No money ... no life support.
Update:
More here.
Trust me, it would be better if government took over everything regarding health insurance/care.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Pakistan police book former President Musharraf
Apparently, 'book' doesn't mean the same thing there as it does here.
AFP via Raw Story
Gee, why can't we do that here? Here's the paragraph I'd like to see:
"On a plea filed by law firm Gonif, Swindle, and Finagle, a federal judge directed police to register a case against Bush and Cheney, who are currently in Texas and Washington D.C."
Book 'em, Danno. Ah, to dream...
AFP via Raw Story
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan Tuesday registered a criminal case against Pervez Musharraf, a precursor to potentially putting the ex-president on trial over his 2007 detention of judges as he attempted to cling to power.
Musharraf imposed a state of emergency and sacked about 60 judges on November 3, 2007 when the supreme court appeared poised to declare him ineligible to contest a presidential election while in military uniform.
On a plea filed by lawyer Mohammad Aslam Ghuman, Islamabad district and sessions judge Mohammad Akmal directed police to register a case against Musharraf, who is currently in Europe.
Gee, why can't we do that here? Here's the paragraph I'd like to see:
"On a plea filed by law firm Gonif, Swindle, and Finagle, a federal judge directed police to register a case against Bush and Cheney, who are currently in Texas and Washington D.C."
Book 'em, Danno. Ah, to dream...
German Jews back campaign to reprint 'Mein Kampf'
Haaretz
German neo-Nazis can read? Imagine that! Ours barely know how to turn on their AM radios or F** Noise to get their marching orders.
German academics who have been engaged for years in a campaign calling
for the reprinting of an annotated version of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle") received support from an unlikely source. The Central Council of Jews in Germany expressed its support for reissuing the book, whose production has been banned in the country since the end of World War II.
Stephan Kramer, the council's general secretary, called for publishing the book in an academic format so that the next generation of Germans could learn about the Nazi ideology. "A historically critical edition [of the book] needs to be prepared today to prevent neo-Nazis from profiting from it,"...[...]
German neo-Nazis can read? Imagine that! Ours barely know how to turn on their AM radios or F** Noise to get their marching orders.
Marines assault Taliban town in Afghanistan
Yahoo!News
The Japanese knew they were coming at Iwo Jima too. In the end, it didn't help there either.
Note to the AP correspondent - 'heavy resistance...Marines rolled into the town despite roadside bomb attacks and gunfire'
Jesus Christ, lady, just exactly what is it you think Marines do? If there's one thing Marines understand, it's that you gotta bring some to get some, and they bring a lot to any party they attend.
Go read, and click 'play video'. There are several.
The larger political picture be damned when my Marines are on the assault. Get some, lads. Bring some serious smoke on the Taliban's ass.
Semper Fi.
DAHANEH, Afghanistan – Helicopter-borne U.S. Marines backed by Harrier jets stormed a Taliban-held town in southern Afghanistan before dawn Wednesday, the launch of a new operation to uproot Taliban fighters from a longtime base and provide security for next week's presidential election.
The Taliban put up such fierce resistance that Marines said they suspected the militants knew the assault was coming.
The Japanese knew they were coming at Iwo Jima too. In the end, it didn't help there either.
Other Marines met heavy resistance as they fought to seize control of the mountains surrounding Dahaneh in the southern province of Helmand. Another convoy of Marines rolled into the town despite roadside bomb attacks and gunfire.
Note to the AP correspondent - 'heavy resistance...Marines rolled into the town despite roadside bomb attacks and gunfire'
Jesus Christ, lady, just exactly what is it you think Marines do? If there's one thing Marines understand, it's that you gotta bring some to get some, and they bring a lot to any party they attend.
Go read, and click 'play video'. There are several.
The larger political picture be damned when my Marines are on the assault. Get some, lads. Bring some serious smoke on the Taliban's ass.
Semper Fi.
The Heart of the Matter: Racism
Mark Karlin
Go read the rest and the comments.
I guess the best we can hope for is all this bullshit crazytalk blows up in their faces before too many people actually get hurt or killed. Some have already. Let's hope that, like in most instances, when all is said and done, more will have been said than done.
Ever since the Nixon Southern Strategy, race has been the seedy, reprehensible political card played by the GOP whenever they need to win in a tight spot.
So it is now, as they try to cripple the Obama presidency by crushing the common good of healthcare for all Americans so corporations can feast and grow fat with profit at the expense of our well being.
Race again is being used as the scapegoat to arouse the hordes that laid dormant through 8 years of Bush tyranny: they would be against anything Obama would do because he is black and represents a symbolic psychological flashpoint of anger to middle and lower class white Christian (males in particular) who thought that they owned America, and that democracy was just for whites.
