Forty percent of Democrats say they ‘probably won’t vote’ next year: poll

Democrats are rightfully disillusioned with whats going on in their government. They realize their vote doesn't amount. They were promised change but are getting status quo. This is the best argument yet for the People's Term Limits movement: termlim.com

in reference to:

"Forty percent of self-identified Democratic voters say they are "not likely" or "definitely" won't vote in next year's Congressional elections, according to a little-noticed poll released over the Thanksgiving weekend. The poll, which surveyed 2,400 Americans nationwide between Nov. 22 and Nov. 25, found that self-identified Republicans were three times more likely to say they were going to vote next year. The results suggest perilous fights for Democrats in the midterm elections, where the president's party typically lose seats. Democratic leaders still have an almost 15-point edge in favorability ratings over their Republican counterparts: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has a 41 percent voter approval rating and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) clocks in at 31, whereas Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) draws just 15 percent support to House Minority Leader John Boehner's (R-OH) 14 percent. President Obama's favorability rating sits at 53 percent, according to the poll."
- Forty percent of Democrats say they ‘probably won’t vote’ next year: poll | Raw Story (view on Google Sidewiki)

Wash. Police: Shooting Suspect Wounded

Imagine if this animal had been let free by a liberal Governor instead of Mike Huckabee. FOXNews would be going berserk.

in reference to:

"Police said early Monday morning that a suspect in the coffee-shop slayings of four officers was holed up at a Seattle house, wounded and possibly dead. Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said negotiators were still trying to communicate with Maurice Clemmons. Authorities had been seeking Clemmons in the deaths of four Lakewood police officers gunned down in a Parkland coffee shop on Sunday morning. They believe the gunman may have been wounded by one of the victims. Troyer told CBS' "The Early Show" that Clemmons was hurt during the shootout at the coffee shop and that his wound is possibly "severe." Late Sunday, they began to focus on the Seattle house, about 30 miles from the crime scene. Negotiators used loudspeakers and explosions to try to prod Clemmons from hiding."
- Wash. Police: Shooting Suspect Wounded - CBS News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Tips for Safe Online Shopping

"Shopping online does carry some risk, but so does shopping at brick-and-mortar stores. At least online shoppers don't need to worry about fender-benders in the parking lot, pick pockets at the mall, or getting the flu from all those fellow shoppers.

But the nice thing about shopping online is that by following some basic guidelines you can be reasonably sure you'll have a safe experience.

Secure your PC: The first thing you need to do is be sure your computer is secure. Trend Micro's education director David Perry, says that "bad guys these days are operating by planting a keylogger on your system that listens in, surreptitiously waiting for you to use your credit card or your bank password so that they can steal your money." So, even if you're dealing with a legitimate merchant, you're at risk if your computer is infected. Your best protection from these attacks is to keep your operating system and browsers updated and use a good and up-to-date security program. If you're getting or giving a Netbook or other PC for the holidays, make sure that security software is installed right away. Most security companies offer a free-trial version that will tide you over for a month or so, but be sure to subscribe so you get ongoing protection."

in reference to:

"Shopping online does carry some risk, but so does shopping at brick-and-mortar stores. At least online shoppers don't need to worry about fender-benders in the parking lot, pick pockets at the mall, or getting the flu from all those fellow shoppers. But the nice thing about shopping online is that by following some basic guidelines you can be reasonably sure you'll have a safe experience. Secure your PC: The first thing you need to do is be sure your computer is secure. Trend Micro's education director David Perry, says that "bad guys these days are operating by planting a keylogger on your system that listens in, surreptitiously waiting for you to use your credit card or your bank password so that they can steal your money." So, even if you're dealing with a legitimate merchant, you're at risk if your computer is infected. Your best protection from these attacks is to keep your operating system and browsers updated and use a good and up-to-date security program. If you're getting or giving a Netbook or other PC for the holidays, make sure that security software is installed right away. Most security companies offer a free-trial version that will tide you over for a month or so, but be sure to subscribe so you get ongoing protection."
- Tips for Safe Online Shopping - CBS News (view on Google Sidewiki)

With cancer screenings, 'more is not always better'

"Women across the USA have been shocked and angered by new advice to get fewer mammograms. Yet experts have been debating the risks of mammograms and other cancer screenings for more than a decade.

There's growing evidence that cancer screenings aren't always helpful — and can sometimes be harmful, say Lisa Schwartz and Steve Woloshin of the Veterans Affairs Outcomes Group in White River Junction, Vt. A number of medical groups also have scaled back their cancer screening guidelines:"

in reference to:

"Women across the USA have been shocked and angered by new advice to get fewer mammograms. Yet experts have been debating the risks of mammograms and other cancer screenings for more than a decade. There's growing evidence that cancer screenings aren't always helpful — and can sometimes be harmful, say Lisa Schwartz and Steve Woloshin of the Veterans Affairs Outcomes Group in White River Junction, Vt. A number of medical groups also have scaled back their cancer screening guidelines:"
- With cancer screenings, 'more is not always better' - USATODAY.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Report: FBI paid controversial blogger for help

I'll repeat what I've said before. We need a new agency that is set to fight terrorism, domestic and international. The FBI doesn't know how to fight terrorism. They butcher it every time. Fort Hood is the latest example.

in reference to:

"A New Jersey blogger about to stand trial on charges he made death threats against federal judges apparently was paid by the FBI in its battle against domestic terrorism, according to a published report. The Record of Bergen Countyreported Sunday that Hal Turner received thousands of dollars from the FBI to report on neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups and was sent undercover to Brazil. Turner also claims the FBI coached him to make racist, anti-Semitic and other threatening statements on his radio show, but the newspaper also found many federal officials were concerned that his audience might follow up on his violence rhetoric. The newspaper reviewed numerous government documents, e-mails, court records and almost 20 hours of jailhouse interviews with Turner. He goes on trial Tuesday in New York, accused of making death threats against three Chicago-based federal appeals judges after saying in Internet postings in June the judges "deserve to be killed" because they had refused to overturn handgun bans in Chicago and suburban Oak Park."
- Report: FBI paid controversial blogger for help - USATODAY.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

4 police officers shot dead at Wash. coffeehouse

This kind of stuff is going on in Mexico.

in reference to:

"A gunman burst into a coffeehouse Sunday and opened fire on four police officers as they sat working on their laptops, killing the three men and one woman in what an official described as a targeted ambush. Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said officers were looking for one male suspect who fled on foot, but haven't ruled out an accomplice. It wasn't clear whether the officers even had time to draw their weapons to return fire, Troyer said."
- 4 police officers shot dead at Wash. coffeehouse (view on Google Sidewiki)

Rumsfeld decision let Bin Laden escape: Senate report

One of Bush's great failures. But his biggest failure was allowing 9-11 to happen.

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"Osama bin Laden was "within the grasp" of US forces in late 2001 but escaped because then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld rejected calls for reinforcements, a hard-hitting US Senate report says.The report, set for release Monday, is intended to help learn the lessons of the past as President Barack Obama prepares to announce a major escalation of the conflict, now in its ninth year, with up to 35,000 more US troops.It points the finger directly at Rumsfeld for turning down requests for reinforcements as Bin Laden was trapped in December 2001 in caves and tunnels in a mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan known as Tora Bora."The vast array of American military power, from sniper teams to the most mobile divisions of the marine corps and the army, was kept on the sidelines," the report says."Instead, the US command chose to rely on airstrikes and untrained Afghan militias to attack Bin Laden and on Pakistan's loosely organized Frontier Corps to seal his escape routes."Entitled "Tora Bora revisited: how we failed to get Bin Laden and why it matters today," the report -- commissioned by Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- says Bin Laden expected to die and had even written a will."But the Al-Qaeda leader would live to fight another day. Fewer than 100 American commandos were on the scene with their Afghan allies and calls for reinforcements to launch an assault were rejected."Requests were also turned down for US troops to block the mountain paths leading to sanctuary a few miles away in Pakistan."The decision not to deploy American forces to go after Bin Laden or block his escape was made by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his top commander, General Tommy Franks," the report says."On or around December 16, two days after writing his will, Bin Laden and an entourage of bodyguards walked unmolested out of Tora Bora and disappeared into Pakistan's unregulated tribal area. Most analysts say he is still there today."Rumsfeld's argument at the time, the report says, was that deploying too many American troops could jeopardize the mission by creating an anti-US backlash among the local populace."
- AFP: Rumsfeld decision let Bin Laden escape: Senate report (view on Google Sidewiki)

1 in 8 Americans on Medicaid

This is what Wall St greed and their servile government wrought.

