Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

Woo Hoo.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Should have read:

Woo Hoo.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lunch time, see ya.

Thanks for posting the interview Craig! I was so mad at myself for not tuning in at the right time. (Somehow forgot to switch EST to CST...)

It should be a great night for a bonfire... Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Day

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/negativity-finally-loses.html#comment-269562

Flatus --

That's the place. Cal Ripken is Aberdeen's hometown boy. He built an impressive stadium overlooking I-95. I don't think it gets used much.

http://www.ballparkreviews.com/aberdeen/ripken.htm

I know that Goldman Sachs and Wall Street own the U.S. Treasury but it appears that they own the U.S. Government! It was reported on The Today Show this morning, November 5, 2009; several banks have been among the early recipients of H1N1 vaccine, allowing them to get ahead of hospitals in some instances. In fact Goldman Sachs (GS) has received 200 doses in total -- the exact same as Lennox Hill hospital.

Business Week reported on November 2, 2009, Citigroup has been supplied with 1,200 units and Goldman with 200, says Jessica Scaperotti, press secretary for New York City's Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. The agency has so far approved orders by 29 employers—including 16 that have yet to receive any vaccine—after they were cleared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

This is an outrage! We are in a "National Emergency" with limited supplies because of screw ups within the Department of Health and Human Services and Wall Street gets as much or more than hospitals. In Florida we have shortages, but Citigroup in New York gets 1,200 units and Lennox Hill hospital in New York only gets 200 units.

This needs to be corrected!

http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-received-h1n1-vaccine-before-several-hospitals-2009-11
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/nov2009/db2009112_606442.htm

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/negativity-finally-loses.html#comment-269574

C-Bob --

"Everything in life is memory, save for the thin edge of the present."

~ Michael Gazzaniga, Ph.D.

Wall Street Bankers are a particularly vulnerable population, given that it's SWINE flu.

Purple,

Thanks for that post...but when it comes to hating Banks, and Wall St. Stand in line...a long one.

cajunjoe Great Point!

Solar

The Administration and Congress love the banks and their money.

Purple,

Where is Bonnie & Clyde, when you need them.! "We Rob Banks".

Im sorry to say, but sometimes when I see in the news that someone just robbed a bank...first thing that comes to mind...is I hope that no one got killed...the 2nd...hope that he got away with it..shamed of this thought, but....

The administration doesn't seem to be concerned about too much, other than getting re-elected...

ARLINGTON, Va. — A series of contracting issues are among the potential complications that could hamper the U.S. drawdown from Iraq, according to a report by the investigative branch of Congress.

Many contracts are set to expire next year just at the height of U.S. efforts to draw down to 50,000 troops by the end of August, according to the Government Accountability Office.

“Executing the rapid movement of troops and equipment out of Iraq will require significant truck assets,” the report said.

“Transitioning the mission to a new contractor and requiring the new contractor to provide 23,000 trucks and crews could be daunting.”

As multiple Iraqi contractors assume responsibility for base support, more U.S. personnel will be required to oversee the contractors, limiting the number of troops who can go on operations, the report said.

Another issue is that more contractors may have to fill in for departing U.S. troops, but commanders have still not figured out how many contractors will be needed during the drawdown, the report said.

Army officials in Kuwait and the United States could not comment when asked if they wanted to respond to the issues raised in the GAO report.

Meanwhile, the Defense Department plans on handing over about $600 million in military equipment to the Iraqis, but the department is only allowed to give the Iraqis what the Army has deemed surplus. The list of equipment is currently being reviewed.

When the U.S. transferred the Ibn Sina hospital to the Iraqis, it was unable to transfer 100 pieces of vital equipment because of this limitation.

The report also noted problems with the Defense Department’s inventory system, which does not have complete and accurate data on about 28 percent of all department property in Iraq.

Making matters worse, the U.S. Army’s system to track shipping containers “is at best 25 percent accurate,” the report said. In one case, 200 containers listed as being in Iraq were actually in Afghanistan.

“Out of those containers entered in the data system, the location of over 7,000 could not be verified and the serviceability of 39 percent remained unknown,” the report said.

Last month, Michèle Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy, told Congress that the Defense Department was committed to meeting the military and taxpayer’s needs in drawing down in Iraq.

“While doing all this presents significant challenges, we are confident that we are making progress towards our goals on the timeline laid out by the president,” she said.

http://www.stripes.com/news.asp

Ivy,

You're right about the Aberdeen stadium not getting much use, at least for professional baseball. Cal Ripkin's Aberdeen Iron Birds play in the NY-Penn League, which can best be described as a summer "A" League. The season generally runs from the middle of June through the first week of September. So, they'll have about 38-40 home games scheduled.

In our area, the Troy team shares its stadium with a community college, so it's often in use while there's still snow on the ground. The stadium is also used for various levels of high school championship games.

Why Does AIPAC Spy on Americans?

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Steven J. Rosen will be allowed to move ahead with his civil defamation lawsuit against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Rosen and fellow AIPAC employee Keith Weissman were indicted under the 1917 Espionage Act in 2005 along with Department of Defense Employee Col. Lawrence Franklin for passing classified national defense informaiton. Franklin pled guilty, but Rosen and Weissman’s case never went to trial — US attorneys gave up (PDF) after the presiding judge made a successful prosecution unlikely.

