ThinkFast: December 1, 2009
ThinkFast: December 1, 2009
The International AIDS Society will hold its biennial conference in the U.S. in 2012, “for the first time in 22 years after President Barack Obama lifted the ban on travel by people infected with HIV.” Yesterday, on the eve of World AIDS Day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “made the strongest statement yet by an administration official” that the U.S. will not tolerate discrimination of gay men and women in countries that receive U.S. funding to fight HIV/AIDS.
A report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the Senate health care bill “would leave premiums unchanged or slightly lower for the vast majority of Americans.” The report undermines many of the fear-mongering arguments against health reform that have been put forward by conservatives.
The Congressional Budget Office also said yesterday that “it estimates that the federal stimulus package sustained between 600,000 and 1.6 million jobs in the third quarter, and raised gross domestic product by 1.2 to 3.2 percentage points higher than it would have been without the program.”
Obama “has decided to expedite the deployment” of new troops to Afghanistan to bring the “total American force to nearly 100,000 troops by the end of May.” “Until recently, discussions focused on a deployment that would take a year,” but Obama decided to speed the pace in order to “reverse the momentum of Taliban gains.”
Special envoy to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke is pushing for the U.S. to “extend its control over the day-to-day running of Afghanistan with the appointment of an international ‘high representative’” that would serve on the “shoulder” of President Hamid Karzai. The proposal has “caused a split between Washington and its closest NATO allies,” who believe it could undermine the legitimacy of the Afghan government.
Norah Niland, the United Nations’ human rights representative in Afghanistan, told reporters yesterday that rape in Afghanistan has become a problem of “profound proportions.” “Women and girls are at risk of rape in their homes, in their villages and in detention facilities,” Niland told the press.
“Establishment Republicans are recoiling at a draft proposal before the Republican National Committee that would bar party financial support for candidates who fail to meet eight of 10 issue tests,” Politico reports. “We’re becoming a church that would rather chase away heretics than welcome converts and that’s no way to become a majority party,” said former Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA).
The D.C. Council is scheduled to vote today on a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the District. “Marriages would begin in the city as soon as the bill passes a period of Congressional review.” Congress will likely not alter the law, as “Republicans are pessimistic about their chances of preventing its implementation.”
The health care advocacy group FamiliesUSA warns in a new report that millions of unemployed Americans will face sharply higher premiums as temporary subsidies for the COBRA program expire. The subsidies were enacted under the $787 billion stimulus program and are set to expire at the end of December.
And finally: Corduroy skirts are a sin.
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Don’t forget that the moronic repiggies want to spend, spend, spend for more soldiers in Afghanistan, their own “stimulus” bill for their buddies in the military and defense corporations.
Of course, they wouldn’t dream of spending a fraction of that amount on measly little citizens for access to health care.
Jesus wouldn’t like it.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:06 amThese articles haven’t really inspired any comment from me.. it’s all stuff we already knew.. and everybody knew corduroy skirts were a sin.. simply on a fashion basis. Corduroy . ick. – one of the worst materials every created.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:10 am-
unrelated stuff -
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Support Al Franken’s Petition for a Public Option
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In other news..
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15 questions to ask Conservatives
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Good morning.. and enjoy.
So in January families go back to paying over $1000 a month or drop coverage? That’s too much to pay on $265 a week unemployment. The subsidy couldn’t have been more, because Arlen Spectre and the ladies from Maine had to have too much money devoted to tax cuts for people who have jobs. Knowing they lose their COBRA, most of these families can’t afford Christmas and health insurance at the same time. Congress needs to extend this subsidy right away.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:12 amAs far as the young holy roller woman wearing corduroy, I can only say that wearing that much brown is a sin.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:15 amAfghanistan:
A country sparsely populated, without a national identity, with no discernable organized government, halfway around the world.
Yeh, sounds like the perfect place to let the warmongers stage their endless battle with Eurasia, in the false name of protecting our “freedumb”.
PUKE.
Obama, you’re a fcukin tool.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:15 amThe Graveyard of Empires…Afghanistan.
Mr. President, it takes courage to stand against a noisy crowd.
They have vested financial interests that obligate war to keep the military industrial greedmongers more wealthy.
