Hen's teeth

Senator Shelby's office admits Medicare is Better

2009-11-03T10:03:00.002-06:00

I called Senator Shelby's office to find out if he could help me with a paperwork or administration problem with Medicare. The person answering the phone told me to write a letter & they would see what they could do.

I asked if the senator could help me if the problem was with Blue Cross. The answer was no. I asked who could help me, and was told that the insurance commission will investigate any illegal activity. I reminded her that my problem was lost paperwork, nothing illegal about that.

Then I informed her that she had just told me that Medicare was better than private insurance.

"[Stutter] [Stutter] no it isn't"

The Real Story of A Generic Drug

2009-10-23T23:51:00.007-05:00

We are continually being told that we can save money if we switch to generic drugs, as if this is a great new idea. I don't know of anyone who doesn't use generic prescription drugs. If they exist, that is.

This is the story of a drug manufacturer, its favorite cash cow, and what happened when the patent ran out.

Cephalon, Inc makes Provigil. It's used for nacolepsy and fatigue. Cephalon has made a lot of money with it, but the patent was due to expire in 2005. Various generic manufacturers filed applications with the FDA to manufacture and market the drug in 2002. In 2003, Cephalon filed patent infringement lawsuits against each of the generic companies. This gave the generic companies a long and expensive fight for the right to manufacture a generic version of Provigil.

Cephalon had a better solution for them. Cephalon paid them to not market any generic drugs until 2011 or 2012. Case settled. And they make lots of money to do nothing.
http://www.prescriptionaccess.org/lawsuitssettlements/current_lawsuits?id=0024

This was a little expensive for Cephalon, but they had a solution for that too. First they jacked the price of Provigil way up. Then they made a few minor tweaks to Provigil, and changed the name to Nuvigil. This gave them a brand new patent that will last till 2023.

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/11/18/eyeing-generics-cephalon-hikes-price-on-provigil/

http://stanford.wellsphere.com/healthcare-industry-policy-article/why-did-cephalon-close-its-provigil-patient-assistance-program/419859

Cephalon also plans to have a larger customer base for Nuvigil. They are marketing it for Eastbound jet lag. Some very lucky drug study subjects got an all expenses paid vacation to France in order to show its effectiveness.
http://industry.bnet.com/pharma/10002938/cephalons-nuvigil-test-included-vacation-in-france/

This created a lot of fun and games for the drug manufacturers, but what about the poor health insurance companies that have to pay for it? No problems there either.

I have chronic fatigue. I've been taking Provigil for a couple of years. A few months ago, when I went to pick up a refill, the lady at the pharmacy gave me a chipper "That'll be $379.43." Blue Cross changed the rules and didn't bother to tell me, or my doctor. A sleep study is now required before they can approve Provigil.

That's nice, but what am I supposed to do in the mean time. Not even the greatest health care system in the world can get you a sleep study & diagnosis in a day.

My doctor tried to get me an extension, but Blue Cross wasn't interested in any little problems their rule change might have created.

Next I got my exployer's HR department to talk to Blue Cross. That worked. I got an extension. It's no longer "preferred", and will cost me $50, but that's better than $400. Unfortunately, Blue Cross departments don't talk to each other. I've been round and round with my doctor and the pharmacy. They can't convince Blue Cross, that Blue Cross has given me an extension.

So, I'm stuck without a medicine that I need. I'm always sleepy, and have trouble getting anything done during the day. And I have to deal with this mess.

What's really great about this ordeal that Blue Cross put me through, is that it never would have happened if I was on Medicare. The Blue Cross formulary for Medicare lists Provigil as "preferred". No sleep study required.

Why can't I buy into Medicare, if I want to?

Update: I've had the sleep study. The sleep doctor gave me a new prescription with special approval. Blue Cross can't find the approval.

Jo Bonner(R-AL) Will Ask The CBO to Score Single Payer

2009-09-01T10:26:00.003-05:00

At least he said he would.

I was at Representative Jo Bonner's town hall meeting in Tillman's Corner, Alabama. My question to Rep. Bonner was:

I would like to start my own business, but I am over 40 & under 65. I can't get affordable health insurance unless I work for a large corporation. Why can't I buy into Medicare?

A single payer, Medicare for All, health plan was taken off the table before the discussion was started, even though a majority of Americans, and a majority of doctors are in favor of it. [shouts from hecklers in the back of the room, so I had to raise my voice here.] My question is, Will you ask the CBO to rate it in comparison to the other proposals so that all of the various proposals can be evaluated objectively?

Jo first told the hecklers to behave themselves, and that I had a valid question.

He then said a lot of words about how great Medicare is, but gave no indication of how it might be expanded to people under 65.

Next, Jo talked about how the Republicans have no power in Washington, because they are in the minority. I told him that he could shame the Democrats into joining his request to score Single Payer.

Then he rambled on about various plans that the CBO has scored, implying that Single Payer was one of them. I repeated that HR676 had not been scored.

Then he mumbled something about trying to request it. So I thanked him, and told him that I looked forward to seeing the report.

Will Eucalyptus Be The New Kudzu?

2009-07-02T09:54:00.003-05:00

Kudzu was imported to the Southeastern US to reduce soil erosion. It is now an invasive pest. The vine will quickly engulf trees, bushes, telephone poles, and people. (Just kidding about the people, but it does grow quickly.)

In 2005, ArborGen planted genetically engineered, cold tolerant Eucalyptus trees in Baldwin County, Alabama. The exact location has been kept secret. They are now asking the USDA for permission to expand the test to 29 field trials, with over 260,000 trees.

260,000 trees is not a field trial. These are experimental forests hiding behind field trial loopholes. Genetic Eucalyptus Trees Threaten Southern U.S.

According to the above referenced article from "Toward Freedom",

"Eucalyptus are internationally known for their devastating impacts--from invasiveness to wildfires to their ability to worsen droughts. Massive wildfires in Australia earlier this year were fueled by eucalyptus, which contains a highly volatile oil. These wildfires moved at 100 km/hr and killed 173 people, who literally did not have time to escape. Additionally, eucalyptus grandis, one of the species in the GE eucalyptus hybrid, is also a known host to Cryptococcus gattii, a fungus that can cause fatal fungal meningitis in people and animals that inhale its spores. C. gattii was recently found in the U.S."

The following quotes are from Permit applications 08-011-116rm and 08-014-101rm received from ArborGen LLC Field testing of genetically engineered Eucalyptus grandis X Eucalyptus urophylla Draft Environmental Assessment May 08, 2009. A copy can be found at http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2008-0059

"the species of Eucalyptus used to produce this hybrid are not considered weedy or invasive in the U.S. None of the genes introduced into Eucalyptus code for traits that would be expected to make the plants more weedy or invasive. The genes introduced to affect cold tolerance could make the engineered Eucalyptus more adapted to cold temperatures in the southern United States, but this trait in and of itself would not impart invasive or weediness characteristics to the
engineered plants."

In other words, Eucalyptus is not considered a weed because it hasn't become invasive yet. If it should be come invasive, it would be considered a weed, but since the field test would already be underway, we won't be able to do anything about it. Also, making Eucalyptus more cold hardy can't possibly make it more likely to spread.

"preventing flower formation would prove impossible over time"

Arborgen admits that they will create flowers. Their descriptions of the 29 field sites show that both engineered and non-engineered Eucalyptus are currently being grown nearby. But don't worry about that, because Eucalyptus seedlings aren't very tough.

"There are other species of cold-hardy Eucalyptus that can possibly be grown in the Southeast U.S.These species include E. neglecta, E. niphophila, E. pauciflora, E. camphora, E. nova-anglica, E.macarthurii, E. gunnii and E. cinerea. These could occur in the States where these field test occur. Among these species, E. cinerea, also known as the silver dollar tree or Argyle Apple, is the most popular species grown for its ornamental foliage. "

So why do we need a bio-engineered tree?

Petitions can be found at http://ga3.org/campaign/GEtrees/xn873s54hjx563dt? and http://globaljusticeecology.org/petition.php.

Comments close Monday, July 6, 2009, 5pm Eastern

Congress has socialized medicine. Why can't I?

2009-05-12T10:25:00.004-05:00

socialized medicine - a medical system where the government pays for & regulates medical care.

As federal employees, all senators & representatives have subsidized health care insurance managed by the federal government. What a bunch of hypocrites. If socialized medicine is the disaster they claim it to be, they should all be getting health care on the open market. I wonder how many of them would even get accepted for private coverage.