Why isn’t AIPAC registering as an agent of a foreign principal if it is collaborating so closely with foreign intelligence services? Why are these matters being litigated in civil court as a family squabble between members of the Israel lobby? If espionage is a recurring, institutionalized feature of AIPAC, doesn’t that mitigate against its claims to be an American non-profit, working for American interests? From the NRA to the AARP, no legitimate American nonprofit lobby has ever been found to be trafficking in so much intelligence information, or so frequently channeling it to a foreign government parties and friends in the establishment media.

Newly emerging declassified facts are reminders to concerned Americans that AIPAC is not at all what it claims to be. Rosen’s lawsuit will not likely make good on his and former lobbyist Douglas Bloomfield’s implicit threats to reveal AIPAC as a stealth, unregistered foreign agent of the Israeli government.

Fortunately for Americans, that uncomfortable fact is now emerging in myriad ways, even in the midst of AIPAC’s new attempts to engineer policies that could accelerate the downfall of the US economy.

http://jta.org/

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds"
- Samuel Adams

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2009/11/05/podcast-show-10/

Be prepared to be jealous of me! I know you all love celebrity book signings and wish more would come closer to where you live. Well, for me that day is finally happening on November 18th! That's right, Sarah Palin will be signing copies of her new book at the new Barnes & Nobles at the Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids. I'm sure there will be many of you here who would love for me to get you an autographed copy of Palin's new book. Just let me know in advance of Sarah's appearance.

I hope Imus and his whole crew got early injections for swine flu. (They are particulalry vulnerable, being swine.)

I am not outraged that Goldman Sachs got early H1N1 doses. After all, it is the government's job to protect them from all risk.

"Capitol Hill = Dithering Heights"

flatus, that was so good it deserved an encore. bravo!

Sea,
Thought about you , cos it mentioned M. V.:

That was Martha’s Vineyard and that was where we scattered her ashes last month in Edgartown Great Pond where she loved to swim and chase sticks.

Like any good Irish-American dog, when she arrived in England she did so on her own terms. After obtaining her EU citizenship, Julie picked her up and brought her over on the boat from Brittany to the port at Dover, England. When she arrived at our home in London, it didn’t take long for her to beat a path to a cafe nestled in the Hampstead Heath where she dined on left over bangers and mash and thick rolls of brown bread. She would walk with me to work and wait for scraps of shepherd’s pie from The Holly Bush, one of the great old pubs of Hampstead which was right next to my office and where she became a fixture curled up next to the fireplace on cold, rainy days.

A nice story, about a "Well traveled Dog"

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/091030/memory-well-traveled-dog

craig, what's the story on the signed, leather bound books? are they being marketed to a specific audience or can just any ole body buy one?

"Capitol Hill = Dithering Heights"

"flatus, that was so good it deserved an encore. bravo!"

Pat, when I wrote those words I had no idea that others have used them before me. This query on Google comes-up with 19 hits. Sigh:

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Capitol+Hill%22+%22Dithering+Heights%22&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_en___US232

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269602
Nash,

Right you are! I completely forgot that the government has pledged to protect the big banks from any threat and at any cost with taxpayer money.

P-I-T,
Where would we be if the Masters of the Universe got the icky flu? Fortunately, the do wash their hands anytime something bad happens.

I was too late to hear Craig, but I was there when Bernard and Charles unloaded on Imus for his incredibly bad manners during the interview.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269593

LMAO@Joe!

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269601

LOL
Good 1

cajunjoe

If those Masters of the Universe got the icky flu, we would be a lot better.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269598

EdVB --

I saw the place getting built, it was on my daily commute. I missed the old farm that was there before they built that stadium. It's sad to see rural places urbanized acre by acre. Especially when the new development fails to live up to its promotion, even with a name like Cal Ripken behind it.

Flatus,

You've got me racking my brain thinking back to this morning. Craig's interview with Imus went very well. I didn't remember anything in particular after Craig hung up, but the crew may have continued their schtick about Imus's earlier statement of "Loser Thursday" when the guest list was first announced.

I think you may have tuned in after the Chris Wallace interview, which ran around 7:30 eastern time. That conversation was a little more fractious because Mr. Wallace chose to take it in that direction and Imus was happy to oblige. By that time that ended I was getting ready to head out the door, but I recall Imus or someone saying, "I wonder what Chris thought about X," (election issue) and Bernard or Charles responding, "We'll never know."

More than likely that's when Imus was berated by his gang. None of this is any big deal, except that I didn't want anyone here to think our gracious host was treated poorly by the old grump in the cowboy hat.

"FORT HOOD, TX (KFVS & AP) - A Fort Hood spokeswoman says one shooter is in custody after a mass shooting on the Texas Army base. Army officials say at least seven people are dead and 20 wounded.
Fort Hood spokeswoman Sgt. Rebekah Lampan says authorities believe at least two gunmen were involved in the attack on Thursday."

http://www.kfvs12.com/Global/story.asp?S=11451971

more on ft hood in wapo
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/05/AR2009110503467.html?hpid=topnews

While it is a tragedy what happend at Fort Hood I have too wonder if the shooter was being redeployed for a third or fourth deployment.

Is this how the Vietnam fraticiding began? If so then it will happen many more times in the near future.

We have not taken care of our vets and soldiers who have PTSD and its only a matter of time til it spills over to those who have returned for leave or discharge and that is what I think happened at Fort Hood.

I think I will just say a prayer for everyone and their families.

It is not a time for idle speculation, just my opinion.

Jack

A bit of good news for me.

My sister just sent me a text message. Her baby boy just touched down on US soil after a year in Iraq.
He signed up to be a sonar tech in the Navy. That didn't keep him out of Iraq. They made him a clerk
Was worried they might try to make him a truck driver, considering him driving record, IEDs would have been the least of his worries.

