Archive for August, 2009
Don’t Dismiss Taibbi
Don’t Dismiss Taibbi - Columbia Journalism Review
What the mainstream press can learn from a Goldman takedown
Mainstream financial journalism is doing its level, eye-rolling, heavy-sighing best to stuff Matt Taibbi back into the alt-press hole he came from, but he’s not going along with it, and the mainstreamers in any case are making a big mistake.
The Rolling Stone writer cemented his status as the enfant terrible of the business press with “The Great American Bubble Machine,” a 10,000-word excoriation of Goldman Sachs, a muckraker’s-eye view of Goldman history, exploring the bank’s and Wall Street’s contributions to various financial disasters, starting with the Great Depression, skipping to the Tech Wreck, the Mortgage Wreck, the oil bubble of 2008, the bailout, and the looming cap-and-trade plan. Salted with “fuck”s, “shit”s and written with brio and hyperbole in the New Journalism tradition, it caught the financial community, which very much includes the financial media, utterly off-guard, unused as it is to hearing its flagship described as a “giant vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.”
Financial cognoscenti quickly sought to dismiss the piece as so much conspiracy-mongering perpetrated by a financial illiterate. Funny, but that illiterate’s piece ran more than a month ago, and people can’t stop talking about it. Perhaps not coincidentally, it feels like the general financial news has been all-Goldman, all-the-time ever since.
via Don’t Dismiss Taibbi : CJR.
Fault Lines – Health care reform
Fault Lines looks at the US health care system, expose its cracks, and uncover the forces that are spending millions of dollars every day to influence the debate over the US health care reform.
YouTube – Fault Lines – Health care reform – 6 August 09 – Part 1.
Eating Less May Extend Your Lifespan — But Is it Worth It?
Eating Less May Extend Your Lifespan — But Is it Worth It? - | | AlterNet
Recent studies indicate cutting your diet by 30 percent of what you’re supposed to eat can extend your life, but living longer isn’t everything.
The idea that eating less can prolong life has been gaining traction in recent years, thanks to studies on many organisms, including mice, spiders, dogs and worms, that correlate fewer calories with longer life.
A group called the Calorie Restriction Society has formed to encourage and assist people in reducing their long-term caloric intake for the sake of health. Their diet, called Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition (CRON), is intended to drastically reduce caloric intake without starving the body. CRONies, as they call themselves, claim that in addition to the possibility of living longer and retarding the effects of aging, they experience increased energy and mental clarity.
We’re talking about more than skipping dessert. The CRON diet aims for a weight of 10-25 percent less than what you weighed in college (assuming you were healthy, not anorexic or obese). I’m 6′ 2” and weighed 160 pounds when I was 20. So if I were a CRONie, I’d aim to weigh about 130 pounds — 55 pounds less than my current weight.
via Eating Less May Extend Your Lifespan — But Is it Worth It? | Environment | AlterNet.
A Rancid Deal with Big Pharma
A Rancid Deal with Big Pharma – The Nation
The White House has cut a deal with Big Pharma that smells like the same old rotten politics that candidate Obama regularly denounced.
William Greider
So now we know why the president wants everyone to make nice in the healthcare debate. His White House has cut a deal with Big Pharma that smells like the same old rotten politics that candidate Obama regularly denounced and promised to end. The drug industry agrees to deliver $80 billion in future savings and the president promises the government will not use its awesome purchasing power to negotiate lower drug prices.
Wow. This is roughly the same deal that George W. Bush cut with the drug makers when he was legislating Medicare’s new coverage of drug purchases. It is the same bargain that Democrats in Congress universally condemned as wasteful and corrupt. The deal does not smell any better now that a Democratic president is embracing it.
In effect, Obama wants to give away one of the principal objectives of strong reform. The details were spelled out in today’s New York Times and revealed by Big Pharma’s top-dog lobbyist, Billy Tauzin, a former Republican congressman who leads the industry association. Tauzin called it a “rock-solid deal,” and the White House did not dispute as much. But that is not the last word.
via A Rancid Deal with Big Pharma.
Fascist America: Are We There Yet?
Fascist America: Are We There Yet? - | OurFuture.org
Is America on te brink of Fascism? There are dangerous currents running through America’s politics and the way we confront them is crucial.
Sara Robinson
All through the dark years of the Bush Administration, progressives watched in horror as Constitutional protections vanished, nativist rhetoric ratcheted up, hate speech turned into intimidation and violence, and the president of the United States seized for himself powers only demanded by history’s worst dictators. With each new outrage, the small handful of us who’d made ourselves experts on right-wing culture and politics would hear once again from worried readers: Is this it? Have we finally become a fascist state? Are we there yet?
And every time this question got asked, people like Chip Berlet and Dave Neiwert and Fred Clarkson and yours truly would look up from our maps like a parent on a long drive, and smile a wan smile of reassurance. “Wellll…we’re on a bad road, and if we don’t change course, we could end up there soon enough. But there’s also still plenty of time and opportunity to turn back. Watch, but don’t worry. As bad as this looks: no — we are not there yet.”
In tracking the mileage on this trip to perdition, many of us relied on the work of historian Robert Paxton, who is probably the world’s pre-eminent scholar on the subject of how countries turn fascist. In a 1998 paper published in The Journal of Modern History, Paxton argued that the best way to recognize emerging fascist movements isn’t by their rhetoric, their politics, or their aesthetics. Rather, he said, mature democracies turn fascist by a recognizable process, a set of five stages that may be the most important family resemblance that links all the whole motley collection of 20th Century fascisms together. According to our reading of Paxton’s stages, we weren’t there yet. There were certain signs — one in particular — we were keeping an eye out for, and we just weren’t seeing it.
via Fascist America: Are We There Yet? | OurFuture.org.
FOX Directs COMATOSE (Conservatives On Medicare Against Those Only Seeking Equality) Protestors to Democrat townhalls
Fox News directs viewers to town halls hosted by Democrats. - Think Progress »
Earlier today, Fox News publicized the time and location of “gladiatorial” town halls hosted by Democrats — but not Republicans. With “heated” and increasingly confrontational town halls now dominating news coverage, Washington correspondent James Rosen announced he had “obtained a large Excel spreadsheet showing the schedule of town halls for Democratic members of Congress.” Rosen reported the time and location of several town halls, including those for Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA). To explain why Fox wasn’t reporting on town halls hosted by Republicans, Rosen assured viewers that if he “had the spreadsheet for the Republican members,” he would “share” that as well:
via Think Progress » Fox News directs viewers to town halls hosted by Democrats..
Hunger hits Detroit
Hunger hits Detroit’s middle class
Food has long been an issue in this city without a major supermarket. Now demand for assistance is rising, affecting a whole new set of people.
DETROIT (CNNMoney.com) — On a side street in an old industrial neighborhood, a delivery man stacks a dolly of goods outside a store. Ten feet away stands another man clad in military fatigues, combat boots and what appears to be a flak jacket. He looks straight out of Baghdad. But this isn’t Iraq. It’s southeast Detroit, and he’s there to guard the groceries.
“No pictures, put the camera down,” he yells. My companion and I, on a tour of how people in this city are using urban farms to grow their own food, speed off.
In this recession-racked town, the lack of food is a serious problem. It’s a theme that comes up again and again in conversations in Detroit. There isn’t a single major chain supermarket in the city, forcing residents to buy food from corner stores. Often less healthy and more expensive food.
via Hunger hits Detroit – Aug. 6, 2009.
Republican Gommorrah: Inside the Movement That Shattered the Party.
Personal Traumatic and Emotional Need is at the Root of Right Wing
Fundamentalism, According to Max Blumenthal in “Republican Gommorrah: Inside the Movement That Shattered the Party.” (Released Around September 1st) Pre-Order Discount Includes Free Shipping and Handling. “The Republican infrastructure is so honeycombed with closeted homosexuals that any attempt by homophobes to ferret them out would be impossible.”
By Max Blumenthal
This is an explosive book that gets to the heart of the winger psychoses. Max Blumenthal sees the inner truth that “many of the [right wing] movement’s leading figures are united by more than political campaigns; they are bound together by a shared sensibility rooted in private trauma. Their lives have been stained by crisis and scandal — depression, mental illness, extra-marital affairs, struggles with homosexual urges, attraction to drugs and pornography, serial domestic abuse, and even murder.”
And that’s for starters.
“Inspired by the work of psychologist Erich Fromm, who analyzed how the fear of freedom propels anxiety-ridden people into authoritarian settings, Blumenthal explains in a compelling narrative how a culture of personal crisis has defined the radical right.”
At BuzzFlash, we are a bit proud of Max, because when he was starting out, he was a night editor for us. Since then, he’s gone onto distinguish himself as a journalist who regularly exposes the dark inner psychoses of the right wing in both print and video.
Fannie and Freddie May Get Clean Slate
Fannie and Freddie May Get Clean Slate - Economyincrisis.org -
The White House is weighing its options in terms of what to do with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but appears to be leaning toward restructuring them into a “good bank, bad bank” model.
The White House is weighing its options in terms of what to do with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but appears to be leaning toward restructuring them into a “good bank, bad bank” model, according to The Washington Post.
The plan would relieve the mortgage giants of their toxic loans, placing them into a “bad bank.” The government-backed financial institution would then be charged with trying to recoup as much of the outstanding debt as possible form the toxic mortgages.
Relieving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of their toxic assets would automatically provide a shot in the arm to the two government-sponsored enterprises that would allow them to attract private investment, officials believe.
However, some also believe that with unemployment still on the rise and millions of Americans losing their homes, causing home values to fall across the country, that future losses at Fannie and Freddie are still unknown and may scare potential investors away.
Either way, few believe that the status quo is sustainable for the two mortgage giants that were essentially nationalized this past September after the government poured taxpayer dollars into the companies and guaranteed loans amounting to over $1 trillion to keep the mortgage market flowing.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Another Hurdle for the Jobless – Credit Inquiries
Another Hurdle for the Jobless: Credit Inquiries – - NYTimes.com
Digging out of debt keeps getting harder for the unemployed as more companies use detailed credit checks to screen job prospects.
Out of work since December, Juan Ochoa was delighted when a staffing firm recently responded to his posting on Hotjobs.com with an opening for a data entry clerk. Before he could do much more, though, the firm checked his credit history.
The interest vanished. There were too many collections claims against him, the firm said.
“I never knew that nowadays they were going to start pulling credit checks on you even before you go for an interview,” said Mr. Ochoa, 46, who lost his job in December tracking inventory at a mining company in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. “Why would they need to pull a credit report? They’d need something like that if you were applying at a bank.”
via Another Hurdle for the Jobless – Credit Inquiries – NYTimes.com.
Senator Sanders Unfiltered: Teaser
Teaser for the new weekly show “Senator Sanders Unfiltered,” hosted by Senator Bernie Sanders. The show will tackle the tough issues head on and by submitting your video questions, YOU can be part of it.
via YouTube – Senator Sanders Unfiltered: Teaser.
Why the case for assisted dying is unanswerable
Why the case for assisted dying is unanswerable - FT.com
The real hardship inflicted by current law outweighs the potential for abuses
Let me declare, as parliamentarians sometimes do, an interest. I am neither a legal nor a medical expert, but I am a rather inactive member of Dignitas, a British organization which campaigns for better-quality palliative care for terminally ill people, but also for “the option of medically assisted dying” when such people “are of sound mind and are experiencing unbearable suffering”. My only qualification is that as an economics writer I have some experience of assessing the costs and benefits of alternative courses of action. Nor am I going to detail the sufferings of terminally ill people who have lost all will to live but cannot find a dignified, legal exit.
I have nothing to say to those religious fundamentalists who consider that in no circumstances should life ever be terminated. I leave it to them to reconcile their views with their belief in a merciful God. They also need to be very sure of their convictions to impose them on the rest of humanity. But for the rest of us, some progress has been made. Attempted suicide is no longer a crime in the UK. There is also an instrument known as a Living Will under which I can declare that if I become “mentally incompetent to express my opinion”, and after two independent physicians agree my condition is irreversible, then certain kinds of treatment should not be given. The legal force of such documents is not clear, but many doctors now take them into account.
via FT.com / Columnists / Samuel Brittan – Why the case for assisted dying is unanswerable.
