ThinkFast: April 25, 2008
ThinkFast: April 25, 2008
A new survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures finds that the “finances of many states have deteriorated so badly that they appear to be in a recession, regardless of whether that’s true for the nation as a whole.”
“As the home foreclosure crisis sweeps across America,” a rising number of troops “say they are falling behind on their mortgage payments” and are struggling to keep their homes, according to military and financial aid groups. Soldiers “have limited foreclosure protection” under current law and “lenders can seek a court order to foreclose on a house, even if the soldier is in combat.”
Yesterday, the Senate Ethics Committee admonished Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) for placing an inappropriate call to then-U.S. attorney David Iglesias shortly before the 2006 elections. In its letter of “letter of “qualified admonition” — the committee found that Domenici should have known better than to contact Iglesias about an ongoing investigation.
A new report from Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen says “Iraq’s military and police forces need years of improvements before they have enough recruits, officers and support systems to secure the country.”
“Iraq’s largest Sunni bloc has agreed to return to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s cabinet after a boycott of nearly a year” citing “a recently passed amnesty law and the government’s crackdown on Shiite militias.” The deal “could still fall through” but the return “would represent a major political victory for Mr. Maliki.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) may push a plan to move the Iraq war supplemental, which includes “three separate legislative vehicles: one to exclusively provide emergency funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; another aimed at stimulating the economy through a mix of domestic spending measures; and potentially, a third that would advance some sort of language on troop withdrawals.”
Though he once opposed President Bush’s tax cuts and warned against growing budget deficits and high war costs, “[n]ow that he is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee,” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “is marching straight down the party line.” The Washington Post notes that “McCain’s concerns…have proved eerily prescient.” “Yet McCain appears determined to leave such predictions behind.”
73 percent: American consumers who are worried about rising food prices. “According to the USA Today/Gallup Poll, 46% of respondents say higher food prices have caused a hardship, including 10% who said they’ve created a severe hardship.”
Due to soaring heating costs, “millions of Americans are behind on electric and gas bills,” which means that over the next two months “a record number of families could face energy shut-offs.”
And finally: Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) just doesn’t understand cold weather — or why anyone would want to live in such climates. Meeting with a group of high school students from frigid Cold Bay, AK, Abercrombie wondered, “Let me get this straight: The name is Cold Bay. You are talking about Alaska. This is something called Cold Bay. When you are in Alaska and something is called Cold Bay, is it colder than other bays or something? Why the hell are you even out there?”
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
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Democrats Start to Back Away from Health Care Plans Already
Congressional Democrats are backing away from healthcare reform promises made by their two presidential candidates, saying that even if their party controls the White House and Congress, sweeping change will be difficult.
“Healthcare I feel strongly about, but I am not sure that we’re ready for a major national healthcare plan,” Senator Charles Schumer (N.Y.) said. Schumer said he would focus “on prevention above all and cost cutting until we can get a national healthcare plan.
Full unedited article:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042408G.shtml
** They can find ways to get into endless, illegal wars but cannot deliver a basic human right: Healthcare. Schumer’s wrong. There’s more than enough money. The Defense Budget needs to be cut 50% immediately. Corporations and Hedge Funds need to start paying taxes again. And the tax rate on the highest income earners needs to be returned to 90%. Problem solved.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:01 amCutoffs and Pleas for Aid Rise With Heat Costs
After struggling with soaring heating costs through the winter, millions of Americans are behind on electric and gas bills, and a record number of families could face energy shut-offs over the next two months, according to state energy officials and utilities around the country.
The escalating costs of heating oil, propane and kerosene, most commonly used in the Northeast, have posed the greatest burdens, officials say, but natural gas and electricity prices have also climbed at a time when low-end incomes are stagnant and prices have also jumped for food and gasoline.
In New Hampshire, applicants for fuel subsidies under the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program received an average of $600 in a one-time grant and up to $975 for the extremely poor who rely on heating oil or propane, the costliest fuels. But those grants, which in recent years have covered 60 percent of heating costs, covered only about 35 percent of those costs this winter, said Celeste Lovett, director of the state’s energy aid program. The state will have given aid to about 34,500 people by the end of April, Ms. Lovett said, a 5 percent increase over last year and the highest number ever.
The most immediate challenge is to help the high number of consumers who are far behind in electric and gas payments, said Mark Wolfe, director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, which represents state aid officials in Washington.