Jack

Craig.... thanks for posting the Imus interview.... I thought he was pretty funny.... and you too. Your hand must hurt from all that signing... but good job on selling that book.

Jack.... great news about your nephew.... mine just signed up to join the National Guard.... hope he stays out of Afghanistan.

I turned on CNN a few minutes ago..... I see what some of you were discussing as happening at Fort Hood.

Jack.... I agree with you..... now is the time to pray for all those involved.

Now that's irony one of the suspected shooters is a mental health professional.

kgc...

It has also been reported that he didn't want to be deployed to Iraq.

Renee,

I hope you saw my responses to the millionaire comment this morning. I think I was typing them around the time this thread started.

Yes, prayers for the families touched by the Fort Hood shootings.

EdVB.... yes... I did see your response....
good for you for landing those tickets. Your daughter's boyfriend must be a millionaire.... :0)

seriously Ed... hope you enjoyed the Yankees win last night....

FREE AT LAST

Charge #1 - Not Guilty

Charge #2 - Hung Jury (10 NG 2 G and nobody budging)

"craig, what's the story on the signed, leather bound books? are they being marketed to a specific audience or can just any ole body buy one? -- Posted by: patd"

patd, all i know is that Easton Press is doing and, like everything else in the publishing industry, the authors are the last to be told anything. here's their link (our book is not yet in their catalog, still in production): http://www.eastonpressbooks.com/leather/

it's like everything else, folks. i know you think i should have answers, and i do the best i can to provide them. but once we content creators have done our thing we are as clueless as anyone else regarding what's done with it. content is NOT king in the modern world. distribution is king, and the distributors rule.

Renee,

It was great watching them. I enjoyed seeing Hideki named MVP. The sad thing is, I'm sure there were Yankee fans walking out of the stadium last night saying, "Now, if we can only sign Cliff Lee and Chase Utley we'll be all set for the next ___ years."

New Yorkers never have any problem "mythically" spending George Steinbrenner's money. I just enjoy seeing good players play good fundamental baseball, and that they did.

Craig,

I'll say this for our friend, Mr. Imus, he's an enthusiastic supporter of the book project. Of course, it was funny watching him blow off the $50 price tag. He definitely fits the description, "If I had his money, I'd burn mine."

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269632

ha, yes EdVB, i was thinking heck i can't afford my own book in that edition. but glad someone can.

When a really big news story occurs, I turn to CNN. Good decision today..

Some of you may have been wandering the web and seen these globes floating around on many blogs, mine included:

http://takethistune.blogspot.com
http://jdurward.blogspot.com

Today is the Blog Blast For Peace and bloggers all over the world are posting articles, quotes, music etc all under the title Dona Nobis Pacem.

The lady who started the Blogblast more than three years ago. If you love great writing and would like to read a daughters farewell to an aged father who passed away just before this annual event, here is Mimi's website

http://mimiwrites.blogspot.com/

It was expected, but we all followed over the last month as she had to let go and the expression of her love, grief, and anger is amazing.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269614

Thanks for straightening me out on that Ed. I don't like people picking on my friends :)

Looks like the states are going after the banks for their mortgage practices.

"Newly empowered by the Supreme Court, the attorneys general of several states hit hard by the housing collapse are exploring consumer fraud suits against major mortgage lenders."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/business/03suits.html

Interesting read

Jack

Another interesting read on Afghanistan

"It is time to help Afghans resolve their civil war in the only way that is likely to help, and not further hinder, their search for security and stability. Painful as it is, the time has come to set aside the illusion of Afghan democracy and implement a new federal power-sharing agreement between those Afghans willing and able to provide security and governance in a sustainable manner for the Afghan people. The best chance we have of achieving minimal Afghan objectives at an acceptable cost to the West is by establishing a new Loya Jirga "

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/11/05/no_insurgency_here

Jack

You to can sign Al Franken's petition, pushing public option :

http://www.alfranken.com/content/splash_petition

Xrep

They've killed the public option a long time ago.
What they are now calling the public option really isn't an option for most of the public.
The insurance companies have won.

I'm of the mind to vote against anybody who votes for any of the current healthcare bills before congress.

Jack

Solar,

After Pollard, you were the only one in the country who didn't know there was spying going on at aipac. I think it was convenient for counter-intelligence to allow aipac to operate, so they could monitor everything that Mossad did here.

bushcheney spied on Americans, too, but no one ever made THEM register as Saudi Agents. They invaded Iraq to make Iranian spy Achmed Chelabi the new dictator, but no one made them register as Iranian agents.

Several years ago we caught French agents spying here; the Italians just convicted 28 of ours of a massive criminal operation. Friends spy on each other all the time. It's going on all over. The only country that doesn't spy on us is Antarctica, but that's only because the penguins are too dumb to realize that Global Warming is due to pong, bowmanc, and struthInreality.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269640

Jack

You would think I would know better at my advanced age, but I actually had hopes that there might be something resembling a conscience in Congress and enough guts to stand up to the powers that be. No such luck and I'm back to a Pox on both of your houses, just hope the plague hits harder on the R side of the aisle.

Watching Republicans send one person to a committee daily because they know that no work can be done unless there are two opposition members present. It's all garabage games.

Now this so called "reform" bill that does virtually nothing, leave most people in the lurch and acts as a massive give away to the Insurance corps is nothing but regurgitated dog's breakfast.

Medicare for all of nothing and throw all the bums out.

"Medicare for all or nothing and throw all the bums out."

