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Update: Iranian militia fires on crowd; 100,000+ protest

AP photographer: 1 dead as militia fire on rally

AP photographer sees militia fire at pro-reform crowds after massive march, 1 dead

Staff
AP News

Jun 15, 2009 11:42 EST

Gunmen have fired on opposition protesters at a massive march over alleged election fraud, killing at least one person.

An Associated Press photographer saw one person shot dead and several others who appear seriously wounded in Tehran's Azadi Square. The shooting came from a compound for volunteer militia linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.

The gunfire Monday came after more than 100,000 opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad streamed through Tehran. They were not challenged by security forces despite an earlier ban on rallies for reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Disputes over alleged vote rigging in last week's elections have touched off days of rioting in Tehran.

Raw Story

Report: One Dead After ShotsFired At Tehran Rally

Could God write a twitter so abbreviated that even he/she could not decipher it?
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

she could create a twit that even she couldn't justify.

"I'm better now, I'm O.K."

people did vote for her. I would hope that MN voters would be smarter than that but they did also vote for Coleman.

Bachmann Not Ruling Out Bid For Governor
By Eric Kleefeld - June 15, 2009, 12:22PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) appears to not be ruling out a potential bid for Governor of Minnesota. An aide had previously said Bachmann wasn't interested, but apparently that door is still open.

"It would have to be if I felt like I was supposed to do it and right now I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be," Bachmann told Minnesota Public Radio. "If my heart moved in the other direction and I had the tug, I'd do it. I wouldn't be afraid to run for office. I just don't feel the tug."

What might that tug look like? Well, Bachmann did say back in 2006 that God called her to run for Congress, and that she and her husband fasted for three days to ask God if this was indeed His will.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/bachmann-not-ruling-out-bid-f...

Does this attitude make my ass look big?

South Carolina GOPer Apologizes For Calling Michelle Obama A Gorilla -- And Says She Started It
By Eric Kleefeld - June 15, 2009, 12:10PM

Rusty DePass, a prominent South Carolina Republican activist, is now apologizing for making a racist joke about Michelle Obama, and taken down the Facebook page where he made it -- though he does make sure to shift the blame and say that Michelle started it.

DePass commented on a story about a gorilla escaping from a local zoo: "I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors - probably harmless."

"I am as sorry as I can be if I offended anyone," said DePass. "The comment was clearly in jest."

But, he said, "The comment was hers, not mine," referring to Michelle having said that man has descended from apes. The New York Daily News says they could find no such comment from Michelle -- but even if they could, it's not like that would make it any better.

It's worth noting that Michelle's ancestors came from South Carolina. So why did they leave, again?

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/south-carolina-goper-apologiz...

Pretty vid...good for a hot bubble bath situation...

pretty sure she played @ the inauguration.

i mainly listen to bubble bath music, kinda floats my soap.

"I'm better now, I'm O.K."

TeeHee ;)

Pawlenty Will Explore White House Bid
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who has decided against running for a third term in 2010, "will spend the next two years traveling the country to see if he can build enough support to run for president in 2012," his associates tell Washington Whispers.

"The Republican, who is expected to play up his humble roots and past in a populist bid against President Obama, will decide in 2011 if there is enough of a base on which to build his campaign. Those close to "T-Paw" said that his focus is the presidency, not a vice presidential nomination or an effort to raise his name recognition en route to a bid in 2016."

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2009/06/12/minnesotas-pa...

Very Merrie Un-Workday 2 U.

>>Does this attitude make my ass look big?

not really. more fat than big...
*************************

I hope that helps? ;)

Will Obama overthrow Ahmadinejad or apologize again and ask Ahmadinejad to forgive him? With North Korea in the shitter this is the chance for Barack to stand up for freedom and drive the wedge into Iran. Is Obama man enough or is he going to pussy out again?

"I believe all these things because freedom is not America's gift to the world, it is the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world."

George W. Bush

If freedom is really GOD's gift, why aren't more people free?

And why would God need countries like ours to `liberate' counties like Iraq?

If God is so damned powerful, why can't he just create peace and freedom without our blood and treasure?
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

soccer match for the world cup qualifiers (Confederations cup)is happening right now

so far it's 0-0 and they're about 20 minutes into it

http://dirette.sport.repubblica.it/diretta/CC/2859

Don't let my yellow feathers fool you....

;)

Lat's see if I can post on it. Click!

Hi mom!

sort of like the White Bison only smaller.

who r demonstrating. I hope that their
voices will be heard. I'm trying to be
positive for them.

USA IN VANTAGGIO !!! DONOVAN !!! Rigore perfetto: destro e rete alla sinistra di Buffon che sbaglia angolo

Finisce il primo tempo Al riposo con gli Stati Uniti avanti sull'Italia 1 a 0.

you guys are winning

berlusconi's italy is not what it used to be, everything is going to crap

Ed Schultz is doing a geat job!!!

not for long....

PAREGGIA L'ITALIA !!!!! ROSSI !!!!!

This guy comes off the bench and promptly scores....

1:1

I think Rossi was actually born in Brooklyn too.....figures...

Well that didn't take very long....

ITALIA IN VANTAGGIO !!!!! DE ROSSI !!!!!!

1:2

Talk about "going to crap"....

2 to 1, we can relax now

but couldn't find a way to stream it

besides, i'm at work

will have to watch those 2 beautiful goals tonight on some rerun on the italian channel

with Taran Phillips and Schuster with Ed Schultz. And after Ed left Schuster and Taran carried on the idea that even if the senators were against a public plan, the American people want it and it would effect the next election.

And Sanchez on CNN was showing live video of what was happening in Iran. Some of it was brutal to watch but heartening in a way to see the people protesting. It reminds me of what happened in Grant Park when we were protesting against the war in Nam!

Buffon may be the best goal keeper in the world but he has a funny name, translates roughly as weirdo, clown, jerk

Pirlo is even funnier: in Milanese dialect PIRLA means stupid asshole

Also we have a Rossi and a De Rossi on the team. What's up with all these reds?

What ever his name is, he played well enough to win

Your American scored twice....

Oh, and he is a Jersey boy, not a Brooklyn boy...Joisey, pfft, figures even more... ;)

:D

is Rossi American? wtf?

anyway, good game! (even if I didn't watch it)

the Italy-USA
Submitted by mire on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 2:57pm

*******

Looks like it just ended..

I see now that it's going to be Re-Played on ESPN2..
7:00pm tonight..I'm PST but,I think it might be on at 7:00 pm local time..

Check it out to make sure what time it comes on where your at.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

really mmrules? Thanks - I didn't even think of checking ESPN, I should have known better than wasting my time looking up the italian sites

Rossi played for Manchester United too....

WTF is right! Why isn't he scoring goals for us?

New Health Care Ad Blasts GOP: “Who Are They Listening To?”

Get ready for the debate set to shift hard to health care this week, with President Obama set to address the American Medical Association later this morning.

First up: A powerful liberal group allied with the White House is going up on the air with a new spot that hammers Republicans for refusing to back health care reform despite majorities who are demanding it:

The spot, which is being aired on D.C. cable by the labor-backed Americans United For Change, casts the health care battle as a purely partisan standoff, citing a poll showing 62% back the President’s plan. “If the Republicans in Congress ignore what sixty-two percent of us support, you gotta wonder: Who are they listening to?” it asks.

The ad, though, also describes the President’s plan as offering the option to choose a public insurance plan, to create competition with private insurers. That goal isn’t only opposed by Republicans; it has created deep divisions among Congressional Dems.

The battling among Dems over a public option has made it trickier for outside groups driving the White House message to cast the fight as nothing more than the “Party of No” Republicans versus a popular President, as they did with previous fights.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/labor/new-health-care-ad-blasts-gop-wh...

Here's the link to the ad:

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

Howard Dean: Insurance co-ops won’t solve problem

“It doesn’t fix the American problem,” Dean told MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer. “I think the co-ops are a fine idea but they won’t work.

“The co-ops are too small to compete with the big private insurance companies,” Dean continued. “They will kill the co-ops simply by undercutting them and using their financial clout to do it.

“This is a compromise that’s designed to deal with problems in the Senate but it doesn’t deal with problems in America,” said the former Democratic presidential candidate. “And I think it’s time for the Senate to stop playing politics. Do what has to be done.

“If the Republicans don’t want to get on board then we can do this without the Republicans,” Dean insisted. “We have the votes.”

Video at link

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/06/15/dean-co-opts-wont-solve-problem

everything is being outsourced, I would dare to call it treason! globalisation my ass - but i am happy he was on our team, anyways

i've gotta a lotta catching up to do on the health care issue... it will be a busy tv/computer night tonight

Why the U.S. military is ignoring its own regulations and permitting white supremacists to join its ranks.

Editor's note: Research support for this article was provided by the Nation Institute's Investigative Fund.

June 15, 2009 | On a muggy Florida evening in 2008, I meet Iraq War veteran Forrest Fogarty in the Winghouse, a little bar-restaurant on the outskirts of Tampa, his favorite hangout. He told me on the phone I would recognize him by his skinhead. Sure enough, when I spot a white guy at a table by the door with a shaved head, white tank top and bulging muscles, I know it can only be him.

Over a plate of chicken wings, he tells me about his path into the white-power movement. "I was 14 when I decided I wanted to be a Nazi," he says. At his first high school, near Los Angeles, he was bullied by black and Latino kids. That's when he first heard Skrewdriver, a band he calls "the godfather of the white power movement." "I became obsessed," he says. He had an image from one of Skrewdriver's album covers — a Viking carrying a staff, an icon among white nationalists — tattooed on his left forearm. Soon after he had another white power symbol, a Celtic cross, emblazoned on his stomach.

...

Army regulations prohibit soldiers from participating in racist groups, and recruiters are instructed to keep an eye out for suspicious tattoos. Before signing on the dotted line, enlistees are required to explain any tattoos. At a Tampa recruitment office, though, Fogarty sailed right through the signup process. "They just told me to write an explanation of each tattoo, and I made up some stuff, and that was that," he says. Soon he was posted to Fort Stewart in Georgia, where he became part of the 3rd Infantry Division.

...

"I hate Arabs more than anybody, for the simple fact I've served over there and seen how they live," he tells me. "They're just a backward people. Them and the Jews are just disgusting people as far as I'm concerned. Their customs, everything to do with the Middle East, is just repugnant to me."

Because of his tattoos and his racist comments, most of his buddies and his commanding officers were aware of his Nazism. "They all knew in my unit," he says. "They would always kid around and say, 'Hey, you're that skinhead!'" But no one sounded an alarm to higher-ups. "I would volunteer for all the hardest missions, and they were like, 'Let Fogarty go.' They didn't want to get rid of me."

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/06/15/neo_nazis_army

EXCLUSIVE: House Dems Planning Major Changes To Secret CIA Briefings Of Congress

In a move that could spark another fight with the GOP over CIA intelligence and secrecy, House Dems are quietly preparing to make major changes to the ways the CIA briefs Congress on covert actions, by broadening the pool of members of Congress who will have access to such private briefings, a source familiar with deliberations says.

Dems on the House Intelligence Committee have drafted a new bill that would strip the President of his authority to limit such briefings to the so-called “Gang of Eight” — the leaders of the House and Senate from both parties, and the leaders of the Congressional Intelligence committees — and allow a larger group of members of Congress to attend.

The move, which is being championed internally by House Intel chair Silvestre Reyes, would also compel the CIA to keep a far more detailed record of these briefings, though these details still need to be worked out. The source, who is familiar with the contents of the bill, confirmed the details to me.

The new measure — which would mean as many as two dozen members of Congress would be kept abreast of CIA covert actions — would lessen the likelihood of he-said-she-said arguments over what the CIA told Congress, such as those that have erupted over what Nancy Pelosi was told and when.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/house-republicans/exclusive-house-dems...

Does the Right Want a Civil War?

Posted by Sara Robinson, Orcinus at 10:50 AM on June 13, 2009.

People are being shot dead at the rate of several per month now. And it's figures on the Right that are putting the killers up to it.

Dear Conservatives:

Your fellow Americans demand an answer -- and we want it now. Just one simple question:

Are you deliberately trying to start a civil war?

Just answer the question. Yes or no. Don't insult us with elisions, evasions, dithering, qualifications, or conditional answers. We need to know what your intentions are -- and we need to know NOW. People are being shot dead in the streets of America at the rate of several per month now. You may not want responsibility for this -- but the whackadoodles pulling the triggers make no bones about who put them up to this.

You did.

The assassins themselves are ratting you out. They're telling us, straight up, that they were inspired to act by the hate radio talkers that you empowered -- one of whom is now the de facto head of the Republican party. They got it from media outlets owned by your biggest donors. They got it from bloggers who receive daily talking points faxed in from the GOP. They got it from activists representing causes that would have never become causes in the first place if the issues hadn't been politically expedient for you.

Beyond that: You've already admitted your own complicity.

When the Department of Homeland Security expressed their worries about right-wing extremist violence last April, practically every conservative pundit in the country went into a righteous fit. DHS never named anyone directly, so it was astonishing how many of you on the right were so quick to step up and claim that that memo was slandering you, personally and collectively. Since you were so eager to claim that that memo was all about you, now that the violence has come to pass, we're well justified in holding you to that.

