Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion.
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"News that's not known, or not known enough." Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion. |
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On Obama's "death panels" by Hazel Burke Accused of lying about health care, Fox host … lies about health care According to what I have read, the "death panel" proposal in healthcare reform is nothing more than Medicare funding for counseling about creating a "living will". This is very important for individuals, and it is important to the country — though I wonder about government sponsored counseling, and there is justification for being suspicious about anything coming out of our Congress. The reason individuals may want to be concerned about how their final days are handled is that medicine is industrialized these days and "The System" seems to be engineered so that old people are institutionalized against their will. You can go into just about any nursing home and find old people strapped into their beds, wearing adult diapers full of urine and feces (yada yada...) Last year my friend, "Jerry" (fake name) went through this. He was a healthy 70 year old until he contracted food poisoning while visiting his sons over the holidays. At the nearby hospital, something happened — perhaps a medical error — and he nearly died. When they finally pulled him out of the death spiral he had suffered some temporary damage to his mental capacities. So he ended up in a rehab hospital. After that he was shipped to a nursing home. Even though he pleaded with the nursing home and his sons to be allowed to return to his own home, the professional opinion was that he needed round the clock nursing care and they advised against him going back home. Even though he owned his own home, free and clear, and was a very wealthy man, with stock accounts, pension, social security income, etc., he was trapped in this nursing home! He could afford to hire his own nurses, but "The System" didn't want this to take place... perhaps because they were charging him $5000 a month to share a bedroom with another nursing home prisoner! To make the story short, with some assistance from friends and a lawyer who took the case on just a telephone promise of payment, eventually Jerry was allowed to go home, which is where he wanted to be! And, in fact, after just a few months at home he passed away. Yes, the nursing home might have been able to keep him alive for much longer, but he was miserable there and just wanted to go home. I believe in allowing people to choose how they want to live and die. But "Big Medicine" treats dying like a team sport where the doctors and nurses get to spend unlimited amounts of money — until the patient is broke — to maintain a semblance of life. Quality of life is not Big Medicine's objective. They're concerned about duration of life and revenue maximization. The nursing home Jerry was in is a good nursing home. There are many which are worse, I am sure. But it wasn't HOME. To Jerry it was prison. We should all be concerned about topics like these because one day we will all be old. One of my major life goals is to die at home, with a bit of dignity. So you can be sure that I will be having my lawyer prepare a living will... it seems like a wise thing to do because the alternatives are horrible. Reply from Helen & Harry: The story ends with death but under the circumstances that's a happy ending. Thanks for telling us about this — it must've been hard for you too, and it gave me goose bumps and made my eyes water up. Some things in life are so damned obvious it's just heartbreaking to think that we still have to argue with an opposition. Like, of course you should be able to choose the circumstances of your own death. And, of course people should be free to travel, and of course free to choose what they smoke, eat, drink, or inject, and free to do anything else the broadest sane restraints, and of course war should be a last resort and never an easy matter, and of course capitalism must be sternly regulated and corporations kept from becoming kingdoms, and of course theocracy is a bad thing and church and state must be separated, and of course people in a civilized society shouldn't die of easily treatable diseases and injuries, and on and on and on, and always of course. And of course, claims of "death panels" from Sarah Palin and other batsh*t crazy batsh*tters are just more batsh*t. If anybody's running "death panel" in America, it’s United Heath and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. We can't count on any of them for help by David M. Re If health care loses again, what then? Yes, what...indeed...then? (You can't see it, but I'm stroking my beard reflectively). Unfortunately, I have no fear of contradiction when I say the first part of your question should be rephrased as "When healthcare loses..." That is partially because, as you so astutely put it: "...the President is a pansy." But your overall question is very good and not limited only to healthcare. We Americans of a progressive bent must realize that this same question also applies to alternative energy, the environment, the war, the economy, unemployment, education, and other issues ad nauseum. One thing is for darn sure: we cannot count on the corporate-funded government nor their corporate owners to get us the solutions we need. Name the issue facing America and be assured any hint of sanity will instantly be greeted by a consortium of right-wing political nuts who are manipulated by criminal big-business. And they are abetted at every step by the so-called "liberal" Democrats and the so-called "liberal" media. Since nearly every mainstream media outlet and politician is owned lock, stock, and barrel by the economic elite — they are the proverbial "wolves in sheeps' clothing." It would actually be surprising if they supported populism. No, we can't count on any of them for help. So, if we can't count on them, what do we do? We face facts: Our country is in about 40-years'-worth of deep doo-doo and the system is broken from bottom to top. We elected Obama and a Democratic majority to fix it, but they have shown themselves to be unequal to the task. The Republicans already disqualified themselves from leadership. We want to preserve our