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Media's coverage of "dry drowning" death was irresponsible
by Herb Ruhs, MD
| June 7, 2008 |
Part of what pediatricians call "anticipatory guidance" involves warning parents about the dangers of water, the need for very close supervision, and certainly avoiding sending children who have no experience with water swimming. I suspect that this warning was never delivered to this family, as competent, well-trained pediatric care is becoming nearly as rare as competent, ethical journalism. ... Click for more ...
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Herb Ruhs, MD
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Anti-trust the media
by Angry Annie
| June 7, 2008 |
Top story in the entire primary process was Rev Jeremiah Wright
Break up the corporate-controlled media. First thing tomorrow morning, please, dust off the mothballs and apply the anti-trust laws.
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Angry Annie
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Georgie said
Biggest jobless jump since '86 -- Wall Street sinks
But... but... but... Georgie said everything was FINE. (Another spin on the economy)
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10 airports install invasive body scanners
I am only flying if it's an emergency. These people have flipped their lids.
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Doomsday vault
My question is ... What if global warming melts everything into sludge or global freezing seals everything
shut and makes our rations unreachable? Let's hope for a balance. eek.
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McCain: "I am intrigued by a man on Mars"
I have got to stop laughing at this man. He is going to orchestrate my demise.
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The man can't connect three sentences into a paragraph without getting his facts wrong or his foot in his mouth. The corporate media has protected him for years, but this is from AFP (French), where maybe they don't know that they're expected to translate McCainspeak into English?
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Helen & Harry
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Bat sh*t crazy
by Darntastic
| June 7, 2008 |
Re Are those Hillary supporters for real?
All you have to do is read the comments on her blog to realize how bat sh*t crazy these people are.
http://blog.hillaryclinton.com/blog/main/2008/06/05/144631#view_comments
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Wow, there's a lot of stubbornness, stupidity, or just plain bigotry on that page. All through the campaign, Obama has treated Clinton with far more respect than she's treated him, so it's probably unspoken bigotry behind all the "I'd never vote for Obama, I'm voting for McCain" comments. All those comments are written by McCain supporters; the only question is whether some of them were previously Hillary supporters.
Obama certainly wasn't my first or second choice, but there's aren't more than a few significant differences between him and Hillary, on the issues. John McCain, on the other hand, is an absolute cro magnon on the issues, so Democrats will eventually rally 'round the party's candidate.
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Helen & Harry
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Abstinence, $16.99
K-Mart sells abstinence swag
And Kmart claims they don't know nuffink about why those pro-abstinence folks would see this as supporting their cause. Note that the pants do not come in a boy's version.
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For boys, true love doesn't wait. It just pleads and nags and wheedles and makes an ass of itself.
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I know; I understand that hard-ons can be fatal unless they're properly relieved. Hey --
KMart can do a boy's line after all -- "True Woodies Can't Wait".
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Claire M.
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Going nuclear
by The Canadian
| June 7, 2008 |
This is an excerpt from an industry analyst summary I received this morning.
This will be nuclear.
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Excerpt: * Oil is up more than $4 this morning, currently trading at $131.79/bl, after rising $6 yesterday as the USD weakened further on a jump in the jobless rate in the US. Oil surged $6 in after-hours trading yesterday, erasing two days of sharp losses triggered by worries that high oil prices were starting to dent demand. The surge of $6 was the largest one day increase on record. Overnight, comments from Israel's transport minister that an attack on Iranian nuclear sites looked "unavoidable" given the apparent failure of sanctions to deny Tehran technology with bomb-making potential also helped drive prices higher. This was the most explicit threat yet against Iran from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government. Analysts said the remarks from the Israeli government gave added momentum to the rally, with one analyst saying, "financial money is flowing back into oil and commodities, when the market is in such a strong rally, there is a tendency to read the bullish headlines rather than the bearish ones." Investors have used oil and other commodities as a hedge against the weaker USD and inflation as the housing crisis and high fuel prices batter the US economy. The sharp reversal in the USD against the EUR put longer-term worries about weakening oil demand on the backburner, after they were rekindled earlier this week when India and Malaysia decided to raise domestic fuel prices to cope with bulging subsidy bills. Gold is also higher this morning on the weakening USD and is currently trading at $895/ounce. |
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"Thou shalt not kill" doesn't apply to Israel (or America), either nation sends off rockets and bombs as routinely as folks with insurance go to the doctor. It's so routine that if Israel attacks with conventional weapons, a juicy celebrity scandal could knock it off the news.
But nuclear is a different kind of catastrophe. Going nuclear would be the last test to see whether world opinion still matters to any of the bastards in charge.