We need revolutionary change: www.termlim.com

in reference to:

"It has grown so rapidly in places so diverse that it is becoming nearly as ordinary as the groceries it buys. More than 36 million people use inconspicuous plastic cards for staples like milk, bread and cheese, swiping them at counters in blighted cities and in suburbs pocked with foreclosure signs.Virtually all have incomes near or below the federal poverty line, but their eclectic ranks testify to the range of people struggling with basic needs. They include single mothers and married couples, the newly jobless and the chronically poor, longtime recipients of welfare checks and workers whose reduced hours or slender wages leave pantries bare.While the numbers have soared during the recession, the path was cleared in better times when the Bush administration led a campaign to erase the program’s stigma, calling food stamps “nutritional aid” instead of welfare, and made it easier to apply. That bipartisan effort capped an extraordinary reversal from the 1990s, when some conservatives tried to abolish the program, Congress enacted large cuts and bureaucratic hurdles chased many needy people away.From the ailing resorts of the Florida Keys to Alaskan villages along the Bering Sea, the program is now expanding at a pace of about 20,000 people a day. There are 239 counties in the United States where at least a quarter of the population receives food stamps, according to an analysis of local data collected by The New York Times."
- The Safety Net - Across U.S., Food Stamp Use Soars and Stigma Fades - Series - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Text-a-Tip Programs Allow Tipsters To Help Police

Once again technology being used to serve the public interest.

in reference to:

"A mother in Boston tells police her 8-year-old boy was shot to death in their apartment by gunmen in hooded sweatshirts during a home invasion.Officers later receive a text message from an anonymous tipster that leads them to a much different conclusion: the boy's 7-year-old cousin accidentally shot him while the two boys were playing with a loaded 9 mm handgun.Meanwhile, authorities in Douglas County, Colo., thwarted a threatened Columbine-style attack after an anonymous text about a student's "kill list" led them to weapons in the child's home.After struggling for years with an anti-snitching culture that made witnesses too afraid to come forward, police across the country are getting help from text-a-tip programs that allow people to send anonymous, text messages from their cell phones.In Boston, the first city to heavily promote texting for crime tips, police have received more than 1,000 tips since the program began two years ago. Police credit text tips for providing them with key leads in at least four high-profile killings, including: the accidental shooting of Liquarry Jefferson by his cousin; an arson fire that killed two children; the shooting of a Boston teenager on her 18th birthday; and the fatal stabbing of a man during a bar fight.Officer Michael Charbonnier, who oversees the program, said people who live in high-crime neighborhoods are often afraid that if they talk to police, they could be hurt or even killed by gang members, drug dealers or other criminals."It's either call 911 or live with the bad guy. And if you call, there could be repercussions," Charbonnier said."So when they have this option of texting us - knowing no one will know who they are - well, now, people give us license plate numbers, they give us names," he said.In the past, people feared retaliation for talking to police, but with the texting programs, police never see the tipster's name or telephone number. The text messages are sent to a separate, third-party server, where identifying information is stripped out and they are assigned an encrypted alias before being sent to police."
- Text-a-Tip Programs Allow Tipsters To Help Police - CBS News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Rachel Uchitel, Tiger Woods' Alleged Mistress, Denies Affair

Let's see if this turns out to be false rumor. When did the National Enquirer become respectable enough to be quoted. And if the rumors turn out to be wrong, will Huffington, TMZ, and Drudge apologize?

in reference to:

"Rachel Uchitel became a major story on Wednesday, when rumors that the 34-year-old was having an affair with Tiger Woods began to circulate. The rumors have picked up steam after the circumstances surrounding Woods' car accident raised more questions than they answered. Uchitel continues to deny the affair. She told the New York Post that the rumors are "completely untrue." Nevertheless, she said, "this is nothing to do with me. We have never had an affair, and the claims we did are completely false. We have never had an affair, talked on the phone or sent any type of text, sexy or not. She denied the National Enquirer story that sparked the rumors to BlackBookMag.com as well: "I totally deny the Enquirer story. They did contact me about it, but they didn't use any of my quotes or any of the information I gave them. They make it sound like I said those things, but it's all other people saying I said things." The Enquirer is standing by its story and has released additional details."
- Rachel Uchitel, Tiger Woods' Alleged Mistress, Denies Affair (INFO) (view on Google Sidewiki)

U.S. Still Running Secret Prison in Afghanistan

How little things really change in this government.

in reference to:

"An American military detention camp in Afghanistan is still holding inmates for sometimes weeks at a time and without access to the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to human rights researchers and former detainees held at the site on the Bagram Air Base. The site consists of individual windowless concrete cells, each lighted by a single light bulb glowing 24 hours a day, where detainees said that their only contact with another human being was at twice-daily interrogation sessions. The jail’s operation highlights a tension between President Obama’s goal to improve detention conditions that had drawn condemnation under the Bush administration and his desire to give military commanders leeway to operate. In this case, that means isolating certain prisoners for a period of time so interrogators can extract information or flush out confederates. While Mr. Obama signed an order to eliminate so-called black sites run by the Central Intelligence Agency in January, that order did not apply to this jail, which is run by military Special Operations forces."
- U.S. Still Running Secret Prison in Afghanistan - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Russia: Bomb caused train crash that killed 26

"Russian officials opened a terror investigation Saturday, saying that a home-made bomb planted on the tracks of the high-speed Moscow-to-St. Petersburg route caused a derailment that killed at least 26 people and injured dozens more.

The head of Russia's Federal Security Service, Alexander Borotnikov, was quoted by the Interfax and RIA Novosti news as saying that an improvised explosive device equivalent to 15 pounds (7 kilograms) of TNT had detonated when the train passed over it Friday night. Remains of the device were found at the site of the crash, Borotnikov said.

"Indeed, this was a terrorist attack," Interfax cited Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for federal prosecutors, as saying."
in reference to:

- Russia: Bomb caused train crash that killed 26 - Yahoo! News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Tiger Woods Seriously Hurt in Crash

MSNBC is quoting Woods' agent as saying the golf great is "fine."

in reference to:

"Authorities say Tiger Woods has been seriously injured in a car wreck in Florida. The Florida Highway Patrol says the PGA star hit a fire hydrant and a tree as he pulled out of his driveway early Friday in his 2009 Cadillac sport utility vehicle. Woods was taken to Health Central Hospital. His condition was not immediately known, though the news release said his injuries were serious."
- Tiger Woods Seriously Hurt in Crash - CBS News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Jump in number of global swine flu deaths

"The global number of swine flu deaths has jumped by more than 1,000 in a week, latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) show.

At least 7,826 people are now known to have died following infection with the H1N1 virus since it first emerged in Mexico in April.

Europe saw an 85% increase in the week, with the total number of deaths rising from at least 350 to at least 650.

However, in most cases the virus continues to produce mild symptoms.

The overwhelming majority of patients usually recover, even without medical treatment, within a week."

in reference to: BBC News - Jump in number of global swine flu deaths (view on Google Sidewiki)

FBI: Ex-Doctor in Ohio Admitted Making Pipe Bombs

How do these things happen without anyone noticing.

in reference to:

"Federal agents in Ohio say a former doctor admitted making pipe bombs that were part of an arsenal seized at his apartment. An affidavit filed in federal court in Akron says 56-year-old Mark Campano of Cuyahoga Falls told an FBI agent he "did indeed" build the pipe bombs found this week at his apartment. The affidavit filed late Wednesday does not describe a motive or any possible targets. A message seeking comment was left Friday for defense attorney Donald Hicks. Authorities arrested Campano after an explosion rocked his apartment complex Monday night. Police said he was trying to load shotgun shells when one blew up. Campano's Ohio medical license was revoked in 2006 because of a long history of drug abuse."
- FBI: Ex-Doctor in Ohio Admitted Making Pipe Bombs - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

White House Crashers May Face Charges

They should be thrown in jail for this stunt. But it won't happen. The media would jump all over that. In addition, these low lives will become famous, and maybe wealthy, from this experience.

in reference to:

"The Secret Service may begin a criminal investigation against the Virginia couple who crashed a high-profile White House dinner, an agency spokesman said Friday. Jim Mackin said the possible turn toward criminal charges is one reason the Secret Service has kept mum about what happened when Michaele and Tareq Salahi arrived at the security checkpoint Tuesday. They were not on the guest list for the dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Nobody disputes that the two, candidates for a reality TV show, were allowed through security. The Secret Service acknowledges that its procedures weren't followed. Still unknown is the story that the uninvited guests spun to the security officers that persuaded them to allow the couple through. That likely would play a role in any criminal charges."
- White House Crashers May Face Charges - CBS News (view on Google Sidewiki)

The White House Gate Crashers: What Went Wrong?