Constitutional form of government, which functions well when it is allowed to function unhindered by the moneyed-interests. Therefore, our only course of action is to do all we can to encourage third party candidates and vote them into office. This will break the stranglehold the two corporate parties have on our government. Then, to insure that our public servants stay clean, we must immediately pass legislation to remove private finance entirely from our political process. It will be a big job but we have no option. Meanwhile, awaiting the day when ordinary people re-take governance, we must all strive to make ourselves the best human beings we can be. Set a good example: Practice kindness and compassion, help others and ourselves to reach full potential, reject the culture of greed and cruelty. Reply from Helen & Harry: I can't add anything of substance. You've briefly summarized the way it is as well as anyone since Cronkite, and you've offered a realistic option and a viable awake individual's path. It's going to take a lot of years and a lot of effort to make a third party viable on the national level, and even assuming tireless work by multitudes of principled activists I'll be dead before that task is accomplished — but that doesn't make your advice any less wise. Let's get to it. All indications are that the coming "health care reform" will be a complete capitulation to Big Insurance, but to be absolutely certain I'm going to wait and watch the sell-out as it happens. A meaningful public option is the namby-pambyest possible compromise that means anything, and if that isn't included in the final bill then I'll show up at a Green Party meeting and see if those are my people, and if they are I'm going Green. Reply from David M.: That sounds like a good plan to me. Maybe I'll take another look at the Greens, too. I haven't paid attention to them since I voted for Nader in 2000. Yes, it's going to take a lot of work and, since I'm 51 now, it's doubtful our society will make a comeback in my lifetime either. I've spent decades now writing letters, going to protest marches, and generally sounding like an aging loon... but so what, I'm just getting warmed-up! Reply from Helen & Harry: It was the same situation for us — Nader in 2000, and he was the best candidate. Pitchforks and torches by 10018Will Re If health care loses again, what then? The pitchforks and torches. Sooner or latter someone will lose someone that's irreplaceable and know who to blame and where they live and how much money they made by denying health coverage. It would only be a matter of time. Enough bitter people whom have had the taste of injustice in going bankrupt or not being able to care for a loved one and it would be a seeds for a violent revolution. Torture in the national interest by Wig UK defends using intel from torture to save lives I take it the argument is now: We don't engage in torture but we will take info obtained via torture because it is in the "national interest". As long as someone other than us does the torture it is acceptable. It seems to me that eventually this rationalization leads to the slippery slope of we might as well do likewise since our "national interest" is paramount. Re "but the opposition has no human beings with souls and the Democrats have damned few." I have to question who you mean as Democrats here. If you are referring to the so-called members of the so-called Democratic Party I guess you're correct. However, if you mean a democrat as defined by the dictionary ( democrat 1. an adherent of democracy; hence, one who practices social equality.) I have deep reservations. Re "the left-wing's wingnuts are typing blogs (why, hello there) while the right-wing's wingnuts are millionaires hosting daily radio and television shows." LOL!!!!! Not to mention their tear-jerking complaint that taxing the rich for anything is hamstringing "small business". BTW, Just what is small business really in today's "World Economy"? Outside of the Fast Food business (most local small restaurants have bit the dust) what's left of what used to be called "mom & pop" businesses that haven't been run out by Wal-Mart? Of course, I forgot, there is the sudden influx of Fitness Clubs. Reply from Helen & Harry: I don't know diddly about gyms and working out, but aren't most of the fitness clubs franchise operations, too? Between franchising and the humongousization of American business and the paper millionaires of speculation and derivatives, what's called capitalism in the 2000s is completely different and exponentially more soul-numbing and rotten than the capitalism of fifty years ago. Me, I'm a capitalist of fifty years ago, not a capitalist of today. Re Democrats, I meant Democrats in Congress, not just Democrats, and that's what I should've said. Reply from Wig: Of course you're right. What I was trying to say is that there isn't that many of what used to be called mom and pop operations. What is now considered "small businesses" is actually franchises. So the neocon claptrap about "small businesses" being the engine of job creation is poppycock baloney. The engines of job creation have left our shores and found suckers who will work for less than even the "right to work" labor in this country. And the irony is that the products of that foreign workforce are then sent to this country to be sold at prices even higher than when produced here before. So where is the 9.5% of the US workforce currently unemployed going to find jobs? And are those jobs going to pay a sufficient wage to be able to purchase a $30-$40,000 car or a $200-$300,000 house? And laughable is the propaganda that inflation is minimal. When Wal-Mart has green peppers on sale for 98 cents each, I'm beginning to wonder if I can even afford to buy my groceries there. Reply from Helen & Harry: And what really bags a frying pan across my forehead is that none of this has been anything but obvious. Everyone saw this coming, years and years ago. When did you first read a news article about the growing trend of "outsourcing" American jobs to foreign countries where workers could be paid a pittance? For me I think it was the late 1980s, and the first response — my first response, and the response of thinking people inside and outside the mainstream — was that this is a dangerous idea. From Day One, it was as plain as a big