ThinkFast: August 5, 2008
ThinkFast: August 5, 2008
Though conservatives have tried to force the House to adjourn “eighteen times over the past 90 days,” now that the House is actually adjourned, Republicans are using political stunts to demand that “the chamber be called back into session” for a vote on offshore oil drilling. The White House, however, rebuffed their efforts yesterday, saying they “don’t have plans to call Congress into session.”
According to documents obtained by the Washington Post, “the Bush administration informed all foreign intelligence and law enforcement teams visiting their citizens held at Guantanamo Bay that video and sound from their interrogation sessions would be recorded.” Thus, the U.S. may possess “hundreds or thousands of hours of secret taped conversations” between detainees and foreign representatives.
Reacting to the Justice Department report on his administration’s illegal hirings, President Bush said: “I had a lot of hires in this administration, a lot of parts of it. … I’ve read the critique. I’ve listened very seriously to what they said. And other than that, I have no comment.”
White House aides considered having President Bush give a “Reaganesque ‘tear down this wall’ speech on human rights in China,” but abandoned the idea because it would have been “potentially insulting to the president’s hosts.” China authorities have ordered pastors, lawyers, and political activists whom Bush considered meeting in Beijing “to leave the city during the president’s visit.”
On the trail today: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will visit a nuclear power plant in Michigan to promote the need for more nuclear energy. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) will hold town halls in Youngstown and Berea, OH to discuss his New Energy for America plan.
A Department of Veterans Affairs investigation has found that there were “rampant violations” in an Arkansas veterans hospital’s human experiments program, “including missing consent forms, secret HIV testing and failure to report more than 100 deaths of subjects participating in studies.” The report from the VA’s Inspector General says the program “involved thousands of veterans.”
Anti-American Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr “intends to disarm his once-dominant Mahdi Army militia and remake it as a social-services organization.” The move “would represent a significant turnabout for a group that, as recently as earlier this year, was seen as one of the most destabilizing anti-American forces in Iraq.”
“A secret deal between Britain and the…al-Mahdi militia prevented British Forces from coming to the aid of their US and Iraqi allies for nearly a week during the battle for Basra this year,” the Times of London reports today. “One British official said that the deal was intended as an IRA-style reconciliation,” but it “did not work.”
The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank will no longer appear on MSNBC’s Countdown. Keith Olbermann writes that Milbank has “accepted another television offer,” saving the Countdown crew from making “an increasingly difficult decision” to let Milbank go after he refused to acknowledge distorting an Obama quote in his column last week.
And finally: Who will be the Comedian in Chief? John McCain and Barack Obama “have shot ‘funny’ campaign ads” for this Thursday’s season finale of NBC’s show “Last Comic Standing.” In Obama’s ad, the senator jokes, “And if you don’t think I’m funny, you’ve obviously never seen me bowl.” When a picture of him bowling appears on-screen, Obama says, “I’m not going to deliver this line any better than that,” and walks off. In McCain’s ad, when an off-camera voice tells him he is “funny-looking,” a “faux-angry McCain” angrily barks, “Who said that?”
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
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Prescription Data Used To Assess Consumers
Health and life insurance companies have access to a powerful new tool for evaluating whether to cover individual consumers: a health “credit report” drawn from databases containing prescription drug records on more than 200 million Americans.
Collecting and analyzing personal health information in commercial databases is a fledgling industry, but one poised to take off as the nation enters the age of electronic medical records. While lawmakers debate how best to oversee the shift to computerized records, some insurers have already begun testing systems that tap into not only prescription drug information, but also data about patients held by clinical and pathological laboratories.
Traditionally, insurance companies have judged an applicant’s risk by gathering medical records from physicians’ offices. But the new tools offer the advantage of being “electronic, fast and cheap,” said Mark Franzen, managing director of Milliman IntelliScript, which provides consumers’ personal drug profiles to insurers.
But the practice also illustrates how electronic data gathered for one purpose can be used and marketed for another — often without consumers’ knowledge, privacy advocates say. Ingenix and Milliman create the profiles by plumbing rich databases of prescription drug histories kept by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which help insurers process drug claims. Milliman’s IntelliScript codes drugs red, yellow or green, according to the insurer’s instructions, with red signaling the greatest risk, Franzen said. Red codes could include the so-called AIDS cocktail drugs and cancer medications, he said.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/04/10802/
MedPoint and IntelliScript are harmful additions to the administrative excesses, not designed for the purpose of assisting individuals in gaining access to the health care that they need. This is far more sinister than that, these services are for the purpose of allowing the insurance industry to exclude from their plans anyone who might actually need health care. They now know what you have in your medicine cabinet; that prescription you picked up of Benicar for your high blood pressure could ultimately be used to deny you insurance. This has been going on for years without even a whisper from the MSM.
