Daily Topics - Wednesday - March 17th 2010
By Louise
Quote: "Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." - John F. Kennedy
Our newest affiliate stations: Somerville Community Access TV in Somerville, MA; and a new radio station WYAP in Clay, W.VA
Hour One - Were we and the Bush Administration no different than the contestants turned torturers in the French tv experiment?
Hour Two - Dan Gainor www.businessandmedia.org Health Care Sequel...The Empire Strikes Back
Hour Three - When does assisted suicide cross the line and turn into murder? John West author of THE LAST GOODNIGHTS: Assisting My Parents with Their Suicides, a memoir of love, courage, and honor http://thelastgoodnights.net
Plus Dr. Arthur Caplan director of the Center for Bioethics www.springerpub.com When does assisted suicide cross the line and turn into murder?
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Comments
#2
@Zero G thx for posting Right on, Dennis Kucinich. Heard the breaking news on Stephanie Miller. It was the reason I was able to get up this morning!
#3
I wonder how Norman Goldman is going to begin his show today. He has been holding out on the health care bill and highly critical of the President on this matter.
#4
Hey all and Thom::
here is the bottom line on all these health care hold out republidumbs and the
conservative dems:
IF THE MACHINERY OF POLITICS REQUIRES YOU TO BE AN AGENT OF INJUSTICE TO OTHERS YOU HAVE FORESAKEN YOURSELF AND THE PEOPLE YOU ARE REQUIRED TO REPRESENT.
#5
@ TD Powerful- like something someone might put on their tombstone!
#6
@harry
My own belief is that without forensic evidence I don't have a basis for an opinion...
...but trials come with the process of discovery, and we are seeing the pullback from KSM being given a civilian trial.
I see evidence of a cover up, but the smoke gets in our eyes, meanwhile:
Holder: Osama bin Laden will never be taken alive
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
http://rawstory.com/2010/03/holder-osama-bin-laden-alive/
Sign on the way out of Carlos Marcello's office:
Three can keep a secret if two are dead.
#7
@Mark
Maybe I'm dense but I do not understand how ERISA is a good trade-off for this healthcare bill. ERISA is a fund employers pay into to safeguard employee pensions if the employer falls into dire financial circumstances that prohibit the employer from meeting its pension commitments. This fund was not established to be tax-payer funded.
In recent years, companies have claimed impending financial disaster as cause to dump their pension commitments. ERISA will undoubtedly be drained if it is not properly funded.
#8
@td duff: I think the bottom line is: ITS THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN.
"The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase."
-Yogi Berra
#9
@Zero G: re: "Holder: Osama bin Laden will never be taken alive
By Agence France-Presse"
I think bin Laden won't be taken alive 'cause he's already dead; on or about 12/12/01. Respected researcher David Ray Griffin said it was April '03. 2 former pakistani prime minisiters, Bhutto and Mosharrif mentioned it offhand during interviews.
#10
Jobs Bill (HR 2847) passed the Senate today (68-29-0-3) to go to conference and once differences ironed out, on to President Obama for signature. Thom asked for the Senators that voted nay. From Govtrack.us (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s2010-55) I found this:
Nay WY Barrasso, John [R]
Nay KS Brownback, Samuel [R]
Nay KY Bunning, Jim [R]
Nay GA Chambliss, Saxby [R]
Nay OK Coburn, Thomas [R]
Nay TN Corker, Bob [R]
Nay TX Cornyn, John [R]
Nay SC DeMint, Jim [R]
Nay NV Ensign, John [R]
Nay WY Enzi, Michael [R]
Nay SC Graham, Lindsey [R]
Nay IA Grassley, Charles [R]
Nay NH Gregg, Judd [R]
Nay UT Hatch, Orrin [R]
Nay TX Hutchison, Kay [R]
Nay GA Isakson, John [R]
Nay NE Johanns, Mike [R]
Nay AZ Kyl, Jon [R]
Nay IN Lugar, Richard [R]
Nay AZ McCain, John [R]
Nay KY McConnell, Mitch [R]
Nay NE Nelson, Ben [D]
Nay ID Risch, James [R]
Nay KS Roberts, Pat [R]
Nay AL Sessions, Jefferson [R]
Nay AL Shelby, Richard [R]
Nay SD Thune, John [R]
Nay LA Vitter, David [R]
Nay MS Wicker, Roger [R]
All [R]'s, but not surprising in the least. Which ones are up for election in 2010? Go after them!
