Franken wins

Make us proud, you crazy bastid!

-

More so than many politicians or lawyers imo. What's wrong with calling Franken a comedian?

The Senate needs more professional, not accidental, comedians.

That is great news. I wonder when he will actually get to go to work.
I like the sound of Senator Seder also!

Gina

Sarkozy accused of Lieberman 'jibe'

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has urged Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, "to get rid of" Avigdor Lieberman, Netanyahu's far-right foreign minister, Israeli media have reported.

The reports said Sarkozy compared Lieberman, accused of racism by many Palestinian-Israeli politicians, with Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French far-right politician,...
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/06/2009630165649992501.htm...

Justices to Review Campaign Finance Law Constraints

The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will consider whether to uphold a ban on corporate spending in federal elections, a move that campaign finance experts said could have a dramatic effect on the 2010 and 2012 federal elections.

In a surprise move, the court said it would delay a decision on whether a conservative group's film criticizing then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton ran afoul of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance act.

Instead, the court scheduled a rare September hearing on whether the law itself raised constitutional questions and it said it would reexamine a 1990 decision that said restricting corporations from spending money from their general treasuries to support or oppose political candidates did not violate constitutional guarantees of free speech.

"This has the potential to be a blockbuster," said Michael E. Toner, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission. He said the issues have implications for "the whole architecture of the federal campaign financing system."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/29/AR200906...

is saying that there was a unanimous decision by the MN Supreme Court that Franken won. Five out of the seven Supremes voted and to rescinded themselves.

Israel permits new settlement homes

Israel has approved the construction of 50 new homes in a West Bank settlement and announced plans to expropriate more Palestinian land.

The move comes just hours before Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, visits the US in a bid to defuse tensions over Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

Responding to reports that Israel might agree to suspend settlement activity for three months instead of enforcing a total freeze, Ian Kelly, a US state department spokesman, said: "I'm not going to say we're not willing to compromise."

"This would be the largest area of land ever confiscated by Israel in one go since 1967," said Hatem Abdel-Qader, the Palestinian minister for Jerusalem affairs. "We will appeal against this decision."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/20096300295121896.h...

NOT politically viable...

Charming...and apparently acceptable to most..

...with Alvaro Uribe, his Colombian counterpart, Barack Obama said he had instructed Ron Kirk, the US trade representative, to work closely with Bogota on how to proceed with the free trade agreement.

"There are obvious difficulties involved in the process and there remains work to do, but I am confident that ultimately we [will] strike a deal that is good for the people of Colombia and good for the people of the United States," Obama said on Monday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/06/2009629205448278537.h...

Obama is making short work saving corporate capitalism form the incompetence of George Bush. Last week he saved the despised pro-Western "government" of Somalia. This week the reconquestia of Latin America has begun. I predict some really expensive heating oil for the constituents of Congressman José Serrano this winter.
Don't forget to donate to the DLC for the up coming elections!

TGIFranken!

"this machine kills fascists"

And Dr. Murray wasn't certified to practice cardiology...

This tidbit of info was tucked in a column on the business pages:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/30/BUH018FMJI.D...

[excerpt]

Jackson's last promoter: On the hook for what has been called "one of the biggest ticket refunds in history" is an entertainment company owned by San Francisco Examiner proprietor Philip Anschutz. The company, AEG Live, was the promoter of Michael Jackson's London concerts, which reportedly had sold approximately 1 million tickets, at a face value of $85 million. A small amount of that, at best, may be covered by an insurance policy, according to news reports.

AEG Live is part of the Anschutz Entertainment Group, one of the world's largest sports and entertainment enterprises, which in turn is a subsidiary of the Anschutz Co., a private holding company owned by the Denver billionaire. Anschutz recently added the Weekly Standard, the conservative political magazine previously owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., to his list of media properties, for an undisclosed price.

Apart from the ticket refunds, Anschutz's entertainment company also owes Jackson's physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, $300,000, according to Murray's attorney, Edward Chernoff. AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips said Murray was to be paid $150,000 per month, but that AEG, as reported by the Associated Press, "was merely advancing the money to Jackson."

It is not clear what AEG Live, or anyone else in Anschutz's far-flung empire, might have known about some of Murray's reported problems, including $400,000 in court judgments in Nevada, a declared bankruptcy in California, and the lack of board certification in internal medicine and cardiology, Murray's two areas of practice.

In media interviews, Phillips has said AEG Live hired Murray at Jackson's insistence.

[end excerpt]

==================

Do they have Jackson's "insistence" in writing?

Intercepted By Israeli Navy

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Israeli navy intercepted a ship carrying foreign peace activists trying to break a blockade of Gaza on Tuesday and forced it to sail to an Israeli port, the military said.

A statement said the Greek-registered freighter Arion ignored a radio message from the Israeli military saying it would not be allowed to enter Gaza waters and ordering it to turn back.

The statement said naval personnel boarded the small vessel without any shots being fired.

The military said those on board would be handed over to immigration authorities on arrival in the southern port of Ashdod, and humanitarian cargo would be trucked into the Gaza Strip after a security check. The ship arrived at Ashdod port after nightfall.

An earlier statement by the voyage's organizers, the Free Gaza Movement, said the vessel, renamed the Spirit of Humanity, left the Cypriot port of Larnaca on Monday bound for Gaza with three tons of medical supplies.

The 20 passengers include former U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire and other activists from Britain, Ireland, Bahrain and Jamaica.

you can leave

Yep...it's the Congress alright....
http://www.samsedershow.com/node/4964#comment-350152

...

Not again.....

Didn't this happen to her once before? Last time the Israelis rammed the boat, if I remember correctly

I could use some time away I think...

Look at this. Obama meeting with the killer Uribe to jam free trade down our ass. My state is dying and this worthless fuck is trying to figure out how to kill it off completely. Obama is worse than Bush, because Bush was too stupid to successfully implement his despicable dreams.
Obama has no time to campaign for a public option for health care or end mountain top removal, but he has plenty of time to help drive down wages and outsource work.
Still these radio hosts will defend him to end. God forbid that the hypocritical, morally depraved Republicans come back.

http://www.bestcyrano.org/?p=2602

between your world & mine
between this thread & the last

and i'm acting funny and jumpy...
but i don't know why

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/4964#comment-350129

jump
jump
jump!
*chucka-chucka-chucka*
up & down under

heh - good term...very accurate...

"See the glory of The Royal Scam..."

people who are not sedated during space/time travel will lose their minds...(see The Jaunt, by Stephen King...)

Up the meds. :)

parachuting onto cynthia mckinney's stranded boat
with my rapcore southern hemi hommies from brazil
and a few of you guys
and we jump together, while
they (charlie brown jr) play hendrix's purple funny

'scuse me
is this tomorrow or just the end of time
who gives a fuck...
jump
jump
jump!

(catharine, you're not jumping)

AP Newsbreak: SC gov 'crossed lines' with women AP - 9 minutes ago

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said Tuesday that he "crossed lines" with a handful of women other than his mistress — but never had sex with them. The governor said he "never crossed the ultimate line" with anyone but Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine at the center of a scandal that has derailed his once-promising political career.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090630/ap_on_re_us/us_sc_governor;_ylt=Amtd...

Reuters' coverage--

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE55R24E20090628

Some more cheese with your whine??

GOP leaders have a new complaint about President Obama: He’s not reaching out to them nearly as much as he did earlier this year, when he road-tested his pledge of post-partisanship, only to get uniformly rebuffed on his first big legislative initiative.

Here’s GOP Rep. Eric Cantor, giving voice to the new GOP gripe:

GOP leaders complain that the phone calls and White House invitations have slacked off — perhaps because Obama’s early efforts to woo Republicans yielded few votes.

“I think that in the beginning they seemed a lot more willing to go in and engage with us,” said House Minority Whip Eric Cantor.

I asked Cantor spokesperson Joe Pounder if this was the real view of House GOP leaders. He argued that while Obama engaged at the outset — watching the Super Bowl with GOPs, for instance — there were now multiple cases where Republicans had been snubbed.

For instance, Pounder said, the White House has not responded to the House GOP proposal for $375 billion in budgetary savings for the next five years. What’s more, Pounder continued, Obama has met only with Democrats on several recent occasions.

Call the Whaaaaaamublance!

nah, throw them overboard
and up the rapcore

June photo of NKorea's Kim may be recycled: report AP - Mon Jun 29, 8:23 AM ET

SEOUL, South Korea - A photo of the North Korean leader recently shown on Pyongyang's state TV appears to be a doctored version of one published in April by the country's official news agency — a possible sign his health is worsening — South Korean media reported Monday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090629/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_nuclear;_ylt=A...

It's not a huge deal, but I will tell you what is wrong. It is a slur on the right. I have had many conversations with otherwise intelligent people who unfortunately watch Fox and read Drudge and they put Franken down specifically because he's "just some comedian who was on Saturday Night Live" [that's the meme from the right]. I had to point out, to more than a few of them, his political credentials.