Single-Payer uber alles

Mr. Jack,

Ya, I know, and I'm not happy with it. Apparently, Franken wants to stuff public option back into the bill. Ergo, the petition.

Sweetie and I signed, although I really want Single Payor.

Yeah, EdVB, Iman as telling us a couple weeks ago how he took Bob Kerrey's suggestion and bought Steinbeck's "Travels with Charlie". He bought some ltd. edition, signed by Steinbeck or something...ended up costing him $300 or so as I recall.
I bought a hardcover edition at a book sale , out of somebody's van, for 25 cents about 20 years ago.
The only signed book I ever bought was a Jimmy Breslin book back in 1992...and it was a signed paste-in plate signature.
"Damon Runyon: A Life"
http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=1853

Yeah, I was up with a cuppa in hand watching our early bird at 0635 hours. Imus trotted out his tired old line, "So what did you think of the ERECTION, Craig?" Thank God Craig didn't hear Imus say it that way. Damn.

Mr. Jack,

I'd be in favor of a new Loya Jirga, and an increased Afghan effort to become self-reliant. How do the Afghans feel about it ?

We could start helping Afghanistan become self-reliant by buying the entire annual opium crop, and using it to make our medical codeine, laudanum, morphine, methadone, etc. We could also follow Greg Mortenson's lead, and start building rural schools and hiring teachers for them. It'd be cheaper than trying to hold the country together by force of arms.

But, we also need to eradicate alqaeda and the taliban. I don't buy the notion that the taliban will morph into al qaeda. I think that already happened in 2003.

I was once a big fan of John Steinbeck's. Especially for Cannery Row. Poor Doc. If it'd been my car, I'd have murdered every one of those stinkin' bums and sent them across the country as specimens to be dissected in biology classes.

Lately, I prefer Damon Runyon.

g'night

Hi All...just a quick comment/complaint.
.
Ft. Hood has been all the news around here since it's so close.
I can't imagine why the talking heads are SO surprised that a 'shrink' type psych person would crack. Most of them go into psychology/psychiatry because of some reason...they want to understand their personal trauma. The Major just didn't wanna go to Iraq. And that's that, IMHO.
.
A Little Car Wash Story
.
Sitting next to me waiting was a young guy in scrubs. There's a goodly sized hospital nearby. We got to talking, and I asked him if he always wears scrubs. He said that he just got out of surgery. I asked if he did the surgery. He said....wait for it...he's a sales rep...long, stunned silence on my part as I tried to digest that. I asked why he was in surgery, and he said that in most back surgeries there's a sales rep there because there are so many nuts & bolts & rods & pieces that the docs often don't know what sizes to use! I asked if he'd had any medical training. He said only from his company including some anatomy. Well now, that makes me feel better! ACK!
.
tt

As the saying goes, it ain't like it was...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/how-fireworks-night-lost-its-sparkle-1814791.html

I FELT the power and now I'm energized!

tt

Al Franken is turning out to be a good legislator.

Sleepless in St Paul.

From WaPo's Dana Milbank, the pathetic tale of an insecure pissant of a man, seeking the assurance that he really is somebody :

' "On election night, CNN's Campbell Brown was interviewing Steele about the GOP's "Sarah Palin and some of the other big names."

Steele interrupted. "That would include me," he said.

"Yourself included," Brown assured him. '

steele could go see jesse jackson about becoming somebody.

Mx Tiptoe,

Going back to my freshman year in college, I thought people took up psychiatry because they hoped to discover what was wrong with them.

Psychologists are a different story. IMO

xrep: I read Cannery Row every two years or so ...just takes a few hours and it charges my batteries since I was stationed at Fort Ord way back when, and I hung around Monterey every chance I had. I am a major Steinbeck devotee still.
Doc Ricketts, yep...no relation to the billionaire Ricketts family that just bought the Chicago Cubs...or maybe so, who knows.

Perhaps fortunately, when my neeck was replaced, the surgeon used other folks bones, rather than "nuts and bolts".

Still, it was a very difficult recovery. My cancer was easier.

So it turns out that not only was he harassed because he was a Muslim, but he was also called a camel jockey along with I'm sure many other derogatory names.

I have read about how Jews were harassed over their religion by their brother christian soldiers and how they were told they were going to Hell if they did not convert and be saved by Jesus.

So we have continued Bigotry and Harassment still going on in God's Christian Army. No wonder he did not want to be deployed to Iraq when his fellow soldiers would more than likely want to shoot him for his religion.

Along with hearing all the horror stories from those he counseled at Walter Reed no wonder he did not want to go to Iraq.

It's way past time we brought our soldiers home and stopped trying to be the policemen of the world. We should try some Nation Building right here at home and take care of our country first.

But as long as we allow the corporations to control our government than we can look forward to another war right here at home.

The Republicans are doing everything to start a war and they should be careful in what they wish for, because when they get it they may not like what they get.

"content is NOT king in the modern world. distribution is king, and the distributors rule"

craig, ain't that the truth.... and not just in the publishing biz.... seems to be the way of life everywhere.

The best example I can think of where content is not king but distribution is....
is our daily meals.... the people who get up 7 days a week at the crack of dawn and work their asses off til sunset to produce our food.... they get the smallest portion of the retail price we all pay at the grocery store.

