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Week of November 1, 2009 - November 7, 2009

Why He Owns a Gun

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by Donal - November 7, 2009, 11:43PM

Link

After WVBiker's blog led me to the FN Five Seven, I started looking at reviews of it, and then youtube reviews of it and other small pistols. One thing led to another, and I found this guy Don's series of reviews and personal messages.

Eleven months ago, he posted about Global Warming being BS.

He also has this series of Why I Own a Gun stories: the prowler, the daughter's ex-boyfriend, etc. I found the one above, from eight months ago, fascinating because although he starts out with an, "I'm not a racist but we showed them" story, you can't miss the economic fear that creeps in at the end.

Three months ago, he posted about the wisdom of having a garden and investing in silver.

Two weeks ago, he posted about preparing for disaster.

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Rage against Wall Street...What Obama and the Dems need to pay attention to.

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by cmaukonen - November 7, 2009, 11:25PM

As Frank Rich notes about the off year election.
Should the G.O.P. avoid self-destruction by containing
this fringe, then the president and his party will have
to confront their real problem: their identification
with the titans who greased the skids for the economic
meltdown from which Wall Street has recovered and the
country has not. If there's one general lesson to be
gleaned from Christie's victory over Jon Corzine in New
Jersey, it's surely that in today's zeitgeist it's less
of a stigma to be fat than a former Goldman Sachs fat
cat, even in a blue state.
This rage is not just contained to the extremes  either.
Americans don't hate rich people, but they do despise
those who behave as if the rules don't apply to them.
"Michael Bloomberg is About to Buy Himself a Third
Term" was the cover line on New York magazine in
October. However unfairly, some voters conflated his
air of entitlement with the swaggering Wall Street
C.E.O.'s who cashed out before the crash and stuck the
rest of us with the bill.

The Obama administration does not seem to understand
that this rage, left unaddressed, could consume it. It
has pushed aside the entreaties of many -- including
Paul Volcker, the chairman of the White House's own
Economic Recovery Advisory Board -- to break up
too-big-to-fail banks. Those behemoths, cushioned by
the government's bailouts, low-interest loans and
guarantees, are back making bets that put the entire
system at risk. Yet last Sunday, we once again heard
the Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, on "Meet the
Press" dodging questions about the banks in general and
Goldman in particular with unpersuasive bromides.
"We're not going to let the system go back to the way
it was," he said.

Surely he jests. On Monday morning, a business-savvy
Democratic senator, Maria Cantwell of Washington,
publicly questioned Geithner's fitness for his job,
given his support of loopholes in proposed regulations
of the derivatives that enabled last year's collapse.
On Tuesday, Congressional Democrats, with the White
House's consent, voted to gut the Sarbanes-Oxley Act,
the post Enron-WorldCom law passed in 2002 to prevent
corporate accounting tricks and fraud. Arthur Levitt,
the former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman,
told me on Friday it was "surreal" that Democrats were
now achieving the long-held Republican goal of smashing
"the golden chalice" of reform. If investors cannot
have transparency, Levitt said, "the whole system is
worthless."

The system is going back to the way it was with a
vengeance, against a backdrop of despair. As the
unemployment rate crossed the 10 percent threshold at
week's end, we learned that bankers were helping
themselves not just to bonuses as large as those at the
bubble's peak but to early allotments of H1N1 vaccine.
No wonder 62 percent of those polled by Hart Associates
in late September felt that "large banks" had been
helped "a lot" or "a fair amount" by "government
economic policies," but only 13 percent felt the
"average working person" had been. Unemployment ranked
ahead of the deficit and health care as the No. 1
pocketbook issue in the survey, with 81 percent saying
the Obama administration must take more action.
And if Obama and the Dems do not take some very firm
action soon and rain in these self aggrandized titans
of Wall Street, pass meaningful regulation and see to it
that those responsible are held accountable - they may
very well find themselves out on the street.

C
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News flash: The GOP got its butt kicked last week

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by AmericanDad - November 7, 2009, 11:04PM

"Two days after the GOP's sweeping victories...." says a TPM writer, apparently having down several quarts of AP's "GOP Sweep" kool aid and look at who actually won most of the contests and the most important contests this week.
The Dems picked up two seats in Congress, including one that's been a Republican seat for more than 100 years. Dms have a stronger and more liberal majority in the House -- where national policy is being made -- now than they did last week. (Making the Dems 5 for 5 in special elections for congressional seats this year.)
Obama's favorable rating of 56.1% is actually a tad higher than it was on Oct. 6 of last year (56%), just a month before he was elected in a landslide.
Americans prefer Dems over Reps for Congress, and prefer them even more -- and by a wider margin -- than they did this time a year ago.
In the East, north of the Pennsylvania border, there are 51 congressional districts representing 34 million people. -- and Reps have a whopping two seats. In the West, California is trending strongly to the left.
Dems won the big city mayoral races in Seattle, Atlanta, Charlotte (first time in a quarter century here), Minneapolis, St. Paul, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Chapel Hill and Detroit.  In New York, the Republican incumbent outspent his Dem challenger 14 to 1, -- spending $105 million and pouring $90 million of his own money into the race -- and just barely won an election he was expected to take in a cake walk.
In Maine, a measure that will allow dispensaries to supply marijuana to patients for medicinal purposes easily won approval.  In Colorado, Breckenridge voted overwhelmingly to allow adults to legally possess small amounts of marijuana.
Gay rights meaures won in Washington and Kalamazoo, Michigan, and narrowly lost in Maine, while gay candidates won the day in Akron, Maplewood, Minn., Houston, Chapel Hill, St. Petersburg, Charlotte and Salt Lake City.  Catch that?  Openly gay candidates won in four cities south of the Mason Dixon Line, including in the heart of that most homophobic of religious states, Utah.
Two TABOR initiatives -- the precious little project of the neocons who want to drown government in the bathtub -- were on ballots Tuesday, and both lost.
In Ohio, voters approved a measure that will allow casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.
As for the GOP's two marquee wins: Back in 2001, at the same point in Duby'a reign of error, the election of Democratic governors over Republicans in those same two states -- Virginia and New Jersey -- it meant absolutely nothing then, just as it does now. (Back then, the GOP and its talking heads were falling all over themselves to point out that the Dem victories were meaningless on the national scene, and they were right.) In fact, it's a 30-year trend. In New Jersey, the party in power in the White House hasn't won the governor's office since 1985 and the party in power in the White House hasn't won the governor's office in Virginia since 1977.
Ruy Teixeira's numbers should silence the "Obama was repudiated" song and dance:
"In New Jersey...it's significant that Mr. Obama's approval rating among 2009 voters (57 percent) was identical to the percent of the vote he received there in 2008. In Virginia, while the president's 2009 approval rating was 5 points less than his 2008 voting result, the 2009 electorate was also far more conservative than last year's. Besides being far older and whiter than in 2008, the voters in Virginia on Tuesday said they had supported John McCain last November by 8 points, meaning they were not favorably inclined toward President Obama to begin with. In fact, given that only 43 percent of these voters said they supported Mr. Obama last November, his 48 percent approval rating among them does not indicate a shift away from him but rather toward him."
In both Virginia and New Jersey, the Dems held their own in the state legislative races, and across the country, Democrats still hold 60 legislative chambers and control 55% of the nation's partisan legislative seats.
Sweeping victories for the GOP? Please.
And while AP and the talking heads tried to paint the election results as an omen of impending doom for Obama and the Democrats, at least the Washington Post had enough sense (first time I've said that in years) to get it right. After last week's election, it's clear that a civil war -- "a pitched battle in the works between the Republicans' right flank and even-further-right flank" -- is ripping the GOP apart.  If that's what they call winning, more power to 'em!
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Unwritten...

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by stillidealistic - November 7, 2009, 9:25PM

There is a lot of hopelessness in America right now, just one year after the most hopeful time I can remember. So much has happened (or not happened, depending on your viewpoint.)

We have gone from the tears of joy at the President's election, to tears of sadness as we realize how little one person, even a president, can accomplish in Washington. We were naive about how long change would take, how much resistance to it there would be.

There is so much to be depressed about. The stimulus package has not worked as well as we had hoped it would. The Wall St. big wigs have learned from the financial crisis that "too big to fail" means they have a green light to do whatever the hell they want, rather than an obligation to conduct their businesses in a responsible fashion. More people are suffering from the lack of health care. More, including many of our own, have found themselves out of work - the unemployment rate the highest it has been in over 25 years. We've been asked to swallow the fact there will likely be no prosecutions for the deplorable, and yes, illegal behavior of the prior administration as it relates to torture. We are still involved in two wars, and having difficulty figuring out how to get out of them, while day after day more of our babies die over there with no clear goal in mind. The programs established to aid people in keeping their homes have been largely ignored by the financial institutions WE bailed out. We've watched in horror as the very people who CAUSED the financial crisis have been left to oversee the industry. Gays are still being kicked out of the military and unable to wed. The lobbyists appear to own the country lock stock and barrel. We are subjected to a daily barrage of the selfishness of the privileged class, grabbing more and more of the pie, without regard for those who have not even a sliver.

If you haven't slit your wrists yet,

 
 

Read more »

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A Dilemma of Choices Over Fort Hood

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by seashell - November 7, 2009, 9:24PM

Sometimes we get lucky and find clues. Even luckier, is when we recognize that a clue is a clue and pay attention to it. The mother of all jackpots awaits if the clue provides an answer to an inquiry.

On May 20th of this year, a person believed to be the Fort Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik, left what looks to be a clue on his motivations for committing mass murder. When combined with what we do know about the Major, that he "never spoke ill of the military or his country", yet "viewed the war against terror" as a "war against Islam", the clue gains even more significance.

 

Read more »

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by Al Shaw - November 7, 2009, 8:42PM

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I went to hear Turandot at the movies

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by flavius - November 7, 2009, 8:30PM

Culture came to Main Street but not escapism.

When things got complicated in the third act they also got up to date.. The Chinese interrogators  wanted information. The lovely Liu refused to tell them what they wanted.

Puccini's operatic solution: they would threaten her with torture.' We have ways of making you talk'. The Milan audience perhaps smiled indulgently. That Puccini !. An operatic solution to move the plot along.

Waterboarding , I thought but Liu beat them to the punch.

What's happened to us?  How did we get to a place where the highest levels of our government approve something that ten years ago we'd have scorned as a medeival practice or hokey theatrical plot device?  And criticism is classified  at best as a sign of almost culpable  immaturity and more likely as unpatriotic indifference to the welfare of  our troops overseas.

In years of living abroad where, frankly, things were often better run , I could still think fondly of our government as one that was fundamentally decent. Today that seems mostly to depend on which torturer is in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel

Even Puccini couldn't have dreamed up John Yoo.

   

 

 

.

 

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Fort Hood Attack was an Act of war

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by JoeTheMechanic - November 7, 2009, 8:18PM

"Fort Hood shooting: Texas army killer linked to September 11 terrorists

Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam said to be a "spiritual adviser" to three of the hijackers who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001."

All the facts are not in yet, but it looks to me like Hasan chose sides and took action. Some will call it an act of terrorism. However, I think "terrorism" implies the killing of innocents for political reasons. This seems to me like a direct strike on the U.S. military. It was an act of war.


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Ft Hood vs Orlando, or, An Armed Society Is Dangerous

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by ct - November 7, 2009, 8:06PM

Ft Hood: 13 dead, 30 wounded.

Orlando: 1 dead, 5 wounded.

In both cases, there was a single instigator.  Why were so many more killed and wounded on an army base, where so many people had access to weapons, vs the Orlando office, where so few had access?

(The title proposes a theory, but I'm not actually ready to generalize from a single example.)
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OBVIOUSLY, YOU AREN'T A HUNTER.....

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by wvbiker - November 7, 2009, 7:01PM

I had been wanting to write something about how the MSM does not understand anything about guns and the people who use them, be it for food, sport or "spreadin' democracy", but Hippie Killer captured my feelings a lot better than I could:

http://hippiekiller.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/obviously-youre-not-a-golfer/

 

We could still hunt like we want here in WV if there were reasonable gun restrictions that could help prevent shit like Fort Hood. I think most of my friends agree with me even though they all belong to the NRA.

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BABIES, RACCOONS AND HEALTH CARE

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by dickday - November 7, 2009, 5:08PM

File:Procyon lotor (Common raccoon).jpg


Representative Shadegg:

 

I wish this was my granddaughter," Shadegg said. "This is Maddie. Maddie believes in freedom. Maddie likes America because we have freedom here. And Maddie believes in patient choice health care. She asked to come here today to say she doesn't want the government to take over health care. She wants to keep her plan."

The chamber was either a bit freaked out or slightly humored. It was difficult to say.

"Mr. Speaker that was a remarkable child and a great ventriloquist," responded Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/07/house-health-care-vote-br_n_349468.html&cp

Shortly thereafter, Representative John Boner brought his raccoon up to the dais:

 

Mr. Speaker, this is somebody's grandson; not my grandson. But this raccoon, sure as I am standing here today in the never ending fight for truth, justice and the American way,  had a mother and a father. The  raccoon's parents had their own parents. And, therefore, this raccoon is somebody's grandson.

 

Now political correctness will not allow me to refer to these critters as 'coons' anymore, but suffice it to say that they are really not the masked bandits as they were once portrayed. I will just refer to him as Rush, the magic raccoon.

 

Now Rush was born free in the forest. Rush was free from government interference and you can see that ole Rush is healthy, as healthy as a raccoon can ever be. Rush is free to see any vet his heart desires.

 

Of course he has to work hard and save up enough acorns--oops wrong word in this context--enough eggs to feed himself and his family.  But Rush is free to visit that vet of choice and they can work out the details of payment. It is up to them. Not you or me or the govement.

 

I am so sick of all of this I could puke. Rush knows that he has to keep up his health, he cannot get too fat, he is not allowed to be come lazy. He cannot feign 'mental' debilitation.

 

Rush here is THE TRUE AMERICAN.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

I watched CSPAN this morning. A caller quoted some repub as saying that the Health Care Bill throws the baby out with the bathwater.

 

Shaking, the caller noted that he was one of the 47 million uninsured in this country and that he did not like to be referred to

 

AS BATHWATER.

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Slippery Slope of Securitization: poem

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by Carey Rowland - November 7, 2009, 4:08PM

You, O America, are the nation of nations.