UN backs ousted Honduran leader
By WILL WEISSERT and FREDDY CUEVAS, Associated Press Writers Will Weissert And Freddy Cuevas, Associated Press Writers 48 mins ago

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – The U.N. General Assembly demanded the immediate restoration of Honduras' ousted president on Tuesday, but the man who replaced him said Manuel Zelaya could be arrested if he returns home.

The U.N. vote by acclamation added to an avalanche of international denunciations of the coup that removed Zelaya on Sunday, an action that raised fears of more of the military overthrows that have scarred Latin American history.

The world body called on all 192 U.N. member states to avoid recognizing any government in Honduras other than Zelaya's.

Zelaya then thanked the assembly for the "historic" resolution that expresses "the indignation" of people worldwide.

The Organization of American States planned an emergency meeting in Washington hours later to reinforce the pressure to reinstate Zelaya, whose foes claim he was plotting with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez to change the Honduran constitution in hopes of extending his rule.

The United States, which had privately expressed concerns to Zelaya about changing the constitution, has stood behind him since masked soldiers sent him, still wearing pajamas, into exile.

President Barack Obama said Zelaya remains "the democratically elected president."

"It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition rather than democratic elections," Obama said Monday.

Zelaya also got support from Latin American leaders in Nicaragua on Monday, and said OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza had agreed to accompany him back to Honduras on Thursday. More...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090630/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup/p...

Labor unions remain staunchly opposed to the deal, their main argument being reports of Colombian-military-sanctioned killings of trade unionists, and Pelosi has no plans to bring the agreement to the floor any time soon, according to her office.

...

The Obama White House has yet to embark on trade areements; those in the works are Panama, South Korea, and Colombia. Panama is expected to be the first one hammered out; after that, we'll see how congressional Democrats handle trade agreements under the new administration.

instead of our President.

Is a confession like this somehow going to mean he doesn't have to resign for being AWOL from his state duties? Is this some kind of Domininionist Subculture thang?

Democracy Derailed in Honduras
As a solution to the disastrous "war on drugs," which has turned Central America into a well-traversed trans-shipment corridor for narcotraficantes--profitable for some, deadly for many--he has proposed the legalization of some narcotics. Earlier this year at the Summit of the Americas, he took the lead in pushing Barack Obama to normalize relations with Cuba. And he has steered his country into both the Bolivarian Alternative to the Americas and Petrocaribe, two regional economic alliances backed by Venezuela meant to wean Latin America off its extreme dependence on the US market.

It seems like what the United States might be angling for in Honduras could be the "Haiti Option." In 1994 Bill Clinton worked to restore Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide after he was deposed in a coup, but only on the condition that Aristide would support IMF and World Bank policies. The result was a disaster, leading to deepening poverty, escalating polarization and, in 2004, a second coup against Aristide, this one fully backed by the Bush White House.

(But the referendum Zelaya was pushing--which prompted the coup--asked citizens only if there should be a vote on "whether to hold a Constituent National Assembly that will approve a new political Constitution." )
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090713/grandin

"It is imperative that the people of our nation look squarely into the heart of darkness to know what was done in our name under orders from the prior administration. It is impossible to be the country we claim to be if we do not face this controversy head on and reveal our mistakes. The release of all the photos and documents are essential to this process of learning the facts and healing a deeply troubled nation. All of the relevant information should also be given immediately to a special prosecutor to investigate and hold accountable those who would order torture, abuse, and rendition – all of which are very serious war crimes."

IVAW Members and other Veterans: Add Your Name Against the Use of Torture

Accepts loss

Just now on MSNBC. It's finally over!

Woot!

-In 1994 Bill Clinton worked to restore Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide after he was deposed in a coup, but only on the condition that Aristide would support IMF and World Bank policies-

predatory banking--

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/70985.html

and that's preferable to "just some politician who was on SNL?"

Tom Delay just some "roach killer" who ended up House Majority Leader.

and their crowd uses it as a slur.

Norm Coleman
you whacky goof ball.

And before you leave:
pay Mr. Franken for all his
court costs.

Don't ask, don't tell or be publicly trashed....

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/06/29/arabic-translator-to-stand-trial-...

All I know is Dems better not screw this up.

________________________________

Meg - Dirty Hippie Spicy Mustard-Eating Liberal

http://theuptake.org/?cat=32

I don't understand this criticism. "State duties?" You mean trying to make sure funds for unemployment benefits would run out. Sanford's dalliances represent his gubernatorial achievements. If he should resign, it should be for his agenda.

by the same token Catherine...most of theirs are "Lawyers"... :)

Obama's nightmare.

...then they have to explain Fred Fucking Thompson!

"this machine kills fascists"

well, many of them anyway.

But hey! I wonder if Coleman's going to give out discounts on the price of a baggie to drum business back up? Something about losing one job makes people like him find quick opportunities. I bet he gets toxic chronic.

(from the vanity fair article)
When Trig was born, Palin wrote an e-mail letter to friends and relatives, describing the belated news of her pregnancy and detailing Trig’s condition; she wrote the e-mail not in her own name but in God’s, and signed it “Trig’s Creator, Your Heavenly Father.”

Also, Purdum reports that Palin lied about not having insurance to show “she could empathize with uninsured Americans.” Palin insisted that in her early years of marriage, she and husband Todd did not have coverage, when in fact they had catastrophic coverage. Palin “insisted that catastrophic insurance didn’t really count and need not be revealed.”

http://freedemocracy.blogspot.com/2009/06/palin-wrote-e-mail-to-friends....

but in wing-nut world
these inconvenient truths (that she a vindictive moron) aren't considered relevant
but e.g. a kennedy gets pulled over for drunk driving
and it gets wall-to-wall coverage

(fuck the media)

at 5:15 EDT

I'll be at work. Getting ready now.

Randi Rhodes out of couriosity,
its been about a year or more.

http://www.progressivetalk1150.com/cc-common/ondemand/player.html?world=...

Vacations provide much more free time. :)

"The Commission Has Been Road-Blocked": Republicans' War On The FEC

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/the_commission_has_bee...

I posted this earlier. It's long but important.

#EmailFail: Lt. Gov. Hires Swift Boat Operative to Nudge Sanford From Office
By Rachel Slajda - June 29, 2009, 4:09PM

All sex aside, the Sanford scandal offers plenty of political intrigue.

If Gov. Mark Sanford resigns, Lt. Gov. André Bauer would get to run as an incumbent in 2010 -- a definite leg up -- and his supporters have been pushing hard for Sanford's resignation. But some of them have been pushing the wrong people.

The NYT obtained an email from one of Bauer's political consultants, Chris LaCivita, a former media consultant for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. He sent the email, which mentioned his efforts to oust Sanford, to fellow GOP operative Curt Anderson.

"André Bauer is my client; I've been working this since Monday," the email read. "I need to get this guy (Sanford) out."

Unfortunately, Anderson isn't exactly sympathetic to Bauer's ambitions, as he's a close friend of one of his likely opponents, Attorney General Henry McMaster.

"On this, I can't help you," Anderson replied. "Henry McMaster has been a friend of mine for almost 20 years." Anderson, by the way, is also one of Michael Steele's political consultants.

Note to LaCivita: Better check those email lists.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/emailfail_lt_gov_hires...

Oregon legalizes hemp cultivation

By Daniel Tencer

Published: June 30, 2009

Oregon’s House of Representatives voted Monday night to legalize the cultivation of hemp, becoming the sixth state to do so just this year.

Oregon’s Senate voted 27 to 2 in favor of the new law last week. Monday’s 46 to 11 House vote means that the measure will become law, barring an unlikely veto by Governor Ted Kulongoski.

The move is part of a rapidly growing nationwide trend to liberalize laws relating to marijuana. Hemp is a botanical cousin of marijuana, traditionally used to make clothing, rope and other durable fiber goods.

[...]

Link

BIOTCH!!!!

I feel so whole now .. I have TWO senators!!!

Go Big Al!!! Get your Ass to D.C. - PRONTO

pffft - that's crazy. That weirdo can't write. She can barely speak.

Should We Bulldoze the 'Burbs?

A story last week in the Telegraph, a British paper, describes how the city of Flint, Mich., a former industrial powerhouse now facing depopulation and plummeting home values, is dealing with vacant housing.

The solution? Bulldoze entire districts, returning the land to nature, and concentrate the population in the urban core.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/141002/should_we_bulldoze_the_%27bur...

As railhead towns feel the steel mills rust
Water froze in the generation
Clear as winter ice, this is your paradise

There ain't no need for ya
There ain't no need for ya
Go Straight to Hell boys
Go Straight to Hell boys

I think Ms Osborne speaks quite clearly.