I've been hearing horror stories about dairy farmers on NPR lately. Seems it costs around 17 cents for the farmer to produce a gallon of milk. But at the moment he is only getting 12 cents a gallon from the big milk companies for the product. Dairy farmers are filing for bankruptcy in droves.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/opinion/06krugman.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

"Obama Faces His Anzio"

"The World War II battle of Anzio was a classic example of the perils of being too cautious. Allied forces landed far behind enemy lines, catching their opponents by surprise. Instead of following up on this advantage, however, the American commander hunkered down in his beachhead — and soon found himself penned in by German forces on the surrounding hills, suffering heavy casualties.

The parallel with current economic policy runs as follows: early this year, President Obama came into office with a strong mandate and proclaimed the need to take bold action on the economy. His actual actions, however, were cautious rather than bold. They were enough to pull the economy back from the brink, but not enough to bring unemployment down."

http://www.taylormarsh.com/2009/11/05/measuring-obama-and-clinton/

"Measuring Obama and Clinton"

"A visit to a Sufi mosque that had been bombed by Sunni extremists, for example, sent a powerful message to Pakistan’s moderate Islamic majority. “We saw her praying there,” an academic named Shala Aziz told me, “and, for the first time, I’m thinking, The Americans have hearts.” … Press accounts either emphasized the embarrassment of a Secretary of State’s getting pummeled or fixed on Clinton’s undiplomatic bluntness. But they missed the point: her candor, her willingness to listen to and acknowledge criticism, had begun to undermine the prevailing Pakistani image of the U.S. as arrogant and bossy, more interested in having the Pakistani military fight its war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban than in having a true strategic partnership. The contrast was especially sharp after George W. Bush’s eight years of unqualified support for the military dictatorship of Pervez Musharraf. “In the past, when the Americans came, they would talk to the generals and go home,” said Farahnaz Ispahani, a government spokeswoman and Member of Parliament. “Clinton’s willingness to meet with everyone, hostile or not, has made a big impression — and because she’s Hillary Clinton, with a real history of affinity for this country, it means so much more.” [...] – Hillary’s Moment"

TT, I think it's probably fairly common having manufacturers' reps in ORs. They've tightened things up from years ago when they were actually doing knife work.

champ, bad news for the collider. bagged by a baguette.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/physics/article6905250.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=2015164

So far as that doc at Ft Hood is concerned, the news this morning said he was having 'problems' while he was at Walter Reed. So, what do they do? Put him on the promotion list and transfer him to a combat command.

. the people who get up 7 days a week at the crack of dawn and work their asses off til sunset to produce our food.... they get the smallest portion of the retail price we all pay at the grocery store. RR

Another good reason to shop at the Farmers Market
http://www.santarosafarmersmarket.blogspot.com/

They just released the jobless figures--not good, but not incredibly bad, either so long as an individual isn't personally affected.

FWIW, our youngest daughter, Squirt, has two jobs--both menial, but still jobs. And that's in Columbia where our jobless rate is higher than the national average.

flatus, one would think that peer review alone would have spotted all the red flags raised during his walter reed duty. why didn't his dr colleagues speak up? from wapo story, there seemed to be several hints re problems. incredible that this guy was being deployed let alone allowed to practise.
insanity likely defense at trial. for the defendant as well as the army.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/06/AR2009110600907.html?hpid=topnews

well, the good doctor has certainly made it a bit rougher on all the other muslim service personnel..........

Pat, Sturg, agreed on all counts.

So, what happened to taking sanctuary in Canada?

mark levin sounds a lot like Gangsta Mickey........

Is spraying other soldiers, in Muslim eyes, an acceptable protest? Didn't a similar incident happen in Kuwait a few years back?

fred imus, arizona resident, just called for the "old fool", mccain, to get the hell out of office......"time for him to move on"......

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269650

Ivy,

Your British article mentions the curse of Halloween ruining Guy Fawks day, but it has changed here as well. In the movie Take Me To St Louis, the children are running all over the neighborhood picking up things to throw in the big bon fire while throwing flour all over people ... all of it very scary, wild and fun,

Medical personnel generally don't have high security clearances.

That changes when it comes to mental health professionals. They are often cleared at the highest levels so that they can properly treat patients having access to critical information.

This adds one more question about this crime.

I used to have to go to Fort Hood about once a month as I had several customers there. This was before 9/11 and it was a very open base. IE no one standing at the entry points. During the first Gulf War, the town of Killene, TX, nearly dried up and blew away. Most all of the wife's and families went back home and the town really suffered with the GI's and families gone. It is the largest military base in the world.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269674

The shooters words as he murdered his fellow soldiers was "God is great". He had never been to Iraq or Afghanistan and recieved a million doolar education now practicing psychiatry. http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7731/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=QV4I6Z8Z

It pained me to watch many media outlets use this event to talk about our broken army. What Bullshit. There werre ways he could pay back his loans and resign. Absolute bullshit and I do not have any sympathy.

X, I rather doubt Americans are as worried about ISraeli spies as the activity of many charities and groups this administration has been less than diligent about. Detroit and Chicago are hotbeds of organizations that have serious connections to terrorism.

As far as healthcare, I have little sympathy. The strategy of the GOP was clear from the start. Obama walked right into the trap with his dumb approach. I posted at length about that yesterday. I see more of an effort to negotiate with the Taliban and Palestinians than the GOP.

Yes, Stewart was funny in his immitation of Beck. What was profoundly said was Susan Rice. The only positive result she could think of with her gesture policy was better international polls. Yep, I'm sure polls will fix the world. She talked about achievement and mentioned nothing, nada, zip. She is overseeing the decline of American leadership, not a restoration of it and Jon did not ask a single serious question. Maybe Beck should spoof Stewart. I can just picture that, can't you? Here is a line Jon could have asked Rice:

" Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, backed the resolution but also insisted that Israel's "aggressions and crimes" could not be equated "with actions committed in response by the Palestinian side".