#11
Just because Kucinich has caved does not mean the battle is over. I have mentioned for several days that 27 Dems who voted for the House bill have indicated they will not vote for the Senate Bill. I have been unable to find any mention of the names of these 27 holdouts. My hopes, to no avail, were somebody on this post might be able to find these names. I now suspect these names have not been made public.
#12
@harry,
True 'nuff, about reports of bin Laden's death. Again without evidence, I just don't know.
I do know that KSM is scheduled to be tried, trial means discovery process, and the pressure is mounting to circumvent that process.
#13
Oops, one [D] in there, but I guess that there are no highways or unemployment in NE, eh Senator Nelson?
#14
Charles in OH:
I was responding to someone who was wondering if the Republicans were going to attack the health care bill, if passed, in the courts via the ERISA law, not comparing the two. In regard to health care benefits, the ERISA law sets standards for what benefits private employers may choose to offer employees--if they choose to offer it. Obviously, the question then is if the health care bill requires a change in that dynamic, or if it considered that at all.
#15
Why does Ben Nelson have a [D] after his name? When has he not voted with Repubs?
#16
OMG-
RE: Governor of California Race
R- Meg Whitmann is a dead heat with D-Jerry Brown!
Damn dumb Democrats- Brown just sort of drifted in a month ago while Whitman the billionaire from EBAY has been pumping ads for an entire year now.
#17
@ Mark
Seems like grasping at straws. From my understanding of ERISA, it is a limited cash payout not a continuation of healthcare benefits. This has received a lot of attention in Dayton due to the Delphi bankruptcy that dumped its pension.
So the companies with 50+ employees will no longer have a choice regarding the voluntary offer of healthcare benefits. Is the concern that some of these companies will claim impending financial disaster because of the healthcare burden? Or, that these companies will now be required to also contribute to ERISA to safeguard the new healthcare benefits in essence causing a double whammy.
#18
@KMH, I not so sure I'm half as worried about damn dumb Democrats as I am damn dumb Californians. When Schwarzenegger was running, a lot of College students stated they'd vote for him so they could have his signature on their diploma... not that I'm saying that was the deciding difference that got him in, just how stupid some voters can be about voting against there own interests.
I'm happy to be a Californian, sometimes not to proud of it though.
#19
The difference between assisted suicide and murder is who initiated the conversation.
#20
**Reflection of the Week**
In our Catholic tradition, health care is a basic human right. Access to health care should not depend on where a person works, how much a family earns, or where a person lives. Instead, every person, created in the image and likeness of God, has a right to life and to those things necessary to sustain life, including affordable, quality health care. This teaching is rooted in the biblical call to heal the sick and to serve "the least of these," our concern for human life and dignity, and the principle of the common good.
#21
@KMH Wow- hadnt heard that..... yes, there is a California that is PlasticLand - no doubt.
The saying is:' the Sourthern Californians do not know the difference between Northern and Southern California, however the Northern Californians do.'
#22
I understand Thom's reticence at going to a loved one to and offering them help in an assisted suicide. However, as a parent, I'm not so certain I would want to go to my child and request that they help me kill myself, yet if they had come to me with the proposition, I may not mind having the help. When I'm dead and gone, it won't be me living with the doubt and guilt. I can only cross my fingers at this point and hope this won't be an issue in my life.
#23
The title of this post is “Warping the Brain.” As you know, I am a Catholic who tries to know the difference between what is right and what is wrong. I am also a sinner who does try to break away from sinning. Living in the United States of Hell is not easy to be without sin. We live in a country where filth and garbage is rampant. You only have to see how rampant it is in our country. Our politicians are also part of the filth and garbage with their thought processes.
When I listen to Catholic radio and television, I also hear and see guests who can contaminate our brain with nonsense. Here are two examples. On Catholic television there was a guest who gave his opinion that torture was right and necessary. He did not give the word on torture but the word can be masked in many ways. Why would Catholic television invite such a guest to contaminate our brain? On Catholic radio a guest said that the average length in purgatory is forty-four years. Was the guest invited by his Guardian Angel to stand outside the gate of purgatory with a clipboard, paper, and pencil asking each soul what was their length in purgatory? This guest was conveying nonsense to the audience. Catholics can receive contaminated and nonsensical information from Catholic radio and television.
In the supernatural world there are no concepts of time and space. Catholics believe in purgatory for the holy souls to have their soul cleansed from sin so that we may be able to enter heaven with God and the communion of saints for all eternity. In God’s world there is no time and space. God’s time is different than our time. A blink of an eye from God may be one thousand years. No one can say what the average length in purgatory will be for you and me.
