancy" in the department.

---

The series of workshops will run through December, looking at the seed, dairy, poultry, beef and crop industries. At issue will be the practices of industrial agriculture's biggest players, such as grain processors Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Cargill Inc., meat companies Tyson Foods Inc. and JBS SA and biotech seed firms Monsanto Co. and DuPont.

---

With so few companies given so much power, Heffernan contends they don't need to cut backroom deals to control the market. They just follow each others' lead on how much to pay for grain or animals and force farmers to take what they can get.

"They don't have to go down to the lounge and talk about price fixing," he said.

---

Much more at link.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100308/ap_on_bi_ge/us_food_and_farm_agricul...

toniD's Ya Think?

Big bank oversight to stay with Fed

Source: Financial Times

By Tom Braithwaite in Washington

Published: March 7 2010 22:30 | Last updated: March 7 2010 22:30

Banks with more than $100bn of assets will be overseen by the US Federal Reserve under a regulatory reform plan that represents a partial victory for the central bank after months of attacks in Congress.

Chris Dodd, the Senate banking committee chairman, had proposed hiving off all bank supervision to a single regulator but is set to propose this week that the 23 largest institutions stay under the Fed’s oversight, according to people familiar with the plans.

At issue over the weekend was the regulation of several hundred state chartered institutions that also want to remain under the Fed’s supervision.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0f1b6822-2a2c-11df-b940-00144feabdc0.html?ncli...

toniD's Ya Think?

Cartoon to big to post here but check it at the link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&fo...

toniD's Ya Think?

Conservative California state senator comes out

"California State Sen. Roy Ashburn, a conservative Republican with a solidly anti-gay voting record, came out as gay today on a Bakersfield radio station talk show. Ashburn’s sexual orientation had been the talk of Sacramento since the legislator was arrested for drunk driving after leaving a gay bar in the state capital last week.

Asked about his anti-gay voting record, Ashburn said, 'I felt my duty, and I still feel this way, is to represent my constituents.'"

"this machine kills fascists"

and these are parting shots, so its not like he is trying to save his ass, he has no reason to lie...or hold his tounge...

...and since its not like this is the first time we are hearing comments like this coming from a Democrat about Emanuel, nevermind a blue dog, I will take them from Massa on face...no deconstruction required..

I know how addictive 12-D chess can be :)

"this machine kills fascists"

Massa Recalls Sexual Misconduct Allegation From Navy Days (AUDIO)

"Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) defiantly recounted a misconduct allegation from his past that arose after he walked in on a Navy roommate masturbating.

'I walked in and instead of embarrassing him I smacked him on the leg and said, 'you need any help with that, let me know.' And I went to bed. And he was so hideously embarrassed, he moved out of the state room, because he couldn't take it. Ladies and gentleman, we had been at sea for four months.'"

"this machine kills fascists"

...like a "salty sea dog" scorned...

Massa runs right into the arms of Papa Beck...

http://twitter.com/glennbeck/status/10182265328

"this machine kills fascists"

I stick to checkers and tic tac toe.....I'm just one a them "Retarded Liberals"... :)

You can see that as a term with very limited utility...or perhaps only somewhat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEqYE0q6LAI

Sorry, as ever.

i guess that'll teach rahmbo to piss off a salty sea sailor

...but you're gonna wanna pop some corn Massa's just getting warmed up! :)

"this machine kills fascists"

trying to commiserate with Massa for being "victimized" for his sexuality....and slamming Rahm all the while...

...but I don't think Rahm will be laughing as more Dems surface with similar stories about him and his "spoiler" tag gains traction with November approaching...

We need to start a "Rahm is Toast" clock and get a pool going...

Contract Symbol: EMANUAL.DEPART.EOT
Category: Politics / Obama Administration
Event: Will Rahm Emanuel depart as Chief of Staff before end of first term?
Event time: Jan 30 - Dec 31

at 65 where 100 means he rahm has left the building.

in other words 65 dollars will pay you 100.