And please don't insult our intelligence by saying that these acts are the work of lone wolves, and that you don't have anything to do with this, and that it's all the fault of the left. It's true that there have always been crazies in our midst. But by choosing to gain power through a politics that only motivates through hate and fear, you've recruited a good-sized army of those crazies, armed them up, and turned them into paranoid monsters that are now running loose on the American landscape.

more...

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/140623/does_the_right_want_a_civil_wa...

Hospital Industry Bristles at Cuts: After Proposing $313 Billion Health-Spending Reduction, Obama Must Win Support

Hospitals and other medical-industry groups are pushing back against President Barack Obama's proposal to cut $313 billion in government health spending as the White House intensifies its effort to revamp the nation's health system.
...
Under pressure to amplify its payment plan, the White House on Saturday outlined $313 billion in additional spending cuts over that period to health-care providers paid through Medicare and Medicaid, the federal health programs for the elderly and poor. That would bring total cost savings and tax increases identified by the Obama administration to help pay for the overhaul to nearly $950 billion.
...
A spokeswoman for the White House Office of Health Reform said that as more Americans get insurance coverage, the need for the government to subsidize hospitals for covering the uninsured will decline.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124502315952113941.html

Eliminating current public health care insurance programs and justifying it by saying someday we will have a public health care insurance system? Even though the idea of passing a decent public option is still very much in doubt?

It is called privatizing medicare and medicaid....

We are being played....

yup, was resading a history of the US merchant marine this morning.

the period before the civil war? same exact stuff, especially the economic crash.

they've been planning this in specific for over 60 years.

what irritates me is that even though i know what they're doing and why i can't stop them.

the assholes always lose in the end...they get arrogant, mistake money for power and inevitably over play their hand....

All we can do is wake up as many people as we can...and wait.

They want to reduce my salary by 3.5%! Plus 15 unpaid furlough days...They'll give it back IF the union agrees to have employees pay their own PERS contribution...

Hmm...more work, less pay....YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know what to do!? I want to quit...but...dammit...

I'm seething... >8-{

That says what I said only better:

A memo to the health insurance companies...fuck you &your profits Updated at 10:47 AM

Apparently, we are suppossed to create our healthcare system with the competitiveness and profit margain of the private sector insurane companies as top priorities. Lots of whining from the industry and their congressional stooges...hell, even Pelosi wants to make sure that the health insurance companies are able to stay in the game with an even playing field.

Excuse me? Since when did our health become a commodity to be subject to the laws of capitalism instead of a basic human right?

Attention bought corporate political stooges...we are human beings and our life and sickness and wellness trump your greed and profit. You will fall. You provide nothing and cause suffering and death. You bankrupt families while taking the monies from denying care for gain and profit sharing.

No more. My wish is for your demise. That the American people extricate this huge leech that is breaking families and individuals across the land.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&add...

Health Care in other countries - worth the watch.

http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1050712790/subject/957383245

Oh..And,isn't about time for Brother Kos to ban them all ?

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

right about now..

F-ing Freepers..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Submitted by toniD on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 2:04pm
Pawlenty Will Explore White House Bid
-----------

Don't do anything drastic. At least you have a job. I have 2 friends that are out of work and both are scared they won't get another job.

My friend Rita called me this morning about her job search and she broke into sobs. She's got diabetes and it will be near impossible for her to get health care she can afford.

Please think hard on it before you do something!

Read that alternet blog.

Hold the funder$ of hate-mongering & hate acts responsible

The author's article is great, but doesn't go far enough.

I think it's best also to hold responsible those who pay the bills.

If a group that has hate-based criminal goals, surely those who fund that group and its criminal activities should be held culpable when that group's goals are REACHED! The funders of hatecrimes are no different than the person who hires a thug to do some crime, like kidnap or murder. I see no difference. The funders share in the responsibility for what transpires!

The source of the funding for hate-criminals needs to be dried up permanently. Get tough on both the criminals and those who fund (hire) them to pursue and accomplish hateful goals!

too.

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Hard and Heavy.

I don't know why he has that Heidi winger person on.

She said that everyone will opt for the public plan because it will be cheaper and then the Health insurance companies will go bankrupt and your taxes will go up to pay for the public health care and there will be lines and all the winger talking points.

On c-span today, a man called in who was from one of the Southern States. He said he is covered by his wife's insurance and he hasn't worked for awhile because he has cancer. His wife pays $800 a month for insurance through work and he says it's good insurance and he doesn't like the public plan! My mouth dropped open when he said that. There's no cure for STUPID!

Televised report with extensive footage of peaceful demonstrations.

They reported that despite continuous admonitions by the government not to go out that control of the capital was in the hands of protestors and that the police who were ubiquitous on Saturday had vanished.

Protests were largely peaceful and quiet although one stronghold of Revolutinary guards had been surrounded and protestors had been fired on.

Also interviewed Karoubi, the reformist cleric candidate, who said that the vote was a fraud and that it was an insult to Islam and the original revolution.

When the newsreader queried the reporter about today's events the reporter said that the situation is changing radically by the hour. That he thought that on Saturday that the regime could not be challenged that now he could not see how it could be sustained.

Said that the protest today literally covered the entire city and could have reached 2 million people.

Here is the report from their website:

It was an incredible sight. A huge crowd, hundreds of thousands of people maybe even millions of people there in defiance of open threats from the government that they should not assemble.
The security forces were staying well away - we were even able to film and usually the secret police come in straight away and stop you.

But the crowds were so enormous they were stepping back.

Link has some video but their broadcast report was more extensive.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8101098.stm

Researchers from ParetoLogic are reporting on a newly discovered Mac OS X malware variant posing as fake video ActiveX object found at a bogus Macintosh PortTube site.

The use of fake video codecs is a social engineering tactic exclusively used by malware targeting Windows, and seeing it used in a Mac OS X based malware attack proves that successful social engineering approaches remain OS independent.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=3575&tag=nl.e550

Kindred Healthcare to pay $1.3M for alleged TennCare overbilling

Louisville, Ky., company will pay $1.3 million to settle allegations of overbilling TennCare. The figure represents the largest settlement ever for the task force that oversees TennCare fraud.

The TennCare Provider Fraud Task Force alleges Kindred Healthcare Inc. and its associated corporation, PharMerica, billed for a higher number of pharmaceuticals than were actually administered at its Knoxville facility from 2003 to 2006. In some cases, the overbilling was for multiple times over the proper amount. There was no allegation that any patient at the facility received an improper dosage.

Kindred denies any wrongdoing.

The investigation was prompted by a billing clerk who blew the whistle on her employer. The employee said she made her concerns known, but insufficient action was taken.

Kindred provides pharmaceuticals to TennCare patients in group homes and long-term care facilities throughout Tennessee. It operates Kindred Hospital in Nashville, a 60-bed acute care hospital.

"We hope this agreement will serve as a reminder we take these matters seriously," Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper said in a statement.

The case was pursued by the task force and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) operates 82 hospitals in 24 states and 228 nursing centers in 27 states and employs 54,800. In 2009, Kindred was ranked first among health care facilities in Fortune magazine’s list of most admired companies

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2009/06/15/daily8.html

i hope it'll be something serious and deep this time; sam needs too show he can do it all, don't let them pigeonhole him into commenting on silly fluffy stuff only and exclusively; needs to show off his smarts... but wait, we're talking about msm here, never mind...

“Conservatives” Are Single-Largest Ideological Group

Percentage of “liberals” higher this decade than in early ’90s

by Lydia Saad

PRINCETON, NJ -- Thus far in 2009, 40% of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This represents a slight increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008, returning it to a level last seen in 2004. The 21% calling themselves liberal is in line with findings throughout this decade, but is up from the 1990s.

"I believe all these things because freedom is not America's gift to the world, it is the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world."

George W. Bush

It's so sad about your friends losing their jobs and insurance... I'm sorry for them and what they must be going through...

I think I mentioned before that it just seems like we'll keep getting less and less and eventually will be doing every task not for money, but for survival...(if it even turns out that survival matters...)

But thank you, toni...I flipped my lid when I got the memo...

Departments
Election Issues

Facing the Bushes' Iranian whirlwind
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
June 15, 2009

The parallels between the stolen Iranian election of 2009 and the American of 2000 and 2004 are tempting. The histories---and futures---of the two nations are inseparable. Bound up in their tortured half-century of crime and manipulation are the few glimmers of hope for lasting peace in the Middle East.

In both countries, a right-wing fundamentalist authoritarian with open contempt for human rights and the Geneva Convention has come up a winner, with catastrophic consequences. In both countries, the blowback of two George Bushes loom large.

In the US, two "defeated" candidates---Al Gore and John Kerry---said and did nothing in the face of two stolen elections. But an unprecedented election protection movement arose from the ashes of those defeats to assure the 2008 victory of America's first African-American president.

In Iran, the "defeated" candidate---Mir Hussein Moussavi---is fighting back, along with massive grassroots resistance. How far they get will define the Iranian future---as well as that of the Middle East.

In a fluid and unpredictable situation, here are some indisputables:

1) A half-century ago, the people of Iran attempted a democratic revolution led by a moderate progressive, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, whose social-democratic inclinations have been revived by Moussavi.

2) Prime Minister Mossadegh was overthrown by the Eisenhower Administration and its Central Intelligence Agency, which wanted to wall in the Soviet Union and protect western oil interests.

3) Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr. (father of the Gulf War general of the same name) used a suitcase full of US taxpayer dollars to bribe Iran's anti-democratic sympathizers and help overthrow Mossadegh.

4) They installed the pro-U.S. general Fazlollah Zahedi, who handed control of Iran to the brutal and vicious Shah. The Shah ruled through the infamous secret terror/torture police force Savak, which Schwartzkopf helped train.

4) A prototypical CIA asset, the Shah used his iron torturer's hand to "westernize" the country and make it more user-friendly to US oil interests.

5) Among other things, the U.S., France and other western powers were moving to provide the Shah with up to 36 atomic power plants designed to provide electricity and, ultimately, radioactive materials with which to build his own atomic bombs.

6) Despite his ostensible commitment to human rights, President Jimmy Carter made a point of spending a high-profile New Year's with the Shah, evoking the bitter hatred of millions of Iranians.

7) The Shah's overthrow by fundamentalist Ayatollah Khomeini led to the 1979-80 hostage crisis that finally sank Carter's presidency. Amidst indications of a secret deal involving past and future CIA Directors George H.W. Bush and William Casey, the release of the hostages was delayed long enough to guarantee Carter's defeat, thus inaugurating the Age of Ronald Reagan, with 12 of its 28 years under the two Bushes.

8) Secret dealings between Reagan/Bush and the Iranians led to the iran-Contra Affair, when covert operatives like Oliver North funneled arms to the Iranians and laundered cash and drugs through the reactionary Contra forces fighting revolution in Nicaragua.

9) The Contras in turn flooded the US with cocaine, feeding a horrific crack epidemic that has crippled the black and Hispanic communities here for two decades.

10) Those US-financed arms were used to fight the Iraqis and Saddam Hussein, whom the US also supported, and whom Donald Rumsfeld publicly embraced in the early 1980s. The American goal seems to have been to weaken both Iran and Iraq through a horrifying war that claimed at least a million casualties, ultimately infuriating both citizenries.

After a half-century of dictatorship under the Shah and the CIA, followed by the Ayatollah and the fundamentalists, the Iranian public appears desperate to return to the social-democratic vision of Mossadegh, denied so long ago.

In the US in 2000 and 2004, the corporate/religious right put George W. Bush in the White House---and then kept him there---with a sophisticated election theft machine built around elimination of voter registrations, manipulation of the vote count, and a wide array of supporting tactics. The US Supreme Court set it all in stone with its infamous Bush v. Gore decision, which prevented a true vote count in Florida 2000. History repeated itself in Ohio 2004.

In Iran 2009, the ruling fundamentalist elite has barely pretended to count the votes at all, merely rushing to announce a pr�-determined outcome. The reigning Ayatollah has played the role of the US Supreme Court by certifying the outcome before a real ballot tally could possibly occur. Holes in the texts of Iranian newspapers and an electronic blackout created by official censors reflect the on-going vacuum in the US corporate media, which has yet to seriously face up to what happened to the American elections of 2000 and 2004.

What will happen next in Iran is anyone's guess. George W. Bush fueled its fundamentalist right by calling it a "terror state" whose nuclear weapons ambitions are fueled with materials produced by the "Peaceful Atom" Eisenhower inaugurated in 1953, around the time he was disposing of Mossadegh.

Bush's counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is now turning the state terror apparatus---reminiscent of the Shah's---against those who would mention the illegitimacy of his rule.

Thus tragedy looms at the brink of opportunity. That democracy in Iran so clearly won at the polls is a sign of great courage and hope on the part of the Iranian people. They are fighting terrible odds, not of their making. Should they break free, the storm would re-shape the Middle East---and much more.

