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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• In a memo to prosecutors nationwide, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden has instructed Justice Department staff to yield to state and local law on medical marijuana, and end arrests and prosecutions for medicinal pot so long as users comply with the law. This is arguably the most progressive and humane act of the Obama administration to date, and for that we offer sincere kudos before adding: Why wasn't this common-sense announcement wasn't made nine months ago? My guess is that it has something to do with the increasing dissatisfaction for Obama from the Left, and if that's a factor it means we can't let up. We have to continue writing, calling, and exerting whatever pressure we can from the progressive side. • Fox News has been lying to America 24 hours a day since 1996, and the Obama administration has been complaining about it, rather soft-spokenly, for a couple of weeks. I can't fathom why it's taken 13 years for anyone anywhere near the cogs of power in the Democratic Party to see a Republican propaganda channel as a problem, and I can't fathom why anyone's questioning the wisdom of recognizing that it's a problem.
• Two of the Obama administration's top financial flunkees, National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, were on-board with Bank of America's buy-out of Merrill Lynch. And if you missed this week's Frontline, watch it now. There were only about half a dozen facts I didn't already know, but the presentation was so damned damning the show deserves a Pulitzer. • White House economic advisor Larry Summers has told finance industry insiders that, gosh darn it, there will be meaningful reform of the rules, and the Obama administration "will not be lectured" by opponents of a proposed consumer-protection agency. Sounds admirable, but since it's coming from White House economic advisor Larry Summers it's probably not worth believing. • A new Gallup poll shows that 44% of Americans favor legalization of pot. That's actually, seems to me, a pretty impressive number, when you consider that unless you're a pot-smoker or have gone out of your way to educate yourself, there's a perpetual flood of propaganda designed to ensure that everyone's afraid of marijuana. • The Supreme Court will decide whether judges can order the release of innocent soulsbeing held at Guantanamo. Seems worrisome to me that the question is even being asked. • In Arizona, a state judge has ordered crazy sheriff Joe Arpiao to stop charging extra fees to inmates who need an abortion. • It's nice that R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris must pay $2.85-million to the family of a woman killed by lung cancer, especially since the judicial panel ruled that the tobacco giants are liable because they funded phony scientific research that delayed the definitive understanding of the dangers of smoking. That's pretty much what Big Oil has been doing for years, to muddy up the evidence of global climate change, so perhaps one day in the not-too-distant future Exxon will have to pay for killing the planet.
• It's awfully early, but a new poll suggests that either Republican challenging Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has a good chance of beating him. I would be delighted to see him go. Of course, I'd rather see a genuine progressive replace the milquetoast middle-of-the-road Reid, but the sooner he's gone and the farther away he goes, the better. Firedoglake's conclusion is correct: "The conclusion here is that Reid has serious problems and they are of his own making. Unless Reid gets with the program, exercises some party discipline from his Majority Leader position and starts working earnestly for the causes, first and foremost the strong public option, of Democratic voters, he will not get any support from the activist base."
• A new CNN/Opinion Research poll shows that 52% of Americans believethat the US occupation of Afghanistan "has turned into a situation like the U.S. faced in the Vietnam War".
• Westar Energy's power substation is so close to this family's house that they can hear it.. Always, 24 hours a day. And if they're able to hear it, they're absorbing some of that energy, and that's ain't at all healthy. On the scale of Westar's income, it would cost peanuts to do the right thing and move or shield the substation, but they're a giant corporation in America so they won't do the right thing unless they're forced to. And the giant corporations own the government, so who's going to force 'em? • Al Sharpton is threatening to sue Rush Limbaugh, and wouldn't it be delightful if he did? Sharpton, let me add, has done a lot of good in the world and he's nowhere near the loon he's portrayed to be in mainstream media. Limbaugh, of course, is a jackass. • Sibel Edmonds' breathtaking allegations have been given what reads to me like a fair hearing at Military.com. Maybe her name is new to you? She was an FBI contract translator for six months beginning in the aftermath of When her claims first surfaced and when she was silenced, we followed Edmonds' story with interest, but after she acquiesced to the gag orders I'll admit that I largely lost interest and, well, lost the plot. She's implicated several current and former members of Congress as having been involved in bribery and blackmail schemes that put America's national security at peril. She's also alleged wrongdoing by several of the inarguably despicable characters of the Bush-Cheney administration, including Douglas Feith, Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz, who she says were involved in passing classified information to the Israelis and possibly the Turks. In recent months, in a twist I don't fully understand, she testified in an Ohio Election Commission lawsuit over a recent Congressional race. If it sounds like a hell of a story that's because it is. There's no disputing that Feith and Perle and Wolfowitz and many members of Congress are scum, and I wouldn't put flat-out treason past such characters. But at some point – a point passed long ago for me – credulity is stretched by the sheer volume of criminality and treason that Sibel Edmonds says she was able to absorb in her six months at the FBI. Frankly, I ain't buyin' it. The whole story makes my eyebrows scrunch up and makes me want to read something else. But so long as there's anything plausible in what Sibel Edmonds has alleged – and there is – it ought to be looked into by real reporters and given a wide-open airing in American media. Even the most dubious things she's alleged are exponentially more credible than the birther, Marxist, fascist, or death panel media memes that have been examined ad nauseum by well-dressed, blow-dried, big-budget journalists, and this deserves no less. • America's military hierarchy is “in a war against the White House — and they feel they have [President] Obama boxed in,” says Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Seymour Hersh. “They think he’s weak and the wrong color. Yes, there’s racism in the Pentagon. We may not like to think that, but it’s true and we all know it.” • Lieutenant Scott Easterling, who wrote a publicly-published letter claiming that President Obama is not an American citizen, has been recommended for routine promotion by his superiors. • Bernard Kerik, nominated for Secretary of Homeland Security by then-President George W. Bush – has had his bail revoked and is going to jail. • Republicans are reaching out to Jewish voters. • Like anyone else, I find the antics of the Yes Men amusing, but I dunno what's gained by a fake press conference announcing the US Chamber of Commerse's fake human decency. Seriously, does this help? • R. Crumb's explicit illustrated Book of Genesis has been condemned by religious groups. Jeepers, you'd think they'd want people paying attention to the scriptures. • A brief note from the editrix: I like blogs, especially well-written little blogs that don't get the attention they deserve. If you're reading or writing a good blog on news or politics or a great blog on just about any other topic and it's not a blog everyone in the world's heard of, I'd appreciate it if you'd let us know.