Part of the problem also(contributing factor) is that, for example, in Ohio we had an extremely cold March. My gas bill was approximately $220, a huge jump compared to what I was billed for in January or February. I truly understand, in my state, why there is a jump in assistance. I haven’t seen this much snow since 1976 when I was little. We got pounded with 24 inches in one day here, and the gas bills went up accordingly. For the State of Ohio, this has been one of the coldest winter (and highest snow fall) in 32 years.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:04 amSenate passes genetic discrimination ban
The law forbids using DNA tests to decide jobs, health coverage
WASHINGTON – People learning through genetic testing that they might be susceptible to devastating diseases wouldn’t also have to worry about losing their jobs or their health insurance under anti-discrimination legislation the Senate passed Thursday.
The 95-0 Senate vote sends the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act back to the House, which could approve it early next week. President Bush supports the legislation.
The bill, described by Sen. Edward Kennedy as “the first major new civil rights bill of the new century,” would bar health insurance companies from using genetic information to set premiums or determine enrollment eligibility. Similarly, employers could not use genetic information in hiring, firing or promotion decisions.
“For the first time we act to prevent discrimination before it has taken firm hold and that’s why this legislation is unique and groundbreaking,” said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, who sponsored the Senate bill with Sens. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo.
This prevents companies from arguing that injuries are not job related. If many employees develop the same injury; they can’t say it was caused by a genetic predisposition. This will also aid researchers so that patients will be more willing to participate in studies. Also, patients won’t have to be concerned about genetic discrimination being used against them for Health Insurance and Job Employment later.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:06 am2000: Republicans start rolling back the New Deal.
2008: America plunges into the Second Great Depression.
What can it possibly mean?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:10 amAn interesting discussion about conservatism, between Rick Perlstein (author of the new book, Nixonland), and “The Axis of Evil”’s David Frum:
http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/10391
April 25th, 2008 at 9:11 amGiant Particle Accelerator May Create Black Hole That Swallows Earth
The world’s physicists have spent 14 years and $8 billion building the Large Hadron Collider, just outside Geneva, in which the colliding protons will recreate energies and conditions last seen a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang.
“The possibility that a black hole eats up the Earth is too serious a threat to leave it as a matter of argument among crackpots,” said Michelangelo Mangano, a CERN theorist.
Full unedited piece:
April 25th, 2008 at 9:16 amhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/science/29collider.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
This prevents companies from arguing that injuries are not job related. If many employees develop the same injury; they can’t say it was caused by a genetic predisposition. This will also aid researchers so that patients will be more willing to participate in studies. Also, patients won’t have to be concerned about genetic discrimination being used against them for Health Insurance and Job Employment later.
Ah, but the police can draw genetic material from arrestees, and build a genetic database, that they then can use to weed through our genetic lives, for whatever purposes they deem necessary.
Picture an investigation that could use such a genetic database, to target those with certain genetic predispositions for further observation.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:19 am> Iraq’s largest Sunni bloc has
> agreed to return.
> The deal “could still fall through”
wow.. one of the essential pre-requisites for getting anything done MIGHT happen..
who says we’re not making progress? a few more decades of this and they might actually all agree to be in a room together!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:25 am73 percent: American consumers who are worried about rising food prices. “According to the USA Today/Gallup Poll, 46% of respondents say higher food prices have caused a hardship, including 10% who said they’ve created a severe hardship.”
One side-effect, is it will lead to an increase in gardening, and in community gardens, for those without land.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:26 ambarfly Says:
Picture an investigation that could use such a genetic database, to target those with certain genetic predispositions for further observation.
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Sounds unpleasantly close to the concept of “pre-crime”…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:28 am2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda Says:
April 25th, 2008 at 9:01 am
That’s the spirit, dems! Even some dems are so blinded by their own wealth (ie, Rockefeller) they can’t look beyond their own interests. This will only increase calls for a house cleaning across the board.
However, I have to disagree with you on the 90% tax rate for the wealthiest. I wouldn’t want to raise taxes so high that that important tax base decides to get out of the workforce, finding it better to live on their lower-taxed gains from previous years. They’re not the kind willing to settle for 10%
April 25th, 2008 at 9:29 amnet pay for full-time work.
Healthcare, like impeachment, is off the table.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:34 am>Sounds unpleasantly close to the concept of “pre-crime”…
i find tom cruise more than a bit creepy (waaaay too peppy) but i admit i did enjoy “minority report”
April 25th, 2008 at 9:35 amIn regards to the senate genetic discrimination bil..
