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Clinton confronts universal health care critic
Senator Clinton appeared at the National Association of Black Journalists conference and seized an opportunity to attack GOP talking points against universal health care. See this New York Times blog post about it:
A Testy Exchange on Health Care
LAS VEGAS – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton just had an awfully testy exchange over universal health care with an audience member here at the National Association of Black Journalists conference – a lively moment that ended with an artful diss from Mrs. Clinton that had the audience hooting.
The audience member – who later identified himself as Kiara Ashanti, a freelance writer and blogger and a Republican – asked Mrs. Clinton why she was “still insisting” on bringing British- and Canada-style “socialized medicine” to the United States, asserting that such forms of universal care would hurt the black community.
“Oh man, I can’t answer that in 30 seconds, that was a string of misrepresentations,” Mrs. Clinton, a Democratic presidential candidate, told the gathering of more than 1,000 black reporters, editors, and other journalists.
“I have never advocated socialized medicine, and I hope all the journalists hear that,” she said. “That has been a right-wing attack on me for 15 years.”
Mr. Ashanti interrupted her with persistent criticism of government-run health care; Mrs. Clinton challenged him at one, asking if he thought Medicare was socialized medicine, and he indicated that he did.
“You are in a small minority of America, because Medicare has literally saved the lives and saved the resources of countless generations of Americans,” she said.
Mrs. Clinton praised the health systems in Canada, Britain, and elsewhere in Europe as having better outcomes and results on some performance measures than the United States. Then she offered to share her statistics with the if he wanted to introduce himself to her staff.
That is, she added, “if you’re interested in being educated instead of being rhetorical.”
It was a snap! moment that garnered Mrs. Clinton her biggest applause and cheers of the 40-minute forum.
Check out video here. Pretty good stuff!
-Sheri Divers
Hillary is far from advocating "socialized medicine". She hasn't put out any details, but she definitely wants her buddies in the health-insurance industry to keep getting rich off us. I don't expect her to push big pharma very hard either--ditto Obama, and to a lesser extent, Edwards.
As with all the issues, Kucinich is the man on health care. No bullshit, no triangulation, just single payer, period.
Godd firsties, mprov. Saw your post last thread and called out to my husband to ask. We both just checked out the Wiki input on ISAR:
==========
[...]
ISAR Applications
ISAR is utilized in maritime surveillance for the classification of ships and other objects. In these applications the motion of the object due to wave action often plays a greater role than object rotation. For instance a feature which extends far over the surface of a ship such as a mast will provide a high sinusoidal response which is clearly identifiable in a two dimensional image. Images sometimes produce an uncanny similarity to a visual profile with the interesting effect that as the object rocks towards or away from the receiver the alternating doppler returns cause the profile to cycle between upright and inverted. ISAR for maritime surveillance was pioneered by Texas Instruments in collaboration with the Naval Research Laboratory and became an important capability of the P-3 Orion and the S-3B Viking US Navy aircraft.
[...]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse_syn...
***************
His service branch was the USAF and, as a civilian, he worked primarily with USAF aircraft radar.
Well, that should have been *good* ... shucks!
*********
And John, I hear you! Absolutely!
Well, if you watch the video, be sure you cut away when Hillary's done. Otherwise, you're going to listen to Bush Two.
3. too bad they don't have some screen shots to show you exactly what kind of visual it presents. when you know how to look at it, its almost like a photo.
ok, judy, images:
http://radar-www.nrl.navy.mil/navbar/Res...
Judy wrote:
"As sea and others have noted, however, people who try to plead Kucinich's cause will not help their candidate so long as they tear down either Al or Howard, at least not with many of us here. "
I would support Al in a minute if he ran. He was, however, party to some bad decisions while veep.
Some of it was just following Bill over the cliff, as veeps have to do. The one issue that Clinton left him completely in charge of was "reinventing government", which he botched completely. I suspect he was scammed by federal managers who didn't want to change anything. They blew smoke and he bought it, leaving the top-heavy administratice class firmly entrenched, and if anything, larger.
As a senior scientist with USGS, I was on a panel tasked with identifying positions (not people) that no longer served the agency's mission. We took this assignment very seriously and came up with what we thought would streamline the agency.
Our recommendations were round-filed, and clerical and support staff (as well as some "enemies" of senior management) got the axe. One "green-energy" program (geothermal) was eliminated completely in favor of beefing up oil-and-gas research.
Al came to Reston to praise USGS management for their "re-invention of the agency" and handed out awards to the worst hacks in the USGS.
I heard much the same story from people at EPA, and other Interior agencies.
Thanks for the warning, Monica. Anything but that.
LOL
************
We just walked back from a 45 minute fireworks show by the lake to celebrate the Geneva Festival. Our first festival in 1995 was a weekend event; now it has grown to a ten-day extravanganza that brings in visitors from all over the world.
The theme this year was Vivaldi's Four Seasons and the spectacle was designed around the music. There were four themes and two finales. There are usually about 600,000 who come out to watch and we were surrounded by people of all nationalities, speaking all languages, and wearing costumes from around the globe.
It was a very satisfied crowd that departed, especially after the second finale. The organizers turned on Geneva's fountain (le jet d'eau) right at the end so that we could see the majestic plume behind the final frenzy of fireworks. It was truly a sight to behold.
According to the media, the organizers have taken pains to ensure that the fireworks were environmentally friendly: no metals and the remnants would essentially be transformed into mineral salts. Those bits of plastic will be recuperated from the area tomorrow by divers.
I believe that they are probably telling the truth. Around here, it's a direct democracy (which would drive putzCo crazy) and people are very environmentally conscious.
The really sad thing, John, is that I'll bet that some of those hacks look like geniuses in comparison to what putzCo have layered throughout.
In re my Geneva festival post, when I said "our first" I meant the first festival that my husband and I had experienced here. This is actually year 40 for the festival.
every enemy we have for the forseeable future will try to sucker us into sending ground forces in numbers
Osama would love to see us in Pakistan or Iran.
The draft is the worst idea in quite a while, just for that reason,as it would invite repeating the Iraq mistake.
and anyone contemplating war with China is stark raving mad
the problem with new weapon systems is that someone always wants a "live" test
7. Thanks, Mark. I have left the image here for him to see. Right now, he's glued to Eurosports watching tennis. I have learned NOT to come between a man and his tennis. LOL
I can't believe the venom people have ready at the bite for Sen Clinton
(I could care less what political hue)
Sen Clinton deserves more respect than I see from many here.
~~~~~~~
Demetrius
can you bang about the notion of a Piss on the GOP bumper sticker
(might as well take advantage of the market -$$$- and create piss on the DNC, DLC, and the various candidates)
Sounded like a lot of hot air to me. She didn't say anything. She just barked at the questioner and strutted around the stage asking for more time.
Mark: my husband says to tell you that he saw his first radar in 1953, in Fortuna, ND. That was during prime *Cold War* days when we were sure that we were going to be invaded from the north.
**************
During those same days, they also honeycombed north central Montana with nuclear missiles in underground silos (you can see the sites from the road as you drive by although lots of so-called sites are *dummies*). During the 70s, someone had the bright idea that they would *test* the missiles, but no one was sure that they would even make it to the Pacific. We might have ended up bombing Seattle with our own missiles.
