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Free Speech TV
I dozed off watching FSTV a few evenings ago and as I woke up I heard one of the people doing the fund raising say that FSTV would soon be carrying Thom Hartmann doing a weekly call-in talk show.
I hoped I had just wakened from a nightmare, but now it seems it's true. Well, FSTV has just established its right flank. Thom will have the most conservative program on the FSTV lineup.
On the good side, maybe some members of the Hartmann cult will subscribe to FSTV and have the opportunity to discover programs like Democracy Now and GRITtv. It would be very enlightening.
One interesting thing you'd notice is that there are more people of color on GRITtv in one week than Thom Hartmann has on his show in a year. And they're intelligent, articulate and perfectly able to speak on a wide range of topics, not just issues relating to their particular ethnic groups. It's actually quite interesting and intellectually stimulating.
You don't need DISH TV to watch Democracy Now and GRITtv. They're both available online.
Jane Hamsher founder of Firedoglake and had some interesting things to say about the current status of health care reform on Democracy Now today. Her comments about the intentions of the administration are especially interesting.
The transcript is already up so you don't have to tear your ears away from Thom.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/14/senate_health
Alan Grayson for President.
Regarding her vote with the Senate Finance Democrats yesterday, Olympia Snowe (R-ME) said "When history calls, one must answer."
Responding to that statement, Randi Rhodes said yesterday - "When history calls Orrin Hatch, he lets it go to voicemail."
Well, of course he does - The Senate is all about seniority, and Orrin Hatch is older than history. ;)
Worst. Idea. Ever.
Saudi Arabia is trying to enlist other oil-producing countries to support a provocative idea: if wealthy countries reduce their oil consumption to combat global warming, they should pay compensation to oil producers.
I always thought that toppling these corrupt, torturing desert oligarchs was one of the main reasons for not using so much foreign oil, almost as much as saving the environment. That said, I'm not surprised that the Saudis would resort to this idea -- once you've proven that you're good at terrorism, extortion isn't that big of a deal, is it?
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/
Former right-wing leader warns of religious right violence: ‘Anyone can be killed’
Frank Schaeffer is an outspoken critic of the politicized Christian evangelical right. He sees the “End Times” movement as anti-Semitic. He fears that a right-wing terrorist might assassinate the President of the United States.
http://rawstory.com/2009/10/former-right-wing-leader-warns-of-religious-...
This is what I wrote to the White House, we sure do hope this is not going to be a insurance industry give away and also hope our taxes do not go to subsidizing this failed system more. I guess the ruling class will be ok when it is all said and done. What happened to pushing for single payer universal health care gone with the wind I would guess. I hope power and the money that buys power are worth it. To bad our taxes do not go to providing real human services for our nations citizens instead we subsidize monolithic corporate crime.
The white house has already cut deals in private with the health insurance lobby. I am very doubtful about any real change in the direction of health care, war/occupation and wall street to k street, the same old is at play and it is very sad.
I wish we had more ethical people like Bernie, our nation and our world would be a better place.
£14billion: That's the record amount Goldman Sachs staff will get in pay and bonuses
City bank Goldman Sachs is expected to confirm tomorrow that bonuses will smash all records in 2009, just a year after the Government rescued the financial system from oblivion.
The Wall Street giant is on course to lavish £14billion on pay and bonuses on staff this year following a surge in profits between July and September, experts said.
Goldman's 5,500 UK workers are now set to pocket an average of almost £500,000 each for this year - the highest rewards in the firm's 140-year history.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1219345/Goldman-bankers-pocket-p...
Nurses to sue New York over vaccination mandate
Count four Albany County nurses among those scared of H1N1. Not the virus itself, but of the vaccine for it that New York is requiring all health care workers to receive by the end of November.
"Receiving the vaccine doesn't mean you're not going to get the flu," says Lorna Patterson, an emergency room nurse at Albany Medical Center. She is one of the four nurses who are planning to file a lawsuit this week against New York in order to stop the state from enforcing its mandatory vaccinations. In addition to H1N1--or swine flu--nurses, doctors, and others who care for the health of others in New York will have to receive a seasonal flu shot. It's the first time the state has mandated such a vaccination.
http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=11299035
Accounting Firm Admits Cost Savings Left Out Of Report Prepared For Insurance Providers
Accounting giant Pricewaterhouse Coopers has issued a statement about the audit it performed for America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).
Most notable about the statement, issued late last night, is an acknowledgment the cost savings from the bill weren't included, though PWC points out that is noted on page one of the report.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/accounting-firm-admits-cost-s...
The report, intended to frighten Americans about impending huge increases in health care premiums, was commissioned by the insurance industry.
Smooth talker will kill more people in Afghanistan!!!