Health Care: A staffer leaked some preliminary details of the public option Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee plan to include in their reform legislation. Those details imply a significant retreat from the bold plan the committee intended to offer at the outset of the process, but still leave room for a robust public insurance option. Still unknown: whether those details will be acceptable to Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) who's been unwilling up until now to accept a public option, and whose vote may be required to move the bill out of committee.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/help-committee-leak-details-l...

Cornyn On Minnesota Race: "It's Troubling To Think" What Dems Will Do With 60 Seats
By Eric Kleefeld - June 30, 2009, 4:58PM

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has released this statement on Sen.-elect Al Franken's (D-MN) victory:

"I would like to commend both Norm Coleman and Al Franken on a hard fought campaign. In particular, I would like to be among the first to welcome Al Franken to the United States Senate.

"This has been a long process and while both sides would have preferred a speedier outcome, full, fair and free elections are what make our nation great. That's why I have so much respect for Norm Coleman. I've known Norm not just as a friend and colleague, but as a devoted public servant who recognized that this legal challenge was not just about him. It was about making sure no Minnesotan was disenfranchised in this election.

Read more »

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/cornyn-on-minnesota-race-its-...

Minnesota Sec. of State: I Will Co-Sign Election Certificate As Soon As It Is Issued by Gov. Pawlenty
By Eric Kleefeld - June 30, 2009, 3:30PM

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (D) has released this statement on apparent Sen.-elect Al Franken's (D) victory at the Minnesota Supreme Court:

I thank the Minnesota Supreme Court, the three-judge election contest panel, the State Canvassing Board, local election officials, and all campaign staff and volunteers for their extraordinary efforts in bringing this U.S. Senate election to its conclusion.

This unanimous opinion of the Court affirms the accuracy and fairness of Minnesota's election laws and recount procedures. As required by Minnesota law, I will co-sign the election certificate as soon as it is issued by Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican and a potential presidential candidate, has not yet released a statement.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/minnesota-sec-of-state-i-will...

Something is going right for a bit!

Now I'm off to work

Later

-Better Heads for Hemp....
Submitted by cent on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 5:04pm.
Oregon legalizes hemp cultivation-

The Divine Answer To Our Economic Woes: More Prayer, Less Debauchery

by Abby Zimet

We thank God for Oklahoma's Rep. Sally Kern, who has proposed a resolution to lead us out of our recession and multitude of earthly woes. Her whereas-strewn Citizens' Proclamation for Morality blasts a nation "that has become a world leader in abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, divorce...and other forms of debauchery" – not to mention a president who "disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and pure lives by proclaiming an entire month to an immoral behavior" – and calls for "a national awakening of righteousness in our land," presumably followed by fewer layoffs and better interest rates.

"WHEREAS, the people of Oklahoma have a strong tradition of reliance upon the Creator of the Universe...and WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national moral crisis....NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we the undersigned....believers in the One True God and His only Son, call upon all to join with us in recognizing that Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord."

Link

"I said WALK, sucka!!!"

In a fascinating 22-page study of money and currency, Christopher Weber shows that every government - from Athens, to pre-collapse Rome, to the Islamic countries in the Middle Ages - which stuck to the Greek standard of coins has been stable and prosperous.

http://www.weberglobal.net/Historyofmoneycompleter.pdf

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/06/shaving-stability-off-of-money-su...

taken so long...

I remember thinking it was suspicious then...

I wonder who got what?

THE New York Times worked with Wikipedia to keep news of the kidnapping of one of its reporters in Afghanistan off the online user-edited encyclopedia.

http://rinf.com/alt-news/contributions/wikipedia-censored-news-of-afghan...

http://antiforeclosurearmy.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm1adbOrCfY
How to protest

June 30, 2009

Conyers Denies Switching Position for Wife's Bribe

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) "denied allegations of impropriety in the wake of his wife's admission that she accepted bribes in exchange for vote on a key contract while she was on the Detroit City Council," the Detroit News reports.

Monica Conyers "pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges last week. She was also implicated in another potential bribery case involving a controversial deep injection well... John Conyers later appeared to change his position on the same well."

Mrs. Conyers is expected to face up to five years in federal prison.

Link

This wife thing is just a warning...if Conyers doesn't get in line on healthcare he will be the victim of some "coincidental" discoveries too...

Will Durst

June 30, 2009

California gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown just got a clean bill of health from his paleontologist.

The Progressive

and congress is making me irate....

I have found it easier to just stay angry...

Saves on mood swings.

no big surprise that drudge features a big picture of stuart smiley as part of their headlines about franken kicking colemans ass to the curb.

that the republican party uses character denigration as part of their strategy is really a refelection that they are a has been. their days are waning and they are grasping at anything. even funnier is that none of them have a leg to stand on. whether they are bug killers, over tanned idiots, psychopathic religious freaks, or just your garden variety criminal, what does the republican party have to justify a claim to superiority?

LOL {snicker} *poof*

We worked our asses off to get Obama elected president, and we got him a supermajority in the Senate. But he still insists on being Mr Bipartisan 'cause he's already running for 2012.
Fuck!
Then there are the blueball fake Democrats.
Got your bipartisanship right here: http://tinyurl.com/4mx9d

Howard Dean in 2012. Or Ralph Nader.

There is a lot to be angry about. I'm trying to find a way to look for bright news no matter how glib.

Norm Coleman conceding was a bright spot. That and his wife's blo and go ad...

He's kept the public option in his show since day 1. I'm going to have to say that's a good thing.

Did Laurie help persuade Gumby to GO away, using the "product" suggested here?

Oh - the thing is another crappy piece of clutter. Then does she do Norm's hair?

Norm's just another 2 bit dealer now.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday that the Pentagon is looking into “more humane” ways to comply with a law that bans openly gay people from serving in the military. - The Hill

Trying to sell cars in an economy he helped trash

The electric chair was sold as a "more humane" than hanging* people by the neck until dead.

*past tense and past participle = "hanged" when used with reference to execution

:)

*

-Submitted by cent on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 6:15pm.
I have found it easier to just stay angry...-

Great strategy!

have been too busy to even check the news

so now what's this i hear about franken. Finally!

now Paul Wellstone can finally stop rolling in his grave and have his well and long deserved RIP (even though Franken he's not Wellstone, to be sure)

Cougar may be prowling South Salem
Animal spotted near Belcrest Memorial Park cemetery
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20090630/NEWS/906300322/1001
Not a wolf, to be sure, but still wild.

Wal-Mart backs employer health insurance mandate

Associated Press Writer= WASHINGTON (AP) — Wal-Mart is the latest in a line of traditionally Republican-leaning businesses to embrace key portions of President Barack Obama's bid to overhaul health care, a trend that could complicate opponents' efforts to build a united front when Congress ramps up its work on the issue this summer.

Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, on Tuesday endorsed the idea of requiring large companies to offer health insurance to their workers.

The letter was also signed by Andrew L. Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, which has more than a million members and counts more U.S. health workers than any other union. Also signing it was John Podesta, who headed Obama's transition team and is president of the Center for American Progress.

As recently as 2006, Wal-Mart fiercely fought Maryland's efforts to force it to contribute more toward its employees' health care coverage.

Wal-Mart lately has tried to improve employee relations, and has hired some prominent Democrats to broaden its political base. One of them, executive vice president Leslie Dach, said Wal-Mart feels the current U.S. health care system is unsustainable, and an employer insurance mandate is a cost that businesses should accept.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8585544

I can only guess this is payoff to Obama for preserving free trade and ignoring China's manipulation of its currency.

walmart has been using the public health care option for decades (it's called the emergency room).

This is an obvious improvement that would help their bottom line. Why wouldn't business support a public option?

The obstacles are big pharma and the Insurance companies. Is the AMA even an opponent here? My doctor supports single payer. My dentist does not but they were all born with bricks in their heads.

but chuck todd filling in for him is gruesome, totally unbearable. what an ass!

I like Todd better than Mathews or Gregory and even Russert. His political analysis is more precise albeit brutal and it's less show and more data.

All of tonight's anchors wore green ties so far. What will Rachel do?

That might not be completely bad:

Early on, Wellstone took a dive on the biggest organizing issue for reformers in 1993. He abandoned his support for single-payer health insurance in the face of blandishments from Hillary Clinton.

Greens v. Liberal Democrats in Minnesota
The Future Wellstone Deserves

by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair
http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn0603.html

Congrats to my love Al Franken

That's Senator Al Franken to u fuckin
Re-pub-lick-thugs - kiss my tiny white
ass fuckers...... :)

The Many Problems With The Ballistics Evidence Used
To Convict Mumia Abu-Jama
http://abu-jamal-news.com/docs/ballistics.pdf

thanks 4 posting that tune...

???

:)

I guess the podcast disconned or something...

it just seems like we should be able to do more in support of the Iranian dissidents.

The one good thing about this tragedy is American's no longer view the people of Iran as their enemy.