So why would they push it and go nuclear? What do nuclear weapons accomplish that Israel or America can't accomplish just as efficiently and less controversially with the ordinary computerized explosives and napalm used on Iraq and Afghanistan?
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Not so secret
Revealed: Secret plan to keep Iraq under US control| |
Excerpt: A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November.
The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilize Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.
But the accord also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the US. President Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated. But by perpetuating the US presence in Iraq, the long-term settlement would undercut pledges by the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw US troops if he is elected president in November.
The timing of the agreement would also boost the Republican candidate, John McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of victory in Iraq -- a victory that he says Mr Obama would throw away by a premature military withdrawal. |
Well not much of a secret now. This is the third or forth time I have read about this. Now if only some other media would pick this up. Or better yet, have Obama start asking about it on the campaign trail.
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Israeli official threatens war on Iran| |
Excerpt: "If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective," Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz told the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
"Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable," said the former army chief who has also been defense minister. |
And they would do it. The reasons maybe a lie but the desire is real.
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Chris M.
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Things could get much better lickity-split
by JR Mooneyham
| June 7, 2008 |
Folks, once we get the crazy people out of the White House and Congress, and re-attach a leash to Israel moneywise, plus put an end to all the war-mongering, lots of things could get much better lickity-split. ... Click for more ...
Dialing for lies
I just got my first political robo-call of the 2008 election, a brief recitation of lies distorting the arguments of telecom immunity to make it sound like if we don't give these giant corporations a get out of jail free card for their lawbreaking, we're for weak national security, when of course what I'm for is the law and the fourth amendment and making criminals pay for their crimes even if the criminal is AT&T.
I hate robo-calls in general, but I'm usually willing to listen long enough to punch whatever button is necessary to have my name and number removed from their dialing list. This robo-call, sponsored by "Freedom's Watch", the latest misleadingly-named incarnation of the well-funded Republican swift-boat lie machine, gave me no such option for "unsubscribing." So I had an idea, and I thought I'd share it with the good folks at Unknown News.
I'm not exactly rich, but I can afford five bucks every time these robo-dialers call me with political lies, so every time they do, starting now, I'm sending $5 to Barack Obama's campaign. (The campaign's suggested minimum is $10, but I can't do that -- I'm expecting a lot of lying robo-calls.) Anyway, I'm just thinking that if enough people did this it could make the whole "Freedom's Watch" project a lot less productive...
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Rebecca
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On the third day
by Slyvulpecula
| June 7, 2008 |
Re Are those Hillary supporters for real?
on the 1st day, they feel a little better, on the 2nd day the cognition refocuses -- it's not unlike coming out of a darkroom directly into natural light. On the 3rd day "oh ya, I'm a democrat."
"Bitter Sweet Symphony" "hmm-hmm, hmm; hmm-hmm, hmm...!"
bye.
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Slyvulpecula
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Change the misguided
Re Are those Hillary supporters for real?
I agree with Helen and Harry... I think it's a scam.
I am a Hillary supporter who will not hesitate to vote for Barack. I am thoroughly impressed with his call to end funding from lobbyists. Sounds like a leader to me.
Please stop discounting women who were excited to have a female candidate. Parents want to be able to tuck their kids in at night, kiss them on the cheek and tell them, "you can be anything you want to be."
Re: Real Supporters
If you want to change Hillary supporters, stop calling them stupid. Just a suggestion. I, so far, haven't been able to explain because people are so quick to argue. If you don't understand, it's because you are missing something basic and fundamental. I have exhausted myself trying to explain to people who will not listen. You can change the misguided by first listening, understanding, and then discussing your views.
Question
Why do we need to protect Israel?
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Because Israel is too weak, too poor, too dedicated to peace, and too unwilling to stand up for itself. >sarcasm<
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Helen & Harry
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The complete opposite
Re Are those Hillary supporters for real?
If you read the article or listen to the news, it's not real hard to find people saying "I refuse to vote for Obama; I'm voting for McCain." That's clearly emotional, and if they really believe in Hillary's positions (at least superficially, backup up the emotions with facts), they would have to vote for Obama, since you really can't tell Obama's and Clinton's positions apart. McCain, OTOH, is the complete opposite on almost everything.
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dnm
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Plan B
Re Are those Hillary supporters for real?
Maybe this is Hillary's "Plan B" strategy. I am sure she realized long ago that winning the nomination was not possible so she may have opted to make the race so divisive that should Barack want to win the national election he would need her help. Forcing him to put name her his running mate (VP).