In any event, saner heads prevailed and now they remain in their silos, getting older and older, leaking god knows what into the ground water and emitting god knows what else into the environment. There is an inordinately high rate of cancer per capita in the area, IMO. And several of those affected have been my own family members.
What have we wrought upon ourselves?
Hill was like
...ya, bring it on you little wimp. you're a faker. big talker. then she tucked him into bed for the night.
'Nite all ... I just realized that it is past 1 a.m. here. No wonder I'm tired.
And the blasted tennis that my husband is watching is in CA so he'll be watching until late.
Blog on and may the force be with you!
I'll be meeting Hillary this week paine, I'll tell her you have a crush on her.
crushies for Hillary
slapping down a freeper warms my heart also
25. PhilI would not go that far, Phil. You might tell her that she can use the whip more often. Gently is OK for now - save the sever discipline for special moments.
If I get a wireless connection and get Hillary to say hello, keep the profanity to minimum good blog.
Hillary has too pro-business a tilt for a populist like me, but I do see her as an asset in the Senate rather than a liability.
keep the profanity to minimum
>
Wow, that is catering to the lowest common denominator. I hope we could muster more class and reflect the respect she offers in her hello. The least we could do.
but I do see her as an asset in the Senate
>
Me too. I haven't a favorite Dem at this point. I like them all. If Hill remains in the Senate, it's good.
The same goes for Bill Richardson if I get him to do the same this week.. the blog is fine 90% of the time for showing to a candidate, when I got Dodd to take a look I had to kind of limit it to the last few comments. lol
Packers/Steelers time on the big screen in Wisconsin
that state doesn't even know who is running
bbl
The doctors around here contract with the state government to offer services to the state's Medi-cal program. Medi-cal pays the doctors not the patients. The government doesn't give seniors an allowance. The government pays the doctor with Medi-cal funds. The patience is responsible for whatever the government doesn't pay or the doctor can write it off as charity or just not bill it. Lately a lot of doctors have dropped the Medi-cal program. It's was costing their practices money. It's hard to find a doctor who offers services to Medi-cal patients. Their spots for Medic-cal patients are normally full. People end up going to the emergency room for treatment. Medi-cal will pay most all of an emergency room bill.
23.
Imn2Paine
We have that CD and the concert DVD. A dear friend in Utah recommend it.
polarise
verb polarized, polarizing
1. To give magnetic or electrical polarity to something.
2. physics.
To restrict the vibrations of (electromagnetic waves, eg light) to one direction only by the process of polarization.
tr & intr
3. Said of people or opinions: to split according to opposing views.
35. Susan Rowe>I saw that Mark was listening to that album last night, so I found what stream I could.
Wisconsin
Gasbag Galumphsby Art Kumbalek
August 09, 2007
I'm Art Kumbalek and man oh manischewitz what a world, ain'a? So listen, it's another week where I'm not able to pinch off a slam-bang essay for your perusal platter on account I'm scheduled to rendezvous with my presidential campaign brain trust to figure out a way I can score some time on the TV talk shows, so as to spread my message and lay some heavy pipe in the exposure department, or something like that.
Problem is the Uptowner tavern isn't open yet, so I figure to swing by my favorite George Webb open-24-hours restaurant where a guy like me can get a jump-start on girding his loins in preparation for the day's daily shit-storm to follow. Hey, come along if you want but you leave the tip, what the fock; so let's get going.
37.
Imn2Paine
The DVD is good.
----
Here's our favorie movie on DVD as of lately.
Patch Adams: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKQdKRC2D...
Gesundheit! Institute: http://patchadams.org/home.htm
judyfordean,
I think some comments may have been attributed to me that were made by someone else, seems a mixup of no's and posts.
Anyway, for clarification, Kucinich is not my candidate, at least for now. Some here are waiting for Gore. I am waiting for Howard Dean. If that doesn't happen, Gore would be acceptable because he would probably be "electable". There's that word again. If neither happens, I would probably support Kucinich. The reasons for not doing so under those conditions, I would consider not to be in my interest.
But let me just say that if Howard is not the candidate, my interest in the whole thing is minimal.
The Doppler Effect
The Frequency Shift and the Expanding Universe
http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Sun4Adop2.h...
70.
Indy Steve
Sat, 08/11/07
4:08 pm
Reply to this
62.
FRED from OR
Sat, 08/11/07
3:54 pm
Uh, Fred, all but two Rethugs voted for this Bill and it was why it passed. 41 House Dems voted for it, but the Dems we respect were all against it. Of course, we recognize that it NEVER could have come to a vote if Pelosi and Reid had exercised their power.
=====================
That is not information from unbiased experts on the balance of security, technology and rights.
People have different reasons for voting or not voting on bills, often frivolous. I like to see the facts from the experts, before I badmouth my own party. This is very sophisticated subject of a balance, Constitutionally, technically, and for security reasons. Votes are often made symbolically, especially if such voters already can predict the outcome.
Assumptions is the mother of all mistakes. It is best to get the facts from those who have the expertise, before one makes a judgement.
I don't defend or condemn this bill, but just need to see the facts and the critical discussions before I say if it is a good or bad law. The knee jerk responses of Republican voting for anything like this, and Democrats voting against anything like this bill, without doing the research, is what is ruining this country.
Vibrational medicine breakthrough: new technology uses sound waves to conduct surgery without scalpels or stitches.
...Sound therapy is just one of dozens of exciting fields in vibrational medicine that hold tremendous promise for improving the quality of our health care while dramatically lowering its cost.... full article: http://www.newstarget.com/001128.html
Feature articles on vibrational medicine:
http://www.newstarget.com/vibrational_me...
Advocating universal health care and making it happen are two different things. Biden is for universal care, but as Biden pointed out on Charlie Rose, you are up against a $2trillion dollar tranfer of wealth, and many people in the insurance industry will be dislocated or relocated. They are not going to let it happen without a fight or without at least some kind of system that still allows them to compete with such a system.
Biden thinks he has the ability to do this. Being for or against UHC is not the big enchilada, it is whether you can pull it off.
Ok, what's going on? On the last thread, most of this post was covered by a gray square, obliterating the words. Did anybody see that? Now it's gone. I need to know if my new computer is messed up.
Monica wrote"
"Fear has to be overcome by an act of will."
With all due respect, Monica, this won't and can't work. The opposite of fear is not courage as most think. The opposite of fear is faith - not necessarily faith in some god or other, tho that works too depending on one's idea of god, but faith in the universal principle that things work out. Åcceptance of what is NOW, this moment, is the key.
I think it was Kinsey (not the sex guy) who wrote the 3 rules for happiness.
1. Ask for what you want but don't expect to get it.
2. Accept what it..............for NOW
3. Turn up your love. (which can translate into many things, including political action)
This works. Dennis is right to speak of love while other speak incessantly of war and enemies. Tho I'm not sure Dennis quite knows what love whereof he speaks.
Gore for President
rushed.....bbl
World's first high-speed all-electric sport utility truck to be launched by Phoenix Motorcars
...Phoenix Motorcars' SUT is an all-electric, sport-utility truck with a top speed of 95 miles per hour. It's a zero-emissions vehicle with no tailpipe or evaporative emissions, no emissions from gasoline refining or sales, and no onboard emission-control systems. Like other electric cars under development, this model can accelerate with great speed, from 0-60 mph in 10 seconds. However, performance electric cars from other companies like Tesla Motors can go from 0-60 mph in a whiplash-inducing 4 seconds....full article: http://www.newstarget.com/021918.html
I can't believe the venom people have ready at the bite for Sen Clinton
That's because a lot of people believed in her and she's let them down more than once.