Pakistan now facing 2-front war in Waziristan

By Saeed Shah | McClatchy Newspapers
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A militant commander in northwest Pakistan tore up a peace deal with the Pakistani government Tuesday, dealing a major blow to the government's campaign against Islamist insurgents in the extremist-controlled Waziristan region.

Bahadur blamed missile strikes in his territory by American drone aircraft for turning him against the Pakistani government, and his move also could spur an ongoing debate over whether the attacks are doing more good than harm.

"This accord is being scrapped because of Pakistan's failure to stop the American drone attacks in North and South Waziristan," said Ahmadullah Ahmadi, a spokesman for Bahadur.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/71076.html

I hope Pakistan is able to grow a responsible government.

I am ok if you don't get that. Are you cheering the tearing of the peace deal? WTF? Who's side are you on?

Just to be clear. A military GPS global map is accurate within 5cm. A strike done with one of these is limited and precise to the limits of technology. These are the people who support A.Q.Khan and the factions of the ISI that helped bring 9/11. If they use their families to shield this insurgence, so they can export their imprecise terror, then they must be convinced to come to the table. Even if they tear up their one chance for legitimacy. I support the feeble Pakistani government. Who do you support?

This sounds like another one of your overly one sided comments meant to incite that has no balance about what is really going on.

This ain't no disco and my heart bleeds like yours.

BOWS AL Franken... btw that is another reason I checked in, was to celebrate with some on this blog, since I was even "watching" on a wee "boob" tube.. I think I have a brother & family in MN... he is a rethug & this should be driving him crazy....hehehe tea hee {but not his wife nor a few of his children teehee ...
;)

Thom Hartmann and Ron Reagan were talking heavily about Campaign Finance which is going to the Supremes in September.

When does Al Franken's paycheck as a Senator begin?

If Franken's paycheck(s) begins at the conclusion of the original election, then he his being paid for not being able to vote as a Senator.

On the other hand, we might assume that Franken stayed abreast of the happenings within the Senate since the election on the chance that he might be seated at any time. In that case, he was working as a Senator all along...but the not-being-able-to-vote thingy remains (not to mention not being able to influence the votes of fellow Senators).

The decision regarding ballots would seem to say that Al Franken was Senator Franken a long time ago.

It's a weird conundrum and I don't have a clue as to when Franken begins his first pay period. I suppose that he must be sworn-in before the paycheck clock begins to tick.

Mountain Lion on the Loose!
Submitted by Leah on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 7:39pm.
Cougar may be prowling South Salem
Animal spotted near Belcrest Memorial Park cemetery
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20090630/NEWS/906300322/1001
Not a wolf, to be sure, but still wild.

»

I have some bloody pixs. Mountain Lions eating. ;)

{I luv "Bones" }

*

Yes the podcast on itunes changed and the description doesn't say Marc Maron and Sam Seder now, it says Air America or something...

two years ago, Syrian President Bashar Assad sent a tub of hummus to then-prime minister Ehud Olmert, Channel 2 reported Thursday.

According to the report, Assad was meeting a visiting US businessman in Syria and asked what Olmert liked to eat.

The businessman said hummus particularly tickled the then-prime minster's taste buds, and so the Syrian president sent the tub, which eventually reached Olmert via Jordan.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245924931771&pagename=JPost%...

Yes, but what about the rocket?

and other low life leftwing scum populating these internets:

Would you like some hummous, Fernando?

that's not how it works. You might want to look up how they work. They do fail, but rarely. Pick your weapon. These are the most discriminate.

I don't like it any more than you do but I'm not going to pretend like I live on another planet and in a different reality.

And btw, yes. Rockets can be made very precise. Do you think the Mars rovers landed by accident precisely as predicted? Physics works.

What's with the continuing confessions of Gov. Sanford?
Submitted by nora on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 3:52pm.
Is a confession like this somehow going to mean he doesn't have to resign for being AWOL from his state duties? Is this some kind of Domininionist Subculture thang?

...'what's a man gotta do and say to get the republicans to call for my resignation and to get the wife to file the papers?'

But once you sign with the devil, Gov. Sanford, the deal is done.

How many on this blog think Kim Yong Il is good for the world? There is no light between Kim Yong Il and the people ghettodefender appears to sympathize with.

both parties are proponents of using nuclear technology as a bargaining chip? How will ghettodefender feel if he's on record seeming to support that?

Save the lecture in support of "surgical strikes."

I know, the wonders of modern science have finally found a humane way of killing people, with minimal collateral damage, as they call it. I've heard this one before.

"I'm not going to pretend like I live on another planet and in a different reality."

But aren't you the second life guy?

Wal-Mart embraces the employer mandate.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/30/walmart-employer-mandate/

walmartToday, Wal-Mart, the largest private employer in the country wrote a letter (along with the Center for American Progress and SEIU) to the Obama administration expressing its support for the employer mandate:

We are for an employer mandate which is fair and broad in its coverage, but any alternative to an employer mandate should not create barriers to hiring entry level employees….Support for a mandate also requires the strongest possible commitment to rein in health care costs.

Read the full letter HERE.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/health-lett...

As the Hill’s Jeffery Young observes, “The decision by Wal-Mart to break away from the Chamber and its ilk marks the first visible crack in the business coalition on healthcare reform.” Indeed, Wal-Mart’s embrace of the employer mandate enhances the existing system of employer-based coverage, levels the playing field between employers and preserves the employer contribution that will help finance health care reform. The Wonk Room has much more here.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/06/30/walmart-letter/

Palin wrote an e-mail to friends pretending to be God: ‘Trig’s Creator, Your Heavenly Father.’

ap0810200236691 In a new article in next month’s Vanity Fair by Todd Purdum, former McCain presidential campaign aides unload on former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, calling her a “Little Shop of Horrors,” a “diva,” and a “whack job.” The exposé also reveals that Palin, in an e-mail to her friends announcing the birth of her baby Trig, pretended to play God:

When Trig was born, Palin wrote an e-mail letter to friends and relatives, describing the belated news of her pregnancy and detailing Trig’s condition; she wrote the e-mail not in her own name but in God’s, and signed it “Trig’s Creator, Your Heavenly Father.”

Also, Purdum reports that Palin lied about not having insurance to show “she could empathize with uninsured Americans.” Palin insisted that in her early years of marriage, she and husband Todd did not have coverage, when in fact they had catastrophic coverage. Palin “insisted that catastrophic insurance didn’t really count and need not be revealed.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/30/palin-god/

And expect to get anywhere. I'm not saying Kim is any good. Good has nothing to do with who we support and who we don't, anyway. Look at the Saudis.

I attempted to use second life to post Sam's shows.

I'm sorry if that's offensive to you.

I don't support the house of Saud any more than you do dada. But I'm not willing to fight this administration on it.

I don't have all of the information on it.

When Bush was in office it was clear that his support was aimed more at multinational corporations. I am not convinced that Obama's tolerance is in support of those same corporations. His $8B pledge to alternate fueled cars may just have me confused but I'm not going nuts over that.

I can get that he wants to support the 300 million cars on our freeways at the moment.

Alleged Exploitation Of Immigrants And Seniors Underscores Need For Consumer Protection Agency

ap090116021032Since the Obama administration announced its plan to create a new regulatory agency solely tasked with protecting consumers, there has been a steady drumbeat of opposition from the banking and business lobbies, Republican lawmakers, and the talking heads at CNBC. But today, there are a couple of reports highlighting why a consumer protection agency is so necessary.

First, the LA Times is reporting the story of former Bank of America teller Gabby Ornelas, who is accusing the bank of exploiting Latino immigrant consumers:

Ornelas was instructed to use her Spanish language skills and Latina heritage to sign up customers for as many kinds of banking services as possible, she said — services that led to lucrative fees for the bank and financial entanglement for many customers.

And then there’s McClatchy noting that “an influx of shady loan professionals have made lawmakers uneasy about the safety and soundness of the popular government-backed reverse-mortgage program”:

As the popularity of reverse mortgages grows, however, complaints are mounting that unsavory loan professionals who fled the troubled sub-prime mortgage industry now are plying their craft on unsuspecting seniors seeking the loans. Some agents, seeking higher fees, are steering loan applicants into costly long-term annuities, which almost always are inappropriate for seniors because they can tie up retirement savings for many years.

AARP also claims that predatory lenders are attempting “to get seniors to use proceeds of their reverse mortgage to buy expensive long-term-care insurance,” even though it often “makes more sense for seniors to use the payout for actual long-term care, not a hard-to-use insurance policy.” Earlier this month, Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan warned “that reverse mortgages pose significant compliance risks and said regulators should get out in front of this issue.”

Today, the Treasury Department delivered legislative language for the creation of the new agency to Capitol Hill. One of the agency’s main responsibilities, according to the draft language, will be prescribing rules “identifying as unlawful unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices in connection with any transaction with a consumer for a consumer financial product or service.” The agency will also have the power to issue subpoenas and seek court orders to halt abusive practices for both banks and non-banks.