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Jewjr
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Attacking Iran
Iran's Lebanese 'aircraft carrier'| |
Excerpt: A peace deal with Israel is likely to be conditional on Syria severing its connections with Hezbollah, but it would also remove Syria as the bridge to the group's other state backer, Iran.
In Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut, Alam Shourab, a young manager of a mobile phone shop, is very happy with the movement's dependence on Iran. |
This, as much as any nuclear capability on Iran's part, would be a reason for Israel to strike Iran and hard. I do not believe that any troops would be used. It would be a very heavy air strike and the route is pretty unobstructed.
The talks with Syria bear watching for a peace deal with them would clear a path to Iran even more.
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Re Israel gets its war on
Personally I do not see why they should, given that Israel has the capability to lay waste to nearly all it's neighbors as reported here.
But paranoia is strong there. Also given that except for parts of Iraq, Iran is the only large Shia faction in the area. Most of the Sunni countries (Saudi Arabia, Jordon etc.) would not be terribly upset if Iran were to disappear from the map.
And make no mistake, I do not believe that Israel, should they decide to launch an attack, would limit it one bit. "He who strikes first, if he strikes hard enough. Need not strike again." It simply would be fool hardy for Israel to leave anything militarily standing for Iran to hit them with.
I doubt that we would get evolved. In fact there would be no need to be.
Except for China and possibly Russia, I don't think that the rest of the world would take much notice.
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I wouldn't mention the word "paranoia" in regards to the alleged worries about Iran. To me, that implies acceptance of the framework that's been publicly presented, that we must worry and weight the threat posed to the world by the crazed government of Iran. I completely reject that, and I'm done considering whether the boy who cried wolf is serious about the wolf he's saying he saw this time. The ongoing demonization of Iran as a threat to world peace or Middle East peace is phony. It's essentially a replay of the Iraq lies of 2003 -- play-acting on the international stage, in an attempt to falsely justify the coming war.
The reality is that there will be an attack, almost certainly before Bush-Cheney leave office. Dealing with that reality, the US and Israel should be seen as one entity, not two. As international powers are properly perceived, it barely matters which nation attacks Iran, and whether it's the US or Israel that officially pulls the trigger it'll be part of a long string of strategic moves to give US-Israel more control of oil, the world's most vital economic resource.
Other nations are probably much more concerned about this than they've publicly let on, but they ought to be more concerned than they are, and soon they will be.
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When talking about Israel. "paranoia" fits perfectly. Then there is also Olmert's current "problems" at home. Think "wag the dog". I doubt, given the current state of mind in this country, that we would be involved except in a tactically supportive way. There is too big a risk of handing the presidency to Obama on a silver platter.
[Re phoniness of the Iranian "danger"] Of course. Plus as I have stated before, it would be "pay back time" for the hostage crises, kicking out the Shah and the oil companies.
[Re more control of oil] Among other things. Like an oil pipeline Israel has wanted for a very long time.
This is simply a pragmatic point of view on my part. One of many, but not too many, scenarios.
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Chris M.
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Third war
by Angry Annie
| June 6, 2008 |
Only 7 percent support taking military action against Iran
If America was a democracy, that would pretty much settle the stupid question, "Should we attack Iran and get America into a third war?" But since the coup this is no democracy, and there will be more war because GW Bush wants more war.
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Angry Annie
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Elders
by Herb Ruhs, MD
| June 6, 2008 |
Older brain really may be a wiser brain
We elders need some encouragement now and then.
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Herb Ruhs, MD
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The end of the beginning
by Theo Lipschitz
| June 6, 2008 |
Well, I just read a couple of articles that blew my mind, and frankly, I don't see how Barack Obama could really do much to fix what these articles are forecasting. Not that he is insincere or incompetent, but for the reason that Congress and the states are not ready for big Change; the real crisis hasn't set foot on our doorstep yet, and until that happens no one will feel compelled to make big sacrifices to solve what needs solving. When the real crisis hits, the time will be past for acceptable solutions. Not even least bad solutions will be available. They'll all be bad bad.
We probably have a couple of years though, so time still exists for individual action!
No one on cable TV news is talking about this stuff. I am surprised that they aren't even spending much time on Obama! 99% of the gabfest is about Hillary! She is sucking all of the oxygen out of the Obama campaign...and loving it!
No one is talking about this, either:
The Voice of the White House| |
Excerpt:
“My colleague here showed me an overview, official study concerning U.S. detainees. It is not generally knows to the public but the US government now has over 30,000 (31,082 as of May 19, 2008 ) people in secret custody, all over the world.
An official U.S. program of torture and ‘rendition’ has been going on since before 9/11 and has never stopped. A number, estimated to be approximately 3,500, have been killed during these interrogations or have died as the result of them.