 Fears by JS Magruder of Why Not Resist? There's a study suggesting parents frighten their kids more by trying to ease their fears. Sounds reasonable to me – kids are pretty good at sorting stuff out in their minds, unless the adults get there first and try to micro-manage every aspect of their emotional development. It seems so obvious that drawing attention to something will give it greater importance in a child's mind that would otherwise discard it in about fifteen seconds once they notice you baked cookies, or there's a bird outside the window, or whatever. Besides, everyone knows kids get frightened by different things than adults – they have to have an intellectual reference for something to be emotionally frightening. Parents are just instructing children what to be scared by. Then, there's the parents like mine... ...remember when The Exorcist was in the theaters? My sister really, really, really wanted to go see it, so my parents finally caved and let her.( I really, really, really wanted to see Midnight Cowboy, but did they cave and let me see the movie I wanted to? You know, I NEVER got my way with anything...),While she and her friend were at the movie, my mother (who had already seen it with her friends) went out and bought a Oujia board to lean up against my sister's bed in her dark room. I mean, she got in the car after dinner and made a special trip to Turnstyle (it was like a precursor to Target) to buy a game for the sole purpose of making her daughter scream. I know, you're wondering what sort of a mother would do that, but I would TOTALLY do that. Been over thirty-five years but I can hear her freaking out like it was yesterday. Great fun. Reply from Helen & Harry: Man, that's a great story and it made me smile. Speaking as the happy mother of no children, I think it's great fun and relatively harmless to scare the bejeebers out of kids, so long as you don't make it routine. In my family we weren't allowed scary movies, or any movies not rated G. Hell, we weren't allowed to have playing cards – I vividly remember getting the tar whipped outta me when I was caught playing gin rummy. Reply from Sherri B.: If a person does not have kids then they are not parents. They may "think" they know how kids should be raised or can speak from being an "Aunt, Uncle, Adult friend, etc" BUT they are, in fact, not parents. If they are foster parents they are parents. If they are adoptive parents they are parents. If they have no kids...they are not parents. Having loving feelings towards a child does not make one a parent. Everyone can read a book,read a movie, or do research and have an opinion. It's the American way-but when these efforts are meant to influence a particular action or mindset do not be surprised when they are met with opposition. Reply from J.S. (not the Watergate felon) Magruder at Why Not Resist? I'm afraid I don't understand what exactly Sherri's reply pertains to. Your quip about being a "Happy mother of no children" seems so obviously a joke I can't imagine it deserving that sort of heavy-handed reaction. Perhaps she thinks I'm not an authentic parent, or the researchers, or...well I just don't know because I've read that response a few times and still don't know what she's talking about. You know, that sort of thing tends to be culturally specific. When the first Europeans landed in the Hawaiian islands and asked, "Who is this person, who is that?" they were answered with "My brother, my sister" even for pretty distant cousins. This freaked out the Europeans who promptly sent for more missionaries figuring the devil had already been there Again, I just don't understand the point Reply from Helen & Harry: I wasn't offended. Takes a lot to offend me, and you pretty much have to mention my mother. I'm very comfortable with our decision to have no children. Reply from Sherri B.: Magruder needs to relax. The parent comment was actually meant for Wig's thread, not him. What's the real story? by Sherri B. Wall Street pay cuts stoke debate about Washington's reach Before people start being happy, what's the real story and what's the catch? Small change by Wig
Another case of attacking the messenger. So much for that famous chant of "CHANGE".
Point the finger at the other guy. Any remorse for the suffering inflicted on the Palestinians? The innocence portrayed by the Israelis has been worn thin. Illusions vs. "reality" by Mahdi Abdul Finkelstein There is no question in my mind that the US government is part of an enormous fraudulent enterprise. Everything about it is fraudulent, from the fraud that is the "dollar" to its "laws", "defense" and "democracy" (which amounts to a game of Three Card Monte.) The Bush Regime was a global illusion buster, much the same way that the Vietnam War was a domestic illusion buster. Perceptions about the true nature of the US and its "government" were irrevocably changed. Now the US is known worldwide as a country which pays lip service to human rights and freedom while torturing and murdering as official policy. The financial system breakdown's effect has been similar to the revelations about Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Full Spectrum Fraud. The Obama Regime is a continuation of the Bush Regime in most important respects. Give everyone in the junta a Medal of Freedom and award the Supreme Leader the Nobel Peace Prize! Once you perceive, comprehend and truly know the truth there is no going back. You cannot unsee the Truth. Sky is not falling? by The Blue Rajah I am enjoying watching myself drink the blue Kool-Aid. So far, things are living up to my baseline optimist expectations, and I still think that come the end of his tenure, Obama will have left us significantly better off than we were, or to be more precise, better off than we would have been if someone less qualified and principled had taken the reins after 8 years of Bush after 8 years of Clinton after 4 years of Bush after 8 years of Reagan.... wow. When you list it like that, it boggles the mind. 28 years of more or less steady degradation. If Carter had been reelected and been allowed to continue his plan to place us on a solid, sustainable, ecologically sound alternative energy footing, the great bu8lk of this bullsh*t wouldn't have happened. Reading history is like reading the cracks in some hairy man's ass. Reply from Helen & Harry: As usual, there's a lot to what you say, and I rather enjoy the savory yum of your optimism. If we compare Obama not to what he could accomplish but to what would have been brought to fruiting by McCain-Palin, well, they should start carving his face onto Rushmore. Reply from The Blue Rajah: Also, what we think Obama can accomplish is not necessarily fact. That D.C. thing is a Very Big Machine. He promised hope and change. He still gives me hope and I see net positive change. Not that democracy doesn't need folks who holler bloody murder. You guys do that very well, and have attained a neat panache of style. But let us acknowledge that while the sky may not be lifting it is at worst falling at a much slower rate, and even skies take a while to stop their previous plummet. Reply from Wig: Blue Raj says, "If Carter had been reelected and been allowed to continue his plan to place us on a solid, sustainable, ecologically sound alternative energy footing, the great bu8lk of this bullsh*t wouldn't have happened." Perhaps. But recall Carter engaged in the "deregulation" craze that has led to a disaster of the country's economic structure. NASA's conflict of interest by SirJ NASA proclaims the world will not end in 2012, but NASA has a conflict of interest. If it became general knowledge that the world was going to end in the next several years, NASA would be irrelevant and lose all funding. I wonder who's Kipling her now by Siskiyousis Oddly, I am seeing a number of Kipling quotes popping up here and there, more than I have read in the previous years of my life. What, I wonder, does this say about our current culture? Have we picked up the White Man's Mantle of the Victorian Empire? And, are we using it as a tent to hide under or a banner to blaze our fatal way? Most incautious behaviour, I am thinking -- either way. Also, Kipling never appeared to me to be a very deep thinker... Crazy enough by Jim B. I think that you and your readers will find this to be interesting.
Excretive deleted by SirJ
We're pissing our way to resistant viruses.