ol' pimple on the tip of your nose — every time American jobs are exported our society comes closer to an irreparable tipping point, when Americans' wallets will no longer be able to support the American economy we've become accustomed to. There are of course other factors in the current recession, but a hell of a lot of people are working for a fraction of what they made before their jobs were outsourced, and that's a big factor in the economic mess, and it's not going away. Reply from Wig: I didn't read about it. I became aware of it in the late '70's when GM outsourced the trim jobs from the Fisher Body Plant I was working at in Cleveland. The trim department was mostly composed of women running the sewing machines. Their jobs were sent to Mexico. The Cleveland Plant was the last GM Plant that was on piece work. When we refused to give up the piece work GM shut the plant down (in '82) and forced us to go to other plants and work at half the pay we were making or to go on the unemployment line. But actually other industries began to first transfer their operations to the southern states which had "Right to Work" legislation and which offered great tax relief packages. From there the outsourcing began to Mexico and then to the far east. Reply from Helen & Harry: That's infuriating to me, and probably past that for you. Multiply it by millions and millions and millions, and how can anyone think it won't sink the US economy? Of course, the people running companies like GM don't give half a fart about the US or its economy, even as it means there are fewer and fewer Americans who can afford to buy GM's cars. There is no right to health care by jtjathomps Re If health care loses again, what then? You put on your big boy pants, and take care of yourself like the rest of us. The government is not your mommy, and there is no right to health care — you buy it yourself, same as food and shelter. Reply from Helen & Harry: I don't agree but I respect the argument, especially since I used to make that argument myself, but I've slowly evolved from libertarian to freedom-lover, which is not at all the same thing. It's self-evident to me that if we the people are willing to band together as a society and form armies to keep us safe from invaders and police and fire departments to help protect our properties, it's no less essential to protect our health. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are moot points when a random cancer or bacteria can wipe out everything, and an insurance bureaucrat can cancel your policy and leave you to die.
They appear blind to reality by Lionel Reebenhoffer What's happening now is extraordinary. People have forgotten the crisis and are piling back into speculative investments. Last Friday Jim Cramer of CNBC was pounding the table with a buy recommendation on Citibank. And, who knows, he
It doesn't help either that Congress is in complete denial about their historical and ongoing efforts to destroy America's future. They appear blind to reality. Just really wretched governance! For example: Long-term, costly US Afghan effort expected I mean, come on! We're going to be there for decades squandering trillions of dollars, and for what? To create more enemies? Last Friday the U.S. Dollar make a big bounce upward and it may be that this bounce will continue for a few weeks or so. That is an interesting development because it gives *everyone* another chance to be the Smart Money and sell dollars to the Dumb Money crowd. Yippee. Spiraling health costs will sink the country by on2them Re If health care loses again, what then? We are fucked, collectively. Our spiraling health costs will sink the country, rich and poor. Scroll down memory lane by Joe G. This discussion about life in communist Europe is going on in a forum I frequent. Kinda random that I'd send you this link, but I found this fascinating. Reply from Helen & Harry: I'm kinda random, and that was very worth a click, thanks. Several people telling interesting stories of a time and place we'll never see, thankfully, with lots of aspects of life under communism that had never occurred to me. Powerful unknown news by Jim B. Here's a good one by the author of Nickel and Dimed. I seem to remember that you posted a story about five years ago, called "Is it against the law to be homeless?" -or something like that. Powerful unknown news. Is it now a crime to be poor? The millionaires in Congress stick together by Elliot Cook A hell of a lot of elected 'Democrats' are Democrats only because they're a few inches to the left of the cro magnon Republicans in their district, and when push comes to shove, the millionaires in Congress stick together, regardless of their alleged party affiliations. A country of health losers by elvisliveson Re If health care loses again, what then? Health care doesn't lose. 95% of Americans do. America becomes a country of health losers who are a job, chronic illness, or accident away from being denied medical care and faced with paying cash for medical costs for themselves or their children until bankruptcy is the only option out, and certain worsening and death shortly after. Plain and simple as that. For example
Matt Taibbi's article creates a tsunami of outrage by Carlotta The Columbia Journalism Review is weighing in on Matt Taibbi's muckraking gonzo-style article, The Great American Bubble Machine. I've excerpted a favorite paragraph from the CJR article, below. You can read the latest, and probably the final author responses at Taibbi's blog, here:
The "Establishment" is trying to make this shit go away, with a series of limited hangouts (admitting a little while denying the rest.) This shit isn't going away. For all the talk about "recovery", the fact remains that unless the government — Fed, Fannie/Freddie, FHLB, and the Treasury — generates at least two trillion of ADDITIONAL new (phony money) credit each year on top of the previous pile of credit, the economy will implode... this is the new "Bailout Bubble", in progress. There is No Fucking Way this ends up like an episode of Leave It To Beaver where "The Beav" (played by Wall Street and the bankers) learns his lesson and everyone lives happily ever after. The long term economic adjustments are really just beginning. This is, at best, the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end of the "recession".