At the present time, the government, acting under specific Presidential orders, has a virtual fleet of prison ships scattered all across the globe and masked by a curtain of strict secrecy. ...
Officially, George Bush has said these practices have been stopped but they are still in full swing and the President is fully aware of them, even as I speak.
Specifically, after Bush claimed in 2006 that the rendition programs had been halted, acting under his specific orders, there were 376 new cases of rendition. |
Nope. That's just disgusting, not a mind blower. Except that maybe I now see that Bush wasn't informed about the pre-9/11 plans for 9/11 -- he not being sufficiently trustworthy to be informed of information of such value. That explains why he is such an enthusiastic murderer and torturer of Islamic people. He may actually believe they are solely responsible for 9/11, instead of just being dupes in a LIHOP stunt (Let It Happen On Purpose.)
Or, just maybe he believes in this scary thing called ELM (Export Land Model):
What the Export Land Model means for energy prices| |
Excerpt: As you can see, for illustrative purposes the ELM assumes that, after a country’s oil production hits peak it will decline at a rate 5% annually at the same time that local consumption increases by 2.5%. The red line then shows the impact those two metrics will have on the ability of the country to export its excess production. Using these assumptions, the ELM shows that exports reach zero in 9 years. ...
Mexico provides about 14% of the oil the U.S. imports. On any given day that makes it either the #2 or #3 leading source for U.S. oil imports after Canada and Saudi Arabia. Given that the U.S. currently imports close to 70% of its oil needs, the Mexican oil is critical.
But here’s the thing. Using straightforward ELM calculations, Jeffrey Brown is confident that Mexico will ship its last barrel of oil to the United States -- or anywhere else, for that matter -- about 6 years from now, in 2014. In a recent interview with Brown, I asked about this forecast. |
Here is the real stunner though. Everyone is afraid to talk about this in public, except We The People. Politicians absolutely cannot go there, even if they were well informed and smart, which doesn't seem to be the case.
The US economic recession| |
Excerpt: To see this is like watching the edge of an expanding black hole in interstellar space, but this is a financial hole on the verge of swallowing an entire nation. The federal government's long-term financial obligations grew by $US 2.5 TRILLION last year, a reflection of the exploding costs of Medicare and Social Security benefits as more baby boomers reach retirement age. As reported in a USA Today analysis, American taxpayers are on the hook for a record $US 57.3 TRILLION in federal liabilities to cover the lifetime benefits of everyone eligible for Medicare, Social Security and other government programs. That's $US 500,000 per household. When the liabilities of State and local governments are added to this, the total rises to $US 61.7 TRILLION. That's $US 531,472 per household, more than four times what Americans owe in personal debt and mortgages. This is now front page news on USA Today.
Today there are four lesser areas of insolvency in the United States. These are the federal budget deficit, the US trade and current account deficit, the now insolvent big US banks, and the rising tide of negative equity for American homeowners. Right in the middle of these four lesser insolvencies are the two biggest of all. These are the combined federal and state unfunded liabilities of $US 61.7 TRILLION and the $US 7 TRILLION in US external debt - which is climbing by $US 1 TRILLION per year.
After taking a long deep breath, it should be obvious that to "solve" even one of these six areas of US insolvency would take an extraordinary effort. To solve all six, even in a sequence, would take the efforts of at least one US generation but likely more than one. ...
Politically, one can always know when an "establishment" is in charge of any nation. After every election and change of government, nothing really changes. The public is given the spectacle of people running for public office, of primaries, of party conventions, of national elections for Prime Minister or President. After it is all over, everything looks the same until the next election approaches. Then the same thing happens all over again. Politically though, as time passes, this process splits the establishment from the general public so that, at election time, the numbers of those voting starts a long-term decline.
When the nation's political establishment realizes this is happening, it often starts small external wars in order to distract the public internally. These wars are never large enough to place the nation in jeopardy. Any internal changes or improvements are postponed because of the small external war and the public waits for a peace to be made. It cannot protest while the war is going on, that would be unpatriotic. This attitude is also known by the political establishment, which is the historical reason why many of these small wars have gone on for astounding lengths of time. But the real internal political problem with all small external wars is that the process of fighting them often leads to increasing internal repressions in order to extract from the public the economic means of war. When that happens, the public's outlook starts to diverge from that of the political elite and the nation has a fissure. Here, the political elite faces a policy choice. It can either alter its own policy, end its external wars and start to address what the public is concerned about. Or it can continue its policy of small external aggressions for the purposes of internal distraction. If it does the latter, it places itself on the political road of ever increasing internal repression in order to continue its external policy. Having done that, and in increasing fear of its own public, the elite starts to finance its external wars with credit, i.e. loans. It does not dare to tax for the costs.