An investigation last year by the Federal Trade Commission found that the two companies supplying these pharmacy profiles violated federal law for years by keeping the system hidden from consumers. But the FTC has merely required disclosure if prescription information causes denial of coverage; the agency imposed no penalties.
The only way to have Universal Health Care will be to transform the private insurance industry from a successful business model where success is not paying for health care that people need. To a public service model where success is measured not only by having all of us get the care we need but including preventative care as a number one priority, which ultimately will lower health care costs in the future.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:01 am“White House aides considered having President Bush give a “Reaganesque ‘tear down this wall’ speech on human rights in China . . . ” until they realized the Bush White House has no relevance or credibility on the world stage on any topic.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:03 amRaw Story nominated for online journalism award
RAW STORY is proud to announce that its investigative news series “The Permanent Republican Majority,” conducted and penned by Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane, has been nominated for an online investigative journalism award by the Online News Association.
RAW STORY’s investigation, “The Permanent Republican Majority” series, blew open details of the GOP’s involvement in the arrest and imprisonment of Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.
Recently, the involvement of former Bush political advisor Karl Rove in the prosecution of Siegelamn was raised by the House Judiciary Committee in its debates on holding him in contempt for refusing to testify. The committee wishes to question Rove about the case.
Many thanks to all our readers and donors who make this type of reporting possible. Your continued support is greatly appreciated. The winners will be announced on Sept. 13 during a Washington, D.C. dinner banquet.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Raw_Story_nominated_for_online_journalism_0804.html
I truly hope they win this award. Larisa Alexandrovna is such a great investigative journalist. With the MSM turning to National Enquirer sensationalism-for-ratings tactics instead of calling commentators on the carpet for outright lies and propaganda, it is refreshing to read factual articles by journalists that have integrity and a never-ending search for the truth.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:03 amThe Dims should bring to the floor a bill which opens ANWR and the off-shore fields to drilling AFTER all already existing leases are opened, and then only if EVERY FUUKING DROP recovered from those sites be refined and sold by US refiners for US-only use.
It might not pass. It might pass and the Chimp might veto it. But it will certainly illustrate that the debate is not over gas for USer consumers but is over PROFITS for Big Oil…
August 5th, 2008 at 9:04 amBank of America: Green or Greenwashed
As the largest consumer and small business bank, BofA can have a major positive or negative impact on the environment. Since March, 2007, the bank has taken on a $20 billion initiative to “encourage environmentally friendly business activity” over the next decade. Applauded by some and criticized by others, just how green is this bank?
Crystalline Tower Office Building in Manhattan
BofA’s new 2.1 million square foot tower is being heralded as the world’s greenest skyscraper. The building features a passive solar design, the use of recycled and renewable materials, and work stations with individual climate controls. Natural elements include the use of rain water and a green roof reduces energy use for heating and cooling.
Green Banking Centers
Of the $20 billion for green initiative, $1.4 billion is earmarked for achieving LEED (U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for all new office space and bank centers. Located in Adelanto, California, BofA recently opened one of the most eco-friendly banks in the nation. The roof is lined with 64 photovoltaic solar panels that generate 60% of the bank’s electricity. Insulation is made from recycled blue jeans and counters are made of pressed wheat.
Saving Trees
BofA decreased paper used for internal operations by 32% from 2000 to 2005, as the customer base grew by 24%. This initiative saved over a billion sheets of paper. Their internal recycling program processes 30,000 tons of paper annually, saving roughly 200,000 trees every year.
http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/bank-of-america-green-or-green-003375.php
BOA is also offering employees $3,000 reimbursement for employees that buy hybrid vehicles. Also, not included in this article is that at new company headquarters; to diminish the negative affect on the environment they installed wind turbines for power and cooling.
Nearly 70 percent of our workforce is female, with more than half of that in an officer or management role. For the 19th year, Bank of America was named one of the “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” in 2007 by Working Mother magazine. Human Rights Campaign 2006 Corporate Equality Index gave Bank of America a 100% rating for its support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender associates. National Black MBA Association awarded Bank of America the “2006 Company of the Year” for recruiting, retaining and providing advancement opportunities for blacks in the workplace.
The company also offers its associates Child Care Plus, which reimburses associates for child care costs. It is all too common to read articles about companies that have a negative impact on their employees and their lives. I found in my research that Bank of America has strived to continually improve not only the corporate headquarters to eco-friendly but, to help their employees with flexible work arrangements, such as flextime, job sharing, to volunteering up to two hours a week of paid time in public or private schools. Kudos also to their development of programs to help women-owned businesses and their pledge to spend 15 percent of procurement dollars with businesses owned by minorities, women and people with disabilities.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:08 amIn McCain’s ad, when an off-camera voice tells him he is “funny-looking,” a “faux-angry McCain” angrily barks, “Who said that?”