This is political correctness gone amok. This is a Halloween costume. I see no reason why stores shouldn't be allowed to sell it. If people don't want to buy it, that's fine. If it harmed anyone, that would be a reason to remove it from shelving. It harms no one. It does make people recognize illegal immigrants for what they are -- illegal. That bothers a great many people. Reply from Helen & Harry: Agreed. The costume is amusing. Corporations quake at the slightest thought that something like this might tarnish their image, but have no moral problem sponsoring the ads that make a 24-hour fascist TV station possible and profitable. Reply from Sherri B.: It may be amusing to adults but will it be amusing when a bunch of non-Latin kids feel so comfortable with the wearing of such things that when they return to school they think it's okay to mock anyone Brown? Anyone that speaks Spanish? Legal or not? Kids are notoriously cruel. They are not going to have the common sense to leave the jokes and taunts with the costume in the attic. Then things will get hectic. There were a million other costumes that could have been made. This shows a decided lack of creativity and a solid message that "illegals" can be mocked if you put a funny face on them. What exactly is the process of picking out this outfit? Mommy to child: Here, wear this ... Kid ... what is it? Mom ... an illegal alien ... Kid what is that? (Anyone want to finish the rest of this?) It's not going to end well... Do something by David Evans M. Sorry to be negative, but to paraphrase an old Barry Goldwater campaign slogan: "Deep in your heart, you know we're in a depression, not a recession." Even if the Dow climbs to 10 million, it won't improve the lives of ordinary Americans one iota (unless maybe a rich person tips them a few extra bucks). Over the weekend, my significant other, Tammie, and I splurged and went to a matinee of Michael Moore's new movie, "Capitalism...etc" We went to see it at the local "art" theater downtown so we could help support it. We loved the movie. It reminded me why I handed out pamphlets extolling socialism when I was a youth and I'm sorry I ever stopped. I was frustrated to see a clip of Obama from his candidate days when he had guts. I was wistful to see FDR, whom I consider our greatest president (please, Ronald Reagan fans, don't hurt me!), laying out his "second Bill of Rights," and think of what might have been. Anyway, at the end of the movie, Michael tells the audience he can't keep doing this and asks for our help. I understand he's getting tired and frustrated. I wrote him (at www.AVoiceForTheCommonwealth.org. I'm still adding content. Later this week we'll be taping our first public affairs show for public access tv. We have big plans for this organization and our efforts are needed more every day. I encourage your readers to do something similar in their area, even if it's on an informal basis as ours used to be. Keep up the good work. Unknown News is my favorite news site. You are level-headed and compassionate. Reply from Helen & Harry: You and your website rock. Consider yourself hugged so hard it hurts, and I hope your work (and maybe your note) inspires someone to give it their best effort as well. It's an open question whether America can be saved and frankly I have my doubts, but the places where good people like you do whatever you can to help, will be the corners of America where civilization survives. Reply from David Evans M.: We have a long way to go with our organization and plan to get eventually into all kinds of things. For instance, tomorrow, we tape the first segment of a public affairs program we're going to do on public access tv. There are so many way in which ordinary citizens need help, it is difficult to know which thing to do first. Joanne's email by Joanne [Comment deleted at the author's request.] Reply from Helen & Harry: Do you have a lawyer and any coverage in the real media? Reply from Joanne: [Comment deleted at the author's request.] Reply from Helen & Harry: You need a better lawyer and a better local paper (like most of us). I'd suggest at the very minimum that you set up a website (try registering westarsucks.com, or even easier, use a free publishing platform like blogger.com). Put your YouTube videos there, along with frustrated writing like your note to me, cross your fingers and you'll probably get enough traffic to get someone's attention, either at Westar or in the media. It might not be enough to win, but you'll at least increase your odds of beating the bastards. Peace through kicking the bad guys' nuts, Reply from Joanne: [Comment deleted at the author's request.] Reply from SirJ: I second Helen's motion for a blog to go into further details in the malevolent behavior of Westar Energy in regards to this substation. Blogger.com can be integrated into a website domain other than blogger.com, eg. westarsucks.com, the name she suggested. This would make recognition easier and likely drive more traffic to the website. See this page for details. As that page points out, domains can be purchased from blogger.com. Godaddy.com also registers domains at attractive prices. I wanted to view the neighborhood on Google Maps. Google Maps has both satellite and street level views. I would need an address to locate the substation and didn't see one on the Youtube vids. Perhaps Joanne could provide the address? This is an example of both a satellite and street level view of a street in Emporia, Kansas. Pressing F11 gives a wider view and closing the left panel also helps. You close the left panel by clicking the left-arrows located above the scroll bar separating the views from the list of links on the left side of the page. The street level view can be rotated by placing your cursor on the compass wheel and moving it around the circle. You can also pan up and down by clicking any of the four arrows surrounding the hand. TSA woman/baby video by Sherri B. Re the TSA and all Sighs for all of them. TSA and the woman. I do know two things: If I had a kid no one would take the child away or I'd go completely psycho on them. Two: I haven't flown in about three years but why didn't they just unclip the babies metal thing and walk them through again? It would have taken one minute? The video presented was also altered. What was that about? Either way...again...sighs all around. It does show though how hectic things can get in a stressful, invasive check-in procedure. But, again, sigh, it also shows why those procedures have been allowed to come into place... It was nuts day for both the Mom and the screener. If anyone flies during the holidays we will see lots more of this; which will probably result in a real, calm, composed psychopath slipping right through the cracks. Reply from Helen & Harry: My belief is that the entire dehumanizing ordeal at any airport in America is 99.99+% just for show. Have you ever heard of a real terrorist being caught by airport screeners? All I ever hear about is ordinary people facing hellishly intrusive searches, and occasional unlucky fools being arrested for stupidly but not nefariously packing guns, knives, or nailfiles. I simply won't fly, and I wonder how many Americans have made the same choice. If it's too far to walk I'll take a bus or a train. If it's too far for that, it's a trip not worth taking. Reply from Sherri B.: LOL, yep. It's a one-hour flight from here to me visiting my brothers and Dad. I drive the five hours every single time. I told my husband for every article like this there is some nutjob reading it figuring how to quiet get around the system. Still alive but not kicking by Herb Ruhs, MD A series of personal events that had nothing to do with your site, and which were beyond my control, has seen me cease writing anything significant since my last submission to you all. Things are settling down somewhat though an objective observer might not agree with me on this. None the less, please don't think that I have abandoned you all and don't think of you often. At least I can say that a Cassandra existence isn't boring. Fight the snowstorm of injustice and lies with anything at hand, even a baseball bat, because to do something, even something demonstrably ineffective is medicine for the soul that should be repeated daily. Reply from Helen & Harry: You are in our agnostic prayers and it goes without saying but I'll say it anyway, you are never under any expectation or obligation to write anything. Take care of you and yours first.