The Political Cross-Over Point:
Along this road, a point is always reached where the public realizes that their own lives are going nowhere because of the climbing costs of the external wars. An example here is the US where real American living standards have not improved since the early 1970s. In 2001, in the midst of recession and after 9/11, the US political "elite" declared war -- on "terror". Then came the attack on Iraq. Five years later, the US armed forces are still there in an unwinnable war. The costs are killing the fiscal budget of the US and Treasury debts are soaring. In response to the increasing resentment felt by ever more Americans, the US political establishment has established a full-scale internal surveillance state, always only a step away from a police state. That has been done because it is now the US political establishment which lives in political fear of the American public. What they fear is that the American public will spontaneously turn on them in a massive demonstration of sheer frustration.
The FINAL Choice:
The political elite now faces an American public which has realized that the US has failed in its military campaign in the Middle East as well as having failed as the economic managers of the US economy. This is the most dangerous point of all. Politically, this is the point where the political elite has to make its final choice. That choice is to maintain its external policy at the internal cost of full-scale repression or to give away its external policy at the very likely political cost of a total loss of internal political power. |
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Theo Lipschitz
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Just pretending
Re Are those Hillary supporters for real?
I just assume that they are actually Republicans just pretending to be Hillary supports to try and stir up controversy.
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D.
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A thousand miles of pickets
Re Cream & sugar
I can't give you any brilliant ideas, MonkeyMan, I was never brilliant. Everything's changed since I was a young man -- we had reporters who wanted to report the news, and now the job description has changed and reporters are supposed to report everything but the news. Used to be you could stage a giant protest and reach people that way, with hard work ordinary people could have an impact, but now the media keeps giant protests secret cuz protests don't sell Chryslers and Pampers. The media now works hand-in-glove with the government, Pentagon lies are reported as unquestioned truth and GW Bush appears on prime time game shows. Everyone involved in that kind of collusion belongs in prison, but it's gonna take a big national change of heart to accomplish.
Oh, and I appreciate the offer, but coffee gives me the runs.
Re Whatever he damn well pleases
I must say, thank you to the dear Sherri B. Neither Michael nor anyone else has lived this man's life -- not even me, I'm not done yet!
Re Band-aid on a bullet wound
Hey Michael, you really put your foot in it. You're not talking to some old fart in a lawn chair watching The Price is Right five days a week, I'm an old fart but I've walked a thousand miles of pickets and I'm slowing down now but still probably moving faster than you. I've been working my butt off for a lotta years, and (sure, make me say it again) I'll be dead soon and leaving behind one severely screwed-up country. That's not quitting, ya durn fool, it's an honest observation and a big ol' hairy dilemma:
This won't be my fight for much longer. It's your fight now, your country and your life hang in the balance.
If your best idea is to tell us old-timers to work harder and do more then you are doomed in ways you can't even comprehend.
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Grandpa
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Insightful
Re Scenes from a Group Presidency
Excellent! This is a great and insightful article for those who want to make a difference.
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Carol C.
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Lobbyists' money
by JR Mooneyham
| June 6, 2008 |
Boy's death highlights a hidden danger: Dry drowning
Holy crap! I've never heard of this before. It's scary as hell for anyone who ever takes care of kids.
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A surprising finding about entrepreneurs -- few strike it rich
This is one of the most utterly truthful articles about starting your own business or inventing something new that I've ever come across. And mirrors my own experience: that being self-employed very often not only means NOT getting rich, but actually making LESS money than you would with a regular job! OUCH!
Being born American, I'd been raised to think anyone could get rich if they tried hard enough. However, when I first went into business for myself, it wasn't to get rich, but just to be my own boss, and have a bit more freedom than I'd had in all the previous years I'd worked for others. I didn't really mind that I made less that way.
However, due to mounting financial pressures, I eventually became more and more ambitious in my financial aims, and began really working hard to amass a fortune.
Surprise, surprise, I couldn't do it! No matter what I did, or how hard I worked. I began wondering what the hell I was doing wrong, and began researching the problem....
And that led me to the sad truth of the matter. Which I then posted online. Partly in the hope someone somewhere could find a flaw in my conclusions.
So far the only feedback I've gotten has strengthened the credibility of the research, rather than weakened it. OUCH!
Your true chances of getting rich in America
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DNC bans lobbyist money
I hope this isn't a mistake. Because the rich folks behind the lobbyists pretty much have all the money. And the way US elections and media are currently rigged, money can easily be the primary determinant of who gets into the White House.