Currently, the regulatory system treats consumer protection “as secondary or even in direct conflict with ensuring the soundness of financial institutions,” but these two functions of the agency — creating rules to protect consumers and the use of enforcement mechanisms — will hopefully address that imbalance. As long as the new agency is adequately funded and given as much clout as the banking regulators, it can rein in those hawking abusive financial products to vulnerable populations.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/06/30/we-need-consumer-protection...

A Storm’s Coming On Campaign Finance

moneyYesterday’s high-profile decision in the Ricci firefighters case obscures another, equally important development which could usher in a new era of corporate money in politics. Traditionally, the Supreme Court decides every single case it heard during a particular term before adjourning for the summer recess. This Term, however, the Court announced that it will leave one case, a campaign finance case called Citizens United v. FEC, undecided. Moreover, in a brief order explaining why this decision will be delayed, the Court ordered the parties to brief whether a landmark precedent limiting the influence of corporate money in politics should be overruled.

Nineteen years ago, in Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the Court upheld a ban on independent political expenditures–so-called “soft money” contributions–by corporate donors. As the Court explained in Austin, “the unique state-conferred corporate structure that facilitates the amassing of large treasuries warrants the limit on independent expenditures.” Corporations are designed to amass massive amounts of money, and they can use their enormous wealth to drown out individual voices, all while spending only a fraction of their treasuries.

Should the Court toss out Austin, it could be the end of any meaningful restrictions on campaign finance. In most states, all that is necessary to form a new corporation is to file the right paperwork in the appropriate government office. Moreover, nothing prevents one corporation from owning another corporation. Without Austin, even a cap on overall contributions becomes meaningless, because corporate donors can simply create a series of shell-corporations for the purpose of evading such caps.

Admittedly, Austin dealt only with independent expenditures, not direct corporate donations to candidates and their campaigns, but the Roberts Court’s apparent willingness to take on Austin directly is its boldest assault on campaign finance reform yet. By 2012, President Obama may not only need to run against the Republican candidate; he may also be in a no-holds-barred political fight with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the Chamber of Commerce and Wal-Mart.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/06/30/a-storms-coming-on-campaign...

And all options are on the table.

So why all the fuss?

HELP Releases Public Plan Outline

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, Pensions (HELP) committee has released its much anticipated outline of the public health insurance option. Earlier this month, in an effort to find common ground with Republicans and iron out some of the most contentious issues, the committee’s ‘“Affordable Health Choices Act,” omitted language on the employer mandate and the new public option.

At the time, the New York Times had reported that the committee was considering a public plan that would reimburse providers 10 percent above Medicare rates. The outline released today doesn’t preclude that possibility, but it makes it less likely.

The new HELP framework allows the public plan to “reimburse health care providers at rates which will be no more than the average reimbursement rate paid by private plans offered through Gateways.” Under this arrangement, the new public plan would have to negotiate its own rates and play by the same rules as other private insurers within the Gateway (i.e. Exchange) — it “would follow the same rules as private plans for defining benefits, protecting consumers, and setting premiums.” What’s more, the public option would be responsible for attracting providers and would thus have to rely on competitive rates (instead of Medicare-like rates) to retain enough participants.

During its first few years of operation, the public plan would be protected from becoming a dumping ground for sicker and costlier patients. Under the outline, it would qualify for “risk corridor protections” to “offset or reclaim excessive losses and gains which could result during the start-up period (identical to those in Medicare Part D). Subsequently, its premiums would be set to make it self sufficient.”

On the whole, then, the plan follows Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) level playing arrangement. Some of the public plan’s inherent advantages — i.e. its ability to use Medicare rates and Medicare leverage — are intentionally dulled. Still, the national option would be able, in due time, to build a strong market presence and use its size and market presence to inject competition in the insurance markets and drive down costs.

Update TPM DC points out: "It's unclear whether this language will please freshman Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC)--the HELP Democrat whose reservations about the public option have forced the committee to modify their plan and delay it's roll out."

Update A source tells the Wonk Room that the HELP Committee is holding the release until tomorrow.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/06/30/help-public-plan/

paper tiger.

America's nukes are useless in the face of any reasonable threat.

And dada - I'll do that when I stop seeing people defend the state sponsored proliferation of nuclear weapons. You can save your own censorship. We all have opinions. I'm not keeping you from your attempts at a rational one.

toniD -

Yesterday I learned that fat spaghetti cooked al dente shouldn't affect my blood sugars. I made it tonight with your vodka creme sauce and all I can say is bless you and keep you always!

...

.

I received a message from my brother 'cross the water
He sat laughin' as he wrote, "The end's in sight"
So I said goodbye to all my friends
and packed my hopes inside a matchbox
'cause I know it's time to fly

Oh-oh-oh-hoh, yeah, come on, meet me in the mornin'
Meet me in the middle of the night
Ah-ow, yeah, the mornin' light is comin'
Don't it make ya wanna kinda feel alright

.

Note: Lori was the girl who died in Scarborough's office.
JebBush brought in a discredited, out-of-state coroner
to declare she died of "natural causes."

http://www.allhatnocattle.net/congressman_joe_scarborough.htm

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

Well, I wouldn't worry about it. Us revolutionaries, anarchists and communists bounce back fairly quickly.

"I don't like it any more than you do but I'm not going to pretend like I live on another planet and in a different reality."

Do you think I'm pretending?

about 'fighting administrations'....

l8r...

I can't find the words to do it. Maybe you aren't pretending but that doesn't help your case.

I believe you care for all people. I am not sure you think I believe equally so.

in the face of any reasonable threat."

Yeah, but any reasonable threat is useless in the face of our nukes as well.

Pasta with t's vodka cream sauce sounds wonderful.

Believe it or not it's my ex husband's recipe. He was good for some things. I had to write it down for him because it was never written before. Passed on from his family back in Tuscany, Italy.

The New York Times reports that “starting Wednesday, the federal Education Department will begin offering a repayment plan that lets graduates reduce their loan payments, based on their income.” Also tomorrow, the interest rate on new federal Stafford loans will drop to 5.6 percent, from 6.8 percent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/education/30college.html?_r=1&ref=us

Click on guide to make it bigger..

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

Well, They told me I was crazy to represent myself.

Gee, I hope I don't get the hanging judge.

Media Matters For America Action has started a campaign against the lies of Betsy McCaughey.

http://mediamattersaction.org/blog/200906290004

tastes best with pasta al dente. I have learned much from toniD or her x or whatever, it's good.

I'm anxious to stab my finger in the morning (for a change).

dada - i respect you too much to argue with you. The forces battling the Pakistani government appear to be backed by ignorance and the money of countries like North Korea. I'm not trying to be offensive to you or ghettodefender. But I can't support the troops fighting against the elected government of Pakistan.

Sanford Calls Mistress His "Soul Mate"
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) "declared his Argentine mistress his soul mate Tuesday but said he is committed to reconciling with his wife in hopes of saving his family and what is left of his political career."

According to the the AP, Sanford also "admitted meeting his lover more times than he had previously claimed" and said "that he 'crossed lines' with a handful of other women during 20 years of marriage."

Said Sanford: "This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story. A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day."

http://www.thestate.com/sanford/story/846998.html

Democrats Ready for Franken
In anticipation of today's court ruling in Al Franken's favor, Senate Democrats reserved spots for him on four committees, including those taking up the health care overhaul and the Supreme Court nomination, CQ Politics reports.

Franken could be sworn in as early as Monday, the next day the Senate is in session, but no decision has been made.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000003157088

----

Bonus Quote of the Day
"We have 60 votes on paper only. This will help us procedurally but we're still going to have obstacles to overcome, including two sick Senators and the fact that not every Democrat is going to stick with the caucus on every single vote."

-- A senior Senate Democratic aide, quoted by Roll Call, on news that Al Franken (D) will soon be sworn in.

http://www.rollcall.com/news/36391-1.html

Click on guide to make it bigger..

MMR - you misspelled lick.

Obama Cabinet Plans a Listening Tour of Rural America
By Kate Phillips

The White House announced this afternoon that President Obama has directed many members of his Cabinet to begin what it describes as a “listening tour” of rural America this summer, beginning on Wednesday just outside Erie, Pa., in Wattsburg.

With little notice, the first session begins tomorrow, as Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack head there to talk about rural broadband service. The event, which is supposed to occur at noon at Seneca High School there, is expected to highlight a piece of the $787 billion stimulus package devoted to that issue.

Interestingly, former President George W. Bush just spoke in the area in mid-June before the Manufacturer and Business Association. And it’s also a region in the Rust Belt that has struggled through decades of recession impact.

Pennsylvania, which includes Mr. Biden’s hometown of Scranton, was also the target locale for Mr. Obama’s much-criticized campaign comments about how he had a difficult time making inroads among those who cling to their “guns and religion.”