The Cons just don’t get humor.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:08 am” . . . the debate is not over gas for USer consumers but is over PROFITS for Big Oil…” that finds their way into the campaign coffers of the same GOP Congressman who are staging their hissy fit in an adjourned House this week. Just like Iraq was not about WMD but Bush’s re-election in 2004; drilling off-shore is not about consumers but Big Oil’s profits.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:08 amMore shameful treatment for our veterans.
These assclowns really don’t have any respect for our troops.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:09 amAccording to documents obtained by the Washington Post, “the Bush administration informed all foreign intelligence and law enforcement teams visiting their citizens held at Guantanamo Bay that video and sound from their interrogation sessions would be recorded.” Thus, the U.S. may possess “hundreds or thousands of hours of secret taped conversations” between detainees and foreign representatives.
The screams from the detainees being tortured have been erased, of course.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:10 amI’m surprised McIIIrd’s ad doesn’t have him telling off the voice, calling it a trollopyc*nt!
August 5th, 2008 at 9:10 amAnti-American Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr “intends to disarm his once-dominant Mahdi Army militia and remake it as a social-services organization.” The move “would represent a significant turnabout for a group that, as recently as earlier this year, was seen as one of the most destabilizing anti-American forces in Iraq.”
Maybe we should do the same with our Blackwater thugs.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:12 amtokin librul Says: The Dims should bring to the floor a bill which opens ANWR and the off-shore fields to drilling AFTER all already existing leases are opened, and then only if EVERY FUUKING DROP recovered from those sites be refined and sold by US refiners for US-only use.
Combined, the entire U.S. only has about 3% of the world’s oil, but we use 25%. OIl anything is not the solution, and politicians suggesting it is are blinded by the donations Big Oil contributes to their campaigns.
We need to get over oil, and focus on green and renewable resources. There is no such thing as clean coal or clean nuclear. McCain is just pandering to his coal and nuke lobbying campaign contributers on that one.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:13 amCompanies Tap Pension Plans
To Fund Executive Benefits
Little-Known Move Uses Tax Break Meant For Rank and File
At a time when scores of companies are freezing pensions for their workers, some are quietly converting their pension plans into resources to finance their executives’ retirement benefits and pay.
In recent years, companies from Intel Corp. to CenturyTel Inc. collectively have moved hundreds of millions of dollars of obligations for executive benefits into rank-and-file pension plans. This lets companies capture tax breaks intended for pensions of regular workers and use them to pay for executives’ supplemental benefits and compensation.
The practice has drawn scant notice. A close examination by The Wall Street Journal shows how it works and reveals that the maneuver, besides being a dubious use of tax law, risks harming regular workers. It can drain assets from pension plans and make them more likely to fail. Now, with the current bear market in stocks weakening many pension plans, this practice could put more in jeopardy.
How many is impossible to tell. Neither the Internal Revenue Service nor other agencies track this maneuver. Employers generally reveal little about it. Some benefits consultants have warned them not to, in order to forestall a backlash by regulators and lower-level workers.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121761989739205497.html?mod=hpp_us_pageone
**Pension funds are huge targets for administration and management. Since the rules governing retirement investments are more cautious these funds often perform well even in tough times. The State of California has regularly tried to raid the CalPers pension fund to balance the budget. It’s another way to rob from the working class…
August 5th, 2008 at 9:13 amThough conservatives have tried to force the House to adjourn “eighteen times over the past 90 days,” now that the House is actually adjourned, Republicans are using political stunts to demand that “the chamber be called back into session” for a vote on offshore oil drilling. The White House, however, rebuffed their efforts yesterday, saying they “don’t have plans to call Congress into session.”
Boy, don’t they look stupid now?
August 5th, 2008 at 9:14 amBush giving a speech on human rights? Nobody sees the hypocrisy in this?
Ron Suskind exposes more war lies in his new book…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080805/pl_politico/12308_3
August 5th, 2008 at 9:16 amReacting to the Justice Department report on his administration’s illegal hirings, President Bush said: “I had a lot of hires in this administration, a lot of parts of it. … I’ve read the critique. I’ve listened very seriously to what they said. And other than that, I have no comment.”
So basically Bush is telling us that he doesn’t really care about our critique. No surprise there. Since when has our opinion or even the opinions of other countries counted for anything during this last 7 1/2 years.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:16 amI heard McCain on television this morning screaming before an audience and he was saying to Congress repeatedly to ‘get back to work, get back to work.’over the energy issue and ‘not to recess,and do something for the American people’. Bush did not hear that call and he is in his way to see the Olympics in China.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:18 amJust wondering when was McCain the last time working in the Senate.
And the beat goes on Says: Companies Tap Pension Plans To Fund Executive Benefits
Not surprised, but still repulsed. After all, the Bush Regime robs Social Security to pay for their tax cuts to the top 10% wealthiest Americans. Same thing.
