Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The budget, the facts, the killers, and Tom Clancy

Notes 59

The opposition plan we have been waiting for. I hope we get it and rue the day.

Obama, GOP steering onto budget collision course

By David Espo And Andrew Taylor, Associated Press –
WASHINGTON –

Republicans used their first major spending bill to reflect conservative priorities on a range of issues, from abortion to the environment.
The bill would prohibit federal funding for any private organization that uses its own funds to facilitate abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in jeopardy.
It also would block the administration from terminating plans for a nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada — a direct challenge to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Additionally, the EPA would be barred from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from factories and other stationary sites.
Conservatives said they would attempt to add other policy requirements to the legislation during floor debate, including one to prevent the implementation of the year-old health care law.

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The problem with our democracy is the people are NOT well informed and don't much care to be or are too ll educated to be able to be. So ther goes Jefferson's axiom.

Bill Moyers: "Facts Still Matter ..."
Monday 14 February 2011
by: Bill Moyers, t r u t h o u t | Speech

Hadn't Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that, "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government"? And wasn't a free press essential to that end?

I had left the White House by then to be publisher of Newsday and would soon join public television as anchor of a weekly broadcast. Fred's first teaching assistant, Martin Clancy, was my star producer. It was usually one of Fred's people who taught me the most about our craft - how it was possible through the coupling of word and image to come close to the verifiable truth and an honest accounting of reality. Fred played a critical role in my life when, after stints at both CBS and PBS, I had to choose between the two. I had found it increasingly difficult at the network to do the work I most wanted to do, but was reluctant to take off the golden handcuffs and leap into the world of independent production. I went over to see Fred at the foundation and there was nothing subtle in his advice. He said, "You're never going to do the work you most want to do until you do it for yourself." So, I followed him overboard.
Fred was right, as he so often was: independence meant the best hope for me to pursue journalism as a mission. Perhaps, we were naïve, but in those days many of us still assumed that an informed public is preferable to an uninformed one. Hadn't Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that, "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government"? And wasn't a free press essential to that end?

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Obama Prince of the Poor or Darth Vader

Left slams Obama over safety net

Charles Riley, staff reporter, On Tuesday February 15, 2011
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal organization that boasts 700,000 members, took Obama to task before the budget was even officially released.
"Proposing even more tax breaks for Wall Street banks while slashing and burning necessary government programs is right-wing radicalism, and no Democratic president should be part of it," the group said in a statement.
Obama -- who worked for years as a community organizer -- acknowledged that some of the programs facing cuts are personally important to him.
"This budget freeze will require some tough choices," the president said Monday. "It will mean cutting things that I care deeply about."
"The budget proposal from President Obama is right from the Republican plan," Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., a Democrat from Obama's home state of Illinois said in a statement. "As the president, he should be the last line of defense for the most vulnerable Americans, instead of the first one to cut."
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Maybe Arizona will get what it deserves, its own Clockwork Orange

Anti-immigration Sheriff Joe Arpaio leads AZ Senate Race
By Rachel Rose Hartman – Tue Feb 15
A new poll shows Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is the favorite candidate for Arizona Senate among state Republicans, Roll Call's David M. Drucker reports.
Anti-illegal immigration activists across the country have hailed the Republican sheriff as a model of harsher enforcement. He led the GOP field with 21 percent in a poll from Summit Consulting Group. Arpaio has not indicated he will run in 2012 in the race to succeed Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, who is retiring. But the poll suggests if Arpaio could be a formidable candidate should he elect to run.
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Joe Arpaio would know what to do. Former Special Forces troop thought he had a license to kill--like Blackwater thugs. Finally somebody standing up to people U.S turns loose as professional killers.

Kerry tries to soothe Pakistan diplomatic dispute
By BABAR DOGAR and HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Babar Dogar And Heidi Vogt, Associated Press – 21 mins ago
LAHORE, Pakistan –
U.S. officials have said Davis shot in self-defense when two armed men on a motorcycle tried to rob him. Pakistani police officials have said they plan to try him for murder, arguing that while the Pakistanis did have a loaded gun, there was no round in the chamber, and saying Davis shot one man as he was trying to flee.
Regardless of guilt, the U.S. says the detention of Davis, a former Special Forces soldier and an embassy worker, is illegal under international agreements covering diplomats. U.S. officials have threatened to withhold billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan unless Davis is freed.

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The world of the Bourne Identity only more ruthless and deadly. Our murderous thugs against their murderous thugs in a battle for underworld supremacy while the rest of the innocent world bumbles on

New York TIMES
Arts Beat
Wednesday, February 16, 2011

New Clancy Thriller Contains the Sum of All Characters
By DAVE ITZKOFF
The new novel, called “Dead Or Alive” will feature the characters Jack Ryan, the C.I.A. analyst-turned-American president; his son and fellow analyst, Jack Ryan Jr.; the C.I.A. operative John Clark; his apprentice, Ding Chavez; and the agency executive Mary Pat Foley. In a statement, Penguin said the novel will pit them against “The Emir, a sadistic killer who has masterminded the most vicious terrorist attacks on the West” and who “has eluded capture by the world’s armed forces and law enforcement agencies.”

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The beat goes on

Bahrain protesters take control of main square

By Brian Murphy, Associated Press –
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Thousands of protesters poured into a main square in Bahrain's capital Tuesday in an Egypt-style rebellion that sharply escalated pressure on authorities as the Arab push for change gripped the Gulf for the first time.
Security forces have battled demonstrators calling for political reforms and greater freedoms over two days, leading to the deaths of two protesters and the main opposition group vowing to freeze its work in parliament in protest.
In a clear sign of concern over the widening crisis, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa made a rare national TV address, offering condolences for the deaths, pledging an investigation into the killings and promising to push ahead with reforms, which include loosening state controls on the media and Internet.

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