In the meantime, perhaps their American counterparts, instructed by the ghost of Mossadegh, might finally face up to the true price of sowing such cynical, lethal whirlwinds.

--
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman have co-authored four books on election protection. Bob's FITRAKIS FILES are available via www.freepress.org, where this article first appeared. HARVEY WASSERMAN'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES is at www.harveywasserman.com.

"Nutritional foods are in short supply, and we're getting obese
and it's a crisis blah blah"

ENOUGH- I WANT THE SED

Maron. Is. God.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

resembles Mr. Magoo?

Yeah! The Sed is going to discuss something meaningful instead of this "we're eating poison; it's killing us" stuff-- PALIN! HE IS GOING TO DISCUSS PALIN AGAIN! Now that's informative!

Maron. Is. God.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

..of course that means sometime between now and the end of the show.

& Spirit Fists to enemies...
WE THE PEOPLE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR FAIRNESS ... Not You, ATT...
I so believe in the fight, but these are times of Silent Strategy... just "look around".

toniD speaks well and Blessings to you, toniD, and your friends /|\)0(
:):( :)

I would have flipped also. That same way is how my one friend lost her job.

Hang in there girl. I'm really hoping things will change but I don't expect anything til next year.

Our economy hit a false bottom hard and I'm afraid there's a bit more to come.

Just brace yourself and save some money.

My best to P. Hope he feels better.

the least she can do

I'm happy that our Sam is on; but where are the feminist?

Stop stepping on our boy's game

Stop interrupting.
P.S.: If I saw you get on my plane you would scare the hell out of me.

Maron. Is. God.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

you might have missed seder on campbell; they were on at the same time i believe; the conversation was shallow and pointless as could be expected but for sam trying to inject some sense into it, but in that format it is kind of hopeless

Sarah Palin, a porno star trying to look like a Governor or a Governor trying to look like a porno star? You decide!

Submitted by Mullet on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 7:48pm.
Did you ever wonder why your life seems like an uphill trudge
------

Here's the answer to your dilemma War Dog!

Two new studies (here and here) conducted by the Progressive Studies Program at the Center for American Progress break down the electorate on a new 5-point scale of political ideology that reflects the primary approaches people ascribe to today. Under this schematic, 34 percent of the country self-identifies as ‘conservative’, 29 percent as ‘moderate’, 15 percent as ‘liberal’, 16 percent as ‘progressive’, and 2 percent as ‘libertarian’.

Nice EEP....

Hope hope they get the message....

..they don't know what fascism is or that they are one. They believe they are here to save us from ourselves.

Seriously. When you wrap yourself in the flag and claim the moral high ground, you can do no wrong. Right?

(Sky News) Tens of thousands of supporters of Iran's opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, have defied a ban to attend a rally in Tehran after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a landslide victory in the presidential elections. Sky's Tim Marshall reports

The tactics of the Iranian powers that be are woefully reminiscent of the Republican convention in MInneapolis. Think they might have hired him as a consultant?

here for single payer health care. What a statement that would make! And if the MSM did not cover it, it would still be all over the internet. Just like Iran can't really shut sown the internet in Iran.

Wars are going to be fought differently because of cell phones, digital cameras and the internet because things get out almost instantly.

New Technology and how fast you can create it is the new war.

It is precisely those who claim to "know the truth" we must distrust....

That is why you will never hear a true liberal telling another to "shut up" or squelch dissent....

Who among us is "pure" enough to divine what should or SHOULD NOT be discussed, and whose word should not be challenged? It certainly ain't me....

I see ANYONE making such statements as suspect....

I have been trying to figure out how to turn "National Sick-Out" day into a General Strike to send Congress a message on how the American People feel about a decent Public Health Care Insurance program....

Senate GOP Blocking Obama Nominees In Attempt To Delay Health Care And Climate Legislation

dawn1In April, ThinkProgress noted that Republicans were blocking an increasing number of President Obama’s nominees to pursue ideological witch hunts and to facilitate self-interested horse trades. Two months later, a number of key nominees are still waiting and Senate Republicans are bottling up dozens more of Obama’s nominees in order to delay action on key Obama agenda items like health care and climate change legislation by consuming one of the most precious resources in the Senate: floor time. Roll Call explains:

Reid came to the floor three times Wednesday and several more times throughout the week to plead with his Republican colleagues to stop holding up a growing number of President Barack Obama’s appointees. The Majority Leader’s appeal was his most forceful yet, and aides say he has no plans to abandon the effort anytime soon.

“I would hope that people would search their conscience and try to get these done,” Reid said, explaining that procedural motions that he could employ to clear the nominees would eat up too much floor time. “It would take until the summer, until we finish the July recess and beyond, for us to get this done, filing cloture on every one of these. I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Absent unanimous consent from all senators, no issue may be considered by the full Senate unless it is given time on the Senate floor for debate. Although such a debate can be cut off by a cloture motion — a vote receiving the support of 60 senators — such a motion itself consumes floor time. Thus, by indiscriminately objecting to President Obama’s nominees, a single senator can effectively force Reid to choose between confirming essential government personnel or advancing health care reform, cap and trade, the federal budget or anything else on the Senate’s agenda. Floor time is limited and Senate conservatives are running out the clock to ensure that nothing gets done.

Among the nominees conservatives are holding hostage are Dawn Johnsen, President Obama’s exceptionally qualified nominee to head the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, Harold Koh, a leading expert in international law who is nominated to be the chief legal adviser to the State Department, and Judge David Hamilton, a court of appeals nominee currently being blocked because of false claims that he gave preferential treatment to Muslims in favor of Christians.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/15/obama-nominees-delayed/

Credit card defaults hit new high
by Chris in Paris on 6/15/2009 06:56:00 PM
Not the most encouraging economic news in a still troubled industry. It's highly likely this problem will continue to remain high, especially as unemployment increases later this year.

U.S. credit card defaults rose to record highs in May, with a steep deterioration of Bank of America Corp's lending portfolio, in another sign that consumers remain under severe stress.

Delinquency rates -- an indicator of future credit losses -- fell across the industry, but analysts said the decline was due to a seasonal trend, as consumers used tax refunds to pay back debts, and they expect delinquencies to go up again in coming months.

Bank of America Corp -- the largest U.S. bank -- said its default rate, those loans the company does not expect to be paid back, soared to 12.50 percent in May from 10.47 percent in April.

In addition, American Express Co, which accounts for nearly a quarter of credit and charge card sales volume in the United States, said its default rate rose to 10.4 percent from 9.90, according to a regulatory filing based on the performance of credit card loans that were securitized.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090615/bs_nm/us_creditcards

Letterman, his "war on jokes" line was a good one. Marc did a good show today. He wasn't quite so frenetic.

played by the Neocons into supporting regime change:

The Iranian People Speak
By Patrick C. Doherty, New America Foundation
with Ken Ballen, Terror Free Tomorrow
While Western news reports from Tehran in the days leading up to the voting portrayed an Iranian public enthusiastic about Ahmadinejad's principal opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, our scientific sampling from across all 30 of Iran's provinces showed Ahmadinejad well ahead.
Related Programs:
American Strategy Program

The election results in Iran may reflect the will of the Iranian people. Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide public opinion survey of Iranians three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a more than 2 to 1 margin -- greater than his actual apparent margin of victory in Friday's election.

http://www.newamerica.net/publications/articles/2009/iranian_people_spea...

malloy has an interesting take on the iranian (me so horny) elections

he read out the great robert parry's...
What If Ahmadinejad Really Won?
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/061509c.html

so we've probably been played (again)
ie, it's manufactured

now malloy said that brad friedman said that the iranian election was stolen
(he said she said but but but he... er, nevermind)

pipped at the post
by the great ghettodefender
: )

one swallow don't make a spring...

i'm sure marc will be back to his best dickhead self in no time

Is there a requirement for blonde hair and blue eyes, or round wire-frames and long hair? That sounds like an argument from the right imho. You see that chart up above? You see how few "true" liberals there really are?

About the same number who support Dick Cheney.

Alienate the moderates and we're fucked. Oh you'll have your principles but you'll be one screwed pooch. There is not a scintilla of difference between and extreme liberal and an extreme conservative. They both have lost the majority and are doomed to be demonized because they demand exclusivity.

Fascism is not limited to one ideology, it depends on the intensity and inflexibility it espouses that matters. A viable ideology will allow debate and recognize the superior argument and give it the higher consideration.

Liberals are not infallible, someone has to provide a balance, unless you're a liberal fascist. Fascists don't sit well with true debate (think any FOX News show).

Liberalism is not "the" way, it's one way. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Based on what you say there are no true liberals on this blog because I see lot's of "calling out" going on here. I find that preferable to Red State where you either toe the line or are cast to the lions.

If your ideology can't withstand constructive argument you might just be a fascist....and not know it.

Twitter postpones maintenance

From the service's blog:

A critical network upgrade must be performed to ensure continued operation of Twitter. In coordination with Twitter, our network host had planned this upgrade for tonight. However, our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran. Tonight's planned maintenance has been rescheduled to tomorrow between 2-3p PST (1:30a in Iran).

All technologies should have problems like this...

By Ben Smith 08:52 PM

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0609/Twitter_postpones_maintenanc...

Unemployment claims and employment change

New claims for unemployment insurance are one of the highest-frequency economic indicators we have — that is, the data come in early and often, giving a quicker read than things like employment numbers and unemployment rates. And there’s been some celebrating over the fact that new claims seem to have peaked.

But the level of new claims is basically an indicator of the rate of change of employment. And we are nowhere near the point at which employment looks ready to expand, or for that matter to stop falling at a terrifying rate.

Here’s a plot of new claims (4-week average) (red, right scale) versus the monthly decline in payroll employment (blue, left scale). What the figure suggests is that to stabilize employment, we’d have to see new claims drop below 400,000 or so. We’re nowhere near that point. In fact, a read of the data remains very, very grim.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/unemployment-claims-and-empl...

or suggest anyone else do the same....EVER..only those who say "Don't say that" are to be feared and distrusted....you don't hear me chiding people for speaking out....not even the trolls....I sincerely wish I could say the same about you MB.....

Personally, FUCK THE MODERATES. They are apologetic spineless pussies...compromise is not my chosen political path...some justify adopting this approach only when they feel they can not afford to give another inch....to me it is home...the liberal agenda has been DECIMATED by Bush, and now Obama...I forgive those who feel their back is always against the wall and are unwilling to bend any further...opinions vary....

Iran Election: Mir-Hossein Mousavi's Iran/Contra Connection?

June 8, 2009

What do Michael Ledeen (the American 'neo-conservative'), Mir-Hossein Mousavi (the Iranian presidential candidate of 'chagne') and Adnan Khashoggi (the opulent Saudi Arabian jet-setter) have in common?

They are all good friends and associates of Manuchehr Ghorbanifar (an Iranian arms merchant, an alleged MOSSAD double agent, and a key figure in the Iran/Contra Affair, the arms-for-hostages deals between Iran and the Reagan administration). In one or two, at most three, degrees of separation, these people hung out in the same circles and very likely drank to the same toasts.....

http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=91443

AIG lawyer: Ex-top exec plundered retirement plan
at AP – 1 hr 1 min ago
Former American International Group (AIG) Inc. CEO Maurice R....

NEW YORK - The former top executive of American International Group Inc. plundered an AIG retirement program of billions of dollars because he was angry at being forced out of the company, a lawyer for AIG told jurors Monday at the start of a civil trial.

LINK

The guy who made a re-mark
against M. Obama

and Copernicus published De revolutionibus when he was dying.

"...lost the majority and are doomed to be demonized because they demand exclusivity."

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/06/15/brennan/index.html

[excerpt]

Monday June 15, 2009 06:16 EDT
The Obama officials blocking accountability for Bush crimes

...

objections to [John] Brennan have been vindicated, because -- as Obama's chief counter-terrorism adviser -- he has led the way in urging Obama to keep past CIA abuses suppressed and Bush crimes protected from accountability.

