Jon Stewart, The Daily Show: Bankers Stood up President (12-15-09)

Jon Stewart, of The Daily Show, parodies how Obama was stood up by bankers whom were supposed to come to Washington to meet with the President:

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Miami visitor dies after hotel filters chlorine from water

And there are people who still believe Chlorine in the water supply is park of a government conspiracy.

in reference to:

"A foreign visitor has died and at least two other people have become sick after staying at a downtown Miami luxury hotel, and health officials are blaming an unusual type of pneumonia called Legionnaire's Disease. Guests at the Epic Hotel have been relocated upon request to nearby hotels to prevent further contact with the Legionella bacteria in the water, according to the Miami-Dade County Health Department.An investigation this week by county and state officials revealed that the hotel had installed a water filter powerful enough to remove chlorine from its city-supplied water, a move that encouraged bacterial growth."
- Miami visitor dies after hotel filters chlorine from water | McClatchy (view on Google Sidewiki)

Half of Teen Girls in Cities get STDs

Sounds to me like a nation that is morally bankrupt. Along with being financially bankrupt.

in reference to:

"Indiana University researchers say half of all urban teenage girls may get one or more sexually transmitted infections within two years of becoming sexually active. The researchers at the IU School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute say their findings point to the need to screen sexually active teenage girls sooner for infections. IU professor of pediatrics J. Dennis Fortenberry says testing should begin within a year of girls becoming sexually active. He says many clinicians are reluctant to address sexual activity with younger teens and therefore miss chances to prevent infections."
- Half of Teen Girls in Cities get STDs - CBS News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, 75, to be flogged for associating with men

More barbarism from Saudi Arabia. Is it any wonder Bin Laden came from there.

in reference to:

"HUMAN rights watchdog Amnesty International has called on Saudi Arabia to stay a sentence of 40 lashes handed down against a 75-year-old woman for breaching the kingdom's sex segregation rules. HUMAN rights watchdog Amnesty International has called on Saudi Arabia to stay a sentence of 40 lashes handed down against a 75-year-old woman for breaching the kingdom's sex segregation rules."The minister of the interior (Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz) is reported to have ordered the immediate detention and flogging of a 75-year-old woman, Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, along with two Saudi Arabian men known only as Fahad and Hadyan," the London-based watchdog said."The Saudi Arabian authorities must not carry out the imminent flogging and imprisonment of an elderly woman and two younger men."Amnesty said all avenues of appeal had been exhausted in Saudi courts against the trio's March conviction for being in the company of members of the opposite sex who were not close relatives."
- Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, 75, to be flogged for associating with men | The Australian (view on Google Sidewiki)

Israel: British arrest warrant threatens ties

Obviously there is no pro-Israel lobby in Britain. This is historic. Let's see how the politicians in the U.S. try to dance around this one. so far the media has just ignored the story.

in reference to:

"An arrest warrant issued in Britain against Israel's former foreign minister was a "diplomatic offense" against the country, a Cabinet minister said Tuesday, warning that attempts in Britain to pursue war crimes charges against Israeli leaders was harming relations between the two countries.The minister, Yuli Edelstein, urged the British government to revise a law that has allowed Palestinians to try to go after Israelis in British courts for alleged crimes committed outside Britain.The law has caused several Israeli officials and retired military commanders to call off trips to Britain, and was most recently invoked to issue a warrant against former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.Livni's office refused to confirm Arab media reports Monday that she had been forced to call off a trip to London because of legal concerns. Instead, it said the trip was canceled for unrelated reasons."
- Newsvine - Israel: British arrest warrant threatens ties (view on Google Sidewiki)

Giant Iceberg off Australia Breaking up

This has to be a hoax. The press, scientists, and the governments of the world are conspiring to convince us that global warming is real. This iceberg is a doctored pictured; Hollywood style. It's a inside job. Blah, blah, blah.

in reference to:

