Not a Single Republican Vote to give Citizens Health Reform

The gift from Republicans on this Christmas Eve: I've got mine, screw you... Merry Christmas!

I knew the Stock Market was Evil, but didn't know this Evil was Behind it

This Hipocrate was Almost our Prez

Flashback: McCain Refused To Grant 30 Seconds Of Time During Iraq War Debate

Yesterday, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), acting on the orders of the Senate leadership, refused to grant Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “an additional moment” to continue speaking on the Senate floor after his 10 minutes expired. Franken’s objection caused Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to groan about how Franken’s move was unprofessional, unprecedented, and disrespectful:

McCAIN: I’ve been around here 20-some years. First time I’ve ever seen a member denied an extra minute or two to finish his remarks. … I just haven’t seen it before myself. And I don’t like it. And I think it harms the comity of the Senate not to allow one of our members at least a minute. I’m sure that time is urgent here, but I doubt that it would be that urgent.

Unfortunately, McCain’s memory is suffering. In fact, McCain has engaged in the very same behavior that he was criticizing Franken for yesterday.

On October 10, 2002 — just ahead of the looming mid-term elections — the Senate rushed a debate on a war authorization giving President Bush the power to use force against Iraq. The resolution ultimately passed the Senate after midnight on an early Friday morning by a vote of 77-23.

During the course of the frenzied floor debate, then-Sen. Mark Dayton (D-MN) spoke in favor of an amendment offered by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) that would have restricted Bush’s constitutional powers to wage war against Iraq. After a minute and a half, Dayton ran out of time, prompting this exchange:

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator’s time has expired.

Mr. DAYTON. I ask for unanimous consent that I have 30 seconds more to finish my remarks.

Mr. McCAIN. I object.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/18/mccain-hypocrisy-franken/

"I've got mine..."

I don't have health insurance. My dentist just emailed me about a December cleaning. I emailed back and said I don't have insurance and I need to cancel the cleaning.

Friday I had a dizzy spell. It was so strong I had to sit down as I was afraid I might fall down. I was too meet someone and had to cancel our plans. I had the dizzy spell again this morning. My action to this possible health crisis: cross my fingers.

A Harvard Medical School study released in September found that 45,000 Americans die annually because they lack health insurance, 2.5 times more than was estimated in a 2002 study.

The National Association of Free Clinics, a nonprofit organization started to help third world countries, is hosting a clinic today in New Orleans, USA. They estimate that 80% of the people they will see have a job but insufficient health insurance.

For those who feel "I've got health insurance, figure your own sh%t out" I say, "it could be you one day." Attempt empathy and compassion. Here are some other people with situations worse than dizzy spells.

Keep America Racist

A former classmate of mine, whos Facebook postings seem extreme to me, told me yesterday that she ONLY watches FOX news... then it became clear as day.



Lou Dobbs, who many speculate left CNN (or was forced out) because of his racist views, said ""Over the past six months, it has become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffeting this country and affecting all of us..." That "change" Lou, is that American may actually be evolving away from the racist views that it was founded on.

August 14, 2009 Dobbs, "You know, it's just killing the left wing in this country that they can't force CNN to fire me."

Adiós Lou Dobbs

Over 100,000 people signed one of many petitions to get Lou Dobbs off of CNN. Now he is gone.

Our Service People Deserve Better

A new study estimates four times as many US Army veterans died last year because they lacked health insurance than the total number of US soldiers who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the same period. A research team at Harvard Medical School says 2,266 veterans under the age of sixty-five died in 2008 because they were uninsured.

Read more here

When Will the Teabaggers & Congresspeople Wake Up?

Teabaggers Defeated

Congratulations to Democrat Bill Owens for defeating Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and their extreme right-wing 'tea party' candidate Doug Hoffman in the NY-23 Special Election.

Boot Lieberman!

You may have heard the news. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is threatening to help Republicans block a vote on health care reform if the bill includes a public health insurance option.

But when reporters asked Lieberman if he'd be willing to lose his powerful committee chairmanship as a consequence, he said: "Oh, God no."

What's our answer? Hell yeah!

You and 90,000 others signed our petition to Democratic senators asking them to strip leadership titles from Lieberman (or others) if they block reform. Can you help us get to 100,000?

Click HERE to sign

Who Has "Done Nothing?"

Is it possible, that in nine short months, President Barack Obama and his administration have turned around the second worst economy in our history, the one George W. Bush left as part of his legacy? To those who say Obama has done nothing - Beck, Limbaugh, Coulter, Malkin - I beg you to become part of the solution or get out of the way. You have been proven very wrong. And you continue to hurt this country.

This from the BBC.com

Recovery ends US recession

The US economy grew at an annual pace of 3.5% between July and September, its first expansion in more than a year.

The US economy pulls out of recession with faster than expected, 3.5% annualised growth in the last quarter.

The growth was helped by a substantial government spending plan, including a scrappage scheme to boost car sales.

ACORN better for Americans than congress, and less corrupt

If we want to stop corruption and misuse of tax dollars, we should investigate and perhaps defund congress, not ACORN.



Do something about it HERE

FOX president R. Ailes finally admits FOX is not news!

Democrats often appear on FOX in hopes of reaching out to conservative viewers. But FOX cuts off their mic, distorts what they say, or runs biased headlines at the bottom of the screen.⁴ In the end, Democrats always lose on FOX.

FOX insists there's a difference between its news shows and its right-wing opinion shows with Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and others.