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/10/13/backdoor-escalation/#
The Republicans, the insurance companies, the AARP, the AMA, the libertarians, the Cato Institute and Ayn Rand people, and the John Lotts of the world all claim that they want ordinary people to have the right to have “choice.” But their concept of “choice” is decidedly a limited one. They seem to fear that the people may make choices that hurts the “production” of profit, and wish to leave what “choices” people have in hands of those who want to maximize personal profit at the expense of the common good. This country is of the people, by the people and for the people—not of, by and for the corporations, the wealthy “elite” and politicians of any stripe. What right do they have to deny the people the choice to decide if they want to participate in a public option when they have clearly been failed by current system? For at least six decades since Truman called on Congress to pass universal health care, the public has been denied the opportunity to make that choice; it is time for politicians to set aside selfish considerations of their own hides and consider that of the general public.
If people wish it, they should be able, by their own choice, to enter into a government-sponsored public health care option that will not deny them coverage under any circumstance as long as they contribute to, say, a payroll deduction. This deduction can be made through a simple form similar to a W-4 form, where a person can select the public health care option, with the deduction based on the number of dependents and wage level. It seems so simple, yet lawmakers stumble over each other to find the most chaotic way around it.
If Michael Steal is looking for a great hero for the Republic Party, he needs to not look any farther but to his own party. The Republica party should nominate a man who:
01) Has leadership skills
02) Influence
03) initiative
04) And a ladies' man
And that man is Theodore "Ted" Bundy. Bundy meets ALL qualifications for being the hero of the RNC. If he's too over qualified, let me name a few more from the website: http://www.armchairsubversive.org/
Republican aide Alan David Berlin was arrested on charges that he wanted to engage in sex acts with a 15-year-old boy while dressed in a panda costume.
Republican news producer Aaron Bruns was arrested on charges of possessing child pornography.
Republican activist and former presidential campaign chairman Jeffrey Claude Bartleson was arrested on charges of sexually molesting a 5-year old boy.
Republican activist and former chairman of the Christian County Republicans
Royce Fessenden pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree child molestation and one count of second-degree statutory sodomy.
Republican parole board officer and former legislator George C. (Chris) Ortloff pleaded guilty to attempting to lure 11- and 12-year-old girls to have sex with him.
Republican legislative aide Robert R. Groezinger was arrested for possessing child pornography.
Republican legislator Robert A. McKee pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.
Republican legislator Scott Muschany was charged with molesting a 14-year old girl.
Republican chief of staff Eric Feltner pleaded guilty to showing pornography to a 13-year old girl.
Republican presidential campaign official Matthew Joseph Elliott was convicted of sexual exploitation of a child.
Republican Party Chairman Donald Fleischman was charged with two counts of child enticement, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child and a single charge of exposing himself to a child.
Republican prosecutor John David Roy Atchison was arrested for soliciting sex from a 5-year old girl, then killed himself three weeks later. At the time of his arrest, Atchison was an "assistant U.S. attorney" appointed by President Bush's attorney general.
And much more at: http://www.armchairsubversive.org/
COMPASSION IS THE KEY...
Link for my first post:
"Compassion key to understanding world's religions
Religious thinker and writer Karen Armstrong argues that the major religions of the world share a view that compassion is essential. But she says those who worship God too frequently forget to practice compassion." Audio.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/08/31/midday2/
Lori Wallach said that reinstating Glass-Steagall is barred by our WTO agreement. I think she said there's something in the Doha round agreements that would prevent it.
I think she also said that if the WTO could be amended it would take 67 votes in the senate to approve it because it's a treaty.
oops ... s/b "... to tears BY the prevailing ..."
Thom,
I think Joe Sestak is running against Arlen Specter, in PA, not Joe Lieberman, in Connecticut.
My wife is a High School Dropout. Not because she failed in the Public School System (she had a high B average when she left), but because the system failed her - she was, essentially, bored to tears the prevailing teaching strategies of the era (which have NOT improved since - if anything, they're less relevant to the world we live in today than they were then). She earned her GED 3 months BEFORE her high school class graduated.
Last fall, she retired from a career in private education that encompassed 15 years as a classroom teacher and 6 years as a principal.
My point here is that private education is NOT just for those who "can't make it" in the public school system. To an even greater extent, it is advantageous for those whom the public system does not provide sufficient challenge to hold their interest.
Thom,
I got the impression that John Lott actually discovered (with your help) some flaws in his arguments. The question is, what will he do with this insight --- reformulate his right-wing argument to refute your contentions, or rethink his position? (Maybe it depends on how deeply invested he is in the cult.)
I was listening to Randi Rhodes last night expressing displeasure at the fact that Barney Frank was advising against mass marches by gay supporters in advance of Barack Obama's moves to end "don't ask, don't tell" and the DOM act. He may have a point. If this was just about offending the tender sensitivities of heteros, that could be easily dismissed. But some things just cannot be easily dismissed. I recall the aftermath of the Rodney King verdict; I watched scenes of mayhem and destruction within one’s own neighborhood. What was the point of such mindless acts? Why didn’t they load up in buses and take a trip to put the fear of God in those Simi Valley racists for a day or two? All the rioters did was bring discredit to their cause.