Sure, I’ll listen tonight. I want to hear a clear, concise explanation of an end game and what benchmark signifies ‘victory’. But I cannot & will not support sending more of our young to die in a fruitless campaign started by and long abandoned by the Bush machine.
Courage means standing against the tide of a well oiled Republic noise machine. If you can’t find that courage within you, God help us all.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:17 amHow has it taken 22 years for us to lift the ban on HIV positive travel? Shameful. And one has to wonder if Clinton’s words will be backed up by the administration’s actions. The countries that receive our aid to fight HIV, by and large, are of no signficant strategic value to us. It’s strictly for humanitarian reasons. If Uganda is intent on executing people for “aggrevated homosexuality” and arresting gay rights supporters, they deserve to be cut off from our supply of aid. Simply as that. The shunning of condoms sure isn’t helping their cause, either.
Yeah, good ‘ol CBO. It’s lambasted by both parties when it releases an accurate assessment of the financial cost of legislation, and hailed as being “on their side” when either party cherry-picks information to distort the office’s findings. But the report is good news. It’s thoroughly discrediting the conservative talking point that the proposed reform will cost most Americans more (it won’t) and that it will add to the deficit (subtracting $100b is NOT the same as adding, simple Republicans).
The stimulus bill has been underwhelming, but a crucial piece of legislation nonetheless. It will, presumeably along with healthcare, be the defining piece of legislation for the Obama administration (in the first term, anyway). All of that growth, and nearly 75% of the money has yet to be spent. Maybe we WILL get out of the recession next year.
We need to start relinquishing responsibility to Karzai, not taking more power from him. He is the “democratically” “elected” “leader” of the “country”. That aside, Obama needs to make clear that the surge in troops is for the purpose of training the military and national police and that a timetable will be set for military withdrawal. It wouldn’t be a terrible idea to keep a small base in the area (since we were kicked out of Uzbekistan), but the majority of our forces need to be brought home.
Tom Davis always was one of the brighter political minds in the GOP. If he had a warmer personality, he’d essentially be the Republican Rahm Emmanuel. The GOP would be suicidal to enact the purity laws. It would guarantee that they remain the minority party for years to come. Now, let’s see them enact the purity laws and swear that it will lead them to electoral victory.
Do the right thing, DC. Don’t be blackmailed by the Catholic Church. The church’s threat to withhold social services is likely in vain; they won’t risk the negative press, especially after the Murphy Report.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:20 amOnce again, it could have done more, but Arlen Spectre and the ladies from Maine had to have too much money devoted to tax cuts for people who have jobs. They also required the overall size of the stimulus to contract. Economists like Paul Krugman have repeatedly stated that it was too small, and is taking effect too slowly, so we need another stimulus, because doing too much is way better than doing too little.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:21 amA couple of days ago, a man who thought he was Jesus Christ walked into a coffee shop in the Tacoma, WA area and gunned down four police officers.
A month ago, an Army psychiatrist walked into a processing center on a military base and gunned down a dozen soldiers and a civilian, and injured many others.
Both men are believed to have acted alone. Neither man is believed to have been part of any kind of organized terrorist cell. Both men had such warped perceptions within their religious beliefs that the mainstream people of their faith saw them as horribly misguided.
Yet, the Muslim shooter’s event has been branded a “terrorist act”, and the right wing is gleefully using the tragedy to justify bigotry against all Muslims.
Nobody is suggesting that the shooter with the Christ complex is representative of Christianity. Not even people of other faiths are claiming this. He was obviously someone who had lost his grip on reality.
Why the double standard? My guess is that the wingnuts like to use the term “terrorist” only when it fits their agenda. If a tragic act can further their agenda, they will exploit it for all it’s worth. If it can’t, they’d rather just keep the whole matter quiet — especially when the reason the shooter was at large in the first place is because one of their own set him free.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:37 am9. Missmolly,
I happen to think BOTH committed acts of terrorism…in that both sought to terrorize a segment of the population (police officers for Clemmons, fellow soldiers for Hasan). Their motivations behind the actions are irrelevant. Terrorism is a criminal act.
Both men were out of their minds. Both men committed cold blooded murder. Clemmons had a form of justice meted to him; let’s hope Hasan gets the dignity of a fair trial, where he can stand for his actions and face a just punishment for his crime.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:40 amGood morning, campers
Uncle Ho has retired.
Long Live Uncle Ho.