then it never happened • At the urging of President Obama, the House has passed legislation that lets the Defense Department continue concealing evidence of torture. • Judge Royce Lamberth (Reagan 1987) has ruled that the Obama administration can get away with redacting the testimony of torture victims, so Americans can be spared vivid descriptions that might seem unpleasant at dinner time. • The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is still refusing to release almost 300 known documents relating to the assassination of John F Kennedy, and refusing to confirm or deny the existence of many other documents. Why? The Agency says it's because letting people know about these documents would do "extremely grave damage" to national security. Sure sounds like a large load of hooey to me. • And after all that, are you're ready for some good news? A British court has ruled that the descriptions of Binyam Mohamed's brutal torture will no longer be kept secret. This ruling toward what President Obama used to call "transparency" comes despite not-very-veiled threats from the Bush-Cheney-Obama administrations that the US would retaliate by blocking British access to American intelligence, a threat the court seems to have considered but not believed. • A Goldman Sachs executive has been named the first chief operating officer of the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division. Well, that should make the ongoing corruption of America's corporate capitalism more efficient. "We cut out the middleman and pass the savings on to ourselves." • We've seen the return of ginormous profits on Wall Street, and I keep reading that experts say the recession is ending, and maybe it is... on Wall Street. But in real life in the real world, you're not seeing a recovery when 10,000 people apply for 90 jobs.
• North Carolina Senator Andrew Brock (R-Of Course) is involved in a borderline seditious and probably illegal anti-Obama ad campaign. • In America, do we want the death penalty imposed because the Bible says so? That's what happened in this Texas case. • Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota) seems to give a damn about the difference between right and wrong. How peculiar, in DC. Franken seems to be impatient with a lawyer representing Halliburton/KBR as the giant contractor tries to continue shielding itself from responsibility in the gang rape of a women employee in Iraq. Jamie Leigh Jones, the victim, also seems to have more balls than most Democrats in Congress. • This woman says she had her baby taken away by federal agents at the airport in Atlanta. TSA says she's lying, and seems to have the video to prove it. • Crazy Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio is enforcing a fake law from the internet.
"To some extent, there may not be much the lonely superpower can do about this. The increase in the gap between the U.S. and the rest of the world also continued during the Clinton and Carter years: it’s not a Republican versus Democrat thing. Yet, some of it is likely due to the U.S. unwillingness to exercise restraint in its foreign policies. Few countries like heavy-handed uses of power by the world’s lone superpower even when they may agree with its ultimate objectives."
• Two out of three Republicans believe that President Obama is advancing a "secret agenda" to bankrupt the United States and dramatically expand government control to an extent nothing short of socialism. • Congressman John Boehner (R-Ohio) says your religion is not a matter of choice. Stop for a moment and ponder that. And the same spokesman also says your sexual orientation is your choice. The ignorance and emptyheadedness buggers the mind.
• In 2003, Congressman Steve Buyer (R-Indiana) founded a scholarship fund that ought to pay his tuition to prison. It's paid exactly zero in scholarships in six years, while raising $883,272 in contributions, mostly from giant pharmaceutical and telecom concerns. • The US Chamber of Commerce continues to lie (surprise) about its vastly inflated membership numbers, and the fine muckraking magazine Mother Jones continues calling them on it. • David Safavian, another Bush Administration criminal convicted of lying and obstruction in the Jack Abramoff probe, has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison. • Air America is excited about its redesigned website, and they ought to be — it's a major improvement over the abortion they launched a couple of years ago. In two visits I haven't yet been put of by excessive celebrity gawking or straight-ahead stupidity. In most people's minds, though, Air America is the liberal radio network, and on that front it continues to be a stumbledrunk disaster. It's still damned near impossible to find the network's podcasts (which we pay for, a long-term subscription that we won't be renewing) on the website, and the one feature of the new website that sounds interesting — "classic" audio of long-gone Air America hosts — just plain doesn't work, at least not on our computer. One more kick at Air America: Our apartment's soundtrack is mostly news-talk radio with a progressive bent, and as recently as a few years ago that meant listening to a lot of Air America. One by one, though, the incompetently-run and always on the verge of bankrupt network has lost all its best talent. Thom Hartmann, Ron Kuby, Mike Malloy, Randi Rhodes, Sam Seder, on and on... Browsing through the current roster on their website, their schedule is completely devoid of anyone worth listening to, with the sole exception of a weekend show, Ring of Fire. • This is an enlightening look back at historical worries spawned by technological breakthroughs, from the player piano to the photocopier to the videocassette recorded. • The executive editor of the Washington Post lied to a New York Times reporter a few months back, when he claimed ignorance about the Post's planned parties where lobbyists and reporters could mingle off-the-record. • I don't understand why it matters, but guerrilla artist Shepard Fairey now admits that his iconic Obama poster was based on a different AP photo than he's claimed, and that his earlier claims were lies.
California Blue Cross/Blue Shield exposed by Emma Ibbers California just dropped Blue Cross/Blue Shield from the state's "Major Risk Medical Insurance" program (MRMIP) because BC/BS's 2010 rates for covering the "high risk" uninsured are 1.5 to 3 times the rates of other insurers, such as Kaiser. BC/BS has only 80 subscribers in the state program, but the state's HIPAA program's prices are tied to MRMIP price, so BC/BS has been able to reap much higher profits from HIPAA subscribers by overcharging MRMIP subscribers -- and California is looking to see if there is a way to force BC/BS to refund some of the money. Blue Shield is ousted from California's high-risk health insurance pool Why this whole thing stinks so bad... MRMIP is the only choice available to Californians who have been refused coverage by the "market". It is limited to a mere 7,000 subscribers...in a state with more than 30 million residents! On top of that, the MRMIP benefits are extremely limited and high-priced, with a maximum annual benefit of $75,000 and a lifetime benefit of $150,000, the annual premium of about $6,000 and $2,250 deductible make enrolling in MRMIP a dubious proposition. Added to that, BC/BS is a "non-profit" corporation, so why are they charging so much, especially when it has been shown that the program doesn't actually cost the insurers after the state's payments are taken into account. (FYI, the people who are forced to use MRMIP are there because they are deemed "risky", not because they are sick at the present time. Most common conditions or risk factors are treatable within the medical state of the art.) Nuclear-armed terrorists by Wig Why terrorists never have gotten hold of a nuke and why the Taliban won't be first The logic is there; but anyone not wanna bet that if the powers that be want to march into Pakistan they will drumbeat the idea that it is necessary because the Taliban (and thus Al Qaeda) are about to gain control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Reply from Sherri B.: I could go and on about the article but these things stood out: A White guy trying to examine the motives of an unfamiliar culture. Saying "terrorists" as if we aren't terrorists ourselves. Ignoring the patently obvious: Just because they haven't launched them up until now or because we (supposedly) haven't seen them on Taliban controlled soil ... doesn't mean they didn't always have access to them. For example: I may have a gun but if it's at my brothers is it still my gun? Because I haven't shot anyone yet does it mean I won't? If you don't know me you cannot ever answer these questions. If you do know me you absolutely can. There are lovely keywords in his article: probably, believed, potential, not inconceivable, for arguments sake, could have, assuming, IF, scenario. Basically it's a whole article of might's and maybe's. I'd have been more impressed if he'd actually directly spoken to someone from Pakistan, the Taliban, or someone who is Afghan. Sigh... Reply from Wig: A "White guy" can't apply logic to a situation he is reporting on? This is something along the lines of: a person who never had kids can't know anything about parenting. "terrorists" is today applied to anyone who disagrees with our public policies. But, in any case, I bow to your expert analysis. Reply from Sherri B.: Logic? Do explain the authors stream of logic.