I am still waiting for a Con to tell me why someone who works a 40 hours week should live in poverty so that U.S. CEOs can make 475 times more than their average employee…
August 5th, 2008 at 9:19 amLet me get this straight:
The Washington Times is reporting that the VA under the Bush Administration has been engaging in secret medical experimentation that has resulted in at least 100 deaths???
At some point when this is all over, someone is going to have to do a final tally of all the soldiers that died as a result of this administrations’ wanton militarism.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:19 amWhite House aides considered having President Bush give a “Reaganesque ‘tear down this wall’ speech on human rights in China,” but abandoned the idea because
August 5th, 2008 at 9:21 ammore than likely he would have fcked it up!
Mugsy Says: At some point when this is all over, someone is going to have to do a final tally of all the soldiers that died as a result of this administrations’ wanton militarism.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – About 1,000 Marines deployed to train Afghan security forces will have their tours of duty extended by 30 days, a U.S. defense official said on Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/afghan_usa_marines_dc;_ylt=AkMD_yIGALGJ5jWw5NaE0bes0NUE
August 5th, 2008 at 9:25 amI’ve listened very seriously to what they said. And other than that, I have no comment.”
I’ve listened very seriously to what they said. And, I don’t give a $hit. There I fixed it for them.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:28 amThe very idea of Bush giving any speech on Human Rights is gd hypocritical :
-the forgotten first responders dying in New York City
-the 4+ Million Refugess from Iraq
-the continuing aftermath of Katrina
-thousands of people losing their homes
-all the people this admin killed on 9/11 in NYC
-all the men and women dying for the NeonCons Blood Soaked Occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan
-the deplorable treatment of our soldiers once they return
should I go on?
August 5th, 2008 at 9:30 amWhite House aides considered having President Bush give a “Reaganesque ‘tear down this wall’ speech on human rights in China,” but abandoned the idea because it would have been “potentially insulting to the president’s hosts.”
It would have also been potentially insulting to us. Can you imagine Bush trying to deliver a speech like that. Who knows what would actually end up in coming out of his mouth.
I really did think that Bush was the world’s most inarticulate politician, until I listened to McCain. He’s a close second. Can you imagine another four years of listening to our President embarrass us?
August 5th, 2008 at 9:30 amA Department of Veterans Affairs investigation has found that there were “rampant violations” in an Arkansas veterans hospital’s human experiments program, “including missing consent forms, secret HIV testing and failure to report more than 100 deaths of subjects participating in studies.”
Support the Troops!!™
More proof that this administration and the hacks Bush appointed to the VA, don’t give a flying f_ck about the troops.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:31 amOn the illegal hiring, Bush might have said:
“I had a lot of hires in this administration, a lot of parts of it. … I’ve read the critique. I’ve listened very seriously to what they said. And other than that, I issued a signing statement approving such conduct. Dick Cheney, the branch of government known only to itself, ratified my SS with his super secret signing stamp, also referred to as the SSSS. So the program is legal and without this necessary program, hiring would be compromised.”
August 5th, 2008 at 9:31 amWhite House aides considered having President Bush give a “Reaganesque ‘tear down this wall’ speech on human rights in China,” but abandoned the idea
because one of his dimwitted aides finally figured out that the Great Wall is a U.N. Cultural Heritage site and wasn’t built by the Communists.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:32 amAnti-American Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr “intends to disarm his once-dominant Mahdi Army militia and remake it as a social-services organization.”
Now that is a sign of success. Maliki has said that the us must come up with a timetable to leave Iraq so al Sadr feels confident that he can call down his insurgents. Now, if McCain should somehow steal the election, then I’m betting al Sadar will reverse himself because he would then have to go back to trying to throw out the occupying force.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:34 amBilbo Hussein Baggins Says: Can you imagine another four years of listening to our President embarrass us?
Only from Canada, or maybe Europe :)
August 5th, 2008 at 9:34 amStevens’s attorneys file request to move trial to Alaska
Lawyers for indicted Sen. Ted Stevens requested Monday to move the Alaska senator’s criminal case to his home state, a request that could have significant ramifications on his long political career.
Facing the toughest reelection bid of his four-decade Senate career, Stevens hopes to be acquitted in time for Alaska voters to decide to send him back to Washington for a seventh full term. Stevens has nearly universal name recognition in Alaska, where he is known for steering billions of dollars back home.
Stevens’s lawyers filed papers Monday to move the case to the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, saying the “center of gravity” in the case lies within the senior Republican’s home state.
Read the rest:
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/stevenss-attorneys-file-request-to-move-trial-to-alaska-2008-08-04.html
**Thanks Calibleu for the link. I hope this does not happen. He should not be rewarded for his criminal behavior and allowed to campaign while defending himself. How many others have faced the same situation and just had to muddle through it?