It could have been a terrorist or an assassin.

in reference to:

"At least two people who weren't invited, we now know. Just how reality-TV-wannabes Michaele and Tareq Salahi managed to crash last week's first State Dinner (See TIME's photos here.) has been the subject of back-to-back front page stories in the Washington Post and another one in the New York Times. The story raises some serious questions about White House security, given how close they got to the President and the Indian Prime Minister, as well as so many other high-ranking government officials. As of now, the Secret Service is blaming the debacle on a breach at a single checkpoint, though they are being vague on the details. My own experience with these things is both limited and dated. Back in 1999, I attended a similar dinner the Clintons threw in honor of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji. (According to the Washington Post account of that dinner, I got invited under the "White House always throws a bone to reporters who follow the president" exemption. Whatever. I was very, very happy to be there for what turned out to be a very cool experience.) But what I know from that dinner tells me there were a number of places where things went wrong: The first thing to know is what makes entering the White House for one of these big social events different from, say, getting in for a routine interview or a briefing. For state dinners, invited guests are allowed to drive a car up to the building. The guards go over your vehicle, including putting something that looks like a gigantic dental mirror under it, and then you are sent up the driveway to the White House, where a uniformed military officer takes your keys and parks your car."
- UPDATE: Guess Who Came To Dinner? - Swampland - TIME.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

E-mails Don't Prove Global Warming is a Fraud

Nice try.

in reference to:

"Stop hyperventilating, all you climate change deniers. The purloined e-mail correspondence published by skeptics last week -- portraying some leading climate researchers as petty, vindictive and tremendously eager to make their data fit accepted theories -- does not prove that global warming is a fraud. If I'm wrong, somebody ought to tell the polar ice caps that they're free to stop melting."
- RealClearPolitics - E-mails Don't Prove Warming is a Fraud (view on Google Sidewiki)

Britain ‘failed to establish legitimacy’ of Iraq invasion

That's because it wasn't legitimate.

in reference to:

"The US and UK failed to “establish the legitimacy” of the invasion of Iraq within the international community, according to Britain’s former ambassador to the United Nations.Sir Jeremy Greenstock told the Iraq inquiry on Friday that while there was sufficient ”legal cover” for the war to topple Saddam Hussein it was of “questionable legitimacy”."
- FT.com / UK - Britain ‘failed to establish legitimacy’ of Iraq invasion (view on Google Sidewiki)

Teenager lashed for wearing knee-length skirt

It seems like we're going backwards in terms of the rights of women worldwide.

in reference to:

"A 16-year-old south Sudanese girl was lashed 50 times after a judge ruled her knee-length skirt was indecent, her lawyer and family said in the latest case to push Sudan's Islamic law into the spotlight.The mother of teenager Silva Kashif told Reuters on Friday she was planning to sue the police who made the arrest and the judge who imposed the sentence, as her daughter was underage and a Christian.The case will add fuel to a debate already raging over Sudan's decency laws after this year's high-profile conviction of Sudanese U.N. official Lubna Hussein, who was briefly jailed for wearing trousers in public."
- Girl, 16, lashed over knee-length skirt - Sudan- msnbc.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

WHO: Tamiflu still works against swine flu

AP story:

in reference to:

"The World Health Organization says isolated cases of drug-resistant swine flu in Britain and the United States have not changed the agency's assessment of the disease. It says Tamiflu remains highly effective against the vast majority of H1N1 cases. Four cancer patients in a North Carolina hospital tested positive last week for a type of the flu that was resistant to Tamiflu. Five people at a British hospital also didn't respond to the drug after contracting the flu. WHO flu chief Dr. Keiji Fukuda said Thursday that investigations were underway, but that the American and British patients for whom Tamiflu did not work had severely weakened immune systems."
- WHO: Tamiflu still works against swine flu - USATODAY.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Thanksgiving in Afghanistan "Another Day"

"U.S. Soldiers Spend Holiday on Patrol Hoping to Aid Remote Villages"

in reference to:

"Thanksgiving Day for soldiers in this valley ringed by towering snowy peaks began with a 6-mile slog to aid village schools without desks and windows, and ended with five, once scrawny local turkeys soldiers have been fattening up for the past month. "Just another day, another mission," several soldiers said as a 25-man patrol from Able Troop, 3-71 Cavalry Squadron set out on a cold morning under brilliantly blue skies. Others let sentiment seep through their matter-of-fact, stoic shells. "We're with our family just like we would be at Thanksgiving back home," said Staff Sgt. Ben McKinnon, of New Haven, Connecticut, nodding toward the soldiers around him that have daily shared hardship, suffering and some elation over the past year."
- Thanksgiving in Afghanistan "Another Day" - CBS News (view on Google Sidewiki)

U.S. will be out of Afghanistan by 2017: White House

That means you won't finish the job, Barack. You need to solve this before you leave office (assuming you win reelection). Don't be a loser like Bush.

in reference to:

"The United States will not be in Afghanistan eight years from now, the White House said on Wednesday, as President Barack Obama prepared to explain to Americans next week why he is expanding the war effort. After months of deliberation and fending off Republican charges that he was dithering on Afghanistan while violence there surged, Obama will address the nation on Tuesday on the way forward in the costly and unpopular eight-year war. He is expected to announce he is sending about 30,000 more troops as part of a new counterinsurgency strategy that will place greater emphasis on accelerating the training of Afghan security forces so that U.S. soldiers can eventually withdraw. It appears highly unlikely Obama will offer a specific troop withdrawal timetable, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president would stress that the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan was not open-ended."
- U.S. will be out of Afghanistan by 2017: White House | Politics | Reuters (view on Google Sidewiki)

State-run magazine reports on black jails in China

This is hopeful for China eventually becoming a democracy. A little freedom could bring the whole totalitarian regime down. Just as it did in Russia. But then again, Russia did not have a booming economy. Bottomline: it's a long way to go. Meantime, China continues to be a horrific regime.

in reference to:

"It read like a muckraking expose: A magazine revealed a system of secret detention centers in Beijing where Chinese citizens are forcibly held and sometimes beaten to prevent them from lodging formal complaints with the central government.But the report appeared in the state-run magazine Liaowang (Outlook), which is written for the government elite and published by China's official Xinhua News Agency.For some activist groups, the two state-sanctioned articles published Tuesday signal a possible willingness by the Communist leadership to openly acknowledge a problem it has long denied."
- Newsvine - State-run magazine reports on black jails in China (view on Google Sidewiki)

Transcript: THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW (11-24-09)

Excerpt below. Click link for complete transcript.

in reference to:

"Tonight, a small group of senators in the Democratic Caucus are reaffirming their commitment to killing the Senate health care reform bill, if it includes a public option. The most vocal among them is Senator Joe Lieberman, of Connecticut, who is now repeating his threat to block any bill that includes any version of a public option.With the Senate now less than a week away from debating health care reform, Democratic majority leader, Harry Reid, now has a choice, stand firm on the public option or compromise it to get something passed. Those on the compromise side argue that we should just let the bill pass without a public option so we can get all of the good insurance reform that`s in the bill. But, there`s a dirty little secret about this -- the insurance reform is gone.In order to have insurance reform, you need two things. The first is making sure insurance companies can`t turn you down for any medical reason. That`s called guaranteed issue -- and that`s in the bill. But that`s only effective if you make sure that the coverage is affordable. And that`s not in the bill. As the bill is written now, the insurance companies will still be allowed to gouge their customers if they have illnesses to charge you two or three times what your neighbor gets charged.A lot of the insurance reform in this bill is gone. The only real reform that`s left is the public option. If that`s compromised away, this bill is no longer health care reform. It`s just a huge gift to the health insurance industry from the same people who bailed AIG out, the American taxpayers.Instead of ruining the bill by taking out the public option, why not just do the fair thing? If there are four senators who won`t let us pass the bill with a public option, we have a mechanism to pass it, anyway -- through the budget reconciliation process.If you do that, you only need 51 votes to pass it, which exist in the Senate, instead of 60, just a simple majority. That`s how most democracies work. That`s what we should have done in the beginning. And that`s what Democrats ought to do right now."
- LexisNexis News - Latest News from over 4,000 sources, including newspapers, tv transcripts, wire services, magazines, journals. (view on Google Sidewiki)