Sure, I love the idea of banning lobbyist money. But I also worry the chances of us getting yet another Republican President and maybe even Congress too in 2008 are much greater than most people are thinking at the moment.
I didn't say getting McCain as President, because I believe chances are pretty hefty that his age or history or something else could still take him out of the race, and the GOP anoint someone else -- maybe pretty late in the campaign. A new sort of 'October surprise'.
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Yeah, I expect McCain to have a major mental meltdown at some point, either lose his temper or flub up six facts in a row on national television. I just hope it's after the convention, not before (harder to replace him after).
Not sure yet what to make of the Democrats' new position on lobbyists' money. It's a breathtaking move, in a good way, but yeah, also dangerous as hell. Principled stands usually are...
Regarding "dry drowning", sheesh and wow. Clicking around, I'm being led to believe that 15% of drowning victims are "dry drownings". The experts want me to think it's a good idea to see a doctor even if you come through a drowning and seem OK? Of course, that's several hundred dollars a lot of people can't afford, the day-to-day life-and-death dilemma that faces all of us without insurance...
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Useful dupe
by Kathy Fisher
| June 6, 2008 |
Alleged 9/11 mastermind wants death
Driven insane and now totally brainwashed! Useful dupe to pin the blame on, a convenient patsy for the neocons to once again try a convince any one who will listen that they got another EVIL ONE!
He did as he was told to in court today. His mind is not his own any more. What a friggin' canard.
What percent of the world's people are these fools playing to? 25? 20? 10? Who's left to believe this convoluted contrived script of lies! Who is left to care or react to this show they insist playing out to please no-one but themselves.
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I don't believe he's any "9/11 mastermind," because the Bush-Cheney administration says he is. But he's been a prisoner for five years, and there's a hell of a lot more evidence that torture is routine for American prisoners, than the "evidence" he's a "9/11 mastermind." Torture me for five years, I might plead for death too.
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Helen & Harry
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More on “zones”--the NSZs
Here’s a new type of zone to think about. According to this article , there will now be “Neighborhood Safety Zones” (NSZs) in Wash. D.C. No, they aren’t related to trade or exports, but poverty is involved. The point of the NSZs is to “seal off certain parts of the city” where the “police would set up checkpoints, demand to see ID and refuse admittance to people who don’t live there, work there or have a ‘legitimate reason’ to be there.” As the author says, “wow. Just, wow.”
If you want to “empty out” your stomach for some reason, read what was contained in the Mayor’s press release. Here’s a hint: the initiative “has been developed ... “to help residents reclaim their communities.” ... The NSZs “is [are] just another tool [the] MPD [Metropolitan Police Dept.] will employ to stop crime before it happens.” The NSZs “have been accepted by federal courts as a ... practice in keeping with the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment [which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures].”
In this scheme it seems that the District Commander is the one who “requests” the zone. Next is line is the Chief of Police who approves the request. There is no mention of “We the people” in this. Personally, I think some other Constitutional Amendments ought to be checked into regarding this matter. Perhaps the 9th Amend. is related -- it indicates that “We the people” have other rights that shall not be denied just because the Constitution doesn’t mention them. NOT having one’s neighborhood sealed off/”checkpointed” seems like one of those rights to me. Perhaps the 14th Amend. also applies.
I suppose those living in “gated communities” would think that this sounds “really” good. BUT, to put it mildly, to me it just sounds like a TOTAL invasion of privacy. Besides that I wouldn’t like police carrying weapons crawling all over my neighborhood -- like in a war zone.
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Helen & Harry
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Decidedly civil
Re Are those Hillary supporters for real?A significant subset of Hillary's supporters "don't know much about politics and really don't care much about politics -- they know Hillary Clinton's a woman, and that's enough to convince them she's the very best candidate there ever was."
That's pretty much the only thing that can explain their sense of mistreatment. If they had ever paid attention to any other political campaign, they'd know this one was decidedly civil.
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Mutatron
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Real change
Re Are those Hillary supporters for real?
I certainly hope that between Senators Clinton and Obama, their minds are changed, and they become aware of the importance of real change in Washington and in our country!
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Pamela R.
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This that and the other
by Marshall S.
| June 6, 2008 |
Judge allows Blackwater to open San Diego center| |
Excerpt: A federal judge Wednesday ordered the city to allow military contractor Blackwater Worldwide to begin using a new counterterrorism training center in a warehouse outfitted with an indoor firing range. |
As Hillary Clinton said about taking money from Oil Execs, "They're Americans too!"