As an absolute minimum for health care reform, I want access to the same plans as my employees in Washington. I want it at the same subsidized price. And I want it no matter what my current health condition is.

Senator Max Baucus is in charge of coming up with the health care reform legislation. He recently stated that all options are on the table, except single payer. Why is an option supported by most people, as well as most doctors, not allowed to be discussed? Is the open market system afraid to compete with a public system?

Single payer advocates tried to get a seat at the table last week. When they tried to ask Baucus why they weren't allowed to speak, he had them removed & arrested. In fact, Baucus made a joke about running out of police. The room full of senators & health insurance executives had a great chuckle over denying citizens the right to speak.

The US is the only industrialized country in the world that allows its citizens to go bankrupt due to medical costs.

In Obama's web town hall meeting, he said that we have to keep our employer based health coverage because that's what we are used to. Is that the best argument he has? I'm used to being underpaid, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to change it.

Various politicians are quick to reassure us that anyone happy with their health care insurance can keep it. Well, the only people who are happy with their current health care insurance, are the people who haven't tried to use it.

I'd like to know what this "choice" in heath care is supposed to mean;

Do I get to choose between good coverage & bad coverage?

Do I get to choose between cancer coverage & heart attack coverage?

Do I get to choose between low premiums but you go bankrupt if you get sick, & high premiums, but you get care if you get sick?

Do I get to choose between having vision/dental coverage & not having vision/dental coverage?

I already have those choices. I want to know that I will get health care even if I lose my job.

Speaking of jobs, our current health care system is a form of serfdom. You can't get health insurance unless you work for a large corporation. I don't have the choice of working for a small company because I won't have access to affordable health care. I don't have the choice of starting my own business because I would never be accepted for private health care insurance.

There is an option that will both lower costs & improve health care coverage, HR-676. Here's a few points from Physicians for a National Health Program http://www.pnhp.org/.

The potential savings on paperwork, more than $350 billion per year, are enough to provide comprehensive coverage to everyone without paying any more than we already do.

Under a single-payer system, all Americans would be covered for all medically necessary services, including: doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs. Patients would regain free choice of doctor and hospital, and doctors would regain autonomy over patient care.

Sick people expected to pay for Bailout

2009-03-30T10:10:00.004-05:00

After years of greed, corruption, deregulation, & crime, Wall Street has managed to destroy the world's economy. So what is Bush/Obama's plan to fix it?

More money to Wall Street.
Hazy promises of future regulation.
Remove executive compensation limits from legislation.
More money to Wall Street.
Remove whistle blower protections for federal employees from legislation.
Make one CEO resign, as long as it isn't a Wall Street CEO.
More money to Wall Street.
Ask union workers to take a pay cut.
Keep paying Wall Street because we will be lost without their blessed presence.
More money to Wall Street.
Expect auto retirees to take worthless stock to pay for their health care.

But Single Payer Universal Health Care is off the table. We aren't going to do anything about spiraling health care costs until we eliminate the 30% overhead that health insurance companies cost us. Obama refuses to even allow an objective study of the costs/benefits of single payer. Let single payer stand or fall on its own merit.

Even with "good" health insurance, it is possible to go bankrupt due to the deductibles & copays.

Obama talks about shared sacrifice. But then he expects retirees struggling to pay for health expenses to finance Wall Street's bailout.

Fix the Deficit with Senate Confirmation Hearings

2009-02-02T10:25:00.002-06:00

The Confirmation Hearings for Geitner & Daschle have highlighted a problem that is not mentioned very often. Rich people can get away with not paying taxes because the IRS does not have the funding to do thorough audits. When nominated for high government office, they suddenly remember the taxes they should have paid.

Unfortunately, an extra hundred thousand dollars here and there doesn't really make much of a dent in our deficit. So I had another thought.

Corporations are people. We could get billions of dollars in back taxes with the right nominations. I'll start the list;

Exxon - Energy Secretary
Microsoft - Commerce Secretary
Halliburton - Defense Secretary

Yard Signs Say the Darndest Things

2008-11-02T23:42:00.002-06:00

I live in suburbia, where all the political signs are Republican. I've noticed something odd about the yard signs. They are all blue. All except Marilyn Wood. She has a red sign with white letters. I was curious about the person who proudly proclaimed her Republicanism.

Taking a closer look at her sign, I see:

Reelect Marilyn Wood - she must be the incumbent
Revenue Commissioner - the position she wants to keep
Experience - she is the incumbent
Integrity - who would claim not to have integrity?

In other words, Vote for me because I'm the incumbent, and I'm Republican.

Hoping for a little more information, I try an internet search. I find out that she doesn't have a web site, but she does have ethics complaints filed against her. Not much information there either.

The largest most numerous signs belong to Mike Dean. He likes to put giant signs at intesections with long red lights.

On his signs, I see:

Reelect Mike Dean - he's the incumbent
County Commsion - the position he wants to keep
NO NEW TAXES - catchy slogan
New jobs. New roads - what's he been doing all this time?

In other words, this time I really will do my job.

After an internet search on Mike Dean, I find out that he doesn't have a web site, but he does have ethics complaints filed against him. Very strange.

I did find their challengers' web sites. The web sites of both Renee Williams and Brad Warren are very informative.

Small Businesses Don't Need Tax Breaks

2008-10-15T08:39:00.004-05:00

What small (and large) businesses do need, is business.

Tax breaks aren't a lot of help when you don't have an income. Lower costs are only one way to increase profit. Increased income also increases profit. An investment in our infrastructure, green technology, and basic research will create income for businesses. It could create enough business to generate the need for more businesses.

An investment in our infrastructure and research can also lower costs for business. A good transportation system makes it easier and cheaper to do business. A good education system means that companies don't need to teach basic skills to their employees. Green technologies can lower energy costs for business.

In a strange upside down kind of way, lower business taxes can lead to increased business expenses. When the government invests in our country, we all profit.

Update:
Obviously, this post was hyperbole to make a point. It's the bottom line that counts. No resonable person would turn down increased income, or lowered operating expenses or taxes.

But the often-mentioned Joe the Plumber reminds me that there are people that would turn down lower taxes. Joe acknowledges that he would pay less taxes with Obama's plan, but he doesn't want the tax break. He would rather make sure that his taxes are low when he becomes rich. How he expects to become rich is another story.

Is the Bush-Paulson Bailout Our Only Alternative?

2008-09-24T08:45:00.003-05:00

Are our only choices a massive bailout of Wall Street with no strings attached, or an economic collapse?

Lindsay Beyerstein Majikthise & David Cay Johnston Poynter Online have some excellent questions that I would like answered.

I have a few of my own:

The toxic debts are presented as the basic problem in the system. Paulson says that the US government must get into the loan business by buying these bad loans. Wouldn't it make more sense for the government to refinance these home loans directly? People who were cheated by greedy banks will have the opportunity to convert to an affordable loan, and the banks will have to live with the downside of risk.

They say that the credit markets are about to seize up. They've been wrong before. Let's wait and see for a while. If the credit markets really do dry up, we can use some of that $700 billion to make loans directly to people and small businesses.

They say that we will have massive unemployment if the Wall Street millionaires don't get their big bonuses. I see no reason to wait for another imaginary trickle down to come our way. Spend the money on infrastructure, alternative energy, and basic science research projects.

They told us not to depend on social security or pension plans. They forced us to set up our own retirement accounts. Now they say that we have to save Wall Street, or else we will lose our retirement money. I say that the above suggestions are likely to take care of our retirement accounts. If the IRA and 401K plans still tank, can't we come up with some sort of rebate plan to compensate people for the money that was stolen from their accounts?

The White House has my email, but I don't

2008-06-12T16:20:00.003-05:00

I've had a Bellsouth dialup account for years. A few months ago, I decided to upgrade to DSL. Due to the recent merger with AT&T, and their new system, I was not allowed to keep my old email address. I had to create a new email address for the DSL account. Eventually I got them to keep my old email address active as another (paid) account, so that I would have time to migrate to the new address.

A few days ago, I lost Internet access. After some time with tech support, I found out that they had moved my old email address to the DSL account. The new email address, that I was migrating to, was suspended. Mistakes happen, so I asked them to fix it. That turned out to be impossible. After six hours on the phone getting passed back and forth between billing & tech support people, I couldn't get past, "We are unable to reactive an account for 90 days." What kind of a goofy system allows employees to turn accounts off, but not restore them?