UK: NATO to offer 5,000 troops for Afghanistan

That's more than enough. Yea, right.

in reference to:

"British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says 10 NATO nations are ready to offer about 5,000 more troops for the war in Afghanistan."
- UK: NATO to offer 5,000 troops for Afghanistan - Yahoo! News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Congressmman John Boehner PAC splurges on golf

"According to FEC filings, the House Minority Leader John Boehner has spent $82,998 on golf outings so far this year "

- Time for Real Change: http://Termlim.com

in reference to:

"According to FEC filings, the House Minority Leader John Boehner has spent $82,998 on golf outings so far this year"
- Wedge issue: John Boehner PAC splurges on golf - Jake Sherman - POLITICO.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Palin has signed 20,000 books, aide estimates

The power of celebrity. No matter how stupid she comes across, people are apparently flocking to her. Not that these people would vote for her. But sensationalism overrides that. Which goes to show that the power of media is overwhelming. And the dumber the better.

in reference to:

"Sarah Palin has signed 20,000 copies of "Going Rogue" during her nationwide book tour, a staffer traveling with the former Alaska governor estimates. Palin will have visited 13 cities and traveled 4,000 miles by the end of Tuesday, with 80 percent of that travel done aboard the "Going Rogue" bus, according to Jason Recher, an adviser to Palin during her vice presidential bid now assisting with book tour logistics. Recher ticked through the statistics while riding the bus to Palin's stop at The Villages retirement community in central Florida."
- CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Palin has signed 20,000 books, aide estimates « - Blogs from CNN.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

ABC's 'Good Morning America' Cancels Adam Lambert Performance

Good for you, GMA.

in reference to:

"Access Hollywood has learned from a rep for Adam Lambert that ABC's "Good Morning America" has canceled the singer's live morning show concert tomorrow morning."
- UPDATED: ABC's 'Good Morning America' Cancels Adam Lambert Performance - omg! - Yahoo! Buzz (view on Google Sidewiki)

Feds: Former US Prosecutor Helped Rub Out Witnesses For Gangster Clients, Ran Drugs And Call-Girls

Government is a lot like organized crime, now a days.

in reference to:

"From federal prosecutor to accused violent gangster, pimp, and drug-dealer...That's the unusual career trajectory taken, say the Feds, by Paul Bergrin, who was indicted earlier this month in a 39-count racketeering indictment. In a drama that could have been made for HBO, Bergrin -- a white-collar defense lawyer who once represented, pro bono, a solider accused of abusing Abu Ghraib detainees -- seems to have allowed his gangster clients to drag him into a world of violent crime. And he may have gone a lot further than Maury Levy ever did for Stringer Bell. Bergrin, a former AUSA with the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey, is charged with leading a criminal enterprise that used violence, intimidation, and deceit to generate millions of dollars, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. Among the most eye-catching allegations against him: - That he used a Newark restaurant as a front for a cocaine-distribution network. - That he oversaw a $1,000-an-hour call-girl ring in New York City. - That he had a witness killed in one drug case, and hired a hitman to kill another."
- Feds: Former US Prosecutor Helped Rub Out Witnesses For Gangster Clients, Ran Drugs And Call-Girls | TPMMuckraker (view on Google Sidewiki)

Girl May Have Arranged Classmate's Gang Rape

" A 14-year-old Alabama girl might have helped arrange the gang rape of her ninth-grade classmate and could face charges as an accomplice based on her comments in a televised interview, a district attorney said.

The girl told reporters last week that she and her 14-year-old classmate had planned to have sex with the suspects who have been charged with rape. The girl under investigation is dating one of the three suspects who are 16, 17 and 20 years old.

"The victim told police that the attack did begin as consensual contact," Monroe County District Attorney Tommy Chapman told the Press-Register of Mobile for a Monday story. "But when all three suspects began to join in, she told them no repeatedly, but they did not stop."'

in reference to:

"A 14-year-old Alabama girl might have helped arrange the gang rape of her ninth-grade classmate and could face charges as an accomplice based on her comments in a televised interview, a district attorney said. The girl told reporters last week that she and her 14-year-old classmate had planned to have sex with the suspects who have been charged with rape. The girl under investigation is dating one of the three suspects who are 16, 17 and 20 years old. "The victim told police that the attack did begin as consensual contact," Monroe County District Attorney Tommy Chapman told the Press-Register of Mobile for a Monday story. "But when all three suspects began to join in, she told them no repeatedly, but they did not stop.""
- Girl May Have Arranged Classmate's Gang Rape - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Economy Grows Again, But at Slower Rate

This is the key to employment, GDP growth. And 2.8% is not adequate to get people working. More evidence that the "stimulus package" has not worked.

in reference to:

"The economy grew at a 2.8 percent pace last quarter, as the recovery got off to a slower start than first thought. The Commerce Department's new reading on gross domestic product wasn't as energetic as the 3.5 percent growth rate for the July-September period estimated just a month ago. The main factors behind the downgrade: consumers didn't spend as much, commercial construction was weaker and the nation's trade deficit was more of a drag on growth. Businesses also trimmed more of their stockpiles, another restraining factor. The new reading on GDP, which measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States - from machinery to manicures - was a tad weaker than the 2.9 percent growth rate economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected."
- Economy Grows Again, But at Slower Rate - CBS News (view on Google Sidewiki)

More Than Half Of Teachers Report Buying Hungry Students Food With Their Own Money

This is a national outrage.

in reference to:

"We often hear about U.S. teachers being paid poorly for all the work they do to educate children. But did you know that 63 percent of teachers report buying food for the classroom each month with their own money? That's just one statistic from a report put out by Share Our Strength, which surveyed teachers across the country about hunger in America's classrooms."
- More Than Half Of Teachers Report Buying Hungry Students Food With Their Own Money (view on Google Sidewiki)

Obama To Announce Increase Of US Troops For Afghanistan On December 1

"President Barack Obama is expected to announce a "sizeable force" increase in US troops for Afghanistan early next week, tentatively December 1, according to a report from NPR.

Obama met with his war council on Monday evening to decide how many troops to send in addition to the 68,000 already deployed. According to the Associated Press, "Military officials and others said they expect Obama to settle on a middle-ground option that would deploy an eventual 32,000 to 35,000 U.S. forces to the 8-year-old conflict." General Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in the region, had been pressing for 40,000."

in reference to: Obama To Announce Increase Of US Troops For Afghanistan On December 1 (view on Google Sidewiki)

Mom: Son in coma heard everything for 23 years

Incredible.

in reference to:

"A man who emerged from what doctors thought was a vegetative state says he was fully conscious for 23 years but could not respond because he was paralyzed, his mother said Monday. Rom Houben, 46, had a car crash in 1983 and doctors thought he had sunk into a coma. His family continued to believe their son was conscious and sought further medical advice. Professor Steven Laureys of Belgium's Coma Science Group realized that the diagnosis was wrong and taught Houben how to communicate through a special keyboard, said Dr. Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse, who is on Laureys' team."
- Mom: Son in coma heard everything for 23 years (view on Google Sidewiki)

U.S. slow to build new flu defenses

"After a lethal bird flu virus emerged in Asia, U.S. officials launched an intense effort to build new defenses against a pandemic, including replacing an antiquated vaccine system, which depends on millions of chicken eggs.

But six years later, as Americans from Washington to California line up to get inoculated against the swine flu, the slow progress toward developing better ways to make a vaccine has become glaringly obvious."

in reference to: U.S. slow to build new flu defenses - washingtonpost.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

New iPhone worm can act like botnet say experts

"A second worm to hit the iPhone has been unearthed by security company F-Secure.