F.T.A.(F*(k The Army)
is his successor.
It was time to retire Uncle Ho and take up a new screen name in honor of Obama’s escalation(”surge”) in Afghanistan.
lux & evangential;
December 1st, 2009 at 9:41 amIf you think corduroy is bad, remember those 70s polyester suits.
The Republican Party is content with being the Minority Party. They have all the control, yet get none of the blame. And, yes, the analogy to a church is quite appropriate, since the evangelical christians are running their agenda now. They really do see everyone else as heretics, and their mission is not to convert us, but to cleanse the rest of the world of us.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:44 amGood news FTA.
What ever happened to “el bruce”?
Did I miss ‘his’ official “sign-off”?
December 1st, 2009 at 9:44 amThe new claim is that it’s now ‘Obama’s war’… I whole heartedly disagree.
If the guy before you drops 30,000 troops on Afghan shores.. and leaves them there for 8 years, unequipped to fulfill any sort of strategy.. and then you show up – the fact that you continue with this doesn’t make it ‘yours.’
If I drop you in the middle of a jungle.. and you decide to start charting a way out – does that put you to blame for the circumstances?
no matter what analogy – the blame falls on the one who started the war.
I’m against war.. but I see Afghanistan like this — look at the Taliban/Al Quada as a guy we have been holding down for years.. the guy may or may not have been angry when this started.. but after holding him at bay for 8 years.. he’s definitely far more angry now. Each day that passes that anger and determination increases.. There must be some strategy to cease without simply walking away and letting that anger spill over… there must be some strategy to subdue the beast we have made — whether it’s through nation building / through taking out key individuals / through a concerted effort with the government and people – there must be some way to avoid a likely backlash from quick withdrawal.. some way to assist the country itself to deal with it’s own problems.. I’ve been to websites of organizations inside afghanistan – they feel we are only making things worse, they admit that they are frightened of what will happen when there’s no restraint on the individuals we are fighting, but inevitably our fighting is resulting in higher civilian deaths. I understand their position.. from their view they have 2 enemies.. the Taliban and the international armies on their shores.. but we have the commitment of nearly every nation in this war.. this is no vietnam – there must be a way we can assist these people in a way that will help them build security before we pack up and leave.
So.. as much as I hate war – simply walking away from BUSH’s war doesn’t make sense to me.. there has to be a better option that simply opening up a vacuum for the Taliban to fill. I know all of the arguments against the war… Iraq to me was a war where the correct move was just get the hell out.. now… Afghanistan? These people are in dire shape.. and this is a new kind of war.. a war that.. however poorly implemented.. is meant to assist the country – not simply destroy it.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:46 amFrom HuffPo
Authorities in two states were criticized amid revelations that Clemmons was allowed to walk the streets despite a teenage crime spree in Arkansas that landed him an 108-year prison sentence. He was released early after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted his sentence.
Huckabee cited Clemmons’ youth in granting the request. But Clemmons quickly reverted to his criminal past, violated his parole and was returned to prison. He was released again in 2004.
“This guy should have never been on the street,” said Brian D. Wurts, president of the police union in Lakewood. “Our elected officials need to find out why these people are out.”
Huckabee said on Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” Monday night that Clemmons was allowed back on the street because prosecutors failed to file paperwork in time.
Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley, whose office opposed Clemmons’ parole in 2000 and 2004, said Huckabee’s comments were “red herrings.”
“My word to Mr. Huckabee is man up and own what you did,” Jegley said
He’s a Republican, he couldn’t man up with a ton of viagra and a forklift
December 1st, 2009 at 9:49 amDNFP;
December 1st, 2009 at 9:50 amI have no idea about el bruce. I haven’t been able to get to the threads much lately due to my work load. I’m not even sure if Zooey is still around, nor have I heard from upside00 in recent weeks.
FTA, I have seen teabagger women wearing pants suits, possibly polyester.
For folks who are stuck in the 50’s, I suppose being stuck in the 70’s fashion-wise is some sort of progress.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:51 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Corduroy skirts are a sin.
Awesome.
I think we now have a great way to counter the vile spewings of the Phelps gang — make fun of them!
