Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

woo hoo and all that rot
repost of this am's early bird exchange:

"When I got to the end I was pounding on the key board and hit the send button. No spell check, no proof reading"

jack, and did ya run to the window and scream "i'm mad as hell and i'm not taking it anymore"?

*while jack's neighbors are nodding heads and muttering 'must be he's into that trail mix again'*
patd

good to see that anger is not dead in america........
sturgeone

another repost from last thread - important question at bottom for cbob

just tho't of a nifty plan to pay for a free trip thru europe.
http://www.pendletoday.co.uk/strange-but-true/Light-bulbs-being-hoarded-ahead.5609411.jp

cbob, did you see the story on the bulb ban? won't there be an unexpected consequence of dangerous mercury dumping if they don't implement a proper recycle plan?
Posted by: patd | September 2, 2009 6:51 AM

Good morning, patd -- am listening to MoJo...hammering away at why nothing is going to get done because of the cost. Barnacle is proving once again that he is no "man of the people." Plenty of money for bombs. None for sick people. Business as usual, recess or not.

psst craig, either there's an "at" out of place or you're "least" has gone missing in the first line.

hit refresh, patd

terribly embarrassing to find glaring mistake while correcting someone else's error. hubris morphs to humility.

good morning, patsi & craig

pondering also on the definitions for "break" (your 1st meaning of recess)... as in "give us a break"
please

Patsi

Due to the time difference, I woke up to that crud. If the thinking at MoJo gets any muddier, I'm going to join Jack at that window and move over Peter Finch.

Of all the areas where we could stop spending money, why pick on health care?

Of all the areas that could save us money ... why not health care?

The Insurance Companies and power brokers scream like wounded caribou, the commercials start, the emails begin, the cowardly and uneducated respond to the usual buttons, it all trickles into the news and the bloviators sieze on slogans.

End result - reasonable people with reasonable needs get screwed again.

Jamie and Patsi...Joe S. is an ass. I knew the swine flu was going to really bump the public option into space, but with inane comments like, see how the government handles the vaccine? the distribution?. He knows better, but loves his political theater in which he can announce he is one hip, repbublican dude.

Change you can believe in!!

Sucker!
Another one under the bus,

Looks like what we've got is Carter with out the moral compass or compassion.
Maybe if the congressional black conference got on his ass.
Nah, he would just toss them under the bus too.
He doesn't need anybody.
pinchi pendejo

Jack

Sorry for the typos...burping on repugs this morning...I have had my fill. They are just making us all sicker and I refuse to live in a world that is only 6,000 years old.

So the answer is, once again, let's just do nothing about health care???

Once the folks on the far right lose their jobs and health insurance, they'll understand something needs to be done, or at least they should come to understand it.

Maybe the piggy flu will take care of the "surplus" people.

I thik that when all is said and done, this health "care" plan will be smoke and mirrors, costing billios and most of it somehow going to the same crowd that lobbyied against it.

http://www.politico.com/politicopulse/

I learned a valuable lesson last night at work. Sometimes.....even when you don't know all the facts...you can make a statement/joke that hits too close to home and pisses somebody off. But, as they say..."If they can't take a joke...."

And a very interesting piece from HuffPo:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/has-obamas-handling-of-th_b_273341.html

moyers on mahrer --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN4tFqftY_E

On the recent polls re Obama losing Independents, I wonder if he isn't losing them for what he isn't doing rather than what he is.

The news keeps reporting it as them being upset by what he is doing about health care when it could be exactly the opposite.

mornin'

jamie, I'd say you hit the nail on the head - just depends on perspective - not using his congressional majorities to pass the damn bill versus trying to pass a bipartisan bill. Get off the dime, twist Dem arms, get the frickin' bill passed in both houses and craft a stronger version in reconciliation. Or watch the indies stay home in 2010 and 2012.

I think you are right, Jamie -- these polls are skewed, and open for interpretation. I think Obama's old habit of voting "present" is going to come around to bite him.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256687

Patsi,

Everyone should read that Huffington article. She isn't my favorite pundit, but she absolutely hit the nail on the head this time. The comments following are even more revealing.

http://robertariail.com/2009/08/24/nope/

Sigh...

Running an amazingly successful campaign is one heck of a lot easier than running a country. One term and he's out.

Good morning all,
Oh, so many good points this am here at the TM.Jamie,I think you spot on regarding polls and Independents.I was listening to MJ also,love Harold Ford, but was disappointed in his weakness on healthcare.Harold, basically sounded like many Republicans..

from that Huff piece, here's the money lines.

"And if we don't learn from the very recent history of the bank bailout, we are in danger of getting the same patchwork, reform-in-name-only outcome on health care.

"Using the litmus test of improving conditions for the greatest number of Americans, the bailout was a bust.

"There is still a chance to save health care. But only if Obama takes control of the debate. Maybe spending the last few days surrounded by the impassioned spirit of Ted Kennedy will prod the president to push the reset button."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

My MoJo machine was on mute, so I missed what all you're discussing, but I've cranked it back up now. Can't wait to find out "what have we learned today."

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256694

Not sure I agree with that, Flatus, but unless things pick up considerably for the O Admin the distinct possibility of that outcome is there - IF (and only if) the repugs can find someone who isn't tarred by having prevented or rallied the party of nope to prevent what the folks wanted done. I have no idea who that could be.

Story on news last night about a young girl who was shot in that recent crazy gunman attack on several people. Seems she is a recent college grad without a job who had aged off her parent's policy.

Don't worry about the medical bills, her friends and family are holding car washes to pay them off.

And that is the American system of Healthcare.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/name-it-ted-care.html#comment-256661

tiptoe,

I hope that means by not joining Facebook in the first place, I've saved myself some work for once!

http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/politics/2009/09/02/health_care_organizing/index.html

"If you love Medicare, why don't you marry it?"

"I saw the mother of all idiotic performances, when CNBC's Maria Bartiromo shamed herself by asking public-option champion Rep. Anthony Weiner "if Medicare's so good, why aren't you on it?" and the 44-year-old Democrat had to school the professional financial journalist in the basic facts of the program: that you can't enroll until you're 65. (Reports that Bartiromo then followed up with: "If you love Medicare so much, then why don't you marry it?" could not be confirmed at press time.)"

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/01/palin-snubs-republican-womens-convention/

Flatus, see what I mean? The repugs are doing weird shit instead of trying to do what they need to do to solidify their brand in their own house. I am encouraged by stupid stuff like this.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256697

I don't think I learned anything...back to surfing NYT...

The British discover HEAT

http://ow.ly/15NqcQ

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256686

corey, do tell. don't leave us hanging. sorta like those elevator conversations that drift off in premature evacuations without hearing the ending.

This is utterly despicable. The father and his lawyer should be neutered, then shot in the ass.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/nyregion/01guard.html?_r=2&hp

I posted last year that Obama will be like a one night stand and when we all woke-up the next morning -- we realized, too much kool-aid, this guy is a nothing -- and smells like cigarettes.

It's official...he will not support public option.

Why not vote republican? They are still runnning things and I felt all along Obama was a mirror image of GWB. All that money and emotion, down the tubes...he just wanted to get elected. We were foolish to think he would work for us.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/56897-gop-objections-await-healthcare-plan

"GOP readies wave of objections to stall healthcare bill in Senate'

"Sen. Judd Gregg has hundreds of procedural objections ready for a healthcare plan Democrats want to speed through the Senate.

Gregg (N.H.), the senior Republican on the Budget Committee, told The Hill in a recent interview that Republicans will wage a vicious fight if Democrats try to circumvent Senate rules and use a budget maneuver to pass a trillion-dollar healthcare plan with a simple majority."

Ha,Obama wanted Gregg in his cabinet,enough said!

The sad thing about the "attack the liberal" strategy is that it's the old style politics that the President campaigned against. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Especially to do this after the death of Sen. Kennedy, he may as well go to the Senator's ANC grave and defecate on it since to oppose a public option is the political equivalent of it.

At some point, the president's advisers will learn that the American public will always choose ignorant and determined over cautious and thoughtful when deciding on a President.

I don't think the White House realizes that if there is even a scent of capitulation from them, they will only encourage the racist gun toters and will bring on more quickly what decent Americans fear most.

In light of swine flu fears, there was an article in NYT on the history of epidemics and prejudice.

“When disease strikes and humans suffer,” said Dr. Liise-anne Pirofski, chief of infectious diseases at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and an expert on the history of epidemics, “the need to understand why is very powerful. And, unfortunately, identification of a scapegoat is sometimes inevitable.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/health/01plague.html?pagewanted=1

BW, why not vote republican? Because they are still running things. You don't want to encourage them.

Child Please-Its screw the people again & please the corporations . Maybe an independent will be our next great hope.

Laughs......looks like everyone on this blog is having crow for breakfast this morning.......I guess its kinda comical....in a sad sort of way....

Can't stay.....good, old fashioned capitalist work to be done today....all the best

Jamie

The Indians brought heat to the Brits in the form of Vindaloo cooking. In comparison, Mexican food mild and for children. it is the only hot food that I've ate that gets hotter as you eat it.

Jack

Crow?

In what way?

Jack

too bad the msm doesn't challenge the congressional opponents of public option/single payer to take a moral stand and forfeit their taxpayer paid gov't healthcare plan. get a few of those guys sputtering and backpedaling on camera. make them take a pledge to get off the dole.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256710

I can hope the H1N1 bites a town hall yahoo and mutates to get them all?

Grouchy morning.

Jax,

Republicans don't like true captialism...cmon. They need the system to be gamed for their benefit. Even the Righties on CNBC tell you the only true capitalist place is China, not the US.

If you look at the whole health care debate, they want you to believe that if you remove a persons ability to sue and to limit jury awards, the system will be fixed. In the states that have already done that, costs have gone up for patients and Drs. just dump their insurance altogether and bolster their profits while the quality of their care doesn't change.

If there are no consequences for poor skill or actions, where is the incentive to improve?

You ever notice that companies always push the envelop of criminality in order to boost their profit margins?

You may think people are eating crow today, fine. How sad is it that people forget that had the budget trends of 2000 continued and we realized a decades worth of surpluses that the US could be close to debt free instead of the mess we are in, with unrealistic demands that they be fixed overnight?

Craig,

Interesting article in the Boston Globe regarding the scholarly analysis of the Kennedy Letter and the Vatican's response. I think we missed something since the consensus opinion of the papal letter is a little different than our opinion...

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/02/kennedy_letter_to_pope_sought_support/

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256710

You'd think in a day-and-age of mass communication, that instant information-access would have solved the problem of scapegoating. Sadly, no. Misinformation is dangerous whether electronically disseminated or by word-of-mouth.

jax...you are one, cold capitalist. My husband's cancer is not comical. I have a lot of time and emotions invested in the health care fight. So, I am an idiot for believing? Laugh all you want.

"love Harold Ford, but was disappointed in his weakness on healthcare.Harold, basically sounded like many Republicans.."