But in August, FOX's so-called news shows "aired 22 clips of town hall meeting attendees opposed" to Obama's health care plans and zero in support. CNN and MSNBC were more fair and balanced.⁵

In another "news" story, FOX passed off a GOP press release as its own research—typo and all.⁶

FOX executives now describe the channel as "the voice of opposition" to Obama's agenda. FOX president Roger Ailes—a former adviser to Nixon, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush—said, "I see this as the Alamo."⁷

But a Capitol Hill newspaper reports, "In the House and Senate, Democrats who pledged to follow the administration's near-boycott of Fox were hard to find, although many expressed support for Obama's stance."⁸

Democrats will only find the courage to join Obama if they hear from enough concerned voters. Sign this petition to ask Sen. Schumer and Sen. Gillibrand and Rep. Maloney to stay off FOX. Clicking here will add your name:

http://civic.moveon.org/foxobama/o.pl?id=17603-9815853-kyl2jQx&t=4

Thanks for all you do.

–Noah, Nita, Michael, Kat, and the rest of the team

Sources:
1. "Fox News viewers overwhelmingly misinformed about health care reform proposals," Think Progress, August 19, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=84884&id=17603-9815853-kyl2jQx&t=6

"Fox News Signs On To Tea Party Agenda, Aggressively Promotes Anti-Obama Protests," Think Progress, April 10, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=84885&id=17603-9815853-kyl2jQx&t=8

"Beck-led Fox News "czar" witch hunt moves to ridiculous smear of Anita Dunn," Media Matters for America, October 16, 2009
http://mediamatters.org/research/200910160004

2. "White House: Fox News 'a wing of the Republican Party'," New York Daily News, October 12, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=84886&id=17603-9815853-kyl2jQx&t=9

3. "The Battle Between the White House and Fox News," The New York Times, October 17, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=84898&id=17603-9815853-kyl2jQx&t=10

4. "Outfoxed: Fox News technique: cut their mic!" Brave New Films, May 11, 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTkFU4MtubU

"The Case Against FOX," FOXAttacks.com
http://foxattacks.com/facts.php

5. "Fox News' town hall coverage amplifies opponents of health care reform, ignores supporters," Media Matters for America, September 8, 2009
http://mediamatters.org/print/research/200909080004

6. "Fox passes off GOP press release as its own research—typo and all," Media Matters for America, February 10, 2009
http://mediamatters.org/research/200902100019

7. "'Voice of the opposition': Fox News openly advocates against Democratic Congress, White House," Media Matters for America, September 11, 2009
http://mediamatters.org/reports/200909110016

8. "Congressional Democrats defend the White House's snub of Fox News," The Hill, October 14, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=84899&id=17603-9815853-kyl2jQx&t=11

brought to you by MoveOn.org

What Are the Benefits of Benifits?

I have an aunt who, whenever I told her about a new job I had started, her first question would be, "do you get benefits?" I now realize how devoid of meaning that concern of hers really is.

Medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy, according to a Harvard University study, which also showed that more than 75% of those who declared bankruptcy because of mounting medical bills had health insurance at the start of their illness.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Health-Insurance-Bankruptcy---A-Common-Dilemma&id=1085936
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5530Y020090604

So it amazes me that the majority of people who I talk to who are against reform or a public option or single payer, are people with insurance who feel, "why should my tax dollars go to help someone else." I guess their ignorance and selfishness could very well be a nasty revenge. This is not the America I want to live in.

Government for the People?

Is your healthcare money going towards your health?

Its really interesting to see who is proud to be a Republican these days

Could Repulicans Stoop Any Lower?

Republican congress people are no longer being controlled by corporations, they are now in the pocket of the Devil himself. Nothing else can explain 30 congress people voting against Al Franken's first bill. This is truly amazing!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Rape-Nuts
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

Don't think the lies are working Repulicans

"Something has happened here that we all agree with the Taliban and Iran about and that is he doesn't deserve the award." Oh Limbaugh, why do you hate America so? And who are the "we all" you talk about? Obama is one of the most popular living human beings around the world and still popular in the USA despite the mountain of Republican lies and obstruction.

This from the Wall Street Journal: "...Republicans registered their lowest approval ratings since President Barack Obama was elected: 64% of voters said they disapprove of the way congressional Republicans are doing their job, including 42% of Republican voters. Voters also continue to trust the president over Republicans by a 47%-31% margin when it comes to health care."

"In the absence of any new leadership and an unwillingness to put forward any new ideas, the Republican Party has become the party of cranks and conspiracy theorists," Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan says.

FOX knows how to please their racist/sexist audience

Radio legend Don Imus premiered on Fox Business Network yesterday, and according to ratings obtained by Mediaite, the show was a big hit.

Here’s a look.

Imus’ show got an average of 177,000 total viewers yesterday morning from 6-9amET. The last time numbers were reported for FBN, their business day (5am-9pmET), the average was around 21,000. Imus’ total viewer figure was at least 1000% better than the previous program, Money For Breakfast.

At 7amET, the show had its best hour, averaging 202,000 (Glenn Beck was a guest that hour). Other big name guests yesterday included Sen. John McCain and Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi.

read more at mediaite.com

Would Jesus be a Capitalist?

I pose a simple question...: "Is capitalism a sin?" I go on to ask, "Would Jesus be a capitalist?" Would he belong to a hedge fund? Would he sell short? Would he approve of a system that has allowed the richest 1% to have more financial wealth than the 95% under them combined?