Reply from Helen & Harry: No room for even an inch of disagreement with any of that. What is it with these so-called "reporters"? by Wig A French revelation, or the burning Bush George W. Bush sees (still) himself as an instrument of "God". He sort of reminds me of the religious fruitcake character played by Telly Savalas in "The Dirty Dozen".
What is it with these so-called "reporters" who just happen to be captured (because of "regrettable mistake") where they shouldn't be? Reply from Helen & Harry: What is it? I'm not sure I understand the question, and I don't see a pattern. Some captured reporters are undoubtedly spies who wander across borders quite intentionally, some are reporters who wander across borders quite intentionally, some don't wander where they're not welcome at all but get arrested anyway because they're reporters ... Reply from Wig: We just had Bill Clinton going to North Korea to rescue 2 reporters who "wandered" over the border. Now we have three "reporters" who "inadvertently" wander into Iran. If it was an ordinary tourist not aware of the international boarders, I wouldn't be suspicious; but people who are supposedly reporters of world news not knowing where they are somehow rings false. Will Clinton now go to Iran and rescue these three? And, as a bonus, open up a new avenue of communication? Mandatory vaccines? by Patrick So I read the bit on CNN.com about NORTHCOM's proposal to Robert Gates, and while the whole swine flu thing sounds thoroughly trumped up and another chance for reckless greedy pharmaceuticals to scare millions into untested vaccinations, I haven't read anything to corroborate the rumor wildly spreading here in Appalachia that vaccines may/will become mandatory with military/police enforcement. That one line in the press release that the use of actual troops will be determined later as necessary seems to be the hinge upon which people could swing from deducing "hey that would violate posse comitatus and is scary and repulsive" to "we'll soon have martial law and mandatory shots." I didn't see anything on swine flu in the "it's been debunked" section, and am just curious as to what you know and think on this subject. As always, thanks so much for yall's time and effort in making my favorite news site. Reply from Helen & Harry: It never occurs to me to bang out a new "debunk" entry until some strangely-scented story has hit me at least several times. I've only heard the one about sending troops to enforce martial law in the event of a swine flu pandemic once or twice, so it hasn't gotten on my nerves yet. Just stating the obvious, though, there have been occasional rumors that the military would be sent in to enforce martial law since I was about twenty years old, and that, ahem, was not recently. As more a matter of policy than paranoia, it's just plain wrong and foolish to send the military as a response to a stateside emergency. The tradition in emergencies is to send in the National Guard, a slightly but definitely different thing. Of course, huge chunks of the National Guard are at war instead of guarding the nation, but that's a whole 'nother stupidity. As for swine flu itself, from all the evidence I've seen it certainly seems like something to worry about. It's not just another loopy panic, like flesh-eating bacteria or bird flu a few years back. Like most Americans, I'm still a little unsure what I'm supposed to do about swine flu, but I refuse to call it H-one-N-one. I'm taking multi-vitamins, I've purchased a small supply of surgical-quality face masks (which I'm not wearing yet, but I like to be prepared), and if a vaccine becomes available at a reasonable price I'll probably get the shot. If the shot is mandatory I'll be less willing to comply because making things mandatory almost anything sticks in my freedom-lovin' craw, but I'll weigh the facts at that time and try to make a decision based on health and common sense more than my own obstinance. You seem to be a highly intelligent person, as evidenced by your choice to read Unknown News, so let me ask — what's your perspective on all of this?