I agree, Tony. I absolutely love Harold....he calls me "Mama Cox" after all....but I was disappointed and plan on telling him if I see him anytime soon. (I'm sure he'll be devastated...ha)

jax...I do not eat meat, stuff your crow.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comments

yes, Bear, I said later that day I had been too hard the Pop (this time)

Jax, no crow here. I voted for HIllary and only voted for Obama because he was not McCain. I was skeptical then and my skepticism keeps getting borne out. I still wouldn't vote for a repug on a dare - they've spent the last 30 years f***ing up the country and doubled down in the past 8 and made the road back to anything worth living in very steep.

"I don't think the White House realizes that if there is even a scent of capitulation from them, they will only encourage the racist gun toters and will bring on more quickly what decent Americans fear most."

Bear
Great post's! I hope they get it soon.I sure as hell give them a learning curve but theirs is shorter than most because of what GWB left them..

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256706

Yes, Pogo -- what a terrible story!

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256711

True again, Pogo -- the GOP is running Washington. WTF???!!!

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256722

Patsi,
You tell him! I just don't get many of these Dem's,they act as if their in the minority...

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256718

So much truth told this morning! Bear's right. The GOP needs the system gamed. And on another front, what would they do if Roe v Wade DID get overturned?

Patd -
I find it interesting that the mercury in compact bulbs is a problem, but it's never been mentioned in as problem in all the other ones. You know, the long ones that are everywhere, and have been for decades.
Even though the amount of mercury in these new ones is tiny.
When we can't eat fish from lakes and streams , it's because of all the years and years of coal fired power plants belching tons and tons of mercury into the air, where it is dispersed to rain down over everything and everybody.

I'd like to see a study on how much mercury doesn't go into the air, as a result of saving energy .

I hated recess. I found the too-small, overcrowded, and loosely supervised school-yard of my Grades 1-8 parochial school to be a place of discomfort and danger. You could get run over by just standing still.

No Recess for me - give me a full-blown Vacation. Vacation means get the hell away from it all. That's the break we didn't get this summer.

Patsi, just more proof that for both parties, the fish rots from the head. Think about the 5 party leaders - Obama, Reed, Pelosi, McConnell and Boner. My god, what an argument against representative democracy.

what changed in the fight for the public option at the end of July? The canaries of the fight sure noticed a difference at this time and when the congress recessed, it was lost. August was the time for goons to stomp out the last of public option.

What happened in the White House for this about face on public option?

Sorry peeps - but I don't think Obama is losing the middle because he is not doing enough.

But when you run your campaign primarily on the premise that the economy is on a precipice and Bush spent money carelessly - there is a dissconnect when you step into office and the two major initiatives are the stimulus package and healthcare - which signficantly increase the deficit.

Now I get all the arguments that stimulus spending was needed - and that there are savings in the healthcare bill and the costs of the status quo are a tremendous burden.

But at its simplest form - which is often what politics is reduced too here is what people say:

Obama said the economy was in crisis because out of control spending. Then he spends almost a trillion on the Stimulus (which was effectively labeled as a partisan pork bill) and now he wants to spend another trillion on healthcare.

Jax -
After eating shit for 8 years crow has a rather nice flavor.

c-bob

I never jumped on the flourescent bulb wagon...I felt it was a ploy by Walmart and Lowes to buy more bulbs. Another waste with dangerous waste.

Blue diode light...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode

Obama's strategy is to attack the liberals? WE GOT HIM ELECTED. It was our money, our organizing, our votes that put him in office and now he's going to ally himself with reactionary Republicans and Blue Dogs?

As Ed Shultz noted last night, these people are tacitly encouraging right-wing extremists to KILL HIM.

Thought for the day :
" Share your happiness with others today. "

Blonde -
LED's are the wave of the future, if there is a future.
Just recently , there have been major improvements in their manufacturing, ( It had been a dirty business as well ).

Not only are about to be way cheaper & cleaner, they are about to be made in ways where we've never seen a "light".

That said - I am still for healthcare reform.

And I think the following improvements can be made by causing the insurance companies to take a hit:

-coverage for pre-existing conditions
-portability
-caps on premiums and out-of-pocket expenses

You can also throw in some of the tort reform I have identifited before.

And then the one part that will cost the govt money - subsidies for the poor to obtain coverage - should be paid for by taxes on the rich.

But alas - I am now starting to sound like a kitchen table.

"What happened in the White House for this about face on public option?"

Lack of support in the Senate. Caused in part by a lack of support of Americans. I know a lot of people support it - but these days that support is below 50-60%.

c-bob...I know you have a interest in the electrical grid. In the hotels in New Zealand and Australia, all of the outlets have switches to shut them off...one switch to shut-off all of the power in the suite or shut-off individually. I have read that the same type of switch is used in Japan. AC/DC.

Too early for lunch, but I'm taking recess while the coast is clear...

fluorescent lights also suck a lot of Vitamin A out of the human body....not the healthiest lighting.

I gave Obama $450 last year. Whenever they called, I sent another $25 or $50. I should have just sent it to the GOP because he works for them now.

When one of his fundraisers calls me in the future, I'm going to teach them a few words I learned when I was an enlisted man in the U.S. Navy, including one I picked up in Singapore.

I don't really know what it means, but if uttered in a Hindu Temple, it will cause a fight to break out. (In Singapore, you can get away with insulting a Buddhist but don't mess with the Hindus. They have swords.)

1918 Martha Mitchell wife of Attorney General John Mitchell
1936 Joan Kennedy 1st wife of Mass Senator, Ted

Deaths which occurred on September 02:
1547 Hernan Cortes Spanish general defeated Aztec Indians
( I threw that in for Rezdog )

490 -BC- Phidippides runs 1st marathon, seeking aid from Sparta vs Persia
31 -BC- Battle of Actium; Octavian defeats Antony, becomes Emp Augustus
1666 Great Fire of London starts; destroys St Paul's Church
1864 Union General William T Sherman captures Atlanta
1898 Lord Kitchener retakes Sudan for Britain
1901 VP Theodore Roosevelt advises, "Speak softly & carry a big stick"
1919 Communist Party of America organized in Chicago
1935 A hurricane slams the Florida Keys killing 423
1936 1st transatlantic round-trip air flight
1944 Anne Frank (Diary of Anne Frank), is sent to Auschwitz
1944 During WW II, George Bush ejects from a burning plane
1945 Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam independence from France (National Day)
1945 V-J Day; formal surrender of Japan aboard USS Missouri (WWII ends)
1963 Alabama Gov George C Wallace prevents integration of Tuskegee HS

Must go to work...one night stand President...I need to kick him out of bed.

Really upset over this. The guy hasn't even taken a punch on this fight and runs back to the bed.

I stand by my earliest fears about him: he wants to be the best liked guy in the class. So he's slipping and sliding when he ought to dig his heels in.

Warren

No pre-existing conditions
Portability at same rate (No Cobra jackup)
Caps on premiums and co Pay increases
Poverty subsidies

Three more items and you have it

Mandatory Coverage
Eliminate Maximum Allowable Coverage
Non profit Public Option to keep the bastards honest

Seven items and you have healthcare for everyone. What the hell is so difficult?

Tort reform not needed and doesn't work as most of the states have learned

Craig,

As an Independent that has been saying all of this since the primaries, each and every week. I still think that there is time for him to turn things around. For me, it will also be what he does over in Afghanistan, and other places of war. He needs to freeze all of the Money that he gives to people like Karzi, the neo-cons over at Is real, and bring the troops home. As far as H C. I said that we would not get it. He owed too much to corps, for helping him get elected. What sealed it for me; was when he tried to get the Daschles into the white house. Not for one minute after that did I think that we would get U. H..........

Jamie,

Yes it is what he hasn't done, as apposed to what he has done.
He hasn't done anything, all he did was throw a lot of $ at the problems, just like Bush: Just like Bush, he let his favorite Corps, get a lot of our tax money. Further proof of his lack of love for the common man, is that he stopped the cash for clunkers program, then went back to it, after he was forced to. This is all he had to do, from the beginning, it would have put us all back to work...and follow up with similar programs, in all things that would get people the $ to live on. Another thing that he didn't do: Was to help people stay in their homes. There is going to be at least another 4 mil homes lost, and out in the streets.

Jax,

I said that I wouldn't reply to any of you post; but crow "THIS" you shit.
As an American that has been in the armed services, you should know that you went into it for all of the Americans, not just the Republicans, all different types of Americans, and all different types of religions die in the wars: Including women, and gay's. Your attitude, of I have mine and the hell with you is what got us to where we are you Greedy.............

"Obama White House now signals plans to showcase the President taking on liberal Democrats, inviting their anger, for instance, by making it clear that he will not insist on a public health insurance option for Americans who cannot get or afford private insurance."

Craig, I couldn't believe what I was reading on your post this morning. I kept re-reading it, thinking I must be misunderstanding.

You mean he's about to make yet another huge mistake!? What does this man stand for (if anything). What a pile of mush.

BP Makes ‘Giant’ Oil Discovery in Gulf of Mexico

Tiber Prospect in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico that may contain more than 3 billion barrels, after drilling the world’s deepest exploration well.

The well is located about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of Houston, the London-based company said today in a statement. It was drilled to approximately 35,055 feet (10,685 meters), greater than the height of Mount Everest.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=adF31W9._rik

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256682
That's the problem with 'Change' Jack. It can be good, or it can be bad. We never were sure what he was going to change, it was so generalized. We didn't have any track record to weigh against his claims. We were stuck, in the end, hoping he really did represent what 'we hoped' for. No surprise, though, it was all salesmanship. Can't blame so many for believing him, we were backed into a corner.

Now we don't even have that anymore. He doesn't even talk about hope anymore. There's been a change of agenda apparently.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/name-it-ted-care.html#comment-256656

Hi Tony,
I saw your posts from last night. Thanks.
I didn't realize Whitney Houston had released a new album. She's been out of circulation for so long, I'd almost forgotten about her. And I've always loved her music, it's just that she had so many problems for a while.

It's a good thing we both like warm weather, Tony, considering the states we live in. It surprises me how well you've adjusted, since you came from such a cold climate.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256751

Morning Solar.

Chloe,

Back for a sec....

Don't despair......I'm no fan of pres Obama.... I always thought he was light in the experience dept....It's showing now.

He just needs to focus on the Economy..........Health care can wait....so can climate bill, gtmo, Iraq.......

If he can just focus on one thing.......if he has a success on the Economy everything else will fall in place and past failures will be quickly forgiven.........

I doubt he'll be allowed to do just that.....too many competing interests and everyone wants action now.......

"So he's slipping and sliding when he ought to dig his heels in. "

Patsi, I don't think he knows 'what to dig them into'. I'm not sure 'what' he really cares about.

hey, jax, it is all about the money for you, isn't it?

Oh, I am back in for just a sec...

Hes being controlled just like Bush was controlled they are only puppets for the to big to fail corporations that have a strangle hold on us. Why can't he display the same urgency & the sky is falling scenario with health care like he did with the bailouts? People dieing must not be as important as corporations dieing.

Jax,
I like your posts so much, when you're talking logically and clearly, and telling us what you think..... rather than scolding us and trying to twist the knife.

Thanks for that last post. It reminds me how much I like you,when you're not being mean. Then, I'm just disappointed.