(cent - you owe me a coke. i was busy trying to remember the internet site and looking up the rahmbo contract at the same time you were posting)

Eric Massa Describes His Naked Shower Encounter With Rahm Emanuel (Update)

"I am showering, naked as a jaybird, and here comes Rahm Emanuel, not even with a towel wrapped around his tush, poking his finger in my chest, yelling at me.”"

ehhh, maybe not a good time for that particular anecdote, dude..

Somehow, I don't think this is going to reflect negatively on Emanuel..Actually, I think Massa might have just made it much easier on Rahm and it looks like he ain't stopping any time soon.

"this machine kills fascists"

Massa lays out requirements for health care bill

The day after President Barack Obama laid out his ideas for health care reform before Congress and the nation, U.S. Rep. Eric Massa, D-Corning, shared his vision.

Massa said he will read the bill before weighing in on the president’s proposal. He did say, however, there are five points a proposal should include. The points are:
Clarification of torte reform – Massa said he favors a system similar to the one under which emergency medical technicians operate.

“I believe in a system of medical standards of care that creates a presumption of zero liability,” Massa said. “If you arrive with cardiac chest pain, for example, doctors have standard of care, the 10 things that have to happen. If you do those, then you have a presumption of zero liability. I think it’s a way of replacing potential frivolous lawsuits and what many states are looking at doing.”

A “Congressional Option” – Massa said members of Congress should be forced to accept whatever public option is offered in the health care reform legislation.

“Every member of Congress should be subject to the public option and then it should be a voluntary option for the American people,” Massa said. “I think it is time every member of Congress receive exactly what members of the American public receives. Let’s talk about a Congressional option that is available to every American citizen.”
Interstate portability - Massa has said in town hall meetings the current laws allow health insurance companies to operate virtual monopolies. He said allowing companies to operate across state lines would break the monopoly and give consumers more choices.

He said insurance companies should also be subject to the Sherman antitrust laws that prohibit monopolies.
A deficit-neutral bill - Massa said, whether it’s HR 3200, the current health care bill before Congress, or the president’s proposal, he will not support legislation that is not deficit neutral.

Clear costs and benefits to small businesses - Massa said small businesses should be able to use an insurance calculator to tabulate their potential benefits and costs.
“The president was right to say the vast majority of small businesses will in no way be impacted because they do not have a large enough work force and will be exempted,” Massa said. “I want every small business person to be comfortable about knowing the facts.”

Massa said he also has not wavered from his position of eliminating pre-existing conditions as a way of disqualifying people from receiving health insurance.
“It’s already there and it has tremendous bi-partisan support,” Massa said. “I wanted to focus on things that may not be there. I do not think we’re going to have to fight very hard to make that part of the plan.”
Massa said another way of controlling health care costs is to prohibit pharmaceutical companies from advertising their drugs on television.

“I have never met anyone who received sound medical advice from a 30-second pharmaceutical commercial,” Massa said. “When an advertisement instructs me to tell my doctor I want the purple pill, I get a little frustrated. I’m not there to tell my doctor anything. I’m there for my doctor to tell me what to do, and I’ll pit his 20 or 30 years of medical practice against an advertisement’s 30 seconds of medical advice any day.”

Massa said pharmaceutical companies spend approximately 24 percent of their budgets on promotions, including advertising. That cost is then passed on to consumers in the form of higher prescription drug prices.
Massa said prohibiting drug companies from advertising on television would not run afoul of the first amendment.
“There is no presumption of free speech on controlled air waves,” Massa said. “The Federal Communications Commission regulates what is or is not broadcast.”

Massa said health care legislation must be acted upon by Oct.15. If not, a Senate procedural rule would send the bill back to committee, he said.

Prior to Oct. 15, Massa said he will hold town hall meetings throughout the district.

http://www.the-leader.com/news/x186855489/Massa-lays-out-requirements-fo...

Just so we all know where he stands!

toniD's Ya Think?

O'course, this is just another Van Jones-style crusade for Glenn Beck

Maybe Massa going on his show is good news for Rahm haters of all stripes...maybe the administration will see this as the perfect environment within which to accept Emanuel's resignation and give Beck another WIN.

chess...