Over the past few days, I must have talked to every billing and tech support person they have. Not one of them knows how to reactivate my account, or if my lost emails will ever be restored. Today I was told that I was on the data cleanup group's todo list, but that there is an enormous backlog of work ahead of me.

What really makes this fun, is that AT&T doesn't have any direct numbers. You get someone new every time you call them. I have to re-explain the problem every time I get passed to a new person. They can't read the trouble report before I go through the spiel. Some of them never do understand what the problem is.

I have learned a little about dealing with AT&T:

Never let them call you back. They won't. Insist on staying on hold. You can at least tie up their system if they can't help you.
If they pass you to someone else, insist that they stay on the line. The other department will soon decide to pass you back. If you don't keep the first person on the line, you will get someone new & have to start all over.
If they want a way to contact you, give them a Yahoo or Hot Mail address. The free accounts work, might as well remind them.

Maybe I should file a Freedom of Information request. The White House can forward my email to me. With any luck, the spam will be redacted.

Health Insurance Companies - The Anti-Life Choice

2008-06-02T00:14:00.004-05:00

Did you know that having a Caesarean is considered a "pre-existing" condition? For anyone without the protection of a group health insurance plan, it can be used to deny coverage, or to increase rates.

Not to worry though, there is a way to get affordable health insurance after being such a burden on the health industry. You just have to get sterilized after the Caesarean.

That's right. It's perfectly legal for an insurance company to require a woman to be sterilized in order to be covered. They are both anti-life & anti-choice.

I wonder what Umbert the Unborn has to say about this.

NY Times article
h/t to nyceve at Daily Kos

HR 5140 - Corporate Welfare is NOT an Economic Stimulus

2008-01-24T08:30:00.000-06:00

The economic meltdown has started. So what do our fearless leaders plan to do about it?

The Fed dropped interest rates. About all this means is that the banks who made fraudulent or stupid investments will get propped up for a little longer, because the people who are paying these loans will be able to pay them for a little while longer. Before going bankrupt and disappearing off the face of the Earth.

Tax breaks for business. After all corporation are people too. The vampirarchy must be protected. All the short-sighted, self-centered decisions made by corporations will be repaid with a tax decrease. Heaven knows we can't let them get desperate enough to sell off a couple of corporate jets.

Tax rebates for people who still have jobs. _yippee They think that ~~$300~~$600 is a big enough bribe to get me to go along with the corporate handout? I'm not that cheap.

What could I do this ~~$300~~$600?
-I could pay down a loan, which would give money to the vampires that are already overcharging me.
-I could use it to pay for the increased price of food & gas for a month or two. Big economic stimulus there.
-I could use it to buy more stuff. After all, consumers keep the economy afloat. With any luck, it will bounce around our economy for a little while before zooming off shore. The bump in spending will spur an increase in the price of oil, and I get to pay even more for food & gas.

What about the people who have been laid off by the vampirarchy? We can't extend unemployment benefits because people would be counted for a longer length of time. That would make our unemployment rate closer to the real number. No, they have the honor of subsidizing the companies that laid them off. Since Pelosi is so ready to abandon them, maybe it's time for a permanent tent city on her front lawn. Should we call it Pelosiville or Pelosiburg?

By the way, Pelosi is so busy fixing the economy, we are going to have to put off those subpoenas for Josh Bolton & Harriet Miers a little while longer. But she promises to get to it, just as soon as this emergency is over.

And what has our Senate been doing about this mess? Reid decided that they are too busy to deal with economic problems. They need to make sure that the telecom companies have immunity for those wiretaps that weren't illegal.

John Edwards has a really stupid idea. Many the economy would be stimulated if people had good jobs. And we could use these jobs to make the country more energy efficient. Wow! hope for a better future, that couldn't possibly spur the economy.

Impeach. Now.

Note: vampirarchy - A set of ruling persons, comparable to vampires.

Update: The official reason the Republicans give for not extending unemployment benefits is very amusing.

We need to give tax cuts to businesses so that they will create more jobs.
BUT, with a 5% unemployment rate, there is no need to expand unemployment benefits because we now have full employment

Voter Fraud Hypocrisy

2008-01-16T09:17:00.000-06:00

The following is taken from the January 9, 2008, Supreme Court Hearing on voter fraud.

There is no requirement that the State show evidence of past in-person voter impersonation for the State’s interest in preventing such fraud to qualify as important. A State need not wait to suffer a harm; it can adopt prophylactic measures to prevent it from occurring in the first place. That is particularly true in a situation, like voter fraud, where the temptation is obvious and the consequences of undeterred and undetected violations are enormous.

Brief for the United States as amicus curiae, Paul D. Clement, Solicitor General

I suppose. I don't know if I can say significant. The situation has existed for now a number of years, and the salient fact here is that there's not a single recorded example of voter impersonation fraud.

Paul M. Smith, Esq.; on behalf of the Petitioners

... if there were that kind of as-applied challenge, one of the virtues of it would be that the remedy at the end of the day would not be to strike the statute down on its face, ...

Paul D. Clement, Esq., Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.; on behalf of the United States, as amicus curiae, supporting the Respondents

Note: An as-applied challenge means you can't go to court until after after you have been affected. A facial challenge means you can go to court because you expect to be affected.

Mr. Clement is arguing that the state has the right to be pre-emptive by passing a law to prevent people from committing a crime, even though there are no cases where the crime has been committed. However, citizens do not have the right to be pre-emptive by questioning a law, even though it is obvious that they will be affected if the law stands.

In other words, it is better to prevent a few people from voting because they might vote fraudulently, than to stop a law that will definitely prevent citizens from legally voting. This whole problem could be solved by putting a little purple stamp on voter's hands. Then everyone would have one, and only one, vote.

http://www.brennancenter.org/dynamic/subpages/download_file_51017.pdf
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/07-21.pdf

Senator Jeff Sessions is Responding

2008-01-04T11:42:00.000-06:00

It must be one of the wonders of the election season. Jeff Sessions has been responding to my letters. They are even on topic, although full of Bush talking points. Could he actually be worried about his upcoming election?

Now if I could just get him to answer a few of my questions.

- How is it pro-life to vote against SCHIP?

- How can he accept government-run health care, but deny it to the rest of us?

- Why is amnesty great for big telecom companies, but bad for illegal immigrants?

- How can he say he supports the troops if he votes down funding just because it asks the president to try to bring the troops home? How can he vote against giving soldiers time off between deployments?

First they came for

2007-11-20T08:24:00.000-06:00

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Martin Niemoeller

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
-Bishop Desmond Tutu

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
-Dr. Samuel Johnson

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
-Martin Luther King

If anyone is subject to being unjustly arrested or imprisoned, we are all in danger.

If anyone is denied access to health care due to poverty or class, we are all in danger.

If anyone is poisoned with unsafe food, polluted water, or toxic waste, we are all in danger.

If anyone can lose their job to an underpaid replacement, just so that the ultra rich can get richer, we are all in danger.

We all need to be reminded from time to time that none of us is so rich, powerful, gifted, experienced, educated, connected, privileged, or healthy, that we are immune to injustice.

What's on the table?

2007-10-24T10:14:00.000-05:00

Pelosi
Impeachment - Off
Bomb Iran - On
Amnesty for Telecoms - On

Reid
Impeachment - Off
Bomb Iran - ???
Amnesty for Telecoms - On

Biden
Impeachment - Off
Bomb Iran - Off
Amnesty for Telecoms - Off

Clinton
Impeachment - Off
Bomb Iran - On
Amnesty for Telecoms - On

Dodd
Impeachment - Off
Bomb Iran - Off
Amnesty for Telecoms - Off

Edwards
Impeachment - Off
Bomb Iran - On
Amnesty for Telecoms - ???

Gravel
Impeachment - On
Bomb Iran - Off
Amnesty for Telecoms - ???

Kucinich
Impeachment - On
Bomb Iran - Off
Amnesty for Telecoms - Off

Obama
Impeachment - Off
Bomb Iran - On
Amnesty for Telecoms - Off

Richardson
Impeachment - Off
Bomb Iran - Off
Amnesty for Telecoms - Off

Hillary - Solutions From Health Care to Homelessness

2007-09-24T09:20:00.000-05:00

Last week, Hillary Clinton presented her health care plan; Everyone is required to buy health insurance. If you can't afford it, you get a tax cut.