(Or your definition of the process of logic) When I said White Guy I said it in the context of a man from one culture attempting to explain the rationale (logically) of a culture he is absolutely unfamiliar with. This is the author's profile: Keith Thomson played semi-professional baseball in France. He drew editorial cartoons for Newsday and now reports on national security and other matters for several publications, including Garden & Gun. He also has written movies and books, including the novel Once A Spy, which will be published by Doubleday on March 9, 2010. Read more at: www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-thomson. Does he have: Direct military experience (with any of the countries mentioned)? Any form of nuclear weapons experience? Foreign surveillance experience? Pakistan, Afghan, or Taliban sources or alliances? The recession is over by Billie Cavanaugh The US recession is over according to incoming data: 1) GDP will show an increase for the 3rd quarter 2) S&P/Case-Schiller home price index increased 3) Commodity prices are increasing 4) Rich people are spending again 5) Stock market is up 6) etc. The "recovery" is pyrrhic, at best. Like the general said, "Another victory like that and we are lost." The US recovery is like a motorcycler who crashed at high speed while drunk and suffered two lost two legs and some brain damage -- not having been all that bright to begin with -- but is now riding again while drunk, but poorer and with two artificial legs. All "ok"... There are many negatives in our future, but I won' go into all that right now. I'm not particularly enamored of stock wagers at this point, and both gold and oil seem appropriately valued. Commodities seem like a good bet. Last week I wagered a hefty sum on this mutual fund: PIMCO Commodity Real Return Strategy That fund tracks the $djaig index (fyi -- substitute "$djaig" for "pcrdx" in the above link to generate a chart for the index.) P.S. Links to look at: End of US$ Global Reserve Currency Jim Willie CB Economic Calendar Clinging to Misguided Monetary Mentalities Destroying Iranian nukes by The Canadian Abbas is a dead man; Netanyahu and Barak killed him. A Haaretz article nonetheless ;-) If you think Israel will abide by European or US desires, please read this historical articles concerning Osirak (Operation Opera) to destroy the French designed and funded nuclear reactor for Iraq. Osirak redux? Assessing Israeli capabilities to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities [pdf] High school lesbian in a tuxedo by Wig Lesbian high school student, told she can't wear tuxedo in yearbook While not wanting to offend either side of the PC sexuality controversy, I've come to the conclusion the country has finally reached the dept of absurdity. "Sturgis said she should get to decide how she looks in the senior photo. A silly issue over a yearbook photo is about to erupt into a Constitutional case. Just what the country needs. We don't have anything more important to tie the courts up with. OOPs!!! I forgot about the "BALLOON KID" craze now demanding our attention. Reply from Helen & Harry: Yours is a rather authoritarian and dismissively anti-freedom view which I don't share. No reasonable administrative need is served by a rule banning tuxedos for half the student body, and a kid old enough to dress herself is old enough to decide what to wear for a yearbook photo. Reply from Wig: A second thought on the absurdity of this case: Would a devout nudist be able to insist that he/she have a nude photo be published in the yearbook? Reply from Helen & Harry: A "devout nudist" wouldn't have been allowed to attend a public school while devoutly nude. Reply from Wig: Now that's downright DISCRIMINATION! Since when has "reasonable" been a criterion of any school administrative need. And btw I have to admit, although I like to consider myself a "free-thinker", I am after all a creature of the environment in which I grew and plead guilty to ".... a ... authoritarian and dismissively anti-freedom view..." Reply from Sherri B.: They are clothes. She's wearing them. For a picture. I'm sorry...what's the problem? Reply from Elliot Cook: I almost replied to Wig, as I can't begin to understand why he thinks a school principal should decide that some students can wear a tuxedo and some students can't. And then I got to the part where he (I'll gamble my life Wig is male) says he has an "authoritarian and dismissively anti-freedom view". OK, I live in America so I'm used to that perspective, it explains everything except... why is Wig reading this website? Reply from Wig: Sherri B, I see no problem. She can wear anything her little heart desires. My point, which for some seems difficult to comprehend, is that she, and the school, are making a fuss over such a frivolous issue. A picture in a school yearbook doesn't rate a Constitutional case in my mind. Elliot Cook, Sorry you don't recognize my poor attempt at tongue-in-cheek jocularity. Actually, I consider my self about the last of the "bleeding heart" liberals. I couldn't care less wether a school Principal decides anything. It's the concept that every ridiculous dispute has to rise to a Constitutional issue. I doubt that in a year or two anyone will even bother to look at their high school yearbook. Opps, I bet that comment rankles the sentimental crowd. But the bottom line is does individual freedom override the consensus of the majority. Or : "...the question becomes, are you going to have everyone play by the same rules, or are you going to try to rectify the shortcomings, errors and failures of the entire cosmos? Because those things are wholly incompatible. If you're going to have people play by the same rules, that can be enforced with a minimum amount of interference with people's freedom. But if you're going to try to make the entire cosmos right and just, somebody has got to have an awful lot of power to impose what they think is right on an awful lot of other people. What we've seen, particularly in the 20th century, is that putting that much power in anyone's hands is enormously dangerous." Thomas Sowell, in an _interview in Salon, 11-10-99 Reply from Helen & Harry: I'll just say again, I don't share your eagerness to force a 17-year-old into complete conformity, especially when she's right. Reply from Wig: I accept your position. However, you continue to misunderstand my point. I don't question her right to wear whatever she wants. I'm only saying I don't believe the issue is of such importance that it necessitates the legal challenges that are going to take place. If neither party is willing to compromise on what picture appears in a high school yearbook, leave the picture slot blank and then the alumni can draw their own conclusions. Dragging the issue through the court system just seems to be a test in futility. By the time any legal resolve takes place who outside of the two parties will take notice. A Pyrrhic victory at best. Reply from Helen & Harry: What have I misunderstood about your point? You don't question the student's right to wear what she wishes, you only suggest