The RowdyRebNecks by Siskiyousis Okay, so I have seen the Ratpug flash-mob moves for three days running on the GlassTeat, and have finally decided what I can do: write a personal letter to my local Rep,
I have to laugh at the outrage from the Demos by Austin Heiber Bruce Sterling publishes a Demo party document and interjects commentary of his own about the flash-mob tactics being used to disrupt Democrat "town hall meetings". (see below) I have to laugh at the outrage from the Demos. When Bush II reigned, protestors didn't get within 1000 miles of a political venue--and anyone who looked like a possible protestor was ejected and/or jailed! And did the Democratic Party do anything? Negative. Just like they did nothing to stop the other Bush abuses and crimes. And is there any wonder that Obama's approval rating is down to 50%? He BURNED the "left", just like the other Demos did as he sucked up to the hard right seeking the middle way. So now that the hard right is playing hardball to screw Obama over by defeating healthcare reform, Obama's former "lefty" supporters just kick back and eat pretzels, watching the show on TV: fuck him, who gives a shit anyway ... It’s wingnut mob versus party apparatus in the American Civil Cold War Reply from Helen & Harry: Sterling is a useful contrarian, but today he's at least partially wrong. I'll give him and you plenty, thought: The Democrats are a flaccid joke in almost every regard, and any document from the Democratic Party is probably full of crap, and that particular letter seems just plain sad and weak and mockworthy, and the Dems were true to their cowardly selves when they said nothing as the Bush-Cheney administration made public meetings into private rallies, and the civil rights movement provided the tactical blueprint for much of the pro-life crowd.
But Sterling says the anti-health meeting disruptors aren't astroturf and implies that the Dems do the same thing, and that's just silly. For a lot of things there's an equivalence on both sides but for some things there's not. These are crowds ginned up on lies, lies told in mass-media by a choir of liars all singing the same tune, and that doesn't happen without a big-money choir director. In this case it's FreedomWorks, an outfit with big-money backing and with Dick Armey in charge, that sent the emails and pays the bus drivers and designed the tactics (pdf) we're seeing. There's no equivalent of that on the left, and these incidents aren't "grass-roots" unless that term is redefined to have no real meaning.
Embroidered polo shirts? by Mahdi Abdul Finkelstein
Embroidered polo shirts? Nice way to spend money while stripping poor children of health care ... Reply from Helen & Harry: I used to bristle at characterizations of California as kooky when I lived there, but Arnold changed that, and in the economic crunch he's lost all pretense of being human and become his most famous character from the movies ... Reply from Siskiyousis: And knowing orders of that magnitude, the state really screwed down the price so her margin was waay under 5%... she basically paid THEM to do their thankless and unpaid work. Now that everyone else is feeling the pain that 'umble garment-decorators live with daily, I am SO dammed glad that I am OUT of CA and that particular grinding business forever. No sales tax here. Of course, the Franchise Tax Board will say they have nothing to do with the department that ordered the shirts -- the usual pass-it-around bureaucracy where no one ever takes responsibility for anything once they pass their three-month mark and are useless, entitled baggage on the state rolls forever. It's disgusting. And it's wrong. by Custodian at Platypus Maximus Media Filter The continuing criminalization of drug users and offenders and their enslavement in prisons is one of my primary beefs. Currently, there are nearly 3 million Americans behind bars, and many more millions supervised by probation, parole, etc. This is a massive economy in which the myriad financial interests -- law enforcement employees, correctional officers, lawyers/prosecutors, bureaucrats, fat-cow vendors feasting on jail/prison business and supervision, et.al., and they do all they can to ensure their jobs are safe and expanding and ever-advancing in pay and perks. It's disgusting. And it's wrong. Ah, making me angry now thinking about it. Not to mention the fanatical mothers against drunk drivers, with all those judges in their pockets. It's gone way too far ... If we want to make the streets safe for drunk drivers, we should shut down all the bars and clubs and alcohol establishments which rely on streets and expressways for their patrons to dump all that alcohol sales billions into the coffers, with the sales taxes going to buy new police cars and equipment to arrest anyone they can get in their DUI Task Force command posts ... Reply from Helen & Harry: Well, we tried something similar to that in this country, and in less than fifteen years Americans wised up enough to see that it was counterproductive. Prohibition only works as an enormous ongoing incentive to the underground economy. Everything about the drug war is a kick in the nuts to Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, or whatever founding father or freedom fighter anyone admires. It's also, of course, a whopping huge waste of humanity and money and police time, courtrooms, prison space, etc. It's one of so many topics that make me angry just thinking about it. Probably my biggest failure as an activist is that I've never settled down and worked on just one issue — there are always so many outrages, damn it ... Reply from Custodian at Platypus Maximus Media Filter: Can I ever relate. I have, however, dedicated some time to visiting and corresponding with the many good people in Texas prisons (the second-biggest prison system in the nation behind California). Hearbreaking, it is, to see how so many lives, families and children have been so needlessly devastated by