This is brilliant, but it could do so much more. I expect her next plan will address the homeless problem. Under her plan, everyone will be required to buy or rent a home. When everyone acquires a place to live, the problem is solved. Naturally, if you fall below a certain standard of income, (which will steadily increase) you will get a tax cut. And no worries about the rising cost of housing either, with all the efficiencies that will automatically appear, costs will rise more slowly.

Oh boy! Just think of all the necessities of life I can now buy with all my tax cuts. I can buy health insurance, housing, food, and maybe even afford the copays so that I can use my great health insurance plan. With all those cuts, I'll bet that my tax cuts will be higher than my income.

And choices, we get choices. You can choose a cheap worthless plan (substandard housing), an expensive decent plan (average home), or try to figure out which mid-priced plan will exactly cover the tests you will need next year (roof don't leak if the rain isn't too hard).

No more need for any of those inefficient government programs. Just add another tax cut, and problem solved. It puts "the consumer in the driver's seat", as long as they use the government-approved list of private contractors. The government-approved list will guarantee a level of quality (or maybe a level of campaign contributions, I keep getting those confused). Note, that the system will require a new improved bureaucracy to certify private contractors, but it will be "fiscally responsible", no civil service, or labor unions, or anything like that. And she's still working out the details of how tax cuts can be used to finance the Iraq occupation. But the basic premise is that "it's going to take shared responsibility. Everyone with a stake in our health care system will have to step forward and do their part."

This is the part where her honesty slips through. Corporations don't have a stake in our health care system, or our country. They don't eat, breath, or get sick. But if they did, they would deduct it from their taxes as an expense. In other words, don't treat corporations like people, treat people like corporations.

One more thing, Hillary. The only people that like the health plan they now have, HAVEN'T USED IT YET.

President Bush Needs Our Help

2007-08-29T01:15:00.000-05:00

"because his good name was dragged through the ...... mud"

President Bush Discusses Resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, August 27, 2007

You would think that between a staff of speech writers, and a staff of speech coaches, he could have come up with something better than a poorly delivered, hackneyed phrase like that. It's not as though he's never had to give this type of speech before.

For the sake of the nation's sanity, someone needs to come up with some better lines for the next "resignation in disgrace" speech that he will need to make. I'll start the list.

dragged through the:

stockyards

hog-manure lagoons

guano caves of Jamaica

restaurant grease traps

great green grimes of greasy grimy gopher guts

Prince William Sound

floodwaters of New Orleans

building 18 of Walter Reed

Have we won yet?

2007-08-19T14:00:00.000-05:00

We have a lot of facts and figures, along with the occasional misinformation, coming from Iraq. But there doesn’t seem to be any meaning to this pile of numbers. Are we making progress, or losing ground. As management likes to say, what is our percent complete?

You can find experts and pundits that will explain how the decrease in deaths means that we are winning. Then the next month, the same experts and pundits explain how the increase in deaths means that we are winning. There are statistics on number of schools built, number of schools destroyed, and number of schools built then destroyed. We are told the number of hours the residents of Baghdad have electricity, and the number of hours they spend in traffic. But, have we won yet?

There are reports of police departments in this country dealing with a shortage of bullets, while military institutions consider group memorial services. But, have we won yet?

The experts continue to pick and choose and spin the numbers, but for me, the situation is summed up in one human-interest story from Houston. A Korean War veteran applied for his Purple Heart, and the Navy told him they were “out of stock.”

I don’t much care if we’ve won or lost. If we can’t even keep up with the demand for Purple Hearts, it’s time to find the exit door.

Short of Purple Hearts, Navy tells vet to buy own

Parsley

2007-06-24T10:29:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, long ago, there was a girl who lived with her mother in a small cottage in the forest. She was called Parsley because she went to gather parsley every day for her mother, who was very sick. One day, while she was out picking parsley, her fairy godmother appeared and told her the prince was looking for a bride, and that there was to be three balls for him to find one. Parsley knew she couldn’t go because she was poor and had no dress to wear. Well, her fairy godmother said that she was a good girl and deserved to go. So she waved her magic wand and suddenly Parsley was dressed in a silver gown that sparkled like the stars. She went to the ball, and everyone wondered who the mysterious girl was, but the prince was enchanted with her, and they danced all night.

The next night, there was another ball, and her fairy godmother came again. Once again, she waved her magic wand and suddenly Parsley was dressed in a white gown that glowed like the moon. She went to the ball and danced with the prince.

The next night, was the third, and final, ball. Her fairy godmother came again, and this time, she was dressed in a yellow gown that shone like the sun. It was even more beautiful than the last gown. When the prince saw her, he danced with her, and asked her to be his wife. Parsley said yes. Soon after, Parsley’s mother was well, and the prince and Parsley got married.

Then they stepped on a piece of tin, the tin bent, and the story ent.

This is my retelling, of my mother's retelling, of a story her grandmother told her. We don't know where she heard the story, or if she made it up herself. She closed all of her stories with the tin bent line.

My great grandmother was of German descent, born in New Orleans around 1880. She spent some time in an orphanage, and also traveled the country as an entertainer.

Oh what a tangled web

2007-06-03T15:48:00.000-05:00

Riddle:
What do Karl Rove, a contested election, US Attorneys, criminal prosecution of a Democrat, and a singing Canary have in common?

Answer:
They are all mentioned in an affidavit obtained by TIME magazine about the 2002 Alabama Governor’s election.

The White House scandals have spread so extensively, they are beginning to interact with each other. Some of the threads have been brought together in the May 21, 2007 affidavit made by Dana Jill Simpson.

Time article

The Players:
Karl Rove – Political consultant
Don Siegelman – Governor of Alabama 1999-2003
Bob Riley – Governor of Alabama 2003-present
William Canary - Riley adviser
Leura Canary – wife of William Canary, and US Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama
Alice Martin - US Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama
Dana Jill Simpson – Lawyer and volunteer in Riley's 2002 campaign

History:
The 2002 Alabama Governor’s election, was between Don Siegelman (incumbent) and Bob Riley. The initial returns showed Riley narrowly losing to Siegelman. A recount of the Baldwin County votes, after Democratic Party observers had gone home for the night, put Riley in the lead. Siegelman requested a recount. The recount was rejected by the Alabama Court System. Siegelman considered appealing to Federal courts, but decided to concede.

Don Siegelman was the subject of various corruption investigations. One ended in a one-day trial. Charges were dropped after the judge, the third one assigned, threw out most of the evidence. In September 2005, Siegelman announced that he was running for governor in 2006 election. The next month Siegelman, and others, were indicted on new charges of racketeering, bribery, and extortion. On June 6, 2006, Siegelman lost the Democratic primary to Lucy Baxley. On June 29, 2006, he was convicted in 7 of the 33 counts. He was acquitted on indictment's most serious allegations of a widespread RICO conspiracy.

Allegations in the affidavit:
The affidavit describes a conference call on November 18, 2002, which involved a group of senior aides to Bob Riley. The call focused on how the Riley campaign could get Siegelman to withdraw his challenge to the 2002 results.

According to Simpson's statement, William Canary, said "not to worry about Don Siegelman" because "'his girls' would take care of" the governor. Canary then made clear that "his girls" was a reference to his wife, Leura Canary, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, and Alice Martin, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. William Canary also stated that he had the help of a powerful friend in Washington, Karl Rove. Rove had spoken to the Department of Justice, and they were already pursuing Siegelman on a variety of charges.

So now,
we have Karl Rove, election tampering, and US Attorneys implicated together in an affidavit given by a Republican political worker.
Can we impeach them yet?

Jo Bonner: One week in votes

2007-05-11T00:25:00.000-05:00

April 25, 2007
H.R.1591 – Small Business and Work Opportunity Act of 2007
Bonner – no
Final vote - 218 – 208, 2 Present (Roll no.265)
This was the emergency supplemental for Iraq war bill that Bush vetoed. Either Jo didn't want to fund the troops or he believes that accountability is only for school teachers.

H.R.1332 - To improve the access to capital programs of the Small Business Administration
Bonner – yes
Final vote - 380 – 45 (Roll no.263)
Jo supports the Small Business Administration.

H.R. 493 – Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
Bonner – yes
Final vote - 420 - 3 (Roll no. 261)
It's about time this bill got passed.

H.R.1678 – Reauthorize the Torture Victims Relief Act of 2007
Bonner - yes
Final vote - 418 - 7 (Roll no. 260)
Note that this bill is intended for people tortured by OTHER governments.