The Top 5 Reasons Why We Should Grow Hemp
The Top 5 Reasons Why We Should Grow Hemp
While there are several reasons for legalizing Cannabis, hemp, which comes from the same plant genus as marijuana, definitely has the most tangible benefits. Besides, the strains of marijuana used in industrial and consumer products contain such a small level of the intoxicating substance, the two shouldn’t be classified under the same category.
Hemp as paper: Hemp won’t just save trees, but paper made from Hemp is stronger and more durable. According to Ecomall
The hemp plant, like cotton, produces cellulose fibers that are much more pure than fibers derived from wood…Many of the early documents printed on hemp paper hundreds, or even one thousand years ago, are still in existence.
Hemp as a fuel: Hemp is more sustainable and burns cleaner than any other fuel. More importantly, though, EcoMall says:
via The Top 5 Reasons Why We Should Grow Hemp.
White House Warns Rush: Nazi Talk Puts You On “Thin Ice”
White House Warns Rush: Nazi Talk Puts You On “Thin Ice”
The White House struck back hard on Friday against conservative pundits and town hall protesters who have compared the President to Hitler and his policies to Nazism, saying that the critics are “on thin ice” and should “take that temperature down a bit.”
Asked about the breakout of boisterous and occasionally violent protests at Democratic town hall events throughout the country, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs declared that the demonstrators were showing less civility and manners than his six-year-old daughter.
“Behave yourselves like your mom would probably tell you to do,” Gibbs said when asked what piece of advice he would give to the demonstrators.
via White House Warns Rush: Nazi Talk Puts You On “Thin Ice”.
Something big in works at EDS: smaller paychecks
Something big in works at EDS: smaller paychecks – Computer World
Parent company HP says aim is to bring EDS salaries into parity
Hewlett-Packard Co., the parent company of IT services firm EDS, has cut salaries for some EDS workers by more than 30%, media reports say.
The Dallas Morning News and the local NBC affiliate, near where EDS is headquartered in Plano, Texas, are reporting the news of pay cuts based on interviews with unidentified employees.
The cuts, which could be as high as 50% once previous wage cuts by HP are tallied, may affect longtime workers in particular.
HP isn’t releasing any details of the size of the cuts or numbers of employees affected.
via Something big in works at EDS: smaller paychecks.
IBM union: Layoffs could hit 16,000 by year’s end
IBM union: Layoffs could hit 16,000 by year’s end – Computer World
IBM’s job cuts, in most cases, appear incremental and regular
There’s always a little bit of stealth to IBM’s workforce reductions. Layoffs are usually scattered across the country and in numbers small enough to avoid triggering state and federal mass layoff notification laws. And so it was this week, as IBM cut employees from its Global Business Services unit.
IBM never comments on its cuts, the size or locations. It never says anything more about the reason for its reductions than it did today, in a note sent via a spokesman: “IBM is constantly managing resources as client demands evolve across a base of nearly 400,000 employees.”
via IBM union: Layoffs could hit 16,000 by year’s end.
Dodd, Conrad cleared in Countrywide probe
Dodd, Conrad cleared in Countrywide probe – TheHill.com -
The Senate Ethics Committee on Friday dismissed complaints against Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Kent Conrad (N.D.) over their participation in Countrywide Financial Corp.’s VIP lending program.
But the panel cautioned the senators that they should have “exercised more vigilance” in their dealings with the mortgage giant to avoid an appearance of preferential treatment.
“While the committee finds no substantial credible evidence as required by Committee rules that your Countrywide mortgages violated Senate ethics rules, the Committee does believe that you should have exercised more vigilance in your dealings with Countrywide in order to avoid the appearance that you were receiving preferential treatment based on your status as a Senator,” the committee wrote the senators in a letter dated Aug. 7.
via TheHill.com – Dodd, Conrad cleared in Countrywide probe.
Dodd, Conrad cleared in Countrywide probe
Dodd, Conrad cleared in Countrywide probe - TheHill.com -
The Senate Ethics Committee on Friday dismissed complaints against Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Kent Conrad (N.D.) over their participation in Countrywide Financial Corp.’s VIP lending program.
But the panel cautioned the senators that they should have “exercised more vigilance” in their dealings with the mortgage giant to avoid an appearance of preferential treatment.
“While the committee finds no substantial credible evidence as required by Committee rules that your Countrywide mortgages violated Senate ethics rules, the Committee does believe that you should have exercised more vigilance in your dealings with Countrywide in order to avoid the appearance that you were receiving preferential treatment based on your status as a Senator,” the committee wrote the senators in a letter dated Aug. 7
via TheHill.com – Dodd, Conrad cleared in Countrywide probe.
U.S. Consumer Credit Fell 5th Straight Month in June
U.S. Consumer Credit Fell 5th Straight Month in June (Update1) - – Bloomberg.com
Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — Consumer credit in the U.S. declined in June for a fifth straight month as banks maintained more restrictive lending terms and households remained reluctant to borrow money for major purchases.
Consumer credit fell $10.3 billion, or 4.92 percent at an annual rate, to $2.5 trillion, according to a Federal Reserve report released today in Washington. Credit dropped by $5.38 billion in May, more than previously estimated. The series of declines is the longest since 1991.
Stagnant wages and falling home values mean consumer spending, about 70 percent of the economy, will take time to recover even as the recession eases. Incomes fell the most in four years in June as one-time transfer payments from the Obama administration’s stimulus plan dried up, and Americans saved almost $125 billion more of their incomes in June than a year earlier.
via U.S. Consumer Credit Fell 5th Straight Month in June (Update1) – Bloomberg.com.
Health Care Ad: SHARK WEEK!
It’s Shark Week on Discovery Channel, but those ruthless predators only endanger a few unlucky surfers and divers each year.
But there’s another ruthless predator out there killing Americans. And someone needs to stop them.
Check out the video and then share it with your friends, , because to combat this growing menace, we’re going to need a bigger boat.
Brave New Films Hits The Healthcare Industry Hard
Brave New Films Hits The Healthcare Industry Hard
via YouTube – Brave New Films Hits The Healthcare Industry Hard.
Health Care Protester Exposed As GOP Operative
Health Care Protester Exposed As GOP Operative
Congressman Steve Kagen, (D-Wisc.) found himself interrupted during a town hall meeting on health care on Thursday evening which, considering the boisterous protests going on at these events all week, wasn’t much of a surprise.
But towards the end of the Wisconsin Democrat’s health care forum something a bit peculiar happened. A woman who initially identified herself as “just a mom from a few blocks away” who was “not affiliated with a political party” was outed by a reporter as a GOP operative who worked for Kagen’s election opponent John Gard as well as the Republican Party of Wisconsin and the Republican National Committee.
Her LinkedIn profile shows her as still being a member of the RNC and state party, as well as an adviser to the IT committee of the state party.
We don’t know why Blish chose to describe herself the way she did. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with people showing up at a town hall to express their differences.
But Blish’s misdirection feeds a suspicion that she — like some other protesters at these events — are there to create political theater rather than participate in serious debate.
This story has been updated since it was originally posted.
via Health Care Protester Exposed As GOP Operative.
Adding up the true costs of two wars
Adding up the true costs of two wars
Joseph Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes
Last week the U.S. “stood down” in Iraq, finalizing the pullout of 140,000 troops from Iraqi cities and towns — the first step on the long path home. After more than six years, most Americans are war-weary, even though a smaller percentage of us have been involved in the actual fighting than in any major conflict in U.S. history.
But not so fast. The conflict that began in 2003 is far from over for us, and the next chapter — confronting a Taliban that reasserted itself in Afghanistan while the U.S. was sidetracked in Iraq — will be expensive and bloody. The death toll for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan reached 5,000 in June. An additional 80,000 Americans have been wounded or injured since the war in Iraq began. More than 300,000 of our troops have required medical treatment, and Army statistics show that more than 17 percent of our returning soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, even though most of the population has long told pollsters they can’t wait for U.S. forces to leave, U.S. officials have said we are likely to station 50,000 troops at military bases in the country for the foreseeable future. This is because the situation in Iraq is highly precarious.
via opinion: Joseph Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes: Adding up the true costs of two wars.
Top Blue Dog Boasts: “We Held Bill Hostage,” Killed Single Payer (VIDEO)
OPS: It’s past time to remove all Blue Dogs from the Democratic Party. They can start being honest and run as the Republicans they are if they want office.
Top Blue Dog Boasts: “We Held Bill Hostage,” Killed Single Payer (VIDEO)
Rep. Mike Ross on Thursday boasted about how his Blue Dog coalition “held the [health care] bill hostage in committee for 10 days” and prevented a single player plan.
The Arkansas Democrat said that the conservative group’s opposition ensured “that we don’t end up with some type of single payer system,” Firedoglake reported.
We ensured that if there is a government option, it will be just that — an option — and it won’t be mandated on anybody. If it had been based on Medicare rates, I can assure you that it would have eventually ended up resulting in a single payer-type system, because Medicare has really good rates, because they’re negotiating for every senior in America. Private insurance companies could not have competed with that. And so we would have at the end of the day ended up with single payer. Now we’ve leveled the playing field, if there is a government option they’ll have to go out again and negotiate with providers just like private insurance companies do. That was important to me to insure that we don’t end up with some type of single payer system.
via Top Blue Dog Boasts: “We Held Bill Hostage,” Killed Single Payer (VIDEO).
Coal Lobby’s ‘Purest Form Of Grassroots’ Delivered By GOP Voter Fraud Company
Coal Lobby’s ‘Purest Form Of Grassroots’ Delivered By GOP Voter Fraud Company - Think Progress »
The coal industry lobbying outfit the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is pressing forward with an aggressive astroturfing campaign going after U.S. senators — despite the recent revelation that it was responsible for forged “grassroots” letters to lawmakers, attacking the American Clean Energy and Security Act:
Paid staff will both call people already on the group’s list and talk to other people at public events, asking them if they want information or T-shirts or would be interested in asking a question at a town hall meeting. “This is the purest form of grassroots,” Lucas said. “It’s facilitating constituents to talk one-on-one with members of Congress.
The new project will use 225,000 volunteers dubbed “America’s Power Army.” They will visit town hall meetings, fairs and other functions attended by members of Congress and ask questions about energy policy.
ThinkProgress has discovered that ACCCE has subcontracted its astroturf operations to the Lincoln Strategy Group, a GOP-tied firm notorious for voter fraud. The LinkedIn profile for Lincoln Strategies staffer Courtney Forrester reveals that her employer is engaged in a massive effort to recruit supporters on behalf of the coal industry. Steve Gates, communications director for ACCCE, told ThinkProgress that Lincoln Strategy Group ran their grassroots campaign last year as well.
via Think Progress » Coal Lobby’s ‘Purest Form Of Grassroots’ Delivered By GOP Voter Fraud Company.
Will Obama Crack Down on Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water?
Will Obama Crack Down on Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water?
ulfilling a confirmation pledge, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Lisa P. Jackson is revisiting the Bush administration’s refusal to regulate rocket fuel pollution in the nation’s drinking water.
Jackson’s move, announced Wednesday, is being welcomed by the environmental community and children’s health advocates. Perchlorate, a major component of rocket and missile propellants and many explosives, is a potent thyroid toxin known to disrupt brain and neurological development. For that reason, scientists and medical experts strongly urge that fetal and neonatal exposures to the chemical be prevented.
via Elaine Shannon: Will Obama Crack Down on Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water?.
Climate change melting US glaciers at faster rate, study finds | Environment | The Guardian
Climate change melting US glaciers at faster rate, study finds
US geological survey commissioned by Obama administration indicates a sharp rise in the melt rate of key American glaciers over the last 10-15 years
Climate change is melting America’s glaciers at the fastest rate in recorded history, exposing the country to higher risks of drought and rising sea levels, a US government study of glaciers said today.
The long-running study of three “benchmark” glaciers in Alaska and Washington state by the US geological survey (USGS) indicated a sharp rise in the melt rate over the last 10 or 15 years.
Scientists see the three – Wolverine and Gulkana in Alaska and South Cascade in Washington – as representative of thousands of other glaciers in North America.
“The observations show that the melt rate has definitely increased over the past 10 or 15 years,” said Ed Josberger, a USGS scientist. “This certainly is a very strong indicator that climate change is occurring and its effects on glaciers are virtually worldwide.”
via Climate change melting US glaciers at faster rate, study finds | Environment | The Guardian.