our unfair, unjust and fantastically ill-guided "justice" system. The first-hand accounts of corruption, brutality and ruined lives I have encountered are enough to make any humanistic, compassionate and rational American want to revolt. Another missed point by ig'nant Republican Bible-thumpers: Jesus wanted to FREE the prisoners. Reply from Helen & Harry: The Bible-thumpers miss a lot of points, and the whole moral of the story. I want to say they should stop thumpin' it and start reading it, but they only read it with a willful desire to mangle the meaning, so what's the point? In most of my moods I wouldn't call myself a Christian, but I was raised in the church and it's a happy memory and I generally think of Christianity as a force for good in the world, though Christ knows there's plenty of evidence to the contrary. And a little like Christ himself, it pisses me off to see people taking his name in vain, which is what each and every famous Christian of our time from the Jerry Falwell to the Pope is doing. As for prison visits, I admire that activism but it's never been mine. I have three brothers and two were incarcerated in their late teens and early twenties, so my earliest visits to prison were when I was very young, very impressionable, and indeed it made an impression on me. It made me terrified, not of the people who find themselves locked behind bars, but of the people who choose to lock those bars for a living. Reply from Custodian at Platypus Maximus Media Filter: I seem continually struck about we share very similar views. Christianity is a force of good in the world, and a vast majority of Christians are humble and unassuming folks who are disgusted by other so-called Christians running angrily amok in self-righteous hostility and ill will, proclaiming they are God-appointed custodians and enforcers of morality. I know the Bible quite well, and many things in the Old and New Testaments can be taken out of context for self-serving interests. Yet, as a whole, I find nothing in the "Good News" part of the book that suggests Jesus's teachings advocated the empowerment of the wealthy and powerful to hold sway over the masses, the persecution and killing of Muslims and homosexuals, or the imprisonment of those who partake of mind-altering substances or suffer from drug/alcohol addiction. Am I missing something? Most Christians understand this and simply do good works without expectations on those who are helped. But I don't think Jesus, himself, thought it a good idea for theocracy or the "Church" to rule the minions. After all, the combination of philistinism and imperialism brought about his crucifixion, did it not? And, I seem to recall, Paul had a lot to say about false churches. Religion has no place in government, period, unless you enjoy witch burnings. Reply from Helen & Harry: Paul had his lucid moments, and I don't think he'd be charmed by what passes for Christian leadership these days. The clever can always hoodwink the fools, of course, and I submit America as exhibit one. Hoodwinkery is no less to be expected in religion than in other endeavors and perhaps more, since religion by definition requires no evidence. Hoodwinkery is what happens every Sunday morning on the preacher shows and 24 hours a day on the preacher channels and, to a less odious extent, in some charlatan churches. But yeah, everything I know and remember about Christianity tells me that the loudest professed Christians of our time have never met the New Testament God I was raised to believe in. They seem to know the Old Testament God much better. Seems to me, though, that since the New Testament is where Christ enters the plot, where the word Christianity traces its roots, Christ should be part of any Christian doctrine. I'm pretty sure that if Christ came strolling through America today, he'd be on my side of every major political issue, but I'm sure the hate crowd tells themselves the same thing, and envisions Christ throwing the first stone in the brutal execution of the gays, the abortionists, the promiscuous, the heavy drinkers, the peaceniks, the Jews, the Democrats, and the otherwise unorthodox. The long history of Christianity is at least as much about intolerance and cruelty as about anything Christ himself taught, and who am I to argue with the Inquisition? I'm no theologist or even a theist so what do I know? All I can say for certain is that if I'm stuck spending eternity with Christians like John Hagee, Tim LaHaye, Josh McDowell, or Joseph Ratzinger, then clearly I've been condemned to Hell. Reply from Custodian at Platypus Maximus Media Filter: I am in complete agreement, as usual. :) Are not these televangelists the proverbial moneychangers in the temple? I think so. My favorite, by far, is the incomparable Benny Hinn: LOL What a gas this guy is! He has, among other things, promised that Jesus Himself will appear at one of his concert arena revivals. What a card. http://www.youtube.com/v/5lvU-DislkI&hl=en&fs=1& Reply from Helen & Harry: Benny Hinn was great, though I haven't seen him in several years. And who was the hyper-optimistic guy, who always ended his show with a line like, "Something wonderful is going to happen to you!" My Google on that phrase isn't finding him, so I must have it wrong ... My favorites charlatans were the local televangelists, when I lived in Seattle and later San Francisco. The local locos seemed a little wackier than their national counterparts, though I know that sounds implausible. In the 1980s in Seattle, I especially enjoyed laughing at the Kruse (spelling?) brothers, who had hair from at least three decades earlier and a combination stilted yet hyper-hyped delivery that always cracked me up. Are there still local televangenists? I haven't seen any in the town where I've been living for five years. Maybe it's like the rest of corporate capitalism, and most of the local mom & pop charlatans have been driven out of business by the giant multi-national charlatans...