H.Con.Res.7 - Calling on the League of Arab States to acknowledge the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan and to step up their efforts to stop the genocide in Darfur
Bonner – yes
Final vote - 425 – 1 (Roll no. 259)
Always easy to tell someone else to do the right thing. The nay was Rep. Ronald Paul [R, TX-14] (a libertarian)

Apr 26, 2007

H.Res.320 - Congratulating the University of Tennessee women's basketball team for winning the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship.
Bonner - yes
Final vote - 415 - 0 (Roll no. 266)
Who wouldn't congratulate winners?

Apr 27, 2007

H.R.249 – To restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros
Bonner – no
Final vote - 277 - 137 (Roll no. 269)
Why does Jo hate wild horses?

May 01, 2007

H.Res.298: To commend the University of Florida Gators for their historic win in the 2007 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.
Bonner - yes
Final vote – 415 - 0, 4 Present (Roll no. 272)
John Barrow [D, GA-12], Jack Kingston [R, GA-1], John Linder [R, GA-7], and Zachary T. Space [D, OH-18] are sore losers.

H.Con.Res.112: Supporting the goals and ideas of a National Child Care Worthy Wage Day.
Bonner – no
Final vote - 345 - 73, 1 Present (Roll no. 271)
What is so hard about saying that child care workers OUGHT to have a decent wage?

H.Res.334 – Supporting the goals and ideals of National Community College Month
Bonner - yes
Final vote - 420 - 0 (Roll no. 270)
Jo supports education.

To sum it up; Jo likes to tell other people to behave. He supports small business, winning sports teams and community colleges. He doesn't support wild horses or child care workers. He would rather not fund the troops than set goals. Or maybe not funding the troops is his way of bringing them home now.

Conversation with a war supporter

2007-05-07T00:49:00.000-05:00

We were waiting for a High School club meeting to end. We talked about the weather, and not enough sleep, and our kids’ plans for college. When she mentioned another child considering the military so that he could pay for college, I couldn’t resist easing the conversation over a little.

“The military can be a good way to pay for college, provided you survive it."

[Puzzled look]

“Iraq. A lot of kids have died there.”

“Yes, but they are very dedicated to the cause.”

“Actually, there have been record numbers of desertions, and a record number of West Point graduates are not reenlisting.”

“But what can we do? They hate our culture. They want to kill us.”

“They don’t hate our culture. They just don’t like us running their country.”

“They hate our culture.”

“Even in Iran, most of them like the American people. They just don’t like our government trying to run their country. They would like to have more freedom like us, but they want to do it themselves.”

“Well, a small minority of them hate our culture.”

“A small minority of OUR culture hates our culture.”

She had to stop and think about that idea. It was just small talk between two mothers passing the time, but who knows? Maybe she will consider the idea a little more. Maybe she’ll repeat it to someone else.

Bush tries empathy

2007-04-28T11:13:00.000-05:00

And fails. What a surprise. Remember, this is the guy who joked about executions and not finding WMDs.

“I think it -- I'm just envisioning what it would be like to be a young soldier in the middle of Iraq and realizing that politicians have all of the sudden made military determinations. And in my judgment, that would put a kid in harm's way, more so than he or she already is. I really think it's a mistake for Congress to try to tell generals, our military experts, how to conduct a war.”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070427-6.html
h/t Think Progress and Salon

I’m sure he gave a lot of thought to what combat was like while he cut and ran from his National Guard duty. On the other hand, maybe his draft dodging saved a few lives. The whole family is pathetic.

Laura’s, “nobody suffers more than their president and me”, has been all over the internet this week.

And don’t forget Mama Bush’s “And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.” and “why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?””

I think Daddy Bush may be the most insightful of the bunch. “as long as we keep a roof over their heads, food on their tables, a car in their driveway, gas in their gas tanks to get to and from work, we can keep the BUDSTERS [broke, useless and depressed] at bay!”

Can we impeach him yet?

Fun with telemarketers

2007-04-08T00:04:00.000-05:00

A telemarketer called our house recently. Normally a very mundane event, but my husband has found a way to make it both fun and informative. After listening to the opening spiel, he said that he had a question. The telemarketer was delighted to answer any question.

“How did you vote in the last presidential election?” After a bit of sputtering and stammering, he said that he doesn’t believe in voting. This led to a good ten minutes of discussion. The telemarketer had never thought much about politics so he had some trouble deciding what he thought. Apparently, he considered government to be sort of like a mother. It tells you what to do, and what is good for you, and what you need to know. He never did come up with an answer for how our leaders should be chosen.

Eventually, my husband let him continue with his sales pitch.

“What kind of services do you get from your cable or dish provider?”

“I don’t watch TV.”

“You don’t have cable?”

“I don’t have a TV.” (the TV is on in the background, but probably too low for him to hear)

“Well I guess I can’t sell you any of these services then!” (from a very put upon telemarketer)

end of call

I was really looking forward to the next telemarketer. I was going to conduct a poll, and then write about it. After two weeks, the few that have called, called when we were out. They left messages on the machine. Now I know how to get on the real "do not call" list. 13 days and counting ...

Where do your reps stand on Iran?

2007-04-03T14:58:00.000-05:00

I sent the following letter to my reps.

Does President Bush have the authority to attack Iran?

If he does it anyway, what can Congress do? What will Congress do?

Maybe ya'll should try listening to some of the people that have turned out to be right about Iraq. When someone consistently turns out to be wrong, you need to stop taking his advice.

It's been over a month, and this is how they replied.

Senator Richard Shelby - He sent me a very nice letter by snail mail. It's full of talking points about how dangerous Iran is, but no answers to my questions.

Representative Jo Bonner - Nothing but an auto response.

Senator Jeff Sessions - I might as well ask a rock. He's still not talking.

Who has the authority to declare the Iraq war is over?

2007-03-29T23:53:00.000-05:00

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution of the United States

As everyone knows, Congress has the authority to declare war. But, who has the authority to declare the end of a war? Once war is declared, does the "Commander in Chief" have complete control over the tactics and length of a war?

This section of the Constitution continues with;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

Congress has a great deal of authority over the military. The only reference to military authority of the president is;

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States
Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States

The idea of an open-ended war with a continuously redefined goal against an ambiguous enemy is not directly addressed in the Constitution. Some ideas are so stupid that you can't fault the writers for not anticipating the possibility. All the same, here we are. How do we put an end to it?

Since Congress has the authority to declare war, I would say that they have the authority to declare that a war has ended. Setting a time for our soldiers to leave Iraq is not micromanaging the war. It is fulfilling their constitutional duty.

Hello Congressional Lurkers

2007-03-11T12:31:00.000-05:00

Senator Richard Shelby, Senator Jeff Sessions, Representative Jo Bonner. This seems to have caught the attention of your notification service on my last post, so I'll try it again.

Just what do you people spend your day doing? As nice as it is to be heard for a change, how much time do ya'll spend reading obscure little blogs like this one? What made this especially amusing is the topic of my last post. I was commenting on how unresponsive some representatives are. So what happens? Congressional staffers spend time lurking, and don't even respond.

You don't spend much time reading the bills that you are voting on. All that pork gets slipped in somehow. Did you notice the military access to school records requirement in the No Child Left Behind bill? How about those back door US attorney appointments in the latest Patriot Act? And now you're thinking that maybe we should have kept Habeas Corpus when we made torture legal.

You don't spend much time writing bills either. Why bother when someone from the group being regulated is willing to write them for you? No charge.

You have been known to spend time on petty activities such as trashing Wikipedia entries for your fellow congress people.

Sounds like a great job. It even includes health care. Where do I apply?

The Senator Jeff Sessions Response Challenge

2007-03-06T13:37:00.000-06:00

I don't expect a response to every form letter that I send to my reps, but if I go to the trouble of composing a letter, it's nice to know that someone read it. My senators and representative seem to have a different opinion.

Senator Richard Shelby is the most responsive of the lot. He's very good with the email acknowledgement, and he usually follows up with a letter by snail mail. The letter is mostly talking points, but it is on topic. He doesn't always answer. I'm still waiting for a response to my question of whether he is American first and Republican second, or vice versa. All the same, if there are applicable talking points, he does reply.

Representative Jo Bonner has a working auto response on his web site. Once or twice, he even followed up with a detailed response, even if it was nothing but talking points.

Senator Jeff Sessions is in a world unto himself. As best as I can tell, his in box goes straight to the great bit bucket in the sky. Not a single peep from him.