[end excerpt]

The Autopsy was Conclusive
Sunday, June 14, 2009

The Sunday news shows were all nattering on about Obama’s attempts at health care reform. The Republicans were right there with their same tired talking points: do you want some bureaucrat deciding your health care?

http://www.prairie2.com/2009/06/autopsy-was-conclusive.html

//do you want some bureaucrat deciding your health care?//

BULLSHIT!!

no bureaucrat decides our health care downunder

update: lol @ malloy music...
Are you always in confusion?
Surrounded by illusion?
Hang on.
Help is on its way.
: )

This from Wikipedia on firm of Barack Obama's top advisor--

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Axelrod_(political_consultant)

[excerpt]

David Axelrod's political consulting services were operated through his firm AKP&D Message & Media. He also operated a second business from the same office, ASK Public Strategies, which creates strategy and advertising campaigns for corporate clients.[28] The partners include Eric Sedler (the "S" in ASK), 39, a former public relations director at AT&T and corporate-reputation specialist at PR giant Edelman and the company's managing partner, and John Kupper (the "K" in ASK), 51, a former congressional press secretary and ad-industry consultant.[28]

ASK's operations, client roster, and revenue remain confidential,[28] but customers and public records confirm the agency has run campaigns for the Chicago Children's Museum, ComEd, Cablevision, and AT&T.[28] The firm has helped set up front organizations that were listed as sponsors of public-issue ads, a practice referred to as "astroturfing."[28]

In 2004 Cablevision hired ASK to set up a group called New York Association for Better Choices to help block a new stadium for the New York Jets in Manhattan.[28] ASK's $1.1 million fee was listed as the "largest lobbying contract" of the year in the annual report of the state's lobbying commission.[29]

In 2006, Commonwealth Edison hired ASK to create a group known as CORE (Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity), which described itself on its Web site as "a coalition of individuals, businesses and organizations," supporting a rate hike. After a complaint was filed with state regulators, ComEd acknowledged that it had bankrolled the entire $15 million effort.[28]

In 2007, the University of Chicago Hospital hired ASK to assist in marketing a plan for steering patients who don't have health insurance to other health care facilities, a plan with which now-First Lady Michelle Obama was associated, working for the hospital. Critics argue that the plan dumps costly patients simply to increase the hospital's bottom line.[30][31]

[end excerpt]

What's it like inside the bubble?
Does your head ever give you trouble?
It's no sin.
Trade it in.

Are you always in confusion?
Surrounded by illusion?
Sort it out.
You'll make out.

CHORUS: Hang on! A tiny voice did say...
"you're a fuckhead"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq2WJ2r0NkM
ok, now...
push your head back & forth
like a chicken

Thom Hartmann had a caller today who had federal government health coverage. He said he called because he didn't think Americans knew what incredibly good healthcare federal government employees get thanks to the taxpayers. The caller said he paid nothing out of pocket for his care when he had cancer treatment. I think he said the plan even covered his treatment out of state for a specialist.

IMPORTANT

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Lauren M. Lynley
To: 0
Date: Jun 15, 2009 7:46 PM
Subject: REPOST: Obama is no friend to Gays. He supports DOMA

SEE OPEN MIC for rather large and very important post...
:o

Ms.A - thats quite a post......

Yeah...good luck with that....

WTP=We The People ............
bah humbug... AND WHY is anyone still with a faith that divides people?

ms_a!
would you mind posting that to an open mic

... smcgee43 on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 11:51pm, I don't POST often, but stand back when I do ... {snicker}

Uncle Mike - - asking him
why Sam doesn't host his show
any more.

Going to bed... I did a shit load
of yard work yesterday, the weather
has been so bad here - u can't do
squat outside. I even stayed home
from work to do more today. & Yes
it was a complete selfish move - to
be out in the sun.

derr, why didn't i think of that

brad friedman has the gig all next week

I will leave a part of text and repost ...

i'll see your poultry 24kb long post and raise you an 87kb double cheese burger whopper post

It’s Finished by John Lanchester
28 May 2009
[MONSTER POST WITHDRAWN]
[SEE LINK]
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n10/lanc01_.html

from cent's
The American Empire Is Bankrupt
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090614_the_american_empire_is_bank...
By Chris Hedges

here everyday.. ;)

*

http://www.rollersport.tv/index.aspx

5/19/09 JCRG Pink Pistols v Camaro Harem

(full bout)

the ol' -B days
: )

I had the whole bout revved up to play and accidentally hit refresh and lost it all...oh well...tomorrow...

thank god
my puter almost exploded from the excess weight

ok, next on the agenda: a ton of frivolous videos
how about something real goofy vids, kids
the complete collection of chipmonk covers
(yay!)
and fucked up pics to accompany them
(double cheese burger yay! mr. ono)
(and fries, too)

oh, super-size me mr. ono
ok, b-b-b-babe....
you ain't seen nothing yet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJmBPCYt5LY

but check THIS out:

*************************

you aren't the only one who can be anti-social!

By Holly Combe | 14 June 2009, 21:46

Jezebel reports that Riam Dean, an employee of the London flagship Abercrombie and Fitch store, was banished to work in the storeroom for not fitting with their “look” policy. Riam has a prosthetic arm and was asked to buy a cardigan during her induction but when she wore it in the store, she was told by a member of the store’s patrolling “visual team” that she would have to work in the stockroom. When she later telephoned the company’s head office, they asked her if she could work her time in the stockroom until the winter uniform arrived. She is now suing the store for discrimination.

As Hortense at Jezebel indicates, this is not the first time that Abercrombie and Fitch have behaved badly towards their staff or displayed questionable ethics in terms of their recruitment practices.

Hearteningly enough, the majority of the comments in the Daily Mail report of this story are supportive towards Riam and those that aren’t are generally rated poorly.

http://www.feministing.com/
http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/2009/06/beware_the_look

nite all

The West shouldn't cozy up to a regime that rigs elections against feminist candidates.

What is striking about the Iranians protesting fraud in the June 10 "election" is the number of women on the front lines. Among all those cheated at the polls, they may feel the most denied.

For the first time in one of the Islamic Republic's controlled presidential campaigns, the women's movement was able to raise its demands clearly and independently – even though the unelected, 12-member, all-male Guardian Council did not allow any female candidates to run.

The movement's courage to confront the patriarchal theocracy (in which "morality police" still roam the streets looking for women with make-up) may have been a big reason why the regime rigged the vote count – and why supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was forced to make a show of ordering a probe of the fraud.

Iranian women do enjoy privileges that women in many Arab countries do not. But Iran's powerful clerics know that democracy's advance and the liberation of women go hand in hand. They've seen women recently elected in Kuwait and in Iraq's new democracy, while their proxy group in Lebanon, Hezbollah, lost an election. So they are trying to stop both the women's movement and open democracy in Iran in order to maintain their Shiite "revolution" and their own rule.

con't
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0615/p08s01-comv.html

Love your spirit today...! :)

Submitted by cent on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 11:01pm.

Cent, too bad you are turning in.

I am sorting out some family history (I'd never heard it before) about the Lincoln assassination...about Booth, actually. Turns out an ancestor on my mother's side was in the same acting troop as Booth and was a friend as well.

Has anyone ever heard of the speculation that Booth did not die as reported by Dr Mud?
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

I could tell Alice about it...

but she gets bored with historic conspiracy theories...

She certainly isn't the type of person who would ever question the official historic record'...

oh, well.. no one wants to hear this extremely interesting story I just found out about...
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

I'll tell you about it and you tell if you want me to send it or not...(either way is cool with me, I won't be insulted if you aren't interested in it)

It's called Truck A Love Story, by Michael Perry

On the cover is a USA Today quote:

Truck: A Love Story is a delightful, quirky account of a year in a mid-American life spent restoring a 1951 International Harvester, cultivating a garden, and falling in love

?

... :)

;

I can't blame everyone for not wanting to hear this fascinating family story I just heard today.

I can't blame anyone for their lack of interest...I( mean, who really cares what my aunt remembers her father telling her about a conversation his mother and grand mother had while he was on leave before shipping out to WWI...

I guess nobody really cares about the mysterious stranger who lived in the backroom while my great great grandmother was a little girl...
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Are you serious, Alice?

cuz this is kinda personal stuff and you know how secretive I can be.

but If you really think you're interested, settle in. there's several pages of typing.

I think the best thing to do is to retype what was sent to me ...I'll omit parts that might not be of interest outside of the family.

like I say, if you're interested, settle in. this could take a while.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

I DVR'd CNN at 8:30 p.m (seems about half way through Anderson Cooper) and I'm not seeing you Sam after searching through it. Am I missing something?

on account of the job.

But yeah ok..I am IN in this...spill it..

If you can see today's show, Marc plays Sam Seder's appearance with Campbell Brown and two or three other people...it's short..but Sam was smart.

Haha...

the cats...I'm glad they caught him.

A man in this town was on trial for killing his girlfriends cat and he got NO PENALTY. There were even people from the cat rescue group there at his court dates protesting...

But you know, what he did to the cats (and I purposely won't read the details) is what is done to a lot of animals all the live long day in this world...It seems so "scandalous" in America but it's much worse and more normal in other places...and probably even much worse and more normal than we all know about in America as well...

but now i want to see Marc's and about that horrid thing of a person.
GRRR

For your amusement or mind-bending, or whatever....

http://www.geschichteinchronologie.ch/atmosphaerenfahrt/29_moon-landings...

;)

or something... :)

But you know, what he did to the cats (and I purposely won't read the details) is what is done to a lot of animals all the live long day in this world...It seems so "scandalous" in America but it's much worse and more normal in other places...and probably even much worse and more normal than we all know about in America as well...

» ============================

Oh, it's done here. It is just classified differently.

I know somebody who's spouse used to torch primates to study burns at a teaching hospital. Just part of the 'research' program.

nora.

From my Aunt:

(...)When I was in second or third grade in Wildwood NJ public school my teacher was telling us about what a wonderful president Abraham Lincoln was/ It was Feb. and at that time we still had off for both Lincoln's birthday and Washington's birthday, 1938 or 1939.

I was full of enthusiasm and came home to tell my father what I had learned about this great president. The reaction of my father surprised me. He said, "Yes many people thought Lincoln was a great man but there were other people who didn't because every story has two sides.

Lincoln was president during a time when our country was torn apart and many soldiers on both sides were killed or amimed and suffered a great deal.

He said that he had fought in the first world war nd had been gassed and was ion the worst 4 battles of the war and almost died.

He said that he had volunteered to fight in that war because of patriotism and when he came on on leave before going overseas he was sitting at the family table in the Kensington Ave. (Philadelphia) home of his parents. His mother was there and his grandmother and they were talking about all the wars his mother's family were in from the revolution and with the exception of the Spanish American War.
His Mother asked her mother about something that happened when she was a little girl. She said to her mother, "I know I've asked you other times, but who was the man who was in the back bedroom of the home we lived in when I was a child that you would never tell me about?"

She explained to my father that she had a brother many years older than she was as often was in large families. He was living away from home and she was still a very small child. He was a favorite of hers and made a fuss over her whenever he came home. She woke up one morning and realized someone had come home the night before and was in the back bedroom of their home. I think they lived in downtown Philadelphiaat the time she was a child, maybe around second street. Theis would have been around the time Lincoln was shot.

Her mother told her at that time that her brother had been working in the Pittsburgh area with Booth's Theater Company and was scheduled to go to Washington with them but at the last minute decided to go home to visit his family instead. My Grandmother's mother wanted to go int the room to visit her brother, but her mother would not let her. She said her brother had caught pneumonia and no one but her and the doctor who was also a family relative could go into the room until her brother was better. The door was always kept locked and her mother would take food in and empty the debris from the room. The Doctor often came. My grandmother sat in the hall and played with her dolls for 4 moths and then one day her mother told her that she could go in the room and see her brother becasue he had recovered.. She often had asked her mother who was the man in the room with her brother during those four months and her mother had told her no one, that if she heard different voices coming from the room it was because her brother was an actor and was practicing parts in different voices. Many times over the years she got the same answers.

*************************

stay tuned for the dramatic conclusion...

i hope maggies boys at the post office have their shit together
the present should be there in the next couple of days

when i post something to america
it's like sending a parcel to mars... "hi, i'm from earth"
so i can understand the anxiety nasa feels until the probe lands

in case i got the address wrong & doesn't get there
type out your address & send it to me again
and i'll send over another one
these leathery critters are lying around everywhere
it's a real live animal...
it's a footy

yours is inflated with aussie air
but next time i'll deflate it
so you can eat it like a pancake
with some seal blubber & maple syrup
: )

It helps to save old 1987 magazines...

http://revolutionaryflowerpot.blogspot.com/2009/06/mir-hossein-mousavis-...

[excerpt]

Here is a bit from an article by Time magazine that shows Ghorbanifar's circle of associates; it is from a January 1987 cover story (The Murky World of Weapons Dealers; January 19, 1987):

"By [Ghorbanifar's] own account he was a refugee from the revolutionary government of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, which confiscated his businesses in Iran, yet he later became a trusted friend and kitchen adviser to Mir Hussein Mousavi, Prime Minister in the Khomeini government. Some U.S. officials who have dealt with Ghorbanifar praise him highly. Says Michael Ledeen, adviser to the Pentagon on counterterrorism: "[Ghorbanifar] is one of the most honest, educated, honorable men I have ever known." Others call him a liar who, as one puts it, could not tell the truth about the clothes he is wearing," (emphasis added).