I have come to believe that there is no getting around the fact that capitalism is opposite everything that Jesus (and Moses and Mohammed and Buddha) taught. All the great religions are clear about one thing: It is evil to take the majority of the pie and leave what's left for everyone to fight over. Jesus said that the rich man would have a very hard time getting into heaven. He told us that we had to be our brother's and sister's keepers and that the riches that did exist were to be divided fairly. He said that if you failed to house the homeless and feed the hungry, you'd have a hard time finding the pin code to the pearly gates.

I guess that's bad news for us Americans. Here's how we define "Blessed Are the Poor": We now have the highest unemployment rate since 1983. There's a foreclosure filing once every 7.5 seconds. 14,000 people every day lose their health insurance.

At the same time, Wall Street bankers ("Blessed Are the Wealthy"?) are amassing more and more loot -- and they do their best to pay little or no income tax (last year Goldman Sachs' tax rate was a mere 1%!). Would Jesus approve of this? If not, why do we let such an evil system continue? It doesn't seem you can call yourself a Capitalist AND a Christian -- because you cannot love your money AND love your neighbor when you are denying your neighbor the ability to see a doctor just so you can have a better bottom line. That's called "immoral" -- and you are committing a sin when you benefit at the expense of others.

You can read Michael Moore's entire open letter to Christians here

ill profit

The examples never end. The Money Vampires are real.

Finally a real Politician

Here is a Congressman who is doing his job: looking out for the best interests of his constituents and the American people as opposed to contributing to Corporate excess. Wow, Crazy. Thank you Alan Grayson.

All Michael wants is democracy... in America!

The American Dream may be gone, but at least we can laugh. Michael Moore's new film opens tomorrow. Many are saying it is his best to date. He is saying it may be his last.

Our 'Health Care' is Sick!

The Shame in Breaking Records

As I listened to 14 month old Analeigha Rivera's tiny heart in the Reliant Center in Houston, I could hear the murmur interrupting her regular rhythm as blood swished through a hole between the main chambers of the heart. An echocardiogram confirmed the diagnosis, so I could show her mother Victoria exactly where the problem was and explained to her that if little Analeigha didn't get supervised care by a pediatric cardiologist, we might miss our window to prevent life-threatening damage. I looked in her mother's tear-stained eyes and heard the same story that hundreds of others have recounted to me -- Victoria had a job but had lost her insurance. So Analeigha had nowhere to go. After I explained to her that we had resources on-site to help plan the next steps, one of my staff took me aside and told me we had just broken the record for the most people seen in a free clinic in one day. That's when my spirit sank a little.


Read the rest of what Dr. Mehmet Oz, M.D. had to say about the lack of health care in the USA here the the Huffington Post

CNN the new FOX?

Most Americans Don't Believe GOP Lies

Salon.com article by Gene Lyons Sept. 24, 2009

"I can't tell you how many foreign leaders who are heads of center-right governments say to me, I don't understand why people would call you socialist. In my country, you'd be considered a conservative." -- President Obama, Sept. 20, 2009

There have always been two basic arguments for health insurance reform: one based in morality, the other self-interest. For a documented 45,000 persons to die prematurely in America each year because they can't afford proper care is a national disgrace. Almost everybody apart from "conservatives" whose moral imagination is limited to judging other people's sex lives understands that.

The current cruel, wasteful system is indefensible. Surely that's why almost three-quarters of physicians polled by the New England Journal of Medicine favor genuine reform. About 63 percent of doctors surveyed nationwide support a public option; 10 percent would prefer a single-payer system, basically Medicare for everybody.

For all the hullabaloo, it appears alarmist rhetoric hasn't scared ordinary people as much as it has cable TV anchors. A Bloomberg poll asked which right-wing objections people found legitimate, and which were "scare tactics." Basically, voters rejected GOP rhetoric almost 2-to-1. About 63 percent think Sarah Palin's "death panels" are a distortion, versus 30 percent who fear them. It's 61 to 33 percent on the claim that health reform means government-paid abortions, 58 to 37 percent on the false claim that illegal aliens will get subsidized insurance, etc.

In short, hardcore opposition is mainly confined to the Republican "base," itself increasingly confined to the South. Why has Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, started making conciliatory noises? Consider these remarkable statistics from a Research 2000 poll: Voters in the Northeast overwhelmingly dislike congressional Republicans. The party's favorability rating there is a minuscule 7, yes 7, percent. Moreover, it's a paltry 13 percent in the Midwest; 14 percent in the West. Only in the South is the GOP politically relevant, with a 50 to 37 percent advantage over Democrats.

read all of Gene Lyons's article here at Salon.com

Hollywood Does Make Everything Clearer

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

"Satire" more true than "real news"

"SPECIAL EDITION" NEW YORK POST from The Yes Men on Vimeo.

"WE'RE SCREWED": MEDIA HEIST BLANKETS CITY WITH "SPECIAL EDITION" NEW YORK POST
Tabloid Tells Truth About Climate Change and How It Will Affect City, World

Early this morning, nearly a million New Yorkers were stunned by the appearance of a "special edition" New York Post blaring headlines that their city could face deadly heat waves, extreme flooding, and other lethal effects of global warming within the next few decades. The most alarming thing about it: the news came from an official City report.