I’m just reading between the lines, but maybe they’re doing all this so that people are more apt to take the tests themselves. I’m not a conspiracy theorist and to be honest i hate that loaded term. But i’m awfully suspicious when a controversial bill passes 95-0 in the senate. Maybe they just want everyone’s genetic profile on file? I’m just putting it out there.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:37 amThe rice-grains-flour stockpiling is oddly a bad precedent in this food crisis. Since more people are buying those items to steer clear of price increases in other common staples, the fear is causing rice-grains-flour to increase. Reportedly there’s plenty of each here in the U.S., but speculators, as with gas prices, are allowed to channel their knee-jerk fears of shortages through our mainstream economy. And we feel the effects.
Catch-22s galore.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:37 amMcWars,
April 25th, 2008 at 9:38 amthe wealthiest are already out of the workforce. Their income comes from capital gains and dividends. And where have the greatest tax cuts been made? Capital gainst taxes and taxes on dividends. Follow that up with eliminating the Estate Tax and we have created a ruling class with wealth concentrated into family dynasties in perpetuity.
On the other hand, CJ, it might allow us to stop GOOPers from molesting or getting into office…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:38 amWhy is that whenever the democracts come close to making a major decision they crumble? If the democracts had been decisive we’d have no Iraq war, no Patriot Act and no Telecom Immunity bills.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:38 am>Sounds unpleasantly close to the concept of “pre-crime”…
And I wonder about the DNA database the cops have built for children – will the information be used when they are adults, to investigate?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:39 am#7 barfly Says:
Ah, but the police can draw genetic material from arrestees, and build a genetic database, that they then can use to weed through our genetic lives, for whatever purposes they deem necessary.
Picture an investigation that could use such a genetic database, to target those with certain genetic predispositions for further observation.
That is a truly scary thought. It reminds you of the experiments they did in Germany… (genetic testing and observations of twins)
It’s one thing to use it for research to cure diseases. Patients are asked to volunteer in a case study. Completely another if it is against someones will or knowledge. That is when science goes to far…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:40 amBriseadh na Faire Says
Follow that up with eliminating the Estate Tax and we have created a ruling class with wealth concentrated into family dynasties in perpetuity.
__________________
Which was one of the big reasons the tax codes were set up the way they were in the first place – to PREVENT this from happening.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:40 amMcWars Says:
2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda Says:
April 25th, 2008 at 9:01 am
However, I have to disagree with you on the 90% tax rate for the wealthiest. I wouldn’t want to raise taxes so high that that important tax base decides to get out of the workforce, finding it better to live on their lower-taxed gains from previous years. They’re not the kind willing to settle for 10%
April 25th, 2008 at 9:41 amnet pay for full-time work.
————————-
Thom Hartmann says repeatedly on his radio show that the tax rate on the ultra-wealthy after WW2 was 90% and it helped create the largest middle class the world has ever known. As the tax rate dropped the middle class slowly disappeared. 35% is too low for people earning $10 million dollars a year. If they don’t like it then they can quit their high-paying position and get a median paying job. The concentration of too much wealth in any person’s hands is a negative for democracy. Nobody needs to earn 10, 50 or 100 million a year. Tax them to death.
The rice-grains-flour stockpiling is oddly a bad precedent in this food crisis. Since more people are buying those items to steer clear of price increases in other common staples, the fear is causing rice-grains-flour to increase.
Which might be just the shot in the arm Louisiana needs, after Katrina. I believe Loiusiana is a big rice producer.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:42 amLaws of Physics, meet Murphy’s Law.
It would be one hell of an irony, all this angst over war and poverty and hungar and politics and religion, and along come a few scientists who create the ultimate “oops!” and we’re all converted into a lump of strange matter.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:43 amrobertoroberto Says
April 25th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I’m just reading between the lines, but maybe they’re doing all this so that people are more apt to take the tests themselves. I’m not a conspiracy theorist and to be honest i hate that loaded term. But i’m awfully suspicious when a controversial bill passes 95-0 in the senate. Maybe they just want everyone’s genetic profile on file? I’m just putting it out there.
______________________________________
You may have a point, but it’s also possible that the Senate passed this 95-0 because the idea of insurance companies and employers determining a person’s worth based on their genetic material is offensive (and brings us a step closer to “Gattica”). Can you imagine any Senator, regardless of party, defending a vote against such a ban?