But we’d also add that rural America struggles on a different playing field away from politics, with the shrinkage of family farms, loss of rippling income from elsewhere and the costlier estimates of connectivity to the wider world. The 2008-2009 recession and its foreclosure rates have hardly escaped this part of the nation’s landscape. More...

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/obama-cabinet-plans-a-list...

(yuck) but Alice prob knows cuz i have not listened for many a moon, now.
;)

re: Alice on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 9:24pm.

(CNN) – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is confident Barack Obama can be beaten — in a long distance run.

The former Republican vice presidential candidate told Runner's World Magazine if it came down to a foot race between the two famous politicians, she'd likely come out on top.

"I betcha I'd have more endurance," Palin said in an interview published on the magazine's Web site Tuesday. "My one claim to fame in my own little internal running circle is a sub-four marathon. It wasn't necessarily a good running time, but it proves I have the endurance within me to at least gut it out and that is something.

"If you ever talk to my old coaches they'd tell you, too," she continued. "What I lacked in physical strength or skill I made up for in determination and endurance. So if [it] were a long race that required a lot of endurance I'd win."

The avid runner also revealed an accident she had only days before the vice presidential debate last fall, when she fell on a trail while jogging at Sen. John McCain's Arizona ranch.

"I was so stinkin' embarrassed that a golf cart full of Secret Service guys had to pull up beside me," she said of the fall. "My hands just got torn up and I was dripping blood. In the debate you could see a big fat ugly Band-Aid on my right hand."

Declaring "sweat is my sanity," Palin also said some of her worst days on the campaign trail were those when McCain staffers did not schedule time for her to run.

"I feel so crappy if I go more than a few days without running. I have to run," she said. "A great frustration I had during the campaign was when the McCain staff wouldn't carve out time for me to go for a run. The days never went as well if I couldn't get out there and sweat."

And the bands that keep her going on the long runs? Palin said she kicks off with "old Van Halen and AC/DC" before going into country and ending with "mellow Amy Grant songs."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/30/palin-confident-she-can-...

Ask me if I care Sarah!?!

Waxman Taken to Hospital in LA

We've received a report that Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) was taken this afternoon to Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles.

We contacted Waxman's office in order to confirm the story. A source in the office confirmed to us that the Congressman wasn't feeling well today, and went to a hospital for what were described as routine checks. Further details were not immediately available, and the source was unable to confirm which hospital Waxman was taken to.

(ed.note: Additional reporting by Eric Kleefeld.)

--Josh Marshall

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/06/waxman_taken_to_hospit...

U.S. reviews Honduras aid as it works on deal to restore Zelaya
Posted: 12:45 PM ET

From Elise Labott
CNN State Department Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The United States is reviewing its aid to Honduras as it works with regional partners on a deal to restore ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya to power and quell political unrest in the country, senior administration officials said Tuesday.

“We are doing a quick review of what our options are,” a senior administration official said about the aid. “We have to.”

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/30/u-s-reviews-honduras-aid-as-it-w...

Oshkosh wins contract to supply military vehicles for Afghanistan
Posted: 08:43 PM ET

From Larry Shaughnessy
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Department of Defense announced Tuesday it awarded Oshkosh Corporation a contract worth more than $1 billion to build a new line of armored vehicles designed specifically for the rugged mountains of Afghanistan.

Under the contract, the military is buying 2,244 M-ATVs from Oshkosh for $1.06 billion dollars.

Oshkosh, based in Wisconsin, beat out four other competitors for the contract: Northrup Grumman, Navistar International, BAE Systems and Force Dynamics.

The purchase comes in an era when major defense projects are being cut, but defense department officials say more contracts for M-ATVs may be awarded as the United States increases its military presence in Afghanistan to help President Hamid Karzai’s government battle Taliban insurgents.

M-ATVs are military all-terrain vehicles that are smaller and lighter than the model credited with protecting U.S. troops in Iraq.
The model used in Iraq has proven too heavy for Afghanistan’s roads and too fragile to drive off-road through Afghanistan’s rocky terrain, officials say.

The M-ATVs are designed to be tough enough to survive off-road driving, but light enough to prevent damage to Afghanistan’s limited paved road system.

Like their predecessor used in Iraq, M-ATVs have hulls designed to divert the power of a roadside bomb explosion without harm to the troops inside. The Army hopes to start deploying the M-ATVs in Afghanistan by the end of the year.

Robert G. Bohn, the Oshkosh Corporation chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement that Oshkosh would speed up production to meet the Defense Department’s “accelerated delivery schedule.”

Oshkosh also has asked other manufacturers if they can assist in production of Oshkosh M-ATVs to ensure delivery for the military’s “urgent need,” Bohn said.

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/30/oshkosh-wins-contract-to-supply-...

My right wing tool buddy Chuck just came over and didn't call Bon Jovi gay for supporting the Iranian protests. He supports those humans too and says they should have their country listen to these people.

Last year he said he believed the only answer was carpet bombing them with nukes. This is a big change.

KEEP
H O P E
ALIVE!

Source: Suspected NKorean weapons ship changes course after days under eye of US Navy

PAULINE JELINEK
AP News

Jun 30, 2009 13:53 EST

U.S. officials said Tuesday that a North Korean ship has turned around and is headed back in the direction it came from, after being tracked for more than a week by American Navy vessels on suspicion of carrying illegal weapons.

The move keeps the U.S. and the rest of the international community guessing: Where is the Kana Nam going? Does its cargo include materials banned by a new U.N. anti-proliferation resolution?

The ship left a North Korean port on June 17 and is the first vessel monitored under U.N. sanctions that ban the regime from selling arms and nuclear-related material. The Navy had been watching it, at times following it from a distance, for a week and a half as it traveled south and southwest.

The North Korean ship turned around on Sunday and is headed back north, two U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.

They said they didn't know where it was going.

Though acknowledging all along that the Kang Nam's destination was unclear, some officials said last week that it could be going to Myanmar and that it was unclear whether it could reach there without stopping in another port to refuel. The U.N. resolution allows the international community to ask for permission to board and search any suspect ship on the seas. If boarding is refused, authorities could ask for an inspection in whichever nation where the ship pulls into port.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/06/source_nkorean_ship_now_go...

Don't worry, I think you believe equally so.

I don't doubt you. We both still agree on many points. The rabid right is still a common enemy. But we do have different ideas, ideologies we believe. Who is right? Only time will tell. Until then, it's a battle fought between gentlemen (we hope!), for hearts and minds.

You know, maybe someone is looking in, and our conversation gets them thinking. Thinking is good. Though more then likely we look like tweedledum and tweedledummer, having the same tired argument. But that's beside the point.

Breaking up the
Boys Club in Ohio
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner saw it as an opportunity to change the course for America and run for the US Senate.

http://www.electwomen.com/?p=2004

and celebrate being stupid so it's ok dada.

At least when I screw up the language, it's because I honestly am a fuck up. You have to pretend.

Financial Commission Unmanned: Both Dems, GOP Have Yet To Nominate A Single Person

Democratic and Republican leaders have yet to nominate a single person to the high-profile commission aimed at investigating the financial crisis, even though it was signed into law by President Obama more than a month ago.

House and Senate leaders, responsible for naming all 10 members of the panel, say an announcement could come as early as this week so that the panel, with broad subpoena power, can begin looking into the causes of the crisis.

Read the whole story: The Hill

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/financial-commission-stuck--has-cash...

The English peasants' revolt started as a small disturbance in June 1381, in an Essex village and spread rapidly and dramatically, involving at least twenty thousand people and ending badly for both sides of the cause.

How the Peasant's Revolt Began

The start of the rebellion was an incident in the town of Brentwood, Essex, where a poll tax collector was attacked. He was collecting money for an unpopular poll tax, which had been preceded by two other taxes in 1377 and 1379.

This initial argument spread, collectors in other settlements were attacked and soon, a band of men had formed to march from Essex to London, gathering supporters as they went.

http://latemiddleages.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_peasants_revolt_of_13...

Submitted by Fernando on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 11:00pm.
...At least when I screw up the language, it's because I honestly am a fuck up...
----------
Uh-oh.

To make matters worse, I'm flying by the seat of my pants (and Sr. Mary Helen's scapular) without Google spell-check.

"Cheney is in full blown, stage four Ballzimers!"

Rush Limbaugh compares Al Franken's win to the recount of Ahmadinejad votes in Iran
By John Amato Tuesday Jun 30, 2009 6:00pm

ight on cue, Rush Limbaugh attacks Al Franken's victory in Minnesota.

LIMBAUGH: Look at this. From Iran's press television, the state-run media in Iran: Ahmadinejad gains votes in recount, just like in our country! It had -- just like in our country. Norm Coleman wins in Minnesota in a recount, and they keep having recounts, and Al Franken wins. So they had the recount in Iran, and shazzam! Ahmadinejad gained votes!