And wherever on earth the people dwell,

or the icons of the web do sell,

and planes of air descend,

you inspire their poverty to end.

Then do they bid you adieu, like they did the British

before you.

Your golden-headed ingenuity hath inspired them all;

still, do you evade the final margin call?

In days of old, your silver-shielded inclinations gave breath to greatness.

Not hateness.

With your strong-armed enterprise enabling masses to bust the hardscrabble,

O America! how your simple speech doth strive to overcome the Babel.

Back in the day, your bronzen halfbacks scampered,

unhampered

through smoke of kamikazis  

past the ghoulish camps of Nazis

which now you accuse each other of becoming.

You're so cunning.

Not!

Oh iron-legged one, who runneth at the game

 and at the mouth,

in all directions north and south,

what will you do now upon your feet of iron and clay?

Shall I compare thee to a tragic play?

Entropy doth assail thee like a worthless m-b-s,

which thou doth seek to unload before it can digress.

Yet  it sachs thee to the ground, bearly stearns thee round and round;

with jolting, bofa torts, you fall like ponzied citicorpse.

Oh! quoth the raven evermore,

upon thy credit-defaulted shore:

Prosperity, prosperity, burning bright

in the newshours of the cabled night

what financial convoluting instrument

can forestall thy fateful detriment?

What prophetic lens or scope could foresee such slippery slope?

Upon what back of mortgaged securitee

will he who bailed the bank bail thee?

But wait! What light through yonder window breaks?

What hope, what blessing, for what

 God's sakes?

Arise! and go, and fly with me

into uncharted

opportunity.

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by boluwel - November 7, 2009, 3:38PM

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You Can't Hate Government and Love the Constitution

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by DF - November 7, 2009, 3:21PM

It's probably a fool's errand to make attempts at parsing the paranoid, hysterical rhetoric that's been flying around in the healthcare debate, but that's never stopped me before.  So, I'm watching the fun on C-SPAN this afternoon.  Listening to some of the "against" calls, I noticed something that I probably should have noticed before, which is this: The bizarre dichotomy of professing your undying love for the Constitution, while breathlessly spewing venom at the fundamental evil of the government.

Folks, I have to tell you that I love you very much for your dogged support of the Constitution.  I'm with you.  I believe that it's been a net positive for humanity despite its flaws, which in many cases have been adjusted over the years in a manner that, I would contend, has been largely for the better.  Through our history, we've righted some serious wrongs by broadening and deepening our commitment to the ideas that are embedded in that oft referred to document.  And we may yet have some way to go in that respect.

However, it should be noted that the one thing the Constitution does, first and foremost, is establish a government.  I must say that the people who cling tenaciously to the Constitution while hurling invective at the very institution that the document creates have perhaps missed the point.

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Lula McBoeing-Boeing

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by neoboho - November 7, 2009, 2:37PM

Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!
- Sir Walter Scott

It's a two billion dollar deal or better.  Brasil is shopping for 36 jet fighters.  The contenders are:


http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/france24_ct_player_thumbnail/story/rafale-new.jpg

The French Rafale (Squall) by Dissant. US$82.3 million

http://www.fmv.se/ImageVault/Images/id_242/conversionFormat_4/scope_4/ImageVaultHandler.aspx
Swedish JAS 39 Gripen (Griffin) by SAAB. US$40-61 million.

http://www.nilesprecision.com/images/fa-18.jpg
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet by Boeing. US$54.7 million

It seems like eliminating the French fighter on the basis of price tag is a slam dunk, yet Brasil is leaning in that direction.  Purchasing hi tech war machines is a tangle web, however.  A big issue, for example, is technology transfer.  In France, for further example, unions are trying to nix the deal between Lula da Silva and French President Sarkozy, because the aircraft workers see loss of jobs down the line.  Why?

Dassault designed and builds the Rafale fighter-bomber which France is prepared to sell to Brazil.

On signing a major military hardware agreement with French president Sarkozy, Lula da Silva said he was inclined to choose the French fighter Rafale because France is prepared to transfer sensitive technology and would also allow them to be assembled in Brazil.

I'm knowledged challenged about these kinds of thing - I just want to map out the complexity of military hardware sales between nations, especially how that "tangled web" plays out in the context of international diplomatic missions.

When first we practise to deceive!

Boeing has been jumping up and down to assure its shareholders that business is great; they have a large backload of orders to keep them busy for the next several years, yadda yadda yadda.  Yet Boeing recently laid off over 4K workers, and posted a larger than expected loss of $1.6 billion, and cut its 2009 profit estimate.  Airliner sales, which has sustained many of the world's aircraft manufacturers, have fallen off sharply due to the recession, and the focus is now on military aircraft.  I would think that being nice to Lula da Silva would be a top priority of our State Department, including sending one of State's top negotiators to Brasil, Tom Shannon.

Biography

Photo of Thomas A. Shannon, Jr.Thomas A. Shannon, Jr.
 Assistant Secretary
 Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
 Term of Appointment: 10/07/2005 to present

Thomas A. Shannon was confirmed as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs on October 7, 2005.

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Mr. Shannon served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council from 2003 to 2005. From 2002 to 2003, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the Department of State, where he was Director of Andean Affairs from 2001 to 2002. He was U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) from 2000 to 2001.

He served as Director for Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council from 1999 to 2000; as Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela from 1996 to 1999; and as Regional Labor Attaché at the U.S. Consulate General in Johannesburg, South Africa from 1992 to 1996.

During his career as a Foreign Service Officer, Mr. Shannon also served as Special Assistant to the Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil from 1989 to 1992; as Country Officer for Cameroon, Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe from 1987 to 1989; and as the Consular/Political Rotational Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City, Guatemala from 1984 to 1986.

Mr. Shannon holds a Doctorate and a Master's degree in politics from Oxford University, and a B.A. in Government and Philosophy from the College of William and Mary.


ring...ring..."Secretary Clinton"

"Madame Secretary, Jim DeMint here."

"How can I help you, Senator?"

"Well, how about recognizing the elections in Honduras without Mel being reinstated, for starters?"

"I can't do that.  The Accord clearly states that Zelaya must be reinstated.  That's been our policy all along."

"Are you kidding me?  With all due respect, the Accord is so ambiguous and fuzzy We can read anything into it that we want.  Are you on board?

"Where is this going, Jimbo?"

"OK, tell you what.  You tell me you'll recognize the elections no matter what, and I'll lift my hold on Valenzuela and Shannon.  It's a good deal.  I know you're anxious to get your boy down to Sambalandia, right?"

"Unnggg....good deal?  Hmmmm, well, OK." [hangs up phone]

So Valenzuela gets confirmed Thursday evening.  DeMint is a man of his word.  Next on the agenda, Thomas Shannon.  But the Republican Party is out of control - fractured, headless, no sense of reality.  Enter freshman Senator George LeMieux - you know, resigned Florida Senator Mel Martinez' appointed replacement - and sabotages DeMint's deal with Clinton. 
The Cubans in Florida are really pissed off at Shannon for his role in the Cuba OAS resolution.

This is just a off-the-top example of the complexity of US/Latinamica policy - there are several other burning issues informing the Obama Administration's Laninamerican policy.  But it seems to me that Republicans are playing too large a role in determining this policy.  DeMint's recent Honduran adventure is yielding GOP paydirt.  That's not a good thing.  The Obama Administration has sunk a few notches in reputation in Latinamerica, and the State Department is looking downright incompetent. 
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Mint-condition Franklin

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by San Fernando Curt - November 7, 2009, 2:32PM

Like the Pep Boys and brownbanded cockroaches, Larry Franklin evidently is in it for the long haul - even if it means blogging from the pokey.

You remember Franklin. He's the only defendant imprisoned in the abandoned "AIPAC spy scandal". A Defense Department functionary and part of Douglas Feith's Office of Special Plans staff, he took the hit for passing on secret information about Iran to Israel via the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, while co-defendants (and AIPAC honchos) Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman walked.

This week, in a Foreign Policy post, My Secret Plan to Overthrow the Mullahs, Franklin offers part apologia and part rabble-rousing from his lonely prison cell.

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How Quickly We Forget...

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by some dude named steevo - November 7, 2009, 2:18PM

Does anyone remember Sgt. John Russell?  He shot and killed five US soldiers at Camp Liberty in May 2009.  He killed his psychologist.  It was big news for a couple days, but now you can barely find it on the web.

Lapses Found in Case of Sgt. John Russell

I have read many articles about Sgt. Russell, but I still have no knowledge of his religious beliefs.

US soldiers are facing an epidemic of suicides.  The current model of sending the same people back to tours of duty in war zones time and time again is a disaster.  If your goal was to create PTSD in your troops, this would be the recipe. 

Doctors in the military are pressured to clear people to return to combat duty.  However, it actually doesn't matter whether the physician has cleared the soldier or not, as the ultimate decision is made by the commanding officer. 

In particular, when I was active duty I refused to clear a sergeant to go to Iraq due to ongoing medical problems.  That's when I found out it didn't matter what I, his doctor, had to say about his medical condition.  His commander felt his condition was not serious enough, so off he went to Iraq.  He barely lasted two weeks until he was sent back.  I received an angry phone call from his physician in Iraq asking why I had cleared someone not fit for duty.  I got angry right back, told her to read the damn paperwork, and promptly hung up on her.  When this soldier returned stateside he was promptly discharged by a medical board. 

I don't know about the rest of the military, but from what I saw during my time, the medical corps is run by incompetent fools.  Physicians in the military don't have the necessary autonomy to provide excellent medical treatment.

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camps spring

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by waserom - November 7, 2009, 2:15PM

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FREEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM!

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by Orlando - November 7, 2009, 1:09PM

Dammit, I want my country back. I want my freedom-loving, free country with its free people fighting for their freedom back. Now. Because Paul Revere loved FREEDOM. And also, Martin Luther King. Because he was free. Well, once he got out of jail he was. FREEDOM!! Freedom is important and we should all fight against those people who want to take away our freedom. In fact, I'm going to go out and protest against people who hate freedom. Just as soon as check a few things off of my to-do list. For instance, I have to buy a gun on the internet. Then, I have to write a letter that will most likely be published in my local newspaper about why I will go all REVOLUTIONARY on anybody who hates my freedom. Then, I have to go outside. It's dangerous outside. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN!! There are so many people who want to take away my freedom that I have to be CONSTANTLY VIGILANT as I walk to my car. Somebody might stop me, for example, to say "Good Morning." Bastard. What if I'm not having a good morning? STOP TAKING AWAY MY FREEDOM TO HAVE A BAD MORNING. Once I finally get to my car, I have to drive on the streets paid for with tax dollars. Fucking taxes. More government taking away my freedom. And what's with all the other cars? They should get out of my way because I'm very important and I have important places to go and those other drivers are in the way of my FREEDOM. Why do other drivers hate America? And don't even get me started on those fascist pedestrians--buy a car you hippie assholes. This is AMERICA where we buy big cars because we love FREEDOM. Speaking of America and freedom, immigrants get the fuck out. This is my free country, not yours. RONALD REAGAN!! I love the smell of freedom in the morning. Because I am a PATRIOT! And I want my country back. FREEDOM! Why did those anti-American, freedom-hating bastards get in government anyhow? I know why. Because Acorn hates my freedom. I know what to do about Acorn. Cut down all the trees. BECAUSE TREES HATE FREEDOM. With all the wood, I can make sign posts for all the signs I'm going to put around so that everyboy will know how much I love FREEDOM! That's what freedom fighters do. We make FREEDOM SIGNS out of trees that will never grow another acorn again. Hah. And all you anti-freedom fascists can suck it. Get out of my way, get out of my country. Go live in Canada if you love your anti-freedom, socialist medicine so much. THOMAS JEFFERSON! NATHAN HALE! PATRICK HENRY! FREEEEEEEEEEEDOM!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cross posted at the fascist, anti-freedom, communist, liberal, shaggy, long-haired hippie, tree-hugging Dagblog.
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Obama's people told us unemployment wouldn't reach 8.0%

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by truthseeker77 - November 7, 2009, 12:57PM

I just wanted to point out how wrong Christina Romer (now chair of the Council of Economic Advisors) was in early January when she was selling the stimulus package. It would result in a jobless rate that would not hit 8.0% at all. Maybe we should have spent more money on a larger stimulus Look:
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Deep Thought; Is Tea the new Kool-Aid?

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by JEP07 - November 7, 2009, 12:27PM

but, then again,  maybe it's the fluoride... 
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Missing President Bush but trying to learn lessons anyway

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by barth - November 7, 2009, 12:20PM

Do we miss him yet? Republicans surely don't, but maybe the rest of us, motivated by the daily mess created and exacerbated by the least competent person to serve as president since either Andrew Johnson or James Buchanan, do. It was, after all, his blundering and constant attempts to feather the nests of his benefactors and friends that showed our less progressive friends and relatives that assault on government was inspired by nothing more than greed and was not in the best interests of anybody but those who directly benefited from the bizarro operation of government by those dedicated to its destruction.

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The Fort Hood Massacre

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by David Seaton - November 7, 2009, 11:49AM




So much of this story defies simple common sense that it is difficult to get to grips with it.

I don't know who was crazier, the shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan, or the people that assigned someone with his profile the task of treating traumatized soldiers returning from fighting Muslims.

It seems to me pure sadism on the US Army's part.


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They've Got the Votes...No They Don't...Yes they do...

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by coonsey - November 7, 2009, 11:01AM

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm getting sick and tired of the media constantly reporting that members of Congress have or don't have the votes to pass the health care reform bill (their version - House or Senate).

I wish they'd just stop talking about it and maybe one day soon we'll know the truth -- either it died or it lived.

Meanwhile -- SHUT UP WHY DON'T YA -- go find some other news to talk about.

Give us a BREAK!

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LIVE BLOGGING (NOT INTENDED BY ME OR PLANNED): REPUBS TEA-BAGGING AGGRESSIVELY RIGHT NOW HEALTH CARE ON HOUSE FLOOR!

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by Overreach THIS! - November 7, 2009, 11:01AM

UPDATE:  TPM-TV did get a good bunch of this on film (nice going, TPM-TV!), and it was much worse, longer, and more tense live, though you sure get the idea from here: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/just_ugly.php#more?ref=fpblg
..........................................................................................................................

ORIGINAL: Check MSNBC TV for example, which carries this live.

They are terrorizing the chairman, John Dingell, with never-ending objections.