Sen Clinton deserves more respect than I see from many here.
She's gets the respect she's earned.
Hillary has too pro-business a tilt for a populist like me, but I do see her as an asset in the Senate rather than a liability.
Except when she's voting to invade other countries?
I had a fellow in cleaning our chimney yesterday. His son is returning from Iraq today. He had an involuntary extend and has been there for 18 months (so much for our all-volunteer military). Anyway this nice fellow said he just wished for one day that the war cheerleaders would feel the pain and anguish that he and his wife have felt every day for the last 18 months - never knowing if their beloved son would be hurt or killed. Heart wrenching.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/12/2002733.htm
Voting closes in Sierra LeonePosted 1 hour 36 minutes ago
Sierra Leone has voted in presidential and parliamentary elections, seen as a test of whether the west African nation has fully emerged from its decade-long civil war.
Counting started immediately after polling stations closed, but police had to fire tear gas to disperse scores of youths who tried to disrupt the process at a centre, in the east of Freetown.
Balloting in many cases started off chaotically, marred by delayed delivery of polling materials.
Poor security and rain-soaked roads caused problems.
But National Elections Commission (NEC) spokeswoman Christiana Thorpe said voting progressed well and turnout was high.
...
Partial results were to be published as soon as tallying ended and complete preliminary results were expected by the end of next week.
Some 2.6 million voters were eligible to pick a new president and law makers, six years after the end of the Sierra Leone's brutal civil conflict.
Long queues of voters snaked on muddy grounds outside the country's 6,171 polling stations,
...
50.
Sitka
If you gotta go, it's better to go laughing
Perhaps it would have served Mrs. Clinton better if she a REFUSED to answer the questioner. In my opinion, the question didn't qualify for decent answer.
a s/b had
"laughter is the best medicine"
except when you die of it
That's not even funny.
You're bombing with the "one liners" haha tonight
I have some friends who were missionaries in Sierra Leone. The people there are very poor. There are locks on the trash containers and people with homes live behind tall chain link fences.
Phil, you have a point (you're post in the previous thread).
IMO it's something that the Obama campaign needs to work on even harder than it's currently doing -- attracting lower income, less-educated core dem voters:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20226452/site/newsweek/?from=rss
He charms elites. But how does Obama woo a must-have: 'downscale Dems'?
By Andrew Romano
Newsweek
Aug. 20-27, 2007 issue
...
For the past 40 years, Democratic nominating contests have pitted "wine track" candidates (backed by young, well-off, college-educated elites) against "beer track" opponents (who cultivate a less-educated coalition of minorities and blue-collar workers). The 2008 contest is no exception. According to the latest Cook Political Report survey, Hillary Clinton polls 12 points higher among voters who haven't graduated from college than those who have; Obama's numbers are reversed. His problem: only 34 percent of likely Democratic primary voters have college degrees. "If you don't develop a solid base among downscale Dems, it's very hard to get the nomination," says demographer Ruy Teixeira ... he could end up the latest in a long line of brainy, reformist also-rans like Gary Hart, Paul Tsongas and Bill Bradley.
Which is exactly what Clinton wants ... she is hardly the natural choice for socially conservative, blue-collar Democrats. But because "they're less critical and less informed than upscale voters, they're more inclined to go with the mainstream candidate, at least early on," says Teixeira. Clinton is working hard to solidify her head start among the beer-track types who powered her husband's "Comeback Kid" performance in the 1992 New Hampshire primary (and eventually won him the White House). Consider her oft-repeated line about being "born into a middle class family in the middle of America in the middle of the last century." "It's a class appeal," says Penn's Kathleen Hall Jamieson, author of "Packaging the Presidency." "It's a move away from First Lady, from Ivy League graduate."
...
Obama's team is undeterred. By most accounts, its candidate is better positioned than his predecessors to overcome the wine-track curse. "He started his career on the South Side of Chicago," says spokeswoman Candice Tolliver. "No one needs to prime him." His ace in the hole? Race. Even though polls show that blacks still have doubts about Obama, he weathered similar skepticism in the 2004 Illinois Senate primary before winning nearly all of their votes. "He soared with elites initially," says Mark Blumenthal, who polled for Obama's chief rival. "But it took until the last week of the campaign for blacks to decide." If they break his way again, says Blumenthal, Obama could ride a new black-upscale majority to the nomination. For early indicators, staffers are watching low-income, largely black South Carolina where, from April 1 to June 30, the campaign spent $480,000—four times Clinton's investment—to hire staff, stage rallies, organize house meetings and place ads on gospel and R&B radio. The result: an electorate that's more familiar with Obama—and polls that show a dead heat. "We have to do more to reach low-income voters," says South Carolina spokesman Kevin Griffis. But strong numbers heading into the Jan. 29 primary would bode well for Obama's beer-track appeal
...
I dreamed a dream from les miserable: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qSB4Jxcf...
59.
Thanks for the response.
Inequality is everywhere but particularly in the second poorest country in the world -- Sierra Leone.
War there (internal civil war) surely helped Sierra leone slip down into that sad state of poverty.
My wife, who was born there, and I are going to Sierra Leone in late Oct.
We pray that the country, in 12 days time, knows the results of who the next president will be and that the country's leaders help develope the nation and that the average Sierra Leonean benefits.
Thus, I have two presidential elections and two countries I care about and call my home.
62.
* rdorgan
Safe journey to the both of you.
---
Amazing Grace History/"Amazing Grace" By Wintley Phipps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMF_24cQq...
s/b only 18 and her voice will be around for some time
OK, I'll ask one last time. Has anyone seen gray blocks across any of my posts? They show up when I hit submit. On Firefox.
no, seashell :-) I have not seen them. I went to the thread and looked. There was nothing irregular.
...But I'm not on Firefox.
I gotta go. Nice thread conversation today.
Take care,
---Susan
Thanks, Susan. The gray matter shows up only on Firefox, not on Safari, so Firefox has some bugs. Thanks for helping me solve that problem.
Oh come on Congress. You just gave him carte blanche to start any war anywhere. And now you think you're going to stop him? We really need on-line voting for every bill proposed to congress so we can keep their feet to the fire. Active participation by those who are interested enuf in our future...the rest of the voters can not sit out and let us make the decisions since they do a horrible job of it, usually.
Doesn't the writer of this article know about the carte blanche; the capitulation backed by AIPAC?
Bush, Congress Could Collide on Iran
By Matt Stearns
McClatchy Newspapers
Friday 10 August 2007
Washington - Taking military action against Iran could put President Bush on a collision course with Congress, leading Democrats and a Republican lawmaker cautioned Friday following Bush's threat of unspecified consequences for alleged Iranian meddling in Iraq.
It's been the consensus for months among the Democrats who hold the majority that Bush must get congressional authorization before any military strike.
But the authorization would be no easy sell. Two knowledgeable U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because intelligence on Iran is highly classified, said that the administration so far doesn't have "smoking-gun" evidence that could be used publicly to justify an air attack.