If I was a Senator, and I had to take a stance on the question of whether an employer could make hiring and firing decisions based on DNA, I would probably say, “not only no, but h*ll no!” — and there would be no ulterior motives in my thinking. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
You call this a controversial bill. Maybe I’m a bit dim this morning, but I just don’t see the controversy.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:46 amYa gotta look the F()CK out for bills like this one. The Congress NEVER precludes all injurious behaviors by those it seems to regulate. Bills like this one NEVER prevent all abuse. Because what the legislation does NOT explicitly forbid, it tacitly permits. Read the bill. I bet there are loopholes big enough to drive a wheel-chair through.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:46 amIt would be one hell of an irony, all this angst over war and poverty and hungar and politics and religion, and along come a few scientists who create the ultimate “oops!” and we’re all converted into a lump of strange matter.
Sounds like Douglas Adams (Hitchhikers Guide) could’ve written it.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:46 am#14 robertoroberto Says:
——————-
In regards to the senate genetic discrimination bil..
I’m just reading between the lines, but maybe they’re doing all this so that people are more apt to take the tests themselves. I’m not a conspiracy theorist and to be honest i hate that loaded term. But i’m awfully suspicious when a controversial bill passes 95-0 in the senate. Maybe they just want everyone’s genetic profile on file? I’m just putting it out there.
There is alot more to the article. But you have a valid point. I’m not a conspiracy theorist either. Kennedy’s point was to solve the problem before it become one.
In the article, for example, a group of workers got carpal tunnel. They did not want a company to deny workers health benefits for a genetic predispostion to this injury.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:48 am>CJ, it might allow us to stop GOOPers from molesting or >getting into office…
i think you’d need to create one heck of a distortion in time to stop sena!tor craigs a foot from tapping…
remember timecop? that one was hilarious, not as funny as “demolition man” or “robocop”…i bought that dvd from the used movie store the other day, in honor of mr. snipes recent conviction for tax evasion…
ps.. does anyone know whose playing Dick Chain-me in the upcoming movie about bush? my money is on “jason” from friday the 13th..
April 25th, 2008 at 9:49 ambarfly Says:
It would be one hell of an irony, all this angst over war and poverty and hungar and politics and religion, and along come a few scientists who create the ultimate “oops!” and we’re all converted into a lump of strange matter.
Sounds like Douglas Adams (Hitchhikers Guide) could’ve written it.
________________
By something named the “Hard-on Collider”, no less…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:50 am“Maybe they just want everyone’s genetic profile on file? I’m just putting it out there.”
Bingo!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:50 amThat’s precisely it. They’re tring to find ways to collect DNA samples on every living person. It’s a VITAL data base, if you want truly effective surveillance. And they ALL want that. They’ll tell you it’s for your own ‘protection,’ (hey, that sounds like it’s for your ’safety’ and ’security’) but that’s what they always tell you when enacting a particularly invidious piece of intrusion…
Update on Bolton, Miers and Inherent Contempt
Apparently, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and company have taken their power of “Inherent Contemp” off the table as a means of forcing Josh Bolton and Harriet Miers to fess up on what they know about the firing of the U.S. Attorneys.
Okay, so they’ve chickened out of using Inherent Contempt. But they’re still doggedly pursuing the case through civil courts and won’t let up until the lawbreakers are brought to justice, right?
There you have it. The Democrats are pursuing a strategy, intentionally, that almost certainly leads nowhere. We got played yet again.
Information from:
April 25th, 2008 at 9:51 amhttp://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/32982
Al-Sadr calls for end to Iraqi bloodshed
April 25th, 2008 at 9:51 amThe Associated Press – 46 minutes ago
BAGHDAD (AP) – Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for an end to clashes between his militia fighters and Iraqi troops, saying Friday that his threat of an “open war” applied only to US-led foreign forces.
…
Radical Shi’ite Cleric Urges Followers to Battle US, Not Iraqi Forces Voice of America
Conservatives lie,
Liberals cry,
The needy die,
The rest just sigh
And call it a day.
Anonymous
April 25th, 2008 at 9:52 am2mil and BnF, I stand corrected. I’m glad to have put that viewpoint out there to challenged. It’s good for my brain, and hopefully others. Thank you both.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:54 amI understand his point on this one. I’d liked to have more discussion within the media on this though. It seems to be one of those overnight deals that congress sometimes passes – much like the patriot act. The point of the patriot act was to prevent a terrorist attack they said. Then we find out that actually it allows the government to spy on us also.
It seems like one of those – “Hey we’re doing this for YOUR protection” kind of bills. It’s these kinds of laws that terrify me. Having studied facsism and its manipulation of society, this kind of thing seems awfully familiar.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:57 am2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda Says:
Update on Bolton, Miers and Inherent Contempt
There you have it. The Democrats are pursuing a strategy, intentionally, that almost certainly leads nowhere. We got played yet again.