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

This is unbelievable.  They are mau-mau-ing the process.  It's the most twisted thing.

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

Okay, this is not my venue or what have you -- no expert.  But what just happened is about 15 Democratic Congresswomen used the device of asking the right to advise and extend their remarks to INSERT a simple statement of sentiment, one sentence on why they say it's good for health care. 

Republicans were unbelievably aggressive in obstructing.

Now the Republicans are stating why they oppose it, in a short statement of sentiment.  Dems are being polite and quiet.  Repubs are abusing their short statements of sentiment by speechifying.  Dingell retaliating by charging Repubs
 for debate time.  Okay, now this is over.

Back to Dems who have 28 minutes left to talk.  Let's see how obnoxious Republicans are...

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

Okay, the circus of earlier has calmed down greatly, so I'll sign off on this entry.  It was starting to look like they were going to bring Palin in to do some fancy pageant walking while they hung a big Hitler poster on the wall for a while, which is why I raised the alarm.
  
 
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The Role Of Muslim Faith In American Life

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by destor23 - November 7, 2009, 10:34AM

Clearly in light of the Fort Hood shootings we must have a national conversation about the role of the Muslim faith in American life, especially with regards to our national security and military service.

We must do this because, after each act of terrorism committed against a reproductive health clinic we have had deep and meaningful conversations about the role of the Christian faith in American life, especially with regards to our national security.

Oh wait, we never ever talk about the dangers of Christian extremism. But Muslims sure are scary!

The shooter might well have yelled Allahu Akbar.  So now we have to take the Muslim angle seriously say the very people who tell us not to judge Christians by the acts crazy people commit in the name of Jesus.
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Fort Hood or uncontrolled act of madness in a deliberately insane system.

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by cmaukonen - November 7, 2009, 10:30AM

Sam Smith really puts it in perspective.
The recent murders at Ft. Hood recall Pascal's
observation that "Men never do evil so cheerfully and
so completely as when they do so from religious
conviction."

Of course, the assumption in this country at the moment
is that only Muslims are evil, which ignores Christians
doing evil to Muslims in Afghanistan or Jews
threatening to nuke Iran in the name of civilization.

In the end, it doesn't make much difference whether
your husband or son is killed by a Muslim major in Ft.
Hood, an American drone in Pakistan, or a Israeli
soldier in Gaza. In each case the dead are victims of
violent religious and cultural hubris.
This is so true. More and bloodier wars have been done in
the name of some deity than for any other reason.
Or consider that the war, along with that in
Afghanistan, was the creation of politicians blithely
willing to cause that many deaths to win reelection and
supported by generals and admirals who thought it was a
good idea and who then ordered Major Hasan and tens of
thousands of others to engage in battle as an
absolutely indisputable act of responsibility.

Or think about one little symbol of all this. Pull up a
photo of the Joint Chiefs, those responsible for
conducting wars like Iraq and Afghanistan and sending
people to fight in them. Notice their chests bedizened
by ribbons.

Now ask yourself: in what other field of human endeavor
could one wear ribbons indicating areas of service,
major campaigns, training, unit achievement, and
personal accomplishment without people regarding you as
completely mad?

And in what other job can you wantonly kill so many
people and be treated as a normal human being?

None of this excuses Major Hasan but it puts his acts
in perspective: a uncontrolled act of madness in a
deliberately insane system.

We don't think about such things much, because most of
us don't have to. The business of war has been
outsourced to the weakest parts of our economy, to
victims of our pathological economic system among
others.
The same pathological economic system that is perfectly
willing to bankrupt the country to kill those it hates. But
will not commit one penny to help it's own citizens afford
health care or live in a decent home or have a job that
pays livable wages.

The same pathological economic system that caused
Jason Rodriguez to finally snap and go on a shooting
spree. A system based entirely on greed, power elitism,
megalomania, arrogance and a totally cold and cruel
attitude toward fellow human beings.

C

 
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hi

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by cyclist - November 7, 2009, 9:58AM

hi.hello
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ISRAEL will order a unilateral, illegal strike on Iran's civil, nuclear sites, probably within the next seven weeks.

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by COLINDALE - November 7, 2009, 7:33AM

Who would benefit from an attack by Israel upon Iran - and what would be the global consequences?

It is virtually now certain that Israel will order a unilateral, illegal strike on Iran's civil, nuclear sites, probably within the next seven weeks. 

This will entail the delivery of massive, US supplied, bunker-busting bombs by Israel's squadron of American F16 fighter/bombers and the deployment of the latest, high- explosive, self-seeking missiles from its three German, Dolphin class, nuclear-armed submarines.

The consequences of such an attack are likely to be catastrophic.  Iran will immediately respond by targeting Tel Aviv and Haifa with long-range rockets and in both the attack and the retaliatory stages, there will possibly be hundreds, if not thousands, of deaths among both civilian populations.

Contemporaneously, Iran will attempt to blockade the Strait of Hormuz which will bring it into direct confrontation with US warships stationed in the Gulf - an event that is, obviously, an essential element of Israel's strategy to involve America and the world.

The entire international community will likely be affected as Iranian dissident cells will be activated around the world.  The consequences of that action will be unpredictable but could be the spark that ignites the first nuclear war.

There is little time in which to now prepare for the aftermath of this unprovoked, military aggression other than to ensure that the Israeli government is made fully aware that all trading and other links with it will be broken, if and when they proceed with their illegal action.

Unfortunately, specific warnings by the Israeli high command as to their intentions, have all but been ignored, by the UN and Europe, as mere rhetoric.

The permanent members of the UN should pass an urgent resolution demanding that Israel takes no military action against Iran, or any other state, unless it is expressly authorized to do so by the Security Council. Should the US use its veto against such a resolution, then we may face disaster on a global scale. It is up to world governments to act, now.

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James Nachtwey's Image of Afghanistan

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by Rutabaga Ridgepole - November 7, 2009, 6:30AM

Photobucket

"We can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground."

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Time to bring back the CCC and WPA!

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by Kenneth Thomas - November 7, 2009, 2:31AM

Paul Krugman's blog today (http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/why-not-a-wpa/#comments) muses about whether we should have some direct employment programs like the Depression-era Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. He fears it might not be politically feasible, though some of the commenters make persuasive arguments on why it could be.

My father-in-law was in the CCC. My wife remarks about how bad the streets are in St. Louis. The point is there are numerous infrastructure projects that need doing; much of what the CCC created is still with us today in, for instance, the national parks system. Just doing repairs, like the potholes, would be beneficial to the country economically as well as providing jobs. And we could cut out the middleman or, as Krugman puts it, have a "public option" in the stimulus. We could have created a lot of jobs for $700 billion if we had spent it directly on CCC/WPA-type prorams. Let's do the math: this money covers 2 years, so that's $350 billion a year, enough for 10 million $35,000/year jobs for two years, more than covering the 7 milliion jobs lost in this recession. By contrast, what we've actually gotten is 600,000-1 million jobs.

Just sayin'.
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Could GOP Leaders Possibly Believe Their Own Rhetoric?

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by Wattree - November 7, 2009, 2:27AM

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Could GOP Leaders Possibly Believe Their Own Rhetoric?

Is it possible that Republicans truly believe that President Obama is both a socialist, and a fascist, who wasn't born in the United States, and that providing affordable health-care to American families is a plot to destroy America? Could they possibly believe that Dick Cheney kept America safe, or that George Bush was protecting the American way of life? And is it possible that they consider their incendiary rhetoric simply innocent speech, and don't recognize that during this time of severe hardship they could very easily incite insurrection within the country? It's not likely.

Thus, it is way passed the time for anyone who truly loves America to realize that the Republican leadership is a threat to our way of life - and as always, I want to emphasize the huge distinction between true conservatives, and those currently running the Republican Party.

The current Republican leadership is a vastly different breed than anything we've ever seen in America before. Even during the Civil War, though wrongheaded, the insurrection of the South was led by people who truly believed in their ideals. But this group of insurrectionists have no ideals. This is a group that is perfectly willing to tear America apart for no other reason than to promote their own power and personal greed. In short, they're nothing less than common thugs engaged in a nationwide protection racket against the people of the United States.

In the recent contest in New York's 23rd Congressional District, we just saw that, contrary to Reagan conservatives' eleventh commandment of "Thou shall not speak badly of another Republican," that this group was more than willing to eat their own, against the will of the vast majority of Republican voters for what they consider "party purity." Where have we seen that before?

And the mere fact that the GOP is willing to espouse outrageous propositions, then use incendiary rhetoric to incite reactionary wingnuts to try to shove their agenda down America's throat, clearly demonstrates how dangerous the GOP has become as a political entity. It shows that they hold the intelligence of the American people in absolute disdain, and that they believe that propaganda, if repeated often and loudly enough, will overwhelm America's common sense. And again, it also betrays a chilling and grossly irresponsible willingness to throw America under the bus in an attempt to regain power during a time when the country needs solidarity more than ever.

The GOP has left President Obama with two wars, the worst financial decline since the Great Depression, and a national infrastructure that is literally falling apart. Yet, instead of responsibly stepping up to the plate to help find viable solutions for the hardships they've left on the American people, they're indulging in obstructionism, the protection of fat cats to the detriment of the average American, and the incitement of social bigotry through the use of subliminal messaging. These are clearly the actions of people who are totally devoid of any sense of Patriotism.

While the GOP claims to be fighting for "small government," that's transparently not the case. The fact is, while they want a government too small in its oversight capabilities to regulate their corruption and greed, they were more than willing to violate the law to ensure a government that was expansive enough to spy on American citizens. And while they claim to want lower taxes, they only want lower taxes for fat cats and corporations, while they fight to ensure that those very same corporations are allowed to, literally, "tax" the average citizen out of life and limb, by inflating the price of gas, food, housing, health-care, and every other staple of American life. So even if they do fight for lower taxes, it's only so they can transplant those funds from government coffers to their own.

They also claim to believe in state's rights, but they're only for a state's right to deprive the citizens of any rights that the corporations failed to abolish at the national level. That accounts for the proposed amendment allowing states to "opt-out" in the event that a public option is passed to health-care. The right to block affordable health-care at the state level would be their final opportunity to protect their cash cow - the insurance industry.

But the key to selling their bogus claims is dependent on deluding the American people into thinking that a huge grown swell of Americans support their fraudulent point of view. The GOP tries to do that by whipping some of the most undereducated people in the country into a frenzy, and then promoting raucous demonstrations as photo ops. By doing so, they're betting on the fact the American people are so dumb that they don't realize that with a population of 308 million people in the United States, it's easy for Fox News to squeeze enough people into a television screen to make virtually any issue seem like they have a ground swell of support from the masses. But through the use of that technique, one can even show a ground swell of support for child molestation.

There are 686,515 registered sex offenders in the United States. If the GOP could turn out (excuse the pun) all of those sex offenders before a camera, they could use that photo op to make the case that these sex offenders represent a majority of the American people. And that's exactly what they're doing, but instead of using sex offenders, they're enlisting Fox News to gather up every social bigot and wingnut they can find to squeeze before the camera.

It's time for America to wake up (liberal and conservative alike) and put a stop to these people. They're gradually chipping away at American ideals and replacing them with their own. In eight short years they've amended the American ideal that torture is un-American to read, "Well, that depends;" that America should only invade a sovereign nation in self-defense to, "Unless we don't like them;" and that all Americans have the right to privacy and due process under the law to, "accept if some bureaucrat decides that ain't cool."

The behavior of the GOP suggests that they believe the following:

1."The great masses of the people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one."
2. " I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator . . ."
3."The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force."
4."The [Republican party] should not become a constable of public opinion, but must dominate it. It must not become a servant of the masses, but their master!"
5."Sooner will a camel pass through a needle's eye than a great man be 'discovered' by an election."

All of the above quotations come directly from Adolph Hitler and his book,  Mien Kampf.

So this is not just an exercise in hyperbole. It is essential that Americans take this assault on our way of life seriously. It is incumbent upon all Americans - again, both liberal and conservative - to look back at how far we've drifted away from our ideals during the Bush era. Even Bush himself said, "I have no problem with a dictatorship. Just as long as I'm the dictator." Just imagine the kind of firestorm that would result if President Obama said something like that.

So if you're a liberal, consider the gross assault that the GOP mounted against our constitution and civil rights. If conservative, consider the GOP's reckless waste of the nation's resources as they passed billions of dollars out to their cronies without a shred of accountability. And at the same time, they were forcing our troops who were wounded in battle to pay for their equipment left on the battlefield, and requiring them to pay for their own meals while lying wounded in the hospital. And this, by people who, almost to the man, moved hell and Earth to avoid their own military service. Dick Cheney had five (5) deferments.

And their agenda? Here's a note to Rush Limbaugh from Rep. Michele Bachmann before her anti-healthcare rally, as reported by thinkprogress.org: "We'll have a meet-up at the Capitol steps and then the insurgency begins."

So it is past time for all Americans to put their differences aside to fight an internal enemy that is much more insidious than Al Qaeda. It's time to recognize that it CAN happen here - and if we don't wake up soon, it will.

 

 Eric L. Wattree

wattree.blogspot.com  

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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Guns Don't Kill People...

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by some dude named steevo - November 7, 2009, 1:53AM

But religion does?

It has been over twenty four hours since another mass murder in the US involving a lone gunman.  However, there has barely been any mention of gun control.  And there are some would have us bring back the Japanese internment camps of WW2, but this time fill them with Muslim US citizens.  I just don't understand what is wrong with the US.  Guns, especially handguns, are designed to kill people.  Religion, while responsible for many deaths throughout history, was essentially designed to save people.  Why do we fear religion, but not guns?

I shared a bit of my experience in the military with my last post, but I have another memory I wish to share.  Even though I was commissioned in the military many years before 9/11, my first week of extended active duty was actually the first week of September, 2001.  I was in a large group of doctors undergoing training before we headed off to our first duty assignment.  We watched 9/11 on the television in our classrooms while our base was on lockdown.  During the next few days we didn't do much, we were on a training base and couldn't go anywhere.  After a few days, when we knew the Taliban and Al Queda were responsible, one of the members of our group stood up to make an announcement.  He was a radiologist who was born in Pakistan, and he was a muslim.  He was a US citizen.  His wife was also going through training with us, and she was also a muslim.  He asked to address the class and he did so in a pained voice full of anguish.  He tried to explain to this group of military doctors that Islam was not violent.  The terrorists who attacked us were not representative of his religion.  I admired this man for his courage, but I fear he probably had a difficult time in the military. 