The presumed target of an attack would be camps in Iran where officials believe the Iranians are teaching Iraqi Shiite fighters how to fashion bombs that can destroy American armored vehicles.
The U.S. officials refused to discuss whether such evidence exists but can't be made public because doing so would betray intelligence sources and methods, or whether it hasn't been uncovered. Even with such evidence, however, the Democratic-controlled Congress could be hard to convince five years to the month after Vice President Dick Cheney kicked off the administration's public relations campaign against Saddam Hussein with a speech in Cincinnati.
Given the hindsight about the intelligence that led to the invasion of Iraq, "I think you'll find a lot of skeptical Republicans, no less Democrats, on the Hill," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
May 25, by Pat Buchanan
snippet
"Yet, not only does the situation in Iraq appear increasingly grim, with rising U.S. and Iraqi casualties, other shoes are about to drop that will reverberate throughout the region.
Support for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, with his war in Lebanon a debacle and his leadership denounced by a commission he appointed, is in single digits. Waiting in the wings is Likud super-hawk "Bibi" Netanyahu, the most popular politician in Israel, who compares today to Munich 1938 and equates Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with Hitler.
If and when Bibi comes to power, he will use every stratagem to provoke us into attacking "Hitler."
Also drumming for war on Iran are the floundering neocons and the Israeli lobby. Under orders from the lobby, Nancy Pelosi stripped from a House bill a stipulation that Bush must come to Congress for authorization before launching an attack on Iran."
When it comes it future wars, congress is neutered, if Pelosi stripped that clause from the bill. Anybody have a copy of the bill?
Putz won't ask congress for permission to do anything anymore. He's the dictator.
Impeach!
One person liked it and one didn't. That's good enough for me.
When it comes it future wars, congress is neutered, if Pelosi stripped that clause from the bill. Anybody have a copy of the bill?
>
that's very convincing, but did yo have a copy?
Here's my 2 cut/pastes for the evening:
1) The diary on KOS
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/11/...
Wanted! The Post Office Guide to Your Executive Branch
by buhdydharma [Subscribe]
Sat Aug 11, 2007 at 03:47:30 PM PDT
Would be funny if not so d*mned true.
============================
2) This is really Seashell's area of expertise but I liked these tango videos on youtube with Piazzolla music.
not tame:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMWTG-x8L...
tame:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDyFcJO9W...
===========================
Paine I like Westenra too -- the girl is incapable of missing a note.
===========================
Nite bloggie -- everyone get up for MTP to see Kos/DLC (I think) debate.
Ex-DOJ Employees Fight Back Against White House
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales knows well the ways of sparring with the Senate Judiciary Committee, but increasingly he is facing an uncommon and more effective adversary: former Department of Justice career attorneys who are out to settle the score with Gonzales and the administration.
After months of scandal, firings and some testimony from Gonzales that many on Capitol Hill found wholly unsatisfying, these ex-Justice Department employees are taking a rare step and fighting back.
state of bengal elephant ride asian underground v/a 0:30:44 (Real | MP3)
GOP Leaders Accused Of Leaking State Secrets
"If Mr. Hoekstra wants to break ranks and disclose that information, that's fine with me," said Steven Aftergood, a government secrecy expert who has long pushed to declassify overall spending on intelligence. "But it is the sort of thing he has harshly criticized in the past."
Indeed, Hoekstra's penchant for openness appears to be selective. He has aggressively attacked unnamed opponents guilty of such leaking, accusing them of "recklessly and illegally" disclosing secrets "for political or other motives" in reports published by his committee.
He's even exacted punishment for suspected transgressions. Last October, Hoekstra stripped the credentials of a Democratic committee aide he believed may have leaked a then-classified document to The New York Times. A month later, he quietly reinstated the aide's access.
been out of town . drove to bristol tenn to see a sick relative of my husband.
and I see the Jason Alexander video up.
Hey Sheri I put that up on Thursday so I get firsties and dibs and all the other stuff.
How you become a delegate to the Convention depends on which state you live in. Each state will have their own Delegate Selection Plan that will describe how delegates are chosen in that state. These Plans must comply with rules adopted by the National Party that provide guidelines to ensure a fair and open process. State parties will publish their delegate selection rules and clearly explain how to participate in the summer of 2007.
If you want to be a delegate, your first step should be to contact your state party to determine what their process is. For information on running for a delegate position, an individual should call or write his or her respective State Democratic Party Headquarters and request a copy of the Delegate Selection Plan (or summary) and filing forms. These documents provide the information candidates need to know in order to run for delegate positions. All states require delegate candidates to file a "declaration of candidacy" in order to run. The deadline for this declaration varies among the states but is specified in each state's plan. In some cases, the declaration must be accompanied with signatures of registered Democratic voters from that area. All filing requirements must be precisely followed.
Finally, whether successful or not in becoming a delegate to the 2008 National Convention -- stay informed and involved. Be sure to: (1) stay informed about the presidential campaign; (2) follow the 2008 Convention; (3) support the Party's presidential and vice presidential nominees; and (4) Vote on Election Day!
For more detailed information
He's still out there speaking and working for good government better than most DCDems.....
http://krbd.org/modules/local_news/index.php?op=centerBlock&ID=81
76.
seashell :-)
Sat, 08/11/07
11:55 pm
Reply to this
Oh jesus.
Dems Say Leaving Iraq May Take Years...
===========================
from your "oh Jesus" link:
"On the other side of the spectrum is Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, who has proposed setting up separate regions for the three major ethnic and religious groups in Iraq until a stable central government is established before removing most American troops."
This is not really true. Biden never used the word "until." He believes international forces can play a role and that draw down is not contingent upon any certain benchmark. The federalization plan he proposes would be simultaneous with drawdown.
“I have never advocated socialized medicine, and I hope all the journalists hear that,” she said. “That has been a right-wing attack on me for 15 years.”
Sen Clinton
That was hook line and sinker
And I'm turning in.
Night. Hope you all find the scoop you look for.
Biden and Mccain should group together and go on tour. any slogans come to mind out there?
- Forever Iraq Tour
- Bombs, Bayonets, and Freedom Tour
- We Don't Know WTF We're Doing Tour
- Iran, You're Next! Tour
- Killing You Softly With Bush's Lies Tour
- War! What Is It Good For? Absolutely Everything! Tour
- Don't Blame Us We're just The Enablers Tour
- Another Trillion Should Do It Tour
- And You Thought Vietnam Sucked Tour
- Fighting To The Last Drop Of Someone Else's Blood Tour
A Californian who set up a vote-swapping Web site for supporters of Ralph Nader and Al Gore in 2000, before the state shut it down with a threat of prosecution, said Tuesday he may try again next year now that a federal appeals court has ruled that online vote-trading agreements are constitutionally protected.
It all depends, Jim Cody said, on a candidacy by Nader or some other third-party hopeful that might siphon away enough votes from the Democratic nominee to tip the scales to a Republican in one or more states. His short-lived Vote Swap2000.com was meant to counteract that impact by inviting backers of Gore and Nader to agree to exchange votes.
Under the scheme, a Nader supporter in a swing state like Florida would promise to vote for Gore so that Nader's candidacy for the Green Party would not wind up benefiting the Republican, George W. Bush. In exchange, a Gore backer in a solidly Democratic state like California would vote for Nader to help the Green Party achieve the 5 percent vote support it needed for federal funding. Neither goal was met, but the venture could be revived in the future because of the court ruling.