___________________
Indeed, it would appear that the Hard-on Collider has already been successfully tested, and used… on us, the American people…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:58 am#32 2mil
April 25th, 2008 at 9:59 amJust got home from surgery so my posting will be limited, but you got me with this one. I feel like I am living in some alternate reality. Nuclear energy o.k. again, “ORGANIC” GM seeds are fine, noone really needs medical insurance and no contempt or impeachment? Did someone put pods out while I was in the hospital? This is crazy!
Chocolate Jesus Says:
ps.. does anyone know whose playing Dick Chain-me in the upcoming movie about bush? my money is on “jason” from friday the 13th..
_______________
Randy Quaid???
April 25th, 2008 at 10:00 amOFF TOPIC:
Every now and then I read something so well written, so extraordinary I feel compelled to share.
Please read:
http://www.infowars.com/?p=1670
April 25th, 2008 at 10:00 am3 Detectives Acquitted in Bell Shooting
Three detectives were found not guilty Friday morning on all charges in the shooting death of Sean Bell, who died in a hail of 50 police bullets outside a club in Jamaica, Queens.
Justice Arthur J. Cooperman, who delivered the verdict, said many of the prosecution’s witnesses, including Mr. Bell’s friends and the two wounded victims, were simply not believable. “The testimony of those witnesses just didn’t make sense,” he said.
His verdict prompted several supporters of Mr. Bell to storm out of the courtroom, and screams could be heard in the hallway moments later. The three detectives were escorted out of a side doorway. Outside, a crowd gathered behind police barricades, occasionally shouting, amid a veritable sea of police officers.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:01 am[...]
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/nyregion/26BELL.html?ref=nyregion
>Randy Quaid???
my 2nd guess is Yoda’s older, fatter brother, Youhst Infaction
April 25th, 2008 at 10:04 amchololate jesus – whose playing Dick Chain-me in the upcoming movie…
did i hear paul GIAMATTI (sp?)
April 25th, 2008 at 10:04 amMcWars Says:
2mil and BnF, I stand corrected. I’m glad to have put that viewpoint out there to challenged. It’s good for my brain, and hopefully others. Thank you both.
————————
The point I was trying to make is that the tax on the ultra-wealthy is obscenely low. Perhaps 90% is too high for 2008. It should definitely be much higher than it is today. Perhaps between 60% and 75%.
I too cringe at the estate tax, as I hate to see the government leech a family’s wealth during their worst moment, I now understand why it exists.
Otherwise our economy would be like the board game Monopoly. In a short period of time the Wealthy would simply own everything.
The estate tax now stands at around $2 million. Is that too low? Too high? That’s open for debate.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:05 amMcCain Faults Bush Response to Gulf Storm
New York Times – 9 hours ago
By ELISABETH BUMILLER BATON ROUGE, La. – Senator John McCain took direct aim at the Bush administration on Thursday as he stood in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, the area hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and declared the handling of the …
McCain sharply critical of Bush response to Katrina Reuters
McCain tells New Orleans: Never again Los Angeles Times
anyone know if he appologized for EATING BIRTHDAY CAKE with dubya?
April 25th, 2008 at 10:06 amAnd the beat goes on Says:
April 25th, 2008 at 10:07 am#32 2mil
Just got home from surgery so my posting will be limited, but you got me with this one. I feel like I am living in some alternate reality. Nuclear energy o.k. again, “ORGANIC” GM seeds are fine, noone really needs medical insurance and no contempt or impeachment? Did someone put pods out while I was in the hospital? This is crazy!
————————–
It’s the anesthesia. None of those posts you read exists. Get some rest.
Buffett blasts system that lets him pay less tax than secretary
Warren Buffett, the third-richest man in the world, has criticised the US tax system for allowing him to pay a lower rate than his secretary and his cleaner.
Speaking at a $4,600-a-seat fundraiser in New York for Senator Hillary Clinton, Mr Buffett, who is worth an estimated $52 billion, said: “The 400 of us [here] pay a lower part of our income in taxes than our receptionists do, or our cleaning ladies, for that matter. If you’re in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent.”
Mr Buffett said that he was taxed at 17.7 per cent on the $46 million he made last year, without trying to avoid paying higher taxes, while his secretary, who earned $60,000, was taxed at 30 per cent.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/tax/article1996735.ece
April 25th, 2008 at 10:15 amOBAMA: THE GOP’S ASSAULT
The Los Angeles Times [and others] takes a look at the slow trickle of GOP made TV and radio ads that are critical of Obama. [...]