When I got to my first base, my commanding officer was a very devout christian of a traditional sect.  He regularly sent out emails about Christianity.  As the war in Afghanistan grinded on and the Iraq invasion started, many people I worked with made discouraging remarks about muslims openly.  We had prayers before informal meetings.  As a long-time agnostic this environment made me profoundly uncomfortable.

This latest incident has really gotten under my skin, but I feel powerless to do anything.  I also feel a lot of anger that a person can purchase a weapon which allows them to kill and injure so many people.
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Whipped: Preliminary House Vote Count on H.R. 3962: See Who's For/Who's Against

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by kfreed - November 7, 2009, 1:49AM

SEIU (Service Employees International Union) conducted a preliminary vote count on health care reform this week. Here are the results. There may still be time to contact your Congressional Representative before the formal vote takes place later today, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009:

SEIU email sent Friday, Nov. 6, 2009:

Before a vote takes place, most Members of Congress are asked ahead of time which way they'll vote. It's called tallying the "whip count." It helps us figure out who needs to hear from us, and who's already made up their mind. There are 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Vote Count: U.S. House of Representatives on The Affordable Health Care for America Act, otherwise known as H.R. 3962

See the full House vote count:  http://call.seiu.org/9/HouseHealthReform/totals?

Current Positions

Supporting: 186 / Opposing: 202 / Position Unknown: 48

*For the record: ZERO Republican Support in the House - ALL Oppose.

See which Democratic Representatives support or oppose health care reform. (Democratic votes opposed or unknown deserve special attention; listed as follows).

Name                              Party  State    Position   Take Action

Bright, Bobby                   D        AL-002  opposes   Call Them Now

Davis, Artur                     D        AL-007  opposes   Call Them Now

Griffith, Parker                 D        AL-005  opposes   Call Them Now

Berry, Marion                   D        AR-001  unknown  Call Them Now

Ross, Mike                       D        AR-004  unknown  Call Them Now

Cardoza, Dennis A.          D        CA-018  unknown  Call Them Now

Costa, Jim                       D        CA-020  unknown  Call Them Now

Sanchez, Loretta              D        CA-047  unknown  Call Them Now

Markey, Betsy                  D        CO-004  unknown  Call Them Now

Larson, John B.                D        CT-001  supports  Call Them Now

Murphy, Christopher S.     D        CT-005  supports  Call Them Now

Boyd, Allen                      D        FL-002   unknown  Call Them Now

Kosmas, Suzanne             D        FL-024   opposes   Call Them Now

Barrow, John                   D        GA-012  unknown  Call Them Now

Marshall, Jim                   D        GA-008  opposes   Call Them Now

Hirono, Mazie K.              D        HI-002   unknown  Call Them Now

Minnick, Walt                   D        ID-001   opposes   Call Them Now

Bean, Melissa L.               D        IL-008    unknown  Call Them Now

Costello, Jerry F.             D        IL-012    unknown  Call Them Now

Foster, Bill                       D        IL-014    unknown  Call Them Now

Lipinski, Daniel                D        IL-003    unknown  Call Them Now

Donnelly, Joe                   D        IN-002   unknown  Call Them Now

Ellsworth, Brad                 D        IN-008   unknown  Call Them Now

Hill, Baron P.                   D        IN-009   unknown  Call Them Now

Chandler, Ben                  D        KY-006  unknown  Call Them Now

Melancon, Charlie            D        LA-003  opposes   Call Them Now

Kratovil, Frank                 D        MD-001  opposes   Call Them Now

Peters, Gary                     D        MI-009   unknown  Call Them Now

Stupak, Bart                     D        MI-001   opposes   Call Them Now

Oberstar, James L.           D        MN-008  unknown  Call Them Now

Peterson, Collin C.           D        MN-007  opposes   Call Them Now

Carnahan, Russ                D        MO-003 unknown  Call Them Now

Cleaver, Emanuel             D        MO-005 opposes   Call Them Now

Skelton, Ike                      D        MO-004 opposes   Call Them Now

Childers, Travis                D        MS-001  opposes   Call Them Now

Taylor, Gene                    D        MS-004  opposes   Call Them Now

Kissell, Larry                    D        NC-008  opposes   Call Them Now

McIntyre, Mike                 D        NC-007  unknown  Call Them Now

Shuler, Heath                   D        NC-011  unknown  Call Them Now

Adler, John                      D        NJ-003  opposes   Call Them Now

Holt, Rush D.                   D        NJ-012  unknown  Call Them Now

Teague, Harry                  D        NM-002  opposes   Call Them Now

Arcuri, Michael A.            D        NY-024  unknown  Call Them Now

Maffei, Dan                      D        NY-025  unknown  Call Them Now

Massa, Eric                      D        NY-029  opposes   Call Them Now

McMahon, Michael            D        NY-013  unknown  Call Them Now

Boccieri, John                 D        OH-016  unknown  Call Them Now

Driehaus, Steve                D        OH-001  unknown  Call Them Now

Kaptur, Marcy                  D        OH-009  unknown  Call Them Now

Kucinich, Dennis J.           D        OH-010  unknown  Call Them Now

Space, Zachary T.            D        OH-018  unknown  Call Them Now

Sutton, Betty                   D        OH-013  unknown  Call Them Now

Boren, Dan                      D        OK-002  opposes   Call Them Now

Schrader, Kurt                  D        OR-005  unknown  Call Them Now

Altmire, Jason                 D        PA-004  unknown  Call Them Now

Carney, Christopher P.     D        PA-010  unknown  Call Them Now

Holden, Tim                     D        PA-017  unknown  Call Them Now

Kanjorski, Paul E.             D        PA-011  unknown  Call Them Now

Herseth-Sandlin, Stephanie         D          SD-000     opposes        Call Them Now

Cooper, Jim                    D        TN-005  unknown  Call Them Now

Davis, Lincoln                  D        TN-004  opposes   Call Them Now

Gordon, Bart                    D        TN-006  opposes   Call Them Now

Tanner, John S.               D        TN-008  opposes   Call Them Now

Cuellar, Henry                  D        TX-028  supports  Call Them Now

Edwards, Chet                  D        TX-017  unknown  Call Them Now

Ortiz, Solomon P.            D        TX-027  unknown  Call Them Now

Rodriguez, Ciro D.            D        TX-023  unknown  Call Them Now

Matheson, Jim                 D        UT-002  opposes   Call Them Now

Boucher, Rick                   D        VA-009  unknown  Call Them Now

Nye, Glenn                       D        VA-002  unknown  Call Them Now

Perriello, Tom                  D        VA-005  unknown  Call Them Now

Baird, Brian                     D        WA-003 unknown  Call Them Now

Smith, Adam                    D        WA-009 unknown  Call Them Now

Mollohan, Alan B.             D        WV-001 unknown  Call Them Now

Rahall, Nick J. II               D        WV-003 unknown  Call Them Now

 

*To place a call to your Representative in the House via the SEIU website:

http://call.seiu.org/9/HouseHealthReform/totals?

 

 

 

 

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I don't know who you are, DANIEL LEVY!

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by COLINDALE - November 7, 2009, 12:55AM

It is a long time since I have read such a complete load of crap!

I don't know who you are, Daniel Levy, (other than one of us), but you come over as a young intern who has been asked by your boss to write 250 words on the conflict and you have stayed up all night with Wiki etc and produced a load of garbage replete a plethora of polysyllabic text that is absolutely meaningless.

Nowhere do you even mention AIPAC's hold on US foreign policy! As if that is a figment of the fevered imagination of anti-Zionists or rabid anti_Semites - instead of being the glaringly obvious truth that even a 4 year old kid would know.

Nowhere do you acknowledge that it is Likud's agenda to achieve a 'Greater Israel' as if you have never even heard of such a policy! Where have you been - in a plastic bag?

My old Daddy used to say, 'If you have nothing to say, keep your fucking mouth tightly shut so that no one will guess you're real stupid'. I think that's what he used to say.

My advice: get real. Divorce yourself from propaganda and learn the facts and the truth. Then try writing a few words on the subject. Until then, keep stum.


  
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Joe Stern: Wisconsin's own Doug Hoffman?

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by haaz - November 6, 2009, 10:53PM

Joe Stern, the former mayor of Niagara, Wisconsin announced on Monday that he is running for the Eighth Congressional District seat that is currently held by two-term incumbent Steve Kagen (D). Mr. Stern will be running as a "conservative independent" (same thing as an independent conservative?), and will be challenging both Rep. Kagen and which ever Republican enters the race. The Florence Mining Nnews/WildRiversNews.com has the story.

While I would hope the token Republican challenger is not going to be John Gard, who's already lost to Kagen twice, it would be rather amusing to see him try again only to have his voters get scozzafavaed by Stern.

Niagara is very likely a lovely town in the northeast corner of Wisconsin. Surveying the area on Google Maps, we see that it is right on the Wisconsin-Michigan border, and located near the Spread Eagle Barrens State Natural Area. That area actually sounds like a pretty good place to visit. It's also near the Ford Airport, all of which could make for a great reason to have a friend fly us up there some time. (Cuz we have the time...)

(h/t TPM.)

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Houston we have a problem -- unemployment exceeds 10%

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by MiddleClassBill - November 6, 2009, 10:40PM

Maybe if Congress spends another $787 billion in the name of job creation, we can get the unemployment rate to 11 or 12%.
We've now had two very concrete examples of "stimulus" packages that didn't work - President Bush's $160 billion effort in February 2008 and President Obama's "super-size" version a year later.  Neither has made the smallest dent in unemployment.
Not only did the unemployment numbers get worse, but the hourly hours worked stayed the same.   So millions of Americans will have to start becoming full-time workers first before any new bodies get hired.
The White House says that the stimulus created as many as 1 million jobs.  No one doubted that this massive spending would create a few and "save" a few jobs.  But every new dollar in government spending is either taxed or borrowed from the private sector, which might have put it to better use.
If the government takes $1 from Paul, who might have invested it in a new business, and gives it to Peter, who buys a new lawn mower, the government records it as a net gain for economic growth via consumption.  But the economy is hardly more productive as a result.
The lesson here is for both parties.  Bush's cave-in to Democrats meant there was no debate in Washington over policies that might have produced a much better stimulus earlier on in the recession.  A stimulus needs to be immediate, permanent, and at the margin of the next dollar earned.
Prime example that we haven't learned our lesson is the extension of home buyer credits and the additional unemployment benefits.  Most home buyers would have bought a home anyways.  And most unemployed (including myself) received plenty of weeks of unemployment benefits that helped us get back on our feet as we found a new job.
The best thing people can do right now is to stop trying to ram through a health-care bill that slaps a 5.4% tax "surcharge" on anyone making more than $500,000 a year.  The Joint Tax Committee says that one-third of this tax increase will be paid by small business job creators who file their taxes under the individual income tax code.  With north of 10% unemployment, we shouldn't be slamming small businesses.
Once Congress gets out of the way, the job market will have a chance to recover on its own.
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You Can Always Depend on Wingnuts - To Lie About Anything

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by Wattree - November 6, 2009, 10:18PM

TWITTER

Wattree

Let's see how long it takes for the Republicans to try to twist the Fort Hood Shootings into a political attack on Obama.12:39 PM Nov 5th from web

Wattree

Yesterday I said let's see how long before wingnuts blame shooting on Obama. Well... http://bit.ly/uLhxS2 minutes ago from web

　

HOMELAND INSECURITY


Shooter advised Obama transition
Fort Hood triggerman aided team on Homeland Security task force

Posted: November 06, 2009
9:21 am Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

　

NEW YORK - Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged shooter in yesterday's massacre at Fort Hood, played a homeland security advisory role in President Barack Obama's transition into the White House, according to a key university policy institute document.

The Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University published a document May 19, entitled "Thinking Anew - Security Priorities for the Next Administration: Proceedings Report of the HSPI Presidential Transition Task Force, April 2008 - January 2009," in which Hasan of the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine is listed on page 29 of the document as a Task Force Event Participant.

DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU? IT'S A LIE.

 

Eric L. Wattree

wattree.blogspot.com  

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
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On Health-Care Reform

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by CajunModerate - November 6, 2009, 9:48PM

I was looking over an exchange a few months ago with a close friend of mine who, sad to say, has drunk the Tea Bag Kool-Aid. I love him like a brother, but we just can't talk about politics anymore. 
Nevertheless, I raised some points in the exchange that I believe go to the heart of the debate over reform. I post them here because in all the hubbub and red herrings being thrown out over health-care reform, I haven't seen them mentioned rarely, if at all.
My friend asked why no one has ever asked insurance companies to be more reasonable in their pricing. 
My response:
Negotiations over what insurance companies and doctors charge for services are actually debated intensely every day, but consumers aren't a part of those negotiations, because we don't pay for health care. 
Under the current system, as you pointed out, American employers are the main purchasers of health care and offer it as a benefit to compete for workers. (Though smaller companies are having a harder time providing coverage.) What we pay as consumers subsidizes health care and in a way that is meant to discourage demand.
It's a bass-ackward system that hides the true cost of health care from consumers and effectively removes much of the free-enterprise aspect that you so vigorously defend, and rightly so. I would welcome real competition in the health-care system. 
Employer-provided also puts a lot of control over health care in the hands of American corporations, which negotiate for health coverage based, by definition, on how it affects their bottom line and not necessarily on what consumers need or are even willing to pay for.

American health care was never actually designed. It evolved over several decades beginning in the 1920s. Experts on both sides of the political aisle have known at least since the 1970s that employer-provided can't sustain itself.

Government is about providing services. Despite some monumental failures, there are plenty examples of things it does fairly well: maintaining a national military among them, along with food-safety inspections, public libraries, drinking water safety and maintaining public records. "Government run" certainly isn't perfect, but putting the lowest bidder in charge of every public service just isn't practical.

Conservatives love portraying health-care reform as just another taxpayer-funded handout. But in this case, reform is about moving away from employer-provided coverage, a poorly functioning system
Plenty of Western democracies have figured out how to implement national health policy in ways that keep people fairly healthy and haven't bankrupted them.
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3% Tax Deduction: Difference Between Bush's Unemployment and Obama's

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by coonsey - November 6, 2009, 9:43PM

President Obama, offer everybody that works a one time tax deduction for their 2009 tax year.  That deduction should amount to a percentage.  The percentage should be the difference between what the unemployment rate was in January 2009 (7.2% unemployment figure - It was 6.7% in November 2008) and what it is at the end of this year (currently 10.2%). 