Hmmm, what to say, what to say. Are we all living in Iran now?

Audio at link:

http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/rush-limbaugh-compares-al-frankens-...

against the elected government of Pakistan."

I'm just saying we are selective in which elected governments we support and which we don't. For years and years, and continuing at the present moment. So we can't talk.

Or rather, we could talk as much as we want, but how we look to the rest of the world, their opinion of us, doesn't change, just because we sucessfully ignore our hypocrisy. These things matter in international politics.

We Should Have Killed the King by J.G. Eccarius

ISBN 0-9622937-1-7 192 pages 4¼ x 7" $5.00

reviewed in Factsheet Five

"The author of The Last Days of Christ the Vampire is back with another novel that is even more eccentric than the first. It concerns the life and times of Jack Straw, anarcho-communist, para-legal, bohemian and eventual elder. The book jumps around from a constrained childhood to an anarchist future fantasy which starts out with a hopeful enclave and ends with a sunburned dead world (thanks to CFCs). Along the way Eccarius casts his light on a few features of the modern political scene, from the WPPSS debacle to Autonomen fighting in the streets in Germany. His characterization of the RCP is particularly cutting. All in all, an interesting, chewy, different book."

Buy WE SHOULD HAVE KILLED THE KING from Amazon.com

I don't believe that the congress is divided at all...

They like us to think they are...keeps us docile and fighting amongst ourselves...

but not so much now...

Gov v People....

Left/Right is a tired played etc debate....I think anyway..

smells like a problem focusing...

After George Bush and many others including Barack Obama to many it all looks like hypocrisy.

But after watching for a long time, I think the debate of change is a good thing. I do not believe American's are like many of my neighbors that want to just kick ass and take names and look goofy. But we will act that way after a pearl harbor event. blame a brother.

utter lack of respect for democracy when it suits our interests. We can ignore it, but it doesn't go away. We look foolish to the world. Dare I say, irrational.

You're right. But in my defense, I was being diplomatic there.

I hear Bakunin's hundred years is almost up.

There will be a revolution, or my name isn't dada!

Vote for me.

.

one for the rich and one for the poor. When the rich fly it means that things are under control; when the poor fly it means danger, revolution, anarchy.
Henry Miller

Henry Miller should stick to writing soft porn.

*snark*

rich fly it means that things are under control; when the poor fly it means danger -

I've been both poor and with some means. I've enjoyed life both ways. Too poor however is a problem. Simple measures can keep people healthy and educated enough so it doesn't really matter.

Why aren't those things (health and education) a right?

It's a general comment that has a great deal of truth in it.

then I don't know what is.

I don't know. Maybe the rich are flying the flag.

... cuz It's Thriller Night...
Thriller ...pulse, slide, "walk like a zombie", turn by r. {foot}staying in same spot "Zombie" around 4 "steps in a 1/4 round" .....etc ....

Marc made me feel at home when he "listed" even then to "post" "...Utopians without a sense of humour..."

,,, yeah that 'ill work...
Ah tea ... But "CAB...!" she yelled.

He reminds me of Congress..

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

;)

- yawn

THe nearly three day "cold front" has finally made the pool outside cool enough to be refreshing. Warm summer here so far.

this caught my ear at dinner this evening

“Homens” by Manu Chao

==
tired - Wicked almost loaded in.
~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

thx

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

;o

If Ronald McDonald-land isn't utopia

Submitted by Catharine on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 12:11am.
then I don't know what is.

================================

In the way I'm understanding your words, Catharine, I'd say you've uttered something truly profound!

In my view, year after year for at least three generations, the corporations and their advertising agencies keep selling us the UTOPIA OF CONSUMERISM.

Everytime any party or group steps forward to say "this stinks", "this is phony", the Corporate Power Structure bears down in Octopus fashion squeezing the credibility out of the charges and the challengers using every tentacle -- the Media, our legislators, popular culture. They demean and demonize and ridicule. Those who've stepped out of the box and challenged the system and what the system offers are reduced to stereotypes of uncool (poor slobs who'll never own a flashy new car), of repulsiveness (dirty hippies), of foolishness (losers who don't have what it takes (Madison Avenue style), of un-Americanism (unpatriotic troublemakers who don't get The American Dream -- forget keeping up with the Joneses, one must SURPASS the Joneses in a frenzy of Competitive Consumerism).

when will there be a statue for him in some park?

I bet we could make the foaming right wing nuttery pay for it if it means pigeons would crap on the statue.

I don't think Malloy would care if his message converts Republicans to gardening organically any way possible.

Morning Hack..
Submitted by MMRules on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 10:11pm.
==
joe's been bugging me more the past weeks. When he and Mika are on the screen together he's always leaning toward her, I feel in order to crowd her out of the shot. I've been trying to decide if it is my imagination because I dislike him so, or is it a production gimmick. I've decided on the latter. Every time, he gets more than half the screen, Mika is crowed to the left, then schmo leans in and crowds her even more. A production gimmick to create tension.

I don't know what's worse. It's really happening or I'm imagining it.

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

Maybe nobody cares.

I for one am happy that Frangela, the radio host team, were not eaten by bugs during their survivor hallucination.

If bugs start eating people, we are toast.

;)

Déjà Vu: Fox News Rallies Viewers To Participate In Radical Anti-Obama Tea Party Protests On July 4

THINK PROGRESS

This morning on Fox News, Glenn Beck joined the Fox and Friends hosts to promote new anti-Obama, anti-tax tea party protests on July 4. Steve Doocy introduced the segment, “This weekend, of course the 4th of July, Americans are gearing up for a second round of tea parties to protest massive government spending.”

Reprising their role in orchestrating the first tea parties, the lobbyist-run groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks are again helping to organize the July 4 protests.

FreedomWorks is working alongside other right-wing groups on a new website to publicize the events, and Americans for Prosperity is hosting several rallies on the 4th, including one with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

But while these lobbyist-run groups played a pivotal role in financing the logistics and coordination of the tea parties, Fox News was certainly the megaphone for the movement.

Just as Fox News became a full-fledged sponsor of the April protests, running back-to-back segments and broadcasting live from protests across the country, the network is attempting to motivate another round of radical, anti-Obama protests on July 4th.

In recent weeks and this morning, Fox News has run several segments, including one featuring disgraced Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC), to promote tea parties. Watch it:

Already, Fox News contributor and former News Corp. lobbyist Angela McGlowan is scheduled to appear at the Memphis tea party later this week.

Last year, in the final year of Bush’s presidency, Beck penned an op-ed about how Americans should celebrate July 4 by talking not about “our problems,” but by celebrating “what’s right about America.”

Beck also downplayed the “much maligned economy” under Bush, and told readers that the media should use Independence Day to take a break from reporting on “crooked politicians” or “high gas prices.”

Though he demanded that the media depoliticize July 4 last year, Beck and his colleagues at Fox News now seem preoccupied with rallying radical opposition to President Obama.

Free Democracy

by Larisa Alexandrovna

by Larisa Alexandrovna

Quinn says he'll use veto power if necessary
June 30, 2009 8:40 PM | 13 Comments | UPDATED STORY

Gov. Pat Quinn this afternoon scolded state lawmakers, saying he will veto any state budget that doesn't provide enough money to keep social services going.

"If this General Assembly sends me a partial budget that decimates the social safety net of our state, I will veto that budget," said Quinn, addressing a rare joint session of the General Assembly for about 10 minutes.

Hours later, the Illinois Senate twice failed to approve a borrowing measure that would have provided $2.2 billion more to fund social services that were on the chopping block. The vote was 32-21, with four voting present.

The measure, which passed the House yesterday, needed 36 votes because the General Assembly blew past its May 31 deadline..

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/06/quinn-ready-to-go-overtime-fo...

Insured but still bankrupt
by Chris in Paris on 7/01/2009 06:14:00 AM
Best health care system in the world, according to the right wingers and industry apologists. It's wonderful as long as you don't get sick and then you're screwed. Stories like this strike a cord with me because even though my father had decent health care coverage (even though his company pushed these costs to him while in retirement, against the terms of his retirement) he was terrified of losing everything. Even after reading the health coverage and confirming details he still never trusted the insurance industry and was afraid that somehow the cost of treating his cancer would leave his wife with nothing. This is what led him to choose the horrible VA system which did save him money though the treatment was as poor as one might expect.

As Joe and John have suggested many times, Congress ought to cancel their own health insurance plan until they manage to work something out for everyone. Their problem is that they can't even begin to relate to what the rest of the country is experiencing because they have it too good. Having their ears bent by the insurance industry doesn't help either. Whether it's under-insurance or flat out lousy insurance and of course no insurance, the system is a disaster and Big Insurance is about as trustworthy as Big Oil. NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/business/01meddebt.html?_r=1&hp

In the House and Senate, lawmakers are grappling with the details of legislation that would set minimum standards for insurance coverage and place caps on out-of-pocket expenses. And fear of the high price tag could prompt lawmakers to settle for less than comprehensive coverage for some Americans.