It is specifically targeting people in the Netherlands who are using their iPhones for internet banking with Dutch online bank ING."

in reference to: BBC News - New iPhone worm can act like botnet say experts (view on Google Sidewiki)

Warming's impacts sped up, worsened since Kyoto

" Since the 1997 international accord to fight global warming, climate change has worsened and accelerated—beyond some of the grimmest of warnings made back then.

As the world has talked for a dozen years about what to do next, new ship passages opened through the once frozen summer sea ice of the Arctic. In Greenland and Antarctica, ice sheets have lost trillions of tons of ice. Mountain glaciers in Europe, South America, Asia and Africa are shrinking faster than before."

in reference to:

"And it's not just the frozen parts of the world that have felt the heat in the dozen years leading up to next month's climate summit in Copenhagen: _The world's oceans have risen by about an inch and a half. _Droughts and wildfires have turned more severe worldwide, from the U.S. West to Australia to the Sahel desert of North Africa. _Species now in trouble because of changing climate include, not just the lumbering polar bear which has become a symbol of global warming, but also fragile butterflies, colorful frogs and entire stands of North American pine forests. _Temperatures over the past 12 years are 0.4 of a degree warmer than the dozen years leading up to 1997. Even the gloomiest climate models back in the 1990s didn't forecast results quite this bad so fast. "The latest science is telling us we are in more trouble than we thought," said Janos Pasztor, climate adviser to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon."
- Warming's impacts sped up, worsened since Kyoto (view on Google Sidewiki)

Georgia Third Grader Suspended for Pointing Toy Gun

This political correctness gone wild. None of this protects our children or society.

in reference to:

"A Macon area third-grader was suspended from school after he pointed a toy gun at a parent while walking home from school Thursday. Police haven't identified the boy, who is a student at Ingram-Pye Elementary. Police say the parent notified authorities who later learned the boy had brought the toy in his backpack. It's on of several recent incidents in Bibb, Jones and Dublin schools in which students or young adults carried real and toy guns onto campus."
- Georgia Third Grader Suspended for Pointing Toy Gun - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Transcript: 'FOX News Sunday' (11-22-09)

"WALLACE: I’m Chris Wallace and this is “Fox News Sunday.” Health care reform moves forward in the Senate, while it’s wait and see on President Obama’s strategy for Afghanistan. We’ll tackle those issues and more with these key senators -- Republicans Lamar Alexander and Kit Bond, and Democrats Debbie Stabenow and Arlen Specter."

in reference to:

"Senator Alexander, now that the Democrats’ plan is on the Senate floor, what is your plan to beat it? Will you try to fix the bill, or will you urge all your members to vote against all the amendments? ALEXANDER: Well, our goal is to let the American people know what it -- what it does for them and to them, that it has higher premiums, higher taxes, Medicare cuts, puts 15 million more low-income Americans into a medical ghetto called Medicaid. And we think if the American people know that, the bill will collapse of its own weight. And we can get then started on going step by step toward reducing costs, which is what we’ve been trying to do... WALLACE: But do you... ALEXANDER: ... all along. WALLACE: Specifically, is the plan to vote against all amendments? ALEXANDER: Well, it depends on the amendment. But our -- the bill is fundamentally flawed. I mean, we -- if you expect Mitch McConnell to roll in a wheelbarrow with a Republican 2,000-page bill, it’s not going to happen. But we do have proposals to let small businesses to pool their resources, to reduce junk lawsuits, to let people buy insurance across state lines. And I think most people would be much more comfortable with us biting off what we could chew instead of this arrogance of thinking we can fix the whole system all at once. WALLACE: Senator Stabenow, there were several people voted yesterday for the bill to bring it to the floor who made it very clear -- probably four or five -- that they would vote against this bill on final passage because there are certain aspects that they cannot accept. My question, I guess, is since any amendment on the public option, or abortion or any of the other key issues needs 60 votes, how does the Democratic caucus -- how do you decide what you can accept, which may pick up two votes here but lose two votes here? How do you keep your super majority together? STABENOW: Well, first of all, let me say we all agree that the status quo is not working, and my Republican friends had six years of total control of the Congress and the White House, did nothing about making sure that small businesses and individuals without insurance who are seeing their premiums skyrocket actually saw any improvement. And so we’re all together on the fact that doing nothing is not an option. Doing nothing means that businesses will see their costs double in 10 years... WALLACE: OK. STABENOW: ... and we’ll lose another... WALLACE: But I -- would you... STABENOW: ... 3.5 million jobs. WALLACE: ... answer my question, please? STABENOW: I will. But I want to start from that premise. Secondly, we all agree that this is about saving lives, saving money, protecting Medicare. So there are some differences, as you know, as to how we move forward to get competition with private insurance companies. I support a public insurance option."
- CQ Politics | CQ Transcript: Sens. Alexander, Bond, Specter and Stabnenow on ‘Fox News Sunday’ (view on Google Sidewiki)

NY Times to Goldman Sachs: Pay up to cut public debt

The NY Times is tougher on Goldman Sachs than the government.

in reference to:

"A New York Times editorial slammed Goldman Sachs for its role in the financial crisis and said that instead of paying big bonuses to its employees it should make a multibillion-dollar gift to help reduce the U.S. national debt. The editorial, published November 21, attacked Goldman for everything from its top executive's failure to apologize properly for his investment bank's part in creating the crisis as well as Goldman's awarding of bonuses related to profits that the paper said were boosted by a government bailout. The Times sniffed at Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein's acknowledgment last week that his bank "participated in things that were clearly wrong," saying that he was not specific about what the company had done wrong and his remarks did not "come close to an apology.""
- NY Times to Goldman Sachs: Pay up to cut public debt | Reuters (view on Google Sidewiki)

Video: SNL Parodies Sarah Palin '2012' Trailer

Saturday Night Live (SNL) parodies Sarah Palin and the movie '2012'

Transcript: Shunning Dissidents, Obama Leaves China Without Firm Pledges on Trade, Climate

"President Barack Obama’s first official trip to China resulted in no firm agreements and has been criticized as being tightly scripted by Beijing. We discuss Obama’s visit and the future of US-Chinese relations with British author and journalist Martin Jacques, author of When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order."

in reference to:

"AMY GOODMAN: Well, for more on President Obama’s visit and the future of US-Chinese relations, I’m joined here in Burbank, California by British author and journalist Martin Jacques. His latest book, just out in the United States, is called When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order. He is a visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics and a columnist for The Guardian and New Statesman in Britain. Martin Jacques, welcome to Democracy Now! You’re here speaking at UCLA and USC, University of Southern California. First, assess Obama’s trip. How significant was it? How historic? What was accomplished? MARTIN JACQUES: Well, I think that the relationship between the United States and China is going to be absolutely pivotal to global affairs, because they’re the two most important countries in the world, and they’ve got to get on. And I think that the fact that they’re talking, the fact that they discussed many issues, from currency questions to global warming and so on, that in itself is a significant achievement. And there are going to be many such exchanges, of course. AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the main points of the meeting, what you think President Obama wanted to accomplish, President Hu, what he wanted to accomplish. Many are saying President Obama got very little from China. MARTIN JACQUES: Well, I think that the two key issues are about the state of the global economy. The Chinese angle on this is that they want to, as far as possible, protect their money, the huge amounts of money in US debt. So they’re worried about the value of the dollar. And they’re also worried about the buoyancy of the American and Western markets in terms of their own exports, because those are their biggest export markets. But on the American side, they’re particularly concerned about the valuation of the RMB, the Chinese currency, which they feel to be undervalued. There was no significant shift on either side in relationship to this, as far as one can tell. But these things are rarely—any shifts will not be taken at a meeting like this. That is not how the Chinese operate. AMY GOODMAN: How do the Chinese operate? MARTIN JACQUES: Well, the Chinese—the Chinese do not want to be seen to be pressured. So if you pressure them, you’ll get a negative response. But they do listen. And over a long period, there’s been a lot of cooperation between the United States and China. It’s not that the Chinese are immune to what the Americans say, but if the Americans say it in the wrong way, they’ll get the wrong Chinese reaction."
- Shunning Dissidents, Obama Leaves China Without Firm Pledges on Trade, Climate (view on Google Sidewiki)

Transcript: Health Care Debate on 'This Week'