August 5th, 2008 at 9:34 amThe Washington Post’s Dana Milbank will no longer appear on MSNBC’s Countdown. Keith Olbermann writes that Milbank has “accepted another television offer,” saving the Countdown crew from making “an increasingly difficult decision” to let Milbank go after he refused to acknowledge distorting an Obama quote in his column last week
“I’ve decided to approach today’s chat as a wine writer would. … Today, I am inaugurating the Whine Enthusiast, in which I will rate your whines.”
After that comment I’m glad to know he will no longer be on Countdown. That is so immature, he is now beyond getting critqued. Milbanks choice of Graham as a model for his phraseology is sadly showing his lack of judgement.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:35 amThe Washington Post’s Dana Milbank will no longer appear on MSNBC’s Countdown.
I saw that on Countdown last night and it made me very happy. Keith did mention Milbank and how he had distorted what Obama had said. I believe Keith also said something about how they offered Milbank the opportunity to come back if he would address what he did and Milbank refused, choosing to leave Countdown. He’s being very defensive about what he did and refusing to apologize. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:37 amAnyone heard about the nuclear waste spill from one of our Subs?
Supposedly, it leaked about a gallon in a Hawaii harbor. The only report I heard said Japan was pissed because the Sub had docked there, as well as Guam.
Nothing on the MSM, of course.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:37 amThe McCainisms already sound just like Bushisms:
“We have a lot of work to do. It’s a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border.” –referring to a border that does not exist, ABC News interview, July 21, 2008 (Watch video clip)
“I was concerned about a couple of steps that the Russian government took in the last several days. One was reducing the energy supplies to Czechoslovakia.” –referring to a country that no longer exists, Phoenix, Arizona, July 14, 2008
“Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that’s a disgrace. It’s an absolute disgrace and it’s got to be fixed.” –on Social Security, Denver, Colorado, July 7, 2008
“I will veto every single beer, um, bill with earmarks.” –speaking at the National Small Business Summit, Washington, D.C., June 10, 2008 (Watch video clip)
“Well, basically, it’s a Google.” –on how he’s conducting his VP search, Richmond, Virginia, June 9, 2008
“We should be able to deliver bottled hot water to dehydrated babies.” –Kenner, Louisiana, June 3, 2008 (Watch video clip)
“Well, it’s common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.” -before correcting himself by saying Iran was training “extremists,” not Al Qaeda (Watch video clip)
“I will conduct a respectful debate. Now, it will be dispirited — it will be spirited — because there are stark differences. I am a proud conservative, liberal Republica– conservative Republican…Hello? Easy there.” (Watch video clip)
“It’s not social issues I care about.”
“F**k you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room.” –to Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), during a testy exchange about immigration legislation
“Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be. We’ve wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives.” –on the Iraq war
August 5th, 2008 at 9:40 amWayne A. Schneider Says:
Boy, don’t they look stupid now?
August 5th, 2008 at 9:14 am
______
“Now?”
August 5th, 2008 at 9:43 amCaption: “We’re gonna wiretap you, but good!”
August 5th, 2008 at 9:44 amHere’s what Keith said about Milbank last night:
August 5th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Suskind: Bush ordered fake letter linking Iraq to 9/11
A blockbuster new book from investigative journalist Ron Suskind adds another revelation to the growing canon demonstrating the lengths to which President Bush and members of his administration lied, misled and deceived the American people to pursue its invasion of Iraq.
Bush allegedly ordered the CIA to forge a handwritten letter from the head of Iraq’s intelligence service to Saddam Hussein that purported to link the Iraqi dictator to the ringleader of the hijackers who toppled the Twin Towers on 9/11, according to news accounts of Suskind’s new book, The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism. Such use of an intelligence service to influence domestic political debate could be an impeachable offense, Suskind writes.
Read the entire story:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Suskind_Bush_ordered_fake_letter_linking_0805_af.html
**Nancy — are you reading this??? How much more evidence do you need. Link anthrax to Iraq? Link 9/11 to Iraq? Gee, is that really evidence that Bushco PLANNED to illegally invade Iraq. IMP the ba$tards NOW
August 5th, 2008 at 9:44 amThemis Says: So much for Reid’s premature declaration that “the Surge has failed.”
Prove the surge was the root cause of this change. You can’t. Typical.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:45 amIMP = IMPEACH on #39
August 5th, 2008 at 9:45 amThemis Says:
So much for Reid’s premature declaration that “the Surge has failed.”
August 5th, 2008 at 9:39 am
_______
What does the surge have to do with Muqtada as-Sadr’s political aspirations, exactly?