From a new letter in my biz-e-mail; that won't let me link sometimes.

I don't think that AIPAC should decide what is classified......

Steve Rosen Accuses AIPAC of Espionage

Steven J. Rosen’s defamation lawsuit against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is now entering a critical phase. A series of cross-filings stakes out the critical court terrain. Rosen intends to show that obtaining and leveraging classified U.S. government information in the service of Israel is common practice at AIPAC. He claims it was unfair for AIPAC to fire and malign him in the press after he was indicted on espionage charges in 2005. AIPAC’s defense team is committed to getting the case thrown out on technicalities before it goes to trial early next year.

On March 2, 2009, Rosen filed the civil lawsuit against his former employer, directors, and an outside public relations firm for libel and slander. Rosen, AIPAC’s former foreign policy chief, seeks $5 million in damages from AIPAC, and punitive damages of $500,000 from each former board member, for a total claim of $21 million. AIPAC made statements to the news media Rosen believes were "knowingly false and defamatory and issued in reckless disregard." AIPAC fired Rosen and fellow employee Keith Weissman after they were criminally indicted under the 1917 Espionage Act in 2005. Both were caught up in an FBI sting operation receiving classified information from Department of Defense employee Col. Lawrence Franklin, who pled guilty and turned state’s witness. After years of pretrial maneuvers during which presiding Judge T.S. Ellis steadily raised the standards for conviction, U.S. government prosecutors reluctantly dropped [.pdf] their case in May 2009.

AIPAC’s spokesman told the New York Times in April 2005 that Rosen’s actions differed from "the conduct that AIPAC expects from its employees." On July 7, 2005, the spokesperson told the New Yorker that "Rosen [and his colleagues] were dismissed because they engaged in conduct that was not part of their jobs and because this conduct did not comport with the standards that AIPAC expects and requires of its employees." Rosen’s legal counsel David H. Shapiro gruffly advised AIPAC’s attorney Thomas L. McCally that he would be seeking "serious discovery" on Rosen’s behalf during a status hearing on June 5, 2009. It is this sort of public intrusion guided by knowledgeable insiders, following already devastating FBI raids, that AIPAC probably wants to avoid at all costs.

Ironically, Rosen’s civil lawsuit, like the failed government prosecution, hinges on proving that circulating classified information is common practice inside AIPAC. AIPAC’s counsel originally filed an immediate motion to dismiss [.pdf] on May 13, 2009, asserting that Rosen failed to show "factual allegations" that could be considered in any way defamatory. McCally also took Rosen to task for filing outside the one-year statute of limitations for defamation and suing AIPAC board members who have various immunities under District of Columbia statutes. In a July 8, 2009, rebuttal [.pdf], Rosen states his clear belief that the most relevant issue was AIPAC dumping two employees to save itself from being criminally indicted as a corporation.

“On February 17, 2005, only two weeks after awarding Mr. Rosen the $7,000 special bonus for excellence in job performance, the AIPAC Board of Directors placed him on involuntary leave. This was done immediately after AIPAC was threatened by the Justice Department in a meeting between AIPAC’s counsel and its Executive Director Howard Khor and federal prosecutors on February 15, 2005. There the lead federal prosecutor stated that, ‘We could make real progress and get AIPAC out from under all of this,’ if AIPAC showed more cooperation with the government. On February 16, 2005, AIPAC’s counsel said that the lead federal prosecutor ‘is fighting with the FBI to limit the investigation to Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman and to avoid expanding it.’ This warning implied that AIPAC’s Executive Director and the AIPAC organization as a whole could become targets.”

Rosen’s lengthy – even rambling – rebuttal argues “no expressed standards existed at AIPAC” regarding the receipt and sharing of information from government officials. Rosen insists that in spite of AIPAC denials the information he provided from “intelligence” sources were passed to AIPAC’s president with full disclosure of their origins.

In an Aug. 7, 2009, court filing, AIPAC fired back claiming Rosen “has misdirected his anger” by suing AIPAC rather than the “government agency that directly investigated him and indicted him for purported criminal activities.” AIPAC claims Rosen failed to demonstrate AIPAC’s intent to defame under the higher standards established for public figures like Rosen. “Malice is only required for public and limited purpose public figures to establish a defamation suit. Even with the heightened standard required of public figures, Plaintiff has not shown any….” AIPAC added insult to injury, claiming that “by any objective or subjective measure, being subject of a criminal indictment is not conduct an employer expects of any employee.”

Rosen returned fire on Aug. 24, 2009, claiming ample legal precedents for allowing aggrieved parties to file lawsuits outside normal statutes of limitations for extenuating circumstances – in this case Rosen’s criminal indictment and drawn-out pretrial maneuvers. Echoing the June 5, 2009, courtroom showdown threats, Rosen repeats he “will be in a position to prove his allegations with evidence following discovery.”

Rosen’s quest for elusive justice is oddly parallel to that of his former government prosecutors. They only wanted to prove the straightforward results of an FBI sting operation, during which Rosen both received and transmitted classified national defense information. The FBI and DOJ never expected a media circus, ongoing accusations of anti-Semitism, claims that U.S. and Israeli foreign policies are “the same,” and speculation that their entire prosecution was covert attempt to overturn the 1st Amendment.

Rosen and former AIPAC chief lobbyist Doug Bloomfield have threatened to prove that AIPAC regularly dabbles in classified information-trading and sometimes even functions as a foreign agent – at least up until the moment of a confidential out-of-court financial settlement. If the court lets Rosen proceed to discovery, proving these contentions shouldn’t be very difficult. Bloomfield worked at AIPAC around the time it was circulating a classified government report outlining the U.S. Trade Representative’s secret negotiating position for the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area. With such inside information about precisely where the skeletons are buried, the duo should have no problem revealing AIPAC to the world as a hotbed of espionage and covert action. Broadcasting Rosen’s unsavory activities to the world under such circumstances probably was defamation.

Thrashing AIPAC in court is not something Rosen and Bloomfield, as lifelong Israel lobbyists, would do gladly, but in their eyes the lobby’s principle of reciprocity and motto of “divided we fall” has been badly battered by AIPAC’s mistreatment of its former operatives. Telling Rosen that he can’t recover due compensation just because his civil lawsuit was filed too late will surely seem a travesty of justice to the hard core of the lobby. Americans, on the other hand, must continue to wait for the day that the DOJ finally begins enforcing sensible laws still on the books such as the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the Logan Act, the Commercial Espionage Act, and others that create foreign lobby accountability, improve policymaking, and preserve American industrial innovation. The only current relief from AIPAC’s onslaught against America may be that family legal troubles could delay its slow march to entangle the U.S. military in an ill-advised and costly attack on Israel’s archnemesis, Iran.

Chloe,

I tried to warn everyone about putting too much faith in gov't to fix things......no-one wants to listen. Everyone thinks their guy is the next saviour.....

This is a sad but necessary lesson for us all......

".too many competing interests and everyone wants action now......."

.... and there lies the problem. But! That's his job, the job he signed up for. He's doing a bad job sorting it all out, and he's not keeping us informed on what's happening. I'm saying this as someone who had no expectations when he went into office. It's just hard to ignore it, someone with no spine.

Once Obama gets through compromising with the right, the healthcare "reform" bill will be a worthless piece of crap, and everyone will know it.

As a result, his political capital will be gone. As whskyjack said earlier, Obama will become Jimmy Carter, a weak, ineffectual one-termer.

"This is a sad but necessary lesson for us all......"

Sad it is Jax. Necessary, I guess. It happened.

Not everyone thinks or ever thought he was a savior. Some of us just thought he was a mistake.

Just how many of these stories will there be before we start telling the Republicans and Blue Dogs that they are murderers?

http://www.lifegiverproject.org/?p=547

Chloe,

Sorry, good morning, good morning to all. Im just as pissed as Jack is about all of this. While it is of no surprise to me, it still is upsetting that we are not talking third party's , term limits, flat taxes, etc, etc, I think that the fault lies in all of us, for thinking that these things are impossible.....my only hope is that there is someone out there that will run as an independent now, and has the $ to compete......

Chloe,

Most won't learn this lesson......they'll just point to the other side, whichever one it is, and blame them......laughs

Solar,

You have every reason and right to be pissed. You and a few million others.

We're all learning Jax. I agree with you about the blame thing though. It accomplishes nothing. Blame stops us from finding solutions, keeps us from learning from our mistakes. It's a way of not holding ourselves accountable. I really hate 'blame'.

Jamie:

"Tort reform not needed and doesn't work as most of the states have learned"

Well who does it hurt?

I am not familiar with what was passed in other states. But tort reform has helped cut back frivolous securities fraud suits.

And I don't see why you would dismiss something that might bring in some more support from the crucial votes this bill needs to pass.

The republicans were out on the last election for obvious reasons & any other choice we may have had were run out of it. Hard to blame the voting public when there is only one choice .

Another stat in tha poll showing 53% disapproval among Independents

Democrats for: 90%
Republicans agains: 85%

The Indies don't disapprove, they just have whiplash

http://newsroom.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/02/a-nation-divided/

"Once Obama gets through compromising.. "

Nash, He's given 'compromise' a bad name.
I used to thing compromise was a good thing, now I realize it doesn't work on the really important stuff. The things that really matter. Like Jack said, we need a President, who won't take 'no' for an answer.

Im not angry for myself: Im angry for all of the people that will suffer the results of his actions-or non actions. The stimulus money is out there, but how to get to it, is very hard for the little corps. They need the help just as much as the big banks that he is still giving money to left and right. What has he done to curb all of this greed. We have been arguing about who is better at the talking points, and who is in charge of things...........

The Corps are, and will be as long as we only have one party in our country. we need to get another one that is not beholding to the corps like the R's , and the Subsidiary D's that only make themselves richer and richer, and call it capitalism........in the long run: It is all our faults, for sending them back to D. C. time after time: They laugh at us....take a look a Dodd, C. Rangel, and others, they know that all he has to do is spend a lot of $ to get re-elected by his state.....we are the pendejos ( dummies) as Jack said.......

"Hard to blame the voting public when there is only one choice . "

Excellent point Buford. We were only given two choices, basically.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256772

Warren,

I'm not dismissing it so much as saying 46 states (I think) have passed tort reform. It has not even slowed down much less reduced health care costs. While not having any cost benefit it has prevented many deserving people from being able to sue for injuries done by these insurance companies who fight everything tooth and nail on the theory of cost/benefit.

I would be more likely to favor some sort of review board to help eliminate nuisance suits without placing any other limits on peoples basic ability to sue with a lawyer to represent them on contingency.

"Im not angry for myself: Im angry for all of the people that will suffer the results of his actions-or non actions."

I knew that Solar. It's a shame that so many people have to suffer from the decisions of so few.

Solar

Info on Steve Rosen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_J._Rosen

Poll: GOP Voters Still Not Happy With Republican Officials

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/poll-gop-voters-still-not-happy-with-republican-officials.php?ref=fpc

Diane Sawyer to replace Charlie Gibson in January 2010

Chloe,

Things like this, really piss me off: Why is he continuing the very same things, that bush did? there is no diff, just another salesman: If that is all he is........Bush is the better salesman, he got his tax cuts that his supporters wanted.!