This second bit is from Chapter 1 of Walsh Iran/Contra Report: (http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm)

"On or about November 25, 1985, Ledeen received a frantic phone call from Ghorbanifar, asking him to relay a message from [Mir-Hossein Mousavi] the prime minister of Iran to President Reagan regarding the shipment of the wrong type of HAWKs. Ledeen said the message essentially was "we've been holding up our part of the bargain, and here you people are now cheating us and tricking us and deceiving us and you had better correct this situation right away.''
[...]
"In early May, North and CIA annuitant George Cave met in London with Ghorbanifar and Nir, where the groundwork finally was laid for a meeting between McFarlane and high-level Iranian officials, as well as financial arrangements for the arms deal. Among the officials Ghorbanifar said would meet with an American delegation were the president and prime minister [Mousavi] of Iran and the speaker of the Iranian parliament," (emphasis added).
And to remind how Michael Ledeen became involved in the Iran/Contra affair in 1985, here is a bit from Chapter 15 of Walsh Report (http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_15.htm):

"[McFarlane] authorized Michael A. Ledeen, a part-time NSC consultant on anti-terrorism, to ask Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres to check on a report that the Israelis had access to good sources on Iran. By early August 1985, Ledeen's talks had led to a direct approach by Israeli officials to McFarlane, to obtain President Reagan's approval to ship U.S.-supplied TOW missiles to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages in Beirut. McFarlane said he briefed the President, Regan, Shultz, Weinberger, Casey and perhaps the Vice President about the proposal in July and August 1985.40 McFarlane said that Casey recommended that Congress not be informed of the arms sales."
There you have it. Now, I'm no investigative journalist, so I'll leave it to the professionals to dig deeper into this.

[end excerpt]

i love books from you!

So it's taboo to talk about how some people earn a living?

The person I know couldn't stand it either and got a divorce!

Submitted by maggiesboy on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 10:17pm.
True liberal?
You see that chart up above? You see how few "true" liberals there really are
---------

I can assure you MB that the average American doesn't have a clue what a Liberal or Conservative is. When you consider the bashing that Liberals have received in the past 30 years, only those who know its true meaning, will own up to it. Conservative is a very nice word for a repressive, unequal, authoritarian ideology. Americans who are unaware of the struggle for human rights - don't know these are he very people who would deprived them of those rights.

That chart may look like that because, the conservative infrasturucture is is still in tact. There was no paradigm shift after the 2009 election. In spite of their catastrophic failures, the conservatives weren't driven to the sea like the Liberals. Hell ,they're still stinking up the place. Obama is president, but we still have 3000 conservative radio stations. Obama is president, but Fox in still on the air. Obama is president , but Rove, Cheney and Newt are leading the political narrative.

Therefore, I wouldn't trust any information that comes from this current infrastructure. Why should I? That would include so called liberal think tanks like- Project for A New American Century. A lot of those cats are old Clintonites. They are about protecting the corporate class.

My advice MB would be to poll your family and friends. Ask them to define a liberal and a conservative. Then educate!

What am I doing up this late?

;

Did we just have a mis-communication?

*

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/report_90_of_waking_hours_spent

Report: 90% Of Waking Hours Spent Staring At Glowing Rectangles

June 15, 2009

*

Peruvian massacre aimed at opening Amazon to transnationals - Posted by thomaspainescorner

Zebelio Kayap, president of the Frontier Communities of the Cenepa Organization (Odecofroc in Spanish), told La Republica, “Some of the natives’ bodies may have been burned by the police and thrown into the Marañón River.” Eyewitnesses reported seeing bodies placed in black plastic bags, loaded into helicopters and dumped in the river in an effort to cover up the scale of the massacre.

The indigenous people began their protest in early April. They claim their ancestral rights to the jungle were not considered in the proposed deals with major capitalist interests and that the government did not consult them. In his typical arrogance, President Garcia responded by saying that he did not have to consult anyone because, according to the Constitution, the state owns all the mineral and hydrocarbon wealth of Peru.

In a statement to the press at the end of last month, Garcia denounced the opposition among the indigenous people of the Amazon to opening up their lands for exploitation as “retrograde, backward and wrong,” adding that those who were protesting “haven’t even read” the legislation.
...

*

Ok SJ..consider it on its way...the MaggiesBoy Way...Quick and Dirrrrrty! (JK)... :)

*

http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/engulfed/audio/SolutionToSatur...

Sedaris Reads “Solution to Saturday’s Puzzle”

*

...
As we become one with ourselves and are able to open and accept others and the love that they have to give, only then will be be able to get past the voices in our minds; the ones that tell us how to act, what to fear and to question our very existence and actions. Only then will we be able to give and receive what the world needs to heal itself. Only then will humanity really have a chance to move forward and to come together for the benefit of all the world’s inhabitants. It is the fears that keep us ‘in check’ and keep us from accepting the changes that will transcend the injustices. That keep us from believing in a ‘Utopian’ world that is just for all and that keeps us forever suckling at the tit of the competition based system that tries so hard to keep from slipping away into the abyss that it must eventually flow.

Go out and find your ‘orgasm’, for your body, mind and spirit for it can set you free, if you let it. Find the ’self’ that can give completely, without question and without fear and don’t analyze, feel and trust your selves, for we all have the capacity to give and receive, to form a better humanity for all; don’t run from your emotions but rather, embrace them for only then can we begin to ‘feel’ again.

http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/where-did-the-orgasm-...

*

What I did on my Summer vacation while Chubbs dawdled around...

Ok..I'm gonna read it now, Chubbs...

Sleep Well Sederville, save for those on "the night shift" :)

I'm tuned.....

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/39843prs20090612.html

Obama Administration Seeks To Keep Torture Victims From Having Day In Court (6/12/2009)

Justice Department Asks Court For Rehearing In Extraordinary Rendition Lawsuit Against Boeing Subsidiary

[excerpt]

"The Obama administration has now fully embraced the Bush administration's shameful effort to immunize torturers and their enablers from any legal consequences for their actions," said Ben Wizner, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project, who argued the case for the plaintiffs. "The CIA's rendition and torture program is not a 'state secret;' it's an international scandal. If the Obama administration has its way, no torture victim will ever have his day in court, and future administrations will be free to pursue torture policies without any fear of liability."

[end excerpt]

(from my aunt:) When my father, his mother and grandmother were talking about before my father left for overseas in WWI, the question was asked again by his mother and her mother told her there had been other person in the back bedroom with her brother and that man was John Wilkes Booth. My father's mother asked why her mother had never said that before . Her mother said, "Now it can be told because 50 years have passed." She said, "if anyone had known before that whe and her family could have been hung for providing sanctuary to Booth." She said my grandmother's brother had come to Philadelphia to provide a safe house for Booth it it was needed, which it was. Booth came north for sanctuary instead of going south because people would not have expected him to come north. He stayed at my grandmother's home great great grandmother's home under the doctor's care until his injuries heales and the climate cooled down on the search for him.so he could travel unrecognized. It was widely publicized Booth had died. This was becasue a Doctor Mud in Virginia produced a body and said it was Booth.

In 1992 or about then I was doing home health care for a patient named Mrs. Dixon. A RN was there at one point to instruct me and her name was Mrs. Mud. She laughed as she explained that her husband's family was descended from the Dr. Mud who proclaimed Booth Dead. She said there was a family story that Booth had not died but her husband's ancestor had produced a body and said it was Booth. He helped fix fix up his leg so he could ride away but they never knew where he rode to so I told her my side of the story. Isn't it a strange world that we two should meet?

Back to the reasons behind the sympathy for Booth and the safe house. My great great grandmother's family had ben give land around where Cincinnati is now, after the the revolutionarty war or 1812, I;m not sure which but I believe I was told the revolution as a reward for their services, They had worked the land and built up successful farms my the mid 1800s. They had beennorthern sympathizers and I believe they had also been [art of the underground railroad for escaping slaves.

The men went to war on the northern side and came home weak and injured. One had lost a leg. The women had tried to keep the farms going while the men were away but the farms got run down and when the men cam home and the Abraham Lincoln passed heavy tax laws to pay the costs of the war. The family lost the farms to the carpetbagger tax collectors. Since there was little help for the soldiers who returned that branch of the family came back to Philadelphia and I believe my great great grandmother's husband that lost the leg started a soda pop deliver service with horse and carraige and the settled in the home in downtown Philidelphia. My great grandmother's brother had become an actor in Booth's troop. Then comes the rest of the story as mentioned above.

It is too bad that there are spaces and blanks as far as better names and dates but this is the tale as it was told to me.

I went to school after Lincoln's birthday and got up and told the story. I used to get teased back then in school that my uncle killed Lincoln, which, of course, was not true.

But children hear what they think they heand and like to use an excuse to tease. Somehow, I did not miond the teasing.

My father saved some copies of 2 obits from the Phili paper, but never completely tied them in or reseached further although I'm sure he intended to.
*************************

These obits are interesting as well. I will include them soon.

(...)Eleven days after the assassination of Lincoln, Federal troops tracked a man presumed to be Booth to a farm just south of the Rappahannock River in Virginia. Booth was hiding in a tobacco barn with David Herold, another conspirator. Herold gave himself up before the barn could be set on fire by the troops, but Booth would not surrender. After being shot, Booth was carried to the farmhouse porch where he died. The body was identified as that of Booth by a doctor who had previously operated on Booth, and it was then secretly buried, though four years later it was reinterred. (Britannica Online)
Because of the amount of mystery surrounding the autopsy and burial of Booth, some people believed that he did not actually die that night on the farm in Virginia. These people believed that some other man was shot and killed and that the real Booth escaped. There was even further belief that government officials discovered they had killed the wrong man and had elaborately covered up their mistake (Brown).
On January 13, 1903, a man in Enid, Oklahoma, by the name of David E. George died. The last words he spoke were directed to his landlord, Mrs. Harper. To her he confessed that he was John Wilkes Booth. This man had a striking likeness to Booth and also had a similar demeanor of Booth when producing parts of Shakespeare's plays in the saloons. George had also broken his leg just above the ankle years ago just as Booth had when he jumped to the stage after shooting Lincoln. The real Booth was twenty-six years old when he was supposedly killed, but if he had lived he would have been sixty-three in 1902. That was the same age of George as found in some of his papers. George's body was mummified, and a Memphis lawyer, Finis L. Bates, bought the mummy and presented it on the side show circus circuit (Brown). Another story says that a man named John St. Helen from Enid, Oklahoma confessed to his lawyer that he was Booth right before he committed suicide (Dickerson 1993). It is also thought that St. Helen and George are the same man (Did John Wilkes Booth Flee to Granbury page). Whatever the story, one fact remains the same: there was a mummy which possibly could be the body of Booth. There is a slight problem though. The mummy has somehow disappeared, and its whereabouts are not known. The question is: "Was John Wilkes Booth killed eleven days after the assassination of President Lincoln, or did he go on to live another thirty-eight years?"

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/wilson/ant304/projects/projects98/mcilwain...
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

ZOWIE!

there is way too much typing in the obits. the most relevant one is of Samuel Conier Dubois -- actor Manager and Studetnt.

this was the guy that was in Booth's company. the obit mentions booth's brother but not booth nimself. the obit is 2 1/2 pages.

here's a short one: Lydia Ludwig Du Bois, widow of Samuel C. Dubois, Sr whose funeral takes place today, was one if the last few contemporary with those who were participants in the Revolutionary struggle of 1776. Her Son Samuel C. says he "remembers very well the many anecdotes related to him by his mother, on Second Street, at the corner of Little Dock, heard told by the old soldiers of the Revolution, who used to assemble in that neighborhood and recount their many thrilling experiences during the occupation of Philadelphia by the British troops under the control of General Sir Wm. Howe. How, also. her mother told her of the "red coats" taking summary possession of the house as the family were about to sit down to dinner and occupying it for two days. Mrs, DuBois was the mother of 12 children, 8 of whom are living and leaves 18 grand children and 7 great-grandchildren. Her twin-sister, Mrs. Sahra Hickeym aged 87, is still living on her farm near Cincinnati.

(there is also a second obit for this woman. this one locates the twin sister near Bantam in Claremont County Ohio. her father was from a noble German house.and "was one of the descendants of the original band of Huguenots, who settled in what is now known as Ulster County NY in 1685.

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

So, was that worth staying up for?

seems like I totally lost most of the audience.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

that must be nuts to hear that all now! Well, if your family can keep a secret like that, then so can Air America!? No? :)

That's terrible. Town and local govt's are being squeezed.

Do you have a union that's agreed to this? Actually the furlough might be better than other options, as they can't justify keeping it up when the economy turns around. Actually, I can't see how it's legal at all, but that doesn't mean I don't think it might be the best of what may be only a bunch of really bad options.

Hang in there.

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http://www.vodamusic.com/blog/

OE3..they were voting on this at 5:30 today...

I think that's what they want me to think. (As I just mentioned to Kevin)..I get mad at myself for thinking in these terms as laid out to me...

I am for the last two months, actually earning what I "should" have been earning in 1991...earning according to the terms of comparison as laid out to me by who knows who...? Kevin was a union leader, he has had his pay cut, I never thought they could do that, but maybe that is just corporations? I don't know...

It's a huge slap in the face to have my pay cut, but on the other hand, the teachers who help people learn things they need to know, they are just getting laid off...and have NEVER made near what they are worth...I can't speak for all teachers, but judging by what I've seen some of my teachers go through..yeah..

*

If the US computer industry were like the US health care industry, we would be paying $1,000 for a bottom-end computer. Fortunately, we have competition in computers, so it's easy to find computers that sell for less than $400, but the health care industry does not want people in the United States to benefit from the same sort of competition in health care.