that she shouldn't, or shouldn't be allowed to, fight for that right. I understand, just disagree. Reply from Wig: I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree, as they say. Reply from Helen & Harry: Agreeing to disagree is pretty much the only basis for agreement that I have with anyone. Reply from Heidi Papademetriou: Wig, I don't doubt that it's a silly issue to you. You are not a 17-year-old lesbian and nobody is telling you how to dress. The Constitution does not only apply in life-or-death issues, it's supposed to protect us from having rights trampled in ordinary day-to-day life. The rule, no tuxedo because you're a girl, is arbitrary and wrongheaded and it seems silly to you but the Constitution matters all the time. We fight "silly" abuses like this to keep them from snowballing into bigger and bigger violations of the Constitution and I should not have to explain this to someone reading UnknownNews. Reply from Sherri B.: It is possible high school graduation meant little to you. I remember absolutely awaiting my school picture as that senior picture showed the change from youth to adult (At least to me and my friends. Do remember this graduate is most likely between the ages of 16 to 19.) It was important to my peers and apparently it is important enough for the young ladies' "little heart" to fight for. The comment was directed at the adults that are frightened of anything that scares them and to the adults that did not know when to stand up for someone who was being subjugated. Her choice of clothes Reply from Wig: Gosh Heidi and Sherri B., I surrender. I failed to consider the gender fickle syndrome. I guess I've fallen into the unisex pit and have made a complete ass of myself. Golly my own mother swallowed her Puritan pride and found it acceptable to wear the pant suit. However, I'll still harbor thoughts of how gals appealed to me when wearing below the knee skirts and dresses. Please, I beg of you, let me harbor my memory of Rita Hayworth in all her feminine charm. And if you choose to engage in a protest march for the gal's right to appear in the year book in a tux, I'll cheer you on. Reply from Wig: Re A "devout nudist" wouldn't have been allowed to attend a public school while devoutly nude. After wasting an inordinate time in my decaying mind on this, I have to ask how does this square with your previous statement ("... No reasonableadministrative need is served by a rule banning tuxedos for half the student body, and a kid old enough to dress herself is old enough to decide what to wear for a yearbook photo." ). If the question comes down to "reasonableadministrative need", what you are really saying is that the matter boils down to subjective reasoning. Nudist pictures are out but "tux pictures are in. So, if a nudist is old enough to be a nudist, he,she (or whatever) isn't capable to decide to appear nude for the yearbook? Just wondering. Reply from Helen & Harry: I cordially don't see your point. Almost all interpersonal and legal conflict comes down to subjective reasoning, and in our society objections to public nudity are considered more reasonable and common than objections to public tuxedos. Reply from Wig: For Elliot Cook, several comments: 1.) I didn't say I thought "...a school principal should decide... " I was merely saying I didn't think it was worthy of becoming a "Constitutional Issue" Which was where the "gal in the tux" deadlock appears headed. 2.) The quote "....an authoritarian and dismissively anti-freedom view..." was made by me. That was Helen and Harry's viewpoint. 3.) I'm reading "this website" because I'm curious as to what other people have to say whether I agree with them or not. For as Voltaire is said to have said: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Reply from Wig: Ah, so it comes down to "subjective reasoning" and "society objection". To me it's of no importance whether or not the girl's picture is or is not in the yearbook- -wearing or not wearing a tux.. My comment was solely that it was developing into a "Constitutional Issue" and that I consider it frivolous. But I do accept the principle that anyone can stand up for the right to wear (or even over your objection of public nudity) their preference of clothing. But,if as you contend,the girls stance is more reasonable than the school's administration, so be it. I didn't intend to belabor the point. And if the issue does make it to the Supreme Court we'll see if individual freedom vs societal limitation wins out. Reply from Helen & Harry: Yup, we've established that it's of no importance to you. We established that last month. Reply from Wig: Is this on a par with the girl with "tux" pic? Man denied access to First Class because of track suit Excerpt: "I was humiliated and embarrassed," Alvarez, who is not seeking compensation, told myfoxdc.com. "If this happened to me and I'm a United Airlines Red Carpet Club member then I believe it's happening to other people and this must stop." Was this a reasonable administrative subjective call? Reply from Helen & Harry: I read the clipping but I don't care enough to articulate an opinion. The government and constitution are not involved, the guy says he's not seeking compensation, and I'm not the arbiter of reasonable. </i> Speaking out by Asparagus Re Silence of the Jews There are some Jewish groups and leaders speaking out against the Nazi-Hitler-nexus of the Republican Party. They're just not getting any coverage to speak of. CNN etc have much more interest in the Nazi namecallers. Reply from Sleepy but still awake: In my many years watching the American political scene, it's always seemed that Jewish leaders have had little problem in having their concerns aired. If they're not getting much coverage for their occasional complaints about the 24-hour "Obama's a Nazi" meme, it is for lack of trying. John Brown and marijuana by SirJ Re John Brown & Patrick Henry: Possibly Patrick Henry didn't say "Give me liberty or give me death." Surely John Brown didn't say "Give them liberty or give me death," but that was his belief. Both advocated violence, which is crazy. Patrick Henry didn't put his life on the line for his beliefs. John Brown did. Pro-slavery forces killed his son in 1856, an event which must have solidified his belief that pro-slavery forces intended violence. There are times when it is almost impossible to resist the belief violence must be met with violence. Perhaps he was right. If so, he wasn't crazy, he was astute. Hemp farmers arrested planting hemp at DEA headquarters This was industrial hemp seeds they planted. According to Wikipedia, in 1942 the U.S. Department of Agriculture produced a documentary Hemp for Victory showing various ways to cultivate hemp. Our government PROMOTED the growing of what is now illegal. Shame on it for being a drug pusher. BTW, that copy of Hemp for Victory ends abruptly. The last couple of minutes are missing. I found a transcript of the film on Jack Herer's website. There's nothing special in the missing part. Reply from Helen & Harry: This is the kind of balls-out protest tactic I always liked, but nowadays I'm old and I'm keeping my balls in. On the topic of another ballsy guy, a few months ago I don't think I could have coherently answered the question "Who was John Brown?" And I'm still no expert, but I've read enough to say I admire him, with caveats. He deserves to be much better known. The media is a hoax by Wig New election in Afghanistan The bottom line question is : what makes anyone believe that a runoff election would be any fairer than the last one? Was balloon boy a hoax? The media is a hoax. The media is all in a panic to cover their asses for the usual over exploitation of stories. The tv so-called news channels (esp. the cable networks) milk ad nauseum these types of incidences. It's good the kid wasn't injured or killed or we would be tormented 24 hours for a week.
The unresolved situation of the Iraqi government's failure to fund the "Sons of Iraq" is smoldering, that yet may be a disaster waiting to explode. Blasphemy burgers by Cassandra Re ... like most racists in these enlightened times, he adamantly insists that he is not a racist. Yeah. And homophobes either claim they aren't or it's 'cause 'God says so'. If they're so hung up on Leviticus, why all the cheeseburgers?