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/25/944952.aspx
no one’s telling the bare faced truth – this is all about making sure that hillary
is the dem candidate…
no one will bring out the repugs to vote like she will… and she keeps courting
April 25th, 2008 at 10:17 amthe repugs and taking their money and their endoresments and their votes…
…
From the Guardian website :
Documents obtained by the Associated Press news agency show officials in federal agencies have been asked not to use the terms jihadists and mujahideen, describe al-Qaida as a movement, or refer to Islamo-fascism.
Staff of the state department, homeland security department and national counterterrorism centre, as well as diplomats and other officials, have been told that various words in common use may actually boost support for extremists among Arab and Muslim audiences by giving them a veneer of religious credibility or causing offence to moderates.
The new guidance explains that while Americans may understand jihad to mean holy war, it is in fact a broader Islamic concept of the struggle to do good. Similarly, mujahideen, which means those engaged in jihad, must be seen in its broader context.
US officials may be “unintentionally portraying terrorists, who lack moral and religious legitimacy, as brave fighters, legitimate soldiers or spokesmen for ordinary Muslims”.
Man, did this dim-witted hammer take FOREVER to find that nail head.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:19 amthis guy is:
Clinton’s ‘lifesaver:’ Media ‘jumping ship’
Posted April 25, 2008 8:15 AM
by Mark Silva
If, as Hillary Clinton says, “the tide is turning” after her Pennyslvania primary victory this week — the one that reportedly pulled $10 million in donations online for her in the 24 hours following — Tom Edsall, a veteran political writer who has spent a lot of time following political money, suggests that the media’s attention is turning too.
“In a blink of an eye, the media has jumped ship from the Obama campaign and become a crucial Clinton ally, pressing just the message — that Obama is a likely loser in the general election — that Hillary and her allies have been promoting for the past six weeks,” writes Edsall, political editor of The Huffington Post.
“The new tenor of media coverage is visible almost everywhere, from Politico, Time and the New Republic to the Washington Post and the New York Times. “For Hillary, the shift is a potential lifesaver as she struggles to keep her head above water; without it, she would, metaphorically, drown.”
[...]
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/04/clintons_lifesaver_media_jumpi.html
…
outside to finish that damn waterfall…
April 25th, 2008 at 10:23 amg’day all…
Face scans for air passengers to begin in UK this summer
Airline passengers are to be screened with facial recognition technology rather than checks by passport officers, in an attempt to improve security and ease congestion, the Guardian can reveal.
From summer, unmanned clearance gates will be phased in to scan passengers’ faces and match the image to the record on the computer chip in their biometric passports.
Border security officials believe the machines can do a better job than humans of screening passports and preventing identity fraud. The pilot project will be open to UK and EU citizens holding new biometric passports.
But there is concern that passengers will react badly to being rejected by an automated gate. The automated clearance gates introduce the new technology to the UK mass market for the first time and may transform the public’s experience of airports.
Gary Murphy, head of operational design and development for the UK Border Agency, told one session: “We think a machine can do a better job [than manned passport inspections]. What will the public reaction be? Will they use it? We need to test and see how people react and how they deal with rejection. We hope to get the trial up and running by the summer.
I found this completely surprising. Most industry leaders in this field say that the best systems are only operting at a
April 25th, 2008 at 10:23 am40% success rate. Britians border security is already one of the toughest in the world. They are going to test facial recognition scanners the rest of this year. If all goes well they will be put in all key ports and airports. I’m interested to see what there findings are going to be. Is it going to improve security? Cause long delays for passengers with false positives?? (the rest of the story is on DrudgeReport.com)
2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda Says
April 25th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Otherwise our economy would be like the board game Monopoly. In a short period of time the Wealthy would simply own everything.
__________________________________________________
And, as in the board game Monopoly, what happens once the wealthiest own everything? Everyone else is bankrupt, and there’s nobody left to land on your spaces and pay you. Unfortunately, the wealthy don’t see that destroying the middle class will only put an end to their gravy train, because nobody will be left to feed it.
The healthiest economies are those in which the greatest number of people participate.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:25 am…a little bit more on tax rates from the Warren Buffet article I posted at #47
(from June of 2007)
Last week senior members of the US Senate proposed to increase the rate of tax that private equity and hedge fund staff pay on their share of the profits, known as carried interest, from the 15 per cent capital gains rate to about 35 per cent.