Audrey, No, I wasn't trying to say you said anything, I was merely copying the comment Scott made to you for clarification purposes for my response on his lies.
we're cool.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6942716.stm
Musharraf 'to join Afghan jirga'
Pakistan says it is battling its own Taleban threat in tribal areas Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is expected to attend the final session of a "peace jirga", or tribal council, in neighbouring Afghanistan on Sunday. Pakistani officials say Gen Musharraf has agreed "in principle" to address 700 tribal leaders from both countries on tackling rising regional militancy.
Correspondents say there was disappointment when he failed to appear at Thursday's opening session.
Bilateral relations have been strained over the resurgence of the Taleban.
Both countries are allies of the US and say that they want to quash terrorism, but many Afghan officials accuse Pakistan of harbouring Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters.
Islamabad has strongly denied the charge, pointing out that it has arrested several senior militant leaders and is battling its own Taleban threat in its tribal areas.
So much for French/American relations. I had to laugh when I read this paragraph from the article. Those dadgummed headaches.
"The French president's wife, Cecilia Sarkozy, was meant to be at the lunch but phoned First Lady Laura Bush to say she and her children were feeling unwell and would not attend. "
93.
Sitka
Sun, 08/12/07
1:15 am
Reply to this
Biden and Mccain should group together and go on tour. any slogans come to mind out there?
Forever Iraq Tour
Bombs, Bayonets, and Freedom Tour
We Don't Know WTF We're Doing Tour
Iran, You're Next! Tour
Killing You Softly With Bush's Lies Tour
War! What Is It Good For? Absolutely Everything! Tour
Don't Blame Us We're just The Enablers Tour
Another Trillion Should Do It Tour
And You Thought Vietnam Sucked Tour
Fighting To The Last Drop Of Someone Else's Blood Tour
====================
You really need some new material. Slander pander to fanatical cynics doesn't make it on the comedy circuit.
I just watched "The Åwakening" a sci fi about people killing each other, nations against nations...all becuz of fear. The most belligerent and maniacal world leader was
The U.S. President!
The other side of the story........
Geoffrey Millard | Nuclear Power and Iranians
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081007A.shtml
Truthout's Geoffrey Millard writes, "Despite having the world's third-largest oil reserve, UN sanctions (instigated under US pressure) have forced Iran to look into other forms of energy. With its lack of refineries and an embargo on American products, to include parts for both refineries, Iran's oil does little to help the average Iranian... The people of Iran feel that nuclear power could be a good way to get over their power shortage without giving in to the West."
It's very heartening to see TV and Hollywood starting to become political. Will it make a difference?
When Will America Awaken from "The Bush Ultimatum"? Submitted by mark karlin on Sat, 08/11/2007 - 7:49am. EditorialsA BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL
If you don’t like a thinking-person’s action film or don’t want to know some of the details of the just-released "The Bourne Ultimatum," then stop reading here.
Of course, being BuzzFlash, this is not a movie review of a hot box office seller, but rather a reflection on its political "message" – and its larger symbolism as representing the difference between a fictional narrative and reality.
If you are out of the loop with Hollywood box-office hits, the third sequel in the red-hot "Bourne" series, starring Matt Damon, is drawing in record crowds to the theaters this past week.
But there may be more at work than the pulsating "James Bond in search of his real identity" quality to Matt Damon’s rapid-paced survival skills that is attracting viewers.
According to a Chicago Tribune cultural writer, Julia Keller:
People may be drawn to the film by the promise of thrilling chase scenes, but what makes it deeply satisfying are three words of dialogue. Admittedly, audiences haven't even had a chance to hear those words before they fork over the admission price. Yet good movie dialogue can be prescient; it can capture the zeitgeist so well that when you hear it for the first time, it already sounds like an echo -- an echo of what you, and millions of your fellow countrywomen and countrymen, have been thinking for a while.
The three words: "This isn't us."
They're spoken by CIA officer Pamela Landy (Joan Allen), when asked why she's helping the bamboozled fugitive known as Jason Bourne (Matt Damon). She means: Yes, covert action is crucial in a dangerous world, but there is a line. A line you don't cross. Because if you do, you've broken something more critical than a window. Something precious and irreplaceable.
The three words summarize the national discomfort over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, over the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. It's a discomfort that knows no party or ideology. It is part of being an American, of believing in the uniqueness of our ideals.
A movie is just a movie. Occasionally, though, in the midst of a fiction that's slicing through the streets on hyper-drive, something odd suddenly shows up in the rearview mirror: reality.
BuzzFlash won’t ruin the film, particularly if you aren’t familiar with the prior two Bourne films, but suffice it to say, the bad guys in "The Bourne Ultimatum" turn out to be a CIA head and Second-in-Command who are running a black-ops department that is basically the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld torture-rendition-illegal detention-murder program. The makers of the movie leave little doubt about that.
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/editorials/154
Those who make cynical remarks about a bipartisan solution in Iraq, to end the occupation and civil war, are gambling on a Democratic president doing it and therefore getting the Democratic party full credit for ending it.
It is a bad bet for several reasons, least of which is that it is apparent to most independents - that Democrats would rather see the bloodshed continue than share some of the credit for ending it with Republicans. Democrats are the majority. They set the agenda. People won't necessarily blame Republicans for Democrats not finding a way to bridge the understanding gap, set a conciliatory tone, and negotiate concerns of moderate Republicans for an early end to the civil war and occupation.
None of this has to have anything to do with Bush, if there are 2/3 in the Congress. Biden has repeatedly stated, he doesn't think more than a dozen Senators agree with the direction Bush is going in.
Good morning, BFA!
**************
Dear audrey: if I was misattributing, my bad. I hadn't named a particular post but intended to respond to where you were telling us about a telephone call that you had made to someone you respected in the Cleveland area to hear what he had to say about K. I also just wanted to note (and will repeat here) that while he is not *my* candidate (none of those running so far is), if he is the nominee, I will support him, for many reasons.
One of the most important is because Howard would ask for my support, and I DO trust Howard. He has yet to disappoint in any major way.
To me, this headline should read *Straw Man Wins Straw Poll.* After all, here is someone who never served his country in battle when he could have, whose five sons all need to *serve their country* by getting him elected to continue a war that they will never serve in, who has disavowed everything that he used to argue for his election as Governor of Massachusetts, where he did not serve the people well, in the opinion of those from that state who post here, and who *won* after buying votes when several candidates didn't even show.
So, whoop-ti-do.
==============
Romney trounces GOP field in Iowa straw poll
Ex-governor tops 2d-tier candidates
By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff | August 12, 2007
AMES, Iowa -- Mitt Romney won the Republican straw poll here decisively last night, delivering 31.5 percent of votes cast and solidifying his position as the man to beat in Iowa, the state that holds the critical first-in-the- nation caucuses.
The former Massachusetts governor was the only major candidate who participated in the straw poll and greatly outspent his competitors, but last night Romney cast it as a clear victory.
"We get started here, this is really the big kick-off for my campaign," an ebullient Romney told reporters. He said the win was politically significant despite the absence of the other top-tier candidates. "The guys who decided not to play here, they'd have played if they thought they'd have won."