Report: State Dept. extends Blackwater contract in Iraq

The mercenary group formerly known as Blackwater International, which was banned from Iraq by its government after a Baghdad massacre which killed 17 civilians, will see its contract extended in the country by the U.S. State Department, according to a published report.

ABC News reporter Kirit Radia notes: “Sources say the department has agreed to temporarily continue using the subsidiary known as Presidential Airways to provide helicopter transport for embassy employees around Iraq until a new contract with another security company, Dyncorp International, is fully implemented. Presidential Airways is an arm of U.S. Training Center, which is a subsidiary of the company Xe, formerly and still commonly known as Blackwater.”

Controversy has surrounded the private security firm practically since it was founded, but erupted anew recently when former employees accused Blackwater’s founder and former CEO of murdering or facilitating the murders of other employees who were preparing to blow the whistle on his alleged criminal activities.

The sworn statements also say that founder Erik Prince and Blackwater executives were involved in illegal weapons smuggling and had, on numerous occasions, ordered incriminating documents, e-mails, photos and video destroyed. The former employees described Blackwater as “having young girls provide oral sex to Enterprise members in the ‘Blackwater Man Camp’ in exchange for one American dollar.” They add even though Prince frequently visited this camp, he “failed to stop the ongoing use of prostitutes, including child prostitutes, by his men.”

One of the statements also charges that “Prince’s North Carolina operations had an ongoing wife-swapping and sex ring, which was participated in by many of Mr. Prince’s top executives.”

The former employees additionally claim that Prince was engaged in illegal arms dealing, money laundering, and tax evasion, that he created “a web of companies in order to obscure wrong-doing, fraud, and other crimes,” and that Blackwater’s chief financial officer had “resigned … stating he was not willing to go to jail for Erik Prince.”

The company was also allegedly involved in the planning stages of the CIA’s assassination program, which was reportedly never used, then scrapped by CIA chief Leon Panetta.

Prince has repeatedly insisted his company has done nothing wrong and Blackwater continues to fulfill its contracts with the United States government.

For the massacre of Iraqi civilians, five Blackwater guards were arrested and charged with manslaughter. A sixth guard flipped and agreed to testify against the others. Government informants later claimed the company tried to gather up and destroy weapons involved in the slaughter.

The State Department announced last January that it would not be renewing Blackwater’s contract for security services in Iraq when it was set to expire in May, however the Obama administration decided to extend it through Sept. 3, according to The Nation Jeremy Scahill.

ABC reported the new contract extension is for an unspecified amount of time and could end “within weeks or months.”

When it is finally allowed to expire, Blackwater’s involvement with Iraq will have ended, completely.

I know Solar. I've been thinking the same thing. He's even worse than I expected. Insurance, the economy, the war: these were the biggies for me, the things that Democrats really differ from Republicans on.

How can this happen? We have all of the $ that we can borrow from China, as far as I can tell, the only country that is really important to us....we are pals now...we need them.......obama gives our $ to Karzi, and all of the leaders of the Pak, country's while they get rich, from this money, there are millions of people starving.....I still want to know ( Pelosi-or anyone) what happened to the 9 bill that is lost in Iraq, did it go to blk water/cheney?

Taliban Surprising U.S. Forces With Improved Tactics
Obama Facing Major Strategy Decisions

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 2, 2009

The Taliban has become a much more potent adversary in Afghanistan by improving its own tactics and finding gaps in the U.S. military playbook, according to senior American military officials who acknowledged that the enemy's resurgence this year has taken them by surprise.

U.S. rules of engagement restricting the use of air power and aggressive action against civilians have also opened new space for the insurgents, officials said. Western development projects, such as new roads, schools and police stations, have provided fresh targets for Taliban roadside bombs and suicide attacks. The inability of rising numbers of American troops to protect Afghan citizens has increased resentment of the Western presence and the corrupt Afghan government that cooperates with it, the officials said.

As President Obama faces crucial decisions on his war strategy and declining public support at home, administration and defense officials are studying the reasons why the Taliban appears, for the moment at least, to be winning.

In the spring, Obama outlined a broad new direction for the war that he said his predecessor had starved of attention and resources. He changed the military leadership on the ground, asked Congress for additional money and authorized more manpower. The administration has said that it expects the strategy -- still barely off the ground -- to show results in a year to 18 months. more at

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Lots of things going on... sorry for stopping all of the finger pointing at our selves..........

Last one for now.

Contractors Outnumber U.S. Troops in Afghanistan

Civilian contractors working for the Pentagon in Afghanistan not only outnumber the uniformed troops, according to a report by a Congressional research group, but also form the highest ratio of contractors to military personnel recorded in any war in the history of the United States.
Skip to next paragraph

At War

Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other areas of conflict in the post-9/11 era. Go to the Blog »

On a superficial level, the shift means that most of those representing the United States in the war will be wearing the scruffy cargo pants, polo shirts, baseball caps and other casual accouterments favored by overseas contractors rather than the fatigues and flight suits of the military.

More fundamentally, the contractors who are a majority of the force in what has become the most important American enterprise abroad are subject to lines of authority that are less clear-cut than they are for their military colleagues.

What is clear, the report says, is that when contractors for the Pentagon or other agencies are not properly managed — as when civilian interrogators committed abuses at Abu Ghraib in Iraq or members of the security firm Blackwater shot and killed 17 Iraqi citizens in Baghdad — the American effort can be severely undermined.

As of March this year, contractors made up 57 percent of the Pentagon’s force in Afghanistan, and if the figure is averaged over the past two years, it is 65 percent, according to the report by the Congressional Research Service. more at

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/asia/index.html

"How can this happen?"

So many unanswered questions.
... gotta go. Have a good day everyone.

Tort reform is a darling of the US Chamber of Commerce and its state affiliates. Its main effect is to drive plaintiffs' lawyers from one type tort to another in my experience - and medmal is the only field in which we have any tort reform here. It has had an effect on litigation costs for hospitals, but probably very little effect on overall healthcare costs.

Solar, You have to admit Jax had it right on with this one:
".too many competing interests and everyone wants action now......."

If true, this is interesting -- Who Owns the Fed?

http://www.save-a-patriot.org/files/view/whofed.html

Chloe,

Yes Jax is right on that one. He is aslo right when he say's that some of us were expecting too much from obama, and the government. He is not right to say that capitalism is the answer to all of our problems......there has to be a mix, the right mix of socialism in there along with it....we can not function properly without the two ism's.....imo. what jax doesn't say also is that while he is getting government contracts....that is corporate ism. socialism.......he is full of shit period....smart but........

Patsi,

Thanks for that who own the fed link.....booked it for later...........

In February, federal prosecutors in Boston announced a civil lawsuit against Forest claiming that the company illegally marketed both Lexapro and a closely related antidepressant, Celexa, for use in children and paid kickbacks to doctors to induce them to prescribe the medicines to children.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/business/02drug.html?em

Ok,

No one is going out for Lunch today. How about we go to the club, and watch some Spanky, and our gang. AKA as the obama administration........lots of laughs.....later

China Tightens Grip on Rare Minerals

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/business/global/01minerals.html?em

Solar, I'll meet you there.

Jack -
This one's for you :

The oddest couple in politics

My brief, unhappy career working for the mayor of Kansas City and his eccentric wife -- the unofficial co-mayor

For the last decade, the city has been caught up in a pork fest -- all of it perfectly legal -- the likes of which are unequaled in any American city. A small group of developers and attorneys with City Hall connections glommed on to a program for poor neighborhoods and used it to build luxury hotels and fancy shopping centers in the richest parts of town, draining $90 million per year from the city's budget and racking up $5 billion in debt. Cash poor, the city's bridges, sidewalks and sewers were literally crumbling, and Kansas Citians were at wits' end. (Read more about the program here.)

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/09/02/funkhouser/

Patd -

Mercury Found in Every Fish Tested, Scientists Say

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/science/earth/20brfs-MERCURYFOUND_BRF.html?_r=1&em

Lack of Mercury Reporting is Fishy

http://whowhatwhy.com/2009/09/01/lack-of-mercury-reporting-is-fishy/

C Bob,

After looking at pictures of the mayor and his wife, it looks like they got the Rodney King treatment from the ugly stick...geez...

States most likely to win under healthcare overhaul are home to its biggest foes
Rural states have more uninsured and lower-income people who stand to benefit from legislation, but it's there where the effort faces the most vocal resistance. It's a factor that stymies legislators.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/healthcare/la-na-uninsured-rural2-2009sep02,0,1307203.story

------------------
" You can't cure stupid. "

Bear -
A match made in heaven.

Cbob

Thats our Mayor

Joe used to be one of his kiss ass toadies. It is sad when you wake up and fall out of love.

They are a walking argument against term limits. Clueless amateurs.
Term limits are a cure worse that the problem

Right now we are just waiting for the next election.

Jack

Cbob

Mrs Mayor is a wiccan, do wiccans have a heaven?

Not only can you not cure stupid, my father was watching C-Span and he can't figure out why people who are dependent upon Social Security and Medicare are against government options for all to receive health care.

He also mentioned that he's seen Republicans now calling in and claiming that Obama's plan won't cover people with Breast cancer.

I have yet to have a conversation with anyone today who doesn't believe that there will be an assassination attempt before the mid term elections. simply unreal.

Soalr, meet in the club car? Order me a Mojito with extra mint - I've taken a liking to them.

OK, I'm confused - I got an e-mail from Mitch Stewart at BarackObama.com/power asking for moneyu to organize the fight against the moneyed interests fighting healthcare reform. It cites statements made by Barack on the campaign trail about not conceding without a fight. I guess I've missed the fight.

SAME TIME TOMORROW
Gratitude (Parts I-VII)

http://seanholton.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/gratitude-parts-i-vii/#comments
-----------
More mind boggling writing from our friend Lard.

Pogo -
I still get those same emails. They want $25 to carry on the " Fight ".
Maybe they need a new towel to throw in the ring ?

Here is my problem with lawmaking on the hill.

51 Democratic Sentors say they will not support a bill without a public option.
40 Republicans and 5 Blue Dogs say they will not support a bill with a public option.

I am making up these numbers - but the point is that thisis how we get a stalemate.

Same thing happened with Immigration. Big mutually exclusive coaltions were formed on both sides of a wedge issue, i.e., amnesty, ensuring that a bill would not pass unless one side "is seen to cave."

I hate all this nonsense. I get the upside of the public option. I also acknowledge some of the draw backs - both in terms of policy and politics.

But I do not understand how the public option became the end all be all of healthcare reform. I watched the primaries and debates very closely - and although the public option was on the agenda - it was never elevated to the significance it gets today.

I think there is politics on both sides. (Not that that is a shock). But the GOP made more out of the public option than it was by saying that it was a govt takeover of healthcare. Then Dems reacted by saying that healthcare reform was meaningless without it.

And now we have a stalemate in which neither side is allowed to compromise without looking weak.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/02/grassley-says-health-care_n_275246.html

News from the state of Irony.