Entering the Greatest Depression in History
Entering the Greatest Depression in History
More Bubbles Waiting to Burst
by Andrew Gavin Marshall
Introduction
While there is much talk of a recovery on the horizon, commentators are forgetting some crucial aspects of the financial crisis. The crisis is not simply composed of one bubble, the housing real estate bubble, which has already burst. The crisis has many bubbles, all of which dwarf the housing bubble burst of 2008. Indicators show that the next possible burst is the commercial real estate bubble. However, the main event on the horizon is the “bailout bubble” and the general world debt bubble, which will plunge the world into a Great Depression the likes of which have never before been seen.
Housing Crash Still Not Over
The housing real estate market, despite numbers indicating an upward trend, is still in trouble, as, “Houses are taking months to sell. Many buyers are having trouble getting financing as lenders and appraisers struggle to figure out what houses are really worth in the wake of the collapse.” Further, “the overall market remains very soft [...] aside from speculators and first-time buyers.” Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington said, “It would be wrong to imagine that we have hit a turning point in the market,” as “There is still an enormous oversupply of housing, which means that the direction of house prices will almost certainly continue to be downward.” Foreclosures are still rising in many states “such as Nevada, Georgia and Utah, and economists say rising unemployment may push foreclosures higher into next year.” Clearly, the housing crisis is still not at an end.[1]
The Commercial Real Estate Bubble
In May, Bloomberg quoted Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann as saying, “It’s either the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning.” Bloomberg further pointed out that, “A piece of the puzzle that must be calculated into any determination of the depth of our economic doldrums is the condition of commercial real estate — the shopping malls, hotels, and office buildings that tend to go along with real- estate expansions.” Residential investment went down 28.9 % from 2006 to 2007, and at the same time, nonresidential investment grew 24.9%, thus, commercial real estate was “serving as a buffer against the declining housing market.”
via Entering the Greatest Depression in History.
Sen. Martinez to resign by end of the month
Sen. Martinez to resign by end of the month – TheHill.com –
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) announced his imminent resignation in a letter to supporters Friday, nearly a year and a half before his term is due to expire in January 2011.
Martinez is expected to announce his decision formally at a 3 p.m. press conference in Orlando.
The resignation will become effective once a replacement appointed by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) takes office to fill the remainder of Martinez’s term.
Crist is running for Martinez’s seat and could appoint himself as a replacement, said a spokeswoman for the Florida Secretary of State. The state’s only restriction is that Crist could not serve as governor and senator simultaneously.
Martinez was rumored earlier this year to be contemplating a resignation before the end of his first term but Martinez denied it.
Friday’s surprise resignation prompted head scratching among Republicans on the Hill.
via TheHill.com – Sen. Martinez to resign by end of the month.
GMO Scandal: The Long Term Effects of Genetically Modified Food on Humans
GMO Scandal: The Long Term Effects of Genetically Modified Food on Humans
Scientific Tests Must Be Approved by Industry First
by F. William Engdahl
One of the great mysteries surrounding the spread of GMO plants around the world since the first commercial crops were released in the early 1990’s in the USA and Argentina has been the absence of independent scientific studies of possible long-term effects of a diet of GMO plants on humans or even rats. Now it has come to light the real reason. The GMO agribusiness companies like Monsanto, BASF, Pioneer, Syngenta and others prohibit independent research.
An editorial in the respected American scientific monthly magazine, Scientific American, August 2009 reveals the shocking and alarming reality behind the proliferation of GMO products throughout the food chain of the planet since 1994. There are no independent scientific studies published in any reputed scientific journal in the world for one simple reason. It is impossible to independently verify that GMO crops such as Monsanto Roundup Ready Soybeans or MON8110 GMO maize perform as the company claims, or that, as the company also claims, that they have no harmful side effects because the GMO companies forbid such tests!
That’s right. As a precondition to buy seeds, either to plant for crops or to use in research study, Monsanto and the gene giant companies must first sign an End User Agreement with the company. For the past decade, the period when the greatest proliferation of GMO seeds in agriculture has taken place, Monsanto, Pioneer (DuPont) and Syngenta require anyone buying their GMO seeds to sign an agreement that explicitly forbids that the seeds be used for any independent research. Scientists are prohibited from testing a seed to explore under what conditions it flourishes or even fails. They cannot compare any characteristics of the GMO seed with any other GMO or non-GMO seeds from another company. Most alarming, they are prohibited from examining whether the genetically modified crops lead to unintended side-effects either in the environment or in animals or humans.
The only research which is permitted to be published in reputable scientific peer-reviewed journals are studies which have been pre-approved by Monsanto and the other industry GMO firms.
via GMO Scandal: The Long Term Effects of Genetically Modified Food on Humans.
Dem Senators: White House Says It Cut No Deal With Drug Makers
OPS: Apparently we can’t get a straight story from anyone
Dem Senators: White House Says It Cut No Deal With Drug Makers
A senior White House aide told Democratic senators Thursday that the administration did not make a deal with the pharmaceutical lobby that would prevent Congress from using the government’s clout to negotiate for lower drug prices, according to three Democratic senators who were in the meeting.
The New York Times had reported on Thursday morning that the White House affirmed that a deal barring price negotiations had been struck.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) asked two top White House aides, David Axelrod and deputy White House chief of staff Jim Messina, if the administration had cut such a deal with PhRMA.
“He says there’s no deal. I take him at his word,” Brown told the Huffington Post.
The drug makers, according to the Times, had agreed to trim $80 billion in costs over ten years and the White House agreed not to go after deeper cuts by negotiating lower drug prices as part of comprehensive health care reform. The paper reported that Messina confirmed the deal on the record.
Brown said the article inspired his question. Both Messina and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) answered.
via Dem Senators: White House Says It Cut No Deal With Drug Makers.
Giant Matzah Ball Sets Guinness World Record
Giant Matzah Ball Sets Guinness World Record
The record for the world’s biggest matzah ball was set in — where else? — New York today.
Weighing 267 pounds and made from 1,000 eggs, 80 pounds of margarine, 200 pounds of matzah meal, and 20 pounds of chicken base, the giant matzah ball easily set the Guinness record. The ball, which stood three feet high, was baked by Noah’s Ark Original Deli in an oversized kitchen in New Jersey and then given a police escort to Manhattan where it was unveiled and then devoured by a waiting crowd.
Watch the video from NBC New York below:
via Giant Matzah Ball Sets Guinness World Record.
Denied Claims Placed At Health Insurance CEO’s Doorstep (VIDEO)
Denied Claims Placed At Health Insurance CEO’s Doorstep (VIDEO)
A new video puts denied health insurance claims on United Health Care CEO Stephen Hemsley’s doorstep.
The video, made by Brave News Films’ Robert Greenwald, intercuts stories of people suffering because of denied claims with images Hemsley’s fancy homes, along with details about how much money Hemsley’s got ($744,232,068 in unexercised stock options, for example).
Holly Bailey says in the video that United Health Care refused to pay for medicine she couldn’t live without.
“They kept telling my local pharmacy…’Oh we’re just waiting for one more letter, or we’re just waiting for one more script, and then we’ll start paying,’” Bailey said. “This went on for six months, and December 4th both the pharmacy and I received a letter from United Health Care saying they deemed it medically unnecessary and that they were not going to pay any of it.
“I tried to explain to them that if I do not have this, I will die. And the only response she gave me was, ‘OK.’”
Joanna Joshua, whose child’s treatment was denied, asks, “Stephen Hemsley, how are you able to sleep at night?”
via Denied Claims Placed At Health Insurance CEO’s Doorstep (VIDEO).
Republicans Propagating Falsehoods in Attacks on Health-Care Reform
Republicans Propagating Falsehoods in Attacks on Health-Care Reform - - washingtonpost.com
Steven Pearlstein:
As a columnist who regularly dishes out sharp criticism, I try not to question the motives of people with whom I don’t agree. Today, I’m going to step over that line.
The recent attacks by Republican leaders and their ideological fellow-travelers on the effort to reform the health-care system have been so misleading, so disingenuous, that they could only spring from a cynical effort to gain partisan political advantage. By poisoning the political well, they’ve given up any pretense of being the loyal opposition. They’ve become political terrorists, willing to say or do anything to prevent the country from reaching a consensus on one of its most serious domestic problems.
There are lots of valid criticisms that can be made against the health reform plans moving through Congress — I’ve made a few myself. But there is no credible way to look at what has been proposed by the president or any congressional committee and conclude that these will result in a government takeover of the health-care system. That is a flat-out lie whose only purpose is to scare the public and stop political conversation.
Under any plan likely to emerge from Congress, the vast majority of Americans who are not old or poor will continue to buy health insurance from private companies, continue to get their health care from doctors in private practice and continue to be treated at privately owned hospitals.
GOP political tactics and media inanity in a nutshell
GOP political tactics and media inanity in a nutshell - - - Salon.com
Glenn Greenwald
Rush Limbaugh today, speaking to his audience of 15 million, compares Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Nancy Pelosi to Nazi leaders (h/t Atrios):
Fox News, January 6, 2004:
What MoveOn.org wanted was for people to submit 30-second ads that were critical of President Bush, but what the liberal-leaning organization got was a controversy over one entry that compared Bush to Adolf Hitler. . . .
Republican groups and Jewish organizations expressed outrage over the ad, which has been removed from the MoveOn.org Web site. The Republican National Committee called on all nine Democratic candidates to condemn the ads.
RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie called the ad, “the worst and most vile form of political hate speech.”
MoveOn.org is “using the memory of that genocide as a political prop,” American Jewish Congress President Jack Rosen wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Monday, referring to the Holocaust.
via GOP political tactics and media inanity in a nutshell – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com.
Hardball with Chris Matthews – Conservative Group FreedomWorks
OPS: Tweety gets another one correct! Way to go Tweety!
YouTube – Hardball with Chris Matthews – Conservative Group FreedomWorks.
Living Rich And Crying Poor
Living Rich And Crying Poor – OpEdNews -
As a member of the “Depression Generation” I have loved my country as one loves a husband; for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. Now there are those who tell us that our nation is as severely ill as it was at that time.
I recall, one summer evening, following my father outside as he searched the scorching sky for signs of a rain cloud. “What happened to all the rain, Daddy?” I asked this man who persisted in stirring the dusty soil, planting seeds, and praying for a crop. I shall never forget his reply:
“There is as much rain in the world as there ever was. The problem is that it just isn’t falling where we need it.”
Now, as our nation is suffering from the damage caused by the fiscal policies of the last few administrations, our efforts at correction are met by the cries of “the money just isn’t there!” To paraphrase my father, there is as much money as there ever was. The problem is that it is not distributed where it is needed. It is lying in offshore banks, invested in foreign businesses, and safely tucked away in the pockets of those who gained control of it by means of greed, graft, and corruption. These are the very people who, we are told, provide the jobs, the very livelihood of all of us. Therefore, we must not ask them to pay a greater price for the luxury in which they are proud to live for fear that they may withhold their efforts to provide for our needs.
via OpEdNews – Living Rich And Crying Poor.
Unemployment Front Worsens
Unemployment Front Worsens - Economyincrisis.org
Initial jobless claims for last week came up shorter than some experts had predicted, but with unemployment insurance already strained any increase in claims is bad for the economy.
The United States Senate will vote today on the Car Allowance Rebate System and a proposed $2 billion extension of the popular “Cash for Clunkers” program. The CARS fund ran through its initial $1 billion in just a few weeks and had an extension approved by the House of Representatives last week.
There is no doubting that the clunker rebates have boosted auto sales in the U.S. The program is popular with dealers and customers, and for just $1 billion it has provided a fairly sizeable stimulus.
However, there is still one major problem. The cars which tend to be selling the most are Toyotas and Hondas, followed by Ford which is in a distant third place. With domestic automakers in a bind, this program is not giving enough specific boost to Detroit. On the other hand, the thousands of Americans who work for import makers or dealers are seeing positive results.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
A Real Stimulus
A Real Stimulus – Economyincrisis.org -
American companies don’t need handouts, they need a hand up. Instituting policies across all industries that guarantee fair competition in trade would be a good way to start.
The incredible popularity of the CARS, or “Cash for Clunkers” program, has led many in the United States to look at other kinds of economic stimulus. We have already seen hundreds of billions of dollars dropped into Wall Street banks. The government has doled out billions of dollars in auto bailouts and tax rebates.
What it has not done is create a situation in this country conducive to making money in international competition.
A perfect example of this was highlighted in The Houston Chronicle on August 1, 2009. The column cites the United States Air Force’s search for a next generation aerial refueling tanker. Originally the competition was down to two candidates: Airbus and Boeing.
