SC lawmakers nix Sanford impeachment, back rebuke

Protecting one of your own, even if he is corrupt, is more important for a politician than doing what's right for the people. But we shouldn't be surprised.

in reference to:

"South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford dodged impeachment Wednesday but was scolded by legislators for his travels to see a mistress in Argentina and his misuse of state planes. A legislative panel voted down a measure to impeach the two-term Republican, opting instead to recommend a formal rebuke for bringing the state "ridicule, dishonor, disgrace and shame." "We can't impeach for hypocrisy. We can't impeach for arrogance. We can't impeach an officeholder for his lack of leadership skills," said Rep. James Harrison, a fellow Republican who headed the panel. Most of the seven legislative committee members said the Republican should resign, though his affair, use of state planes and a 2008 taxpayer-funded trip to Argentina were not serious misconduct that merited a recommendation to remove him from office. Sanford has been under scrutiny since June when he tearfully revealed a yearlong affair. Ensuing probes of his travel and campaign spending led to more than three dozen state ethics charges."
- SC lawmakers nix Sanford impeachment, back rebuke - Yahoo! News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Fast-food standards for meat top those for school lunches

If accurate, this would be a scandal.

in reference to:

"In the past three years, the government has provided the nation's schools with millions of pounds of beef and chicken that wouldn't meet the quality or safety standards of many fast-food restaurants, from Jack in the Box and other burger places to chicken chains such as KFC, a USA TODAY investigation found. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the meat it buys for the National School Lunch Program "meets or exceeds standards in commercial products." That isn't always the case. McDonald's, Burger King and Costco, for instance, are far more rigorous in checking for bacteria and dangerous pathogens. They test the ground beef they buy five to 10 times more often than the USDA tests beef made for schools during a typical production day. And the limits Jack in the Box and other big retailers set for certain bacteria in their burgers are up to 10 times more stringent than what the USDA sets for school beef."
- Fast-food standards for meat top those for school lunches - USATODAY.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Brazil police ‘kill 11,000 in six years’

Can this really be true. If so, a real shock.

in reference to:

"Police in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have killed more than 11,000 people in the past six years, many in execution-style murders, according to a report released by Human Rights Watch. Telegraph | Dec 9, 2009 Few of the officers have been charged in the extrajudicial killings, which are often labelled in police reports as the deaths of suspects who resisted arrest, the report said. The 122-page declaration echoes a 2008 United Nations’ finding that police throughout Brazil were responsible for a “significant portion” of 48,000 slayings the year before. “Extrajudicial killing of criminal suspects is not the answer to violent crime,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “The residents of Rio and Sao Paulo need more effective policing, not more violence from the police.” Isabel Figueiredo, Brazil’s coordinator-general of human rights and public safety, acknowledged that police violence is a widespread problem and “it concerns the federal government a great deal.”"
- Brazil police ‘kill 11,000 in six years’ « Aftermath News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Report: Dems Plan to Drop Public Option

The Democrats in the Senate sellout/cave.

in reference to:

"After days of secret talks, Senate Democrats tentatively agreed Tuesday night to drop a government-run insurance option from sweeping health care legislation, several officials said, a concession to party moderates whose votes are critical to passage of President Obama's top domestic priority. In its place, officials said Democrats had tentatively settled on a private insurance arrangement to be supervised by the federal agency that oversees the system through which lawmakers purchase coverage. Additionally, the emerging agreement calls for Medicare to be opened to uninsured Americans beginning at age 55, a significant expansion of the large government health care program that currently serves the 65-and-over population."
- Report: Dems Plan to Drop Public Option - CBS News (view on Google Sidewiki)

UK believed Iraqi weapons had been dismantled

More evidence showing that the Bush gang started the Iraq War under false pretenses.

in reference to:

"Britain believed Iraq had dismantled its chemical and biological weapons in the run-up to the 2003 invasion but thought it was possible they could be reassembled, the former head of the country's Joint Intelligence Committee said Tuesday.John Scarlett, who chaired the committee from 2001 to 2004 before moving to MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence agency, told a panel of inquiry that it had long been believed that Iraq had been dismantling weapons in order to conceal them.On March 7, 2003, Scarlett said an intelligence report revealed that "Iraq had no missiles which could reach Israel and none which could carry germ or biological weapons. The leadership had ordered the dismantlement of the missiles known as al-Hussein ... to avoid discovery, and they thought they could be quickly reassembled."A second report, made a few days later, said intelligence had been received that chemical weapons "had been disassembled and dispersed and would be difficult to reassemble.""
- Newsvine - UK believed Iraqi weapons had been dismantled (view on Google Sidewiki)

Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water, Records Show

This should be a major top story. But it isn't. It is shocking. It shows how we take things for granted and how our government is failing us.
in reference to:

"More than 20 percent of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Andrew Sullivan for The New York Times The water system in Ramsey, N.J., has illegal concentrations of arsenic and the solvent tetrachloroethylene, both linked to cancer. That law requires communities to deliver safe tap water to local residents. But since 2004, the water provided to more than 49 million people has contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria often found in sewage. Regulators were informed of each of those violations as they occurred. But regulatory records show that fewer than 6 percent of the water systems that broke the law were ever fined or punished by state or federal officials, including those at the Environmental Protection Agency, which has ultimate responsibility for enforcing standards. Studies indicate that drinking water contaminants are linked to millions of instances of illness within the United States each year. In some instances, drinking water violations were one-time events, and probably posed little risk. But for hundreds of other systems, illegal contamination persisted for years, records show."
- Millions in U.S. Drink Contaminated Water, Records Show - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

New poll shows 'Tea Party' more popular than Republican Party

This explains the crazy things coming out of the mouths of Republicans. They are desperate.

in reference to:

"A new Rasmussen poll finds that the tea party movement's popularity is growing, so much so that it garners more support than the Republican party on a generic Congressional ballot. The poll hints that the burgeoning discontent among conservatives within the GOP threatens to splinter the party at a time when the popularity of President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress are waning as we head into an election year. The tea party movement was conceived out of antipathy for President Obama's economic stimulus plan and cultivated by groups like Freedom Works and conservative commentators such as Glenn Beck. Its guiding principals are centered around opposition to tax increases and the expansion of federal government spending. The movement rose to prominence when it organized highly-publicized protest gatherings across the country on April 15th of this year."
- New poll shows 'Tea Party' more popular than Republican Party - Yahoo! News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Decade of 2000s was warmest ever, scientists say

Still in denial? Or are you going to cling to conspiracy theories?

in reference to:

"It dawned with the warmest winter on record in the United States. And when the sun sets this New Year's Eve, the decade of the 2000s will end as the warmest ever on global temperature charts. Warmer still, scientists say, lies ahead. Through 10 years of global boom and bust, of breakneck change around the planet, of terrorism, war and division, all people everywhere under that warming sun faced one threat together: the buildup of greenhouse gases, the rise in temperatures, the danger of a shifting climate, of drought, weather extremes and encroaching seas, of untold damage to the world humanity has created for itself over millennia. As the decade neared its close, the U.N. gathered presidents and premiers of almost 100 nations for a "climate summit" to take united action, to sharply cut back the burning of coal and other fossil fuels."
- Decade of 2000s was warmest ever, scientists say - Yahoo! News (view on Google Sidewiki)

1 shot in Baltimore hotel machine-gun attack

Eventually someone is going to figure out that there are too many guns out there.

in reference to:

"One man was shot in the face and another was severely beaten when a fight erupted early Sunday morning during a birthday party at a downtown Baltimore hotel, police said. Officers were called to the Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel around 3:15 a.m., said Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. Shortly after police arrived, they found an Uzi submachine gun in a room where the party was held."
- 1 shot in Md. hotel machine-gun shooting - Crime & courts- msnbc.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

SNL Video: Salahis Crash Obama Speech on Jobs

This Saturday Night Live video (12-5-09) skit/parody has the infamous Salahi couple crashing another Obama event. This time a speech on jobs.

Must-pass bills pile up as days wind down

An argument for People's Term Limits - www.termlim.com

in reference to:

"Time is running out for Congress this year on must-pass legislation to pay for federal programs, allow the government to borrow more money, keep highway projects going and prevent the jobless from losing unemployment and health insurance benefits. It's become a tradition for lawmakers to reach the final weeks of a session without yet renewing programs that expired with the start of the budget year on Oct. 1 or will end on Dec. 31. But with the Senate devoting all the next two weeks to a health care bill, the year-end pileup has reached new dimensions."
- Must-pass bills pile up as days wind down (view on Google Sidewiki)

Study: Slowdown In Warming Last Year Not Permanent

Not so fast, deniers.

in reference to:

"Climate researchers say cooler temperatures in North America last year do not mean global warming is easing. Their report comes just days before President Barack Obama goes to Copenhagen, Denmark, to speak at a United Nations conference on climate change. Rising temperatures over decades have prompted scientific concern, and the last decade has been the hottest in thousands of years, according to climate records. However, the warming eased a bit last year over North America, and groups seeking to deny climate change seized on that in an effort to challenge the idea of overall warming."
- Study: Slowdown In Warming Last Year Not Permanent (view on Google Sidewiki)