"this machine kills fascists"

Now would be a good time...

With all this smoke, the House Progs should take the opportunity and use the cover and Anti-Rahm sentiment to push the PO...

who saw hurt locker? Yes, Bigelow deserved it, however, from theclip i heard of her acceptance speech, it is glorification of the US military...vets have said hurt locker is not exactly real (i know it's a movie, but hey, I'm just giving my opinion, too).
Lotsa kissin Academy's behind - more than usual to me...

speaking of The Public Option

"In a video posted online by a progressive group, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) said he would support passing a public option via reconciliation.

Thirty-some senators have declared their support for passing a public option using the budget reconciliation process, which requires 50 votes to pass."

"this machine kills fascists"

Asked about his anti-gay voting record, Ashburn said, 'I felt my duty, and I still feel this way, is to represent my constituents."

he meant, his non-gay only constituents, of course

Prices rising:
Oil and Electric
Health Care
Food

Jobs are scarce and unemployment is bad and the people with jobs aren't making as much.

Only 13% manufacturing.

We are at the point of Diminishing Returns.

Won't be able to buy anything. Won't have health care.

Only the upper 10% will be able to buy. Even stocks will suffer.

Eventually even the rich will feel it.

toniD's Ya Think?

Early today.

Later

toniD's Ya Think?

House liberals want to tie on Senate health bill to vote on fixes

By Michael O'Brien - 03/08/10 02:24 PM ET

House liberals want to tie a series of fixes to the Senate healthcare bill to a vote for the actual bill, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) suggested Monday.

Weiner, an informal leader of a bloc of House Democrats who have demanded changes to the Senate bill in exchange for the House passing it, said many Democrats want to tie the votes together out of a fear that the Senate may renege on passing a separate measure making changes to its original bill.

"We're not just going to go ahead and hope for a package of improvements, we're going to have to have something pretty much in hand, and there are many of us who are saying we want a vote on both things at once," Weiner said Monday during an appearance on Fox News Radio.

Weiner pointed to the nearly 300 bills that have been passed by the House this year but have stalled in the Senate, arguing that House Democrats aren't necessarily sold that the Senate would follow through.

"The overarching problem that we have is that we just don't trust the Senate," he said. "They just haven't done all that much during this term."

According to plans under consideration, the House would pass the Senate bill as long as the Senate agrees to take up a bill under budget reconciliation rules to make fixes to its original bill. By using that process, the Senate could approve changes with a simple majority instead of the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster.

Weiner said, though, that those concerns could be ameliorated if a deal is worked out to House Democrats' satisfaction.

"That's a procedural problem that fades to some degree if the substance that is worked out between the House and the Senate and the White House is satisfactory," he said.

He also said that the votes aren't there to pass healthcare in the House right now, but that the tally was a function of the final legislation not having been presented more than anything else.

"I think right now, if the vote were held, it probably would not pass. We're kind of a little bit burdened by the idea that there is not an actual document," he said. "So it's kind of hard to rally the votes without a specific bill."

The Hill

sounds very prudent to me

weiner is not that naive, good for him

just heard on hartmann - mormons are commanded to store at least one year of food.

a little googling says thats true.

James Taylor performing "In My Life"

at the Oscars was worth a mention?

I'm mentioning it. It was great.

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

Blue Roots Radio

he has the best reputation as an employer. A friend has a organ/keyboard gig and Larry is treated very well by sweet baby James.

Submitted by nightbird on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 3:20pm.

guy Cameron. I guess she got something from that relationship before they split.

I saw it as One for the Dolphin lovers and then one for the war machine movie.

EXCEPT FOR JAMES I THOUGHT THE MUSIC WAS LAME.
THE DANCE SEQUENCE WAS VERY ATHLETIC AND FAST AS HELL.

I HAVENT SEEN ANY OF THE MOVIES BUT I WAS ROOTING FOR BULLOCK BECAUSE SHE GAVE A MILLION DOLLARS TO HAITI. THATS THE WAY TO DO IT

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5702

thank you sammer

Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.

-Timothy Leary

XOXOX!