"A massive iceberg edging slowly toward Australia's southwestern coast is breaking up into hundreds of smaller icebergs as it drifts into warmer waters, creating potentially hazardous conditions for ships trying to navigate the region, a scientist said Tuesday. The iceberg, known as B17B, was spotted last week on satellite imaging about 1,100 miles (1,700 kilometers) off Western Australia state, prompting Australia's Bureau of Meteorology to issue a shipping alert. Since then, it has shrunk from 54 square miles (140 square kilometers) to 44 square miles (115 square kilometers), or around 11 miles (18 kilometers) long and 5 miles (8 kilometers) wide, said glaciologist Neal Young of the Australian Antarctic Division. The iceberg has broken up into hundreds of smaller icebergs, some up to several miles (kilometers) wide, and spread over more than 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) of ocean, he said."
- Giant iceberg off Australia breaking up - Yahoo! News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Dems. Poised to Drop Medicare Expansion

The Democrats have predictably sold out. As a result, we will get watered-downed health care reform. Just in time for the holidays.

in reference to:

"The end game at hand, Senate Democrats appeared ready to jettison a proposed Medicare expansion from sweeping health care legislation Monday in a bid to remove the largest remaining obstacle in the way of Christmas-week passage of the measure. "Democrats aren't going to let the American people down. We all stand shoulder-to-shoulder," Majority Leader Harry Reid said after a closed-door meeting called to discuss last-minute trade-offs in the legislation that President Barack Obama has made a top priority. Liberals had sought the Medicare expansion as a last-minute substitute for a full-blown, government-run insurance program that moderates insisted be removed from the legislation. But it drew strong opposition from Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and quieter concerns from a dozen Democrats — all of whom hold votes essential for passage. Reid did not say flatly that Democrats had decided to drop the proposal for uninsured Americans as young as 55 to purchase coverage under Medicare. But several senators said it appeared inevitable."
- Dems. Poised to Drop Medicare Expansion - CBS News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Found! 22 million White House e-mails that went missing during the Bush administration

Smoking gun? We'll have to wait to see, I'm afraid.

in reference to:

"Computer technicians have found 22 million missing White House e-mails from the administration of President George W. Bush and the Obama administration is searching for dozens more days' worth of potentially lost e-mail from the Bush years, according to two groups that filed suit over the failure by the Bush White House to install an electronic record keeping system. The two private groups — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive — said Monday they were settling the lawsuits they filed against the Executive Office of the President in 2007. It will be years before the public sees any of the recovered e-mails because they will now go through the National Archives' process for releasing presidential and agency records. Presidential records of the Bush administration won't be available until 2014 at the earliest."
- Found! 22 million White House e-mails that went missing during the Bush administration (view on Google Sidewiki)

Video, Transcript: Obama on '60 Minutes' (12-13-09)

President Obama appeared on '60 Minutes' (12-13-09). Read the transcript or watch the video below:

Watch CBS News Videos Online
Transcript Excerpt:

Kroft: In your West Point speech, you seemed very analytical, detached, not emotional. The tone seemed to be, "I've studied this situation very hard. It's a real mess. The options aren't very good. But we need to go ahead and do this." There were no exhortations or promises of victory. Why? Why that tone?

Obama: You know, that was actually probably the most emotional speech that I've made, in terms of how I felt about it. Because I was looking out over a group of cadets, some of whom were gonna be deployed in Afghanistan. And potentially some might not come back. There is not a speech that I've made that hit me in the gut as much as that speech.

And one of the mistakes that was made over the last eight years is for us to have a triumphant sense about war.

There was a tendency to say, "We can go in. We can kick some tail. This is some glorious exercise." When in fact, this is a tough business.

Kroft: Most Americans right now don't believe this war is worth fighting. And most of the people in your party don't believe this is a war worth fighting.

Obama: Right.

Kroft: Why did you go ahead?

Obama: Because I think it's the right thing to do. And that's my job. If I was worried about what polled well, there are a whole bunch of things we wouldn't have done this year.

Kroft: Do you feel like you've staked your presidency on it?

Obama: There are a whole bunch of things that I've staked my presidency on, right. That are tough, and entail some risks. There's no guarantees. But that I'm confident we have addressed in the best possible way.

Kroft: The West Point speech was greeted, it was greeted with a great deal of confusion.

Obama: I disagree with that statement.

Kroft: You do?

Obama: I absolutely do. Forty million people watched it. And I think a whole bunch of people understood what we intend to do.

Kroft: But it raised a lot of questions.

Obama: Now, it-

Kroft: Some people thought it was contradictory. That's a fair criticism.