But what the GOP and its media shills are igniting now may lead to violence in the streets (there have already been several mass shootings committed by wing nuts) or even, God forbid, an assassination. The purpose of the GOP is to castrate Obama's power, a gruesome but apt metaphor for what slave owners did to male blacks who were not obedient.
So the pawns -- the virulent racists are empowered by FOX and Limbaugh and the GOP leadership -- and they are on the loose, this time in Wal-Mart get ups instead of White Sheets.
Go read the rest and the comments.
I guess the best we can hope for is all this bullshit crazytalk blows up in their faces before too many people actually get hurt or killed. Some have already. Let's hope that, like in most instances, when all is said and done, more will have been said than done.
Miers fingers Rove
Raw Story
Nothing we didn't know or at least heavily suspect, but now it's official.
Now to start on locking the sonofabitch up.
Yo, Turdblossom - be glad I wasn't in charge. I'da had her wearing a red dress to finger yer ass.
More at the link, and
Update:
More at NYTimes.
House Judiciary Committee released thousands of pages of new documents concerning the firing of nine US Attorneys under the Bush Administration — and they heavily implicate the office of onetime Bush adviser Karl Rove.
Moreover, former Bush Supreme Court pick and legal adviser Harriet Miers fingered Rove during her testimony to Congressional investigators.
Nothing we didn't know or at least heavily suspect, but now it's official.
Now to start on locking the sonofabitch up.
Yo, Turdblossom - be glad I wasn't in charge. I'da had her wearing a red dress to finger yer ass.
More at the link, and
The full interview transcripts and documents can be found here.
Update:
More at NYTimes.
230 mpg?
Real good, but who's gonna buy the fucking thing?
Of course the range on pure electric power is about 40 miles, and then the gas engine kicks in to keep the battery up. That's fine, it's still pretty economical and most people drive less than 50 miles in a day, so driving it should still be inexpensive.
I'd like to know who can afford to buy one with a price tag of $40K?
Ein Volks auto ist 'es nicht.
Honda, Toyota, Ford, and Chevy make hybrids (I'd stick to the Japanese brands if you're in the market) a lot cheaper which are also economical to buy, drive, and repair (something unknown about the Volt). The Chevy Volt is nothing more than a cachet vehicle; something with which the well-to-do can show off their 'greenness'. Hopefully, GM will use the technology to make small sedans in the $12 - $15K range that will be more accessible to the masses. Thing is, as GM has done for the last 30 years, it looks like they've already missed the boat:
Toyota has had electric vehicles for the better part of the decade and Honda is also producing their own version. It's probably a safe bet the Japanese will do them better.
And if you do want to spend a lot for an electric, Herr Daimler has a car for you:
I'm sorry to say, as reports have claimed, that if GM has staked its survival to the Volt, there won't be many sunny days ahead.
General Motors announced on Tuesday morning that its Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car had delivered a fuel-economy rating of 230 miles a gallon — which sounds outrageous. With that kind of gas mileage, you could practically drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on a single gallon of gas, or for around three bucks.
...
Of course the range on pure electric power is about 40 miles, and then the gas engine kicks in to keep the battery up. That's fine, it's still pretty economical and most people drive less than 50 miles in a day, so driving it should still be inexpensive.
I'd like to know who can afford to buy one with a price tag of $40K?
Ein Volks auto ist 'es nicht.
Honda, Toyota, Ford, and Chevy make hybrids (I'd stick to the Japanese brands if you're in the market) a lot cheaper which are also economical to buy, drive, and repair (something unknown about the Volt). The Chevy Volt is nothing more than a cachet vehicle; something with which the well-to-do can show off their 'greenness'. Hopefully, GM will use the technology to make small sedans in the $12 - $15K range that will be more accessible to the masses. Thing is, as GM has done for the last 30 years, it looks like they've already missed the boat:
...
Team Nissan is referring, of course, to the electric vehicle in the photograph above (and the video below). The LEAF, which will go into production next year – with a tentative release date of 2012 – is expected to be much cheaper than the Volt. How much cheaper? Nissan isn’t saying. Wired, for one, thinks the cute-as-a-button car could come in at $25,000 – some $15K cheaper than the Volt.
...
Toyota has had electric vehicles for the better part of the decade and Honda is also producing their own version. It's probably a safe bet the Japanese will do them better.
And if you do want to spend a lot for an electric, Herr Daimler has a car for you:
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler plans to roll out a Mercedes-Benz model that runs on electricity in 2010, its chief executive said in a newspaper interview.