Boeing has provided heavy transports and tankers for the Air Force for nearly 50 years. Airbus is a European-based defense contractor. In essence, the deal came down to an American company and a European conglomerate, and the European conglomerate won.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
U.S. food stamp list tops 34 million for first time
U.S. food stamp list tops 34 million for first time
For the first time, more than 34 million Americans received food stamps in May, the government said on Thursday, another symptom of the longest and one of the deepest recessions since the Great Depression.
Enrollment surged by 2 percent to reach a record 34.4 million people, or one in nine Americans, in the latest month for which figures are available.
It was the sixth month in a row that enrollment set a record. Every state recorded a gain, and Florida had the largest increase at 4.2 percent.
Enrollment for food stamps, which help people buy groceries, is highest during times of economic stress. The U.S. unemployment rate of 9.5 percent is the highest in 26 years.
“Food stamp enrollment is rising because the economy is having a devastating impact on low-income families and they need this program to eat,” said Stacy Dean of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank. “Every single state has been affected.”
via U.S. food stamp list tops 34 million for first time – Yahoo! News.
British tourist set on fire
British tourist set on fire - The Independent
A British tourist who was set on fire was recovering in a private clinic in Crete today after he allegedly pulled down his trousers in front of a Greek woman.
Stuart Feltham, 23, from Swindon, Wiltshire, suffered second-degree burns after a 26-year-old woman allegedly poured a highly flammable alcoholic drink over him and set fire to him with a lighter.
via British tourist set on fire – Europe, World – The Independent.
After massive losses, Fannie asks Treasury for $10.7 billion
OPS: Starve The Beast
After massive losses, Fannie asks Treasury for $10.7 billion – Raw Story »
Taxpayers gave troubled mortgage giant over $44 billion since April, over $101 billion in total
Troubled state-backed mortgage firm Fannie Mae took a massive 14.8-billion-dollar loss in the second quarter, and asked the US Treasury for another 10.7 billion dollars in aid, the company said Thursday.
Fannie Mae and its fellow state-backed lender Freddie Mac have already received hundreds of billions of dollars as part of a virtual government takeover aimed at avoiding their collapse in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis.
“Today’s results bring the company’s cumulative losses over the last two years to $101.6 billion and will bring its total draw on the Treasury to $44.9 billion since April,” noted Bloomberg.
The latest loss for Fannie Mae came on the heels of a 23.2 billion-dollar loss in the first quarter.
“Fannie Mae said it expects the quality of its assets to worsen further and to continue accumulating losses as it executes President Barack Obama’s efforts to modify or refinance loans for as many as nine million homeowners,” Bloomberg reporter Dawn Kopecki continued.
via Raw Story » After massive losses, Fannie asks Treasury for $10.7 billion.
CNN’s Rick Sanchez leaves Rick Scott fumbling to justify his health care corruption.
CNN’s Rick Sanchez leaves Rick Scott fumbling to justify his health care corruption. – Think Progress »
CNN’s Rick Sanchez ripped into Conservatives for Patients’ Rights founder Rick Scott today over his anti-health care reform advocacy efforts. Sanchez pointed out that Hospital Corporation of America/Columbia Hospital Corporation, which Scott founded, was charged with defrauding the government for more than a decade and had to pay the government a record $1.7 billion. “Some would argue, and it would be hard to say they’re wrong,” said Sanchez, “that you would be the poster child for everything that’s wrong with the greed that has hurt our current health care system.” Scott responded by pointing out that other companies also had to pay fines, which Sanchez responded was exactly the reason health care reform was so necessary:
How much more wrong can you be than what you just said? Not only is your company screwed up — and you just admitted to it — and you’re saying, look at all the other companies, they did the same thing! That doesn’t sound to me like a sterling system that we have, does it?
Scott became so desperate to defend himself that he tried to say the fines were paid after he left the company (even though the charges were from while he was there) and insisted, “No one went to jail.” Watch it:
Inspired By Glenn Beck, Protesters Overwhelm Town Hall Meeting With ‘Cat Calls’ And ‘Banging On Windows’
Inspired By Glenn Beck, Protesters Overwhelm Town Hall Meeting With ‘Cat Calls’ And ‘Banging On Windows’ – Think Progress »
An angry mob of protesters disrupted a health care forum today in Tampa, FL, which was attended by state Rep. Betty Reed (D) and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D). More than 1,000 people showed up for the event, which was being held in a venue meant for just 250 people. As a result, “a large crowd gathered outside, and tensions were high among people who couldn’t get in.” From a report by the Tampa CBS affiliate:
As the building filled to capacity, angry protesters stuck outside began to scream, yell, and chant. At one point, those trying to get inside began banging on windows as Tampa Police officers quickly spread out guarding all entrances.
10 Connects photojournalist Kevin Carlson, currently inside the meeting reports at least one fist fight breaking out inside.
Castor reportedly “left the meeting early, saying she couldn’t be heard above all the shouting inside the meeting.” When police “on bullhorns” tried to send the crowd home, many refused to leave. Additionally, some protesters’ signs “bore an image of Obama with his face painted as the Joker, an image that drew protests of racism locally when it appeared on a Web site thought to be associated with the Pinellas Republican party.”
Watch an on-scene report from the local Fox affiliate:
Shooter Read Sexist Christian Author’s Book Before Pittsburgh Female Aerobics Class Massacre
Shooter Read Sexist Christian Author’s Book Before Pittsburgh Female Aerobics Class Massacre – | | AlterNet
Sodini’s final reading: a book by sexist Fundamentalist who claimed husbands own their wives, as property.
As George Sodini wrote on December 29, 2008, “Just got back from tanning, been doing this for a while. No gym today, my elbow is sore again. I actually look good. I dress good, am clean-shaven, bathe, touch of cologne – yet 30 million women rejected me – over an 18 or 25-year period.”
On Tuesday August 4th, 2009, computer systems analyst Sodini walked into a Pittsburgh gym, pulled guns out of a duffle bag, turned off the lights, and sprayed bullets into a LA Fitness Center woman’s aerobics class of roughly thirty, killing three. The leader of the class, who had just announced that she was pregnant, was wounded along with at least eight others, some of whom were shot multiple times.
Media analysis has so far ignored or glossed over Sodini’s religious affiliations but the shooter’s Internet diary suggest his last readings were the Bible and a book by a Texas evangelist, R.B. Thieme, Jr. who has written that husbands own their wives, as literal property and promoted an odd teaching that for each man on Earth there exists only one correct “right woman” in all creation.
Right-Wing Turncoat Gives the Inside Scoop on Why Conservatives Are Rampaging Town Halls
OPS: The Brown Shirts have returned
Right-Wing Turncoat Gives the Inside Scoop on Why Conservatives Are Rampaging Town Halls – | | AlterNet
The GOP is willing to disrupt the health care debate if they can’t win it. Yesterday in Tampa, a mob of Glenn Beck supporters nearly caused a riot.
Editor’s note: Stephen C. Webster writes for Raw Story the latest example of extreme right-wing demagoguery in Tampa on Thursday, this time inspired by right-wing Fox News’s Glenn Beck: “In a stunning display of anger, Florida Republicans and fans of Fox editorialist Glenn Beck turned a Tampa healthcare forum into a “near riot,” one reporter said, as they attempted to enter the meeting hall and drown out a group of community organizers and a member of congress There were at least two reports of violence at the forum. “The meeting which was scheduled to begin at 6:00 at the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County drew hundreds of people who quickly began to overwhelm staff and event organizers at the front entrance,” reported Tampa news station 10 Connects. …
“Thursday’s forum/near riot was sponsored by state Rep. Betty Reed, D-Tampa, and the Service Employees International Union, who apparently had hoped to hold something of a pep rally for President Obama’s health care reform proposal,” noted St. Petersburg Times reporter Adam Smith. He continued: “Instead, hundreds of vocal critics turned out, many of them saying they had been spurred on through the Tampa 912 activist group promoted by conservative radio and television personality Glenn Beck. Others had received e-mails from the Hillsborough Republican party that urged people to speak out against the plan and offered talking points to challenge supporters.” Such “mobs” have been denounced in recent days by Democratic lawmakers, while journalists like MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow have revealed the corporate interests and Republican operatives that bankroll and organize these town hall disruptions.
Bottled Water Sucks
Bottled Water Sucks – The Nation
I knew bottled water was a social ill but I didn’t know how damaging it was until I saw an explosive and compelling new documentary called Tapped.
With style, verve and righteous anger, the film exposes the bottled water industry’s role in suckering the public, harming our health, accelerating climate change, contributing to overall pollution, and increasing America’s dependence on fossil fuels. All while gouging consumers with exorbitant and indefensible prices.
Claire Thompson summed up the problem well in her post on the movie at Grist:
“Not only is it [bottled water] a clear waste of resources (only 20 percent of plastic water bottles used in the United States are recycled, and far too many of the rest probably end up in the Pacific Garbage Patch), it’s an incredible waste of money for consumers, who pay more than the price of gasoline for water that’s marketed as “pure,” but in reality is largely unregulated, full of harmful toxins like BPA, and far less safe for drinking than free tap water. (In fact, 40 percent of the time, bottled water is nothing but municipal tap water, freed from the government oversight that keeps it safe.)”
Watch the movie’s powerful trailer.
via Bottled Water Sucks.
Water Scarcity Looms as Population, Temperature Rise
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – | CommonDreams.org
August 6, 2009
Water Scarcity Looms as Population, Temperature Rise
WASHINGTON – August 6 – Water scarcity is increasing in many regions as factors including population growth, climate change, and pollution restrict the amount of water available relative to demand. In 2008, 1.4 billion people lived in “closed basins”-regions where existing water cannot meet the agricultural, municipal, and environmental needs for all. This number is expected to grow to 1.8 billion by 2025.
According to the latest Vital Signs snapshot of water scarcity trends:
* Population growth is a major driver of water scarcity at the regional and global levels. Urbanization and rising incomes-two trends prominent in rapidly developing countries such as China, India, and Brazil-also contribute to increased domestic and industrial demand for water.
* Several major rivers, including the Indus, Rio Grande, Colorado, Murray-Darling, and Yellow, no longer reach the sea year-round as a growing share of their waters are claimed for various uses.
* Diets heavy in livestock are water intensive because of the huge quantities of water required for livestock production. Similarly, fossil fuel production requires many times more water than renewable energy sources do.
via Water Scarcity Looms as Population, Temperature Rise | CommonDreams.org.
For Young Americans, Health Care Reform Is Our Fight
For Young Americans, Health Care Reform Is Our Fight
CNN’s poll released yesterday shows a striking generational divide over support of Obama’s health care plan, with the reform being significantly more popular among young people than among adults over the age of 50. Nevertheless, every day I try new responses to those that ignorantly assume I don’t care about health care reform because I’m under 30 and supposedly invincible.
I could tell them that health care reform is my fight because my partner, 25 years old, is an entrepreneur, consultant, and all around brilliant guy who cares more about professional fulfillment than financial gain and has thus been without insurance for 3 years. I’ve cried myself to sleep many a night over his lack of coverage, terrified that at any moment, an illness or accident could push us into financial ruin in the beginning stages of our life together.
I could tell them that health care reform is my fight because 60% of my friends (yes, I did the math…) have lost their jobs in the past 6 months and don’t go to the doctor. Or that my godmother died of cancer with health insurance that wouldn’t cover her treatment.
via Erica Williams: For Young Americans, Health Care Reform Is Our Fight.
Senate Joins House in Extending ‘Cash for Clunkers’ – Thru August only
Senate Adds Cash to ‘Clunkers’ Plan - – NYTimes.com
The Senate approved providing another $2 billion for the
“cash for clunkers” program on Thursday night, keeping it alive through the month of August.
Senators voted 60 to 37 to continue the auto-purchase program, which quickly spent the previously allocated $1 billion. President Obama is expected to sign the bill as soon as possible.
The House approved an additional $2 billion last Friday, before its summer recess. That left the Senate with a take-it-or-leave-it proposition, because if it made any changes, the House would have to take up the Senate version in September.
The Senate spent much of the afternoon and evening slogging through seven proposed amendments, all of which were defeated.
via Senate Joins House in Extending ‘Cash for Clunkers’ – NYTimes.com.
On healthcare reform, who needs bipartisanship?
OPS: Pretending there is a need for bi-partisanship is a tactic.