He said: “You could take that $30 billion and give $1,000 to 30 million poor families. Or should you favour the 12,000 estates and make 30 million families pay an extra $1,000?”
April 25th, 2008 at 10:28 ammisshusseinmolly Says:
2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda Says
April 25th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Otherwise our economy would be like the board game Monopoly. In a short period of time the Wealthy would simply own everything.
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And, as in the board game Monopoly, what happens once the wealthiest own everything? Everyone else is bankrupt, and there’s nobody left to land on your spaces and pay you. Unfortunately, the wealthy don’t see that destroying the middle class will only put an end to their gravy train, because nobody will be left to feed it.
The healthiest economies are those in which the greatest number of people participate.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:30 am————————-
In essence, what you’re saying, is that a middle-class is essential for a strong, stable, healthy democracy.
robertoroberto Says:
From the Guardian website :
Documents obtained by the Associated Press news agency show officials in federal agencies have been asked not to use the terms jihadists and mujahideen, describe al-Qaida as a movement, or refer to Islamo-fascism.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:33 am————————
Do you have the link to this story? I’d like to add it to my list.
Freedom Rebel Says
April 25th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Face scans for air passengers to begin in UK this summer
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Don’t get any plastic surgery done in Britain — you’ll never be able to fly home…
April 25th, 2008 at 10:40 amTHe verdict in the form of a senate admonishment. guilty but forgotten immediately. Another form of American equal justice?
April 25th, 2008 at 10:40 amFor 2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/25/terror.language
Pretty amazing that they finally figured it out eh? Of course.. doesnt stop McCain from using the insulting words in question.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:44 am>Don’t get any plastic surgery done in Britain
If british dentistry is anything comparable, i doubt Britian is much of a mecca of body modification… (except for perphaps peircing and other oddities…)
April 25th, 2008 at 10:57 amrobertoroberto Says:
For 2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda
http://www.guardian.co.uk/ world/ 2008/ apr/ 25/ terror.language
Pretty amazing that they finally figured it out eh? Of course.. doesnt stop McCain from using the insulting words in question.
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Great article. Reveals an administration more concerned with controlling the message than anything else.
The term Islamofascist is pure nonsene. It means nothing.
What I observed is that the term fascist was gaining traction on progressive websites a couple years ago to describe the Bush administration. The neo-cons saw this happening and quickly stole the term and applied it to Arabs.
This is their most obvious trick. Label your adversary exactly the opposite of what it is. The best example of this is calling the media LIBERAL.
Control of the public mind is a sick sick art. The neo-cons have near mastery of this science.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:18 amGad. Y’all are depressing today…
Oh – and good morning – for whatever it’s worth. :o/
~A
April 25th, 2008 at 11:21 amHealthcare, like impeachment, is off the table.
So, why are Schumer and Rockefeller mouthing off about healthcare right now. They are playing into the Republicans hands. Why are they doing that? Are either of these two up for re-election. If so, it’s time to send them packing.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:22 amRight now, Sen. Domenici is saying, “A letter of ‘qualified admonition’? Dear God! No-o-o-o! How could this have happened to me? Life is so unfair, going from a respected Senator to one who has received a letter of qualified admonition.”
“Oh, the horror, the horror…”
I think Senator Domenici needs to be placed on suicide watch.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:25 amBriseadh na Faire Says:
the wealthiest are already out of the workforce. Their income comes from capital gains and dividends. And where have the greatest tax cuts been made? Capital gainst taxes and taxes on dividends. Follow that up with eliminating the Estate Tax and we have created a ruling class with wealth concentrated into family dynasties in perpetuity.
Exactly. This tax, the “income tax” was originally created to tax income not wages. Unfortunately it has become a “wage tax” and is no longer an income tax. I seriously resent paying 30% tax on my wages when some fat cat playing the stock market pays 15% on the income they create from their investments.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:25 am“Iraq’s military and police forces need years of improvements before they have enough recruits, officers and support systems to secure the country…
Boy, that standing up thing is sure taking its time. And the lives of our soldiers.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:28 amWhat a crock.
2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda Says:
And, as in the board game Monopoly, what happens once the wealthiest own everything? Everyone else is bankrupt, and there’s nobody left to land on your spaces and pay you. Unfortunately, the wealthy don’t see that destroying the middle class will only put an end to their gravy train, because nobody will be left to feed it.
The healthiest economies are those in which the greatest number of people participate.
Ding…ding…ding! This is something that has always confused me. I don’t see how they don’t get that if they bankrupt us, they will eventually be bankrupting themselves.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:28 amRUCerious Says:
“Iraq’s military and police forces need years of improvements before they have enough recruits, officers and support systems to secure the country…
Boy, that standing up thing is sure taking its time. And the lives of our soldiers.