August 5th, 2008 at 9:45 amSounds like Dana Milbank has passed through the David Broder portal of self importance as does everyone who never goes outside the beltway other than for television appearances in New York. Perhaps the Wash. Post should institute a mandatory sabbatical program for its columnists to force them outside the bubble every few years. I would suggest the same for the NY Times but I really don’t want David Brooks wondering around my part of the country looking for an Applebys with a salad bar.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:46 am….some insurers have already begun testing systems that tap into not only prescription drug information, but also data about patients held by clinical and pathological laboratories.
This information should not be available to anyone other than your physician. The fact that insurance companies could access our private medical records is terrifying. It’s also a really big reason why we need nationalized health care. Soon it will be that many more people will be without health insurance because they are being discriminated against by the health care industry. I take medication for chronic pain. And that’s all the health care I get in most years because other than my chronic pain (from a neck injury), I am very healthy. So I really am cheap for the health insurance industry to insure. But, I can see some insurance company turning me down based on the medication I take.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:47 amIf you’re in D.C. today, please stop by the House & throw some of the Republics a banana. Or some feces.
These narcissistic primates, after trying to adjourn the House 18 times, have decided to make a ploy of ‘Drill Here. Drill Now’.
Trouble is, even Bush doesn’t give a shit, because he’s going to Neverland…or is it China?
Regardless, if you want to see some odd looking creatures that exhibit strange behavior, take a look at the Republics because, come next January, few of them will still be in captivity.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:49 amThemis Says: U.S. trained Iraqi troops appear to be kicking al Qaeda butt in Diyala this week
And it only took them 6 years to get there… You really should be embarrassed, not proud, that our military has been having such a difficult time accomplishing the most basic tasks over there against third-world goat herders with home-made bullets.
Go eat some Cheetos and stop wasting bandwidth here.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:49 amThe Dims should bring to the floor a bill which opens ANWR and the off-shore fields to drilling AFTER all already existing leases are opened, and then only if EVERY FUUKING DROP recovered from those sites be refined and sold by US refiners for US-only use.
Bingo! That’s exactly what I have been saying, thought I would add another item to the bill. It should contain a provision allowing the oil companies a certain amount of time to start drilling before the lease will be canceled. And that should apply to all oil company leases, not just off-shore leases.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:50 amIf you forbid insurance companies from cherry picking and make them offer their policies to anyone willing to pay regardless of their current condition then there would be no profit motive for accumlulating the data necessary for filtering out sick people.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:51 amThemis Says: Question answered here.
No thoughts of your own? Unable to do anything but refer to other people’s words? Can’t even paraphrase it?
We REALLY need to fix our education system. Themis is a prime example of what 20 of the last 28 years under Republican rule has done to deteriorate our school system.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:54 amThemis Says:
Question answered here.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:51 am
_____
No it wasn’t. Just because some newspaper opinion piece says “the surge stopped as-Sadr” doesn’t make it true. You have not answered my question, just repeated the same baseless allegation.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:54 amThemis
Please explain how anything you post on this board justifies a 5.5 year (and counting) war and occupation entered into by the U.S. government on false pretenses costing over 4k (and counting) U.S. troops their lives along with tens of thousands (and counting) Iraqi lives, the displacement of over 10% of the country’s population (that only counts those who left the country, not those who fled their homes to avoid ethnic cleansing) and (since your side usually thinks this sort of thing is important) the elimination of Iraq’s Christian population.
For extra credit, please explain how the U.S. benefits from an Iraqi government dominated by Shiites (such as al Sadr who seems to be retooling his militia to follow the Hizbollah model) who are prone to ally with Shiite Iran.
Show your work. Good luck.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:54 am“I had a lot of hires in this administration…”
And alot of fanta; but nothing makes me feel more like a deciderer than an ice-cold Mountain Dew.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:54 amJust wondering when was McCain the last time working in the Senate.
April.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:55 amThemis Says: I am not embarrassed by our troops. I am proud of them, and you are not going to convince me otherwise with your unbelievable doom and gloom. p.s. I prefer carrot sticks over Cheetos. Keep the Cheetos for yourself.
Dooms and gloom? So that’s what you’re calling facts these days. How convenient. How’s the weather there in Denial?
I don’t eat Cheetos. I’m not 12.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:56 amAnd the beat goes on Says:
Stevens’s attorneys file request to move trial to Alaska
**Thanks Calibleu for the link. I hope this does not happen. He should not be rewarded for his criminal behavior and allowed to campaign while defending himself. How many others have faced the same situation and just had to muddle through it?
Good Morning :) I agree, they better not allow a Change of Venue. This is supposed to be about finding a fair and impartial jury, that isn’t going to happen in Alaska. It would be to easy to stack the jury with a couple people that have benefitted from his crimes or earmarks.
Great post and the beat goes on!!