Pfizer To Pay Record $2.3B Penalty For Illegal Drug Promotions

Authorities called Pfizer a repeat offender, noting it is the fourth such settlement of government charges in the last decade.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/02/pfizer-to-pay-record-23b-_n_275012.html

pogo

I saw tweety saying the other day - that even if both sides have checked out of the bi-partisan talks - neither side will admit it. Basically a game of political chicken - because either side that speaks the truth first will be accused of turning their backs on bi-partisanship.

More nonsense on the Hill.

I dunno warren, I don't see how to get the 47 million or so who are not in the HCIns. system into it without a public option. We could devise schemes that don't include it, but none of the alternatives being discussed do (well, the ONE alternative - co-ops - which is to healthcare insurance as laetrile is to cancer - probably can't hurt, but won't cure it either).

Bob, LOL. You never fail to give me a chuckle.

more from the state fo Irony

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/02/gopers-decrying-socialize_n_275196.html

and more still

http://mcconnell.senate.gov/print_record.cfm?id=314075

Or is that last one from the state of Bullshit?

For those of you who are satisfied with your health insurance, beware. The insurance companies now know that they OWN the govt.

You can expect:
* higher premiums
* higher deductables
* caps on coverage
* lower payments for treatment, which means you'll get bigger bills from your provider.

In the long-term, you can expect an energized right wing to try to weaken or eliminate...
* Medicaid
* Medicare
* VA services
* Govt medical services for active duty military (They'll "privatize" this, too.)
The insurance companies will move agressively to get government completely "out of the market" for health care.

NOTHING now stands in their way.

You are not getting all those people into the system even with the public option.

At least not any option which you have to take affirmative steps to join.

And sorry - my goal is not to cover all those 47 million.

First, I want to make the system better for the people that are already paying for shitty insurance.

Second, I want to subsidize people who want health insurance - but who can't afford it.

There are some in that 47 million that will not get insurance even if there is a public option.

If this is the best that the RNC chair can do, then it's plain to see why the GOP Rep. is waiting for their next "Great White Hope"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-zirin/michael-steele-meet-amand_b_274697.html

I'm not going to listen to any more of Obama's speeches.

He's an empty suit, a con artist who can run a good campaign but who has NO IDEA how operate politically in DC.

The Republicans have made a fool out of him. They know that they can kick the crap out of him and all he can think of to do is attack liberal Democrats.

Pogo -
My humor wet suit let's me swim the acidic seas of cynicism .

Movies playing this week at the White House.

"Clueless"
"Mission Impossible"
"Dazed an Confused"
"The Nutty Professor"
"Forest Gump"
"Gone with the Wind"
"Pearl Harbor"

The Feral Houses of Detroit -

http://www.sweet-juniper.com/2009/07/feral-houses.html

I stopped listening to his speeches a while back, Nash. Yes we can, BS.

warren, i don't think every one of the 47 million will ever be covered. If that's what you took from my comment, I should have stated myself more acurately. I should have said that short of just paying their premiums with commercial carriers I don't see how we'll ever see the bulk of the 47 million uninsured brought into the rolls of the insured without a public option. I could easily foresee a system that registered the person into thepublic option the first time they visited a hospital after the effective date of teh option. But that might make sense. I don't claim to have many of the answers, but I do see some of the questions.

Bob,you should check out the new humor dry suits. With one of them you may never have to get out of the seas.

Plants shut for lead poisoning in south China; thousands sickened

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/02/china.lead.poisoning.hunan/index.html?iref=werecommend
------------
No enviromental wackos in China.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256819

Only Nash could say it so succinctly: The private insurance companies now own the government. So do the banks and big oil, and conversely so does the automotive industry. USA, Inc.

Patsi: I'm much more comfortable falling back into cynicism. I've been that way almost continuously since Nixon was elected in 1968. I've been waiting 40 years for the Dems to get it together.

Not this year.

Nash,

Just like Republicans are complaining that the 60 year pace to universal health care is to quick, the pace of the Dems getting their shit together is equally as slow...lol

More proof, in case you needed it, that Dems have no clue...

A name that is being floated in Massachusetts as a possible "interim" to fill Ted Kennedy's seat: Mike Dukakis.

Hey. This could re-lauch his career.

Bear: I guess we'll have to wait until Chelsea Clinton in in the White House.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256733

Comment of the quarter!

During the campaign Obama was the weakest on health care so what has happened is not surprising. I am surprised they have not tried harder. I have seen some Obama volunteers at the local farmers markets talking about health care but when you push them on the proposal, they talk about what THEY think is good and don't seem to know just what Obama is proposing. Of course since it changes on a daily basis you cannot really blame the volunteers.

I'm not normally much of a fan of Michael Gerson, but when it comes to healthcare reform, he might have a point.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/01/AR2009090103007.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256834

Why thank you, Flatus.

Warren

The Public Option is needed for two major reasons

1. It helps to control costs for the taxpayers

2. It helps to force the otherwise predatory insurance companies to compete in some way and helps keep them honest

Without it, you are trusting the same corporations who have mercilessly gouged the American public for decades.

Public option is nothing more than a non profit insurance policy. Only ignorance is making the public resist something very good for them, particularly in the the more rural or sparsely populated parts of the country.

jamie, yup.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256838

So, how do we get Obama's under-25 army mobilized to pick-up where he won't?

Obama to address a joint session of Congress...I wonder if the Republicans will put hecklers into the gallery? lol

http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2009/09/the-5-key-strategy-questions-the-white-house-is-considering-on-health-care.html

Flatus,

When I was under 25, I'd always be a sucker for a pretty face and a cold beer...lol

What should Obama emphasize about health care in speech to joint session of Congress on 9/9

http://www.thenation.com/poll/obamahealth_090209?showresult=1

Here's my off-topic story: Recently at work, they got rid of a department called "The Supermarket". They forced the people who worked there to take other jobs within the plant. Some people had to work on a line. Others were able to take jobs driving hi-lo for certain departments. Some woman from 2nd shift moved to 3rd shift and took over a hi-lo driving job from some guy on the line next to me. Last night at break she said, "Tim still won't say 2 words to me." Tim is the guy whose job she is now doing. Mind you, I didn't know how that all happened." But, I said to her, "Is that because you took his job?" I said it seriously, but I meant it as a joke." You flew off the handle! She said, "That's not something I joke about!" I didn't have a choice!" She continued on until I finally apologized and told her to calm down. After break I was told that she was given a choice of 2 different lines to drive hi-lo for. She didn't like either one and complained to human resources about it because she had more seniority than a few other people. So, she said she wanted to work in the department where this guy had been driving hi-lo for several months already. So, she basically complained and was allowed to bump this guy off his job. I guess my poor taste in humor hit too close to the truth.

I just hope Dukakis leaves his tank at home. I did like the report that Obama was gonna be more specific about the details of his health plan. Maybe people might actually know what he is planning.

Japan's new first lady says rode UFO to Venus

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5812DV20090902

-----------------
Headline of the day ?

I'll be talking about Sarah Palin tonight on MSNBC "Countdown with Keith Olbermann 8:50 PM ET

These floridians take their issues seriously

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2009/09/healthcare-reform-advocate-punched-by-opponent-at-nelson-event.html

Interesting healthcare town hall news blurb, but the comments are even more interesting.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256843
Bear,
Has that changed over the years??

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256848

Must see TV.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256843

Bear, me too!

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256850

Flatus, if I'm any indication, it hasn't. :-)

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256836

Me either, Pogo, but this article I liked.

Corey,
Don't you love those stories of union brotherhood......I hear them constantly on the waterfront.......laughs

Getting ready for angry viewers, Craig. LOL!

What has Palin done lately that warrants prime time coverage.....??????

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256848

Well, I guess my record of not watching the Big Man is gonna end at a month--;)

Jamie

"The Public Option is needed for two major reasons

1. It helps to control costs for the taxpayers"

How does it do this?

Also

"2. It helps to force the otherwise predatory insurance companies to compete in some way and helps keep them honest

Without it, you are trusting the same corporations who have mercilessly gouged the American public for decades."

I am not saying trust them. I am saying pass regulations that require them to put more money back into coverage and care. Laws that ban some of the practices they have used to gouge the public like pre-existing conditions and kicking people out when they get too sick.

"Public option is nothing more than a non profit insurance policy."

Exactly. Which does not require govt control. A govt sponsored co-op could provide some of the same benefits. I realize probably not to the same degree - but that all depends on the popularity of the nonprofit co-op. A media blitz by progressive touting a non-profit co-op could help such a program become a success.

Here is my problem with the Democrats on this issue. Saying that the public option is the ONLY way to achieve reform is disingenuous. Of course it is not as outrageous as death panels. But there is plenty of reform that can be achieved without it.

And there are downsides to the public option:

-govt has to not only be involved in the unsavory decisions of what care is paid for and what isn't - but actually will have to be the decider. I think it is better for the govt to pass consumer protection laws instead of making the decisions itself.

-uncertain costs. You can all throw numbers, statistics and articles at me - but a significant degree of uncertainty remains.

-political consequences. Not only am I worried about the Dems losing power in 2010 and 2012 - and preventing future reforms from being passed. I am also worried about healthcare itself.

If the healthcare bill is similar to the stimulus - than you will have around one half of the aisle (and the Country) rooting for its failure. Pointing out and exaggerating the flaws and deficiencies of the program.

Rather than passing a bill with broad support that many in Congress and the Country want to see work. And will be willing to pitch in and help make it is success - instead of trying to tear the program down.

CBob

If peter Rothberg of the Nation writes to you, tell him all about Lubbock and corn :-)

http://twitter.com/peterrothberg

I like Michael Dukakis very much. He was a candidate of substance without flash.

We now have a President who is pretty much all flash.

I remember going to a Dukakis rally at Portland State University the night before the election. He won Oregon and the Democrats haven't lost the state since.

The public option is essential. All the other reforms discussed only deal with the edges of the problem.

Katherine and Jamie made very insightful comments about this topic. I even think they are insightful when they disagree with me.

Fairweather, Gerson has written a couple of pieces giving his view of why health reform has failed - and I haven't disagreed strongly with any of them. So far it's been a botched effort based on a weak approach apparently crafted to keep healthcare dollars rolling into lobbyists, and in turn into politicians' hands on both sides of the aisle. I'm of the opinion that Obama tried not to repeat the Hillary Care fiasco, mistakenly assuming that the Clinton initiative was derailed because Bill took a strong position and had a bill ready to go for Congress to pass (rather than recognize that the bill was defeated as much because of resistance by Repugs to Hillary as to the fact that the bill came out of the Admin), and got crossed up by his failure to lead on the issue. Of course, that's just my take on it - at this moment.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256858

Ye Gods Warren. Do you bother to read what we write?

You keep confusing "public option" with "Public healthcare" and they are two different animals

There are scads of ways a "Public Option" saves money, but we will start with the easy ones.

1. More working poor will be able to afford a non profit policy.

2. As a result of #1, treatment at a doctor instead of expensive emergency room. Relieves taxpayers and other insurance holders from picking up tab

3. Great big stick to hold over heads of Insurance companies to make them obey regulations.

4. Life is uncertain. If uncertainty bothers you after being confronted with facts and probabilities: Don't bother getting out of bed.