What a crock.
The quickest way for them to create a military and police force to protect themselves is for us to leave. As long as they can hide behind the American military, they have no incentive to create their own.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:30 amG’Mornin L.H. Annie! Late to the party, it does sound like a damn dirge around here! But hope springs eternal, and the Republicans are still trying to play whack-a-hope!
April 25th, 2008 at 11:30 am“letter of “qualified admonition”
Would this be less harsh, as harsh or harsher than a strongly-worded letter?
April 25th, 2008 at 12:09 pmhttp://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/04/clinton_debt_la.html
That’s interesting. Most people thought that the 10 million she was in debt included the 5 million she lent her campaign.
So, if she were to do the right thing and use the 10 million she collected to pay off her debts (like Obama pays off his debts), she would still be 5.3 million in the hole.
I feel so sorry for all the small businesses that gave Clinton a line of credit. They are being stiffed by the woman who says she is best to lead this nation economically.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:28 pmFreedom Rebel Says: LINKS PLEASE!?!?
April 25th, 2008 at 12:37 pmG’Mornin’ all, got an e-mail from Democracy Underground this morning Talking about how Pelosi is poised to hand another $170 Million to Bush for his illegal war and was asking for donantions too this campaign:
http://www.shirley08.com/
Since I am on the opposite side of the country and I understand that Cindy Sheehan is also either considering a run or is running against Pelosi I’m asking for your thoughts.
Thanks,
-TRRiRW
BTW, I got back a really nice thank you e-mail from Helen Thomas today.(I sent her a note thanking her for being the only real Journalist left in the Press Corps.)It was heart warming to get a response back from her.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:06 pmSoldiers “have limited foreclosure protection” under current law and “lenders can seek a court order to foreclose on a house, even if the soldier is in combat.”
Yet another way the bush cabal is supporting the troops. This is an abomination.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:13 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says
April 25th, 2008 at 11:28 am
2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda Says:
And, as in the board game Monopoly, what happens once the wealthiest own everything? Everyone else is bankrupt, and there’s nobody left to land on your spaces and pay you. Unfortunately, the wealthy don’t see that destroying the middle class will only put an end to their gravy train, because nobody will be left to feed it.
The healthiest economies are those in which the greatest number of people participate.
Ding…ding…ding! This is something that has always confused me. I don’t see how they don’t get that if they bankrupt us, they will eventually be bankrupting themselves.
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Ha! The quote you reference wasn’t from 2mil, it was mine (2mil posts a whole bunch of other worthwhile stuff). See Post #52.
I’m really not complaining about not getting credit, but I’d like to use this example to point out to TP that this new system of theirs makes it VERY difficult to keep track of who said what. It’s especially confusing when somebody is referencing several parts of a conversation — I can’t always tell who is on what side.
TP — when we respond to a specific post, we generally like to paste the comment we are responding to, along with the poster’s handle and the date/time. Just by separating the time and the person’s name, you have made this difficult.
Have you ever considered a “tree” format, like they have on Media Matters and other forums, where all posts replying to a specific post appear under that post?
April 25th, 2008 at 2:32 pmIs this recognition that despite the rhetoric, the country has yet to meet the recessionary threshold?
If we’ve been in recessions before (many since the Great Depression, one only months after Clinton left office) and our current economic data doesn’t support the assertion that we are currently in a recession (a decline in GDP for 2 consecutive quarters) is it still reasonable to believe that our current economic conditions are the worst since the depression? Or even significantly poor when you consider they aren’t recessionary?
April 25th, 2008 at 3:16 pmi’m not the most familiar with the “tree” format, except at C&L (if that’s what it is), but when i’ve read through such, it seems a waste of space…
but, what WOULD help, it getting the time back next to the name…
…
may be too late for a reply, but i wondered if anyone else has my problem here:
the tabs USED to be titled with the name of the thread (shortened, but,) -
not now… very annoying and confusing…
and, the whole page lights up and gets underlined when the cursor is on the area… also annoying…
i’ve sent notes to admin., but no reply…
anyone else?
April 25th, 2008 at 5:01 pmKaty and MissMolly,
I agree! it’s very difficult keeping track of conversations here. Gotta keep scrolling up and down to follow the conversations. And then if someone responds to you you need to scroll back through all the comments to find it.
Ps. a little help at #72, please!
April 25th, 2008 at 5:47 pm