August 5th, 2008 at 10:01 amThemis Says:
Anti-American Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr “intends to disarm his once-dominant Mahdi Army militia and remake it as a social-services organization.” The move “would represent a significant turnabout for a group that, as recently as earlier this year, was seen as one of the most destabilizing anti-American forces in Iraq.”
So much for Reid’s premature declaration that “the Surge has failed.”
Typical right wing thinking. The reason why al Sadr is feeling that he can call down his troops is that he sees that the occupation will end soon. Why? Because Maliki has finally asked the US to leave and is demanding a timetable. He also sees that it is quite likely that Obama will be our next president. It has nothing to do with the surge.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:02 amThemis Says:
U.S. trained Iraqi troops appear to be kicking al Qaeda butt in Diyala this week in an operation called Operation Omens of Prosperity. An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 Iraqi soldiers and police, backed by about 3,000 US troops, are participating in the operation.
Wait a minute here. I thought our government said that AQ had already been defeated in Iraq. Didn’t they use that as one of their versions of the success of the “surge”. Now they tell us that AQ is back and in full operation. Sheesh….one of these days they will get their story straight.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:07 amOperation Omens of Prosperity…
I find it rather off that this fabulous operation and success has been reported in exactly one place, the “Long War Journal, Medford”. I wonder why that is. Not even anything on Faux Noise… And this was reported on July 30, so there has been plenty of time for it to hit the major news sources.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:11 am“odd”, not “off”. Sheesh.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:11 amThe White House, however, rebuffed their efforts yesterday, saying they “don’t have plans to call Congress into session.”
see… you can’t trust a repug as far as you can throw ‘em…
August 5th, 2008 at 10:15 amthey can’t even trust each other… all that rubberstamping, all for naught…
Themis Says:
Looks like Pee-brain is back under a new sockpuppet.
Still believe Saudis are not Muslim because they are our “friends”, Pee?
August 5th, 2008 at 10:16 am#45 Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
….some insurers have already begun testing systems that tap into not only prescription drug information, but also data about patients held by clinical and pathological laboratories.
This information should not be available to anyone other than your physician. The fact that insurance companies could access our private medical records is terrifying. It’s also a really big reason why we need nationalized health care. Soon it will be that many more people will be without health insurance because they are being discriminated against by the health care industry. I take medication for chronic pain. And that’s all the health care I get in most years because other than my chronic pain (from a neck injury), I am very healthy. So I really am cheap for the health insurance industry to insure. But, I can see some insurance company turning me down based on the medication I take.
Good Morning Bilbo:) In the article a woman was denied insurance because she was using Prozac for menapause hot flashes. Even when her doctor wrote the insurance company explaining the use of Prozac (Not For Depression) they still denied her coverage. What is truly scary is that I don’t know how many years this has been going on. These databases were kept secret for a long time. So how many thousands of people have probably been denied medical & life insurance because of this information, we will never know.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:17 amAnyone watch a powerful tale of 4 Iraqi boys on PBS last night?
They gave a video camera to each of the 17-18 yr olds, asking them to tape themselves & friends in anyway they saw appropriate.
The 4 were Sunni, Shia, Kurd & Christian. The videos took place mostly in their homes & school. It gave a first hand look at how demoralizing our invasion has been on families, friends & the normal social lives of these young men. The Christian’s family finally moved North to Erbil to escape the violence. The young man, calling back home to his friend, was dismayed that the Northern Christians don’t listen to Western music. (All they know is Michael Jackson.)
The piece ended with one of the young men singing a rap song he wrote about life in Iraq.
Powerful but disturbing stuff.
This illegal invasion has caused more hardship & death to Iraqis than ever imagined.
Democracy may not be free, but when force fed, it’s not pretty.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:19 amA common thread between the Arkansas VA not following human experimentation and the insurance companies forming a health-credit-score in post # 1:
Both involve the wanton disregard for very clear proceedures in healthcare. In the case of the VA, before you can get a grant from the NIH, you have to take and pass (a very easy test) on proceedures on human experimentation. After that, your grant has to pass through your institutions review board (IRB) to assess any conflicts in your planned experiment. There is absolutely no way that you can do a study without many, many pairs of pryuing eyes looking for any problems. The fact that the VA somehow subverted this system is unbelievably bad and I would say probably indicates intentional wrongdoing.
In the case of the health score: There are very strong guidelines for what you can and can’t do with patient data (part of the law known as HIPAA). In most cases, the patient has to sign a form releasing data to the insurance company with the anticipation that the data will be used for paying relevant claims. Again, this database seems excessively beyond the pale with what is and isn’t allowed.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:20 amP enis Says:
August 5th, 2008 at 9:51 am
My surge is working!! My surge is working!! Look what I can do with the other hand, I can key stupid posts!!