Montana Sen. Max Baucus nominated own mistress, Melodee Hanes, as U.S. Attorney

With incumbency comes privilege. Baucus has been in Congress since 1973. He's gotta go. But we'll have to wait to 2014. Visit www.termlim.com to see who we can get rid of in 2010.

in reference to:

"Sen. Max Baucus was having an extramarital affair with a woman he nominated to be U.S. attorney in Montana, the senator's spokesman admitted Friday night.The Montana Democrat nominated Melodee Hanes, who was Baucus' state office director, and three others to the post in March, spokesman Tyler Matsdorf said. The two began having an affair in the summer of 2008, Matsdorf said. He said the senator was separated from his wife when he gave Hanes' name to the White House. Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and his wife have since split. "Sen. Baucus is currently in a mature and happy relationship with Melodee Hanes. They are both divorced, and in no way was their relationship the cause of their respective divorces," said Matsdorf. Hanes later removed her name from nomination and took a job in the Justice Department."
- Montana Sen. Max Baucus nominated own mistress, Melodee Hanes, as U.S. attorney (view on Google Sidewiki)

Democrats today voted to cut nearly half a trillion dollars from Medicare.

The irony in this story is dumbfounding.

in reference to:

"Casting its first votes on revamping the nation’s health care system, the Senate rejected a Republican bid Thursday to stave off Medicare cuts and approved safeguards for coverage of mammograms and other preventive tests for women. The first round of votes ended with a fragile Democratic coalition hanging together. Senators voted 58-42 to reject an amendment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would have stripped more than $400 billion in Medicare cuts from the nearly $1 trillion measure. It would have sent the entire 2,074-page bill back to the Senate Finance Committee for a redo. Republicans said the proposed cuts to health insurance plans and medical providers mean seniors in the popular Medicare Advantage program will lose benefits. And they predicted lawmakers will ultimately back away from the cuts, once seniors start feeling the brunt."
- Gateway Pundit (view on Google Sidewiki)

Pew poll: Americans turning sharply toward isolationism

We were isolationist during the 1930s. That didn't turn out too well. Too many military quagmires will do that to a country.

in reference to:

"At the very moment when President Barack Obama is looking to thrust the U.S. ever more into global affairs, from Afghanistan to climate change, the American public is turning more isolationist and unilateralist than it has at any time in decades, according to a new poll released Thursday. The survey by the Pew Research Center found a plurality of Americans — 49 percent _ think that the U.S. should "mind its own business internationally" and leave it to other countries to fend for themselves.It was the first time in more than 40 years of polling that the ranks of Americans with isolationist sentiment outnumbered those with a more international outlook, Pew said. "The U.S. public is turning decidedly inward," Pew said."
- Pew poll: Americans turning sharply toward isolationism | McClatchy (view on Google Sidewiki)

Police: Pa. man punched Wal-Mart greeter, 72

"A 72-year-old Wal-Mart greeter near Pittsburgh was punched in the face outside his store and now is in the hospital.

Surveillance video shows the employee, Thomas Jenkins, walking near the entrance to the Wal-Mart in North Versailles (ver-SALES') on Tuesday night. A man comes around the corner, punches Jenkins in the face and Jenkins falls to the ground."

in reference to: Police: Pa. man punched Wal-Mart greeter, 72 - Boston.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Senate GOPers: It's Al Franken's Fault We're Being Attacked For Votes Against Anti-Rape Amendment

Franken is already making enemies. Obviously he's no joke.

in reference to:

"The Politico reports that Senate Republicans are outraged at Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) due to their votes against an amendment he introduced, to crack down on the rape of employees of military contractors, now being used against them: The Republicans are steamed at Franken because partisans on the left are using a measure he sponsored to paint them as rapist sympathizers -- and because Franken isn't doing much to stop them."Trying to tap into the natural sympathy that we have for this victim of this rape --and use that as a justification to frankly misrepresent and embarrass his colleagues, I don't think it's a very constructive thing," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said in an interview."
- Senate GOPers: It's Al Franken's Fault We're Being Attacked For Votes Against Anti-Rape Amendment | TPMDC (view on Google Sidewiki)

Transcript: Obama Speech on Afghanistan (12-1-09)

This is the complete transcript of Obama's speech on Afghanistan, given 12-1-09. Excerpt below:

Good evening. To the United States Corps of Cadets, to the men and women of our armed services, and to my fellow Americans: I want to speak to you tonight about our effort in Afghanistan - the nature of our commitment there, the scope of our interests, and the strategy that my Administration will pursue to bring this war to a successful conclusion. It is an honor for me to do so here - at West Point - where so many men and women have prepared to stand up for our security, and to represent what is finest about our country.