That's a difference of 3%.  Allow all workers to take away an additional 3% of their total income before calculating their taxes for 2009.

Putting money back into the hands of taxpayers....isn't that what most people want?  Wouldn't this also get a few people off the back of Democrats -- for awhile anyway?

Ok you mathematicians, how much would that end up costing our budget?  I'm just curious....I have no idea.  But it sounds like a good idea.


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Why is TPM the Tea Baggers Best Friend? (56% of their soapbox)

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by ghaon - November 6, 2009, 9:04PM

I think you all at TPM have lost your minds.
Why on earth are you giving so much coverage to a small fringe group?
Of the past 60 posts on TPM 34 of them have been on what you have called "the tea party extravaganza"

That's 56% of your coverage, over a period of time that included TWO mass shootings?
WTF team?

There are pro health reform rallies, phone banks, and canvasses happening every single day.
But what do you all cover? Michelle Bachmann.

You're giving them a soapbox. I'm astonished. Throughout the 2008 campaign I could count on TPM to cut through the bullshit. But now you're inadvertently one of the largest mouth pieces for it. How has this happened?

You've completely abdicated the frame of the debate, even going so far as to call the President of the United States, AARP, and the AMA message "Counter-Programming" !

I don't doubt which corner you're in. I just don't think you understand the amount of power you're giving the opposition.

Here's the free earned media you've given the tea-baggers over the past 72 hours:



http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/dancing_to_her_tune.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/the_freak_show_we_live_in.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/sheesh_again.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/priorities_1.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/about_those_arrests.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/numbers_game.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/more_on_arrests_at_pelosis_office.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/tpmdcs_evan_mcmorris-santoro_spent_the.php

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/tea-partiers-came-with-2010-warnings.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/party_on.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/gallery/2009/11/the-storming-of-capitol-hill.php?img=1

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/tea_partiers_arrested_outside_pelosis_office.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/roaming_the_halls.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/party_foul.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/tea_party_moving_indoors.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/wilson-mania.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/manchurian.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/running_updates.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/take_over.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/ahh_special_moment.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/tea_baggers_to_attempt_sit_in_at_pelosis_office.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/not_the_kryptonite.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/thousands_plural.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/crowd_gathering.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/first_to_strike.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/message_conflict.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/bachmann_rallies_tea_partiers_for_last_stand.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/hill_staffers_listen_up.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/mums-the-word.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/bachmann_watch.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/getting_whackier.php

These are the TPM PRIMARY FEED POSTS!
What the hell is going on?



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Food: Organic vs Sustainable

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by Donal - November 6, 2009, 8:56PM

Seed Magazine starts by questioning at our shopping habits. Organic food at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and the like certainly is presented well, and seems less prone to spoil as soon as we get it home than some other supermarkets. But can we really shop our way to better agriculture?

Unfortunately, what may have begun as a revolt against fake food or, for many, the horrors of concentrated animal feed lots, has given way to a culture that increasingly fetishizes organic, natural, and whole foods with little agreement on what such terms even mean, outside of an emphatic devotion to what they are not: They aren't in any way related to industrial-scale farms or big-box grocery chains; chemical herbicides or pesticides; biotechnology or its subgenre, genetic engineering. And by those criteria, they are deemed to be safer, more nutritious, and less damaging to the environment.

Nutritionally, there is no clear evidence that organic foods trump conventional ones. ...

Nor are they part of a plan for sustainable farming. And we can't escape our expanding population and resulting overconsumption:

Today, agriculture--thanks to deforestation, nitrous oxide, methane from cattle and rice paddies--is considered by many experts to be an overlooked environmental disaster. Speaking at a special Earth Institute symposium earlier this month on how to improve global agriculture, economist Jeffrey Sachs told the audience, "Agriculture is the main driver of most ecological problems on the planet. We are literally eating away the other species on the planet."

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Harry Reid Blames Republicans for his Inability to Lead

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by DrMiami - November 6, 2009, 8:05PM

I think the Republicans are doing exactly what they should be doing. They are using any and all means they have available to obstruct any progress in both the House and Senate. Actually, I would put the blame on Harry Reid for allowing this to go on. Harry Reid has an incredible opportunity to push almost any legislation the Democrat's want passed; i.e., he has a Super Majority (60 votes). He can overcome any obstacle by getting his party in-line and moving for a cloture vote on everything. The problem as I see it is that Harry Reid does not have the wherewithal to lead the Senate. Democrats are intelligent individuals that require handling to get them to all agree; Harry Reid cannot do it. We need a Chuck Schumer in as Majority Leader to help wrangle-up the votes and get legislation passed. Moreover, Harry Reid could have easily kept the Senate in session and passed HR3548 a month ago. Instead he continued to make idle threats and only now that it is all over he gets a backbone; give me a break. It's time for a change in the Senate and it starts with electing a real leader who is accustomed to working with all types of people. We need to elect the hardest working person in the Senate and that is Chuck Schumer from New York.  http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/reid-continues-to-target-republican-obstruction.php
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Oh Snap, Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos Just Called Tom Tancredo out on his Vietnam Era Draft Deferments

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by tmccarthy0 - November 6, 2009, 6:16PM

OMG, it was more than beautiful. I was taking a short nap, I woke up way too early today. It was almost 3:12 PM PST, and I heard Tom Tancredo talking, well rambling really, anyway, he had just finished calling Health Reform, Nazism or Concentration Camp stuff , or some such crazy bullshit. Towing the republican line he was basically saying any government run program would kill you, this is what they always say of course.. So David Shuster, who was sitting in for Ed Shultz, proceeds to ask  Mr. Tancredo about the VA. Of course Mr. Tancredo reiterated that Veterans hate the VA and went on for a minute or two about how bad it was. Then Shuster turned to Markos Moulitsas, a veteran himself, and as he  spoke about the efficacy of the VA Tancredo kept yelling, so Markos then said I am a veteran Tom, unlike you I didn't take a 1-Y deferment, I volunteered and served! Oh Snap! You should have seen the look on Tom Tancredo''s face, holy shit, if he could have, he would have jumped through the screen and tried to beat Mr. Moulitsas, but it was hilarious. 1-Y  I've since found out is he claimed to be treated for depression, that at the time was regarded to be mental illness and unfit to serve. But dickipedia translates the incident best of all saying,  he got it for the long time mental illness called cowardice. But anyway, Mr. Tancredo was mad, OMG, so mad he yelled at Markos and then pulled his electronic gear off his body and stormed off the set, it was so awesome.
I wonder if Mr. Tancredo  is more depressed now than  he was during Vietnam? LOL Tancredo, LOL!
Thanks for the laughs oh so sensitive Tom!
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Maj. Hasan: New Lightning Rod for Terrorism Fears

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by Teramis - November 6, 2009, 6:10PM

It is still too early to know many firm details about Army Major Nidal Hasan's attack on fellow soldiers at Ft. Hood yesterday. It is not too early, though, for anti-Muslim sentiments to be stirred up.

This singular attack has become a Rorschach test of projected motives and fears of domestic terrorism. The Arab American Institute, an advocacy organization for the Arab American community, is bracing for backlash with their carefully worded homepage message today[1], which emphasizes that thousands of Arab and Muslim Americans serve in the military and have put their lives on the line in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vitriolic spew in countless internet comments and blog posts demonstrate that they are right to be concerned. Such reminders as the AAI offers will probably go unheeded by fearful, xenophobic Americans looking for a dog to kick.

We have been reaping this bitter harvest most notably since 9/11: persons with Arabic-sounding surnames are pulled aside in disproportionate numbers for security checks in airports, and profiled in other ways by law enforcement agencies. Arab Americans report a higher incidence of harassment and assault because of their ethnicity since that date. These hate crimes occur even if the person is not Muslim. In fact, only 24% of Arab Americans are Muslim; the vast majority are Christian, but this non-evident fact does not trump the obvious ethnicity of a foreign-sounding name or cast of features. That is sufficient to make this population of over 3.5 million Americans into a target for persons who think terrorism can be predicted on the basis of a person's appearance or ethnicity.

Real Threat Levels?

Some fear-stricken people and bigots have claimed it is "more likely" we will suffer attack by people who are from the Middle East, since we are at war over there and that is the home of the 9/11 terrorists. Yet in the violent attacks and mass shootings that have occured here since 9/11, none have been acts of terrorism in the sense of "kill random Americans and create fear to send a message in support of a cause."

We've had various unbalanced shooters attack students in such places as Northern Illinois University and Virginia Tech, two African American snipers on a killing spree taking advantage of post-9/11 tension to terrorize people, although they were sociopathic killers not literal terrorists. A quick google scan shows too many mass attacks to list here. We have no lack of tragic killing sprees in this country.

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SO, WHAT PART OF ARTICLE 6 DON'T THEY UNDERSTAND?

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by WOODY - November 6, 2009, 5:54PM

In my opinion, the last paragraph of Article 6 of the U. S. Constitution  contains one of the clearest statements to be found in that august document (emphasis mine):


" The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."


End of discussion.


Courage,

Woody
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Yet another example of why democrats can't be trusted

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by theCleverBulldog - November 6, 2009, 5:36PM

From:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/05/iran-tested-nuclear-warhead-design
Yes, our friends the Iranians are not just developing nuclear weapons, but advanced nuclear weapons, using the most secret technology in weapons design. The '2 point implosion' device allows for compact warhead design and makes it easier to fit the warhead onto a missile. Now, where did they get this scientific breakthrough?  You may not remember a few years back when then Clinton administration decided to declassify numerous documents related to nuclear weapons and their design. They included in the list of 'obsolete' designs the W80, the most advanced weapon of it's day and the forerunner of all subsequent designs, with it's elliptical core (instead of the traditional spherical design). Yes, an ellipse has 2 focal points, as in '2 point implosion device', the technology now being experimented with in Iran.  So this advanced technology was released to the world (God knows why) by the Clinton administration, and now we are seeing the results of their folly. And why democrats can't be trusted when it comes to national security matters.
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Heart of Darkness in Fort Hood

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by diachronic - November 6, 2009, 4:02PM

In Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," the central figure- deep in Africa, in the Central Station- is Kurtz, a "universal genius," we are told, a man in Leopold's Congo not for the sordid mercenary aims of the other Europeans in the story, but the author of "a beautiful piece of writing" addressed to the "International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs."
It contained much rhetoric, but no practical suggestions- except, the narrator, Marlow, notes, for one scrawled postscript to the 'edifying' manuscript:

"Exterminate all the brutes!"
When Marlow approaches the Central Station, he sees what seem to be round knobs on the palisade, but which are actually the shrunken heads of some of these 'brutes.'
Kurtz is, we are told, "the product of all Europe." His adoring bride to be considers him to have been the perfection of every noble trait. Marlow does not have the heart to tell her the truth.
The irony, then, is that of a humanitarian becoming even more inhuman than his fellow pillagers of Africa, whose motives are clearly base, under a thin veneer of bringing "progress". Is there a similar irony in  this terse description of Major Hasan's impending deployment to another wilderness:
An Army spokeswoman says the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings had been scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan to counsel soldiers suffering from combat stress.
The contradiction between Kurtz' supposed aims, and his "methods," are only too apparent in the novel. But the problem is not just Kurtz. The problem is that the "pilgrims" from Europe- and the religious connotation is deliberate and apt- are destroying what Kurtz wants to "save"- so he says, and there is no reason to doubt he means it, though his "methods" reflect the underlying horrors of the situation- the Europeans are monsters masquerading as gods. 
We should fight wars with drones, if we are going to be as high-minded as Kurtz about our aims, if we are going to be humanitarians in distant places we are clueless about and where we do not understand what we are supposed to do. Drones do not require psychological counsel, nor do they go berserk under stress. (Their operators do, but their numbers are smaller and more manageable.).
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Let's Turn Tea Partiers into T(hird)-Partiers!

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by David L Wetzell - November 6, 2009, 3:43PM

I blogged earlier that the best way to deal with anti-establishment populists was through strategic election reform that empower local t(hird)-parties.  I believe that today's tea-party protests, of which Josh Marshall does a great job of showing are very extremist in their rhetoric, show how much we need to give non-extremist Republicans a realistic exit threat from their party so that these folks can't keep wagging the dog.  This exit threat is not going to be the Democratic party, and so the only other constructive option are third parties, but not the sort of third parties we are accustomed to....

What we need are local T(hird)-Parties that contest only local elections, and o.w., vote strategically together and engage in civil issue advocacy.  Now, chances are there'll still be third parties that keep on contesting less local elections and that are quite illiberal, but if we used winner-doesn't-take-all elections in state assembly elections, but not state senate elections, then these other third parties, likely including today's tea-partiers, that fail to employ the politics of Gandhi, trying to move the center of political opinion/practice, will not be influential.

dlw


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ISRAEL would be the THIRD most powerful nuclear state in the world after Russia and the US.

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by COLINDALE - November 6, 2009, 3:23PM

The consensus in both America and Europe is that 200 nuclear warheads is the minimum size of Israel's secret, underground arsenal in the Negev.

Informed intelligence in both continents estimates the actual figure as anything from 250-500.

Obviously, if the true figure is at the top of the scale, then Israel would be the THIRD most powerful nuclear state in the world after Russia and the US.

That is why Europe is so concerned at Israel's grossly disproportionate military power - a power sufficient to decimate half the globe.

The question is: why have all US administrations since JFK turned a blind eye to this astonishing position and even colluded in this secret arsenal that is outside the NPT and the IAEA?

The consequence is that the US and the international community has lost any control over this potential Armeggedon.

That is the simple explanation as to why Netanyahu and Ehud Barak can treat the US with such contempt.
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Just Who's Winning the White House/Fox News Cable War? You'll be Surprised!

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by tonnyb - November 6, 2009, 2:48PM

Here is the untold story. While the media has largely focused on Fox News' ratings, they have missed the real story behind the cable news wars. I watched Meet the Press and Chris Matthews Show on the Sunday, October 18th, and listen to Joe Scarbourough, Tavis Smiley and others discuss Fox news ratings as "shooting through the roof" as a result of the White House's attack on Fox News. I thought it ludicrous to make such claims so soon after the attacks, and suspected that these commentators were simply repeating the unsubstantiated claim. I decided to review and track the ratings for Fox News and the other cable shows to see if I could determine a change in cable news viewership.