But patient advocates argue it is crucial for the final legislation to guarantee a base level of coverage, if people like Mr. Yurdin are to be protected from financial ruin. They also call for a new layer of federal rules to correct the current state-by-state regulatory patchwork that allows some insurance companies to sell relatively worthless policies.

“Underinsurance is the great hidden risk of the American health care system,” said Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor who has analyzed medical bankruptcies. “People do not realize they are one diagnosis away from financial collapse.”

Last week, a former Cigna executive warned at a Senate hearing on health insurance that lawmakers should be careful about the role they gave private insurers in any new system, saying the companies were too prone to “confuse their customers and dump the sick.”

How many members of Congress have ever had to worry about going bankrupt from being ill?

http://www.americablog.com/2009/07/insured-but-still-bankrupt.html

$70 Oil: The New Normal?

Posted by: Ben Levisohn on June 30

Few investments performed better than oil during 2009’s second quarter. Black gold is up 44% for the second quarter and has traded near $70 for the past four weeks.

But a consensus appears to have emerged that oil is overpriced and ready for a fall. The International Energy Agency released a report on June 29 showing weak demand. Furthermore, while fundamentals may be determining the direction of the price, speculation is responsible for oil’s enormous price swings. In its Perspectives Quarterly, Credit Agricole says that $70 is unsustainable. “Looking at fundamentals, however, the recent rebound in prices appears overdone,” the French bank says. It expects prices to return to $60 per barrel in the third quarter before increasing to $68 per barrel in the fourth quarter.

And the Wall Street Journal attacked the notion of $70 oil in two separate blogs, “$70 Oil, but Where’s the Demand?” and “Is the Oil Bubble Back?”

British bank Barclays has a different take. In a new report, Commodity Refiner: Children of the Revolution, Barclays claims the fall in oil to below $40 a barrel was the aberration, and the recent rise in oil prices is a “return to normalcy.” Look no further than the price of December 2015 futures contracts, which have traded above $66.77 since September 2008, despite market turmoil and the complete collapse of spot oil to under $40 a barrel.

“Even at the lowest point for macroeconomic expectations, and for oil demand forecasts and sentiment, the idea that a sub-$70 per barrel price could be sustainable did not seemingly gain any significant traction,” the report says.

Barclays attributes oil’s renewed vigor to the fact that the world economy didn’t implode, an event that may have been priced into the market. (Sorry, no link.) It also says that the declines in oil production caused by the collapse in oil prices has yet to hit the economy. When it does, it will make up for the lack of demand cited by the IEA.

If Barclays is right, it’s time to stop assigning blame for $70 oil and learn to live with it.

http://www.businessweek.com/investing/insights/blog/archives/2009/06/70_...

The trouble with annuities
Fixed annuities promise tax-deferred growth at guaranteed rates. But the shelter they offer can end up a trap.

(Money Magazine) -- With the uncertainty of the market these days, a lot of investors are running for cover with their retirement funds. No wonder sales of fixed annuities surged 74% for the first three months of 2009, according to research association LIMRA.

These insurance products provide tax-deferred growth at a fixed rate - higher than that of CDs now - with the option to later turn the money into guaranteed income for life. It's a compelling pitch. But there's a costly catch. Getting into a fixed annuity today may force you to miss better opportunities tomorrow.
Know what's being sold

First, a clarification - because the world of annuities is anything but clear. The term "fixed annuity" typically refers to a deferred annuity. That's different from an immediate annuity, for which you turn over a lump sum to an insurer and start getting regular payments within a year. Deferred annuities are more like CDs; in fact, insurers often promote them as a higher-yielding alternative.

Aimed at retirees and pre-retirees, deferred annuities may promise a high teaser rate - based on prevailing interest rates - in year one, then readjust yearly based on market conditions, with a guaranteed minimum. (See the graphic.) Or they may offer a more modest fixed rate for longer. For example: In May, Mutual of Omaha offered 4.65% the first year for contracts of $100,000 or more, with 3.65% in years two through five. (That's compared with an average of 2.19% on a five-year CD at the time.)

While there's no term on either type of contract, you're hemmed in for five to seven years by surrender fees, often around 7% initially. (Some do allow yearly fee-free withdrawals of up to 10% of the account value, however.)

Unlike in a CD, money in a fixed annuity grows tax-deferred. But you'll pay a 10% tax penalty if you take it out before age 59½. You'll also pay ordinary income tax on interest when you withdraw.

Usually you have the option to annuitize - turn the balance into lifetime payments - anytime after the first year. But many people choose not to, instead using the product as a way to achieve tax-deferred growth.

Know the downsides

The major disadvantage of fixed annuities is opportunity cost. With such high exit fees, it's prohibitively expensive to back out of a contract. So you could miss the rise in interest rates and improvement in market conditions that many experts are predicting.

Worst case: Your money ends up lagging behind price increases. "In an inflationary period, having 4% fixed in long-term money could be devastating," says Salt Lake City financial planner Ray LeVitre, author of "The Retiring Boomer's Financial Handbook."

http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/30/retirement/fixed_annuities.moneymag/inde...

read the comments on the link. this call to cut taxes is like an out of control virus. everywhere you look people are convinced that they pay too much in taxes and that government is too bloated. seems like maybe the republicans won by getting us too turn on each other.

California misses budget
deadline, readies 'IOUs'
California's lawmakers failed to agree on a balanced budget by the start of its new fiscal year on Wednesday morning, clearing the way to suspend payments owed to the state's vendors and local agencies, who instead will get "IOU" notes promising payment.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090701/pl_nm/us_economy_california_budget

No joke: Don't expect laughs from Senator Franken
Liberals may be hoping for biting wit and conservatives for embarrassing shtick, but according to Bob Benenson of CQPolitics, Al Franken is likely to disappoint both when he finally arrives in the Senate.

http://www.newser.com/story/63259/dont-expect-laughs-from-sen-franken.ht...

daily kos has a post over at:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/7/1/748665/-GBCFOX

that wraps a media matters video capture from a glenn beck show where the person being interviewed says that the only thing that will save us from the tyranny of obama and the democrats is having osama bin laden destroy an american city with a nuclear weapon.

Kissing, but no tongue.

Republicans taking the "A public option will kill competition" route is actually kind of dazzling in its wrongheadedness.

For one, it flies at the face of their "the free market will take care of itself" philosophy, because regardless of what entity (public or private) is introducing a lower option for consumers, the fact remains that the entity itself needs to remain solvent (the post office competing with UPS, FedEx, for example). PLUS, it is the essence of a free market to lower costs in reaction to such competition.

SO, the notion of insurance companies "going under" is patently absurd. They would just make less profit and be forced to check their greed. Now, if their business model is based on greed rather than honest supply and demand, then the free market should force them out because they are a cancer to the system, like any monopoly is, inherently.

Republicans (and whatever Democrats) that have married themselves to Big Health Insurance lobbying money have screwed themselves in failing to calculate that any other corporation that is NOT a Health Insurance company, is a consumer of health insurance and, like us regular folx, are also being screwed by them.

This means that big businesses are also going to line up in support of the public plan and possibly even lobby FOR it, or at least stay out of the way of the people that want to.

Here's a thought: Democrats should thake as much health insurance lobbying money as they can right now. Just scoop that shit up and then turn around and rainmake these assholes by voting FOR a public option. Moreover, take the cash from the health insurance companies that are the most desperate to give it to you because these are the ones who are the most worried about going under since their business models are so reliant on greed that they might actually not survive a public option.

I doubt too many people (and businesses) are going to miss them when they're gone.

Republicans (and any Democrat too stupid to realize this) are going to be left holding a paper bag full of shit and standing next to health insurance companies that really represent everything the free market is NOT about. This is going to be great!

Strange days ahead.

"this machine kills fascists"

Submitted by Crank Bait on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 8:54am.
Kissing, but no tongue.
--

Baah ha ha.

Hiking in Appalachia

To have an extramarrital affair. Stems from the disappearance and subsequent reappearance of South Carolina Governor, Mark Sanford(R). Gov. Sanford was thought to be hiking in Appalachia. In actuality, he was having an affair in the South American country of Argentina.

===

while cross the line isn't defined, i did find some helpful definitions for sanford:

soul mate

Your other half. The person who completes you. The person who makes you feel over and over again like you have butterflies.

First Base

The first step in a sexual realtionship involving making out or french kissing

Second Base

One step up of First Base, heavy petting and feeling up while making out, up the shirt or shirtless for both partners.

== getting to third base, the dictionary offered up the following easy way to remember your bases:

The best way to remember them is of course, the four "F"s. French, Feel, Finger, Fuck.

over here:

http://samsedershow.com/node/4969#new

.