I once stood on the sidelines watching a “Take Back the Night March” that occurs occasionally in Seattle. These marches, allegedly about women being free to walk the streets at night, is really just an excuse for the lesbian population on Capitol Hill to offend as many people as possible. They carried signs and shouted-out slogans that advertised the apparent hatred of some of men and heteros, violent in both word, tone and speech. What were they trying to accomplish? Whose support were they supposed to be encouraging? I took a gander at a flyer which listed the sponsors of the march. One or both the words “Radical” and “Dyke” seemed to be included in every sponsor’s name. The fact is that gays and lesbians can be just as bigoted and racist as anyone. I frankly don’t think Obama’s sensitive speech suggesting that they are not flawed people like everyone else will change that.
In a post last week, I said that I wish there was a way for people to have more compassion for each other. (I don't know if that is possible, given that we seem to be dealing with hate speech coming from the cults within the Republican Party and the religious right.)
Karen Armstrong, writer and scholar, was interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio this morning. She has started a new endeavor --- The Compassion Project. Her premise is that we each need to work on our ability to have and express compassion for each other for mankind to succeed on the planet. She also says that "The Golden Rule" is the essense of compassion.
Here's a link to Armstrong's Compassion Project website:
http://charterforcompassion.org/
If the podcast of the Armstrong interview is linked on the MPR website, I will post it here.
From Bush II to Obama endless BOHICA experiences!!!
http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2009/10/12/the-left-easily-misled-or-s...
I find that the study of demography or trends in population growth and shifts to be very satisfying whether it upsets me or not. A person cannot live with his or her head buried in the sand.
B Roll
When I post a comment, it is for me to share information. If articles are not focused consistently on a theme, it is because I try to present varying viewpoints. The readers can decide what they will accept or not accept. I also try to shake the readers from their comfort zone. Most people become upset when their comfort zone is shaken.
Religioustolerance.org offers some interesting statistics. If people are leaving organized religions, it is because money is America's god. You do not have to agree with me but I post comments to rid myself of issues that are within me. I find posting comments can be good therapy. You can believe it or not.
When I worked, I had to be politically correct or my job would be compromised. As a retired person I find that shaking people from their comfort zone is a satisfying experience.
The “boost” given the senate finance committee’s health care bill may have been welcome news its few supporters, but this should be not permitted to fool the rest of us into believing that this is not what it is: a bogus, clapped-together bill that does not promise anything even remotely like universal care. We are being asked to trust private insurance companies to cooperate in expanding the insurance availability pool through an “insurance exchange.” That is all. Its most optimistic assessment is that 94 percent of non-Medicare eligible people will have the opportunity to buy coverage—by 2019. Even by then, at least 12,000,000 legal residents will still not able to afford insurance, and this is probably a low estimate. Who will these people be? Those who have pre or post-existing conditions? The homeless and utterly impoverished? The most vulnerable Americans? And what kind of insurance will be made available to the currently uninsured? The kind that today forces many people into bankruptcy, or the useless kind with such exorbitant up-front costs it forces them to put off needed care until they are on their deathbeds?
Insurance companies are already preparing for public consumption their excuse for failing to follow through on their obligations under a finance committee plan. Taxing drug companies and so-called “Cadillac” health plans can only mean higher premiums and lesser coverage. And they are probably right. Increasing taxes on their profits would be a better idea; even better is increasing just slightly the percentage of tax on the wealthiest Americans—which to Republicans and Blue Dogs is sacrilege—they would rather see their own mothers thrown out into the gutter before they allow that to happen. This “reform” is a sham, and yet the Democrats can’t even persuade Olympia Snowe to sign on to it; apparently she gets her marching orders from the fringes, like the rest of her party. Or perhaps she will withhold her support until the bill is completely devoid of any impact on the status quo, so she won’t incur too much wrath from her party if she votes for it.
Thom mentioned the AARP on Monday, which reminds me that I saw an AARP commercial over the weekend in which the spokeswoman urged her aged listeners to protect their Medicare “privileges” and “right” to choose their own doctor. Although it wasn’t specified who was placing their privileges and rights at risk, it was plainly a thinly-veiled fright tactic aimed at health care reform and the pubic option. No mention, of course, of the Republican efforts to destroy Medicare, or the AARP’s wretched acquiescence to such Republican scams as Medicare Advantage and Part D. The fact is that the AARP has so miserably failed to represent the true interests of the aged, that it must be nothing more than a Republican front group or PAC.
In any case, there is no such thing as “unlimited” choice of doctors. Most private insurance providers have their approved network doctors; anyone outside that approved list the insurance providers will not offer complete coverage, or none at all. Doctors, of course, can and do refuse to take patients. A public option—or at least a true public option, not the vegetable soup private option being bandied-about—should on the other hand have wider reach, being a national plan with rather far fewer of the “customer service” types employed by private insurance companies, whose only medical training is how to say the word “no.”