'"This Week with George Stephanopoulos" with Sens. Nelson, Coburn, Reps. Wasserman Schultz and Blackburn"

in reference to:

"STEPHANOPOULOS: But are there 60 Senate votes to pass reform? Can there be agreement with the House? SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZ.: Bernie Madoff went to jail for this kind of behavior. SEN. CHARLES E. SCHUMER, D-N.Y.: I have no doubt we will pass this bill. STEPHANOPOULOS: And are those controversial new cancer guidelines the future of health care? (UNKNOWN): This is how rationing began. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: This is an independent task force. It's not the government. STEPHANOPOULOS: Those questions this morning to four key players from the Senate and the House, our "This Week" debate. Then, as the president tours Asia, Sarah Palin tours the country. That and the rest of the week's politics on our roundtable with George Will, Robert Reich of the American Prospect, Republican strategist Liz Cheney, and best-selling biographer Walter Isaacson of the Aspen Institute. And, as always, the Sunday funnies. DAVID LETTERMAN, TALK SHOW HOST: They're having a big Thanksgiving dinner at Sarah Palin's house, and people say, "Well, is she a good cook?" And I said, "Well, sure. She cooked John McCain's goose." (END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: From the heart of the nation's capital, "This Week" with ABC News chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos, live from the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue. STEPHANOPOULOS: Both sides called it historic, but while Republicans insisted that yesterday's vote to break a filibuster is the decisive vote on health reform, several Democrats said there was nothing final about it, simply a vote to begin the debate. And let me begin our debate this morning by bringing in our panel. I am joined by Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Republican of Tennessee, Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat of Florida. And, Senator Nelson, let me begin with you on this -- on this overall question. You heard Senator McConnell, several other Republicans yesterday saying this is the vote. And -- and a couple of weeks ago, you -- you seemed to agree. You were talking to our Jon Karl, and you said, if you couldn't live with the bill, then you wouldn't vote to let the debate begin. So that does mean that you can live with this bill? NELSON: No. What I -- what I meant by that is that, if I thought the -- the vote -- the bill couldn't -- this was before I saw the bill, but I thought the bill couldn't be amended and couldn't be corrected and improved, then I wouldn't move -- vote to move it forward and move the debate. But when I saw the bill, I said, "This can be amended. It can be improved." And the -- the debate should begin, and ought not to stop the opportunity to improve the bill when it..."
- Transcript: Health Care Debate - ABC News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Transcript: Sarah Palin on 'The O'Reilly Factor' (11-20-09)

Read the complete transcript Sarah Palin's interview with Bill O'Reilly (The Factor) on 11-20-09:

BILL O'REILLY, HOST: President Obama, you said, somebody asked you give him a grade. You gave him a four out of 10.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA WALTERS: Where do you rate Barack Obama?

PALIN: A four. A four. I think there are a lot of decisions being made that I and probably the majority of Americans are not impressed with right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: So you think that he's not doing a good job?

SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: No, I think in the two areas that I am most concerned about, national security, there's some questionable actions that he's taken so recently that I believe weakens our country and our security.

O'REILLY: Give me an example. I mean, what is he doing wrong?

PALIN: Gitmo. We decide we're going to close Gitmo without a security plan? We're going to bring Mohammed over here? And we're going to create this circus atmosphere here in New York and try this terrorist in our court system that is reserved under our Constitution for American citizens to be able to have their rights exercised. That's a problem.

O'REILLY: OK, so Gitmo and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed are mistakes. And I agree on both of them. I put them — if you had to close Guantanamo Bay for PR purposes, which is, you know, what their argument is, I'd put them in Alaska. I'd put them away up in Alaska. I'd build a little prison up there way away from everybody and see how they like it up there.

PALIN: You know, we do have a vacated base up there.

O'REILLY: Sure.

PALIN: And that too, where perhaps…

O'REILLY: Let me…

PALIN: ...but hey, let's hear what Alaskans would say about that. Terrorists on our homeland.

O'REILLY: You know what I think Alaskans would say? Yeah, come on, bring them on up. Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 88, Alaska, minus 15. OK. Barack Obama, socialist?

PALIN: Scares me the road that he has us on, not seeming to understand what it is that built up America's economic system, the free enterprise principles, the shrinkage of government, not the expansion to allow the private sector to grow and to thrive and to do what it does best and our families keep more of what they earned, so that they can reinvest and prioritize instead of government doing it for them, which is a step towards socialism. So some of the steps we're taking economically right now scare the heck out of me.

SNL Spoof Video: China Wants It's Money Back

Saturday Night Live has a way of conveying a political message that is effective but with humor. They've been ridiculing Barack Obama lately for his accomplish-nothing administration. I'm sure the White House is not happy. They depend on positive media coverage. More importantly, the public is learning that the government in Washington is worthless. That they have sold us out. We are at the mercy of a totalitarian regime that wishes us harm.

Police: IRA dissidents plant car bomb in Belfast

"Irish Republican Army dissidents left a 400-pound (180-kilogram) car bomb outside police reform headquarters in Belfast but the homemade device failed to detonate, Northern Ireland's police commander said Sunday."

in reference to: Nation & World | Police: IRA dissidents plant car bomb in Belfast | Seattle Times Newspaper (view on Google Sidewiki)

Police: Gunman Randomly Shoots Passenger at Oregon Intersection

It's too easy to get a gun. And this attack could have happened to you. The answer: strict gun laws. But it would happen with a Congress that is beholden to the gun lobby. That is why we need the People's Term Limits.

in reference to:

"A gunman fatally wounded a passenger in another vehicle at an Oregon intersection Saturday, setting off a police chase that ended when the suspect crashed and was killed by officers, authorities said. The passenger, 56-year-old Danny K. Le Gore of Hillsboro, was rushed to a local hospital where he died. Police did not immediately identify the gunman. Police initially called the violence a road rage shooting that followed a traffic altercation, but later they backed away from that report. Hillsboro Lt. Henry Reimann said it still wasn't clear what happened at the intersection, and information from witnesses hadn't clarified the incident. But he said it appeared that the gunman opened fire on the Le Gore vehicle as it was moving, pumping at least six rounds from a handgun into it. "It appears that this victim had no connection to the suspect in this case, and it appears to be a random act of extreme violence," the police said in a statement."
- Police: Gunman Randomly Shoots Passenger at Oregon Intersection - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Report: Leaked UK documents detail Iraq war chaos

Politicians should be prosecuted for lying to the public in violation of their oath of office. Blair should at the very least be made a pariah for being a lapdog of George Bush and participating in the fraudulent Iraq War. He had to have known the truth.

in reference to:

"Leaked British government documents call into question ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair's public statements on the buildup to the Iraq war and show plans for the U.S.-led 2003 invasion were being made more than a year earlier, a newspaper reported Sunday. Britain's Sunday Telegraph published details of private statements made by senior military figures claiming plans were in place months before the March 2003 invasion, but were so badly drafted they left troops poorly equipped and ill-prepared for the conflict. The documents - transcripts of interviews from an internal defense ministry review of the conflict - disclose that some planning for the Iraq war had begun in February 2002. Maj. Gen. Graeme Lamb, then head of Britain's special forces, was quoted as saying he had been "working the war up since early 2002," according to the newspaper. In July 2002, Blair told lawmakers at a House of Commons committee session that there were no preparations to invade Iraq. Critics of the war have long insisted that Blair offered President George W. Bush an assurance as early as mid-2002 - before British lawmakers voted in 2003 to approve U.K. involvement - that Britain would join the war. The leaked documents are likely to be supplied to a public inquiry established by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to scrutinize prewar intelligence and postwar planning, and which will hold its first evidence sessions later this week."
- Nation & World | Report: Leaked UK documents detail Iraq war chaos | Seattle Times Newspaper (view on Google Sidewiki)

Health Care Bill Clears 1st Senate Hurdle

"Invoking the name of Edward M. Kennedy, Democrats united Saturday night to push historic health care legislation past a key Senate hurdle over the opposition of Republicans eager to inflict a punishing defeat on President Barack Obama. There was not a vote to spare.

The 60-39 vote cleared the way for a bruising, full-scale debate beginning after Thanksgiving on the legislation, which is designed to extend coverage to roughly 31 million who lack it, crack down on insurance company practices that deny or dilute benefits and curtail the growth of spending on medical care nationally.