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Indicted Saudi gets $80 million US contract| |
Excerpt: The US military has awarded an $80 million contract to a prominent Saudi financier who has been indicted by the US Justice Department.
Pharaon is wanted in connection with his alleged role at the failed Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), and the CenTrust savings and loan scandal, which cost US tax payers $1.7 billion.
Interestingly, Pharaon was also an investor in President George W. Bush's first business venture, Arbusto Energy.
"Ghaith Pharaon is an FBI fugitive indicted in both the BCCI and CENTRUST case," said Richard Kolko, a spokesman for the FBI. "If anyone has information on his location, they are requested to contact the FBI or the US Embassy." |
Crony capitalism at it's best (worst). Isn't this what the world is? Gangsters passing around the big bucks they sucked from us little people?
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US human trafficking report faults America's Gulf allies| |
Excerpt: The State Department's annual report on human trafficking, issued Wednesday, gave the lowest rankings to some U.S. Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia. |
Saudi Arabia -- The Bush family's partner in crime. And I mean BIG crime.
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Court advocate accused of child sex assault again| |
Austin, Texas: Police filed another aggravated sexual assault of a child charge against court-appointed child advocate Billy Dan Carroll on Wednesday. |
The fox watching the hen house.
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Traffic stop leads to firefighter's arrest in sex assault| |
Excerpt: A Houston firefighter was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a child after a routine traffic stop by Friendswood police early Wednesday. |
Is Texas becoming the perv capital of the US?
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Study secretly tracks cell phone users outside U.S.| |
Excerpt: Researchers secretly tracked the locations of 100,000 people outside the United States through their cell phone use and concluded that most people rarely stray more than a few miles from home.
"It certainly is a major concern for people who basically don't like to be tracked and shouldn't be tracked without their knowledge," Stephens said. |
Just a short step to the CIA tracking and keeping that file on everybody in the US. Perhaps they are doing it now.
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Honduran soldiers, police convicted of massacre| |
Excerpt: A court has sentenced 22 soldiers and police to a combined 740 years in prison for the massacre of 69 people during a 2003 prison riot.
The deaths were originally blamed on inmates, but a government investigation later discovered guards had been responsible. |
I hope this opens up the path to prosecution of US soldiers who committed massacres in Central America in the Contra days.
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Marshall S.
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Gender blender
by RidetheBigWave
| June 6, 2008 |
Re Are those Hillary supporters for real?
A thought question: if Hilary were a man, how would this election have been different?
Can't accept it
Re Are those Hillary supporters for real?
No, I cannot accept that those who are in favor of the most important issues to women or ending the Iraq War would be in favor of voting for John McCain. Thank you for this posting.
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Denise S.
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Gay gay hooray
by Angry Annie
| June 5, 2008 |
California court won't delay gay weddings until vote
This is bigger news than it might seem at first glance. It means that gays and lesbians in California will begin being legally married next week, and in addition to the terrific news of that, it means there will already be thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of gay marriages in California by November. Republicans will unload all the hate- and fearmongering in the world on California, hoping to bring the dumbest voters to the polls to vote against gay marriage (and vote for John McCain while they're at it), but by November it'll be clear to at least the brighter of the stupid voters that gay marriage has no effect on the non-gay. The sky won't have fallen, so the Republican message of hate will resonate with a smaller and smaller audience.
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Angry Annie
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Grandstanding
Budget woes force Miami-Dade public defender to refuse felony cases| |
Excerpt: Miami-Dade County’s public defender says his office plans to refuse most felony cases because state budget cuts mean his attorneys can’t effectively cover their caseloads. |
Shouldn't be refusing many cases. Grandstanding.
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You're probably right. I wonder what forced the newspaper to adopt the public defender's grandstanding claim as fact in its headline?
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Helen & Harry
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Whatever he damn well pleases
Re Band-aid on a bullet wound
I'm sorry, have you lived this man's life? Who are you that you can tell another human being how they "have" to think and what to do with their life? Are you God or some other sort of religious figure? I'm amazed. This man can rationalize HIS life any way he wants because it's HIS life. Move onto someone or something else. At 70 I say he can do whatever he damn well pleases. How about YOU put that "tell people what to do" energy into something more productive within YOUR own life please and thank you.
House calls
This is the 2008 schedule. Sorry, no expeditions planned to Wisconsin. They are concentrating on Appalachia.
Remote Area Medical Expeditions
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Absolutely groovy. Looks like they're doing good work, and in general I don't doubt that Appalachia needs no-cost health care more than the capitol of Wisconsin. And as a complete cat lady whose kitty-cat is definitely part of the family, I'm still a little surprised that they include no-cost veterinary visits.