"We are determined to follow up this report and its recommendations in all relevant international forums, including the Security Council and the International Criminal Court, until the realisation of justice," he said. BBC

Say what. That Hamas responded to Israel's provocation and can't be compared to the Israeli side?

Nowhere did Stewart ask Rice about her history supporting human rights. What action has the UN or this administration taken on human rights? Progress on Somalia, Burma, Sudan, Iran etc? Stewart didn't even ask ask Rice straight up what Iran said to the US proposal or what the US is doing about NK. Beck, unfortunately is too stupid to follow up on a spoof of Stewart.

If I were Obama, I would be reading this today: http://blog.stevenpressfield.com/wp-content/themes/stevenpressfield/one_tribe_at_a_time.pdf It just might be the solution for Afghanistan.

As usual fatuous militarist Jack Jacobs never fails to say the most inflamatory and unsubstantiated nonsense.

For real peace and change in Afghanistan, Obama should read 3 Cups of Tea

http://www.threecupsoftea.com/greg-mortenson-bio-and-professional-photo/

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269676

No one beats Colbert last night with Guy Fawkes tagged to Republican Guy Fawkers. You must see that clip as it will make you cry with tears of laughter. In fact, the Beck spoof by Stewart and the Guy Fawkers by Colbert was some of the best political humor in many months. Too bad they can't do the same with equally pathetic Democrats.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269681

Without a security plan, good guys like Mortenson as well as those he helps will become target practice.

You cannot create lasting progress in a security void.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/default.stm

Mortenson manages without US military intervention

Birmingham mayor's trial was first case of "innocent until tweeted."

http://www.myfoxal.com/Global/story.asp?S=11456083

wrong link

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/best-leaders/2009/10/22/greg-mortenson-promotes-peace-through-girls-schools.html

KGC your link goes to front page. Mortenson would probably not be in Afghnaistan with out allied intervention. The Taliban would have hunted him down long ago. Get real. He does fantastic work and represents the flip side of real security. Even the Un is pulling out for now until security improves. I didn't see Mortenson in Iraq when Saddam was there, nor in NK or Burma. Security and social progress. The two go together and one by itself leads nowhere.

"And even as the insurgency in Afghanistan has gained strength, America's growing disillusionment with the war makes Mortenson wary. "Although it may seem kind of a waste of our resources to many Americans, we made a promise," he says. When America cut funding to Afghanistan in the 1980s, "we basically abandoned the people who helped us overthrow the Soviets." He worries that history may repeat itself. "We invaded, and within a year and a half ran off to Iraq—again we abandoned the people. To me, this is our third—and final—try."

Did you read the article KCG?

Your remarks about Mortenson not being Iraq indicate you know nothing about his story or why he is in Afghanistan

He has been in Afghanistan without anyone's intervention since 1996

I'm sure the Taliban will love his desire to start more girl schools. In 1996 the Northern alliance was on our side as were several other tribes. I rather doubt Mortenson was operating in the heart of Taliban country.

The Taliban will burn them down? Kristof continues: “Greg Mortenson, author of “Three Cups of Tea,” has now built 39 schools in Afghanistan and 92 in Pakistan — and not one has been burned down or closed. The aid organization CARE has 295 schools educating 50,000 girls in Afghanistan, and not a single one has been closed or burned by the Taliban..

Yes I read the article as usual you try to change the argument when you find some little tidbit the appears to support your view.

Thought for the day :
" Even the smallest candle burns brighter in the dark. "

"Col. Christopher Kolenda, a former commander in eastern Afghanistan, has seen the changes that education is bringing to Central Asia. In an e-mail to Mortenson, Kolenda wrote that, “This conflict will not be won with bombs and bullets, but with books and ideas that excite the imagination towards peace, tolerance and prosperity. The thirst of education is palpable, and it is education that will make the difference whether the next generation grows up to be educated patriots or illiterate fighters.”

http://www.news.appstate.edu/2009/09/11/mortenson-2/

link to the Kristoff column

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/opinion/29kristof.html

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269676

Jamie --

I think all the traditions are intertwined. When I was growing up, we had "Mischief Night" on October 30. That's when the real vandalism occurred. Coreen was commenting about annual "bonfire night" her small CT town.

Guy Fawkes Night was never as big in Scotland as in England, but the family we stayed with near Aberdeen said Halloween is getting bigger due to American influence. Their neighborhood was planning trick-or-treat. We noticed local shops had their Halloween wares out in mid-September, just like in the U.S.

Apparently, the celebration in Lewes, Sussex is still the largest turnout, 30K people showing up and bonfires all over the town.

PS. Glad you're back from jury sequestration. We missed you.

Horsey -

http://www.seattlepi.com/horsey/viewbydate.asp?ID=2011

Milbank buried his lead. It's hard to find irony as good as one of the anti government health care marchers having a heart attack at the start of the March and needing to be saved by government health care workers

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/05/AR2009110504566.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269696

Re: Horsey cartoon. Do we not use the word reactionary to identify extreme GOP conservatism anymore, or it that term passé?

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269696

Sad, Rush got left out unless he's the pudgy hooded one.

so M. Bachman (R) of Minnesota said "Beautiful Freedom Fighters". I want to know, if Fire Fighters fight fire, what do Freedom Fighters fight? Freedom?

Ivy,

Rush is skinny now thanks to a diet of Meth.