So, get ready for the show. Win or lose, the boys and girls in the insurance industry can be counted on for a real serious fight. But, the millionaires in the health industry are hugely out-numbered by the hundreds of millions who will benefit from serious health care reform. As Mohammed Ali might have said about the health insurance executives: "they too ugly to be champion."

http://www.truthout.org/061509C

I recorded part of Campbell so hopefully I'll get a chance to see it when I'm done with work tonight.

...
Even without capital controls, the nations meeting at Yekaterinburg are taking steps to avoid being the unwilling recipients of yet more dollars. Seeing that US global hegemony cannot continue without spending power that they themselves supply, governments are attempting to hasten what Chalmers Johnson has called “the sorrows of empire” in his book by that name – the bankruptcy of the US financial-military world order. If China, Russia and their non-aligned allies have their way, the United States will no longer live off the savings of others (in the form of its own recycled dollars) nor have the money for unlimited military expenditures and adventures.

US officials wanted to attend the Yekaterinburg meeting as observers. They were told No. It is a word that Americans will hear much more in the future.

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article11316.html

I'm tempted to adjust my work ethic accordingly to this new scale of trading my work for their cash..But that doesn't seem fair and isn't my nature..I mean what am I going to do? Sit and watch the phone ring? To name one minor example of my job duties...

By the way, "What time do you close?"..

(most popular question based on my informal poll that I just did in my head)

;)

nite nite, Blog...

∞♥∞

☪

We have to wait for the statute of limitations to expire.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Has become a huge factor in decisions that everyone from corporations to public libraries have had to deal with. It's been magnified by the economic troubles. Obama seems to understand this, but it also seems like he's reluctant to take the extreme measures the situation dictates. Better than Bush sticking his head in the sand for sure, but Obama needs to be a lion. And he needs to understand that we need him to be a lion.

So how do we make our voices heard above the piss-puddle Harry Reids?...

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http://www.vodamusic.com/blog/

I looked into the corner that was mentioned in the one obit. the one on the corner of 2nd and Little Dock.

there is no corner of 2nd and Little dock. in fact there has not been a little dock road in Philadelphia for a couple hundred years, give or take. It appears that little dock was a small branch of Dock Street a few hundred yards long at best. The area that I believe the house sat would be covered by skyscrapers or sitting on the grounds around them. at least that's what it looked like on google earth.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Nope. Cuz then they fire you for cause. Doesn't solve the problem. The union is trying to spread the pain around, so that as few people as possible end up without income altogether.

Stick with it, keep up your good work standards. Apply to whatever other jobs you can find that are similar in pay and/or will provide you with fulfillment. But show up and be your regular productive self in the meantime. The show must go on.
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http://www.vodamusic.com/blog/

always wondered about that!

i figger he got away.

the question is did the feds ever know?

Ja got it right A.!

it's like a giant conspiracy to keep you from being yourself.

>>the question is did the feds ever know?

some say they knew at the time, they just didn't want to embarrass themselves.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

night gang.

I have to elude the feds ( they want to question me about the whereabouts of John Wilkes Booth) and then catch some Zs
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

mmm hmm.

At least there'd be some romance in it if it were a conspiracy.

I suspect it's more depressing and hopeless than a conspiracy. oh, sigh...
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http://www.vodamusic.com/blog/

sweet zzzzzzz mate

Thanks for sharing, ChBu.

Do you think your family was protecting an innocent? I saw a documentary once that indicated that Boothe was a patsy.
and that someone else must have shot Lincoln (just as Boothe entered) and when Boothe realized he lept out of the box.

I wish I could remember the name of the show or something.

Loose ends in the official story of the plot were that there was no guard on Lincoln's theater box despite death threat concerns. And the cincher for me was that two witnesses -- a prominent official (government or such) and his wife were whisked away from the theater and put in an asylum where they died! THAT seems really suspicious, like someone did not want them to be telling what really happened perhaps?

Perhaps your family helped somebody who was the victim of framing. Which would be equally fascinating.

is certainly dead now. Fuck that guy.

From what I understand JW's brother was the more respected actor. So it's kind of like Stephen Baldwin murdering the greatest President in American history. Fucking sad. I hope he's enjoying the innermost ring of the Hell I don't believe in.

Long Live the Union.

A devastating new disease struck Tasmanian devils around 1996, emerging from nowhere it seemed, but striking with a vengeful force. In just over a decade, and at an increasing pace in the past few years, Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) – a contagious and inevitably fatal cancer – has killed 70% of the pre-disease population level, and in some spots, up to 90% of local populations. It threatens to drive the marsupial carnivores to extinction in the wild, a species already found only on Australia’s island state of Tasmania. The Australian government officially declared them endangered species in May 2009, up a notch from the vulnerable status given them previously, and giving them additional protection. The government has already devoted over AUS $10 million to research and conservation efforts.

I visited Tasmania in 2006 and saw several of these enigmatic creatures in captivity, and met with biologists who were all working at a frantic pace on research to discover ways to prevent the species from going extinct. Scientists are studying the disease itself, whether any devils show signs of immunity – none have so far - and identifying the best way to ensure they survive into the future, even if it means the animals go extinct in the wild and get reintroduced from disease-free captive bred animals. Conservationists have captured disease-free animals and placed them in zoos across Australia in what’s been called Project Ark. Some of the first “pinkies” have been born in captivity – the tiny, underdeveloped, hairless young that marsupials give birth to, and which develop more fully in mama’s pouch. They hope to get up to 1,500 devils to fully preserve the species genetic diversity. Right now, there are only 145 captive individuals. The animals cannot be seen anywhere outside of Australia, even in zoos (with the single exception of Denmark's Copenhagen Zoo), and with the disease outbreak they’re unlikely to send any outside the country in case the disease may infect other species. Research so far suggests the disease only affects devils, but better safe than sorry.

http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_news/2009/05/diseaseplagued-tasmanian-...

* donate online
* donate by mail
*
donate by phone: call +61 3 6226 1920 with your credit card details
* USA Donors
* allocation of donations for research
* apply for a grant or scholarship
* news
* more about the Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal

The Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal is the formal fundraising arm of the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program, aimed at saving the Tasmanian devil from the devestating effects of the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), a unique contagious cancer, spread by biting, which is consistently fatal. The Tasmanian devil is now listed as an Endangered Species. Administered by the UTAS Foundation, this Appeal has raised more than half a million dollars in corporate and public support for the devil, funding 34 research grants and scholarships to date, to a value of over $336,000. The next grant round closes 28 February 2009. The discovery of Cedric, the disease resistant devil was a project funded by the Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal. All donations to this Appeal are directed IN FULL towards research and management programs across the globe endorsed by the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. Donations are tax deductible.

http://www.utas.edu.au/foundation/devil.htm

Given the pointed attacks traded over the past weeks between Iranian presidential candidates Mir-Hussein Moussavi, Mohsen Rezae, Mehdi Karroubi, and incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the enthusiasm of their respective supporters, many had predicted that Iran's presidential election on Friday -- its eighth since the 1979 revolution and the creation of the Iranian Islamic Republic -- would be close. But no one predicted that it would result in the sort of crisis that has unfolded over the weekend. The dispute began "even before polls closed Friday night." Before the first vote counts were released, leading challenger Moussavi held a news conference to declare himself "definitely the winner" based on "all indications from all over Iran." Soon after Moussavi spoke, Iran's state news agency reported that Ahmadinejad had won, but did not cite official figures. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei then announced (even before the official Interior Ministry count had been issued) that Ahmadinejad had won more than 24 million votes. Moussavi remained defiant, and thousands of his supporters flooded the streets of Tehran to protest what they saw as a stolen election, "pelting [police] with rocks and setting fires in the worst unrest in Tehran in a decade." In statements Sunday, Moussavi and Karroubi "asked people to continue their 'nonviolent demonstration' throughout the country and criticized the government for using violence against demonstrators." Asked about the demonstrations at a Sunday press conference, Ahmadinejad said that they "would disappear after a while, just like those angry fans following a defeated football match." But today, in a sign that Iran's ruling elites have grasped the seriousness of the situation, Ayatollah Khamenei "ordered an investigation into claims of vote rigging...a surprising turnaround for Khamenei, who had previously welcomed the [election] results."

http://pr.thinkprogress.org/2009/06/pr20090615/index.html

Would be Just Another Terrorist in Gitmo as He Daily Commits Treason
The Face of Treason. If Glenn Beck wore a turban and incited violence the way he does, he would be in Gitmo as a terrorist and enemy of the state. Click here to financially support passionate progressive news."

A lot of Americans would consider this a radical, over-the-top statement, but it's not.

Think if anyone who was Arab and vaguely associated with the Taliban or Al-Qaeda were to foment on American television insurrection, rebellion, and treason against the United States government, as Glenn Beck -- and many of his cohorts are doing. Such an Arab would go straight to Gitmo, even as they prepare to close up the torture shop down there.

Beck has engaged in such an unrelenting pernicious fanciful creation of the Obama Administration as the enemy -- just as Al Qaeda does -- that he is guilty of treason. Beck doesn't contest (unless you include the "illegitimate Obama birth" movement) the election of a Democratic administration, he -- in essence -- calls for its overthrow. That's what treason is all about.

http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/8717

"I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors - probably harmless."

Over the weekend, a gorilla escaped from a zoo in Columbia, and according to the New York Daily News, DePass just couldn't resist what he saw as the perfect opportunity for humor.

from bloomberg:

June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Two weeks before Clifford Chance LLP said it would fire as many as 100 lawyers in London and New York, the world’s largest law firm by revenue announced an alliance with India’s AZB & Partners to expand operations there.

===

even lawyers are getting outsourced...

the news from the paris air show is that the boeing 787 which is already a year late is delayed again. it's description:

The 250-seat Dreamliner is the first airliner to have a fuselage and wings built of composite plastic, making it lighter than traditional aluminum planes, and will use the most extensive electrical system yet to help save on fuel.

Pentagon wavers on release of report on Afghan attack
By Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Defense Department officials are debating whether to ignore an earlier promise and squelch the release of an investigation into a U.S. airstrike last month, out of fear that its findings would further enrage the Afghan public, Pentagon officials told McClatchy Monday.

The military promised to release the report shortly after the May 4 air attack, which killed dozens of Afghans, and the Pentagon reiterated that last week. U.S. officials also said they'd release a video that military officials said shows Taliban fighters attacking Afghan and U.S. forces and then running into a building. Shortly afterward, a U.S. aircraft dropped a bomb that destroyed the building.

However, a senior defense official told McClatchy Monday: "The decision (about what to release) is now in limbo."

Pentagon leaders are divided about whether releasing the report would reflect a renewed push for openness and transparency about civilian casualties or whether it would only fan Afghan outrage and become a Taliban recruiting tool just as Army Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal takes command of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

[...]

McClatchy

I know McCrystal has already been labeled a psycho, but I am hoping he will focus on reducing the incidence of collateral damage by these air strikes and stop killing so many innocents...

Iran Agrees to Partial Recount of Disputed Ballots
By NAZILA FATHI and Alan Cowell
Published: June 16, 2009

TEHRAN — Less than 24 hours after the largest demonstrations here since the 1979 revolution and the reported deaths of seven protesters, Iran’s Guardian Council said Tuesday it was prepared to order a recount of disputed ballots in Friday’s deeply divisive elections, but ruled out an annulment of the vote, according to state television and news reports.

The announcement seemed to represent a further reluctant concession from the authorities following Monday’s decision by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to conduct a formal review of the electoral process, which the opposition says was rigged.

[...]

NYT

As many of you know, this weekend Leon Panetta said that Dick Cheney almost seemed as if he wanted terrorists to strike America again. A few minutes ago on "Morning Joe" Joe Scarborough asked Ed Schultz about the comments. Schultz stated that he is certain that Cheney wants terrorists to strike America on Obama's watch.

I was on the fence about this matter. My thought of "maybe" about it changed to "probably" because Schultz is a measured, thoughtful guy. He isn't a far left loon. He reminds me very much of an old Polish history teacher I had when I attended 10th grade in suburban Detroit-- a levelheaded, blue collar academic.

I have since discovered that, in fact, he even made this claim two months ago.

Adding: damn. I can't do the MSNBC embed

Maron. Is. God.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

Okay, it's a stretch, but he bares a slight resemblance to Snowflake, the albino gorilla. By the way, Snowflake is the cutest.

.

the safety of our country, why didn't he go to the new admin and talk directly to them rather than taking it public the way he did. You would think that he would have gone to the Obama admin with what he knew just as Clinton alerted the Bush admin. It's not the Clinton admin's fault that the Bush admin didn't heed the warning but Clinton did not take it to the media to cover his own butt as Cheney did.

Ed Schultz was right and I was shocked that Joe Scarborough didn't attack Ed. This time he disagreed but didn't attack as usual. Interesting!

The crowd is huge already. Too big for the police to really do anything about.

Sign's asking for Obama's help.

Another interesting outcome.

Richard Cohen: Obama Didn’t Tackle Mideast Anti-Semitism In Cairo Speech

In his column today, Richard Cohen makes a remarkable assertion, seemingly suggesting that in his big speech in Cairo President Obama didn’t directly take on the anti-Semitism that’s alive and well in the Mideast today:

In vast parts of the Islamic world, too many people not only deny the Holocaust but embrace the thinking that made it possible.