December 1st, 2009 at 9:52 am14. Lux,
Right on. One of the biggest mistakes the country made in the last century was the handling of Operation Cyclone and the assistance to the mujahedin. We armed tribal warlord, many of whom wanted nothing more than to boot the Soviets out of their homeland. A fair number, though, were bent on domination and driven by religious fanaticism. When the Soviets withdrew, we stopped the funding. We refused to send money for reconstructing the schools, roads, and hospitals that our weapons helped to destroy, and it left a great deal of anger amongst the people. The fanatics took that anger and ran with it, consolidating power, and creating the kind of atmosphere that led to the most repressive society on earth since the fall of the Khmer Rouge and a haven for fanatics to train for “war” against America. I’m leery of the escalation, but if Obama includes a firm timetable or a way for us to declare “victory”, all might not be lost.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:53 amlux@14 is right. Now it’s Obama’s War? Bush and Cheney have caused this debacle. How conveinent they dump it on his lap. Meanwhile, Dick is accepting awards from his Neo-Con buddies and Bush collects speaking fees from the morons who actually think he has something interesting to say.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:54 amGood morning, Unka FTA!!
December 1st, 2009 at 9:54 amUncle Ho No Mo?
Say it ain’t so, Ho!
FTA is good. It’s also good to see Spencer’s Mom back.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:57 amGood Morning, Mistress Z.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:01 amGlad you’re still around.
SPERM says:
Howard Dean Declares Debate…
SQUIRREL!
December 1st, 2009 at 10:01 amOSarah bin Palin posts letter to Facebook calling Obama ’son’
December 1st, 2009 at 10:03 amF.T.A. says:
Good Morning, Mistress Z.
Glad you’re still around.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:01 am
Likewise and always. :-)
December 1st, 2009 at 10:04 amAnd our cowardly, non debating vote down troll strikes again!
I, of course, take that cowardice action as a complement, and a form of victory.
So in essence, I won the debate, without actually posting any rebuttal.
Sweet!
December 1st, 2009 at 10:04 amI’m with you Lux and EnnuiDivine. With the rapid deployment and a firm timetable if things look better in a year then maybe they can end the whole thing eventually.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:04 amWhy so little information on the health care debate?
December 1st, 2009 at 10:08 amSTORM says:
Howard Dean Declares Debate Between Capitalism and Socialism to Be Over
“We are going to have both.”
__________
And?
Isn’t this what we already have?
December 1st, 2009 at 10:11 am“Establishment Republicans are recoiling at a draft proposal before the Republican National Committee that would bar party financial support for candidates who fail to meet eight of 10 issue tests,” Politico reports. “We’re becoming a church that would rather chase away heretics than welcome converts and that’s no way to become a majority party,” said former Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA).
********************************************************
So much for Dick Armey’s recent claim that the GOP Purity Test is “not a litmus test”. It might not be one right this second…but if this proposal passes, it very much sounds as though it will become one.
Then again, if the G-NO-P are determined to create a schism within their party and ruin their chances of ever gaining majority status again…I say, LET ‘EM!
December 1st, 2009 at 10:14 amRep. Hinchey: Bush ‘intentionally let Bin Laden get away’
Shocking? No.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:19 amNotice how they’re calling it and “issue test” instead of a “purity test”. Even they know they sound like Nazis.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:20 amThe International AIDS Society will hold its biennial conference in the U.S. in 2012, “for the first time in 22 years after President Barack Obama lifted the ban on travel by people infected with HIV.” Yesterday, on the eve of World AIDS Day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “made the strongest statement yet by an administration official” that the U.S. will not tolerate discrimination of gay men and women in countries that receive U.S. funding to fight HIV/AIDS.
I read this and the first thing that came to my my mind was Lee Greenwood’s song “Proud to be an American!”
December 1st, 2009 at 10:23 amCorduroy skirts are a sin.
Oh man. I am soooooooooo screwed. :o|
December 1st, 2009 at 10:23 amBe prepared for the repugs, led by Fox Noise and Lintball to say to the CBO, “YOU LIE!”
December 1st, 2009 at 10:26 amU.S. President Barack Obama is sending 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, White House officials tell CNN ahead of a long-awaited announcement on deployments.
Somehow, all this “change” is nothing more than continuation of the status quo meme.