• "I don't want anyone to think we're comparing Democrats to Nazis and to Hitler", says Republican spokesman John Randall, after spotlighting a video that has Hitler saying how much he loves Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-California). Yeah, Republicans wouldn't want anyone to notice that they're constantly comparing Democrats to Hitler. They'd prefer that it stay under the radar. And will Jewish leaders and activists put up with this? Yup. They've been a little touchy about unwarranted Holocaust analogies or hyperbolic Hitler allusions for the past 60-some years, and understandably so — but now, that touchiness has faded into past tense. A few Democrats and pundits have complained about the endless Hitler and Nazi smears, which seem unambiguously intended to trigger violence. But we hear nary a whisper of complaint from Jewish leaders. The RightWing now tosses out Hitler insults and Holocaust chatter as casually as basketball players sling "your momma" talk, and Jewish leaders seem to be AOK with this. • Another holdover from the Bush-Cheney administration's corrupt Justice Department, U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman, has announced that he'll leave at the end of the year. He was apparently nudged out by the Obama administration, but only after arch-right Utah Attorney General and Republican US Senate candidate Mark Shurtleff asked AG Holder to get rid of him.
• A study of abortion practices in 197 countries shows that banning abortion doesn’t decrease abortion, it just makes abortion less safe and more deadly. • In a California court, Judge Vaughn Walker (Bush41 1989) asked what damage is done to straight married couples when gay couples marry. The gay-haters' lawyer answered the Judge, "My answer is, I don't know. I don't know". • A new poll suggests that the forces of hatred will lose in Maine, and voters will embrace gay marriage. But don't be complacent, 'cuz the forces of hatred sure won't be. Give if you can. • It sure looks like Governor Rick Perry (R-Texas) is doing everything he can to keep his state’s execution of an innocent man from making headlines. I’m guessing he thinks the headlines would be bad for him, since he’s the one green-lit the execution in question, but in a sane society his attempt to throttle the truth would just make the situation worse. As often noted, of course, we don’t live in that society, and the Governor’s cover-up seems to be generating zero coverage in the media. • The US Chamber of Commerce has been vastly inflating its membership numbers, but after Mother Jones pointed this out the CofC quietly stopped bragging about the phony count in its press releases. • The New York Times is unwilling to fact-check Congresswoman and serial liar Michelle Bachmann (R-Minnesota), so they outsourced that work. • CNN commentator Alex Castellanos is also a Republican Party strategist, and an ad-buyer for the anti-health lobby America's Health Insurance Plans. I have long found it difficult to take CNN seriously as a news organization, and it's only getting more difficult. • Under the leadership of Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa), far-right Republicans are still spreading lies about Kevin Jennings, an education adviser to the Obama White House. I'm a little surprised that Obama has held out this long without caving in to the liars and firing Jennings, and I'd like to continue to be pleasantly surprised. • Justanotherhill.com is a very personal memorial to the lost and missing of the Vietnam War. It's not a quick click. It's intense, and of course sad but also heartwarming in an honest way. The site owner has even adopted a few of the missing. • A Louisiana Justice of the Peace, Keith Bardwell, has refused to issue a marriage license for an interracial couple. Of course, like most racists in these enlightened times, he adamantly insists that he is not a racist. • I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have liked John Brown if I'd known him, but he wasn't looking to be liked. Brown's flat-out crazy work helped ignite the Civil War and led to freedom for millions and a far better America for all of us. • The Arctic Ocean will be an "open sea" almost entirely free from ice within a decade, the latest data released today indicates. • Judge William Wayne Justice (Johnson 1968) has died. I remember reading coverage of his court cases over the years, and it's been a lot of years. The Statesman says "He ordered the integration of public schools and public housing. He outlawed crowding, beatings and inhumane medical care in prisons and youth lockups. He ordered that community homes be provided to people with mental disabilities who were living in large institutions. He expanded voting opportunities. And that was just the tip of the docket. Justice also changed the landscape of public education. He ordered education for undocumented immigrant children and bilingual classrooms. And, back in the nonconformist hippie days of 1970, he ruled that bearded and long-haired students, including Vietnam veterans, had a right to attend public college." He never retired, and now he'll be ruling against injustice in Heaven.
• Republicans are having a hard time finding someone to run against Congressman Alan Grayson (D-Florida). Again, the moral of the story is, it's good to be a Democrat who speaks clearly and acts like a leftist. • President Obama visited San Francisco to see big-money people this week, and took great pains to ensure that he didn't spend any time with any of the region's Lefties. • Free file hosting provider MediaFire wants to squish a Mozilla browser add-on that lets legal downloaders skip tedious ads. Mozilla has taken the appropriate stance, and will continue offering the add-on. • Goldman Sachs had $3+ billion in earnings in the latest quarter, and JP Morgan Chase's earnings were even higher, if your definition of "earnings" is as loose as the federal government's. Of course, contrary to what you'll probably hear from the experts, such numbers do not suggest a recovery or economic health or anything of that sort. It's just an indication that corporate corruption and swindles in high finance have continued unabated. • The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), which already receives royalties when you purchase a ring-tone for your cell phone, went to court to try to obtain further royalties every time the ring-tone rings. In a show of common sense, the court has ruled against ASCAP. • (Link fixed) A small chain of fast food restaurants in Oregon and Washington is testing a receipt that tallies the calories, fiber, fat, and carbs in your order, alongside the price you paid. How cool is that? • Rush Limbaugh will apparently not be involved in the new ownership of the National Football League's St Louis Rams. It's probably a wise decision for everyone involved, even Mr Limbaugh.