We are all Kenyans now by SirJ Now we all can be born in Kenya! This makes a very impressive fake certificate. Except for the part which says "certified fake", it looks as genuine as the one claiming to be Obama's Kenyan birth certificate. Training Day by Theo Lipschitz Stuff to think aboutTM :-) The movie Training Day may have seemed totally unbelievable to average American viewers, but after seeing it twice I wouldn't be surprised if it was written as a fictionalized documentary about the Los Angeles Rampart police scandal. Denzel Washington is superb and SCARY in his role as the evil, super-genius narco cop, Alonzo Harris. Reply from Helen & Harry: Never saw it. It looked depressing and all too real... Reply from Theo Lipschitz: It is the flip side of Man On Fire (also w/Denzel). I recommend both of them. Highly. But only if you like Denzel. He is a piece of work, haha. Reply from Helen & Harry: He is dreamy, no doubt about that ...
Heidi Papademetriou
We say it all the time, but I'll say it again: Freedom of speech is precious and even liars and hatemongers like Beck and Limbaugh must have freedom of speech — but freedom of microphone is something entirely different. # Hey guys! Just wanted to get back in touch and tell you how impressed — as always — I am with today's new batch of Unknown News. RE: The executive bonus story ... This is indeed criminal. The leadership of these bailout financial giants, of course, will stick to the reasoning that retaining "talent" and rewarding their best executives and employees is critical to the future success of their companies. But this is a ruse. It's a lie they've made themselves partially believe, I'm sure. The truth? It's about the lifestyles and luxuries enjoyed by all those in the highly paid corporate club — it's about keeping the big houses, country club memberships and all the perks that come with carrying such positions. It's about staying rich and getting richer. A lot of folks may think that couldn't be true, but it is. Just like it's true that Iraq was and is about the preserving the wealth and power of Big Oil. If it was about ethics, principles and responsibility, pay rates would be frozen until the red turns to black. But nobody wants to tow that line; they must be ensured the gravy train will never stop gaining momentum, or they'll leave for greener pastures. It's gross. But that's the reality of it. Thinking I might write about this soon on Platypus Maximus Media Filter, and give a link to your post on Unknown News. You guys are awesome. Custodian at Platypus Maximus Media Filter My investments are rice and batteries and canned food, but if I was of the investor class I'd be unable to muster any confidence in the American economic system. The books are cooked everywhere, top executives seem to be looking out for themselves more than their companies, and there's far less regulation than the minimum needed to ensure that any company's numbers can be believed. If I had millions or billions to invest, I'd be looking for a foreign economy that seemed functional, and from a casual perspective an early nominee would be Canada...Canada would be great — a lot of good-paying jobs there. I've also been intrigued by the very high standard of living in Norway and Sweden. If I had the means and wasn't tied down with family obligations, me and the wife would probably be relocating overseas. The combination of financial greed, the sickeningly morphed nature of American entertainment and news media, the increasingly oppressive Law Enforcement/Prison Industrial Complex, and the Halliburton Invasion of Iraq are enough to make me want to jump ship. Alas, one could scarcely label me as a patriot. BTW, have you been following the amazing story of Blackwater? Now, the mercenary corporation's CEO and founder, Erik Prince, is being accused of murdering informants who were going to testify about Blackwater's crimes. I find it stunning that a guy whose family was ultra-rightwing religious fundamentalists, and who apparently views Iraq as a new holy war crusade against Muslims, would be able to amass such a mercenary empire and be given the freedom to carry out his demented agendas. (Apparently, US intelligence agencies farm out 70 percent of work to private contractors. That is scary.) If this stuff shakes out to be all true, it's gotta be one of the most atrocious scandals ever, IMO. Yet, it seems that mainstream media are hesitant to pick up this story that was broke by The Nation. So far ... Custodian at Platypus Maximus Media Filter Yeah, we're following the Blackwater saga, and yeah, just ... yeah. It all gets wearisome, doesn't it? # Re Harold Meyerson, who says, "Suppose we can no longer address the major challenges confronting the nation. Suppose America is now the world's leading can't-do country. .." Imagine how Britain felt when USA had to save it from Nazis. The close of the American century