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Helen & Harry
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Words cannot describe
by Herb Ruhs, MD
| June 5, 2008 |
We, including me, continue to do ourselves a disservice by referring to the powers that control the US as a "government." What these people are doing conforms in no way to what is conventionally understood to constitute a government. It is hard to know what to call it. The most exact descriptor I can come up with is an organized criminal confidence game, perpetrated on an immense scale. It would be nice to have a single word to represent this reality.
On the other hand, it is useful to remember that a key feature of this vast conspiracy is its tremendous investment in propaganda. Propaganda, at its core, is the process of destroying language as an effective tool for describing reality. So the fact that we have trouble finding language to describe what is going on, is just part of what is going on.
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Just finished reading THE NEARLY UNFATHOMABLE DEPTHS OF PENTAGON CORRUPTION, By Bob Chapman from Carolyn Baker's web site. I have no way to independently verify the facts presented in this very LONG article. It could be all fiction as far as I know, but there are a lot of names, times and dates included that could be used to impeach this article if they were made up from whole cloth.
But whether fiction or non-fiction, it does ring true. Based on my experience in Viet Nam during the war everything here is entirely plausible. I put a lot of energy into NOT knowing these sorts of things when I was wandering around in a theater of war in order to protect myself. Knowing such things is deadly. It is certainly true that honest, patriotic people working in the intelligence services are in a very tight spot these days.
I recommend this article to anyone interested in a compelling story and, of course, to all conspiracy buffs.
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Herb Ruhs, MD
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Israel gets its war on
by The Canadian
| June 5, 2008 |
I couldn't have said it better myself:
As things look, Israel may well attack Iran soon
The author is, to say the least, is very highly regarded.
Are those Hillary supporters for real?
by Aunt Clara
| June 5, 2008 |
More and more in the [talk radio] calls, I'm hearing really sheer stupidity from people who identify themselves as "Hillary supporters". They're so heartbroken or angry that Hillary didn't win the Democratic nomination, they're talking about voting for John McCain instead. ... Click for more ...
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Aunt Clara
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Planatary void
I never thought that the electoral college was democratic. A representative government should rely on popular vote, to my way of thinking.
Sometimes I wonder if planet earth is one big asylum, the sane members of our race actually living on a utopian planet and we were banned at some point. We live here now trying to decipher the Mad Hatters' riddles. I don't remember the other planet, but I miss it.
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I know that feeling but I can't describe it as well ...
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Helen & Harry
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Scenes from a group Presidency
by JR Mooneyham
| June 5, 2008 |
And lots of things simply cannot be done by a single person, anyway. No matter how expert or strong or fast they are. Or given all the time in the world. One is not just the loneliest number; it's the most helpless, too. ... Click for more ...
White like Limbaugh
Limbaugh on Obama: His "only chance of winning is that he's black"| |
Excerpt: On his radio program, while discussing Sen. Barack Obama's presidential candidacy, Rush Limbaugh asserted that the Democratic Party was "go[ing] with a veritable rookie whose only chance of winning is that he's black." |
Uh... does that imply that a white guy in similar circumstances would have no chance of winning ?? Which would also imply that white guys are a bunch of losers like yourself.
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Clinton preparing to drop out of Presidential race| |
Excerpt: Sen. Hillary Clinton will hold an event with supporters by Friday, likely ending her historic bid for the White House and ceding the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama, ABC News has learned. |
I'll believe when I see it. However, the sad part of all of this is that her candidacy and tactics have likely hurt the next woman who decides to run for president from either party. People will look back and remember and say to themselves, "Do we really want to go through with this again ?". Definitely a setback for women.
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Helen & Harry
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And even then ...
by Marshall S.
| June 5, 2008 |
Cheney makes incest joke about West Virginians| |
Excerpt: Vice President Dick Cheney has apologized through his spokeswoman for making an offhand joke during a speech at the National Press Club Monday stereotyping West Virginia as a state prone to incest. |
When someone points at others, often it's they who are guilty of it.
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Soros sounds alarm on oil ‘bubble’| |
Excerpt: Billionaire investor George Soros is to tell US lawmakers on Tuesday that “a bubble in the making” is under way in oil and other commodities and that commodity indices are not a legitimate asset class for institutional investors. |
If it brings prices down, it's OK with me.
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Protest against US troops in Peru| |
Excerpt: Non-governmental organizations in Peru have called for a general strike to protest against the government's decision to allow US troops helping the civil administration to carry arms. |
The CIA has a huge presence in Peru. Time for them to get out the machine guns?
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