There is a great book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran minister, “The Cost of Discipleship.” He says that we are all born to be saints. As we grow older, many of God’s children will distance themselves from God. If we reach a certain distance away from God and we die, our soul will be damned for all eternity. We must strive to be with God and near God. Near God means we should only be a touch away from God. With God means that we are holding God’s hand.
Please guard your brain against contamination and nonsense!!!
#24
@KMH, yeah, once you cross the Grapevine from the North you'll find Palm Trees. ;-)
#25
@Gerald: so true. doing good works is, in my opinion, the best face of organized religion. It's so good, as a matter of fact, that that would be the GOPhers health care plan....Let the churches do it! Father Flannagan does triple-bypasses on Thursdays.
#26
@KMH: I always heard California is just like a bowl of cereal...nothing but fruits, nuts and flakes.
#27
@harry, ....now, now don't get all envious.
#28
Our politicians are mirror images of Americans. Yes, 81% of Americans love the killing of God's children.
The killing of God's children is so American!!!
#29
@Gerald ?!!??!!? where are you getting that statistic??!?!?!?! I understand the sentiment, but I don't think 8 out of 10 people I know are gung ho for these wars. However, I wouldn't say they give enough of a damn to care if there are or aren't such wars.
Besides, I don't think there is many countries that refrain from war just for the sake of refraining from it. If a country feels there is a payoff for invading a neighbor, their biggest concern is more about how will it effect existing treaties, not if its going to harm their adversary.
#30
Beck and Romney are sorry excuses for Americans and for human beings.
From time to time I watch the Discovery channel and there are programs that discuss Jesus' life and time. The Son of God was born to shake up the masses and lay a foundation for peace and social justice.
Please remember that Jesus was a liberal and a progressive!
#31
@Nels, Thom used the percent of 81%.
I extrapolated the numbers and 81% of Americans love the taste of human blood.
Our country is concerned about obesity. Would the drinking of more human blood be a good diet remedy?
#32
OK Gerald, I appreciate the source.
You mentioned Beck and Romney in another post, so I'm going to tie them to this response to your diet of human blood comment... I'd say such beastly creatures as you're talking about (chickenhawks) are more interested in bathing in the blood then they are in consuming it. They're shouting Barabbas, and putting him up as their chosen savior, because his zealotry fits in with their bloodlust.
#33
@Gerald - Why do I get the impression that, for the past decade or so, your "God" has been involved in one of those looooooooong blinks?
#34
@mstaggerlee, I think he's supposed to be opening his eyes again in 2012.
#35
@Nels - On that subject, we're planning an End-of-the-World Party for 12/20/2012. Do you plan to be in NY around then? :D
#36
Not only should we support the changes the conservative rewrite of history, but liberals should pay for their new textbooks. I'll explain.
Since the southern conservative states want to create their own theocratic-free market reality, we should support them by all means necessary. It's clear to me, that they are well on their way to establishing a new sovereignty. All they need is a unique history. And liberals should assist. We can even recommend--or submit--a block of chapters devoted to their founding fathers and portray Governor Perry as their John Adams.
#37
That first sentence should read:
Not only should we support the changes being made in the conservative rewrite of history, but liberals should pay for their new textbooks. I'll explain.
sorry
#38
Well, as usual, nobody stayed to clean-up. Guess I'll have to do it again.
#39
TEXAS SCHOOL BOOKS:
An atheists perspective.. I have not been watching the story closely, because it is the same old, same old thing.. Well, this time they made more progress than usual; removing the Father of the Constitution, and replacing him in their fundy oriented text books with a religious right icon (I think it was Calvin).. I see this as "lying" to children to try and force their ppolitical agenda.. How can this be seen any other way when they remove the Father of the Constitution, and put one of their guys in the story as the hero..
Some say Christians are not supposed to lie, but I do believe the Christian on at the begining of the hour was lying when he said he supports science.. Because its too obvious there is a start difference between science and religion (which thom laid ouit perfectly clear.. thank you)..
This is all the same issue as school prayer (vouchers, revisionist textbooks, prayers at school football games, etc).. The religious right loves a captive audience of young impressionable children.. The RR seeks to have access to "other" peoples children to try and convert them, and people should be screaming bloody murder at this.. Even if you are a Christain, do you want these fundys pouring their idea of political religion stuff into their impressionable minds?
bobbler
#40
what thu....!?! who left the light on? Jeezzz
#41
Thursday blog?