Horsehockey! by Leopold I just read a John Grisham novel, "The Appeal", about a sociopathic billionaire who attempts to get his own state supreme court judge elected to win a chemical dumping appeal. Lots of political corruption... Not a bad story... Though the story is made up, the gist of it is basically true. That got me thinking: The GOP constantly talks about tort reform and helping "small business". But one of the main ways to help businesses, small and large, would be to provide universal healthcare via something like Medicare. That would reduce business costs and make American businesses more competitive globally because the US is the only "developed" economy in the world without universal healthcare. Universal healthcare would also reduce litigation quite a bit, which is one of the other Repuglican talking points. People with automatic healthcare wouldn't need to sue to receive treatment after suffering injuries! Combine that with Social Security disability and quite a bit of the incentive to sue goes away! Tort reform is another GOP straw man. One of the best ways to eliminate lawsuits is to stop doing bad things and making deadly products. A stronger set of regulations would help Big Business in that area (assuming the government actually obeyed the law and enforced regulations on the books...) For example, in Europe product safety of chemicals is backward to the way the US does it. In Europe, new commercial chemicals must be proven safe before use. In the US, new chemicals must be proven unsafe-- and are allowed to be sold until that proof is available. Reply from Sherri B.: Leopold had it right in the first sentence... the book was about a sociopathic billionaire. Now the rest, the parts that got him thinking, were spoken from the POV of a non-sociopathic person. My simple point is: If one is a sociopath, no matter what you put on their plate in terms of correction and reform: they will attempt to circumvent. Why? Because they're sociopaths... Just sayin' ... What the!? by Mark T. I just heard about the Bush team starting a law to collect newborns' DNA and so far I haven't found anything to say this law was stopped. Please tell me some good news that this law is at least in limbo Bush signs bill to take all newborns' DNA Reply from Helen & Harry: I remember the slight ruckus over this from a few years ago, but I wasn't deeply concerned. As a general rule, if Alex Jones and his nexus of infowars.net and prisonplanet.tv are worked up about something, it's bullsh*t. Reply from Mark T.: I did a little more digging into this and it seems legit which concerns me because by getting newborns dna the have a back door to all the parents and family members dna because of close matches. It wouldn't concern me so much if everyone was honest and ethical but I've learned from experience that it's way more likely to be abused. I would like to take the time though to let you know how much I appreciate your site. It's nice to know that I'm not alone in thinking like this. Reply from Helen & Harry: I can easily envision ethical, Big Brother-type problems with widespread DNA collection, but there are presumably privacy protections in place. If there weren't, wouldn't we have heard holy hell about this two-year-old legislation two years ago? I'd like to spend a few minutes researching this, just to be sure, but I'm having the same problem I had when you brought this up a few weeks ago Dear Mark, I like you but I'm old and cranky and extremely unlikely to take anything from such sources seriously. After five minutes of trying to cut through the right-wing panic I've grown frustrated and given up again. My gut tells me, if this legislation was a problem I'd hear about it from privacy advocates who aren't the same right-wingers that are perpetually panicked aboutObama's birth certificate and non-existent gun round-ups and the war on Christmas and concentration camps and vaccines intentionally tainted to kill us all. If you've found something that makes concerns about this DNA program seem legit, please do send it along, please and sincerely. Just please understand that to get my attention, whatever you might send needs to come from somewhere other than the far-right fringe. Reply from Mark T.: I don't know enough yet to know which sites are the "right or left wingers". I appreciate the time you gave to it and I haven't found the article yet that caught my attention. Needless to say it had me worried. I for one appreciate the care you've taken with this because it gives me more reason to trust your opinions when you post things on your site. Reply from Helen & Harry: Hey, I appreciate that, very much. Funny you should mention which sites are the "right or left wingers". When we started the website Bill Clinton was President and we held Left and Right in pretty much equal disdain. And we were already grown-ups, not naive kiddies, but the ground floor of American politics has gone so far, far, farther than that to the right in the past ten years, I guess we're now a Left-Wing website. Republicans have gone so far to the right they've fallen off the chart, Democrats are in the middle with a tilt to the right (where a lot of ordinary Republicans were about twenty years ago) In the Northern Territory by Ben Legume Hi Guys, long time since I sent you a message. But don't worry, I still read your site at least once a week (internet permitting). Here's proof that they aren't completely without compassion in the Northern Territory (and although the article doesn't spell it out, you have to realize that about 95% of the people charged with offenses in the Northern Territory are aboriginal):
Dollars per dead person by jojo j. I want to know and probably a lot of other people do too - how many dollars have we spent per dead person.? When you figure that out please find out if we could have done it more cheaply. The govt. is always paying too much for everything - $500 hammers, overpriced toilet seats, etc........- are we getting our moneys worth? Is there a discount army or way of killing people that will bring down the cost per dead person. Also in today's dollars how does this stack up against the cost per dead person of other undeclared wars we have fought? I think we have too much management and not enough death dealing folks on the ground. All other businesses are downsizing in this economic environment - why can't our killing machine cut some of the fat. In the spirit of being green, can't the killing be done in a more environmental friendly way? We have not even done an environmental study of the countries that we are contaminating. There may be some small living thing that will be exterminated in the non-environmentally friendly way we kill people - come on people - THINK OF THE ECO-SYSTEM. State of insanity by SirJ Interracial couple denied marriage license See if you can guess what state this was in. I mean U.S. state. "state of insanity" is not an acceptable answer. Re Crazy Joe Arpaio: As I understand it, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's ability to enforce immigration laws isn't rescinded. It's restricted. He can't conduct his in-the-field sweeps to round up illegal immigrants, but he can continue to enforce immigration laws on those already inside jail. 300 of the 33,000 arrests in the last two years were made in the field. Ergo, the rest were made while the suspect was in prison. Thus, the new agreement with the Obama administration is all about changing image and not about changing substance.
About to act out by Sherri B. Every single time I become tired and jaded I see something that sets me right off. The article about the UN cutting $800-million to the world's starving has me in deep contemplation mode. About to act out in 3, 2... All of which are felonies by Chris D. Re 30 GOP Senators vote to defend gang rape I'm sorry, did your Senate just go on record as saying it's perfectly legal for a corporation to make itself immune to ANY criminal prosecution via a clause in their employment applications? Releasing the company from responsibility for injury from a freak occurrence or individual cases of sexual harassment is one thing, but in this case alone we've got sexual assault, unlawful confinement, criminal negligence on part of supervisors, and destruction of evidence. All of which are felonies, and I'm sure a slew of other charges are warranted. Those clauses prevent the act of suing the company, but they're not supposed to protect anyone from getting their worthless asses thrown into the slammer. If her guard hadn't gone against company policy, which is apparently to terrorize and break the will of anyone who would dare mention their legal rights, she might not have come home alive. What then? Would her contract also prevent her next-of-kin from prosecuting? So it's apparently acceptable to abuse human rights if the one undergoing treatment unfit for a rapid dog unwittingly signed them away to a vague clause? Is that it? Well then all China, Russia, or Iran needs to do is whip up a little paperwork for some gullible fool with no other choice but to sign and I guess the 'free' world will have to stop it's griping now huh? Maybe the real reason Justice wears a blindfold is to hide the scars from when she tore out her own eyes after witnessing such gross miscarriages of her name. Probing question by Wig Re "...They're reforming health care sideways up your butt Will colonoscopy exams be a covered under the reformed Health Bill? Re In its effort to keep the government's illegal mass-eavesdropping program secret, the Justice Department has argued that giant telecom companies are part of the government..." An appeal will rectify this. All that's needed is a "bailout" of the telecoms. That way the government can assume part ownership like it has with the big banks and the auto companies.
Abbas lies bleeding in Rahmalla while Obama looks on.
Recommended sites for gathering unknown or underreported news: Media Matters Pro Publica ThinkProgress Washington Monthly TruthOut
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