Finishing second with 18.1 percent of the vote was former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, whose candidacy might be reinvigorated by his showing. Last night, he said he was ecstatic.
"For us to do this, spending a dime for every $100 bill the others spent, is an amazing victory," he said.
The straw poll tends to narrow the Republican field, and yesterday's contest might be the death knell for at least one campaign. Tommy Thompson, the former governor of Wisconsin, finished in sixth place with 1.4 percent; he had said that he would end his candidacy if he did not finish second.
Huckabee's performance was a disappointment for Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, who had hoped to become the conservative Republicans would consolidate behind. Brownback finished in third place, with 15.3 percent of the vote.
Representative Tom Tancredo came in fourth with 13.7 percent of the vote; US Representative Ron Paul of Texas
[...]
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articl...
If any of us ever ran $200 million over cost with any project that we managed or were part of, we would be fired so fast the dust wouldn't even have time to settle.
But it's a way of doing business in putzCo world.
And why are we privatizing these services in the first place? Our military has to perform actions that are at least as dangerous, if not more, without even having the proper equipment.
===================
U.S. Pays Millions In Cost Overruns For Security in Iraq
By Steve Fainaru
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, August 12, 2007; A01
BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military has paid $548 million over the past three years to two British security firms that protect the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on reconstruction projects, more than $200 million over the original budget, according to previously undisclosed data that show how the cost of private security in Iraq has mushroomed.
The two companies, Aegis Defence Services and Erinys Iraq, signed their original Defense Department contracts in May 2004. By July of this year, the contracts supported a private force that had grown to about 2,000 employees serving the Corps of Engineers. The force is about the size of three military battalions.
U.S. officials and company representatives attributed the overruns to the cost of protecting a largely civilian workforce amid an escalating insurgency, as Corps of Engineers commanders demanded more manpower and increasingly expensive armor to guard their field staff.
"To pay a man or a woman to come over here, put the vest on every day and escort military and civilians around the theater, knowing that people want to blow them up and kill them, you gotta pay to get that level of dedication," said Col. Douglas P. Gorgoni, senior finance officer for the Corps of Engineers in Iraq.
[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...
When even Republicans are hearing this directly from the people, you would think that they would listen (and Snowe has, slightly) ... if they truly believed in democracy and serving those who elected them.
mainefem would probably have more than a few comments about Snowe, LOL.
=================
Back Home, More Frustration
By Elizabeth Williamson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 12, 2007; A06
BRUNSWICK, Maine The woman stood waiting amid the lunch counter clatter at the Grand City Variety Store to confront Olympia J. Snowe.
"We need to get out," Stephanie Slocum told Snowe, one of Congress's most conflicted members over the war in Iraq. It was the Maine Republican's first week of her summer break, and Slocum was among the first of many constituents who would tell her the time to act is now.
The self-described "proud mother of an Army cavalry scout," Slocum is taking Iraq personally. She told Snowe in a matter-of-fact voice about her 27-year-old son, who is now home but shouts angrily at her, whose body trembles, who at times feels he is still in Iraq and who, if Congress does not begin to redeploy troops by September, will be sent back. She spoke of her son's leave that never came, the goggles to protect him that she had to buy herself and the mental health treatment he has just given up. Because, he told his mom, "what's the sense" if he has to go back.
"Outrageous," Snowe said of the problems. "I would encourage him to continue to get his care."
"I do, but you know how it is," Slocum said. "In the Army . . . if you get the therapy, it's shame on you."
As she spoke, Slocum's poise slipped, and her voice shook. She was frustrated, most of all, with the failure of Washington to make it end -- and frustrated, too, with Snowe's careful hedging on Iraq. "I think you've changed your position a little bit, and we're very appreciative of that," she told her senator. "But it doesn't seem like whatever we think -- as the majority of people in Maine and across the country -- it doesn't seem to have any impact."
[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...
Whatever happens with this, I do take some comfort in that the majority of Dems opposed extending the powers. Barb Mikulski has heard from me about it ... and more than once ... and I really cannot understand why she voted yes. She has not yet responded to me.
It is definitely NOT typical of her. A mental fugue perhaps? A mistake? Bending to DiFi's will? (CA CAN do much better than DiFi, IMHO; she was also a cheerleader for Condi's confirmation as DoS.)
But the ones that we truly need to oust, along with the Rethugs (ALL of them voted to authorize extended powers), are the Blue Dogs, unless they change their ways PDQ. And it's not just for this vote.
==============
How the Fight for Vast New Spying Powers Was Won
By Joby Warrick and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 12, 2007; A01
For three days, Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, had haggled with congressional leaders over amendments to a federal surveillance law, but now he was putting his foot down. "This is the issue," said the plain-spoken retired vice admiral and Vietnam veteran, "that makes my blood pressure rise."
McConnell viscerally objected to a Democratic proposal to limit warrantless surveillance of foreigners' communications with Americans to instances in which one party was a terrorism suspect. McConnell wanted no such limits. "All foreign intelligence" targets in touch with Americans on any topic of interest should be fair game for U.S. spying, he said, according to two participants in the Aug. 2 conversation.
McConnell won the fight, extracting a key concession despite the misgivings of Democratic negotiators. Shortly after that exchange, the Bush administration leveraged Democratic acquiescence into a broader victory: congressional approval of a Republican bill that would expand surveillance powers far beyond what Democratic leaders had initially been willing to accept.
Yet both sides acknowledge that the administration's resurrection of virtually unchecked Cold War-era power to surveil foreign targets without warrants may be only temporary. The law expires in 180 days, and Democrats, smarting from their political defeat, have promised to alter it with new legislation to be prepared next month, when Congress returns from its recess.
[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...
Good morning, everybody
Had to check if this is still the active thread. It's strange to go to sleep and wake on the same one.
I've been thinking about what to say about Dodd. Checked out Opensecrets and found that he's taken almost no PAC money and has over six million left in the bank--plenty to pay his staff--and no debts. He's obviously an experienced campaigner, having gone through eight elections to end up in the house and senate, after a stint in the Peace Corps. His ground operation is very professional, though he does run a little late because it's hard for him to stop talking to people. Yesterday, his wife and the two little girls and a nanny were along and I sat with them while they had grilled cheese sandwiches. His wife said she was older than 42 when the youngest was born, so I'm guessing she's about 45 to his 61. Having the children seems to have been very affecting. One of our group had a sister visiting from Texas. She identified with the Dodd situation because she'd been married 20 years and had no children until one popped out during meno-pause. (Why is it that women aren't told that the reason it's called meno-PAUSE is because it stops and starts and stops and starts, sometimes for a decade?) Dodd's wife said the youngest is a light sleeper and wakes three or four times a night, leaving them all sleep-deprived. Perhaps that's good training for a candidate.
One of my grandsons was like that and it was really tedious being woken repeatedly whenever they visited. Eventually, of course, he got over it.
Bill Moyers is one of the few US TV *journalists* worthy of the name.
What a shame that our once proud networks have become mere house organs for the Rethugs and their propaganda. Goebbels would be proud of how smoothly the takeover has succeeded.
=================
Published on Saturday, August 11, 2007 by Huffington Post
Irresponsible Journalists of the Week: Tucker Carlson and his Whitewashed Panel Discussing “Blackness”
by Heather Wood
Oh no, they didn’t..