Obama: I don't think it's a fair criticism. I think that what you may be referring to is the fact that on the one hand I said, "We're gonna be sending in additional troops now." On the other hand, "By July 2011, we're gonna move into a transition phase where we're drawing our troops down."

Kroft: Right.

Obama: There shouldn't be anything confusing about that. That's-

Kroft: Well-

Obama: First of all, that's something that we executed over the last two years in Iraq. So, I think the American people are familiar with the idea of a surge. In terms of the rationale for doing it, we don't have an Afghan military right now, security force, that can stabilize the country. If we are effective over the next two years, that then frees us up to transition into a place where we can start drawing down.

Medicare buy-in plan runs into Senate Resistance

This is a crazy idea. We can't pay for Medicare now. How could they consider expanding the program? Payments for Medicare already take up a sizable chuck of the budget now. This would be the opposite of health care reform. It is expanding a socialist program that cannot be paid for.

in reference to:

"A plan to let people as young as 55 buy into Medicare, heralded as a breakthrough in the Senate's health care debate, ran into resistance Sunday from lawmakers who can make or break Democrats' efforts to reshape the nation's health insurance system. Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut declared the early Medicare buy-in a bad deal for taxpayers and the deficit. He pleaded with Democrats to start subtracting expensive proposals from the overhaul, saying, "We don't need to keep adding onto the back of this horse or we're going to break the horse's back and get nothing done.""
- Medicare buy-in plan runs into Senate resistance (view on Google Sidewiki)

The Drone Dilemma

The Drones are the only thing we got going in that region. It would be a foolish mistakes to scale back their use. This is the kind of logic used by Clinton and Bush in failing to prevent 9-11 and destroy al Qaeda.

in reference to:

"A clandestine CIA search-and-destroy program, which launches missile strikes from remotely piloted drone aircraft, has killed more than a dozen senior leaders of Al Qaeda during the last two years. Among the dead: Abu Khabab al-Masri, reputed to be Al Qaeda's top expert on weapons of mass destruction, and Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban and reputed mastermind of the murder of Benazir Bhutto. U.S. government spokesmen won't even confirm the program's existence, but a U.S. national-security official—who, like others cited in this article, declined to be named talking about sensitive information—says the program has been so successful that some counterterrorism officials want to expand it. They say the drones have been effective not just in killing terrorists but also in keeping them on the run and disrupting their ability to plan new attacks. They have asked for authority to target terrorists in more densely populated areas of Pakistan."
- The Obama Administration Debates Drones | Newsweek Politics | Newsweek.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Despite U.S. laws, thousands still virtual slaves in America

This is the result of a culture that puts profit before people.

in reference to:

"But an investigation by The Kansas City Star found that, in spite of all the rhetoric from the Bush and Obama administrations, the United States is failing to find and help tens of thousands of human trafficking victims in America.The Star also found that the government is doing little to stop the flow of trafficking along the porous U.S.-Mexico border and that when victims are identified, many are denied assistance.The United States also has violated its own policies by deporting countless victims who should be offered sanctuary, but sometimes end up back in the hands of traffickers.After spending millions of taxpayer dollars, America appears to be losing the war in its own backyard.Even some top federal anti-trafficking authorities in the Bush and Obama administrations acknowledged serious problems.“The current system is not yet picking up all the victims of human trafficking crimes,” Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told The Star two weeks ago. “It has been a growing problem and in a world of growing problems, it’s time for the nations of the world to take it on.”America’s failure to live up to its own high standards isn’t for lack of will or good intentions or even money. The Star’s investigation pointed to problems that are more systemic: an uncoordinated, inconsistent approach to finding victims; politically charged arguments over how to define trafficking; and a continuing disbelief among some in local law enforcement that it even exists."
- Despite U.S. laws, thousands still virtual slaves in America | McClatchy (view on Google Sidewiki)

Chinese car Market Overtakes US

More evidence of the rise of China and the decline of America.

in reference to:

"China has overtaken the U.S. as the world's biggest market for automobiles, the first time any other country has bought more vehicles than the nation that produced Henry Ford, the Cadillac and the minivan."
- Chinese car market overtakes US | cincinnati.com | Cincinnati.Com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Poor being turned away from free cancer screenings

Will this be remedied after health care is "reformed." I'm not optimistic about Washington's solution.

in reference to:

"As the economy falters and more people go without health insurance, low-income women in at least 20 states are being turned away or put on long waiting lists for free cancer screenings, according to the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network. In the unofficial survey of programs for July 2008 through April 2009, the organization found that state budget strains are forcing some programs to reject people who would otherwise qualify for free mammograms and Pap smears. Just how many are turned away isn't known; in some cases, the women are screened through other programs or referred to different providers."
- Poor being turned away from free cancer screenings (view on Google Sidewiki)

Blackwater Guards Tied to Secret Raids by the C.I.A.

"Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.’s most sensitive activities — clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials."

in reference to:

"The raids against suspects occurred on an almost nightly basis during the height of the Iraqi insurgency from 2004 to 2006, with Blackwater personnel playing central roles in what company insiders called “snatch and grab” operations, the former employees and current and former intelligence officers said. Several former Blackwater guards said that their involvement in the operations became so routine that the lines supposedly dividing the Central Intelligence Agency, the military and Blackwater became blurred. Instead of simply providing security for C.I.A. officers, they say, Blackwater personnel at times became partners in missions to capture or kill militants in Iraq and Afghanistan, a practice that raises questions about the use of guns for hire on the battlefield."
- Blackwater Guards Tied to Secret Raids by the C.I.A. - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Transcript: Obama Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony Speech (12-10-09)

Transcript of U.S. President Barack Obama's speech at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway, on Dec. 10, 2009:

And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated. In part, this is because I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage. Compared to some of the giants of history who have received this prize – Schweitzer and King; Marshall and Mandela – my accomplishments are slight. And then there are the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice; those who toil in humanitarian organizations to relieve suffering; the unrecognized millions whose quiet acts of courage and compassion inspire even the most hardened of cynics. I cannot argue with those who find these men and women – some known, some obscure to all but those they help – to be far more deserving of this honor than I.

But perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the Commander-in-Chief of a nation in the midst of two wars. One of these wars is winding down. The other is a conflict that America did not seek; one in which we are joined by forty three other countries – including Norway – in an effort to defend ourselves and all nations from further attacks.

Still, we are at war, and I am responsible for the deployment of thousands of young Americans to battle in a distant land. Some will kill. Some will be killed. And so I come here with an acute sense of the cost of armed conflict – filled with difficult questions about the relationship between war and peace, and our effort to replace one with the other.

These questions are not new. War, in one form or another, appeared with the first man. At the dawn of history, its morality was not questioned; it was simply a fact, like drought or disease – the manner in which tribes and then civilizations sought power and settled their differences.

Over time, as codes of law sought to control violence within groups, so did philosophers, clerics, and statesmen seek to regulate the destructive power of war. The concept of a “just war” emerged, suggesting that war is justified only when it meets certain preconditions: if it is waged as a last resort or in self-defense; if the forced used is proportional, and if, whenever possible, civilians are spared from violence.

For most of history, this concept of just war was rarely observed. The capacity of human beings to think up new ways to kill one another proved inexhaustible, as did our capacity to exempt from mercy those who look different or pray to a different God. Wars between armies gave way to wars between nations – total wars in which the distinction between combatant and civilian became blurred. In the span of thirty years, such carnage would twice engulf this continent. And while it is hard to conceive of a cause more just than the defeat of the Third Reich and the Axis powers, World War II was a conflict in which the total number of civilians who died exceeded the number of soldiers who perished.

In the wake of such destruction, and with the advent of the nuclear age, it became clear to victor and vanquished alike that the world needed institutions to prevent another World War. And so, a quarter century after the United States Senate rejected the League of Nations – an idea for which Woodrow Wilson received this Prize – America led the world in constructing an architecture to keep the peace: a Marshall Plan and a United Nations, mechanisms to govern the waging of war, treaties to protect human rights, prevent genocide, and restrict the most dangerous weapons.

In many ways, these efforts succeeded. Yes, terrible wars have been fought, and atrocities committed. But there has been no Third World War. The Cold War ended with jubilant crowds dismantling a wall. Commerce has stitched much of the world together. Billions have been lifted from poverty. The ideals of liberty, self-determination, equality and the rule of law have haltingly advanced. We are the heirs of the fortitude and foresight of generations past, and it is a legacy for which my own country is rightfully proud.

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)