"We plan an electric Smart for 2010 and for the same year a Mercedes (electric) model as well," Dieter Zetsche told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in comments to be published in the Saturday edition.
Daimler currently has in London a fleet of 100 first-generation Smart cars that run on electricity.
...
I'm sorry to say, as reports have claimed, that if GM has staked its survival to the Volt, there won't be many sunny days ahead.
Cross-posted at F&G.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
What the 'teabag', 'birther' twatholes don't get ...
Is that you shouldn't feel so warm and comfy (like you just peed yer pants in a dark suit) if you have some sort of health insurance:
No shit. How many can afford their COBRA payments for any amount of time after they're laid off? How many, after they're laid off can find a job that gives them the same level of benefit and coverage? How many will take a job with no benefits at all?
An aside: I worked for a guy once, in a gas station (a Mobil station in Queens), who employed a buncha Indian (Indian-Indian, not American-Indian) guys to cashier in the snack shop and pump gas at the full-serve islands. The prick owner also owned the apartment building where all these guys lived. He paid them little-to-nothing and let them live almost free in a rat hole. They worked 12 hours a day (the gas and snack shop were 24 hour operations), 7 days a week. One of the Indians asked for a shift off one day to go to a family function. The owner basically told him that there were a hundred guys waiting for his job and if he took the day off, he might as well not come back.
The mechanics didn't get benefits, think the Indian guys did? How many 'American' guys are in the same spot now? There are a lot of bastards out there who don't give a shit if you got 5 little kids at home and a 6th on the way. With millions of jobs lost over the past 18 months, do you think folks can afford to pick and choose where they want to work and expect their employer to give them health benefits?
So now, those all happy with their insurance, how long you think it'll last once you lose your job? How fast will you be screaming for a 'public option' when you're on the unemployment line? A job you feel secure in today could be gone tomorrow. Try not to look down your nose at those who are going under because they had the misfortune of getting sick.
... Plainly, those who have insurance are on thin ice too, every last one of them.
...
No shit. How many can afford their COBRA payments for any amount of time after they're laid off? How many, after they're laid off can find a job that gives them the same level of benefit and coverage? How many will take a job with no benefits at all?
An aside: I worked for a guy once, in a gas station (a Mobil station in Queens), who employed a buncha Indian (Indian-Indian, not American-Indian) guys to cashier in the snack shop and pump gas at the full-serve islands. The prick owner also owned the apartment building where all these guys lived. He paid them little-to-nothing and let them live almost free in a rat hole. They worked 12 hours a day (the gas and snack shop were 24 hour operations), 7 days a week. One of the Indians asked for a shift off one day to go to a family function. The owner basically told him that there were a hundred guys waiting for his job and if he took the day off, he might as well not come back.
The mechanics didn't get benefits, think the Indian guys did? How many 'American' guys are in the same spot now? There are a lot of bastards out there who don't give a shit if you got 5 little kids at home and a 6th on the way. With millions of jobs lost over the past 18 months, do you think folks can afford to pick and choose where they want to work and expect their employer to give them health benefits?
So now, those all happy with their insurance, how long you think it'll last once you lose your job? How fast will you be screaming for a 'public option' when you're on the unemployment line? A job you feel secure in today could be gone tomorrow. Try not to look down your nose at those who are going under because they had the misfortune of getting sick.
I got mine ...
So fuck you. Mr. Philadelphia in toto:
Update:
To wit.
Republican on medicare is worried about government health care because nobody can compete with the government. He does, at least, recognize that Medicare is a government program, he just doesn't think most people should have it as good as he does.
Update:
To wit.
See yas later
I am just so disgusted and fed up with corporate-led and media-enabled wingtard hate, bigotry, and ignorance that I am taking the day off.
And you wonder ...
Why I'm cynical about anything worthwhile emerging from the 'health care debate'?
Monday, August 10, 2009
I'm no fan of Chuck Schumer ...
But Oliver Willis is correct:
He'd be a decent Sentate Majority Leader. Show Harry Reid the door.
... Schumer is progressive, aggressive, has no fear of losing his seat to a wingnut, and knows how to operate in the media.
...
He'd be a decent Sentate Majority Leader. Show Harry Reid the door.
Quote of the Day
Josh Marshall:
I lost my grip once for a few years. I can't understand how people would actually want to live their entire lives in that state.
Once you thoroughly unfasten yourself from reality, truly all things are possible.
...
I lost my grip once for a few years. I can't understand how people would actually want to live their entire lives in that state.