Distributed by over 2000 volunteers throughout New York City, the paper has been created by The Yes Men and a coalition of activists as a wake-up call to action on
climate change. It appears one day before a UN summit where Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will push 100 world leaders to make serious commitments to reduce carbon
emissions in the lead-up to the Copenhagen climate conference in December. Ban has said that the world has "less than 10 years to halt (the) global rise in
greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and the planet," adding that Copenhagen is a "once-in-a-generation opportunity."

Although the 32-page New York Post is a fake, everything in it is 100% true, with all facts carefully checked by a team of editors and climate change experts.

"This could be, and should be, a real New York Post," said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men. "Climate change is the biggest threat civilization has ever faced, and it should be in the headlines of every paper, every day until we solve the problem."

The fake Post's cover story ("We're Screwed") reports the frightening conclusions of a blue-ribbon panel of scientists commissioned by the mayor's office to determine the potential effects of climate change on the City. That report was released in February of this year, but received very little press at the time. Other lead articles describe the Pentagon's alarmed response to global warming
("Clear & Present Disaster"), the U.S. government's sadly minuscule response to the crisis ("Congress Cops Out on Climate"), China's alternative energy program ("ChinaÕs Green Leap Forward Overtakes U.S."), and how if the US doesn't quickly pass a strong climate bill, the crucial Copenhagen climate talks this December could be a "Flopenhagen."

Another ad promotes civil disobedience, encouraging readers to visit BeyondTalk.net and pledge to risk arrest in a planned global action November 30, just before the conference in Copenhagen.

"We need strong action on climate change," said David Solnit of Mobilization for Climate Justice West, one of the partners in BeyondTalk.net. "But history shows
that leaders act only when people take to the streets to demand it. That's what needs to happen now."

This paper is one of 2500 initiatives taking place in more than 130 countries as a response to the "Global Wake-up Call" on climate change. For more information, visit tcktcktck.org/wakeup

Blood is on my hands

Israeli soldiers laugh as they bulldoze family shacks of non-Jews in Israel. Good chance that that bulldozer was funded with US tax payers money. Good chance it was made by a US corporation. There is little sicker to me than this. And it was done with my money. The "blood" is on my hands.

The Rise of Right Wing Fanatics

Fanatic right-wing fear mongers are not unique to Fox. Pressure is on CNN to drop Lou Dobbs, who is not only a birther (spreads the idea that Obama was not born in the USA), but has come up with a conspiracy theory that illegal Mexican immigrants will spread leprosy throughout America. A certified nutter.




More on this at Huffington Post

Reason Returns (Stewart, not the ridiculous 9/12 stunt)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mad Men
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

Death Panels are Real and Now

#1 in Tanks, #37 in Health Care

What is up with SC Politicians?

First you have Gov. Mark Sanford telling his wife (and four kids) he is going on a solo hike on the Appalachian Trail but instead flies to Argentina to have an affair, now you have representative Joe Wilson redefining disrespect by yelling out at a joint meeting calling our president a liar.

First off, Obama did not lie about tax money not going to undocumented people if this bill passes, but to call out like this during a speech by any president is out of order. What is up with South Carolina? The GOP?

Joe Wilson's website was down yesterday, I'm assuming from people trying to email him about his uninformed outburst... or maybe it was even more ignorant, racist right wingers writing to congratulate him. I don't doubt anything in this time of Fox News/Palin/Townhall madness.

Listen to Another Smart Man

Smart People are Talking, is America Listening?

Here is 5 minutes and 18 seconds of what one of our smartest men and greatest journalists has to say about health care reform and the nuts fighting against it. Below is a bit of text from the transcript. The video is here.

...we've posted on our website an essay by the media scholar Henry Giroux. He describes the growing domination of hate radio as one of the crucial elements in a "culture of cruelty" increasingly marked by overt racism, hostility and disdain for others, coupled with a simmering threat of mob violence toward any political figure who believes health care reform is the most vital of safety nets, especially now that the central issue of life and politics is no longer about working to get ahead, but struggling simply to survive.

So here we are, wallowing in our dysfunction. Governed — if you listen to the rabble rousers — by a black nationalist from Kenya smuggled into the United States to kill Sarah Palin's baby. And yes, I could almost buy their belief that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, only I think he shipped them to Washington, where they've been recycled as lobbyists and trained in the alchemy of money laundering, which turns an old-fashioned bribe into a First Amendment right.

Open Letter to Fox Republicans

Where have the intelligent conservatives gone? Have they all become Libertarians?

I saw a woman on TV crying because our president was going to talk to our school children. Please, get a grip. What exactly is at the core of your hatred for Obama? Really. Here are a few notable past presidents who personally addressed our school children:

President Regan 1988 (who talked to the children about the importance of cutting taxes!)
President Bush Sr. 1991
President Bush Jr. 2001 was reading to school kids on 9/11

Please, please, please stop listening to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin, Michael Savage and Ann Coulter. They are misleading you and making you dumber. If you must bunker yourself down in purely partisan politics, read/listen to those on the right such as Tony Blankley and David Frum. These people are smart, not to mention sane. Hell, even Bill Kristol is better than the above mentioned nut cases, though his predictions are often wrong and I question his sanity sometimes.

Here is the real question to ask the Fox News Republicans: What are you really scared of? If you are a conservative, please try to answer these questions:

Do you believe Obama is a Nazi?
Do you believe Obama wishes the USA to be Socialist?
Do you believe Obama was born in Kenya?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it is strongly in your best interest to stop watching all Fox programming except the Simpsons. The lunatic fringe on this network who are trying to delegitimize our president and publicly treat him with disrespect are not helping you or our country. Truthfully, I don't believe any of these people believe Obama is a Communist, Nazi, Muslim, Socialist or Kenyan. But these pundits use fear to make you hate this man.