KCG, I repsond to your depiction of things in black and white. I don't think many here would buy the idea that this good man would surivie creating girl schools in Taliban country or nice words and money will keep acid from the face of women.

I have also read Rice and Power. I see nothing they say now about this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8347216.stm

No KCG, we will not change the world by bombs or bullets alone, but don't think these things are not part of ridding the world of violent radicals. I support the job you pointed to earlier, but the horror of what some are violently seeking to spread is best met by both the hammer and the olive branch. Our adversaries are counting on us waving the branch and the white flag and then withdrawing the stick. Show me where that has lead to peace lately. And please try to stick to facts vs a rather ineffectual PC. Certainly no insult or smuggness intended.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269691

Shall I show you on a map where such schools would be burned down? And please tell us all how much of Afghanistan would turn black for Taliban should we end the bombs and bullets? Are you kidding? And how many girls schools have been burnt in Pakistan?

The Taliban and extremists do not control Afghanistan now. Were they to get in power how do you think girl schools would fare? I can't believe I am even posting these questions as they ought to be self evident.

Lunch over. Later.

Thanks for the Taylor marsh link, Tony.

XR, quite reading Max's mail.! That spy information was for him..he is always screaming about spy's, and wants them all killed....here are some more is all. Congrats, on you retirement.!

We need to get out of the Pak area, and out of Iraq. Come home and take care of our own needs.....I still don't think that a 12 of our soldiers to each insurgent is enough:

Such a Waste of Fine Infantry

So this platoon comes back to an Afghan village it hasn’t visited in three months. One of the village elders tells the platoon commander, "We ask you not to come here. It is better for us, and better for you." As the platoon leaves the village, the Taliban attack it and a four-hour firefight ensues.

This compelling story, told by a Knight Ridder/Tribune correspondent, perfectly illustrates the futility of the foreign policy course we are pursuing, especially in Afghanistan.

The U.S built a clinic in the village to "demonstrate to Afghans that they have more to gain from the Americans than from the Taliban." Last spring the Taliban blew the clinic up.

The platoon commander takes off his helmet and sunglasses and explains to the village elders that the Taliban have been passing through their village on their way to attack U.S. outposts along the nearby Pech River. "Unless this is stopped, you have to understand that you’ll be getting regular visits from coalition forces," the platoon commander says.

The elders politely tell him to bug off.

The platoon splits into two squads and walks away from the village. The platoon’s Afghan translator asks the journalist if he has a mobile phone. "You should call your loved ones now to say that you care about them," the translator says. "I’m telling you, the walk home from here is not a joke."

The platoon walks about 500 yards out of the village with helicopters patrolling overhead when gunfire sizzles down from the mountainside. Four hours later the fight is over. The platoon thinks they and the helicopters maybe killed five Taliban. There’s no way of knowing how accurate this assessment is. The platoon, thankfully, merely suffers two sprained ankles.

What’s wrong with this picture? Everything.

If the platoon isn’t there, nothing bad happens. If we hadn’t built the clinic, the Taliban wouldn’t have blown it up. If we didn’t have outposts along the Pech River, the Taliban wouldn’t pass through the village to attack them.

Is it any wonder the village elders don’t want the Americans in their village? Is it any wonder Afghans don’t want us in their country?

Our interventionist foreign policy creates many problems and solves few of them. It certainly doesn’t make us more secure. For every Islamo-hooligan we kill or capture we create two or more new ones.

Our policies are strategically foolhardy. They’re tactically imbecilic as well.

A platoon — roughly two-dozen troops — of the best-trained, best-equipped military in history, supported by helicopter gunships, got hung up in a four-hour battle with dudes who probably live in caves. The Americans are running out of ammo. The American helicopters fly in more machine gun bullets and grenades. The Taliban don’t have any helicopters to do that for them, but they don’t run out of ammo. Nearby U.S. bases provide covering artillery fire. The Taliban don’t have any artillery.

"Gradually," the Knight Ridder correspondent says, "the Soldiers made it to safety. The firefight had lasted about four hours. The entire operation, from dawn until the return to base, went on for about seven hours."

This is sorry stuff. This platoon, backed by airpower, didn’t defeat a Taliban ambush. It escaped from it, barely.

What was the point of the platoon’s mission? It went into an Afghan village to act tough and got run out of town by a herd of goat ropers. That sums up our entire Afghanistan experience.

Don’t confuse this firefight with one of those deals where the bad guys are mixed in with the population and Gen. Stan McChrystal’s goofy rules of engagement require our guys to tie both hands behind their backs and box with their chins. This was a straight up fight between our guys and an inferior force, and our guys were lucky to get out of it with mere joint sprains.

It was a case of a tactical situation reflecting the bathos of the strategic mindset. High command sends 20-something-year-old lieutenant and his platoon of teenagers into a village to tell a bunch of old Afghans we’re not happy that the Taliban are passing through their village to attack us.

The platoon leaves town the way it came, through a riverbed surrounded by high ground. The bad guys, who saw them come in, know exactly how to whack them coming out.

Stanley McChrystal wants to put 40,000 or more Americans in this exact same position. As George Patton would say, "Such a waste of fine infantry."

This is a sad patch in American history. We need to get our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. The Pentagon and its rabid Long War followers don’t want that to happen, and I’m losing faith in President Obama’s ability to stand up to them.

From what one reads, Obama is likely to let his generals put more good infantry into bad terrain on a pointless mission.

" No wonder he did not want to be deployed to Iraq when his fellow soldiers would more than likely want to shoot him for his religion."