The following graphs displays the results of cable news program ratings trends over a 5 week period starting on September 28th, 2009 and ending October 30th, 2009. This time span encompasses the White House's recent criticisms about Fox New's right wing bias. The 5 week span begins two weeks prior to Anita Dunn's

"the reality of it is that Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party. And it is not ideological... what I think is fair to say about Fox, and the way we view it, is that it is more of a wing of the Republican Party."
The following charts exclude weekends.

Photobucket

Daily Ratings - Dates are the Monday of each week.


As you can see the trends in daily ratings are rising for MSNBC. Both Fox News and CNN ratings are trending downward.


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Prime Time Ratings - Dates are the Monday of each week.


Likewise the trends in prime time ratings favor MSNBC. Both Fox News and CNN ratings are trending downward.

Obviously, these graphs represent a ratings snapshot and cannot be predictive. What they do suggests is that the White Houses calling out Fox News has not lead to the ratings "boom" that Fox News has claimed and the many in the media have assumed to be the case.

Finally I plotted the 5 pm to 10 pm cable shows to look at the ratings trendlines over the same period of time. The following chart displays the changes in the trendlines from the beginning to the end of that period of time.

Cable News Ratings

MSNBC is clearly doing better during the past 5 weeks.

The discussion about the effects of the White House's attacks have been largely concentrated on Fox News ratings. You might remember that the White House met with Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann on Monday the October 16th right in the middle of the White House's coordinated attack on Fox. No ones talking, so we don't know what transpired, but you have to wonder if these coordinated attacks, that fly in the face of "conventional wisdom," and defied conventional wisdom(it would help Fox News), may have benefited MSNBC in the end.


If you found this post of interest, provocative, or believe others might benefit from reading it, please recommend. Thanks.


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STRING THEORY

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by dickday - November 6, 2009, 2:33PM

Theseus and the Minotaur on 6th-century black-figure pottery F.decorate(_ge('photo_notes'),

History Channel has gone Greek today. Not in the sense of Gay Spartans, but from an ancient religious perspective.

You might recall that King Minos ruled Crete, the great island of the Mediterranean that kind of served as a mediator between ancient Egypt culture and the culture of ancient Greece.  We are talking about twelve or thirteen hundred BCE when we discuss these myths or religious mysteries.

Minos had Daedalus, the chief architect of the age, to build a great maze; a very confusing place much like our current Office of Management and Budget. And the mighty king put a Minotaur inside of the maze in order to eat people and wreck havoc and commit other unsavory acts. Theseus, the great Greek hero finds himself in the maze. His purpose is to slay the monster that is half human and half bull, kind of like what you might see on World Wrestling Tonight.


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Lies, Damn Lies and Unemployment Rates... 10.7% U3 Anyone?

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by Problem Is - November 6, 2009, 2:17PM

Obama on Jobs
Tasteful Photo: Courtesy Jesse's Cafe Americain

We have discussed the phoniness of the U3 measure of unemployment. We have discussed the "marginally attached" worker not being counted as unemployed by U3 when their unemployment benefits run out... even though they are obviously still unemployed by U-Reality measure...

We have discussed the Birth/Death Ratio model used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics before. The BLS invented this model to account for jobs created by the Births and Deaths of small businesses that add or subtract employment (mostly add) that are supposedly missed by the BLS monthly surveys.

The BLS claims these jobs are added, yet the only hard data the BLS uses is payroll and payroll tax data, which they choose to ignore or give less weight to. After all if the IRS is collecting payroll tax payments monthly for businesses with payrolls over $50k of payroll and quarterly for businesses under $50k in payroll... why believe that kind of hard data on payroll expansion?

On October 2, 2009, the BLS admitted it had overstated job creation by 824,000 jobs mostly in the first quarter 2009. According to Bloomberg:

U.S. Job Losses May Be Even Larger, Model Breaks Down (Update1)

"About 824,000 more jobs may be subtracted from the payroll count for the 12 months through last March when the figures are officially revised early next year, a Labor Department report showed today. The revision would be the biggest since at least 1991."

From our pal Bill the Brain at Calculated Risk:

"Note: The total jobs lost does not include the preliminary benchmark payroll revision of minus 824,000 jobs. (This is the preliminary estimate of the annual revision that will be announced early in 2010)."

From the Brilliant Jesse at Jesse's Cafe Americain:

A Reader Asks "How Did 558,000 People Lose Their Jobs When Only 190,000 Jobs Were Lost?"

"The most obvious reason for the discrepancy is that job creation in the US seems to be centered in the smaller business and the self-employed areas in recent years. These sectors are not polled by the BLS and their impact would only be obtained by the Household Survey's interviews.

The BLS does have a way to account for this called the "Birth Death Model" which is supposed to estimate jobs created by smaller businesses. That model is a bit of a joke actually since it almost always follows the same pattern of adding jobs, with two big corrections in January and July of each year when it will do the least damage to the headline number. Any model that does not reflect the job declines that started in 2007 can most certainly be called a statistical joke. Small business is not immune to business cycles"

In other words the 824,000 phantom jobs that don't exist won't be subtracted from the employment numbers and put back on the unemployment numbers where they belong until February 2010.

So, let us do it for them:

BLS says there are 15.7 million unemployed by U3 at 10.2% unemployment rate... 

So simple math tells us 15.7 at 10.2% means the work force being counted is 153.9 million, although that seems high to me...

Oh yeah, the Alzheimer's puppet Reagan added military personnel to civilian employment in 1982 to dilute unemployment percentage by increasing the labor force by several million and lie about the unemployment rate in the Reagan '82 recession... anyway...

So we add back the 824,000 unemployed that the BLS shaved off with their imaginary B/D Ratio:

We get   15.7 + .824 = 16.5 million unemployed.

16.5 / 153.9  =  10.7% by U3.

Based on 153.9 million in the work force as above, by U3, I come up with 10.7% unemployment.

Now what say you Mr. Change? Fancy Nancy? Harry "Spineless" Reid? Timmay G? Bennie Bernank-ster? Fat Larry?

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Banks in Trouble? Nah! Just Change the Rules.

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by thepeoplechoose - November 6, 2009, 1:13PM

Still chuggiing away at lightspeed in that alternate universe, headed for a black hole. What Fun!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/05/civil-war-in-corporate-am_n_347704.html

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Strategic Election Reform Goal: Subvert Obama-man/Rock-Star Myth!

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by David L Wetzell - November 6, 2009, 1:03PM

Tragically, even TPM's Josh Marshall seems to build up the myth that one must follow rock-stars to make change happen.  But this tends to come at the cost of local issues/politics in ways that would perhaps have a much greater cumulative effect on US (and int'l) politics than anything we sort of accomplish via the hot big issues of the moment (aka Health Care reform right now.). 

State level election reforms are meant to engage voters and local t(hird)-parties in state legislative elections / issues.  This would provide alternative locations for political activism that does not require us to be groupies, following the major party leaders (not that that's wrong, its' just wrong that it is, more or less, the only "pragmatic" option available.).  The strategic election reform approach takes as a matter of both fact and faith that the changes in state-political dynamics and voter habits induced by reforms will then trickle-up to affect national issues.  And, since election reforms shall help with all other issues needing reform, it deserves more priority than other reforms.

And so I hope that TPM will decrease (after it helps to direct more atte to strategic state-level election reform), so that more local political blogs will increase.  Otherwise, it may be undercutting its progressive values, in my opinion, by virtue of its desire to stay on top of things.

dlw
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The Dilemma Of Fort Hood

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by Fred Moolten - November 6, 2009, 1:02PM

Last night, as I sat watching a TV documentary while breaking news stories scrolled across the screen, I was jolted by one of the headlines - 12 American soldiers had been shot to death by one of their own at Fort Hood, Texas.

The first question that entered my mind, bar none other, was this - Was the killer a Muslim?

A second question immediately followed - If so, was he acting out of hatred toward America that expressed itself in the murder of these American soldiers?

We now know the definitive answer to the first question - Yes.

We have at this early point a tentative answer to the second - Probably yes in the sense that his feelings about America as an entity expressed themselves in his actions against individual Americans.

I would have wished both answers to be different, but I was not surprised that are what they are.

Why is this a "dilemma?

That word signifies a choice between two (or more) conflicting alternatives, wherein either choice is unsatisfying. In deciding how I should feel, or how our society should act in response to Fort Hood, I believe little conflict would exist if either of the following were clearly true.

1. Most American Muslims harbor a smoldering anti-American anger that would find satisfaction in the killing of Americans - not merely the inevitable combat deaths in wars they might oppose (an opposition not limited to Muslims), but the deaths of any Americans who in any sense represented their country. The soldiers who died were killed in a just cause, and their deaths should be celebrated.

2. There are extremist fanatics within all ethnic groups in America. The act of Nidal Hasan might just as easily have been perpetrated by a Christian, a Jew, a black, a white, a man, a woman - no group, certainly not Muslims, is disproportionately inclined to perpetrate or support this type of evil deed.

Here's the problem - both of the above statements are false in my estimation. Like non-Muslims, most Muslims are good people committed to the democratic values of the society we all share. A minority of Muslims are not, and this minority is disproportionately large within the Muslim community compared with Americans in general. Any individual Muslim is unlikely to be a threat to the rest of us, but more likely to be a threat than someone of different ethnicity. If any reader disagrees with my assessment, I will concede that I can't prove it, but I would argue it to be plausible enough for us to pursue its implications. If any reader wishes to argue that the killings at Fort Hood are a justifiable response to grievances, real or imagined, I will choose not to argue the point, and proceed under the assumption that most others will disagree. My dilemma, and perhaps the enormously troubling American dilemma we face from this violent act is - how can we confront, both effectively and with fairness, an American community that does not deserve to be stereotyped, but which poses a threat we can't ignore? Pretending the threat is non-existent won't cause it to disappear. Exaggerating or exploiting it to demonize Muslims in general would not only be unfair, but would aggravate the threat.

Anyone expecting an easy answer beyond that of avoiding extremes is likely to be disappointed. My own sense, however, is that the most effective responses must of necessity come from within the Muslim community rather than be imposed on it from without. Based on history, I'm not terribly optimistic. Minorities in general (religious, national, racial, occupational - e.g., the police), faced with unjustifiable actions by one of their own, tend often to adopt a defensive attitude - they quickly condemn the acts and announce that those acts are unrepresentative of their community as a whole. What I would hope to see, but can't demand, is a response by the current Muslim community that transcends the ritualistic responses of other groups faced in the past with similar disapproval from society. Would it not be a powerful, even transformative moment in group responses, if a leader arose to say the following: "We as a community did not commit this act, but we are responsible for ensuring that it never happens again. For those outside who say it was heinous, we will say it louder than you. It is our good name that is at stake, and we are committed to rooting out any of those among us who would bring this disgrace to us again at any future time. If we fail, we deserve to be judged harshly, but we will not fail"?

Will that happen? I would like to think so, but it would be likely only if American Muslims are better than everybody else, and I'm afraid they're just like the rest of us.
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Deep thought

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by CajunModerate - November 6, 2009, 12:26PM

How long before Hasan's murderous rampage is blamed on Rosie O'Donnell?
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Why Won't Maggie Mahar Stop Lying?

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by khin - November 6, 2009, 12:05PM

This is a copy of the long reply that Maggie Mahar made to my post "Why Is Maggie Mahar Lying About Health Reform?" at TPMCafe. I've now gone through in turn and posted responses to her statements. I will not have time to do another round of replies, but hopefully this will be enough. I suggest that people show up to the Firedoglake book salon on November 9 and ask her to stop saying that the public "option" is anything at all like "Medicare E (for everyone)."

I am, of course, not lying about Health Care reform.

If you read CBO director Elmendorf's letter to Charles Rangel where he suggests that only 30 million Americans will be in the h Exchange in 2019 (six years after reform begis) and that just 20% of the people eligible for the Insurance Exchange will choose the public plan, you would find that he has No basis for saying this. No numbers. No real analysis.

When Elmendorf explains why, in his opinion only 1/5 of the folks in the Exchange will choose the government plan, the paragraph is filled with "probably's." (I will be publishing a post quoting that pargraph very soon.)

CMS estimated 40% compared to CBO's 1/3 when the public option paid at Medicare rates. Both CBO and CMS do say that there is a lot of uncertainty involved, so upon consideration I agree that no one is sure. However, they're not saying that the uncertainity is in a particular direction: it could be either up or down. (Kip Sullivan has argued that it is down.)

The truth is that No One can guess what percentage of millions of Americans will choose a public plan three years from now. We don't know anything about the details of the public plan. Or the price. We know little about the private plans that will be competing.

Elmendorf is indulging in an exercise in mind-reading-guessing what millions of Americans will decide three years from now.

And when I heard that Elmendorf said only 30 million would be in the Exchange in 2019, and that the public plan would be tiny and more expensive than private plans, I wondered: how did he come up with those numbers?

So I went to the source where he laid out these figures, a letter he wrote to Rangel in late October. There I found all of the "probably's"-
and no facts to justify his conclusion.

He just assumes that because the public plan is a governement plan, it "probably" will make no real effort to control costs or utilization-which makes no sense whatsoever. Medicare makes a real effort to control costs (see below) and going forward, Medicare plans to slash some fees beginning next year (see blow). The public plan will too.

CMS reached a very similar conclusion to CBO about the public plan having higher utilization. It's not just Elmendorf.

Moreover, what we know with certainty is that a public family plan will be at least $2000 less expensive because it won't have the private sector's administratie costs. (This number is from Commonwealth.) The public plan will not have to lobby. It will not spend much (if anything) on marketing and advertising. EVeryone will know that it exists, and it will get much free advertising in the many,many stories that will be written about it in the press, on blogs, plus stories on television.

Commonwealth Fund talks about a completely different situation with an enormous exchange that takes up around half of the nation's health insurance market. One crucial assumption that differs is that their public plan uses Medicare's provider networks and claims processing. This public plan, by contrast, must set up its own networks. In my original post I pointed out Karen Davis's statement on how their study's assumptions differ from the bills now in Congress. You ignored it.