On healthcare reform, who needs bipartisanship?
With healthcare reform bills having been stalled and floundering in the House and senate, with three different versions coming out of committee, and with talk that some Democrats on the Senate Finance committee been considering caving in on the public option to compromise with the Republicans, the most damaging approach Obama has taken, the one thing that has caused all the slogging and confusion in congress over health care, was to make bi-partisanship an important goal in passing health care reform.
via On healthcare reform, who needs bipartisanship?.
The Town Hall Mob
OPS: Krugman is exactly correct in his following statement. Obama’s original supporters are falling away because he HAS NOT kept his promises of Change.
The Town Hall Mob - – NYTimes.com
“But right now Mr. Obama’s backers seem to lack all conviction, perhaps because the prosaic reality of his administration isn’t living up to their dreams of transformation. Meanwhile, the angry right is filled with a passionate [racist and hateful] intensity.”
Paul Krugman
There’s a famous Norman Rockwell painting titled “Freedom of Speech,” depicting an idealized American town meeting. The painting, part of a series illustrating F.D.R.’s “Four Freedoms,” shows an ordinary citizen expressing an unpopular opinion. His neighbors obviously don’t like what he’s saying, but they’re letting him speak his mind.
That’s a far cry from what has been happening at recent town halls, where angry protesters — some of them, with no apparent sense of irony, shouting “This is America!” — have been drowning out, and in some cases threatening, members of Congress trying to talk about health reform.
Some commentators have tried to play down the mob aspect of these scenes, likening the campaign against health reform to the campaign against Social Security privatization back in 2005. But there’s no comparison. I’ve gone through many news reports from 2005, and while anti-privatization activists were sometimes raucous and rude, I can’t find any examples of congressmen shouted down, congressmen hanged in effigy, congressmen surrounded and followed by taunting crowds.
via Op-Ed Columnist – The Town Hall Mob – NYTimes.com.
The Health Insurers Have Already Won
The Health Insurers Have Already Won – - BusinessWeek
How UnitedHealth and rival carriers, maneuvering behind the scenes in Washington, shaped health-care reform for their own benefit
As the health reform fight shifts this month from a vacationing Washington to congressional districts and local airwaves around the country, much more of the battle than most people realize is already over. The likely victors are insurance giants such as UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Aetna (AET), and WellPoint (WLP). The carriers have succeeded in redefining the terms of the reform debate to such a degree that no matter what specifics emerge in the voluminous bill Congress may send to President Obama this fall, the insurance industry will emerge more profitable. Health reform could come with a $1 trillion price tag over the next decade, and it may complicate matters for some large employers. But insurance CEOs ought to be smiling.
Executives from UnitedHealth certainly showed no signs of worry on the mid-July day that Senate Democrats proposed to help pay for reform with a new tax on the insurance industry. Instead, UnitedHealth parked a shiny 18-wheeler outfitted with high-tech medical gear near the Capitol and invited members of Congress aboard. Inside the mobile diagnostic center, which enables doctors to examine distant patients via satellite television, Representative Jim Matheson didn’t disguise his wonderment. “Fascinating, fascinating,” said the Democrat from Utah. “Amazing.”
via The Health Insurers Have Already Won – BusinessWeek.
Contrary to Steele’s Claim, State GOP Are Actively Promoting Town Hall Mobs
OPS: Does someone have to get hurt, or killed before legal action is taken against the Brown Shirts?
Contrary to Steele’s Claim, State GOP Are Actively Promoting Town Hall Mobs – Think Progress »
Yesterday in an conference call that ThinkProgress took part in, GOP Chairman Michael Steele told reporters that neither the national Republican party nor any state Republican parties are promoting town hall disruptions:
STEELE: I had nothing to do with that, I did not encourage that. And we’re not encouraging people to be angry I mean to the point of being nasty and brutish and ugly. That’s not what this is about. There’s no upside for the Republican Party or the people involved to do that. Now some people, you know, that’s how they express their frustration, that’s how they express their frustration. But that’s not something deliberately coordinated by me or any one state party.
Unfortunately, Steele’s statement isn’t true. This past weekend, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) was harassed by right-wing protesters who refused to have a civil dialogue with the Congressman. The front page of the official website of the Texas Republican Party prominently features and endorses the incident. The website headline reads, “Doggett Fields Softballs“:
via Think Progress » Contrary to Steele’s Claim, State GOP Are Actively Promoting Town Hall Mobs.
Health insurance executives undermine insurance lobbyist’s pledge to reform insurance market.
Health insurance executives undermine insurance lobbyist’s pledge to reform insurance market. – Think Progress »
Yesterday, during an interview with Bloomberg Radio, Karen Ignagni — the President and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) — reiterated insurers’ commitment to reforming the health insurance marketplace:
That’s what people want. They want to be in. They don’t want to be rejected because of preexisting conditions, and they want to make sure they have continuity of care. We’ve committed to that. That’s what our industry is doing. We are one of the first to step up and offer real change that affected our industry. And we’re still committed to that.
While the insurance industry has publicly supported regulations that would guarantee everyone coverage and outlaw pre-exising condition exclusions, Ignagni may be overstating the industry’s commitment to so-called “market reform.” On June 16, despite Ignagni pledges of commitment, insurance executives from UnitedHealth Group, Assurant, and WellPoint specifically refused to “commit” to ending the controversial practice of rescinding coverage after an applicant files a medical claim. Watch a compilation of Ignagni’s claim and insurers’ refusal to end rescission:
Cantor-led GOP delegation to Israel undermines U.S. policy on settlements.
OPS: Well, here’s a test of Obama and Hillary. Undermining the State Department and Official US policy should generate some kind of reaction . We’ll see.
Cantor-led GOP delegation to Israel undermines U.S. policy on settlements. - Think Progress »
cantor-ericPresident Obama has made clear that, as part of his plan to achieve a resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Israelis should cease creating or expanding settlements in the West Bank (a position that has been official U.S. policy since 1967). Israeli officials have expressed displeasure with this demand and last Sunday, Israeli police evicted two Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem and so a Jewish family could move in. The U.N., the U.S. and many E.U. states strongly condemned the evictions. However, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and many of his GOP colleagues are in Israel this week undermining U.S. policy by not only offering support for Israeli settlement expansion but for the East Jerusalem evictions specifically:
via Think Progress » Cantor-led GOP delegation to Israel undermines U.S. policy on settlements..
Edwards’ ex-girlfriend testifies in federal ‘hush money’ probe
Edwards’ ex-girlfriend testifies in federal ‘hush money’ probe – | McClatchy
Rielle Hunter, John Edwards’ former girlfriend, slipped in the back door of the federal courthouse Thursday morning to speak to a grand jury.
Hunter carried her daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter, who was born in February 2008. Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, has denied being the father of Frances, though he has admitted an affair with Hunter during his failed run in 2006 for the Democratic nomination for president.
Hunter held Frances close as she followed two federal agents into the courthouse. Frances wore a bonnet and a white dress.
A federal grand jury is investigating whether Edwards misused campaign funds as hush money for Hunter.
via Edwards’ ex-girlfriend testifies in federal ‘hush money’ probe | McClatchy.
Former AIG chief to pay $15m to settle fraud suit
Former AIG chief to pay $15m to settle fraud suit - Raw Story »
The former top executive of embattled insurance giant AIG, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, agreed to pay 15 million dollars to settle accounting fraud charges, US authorities said Thursday.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Greenberg, chairman and chief executive at AIG before its spectacular meltdown, will pay disgorgement and penalties to settle a probe into “numerous improper accounting transactions that inflated AIG’s reported financial results between 2000 and 2005.”
The company’s former chief financial officer Howard Smith meanwhile will pay 1.5 million dollars to settle related charges, the SEC said in a statement.
The SEC said it filed the charges and settlement in US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
via Raw Story » Former AIG chief to pay $15m to settle fraud suit.
Consumer Reports Swine Flu Survival Kit Prepares Consumers for Potentially Tough Flu Season This Fall
Consumer Reports Swine Flu Survival Kit Prepares Consumers for Potentially Tough Flu Season This Fall
Consumer Reports shows how to avoid drugstore traps, and which remedies are most effective
YONKERS, N.Y., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — As the U.S. prepares for a possible second wave of H1N1 or swine flu, as well as for the annual scourge of seasonal flu and colds, a new report from Consumer Reports helps households prepare for, prevent, and treat cold and flu symptoms safely and effectively, including recommendations for what to pack in an emergency kit for a flu outbreak. The report is available in the September 2009 issue of Consumer Reports and online at www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org.
How to Prepare a Swine Flu Emergency Kit
In case the second wave of swine flu is severe enough to warrant home confinement, consumers should pack an emergency kit in advance. You will need:
* A two-week supply of food and water.
* Fever reducers, such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or naproxen.
* Cough and cold medications containing chlorpheniramine, diphenhydramine, oxymetazoline, and pseudoephedrine and lozenges with dyclonine, glycerin, or honey can help ease symptoms.
* Electrolyte drinks, such as Gatorade or Powerade, to keep you hydrated.
* Hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol, such as Purell, to kill viruses when
soap and water aren’t available.
* Surgical masks with an FDA rating of at least N-95 to help prevent spreading the flu. Masks need to be replaced often and disposed of after use.
For all emergencies, Consumer Reports recommends packing at least three days’ worth of nonperishable food; at least one gallon of water per person, per day; a first-aid kit that includes any prescription or over-the-counter medications your family might need; as well as antihistamines for allergic reactions, pain relievers, stomach and antidiarrhea remedies, and antacids.
Police Shut Down 7-Year-Old’s Lemonade Stand (VIDEO)
Police Shut Down 7-Year-Old’s Lemonade Stand (VIDEO)
You’re never too young to learn a life lesson – or, rather, a business lesson. As this local news report shows, the aptly named Daniela Earnest of Tulare, California had her lemonade stand shut down by town officials. (It turns out the stand lacked proper business permits.) Daniela, who’s just seven years old, had the heartwarming goal to save enough money to send her family to Disney Land.
But, Daniela’s lemonade stand ran afoul of local authorities, who said that the fledgling business was located in a dangerous intersection. Daniela eventually pled her case in front of the town council, which vowed to help her family find a safer location.
The story’s happy ending? After seeing her story in the paper, a local radio station stepped in and came up with four day passes to Disney.
WATCH:
via Police Shut Down 7-Year-Old’s Lemonade Stand (VIDEO).
Reid Backs Off Health Care Deadline
OPS: Incrementally, Reid and the right-wing Democrats are selling us out – again. Reid must be replaced.
Reid Backs Off Health Care Deadline
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday that he is backing off deadlines as a way to get results from recalcitrant health care negotiators.
“I had a meeting last Monday with a number of consultants. They all said, ‘Get off this exact date. The American people don’t care about exact dates. All they want is something to get done.’ So I listened to them,” Reid told a handful of reporters after a press briefing.
Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), however, wants to keep the pressure on. “I didn’t hear that,” he said, when asked if Reid was backing off a Sept. 15th deadline for the Finance Committee to come to a bipartisan deal.
What’ll happen if there’s no deal by mid-September?
“We’ll wait and see what happens,” said Durbin.
“I don’t think we’ve set deadlines,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). Reid added, however, that he still wanted the final bill completed by the end of the year.
via Reid Backs Off Health Care Deadline.
Right-Wing Harassment Strategy Against Dems Detailed In Memo: ‘Yell,’ ‘Stand Up And Shout Out,’ ‘Rattle Him’
OPS: Republican leadership understands that they’ve got nothing, and if they get into a discussion on the subject they lose – the facts have a liberal bias. So all they can do is try to obstruct the Democratic process. Just like the Brown Shirts did in Germany in the 20′s and 30′s.
Right-Wing Harassment Strategy Against Dems Detailed In Memo: ‘Yell,’ ‘Stand Up And Shout Out,’ ‘Rattle Him – Think Progress »’
This morning, Politico reported that Democratic members of Congress are increasingly being harassed by “angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior” at local town halls. For example, in one incident, right-wing protesters surrounded Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and forced police officers to have to escort him to his car for safety.
This growing phenomenon is often marked by violence and absurdity. Recently, right-wing demonstrators hung Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) in effigy outside of his office. Missing from the reporting of these stories is the fact that much of these protests are coordinated by public relations firms and lobbyists who have a stake in opposing President Obama’s reforms.