So, when the producers of MSNBC’s Tucker program decided to air a segment on “blackness” this week — specifically the degree and quality of presidential candidate Barack Obama’s blackness — did they not pause, even for a second, to realize the panel they had assembled was completely white?
No, nothing? No pause for concern whatsoever?
What about the question itself: “Is Barack Obama black enough to win the presidency?” Was this something pitched and approved in a news meeting, celebrated by MSNBC’s executive producers as “timely” and “groundbreaking”? Did they honestly think they could get away with this?
[...]
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007...
Good morning, Monica! I know what you mean about going to bed and rising on the same thread, although that happens most often on weekends.
Thanks for the words about Dodd. As a returned PCV myself, I have an affinity for his candidacy. There is definitely a special mentality among us, no matter what our stated politics (although most, as you might surmise, are Dems). The PC itself has prided itself on remaining staunchly non-partisan and even when Republicans were named to head it during Republican administrations, those who did not adhere to that did not last long. In fact, some Republican nominees actually performed quite well, at least those named prior to putzCo. I'm not sure whether you remember the uproar a few years back when there was a push for the military to perform some traditional PC activities. No way! But the missions have generally changed from those early years where we could essentially go almost anywhere and were welcomed there.
Very few among us were left untouched or unmoved from the experience of living within a different culture and basically receiving the same pay and treatment for doing the same jobs as our counterparts in those cultures. I have always thought that we were the ones who received the most benefit from the experience but many enduring friendships are the fruit of those years and we have also maintained contacts that I hope are considered to be mutually beneficial.
Finishing second with 18.1 percent of the vote was former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, whose candidacy might be reinvigorated by his showing. Last night, he said he was ecstatic.
"For us to do this, spending a dime for every $100 bill the others spent, is an amazing victory," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I see this guy on the ticket with Fred Thompson and it will be formidable opposition.
And yes, now the Rethugs are talking about bringing back the draft. Just make sure that the five sons of Mittless are included.
Stupidity, thy name is putzCo ... and those who enable their actions.
===================
Fatigue cripples US army in Iraq
Exhaustion and combat stress are besieging US troops in Iraq as they battle with a new type of warfare. Some even rely on Red Bull to get through the day. As desertions and absences increase, the military is struggling to cope with the crisis
Peter Beaumont in Baghdad
Sunday August 12, 2007
Observer
Lieutenant Clay Hanna looks sick and white. Like his colleagues he does not seem to sleep. Hanna says he catches up by napping on a cot between operations in the command centre, amid the noise of radio. He is up at 6am and tries to go to sleep by 2am or 3am. But there are operations to go on, planning to be done and after-action reports that need to be written. And war interposes its own deadly agenda that requires his attention and wakes him up.
When he emerges from his naps there is something old and paper-thin about his skin, something sketchy about his movements as the days go by.
The Americans he commands, like the other men at Sullivan - a combat outpost in Zafraniya, south east Baghdad - hit their cots when they get in from operations. But even when they wake up there is something tired and groggy about them. They are on duty for five days at a time and off for two days. When they get back to the forward operating base, they do their laundry and sleep and count the days until they will get home. It is an exhaustion that accumulates over the patrols and the rotations, over the multiple deployments, until it all joins up, wiping out any memory of leave or time at home. Until life is nothing but Iraq.
Hanna and his men are not alone in being tired most of the time. A whole army is exhausted and worn out. You see the young soldiers washed up like driftwood at Baghdad's international airport, waiting to go on leave or returning to their units, sleeping on their body armour on floors and in the dust.
Where once the war in Iraq was defined in conversations with these men by untenable ideas - bringing democracy or defeating al-Qaeda - these days the war in Iraq is defined by different ways of expressing the idea of being weary. It is a theme that is endlessly reiterated as you travel around Iraq. 'The army is worn out. We are just keeping people in theatre who are exhausted,' says a soldier working for the US army public affairs office who is supposed to be telling me how well things have been going since the 'surge' in Baghdad began.
[...]
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,...
Huckabee speaks the language of working people and could cut into our base.
the problem rdorgan and I were discussing
Dodd is certainly qualified, I'm not certain he can make that personal connection, although I think it might be a cultural dissonance that distinquishes the north east from the rest of the country, I'm impressed with the staff he has.
watching the Arlington million horse race I had to think about which candidate is playing the role of the eventual winner of that race
lay back along the rail, run a short track, conserve resources, move when it counts
Dodd seems like he is on that track.
I might try and go fishing today since the truck fire cut my last trip short.
I'll be seeing Clinton,Edwards, and Richardson in person this week and then all the candidates next weekend so maybe I can skip the Sunday shows
I leave the blog in good hands for now, and will check back before I take off.
Monica, thanks for the pix. It looks like you had a beautiful day there.
************
Hi, Phil!
If the American people really do fall for a Thompson-Huckabee combo (or any other Republican combo), I am afraid that the country will not survive. In fact, we are already on a very steep and crumbling precipice.
In the final analysis, the world will not be charitable towards what it sees as a continuation of the mistakes of the past. And that is what any Republican combination would be.
Happy fishing, Phil! You more than deserve a good day off. Mr. Howardly!
Annilow: here's one for you since you were by the general area so recently.
As for bear-spotting, I get to do a good deal of that in and near Glacier Park in MT since my sisters and I have inherited the family *cabin* near the southern border.
The occasional grizzly strolls by to peek in and give us a scare, but so far none have hung around to do any damage. Thank heavens for all involved.
================
Italy's other lake district
Brits flock to Garda and Maggiore, but Stephen Pritchard falls for the understated pleasures of Bolsena
The Observer Sunday August 12 2007
Bears are fastidious creatures. They may roam 30km a day in search of food, but they'll do so only if the weather's right. And just as global warming is all too apparent to humans when fires rage across an overheated Mediterranean and floods swamp mild English landscapes, so bears find it all too darned hot, too.
The news last week that the grape harvest is weeks early in some parts of northern Italy comes as no surprise when, even in June much further south in the Abruzzo region - home to some 60 Marsican bears - temperatures were hitting 40C, a level normally reached only in August.
The Abruzzo National Park, Italy's oldest, covers 50,000 hectares of craggy mountains, evergreen valleys, deep lakes and plunging waterfalls - just the sort of place where you might expect a bear to feel at home.
But just you try spotting one. Domenico, our guide, was familiar with their ways and warned us that we would be lucky to set eyes on one. 'In this heat they are more likely to lie low, but we might have some luck at dusk,' he said. So we set out before dinner one evening from the jaunty Villa Daniel in Pescasseroli, in the heart of the national park. I had imagined we would be taken to some remote spot up in the mountains; some sort of hide or refuge, but Domenico said that this evening we would go 'somewhere else'.
[...]
On the subject of shrubs, the blousey hydrangea probably comes pretty low on anyone's list of spectacular flowers, but in Bolsena, 200km from Pescasseroli, in the Lazio region, it has achieved almost cult status.
This small medieval town, clustered on the shore of the great lake to which it gives it name, has taken the shrub to its heart, planting it everywhere: in every street, on every roundabout, in every public space.
When we arrived in Bolsena we found ourselves in the middle of its annual hydrangea festival. As you might imagine, this is hardly a bacchanalian orgy to rival the days of ancient Rome, but it has a quiet charm if horticulture is your thing. Varieties of the shrub line the streets in profusion. Music plays. People stroll. It's delightfully civilised.