The spectator galleries were full for the unusual Saturday night showdown, and applause broke out briefly when the vote was announced. In a measure of the significance of the moment, senators sat quietly in their seats, standing only when they were called upon to vote."

in reference to: Health Care Bill Clears 1st Senate Hurdle - CBS News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Sen. Levin: ‘Significant evidence’ Ft. Hood shooting was ‘terrorism’

"US Army Major Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, intensified contacts with a radical Yemeni American cleric just months before the shootings and began discussing surreptitious financial transfers, The Washington Post reported Saturday."

in reference to:

"Citing two unnamed sources briefed on a collection of secret e-mails between the two, the newspaper said the e-mails were obtained by an FBI-led task force in San Diego between late last year and June but were not forwarded to the military. Some were sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Washington field office, triggering an assessment into whether they raised national security concerns, but those intercepted later were not, the report said."
- Sen. Levin: ‘Significant evidence’ Ft. Hood shooting was ‘terrorism’ | Raw Story (view on Google Sidewiki)

80 Taliban lay down weapons, join Afghan police

If only they could keep repeating this success story. But I'm not optimistic. This is 80 out of thousands.

in reference to:

"TALIBAN militants have laid down their weapons and joined Afghanistan's police force, accepting a government amnesty aimed at ending a vicious insurgency. In a ceremony at police headquarters in the eastern city of Herat, the 80 men handed over their weapons and pledged to end their fight against the government, Herat police chief Asmatullah Alizai said. "Negotiations have been going on with their commander Solaiman as we have been trying to absorb him into the government," he said, referring to Mula Solaiman, a former border guard commander who changed sides a number of times."
- AdelaideNow... 80 Taliban lay down weapons, join Afghan police (view on Google Sidewiki)

Limbaugh Accuses Gallup of Counting Too Many Blacks in Polls on Obama

"Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh today accused Gallup of counting too many blacks in its tracking polls on President Obama's approval ratings in order to keep him above the 50 percent mark while several other polls have shown him slipping below that."

in reference to:

""Gallup has him just teetering on the little teeter-totter at 50% and they're doing everything they can -- they're upping the sample to black Americans -- to keep him up at 50% in the Gallup poll," Limbaugh said on today's broadcast. Limbaugh did not give any details about how he arrived at his conclusion about Gallup's methodology in the transcript of the show available on his website. Gallup's Nov. 9-15 survey had Obama's approval rating at 53 percent while 39 percent disapproved of his performance and 8 percent expressed no opinion. Limbaugh pointed to a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted Nov. 17-18 putting the number of voters who approve or disapprove of Obama at 46 percent each, with 8 percent undecided. That compared to the 50 percent who approved of his performance in late October, while 41 percent disapproved."
- Limbaugh Accuses Gallup of Counting Too Many Blacks in Polls on Obama -- Politics Daily (view on Google Sidewiki)

Transcript: The Ed Show (11-20-09)

"SCHULTZ: Why has this taken so long? And I`m excited that this vote is finally going to take place and the headcount is just about completed. But this whole stalling that the Republicans have done, and all of the badmouthing of the public option that has taken place has really stalled the process, hasn`t it?

in reference to:

STABENOW: Ed, this really has been stalled. And, you know, I first want to start, though, by saying, don`t forget, 40 Republicans look like they`re going to vote in lockstep, not even to debate the health care bill. Business as usual for the insurance companies seems to be what the Republicans, the majority of Republicans, are saying.But they have taken what is now -- I believe we`re going into the 37th week, and we have over 33 weeks of the 37 in which they have been filibustering, blocking, stalling. Not just health care. Four weeks on unemployment compensation to try to get an extension for families, when it could have taken one day.SCHULTZ: And I`m sure we`re going to see this when it gets to the floor, all the amendments and the stall tactics that are going to take place.STABENOW: No question. No question.SCHULTZ: Liberals in this country feel that the Democrats have made a lot of concessions to get to this point. How confident are you that a lot of the good stuff that`s been taken out is going to be amended in this final bill on the floor?STABENOW: Ed, this really is an incredible step forward for the country. What we have in front of us is a bill that will save lives and save money.It`s going to strengthen Medicare. It`s going to stop insurance abuses. And in the end, it`s going to save jobs, which, as you know, is incredibly important to me.There are things in here we`ve been trying to do for years, to create a health care bill of rights so the insurance companies can`t continue to do what they do with people who are paying in all the time and don`t get what they are paying for. Strengthening Medicare, which we know needs to happen for our seniors. That is in here, no matter what.You know I`m a strong proponent of a public option as one of the choices for people that currently don`t have insurance today.SCHULTZ: Yes.STABENOW: And that`s very important. But it`s one of a number of things. And for the first time, what is the most important thing about this debate? America is now debating, and is very close, to saying we believe every American should be able to find affordable insurance in this great country."
- LexisNexis News - Latest News from over 4,000 sources, including newspapers, tv transcripts, wire services, magazines, journals. (view on Google Sidewiki)

Interview Transcript: Mike Huckabee on FOX's Neal Cavuto

"HUCKABEE: Well, let`s just remember this is the brilliant government that told us that, don`t worry, we are going to have plenty of H1N1 vaccine, we`re going to be able to vaccinate the entire country by October."

in reference to:

"HUCKABEE: Well, it is as if the house is on fire, and we`re worried about how loud the music is playing in the family room. This is insane.There are more and more Americans out of work than have been in a generation. The real unemployment numbers are probably well above the 10.2. It`s probably 17 percent, if you take into consideration the people that just quit showing up to even apply for jobs because there are not any.So, this is a huge issue, where one in five Americans, approximately, could be of work right now. And what are they talking about? Well, let`s do something that will cost even more Americans their jobs, because, if you pass this health care bill, you are going to do two very, very anti- business, anti-job things.First, you are going to have to raise taxes to pay for it, no matter what they tell you. And, secondly, you`re going to have a lot of small- business operators who will simply start laying people off, because there is no way under heaven that a small-business operator right now can afford to take on any more burden than he is already facing."
- LexisNexis News - Latest News from over 4,000 sources, including newspapers, tv transcripts, wire services, magazines, journals. (view on Google Sidewiki)

Robbery Motive in Deaths of 5 in Arkansas

"Thieves shot to death five Arkansas family members and burned their bodies for the meager bounty of a set of wheel rims and some flat-screen televisions, court documents said Friday.

Samuel Conway and Jeremy Pickney, both 23, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of capital murder, aggravated residential burglary and arson, Garland County court documents showed.

Police fatally shot a third suspect, 22-year-old Marvin Lamar Stringer, in a nighttime raid at a motel Thursday.

Firefighters had discovered four bodies in a torched mobile home after the Nov. 12 attack in the small town of Pearcy: 56-year-old Edward "Eddie" Earl Gentry Jr.; his 52-year-old wife Pam; their 24-year-old son Jeremy and his 19-year-old girlfriend Kristyn N. Warneke."

in reference to: Robbery Motive in Deaths of 5 in Arkansas - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Italian police arrest 2 linked to Mumbai attacks

"Italian police on Saturday arrested two Pakistani men accused of providing logistical support for last year's terror attacks in Mumbai, officials said.

The two, father and son, were arrested in an early morning raid in Brescia, police in the northern Italian city said."

in reference to:

"Italian police on Saturday arrested two Pakistani men accused of providing logistical support for last year's terror attacks in Mumbai, officials said.The two, father and son, were arrested in an early morning raid in Brescia, police in the northern Italian city said."
- Italian police arrest 2 linked to Mumbai attacks - Terror in Mumbai- msnbc.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Prosecutors Request Life in Prison for Amanda Knox

Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini on Saturday asked a jury in Perugia to convict Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito on charges of murder and sexual violence for their alleged role in the 2007 slaying of Meredith Kercher. They deny wrongdoing.

in reference to: Prosecutors Request Life in Prison for Amanda Knox - Europe | Map | News - FOXNews.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

US to drop shooting case against Blackwater guard

"Prosecutors say the guards was itching for a fight and unleashed a gruesome attack on unarmed Iraqis, including women, children and people trying to escape. The convoy allegedly launched a grenade into a nearby girls' school."

in reference to:

"The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting, prosecutors said in court documents Friday. The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. It touched off a string of investigations that ultimately led the State Department to cancel the company's lucrative contract to guard diplomats in Iraq."
- US to drop shooting case against Blackwater guard - Yahoo! News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Rocket hits outside luxury hotel in Afghan capital

Barack, you need to start making decisions soon. They're getting too close for comfort.

in reference to:

"A rocket hit outside the luxury Serena Hotel in Afghanistan's capital late Saturday, wounding at least two, the Interior Ministry said. An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw police searching through rubble along the wall of the hotel's compound, apparently the impact point. The area was blocked off by dozens of police and army officers. The sound of wailing ambulance sirens came from many directions. The rocket wounded two people,"
- Rocket hits outside luxury hotel in Afghan capital - Yahoo! News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Militia movement resurfaces across nation

This says it all: "A significant difference this time, according to the April analysis, is that the nation has its first black president. "Right-wing extremists," the report says, "are harnessing this historical election as a recruitment tool."'