To address these issues, it is important to recall why America and our allies were compelled to fight a war in Afghanistan in the first place. We did not ask for this fight. On September 11, 2001, nineteen men hijacked four airplanes and used them to murder nearly 3,000 people. They struck at our military and economic nerve centers. They took the lives of innocent men, women, and children without regard to their faith or race or station. Were it not for the heroic actions of the passengers on board one of those flights, they could have also struck at one of the great symbols of our democracy in Washington, and killed many more.

As we know, these men belonged to al Qaeda - a group of extremists who have distorted and defiled Islam, one of the world's great religions, to justify the slaughter of innocents. Al Qaeda's base of operations was in Afghanistan, where they were harbored by the Taliban - a ruthless, repressive and radical movement that seized control of that country after it was ravaged by years of Soviet occupation and civil war, and after the attention of America and our friends had turned elsewhere.

Just days after 9/11, Congress authorized the use of force against al Qaeda and those who harbored them - an authorization that continues to this day. The vote in the Senate was 98 to 0. The vote in the House was 420 to 1. For the first time in its history, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization invoked Article 5 - the commitment that says an attack on one member nation is an attack on all. And the United Nations Security Council endorsed the use of all necessary steps to respond to the 9/11 attacks. America, our allies and the world were acting as one to destroy al Qaeda's terrorist network, and to protect our common security.

Under the banner of this domestic unity and international legitimacy - and only after the Taliban refused to turn over Osama bin Laden - we sent our troops into Afghanistan. Within a matter of months, al Qaeda was scattered and many of its operatives were killed. The Taliban was driven from power and pushed back on its heels. A place that had known decades of fear now had reason to hope. At a conference convened by the UN, a provisional government was established under President Hamid Karzai. And an International Security Assistance Force was established to help bring a lasting peace to a war-torn country.

Commentary: U.S. is drowning in debt

The Congress doesn't care because they are not accountable.

in reference to:

"The following editorial appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday, Nov. 29: The federal government reached a distressing milestone this month — $12 trillion in debt. That's about $39,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States.In 2001, the national debt stood at about $5.5 trillion. In the past eight years, Washington piled up more debt than the nation had accumulated in its entire history. Foreign countries hold $3.5 trillion of our country's debt, led by China at around $800 billion and Japan at $730 billion. Unless the United States starts living within its means, foreign lenders could decide to end our free-spending ways.What does this record debt mean? With interest rates at historic lows, the government is paying about $200 billion per year in interest on the debt. But as rates inevitably rise and the government borrows even more, interest payments are projected to soar to $700 billion annually within 10 years.Paying an extra $500 billion per year is equal to the combined costs of fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, plus the budgets of the U.S. Departments of Education, Energy, and Homeland Security. There's just no room in the federal budget to absorb that kind of increase.The bailouts under former President George W. Bush and President Obama, as well as the $787 billion package of tax cuts and spending in February to stimulate the economy, were needed to prevent an economic meltdown. But these actions have only increased pressure on Congress and the president to get long-term fiscal policy under control.The only solutions are tax increases, or massive spending cuts, or both.This is not a partisan issue. For decades, under Democratic and Republican administrations, under liberal and conservative Congresses, Washington has spent more than it has collected in taxes and borrowed the rest."
- Commentary: U.S. is drowning in debt | McClatchy (view on Google Sidewiki)

Dying man robbed in Philadelphia ER waiting room

Now tell me we don't need health care reform. This is a said indictment on our society as a whole.

in reference to:

"Police say three people who noticed a Philadelphia school counselor unconscious and dying in an emergency waiting room robbed him instead of going for help.DiscussCOMMENTS (0) Police say 63-year-old Joaquin (wah-KEEN') Rivera spent nearly 80 minutes waiting in an emergency room after complaining of pain down his side. But they say he died of an apparent heart attack at Aria (AR'-ee-uh) Health's Frankford Campus before seeing a triage nurse.Surveillance video shows three people talking with Rivera before he passed out and then taking his wristwatch.Police arrested 44-year-old Richard Alten at the hospital and are seeking his companions, whom Capt. John McGinnis described as homeless addicts. Alten's public defender has declined to comment."
- Dying man robbed in Philadelphia ER waiting room - Boston.com (view on Google Sidewiki)