http://democracyforamerica.com/sicko

 The Healthcare Solution: California OneCare

 Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease & Pushing Drugs

  Trailer Michael Moore's movie "SiCKo"

Labor Endorsers of HR 676, Universal Single Payer Health Care
http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/fact...

How should progressives talk about health care security in America?

Weather disasters 'getting worse'

The number of weather-related disasters has quadrupled over the past 20 years and the world should do more to prepare for them, the aid agency Oxfam says.

Population increases mean more people are affected when catastrophic weather events take place, it says in a report.

Global warming is to blame for the growing number of weather disasters, Oxfam adds.

An average of 500 such disasters are now taking place each year, compared to 120 in the 1980s, the report says.

The number of floods has increased six-fold over the same period.
Small disasters ignored

The agency expresses particular concern about the increase in small and medium-sized weather events, which it says affect great numbers of people, but do not attract as much international aid as large, well-publicised natural disasters.

The report argues that climate change is responsible for the growing number of weather-related disasters - more intense rain, combined with frequent droughts, make damaging floods much more likely.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7111623.stm

39.

Monica Smith
Sun, 11/25/07
12:28 pm

Reply to this
34.
--------

Thanks.
I realize it might not be easy for you to say...., then I appreciate your words even more.

WoooHOOOO!  Go Mario!!!

Mario Batali Gives Bottled Water the Boot


In March, Alice Waters' famed Chez Panisse restaurant announced it would no longer sell bottled water due to environmental concerns over waste, not only from packaging but from transporting it, too. Now other restaurants are following suit, including premier Chef Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's Del Posto, which plans to stop selling the bottled stuff by the end of this summer. Batali has 12 restaurants total in New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.


1.5 million barrels of oil in the US alone are used to make water bottles from polyethylene terephthalate, 86% of which are landfilled or incinerated. Often it is shipped long distances, like the 1.4 million bottles of Finnish tap water sent 2,700 miles to Saudi Arabia.


According to Bastianich, the restaurant will neutralize and purify NYC's finest through reverse osmosis, then add minerals and salts back into it to create a signature flavor profile. It won't come free, and while the price has yet to be determined, there will likely be a flat, per-person water charge. Says Bastianich: "To spend fossil fuel trucking water around the world is absurd....Water should be as local as anything gets." www.mariobatali.com

http://www.earthlab.com/articles/MarioBatali.aspx

Susan Rowe
Sat, 11/24/07
10:58 am
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

With their mouths?

"Surrogate off-spring like a Bill Clinton or a Huckabee are, in many ways, a more secure investment.  And they can be disposed of much more easily if they get out of line. "

Other than both being from Arkansas, Huckabee and Clinton have almost nothing in common.   

anyone like this:

http://www.mediacinema.com/html/happy.ht...

its from my last show. takes a few minutes to load...

Mike...sure, I'd love it to see pix and hear about your adventures.  To be honest, for me personally, I don't think I'm Ironman material. 

____________________________________________________________________________

chal,

Not at all.........Ironman, believe it or not is actually easier tha mnay other events or athletic endeavours..........you areright, its not for everyone, but thats not meant to slight any one person from accomplishing a stated goal or task, in anything for that matter...........i like to think of my story as a combination of a comedy (of errors), challenges both physical as well as mental and sentimental day dreaming of days when we all much younger...............its  about 2 weks from completion, maybe I an get it to you before the holidays...............I actually got this idea from a book i bought last year called "Becoming an Ironman", stories from people that finished, wanted to finish or could not finish one...............humbling.

My story simply puts a person through the training, leading up to and actually during the day.

I am reposting from a previous thread because there is a new thread everytime I check here.  Guess that is a good thing.

Remember how much Howard Dean spoke out against NCLB?  

2003 Howard Dean on NCLB... "every school in America by 2013 will be a failing school."

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1662

Congress has a lot of fixing to do.  The NCLB worries most teachers and makes retired teachers like me feel bad about where education is going in this country.

, you confuse me.........whres your New England sense of rebellion thing?  You dive al over me for shit canning the Democratic party.................maybe more of you should "rebel" against them...............you mention the word republican today and people today hold their head in shame, mention democrat and people scratch their heads in total confusion.

>

Yes, my haiku was directed at you. 

I am not from the northeast.  I am a vagabond, if any*thing,* from someplace before here and no place at the same time I am here. 

I don't run you over.  I do play bumper-cars on the Go-cart track with you, as pertains to your "independent" firsty posts, because the term has many definitions and I like to tweak you.  

bbl 

ok, Mike--love to see it.  Can you post a note for me here at DFA?  Then I can give you my email.