What are they really afraid of? I ask you to try to answer that question. The answer seems simple to me.

How Many People are Dead Because of George W. Bush?

Sheri Fink, reporter for ProPublica, and a doctor, had this piece published in the New York Times Magazine that on the cover said, “The floodwaters from Katrina had knocked out the power. Doctors and nurses were overstretched and overtired, patients were dying and the evacuation of many of the sickest seemed impossible. “Injecting drugs was one answer that some members of the medical staff decided on. Were they trying to comfort those patients—or hasten their [demise]?”

This article is about 18 patients who may have been "killed" with lethal injection by hospital attendants because hospital workers thought the patients could not be evacuated after the power went out because of floods after Katrina. Are the doctors and nurses responsible? Or is George Bush, who could barely be bothered to leave one of his many vacations (this one a month long) during one of America's worst "natural" disasters.

These excerpts are from Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! where the whole interview with Sheri Fink can be heard or read.

Sheri Finks article can be read on the New York Times Magazine website.

Cheney Clearly Ignored the US Constitution

From Democracy Now!

Former Vice President Dick Cheney lashed out at the Obama administration Sunday over Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to investigate whether CIA operatives broke the law while interrogating prisoners. During an interview on Fox News Sunday, Cheney described the probe as politically motivated and said it "offends the hell out of me.”

Vice President Cheney: “The approach of the Obama administration should be to come to those people who were involved in that policy and say, ‘How did you do it? What were the keys to keeping the country safe over that period of time?’ Instead, they’re out there now threatening to disbar the lawyers who gave us the legal opinions, threatening, contrary to what the President originally said, they’re going to go out and investigate the CIA personnel who carried out those investigations.”

In response to a question from host Chris Wallace, Dick Cheney defended interrogators who waterboarded prisoners and used electric drills and guns to threaten prisoners, even if done in violation of Justice Department guidelines.

Chris Wallace: “Do you think what they did—now that you’ve heard about it, do you think what they did was wrong?”

Cheney: “Chris, my sort of overwhelming view is that the enhanced interrogation techniques were absolutely essential in saving thousands of American lives, in preventing further attacks against the United States, in giving us the intelligence we needed to go find al-Qaeda, to find their camps, to find out how they were being financed. It was good policy. It was properly carried out. it worked very, very well.”

Wallace: “So, even these cases where they went beyond the specific legal authorization, you’re OK with it.”

Cheney: “I am.”

Appearing on ABC’s This Week, John Kerry, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, accused Cheney of having disrespect for the Constitution. Kerry defended the Obama administration.

Sen. John Kerry: “I think there is a little bit of a tension between the White House itself and the lawyers in the Justice Department as they see the law and as what their obligation is. And in a sense, that’s good, that’s appropriate, because it shows that we have an attorney general who is not pursuing a political agenda, but who is doing what he believes the law requires him to do. And we have an administration, on the other hand, that is balancing some of those other interests.”

Weapons of Mass Fear

For close to 100 years, opponents of health care reform have used fear to squash all attempts to make a better system for the citizens of America. I have to hand it to them, they are batting 100%.

Great news piece on NPR this morning on how our politicians use fear to control us. Listen and/or read here:

In Health Care Debate, Fear Trumps Logic

An American Hero Moves On

"...My friends, if that health insurance is good enough for the members of the Congress of the United States and good enough for the President of the United States, it’s good enough for everybody in Montgomery County, everyone in Pennsylvania, and everyone across this country."

- Senator Ted Kennedy, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, April, 2008

What makes me so sad is that Senator Kennedy has been trying to accomplish this for the citizens of the United States for close to forty years! Do not underestimate the power of for-profit Corporate health care.

"I am proposing today a new national health strategy. It helps more people pay for care, but it also expands the supply of health services and makes them more efficient. It emphasizes keeping people well, not just making people well.

The purpose of this program is simply this: I want America to have the finest healthcare in the world, and I want every American to be able to have that care when he needs it."

- Senator Ted Kennedy, 1971 newscast on CBS anchored by Walter Cronkite

USA is now 'Third World'

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times / August 11, 2009

Health care in the USA today, thanks to our present capitalist/corporate system. Dozens of volunteer dentists work on participants in the Remote Area Medical expedition at the Forum in Inglewood, Los Angeles, on Tuesday. Services are provided by volunteer medical and dental personnel for the uninsured, underinsured, unemployed and those who cannot afford to pay.

Remote Area Medical was set-up to bring free health care to people who cannot afford it in Developing Countries (formerly known as Third World Countries). Now that health care has collapsed in the USA, they have come to help Americans. Without a single payer option, you may want to consider contacting them for your health care, dental care, eye care and veterinary needs:

Remote Area Medical

Fun Fact #1: Did you know the USA is the ONLY Developed Country where its citizens file bankruptcy when they run into high medical bills. Keep shouting at those town hall meetings ignorant citizens; someday it might be you or your family member.

Fun Fact #2: Profits at ten of the countries largest publicly traded insurance companies in 2007 rose 428% from 2.4 billion to 12.9 billion.

Fun Facts taken from Your Call Radio

33 Fox advertisers abandon Glenn Beck

America is one of the most racist countries I have ever been in. But its good to know that even Capitalism can keep one of the most racist of our corporations will be kept in check if they cross the line (far enough over the line at least).