More on the BP oil discovery -

BP paid only $406,060 for Block 103 in the Keathley Canyon about 250 miles southeast of Houston as the single bidder in the 2003 Western Gulf of Mexico auction held by the U.S. Minerals Management Service, according to a government spokeswoman.

The cost for the site lease wouldn't even cover one day's worth of drilling, which costs $458,000 to $517,000 for each 24 hour period.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bp-brings-deep-oil-prospects-into-focus-2009-09-02

Now I would be willing to give up Public Option if the REFORMS of the Insurance Companies includes long jail sentences for first time conviction of violation.

These vermin are an insult to rats who at least can make nice pets

If any of you ever have to negotiate a labor contract on behalf of workers, make sure Barack Obama is not sitting on your side of the negotiating table.

Jamie -

In honor of the current health care debate we're serving "Baked Grannies" on the First Friday Art Trail.
I got 50 Granny Smith apples.

Do I want to win this? Fishbowl DC's Class Clown election. Oh heck, vote for me anyway, maybe I get a trophy.. http://bit.ly/2sNIY0

I voted for Craig. I always liked trophies.

OD, yeah, me, too. Dukakis is a smart guy whose political aspirations have to be next to zero at this point. He would be a dependable vote on the Dem side and the seat woudl be open for whoever wants to run for it.

warren, the only organization large enough to start a nationwide nonprofit health insurance company that could handle up to, say, 35 million or more new subscribers is the U.S. Government. But why do that when there is already a program in place that could be upscaled to allow participation by premium paying participants, even if a great may of them might receive partial or complete credit for their premiums? (Of course I'm referring to Meidcaid, but the same could be done with Medicare by removing the age limits). The Medicaid cost sharing scheme with the states could be restricted to those who qualify under current guidelines and the program enlarged to accomodate those who could enter it under the new scheme. Of corse it would be more complicated than that and would cost a boatload to do, but that is not something beyond the realm of possibility - except politically.

For month of September join "Slow Food USA" for any amount you can afford

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/blog_post/for_a_limited_time_join_slow_food_usa_at_whatever_price_you_can_afford/

Jamie:

"You keep confusing "public option" with "Public healthcare" and they are two different animals"

Not sure what you are talking about. But my post said that a public option would entail the govt making the decisions that insurance companies now make - what care gets covered and what care doesn't. And I think those decisions will get politicized by enemies of the public option.

"There are scads of ways a "Public Option" saves money, but we will start with the easy ones.

1. More working poor will be able to afford a non profit policy.

2. As a result of #1, treatment at a doctor instead of expensive emergency room. Relieves taxpayers and other insurance holders from picking up tab"

Again - that is because of a non-profit option - NOT a govt or public option.

"3. Great big stick to hold over heads of Insurance companies to make them obey regulations."

No. This would be if you withheld the public option from this bill. And told the insurance companies if you don't abide by these regulations and improve coverage - than we will institute the public option.

"4. Life is uncertain. If uncertainty bothers you after being confronted with facts and probabilities: Don't bother getting out of bed."

My statement about uncertain costs is more tied to the current circumstances of this Country. Given the fact that we supposedly just avoided a depression and running up the deficit - there are legitimate concerns out there. And they are not allayed by politicians saying "Don't worry - the program will be paid for by the amount of money we save."

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256866

Does Maria bake pies?

OK, 'listers, get over there and vote for Poobah. MIlbank has a commanding lead and Craig needs all the help he can get.

http://bit.ly/2sNIY0

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256867

Dare I confess--I'm torn between TM loyalty and Milbank's baby blues?

My campaign platform: Universal access to baloney sandwiches.. http://bit.ly/2sNIY0

Warren

We can do it and see how it works out to help bring down costs before it starts to take effect two years from now.

Or we can continue to let the barracudas chomp on the public purse by doing nothing that limits their access to the wallets.

Craig is climbing...15%

vote often...

"2. As a result of #1, treatment at a doctor instead of expensive emergency room. Relieves taxpayers and other insurance holders from picking up tab"

Again - that is because of a non-profit option - NOT a govt or public option."

Warren do you know of another "Non Profit Option" for insurance?

Warren, jamie,
#1 & #2 is as a result of coverage at an affordable price, whether public option or private nonprofit.

#3 - public option would be a lower cost alternative in the market. IF the current players want to attract new business or retain business that would seek the lower cost option, it would indeed be a big stick forcing them to control their costs - and not all ways of controlling their costs are desirable - they currently do that by among other things, denying coverage. That's not to say it couldn't be a big stick as the unwanted alternative as warren suggests as well.

I don't buy the "paid for by what we save" bit either, at least not in the entirety. I think "cost will be partially offset by what we save" is closer to the truth.

the bottom line..

A strong public option will provide the competition that will improve private insurance companies. Those who want to continue to pay hundreds of millions in executives will not compete effectively.

Those who realize that larger covered pool of insured will be an opportunity for a good company to reform and expand its base resulting in profitable business.

Those who continue to pay huge amounts to every large companie executive in their state to show up a couple times a year for board meetings will fail.

It's called competition!

Hah! Baloney sammiches. I had to correct LP about the pronunciation of balogna in Hardee's new biscuit (an abomination), which every good southern boy knows is pronounced ba-lo-ney no matter how it's spelled. But now I have to move on and get LP to soccer practice.

Ever'one have a good evening, and don't forget to watch Craig at 8:50 - MSNBC. Be there or be squae.

Craig at 17%. This appears to be like Dancing With The Stars..we get multiple votes..

Going out to enjoy the sun..have a good day..

I'll be talking about Sarah Palin tonight on MSNBC "Countdown with Keith Olbermann 8:50 PM ET

Looking forward to it!

Milbank tied w/Matt Cooper at 24% but Craig's coming up strong on the backstretch--what the hell am I doing here? Auditioning for somethin'--(^_^)

craig is at 18%...

What is this nonsense about a public option trigger? This will be the new term Prez Obama will shove down the throat of liberals to shut us up!

I wonder how she feels knowing that she's driving stakes through the hearts of the people she's condemned because of her rhetoric on healthcare?

The true soul of Michael Steele. Insult woman whose mother died of cancer.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/feature/2009/09/02/steele_at_howard/index.html

This is it make no mistake this is what we voted for & were promised if he fails to obtain a public option for all Americans he will never recover insuring him to be a one term President.

craig...you are at 20%

Welcome back Eprof!!!

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256829

Craig is now at 20%

GOP worries the crazies are bad for their image

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/02/the-intolerance-party-gop_n_274355.html

"If the healthcare bill is similar to the stimulus - than you will have around one half of the aisle (and the Country) rooting for its failure. Pointing out and exaggerating the flaws and deficiencies of the program.

Rather than passing a bill with broad support that many in Congress and the Country want to see work. And will be willing to pitch in and help make it is success - instead of trying to tear the program down."

Warren
I wish I lived in your and Obama's "Can't we all just get along world"...
When have the Republicans ever given a shit and tried to compromise with the President?Hell,he got 4 Republican votes to continue the Bush wars..Non-sense, get a public option NOW with a Democratic majority..

My official full-of-baloney campaign photo.. http://twitpic.com/g8g1c

Vote now.. http://bit.ly/2sNIY0

Is this Klass Klown thing supposed to be a positive? Doesn't sound like one to me....there are some SERIOUS Klowns in that list and Craig isn't one of them.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256895

Specify what the pickles are and throw in some Hellman's mayo, a nice ripe red tomato, and a Vidalia onion, and the knobite will forget Milbank's beautiful blue eyes. Just sayin--;)

Patsi

That's why they need to be defeated by someone who knows how to party. :-)

craig now in second place...

Patsi -
have a cracker

Will Congress be forced to act on climate change

http://blog.buzzflash.com/greenisgood/009

Now tied with Milbank at 24%, Cooper's dropped back--

President Barack Obama will deliver a major prime-time address to Congress next week on his plans to overhaul the nation's health care system, opening an urgent autumn push to gain control of the debate that has been slipping from his grasp under withering Republican-led attacks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090902/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_health_care_overhaul

well.... I'm voting like a fiend!

waving at Eprof....

You are on top, Craig.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256907

Yes he is speaking to one group of children on 9/8 and a brattier group of children on 9/9

Thanks, Craig.

Waving back atcha, RR.

Battle lines drawn over soda, junk food taxes

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5806E520090901?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

Nash hit the nail on the hear earlier, as usual.

"For those of you who are satisfied with your health insurance, beware. The insurance companies now know that they OWN the govt.

You can expect:
* higher premiums
* higher deductables
* caps on coverage
* lower payments for treatment, which means you'll get bigger bills from your provider.

In the long-term, you can expect an energized right wing to try to weaken or eliminate...
* Medicaid
* Medicare
* VA services
* Govt medical services for active duty military (They'll "privatize" this, too.)
The insurance companies will move agressively to get government completely "out of the market" for health care.

NOTHING now stands in their way."

I just had to post today to say I totally agree with Nash. USA, Inc.

"Can't we all just get along world"...

I am not as Kumbaya as you think. Like I said - I believe in agressive bi-partisanship (which is a similar approach to how I would suggest we engage in diplomacy with Iran).

That would be lay out a reasonable plan. Now for this to work - it can't be overly partisan. You would have to be able to point out certain concessions you have made. Now that would NOT be in response to BS claims like the death panels - but rather legitimate concerns raised by the American people like how are we going to pay for this and will I get to keep my insurance if I like it.

Then you call out the other side for their BS. Let the American people know that you have laid out a reasonable bill and it is up for the other side to propose reasonable amendments - rather than just sit on the sideline and throw bombs.

And if the other side doesn't act reasonable - ignore them - and remind the American people they had their shot to be at the table.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256891

Me too, me too !

David Shuster just tweeted Nadler quote:

PO is necessary to hold down the cost health ins. "What's the point of mandating people buy ins that's going to be unaffordable?

Craig's in the lead with 26%! But, wasn't that the way it was last year? Then someone stuffed someone else's ballot box.

Hi there Eprof

Always glad to see your shining pixels

Americans Against Food Taxes -

http://nofoodtaxes.com/join/?gclid=COeJjLvv05wCFU8M2godjgoQIg

----------------
We can reduce obesity and promote healthy lifestyles at the same time. Through education about solutions that rely on science, economic realities and common sense – not discriminatory taxation.

If one looks at the Americans Against Food Taxes banner notice there are no fat kids with bad teeth .

common sense .........
The last refuge of deceivers.

Thanks Jamie.

If Matthews were any more thin skinned, you could see his bones

Poor sensitive baby.

CBob

You have to love the Coalition members for that group

http://nofoodtaxes.com/about/#members

We are killing your children but support us anyway.

End the drug wars: Legalize everything

http://www.esquire.com/print-this/drug-war-facts-090109

My goodness, the power of Trail Mixers at the ballot box shines again. Dare we begin planning our administration in case we win this one? http://bit.ly/2sNIY0

Perhaps its due to the good omen of eprof's return.

Song, anybody?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IumnmhnPJKQ&feature=fvst

Outta here. Nite all.