How Big Man In McAllen Bundles Big For Clinton

By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page A01

McALLEN, Tex. -- During the first nine months of this year, Sen. Barack Obama raised just $2,086 for his presidential campaign from people who live in and around this border town of stucco bungalows and weed-covered farm lots, and most candidates raised even less. But Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, has already raised more than $640,000 here, and her campaign expects to collect even more.

Clinton's success in this unlikely setting is based almost entirely on her friendship with one man, McAllen developer Alonzo Cantu. A self-made millionaire who once picked grapes on the migratory farm labor circuit, Cantu persuaded more than 300 people in Hidalgo County, where the median household income in 2006 was $28,660, to write checks ranging from $500 to $2,300 to the senator from New York.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...

Yes, my haiku was directed at you. 

I am not from the northeast.  I am a vagabond, if any*thing,* from someplace before here and no place at the same time I am here. 

___________________________________________________________________________

Now I see.........this haiku thing, is that the NZ danse thingy the high shcool football teams are geting penalized for these days....................and when you enter  a roo, to the music you must announce yourself as, Bond..................Vaga Bond?

Pieces and bits of the oped: 

The Clinton News Network Holds a Vladimir Putin Debate

Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich have close to a hundred years of significant government experience and very significant things to say about the campaign, but have been treated in these debates like the opposition to Vladimir Putin are treated in the state-controlled Russian media.

It is a disgrace and a sham and a disrespect not only to those candidates but to the very idea of an informed citizenry choosing our next leader in a democratic election.

This CNN debate began with a lie.

. . .

This whole affair was a shame and disgrace and the latest in a series of debates that were managed in ways that insult the very notion of an informed electorate choosing our leader in a democratic election at a dangerous time.

My advice if this happens again: Biden, Dodd, Richardson and Kucinich should agree in advance to walk off the stage together and find some place to have their own debate, for as long as it takes, to have the kind of serious discussion our country deserves.

Trust me, if they do, it will be a ratings smash.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/11134/print

Delahunt wants stronger say for Congress in declaring war

WASHINGTON - Rep. William Delahunt says it’s high time to start thinking about the next war.

Even as Congress wrestles with attempts to bring home U.S. troops from Iraq, the Massachusetts Democrat is teaming up with some Republican colleagues on legislation to give Congress a stronger say in when the country should go to war.

Delahunt recently joined Republican Reps. Walter Jones of North Carolina, Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland and 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas on a measure that would limit the president’s ability to go to war without Congress’ approval.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/nation...

Ok chal..will do when its finished.............heres an excerpt.................

) in the cool mist over the water I could hear the announcer yelling out over the music, “you have yourselves a GREAT day”, and with that BOOM………the cannon went off to screaming and cheering people. I was now officially in an Ironman.

An Ironman swim is mass organized anarchy at times…..my strategy for this swim would be to swim methodically and not get caught up in trying to kep up with other swimmers, as I am average at best, although always comfortable in the water which to me is a plus.

My sighting for the mountains ahead was gone because of the fog, so I simply followed the hundreds of white swim caps ahead of me and also scanned the shore to my right as Mirror lake is narrow. The first 5 minutes or so I was a bit anxious in the water just like in White Lake, so I had to fight to calm myself. Of course my 30 second countdown strategy worked well as hundreds passed by me before I even made one stroke….but then as I was swimming the same people that waited 30 seconds had now caught up to me and were passing me, or hitting me, or my feet, or swimming diagonally in front of me or whatever………not too bad except for the occasional jerk.

17.

Imn2Paine

you mention the word republican today and people today hold their head in shame, mention democrat and people scratch their heads in total confusion....

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

good one, Paine. BTW you won't see me on this blog much when that shithead is on.

Other than both being from Arkansas, Huckabee and Clinton have almost nothing in common. 

More than you imagine. As president, Clinton signed into law many corporate sponsered bills that Huckabee also would have. Not to mention "welfare reform."

22.

Delahunt, Jones, Gilchrest and Paul have a wonderful idea. It's just that the present president would pay no attention to the "measure" (as Delahunt calls it) even if he did sign it or even if his veto were to be overridden.

What they need to do first is make presidential "signing statements" illegal. There is nothing in the Constitution giving a president power to use such a strategy even though it has been used by several previous presidents but never to the extent we see now.

The big news, of course, is NOT that Obama is ahead of Hillary in Iowa polls, but that very few give Hillary as their second choice.

In other words, Hillary is pretty much down to her iron-clad faithful supporters alone.

IMO - the Iran vote was her Shakespearean-tragic fatal mistake. She should have remembered the famous quote of that scumbag Nixon, and stayed to one end of the political spectrum for the primary.

In being a hawk on the Iran vote, she had pompously assumed the primary was "over," and was campaigning for the moderate-conservative swing votes for the general election.