The lobbyist-run groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, which orchestrated the anti-Obama tea parties earlier this year, are now pursuing an aggressive strategy to create an image of mass public opposition to health care and clean energy reform. A leaked memo from Bob MacGuffie, a volunteer with the FreedomWorks website Tea Party Patriots, details how members should be infiltrating town halls and harassing Democratic members of Congress:
Deconstructing the Right Wing Lies on the Health Insurance Bill — Pages 500-730
OPS: This is part 2
NEW! Deconstructing the Right Wing Lies on the Health Insurance Bill — Pages 500-730 – Please Cut the Crap!:
(This is an all-new round of BS, mostly covering the pages after 500. Please feel free to check out the original post right here, as well… These lawyers are so long-winded, there will be a Part III… Stay tuned…)
(I was on the Nicole Sanders Show Wednesday night to discuss this… check it out here…)
Thanks to a reader, I found another little right wing talking points from a little group called the “Liberty Counsel.”
The Liberty Counsel is a lobbying group that describes itself as “a nationwide public interest religious civil liberties law firm,” according to the memo, which is conveniently located on their web site. Because much of the memo mimics the previous article almost word for word, and lie for lie, I have mercifully left out the portions of the memo that I have already addressed.
The Liberty Counsel works out of three locations, including — and don’t tell me you didn’t see this coming — Lynchburg, Virginia. Those of you familiar with the history of far right wing politics will recognize the misuse of the term “Liberty” and the city of Lynchburg, VA quite well. Jerry Falwell, it seems, saw himself as something of a right wing messiah (note the lower case, folks) of sorts for those poor, downtrodden white southern Christians, who have never had a real voice in this country. (Right wingers, that was sarcasm.)
The Liberty Counsel’s web site boasts of their mission, which is “Restoring the Culture One Case at a Time by Advancing Religious Freedom, the Sanctity of Human Life and the Traditional Family.” But I wonder; why is a group charged with protecting the” Sanctity of Human Life” so intent on protecting a status quo in which tens of thousands of people die every year because they don’t have access to the health care system, and wherein people are denied life saving treatments and procedures because they cut into a private insurance company’s profits? It is simply not possible to call yourself “pro-life” with any sort of credibility when you defend such a status quo. And if they’re so intent on protecting the traditional family, doesn’t it seem odd that they are siding with private insurance companies, and against families who are being ruined by health care bills they can’t afford to pay.
And what would Jesus think of these so-called “Judeo-Christians” turning to outright lies and misstatements to protect profits, at the expense of people?
And make no mistake, folks; the people writing this crap are liars, and I will prove it.Oops… they’re lawyers; maybe they’ll sue me… bummer…
Once more, read the bill along with me… please? Again, I have once again put my responses in red.
Do We Really NEED The Giant Banks? No
Do We Really NEED The Giant Banks?
Bernanke, Summers and Geithner say that we can’t let the giant banks fail, because – without them – the economy will be starved of credit and we will be plunged into a depression.
This isn’t true.
Says Who?
If we really needed the giant banks, the following top economists and financial experts wouldn’t have said that the economy can only recover if the insolvent “too big to fails” are broken up:
AFL-CIO Treasurer: Town Hall Disruptions A ‘Desperation Move’ By Lobbyists
AFL-CIO Treasurer: Town Hall Disruptions A ‘Desperation Move’ By Lobbyists
The treasurer of labor union AFL-CIO released a statement today claiming the town hall “mob rule” is bankrolled by lobbyists. “This is a desperation move, meant to slow the momentum for change,” it says.
Read the full text below:
STATEMENT BY AFL-CIO SECRETARY TREASURER RICHARD TRUMKA ON CORPORATE FUNDED ‘MOB RULE’ AT TOWN HALLS
Every American has the inalienable right to participate in our democratic process. Our politics is passionate, heartfelt and often loud — as was the founding of our nation. But that is not what the corporate-funded mobs are engaging in when they show up to disrupt town
halls held by members of Congress.
Major health care reform is closer than ever to passage and it is no secret that special interests want to weaken or block it. These mobs are not there to participate. As their own strategy memo states, they have been sent by their corporate and lobbyist bankrollers to disrupt, heckle and block meaningful debate. This is a desperation move, meant to slow the momentum for change.
via AFL-CIO Treasurer: Town Hall Disruptions A ‘Desperation Move’ By Lobbyists | LiveWire.
Astroturf Along American Highways, and the Republican Plan
Astroturf Along American Highways, and the Republican Plan
Robert Reich
On our drive across America, my son and I have spotted spiffy white vans emblazoned with phrases like “ObamaCare will raise your taxes” and “ObamaCare will put bureaucrats in charge of your health.” Just outside Omaha we drove close enough to take a peek at the driver, who looked as dutifully professional as the spanking new van he was driving.
This isn’t grass roots. It’s Astroturf. The vans carry the logo “Americans for Prosperity,” one of the Washington front groups orchestrating the fight against universal health. They’re using Congress’s August recess to heckle Democratic representatives when they meet with their constituents, stage erszatz local anti-universal health rallies, and fill home-town media with carefully-crafted, market-tested messages demonizing healthcare reform.
The Republican party’s fingerprints are all over this. FreedomWorks, another group now Astroturfing its way around America, is chaired by former House Republican Leader Dick Armey. Texas Republican Pete Sessions, who chairs the National Republican Campaign Committee, says the days of civil town halls are “now over.” Key Republican funders are forking out big bucks. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose ties to the GOP are legion, announced in June it would “develop a sweeping national advocacy campaign encompassing advertising, education, political activities, new media and grassroots organizing” to battle universal health and other Democratic initiatives.
via Robert Reich’s Blog: Astroturf Along American Highways, and the Republican Plan.
Three advertisers drop Glenn Beck over his claim that President Obama is a ‘racist.’
Three advertisers drop Glenn Beck over his claim that President Obama is a ‘racist.’ - Think Progress »
Last week, Fox News host Glenn Beck called President Obama a “racist” with a “a deep-seated hatred for white people.” In response, ColorOfChange called on its members to tell Beck’s advertisers to drop his show over his race-baiting. ColorOfChange announced today that three advertisers have said that they are dropping Beck:
Three companies who run ads during Glenn Beck — NexisLexis-owned Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble and Progressive Insurance — today distanced themselves from Beck. LexisNexis has pulled its advertising from Beck and says it has no plans to advertise on the program in the future. Both Procter & Gamble and Progressive Insurance called the Beck advertising placements an error that they would correct.
Turning the US Army Against Americans
Turning the US Army Against Americans : Information Clearing House – ICH
An antiwar activist has been accused of spying for the US army, raising legal questions the Obama administration must answer
By Dan Kennedy
August 06, 2009 “The Guardian” — It was an odd little story, tucked well inside the front section of this past Sunday’s New York Times.
An antiwar activist in the state of Washington had been exposed as an undercover informant for the US army, stationed at massive Fort Lewis, south of Tacoma. And in one of those Kafkaesque twists for which our government is renowned, the army is now investigating itself to determine how such an arrangement came to pass.
Although the Times gave no credit, the story had been broken on 28 July by Democracy Now!, a leftwing television programme co-anchored by Amy Goodman, a longtime progressive journalist. For nearly an hour, two former associates of John Towery – a civilian employee of the army – explained how they learned their fellow activist was in fact a military spy.
“We hung out,” said Brendan Maslauskas Dunn, who filed the public-records request that inadvertently outed Towery, who had been going by the name John Jacob. “We gave workshops together on grassroots direct democracy and anarchist struggle. I mean, he was a friend.”
Fellow activist Drew Hendricks offered a weird twist, telling Goodman that, as far back as 2007, Towery identified himself as an army employee and offered to provide Hendricks with “observations and inside knowledge of operations on Fort Lewis”.
The picture that emerges is worthy of a cheap spy novel. If Maslauskas Dunn and Hendricks are correct, then Towery truthfully told antiwar activists that he worked for the army, but lied about his name and real purpose: gathering intelligence on his new associates and what threat they might have posed. (According to the Times, antiwar groups in Washington have attempted to “disrupt military shipments”.)
via Turning the US Army Against Americans : Information Clearing House – ICH.
Controversial Doll Lets Little Girls Pretend to Breast-Feed
Controversial Doll Lets Little Girls Pretend to Breast-Feed - – FOXNews.com
A controversial new doll is leaving some parents wishing for the good old Cabbage Patch days.
A Spanish toymaker known as Berjuan has developed a breast-feeding doll that comes with a special halter top its young “mothers” wear as they pretend to breast-feed their “babies.” The halter top has daisies that cover the little girls’ nipples and come undone just as easily as the flaps of a nursing bra would.
The doll — called Bebe Gloton, which translates as “gluttonous baby” — makes sucking noises as it “feeds.”
Click here to see Bebe Gloton on ‘FOX & Friends.’
Like many other dolls, Bebe Gloton can cry, signaling she wants more milk.
Although many health care providers promote the benefits of breast-feeding, parents around the world have criticized Berjuan, saying the idea of breast-feeding is too grown-up for young children — and may even promote early pregnancy.
via Controversial Doll Lets Little Girls Pretend to Breast-Feed – Children’s Health – FOXNews.com.
In Mural, Widow Paints a Plea for Health-Care Reform
In a Plea for Health Reform, a Widow Picks Up Her Paintbrushes - – washingtonpost.com
By Dana Milbank 
Regina Holliday will always remember the day the Senate took up health-care reform seven weeks ago. It was the day her husband died.
At home in the family’s apartment on Connecticut Avenue NW, Fred Holliday succumbed to kidney cancer at age 39. He probably had had the disease for years, but with no health insurance, he couldn’t afford the tests that might have explained the night sweats, fatigue and bloody urine. By the time he finally got a job that came with health coverage and got the tests he needed, it was too late: The cancer had spread and was inoperable.
These days you can usually find Regina Holliday in a parking lot between the BP station and the CVS near the Politics and Prose bookstore. She’s painting a 20-foot-high mural, showing her husband on his deathbed, to draw attention to the failings of the health system.
The world’s rubbish dump: a garbage tip that stretches from Hawaii to Japan
The world’s rubbish dump: a garbage tip that stretches from Hawaii to Japan – - The Independent
A “plastic soup” of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said.
The vast expanse of debris – in effect the world’s largest rubbish dump – is held in place by swirling underwater currents. This drifting “soup” stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan.
Charles Moore, an American oceanographer who discovered the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” or “trash vortex”, believes that about 100 million tons of flotsam are circulating in the region. Marcus Eriksen, a research director of the US-based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which Mr Moore founded, said yesterday: “The original idea that people had was that it was an island of plastic garbage that you could almost walk on. It is not quite like that. It is almost like a plastic soup. It is endless for an area that is maybe twice the size as continental United States.”
Corporate Greed Vs People’s Health in America
Corporate Greed Vs People’s Health in America – | CommonDreams.org
As the health care discussion has gathered momentum in the U.S., there is increasing evidence of the role played by corporations and politicians to hinder provision of adequate health care to the majority of Americans. The result is that the U.S. has one of the worst health care systems among industrialized nations.
Studies carried out by the World Health Organization and the Commonwealth Fund in New York show that the U.S. health care system overall performance ranked 37th among the countries included in their analysis.
The Commonwealth Fund study, released in 2007, entitled “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: An International Update on the Comparative Performance of American Health Care,” found that not only is the U.S. health care system the most expensive in the world, but comes in dead last in almost any measure of performance.
via Corporate Greed Vs People’s Health in America | CommonDreams.org.
Health Care Reform Sell-Out: Why Obama and the Democrats are Either Shysters or Idiots
Health Care Reform Sell-Out: Why Obama and the Democrats are
David Lindorff
As I predicted months ago in an article titled America’s Stupid Health Care Debate: Keeping Some Ideas Off the Table and several subsequent pieces on my website, President Obama and the Democrats who currently run Congress have been hoist on their own collective petard by their craven and gutless refusal to consider adopting a Canadian-style single-payer system to finance health care in the US, or simply to expand Medicare, which is a successful single- payer program, to cover everyone, instead of just people over 65 and the disabled.
Instead, because they are the recipients of hundreds of millions of dollars in legal (and probably plenty of illegal) bribes from the health care industry, they have cobbled together a “reform” in name only, which preserves not just the central role of the vampire-like health insurance industry, but also ensures the continued rapacious profitability of the other segments of the medical-industrial complex—the hospitals, the pharmaceutical industry, and the specialist doctors.