A total of 33 Fox advertisers, including Walmart, CVS Caremark, Clorox, and Sprint, directed that their commercials not air on Glenn Beck's show, according to the companies and ColorofChange.org, a group that promotes political action among blacks and launched a campaign to get advertisers to abandon him.

He was actually on another Fox show July 28 when he referred to Obama as a racist with "a deep-seated hatred for white people." The network immediately distanced itself from Beck's statement, but Beck didn't. He used his radio show the next day to explain why he believed that.

information borrowed from the Associated Press

Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story'

I know it is "alternative" now to dislike Michael Moore, but let me ask you this: Are you doing more to change the lunacy that is going on in our country? Are you reaching more people than Moore? I think it is worth 1.5 hours of our lives to learn what he has found. You might have a good laugh as well. Here is the trailer.

On an industrial lot in Brooklyn, N.Y., three garbage bins have been transformed into swimming pools. They're set in what looks like an urban country club — with tent cabanas, barbecue grills and a dozen plastic beach chairs.

The idea of swimming in a trash container grosses you out? Think again. They're clean. The bins are lined with thick sheets of plastic, and the water is chlorinated and filtered, just like what goes in an inground pool.

The company behind the pools is Macro Sea, a Manhattan real estate developer. Jocko Weyland, the guy in charge of the pool project, says Macro Sea got the idea from a rock musician in Georgia.

The pools are behind a chain-link fence in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood. The 5 1/2 foot-deep containers are in an H-formation with a wooden deck built around them. There's also a shallower kiddie pool.

News of the Brooklyn trash bin swimming pools first surfaced on a blog for ReadyMade magazine, which helps do-it-yourselfers use familiar objects in new ways.

"It's a Dumpster. It's not trying to pretend it's not a Dumpster, you know," Weyland says.

"We wanted to show that this is not that hard. If you got a Dumpster donated or found one or stole one, you could do it for under $1,000. Show some initiative. Get off your ass and put it together," Weyland says.

Then throw a party and invite your friends.

excerpts from NPR's Morning Edition

Senator Sanders Unfiltered: Lies, Fibs and Anti-Reformers

I couldn't have said it better than Senator Sanders. My fear is that not enough people are getting this message, and too many are only getting the lies from FOX and the Sarah Palins.

Well Done FOX, Your Lies are Working

Americans are not the 'sharpest knives in the international cutlery drawer.' This is well known world wide. I travel a lot, believe me. If you doubt me, watch this video. Now, lets try to figure out why Americans are not really known for their superior gray matter.

Two polls came out this week, one by Daily Kos and the other by NBC. By joining these two polls - the first about who watches FOX News, MSNBC or CNN and the later which shows the misconceptions on Obama's health bill - one can deduce that Republicans are most often wrong about the issues surrounding the proposed health bill and they are getting the majority of their news from FOX. The grain of salt to take along with these numbers is this: the first poll is by a progressive organization and the second by FOX's competitor. So read this from the pro-corporate, conservative Wall Street Journal:

Nearly half of Americans believe that a proposed overhaul of the health care system means the government will decide when to stop providing medical treatment to senior citizens, according to the latest polling by NBC News released this evening.

Some 45% said they believe the plan is likely to include such a provision that has become known as “death panels” despite bipartisan efforts by President Barack Obama and the provision’s author, Republican Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson to dispel the idea. (Isakson, in a recent interview with the Washington Post called the confusion “nuts.”)

To be sure, 50% of respondents said they believe the bill was unlikely to include such a provision, but the deep split over the veracity of “death panels” underscores the difficulty Democrats have had in selling their overhaul to the public.

Further, a majority of Americans (55%) believe the bill will extend health insurance coverage to illegal immigrants even though no proposals currently under negotiation would do so. An equally high number (54%) believe the overhaul will lead to a “complete” government takeover of the health care system, although there is also no actual proposal for that, either.

Additionally, 50% believe that the overhaul will use federal tax dollars to pay for abortions. While it is unclear if the final bill would do so, current law bans federal funds from being used to fund abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the mother’s life. The president has said he is not interested in expanding abortion rights in the health care package. “I’m pro-choice, but I think we also have the tradition in this town, historically, of not financing abortions as part of government-funded health care,” Obama said in a July interview with CBS.

Americans are also sharply divided on the town hall meetings taking place during the August recess, with 43% of respondents saying the often disruptive and angry encounters with lawmakers—focused mainly on health care—are doing “more harm than good” while 42% said they are doing “more good than harm.” The meetings, however, have also captivated Americans, some 85% of which said they have “seen, heard, or read” news coverage of the events.

As for the president’s approval on handling the health care issue, his numbers are virtually unchanged from last month with 41% saying then and now that they approve of the job he’s doing. While 46% in July said they disapprove, now 47% said the same.

Despite the headwinds Democrats are facing on health care, the NBC poll offers little in the way of good news for their Republican opponents. By a nearly three-to-one margin, 62%-21%, Americans said they disapprove of the way Republicans in Congress are handling health care reform.

The poll, conducted Aug. 15-17 of 805 adults, has a 3.5% margin of error. The full poll results are posted at msnbc.com.