Which leads me to my challenge, what does it take to get a response from a mute representative? I've named the challenge in honor of my own resolute Senator, but I'm interested in hearing what has worked, or not worked, with any other non-responder.

No space left unsold

2007-02-04T12:37:00.000-06:00

“In back,” turned out to be—a library.
I was conscious of Herrera’s eyes on me, and I don’t think I showed any of what I felt. I even stayed with him for an hour or so, while he devoured a wormy copy of something called Moby Dick and I glanced through half a dozen ancient magazines. Some of those remembered classics went a long way toward easing my conscience—there was actually an early “Do You Make These Common Mistakes in English?” and a very fine “Not a Cough in a Carload” that would have looked well on the wall of my office, back in Schocken Tower. But I could not relax in the presence of so many books without a word of advertising in any of them. I am not a prude about solitary pleasures when they serve a useful purpose. But my tolerance has limits.

from “The Space Merchants” by Frederick Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth, 1952

The Space Merchants was written as a satire, but more and more of it has become depressingly true. There are few spaces left without advertising. We now have:

commercials on public broadcasting
commercials masquerading as news shows in classrooms
cartoons that are little more than half hour commercials
athletes have become billboards
the State of the Union address is used to promote a brand of children’s videos.

The EPA has brought us another step closer to the world of Mitch Courtney. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved display of promotions for causes or charities on the labels of pesticides, disinfectants and other commercial poisons. Link The area devoted to the ingredient list and safe handling instructions can now be cluttered with the logos of charitable organizations.

In other words, a pesticide manufacture can put the American Cancer Society logo on known carcinogens with a small donation. A Feed the Children logo can be used to crowd the safety warnings of a rat poison. A chemical fungicide can compete with Neem oil by donating to the Sierra Club.

I’ll close with the words of Mitch Courtney.
"It was an appeal to reason, and they’re always dangerous. You can’t trust reason. We threw it out of the ad profession long ago and have never missed it."

We Surge, They Surge, A lot of people die

2007-01-11T12:35:00.000-06:00

President Bush presented his latest way forward in Iraq on January 10, 2007. He started by admitting that he had made mistakes in the past. He then went on to claim he knew what went wrong before, and this time he could make the same old plan work.

This “surge,” which will return us to about the same troop strength as a year ago, isn’t going to work any better than the last time. It will just motivate more people to oppose our occupation. A whole lot of people will die before we are forced to admit that this latest push hasn’t worked. Then what do we do? Go for one more push like a gambler in Vegas, or admit that more troops isn’t the answer?

Even if we go along with this one last push to victory, I have a question. Where does the 20,000 number come from? I’d like to know how they came up with that number. Why wouldn’t 15,000 be enough? Why didn’t they choose 30,000 or 300,000? Is there a formula, or did it just sound like a good number. Maybe that’s the limit on how many insurgents could possibly be added. Their estimates have been so reliable in the past.

Sooner or later, we are going to have to try something radical, like admitting that there isn’t a military solution. We are going to have to start talking, and listening, to other countries. It looks like it’s going to be a lot later though. Apparently, Bush still has a few more military options to try out. Attacking Iran is just the ticket to victory.

Out of Iraq - Now

2007-01-08T14:45:00.000-06:00

Molly Ivins recent column was a call to action to end the war in Iraq. As my little part, I sent the following letter to my Congressmen.

I am writing to state again my opposition to the Iraq occupation. Our continued presence does nothing but continue the violence. No one wants to live under foreign occupation. The Iraqis are no exception.

We were told that we needed to invade Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction. We found out that they no longer had them. Mission accomplished. It was time to leave.

We were told that we needed to get rid of an evil dictator, although no reason was given for why we should start with this particular evil dictator. Sadam has been hanged. Mission accomplished. It is time to leave.

We are now told that our mission is to create a stable Iraq that is capable of defending itself and participating in the fight against terrorism. Iraq was stable before we invaded. As despotic as Sadam was, he was definitely an enemy of Al Quaeda. Mission accomplished before we started. We could have prevented massive death and misery, and saved billions of dollars by not starting the war.

It is time to stop funding the Iraq occupation. How many more have to die while we decide how to save face? Our military is at the breaking point. Our treasury is bankrupt. There is no face left to be saved.

Dictators, Security, and Hypocrisy

2006-12-31T00:16:00.000-06:00

The Iraqis should be grateful to us for getting rid of Sadam. They are free now. Why are they so upset about the lack of security and electricity?

I’m willing to give up a few of my civil liberties if it will keep me safer.

The Iraq War is the most important front in the War on Terror.

I have more important things to do than volunteer to fight, or pay, for the Iraq War.

How can anyone agree with all of the statements above? Yet I keep hearing these same statements from the same people.

We expect the Iraqis to live with daily bombings, kidnappings, and murder because that is the cost of freedom. But, we can’t let people board an airplane with a bottle of water because maybe, it might be dangerous. We praise the Iraqis who voted despite death threats. But, we question the patriotism of anyone who asks a question of our leaders .

The only conclusion I can make from this, is that the Iraqis are a courageous, intelligent people, while America is the land of the cowed, and the home of the timid. Does this mean that a true American patriot is an admirer of the Iraqi people?

Iraq Surge = Out Now with Time-Delay

2006-12-22T00:15:00.000-06:00

The latest brilliant strategy being promoted is the "Surge". One last big push and we can win. If we try really hard just one more time, we can do it. Last try, and if it doesn't work, we'll give up, we promise. They sound like gamblers on a losing streak.

Winning has been redefined down to a stable Iraq that can defend itself. In other words, like it was before we invaded.

Enough already. Admit it. WE LOST. We can't force another country to change to our liking.

Staying in Iraq will just prolong the destruction. Our best option is to announce that we are leaving, and prove it by dismantling the permanent bases we've been building.

If we are contrite enough, others may step in to help clean up our mess. The first step is to show that we have come to our senses by convicting the criminals that lied us into this horror.

Shelby, Sessions, and Bonner are in favor of torture

2006-12-10T00:35:00.000-06:00

Actually only Senator Shelby is willing to admit to it. Senator Sessions and Representative Bonner can’t even trouble themselves to respond to my letters. It seems like a pretty safe assumption though.

It’s frustrating when all of your reps are hard-core Bush puppets, but I thought I found something that might get through to them about why torture is such a bad idea. I sent a copy of an article written by a reserve soldier who fought in the first Iraq War, entitled What We’ve Lost. He writes about all the American soldiers that didn’t die because we had a reputation for treating prisoners fairly.

http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/09/what_weve_lost.html

This is Senator Shelby’s response.

Thank you for contacting me about methods for interrogating and trying enemy combatants. I appreciate you views on this matter.

I do not support the use of cruel, inhumane or degrading punishment against those in United States custody. However, these are not ordinary times. It is important to keep in mind that we must be able to obtain critical information from terrorists. Such information is vital to the security of our nation. Tough interrogation of ruthless terrorists is a necessity. We must never forget that terrorists do not follow the rules of engagement or the rules of the Geneva Convention.

On June 29, 2006, the Supreme Court ruled in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that President Bush had overstepped his authority in ordering military war crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees. As a result, Congress has moved forward on legislation to define the treatment of detainees during interrogations and create military commissions to prosecute terrorist suspects.

In September 2006, Congress passed S. 3930, the “Military Commissions Act,” which authorizes trial by military commission for violations of the law of war. Pursuant to S. 3930, the War Crimes Act of 1996 criminalizes only those Common Article 3 violations labeled as “grave breaches.” Previously, any violation of Common Article 3 constituted a criminal offense under the War Crimes Act.

This agreement is an important step forward. It maintains our ability to obtain important intelligence from captured terrorists while being mindful that we are not engaged in a conventional war.

Thank you again for sharing your views. If I may be of future assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I especially noticed the paragraph that starts with him not supporting torture, and ends with him in favor of torture. The only way to fight the terrorists is to become them. How can anyone be so dense?

Why is the US against the UN Arms Trade Treaty?

2006-11-02T00:09:00.000-06:00

The United Nations voted to create an international treaty to control the arms trade. The United States was one of the few countries that voted against the measure. Why would we be against stopping the illegal sale of guns and other light weapons?

A news story came out a couple of days later that could explain the United States’ position. Thousands of weapons that we presumably provided to the Iraqi security forces are missing. The Defense Department didn’t even bother to record the serial number of most of them.

In other words, we have no way of determining if we sold the weapons used to kill our people in Iraq. Or if someone in Iraq is reselling the arms to Sudan or Pakistan. Or if Al-Qaida is buying them to use in their next attack. And we have no interest in finding out.