is a nice way of saying the end of the USA Empire. The Blue Rajah I hope so. I hope so. # I was born in Hawaii ten years after Barack Obama. My husband was born here too, six years before me. Both of our birth certificates are "certificates of live birth" that look exactly like Obama's, with only the data different because guess what? It's the standard form — a birth certificate — which is a certificate of live birth — they're the same thing — and it's real. If it says you were born in Honolulu you were born in Honolulu damn it. Birthercrazies imagine Hawaii's State Department of Health is involved in making fake birth certificates and covering up some sort of baby-smuggling operation but guess what? The state of Hawaii doesn't go out of its way to make things easy on haoles, especially not a haole married to a black man, and double especially not a haole in 1961 married to a black man. I would add get real but getting real is beyond the birthercrazies. If freakazoids on the right make it absolutely necessary, our state legislature could conceivably pass some special loophole to the law making it legal to release copies of Obama's day-of-birth papers. At present such a release would be illegal — a violation of privacy laws even if Obama specifically asked that the document be released. Obama isn't dumb enough to ask for such legislation authorizing a release of documents that the public is not supposed to see, but the Hawaii legislature is probably stupid enough to pass it. Doing so would of course accomplish nothing — except make the birthercrazies proud of their accomplishments and give them a new state document to disbelieve. It would be better for America if we let the situation sit — let the birthercrazies keep making fools of themselves — let the right-wing radio and TV hatemongers keep hyperventilating — and let the world keep seeing the inner workings of the right-wing wacko mind. Gloria Denham PS. Please don't append this to that strange conversation about birtherism with SirJ. I am not responding to SirJ — this is intended as stand-alone commentary on the birther phenomenon. Your patient responses were exemplary but that's a lost cause before the conversation starts, like trying to talk sense to Hare Krishnas — once someone has decided to believe all you can do is take the flower and walk away. Thank you. You're not talking to SirJ in your comments, so I'll add that I'm not talking about SirJ in my reply. I'm talking about the problem of birtherism, because it's a real problem and it's getting worse. # Just because it's silly and funny: The Constitution says Obama can't be President. And neither could Reagan. Sherri B. # Re the coming pay wall for newspapers: They will all have to give away some of the news for free, much as the porn sites give away samples to lure in paying customers. Most of the news sources are emulating many of the features of the porn business model already. Factual reality no longer matters. Truth no longer matters. Shallow, tantalizing, provocative bits of fluff lacking in substance. It's no longer journalism. It's sensationalism. It's porn. Re salad without salad dressing I put chili or canned pink salmon on top of salad instead of salad dressing. Re Boeing 787 composite plastic plane fails stress test The testing standards used today leave me unimpressed. Boeing dropped a piece of their plane from an altitude of 15 feet. Because the test results matched what was expected, they will rely on computer models for future tests instead of doing the real thing. The piece of fuselage fell all of fifteen feet and that is deemed sufficient to simulate a real world event!
SirJ My pop was an engineer for Boeing, and stress tests on parts was a lot of what he talked about at dinner. He knew aerodynamics inside out. He was always explaining in ways that seemed sensible to me why one jet's design was superbly safe while another left a lot to be desired, and his descriptions of stress tests were pretty impressive — nobody in his department was satisfied unless every part was able to pass tests in excess of all reasonable stress expectations. I don't think my pop would be impressed by a fifteen foot drop.What would happen if Obama were born in Kenya? NOTHING!
As you can see, the "natural born citizen" controversy is not limited to black presidents. SirJ I don't argue that no previous presidents have been smeared, only that obviously no President since the invention of broadcasting has been smeared as relentlessly on television and radio, and in such a racist manner, as Barack Obama.
# I wonder how much money WorldNetDaily is making off its birther mania? They've got an entire page set up, The Birth Certificate Store, to market birther post cards and birther books and birther bumper stickers and your contributions to the birther billboard fund, etc. Zeus Bingo
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