Wall Street Journal

At least we are not Palistinian

No matter how stupid things get in the USA over things like Death Panels and our president who was born in Kenya, at least we are not Palistinian. Here is a story of a Palistinian father who lives under Isreali occupation (KHALED ABED RABBO = father, ANJALI KAMAT = Democracy Now!‘ announcer). Human Rights Watch released a report last week detailing new evidence of possible Israeli war crimes committed during last winter’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza that left over 1,400 Palestinians dead. Keep in mind that since the 1970s, Israel has been one of the top recipients of U.S. foreign aid, with most of that money going toward the military. Which means you the tax payer funds this.

KHALED ABED RABBO: [translated] January 7th, it was a Wednesday, the Israeli army ordered us over a megaphone to leave our houses. We came out holding white flags—my wife, my mother and my three daughters and I holding white flags. We exited our house from there and came to this very spot. We stood at the spot for seven minutes, waving flags, waiting to see if they would let us enter our house or go somewhere else.

There was a tank there with two soldiers sitting on top of it. One was eating chips, and the other, chocolate. For seven minutes, we stood there without talking. Then, suddenly, one emerged from the tank and fired at the children. My daughter Amal, she was two years old, her intestines fell out. My daughter Suad, age seven, was also shot. My daughter Samar, age four, was shot in the back, chest and stomach; her spine was destroyed.

ANJALI KAMAT: Suad died almost instantly, and Amal died of her wounds a few hours later, because no ambulances were allowed into the area. Samar is paralyzed from the waist down. Khaled Abed Rabbo’s mother was also seriously injured. When the family returned home towards the end of Operation Cast Lead, their home was a pile of rubble. I asked Khaled Abed Rabbo whether Hamas had a presence in the area.

KHALED ABED RABBO: [translated] This is a border area. There’s no resistance here at all. The soldiers were eating chips and chocolate. How ironic that as my child were shot dead, the Israeli soldiers were eating chocolate. They were sitting on top of the tank, not even inside the tank. I mean, there’s no resistance here.

Manditory Vacation

Did you know, the United States is the ONLY country in the industrial world where paid vacations are NOT required by law.

In countries like Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, employers are required to provide up to 20 days of paid leave. The French get 30 days. Americans, on the other hand, get an average of 12 days every year. A study conducted by the Families and Work Institute found that less than half of U.S. employees take the full vacation.

"People felt healthier during vacation. They had a better mood. They were less tense. And they had a higher level of energy, and they were more satisfied with their life," says Jessica de Bloom who studies the effects of vacation on stress, recovery and work motivation at the Radboud University in the Netherlands

story inspired by NPR

Must have iPhone/iTouch app for amateur cooks

[laidback Sunday edition]

If you are lucky enough to own an iPhone or iTouch, and you enjoy cooking, this is a must have app. I use this site all the time for recipes. But what I needed was a mobile recipe book with ingredients list. Epicurious was a step ahead of me. From Epicurious's own press release:

Epicurious.com, the award-winning food site, today introduced its first application in the Apple App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The free application, "Epicurious' Recipes & Shopping List: On the Go and In the Kitchen," allows users to browse and search Epicurious.com's database of over 25,000 editor-tested recipes, toggling between an easy-to-view shopping format, and a cooking format that shows one instruction step at a time.

"We're delighted to bring our much-lauded recipe collection to the iPhone and iPod Touch," said Tanya Wenman Steel, editor in chief of Epicurious.com. "Everyone from beginner cooks to experienced chefs will be able to shop from Epicurious recipes on-the-go and then create these amazing dishes at home by using this free app."

"Epicurious' Recipes & Shopping List: On the Go and In the Kitchen" features:

• Proven recipes: Over 25,000 professionally tested recipes to ensure a delicious meal. Sources include two of the most respected brands in the business, Gourmet and Bon Appetit, plus web-exclusive recipes from renowned chefs and cookbook authors.
• Browse functionality: Browse popular recipe collections, from Weeknight Dinners to Cool Cocktails. Select a recipe collection from the Home screen, then swipe to flip from recipe to recipe.
• A robust search engine: Swipe through cool icons on the search screen to filter by what's in your fridge, what's healthy, what's in season, and more. Find inspiration browsing by type of dish, main ingredient, cuisine, dietary consideration, dish type, and season or occasion. Or, search recipes by keyword.
• Saving and sending functionality: Save recipes to your Favorites by tapping the plus sign on any recipe image. E-mail any recipe to yourself or to a friend.
• Shopping List: Shop on the go by saving recipes to your Shopping List (just tap the plus sign on any recipe image). At the store, check off items as you shop.
• Cookbook mode: Turn your iPhone into a cookbook! Tap "view recipe" and turn the iPhone on its side to see the recipe in step-by-step view for easy-to-follow instructions in the kitchen
• Stunning graphics: Gorgeous photography, graphics, and design make this app fun and enticing.

The "Epicurious' Recipes & Shopping List: On the Go and In the Kitchen" application is available free from Apple's App Store on iPhone or iPod Touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

Boycott Whole Foods

John Mackey is a right wing libertarian.

He’s a union buster.

He believes that corporations should not be criminally prosecuted for their crimes.

He has just launched a campaign to defeat a single payer national health insurance system.

And he’s the CEO of Whole Foods.

Primo hangout of liberal Democratic yuppies.

from CommonDreams.org

You can read John Mackey's Wall Street Journal OpEd here, Whole Foods Alternative of ObamaCare.

Or this commentary from Teaberry posted on the Daily Kos:

He's quite full of himself about the fabulous health insurance plan he offers his employees.