(Mahar did an article on the Commonwealth Fund report here. Somewhat shockingly because it directly contradicts her arguments below, at one point she says: "...in many cases, the doctors who treat them would be paid less. As a result, patients who choose the public sector plan might well have a hard time finding physicians willing to take their insurance...The private plans would have the funds needed to pay providers more and create "integrated networks," overcoming some of the fragmentation that leads to errors in our health care system.Quite simply, they would be able to offer better care." The emphasis is mine.)

The full and much longer version of this post is available on ZBlogs. You may need to click this link twice if they redirect you to the Emergency Funding Appeal.
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Double plus ungood

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by CajunModerate - November 6, 2009, 11:59AM

As a former copy desk editor, I'm calling on TPM editors to drop the term "pro-life" as was used in coverage of the Randall Terry fiasco outside Nancy Pelosi's office.

The correct reference is anti-abortion. If someone supports abortion rights, they are pro-choice.

Stop getting caught up in what has become an Orwellian effort among political groups to influence public perception by controlling the vocabulary used to communicate about issues. 
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Weekly Mulch: The Grown Ups are Back in Charge

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by The Media Consortium - November 6, 2009, 11:40AM

By Raquel Brown, Media Consortium Blogger

Senate Democrats in the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) finally squelched Republican boycotts and passed a version of the climate bill yesterday morning. Last week, Republican Senators refused to show up to committee hearings in an attempt to stall the bill. Brian Beutler of Talking Points Memo notes that EPW has now set "the stage for other panels to amend the legislation."

Read more »

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Third-Rate Romance: What a Deal

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by neoboho - November 6, 2009, 11:30AM

The guy in the parking lot in his underwear is the deposed president of Honduras, who we thought would be restored to power by now - thus negating the coup d'etat and returning the country to its constitutional norm, paving the way for legitimate elections later this month.   What went wrong?

Zelaya pronounced the week-old agreement a "dead letter" after de facto rulers formed a new "reconciliation government" without Zelaya's participation, as the deal had required.

"The accord is a dead letter," Zelaya said on a Honduran radio station. "There is no sense in continuing to fool the Honduran people."

Under the accord, Zelaya and the man who replaced him, Roberto Micheletti, agreed to let the Honduran Congress vote on whether to reinstate Zelaya to office, as the international community has been demanding. But congressional leaders, who backed the coup, have yet to call a vote.

The plan also required the formation by Thursday of a temporary "unity Cabinet" with representatives of both sides.

Just before midnight Thursday, Micheletti announced a new government that did not include Zelaya or any of his supporters.
The existentialist question is who punked who?  That will be hashed out in days to come, but right now the charges are being tossed around.  Did the Obama Administration abandon its former reinstate Zelaya position?  It sure looks like it.  If it is true, then the meaning is that the over-arching policy position, that of  discouraging and preventing coup d'etats from succeeding, has been compromised for a make it go away solution to the political crisis in Honduras. 

Or did Michelleti and his Golpistas (coupsters) punk the Obama Administration?  Some folks actually believe that the golpistas could have negotiated in good faith, regardless of their performance over the span of 4 months, and their actions since the accord was signed.  I wonder if our officials pretended that the golpistas would actually do what they agreed to do?

Did Clinton punk Zelaya?  He was completely upbeat and confidant that he would be reinstated soon after his telephone conference with Clinton ten days ago.  Did the Secretary of State pump up his ego so he would sign on to the accord? 

I'm leaving out many of the details which have led up to the collapse of the accord.  I have no idea how this is going to play out.  It looks to me like the golpistas will emerge from this smelling like roses, and that will encourage repeat performances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua - and on to Boliva, Ecuador and beyond.  The Right will emerge triumphant.    
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Message to the White House

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by gs62 - November 6, 2009, 11:26AM

Nothing new to say here, but I am hoping that the political arm of the WH monitors sentiment in the blogosphere and that if they hear this enough, it will sink in.

You guys have to get back control of the national dialog.  You are letting right-wing whackos define the memes for the mainstream media.  Yes, the Tea-Baggers are a minority and yes, Rush Limbaugh is hateful and offensive to most Americans.  But you are mistaken if you think this is enough to protect the majority in 2010. 

The economy is in tough shape; growth is going to remain low and unemployment is going to remain high for a long time; you will not be able to engineer a new bubble (and it is irresponsible to try).  This will weigh on Dems in 2010.  But what makes it much worse is that you are letting the following memes take hold across the electorate (not just with the Tea-Baggers but across the entire political spectrum):

- The Obama admin puts the needs of the big banks ahead of the needs of ordinary Americans

- The Dem in Congress put the needs of special interests ahead of the needs of ordinary Americans

- Fixing the economy is not the top priority of either the Obama admin or Congressional Dems

Your political strategy since the election has been, I think, to push the Republican party to the far right; you think this will build a sustainable Democratic majority.  In better economic times this would work; it is not enough in these times.

You can get health care done.  You can push cap & trade forward.  You should.  But this is not enough.  You have to get a strong economic message out there (and please, stop putting Romer out as your key spokesperson on this; she does not inspire confidence).  You need to start telling Americans that this is going to be a long recovery but that you have a plan (and you need to spell out the top points of the plan).  You need to talk about this ALL THE TIME so that no one can convincingly argue that it is not the top priority.  You need to push real reforms on Wall Street.  You need a narrative here - not just a bunch of isolated short-cycle topics (e.g. Cash for Clunkers).  You need to own the memes. 

If you do not get on top of this very soon you are going to hand Congress to the crazies next year.  We cannot risk this.  WAKE UP!



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Confronting Extremism

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by vallor - November 6, 2009, 11:26AM

Blaming Islam for some extremist crackpot with brain damage makes as much sense as blaming Christianity for McVey, Roeder, and so forth.

I am a U.S. military veteran, and I am extremely outraged at what Hasan did.

But the problem is extremism. And one of my Facebook friends has been posting things like "Nuke 'em!".

Oh really? So someone is calling for us to vaporize cities because some religion is prevalent there, which figured into some extremist crackpot's brain damage. As an American citizen, and as a military veteran, I am very embarrassed that there are countrymen who think this way.

I pray for the victims, as well as their families. I also pray for anyone experiencing the backlash of hatred I've already been seeing in less-responsible venues. And I thank God that we live in a constitutional secular democratic republic, with cooler heads at the helm than those screaming hate on facebook pages, blogs, and what-have-you.

Thanks, had to get that off my chest.

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Persecution Politics: Nazi Fever

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by ☠enghis - November 6, 2009, 10:48AM

One of the recent propaganda tactics of the right wing has been to appropriate the leftist language of discrimination and civil rights to argue that liberal elites are persecuting white Christian conservatives. The most extreme form of this tactic is the Nazi attack, according to which liberals are portrayed as Nazis or fascists in order to represent them as brutal oppressors of helpless conservative victims. Commentators on the right have revised history to represent fascism as a leftist movement. They have invented or exaggerated associations between Democrats and Nazis. They have belabored the slightest similarities between Nazi doctrine and liberalism. And they have darkly hinted at the possibility of a fascist revolution in America.

But perhaps I should just let them speak for themselves...

Discover everything that you never wanted to know about conservative paranoia at my Persecution Politics series at dagblog.com.

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The Silent Halls Of Death

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by Kris Broughton - November 6, 2009, 10:43AM

It is a cruel kind of sadness that the families of the dead at Fort Hood will have to endure. I would not want to see the story of the military gunman who opened fire on his fellow soldiers yesterday incessantly played and replayed on all the news stations for the next two weeks if I were a surviving family member.

Even as I write these words, there are news producers in studios across the country who are estimating how much of a ratings spike this horrific event will give them the next few days. There are Aryan brotherhoods who are incorporating Major Nidal Malik Hasan's name into their recruitment speeches. Muslim American soldiers who are steeling themselves for a potential backlash within the ranks of their own fellow troops.

These are the kind of real life things, real life but nonsensical, that will go on the next few weeks.

The blood has long stopped flowing from the bullet holes in those thirteen people who died yesterday. The eviscerated flesh around the edges of their wounds have begun to harden. Loved ones, still in shock, are having to scurry about, quietly digging up life insurance policies, forlornly selecting the last pieces of clothing their dead family members will ever wear in this world.

So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan which moves
To that mysterious realm where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged by his dungeon; but, sustain'd and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.

From Thanatopsis
William Cullen Bryant



I was required to memorize the phrases above by Bryant almost thirty years ago in high school. It is in times like this that it comes back to me, as clearly as if I had only committed it to memory yesterday.

Yesterday, as I turned the channel to get away from scenes of the chaos, in my mind's eye those thirteen people whose lives were so suddenly snatched from them took their own chambers in the silent halls of death.
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The Great Divide

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by TheraP - November 6, 2009, 10:35AM

I think I understand
what is happening
in our land.

It's the solution
that evades me.

There is a huge fissure in the social fabric.  Indeed there is, on the part of some, an inability to even see the social fabric.

To those who cry for personal freedom and decry efforts, of whatever type, to care for our brothers and sisters (the least among us, the excluded, the poor, the sick, the illegal immigrant, those who cover their heads or use a different name for god, those who ask simply to marry the one they love), selfishness is a god, not freedom.  But they don't seem to see that.

What pains me most, what makes it nearly impossible to write at all, is this deeply ingrained selfishness and greed, which asserts that individuals are somehow "free" when they most disregard their fellow human beings.  Oh, I'm sure they wouldn't see it that way.  They think of themselves as fine, upstanding patriots - who are only interested in urging others to "stand up" and "fend for themselves".  Yes, they would say this to the sick and the lame and the poor and the downtrodden.  They would tell them, without performing any miracle, to "take up your bed and walk" - something that Jesus is described as saying.  But when Jesus said it, there was a gift of healing.

I am at a loss
for how
to get across
to folks
who are the haves and have mores
that we are put
upon this earth
to share
and care.

This is my dilemma.  This is a source of great suffering to me. 

And if you are reading this - and you fail to understand my suffering or what I've written - then please... this is not the blog for you to comment on.  Because apparently your heart seems unable to open up.  And that is exactly what is paining me.  Truly.

How do we first get people to open their hearts?  This is breaking my own heart!

To dwell with the suffering,
 in the suffering,
 that is sometimes all we can do.

 Hoping,
 that somehow,
 if enough of us are willing to dwell there,
 it will become some kind of black hole -
 which pulls others
 into it.

Peace upon all. 
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How Long Before the Right Blames Obama for Fort Hood

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by tonnyb - November 6, 2009, 10:29AM

You know it's coming. 
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Blue Dog Dems to wait until after 2036 elections to pass President (Sasha) Obama's agenda

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by William K. Wolfrum - November 6, 2009, 10:22AM

Following Tuesday's nightmare elections that saw their party lose gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, many Democrats have sounded the alarm - the time to pass their agenda is not quite here yet.

Despite holding commanding advantages in both the House and Senate, many Democrats have said they are afraid to frighten off voters by being too aggressive in achieving their aims. With that in mind, several Red-State Democrats have come forward to announce their plans to wait until after the 2036 elections to further pursue the Democratic agenda.

"While we understand that we were voted in for specific reasons, we can't allow our work in Washington to overshadow our need to remain in office," said Blue Dog Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson. "We believe that after the 2036 elections, we'll have the super hyper majority that we'll need to accept that we have a mandate."

Other Red State Democrats seemed even more skittish about working on issues like health care reform, finance reform, ending the NSA eavesdropping program, climate change reform and other issues many Democratic voters hold close to their heart.

"This off-year election was a real eye-opener," said Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln. "There are now two - not one - but two Democrats that are no longer governors. By being so active in Congress, we risk more losses. I say wait until 2042."

When asked what Democrats planned to do for 27 years while awaiting their super hyper majority, one Senator who would not go on record said the strategy will be simple.

"Fund raise and campaign," said the Democrat. "You can never fund raise and campaign enough."

Nelson, an important swing vote in the current health care reform battle, said he thought Obama's agenda would eventually be pushed through, but that now was not the time.

"People need to be saying slow it down and don't add more to the deficit," said Nelson. "We will pass President Obama's agenda. But when I say President Obama, I mean Sasha."

-WKW

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Remember the ad

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by flavius - November 6, 2009, 9:43AM

in which John Houseman , on behalf of some Wall Street firm,growled "We make money the old fashioned way. We work for it." 

The Galleon case  and more , the media's treatment of it recalls that piece of hypocricy. The old  fashioned  work that firm, and Galleon , and all of Wall Streets analysts do is obtaining corporate profit forecasts so they can recommend a buy or sell of a particular stock. That's it. The columns of statistics that typically accompany that key sentence are window dressing and treated as such by the readers.

On those few occasions when they can't obtain it directly from the company, a couple of nights spent at the bar nearest to corporate headquarters will produce it from one or another of the  50 people present that night who know it.

Every firm which issues investment advice and every reporter  who covers that activity knows that. When a Galleon case comes along the question is not :Are they guilty.?Of course they are. The question is Why was this particular case  brought ?

 

 

 

 

Obviously I don't refer to the official forecasts published under  SEC pressure. I refer to the  forecasts in which  the company actually believes. And which  guide its actions.

 Rather than try to restrict such disclolsure  the SEC should  prohibit any sanction for the disclosurers. All those influential  analysts would be freed to go into some legitimate employment as bar tenders or palm readers. . 

 

 

 

 

The columns of statistics which often accompany that key sentence are window dressing and treated as such by the readers.

Every firm which issues investment advice and every reporter  who covers that activity knows that. When a Galleon case comes along the question is not :Are they guilty.?Of course they are. The question is Why was this particular case  brought ?

 

.

 

 

 

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Fort Hood - Let The Sunshine In

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by quinn esq - November 6, 2009, 9:41AM

A year or so ago, I ran into a song by Mike Doughty, called "Fort Hood." Interesting guy, Doughty. Son of a Vietnam vet, he grew up on military bases. Later on, he became the lead singer & moving force behind Soul Coughing, the great stream-of-consciousness-poetry-dada jazz band of the 90's. He was also a heroin addict during those years.

A few years back, he went solo, kicked heroin and began doing different stuff. Very different.

Like "Fort Hood."

I loved this song as soon as I heard it. He took the chorus from the 1969 song "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In," and dragged it dancing & singing - and still bubbling with hope - into the middle of a song about PTSD. He named the song Fort Hood because that base, those families, had suffered the most losses in the recent wars.

I'm not sure I can bear the argument coming, about why this happened. The endless expert argument about these wars, and them foreigners, and what happens to soldiers and why, and who hated who & who was at fault. 