The military contractors make their money. The arms dealers make their money. They give lots of money to the politicians. Why mess with a great scam?

I’m a security mom too.

2006-10-22T01:16:00.000-05:00

Much has been said about the security moms. They think that George W. Bush will keep them safe, and the Iraq war is a good thing. Well, I’m a mom, and I have a few opinions about keeping my children safe.

Civil Liberties
I want my children to live without fear of the government. They should be able to voice their opinions without looking over their shoulders. They should be able to read what they like without being put on a watch list.

Education
I want my children to have a solid education. I want them to think and ask questions. I don’t want religious zealots choosing their textbooks. School buildings should be clean and maintained. College should be accessible to everyone.

Health
I want my children to be healthy. I want them to have access to health care. They need immunizations and check ups.

Clean Air and Water
I want my children to breathe clean air, and drink clean water. I want them to have wilderness to hike in. I want their food to be safe to eat.

Jobs
I want my children to know that they can earn a living wage doing productive work. I want them to have a roof over their heads, and the time to enjoy friends, family, and hobbies.

War
I want my children to know that their lives won’t be thrown away for a lie. We need to defend ourselves, but war should be acknowledged for the horror it is. And it should be used as a last resort.

George W. Bush has done nothing to make any of our children safer. It’s time to kick the whole lot out.

and I did not speak out

2006-10-04T14:30:00.000-05:00

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Martin Niemoeller wrote this warning about the consequences of not resisting tyranny after WWII. It is still an important warning in this age of Patriot Acts, warrantless wiretaps, and torture being declared legal. Here are some of the better-known examples of how our liberty is being protected by the US government.

Jose Padilla is an American citizen of Puerto Rican descent. He was accused of being a terrorist and arrested on May 8, 2002. On June 9, 2002, President Bush issued an order to Secretary Rumsfeld to detain him as an enemy combatant. Without bothering to notify his attorney or family, he was transferred to a military brig in South Carolina. He was there for three years before he was charged with a crime. He still hasn't had a trial.

Sibel Edmonds is a Turkish-American who was working for the FBI as a translator. In March 2002, she was fired after reporting security breaches and poorly translated documents related to the 9-11 attacks. Court action on her whistleblower claims have been blocked by the assertion of the State Secrets Privilege.

Maher Arar is a Canadian software engineer who was born in Syria. On September 26, 2002, while returning from Tunis with his wife and children, he was detained during a stopover in New York. The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service were acting on false and misleading information supplied by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Despite being a Canadian citizen, he was deported to Syria under the extraordinary rendition policy. While in Syria, he was held in solitary confinement, tortured, and forced to sign a false confession. He was finally returned to Canada in October 2003. There was a public inquiry in Canada into the actions of Canadian officials.

In January 2004, Arar announced that he would be suing then Attorney-General John Ashcroft over his treatment. The US government used the State Secrets Privilege to dismiss the suit. The final report of the Canadian inquiry was released on September 18, 2006. It categorically states that there is no evidence linking Arar to any terrorist activity.

Perhaps this explains why the Hallibuton subsidiary, KBR, was awarded a contract to build detention centers for "an unexpected influx of immigrants or to house people after a natural disaster or for new programs that require additional detention space."

Read the January 24, 2006 press release at:
http://www.halliburton.com

Torture is legal now

2006-09-30T02:12:00.000-05:00

In memoriam of the ideals that Congress has just discarded.

"No freeman shall be seized, imprisoned, dispossessed, outlawed, or exiled,... nor will we proceed against or prosecute him except by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land." ~ Magna Carta

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." ~ Declaration of Independence

"the land of the free and the home of the brave" ~ National Anthem

"with liberty and justice for all" ~ Pledge of Allegiance

"give me liberty or give me death!" ~ Patrick Henry

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." ~ Benjamin Franklin

"It is better to live on your feet, than to die on your knees" ~ Catch-22

"truth, justice, and the American way” ~ opener for the 1950s television show Superman

"There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand." ~ G’Kar, Babylon 5

And then, I found a number of quotes from a more recent speaker:

"our gains are not measured in the losses of others. They are counted in the conflicts we avert, the prosperity we share and the peace we extend."

"We know that dictators are quick to choose aggression, while free nations strive to resolve differences in peace."

"Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat."

"Free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction."

"This young century will be liberty's century. By promoting liberty abroad, we will build a safer world. By encouraging liberty at home, we will build a more hopeful America. Like generations before us, we have a calling from beyond the stars to stand for freedom. This is the everlasting dream of America.".

The last few quotes are from some guy named George W Bush.

Warrantless wiretaps

2006-09-24T23:54:00.000-05:00

Warrantless wiretaps have been defended by citing wartime security measures used by previous presidents, such as Lincoln and Roosevelt. This argument is worthless.

The first problem with this argument is familiar to any child who has tried the “but everybody is doing it" ploy. If Lincoln and Roosevelt jumped off a bridge, would you jump too? During this country’s history we have gradually gotten closer to the ideal of our Founding Fathers. Should we quit improving?

The next problem is that we are not at war. Only Congress can declare war, and they haven’t done so.

Finally, if we are in some kind of undeclared war, when will it end? This War on Terrorism is also called The Long War. Estimates on its length range from years, to decades, to forever. For the duration is effectively forever.

Secure Fence Act of 2006

2006-09-16T11:07:00.000-05:00

An excerpt from the Secure Fence Act of 2006 that just passed the House.

H. R. 6061
To establish operational control over the international land and maritime borders of the United States.

SEC. 2. ACHIEVING OPERATIONAL CONTROL ON THE BORDER.
(a) In General- Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take all actions the Secretary determines necessary and appropriate to achieve and maintain operational control
over the entire international land and maritime borders of the United States, to include the following--
...
(b) Operational Control Defined- In this section, the term `operational control' means the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband.

Does Rep. King realize what he’s said in this bill? This bill is so open-ended; it can be used to do almost anything. Here’s a quick list of some of the uses of this bill.

unlawful entry of food – Food that doesn’t comply with our safety regulations is unlawful. This bill requires all food entering the country to be inspected for compliance.

unlawful entry of merchandise – This country has labor and environmental laws. Merchandise that is not made following our laws is unlawful. This bill denies the entry of merchandise that does not follow our laws.

unlawful entry of nuclear materials – We could scan every person, transport, bird, and fish entering the country for nuclear materials. But, it would be much more efficient to just cooperate with the former Soviet Union to secure their nuclear weapons.

unlawful entry of the oceans – This one is a stretch, but look at it this way. When sea levels rise, we lose coastal areas. When we lose coastal areas, our country gets smaller. The oceans are seizing U.S. territory. To reclaim our sovereign territory, we need to stop global warming.

unlawful export of tax dollars – Why stop at unlawful entries, unlawful exits are a problem too. A simple “and exits” addition can be used to stop overseas tax shelters.

National Security & Outsourcing

2006-09-09T10:09:00.000-05:00

We've had a good look lately at the problems of being dependant on an unstable part of the world. If we didn’t need their oil, we wouldn’t be sending billions of dollars their way. If they weren’t drowning in money, they wouldn’t be able to fund the terrorists.

We have a similar problem coming up. We are sending our manufacturing capabilities to other countries. When a factory leaves the country, we don’t just lose jobs. We lose the ability to make something. What would happen if China decided to stop selling us components for our cars? Our cars would be useless, no matter what the price of oil is. What good is a weapons system if vital components are made by our rivals?

Not only are we exporting the ability to make things, we are also exporting the ability to design new things.

We are funding governments that are as corrupt as the ones in the Middle East. We give them our factories. We give them our technology. We stop buying our own products because theirs are cheaper. Then we borrow money from them in order to buy their products. If they decide to limit supply, or raise prices, we won’t be able to stop importing products any quicker than we have been able to stop importing oil.

We export raw products such as timber and cotton. We import manufactured goods. We are on our way to becoming a colony again.

Lessons from History

2006-09-02T13:33:00.000-05:00

"Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -- George Santayana

This has been a popular reference in recent political speeches. There's been a lot of comparisons between appeasing Hitler and the Iraq occupation.

I have a few might have beens of my own.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were a series of escalating provocations between countries. World leaders used them to try out their new toys and started WWI. If the tension had been used to create a world organization for arbitration, we might not have had the war.