#42
From today's Democracy Now! Dennis Kucinich explains:
AMY GOODMAN: Congress member Dennis Kucinich joins us now in Washington, DC.
Well, Congress member Kucinich, you did not get what you were asking for, yet you are now supporting this bill. Explain what happened and why you think this bill merits your support.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, first of all, I appreciate that you covered that part where I said that I don’t retract anything that I said before. I had taken the effort to put a public option into the bill and also to create an opportunity for states to have their right protected to pursue single payer. I took it all the way down to the line with the President, the Speaker of the House, Democratic leaders. And it became clear to me that, despite my best efforts, I wasn’t going to be able to get it in the bill and that I was going to inevitably be looking at a bill that—where I was a decisive vote and that I was basically, by virtue of circumstances, being put in a position where I could either kill the bill or let it go forward and—in the hopes that we could build something from the ruins of this bill.
I think that—you know, I mean, I can just tell you, it was a very tough decision. But I believe that now we need to look to support the efforts at the state level for single payer, to really jump over this debate and not have all those who want to see transformative change in healthcare be blamed for this bill going down. I think that really it’s a dangerous moment. You know, the Clinton healthcare reforms, which I thought were very weak, it’s been sixteen years since we’ve had a discussion about healthcare reform because of the experience of the political maelstrom that hit Washington. And I saw—I came to the conclusion, Amy, that it was going to—it would be impossible to start a serious healthcare discussion in Washington if this bill goes down, despite the fact that I don’t like it at all. And every criticism I made still stands.
I want to see this as a step. It’s not the step that I wanted to take, but a step so that after it passes, we can continue the discussion about comprehensive healthcare reform, about what needs to be done at the state level, because that’s really where we’re going to have to, I think, have a breakthrough in single payer, about diet, nutrition, comprehensive alternative medicine. There’s many things that we can do. But if the bill goes down and we get blamed for it, I think there’ll be hell to pay, and in the end, it’ll just be used as an excuse as to why Washington couldn’t get to anything in healthcare in the near future.
more at: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/18/dennis_kucinich_and_ralph_nader_a
#43
This often seems to be the case ... no Thom, no daily blog. :(
#44
@mstaggerlee,
Did you hear anything about Phil's 70th birthday bash?
#45
Yeah - in fact, I've downloaded an audience recording of it -
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=533496
Lotta tunes sung by Chris Robinson - unfortunately, I was never much of a Black Crows fan ... Chris does NOTHING for me. :(
I HAVE been following this new band Phil & Bob formed with the guitar player from DSO, Furthur. A VERY interesting outfit, indeed. :)
#46
I've only heard the first set over the radio, thought the Two Souls in Communion Chris sang was pretty good, actually. But overall glad Phil is still rockin' @ 70.
Thanks for that link.
#47
What a sound clip. Republicans are beyond having shame, lie lie lie, and if that fails lie some more. I can't believe that a Republican would actually say he's for universal single payer health care (let alone believe he means it). It just shows them for what they are.
#48
High Fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils too. If either of those are on the ingredients label, they don't go in my cart (most of the time, hard to convince the wife to give up all the crap).
#49
From John Shadegg's own website:
Republicans Introduce: The Improving Health Care for All Americans Act
“Until now, health care reform proposals have centered on giving more control to government at the expense of patients and their physicians. Government doesn’t belong in the doctor’s office and should not decide what kind of health care you can get. If you’re happy with what you have, my bill ensures you can keep it – and if you aren’t there are options available to you.”
Washington, Jul 14, 2009 -
From the Offices of:
Congressman John Shadegg (AZ-03)
Congressman Rob Bishop (UT-01)
Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (TN-07)
Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (TX-2)
Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02)
Congressman Phil Gingrey, M.D. (GA-11)
Congressman Pete Hoekstra (MI-02)
#50
@Nels -
Partially hydrogenated oils (AKA trans-fats), are already on the road to passe, as that became a popular cause a couple years ago. Good thing, too, as the process by which oils are hydrogenated involves the gasification of a heavy metal (usually lead), which is then bubbled thru the oil. The business advantage of trans-fats is extended shelf-life. As far as the disadvantages go - well, how does lead poisoning strike you?
HFCS, however, will be considerably harder to get Big Food to eliminate. "It makes you fat," apparently isn't a convincing enough argument by itself, and the process by which the digestion of HFCS causes the body to become hungrier is too complex to explain in a 15-second sound-byte.
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We should take a play from Reagan playbook: Declare for-profit health care illegal. We leave out the part about bombing in five minutes.