Craig -
Forget the baloney , here's a direct line to the cardiac care ward :

Deep Fried Butter

Food Buzz Deep fried butter is among eight creative treats available at the Texas State Fair. “100 percent pure butter is whipped 'til light and fluffy, then specially sweetened with a choice of several flavors.” It is then surrounded by a “special dough” and quick-fried.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/deep-fried-butter/

Jamie the usual suspects, except for these guys :

Coyote Bait & Tackle

Maybe there's a worm tax buried in the 3,000 page bill.

Warren,

I favor going it alone on Health Insurance reform. There won't be any bi-partisanship until republicans see that they are inconsequential. Only that realization will lead them to want to compromise and help shape other, future, legislation.

For republican leaders, the biggest fear is that a major bill might pass without them, demoralizing their caucus, and ultimately leading to many republicans abandoning the politics of obstruction.

I favor single payor, as it eliminates the 30% waste fraud and abuse that Maggie Mahar documents in her book, Money-Driven Medicine. Elimination of this 30% excess cost will more than cover insuring the 17% of Americans who are now uninsured.

Democrats retained a fiercely contested House seat in a special election Tuesday, turning aside Republican hopes to showcase a victory as a sign that Iowa's political tide has turned.

Democratic candidate Curt Hanson, a retired schoolteacher, won against GOP candidate and Jefferson County Supervisor Stephen Burgmeier by 3,932 to 3,825 votes, according to unofficial tallies.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090902/NEWS09/909020372

The very first time I became aware that Ray Charles existed. From 1953 on it was a permanent love affair. It's not on You Tube so the play button on the below link is top right.

http://www.last.fm/music/Ray+Charles/_/Ruby

Ruby Gentry 1953 movie - if you like black and white, well acted soap operas.

great one, jamie........mahvalous...........

An Apology for Alan Turing

Reading this on a computer screen? Thank Alan Turing. Not reading it in German? Thank Alan Turing again. Turing's theoretical work in the 30s laid the foundations for computer science; his more hands-on efforts as a codebreaker at Britain's Bletchley Park helped ensure that the Allies could read enciphered Nazi messages. Turing's reward for these services to his country—and species—was to be prosecuted for "gross indecency" after naively disclosing his homosexuality to police. He was subjected to chemical castration, had his security clearance revoked, and within two years took his own life by swallowing cyanide.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/09/an-apology-for-alan-turing.html

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to apologize for the prosecution of Alan Turing that led to his untimely death.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/turing/

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256915

Warren
I'm not being critical.I just think yours and Obama's approach to healthcare thus far has been a failure.It was just a few weeks ago Obama was touting Grassley as someone who's working towards a bi-partisan solution to healthcare.Oh really,Grassley stood there and said nothing when that right wing nut talked about bringing a gun to Washington..Bi-partisanship has failed regarding healthcare.Oh, unless the President throws the pubic option under the bus and gives the Republicans and Insurance companies their win.Its time for Democrats to use their majority and govern...

them brits'll keelhaul you in a bloody second........

Thousands call for Turing apology

Thousands of people have signed a Downing Street petition calling for a posthumous government apology to World War II code breaker Alan Turing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8226509.stm

Hi Eprof
Welcome back! Have you seen Sheila around?

THE year 1797, the year of this narrative, belongs to a period which, as every thinker now feels, involved a Crisis for Christendom not exceeded in its undetermined momentousness at the time by any other era whereof there is record. The opening proposition made by the Spirit of that Age, involved rectification of the Old World's hereditary wrongs. In France,, to some extent, this was bloodily effected. But what then? Straightway the Revolution itself became a wrongdoer, one more oppressive than the kings. Under Napoleon it enthroned upstart kings, and initiated that prolonged agony of continual war whose final throe was Waterloo. During those years not the wisest could have foreseen that the outcome of all would be what to some thinkers apparently it has since turned out to be, a political advance along nearly the whole line for Europeans.

Now, as elsewhere hinted, it was something caught from the Revolutionary Spirit that at Spithead emboldened the man-of-war's men to rise against real abuses, long-standing ones, and afterwards at the Nore to make inordinate and ag- gressive demands --- successful resistance to which was con- firmed only when the ringleaders were hung for an admoni- tory spectacle to the anchored fleet. Yet in a way analogous to the operation of the Revolution at large-the Great Mutiny, though -by Englishmen naturally deemed mon- strous at the time, doubtless gave the first latent prompting to most important reforms in the British navy.

--mellville

i can only hope mr O is just playing it close to the vest with a couple of aces hole cards and not, as it might appear, simply four flushing.............

To say that Alan Turing helped win the Second World War is an understatement. If there is one individual that made a greater contribution I can't think of them.

"Decoding Nazi Secrets"

PBS Airdate: November 9, 1999

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2615decoding.html

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256901

No idea what you mean, C-Bob...that I am repeating something or an old white woman.

you can never forget that there's a damn good reason we revoluted out from under them limey weasels.......

TONY SALE: Its complexity's enormous. I mean, if I sent just one message on an Enigma machine today it would still take a super Cray computer, the fastest in the world, a year to go through searching for that one message without supporting evidence as to what that message might have been.

Thanks, Tony. Sheila can be found on Face Book. I'll give her a shout out and see if she's into posting these days.

Speaking of past friends, anyone heard from or about 9/11 these days?

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256943

lol@patsi

by janie cheaney:

At Monck's Corner in April he broke the last cavalry resistance and Charleston was doomed. When the city capitulated on May 12, Tarleton's Legion was sent up the coast to secure Georgetown as a British outpost. Then his commander, Lord Cornwallis, received word of a regiment of Virginia Continentals still at large, and sent Tarleton to catch it if he could. The Virginians, numbering about 350, were commanded by Colonel Abraham Buford. They had been marching to the defense of Charleston, but when word reached them of the city's fall, they sensibly turned around and headed north. They had a ten-day lead on the British Legion but Tarleton was a relentless driver when on the chase, and quickly closed the gap between them. On the last stretch of the pursuit, he and his vanguard covered 105 miles in 54 hours at a pace that killed horses and exhausted men. Late in the afternoon on May 29 they caught up with the Virginians near a settlement called the Waxhaws, on the border between North and South Carolina. Buford had already refused a demand for surrender, so Tarleton attacked without ceremony, or even without waiting for his stragglers to catch up. Though outnumbered more than two to one, the Legion hit Buford's regiment so hard that a flag of surrender soon went up from the Americans.

There is some controversy about what happened next. As Tarleton explained it, his horse was shot and pinned him underneath when it fell. The Legion, thinking their commander wounded under a flag of truce, were so enraged that they attacked Buford's men again, cutting and hacking every live body they could reach, even those bodies who were kneeling on the ground with their hands up. Patriots claimed that their enemies attacked under orders from Tarleton himself, who didn't want to bother with taking prisoners. However it began, the slaughter went on for at least fifteen minutes, during which Tarleton gained the reputation he would never lose: from then on, he would be known as "Bloody Ban" or "The Butcher." "Tarleton's Quarter" became a rallying cry for patriots throughout the south, who would use it more than once to justify some of their own butchery. There is no indication that the Colonel minded his nickname, and his commander never seriously questioned his tactics. Cornwallis used the British Legion as shock troops to harry and demoralize patriot resistance; they effectively "mopped up" after the battle of Camden by chasing after and cutting down the fleeing militia units.

http://jrshelby.com/kimocowp/tarlton.htm

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." Ditto for health care!

But by and large, the fun was over. When Cornwallis withdrew to the coast to fortify Yorktown, Tarleton was put in charge of Gloucester Point, an outpost just across the river. He was on his way back from a foraging expedition when his detachment was set upon by a band of French cavalry led by the Duc de Lauzun. In the scrap, Tarleton was pinned under a falling horse and rescued by members of his Legion, who surrounded him and fought off the French until he could work himself free. Though no one knew it yet, that was the end of Tarleton's fighting days. On October 15 Cornwallis surrendered the entire British army to Washington and the war was essentially over. Tarleton found himself shut out of the round of dinner parties between British, American and French officers afterward; no one wanted his company.

But the British public, hungry for heroes after a long, exhausting, humiliating war, latched on Tarleton as one bright star. On his return to London in January of 1782, he was the toast of the city and soon counted the young Prince of Wales among his friends. But it was not to last; the Colonel squandered his brilliant reputation over the next several years through his compulsive gambling and a stormy, ultimately futile relationship with Mary "Perdita" Robinson, the actress and poet. In 1786 he was the subject of critical letters published in the London papers which excoriated his handling of the Cowpens battle. Stung, Tarleton wrote his History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1780 in the Southern Provinces of North America to salvage his military honor. In the process he savaged his former mentor's, and Cornwallis broke off all relations with him.

Tarleton's home town elected him to seven terms of Parliament, and he retained his officer's commission even in times of severe financial stress, when the temptation to sell it must have been very great. Around the age of 45 he settled down, with a fortuitous marriage and a series of appointments to insignificant army posts. He died a major general and Knight of the Bath in 1833, having outlived most of his contemporaries.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256941

Sturge when you have the cards Obama has you push the bet and drive out all those hoping for a cheap way to draw out a flush.
The Republicans had nothing and he has let them stay in the game at no cost to them.

They say Obama never bets big when playing poker.
Evidently the same for life.

Jack

When you play poker you are either in it to gut your opponet and take all his money or you are the sucker.

Poker is a polite game when compared to politics at the level Obama is playing.

Jack

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256946

eprof

Send me an email

webthings@comcast.net

Real Canadians Talking Real Healthcare

http://ushealthcrisis.com/2009/09/real-canadians-talking-real-health-care/

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256930

CBob

The little bait and tackle shops sell a lot of junk food. It's the chips and pepsi's next to the live worm containers.

News you won't see in US because it is actually NEWS

BBC America has an expose on mineral mining in Africa for use in western cell phones with the miners being assaulted by both militias and government thieves.

Another piece on global warming with UN head visit to the arctic ice pack ..

http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/329/index.jsp

They now have a morning show 5a - 8a ET as well as the 7-8P ET

If you look around the table and can't spot the mark........the mark is you...........

--sockeye

another thing sockeye was fond of saying........." you must take all the scent off the trap............."

y'all wanna see sidi's portable chicken house?

"Speaking of past friends, anyone heard from or about 9/11 these days?"

Prof, It's been at least a couple of months since he was here. He had started a new medical treatment at the time, and was optimistic. I've been thinking about him too, and wishing he'd let us know how he's doing.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256951 "They say Obama never bets big when playing poker. Evidently the same for life."

Jack, You've been doing such a good job describing the ordeal we're facing, that this morning, a few of us were quoting you or at least referring back to the things you've been saying.

Expect the same on those last two posts you made. Great comparisons.

Great piece on the nature of and finding satisfaction in "work"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8235031.stm

chloe

I wrote him an email to let him know eprof was asking for him. I'll let everyone know if he replies.