NICE.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:30 amIf you think corduroy is bad, remember those 70s polyester suits. — FTA
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Not to mention some of the dresses worn by the girlfriends of the men in the polyester suits…ye gods…
All I can say is that a majority of the fashion designers in the 70’s must have been using one hell of a lot of recreational chemicals (it was the disco era, after all). Good grief…what were some of those people thinking? Or did they simply lose too many brain cells to be capable of thinking?
December 1st, 2009 at 10:35 amOPERATION IRAQI LIBERATION
With foothold in Iraq, oil giants eye future
Companies accept deals with limited profits now, in order to cash in later
LINK
Do you ever feel like you’ve been cheated?
December 1st, 2009 at 10:35 amMissMolly – if I could vote you up 14 times for your post at 9, I would. You rock, sista.
~A
December 1st, 2009 at 10:36 amWhy the double standard?
One word:
ZIONISM
December 1st, 2009 at 10:38 amMissMolly @9, You ROCK!!!
December 1st, 2009 at 10:42 amSpecial envoy to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke is pushing for the U.S. to “extend its control over the day-to-day running of Afghanistan with the appointment of an international ‘high representative’” that would serve on the “shoulder” of President Hamid Karzai. The proposal has “caused a split between Washington and its closest NATO allies,” who believe it could undermine the legitimacy of the Afghan government.
File this under the damned if you do (illegitimatize Karzai’s already illegitimate govt) and damned if you don’t(control corruption in a system that is based on it)…
December 1st, 2009 at 10:45 amToday’s ignore list:
OSTL
Tracy__5
STORM
I’ll be sure to post this at the top of each article. Today, let’s honor World AIDS Day through our own way–by ignoring the trolls.
Trolls Igno(RED)
December 1st, 2009 at 10:47 amHas Darlyy chimed in with his ususal anti-gay suppressed feelings yet?
December 1st, 2009 at 10:48 amEnnuiDivine says:
The countries that receive our aid to fight HIV, by and large, are of no signficant strategic value to us. It’s strictly for humanitarian reasons. If Uganda is intent on executing people for “aggrevated homosexuality” and arresting gay rights supporters, they deserve to be cut off from our supply of aid. Simply as that. The shunning of condoms sure isn’t helping their cause, either.
The problem with foreign countries dealing with AID and gay people is that the US keeps sending mixed signals. Republican presidents have imposed rules about funding abortions and sex education. These rules bar any money for abortion and condums. Clinton and Obama have reversed these rules. When the next Republican is president they will reverse the rules again. The Republicans are caving in to the religious fundies with these rules.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:48 amususal? Mas cafe, por favor!
December 1st, 2009 at 10:48 amGood posts all, thank you..Just recieved a notice President Obama plans to end the Afg, war in 3 years…Damn I am sick of this continued mess….When will we have a strong leader that replaces liers like Mccrystal and many others and stands for Peace.?….Time for me to look for someone other than a dem or rep to vote for…P.B & J
December 1st, 2009 at 12:30 pmI don’t care what anyone says—I’m keeping my corduroy skirts!
December 1st, 2009 at 1:21 pmGood news everyone, if your paying anywhere from 5k to 15k a year for insurance, breath easy. There’s a good chance health reform won’t change your costs.
Now that’s what I call reform.
Sorry everyone, this still pisses me off.
December 1st, 2009 at 1:41 pmYou do know Mr. President that the last Democratic President to give in to the war mongering Right managed to escalate a war that supported a corrupt puppet regime and cost thousands of American lives before we got out and left them to their own devices?
The real problem today is we don’t have the money to fight their stupid war. You can’t save America by listening to the greatest lie ever told. War is not good for the economy. If it was, ours would be booming. Bring all the troops home…now, while we can still afford it.
December 1st, 2009 at 2:26 pmA report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the Senate health care bill “would leave premiums unchanged or slightly lower for the vast majority of Americans.” The report undermines many of the fear-mongering arguments against health reform that have been put forward by conservatives.
Govt. predictions are like assho—. everyone has one.
December 1st, 2009 at 4:29 pmThe Congressional Budget Office also said yesterday that “it estimates that the federal stimulus package sustained between 600,000 and 1.6 million jobs in the third quarter, and raised gross domestic product by 1.2 to 3.2 percentage points higher than it would have been without the program.”
Gosh, I like when numbers are pulled out of one’s arse with no way to prove them.
December 1st, 2009 at 4:30 pm