Complete BS, anon. How the F do you know his fellow soldiers would shoot him? I'm sure some morons did harrass him, however, that does not cover the fact that he was an obvious mental case. AND it appears he was making a political statement. Much like the one Tim McVeigh made. Another mental case.

Karzai, our puppet, just lines his pockets with our $. Not one dime to run his country in the way that he should be doing.!!

'Most of them were corrupt and stoned on opium'

A senior serving soldier reveals how the Afghan policemen in Helmand are often a danger to the British forces they work with

We went out to Helmand to mentor the Afghan National Police without understanding the level they were at. We thought we would be arresting people, helping them to police efficiently. Instead we were literally training them how to point a gun on the ranges, and telling them why you should not stop cars and demand "taxes".

Most of them were corrupt and took drugs, particularly opium. The lads would go into police stations at night and they would be stoned; sometimes they would fire indiscriminately at nothing.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/

"Detroit and Chicago are hotbeds of organizations that have serious connections to terrorism. "

Really ? Then you shouldn't have any trouble naming a half dozen.

Under reagan, ali north hosted Iranian spies in the White House Basement. The bushcheney junta cossetted an Iranian Spy right next to the Oval Office. It is questionable whether or not we would even have invaded Iraq, if the spy, Chelabi, had been blown in time. Let's never forget that Iraq Fiasco II has cost more in American lives and treasure than was lost on 9/11.

The big difference between Israel's spies and the spies of Iran and the pro-terrorist Arab entities, is that Israelis only want accurate information, whereas the others want to destroy Western Liberalism, Hustler Magazine, Barbra Streisand, Hormel Meats, and get even for the Crusades.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/feel-the-power.html#comment-269712

as Patsi would say: "yer killin me" hahhahahaha....mmmmmm.....hahahaa. I was going to say something about his Chicago remark...but, Im afraid that he will start giving me long post rebuttals...I hate long post's......

Good reasons for term limits..and for campaign finance reform:

Report: 237 millionaires in Congress
Back to top

Great example of what Bi-partisanship can accomplish.!!

Darrell Issa speaks to audience.
CRP says California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is the richest lawmaker on Capitol Hill, with a net worth estimated at about $251 million.
Talk about bad timing.

As Washington reels from the news of 10.2 percent unemployment, the Center for Responsive Politics is out with a new report describing the wealth of members of Congress.

Among the highlights: Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven members of Congress are millionaires. That’s 44 percent of the body – compared to about 1 percent of Americans overall.

CRP says California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is the richest lawmaker on Capitol Hill, with a net worth estimated at about $251 million. Next in line: Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), worth about $244.7 million; Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), worth about $214.5 million; Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), worth about $209.7 million; and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), worth about $208.8 million.

All told, at least seven lawmakers have net worths greater than $100 million, according to the Center’s 2008 figures.

“Many Americans probably have a sense that members of Congress aren’t hurting, even if their government salary alone is in the six figures, much more than most Americans make,” said CRP spokesman Dave Levinthal. “What we see through these figures is that many of them have riches well beyond that salary, supplemented with securities, stock holdings, property and other investments.”

The CRP numbers are somewhat rough estimates – lawmakers are required to report their financial information in broad ranges of figures, so it’s impossible to pin down their dollars with precision. The CRP uses the mid-point in the ranges to build its estimates.

Senators’ estimated median reportable worth sunk to about $1.79 million from $2.27 million in 2007. The House’s median income was significantly lower and also sank, bottoming out at $622,254 from $724,258 in 2007.

http://www.politico.com/politico:%20report:%20237%20millionaires%20in%20congress

But CRP’s analysis suggests that some lawmakers did well for themselves between 2007 and 2008, even as many Americans lost jobs and saw their savings and their home values plummet.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) gained about $9.2 million. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) gained about $3 million, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) had an estimated $2.6 million gain, and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) gained about $2.8 million.

Some lawmakers have profited from investments in companies that have received federal bailouts; dozens of lawmakers are invested in Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.

Among executive branch officials, CRP says the richest is Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary L. Schapiro, with a net worth estimated at $26 million.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is next, worth an estimated $21 million. President Barack Obama is the sixth-wealthiest, worth about an estimated $4 million. Vice President Joe Biden has often tagged himself as an original blue collar man. The CRP backs him up, putting his net worth at just $27,000.

He’s hardly the worst off.

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), freshman Rep. Harry Teague (D-N.M.), Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), Rep. John Salazar (D-Colo.) and Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) each a net worth of less than zero, CRP says.

One caveat on those numbers: Federal financial disclosure laws don’t require members to list the value of their personal residences. That information could alter the net worth picture for many lawmakers.

Even so, Levinthal said, “It is clear that some members are struggling financially.

“Over a calendar year, one’s wealth can change drastically. Many peoples’ investments took a nose dive over night in the last year,” he said.

A number of lawmakers are estimated to have suffered double-digit percentage lossed in their net worth from 2007 to 2008. The biggest losers include Kerry, who lost a whopping $127.4 million; Warner lost about $28.1 million; Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) lost about $11.8 million; and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) lost about $10.1 million

It ain't the Virgin Mary on a grill cheese sandwich, but it's close -

Tears of Mother Nature: The image of a crying face looming from an icy cliff wall was taken at the Svalbard archipelago in Norway

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1210706/Caught-camera-Mother-Nature-cries-river-tears-global-warming-threatens-planet.html#ixzz0W6q6I8Mv

Solar

The most compelling footage I've seen about small-unit operations in Afghanistan (and Iraq) is the reporting by NBC's Richard Engel. He understands war. I trust his reporting.

NEW THREAD