In his remarkable speech at Cairo University, President Obama only inferentially mentioned this aspect of what has become an ugly part of the Middle East: a tolerance for and advocacy of old-style anti-Semitism.

By saying Obama only “inferentially” mentioned the Mideast’s old-style anti-Semitism, Cohen presumably means that you had to infer its existence from the speech. But here’s what Obama actually said:

Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust. Tomorrow, I will visit Buchenwald, which was part of a network of camps where Jews were enslaved, tortured, shot and gassed to death by the Third Reich. Six million Jews were killed — more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today. Denying that fact is baseless, it is ignorant, and it is hateful. Threatening Israel with destruction — or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews — is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve.

Seems pretty direct: Obama, speaking to an Arab audience, condemned Holocaust-denial, and excoriated the region’s current trafficking in the sort of European anti-Semitism that led to it. I could suggest that some folks are determined to paint Obama as insufficiently hostile to Arabic anti-Semitism no matter what he says, but I don’t want to infer anything.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/pundits/richard-cohen-obama-didnt-tack...

than she did on her first that I commented on yesterday.

Kathleen Sebelius Comes Out Fighting For Public Option

Just try to remember: The AMA only represents a mere percentage of doctors. More doctors want single payer than don't. In the meantime, more on the proposed reform from Kathleen Sebelius:

As debate gets under way over Obama's initiative to revamp health care, Republican opposition has centered on one of the key pillars of the president's proposal: the so-called public option — a publicly funded insurance plan that would likely compete against private insurers.

A public health insurance plan, Sebelius said, will put pressure on private insurers to keep costs competitive. "And that's a good thing," she says. "I think that's a good thing for the American public. Medicare right now has lower overhead costs than private insurers."

Republicans argue that upward of 100 million Americans would opt out of private insurance in favor of a public plan if such a plan were available. That figure comes from a study by the Lewin Group, a consulting group owned by Ingenix, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, but it is a selective representation of the study's findings.

Big surprise there, huh!

"The whole idea of the public option has been difficult, in part, because some of the opposition has described it as a potential for a, you know, draconian scenario that was never part of the discussion in the first place," Sebelius says. "So, disabusing people of what is not going to happen is often difficult, because there's no tangible way to do that."

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/kathleen-sebelius-comes-out-stron...

re: http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_news/2009/05/diseaseplagued-tasmanian-...

{...a friend lives in Tasmania and is in
Save The

Court rules Exxon owes a billion in damages, interest

'89 SPILL: Company is ordered to pay $500 million interest.

Published: June 15th, 2009 01:37 PM
Last Modified: June 15th, 2009 11:01 PM

Exxon Mobil Corp. was ordered Monday to pay roughly $1 billion to Alaska Natives, fishermen, business owners and others harmed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound.

A federal appeals court set the punitive damages Exxon must pay at $507.5 million -- the maximum allowed under last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the case. And the appeals court said Exxon owes about $500 million in interest on the punitive damages.

The ruling was issued by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

[...]

"In this case, neither side is the clear winner. The defendant owes the plaintiffs $507.5 million in punitives -- according to counsel at oral argument the fourth largest punitive damages award ever granted. Yet that award represents a reduction by 90 percent of the original $5 billion. In light of this mixed result, and mindful that the equities in this case fall squarely in favor of the plaintiffs -- the victims of Exxon's malfeasance -- we exercise our discretion by requiring each party to bear its own costs."

ADN

At least some of the plaintiffs can start collecting now...

IMF warns on global economy but also increases growth forecast
by Chris in Paris on 6/16/2009 06:13:00 AM
Strange but that's the market these days. There is no question in my mind that there is increasingly positive signs out there but it remains very delicate. Last autumn business was completely shut down and the fear factor played stretched into 2009. It's understandable because after the widespread firings and bank lending freezes it was unclear to everyone what was going to happen. Most people - at all levels - had no idea if they were going to have a job tomorrow and a very natural reaction in the workplace is to sit still and do nothing. More recently there's been a lot more activity, albeit at a much slower pace than during the end of the boom.

The concern in the business world is exactly what IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn is saying. There are good signs but how long will it all last? The banks suddenly look pumped up in a Barry Bonds kind of way and the stock market has increased but it still does not feel real. The increases today are all based on the banks having hit their low point and unemployment settling. The wishful thinking is all fine and good but it's going to be a hard kick when at least one of those two points falter. The Independent:

Mr Strauss-Kahn pointed to improving, but still dysfunctional, credit markets and doubts about some banks as reasons for his wariness: "The markets are not as frozen as they were one year ago, or eight months ago but they are still not functioning normally. And the recovery needs markets functioning correctly.... One of the constants of [banking] crises is that you never recover before the cleansing of the balance sheets of the financial sector."

Nonetheless, the IMF has raised global growth estimates for 2010 to 2.4 per cent from 1.9 per cent, and confirmed its April forecast for a 1.3 per cent contraction in 2009. It also revealed a brighter outlook for the US. It now believes that the world's largest economy will grow by 0.75 per cent in 2010, rather than staying flat, and that it will contract by 2.5 per cent this year, rather than 2.8 per cent. The IMF gives the credit to the Obama administration's stimulus packages – "increasingly strong and comprehensive".

The IMF chief acknowledged this improvement and that many economic indicators have been pointing, albeit tentatively, towards a global upturn, but reflected the misgivings voiced by G8 finance ministers after their summit in Italy over the weekend: "Their [G8] stance is that we are beginning to see some green shoots but nevertheless we have to be cautious."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/imf-warns-on-recovery-as...

Stateside, Nouriel Roubini and Robert Shiller both see problems ahead.

Roubini:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/31371062

Exxon ordered to pay $500 million in interest on Valdez
by Chris in Paris on 6/16/2009 05:05:00 AM
If only the environment had pockets as deep as Big Oil to drag out lawsuits over twenty years. What other industry could drag out their responsibility for so long? The good news is that it appears to be coming to an end, unless Exxon appeals again. I made it a point to avoid Exxon for a few decades but I also realize that the others in this industry are as sleazy and despicable but in other ways. You have to wonder how the top executives of these companies are held in such high regard when you look at how they interact with the world around them. Maybe the problem is that they fit nicely into polite society where they live but their businesses are more questionable in distant locations.

Either way, it sickens me to think how much control they maintain over governments around the world. In the US you only have look at the GOP's latest weekly address to see who owns that party. It's almost the same pitch they delivered only a few weeks ago when they fully embraced the Big Oil vision of our energy future, that's really the past.

Exxon Mobil Corp. was ordered Monday to pay about $500 million in interest on punitive damages for the Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, nearly doubling the payout to Alaska Natives, fishermen, business owners and others harmed by the 1989 disaster.

The ruling was issued by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

In June 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court set punitive damages at $507.5 million. But two months later, the high court declined to decide whether Exxon Mobil must pay interest on the punitive damages awarded in the nation's worst oil spill and instead sent it back to the appeals court.

Monday's decision would double the average payout of about $15,000 for the nearly 33,000 claimants.

http://www.americablog.com/2009/06/exxon-ordered-to-pay-500-million-in.h...

Protests in Iran continue and expand, seven killed
by Chris in Paris on 6/16/2009 03:41:00 AM
The Independent's Robert Fisk from the marches in Tehran:

Not since the 1979 Iranian Revolution have massed protesters gathered in such numbers, or with such overwhelming popularity, through the boulevards of this torrid, despairing city. They jostled and pushed and crowded through narrow lanes to reach the main highway and then found riot police in steel helmets and batons lined on each side. The people ignored them all. And the cops, horribly outnumbered by these tens of thousands, smiled sheepishly and – to our astonishment – nodded their heads towards the men and women demanding freedom. Who would have believed the government had banned this march?

The protesters' bravery was all the more staggering because many had already learned of the savage killing of five Iranians on the campus of Tehran University, done to death – according to students – by pistol-firing Basiji militiamen. When I reached the gates of the college yesterday morning, many students were weeping behind the iron fence of the campus, shouting "massacre" and throwing a black cloth across the mesh. That was when the riot police returned and charged into the university grounds once more.

At times, Mousavi's victory march threatened to crush us amid walls of chanting men and women. They fell into the storm drains and stumbled over broken trees and tried to keep pace with his vehicle, vast streamers of green linen strung out in front of their political leader's car. They sang in unison, over and over, the same words: "Tanks, guns, Basiji, you have no effect now." As the government's helicopters roared overhead, these thousands looked upwards and bayed above the clatter of rotor blades: "Where is my vote?" Clichés come easily during such titanic days, but this was truly a historic moment.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-irans...

CNN now reporting Iran state media has updated the death toll to seven people. From reading the Robert Fisk article above, it sounds like the pro-religious government Basiji forces are attacking those at the far end of the rallies. They are too outnumbered to touch the large groups so they cowardly attack stragglers.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/16/iran.elections.protests/index....

GM says reaches deal
to sell Saab to Koenigsegg
General Motors Europe said on Tuesday a preliminary agreement has been reached to sell the company's loss-making Swedish unit Saab to local sportscar maker Koenigsegg.

LINK

The Obama administration will instruct the Navy to attempt to inspect North Korean ships suspected of carrying arms or nuclear technology—but it will stop short of boarding them by force. The new effort to track North Korean ships is a component of America's "vigorous enforcement" of a UN Security Council resolution in the wake of the country's most recent nuclear test. It's the most aggressive approach on North Korea taken in years, reports the New York Times.

Pyongyang had warned that any forced inspection of its naval fleet would be tantamount to an act of war, and the Obama team's new plans do not breach that line. But the Navy will be ordered to report any ship that refuses inspection to the Security Council. Administration officials say they're hopeful that China will also help the effort. "China would not have signed on to this resolution unless they intended to enforce it," said one official.

http://www10.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/world/asia/16korea.html?_r=5&partner...

Oof- CNN segment tonight no longer about Maher Obama op ed, but the "Latest" in the Letterman/Palin kerfuful-seriously

Pity, I would love to hear just what he would have said about Maher's rant.....

Maybe he will do a segment on BRL today...

Wolfowitz: We Must Help North Korea's Refugees

When President Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak meet today, they will discuss a host of security and economic issues, but Paul Wolfowitz hopes they take some time out for a purely humanitarian concern: North Korea’s refugees. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans have fled to China, but “China makes life extraordinarily difficult for refugees,” he writes in the Wall Street Journal.

What’s needed is an international settlement effort, like the Indochinese refugee rescue of the 1970s. At present South Korea settles roughly 2,000 North Koreans a year, but the US has welcomed a paltry 81 since 2000. China is reluctant to help, because it fears angering Pyongyang. But if the US and South Korea proceed quietly, enlist other countries, and remind China that it signed the UN refugee protocol, Wolfowitz says we can help these people.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124511669006017479.html

Anti-cancer cream fights wrinkles

A cream used to treat pre-cancerous skin lesions also reverses signs of ageing, a study reveals.

Fluorouracil improved wrinkles, dark spots, shadows and sallowness, as well as its intended effect of removing suspect growths from sun damaged skin.

Patients with pre-cancerous actinic keratoses can expect younger-looking skin as a side effect of the treatment, Archives of Dermatology reports.

[...]

BBC

Unfortunately it probably also causes a 3rd eye to grow in the middle of your chest and may cause anal leakage, but who's counting....

With countless customers running behind on payments, credit card companies are taking it easy on delinquents, letting them off the hook in exchange for partial repayments, the New York Times reports. The firms began easing up on their previous policies last fall, experts say; now they’re letting frontline workers settle with delinquents without checking with supervisors or even waiting for a customer to ask for relief.

“Now it’s the card company calling you and saying, ‘Let’s talk turkey,’” says an industry expert. After debt is 6 months overdue, credit card firms are required to cut its value on their books to zero; by then, the customer is unlikely to pay at all. “The creditors would rather have a piece of something now instead of absolutely nothing down the road,” says a consumer advocate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/16cr...

It took them that long to come to this decision? I could have told them that! Something is better than nothing. Especially when there are that many people in credit trouble today. They should take some losses now to get some money back. Make perfect sense to me!

The Human Rights Campaign sent a letter to Obama yesterday “to protest the administration’s recent legal backing of the Defense of Marriage Act.” “This brief would not have seen the light of day if someone in your administration who truly recognized our humanity and equality had weighed in with you,” the letter said. The New York Times criticizes the administration’s decision as a “bad call on gay rights.”

http://www.americablog.com/2009/06/hrc-pens-letter-to-obama-over-hate.ht...

I am not even sure he is human....

you may want to fix that before crank gets home....

from USA Today:

Sen. Jeff Sessions 'troubled' over Obama court picks

WASHINGTON — The top Republican on the Senate committee reviewing Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court said Monday that he is concerned President Obama is driving federal courts "far to the left" by choosing "activist" judges for the bench.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said Obama's judicial nominees, including Sotomayor and three others to the U.S. Court of Appeals, raise questions about what role a judge's background should play in deciding cases.