Thanks Jamie. I appreciate that.

summer's done......the spiders are croaking in their webs and the horrendous heat, while not over, is at least tempered now and then by tolerable winds........this particular summer's hand was dealt by Cbob's Blue Corn-a-palooza with joedon for musical acrompinerance.........it, for one thing, made for one of the more pleasing heat spells i've ever had to endure here in this mosquito infested festerously humid paradise.........checking the corn.......

times was when at the onslaught of this heat you'd find any number of rogues, blackguards, crabbers, farmers and musicians mysteriously appearing at Hart's shrimp dock.........there would be mason jars............with ice....and shrimp......and crabs.......and geetars.......

The shrimp dock of course has been sold and mr hart has gone to be with his chicago ancestors......I assume that's the price one pays for dying..........

Blue corn as opposed to white corn and next year it's gonna be a whole damn field.............Salute Corno

Don't forget a few little details:

However ambitious President Barack Obama's domestic plans, one unacknowledged issue has the potential to destroy any reform efforts he might launch. Think of it as the 800-pound gorilla in the American living room: our longstanding reliance on imperialism and militarism in our relations with other countries and the vast, potentially ruinous global empire of bases that goes with it. The failure to begin to deal with our bloated military establishment and the profligate use of it in missions for which it is hopelessly inappropriate will, sooner rather than later, condemn the United States to a devastating trio of consequences: imperial overstretch, perpetual war, and insolvency, leading to a likely collapse similar to that of the former Soviet Union.

According to the 2008 official Pentagon inventory of our military bases around the world, our empire consists of 865 facilities in more than 40 countries and overseas U.S. territories. We deploy over 190,000 troops in 46 countries and territories. In just one such country, Japan, at the end of March 2008, we still had 99,295 people connected to U.S. military forces living and working there -- 49,364 members of our armed services, 45,753 dependent family members, and 4,178 civilian employees. Some 13,975 of these were crowded into the small island of Okinawa, the largest concentration of foreign troops anywhere in Japan.

These massive concentrations of American military power outside the United States are not needed for our defense. They are, if anything, a prime contributor to our numerous conflicts with other countries. They are also unimaginably expensive. According to Anita Dancs, an analyst for the website Foreign Policy in Focus, the United States spends approximately $250 billion each year maintaining its global military presence. The sole purpose of this is to give us hegemony -- that is, control or dominance -- over as many nations on the planet as possible.

We are like the British at the end of World War II: desperately trying to shore up an empire that we never needed and can no longer afford, using methods that often resemble those of failed empires of the past -- including the Axis powers of World War II and the former Soviet Union. There is an important lesson for us in the British decision, starting in 1945, to liquidate their empire relatively voluntarily, rather than being forced to do so by defeat in war, as were Japan and Germany, or by debilitating colonial conflicts, as were the French and Dutch. We should follow the British example. (Alas, they are currently backsliding and following our example by assisting us in the war in Afghanistan.)

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256962

Hi Chloe
You got that right! Jack is on top of this,wish Obama was!

Chloe,

Thats twice today: That I came on at the same time that you did; if it looks like Im stalking you, jejeje.......

Craig's in first with 33%..

We take care of people like Karzai, and Netenyahooo, we give them money, and weapons.....

Tribal leaders accuse Karzai team of forging 23,900 votes

Top envoys for Afghanistan gathered in Paris on Wednesday to chart a way forward after claims of massive fraud cast a pall over the presidential election and threatened to set back peace efforts.

US special representative Richard Holbrooke joined counterparts from 26 countries and organisations for talks on Afghanistan’s future after the August 20 vote was mired in allegations of ballot-stuffing and voter intimidation.

Afghanistan’s election commission is investigating more than 2,500 complaints of irregularities, while preliminary results of the vote are expected to be announced by Monday.

The New York Times reports, “Just a week before this country’s presidential election, the leaders of a southern Afghan tribe called Bariz gathered to make a bold decision: they would abandon the incumbent and local favorite, Hamid Karzai, and endorse his challenger, Abdullah Abdullah.”

According to tribal leaders, their attempt to give Abdullah a “local landslide” was thwarted when “aides to Mr. Karzai’s brother Ahmed Wali — the leader of the Kandahar provincial council and the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan — detained the governor of Shorabak, Delaga Bariz, and shut down all of the district’s 45 polling sites on election day. The ballot boxes were taken to Shorabak’s district headquarters, where, Mr. Bariz and other tribal leaders said, local police officers stuffed them with thousands of ballots.”

At the end of the day, 23,900 ballots were shipped to Kabul, Mr. Bariz said, with every one marked for President Karzai.

“Not a single person in Shorabak District cast a ballot — not a single person,” Mr. Bariz said in an interview here in the capital, where he and a group of tribal elders came to file a complaint. “Mr. Karzai’s people stuffed all the ballot boxes.”

more at javascript:inside_tab('story_content',%20'storyTab');

Last year they said that we voted too often for Craig, and split it no??

just as soon as i can feel like i'm getting a break from being leader of the thundering galloping elephants parade I'm going to take my tape recorder up to Hot Springs, NC and record that train coming thru there.........late at night you can hear it far off up higher and to the west and then blasting that whistle all the way thru town till it fades somewhat.......... east bound and going down............one of the few places you can still hear that kind of thing........

More health care critique. Obama better start listening....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-brenner/the-health-care-reform-de_b_258893.html

Like a James Bond book:

Sibel Edmonds' Deposition Disclosures: Congressional Bribery, Blackmail and Espionage
Breaking down the formerly-gagged FBI whistleblower's sworn testimony...

It has now been over a week since the video tape and transcript from the remarkable 8/8/09 deposition of former FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds was publicly released. Previously, the Bush Administration invoked the so-called "state secrets privilege" in order to gag Edmonds, in attempting to keep such information from becoming public.

The under-oath, detailed allegations include bribery, blackmail, espionage and infiltration of the U.S. government of, and by current and former members of the U.S. Congress, high-ranking State and Defense Department officials and agents of the government of Turkey. The broad criminal conspiracy is said to have resulted in, among other things, the sale of nuclear weapons technology to black market interests including Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, Libya and others.

Even as many of these allegations had been previously corroborated to varying extents, by a number of official government reports, documents and independent media outlets (largely overseas), not a single major mainstream media outlet in the U.S. has picked up on Edmonds' startling claims since her deposition has been made fully available.

Granted, last week was a busy news week, with the death of Ted Kennedy, the release of the CIA Inspector General's report on torture, and the announcement that Michael Jackson's death was ruled a homicide. And, it's true, a 4-hour deposition and/or 241-page transcript [PDF] is a lot of material to review, particularly given the wide scope of the charges being made here. Still, given the serious national security issues at stake, said to have the been among the most important matters of the past 8 years, one would think someone in the corporate MSM might have taken the time to go through the material, and report on it. Particularly as Edmonds' claims have previously been found "credible" "serious" and "warrant[ing] a thorough and careful review," by the DoJ Inspector General, and confirmed as such, on several occasions, by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and many many others. Lots more...

http://www.bradblog.com/?author=3

Jack, I agree with you on almost everything, these are walking, talking reasons fore term limits..

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256969

Solar, I think I came in right after you the first time today. So I'm not sure who's stalking who.

Tony, You're right about Jack.

ha......look who's on olber-mann........

gary US bonds........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxHpsYw6tc0&feature=PlayList&p=A45630B52EF48BD2&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=37

Craig on Countdown:

"Palin...now holding onto only a few feathers of the right wing"

Good metaphor, Craig.

wrong one....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxHpsYw6tc0&feature=PlayList&p=A45630B52EF48BD2&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=37

a bear in his natural habitat.......studebaker.............

THIS one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdrMIqqdcnw&feature=related

Ok, but U forgot the jejeje. or the moose call its your choice.

Democratic backer 'faked' graft repayment: prosecutor

A prominent Democratic fundraiser charged with defrauding Citibank to the tune of 74 million dollars and quickly returning his ill-gotten gains, engaged in yet another fraud to do so, prosecutors said Wednesday.

New York financier Hassan Nemazee was charged August 25 with using fake documents to secure a 74 million dollar loan from Citibank.

At the time, the authorities said that Nemazee, 59, promptly returned the funds.

But in a letter to federal Judge Michael Dolinger in New York, prosecutors say his apparent contrition was faked, alleging that he all he really did was scam a second bank in order to raise the money.

"The line of credit obtained from bank No. 2 was also obtained with the same type of fake documents (fake account statements and forged signatures) that the defendant used to defraud Citibank," US Attorney Preet Bharara said in the letter.

"In other words, Nemazee repaid his fraudulent loan from Citibank with approximately 74 million dollars that he had obtained by defrauding yet another bank."

The bank, and others that prosecutors say Nemazee targeted, were not named in the letter dated September 1 and made public Wednesday.

Nemazee faces a maximum prison term of 30 years and a maximum fine of one million dollars, prosecutors said after his arrest last month.

The scandal is an embarrassment for the Democratic Party, which he supported both as a donor and fundraiser during Hillary Clinton's failed bid for the presidential nomination, and then for Barack Obama's successful White House campaign.

jejeje
(I just can't say no)

Chloe,

I have that new pic on Facebook now.

they caught a chupacabra near blanco texas........

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/92971?fp=1

I'll go look now.

Oh Solar, Now I know what you meant. I could get lost there and stay forever too. Absolutely beautiful. That's what it's all about Solar. That picture says it all.

I tried to set it as my desktop, but not enough pixels.

Chlo, did you click on it a cpl of times ...to enlarge it?

Tony,

Your boy, Pat B. is at it again:

Pat Buchanan: Hitler didn’t want war

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/09/02/buchanan-hitler-didnt-want-war/

Pat B

He appeared at a New Hampshire rally when he was running for president and there were cries of "BIgot Bigot Bigot" and those were his supporters.

Yes I did solar. That's how I was sure there was a guy in the picture (a lucky guy).

NEW THREAD.. http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/the-book-of-levi-on-sarah.html

Solar, I just put my favorite picture on Facebook too. It's the one I usually use as wallpaper on my desktop on Facebook.

I have it on my desk top as an alternate: I will see if I can send it to you, never mind, here.

maybe this will work.

http://img522.imageshack.us/i/br45566.jpg/

... take out that last on facebook, in my last sentence

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/09/another-kind-of-recess.html#comment-256990

Ha,Solar.
Ole Pat seemed sane during the primaries! I guess he's loosing it.Pat should stick to talking about the Republican's...

Still a little to blurry on my desktop, for some reason.

Craig just put up a NEW THREAD

Solar

"We deploy over 190,000 troops in 46 countries and territories. In just one such country, Japan, at the end of March 2008, we still had 99,295 people connected to U.S. "

Think of all those people spending all that tax money in this Country!! On top of the fact that this Nation would be a hellava lot safer if most of those troops were back here.

I realize there are a lot of missions out there where our troops need to be deployed. And many that can't be turned on a dime. But there is plenty of savings to be had there if the govt made a concentrated effort.

I think that is one of the things missing from Obama's administration. Not just an acknowledgement of the debt. But some concrete plans on how we will reduce the deficit.

I understood the need for stimulus spending and recognize the crisis we have with healthcare. But months after global financial turmoil caused by spending beyond one's means - Obama needs to give people some confidence that our soceity is not being built on a pile of sand.