Now, like Hillary and Bill Clinton before them, these weasels and slimeballs who pose as the people’s advocates are left with nothing but a Potemkin Health Plan that looks on the outside like a reform, but that changes little or nothing, leaves vast numbers of Americans uninsured, forces tens of millions to buy crappy plans from private companies, and that will end up doing nothing to halt the continuing rise in health care costs that is bankrupting the people, employers and the country.
Nice going guys!
Unions To Take On Conservative Groups Health Care Town Halls
Unions To Take On Conservative Groups Health Care Town Halls
The nation’s largest federation of labor organizations has promised to directly engage with boisterous conservative protesters at Democratic town halls during the August recess.
In a memo sent out on Thursday, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney outlined the blueprint for how the union conglomerate would step up recess activities on health care reform and other topics pertinent to the labor community. The document makes clear that Obama allies view the town hall forums as ground zero of the health care debate. It also uses the specter of the infamous 2000 recount “Brooks Brothers” protest to rally its members to the administration’s side.
“The principal battleground in the campaign will be town hall meetings and other gatherings with members of Congress in their home districts,” reads the memo. “We want your help to organize major union participation to counter the right-wing “Tea-Party Patriots” who will try to disrupt those meetings, as they’ve been trying to do to meetings for the last month. .
via Unions To Take On Conservative Groups Health Care Town Halls.
Feds win case against ‘freezer cash’ ex-congressman
OPS funny how the republican got off and the Democrat gets nailed. Both should have been nailed.
Feds win case against ‘freezer cash’ ex-congressman - The Raw Story »
After Ted Stevens fiasco, feds win cold cash case
Conviction in ex-congressman freezer cash case comes after botched Ted Stevens prosecution
A jury handed federal prosecutors a victory in finding an ex-congressman guilty of bribery, racketeering and other charges, four months after a corruption conviction against former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was tossed aside in an embarrassing blow to the Justice Department.
via The Raw Story » Feds win case against ‘freezer cash’ ex-congressman.
SS Nazi sign carried at town hall protest
OPS: It fits. After all, this is exactly how the Nazi’s came to power in the 20′s and 30′s.
SS Nazi sign carried at town hall protest - The Raw Story » 
Right wing pundits are mocking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for claiming that there are protesters “carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on healthcare.”
The wizbang blog calls it a crock.
While it’s possible the top House Democrat might have been misinformed (due to non-specific media reports) about a swastika, the following sign written with Nazi lettering, spotted at a Congressman Lloyd Doggett event, has been widely reported on liberal blogs and in the mainstream media.
DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse referred to the sign in a recent statement, as Brian Beutler reported for TPM.
“The right wing extremists’ use of things like devil horns on pictures of our elected officials, hanging members of Congress in effigy, breathlessly questioning the President’s citizenship and the use of Nazi SS symbols and the like just shows how outside of the mainstream the Republican Party and their allies are,” Woodhouse said.
via The Raw Story » SS Nazi sign carried at town hall protest.
Cornyn: GOP ready to capitalize on Americans’ ‘fear’ and ‘anger’ in the 2010 elections.
Cornyn: GOP ready to capitalize on Americans’ ‘fear’ and ‘anger’ in the 2010 elections. – Think Progress »
Although RNC Chairman Michael Steele yesterday tried to distance the Republican Party from the angry protests at town hall meetings around the country, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is excited about them. According to The Hill, Cornyn believes that the “fear” and “anger” of Americans will be an advantage for Republicans in the 2010 elections:
“Fear, I would say, precedes anger, and I think there are a lot of people who tell me they are scared of what they see coming out of Washington in terms of spending and the debt and muscular federal intervention on everything from financial institutions to healthcare,” Cornyn said. “It’s almost like a part of the grieving process.” [...]
“No one would have ever thought six months ago we would be where we are today. I see real opportunities for us,” Cornyn said at a meeting with reporters. “2010 did not look like it was going to be a particularly friendly year for us.”
Is John Bolton Upset The North Koreans Once Called Him Bloodsucking ‘Human Scum’?
Is John Bolton Upset The North Koreans Once Called Him Bloodsucking ‘Human Scum’? - Think Progress »
Ever since news broke that President Clinton was traveling to North Korea to finalize the release of two imprisoned American journalists, super-hawk John Bolton has been on the attack. While he first charged Clinton with “negotiating with terrorists,” he piled on even after the journalists’ release, saying Clinton was “rewarding bad behavior.”
While only a handful of conservatives have criticized Clinton, Bolton has been leading the charge — in major op-ed pages, television, and radio. After criticizing Clinton for “encouraging rogue states” on NPR yesterday, the host asked Bolton what he would have done instead. “[W]orked harder with China,” was all he could muster. And last night on Fox News, Bolton continued the attack, saying that Clinton had endangered the lives of Americans who travel abroad:
BOLTON: Obviously, we’re happy that they’re released, and obviously, the president has a responsibility to try and protect Americans. But he needs to do it in a way that doesn’t endanger other Americans in the future by making it look profitable for terrorist groups or rogue states to grant other Americans and get ransom. … So this is the question looking forward. What Americans now are not important enough for Bill Clinton to come and secure their release?
Watch it
via Think Progress » Is John Bolton Upset The North Koreans Once Called Him Bloodsucking ‘Human Scum’?.
Wal-Mart Takes Aim at Girl Scouts?
OPS: The Walton family attacks the Girl Scouts?
Wal-Mart Takes Aim at Girl Scouts? - Comcast.net
Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? Try Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Apparently, the world’s largest retailer is on a mission to expand its Great Value private label, which in the past has imitated brands like Kellogg’s Toasted Honey Crunch cereal and “cake batter” ice cream (a big crowd pleaser at Cold Stone Creamery). And recently, it has snatched up the Girl Scouts’ Thin Mints and Tagalongs cookies in one fell swoop. No, the real things will not be available at a Wal-Mart near you. Rather, Wal-Mart’s private label will tout tasty imitations.
Some Girl Scout advocates are outraged. C.V. Harquail, a former “Cookie Mom” for her daughter’s troop, called Wal-Mart’s strategy “despicable” in her Authentic Organizations blog. After sampling the “beta” cookies at a recent BlogHer conference, Harquail revealed her true feelings about Wal-Mart:
“It’s not discriminating against women, strong-arming suppliers, polluting neighborhoods or racing to the bottom of the China Price. No, this time, it’s closer to home, and in my case, really close to home. This time … [Wal-Mart] is knocking off the Girl Scouts.”
via Wal-Mart Takes Aim at Girl Scouts? – For What It’s Worth – Comcast.net.
Cornyn declines to endorse Ensign in 2012
OPS: Oh there will be trouble in the C Street ‘church’ tonight
Cornyn declines to endorse Ensign in 2012 – The Associated Press:
WASHINGTON — The head of the Senate’s Republican campaign arm is not saying for now whether he will back embattled Nevada Sen. John Ensign for re-election in three years.
Sen. John Cornyn oversees the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He says he is focusing on the 2010 election and wants to give Ensign — also a Republican — and his family space to work through their troubles.
Ensign acknowledged in June he had an affair with a former campaign aide. His attorney has also said that Ensign’s parents paid the woman and her family $96,000 after learning about the affair.
Ensign has not said whether he’ll seek re-election in 2012. It’s also not certain whether Cornyn will be heading the Senate Republicans’ campaign operation then.
via The Associated Press: Cornyn declines to endorse Ensign in 2012.
continuing claims for jobless benefits rose by 69,000 to 6.31 million
OPS: MSNBC burying the lead
Weekly jobless claims drop more than expected - msnbc.com
But continuing claims for jobless benefits rose by 69,000 to 6.31 million
The number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits fell last week, the government said Thursday, a sign that the job market is making gradual improvement.
Job losses
are likely to slow in coming months, economists said, a trend that could be reflected in the government’s July unemployment report to be released Friday.
“We believe the lower claims figures are an important economic development and confirmation that the economy is turning the corner,” Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a note to clients.
via Weekly jobless claims drop more than expected – Stocks & economy- msnbc.com.
GM to launch Buick plug-in hybrid crossover in 2011
GM to launch Buick plug-in hybrid crossover in 2011 – Detroit Free Press
All-new vehicle to debut in 2011
General Motors Co. this morning announced plans to introduce an all-new plug-in hybrid Buick crossover sport-utility vehicle in 2011.
The Detroit automaker also has scheduled an event Aug. 13 to officially announce its investment in the automaker’s new Brownstown Township battery pack assembly facility at 20001 Brownstown Center Dr., Trenton.
The facility will produce the lithium ion battery packs for the Chevrolet Volt and other future extended range electric vehicles.
via GM to launch Buick plug-in hybrid crossover in 2011 | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press.
Criminal Banking Syndicates –
maxkeiser: ‘the banks just want us to toss their salad.’
YouTube – Max Keiser on Face Off – Criminal Banking Syndicates – 06 August 2009 (1/2).
The Climate Bill Will Cost You Just 23¢ a Day,
The Climate Bill Will Cost You Just 23¢ a Day, EIA Analysis Shows – TreeHugger
You’ve surely heard various competing claims about how much the American Clean Energy & Security Act will increase energy prices. Well, new analysis carried out by the Energy Information Agency, at the request of Reps. Waxman and Markey, confirms earlier estimates that while the bill will cost consumers, it won’t cost them very much:
The new EIA analysis projects that the climate bill, as passed by the House, will cost consumers $83 a year (adjusted for inflation) by 2030. The Department of Energy points out that’s about the cost of a postage stamp a day — 23¢ in fact.
I suppose no one at the DoE has actually put a stamp on anything lately, as that’s actually closer to half the price of a postage stamp, but there you go.
Secretary Chu Urges Passage of Climate Bill
Energy Secretary Steven Chu took the opportunity to urge passage of climate legislation:
via The Climate Bill Will Cost You Just 23¢ a Day, EIA Analysis Shows : TreeHugger.
Greenpeace Victory: Tissues Will No Longer Be Manufactured From Virgin Forests (VIDEO)
Greenpeace Victory: Tissues Will No Longer Be Manufactured From Virgin Forests (VIDEO) 
On Wednesday morning, the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, maker of Kleenex, Scott and Cottonelle tissues, announced that it will adjust its production standards to increase forest conservation for its tissue products due to pressures from a five year Greenpeace campaign. This Greenpeace victory takes place only a few days after rallying Nike and Timberland to stop using leather from Amazon-bred cattle in an effort to curb deforestation.
Kimberly-Clark, the largest global tissue producer, which manufactures more than 4 million tons of tissues annually, had formerly used virgin fibers from Canadian boreal forests to produce the single-use tissue materials.
The Daily Green details Kimberly-Clark’s greener mission.
Specifically, by the end of 2011, Kimberly-Clark will stop using any forest products derived from the Canadian boreal unless that wood is Forest Stewardship Council certified, and the company will ensure that 40% of its North American tissue fiber is either recycled or Forest Stewardship Council-certified, an increase of more than 70% over 2007 levels.
via Greenpeace Victory: Tissues Will No Longer Be Manufactured From Virgin Forests (VIDEO).
Stewart Slams CNN & Fox For Coverage Of Clinton’s North Korea Rescue (VIDEO)
Video at link
Stewart Slams CNN & Fox For Coverage Of Clinton’s North Korea Rescue (VIDEO)
Jon Stewart was positively giddy last night, not because American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling were released from North Korean prison, but because Bill Clinton is in the news again. “THE BIG DOG IS BACK,” Stewart yelled jubilantly as he danced to the “Shaft” theme song. Clinton flew to North Korea and secured the release of the two Current TV staffers who had been sentenced to 12 years hard labor.
Stewart’s glee didn’t last long, though, as he moved on to the coverage of Clinton’s trip. CNN had nothing to say so they discussed how airplanes operate and showed color bars of North Korean TV. Fox News, on the other hand, was upset that the journalists were freed in the first place. John Bolton said the situation turned out better for North Korea than the U.S., and Dick Morris argued that the journalists should have “lived with the decision to go there.”
“Does the sun ever shine during a Democratic administration? With Obama in office now when babies laugh do you hear only the sound of kittens drowning?” Stewart asked, before eviscerating Fox for their choice in anchors.
via Stewart Slams CNN & Fox For Coverage Of Clinton’s North Korea Rescue (VIDEO).
“Clunkers” Benefiting Foreign Automakers
“Clunkers” Benefiting Foreign Automakers – Economyincrisis.org -
Four of the top five selling vehicles in the “Cash for Clunkers” program are manufactured by foreign automakers.