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"Norm Olson's genial tone belies his reputation as a radical militiaman, yet here he is, at 63, an affable grandfather explaining why Americans should arm themselves against their government.Walking stick in hand, clad in military fatigues, he strolls a trail in the woods near his home, located on 22 acres near Nikiski, a small, unincorporated community with isolated roads and no local government. The nearest state trooper post is two towns away.A fellow militiaman, armed with an assault rifle, walks along as Olson — a man whose conspiracy theories were so extreme that he was kicked out of the group he founded, the Michigan Militia, 15 years ago — discourses on the need for a paramilitary Alaska Citizens Militia."
- Militia movement resurfaces across U.S. - Life- msnbc.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Billboard in Colo. links Obama with jihadists

More racist slurs from the right. The sign should say equate Jihadists with Teabaggers.

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"A billboard showing President Barack Obama wearing a turban has sparked a lot of attention at the suburban Denver used car dealership that put it up.The sign, completed Friday by artist David Lee, shows a grinning, cartoonish Obama and bears the words "PRESIDENT or JIHAD?"Underneath the president's image is a big yellow square with the phrase, "BIRTH CERTIFICATE, PROVE IT!""
- Billboard links Obama with jihadists - Life- msnbc.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

CDC: H1N1 cases decrease as vaccine availability increases

CNN deserves credit for not using the term Swine Flu. This network has some sense of responsibility.

in reference to:

"Health officials on Friday reported a slight decrease in H1N1 flu activity nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 43 states now have widespread flu activity, compared with 46 states last week and 48 states at the beginning of November. "It's still much greater than we would ever see at this time of year," Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a news conference. Schuchat added that while some parts of the country are seeing a small decline in flu cases, other areas, including Maine and Hawaii, have seen a bit of a surge."
- CDC: H1N1 cases decrease as vaccine availability increases - CNN.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Poll: Public Shifting Blame for Recession

You can no longer keep blaming Bush, Barack. The American people are now beginning to realize that electing a Democrat President isn't going to make things better. In fact, it is now becoming clear that the candidate who promised "change" during the last presidential campaign is no better than the rest in terms of solving the problems that plague this nation.

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"Nearly two years into the recession, opinion about which political party is responsible for the severe economic downturn is shifting, according to a new national poll. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Friday morning indicates that 38 percent of the public blames Republicans for the country's current economic problems. In May, 53 percent blamed the GOP. According to the poll, 27 percent now blame the Democrats for the recession, up 6 points from May, and 27 percent now say both parties are responsible. "The bad news for the Democrats is that the number of Americans who hold the GOP exclusively responsible for the recession has been steadily falling by about two to three points per month," said Keating Holland, CNN polling director. "At that rate, only a handful of voters will blame the economy on the Republicans by the time next year's midterm elections roll around..""
- Poll: Public shifting blame for recession - CNN.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Biden On The Bailout: 'Socialism For The Rich"

Is that what Republicans mean when they call President Obama a "socialist"?

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"In an interview with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central's The Daily Show Tuesday evening, Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged the anger and frustration many taxpayers feel over the way financial institutions seem to have favored status in Washington D.C. Pointing to the hundreds of billions of government dollars that have been spent to keep banks from failing, he recalled a "great expression" of his grandfather, Ambrose Finnegan: "It's socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor," Biden said. But he defended his administration's decisions to rescue Wall Street institutions from the brink of failure. "Because if we did not bail them out, we would have been in a position where there was a literal depression, not a recession.""
- Biden On The Bailout: 'Socialism For The Rich And Capitalism For The Poor' (VIDEO) (view on Google Sidewiki)

Former Bush DOJ Officials Back Holder on Trial of 9/11 Suspects

Big ado about nothing, really. But this is part of the Republican strategy - go crazy about decision President Obama does. It's a hate, no solutions agenda.

in reference to:

"James Comey and Jack Goldsmith, high-ranking Department of Justice officials under Bush, have an op-ed in the Washington Post defending Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to prosecute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other detainees in federal criminal court instead of a military commission proceeding. The conclusion is fine: But Holder's critics do not help their case by understating the criminal justice system's capacities, overstating the military system's virtues and bumper-stickering a reasonable decision."
- Former Bush DOJ Officials Back Holder on Trial of 9/11 Suspects - TalkLeft: The Politics Of Crime (view on Google Sidewiki)

Obama says U.S. troops in S. Korea will be sent to Afghanistan

This should have been done for Iraq years ago. In principle having American troops defending a sovereign that is not at war makes no sense. South Korea should be able to defend itself. But this won't do much to change things in Afghanistan. What it would do is provide relief for our troops that have 5 or 6 tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

in reference to:

"U.S. President Barack Obama said during his recent trip to South Korea that some American troops stationed here will be re-deployed to Afghanistan, according to a transcript of his speech.   "The story of your service goes beyond this peninsula," Obama told a group of U.S. Forces Korea troops on Thursday in the last portion of his four-nation Asian trip."
- YONHAP NEWS (view on Google Sidewiki)

Economy Is Going to Get Much Worse

The only people recovering are on Wall St. The rest of America is dying.

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"I think the economy is pretty darn awful, but with record profits on Wall Street and all the happy talk about a recovery from the recession (albeit a jobless recovery) it's confusing for many people as to what our economic future really holds. Well, here's relevant statistic that sums it up nicely, one that shows the so-called recovery is mostly a smoke and mirrors vaudeville magician's routine by the same people who either got us into this fine mess in the first place, or enabled the ones who did. Take a peek at this excerpt from Inner Workings David Goldman's blog at Asia Times: This morning’s news that housing starts “unexpectedly” dropped by 11 percent month on month is consistent with my grim view of the American economy. The crystal-meth monetary policy at the Fed makes everyone feel better, until they don’t. The nonstop rise in the price of dollar hedges tells us that it can’t last forever. Large balance sheets attached to the Fed’s money pump can show profits, and the price of spread assets (as PIMCO’s Bill Gross keeps emphasizing) is stupid rich. But at the capillary level, through, the economy is dying and gangrene is setting in. Here’s year on year growth in commercial and industrial loans from weekly reporting banks in the US:"
- Economy Is Going to Get Much Worse | PEEK | AlterNet (view on Google Sidewiki)

Increasing Number Of Web Sites Spread Al-Qaida's Message In English

This is the greatest threat to the West. Even greater than al Qaeda itself. New generations of Jihadists are being brought up in European countries inspired by the message of Bin Laden but following their own path. The Internet is a major tool for training Jihadists. It is a powerful propaganda source.

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"Saudi Arabia — Increasing numbers of English-language Web sites are spreading al-Qaida's message to Muslims in the West. They translate writings and sermons once largely out of reach of English readers and often feature charismatic clerics like Anwar al-Awlaki, who exchanged dozens of e-mails with the Army psychiatrist accused of the Fort Hood shootings. The U.S.-born al-Awlaki has been an inspiration to several militants arrested in the United States and Canada in recent years, with his Web-based sermons often turning up on their computers. "The point is you don't have to be an official part of al-Qaida to spread hatred and sectarian views," said Evan Kohlmann, a senior investigator for the New York-based NEFA Foundation, which researches Islamic militants. "If you look at the most influential documents in terms of homegrown terrorism cases, it's not training manuals on building bombs," Kohlmann said. "The most influential documents are the ones that are written by theological advisers, some of whom are not even official al-Qaida members.""
- Increasing Number Of Web Sites Spread Al-Qaida's Message In English (view on Google Sidewiki)