As for how they died at Fort Hood today, and why.... Well, the experts & the screamers are gonna have to sort that out without me.

Because today, all I can think of is how those who died, especially the young ones, should still be living. And that now, they're gonna miss the joys of their young adulthood. That's the loss Mike Doughty sang about, and that's a loss we can all understand.

So let's sing along. Sing along with Mike. For all the kids that got lost.

And let the sunshine in.


* Update * Some of the kids...

- Jason Hunt, 22, Frederick Oklahoma, voted "most Quiet" in his Senior class

- Michael Pearson, 21, Bolingbrook Illinois, trained to deactivate bombs

- Francheska Velez, 21, Chicago Illinois, 3 months pregnant

- Amy Krueger, 29, Kiel Wisconsin, enlisted the day after 9/11

- Russell Seager, 51, Racine Wisconsin, worked with vets with PTSD, Doctorate in Alt Medicine

- Aaron Nemelka, 19, West Jordan Utah, engaged

- Kham Xiong, 23, St Paul Minnesota, father of 3

- Juanita Warman, 55, Independence Missouri, PhD

- John Gaffaney, 56, Serra Mesa California

- Michael Cahill, 65, just returned to work after heart attack 

Mike Doughty "Fort Hood" Music Video
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FBI Charges of Insider Trading Shaking Wall Street Tech Sector

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by thepeoplechoose - November 6, 2009, 9:23AM

Most people take it for granted that there is a lot of information on Wall Street that spreads via a grapevine of contacts. A broad investigation has ended in resignations of some high profile persons with charges pending. I don't know if it's even possible to clean up the sewer of Wall Street. Here is the latest.

http://news.cnet.com/14-more-charged-with-insider-trading/2100-1014_3-6250228.html

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America: She's Looking Good Now

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by coonsey - November 6, 2009, 9:15AM

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Barack Obama has done it again. The president's starpower has made the United States the place most people want to visit and do business with, according to an annual survey that ranks nations like retail brands.

The Country Brand Index, compiled by brand consultancy FutureBrand, found the United States had unseated Australia, which held the top spot for the past three years. Australia came in third this year with Canada rising to second place.

New Zealand and France rounded up the top five country brands in this year's index that included 102 countries.

"The Obama effect has seen the United States earn the coveted top spot for the first time in the fifth annual index," FutureBrand, which is part of Interpublic Group of Companies, said in a statement...

Where's the big news about this story?  On the back pages of websites and newspapers. 

There's only one question to ask.  Which makes the U.S. safer, a world that hates her or a world that envy's or loves her?
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living with CRAP and hasbara

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by bluecanary - November 6, 2009, 5:15AM

I would have thought it obvious to anyone with just a modicum of intelligence to see that Netanyahu, so ably backed by AIPAC, has been successful in emasculating this president.

Netanyahu is now King! And kings always have it over presidents.

Only problem is accepting the concept of a Likud run Union. I guess we'll get used it. Like we got used to recession and AIDS - just something we gotta live with cos there's sure nobody visible out there who's goin to change it, not anytime soon, anyway.

That's just life, politics and the art of propaganda properly positioned in the mind of the public. Or as they say, living with crap and hasbara.
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Auto Execs Urge Tax on Fuel of Up To $8.00

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by thepeoplechoose - November 6, 2009, 4:30AM

Now why on earth would anyone listen to auto execs in matters of finance or management?

Not to mention this implies some serious government intervention into the marketplace and looks to me to be a tax which will be directly handed over to auto manufacturers and most assuredly to big oil as well. It's not like corporations haven't shafted American citizens enough. They keep coming back for seconds and thirds and ... who knows.

This would spur the use of mass transit which is already straining because people are  increasingly changing to mass transit for their work commute. If this happens I can envision a real train wreck. It would take some heavy investment in mass transit to accommodate all those who would have no choice except to use mass transit.

Read about this insanity here. 

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Tevron Adds Full Support for Microsoft Windows 7

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by ashley - November 6, 2009, 4:07AM

Nashua, New Hampshire, October 29, 2009 - Tevron today announced the addition of support for Microsoft Windows 7 to its suite of APM & Testing solutions. Windows 7 is designed for faster and more reliable performance. With 64-bit support, you can take full advantage of the latest powerful PCs. With the latest releases of CitraTest, CitraTest APM, and CitraTest VU, Tevron again is taking the lead role in the APM & testing industry in providing support for every Windows environment including Windows 7 and every application that is accessible from Windows. As companies across the world upgrade to the new Windows 7 operating environment, Tevron's APM & testing solutions will continue to offer the industry lead for application monitoring, load testing, and general automation. To learn more about Tevron's automated testing solutions or to request additional information, please call +1.702.518.7435 or visit http://www.tevron.com.

About Tevron:

Tevron is a global leader in APM and Automated Testing. Through our all encompassing customer-centric vision and advanced technology, our APM & Testing Solutions allow the unique flexibility of supporting every application across the enterprise with one methodology delivering the ability to test, monitor, enforce SLAs, and optimize performance with confidence and ease. Founded in 2001, Tevron is a global organization and is privately held. Our vast and diverse range of customers are global leaders and include companies such as Alcon Labs, Alverno, Northrop Grumman, Xerox, Hewlett Packard, Siemens, and Lucent Technologies, to name a few.

TRADEMARKS:

Tevron, the Tevron logo, and CitraTest are registered trademarks of Tevron, LLC. Windows 7 is a registered trademark of Microsoft. All other product references herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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Dear Soldier:

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by nemokc - November 6, 2009, 1:04AM

Dear Soldier:

We don't know who you are yet.   You are one of the dozen soldiers who died today in Texas at Ft. Hood. 

We don't know your name or where you came from.  

So much we don't know.  

We don't know why the gunman chose to fire his weapon at you.   We don't know how he got that weapon.   We don't know if the shot that killed you was fired in hate from a religious fanatic or in anger from a political extremist.  Maybe the shooter couldn't handle the pain of seeing so many young Americans returned to our country in pieces from wars in far off places.   We just don't know.  And to be honest...it doesn't really matter.   The result is the same regardless the cause.   Twelve Americans died today preparing to go to war.   In days to come, we can and will sort out the why, but tonight should be about honoring your sacrifice.

We don't know who your family is.   We don't know if it's your children who cry tonight, your parents or your wife.  Maybe all of them.   We only know that they are there and that they grieve your loss with all of their hearts.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.  Your not supposed to die on American soil at the hands of a fellow American.  For that we apologize, for we have failed you.  It is unfortunate that life is full of "it's not supposed to be's".

So much we don't know.    But we do know this....you died as an American soldier.   And you and your family are in our prayers.

And we know that we owe you for your sacrifice to our country.

God Speed to our fallen soldiers!   Our thoughts are with your families tonight.

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Yes we did!

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by Steve Everett - November 6, 2009, 12:29AM

One year ago the American voters chose hope over fear. Chose intelligence over mockery of intelligence. Chose a diplomacy-first foreign policy over a bomb-first and ask questions later foreign policy.

Chose a presidential candidate who told us, yes we can, instead of no we can't. One year later under the leadership of the current administration and support from many in Congress and in the private sector we can say, yes we did to many things.

Due to the passage of a strong recovery and economic stimulation package our economy has stabilized and avoided a second economic depression. Yes we did.

The current administration has kept it's promise on Iraq and is bringing and end to American entanglement there. Yes we did.

We can now look one another in the eye and know that we no longer live in a nation whose political leadership authorizes torture. Yes we did.

Under the leadership of the current administration health care reform is closer than ever. Solving health care is a tough problem but so was going to the moon, developing the atomic bomb, surviving a civil war and defeating the British to give birth to our nation. Most other industrialized nations have solved health care... and we can too. I suggest looking at the Singapore solution.

The Department of Justice has been restored to being the third branch of government and not the personal lawyers for the White House. Yes we did.

We now have an administration who believes in science. Who recognizes the importance of education especially in the critical areas such as math, science, engineering and technology. The 20th century was an American century. The 21st century does not have to be, but it can be and there will be nothing more important to our nation's success this century that the quality of our educational system. I would actually like to see the Department of Education renamed to the Department of Preparation with an emphasis on a much closer connection and association between the educational system and industry and the private sector.

Under the leadership of the current administration we now live in a nation that is once again admired and respected by the international community. We now live in a nation that has respect for international law and treaties. Yes we did.

We now live in a nation with an administration who believes in conserving and preserving our environment. Yes we did.

The next three years will continue to bring historical progress for America and hopefully the American voters will be wise enough on November 6th, 2012 to give give these guys another four years to continue to repair the widespread damage done to America from the Executive Branch from 2001 through 2008.

But for now we can look back over the past year and in so many areas say... YES WE DID!

-- cross posted to Steve Everett Blog .com

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Historical Ignorance, Tea Bagger Style

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by saulgoodman - November 5, 2009, 11:59PM

I can't help marveling at the fact that the "Tea Party" health care protesters at the capitol today recited the pledge of allegiance "to drive the liberals crazy," completely oblivious to the fact that the pledge of allegiance was written by Christian Socialist, Francis Bellamy.
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(Imperial) Gunpowder, Treason and Plot

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by Devon - November 5, 2009, 11:40PM

A nice, brisk fall day to have an event in DC, and I gather that a large number of GOP leaders made it to the podium to speak at Michelle Bachman's big tea party.  It's also the day reserved in the UK to celebrate Guy Fawkes' ill-fated attempt to blow up Parliament to get rid of the ruling party of his day. 

So, I'm wondering.  Was the day chosen purposefully, to adopt the mantle of an obscure sometimes folk hero for their anti-government movement?  If so, isn't that a kind of questionable PR move?  And if not, isn't that kind of an unfortunate PR oversight?
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THE MISERY OF POLITICS

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by J.W. Nugent - November 5, 2009, 11:04PM

House Is Out of Touch On Contentious Bills....

The widespread public protests against much of the government's legislation this year is teaching us several things.

One is that our law-making mechanisms have eroded are not capable of fully engaging the public. Laws are issued for the good of the public and therefore the public should not only have the right to voice their opinions about them, but also to be informed about the ongoing process.

Another lesson is that the law-making process, by representatives of the people, has not been transparent enough. That so many objections are still being raised when a bill is just days away from being passed into law reflects this. Political maneuvering has a higher priority than the issue of governance.   Sadly when this is addressed to Congress a lot of posturing and rhetoric is the result.  Politicians are blind to the obvious and blind to the fact that their posturing is apparent; this leaves the average citizen in outrage over the brazen arrogance and frustrated that it goes on despite how obvious.

I hope the House will finally wake up to this fact and be more open and accommodating of people's wishes, as well as work diligently on each piece of legislation in a timely a matter as possible so as not to leave a massive backlog at the end of each year. Rushing a bill through tends to yield laws that are not well thought out and do not fully reflect the wishes of the people.  Dragging out a bill through extreme partisan manipulation ill serves the citizens represented.  Sabotage of a bill or forcing special interest legislation by placing riders unrelated to a bill creates havoc and in its way possible corruption.

Today's partisan manipulation is heavy-handed and a step backward in the maintaining of democracy.  Dissent is necessary for an honest vetting of a law.  Dissention used to undermine a bill is most often a partisan vehicle.  The problem is that Congress represents the people and is there to serve the interests of the citizen and not a political party.  We should take heed, in the early to mid 20th century, the evolution of the party to a standing that the party became the government led to disaster.  Nazi Germany, the ..Soviet Union.., ....Spain...., and ....Italy.... are superb examples of party systems becoming machines that over threw legitimate governments.  The NAZI were Nazi first and the country subordinate to the principals of the party.

The government and the House must also resist the temptation to over legislate and overreach. The Constitution provides limits to what can be legislated; a limit to just how much the government can meddle in private and public life.  Yet these limits are ignored or circumvented.  How often in the past has Congress voted to give Powers to a President that are rightly by Constitution the job of Congress.  The argument has always been a transfer of powers is necessary to reduce inconvenience and speed up decision making.  We did very little of that in WWII and won a global war.  We must adhere to the Constitution which is why our founding fathers so wisely enshrined the language used in the Constitution.

Governments all over the world have improved their systems and balance of governance.  The United States seem to be heading in the opposite direction.

The current House of Representatives appear to be out of sync with today's society. Lawmakers should represent the people and as such must reflect current social norms and values.....
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by waregad - November 5, 2009, 10:56PM

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Military Doctors

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by some dude named steevo - November 5, 2009, 8:38PM

Nidal Malik Hasan was an Army Psychiatrist.  Although I did not know him, I thought I could provide general background about what his career and service obligations were, and I can also share personal experience of being a doctor in the military.  

He graduated in 1997 with a degree in biochemistry and was in the ROTC.  He then went to the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, MD.  He graduated from medical school in 2001 (medical school is 4 years).  He then did his residency in psychiatry at Walter Reed (5 years for residency).  He most likely finished that in 2006.  At that point he would have been on active duty at least 9 years, and most likely owed at least seven, and perhaps 9 years more before he would be released.  Medical school at USUHS confers a 7 year commitment, and he may have had extra time for residency.  

I served for four years in the Air Force as a  physician, but I was trained at civilian institutions.  My four year obligation was incurred as a result of the military financing most of my civilian medical education.  Roughly 75 percent of the doctors I worked with hated being in the military and were just biding their time until they could get out.  We were under immense pressure from all sides.  It was extremely difficult to even give average medical care.  Usually you had to settle for less than standard care just to remain sane.  It was an incredibly stressful situation.  I worked with a few good physicians, but in general, military physicians have a different philosophy.  The command structure of the Medical Corps is extremely dysfunctional.

It was much harder for the USUHS grads because they had a longer obligation.  Although many of us were unhappy, there was virtually no way to get out early without ruining your medical career.  For example, there was no option to get out and repay the military for the cost of your education.

After I separated (got out), I heard one of the doctors I worked with allegedly threatened to bring a gun to work and shoot the commander.  I never heard what happened to him, but he probably lost his medical license at the very least.

This doctor must have been under a great deal of stress.  He served at at Walter Reed during the time it was receiving extremely bad publicity in the national press.  He was probably dealing with extra pressure because of the national scrutiny.    I would speculate that he was depressed, suicidal, and must have felt so isolated and hopeless that he saw no other way out.  It is still shocking that he would chose such an abhorrent action. 
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by belofaren - November 5, 2009, 7:33PM

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