Germany lost the war so it got the blame. The winning countries were determined to punish Germany as ruthlessly as possible. If a more reasonable settlement had been found, Germany might not have been plunged into economic troubles.

When Germany was in the depths of depression, the rest of the world considered it just punishment. If there had been a change in policy, or some direct aid, Hitler might not have risen to power.

When Germany invaded Poland, world leaders tried appeasement. Hitler might have been stopped. We could have pounded Germany back into the ground. If that had happened, Germany might have been spurred to an even stronger sense of pride and nationalism. Someone worse than Hitler might have been created.

There are many lessons to be learned from history. The tricky part is understanding what the lesson is, and how to apply it to today.

Santayana has another quote that is worth remembering.

"Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim."

Terrorists and stray puppies

2006-09-01T09:57:00.000-05:00

The Iraq talking points have changed recently from "We're fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here", to "If we leave, they will follow us."

Sounds like they're admitting an oops to me. When we invaded Iraq, we aided terrorist recruiting and training. Now we can't leave because they will follow us home. Invading Iraq is being compared to feeding a stray puppy.

This also admits that the armchair generals are willing to continue sending soldiers to die in order to keep their nice cushy lifestyle. It's about time they finally owned up to the cowards that they are.

Rarely surprised?

2006-08-23T23:30:00.000-05:00

"Frustrated? Sometimes I'm frustrated. Rarely surprised. Sometimes I'm happy. This is -- but war is not a time of joy. These aren't joyous times. These are challenging times, and they're difficult times, and they're straining the psyche of our country. I understand that." -- President Bush, press conference Aug 21, 2006

I'd like to know which developments in Iraq he wasn't surprised about. And why is it better to be unsurprised, but too incompetent to plan for it, than to be too incompetent to expect it?

Iraq had no WMDs
Not sending enough troops to start with
Chalabi lied
It wasn’t a slam dunk
Massive looting after the invasion
Munitions stolen during the looting
Power struggle after Sadam was removed
The time it took to change from liberators to occupiers
Sectarian violence
Needing a Green Zone
Abu Ghraib
Accusations of war crimes
Corruption in the new Iraqi government
Corruption in the rebuilding
Corruption in the privatization of military functions
Loss of 9 billion dollars by the Development Fund for Iraq
Three years and no end in sight
Over 2500 US soldiers killed
Uncountable Iraqis killed
IEDs
Suicide bombers
Inadequate armor for troops
Depleted uranium affecting our troops, and the Iraqi people
Shortages in military recruiting
Stop loss orders creating a back door draft
Soldiers sent on multiple deployments
Medical needs for wounded soldiers
Loss of rights for Iraqi women
Epidemic kidnapping of Iraqi citizens
Oil shortages in Iraq
Iraqi utilities not up to pre-war standards after three years
Rising influence of religious sects
Rising influence of Iran
Cost of war over $300,000,000,000
Pullouts from the Coalition of the Willing
Using so much of our resources that we need the UN’s help with other problems

Freedom

2006-08-20T07:27:00.000-05:00

Americans are asking, why do they hate us? They hate what we see right here in this chamber -- a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other. -- George W Bush, declaration of War on Terrorism

The US is the land of the free, home of the brave. Give me liberty or give me death. No one can take away our freedom.

To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty; my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists - for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. -- John Ashcroft, US Attorney General

I'm willing to give up a little liberty if it will stop another 9/11. If you have a problem with the government listening to your conversations, you must have something to hide.

In other words, the terrorists want to take away our freedoms, so we have to give up our freedoms in order to keep them.

Homophone Fun

2006-08-13T23:12:00.000-05:00

Time for a little silliness break.

The mole hides his eyes.
The mole hides his ears.
But he really knows how
to show off his nose.

Entitlements

2006-08-09T23:33:00.000-05:00

Most people think of welfare or Medicaid when they hear the word entitlements. But there are entitlements that cost a lot more than the expense of giving basic survival needs to people who need a little help.

Congress.

Congress is entitled to a raise each year, while the working poor haven't needed one in years. Congress is entitled to the best health care available, while much of our country doesn't have any. Congress is entitled to a generous pension, while the pension system is on the verge of collapse.

Incumbents.

Once someone is elected to Congress, they are entitled to keep their job as long as they want it. The rest of us have to deal with off shoring, downsizing, slowdowns, and poor management decisions. Lieberman is a prime example. He doesn't understand how he can be voted out, just because his constituents don't like the job he's doing.

Big money.

Those that have are entitled to get more, at the expense of everyone else. The election process is rigged so that ridiculous amounts of money are required. This means that most elected officials have to become indentured servants to big money interests. The servants repay their benefactors with more ways to get even richer. Round and round it goes while the country falls apart.

Bird Flu & Agribusiness

2006-08-03T23:40:00.000-05:00

Watch the skies. Bird flu is coming.

There has been considerable concern about wild birds spreading bird flu to our domestic flocks. Agribusiness is always quick to assure us that the industrial flocks are safe because they are kept indoors under strict biosecurity controls. The danger is with free ranging organic flocks because they are allowed to mingle with wild birds.

This is a nice theory, but the facts don't support it. The spread of H5N1 doesn't follow the migratory routes and seasons. It does follow major roads and railways. Bird flu is hitching a ride on shipments to and from factory farms.

Factory farms are perfect disease incubators. Large numbers of homogeneous animals are crowded together in a stressful environment. A virus can evolve rapidly into a more virulent form.

Wild birds and small backyard flocks are the victims. The disease spreads from the factory farms to them. Many small-scale poultry farmers get their feed and chicks from industrial sources. The chicks become infected at the factory and spread the disease to new flocks. Then there is the "poultry litter". Poultry litter is whatever falls onto the floor. This can include bedding, spilled feed, feathers, and fecal matter. It's one of the standard ingredients in chicken feed, as well as other industrial animal feed.

Small backyard flocks provide genetic diversity and maintain a number of older, endangered breeds. The meat and eggs produced is much healthier for us. They give many hobbyists a great deal of pleasure. It would be a trajedy to lose them in the mistaken belief that it will prevent a pandemic bird flu.

Grain has an excellent briefing on bird flu.
http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=194

Energy Policy Act of 2005 Celebrates First Birthday

2006-07-28T05:04:00.000-05:00

The EPAct was on passed on July 29, 2005 and signed into law on August 8, 2005. It provided huge subsidies for the oil and gas industry. One year later oil companies are posting record profits and gasoline prices are at record highs.

It's been so successful that Energy Secretary Bodman hosted a celebration. Other celebrants included U.S. Senator Pete Domenici (NM), U.S. Congressman Joe Barton (TX-6th), and representatives of industries who are benefiting from tax incentives. Progress towards increasing U.S. energy security and reducing dependence on sources of energy from unstable regions of the world was highlighted.

There was no mention of inviting tax payers who benefited from the act.

http://www.energy.gov/news/3858.htm

Estate Tax Chicanery

2006-07-25T03:57:00.000-05:00

The Bush administration hasn't been able to get rid of the estate tax legally, so they're going to stop enforcing it. They are planning to layoff almost half of the estate tax lawyers at the IRS. Anyone who can afford a substantial legal challenge will be able to avoid paying their taxes.

It looks like the new policy is money equals honesty. The more money you have, the more honest you are.

The lost revenue will have to be offset with something. Will it be higher taxes for everyone else or fewer social services?

Read more details at David Cay Johnston's article.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0724-09.htm

FEMA no longer failing

2006-07-12T17:49:00.000-05:00

The Senate has figured out how to correct the failed FEMA agency. Take the 'F' out of its name.

They passed an amendment Tuesday night to abolish FEMA and create a brand new agency called the Emergency Management Authority, or EMA. It's brilliant!

Instead of restoring competent people to the agency, they want to go another round of musical chairs. The Senate has surpassed itself in proving that it’s insane, by doing the same thing and expecting different results.

The eleven senators with the good sense to vote against the amendment are:

Akaka (D-HI), Boxer (D-CA), Bunning (R-KY), Clinton (D-NY), Inhofe (R-OK), Jeffords (I-VT), Kerry (D-MA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), Pryor (D-AR), Schumer (D-NY)

Not a single one from a Hurricane prone state.

Over there, Over here

2006-07-04T11:58:00.000-05:00

We're fighting the terrorists over there so we don't have to fight them over here.

If the terrorists are all in Iraq, why do domestic calls in the US need to be monitored? Why does the government need to know what we check out of the library? Why are anti-war groups being watched?

Is the "Roach Motel" strategy working or not?