“Cash for clunkers,” the immensely successful program designed to stimulate demand for new automobiles while also “greening” America’s roadways, is proving to be much more successful for foreign automakers, according to data released Tuesday by the federal government.
According to the data, four of the top five selling vehicles in the program are manufactured by foreign automakers.
The top selling vehicle is the Ford Focus, however, it is followed by the Toyota Corolla, the Honda Civic, the Toyota Prius and the Toyota Camry – all Japanese brands. Just four of the top ten vehicles bought through the program are American made.
Not only are Americans purchasing more foreign cars through the program, they are also trading in their American cars to buy the foreign models. The top ten vehicles traded in as part of the program were all American.
According to the report, just 47 percent of all the new vehicles purchased through the program were manufactured by Detroit’s Big Three.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Why Health Care Reform Will Fail: Part I — The Business of Disease: We Pay For What Doesn’t Work
Why Health Care Reform Will Fail: Part I
The Business of Disease: We Pay For What Doesn’t Work
Mark Hyman, MD
The health care debate has been hijacked by fears about cost and how we will pay for universal coverage. Will it cost $1.6 trillion or $900 billion over 10 years? This is beside the point. Every other industrialized nation spends far less (about half) and creates much better health for its citizens. We are next to Cuba in life expectancy, yet they spend $184 per capita annually on health care and we spend over $8,000. The only way this will shift is if we focus on investing in quality not quantity – namely medical care that creates better outcomes through programs that address the causes of chronic illness – diet, sedentary lifestyles, stress, and social disempowerment.
If we produce a higher quality “product” in health care – namely “good health”, then we will have more than enough money for comprehensive health care reform. If not, we will be simply re-arranging deck chairs on the titanic.
Not only will our nation’s health and health care system decline, but our nation will fall to the bottom of the global sea of failed nations as 34% of our GDP and 75% of all federal spending will be consumed by Medicare and Medicaid by 2040 (according to the Presidents Council of Economic Advisors). Recently President Obama’s rhetoric has shifted from health care reform to health insurancereform. Getting more people access to a system that provides worse outcomes at higher costs is not an option for a sustainable health care system, nor a sustainable economy. Political courage is needed to do the right thing, not just something.
Clinton Suggests US Could Join International Criminal Court
OPS: An avenue for prosecuting the Bush Crime Family?
Clinton Suggests US Could Join International Criminal Court 
NAIROBI, Kenya — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says it is a “great regret” that the United States is not a member of the International Criminal Court.
Clinton spoke Thursday in Kenya during a seven-nation tour of Africa.
The court is the first permanent institution authorized to try individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so.
The U.S. formally rejected U.S. participation in May 2002. A main concern was that American servicemen hunting down terrorists abroad might not be safe from politically motivated prosecutions.
Clinton said it is “a great regret but it is a fact that we are not yet a signatory. But we have supported the court and continue to do so.”
via Clinton Suggests US Could Join International Criminal Court.
AIG breakup nets Wall Street $1 billion bonanza: report
OPS: Bye bye AIG.
AIG breakup nets Wall Street $1 billion bonanza: report – | | Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street banks and lawyers could collect nearly $1 billion in fees from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and American International Group Inc to help manage and break apart the insurer, The Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday, citing its own analysis.
Morgan Stanley could collect as much as $250 million, the newspaper said, citing banking experts and documents released by the New York Fed.
Bank of America Corp, private equity firm Blackstone Group LP, law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, accounting firm Ernst & Young, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co are among others that have or could get big paydays for helping dismantle AIG, the newspaper said.
To calculate dollar amounts, the newspaper said it tallied estimated fees for transactions already announced and those AIG is considering, planning or may be forced to pursue. It said it obtained assistance from Freeman & Co, Thomson Reuters and documents provided by the New York Fed.
via AIG breakup nets Wall Street $1 billion bonanza: report | U.S. | Reuters.
Stimulus Spending Fails to Follow Unemployment, Poverty
Stimulus Spending Fails to Follow Unemployment, Poverty – ProPublica:
Since the economic stimulus bill passed nearly six months ago, the Obama administration has repeatedly pledged that the money would reach middle America, seeping into the communities hardest hit by the recession.
But analysis of the most comprehensive list of stimulus spending to date found no relationship between where the money is going and unemployment and poverty.
Stimulus spending is literally all over the map, according to ProPublica’s analysis, which examined nearly all the contracts, grants and loans the government has reported awarding. Some battered counties are hauling in large amounts, while others that are just as hard hit have received little.
Take Trigg County, Ky. [2], where unemployment was 15.8 percent in June after the auto industry crisis rippled among suppliers. The stimulus has chipped in $1 million toward a biofuels facility and $30 million for a road project. According to the data, the county has been awarded $2,419 per resident.
via ProPublica: Stimulus Spending Fails to Follow Unemployment, Poverty.
PA Shooter’s Church taught: “You can commit mass murder, then still go to heaven”
PA Shooter’s Church taught: “You can commit mass murder, then still go to heaven” – Talk To Action |
George Sodini, the 48-year-old misogynist who shot up a Pennsylvania Gym full of women on Aug. 4th, killing three women before turning the gun on himself, believed God wouldn’t judge him by his actions.
According to his own words on his website the Tetelestai Church in Pittsburgh, PA, and its pastor, Rick Knapp believed in the Dispensationalist idea that “Eternal life does NOT depend on works” and that “Christ paid for EVERY sin, so how can I or you be judged BY GOD for a sin when the penalty was ALREADY paid?”
Frustrated by everything in his life, including his Church, Sodini dared his readers to verify his claims by saying, “`Be Ye Holy, even as I have been Ye holy! Thus saith the lord thy God!’, as pastor Rick Knapp would proclaim.” Adding “But this guy teaches (and convinced me) you can commit mass murder then still go to heaven. Ask him. Call him at (724) 325-2655. If no answer there, he should still live at 439 9th Street, Oakmont, PA 15139. In any case, guilt and fear kept me there 13 long years until Nov 2006. I think his crap did the most damage. Their web site: http://www.tetelestai.org.”
via Talk To Action | PA Shooter’s Church taught: “You can commit mass murder, then still go to heaven”.
Food Security in Africa: Will Obama let USAID’s Genetically Modified Trojan Horse Ride Again?
Food Security in Africa: Will Obama let USAID’s Genetically Modified Trojan Horse Ride Again?
Yesterday Secretary Clinton was in Kenya with a delegation that included Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, as well as Representatives Donald M. Payne (D-NJ) and Nita M. Lowey (D-NY). While the group was there on a broad platform to discuss economic development in Africa, including food security issues, the delegation took the opportunity yesterday afternoon to visit the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) lab, which is best known for unsuccessfully trying to produce a genetically modified, virus-resistant sweet potato under a US-led program. The trip to KARI highlights the poor vision the United States currently holds on furthering food security in Africa.
Historically, the introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in the US and other countries has primarily profited patent-holding companies, while creating farmer dependence on the chemical fertilizers and pesticides produced by a few US corporations, used to the detriment of human health, soil quality and the environment. The failed sweet potato project at the KARI lab was a product of a public-private partnership between Monsanto, KARI and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the federal organization responsible for most US non-military foreign aid. USAID is not shy about their desire to promote biotechnology, and have been working towards furthering a GMO agenda abroad since 1991, when it launched the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project (ABSP). According to this in-depth research article by the organization GRAIN, the ABSP sought to “identify suitable crops in various countries and use them as Trojan Horses to provide a solid platform for the introduction of other GM crops.”
Fort Hood Soldier Refused Deployment to Afghanistan
Fort Hood Soldier Refused Deployment to Afghanistan – t r u t h o u t
Fort Hood, Texas – A Fort Hood soldier was sentenced Wednesday to a month in jail for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan over his beliefs that the war violates international law.
Spc. Victor Agosto, 24, of Miami, pleaded guilty to disobeying lawful orders and was sentenced at the central Texas Army post. The judge also reduced his rank to the Army’s lowest level, a private, which also was part of the maximum penalty he faced in his plea agreement with the military.
Also, Agosto cannot be discharged at a level lower than other-than-honorable conditions, an administrative discharge. A discharge was not mentioned in the hearing, but Agosto is expected to be released from the Army after completing his jail term.
via t r u t h o u t | Fort Hood Soldier Refused Deployment to Afghanistan.
Appeals Court Reinstates U.S. Roadless Area Conservation Rule
Appeals Court Reinstates U.S. Roadless Area Conservation Rule
SAN FRANCISCO, California, August 5, 2009 (ENS) – Nearly 40 million acres of roadless national forests are again protected from new road building, logging, and development by a decision today of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstating the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
The decision came in a case brought by four states and 20 environmental organizations against the Bush-era U.S. Forest Service rule that required state governors to petition the federal government for protection of roadless areas on national forests in their states.
Known as the State Petitions Rule, its purpose was to overturn the Roadless Area Conservation Rule of 2001 promulgated by the U.S. Forest Service just eight days before the end of the Clinton administration.
Upholding a lower court ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today issued a permanent injunction against the State Petitions Rule deciding that “the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.”
via Appeals Court Reinstates U.S. Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
The Bombing of Nagasaki August 9, 1945: The Untold Story
The Bombing of Nagasaki August 9, 1945:
The Untold Story 
by Gary G. Kohls, M.D. (August 2007)
The Russian army was advancing across Manchuria with the stated aim of entering the war against Japan on August 8, so there was an extra incentive to end the war quickly: the US military command did not want to divide any spoils or share power after Japan sued for peace.
The US bomber command had spared Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Kokura from the conventional bombing that had burned to the ground 60+ other major Japanese cities during the first half of 1945. One of the reasons for targeting relatively undamaged cities with these new weapons of mass destruction was scientific: to see what would happen to intact buildings — and their living inhabitants — when atomic weapons were exploded overhead.
via The Bombing of Nagasaki August 9, 1945: The Untold Story by Gary G. Kohls, M.D..
Free press? Venezuela beats the US
Free press? Venezuela beats the US - || guardian.co.uk
Of course Chávez’s new media law is bad. But it won’t make a dent in the huge amount of press freedom in Venezuela
Denis MacShane attacks the British left for defending Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, against an onslaught from the media, “new cold warriors”, and rightwing demagogues throughout the world. His rhetorical trick is to tar the left with a new media law currently being debated in the Venezuelan congress, which he says “would impose prison sentences of up to four years for journalists whose writings might divulge information against ‘the stability of the institutions of the state’.”
Of course this is a bad law. There are a number of bad laws on the books in Venezuela, and in fact numerous countries in the region have desacato (pdf) laws that make it a crime to insult the president. Do MacShane’s targets – he mentions Ken Livingstone and Richard Gott – support such laws? I would bet serious money that they do not. So his main line of attack is misleading if not downright dishonest.
MacShane also misrepresents the reality of press freedom in Venezuela. In fact, there is a much more oppositional media in Venezuela than in the US, and a much greater range of debate in the major media. This can be seen simply by looking at the most important media in both countries. In the US, for example, not even the most aggressive rightwing commentators such as Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity would present the idea that the president should be lynched. But Globovision, one of the largest-audience TV networks, had a show where a guest did just that.
via Free press? Venezuela beats the US | Mark Weisbrot | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.
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Republicans Don't Care about Voter Fraud....owa Republicans are trying to dismiss claims that the vote count in Tuesday's Iowa Caucus was wrong. An Iowa voter told a local TV station yesterday that he noticed a 20-vote discrepancy in the count - and that Rick Santorum was the real winner of the Caucuses. Republican Party officials, though, are sticking to their first count - showing Mitt Romney as the winner by 8-votes - and there will be no recount.The Republican Party has launched a war on voters around the nation this year with strict new laws that will disenfranchise over 5 million Americans. They claim these laws are necessary to combat so-called voter fraud. Yet in Iowa - where there are no such laws - and where a very, very close and questionable election was just held - Republicans don't seem to care at all about getting it right.Clearly - the war on voters isn't about making sure the people's voices are represented accurately - it's about making sure poor people, young people, and minorities who tend to vote for Democrats - can't vote at all.-Thom(Who do you think won? Tell us here.) -
LEGALIZE Democracy
" We the corporations" On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. __________
MOVE to AMEND
a project of the CAMPAIGN TO LEGALIZE Democracy
Help end Corporate personhood
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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. 