August 5th, 2008 at 10:20 amHumor Humor Humor
——————————-
Bush to President Hu Janito of China:” I was impressed with China’s Great Wall during my visit”.
Hu Janito replied : ” We have another great Wall built in America”.
Surprised Bush asking Hu: “Which wall?!..where in America?!”.
Hu Janito to Bush:” You have not been to Wall Mart yet”.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:20 amany clues where millbank will appear, on what show?
i won’t miss his smug, self-important-acting puss on keith’s show…
August 5th, 2008 at 10:23 amMilbank reminds me of Brooks. Or O’Hanlon.
Self absorbed to the point where reality is just a concept.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:25 amThere are a few articles out there:
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63758&archive=true
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080802/pl_afp/usjapanguammilitarysubmarinenuclear_080802001003
August 5th, 2008 at 10:30 amGot news for you Gigi, the surge was never your idea. Google “General Shinseki” and you’ll find that he recommended over 300,000 forces occupy Iraq to prevent the outpour of violence. We posted in support of those recommendations. But violence became so bad it became best to leave.
In true neocon us vs them fashion once democrats took control of congress, George “thought up” this GREAT idea to implement a small portion of the recommended surge and pay insurgents to make up for the rest.
Truth is, if democrats hadn’t taken control of congress, the death count would have continued to mount at the same pace. General Petraeus is no hero.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:30 amZimzone Says:
Anyone watch a powerful tale of 4 Iraqi boys on PBS last night?
They gave a video camera to each of the 17-18 yr olds, asking them to tape themselves & friends in anyway they saw appropriate.
Democracy may not be free, but when force fed, it’s not pretty.
Good Morning Zimzone :) Good to see you as always. It has also effected many couples from getting married, because the situation has caused many men to travel to other parts of Iraq or out of the country to find work.
Another alarming fact is that our bombings have caused so many babies to be born with severe birth defects that their medical community is so unequiped handle. My heart goes out to all of them, I can not even image what their life must be like now.
I will try and find a copy of the show. Thank you for the information. Have a good day…
August 5th, 2008 at 10:33 amInsulting to the Chinese or incoherent on the part of our little woodenhead president Pinocchio?
I think the later.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:40 amThemis (aka Mr.P, aka Trajan, et al.),
Does it hurt when you pee?
The reason I’m asking is that you’re so full of $hit, I wonder if it’s backing up into your urinary tract.
Good day.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:51 amNow, THIS is news:
From MIT research, /HT Juan Cole
‘Major discovery’ from MIT primed to unleash solar revolution. Scientists mimic essence of plants’ energy storage system
August 5th, 2008 at 11:14 amI can hear Bush now: “Emperor Ming, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL.”
August 5th, 2008 at 11:20 amrmw, Yeah, whilst standing next to the track and field stadium…
August 5th, 2008 at 11:22 amAlso from Gigi’s linked page:
Date published: 8/3/2008
Incompetent Congress deserves low ratings
Why, having repeatedly demonstrated their cowardice in every possible respect, is it any surprise that approval ratings for Congress are now less than 10 percent for the first time ever?
And the epitome of that cowardice is their craven dereliction of duty in not holding immediate impeachment hearings for the many high crimes and misdemeanors committed against the American people by the Bush-Cheney administration.
Thomas Tromley
Spotsylvania
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/082008/08032008/394942
August 5th, 2008 at 11:28 amRUCerious,
Thanks so much for the link.
I believe you were part of a conversation ‘here’ about Solar.
It’s, I believe, the only logical way out of this fossil fuel fiasco.
I have nothing but respect for MIT. They went ‘open university’ a few years back, & have very much enjoyed dabbling in their electrical engineering venues.
The question big utilities will have, of course is…’how can we own the Sun’?
August 5th, 2008 at 11:29 amG’morning, all.
Read that WashTimes article and all I could think of was the Nazi scientists “experimenting” on helpless prisoners…
August 5th, 2008 at 11:42 amThus, the U.S. may possess “hundreds or thousands of hours of secret taped conversations” between detainees and foreign representatives.
Shades of Watergate. I wonder how many of these tapes will be “accidently” erased?
http://progressiveworldreview.com
August 5th, 2008 at 12:02 pmWelcome Zimster! Here’s hoping Al Gore, et al (no pun, dammit) can leverage this and get the next administration on board.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:27 pmThe disturbing report on VA hosptial patients and unreported deaths from clinical research was published in the Washington Times, a hugely conservative paper. That could speak to a deeper agenda.
Conservatives like to vector their messages, issued in close proximity by seemingly different groups. Yesterday, I heard General Honore talk about allowing veterans to access the private health care system.
It helps to show the flaws of the current VA system, when pushing alternatives. HCA was purchased by Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts and would love a huge new chunk of government guaranteed business.
When conservatives find government failing, they don’t improve it. They contract it out.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:33 pm