"I'm troubled, I have to say, by President Obama's philosophy of judging," Sessions, a Senate Judiciary Committee member, told USA TODAY and Gannett Washington Bureau reporters. "When he talks about wanting a judge to show empathy, that's very troubling to me."

===

just remember, when a judge decides in favor of a conservative or a corporation, its not considered activism.

at what cost...I don't trust those people...

Morning all. Beautiful here today. High clouds, pristine air, it is sparkling.

With the Boston Red Sox coming to town next week to play the Washington Nationals, members of Congress sense a great fundraising opportunity. More than a dozen lawmakers have scheduled fundraisers at Nationals Park, selling lobbyists marked-up seats and the chance to make their own pitch.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23762.html

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has released a report alleging to have found $5.5 billion in wasteful spending among President Obama’s stimulus projects. “Senator Coburn’s report, however, is filled with inaccuracies,” an Obama economic adviser replied, “including criticisms of projects that have already been stopped, projects that never were approved and some projects that are working quite well.”

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/16/senator-says-billions-wasted...

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, said combat troops will leave all Iraqi cities by their scheduled deadline of the end of this month, “including Mosul, which remains the country’s most dangerous urban area.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/15/AR200906...

CIA told Zubaydah they mistook him for a high-level al Qaeda operative.

According to new transcripts from of a 2007 Combatant Status Review Tribunal held at Guantanamo Bay, detainee Abu Zubaydah said that his CIA captors told him after he was subjected to torture that “they had mistakenly thought he was the No. 3 man in the organization’s hierarchy and a partner of Osama bin Laden.” “They told me, ‘Sorry, we discover that you are not Number 3, not a partner, not even a fighter,’” Zubaydah said. Zubaydah, who was subjected to waterboarding 83 times in one month, also said that he nearly died in prison:

Abu Zubaida, a nom de guerre for Zayn al-Abidin Muhammed Hussein, told the 2007 panel of military officers at the detention facility in Cuba that “doctors told me that I nearly died four times” and that he endured “months of suffering and torture” on the false premise that he was an al-Qaeda leader.

Despite President Bush’s rhetoric, Zubaydah’s torture “foiled no plots,” a point that one of his interrogators confirmed during a congressional hearing last May. The portion of the 2007 Combatant Review Status hearing transcript in which Majid Khan — an alleged associate of Khalid Sheik Mohammad — discussed his treatment at CIA black sites was “blacked out for eight consecutive pages.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/16/ciazubaydah/

Big Oil Releases Report Exposing Continued Refusal To Invest In Renewables

bp-investmentsA new report commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute (API) focuses on their finding that of $132.9 billion invested by US public and private sectors in greenhouse gas-mitigating technologies from 2000 to 2008, $58.4 billion came from the oil and gas industry. While API called the oil and gas industry’s investment “pretty impressive,” their report just reinforces that Big Oil has all the wrong priorities:

Kyle Isakower, API’s director of policy analysis, called the oil and gas companies’ $58.4 billion investment a “pretty impressive” number when put in context. “Our members’ primary responsibility is to be able to provide the fuels our country needs,” Isakower explained.

Let’s put this investment into context. The claim that the oil and gas industry invested $58.4 billion in clean energy technologies from 2000 to 2008 is overstated — about ten times over. API lumped in spending on renewable technologies with other “alternative” energies to exaggerate their purported commitment to renewable energy. In fact, the oil and gas industry spent only $6.7 billion on “non-hydrocarbon technology” including ethanol, wind, and solar. $21.1 billion of the $58.4 billion, or more than a third, was invested in liquefied natural gas, yet another fossil fuel. Another $30.6 billion went “mostly to energy efficiency.” Their total investment in renewable energy was little more than a tenth of the $58.4 billion “investments to cut greenhouse gases.”

The oil and gas industry has long invested only a small percentage of their profits in renewable and alternative energy ventures. The API-commissioned report from T2 and Associates and the Center for Energy Economics at the University of Texas leaves out any accounting of total oil and gas profits, which totaled over $100 billion in 2008 for the top five companies alone. Analysis from the Center for American Progress showed that these top five oil companies — BP, Chevron, Conoco Phillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell — committed just 4 percent of their total profits to low-carbon investments in 2008. Exxon-Mobil, the biggest of the big oil companies, made more than $45 billion in net income in 2008 — and invested less than 1 percent of its profits in renewable energy. In fact, the API report reveals that the entire oil and gas industry is as bad as or worse than Exxon when it comes to under-investing in renewable energy:

Big Oil Invested Less Than One Percent Of 2000-2008 Profits In Renewables. The top five oil companies raked in $656 billion from 2000 to 2008, meaning that the $6.7 billion investment by the entire US oil and gas industry in renewable energy represents just 1 percent of the profits of the top five oil companies alone. [API, CAP]

Other examples of Big Oil’s attempt to inflate their commitment to renewable energy include multi-million dollar investments in advertising and “green-washing” campaigns, despite investing heavily in organizations that question the existence of global warming. In 2007, Exxon-Mobil spent $100 million on advertising, producing ads that focused on global warming, efficiency, and alternative energy. Chevron has created an “I Will” ad campaign in spite of its record of investing only 5 percent of its $23.9 billion in profits in renewable energy in 2008.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/06/15/big-oil-little-renewables/

goodmorning and goodnight and inbetween, they're all gorgeous

Latish yesterday the Congressional Budget Office released a preliminary score of the draft health care legislation under consideration by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. The news was not pretty. On the one hand, the bill was estimated to cost $1 trillion over ten years. That’s a lot of money, though not in my view too much money to spend on something important. But what you get for the money is very disappointing—a net reduction in the quantity of the uninsured of only about 16 million people. When you spend a trillion bucks on your universal health care bill, you’re generally looking to get a lot closer than that to a world in which everyone has health insurance.

Now the CBO does caution that this is only an estimate of a partial bill. In particular, the actual HELP legislation is expected to contain a more robust employer mandate and some provisions related to Medicaid, among other things. But how much difference does that make? According to Ezra Klein a lot:

The bill that CBO scored did not look much like the bill they intend to write. Which means that the numbers aren’t correct. If HELP is writing a bill with a strong employer and individual mandate, and CBO scores a bill with no employer mandate and a weak individual mandate, it’s not clear where that estimate leaves us.

By Monday night, members of the HELP Committee were scrambling to give the CBO something closer to the final legislation to examine — this time including rough details of the employer mandate and the individual mandate. They’re hoping to have a new set of estimates by Friday, though that’s probably ambitious.

The bottom line is that we should expect the real bill to have a somewhat higher cost number but a much higher number of people getting health coverage. Consequently the cost per person will be much lower and the legislation will look much more reasonable. Jonathan Cohn explains some of the mechanics by which the inclusion of the employer-side provisions will dramatically alter the final impact of the bill.

But long story short, for now this looks more like a problem of legislative mechanics—they shouldn’t have had the CBO score this in such a preliminary way and get a misleading headline number out there—than one of policy gone off the rails.

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/06/cbo-scores-kinda-sort...

Miers Deposed By House Panel Looking Into Attorney Firings
Former White House Counsel Harriet Miers testifies, behind closed doors, after months of wrangling between Congress and members of the Bush administration.

In a low-key session on Capitol Hill, former White House Counsel Harriet Miers was deposed Monday by House Judiciary Committee staffers probing the alleged politicization of the Bush Justice Department.

Miers testified, behind closed doors, after months of wrangling between Congress and former members of the Bush administration.

Congress is looking into allegations that the Bush administration went after U.S. attorneys who weren't on the same political wavelength as the former president -- Miers was drawn in because former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asked her to consider implementing a "targeted" system for "removal and replacement" in the Justice Department.

Initially, Miers refused to appear when the House and Senate Judiciary Committees subpoenaed her and other officials to testify about their role in the firings.

The House eventually voted to hold Miers and former White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten in contempt of Congress. Despite the contempt citation, both Miers and Bolten still refused to testify, sparking a constitutional standoff between the executive and legislature, co-equal branches of government.

The House then sued the Bush administration in an effort to force Miers and Bolten to appear.
In March, Miers and former Bush adviser Karl Rove agreed to testify under oath.

Miers testified Monday, but it remains unclear when Bolten could be deposed.

A senior House Democrat familiar with the inquiry described Bolten as "a tasty little morsel." The senior lawmaker said that Rove "is really the big catch."

But there is still no agreement for Rove to appear.

Though the stakes were high, Miers' quiet visit Monday was a far cry from her trips to Capitol Hill just a few years ago.

Before her Supreme Court nomination was scuttled over questions about her experience, Miers was the subject of a media frenzy in 2005. A cadre of television cameras traced every step of as Miers traveled from meeting to meeting with senators considering whether she was qualified to fill the seat of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Miers withdrew and Samuel Alito was nominated for the post.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/15/miers-deposed-house-panel-loo...

i messed up my home computer and IE: I am no longer able to play-youtubes nor any kind of web videos and something is majorly screwed up (it must have been air ono's voodoo wishes); the ie doesn't recognize the adobe flash players update and rejects any attempt of my working with vids; so this morning I tried to upload one clip anyway and now I am testing from work computer to see if the upload to youtube worked anyway

I swear I am coming close to throwing that old home computer outta window...

In reversal, GOP balks at war funding
By Walter Alarkon
Posted: 06/15/09 08:21 PM [ET]

House Republicans are preparing to vote en bloc against the $106 billion war-spending bill, a position once unthinkable for the party that characterized the money as support for the troops.

For years, Republicans portrayed the bills funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as matters of national security and accused Democrats who voted against them of voting against the troops.

In 2005, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) went so far as to say sending troops into battle and not paying for it would be an “immoral thing to do.” And just last year, more House Republicans voted for the war supplemental bill than did Democrats, who opposed the legislation because it did little to wind down the military effort in Iraq.

But Republicans say this year is different. Democrats have included a $5 billion increase for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help aid nations affected by the global financial crisis. Republicans say that is reason enough to vote against the entire $106 billion spending bill and are certain voters will understand.

“Once the American people learn that the Democrats are using a war-funding bill for a global bailout, they’ll know what to do,” House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) told The Hill. “We’ll take the message to the floor and to the American people, and I expect we’ll win this fight.”

Republicans are gambling that voters will be able to decipher the nuances of policymaking in Washington and reject campaign slogans that will accuse GOP lawmakers of flip-flopping on what was once the party’s top priority.

Or perhaps they are reading the polls that suggest the war has dropped from the America public’s radar. Six years after the invasion of Iraq and nearly eight years after entering Afghanistan, the impact of military action on voters has taken a backseat to the effect of the struggling economy.

More here:
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/in-reversal-gop-balks-at-war-funding...

Franken/Coleman: former justice isn't surprised by lengthy process
by Elizabeth Baier, Minnesota Public Radio
June 15, 2009

St. Paul, Minn. — It's been two weeks since the Minnesota Supreme Court heard arguments in the legal battle between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken in the state's unresolved U.S. Senate race.

And there's still no ruling.

Former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Jim Gilbert told MPR's Morning Edition he's not surprised by the delay, but expects the judges will issue their ruling by July 4.

"I thought it would take them between 30 and 60 days to do the final opinion," Gilbert said.

On June 1, the date of the hearing, the justices all met immediately afterward in conference, and that's the date that they voted their preference.

"But then the real writing process starts after that," he said. "To draft the opinion and to circulate that and to make sure all the research is done correctly. So it does take a little time."

The state's senate race is the longest running recount in Minnesota history.

The five justices have to determine whether they will grant Coleman's request to force a lower court to revisit the ruling of a three-judge panel that put Franken ahead by 312 votes.

Gilbert said when he was on the court from 1998 to 2004, it took an average of 70 to 75 days to get most opinions out. After one of the justices writes the draft opinion, the others must then review and comment on it--a process that can lead to agreement or dissent.

"And if that happens, too, that slows the process down even more," he said.

Gilbert said because there's no real pressure, or legal deadline, the court can take as long as it needs to issue the order.

"I know everybody's anxious to get an answer, but there's no statutory deadline that has to be met," he said.

If Coleman loses, he can petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, which may or may not take the case.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/06/15/gilbert_franken_...

fernando, cent, dan, maggiesboy, chubby

where do i check to see if my java is turned off? I get a message saying that either my java is turned off or i need to do an adobe flash player update; I have been doing updates up the wazoo all weekend and all last night and that's not it; i guess i should now check the java but don't know where to look for it...

my suspicion is that the ie is just corrupt and probably i will have to unistall and reinstall the whole miscrosoft bullshitty set-up; at that point i might as well throw away the computer... or continue spending hours on frustrating attempts to reset my programs

correction. it is just a download of the latest java runtime. at this point it doesn't sound like it would hurt to overlay whatever java you have present.

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/4910#comment-346257

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/4910#comment-346259

They are so cute at that age. All huggy and what they say is adorable too!

I had to uninstall and reinstall IE 8. It was giving me problems. But now I use Firefox and have less problems with java. It seems IE and Java always have problems. And firefox told me to update adobe flashplayer. Haven't had a problem.

Sammy gets humiliated for his cluelessness by an A list blogger.

http://dailyhowler.com/

thanks ;)

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