Impressive fortifications perched above the main town look out over Italy's largest volcanic lake. It's about 12km long and 14km wide, so it feels rather like being by the sea, particularly when the wind gets up and angry rain clouds roll across its surface.
[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/au...
This is interesting, only in that, according to this article, it is the wives of the Republican candidates who are garnering most of the bad press.
Perhaps it is because they make such easy copy for the lazy CMW media.
================
Claws are out for 'First Ladies'
'Puppy killer', 'pole-dancer', 'scheming': the spouses of America's presidential candidates are facing tough criticism and intense scrutiny as the campaign turns dirty, reports Paul Harris in New York
Paul Harris
Sunday August 12, 2007
Observer
It is a brutal battle of whispering campaigns, gossip-laced leaks and highly disciplined PR machines. It is a world where image outweighs reality and where any sign of weakness or an unscripted gaffe could derail a bid for the White House.
The US presidential nomination process? Not exactly. Instead it is the battle royal being waged between the candidates' spouses. As the Republican and Democratic parties are both choosing presidential candidates for 2008, never before have so many potential First Ladies - and one First Gentleman - battled it out so publicly.
[...]
That coverage has been colourful, to say the least. It has also shown a willingness to delve into the private lives of the spouses to a remarkable degree, turning over past husbands, ancient scandals and childhood secrets. Though, it must be said, some of the spouses on the campaign trail have certainly provided a lot of ammunition.
Judith Giuliani has been the focus of most of the negative attention so far. The third wife of the Republican frontrunner and former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, she was the subject of a lengthy profile in the celebrity bible Vanity Fair. The magazine, and several other articles, portrayed her as a scheming woman with extravagant shopping tastes who - allegedly - demanded an extra seat on the campaign plane for her Louis Vuitton shopping bag. That piece has prompted a fight back from her husband's campaign who wheeled her out to meet several carefully chosen newspapers in order to beat off some adverse coverage.
But if anyone sympathises with Judith Giuliani it must be Jeri Thompson, the second wife of likely Republican candidate Fred Thompson. Although her husband has not yet officially joined the race, she has already found herself labelled as a blonde 'trophy wife' married to a man 24 years her senior. When a photograph emerged of Jeri wearing a low-cut dress, it prompted TV talk-show host Joe Scarborough to remark, 'Do you think she works the pole?' in a reference to an exercise craze based on pole-dancing.
The tone of the coverage so far has shocked some, including the respected political columnist Kathleen Parker. 'Forget asking who would want to be President. Who in her right mind would ever want to be the First Lady?' Parker said.
That is a fair question, although sometimes photo shoots in the style of gossip magazines have been encouraged by the campaigns. The Giulianis posed for Harper's Bazaar kissing like movie stars. Elsewhere Cindy McCain, the wife of Arizona Senator John McCain, treated Fox television to a tour of the McCain house while wearing a blouse with a plunging neckline that attracted many comments .
[...]
Yet for every story about a heroic battle against a disease, there seems to be a marital dispute or an ex-husband lurking in the shadows. For every public picture of an adoring spouse, there is a whispered rumour about a backstairs argument or a controlling ego. Judith Giuliani has even faced the headline 'Judi's Job With Pup-killer Firm' in regard to a past job at a medical firm.
[...]
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,...
More on crumbling infrastructure ... this time electronic.
Perhaps we really don't need to worry about FISA, if this is the state that our electronic surveillance is in.
=================
Computer Glitch Causes Delays at LAX
Sunday August 12, 2007 11:16 AM
By AMANDA BECK
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Weary international passengers were stuck at Los Angeles International Airport for several hours, unable to set foot in the United States after a computer failure prevented customs officials from screening arrivals.
About 11,500 international passengers, both Americans and foreigners, sat in four airport terminals and in 60 planes starting about 2 p.m. on Saturday, when the computer system broke down, said Los Angeles World Airports spokesman Paul Haney.
The system contains names of arriving passengers and law enforcement data about them, including arrest warrants, said Mike Fleming, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman.
``That system allows our officers to make decisions on who we can allow to enter the United States,'' Fleming said. ``You just don't know by looking at them.''
The computers were fully restored at 11:45 p.m., and the last of backlogged passengers were expected to be cleared by early Sunday, Haney said.
[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story...
More misery ahead for the most vulnerable ...
And it's time to set forth into the day, albeit already half-gone.
Have good ones!
==================
Monsoon flooding spreads west across India and Pakistan
By Nina Lakhani
Published: 12 August 2007
Torrential monsoon rains that have killed more than 2,000 people in north-east India, Bangladesh and Nepal in recent weeks are now devastating north-west India and neighbouring Pakistan.
At least 10 people have died and thousands have been left homeless and without electricity, food or clean water after more than 40in of rain fell in India's north-western state of Gujarat last week. Across the border in Pakistan, a week of storms and flooding caused buildings to collapse in the country's largest city, Karachi, killing at least 35 people.
The Indian authorities, already at full stretch after thousands of square miles were inundated in the east, have had to shift resources to help the new flood victims. Helicopters have dropped food parcels in some remote areas, but people are desperate for drinking water as temperatures soar.
"We are hearing that children are dying from dehydration in the villages," said Bharti Lakhani, from Gujarat's port city of Porbandar, where thousands of slum dwellers have been evacuated to schools and hospitals. "My neighbour is helping nearly 50 family members in his small house, because their homes have been flooded."
In the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam further east, rescuers are still struggling to reach 20 million displaced people, despite flood waters starting to recede over the past few days. Children have been seen eating snails and rats in Bihar, and thousands of people throughout the region are still sheltering under plastic sheets while they wait for relief to arrive. In Bangladesh eight million people have been displaced.
[...]
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia...
124.
And you wonder how Bush Two can look with equanimity on the deaths of three thousand troops in four years. Never mind that we kill more than that on our highways every month.
Which is better a road-side cross or a grave in Arlington?
The care and maintenance of electronic systems of all kinds has been grossly underestimated on all levels. While there's some appreciation for "garbage in-garbage out" when it comes to electronic data management, the electron is a flighty entity, subject to all kinds of unpredictable behavior and instantaneous meltdown. Hitching our future safety to electrons is like hitching it to a star.
Yes, I'm not worrying overly much about FISA.
When people want to use their cell phones at our house, they have to go down into the woods and climb a big rock. We call them the "handkerchief rocks" because before the woods grew back, people used to climb them and wave their handkerchiefs to signal neighbors several miles away. Sort of like using smoke signals.
How about a presidential candidate who promises to stop wasting our time. Now there's someone who'd get my vote!
I noticed a new thread.
Promoted Sunday, 08/12/07 @ 9:01 am. Published Sunday, 08/12/07 @ 9:00 am
This Week (ABC): Just one day after the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, Senator Sam Brownback, R-Kan., joins George to talk about the results, the campaign and his recent attacks on fellow contender Mitt Romney. Will he stay in the race? What are his plans for the future?
Also this week, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, talks to George about the Democratic field and his longshot campaign for the presidency. What drives him to stay in the race?
Roundtable: George Will, Fareed Zakaria, Torie Clarke and Donna Brazile.
This bridge and infrastructure program to progress America forward by Kucinich is worth a good look.
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