For example, Whole Foods Market pays 100% of the premiums for all our team members who work 30 hours or more per week (about 89% of all team members) for our high-deductible health-insurance plan. We also provide up to $1,800 per year in additional health-care dollars through deposits into employees' Personal Wellness Accounts to spend as they choose on their own health and wellness.

OK, let's assume you're working at Whole Foods, making $10 an hour (a quick intertube search shows this a fair estimate) and working the minimum 30 hours per week. This means you're only grossing $15,000 per year. Even after you add the $1,800 WF sets aside for you, you're still only up to $16,800. How far does that even go for subsistence level living, let alone paying for health care to meet the $2,500 deductible before the insurance kicks in?

He blathers on with bullet points about how health care should be reformed. Here's a fun one:

Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover. These mandates have increased the cost of health insurance by billions of dollars. What is insured and what is not insured should be determined by individual customer preferences and not through special-interest lobbying.

WTF? "Government mandates?" Insurance companies cover only what they want to cover, when they feel like covering it. WTF? "Consumer preferences?" Consumers would prefer that insurance cover them when they need care, not drop them the minute they get sick or need something more than a band-aid.

Another one of my faves:
 

Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost. How many people know the total cost of their last doctor's visit and how that total breaks down? What other goods or services do we buy without knowing how much they will cost us?

This false premise that health care is somehow a commodity really burns me. That an individual must comparison shop when they need health care? Health care is a human right, not "goods or service," like a TV or car or a pedicure.

But wait, Mr. Mackey says:

Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That's because there isn't any. This "right" has never existed in America.

I guess that part in the Preamble to the Constitution where it talks about promoting the general welfare, doesn't count. And I'm so glad we don't have any pesky government agencies regulating the food supply or building codes to mess up our "voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges."

And of course, there's the obligatory dig at Canada and the U.K.:

Even in countries like Canada and the U.K., there is no intrinsic right to health care. Rather, citizens in these countries are told by government bureaucrats what health-care treatments they are eligible to receive and when they can receive them. All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments.

No, actually, Mr. Mackey, citizens of these countries HAVE decided health care is a right by the act of establishing their national health care systems. The United States has far more rationing of care. Insurance companies ration and deny it to increase their profits. And individuals self ration it because they can't afford it.

I'll have to quit soon, because I've gone way past the fair use standards, but one more for the road:

Unfortunately many of our health-care problems are self-inflicted: two-thirds of Americans are now overweight and one-third are obese. Most of the diseases that kill us and account for about 70% of all health-care spending—heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and obesity—are mostly preventable through proper diet, exercise, not smoking, minimal alcohol consumption and other healthy lifestyle choices.

True as this may be, it matters not how many doughnuts, cigarettes or PBRs one forgoes, if you've got MS, get hit by a bus, get pregnant, or any number of other things that have nothing to do with lifestyle choices, you're SOL in this country.

Whole Foods is a whole lotta crap and I won't shop there. I hope you won't either.

When Capitalism Works

Well, I have to admit, there are times when capitalism does work. Here is one of them, from the pages of Alternet:

ColorOfChange.org’s James Rucker reports that in response to the group’s campaign, GEICO has decided it no longer feels comfortable financing fearmongering paranoia and has pulled its ads from Glenn Beck’s Fox News program. This makes five advertisers who have distanced themselves from Beck since he declared that President Obama is “a racist” who harbors a “deep-seated hatred for white people.”

From ColorofChange.org’s press release:

“On Tuesday, August 4, GEICO instructed its ad buying service to redistribute its inventory of rotational spots on FOX-TV to their other network programs, exclusive of the Glenn Beck program,” said a spokesperson for GEICO Corporate Communications in an email to ColorOfChange.org. “As of August 4, GEICO no longer runs any paid advertising spots during Mr. Beck’s program.”

“We applaud GEICO and all of the other companies who have stepped forward to pull their ads from Glenn Beck,” said James Rucker, executive director of ColorOfChange.org. “Beck’s rhetoric is dangerous to the fabric of our democracy, and we are heartened that so many big companies feel the same way. We won’t stop here — we’re going to continue our fight to see that as many of Beck’s advertisers pull their support as possible.”

The question is quickly becoming, why do Beck’s other advertisers still feel comfortable with his inflammatory, hateful rhetoric?

Beck is not enough of a racist for FOX

As if Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh were not racist enough, FOX is trying to sign Don Imus on. Too much, really.

TVNewser has confirmed with a source close to the negotiations that Fox Business Network executives are in talks with Don Imus to bring his radio show to the 22-month old network.

AllYourTV.com, which first reported the news Friday night, reports the show "could make the move as early as September 1." RFD-TV, which currently simulcasts Imus in the Morning is looking to drop the show, "due to financial problems at the network," the blog reported.

A Fox Business spokesperson tells TVNewser, "We're always talking to interesting talent."

Full story on MediaBistro

How long will we believe the lies?

- We did not sell arms to Iran or negotiate with terrorists
- John Kerry lied about his war record
- We must go into Iraq because Saddam Hussein has Weapons of Mass Destruction
- We do not torture
- Obama wants to kill our grandparents and children

Here is some truth:

• Congress has government sponsored health care and it works
• Military personal in America have government sponsored health care and it works (Tricare)
• Many low income Americans have government sponsored health care and it works (Medicaid)
• Most Americans over 65 have government sponsored health care and it works (Medicare)
• Most of the developed world has government sponsored health care and it works

What is this nonsense about Obama wanting to kill people? Unplug yourself from the corporate matrix and wake up.