"A self-made millionaire who once picked grapes on the migratory farm labor circuit, Cantu persuaded more than 300 people in Hidalgo County, where the median household income in 2006 was $28,660, to write checks ranging from $500 to $2,300 to the senator from New York."

Smart guy...I'd want him on my team:) 

26.  Sounds really exciting, Mike.  Looking forward to hearing more!

"The big news, of course, is NOT that Obama is ahead of Hillary in Iowa polls, but that very few give Hillary as their second choice."

We all WISH we knew what Iowa voters FIRSTS are, much less their SECONDS.  Fact:  we really don't know until they vote.  Iowa's hard to predict.  The quote is void of fact.

 "In other words, Hillary is pretty much down to her iron-clad faithful supporters alone."

Again, no facts here.  We're all entitled to our opinions, of course. 

Other than both being from Arkansas, Huckabee and Clinton have almost nothing in common.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They both went to the same High School. I wonder if they had a teacher that instilled that mantra "In America anyone can grow up to be President" or was extremely good at teaching empathy or self worth. Hope as a hometown is too big a coincidence.

maybe it was the music teacher?

latest fund raising numbers...

http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/mapA...

13.  Huckabee and Clinton were both elected Governor of Arkansas with the support of local money-bags. 

It's not likely to be co-incidental that the largest private brokerage outside of Wall Street, the Stephens Group just happens to be in a state where Rockefeller the oil baron resettled.

Jackson Stephens bankrolled both the Bushes and then Clinton in '92.  

We forget that Winthrop Rockefeller was Governor of Arkansas and that Win Rockefeller was Huckabee's Lieutenant Governor until his untimely demise. 

Just passing through ... hope that this BBC series has been picked up by PBS. It is excellent and I'm in the last few moments of the last program.

The last two episodes deal with Jean-Francois Champollion and his finally breaking the hieroglyphics codes so that we could actually learn about the Egyptian civilization instead of merely plundering and/or wondering about its artefacts.

Champollion was opposed tooth and nail by the Church because the hieroglyphs contradicted the literal interpretation of the Bible.

Seeing this series makes me wonder if the looting of Iraq's archaeological heritage might not have been planned so that our Christian Taliban can wipe out ancient history in favor of the RW evangelical interpretation.

Not that I am a fan of conquest, but contrast putz's invasion and occupation of Iraq with Napoleon's of Egypt. Napoleon's conquest ultimately opened Egypt's ancient civilization to the world. putz's has practically destroyed Iraq's.

Worst. President. Ever.

Here's a description of the series. Don't miss it if PBS has been allowed to get it.

http://africanhistory.about.com/od/egypt...

Lessons on how to buy votes in the working poor community.

Hidalgo County, TX foreclosure list: http://www.foreclosure.com/search/TX_215...

---

19.

How Big Man In McAllen Bundles Big For Clinton

...Cantu says he gave his first national political check, for $1,000, to Bill Clinton in his first run for president. Cantu said he has been grateful to Clinton for pushing through Congress the North American Free Trade Agreement over the opposition of organized labor. NAFTA turned this stretch of citrus orchards in the Rio Grande Valley into a fast-growing industrial hub, and it has helped enrich Cantu, who owns hundreds of acres in the region, in addition to his varied business interests. ...

Because of his financial interests, Cantu's influence over potential donors is substantial. He has raised money from doctors who work at the hospital where he holds an ownership interest, from bankers who work at the bank he co-owns and from the scores of tradesmen who contract with his primary business, Cantu Construction and Development Co., one of the town's dominant residential and commercial builders. The Clinton donors included dozens who had never registered to vote, several who were Republicans and 10 who had previously made contributions to President Bush and former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R).

"When Alonzo comes through the door, you want to give to him," said Gerardo J. Reyna, Cantu's brother-in-law. Reyna owns McAllen Carpet & Interiors, a company that provides close to 90 percent of the floor coverings in Cantu-built homes and offices. "The last thing you want to do is get on Alonzo's bad side," he said with a smile. Reyna donated $1,000 to Clinton.

Cantu says he gave his first national political check, for $1,000, to Bill Clinton in his first run for president. Cantu said he has been grateful to Clinton for pushing through Congress the North American Free Trade Agreement over the opposition of organized labor. NAFTA turned this stretch of citrus orchards in the Rio Grande Valley into a fast-growing industrial hub, and it has helped enrich Cantu, who owns hundreds of acres in the region, in addition to his varied business interests. ...

http://eatapyzch.blogspot.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~

paine's poetry whetted my appetite and puddle and baby always deliver

New thread

http://blogforamerica.com/view/23084#comments 

Actually, submitting legislation to do away with Congressional health coverage is not all Edwards could do, if he was President.  He could veto any spending bills funding it, too.