Link thanks to Watertiger.
More on Sibel's testimony
Here's a little follow-up on Fixer's post.
More Sibel Edmonds videos here.
Also, National Whistleblowers Center.
Thanks to VRAdmin.
More Sibel Edmonds videos here.
Also, National Whistleblowers Center.
"Mom, what's a blow job?"
Something a little different. The clip below is the most work-safe one I could find from the Joan Rivers Roast last night on Comedy Central. Many, many more.
From her wiki, I discovered she's a Russian Jew from New York. Imagine that! (wink)
I remember Joan from her early days at Marshall Edson's Ye Little Club. I was too young to go inside and couldn't have afforded a drink in that joint anyway, but I could hear the laughter from the sidewalk. There wasn't much to do in Beverly Hills.
From HuffPo:
From her wiki, I discovered she's a Russian Jew from New York. Imagine that! (wink)
I remember Joan from her early days at Marshall Edson's Ye Little Club. I was too young to go inside and couldn't have afforded a drink in that joint anyway, but I could hear the laughter from the sidewalk. There wasn't much to do in Beverly Hills.
From HuffPo:
Actress and comedy writer Whitney Cummings took it from there, saying Joan looks like David Spade after a grease fire,
| Roast of Joan Rivers | Sun, Aug 9 10pm / 9c | |||
| Melissa Rivers | ||||
| ||||
Froomkin's New Home
Canned for telling the truth at a major newspaper, Dan Froomkin has found a new gig.
I'm glad you're there too. Best of luck, bud. We'll be watching.
As for me, this is the first of many posts in my new capacity as Washington bureau chief for the Huffington Post. Starting today, I hope to write fairly often - but that won't be my main job anymore. I'll also be working with a team of reporters who are redefining how Washington should be covered.
We'll be putting a premium on accountability journalism, focusing relentlessly on the corrupting effect of lobbyists and money on our government, and calling out those people in the national discourse who traffic in misinformation and know-nothingism rather than argue in good faith.
It's an opportunity to directly encourage and shape the kind of journalism that, in my previous incarnation, I occasionally championed - but more often yearned for.
Wish us luck. Follow our work. Come back often. I'm glad to be here.
I'm glad you're there too. Best of luck, bud. We'll be watching.
Fuck You, Sarah Palin, Just...Fuck You
El Rude-o on Moosebreath's "death panel" statement:
If all her lies and general bullshit bite her on the ass all at once, it'll be like the biker who put 'Odor Eaters' in his boots - all they found of him was his Buck knife and belt buckle.
The only possible response? "Hey, quitter, fuck you." And, then, as if to demonstrate said "fuck you," the Rude Pundit offers the following:
From the Columbus, Ohio TV station WBNS, here's a story about Margaret Druko, a woman with a four and a half year-old child with Down's Syndrome. Druko had to quit her job because child care centers wouldn't take her daughter. The only insurance she could get was for catastrophic care at $5000 a month. "Margaret said insurance companies told her Emily was considered a death risk. Without health insurance Margaret couldn't afford to pay for Emily to continue with her physical and occupational therapy. The Druko's go without medication for themselves because it's just too costly." The final fuck-you-Sarah? That story is from two weeks before Palin made her statement.
Or, in other words, ex-Governor, the death panel is there. It's called "the profit margin." Indeed, if the Grukos were a bit poorer, they'd qualify for government-run health care. Which would ensure that their daughter gets the care she needs. Denial of private insurance coverage because of Down's syndrome is unsurprisingly common. That's called "rationing."
Or, in otherer words, ex-Governor, now that you're out of a job, and by the time your COBRA runs out, and you're applying for new health insurance policies, Trig better hope that pre-existing conditions clauses or excessive risk denials don't bite his mom on her lying ass.
If all her lies and general bullshit bite her on the ass all at once, it'll be like the biker who put 'Odor Eaters' in his boots - all they found of him was his Buck knife and belt buckle.
Oh, the irony...
Ironic Times
Stimulus: $2.4 Billion to Make Cars Greener
Earl Scheib announces 10,000 job openings.
Paula Abdul Quits “American Idol”
Exit could signal presidential run.
Procter & Gamble in Deal with NFL
Cover Girl named official eyeshadow of Pittsburgh Steelers.
CORRECTION
Responding to the Senate Finance Committee’s desire not to rush the drafting of health care legislation, we quoted Barack Obama saying, “Millions do not now have protection or security against the economic effects of sickness. The time has arrived for action to help them attain that opportunity and that protection.” In fact, the quote comes from a speech by Harry S. Truman on November 19, 1945.
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